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THE ESTATE OF THE LATE

MARY SINCLAIR

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

University of Toronto

http://www.archive.org/details/lecturesexegetiOOjohn

LECTURES

0\ THE

EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH,
PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

LECTU RES

EXEGETICAL AND PRACTICAL

THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO
THE PHILIPPIANS

WITH A REVISED TRANSLATION OF THE EPISTLE

AND NOTES ON THE GREEK TEXT

BY THE

REV. ROBERT JOHNSTONE, LL.B.

GLASGOW

EDINBURGH
WILLIAM O L I P H A N T AND CO.

1875

270b
J57

1097389

TO THE

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATION
OF

PARLIAMENTARY ROAD, GLASGOW,

WITH MUCH AFFECTION,

THEIR FRIEND AND MINISTER,
THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE

IN object and plan this book is similar to one published by
the author four years ago on the Epistle of James. His
aim has been to produce such an exposition of the Epistle to
the Philippians as might be of service to Christian readers
generally, and might at the same time, so far as was possible
in a work of which the other was the main purpose, give some
special help to students of the original. The larger part of
the volume, accordingly, consists of lectures, in which the
Epistle is expounded, section by section, with the fulness of
illustration, and directness of practical application, belonging
to homiletical treatment, and without the exhibition of the
processes of exegesis to any greater extent than might reason-
ably be expected to interest readers of fair intelligence. To
the lectures are appended a revised translation of the Epistle,
and notes on the Greek text. These notes have been placed
in a part of the book by themselves, — an arrangement which
seems to the author preferable on various grounds to that
adopted in some similar works, of having the remarks on
points of grammar scattered throughout the book as footnotes.
The lectures were, in substance, delivered from the pulpit
in the ordinary course of Sabbath ministration. They have
since, however, been re-\mtten ; and, in the course of tran-
scription, such changes have been made, by omission, conden-
sation, or expansion, as seemed needful in view of publishing

viil Preface.

them. In all of them the author's endeavour has been, so
to set forth clearly what appeared to him to be the precise
meaning of the Divine Word, and so to illustrate the practical
bearings of the truth, as to ' edify the body of Christ.'

In the revised translation, his aim has been to exhibit, with
as little divergence as possible from the Authorized Version,
the exact sense of the original, according to the most approved
text. The text which has been followed is that of EUicott.
The translations of Alford, Conybeare, and Ellicott have been
carefully compared.

The notes on the Greek Text embrace a reference, more or
less full, to everything in the grammatical construction of the
Epistle which seemed to the author to call for special com-
ment. Brief discussions of various other questions than those
strictly grammatical will also be found in this part of the
volume. It appeared the natural place for everything con-
nected with the processes of exegesis which it seemed de-
sirable to say, but which could not satisfactorily be included
in the lectures.

In studying the Epistle, the author has used the aid of
Calvin, Beza, Bengel, Peirce, Storr, De Wette, Wiesinger,
Schenkel, Braune and Hackett, Meyer, Van Hengel, Alford,
Ellicott, Eadie, and Lightfoot. To Meyer, Ellicott, Eadie,
and Lightfoot, his obligations are particularly great. Of the
less strictly critical expositions of the Epistle, he has derived
most advantage from the Lectures of the learned and eloquent
Huguenot, Jean Daillc ; from the characteristically thoughtful
and earnest little book of Dr. Vaughan ; and from the charming
treatise of Neandcr.

At the end of the volume is given a translation of Polycarp's
letter to the Christians of Philippi, — which seems to form a
suitable appendix to an exposition of Paul's Epistle to that

Preface. ix

church, as affording a most interesting glimpse of their spiritual
condition half a century, or thereby, after the apostle had gone
to his reward. The translation has been made from the text
of Jacobson {Paircs Apostolici, Oxford, 1847); and has been
compared with the versions of Cave, Wake, and Chevallier,
and with that given in the Ante-JS/icene Christian Library.

The author has to acknowledge, with very hearty thanks,
the kindness of his friend, the Rev. David Kinnear, B.A.
Lond., of Dalbeattie, who has aided him in the revision of
the proof-sheets.

2 Wellesley Place, Glasgow,
April I, 1S75.

CONTENTS.

Introduction, ....

Lect. I. — Address and Salutation, .

II. — Pleasant Memories and Brigh
Hopes,

III. — Prayer for Spiritual Discernment,

IV. — The Gospel in Rome,
V. — Sufferings turning to Salvation,

VI. — The Saint's Life — Christ,

VI 1. — The Saint's Death — Gain,
VIII. — A Strait betwixt Two,

IX. — Conversation becoming the Gospel,
X. — Stedfastness for Christ,

XI. — Christian Concord, .

XII. — The Great Example,
XIII. — Working out our own Salvation
XIV. — Lights in the World,

XV. — ^Joy in Prospect of Martyrdom,
XVI, — Mission of Timothy,
XVII. — Mission of Epaphroditus, .
XVIII. — Joy in the Lord,
XIX. — ^Justification by Faith,

XX. — The Saint's Aspirations, .
XXI. — Pressing toward the Mark,
XXII. — True Wisdom proved by Godliness,
XXIII. — Wise Choice of Examples,

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Xll

Contents.

Lect. XXIV. — The Saint's Citizenship and Hope, Chap. iii. 20, 21, 320

XXV. — Stedfastness in the Lord, . . ,, iv. i,

XXVI. — Brotherly-Kindness, . . . ,, iv. 2, 3,

XXVII. — Prayerfulness and the Peace of God, ,, iv. 4-7,

XXVIII. — Summary of Duty, . . . ,, iv. 8,9,

XXIX. — Christian Contentment, . . . ,, iv. 10-13,

XXX. — Christian Liberality and its Reward, ,, iv. 14-23,
Revised Translation of the Epistle,
Notes on the Greek Text of Chapter i..

>> »» >> I^M

>> »» »> III.,

» > > > > » 1 ^ • >

Appendix. — Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians,

334
342
355
374
391
406
421
429
446
459
471
479

LECTURES

ON THE

EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

INTRODUCTION.

THE town of Philippi was situated in the east of Mace-
donia, on the banks of a Httle river called the Gangites,
and about ten miles from the shore of the Archipelago. It had
its name from the famous Macedonian king Philip, father of
Alexander the Great, by whom the old to^^'n on the site was
enlarged and fortified. Various circumstances combined to
make the place prosperous. The plain around is well watered
and fertile ; and in ancient times gold and silver mines were
worked in the neighbourhood ^^'ith considerable success. The
chief importance of the town, however, arose from its standing
on the great highway from Asia to Western Europe. The
mountains, which for a long distance form a natural v.-all, sink
down here and allow a passage, steep, but not seriously diffi-
cult. It was no doubt this advantage of position which led
Philip to fortify the town. For the same reason also the neigh-
bourhood was chosen by Brutus and Cassius as the scene of
the event which mainly has given Philippi celebrity in secular
histor}', the great battle between the republican armies com-
manded by them, and the forces of Mark Antony and young
Octavianus Caesar, aftens'ards the Emperor Augustus, which
decided the question who should rule the civilised world.

2 Lectures on Philippians,

In memory of his victory, Augustus constituted the town
what the Romans called a colony. To this attention is drawn
in the Acts of the Apostles (xvi. 12), the fact being there re-
ferred to evidently as one of some moment in its bearings on
the progress of the kingdom of Christ in Philippi. Paul, in the
course of his missionary travels, had visited other towns enjoy-
ing this particular privilege, in speaking of w^hich, however, the
sacred historian makes no mention of it ; but at Philippi the
apostle was to some extent personally affected by influences
peculiar to a colony. A Roman colony bore no close resem-
blance to anything kno^vn by the name in modern times. It
w^as constituted by a formal enactment of the supreme authority
at Rome ; and might be described as a garrison of Romans in
a conquered territor}'. To the colonists, frequently veteran
soldiers whom their general desired to reward, a portion of the
land in the neighbourhood of the town selected was given as
their property. They retained the much-prized privilege of
Roman citizenship. Their chief duty was ta guard the empire
from revolts of the vanquished, and from incursions of the
barbarians. Politically, a town invested with this character
Aras a kind of miniature of the metropolis. The traveller who
passed through a colony heard the Latin tongue, saw the in-
signia of Roman power, and was under Roman law in the
strictest sense. The pride of Roman citizenship met him
everywhere. Bearing these things in mind, we see why it
was that the heartless owners of the poor slave girl, whom
Paul had healed of her insanity, thus putting an end to their
wicked gains, made their charge before the magistrates in this
particular form : ' These men, being Jews, do exceedingly
trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for
us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans'' (Acts xvi.
20, 2 1 ). The fury of the people too, on hearing this accusation,
is thus explained ; and also the intensity of the fear of the
magistrates, when they learned that Paul and Silas were them-
selves Roman citizens, and remembered that in their dealings

hitrodnclion. 3.

with tlicm one of the most cherished privileges of the citizen-
ship, immunity from bo(Hly chastisement, had been violated.
In more than one jxissage of this Ej)istle, moreover, the
ai)0stle's language seems to have been moulded by the remem-
brance that he was writing to persons who lived in a Roman
colony.

At a time, and from causes, of which no record is left to us,
Philippi fell into decay, or suffered sudden destniction. Its
site has long been a wilderness, — no memorial of the busy life
of old presenting itself to the traveller, except the vague out-
lines of the city walls, and of some of its houses, and over all
the area fragments of marble columns and heaps of rubbish,
overgrown by thorns and briars.

The chief interest which Christians have in Philippi, arises
from the fact that it was the first place in Europe where the
gospel was preached, at least by the lips of an apostle. On
Paul's second great missionary tour, about twenty years after
the ascension of our Lord, he had come down to Troas, a town
on the Asiatic shore of the Archipelago, from which, on a clear
evening, a point in Europe can be seen, the towering promon-
\Qxy of Athos, in Macedonia. Immediately around the apostle
lay the scenery of the noblest poem of heathen antiquity, that
which tells of the wars of Troy. To Paul, a man of fine general
culture, who could gain the ear of the polished Athenians by
quoting what ' certain of their own poets had said,' the plain of
Troy could not be without interest. But zeal for the progress
of the kingdom of Christ was the great missionary's consuming
passion ; his heart was full of pity for fellow-men living and
dying in darkness and sin ; and the Trojan war was, after all, a
very little matter for him who knew himself set in the high
places of the field, to fight the battles of the Lord. Retiring
to rest, perhaps after a glimpse of distant Europe, certainly
with the spiritual needs of Europe before his heart, he received
from God in the night a command to arise and pass over. In
a vision, a man of Macedonia stood beside him, and entreated

4 Lectures on Philippians.

him, saying, * Come over into Macedonia and help us/ Re-
joicing in the prospect of new labours and new successes, unde-
terred by the prospect of new sufferings, Paul and his company,
in obedience to the heavenly vision, at once set sail from Troas
to take possession of Europe for Christ. After a prosperous
voyage of two days they landed at Neapolis, the port of Philippi,
and immediately went up to the town. The work, the success,
and the persecution there are familiar to all.

To the church then founded, and which may well have still
comprised among its members I.ydia, and the jailor, and the
slave girl, was addressed the Epistle before us. It was written
during Paul's im.prisonment at Rome,^ the period in his history
to which the last verses in the Acts of the Apostles bring us, —
probably, judging from various statements in the Epistle, to-
wards the close of the imprisonment, in the end of a.d. 62, or
beginning of a.d. dTi-) ^^^ thus about eleven or twelve years
after his first visit to Phihppi.^ During those years he had re-
visited the town at least twice.

* By some scholars it has been thought that the Epistle was written during
the apostle's imprisonment at Caesarea, before he was sent to Rome. The
only argument of any plausibility in support of this view is found in the fact
that, in the 13th verse of the 1st chapter, he speaks of his 'bonds in Christ'
being 'manifest in all the prcetorinni' (rendered in our version * palace') ;
and, in Acts xxiii, 35, we are told that at Caesarea he was lodged in * Herod's
pratorium * ( 'judgment hall '). But the use of this word in the Epistle accords
equally well with the apostle's position at Rome, designating either the
camp in which he lived, or rather (see the Lecture on the passage) the
brigade of troops from which his sentries were taken. On the other hand,
the reference in iv. 22 to 'Caesar's household,' while it accords perfectly
with the idea that he was writing in Rome, does not suit Caisarea at all,
without great forcing. The allusions in the Epistle, too, to expectations of
a speedy termination of the imprisonment, either by release or by condemna-
tion to death, lead our thoughts at once to Rome. Indeed, the whole tone
of the letter appears to be in perfect congniity with the common opinion
that it was written there ; whilst, on any other view, something unnatural
in its tone in various places will be felt.

' I)r Lighlfoot has devoted a long chapter of the Introduction to his
Commetitary on Philippians to a discussion of the order in which the

Introdtiction, 5

Regarding the condition of the Philippian church, we know
nothing except from intimations in this Epistle. It is evident
that the Christians there had been subjected to persecution
more or less severe, but had clung firmly to the faith of Christ.
To Paul himself they were knit in singularly close affection.
The unusual warmth and uninterruptedness of their love to
him, as compared with that of some of the other churches he
had planted, may perhaps be accounted for partly by the few-
ness of Jews among them. Unbelieving Jews and Judaizing
professors of Christianity were the apostle's most virulent
calumniators and opponents. Now, in Philippi, which was not
to any great extent a commercial town, and thus held out few
inducements to foreigners to settle there, the Jewish community
was not numerous. This is shown by the fact that at the time
of Paul's first visit they seem to have had no synagogue, but on
the Sabbath merely held a prayer-meeting by the river-side.

The love of the Philippian Christians to the apostle showed
itself in deeds. Again and again they had, out of their poverty,
contributed money for his relief in times of special need ; and
the immediate occasion of his writing this letter was his send-
ing back to them Epaphroditus, who had come to Rome from
Philippi with a gift from the church. At Rome, Epaphroditus
had thrown himself into evangelistic work under the apostle's
direction ; and this with such intense devotion, that his physical
strength gave way, so that * for the work of Christ he was nigh
unto death.' But God restored him, and on his recovery he
returned home bearing with him this Epistle.

epistles of the captivity were written. In this he opposes the view of the
vast majority of biblical scholars, that those to the Ephesians, Colossians,
and Philemon, which evidently belong to one group, were written early in
the imprisonment, and that to the Philippians late, — maintaining that the
case was exactly the reverse. His argument is characteristically candid
and able ; yet the ordinary opinion still appears to me the more probable.
The strong expectation which we find in the Epistle to the Philippians, of a
speedy termination of the imprisonment, seems to point decidedly to a late
date, later considerably than that of the others.

6 Lectures on Philippians.

In its contents this letter has some resemblance to the
first to the other great Macedonian church, that of Thessa-
lonica. We find in it little of the abstract reasoning which is
so prominent in the Epistle to the Romans, and nothing of that
stern reproof which abounds in the Epistles to the Galatians
and the Corinthians. The church at Philippi was evidently
well instructed, sound in the faith, and distinguished by strength
and beauty of Christian character. Here, accordingly, the
apostle writes less as a theological teacher, or an ecclesiastical
ruler, than as a Christian friend to Christian friends ; and hence
the view here given us of his own personal religious life, of the
grace and tenderness, as well as the strength, of that most noble
character, is peculiarly full and peculiarly refreshing and help-
ful. ' Strangely full of joy and thanksgiving amidst adversity,
like the apostle's midnight hymn from the depth of his
Philippian dungeon, this Epistle went forth from his prison at
Rome.'^

As we should anticipate in a letter of the kind now described,
there is but little of methodical arrangement. We have a
simple natural outflow of religious feeling, — comforting, no
doubt, to the writer himself, who thus opened his heart to his
friends ; edifying, strengthening, and refreshing to the Philip-
pians ; and eminently fitted, through the divine blessing, to
give wisdom and encouragement to all generations of readers.
*To all ages of the church — to our own especially — this
Epistle reads a great lesson. While we are expending our
strength on theological definitions or ecclesiastical rules, it
recalls us from these distractions to the very heart and
centre of the gospel — the life of Christ, and the life in
Christ. Here is the meeting-point of all our differences, the
healing of all our feuds, the tme life alike of individuals and
churches.' ^

' Mr. r.ullock, in Smith's Duti<nary of the Bible; article, 'Epistle to
the rhilippiaiis.'
* Dr. Lighlfoot.

Litroduciion. 7

Into the condition of the church of Phih'ppi, about half a
century after the apostle wrote his Epistle, we have an inte-
resting and most pleasing glimpse through an extant letter to
them from Polycarp, pastor of the church at Smyrna. "^ His
friend, Ignatius of Antioch, condemned to death for his religion
by the Emperor Trajan, had been taken to Rome, to be thrown
to wild beasts in the amphitheatre. On his way he passed
through Philippi, and there was most kindly received by the
brethren, and escorted by them on his journey. The interest
in this noble martyr for Christ, which was thus awakened in
their minds, led apparently to an application from them to
Polycarp for copies of some letters which Ignatius had written
during his journey. These he sent to them, and along with
them, according to another request which they had made, a
letter of counsel from himself. The martyrdom of Ignatius
falling somewhere between a.d. 107 and a.d. 116, the date of
this letter cannot be put later than a.d. 120. At that time the
church evidently retained much of its pristine earnestness and
spiritual beauty. Polycarp refers to serious flaws, of which
he had heard, in the character of certain members ; but the
brethren generally were still conspicuous for Christian excel-
lence. He congratulates them on their affectionate attention
to Ignatius and other suffering servants of Christ. He 're-
joices that the sturdy root of their faith, well reported of from
early days, still endures, and bears fruit unto our Lord Jesus
Christ.' He ' has confidence that they are well versed in the
Scriptures.'- This is certainly a very pleasant last glimpse of
the church so dear to the Apostle Paul. The last glimpse it
is. In ecclesiastical records of a later time the name of Philippi
is occasionally mentioned, but nothing in connection with it to

' A document which professes to be a letter to the Philippians from
Ignatius has also come down to us. There is the strongest reason, how-
ever, for regarding it as spurious, a composition of a later age.

* The whole letter, which on various grounds well repays perusal, will
be found at the end of the present volume.

8 Lechires on Philippians. ^

show whether the professed followers of Christ there continued
to ' adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour.' Among the
ruins of the city there have been found only the scantiest
Christian remains. * Of the church which stood foremost
among all the apostolic communities in faith and love, it may
literally be said, that not one stone stands upon another. Its
whole career is a signal monument of the inscrutable counsels
of God.' ^

That the Epistle to the Philippians is a genuine composition
of Paul, there is the amplest evidence, external and internal.
Even the destructive criticism of the modem sceptical school
has scarcely ventured to assail its Pauline authorship, — only two
or three voices having been heard professing doubt or denial ;
and the arguments put forth in support of the hostile position
have been frivolous and forced in the highest degree, wholly
insufficient to establish even any approach to a plausible case.
The mode of reasoning, indeed, adopted by Baur, the principal
objector, and Schwegler, his admiring disciple, is so utterly
and obviously absurd, that it is often difficult to believe men of
such learning and ability to have really intended their arguing
to be taken as serious. The words of Dean Alford are not
extravagant, that the objections which have been oftered to
the genuineness of this Epistle afford *an instance of the
very insanity of hypercriticism.'

* Dr. Lightfoot.

ADDRESS AND SALUTATION.

* Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in
Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons :
2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ.' — Phil. i. i, 2.

THE Epistle begins, as the letters of the ancients usually
did, with an announcement of the name of the writer,
and of the persons addressed. Here, at the very outset, an
evidence presents itself that Paul had full confidence in the
love and obedience of the Philippians. In most of his letters
he appends to his name his official designation 'aposde,'
and in some he finds himself compelled even to maintain by
argument in the body of the Epistle the reality and complete-
ness of his apostolic authority. Here, as in the Epistles to the
other prominent Macedonian church, that of Thessalonica, the
ofiicial title is not employed, plainly because he knew that no
such assertion of his rightful claim to be heard ^\'ith deference
and obedience was at all needed.

With his o^vn name he associates in the superscription that of
'Timotheiis' or Timothy. This eminent evangelist, and dear
friend of the apostle, was well known to the Philippians. He
had been with Paul and Silas when the church was founded ;
and during the eleven or twelve years intervening between that
time and the date of the Epistle, had paid several visits to the
to\Mi. In the Epistle, too, Paul speaks of sending him again
speedily. The introduction of his name was therefore very
natural. It was, however, only a courtesy. The letter, as re-
gards its substance, is Paul's alone, and carries with it full

lo Lectures on Philippians. [ch. t.

apostolic authority. You will observe that the very first
words of the 3d verse, which begins the letter proper as distin-
guished from the mere heading and salutation, are plainly
Paul's alone : * I thank my God.' The same mode of expres-
sion continues throughout j and where Timothy is referred to,
he is spoken of in the third person : ' I trust in the Lord Jesus
to send Timotheus shortly unto you' (ii. 19).

The designation ' servants of Jesus Christy is a modest and
beautiful one. James, the brother of the Lord, similarly begins
his letter : ' James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ.' You feel that, in its connection, the phrase suggests
official position in the church ; but only suggests it. It is in
itself quite general, describing all who, by taking Christ as their
Master and Lord, have entered into true freedom.

' To all the saitits in Christ Jesus ivhich are at Philippi.^ AA'e
have here a most instructive paraphrase for ' church.' Accord-
ing to the true idea of a church, you see, ' church members ' and

* saints ' are exchangeable terms. The radical thought in the
name ' saints,' or ' holy ' persons, as it is employed in Scripture,
is consecration, separation to the special service of God. A
reader goes back at once instinctively to this primar)^ idea,
when he finds it stated that the official garments of the Jewish
priests, and the vessels used in the sanctuary services, were

* holy.* In the prayer recorded in the 17th chapter of John,
the Lord said, speaking of those whom God ' had given Him,'

* For their sakes I sanctify myself — set myself apart as
High Priest, to offer up an all-sufficient sacrifice for sin —
'that they also might be sanctified through the truth.' His
consecration was to the intent that His people also might be
consecrated. Here enters the thought of purity of soul, for
true acceptable service can be rendered to God only by him
who is consecrated, not simply by certain external symbols, but
by the anointing of the {quickening and purifying Spirit. Be-
lievers in Christ are by their Saviour's grace separated from the
world to serve God, and this by the absolute devotion of their

vr.K. I.] Address and Saliilaiion. ii

whole nature. Our secular life, our business and recreation,
Christ would have us make holy, as really as the hours we
spend in the house of public worship, or in any definite, formal
religious service. As the prophet has it, * Upon the bells of
the horses should be Holiness unto the Lord, and every pot in
Jerusalem and in Judah should be holiness unto the Lord of
hosts.* Among true believers * no man liveth to himself, and
no man dieth to himself; for whether we live, we live unto the
Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether we
live therefore or die, we are the Lord's.'

It is of the very highest importance that this truth should
be most seriously pondered by us. We are apt to think of a
Christian as one who accepts certain doctrines and performs
certain formal services. But the purpose of God in revealing
to us the truth, and appointing religious ordinances, was that
men's whole being should, through the influence of the truth
and of the ordinances, be made saintly. ' Christ loved the
church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word ; that He
might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy
and without blemish.' His prayer was, ^ Sanctify \k\tn\ through
Thy truth; Thy word is truth.' The only really satisfying
proof that the gospel has been truly, intelligently, cordially
believed, — that the means of grace have been savingly effi-
cient,— is holiness of character. If we were as profoundly
impressed with the conviction of this fact as its importance
claims, dear friends, would there not be change in the hfe of
all of us? Would not the issue of 'searchings of heart' in
some of us be a sense that the needful radical change is still
lacking, church-goers though we all are, and most of us church
members?

Paul tells us the secret of true saintliness in the addition he
makes to the simple word ' saints,' — ' /;/ Christ Jesus.' Out of
Christ none are saints ; but all genuine believers are saints,

12 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

because they are 'in Him/ members of His mystical body,
and thus have within them the pulsations and working of His
life. And the more that by faith we draw from His life, ever
the more are we saintly. The thought of the union of Chris-
tians to their Lord is one most precious to them all ; for in that
union they recognise the spring of all spiritual happiness and
strength. The Apostle Paul dwells everywhere upon this
union with manifest and exceeding delight. The frequency
with which the expression *in Christ' occurs in his letters,
strikes every attentive reader, and shows the constancy of his
joy and gratitude that he lived and moved ' in Him.' In the
course of our examination of this Epistle we shall find many
passages giving opportunity for illustrating the subject in vari-
ous aspects.

In the address ' to all the saints which are at Philippi,' we
see the warmth of the apostle's affection for his friends there.
Similarly, we have at the end of the letter, * salute every saint
in Christ Jesus.' It is as if he said, ' I wish every one of you
individually to feel that he is dear to me.' It is not impro-
bable that another thought also was meant to be suggested to
his first readers by the mention of them all. There are several
indications in the letter, more or less distinct, that Paul had
been pained by learning of some alienations of feeling among
certain of the prominent members of the church. These
brethren, I apprehend, could hardly help hearing him say to
them in the * all,' ' I have ardent brotherly love for every one
of you, because I have good reason to think of you as all in
Christ, and all loved by Him : should you not all love one
another ? '

To the mention of the church generally, the apostle appends
^with the bishops and deacons^ It is not his custom thus to
specify the office-bearers in the headings of his letters, and
various reasons have been suggested for his doing so here.
By some expositors it has been thought that Paul wished in
this way to acknowledge special liberality on the part of the

vi:r. I.] Address and Salutation, i

office-bearers, in contributing to the gift which Epaphroditus
had brought to Rome ; by others, that there had been evi-
dence of a disposition among some of the private members
of the church to disregard the legitimate authority of their
spiritual rulers, and that by this reference the apostle desired
to give the office-bearers his support, as holding their position
by the law of Christ. Either of these suppositions may be
tme ; we cannot tell. But you may remember that when ' it
pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church (of
Jerusalem), to send chosen men of their own company to
Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, they ^vTOte letters by them
after this manner, — The apostles and elders and brethren
send greeting' (Acts xv. 22, 23). Now it is in every way
probable that the church of Philippi had by Epaphroditus,
along with their pecuniary gift, sent Paul also a letter,
which, like the letters just referred to, may have had in
the heading some special mention of the office-bearers,
thus, — ' The brethren at Philippi, with the bishops and dea-
cons, send greeting.' The employment by Paul, in his reply,
of the same words, may possibly then mean nothing more
than that, in a letter which, to some little extent, had the
character of a formal acknowledgment of money received,
he courteously accepted the givers' own way of describing
themselves.

It is obviously probable in the highest degree, that, in a
passage where the warmth and delicacy of his love have led
the apostle to speak expressly of ' all the saints,' his special
mention of the office-bearers leaves out "no class of them. Now,
throughout the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, we find
very frequent reference made to ' elders,' as the principal office-
bearers in the church ; as essential, indeed, to the full regular
organization of a Christian society. Paul and Barnabas, we are
told, * ordained elders in every church' (Acts xiv. 23). It is evi-
dent, therefore, — the deaconship being well known as a distinct
office from that of the elder, — that, if all the office-bearers of the

14 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

church of Philippi are mentioned in the verse before us, then
' bishop ' is simply another name for ' elder/ This conclusion
is supported by abundant evidence in other parts of the New-
Testament. The most distinguished recent Episcopalian ex-
positors of Scripture, such as Bishop EUicott, Dean Alford,
and Canon Lightfoot, admit that, beyond all reasonable dis-
putation, in the primitive church the office of ' bishop ' was
identical with that of ' elder ' (or ' presbyter,' the Greek equi-
valent of 'elder'); and that, however early episcopacy in the
prelatical sense may have appeared, it does not find support
in the New Testament. I need not here go at length into the
proofs of this position. It is perhaps well to remark, however,
that in our English version some of these proofs are hidden.
Thus, when Paul, having from Miletus ' sent to Ephesus, and
called the elders of the church,' enjoined on them to * take
heed to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost had made
them overseers' (x\cts xx. 17, 28), — this last word is the same
which is usually rendered ' bishops,^ and from which the w^ord
'episcopacy,' and, indeed, in a more remote way, the word
' bishop ' itself also, are derived. Again, when Peter says,
' The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an
elder. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly' (i Pet. v.
I, 2), — the expression ' taking the oversight ' is, strictly, 'acting
as bishops.^

The earliest Christian churches, as you know, were composed
of persons who had been trained in Judaism. The arrange-
ments of the synagogue were therefore naturally followed in
various respects in their meetings, and, in particular, the officers
chosen by the authority of the apostles to regulate their affairs
were named ' elders,' like the rulers of the synagogue. Among
tlie Greeks, tlie word to which 'bishop' corresponds, and which
according to its derivation means ' overseer,' was a finniliar
one, being the name given to government officials charged with
certain duties. When Christianity entered the Gentile world,

VEK. I.] Address a7id Sahitaiion. 15

then, iliis name, familiar to the ear, came somehow, not un-
naturally, to be given to the rulers of the churches, as well as
the name * elders,' which, as applied to rulers, was strange to
the Cireeks.

In all parts of the church a certain precedence naturally,
ind with apostolic sanction,^ fell to those of the * elders,' or
' bishops,' who not merely discharged the function of ruling,
but also had the gift of teaching, and therefore ' laboured in
the word and doctrine.' One of these, no doubt, generally had
the presidency in the meetings of the ' presbytery,' or body of
elders. That from this presidency, or moderatorship, among
equals, there should arise, in course of time, and that no long
course, the system of prelatical episcopacy, in which the bishop
and the presbyter belong to distinct orders of the ministry,
will not seem wonderful to any one who has either carefully
read history, or studied the workings of human nature around
him and within him.

Of the institution of the office of * dcaco7i^ a narrative is
given in the 6th chapter of Acts, where we are told that on
account of ' a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews '
in the church at Jerusalem, ' because their widows were
neglected in the daily ministration,' the people were asked by
the apostles to choose ' seven men of honest report, full of the
Holy Ghost and wisdom,' whom they might ' appoint over this
business,' — and that, an election having been accordingly held,
the men chosen were brought to the apostles, and set apart to
their special work by prayer and the imposition of hands.
These seven are not called 'deacons';' but there can" be no
reasonable doubt, from the nature of their duties, that we
have here, in fact, the origin of this office. The duties of the
deacons were chiefly to take charge of the money contributed
by the brethren for the relief of the poor members, and to see
to its judicious and equitable distribution. From the com-
paratively late and, so to speak, occasional origin of this office,

^ I Tim. V. 17.

1 6 Lect2ircs on PJiilippians. [ch. i.

and from the fact that when Paul speaks of having left Titus
in Crete to 'set in order the things that were wanting, and
ordain elders in every cit}'' (Titus i. 5), no mention is made
of deacons, we may perhaps fairly conclude that the deacon-
ship, while a most useful and honourable office, is yet not
absolutely essential to the regular organization of a church, as
the eldership is. In almost every Christian society, however,
there -will be found a fulfilment of the Lord's words, ' The
poor ye always have with you ;' and if the church is at all
faithful to her calling, she will always ' remember ' her poor.
By some means, therefore, the work of the deacon must be
done.

The announcement of the name of the wTiter and of the
persons addressed is followed, as was usual in the letters of the
ancients, and as we find almost always in the apostolic Epistles,
by an affectionate salutation. The highest form of the Chris-
tian life, my brethren, is seen when energetic love is fully
pervaded by a spirit of gentleness and sympathy, exhibiting
itself in true politeness to all of all social positions, and in little
things as well as great, according to the broad apostolic pre-
cept, * Be pitiful, be courteous.' The apostles themselves rose
in conduct to this height, enforcing precept by example. Their
letters, written in the midst of arduous and harassing work, yet
show diligent attention to all the kindly courtesies of social life.
The last chapter of Romans, which is almost wholly taken up
with greetings and expressions of personal affection, deserves
more study, because it is fitted to give more instruction as to
how peace and joy are to be maintained in beauty and sweet-
ness in Christian intercourse, than many believers seem to
think.

The salutation to the Philippians is that which, in various
forms, occurs most freciuently in the letters of the apostles.
How beautiful it is 1 How rich in holy affection ! Good wishes
for the temporal welfare of friends have their own place. John,
writing to * the wcU-bclovcd Gaius,' expresses his desire * that

vi.R. 2.] Address and SaliUation, 17

he may prosper and be in health, even as his soul prospcreth.*
But this ' prospering of the soul ' must always stand first in a
Christian's wishes. If we know Christ, — then, as our chief
desire for ourselves is growth in the beauty and strength and
blessedness of religion, so for others, and specially for those
who are personally dear to us, our most earnest wish and
I)rayer must be, that ^ grace and peace ' may be given to them,
and that ever more and more; that the Lord would * remember
them with the favour which He beareth unto His people, and
visit them with His salvation, that they may see the good of
His chosen, that they may rejoice in the gladness of His
nation, that they may glory with His inheritance.'

From '■graced the free favour of God, come all our blessings.
In its use in the salutation, 'peace' being named separately,
the chief reference is, no doubt, to the manifestation of the
divine favour in the bestowal of the enlightening and sancti-
fying influences of the Holy Ghost. You remember the state-
ment of Luke, that the child Jesus ' grew, and waxed strong in
spirit, filled with wisdom ; and the grace of God was upon Him.'
Every day revealed in Him new excellences. The lovely bud
of a perfectly holy childhood was seen opening into the glorious
flower of a perfectly holy manhood. There was not here trans-
forming grace. None was needed for Him who, from the be-
ginning, ' knew no sin.' Yet the use of the word is plainly
analogous to what we find in the apostolic salutation, in so far
as it refers specially to holy beauty. Grace to transform the
naturally sinful into the likeness of the sinless Jesus, this is
what is asked of God — for the words are really a prayer — in
the salutation.

The meet companion of such * grace' is '■peace^ also given
through the free favour of God, — peace springing from the
knowledge of His love in Christ, 'peace passing all under-
standing, keeping the heart and mind through Christ Jesus.'
An Eastern, when he enters a house, says, ' Peace be to this
house,' as thoughtlessly as we commonly say ' Good morning*

1 8 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

to a casual acquaintance whom we meet on the street. Our
I^ord taught the apostles and the seventy disciples to employ
the familiar salutation with depth of meaning, thinking, while
they uttered it, how alone true peace could come to the house,
and prajang that God would send it. ' Into whatsoever house
ye enter, first say. Peace be to this house : and if the son of
peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it ; if not, it shall
return to you again.' Think you not that the courtesies of
Christians should always have reality of significance ? If the
spirit of our Master filled us, diffusing its genial power through
the whole being, and ever in bright activity, would not blessing
go forth from us, through the energy of prayer, even at the
slight touches of social kindliness, as virtue went out from the
hem of the Lord's garment? I doubt not that, with the
apostle's affectionate ' Peace be unto you,' it was so.

The prayer of the salutation is presented to ' God our Father^
— Him ' from whom cometh down every good gift, and every
perfect gift.' How broad and stable is the ground of confidence
for us, exhibited in that sweet name * Father ! ' He who * of
His own will begat us with the word of truth ;' who 'hath sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba,
Father ; ' who has told us that, if earthly parents, ' being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto their children, much more
shall He, our Father which is in heaven, give good things to
them that ask Him,' — this God, my brethren, will certainly
not leave unregarded any petition of His children. ''And
the Lord Jesus Christ^ who 'humbled Himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,' in order
that a way might be opened by which, consistently with the
glory of the divine character, 'grace and peace' might be be-
stowed on men, — will He, now possessing ' all power in heaven
and in cartli,' fail to employ it to bestow 'grace and jx'ace' on
longing hearts, or to answer the cry of loving Christian souls
for the quickening of those who are dear to them ?

\' !•: Rs. 3 - 8. ] / ^Icasant Memories and Bright Hopes. 1 9

PLEASANT MOIORIES AND BRIGHT HOPES.

* I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always, in every
prayer of mine for you all, making request with joy, 5 P^or your fellow-
ship in the gospel from the first day until now ; 6 Being confident of
this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ : 7 Even as it is meet for me
to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart ; inasmuch as
both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel,
ye all are partakers of my grace : 8 For God is my record, how greatly
I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.' — Phil. i. 'y-'i.

THIS first paragraph^ or, more exactly, sentence, of the
letter proper, introduces us at once to the peculiarity of
the apostle's style, which in all his writings is very marked.
Where style of expression has not been by definite eff"ort con-
formed to certain rhetorical principles, but is to a considerable
extent natural, it of necessity corresponds to the characteristics
of a man's mind and heart ; just as the particular nature of a tree
expresses itself in specialty of form, in the regular beauty, for ex-
ample, of the poplar and the palm, or the irregular beauty of the
oak and the cedar. Now an examination of Scripture proves
that divine inspiration wrought in entire harmony with indi-
vidual temperament, with free action of thought and play of
feeling ; and thus we have most obvious differences of style
among the sacred writers. Whilst all pervaded and guided by
the Holy Ghost, David, Isaiah,, and Ezekiel, Paul, James, and
John, have yet such decided individualities, that even a cur-
sory reader cannot fail to observe them. This genuine human

20 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

element in the Word of God, appealing as it does to our
brotherly sympathies, has somewhat to do with the winning
influence of the book over all candid souls. ^

In Paul, extraordinary intellectual power was associated with
singular liveliness of spirit and singular tenderness of affection;
and his style accords with this. His reasonings are couched
occasionally in a rigid logical form ; and now and again the
most exquisite poetic thought takes the most perfect regularity
of poetic expression, as in the wonderful psalm of love in the
13th chapter of First Corinthians, or the closing verses of
the great chapter on the resurrection in that Epistle. But,
as a rule, his sentences, laden with precious truth and holy
emotion, are long and complicated, and thus not unfrequently
hard of interpretation. We see in the writer's mind one
weighty thought pressing for expression after another so fast,
that no time is given for full separate exhibition ; and ever
and anon a gush of warm feeling comes in, in a strong cur-
rent, swaying the sentence in a direction different from that in
which at first apparently it had tended. One who studies the
apostle's writings with anything of the sympathy which Chris-
tian faith gives, feels growing delight that, through this very
contortedness of the style, he is brought into such close con-
tact with so great a soul, — so admitted into fellowship as to
witness the private workings of an intellect of such force and
vivacity, and of a heart so generous and tender.

The j)aragraph now before us, which, as has been said,
excellently illustrates the apostle's peculiar style, is an ascrip-
tion of thanks to God for the spiritual prosperity of the Philip-
pian church. It brings before us the feelings of a godly
minister on the retrospect of his connection with a godly con-
gregation.

It is tlic apostle's usual practice to begin his letters with a
thanksgiving. He delights to recognise good in those to whom

' This point is illustrated at some length in the introductory paragraphs
of the Lecture on chap. iii. 2-9,

VERS. 3 - S. ] Pleasant lilcmorics and Bright Hopes. 2 1

he writes, oven in cases where there may be also much to re-
])rove ; and lie wins his way to their hearts by beginning with
the good. In melancholy contrast stands out the Epistle to
the Galatians, where immediately after the salutation comes
the sad stern ' I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him
that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another gospel,
which is not another ; but there be some that trouble you, and
would pervert the gospel of Christ.'

In a Christian, the natural outflow of gladness is in thanks
to our Fatlicr in heaven, from whose kindness come all the
agencies of true happiness. Alas, Christian brethren, that we
so often show the new nature to be as yet so feeble within us,
by forgetting to raise our hearts in gratitude to Him ! Yet
more distinctively Christian is it, when the heart gives thanks
for the good of others. The tendency of sin is to disintegrate
society, to make men isolated in spirit, self absorbing their
interest The natural heart, as it comes increasingly under
the power of worldliness, tends ever to less and less sympathy
with others, less sadness through their sorrows, less pleasure
through their happiness. The influence of Christianity is
entirely in the other direction. Love is its essence, and love
involves sympathy, 'rejoicing with them that rejoice, and weep-
ing with them that weep.' Most of all distinctively Christian,
absolutely distinctively Christian, is the spirit which we find
exemplified by the apostle here, joy and thankfulness chiefly
for the spiritual good of others. There are many who from
natural kindliness of heart, not altogether blighted as yet by
the withering power of sin, will join Christians in feeding the
hungry, and clothing the naked, and building hospitals for the
diseased; but to whom the news of a religious awakening brings
no pleasure, who feel no interest whatever in eff"orts to extend
the knowledge and power of the gospel. To the true believer
in Christ, no pleasure is higher than that aftbrded by evidence
of the progress of the Saviours kingdom. He delights to
know that the children in the orphanages of Rajpootana have

2 2 Lectures 071 Philippians. [ch. i.

been saved from the wretchedness of the famine, and are
lovingly fed and clothed ; but his chief happiness in thinking
of them is to know that they are under influences fitted,
through the divine blessing, to bring them into the faith and
love of Christ, and thus ' save their souls from death.' ^

This paragraph of thanksgiving to God falls into two parts :
first, an expression of gratitude for the past history of the
Philippian church, which is contained in verses 3-5 ; secondly,
an expression of gratitude for the assured hope the apostle has
in regard to their future, which occupies the 6th and 7th verses.
The 8th verse is a kind of appendix to the paragraph.

It is usually, as here, in thanksgivings that Paul uses the
appropriating expression, ^ 7ny God! The naturalness of this,
in the acknowledgment by a Christian of blessings which
have been bestowed on him personally, is obvious. Looked
at in connection with the subject of the present thanksgiving,
the progress of Christ's kingdom at Philippi, the ^ my' well
illustrates the broadening, liberalizing influence of Christianity,
its tendency to slay the selfishness of the human heart. Intense
as is the happiness felt by every child of God in the knowledge
that he himself * has passed from death unto life ;' yet, if there
be any whose joy in the gospel rests exclusively ^ or anything
like exclusively, on the thought of its having become ' the
power of God unto salvation' to them personally, they have
not as yet learned more than the elements of the truth which
the Holy Spirit teaches the saints. Growth towards the

* With the particulars of the illostrative case here referred to, the con-
gregation to whom the lecture was delivered were familiar ; but for some
who may read it a word of explanation may perhaps be desirable. After a
terrible famine in Rajpootana a few years ago, several hundreds of desti-
tute orphans were taken by the missionaries labouring in the district to
their various stations, there to be cared for till they should be able to pro-
vide for themselves. Much interest was awakened in these poor children
throughout the United Presbyterian Church, with which the mission is
connected; and many members assumed the responsibility of supporting
l)articular orphans, adopting them in a measure.

VKR. 3-1 Pleasant Memories and Bright Hopes. 2

' measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' is in nothing
more marked than in increasing delight, and increasing
gratitude as for a personal blessing, to see the advancement
of the glory of the Saviour all around, through the quickening
of dead souls and the ripening of Christians in piety. In the
fact that God is leading others to know Him as their covenant
God, the wise believer sees ground for always new thankfulness
and joy that so gracious a God is Ids God. He knows that
the widening of the range of blessing brings no diminution of
individual blessing. To each Christian God is as fully and satis-
fyingly his God as if there were no others in the covenant.

* I thank my God,' says the apostle, * upo7i every remem-
brance of you ^ — more exactly, ' on all my remembrance of you,'
— an expression which may perhaps gather up, so to speak,
into one head or sum the times when he is conscious of this
feeling of gratitude, and may therefore be equivalent to ' upon
every rem.embrance of you,' but appears much more naturally
to mean, ' on the ground of all I remember regarding you.' He
had still vividly before him * the kindness of their youth, the
love of their espousals' to the Saviour. He remembered the
sweet outflow of love from the * opened heart' of Lydia, when
'she besought' him and his company, 'saying, If ye have
judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and
abide there,' — and that her warm and active affection represented
the spirit of the believers generally. With this good beginning,
he knew that their history since had on the whole accorded.
He had heard, and on his occasional visits seen, that know-
ledge, humility, and self- discipline were found among the
members of the church ; that their life was governed by ' a
spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind ;' that they
* walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost.' Thus, ' on the ground of all his remembrance of
them,' the apostle, their spiritual father, ' thanked his God.'
Ah, my brethren, how rare in any age has been such a chiurch !
How sweet to the pastor must always be such a memory !

24 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. i

The 4th verse tells us the form in which Paul's thankful-
ness found expression, — in gladness of heart as he prayed for
them : ' always^ in every prayer of 7tiinefor you all, making request
with Joy. ^ The force of these last words is a little obscured
through the omission by our translators of an article, the exact
rendering being * making the request with joy ;' or, still more
precisely, retaining, as in the original, the same word used in
the first part of the clause, * offering the prayer with joy.'

The mode of expression assumes that the Philippians did
not need to be informed that the apostle often presented special
prayer to God for them. He tells them what was his state of
feeling in these prayers; but the fact of the prayers being offered
is taken as a matter of course. The responsibility which rests
upon a minister mth reference to the spiritual welfare of his
people, and the affections which arise out of the relations and
intercourse between him and them, cannot but lead every
spiritually-minded minister to bear his flock often on his heart
before God.

When, as in the case before us, a minister sees God's blessing
plainly resting on his work, then his sense of gratitude impels
him with peculiar power to prayer. The proper and healthful in-
fluence of gratitude to God for any gift is to send us to our knees
to express our trust in Him for the time to come, and to ask
yet larger proofs of His kindness. In our relations to human
benefactors the case stands othenvise. Sincere thankfulness
for the kindness of a friend may often reasonably and becom-
ingly lead us to resolve that, because his goodness to us has
already been so great, we shall abstain from asking anything of
him in the future. But one grand end of God in all His gifts
to His moral creatures is, that through the course of thought
and feeling into which the gifts are fitted to lead them, there
may be j)roduccd a spirit, ever deepening, of childlike depend-
ence upon Him. ' I am the Lord thy God,' He says, * which
brought thee out of the land of Egypt ; open thy mouth wide,
and I will fill it.' True Christian wisdom is to obey this

VERS. 4, ^^Plcasant I\Icmorics and Brio;Jit Hopes. 25

gracious command, and on mercies past to build up a sure
hope of new and more wondrous mercies to come. * The
Lord hath been mindful of us ; He will bless us.' * I will take
the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.'

Prayer oftered when thankfulness thus si)ecially occui)ies the
heart — 'calling upon the name of the Lord' for further
mercies, when * the cup of salvation,' which He has bestowed,
is felt to be even now in the hands of the petitioner — will
evidently have gladness as its distinctive characteristic. This,
accordingly, is what Paul points to as showing his thankfulness
on the retrospect of the religious history of the Philippians, —
the fact that he presents his petitions for them * with joy. ^ We
are all sometimes called on to * wrestle ' with God, like Jacob,
in the night, and, with darkness all around, to * watch for the
morning' with weary hearts. But in the apostle's prayers for
the Philippians he felt himself in the light. He saw his
Father's face, ^^^th its smile of ineffable love. God had already
shown mercy, and this in regard to the very matter on which
his entreaty bore. His prayer, above all things, for his dear
Philippians was, that they might 'grow in grace.' Now he
knew that they had been * growing in grace.' Was it not most
reasonable that he should 'make his request with joy'?

The 5th verse exhibits the ground of the apostle's thankful-
ness and joy. It expands the mention which he has made of
his ' remembrance ' of the Philippians, specifying the fact
respecting them which it gave him such pleasure to look back
upon.^ His gratitude and joy were ^for their fellozuship in the
gospeP — rather, 'with regard to the gospel' — 'from the first day
until no7u.^

In the I St verse we found Paul using the word * saints' as

' As regards its precise connection with the rest of the sentence, this
clause might be looked on as exactly parallel to ' on all my remembrance
of you,' and as expressly intended to be an exposition of it. The mode
of construction is the same in both. Considering the inartificial character
of the apostle's style, however, the immediate connection is perhaps rather
with 'joy.' Practically, the force of the clause is the same, either way.

26 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

equivalent to * church.' We have here another very suggestive
expression. The PhiHppian church was, and it is perfectly
plain that the apostle considers that every church which is at
all satisfactorily to fulfil the purposes of its existence will be, a
body of persons bound together in ^fellowship with respect to the
gospel^ or ''for the furtherance of the gospeU The church at
Philippi was an association for advancing the influence of the
gospel.

The '■fellowship' of these brethren was, first and funda-
mentally, with Christ. They had been brought, in the measure
of their faith, into unity of view and unity of will with Him ;
and therefore with Him, guided by His wisdom and sustained
by His strength, were exerting themselves in His cause. They
had learned to regard sin in the light in which He regards it.
Wherever and in whatever form it showed itself, in them-
selves or in others, they saw it to be exceedingly evil, utterly
and only evil. By this oneness of view with their Lord they
were naturally impelled to oneness, or ' fellowship,' of action.
They felt it to be most reasonable that if He, to overthrow sin,
gave Himself up to death, and now is ever pleading through
His Spirit with gospel hearers, knocking at the door of their
hearts, all who think with Him should join Him in His work
of love.

In Him, too, they had ' fellowship in relation to the gospel '
with each other. The advancement of each other's piety and
spiritual peace was with them an object of definite pursuit.
They prayed for each other's advancement, and, in their inter-
course, were mutually helpful with regard to the concerns of
the soul, as well as those of the outward life. They co-operated
also for the extension of the gospel. Not merely did each in
his own sphere endeavour, by consistency of character and by
direct effort, to bring 'them that were ignorant and out of
the way' into the light and holiness and joy of true religion,
but they associated themselves in various ways for such effort.
They remembered that the wise and loving Saviour had sent

VKR. 6.] Plcasa7it Afcniorics and Jh'ii^Jit Hopes. 27

forth His apostles and His seventy disciples 'by two and two,'
for their mutual stimulus and support in missionary labour.

Still further, this 'fellowship' was with all Christians. They
bore on their hearts before their Father all * the brotherhood,'
the whole ' household of faith ;' and, as opportunity served, they
gave Christian brethren encouragement and aid, looking with
especial interest to those who were actively engaged in labour
for the gospel. To their friend Paul, for example, they had
recently, as repeatedly in former years, sent such pecuniary
help as their circumstances permitted. The noble veteran of
gospel warfare, now in prison 'for the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ,' had been greatly cheered by this
proof of their love to him for the Master's sake.

In speaking of their 'fellowship regarding the gospel,' he
had no doubt in his mind all the forms of communion which
have been mentioned ; and all his remembrances of the Philip-
pians brought it up before his view, for its affection and energy
had been seen ^from the first day until now.'

In the next verse the apostle continues his statement of the
ground of his 'joy' in praying for them, and of his thankful-
ness to God respecting them. ' I can present my petition for
your spiritual advancement with the brightness of full hope,'
he says, ^ being confident of this very thing, which is the object of
my prayer, that He ivhich hath begim a good work in you, will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.^

Every work of God is 'very good.' With special intensity
of significance is this attribute ascribed to His work of saving
grace, in which He makes sinful men ' good ' by enabling
them to reflect His own image. The long and faithful con-
tinuance of the brethren at Philippi in their ' fellowship with
respect to the gospel,' gave most convincing evidence that
divine grace had ^ begun' this supremely ^good wo?'k' in them;
and Paul believed that that same grace would still ^perform it,'
' bring it to completeness.' God does not do things by halves ;
and all those who through the dealings of His Spirit are led

28 Lechi7'es on Philippians. [ch. i.

to give themselves to Christ, are through the continued influ-
ence of the Spirit sustained in faith and holiness unto full
salvation. *^he gifts and calling of God are without repent-
ance.' As certainly as the ' inheritance incorruptible, and un-
defiled, and that fadeth not away,' is ' reserv^ed in heaven ' for
the saints, so certainly they 'are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation.' ' I give unto My sheep eternal
life,' said the Lord Jesus, 'and they shall never perish, neither
shall any pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave
them Me is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them
out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are One.'

Having the happy conviction, then, from all he knows of
the Philippians, that not in name only, but in truth, they have
given themselves to the Lord, Paul is confident that the
' Author of their faith ' will be its ' Finisher ; ' that the ' good
work ' which has been ' begun ' in them by divine grace, will
be carried on ' until the day of Jesus Christ' The Christian
knows that death will be for him the gate of life, seeing that
' to depart ' will be ' to be with Christ.' But, according to the
teaching of Scripture everywhere, the body is essential to
complete humanity. So long, therefore, as the spirits of the
saints remain disembodied, their condition is imperfect, even
though they enjoy the highest happiness of which a disem-
bodied human spirit is susceptible. The time of their perfec-
■" tion in the fullest sense begins at the second coming of the
Lord, when the pure spirit will be united again to what it will
recognise as in some true sense the old companion of its earthly
y joys and sorrows, but now ' fashioned like unto Christ's glorious
body.' To that advent of the Lord in majesty, to bring the
probationary history of our earth to a close, to subject His
foes to utter overthrow, and to introduce His people into the
fulness of eternal life, all imperfection for any of the elements
of their nature for ever behind *them, — to this sublime scene,
as you know, Scripture continually directs our thoughts. In
the representations of the divine Word, death, which we are

VER. 6.] Pleasant Memories and Bri^^ht Hopes. 29

apt to keep so prominently before our minds, passes com-
])aratively out of view, as but a stage in our progress towards
the experiences of that great day. We should breathe a brighter
and freer atmosphere, my brethren, if in this matter we followed
the leadings of the Spirit more closely than we generally do.
The first impulse of many of us, if we were expressing the
thought of the verse before us, would be to write, 'Ood will
carry on the good work //// death.' If we ponder the matter
carefully, we shall see that the apostle's language reveals a soul
less absorbed in the thought of self, and more occupied with
that of the glory of the Saviour and the blessedness of the
whole church, than ours, — a soul, therefore, which was more
likely to ' rejoice in the Lord alway.'

In considering the many precious assurances given in Scrip-
ture, that all who cordially accept Christ as their Saviour will
certainly be saved, it is of the highest importance that we bear
in mind the perfect compatibility with these assurances, and,
indeed, the absolute necessity, of diligence, and watchfulness,
and prayer, 'to make our calling and election sure.' The per-
severance of the saints is a perseverance in faith and holiness.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christ's people secures
for us success in our struggle with sin; but His teaching enables
us to see in this no reason for carelessness and indolence, but
a most powerful reason for diligence, seeing that the contest
may be maintained with such assured hope. The children of
God feel that no argument could by possibility be stronger
than that which Paul exhibits elsewhere in this Epistle —
* Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling ; for it
is God which worketh in you both to will and to do, of His
good pleasure.'

In the portion of this long and somewhat complicated para-
graph, or sentence, which we have already examined, we have
seen that the apostle thanks God on two grounds, — on account
of his remembrances of the Philippians, and on account of
the happy future which he can confidently anticipate for

30 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

them. He has given us, too, his reasons for the pleasure he
felt both in the retrospect and the prospect. His thought
may therefore be held as completely exhibited. But his
delight in thinking of their history, and in telling them of
his affection for them, is such, that his heart still dwells on
the subject; and in the yth verse he goes back again to
speak of their character and of his feelings regarding them,
expanding in an interesting way his previous statements. He
says, ' Even as it is meet — reasonable, due to you— for 7?ie to
think this of you all.' How admirable a Christian society
that of Philippi must have been, brethren, when the wise
apostle, with ample opportunities of judging, could say ex-
pressly that he had vaHd reasons 'to think this' — to enter-
tain confidently the very best hopes — ' of them all.' Alas,
how few ministers could venture safely even to approach such
a statement regarding the spiritual condition of those under
their care !

The ground on which rested the ^ meetness' that Paul
' should think this of them,' was the abundant evidence he had
seen of their Christian character. Instead, however, of the
bare statement of this ground, ' because I have observed such
satisfactory- proof of your being Christians,' we have here a
characteristically Pauline deviation from regularity in the form
of expression. The same facts which have proved to him the
piety of the Philippians have led him to become attached to
them, to give them a warm place in his great loving heart.
Now this thought comes rushing into the sentence in place of
the cold, quiet statement that he knows their character. ' It is
meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in
?ny heart, inasmuch as ye all are partakers of my grace ' — or,
* as being all partakers ivith me of my grace' You see that
these words must all be taken together, and that the logical
force of the ' because ' is found in the last part ; not in the
simple 'I love you,' but in 'I love yo\x as well-proi'cd felloiv-
Christians.'

VI :r. 7.] Pleasant Memories and Bright Hopes. 3 1

By some expositors the other words of the clause, which by
our translators arc attached to the latter |)art, are joined to the
former, — thus, * I have you in my heart, both in my bonds and
in tlie defence and confirmation of the gosjjel, as being all
])artakers of my grace ;' that is, * Both in my prison and when
actively engaged in preaching the gospel, I feel a warm affec-
tion for you, as being my fellow-Christians.' The original will
bear this connection of the words ; but it seems to me greatly
inferior in ])oint and force to that adopted in our version.
Accepting the latter, therefore, as setting forth the meaning of
the apostle, you observe that in these words he specifies the
spheres in which the fellowship of the Philippians with him in
divine favour and help, their being ' partakers with him of
God's grace,' had been seen. They had, like Paul, laboured
for Christ, and also, like Paul, siiffered for Him.

Very naturally in a letter from the prison, the ^bonds' come up
first to the apostle's mind. By the contribution which, through
Epaphroditus, they had sent to the apostle, to alleviate the
troubles of his imprisonment, they had practically evinced their
sympathy — in the full sense of the word, their ' fellow-feelin<^' —
with the persecuted saint. They had suffered with him in heart,
' remembering him that was in bonds, as bound with him.' Such
sympathy could come only from the teaching of divine ^ grace.'
But there had been among these brethren not merely sympathy
with suffering Christians, but personal experience of sufferino-
for the gospel. * Unto you it is given,' says the apostle in the
last verses of this chapter, ' to suffer for Christ's sake ; having
the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in
me.' Can we recognise God's 'grace' in such suffering? By
nature men can see in suffering only an evil, and therefore, if
it be looked at in relation to God, only a manifestation of His
anger. The Christian learns to take another view. In afflic-
tion of every kind he sees a most efficient form of gracious
Fatherly discipline. Suffering directly for Christ the Divine
Spirit enables him to count, in a special manner, a *gift of

32 Lectures on Philippians, [cH. i.

grace.' Such is the very expression of Paul in the words quoted
a moment ago, * Unto you it is given in grace ' (for the word in
the original means this, being the verbal form of that employed
in the passage before us) ' to suffer for Christ's sake.' The men
whom a general, at the critical moment of a great battle, spe-
cially appoints to hold the key of his position, or whom, in the
assault of a besieged city, he sends on a * forlorn hope,' are, by
his choice of them for peril and probable suffering, marked out
as in his judgment ' the bravest of the brave.' Their comrades,
even while rejoicing in their hearts, it may be, that the selec-
tion has left themselves out, feel that those on whom the choice
has fallen are honoured. Similarly, is there not * grace' shown
in the choice made by the ' Captain of salvation,' when in His
providence He calls this soldier of the cross, and that, to suffer
or die under the standard ? In the old persecuting times in
our country, men who * bore in their bodies the marks of the
Lord Jesus,' in limbs crushed by the iron boot or torn by
the rack, — looking back in after days upon the patience which
the Saviour had given them amid their anguish, and the
increase of spiritual wisdom and energy which had come
through the trial to themselves, and to some extent also to
others, could not but esteem the suffering for Christ as a * gift
of grace.' When under sentence of death, good Bishop Ridley
wrote thus to his relatives : ' I warn you all, my beloved kins-
folk, that ye be not amazed or astonished at the kind of my
departure or dissolution \ for I assure you I think it the most
honour that ever I was called unto in all my life. And there-
fore I thank God heartily for it, that it hath pleased Him to
call me, of His great mercy, unto this high honour, to suffer
death willingly for His sake and in His cause ; unto the which
honour He called the holy prophets, and His dearly beloved
apostles, and His blessed chosen martyrs.' And when the end
came, and Latimer and he were burned at the same stake, —
whilst the persecutors could see only the flame which consumed
the flesh, the faith of the martyrs could discern for themselves

vi:r. 8.] Plcasa)i! Memories aiid Bright Hopes. 33

a chariot of fire waiting to bear them home to their Lord, and
for their country a fire of pious zeal h'ghted uj), which all the
arts of the wickeil one should never be able to put out. There
was i;reat * grace ' there.

The Philippians had also, like Paul, been bold and success-
ful ' /// the defence and conjirmation of tJie gospel^ — that is, in
maintaining its divine authority against gainsaycrs, and in
establishing its influence over the minds and hearts of those
who had in some degree accepted it. Each of them had felt
himself called upon, in his sphere, and according to his abilities,
to be a missionary of the cross. Their souls, rejoicing in the
gracious invitation, * Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest,' had heard also, as an in-
junction following on the invitation, ' And let him that heareth
say, Come ;' and ' the love of Christ had constrained' them to
obey. They felt that the opportunity to work for their Saviour,
by carrying the light of life to their fellow-men, was a precious
'gift of grace/ and they found that, in the work, all needed grace
to guide and support was bestowed upon them abundantly.

Alike as sufferers for Christ, then, and labourers for Him,
they had proved themselves to have ' like precious faith' with
Paul, and to be led and sustained by the same Spirit pf
glorious power who had enabled Paul to go through his
wonderful evangelistic labours, and bear his extraordinary
trials. Manifestly ' partakers with him in his grace,' recipients
with him of the love and help of his Father in heaven, they
were loved by him as brethren ; and he could not but offer his
petitions for them ' with joy,' entertaining a firm persuasion
that He who had * begun a good work in them would perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ'

The 8th verse contains an earnest confirmation of what the
apostle has just said. ' Strong as my language is respecting my
love for you, there is no exaggeration in it; for God is ?ny record j
haiu greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.^

''Record'' here means 'witness.' In the older English the

34 Lectures on Philippians. . [ch. i.

word had not its meaning limited to testimony committed to
writing, as commonly now, but was applied to testimony
generally, and sometimes, as here, to the witness who gave it.^
The fact that the apostle, writing under the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost, here makes a solemn appeal to the Searcher of
hearts with respect to the truth of his assertion, — and the case
is only one of several which occur in his Epistles, — shows, in
opposition to the view of the members of the Society of
Friends, and of some other small bodies of Christians, that our
Lord's prohibition of swearing, given in the Sermon on the
Mount, does not refer to all oaths, but merely to all of a par-
ticular kind. All appealing to God in a careless state of mind,
on subjects of no moment, in forms or under circumstances
calculated to weaken in ourselves and others reverence for
God, — this is utterly hateful to Him. ' The Lord will not hold
him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.' But whilst an
oath on the lips of a man whose condition of heart is in no
accordance with his solemn words of appeal, is a glaring insult
to the Majesty of heaven ; yet a reverential oath honours, not
dishonours, God. The example of our Lord Himself, and
His inspired servants, proves that, consistently with His law,
an oath may be taken in a court of justice, — and now and again
elsewhere, when a Christian, bearing fully in mind the weighty
importance of his words, believes that a solemn appeal to God
will advance the interests of Christ's kingdom. The earnest-
ness and solemnity of the apostle in the case before us are to
be explained, no doubt, by his conviction that a lively impres-
sion, on the part of the Philippians, of his love for them, would
give special force to his advices and pleadings and warnings
throughout the letter.

* God is my record,' he says, * kow greatly I long after you

* In the Authorized Version there are many instances of its use in the
sense of ' testimony,' particularly in tiie phrase * bear record.' In the sense
of * a witness,' which it has in the present passage, it occurs also in Job
xvi. 19 and 2 Cor. i. 23.

VKR. 8.] Pleasant Memories and Ih'io/il I /opes. 35

<?//' — * how eagerly I desire to be permitted, in God's provi-
dence, to see you again ; and, at the same time, how intense is
my yearning for your prosperity, your growth in the beauty and
strength and joy of reh'gion.' And this ' longing ' was ' in the
bowels 0/ Jesus Christ' Among the ancients, the imagined
bodily seat of the affections, which with us is the heart, was
the bowels. Thus we have frequently in Scripture such ex-
pressions as 'bowels of mercies,' 'bowels of compassion,' —
where we should say, ' a heart full of mercy, full of com-
passion.' Paul's statement, then, is that his longing love for
the Philippians was 'in the heart of Jesus Christ.' The ex-
pression is a remarkable one, very strong and startling. It
shows us how real, and thorough, and lively, was the apostle's
conviction of the union of Christians to their Lord. By the
teaching of the word of Christ, made vital through the
quickening energy of the Spirit of Christ, the believer, in the
measure of his faith, has oneness of mind and heart with the
Saviour, judges as He judges, loves as He loves, desires as He
desires. ' Christ liveth in the Christian,' for * he that is joined
unto the Lord is one spirit;' and thus, in all holy emotion and
afifection in the followers of Christ, we see the action of His
life and love. Thus the apostle's longings were ' in the heart
of Jesus Christ.'

You see then, brethren, by immediate inference,, that our
calling as Christians is to be, every one of us, a revelation or
word of Christ, an epistle of Christ, ^-ritten in characters so
large and fair as to be known and read of all men. If the
union between the Lord and His people be so real and so
intimate that, in as far as our faith is intelligent and lively, His
spiritual life pervades us, and our affections are ' in His heart,'
then plainly, seeing that ' out of the heart are the issues of
life,' Christ-like beauty of character, Christ-like energ}^ and
patience, should be visible in every department of our conduct.
As a matter of fact, then, does your life, does my life, truthfully
represent the life of Christ ? This is the practical question on

6 Lectures on Philippiaiis. [ch. i.

the subject for us. What impression of the Saviour's ' heart '
is likely to be made on those around who are strangers to
Him, by our lives, which, if our Christian profession mean
anything, it declares to be ' issues ' from His heart ? Men
hear of a vast hidden lake of purest water far up among the
mountains. They judge by the streams whether the report is
true. If, where they have been told that they will find a
stream from the great lake, they come only on a dry channel ;
or, if there be water, find the water bitter, — what will their
judgment of the lake be ?

To no feature of character did our Lord Himself more ex-
pressly draw attention, as rightly exhibiting His spirit to the
world, than to that so fully and beautifully displayed by the
apostle in the passage before us, — love to the Christian brother-
hood. 'This is My commandment,' He said, 'that ye love
one another as I have loved you.' ' Hereby shall all men
know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.'
How is it with us, brethren, in this respect ? We have often
sat together at the table of the Lord, declaring our close union
to each other, through our common union to Him, — declaring
that * we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are
all partakers of that one bread.' Now, in daily life, what
tender interest do we ' show in each other ? Do we find and
display happiness in each other's happiness, and sorrow in
each other's sorrow ? Are the poor and the sick of the brother-
hood objects of our care ? Are we really exerting ourselves,
as God gives us opportunity, to strengthen the tempted among
us, to guide the perplexed, to raise the fallen, to ' bear each
other's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ ' ? All of us,
dear friends, will find much cause for deep abasement, if we
honestly put to ourselves such questions as these. Are there
not some of us to whom Paul's words in this verse regarding
his love to the brotherhood — and that a love * in the heart of
Christ' — would be totally unintelligible, if they were to read
them only by the light of their own personal experience ?

vtR. 9.] Prayer for Spiritual Discermncnt.

III.

PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT.

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in know-
ledge and in all judgment ; 10 That ye may approve things that are
excellent ; that ye may be sincere, and without offence, till the day of
Christ ; 1 1 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by
Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.' — Phil. i. 9-1 1.

OF the paragraph extending from the 3d verse to the
8th, which is indeed one long and somewhat com-
plicated sentence, the main statement, as we have seen, is that
made at the beginning, that the apostle prayed for his Philip-
])ian converts with thankfulness and joy, — the grounds of these
feelings being exhibited in the remainder. The short section
to which we now come tells us what the particular petition was
which, in the prayer referred to, he usually offered up for them.
The spiritually-minded reader feels himself pass easily from the
close of the previous section into this. The 'longing' of
Christian love so naturally takes the form of prayer, that no
connection can be conceived more legitimate and direct than
this, ' I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ,' * and
this I pray.' And the Hearer of prayer ^satisfieth the longing
soul.'

* This is my prayer, then,' says Paul, ' that your iot'e may
aboufid yet more a fid more in knowledge and i?i all Judgment.^
Love he has already mentioned to be conspicuous in the Philip-
pian church. Their fellowship with Christ, with each other,
with all good men, for the advancement of the power of the
gospel, yielded him the most exquisite delight Now that this

8 Lectures on Philippiafis. [en. i.

love, already so ardent, may grow, may have every defect and
disfigurement removed from it, and everything given to it
which can increase its strength and beauty, — this is his chief
petition to God for them. Thus the queenly position of Love
among the graces is set before us. Knowledge and judgment,
you see, in themselves so admirable, the apostle speaks of as
merely her servants or possessions, in which it is desirable that
she should 'abound.' Faith and hope are, in their degree,
powerful and fair ; but it is hers to wear the crown and sway
the sceptre, theirs to lay tribute at her feet. Love is the
grand sanctifying, ennobling, beautifying principle of the Chris-
tian soul. It is, in truth, itself the sum of moral excellence ; for
all forms of holy feeling and holy action are but various mani-
festations of love to God and to man. ' Love is the fulfilling
of the law.' ' The end of the commandment is love, out of a
pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.'
' God is love,' and therefore to be full of love is to be like
God.

Now love to God, and the sincere and unselfish love to man,
with which love to God is always associated, spring from know-
ledge of God, and of man's real relations to God. It is impos-
sible, consistently with the nature of things, that it should be
otherwise. A heart which is in darkness, filled with grievous
misconceptions of God and of happiness — and such is every
human heart by nature — cannot love God, nor unselfishly love
man. It is ' faith,' the intelligent and cordial belief of divine
truth, that ' worketh by love.' The gospel of Jesus Christ ex-
hibits to us the divine character in so winning an aspect, that
when we thus see God we cannot but love Him, and with
Him those who through His grace are in spirit like Him, —
cannot but heartily sympathize too in His pitying love for the
world. The Philippians, then, being distinguished by love, had
of necessity no little Christian knowledge.

