EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS - Chapter 4 - Verse 9

Verse 9. Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do. That is, what you have witnessed in me, and what you have learned of me, and what you have heard about me, practise yourselves. Paul refers them to his uniform conduct—to all that they had seen, and known, and heard of him, as that which it was proper for them to imitate. The same thing, substantially, he urges in Php 3:17. See Barnes "Php 3:1".

It could have been only the consciousness of a pure and upright life which would make such counsel proper. How few are the men at this day who can urge others to imitate all that they have seen in them, and learned from them, and heard of them.

And the God of peace shall be with you. The God who gives peace. Comp. Heb 13:20; 1 Th 5:23. See Barnes "Php 4:7".

The meaning here is, that Paul, by pursuing the course of life which he had led, and which he here counsels them to follow, had found that it had been attended with the blessing of the God of peace, and he felt the fullest assurance that the same blessing would rest on them if they imitated his example. The way to obtain the blessing of the God of peace is to lead a holy life, and to perform with faithfulness all the duties which we owe to God and to our fellow-men.

{g} "God of peace" Heb 13:20