So that, my brethren, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, thus stand fast in [the] Lord, beloved.
Paul has just pointed the Philippians to a Saviour who is coming from heaven. Now he turns to one practical word: stand firm — or, as the older translations quoted below put it, stand fast. First he pours out a rare stream of affection, calling these believers his joy and his crown.
The opening word ties this appeal to chapter 3. Paul is not asking them to reach a new position. He wants them to hold the place he has already put them in.
Verse 1 is a fitting close to the precious subject treated in Philippians 3. He had placed them, as it were, in Philippians 3, outside the world. Their citizenship is in heaven, and Christ in glory is the Object and Hope of their hearts. In this position and experience he would have them stand fast, so that the schemes of the enemy never move them.
The same backward look shows them who leads them into the fight.
The words "So then" link this verse to the chapter we have just been considering. There we saw the fight fought, the victory won, and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, able to subdue all things. With such a hope, and such a Lord, he says, "So then, my Brothers... thus stand fast in the Lord, Beloved." We are fighting under a Captain who can subdue every foe. He has never lost a battle, and never will. It is the voice of the Captain cheering on His soldiers to stand fast against the enemy's charge.
Paul says "beloved" twice in one short sentence. The repetition carries weight.
This has been called "Paul's love-letter." Another has said, "This prolonged form of address has no parallel in Paul's writings." But then, perhaps, the Philippian saints had no parallel in the affection the Apostle felt towards them. Notice that final "Beloved". He seems to linger over this theme, as if unable to break away from it… This love, known and treasured — with the Philippian saints, or with ourselves — makes us strong.
Being occupied with Christ did not cool his love for people.
The Apostle's spiritual affections were clearly moved. Love for his brothers was pouring out, and none the less because he had been occupied with Christ. He felt deeply what Christ had been and is. He looked forward with joy to what the saints are destined to be when they see Him coming from heaven in the fullness of His grace and power.
The word "crown" here is not a royal one. Commentators differ over whether Paul means a present or a future reward.
He calls them "My joy and crown." He speaks here of the victor's wreath: the prize for winning an athletic contest. It is the crown of glory and honour our Saviour won (Hebrews 2:9) by wearing the crown of thorns. We suggested that the prize mentioned in Philippians 3 was Christ Himself. But here it is the saints in Philippi who are his crown. This may be another prize: for the Lord does not stint His gifts. It does not say whether this reward is present or future… But I have no doubt that the saints in both Thessalonica and Philippi were an unspeakable joy to the Apostle even now down here.
Others divide the two words between now and then.
He looked upon them as his joy and crown; his joy down here and his crown in the day of Christ. So the aged John testified, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth" (3 John 4). They were to stand fast in the Lord, for this gives strength. Keeping the Lord always before the heart and mind gives victory.
One writer draws a line between two commands that sound alike.
Others have pointed out that the term "hold fast" shows that we do not give up, while the term "stand fast" shows that we do not give way.
The strength for it comes from outside the believer.
These believers did not try to meet the enemy in their own strength. They stood fast in the Lord, in the spirit of the Apostle's word to the Ephesians: "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might" (Ephesians 6:10). He writes to the Philippians in the same way. In a day when all were seeking their own interests, and not the things of Jesus Christ, and when many were minding earthly things, he can say, "Stand fast in the Lord, beloved."
The affection is real, but so is the problem behind the appeal.
He bids them "so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved." And so much the more because it appears there were some among them who were at variance with one another.
- Therefore — the command grows out of chapter 3: a heavenly citizenship, a returning Saviour, "a Captain who has never lost a battle."
- Beloved — Paul says it twice and lingers over it, because love "known and treasured… makes us strong."
- Crown — the athlete's victor's wreath: the saints themselves are the prize, his joy now and his crown in the day of Christ.
- Stand fast — not "do not give up" but "do not give way"; firmness held in the Lord's strength, not our own.
- In the Lord — the strength is His, not ours. Paul says it to a church where some were at odds.
