К Филипписеям послание Апостола Павла

Philippi was a Roman military colony in Macedonia. This was the first place where the Apostle Paul began preaching (Acts 16:12); more than once he returned there (Acts 20:2-6). The Epistle was written from Rome, from captivity, during the difficult time of Nero’s persecution, when the Apostle was apparently preparing for his final suffering. Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with bishops and deacons. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Every memory I have of you is with gratitude to God. Always, in every prayer of mine for all of you, with joy, thanks for your fellowship in the gospel, from the first day even to this day. And I am confident of this for you, that whoever begins a good work will continue to do it until the day of Jesus Christ. So it is right for me to think about all of you, and you are all in my heart, because you are all accomplices of my grace both in my bonds and in the defense and establishment of the gospel. God is my witness that I love you all with the compassion of Jesus Christ. And I pray that your love may grow more and more in knowledge and in every feeling, and you, having experienced the best, will be pure and without stumbling in the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. The success of the Gospel preaching in prison You need to know, brothers, that what happened to me contributed greatly to the success of the gospel, so that my bonds were made known about Christ throughout the whole Praetorium and among all the others. And many of the brethren in the Lord, encouraged by my bonds, dare more than ever to preach the word of God without fear. Others, however, out of envy and jealousy; but others preach Christ with sincere desire. Some, out of zeal, proclaim Christ uncleanly, thinking to increase the burden of my bonds, others out of love, knowing that I am placed in defense of the Gospel. But what about that! No matter how Christ is preached - feignedly or sincerely, He is preached, and I rejoice in this. And I will begin to rejoice, for I know that all this will be for my salvation through your prayer and the assistance of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And thus my true hope and hope will be fulfilled, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but in all boldness, now, as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But when life in the flesh brings fruit to my work, I don’t know what to choose. I am attracted by both: I have a desire to be resolved and to be with Christ - this is much better. But remaining in the flesh is more necessary for you. And I know this is true, and I will remain and be with you all for your success and for the joy of faith. And when I come to you again, may your praise in Christ Jesus be increased through me. Just live worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am not with you, I will hear about you that you stand in one spirit, striving with one accord for the faith of the Gospel. And do not be afraid of your opponents in any way: this is a sign of destruction for them, but for you it is a sign of salvation, a sign from God. For it has been given to you, for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him - with the same feat, what you saw in me and now hear about me. Chapter 2. About humility, in the image of Jesus Christ So, if there is any consolation about Christ, if there is any joy of love, if there is any fellowship of the spirit, if there is any mercy and pity, fulfill my joy: live in the same thought, have the same love, be unanimous and of one mind; do nothing out of jealousy or vanity; but humbly exalt one another with honor. Not only should everyone take care of themselves, but also of others. For the same spirit of wisdom must be in you, as it was in Christ Jesus. He, who exists in the image of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God 34, but He humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant, and was in human likeness, and appeared in appearance as a man. He humbled himself and was obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore God exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name, Let every knee bow to the name of Jesus, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So, my beloved, just as you have always been obedient to me, so not only when I am with you, but even more so now, in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Remember, God, in His good pleasure, works in you, produces both will and action in you. Do everything without grumbling or doubting, so that you may be blameless and pure, as children of God, blameless among a crooked and corrupt generation, in whom you shine as lights in the world, containing the word of life. And I will be praised on the day of Christ, that I have not labored in vain and have not labored in vain. If, in addition to the sacrifice and service of your faith, I also become a sacrifice, I rejoice and rejoice with all of you: So you also rejoice and rejoice with me. I hope, however, in the Lord Jesus to soon send Timothy to you, so that I too may be comforted in spirit by receiving news about you: Besides him, I have no one so unanimous, who would so sincerely care about you. Everyone is looking for their own, not Jesus Christ. And you know how he showed himself: like a son to his father, he served me in the gospel. So, I hope to send it as soon as I find out what will happen to me. I hope in the Lord that I myself will come to you soon. However, I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and colleague and companion: he was also your messenger and minister in my need; Yes, he really wanted to see all of you and grieved that rumors of his illness reached you. He was sick at the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also on me, so that sorrow would not be added to my sorrow. That’s why I hastened to send him, so that when you see him, you will rejoice again, and I would be carefree. Receive him in the Lord with all joy, and have such esteem. For he was close to death for the cause of Christ, not sparing his life, in order to fulfill what was lacking in your help to me. However, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. Writing to you about the same thing is not lazy for me, but it is useful for your confirmation. The Striving for Excellence and the Purpose of the Christian Life Beware of those dogs, beware of evildoers, beware of circumcision. We are the circumcision, we who serve God in spirit, and we glory in Christ Jesus, and we do not trust in the flesh, although I could also trust in the flesh. If anyone else thinks of hoping, then I do even more. Circumcised on the eighth day, of the family of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee by the law, a persecutor of the church of God by zeal, in lawful truth he is blameless. But what was gain for me, I counted as loss for Christ’s sake. Yes, and I consider everything as vain before the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have given up everything and consider everything as trash, so that I might gain Christ and be found in Him, not with my own righteousness from the law, but with that which comes from faith in Christ, with the righteousness that comes from God in faith. So may I know Him and the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, so that, being conformed to His death, He may also reach the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already achieved or come to perfection, but I strive to see if I may also achieve the same thing in which Christ Jesus achieved me. No, brethren, I do not think of myself as having attained it; I have one thought: Forgetting what is behind, reaching forward, I strive towards the goal - for the honor of the highest calling of God in Christ Jesus. And whoever of us is perfect (in faith) should think like this; if you think anything else, God will reveal it to you. Only we, what we have achieved, must think like this and live according to that rule. Be imitators of me, brothers, and look to those who live according to the image that you have in us. For many, about whom I have often told you, and now I speak with tears, many act as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly and their glory is in their shame: they think about earthly things. And our residence is in heaven: from there we wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it will become consistent with the body of His glory, by the power by which it acts, it overcomes and subdues everything to Himself. Chapter 4. Exhortations and Instructions So, my beloved and longed for brothers, my joy and crown, stand thus in the Lord. I pray to Euodia and Syntyche to be like-minded in the Lord. To her, and I ask you, my faithful comrade, help them, who labored in preaching the Gospel with me and with Clement and with my other co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. Always rejoice in the Lord, and I will say again: rejoice. Let your meekness be reasonable to all people. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And may the peace of God, the peace that surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is righteous, whatever is pure, whatever is worthy of love and praise, whatever is virtue and whatever is worthy of praise, think about these things. Whatever you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me, do it, and the God of peace will be with you. Gifts Received from the Philippians It was my great joy in the Lord that you again remembered me with your care for me, as you cared for me before; Only the timing was unfavorable. I’m not saying this out of necessity: I’m used to being satisfied with what I have. I know how to live both in poverty and in abundance; I learned everywhere and in all circumstances to be satisfied and to endure hunger, to be both in abundance and in shortage. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. However, it is your good deed that you took part in my grief. Do you know, Philippisians, that at the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, not a single church, except you alone, showed me zeal either in alms or in receiving. You sent me to Thessaloniki once or twice for my needs. I don’t want to say that I would be looking for giving, but I’m looking for fruit, so that the fruit will multiply for your benefit. I have enough of everything, and beyond measure; I am pleased to have received from Epaphroditus what was sent from you: it is a fragrant aroma, a pleasing sacrifice, pleasing to God. May my God supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Glory to our God and Father forever and ever. Amen. My kisses to every saint in Christ Jesus. Kisses to you from the brethren who are with me. I kiss you, all the saints, especially those from the house of Caesar. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 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