The Epistle to the Philippians partakes very much of a pastoral character. The link between the Church at Philippi and the apostle was close and tender. He had been with them at the beginning of their spiritual history (Acts 16), and they had continued to communicate with him when he was far distant from them (Phil. 4: 15). They were rich in this peculiar grace and the apostle finds joy in alluding to it, even while he has to warn them against certain symptoms of disunion which he learned were appearing in their midst (Phil. 4: 1-3). He deals with this evil in a manner which expresses his confidence that there was grace among them to overcome it, and this imparts to his way of dealing with it a deeply tender and affectionate tone. And this surely ought to instruct us, that when we see much of the grace of Christ in any fellow-saint we should give him due credit for this, and administer whatever correction or rebuke we believe to be needful in the light of it.
There is no strict order of doctrinal teaching in this Epistle, yet much that is of great value to the saints in displaying the energies of the life of which they were already possessors in Christ (Phil. 1), in setting before them the perfect pattern of that life in the example of the Lord while here among men (Phil. 2), the progress and goal of one in whom that life was acting in full strength and energy (Phil. 3), and the finding in Christ all that the heart seeks of peace and power (Phil. 4), in a world where everything tends to harass the soul.
The saints are here seen in the midst of a "crooked and perverse nation," taking their journey in company with the God of all grace, Who supplies their every need. There are adversaries, and death itself may end their course, but all is well. To live is Christ and to die is gain. The journey may be long or short, but the end is blessed. "Salvation" throughout the Epistle is the full and final deliverance from all evil with a triumphant entrance to that glory into which Christ has already entered. The lowly mind and gracious affections which characterize those whose eyes are upon the perfect example of the humiliation, surrender and subjection witnessed in the Lord are beautifully set forth in Timotheus and Epaphroditus in Phil. 2. The energy that comes from a contemplation of Christ in glory enabling the saint to count all here as dross is seen in Phil. 3.
The resurrection to which Paul looked forward was a resurrection after the manner of the Lord's own. It had qualities peculiar to itself surely. It was a resurrection from the dead, victorious over death. He had the power of it in Himself or by virtue of what He was. He was the First-fruits of a harvest which in due time would follow after its kind. His people, unlike Him Who by this title of First-fruits pledges to them a share in His triumph, have no virtue of it in themselves as He had: it is conferred upon them in infinite grace, they share in its triumph because they "are Christ's." Yet blessed it surely is to know that theirs will be resurrection from or out of the dead as was that of their Lord--a victorious resurrection. This was the apostle's goal, and toward it he pressed on. His eye was on the distant joys, and for them he cast all aside, reaching forth toward them. And heavenly too is the citizenship of the saint. His inheritance is there in the place to which his call had been when he was laid hold of by the Lord in glory. His hope also is there. He looks for the Saviour, Who is the Object of his heart, Who will accomplish by His hand that for which He had in grace been forming the heart of His saint and servant to seek after--to be like and with Himself for ever.