But growth is the law of s})iritual life, as of natural. The
new man in Christ has his infancy, his youth, his manhood.

\'i:r. 9.] Prayer for Spiritual Discernment. 39

And such is the mutual dependence of the elements of Chris-
tian character, that it is of the highest importance that alt
of them should grow. If one member of the new man be
stunted in its development, then the whole body suffers. When
' the whole body, fitly joined together, and com[)acted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body,
unto the edifying of itself in love,' — it is then that full spiritual
health reigns.

It is specially important that knowledge grow ; for this, the
knowledge of divine truth, received through faith, is the root
from which all Christian character springs. Plainly, therefore,
the more widely and deeply that the root sends out its tendrils,
the more fully that it draws from the soil of truth the nourish-
ment which is fitted to sustain the trunk and the branches,
ever the stronger and healthier is the tree, able the more
triumphantly to endure the blasts of temptation, and continu-
ally the lovelier in leaf and the richer in fruit. God, then,
would have His people advance in Christian knowledge. He
would have us not always to be content with the food of babes,
who, whilst in a measure knowing the truth, are yet ' unskilful
in the word of righteousness ;' but to seek the ' strong meat,
which belongeth to them that are of full age.' We are to
'follow on to know the Lord,' — to seek that the light which
the Spirit has kindled in our souls may wax brighter and
brighter. Ignorance is not, as has sometimes been foolishly
and wickedly taught, the mother of devotion, but the mother
of sin and superstition. Real living Bible Christianity has
nothing to conceal. She says to all forms of investigation
and inquiry, as Philip said to doubting Nathanael, ' Come and
see.' The prayer of the apostle, then, is that the love of his
dear converts at Philippi may, in ever-increasing abundance,
possess knowledge as its basis, root, nourishment.

That love should be accompanied by large knowledge is of
the highest importance also, in order that her impulses may

40 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. i.

be wisely directed, — that she may work towards the best ends
by the most judicious means. BHnd love fails in any sphere of
action. A true-hearted boy, who finds his mother suddenly
made a widow, and his young sisters and himself fatherless,
and sees want coming on with fierce visage and rapid steps
like an armed man, is impelled by his love to the dear ones
around him to rush at once into the midst of the struggle of
life ; and in the place, and with the weapons, of a full-gro\vn
man, give the enemy battle. The love and the zeal are most
beautiful and admirable, yet those among the onlookers who
have experience of the world's difficulties, cannot but fear that
the young hero may soon be brought home from the battle-
field wounded and bleeding and despondent. He needs train-
ing. His love must have the knowledge of men and things
along with it, before it is likely to reach its aim. So with
Christian love generally, going forth to do work for God and
man in the world. Having talents entrusted to us by God to
lay out for Him, we must strive — by the study of our powers
and opportunities, temptations and dangers ; by the considera-
tion of present circumstances, and by cautious forecast ; by
carefully looking in and out, and at all things in the light of
God's word — to become wise and successful spiritual traffickers.-^
Like those men of Issachar who came to Hebron to make
David king, we should *have understanding of the times, to
know what Israel ought to do,' — thus not having knowledge
merely, but knowledge fused into wisdom. We should * walk
circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, understanding what
the will of the Lord is.' For thus directing a Christian's love to
God and man into the best channels, it is evident that know-
ledge beyond, as well as within, the sphere of what, in the
ordinary limited sense, is called religious truth, is likely to be
of no small service. The man who has most fully used his
opportunities of obtaining general as well as biblical knowledge,

> Accordin{^ to a precept ascribed l)y early writers to our Lord, yUivix
rfa.xx^lra.1 ioxi/Aoi^ ' Be yc ajjproved money-changers.'

vi.K. lo.] Pyaycr for Spiritual Discernment. 41

;uul ill whom true Christian wisdom, contemplating all the
knowledge in its relations to God and the gospel, thus trans-
mutes it all into religious knowledge, — this man, if love be
strong within him, is the most likely to leave the mark of his
love deep and broad on the sphere which God has given him.

I have spoken of knowledge as being both the support and
the director of love. That this latter relation is chiefly in the
apostle's mind here, is shown by the words he adds, * and ifi
all judgmcfity — that is, * in all moral perception,' ' in an accurate
and delicate moral discernment, suited for all the phases and
emergencies of life.' It is possible to know general principles
in a measure, and yet to fail often to see their true and full
application, as particular cases present themselves. That the
Philippians may have this faculty, is what the apostle now
entreats of God.

His exact meaning is explained by his next words, ' that ye
may approve things that are excellent.'' This clause does not
contain another petition co-ordinate with that of the 9th
verse, as might very naturally be supposed from the English
version ; but sets forth the object for which growth in know-
ledge and judgment is entreated, — the introductory '■thaf
meaning ' to the end that.' From a little ambiguity in two of
the words employed by the apostle, the clause may mean
either, as our translators have given it in the text, ' that ye
may approve things that are excellent;' or, as they have given
it in the margin, ' that ye may try things that differ.' It is
of no great moment which of these renderings be adopted,
because, as you will see, the approval of the excellent is
simply the spiritual act to which the trying of the things that
differ is intended to lead. On the whole, the marginal trans-
lotion seems to me more pointed and forcible, and on various
grounds preferable.

The apostle's prayer then is, * that the love of the Philippians
may be accompanied with abundant knowledge, and with all
delicate moral perception, to the end that they may try or test

42 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

— so as to distinguish — things which differ.' His reference
in '■things which differ'' is not to virtue and vice, the service
of God and the service of Satan. With respect to these, the
PhiHppians had decided clearly and irrevocably long ago, for they
were already Christians, eminent Christians. They shunned
darkness, and loved light. In this clause of his prayer, Paul
has in his mind, I apprehend, the faculty of distinguishing
Christian virtue from all counterfeits ; of seeing, in an apparent
conflict of duties, what present duty really is ; of discerning
where excess begins in that which, up to a certain point, is
innocent or useful ; of deciding accurately which of two ways
of pursuing Christian work is the better; of avoiding moral
pitfalls, however carefully covered over; of habitually saying
and doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way,
and thus steadily growing ever liker Christ.

In the case of the 'new man in Christ,' with respect to
spiritual discrimination, just as in the ordinary life of man, it
is ' by reason of use ' that we ' have our senses exercised to
discern both good and evil.' When offered food, a child takes
palatableness only into account, and will as readily eat, if it be
pleasant to the taste, what is unwholesome or even poisonous,
as what is most nourishing. The power of discriminating, so
as ' to refuse the evil and choose the good,' comes by experi-
ence. Now the skill which experience, to a great extent un-
sought, thus gives in the physical sphere, must, in the spiritual,
be sought by definite pursuit. Observation and reading, the
reading particularly of the biographies of eminent Christians —
and especially the Bible biographies, which have an absolute
truthfulness seldom even approached in others, — these will
supply materials, the thoughtful and prayerful consideration of
which will produce acuteness of moral perception. There are
Christians in whom natural delicacy of feeling and accuracy of
judgment, fostered by various helpful surroundings, give, from
the very beginning of their religious life, a faculty of spiritual
discrimination which acts almost with the readiness and cer-

vr.R. lo.] Prayer for Sf^i ritual DisccriiDicnt. 43

tainty of an instinct. These are rare; but no believer, who is
NviUing to be observant and thoughtful and prayerful, will fail
to grow ever more acute in moral judgment. Let us cultivate
this faculty with diligence, my brethren. The degree in which
it is possessed determines very largely the beauty of a Chris-
tian's character, and the breadth and depth and permanence of
his influence for good.

To this point the apostle directs attention in his next words.
* My desire for your growth in delicacy of moral perception,'
he says, * is mainly with a view to a further object, to the intent
that yc ffiay be sincere, and witJioiit offenre, till the day of Christ^
All knowledge and wisdom in regard to religion are fitted to
exert practical power over the affections and life, and fail of
their grand use where this is wanting. * Be ye doers of the
word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves ; for
whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deed.' Now if a man have
the faculty of sound moral discrimination, and permit his clear
views to act legitimately on his heart, the whole man will evi-
dently be ' sincere,^ ' pure,' * free from mixture ' or contamina-
tion with what is base ; so that, according to what is not impro-
bably the primitive sense of the word used in the original, he
might with safety be ' tested in bright sunlight.' His soul,
regulated by the absolutely harmonious will of God, will itself
be free from all discords. He will cherish * singleness of heart,
fearing God.' To maintain any approach to a spirit like this,
needs, in such a world as that we live in, the exercise of in-
tense and constant vigilance. Some of us have seen the
glorious blue of the Rhone, as it leaves the Lake of Geneva.
A little way do\\Ti, we have seen the Arve, loaded with mud,
rush into the same channel. We have watched the two streams
flow side by side, each in its own division of the channel, as if
the pure could not permit the impure to mingle with it. But
the earthly insinuates itself fully at last, and the river flows on,

44 Lectures on Philippiayis. [ch. i.

its colour still blue, but sadly changed from the heaven-like
blue of its beginnings. Have we not often mourned, brethren,
to see something like this in a Christian life — the hue of earth
spreading itself lamentably over the hue of heaven ? Faith in
Christ brings the water from ' the upper springs,' to make the
stream pure and sweet ; but the muddy and bitter water from
the world ever presses in, to mar and pollute. But ' love,
abounding in knowledge and in all judgment,' can keep the
stream clear, so that it reveals itself truly as a branch of the
' pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, which proceed-
eth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.'

A Christian whose soul is, in any considerable measure,
' sincere,' through accurate and influential perceptions of moral
right and wrong, will evidently, in the degree of his * sincerity,'
be in his life ' ivithoiU offence' — that is to say, will not ' stumble'
in religion ; for at the time oui" version of the Bible was made,
'offend' and 'offence' meant, respectively, 'stumble,' and
' stumbling ' or ' stumbling-block.' The man of ' sincere '
heart will maintain a steady Christian walk ; and thus his in-
fluence will in nothing tend to produce unsteadiness, spiritual
inconsistency, in other believers ; but will always stimulate them
to ' adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour ' by a blameless
and useful life.^ In this way the aims of love, the grace from
the mention of which the thoughts of the apostle in the para-
graph took their start, and which he regards as rightful ruler
of the nature, will be furthered on every side.

And all this ' ////' — or rather ' against,' ' in view of — ' the day
of Christy — 'keeping its solemnities much before the mind.'
The fact that this is the second reference we have met with in
the first ten verses of the Epistle to the great day of Christ's
second advent, shows impressively with what vividness and

* The original word rendered * without offence' may mean also * without
causing offence,' or 'stumbling,' in others. The former meaning is, beyond
(|uestion, I think, that primarily intended by the apostle here ; but, of
course, the thought of intluence on others naturally suggests itself also.

vi:r. I 1.1 Prayer for Spiritual Disccnuncnt. 45

constancy it was present to the thoughts of the ai)Ostle. The
< oming of the Lord was to him no mere article of an orthodox
creed, no mere necessary constituent of a complete confession
of faith. It stood out before him as intensely real. The
thought of it coloured his whole being. Glowing love to Him
who, in His first coming, had suffered and died, that even for
one who was *a persecutor, a blasphemer, and injurious,' there
might be saving mercy ; and a vivid realizing faith in His
second coming, His glorious appearing to raise the dead, and
judge the world, and introduce His people into the full
blessedness and glory of salvation, — these were plainly the mov-
ing springs of this great Christian's life. He * looked' with the
intensest yearnings of his strong soul ' for that blessed hope ;'
and those eager longings gave ardour to his prayers and efforts,
both for himself and his converts, that ' their whole spirit and
soul and body might be preserved blameless unto the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.' You and I, my friends, if we truly
believe the testimony of God, have similar anticipations with
the apostle. We, too, expect to see ' the judgment set, and the
books opened.' According to our profession, we have 'turned
to God to serve Him, and to wait for His Son from heaven.'
' Wherefore, beloved, seeing that we look for such things, let
us be diligent, that we may be found of Him in peace, without
spot and blameless.'

In the apostle's description of the character which, in his
prayer, he asks God to produce in the Philippians through in-
creasing delicacy of spiritual perception, he has mentioned
'sincerity' or 'purity' of soul, and its legitimate issue in the
life, a consistent Christian course, free from stumbling and
from anything fitted to be a stumbling-block to others. Some-
thing more has yet to be said. Not merely does he desire to
see them ' without offence,' but distinguished growingly by
Christian activity and devotedness, ' bei?ig filled with i/ie fruits,^
or, according to a more approved reading, ^ fndf,' ^ of rig/il-
cous;i€ss.' ^ RighteousTiess' here may designate either holiness

46 Lecher es 07z Philippia7is. [ch. l

of heart or holiness of life. If the former be the meaning,
then the sense of the whole phrase, ^ the fruit of righteousness^
is, *the fruit (holiness of life) which springs from righteousness,'
' righteousness ' being regarded as the root or tree. If the
other be the meaning, then the sense is, ' the fruit which
is, consists in, righteousness,' — piety of soul being at once
naturally thought of as the root or tree. The force of the
passage is obviously quite the same either way, the difference
having reference merely to the mode of conceiving the figure.
The ' fruit ' spoken of is seen in lives marked by holy love and
energy and patience.

With such fruit the apostle desires to see the Philippians
^ filled^ laden on every bough. He would have them impelled
by the mercies of God to ' present their bodies living sacrifices,
holy, acceptable unto God,' feeling this to be their * reasonable
service.' He longed to see them, in every department of their
lives, manifestly ' transformed by the renewing of their minds,' —
' hungering and thirsting after righteousness,' — urged by the
sweet constraint of the love of Christ to 'give all diligence to
add to their faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to
knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to
patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly-kindness, and to
brotherly-kindness charity.' In looking for an example illus-
trative of the meaning of this clause of the apostle's prayer, the
Philippians, I doubt not, would think, next to the life of the
Lord Jesus, of the life of Paul himself. As they glanced back
over his history, and saw him ' posting o'er land and ocean
without rest,' thirsting to carry the glad tidings of salvation to
poor sinners of the Gentiles, until, *by the power of the Spirit
of God, from Jenisalem and round about unto Illyricum, he had
fully preached the gospel of Christ;' as they recalled how
devotedly he followed in the footsteps of his Master, earnest,
prayerful, i)atient, loving, * becoming all things to all men, that
by all means, he might save some;' as they thought of him in
his present circumstances, now 'such an one as Paul the aged,'

\i.K. I I.J Prayer for Spirilnal DisccDiDiciU. 47

a prisoner, and uncertain whether his imi)risonment might not
end in a cruel death, yet contented and cheerful, labouring
chligently for Christ in the ways open to him, encouraging the
lirelhren in Rome, and writing letters of comfort and instruc-
tion to the churches he had founded, — they felt that they knew
what ' to be filled with the fruit of righteousness ' meant.

' The fruit of righteousness ' can be produced only through
the gracious operation of God. The tendency of our fallen
nature, left to itself, is to depart ever further from the produc-
tion of good fruit All the mere earthly influences of every
kind, material, intellectual, and moral, which a creature like
man, in a state of depravity, could conceive of as likely to give
him advancement, have in turn, or unitedly, been brought
into play in the history of the world ; and, so far as regards
moral and spiritual elevation, the result of them all, left to
themselves, has always been a total failure. It is evident, then,
that special heavenly influences are needed. ' The fruit of
righteousness ' is indeed expressly called by the apostle else-
where ' the fruit of the Spirit,' whose help is given to us, as he
states here, ' by Jesus C/ifist.^ Only through the Lord's media-
tion are any of the treasures of salvation bestowed upon us.

The apostle appends ' tmto the glory and praise of God.^ This
may be connected specially with the statement that 'the fruit
of righteousness is by Jesus Christ,' or generally with the whole
prayer ; the latter part, ' that ye may be sincere, and without
off'ence, filled with the fruit of righteousness,' being, one may
suppose, as nearest, most prominent in the writer's mind. This
latter connection is perhaps the preferable ; but obviously the
sense is substantially the same either way.

The grand ultimate purpose of all God's doings, the end in
which is summed up all good, is ' the praise of His glory,'
the manifestation of His own infinite excellence. No other
adecjuate end, indeed, can be imagined. The sublimest reve-
lation made of the glory of God, is seen in His work of grace
through the incarnation and sufferings and mediatorial reign of

48 Lectures 07i Philippians. [ch. i.

His Son. Now the chief element in the salvation which God
offers us in Christ is holiness, likeness in character to Himself.
The Lord 'gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from
all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works.' Plainly, then, the measure in which Christians
are * sincere and without offence, being filled with the fruit of
righteousness,' will be the measure in which in them the ' glory'
of divine grace is made manifest.

' Praise' which the apostle adds to * glory,' designates the
recognition and acknowledgment of the glory. The glory of
God is revealed, whether men open their eyes to see it or not.
But the highest life of moral creatures depends on their recog-
nition of this glory ; and therefore over growing recognition,
which means growing life, growing holiness, growing spiritual
beauty, our loving Father rejoices.

The aim of God in His dealings with us, then, is His own
' glory and praise.' His working within us is to produce by
His Spirit, through the faith of the gospel of His Son, such
happiness and such loveliness of character as shall clearly evince
His love and wisdom and power, and bring men generally to
recognise His ineffable excellence, and, by their ' knowing the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent,' enter
into * eternal life.' His people, having, in the measure of the
intelligence and liveliness of their faith, oneness of thought and
will with their lieavenly Father, learn to rejoice supremely in
recognising and seeing the recognition of His perfections, and
to pray and labour with definite aim for the widening and
deepening of such recognition. But this attainment is not
reached at once. The heart, narrowed by sin, has first to be
* enlarged ' by the influence of the Divine Spirit, through the
training of religion, before there is full room for affections and
longings so subHme. Of the young believer's spiritual happi-
ness the most prominent element is joy simi)ly that he is saved ;
of the eminently mature Christian's, that his salvation is ' to the
praise of the glory of God's grace.'

VERS. 1 2- 1 8.] The Gospel in Rome. 49

IV.
THE GOSPEL IX ROME.

' Hut I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which hap-
pened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the
gos]:>el; 13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace,
and in all other places ; 14 And many of the brethren in the Lord,
waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the
word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and
strife ; and some also of good will. 16 The one preach Christ of con-
tention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds ; 17 But
the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
18 \\Tiat then ? Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or
in truth, Christ is preached \ and I therein do rejoice, yea, and wiH
rejoice.' — Phil. r. 12-18.

THE apostle now, with the freedom of style belonging to a
friendly letter, passes away to a new subject. He pro-
ceeds to give the Philippians some news regarding the eftect
of his imprisonment upon the progress of the gospel in Rome,
and his feelings in connection with the state of things which
he describes. In the communication brought to him from
the church of Philippi by Epaphroditus, they had expressed,
no doubt, as was natural, besides warm sympathy with him in
his suflferings, anxiety also respecting his prospects, and fear
lest, through his being in bonds, the work of Christ in the
metropolis of the world should in various ways be seriously
obstructed Being enlightened Christians, they knew that the
trouble which, in the providential arrangements of God, had
come upon the apostle, was good for him, and would in its
ultimate issues be for the divine glory ; but they might reason-
ably enough doubt whether its immediate result would not be

50 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

to hinder the growth of the church. Not merely was there a
clog on the freedom of movement of the great missionary him-
self; but it might easily be supposed that his being under per-
secution would seriously dispirit the Roman Christians, and
prevent them from engaging vigorously in work for the Saviour.
But Paul tells them in the paragraph before us that it was not
so. ' To relieve your anxiety,' he says, ' and to deepen your
conviction that Jesus is Head over all things to the church,
which is His body, — so that the gates of hell shall certainly
not prevail against it, — / would ye should understand, brethren,
that the things ivhich hap_pe?ted unto me have fallen out rather unto
the furtherance of the gospel \hdSi unto the obstruction of it.'

The first result of God's gracious intervention to ' make the
wrath of man ' in this matter ' praise Him,' was that the cause
of Paul's imprisonment became extensively known, — ' so that
my bonds in Christ are matiifest in the palace, and in all other
places^ The original word rendered '■palace^ is one employed
with a considerable variety of meaning, and its exact force
here is somewhat doubtful. The view of the meaning adopted
by our translators, in common with many other interpreters —
* palace,' or, as it is given in the margin, ' Caesar's court ' — is
to some extent supported by the salutation at the close of the
Epistle, sent from * them that are of Caesar's household.' To
most modern expositors of the Epistle, however, it seems more
probable that in the passage before us the word denotes the
camp of the Emperor's body-guard, — a brigade or rather small
army, known by the name of the Prcetorian Cohorts, which was
constituted by the P^mperor Augustus. By his successor
Tiberius, a large camp was constructed for them on the north
of the city, whore the main body was i)ermancntly stationed.
A certain portion, however, were always on duty around the
emperor's person, and for them there were barracks connected
with the palace, which was within the city, on the Palatine
Hill. , It belonged to the official duty of the commander of
the Praetorian guards to keep in custody all accused persons

VKR. 13.] The Gospel in Rome. 51

who were to be tried before the emperor himself; and accord-
ingly when Paul, having appealed from the provincial governor
Festiis to Caesar, was taken to Rome, it was into the hands of
tliis great officer that he was given over by the centurion
Julius, who had brought him from Palestine. The commander,
influenced, no doubt, by the report wliich Julius gave respecting
his prisoner, granted Paul considerable liberty. Still, in ac-
cordance with regular Roman usage, he was night and day
chained by the arm to the arm of a soldier.

The words in the verse before us may be taken to indicate,
in a general v»ay, where the apostle lived at Rome, seeing that
in the neighbourhood of his place of abode his bonds would
naturally become most * manifest' By some — our translators
apparently among the number, from their rendering here — it
has been supposed that he was quartered in the barracks or
small camp adjoining the palace. But Luke, in the Acts of
the Apostles (xxviii. 30), tells us that Paul ' dwelt in his own
hired house.' Now it appears exceedingly improbable that
such a house could be obtained within the enclosures of the
imperial palace. Or, if we suppose the date of this Epistle to
be later than the time covered by the reference in Acts, and
that the apostle was no longer in a house of his own, but in
more rigid confinement, still it seems very unlikely that a
prisoner to whom in the eyes of the Roman ofificials no par-
ticular distinction could attach, should be lodged in the palace
buildings. The same difficulties do not lie in the way of our
supposing his place of residence to have been within the great
Praetorian camp outside the city. There may have been houses
included within it which could be rented. There, in all likeli-
hood, I think, or at least in that neighbourhood, he lived. The
immediate reference in the words before us, however, may be,
and, as it seems to me, from the ordinary' use of the term
employed in the original, really is, not local but personal.
They designate, I think, neither a palace nor a camp, but
mean 'in all the Praetorian brigade.'

52 Lectures on Philippia7is. [CH. i.

Among the Praetorlaii guards, then, Paul's ' bonds in Christ
were manifest^ — or, more exactly, ' his bonds were manifest in
Christ,' ' were well known as being in connection with Christ.*
* In connection with Christ,' at least — and this most vaguely
and variously conceived — was, no doubt, the form in which the
cause of his imprisonment would present itself to many of
those of whom he speaks ; yet the full and precious force of
the ''in Christ' is to be held fast here, as elsewhere; for the
apostle exhibits the matter in the aspect in which he himself
delighted to view it It was through his union to Christ that
the bonds were on his limbs, — badges, therefore, not of slavery,
but of true freedom. It was because, being ' in Christ,' he was
prompted by the Spirit of Christ to earnest effort for the exten-
sion of the gospel, that he had been imprisoned ; and it was
because, being 'in Christ,' he was sustained by the Spirit of
Christ, that the bonds were borne with patience, and became
instruments of glorifying God. Paul felt that in this * in Christ'
were summed up all the forms of the connection between the
Saviour and His people, all the relations borne to Him by holy
hearts and holy deeds.

It is not unreasonable to suppose that a considerable number '
of the Praetorian soldiers felt an interest in the apostle from the
very beginning of his residence in Rome. It can hardly be
doubted that, in conversation with officers of the brigade,
Julius, whom all that is told us of him shows to have been a
man of candour and generosity, spoke of his singular prisoner,
his evident intellectual power, his pure and lofty character, his
prophecies during the voyage, and his miracles during the stay
at Malta.i The other prisoners, too, who had been in the
ship, could scarcely fail to talk of their extraordinary com-

' There is probability in the view maintained by Wieseler, Howson,
and Alford, that the * Augustan Cohort,' or, as the Authorized Version has
it, ' Augustus* band,' in which Julius was a centurion (Acts xxvii. i), was a
portion of the Prwtorian Brigade. In this case, we may suppose that on
his arrival in Rome he was quartered in the camp of the Praetorians, and
thus had frequent opportunities of intercourse with the other officers.

vi:r. 13.] TJic Gospel in Rome . 53

])ani()n in such a way as to direct special attention to him.
Then during the two years or more in which the apostle lived
among the Praetorians, — whatever was the particular system
according to which the soldiers relieved each other in the
special charge of the prisoners, — a great number must certainly
have been brought more or less into contact with him, and
some, probably many, must have had times of the very closest
companionship. Under these circumstances, the influence of
his character and wisdom could not but become deeply and
widely felt throughout the brigade. His life among them was
one on which so strong a light beat that nothing could well
remain concealed ; he had no privacy, no solitude, day or night,
except that solitude which every Christian heart can make for
itself, even in the midst of bustle, for communion with God.
Studying him by this light, seeing his purity, his patience, his
gentleness and kindness, the soldiers felt that assuredly he was
no criminal in the ordinary sense of the word, and that no
charge could for a moment be sustained against him, except
the charge of sincerely, lovingly, constantly, unflinchingly,
serving that unseen God, that unseen Saviour, to whom he so
frequently prayed. If that was a fault, no soldier who ever for
a single day or a single night was linked to Paul's arm could
doubt that he was guilty there. His bonds, then, were ' mani-
fest to be in Christ.'

' In all other places^ also, the true cause of his imprisonment
was manifest, or rather, ' to all the rest,' that is, to all that knew
anything of the imprisonment. To every one who was aware of
the fact that Paul was in bonds, it was plain that these were ' in
Christ'

The Philippians, then, might reasonably cast off a great part
of their burden of anxiety respecting the apostle's position. He
was a prisoner indeed, but the real cause of his imprisonment
was widely and well understood ; and thus, in various ways,
honour was brought to the gospel, and to the Saviour whom
the gospel reveals.

54 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

But, further, ^ many^ — more exactly, 'most' — ^ of the brethren
in the Lord, waxing co7ifide7it by my bonds, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear ^

It seems fair to infer, from the way in which the apostle
makes this statement, that in the early church the regular state
of things in a healthy congregation was that every member,
according to his opportunities, ' spake the word of the Lord.'
Then, as now, for obvious reasons, there were ministers, per-
sons specially charged with the duty of ' labouring in the word
and doctrine.' But here, you observe, Paul says that * most of
the brethren^ — that is, undoubtedly, according to the usual
meaning of the word in the New Testament, ' most of the Chris-
tians,' 'most of the members of the church' — were engaged in
evangelistic work ; and, plainly, his only regret is that he had
to say * most,' not ' all' In any person who obtained a cure
of a bodily disease commonly counted incurable, you would
think it the dictate of natural humanity to bring the name of
the physician or of the medicine as widely as possible before
the attention of all persons similarly diseased ; so, surely, it is,
for the new' man in Christ, at once obviously dutiful and most
natural, to publish the glorious power and grace of the Divine
Physician of souls among all who do not know Him. In
heathen countries, where missionaries are labouring, this is
the general and immediate effect of conversion to God. The
young believer tells eagerly and everywhere, 'what a dear
Saviour he has found.' In a country like ours the conditions
of the question of duty, so far as regards private conversations
on religion, are considerably different, through the common-
ness of a Christian profession. Among a large proportion of
our people, what is needed in religion is not news, but advice ;
not glad tidings of a Deliverer hitherto unheard of, but solemn
and earnest pleading regarding the importance of accepting a
salvation known about since childhood. Now this fact, of
necessity, to some extent limits a Christian's sphere of evan-
gelistic effort, because news of interest will be welcomed from

VKR. 14.] The Gospel in Rome. 55

any one, advice on matters of moment and delicacy only
from a friend, and not always from him. It is true that you
may believe even many a professing Christian to have been so
neglectful of his i)rivilcges as to need news of Christ ; yet if
this be assumed, and the assumption acted upon, there is great
risk that, through wounded sensitiveness, a strong barrier of
pride and obstinacy may at once be thrown up against the power
of the truth. Still it is manifestly the duty of all Christians,
wherever it is within their power, to * speak the word ' to
those who are, clearly and admittedly, * ignorant and out of
the way,' and to others, wherever their relations to them and
their opportunities allow. But, alas ! my brethren, that same
state of things to which I have already alluded, the common-
ness, and, indeed, all but universality, in our country, in certain
classes of society, of a Christian profession, so that great mul-
titudes call themselves Christians who give little evidence of
genuine change of heart, deadens the sense of duty even
among true believers. The tendency of ' the law of sin in the
members ' is ever to make us satisfied with being on no lower
level of Christian activity than our professing Christian neigh-
bours. Ah, how different from His spirit, whose * meat it was
to do the will of Him that sent Him, and to finish His work !'
The church of Christ in Rome, regarding the spiritual energy
of w^hich Paul here gives information to the Philippians, had
been in existence probably for many years. Among the 'Jews,
devout men, out of every nation under heaven,' who were in
Jerusalem at the ever-memorable Pentecost, and who heard
the glad tidings from the lips of the apostles, we find mention
made of ' strangers of Rome.' There is every likelihood that
some of these were convinced of the Messiahship of Jesus,
and that on their return home they foraied themselves into
an association for Christian worship and work. Paul's great
Epistle to this church was written about three years before his
arrival among them ; and at that time, as w^e learn from him,
their * faith was spoken of throughout the whole world.' Most

56 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

of these Christians were, no doubt, poor men, and thus, amid
the teeming population of Rome, the ' speaking of the word of
God,' to which their faith prompted, was probably in most
cases altogether unnoticed by the officers of the government;
or, if noticed, was regarded with contempt. Still, it would
seem that, knowing how fierce a flame of jealousy and anger
might at any moment, through some casual circumstance, be
lighted up in the hearts of their despotic and suspicious rulers,
they had carried on their work with not a little fear. But now,
as Paul tells the Philippians, ^ the brethren waxed bold through
his bonds' By his sufferings for preaching the word they had
their boldness in preaching it increased. This paradox is simply
a special form of what is constantly seen in the church. In
the Christian, when called to suffer, ' tribulation,' which to the
unregenerate man appears simply a destroyer of joy, 'worketh
patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.' The
observation, too, of suffering well endured by other believers,
strengthens faith. Thus, through the sight of Paul in bonds
for serving Christ, and tranquil under his bonds, the brethren
in Rome had their delight in God, and their devotedness to
Him, increased. The faith which saw in Paul's chains evi-
dences of a moral kingliness, a kingliness which would by and
by have its glory manifested, seeing that ' it is a faithful say-
ing. If we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with Him,' —
faith like this among the Roman Christians could not but
spur them on to labour manfully and unflinchingly in Christ's
service. Thus it comes that ' the blood of the martyrs is the
seed of the church.' Not only are the actual sufferers person-
afly ennobled in spirit through their sufferings ; but others, too,
are enlightened, quickened, strengthened. In the persecution
which arose after the murder of Stephen, * they that were scat-
tered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.' Through
persecution it was that warm religious life was maintained in the
Piedmontese valleys ; so that when in our own day, in the pro-
vidence of God, Italy was opened to the gospel, the Waldenses

VI :r. 14.] The Gospel in Rome. 57

were ready to enter in rejoicingly and proclaim the truth.
And to the long and intensely cruel persecution of the Chris-
tians in Madagascar is largely due, according to the view of
those who have had the best opportunities of judging, the
marvellous progress of the cause of Christ in that island, both
during the dark days and since. * Out of the eater cometh
forth meat, and out of the strong cometh forth sweetness.'

The secret of all this is told in the little phrase of the
apostle, * in the Lord' This seems to belong to the words
which follow, rather than, as our translators have supposed, to
that which precedes, — his statement being, therefore, that

* through his bonds the brethren waxed confident in the Lord.'
The natural man, the man who himself is ' out of Christ,' can
see, as he looks at Paul in his imprisonment, only the chains,
and the possibilities of a violent death. But the man who is

* in Christ,' however clearly he may see these, sees also the
spiritual grandeur of work for the Saviour, such as had brought
the apostle into bonds, — the spiritual grandeur of suffering for
the Saviour, if such be His appointment, — the sympathy of Christ
with the sufterer, and the serenity of heart which the sense of that
sympathy brings, — the growth of religious strength and beauty
through the affliction, — and the glorious issue of all, when ' to
him that overcometh Jesus gives to sit with Him in His throne,
even as He also overcame and is set do^\•n with His Father in
His throne.' Is it wonderful that the man who, with the eye
of faith, sees these things, should ' wax confident in the Lord
by the apostle's bonds,' and be ' much more bold to speak the
word without fear ' ?

But the persons who were preaching the gospel in Rome,
and this to some extent under a stimulus given by their
knowledge of Paul's position, were yet under the influence of
strangely divergent motives. ' Some^ indeed,' the apostle says,
referring here evidently to persons distinct from the ' brethren '
mentioned in the 14th verse, ^preach Christ even., strange as it
may seem, of envy and strife, and (rather " but ") some also of

58 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

good will, — from hearty interest in my happiness, and in the
progress of the Saviour's kingdom. The one ^dxty preach Christ
of contention (more exactly " factiousness "), not sincerely^ — not
\\ith purity or singleness of purpose, — supposing to add afflic-
tion to my bonds ; but the other party of love to me, knowing
that I a7n set for the defence of the gospel — that I am Christ's
apostle, commissioned to maintain His truth against all gain-
saying.'

Those last spoken of are plainly the * brethren ' before men-
tioned. They loved the apostle, both for his Master's sake
and for his own. They knew that he was ' set for the defence
of the gospel,' and that his heart was in his great work. They
saw, therefore, that the evidence of sympathy with him which
would yield him the richest comfort, would be effort to extend
the knowledge and power of the truth so dear to him. Ad-
miration and affection for the honoured ' prisoner of Jesus
Christ ' thus acted as a spur to them in the work to which
gratitude and love to their Saviour of itself impelled them.
We understand this party and their motives without any
difficulty.

But who were the others? We find that throughout the
whole of Paul's apostolic course his most virulent opponents
were Jews. It is most probable therefore that the persons here
referred to, belonged to his * kinsmen according to the flesh.'
They were professedly Christian Jews, too ; for unbelievers
would in no sense have ' preached Christ,' as it is said by the
apostle that these did. The unbelieving Jews hated Paul,
who, in early life regarded as an eminent defender of Pharisaic
Judaism, had now for many years, and with extraordinary
energy and success, 'preached the faith which once he de-
stroyed;' but they hated Jesus of Nazareth more. Paul's
bitterest and most unwearied antagonists were Jews who had
embraced Christianity, but, understanding the spirit of their
new religion only very imperfectly, believed that all Christians
should observe the rite of circumcision and the other ordinances

VKRs. 15-17.] The Gospel i)i Rome. 59

of the old covenant. To this class, we may reasonably sup-
pose, belonged the men whom Paul here describes to the
Philippians as 'preaching Christ through envy and factious-
ness.' The doctrines of some of these Judaizing teachers were
exceedingly, and indeed ruinously, erroneous. Of those, for
example, who visited the Galatians, the errors were such that,
as it would seem from the tone of the apostle's letter to that
church, persons who fully admitted the false teaching 'fnistrated
the grace of God,' placing themselves in a position in which
'Christ profited them nothing,' 'was of no effect to them,'
' was dead in vain.' It may be questioned whether Paul
would have said of such teachers as these, that they ' preached
Christ ' at all ; and it can hardly be even questioned, that
under no circumstances would he have 'rejoiced' in their
preaching, as in the i8th verse he says he did in the preaching
even of his opponents at Rome. But, no doubt, there were
other Judaizers in the early church, of views less divergent
from truth, but who also disliked Paul keenly, in consequence
of the steady and uncompromising opposition he maintained at
all times to the slightest infringement of the full spiritual liberty
of believers. Such, perhaps, were those in the church at
Corinth, whose motto or watchword was ' I am of Cephas.' It
appears to me most likely that the persons of whom the apostle
speaks in the passage before us were, mainly at least, of this
class, — Christian Jews, who had an imperfect view of ' the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made His people free,' but
whose teaching diverged less from pure Christian doctrine than
that of some others. Whatever their doctrines, however, they
were men of whose hearts the gospel had but slightly laid hold.
The apostle's language respecting them need not be taken to
mean that, in his judgment, they were all wholly destitute of
real love to Christ ; but they certainly were, at the least, de-
plorably misguided.

The hatred of these teachers to Paul, and even the mode
in which it was on the present occasion displayed, will not

6o Lecticres on Philippians. [ch. i.

appear strange to careful students of history. Calvin, in his
comment on this passage, remarks, * Paul certainly says nothing
here which I have not myself experienced.' It was natural
that Jews, members of a nation which had for many centuries
enjoyed singular proofs of the divine favour, should, even when
they became Christians, be most reluctant to admit the thought
that the religion introduced by Jesus — Himself one of their
race, and the Messiah promised to their fathers and longed for
by their fathers as ' the Consolation of Israel ' — set aside the
ordinances of the Old Economy, and everything which could
suggest any superiority before God of the Jew over the Gentile.
When we think of this, and when we remember how deplorably
common bitter hatreds, arising from sectarian rivalries, have
been throughout the whole history of the church, it will not
seem to us very wonderful that these men felt such hostility to
Paul, — sublimely noble and exquisitely amiable though his
character was.

They expected by their conduct, the apostle says, ^ to add
affliction to his bonds,' or ' to make his bonds gall him.' In the
opinion of some expositors, the reference in these words is
to outward trouble, the belief of Paul's opponents being sup-
posed to have been that, by preaching the glory of Jesus as
' Messiah the Prince,' the rightful King of all hearts, they
might arouse the jealousy of the emperor, whose anger would
naturally vent itself on Paul, universally known as the most
prominent Christian in Rome. This view seems in a high
degree unlikely. It is true that Herod's jealousy, awakened
by a rumour that the long-expected * King of the Jews' was
bom, prompted the massacre at Bethlehem; and that Pilate's
timidity led him, against his own convictions, to crucify Jesus,
through fear lest, if he spared one who * made himself a king,'
the charge of 'not being Ccesar's friend' should be believed by
his tyrannical master. It is true, too, that at Thcssalonica, where
the Jews constituted, as they do still, a large and influential
part of the community, the accusation against the Christians

VKR. 1 8.] The Gospel in Rome. 6i

that * these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that
there is another king, one Jesus/ * troubled the people and the
rulers of the city,' so that they took certain judicial measures
against them. IJut it was obvious enough that, if the anger or
fears of the emperor himself were once aroused by hearing that
a * king of the Jews' was much spoken of in the city, not Paul
merely, nor even merely the Christians generally, but the Jews
in Rome, as a race, would be in much danger. For genera-
tions their national expectations of a Messiah had been well
known ; and a heathen tyrant would not be likely to discrimi-
nate, in a moment of fury, between those who hoped for a king
still to come, and the Christians who believed He had come.
The obviousness of the hazard that they themselves would
share in the sufferings of any persecution, was such that we
cannot think this to have been the aim of the Jewish opponents
of the apostle. The thought which first suggests itself, I should
suppose, to most readers, that they hoped by their preaching
to draw away converts to their peculiar views, and lower
Paul's influence, and in this way, as they imagined, through
annoyance, intensify the sufferings of his imprisonment, is very
much more natural, and satisfies all the requirements of the
passage.

In their thoughts regarding the result of their conduct on
the feelings of the apostle, however, these men were mistaken.
For the object of their dislike says, ' What then ? ?wtzoithsta?id-
ing, re cry iva}\ 7uhcthcr in pretence, or in truth^ — whether by way
of cloak for unworthy aims, or in sincerity of interest, — ' Christ
is preached; a?id I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.'' The
apostle rejoiced that, whatever the motive influencing the
preachers, Christ was preached. He believed that, ' while the
full and symmetrical truth as it is in Jesus will do far more
good, and good of a far higher type, than any fragmentary
view, yet such is the vitality and power of Christian truth, that
its very fragments are potent for good.' ^ To a world of sin

^ Henry Ward Beecher.

62 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

and sorrow were brought by these preachers the glad tidings of
great joy, that a Divine Saviour had died to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself, and now, living and glorified, was in-
viting all the ' labouring and heavy laden' to ' come unto Him,
and find rest to their souls.' Thus, through the gracious work-
ing of the Divine Spirit, who made even wTath to praise Him,
the gospel approved itself to this soul, and to that, as ' the
power of God unto salvation.' From the efforts of envy and
mahgnity came 'glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace.' 'Therein' Paul 'rejoiced,' as well he might. Yet,
under the circumstances, how few even of true beHevers would
have been able to do this ! How exquisite is the apostle's self-
forgetfulness, and singleness of eye to his Saviour's glory !

His joy, however, and the fact that it was most reason-
able, must not lead us for a moment to suppose that the
motive by which a labourer in the vineyard of Christ is actuated,
is of little importance. The case is far otherwise. Than
the condition of an un-Christian minister of Christ, — a man
who professionally proclaims, ' Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters,' while his own soul remains parched,
— who with the lips calls on men to ' submit themselves to
God,' while his own heart is in rebellion against God, — than
such a condition can any more melancholy in every aspect be
conceived ? Whatever outward forms of ' call' to the pastoral
ofhce may be desirable, and whatever measure of ability, and of
literary and theological acquirement, certain it is that the great
essential qualification for the 'ministry of reconciliation' is per-
sonal spiritual acquaintance with the ' reconciUation,' and con-
sequent love for souls, and longing for their salvation. Where
this is wanting, a ministerial life is an elaborate and continued
lie, hardening and deadening the soul ; and wherever, in any
degree, worldly ambition, or other mere earthly motives, mingle
with desire for the good of man and the glory of God, in that
degree is a cloud brought certainly over a minister's happiness,
and in most cases over his usefulness.

vr.R. 1 8.] T/ic Gospel in Rcmie, 63

Still in the fact that, from whatever motives, * Christ is
preached,' Paul rejoices, *^<rrt, and will rejoice.^ In these last
words wc seem to see his strong soul crushing down all rising
feeling of personal vexation at the unscru[)ulous antagonism to
which he was exposed. ' They may hate and try to distress
me, and nature may at times lift her voice within me in indig-
nation ; yet through all, by God's help, I will rejoice in the
progress of the gospel.'

How painful a contrast, dear brethren, to the large-hearted-
ness of the apostle in this joy is exhibited in the sectarian
jealousies which are so rife throughout the church, and have
been all down its history ! Paul knew that personal dislike to
himself, and a consequent wish to annoy him, had much to do
in inducing the men of whom he speaks to preach the gospel ;
yet, suppressing the natural feeling of irritation by the force of
a sanctitied will, he delights to think that, through any stimu-
lus, the v/ay of salvation is made known to sinners. How
often, on the other hand, have we seen Christians allow them-
selves to suspect, and frown upon, and see no good in certain
forms of Christian work, simply because those engaged in them
belonged to another section of the church, or because the
work was carried on in modes not recognised in ' the traditions
of the elders ' ! Very few influences, if any, have acted more
powerfully against the progress of the kingdom of love than
the * evil eye' towards each other of the subjects of the King
of love. The spirit showed itself very early. 'John said.
Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and we
forbade him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus
said unto him, Forbid him not ; for he that is not against 21s,
is for us.' Let us ask God, my friends, that throughout the
whole church, whenever the natural impulse is felt to ' forbid '
a worker for God, * because he followeth not with us,' a sense
of the heavenly wisdom and love of the Saviour's answer may
be felt also, with a force unknown in the past.

64 Lectures on Pkilippians. [ch. i.

SUFFERINGS TURNING TO SALVATION.

* For I know that this shall turn to my salvation, through your prayer, and
the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 According to my earnest
expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that
with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in
my body, whether it be by life, or by death.' — Phil. i. 19, 20.

THE apostle goes on now to state the reason for the
'rejoicing' of which he has spoken in the close of the
1 8th verse. He might have said, truthfully, 'For I have so
fully learned to make the manifestation of the glory of God
in Christ my chief object of desire, that I am glad to hear of
the showing of the way of life to sinners, whatever hostility
preachers of Christ may entertain to me personally, and what-
ever loss of influence, or suffering of any kind, they may bring
upon me.' But he puts his reason in a somewhat different
form, — one calculated to remind his readers that the troubles
of God's people, whilst they may serve to show forth the glory
of God in many other ways, are certainly always intended and
fitted to glorify Him by increasing the holiness and hopeful-
ness of the sufferers themselves ; that afflictions are among the
'all things' — ay, hold a most important place among the 'all
things ' — which are made to ' work together for good to them
that love God.'

* / know^ says the apostle, ' that this shall turn to my salva-
tion^ The reference of ' this ' is not altogether obvious. Our
first thought is that, like the ' therein ' of the previous verse,
it refers to the fact that * every way, whether in pretence or in

vi:r. 19.] Sufferings tuniinc]^ to Salvat{o7i. 65

truth, Christ is preached.' Now it is true that this would
ultimately bring advantage to Paul. To his influence, in a
large measure, the energy shown by the Christians at Rome in
publishing the gospel was undoubtedly due, wicked and dis-
tressing as the feeling was towards him of some of the preachers.
The work was therefore to some extent his work, an 'occu-
pying ' of his ' five talents ;' and in the day of Christ this would
be fully acknowledged. But whilst thus the first clause of the
verse would be intelligible enough, supposing the reference to
be to the preaching of Christ, yet it does not seem possible,
on this view of the meaning, to find any satisfactory con-
nection between the clause and what follows, particularly the
20th verse. Another reference, however, natural in itself, and
which gives to the whole paragraph a clear and consistent
sense, is not far to seek. Looking back to the close of the
1 8th verse, you will see that the apostle's emphatic declaration
there, when fully exhibited, is, ' Yea, and therein will rejoice,
fiot2vithstandi?ig the hatred to me by which so??ie of the preachers
are actuated.' The thought of that hatred is most vividly
present to his mind, and to the minds of all intelligent readers;
and to it, therefore, I have no doubt, the ^ this' points, — ' the
opposition I have spoken of,' — the idea, however, widening
out before him, most naturally, into ' my condition of suffering '
generally.

Now he '■ knows,' he says, that this state of trouble w^ll ' turn
to his salvation.'' Such, through God's kindness, will be the
result of what his opponents intended should ' add affliction to
his bonds.'

The salvation provided in Christ is radically a spiritual
salvation. It extends, indeed, to all the elements of our
nature, being an emancipation of the whole man from the
bondage of death ; but the condition of the body follows that
of the soul. In a sense, we enter into salvation at conversion ;
for ' he that believeth on Christ hath everlasting life,' and the
attainment of everlasting life is salvation. But the word is

66 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

generally in Scripture applied to the state of perfect purity and
beauty and blessedness for the whole nature, which ' the day
of Christ ' will bring in, — the ' salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time.' Now all God's providential dealings with
His people, whether for the time they be pleasant, or, as
with Paul at Rome, ' not joyous, but grievous,' are intended
by Him as a training for salvation, — an education in that
'knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ' which *is
life eternal,' — a discipline fitted to ripen the flower of holy
character, which will be fully opened in its glorious beauty in
heaven. By the measure in which we avail ourselves of this
training, our salvation will be affected. All who reach heaven
will be perfectly happy there from the very first, happy up to
the full measure of their capacities of enjoyment ; because,
being ' pure in heart,' they will * see God ' as fully as their natures
can see Him. But the eyes of those who below availed them-
selves but little of the light of tnith, — who looked at God but
seldom, — these eyes, even in heaven, will be able to look at
Him only from afar ; whilst those whose eyes have been much
accustomed to the light here, will stand in the foremost circles,
and there with ravished hearts gaze on the infinite glory. All
the attainments in the knowledge of God which even the most
diligent student can make here, are but the faintest fore-
shadowing of our knowledge hereafter ; but those who, under
the teaching of God, have profited most here, will begin fore-
most yonder. The servant who with his pound has gained
ten pounds by trading, receives authority over ten cities ; his
companion, who, having the same money given him, has
earned only five pounds, receives authority only over five
cities. Nay, whilst to some will be * ministered an abundant
entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ,' others will be saved only as ' through fire,'
rescued from a conflagration, as it were, by the hair of the
head, with tlie smell of fire still on their garments. Remem-
bering these things, my brethren, ' what manner of persons,*

VER. 19-] Su(fcr{n(^s turniug to Salvation. 6^

think you, * ought we to be, in all holy conversation and god-
liness,'— how earnest in prayer and effort, that from the training
given us by (iod in providence we may obtain sjjiritual profit,
everything which befalls us thus * turning to our salvation'!

How, then, shall we obtain this spiritual profit? The
apostle tells us. His expectation was that his troubles would
give him wisdom and strength ' through the supply of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ^ — that is, either * through the supply, by the
Spirit, of all needed help,' or ' through the supply by God of
the Spirit,' in whose indwelling are found all wisdom and
energy. The meaning is substantially the same. The Holy
Ghost, * the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father,'
is several times spoken of in Scripture as the ' Spirit of Christ,'
Thus, * Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' ' If any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.' 'The
])rophets inquired and searched diligently, searching what, or
what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them
did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ,
and the glory that should follow.' This designation is em-
ployed here very naturally, for the apostle is thinking of the
bestowment of the supremely excellent * gift ' which Jesus,
having ' led captivity captive,' has * received for men, yea, for
the rebellious.' ' It is expedient for you,' said He, 'that I go
away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto
you ; but if I depart, / will send Him unto you.'

To this divine Agent are due alike the origination and the
support of spiritual life. It is He who clears away the mists
of prejudice, enabling the sinner to see clearly the terrible
truth of his guilt and danger, — He who opens the eyes to see
the forgiving grace of God in Christ, and sheds peace and
love over the heart. And in the regenerate soul He dwells, —
not fitfully, as an uncertain lodger, now here, now there, — but
as in a permanent abiding place, a home, which He loves to
make beautiful and happy. Spiritual wisdom and strength and

68 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

joy are all from Him. Only through Him, therefore, are men
taught rightly to estimate the respective importance of things
seen and things unseen : so that, on the one hand, prosperity
shall not puff them up, or lead them to seek their rest in the
enjoyments of this world ; and, on the other hand, adversity
shall not unduly depress, as if all that is valuable were with-
drawn. Thus it is '■ through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ ' that the occurrences of life ' turn to our salvation.'

The figures under which the influence of the Spirit is de-
scribed to us in Scripture, set forth with much fulness and
clearness the all-pervasiveness of His action on the souls of
God's chosen. Jesus 'baptizes with the Holy Ghost a?id with
fire^ — to bum up the chaff within us, and to light up in our
souls a genial flame of love. Again, believers are ' bom of
water and of the Spirit,' — being thus cleansed from pollution,
and having all the thirst of the soul quenched. Again, 'Ye
have an unction from the Holy One,' — being thus set apart to
do the work of ' kings and priests unto God ;' or, as athletes,
made in the whole man lithe and active, to wrestle success-
fully with the difficulties and temptations of life, and to ' run
with patience the race set before us.' When our attention is
turned to the gTeatness of the work of the Spirit, my brethren,
all of us must feel that, in our thoughts on religion, and in our
prayers and praises, we have not honoured this glorious and
gracious Divine Person as we should. Are there not some of
us to whom thoughts of Him have been such strangers that it
would almost seem as if, like those disciples of John the Baptist
whom Paul found in Ephesus, they had ' not so much as heard
whether there be any Holy Ghost ' ?

Paul tells his Philippian friends that * the supply of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ' will be obtained for him ''through their prayer^
Our Lord said, ' If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him!' For this supreme
blessing Paul did habitually *ask' God. Powerful aid, how-

vi:r. 10.] Sii If crings turnijii^ to Salvation. 69

ever, was given !iim by the prayers of his friends for him ;
and this liclp is here, with beautiful courtesy and gratitude,
made ])romincnt. It is not unlikely, I think, that in these
words there is an allusion to some statement in the letter
of the rhilippians, which, no doubt, had accompanied their
gift sent through Epai)hroditus, regarding their remember-
ing the apostle before God. Certainly there is in them a
delicate entreaty that they will do this — such entreaty as
he had long before expressly made to the Thessalonians, —
* Brethren, pray for us I ' How sweet and helpful such a
friendsltip as this, Christian brethren ! The apostle prayed for
his converts, and they for him ; and thus both were richly
blessed. Delighting to know that the Lord Jesus was pleading
for them all, they rejoiced to be permitted to cast, each of
them, by intercessory prayer, his little grain of incense into the
divine High Priest's censer. Paul believed, with full energy,
that prayer is the grandest of all the powers which we have of
helping each other. To believe this heartily and operatively,
is the greatest evidence that in a man's soul the powers of the
unseen world have triumphed over those of the seen. Do you
and I thus believe ? Beyond doubt, my brethren, the feeble-
ness of this conviction among Christians is the great cause
that the church is so impure, so dead in spirit, and that, in this
nineteenth century of gospel light, the world still to so deplor-
able an extent lies in darkness and wickedness. ' Thus saith
the Lord God, / w ill yd for this be inquired of by the house of
Israel^ to do it for them. I will increase them with men like a
flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her
solemn feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of
men ; and they shall know that I am the Lord.' Were a cloud
of ardent intercessory prayer to rise from the hearts of God's
people, it would break in so abundant a shower of blessing
that the church would be like ' a watered garden ; ' yea, that
over the whole earth 'the wilderness and the solitary place
would be glad, the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose.'

70 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. i.

The introductory words of the 20th verse, to which we now
come, — ' according to my earnest expectation and my hope^ — ap-
pear to indicate a twofold connection between it and the 19th.
This verse illustrates the mode in which the apostle expected
the position he was placed in * to turn to his salvation ;' and it
accounts for his statement that he ^k?iew^ his circumstances would
so result. There is no more trustworthy knowledge than that
afforded by intelligent Christian hope. ' Hope' is a much stronger
word, as used in Scripture, than as we commonly employ it in
ordinary life. It denotes a confident anticipation ; and thus, in
the two words by which the apostle here describes his state of
feeling, we have something of an advance from assurance to
yet intenser assurance. He has an ' eager longing,' such as is
shown by one who, with rapt attention, stretches forward from
some post of observation, watching to see in the distance a
friend whom he knows to be coming to cheer and help him,' —
yea, he has a ^ firm, confident hope,' ' that in not/wig he shall
be ashamed^ or ' put to confusion.' ' My Saviour, in whom I
have gloried, will fulfil all His promises ; will enable me to do
whatever work, and to bear whatever trials, He may in His pro-
vidence call me to ; and will thereafter take me to be with Him
for ever in heaven. There will come to me no shame. This
is my trust.'

How vividly in this the judgment of the ' new man in Christ'
contrasts with that of the world ! One can imagine a friend of
Paul's earlier days saying to him, ' Put to shame ! Your posi-
tion now might well put you to shame. Look back to the
hopes regarding you, which those who knew and loved you
cherished in your youth. Think of the prospects which your
abilities opened for you of achieving for yourself dignity, and
influence, and wealth. And now, through your fanatical
devotion to the cause of this Nazarene, your name is execrated
i)y the chiefs of your nation, and you are a poor man, waiting

' Sucli is the ex.ict thouj^ht conveyed by the somewhat peculiar word of
the original, rendered by 'earnest expectation.'

VKK. 20. 1 Suffcr'nigs turjiiuQ; to Salvatio7i. 71

in chains a sentence which may perhaps send you to a bloody
death. Surely you have enough here to put you to confusion.*
Paul's answer we hear in such words as those of his fellow-
apostle Tcter, — ' If any man suffer as a Christian, Ut him not be
ashamdiy but let him glorify Ood on this behalf.' In shame, as
clearly as in anything, the divergence of men's judgment from
the standard of tnith and wisdom is seen. Adam was ashamed,
not because he had sinned, but because he knew himself to be
naked ; and ah, how evident the spirit of our fallen father is in
all of us by nature, how sadly visible often even in Christians !
How prone we are to feel more shame for being detected in
wrong-doing than for the wrong-doing itself, — for being poor in
pence than being poor in piety, — for acting contrary to the
laws of fashion than for violating the laws of God, — for doing
what fools will laugh at than for conduct which wise men might
well weep over ! Paul was not ashamed of his bonds, and
knew that his hope was one which never would make hira
ashamed. He believed that in everything he would be enabled
to * magnify' his Saviour, and that, in the heart of the man to
whom God gave grace to do this, shame had no rightful place,
but exultant ' hope of the glory of God.'

' My hope,' he says, 'is that Christ shall be inagnified in my
body, whether it be by life or by death.'' After ' that in nothing
I shall be ashamed,' we might have expected the clause to take
the form, ' but that I shall magnify Christ' The little variation
actually employed, by which the Saviour is placed in the fore-
ground, illustrates, you observe, in an incidental and interesting
way, the apostle's ruling feeling. He would everywhere have
himself out of view, that onlookers may ' see no man save
Jesus only.' The substitution for ' in me ' of ' in fny body,' is
also very natural. The thought of his sufferings has evidently
been with considerable prominence before his mind throughout
the preceding passage, — the thought of his ' bonds,' to which
the hostile preachers ' supposed ' by their conduct ' to add
affliction,' and which doubtless by many were expected, through

72 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

their depressing influence, to make him feel 'ashamed.' It
seemed, moreover, not at all improbable that the end of his
imprisonment might be a cruel death. Most naturally, then,
his thoughts take this form, — * Blessed be God, who enables
me to cherish an assured confidence that in this body of mine,
imprisoned, chained, worn with suffering, yet " a temple of the
Holy Ghost," the glor}' of my Saviour shall be made manifest —
and this, whether it be by life or by death. If continued life be
appointed me, then God will give me energy of spirit still to
spend my strength in preaching the gospel of my Redeemer's
glorious grace ; and through my very bonds and infirmities He
will be magnified ; for His power, I know, will rest upon me, to
sustain and comfort. And when death comes, then, too. His
grace will bring Him glory. While the frail tabernacle of the
body perishes, the soul will enjoy the confident anticipation of
new and wondrous life and strength and blessedness, seeing
that to depart will be to be with Him. Thus, according to my
hope, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by
life or by death.'

His expectation is, that Christ's glory will be manifested in
Him * with all boldness,^ — more exactly, and more suitably to
the passive form of the clause, ' in all boldness,' that is, ' in the
evident presence and strength of this element of character.' In
the bearing of Christians towards the world, at all points where
it asserts its antagonism to Christ, it is especially by ' boldness '
that we * magnify Christ.' Nature, as the apostle has already
hinted, is disposed to yield to a feeling of ' shame,' when our
religion is derided, and insult heaped on its professors. But,
relying on the good Spirit, whose influences the Saviour is
willing to shed forth on him richly, Paul believes that * in
nothing he will be ashamed ; but, on the contrary, that in his
being enabled to display full boldness of speech and action,
and this in all circumstances, the grace and power of Christ
will be gloriously attested.'

His hope in this matter is sustained by memory : * as al7c>ays,

VKR. 20.] Suff'crl?ij^s hirning to Salvation. 73

so ncnv also.'* As he bore in mind how before Felix he had
been strengthened so boldly to 'reason of righteousness, temper-
ance, and judgment to come,' that the governor * trembled,' — and
before Agrippa so fully to speak * the words of tnith and sober-
ness,' that the king said, ' Almost thou persuadcst me to be a
Christian,' — the apostle felt encouraged to believe that similar
support would always be given him to avert faintheartedness.

You and I, my brethren, are exposed, as Paul was, to temp-
tations to be ' ashamed ' of Christ. They do not present them:
selves to us quite in the same form as to him, but they are real
and strong. The world hates vital Christianity now, as it did
in the first age. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how
He said, ' The servant is not greater than his lord ; if they have
persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.' Profession of
Christianity the world tolerates in our time, — rather smiles
upon, indeed, than othenvise, as respectable, — but Christ reveal-
ing Himself in His people it hates, sneers at, opposes in many
ways. No truly spiritual man can be altogether overpowered
by this antagonism ; but his boldness may be very far from
unflinching. The reflection of a Christian in any degree of the
type of Paul will be, * My Saviour, from eternity the Brightness
of the Father's glory and the express Image of His Person, was
not ashamed to make Himself, for my sake, of no reputation,
and take upon Him the form of a servant, — to endure the
contradiction of sinners against Himself, — to bear scorn, and
buff'etings, and death ; and, because for a few years I may be
exposed, for His sake, to the ridicule and dislike, or, it may
be, even the bitter and active hostility of His enemies, shall I
be ashamed of Him or His cause ? God forbid 1 He helping
me, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life
or by death.'

74 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

VI.
THE SAINT'S LIFE— CHRIST.

* For to me to live is Christ.' — Phil. i. 21, ist clause.

THIS verse gives the ground for the apostle's statement
immediately preceding, ' Christ shall be magnified in
my body, whether it be by life or by death / by life^ for ' to me
to live is Christ ;' by death, for * to me to die is gain.' To the
first part of the sentence I wish to draw your attention now.

It is plain, from the antithesis, that the meaning of ''to live^
here is not, as often in Scripture, ' to have spiritual life/ con-
sidered simply by itself, — that life to which there comes no
death, according to the great word of the Lord, 'Whosoever
liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die.' The word is to
be taken in its ordinary sense of ' physical existence.' But the
physical life of the apostle, ' the life which he lived in the
flesh,' as he elsewhere designates it, was interpenetrated by the
higher life of love to God and rest in Him, and was thus made
truly vital to the noblest ends. This is substantially what he
means by saying, 'To me to live is Christ,' — the mode of
expression, however, being such as to indicate, with the utmost
terseness and point, that that higher life is only 'in Christ.'
Whether we think of its source, or its nourishment, or its ob-
jects, we see everywhere the Saviour. The apostle means that
his supports, his joys, his aims in life, are all exhibited, all
summed up, in the one word ' Christ^ He means that, if we
ask what is the spring of his hai)piness and of his patience,
what is the secret of his abounding energy, what is the object
of his supreme love, what is the purpose to which he devotes

VKR. 2 1.] TJic Sai)i{s Life — Christ. 75

his mental and bodily powers, that one word answers all
the questions. That Paul intended his words to be taken
with this fulness of significance, will not be doubted by any
one accjuainted with his history and writings. These supply a
most ample commentary on his statement here ; and it seems
to me that an interesting and satisfactory mode of expounding
the passage will be to try to gather together the most prominent
of the illustrations given in that great commentary. If intelli-
gently and candidly gone into by us, an examination of what,
with this most illustrious Christian, personal Christianity meant,
is surely well fitted, through the influence of the Blessed Spirit,
to be helpful to us in regard to our own religious life.

^\'^len Paul said, ' To me to live is Christ,' he meant that for
him to live wxs faith in Christ. He says, 'This is a faithful say-
ing, and worthy of all acceptation ' — words evidently expressive
of the deepest personal conviction — ' that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners.' ' God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!' *I know
whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to
keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.'
He felt himself to be a sinner, 'the chief of sinners.' He felt,
and testified, that 'the wages of sin is death.' But he knew,
and rested in the knowledge, that ' the gift of God is eternal
life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Recognising in Jesus a
Saviour all - sufficient, strong with the strength of Godhead,
tender with the sympathy of manhood ; holding His invita-
tions to be sincere, ' If any man thirst, let him come unto
Me and drink ;' ' Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest;' convinced that God's
honour is pledged to the certain, complete, everlasting salva-
tion of all who believe in Jesus, — Paul renounced every other
refuge, cast his burden on the Lord, and trusted absolutely
in Him.

It was his resolution, too, humble but firm, to maintain this
confidence. The pardoning, saving grace of God in Christ he

76 Lectures on PJiilippians, [ch. i.

knew to be a rock on which he could stand safe amid the
sweUing waters of judgment ; for whom the Lord loveth, He
' loveth to the end.' * Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ ? ' is the apostle's cry of holy exultation. * I am per-
suaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principali-
ties, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.'

Paul's faith in Christ had regard to' Him, not merely as a
Saviour from the * ^\Tath to come,' but as a Helper and De-
liverer in all circumstances now, for this also he saw to be
included in His promises. He that did the greater would not
leave the less undone. When the clouds of trouble overspread
the sky, thick and dark, — when 'the sea wrought and was
tempestuous,' — the apostle, remembering that ' the government
was upon His shoulder' who once hung upon the cross for us,
could entertain the fullest assurance that all was well, and
could ' hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.'
In the dreariness of desertion, at a time of utmost need, by
earthly friends whom he had loved and confided in, he could
still trust in the Lord, — still believe that ' He\% the same yester-
day and to-day and for ever,' — still bear testimony, loud and
clear, that none who look to Him are put to confusion. ' At
my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook
me : I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Not-
withstanding, the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me,
that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all
the Gentiles might hear ; and I was delivered out of the mouth
of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil
work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom ; to
whom be glory for ever and ever.' In times of bereavement
by death, he was enabled to raise his weeping eyes and bleed-
ing heart to Him who had compassion on the widow at Nain,
and who wept at the grave of Lazarus. Believing that Jesus

VER. 2 1.] TJic Sainf s Life — Christ. yj

died and rose again, he knew that 'even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will (iod bring with Him.' In personal illness
and pain he was strengthened to be patient, nay, even to ' glory
in his infirmities, that the power of Clirist might rest upon him.'
And when the darkness of the valley of the shadow was already
around him, — when the roar of the river was already sounding
in his ear, — for even thus far his writings enable us to follow
him, and see his religious experiences ; — sweet and clear, above
the noise of the waters, was heard by him the voice of Jesus,

* Fear not, for I am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am thy
God : when thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee.' ' I am now ready to be offered,' says the man of God,

* and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a
good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that
day.'

The apostle's statement means further, that for him to live
was ioz'e to Christ.

This springs immediately from faith in Him. We see Him
by faith to be true God, the only worthy object of the supreme
affection of His creatures, — and we cry, 'Whom have we in
heaven but Thee ? and there is none upon earth that we desire
besides Thee.' We see Him to be God revealing Himself in a
light of surpassing amiableness and mercy, ' full of grace and
truth ; ' for our sakes humbling Himself to a created nature, to
a life of lowliness and hardship, to the endurance of association
with sinners, and of the contradiction of sinners against Him-
self, to a death of pain and shame, — and believing this, we
cannot choose but love Him, who * loved not His life unto the
death ' for us, but ' washed us from our sins in His own blood,
and made us kings and priests unto God.'

How intense was Paul's affection for the Saviour, is obvious
to every reader of his history or ^vritings. We cannot help
seeing that the utterance of his heart, written legibly on all the

78 Lectures on PJiilippia^is. [cH. i.

' issues of life,' is, ' This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend.'
In his exquisitely beautiful prayer for his converts at Ephesus, we
have the feelings of his own heart towards Jesus most vividly
delineated : ' For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and
earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches
of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the
inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that
ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to com-
prehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness
of God.'

From Paul's love to Christ sprang of necessity love to
Christians, — a feature of his character which strikes even the
most cursory observer. All who were dear to Jesus were dear
to him. To his eyes a halo of beauty and attractiveness shone
around every believer, however poor or mean in the esteem of
the world.

It was natural, too, for one who so loved the Saviour, that his
desires should go out with strong yearning towards that day,
as a supremely happy day, when he should see Him he loved
no longer ' as through a glass, darkly,' but * face to face.' To
Paul this expectation was emphatically ' that blessed hope.'

Again, the statement before us means that for Paul to live
\i2i% fellowship with Christ.

God's moral creatures can have true life, wisdom and energy
and beauty of spirit, only through communion with Him. We
feel instinctively that the very highest grandeur of character is
at once intimated and explained, when we read of Enoch and
of Noah, that they * walked with God.* Jesus said to His dis-
ciples, ' He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth Me ; and I will love him, and will manifest
Myself to him. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more

vi:r. 2 1.] The Sain Cs Life — Christ. 79

can ye, except ye abide in Me.' Here was the secret of Paul's
^|)i^itllal power. He 'abode in Christ.' * I live,' he says, 'yet
not I, but Christ livcth in me;' * When I am weak, then am I
strong,' for ' the Lord said unto me. My grace is sufficient for
thee, for My strength is made j^crfcct in weakness.' Christ's
life in the believer acts in accordance with the laws of our
mental and moral constitution ; and thus it is in the measure in
which we intelligently and lovingly commune with Him by the
prayer of faith, that through Him we are wise and strong and
happy. The frequency with which the expression 'in Christ'
meets the readers of Paul's writings, shows how vividly the
great apostle ever had before his heart Christ in His union to His
saints, how real a thing this union was felt by him to be, and how
influential. To those who do not love Christ, — to not a few,
alas ! one cannot but fear, even of professing Christians, if they
would define to themselves their feelings on the subject, — such
words as Paul employs regarding fellowship with the Saviour,
must seem unintelligible utterances of fanaticism. He speaks in a
tongue which is strange to the men of the world, — the language
of heaven. If there were a country where all the inhabitants
were born blind, a visitor who should tell them of the beauties
of nature which the light revealed to him would be heard with
derision. Even so, ' the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.'
* The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him ;' and they
know what it is to enter by faith into the presence of their
divine Father, to hear their Saviour's voice, and to rejoice in
the light of His countenance. Blessed, thrice blessed are they,
my brethren, who know from personal experience that Paul's
most impassioned declarations on this head are but the words
of truth and soberness. Blessed are their eyes, — for they see
the Altogether Lovely.

