“Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.”
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (be) with you all. Amen”
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers with me greet you. All the saints greet you, but most-of-all the-(ones) from the household of Caesar.
“The grace of-the Lord Jesus Christ (be) with your spirit”
In verse 19 we read of “every need.” That took account of every single individual need by itself. Each need was looked at and considered separately. And “my God” would fill full each one. In the verse before us now Paul sends greeting to “every saint,” individual greetings to each one. Perhaps many of those saints had been won to Christ by Paul: he probably knew each one intimately, and loved each one individually, and that individual greeting would mean much to them. There was a meeting I knew well, nearly every individual in it had been won by a dear old brother who was nearing Home. One day he said to me, “I love to stop singing sometimes in the meetings, and just close my eyes, and sit and listen; and I can pick out each individual voice, and I know each one of them so well.” I think the word, “Greet every saint” has in it something of the same thought.
But each saint is not only in Philippi, but “in Christ Jesus” (vs. 7). We got the same thought in the first verse of our Epistle: “To all the saints in Christ Jesus being in Philippi.” And now at the close of the letter he again reminds them that they are in Christ Jesus. Some think this verse should be translated, “Greet in Christ Jesus every saint.” I suppose that would correspond to one of our own letters today, where we close, “With love in Christ Jesus to each saint.” In either case, we are reminded that we are one “in Christ.” But the whole Epistle has been full of this precious thought, that we are in Christ:
“I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ” (ch. 1:8).;
“My bonds in Christ are manifest” (ch. 1:13);
“Your rejoicing may be more abundant in Christ Jesus for me” (1:26);
“Consolation in Christ” (ch. 2:1).;
“I trust in the Lord Jesus” (ch. 2:19).;
“I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come” (ch. 2:24);
“Receive him therefore in the Lord” (ch. 2:29).;
“Rejoice in the Lord” (vs. 4) (ch. 3:1).;
“Rejoice in Christ Jesus” (ch. 3:3).;
“The high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (ch. 3:14);
“Stand fast in the Lord” (vs. 1).;
“Be of the same mind in the Lord” (vs. 2);
“Rejoice in the Lord alway” (vs. 4).;
“I rejoice in the Lord greatly” (vs. 10);
“I have strength for all things in the One that gives me power” (4:13, New Translation);
“His wealth in glory, in Christ Jesus” (4:19);
“Greet every saint in Christ Jesus” (4:21).
“The brothers that are with me greet you” (Phil. 4:2121Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. (Philippians 4:21)). It would seem that these brothers refer to Paul’s special companions, who were present with him for various reasons, not residents of Rome. Bishop Lightfoot gives a most interesting collection of these honored names, which I hope you may enjoy as I have done: he says: “Of occasional visitors in Rome, his converts or his colleagues in the gospel, the companions of his travels and the delegates of foreign churches, not a few are named. His youthful disciple and associate Timotheus, the best beloved of his spiritual sons, seems to have been with him during the whole or nearly the whole of his captivity. Another friend also, who had shared with him the perils of the voyage, Luke, the ‘beloved physician,’ now his fellow-laborer and perhaps his medical attendant, hereafter his biographer, is constantly by his side. His two favorite Macedonian churches are well represented among his companions: Philippi dispatches Epaphroditus with pecuniary(?) aid, welcome to him as a relief of his want but doubly welcome as a token of their devoted love: Aristarchus is present from Thessalonica, a tried associate, who some years before had imperiled his life with St. Paul at Ephesus and now shared his captivity at Rome. Delegates from the Asiatic churches too were with him: Tychicus, a native of the Roman province of Asia and probably of Ephesus its capital, the Apostle’s companion both in earlier and later days: and Epaphras the evangelist of his native Colossae, who came to consult Paul on the dangerous heresies then threatening this and the neighboring churches over which he watched with intense anxiety. Besides these were other friends old and new: one pair especially, whose names are linked together by contrast; John Mark, who, having deserted in former years, has now returned to his post and is once more a loyal soldier of Christ; and Demas, as yet faithful to his allegiance, who hereafter will turn renegade and desert the Apostle in his sorest need.
