Title: 13
Author: Joe G
Last saved by: Matt
Company: GDC

Clanking Chains		07-01-18.CC02-706 /

Qualifications to Pursue True Happiness: the First-Class Conditions of Phil 2:1; the Thought Process Necessary to Acquire It: the Apodosis of Phil 2:2

Philippians 2:1 -	If there is any encouragement [ par£klhsij, paraklēsis ] in Christ, if there is any comfort [ paramÚqion, paramuthion ] in love, if there is any fellowship [ koinwn…a, koinōnia ] of the Spirit, if any affection [ spl£gcna, splanchna ] and compassion [ o„ktirmÒj, oiktirmos ],
v. 2 -		make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
		38.	The word “encouragement” is par£klhsij, paraklēsis.  It can mean “to call to someone,” “to beseech,” “to exhort,” or “to comfort.”
		39.	The use by Paul in this verse is “to exhort,” originally used in military operations for the encouragement of soldiers.  Believers receive encouragement from the grace they receive from Christ in salvation and are motivated to serve Him as a “good soldier for Christ.”  
		40.	As this believer advances in the plan of God he develops reciprocal love for God when he discovers the magnificent love of God.  The word paramÚqion, paramuthion is in the neuter gender which emphasizes the instrument used by the one doing the comforting.  The “instrument” is the love of God for the believer which results in his “comfort” or a “sense of well-being.”
		41.	Next Paul brings up the issue of fellowship: koinwn…a, koinōnia: “participation” or “partnership.”  The filling of the Holy Spirit energizes the divine operating assets possessed by the believer so that he may be mentored by the Spirit resulting in spiritual growth.  This a partnership in which both the positive believer and the Holy Spirit participate in achieving the objective.
		42.	This is followed by two words: spl£gcna, splanchna:  and o„ktirmÒj, oiktirmos.  The King James Version translates splanchna as “bowels” and oiktirmos as “mercies.”  Together they summarize the first three conditional clauses in the verse.
		43.	Splanchna makes reference to the inner man.  Its original use in early Greek denoted the heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys.  This is metaphorical in biblical usage to indicate the inner “spiritual” man with emphasis on the heart or kardia, and the conscience in particular.
		44.	The New Testament concept has to do with compassion and the mental attitude of grace orientation.  Paul’s use in Philippians 2 stresses the ideal relationship believers are to have toward one another.
		45.	Splanchna is linked in verse two with oiktirmos which means “to have sympathy.”  These two words form a hendiadys: the expression of an idea by the use of two independent words connected by and.
		46.	Paul could have written “compassionate sympathy” but chose to use “compassion and sympathy” instead.  This hendiadys is a summary of the mental attitudes that are expressed by the three previous subjects in the protasis.  The expanded translation reads like this:
Philippians 2:1 -		[Protasis: expanded translation] If there is any encouragement [ par£klhsij, paraklēsis ] from one’s position in Christ, if there is any comforting sense of well-being [ paramÚqion, paramuthion ] in the love of God, if there is any fellowship [ koinwn…a, koinōnia ] in the filling of the Holy Spirit, if there are any resultant mental attitudes of compassion [ spl£gcna, splanchna ] and sympathy [ o„ktirmÒj, oiktirmos ], and there are,
v. 2 -		[Apodosis: NASB] then make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
		1.	The second verse begins with the aorist active imperative of the verb plhrÒw, plēroō: a mandate to join Paul in possessing Plus-H by filling their souls with doctrine.
		2.	As an apostle it is both Paul’s duty and desire that his ministry have its intended impact on the souls of believers who study under his teaching.
		3.	In order for them to accomplish this they must join Paul in spiritual maturity.  To do this they must continue the advance in the plan of God through inculcation of doctrinal principles and apply them to life and circumstances.
		4.	A major testing ground for application is the local church where believers not only are to grow in grace together but where compassion and sympathy are the attitudes that develop when spiritual growth results in encouragement from Christ, a sense of well-being from the love of God, and fellowship through the filling of the Holy Spirit.
		5.	This is a great start and produces momentum but the objective of plēroō lies ahead.  The believers at Philippi can complete their development of true happiness by doing four things in addition to what they have already accomplished.
		6.	First is to keep on thinking the same things.  This has to do with divine viewpoint based on knowledge of doctrine.  This is the main verb, the present active subjunctive of fronšw, phroneō which means “to be of one mind, of one accord, to think the same thing.”
		7.	Secondly, possession of the ultimate problem-solving device, which is occupation with Christ, or personal love for Christ, is expressed by making Him and His Word Priority One in their lives: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
		8.	Thirdly, develop as a by-product harmonious rapport with other believers—the doctrinal synchronization of thought.
		9.	And finally, concentrate on the same objective which is fulfillment of the plan of God in one’s lifetime by advancing to the pinnacle of spiritual maturity.
		10.	Paul precedes these objectives with the mandate for the Philippians to “fill your souls to the point of completion so you may have the same happiness I presently enjoy.” 
		11.	Plēroō means to fill up a deficiency, i.e., the soul is virtually an empty vessel at the point of salvation which must be filled with Bible doctrine through spiritual growth.
		12.	These two verses establish the fact that true fellowship is with Christ, God, and the Holy Spirit and it is maximized by spiritual growth.
		13.	Two outward expressions of this fellowship toward fellow believers are “compassion and sympathy.”  When a believer is capable of functioning toward other believers with compassion and sympathy then it is possible for harmony to develop within the body of a local church.
		14.	The ability to have compassion and sympathy toward others is not possible unless the believer has advanced spiritually to the point that he does not have his eyes on self, people, or things.
		15.	There are three mental attitudes that break fellowship with others:
(1)	Eyes on self which lead to frustration, anger, bitterness, vindictiveness, implacability.  For the Shulammite, her mistakes were despair, despondency, and desperation.  Despair, a loss of hope and confidence, without rebound led to despondency—extreme discouragement and dejection—which left unchecked resulted in desperation—reckless action—which put her out of the geographical will of God.
(2)	Eyes on people often involve a frantic search for happiness in all the wrong places.  The desire is to find someone who agrees with you.  This builds a false sense of trust until the person reveals his feet of clay and then pseudo happiness is lost.
(3)	Eyes on things also often involve a frantic search for happiness.  However, true and lasting happiness in an inner resource.   When it is sought externally it always leads to frustration and boredom which encourages an even greater dependency on things.

© 2007 by Joe Griffin Media Ministries.  All rights reserved.	www.joegriffin.org