KRAG VAN PERSPEKTIEF

Want vir my is die lewe Christus en die sterwe wins.

‘n mens leer deur ervaring en ondervinding

(Afrikaanse Ou Vertaling)

12 En ek wil hê dat julle moet weet, broeders, dat wat my wedervaar het, eerder op bevordering van die evangelie uitgeloop het,

1. AS GELOWIGE WORD ONS STORIE GESKRYF DEUR GOD SELF.

2. Die begin en einde en alles tussen is.

Nothing ever just happens to the saint. Things either come directly from God or they reach us from some other source by His permissive will.[1]

1. TEËSPOED LOOP OP BEVORDERING UIT.

The word “furtherance” is from a Greek word which means “to cut before,” and is thought to have been used of an army of pioneer wood cutters which precedes the regular army, cutting a road through an impenetrable forest, thus making possible the pioneer advance of the latter into regions where otherwise it could not have gone.

Paul assures the Philippian saints that his circumstances have not only failed to curtail his missionary work, but they have advanced it, and not only that, they have brought about a pioneer advance in regions where otherwise it could not have gone.

It is so in our lives. Our God-ordained or God-permitted circumstances are used of God to provide for a pioneer advance of the gospel in our Christian service.[2]

13 sodat my boeie openbaar geword het in Christus onder die hele keiserlike lyfwag en by al die ander,

2. JY KAN ‘N KIND VAN GOD NIE STIL MAAK NIE

As the different soldiers would take their turn guarding Paul,

· they would hear the conversations he had with his visitors, conversations full of the gospel and of the Saviour of sinners.

· They would hear the apostle pray,

· and would listen as he dictated the epistles he wrote.

· rote. The noble prisoner would talk to them about their souls, talking in the international Greek so common in those days.

The noble prisoner would talk to them about their souls, talking in the international Greek so common in those days.

· Thus, the gospel went through the barracks of the Roman soldiers, a place where it would not have gone, if Paul had not been a prisoner there.[3]

14 en die meeste van die broeders wat in die Here deur my boeie vertroue gekry het, dit des te meer waag om die woord onbevrees te spreek.

3. DIE GEMEENTE HET PREDIKERS GEWORD.

The word “many” is literally, “the most.”

Most of the Christian brethren were preaching now, the implication being that a few held back.

Persecutions in Rome had somewhat silenced gospel preaching there.

The words “waxing confident” come from a word which means “to persuade.”

These Christians had been persuaded by the brave and fearless example of Paul in prison, and had come to a state of settled confidence in the Lord[4]

15 Sommige preek Christus wel ook uit afguns en twis, maar ander ook uit welwillendheid:

16 die eerste verkondig Christus uit naywer, nie met suiwer bedoelinge nie, met die mening om aan my boeie verdrukking toe te voeg;

17 maar die ander uit liefde, omdat hulle weet dat ek bestem is tot die verdediging van die evangelie.

18 Maar wat maak dit? In alle geval, op allerlei wyse, of dit onder ’n skyn of in waarheid is, word Christus verkondig; en hierin verbly ek my en sal ek my ook verbly.

Jesus het dieselfde gesê. Ons bekeer mense nie dit God se Gees wat die werk doen

God slaan ‘n reguit hou met ‘n krom stok.

19 Want ek weet dat dit deur julle gebed en die ondersteuning van die Gees van Jesus Christus my tot heil sal strek,

4. WAT MY MOED GEE IS BIDDERS.

The Greek word “salvation” is used in the New Testament

to refer not only to the spiritual salvation of the individual, but also to the healing of the body (,),

and of self-preservation in a physical sense, or of the well-being of the individual (, ).

Paul uses it here of his own well-being.[5]

20 volgens my reikhalsende verwagting en hoop dat ek in niks beskaam sal word nie;

The words “earnest expectation” are from a Greek word made up of three words, “away, the head, to watch.”

· It describes a person with head erect and outstretched, whose attention is turned away from all other objects and riveted upon just one.

· The word is used in the Greek classics of the watchman who peered into the darkness, eagerly looking for the first gleam of the distant beacon which would announce the capture of Troy.

· It is that concentrated, intense hope which ignores other interests and strains forward as with outstretched head, that was Paul’s attitude of heart.

· The Greek word translated “boldness” gives us the key to the understanding of the sentence, “in nothing I shall be ashamed.”[6]

maar dat Christus met alle vrymoedigheid, soos altyd so ook nou, groot gemaak sal word in my liggaam, of dit deur die lewe of deur die dood is.

21 Want vir my is die lewe Christus en die sterwe wins.

The verb is in the present tense, denoting the process of continuous living, not the principle of life (cf. ; )[7]

· The rhetorical question what is life? may be rendered more explicitly “what does it mean to live?” The question is answered by it is Christ[8]

· Paul is determined that Christ shall be radiated through his life, and so he says, “For to me to live is Christ.”

· His words in , “Christ, our life,” help us to understand this statement.

· Christ is Paul’s life in that He is that eternal life which Paul received in salvation, a life which is ethical in its content,

· and which operates in Paul as a motivating, energizing, pulsating principle of existence that transforms Paul’s life, a divine Person living His life in and through the apostle.

· All of Paul’s activities, all of his interests, the entire round of his existence is ensphered within that circumference which is Christ.

· The words, “to die” are more accurately, “to have died.” The tense denotes, not the act of dying, but the consequences of dying, the state after death.

· Death itself would not be a gain to Paul, but to be in the presence of his Lord in glory, that would be gain.[9]

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

“For me to live is wealth, and to die is to leave it behind for my kids to fight over,” some say.

“For me to live is pleasure, and to die is nothingness,” others declare.

“For me to live is fame, and to die is to leave my mark,” boast others.

There are three pyramids at Gaza, which the Pharaohs spent multiplied millions of dollars and multiplied millions of man-hours to erect in order that no one would forget them. Yet although the pyramids still stand, not one of us can name the men they were supposed to immortalize.

“For me to live is Christ,” said Paul. “And to die is even better, for then I’ll be with Him.” This is the single mind we need, saints, if we’re to think properly and live joyfully.

· Mr. Businessman, Mr. Athlete, anything else is going to be elusive and unsatisfying.

· Anything else will leave you on the short end of the stick.

· The only way to rejoice through life, to be happy about life, to be full of joy in life is to say, “My identity lies solely in Jesus.”[10]

22 Maar as ek in die vlees moet lewe, dan beteken dit vir my vrugbare arbeid; en wat ek sal kies, weet ek nie.

23 Want ek word van weerskante gedring: ek het verlange om heen te gaan en met Christus te wees, want dit is verreweg die beste;

24 maar om in die vlees te bly, is nodiger om julle ontwil.

25 En dit vertrou en weet ek dat ek sal bly, ja, saam met julle almal sal bly tot julle bevordering en blydskap in die geloof,

26 sodat julle roem oor my oorvloedig kan wees in Christus Jesus deur my teenwoordigheid weer by julle.

[1] Wuest, K.S., 1997. Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[2] Wuest, K.S., 1997. Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[3] Wuest, K.S., 1997. Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[4] Wuest, K.S., 1997. Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[5] Wuest, K.S., 1997. Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[6] Wuest, K.S., 1997. Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[7] Loh, I.-J. & Nida, E.A., 1995. A handbook on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, New York: United Bible Societies.

[8] Loh, I.-J. & Nida, E.A., 1995. A handbook on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, New York: United Bible Societies.

[9] Wuest, K.S., 1997. Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[10] Courson, J., 2003. Jon Courson’s Application Commentary, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.