whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
Parallel Translations
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whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
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whose ende is dampnacion whose God is their bely and whose glory is to their shame which are worldely mynded.
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Whose ende is damnation, whose God is their bellie, and whose glorie is to their shame, which minde earthly things.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (48)
Passages linked to Philippians 3:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 16:18 For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
- Romans 8:5-7 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
- 2 Peter 2:3 In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
- Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
- Jude 1:12-13 These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
- 2 Corinthians 11:15 It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
- 2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
- Hosea 4:7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.
- 2 Corinthians 11:12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from those who desire an occasion, that in which they boast, they may be found even as we.
- Galatians 6:13 For even they who receive circumcision don’t keep the law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh.
- 2 Peter 2:13 receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;
- Psalms 17:14 from men by your hand, Yahweh, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.
- 1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?
- Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Ezekiel 34:3 You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You kill the fatlings, but you don’t feed the sheep.
- Malachi 1:12 “But you profane it, in that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.’
- 1 Corinthians 5:2 You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.
- 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
- Philippians 2:21 For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;
- 2 Thessalonians 2:12 that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
- 1 Timothy 6:5 constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.
- 2 Timothy 3:4 traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
- Titus 1:11-12 whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.”
- 2 Peter 2:17-19 These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.
- Jude 1:16 These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts—and their mouth speaks proud things—showing respect of persons to gain advantage.
- Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- 1 Samuel 2:11-16 Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served Yahweh before Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were wicked men. They didn’t know Yahweh. The custom of the priests with the people was that when anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant came while the meat was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand; and he stabbed it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. The priest took all that the fork brought up for himself. They did this to all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. Yes, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw.” If the man said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take as much as your soul desires;” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.”
- Psalms 4:6-7 Many say, “Who will show us any good?” Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us. You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased.
- Psalms 52:1 Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man? God’s loving kindness endures continually.
- Isaiah 56:10-12 His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark— dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who can’t understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. “Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be as today, great beyond measure.”
- Micah 3:5 Yahweh says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, “Peace!” and whoever doesn’t provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:
- Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.”
- Habakkuk 2:15-16 “Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies! You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
- Matthew 16:23 But he turned, and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
- Matthew 25:41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
- Luke 12:19 I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’
- Luke 12:45-46 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful.
- Luke 16:19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
- Luke 18:4 He wouldn’t for a while, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God, nor respect man,
- Hebrews 6:6-8 and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame. For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it and produces a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
- James 4:16 But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
- Revelation 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- Revelation 20:9-10 They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- Ezekiel 13:19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies.’
- Romans 6:21 What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
- Jude 1:4 For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 18:7 However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, ‘I sit a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see mourning.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 19 Whose end is destruction He adds this in…
19 Whose end is destruction He adds this in order that the Philippians, appalled by the danger, may be so much the more carefully on their guard, that they may not involve themselves in the ruin of those persons. As, however, profligates of this description, by means of show and various artifices, frequently dazzle the eyes of the simple for a time, in such a manner that they are preferred even to the most eminent servants of Christ, the Apostle declares, with great confidence , that the glory with which they are now puffed up will be exchanged for ignominy.
Whose god is the belly As they pressed the observance of circumcision and other ceremonies, he says that they did not do so from zeal for the law, but with a view to the favor of men, and that they might live peacefully and free from annoyance. For they saw that the Jews burned with a fierce rage against Paul, and those like him, and that Christ could not be proclaimed by them in purity with any other result, than that of arousing against themselves the same rage. Accordingly, consulting their own ease and advantage, they mixed up these corruptions with the view of mitigating the flames of others.
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 Which they hunt after at men’s hands.
Reward.
