holding up the word of life, that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.
Parallel Translations
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holding up the word of life, that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.
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holdinge fast the worde of lyfe vnto my reioysynge in the daye of Christ that I have not runne in vayne
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Holding forth the worde of life, that I may reioyce in the day of Christ, that I haue not runne in vaine, neither haue laboured in vaine.
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Philippians 2:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 9:26 I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air,
- Galatians 2:2 I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
- 1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
- John 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
- 2 Corinthians 1:14 as also you acknowledged us in part, that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this cause I also, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain.
- Luke 12:8 “I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, the Son of Man will also confess before the angels of God;
- John 6:63 It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
- Isaiah 49:4 But I said, “I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God.”
- 2 Timothy 2:15-17 Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth. But shun empty chatter, for it will go further in ungodliness, and those words will consume like gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus:
- Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Psalms 71:17 God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
- Romans 10:8-16 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach: that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
- Galatians 4:11 I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.
- Philippians 1:26-27 that your rejoicing may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again. Only let your way of life be worthy of the Good News of Christ, that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the Good News;
- 1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
- 1 Peter 1:23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.
- Psalms 40:9 I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know.
- Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.
- Acts 13:26 Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to you.
- Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16 Holding forth the word of life The reason…
16 Holding forth the word of life The reason why they ought to be luminaries is, that they carry the word of life, by which they are enlightened, that they may give light also to others. Now he alludes to lamps, in which wicks are placed that they may burn, and he makes us resemble the lamps; while he compares the word of God to the wick, from which the light comes. If you prefer another figure — we are candlesticks: the doctrine of the gospel is the candle, which, being placed in us, diffuses light on all sides. Now he intimates, that we do injustice to the word of God, if it does not shine forth in us in respect of purity of life. This is the import of Christ’s saying,
“No man lighteth a candle, and putteth it under a bushel,” etc. (Matthew 5:15.)
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We are said, however, to carry the word of life in such a way as to be, in the mean time, carried by it, inasmuch as we are founded upon it. The manner, however, of carrying it, of which Paul speaks, is, that God has intrusted his doctrine with us on condition, not that we should keep the light of it under restraint, as it were, and inactive, but that we should hold it forth to others. The sum is this: that all that are enlightened with heavenly doctrine carry about with them a light, which detects and discovers their crimes, if they do not walk in holiness and chastity; but that this light has been kindled up, not merely that they may themselves be guided in the right way, but that they may also shew it to others.
That I may have glory. That he may encourage them the more, he declares that it will turn out to his glory, if he has not labored among them in vain. Not as if those who labored faithfully, but unsuccessfully, lost their pains, and had no reward of their labor. As, however, success in our ministry is a singular blessing from God, let us not feel surprised, if God, among his other gifts, makes this the crowning one. Hence, as Paul’s Apostleship is now rendered illustrious by so many Churches, gained over to Christ through his instrumentality, so there can be no question that such trophies will have a place in Christ’s kingdom, as we will find him saying a little afterwards, You are my crown. (Philippians 4:1.) Nor can it be doubted, that the greater the exploits, the triumph will be the more splendid.
Should any one inquire how it is that Paul now glories in his labors, while he elsewhere forbids us to glory in any but in the Lord, (1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17,) the answer is easy — that, when we have prostrated ourselves, and all that we have before God, and have placed in Christ all our ground of glorying, it is, at the same time, allowable for us to glory through Christ in God’s benefits, as we have seen in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. The expression, at the day of the Lord, is intended to stimulate the Philippians to perseverance, while the tribunal of Christ is set before their view, from which the reward of faith is to be expected.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Again he pricketh them forward, setting before them his…
Again he pricketh them forward, setting before them his true Apostolic care that he had of them, comforting them moreover, to the end they should not be sorry for the greatness of his afflictions, no not although he should die to make perfect their oblation with his blood, as it were with a drink offering.
The Gospel is called the word of life, because of the effects which it worketh.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I…
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Ver. 16. Holding forth the word] επεχοντες, as an ensign, or rather as the hand doth the torch, or the watch tower the light, and so the haven to weather beaten mariners.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Holding forth the word of life; carefully bearing before…
Holding forth the word of life; carefully bearing before you, and stedfastly showing, not only by your profession, but conversation, the Lord Jesus Christ, 1Jo 1:1, whose gospel is the word of life, in that it is the power of God to salvation, Act 13:26; Rom 1:16. He doth not say, holding forth carnal institutions, nor human traditions; but that word, wherein is to be had eternal life, Joh 5:39; 6:68.
That I may rejoice in the day of Christ: he quickens them from the consideration of the glorious joy he should have in their salvation, at the day of Christ, {see Phi 1:6} when he and they should, of God’s free grace, receive an abundant reward, viz. of his ministry and exhortation, and of their embracing it, and working out their salvation by God’s special assistance.
