The Example of Paul (Phil. 4:9)

There are several statements in this section that we have found surprising because of the extent of Paul’s requirements. For example, his exhortation to rejoice says that we should rejoice always. Yet we know that there are circumstances in which we cannot find joy, such as a tragedy. The answer to our problem is found in the location or sphere in which joy can be found permanently – ‘in the Lord.’ There is not a circumstance in life in which a Christian cannot turn to the Lord and find in him a source of comfort and joy.

Again, Paul exhorts his readers to be ‘anxious for nothing’. Yet there are many legitimate concerns in life, and Paul himself says in this letter that he had a great concern for the health of Epaphroditus when he was very ill. The answer to our problem is to note that Paul says our response to legitimate and inappropriate concerns is not apathy or stoicism, but prayer; which, of course, is what he did regarding his concern for the health of Epaphroditus.

So there are answers to difficulties that we may have with the absoluteness of some of Paul’s statements. Yet what can we say about his instruction in verse 9 in which he tells his readers to imitate him! To our surprise, he does not follow it with an answer; instead he increases our astonishment when he makes a categorical promise that, if we do imitate him, we will have the company of the God of peace.

Instructed minds

Paul mentions four aspects of his relationship which they should imitate. First, he refers to doctrines that he had taught them, which is obviously a reference to the understanding of each of them. Paul obviously wants them to hold on mentally to the doctrines that he had explained to them. He was sure that all he had taught them was for their spiritual benefit. A preacher or pastor who can make this claim is a happy man. Paul may have worried about what they would do with his teaching, but he had no worries about what he had taught them.

It was not only with regard to the Philippians that Paul made this claim. During his final meeting with the elders of the church in Ephesus, he reminded them of his ministry among them: ‘And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God’ (Acts 20:25-27).

There is no need to limit this role to pastors and preachers. The same should be said of Sunday School teachers, Young People’s leaders, and parents. It is good for them if they can say that they did not pass any wrong teaching.

How did Paul know that he taught the truth? He knew that he only passed on what he had been instructed to do by Jesus. Paul himself, at the same time that he was the teacher of others, was a pupil in the school of Christ. He received his instruction from his Master and Teacher. Since he was totally loyal to his Master, Paul’s understanding was committed to preserving the truths of the Christian faith, and he would not allow any person, even the apostle Peter, to hide an aspect of one doctrine. If we follow Paul’s method and submit ourselves to the teaching of Christ, we will be able to tell others to imitate our doctrines.

Responsive hearts

The second aspect of Paul’s relationship with the Philippians concerns their reception of the gospel. In addition to a mental response to his teaching, they had a heart and volitional response, which suggests that they caught from Paul, as it were, a delight in and desire to work out the implications of these doctrines that they understood. In his work of building the church in Philippi in its early days, Paul had aimed to produce balanced Christians. He did not want Christians who only had a big mind along with a cold heart and static will; nor did he want Christians who only had a large heart but a mind empty of Christian truth.

In what ways would they have received the truths of the Christian gospel? No doubt there would have been a sense of wonder at the amazing, stupendous grace of almighty God. As they grasped that the Creator God had sent his Son as a substitute for sinners, that on the cross of Calvary he had paid the penalty of their sins, that they could be reconciled to him and forgiven their sins, that they had become members of the heavenly family with the guaranteed prospects of receiving a permanent home in the heavenly world. As they had received Paul’s instructions, their hearts would have been in awe.

In addition to a sense of wonder, there would also have been great joy. When we think about the statement of Jesus that we should receive the gospel like a child, we tend to stress that this means we should receive it simply, and no doubt this is true. Yet I would also suggest that Jesus was indicating that there would also be joy. We can see the joy in children when they receive an unexpected present. Surely there would have been great joy in the church in Philippi as they grasped the great truths that Paul was preaching.  

A third feature of a healthy response to understanding the Christian faith is love to God, to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As the psalmist says in Psalm 116:1: ‘I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.’ Love is the response to God in light of all that he had done for us. John summarises this response in 1 John 4:19: ‘We love him because he first loved us.’

Listening ears

Paul mentions another feature of their relationship when he says that they ‘heard’ what he had taught them and what they had received. Obviously, they would have been listening to him when he was instructing them. Yet I suspect that Paul has more in mind here than the fact that his words echoed in their ears. I think he means that they heard in the sense that they retained what he had taught them. Today we don’t hear in this way because we can read a person’s teaching in a book or we can take notes of what he says. These options were not available to Paul’s listeners in the main. The necessary aim of his listeners was to retain what he had said. (One parallel activity is to memorise what we have read from Paul.) But as far as their response was concerned, it would have been attentive (apparently some people today only retain 10% of what they here), and I think it would have also been frequent. It is true, the more we here something said, the more we should retain.

Behaviour

The order of activities in this verse is significant. An understanding mind and a receptive heart is needed before we will hear in an appropriate way. The problem of retention is often the result of a lack of attentiveness, and the cure for this lack is an instructed mind and a warm heart. And if there is an important order in Paul’s list, then we need to have an understanding mind, a responsive heart and a retentive memory in order to have the right practice.