Which they hunt after at men’s hands.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their…
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
Ver. 19. Whose god is their belly] A scavenger, whose living is to empty, is to be preferred before him that liveth but to fill privies; as they do that make their gut their god, that dunghill deity. Such a one was that Pamphagus, Nabal, Dives, and others, that digested in hell what they ate on earth. They say the locust is all belly, which is joined to his mouth and endeth at his tail. The spider also is little else than belly. The dolphin hath his mouth almost in his very belly; the ass-fish hath his heart in his belly. (Solinus. Aristot.) In mea patria Deus venter est, et in diem vivitur. In my country (saith Jerome) their belly is their god, they live from hand to mouth, &c. Epicurus said, that eternal life was nothing else but an eternal eating and drinking; ωστε παντα χρονον διαγειν μεθυοντας. See my Common Place of Abstinence.
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Who mind earthly things] As they have their hands elbow deep in the world, so their minds are shut in their chests, as dead bodies are buried in coffins; they are interred in the Golgotha of this world, as moles in their hillocks.
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 Whose end is destruction; their condition will at last…
Whose end is destruction; their condition will at last be miserable, as he had limited above, Phi 1:28, of their being under the dismal token of perdition; their end will be according to their works, 2Co 11:15. However they may live delicately at present, in gratifying their sensual appetites, be free from persecution, admired and respected by many, and please themselves in their present course, yet their fruit and wages at the last cast will be dreadful, Rom 6:21,23; Ga 6:8; Rev 18:8; 19:20,21.
Whose God is their belly; the great business of these is, their sensuality, their good eating and drinking; they mind the pleasing of their carnal appetite, as if it were their God, 2Pe 2:13,18; 3:3; instead of our Lord Jesus Christ, really they serve their own belly, Rom 16:18, love their pleasures indeed more than God, 2Ti 3:4.
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And whose glory is in their shame; yea, they boast of those things whereof they ought to be ashamed, thinking it reputation they have got many to imitate thein, Joh 5:44; 12:43 they are puffed up with that which should rather make them to blush, 1Co 5:2, as being attended at last with confusion.
Who mind earthly things; however under the colour of Christianity, they at present are taken up in the pursuit of their sensual and earthly enjoyments. The Greek word comprehends the actions and operations of the mind, will, and affections, importing they did inordinately mind, favour, and relish sublunary accommodations, Rom 8:5, the profits, ease, bounty, pleasure, and glory of this world, preferring them in their hearts to the things of Christ.
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 For our conversation is in heaven,.... The Ethiopic version…
For our conversation is in heaven,.... The Ethiopic version renders it, "we have our city in heaven"; and the words may be truly rendered, "our citizenship is in heaven"; that is, the city whereof we are freemen is heaven, and we behave ourselves here below, as citizens of that city above: heaven is the saints' city; here they have no continuing city, but they seek one to come, which is permanent and durable; a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, Heb 11:10, as yet they are not in it, though fellow citizens of the saints, and of the household of God; they are pilgrims, strangers, and sojourners on earth, Lev 25:23; but are seeking a better country, an heavenly one, and God has prepared for them a city, Heb 11:16; they have a right unto it through the grace of God, and righteousness of Christ, and a meetness for it in him; and their conversation is here beforehand, while their commoration, or temporary residence, is below; their thoughts are often employed about it; their affections are set upon it, Col 3:2; their hearts are where their treasure is, Mat 6:21; the desires of their souls are towards it, and they are seeking things above, and long to be in their own city, and Father's house, where Christ is; and to be at home with him, and for ever with him. This is the work and business of their lives now, and what their hearts are engaged in. The Syriac version renders it, "our work is in heaven"; the business, the exercise of our lives, and of our graces, tend that way:
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; Christ is now in heaven, at the Father's right hand, Act 2:33, appearing in the presence of God for his people, and making intercession for them, Heb 7:25; and so will remain, until the time of the restitution of all things; when he will descend from heaven, and be revealed from thence: and this the saints look for, and expect; they have good reason for it; from his own words, from the words of the angels at the time of his ascension, Act 1:11, and from the writings of the apostles and they expect him not merely as a Judge, under which consideration he will be terrible to the ungodly, but as a Saviour; who as he has already saved their souls from sin, and the dreadful effects of it, from the bondage and curse of the law, from the captivity of Satan, and from eternal ruin and wrath to come, so he will save and redeem their bodies from the grave, corruption, mortality, and death, as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Whose end is destruction - This is placed in…
Whose end is destruction - This is placed in the front, that what follows may be read with the greater horror. Whose God is their belly - Whose supreme happiness lies in gratifying their sensual appetites. Who mind - Relish, desire, seek, earthly things.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 19. Whose end is destruction] This is the…
Verse 19. Whose end is destruction] This is the issue of their doctrine and of their conduct. They are here described by three characters:
1. Their god is their belly-they live not in any reference to eternity; their religion is for time; they make a gain of godliness; and live only to eat, drink, and be merry.