To these must be added a disciple of the circumcision, whose surname ‘the just’ proclaims his devotion to his former faith— one Jesus, to us a name only, but to St. Paul much more than a name, for amidst the general defection of the Jewish converts he stood by the Apostle almost alone. Lastly, there was Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus, ‘not now a slave, but above a slave, a brother beloved,’ whose career is the most touching episode in the apostolic history and the noblest monument of the moral power of the gospel”.
It is not of course suggested that all these persons were with Paul at one and the same time; but it does seem that all these visited him during the time of his imprisonment in Rome, and some were with him for a long time: so it is possible Luke was one of those referred to in Philippians 4:2121Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. (Philippians 4:21). It seems probable that Luke had stayed in Philippi for a considerable time: possibly it was his home: so he would be well known to the saints there, and they would specially value his greeting. Who the others were, if any, with him at this time, we cannot say; but possibly several more.
“All the saints greet you, but most of all the ones from the household of Caesar” (4:22).
At the beginning of the Epistle to the Philippians we read: “To all the saints in Christ Jesus being in Philippi” (1:1). Now at the close of the Epistle we find the very same words: “All the saints greet you.” That was all the saints in Rome. It makes one think of the greeting the Apostle sent to the saints in Rome: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, saints by calling” (Rom. 1:77To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)). No smaller circle than “all the saints,” whether in Philippi or in Rome will satisfy the Apostle, or be pleasing to the heart of God. And the same is true today, whether it be London or New York; Bombay or Hong Kong; Melbourne or Shanghai: God looks at “all the saints.” Yesterday I read a message to “all in our fellowship.” That is not God’s way. God does not send His message to all the Anglicans or Baptists or Plymouth Brethren. Men make parties: but God’s heart always takes in “all the saints.”
And please do not for a moment suppose that “all the saints” means all the specially holy people, like “Saint Paul” or “Saint Peter,” as man— not God— calls them, or any other good men. No. You are just as truly a saint as Paul or Peter, if you are washed in the precious blood of Christ as they were. And do not think that you are “called to be a saint” as our ordinary English Bible puts it in Rom. 1:77To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7). Paul was a tentmaker by calling: he did not have to try to be a tentmaker, as the words “called to be a tentmaker” might suggest. Just so, we are saints: not “called to be saints” (1 Cor. 1:22Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2)). Paul was a tentmaker by calling, and also a saint by calling, and an apostle by calling. He was not trying to be a tentmaker or a saint or an apostle. He was each of these by his calling. Just so, you are a saint by calling, if you are saved, redeemed with that precious blood.
And what is a saint? A saint is a holy person, a person set apart. You may say, I often do not act like a saint, so I don’t think I can be one. But if you belong to Christ, you are a saint: a saint by calling. I might be a farmer by calling, but I might be lazy and fond of pleasure, and let my farm get in bad shape. Still I am a farmer by calling, even though I may be a very poor one.
Though all the saints sent greetings, yet there was a special group marked out as sending special greetings: and a group that is apt to surprise us very much. It is not a group held together by special views of baptism or church government, but rather linked together by their secular calling: and strange to say it was a group that might include slaves or nobles.
“All the saints greet you, but most of all, (or, chiefly, or especially), the ones from the household of Caesar” (4:22).
Bishop Lightfoot brings forward much proof to show that “the household of Caesar” (vs. 22) included a vast number of persons, either actual or former slaves, and freeman, who filled every sort of office from the most menial to the highest: something like the British “Civil Service.” All were “persons in the Emperor’s service, whether slaves or freemen, in Italy and even in the provinces.” Bishop Moule says: “The literature of sepulchral inscriptions at Rome is peculiarly rich in allusions to ‘the Household.’ And it is from this quarter, particularly from discoveries in it made early in the last century, that Lightfoot gets good reasons for thinking that in Philippians 4:2222All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. (Philippians 4:22) we may, quite possibly, be reading a greeting from Rome sent by the very persons (speaking roundly) who are greeted in the Epistle to Rome (chapter 16). A place of burial on the Appian Way, devoted to the ashes of Imperial freemen and slaves, and other similar receptacles, all to be dated with practical certainty about the middle period of the first century, yield the following names: Amplias, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, Tryphoena, Tryphosa, Rufus, Hermes, Hermas, Philologus, Julius, Nereis; a name which might have denoted the sister (see Rom. 16:1515Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. (Romans 16:15)) of a man Nereus” (The Epistle to the Romans, by H.C.G. Moule: Pg. 424, Hodder & Stoughton edition). All the above names are found in Rom. 1615Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. (Romans 16:15), except the last.