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That I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain; for it would be evident to his, as well as their, everlasting comfort, when he should see them, that his laborious ministry amongst them had not been frustrate, or fruitless in the Lord, Mat 25:21; 1Co 3:8,9; 15:58. Then, in a more glorious way they would be his joy and crown, than they were at present, Phi 4:1.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Holding forth the word of life,.... By which may…
Holding forth the word of life,.... By which may be meant, either Christ the essential Word, in whom life was, and is, and who is called the quick or living Word, Joh 1:1; and here may be styled the Word of life, because he has all life in him; he has a divine life in him, as God, he is the living God; and it is given to him to have life in himself, as Mediator, for all his people; and he ever lives as man to make intercession for them: and because he is the author of life in every sense, of natural life to all men, of spiritual and eternal life to as many as the Father has given him: or else the Gospel is intended, and the doctrines of it; and which are sometimes called the words of eternal life, and of this life, Joh 6:68; and that because they are a means of quickening dead sinners, they are a savour of life unto life, Co2 2:16, and the Spirit that giveth life, and of enlivening and comforting living saints; they treat of Christ who is the life; by the Gospel, life and immortality are brought to light; that gives an account of everlasting life; points out Christ as the way to it, shows that meetness for it lies in regenerating grace, and a right unto it is in the righteousness of Christ. Now this Word of life is held forth, partly by the preaching of it to a dark world, as by some; and partly by professing it publicly, as it should be by all who are enlightened with it; and also by living lives and conversations becoming and suitable to it,
That I may rejoice in the day of Christ. The apostle having observed the advantages that would accrue to themselves, and the benefit they might be of to the men of the world, by regarding the several exhortations he had given them, and which ends he mentions as reasons and arguments to enforce them, closes with taking notice of the use and service it would be to himself; it would give him joy and pleasure when Christ should come a second time to judge the world; and when dead in Christ would be raised, and set at his right hand, and these among the rest, to whom the apostle had been useful; and who continued to bear an honourable testimony in the world to Christ, and his Gospel, to the end:
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that I have not run in vain, nor laboured in vain; being blessed with such converts under his ministry, as were a credit to religion, an honour to the Gospel, and a crown of rejoicing to him. He expresses his ministerial function, and the discharge of it, by running in a race, as the ministry of a person is sometimes called his course, Act 13:25; in allusion to the Olympic games, which the apostle often refers to, when the conqueror obtained a crown; and it was enough for our apostle, and a crown of rejoicing to him, that his spiritual children walked in the truth, and as became it, to the end: and also by labour, and hard service, as the ministerial work is, when faithfully performed; and especially as his was, which was attended with so many difficulties, and yet with such constancy, diligence, and indefatigableness, all which was not in vain; and he could look back upon it with pleasure, when his followers stood fast in the faith, and adorned the doctrine of Christ.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Holding forth the word of life] An…
Verse 16. Holding forth the word of life] An allusion, some think, to those towers which were built at the entrance of harbours, on which fires were kept during the night to direct ships into the port. Genuine Christians, by their holy lives and conversation, are the means of directing others, not only how to escape those dangers to which they are exposed on the tempestuous ocean of human life, but also of leading them into the haven of eternal safety and rest.
That I have not run in vain] This appears to be a part of the same metaphor; and alludes to the case of a weather-beaten mariner who has been long tossed on a tempestuous sea, in hazy weather and dark nights, who has been obliged to run on different tacks, and labour intensely to keep his ship from foundering, but is at last, by the assistance of the luminous fire on the top of the tower, directed safely into port. Live so to glorify God and do good to men, that it shall appear that I have not run and laboured in vain for your salvation.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Holding forth the word of life - That is,…
Holding forth the word of life - That is, you are under obligation to hold forth the word of life. It is a duty incumbent on you as Christians to do it. The “word of life” means the gospel, called the “word of life” because it is the message that promises life; or perhaps this is a Hebraism, denoting the living, or life-giving word. The gospel stands thus in contrast with all human systems of religion - for they have no efficacy to save - and to the law which “killeth;” see the Joh 6:63, note, and 2Co 3:6, note. The duty here enjoined is that of making the gospel known to others, and of thus keeping up the knowledge of it in the world. This duty rests on Christians (compare Mat 5:14, Mat 5:16), and they cannot escape from the obligation. They are bound to do this, not only because God commands it, but:
(1) Because they are called into the church that they may be witnesses for God, Isa 43:10.
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(2) Because they are kept on the earth for that purpose. If it were not for some such design, they would be removed to heaven at once on their conversion.
