 |  |
Forbearing spirit. "Not only passively, non-contentious, but actively considerate,
waiving even just legal redress" (Ellicott).
A contentious person will never experience this superlative peace with God, for he
carries the seeds of enmity within him, and sows them at every turn; and as Ellicott
observes, the positive active meaning must be understood before the first condition is
complied with, there must be active consideration for others, there must be that waiving
of rights, which the Apostle himself has so fully exemplified, when he said "All things
are lawful, but all things are not expedient". This "moderation" or "yieldingness" is a
first step towards surpassing peace, but there is another. Not only must there be great
consideration for others, there must not be too great consideration for ourselves. Many a
believer's testimony has been ruined by a fussy, selfish spirit. Households have been
unduly disturbed, servants caused to murmur and rebel, and bitterness manifest where
fellowship was ardently expected, simply because of this fault of "over anxiety".
Anxiety about our affairs, would naturally lead us, if believers, to make our requests to
God, but the omission that would prove fatal to the enjoyment of peace that passeth
understanding, would be to omit the mingling of thanksgiving with our asking. We have
but to cast our minds back over the days that are past, to see much cause for
thanksgiving. We have but to compare our lot with that of others, to see many reasons
for grateful praise.
When there is this unselfish moderation, this lack of selfish anxiety, this mingling of
thanksgiving for past blessings with requests for present needs, then the "Peace of God,
which transcends all our powers of thought" will be ours.
In what way this peace will be experienced is expressed in the words that follow:
"The peace of God . . . . . shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
The word "keep" which Paul uses here, has a specific sense, and its first occurrence in
the N.T. makes that sense clear:
"In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes
with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me" (II Cor. 11: 32).
Here the word is translated "kept with a garrison".
In the world of strife and enmity, with many causes for natural anxiety, the believer
who is obedient to the heavenly wisdom of this passage in Phil. 4:, will be garrisoned
by a power beyond his comprehension, and be kept in a peace that surpasses his
understanding. He will find his table spread in the presence of his enemies. His head
will be anointed with oil, he will be enabled to say:
"My cup runneth over."