Section 5
It is easy to teach this, but it is quite difficult to practice it. To live in this way requires grace. When a brother's wife is angry with him, it is very easy for him to be stirred up. He may bris tle with anger, and his emotions may boil over. At such a time it is extremely difficult to calm down and be tranquil. For this, we need the Lord's grace. It takes much grace to be forbear ing in this kind of situation. But if we exercise to be calm by the Lord's grace, the atmosphere will eventually become tranquil. Then there will come a proper time to speak a calm word.
I have wondered why after covering such pro found matters in the first three chapters, Paul says in Philippians 4:5, "Let your forbearance be known to all men." Compared with what Paul has already covered, forbearance seems to be a secondary matter. However, in a very practical way, forbearance is a test of whether or not we live Christ.
In Philippians 4:5 Paul also says, "The Lord is near." Many readers of Philippians take this as a reference to the Lord's coming. I do not say that this does not refer at all to the coming of the Lord; however, I believe that it does not refer mainly to His coming. On the contrary, it refers primarily to the Lord's presence with us. The