This fourth element of behaviour was essential in a credible teacher in Israel and in the church. Today, we stress that teachers have the information and the ability to teach, but we are not concerned what their private morals are. By this outlook, we are dividing up a person and making the strange assumption that somehow their general behaviour is not very important. In contrast to this method, a person would not be regarded as a suitable teacher in Israel and in the church if his behaviour was not in line with what he taught. He could not say, ‘Do what I say, but ignore what I do.’ Instead it was obvious whether he was doing it or not. This is why Paul is not indicating pride when he says that his behaviour should be copied. In fact, his readers would have been appalled if he had said anything else.

With regard to his practice, there are many things that could be said about Paul’s behaviour. But I will mention three outstanding qualities of his Christian behaviour.

First, his behaviour was Christ-centred. This is clear from what he has written earlier in this letter (3:10ff). Paul was devoted to Jesus, and the Philippians observed a man totally passionate about his Saviour. Christ was the centre and the circumference of Paul’s life.

Second, Paul’s behaviour was marked by prayer. This was the mark by how he was identified to Ananias by the Lord shortly after the Damascus Road experience. His letters are full of references to his prayers, and to the vast number of people for whom he prayed and the wide range of issues about which he prayed. These references make it obvious that Paul could make this claim without being regarded as hypocritical. When his recipients heard him mention his prayer life, they knew that it was true.

Third, Paul’s behaviour was marked by a heavenly perspective. Paul always had in mind the eternal world, and how his current behaviour would affect his degree of glory. Sometimes we give the impression that such an outlook smacks of pride, but I suspect we say that because we know we don’t really have that perspective. I suspect Paul watched his words to ensure they were not taken up with earthly concerns; I am sure he took great care about his actions, especially in not doing anything that would reduce his sense of heavenly reality. The bottom line is this: if we live for this world, we will get the tinsels this world can give; if we live for the next world, we will get the glory of which that world will be composed. Paul knew that he could get a crown, and he was determined, through divine grace, to obtain it.

In concluding this section, I would make two other comments. First, Paul’s words here tell us to choose our models carefully; indeed, to choose the best models possible. We should not imitate a person who does not practice what he believes about the Bible (or preaches about it); indeed we should not listen to a person who lives in such a way. The way to locate a model is to note how he/she responds to Christ, engages in prayer, and lives for heaven. We can find such models in our churches, in Christian biographies and in the Bible.

Second, we should live in such a way that people will be able to remember our Christian distinctives in ten years’ time. Over a decade had past since Paul had last been in Philippi, yet he expected them to recall his way of doing things. Obviously, the only way to guarantee such a response from others in the future is to live carefully for Jesus in the present. It only takes one wrong action or outburst to prevent people from recalling our devotion to Christ (although if they have witnessed wrong behaviour by us, it can be remedied by witnessing our life of repentance).

It seems to me that Paul is almost writing a spiritual self-assessment in verses 1-9 of Philippians 4. If any of his readers had said that they did not know how to live in harmony with others, Paul would reply, ‘Recall how I lived when my team and I were with you in Philippi.’ If any would say that they did not know how to rejoice in adverse circumstances, Paul could remind them of the songs of joy that Silas and he sang when in the prison in Philippi, and the jailor would should out ‘Amen’. If any would say that they did not know how to be gentle (a despised outlook at that time), Paul could point to how he interacted with them (writing to the Thessalonians he says to them that he treated them in the way a nurse will treat children). Should any of them be burdened with anxiety, Paul could point them to how he prayed about such situations.

Each believer should be able to say the same. Paul’s description here is how normal Christianity works itself out in the lives of sinners. Each of us should be able to testify personally about how the grace of God has helped us, and we should be willing to share that experience with others.

A Guaranteed Consequence

Paul informs his readers that if they live in such a way, they will know the presence of God. In verse 7, he had said that the peace of God would accompany prayer in anxious situations. Here, in verse 9, he turns the phrase around, and instead of saying ‘the peace of God’, he says, ‘The God of peace shall be with you.’ The change in the order of words points to a change in emphasis, one that stresses the personal aspect of our relationship with God.

First, we should note that what Paul is describing here is possible for all of us. Such an experience is not limited to those Christians who do great things for God. We should never assume that such an experience cannot be ours.

Second, such an experience makes the Christian life pleasant whatever may be the circumstances we are going through. We have all met believers whose demeanours made it obvious that they were experiencing God’s peaceful presence even in the darkest of situations.

Third, the company of the God of peace is a foretaste of heaven because, whatever else can be said of Paradise, it is the place of perfect peace. Walking with God through the world of problems and danger not only brings security, it also removes fear and fills our heart with the atmosphere of the perfect world.

Fourth, when two people walk together, they share what each has to give. We give to God our love, our fears, our failures, our confessions of sin with penitent words. He gives to us peace: the peace of his promises, the peace of his pardon, the peace of heavenly prospects, the peace of his presence.

Paul is writing from experience here. So if we want to know this profound blessing, we will have to live in a way similar to how that devoted apostle of Jesus Christ lived: ‘The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.’