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2. Their glory is in their shame-they lay it down as a proof of their address, that they can fare sumptuously every day, in consequence of preaching a doctrine which flatters the passions of their hearers.
3. They mind earthly things-their whole study and attention are taken up with earthly matters; they are given to the flesh and its lusts; they have no spirituality, nor do they believe that there is or can be any intercourse between God and the souls of men. But their lasciviousness and uncleanness seem to be principally intended. See Kypke.
Despicable as these men were, the apostle's heart was deeply pained on their account:
1. Because they held and taught a false creed;
2. Because they perverted many by that teaching; and,
3. Because they themselves were perishing through it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Whose end is destruction - That is, as they…
Whose end is destruction - That is, as they have no true religion, they must perish in the same manner as all sinners. A mere profession will not save them. Unless they are converted, and become the true friends of the cross, they cannot enter heaven.
Whose God is their belly - Who worship their own appetites; or who live not to adore and honor God, but for self-indulgence and sensual gratifications; see Rom 16:18.
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And whose glory is in their shame - That is, they glory in things of which they ought to be ashamed. They indulge in modes of living which ought to cover them with confusion.
Who mind earthly things - That is, whose hearts are set on earthly things, or who live to obtain them. Their attention is directed to honor, gain, or pleasure, and their chief anxiety is that they may secure these objects. This is mentioned as one of the characteristics of enmity to the cross of Christ; and if this be so, how many are there in the church now who are the real enemies of the cross! How many professing Christians are there who regard little else than worldly things! How many who live only to acquire wealth. to gain honor, or to enjoy the pleasures of the world! How many are there who have no interest in a prayer meeting, in a Sunday school, in religious conversation, and in the advancement of true religion on the earth! These are the real enemies of the cross. It is not so much those who deny the doctrines of the cross, as it is those who oppose its influence on their hearts; not so much those who live to scoff and deride religion, as it is those who “mind earthly things,” that injure this holy cause in the world.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain destruction--everlasting at Christ's coming. Phi 1:28, "perdition"; the opposite…
destruction--everlasting at Christ's coming. Phi 1:28, "perdition"; the opposite word is "Saviour" (Phi 3:20).
end--fixed doom.
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whose god is their belly-- (Rom 16:18); hereafter to be destroyed by God (Co1 6:13). In contrast to our "body" (Phi 3:21), which our God, the Lord Jesus, shall "fashion like unto His glorious body." Their belly is now pampered, our body now wasted; then the respective states of both shall be reversed.
glory is in their shame--As "glory" is often used in the Old Testament for God (Psa 106:20), so here it answers to "whose God," in the parallel clause; and "shame" is the Old Testament term contemptuously given to an idol (Jdg 6:32, Margin). Hos 4:7 seems to be referred to by Paul (compare Rom 1:32). There seems no allusion to circumcision, as no longer glorious, but a shame to them (Phi 3:2). The reference of the immediate context is to sensuality, and carnality in general.
mind earthly things-- (Rom 8:5). In contrast to Phi 3:20; Col 3:2.
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 19. Whose end—Eternal perdition instead of the heaven for…
19. Whose end—Eternal perdition instead of the heaven for which the cross would have prepared them.
Their belly—Finding their highest happiness in the sensuality of eating and drinking. The classics furnish many like expressions.
