Philippians 3:19

This was the sufficient sustenance of the Israelites. But that of the Gentiles was over-abundant. No one who uses it will ever study to become temperate, burying as he does his mind in his belly, very like the fish called ass, which, Aristotle says, alone of all creatures has its heart in its stomach. This fish Epicharmus the comic poet calls "monster-paunch." Such are the men who believe in their belly, "whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." To them the apostle predicted no good when he said, "whose end is destruction."

Because they serve him as God and seek to please him in every way. For some, money is their god; for others, the belly; about them Paul says in another place: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (1 Cor. 15:32). Behold, a …

All perverse valuations of worldly natures are prohibited. Now every perverse valuation of creatures proceeds either by reason of sublimity, or by reason of sufficiency, or by reason of delight. In the first way it is the idolatry of the proud; in the second way …

"Many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly," on account of sensual wisdom; "and whose glory is in their shame," on …

And what will be the result? Certainly to us life through the cross of Christ; but to the others the opposite, because they incur death. Hence he says, their end is destruction, i.e., eternal death. Then he describes their intention: first, he reveals their intention; …

): Many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. There are many called by Christ's name who are enemies to Christ's cross, and the design and intention of it.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

Whose end is destruction - This is placed in the front, that what follows may be read with the greater horror. Whose God is their belly - Whose supreme happiness lies in gratifying their sensual appetites.

Whose end is destruction,....

destruction--everlasting at Christ's coming. Php 1:28, "perdition"; the opposite word is "Saviour" (Php 3:20). end--fixed doom. whose god is their belly-- (Ro 16:18); hereafter to be destroyed by God (1Co 6:13).

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

PAUL was the very model of what a Christian minister should be. He was a watchful shepherd over the flock; he did not simply preach to them, and consider that he had done all his duty when he had delivered his message; but his eyes were always upon the Churches, marking their spiritual welfare, their growth in grace, or their declension in godliness. He was the unsleeping guardian of their spiritual welfare.

PAUL was the very model of what a Christian minister should be. He was a watchful shepherd over the flock; he did not simply preach to them, and consider that he had done all his duty when he had delivered his message; but his eyes were always upon the Churches, marking their spiritual welfare, their growth in grace, or their declension in godliness. He was the unsleeping guardian of their spiritual welfare. When he was called away to other lands to proclaim the everlasting gospel, he seems always to have kept an eye upon those Christian colonies which he had founded in the midst of heathen darkness. While lighting up other lamps with the torch of truth, he did not fail to trim the lamps already burning. Here you observe he was not indifferent to the character of the little church at Philippi, for he speaks to them and warns them. Note, too, that the apostle was a very honest pastor—when he marked anything amiss in his people, he did not blush to tell them; he was not like your modern minister, whose pride is that he never was personal in his life, and who thus glories in his shame, for had he been honest, he would have been personal, for he would have dealt out the truth of God without deceitfulness, and would have reproved men sharply, that they might be sound in the faith. “I tell you,” says Paul, “because it concerns you.” Paul was very honest; he did not flinch from telling the whole truth, and telling it often too, though some might think that once from the lip of Paul would be of more effect than a hundred times from any one else. “I have told you often,” says he, “and I tell you yet again there are some who are the enemies of the cross of Christ.” And while faithful, you will notice that the apostle was, as every true minister should be, extremely affectionate.

IT would seem, dear Friends, that there have been trials and difficulties connected with the Church of Christ in every age. We dream that our temptations are worse than those of our fathers, but they are not. We fancy that the Church is subject to worse diseases than in her early days, but it is not so. Paul had to complain that even in the Church at Philippi, which was about as good as any, and in some respects much better than most of the Churches, there were false teachers, and false-living men, who professed to be followers of Christ, but who were, in fact, the worst enemies of the Cross of Christ. One thing I wish and that is that, instead of brooding over our present difficulties, we would take them to the Lord in prayer and faith—and so triumph over them. But, at the same time, I wish that we had the same tenderness of heart for the Glory of God which was felt by the Apostle. That we were as sensitive as he was of anything that reflected upon the Divine honor, as jealous as he was, even to tears, lest any who professed to be the friends of the Cross should, by their lives, turn out to be its worst enemies. Oh, for more of Paul's zeal for God as the great motive power of our life, so that we might feel that it mattered little how anything else went so long as the Grace of Christ triumphed, men were saved and God's name was glorified! The Lord bring us to that state of mind! We shall then feel the sins of today even more acutely than we do at present—and we shall the more confidently trust in God as we seek to overcome them. I am not going to confine the text to its immediate connection with the church at Philippi, but I shall take it on a somewhat larger scale.

IT would seem, dear Friends, that there have been trials and difficulties connected with the Church of Christ in every age. We dream that our temptations are worse than those of our fathers, but they are not. We fancy that the Church is subject to worse diseases than in her early days, but it is not so.

Whose end is destruction - This is the issue of their doctrine and of their conduct. They are here described by three characters: 1. Their god is their belly - they live not in any reference to eternity; their religion is for time; they make a gain of godliness; and live only to eat, drink, and be merry. 2. Their glory is in their shame - they lay it down as a proof of their address, that they can fare sumptuously every day, in consequence of preaching a doctrine which flatters the passions of their hearers. 3. They mind earthly things - their whole study and attention are taken up with earthly matters; they are given to the flesh and its lusts; they have no spirituality, nor do they believe that there is or can be any intercourse between God and the souls of men. But their lasciviousness and uncleanness seem to be principally intended. See Kypke. Despicable as these men were, the apostle’s heart was deeply pained on their account: 1. Because they held and taught a false creed; 2. Because they perverted many by that teaching; and, 3. Because they themselves were perishing through it.

Two highly respectable towns compete for the honour of having been this particular cesspool, just as ten cities fought to be the birthplace of Homer. They claim to be its original as keenly as if they were claiming to be the original of More's "Utopia" …