Yet once more, the apostle's words intimate that for him to
live was devotion to the service of Christ.

8o Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

The modes in which love shows itself vary, of necessity, ac-
cording to the relation between him who loves and the object
of his affection. Love to Christ, which, as we have seen, inevi-
tably results from true faith in Him, finds its proper manifesta-
tion in obedience ; for in Him faith recognises the Supreme Lord.

* If ye love Me,' He Himself said to His disciples, 'keep My
commandments.' His commandment is that His people be holy.
His aim in giving Himself for us was, ' that He might sanctify
and cleanse the church \\4th the washing of water by the word;
that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not hav-
ing spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be
holy and without blemish.' In the Apostle Paul, accordingly,
we see the most earnest and persistent effort after conformity of
character to the will of God. Impelled by the mercies of God,
he presented his whole life, in all its relations, as a sacrifice of
thanksgiving, holy and acceptable, feeling this to be ' reasonable
service.' He strove prayerfully and vigilantly to be no longer

* conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of his
mind.' Amid the profoundest humility and sense of remaining
sin, he could yet truly say, ' I keep under my body, and bring
it into subjection :' ' This one thing I do, — forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'

WTiile thus ardently longing and striving for advancement in
personal holiness, he had an intense zeal also for the promo-
tion of the kingdom of his Lord in the world. This indeed
was to his contemporaries, and is to us in reading the record of
his life, the most conspicuous feature of his character. His
glowing love to his Saviour aroused in him a great love and
pity for his fellow-men, for whom, as for himself, the Saviour
died. A sublime passion for the salvation of souls possessed
his heart, and gave form to his life ; so that, devoting himself
unrestingly to missionary labour, ' from Jerusalem and round
about unto lilyricum he fully preached the gospel of Christ.'

VKR. 2 1.] TJic SainCs Life — CJirist. 8 1

I'roni the discharge of the commission which Christ had given
him no temptation attracted him, no persecution daunted him.
' Preaching Christ, warning every man, and teaching every man
in all wisdom, that he might present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus,' he 'aj^proved himself in all things as a minister
of God, in much i)atience, in afflictions, in necessities, in dis-
tresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in
watchings, in fastings, — by pureness, by knowledge, by long-
sutTcring, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of
righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and
dishonour, by evil report and g:ood report.' ' I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem,' he said to the elders of Ephesus,
' not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that
the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and
afflictions abide me ; but none of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish
my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.'
How single-minded and absolute this devotion !

We have thus examined in some detail the character of the
Apostle Paul. Love to Christ, rooted in faith in Christ,
nourished by fellowship with Christ, bore rich fruit of devotion
to the glory of Christ. This was what he meant by saying,
* To me to live is Christ.' And certainly, as the connection
intimates, by such a life the grace and power of Christ were
gloriously 'magnified.*

Such, in substance. Christian brethren, whatever variety there
may be in form, is the life to which you and I are called. We
have not Paul's wonderful natural endowments ; but the grace
which made him morally and spiritually the man he was, is
offered to us as freely and abundantly as it was to him.
Nothing but our own narroNMiess of heart prevents any of us
from being able to say, out of as full an experience as the
apostle, ' I can do all things in Christ, who strengtheneth me.'

82 Lectures on PJiilippians. [ch. t.

All of us who are truly His, are in some degree living a life
which in its main features resembles Paul's ; for the faith that
unites to Christ certainly awakens love to Him, leads into
fellowship, impels to service. Let it be the earnest prayer of
us all, and the object of constant thoughtfulness and vigilance
and effort, that our lives may be made ever more and more truly
sublime. Without Christ, in whom alone God is so known
that the knowledge gives peace and impels to devotion, we
have no adequate object of life. Without Him, our highest
energies remain unexercised, our grandest capacities unsatisfied.
Without Him, the thought and love and purpose of an im-
mortal spring up and are exercised, with no conscious or
ennobling bearing on immortality, but only to waste and perish.
* To each one of us now He is, if we will, — if we will, He will
be for ever to each, — the Eternal Truth, wherein thought can
never find its limit ; the Uncreated Beauty, whereof affection
can never tire ; the Perfect Rule, whereunto each created will
may perpetually conform itself, yet never exhaust its task.' ^
Dear friends, may God grant to every one of us to be able to
say with growing fulness of significance, ' To me to live is
Christ ! '

1 Dr. Liddon.

VKR. 2 1.] The Saint" s Death — Gain. 83

VII.
THE SAINT'S DEATH— GAIN.

* To me to die is gain.' — Phil. i. 21, 2d clause.

TO any person at all familiar with the apostle's wTitings, it
is evident that this was with him a deep and most in-
fluential conviction. It often comes before us, and in none of
his letters more distinctly and emphatically than in the second
to Timothy, which was written very shortly before his martyr-
dom, and when he was in full expectation of it, — the time
therefore when, if ever, doubts and fears might have been ex-
pected to take possession of him. * I am now ready to be
oftered,' he says there, * and the time of my departure is at
hand. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous-
ness.' It was with him a conviction, in the strict sense of the
term, — not an impression merely, but a judgment, to which he
had been brought by the careful examination of evidence ; a
judgment of which a man so intelligent as Paul, and so candid
toward himself as well as toward others, could not but fre-
quently re-test the grounds, and which thus, when the time of
severest trial came, bore the strain.

This conviction did fwt rest on observation or speculation.
Observation and instinctive feeling would lead a man to hold
death as the very reverse of * gain,' as a very great and frightful
evil. Death is emphatically and pre-eminently, as he is named
in the book of Job, ' the king of terrors / and his sceptre casts
a broad shadow, dark, and chilling, and bHghting. ' Through
fear of death' men are ' subject to bondage.' Even when viewed
altogether apart from religious considerations, there is very

84 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

much in and about death to scare the imagination, to alarm
the mind, and to revoh the heart. It takes us away from the
world and the friends we know, from the work and the pleasures
which we understand and are interested in ; and sends us out
into a state of existence of which we have no experience, and
in regard to which we can form no distinct conception. Its
usual precursors are all of a kind calculated to alarm and dis-
tress,— sickness and pain, restlessness and debility ; and its
effects on the body are such as deeply to humiliate.

Our hearts shrink from the thought of death, as utterly and
awfully unnatural, wholly alien and opposed to our original
nature. The deepest instincts of our being echo the teaching
of Scripture, that God made — that God cannot but have made
— man to live^ not to die. It is natural to hate death and to
fear death, just because death is unnatural. No thoughtful
person, I should suppose, ever stood by a dead body, ever
attended a funeral and heard the earth rattle on the coffin-lid,
without feeling this. That of the friend we knew and loved, a
friend, it may be, whose mind had been full of noble thoughts,
whose heart had glowed with warm and tender affections, — a
friend with whom but a few days ago, but yesterday perhaps,
we had pleasant and elevating converse, — all that to-day remains
with us should be a mass of inanimate clay, and even this soon
necessarily, for the comfort and welfare of the living, to be
taken away and laid in a pit in the earth, there as we know to
moulder to dust ; — all this is wholly repugnant to the instincts
of our hearts, utterly unnatural. And that the same shall cer-
tainly one day happen to us^ — that the pulses now so full of life
shall be still, the eye now so bright be dim, the limbs now so
active be motionless, — that over our fixed unanswering features,
as we lie cold in the coffin, some who love us will weep, — that
we too, like the generations before us, shall be laid away in the
churchyard, — that our i)lace in the world, which knows us now
so well, shall know us no more for ever, — and that in the course
of a very few years, while the great world goes on as before,

VF.R. 2 1.] The Saint's Death — Gaiti. 85

buying and selling, planting and building, mairj'ing and giving
in marriage, as if we had never lived, or never died, we shall
be utterly forgotten, utterly unthought of, by all the dwellers
beneath the skies, except when some careless, casual eye reads
our name upon a tombstone ; — how hard it is for us, brethren,
to realize all this, to present it vividly to our minds as a fact !
Even taken simply by themselves, too, how full of dreariness
such thoughts are ! The dreariness, and the difficulty of
realization, bear testimony that death is not that for which
we were made.

Yet we know this is the destiny of every one of us. Death
' hath passed upon all men.' An element of uncertainty
mingles with every other calculation and expectation regarding
our life, but with this expectation none. * At midnight, or at
cock-crow, or in the morning,' it may be, — in old age, when
' the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow
themselves, and the grasshopper is a burden, and desire
faileth ; ' or in the prime of our years, while full of work, and
strength, and hope ; or in the pleasant dawn of existence, for
oh, how often with his keen sickle the stem reaper cuts down
the green corn as well as the ripe ; — but certainly * the silver
cord shall be loosed, and the golden bowl broken, the pitcher
broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern ; '
certainly * the dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit shall return unto God who gave it.' With impartial foot
the king of terrors enters the halls of the great and the cottages
of the poor, and, ' changing their countenances, sendeth them
away.' There is no discharge in this war.

Think, too, of the solemn inevocableness of death. Many
of the steps we take in life may be retraced. Many of our
efforts may be repeated. The failures of a man of wisdom and
energy are rounds of the ladder by which he mounts to success.
But there is no repetition of death. If our lives, considered as
a preparation for death, have been a failure, then we can have
no success for ever. We cannot return to live them over again

86 Lectures on PJiilippians. [ch. i.

more wisely. The gate of the invisible world opens only inward.
' It is appointed to men once to die,' — ' once^^ — no more.

It is certain, my brethren, that mere observation would lead
us to say that 'to die,' instead of being 'gain' to us, will be a
very great and terrible loss.

And mere human speculation^ even in the very wisest and best,
has never even approached a cofiviction that in any way death can
bring gain. Strong desire, groping out in the darkness after a
peace and a satisfying wisdom which life had never given them,
this is all that we find even in a Socrates, or a Plato, or a Cicero.^

^ The utterances of the wiser heathen on the subject of death are exceed-
ingly touching. Euripides can ask —

T/j oTJsv ll TO ^JJk (£*£» IffTI XXT^ClVlTv,

To xccT^aviTv Se ^rjv ', —

' Who knows if living be not death, and dying life ? ' Yet this remains
for him, in Dr. Lightfoot's words, only a 'sublime guess.' The poet
could give no answer to his ' Who knows?' Socrates can say that, if a
certain view of death be true, then death is xip^og Sxvfida-iov, * a wondrous
gain ;' yet, a very little after, all he can attain to is — "AkXa yap Hav upa
aTtivai, ifco) ftlv ccroSa.vovfJiivcti^ vf^tv Vi (^luffofj^'ivoif o'roTipoi oi hfji-uv 'ip^ovTxi iiri
cifitivov Tpayfia, aJ>jXov <ravri "rXiiv n tu Bsu, — ' The hour of departure
has come, for me to die, and you to live. Which is the better to go to,
God alone knows ! ' Cicero, after speaking of the grounds on which he
deems a future life probable, has, after all, to come to the acknowledgment
of a dreary uncertainty, — ' Quod si in hoc erro, qicod amnios hominum im-
mortales esse credam, lubenter errOy — ' If I err in my belief that the soul of
man is immortal, I err with pleasure.' The love of Tacitus, following
Agricola into the darkness, can but say, — * Si qtiis piorum manibus locus ;
sif ut sapientihus placet, non cum corpore extinguuntiir viagnce animte ;
placide quiescas,^ — * If there is any place for the shades of the good, — if,
as sages think, great souls perish not with the body, — rest in peace.'
Hadrian, passing away from the world he knew, sings —

* Animiila vagiila, blandida^
Ilospes comesqtte corporis,
Qtue nunc abibis in loca.
Pal I id ul a, rigida, nitdula ? '

* Poor little fluttering, pleasing sprite,
My bosom's friend and guest,
To what strange region wilt thou take thy flight,
Pale, naked, and distressed ? '

VKR. 2 1.] The SainCs Death — Gain. 87

On this dark background, thcn^ of human fear, and ignorance,
and impotence, how briglitly shines the glory of divine grace
in the cahii, firm, intelligent Christian convictioni, * To me to
die is gain ! '

This brings me to observe that this conviction of Paul's did
rest on faith in Christ as the Conqueror 0/ death. In all men,
probably, even those who do not in any degree enjoy the light
of Christianity, the causes of aversion to death, and to thinking
of death, include not merely love of present friends, and occu-
pations, and pleasures, but a certain * dread of something after
death.' At all events, wherever any knowledge of divine reve-
lation has come, this particular element is always present, I
believe, in the fear of death, more or less definitely and promi-
nently,— conscience assenting to the Bible statements regard-
ing sin, its reality, and its deserts. The only adequate expla-
nation of the existence of death in the world is afforded by the
Bible doctrine, that death is ' the wages of sin.' The entrance
of what is utterly monstrous and unnatural in the universe of
God, rebellion against God's will, has brought the frightful
evil of death with it as its curse, its legitimate doom. Death
is the 7iHiges of sin, wages which all of us have earned, and
which are due to us therefore in justice, under the administra-
tion of the aftairs of the world by a righteous God. And in
the fact that physical death ushers into an. eternity where lies
the second death, is found its intense awfulness. The deep
darkness of the death we see is caused mainly by the shadow
of the death we cannot see.

Now the glorious tidings of the gospel are, that Christ has
borne the curse, or, in the singularly forcible language of the
apostle in Galatians, has been ' made a curse,' in our room.
For the overthrow of death was not a matter for the simple
exercise of divine power. With Job, we ' know that the Lord
can do everything,' — ever}-thing but contradict His own nature,
deny Himself, bring dishonour on His character and govern-
ment. But, according to the teaching of Scripture, the endur-

88 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

ance by the Son of God of the punishment of sin, in room of
men, was needful, if, consistently with the honour of the Divine
Ruler, man was to be saved. This overwhelmingly impressive
evidence was given to the moral universe of God's hatred of
sin, and determination to maintain the majesty of His law.
The Son of God humbled Himself to be a Man, a Man of
sorrows, a dpng Man. In infinite love the Divine Father gave
His Son to death ; in infinite love the Divine Son gave Himself
■to death, for the life of the world. ' All we, like sheep, have
gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way ; — and
the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.' ' He bare
our sins in His own body on the tree.' As the Champion of the
race whose nature He had assumed, Jesus entered the realm
of the king of terrors, met him face to face on his o\vn ground,
grappled with him, vanquished him, stripped him of his spoils,
and proved the completeness of His victory by rising from the
grave, ascending into heaven, and sitting down at the right
hand of God, to wield all power, ' quickening ' — giving life to
— ' whom He will.' ' Our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished
death,' says the apostle to Timothy. The form of death in-
deed remains for the Christian, but only the form. All who
by faith have accepted the life which Jesus offers, find it im-
perishable ; and that the severance of soul from body is but a
gloomy archway, leading from the sphere of partial enjoyment
of this life to the sphere of its fulness. Where such faith exists,
then, my brethren, in Christ the Conqueror of death, — in that
soul evidently, in the measure of the intelligence and liveHness
of the faith, the conviction will be present and sustaining,
* To rae to die is gain.' With instinctive fear the saint may
shrink back from dying, from the weakness and weariness and
pain of dissolution ; but death he will not fear. * Thanks be
unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ ! '

Let me observe yet again, with reference to the apostle's
conviction here stated, that // stood in the very closest relation to

vi:r. 2 1.] The SainCs Death — Gam. 89

the resolution in the other clause of the versCy * To rnc to live is
Christ:

Death, as the Bible employs the term, is a very comprehen-
sive evil, and life a correspondingly comprehensive blessing.
Death includes all the consc(iuences of sin, moral and sj)iritual
debasement and wretchedness, as well as i)hysical pain and
dissolution. The unchristian man, even whilst he has physical
life, and is doing the work and enjoying the pleasures of the
world, is yet, in God's sight, * dead in trespasses and sins,'
being 'alienated from the life of God.' Now the blessing
which Christ offers to us is life in the fullest and grandest sense,
in opposition to all the elements and forms of death. And
this blessing — this salvation — whilst it has various aspects, is
yet one and indivisible. No element of it can by possibility
be enjoyed by any one who is unwilling to accept it as a whole.
The two main aspects or elements of this eternal life, whether
as partially enjoyed here or fully hereafter, are holiness and
happiness. Now in the resolution of the apostle, ' To me to
live is Christ,' confirmed as it was by the whole tenor of his
course, you see that there was a hearty welcoming of spiritual
life, a longing and effort to do the will of Christ through the
teaching and help of the Spirit of Christ. This man, then, was,
in the full Bible sense, ' alive unto God,' and could, on good
grounds, expect that 'to die would be gain' to him, as ushering
him into the glorious fulness of the eternal life in heaven. No
one who is not resolved, ' To me to live shall be Christ,' can
reasonably expect that to him ' to die will be gain ; ' because he
has no evidence at all that he has ' passed from death unto
life.'

Thus far of the conviction. We must now go on to look for
a little at i\\tfact itself, that to the Christian ^ to die is gain ^

Any knowledge we have on this matter is, of necessity, de-
rived simply from divine revelation. But God has graciously
given us in His revelation abundant light. ' Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to

90 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope,
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inherit-
ance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time.' ' They which receive abundance of grace and of the
gift of righteousness shall reign in life by Jesus Christ/ ' I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,'
when *the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to
Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads,' — when
' they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing
shall flee away.' The Scriptures teach that at death all that is
burdensome, everything of dreariness and fear and bitterness,
is taken away from the believer in Christ for ever. In the
state of existence into which death introduces him there are no
anxieties, no failures, no disappointments, no misunderstand-
ings, no jealousies, nothing either within or without to sadden.
In the better land, toil and fatigue are unknown. * Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord, that they may rest from
their labours.' Yet is the rest not that of inactivity, but of
a full activity made joyous by constant strength and buoyancy.
* They serve God day and night in His temple,' and in His
presence ever * renew their strength,' so as to * mount up with
wings as eagles, to run and not be weary, to walk and not
faint.' Sin and sorrow and death have passed away, and God
has ' made all things new.'

There arc few detailed descriptions of the heavenly life in
Scripture ; and these are obviously, to a very large extent,
figurative. The language of earth could not reveal the won-
ders of heaven ; neither could our minds and hearts, at the
present, bear a full revelation of * the exceeding and eternal
weight of glory.' But all the powers of human language are
brought into play, — all the most suggestive images of earth are
employed, — to impress us with the conviction that beauty, and

VKR. 2 1.] The Sai)ifs Death — Gain. 91

sweetness, and love, and joy, which will perfectly satisfy all
our capacities of happiness, capacities ever expanding through-
out eternity, — this is what 'God hath prepared for them that
love Ilim.' Is not this *gain'?

Tiiink of the change in relation to knowledge. The spring
of all true beauty and excellence in God's moral creatures is
knowledge of Him. The natural man regards Him as an
austere Master, whose work is drudgery, and His wages unsatis-
fying,— one whom it is not desirable to know, because impos-
sible to love or to please. From this wilful ignorance of
God's true character come, of necessity, sinful affections and
a sinful life. But the Christian knows God as He has revealed
Himself in Christ, merciful and gracious, possessed of every
excellence in infinite perfection, and in the gospel displaying
His perfections in a light of the most sublime and tender
grace to man. In him who begins thus to know God, the
heart becomes full of strong yearnings to know more. The
believer prays for * the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of God,' ' that he may be able to comprehend, with
all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth know-
ledge.' He feels that the grand central pursuit of his life
should be growth in the knowledge of God, — the attainment
of clearer views and livelier impressions of His excellences, —
wisdom to trace His goings more distinctly and rejoicingly in
creation and providence and redemption. He feels that all
study should, in its degree, be with him study of God. But
we find, at the same time. Christian brethren, that as a matter
of fact the energy of our spirits in this pursuit often flags.
Remaining depravity weighs the spirit down; and bodily weak-
ness, too, is felt as a heavy clog. Languor steals upon the
senses, so that he who would search and soar, ' mounting up
with wings like the eagle,' finds himself fettered to a load of
clay. Now depravity, and all the encumbering influences of
the mortal body, are left behind at death. Death rends the

92 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. i.

veil, and breaks the fetters, and ushers the spirit, so long con-
fined to the gloomy twilight of an earthly prison, into glorious
light and liberty. Then, dear friends, shall we have know-
ledge to a degree, and in modes, of which now we cannot
even form any conception. Being then perfectly ' pure in
heart,' we shall ' see God ' no longer darkly, as by a mirror,
but face to face. Our spirits will apprehend his excellences
not slowly, indirectly, inferentially, as now, but by a direct
intuition, far more certain, and distinct, and satisfying, than is
now the action of the eye or any bodily sense. We shall no
longer have to content ourselves with gathering pebbles on the
shore of the great ocean of truth, but shall soar over its waters
with bold untiring wing, or fearlessly plunge into their depths,
and, with unfailing success, explore their wonders. We shall
know then * even as we are known.' Say, brethren, for those
who, through grace, are enabled to cherish such hopes, is not
* to die, gain ' ?

Again, think of the change in relation to holiness. Through-
out the believer's life here it is sadly manifest that depravity,
though dethroned and maimed, is not yet slain. Even in our
pursuit of good aims, even in our holiest religious services,
how much of sin enters to mar the good ! Now the ' law of
sin ' which, in so many ways, ' wars against the law of the
mind,' and lamentably often * brings us into captivity,' is * in
the members.' The appetites and distempers of the present
mortal body give rise to many spiritual distempers and per-
versities. Around us, too, whilst we are here, lies the world,
full of temptations ; and our great adversary, the devil, is ever
striving, with his subtilty and malignity, to bring us under the
power of these temptations. Yonder, * the spirits of just men '
are ' made perfect.' From the moment of death every desire
is pure, every aim is noble ; and the noble aims are all attained
in fulness. Even in this world, the believer, contemplating
his Saviour with affection and confidence, is changed by the
Spirit into His image, ' from glory to glory.' Yonder, up to

VKR. 2 1.] TJlc Saint^ s Deatk — Gain. 93

the fullest capabilities of our nature, * wc shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is.*

Yet again, think of the change in relation to society. Our
hai)pmess here is, in large measure, (lci)en(lent on pleasant
companionship. To many of us Ciod has granted the enjoy-
ment of friendships both sweet and helpful. Many of us He
has, in His kind providence, linked in such close relation-
ships as involve frequent intercourse, with those who are at the
same time kinsfolk in Christ Jesus, and cheer and aid us by
holy fellowship. Yet great numbers of those with whom we
have to associate have no sympathy with us in our deepest
loves and longings ; and even in those who have such sym-
pathy we find many incongruities and hardnesses, much which
is calculated to mislead and enfeeble us, rather than to en-
lighten and invigorate. How apt, too, are jealousies and petti-
nesses to becloud all the friendships of earth, even friendships
between wise Christians ! Our Supreme Friend is known by
us here only through faith ; our communication with Him is
through the secret influences of His Spirit, enabling us to ap-
prehend with mind and heart the manifestations He makes of
His glory and grace in His Word and ordinances ; and our
faith is so weak, even at the best, that we see Him but by
passing glimpses. Death, dear brethren, will introduce us into
a world where all are friends, true and wise, and full of un-
varying, exulting, rejoicing sympathy in all our aspirations.

It has been often questioned whether any portion of the
happiness of heaven comes from human friendship, or whether
the absorption of the saints in the contemplation of the glory
of Christ, and the enjoyment of His love, will not be such as
to prevent even the recognition of the friends of earth. ' This
latter supposition could only be adopted in consequence of
imperfect views of the nature of the mind, and the working of
its affections. The love of Christ does not cast out, but en-
hances and purifies, love to our fellow-creatures. It will be
true in heaven, as on earth, that *' Every one who loveth Him

94 Lee her es on Philippians, [ch. i.

that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him." '^ The
deep instincts of our hearts, my brethren, are sounder guides
in matters of this kind than any mystic speculation. I cannot
but believe that our ardent longings to see and know again be-
loved ones taken away from us by death, are not the fruit of
depravity, or folly, or weakness, but implanted in us by God,
and are thus, with regard to all who have fallen asleep in
Christ, a kind of prophecy of joyous recognitions, and friend-
ships resumed, never again to be broken, in that happy land
where, to the full, God ' satisfieth the longing soul.' What
sweeter assurance, too, is found in the Word of God than that,
while the glorified 'rest from their labours, their works do
follow them ' .? They ' follow them,' to minister to their joy, —
and how otherwise than through recognition ? The Christian
friend in glory rejoices to welcome him with whom on earth
he had affectionately pleaded to seek the Saviour. The
minister with delight sees this and that church member whom
he had taught the way of life, and for whom he had wrestled
with God in prayer, enter in by the gates of pearl. The
mother feels as if a new blessedness were added even to
heaven, when, beholding in the New Jerusalem the child
whom it had been her chief anxiety to train for Christ, she
knows that her ' works have followed' her.

Along with those thus bound to us by ties formed on earth,
holy angels also will be our companions in heaven, and all the
good of all generations of the world's history, all who have
' washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.' And our association with all this ' goodly company '
will be eternal.

But, amid the enjoyments of the society of heaven, He
whom faith makes to the believer here his Supreme Friend,
beyond all comparison the dearest, the most trusted, the most
influential, will there also be supreme in his affections and
interest, ay, loved and delighted in far more intensely than
' Dr. Henderson, of Galashiels.

\ KR. 2 1.] The Saint's Death — Gain. 95

here, because far better known, 'seen as He is.' With Him
we shall have intercourse direct and personal, so close and
satisfying, that even the most intimate communion with Him,
with which we arc privileged on earth, shall seem then, in
memory, to have been absence, — for, 'whilst we are at home
in the body, we are absent from the Lord.' Knowing, then,
Christian brethren, as we do, how ravishing is the view which,
in hours of spiritual elevation, the children of God have of
their Lord even here, — knowing, as we do, that the joy of
fellowship with Him even here is ' unspeakable and full of
glory,' — * how shall we conceive of that flood of unimaginable
ecstasy which shall fill and overflow all our dilated spirits,
when faith shall be exchanged for vision, and distant love for
present and personal communion ! What pleasure beyond
description shall it not inspire in souls like those of the just
made perfect, — souls divinely sensitive to the impressions of
whatever is truly great, and good, and fair, — to contemplate
directly, without a mirror, distinctly, without a veil, the vivid
revelation which shall then be made of the excellence and
loveliness of the glorified Immanuel, — to gaze upon His sacred
Person, now refulgent with unearthly splendours, yet bearing the
traces, conspicuous still, of the tremendous conflict He once
endured for His redeemed, nor therefore, in their esteem, the
less majestic or less lovely for these illustrious scars, — to dwell
upon the nearer and more impressive exhibitions which, through
that sacred Person, He shall make before the glorified im-
mortals, of His transcendent character, uniting all that is
august and lovely in the attributes of Deity with all that is
great and fair in those of a perfect humanity !' ^

If thus then, my friends, death be for the believer the gate
by which he passes from ignorance and sin and trouble into
perfect purity and blessedness, this is certainly 'gain' to him,
incalculable gain.

The connection in which the apostle makes the present
' John Brown Patterson, of Falkirk.

g6 Lecttcres on Philippians. [cH. i.

statement implies, you will remember, that by a Christian's
death Christ is glorified. * My earnest expectation and my
hope,' Paul says, ' is that Christ shall be magnified in my
body, whether it be by life or by death ; by life, if that be
granted to me, for to me to live is Christ ; by death, for to me
to die is gain.' ' When I, who once blasphemed the name of
Jesus, and slew His servants, am by His grace introduced into
the ineffable joys of heaven, and this through the very instru-
mentality of deaths which sin brought on man as a curse, but
which the Saviour'' s love and power have made the gate of life, —
angels and the members of the church triumphant, and Chris-
tian friends left behind, will see one proof more that " Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive riches, and honour, and
strength, and glory, and blessing." '

It is easier, very much easier, to believe the general proposi-
tion that to the Christian death is gain, or to believe that to
the Apostle Paul death was gain, than to have, with regard to
ourselves, the same calm, restful conviction that it will be so,
which, with regard to himself, the apostle had and expresses
here. Lack of such a conviction is a grave defect in a believer ;
not merely because, through subjection in this matter to 'the
spirit of bondage,' he falls far short of attaining the fulness of
peace which the religion of Jesus is fitted to give, but because
a most potent means of * magnifying Christ' is wanting to him.
In a world like this, where nature so fears death, few things
testify more impressively of the power of divine grace, than
composure of spirit in view of meeting the last enemy, where
this composure is manifestly intelligent and associated with
humility. Let us then strive, dear friends, to ' lift up the hands
which hang down.' In the mode of our departure from the
world, indeed, we can never rejoice. If it might be so, we
would rather * not be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mor-
tality might be swallowed up of life.' We shudder instinctively
at the thouglit of the gloomy passage. Yet it is true that for all
believers divine grace has discrowned the king of terrors, has

vi:r. 2 1.] The SainCs Death — Gain. 97

changed the curse into a 'gain,* — yea, * hath abolished diCSiih'
* What shall we then say to these things,' dear friends, —
to these * exceeding great and precious' assurances, and to
our frequent lapses, notwithstanding, under the 'spirit of
bondage, again to fear'? 'Lord, we believe; help Thou our
unbelief,' Progress in superiority to the fear of death will
be made by Christians, partly by direct effort with that aim
in view, through meditation on the promises on this subject
given in Scripture, and prayer for lively faith in these pro-
mises ; but mainly by steady, prayerful endeavour to advance
in general Christian wisdom, and beauty, and energy. A life
of growing faith and usefulness will, by God's blessing, yield
ever growth of hope. As a Christian is able to see more and
more distinctly that ' through Christ, who strengtheneth him,'
he is, like Paul, * fighting a good fight,' the clearer ever will
grow the joyous conviction that for him, as for Paul, ' there is
laid up a crown of righteousness,' — that for him, as for Paul,
' to die will be gain.'

98 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

VIII.
A STRAIT BETWIXT TWO.

* But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour : yet what I shall
choose I wot not. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire
to depart, and to be with Christ ; which is far better : 24 Nevertheless to
abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And having this confi-
dence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all, for your fur-
therance and joy of faith ; 26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant
in Jesus Christ for me, by my coming to you again.' — Phil. i. 22-26. ,

THE apostle's statement of his conviction that death will
be ' gain ' to him, suggests that it is his desire, perhaps
his prayer, to die. The case has another aspect, however,
and to it his thoughts now turn. Death, whilst it would bring
an unspeakable accession of holiness and blessedness, would
remove him from the sphere of ' labour in the gospel.' He
would no longer be able to teach, and counsel, and comfort his
Christian brethren, or to carry the knowledge of Christ to the
darkened. Now his heart was enthusiastically in this work ;
his mental vigour was as yet undiminished ; and of his physical
energy a considerable measure yet remained to him, notwith-
standing all his toils and sufferings. He might therefore
reasonably think that, if his life were prolonged, he would still
be of service in the world. Thus he was brought into per-
plexity. When he looked at his own interests by themselves,
he could not but desire * to depart, and be with Christ ;' when
he looked at the church and the world, it seemed that he was
still needed here. As he mused on the matter, this impression
of his being needed here yet a while deepened into a convic-
tion. He felt confident, therefore, that he would be left on

\i:r 2 2.] A Strait betwixt Two, 99

earth, and meekly and lovingly acquiesced in the divine will.
Such is the substance of the paragraph which comes before us
now.

Tiic use by the apostle, in the 2 2d verse, of the expression,
' live in the Jfes/t,^ whilst in the first clause of the preceding
verse he had employed the simple ' live ' in precisely the same
sense of ordinary physical life, shows that the intermediate
clause had taken some such form in his mind as this : * For
me to die is gain ; because when I die, I shall for the first time
fully live, having the energies of my soul fully exercised, and
my capacities of happiness fully satisfied, in the service and
fellowship of my God and Saviour in heaven.' With this
thought before his mind, of spiritual life in its heavenly com-
pleteness, he naturally, when coming back to speak of the
ordinar)' life of earth, describes it by its distinguishing peculi-
arity as life * /;/ the flesh'

* Supposing, then, that I live in the flesh, this is tJie fruit of
my labour' Our venerable translators — admirable, as a rule,
alike for the accuracy and the force and beauty of their render-
ings— have here, I think, introduced some obscurity into the
passage, by giving their language a definiteness not found in
the original. I question whether, to any of us, the words,
' this is the fruit of my labour,' in their connection, convey
any distinct meaning ; whilst a literal translation is intelligible
enough, — ' This is for me ' — that is, ' means, or implies for
me,' a terse mode of expression, similar to that used in the
preceding verse, ' To me to live is Christ' — ' fruit of labour.'

Paul intimates here, in the first place, that continued life
means for him continued * labour.'' To this his constitutional
energy impelled him ; but he felt, also, that without sin he
could not cease from labour, so long as God gave him strength
for it. Nothing which God makes is without a work to do.
His inanimate and irrational creatures never fail to do their
work. The sun unceasingly invigorates and gladdens the
world. The air, heated by his beams, drinks up water from

lOO Lectures on PJiilippians, [ch. i.

the sea. The clouds journey far inland, bearing their precious
burden of rain. The mountain ridges receive the treasure,
and streams and rivers diffuse it far and wide, making the
earth fruitful and fair. 'All things are full of labour.' To
God's moral creatures is given the sublime privilege that not
blindly, through the action of material laws, but consciously,
by resolutions of their own, they may fulfil the end of their
existence ; and in this privilege, enjoyed by them alone, is in-
volved the possibility that they alone may fail to fulfil that end.

To work^ then, according to the faculties which God has
given us, and the openings and calls of His providence, — this
is your duty and mine. The ringing music of the blacksmith's
hammer ; the watchful eye and steady hand of the man at the
wheel ; the busy fingers tending the powerloom ; the mer-
chant's careful supervision of every department of his business,
— ^all this accords with the will of God, who has made a world
for work, not for idlers. ' Seest thou a man diligent in his
business ? He shall stand before kings : he shall not stand
before mean men.' ' If any man will not work, neither shall
he eat.' The man who lives as if life were meant for indolence
and frivolity, is not merely treasuring up for himself far more
true weariness of spirit than ever comes from a life of labour,
but is grievously offending God.

Work is the law of the new life in Christ Jesus, too. ' Son,
go work to-day in My vineyard.' In that vineyard our heavenly
Father, who gives the command, is Himself the Great Hus-
bandman. The manifestation of God's life is holy beneficent
activity : ' My Father worketh hitherto.' Here is our example.
The highest conceivable honour for God's creatures is to be
* labourers together with Him.' The Christian feels that his
work as a Christian is, by holy devotedness and holy patience,
to * show forth the praises of Him who hath called him out of
darkness into His marvellous light,' — to grow ])ersonally in
likeness of character to Him, and to be earnest and persistent
in effort for the advancement of the Saviour's kingdom. And

VKR. 2 2.] A Strait bctiuixt Two. loi

as this is duty, so is it the direction in which 'the love of
Christ constraincth us' to turn our energies. Day after day,
then, according to his opportunities and his measure of faith, —
and be it observed that the perception of faculties and oppor-
tunities, as well as the diligent use of them, is largely propor-
tioned to the measure of faith, — day after day the believer who
has spiritual health is busy in his Father's vineyard, jilanting,
pruning, watering, — diligently and prayerfully endeavouring to
promote beauty and strength of character in himself and in
others. The light of his Father's countenance makes his labour
gladsome. * Thou mcetcst him that worketh righteousness.'

But what if a Christian cannot work, in the ordinary sense
of the word ? What if disease have laid hold upon him, life-
long pain and weakness and weariness perhaps, secluding him,
and forbidding exertion ? Then thus, in providence, God has
shown him what is his great appointed work, — to * humble
himself under the mighty hand of God,' to bear meekly, and
by faith and patience prove the power of divine grace to give
restfulness of heart even in a furnace. How exquisite are
Milton's musings, when in great measure laid aside, through
blindness, from his former modes of Christian activity : —

' Doth God exact day labour, light denied ?
I fondly ask ; but Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, — " God doth not need
Either man's work, or His o\\ti gifts ; who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best ; His state
Is kingly ; thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest :
They also ser\'e, who only stand and wait.'"

Ay, and as regards influence on others, too, my brethren,
multitudes could tell that the sight of holy endurance in a sick-
room has often stirred them for good more powerfully, per-
haps, than anything else ever did.

This last remark leads naturally to our consideration of the
apostle's further statement on the subject. Not merely does
he say that, ' if he live in the flesh, this means labour,' but that

I02 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. i.

it means ^ fruit of labour' — success in the work to which God
calls him.

As a rule, honest, hearty labour of every kind succeeds more
or less. A sensible, industrious, frugal, persevering worker in
any department of the labour of common life usually secures at
least ' a competent portion of the good things of this life.'
' The hand of the diligent raaketh rich.' Yet there are often
failures. Shipwreck overwhelms the vessel, or fire consumes
the factory, on which prosperity depended ; or disease suddenly
and lastingly enfeebles ' the hand of the diligent,' which was
' making rich.' A Christian, when calamities of this kind come
upon him, recognises in them a reminder given by God that
there is higher wealth, and nobler work, than that which has to
do merely with this world ; and is thus, by the outward loss,
helped towards a more full and hearty devotion of his energies
to the prosecution of that nobler work, and the acquisition of
that higher wealth.

In the spiritual sphere there is always ' fruit of labour,'
though very often neither as, nor where, nor when we look for
it All earnest prayerful effort after personal spiritual advance-
ment succeeds, for * this is the will of God, even our sanctifi-
cation.' Fruit of this kind is yielded, too, by every Christian
effort to benefit others. Through all conscientious labour
to quicken other souls, the soul of the labourer himself is
quickened. With regard to the direct effect of Christian
labour for the good of others, we cannot say that in every
case even the most wise, persistent, prayerful dealing will
succeed. Yet even where there is little or no visible fruit, still
the conscientious worker has abundant ground of encourage-
ment. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,
' So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into
the ground ; and should sleep, and rise, night and day, and the
seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how ; for the
earth bringcth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the
ear, after that the full com in the ear : but when the fruit is

VKR. 2 2.] A Si rail betwixt Two. 103

brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because
the harvest is come.* Ministers and other Christian labourers
casually learn, long after, of spiritual good done through their
work on occasions when, for anything that appeared at the
time, or immediately afterwards, it might have seemed that
they had been * spending their strength for nought.' Thus the
cheering belief grows in their minds, that many may * arise up'
in that day, and * call them blessed.' The seed may lie long in
the ground inactive, exposed to summer heats and winter frosts,
and then quickening may come, in connection, perhaps, with
some altogether new agency. The old agency, by which the
seed was deposited in the ground, may be wholly unthought of
by all concerned here below ; but God has marked all the
steps, and by and by ' he that sowed and he that reaped shall
rejoice together.'

Let us be of good courage then, brethren, in our Christian
work. Especially let me plead with believing parents, labouring
in a field peculiarly interesting and important, fiever to despond,
— bearing in mind how clear and definite are alike the com-
mand and the promise, * Train up a child in the way he should
go, and when he is old he will not depart from it' Remember
the mother of John Newton. In his infancy, she made it her
great business to ' bring him up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord.' She died when he was only seven years old. A
few years aftenvards he went to sea, and ultimately became
connected with the African slave trade. Vice of every kind
gained dominion over him. But he could not shake off the
remembrance of his mothers teachings and prayers. Though
dead, she still spoke to him. At last, as you know, he gave
himself to the Lord ; and for many years exercised a very great
influence for good by his ministry, an influence which is in
considerable measure maintained by his excellent wTitings on
practical religion. ' Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou
shalt find it after many days.' ' He that goeth forth and
weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again

I04 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves mth him.' * Blessed are
ye that sow beside all waters ; ' for * the work of righteousness
shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and
assurance for ever.'

This, then, is what Paul sees, by faith, to counterbalance the
influence of the reflection, ' To me to die is gain.' ' If I live
in the flesh, this means for me fruit of labour.' Hence arises
difficulty of decision, as he goes on to tell the Philippians. In
reading the statement of his dilemma, we seem to hear him mus-
ing aloud ; and to a thoughtful Christian there is something
very touching, and at the same time in various ways very help-
ful, in standing near this illustrious servant of God, and listening
to the abrupt sentences which show the course of his reflec-
tions. * To me to die is gain.' * But if I Hve in the flesh,
that means for me fruit of labour.' ' And, therefore,^ what I
shall choose, — whether I shall choose life or death, so as de-
finitely to long and pray for it, — I wot not ^ * For (or, according
to another reading, "but," in opposition to "knowing" which
to choose) / am in a strait bettvixt the two, having, on the
one hand (as shown before by the word " gain "), my desire
towards departing and being with Christ, which is far better ; but,
on the other hand, to abide iti the flesh is more needful 07i your
account.^

The word translated '■to depart' is properly ' to unloose,' the
figure being that of a ship unfastened from her moorings to set
sail, or of a tent taken down, that the occupant may move
onward on his journey. Having travelled through the ^vilder-
ness of this world so long, the apostle was very willing to give
up his tent life, and go over the river to the promised Canaan
and its * city which hath foundations.' He ' knew that, if his
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, he had a build-
ing of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.' He knew, too, tliat 'to depart' was '■to be with
Christ J and thus was ''far better^ — or, still more strongly, for
* * Yet,' of the Authorized Version, is an unhappy rendering.

VKRS. 23, 24.] A Strait betwixt Two. 105

the language swells out, under the impulse of the apostle's
feeling, into a peculiar fulness, 'better by very far' — than to
remain here.

The one grand thought in his mind, you observe, connected
with departure, is that thus he shall be introduced into the imme-
diate presence of his Saviour. As he says elsewhere, he is * will-
ing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord' In looking forward to heaven, he seems to see Christ
alone. ' He does not say, " It is better to depart and to be
with holy angels, and spirits of the just, than to have to con-
tend here with the ignorance and wickedness of men, to bear
with the infirmities of the weak, or at best to take counsel with
those who know only in part, and are sanctified but in part.
It is better to go and drink of the river of life, and eat the fruits
of Paradise, and wear the crown of glory-, and strike the notes
of praise and gladness on the harps of heaven, than to abide
here to be the scorn of the ungodly, the sport of persecution,
to wander having no certain dwelling-place, and to be publish-
ing the off"ers of salvation to incredulous and ungrateful men."
He might have said all this, and more than this ; but it is all
summed up or exceeded by what he does say, "To depart and
to be with Christ is far better." '1

Some Christians have held the doctrine, that between death
and the resurrection the soul continues in a state of uncon-
sciousness, in a sleep or torpor. To this they are led by the
admitted inability of man to conceive how our spirits can act,
except through a body. But have we really any greater ability
to understand how our spirits do act through the body ; how,
while the nerves convey tidings from the eye and the ear to
the brain, the immaterial soul sees and hears thereby ? The
relation of soul and body to each other is, in fact, so utter a
mystery to us, that no views regarding it could with safety be
applied to affect the exposition even of very uncertain Scripture
statements. But it is difficult to see how a candid mind
' Dr. Henderson, of Galashiels.

io6 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

can discern any approach to uncertainty in some references
to the state of the soul after death. For instance, our Lord's
declaration to the dying thief, ' Verily I say unto thee, To-day
shalt thou be with Me in Paradise,' was surely something more
than a promise that that day he should sink into unconscious-
ness, and after, it might be, many ages, awake to a sense of
being with his Lord in blessedness and glory. The teaching
of the passage before us seems to me equally clear. Paul says
that he felt himself ' in a strait,' hemmed in by conflicting
motives and feelings, so that he found it difficult to decide
whether he should definitely long for life or death. Had there
been any thought in his mind of a time of unconsciousness
following death, I can hardly suppose that for a man of his
principles and temperament there would have been any ' strait.'
His decision would have been clear and unhesitating, — ' Better,
immeasurably better, to remain here, enjoying communion with
my Lord, and labouring in His service, than to pass into a
torpor, in which I can neither hold fellowship with Him, nor
in any way consciously magnify Him.' There is broad and
firm scriptural ground, my brethren, for the precious doctrine
set forth in the familiar words of the Westminster Divines,
that ' the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in
holiness, and do immediately pass into glory.' Indeed it is
mainly, I apprehend, with reference to the period between
death and the resurrection that the apostle, writing to Timothy,
makes the statement that ' our Saviour Jesus Christ hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.' The
teaching of the Old Testament regarding the future life
generally was dim ; yet, through the study of its statements,
the Jewish church, with the exception of the small sect of
rationalists called Sadducees, had come, before the birth of
our Lord, to accept fully the doctrines of the immortality of
the soul and the resurrection of the body. But the inter-
mediate state lay for them in entire darkness. On it sweetly
and satisfyingly has fallen ' light through the gospel.*

vi:ks. 23, 24.] A Strait betwixt Two, 107

* To depart and be with Christ' was 'better by very far' than
remaining in this world of ignorance, and sin, and trouble.
Looking at the matter, then, merely as it affected himself per-
sonally, the apostle could have no hesitation as to which should
be the definite object of his wishes. It was most natural and
reasonable that he should * have his desire towards departing.'
But when his thoughts turned to regard the cause of his Master
in the world, doubt entered, very grave doubt. The balance
of personal advantage was clearly on the side of death; but the
balance of real needfulness seemed on the side of life, in the
interest of the churches. ' On your account'' — the Philippians
representing here, of course, the churches generally to which
he stood in the tender relation of spiritual father — * my abiding
in the flesh is more needful.^

Of struggle between liking and a sense of duty — between
'desire' and a conviction of what is 'more needful' — between the
attractions of what is obviously good for oneself and call to do
what is, in the first instance, specially good for others — every
soul of any strength and nobleness has experience every day.
But how peculiarly sublime the sphere of the apostle's present
struggle ! How strong and clear the faith which led him into,
and sustained him in, this 'good fight' ! 'Led him into' it, I
have said, for you will see that an intelligent desire of death
cannot have root except in a bright and lively faith, any
more than a desire or sense of the needfulness of living to
preach the gospel. On both sides of the 'straitening' you
find the basis to be a vivid and profoundly influential convic-
tion of the life of Christ ; and that, ' because He liveth. His
people live also,' guided and sustained in holy activity here,
and blessed with the full glory and joy of eternal life with Him
hereafter.

Believing that for the sake of the churches it was 'more
needful ' for him to stay than to go, — that is to say, that work
had yet to be done for the consolidation and extension of the
church, which seemed to devolve more fitly on him than on

io8 Lecticres on Philippians, ' [ch. i.

any other, — the apostle had a strong impression that God
would leave him still here for a while : ' And /laving this canfi-
dence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all, for
your furtherance and joy of faith.'' It is plain, from the con-
nection in which this ' / know ' occurs, that the apostle does
not here speak of knowledge by revelation, and consequently
of absolute certainty. It was simply through his ' having the
confidence,' or strong conviction, that his continued life was
needful for his brethren below, that he ' knew ' continued life
would be appointed him. That he regarded this issue of his
present circumstances, in fact, as only highly probable, is sho^\Ti
further on in the Epistle by his expressing some doubt ' how
it will go with him,' — whether he may not be * offered ' (by
martyrdom) ' upon the sacrifice and service of the faith of his
Christian brethren' (ii. 17, 23). As regards what actually did
happen, the opinion of biblical scholars is somewhat divided.
The view entertained by most, however — on good grounds, as
it seems to me — is that the apostle's expectation was fulfilled ;
that he was released from that imprisonment during which he
wrote the Epistle, and spent some years in visiting the churches
and in missionary labour, — his martjTdom occurring at the
close of a second imprisonment.

The principle on which Paul's 'having this confidence, I
know ' is based, is evidently this — that, God having a plan of
life for each of His people, no one of them will pass away so
long as any work remains for him to do. The best let many
opportunities slip, no doubt. Much work might have been
done for Christ which was not done. But the time for it has
passed. When death comes, God intimates thereby, that of
work which was peculiarly allotted to this servant, — work which
could be best done by him, — there is no more. When a young
minister is removed by death, after a period of labour seem-
ingly only long enough to stir the hearts of Christian ob-
servers with high hopes of his being greatly useful, — when a
pious young mother is withdrawn from helpless children, on

VERS. 25, 26.] A Strait betwixt 7\uo. 109

whose Christian training her heart was set, — not sadness only,
but wonderment and dismay, often take possession of bereaved
hearts. Is not the assurance which we hear from Paul, in the
passage before us, a very comforting and helpful one in cases
like these, — that, in any deep sense of the word ' premature,*
no Christian dii's prematurely 1

The apostle has said, * I know that I shall continue with you
all, for your furtherance and joy of faith ^^ — that is, 'for the
increase of your faith in intelligence, liveliness, and constancy,
and consecjuently your advancement in joy through its means.'
His warm heart delights to dwell on this object ; and thus in
the 26th verse he pictures to himself and his readers, for his
refreshment and theirs, the happy spiritual condition into which
they would be brought by the 'furtherance' he hoped to be
permitted to give them ; * that your rejoicing 7nay be fnore abun-
dant in Jesus Christ for jne, by my comitig to you again.' The
meaning of the first part of this clause seems rather to be this —
* that your matter (or subject) oi glorying may abound in Jesus
Christ through me.'

The key-note of this Epistle is * joy in the Lord.' To this,
as its tone of rest, the melody always returns ; and the trained
spiritual ear can hear it throughout as the foundation of the
harmony. In the present place, as I have indicated, the par-
ticular form of the thought is ' glorjing,' or ' boasting,' as the
word is rendered in many places. This is an expression with
which all readers of Paul's Epistles are familiar, but which
ver}' seldom presents itself in any other of the Xew Testament
\\Titings. Saul, the Pharisee, had ' made his boast of the law,'
which he imagined himself to keep perfectly, — and therefore to
merit eternal life as his wages. It was natural that in Paul,
the believer in Jesus Christ, the man who recognised in him-
self *■ the chief of sinners,' there should be a specially intense
revulsion from this baseless glorying. Over against the old
' boast,' the offspring of sin and self-ignorance, he delighted
now to set * glorying in the cross of Christ.' The summary of

no Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

his preaching was, ' He that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord.' Gladness which springs from knowledge of the Re-
deemer's power and grace, and which, from a lively sense of
the dignity and the security connected with its grounds, pro-
claims itself in language and conduct evincing exultant con-
fidence in Him, — a holy trust, triumphing over the power of
all that the world, and the flesh, and the devil, can bring
against it, — this is what the apostle means by Christian * glory-
ing.' ' In Christ,' he found on every side ' matter of glorying '
— in his infirmities and tribulations, no less than in the number
and spiritual progress of his converts. Whatever brought out
evidence of the power and goodness of his Saviour, — in that
he exulted.

You see, then, what he means here in his hope that to the
Philippians ' uiatter of glorymg might abound through him by his
comijig to thefn again.^ Strength and beauty of Christian cha-
racter, energy to do and patience to bear their Lord's will,
eminence in faith and hope and love, — this was what their
spiritual father desired to see abounding in his children ; —
proof of all kinds that their Lord was * working in them to will
and to do,' and thus giving them ever ampler grounds, in their
own experience, for triumphant delight in Him. The apostle
trusted that this would be given to them ' through hi?n ' (Paul)
as an instrument ; but, as he reminds them by his favourite
expression, matter of true glorying can exist, or increase, only
'/// Christ Jesus,' — only for those who, through union to Him,
enjoy His guiding and sustaining influences, and have indeed
His life acting in them.

vi:r. 27.] Conversation bccoinijig the Gospel. i 1 1

IX.

CONVERSATION BECOMING THE GOSPEL.

* Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.' —

Phil, i, 27, ist clause.

T \ ^ITH the free discursiveness of a familiar letter, Paul
V V passes now for a time from the mention of his o\\'n
circumstances and spiritual experiences, to exhort his Philip-
pian friends to cultivate earnestly those Christian graces which
their position at the time most severely tested, — stedfastness,
love, and humility. Of these duties, he speaks from the 27th
verse of this chapter down to the i6th of the next. The sec-
tion is introduced by a great comprehensive precept, of which
all that follows is but a detailed illustration, — ^ 0?ily iet your
conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.^

The word ' conversation,^ as employed in modem English,
designates one element of our social life, the interchange of
thought by speech ; but at the time our version of the Bible
was made, it meant ' a course of life or conduct ' generally ;
and wherever it occurs in the Bible, which it does often,
this is its meaning. The line of thought will in most cases
lead readers of any intelligence instinctively to give the
word something like its correct force ; except perhaps in
2 Pet ii. 7, where, in the statement that 'just Lot was
vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked,' there
may be a risk of its being taken in the modem sense,
which covers only a portion of the meaning. In the
passage now before us the word employed in the original is not
that usually rendered * conversation,' but one which gives an

1 1 2 Lecher es on Philippians. [cii. i.

interesting peculiarity of colouring to the general idea of
' course of life.' It denotes specifically ' life as citizens.^ * Our
citizenship is in heaven/ says the apostle further on in the
Epistle (iii. 20), — for such is his statement, the word there trans-
lated ' conversation ' being a sister form of that which occurs
here ; and his present injunction is that his readers should,
even whilst as yet out in the wilderness, or at least at a distance
from the centre of the city, where the King's palace stands, re-
member ever their privileges and responsibilities, and live as
* children of Zion ' — persons enrolled among the citizens of
the city of God. This thought has evidently a special fitness
and force in a letter addressed to the Christians of Philippi, —
who, living in a Roman colony, saw everyvvhere pride in the
possession of the most illustrious earthly citizenship, and had
themselves witnessed the assertion of its privileges by Paul and
Silas, when Paul said to the Serjeants and the jailor, ' They
have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and
have cast us into prison ; and now do they thrust us out
privily ? Nay, verily ; but let them come themselves and fetch
us out.'

The gospel being the charter of the sublime citizenship
enjoyed by Christians, the apostle calls on his readers to
discharge the functions connected with their privilege in a
manner such as ' beco7neth the gospel of Christ,^ — as elsewhere
he calls on us to ' walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we
are called,' to * walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,' to
' walk worthy of God who hath called us unto His kingdom
and glory.' A glance at the prominent features of the gospel
will enable us at once to see the outlines of the character
which ' becometh ' those who believe it.

The gospel is a divine message which assumes the paramount
importance of our spiritual relations to God; and, consequently,
a ' com'crsation ' becotning it must be one in which our spiritual
interests are always regarded. By nature, being ' carnally-
minded,' governed by the intluences of the lowest — the animal

VKR. 27.] Ccmversation becoming the Gospel, 113

— element of our being, which ought to be subject, not
sovereign, we think little about our souls. We dislike reflec-
tion, because we find it to awaken doubts and fears. Thus
we are in great measure strangers to ourselves. Now Christ,
whilst offering salvation for the whole man, offers it through
the moral nature. The body follows the condition of the
soul. Hence the tone ringing through all the instructions and
promises of the gospel is, * What shall it profit a man, if
he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?'
Accordingly, a life becoming this gospel will certainly be one
in which, at all times, the soul's interests are regarded and
treated as of foremost moment. Alas, then, dear brethren,
how very ////becoming the gospel the lives of many who call
themselves Christians are ! Might not one reasonably suppose
diforgdfulness of the interests of the soul to be the key to very
much of their affections and conduct ? Let us think how the
case stands with ourselves.

Again, the gospel is a divine message of grace; and there-
fore a conversation becomifig it will be o?ie in which happiness
and gratitude are manifested. 'Good tidings of great joy,' —
trustworthy news of forgiveness for sinners, free and full, — this
is the gospel. Now what will accord with the belief of this ?
The heart will be lightened of a heavy burden, will it not ?
The eye, bright with joy and thankfulness, will see a new
beauty shed over the whole world.

• Sweet as home to pilgrim weary,

Light to newly opened eyes,
Water-springs in deserts dreary,
Is the rest the cross supplies. '

Afflictions may come, yet there will be no murmuring, for rest
is given by the assurance that ' He who spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, shall with Him also
freely give us all things.' As the lark springs at dawn from its
dewy nest, and soars to heaven's gate, pouring out its song of
praise, so with the Christian soul, mounting up on the wings of

114 Ledtcres on Philippzajis. [ch. i.

faith and hope. Life will be a song of praise, — sometimes
modulating into a plaintive minor, yet still praise. In the
prison at Philippi, at midnight, their backs bleeding from the
scourge, Paul and Silas sang praises to God ; and the calm,
peaceful tone of the Second Epistle to Timothy shows us that a
visitor to the apostle, in the last dreariest time of his earthly
career, would have seen light in the prison-house then also.
The body, worn with suffering, and exposed perhaps to the
cold and damp of a dungeon, needed the protection of ' the
cloak left at Troas ' (how pathetic a request that is for him who
has ears to hear !) -, the apostle saw the time of his departure
by martyrdom to be at hand ; yet how brave, how confident,
and restful, and happy, the noble heart is ! * I am ready to be
offered,' — ' and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil
work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom : to
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.' How well 'becom-
ing the gospel of Christ ' is such repose of soul in Him, — how
impressive an evidence of the reality and power of religion !

Further, — the gospel reveals an open way of access to God ;
and hence a conversation becoming it will be a life of child-
like reliafice on God, and comnmnion with Him. The root
of all sin is the desire to be independent of God : * Father,
give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.' Every
unconverted man acts as if he were independent, and, under
one disguise or another to his own mind of the monstrous
folly, tries to believe himself independent. In regard to
outward things, however, the delusion of independence often
fails. In seasons of sudden distress, when the soul is stirred
to its depths by mortal fear or by bitter sorrow, the sense
of impotence and dependence forces itself on the heart,
and out of these depths comes a cry to God. The careless,
sin-loving sailor drops, in the darkness of night, from the
slippery shrouds into a stormy sea; the slumbering landsman,
who went pniycrlcss to rest, is roused from his dreams to find
his house on fire, and the flames roaring around him even in

vi:r. 2/.] Conversation dcconiinQ the Gospel. 1 15

the bed-chamber : ah ! brethren, in times like these, when the
truest and deepest nature will have her own, then comes forth
an ngonized ajipeal to tlic mercy of God. When Jonah's
heathen mariners were afraid, beoiuse the Lord had sent out a
great tempest into the sea, they * cried every man unto his
god ; ' and the shipmaster said unto Jonah, * What meanest
thou, O sleeper ? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God
will think upon us, that we perish not.' With the unbeliever,
however, this sense of dependence is only occasional, and of
partial reference. In the Christian it is habitual, and universal
in its sweep. The gospel, as we have seen, exhibits the in-
terests of the soul as of supreme importance ; and in regard to
its welfiire the Christian feels his dependence on God to be as
absolute as with reference to outward safety and comfort. He
feels his need of the influences of the Holy Spirit, to enlighten
and quicken, sanctify and comfort. He sees that Jesus has
rent the veil, and opened a way by which through faith he may
enter into the Most Holy Place, and with acceptance hold
fellowship with God. He enters, and asks, and receives. He
finds it ineffably sweet to pour out his heart before his Father ;
and thus, as his knowledge and faith of the gospel grow, prayer
becomes increasingly habitual to him, until it may be said of
him that ' he dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High,
abiding under the shadow of the Almighty.' To speak of a
prayerless Christian is to say that which is self-contradictory, as
if one spoke of a dutiful and affectionate child who habitually
shunned his father.

Again, the gospel is a revelation of God^s hatred of sin; and
therefore a conversation becoming it imist be one of earnest arid
persistent struggle agaijist sin. God has not left Himself without
a witness in man to the claims of the divine law ; but, amid
the din of earthly excitements, the still small voice of conscience
is often unheard. When in revelation the Holy Spirit leads us
to Sinai, and proclaims to us the exceeding broad command-
ment, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,

1 16 Lectures 07i Philippians. [ch. i.

and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and vA\ki all
thy mindj and thy neighbour as thyself,' — then, looking in
upon our hearts, and round upon our lives, and comparing
them with God's standard, we cannot but cry, ' Unclean,
unclean;' for *we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; and our iniquities, like the
wind, have taken us away.' When He leads us to think of the
misery of the world, too, — of pestilence and war, of sickness and
pain, of bereavement and disappointment and remorse, of the
mysteriousness and frequent agony of death, and of the revealed
and anticipated torments of hell, — and shows us that all these
are the direct and legitimate results of sin, we feel the lesson to
be a most impressive one. Yet, brethren, weighty as these
teachings are, the man who with candour and intelligence and
faith considers the gospel of Jesus Christ, contemplates His life
of lowliness and hardship, sees His agony and bloody sweat,
hears His cry of desolation, ' My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me ? ' and knows all this to be because of sin, — ^^-ill
feel that no other lesson on the reality of sin, and its hateful-
ness in God's sight, can even compare with this. What ' con-
versation,' then, will 'become' belief in this gospel? Surely,
through the blessed influences of the gracious Spirit, shed forth
abundantly by the exalted Saviour, the matchless love of
Bethlehem, and Gethsemane, and Calvary will ' constrain' the
believer to shun sin and follow holiness. He will be pure in
feelings and in life. He will be sober-minded, remembering
that ' the fashion of this world passeth away,' and therefore not
allowing his affections to be exclusively engrossed by any
earthly good, but * setting them' supremely ' on the things that
are above.' He will be characterized by a superiority of soul
to everything low and sensual, to everything selfish and mean, —
by a freedom from petty views and sinister ends, — by a relish
and love of everything really great and good. In his inter-
course with the world there will be no envy or malignity in his
spirit, but love, sincere and wise and active. He will doubtless

VER. 27.] Conversation becovting the Gospel. wj

not be perfect here ])elow, for * the law of sin in the members
will still war with the law of the mind ;' but he will keep
absolute holiness before him as the goal of his effort and the
subject of his fervent j)rayers ; and in his heart and life the
power of the new nature over the old will grow stronger and
stronger, so that he will be ever a more legible and impressive
* epistle of Christ.'

Yet once more, — the gospel of Jesus Christ is needed by, and
intended for ^ the world; and hence a conversation becomiw^ it unit
be one distinguished by zeal for its diffusion. At every point we
find the universality of the destiny of the gospel set forth. It
was because ' God so loved the world, that He gave His only-
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.' Accordingly, Jesus is declared
to be the ' propitiation for the sins of the whole world.^ Exalted
to God's right hand, He has received * all power over all flesh,
to quicken whom He will' And His commission to His
servants is to ' go into all the world, and preach the gospel to
roery creature^ The leaves of the tree of life are * for the
healing of the nations.' To every son of the first Adam, who
fell and lost paradise for us, the second Adam, the Lord from
heaven, offers Himself as the guide to a more glorious paradise
above, — where there shall be no fall, for they that have once
through His grace entered in, * go no more out.' Now the
work of making the gospel known to those for whom thus it is
adapted and intended, has been confided to Christians. Still,
indeed, the Saviour Himself, who ' began both to do and to
teach,' when He was on earth, carries on His work of grace,
now that He is at the Father's right hand; but this chiefly
through stimulating and blessing the labours of His servants.
As we have seen, ' Go ye and preach the gospel' is the com-
mission ; which, whilst having doubtless a special force for
ministers, is yet, in its spirit, addressed to all Christians. ' Let
him that heareth' — every one who knows of the refuge provided
for the labouring and heavy laden — ' say. Come.' The silent

1 1 8 Lechcres on Pkilippiafzs. [ch. i.

influence of a holy life, whereby the Christian ' shines as a light
in the world, holding forth the word of life,' is in itself a very
great evangelistic power. But more than this is due to the
Saviour. Andrew finding his brother Simon, Philip finding his
friend Nathanael, and saying to him, ' We have found the
Messiah,' — these exhibit the working of the true Christian
spirit, and are models for all time. The believer is called to
definite effort, according to his opportunities, for the deepening
and broadening of religious life in his brethren, and for the
instruction of ' them that are ignorant, and out of the way.'
According to the measure of his faith he will delight in this
work, and ^vill grow uise in winning souls. He will give, too,
as God has prospered him, liberally and gladly, to help forward
the great cause. Thus, hearing his Father say, ' Son, go work
to-day in my vineyard,' he will obey.

Such then, brethren, an examination of the prominent
features of the gospel of Christ, the charter of citizenship in the
city of God, shows to be the kind of ' conversation,' or life,
which * becometh' a person who has by faith accepted that
gospel as his charter, as * the power of God unto salvation' for
him. He will regard the interests of the soul as of chief im-
portance,— he will be full of thankfulness and peace, — he will
walk with God in filial fellowship, — he will grow ever liker
Christ in holy beauty and holy energy, — and by effort and
liberality he will show his oneness of will with the Saviour,
whose desire and work it is to overthrow sin and wretchedness,
and establish everywhere the kingdom of peace and truth and
righteousness.

The apostle, you observe, introduces his great comprehen-
sive precept by the word * only,' thus setting forth its import-
ance, and, at the same time, linking it on to the statements
which have preceded. * I have told you of a struggle in my
mind between the desire to live and the desire to die. I have
told you that, on the whole, looking at the condition of the
church and of the world, my desire is to live ; and my expec-

VER. 27.] Convey satio7i bccoining the Gospel. 119

tation that God will spare me yet a while, to cheer you and
other Christians, and to carry the knowledge of Christ to
regions still in darkness. lUil whether I live or die, bear in
mind that one thing is of transcendent im[)ortancc for you, of
immeasurably greater moment than your seeing my face and
hearing my voice again in this world, — this one thint^, that your
conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Thus
God will be glorified in you and through you ; thus the
testimony of the Sj)irit will grow always more distinct and
comforting to your hearts, that you are indeed citizens of
heaven ; thus you will be spiritually useful to your fellow-
believers, and also to them that are without ; and thus to me
abundant reward will come for all my labours and sufferings
on your behalf.'

1 20 Lecttcres on Philippia7is. [ch.

STEDFASTNESS FOR CHRIST.

' Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ : that
whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your
affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together
for the faith of the gospel ; 28 And in nothing terrified by your adver-
saries ; which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of
salvation, and that of God. 29 For unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake;
30 Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be
in me.' — Phil. i. 27-30.

THE great comprehensive precept with which this para-
graph begins has already been illustrated with consider-
able fulness. We proceed now to examine what follows.

The paraphrase with which the last Lecture closed, ended
with these words, 'Thus' (by your maintaining a conversa-
tion becoming the gospel) ' abundant reward will come to me
for all my labours and sufferings on your behalf.' This
thought the apostle brings out in the next clause. It is obvi-
ously a very natural one, considering the close relations which
existed between him and the Philippians ; and that in the
earlier part of the letter he had spoken so fully and warmly
of his affection for them. ' That whether I come a?id see you^
or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, — tidings such as
shall gladden my heart.' The apostle's mode of expression, as
you will notice, has a little irregularity, — his meaning being
evidently, ' that, whether I come and see you, or be absent
and hear of you, either way I may come to know' — what
follows.

VKR. 2 7-] Slcdfastncss for Christ. 121

Now comes a statement of what it is that he wishes always
to find in tliem, — eminence in stedfastness and mutual love.
These were the elements of a ' conversation becoming the
gosi)el,' which had been most vividly before his mind in giving
them the injunction ; no doubt because, whilst being of vital
importance in any circumstances, they were those which the
particular circumstances of the Philippians placed most in
peril. ' My desire is, that I may hear of your affairs to this
effect, that ye stand fast.'' Throughout the passage the figure
of a contest is employed. ' You have spiritual enemies, viru-
lent and powerful. The world and the flesh and the devil are
all at war with you. See that, in the struggle, you stand fast.
Neither apostatize nor compromise. Be not attracted by any
temptation, nor daunted by any persecution, from your post in
the army of the Captain of salvation, or from faithful, unflinch-
ing discharge of your duty there, — however exposed the post
may be, and however trying the duty. Take unto you the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and, having done all, to stand.'

' And, to this end, see that ye be in one spirit.'' From various
hints given in the Epistle, we see that dissensions had arisen
among some members of the church at Philippi. News of
these had greatly pained the apostle, both on account of his
affection for the persons immediately concerned, and his in-
terest in the progress of the cause of Christ, which these
quarrels could not but impede. In one case, perhaps from
the notorietv of the dissension, or the evil which had been
wrought by it in particular, he judged it needful to address
the parties by name, and plead with them to ' be of the same
mind in the Lord' (iv. 2). In the passage before us, he ap-
peals to the members of the church generally to ' stand fast in
one spirit' of holy love and devotion, — as in an atmosphere
which should penetrate, stimulate, and sustain them all, and in
which they should feel themselves bound closely to each other
through their common ardour of love to God. The more ac-

122 Lectures 071 Philippians. [ch. i.

curately we know ourselves, my brethren, the more clearly we
shall see that this is a state of feeling in the spirit of man which
can be produced only by the indwelling of the Spirit of God.