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Whose glory—The low and grovelling pleasures which they delighted in, and boasted over, were really their shame, though they did not think it so.
Who mind—They thought, loved, and cared for only earthly things, and of even them they were chiefly intent upon the most debasing.
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 19. end] A word of awful and hopeless import.…
19. end] A word of awful and hopeless import. Cp. Rom_6:21; 2Co_11:15; Heb_6:8; 1Pe_4:17.
destruction] R.V., perdition. See on Php_1:28.
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their belly] Lit. and better, the belly. Cp. Rom_16:18 for the same word in the same connexion. See too 1Co_6:13. The word obviously indicates here the sensual appetites generally, not only gluttony in food. Venter in Latin has the same reference. See Lightfoot.
The Antinomian boasted, very possibly, of an exalted spiritual liberty and special intimacy with God.
whose glory is in their shame.] It is implied that they claimed a “glory”; probably in such “liberty” as we have just indicated. They set up for the true Christian philosophers, and advanced dogmatists. (Cp. Romans 16 quoted above.) But in fact their vaunted system was exactly their deepest disgrace.
who mind earthly things.)] For a closely kindred phrase, in the negative, see Col_3:2; and observe the context, Php_3:5 &c. And for the meaning of “mind” here see notes on Php_1:7, Php_2:2, above.
The Antinomian claimed to live in an upper region, to be so conversant with celestial principles as to be rid of terrestrial restraints of letter, and precept, and custom. As a fact, his fine-spun theory was a transparent robe over the corporeal lusts which were his real interests.
The Greek construction of this clause is abrupt, but clear.
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 (19) Whose end is destruction. . . .—The intense…
(19) Whose end is destruction. . . .—The intense severity of this verse is only paralleled by such passages as 2Ti_2:1-5; 2Pe_2:12-22; Jud_1:4; Jud_1:8; Jud_1:12-13. All express the burning indignation of a true servant of Christ against those who “turn the grace of God into lasciviousness,” and “after escaping the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, are again entangled therein and overcome.”
Whose God is their belly.—A stronger reiteration of Rom_16:18, “They serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.” Note the emphasis laid on “feasting and rioting” in 2Pe_2:13; Jud_1:12.
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Whose glory is in their shame.—As the preceding clause refers chiefly to self-indulgence, so this to impurity. Comp. Eph_5:12, “It is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.” “To glory in their shame”—to boast, as a mark of spirituality, the unbridled license which is to all pure spirits a shame—is the hopeless condition of the reprobate, who “not only do these things, but have pleasure in those who do them” (Rom_1:32).
Who mind earthly things.—This last phrase, which in itself might seem hardly strong enough for a climax to a passage so terribly emphatic, may perhaps be designed to bring out by contrast the glorious passage which follows. But it clearly marks the opposition between the high pretension to enlightened spirituality and the gross carnal temper which it covers, grovelling (so to speak) on earth, incapable of rising to heaven.
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 Whose end is destruction; rather, as R.V, perdition. Observe…
Whose end is destruction; rather, as R.V, perdition. Observe the contrast: not the prize of the high calling, but everlasting death. Whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame. (comp. Rom_16:18) They boast of their liberty, and pervert it into licence". (2Pe_2:19) Who mind earthly things; rather, they who mind. The irregularity of the construction (he returns to the nominative) seems expressive of the apostle"s indignation.
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 Whose end is destruction
Php_3:19
Whose end is destruction
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I.
Their sin. Earthly mindedness. It seems hard to say that we should not at all mind earthly things. These are necessary to sweeten our pilgrimage, and support us during our service. We have our earthly house that must be maintained (2Co_5:1). Therefore God does allow us in some sort to mind earthly things, but--
1. Not only. Some mind them who have no tincture of religion (Psa_10:4; Rom_8:5; Luk_10:42; Luk_12:21).
2. Not chiefly. The gross worldling is discovered by his only minding, the secret worldling by his chiefly minding. The rule is that spiritual things must be sought in the first place (Mat_6:33), and we must trust God for other things in the way of honest endeavours. The minding of earthly things is when religion is subordinate to the world, when the lean kine devour the fat (Luk_8:14). This matter will be known by three things.