I exhort Euodia, and exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in [the] Lord;
Philippians is a letter full of joy, yet here Paul stops to name two women in the church at Philippi who could not agree. His appeal is short, but it raises the questions every church faces: where does strife start, who is to blame, and what ends it?
Older translations read "be of the same mind in the Lord." The ESV has "agree in the Lord." Paul had used those words earlier in the letter, before he named anyone.
Euodia and Syntyche were two sisters in Philippi. A quarrel, or misunderstanding, had arisen between them. Paul knew these two sisters well. They had shared his struggle for the gospel in the early days, when he first preached there. It is probable that Epaphroditus had brought Paul word of this sad trouble in the church at Philippi. It seems to have weighed heavily on the apostle's mind as he was writing. In the second chapter he had written, "complete my joy by being of the same mind." Now he uses the same words again, this time speaking straight to the ones quarrelling.
The sentence is built oddly on purpose: the verb "I entreat" is repeated rather than the two names being joined together.
Notice how wisely he speaks to these sisters: "Euodia I urge, Syntyche I urge, to mind the same thing in the Lord." He does not say, "I urge Euodia and Syntyche." He speaks to each one separately, not suggesting one is more to blame than the other. Indeed he makes no suggestion of any blame. You remember our Lord said: "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matt. 5:23-24). That is what these sisters should have done… It would seem that when believers have a quarrel or misunderstanding, the Lord sees fault on both sides, usually if not always. Both need to make concessions.
Paul does not ask them to compromise on a middle position. He points them somewhere outside themselves.
Suppose both came under the full control of the Lord, with their hearts set on Him as Paul's was. Then the differences of mind that existed at that moment would disappear. The mind of Euodia as to the matter, and Syntyche's mind, would disappear, and the mind of the Lord would remain. So they would be of the same mind by having the Lord's mind.
Notice also the order of Paul's words: he starts with the Lord rather than with the dispute or the work in which it arose.
He calls on them one by one (for one might hear even if the other did not) to be of the same mind in the Lord. Depend upon it, where the Lord occupies us, differences soon dwindle. With each one's eye fixed upon the Lord, there is a common object of attraction, and so the enemy's hope of producing alienation is defeated at once.
Earlier in the letter Paul had traced strife to a single source.
Nothing distresses the heart or weakens testimony more than the differences of judgment among the true people of God. In the second chapter of the letter the apostle traces all envy and strife to one root — "conceit" (Phil. 2:3)… And in our day, all the division and strife that has come in among the people of God can be traced to this one root — someone wanted to be great.
Smith finds the cure in the same chapter, in Christ Himself.
How, then, can we "be of the same mind in the Lord"? The apostle shows that this can only happen as we are marked by "lowliness of mind." To have the lowly mind, he says, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." His was the lowly mind that led Him to make Himself of no reputation, to serve others in love. Self likes others to serve it, and feels exalted when they do; but love delights to serve.
Paul's urgency has a reason, and it is a warning about how small things grow.
Paul knew the Scripture, "The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out" (Prov. 17:14). This would make him all the more urgent to see this strife settled. Mr. Lavington writes: "From a small beginning, if it is not judged, evil will spread. Many a time, from a very small root, there has arisen something that has taken floods of tears to settle. Let us be watchful. Beloved, if you have anything against one another, judge it before the Lord. You cannot be happy with the Lord while you are not of one mind with your brothers and sisters."
Naming them is not a public shaming. Darby thinks their own work for the gospel may be where the trouble grew.
In every way he desired unity of heart and mind… Their activity had gone beyond the measure of their spiritual life. That betrayed them into self-will, which set them at odds. Still, they were not forgotten. Their names were in the book of life, along with Clement and the others who worked with the apostle himself. For love for the Lord remembers all that His grace does, and this grace has a place for each of His own.
- Root — Strife traces back to conceit: someone wanting to be great. Deal with the root, not the symptom.
- Remedy — Christ made Himself of no reputation to serve others. That lowly mind makes agreement possible.
- Ground — Agreement is "in the Lord." When each mind gives way, His mind remains, and that is the shared mind.