(3) Because there are no others to do it. The frivolous ones will not warn the fools, nor will the proud warn the proud, nor the scoffer the scoffer. The thoughtless and the vain will not go and tell others that there is a God and a Saviour; nor will the wicked warn the wicked, and tell them that they are in the way to hell. There are none who will do this but Christians; and, if they neglect it, sinners will go unwarned and unalarmed down to death. This duty rests on every Christian.
The exhortation here is not made to the pastor, or to any officer of the church particularly; but to the mass of communicants. They are to shine as lights in the world; they are to hold forth the word of life. There is not one member of a church who is so obscure as to be exempt from the obligation; and there is not one who may not do something in this work. If we are asked how this may be done, we may reply:
(1) They are to do it by example. Everyone is to hold forth the living word in that way.
(2) By efforts to send the gospel to those who have it not. There is almost no one who cannot contribute something, though it may be but two mites, to accomplish this.
(3) By conversation. There is no Christian who has not some influence over the minds and hearts of others; and he is bound to use that influence in holding forth the word of life.
(4) By defending the divine origin of religion when attacked.
(5) By rebuking sin, and thus testifying to the value of holiness. The defense of the truth, under God, and the diffusion of a knowledge of the way of salvation, rests on those who are Christians. Paganism never originates a system which it would not be an advantage to the world to have destroyed as soon as it is conceived. Philosophy has never yet told of a way by which a sinner may be saved. The world at large devises no plan for the salvation of the soul. The most crude, ill-digested, and perverse systems of belief conceivable, prevail in the community called “the world.” Every form of opinion has an advocate there; every monstrous vagary that the human mind ever conceived, finds friends and defenders there. The human mind has of itself no elastic energy to bring it from the ways of sin; it has no recuperative power to lead it back to God. The world at large is dependant on the church for any just views of God, and of the way of salvation; and every Christian is to do his part in making that salvation known.
That I may rejoice - This was one reason which the apostle urged, and which it was proper to urge, why they should let their light shine. He had been the instrument of their conversion, he had founded their church, he was their spiritual father, and had shown the deepest interest in their welfare; and he now entreats them, as a means of promoting his highest joy, to be faithful and holy. The exemplary piety and holy lives of the members of a church will be one of the sources of highest joy to a minister in the day of judgment; compare 3Jo 1:4.
In the day of Christ - The day when Christ shall appear - the day of judgment. It is called the day of Christ, because he will be the glorious object which will be prominent on that day; it will be the day in which he will be honored as the judge of all the world.
That I have not run in vain - That is, that I have not lived in vain - life being compared with a race: see the notes at 1Co 9:26.
Neither laboured in vain - In preaching the gospel. Their holy lives would be the fullest proof that he was a faithful preacher.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain To my glory, &c. That is, I beseech you…
To my glory, &c. That is, I beseech you to continue in faith, and comply with the word and doctrine of the gospel, that I may have glory, and rejoice together with you in the day of Christ, when he shall come to judgment. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Holding forth--to them, and so applying it (the common…
Holding forth--to them, and so applying it (the common meaning of the Greek; perhaps here including also the other meaning, "holding fast"). The image of light-bearers or luminaries is carried on from Phi 2:15. As the heavenly luminaries' light is closely connected with the life of animals, so ye hold forth the light of Christ's "word" (received from me) which is the "life" of the Gentiles (Joh 1:4; Jo1 1:1, Jo1 1:5-7). Christ is "the Light of the world" (Joh 8:12); believers are only "light-bearers" reflecting His light.
that I may rejoice in--literally, "with a view to (your being) a subject of rejoicing to me against the day of Christ" (Phi 4:1; Co2 1:14; Th1 2:19).
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that I have not run in vain--that it was not in vain that I labored for your spiritual good.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. The word of life—The gospel. Not only ministers,…
16. The word of life—The gospel. Not only ministers, but private Christians, teaching its doctrines, pointing to its salvation, living in its purity, and illustrating its power in their conduct, are holding it forth, and diffusing its light.
Run in vain—The figure is of the race-course, where the contestant puts forth his best powers, and yet loses the prize.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. Holding forth] as offering it for acceptance; presenting…
16. Holding forth] as offering it for acceptance; presenting it to the notice, enquiry, and welcome, of others. The metaphor of the luminary is dropped.—It is intimated that the faithful Christian will not be content without making direct efforts, however humble and unobtrusive, to win attention to the distinctive message of his Lord.
the word of life] The Gospel, as the revelation of eternal life in Christ. Cp. Joh_6:68; 1Jn_1:1 (where the reference of the phrase is not to the personal Logos; see Westcott there); and see also, in illustration of the meaning of “word” here, 1Jn_5:11-12; and above, on Php_1:14.