(1) What is your chief end and scope? It must be God and heaven (2Co_4:18; Php_3:14). The end cuts out the work and forms the thoughts.
(2) What is your chief business? If it be about earthly things you are earthly minded. Surely our great business is to obtain salvation by Christ (chap. 2:12). It is dangerous to miscarry in so weighty a work.
(3) What is the great joy and trouble of your hearts? Is it to have and want the world? (Luk_12:19). The saints fetch their solace from spiritual things (Psa_4:6-7; Psa_119:14; Psa_94:19; Psa_30:7); but if disappointment in the world be the cause of our trouble, and happiness in the world feedeth our icy, surely we mind these things most.
3. Alas! a child of God is often too worldly. In particular acts he may carry himself too much like an earthly minded man, but no prevalent covetousness, voluptuousness, or ambition possesses his heart instead of God. He is growing out of these distempers and settling his soul to his constant bent, work, and joy.
II. The aggravations of this sin.
1. Whose God is their belly.
(1) They prize the belly. Provision for the flesh is the sum of worldly happiness. But the world yields no more than bodily food and clothing, which the poorest may attain without so much ado. Are they nearer to true comfort and further from the grave? (Psa_17:14). You say that some rich men will not afford themselves conveniences, but fare hard. Answer--
(a) Covetousness is usually the purveyor of the flesh (Rom_8:5). Those who seem to deal hardly with it, please it--by hoarding if not by spending.
(b) They are twice fools, for they transgress the laws both of nature end of grace (Ecc_5:18-19).
(c) They lay it up for them who spend it on the belly; and as one goes to hell for getting, so does the other for spending, till it revolve into hands that will use it better (Ecc_2:26; Pro_13:22; Job_27:17). Estates are ruined by sins of omission as well as commission.
(2) This belly is made a god. Our god is that which we value most, and for whose sake we do things (Col_3:5; Eph_5:5).
(3) How justly are they deprived of eternal salvation.
(a) They put a vile scorn on God and Christ (2Ti_3:4; 1Jn_2:15).
(b) They that serve a base god cannot but have a base spirit. Every mans temper is as his god is (Psa_115:8),
(c) They are not only unfit for God, but opposite to Him (Jam_4:4).
2. Their glory is in their shame.
(1) That which a man prizes most he will glory in, be it wealth, honour, parts, or the Lord (Jer_9:23-24). Man will glory in something. True Christians renounce all carnal gloryings (2Co_1:12; Gal_6:14; 1Co_15:10).
(2) The true object of glorying is God and Christ (Jer_9:23-24; Jer_4:2; 1Co_1:30-31).
(3) Not only benefits but sufferings for Christ should be more to us than all the world (Heb_11:26; Act_5:41; 2Co_12:9-10).
(4) A mortified estate is a greater cause for glory than an exalted, because it is a far greater mercy (Gal_6:14; Jam_1:9-10).
(5) The carnal rejoice in earthly things as pleasing to the flesh; and so do the godly, as far as the flesh remaineth in them; but this is our weakness and disgrace.
(6) This is to bid defiance to religion and to glory in your shame when you bless yourselves more for having an estate in the world than an interest in the promises. This is as if it were a sign of prudence to glory in the finding of a pin.
III. Their punishment--Their end, etc.
1. It is good to look to the end of things (Deu_32:29; Lam_1:9; Jer_17:11; Heb_13:7).
2. Worldly pleasures will end in everlasting destruction (1Ti_6:9-10; Rom_6:21; Rom_6:23; Gal_6:8; Rom_8:6; Rom_8:13; 2Co_11:15).
