THE THINGS THAT ARE MORE EXCELLENT
THE THINGS THAT ARE MORE EXCELLENT
JT This section is very attractive, for there is something to be added, and it is the principle of excelling coming into christianity; and the apostle himself is an example to us of excelling. Even if it were to be applied in an ordinary sense, in ordinary affairs, the thought of excelling is a right thought to have in mind; whatever we are going to do, to do it well, to excel in it. If it is right at all, it is right to excel in it. But if you refer to the word of the apostle, then we are, of course, attracted to the excellence of the things, not simply what Paul excelled in, but the excellency of the things that are indicated in this chapter. I suppose Philippians is a sort of pointer to what is excellent, as it is said, “The things that are more excellent” (chapter 1: 10). But even as to ordinary things, here the apostle refers to what marked him as a Jew, in order to combat the Jewish opposers of the truth. “As to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the assembly; as to righteousness which is in the law, found blameless”. So that he himself excelled even in that, and this, no doubt helped him to combat Jewish efforts against the truth. They could not boast much in the presence of Paul, even as to the great distinction that judaism had acquired in the world.
Ques Is this a practical working out of what he has stated, “We are the circumcision”? While he had excelled in these features, and they were gain to him, yet he counted them loss.
JT Yes. “We are the circumcision”. He meant it was a real and genuine thing in its import.
Rem I thought his personal exercises would show what was appropriate to those who took that ground, the genuineness of his desires, what he had really discarded, and what he had really taken on.
JT Quite so. “We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh”. Then he turns to what he could boast in as regards what judaism was, so as to combat those who used it to oppose christianity.
Ques Does he use the same principle in his second epistle to the Corinthians in outlining his own experience as an apostle as over against those who were boasting of themselves?
JT As we pursue that we shall see how Paul excels in what he did in the Lord’s work. We marvel at the things which he did in his lifetime. We do not get them all in Corinthians, but there he gives such a list that you marvel at it, showing how the principle of excelling was with him. It seems to me that it would be wise for the young people, brothers and sisters, to take on the thought of doing things well, excelling in them. In christianity, of course, the object is obvious, because we are very often half-hearted in what we profess. If things are worth professing at all they are worth excelling in.
AM Does Paul open out to the Corinthians, that the way to excel is the way of love? Without love one is nothing.
JT Yes, surely. “Yet shew I unto you a way of more surpassing excellence”. What a thought that is for us to lay hold of as being called, coming into christianity, to go in for it fully and wholly.
AM That would be an abstract idea as Paul presents it to the Corinthians, but here we have something very concrete and substantial?
JT As to these elements referred to, he points out that he excels in them. We have read certain of them. Then he says, “What things were gain to me these I counted, on account of Christ, loss ... if any way I arrive at the resurrection from among the dead”. Evidently he had the idea of the resurrection [p. 426] from among the dead as the prime thought in his mind to attain to. He wanted to attain to it experimentally.
FW So that once christianity has come in, is it that everything in comparison with that is to be considered negative?
JT Just so, in comparison with that. So we are led to think of the excellencies of Christ, what they really are. Paul’s judgment was based on experience in some sense.
FW Why does he use such very strong language in verse 8? “For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”?
JT I suppose it is to bring out his own estimate of values. Paul is challenged as to whether things which might be called good, should become as filth, so that it is a question of the ability that one acquires to judge as to comparative values.
JP So that in chapter 1 the apostle prays “that ye may judge of and approve the things that are more excellent”.
JT That was just what we were alluding to a moment ago. It is characteristic in this epistle.
FW Is it to emphasise that the thought concerning the flesh is so radical that it must be regarded in the light of those words, whereas the christian position is that the believer is in Christ, not in the flesh?
JT Just so.
Ques Is there a reference to the prophetic word “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”, Isaiah 64: 6? It is not our sins but our righteousnesses. Is there a reference to this in Paul saying “not having my righteousness”?
JT That is good.
Rem It is the best features of the flesh that are the trouble, [p. 427] not the worst ones.
JT Yes.
AM Would not the concision seek to preserve those kinds of features, just as Saul preserved Agag, and so on?
JT Seeking to preserve these things, not going all the way in judging them.
AM The circumcision would be going the whole way.
JT Quite so. Hence, “We are the circumcision”. Paul went the whole way with the truth of circumcision.
AED The emphasis would be on the word “all things” in verse 8; not just a few things.
JT Quite so.