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that I may rejoice] Lit., “to (be a) rejoicing for me.” For the thought, cp. 1Th_2:19. He looks forward to a special recognition of his converts at Philippi, at the Lord’s Coming, and to a special “joy of harvest” over them.
in the day of Christ] Lit., “unto the day &c.”; in view of it, till I am in it. On the “day” see note on Php_1:6.
that I have not run] Better, that I did not run. He speaks as if already looking back on life as on one collected past.—“Run”:—a favourite metaphor with St Paul, to represent the energy and progress of life, moving towards its goal. Cp. Act_13:25; Act_20:24 (both Pauline passages); 1Co_9:24; 1Co_9:26; Gal_2:2 (a close parallel), Gal_5:7; 2Ti_4:7. See also Rom_9:16; 2Th_3:1; Heb_12:1.
laboured] Better, did labour; see last note. Cp. 1Th_3:5 for nearly the same words.
in vain] Lit., “to what is empty,” in vacuum. The phrase is peculiar to St Paul in N.T.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Holding forth the word of life.—This translation seems…
(16) Holding forth the word of life.—This translation seems correct, and the reference is to the comparison above. There may, indeed, be (as has been supposed) a reference, involving a change of metaphor, to the holding forth of a torch, for guidance, or for transmission, as in the celebrated torch race of ancient times. But this supposed change of metaphor is unnecessary. The “luminaries” hold forth their light to men, and that light is the “word of life.” Note the same connection in Joh_1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
The word of life.—The phrase “the word of life” is remarkable. Here it signifies, of course, the gospel of Christ. But the gradual progress of this expression should be noted. Of Him His disciples declared that He “has the words” (i.e., the expressed words; see Note on Eph_6:17) “of eternal life” (Joh_6:68); He Himself goes further, and declares that His words are themselves spirit and life (Joh_6:63); here the gospel, as giving that knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ which is “eternal life” (Joh_17:3), is a “word of life;” and all these lead up to the final declaration that He Himself is “the Word of life” (1Jn_1:1).
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Run in vain, neither laboured in vain.—St. Paul’s usual metaphor includes the “race” and the “struggle” of wrestling or boxing (as in 1Co_9:24-26; 2Ti_4:7). In Gal_2:2 he speaks only of the “running in vain.” Here, perhaps, the more general word “labour” (united in Col_1:29 with the word “struggling”) may be taken to express at any rate that element of endurance and watchfulness which the struggle in the arena represents.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Holding forth the word of life. Holding out to…
Holding forth the word of life. Holding out to others. Meyer translates "possessing," and others, as Bengel, "holding fast. This clause should be taken with the first clause of Ver. 15, "That ye may be blameless," etc., he the words, "among whom," etc.. he being parenthetical. That I may rejoice in the day of Christ; literally, for matter of boasting to me against the day of Christ. He boasts or glories in their salvation. "The day of Christ," says Bishop Lightfoot, "is a phrase peculiar to this Epistle, more commonly it is "the day of the Lord. That I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain; translate, did not. The verbs me aorist. He looks back upon his finished course. (comp. Gal_2:2)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Holding forth the word of life--Here is
Php_2:16
Holding forth the word of life--Here is
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I.
A trust. The Word of God--which gives life.
II. A duty. To hold it forth in the conversation, spirit, practice.
III. A motive. Your salvation and our joy--in the day of Christ. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The word of life
The gospel is here thus called (Joh_6:68; Act_5:20), because--
I. By it we are born into a new life (1Pe_1:23).
II. It is the power of God unto salvation (2Co_2:16).
III. Therein Christ, who is our life, is offered to us.
IV. It is a lantern to our feet to lead us to eternal life. (H. Airay, D. D.)
The Bible
I. Is the word of life; it reveals, promises, communicates life.
II. Must be held forth by every believer, by word and example, for his own credit, the worlds benefit, Gods glory. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Holding forth the word of life
I. The character of the gospel. It is the word of life, because--
1. It unfolds the certainty of a blessed immortality. Reason has nothing to report except speculations and probabilities; as witness the conclusions of Socrates and Cicero. The gospel brings life and immortality to light.
2. It exhibits Christ who is essential life Himself, the Author of life natural, spiritual, and eternal. Hence He is called The Life; and He that hath the Son hath life, implying previous death in trespasses and sins. By faith the believer passes from death unto life.
3. It is the instrument of the Spirit in communicating life. Of His own will begat He us, etc., born not of corruptible seed, etc. It is also the means of sustaining life and maturing it.
II. The manner of its exhibition. Holding it forth. What the lighthouse is to the mariner the gospel is to a dark world.
1. Ministers are bound to hold it forth to their congregations as the only sure ground of hope, and adequate means of salvation. Can they with this in their hands amuse them with other topics, or inculcate a lifeless morality?
2. Christians are individually and collectively to hold it forth in their lives for the instruction of mankind. Men are unable to judge of any system save by its practical effects, and few will fail to appreciate a holy life.