3. The punishment is the more dreadful to give us the more help, and the more powerful argument against those pleasing lusts. It is sweet to please the flesh, but it will cost us dear.
IV. Uses.
1. Do we mind earthly things or heavenly?
(1) Do not fix them as your scope (1Ti_6:9).
(2) Let not this be your great work (Mat_6:24).
(3) Let not earthly things be your great delight (1Co_7:29-30; Php_4:12; Psa_62:10).
(4) When your estate is yet to be made or gotten, let your desires be modest (Isa_5:8; Ecc_5:10; Heb_13:5).
(5) Moderate your cares about these things (Mat_6:25-32; Php_4:5-6; 1Pe_5:7).
(6) Be willing to resign them to Christ when the enjoyment of them is inconsistent with your fidelity to Him (Luk_14:33).
5. To dissuade us from earthly mindedness consider--
(1) You must shortly die and come to your account, and according to the account you give and the preparation you have made you must live in endless joy or misery.
(2) The danger of abundance (Mat_19:24; Ecc_5:11-12; Luk_12:48).
(3) See by faith those sure, great, and glorious things which are infinitely more worthy your love and labour (Col_3:2; Heb_11:25).
(4) Think often of your great necessities (Luk_10:42). (T. Manton, D. D.)
Earthliness
I. Its manifestations.
1. Sensuality.
2. Pride.
3. Covetousness.
II. Its shame. It degrades--
1. The understanding.
2. The moral nature.
3. The immortal spirit.
III. Its end.
1. Ruin.
2. Misery. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Materialism
There is--
1. A philosophic materialism which reduces the soul to a series of phenomena to be accounted for by superiority of physical organization in man, and makes God an expression for the sum of natures workings.
2. A practical materialism which does not trouble itself to deny the existence of the soul or the claims of God, but is nevertheless buried in matter, and swallowed up of earthliness. There were baptized Christians in Philippi who were enemies of the Cross, because while wearing the Christian name they were given up to sensuality. This, in various forms, is a crying evil in all prosperous times. The text is applicable to the worldling now.
I. Who are they who mind earthly things?
1. Those whose sole care is the increase of wealth. Business occupies their whole attentions. Material interests absorb their whole soul. Such was the man described by our Lord (Luk_7:18, etc.). These divorce what God has joined together--diligence in business and fervency of spirit.
2. Those whose sole enjoyment is the pleasures of this life (Luk_16:19). Whose god is their belly describes one type of sensual enjoyment. But a man wholly given up to even innocent enjoyment is, in truth, a mere sensualist. He neglects and despises the pleasures of--
(1) devotion;
(2) godly companionship;
(3) heavenly anticipation (Php_3:20).
II. What is the end of those who mind earthly things? Destruction. They that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption (Luk_16:24-25). (Family Churchman.)
Illustrations of the apostles sentiment
Even heathen thought in its higher types could brand sensualists as κοιλιοδαίμονες, men who worshipped belly gods. The striking words which Euripides puts into the mouth of the Cyclops, the type of this class, have often been cited in this connection: I sacrifice to no one but myself; not to the gods, but to this my belly, the greatest of the gods; for to eat and drink each day is the god for wise men. We have, further, the greatest of the German poets representing Mephistopheles as contemptuously, yet insinuatingly saying to the fool rejoicing in his possessions, Du hast dafur was Schluud und Bauch begehrt. And we have the words of scathing denunciation of John Ruskin, The creation over which God appointed us kings, and in which we have chosen to live as swine. With such instances of the contempt with which men can justly regard the lower, baser levels of life, we can the better comprehend the indignant yet sorrowing scorn with which the apostle contemplates the objects of his denunciation. In view, too, of such grossness of nature as is here depicted, we can listen to the call which Chrysostom has addressed to every true cross bearer--the call to higher things--Thou hast received a belly that thou mayest feed, not distend it; that thou mayest have the mastery over it, not have it as mistress over thee; that it may minister to thee for the nourishment of the other parts, not that thou mayest minister to it; not that thou mayest exceed limits. The sea, when it passes its bounds, doth not work so many evils as the belly doth to our body, together with our soul. They are men who, in the contemptuous words of the Roman satirist, in their all-engrossing care for their belly and their amusements, ask no other favours of their emperor than bread and circus games. They are those who, as Cornelius a Lapide puts it, are like the moles, ever concerned with the earth, ever blindly digging in the earth, and ever breathing of the earth, whereas Christians feed on heavenly food and breathe the air of heaven. Or once more, we can recognize these men in the picture in the interpreters chamber of Bunyans allegory, The man that could look no way but downwards, with the muck rake in his hand, while there stood over his head one with a celestial crown in his hand, and proffered him that crown for his muck rake; but the man did neither look up nor regard, but raked to himself the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the floor. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)
The curse of carnality
Carnal men are daily partakers of the serpents curse: they go on their belly, and eat dust. (Archbishop Leighton.)
