We now pass on from the consideration of the blessed Lord’s lowly and subject path here below {Phil. 3}, to His position of exaltation in the glory. There He was last seen in ch. 2:9-11. The Christians are now finally exhorted to rejoice in that same Lord, once humbled, but now exalted; to rejoice in Him where He is, for He is now at the end of the path. Ah, dear reader, that is the real spring of joy, and when you see that this same Lord of glory who has gained the end of the path has apprehended you for the same thing, that thought will fill you with joy. It was needful to press the same truths on the saints though they knew them, on account of the evil workings of the enemy around.
“Dogs,” who took the place of shepherds, that could not bark or warn any one of danger, that went to sleep, lazy do-nothings, that cared nothing for the flock, greedy dogs which would feed themselves on the saints and their love and make themselves rich by them; of such the saints were to beware (Isa. 56:10, 1110His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. (Isaiah 56:10‑11)). False professors, too, false teachers, perhaps, who had once made a great show of religion, and now turned away from it, like dogs to their vomit again, and sows to their wallowing in the mire. Of such the saints were to beware (2 Pet. 2:20-2220For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (2 Peter 2:20‑22)).
“Evil workers” too, who would build wood, hay, stubble in the walls of the house of God, bringing in unconverted people, gaining large accessions as they would say to the church, such, too, they were to shun (1 Cor. 3:12-1512Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12‑15)). Of those too who would practice austerities on the flesh, and talk of mortifying it, with the idea of making it better, without putting it off as an evil thing altogether; of such also they were to beware. These were the “concision,” chiefly the Judaizers of that day.
The apostle would not give such people the name of the circumcision. True circumcision was the putting off the body of sin altogether for faith, by the death of Christ (see Col. 2:1111In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: (Colossians 2:11)). It was death to the old man (not so concision), and Christians were now the true circumcision with these three blessed marks on them: First, Worshiping God in spirit. Second, Boasting in Christ Jesus. Third, Having no confidence in the flesh. For Paul and Christians, according to him, the old man was dead, buried and gone in the death of Christ. Christ risen and in glory was all their boast; the Holy Ghost come down from heaven gave them their Christian place and character and power for worship.
Paul then sets himself before the Philippians as an example of a man having no confidence in the flesh, taken hold of by Christ in glory, and running forward to win Him there. As we have seen in ch. 2, the subject is Christ come down here as the Christian’s pattern and example, but in ch. 3, it is Christ risen and glorified as his object to win. Of this latter, Paul is the great example to us (see vers. 15-17).
From vers. 4-6 he goes through all his natural advantages in the flesh that he might have trusted to as a man.
Ver. 7. Everything is counted loss for Christ.
Vers. 8, 9. He counts everything as a present thing loss to win Christ as his object, and be found in Him, not having his own righteousness, but that which is of God by faith. This is the objective side of his course. He runs forward to win Christ as his object, and be found in Him in that day with the righteousness of faith as his covering.
Vers. 10, 11. This is the subjective side of his desires; first, he desires to know Christ; second, the power of his resurrection as applied practically to him as a present thing as he runs; third, the fellowship of His sufferings; fourth, conformity to His death, if by any means he might attain unto the resurrection from among the dead, that is when the power of resurrection would be applied to his body. It is the subjective side of Paul’s race.
Vers. 12-14. He shows that he did not count himself as having attained, in fact he had nothing, only Christ had apprehended him for the glory, and he was running on if he might apprehend that for which he had been apprehended of Christ Jesus. He waited to take hold of one after another of the many things that he had been apprehended for by Christ. And is not this, beloved reader, what real Christian attainment is? It is just taking hold, as it were by bits, of that glory of Christ for which we have been apprehended. It is all ours already in Him; all assured to us, but how little of the many parts of God’s wonderful counsels of grace have the best of us taken hold of? Many are as yet but mere babes in the knowledge of God, and may not ver. 14 be a special reward to those who have made special attainments in the knowledge of Christ. If so, first, there is the objective side of the race, Christ to win. Second, There is the subjective side (ver. 11), the resurrection from among the dead to attain. Third, There is the prize of the high calling of God in Christ. There is a reward held out as well as Christ and salvation. He would have as many of the Philippians who were perfect to be thus minded; to have one aim, one object, like he had, namely, to win Christ in glory. The “perfect” were those who understood what Christ had apprehended them for, and He would have such to be like minded with himself, and if in anything they were otherwise minded God would reveal this to them too; but whereunto any had already attained, whether perfect in their apprehension of their standing and calling for the glory or not, He would have them walk by the same rule, and mind the same thing. Christ was the rule, and according to their several apprehensions of His glory so he would have them walk, having Him as the only rule.
He would have the saints then to be followers of him, and to mark those that walked, so that they had Paul and his companions in ministry before them as an example. For many walked of whom he had told them before, and now told them again even weeping, that they were the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end was destruction, whose god was their belly, whose glory was in their shame, who minded earthly thins. Alas, these people had already got a foothold in the church of God! But the Christian’s citizenship was in heaven, from whence he looked for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who should change his body of humiliation that it might be fashioned like unto His body of glory, according to the power whereby Christ was able to subdue all things to Himself. Blessed ending to the path of the saint who made Christ as his pattern, and Christ in glory as his object to win. We look for the Savior, blessed be God, not for the Judge, and His whole power will be exercised in that day in fashioning our bodies to be exactly like His own.