3. Our country is bound to hold it forth to heathen nations. (D. Ruell.)
Holding forth the word of life
I. Be sure that you have the truth. You cannot hold forth what you do not possess. Business to be honest must have actual stock or capital. Our commercial and agricultural circles have been and are now disturbed by gambling in deals and futures. Thousands of barrels of oil that never existed, and millions of bushels of grain that never were harvested, have been made the basis of mere speculation. Mortgage and ruin have overtaken multitudes in this illegitimate traffic. There is a godless spiritualism, a Christless Unitarianism, and a Scriptureless new theology, which, however curious they may be, have no breath or life in them for a hungry soul. You might as well send a starving man to a bucket shop for bread as to satisfy your soul with such speculations. The wife of Abraham made cakes for the angels. There have been improvements in bread making since Sarahs day, but nobody yet has been able to make bread without flour. You must have the grain to begin with, and so you must have the truth, the bread of life, before you attempt to feed the famine of the soul.
II. Be sure that you have it unadulterated. Commissions have discovered food adulterations. Innutritious if not poisonous matter has been mixed with wholesome flour, cheapening and degrading it. So the truth has been vitiated by a mixture of philosophy, tradition, etc. It fails to nourish starving souls. The best test of purity is its effect on your own life. Daniel tested the wholsomeness of his coarse pulse, and showed a fairer hue than those who fed on royal dainties.
III. Be sure that you yourselves are living epistles of what you intellectually hold. It is not the printed book that does the work, but the truth which has become the vital texture of your soul. We have a revised version of the Bible for which we are thankful, but every Christian should be a new transcript, a walking word of God. A military man sees at a glance whether a soldier has been trained under old or new schools. Men are not slow to detect whether or not you have been trained by Christ.
IV. How to hold the truth.
1. Not as the miser holds his gold, but hold to give. The merchant gets to give. He is ruined if he cannot sell, and his goods are left to spoil. We ought to be as anxious to disperse as to acquire.
2. Lovingly. Tact is needed in business. Anybody can buy, but to sell is another thing. I once asked a salesman why he was so talkative to one customer and so taciturn to another, and he said that he had always studied character, and knew very quickly how to handle men.
3. Constantly. Notice the present participle in the text, and the continuous action implied. You cannot cover up the Christian character and live. It must have breath. In descending into deep wells, men first lower a candle. If it goes out, they know that death damps are there. No sane person would risk asphyxia. There are places in which no Christian ought to risk himself, because death is there. He will not go to drinking saloons, and other places I need not mention. It is not the darkness there that harms, any more than in the deep well, but it is the death damps!
4. Have confidence in the Word as Gods own message. It is His Word. He will give it success. He ordered the serpent of brass. It mattered not about the pole, whether it were rough or smooth, crooked or straight, large or small, low or high, so that the people could see it. All men had to do was just to look and live. A man once kept on his parlour mantel an ugly oyster shell. When asked why that incongruous thing was there, he told the story of his earlier years. He was a diver. Once he saw a shell in which was held a bit of paper. He took it to the surface, carried it home, deciphered it, and found it a part of a gospel tract. It was blessed to his salvation. The shell was reverently preserved, because it had silently held forth the word of life to him who had long neglected the appeals from human lips. (A. Blackburn, D. D.)
Holding forth the word of life
I. It is your business to hold forth the word of life. Your work on earth is not done when you have saved yourself from an untoward generation. You have to hold your lamps as far in as you can into the dark mass around. God does not call you to a timid, fugitive, skulking piety; a religion which has to lock its doors and bar its windows. There is a part of it which has to do with this. Our lamp must be kindled, trimmed, and fed, in secret. But the office of the lamp is to shine.
II. By what means?
1. By example. Let men see how you live. No one can set limits to the operation of a consistent example. Men are never too old or too young to be struck by it.
2. By sympathy. There is a dry, cold, harsh, stern, mode of expressing the truth; and there is a repulsive, ungenial, precise, stiff, sort of example which never leads men, seeing its good works, to glorify God. Let a man, a child, see that you feel for him and with him in his poverty or sorrow, and not as a superior might do, but as one compared with infirmity.
III. Practical counsels. Much is lest in spiritual as well as in worldly things, by too vague and discursive an aim. As long as we think generally of shining as lights in the world there will be something of unreality in the conception. Let us make the matter more practical by narrowing the bounds.
1. Begin with the home. Is all right there? Remember that those within your own doors see you as none else can.
2. Let each one have a few poor persons to whom he will steadily set himself to carry the word of life. (Dean Vaughan.)
Christian influence
I. What is meant by holding forth the word of life. As a standard bearer holds out an ensign to direct the march or animate the attack; as a man who holds forth a clear light in the midst of darkness to illuminate the path and direct the steps of travellers; as the fires which were kept burning at the entrance of harbours to direct ships into port, so are Christians to hold forth the light of life. It is to be held forth in--
1. Its great and distinguishing doctrines. These are the nerves and sinews of the Word. They must be understood intelligently, and defended valiantly. Be always ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you.