Whose god is their belly
The Sicilians erected an altar and a statue in the temple of Ceres to Adephagia, the goddess of gluttony, thus literally illustrating these words. Similar examples of the personification and worship of lusts abound in modern heathenism. (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
Glory and shame
Of Anacreon, the famous lyric poet (520 B.C.), whose genius was devoted to the praise of sensual pleasures, the people of Athens raised a statue in the citadel, in which he was represented as an old drunken man singing. He had lived to eighty-five, and was choked at last by a grape stone. (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
Belly worship reproved
A gentleman in England, who had a chapel attached to his house, was visited by a person from London, to whom he showed the chapel. What a glorious kitchen this would make! said the visitor. When I make a god of my belly, replied the gentleman, I will make a kitchen of my chapel. (Biblical Museum.)
The love of this world is a great hindrance to the gospel
Dr. Justus Jonus told Dr. Martin Luther of a noble and powerful Misnian who above all things occupied himself in amassing gold and silver, and was so buried in darkness that he gave no heed to the five books of Moses, and had even said to Duke John Frederick, who was discoursing with him upon the gospel, Sir, the gospel pays no interest. Have you no grains? interposed Luther; and then told this fable:--A lion, making a great feast, invited all the beasts, and with them some swine. When all manner of dainties were set before the guests, the swine asked, Have you no grains? Even so, continued the Doctor, even so, in these days, is it with our epicureans; we preachers set before them, in our churches, the most dainty and costly dishes, as everlasting salvation, the remission of sins, and Gods grace; but they, like swine, turn up their snouts, and ask for guilders: offer a cow nutmeg, and she will reject it for old hay. This reminds me of the answer of certain parishioners to their minister, Ambrose R. He had been earnestly exhorting them to come and listen to the Word of God. Well, said they, if you will tap a good barrel of beer for us well come with all our hearts and hear you. The gospel at Wittenberg is like unto the rain which, falling upon a river, produces little effect; but descending upon a dry, thirsty soil, renders it fertile. (Luthers Table Talk.)
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 19. Whose end is destruction. Their final fate must…
19. Whose end is destruction. Their final fate must be eternal ruin (2 Peter 2:3). Whose God is their belly. They obey their sensual appetites. Whose glory, etc. They glory in shameful things. Mind earthly things. Instead of setting their affections on the things that are above (Col. 3:1).
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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:19 Their god is their appetite may refer to…
3:19 Their god is their appetite may refer to their greed, their sensuality, or their self-interest (cp. Rom 16:18). • they brag about shameful things: This is best understood as a reference to immorality rather than to pride in being circumcised. • Eternal destruction is the ultimate judgment of God for those who reject Christ and live self-centered, sinful lives (see 2 Thes 1:8-9; cp. Phil 1:28; Matt 7:13; Rom 9:22; 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Thes 2:10; 1 Tim 6:9; 2 Pet 2:3, 13; Jude 1:10; Rev 11:18). • They are unable to see beyond this life (cp. John 12:25; 1 Jn 2:15-17).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.