Ques Does it show that experimentally we come to a judgment? But then it needs to be maintained, for Paul speaks in the past tense; then he speaks in the present. Is that a practical working out of circumcision? He says, “What things were gain to me these I counted, on account of Christ, loss”, and also, “I count also all things to be loss”. Is the maintenance of the matter important?
JT Quite so. That is to say, not consenting to it as a matter of light to be enjoyed, but to be maintained in its full effect, because the thought of God is that we should be in the thing fully. The full effect of christianity is the testimony. As we proceed in the chapter we shall see how the apostle worked it out in himself, and how he regards the goal, in his mind. He stretched himself out towards it. That is to say, he would excel in that. He did not reckon he had fully reached it, but it was reachable, and if anyone would reach it, it would be he.
DJM So he says, “if any way”. Does that mean that no suffering would deter him?
JT Whatever obstacle there might be, the point was to reach the goal.
[p. 428] FW Is that a positive thing, the knowledge of “the power of his resurrection”? Not only the great fact of it, but the power of it, for that to be known?
JT “If any way I arrive at the resurrection from among the dead”.
Ques Is that arriving in soul experience?
JT That is what I thought. God intends to have one man to lead in things, and, you might say, in everything. So as to the question of knowledge, there was one who knew the mystery, for instance. God had one man in that way here to set out the truth of things, and there can be nothing to equal them. He had this man in His mind, and the Lord laid hold of him to work out things in him. It was a triumph, really, that it was so, that there was one man capable, equal to be used in anything that would be needed in the way of indicating what christianity really is.
Ques Is that what is meant by the ‘delineation’ in the word to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1: 16?
JT It had in mind those who would believe on Christ “to life eternal”. God is not saying that it is the best that can be done. It is the best, of course, but I am really seeking to indicate the idea of our doing the best possible; the thing must be done according to the full thought of God, and there is one man who exemplifies it. It is Christ, of course; but still, it is Paul; and this book, especially this chapter, is intended to set out for us that thought.
Ques Is that why he could say, “Be imitators all together of me” (verse 17.)?
JT Just so. He could say that without any hesitation.
FW “You have us for a model”. Is that the point? “Be imitators all together of me, brethren, and fix your eyes on those walking thus as you have us for a model”.
ET What would be understood by, “the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus”?
JT The importance is in the words “on high”, not simply the calling of God. That might be choice, but “the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus” is to bring out what there is on the part of God, what you might call the expanse, that which is seen on the second day, the sphere of His operations, and what He can do. He has this man in that sphere. This chapter is to bring out what can be done. What a vessel Paul must have been to God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the whole divine thought is to be exemplified in him.
Rem And all the more remarkable seeing he was in prison.
JT Quite so. He was just waiting to see what would turn out for him, but this was what is going on in his own soul.
AM In connection with what was going on in Paul’s soul, what would be the distinction between “to know ... the power of his resurrection”, and then “arrive at the resurrection from among the dead”?
JT Verse 10 reads, “To know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings”. The stress is on “his”, not simply the thought of the resurrection, as, for instance, in connection with Lazarus or others, but the power of His resurrection covers the whole divine thought. That is to be realised, and realised in Paul’s soul. Of course, the raising of Lazarus was power. The raising of Jairus’ daughter, and others too, was power; but this is the power of Christ’s resurrection.
AM And then arriving at the resurrection from among the dead, would that be something more general?
JT It would be more general.
AWB You spoke about “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus”. I was wondering about Isaiah 35, “the excellency of Carmel and Sharon”, and “the excellency of our God”. Is this something additional in Philippians 3, “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus”?
JT I would have thought so by the way Paul deals with it here. He is dealing with the greatness of christianity, what is set out in Christ. Paul was aiming at that, that he would come to it himself. God was with him in it. It is to be attained to. Christianity has been fully expressed, not only in Christ, but in Paul.
DJM Is this the moral road to it, the fellowship of His sufferings?
JT That is it exactly. If anyone wishes to win Christ, this is the moral road to it. It is quite a good word to use.
Ques Is that why he brings what we might call a Roman touch into this passage: “That I may be found in him, not having my righteousness”? Is it not an evidence that in the most spiritual touches that marked Paul, he carried forward the truth of the gospel in his soul?
JT Yes. It is mentioned of Abraham that as believing it was reckoned to him as righteousness. It is a question of righteousness by faith now.
AED Would you say a word as to the end of verse 12? “Seeing that also I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus”.