This oneness of 'spirit' — unity of view and feeling with
regard to the highest matters — should bring about also, the
apostle intimates, a oneness of ' mind^ or ' soul.' That you
may understand with precision his meaning here, I must direct
your attention for a moment to a particular New Testament
representation of the constitution of man, on which his lan-
guage is based. Sometimes in Scripture, as commonly among
ourselves, man is spoken of as consisting of a body and a soul,
in which case ' soul ' is used in the widest sense. Sometimes,
however, we have three constituents mentioned or alluded to,
— the body, soul, and spirit.-^ According to this division, the
' soul ' comprehends only those energies and capacities of mind
and heart which have to do with the world known by our
bodily senses ; whilst the ' spirit ' is that grandest power of a
rational being, by which it can apprehend the idea of God,
and hold communion with Him, — by which, through faith, it
can live under the influences of an unseen world. The * spirit,'
which should be the governing principle, holding the whole
nature under a firm and healthful sway, is in man by nature, as
you know, brethren, darkened, enfeebled, dethroned, through
sin ; and the ' soul,' unhappily freed from the rule of its rightful
director, tends to become ever more and more subject to the
lowest element of our constitution — the appetites of the body.
Through the light and strength given by God's Spirit, and thus
only, our spirits can take their rightful dignity and rule. But
even in saints, in whom, through this divine influence, the
spirit does hold sway, the government is far from perfect.
The * soul ' but too often breaks away from its authority, and
yields itself to the power of carnality. In the very forming
and carrying out of plans for the extension of the Redeemer's
kingdom this may show itself. For instance, where combined
' See, for exampk^, i Thess. v. 23 and Ilcb. iv. 12.

VER. 27.] Stcdfastncss for CJn'ist. 12

action is desirable, incongruities and rei)iignanccs of natural
temperament may be so given way to, that sound judgment
and right feehng are for a time vanquished ; and legitimately
divergent opinions regarding the best modes of doing the
Lord's work may be maintained with a discourtesy and viru-
lence very much calculated to do the work of Satan. Carnal
tempers, such as act in the ways I have indicated, often take
to themselves the noble name of * conscientiousness ;' and in
the plausibility of this name lies their strongest entrenchment
and chief hazard for Christians. None the less for the name
are they really carnal, and tend to maintain the power of sin in
the world ; ' for the wrath of man worketh not the righteous-
ness of God.'

In the passage before us, Paul calls on his readers to struggle
against this evil tendency of their nature ; and, by the connec-
tion of clauses, he shows at the same time how alone it can be
overcome. In the measure in which believers are really * in
one spirit^ and stand fast therein — in common simplicity and
ardour of faith in the one Lord, and attachment to His cause, —
will there be found also ' oneness o( soul,^ subjection of natural
discordances, and sweetening of all social relations, through the
power of Christian love. In the delightful account we have in
Acts, of the church of the first days in Jerusalem, we are told
that ' they were all Jilkd with the Holy Spirit, and spake the
word of God with boldness ; and' — being 'in one spirit,' through
the indwelling of the Divine Spirit in fulness — ' the multitude of
them that believed were of one heart and of one souP (Acts iv.
31, 32). One of the most cheering facts with regard to the
state of religion in our own time is the obvious and rapid
growth, in many sections of the church, of a conviction that,
in so far as Christ's people are not manifestly one — not by
any means necessarily in formal organization, but in sincere
aftection, — in so far as there is anywhere among them alienation
or mutual thwarting, instead of mutual help, — they are doing
much to prevent the world from seeing that the gospel comes

1 24 Lectures on Pktlippians. [cii. i.

from God, who ' is love.' It is, my brethren, when the church
shall be * fair as the moon ' with holy beauties, the beauties of
love, that she shall be ' terrible as an army with banners ' to
Satan and his hosts, — then, not till then.

The apostle hopes to hear, regarding his dear Philippians,
that, under the sweet constraint of the ' one spirit,' they are
* with one soul striving together' — fighting shoulder to shoulder,
giving mutual support and cheer — ^for the faith of the gospel.'
These last words might mean * for evangelical doctrine ; ' in
which case the whole expression, * Strive together for the faith
of the gospel,' would be equivalent to Jude's ' Contend for the
faith which was once delivered unto the saints' (Jude 3). Paul's
general mode of using the word ' faith,' however, makes it more
probable that he means here rather ' faith in the gospel.'
' Strive together for the maintenance and advancement in your-
selves and your fellow-Christians, and for the diffusion among
those who as yet do not know Christ, of faith in the precious
truth which is the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth.'

This * good fight of faith ' is of necessity a hard one, alike as
regards the Christian's personal character and his efforts to
extend his Lord's kingdom. It is a very difficult thing for us,
amid the constant and obtrusive presence of the seen and
tangible, to live habitually under the influence of a vivid real-
izing beHef in the transcendent importance of what is invisible
and spiritual. All of us have something — many, no doubt,
have much — of the spirit of Thomas, — 'Except I see^ I will
not believe.' Consider, in addition, the element of depravity,
a strong natural bias in every one of us against the unseen
God, and the peculiarities of life in Christ, — further, in some
persons the hardening, the bent of the whole man towards evil,
which had been produced by a wicked life, — in many, too, the
secularizing power of perhaps unavoidable close and frequent
intercourse, even after conversion, with unsympathizing asso-
ciates. When you take opposing influences like these into

VE R . 28.] Sted/astncss for Ch rist. i 2 5

consideration, you cannot hut feci that tlic Christian's struggle
to live under * the powers of the world to come,' must be in
every case hard, — in some, from temperament and circum-
stances, intensely severe. In striving, too, for the extension of
' the fiiith of the gospel,' this 'good fight' cannot but be a very
hard one. Here also, as in the case of our own personal
battle, the depravity of the human heart, sustained by the in-
numerable surrounding influences of a depraved world, and
backed by the craft and power of Satan, — this is the foe. In
various ways, my brethren, you and I have had ample experi-
ence of the strength of this opponent. We feel that of our-
selves we could do nothing against him. But the Captain of
salvation bids us *be of good cheer.' He has ' overcome the
world,' and by Him ' the prince of this world is cast out.' We
* can do all things in Christ who strengtheneth us.' * The
weapons of our warfare' will approve themselves 'mighty
through God to the pulling down of strongholds.'

Every true disciple of Christ, and every healthy Christian
association, are, to some extent, engaged in this ' good fight '
against the influences of the world, ' for the faith of the gospel ;'
and are therefore naturally objects of dislike to the world, — a
dislike which, under certain circumstances, deepens down into
hatred, and shows itself in active hostility. ' Witnesses ' for
God always, like those of the Apocalypse, ' torment them that
dwell on the earth' (Rev. xi. 10). The church of Philippi —
eminent, as the whole tenor of this Epistle shows, for holy
beauty and energy — could not escape the antagonism of the
\vicked ; and evidently, when the apostle wrote, there had been
for a time some kind of positive persecution. The ' adversaries '
of whom he speaks in the 28th verse were probably heathen,
there being no allusion in the Epistle leading us to think that
in Philippi Jews were numerous or influential. We cannot
suppose that in a Roman Colony there \vas any formal avowed
persecution by the government, the Emperor not having yet
issued an edict expressly against Christians. But, without this,

126 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

there might easily be endless annoyances, — harassing lawsuits
on false accusations, impoverishment of trades-people through
the withdrawment of custom, and the like ; and probably it
was to troubles of this sort that the Christians were exposed.
To persecution in some form believers living among heathen
were constantly liable. Apart altogether from hostility on really
religious grounds, hostility which availed itself of the popular
dislike to the new religion must often have been aroused by
mere worldly selfishness. Just as among ourselves a wide-
spread revival of religion might be expected to diminish the
profits of the keepers of gin-palaces and other haunts of
vice, and thus excite in them bitterness of spirit ; so among
pagans, almost universally given up to cruelty, licentiousness,
and every form of self-indulgence, Christianity cannot gain any
considerable strength without materially affecting the income
of many classes who live by * wages of unrighteousness.' The
real cause of the nominally religious outbreak against Paul at
Ephesus, you remember, was that the ' craft ' by which certain
traders on superstition * had their wealth,' ' was in danger to
be set at nought ;' and of his scourging and imprisonment in
this very town of Philippi, the true explanation was to be found
in the fact that some wicked men ' saw that the hope of their
gains was gone.' No doubt these cases were representative of
very many.

Whatever the particular nature of the persecution, Paul calls
on his spiritual children to be ^m notJwig terrified^ by their
adversaries, — ' whichj says he, ' is to them an evident tokefi of
perdition, but to you of salvation.^ The reference of ' whicJi' is
to * your being in nothing terrified by their opposition.' ' The
fact, — for, as I know it to have been hitherto, so I believe it
will continue to be a fact, — that their bitterest hostility does
not drive you away from your faith and confession of Christ, is
a distinct proof to them, if they would only candidly consider
the matter, that, should they persist in their opposition to the
gospel, they shall in the end perish miserably, whilst to you

VER. 28.] Stcdfastncss for Christ, 127

shall 1)0 f^Tantcd a glorious salvation. A thoughtful observer
will sec plainly that your patience comes from a spring above
nature, and may most reasonably and certainly infer that, if
God is helping you to bear meekly and bravely now. He will,
beyond question, deliver you in the end, and punish with utter
destruction those who, in oi)posing you, are j)lainly oj)posing
Him.' The thought is exhibited by the apostle to the Thessa-
lonians somewhat more in detail than here. ' Your patience
and faith,' he says to them, * in all your persecutions and
tribulations that ye endure, is a manifest token of the righteous
judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the king-
dom of God, for which ye also suffer ; seeing it is a righteous
thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble
you, and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lx)rd
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven' (2 Thess. i. 4-7). Proof
of the distinctest kind met the persecutors fully in the face, of
the impiety and madness of their conduct \VTiether any at
Philippi or Thessalonica yielded to the power of this evidence,
we are not infomied ; but in many instances it has been felt
by persecutors. The arrow has been ' sharp in the heart of the
King's enemies.' The conviction has gone home that, under
superficial incongruity, there must be a profound reality of con-
nection in John's words, — ' in tribulation and the ki?igdojn and
patience of Jesus Christ' (Rev. i. 9) ; and that no declaration
could be a more reasonable one than that of the Lord, * Because
thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also ivill keep tJiee '
(Rev. iii. 10). 'Calmness in the presence of danger and death,
— the invincible might of unresisting weakness, — the prayer for
their enemies of sinking martyrs, — the eye of faith beaming
even from the dust with the reflection of things not seen, — such
a spectacle has been known to abash the fury of earth and hell,
as the sudden effulgence of the Shekinah itself, of the " Spirit
of glory and of God resting" on God's servants, and before all
their foes marking them for His.' ^ One can hardly doubt that
* Dr. John Lillie, of Kingston, New York.

[28 Lectures on PJiilippia7is. [ch. i.

* the pricks' of conscience against which Paul had 'kicked'
before the Lord appeared to him on the way to Damascus, had
been mainly caused by his remembrance of the wonderful
demeanour of Stephen during his mart)Tdom. The good
missionary, Tvlr. Ellis, states that when he visited ^Madagascar
in 1862, after the death of the persecuting queen, he asked the
Christians often, to what they thought must chiefly be ascribed
the astonishing increase in their numbers during their time of
terrible suffering; and that in reply they mentioned, among
other influences, ' an indescribable feeling of interest in the
Christians, or sympathy with them in the injustice and cruelty
which they suffered, impressing some with a feeling that there
must be something important connected with Christianity.
The patient and most uncommon conduct of the Christians
under such trials — not cursing their persecutors, but praying
for them ; not seeking to be revenged, but to convert — affected
the minds of many.'

Amid the troubles which the Philippians suffered, the
thought could scarcely but sometimes rise in their minds, —
' While it certainly seems to us that in the patience, and per-
sistent adherence to the faith of the gospel, with which we are
enabled to bear our persecution, we see evidence that God is
with us, and therefore confirmation of the belief we have been
taught to cherish, that in His good time we shall receive com-
plete deliverance, — yet, after all, may we not be deceiving
ourselves ? Is not the very fact that we are encompassed
with distresses on account of religion perhaps a proof that
God does not care for us, and that in the whole matter we
are fundamentally in error?' It can hardly be doubted that,
amid the fires of sore trial, faithless thoughts like these have at
times shot across the hearts of even the most enlightened and
devoted servants of the Lord Jesus. An anticipatory answer
to such the apostle gives in the emphatic words with which the
28th verse closes : * Your boldness under persecution is to
your adversaries an evident token of perdition, but to you

VERS. 29, 30.] Stcdfastncss /or Christ, 129

of salvation, — and that of God' * You arc to consider the
patience as certainly bestowed by Him, and therefore as a
token from Him of the issue of the contest.'

Proof of this assertion is exhibited in the verses which
follow : * For unto you it is ^ven in the behalf of Christy not only
to beliei'e on Ilim^ but also to suffer for His sake, — having the
same conflict ichich ye sa7a in Me, and no7i> hear to be in me.^
Here he tells them that their sufferings for religion, far from
being a ground of doubt respecting God's love, were in tnith a
mark of His special affection and esteem ; and illustrates this
' hard saying' by alluding to the likeness between their circum-
stances and his own, — a reference eminently fitted, from the
great love and admiration they felt for him, to convince and
to cheer them. ' You may well believe that the boldness
you are strengthened to display is a token from God of your
ultimate deliverance and triumph, because it is indeed, — diffi-
cult as it may be, impossible for mere nature, to believe this, —
it is indeed from His special love to you that you have been
brought into your position of trial. I know that you love and
honour me as your spiritual father, and believe me to be a true
apostle of Christ, loved and honoured by God. Now you saw,
when I was with you at the first, what kind of conflict \vith the
hostility of evil men I had to endure, — and how the earthquake,
and the glorious conversion of the jailor, bore testimony to
God's gracious presence with me in the midst of persecution.
You hear, too, now, that, being in prison in Rome, and per-
haps, for aught that yet distinctly appears, about to be put to
death, I am still called on to maintain a similar struggle. Now
I hold this to be a kindness and an honour shown me by God
in His providence. To you likewise it has been given in
God's grace, not only to believe on Christ, — that is the founda-
tion boon of saving grace, and therefore common to you Nxith
all God's children, — but also to suffer for Him. Be assured,
then, that since God has appointed you this conflict, and that
as a mark of His favour, His purpose is to ripen and beautify

o Lectures on Philippians. [ch. i.

your religious character thereby, and at the right time give
victory and rest ; and in His sustaining grace now you have an
earnest of the grace which will bring full deliverance.'

The word in the beginning of the 29th verse, rendered ^ it is
given^ is one strongly expressive of loving bestowal. It is the
same with which Paul closes that sublimely conclusive question
in the 8th chapter of Romans, ' He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with
Him also freely give us all things?' It is the same also which
is employed in the next chapter of this Epistle, where we are
told of Jesus that ' God hath highly exalted Him, and given
Him a name which is above every name.'

In the account of the gift there is a little irregularity of
composition, very characteristic of the apostle's style. '/;?
behalf of Christ ' is a phrase which obviously suits * to suffer,'
but hardly ' to believe.' It was, no doubt, intended to be con-
nected immediately with ' to suffer ;' but the thought entered
of mentioning faith, ' the gift of God ' to all Christians, and
thus showing more clearly the specialty of grace enjoyed by
the Philippians in being permitted also to suffer for their Lord.
Thus the sentence takes the form it has ; and for clearness the
'in His behalf is repeated at the end, where somewhat need-
lessly our translators have substituted for it ''for His sake.''

The 'grace' of suffering for the Saviour has been already
spoken of by the apostle in the 7th verse, where he describes
the Philippian believers as, with regard to his 'bonds' as well
as his ministerial devotedness, ' partakers of his grace.' Some
illustration of the thought was given to you in the Lecture on
that passage, and therefore a mere word or two further will
suffice here. All true believers, my brethren, have some ex-
perience of trouble through the antagonism of the world to
Christ. In this subjection to aftliction for His sake, to help
on the cause for which He suffered, — the cause of the world's
emancipation from si)iritual slavery, and from all the other
forms of bondage which that has brought with it, — there is evi-

VKRS. 29, 3o] Stcdfdstncss for Christ. 131

dently an clement of likeness to Him. The severer the trial,
this likeness to Him is ever more manifest, — and the more
distinct and gladdening therefore may the assurance grow of
ultimate deliverance and triumph — the assurance that, having
union with Him in the afttictions of His time of lowliness,
there will be union also in the glory of His exaltation. For
it is a faithful saying, * If we suffer, we shall also reign with
Him.' The Philii)i)ians might well 'rejoice,' then, as the
apostles did, in being, according to that exquisite expression
of Acts (v. 41), 'counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ's
name,' — obtaining grace to receive disgrace, — being honoured
to endure dishonour — for their Lord. Their suffering for Him,
and the strength He gave them to suffer patiently, were 'an
evident token of salvation,' — a clear proof that in His good
time God would take them away from all struggle and pain
and fear, to join the happy company of those 'which came out
of great tribulation, and are before the throne of God, and
serve Him day and night in His temple,' — who 'hunger no
more, neither thirst any more, neither doth the sun light on
them, nor any heat ; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the
throne feedeth them, and leadeth them unto living fountains of
waters ; and God wipeth away all tears from their eyes.'

132 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. 11.

XI.

CHRISTIAN CONCORD.

* If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if
any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfil ye my
joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord,
of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory ; but
in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the
things of others.' — Phil. ii. 1-4.

THESE four verses constitute, in the original, only one
sentence, though our translators give it in the form of
three. This breaking up of the one was perhaps unavoidable,
because in English, from the structure of the language, long
sentences are apt to be obscure ; but it is to be somewhat
regretted, as hiding the fact that in the apostle's mind all the
clauses stood in intimate relation to each other.

The connection of the passage with the preceding section,
marked by ' therefore^ is close and obvious. ' Seeing the tran-
scendent importance of your maintaining a conversation be-
coming the gospel of Christ, and that, in the position in which
you are placed as persecuted Christians, there is a special need-
fulness for your " standing fast in one spirit," thus supporting
and comforting each other, — see that there be perfect concord
among you.' This is the main connection ; but in the intro-
ductory clauses there is also a most natural reference to the
allusion made, in the immediately preceding verse, to the
apostle's own sufferings, and the hearty sympathy with him
which the similarity of the position of the Philippians to his
was fitted to excite in their minds.

VERS. 1,2.] Christ ia7i Concord. 133

The central precept of the paragraj)h is that given in the 2(1
verse, *///<// ye he like-minded^ — that is, not, as a reader of the
Enghsh version might perhaps naturally understand the ex-
pression, * that ye be like-minded with me Paul,^ but, * that ye
have concord among yourselves.' This is expanded in the
following clauses of the verse, which set forth the constituent
elements of Christian concord. A glance at these, therefore,
will bring the precept clearly before us.

'•JLiving the same love^ may mean 'having affection to the
same object,' — love in common to God and His cause. This,
however, appears to come in in the next clause ; and therefore
the apostle's thought here seems rather to be of love to each
other, * mutual and all-pervading love.' ' Let the same atmo-
sphere of affection, of sincere and active brotherly kindness, be
breathed by every one of you.' * Brotherly kindness,' — that is
the Christian idea. Believers are all, through God's grace. His
children, and therefore ought to cherish in a high degree the
mutual aftection and trustfulness we expect to find pervading
the members of a family, who have so many common objects of
love and interest. The apostle's exhortation in this clause is,
that the members of the Philippian church should all cultivate
mutual love ; so that whilst, of necessity, in the large circle
there would be included many small circles, of persons whom
temperament or circumstances drew to each other with peculiar
closeness, yet each believer should feel himself bound to
every other by cords of true and warm affection. Paul
would have the relations among the members of the church
such that none of the household of faith should feel him-
self treated as a stranger or an outcast, unrejoiced with in
joy, and unwept with in sorrow ; but each should know that,
through sympathy and prayer and help, his burdens were
lovingly borne by his brethren. All true Christians have the
brotherly spirit in some measure. If in any man special affec-
tion for ' the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty,' because
they are His sons and daughters, be utterly wanting, then cer-

134 Lectures on PJiilippians. [cH. ii.

tainly he himself knows not that precious ' secret of the Lord
which is with them that fear Him,' the secret of His Father-
hood in Jesus Christ. But, ah ! my brethren, how feeble this
love is generally, — how easily mastered by separating influ-
ences of conventionality, temperament, divergence of view on
worldly matters, or on non-essentials in religion !

Among the members of a congregation the tie should
evidently be felt to be peculiarly strong; and to the prevalence
of brotherly love will correspond, to a considerable extent,
general congregational life and health. But even among fellow
church members, unhappily, the separating powers, which are
of the world, seem often to have more sway than the uniting
power, which is of Christ. In many cases, too, such as in a
congregation in a great city, that frequent free and close inter-
course, which has much to do with the maintenance of ordinary
family love, is impossible, except among small sections of the
congregation. This fact makes it all the more incumbent on
such members as have the opportunity, to associate themselves
in the carrying out of the various schemes of Christian eff"ort
connected with the congregation. One of the most valuable
secondary results of Sabbath schools, Dorcas societies, and
other agencies of Christian instruction and benevolence, is the
formation of friendships among Christians, and this under
circumstances specially calculated to bring out the Christianity
into most invigorating influence upon the friendship. I have
no doubt that, as a rule, the strongest and the most beautiful
and spiritually operative brotherly love is to be found among
those believers who are brought into association in the way of
eff'ort to advance the cause of Christ.

The words which follow, and which are given in our version
in two clauses, * being of one accord, of one mimf,^ seem rather to
go together as one clause, thus, ' with united — or accordant —
souls minding the one thing.' The basis of Christian concord
is here exhibited to us, — oneness of view with respect to all
matters of vital moment. In common, Christians see God's

VERS. I, 2.] Christian Concord. 135

supreme right to their love and obedience, — have faitli in
Clirist, recognising the completeness of His work, the fulness,
freeness, and tenderness of His grace, — and feel it to be the
boundcn (hily, the * reasonable service' to Christ, of all who
know the gospel, to use every effort to send it on, and to send
it in, to the darkened at home and abroad. Having this one-
ness of view, Christians will also, in the degree in which they
yield their hearts up to the power of the common faith, have a
substantial oneness of disposition and resolution. The defmite-
ness of the form of the original — which is exactly rendered
by the translation just given, * with accordant souls minding
the one thing ' — suggests, as it seems to me, something more
than is brought out by the Authorized Version, ^ of one niind.^
' The one thing' is an expression which, in such a connection
as the present, has for every intelligent believer a clear, well-
defined significance. The advancement of the kingdom of
Christ in ourselves, through growth in the beauty and the
strength of godliness, — in the church, through the increase of
wisdom, and purity, and zeal, — in the world, through the
universal and successful proclamation of the gospel, until
* voices be heard in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,'
— the apostle would have his readers with accordant souls to
mind this one thing.

We are now in a position to distinguish clearly the features
of the ' concord,' the ' being like-minded^ which is enjoined in
the central precept of the paragraph, and of which the two
that we have been considering form an expansion. Brotherly
loz'e, springing from commo?i faith in the great cardinal truths
of religion, and producing mutual helpfidness in the service of
Christ, — this is the spirit which the apostle desires to see
reigning in a Christian association. Christian love cannot
flourish apart from Christian energy. A monastery is the
veriest hot-bed of jealousies, and envies, and every fomi of dis-
cord ; and the more closely a congregation or a denomination

136 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

approaches the character of a monastery in inactivity and use-
lessness, the more open will it be to the inroads of a spirit of
dissension. But when believers 'mind the one thing,' — when
intelligently and zealously they strive to further the kingdom
of Jesus Christ in themselves and others, not devoting their
attention, except in a very subordinate measure, and merely as
means to an end, to the advancement of their particular '-ism,'
but minding simply the o?te thing, — and this 'with accordant
souls,' not allowing peculiarities of temper or temperament to
distract or alienate, — here is Christian concord in its strength
and beauty.

Looking back, you observe a peculiar tenderness in the
mode in which the apostle appeals to the Philippians to culti-
vate this grace. He says, '- Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-
minded.' ' I have great delight in you. All these years, and
never more than now, in scenes of trial and of temptation to
despondency, I have found the thought of the faithful church
at Philippi a spring of comfort. Now I pray you, brethren, fill
up my joy — make the cup of my delight in you full to the
brim — by loving each other fervently.' How strikingly and
beautifully is here illustrated the elevation of the apostle's
character, — that is, of such a character as yours and mine, my
brethren, ought to be — as yours and mine would be, if we cast
away self-will, and surrendered our hearts to the power of
Christian faith and love in the same degree as Paul ! The
apostle is a prisoner, and knows not but that his imprisonment
may end, perhaps very soon, with a violent death, — but how
secondary a position his own circumstances seem to hold in
his thoughts ! The earnest entreaty of the fettered prisoner to
his friends who are in freedom, is that they will care for their
own highest welfare by loving each other ; and the tidings that
will ' fill his joy full' are, that discord is known no more among
them. The only boon he craves is their adornment with the
holy beauty of love.

This appeal for their concord, as a kindness to himself, is

VERS. I, 2.] CJiristian Concord. 137

presented with a solemnity and fervid intensity evincing both
the ardour of his love for them, and liis sense of the momentous
importance of the matter in hand : * If there be any consolation
in Christy if any comfort of hri'c, if any fcllo7uship of the Spirit^
if any Iwwcls and mercies' In this reference to the religious
experiences of the Philippians, the facts adverted to are admir-
ably calculated to show the reasonableness at once of pitying
him in his i)rison, and of that love to each other, and mutual
burden-bearing, which is the mode of exhibiting pity for him-
self that he longs to see in them. Each allusion is, to a
thoughtful Christian heart, like the stroke of a rod of divine
power, calling out a stream of sympathy and affection.

The ' If^ at the beginning, does not imply doubt in the
aposde's mind, any more than in such a sentence as * If Jesus
died for you, is it not reasonable that you should live to
Him ? ' But you feel that, in a sentence like this before us,
of fervid entreaty, the form of a simple supposition has a
peculiarly solemn impressiveness. * If in Christ — in your know-
ledge of Him and fellowship with Him — you find any consola-
tion amid the distresses of life ; if from love — from cherishing
love to Christ and His people, and knowing that Christ and
His people love you — there come to you any comfort ; if you
have any communion with the Holy Spirit, and, through His
enlightening and quickening influences, have obtained peace
and joy and holy impulses ; if thus your enjoyment of con-
solation in Christ, your experience of comfort from love, have
produced in yourselves, by the blessed energy of the Spirit,
bowels and mercies — a heart full of compassion : — I beseech
you by all your Christian privileges, all your comforts and
hopes and spiritual experiences, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be
like-minded.' ' Prove, I pray you, by giving love and comfort
to each other, and thus giving love and comfort to me, that
you have drunk deeply of the Spirit of Him who has loved and
comforted you.' Such I apprehend to be the meaning.

Such pleading as this, my friends, shows us clearly the in-

8 Lectures 07i Philippia^is. [ch. ii.

tensity of the apostle's anxiety for the ending of all dissensions
among his brethren, and for the growth of sincere and active
affection. It shows us how deep his conviction was of the
evil \\TOught by division among Christians, — that it injured the
religious life of the believers themselves most seriously, and that
it was a very great obstacle to the progress of the gospel without.
The ideal of the Christian church has been set before us by
our Lord in His great High-priestly prayer — ' That they all may
be one ; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they
also may be one in Us ; I in them and Thou in Me ; that they
may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know
that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou hast
loved Me.' In the degree in which this condition of things is
approached, are all the ends of the church gained, — believers
sustained and spurred on in their Christian course, and un-
believers compelled to take knowledge that a kingdom is
among them which is regulated by power from heaven. Thus
comes ' glory to God in the highest,' through the manifestation
of ' peace on earth.' But oh, my brethren, throughout her
whole history how far has the church been from answering to
the ideal ! How lamentable in our own time are the jealousies,
and heart-burnings, and open dissensions, in congregations,
and in and between denominations, — the bitter wranglings in
church courts, — the angry denunciations of Christian brethren
on platforms and from the press, — the envenomed private
quarrels between persons professing godliness ! Can we marvel
that men of the world look on with derision, and with keen,
sarcastic irony quote the language of the first days, ' Behold
these Christians, how they love one another ! '

In the 3d and 4th verses the sources of discord are exhibited
to. us, and the means of drying these up. * Let nothing be done
through strife'' — more exactly, 'factiousness, party spirit' — ^ or
vainglory ; but in ioiuiiness of mind let each esteem other better than
themselves. Look not every man on his oivn things^ but ruery man
also on the things of others.'' The great causes of dissension in

VKRs. 3, 4.] Christian Concord. 139

societies of any kind arc tliose here indicated by the apostle,
factiousness, vainglory, and self-seeking, * looking' solely 'on
one's own things.' They are generally all present, in varying
])roj)orlions. In a congregation, or association of churches,
some ' Diotrcplics, who lovcth to have the pre-eminence,' takes
up a certain position in regard to doctrine, ritual, or general
church administration. Clear evidence may be shown to him
that it is a wrong position, and one the maintenance of which
will certainly produce dissension ; yet even if he sees it to be
wrong, vanity — indisposition to sacrifice his repute for wisdom,
and firmness, and power of management — induces him to hold
to it. Others conscientiously, perhaps most of them, join
themselves to him. Thus a party is formed, and the spirit of
fiiction begins to act. Partisanship takes the place of brotherly
kindness. Sympathies which ought to go forth broadly to the
church of Christ, have their range narrowed down to a little
section of brethren, who agree on certain tritles. Those to
whom Jesus said, ' This is My commandment, that ye love one
another as I have loved you,' are seen ' desirous of vainglory,
provoking one another, envying one another.* One matter
after another, almost wholly unconnected with the original
cause of difference, is made a party matter ; and feeling be-
comes ever more deeply and widely embittered. The war
spreads to the right hand and to the left, enfeebling spiritual
life, causing thoughtful Christians everywhere intense pain, and
driving the enemies of God further away from Him.

' Seeing then,' says Paul, ' that discord, and all the evils it
brings with it, are plainly due to vanity, and party spirit, and
exclusive regard to what are, or are supposed to be, one's own
interests ; the means of preventing it will obviously be found
in earnestly and prayerfully cultivating a spirit opposed to all
these. Instead of factiousness and vainglory, in hwlhiess of
mind kt each esteem other ^ better tha?i themselves. Instead of

' 'Other' here, as several times in the Authorized Version, is plural.
See, for example, Josh. viii. 22, and the 3d verse of the 4th chapter of

140 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

regarding self-interest only, looJz every ma?i also o?i the things of
others'

An unregenerate man, whether he be simply indifferent to
religion, or the votary of a false religion, is proud. The
essence of sin is arrogant self-assertion against God ; and it
follows most naturally that the sinful heart will be self-asserting
against man also. A soul which, through pride, has broken
away from the orbit that God made it to revolve in, and has
become a ' wandering star,' cannot but, through the impulse
of the same pride, seek to be itself the centre of a system.
' Lowliness of mind' is therefore a distinctively Christian virtue.
Energetic, honest, sober, a man may be through other in-
fluences than those which stand connected with the knowledge
of Christ ; but truly humble, never. This element of character
enters only when, in the light of God, we see our ignorance,
and folly, and feebleness, and guilt ; and learn also, through
the example of the Lord, the sublime beauty and dignity of
humbling ourselves in self-sacrificing love. ' Learn of Me,' He
says, ' for I am meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest
unto your souls.' ' If I, your Lord and Master, have washed
your feet, ye ought to wash one another's feet' He * took
upon Him our flesh, and suffered death upon the cross, that
all mankind should follow the example of His great humility.' ^

Being Christ-like, as the apostle illustrates in detail in the
wonderful paragraph which follows that now before us, true ' low-
liness of mind' has nothing in common with meanness of spirit.
Whilst it recognises facts as they are in human nature, it in-
volves essentially a profound respect for man's possible self, —
self changed, as — blessed be God's name ! — it will be, and is
even now from '■ glory to glory ' becoming, in all true believers,
into the likeness of Christ. Neither is this spirit in any
measure allied to despondency. The truth which awakens it is

this Epistle. In the age wlicn our translation was made, this form was
employed for the phiral as freely as * others.'

' Collect of the Church of England, for the Sunday before Easter.

VERS. 3,4.] Christian Concord. 141

the gospel, the tidings of love. Thus the very same light
which reveals to us our own destitution of anything to be
proud of, shows us abundant ground to ' glory in the Lord/
Discerning our own guilt, we see at the same time that * the
blood of Jesus Christ, (iod's Son, cleanscth us from all sin.'
Convinced that we know nothing of ourselves as we ought to
know, we find also that ' we have an unction from the Holy
One, and know all things.' Recognising our own utter weak-
ness, we discover likewise that we * can do all things in Christ,
which strengtheneth us.' Christian humility leads a man to
' abide in Christ,' and thus to possess all he needs. Says wise
and good Sir Matthew Hale, on a retrospect of many years,
during which he had been called on to occupy himself with
great affairs, and, in circumstances of peculiar difficulty, had
* adorned the doctrine of God his Saviour,' — ' I can call my
own experience to witness that, even in the external actions
and incidents of my whole life, I was never disappointed of the
best guidance and direction, when, in diffidence of my oun
ability to direct myself, or to grapple with the difficulties of
my life, I have with humility and sincerity implored the direc-
tion and guidance of the divine wisdom and providence.'

This ' lowliness of mind ' leads ^ each to esteem other better than
thcjnselves.^ A similar precept to the present is given by the
apostle to the Romans, when he enjoins them to 'be kindly
affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honour pre-
ferring one another ; ' and to the Ephesians, when he calls on
them to ' submit themselves one to another in the fear of God.'
Peter, too, says, ' All of you be subject one to another, and be
clothed with humility.' ^ The basis of this mutual ' subjection'
is exhibited in the passage now before us. ' Submit to each
other, as each esteeming the other to be better than himself,' —
'superior to himself in important respects. This does not at
all imply that there should be blindness to one's o^^^l abilities
and attainments, or to the deficiencies of others. "We are
' Rom. xii. lo ; Eph. v. 21 ; I Pet. v. 5.

142 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

bound to struggle earnestly against our natural tendencies to
undervalue our neighbours, and * think more highly of ourselves
than we ought to think ; ' but excess in the other direction, not
very common certainly, but which does occasionally show itself
in certain temperaments, is also injurious. Some approach to
really accurate knowledge of our own powers and those of the
persons with whom we associate, is needful for our rightly filling
the place of Christian usefulness which God has assigned us,
and helping our brethren to fill theirs. ' My humility,' says
Luther, ' is not of so foolish a kind as to make me desirous of
concealing the gifts God has bestowed on me.' Says Paul, * In
nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, thotigh I be
nothifig.^ These last words show where Christian humility lies.
There may be a consciousness of knowledge and power, but
there is a profound conviction at the same time that these are
wholly through the gracious working of God's Spirit, in one
personally unworthy and impotent. It is felt that acuteness
and learning and Christian activity are, as Luther has it in the
words I have quoted, ' gifts of God,' — and * where is boasting
then ? It is excluded.'

The spirit of Christ will lead us, however great may be our
powers, and however beautiful our character, in comparison
with the powers and characters of those around us, to endea-
vour to serve them in love, ' to please our neighbour for his
good to edification,' to 'bear one another's burdens.' It will
lead us to ^ look not every man on his own things, but every
man also o?i the things of others,^ — to cherish and manifest
a spirit of unselfishness in regard to all things, — to be con-
siderate, active, self-denying, for the good of others, feeling
them and ourselves to be in a bond of brotherhood. Jesus,
infinitely glorious in dignity and holiness, humbled Himself for
your sake and mine. The * Lord of all,' He became * the
Servant of all.' ' The Son of man came, not to be mini-
stered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for
many.'

VERS. 3. 4-] Christian Concord, 143

But a Christian, as he grows in spiritual wisdom, will not
merely see ever more clearly the dutifulness and beauty of self-
sacrificing consideration for others, but abundant ground, too,
for Wsttrmini^ others better than himself.' Increasing self-
knowledge brings increasing self-loathing. With growing purity
and beauty, there is a deeper sense of the vileness of remain-
ing impurity. His ignorance, too, the degree in which his
attainments are below what his privileges might have led him
to, his dulness of spiritual apprehension, his lack of spiritual
energy, — these come more distinctly before his mind. Thus
he cherishes a lowly opinion of himself. Others he cannot
know as he knows himself; and * the charity which always ac-
companies true humility leads him to attribute what seems to
be good in other men to the best principle which can reason-
ably be supposed to have produced it ; while it leads him, from
his necessary ignorance of their motives, to make allowances for
their defects and failings, which he cannot make for his own.' ^
John Howe, certainly one of the very wisest and best men
of his age, says, ' Perhaps the reason why, in some disputable
points, I have seen further than some of my brethren, is because
their more elevated minds have been employed on greater and
nobler objects, which has prevented their looking so minutely
into these particular questions.' It is very interesting to see,
in the case of our apostle himself, how, as he ripened in
spiritual excellence, his ' lowliness of mind,' in his judgment of
himself, as compared with others, finds always stronger expres-
sion. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians we find him
describing himself as 'the least of the apostles,' — in the con-
siderably later written Epistle to the Ephesians, as * less than
the least of all saints,' — and in the still later First Epistle to
Timothy, as * the chief of si?mersJ

Another fact, too, which is fitted to lead a thoughtful person
to 'esteem others better than himself,' is that, however little
which is estimable or admirable may be in their character at

^ Dr. John Bro\^Ti.

144 Lectures 07i Philippiajis. [cH. ii.

present, there are in them the grandest possibilities of holy
character, and of fitness for some form of the work of Christ.
The wild, brawHng street -boy may yet be a Bunyan ; the
careless, dissolute young sailor, a Newton; the self-righteous
bigot, a Paul.

VERS. 6, 7.] The Great Example. 145

XII.
THE GREAT EXAMPLE.

' Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus : 6 Who, being
in the form of Go<l, thought it not robbery to be equal with God ; 7
But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : 8 And being found
in fashion as a man, lie humbled Himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name :
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; il And that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.' — Phil. ii. 5-1 1.

IN this singularly interesting and important paragraph, the
apostle enforces the preceding counsels to the cultivation
of self-denying love, by the argument strongest of all to the
heart of every Christian, the example of the Lord Jesus.

The first fact in the history of the Lord to which he refers is,
that God condescended to become ma?i : ' ic/io, being in the form of
God, thought it 7iot robbery to be equal zuith God ; but made Him-
self of no reputation, and took upon Him the forni of a serva?itj
and zuas made in the likeness of 7nen.^

You will observe that the word 'nature' is not employed
here, but ^form^ The probable reason appears, when we
think of the apostle's immediate object in referring to the
Saviour, which, as we have seen, was to set Him forth as an
example for us of kind and self-sacrificing consideration for
others. Now we cannot change our nature, or assume an
additional nature. We are, and must remain, simply human.
In the Lord's taking human nature into association with the

146 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

divine, therefore, there is nothing even approximately imitable'
by us. But as regards the surrender for the good of others of
wealth, ease, rank, repute, or life, there is a possibility, at an
infinite distance, of Christians following their Lord. It is to
these points, accordingly, in which there is an analogy between
the case of Christ and that of His people, that Paul adverts.
He presents the argument, you remember, very similarly, in
calling on the Corinthians to be liberal givers for the relief of the
poorer brethren. ' See that ye abound in this grace,' he says,
*for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He
was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through
His poverty might be rich.' As, in that passage, he presents
voluntary self-impoverishment for the sake of others as the
aspect of our Lord's work of love suitable for his exhortation,
— so, in the verse before us, somewhat more generally, seeing
that self-sacrificing love generally is the subject of appeal, the
renunciation for our sakes of ineffable greatness and glory is
made prominent — His leaving His original divine glory of
manifestation and surroundings for the lowliness of humanity.
The possession of the natures of which the manifestations are
respectively glory and lowliness, is of course implied.

You gather from what has been said, that ^for?n ' here is to
be taken in its widest sense, as the mode in which a nature
reveals itself, or has its characteristics exhibited. When we
are told, then, that, 'being' — from eternity — *in the form of
God,' Christ * took upon Him thefor7n of a servafit ' of God,
the contrast is between the glory of the Supreme King and the
lowliness of a subject.

The word which our translators have rendered by ' robbery '
is of doubtful interpretation. According to the usage of the
Greek language, it may be taken in either of two senses,
closely allied, yet giving the clause very different bearings.
It may mean *the act of grasping,' or it may mean 'an object
grasped, or to be grasped,' for acquisition or retention. This
double signification may be illustrated by the use of our own

VERS. 6, 7.] The Great Exafuple. 147

Englisli word *rnj)turc,' a word of very similar meaning. We
speak of tlie * capture ' of a ship ; and again, the crew of the
conciuering vessel will call the taken ship herself * our capture.'
In the vast majority of cases in which words of this kind arc
employed, the context prevents the slightest risk of ambiguity ;
but the present happens to be one in which a good consistent
meaning, pertinent to the apostle's purpose, is obtained on
either view. Our translators, with many other interpreters,
adopt the first sense, * the act of grasping ;' and the statement
thus yielded is, that * Christ, being in the enjoyment of the
glory of God, therefore thought it no pillaging or robbery to
be equal with God, — but, nevertheless, made Himself of no
reputation.' Here the clause is an amplification of the men-
tion of our Lord's original dignity, which heightens the force
of the subsequent statement of condescension. According to
the other use of the word, the statement made is, that, 'though
in the form, or glor}% of God, yet He did not reckon this
equality with God as an object to be graspingly retained,' — or,
more generally, * did not count it as of supreme importance.'
The work of love seemed to him a greater thing than the
manifestation of power and dignity. Here, you observe, the
clause, which on the former view continued the statement of
the Lord's original dignity, now introduces the account of His
condescension. On the whole, considering the connection in
which the apostle makes the statement, and various little
points in the mode of expression in the original, it seems to
me that the latter sense is that which he intended : ' Being
in the form of God, still He did not consider His being on
a parity with God as a possession to be graspingly retained, —
or, as of supreme value, — but made Himself of no reputation.'
On this view of the meaning, the phrase ^ to be equal with
God'' is virtually equivalent to the previous 'being in the form,
or glory, of God.' On the view adopted by our translators,
there seems to be an advance from the idea of 'form' to 'nature.'
On either interpretation of the clause, as you see, the doc-

148 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. 11.

trine of our Lord's tnie and supreme divinity is most clearly-
taught, in the one case expressly, in the other by most distinct
implication. That any mere creature should be spoken of as

* in the form of God ' — taking these words in any natural or
adequate sense — is utterly inconceivable ; and to exhibit, as
an evidence of sublime condescension, the not reckoning
equality of glor}^ with God the Father to be a possession of
supreme value, would plainly be totally unmeaning, unless this
equality of glory were a true and rightful possession.

* Being in the form of God,' then, ' He yet esteemed not His
equality with God as a possession to be graspingly retained ;
/v//,' on the contrar}', ' made Himself of my reputation.^ Our
translators have here slightly paraphrased, the exact meaning
of the original words being ' emptied Himself,' — not of the
nature of God (this is impossible ; essentially, everlastingly. He
is God), but of the ' form,' the glory in mode of manifestation.
The glor)^ in which He had been revealed to angels in heaven,
— the glory in which, at times, in His pre-incarnate state, He,
under all the economies the Revealer of God, had shown Him-
self to man, as at Sinai, or to Isaiah, when he * saw the Lord
sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled
the temple,' — of this glory He * emptied Himself.'

This He did by ' taking upon Himself the form of a sen\int.^
These last words standing in obvious and very striking anti-
thesis to ' the form of God,' we are not to think of the word
' sercanV here as intended to bring before us the humbleness
even among men of the position He assumed in this world, —
to which He Himself adverts in such statements as ' The Son
of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,' and

* I am among you as he that serveth.' This thought of lowli-
ness among men comes after^vards, as we shall see. At this
point 'servant of GoiV is the idea, the contrast being simply
between the glory which is the * form,' or manifestation, of the
supreme King of the universe, and the lowliness which is the
' form ' of a subject or servant of the Divine King.

VKRS. 6, 7-] The Great Exa^nple. 149

How the Son of God took the form of a servant the apostle
explains in the next clause, — * bein^ made in the likeness of men*
* Of men,' you observe, not * of a man ;' for the thought of the
race, to be whose representative He assumed our nature, is
before the apostle's mind. Again, the humanity of the Saviour
was indeed a true humanity, not a mere shadow ; but it
was not mere humanity. To keep the absolute uniqueness of
Christ's Person before our minds, therefore, and thus the
thought of His infinite condescending grace, Paul introduces
the word ^/ikenessJ

Thus, dear brethren, we have the mystery of mysteries set
before us, * without controversy great,' — * God manifest in the
flesh.' Our Redeemer is * God over all, blessed for ever,'
infinite, eternal, immutable, — the I AM, the essentially living
One. Take away from our faith the doctrine of our Lord's
true divinity, and our hope of deliverance through Him is
found baseless. There could then be no atonement for our
sins ; for there would be no true right or power of self-
surrender for such a work, and no adequate value in the
ransom paid. There could then be no trusting to the
Saviour's care, no expectation of His sympathy, no prayer
to Him ; for there would be no omniscience, omnipresence,
omnipotence, and a true Saviour needs all these. But the
truth stands fast that * The Word was God.' Yet, ' being in
the form of God,' He 'emptied Himself of this glory. It is
true that in His life on earth He exhibited sublime wisdom,
holiness, and power ; and that once even in His bodily appear-
ance something of the glory of heaven was revealed, * His face
shining as the sun, and His raiment white as the light,' — so that
the witnesses could testify, ' We beheld His glory, such glory
as beseemed the Only-begotten of the Father.' Still in His com-
mon life it was possible — it was easy — not to see the Saviour's
heavenly beauty and majesty. No visible diadem of celestial
glory glittered on His brow, to mark Him out as the King of
kings. No jewelled breastplate, with Urim and Thummim,

150 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. 11.

indicated Him to be the world's great High Priest. ' For our
sakes He became poor.' And the obvious evidences of His
humanity bUnded most men to the significance of His wisdom
and character and works. They would not allow the thought
to enter their minds, or at least to fi.nd permanent lodgment
there, that this Man,, whose life in many things was so similar
to their own, — who hungered and thirsted, — who toiled and
grew weary, — who went in and out among them so humanly, —
could be essentially, or in any material respect, different from
themselves. Most striking is the fact recorded in His history,
that until His resurrection His own brothers, who for many
years had lived their daily life by His side, did not believe
on Him. He ' emptied Himself of His glory.

But we must pass on now to consider the second fact regard-
ing Him which the apostle mentions. This is that, as man.
He went down into the depths of humiliation : ' And being found
in fashion as a maft, He humbled Hi7nself, afid became obedient
nnto death, eve?t the death of the cross.' We pass here, you see,
to the view of another evidence of our Lord's condescending
grace. The first was the incarnation : we come now to the
humiliations, even as compared with other men, to which,
having assumed our nature, the God-man yielded Himself for
our redemption. To the hearts of most Christians, probably
of all, this second evidence is even more impressive than the
former. In contemplating the incarnation, — the step from the
*form of God' into the conditions of a finite nature, — we cannot
see clearly for the glory of the heavenly light. Infinity meets
us in the foreground, and thus a haze drapes for us the whole
picture of that act of immeasurable moral grandeur. In the
life of the man Christ Jesus on the earth, infinity is in the back-
ground ; and just because He has 'emptied Himself of His
glory, we have more distinct and influential impressions made
upon us.

The Lord comes before us now, then, ' /;/ fashion as a man.^
By ^fashion' are intended outward guise, demeanour, and mode

VER. 8.] The Great Example. 1 5 r

of life. Still, you observe, as before in the word * likeness/ the
apostle would remind us of the uniciueness of the Saviour's
Person. Prominence given to the similarity to man, in places
where we should expect simple mention of the real humanity,
suggests, by contrast, the aspects o{ dissitnilariiy.

Throughout the whole passage the idea oiiisihle manifestation
is prominent, the apostle having it before his mind to point to
the cuidcnce of the Saviour's self-sacrificing grace. Thus we
have already had the ^ fonn of God' contra.'^ted with ' ihtform
of a servant.' The same idea appears again here in the some-
what remarkable expression, ' being /^;//;/^ in fashion as a man.'
We are led to think of seekers and beholders. When the angels,
who from their creation had known Him and worshipped Him
' in the form of God,' sought Him at Bethlehem, in the wilder-
ness, or in Gethsemane, — in what condition did they ' find ' Him
whom they adored as their Creator, and Sustainer, and King?
When we are roused by the Divine Spirit to seek the Light
and Life of men, and are thus led to contemplate Jesus with
profoundest interest, — what do we 'find' in looking at His earthly
life ? We find no outward grandeur or glory, no abundance of
outward comfort. We find one who among His fellow-men
was conspicuous as a Sufferer. ' He hiunbled Himself^ — and
this by ' becoming obedient^' obedient even ' 7mto death,' and that
* the death of the cross. ^

The fact that the God-man became ^ obedient^ to God, proves
of itself, even were there no other evidence, the reality of His
humanity. Subjection, dependence, is conceivable only in a
created nature. This expression brings the suitableness of the
Lord's conduct as an example clearly before us, too. What He
did and bore on earth, He did and bore as a servafit of God,
— a member of the class to which all Christians profess to
belong.

Consider, then, to what the spirit of obedience led our Fore-
runner. And, in doing this, bear in mind the truth which, as
we have just seen, is implied in His being obedient — a truth

i=;2

Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

which, I fear, is often but very dimly before us, — that He was a
real man, — that He felt pain as really as you and I do, — that the
wants caused by poverty were as real privations and trials for
Him as they would be to you and me, — that He yearned for the
love and esteem of his fellow-men as you and I do, and this
^\ith a purity and unselfishness of interest in absolute perfec-
tion, of which there is often sadly little in our hearts. Having
this nature, then. Christian brethren, ^ the Man, God's Fellow,'
was a * Man of Sorrows.' How manifold were the springs of
distress which showed themselves in His experience ! Poverty
and hardship, hatred and contempt, bereavement by death, and
yet sorer bereavement by desertion, of dear and trusted friends,
— what source of human sadness was wanting to Jesus, except
a consciousness of sin ? In the pathetic language of prophetic
Scripture, ' He became a stranger unto His brethren, and an
alien unto His mother's children. Reproach broke His heart,
and He was full of heaviness ; and He looked for some to take
pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but He found
none. He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to
them that plucked off the hair. He was despised and rejected
of men, and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him.'

And, after thus suffering, He died. He who was ' holy, harm-
less, undefiled, separate from sinners,' received the ' wages of
sin.' The Prince of life yielded up His life. And this by * the
death of the cross.'' Of all the modes of inflicting death which the
ingenuity of cruelty has devised, crucifixion is one of the most
painful — perhaps absolutely the most painful. From descrip-
tions and pictures, all of us are, to some extent, acquainted with
the nature of this punishment. The cross consisted of a strong
upright post, not so high as is generally represented in pictures,
— not more than from six to seven feet, — with a transverse beam
near the top, and a small projecting piece about half-way up.
To this cross, probably after it had been placed in the ground,
the condemned person was secured ; being made to rest in a
measure on the middle projection, with his hands fastened to

VER. 8.] The Great Exa7)2plc, 153

the transverse beam by large bolts or nails driven through
them ; and, in the case of our Lord at least, though the general
usage is somewhat uncertain, the feet also were similarly nailed.
The partial resting of the body on the jjrojection I have men-
tioned, somewhat lessened the torture which would have been
occasioned by the suspending of the whole weight on the nails
driven through the hands ; but made it more lingering. From
this account it will be plain that this mode of death was one of
intense and protracted anguish. An interesting and impressive
relic of the feelings of old times regarding the physical suffer-
ing caused by crucifixion is found in our own language ; for
when, to express the utmost intensity of pain, we select the
word ' excruciating,' as the very strongest our tongue supplies,
we are, according to the etymological meaning of the word,
likening the pain to that endured upon a cross. No vital organ
being directly injured in this mode of punishment, death was
commonly slow, awfully slow ; whilst the laceration of parts so
exquisitely sensitive as the hands and feet, the pressure on
the wounds, and the rapidly increasing fever of the whole sys-
tem, caused unutterable agony. And this, men and brethren, —
this your divine Saviour endured for you. Oh that every one
of us were enabled to join, with all the energies of his being,
in that richest, deepest tone of the loving praise of heaven, —
* Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and
blessing!'

Besides its painfulness, crucifixion was a punishment to which
the idea of disgrace attached also in a particular degree. The
Jews regarded a crucified person as accursed. It is true, indeed,
that in their own penal code this cruel punishment had no
place, nor any at all resembling it. Had Jesus suffered directly
under a Jewish sentence. His death would have been by ston-
ing. But, with them, after stoning, the corpses of the very
Worst of malefactors were suspended publicly on a tree or
post ; and crucifixion was regarded as equivalent to an exposure

154 Lectures 071 Philippiaiis. [ch. ii.

of this kind, — an exposure which was held to be a public declara-
tion that the curse of God had come do^v^l on a rebel against
His law. Thus, my brethren, ' Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us ; for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.' Among the
Romans also, by whom our Lord was crucified, this punish-
m.ent was regarded as utterly ignominious and degrading. In
their use it was all but exclusively limited to slaves, — a class by
them, as generally by slave-holding nations, looked upon with
the utmost contempt, as scarcely at all possessed of the rights,
or entitled to the sympathies, of humanity. Thus, in being
condemned to the cross, Jesus was held up as an outcast from
society, — 'a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised
of the people.' I can hardly help thinking that before Paul's
mind, as with adoring wonder he wrote his ' even the death of
the cross,' the contrast between his own position and the
Saviour's was prominent. By Roman law, under no circum-
stances could a Roman citizen be crucified. ' Let the very
name of the cross,' says Cicero in one of his speeches, ' be far
away, not only from the body of Roman citizens, but from their
very thoughts, eyes, ears.' ^ Now Paul was a Roman citizen.
In the very town to which he was now writing, his citizenship
had brought him the amplest apologies from the magistrates
for having even beaten him with rods. And to the shameful
punishment of the cross, which no man in the world would dare
to inflict on him, — him whom his profoundly tender conscience
called ' the chief of sinners,' — to that the holy Son of God had
humbled Himself for his redemption. * Behold what manner of
love!'

The thought of the condescension in which the Saviour's love
revealed itself being before the apostle's mind throughout the
whole passage, he gives prominence to the spirit of obedience in
which He suffered : * He became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross.' In His voluntarily assumed position as *a

1 Pro Rab. 5.

VERS. 9- II-] The Great Exa7uplc. 155

servant' of (iod, He had a great work assigned Him; — and
' He was faithful to Him that appointed Him.' * His meat was
to do the will of Him that sent Him.' His whole life was one
unbroken act of obedience, ' fulfilling,' as the representative
Man, * all righteousness.' And since, of His apjiointcd work,
dying constituted an essential i)art — dying on the cross, — He
shrank not even from this. He * had a baptism to be bap-
tized with,* and He ' was straitened till it was accomplished.'
The aspiration of His soul was ever, * Not My will, but Thine,
be done;' and, whithersoever the path led which God had
marked out for Him, * He stedfastly set His face to go,' — even
to the darkness of Gethsemane, to the pain and shame and
dreary desolation of Calvary. Then^ at last, came the cry of
triumph, * It is finished.'

This brings us to the third fact regarding the Saviour, of
which the apostle makes mention — namely, that i7i racard of
His obedience He 7cas croicned with glory and honour : ' Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a 71a me which
is above every name ; that at the natne of Jesus every knee should
bow, of things in heaven, and things ifi earth, a fid things under
the earth ; and that every tofigue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.^ The ancient oracle
has been fulfilled, ' Behold, My Serv-ant shall be exalted, and
extolled, and be very high.' ' The God of peace hath brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the
sheep,' ' and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly
places, far above all principality and power and might and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all
things under His feet.' The Father, who in the economy of
redemption represents the majesty of the Godhead, has in-
vested the Mediator \vith this gloiy and power, in attestation
of perfect satisfaction with the work of atonement, — and for the
carr}'ing out to completion of the great purposes of His grace,
through the mission of the Spirit, and the providential adminis-

156 Lectures on Philippians. [cii. 11.

tration of the affairs of the world with a view to the triumph of
the gospel. In the connection, however, in which the apostle
introduces his statement of the Lord's exaltation here, as part
of an enforcement of the precept of the 4th verse, he is evi-
dently looking to Him specially as our Forerun?ier, — his im-
mediate design being to exhibit this general principle of the
divine government, that God marks and rewards all subjection
of the heart to the spirit of self-sacrificing love and holy obedi-
ence. He who was ' in the form of God, took upon Him the
form of a servant : and being found in fashion as a man. He
humbled Himself, and became obedient ; wherefore God also
hath highly exalted Him.' ' We see Jesus for the suffering of
death crowned with glory and honour.'

By * 7iame^ in this passage, is meant, according to a most
natural and familiar usage, ' title and dignity.' We say of John
Howard, that by philanthropy he has gained for himself an
undying ' name.' ' The word of God came to Nathan, saying.
Go and tell David, My servant. Thus saith the Lord, I have
been with thee, and have made thee a name like the name of
the great men that are in the earth' (i Chron. xvii. 8). The
universal confession spoken of in the nth verse, 'that Jesus
Christ is Lord,' makes it not improbable that, in employing the
word ' name,' the apostle had in his mind the title of ' Lord,'
as summing up the authority and glory to which the Saviour
was raised. Similarly, you remember, Peter, in the great
sermon at Pentecost, called upon ' all the house of Israel ' to
*■ know assuredly that God had made that same Jesus whom
they had crucified, both Lord and Christ.* This name ' is
above ez^ery najueH Our Redeemer's position and glory are in-
finitely higher than that of the very highest of mere created
beings. ' To which of the angels said God at any time, Sit on
My right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool ? '

The purpose of God, in bestowing this power and glory, was
* that at (more exactly, *' in ") the ?tame 0/ Jesus every knee should
boza, of things iu heaven^ and things in earthy and things under

VERS. 9-1 1.] The Great Example. i 57

the earth ; ami i/uit ci'cry ionj^dc s/iou/d cott/css that Jesus Christ is
Lord' The expression ' in the tiamey often used in Scripture
in various connections, has some variety of signification. The
general idea, however, is ' in recognition or acknowledgment '
of him who is named, — the name being, so to speak, the
element or atmosphere within which an act referred to is per-
formed, or a command put forth as authoritative. When
David says, * O God, Thou art my God ; I will lift up my
hands in Thy name,' — his meaning plainly is, * Recognising in
Thee the only God, the only Fountain of life and strength and
joy, I will raise my hands to Thee in prayer.' To the lame
man at the gate of the temple Peter said, ' In the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk,' — that is, * Acknow-
ledging Him as the Source of the power which is about to
be manifested, I give thee this command.' Similarly, in the
passage before us, ''Every knee^ is to ^ bow^ in profoundest
homage, '/';/ recognition of the poiuer ami majesty of Jesus' The
name ^Jesus' has manifestly a special force here, through the
contrast between its former association with lowliness and
suffering — its former subjection to derision and scorn, — and the
present glory of Him who bears it. * The stone which was set
at nought of the builders, is become the head of the comer.'

By the rendering of our translators, ' that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, a?id things under the earth,' is set forth the subjection to
Christ of the whole universe — all the creatures of God, rational
and irrational, animate and inanimate. In some form, all of
them shall acknowledge His sway. In the same way, the
Psalmist calls upon every thing that God has made — ' the
angels, the sun and moon, stormy wind fulfilling His word,
fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping
things and flying fowl, young men and maidens, old men and
children ' — to * praise the name of the Lord.' ^ The bold
figure, too, of the inanimate creation ' bowing the knee,' has

* Ps. cxlviii.

158 Leciicres on Philippians. [ch. 11.

Old Testament analogies, in ' the floods ' and ^ the trees of the
field ' ' clapping their hands.' ^ This wide view of the meaning
of the apostle's statement gives a perfectly clear and satisfac-
tory sense. His reference, however, may be to moral beings
merely, — ' of those in heaven, and those on earth, and those
under the earth.' The conscious acknowledgment of Christ
which appears to be most naturally suggested by the second
part of the statement, ' that every tongue should confess,'
renders this view perhaps on the whole the more probable.
In this case, if the language be other than a rhetorical expan-
sion— not intended to be pressed in its details — of the general
idea ' moral beings everyAvhere,' — we must think, under the
various classes respectively, of angels and the spirits of de-
parted saints, of men still living on earth, and of Satan and his
hosts, and the souls of lost men, whose appointed abode is 'the
abyss.' ^ Willingly or unwillingly — through joyful surrender to
His grace, or through the experience of His wrath and the con-
viction of utter overthrow — all moral beings, in heaven, and
earth, and hell, shall ' bow the knee ' to Christ, and ' confess
Him to be Lord.'

In the loth and nth verses there is a distinct allusion to
a passage in Isaiah, — 'Thus saith the Lord that created the
heavens ; God Himself that formed the earth, — I have sworn
by Myself, that unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue
shall swear' (Isa. xlv. 18, 23). The application of such words
to Jesus, by an inspired servant of Him who says, ' I am the
Lord ; that is My name ; and My glory will I not give to

^ Ps. xcviii. 8 ; Isa. Iv. 12.

* See Luke viii. 31 ; Rev. ix. 11. For 'the deep' of the English Ver-
sion, in the former of these passages, and * the bottomless pit ' of the
latter, and of several other places in Revelation, the word in the original is
the same, — that from which our English 'abyss ' comes. * The deep,' in
Luke, is far from a happy translation, as hiding the connection with the
fuller teaching of Revelation on the subject, and probably suggesting to
many readers an unreal connection with the subsequent fate of the swine,
which perished in ' the deep ' of the lake.

VERS. 9-1 I •] The Great Example. 159

another,' is a most explicit testimony to the supreme divinity
of our Lord.

But since, in the economy of redemption, the Son is subject
to the Father, the grand end of the universal homage to Jesus
is '■the glory of God the Father.' The Lord's own prayer was,
* Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.'
To no other end can the Absolutely Wise and Holy One work,
than the manifestation of His own excellences, and their recog-
nition by His moral creatures, — for in this is summed up all
good. The creation, maintenance, and administration of the
universe are ' for His own glory.' But unspeakably the fullest
exhibition of His excellence is in the provision which He has
made for saving sinful men, through the mediation of His Son.
Here His wisdom and His holiness, His justice and His love,
shine forth in unparalleled splendour. The subjection of all
creatures, therefore, to the authority of the Mediator bet^veen
God and men, and the triumphant testimony thus given to the
complete success of the mediation, — this most signally re-
dounds to the glory of Him who ' so loved the world, that He
gave His only-begotten Son ' to be its Redeemer.

Looking back now over the whole of this wonderful para-
graph, you see its sublime fitness to serve the purpose of
illustration and argument which immediately led to its intro-
duction by the apostle. In the first verses of the chapter he
had appealed, with intense earnestness, to his dear spiritual
children at PhiHppi, to increase and abound in love, one
toward another,' shunning factiousness and self-seeking, and
cultivating a sincere and tender regard for the interests of their
brethren. This appeal is taken up again in the 5th verse, and
sent home with transcendent power to the heart and con-
science of every believer : ' Let this 7?iifid be i?i you, ivhich was
also in Christ Jesus, — who, being in the form of God, made
Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of
a servant, and became obedient to death, even the death of
the cross,' — ail from love to you. * If, to save you. He thus

i6o Lecher es on P Jiilippians. [ch. ii.

humbled Himself, is it not most reasonable that you, His
brethren, blessing Him for His love, should yourselves show
to each other the same spirit of true and self-sacrificing affec-
tion ? '

All conceivable intensities and activities of love are summed
up in the record of the work of Christ, 'who gave Himself for
us.' ' Hereby perceive we love,^ because He laid down His life
for us, — and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.'
These words of the Apostle John are evidently, in substance,
equivalent to Paul's here ; for self-sacrifice is the central ele-
ment referred to in ' the mind which was in Christ Jesiis^
Believers are not unfrequently invited by their Lord, in His
providence, to place themselves in positions where they may
be called on literally to ' lay down their lives for the brethren.'
And, blessed be God, not a few Christians, all down the history
of the church, have been ready to respond to the summons.
John Howard, voluntarily making a voyage in a plague-ship,
and taking up his abode in a plague-hospital, with the full
expectation of death, but in the hope that, by carefully noting
the peculiarities of the disease, and leaving papers on the
subject, he might provide the physicians of Europe with
materials which would perhaps enable them somewhat to stay
the ravages of the awful destroyer, — is, in his grand self-forget-
fulness, the type of a glorious band whom God has strength-
ened. Many a humble man and woman, who, simply through
the impulse of Christian love, have, at imminent risk to their
own lives, cared for their brethren, by nursing them in infec-
tious diseases, or bringing them aid in other circumstances of
peril, — many such, * never heard of half a mile from home,'
will be honoured by the Master ' in that day ' with a smile of

' Our translators render this passage (i John iii, i6), * Hereby perceive
we the love of God.' The last two words are a supplement, unnecessary
and not very happy. The apostle's thought seems to be, ' In this we
have the knowledge of love ' — of the nature and working of this heavenly
spirit.

VER. 5.] The Great Example. 161

specially tender love, as He says to them, 'Inasmuch as ye
did it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it
unto Me.'

A])art, however, from calls to self-devotion, even to death,
in such ways as I have indicated, — calls which, of necessity,
come but occasionally in most lives, — opportunities fjresent
themselves continually for some self-surrender in the cause of
love, some sacrifice of time or ease or personal inclination.
So far as his own conscience was concerned, it was to Paul a
matter of indifference what he ate or drank ; yet, as you re-
member, he says, * If meat make my brother to offend, I will
eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother
to offend.' Here, in regard to what might seem comparatively
trifling, was real self-sacrifice for love's sake, — the working of
the same * mind which was also in Christ Jesus.' Similarly,
my brethren, let ours be the love which * seeketh not her own.'
If there be anything in your daily life or mine calculated to
lead others astray, — if, by some sacrifice of personal ease or
liking, we can alleviate any distress of others, remove any
stumbling-block out of their way, or gain any true good for
them, — let us not hesitate to follow the dictate of the royal law
of love. Our natural selfishness will often struggle vigorously
with the impulses of conscience ; yet, if our souls at all ' prosper
and be in health,' one thought will tell in the controversy
with ever fuller power, — ' If my Saviour died for me, surely I
may, in some small measure, die daily in self-denial for my
brethren.'

1 62 Lectures on Philippia7is. [ch. ii.

XIII.

WORKING OUT OUR OWN SALVATION.

' Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salva-
tion with fear and trembling : 13 For it is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do, of His good pleasure.' — Phil. ii. 12, 13.

THE profoundly interesting and important doctrinal pas-
sage just examined has been introduced by the apostle,
as we have seen, for the purpose of enforcing some advices
which he had given regarding religious feeling and conduct.
In the verses now before us he resumes his strain of practical
counsel, — which all his candid readers are prepared, through
the impressiveness of the great truths he has so eloquently
recalled to their minds, to receive with peculiar readiness of
spirit.

Yet, however ready they be, the work of persistent effort
after holiness is a hard one, and most repulsive to the old
nature, which still, even in believers, has lamentable strength.
Observe, then, how affectionately and winningly the apostle
leads his dear Philippians to the view of their duty. He
calls them ' my bclcrced^ a name which must have carried to
their hearts a strong argument for thoughtfulness and diligent
attention to his counsel. He stimulates them, too, by a kindly
mention of the fact that, in past days, they had ''always obeyed^
him, or rather Christ speaking through him. In the designa-
tion * beloved,' and in this pleasant reminder of former fulfil-
ment of duty, their hearts could not but recognise a powerful
appeal to this effect, — ' Bethink you of your spiritual father's

VKR. 12.] Workina^ Old otir otvn Salvation. 163

long, warm, unchanging interest in you, and of his unwearied
and self-sacrificing exertions for your welfare. Remember the
stripes, and the inner prison, and the stocks. Think of the
afiection which now, in tlie midst of his own anxieties and
suflerings as a prisoner in Rome, has led him to write to you,
that you may be cjuickened and comforted. Jxt his love
ai)j)eal to you with power, on behalf of a continuance of
that spiritual diligence, your habitual exhibition of which,
hitherto, in obedience to his precepts, has been so pleasing
to him.'

Such a sketch as the apostle has given of the humiliation
and the glory of the Lord Jesus, supplies an argument of in-
tense and manifold cogency in support of any appeal to the
believing heart to follow Him. It was immediately to illus-
trate self-sacrifice for the sake of others that the apostle spoke
of the great 'mystery of godliness;' and even had such not
been the connection, no Christian could ever read how * He
who was in the form of God made Himself of no reputation,
and, being found in fashion as a man, became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross,' without having this thought
prominent in his mind, — ' and all this was in self-sacrifice for
7ne.^ The glad tidings of the Saviour's glory, too, — of the
* name which is above every name,' — have this thought for
the essence of their gladdening power, — 'This also \'s,for me;
because He liveth I shall live, rejoicing in His glory, and,
through His measureless grace, taken to sit with Him in His
throne.' The remembrance of His love sweetly constrains us
to long to do His will ; and the thought of Him as our Fore-
runner, who has passed through the struggles of earth to
triumph and blessedness, and from the scene of His glory
cares tenderly for us, gives the richest encouragement in effort
to do His will. No ' wherefore,^ then, could be more natural —
none to a thoughtful follower of Christ could be so effective, —
as that with which the apostle here introduces his practical
counsel. The form of the precept, too, accords in a singularly

164 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

complete way with the nature of the argument. A very broad
surface is so exposed, that the * wherefore ' presses upon it with
full power at every point. The Son of God, by His incarna-
tion and sufferings and death, meritoriously wrought out salva-
tion for you ; and now, seated on the mediatorial throne, He
looks down on you with brotherly affection, and is willing to
do everything which is needful to bring you into the full
enjoyment of salvation. Surely, then, if He has thus cared,
and still thus cares, for you, it is most reasonable that you
should care for yourselves, — most reasonable that, alike from
grateful love to Him, and from regard to your own highest
interests, you should, in the appointed way of persistent faith
and prayer and struggle with temptation, * work out your own
salvation.'