2. In its peculiar spirit. This distinguishes the gospel from every other religious system. It is a spirit of love to God and man (verse 5).
3. In its practice. The imitation of Christ, obedience, self-denial.
4. Eminently, conspicuously.
II. Motives to enforce this duty.
1. The nature and design of the gospel demand this.
2. This is the best means of high Christian attainment.
3. This is the most effective means of usefulness. (J. Hanes, D. D.)
Holding forth the light
When I was a young student, I breakfasted with Caesar Malan at Dr. John Browns. When the doctor told him that I was a young student of divinity, he said to me, Well, my young friend, see that you hold up the lamp of truth to let the people see. Hold it up and trim it well. But remember this: You must not dash the lamp in peoples faces, that would not help them to see. How often have I remembered these words! They have often been of use to me. (Dr. Morison.)
Christians are light holders
At the head of New York Harbour stands a colossal statue of Liberty, a gift from France to America. At night the outstretched hand of the figure holds forth a magnificent display of the electric light, which guides the ships to a safe anchorage. What that statue is to New York Harbour Christians are to the world. They must hold forth the word of life. (R. Brewin.)
Exposure of light bearers
Some years ago I went to see the lighthouse, which, standing on Dunnet Head--the Cape Orcus of the Romans--guards the mouth of Pentland Firth. On ascending the tower, I observed the thick plate glass windows of the lanthorn cracked--starred in a number of places. I turned to the keeper for an explanation. It appears that it is done by stones flung up by the sea. The wave, on being thrown forward against the cliff, strikes it with such tremendous force as to hurl the loose stones at its base right up to the height of three hundred feet. So are the great light bearers, by the exposure of their position, and, in spite of the elevation of their characters, liable to be cracked and starred by the violence of the world. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The prosperity of the pastor, the prosperity of his flock
As in the world a fine and fruitful flock is the riches of the shepherd, an honest and well conducted family the joy and honour of the father, a happy and flourishing state the strength and glory of the prince; so also in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, a holy and blessed Church, abounding in the fruits of righteousness, is the crown, the joy, and the triumph of its pastors. (J. Daille)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 16. Holding forth the word of life. Always preaching…
16. Holding forth the word of life. Always preaching Christ in word, in life, and in deed. That was their work. Unless they did this they were a failure. That I may rejoice. Unless they had done so he would be made to feel, in the day of Christ, the day of accounts, that his labor at Philippi was in vain.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain Php 2:16-18 {R.V.}.
Philippians
A WILLING SACRIFICE
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Php 2:16-18 {R.V.}.
We come here to another of the passages in which the Apostle pours out all his heart to his beloved Church. Perhaps there never was a Christian teacher {always excepting Christ} who spoke more about himself than Paul. His own experience was always at hand for illustration. His preaching was but the generalisation of his life. He had felt it all first, before he threw it into the form of doctrine. It is very hard to keep such a style from becoming egotism.
This paragraph is remarkable, especially if we consider that this is introduced as a motive to their faithfulness, that thereby they will contribute to his joy at the last great testing. There must have been a very deep love between Paul and the Philippians to make such words as these true and appropriate. They open the very depths of his heart in a way from which a less noble and fervid nature would have shrunk, and express his absolute consecration in his work, and his eager desire for their spiritual good, with such force as would have been exaggeration in most men.
We have here a wonderful picture of the relation between him and the church at Philippi which may well stand as a pattern for us all. I do not mean to parallel our relations with that between him and them, but it is sufficiently analogous to make these words very weighty and solemn for us.
I. The Philippians’ faithfulness Paul’s glory in the day of Christ.
The Apostle strikes a solemn note, which was always sounding through his life, when he points to that great Day of Christ as the time when his work was to be tested. The thought of that gave earnestness to all his service, and in conjunction with the joyful thought that, however his work might be marred by failures and flaws, he himself was ‘accepted in the beloved,’ was the impulse which carried him on through a life than which none of Christ’s servants have dared, and done, and suffered more for Him. Paul believed that, according to the results of that test, his position would in some sort be determined. Of course he does not here contradict the foundation principle of his whole Gospel, that salvation is not the result of our own works, or virtues, but is the free unmerited gift of Christ’s grace. But while that is true, it is none the less true, that the degree in which believers receive that gift depends on their Christian character, both in their life on earth and in the day of Christ. One element in that character is faithful work for Jesus. Faithful work indeed is not necessarily successful work, and many who are welcomed by Jesus, the judge, will have the memory of many disappointments and few harvested grains. It was not a reaper, ‘bringing his sheaves with him,’ who stayed himself against the experience of failure, by the assurance, ‘Though Israel be not gathered yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord.’ If our want of success, and others’ lapse, and apostasy or coldness has not been occasioned by any fault of ours, there will be no diminution of our reward. But we can so seldom be sure of that, and even then there will be an absence of what might have added to gladness.