JT Of course, that would be the guarantee in Paul’s soul that what he was aiming at would materialise. He was taken possession of by Christ Jesus, but then he was working the thing out in his soul, and the Lord would be with him in that. Taken possession of is one thing, but he is not satisfied with that. It is a blessed thing to have, and be satisfied with the thing in an objective sense, but then Paul [p. 431] is labouring on positive lines and the Holy Spirit, of course, is operating in him to that end.
FW In verse 12 he says he is not already perfected. In verse 15 it says, “As many therefore as are perfect, let us be thus minded”. What is the difference between the two thoughts?
JT I think is it what would be acceptable. Matthew says, “As your heavenly Father is perfect”, Matthew 5: 48. We have to read a statement like that in the spirit of it, and get the meaning of it. So we are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. We have to work it out, what God is in His operations here. Paul is an example to His people.
Ques Would you think that being perfected would really await its consummation till the latter part of the chapter comes about, the actual conforming to Christ, and the second is rather the idea of growing up into the thing as being fully matured?
JT The position is, that it is the time of the Holy Spirit. There are things that enter into that. It is not what it will be in the coming glory exactly, but what enters into that in the present time is to be regarded as perfect and belonging to christianity.
Rem So that Paul in writing to the Hebrews speaks not only of full growth, but the things that belong to full growth. Is that what you have in mind?
JT Yes. They belong to the Spirit’s realm where the operations are going on. So that they are attainable by any of us if, we go in for them. This chapter is to show what is attainable on this line, because it is a question of working out real christianity.
JP Is the word in verse 10 important in that connection, “the fellowship of his sufferings”? They peculiarly come into the position at the present time.
JT Well, sharing in it. That is the principle of the fellowship. We are to share in the sufferings of [p. 432] Christ.
FW So that Paul has nothing less in his soul than the full standard of christianity.
JT The full standard. And it has a status in heaven, so to speak. Christianity has its proper status in heaven. It is what is attainable in view of what has been accomplished, and what the Spirit has done here. But then there is the full thought of God in what we get in the latter part of the chapter. It says, “As many therefore as are perfect, let us be thus minded; and if ye are any otherwise minded”. That is to say let us keep on together as far as possible. “And if ye are any otherwise minded, this also God shall reveal to you”. God is operating to help us through. “But whereto we have attained, let us walk in the same steps. Be imitators all together of me, brethren, and fix your eyes on those walking thus as you have us for a model”. Paul was the model, the standard. God helped him.
AWG I notice Paul uses the expression “I pursue” once or twice.
JT The allusion is a technical one. ‘Lay yourselves out fully for it’. Attain to it. It is attainable. “For many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ”. He touches on the terribleness of enemies in that sense; working against him as enemies of God. “Whose end is destruction, whose God is the belly, and their glory in their shame, who mind earthly things”. It is brought down to that, but worse than that, really, could be said of such enemies. But “our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour”. That is to say, the apostle is thinking of salvation in the full thought of what is to be attained, of what is in Christ.
Ques And whilst he is waiting he is stretching towards the mark?
[p. 433] JT Quite so.
EESL Is it noteworthy that he uses the word ‘us’ including Timothy, not only Paul the aged, but a relatively young man? He says, “you have us for a model”.
JT Just so. He had the full thought in his mind. It was attainable in his mind; it was possible. And now perhaps we might apply ourselves more fully to the end of the chapter. “For our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens”. That is to say, our system of living is in heaven. It is the full thought of God. The Lord’s body is the thought for us to have in mind. “Who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory”. These are the two extremes, our body of humiliation, and His body of glory. It is not simply what He is as risen, but what He is as glorified — His body of glory. We need to see how that develops in the chapter. It says, “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is”, 1 John 3: 2.
Ques “We shall see him as he is”. Does that emphasise what was just said? John says that he had seen the Lord in the forty days. Is there something in what John says that synchronises with what Paul had in view?
JT Yes. I thought so. “If it is manifested we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is”.
Rem I wondered if it was the very greatest thought that we could conceive.
JT I think it is. God has that in His mind for us too, and it is all going to be effected by Christ, for it is a question of salvation. The word salvation covers much. We have the same thought in Romans 8: 23 as to sonship: “And not only that, but even we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we also ourselves groan in ourselves, awaiting adoption, that is, the redemption of our body”, adoption here is sonship. I would say Romans 8 is not quite so full as our chapter, because it is a question here of the Lord’s body of glory that we are to be conformed to. Romans 8 says we are awaiting sonship. The idea of sonship synchronises with what we are thinking of.
DJM Is it calculated to make us buoyant and happy?