The injunction, * Work out your own salvation^ does not
mean, ' Elaborate for yourselves a righteousness such as shall
deserve heaven, — by expiation, by obedience, earn for your-
selves salvation as your wages.' This is impossible work, —
altogether hopeless. Blessed be God, it is work which there
is no need to attempt. ' By one offering He hath perfected
for ever them that are sanctified.' * The gift of God is eternal
life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Yet, with the most
abundant evidence present that a * sure foundation ' has been
laid, and that ' other foundation can no man lay,' in how many
ways does the proud heart of man, averse to accepting ' the
righteousness of God which is by faith,' endeavour to ' work
out salvation ' in this sense — ' to lay another foundation ' — to
make eternal life wages instead of a gift. All down the ages,
brethren — with system and against system — amid Pharisaic
and Roman Catholic avowals and amid Protestant denials —
how abundantly formalism has been accepted as a basis for
the hope of heaven ! By tithing mint and anise and cummin,
and frequently washing the hands, — by pattering over some
Latin words, and wearing a shirt of coarse hair, — by sitting in
a pew on a Sabbath, and at certain seasons going through the

VER. 12.] Working out otir own Salvation, 165

outward rites of what, to the true believer in Christ, is the
communion, — vast multitudes have ever been persuading them-
selves that by means like these they are purchasing the favour
of God. The creed of their lips may speak of salvation through
grace, but the creed of their hearts acknowledges only salva-
tion through works. Of all such foolish ones, the Lord Jesus
has exhibited a representative in the man who prayed thus
with himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men
are.' You know the issue. He went down to his house un-
justified. * The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.' The
prayer acceptable in His sight is, * God, be merciful to me, a
sinner.' * For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased,
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.'

In order to see what Paul does mean by the precept under
consideration, it is needful to have clearly before us the Bible
idea of salvation. By nature, through the belief of what is false
regarding the matters on which it is of supreme importance
that he should know and believe what is tnie, man's affections
are alienated from God and holiness, and with his alienated
affections his life accords. This is spiritual death ; and the
legitimate end of it is ' the second death.' Now the salvation
offered to us in Christ Jesus is deliverance from all this, — from
ignorance, from depravity, from the wrath to come. Salvation,
then, you observe, whilst in its fulness a future blessing, is in its
beginnings a blessing of the present ; and no one who has not
these beginnings here, in * a clean heart ' and a life of obedi-
ence through the constraint of the love of Christ, has any
ground to look for the full salvation by and by. It is of alto-
gether . inestimable importance, Christian brethren, that we
have clear views on this subject. Salvation does not mean
merely the enjoyment of heaven after death ; nor, looked at
as a present blessing, merely the comfort which springs from
the expectation of heaven after death. Unspeakably precious
as these are, yet the sublimest element in Christ's salvation,
the grandest boon which even God can bestow upon His

1 66 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

creatures, is conformity of spirit to His will — likeness of cha-
racter to Him. This belongs, essentially and prominently, to
the scriptural idea of salvation. Yet how seldom, compara-
tively, do we look at this aspect ! If asked what was the object
of our Lord's sufferings and death, would the answer that
occurred first to us, as if springing from a heart which cherished
the thought as its most precious treasure, be that it was to
make us holy, ' to redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works ' ? I fear
that with many this would come in, if at all, only in a secondary
way. We know, indeed, that Christ Jesus was manifested to
destroy all the works of the devil ; but often the chords of our
souls vibrate far more sensitively to the touch of the thought
of peace, than to that of the thought of holiness. Our moral
perceptions have been so dimmed by the fall, that even when
divine grace has given us the heavenly eye-salve, we are slow in
coming to see clearly how awful, how utterly monstrous, a thing
sin is. But the light does grow brighter for all true believers.
The repulsiveness of sin is more distinctly seen. The longing
for holiness increases in intensity. Blessing God not less
ardently than at the outset of his Christian life, for the assur-
ance that Christ * hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,'
the believer learns to feel also with growing intelligence and
intensity the sweetness of the assurance that * His name is
called Jesus, because He saves His people from their sins.''
Among all the hopes respecting the future life, this becomes
more definitely and steadily the supremely influential, that,
* when Christ shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall
see Him as He is.' ' And every man that hath this hope in
Him, purifieth Himself, even as He is pure.'

It is of the highest moment, however, to bear in mind that
whilst the measure in which the two grand spiritual elements of
salvation are enjoyed and rightly appreciated by Christians is
far from uniform, yet in every Christian, from the moment of
his experiencing the new birth, both are present ; and the only

VKK. I 2.] JVor/cifio^ out 02cr own Salvalion. 167

tnistworthy evidence of a man's being in Christ, and therefore
having a real basis for />(acf, is his l)eing, in character, like
Christ. The same faith which justifies, sanctifies. The faith
\vhi( h introduces to eternal Ufe is itself vital, and reveals its
life by works : * Wherefore, work out your own salvation.'

In the injunction before us, the apostle assumes that his
readers have in truth, according to their profession, accepted
Jesus as their Saviour. The whole Kpistle is addressed to */>^
S(n'/i/s in C/irist Jcsus^ which are at Philii)i)i.' To unconverted
Jews the Lord Himself on one occasion, you remember, em-
ployed the word ' work ' in connection with the attainment of
salvation, but in this way : ' This is the work of (iod,' — regard-
ing which they had put a question to Him, — ' that ye Miei'e
on Him whom He hath sent.^ That is the first lesson in the
school of spiritual wisdom. In the passage before us, as I
have said, Paul assumes that the first lesson has been learned,
and that his readers are ' in Christ ' through faith. His teach-
ing here — the second lesson — relates to the needfulness of
bearing in mind the inexpressible importance of the moral ele-
ment in salvation, and strenuously exerting ourselves, through
prayerful, resolute, persevering effort in resistance to tempta-
tion, and in the prosecution of God's service, to carry forward
to completeness the likeness of character to God which has begun to
be formed in us. These last words, I think, exhibit in a para-
phrase the apostle's meaning in * Work out your own salva-
tion,' if I rightly apprehend it.

Analyzed, the injunction calls upon us to study the will of
God, that, by thoughtfulness and inquiry regarding Christian
duty, we may see ever more clearly the grandeur of our voca-
tion, and keep its sublime aims steadily before us. It calls on us
to 'fghi the good fight of faith ' valiantly, — to prove, in action,
our understanding of this paradox, that by none is the spirit of
the gospel of peace truly apprehended, in whom its energy is
not revealed as a gospel of war, war without compromise or
cessation, against all seducing and perverting influences, — to

1 68 Lechcres on Philippians. [ch. ii.

* put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil.' It calls on us, too, to
carry the war into the enemy's domain^ — to be diligent in effort
to extend the kingdom of Christ, by striving, as far as our
powers and opportunities permit, to strengthen Christian
brethren, to instruct the ignorant, and warn the unwary, to
leave the world holier and happier than we found it.

While thus enjoining here, in the widest way, the cultivation
of holiness, the apostle had also, I think, a special Christian
duty before his mind. It was, you remember, whilst setting
forth the importance of active and self-sacrificing affection
among Christians, that he was led, by way of enforcement, to
remind his readers of the great example of such love, in the
life and death of our Saviour. In the 14th verse, which im-
mediately follows the passage at present before us, we have the
same subject referred to, — 'Do all things without murmurings
and disputings.' Clearly, therefore, as it seems to me, he had
it prominently in his thoughts in writing the present inter-
mediate precept also, and would suggest to us here that
brotherly love is a most important element of spiritual life — of
' salvation ' on its moral side. This is gospel teaching every-
where. ' God is love,' and Christians prove themselves His
children by bearing His image. A man destitute of love is as
yet unsaved. 'He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.'
■ An apt illustration of the two points on which thus far I have
had occasion to speak, the impossibiHty of ' working out our
own salvation' in one sense, and the needfulness of doing this
in another sense, is afforded by the history of the rescue of
Israel at the Red Sea — a rescue in which the thoughtful Chris-
tian recognises distinctly a typical sketch in outline of his own
spiritual deliverance. By the wilderness, and the mountains,
and the sea, the people are shut in ; and behind them is
Pharaoh in close pursuit, with his great and well-equipped
army. If we look simply at man's valour or wisdom, resistance
and escape are equally and utterly hopeless. The cry of Israel

VER. 12.] Working otit our oivn Salvation. 169

to Moses is, * IJccausc there were no graves in Kgypt, hast thou
taken us away to die in the wilderness?' But Moses said to
them, ' I'ear ye not : stand still, and sec the salvation of the
Lord, wliich He will show you to-day. The Lord shall fight
for you, and ye shall hold your peace.' At this point, you
observe, they are called to ])e 'r^\va\AQ. spectators of 'the salvation
of the Lord,' looking on with adoring wonder at the mighty work
which only the Divine Hand could accomplish, — the opening
of a i)athway for thcni through the midst of the great waters.
But afterwards, for the ' Stand still and see,' comes a command
to display energetic activity. ' The Lord said unto Moses,
Speak unto the children of Israel, that iki^y go forward. And
the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea^ So with
you and me, dear brethren. The expiation of guilt, ' the work-
ing out of our salvation ' meritoriously, could be achieved only
by the God-man ; and our part is to ' stand still,' and * behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'
But now when, by the Lord's propitiatory sufferings and death,
a way, broad and clear, has been opened for us through the
midst of the waters of avenging judgment, His command, loud
and explicit, to every one of us is that, by persistent, growing
faith and holiness, we ' go forward.'

To his precept, ' Work out your own salvation,' the apostle
attaches two hints in regard to the manner in which, if there is
to be success, the effort to obey it must be made. In the first
place, the work must be carried on perseveri?igly, under all cir-
cumstances^— ' tiot as in 7ny prese?ice only, but now much more in
my absence.^ We naturally read these words in our version in
connection with ' as ye have always obeyed ;' but the more pro-
bable connection, judging both from the sense, and from the
particular negative particle employed in the original, is with
the precept, — thus, ' Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always
obeyed — so, not as in my presence only, but now much more
in my absence, work out your ow^n salvation.' ' When I was
with you, your respect and love for your teacher naturally

170 Lectures on Philippia7is. [ch. ii.

pleaded with you to follow that course of life which you knew
to be pleasing to him. But, in truth, what / think of you is a
very small matter. The relations of highest importance are
between you and God. I am now absent from you, but He is
always with you. By faithful and earnest persistence in well-
doing, then, show that not only, or mainly, regard for me is
powerful in your hearts, but reverence and love for Him. And
seeing that you have not now the impulse and help given by
my presence and teaching, be all the more thoughtful and
watchful.' The observation of all of us, brethren, shows this
hint of the apostle to his friends in Philippi to be one which,
in some form, is always needed. Ah, what multitudes who,
when influences around were favourable, seemed steadily enough
setting their faces Zionward, have, when placed in other cir-
cumstances, turned back to destruction ! How many boys and
girls, who, in their quiet Christian country homes, felt an in-
terest in the gospel, and in the service of Christ, have, when
removed to the temptations of a city, forgotten that, though the
eye of their pious father or mother was no longer upon them,
yet God saw them ; and have entered the paths of the destroyer,
growing reckless of character, reckless of eternity ! How
needful for us to have ever before our hearts the remem-
brance that ' he that endureth to the end shall be saved,' and
he only !

But further, the apostle calls on his readers to ' work out
their own salvation' with anxious solicitude and self -distrust.
This, judging from his use of the expression in other places, is
pretty exactly what he means by '■with fear and trembling.^ He
would not have Christians walk in the darkness of sorrow, and
dread, and all but despondency. His teaching everywhere,
and specially in this Epistle, is the very reverse, — that we
should be children of light, and peace, and joy. The ' fear
and trembling' he desires to see, then, are such as are perfectly
compatible with obedience to his precept elsewhere in the
Epistle, — 'Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say. Rejoice.'

VER. 1 3.] Jl'or^ino out our oiun Salvation. i 7 i

Indeed, they stand in llic relation of handmaids to this joy. If
a man attemj)t to 'work out his salvation' in a spirit of self-
dependence — of confidence in his own strength or wisdom, —
there will certainly he failure, and lack of spiritual peace. Where
there is a deep sense of the greatness of the work and of per-
sonal insufhciency for it, and the vigilance and prayerfulness
which such a conviction is fitted to awaken, — there we have the
apostle's * fear and trembling.' A soul thus exercised * rejoices
alway ' in the midst of its fear, — * the peace of Ood, which
passeth all understanding, keeping the heart and mind, through
Christ Jesus.' * Watch and pray,' therefore, brethren, ' that ye
enter not into temptation.' * Seeing that ye call on a Father
who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to every
man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear ' —
' fear lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any
of you should seem to come short of it.'

By his introductory * Wherefore^ Paul had referred to the
history of the Saviour's work of love, as exhibiting a most
powerful argument in support of the precept, 'Work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling.' In the 13th verse the
precept is followed up by the presentation of another argument
closely allied, and not less cogent, found in the fact that God
is the Author and Sustainer of all spiritual life ; ''for it is
God 7uhich worketh in you both to will and to do, of His
good pleasure.^ Our translators have here needlessly weakened
somewhat the expression of the thought, by using different
words, ' 7c>ork ' and ' do,^ whilst in the original the same verb,
one kindred to that in the previous verse rendered ' work out,'
is employed. The apostle's statement is, ' It is God which
worketh in you both to will and to work'

The teaching of Scripture everywhere is, that men are by
nature destitute of spiritual energy, power to love God and
to desire to do His will. We are in bondage to depravity.
' Whosoever committeth sin,' said the Master, ' is the s/ave of
sin.' According to another figure, even stronger, we are by

172 Lecttc7^es on Philippians. [cH. 11.

nature * dead in trespasses and sins,' — as utterly incapable of
holy activity as a corpse of moving its limbs and doing the
work of life. But the believer in Christ Jesus loves God,
desires to serve Him, does serve Him. This is * glorious
liberty,' ' eternal life.' Now this spiritual energy possessed by
the man who has the faith of the gospel, is wholly from God.
'■ Faith is not of ourselves ; it is the gift of God.' Not merely
has He given us the gospel, but, by an influence graciously
exerted on the soul, He sends home the conviction that the
gospel is true. The Bible contains a full and clear communi-
cation of His will regarding everything which we need to know
for salvation ; and the evidence that it is His word is such as
will convince any mind truly candid : but by nature our souls,
instead of being candid, are so beclouded by wilful prejudice,
that, left to ourselves, no one of us would with seriousness and
openness of heart consider the truth. We have mental faculties
sufficient to apprehend the meaning of the Bible, and the force
of the proof that God is its Author ; but the alienated will
refuses to bring these into play on the subject. But God,
through His Spirit, induces men to examine and think honestly,
— to see the truth and feel its force. Thus He ' breathes into
us the breath of life.' And the life He gives is sustained also
constantly and solely by Him. Spiritually, as physically, ' in
Him we live and move and have our being.' He * worketh in
us to wiir that which accords with His will. But even when
enabled to ' will,' — 'how \.q perfor7n that which is good we find
not.' The old nature impedes us, and throws up stumbling-
blocks at every turn. * We are not sufficient of ourselves, to
think anything as of ourselves.' But our gracious Father
* worketh in us to work.^ Knowledge and wisdom, resolution
and power to resist, resolution and power to wage war against
the wickedness of the world, and to do somewhat for the
extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, — these He gives. * Our
sufficiency is of God.'

He does these things * of His good pleasure^ — ' in fulfilment

VFR. 13.] M'orking 02it 07ir own Salvation. 173

of His free sovereign purpose of grace.' The ultimate cause
of the enjoyment by Christians of spiritual life, is His spon-
taneous kindness. There is nothing in us by nature to attract
the adectionate interest of a holy Being, everything to avert it.
Death is wages, fully earned; but 'eternal life is the y;ift of
God,' the gift of free grace. ' Blessed be the God and l-ather
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world ; having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will :' * that,
according as it is written, He that glorieth, let Him glory in
the Lord.'

The ^For^ by which the apostle connects this verse with the
precept of the preceding, shows us the legitimate bearing on
man's conduct of the truth that, for the origination and support
of spiritual life, we depend absolutely on God. Mere nature
is apt to regard the doctrine that strength for holy purpose and
action is only from above, from Him who ' worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will,' as standing in antagonism
to the other doctrine that, if we are to be saved, we must
* strive — agonize — to enter in at the strait gate,' and press
along the narrow way. In such a judgment as this, most
important elements in the question, relating both to the cha-
racter of God and the character of man, are left out of view.
The light of the Divine Spirit reveals, not antagonism, but the
most exquisite accord. His connection is : ' Work ; for it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to work, of His
good pleasure.' *What therefore God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder.' Did the command and its appendix
run thus, — ' Work out your own salvation, for there is no help
from above ; all dependence is entirely on yourselves,' — every
man who has real self-knowledge would feel that the case was
an utterly hopeless one. Every believer knows from experience
that, ' as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide

1 74 Lee her es on Philippiajis. [ch. ii.

in the vine, no more can we, except we abide in Christ ; for
without Him we can do nothing.' But the assurance that God,
the infinitely wise, and powerful, and holy, and loving, imparts
to us spiritual wisdom and desires and energies, stimulates to
vigorous effort. Hope nerves the arm, and wings the feet.
The calm quiet words of the Divine Saviour, ' He that abideth
in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit,' are
as a well-spring, a brook in the way, to the weary servant of
God. A draught of its living water gives him new strength
and buoyancy, so that he ' lifts up the hands which hang down,
and the feeble knees.' No thoughts with regard to the Chris-
tian life, either in retrospect or in prospect, are more healthful
than those which gather round Paul's ' Not I, but the grace
of God.'

VER. 14.] Lights in the World. 175

XIV.
LI(;iITS IN THK WORLD.

* Do all things without murmurings and disputings ; 15 That ye maybe
blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst
of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in
the world : 16 Holding forth the word of life ; that I may rejoice in
the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in
vain.' — Phil. ii. 14-16.

THE exact connection of thought bet^veen the injunction
with which this paragraph opens and the preceding
passage, is not altogether clear. The view we take of it will
be mainly determined by our judgment with regard to the re-
ference of the * murmurings and disputings.^ These may be
against God, — the uprising, particularly under persecution, or
affliction generally, of a rebellious will, and the intellectual
restlessness naturally associated with such rebellion. In this
case the connection is with the immediately preceding verse, —
the thought of the duty of cordial and entire submission to the
will of God, alike with regard to action and endurance, being
suggested by the statement there made of our absolute depend-
ence on Him. To this view of the apostle's reference some
support is given by an allusion he makes, as we shall see, in
the 1 5th verse, to the wickedness of ancient Israel, whose per-
versity showed itself most prominently in ' murmurings ' against
God. On the whole, however, it seems to me more probable
that the precept is a prohibition of ' murmurings and dis-
putings' against men — ^jealousies and dissensions among the
Philippians themselves. This view of the meaning brings the
injunction into natural connection with the whole strain of

1 76 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. 11.

counsel from the beginning of the chapter. It accords, too,
better than the other, as it appears to me, with the prominence
given in the present paragraph to the thought of the healthful
influence on the world of a holy Christian life ; for murmurings
and disputings of brethren against each other are observed by
those around, and thus obstruct the beneficial power of Chris-
tian example, whilst risings of will and thought against God
may be secret, and oftenest are.

In ' all things ' — ecclesiastical procedure, ordinary business,
social intercourse of every kind — ' murmurings and disputings '
are forbidden, and quietness, gentleness, and courtesy enjoined.
The fact that such is a Christian's duty belongs to the elements
of religious knowledge, — ' for this is the message that ye heard
from the beginning, that we should love one another,' and
with love to one another ' murmurings and disputings ' are
evidently inconsistent. But ah, brethren, how slow is our pro-
gress towards steady obedience ! Living in a world where
blustering and self-assertion are very largely employed to gain
men's ends, and often prove for a time not inefficient aids,
how apt even believers are to drift with the current, — to give
way to unhallowed tempers, — ay, to bring jealousy and anger
into the consideration and discussion of matters immediately
concerning the kingdom of God ! How apt we are to forget
that 'the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of
God ! ' Persistent and prayerful effort to give obedience to
the apostle's precept here, by always avoiding arrogant and
angry language, would both prevent much injury to the
cause of God in the world, and exert a bracing influence on
our OUT! spiritual life. Energetic endeavours to keep the
tojigiie under restraint, have an invigorating power over the
whole nature. A man of violent temper, who, when the gust of
passion comes over his heart, has Christian wisdom and power
of will enough to * keep the door of his lips,' will find, not
merely that he is saved from speaking words which might
cause him and others sorrow, but that, through prayerful, per-

VERS. 15, 16.] Lights in the World. 177

severing strugi^'lcs of this kind, the jjovvcr of tlic evil spirit
within him is broken, — as certainly as, in cases where passion
finds free utterance, the jiower of the demon steadily grows.
* Do all things,' then, hretliren, 'without murmurings and dis-
putings.'

The ai)Ostle proceeds in the rest of the jjassage to set forth
his object in giving this ])recept. This was twofold. First
and chietly, that, through adornment with the holy beauties of
love, the Philippians might exert a winning influence over the
society in which God's providence had placed them, leading
the heathen around to recognise in Christianity ' the power of
God and the wisdom of God.' Secondly, that, through their
growth in Christian loveliness and usefulness, there might be
stored up for himself, as their spiritual father^ an exquisite joy,
to be realized fully in the ' day of tlie Lord.' In mentioning
each of these objects, the apostle plainly exhibits a powerful
argument for obedience to the precept, — the one addressing
itself to the regard felt by the Philippian Christians for the
honour of their Lord and the welfare of men, the other to their
personal affection for him whom God had made the instrument
of ' turning them from darkness to light.'

The first object is that, by beauty and completeness of
Christian character, the members of the Philippian church may
act powerfully on the world on behalf of Christ : ' that ye may
be'' — rather 'approve yourselves,' 'come out' from the trial
which is found in the excitements, irritations, and seductions
of the world — ' blameless and harmless, the sofis of God without
rebuke^ in the midst of a crooked and perverse 7iation, ainong
whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of
life:

Influence on others by example being prominent in the
apostle's mind, he naturally puts ' blameless ' first — ' living a life
which no one can justly reproach.' Yet here, as always, he
desires to keep his spiritual children in mind that purity of the
7i'hole nature, blamelessness through the study and powerful

1 78 LecitLres on Philippians. [ch. ii.

action of holy affectio7is^ is alone beautiful in God's sight. He
would therefore have them ^ harfuless' too, — or rather, ' simple,'
' guileless,' ' single-hearted,' literally, ' free from mixture or
adulteration.' The original word is the same which is rendered
by 'simple' in a passage in the Epistle to the Romans, where
Paul says, ' I would have you wise unto that which is good, and
i"/;////^ concerning evil' (Rom. xvi. 19). Such was Nathanael,
of whom the Lord said, ' Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile !' Very great prominence is given in Scripture to
this grace of simplicity^ oneness of purpose, directness of aim,
freedom from by-ends. In the measure in which the faith of
a Christian is lively and intelligent, the will of God, as made
known in Scripture, will be his rule of judgment and action,
and thus his moral life will be simple and stable. There will
be no double dealing either with himself or with the world, but
sincerity and candour, his words and deeds according with his
real views and feelings. ' Guileless ' and ' simple ' are, in the
ordinary use of language among us at present, generally em-
ployed in the sense of ' unsuspicious, not given to think evil of
others.' This is included in the Scripture idea of 'simplicity'
of character. Christian love 'believeth all things, hopeth all
things.' The view which we take of the people we meet in
the world is not a little due to reflection, in the optical sense
of the word. We are very apt to think we see in others
what we know to be in ourselves ; and thus the selfish and
deceitful man is much more likely to see selfish and deceitful
men around him, than the man is whom divine grace has
made loving and truthful. But Christian ' guilelessness * is
perfectly compatible with great shrewdness and sagacity. The
believer, while he keeps his own affections and aims single,
may see very clearly the duplicity of some with whom he has
to do, and guard himself against its effects. He will not wear
his heart on his sleeve, for the birds of the air to peck at. He
will never consciously say or act that which is false ; but he
will not open up all his thoughts and feelings to every one.

VERS. 15, 16.] Li<rhts in the World. 179

He will (hoosc his seasons and his listeners. The Lord's
precept to His apostles railed upon them, whilst being * harm-
less * — ' guileless,' the same word as that emj)loyed in the
passage before us — * as doves,' to be at the same time * wise
as serpents.'

The connection between * simi)lirity' of spirit and * doing all
things without murmurings and disi)utings,' is not far to seek.
When, in reference to anything, a man shows jealousy and ill-
temper, it is made thereby very plain that he has not that
entire singleness of aim to do the will of God, to which Christ
calls His people. Ah, brethren, if, as the apostle has it in the
2nd verse of this chapter, we ' with accordant souls minded the
one thifiij^,'' to how great an extent would the jealousies and
heartburnings which at present disfigure our ecclesiastical and
our ordinary social life be mere memories ! Controversy, no
doubt, is at times lawful and needful ; and in some controversies
the tones of stern, solemn denunciation ought to be heard.
He who is the '■ Lamb of God ' is no less the ' Lion of the tribe
of Judah.' The same voice which said, * Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,'
said also, ' Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.*
But this sternness was * His strange work.' His delight was
in the ' still small voice ' of pity and grace, as it was fore-
shown of Him by the prophet, — ' He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause His voice to be heard in the street : a bruised reed
shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not
quench.' Let this, too, be the joy and the habitual practice of
His brethren !

Continuing his statement of the object he had in view in
giving the precept of the 14th verse, the apostle goes on, —
* that ye may approve yourselves the sons^ — or rather, simply,
without the article, ' children ' — ' of God without rebuke, in the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation ' — more exactly, ' genera-
tion.' The language of this clause is moulded after that of a
verse in the great ' Song of Moses,' given in the 32nd chapter

1 80 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

of Deuteronomy. According to the famous Greek version of
the Old Testament called the Septuagint, which was extensively
used in the days of our Lord and His apostles, and which is
often quoted in the New Testament, the latter part of the 5th
verse of that chapter is rendered in a way of which the trans-
lation runs thus, ' children worthy of rebuke, a crooked and
perverse generation.' Of these words Paul here makes a most
interesting and suggestive application. Israel, through cove-
nant privilege God's 'children' in a special sense, and, as
such, called upon to exhibit simplicity, uprightness, rectitude
of character, the product of a will aiming straight at compliance
with the will of their heavenly Father, had, in fact, shown the
utmost contortedness, the utmrost 'crookedness and perversity'
of spirit and of life, — a character twisted at all points, through
prejudice and aversion- to the will of God. They had thus, in
truth, lived not as ' children of God,' but as depraved, uncon-
verted men, the enemies of God. * Now,' says the apostle to
the Philippians,. ' you have all around you the wicked world, to
whose ways unhappy Israel conformed, — men and women whose
religion is a gross superstition, and their feelings and conduct
godless and vicious,. — " a crooked and perverse gefieraiion.^' You
are placed ^^ in the midsf^ of these men and women of crooked
character, that you may set them an example of straightness,
holy directness of purpose. As Christians, you enjoy the
sublime dignity of being " children of God.'" See to it, then,
that, as such, ye be in- all things " without rebuke,'^ so that
your character may speak on behalf of God among those
who surround you. Israel, called to be children, themselves
lived perversely. My earnest desire for you, dear friends, is,
that through avoiding miirmurings and disputings, and cultivat-
ing a spirit of simplicity and gentleness, you may truthfully
exhibit the image of your Father, who " is love," and win men's
hearts to Him.'

This counsel is addressed to you and me, my brethren, as
fully as it was to the Philippians. Placed, as really as they

VERS. 15, 16.] Lights in the World, 181

were, * in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation/ may
we have grace from above to be thoughtful and vigilant, and
much given to prayer, that we may approve ourselves 'chil-
dren of God without rebuke,' showing them, clearly and win-
ningly, in blamclessness, earnestness, and beauty of character,
our Father's likeness ! IJy inconsistencies in the life of pro-
fessed children of God with the obvious moral requirements of
the gospel, immeasurable harm is done to religion. When
piety seems all reserved for the Sabbath and the sanctuary, —
when at home there is harshness, and in business frequent
evidence of keen and unscnipulous worldliness, — when the
declaration, implied in presence at the communion table, that
' the world is crucified unto us, and we unto the world,' is
followed during the week by a manifestly dominant interest in
the vanities and indulgences of the world, — when men and
women, who in name * fear the Lord,' in practice * serve other
gods,' — can the great multitude who, with regard to religion
as to ever)'thing else, will not study abstract principles, but
form their judgments according to embodiments, be expected
to think otherwise than that religion is a thing of emptiness, a
name merely, altogether devoid of power? MVoe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye make clean the out-
side of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of
extortion and excess.'

The thought of responsibility for the power of example,
which, as we have seen, is suggested by * in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation,' is explicitly brought out by
the apostle in his next clause, — ' among w}w?n ye shine as ligJiis
in the world, holding forth the word of life. ^ These words may
be taken as an injunction, ' among whom shine ye.' The \'iew
of the meaning given by our translators, however, is at least as
natural. Paul appears to be, with a little variation, repeating,
perhaps consciously, the statement of the Lord in the Sermon
on the Mount, where He tells His hearers what is their calling
as His disciples, — * Ye are the light of the world' (Matt. v. 14).

1 82 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. il

'Being placed,' the apostle says, 'in the midst of godless
men and women, you are, according to your profession, the
illuminators of these darkened ones, and this by holding forth
to them the word of life^ — that is, ' by bringing impressively and
winningly before them the gospel of Jesus Christ, which, when
received by faith into any soul, shows itself the incorruptible
seed of true life, even that life eternal, which is to know the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent'

The original word employed by the apostle here for ' lights'*
is not the form in ordinary use, but one which strictly means
'light-givers,' 'luminaries.' As it is that found in the Greek
translation of the Old Testament, in the ist chapter of Genesis,
for the ' lights in the firmament of the heaven,' k seems pro-
bable that the apostle had this image specially in his mind.
The Lord Jesus is our spiritual Sun, the ultimate Source of all
our light and heat. His followers, like the moon, can but
reflect the light which they receive from the Sun ; yet when,
like the moon at the full, they ' walk in brightness,' the dark-
ness around is helpfully dispelled, and many have cause to
'rejoice in that light.' To shed this kindly radiance is the
vocation of believers. One great end for which, instead of
being taken away at once to heaven on accepting Christ, they
are left ^ in the world^ is, that the gloom in which sin has
enshrouded it may, to some degree, be broken in upon by the
beams from their holy character ; and that men may be led by
the beauty of the lunar rays to open their minds and hearts to
the full glorious light of the Sun. This is our calling, Chris-
tian brethren, and in a measure all true followers of the Saviour
fulfil it ; for to believe the gospel is to become ' light in the
Lord.' ' But,' as has been finely said, 'it is with believers as it
is with the new moon in the heavens. There is at first only
a sharp and narrow surface of light ; and not unfrequently
there may be seen, embosomed in the luminous outline, the
large dark shadow of the old nature. But the imperfect circle
is gradually filled up, till there is presented at last a broad

VERS. 15, 16.] Li'o/ifs In the World, 183

and complete surface of light. They appear clothed with the
sun.' *

In his statement of the way in which Christians * shine,* —
by * holditii:; forth the word of life^' — the apostle passes from the
image of the luminary, and adopts one somewhat of this kind,
— a herald of the King of kings, holding out to public view a
scroll, on which is inscribed, in great letters, a proclamation of
mercy, a promise of everlasting life to all that believe in Jesus.
The primary reference here is evidently, from the tenor of the
whole passage, to that proclamation of the truth and power
of the gospel which, to all who are willing in any degree
to attend, is made by completeness of Christian character, —
by the exhibition of spiritual energy and sweetness and
patience. Nothing ' holds forth the word of life ' more im-
pressively than a life manifestly governed by that word. A
Christian of this type is himself a gospel, an ' epistle of Christ,'
written in letters so large and fair, that even those who run
can scarce but read. Such a distinct Christian life, a life
explicit and conWncing to all observers as a ' confession of
Christ,' is the legitimate fruitage from the seed of truth re-
ceived by the soul. Scripture knows nothing of invisible
religion. ' Men do not light a candle and put it under a
bushel, but on a candlestick ; and it giveth light unto all that
are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that
they, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father which
is in heaven.'

But to * hold forth the word of life ' implies not merely quiet,
consistent beauty of character, but definite action for the ex-
tension of the kingdom of Christ. Every believer has heard
his Father say, ' Son, go work in my vineyard,' and is in some
way busy among the vines. His faith has given him oneness
of purpose with Christ, — who died, and who reigns, to over-
throw sin. By lip, then, as well as by the eloquence of holy
living, the saint endeavours to speak for Christ, as God gives
^ Dr. Smith, of Biggar.

184 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

him ability and opportunity — be it to his little children by his
own fireside, or to assembled thousands. He ' cannot but
speak the things ' which grace has taught him, and given him
to experience. He delights, too, to send the truth to multi-
tudes whom personally he cannot reach, by aiding in the sup-
port of agents for the enlightenment of the darkened at home
and abroad. Through them he endeavours to ' go into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature,' — and He who
' seeth the end from the beginning,' recognises in His servant's
sympathy and prayers and gifts for missions, a true ' holding
forth of the word of life ' everywhere.

Looking back over the clauses, you see now, my brethren,
who they are that show themselves ' children of God without
rebuke.' They are the ' blameless and single-minded,' who
aim ever to be ' perfect, even as their Father which is in
heaven is perfect.' Like their Father, too, they are full of the
energy of love, ceaseless in beneficent activity, difiusers of
genial light and heat, as beseems children of the ' Father of
lights, from whom cometh down every good gift and every
perfect gift.'

The passage closes with a reference, most natural and
beautiful in the relations which existed between Paul and the
Philippians, to his own joy in ministerial success, as an object
which he had in view in thus pleading with them to cultivate a
lofty Christian character, — an object, too, the thought of which
might reasonably be expected, from their great love to him, to
serve somewhat as a stimulus to spiritual diligence. * Do all
things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may approve
yourselves children of God without rebuke, — that I ?fiay rejoice
in the day of Christy that I have not run i?i vain, neither laboured
in vain.'' The apostle had * nm^ with the eagerness of a racer
at the Isthmian or Olympic games, — the prize he sought, the
souls of men. He had ^ laboured^ with strenuous and perse-
vering diligence, — the wages he sought, the souls of men.
* God grant,' was ever the fervent cry of the noble heart, full of

VER. 1 6.] Li'o Ills in Ihe World. 185

love and i)ity fur his fcllow-mcn, — ' (lod grant that I may not
run in Tain, nor lal)our /'// 7v//;/, hut may have abundant cause
to rejoice/' He did not look for the joy other than very i)ar-
tially here below. To the eye of men, the results of work for
Christ have, at the present, murh that is obscure and confused.
But * /// t/ie Jay of Christ^ all will be clear. All the rii)e grain
will be gathered into the garner of God. Many who below
had deemed their work profitless, * going forth,' year after
year, 'weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.* Of the
work of every labourer in the field of the great Husbandman
there will then be a full and gracious acknowledgment ; and

* he that sowed and he that reaped shall rejoice together.'

* See to it, then,' the apostle says here to his beloved Philip-
pians, ' that you give me ever fuller reason to believe that I
shall find you on that day where my heart desires to find you,
and where the gospel, truly believed and loved, will place you.
See to it that, when I rest from my labours, my works follo^v
;//<•.'

1 86 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

XV.
JOY IN PROSPECT OF MARTYRDOM.

* Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and ser\'ice of your faith, I joy,
and rejoice with you all. i8 For the same cause also do ye joy, and
rejoice with me.' — Phil. ii. 17, 18.

THE link connecting these verses with that immediately
preceding appears to be of this kind, — ' I have spoken
of my ministerial life as a running zxi^ a labouring for the salva-
tion of my fellow-men j but think not that I regret this toil.
Nay, even though I be called on in this cause to die a martyr's
death, I will go forward to it gladly, and call on you, my con-
verts and friends, to rejoice with me.'

The thought of suffering a violent death in the cause of
Christ is exhibited under a peculiar form, interesting and
beautiful, — ^being offered (more exactly, "poured out"^) upon the
sacrifice and service of your faith.^ With certain of the sacri-
fices under the law of Moses there was presented also an
offering of wine, which was poured on or around the altar.
To this usage the apostle makes allusion. The ' faith ' of the
Philippians he sees lying on the altar of God as a sacrifice.
His own exertion for their spiritual good, the ' running ' and
the * labouring ' which he has just spoken of, is naturally re-
presented as his * service^ or ' priestly work,' connected with
this oblation. It might be the will of God — circumstances
seemed to render it not improbable that soon, in His provi-
dence, it might be shown to be His will — that, to complete

' The same word occurs also in 2 Tim. iv. 6, ' I am now ready to be
off'cred' — * poured forth as a libation.'

VEK. 17.] Joy in Prospect of Marlyrdom. 187

the sacrifice, the apostle's blood should be shed in martyrdom ;
and he says that, if it should be so, he would make the liba-
tion with joy, and trusted that his Christian friends would
through grace be enabled to rejoice with him. Such appears
to be the thought exhibited in these verses. The idea set
forth in our Authorized Version, of the shedding of the
apostle's blood as a libation or drink-offering ' upon the sacri-
fice,' is distinct and impressive. There is some doubt, how-
ever, whether the drink-offerings of the Mosaic ritual were
poured on the victim. You see, too, that ^ sacrifice and sen'ice^
stand together. Now it seems impossible to give a definite
significance to * on the priestly service connected with your
faith,' without bringing confusion into the figure. It is pro-
bable, therefore, though we give up with reluctance the clear
and lively picture suggested by * upon the sacrifice,' that the
apostle's meaning is rather, * If in addition to the sacrifice of
your faith, and my priestly service connected with it, I be
offered as a libation,' — a rendering which accords with a very
frequent use of the original word translated 'upon.'

Proceeding now to illustrate the apostle's statement some-
what more fully, I invite your attention, in the first place, to
the sacrifice. The Jewish sacrifices were of two kinds, some
intended for propitiation, some to express gratitude. To the
latter of these classes only has the self-consecration of true
Christians an analogy. Our blessed Lord has, through the
offering of Himself, once for all, ' perfected for ever ' all them
that put their confidence in Him ; and ' there remaineth ' —
there is needed — ' no more sacrifice for sin.' But ' to offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually, giving thanks to His
name,' * to do good and to communicate,' ' to present our
bodies living sacrifices,' is the duty of all Christians, and their
delight in the measure of the intelligence and liveliness of their
faith, for ' with such sacrifices ' — sacrifices of gratitude for His
infinite love manifested to us in the unspeakable gift of the
great propitiatory sacrifice — * God is well pleased.*

1 88 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

All sacrifices involve this as one essential element, that
some possession deemed valuable is voluntarily given up. In
modern use, indeed, apart from the language of theology, this
thought is the only one intended when the word is employed,
— as, for example, when we say that a man has gained a posi-
tion of influence by the sacrifice of half his fortune, that a kind
father has sacrificed his time to help his son in his studies, or
the like.

The apostle's statement, then, in the words, ^ the sacrifice of
voiir faith ^ is, when developed, to the effect that faith in Christ
is a voluntary surrender to God, in a spirit of love and thank-
fulness, of something which by nature we deem very precious.
To some it may seem strange to call faith a sacrifice. To
speak of becoming a missionary to the heathen, or of giving
money for religious purposes, as a sacrifice, seems to them an
intelligible statement ; but scarcely such an expression as we
have here. Yet, plainly, the apostle does call faith a sacrifice ;
and, in truth, my brethren, it is the great fundamental sacrifice
made by a Christian. Faith is not love, or zeal, or liberality ;
but these all arise out of faith, and defect in those sacrifices
always corresponds to defect in this. A test is evidently pre-
sented here by which we may try what we call and think our
faith. A very large number of us consider that we have faith
in Christ. Now, can we all deliberately and honestly say that
our faith is a sacrifice 1 Do we really in it surrender anything
which we greatly valued ? Did it cost us a struggle to give
God our faith ? Does it now cost us a struggle to keep giving
God our faith ? If we have no consciousness of anything like
this, is there not reason to fear that what we call our faith is
something distinct in kind from that state of mind and heart in
the Philippians of which the apostle here speaks? May we
not reasonably suspect that our 'faith' is but a bare, cold,
uninterested assent to doctrine ? — something, therefore, which
cannot by possibility save ; for the faith by which God's grace
introduces men into eternal life must be itself an energy of the

VER. 17.] ypy in Prospect of Martyrdom. 189

soul, — a living power, not a torj)or. All faith in Christ worthy
of the name, all faith whi( h lays hold firmly of men's affec-
tions, and thus becomes the governing power of the soul, —
and no other faith than this is saving, — involves struggle.
God has provided a Saviour who has done all that was needed
to Oj)en up a way by which, consistently with the glories of the
divine character and administration, mercy might flow forth to
man, for pardon and for adornment with spiritiml beauty; and
He asks from you and me, as our thank-offering for this in-
effable manifestation of kindness, childlike acceptance of His
gracious declarations, and absolute reliance on Christ. Such
faith is a sacrifice. Tliere is nothing that the natural heart
would not sooner give to God than this ; for it involves a
renunciation of pride, which is the natural heart's dearest pos-
session.

Entering into this part of the subject a little more particu-
larly, which its great importance claims, I obsen-e that true
faith in Christ is a sacrifice, inasmuch as it involves renuncia-
tion of the pride of reason. Our reason loves to elaborate for
herself, to combine and compare, to draw conclusions and
weave theories ; and when she has reached any conclusion
which is, or seems, true and important^ then, surveying her
gains, she delights to say, like Nebuchadnezzar as he looked
out upon his palaces and ramparts, ' Is not this great Babylon,
that I have built ? ' But the gospel revelation comes, bring-
ing with it sufficient evidence that it is from God, and, as being
from Him, not offering itself to our feeble reason to be so
dealt with as that we may choose some of its statements and
set aside others, and, by combining those we choose, obtain
some product which reason may complacently call her o^ti,
and rejoice in as water of life drawn by her own hand from
her own wells of wisdom and salvation. No, — God's revela-
tion claims to be believed — to have ' faith ' put in it — simply
and wholly.

Again, the principal statements of the gospel are, in them-

190 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

selves, of such simplicity that a little child may, in a measure,
apprehend them, — in such a measure as intelligently to believe
them ; whilst, at the same time, at all points they touch and
stretch out into the infinite, so that the boldest and strongest
thinker finds himself no more able to ^(?;/zprehend them in all
their bearings and ramifications than the little child is.

The absolute authority of the gospel, and its simplicity, and
its mysteries, are all hateful to the arrogance of intellect. Faith
is therefore a sacrifice.

This particular form of pride naturally takes prominence in
proportion to the activity and success of intellectual speculation
in other spheres than that of religion; and at no period, pro-
bably, has it been more intense and obvious than in our own
day. It has been fostered especially by the amazing progress
of the natural sciences. Instead of feeling gratitude to God
for the kindness which has led men on to such advances in
physical comfort and physical means of usefulness, and being
brought to submit all the more joyfully to the rule of the Creator
of that nature which we are every day finding to be more
and more wonderful, the proud heart of man comes to defy
the command, ' Believe the gospel as a child, and glory in the
cross of Christ.' To the arrogance of intellect it seems hard —
unendurable — that the race who, by the skilful and energetic
exertion of their powers of mind, have been able to make the
elements draw their cars, and carry their messages, and paint
their pictures, should, in religion, have simply and implicitly
to believe a ' Thus saith the Lord.' Ah, brethren, it was the
thought that the mystic tree in the garden was ' to be desired
to make one 7vise'' — the thought that men might ^ be as gods,
knowing good and evil' — which brought about the beginning of
sin in the world ; and this same thought has no little part in
maintaining sin's existence and power ! So long as men, seek-
ing after wisdom, fail to see that the only true wisdom for God's
creatures is childlike rest in His wisdom, — so long will the
gospel of Christ be to them 'foolishness.'

VER. 17.] Joy in Prospect of Martyrdom. 191

Again, — faith in Christ is a sacrifice, because it involves
renunciation of thf pride of sc/frii^/iteousness. To any one who,
with attention and candour, cither observes the world, or
scnitinizes his own heart, it is plain that there is great pronc-
ness among men to dream that they can earn eternal life. This
tendency, as is natural, is esj)erially strong in the class of
j)ersons who, through (iod's providence, have been by social,
cduciitional, and religious influences, fenced in from the com-
mission of gross outward sins. The Pharisees, in our Lord's
time, were representatives of great numbers in all ages. The
language of the heart in persons situated like ourselves is very
apt to be something of this kind, ' I am a respectable industri-
ous man, — I never defrauded any one, — I have no impurity of
life to reproach myself with, no cruelty, no oppression, — I am
not unkind to the poor, — I attend church regularly, and read
the Bible, and train my children to say their prayers, and at the
stated seasons partake of the communion ; * and, as we com-
placently thus recount our excellences to our souls, our inward
thought is, ' What more can God reasonably expect ? ' We do
not definitely deny the doctrine of the cross ; we have been too
well taught from our childhood for that ; but we quietly put it
away in a comer, never to be looked at, or turned to practical
account. You remember the man who stood and prayed,
saying, ' God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are.'
My brethren, we condemn this man, and marvel at his self-
ignorance ; and, even while thus condemning and marvelling,
we are very apt to go and do likewise. Now with such a
spirit the gospel of Christ will not suit ; for the reality and uni-
versality of sinfulness, and of utter inability to satisfy the claims
of the divine law, — this, and, by consequence, the absolute
gratuitousness of salvation, are of the very essence of gospel
doctrine. The very first work of the Divine Spirit, in His
function as the * Comforter,' the Diffuser of true peace, is to
* convince the world of sin.' So long as we reckon ourselves
whole, we shall plainly have no care for the help of the great

192 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. ii.

Physician. So long as we count ourselves ' just persons, who
need no repentance/ we shall have no real, deep-reaching faith
in Christ, or love to Him, — the Christ who ' died for our sins,'
because sin, our sin, was so evil a thing, and is now ' exalted
to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.' Ah, brethren, this
is one of the great soul-destroyers, — this pride of self-righteous-
ness. To the chief priests and elders of the people, who
' trusted in themselves that they were righteous,' Jesus said,
' Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and harlots go into
the kingdom of God before you,' — and this, plainly, simply
because these were more open to the sense of sin, and to the
conviction that ' the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world,' was the very Saviour for them. You see that
cordial faith in Christ as the Saviour of sinners — of those who
merit God's wrath, and are utterly unable to deliver themselves
— is in the fullest sense a sacrifice^ a surrender of something
which the carnal heart reckons very precious.

But yet once more, — faith in Christ is a sacrifice, because it
involves renimciaiion of the pride of self-will. To a spirit of
arrogant determination to continue sinning, to persist in follow-
ing our own will instead of submitting to God's, the gospel, if
at all understood, must be an object of intense dishke; for
every thoughtful mind feels that, whatever else the cross may
mean, it certainly intimates God's hatred of sin, so that no one
can accept salvation through Christ without being led thereby
to strive against sin. A religion of decency is popular ; but a
religion which searches the thoughts and intents of the heart,
and has for its aim to purify and elevate these, is hateful to the
carnal mind, — and such a religion is Christianity. No man
can look at Christ upon the cross without seeing the eyes of
the Son of God — ' eyes that are as a flame of fire' — penetrating,
burning into his very soul. Our depraved hearts have much
ingenuity in explaining away truth, and making it powerless ;
but wherever the doctrine of Christ is apprehended and believed
in its fulness, a stable barrier is thereby raised up in the way of

VF.R. 17.] Joy i)i Prospect of Martyrdom. 193

wilful violation of the law of (iod. The unconverted gospel
hearer feels instinctively that, if he were steadily to contemplate
the trutii that ' Christ Jesus gave Himself for us, to redeem
us from all iniquity,' he could not be at ease in sin. He
feels that faith in Christ is a root from which, inevitably, devo-
tion of life to the service of Christ will spring. Therefore, if
he be resolved to cleave to sin, he will, as far as he can, avoid
thinking of Christ with anything like fulness or candour, lest
he should be led into faith in Him. He will choose the dark-
ness rather than the light, mainly because he does not want to
see the cross, and those deep, pathetic, penetrating eyes of the
Divine Sufferer, in which shines, indeed, ineffable love to sinners,
but absolute and everlasting hatred of sin.

Considering then, brethren, how firm is the hold which these
various forms of pride have on us by nature, and that Christian
faith involves a renunciation of them all, you see how fitly
chosen is the apostle's language, when he speaks to the Philip-
pians of the ' sacrifice of their faith,'

We must now look at the priestly '■service'' connected with the
sacrifice. The New Testament recognises but one priest in the
strict sense of the word — the * one Mediator between God and
men,' who, through His atoning sacrifice on Calvar}', and His
intercession in heaven, obtains acceptance for all them who
come unto God by Him. In nothing does Popery more
distinctly prove itself to be an antichrist, than by ascribing to
its ministers the powers of the ' one Mediator,' the ' Priest for
ever.' But, by a figurative application of the name, Christians
are sometimes in the New Testament represented as priests, in
the general sense of persons solemnly, and by a sacred unction
— the ' unction from the Holy One ' — set apart from the world
for the service of God. Believers are ' an holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.'
Such a spiritual sacrifice was the ' faith' which the Philippians
presented to God. In speaking of this faith, however, the
apostle, as you see, introduces a variation of the ordinary

194 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

figure, to bring out the relation which divine grace had con-
stituted between him and them. His labours and prayers for
them had been blessed by God to their conversion, and subse-
quent advancement in religious knowledge and vigour and
happiness. Thus his work had been a kind of priestly service
for them. Through the spiritual energy given them from
heaven, they brought faith and love as a free-will offering to
God ; and the apostle's part in the work, his teachings and
pleadings and prayers, in the retrospect of which from his
prison in Rome his heart found much delight, might be said
loosely to correspond with the priestly act of laying the offering
on the altar. In his pleadings with them in God's name, and
in his pleadings for them with God in prayer, he stood, as it
were, between them and God, doing in Christ a priest's work.
The apostle employs exactly the same image, in a yet more
explicit way, in a passage in the Epistle to the Romans, where
he speaks of ' the grace that was given to him of God, that he
should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, minister-
ing the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles
might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost'
(Rom. XV. 15, 16).

Taking Paul as an example, then, you see. Christian
brethren, how comprehensive is the work of him who, through
the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit, is anointed a
priest unto God. He is called on to present on the altar his
whole life, by serving God in personal holiness, and also striv-
ing earnestly to bring other men to the Lord, and to help on-
ward his fellow-believers. Our duty is, first, like the Philippians,
offering the faith of our minds and hearts, then to ' present our
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,' — then to
consecrate to Him our social influence, and thus, if it please
Him to give His blessing, doing, like Paul, priestly service to
others. Observe that all this priestly work belongs as a duty
to all Christians. Each Philippian, as really and as fully as the
apostle, was bound to seek the conversion and confirmation of

VEK. 17.] Joy m Prospect of Marty rdojn. 195

other souls, and thus * present ' them to (iod. Ministers and
other otlice -hearers in the duirt h of Christ have pccuhar
opportunities and consefjuent responsibilities ; but their priest-
hood is only such as is commcjn to all who, having been
* called out of darkness into God's marvellous light,' are thus,
most reasonably, set apart *to show forth His praises.' The
(juestion of the carnal heart is that of Cain, 'Am I my
brother's keejier?' for the tendency of sin is ever to isolate
men, and enwrap them in a robe of selfishness. But, Christian
brethren, * this is the message which you and I have heard,
that we should love one another, — not as Cain, who was of
that wicked one, and slew his brother.' Wherefore, ' let him
that heareth say. Come,' remembering that ' he which con-
verteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul
from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.' 'They that
be wise shall shine, as the brightness of the firmament, and
they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and
ever.'

The apostle thought it not at all unlikely that the course of
God's providence might soon show it to be His will that he
should close his ministerial relations to the Philippians and his
other converts, by enduring a violent death. This would be,
as it were, his ^ being offered^ or 'poured forth,' — the libation,
or drink-oftering, by which his ' priestly service,' connected
with their ' sacrifice of faith,' should be completed. ' If it be
so,' he says, ' and vividly presenting to my mind the prospect,
I joy.^ How sublime this is ! How magnificent a proof of the
sustaining power of Christian faith I — in some respects, perhaps,
all the more impressive to a thoughtful mind, from the fact
that the apostle was not at the time in immediate and definite
anticipation of martyrdom. That after all the fluctuations of
thought and feeling regarding possible escape are over, after a
servant of Christ is condemned to death for conscience' sake,
and sees the scaftbld or the stake now certainly before him, he
should be calm, cheerful, thankful and happy, — this bears most

196 Lectures on PJiilippians, [ch. ii.

stirring testimony to the Saviour's grace. But to hear, as we
do in this passage, a man of transcendent truthfulness, eminently
accurate in his knowledge of his own heart, and careful in his
choice of language, telling us — while he is still busily occupied
with his Master's work — while a violent death, though far from
improbable, is still an uncertainty, and therefore he has not as
yet been called to rally all the energies of the new nature to
support him at the one point of awful trial, — ' If I be offered
upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy,' — the evi-
dence given here of the general sustaining power of faith seems
to me almost more striking than that afforded in the other case.
William Tyndale, the grandest figure, perhaps, take him all in
all, of the English Reformation — a man of Pauline strength of
character and singleness of devotion to the work which God
had given him to do — suffered martyrdom in circumstances of
such seclusion that we know scarcely anything more than the
mere fact. But no information of his demeanour in the dungeon
of Vilvorde could possibly either tell us more of his character,
or speak more weightily for Christ to any one who has ears to
hear, than these words, written years before, in his Preface to
The Parable of the Wicked Mamfnon, — ' Some man will ask,
peradventure, why I take the labour to make this work, inas-
much as they will bum it, seeing they burned the gospel. I
answer. In burning the New Testament they did none other
thing than that I looked for ; 7to inore shall they do if they
bum me also^ if it be God's will it shall so be. NevertJieless^
in translating the New Testament I did my duty, and so
do I now, and will do as imich more as God hath ordained me
to do:

The sources of Christian *joy,' in the anticipation of mar-
tyrdom, are twofold. One is the confident hope of being
introduced by death into heavenly blessedness and glory, —
for the martyr a blessedness peculiarly exquisite, and a glory
peculiarly sublime, seeing that ' it is a faithful saying, If we
suffer, we shall also reign with Him.' In a passage familiar to

VER. 1 8.] Joy in Prospect of Martyrdom, 197

us all, and written very shortly before his death, Paul cxj)licitly
sets fortii the siii)i)ortin}; power of the hope of heaven, — * I am
now ready to be offered, and the time of my dcjjarture is at
hand. 1 ienceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous-
ness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at
that day.' He knew that the executioner could do nothing
except to the body, and that the same stroke of the sword by
which the body was mutilated, would set the sj>irit free to go
to * be with Christ.' Another source of joy, even richer and
deeper than this, for the believer who looks forward to his
being * offered,' is the knowledge that, in many ways, glory will
accnie to God from the martyrdom. Paul felt well assured
that thereby * Christ would be magnified.' The Greeks of old
delighted to tell how Phidippides — fleetest of foot among his
countrymen — having borne himself gallantly in the great fight
at Marathon, darted from the field immediately after victory
was secure, ran to Athens, related his tidings to the Fathers of
the city, closing with the words, ' Rejoice ye, as we rejoice,'
and then, utterly exhausted by wounds and toil, fell down dead
before them. The entire sinking of the thought or care of
self in joy over the safety and glory of his native land was
very beautiful. Yet the noblest feelings which arise out of any
of the relations of man to what is earthly and visible, make but
a feeble approach to the grandeur of spirit of him who * joys '
to think of dying a cruel death, that the unseen God, the God
whom he knows by faith only, may thereby be glorified. Paul
believed that * out of the eater would come forth meat ; and out
of the strong, sweetness,' — that from the place of his martyrdom
there would exhale a rich fragrance of Christ, which would
bring spiritual joy to many souls ; — and therefore he would
gladly * endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also
might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with
eternal glory.'

He has something more to say, however, in the verse before
us, regarding feelings connected with his mart}Tdom : ' I joy.

198 Lectures on PJiilippimis. [ch. ii.

and I congratulate you all^ — for this seems to be the force of the
expression rendered in our version, ' rejoice with you all.^ ' For
the same caused he continues, ''joy ye also, and congratulate me.''
He would have his friends, as well as himself, to enter so fully
into oneness of spirit with Christ — so perfectly to subordinate
their earthly affections to their love for their Saviour, and in-
terest in His cause — as to esteem the death of their spiritual
father, in a way which would signally magnify Christ, as a
source of joy. He 'congratulates' them, and would have
them 'rejoice,' and by, in their turn, ' congratulating him,' stir
him up to still higher joy. * Think, dear friends,' he says, if
we may expand the thought a little, ' of the wide-spread con-
viction which may be produced in Rome of the truth of our
religion, by the sight of such composure and elevation of spirit
as I know God's grace will enable me to exhibit in dying, —
think of the chariot of fire and horses of fire which the eye of
faith can see hovering over the scene of blood, to bear the
martyr home, — think of the blessedness which awaits me
yonder. Would your love desire to keep me back from use-
fulness and from happiness like this ? Is it not reasonable
that I should congratulate you, whose souls are so precious in
Christ's sight, that for your sakes, for your furtherance in
wisdom and holiness. He exposes even His apostles to suffer-
ings and death, — and that you should congratulate me on the
privilege of being called to die in the service of Him who died
for me ? ' Ah, brethren, this was a very difficult task which
the apostle imposed on the loving Philippians. They could
well understand how, when * devout men carried Stephen to
his burial,' they ' made great lamentation over him ; ' but
Paul's teaching that, in such a case, the voice of 'joy' should
mingle with the ' lamentation ' of nature, and ring out more
loudly and clearly than the voice of sorrow, must have seemed
to them * an hard saying.' The prospect of losing him who
had been Christ's messenger to them, to lead them into peace,
and whose life seemed so needful for the confirmation and ex-

VER. 1 8.] Joy m Prospect of Martyrdom. 199

tension of Christianity among the Gentiles, could not but

appear to them a very gloomy one. At the first,

* They could hear no an(;cl.H singinf;.
See no brightness through the cloud.'

But gradually, we may believe, they attained at least to com-
l)0sure of spirit in view of this bereavement, — to childlike
ac(iuiescence in their Father's will, (irowth in faith made the
'hard saying' more intelligible. They came to understand
that, through divine grace, it is a possible thing for a bereaved
heart, even amid the deepest natural sorrow from the sense of
personal loss, to look up to God with profoundcst thankful-
ness. * All things are possible to him that bclicveth.'

200 Lec hires on Philippians, [ch. ii.

XVI.

MISSION OF TIMOTHY.

' But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I
also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. 20 For I have
no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state. 21 For
all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. 22 But
ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath
served with me in the gospel. 23 Him therefore I hope to send pre-
sently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. 24 But I trust
in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.' — Phil. ii. 19-24.

AT this point, with the freedom of a familiar letter, the
apostle passes on to a new subject, — his intention to
send to them Timothy and Epaphroditus. I shall draw your
attention at present to the first part of the passage, in which
he speaks of sending Timothy. Paraphrased a little, this is
his statement : ' But, passing from these matters, I hope, rely-
ing on the kindness of the Lord Jesus — who knows that in the
interests of His kingdom I have formed the desire — to send
Timothy to you shortly, for your solace and help, and that I
also may be cheered by hearing from him, on his return to me,
of your condition. I name him, because I have no man with
me like-minded with him, who will with genuine interest care
for your state. For all the persons whom I might othenvise
have chosen, are seeking the furtherance of their own matters,
not of Christ's. But ye know the proof of trustworthy character
which he has given, in that, as a son serves his father, he has
served with me for the advancement of the gospel. Him
therefore I hope to send, immediately on my seeing how my
own affairs are to stand, as regards the issue of my trial. But
I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.'

VKRS. 19-24.] Mission of Timothy. 201

You will observe that, in the 2oih verse, where our version
has * I have no man hke-minded, who will naturally care for
your state,' I have, in this paraj)hrasc, for ^naturally' substi-
tuted * with genuine interest.* Such is the exact force of the
original word, — * genuinely,* as opposed to * spuriously,' to
everything like pretenre and duplicity. Hy * naturally* our
translators, I think, meant ' with the affection which beseems
the new nature, the spirit becoming those who are brethren in
Christ.'

The apostle, in this passage, as you see, exhibits to us two
sharply-contrasted types of Christian profession. We have,
first, unspiritual professors : * all seek their oicn, not the things
which are Jesus Christ's^ In making this statement, the apostle
has not before his mind the Christian church in Rome gene-
rally, nor even its more prominent members or ministers.
Such a supposition is disproved by his mode of speaking re-
garding these brethren elsewhere in the Epistle, particularly by
what he says in the 14th and 17th verses of the ist chapter,
* Many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my
bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear,'
and this * of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the
gospel.' Looking at the connection in which the statement
before us stands, its reference must be simply to those of the
professing Christians within Paul's reach at the time, of whom
he might naturally have thought as suitable messengers to the
church of Philippi, — that is to say, probably, the men, in all
likelihood few in number, who had personal acquaintance with
that church, and at the same time had aptness to teach and
comfort and advise. Whether among those at this time in
his thoughts w^ere any whose names are kno\\'n to us, from
the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, as having been more
or less closely associated with him in travel and preaching,
we have no means whatever of determining.

Of these the apostle declares that * all seek their cum, not the
things li'hich are Jesus Christ's.' Taken rigidly, in fulness of

202 Lectures 07t Philippiaiis. [ch. ii.

meaning, these words describe unregenerate persons, enemies
of God. Indeed, no language could with more exactness ex-
hibit the grand contrast of character between men of the world
and believers, than these, that the one class ' seek their own
(things or interests)/ the other ' those of Jesus Christ.' I
think it, however, exceedingly unlikely, all things considered,
that, in the case before us, — or even in the somewhat similar
but yet stronger statement made in another Epistle regarding
Demas, * Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world' (2 Tim. iv. 10), — Paul meant his words to be taken as
intimating a definite judgment that the character of the persons
spoken of was funda7?ie?itally worldly, and thus that they had
utterly apostatized in heart from Christ. ' Whosoever is bom
of God,' says the Apostle John, ' cannot sin, because he is bom
of God,' — that is, from the very nature of the new life the will
is turned toward holiness, so that fully conscious and deliberate
violation of the law of God is impossible. But with this fact is
quite compatible the same apostle's other statement, ' If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us ;' the ground of the compatibility being expressly set
forth by Paul, ' If I do that / would not, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.' As in a river, whilst the
current is carrying the great body of the water on to the sea,
yet a strong wind may arrest the progress of the water on the
surface, or even to some extent reverse its direction ; so, while
the current of a true Christian's character is toward confomiity
to the divine will, yet the strong blasts of temptation can in-
fluence it not a little. The deplorable strength of tendency to
self-deception which remains even in a Christian heart, often
leads it to tolerate or even love what, when shown to it in true
colours by the Divine Spirit, it shrinks from with utter ab-
horrence. And the sinful state of feeling may continue for a
long time. David was for many months hardened in gross sin,
in the matter of Uriah ; and even amid the brighter light, and
more abundant spiritual influences, of Christianity the same

VERS. 19-24.] Mission of Timothy. 203

may be, — long seasons of torpor or backsliding, particularly
tlirougli the subtle power of those insidious sins which some-
what resemble virtues, and take their name — such as faithless
cowardice, calling itself wholesome discretion ; or avarice,
under the name of prudence. Our apostle, then, I apprehend,
in the statement before us, simj)ly mentions as a fact that, at
the time he wrote, the professing Christians to whom he refers
were so obviously under the power of world) iness in some
form — })robably enough the comparatively refined form of the
desire of self-display as religious teachers in the metropolis of
the world — as to make it unlikely that they would be willing to
go to Philippi on a Christian mission, or that, if they under-
took it, they would throw themselves into their work heartily
and effectively. This is all he says. Whether this character
was with them superficial and temporary, or pervasive and per-
manent, he was not called on to decide.

I suppose that, however often we have read this Epistle,
yet most of us never come to this statement without a feeling
of wonderment crossing our minds. That any professing
Christians of the first age should be described as grievously
unspiritual, and particularly persons so prominent in the church
that the aposde could think of them as in some respects fitted
to be his representatives to the church at Philippi, — this strikes
us as something altogether unnatural. Our astonishment
springs from a misconception regarding the character of the
primitive church, which to some extent has hold of us all,
through a vague impression that the exquisite outflow of Chris-
tian love at Jerusalem, of which the earlier chapters of Acts
tell us, lasted all through the first ages, and had its counter-
part in every congregation. A study of the Epistles is fitted to
give us a different idea ; convincing us that, almost from the
very outset, Satanic subtlety, and human depravity and weak-
ness, began to mar what divine grace had made so beautiful.
The same evil influences wrought in the primitive church which
work in the church stilL Alas, brethren, it would not surprise

204 Lectttres on Philippians, [ch. ii.

us greatly to hear Paul, if he were to revisit the earth in our
time, say of a large number of the present race of church
members, and of a considerable proportion, at least, of those
who bear office, ' They seek their own, not the things which
are Jesus Christ's.' In the wide-spread and manifold evi-
dence, even, it may be, in the very management of the affairs
of the church of Christ, of self-seeking, leading to jealousies
and envies, paltrinesses and wickednesses, — in the seemingly
exclusive, or all but exclusive, devotion of so many who
have named the name of Christ to money-making or mere
worldly pleasure, — in the frequent indisposition among church-
goers to give liberally, or even at all, of their money, or their
time, or their thoughts and labour, to Christian work, so that
our foreign missions, and at home our Bible societies. Sabbath
schools, town missions, and other religious agencies, are imper-
fectly supported, and fall far short of doing the good they
might do, — we see, I fear, too plain reason to think it likely
the apostle would speak so, to be much surprised. It would
not surprise us greatly to find him, in a letter sent to warn a
modem congregation of his intention to visit them, saying, ' I
fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would ;
lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings,
whisperings, swellings, tumults ; and that I shall bewail many
which have sinned already, and have not repented of the
uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness, which they
have committed.' Now, seeing that this language is actually
employed by the apostle with reference to professing Christians
in his own day,^ you see that the moral and spiritual tone of
the primitive church, taken generally, was, perhaps, not greatly
different from that of the church as it exists among ourselves.
Might it not reasonably excite surprise, think you, — ought we
not to be most deeply abased, — that this is all we can say,
with any show of truth ? The inheritors of the religious
teaching and holy examples of eighteen centuries of Chris-

^ 2 Cor. xii. 20, 21.

VERS. 19-24.] Missiofi 0/ Tif}wi/iy. 205

lianity — ci^litccn centuries of the dispensation of the Holy
Si)irit ; living in a land where Christianity is the religion uni-
versally professed, and where its influence has largely purified
and elevated the general tone and habits of even worldly
society ; — should we not he profoundly hunihled that all which
can be asserted of the j>rofessing church of Christ, — of any
average congregation, for examjjJe, like our own, — is that pro-
bably it is not greatly worse, morally and spiritually, than the
church of Rome or of Corinth, whose members had the
sensual seductions of heathenism all around them, and had
their religious steadiness and purity opposed by every influ-
ence of general society, and in many cases, no doubt, by the
influence of nearest kinsfolk ? Ah, Christian brethren, when
we think of our religious light and privileges, and, above all,
when we consider the sublime self-sacrifice for us, through which
we have been redeemed, — to us well belong shame and confu-
sion of face, because of so many of us the apostle's words may
be spoken — alas ! because of ail of us, to some extent, it may
be truly said, that ' we seek our own, not the things which are
Jesus Christ's.'

How partial among us, through this prevalence of un spiritu-
ality, is the enjoyment of Christian peace ! How lamentably
rare is that influence of consistent holy example, which should
be the church's most powerful evangelistic instrument I To
how deplorable an extent are Christians withheld from active
exertion in the service of Him whom they call Lord, or
enfeebled in such work if they undertake it ! To this last
point, you observe, the apostle specially adverts, stating that,
through want of spirituality, the persons of whom he is speak-
ing could not, ' with genuine or natural interest,' care for the
Philippians. True and wami piety is the cardinal qualification
for religious work. It is a great power, even standing alone ;
and where this is wanting, the very finest combination of other
qualifications is, after all, but a beautiful body without a soul.
Personal religion, true healthy spiritual life, is the only prin-

2o6 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

ciple of true healthy religious activity. A non-religious worker
in any department of religious labour, — a person taking part
in any of the agencies]of that church which the Lord purchased
with His own blood, who himself has no saving knowledge of
this Lord, — this is a monstrosity, a thing awfully unnatural in
God's universe. And yet, alas, my brethren, in this world,
which man's sin has in many things made an unnatural world,
it is to be feared that there are not a few such monstrous
things ; and that, in that day when the secrets of all hearts
come to be revealed, many who have long, and to the eye of
men respectably^ held office in the Christian church, and in
various ways taken part in Christian work, will be found cast-
aways.