Prof. Blaiklock in his delightful little book, Out of the Earth: the Witness of Archeology to the New Testament, Paternoster Press, shows that by the end of the first century Christianity had gained a place in the highest circles of Rome: Flavius Clemens, a cousin of the Emperor, was put to death, and his wife Domitilla, a niece of the Emperor, was banished, for confessing Christ. Next to the Emperor these two held the highest rank in the Empire.
You will recall that Philippi was ‘a Colony’, and so may have had various officials from Rome; also it was settled in part by disbanded soldiers from the Roman army; so it is quite possible that with all these, there were some who were personally acquainted with some of the saints in Caesar’s household in Rome.
“The’ vice, flagrant and unblushing,
Nero’s palace boldly trod,
In that vile court’s baleful precincts
There were some who walked with God.
Like the few souls, who, in Sardis
Kept unspotted from the world,
So these saints of Caesar’s household
Held their stainless flag unfurled.
Trusting in their Savior’s merits,
Leaning on their Savior’s might,
They were proof against temptation;
Now they walk with Him in white!
Lord, Thy power can keep Thy children
In the most unlikely place.
There is no temptation sent them
Which is greater than Thy grace.
But let us never forget that all the saints in Rome sent greetings to all the saints in Philippi: and not the slightest distinction is made between a slave and one highborn. All are ‘one in Christ Jesus’: ‘one spirit, one soul, one body, one loaf, one new man, one flock’: just as there is ‘one Spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all.’
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (4:23).
Our beloved Authorized Version has, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,” (vs. 23) but the correct reading is almost certainly as shown: “with your spirit” (Gal. 6:1818Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. <<Unto the Galatians written from Rome.>> (Galatians 6:18)). And why, when writing to “all the saints” does the apostle not say, “be with your spirits”?
Why should spirit be singular, instead of plural? I think the answer is that they were one body, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:1313For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)). One body has but one spirit. And therefore the Apostle, by the Spirit of God, uses spirit, not spirits. But there is more: in chapter 1:27, we read: “Only worthily of the gospel of Christ live as citizens, in order that whether coming and seeing you, whether being absent, I am hearing the things concerning you, that you are standing firm in one spirit with one soul, together contending for the faith of the gospel.” By doctrine they were one body: they were made one body by the one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, dwelling in them: so had only one spirit: but in practice also, they had but one spirit; or, rather, the Apostle exhorts them that he might hear this of them: for as a matter of fact, there were two sisters amongst them who had not one spirit. Perhaps these last two words of the Epistle are a final message from the heart of the Apostle to these two sisters, a message to be understood fully by them alone. Perhaps it is a message that some of us need at the present time.
In the second verse of our Epistle, Paul had written: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:77To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)): and now at the close he writes: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Gal. 6:1818Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. <<Unto the Galatians written from Rome.>> (Galatians 6:18)). He begins with grace, and he ends with grace. They owed all to grace, and so do we. Yet, sad to say, naturally our hearts turn from grace to law. We think law can make us what we ought to be: we think making rules can heal these sad quarrels and make us holy, with one spirit: but we are wrong. The Spirit never calls the Galatians ( who loved law) ‘holy’ or ‘saints’. The Apostle, directed by the Spirit of God, is right. What we need is to know more the power of Grace. “The power of unity is grace; and, as man is a sinner and departed from God, the power of gathering is grace— grace manifested in Jesus on the cross, and bringing us to God in heaven, and bringing us in Him who is gone there. This is holiness.” (“Grace the Power of Gathering” J.N.D.).
“May grace, free grace, inspire
Our souls with strength divine;
May ev’ry thought to God aspire,
And grace in service shine.
“Grace all the work shall crown
Though everlasting days;
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise.”
CHRIST! I am Christ’s! and let the name suffice you,
Ay, for me too He greatly hath sufficed;
Lo, with no winning words I would entice you,
Paul has no honor and no friend but Christ.
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Yea, thro’ life, death, thro’ sorrow and thro’ sinning
He shall suffice me, for He hath sufficed:
Christ is the end, for Christ was the beginning,
Christ the beginning, for the end is CHRIST.
(Frederic W. H. Myers)