We need not do more than note that the text plainly implies, that at that testing time men’s knowledge of all that they did, and the results of it, will be complete. Marvellous as it seems to us, with our fragmentary memories, and the great tracts of our lives through which we have passed mechanically, and which seem to have left no trace on the mirror of our consciousness, we still, all of us, have experiences which make that all-recovering memory credible. Some passing association, a look, a touch, an odour, a sun-set sky, a chord of music will bring before us some trivial long-forgotten incident or emotion, as the chance thrust of a boat-hook will draw to the surface by its hair, a long-drowned corpse. If we are, as assuredly we are, writing with invisible ink our whole life’s history on the pages of our own minds, and if we shall have to read them all over again one day, is it not tragic that most of us scribble the pages so hastily and carelessly, and forget that, ‘what I have written I have written,’ and what I have written I must read.
But there is another way of looking at Paul’s words as being an indication of his warm love for the Philippians. Even among the glories, he would feel his heart filled with new gladness when he found them there. The hunger for the good of others which cannot bear to think even of heaven without their presence has been a master note of all true Christian teachers, and without it there will be little of the toil, of which Paul speaks in the context, ‘running and labouring.’ He that would win men’s hearts for any great cause must give his heart to them.
That Paul should have felt warranted in using such a motive with the Philippians tells how surely he reckoned on their true and deep love. He believes that they care enough for him to feel the power as a motive with them, that their faithfulness will make Paul more blessed amidst the blessings of heaven. Oh! if such love knit together all Christian teachers and their hearers in this time, and if the ‘Day of Christ’ burned before them, as it did before him, and if the vision stirred to such running and labouring as his, teachers and taught would oftener have to say, ‘We are your rejoicing, even as ye are also ours in the Day of our Lord Jesus.’ The voice of the man who is in the true ‘Apostolic Succession’ will dare to make the appeal, knowing that it will call forth an abundant answer, ‘Look to yourselves that we lose not the things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.’
II. Paul’s death an aid to the Philippians’ faith.
The general meaning of the Apostle’s words is, ‘If I have not only to run and labour, but to die in the discharge of my Apostolic Mission, I joy and rejoice, and I bid you rejoice with me.’ We need only note that the Apostle here casts his language into the forms consecrated for sacrifice. He will not speak of death by its own ugly and threadbare name, but thinks of himself as a devoted victim, and of his death as making the sacrifice complete. In the figure there is a solemn scorn of death, and at the same time a joyful recognition that it is the means of bringing him more nearly to God, with whom he would fain be. It is interesting, as showing the persistence of these thoughts in the Apostle’s mind, that the word rendered in our text ‘offered,’ which fully means ‘poured out as a drink offering,’ occurs again in the same connection in the great words of the swan song in II. Timothy, ‘I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is come.’ Death looked to him, when he looked it in the eyes, and the block was close by him, as it had done when he spoke of it to his Philippian friends.
It is to be noted, in order to bring out more vividly the force of the figure, that Paul here speaks of the libation being poured ‘ on ‘ the sacrifice, as was the practice in heathen ritual. The sacrifice is the victim, ‘service’ is the technical word for priestly ministration, and the general meaning is, ‘If my blood is poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice ministered by you, which is your faith, I joy with you all.’ This man had no fear of death, and no shrinking from ‘leaving the warm precincts of the cheerful day.’ He was equally ready to live or to die as might best serve the name of Jesus, for to him ‘to live was Christ,’ and therefore to him it could be nothing but ‘gain’ to die. Here he seems to be treating his death as a possibility, but as a possibility only, for almost immediately afterwards he says, that he ‘trusts in the Lord that I myself will come shortly.’ It is interesting to notice the contrast between his mood of mind here and that in the previous chapter {i. 25} where the ‘desire to depart and to be with Christ’ is deliberately suppressed, because his continuous life is regarded as essential for the Philippians’ ‘progress and joy in faith.’ Here he discerns that perhaps his death would do more for their faith than would his life, and being ready for either alternative he welcomes the possibility. May we not see in the calm heart, which is at leisure to think of death in such a fashion, a pattern for us all? Remember how near and real his danger was. Nero was not in the habit of letting a man, whose head had been in the mouth of the lion, take it out unhurt. Paul is no eloquent writer or poet playing with the idea of death, and trying to say pretty things about it, but a man who did not know when the blow would come, but did know that it would come before long.