With these unspiritual professing Christians the apostle in the
passage before us contrasts the character of Timothy. This
eminent evangelist was a native of Lycaonia, in the centre of
Asia Minor. Faithfully and lovingly taught by his mother, a
pious Jewess, to long and look for the Messiah promised to
the fathers, he was led, on Paul's first visit to those regions,
to recognise in Jesus of Nazareth the great Deliverer, and to
give Him his heart. On the apostle's second visit, four or five
years afterwards, finding Timothy highly commended by the
Christians of the district, he took him as his companion, to
give such aid in missionary work as a very young man could,
and to be trained for full efficiency as a preacher of the cross.
From that time onward we find him in constant connection
with the apostle, either as his companion, or as carrying on
some separate ministerial work which Paul had entrusted to
him. Of his character, as seen so closely and under very
testing circumstances during many years, the apostle gives his
judgment in the passage before us; and calls on the Philippians
to attest the accuracy of that judgment from their own know-
ledge, for Timothy had been among Paul's companions on his
first visit to Philippi, and had perhaps been there several times
afterwards : ' Ye know the proof of him^ that^ as a son with the

VERS. 19-24.] Mission of Timothy. 207

father^ he hath scncd with me in the fi^ospel! This mutual
affection and esteem continued unbroken. The very last
words of the great apostle which have come down to us, are
those written to Timothy from his prison at Rome, when
martyrdom was very near, — in which he calls him his * dearly
beloved son,' and entreats him to ' do his diligence to come
unto him sliortly.'

The j)raise given to Timothy in the present passage is very
high. His work and his dangers had been similar to those of
Paul himself ; and his persistent stedfastness from the begin-
ning, in encountering them, proves faith to have very quickly
become mature in the young disciple. Another young man,
you remember, who had previously been associated with Paul
in the same way, John Mark, cousin ^ of Barnabas, and probably
the Mark who wrote the second Gospel, left the apostle and
Barnabas in Pamphylia, and * went not with them to the
work' (Acts XV. t^V). He, like Timothy, was a man of true
piety; yet the energy of his young faith yielded for a time under
the pressure of the fear of toil and peril. But Timothy was
enabled to stand firm. The relations, too, which, in the carry-
ing on of his Christian work, he bore to the apostle, whilst in
the most important respects they were fitted to be a great
support and stimulus to him, yet in others added, or at least
by many a man would have been felt to add, to the difficulty
of his position. Where two or more men are called to labour
together in arduous and delicate work, all of them having a
deep sense of personal responsibility, difficulties of necessity
constantly arise, which an isolated worker does not encounter.
And in a kind of work, such as any of the forms of ' labour in
the gospel,' in which success depends largely on the existence of

^ The original word in Col. iv. lo, rendered in our version 'sister's
son,' really means, beyond doubt, 'cousin.' Some scholars think there
is reason to believe that, in the older English, the expression 'sister's
son ' was occasionally used in the sense of ' cousin, ' like the similar word
* Geschwistcrkind ' in German.

2o8 Lecher es on Philippians. [CH. ii.

affection and confidence between the labourers and those whom
they desire to influence for Christ, it is obvious that singular
watchfulness, self-restraint, largeness of spirit, delicacy of feel-
ing, are needed in men working conjointly. Hence the pro-
verbial rarity of thoroughly comfortable colleagueships in the
ministry. In the case of Paul and Timothy, however, the
difficulties were, so far as appears, completely overcome ; and
this was due to admirable qualities in both. The grand
simplicity and unselfishness, the mellow Christian wisdom, the
exquisite patience and gentleness, of the apostle, fitted most
pleasantly in with a charming meekness, and humility, and
unselfishness, and affectionateness, in his young friend; so that
the relation they bore to each other was one greatly and, no
doubt, growingly helpful to both. The apostle saw with delight
the maturing grace of his beloved companion ; and Timothy's
heart was ever full of thankfulness to God for giving him such
a friend. How full and satisfying the testimony of the apostle
is, — how gladdening, as the evidence that amid all his sufferings
and sorrows — some of the bitterest of them, as we have already
seen, from un spiritual and disappointing associates — this affec-
tion between him and Timothy remained so firm, and was so
sweet to him ! '•As a son with the father^ he says, — or yet more
beautifully, according to the exact meaning of the original, ' as
a son serves his father,' — * so he with vie has served unto the
furtherance of the gospel^ — the first clause bringing out, by the
comparison, the relation between Paul and Timothy; the second,
instead of precisely finishing the comparison, passing off, with
much elegance and delicacy, to exhibit their common relation
to God, as an elder and a younger participant in that glorious
service which is perfect freedom. With all becoming filial love,
and trust, and veneration for his spiritual father the apostle,
— thus Timothy, journeying on through life by Paul's side,
together with him served God.

The character of Timothy is certainly a very beautiful one,
— one which all the right-minded among us cannot but most

VERS. 19-24.] Mission of Timothy. 209

earnestly desire to see mirrored in ourselves, and all who arc
dear to us. Now wc are told expressly regarding him, more
fully, 1 think, than with reference to any other New Testament
saint, what was the mode of early training through which, by
the blessing of (»od, he became the man we fmd him. To
this, for a little, I will turn your thoughts, as the most fitting
and i)roritable prat tical close to our meditations on the present
paragraph. In Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy, he men-
tions that 'the unfeigned faith which was in him, had dwelt
first in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice,' and that
* from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures.' It is i)lain,
then, you see, that, for the i)roduction of this character on
which we have been looking with such admiration, (iod had
blessed /(7r^;//<7/ teaching and influence, and particularly /rtrr^wAz/
training in the Bible. The duty of prayerful, thoughtful,
hopeful religious education of children is therefore, I think,
that which a study of the life and character of Timothy is
most fitted to commend to the consideration of Christian
parents.

Of all societies known among men, a family is that which has
the strongest, tenderest, and most sacred bonds. Its ties are
those by which God, herein displaying the unsearchable riches
of His love in Christ, binds believers to Himself; for He is our
Father, and all we are brethren. In no other relation among
men does nature excite so warm an affection for those ^vith whom
we are associated, and so deep an interest in their welfare ; in
none, therefore, does grace originate so ardent a desire that
their souls may 'prosper and be in health.' If, then, men and
women who are not specially bound together by any earthly ties,
feel themselves impelled by their common needs, their common
longings, their common mercies, to constitute such a church
as meets in the house of public worship ; surely natural affection,
purified and ennobled by the influences of grace, should con-
stitute every professing Christian family — the very infants of
which, remember, are by baptism members of the great visible

210 Lectures on Philippia7is. [ch. ii.

community of saints — a ' church in the house,' for instruction
and discipHne and common worship.

The position that in a household there should be religious
teaching, seems to me one so self-evident, as not at all to
call for proof. Truth, understood and believed, being the
instrument of conversion, — and growth in clearness and breadth
of view, and in liveliness of faith, being the means of growth in
likeness to God, — advancement in religious knowledge is one
of the principal objects in our association as a church, and
our exercises in. the sanctuary ; and the case is precisely similar
with the ' church in the house.' There must be teaching, and
this obviously by the parents. To take children regularly to
church, and to give them opportunities of religious instruction
at day schools. Sabbath schools, and Bible classes, is well ;
but parents who think on the matter, must feel convinced
that, while these are most valuable auxiliaries, yet not one of
them, nor all of them combined, can be a satisfactory substitute
for their teaching. To them God in His providence has said,
' Take this child and nurse it for Me, and I will give you your
wages ; ' and specially from them at the last will be demanded
an account of this stewardship. They cannot strip themselves
of this responsibility. No wise parent, therefore, will think that
all the teaching of his children can or should be handed over to
others, — the more especially as he knows that the bond which
nature has knit between parents and children, and all the holy
and beautiful affections which hover round it, give to parental
instruction a force that cannot be possessed by any other.

If parents are to. discharge this duty of teaching, they
must themselves, according to their opportunities, be students
of the truth to be taught A religious teacher, whether in a
wide or narrow sphere, will certainly fail to build up those
whom he professes to instruct, in that Christian wisdom from
which holiness and comfort spring, unless he be himself a
faithful student. Only conscientious learners can be success-
ful teachers. We never know how much we need to know, —

VERS. 19-24.] Mission 0/ Timothy. 211

how little WL' know clearly and exactly, — how much that wc
thought we knew well, was laid hold of by the mind but
loosely and vaguely, — till wc are called ui>on to teach others.
One good reason, I am afraid, my brethren, why teaching by
parents is far from being so common as it should be, is that
many professing Christian parents, when they attempt it, find
themselves culpably ignorant of divine truth — more ignorant
than their pride of heart permits them to acknowledge even to
themselves ; and one grand advantage which would accrue
from a general, persistent, and faithful discharge of the duty
of parental instniction, would be the manifest advance of the
elder people themselves in the knowledge of the Word of
life.

That teaching may be successful, it must be painstaking
and thorough ; not contenting itself with a mere parrot repe-
tition of words, but resting not till every step taken be under-
stood, so far as the various ages and capacities of the members
of the family admit It must be kindly and earnest, too ; not
seeming to be a burden or a ?n€re duty to the teacher, or so
conducted as to be a burden and a weariness to the taught,
but welcomed by both as a privilege. The real desire of the
parents must be, and must be felt to be, to wnn to Christ the
souls which nature has made the most dear to them. Ah,
brethren, can worse be said of unspirituality, than that it brings
men into the position of * not naturally caring for ' the souls
even of their own children ? Above all, such teaching, to be
successful, must be conducted in the spirit of prayer, — under a
deep sense of the insufficiency of all human instrumentalities,
left to themselves, and with earnest wTestlings for the gracious
influences of the Spirit. Where special prayer, however brief,
with the family, for a blessing on the instruction, forms a part
of the service, the force of the teaching will be intensified
many-fold.

Besides such teaching of the household collectively, a wise
parent will, at suitable seasons, take the members of the family

212 Lectures on Philippians. [en. it.

apart, and deal with them individually, plainly, earnestly, and
affectionately, regarding their spiritual position and prospects.
Such private appeals may be ' as nails fastened in a sure place,'
whereby all the truth taught is secured by God to the soul
for evermore as a saving power.

In the teaching of their children, a Christian father and
mother will lovingly and judiciously co-operate. But let me
specially remind believing mothers — the Eunices of my audi-
ence— that, while their children are at the most susceptible
age, the mother's influence and opportunities are commonly
both particularly great. Innumerable Christians, many of them
eminent in the service of their Master, have traced their con-
version to the teaching and prayers of a mother. To mention
but one recent instance, — the biographer of the illustrious
General Havelock says : * His religious impressions were trace-
able to the influence and the efl"orts of his mother, when he
was a little boy. It was her custom to assemble her children
for reading the Scriptures and prayer in her own room. Henry
was always of the party whenever he was at home from school ;
and in course of time he was expected to take the reading,
which he generally did. It impressed him ; and, under these
pleasant circumstances, he knew, like Timothy, the Holy Scrip-
tures from a child.' May God multiply such mothers !

VERS. 25-30.] Mission 0/ Epap/irodilus. 213

XVII.
MISSION OF EPAPHRODITUS.

' Vet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother,
and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and
he that ministered to my wants. 26 For he longed after you all, and
was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death : but God had mercy on
him ; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow
upon sorrow. 28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when
ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness ; and hold
such in reputation ; 30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh
unto death, not regarding^ his life, to supply your lack of service
toward me.' — Phil. ii. 25-30.

IN this paragraph the apostle goes on to say that, whilst, as
he has mentioned, he purposes soon to send Timothy to
Philippi, and hopes to visit the church himself also before very
long, yet he has thought it needful to send Epaphroditus to
them at once. This intimation is followed by a statement of
his reasons for doing so ; and the section closes with an appeal
to the Philippians to regard Epaphroditus, and all similarly
devoted servants of Christ, with high esteem and warm affection.
In reading the section carefully, with its detailed exhibition
of the character and feelings of Epaphroditus, and particularly
the closing appeal, it is difficult to resist the impression that
on some ground, which he does not state, Paul felt a little
doubt whether the Philippians, in welcoming Epaphroditus, for
whom they evidently cherished a warm and tender affection,
might not have at the same time in their hearts, for some
reason, a certain feeling of disappointment. It may be that

214 Lectures on Philippia7is, [ch. ii.

they had asked the apostle, should he be still prevented from
personally visiting them, to send them one of his most trusted
helpers for a time ; and when Epaphroditus, one of the mem-
bers of their own congregation, was sent back as in some sort
Paul's deputy, a measure of disappointment might be felt,
through the proverbial blindness, in a prophet's own country,
to his claims and excellences. Supposing an anticipation of
this to have been in Paul's mind while wTiting, the structure of
the whole passage is explained. By the mention previously
of his own hope to visit them, and of his intention to send
Timothy, the most honoured and loved of all his companions,
as soon as possible, the way is most skilfully prepared for the
intimation regarding Epaphroditus ; and now, in speaking of
Epaphroditus, the apostle makes it evident that, having during
his stay in Rome proved himself a most efficient and in every
way admirable assistant, and been admitted to his closest
friendship, he could with fulness of knowledge and of sym-
pathy exhibit the apostle's views and wishes to the Philippian
brethren.

The only thing in the language of the passage which seems
to claim a word of explanation, is the use of the /^i"/ in one or
two places with reference to the sending of Epaphroditus,
whilst, as is clear from the whole passage, he was in fact the
bearer of the Epistle. ' I supposed it necessary to send to you
Epaphroditus, — for he longed after you all, and ivas full of
heaviness;' and 'I sent him therefore the more carefully.' This
is the idiom of the original language, — a letter-writer transporting
himself in imagination to the time when his letter would be
read, and when the course of feelings and doings which were
present at the time of writing would have become past. We,
on the other hand, generally keep our modes of expression in
accordance with the actual time of writing, so that we should
naturally say here, ^ I thi?ik it necessary to send to you Epa-
phroditus,— for he has been longing after you all, and is full of
heaviness,' and * I send him therefore the more carefully.*

vp:rs. 25-30.] AIissio7i of Epaphroditjis. 215

Of Mpaphroditus \vc know nothing except what is mentioned
here, and — regarding one point a httie more fully — in the i8th
verse of the 4th chapter of this Epistle. An Epaphras is
spoken of in the Epistle to the Colossians, and in that to
Philemon ; who by some has been supposed to be the same
person here referred to. This, however, is unlikely. The one
name, indeed, may be only a short form of the other, and the
character ascribed to Epaphras is very similar to that given to
Epaphroditus ; but both names, or forms of the name, were
very common ; and Epaphras is expressly said to have been
a member of the Colossian church,^ whilst everything told us
of Epaphroditus leads us to think that his ordinary place of
residence was Philippi, — from which he had come to Rome,
bringing to Paul such pecuniary aid as the church there could
give.

The apostle here, in sending him back, speaks of him as his
^brother.'' How sweet a term for 'fellow-Christian' this is,
dear friends, — how suggestive of lofty dignity, precious privi-
lege, holy character I It brings before our minds at once the
family of God, and all the sweet and elevating affections to
which the ' new birth ' gives rise. ' Of His own will the Father
of lights begat us with the word of truth ; ' and believers, being
thus all children of the same God, necessarily, in the measure
of the clearness and liveliness of their faith, feel themselves to
be brethren of each other.

But the apostle has more to say of Epaphroditus than that
he is a member of this glorious family. He exhibits conspicu-
ously the features of character which should distinguish its
members. The life of the household of God should be, ac-
cording to the will of their Father, full of holy and beneficent
activity. Said the divine Elder Brother, ' My Father worketh
hitherto, and I work ; ' and to every member of the family the
Father's command is, ' Son, go work to-day in My vineyard.'
Epaphroditus had heard the call, and, as opportunity was

^ Col. iv. 12.

2 1 6 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

given to him, he laboured in his Father's service. In Rome
he evidently engaged heartily and efficiently in Christian work
under the apostle's direction, and is therefore described as his
^companion in labour?

Still further, however. In a world which loves darkness
rather than light, effort to diffuse light will of necessity bring
hatred and opposition ; so that the labourers have also to be
soldiers. As, under good Nehemiah, when repairing the walls
of Jerusalem, ' the builders had every one his sword girded by
his side, and so builded,' so must it be also with those who are
rearing up the wall of the spiritual city of God. The modes
of opposition are different under different circumstances, but
the spirit of keen hostility is never wanting. Now, as in
Nehemiah's days, ' when the Arabians, and the Ammonites,
and the Ashdodites, hear that the walls of Jerusalem are made
up, and that the breaches begin to be stopped, then are they
very wroth, and conspire all of them together to come and to
fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.' Epaphroditus,
preaching the gospel in Rome, had to encounter contempt
and peril, both among Jews and heathen. But, as we may
fairly conclude from the hearty and approving way in which
the apostle calls him his ^fellow-soldier^ he was * not ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of Paul His prisoner, but
was partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the
power of God.' He proved his readiness to ' endure hardness,
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ,' believing it to be a faithful
saying, ' If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him ;
if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.'

Looking back now over the three terms employed by the
apostle, * brother? ' compa7iion in labour^ and ''fellow-soldier^
you see that they are arranged in an ascending scale, from a
simple statement of companionship in religion up to a state-
ment of companionship in endurance of severe tests of sincerity
and devotedness in religion. * I send to you Epaphroditus,
one whom I have found to be a Christian energetic and brave,

VKRS. 25-30.] Mission of Epaphroditus.

2 I

— one to whom I am bouiul hy the closest ties, through com-
munity of aspirations and sympathies, community of Christian
labour, community of clanger and suffering in the cause of our
common Lord.'

The riiilippians also had special relations to Kpapliroditus,
and special cause to esteem him. These the af)Ostlc exhibits
over against his own. * On the one hand, he is mine in
brotlierhood, and companionship in labour and suffering, —
but, on the other hand, yours as agent in beneficence,' — ^ your
messerii^i'r and {your) minister to my want 5.^ Here, certainly,
was a relation fitted to bind the Phiiippians and Kpai)hroditus
together, and both to Paul, in the closest bonds. In the
spirit so honoured by Christ — so Christlikc — of caring for a
righteous man ' in the name of a righteous man,* the Philif)-
pians had sent P^paphroditus to bear to the apostle in his
imprisonment their pecuniary contributions for his support,
and to discharge to him all such services as might be within
his power. Most faithfully and lovingly — his whole heart in
the work — had he executed his commission. Paul's estimate
of the sacredness and dignity of the work, and of the single-
ness and consecration of heart with which it had been done,
are indicated, as it seems to me, by the terms he employs.
The word rendered ^ he that 7ninistered^ is commonly employed
of priestly service, or of the service of angels, and thus natur-
ally carries with it the same suggestion of sacred and honour-
able office as our own word ' minister.' Again, — the term here
translated, according to its original sense, ^ messenger,^ is that
usually rendered * apostle,' and from which indeed the English
word 'apostle' comes; and therefore, I think — even when
used as here, rather loosely — it must always have conveyed to
the minds of the early Christians some such idea of venerable-
ness as is in our minds when, for example, we speak of John
Williams as the 'apostle' of the South Seas. Epaphroditus,
Paul's * brother and companion in labour and fellow-soldier,'
was ' the apostle and minister of the Phiiippians for the supply

2i8 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

of Paul's need;' and thus, from his relations to both, he was
certainly a most fit and natural deputy from Paul to his
brethren at Phihppi.

Epaphroditus had been very ill in Rome. ' He was sick, nigh
u7ito death.^ To the young believer it often and most naturally
presents itself as a strange thing that affliction is not altogether
withdrawn from Christ's people. Is not affliction an element
of death, — and have not Christians * passed from death unto
life ' ? The mature believer also sees mystery very near ; but
he knows, at least, that the subjection of the saints to trouble
is not an isolated anomaly connected with God's mode of
saving them, but fits in with the entire plan. The grandest
element of Christ's salvation is the emancipation of the moral
nature, which is our glory, from the debasing thraldom of sin.
Now here, as in all His actings on our souls, we have no
violent convulsion — no sudden substitution of a complete or
perfectly holy nature for our former sinful selves, such as we
can scarcely conceive compatible with the maintenance of a
sense of personal identity. We have a gradual process, — a
growth. The heart, the will, ' out of which are the issues of
life,* receives the heavenly seed of holy desire, to develope
according to its kind, under the influence of the refreshing
rain of heaven, and the genial beams of the Sun of righteous-
ness. A most important form of the tillage is affliction.
' Every branch that beareth fruit,' the Great Husbandman
*purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit.' Surely, then,
* Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and
teachest out of Thy law ! '

By affliction our Father leads lis into deeper seriousness. Even
a Christian is apt, amid the frivolities of earth, to find the
great realities which faith has revealed to him growing dim to
his view. His heart and conscience, made so tender by the
good Spirit aforetime, are prone to be in no small measure
hardened again by the passage of secular thoughts and affec-
tions. The power over him of God's word and ordinances is

VKRS. 25-30.] Missio7i of lipaphroditiis. 219

apt to grow feebler. Now nfilirtion is the great rloud-dis-
l)eller for the spiritual nature. Jieforc its breath the mists
whi( h hid (lod and eternity from us disapi)car, so that the
vanities a.ssume their true littleness, and the realities stand
out once more in their impressive grandeur. From the dis-
tracting noises of the world, whirh drown the 'still small
voice,' (lod, through atthction, lovingly leads His children out
into the wilderness, that there He may commune with them
alone, and * speak comfortably to them, giving them their
vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of
hope. '

Aflliction gives much Jiclp^ too, in serious self study. The
heart is ' deceitful above all things,' and even the Christian
knows very little of himself. Affliction lets down a blazing
torch for him into the depths of his nature ; and he sees many
things which he little expected to see. He finds his faith
weak where he thought it strong, his views dim where he
thought them clear, his pride stubborn where he thought it
broken. Thus afflictions of every kind are trials — testing
and revealing agencies, — that the believer may know himself,
and be led to cry to his Father for wisdom and strength.

Such a case as that of Epaphroditus — where, from an im-
portant field of Christian labour, a workman, very efficient
and seemingly much needed, is laid aside by long and severe
sickness, or, it may be, removed permanently by death — has
obviously special difficulties of its own, with relation to Christ's
administration of His kingdom of grace. This good man has
been brought across the sea, and through manifold dangers,
to succour the aged apostle, and cheer him by undertaking in
his room some portion of the work which, through God's
providence, he is prevented from doing personally. He has
begun this work most successfully, and the weary heart of
the noble old soldier of Jesus Christ is finding great comfort
in this loving and energetic friend, — when the Lord's own
hand suddenly prostrates him utterly, and the shadow of death

2 20 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

falls upon him. How often we ourselves have felt the diffi-
culty, my brethren, — when a wise Christian father was taken
away from his children at the very time they were about fully
to face the temptations of life, and seemed most to need his
watchful, prayerful, guiding love, — or a young minister at home,
or missionary abroad, who appeared to us to have been by
grace polished with singular completeness as a shaft to pierce
the heart of the King's enemies, is removed at the very out-
set of his work ! All such cases have peculiarly impressive
teaching for those who have ears to hear. I doubt not that
Epaphroditus, as he lay on his bed of pain and weariness,
was taught by his sickness, as Milton by the blindness which
severed him from his old modes of work, that

* God doth not need
Either man's work or His own gifts,' —

that even those instruments which He has made and fitted
most perfectly for His work may at any moment be broken,
whilst yet ' the Word of God liveth and abideth for ever,' —
that He Himself is the All-efficient, and most rightfully claims
all the glory.

Severe as the illness of Epaphroditus was, it was not unto
death. * God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on
me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.^ The earnest
cry of the apostle to the great Giver and Sustainer of life was
heard ; so that upon the trouble which he already had, as a
prisoner, compassed inevitably with various sources of distress,
there was not laid the additional and very heavy sorrow which
the death of this beloved and most helpful friend would have
caused. In mercy to Epaphroditus himself, too, the recovery
came. I can imagine a little wonderment occurring for a
moment to some readers, at this part of the apostle's state-
ment. Is not this he who told us but a short time ago, that,
for the believer, ' to depart is to be with Christ, which is far
better'? Can he then, with justice, call it a manifestation of

VERS. 25-30-] Mission of Epaphrodilus. 221

mercy to tliis eminent servant of Christ, that, after having
endured very much of tlie bitterness of death — after having
passed far through the dreariness of the valley of the sharlow —
he should yet be withheld from entering on that * far better*
lot, antl should be brought back to the perplexities, and sins,
and sorrows of this earthly life ?

In answer, it may be said that the Christian in full spiritual
health, knowing that God makes * all things work together for
good to them that love Him,' will hold all providential deal-
ings, whatever be their aspect to the eye of sense, as mercies;
and therefore * praise will continually be in his mouth.' At
midnight, in the inner prison, their backs bleeding from unjust
stripes, Paul and Silas ' sang praises to God.' If from illness
a Christian recovers, he will praise God for the mercy of
restoration ; if he dies, he passes out into the sphere of the
full, glorious, unclouded manifestation of divine mercy.

But though this is true and important, yet, as an answer, it
is plainly inadequate ; for when Paul uses the expression * God
had mercy on Epaphroditus,' as simply equivalent to an inti-
mation of the fact that ' Epaphroditus recovered from his
illness,' he obviously leads us to suppose, not merely that
Epaphroditus was ready to acquiesce in either issue, and count
it a mercy, but that this particular issue was desired and prayed
for by him as a mercy. It was natural and right that it should
be so. And the little difficulty is solved by a moment's con-
sideration. Christianity proves itself to have the same Author
as man, by according in everj'thing with our original nature — the
nature which God gave us, — opposing itself only to the per-
versities, the secondary superinduced nature, due to sin. Now
our instincts lead us to love life; and the convictions and
aftections which belong to the purest and loftiest spirituality
give strength to this instinctive longing. The love to God and
man which the cordial acceptance of the gospel awakens,
prompts to ardent desires and earnest efforts for the advance-
ment of the kingdom of Christ. Thus, looking at the powers

22 2 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. ii.

and opportunities we have here to exercise influence for Christ,
the Christian feels, as none other can, the inestimable precious-
ness and nobleness of life. It argues therefore not elevated
spirituality, but spiritual morbidness, spiritual ignorance and
cowardice, if, so long as God continues power to serve Him,
longings and prayers for speedy death be allowed to occupy
the heart, — desire of the personal happiness and rest which
heaven will give gaining more influence than the desire of use-
fulness, the desire of ' serving our generation by the will of
God.' A 'good soldier of Jesus Christ' will not be wishful
to quit his post, so long as the Captain of salvation continues
with him the means of maintaining it. It was natural, then,
and right, for Epaphroditus, stricken down by illness in the
midst of important labours, and while full of strength and hope,
to wish and pray for prolonged life.

As the years flit on, and loved ones pass away before us to
heaven, and the infirmities of age show themselves, 'the keepers
of the house trembling, and the strong men bowing themselves/
— or, in earlier life, when months and years of feebleness, and
weariness, and pain, bring home the sad conviction of perma-
nent incapacity alike for the work and the pleasures of earth, —
it becomes natural then, and reasonable, to have the patriarch's
' I would not live alway ' much before the heart. In cases like
these, the Divine Captain is, in His providence, intimating His
purpose to withdraw the soldier from his post; and, by turning
the longings alike of nature and of grace toward the peace and
the energy of the other life. He meetens the soul for the change.
* I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far
better,' says the war-worn veteran of the faith, now ' such an
one as Paul the aged;' — but mark, he is ' in a strait betwixt
two ' in his feelings on this matter even yet, and, so long as
any duty remains for him to do, he would rather stay to do it.
Still, at the shouting of the Lord's adversaries, the old soldier's
eye flashes, and with renewed ardour he girds on his sword
again, and takes his place, to defend the cause and the friends

VERS. 25-30.] Mission of lipaphroditiis. 223

of Him he loves; .md a^ain his Ijalllc-rry rings out loud and
clear. 'To abide in the llesh is niore needful for you: and
having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue
with you all, for your furtherance and joy of faith.'

When the prayer of Kpaphroditus was heard, and he came
back from the gates of the unseen world, we cannot doubt that
it was to enter on a life of even more devotedness than he had
before shown. An enemy of God may sometimes take up
again the weapons of his unholy warfare, even after being by
the divine mercy restored from severe illness ; for if, as our
Lord tells us, even the sight of a man returned from the dead
would not work faith in those who refuse to hear Moses and
the proi)hets, no doubt such an approach to resurrection in
one's own experience as was granted to Epaphroditus may fail.
But it may safely be declared impossible that an earnest, active
Christian like Epaphroditus could be dealt with as he was, and
not be a more profoundly spiritually-minded man, and more
resolute to * work while it is called to-day,' than he had ever
been. He blessed Him 'with whom are the issues from death,'
and dedicated his renewed life to His glory.

Observe the glimpse which we have here of the spiritual
training through which God brought His illustrious servant
Paul, — a glimpse fitted to bring the apostle nearer to us, and
give his example and his teaching greater power over us. The
points in which the apostles differed from ordinary believers —
the inspiration and miraculous power which they received to
qualify them for their peculiar work — sometimes, I think, hide
from us a little the fact that,, as men by nature sinful, but
guided onward and upward by divine grace, their spiritual ex-
perience was, in all important respects, similar to that of other
believers. You see here, that though, as regards signs and
wonders as well as energy and success, Paul was * not a whit
behind the very chiefest apostles,' — though at Ephesus, as we
read, ' special miracles were wrought by the hands of Paul, so
that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or

224 Lectures 07i Philippians, [cH. 11.

aprons, and the diseases departed from them/ — yet the disci-
pHne of spending days or weeks by the sick-bed of a dear
friend, of anxiously watching the varying pulse, of wrestling
with God for mercy, of seeing with trembling alternations of
hope and fear the slow return of life, — this precious discipline
could not be withheld from Paul. When the idolaters of
Ephesus were to be convinced that the kingdom of God was
come nigh to them, then a handkerchief from Paul's body
could at once bring health to the diseased ; but when Paul
himself, and his helpers, were, through the teaching of afflic-
tion, to have their spiritual life beautified and strengthened,
then Epaphroditus had to languish in sore illness, and from the
bank of the dark river come back by slow stages, — and Tro-
phimus had to be ' left at Miletum sick.'

One of the apostle's reasons for sending Epaphroditus to
Philippi was the intense desire of Epaphroditus himself to
revisit his home and friends : ' For he longed after you ail, and
was full of heavi?iess because that ye had heard that he had been
sick.'' There are probably not a few among us, who from our
own experience can illustrate this statement, — recalling how,
after a severe illness away from home, amid the nervous weak-
ness of convalescence an intense longing took possession of the
heart to see again the kind faces which had smiled on us in
childhood, and hear the old familiar tones of love. The par-
ticular form which the feeling took in the case before us was
such as to show a very gentle and amiable character. Epa-
phroditus knew that many among the PhiHppian Christians
cherished a lively affection for him ; and, being aware that they
had heard of his illness, he knew that there would be among
them much grief and anxiety. Under these circumstances, it
seemed to him as if he could not have comfort of spirit again
in returning to his evangelistic work, until he and his friends
had once more looked each other in the face. There was here
a certain womanly tenderness, which some men would have
called weakness. Paul does not call it such, and evidently

VERS. 25-30.] Mission of Rpaphroditus. 225

docs not think it sur.li. lie knew the manly robustness of
spirit, tile decision and energy and devoledness, wliidi had
made Kpaphroditus his honoured 'companion in labour and
fellow-soldier;' and to liim, I doubt not, the clement of soft-
ness and sweetness, brought out in the languor of the recovery,
exhibited a new charm.

Not merely did Kpaphroditus long to return to Philippi, but
the aj)ostlc himself thought it every way desirable. How beau-
tifully the tenderness of his character also is illustrated in this
little paragraph ! * God had mercy on him,' he says, ' and not
on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon
sorrow. / send him therefore the more carefully^ that when ye see
him iii:;ain ye may rejoice^ and that I may be the less sorroiuftiC
*■ I feel it such a blessing to myself to have Kpaphroditus back
again from the edge of the grave, that I cannot but wish you,
his Philippian friends and mine, to be sharers in my satisfac-
tion, through resuming i>ersonal intercourse with him. You
will be made glad, I know ; and though I shall greatly miss
his kind and aftectionate attentions to me, and his pleasant
Christian converse, yet it will gratify me much to feel that his
return has gratified you. The dreariness of my imprisonment
will remain, yet it will seem less gloomy to me, — I shall be the
less sorrowful, — through my knowledge that you are happy in
his society.' How exquisite is this Christian courtesy !

In the 29th and 30th verses the apostle exhibits the duty
of the Philippians towards Kpaphroditus. ' Receive hijn therefore
in the Lord with all gladness^ and hold such in reputation ;
because for the work of Christ he was nigh utito deaths — not
regarding his life, to supply your lack of sennce toward me.'' To
our ears these last words have somewhat of a reproachful
sound ; but it is evident from the whole tone of the context,
both here and in a passage in one of the Kpistles to the Cor-
inthians, where similar words occur,^ that the apostle has no
thought of reproach in using them. He simply means to show

^ I Cor. xvi. 17.
P

2 26 Lectttres on Philippians. [ch. it.

how much he owes to Epaphroditus, and to commend him to
the love of the PhiHppians, by mentioning his having with
affectionate soUcitude rendered to the aged prisoner those
personal services which the other Philippians would, no doubt,
according to the testimony of their whole conduct, gladly have
rendered, but were by absence prevented.

In these verses, you see, the apostle states a fact regarding
his friend's illness, which had naturally drawn out his sympathy
with peculiar intensity. The illness was directly traceable to
his devotion to the Master's service. The particular way in
which it was brought on is not mentioned. The cause might
be exposure or over-exertion on the journey by land and sea
to aid the apostle, or in his attendance on him, or in preach-
ing the gospel in Rome ; but, be this as it may, certainly in
some way it was ^for the work of Christ ' that ' he was nigh
unto death.' It is not by any means impossible that some-
thing of imprudence, in the way of undue exposure or labour,
had aided in bringing on the illness. It very frequently is so
in such cases ; and it is exceedingly probable, I think, that if
Paul recognised anything of this kind, the same wise and
watchful affection which led him to enjoin on his zealous
young friend Timothy some consideration of his delicate con-
stitution and * often infirmities,' might prompt also a quiet
word of caution to Epaphroditus. But the soul of the faithful
old servant of Christ was refreshed by the sight of the impru-
dence of holy devotedness. His heart had been distressed by
seeing some, of whom he had hoped well, ' seeking their own
things, not those which are Jesus Christ's ;' and the fervour of
zeal, and grand self-forgetfulness, of Epaphroditus came to him
like a draught of cold water in a thirsty land.

The fact that * for the work of Christ ' Epaphroditus had
incurred his affliction, evidently gave him a very strong claim
on the love and veneration of all the followers of Christ. It
behoved the Philippian church, therefore, to ' receive him in the
Lord with all gladness ' — not merely to give him the welcome

VF.RS. 25-30.] Mission of npaphrodilus. 227

of a friend, but to rejoice over him with fervent brotlierly
afVection, as one in whom the transforming power of the grace
of Christ liad been signally shown, — and to ^ hold' very speci-
ally*/// reputation' him and all who, like him, glorified the
Redeemer by self-sacrificing zeal in His cause. Knowing the
warm-hearted IMiilippians as he did, Paul could have no doubt
that the reception of his messenger would be indeed * with all
gladness.' You remember the enthusiastic welcome which
was accorded among us a year or two ago to the brave young
American who had encountered innumerable perils to carry
aid to the illustrious missionary pioneer of Central Africa,
David Livingstone. We felt as if in helping the noble old
man, whom all of us had come to think of as a personal
friend, he had helped ourselves. We know what pleasure
and sense of honour would be felt if Florence Nightingale
presented herself under our roof, or under the roof of any
true-hearted countryman of those wounded soldiers of the
Crimea, for whom she cared so wisely and lovingly, and who
kissed her very shadow on the wall, as she passed through
the wards of the hospital. Somewhat like this would be the
position of Epaphroditus on his return to Philippi, The
knowledge of his heroism and self-devotion in the cause of
the Saviour they loved, and this in discharging the duties of
a ministry for the relief and comfort of their dear friend and
spiritual father the apostle, could not but lead them to feel it
a peculiar privilege and honour to be permitted to welcome
him once more among them.

No one, I think, my friends, can attentively read the para-
graph we have now examined, and that immediately preceding,
without feeling that they supply fine illustrations of the exqui-
site beauty of the Apostle Paul's character. How gloriously
free, unreserved, and unselfish his commendations of Timothy
and Epaphroditus, and how tender and loving the heart from
which they came ! And even with these friends, so dear and
so needful to him, the aged servant of Christ, worn with

2 28 Lectures on Philippiaiis. [ch. in.

labour and suffering, is willing, 'for the work of Christ,' to
part, — and to be left alone ! This is he who aforetime ' was
a persecutor, a blasphemer, and injurious' — who 'entered into
every house, and, haling men and women, committed them
to prison,' because they did not think in religion as he did.
Let us praise the power of divine grace, brethren ; — and let
us 'be followers together of him,' in the sweetness of spirit,
and self-sacrificing zeal for all that is true and beautiful and
good, to which ' the love of Christ constrained him ! '

VER. I.] Joy in the Lord. 229

XVIII.
JOY IN THE LORD.

' Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, To write the same things to
you, to nie indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.' — I'll 1 1.. iii. i.

EVANGELICAL religion, my brethren, is often charged
with making men gloomy and morose, — averse to
sharing in the innocent pleasures of life, and prone to frown
on the enjoyments of others, simply because they are enjoy-
ments. Beyond doubt, this accusation is very widely enter-
tained by the carnal heart, as a plausible ground for resistance
to the claims of the gospel. To the young especially, who
feel themselves impelled by the warmth and buoyancy of their
nature to every form of delight, Christianity thus misconceived
cannot but be in the highest degree repulsive. This charge
against religion finds some seeming support in the demeanour
of a considerable number of Christians, in whom, from defec-
tive views of duty, the gospel is not permitted freely to exert
its sweetening and beautifying power on a naturally ungenial
temper. But such persons grievously misrepresent the spirit
of the religion they profess. Many of us, I trust, know from
our own experience that the truth as it is in Jesus, cordially
and intelligently received, is a perennial spring of joy for the
believer himself, and of sympathy with all true and innocent
happiness in others. Jesus, in His humiliation, was a ' Man of
sorrows,' because He bore the weight of the world's guilt, and
* it pleased the Lord to put Him to grief;' but when the bitter
work of expiation was finished, then He was * anointed with
the oil of gladness.' Christians, His brethren, are ' quickened
together with Him.' They are sharers in this new life of

230 Lecttcres on Philippians, [ch. hi.

triumphant gladness. Their burden is removed, and they
have entered into 'glorious liberty.' They know, indeed, the
seriousness of life, and thus their happiness is tinged with
gravity ; but for that very reason it is deep, and broad, and
lasting. In a world like this, where death is the one great
certainty, any joy which is not tempered with seriousness can
be only like the crackling of a fire of thorns, where speedily
again all is cold and dark.

The verse before us is one of many passages of Scripture
which proclaim happiness to be the regular and becoming
tone of the believing heart. Nothing in the language em-
ployed by the apostle needs lengthened explanation. The
introductory word ' Finally ' leads us to expect the close of the
Epistle to be near. As a matter of fact, we have nearly the half
yet before us. It is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that some
circumstance led Paul to write more than he had intended.
At this point we shall have occasion to look a little more
closely when we come to the consideration of the next verse,
which introduces a new subject.

Our idiomatic use of the phrase ' rejoice in ' leads us naturally
to take the apostle's precept here, ' Rejoice in the Lord^ as
meaning, ' Rejoice in the contemplation and experience of His
excellences.' In reality, the sense is somewhat more general
than this. '/;/ the Lord'' exhibits the thought of vital union to
the Saviour, — dearest of all thoughts to the Christian, and
which by this phrase Paul, as you know, delights to set forth
in regard to every department of the believer's inner and outer
life. He had urged the Philippians, two verses before, to
receive Epaphroditus ' in the Lord,' — ' with the spirit which
union to the Saviour produces and sustains.' So here ' Rejoice
as Christians.^ ' Being in the Lord, be full of gladness, for a
Christian ought to be happy ; but see to it always that your
sources of joy are in the Lord, — such as become saints.'

In the course of the Epistle, the apostle has again and again
expressed his desire that his readers might have spiritual

VER. I.] Joy in the Lord, 2

joy ;' but a sense of its importance so impresses him that he re-
turns to the suljject here, — as we shall find him doing once more
in the 4th verse of the next chapter, — V^r,' says he, *io lurite the
same thin\^s to you^ to nw indeed is not j^ria'ous, but for you it
is safe' The natural tendency of a mind so energetic and
originative as Paul's was to expatiate ever in fresh fields ; hut
he knew it to be in many cases ^ safe' — eminently salutary — for
his readers, that he should keep certain truths much before
their minds, and therefore Christian love made it ^ tiot ^rievous^
•to him to do this. The apostle here indirectly gives a hint not
unnecdcd in our time, I think, by both ministers and congre-
gations. The greater the freshness with which divine truth
can be illustrated, the better always, because thus interest is
maintained ; but it must never be forgotten that the same
truth, substantially, which nourished our souls last year — the
same truth, substantially, which nourished the souls of Paul
and the Phili[)pians — must sustain us this year also, and on to
death, and through death. However much a Christian may be
interested in various lines of religious speculation, yet he lives
spiritually through the loving, believing contemplation of those
grand central verities which have become the commonplaces
of our religious knowledge. ' To say the same things ' to
their hearers, then, unaltered essentially, whatever variety and
newness there be in form, will not be 'grievous' to earnest
ministers of Jesus Christ, because for their hearers it is ' safe.'
The craving for novelty and originality, which is particularly
apt to beset both preachers and hearers in an age like ours, so
full of sensationalism in life and in literature, passes very easily
from the innocent into the morbid ; and is often, really, one
cannot but fear, the outcome of repugnance to the soul-
humbling ' faith once delivered to the saints.' It was not a
sign of health or of wisdom, when the Israelites said of the
manna which they had been eating for forty years, ' Our soul
loatheth this light bread.'

^ Generally, in chap. i. 25, 26 ; in special connections, ii. iS, 2S.

232 Lcdicres on PJiilippians, [ch. hi.

Having thus glanced at the meaning of the verse generally,
we shall go on now to consider the force of the apostle's pre-
cept somewhat more in detail.

To an unregenerate man the happiness of Christians is un-
intelligible. It belongs to a sphere with which he has no
acquaintance. He sees, to a certain extent, the restraints
which religion imposes ; but of its blessed communion with
God he sees and can apprehend nothing. Its hopes appear to
him visionary; and point to a kind of future life for which he
has no desire. His heart knows that the pleasures of the-
world do not yield him full satisfaction, and cries out more or
less articulately for some nobler and better happiness ; but
the mists which natural alienation from God has gathered
around him prevent him from seeing that the cup of salvation,
offered him by Jesus, holds the water of life which can slake
his soul's thirst. He cannot think the * yoke ' of Jesus to be
' easy,' and His ' burden ' to be ' light,' and that to bear this
* yoke ' and * burden ' is, in truth, rest. ' The natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned.'

But the man who, through faith, is ' in the Lord,' and thus,
taught by His indwelling Spirit, has true wisdom, sees ever
more clearly, if there be in him any approach to vigorous
religious vitaUty, the reasonableness of his being happy. Even
if at times he is not happy, still he feels that a Christian ought
to be happy. Nothing in God's universe certainly is so fitted
to produce and sustain gladness of spirit as the boundless,
unwearying, tender love of the Saviour. Out in the world we
found that the springs and streams might be named ' Marah,'
because the water was bitter ; but in Christ our hearts are
satisfied with blessing. * With joy we draw water out of the
wells of salvation.' Gently and tenderly, not harshly reminding
us of our rebellion and folly, but cheering our hearts with looks
and tones of comfort, He has led us home, — away from the

vi:r. I.] Joy in the Lord. 233

wilderness of our wanderings and woe to the city that He has
l)uili for our security. And the citizens of the spiritual Zion
may well ' he joyful in their King.' What city, dear friends, is
hkc unto our city? ' IJeautiful for situation, the joy of the
whole earth, is Mount /ion.' * (ilorious things arc spoken of
the city of (iod.' ' He hath called her walls Salvation, and
her gates Praise.' From her towers Christ's i)eople can see the
billows of Satan's warfare rushing on in wild fury, but broken
on the walls and scattered into thin foam. Within the walls is
peace, and *j)rosperity within her palaces.' Through the
midst of the city flows the river of life ; and on cither side of
the river are seen the fiir-stretching branches of the tree of life,
whose fragrance is wafted through every street, and whose
leaves are for the healing of the nations. The Saviour King
Himself abides among us. You have seen His face and heard
His voice, have you not, Christian brethren? In His relations
to us He shows matchless tenderness and condescension. He
mingles kindly with His people. To all our petitions His ear
is open ; to all our wants His bounteous hand. We find His
law to be a simple one, — that we should desire and strive after
all that is noble and beautiful and good — that we should be
pure, and loving, and patient, and godly. Love for Him makes
the law pleasant to us ; and we learn every day to love it more
and more for its own excellence. Thus * His yoke is easy,
and His burden light.' His service is * glorious liberty.' In
the sorrows of life we never look in vain to Him for sympathy,
tender and brotherly, — for He remembers the old time when
He Himself dwelt out in the wilderness, and when He wept
at the grave of His friend. When the weakness and folly of
our days of wandering come back upon us for a time, and
we sin, — we find Him no hard, avenging taskmaster, but a
gracious Lord. ' The people that dwell in Zion are forgiven
their iniquity.' Our gracious Redeemer, as ye know, dear
brethren, is to us in all things a light, a glory, and a defence.
In every danger, and perplexity, and sorrow, here rests our

2 34 Lectures 07t Philippiaiis. [ch. hi.

confidence, that * The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Law-
giver, the Lord is our King, — He will save us.' It is certainly-
reasonable, my friends, that all who are ' in the Lord' should
rejoice in His goodness.

We have perfect security, too, that His kindness will be co7i-
tirmed to us. Xo power can pluck us out of our Saviour's
hand ; for, in Him, with ineffable goodness is conjoined an
infinite greatness — a power, and wealth, and wisdom, which
pass knowledge. This is ' the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle.' 'His name is called Wonderful, Counsellor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.'
In Him, to the truest and tenderest sympathy of a man who
has struggled and suffered as we have, are united all the per-
fections of supreme Godhead. We have many and bitter
spiritual enemies ; but if we be ' in the Lord,' we cannot by
possibility be permanently vanquished. The plan of defence
is conceived by His wisdom 'whose understanding is infinite ;'
all the details are carried out, and the human and other
instrumentalities controlled, by Him 'whose eyes run to and
fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the
behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him ;' and the ends
are certainly and gloriously secured by His power who ' doeth
according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth.' * Have we not known, have we
not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator
of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary;' and
that He, this everlasting God — who 'was made flesh and
dwelt among us, full of grace and truth,' — that He is the
Saviour in whom we are called to trust ? ' Beautiful ex-
ceedingly are the feet of them who say unto Zion, "Thy God
reigneth.'' '

Your security is perfect^ Christian ; — and for ez'er. The law of
death throws a shadow over all mere earthly friendship and
))rotection and joy; but they that are 'in the Lord' may rejoice
in the knowledge of unending love and care. Jesus died for

VER. I.] Joy in the Lord. 235

sin once ; but having, by His glorious resurrection, proved
Himself the Prince of Life, He is now 'alive for evermore,' —
alive for evermore as the God-man, our Kinsman Redeemer.
His immortality is the immortality of His goodness and of
His greatness. There will be no change throughout eternity
in His full desert of the warmest love and gratitude and
devotion of His people. Whom He loveth, He ' loveth to
the end!' And through this undying love, ' because He liveth,'
all who are in Him * live also,' in holiness and joy kindred
to His, — and this for evermore. We must leave the Zion
beloNv indeed, but the gracious Saviour has built for us a far
more glorious Zion above. Thither ' shall come the ran-
somed of the Lord, with songs and everlasting joy upon their
heads.' The joys which we find so sweet in Zion here, are
but faint foretastes of those which are provided for us there.
Here Sve know in part;' there * we shall know even as also
we are known.' Here we see but dimly, through faith. Him
whom our souls love ; there, face to face, we shall * behold the
King in His beauty,' we shall be ravished with the ' open
vision' of ' the Altogether Lovely.' Here on earth, even in
Zion, are found sin and its constant shadows, death and sorrow ;
but by the river of life yonder there is * nothing that defileth,'
and, consequently, ' no more death, neither sorrow, nor cr}'ing,
neither any more pain.' The King's sers'ants there ' serve
Him day and night in His temple;' and He ' wipes away all
tears from their eyes.'

Certainly, my brethren, a Christian has good grounds for a
happiness infinitely transcending all the pleasure which can be
yielded by any advantages of the world — 'a joy unspeakable
and full of glory.' He may well say, * I will greatly rejoice in
the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for He hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh
himself with ornaments, and as a bride adometh herself with
her jewels.'

236 Lectures on Philippiajis. [cii. iii.

The intelligent believer finds every day new sustenance for
spiritual happiness in the view of God's doings without, as well
as in his growing experimental acquaintance with saving grace.
' In the Lord/ we know His Father as our Father. The divine
dealings toward us, therefore, of every kind, we recognise as
Fatherly dealings. Thus, in the contemplation of providence,
there is for us an unfailing source of joy. In the days before
our spiritual enlightenment, when,

' In blindness, we remained unconscious of the guiding,
And things provided came without the sweet sense of providing,'

— the pleasure which prosperity brought us was of a low cha-
racter, belonging largely indeed, in many cases, to the mere
animal nature. It ' perished with the using.' Now, the natural
satisfaction which outward comforts bring is pervaded and
glorified by the thankfulness of hearts rejoicing in their Father's
goodness. This joy tends to become ever deeper and richer,
with growing spiritual wisdom and experience. The voice of
praise in the new man becomes ever more distinct and ringing,
— ' Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits ;
who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies.'
But adversity may come. Clouds may gather, and hide the
sun. Anxiety, pain, bereavement, may be appointed to us.
True ; but the fact that a Father has appointed the trouble, that
the clouds have been gathered by a Father s word, will prevent
despondency, and maintain peace. He has sent the affliction
to us for the purposes of wise and gracious discipline ; and He
makes * all things to work together for good to them that love
Him.' Joy, in the sense of buoyant delight, may scarce be
possible, seeing that * no chastening for the j)resent seemeth to
be joyous, but grievous.' Eminently lofty faith can reach even
to this point. Paul speaks of himself in one place as ' sorrow-
fiil, yet alway rejoicing ;* and in another, as * filled with comfort,
exceeding joyful in all his tribulation.' But, tliough such a
sublime height as this may be rarely attained by the children

VER. I. "I Joy in the Lord, 237

of God, when in sore trial, yet the heart of every beh'cver who
is in si)iritual hcaltli will * rest in the Lord, and wait patiently
for Ilini.' It is with the Christian soul as with the ocean, —
the wildest tempests ruflle only the surface ; the depths are
tranciuil.

The ordinary innocent enjoyments of life obtain ' in the
Lord* a new charm. He who began His miracles by contri-
buting to social pleasure, does, in truth, for His people, every-
where and at all times, change the water into wine — the common
into the noble, refreshing, brightening. To think of our
capacities of joy, and the means of gratifying those capacities,
as given by Him who ' gave Himself for us,' and whom the
faith of a simple, loving, Christian heart can see looking down
with a smile of love on all really innocent pleasure, — this
glorifies even the delights of earth. Friendship has an added
sweetness, — nature a new and glorious beauty, as when on a
landscape which lay in gloom the sunlight breaks forth, — study
a satisfaction altogether peculiar, in that now all intellectual
improvement is felt to be polishing a shaft for the Master's
quiver.

But the Christian has a source of joy all his own, immeasur-
ably deeper and more satisfying than any which are only of the
earth, — in the service of Christ, and in seeing the progress of
His kingdom. Next to the ineffable delight of seeing Jesus as
our own Saviour, is the delight which fills the believer's heart
in helping others to see Him as theirs. * What is our joy,- or
crown of rejoicing?' says Paul to His converts in Thessalonica,
— ' Are not even ye ? ' To be permitted to take part in the
Saviour's great work of overthrowing the sin and wretchedness
of the world, and preparing a people for His praise and for
eternal blessedness, — to guide a wanderer into the way of
peace, — to hear a prodigal, for whom we have prayed and with
whom we have pleaded, cry, ' I will arise and go to my Father,'
— Oh, my brethren, how sublime an honour this is, — how-
exquisite a privilege ! The news, too, of the progress of the

8 Lecher es on PJiilippians. [ch. hi.

gospel, through the efforts of other labourers, is ' good tidings
of great joy' to the earnest servant of Christ. It gladdens his
heart to look abroad and see the name of his Saviour magnified.
All praise to Him, my brethren, that this joy is given to us so
largely in these days, — that in so many lands, and in so many
languages, the heralds of the cross are making their proclama-
tion of grace, — that the trumpet call rings so loudly in the ear
of the church, 'Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory
of the Lord is risen upon thee,' — that even now sanguine hope
sees the strongholds of Satan tottering to their fall !

The reasons for the indisputable fact that 7na}iy Christians
have but little experience of spiritual joy ^ are various. In some,
the defect is in a great measure due to tempera?He?it. Of this
class the Apostle Thomas may be taken as a type, — a man
evidently by natural constitution moody, prone to look on the
worst side of things, unable often to see springs of happiness
which God had opened very near him. In many, as all our
lunatic asylums bear witness, this nervous tendency to reHgious
melancholy developes into positive insanity. There occurs
at once to every mind the case of Cowper, — a Christian not
merely signally gifted, but whose walk was eminently ' close
with God,' yet much of whose life, and in particular its closing
years, were spent in the darkness of utter despair. The care
of a wise physician, and the watchful love of friends, may be of
some service to this class of joyless Christians. But with some,
as "with Cowper, the darkness remains unbroken, till death, the
final and perfect cloud-dispeller for all who love Christ, brings
relief. Oh, how kind a friend he whom nature calls ' the last
enemy' approved himself, when

* Woke the poet from the dream his life's long fever gave him,
Beneath those deep pathetic Eyes, which closed in death to save him !

. . . No type of earth can image that awaking, —
Wherein he scarcely heard the chant of seraphs, round him breaking,
Or felt the new immortal throb of soul from body parted,
But felt those Eyes alone, and knew, "J/j/ Saviour ! uoi deserted! " '

In other believers, again, spiritual gloom is caused by de-

VER. I.] Joy ill iJic Lord, 239

fcctive apprehetision of the fulticss atid frccness of the f^ospel. The
'glorious liberty of the children uf Ciod' is by these but par-
tially understood, so that, whilst at times rejoicing in the air
of freedom, they ever and anon fall back under * the spirit of
bondage, again to fear.' If in Christians thus imperfectly
enlightened there be a lively imagination, which brings with
vividness before them * the terrors of God, setting themselves
in array against them,' the distress of soul is often very ter-
rible. The experiences of Luther and of Bunyan, in the
earlier years of their religious life, afford illustrations. In
cases of this kind, where the nature is at all really healthy,
growing knowledge of God and of His gosj)el gives emanci-
pation.

But yet again, — in a lamentably large number of instances,
the want of joy in religion is due to feeble spirituality, and
indulgence in sin. Worldliness, perhaps, like a killing para-
site on the trees of the wood, has wreathed itself round the
energies of the soul, stifling and deadening. Or the pleasures
of social life have stolen away the time once given to com-
munion with God in prayer, and to kindly visits, ' in the
behalf of Christ,' to the sick and poor. Desire of self-grati-
fication in some form has for a time gained dominion ; and
the result is the loss of joy. Mists inevitably rise from a soul
which is cherishing sinful desire, and hide the face of God.
We all know the circumstances under which David had to
pray, ^Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.' It is well
for a believer who has thus forgotten himself and his Saviour,
when positive gloom takes possession of him. There is reason
to hope that repentance, and the opening of his heart again
to the cheering beams of the Sun of Righteousness, are at
hand. In the sadness there is evidence that the Spirit is
resuming the discharge of His mission as the Comforter, by
* convincing of sin.' Far more really melancholy is the con-
dition of those who have allowed themselves to come down
into a state of simple indifference, — the heart lacking alike

240 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

' the joy of the Lord,' and pain, through the sense that this
joy is lacking.

The verse now before us represents it as a duty of believers
to be happy. Here, as in other places of his writings, the
apostle gives 'Rejoice in the Lord ' distinctly as an injunc-
tion. In such a connection, the word 'duty' or 'injunction'
sounds strangely to us. We ask, ' Is this, then, a matter of
the will?' The case of joy in this respect is closely analogous,
I apprehend, to that of faith and love, neither of which is
immediately dependent on the will, but both of which are
expressly enjoined as duties. 'This is God's commandment,^
says the Apostle John, ' that we should believe on the name
of His Son Jesus Christ, — and love one another, as He gave us
commandment.' The imjuediate practical force of these words
of John is, no doubt, this, — ' God commands us to examine,
with seriousness and candour, the evidence that Jesus is His
Son, and the Saviour of the world. Examined in such a
spirit, the evidence will certainly produce conviction; and
one fruit of the truth believed will certainly be a sincere and
strong affection to the Christian brotherhood.' Similarly the
precept, ' Rejoice in the Lord,' means practically, ' Have your
thoughts much occupied with the blessedness, and glory, and
security, of the relations into which faith has brought you
with the Lord ; try, by thoughtfulness and prayer, to live
in an atmosphere of childlike trustfulness in your heavenly
Father ; in seasons of peculiarly strong temptation to gloom,
direct your minds with peculiar intensity to the " exceeding
great and precious promises " of the Divine Word. Thus your
souls will be filled with joy.' The injunction, like all God's
injunctions, is a most reasonable one.

The duty is an important one, too. The tone of the apostle
here and elsewhere brings this out very clearly. Nothing is
more calculated to commend the gospel to those around us,
than proof that its influence on the hearts which receive it is
to make ihcm bright and happy. This commendation is, of

VKK. I.] Joy in the Lord, 241

course, specially iini)rcssivc, wlicrc outward circumstances arc
of a kind naturally tending to sadden. When, in deep poverty,
or on a bed of pain, a Christian is contented, calm, joyous ;
there is here *an epistle of Christ' written in letters so large
and fair, that even careless observers can hardly help reading
its testimony to the reality and i)Otcncy of divine grace.
Where the lights of this world have been in so large a mea-
sure withdrawn, it must be plain that such brightness of heart
can come only through a beam of sunshine straight from
heaven to that heart. P'or the spiritual progress- of the be-
liever himself, too, it is of ver)' much moment that he 'rejoice
in the Lord.' Nehemiah's statement holds true for all time :
* The joy of the Lord is your strength' W^e know the power
of happiness, of a genial, buoyant spirit, in carrying forward
the ordinary work of life. In the work of the spiritual life —
resistance to temptation, and earnest labour for the Master —
there is no sustaining power to be compared with joy. Walk-
ing in darkness, enveloped in spiritual gloom, we move slowly,
stumble, fall. In the sunshine, we press forward with bounding
step in the way of God's commandments, ' running, and not
weary ;' — wherefore, ' O house of Jacob, come ye and let us
walk in the lieht of the Lord.'

242 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

XIX.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

* Beware of dogs ; beware of evil workers ; beware of the concision, 3 For
we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 4 Though I
might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh
that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more : 5 Circum-
cised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
an Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touching the law, a Pharisee ; 6 Con-
cerning zeal, persecuting the church ; touching the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me,
those I counted loss for Christ, 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in Him, not
having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
faith.' — Phil, iii, 2-9.

THE power of Jesus over the hearts of His people, my
brethren, is, as you know, the power of Godhead
sweetly linked in everlasting union with that of human brother-
hood. 'The Word that was God became flesh and dwelt
among us, full of grace and truth.' The sympathy of the
Brother who once struggled and suffered and felt weak and
weary, as we do, is very sweet to us. In seasons when the
night of sorrow and fear gathers dark around us, how it
strengthens to feel the warm, kind hand of the human Saviour
taking hold of ours to lead us, — the human Saviour, who has
divine power and wisdom ! To this peculiar power in the in-
carnate Word, the personal Revelation of God, there is some-

VERS. 2-9.] y ustijicatioji by Faith. 243

thing similar in the written word or revelation of (iod. It is
easy to conceive that the IJible might have consisted wholly of
direct divine utterances, such as those which the old j>rophets
introduced by their * Thus saith the Lord,' — with the writers
simply mechanical organs of communication. Men's own
thoughts, indeed, in regard to a promised revelation of (iod's
will, would jjrubably have anticipated such a liible. I>ut the
tenderness of the divine love — the willingness of our heavenly
Father to care for all the needs of His children — is seen in
the fact that, in a very large part of Scripture, human feeling
plainly pulsates freely, while yet all is of God. This feature is
particularly marked in the letters of the apostles ; and every
thoughtful reader knows the winningness of influence thus
given to them. The teaching which is so divine, and yet
so human, draws us to love it, as the Divine Man Himself
draws us.

A person seriously impressed with the importance of religion
is like a man who finds himself called upon by matters of the
highest moment to undertake a long and difficult journey,
through countries wholly different in every respect from any
with which his previous life has made him acquainted. He
has, perhaps, accurate maps and carefully written sketches of
the physical and political geography of the lands through which
he has to pass. Still, how satisfying for him to meet a traveller
who has personally accomplished the journey, and faithfully
relates his experiences ! Now the apostolic letters, taken to-
gether, and comparing one part with another, may be regarded
as a kind of journal of travel, a diary of pilgrimage, from the
City of Destruction to the Celestial City. We find set before
us in them, with the utmost liveliness and fulness of detail, the
aims, the failures, the successes, the hopes and fears and
difficulties, of men naturally like ourselves depraved, but re-
generated by that same grace which is freely ofi"ered to us.
All the points of the route, and all the varieties of experience
connected with them, come successively into view, — Valleys of

244 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

Humiliation and of the Shadow of Death, Delectable Moun-
tains and Plains of Beulah, — battles with the prince of evil, and
hours of rest in the House Beautiful. This precious record
does not, indeed, introduce us actually into the golden city, but
it brings us to the very gates, — and the gates are ajar, to give
us a glimpse of the glory. Nay, we seem even to hear the joy-
bells already ringing for the welcome of the new citizen about
to enter, — ' I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand. Henceforth there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
shall give me at that day.' But whilst this diary of spiritual
travel, as I have called it, is thoroughly human, most really and
honestly setting forth the movements of these men's souls, yet
it is not less truly divine. Just here lies its perfect adaptation
to our circumstances. It is most fully and winningly man's,
and yet also most certainly and satisfyingly God's. The spirits
of the apostles speak to us, and at the same time everywhere,
through them, the Spirit of God. The diary of the pilgrims is
the King's authorized and perfect guide to the way.

No passage in the writings of the apostles, I think, better
illustrates that most interesting feature of divine revelation of
which I have been speaking, than the paragraph now before
us. In reading it, every Christian is sensible that, in his heart,
deep interest in the spiritual struggles of his fellow-man Paul
stands side by side with thankful acceptance of the profound
and precious divine teaching.

You observe that in the 2d verse an entirely new subject is
introduced, and this with a suddenness which, I think, you can
hardly help feeling to be somewhat startling. Throughout the
paragra})h, too, a reader is conscious of a quicker movement in
the language than in the previous verses, indicating, it is natural
to suppose, excitement of feeling in the writer. Taking these
facts in connection with the apparent intimation in the ' Finally'
of the I St verse, that at that point the apostle had nearly ended
what he meant to say to his Philippian friends, whilst in fact

VERS. 2-9.] y list ificai ion hy Faith. 245

almost liair the letter is yet before us, — it seems not improbable
that, just after that ist verse had been written, Paul received
information of some fresh outbreak of hostility to pure Chris-
tianity on the part of his Judaizing opponents in Rome, those
of whom, he has said in tlie first chapter that they 'preached
Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction
to his bonds;' or possibly of their i)estilent activity in some
other church, — and that he was thus led to warn the Philip-
pians against the ix)ison of such men's teaching.

The great thought illustrated in the passage is that humility —
the absence of self-righteousness — renunciation of confidence in
everything except divine grace — is of the essence of vital, sav-
ing religion. The most satisfactory mode of treatment, there-
fore, may be, perhaps, to glance first at the subject generally,
and then, with the principles clearly before our minds, to
examine the details of the apostle's statement.

The grand fundamental truth of morals, my brethren, is that
God's will is absolutely perfect, and therefore that, in His
creatures, goodness is simply harmony of will w^ith Him. Only
on this principle, accepted as a basis, can a character truly
beautiful and noble be reared. Wherever divergence enters —
any thought of the possession of wisdom to construct for our-
selves, without the teaching of God, a satisfactory plan of life, —
there are folly and sin. You remember that, in the Lord's
great parabolic picture of sin and grace, desire to be indepen-
dent of God, and the fancy that a scheme of life of man's
own invention can yield happiness, are exhibited as the spring
of sin. * A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them
said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that
falleth to me.' The root of all sin, you see, and thus of all
misery, is pride — resolution to assert against God a claim to
self-control.

Accordingly, God's plan of salvation for men — which has as
its great aim our moral renovation, the lifting of us up into a
new sphere of thought and feeling — has at every point what is

246 LecttL7^es on Philippians. [ch. hi.

calculated to lead us to view God alone as the Fountain of
wisdom, and strength, and happiness. The gospel proclaims
explicitly everywhere that, from the nature of things, God must
have all the glory of man's deliverance, and that only those
who cordially consent that it should be so can be delivered.
So long as we dream of being in any measure independent of
Him, we keep ourselves beyond the sweep of salvation. ' God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.'

The claim of the divine law is, that man should render to
God perfect obedience, or suffer death as the penalty of dis-
obedience. Our whole race has sinned, and thus become
liable to the penalty. But the Son of God, freely given by His
Father, freely giving Himself, has assumed our nature, and as
our Substitute — accepted as such by His Father, who in the
scheme of redemption sustains the majesty of the Godhead —
has fulfilled all the law's requirements, — living a true human life
of holy obedience, as we were bound to do, and dying the
death of pain and shame which we deserve to suffer. To all
who believe the gospel, and are thus led to place their con-
fidence in Christ, God, of His infinite mercy, imputes this
perfect righteousness of the Saviour — reckons it as theirs —
treats them as if they had themselves been righteous, like their
Representative. This is the great doctrine of justification by
faith. You see how humbling it is to man. The faith through
which we obtain justification involves an acknowledgment of
the reality and exceeding evil of our sin, and of our own utter
helplessness. We come to God confessing that the robe of our
personal character is but ' filthy rags,' in which we dare not
stand in His sight ; and we receive from Him the ample, stain-
less, fragrant robe of the Redeemer's righteousness.

Now the same pride that leads men to their life of sin
naturally [prompts them to resist the claims of the gospel, which
offers them, on such terms, deliverance from the curse and
power of sin. Most naturally also, in a vast multitude of cases
where Christian teaching is to some extent accepted, the

VKRS. 2-9.] yustificatlon by Faith. 247

accci)tancc is, tlirough tlic sclf-dccciving energy of the heart,
of teaching so modified as to leave pride still room for exercise,
and, just in so far, to remove from God's mesfJage the element
which makes it the * gospel,* the word of glad tidings to ruined
men. In persons who, from temperament or circumstances,
have been awakened to a sense of the reality and ill-desert of
their sin, the question 'How shall I be saved?' sometimes
takes the form of ' What shall I endure for salvation ? ' As the
heathen asks, ' Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord, and
bow myself before the High God ? Shall I give my first-bom
for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my
soul?' so, under Romish Christianity, penances and ascetic
austerities are resorted to as a propitiation for guilt. The pride
of self-righteousness is gratified by the thought that the sinner
does something for himself to supplement the atoning work of
Jesus ; but foul dishonour is thus cast on the perfect sacrifice
of Calvary. Among those who, like ourselves, have been
brought up under the influences of Protestantism, the opposi-
tion of the carnal nature to the humbling work of the gospel
much more frequently takes the form of a desire to do some-
thing meritorious, ' that we may inherit eternal life.' It is
greatly to be feared, dear brethren, that a very large number
of professing Christians satisfy themselves with the outward
decorum of religious service, — their inward thought, not acknow-
ledged definitely to themselves, yet really being in God's sight,
* We are quiet, moral, church-going people ; and what more
could God reasonably expect ? ' Ah, friends, this is folly, fatal
folly ; and ' the day shall declare it.' A hope resting on any
fancied righteousness of our own is utterly baseless ; and ' when
the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow and
beat upon that house, it must fall, — and great shall be the fall
of it.' When the Lord God Mays judgment to the line and
righteousness to the plummet, the hail shall sweep away the
refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place,
and men's covenant with hell shall be disannulled, and their

248 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

agreement with hell shall not stand.' But the righteousness of
Christ, which God counts as the righteousness of every man
who believes in Christ, is the ' rock of ages.' Whoso has built
here, will find, in the hour of fiercest tempest, that his dwelling
stands secure.

