Additional Notes §28
§28 Encouragement to Faith (Phil. 4:5–7)
The assurance of the Lord’s nearness, confidence in approaching God in prayer and thanksgiving, and the ensuing sense of peace at heart will be manifested in an attitude of Christian courtesy to all.
4:5 / The gentleness inculcated here belongs to a Christ-like character. Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 10:1 of the “gentleness” or “forbearance” of Christ, where (as in Wisdom 2:19) the patient bearing of abuse may be included. Gentleness knows how to give way graciously and not insist on one’s rights. Matthew Arnold’s rendering of the word as “sweet reasonableness” has passed into general currency. When Shakespeare’s Portia says to Shylock (in Merchant of Venice 4.1),
Though justice be thy plea, remember this:
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation … I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea,
she is recommending to him the cultivation of that gentleness which “is an attribute of God himself.”
Christians, who have been beneficiaries of God’s gentleness, should show the same quality in their dealings with others.
The Lord is near could mean “The Lord’s coming is near,” “The Lord is coming soon”; this is something Paul might very well have said (cf. 3:20), in the spirit of Jesus’ direction to his disciples to be like servants who are waiting for their master (Luke 12:42–48). But the words may imply nearness in place as well as nearness in time. “The LORD is close” is a recurring assurance to his people in the OT (cf. Ps. 34:18; also Pss. 119:151; 145:18). If time alone were in view, then it might be thought that the assurance is more valid for those living only a short time before the unknown date of his advent than for those living a longer time before it; but in the sense that Paul’s words probably bear here the Lord is always equally near his people, continually “at hand” (KJV). “Christ, then, is ever at our doors; as near eighteen hundred years ago as now, and not nearer now than then, and not nearer when He comes than now” (Newman, p. 241).
4:6 / Because “the Lord is near,” his people need not be anxious about anything. This is in line with Jesus’ own teaching to his disciples: “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear … do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matt. 6:25–34). Christian existence in a pagan world was full of uncertainties: persecution of one kind or another was always a possibility, and the impossibility of membership in guilds which were under the patronage of pagan divinities was bound to involve economic disadvantage. But if the Lord was near, there was no cause for anxiety. Jesus had encouraged his disciples to have done with anxiety because their heavenly Father, who fed the birds and clothed the grass with flowers, knew their needs and was well able to supply them (Matt. 6:26–32 par. Luke 12:24–30). Similarly Paul says, in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. He uses three different Greek words for “prayer” here. There are slight differences of nuance between one word and another, but the main effect of the use of all three is to emphasize the importance in Christian life of constancy in believing and expectant prayer. Like his Master, Paul takes it for granted that an essential element in prayer is asking God for things, with the same trustful spirit as children show when they ask their fathers for things. In the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to use when addressing their heavenly Father, the provision of his children’s daily bread is included along with the establishment of his kingdom on earth.
Moreover, a grateful remembrance of past blessings is a safeguard against anxiety for the future: it adds confidence to the prayer for continued blessings. Hence the importance of thanksgiving in all true prayer.
4:7 / If they paid heed to this encouragement, then, in place of anxiety they would enjoy peace of heart. Jesus, in John 14:27, bequeaths to his disciples “my peace,” which he gives them “not … as the world gives.” So here, the peace that God’s children receive is the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. It “surpasses all imagination” (F. W. Beare); it exceeds all that human wisdom can plan. This peace will “stand garrison” over their hearts and … minds and keep anxiety and other intruders out: it will guard them in Christ Jesus.
The peace of God may mean not only the peace that he gives (cf. Rom 5:1) but the serenity in which he lives: God is not subject to anxiety.
4:5 / Gentleness: Gk. epieikes, neuter adjective; cf. the abstract noun epieikeia, “gentleness,” in 2 Cor. 10:1. Aristotle describes epieikeia as that which is not only just but even better than justice (Nicomachean Ethics 5.10.6). There are occasions when strict insistence on the letter of the law (as with Shylock’s pound of flesh) would lead to injustice; epieikeia recognizes those occasions and knows how to act when they arise. “For the right inculcation of the method and secret of Jesus, we need the epieikeia, the sweet reasonableness, of Jesus” (M. Arnold, Literature and Dogma [London: Smith, Elder, 1900], p. 225). See also R. Leivestad, “The Meekness and Gentleness of Christ,” NTS 12 (1965–66), pp. 156–64.
The Lord is near: Gk. ho kyrios engys. The adverb engys may mean “near” either in place or in time; the context is normally decisive.
4:6 / In everything, by prayer …: of the three words for “prayer” used in this sentence the first (proseuchē) is a general term for prayer to God; the second (deēsis) emphasizes the element of petition or entreaty in prayer; the third (aitēma) means the thing that is asked for.
4:7 / Will guard [or “will garrison”]: Gk. phrourēsei. A different figure is used in Col. 3:15, where the peace of Christ is to “arbitrate” (Gk. brabeuein) in the readers’ hearts (NIV: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”).