- Manner — Paul urges each woman on her own and blames neither. Where believers quarrel, fault usually lies on both sides, and both must give ground.
- Urgency — Strife starts like water leaking out. Judge it early, before it takes floods of tears to settle. And those who fail are not forgotten: their names are in the book of life.
yea, I ask thee also, true yokefellow, assist them, who have contended along with me in the glad tidings, with Clement also, and my other fellow-labourers, whose names [are] in [the] book of life.
Paul has just named two women at Philippi who could not agree, and now he turns to a third person and asks him to step in. Three questions follow: who is this helper, what had these women done, and what do the closing words about the book of life mean?
Paul gives no name. The ESV calls the man "true companion"; the quotes below use the older rendering "true yokefellow." One writer suggests the description was enough to identify him:
We have thought that it could refer to Epaphroditus. Others have thought that it might be the jailer. What I like about the reference is that the believers would know at once who Paul meant. This brother must have given clear evidence of this quality in his work with Paul. So he simply says "True yokefellow," and all would know the brother in view. The stress falls on the man's character, not on his name.
The change of tone between verse 2 and verse 3 is deliberate, and it can be traced in the words themselves.
There is a very beautiful change between the word Paul uses for Euodia and Syntyche and the word he uses for his "true yoke-fellow." To Euodia and Syntyche he gives what is almost a command. Of his colleague he asks a favour.
Paul asks the man for support, not correction. The verse ends by pointing past human records altogether.
Paul is evidently writing this to Epaphroditus, who carried the letter. It may well be that Euodia and Syntyche were among the women Paul speaks of. But here he urges Epaphroditus to help them, not to scold them. Those who have worked to advance the Gospel will be the special target of Satan's attacks, and helping them is only right... Human books of history and biography had no place for such people, but what a far greater honour was theirs!
Commentators differ on what the women's work covered. One says the older wording "laboured with me" points the wrong way:
"Laboured" gives a wrong sense. Many have therefore wrongly concluded that they were preachers. There is really no reason to suppose that they preached at all... They shared the conflict of the gospel. They shared the disgrace that fell on those who preached it.
Another writer fills in what that work looked like:
And all this can be clearly gospel work. Certain women laboured with the apostle in the gospel (Phil. 4:3). They certainly did not just support him out of their own money, or keep him comfortable. We may well believe they dealt with anxious souls, sought out and taught the new converts, and constantly backed up the apostle's work.
Failure in a person can make us forget what that person once did.
When failure comes in, is there not a tendency for us to forget how useful those people were? Paul did not. They were valuable sisters. They had clearly had their part in the conflict of the gospel, and Paul does not forget to mention it.
One writer names the root of the quarrel:
Their activity had gone beyond the measure of their spiritual life, and it led them into self-will, which set them against each other. Still, they were not forgotten, along with Clement and others who worked alongside the apostle himself, and whose names were in the book of life. For love for the Lord remembers all that His grace does; and this grace has a place for each of His own.
Some readers fear that a name once written could later be blotted out. One writer traces that fear to another passage and answers it with a plain picture:
In Revelation 3:5 the Lord promises the overcomer in the church in Sardis that He will never blot his name out of the book of life. Some have had difficulty over this verse, thinking it tells us that we can be saved and afterwards lost... People have compared it to a voting register. The officials publish a list of everyone who claims the right to vote. But when they check the claims, some turn out to have no such right, and their names are crossed off. Nothing here suggests that one who truly has eternal life will ever have his name crossed out of the Book of Life.
- Rift. Two women who once stood together in the conflict of the gospel had fallen out. One writer traces it to activity outrunning the spiritual life behind it.
- Helper. Paul asks a third person to step in. He marks the man by character, not by name, and the readers knew who he meant.
- Manner. Paul almost commands the women; of the helper he asks a favour. That man's job is to help, not to scold.
- Memory. Paul names their failure and their usefulness in one breath. Love for the Lord remembers all that His grace has done.
- Register. Their names stand in a book that outranks any human record. A name truly written there is never crossed out.