JT Quite so. What thoughts are before us tonight!
Ques Do you think it would also help us to appreciate “the power which he has even to subdue all things to himself”? But the finishing touch will be, “who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory”. He has that power now, it is operating now, is it not?
JT Quite so.
FW Has the expression in Corinthians, “our house which is from heaven”, anything to do with this passage?
JT I would rather think so. “We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”; we await that. Wonderful thought!
FW Is there some way in which that is being, in a sense, prepared now morally, in order that the body literally raised will be manifested with it at the time of glory?
JT Quite so. In 1 Corinthians 15 (if the brethren wish to look into this matter more fully and carefully) you are sown in corruption and dishonour, and raised in incorruptibility and glory.
Ques It is sown, it is raised; does not that show that identity is retained?
JT I think so. I think the thought of identity must be there. “The dead” carries that with it.
Ques I would like to ask, when you speak of Romans 8, “awaiting adoption”, whether that means the full thought of sonship as including conformity to Christ? That does not militate against what Paul says to the Galatians that we are sons now. We are not waiting for it in that [p. 435] sense.
JT We are sons of God by faith. It is on the principle of faith we get it. This chapter presents the full thought of the reality of it.
JP May we have a word as to the commonwealth? In Colossians it says, “Ye have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God”. The word here is, “Our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens”. Would it be a wider thought?
JT There would not be much difference. “Your life is hid with the Christ in God”. It is pretty much the idea of what is in mind here, as to the word commonwealth.
JP ‘Associations of life’, is the idea according to J.N.D.’s footnote.
JT That is it.
ET It is timely that the brethren here should be reminded of our living associations, our own commonwealth, because there is fresh pressure coming to some in the railways in membership of the unions being compulsory. It will be a test. It is a time of suffering.
JT Yes. It is a time of suffering. I am quite sure we are now realising anticipatively what is ahead of us. The Lord is speaking to us indeed in this very chapter. If we enter into these thoughts we shall be above it all.
JP Is the word “together” important in verse 17? The apostle uses it a great deal, and says here, “Be imitators all together of me”.
JT The brethren are to be moving together. The word ‘together’ is a characteristic word in christianity. “Raised us up together”, “made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus”.
Rem The enjoyment of the commonwealth, being our commonwealth, would practically involve that. It is not a lonely thought, or an individual link [p. 436] with the Lord, it is a linking on with the amenities which christianity involves, with the saints, is it not?
JT Yes.
AWG “We await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour”. Would Paul include himself in that?
JT Quite. The thought that has been expressed is that salvation includes all this, includes sonship. We are awaiting that, we do not await soul salvation, but body salvation; the redemption of the body. Body salvation is involved in what we are saying.
Ques Is that what you referred to as complete salvation?
JT Quite so.
AED Would not the enjoyment of this deepen feelings, as Paul tells us in verse 18, “now tell you even weeping”? Are not these feelings to be developed in us?
JT I just wonder how much we know about these feelings, these tears, as mentioned here. “Remembering thy tears”, Paul says to Timothy.
Rem It does not seem as if Paul ever wept over his own conditions, pressing conditions and limitations that came upon him, but rather in relation to the truth and the conflict that was going on, ever moving on with what the Lord was giving.
JT We do not want to be behind in these things. Paul would indicate that we do not want to be behind. He would fill out the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake.
JP Is it interesting to note what you drew attention to at the beginning of the meeting, that the very hall-mark of the apostle’s zeal was persecuting the assembly, and now what you quote in Colossians 1: 24: “I fill up that which is behind of the tribulations of Christ in my flesh, for his body, which is the assembly”.
JT That is the allusion, as if Paul would not omit that. They were the things he was engaged [p. 437] with on the dark side. As to zeal, he calls it persecuting the assembly; the kind of zeal belonging to judaism, showing what judaism is, but the thought of persecuting the assembly enters into it characteristically. Whatever it may mean now, persecuting the assembly was its feature. Paul knew it well because he was engaged in it.
Ques He would excel no less now in suffering for it?
JT Yes.
Ques Referring again to the “on high”, and “in the heavens, from which also we await”, does that suggest the direction to which our gaze would turn, and to which we look for this great final phase of christian experience? In the raising of Lazarus the Lord lifted up his eyes “on high”.
JT Yes.
AWB In Acts 20: 31, tears were a great feature with Paul. For three years he ceased not admonishing the Ephesians night and day with tears.
JT It shows what a feeling man he was. God is watching for such tears.