We may point here to the two great thoughts in Paul’s words, and notice the priesthood and sacrifice of life, and the sacrifice and libation of death. The Philippians offered as their sacrifice their faith, and all the works which flow therefrom. Is that our idea of life? Is it our idea of faith? We have no gifts to bring, we come empty-handed unless we carry in our hands the offering of our faith, which includes the surrender of our will, and the giving away of our hearts, and is essentially laying hold of Christ’s sacrifice. When we come empty, needy, sinful, but cleaving wholly to that perfect sacrifice of the Great Priest, we too become priests and our poor gift is accepted.
But another possibility than that of a life of running and labour presented itself to Paul, and it is a revelation of the tranquillity of his heart in the midst of impending danger, all the more pathetic because it is entirely unconscious, that he should be free to cast his anticipations into that calm metaphor of being, ‘offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith.’ His heart beats no faster, nor does the faintest shadow of reluctance cross his will, when he thinks of his death. All the repulsive accompaniments of a Roman execution fade away from his imagination. These are but negligible accidents; the substantial reality which obscures them all is that his blood will be poured out as a libation, and that by it his brethren’s faith will be strengthened. To this man death had finally and completely ceased to be a terror, and had become what it should be to all Christians, a voluntary surrender to God, an offering to Him, an act of worship, of trust, and of thankful praise. Seneca, in his death, poured out a libation to Jupiter the Liberator, and if we could only know beforehand what death delivers us from, and admits us to, we should not be so prone to call it ‘the last enemy.’ What Paul’s death was for himself in the process of his perfecting called forth, and warranted, the ‘joy’ with which he anticipated it. It did no more for him than it will do for each of us, and if our vision were as clear, and our faith as firm as his, we should be more ready than, alas! we too often are, to catch up the exulting note with which he hails the possibility of its coming.
But it is not the personal bearing only of his death that gives him joy. He thinks of it mainly as contributing to the furtherance of the faith of others. For that end he was spending the effort and toil of an effortful and toilsome life, and was equally ready to meet a violent and shameful death. He knew that ‘the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,’ and rejoiced, and called upon his brethren also to ‘joy and rejoice’ with him in his shedding of his martyr’s blood.
The Philippians might well have thought, as we all are tempted to think, that the withdrawal of those round whom our hearts desperately cling, and who seem to us to bring love and trust nearer to us, can only be loss, but surely the example in our text may well speak to our hearts of the way in which we should look at death for ourselves, and for our dearest. Their very withdrawal may send us nearer to Christ. The holy memories which linger in the sky, like the radiance of a sunken sun, may clothe familiar truths with unfamiliar power and loveliness. The thought of where the departed have gone may lift our thoughts wistfully thither with a new feeling of home. The path that they have trodden may become less strange to us, and the victory that they have won may prophesy that we too shall be ‘more than conquerors through Him that loveth us.’ So the mirror broken may turn us to the sun, and the passing of the dearest that can die may draw us to the Dearer who lives.
Paul, living, rejoiced in the prospect of death. We may be sure that he rejoiced in it no less dead than living. And we may permissibly think of this text as suggesting how
‘The saints on earth and all the dead But one communion make,’
and are to be united in one joy. They rejoice for their own sakes, but their joy is not self-absorbed, and so putting them farther away from us. They look back upon earth, the runnings and labourings of the unforgotten life here; and are glad to bear in their hearts the indubitable token that they have ‘not run in vain neither laboured in vain.’ But surely the depth of their own repose will not make them indifferent to those who are still in the midst of struggle and toil, nor the fulness of their own felicity make them forget those whom they loved of old, and love now with the perfect love of Heaven. It is hard for us to rise to complete sympathy with these serenely blessed spirits, but yet we too should rejoice. Not indeed to the exclusion of sorrow, nor to the neglect of the great purpose to be effected in us by the withdrawal, as by the presence of dear ones, the furtherance of our faith, but having made sure that that purpose has been effected in us, we should then give solemn thanksgivings if it has. It is sad and strange to think of how opposite are the feelings about their departure, of those who have gone and of those who are left. Would it not be better that we should try to share theirs and so bring about a true union? We may be sure that their deepest desire is that we should. If some lips that we shall never hear any more, till we come where they are, could speak, would not they bring to us as their message from Heaven, Do ‘ye also joy and rejoice with me’?
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain the day
the day
(See Scofield "1Co 1:8").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:16 Hold firmly to the word of life: Believers…
2:16 Hold firmly to the word of life: Believers must maintain their faith in Christ’s life-giving Good News. God is faithful, but they, too, must remain faithful (1:6; 2:12-13). • run the race: Paul frequently uses athletic language as a metaphor for the Christian life (see 3:12-14; 1 Cor 9:24, 26; Gal 2:2; 5:7; 2 Tim 4:7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.