Let us proceed now to look at the details of the paragraph.
The warning against being turned away from the simplicity of
Christian faith by the perverting words of Judaizing teachers,
with which it begins — and which, as I have already said, was
not improbably called forth by the apostle's receipt of some
news just when he had reached this part of the letter — is
expressed very tersely and pointedly, and in language of stern
indignation against these men. In using '///^' in each clause
of the 2nd verse, though given in our translation only in the
last, — ' Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware
of the concision,' — he not merely shows that he has a well-
defined class of persons in his mind, but assumes that his
Philippian readers would know at once to whom he referred.

He depicts the character of these teachers by the name
' dogs'^ — as our Lord, you remember, called Herod the tetrarch
'that fox.' The dog, so valued and loved among us, as
man's faithful and affectionate companion and helper, seems
never to have been similarly regarded in the East. Most of
the dogs seen in an Eastern town are masterless curs, ever
annoying passers-by, and seeking their food amid the offal of
the streets. Impudence and disgusting impurity of life are
therefore the ideas which rise first to the mind of an Oriental
in connection with the dog, — among the Jews apparently the
latter idea especially. With this force, for example, you re-
member, the Apostle John in the Apocalypse, in speaking of
exclusion from the city of God, says, ' Without are dogs '
(Rev. xxii. 15). In calling these Judaizing teachers by this
name, then, Paul intimates seemingly that a considerable
number of them had already, by some forms of moral im-
purity, proved the tendency of their system — as of every system

vi:r. 2.] Jtistijlcation by Faith. 249

which draws away men from spiritual religion — to be to prac-
tical wi( kedness. There may not improbably also be another
thought here. We know that the Jews were in the habit of
calling the heathen 'dogs,' as the Mohammedans do Christians
now. Our Lord, for a most gracious end, once adoi)tcd this
usage, when, in testing the faith of a Gentile woman. He said,
*It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it
unto the dogs.' Now, in the verse before u.s, apparently, Paul,
by his application of the word, intimates that those who would
subject Christian converts from heathenism to the Jewish
ritual were, by the ignorance they thus displayed of the spirit
of Christianity, almost placing themselves outside of the pale
of the true spiritual Israel, into which those despised Gentiles
had entered by faith. This idea he brings out expressly in the
next verse.

The apostle further describes the teachers, without a figure,
as ^ the ei'il ivorkers^ — labourers, professedly, in the service of
the Lord Jesus, but really wicked, aiming to subvert rather
than to establish the truth.

Then he points out the foolish and untenable character of
their peculiar doctrine, by giving them, as a sect, the derisive
name of ^ the concision' — that is, 'the cutting, or mutilation.'
They gloried in calling themselves 'the circumcision' — the
circumcised — the bearers of the seal of God's covenant with
Abraham. But in trj-ing to impose the yoke of the ritual of
a preparatory typical system on all who came to Christ, they
showed that they wholly misunderstood the relations to each
other, and the real spirit, both of Judaism and Christianity,
and relied on some mystical power of mere outward services.
For a class of men like this the apostle deemed the name
' circumcision,' with its hallowed spiritual associations, alto-
gether unsuited ; and therefore, by a little play on the word,
well imitated in our version, he calls them ^ the concision,' or
' cutting,' — a name with which nothing sacred stood connected.
They were the sect of ' the cutters of the flesh,' — nothing more.

250 Lectm^es on Philippians. [ch. hi.

The spirit of these false teachers has always been active in
the Christian church, though the particular form against which
Paul was called on to contend has long passed away. Popery
so loads religion with ritual and earthliness, as to make it
exceedingly difficult for its votaries to have true fellowship with
the Saviour. In the Church of England, at present, a more
exact analogy is exhibited to the struggle which the Apostle
Paul, and the other enlightened servants of Christ in the first
age, had to maintain with the Judaizers, than has perhaps ever
been seen since those days. A considerable proportion of the
ministers of that church approach Romanism more or less
closely in opinion and practices. These are very active, both
in the towns and country districts, undermining Protestant
sentiment, neutralizing evangelical effort, poisoning the minds
of the people with the pestilent doctrines of priestly pre-
rogative and sacramental grace, fascinating the young with
flowers and music, shows and ceremonies, and all the beauty
and splendour of a gorgeous ritualism. With this host of
Romanizers, corresponding in many respects, very exactly in
spirit and aim, to Paul's Judaizing opponents, the evangelical
ministers and members of the church, aided by their Non-
conformist brethren, have to do battle ; and they most reason-
ably claim our prayers, that they may be endued with needful
wisdom and energy, and that their efforts may be crowned
with success.

In Scotland, the Reformation was far more thorough than
in England, eschewing all such compromises between Popery
and scriptural simplicity as are found in the system of the
Church of England, and have opened the way for the state of
things to which I have referred. Thus we are in no great
danger of being brought into any struggle precisely similar to
that now carried on in England. But the hazard of formalism
— of unconsciously regarding the outward means of grace as of
necessity carrying with them efficient saving grace — is great
with us, as in every section of Christ's church.

VER. 3-] J^istification by Faith. 251

In the 3(1 verse the apostle states his reason for the emjihatic
condemnation he has, in the 2n{l, given of the doctrine of the
Judaizers. This, which, as I have exjjlained, has been per-
haps already hinted at in the application to them of the term
* dogs,* is that all Christians, Jews and (ientiles alike, — all who
rejoice in the fuHllment of the promise which cheered the
patriarchs, — are, simj)ly as being Christians, of the tnie Israel,
the true seed of Abraham. 'J'he particular form in which this
reason is couched has been determined by the name last given
to the misleading teachers, ' the concision.^ ' For^ says the
apostle, ' we are the circumcision,'' — * 7U€,' all believers in Jesus
Christ, you the Gentiles and I the Jew equally, — * 7«:'///V// luor-
ship God in the spirit^ understanding that the service of the
heart is alone acceptable to Him, and that outward forms are
pleasing to Him only in so far as they are expressive of this, or
tributary to it, — ''and rejoice (rather, ^^giory'^) in Christ Jesus^
ever delighting to set forth to our own souls, and to all around,
His excellences. His perfection as Mediator, — ' and hare no con-
fidence in the flesh,' being sensible of the utter folly of resting
any hope on ceremonies, or on any works of ourselves or of
our fellow-men ; for ^ flesh ' here, as very frequently, in its
obvious contrast with 'spirit,' designates what is external
generally.

According to a slightly different reading of the original text
in this verse, one which has the support of the great majority
of the most ancient manuscripts, the first part of the apostle's
description of the true Israel is, ^ which worship by the Spirit of
God,' instead of * which worship God in the Spirit.' There is
here no substantial difference of meaning. The truth, how-
ever, is brought into prominence, that the spirit of man can
rise from the control of the deadening influences of sin into
true healthfulness of delight in God's love and service only
through the energy of the Divine Spirit. As in the old creation
' the Lord God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life,
and he became a living soul,' — so in the new. But for the

252 Lectures 07i Philippiaiis. [ch. hi.

breath of the Spirit of God, man would continue ' dead in tres-
passes and sins.' And the sustenance as well as the origina-
tion of spiritual life is wholly His.

The truths which the apostle has stated, — that God's ' peculiar
people,' His Israel in the only sense which implies salvation,
are the spiritually-minded, and that any teaching which tends
to produce confidence in '■ the flesh,' that is, in anything ex-
ternal, is false, — he proceeds to illustrate in a very lively way,
by a reference to his own religious history. ' I have said that
the true circumcision, the real heirs of the promises made to
the patriarchs, are all those who, exulting in Christ as their
Mediator, have no confidence in the flesh. I say this to you
with fullest earnestness, — though, be it observed, I do not look
at the matter from the position of a stranger to the common-
wealth of the natural Israel, in whom jealousy might perhaps
be supposed to awaken such thoughts ; but, if there were any
soundness in the principles of these teachers, / might myself
have cojifidence in the flesh also, as supplementary to the media-
tion of Christ. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof
he might trust in the fleshy I more.^ He felt that in regard to
legal standing he could say at least as much for himself as any
other Jew, and in some particulars probably more than any
other.

He goes on to catalogue the goods which, in the days before
he knew the Saviour, he had supposed to make him rich, — to
rehearse the facts which he had deemed to give him an im-
pregnable position of honour and safety before God and man,
for time and for eternity. In the first place, he ' had Abraham
to his father,' and was of the purest blood of the chosen race.
He had been ' circumcised tJie eig/ith day,^ according to the com-
mand given to Abraham for all his descendants, and renewed
in the law of Moses. He was born, then, of parents who kept
the law ; and, further, these not proselytes from heathenism or
descendants of proselytes, for he was ^ of the stock of Israel;^
and this in an honourable tribe, one of the two which had re-

VERS. 4, 5.] Jusiijication by Faith. 253

maincd faitliful to the house of David, and in which something
of loyalty to their Divine King had continued after it had died
out among the northern ten, — ^ of the tribe of Bcttjamin,^ He
was o{ pure Jewish blood, too ; not, for example, like Timothy,
whose mother was a Jewess, but his father a Greek. The
tables of Paul's genealogy showed him to be of unmixed race,
* an llcbmv of the Jlcbrncs^ — an Israelite spnmg from Israelites.
It is not imi)robal)le that in this last expression there is also a
reference to a distinction which was made in Paul's days be-
tween two classes of Jews, and which is alluded to again and
again in Acts, — for instance, when we are told that the ap-
pointment of the seven deacons was occasioned by *a murmur-
ing of the Grecians against the Hebrews' (Acts vi. i) — that is,
of those Jews who, being natives of foreign countries, spoke
only Greek, against those, mainly but not exclusively natives
of Palestine, who retained the language which represented the
Hebrew of their fathers. Paul, though born in Tarsus, a city
where Greek was spoken, had been educated in the Hebrew
metropolis, under a most distinguished Hebrew teacher; he
spoke Hebrew fluently (Acts xxi. 40) ; and his quotations
from the Old Testament are frequently in such a form as to
show that he was familiar with it in the original language, and
translated for himself. By calling himself 'a Hebrew of the
Hebrews,' then, the apostle may naturally be supposed to inti-
mate, not merely that he was of pure Jewish extraction, but
that he had inherited from his parents, and from the whole line
of his ancestors, a strong affection for the national language
and religion and manners. Thus far then of his lineage. On
this head certainly no Jew could have more ' confidence in the
flesh ' than Paul.

But what of His personal character? Here also he felt
that, if he chose to assume the position of his opponents, and,
as he elsewhere expresses it, to ' speak as a fool,' he could say
much for himself, — as much certainly as any of his ' brethren
after the flesh,' and far more than most. ' As touching the huvy

2 54 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

his views of its sacredness and importance were shown by his
having become ' a Pharisee^ a member of the ' most straitest
sect' of the Jews. ' Concerning zeaV for the ancient faith, as
understood by the scribes and Pharisees, what higher could be
said — what more conclusive evidence of ardour given — than that
he had been well kno^vn as ^persecuting the church ' of Christ,
' making havoc ' of it, * entering into every house, haling men
and women and committing them to prison,' and ' breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord ' ? Still further, however. History tells us that a man may
loudly profess his devotion to certain religious principles, and
even be a persecutor on behalf of them, while yet they have
no power over his private conduct. But it was not so with
Paul. He not merely, as a Pharisee, made an orthodox pro-
fession, and, as a persecutor, showed his zeal against those
who differed from him in opinion, but, ' touching the righteous-
ness which is in the law' — such supposed righteousness as con-
sists in obedience to precepts regarding outward conduct,
while the heart may entertain a spirit of rebellion with respect
to ' the weightier matters of the law,' being full of pride and un-
charitableness, — 'touching this righteousness,' he was ^ bla?ne-
/ess.'* The omission of no observance, however trivial, could
justly be laid to his charge. He could boldly say before
Agrippa, ' My manner of life from my youth, which was at the
first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews,
which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that,
after the most straitest sect of our religion, I ' — not merely
professed myself, but — ' lived a Pharisee.'

Such is the apostle's list of the facts about himself, regarding
which he had once delighted to say to his soul, ' Soul, thou
hast much goods laid up,' — the grounds on which he had
thought that he might most justly claim the favour of God.
The list sounds much as if you or I were to say something of
this kind : ' I am of a good Presbyterian stock. One of my
ancestors fought at Bothwell Bridge for " Christ's crown and

VERS. 6, 7.] ynstification by Faith. 255

covenant," and another died as a martyr in the same cause in
the Grassmarkct of Edinburgh. There have been several
ministers in my line, and many elders. I was baptized in a
Presbyterian church, attended the Sabbath school, and became
a communicant when I was eighteen. I have always attended
the church regularly, kept up family worship, and lived a
decorous life. I am well read in sound theology ; hold rigidly
in my opinions by the Westminster Confession ; and have now
and again taken a part in controversies about election, or the
extent of the atonement.' This is all well, very well, — so far as
it goes. But if you or I be in any degree looking to these
things — to any of them, or to all of them taken together — as
a ground of hope for eternity, we are, in so far, occupying a
religious position corresponding very exactly with that of Paul
before his conversion to Christ. Let us hear, then, what he
ultimately thought about the pure Hebrew birth, and legal
immaculateness, which were once his pride.

' JV/iat things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.^
His conception of the relations between himself and God had
in those old days been essentially mercantile ; for this is the
basis of all self-righteousness. The advantages of which he
has given an inventory had all been mentally entered by him
in a kind of religious account-book as ' gains,' facts distinctly
to his ' credit.' But when the truth and the beauty of the
gospel were, by God's mercy, brought clearly before him, then
he set them down as ^ Loss,' — ^ for Christ,^ 'on account of
Christ ' — that is, because it was plain to him now that salvation
was to be found only in Christ, and that therefore anything which
kept a man back from Christ, or weakened his hold of Christ,
was a positive and great spiritual detriment. It is important
to note carefully the sense in which the statement is made.
Paul's connection by birth with the covenant nation, — the care-
ful religious education which his parents had given him, —
and the pure morality which he had been enabled to maintain
in his life from the beginning, — were in themselves great

256 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. iii.

advantages, for which, I doubt not, he praised God to the end
of his life. Very few earthly blessings can be even compared
with that of godly parentage, and those influences of a well-
ordered home which keep the young from ' knowing the depths
of Satan.' Vice always tends to harden the heart against God ;
and though divine grace may bring men back, and has brought
men back, from very grievous wanderings, yet evil memories,
and evil imaginings, make the spiritual struggles of such in
most cases peculiarly hard. As has been finely said, * This is
one of the sorest trials of a renewed life, that it is built over
dark dungeons, where dead things may be buried but not for-
gotten, and where through the open grating rank vapours still
ascend.'^ But while this is true, it is also true that, as occurred
in the apostle's case, the very privileges which, in their own
nature, are fitted to prepare men for the gospel and lead them
to Christ, may be so abused by the carnal heart as to be made
sustenance for self-righteousness. Wherever this has been the
case, wherever a man has in any degree thought of Christian
parentage, and propriety of life, as the purchase-money of the
favour of God, — then, if he ultimately yield himself to Christ,
he cannot but, in looking back upon his history, call his very
privileges ' loss,' in so far — but only in so far — as they had kept
him back from Christ.

' Yea doubtless^ and I count all things but loss, for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.'' We naturally put
emphasis on ' all things,' and take the statement to mean, ' I
esteem everything in the world worthless in comparison with
the saving knowledge of Christ' Such is, indeed, the feeling
of every believer. His love and admiration of his Saviour are
so strong, that all which nature values appears to dwindle utterly
in the presence of the Lord. * The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a merchantman seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had
found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had,
and bought it.* In the present passage, however, the meaning

' Dr. John Ker.

VERS. 7, 8.] ytistification by Faith. 257

is somewhat dilTerent. * I^ss' is to be taken, as its being put
in the 7th verse in express contrast wiili 'gain' shows, not
loosely, as ecjiiivalent to 'valueless,' but strictly, as positive
detriment, positive lessening of good. Then, as is sufficiently
plain in the original, the emphasis is really on * county as con-
trasted with ' counted ' of the previous verse ; and the unem-
phatic ^ all tliim^s^ simply refers to the 'what things were gain
to me' already mentioned, and would be made clearer to an
English reader by such a rendering as ' them all,' ' all of them,'
— all things which, in his days of darkness, the apostle had
reckoned 'gains' religiously. 'I have said that I counted these
things loss because of Christ. But I can say more than that.
I have now had proof of Christ for many years, and I have
never seen any cause to think that the comparative estimate I
formed of Him, and of all other grounds of hope for eternity,
was an untrue one; but abundant confirmation every day of its
soundness. As I have counted them loss in the past, then, so
I count them all loss still.'

And this ^for the exceiieftcy^ — ' because of the pre-eminence' —
' of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.'' How natural and
beautiful the appropriating ' ?ny ' is here ! One pictures the
apostle lifting his eye to heaven, and pouring out his heart in
a word of wondering praise: ^ Me — who was a persecutor, a
blasphemer, and injurious ; who trusted in myself that I was
righteous, and despised Thee — Thou, O gracious Saviour, hast
Thyself led into that knowledge of Thee which brings with it
all holiness and all joy, the knowledge of Thee as my Lord.'
* This is life eternal,' said the Redeemer in His High-priestly
prayer, ' that they may know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.' Such knowledge certainly
has a 'glory which excelleth.'

In the words which follow, Paul, still looking back over his
spiritual history, seems to gather up the account of his convic-
tions and feelings into the statement of one great decisive act of
choice, — the choice made in conversion, and ratified every day

258 Lectures on Philippia7is. [ch. hi.

since : ^ for whom I have suffered the loss of all things^ more
exactly given thus, ' because of whom, or for whose sake, I was
subjected to the loss of them all.' The reference in the last
words is still to his old grounds of religious trust. We might,
indeed, understand ' all things ' in a wider sense at this point ;
for an allusion to the fact, which no doubt the Philippians
knew, that for Christ he had given up his early friendships and
associations, and most brilliant prospects of rising to distinc-
tion among his countrymen, would be not at all unnatural, as
showing the intensity of his feelings regarding the Saviour.
But the course of thought leads us rather to take the more
limited reference. The apostle, you observ^e, keeps still some-
what to the mercantile representation which he has already
used ; but ' loss ' comes in now in a different way. ' Feeling
what I was wont to deem my gains to be in truth loss, in that
they had kept me back from the only Saviour, — hearing God
declare that all other trust must be put away by those who
would be saved through His Son, — I was constrained by sound
calculation to lose all.' Sound calculation it was, true wis-
dom ; as when the captain of a ship of war, in hot pursuit of a
prize of the highest value, does not hesitate to lighten his
vessel, and thus secure the capture, by casting overboard
much that is valuable. For observe how he goes on, * I was
constrained to lose all, that I may win Christ.^ He knew
that this one ' gain ' meant ' unsearchable riches.'

Mark the object of his desire, — not a doctrine, not a phi-
losophy, not a course of observances, but ' Christ,^ — to have
Him, the God -man, as his Saviour, Friend, Brother. Our
hearts, my brethren, need a personal object of religious love
and adoration. The cry of the soul from its depths is never,
* lVhath:i\e I in heaven?' but ' Whom have I?' We need
a personal object of knowledge, so admirable that, the more
we know, the more we esteem and venerate, — so amiable that,
the more we love, the ampler ever seems the wealth of love-
ableness, — so enduring, that we can admire and love for ever-

VKR. 8.] yustification by Faith, 259

more. This longing finds its answer in Christ. The Infinitely
Admirable, the Altogether Lovely, * the same yesterday, to-
day, and for ever,' presents Himself to all ages and all coun-
tries with the gracious invitation, * Come unto Me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' To
know Him, and dwell with Him, and enjoy rest in His love, —
this was the desire of the apostle. 'To win Christ' is, in the
exquisite language of good old Bishop Hall, * to lay fast hold
upon Him, to receive Him inwardly into our bosoms, and so
to make Him ours, and ourselves His, that we may be joined
to Him as our Head, espoused to Him as our Husband, incor-
porated into Him as our Nourishment, engrafted in Him as
our Stock, and laid upon Him as a sure Foundation.' To
* win ' such glory and blessedness as is summed up in words
like these, and which can be attained only by those who
renounce all grounds of confidence for salvation except Christ,
is it not most reasonable, my brethren, that a man should cast
away everything wherein he trusted ? Can he do other than
wholly disesteem his old * gains,' ' cou?iting tJiem but dung, that
he may win Christ ' ?

But it is not easy — it is very hard — for the soul to come
to this point. The gate is a strait gate. To part with
many worldly possessions or pleasures would be comparatively
an easy thing. But in renouncing any thought of merit in
connection with the very surrender of all things for Christ,
lies the great difficulty. Did men feel that by giving up all
things they earned salvation, so that they might possess Christ,
and also with Him a pride of heart in their own surrender as
hanng deserved Him, the sacrifice would be light. But to
cast away all, and yet know that Christ is to us simply and
absolutely ' the gift of God,' — this is felt by the pride of the
natural heart to be very hard. But when Christ reveals to us
His beauty, the heart yields. When the Divine Spirit shows
clearly 'the treasure hid in the field,' then the finder, 'for joy
thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that

26o Lecher es on Philippians. [ch. hi.

field.' 'For joy thereof,' — there lies the secret of true self-
surrender. Because Jesus loved us, we love Him, and delight
to honour Him by singleness of trust and devotion. The
freeness of the divine gift is now one great impelling motive
to give up all that we may Svin' Him. This sounds as a
paradox, but it is true, as many other seeming paradoxes are
found in Christian experience to be.

In the 9th verse, the apostle goes on to describe more fully
the object of his eager desire. * I was constrained, by sound
judgment, to give up all my old grounds of trust, that I may
win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteous-
ness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.^ From the be-
ginning Paul had believed in his responsibiHty to God. The
Old Scriptures had taught him this ; and their voice was dis-
tinctly echoed by conscience, as it is to all who do not wilfully
deafen themselves. He believed that God was his King and
Judge, to whom he owed implicit obedience, and to whom
he would have to answer for the use he made of his life, his
faculties, his opportunities. He believed that God had given
to man His law, Israel possessing it in a very full form through
revelation, and even the Gentiles having its outlines ' written
in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness.' In his early
life he had thought that he could keep and did keep this
law perfectly. In his heart he said, ' God, I thank Thee that
I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers.
I fast twice in the week ; I give tithes of all that I possess.'
But, by and by, it became clear to him that God's command-
ment is * exceeding broad,' reaching vastly farther, and search-
ing vastly deei)er, than he had conceived. He had taken into
his consideration only the outward life, and even here only
the required absence of positive transgression, not the required
presence of constant positive activity in God's service. Now
he saw that * God desireth truth in the inward parts' — perfect
purity and consecration of the heart, 'out of which are the

VER. 9.] Jiistification by Faith. 26 1

issues of life' It was j)lain to him that, when (iod in judg-
ment 'made intjuisition ' respecting spiritual obedience, he
had nothing to i)lead. 'I'he supposed ' righteousness of his
own^ 7vhich was of' — derived from keeping — Uhe law^ was a
delusion.

But divine mercy offered him salvation in a way which, with
sublime completeness, exhibits in one view (iod's abhorrence
of sin, and determination to sustain the dignity of His law,
and, at the same time, the infinite richness and tenderness of
His love and pity. The Son of God has, as the Representa-
tive Man, wrought out, by His holy life and His atoning
death, a perfect righteousness ; and this God is willing to
reckon as if it were the personal righteousness of every one
who sincerely believes in His Son. This perfectly and eter-
nally sufficient righteousness is thus enjoyed by men through
the faith of Christ' Or, as the apostle goes on to put it a
little more fully, in contrast with the supposed and utterly
insufficient righteousness which is 'of the law,' this is ^of God' —
devised and bestowed by Him, — and * by faith ' — more exactly,
' on, resting on faith,' not in any degree as a meritorious con-
dition, but as a needful antecedent. Those who believe in
Christ are regarded by God as ' in Him ' — vitally united to
Him ; and therefore, though personally unworthy, they are
yet safe for eternity, through the all-glorious righteousness of
the God-man, their Representative and Head.

The object of the apostle's longing is now clearly before us :
' I suffered loss, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him '
— ' that whenever and however my relations to God be tested,
especially when I am sought for in the great day of final
account, I may be found not standing alone, as claiming to
be judged by myself, but in Him, and thus sheltered from all
danger ' — ' not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteous-
ness which is of God by faith.'

Dear friends, the sketch of Paul's spiritual history which we

262 Lechires on Philippians. [ch. hi.

have now been studying, ought to have profound interest for
every one of us, and to suggest most serious reflections. We
are * men of like passions ' with him, — equally liable, at the
least, to self-deception and self-righteousness. The great day
to which he looked forward awaits also you and me. * The
judgment shall be set, and the books opened.' Then * who
shall abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when
He appeareth ? ' Blessed, surely, are they who have ' the
witness of the Spirit with their spirits' that, having renounced
all vain confidence, they are ' in Christ,' and are thus enabled
to cherish an intelligent hope that in that day they shall be
* found in Him, having the righteousness which is of God ! '
' If God be for us, who can be against us?'

VER. lo.] The Saint's Aspirations. 263

XX.

THE SAINT'S ASPIRATIONS.

'That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death ;
II If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.'
— Phil. iii. lo, ii.

THE connection of these words with the preceding verses
is obviously intimate. They exhibit further objects of
desire, which the apostle had in view in longing to be ' found
in Christ, not having his own righteousness, which was of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteous-
ness which is of God by faith.' As were the aspirations of this
great Christian, such, in the measure of their faith, are those of
all true believers. The subject for our consideration now,
then, is the Christian's chief aims.

I do Hot know that there is any passage of Scripture which,
more clearly and strikingly than this, exhibits the peculiarities
of vital religion, as contrasted with the views and purposes of
man by nature. The transcendentalism, as we may call it, of
genuine Christianity — its passing out beyond the range of
merely natural thought and desire into a totally new and
strange sphere — is here very prominent. Speak to a non-
Christian man of any intelligence and elevation of sentiment
about the benefit you obtain from Christ's moral teaching,
and of your aim, as a Christian, to diminish the crime and
wTetchedness which abound around us ; and he will under-
stand, and, to some extent, sympathize with you. But say that
your aims are to ' know Christ, and the power of His resurrec-

264 Lechcres ofi Philippians, [ch. hi.

tion, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conform-
able to His death/ and that you believe this knowledge to be
' life eternal ; ' then worldly wisdom can but stand by and
wonder that sane men should thus babble in an unknown
tongue. The man who can intelligently and sincerely say
things like these has evidently undergone a radical change of
mind and heart. It is plain that, while in this world, yet in
some most important respects he is not ^it. His own feeling
is, that previously he had seen everything in a false and dis-
torting light, — that the highest things had seemed to him but
shadows, and only the lowest things real ; as, to one looking
down from a hill-side into the mirror of a lake's calm bosom,
the world appears inverted, the heaven with its glories below
him and unreal, and the earth on which he stands the highest
thing of all. Now, lifting his eyes, he sees things as they are,
— the heaven above the earth, and as real. Faith brings us
out into God's light, and by it we see the proportions and
relations of objects truly. Every real Christian is in some
degree, the exact degree in which his religion has gained con-
trol over him, a spiritual man, as distinguished from a carnal
or sensual. The highest of his faculties are in exercise, —
those by which we are enabled to know and hold fellowship
with God. The nobler affections have obtained mastery in
him over the lower, making these their servants, their ' hewers
of wood and drawers of water.' We pass into this state of
mind and heart above nature by the action upon us of a
power above nature. Of ourselves, we have no moral energy
to step or to stay beyond the sphere of carnality. By nature
we revel in it, and cannot indeed conceive of any higher type
of life. We become and are kept spiritual by the inworking
and indwelling of God's Spirit. ' Ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you : if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.'

The spiritual man's aim, then — the aim to which the gracious
working of the Holy Ghost impels — is ''to know Christ.' This

VER. lo.] The Saint's Aspirations, 265

may be regarded as the sum of the bchevcr's aims, of which
the other statements tliat follow but present special asi)ects.

The Apostle Paul was a man of extraordinary abilities, and
evidently also a devoted student- His temperament was such
as to lead him to interest himself in knowledge of every kind ;
and probably no line of intellectual research followed by any
in his day was altogether strange to him. Now in the earlier
part of this paragraph we have the judgment to which the
Divine Spirit guided him, as to the most important department
of knowledge. Such, he says, is * the excellency ' — the pre-
eminence— * of the knowledge of Christ,' that, in comparison
with it, all other knowledge, and indeed everything else in the
world, is to be regarded as worth nothing. Everything else, in
so far as it keeps a man back from this, is to be regarded as a
positive * loss.' However interesting or useful any knowledge
may be, looked at by itself, yet here it ' has no glory, by reason
of the glory that excelleth.' These little lights fade away from
view, like the stars at the advent of the sun. Real knowledge
of all kinds is, when wisely used, good and profitable to men ;
real knowledge of all kinds may be tributary, too, in a high
degree, to our advancement in this knowledge : but, stating
the case in the simplest and barest form, to know everjthing
else and not to know Christ brings infinite loss ; whilst to
know Christ, even if nothing else be known, brings infinite
gain, for he who knows Christ knows the great secret, the
secret of the chief good. He has found the ' pearl of great
price,' and ' to sell all that he hath, and buy it,' is true wisdom.

That knowledge of Christ of which the apostle here speaks
as his aim is, I need hardly say, distinct from knowledge about
Christ — distinguished as a whole from its part, as a temple from
its foundation. As there can be no temple without a founda-
tion, but may easily be a foundation on which no temple is
reared ; so we cannot know Christ without knowing the truth
about Him. But it is possible — alas, one cannot but fear that
it is sadly common — to know much truth about Christ, and yet

266 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

not to know Him as Paul did and strove to do always more
perfectly. Saving knowledge of Christ has heat as well as
light. It fills and influences the whole soul, — not the mind
only, but the affections. ' The excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord,' — there you have its nature set forth.
It is essentially appropriating. ' To know Jesus as mine, my
Saviour, my Elder Brother, my Prophet, Priest, and King ;
whose promises are bread of life to me ; whose laws are of
absolute and sweet obligation to me ; whose grace is my con-
stant trust,' — this is what Paul means.

Such knowledge brings with it moral excellence ; because to
Him whom thus we know we grow like in character, through
the transforming power of love. * Beholding the glory of the
Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to
glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.' It brings with it happiness
too ; for, knowing the excellences of his Saviour — holding com-
munion by faith with a Friend infinitely faithful, and wise, and
powerful, who says to him, * I will strengthen thee, I will help
thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteous-
ness'— it cannot but be that the believer will * rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory.'

It is reasonable, then, — and, as a matter of fact, it belongs
to the essence of vital religion, — that the great aim of the
disciple of Christ should be ' to know Him ' experimentally
and growingly. Saving faith is simply spiritual knowledge of
Christ. ' By His knowledge,' says Jehovah — that is, ' by the
knowledge of Himself — 'shall My righteous Servant justify
many.' One element in the new state of spirit produced by
the beginning of this knowledge, in the cordial belief of the
gospel, is always strong longing to know more of Him, to have
ever fuller experimental acquaintance with His character. And as
the glory of that character 'passeth knowledge,' the joyous study
of the saints throughout eternity will still be * to know Christ.'

Proceeding to describe his aim somewhat more in detail,
the apostle speaks of his longing * to know the power of Christ s

VER. lO.] The Sainfs Aspirations. 267

resurrection.^ It is j)lnin from the ronnertion in which these
last words occur, that they do not mean what, taken by them-
selves, they might mean, ' the divine power slunvn in the
Saviour's resurrection,' — as we read in the Kpistle to the
Ephesians of * the working of (iod's mighty power, which He
^Tought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead' (Kph.
i. 19, 20). The reference here is plainly to the ^ \)Oyf(tT exerted
by Christ's resurrection,' or, as the older Knglish versions have
it, * the virtue of His resurrection.' This 'virtue' or * power'
is manifold, present and future. According to the apostle's
line of thought, however, his reference must be supposed to be
to what is experienced in the present life. Now we read that,
as Christ * was delivered for our offences,' so He * was raised
again for our justification' (Rom. iv. 25). In His resurrection
the divine seal was attached to the charter of grace, attesting
the completeness of the great work of mediation. The risen
and glorified Saviour still discharges needful functions as our
High Priest, too, presenting the blood of atonement in the
Most Holy Place, and interceding for His people. When God
forgives our sins, and accepts us as righteous, then we experi-
ence as really the power of the Saviour's resurrection as the
power of His death. Justification, however, was spoken of by
the apostle in the preceding verse, whereas we appear to be
here at a further stage, amid the spiritual aims and efforts of
the Christian life, the life of a man already justified. Paul's
thought, I doubt not, in ' knowing the power of His resurrec-
tion,' is personal experience, through growing holiness and
consequent happiness, of the fulfilment of the Saviour's
gracious declaration, ' Because I live, ye shall live also.'

When Jesus rose, and ascended to sit down at His Father's
right hand. He ' received gifts for men,' and ' all power over
all flesh, to quicken — give life to — whom He would.' This
life of holy blessedness which He bestows is kindred to His
own, — nay, it is in truth the life of the Head stirring in the
members. * We live, — yet not we, but Christ liveth in us.'

268 Lectures on Philippiaris. [ch. hi.

The power of Christ's resurrection is to give resurrection to
the spirits of His chosen now, as well as to their bodies by and
by. To the eye of faith, how vivid a picture, or rather, how
dark and gloorny a shadow, is a dead body of a dead soul, — a
soul which in the midst of a world where myriads of agencies
are appealing to us from every side on behalf of God, to con-
template Him, to learn His will, to pray for His help, yet sees
not, hears not, breathes not, — a soul which is utterly insensible
alike to the tender touch of divine love, and the stern stroke
of divine anger, — a soul ' dead in trespasses and sins ! ' Very
varied is the aspect of the spiritually dead. Sometimes we see
moral corruption so gross, and manifest, and repulsive, that we
hurry away from the loathsome sight ; sometimes, on the other
hand, such a sweet tenderness and lovingness of nature, such a
fulness of generous impulses and manly energies, that one
finds it all but impossible to believe that aspiration after God's
glory, the only breath of true life, can be wanting there.

* He who hath bent him o'er the dead,
Ere the first day of death is fled,
Before decay's effacing fingers
Have swept the lines where beauty lingers ;
And marked the mild angelic air,
The rapture of repose that's there, —
The fixed, yet tender traits that streak
The languor of the placid cheek ;

Some moments, ay, one treacherous hour,
He still might doubt the tyrant's power, —
So fair, so calm, so softly-sealed,
The first — last — look, by death revealed.'

Yet this is death, no less really than where the sad ravages of
corruption are obvious to the senses. So is it with the soul.
Wherever love to God is not the ruling motive of action, there
is death ; and life can be seen there only through a resurrec-
tion. Blessed be the Prince of Life, dear friends, who is
willing to quicken us into 'newness of life' with Himself!

vi:r. io.] The Sat tit's Aspirations. 269

JJy an earthquake, it may he — a shaking of the nature — a con-
vulsion of the whole man — the 'great stone' of prejudice, of
careless unconcern and carnal security, with which dei>ravity
has closed the door of our sepulchre, and which the world and
the world's prince have sealed with their signet, is rolled away ;
the heavenly light of conviction 'of sin, and righteousness, and
judgment,' pierces the darkness of the tomb ; Jesus cries with
a loud voice, 'Come forth ;' and he who was dead comes forth,
bound hand and foot, indeed, with grave-clothes, yet alive,
through the quickening energies of the Spirit of Christ, who
has already taken up His abode within him. Such is the
soul's resurrection. A life has begun which, by the terms of
the covenant, can never end, — the life which is sustained by
spiritually ' eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son
of man.' The soul of the regenerate man enjoys peace with
God, and his desires and efforts are directed towards likeness
of character to God. This is real life. As yet, however, the
spiritual resurrection is imperfect, for ' the law of sin in the
members wars with the law of the mind.' But the energy of
the life already received is seen in such strong longings as the
apostle breathes out here for more complete fellowship in the
spirit of life with Him who said, ' I seek not Mine own will,
but the will of the Father.' We long, if we be Christians, to
have all our faculties exercised to discern and to accomplish
whatever may redound to the glory of our Creator and Re-
deemer ; to give up to His service, in the sphere in which He
has placed us, our wealth, our talents, our time, our influence ;
to have our whole life, in all its relations, pervaded by religion.
To advance towards this attainment is to experience ever more
fully ' the power of Christ's resurrection,' by having fellowship
with Him in His life.

Further, the apostle longs ' to know the fellowship of His
sufferings, being ?nade conformable unto His death.^ The ren-
dering ^ being made conformable' has scarcely that exquisite
felicity which usually characterizes our wonderful translation.

270 Lectures on Philippians, [cH. iii.

The particular word here found in the original does not occur
anywhere else in the New Testament ; but a closely-allied form
does twice, — in the 29th verse of the 8th chapter of Romans,
where it is translated 'conformed/ and in the 21st verse of this
present chapter, where the rendering is ' fashioned like unto.'
Either of these is decidedly preferable for exactness to ' made
conformable.'

It is not easy to determine with precision the idea intended
in this part of the verse, — the condensation of the language in
'fashioned like unto His death' rendering it obscure. The
construction of the original, however, shows this at least dis-
tinctly, that the ' knowing the fellowship of Christ's sufferings,'
and the ' being fashioned like unto His death,' stand in the
closest connection with each other — the latter seemingly being
almost equivalent to the former, only that the thought is ex-
pressed with more intensity. On the whole, I think that the
longing of the apostle set forth here is somewhat to this effect,
— that he may be cast in that Christ-like mould of feeling and
character with which, through its antagonism to the wickedness
of the world, suffering is necessarily connected — that character,'
the natural result of the exhibition of which, in its perfect
beauty in the midst of sinners, was their murder of God's Holy
One. For suffering, looked at simply by itself, the apostle
does not long. Such aspirings belong to the spirit of pure
fanaticism and folly. But he longs for the character of which,
in this world, sufferings are an inseparable adjunct, — ay, and
the sufferings themselves, in so far as they evince the growing
possession of this character, he will welcome with thankfulness,
— a martyr's death itself, if God so appoint.

Now here, you see, brethren, we have one of those para-
doxes, or apparent self-contradictions, which meet us every-
where in religion. We have just had the believer's yearning
for fellowship of life with Christ ; and now we have substan-
tially the same yearning thrown into the form of a desire for
fellowship in suffering atid death. But you see how it is. The

VER. lo.] The SainCs Aspirations. 271

Christian, brought out of darkness into (iod's marvellous light,
was, as he presented himself to us in the former clause, looking
out into the light ; and wc saw a full, free, direct out-throwing
of the heart's desire to go forward, ever forward, into the light.
Now he turns and faces the darkness ; and we have the thought
moulded by the sight of the darkness. 'I'he paradoxes in re-
ligion arc caused by its having to do with facts so unnatural —
so directly opposed to the nature of things as constituted by
God at the first — as wickedness and misery. Sin is the great
anomaly in God's world, my brethren. It might well seem an
utter self-contradiction, a violation of all law and order, that
the Prince of Life — the possessor of a life independent and
essential, from whom all life springs, through whom and in
whom all life subsists — should die ; yet this was, in truth, the
highest act of the highest divine law of love, for the restoration
in the moral universe of the order which had been overthrown
by sin. The true paradox, the true lawlessness, was that man,
made to live, should wilfully have died, — should wilfully have
chosen the defilement of sin, and the curse of the grave. The
Prince of Life died that, in accordance with law and order, He
might give life to dead men. Now, according to the eternal
covenant of love, Christ's people are so indissolubly united to
Him, that we died with Him, and rose with Him, — and this in
regard to both the grand elements of salvation, deliverance from
the guilt and curse of sin, and deliverance from its power. As
regards deliverance from guilt, — when ' Jesus was delivered for
our offences, and was raised again for our justification,' we so
died in Him, in the sight of God, that the law has no longer
any claim upon us for punishment ; and we so rose in Him, as
to pass out into the sphere of full blessed acceptance with God,
and adoption into His family. As regards sanctifi cation, — we
live through the fellowship of Christ's life ; and yet at the same
time, being in a wicked world, we have ' a fellowship of His
sufferings, being fashioned after the likeness of His death.' It
is plain from many passages in the Apostle Paul's ™tings, that

272 Lechires on Philippians. [ch. hi.

this was a conjunction of thought in which he took great
delight. He ' always bore about in the body the dying of the
Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in his body.'

One element of the Saviour's sufferings in which all true
believers have fellowship with Him, was pain caused by the
sight of abounding sin. When you remember the genuineness
of the Lord's humanity, and the consequent reality of His
impressibleness by His surroundings, you will see how pungent
a source of distress this must have been to Him. Ah, brethren,
for a holy soul, a soul that throbbed with an unceasing and
absolute devotion to the divine will, to live for three-and-
thirty years in the midst of a world like this, and in close
intercourse with its people, — a world where blasphemy, and im-
purity, and falsehood, and cruelty, walk abroad unblushingly,
and obtrude themselves on every eye and ear, — what a vast
sum of anguish there was here for the Lord ! Apart altogether
from the direct hostility of men to Himself, and from those
mysterious agonies caused by the hiding from Him of His
Father's countenance, — the Man Christ Jesus, simply because
He was situated among sinful men, could not but be ' a Man
of sorrows.' Now all His people have fellowship with Him in
this suffering. If a man have no experience of the kind, no
loathing at the sight of sin, no distress at the thought of the
dishonour done to God, and the misery brought upon them-
selves, by the wickedness of the wicked, then certainly he is
not a Christian. Every true believer knows something of the
experience of the Psalmist, — * Rivers of waters run down mine
eyes, because they keep not Thy law.' Contentment with a
sinful world belongs to the spirit of Satan, not of Christ. To
be so brought out into the light of God, then, and so pervaded
by its glorious radiance, that the sight of moral darkness shall'
cause ever intenser distress, — this is the behever's longing
and aim.

This pain in Christians has a side — the saddest side — of

VER. lo.] The Sainfs Aspirations. 273

which Jesus could know nothing. We, His people, loathe
our (nvn sins, and pray that we may loathe them more. Our
life with Christ is maintained by dying daily to sin, by painful
struggle, through the energies of the Divine Spirit within us,
against the power of remaining depravity. Though Jesus had
no sin, yet in pain at the siglit of the evil in our own hearts
and lives we have tnie fellowshij) with Him ; for the si)ring of
the hatred is that reverence and love to God which reigned
in Him.

But the sufferings of Christ included also direct inflictions
through the hatred of the 7uicked. The opposition of the
Lord to sin was so direct and complete, that all who loved
sin could not but hate Him. Those who lived in the dark-
ness, and loved the darkness rather than the light, shrank
from and abhorred that glory of heavenly light in the Saviour's
character which revealed the intensity of their own darkness;
and it was but natural that by the children of darkness the
incarnate Light should be crucified. Now, as He 'was. Chris-
tian brethren — hated by the world — so are we, in the measure
in which we too are children of light. * If we were of the
world, the world would love his o\\ti ; but because we are not
of the world, but Christ hath chosen us out of the world,
therefore the world hateth us.' Remember the word which
He said unto us, ' The servant is not greater than his Lord :
if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute yoiL*
From the nature of things, it must be so. The contrast
between sin and genuine holiness is far too decided and pro-
minent a thing, — it bears at ever\' turn far too strongly and
piercingly on matters in which the heart is most interested, —
to be treated, in the intercourse of men, as a thing of indiffer-
ence. The stake, and the scaffold, and the thumbscrew, torture
and death for religion, are eminently natural results of the
meeting of two forces as mutually repugnant as fire and water.
And though, in God's kind providence, and through the in-
direct working of Christianity, the world does not bum nor

2 74 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

crucify for religion in this our age and countr}', yet it hates
Christianity and Christians just as really as of old. Moral
light and moral darkness, moral life and moral death, cannot
co-exist in mutual love. If any professing Christian among
us, then, has no sense of this opposition — an opposition
subtle, it may be, but real and strong, — if he feels himself
quite at home, an honoured and thoroughly welcome friend,
in the circles of those who are unmistakeably mere children
of this world, — he has very great reason to fear that the
darkness has thus lovingly received the professed light of the
world, simply because there is no light in him. The profession
of Christianity may be respectable in the eyes of the world,
but a really Christian life the world hates. The truth stands
all down the ages, till the consummation of the probationary
history of our earth, that ' the friendship of this world is enmity
with God.

Such, then, I apprehend, brethren, is the meaning of the
apostle's statement that he aspires to ' know the fellowship of
Christ's sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.'
His longing is, that he may sorrow over the existence of sin
as the Saviour did ; and that his opposition to sin may be so
clear and sharp as to bring down the world's hatred, as the
Saviour's was and did. This is to be * conformed to Christ's
death.'

The Christian life, then, you see, must be a life of serious-
ness. It is a happy life — the only happy life — because it is
life with and in Him who, having risen triumphant from the
grave, was 'anointed with the oil of gladness.' But God and
sin, heaven and hell, are realities far too solemn to permit it
to be a life of frivolous gladness. And the happiness of those
who have fellowship of life with Christ, is none the less deep
and broad and lasting, because they have fellowship also in
His sufferings, and their life is, in considerable measure, ' con-
formed to His death.'

In the nth verse, the apostle sets forth the object of hope,

VER. II.] The Saint's Aspirations. 275

with a view to which it was that he resolutely and prayerfully
strove to 'know Christ' ever more fully, *ancl the power of
His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffcrinj;s, being
conformed unto His death :' '// by any means I mi]^ht attain
unto the resurrection of the dead! ' Resurrection of the dead^ is
in itself a j)hrase expressive of the destiny of all men, believers
and unbelievers alike ; for, as Paul testified before P'elix, ' the
unjust' as well as 'the just' shall rise again (Acts xxiv. 15).
In such a passage as the present, however, exj>ressive of
Christian aims and aspirations, the general term is very
naturally emj)loyed with the special force of * resurrection
and glorious life with Christ.* This special application occurs
often in the New Testament, — as, for example, in our Lord's
contrast between ' the children of this world ' and those
* who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and
the resurrection from the dead ' (Luke xx. 34, 35). In
the apostle's hopes this word gathered up all that his soul
longed for, — perfect freedom for ever from sin and sorrow ;
knowledge of Christ up to the fullest measure of his capa-
cities of knowledge ; perfect experimental acquaintance with
the power of His resurrection, through perfect fellowship
of life ^^^th Him ; the ineffable and everlasting blessedness
of being with Him and like Him, ' sitting with Him in
His throne, even as He hath sat down with His Father in
His throne.' This is the glory of 'the children of the resur-
rection.'

''If by any means^ is expressive of intense desire, — and at
the same time here of the profoundest humility and sense of
unworthiness to attain the object of desire. In so far as a
certain degree of doubt appears to enter into the meaning of
the phrase, we may feel some little surprise. At first sight this
may seem to conflict with the sublime confidence which has
shown itself in the first chapter, in ' To me to die is gain,' and
which we meet also ever and anon in the other Epistles, — for
example, in ' Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of

276 Lectures on Philippimis, [ch. in.

righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give
me at that day.' ' But,' says the eminently wise and holy
Neander, ' these are discrepancies which belong to the essence
of Christian life. When the Christian looks to his Redeemer,
— to the grace of redemption assured to him, — to the unchange-
able word of promise, — the end to which all his struggles are
directed appears to him as an object of undoubted certainty.
On the other hand, when he examines his life by the standard
of divine hoHness, his confidence finds no firm foundation,
defects and defilement everywhere presenting themselves to his
view, — and all this, the more he has really advanced in holiness,
for thus his spiritual insight has become keener, through the
power of the Holy Spirit, to apprehend the ideal pattern of
divine holiness, in its application to the duties of his life — to
test, by reference to this, his inner and outward life — and to
prove its nakedness and shortcomings. Hence the fluctua-
tion in Paul's expressions.' You remember the language
employed by the apostle in writing to the Corinthians : * I
keep under my body, and bring it into subjection ; lest that
by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself
should be a castaway' (i Cor. ix. 27). In its suggestion of a
measure of doubt, this is somewhat similar to his words in
the verse now before us, — but much stronger and more
startling.

Dear brethren, let us "hear a most important lesson read to us
in the employment of such language regarding himself by so
illustrious a servant of Christ. We all find in ourselves a
proneness at times, through the deceitfulness of the heart, to
self-complacency and listlessness in religion. Paul endeavoured
habitually to feel himself engaged in a life struggle — called on
to * work out his own salvation with fear and trembling.' But
while cherishing this state of mind — and because he cherished
this state of mind, for here again one of the paradoxes of the
Christian life presents itself — he had much joyful assurance of
salvation. Only those who keep vividly before them the

VER. II.] The SainCs Aspiratio7is. 277

spiritiuil hazards connected with life in this world, and who,
full of sclf-distmst, are vi^'ilant, prayerful, and strenuous in
effort after holiness, arc likely to have brightness of hope.
The ' if by aqy means I may attain,' and ' henceforth there is
laid u]) for nie,' are bound closely together.

2 yS Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

XXI.
PRESSING TOWARD THE MARK.

* Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect : but I
follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am ap-
prehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended : but this one thing I do, — forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14
I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. ' — Phil. iii. 12-14.

AT this point the apostle suddenly turns aside, to give a
caution against most serious error. In opposition to the
soul-destroying formalism and self-righteousness of the Judaiz-
ing preachers, he has enjoined on the Philippians to ' glory in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh ;' and in
support of his injunction has reminded them how he himself,
having in unusual measure those grounds of confidence in
which the misleading teachers believed, had renounced all of
these, ' that he might win Christ, and be found in Him, not
having his own righteousness, but that which is through the
faith of Christ.' Now there was a hazard that recoil from
formalism might be into moral indifference and indolence, the
precious truth that believers are 'complete in Christ' being
turned by the wicked ingenuity of the carnal heart into an
instrument of religious sloth. Nay, it might be made even
a direct incitement to sin ; and there were, in fact, in apostolic
times, as probably in all ages of the church since, persons who
thus abused the doctrines of grace to their own destruction,
saying, * Let us continue in sin, that grace may abound.' Into

VERS. 12-14.] Prcssincr toward tlie Mark, 279

such blaf>i)homoiis antinomianism il was at least as likely that
some of the Philippians might be led away as into Jewish
formalism, — situated as they were in the midst of the moral
abominations of heathenism. Against this danger, then, Paul
now— in the paragraph extending from the 12th verse to the ist
verse of the next chapter — affectionately and earnestly warns
them ; beginning in the way which the sketch of his spiritual
history given in the previous section naturally suggested, by
an account of his own convictions respecting the importance
of a holy character, and his efforts springing from these con-
victions. The course of thought passes easily from the state-
ment of his longings and aims as a Christian, given in the loth
and nth verses, to the description of struggle, 'following after,
pressing toward the mark,' which we have here.

The word * apprehend,' as used in these verses, has its
original meaning, * to lay hold of with the hand,' — a sense
scarcely retained by us in modern English, except in regard
to a constable who ' apprehends ' an evil-doer. * Attained,' in
the beginning of the 12 th verse, is not a very happy rendering,
because it suggests a reference to the ' attain ' of the previous
verse, whilst in the original these are two quite distinct words ;
and because it hides the real connection with the 'apprehends'
which follow, the original word being merely a simpler form of
that translated 'apprehend,' and almost identical in meaning.
Of ' but this one thing I do,' you will see, from the italics in your
Bibles, that the original has only ' but one thing,' — this ' one
thing' being evidently contrasted with the foolish and arrogant
statements regarding attained perfection, which some made
about themselves, but which Paul could not make. From the
connection of thought, the mind instinctively supplies ' I do,'
* I know,' ' I can say of myself,' or the like. The clause, as
found in our version, is often quoted as exhibiting the need of
concentration — of a 'united heart' — for success in the struggles
of the Christian life. This perhaps lays a stress on the ^ one
thing' which it was hardly intended to bear; but the truth is

28o Lectures on PJiilippians. [ch. hi.

directly and most vividly suggested by the whole of the apostle's
statement here.

Throughout the passage, the apostle has before his mind his
favourite image for the illustration of the efforts of the Christian
life, a race run for a prize, — one of those races, for example,
which formed part of the famous Olympic and Isthmian
games.

Paraphrased a little, the statement in these verses is as fol-
lows : ' I have told you, brethren, that, at the great turning-
point of my hfe, I was led by the gracious Spirit to give up all
my old grounds of trust, that I might win Christ, and be found
in Him. But one act is not the whole of Christianity. Accept-
ance of Christ by faith is the starting-point of a new life. Do
not misunderstand what I have said to you, therefore, by
supposing me to think either that in my decisive act of self-
renunciation for Christ I laid hold of the goal of my appointed
race, and was thus ready at once to receive the prize, or that
since then I have been spiritually perfected. It is not so ; but
I press on, if that I may lay hold of that for which also I was
laid hold of by Christ Jesus, on the day of marvellous grace
when He appeared to me on my journey to Damascus.
Brethren, there are some who seem to think of themselves that
they have laid hold of the goal already ; but I assuredly do
not count myself to have done this. One thing, however, I
do ; forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the
mark, for the prize which belongs to the heavenly calling
wherewith God calls us in Christ Jesus.'

The first general truth set forth in this passage is, that the
holiness of a Christian is ittiperfect so lo?ig as he is on earth.
You and I, brethren, know ourselves to be very far from
having reached entire conformity in heart and life to the will
of our heavenly Father. Others, perhaps, may not see very
marked defects in us ; we may be habitually characterized by
purity, sobriety, uprightness, patience, and benevolence; we

VERS. 12-14.] Pressing toward the Ma rk. 2 8 1

may be diligent in availing ourselves of the public and private
means of grace ; we may be actively engaged in efforts to
extend the Redeemer's kingdom ; we may hear at times with
cheering distinctness ' tlie witness of the Spirit with our spirits
that we arc children of God ; ' — yet, trying ourselves by the
standard which (}od has given us in the character of His Son,
we find every day abundant cause to acknowledge sin. Some-
times candid self-examination makes us almost despond. In
such moods, the testimony of Paul in the passage before us is
fitted to comfort, by giving us the assurance that even the most
illustrious servants of Christ have had similar consciousness of
imperfection. Studying the apostle's life, we see so bright and
steady a glow of holy zeal, and mark everywhere a spirit so
pure, and generous, and self-sacrificing, and patient, that it
hardly occurs to us to class him among the sinning and
struggling believers to whom we know ourselves to belong.
But here you have his own witness, — after the greater part of
his noble life was spent, — after he had become the spiritual
father of many churches, — after he had written some, probably
most, of those Epistles which display such sublime spiritual
wisdom, — after the signal expression of the divine favour to him
in his rapture to Paradise had been for many years a memory,
— ' I am not yet perfect ; I count not myself to have laid hold
of the goal.'

You remember also that detailed and most pathetic state-
ment made by him in Romans : ' I know that in me, that is, in
my flesh, dwelleth no good thing : for to will is present with
me ; but how to perfomi that which is good I find not. For
the good that I would I do not ; but the evil which I would not,
that I do. I find then a law, that, when I would do good,
evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God,
after the inward man : but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O
wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body

282 Lectures on Philippia7is. [ch. hi.

of this death?' (Rom. vii. 18, 19, 21-24.) The language em-
ployed by Paul in these verses, and also in other parts of that
section of the Epistle to the Romans from which they are
taken, is so strong in the confession of imperfection, that
many expositors have regarded the passage as descriptive, not
of his experiences as a Christian, but of the struggles, in the
days before his enlightenment, between natural conscience
and corrupt inclination. The great preponderance of opinion,
however, among evangelical students of the Epistle, has been
in favour of the view that his experience as a believer is that
exhibited, — most justly, as it seems to me, whether we examine
the passage itself, or its connection with the context. ' Delight
in the law of God after the inward man ' could never be ascribed
to the unregenerate ; whilst every word of the confessions is
echoed by the most spiritually-minded of God's children.

It is true that sometimes, amid the glow of first love, a
young Christian feels as if violation of the law of God were
henceforth an impossibility for him. While the words of
gracious welcome are still ringing in the ear of the returned
prodigal, and the kiss of love still warm on his lips, he cannot
but think that nothing will ever lead him to disobey, or even
for a moment forget, so good a Father. But he soon finds that
* the law of sin in the members brings him into captivity.'
He discovers that, as the fulness of the bliss which belongs to
the salvation given him in Christ is reserved for heaven, so is
it also with the perfect holiness. Lazarus, though alive by the
grace and power of the Son of God, feels his limbs encumbered
with the grave-clothes. Says good John Newton, when a well-
tried soldier of Jesus Christ, ' I would not be the sport of vain
imaginations ; but this evil is present with me. My heart is
like a highway, like a city without walls or gates. I sometimes
compare my words to the treble of an instrument, which my
thoughts accompany with a kind of bass, or rather anti-bass, in
which every rule of harmony is broken, every possible com-
bination of discord and confusion is introduced, utterly incon-

VERS. 12-14.] Pressing toiuard the Mark. 283

sistcnt with, and contradictory to, the intended melody. Ah,
what music would my praying and my preaching often make in
the ears of the Lord of Hosts, if He listened to them as they
arc mine only ! I would not be influenced by a principle of
self on any occasion ; yet this evil I often do. I see the base-
ness and absurdity of such conduct as clearly as I see the light
of the day. But the Lord knows how this dead fly taints
and spoils my best services, and makes them no better than
specious sins. I would not cleave to a covenant of works ;
yet even this I do. It is the main pleasure and business of
my life to set forth the necessity and all-sufficiency of the
Mediator between God and men, and to make mention of His
righteousness, even of His only. But here, as in everything
else, I find a vast difference between my judgment and my
experience. I am invited to take the water of \\{^ freely^ — yet
often discouraged because I have nothing wherewith to pay
for it Ah, how vile must the heart be that can hold a parley
with such abominations, when I so well know their nature and
their tendency ! Surely he who finds himself capable of this,
may without the least affectation of humility (however fair his
outward conduct appears) subscribe himself less than the least
of all saints, and of sinners the very chief.' ^

I believe, my brethren, that all Christians, in the measure of
their true self-knowledge, will recognise, in this autobiographical
sketch of Newton's spiritual condition, something very like a
sketch of their own. The position that Christian perfection
can be, and not unfrequently has been, attained on earth, has
indeed been held by some ; but whenever the theory, as enter-
tained by men of evangelical faith and saintly character, is
carefully examined, the difference between them and evan-
gelical believers generally, resolves itself always into one of little
more than words. It becomes plain that by * perfection ' they
mean simply maturity of Christian character, not entire freedom
from defect.

^ Cardiphonia, — Fifth Letter to a Nobleman.

284 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. in.

As has been already said, one practical result of reflection
on this subject should be to sustain Christians, when tending
to doubt the reality of their faith on the ground that it does not
produce in them all the spiritual fruits they desire. We cannot
be too deeply humbled on account of the many proofs we daily
see that sin dwells in us ; but we must not give up our hope
that we are among the ' sanctified in Christ Jesus,' simply be-
cause we are not better than the Apostle Paul.

In seeking comfort here, however, it is of essential moment
that, in closest connection with the doctrine of Christian im-
perfection in the present state, we look also at the other great
general truth exhibited in the verses before us. This is, that
vital religion impels to ardent longing and persistent effort after
progress in holiness.

' Our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ gave Himself for
us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.' It is plain,
as a matter of fact, that men are not freed * from all iniquity '
at the moment of conversion. Consideration of the divine
character, then, will lead any thoughtful person to expect that
all God's deahngs with His people will be of the nature of
moral discipline, and that the Christian life will be one of
progress in spiritual energy and beauty — in freedom from the
bondage of depraved inclinations, in the strength of holy affec-
tions, in singleness of devotion to the divine will. Such is
the representation constantly given in Scripture of the life of
the child of God. ' The way of the wicked is as darkness ;
but the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day.* As regards the power
of the gospel, when received by fiiith, to gain commanding
influence over the nature, * The kingdom of heaven is like
unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures
of meal, till the whole was leavened.* From the nature of
the great saving change which is effected by the Spirit of
God through the faith of the truth, new desires are awakened

VERS. 12-14.] Pressing toward the Ma rk. 285

in the soul, the tendency of which, as God gratifies them, and
the sweetness of the blessing He bestows is felt, is to grow
constantly stronger. Now fellowship with God, and likeness
to God, which are the objects of these desires, are inexhaustible
sources of blessedness. Thus progress is the law of the new
life.

But the mode of this progress does no violence to any of
the elements of our moral nature. God works out His gracious
purpose, not through some physical impulse, under which we
are altogether passive, but through the renewal of our wills.
Exposed, then, as the Christian is while here, with a heart
but partially sanctified, to the abundant temptations of the
world, and to the influence of our great spiritual foe, it is
plain that progress will not be without effort and struggle
on our part. The duty of diligence and persistence in such
effort is every^vhe^e most affectionately and earnestly set before
us in the word of God. In such injunctions the bodily exer-
tions of warfare and of races are often referred to by way
of illustration. Thus we are called on, as you remember, to
* fight the good fight of faith,' ' taking to us the whole armour
of God, and standing in the evil day;' and to May aside
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and
run with patience the race set before us.' In the present
passage, as has been already mentioned, the image of the
race is made use of; and by two or three bold lines the pic-
ture of one of the great competitions which gathered crowds
of spectators from all parts of the world, and success in which
was prized as one of the highest honours attainable by a
Greek, is with much liveliness set before us. Dense all around
the course is a vast multitude of interested faces, 'a great
cloud of witnesses.' Near the starting-point, which is also the
goal, sits the judge, with a garland of olive leaves in his hand
— the prize of victory. The competitors are already round
the distance -post, and have the goal before them. Of the
ground already passed over you see that they have no thought.

2 86 Lectures on Philippimis, [ch. hi.

Their keen attitude, with the upper part of the body thrown
forward — ' reaching forth,^ as if eager even to anticipate the
swift limbs — shows that every energy of will and frame is
concentrated on the effort to lay hold of the goal. Such is
the scene.

The aim of spiritual progress, the * mark ' or goal of the
race, is perfection. ' Not as though I were already perfect^
says the apostle. No Christian can accept anything lower
than this as his aim. The new man in Christ feels instinc-
tively that, when God gave His Son to save men from sin, the
salvation was to be perfect, — that His ^ exceeding great and
precious promises ' have been granted to us to the intent

* that by these we might be partakers of the divine nature^
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust,' — that therefore the thought of contentment with con-
formity merely to what the world deems a fair standard of
morality, is a glaring insult to Him. If we are true believers,
my brethren, our aim, from the impulses of the divine life
within us, cannot but be to be * perfect, even as our Father
which is in heaven is perfect.'

Perfection, in the absolute sense of the word, can be ascribed
to God alone ; in whom infinite capabilities of holiness are
exercised with infinite completeness. Throughout eternity,
the knowledge and the powers of angels and redeemed men
will be growing ; and with the growth of capability for the
service of God will be the actual increase of such service.
Thus for ever the moral creatures of God in glory will be

* pressing toward the mark,' ' reaching forth unto those things
which are before.' In a lower sense of ' perfection,' however —
as relative to our faculties and capacities — 'the souls of believers
are at their death made perfect in holiness.' This relative
perfection, though, as a matter of fact, not reached till death,
is evidently the goal before the apostle's mind, in speaking of
the persistent spiritual efforts of his life, — perfect conformity
in everything to the will of God, to the image of Christ. The

VERS. 12-14.] Prcsshig toivard the Mark. 287

chiltl of (iod longs to have everything that defileth removed
from his heart and hfe, and to have everytliing present in his
heart and life which will * adorn the doctrine of God his
Saviour.' Tliis is the character which he keeps steadily before
him, and towards which he makes advances. In the measure
of the intelligence and liveliness of his faith, he endeavours to
hve a Christlike life ; and, though falling very far short of his
ideal, yet he does, on the whole, succeed in employing all the
departments and doings of his life, the secular as well as the
strictly religious, as instruments for helping him to become
always more Christlike. * Infinite as are the varieties of life,
so manifold are the paths to saintly character ; and he who has
not found out how, directly or indirectly, to make ever}'thing
converge towards his soul's sanctification, has as yet missed the
meaning of this life.*^

The spirit which secures progress is one of willingness to
*^ forget the things which are behind^ and thus have the way
clear for the desires and energies freely to ' reach forth unto
those things which are before.^ It is true that the remembrance
of our past life has great moral uses. The remembrance
of sins is fitted to humble, — of mistakes, to suggest wiser
courses, — of mercies, to encourage. But, with weak hearts
like ours, the influence of memor)^ is often perverse. As we
recall past failures, we tend to despondency ; whilst the re-
membrance of past seasons of spiritual happiness, or of activity
in the service of the Lord, may be made to minister most
unsound comfort in times of backsliding. In so far as ' things
which are behind ' exert over us, in any degree, power in such
directions, it is well — it is needful, if our souls are to ' prosper
and be in health' — that we ^forget those things.' The latter of
the two tendencies which I have mentioned is evidently most
prominent before the apostle's mind, — the tendency to find
satisfaction in remembering how vigorously in some former
days we rowed against the current of worldly influence, while
1 F. W. Robertson, of Brighton.

288 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

now we are but indolently dipping the oars, and therefore
drifting down the stream. The counsel of heavenly wisdom
is, * Bear ever in mind that the current against you is strong
and constant, so that to relax effort is to go dowTiward. If
you rest at the oar to muse complacently on what you have
gained, you are meantime rapidly losing all the gain. Strenu-
ously and perseveringly, then, bend to the oar; and count
nothing gained till all be gained.' Such, the apostle tells us
here, was his habitual feeling and practice. He put out of
his view the past spiritual struggles of his life, from so many
of which he had come out ' more than conqueror through Him
that loved him,' and by which the powers of his great soul had
been brought into sweet 'captivity to the obedience of Christ'
These struggles and \-ictories are all behind him now ; and his
one thought is of progress.

Paul felt that God had given him most powerful motives^
thus to seek spiritual advancement with singleness of aim.
One of these was found in his knowledge of the purpose which
Jesus had in view, in His gracious dealings towards him. It
was most reasonable that he should ' follow after, if that he
might apprehend that for which also he was apprehended of
Christ Jesus. ^ The grace of that never-to-be-forgotten day,
when the Saviour's hand arrested him in his course of mad-
ness and sin, — the grace of the sublime self-sacrifice of Beth-
lehem and Calvary, by which He had prepared the way for
that wondrous arrestment, — to what end was it? Jesus 'gave
Himself for you and me, brethren, and now gives us His
Spirit, and compasses us with the influences of His tender
mercy, — for what ? Certainly, dear friends, no power over the
heart, constraining to holy obedience, can be conceived, equal
to the simple knowledge that the object of Christ's loving-
kindness is * to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works.'

With the power of gratitude the force of holy ambition joins
itself, to impel to earnest, persistent effort in the Christian race.

VFRS. 1 2-14.] Pressing toward the Mark. 289

Before the believer's eye is set * the prize of the hi^h cal/ini^ of
God in Christ Jesus.' This pri/.e is ' the crown of life, which
the Lortl liath promised to them that love Him,' — the perfect
holy blessedness of heaven. Every follower of Christ feels the
animating influence of this hope. When at times the heart
grows weary in the spiritual struggle, a glimpse through faith of
the ' diadem of beauty ' revives the flagging energies. The
changes and sorrows of the ])ilgrim life can be patiently borne
by those who are enabled with full confidence to ' look for a
city which hath foundations.' When divine grace gives wisdom
to * have respect unto the recompense of the reward,' * the re-
proach of Christ ' will be esteemed ' greater riches than the
treasures' of the world. The human soul of the Lord Jesus
Himself was strengthened to bear the weight of atoning suffering
by the contemplation of the blessedness to come. 'For the joy
that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the
shame.' In the passage before us the apostle does not describe,
but vividly suggests, the immeasurable preciousness of the

* prize ' which divine grace offers, for Jesus' sake, to those who

* endure unto the end.' It is 'the ])uzq of — connected with,
belonging to — the high callifig of God.' The glorious origin of
the operations and influences by which Christians have been
brought into their position and character, leads up to the
thought of a transcendent grandeur of destiny. Our calling is
in every point of view a * high ' or * heavenly calling.' 1 The
invitation and gracious influences are from heaven ; and by
them God 'calls us unto His kingdom and glory' (i Thess.
ii. 12).

You will observe great encouragement for the struggling

believer in the language here employed, ^^^len he feels most

deeply his own impotence, and when, in the light of the

glory of the promised reward, he sees most clearly his un-

worthiness, — how cheering to remember that he has not entered

on the race unsummoned ! The ' calling ' by God implies a

' Compare Heb. iii. i.
T

290 Lechtres on Philippians. [ch. hi.

promise of all needed guidance and help ; and with His aid 'all
things are possible.' This calling is ' iti Christ Jestis,^ too, in
whom all God's words and ways to us are full of mercy. In
their connection here, these words sound like the voice of Jesus
Himself, saying to His people, in the midst of their wrestling
and fear, ^ Be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world.'

Let us lay the teaching of this passage of Scripture to heart,
my brethren. Progress is of the essence of vital religion, and
is indeed the grand a.nd only satisfying evidence of vitality.
But true believers not unfrequently feel, through certain results
of real progress, as if they were not making progress. With
the increase of spirituality comes a constantly distincter ap-
prehension of the glorious completeness and beauty of the
standard of Christian holiness, in the character of the Lord
Jesus ; and thus, constantly, also, a more vivid sense of the
believer's own shortcomings. The growing light reveals more
painfully to the heart — which is becoming ever more sensitive —
the depth of darkness still remaining in the comers and
crannies of the nature and life. Candid questioning of the
soul respecting the existence of a sincere longing for progress,
will show how the matter really stands with us. There can be
no strong and persistent yearning for advance in likeness to
the Master, except in true believers. And wherever such
longings are found, that Christian is making actual progress,
whether he himself can clearly see it or not It is very likely
that those of his fellow-Christians who have opportunities of
observing him closely, see satisfying proof of his advance.

In no believer, probably, is increase of wisdom and devoted-
ness altogether equable ; but this affords no ground for doubt-
ing that progress is the law of spiritual life, and that this
progress must at some intervals, longer or shorter, become
visible, — any more than the seeming reflux, for a few moments,
of a flowing tide, gives reason to doubt that, on the whole, the
sea will gain on the land till the time of high water. No man
has a right to conclude that his neighbour is not a true

VERS. 12-14.] Pressing Iowa rci the Ma rk. 2 9 1

Christian, l)ccaiisc he sees what appears to him a step back-
ward in some parti( ular, or on some occasion. i)n the other
hand, it is exceedingly hazardous for any man to try to per-
suade himself that he is making spiritual progress on the whole,
if candour compel him to admit that he can see nothing but
retrogression in details. The only safe course is resolutely,
persistently, and prayerfully, * forgetting those things which are
behind, to reach forth unto those things which arc before.*
There is, as we have seen, no standing still. Listlessness
means loss. * From him that hath not ' gain, * shall be taken
away even that which he hath.' Let us then, my brethren,
* press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God
in Christ Jesus.' Thus, through grace, we shall be enabled to
'grow up into Him in all things which is the Head, even
Christ.' Thus, having put forth ' the blade,' we shall in due
course put forth ' the ear,' and at last * the full com in the ear,'
which God will gather into His heavenly gamer.

292 Lectures on Pkiltppians. [ch. hi.

XXII.
TRUE WISDOM PROVED BY GODLINESS.

' Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded ; and if in any-
thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the
same rule, let us mind the same thing.' — Phil. iii. 15, 16.

THE apostle has spoken of his personal convictions re-
garding the needfulness of progress in spiritual wisdom
and strength and beauty, and of his longings and struggles to
make progress. In the section beginning with the verses now
before us, and extending to the ist, or perhaps the 3d, verse of
the next chapter, he applies what he has said on this subject
to the purpose of exhortation, as exhibiting the convictions
and the kind of life which ought to be found in all Christians.

He begins by an appeal to his readers to embrace, and
hold firmly, the same vieivs which he did, in regard to the duty
of persistent effort after progress in holiness. * Let us therefore^
as many as be perfect, be thus 7ninded.' The phrase ^be nmided^ —
which in this respect, as in every other, excellently represents
the original word — has a wide range of reference, pointing not
unfrequently to the action of the affections, more directly than
to that of the judgment. But in this place the 'God shall
reveal,' which occurs in the latter part of the verse, shows
distinctly that the writer is thinking mainly of convictions of
tmth.

The words * as many as be pcrfccf startle us somewhat at first,
— appearing as they do to contradict universal Christian experi-
ence, the experience set forth by the apostle himself only three

VER. 15.] True Wisdoyn proved by Godliness, 293

verses before, where he says that he did not suppose himself
to be 'already perfect.' It becomes i)lain, however, on a little
consideration, that the word, instead of being employed, ac-
coriling to our common usage, and as it is emjiloyed in the
1 2th verse, to designate entire freedom from moral defect, is
intended to bear a considerably modified meaning. We find
on examination that ^perfect ' not unfrequently in the New
Testament describes simply a maturity — a rii)eness and rich-
ness of knowledge, or character, or both — such as might be
supposed to mark the full-grown man, as contrasted with the
babe in Christ. The naturalness and obviousness of this,
for those among whom the apostolic writings were first circu-
lated, will be evident, when I mention to you that the same
Greek word which is translated ' perfect,' often means nothing
more than * full-grown,' or * come to man's estate.' Thus, in
the Epistle to the Hebrews (v. 14), 'Strong meat belongeth
to than that are of full age;^ and in the First Epistle to the
Corinthians (xiv. 20), ' In malice be ye children, but in under-
standing be men.^ No doubt the apostle's meaning in the
place before us, then, is, ' Let us, as many as are mature, be
thus minded, — hold firmly those views of duty which I have
just expressed.'

From the nature of the case, we must suppose maturity in
knowledge to be in his thoughts ; for a reference to maturity
in character would, in this passage, have little pertinence or
force, — implying, as it plainly would, that the persons addressed
did already hold with a firm grasp those views of duty which
the apostle is enjoining. The whole tone of his exhortation
appears to presuppose a likelihood that the character of some
to whom he speaks is as yet but imjnature. But there is much
pertinence and force in a reference to maturity in k?icnuledge^ —
seeing that, as we gather from the connection of the passage
with the previous part of the chapter, he means by this espe-
cially emancipation from the bonds of legalism, and keen per-
ception of the completeness of justification through faith in

294 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. iii.

Christ. Now recoil from trust in fancied obedience to the law
of God as a way of salvation, might be into disregard of that
law as a rule or guide of life. As the apostle has already
hinted in the verses preceding the present, and states explicitly
in the i8th and 19th, there were some in his time who thus
abused the precious doctrines of grace to their own ruin. It
was therefore highly needful that those of the Philippians who,
with regard to the way of reconciliation with God, had put
away childish things, and attained a manly clearness and
breadth of view, should have very distinctly brought before their
minds the duty of showing also manly wisdom and strength
and energy in the service of God. It was of supreme moment
for them to understand that for full Christian ' maturity ' is
required knowledge — vital, influential knowledge — that the
object of the Lord's self-devotion for us was not merely ' to
deliver us from the wrath to come,' but to accomplish an end
grander even than this, — to save us from the power of sin, and
make us in character like Himself

We have seen that the use of the word ^perfect' in the sense
which it evidently bears here, 'mature,' is not unfrequent.
Still Paul's choice of this particular term, so very shortly after
he had earnestly disclaimed belief in his being personally
* perfect' in the stricter sense, seems strange. But a probable
explanation is not far to seek. The apostle has already pro-
minently in his thoughts the antinomian abusers of evangelical
doctrine, of whom, as has been said, he comes to speak ex-
pressly in the i8th and 19th verses. He has turned the minds
of his readers to them by the emphasis — not perceptible in our
version, but very marked in the original — with which, in the
beginning of the 13th verse, he has spoken of his own personal
convictions : ' Brethren, I at least do not count myself to have
apprehended,' — the thought being plainly suggested, 'whatever
others may think regarding themselves.' Now we know from
statements in the early Christian fathers, that, in the age immedi-
ately following that of the apostles, the antinomians had special

VER. 15.] TrncWisdoju proved by Godliness. 295

delight in summing up their claims to manly ripeness of know-
ledge by calling themselves * the i)erfect.' If we suppose, then,
what is every way likely, that already in Paul's days this was
a favourite word with them, you will see at once the point and
force which would be recognised by the apostle's readers in
his use of the term here : ' Let us — as many as have attained
to that manly liberty through the knowledge of Christ, which
those men claim for themselves, and speak of with such jjride —
prove that we have true spiritual wisdom, by not subjecting
ourselves, as those foolish ones have done, to another form of
cnishing slavery, but devoting ourselves joyfully and earnestly
to that loving service of God which is the only real freedom.'

Brethren, if you and I intelligently hold the creed which we
profess, then we are among those whom the apostle here
speaks of as * perfect.' The Christian church was for many
ages kept by Popish falsehood in bondage, or in a constant
childhood ; but the churches of the Reformation are churches
of men, of freemen. We glory in the cross of Christ, in justifi-
cation by faith, in a full salvation through divine grace. Now
I have no reason to suppose that, with this creed, any of us
have consciously adopted antinomian views. That heresy, so
repulsive to all healthy Christian feeling, so utterly offensive
indeed to ordinary good sense, has never had any hold on our
Scottish churches. Yet I fear there may be not a few of us
who have far from a clear and impressive view of the transcen-
dent importance of personal holiness, and of the prominence
which this has in God's salvation. We are all prone to think
more of happiness, of pardon and peace, than of purity and
godliness. Now, in truth, ih^ primary element in eternal life
is beauty and strength of character. As Christian wisdom
ripens, conviction of the surpassing grandeur of this element in
the great gift of God grows clearer and firmer ; and of the hope
of being with Christ for ever in heaven the chief preciousness
is more and more felt to lie in the assurance that then, up to
the fullest capabilities of our nature, * we shall be like Him, for

296 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

we shall see Him as He is.' ' Let us therefore,' my brethren,
' as many as be perfect, be thus minded.'

The apostle proceeds to give a promise of divine enlighten-
ment on moral subjects for those who see aright the importance
of persistent effort after holiness : ' and if in anything ye be
otherwise minded, God shall rrceal even this (or this also) unto
yon.'' The introductory ''and'' intimates that the exhortation
of the former clause is here assumed to have been followed, —
* and, supposing that, on the whole, you are thus minded, then.'
''Otherwise'' means, 'otherwise than as accords with those
great principles of duty which have been spoken of as exem-
plified by me.' The word is therefore simply a mild way of
saying ' wrongly.' The matters referred to are minor points,
details in the bringing into practice of convictions respecting
the importance of a holy life. In a world where interests and
relations are so complex, where knowledge both of facts and of
principles is often so difficult to attain, and where, even so far
as attained, it is frequently in so great a degree coloured and
vitiated by feeling, it is to be expected that Christians, even
when sincerely pressing on to ' apprehend that for which they
have been apprehended of Christ Jesus,' should many times
choose a mistaken course. The mists that shrouded the earth
before the dawn do not take their flight at the very first touch
of the morning sun. But before his waxing strength they dis-
appear. So will it be, the apostle says, with moral mists.
From differences of temperament, education, and circumstances
of many kinds, the rate of progress in moral intelligence varies
greatly among Christians ; but in all who are honestly striving
to become like their Master, there will be the advance which,
in the first chapter of the Epistle, Paul says he supplicated for
his Philippian friends, * in knowledge, and all delicacy of
spiritual perception, so as to distinguish things which differ'
(i. 9, 10).

The truth here exhibited, that a sincere servant of God will,
through divine grace, grow in spiritual wisdom — his light waxing

vi:r. 15.] True Wisdom proved by God I i)icss. 297

brighter and brighter until the glories of the jierfect day break
upon him, — is faniihar to every student of the Iiil)le. * The
secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will
show them His covenant.* ' If any man be willing to do the
will of (Jod, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of
God/

Various considerations show that a pious man — a man on
whose heart such convictions have been impressed as those
which Paul tells us in the preceding verses had been impressed
on his — is in the most favourable circumstances for receiving
more and more enlightenment in religious truth. For one
thing, his piety leads him to think jtiucli about religion^ and to
avail himself of all means of knowledge on the subject. By
native temi)erament, and the influence of circumstances, men
are led to choose very varied lines of study ; but no one is
drawn by nature to a candid, unprejudiced contemplation of
the grandest of all subjects, the character and will of God.
By nature we * do not like to retain God in our knowledge,' —
we say, ' Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of
Thy ways.' So long as we love to disobey God, the thought
of Him brings us pain, and will therefore naturally be shunned.
As lawless men prowl at midnight rather than at noon, so those
whose hearts are alienated from God *love darkness rather than
light, because their deeds are evil.' Such men, in studying
God's works, stop at second causes. In looking at the move-
ments of the world, they recognise the hand of emperors, and
generals, and statesmen, but not of God. They feel no interest
in reading the word of God ; and if habit, or superstition, or
respect for the opinion of neighbours, lead them to His house,
they find no enjoyment there, and hear and remember as little
of the truth as possible. But a man whose aim is to serve God,
finds ever)thing which relates to Him to be of profoundest
interest. Love and admiration for his divine King lead him
to meditate with delight on His character and ways, — to pursue
with eagerness the study of the revelation which He has given

298 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

of Himself, — and to watch with attention and thoughtfulness the
working among men around him of different moral principles,
and different modes of carrying out the same principle. Every-
thing which can give him light on difficult duty, or exhibit to
him a new aspect of the motives to holy obedience, he is eager
to search into. Thus he is obviously in a fair way to grow
always spiritually wiser.

Again, tJie mind and heart of a man 7vho is in earnest pursuit
of holiness^ are in a state fitted to apprehend divijte truth — a state
of spiritual sensitiveness, of sympathy or community of feeling
with God, By the faith of God's truth, as known to some
extent, the desire of holiness has been awakened ; and, accord-
ing to the beautiful system of action and reaction which pre-
vails throughout the Christian life, as this desire strengthens and
is followed out, susceptibiUty to all influences calculated to
increase moral and spiritual wisdom grows continually. When
longings after spiritual strength and nobleness are wanting, the
words in which God has made known His will remain mere
words — destitute of life and illuminating power ; and though
there may be a pure morality, as regards the relation of man to
man, yet to all lessons, from every quarter, on our moral rela-
tions to God, the eye is blind, the ear deaf, the mind dull. If
a non-Christian man were to express the thoughts which occur
to him, when he hears believers speak of the inmost and most
precious verities and experiences of the Christian life — of
fellowship with God, of love to God, of obtaining strength and
comfort tlirough prayer, of living under heavenly influences, of
everything, in short, which pertains to the motives and modes
of spiritual morality, — he would acknowledge that words like
these convey no definite meaning to him. As a man entirely
destitute of ear for music, finds in the sublimest strains of
Handel or Beethoven no special significance or sweetness ; so
to the eternal harmonies of the loftiest truth the souls of those
who are alienated from the life of God are utterly dull. To
the man who is minded, like the Apostle Paul, to * press toward

VER. 15.] True Wisdom proved by Godliness. 299

the mark, for the pri/c of the high calling of God,' the melody
comes home with full sweetness and power. Or, to take
another illustration,— on common paper the sunlight falls and
leaves no trace, — on the prepared paper of the j)hotographcr,
made sensitive by certain chemical applications, the light so
acts as to leave that distinct impression of friends and scenes
which is so familiar to us all. So on a soul which has no
yearnings after holiness the light of the Sun of righteousness
falls but makes no mark, — on a soul prepared and made
sensitive by holy love, God's pictures of sj^iritual beauty are
printed indelibly ; and by and by, when Christ shall appear,
His image will be reproduced perfecUy in His people.

In all this, my brethren, — in the disposition which a sincerely
pious man has to study divine truth with attention and interest,
and in the power of spiritual apprehension which his desire of
holiness gives him, — we recognise the working of God Himself,
God the Holy Ghost, through whom alone we can have true
wisdom and holy desire. It is at His creative word, 'Let there
be light,' that the darkness of ignorance and prejudice flies
away, — at His command that the chaos of wicked thoughts,
proud imaginations, and despairing fears, is changed into a
scene of smiling beauty. And as the Christian life thus begins
through His agency, so by Him it is sustained — by Him
ever}' movement towards progress in knowledge and godliness
prompted, supported, regulated, and made successful. Of
the work of this divine Agent, you observe, Paul here speaks
expressly : * If, whilst you have on the whole sound views of
Christian duty, there be yet here and there some point of which
your apprehension is imperfect, God will reveal to you that also^
The * that also ' implies, ' as to His gracious instruction are to
be ascribed all the attainments you have already made.' By
* rrc'eaP here, Paul evidently does not mean such supernatural
communications of truth as were made to the prophets, apostles,
and other inspired teachers of the church ; for his statement
refers to Christians generally. He designates by it that guid-

300 Lectures on Philippiaiis. [ch. hi.

ance into all needed truth which the Divine Spirit gives by
means of the seriousness and candour of inquiry, and spiritual
sensibility, of which I have already spoken, — by blessing the
believer's study of the Bible, converse with fellow-Christians,
observation of men and things around, reading and thought on
history and philosophy. The Christian, having asked the
direction of the Holy Spirit, knows that he has received it,
though His guidance be commonly indistinguishable from the
workings of his own judgment ; and of all his progress in
spiritual wisdom he ascribes the glory to God.

The apostle's word ' rojeal^ as thus applied, is well fitted to
remind us of the general truth that God is very near us, and
constantly acting directly upon and around us. The tendencies
of scientific thought in our day are strongly toward hiding
this, — giving prominence to secondary causes, instead of to the
God who works through them. Scripture would have us every-
where discern the hand of 'the living God.' You see a Chris-
tian busy with his Bible. Looking up, he tells you, ' I have
been consulting some marginal references ; and have obtained
a new and most comforting view of the meaning of the verses
I have been studying.' Now no doubt it was the marginal
references which guided our friend to his knowledge ; but the
apostle tells you here that ' God revealed the truth to him.'
The marginal references were only God's instruments ; and a
wise man lifts his eyes from the instruments to the ever-gracious
Lord. This closeness of relation to God spiritually, all believers
recognise ; less so, not in creed, but in our feelings and prac-
tically as regards prayer, the closeness of the relations to Him
of our physical life. We know a great deal more of natural
science now than the Hebrew believers did three thousand
years ago ; and this advance is to be rejoiced in, for accurate
knowledge of any subject worth knowing at all is a good thing.
But those old Hebrews saw God and heard God everywhere ;
and if we allow our science to blind us and deafen us to Him —
to put away our sense of His nearness, and of our constant

VER. 1 6.] Tnic Wisdom proved by Godliness. 301

dependence on Ilim, — then assuredly we permit our knowledge,
or the influence on puljlic feeling of the knowledge around us,
to aftect most injuriously our spiritual vigour, and beauty, and
joy. Christian happiness and Christian strength are always
most fully experienced when our I'ather's hand is ever seen
and ever felt, — when in the thunder we hear the voice of the
Lord — in the sunlight and the shower see our Father in heaven
' making His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and
sending rain on the just and on the unjust ' — and in the joys of
harvest behold Him 'opening His hand,' and suj)plying the
need of His creatures.

The 1 6th verse, in the form in which we have it in our
version, — ^ Nrccrihekss, whereto 7ve have already attained, let us
7valk by the same riile^ let us mind the same thing,' — appears
to be an injunction that, in so far as believers *see eye to eye,*
they should cherish and display their unity. Most thoughtful
readers, I should suppose, have felt difficulty in seeing natural-
ness in the occurrence of this precept in the passage. It is
in itself a most important precept ; but it does not seem to
lie in the line of the apostle's remarks, not standing in close
or easy connection either with what precedes or what follows.
The fact is, however, that the injunction is not one to unity.
The diligent examination which has been made, since the time
our translators did their work, of the ancient manuscripts of
the New Testament, has shown that in all probability the last
words of the verse, from * rule ' onwards, do not belong to the
original text, but have slipped in from the glosses or comments
of transcribers. The precept, therefore, is really this, ' Never-
theless^ (or 'But,' 'Only'), ''whereto we have attained, let us
walk by the same^ — these closing words being an emphatic
way of sa)ing, ' by that ' — namely, ' that to which we have
attained,' — a kind of condensation of ' by it, and not by other
principles or rules.' You will see, at once, that the connec-
tion of this with what immediately precedes is very close and
natural and important. The apostle has said, ' Let us all

302 Lechtres ofi Philippians. [cH. iii.

cherish convictions of the needfulness of progress in holiness ;
and if you honestly do this, then, supposing that on any par-
ticular point of moral duty you should have defective views,
God, through His Spirit, will make truth on this also known
to you.' Now he proceeds thus, — ' But let us all see to it, —
for this is the matter of chief moment, and is an essential
condition of our obtaining such growth in spiritual enlighten-
ment as I have spoken of, — that we try honestly to guide our
lives by the light we have already attained to.' This counsel
again leads most naturally to the course of remark in the
following verses, in which the important influence on Christian
conduct of a wise choice of examples is pointed out.

You observe that the apostle states his precept in a way
to show expressly that he laid it down for himself as well as
his readers : ' Whereto we have attained, by the same let us
walk.' ' This is a principle,' he says, ' of universal validity in
the Christian life. Notwithstanding all the abundant revela-
tions which God has granted me, I am still struggling forward,
like yourselves, into fuller light on grace and on duty. Let us
remember, then, dear brethren, that it is a necessary condition
for us of fuller light, that each of us apply faithfully to his own
life the measure of insight which has been imparted to him.'
We all feel how winning this inclusion of himself in the same
class as his readers is. Caesar's soldiers said, ' He never sends
us into hot battle, — he always leads us.' Christian counsels,
too, are likely to have a peculiarly imperial power, when they
take the form ' Come,' not ' Go.'

That the man who will obtain fuller knowledge of the will
of God is the man who conscientiously and prayerfully strives
to do that will, so far as he yet knows it, — is a truth which
underlies all the teaching of Scripture regarding the nature and
possibility of spiritual progress. It is ' by the truth ' that we
are to be ' made free ' from the thraldom of depraved desire ;
and the knowledge that He whom the Father heareth always
has prayed, ' Sanctify them through Thy truth,' brings with it

VFR. i6.] Tnic Wisdom proved by Godliness. 303

tlic assurance that all who, looking to Jesus as their Strength,
are heartily struggling for emancipation, will have granted to
them ever a firmer and fuller apprehension of the emancipating
truth. The light will grow towards the * perfect day.' (iod's
dealings in this respect, in the dispensation of His grace, accord
with what we see every day in the physical sj)here. Within
certain limits, the exercise of power tends to bring more i>ower.
*To him that hath is given.* To the 'shatirs' who run before
the king of Persia — as * Elijah girded up his loins, and ran
before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel ' — practice from child-
hood has given such activity of limb, that they can keej) pace
for many hours with a fleet horse. The swing of the heavy
hammer makes the muscles of the blacksmith's arms ' strong
as iron bands.' Similarly, *if a man be willing to do the will
of God,' which is the legitimate exercise of such religious
knowledge as he has, * he shall know of the doctrine ' further.
The believer who, * whereto he has attained, walks by the
same,' will find his * attainment ' increasing continually. For
the man who fills his sphere of light with spiritual vigilance —
strenuous opposition to the temptations of the world, and the
flesh, and the devil — earnest effort, according to opportunity, to
extend the kingdom of truth and righteousness, — the illumi-
nated circle will steadily widen.

On the other hand, a gift of God unused is withdrawn.
' From him that hath not ' interest on the entrusted talent,
* shall be taken away even that which he hath.' The indolent
become feeble. The arm of the Eastern ascetic, drawTi up
over the head and kept rigid there, gradually grows powerless
and withered. So with knowledge in religion. If the man
who knows the truth be not heartily and perseveringly * a
doer of the word' he knows, his knowledge, as a spiritual
power, peace-giving and strengthening, ebbs away. As an
intellectual perception, yielding material for thought and de-
bate, it may remain and even increase ; but, spiritually, such
a man is always growing darker.

304 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. iii.

You feel, my brethren, that the precept of the apostle here
is one of vast importance ; one, too, with which, in a world like
this, it is exceedingly hard faithfully to comply. Every one of
us fails to ' walk ' perfectly in accordance with that knowledge
of duty ' whereto he has attained ;' and the consciences of
some of us may testify, if we question them unflinchingly, that
our life is very far indeed below even our own conception of
what it ought to be. Natural indolence and perversity press
heavily on our convictions, to prevent them from rising to
full operative vigour. The world — that is to say, practically,
the people we associate with in business and privately, and
the newspapers and books we read, for these form a very
influential part of our society, — the world has a scheme of
life of its own, a doctrine of proprieties, which leaves out
much, and — unless here and there perhaps for Christians alto-
gether exceptionally situated — opposes itself to not a few things
that the servant of Christ knows to be in harmony with the
will of his Master. * Walking,' as we do, reasonably and
rightly, in accordance with this doctrine of proprieties, where
it is not inconsistent with the ' doctrine of Christ,' — we are all
in great hazard of continuing for some distance in accordance
with it, even where, as we have a more or less definite con-
sciousness, it diverges from the line of true and noble Christian
morality. The peril is especially great in circumstances like
those of most of us, — where our * world ' consists very largely of
professing Christians, to whom, not unnaturally, we look for
help, rather than hindrance, in our endeavours to perform
Christian duty. Behind all the other influences calculated
to prevent in believers conformity of practice to conviction,
too, is the ' prince of this world,' with his subtlety and power
and malignity ; whom nothing gratifies more — for he knows
that nothing serves his interests more — than a low-toned life
in those who have * named the name of Christ.'

If, then, dear friends, the direction of our affections and the
features of our life are at all adequately to accord with our

vi:r. 1 6. 1 True Wisdom proved by Godliness. 305

knowledge of duty, — if, * whereto we have attained,' we are at
it all to 'walk by the same,'— then, i)lainly, there must be a
girding up of the loins of our mind' — resolution, watchful-
ness, and ])rayer. Let us seek to live in close and constant
fellowship with (iod, in * the secret of His tabernacle.' Let us
* abide in Christ,' — remembering that He * is made of God to
us ' no less our * sanctification ' than our justifying ' righteous-
ness.' Thus *thc joy of the Lord shall be our strength.' Kach
of us will be enabled to * unite his heart,' gathering up all its
energies, and sending them out in the one direction, to do the
will of (iod. We shall hear our Saviour's voice behind us,
saying, * This is the way, walk ye in it ;* and we shall have
grace given to walk therein, turning neither to the right hand
nor to the left. We shall receive of Him growing delicacy of
sj)iritual apprehension, and growing firmness to follow His
word, given through the Bible and the conscience, and to
leave thoughts of mere expediency and carnal policy to those
who know nothing higher.

;o6 Lectures 07i Philippiayis. [ch. hi.

XXIII.
WISE CHOICE OF EXAMPLES.

* Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so, as
ye have us for an ensample. i8 For many walk, of whom I have told
you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of
the cross of Christ : 19 Whose end is destruction, whose god is their
belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.' —
Phil. iii. 17-19.

THE apostle has been impressing upon his readers the
needfulness of having clear views with regard to the
importance of personal holiness, and of persistent effort to
maintain a practice accordant with such views. In the passage
before us, continuing his observations on this subject, he directs
their thoughts to the influence of example. He points out to
them that many to whom, as assuming no little prominence in
the church, they might naturally look for practical illustration
of the moral principles of Christianity, lived in a way wholly
opposed to the spirit of the gospel ; and calls upon them to shun
taking such persons as models, and, instead, to imitate his own
character, and that of others who, like him, plainly strove to
follow ' whatsoever things were true, and honourable, and just,
and pure, and lovely, and of good report' Of the immoral
teachers he gives a description, in some detail, in the i8th and
19th verses; and we shall perhaps best attain a clear view of
the force of the whole passage by examining this description
first, and then, with it in our minds, going back to consider
what is said in the 17th.

* Many walk^ the apostle says, ' of wJioyn I have told you
ofteUy and now tell you even weepings that they are the enemies of

VERS. 1 8, 19.] U'/sl' Choice of Exa^nples. 307

thf cross of Christ : whose etui is destruction^ whose j!;od is their
belly\ and ichose ^a^lory is in their shame^ icho mind earthly things.'
You feci that the word ' icaik ' sounds somewhat oddly in its
connection here. You expect to find an adverbial phrase
attached to it, — * wickedly,' for example, or ' in such a way as
to prove themselves enemies of the cross.' Paul probably
intended at first to construct his sentence so, but, by the
relative clause he inserts, was led to express himself a little
difterently.

The Philippians doubtless had no difficulty in knowing to
whom Paul referred in this description. During his visits to
them he had ' to/d them often ' of this class of men ; and the
intensity of feeling with which he writes on the subject — for he
' no7C' tells them rcen weeping^ — suggests a likelihood that the
perversities which had pained him formerly, had grown yet
more pronounced and notorious. We can only conjecture who
these men were ; but the probabilities, as it seems to me, tend
all in one direction. They were plainly persons whom, from
their position, Christians might not unnaturally be expected to
regard as models of character. They had some prominence in
the church therefore, and in all likelihood, as indeed I have
already assumed by using the designation a little ago in speak-
ing of them, were teachers who itinerated among the churches.
The apostle's language suggests also that the class he alludes
to was a well defined one, probably by peculiarities of doctrine.
Now the Judaizing opponents of Paul, whom he mentions so
frequently in his letters, and to whom he has referred in the
beginning of this chapter in terms of just and indignant severity,
do not answer to the description here. Arrogant, self-seeking,
unspiritual they were ; but we have no reason to think of them
as men of flagrantly immoral lives, such as the verses before us
appear to ascribe to the class of teachers here meant. One can
scarcely doubt, all things considered, that the reference is to
abusers of the doctrines of grace, who said, ' Let us do evil,
that good may come.' As has been pointed out to you in pre-

3o8 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

vious lectures, these seem to have been before the apostle's
mind from the 13th verse. His beloved flock at Philippi was
exposed to the attacks of two bodies of ' grievous wolves,' —
those who would have them look on keeping God's law as, to
some extent, a means of earning eternal life as their wages ;
and those who would have them disregard the law as a rule of
conduct. Their watchful shepherd, endeavouring lovingly to
guard them against both, passes most naturally and wisely from
the exposure of legalism in the beginning of the chapter to the
exposure of antinomianism here.

Now, my brethren, you and I are not likely to encounter
persons exactly of the kind described by the apostle in these
verses. Immoral teachers of religion there may be, though —
thanks be to God for it I — very greatly fewer than our fathers
knew. Much defective and even false theology, too, is taught
from the pulpit and the press ; the ultimate tendency of which,
no doubt, as of everything which turns away the soul from the
pure gospel of Jesus Christ, is towards immorality. But direct
and conscious teaching of immorality, under the name of
Christianity, must in our day be altogether exceptional, if it
exist at all. Still, dear friends, this most melancholy state-
ment, by one of Christ's inspired servants, respecting the cha-
racter of many professing Christians of his time; and his solemn
declaration of the awful end to which that character, if main-
tained, would certainly bring them, — ^have most impressive
teaching for us. If we have ears to hear, the apostle is heard
warning us of the need of prayerfulness, self-study, and spiritual
vigilance ; seeing how little the mere profession of religion
ensures an elevated morality, or a well-founded hope of eternal
life. These men — persons plainly of considerable mark in the
church, and possessed of attractions of some kind, such as
might not improbably gain them a number of admirers, even in
a pure and intelligent Christian community like that of Philippi
— lived a life not only divergent from that which the gospel,
understood and believed, is calculated to form \ but in many

VERS. 1 8, 19.] Wise CJioicc of Examples. 309

respects, as \vc shall immediately see in detail, directly op-
jtoscd to it. J.ct us * watch and pray, that we enter not into
temi)t;ilion.'

The men of wliom Paul s])caks, differed, he tells us, from
genuine Christians with regard to the very first principle of
religion. The object of their worship was not the same.

The true believer has taken the living God — the (iod who
made him, who sustains him, who sent His Son to save him — to
be his God. It was not so once. By nature he had grievous
misconceptions of the divine character. According to his tem-
perament and his training, he regarded God as stern and cold,
destitute of pity and tenderness, a Being whom it was im-
jiossible to please or to love ; or as weakly indulgent and
placable, ready, because of His boundless mercy, to overlook
misconduct in His creatures, and welcome them all at last to
peace and heaven. On either view, there was no motive to
think of God with interest and reverence, or to endeavour to do
His will. But, having ' learned Christ,' the believer sees God
in Him to be the Infinitely Admirable, the 'Altogether Lovely.'
He counts it most reasonable that, with all his energies, he
should serve the God who gave him those energies, — the su-
premely True, and Holy, and Kind. The love and fellowship
of his heavenly Father are felt by him to satisfy all his capacities
of happiness ; and therefore, while many say, ' Who will show
us any good ?' his cry is, * Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy
countenance upon us. Whom have I in heaven but Thee ?
and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My
flesh and my heart faileth ; but God is the strength of my heart,
and my portion for ever.'

But of the men — professing Christians — to whom the apostle
here refers, he says that their ^ god is their belly J Sensuality
had dominion over them. The living God expresses His will
that we should be * temperate in all things,' and should ' have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them ;' and declares that ' no drunkard, nor unclean

3 TO Lectures on Philippians. [cH. iii.

person, shall inherit the kingdom of God.' But the desires of
the flesh invite to self-indulgence, — to gluttony, revelling,
drunkenness ; to gaudiness, extravagance, immodesty of dress ;
to impurity of speech and conduct. This call these persons
habitually obeyed, thus clearly showing that practically, what-
ever their professions, bodily appetite was their god, their
supreme ruler. The heathen whom the King of Assyria
settled in central Canaan, after he had removed the ten tribes
to the far east, were troubled and terrified by lions ; and, with a
view to propitiate Him who had sent the wild beasts against
them, petitioned their king for the services of a priest of Israel,
to ' teach them the manner of the God of the land.' ' Then
one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria
came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should
fear the Lord. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own,
and put them in the houses of the high places.' So ' they
feared the Lord, and served their onm gods^ Ah, my brethren,
would that we could think of this conjunction of formal 'fear-
ing ' of Jehovah with ' serving,' by the devotion of heart and
life, men's ' own gods,' as having belonged only to old days !
Would that we could regard Paul's sketch of nominal Chris-
tians, ' whose god is their belly,' as having suitableness merely
to the past !

Again, — a true Christian has learned to look with any measure
of satisfaction, as regards his character, only on roidences of
growing accordance with the will of God. His great hope is
that, 'when Christ shall appear, he shall be like Him;' and
meantime he rejoices greatly in any proof that he is being
gradually changed by the Divine Spirit into his Saviour's image.
That change he regards as ' from glory to glory ;' and he can
esteem nothing in character as truly a grace, or a beauty, or a
glory, which does not stand in vital connection with a holy
will. Sin his heart loathes as shameful, the only really shame-
ful thing in God's universe.

But the abusers of the doctrines of divine grace in Paul's

VERS. 1 8, 19.] Wise Choice of Examples, 311

days felt \^/ory in their s/iame,' Alas, how many followers of
these men wc meet! The tradesman, 'professing godliness,'
boasts of his 'smart' tricks in business — within the letter of his
country's law, but utterly opposed to the spirit of true rectitude;
and marvels that any should not admire him, or should supfKJse
the Sermon on the Mount to have anything to do with business.
The husband and father, whose name is on a communion roll,
associates by choice with godless companions, grows neglectful
of the ordinances of religion, spends for the good of the publican
what would feed and clothe his poor half-naked, half-starved
wife and children ; — and exults that ' he is no bigot, but has a
religion which lets a man enjoy himself.' 'These are raging
waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame.'

Further, — the true Christian has come to see — and this with a
distinctness and vividness influencing powerfully his feelings
and his life — that man icas made for an end higher than any
which the pursuits^ and speculations, and ejijoyments of earth
present. He feels that there are elements in his nature which,
to a candid thinker, show as clearly that he was not meant by
his Creator to live simply for this world, as that he was not
meant to browse with the ox, or grovel with the serpent. The
grand purpose of the Word of God he recognises to be, to show
him the objects which are suited to occupy his loftiest powers,
and to satisfy his capacities of spiritual happiness. Accordingly,
he has ' set his affections on things which are above,' and lives
more or less fully under ' the powers of the world to come.'
Heaven is as real to his apprehensions as earth, and, in the
proportion of his faith, more influential over his heart In the
business of this life to which God's providence has called him
he is diligent and faithful ; and glad and grateful if he prosper
in it. But he measures the worth of worldly prosperity, and
the strength of the world's claim to occupy his thoughts
and his time, by other standards than those of earth. He
knows that ' the world passeth away, and the lust thereof : but
he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.' Hence pro-

3 1 2 Lechcres on Philippians. [ch. hi.

sperity of the soul — prosperity as regards his relations to the
unseen world — appears to him immeasurably the more im-
portant ; and he desires very earnestly that success in worldly
matters may not injure him spiritually, but may be turned by
him to such account as, in every way, to glorify God. Worldly
adversity, bereavement, personal affliction, may give him pain,
perhaps much pain ; yet he knows adversity to be very far from
the worst thing which could befall him. He knows that the
trial comes from Him who, ' though He was rich, yet for our
sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich,'
— who, being ' the Prince of Life,' yielded Himself to suffering
and death, that we might live for ever. Poverty and suffering
sent by this Saviour to His people he cannot doubt to be sent
in love, to contribute to spiritual and enduring wealth and
blessedness.

Now the professing Christians at present before the apostle's
mind are said by him to ' mind earthly things.^ This statement
has a very wide range of reference. The form of expression in
the original shows that the clause is not co-ordinate with the
descriptions of character we have already considered, — as the
third term in a series ; but rather stands by itself, as an exhibi-
tion of depraved thought and feeling generally, summing up
the others, and including more. A vast multitude of profess-
ing Christians who can persuade themselves that the features
previously mentioned are not found in their character — that
it cannot be said of them, in any strict use of the words, that
'their god is their belly,' or that they 'glory in their shame,' — will
find that they cannot speak boldly with respect to this feature.
They are decorous livers, honest too, and kindly, — but they
' mind earthly things,' — they have their thoughts and their
affections occupied exclusively, or supremely, with the interests
of this world. To make mohey, or to spend it, — to become
learned, or famous, or influential, — to go through life peaceably
and pleasantly, — to gain in one way or another self-gratification,
— this is their aim, and nothing more than this. God, and

VERS. 1 8, 19.] Wise Choice of Examples. 313

holiness, and heaven, arc ideas whicli have little power over
them. Tiicy hear of thcni on Sahhatli, and the words arc pro-
minent in the creed whi( ii they j)rofess and imagine themselves
to hold ; — but they ' mind earthly things.' These it is that
occupy their thoughts, and are the objects of their real desires.
For these it is that they live, for these that they run risks, for
these that they make sacrifices. It is of earthly advantages
and joys alone that every one of this unhappy class of j^ersons
says to his soul — the soul which God made to be nourished
by fellowship with Himself, — * Soul, thou hast much goods laid
up ; take thine ease.'

All whose character exhibits the features we have been con-
sidering— all who are sensual and worldly — are, the apostle
tells us, ' enemies of the cross of Christ.^ They may declare
their admiration of the Lord Jesus, and specially of His self-
sacrifice for men. They may, in words, ' glory in the cross of
Christ.' They may, at the communion table, profess to * show
forth His death' as the ground of their hope for eternity.
Those immediately referred to by the apostle counted them-
selves the great assertors of the sublime power of the cross, as
setting men free from the bondage of fear and superstition,
and introducing them into * glorious liberty.' Yet, in truth,
they were its * e?ie?nies,^ In the cross we have the most explicit
and impressive declaration which even God could give, of His
hatred of sin. The grand purpose of the Lord Jesus in His
self-devotion to death for us — a purpose most distinctly made
known by Him. and obvious to every gospel hearer who is
willing to allow the truth to enter his soul — was * that He might
redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a pecu-
liar people, zealous of good works.' He has most distinctly
taught us that every man who desires to be saved through
Him, must himself, in a sense, ' take up the cross, and bear it
after Him,* — must 'know the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed unto His death.' Now such persons as those
whom Paul describes here, show by their lives that they have

314 Lectures 07i Philippians. [cH. iii.

no sympathy with these lessons of the cross, — no spiritual
apprehension of them, nor desire for any. Instead of dying
with the Saviour to sin, they manifestly live to sin. Boasting
of liberty, they are, in truth, 'the slaves of corruption ; for of
whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.'
Instead of denying themselves, and, for the glory of God and
the eternal interests of the soul, bearing the cross of self-
restraint with respect to the seductions of this world, they give
up their hearts to this world, ' minding earthly things.' There
can be no doubt, therefore, that they hate the spirit and the
teaching of Calvary. They are 'enemies of the cross of Christ'
Nay more. The cross has many other foes, — multitudes
who denounce, deride, and in every way avowedly oppose it.
But its worst enemies, in the eyes of God, the most influential
for evil, the least likely ever to become its friends, are professed
believers in the doctrines of the cross who yet ' mind earthly
things.' This fact is brought out by the apostle in the little
word ^ the,^ — '■the enemies of the cross.' These are the enemies
by pre-eminence. None do such harm to the cause of the
cross — the cause of truth and love and peace, — as those who,
calling themselves Christians, live for this world only. ' What
are these wounds in Thine hands ? ' ' Those with which I was
wounded in the house of My friends.' Men who, with the lip,
' glory in the cross of Christ,' but, with the voice of their lives,

* glory in their shame,' ' crucify the Son of God afresh, and put
Him to an open shame.'

And if they persist in their hostility of heart to that cross,
through which alone is salvation, then, says the apostle, their

* end is destruction' God hates sin, and will overthrow it. His
grace, if we will accept it, will overthrow the sin in us by
which we are oppressed ; and thus save us. But if we resolutely
cleave to our sins, then not even the grace of God can save us.
Consistently with His own nature and with ours, God cannot
make us happy without making us holy. And no doom will
be so awful as that of the professed friend of the cross who is

VERS. iS, 19.] Wise Choice of Examples. 315

really its enemy. Wherever the gospel comes, it comes as a
power ; and if a man will not open his heart, that, entering in,
it may show itself in his case as 'the power of (iod unto salva-
tion,' then his accjuaintance with it cannot but render his
^destruction' more terrible. The word of (iod is always
* quick and powerful.' It makes the heart tender, humble, and
contrite, — or harder. It brings into a state of acceptance with
God, — or it renders the condemnation more awful. If a man
will resolutely dwell in darkness, he must, of necessity, self-
destroyed, go out at last into the ' outer darkness, where shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

There were ^ rnany^ professing Christians, the apostle says,
who * walked ' in the way he has described, — ^journeying on, in
the paths of worldliness and sensuality, towards the ' dark moun-
tains ' where men's feet ' stumble.' Consideration of the posi-
tion in which the church is placed in our age and country, my
brethren — when some degree of Christian profession is helpful
to social respectability, and somewhat aids a man to get rich —
might lead us to think it likely that, if inconsistency of life
was not uncommon in the despised and persecuted church of
the first days, it will be yet more sadly common now. Any
spiritually -minded observer will find deplorably conclusive
evidence that with such an anticipation the facts accord. The
very liveliest Christian charity cannot refuse to see that, of
members of the church of Christ, ' many walk as enemies
of the cross of Christ.' Hence arises a great peril for the
beauty and stability of the character of other professors. The
proverbially powerful influence of example is not felt merely
where models are definitely chosen. We are all apt to take
colour from association, even where no intention is further
from our minds than that of imitating. To mingle daily with
persons who call themselves servants of Christ, partake with us
of the symbols of the Lord's dying love, profess to seek the
guidance of the same Divine Spirit to whom we look for direc-
tion, and to cherish the same ' blessed hope ' which sustains

3 [6 Lectures 07i Philippians. [ch. hi.

and stimulates us — and who yet maintain a conformity to the
principles and practices of * them that are without,' by * mind-
ing earthly things,' — it is impossible, my brethren, that this
can be without serious spiritual danger. Intercourse with low-
toned professors will inevitably lower our own tone of feeling,
unless, conscious of the hazard, we set ourselves to resist, by
earnest prayer for strength and wisdom, and by thoughtful
consideration of t\it pnncij>/es which express themselves in the
lives of those around us.

It is of very high importance, too, that, by choice and atten-
tion, we bring the influence of good examples to act upon us.
You know that our calling, as Christians, is to be in character
like God, like Christ. This supreme example, then, it becomes
us to have habitually before our minds, according to the con-
stant injunction of Scripture : ' Be ye followers (imitators) of
God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath
loved us, and hath given Himself for us.' It is exceedingly
helpful also, however, to study the example of eminent servants
of Christ, men conspicuous for devotedness and wisdom,
energy and patience. In all merely human examples there
are defects, and therefore they need to be compared always
with the perfect standard of holiness in the character of the
Lord Jesus. But the very fact that a man, obviously of high
spirituality, has reached that spirituality through severe struggle,
and has still to maintain a warfare with depraved tendencies,
gives his example a certain peculiar power and suitableness
for us. Hence such Scripture exhortations as ' Be not slothful,
but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit
the promises ; ' * Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have
spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example.'

The apostle's mind, then, being full of the thought of the
many bad examples by which the Philippians were liable to be
influenced — the example of men ' whose end was destruction,'
— nothing was more reasonable or natural than that he should
say to them, ' Mark (as an example) the perfect man, and be-

VER. 17.] JFzsc CJioicc of Examples. 3 i 7

hold tlic upright, for the end of that man is peace.' But
when he says, '' Jic follinvers toj^d/icr — a Ixxly of imitators —
0/ mt\ and mark — for imitation — ihcm which walk so, as ye
haTe us — myself and my (:omj)anions— /<;/' an cnsampkj — a
little difliculty may perhaps be felt as to how the selection of
himsi'lf as an example is altogether consistent with the pro-
found Christian humility by which he was distinguished. A
very slight consideration of the circumstances of the case will
remove any such difficulty. Christian humility does not imply
blindness to what the Spirit of God has wrought in our
character. On the contrary, the voice of this sweet grace
enters in to bear a most important part in the harmony of the
believer's song of grateful praise for increasing evidence of en-
lightenment, and purity, and usefulness, through divine teaching
and support. The summary of a Christian's judgment of him-
self, if he be in real spiritual health, will always be, as good
John Newton has it : ' I have ever to confess, with sorrow, that
I am far from being what I ought to be, and far from what I
wish to be ; but also — blessed be God's name ! — to testify that
I am far, very far, from what I once was.' Whilst, however,
we not merely may, but should, with gladness and gratitude,
recognise the success which, ' through Him that loveth us,' we
have in our struggles with sin ; it is commonly, for reasons
which every student of his own heart knows well, wisest and
safest to speak of our knowledge on this head to God only.
But even of this there is * a time to speak ' to our fellow-men.
In some circumstances a reference by a Christian to what God
has A\TOught in his character, and an appeal to others to ' be
followers together of him,' may be signally wise, and perfectly
accordant with profound humility. Such were the circum-
stances in which the Apostle Paul was placed, when writing to
the Philippians, Corinthians, Thessalonians, and other churches
he had been the instrument of raising among the heathen. In
the society among which the members of these churches lived,
immorality was universal — and this, shameless, flagrant, loath-

T 8 Lectures 07i Philippians. [ch. hi.

some, beyond what persons brought up as we have been can
almost conceive. Moral truths which to us are elementary,
were to those Christians wholly new and strange. They
needed to be taught morals as children ; and as picture-
teaching is commonly most effective with children, so with
them — exposed not merely to the influences of a frightfully
corrupt world, but to the misleading doctrines and example of
many wicked professedly Christian teachers, such as those
whom Paul describes in the passage now before us — no lesson
on the Christian life could well be in every way so satisfactory,
so easily understood, so full, so likely, from the great love they
had for the apostle, to be welcomed and thoroughly learned,
as this picture lesson, 'Be ye followers together of me, and
mark for imitation those which walk so, as ye have us for an
ensample.' ' For many of the details of duty, each of you
must be left to think out prayerfully for himself what it is that
his position specially requires ; but, as regards all the broad out-
lines of duty, I can safely urge you to imitate me. Admitting,
with sorrow and abasement, the existence of many flaws and
faults of character, still I know that the kind of life I lead — and
Silas, and Timothy, and Luke, and the other dear brethren
whom you have seen associated with me — is on the whole that
which faith in Christ legitimately produces, and on which He
looks down with approval. Think of our mode of life, then,
as you remember it ; and take note of those among yourselves,
or among teachers who visit you, that walk so as ye have us
for an example or type, — an example, I say, for in all of us
the type is truly one, the image of Christ, reflected in each
more or less fully.'

If ever a mere man lived who could, without misleading,
point to himself as an example of holiness, it was the Apostle
Paul. The beauty and grandeur of his character are illustrated
everywhere in his history and his letters. It is most manifest
that he * gave all diligence to add to his faith, virtue ; and to
virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, temperance ; and to tern-

VER. 17.] Wise Choice of Examples. 319

perancc. patience ; and t'- -^ 1 to godliness,

brotherly kindness; and t.y ..' Lw..; ^.i.iii^— - v.' Atcvery
point his life contrasted most markedly v^ .: of the men

described in the i8th and 19th verses. It is beyond all ques-
tion that tfu living God^ tfu God and Fatfur of our Lcrd Jfsus
Christy was his God ; and that his bodily appftita were his sir-
ranis, not his lords. He * kept under his body, and brought
it into subjection.* * So fought he, not as one that beateth the
air.' His whole life was eminently and most obviously that
of a spiritual man, — to whom * earthly things ' were important
chiefly in their bearings on the heavenly. Having renounced
for Christ's sake the most attractive prospects of distinction
and wealth among his countrymen, he pursued with unswerving
devotion the great work of glorif)-ing God through the e.\ten-
sion of the Redeemer's kingdom ; and in his work was enabled
even to 'glory in his infirmities, that the power of Christ
might rest upon him.' No candid observer could entertain a
moment's doubt that for Paul ' to live was Christ.' It was
plain, too, that in his judgment the central fact in the history
of Christ's mediatorial work was His death. The apostle lored
and gloried in the cross ; and meekly accepted all its teaching.
How exquisitely the spirit of horror of sin and at the same
time tender pity for sinners — the same spirit which led Jesus
to the accursed tree for us, — ^breathes from this very passage,
where we see Paul ' even weeping ' over men's sins !^ May you
and I. my brethren, have ears to hear him saWng to us, ' Be
ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ I '

* In his Life of Dr. John I>uncan (p. 197, note^. Dr. David Brown,
speaking of good Dr. Kidd of Aberdeen, says : * I remember faxm once
meeting in the street a person who made a religkiiis |XQ£essian, >■ a,
state of intoxication, and the laughing-stock of a crowd. The Doctor
marked one fellow jeering at a great rate ; and, l»«M™g up his 5ta5" before
him, cried out in the hearing of the crowd . who were awed by his cobs-
manding look, — "Many walk of whom I have told you oAen, aad aow
tell you — not lau^ng; sir, not LAUGHLJfG, hat—tm'pdmf^, Aot tbej are the
enemies of the cross of Christ.'* '

320 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

XXIV.
THE SAINT'S CITIZENSHIP AND HOPE.

* For our conversation is in heaven ; from whence also we look for the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ : 21 Who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the
working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.' —
Phil. iii. 20, 21.

THE word ^conversation^ as I have had occasion to men-
tion in a previous lecture, meant, at the time when
our translation of the Bible was made, not simply^ as now,
' the exchange of thought by speech,' but ' a course of life or
conduct ' generally. The force of the statement here, then,
supposing our version to exhibit with precision the apostle's
meaning, is this, — ' Our life is such, in flower and fruit, as to
show, more or less clearly, that its roots are " hid with Christ
in God," — such as to prove that our " affections are set on the
things which are above," that our thoughts and our longings
are habitually in heaven.' The reference in ^ our' is, in this
case, to the apostle and those Christian teachers who lived as
he did ; and the argument in support of the precept of the
17th verse, 'Be followers together of me, and mark them which
walk so, as ye have us for an ensample,' is thus completed in
full form, — ' for, whilst many pretentious teachers, who seek to
draw you after them, lead a base life, minding earthly things,
we try, in God's strength, to live a heavenly life, — and this is
plainly what the beliefs and hopes of Christians require.'

It is very doubtful, however, whether the original word here
rendered ' conversation ' was intended by the apostle to have
this meaning. Its primary sense is * country,' or ' one's relation

VER. 20.] TJic SaijiCs Citizaiship and Hope. 321

to his country,* * citizenship.' Now this meaning suits ex-
cellently tile aj)ostle's course of thought. To the Philip-
pians too, who, living in a Roman colony, were very familiar
with the great privileges connected with citizenship in the
imperial city, the thought, * Our citizenshij), as Christians, is in
heaven,' could not but be a sj)ecially interesting, impressive,
and gladdening one. It is |)robabIe, therefore, that the ai)Ostle,
when, in writing to these Philii)pians, he chose this particular
word, which he uses nowhere else, intended it to be taken in
its primary meaning. In this case, the reference does not
seem to be specially to Paul and other earnest-minded teachers,
in contrast with the teachers who lived unholy lives, but to true
Christians generally ; and the course of thought in the whole
passage is this, — ' Follow me, and those who live like me. I
need to warn you thus, for there are teachers whose conduct
proves too plainly that their hearts are set supremely on the
present world. Now this is the very opposite of the spirit
which believers should cherish, for our citizenship is in
heaven.'

In these verses Paul brings evidence that the persons whose
views and conduct he has sketched were wholly unsuited to be
examples to believers in Christ, by mentioning a few prominent
facts regarding the position and expectations of Christians,
with which the features of character he has described were
utterly incongruous. The men he has spoken of ' minded
earthly things ; ' but every intelligent Christian knows himself
to be a ^citizen of heaven^ and therefore, by immediate infer-
ence, called on to ' set his affections on the things which are
above.' Those men's ' god was their belly,' and their ' glory
was in their shame.' True believers, on the other hand,
knowing their body to be a '■vile body' — a 'body of humilia-
tion ' — feel, that instead of making it, or any of its organs, in
any sense or degree a *god,' it becomes them to struggle
vigorously against the lusts which by nature reign in their
members. At the same time, being well assured that their

32 2 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

bodies as well as their souls are in union with Christ, and
that the Lord, at that coming for which they ' look ' as their
'■ blessed hope,' will ' change their vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto His glorious body^ they see it to be reason-
able and needful that the body should be honoured in a true
and rational way, by being devoted ' as an instrument of
righteousness unto God' — adorned with purity and sobriety —
consecrated to the Redeemer, to labour in His cause and to
bear His cross. With men ' whose end was destruction,' those
who 'looked for the Lord Jesus Christ as a Saviour'' for their
whole being, could certainly have nothing in common, morally
or spiritually.

' Citizenship ' is a not uncommon representation in Scripture
of the portion of Christians. To the Ephesian believers Paul
says, ' Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;' and
the Hebrew Christians are spoken of as having ' come ' — evi-
dently as members of the community — 'unto Mount Sion and
unto the city of the living God.'

This citizenship ' is in heaven.^ It is true that ' the earth is
the Lord's,' and that by and by there shall be ' great voices in
heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.' But meantime a
usurper has much power here ; and, so long as ' the world lieth
in wickedness,' no loyal subject of the Divine King can count
it his home. Even here, indeed, all whose names are ' written
in the Lamb's book of life,' the register of the citizens of
heaven, enjoy, in a measure calling for devoutest gratitude,
many privileges of their citizenship. But, as the citizen of
Rome, while proud of the dignity and glad of the safety his
position gave him anywhere in the civilised world, yet thought
of the metropolis itself as the place where alone he could have
the full benefit of all the powers and immunities of ' this free-
dom,'— with similar feelings the Christian regards heaven.
There the citizens ' see their King in His beauty,' and experi-

VER. 20.] The SainCs Citizenship and Hope. 323

ence the full blessedness and glory of their relations to Him,
and to each other.

This i)ariii iihir representation of the believer's relation to
heaven suggests to him with much liveliness the thought of
^^ congenial society which awaits him there. If you or I were
called by business to be much abroad, among people of a
foreign tongue, foreign manners, foreign feelings, our hearts —
if they be true, honest, manly hearts — would turn often with
strong longing to our own country, our own city ; primarily
because here is our home, our dear family circle ; but to some
extent also, because here all the people around us, simply as
our countrymen, our townsmen, brought up under similar
influences with ourselves, have on many matters a community
of sentiment with us which we should seek in vain elsewhere.
Now, when a member of the heavenly commonwealth looks
out from earth towards his own glorious land, the range of
his very warmest and tenderest thoughts of congenial society
there — his expectation of the delights of the home circle —
extends to all within the gates of pearl ; for ' fellow-citizens
with the saints ' is but another description of ' the household
of God,' children of one Father, and thus all brethren.

In this world, a Christian, however situated, — even if his
dwelling be in the midst of a great community, — is, in large
measure, a solitary man. To some of my younger hearers this
may appear a strange statement. But, my young friends, if
God spare you long, and the course of life lead you through
the ordinary experiences of men, you will by and by know that
loneliness is mainly a matter of the heart, and may be more
felt in a crowd than on a wild Highland moor. To many a
man no wilderness could be so dreary, no desert so stony-
hearted, as a large city. To gaze on the flood of busy life
which surges along a leading thoroughfare, and, as no doubt
in every great city there are not a few who do, to feel one-
self isolated in spirit from all the throng, — to know that no
heart in all the city beats lovingly for us, that no joy there is

324 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

increased by our presence, or would be even for a moment
interrupted by our absence or our death, — this is loneliness
indeed. Now I do not say that the position of Christians
generally, while they remain on earth, is altogether like this.
We have believing friends near us, and many of us are linked
with such by ties which permit frequent and delightful fellow-
ship. Blessed be God for these great mercies ! Yet, at the
same time, it is true that every spiritually-minded person often
feels himself alone. The citizen of heaven is in a foreign land
here, and cannot escape the difficulties and trials which natu-
rally connect themselves with life in a foreign land. Taught
by divine grace to be in heart not of the world, we yet neces-
sarily live in it, and are compelled to associate with many who
have no sympathy with us in the warmest affections and most
ardent yearnings of our souls, — to whom, indeed, the very
language of vital religion is utterly strange. Among Chris-
tians themselves, too, there are many things, — dissimilarities
of natural temperament, social influences of various kinds,
unhappy tendencies to exaggerate the importance of minor
differences of opinion, and the like, — which make full, joyous,
trustful, loving brotherhood and sympathy a rare flower even
in the garden of the church. Even at his best estate, the
pilgrim Zionward finds that he is ' wandering in the wilderness
in a solitary way.'

But in our own heavenly land, fellow-Christians, there are
none but friends. Jarrings, and rivalries, and alienations, have
no place there. The community of interests among all the
citizens is perfect. There God reveals Himself to His people
in modes and in a measure of which in our present state we
cannot even form any conception, — assured only that our
hearts shall be ravished with the view of His glory. Jesus,
* whom, having not seen, we love,' dwells among His people
there, and admits them to closest and most endearing inter-
course and fellowship. I'hey * walk with Him in white ;' they
*sit with Him in His throne.' Angels, too, will be our sweet

V i: R . 20.] T/ic Salni's Citizenship and IF ope. 325

associates. They who rejoiced over us, when we were repent-
ing sinners, will rejoice with us at our entrance into glory.
They who delight to be our * ministering sjurits ' here, will
delight to be our conii)anions yonder. There we shall meet
again, and enjoy intimate communion with all the children of
God whom we have known and loved below, — our many dear
and precious friends in Christ, with whom * we took sweet
counsel, and walked to the house of (Jod in company.' The
Christian parent or child, husband or wife, brother or sister,
over whose deathbed we hung in anguish, — whose removal
seemed to quench the light of our household happiness, — we
shall see them and dwell with them there. Many too we shall
find there, and in their friendship find unmingled pleasure, be-
tween whom and us on earth their sin or ours had introduced
coldness and distrust. Paul and Barnabas have no sharp con-
tendings yonder. Luther and Zuingli dwell there in unity, — for
they ' dwell in God,' and ' God is love.' All the good of every
age and cHme — freed from everything which, while they lived
on earth, was fitted to avert confidence or arouse dislike, and
clothed with every holy beauty which can make friendship
sweet and helpful, — these, with the cherubim ^nd the seraphim,
are the inhabitants of the city of God, rejoicing ever in the
sunshine of their Divine King's complacent smile.

The thought of the perfect security enjoyed by the saints
above, is another very delightful one, which most naturally
rises in a Christian's mind, when thinking of heaven as a city,
or organized commonw^ealth, of which he is a citizen.

In this happy country of Britain, where, through God's good-
ness, we have learned to honour our laws, and thus for many
generations, whilst enjoying the utmost personal freedom com-
patible with the general wellbeing, have possessed the inestim-
able blessing of a strong executive government, we seldom
think of the greatness of the privilege of security which thereby
we have as citizens. Through the completeness of it, and, in
consequence, our want of acquaintance practically with any-

326 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. hi.

thing else, we fail to notice it, or adequately to prize it. But
to a traveller, or to any peace-loving inhabitant, in almost any
part of Africa, or of Central or Western Asia, or in the hill
districts of Greece or of Spain, one of the most prominent of
all longings is for a power that will give safety to person and
property ; and the most pleasant thought connected with cities,
where alone in those regions anything of the advantages of effi-
cient government is obtained, is that of security. Now, though
our earth is a province of the dominions of God, it is in re-
bellion; and thus practically the loyal subjects of the King here
find themselves in a land of anarchy. We cannot feel at ease.
Every bush may hide a lurking foe. A Roman citizen, jour-
neying in remote barbarous or semi-barbarous countries, which
were nominally under the sway of his emperor, might sometimes
by his very citizenship, the dignity of which he was so proud,
and which elsewhere gave him so many immunities, be brought
into peril, — if discontent with the distant government prevailed
around him. So with a citizen of heaven placed among the
sinners of the earth, and the 'principalities and powers of
darkness ' which have much sway on the earth. To mislead
him, to injure him, to lower his spiritual tone, seems to them
something of a victory over his country and his King.

But the name of ' the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem,'
brings with it the thought of perfect freedom from danger, per-
fect rest from anxiety. * They that hurt and destroy' can never
enter there. The great adversary, who so often, out here in the
wilderness, proves that he has power to assail us — so often,
alas ! with no little success, — cannot set foot in heaven. He
cast himself down thence long ago, — never to return. The
seductions of the world and the flesh, which here, like wild
beasts, lie in wait for us at our tent-doors, crouching for the
spring, dare not draw near the holy city. As Satan, 'the prince
of this world,' has no entrance yonder, so neither can anything
enter fitted to serve his ends. There we shall sing with a ful-
ness of meaning unapproached below, ' Blessed be the Lord,

VER. 20.] The SamCs Citizenship and Hope. 327

who hath not given our souls for a i>rcy. Our soul is escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the f(jw'ler. 'i'he Lr>rd hath done
great tilings for us, whereof wc are glad.'

Knowing themselves to have so glorious a 'citizenship,' but
being for the j)resent in a strange land, believers are sustained
by a ' blessed hope.' To this the apostle goes on to direct the
attention of his readers. ' Our citizenship is in heaven, — -from
whence also wc look for the Saviour^ the Lord Jesus Christy — or
rather, ' from whence we ' — sharply contrasted here with those
before mentioned, * whose end is destruction ' — * look for a
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.'

The second coming of Christ, His advent to raise the dead
and judge the world, is always exhibited in Scripture as for
every wise soul the supremely influential fact of the future, and
as the object of the most ardent longings of the Christian heart.
The great spur to energetic service of God is the thought that
* when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then we also shall
appear with Him in glory.' The great support in trouble is the
consideration that, ' when His glor}' shall be revealed, we shall
be glad also with exceeding joy.' Conversion is ' turning to
God, to serve Him, and to wait for His Son from heaven;' and
Christians are naturally described, therefore, as persons who
'love the appearing of the Lord.'

By any one who considers the subject, it can hardly be
doubted that this grand event holds a far less prominent posi-
tion in the thoughts of most Christians in our day than it did
in those of the apostles, and, as is evident from the tone of
their writings, they desired that it should do in those of their
readers. Is this because our affection for the Saviour is less
lively, — because we have a less intense longing to be with Him?
Whatever the reason, the fact, I think, is certain. In the mind
of the modern church, as exhibited in sermons and religious
literature, the death of the individual has, to a great extent,
taken the place which in the church of the first days was occu-
pied by the Lord's personal advent. Now, however much it

328 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

may seem to us that this is practically the same thing, — and
however influential the thought of death will assuredly be on all
who look it fairly in the face, — yet is it not reasonable to sup-
pose that our religious life must suffer as really, though not to the
same degree, by altering the relative prominence given to the
articles of our faith in Scripture, as by believing positive error ?
No truth can exert on the mind and heart exactly the same in-
fluence as another. Now it seems plain that the Divine Spirit
would have Christians to keep before their souls the day with
which for them no ideas can be connected but those of happi-
ness,— the day when the Redeemer shall appear in glory, and
all His redeemed ones, gathered together, shall be perfectly,
publicly, and simultaneously glorified with Him. If, then, the
place of prominence in a believer's mind, which should be held
by this ' blessed hope,' be occupied by the time of his own
death, — a time, considered simply in itself, not attractive but
repulsive, round which, even for those who fully know that the
sting has been taken away, some gloom will hang, and which in-
troduces into a blessedness, ineffable indeed, yet but preparatory
to that which remains to be revealed, — this substitution cannot
but in various ways have an injurious effect. Its influence can
hardly but strengthen the tendency, of which it seems to be
itself in some measure an expression, to gather in the soul's
thoughts and yearnings round herself, instead of sending them
out fully, joyously, lovingly, to the Saviour. It can scarcely be
questioned, I think, that the doctrines of pre-millennialism — seri-
ously erroneous doctrines, as it appears to me — have obtained
their present wide acceptance mainly through a natural and
extreme reaction, in the minds of Christians of an ardent and
affectionate temperament, from the tone of thinking and feeling
which has put the Lord's glorious appearing so far out of view.
And the best thing one can desire, in regard to the contro-
versy which the prc-millennialists have stirred up, is that it may
lead the church generally to give the great fact of the future its
primitive and proper place in their contemplations and hopes.

VER. 2 1.] The Saint's CitizensJiip and Hope. 329

In the passage before us, the ai)0.stlc, in sjicaking of the hope
of the Saviour's coming, turns the tliouglit-) of his readers spe-
cially to the change which His love and power will then effect
on the IhhiU's of believers. This, as has been already mentioned,
and briefly illustrated, is obviously to show the sin and folly of
those ' whose god was their belly,' and * whose glory was in
their shame.'

The expression employed in the Authorized Version, * our
vile body,' — that is, according to the primitive meaning of the
word ' vile,' ' our body of little value,' as in Jeremiah we read
of ' vile figs,' and in James of ' vile raiment,' — is not by any
means a happy one, being both inaccurate as a translation and
in itself untrue. However lamentably often made to minister
to moral worthlessness, the body is in itself most precious, as
an instrument admirably adapted for the service of God. The
most literal rendering of the apostle's words in this clause is the
best, — '■ 7i'ho shall change the body of our humiliation, that it
viay be fashioned like unto the body of His glory! Our present
body belongs to * our humiliation,' and is in various respects
its exponent. In its tendencies to nourish certain forms of
immoral desire, and in its infirmities, diseases, and mortality,
it bears clear testimony to the fall of man. But the Lord,
who has taken upon Him our nature, not for a time only, but
for ever, and whose glory accordingly is manifested in heaven
under a human form, will, at His coming, change the bodies of
His people, fashioning them like unto that ' body of glory.' Of
its sublime beauty the three chosen disciples had an anticipatory
glimpse, when the Lord ' was transfigured before them, and
His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment became shining,
white as the light.' Fashioned like unto this body, dear friends,
will be yours and mine, if we are truly His brethren ; ' for whom
God did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be ' — as regards
their whole being — ' conformed to the image of His Son.' ' We
know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for
we shall see Him as He is.' 'Behold, what manner of love!'

330 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. iii.

With such a prospect as this before us, we may surely well say,
' O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?
Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ !'

Heathen philosophers could reach some hope of a future
life ; but in their views of that life the body had no place. It
seemed to them only a temporary and somewhat degrading
companion of the soul. But Scripture assumes throughout
that the body is no mere drapery, — no mere accidental asso-
ciate of what thinks and feels, — but essential to complete
humanity. It was only the body of Jesus that for three days
lay in Joseph's tomb ; yet the angel said to the women, 'Come,
see the place where the Lord lay.' Plainly then, in some true
sense, that sacred body was the Lord Jesus. And when He
arose in His complete humanity, soul and body, a pledge
was therein given that His redeemed too shall in their com-
plete nature one day stand before God ; for not partially, but
wholly, according to the covenant of love, we are united to
our Lord, and share His glory. Wherefore, ' if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with Him.' The soul will recognise the
old associate of its earthly joys and sorrows. There will be in
the risen man a full sense of personal identity, as regards the
whole nature, with him who once * yielded his members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin,' but was led by the
Divine Spirit to ' yield them as instruments of righteousness
unto God.' Yet how different the whole man will be, — how
gloriously different ! The body, ' sown in corruption,' shall be
'■ raised in incorruption,' — free from pain and disease, from
decay and mortality. ' The eyes of Jacob shall no more be
dim for age ; Mephibosheth shall not be lame in his feet ; nor
shall the senses of Barzillai be dull and languid ;'i for alike age
and infirmity are unknown to the ' children of the resurrection.'
' Sown in the dishonour ' of uncomeliness, it shall be * raised in

* Boston.

VKK. 2 1.] The Saint's Citizenship and Hope. 3 3 r

the glory' of perfect and unending beauty, * fashioned like unto
the body of Christ's glory.' * Sown in weakness,' it shall be
'raised in j)ower' — power to serve the Lord unwearyingly day
and night in His temple, and to bear the 'exceeding and
eternal weight of glory.' ' Sown a natural body ' — a body fitted
for the uses of earth, — it shall be * raised a spiritual body ' — a
dwelling suited in everything for the holy and happy spirit, an
instrument exquisitely adai)ted for prosecuting the pursuits of
heaven, and ministering to its pure and exalted joys.

To our human reason there are difticulties, very serious
difficulties, in the doctrine of resurrection. The body laid in
the grave decays, and its elements enter into new organisms,
which in their turn perish and nourish others. Thus, in the
course of the generations, the same elements may, to some
extent, have entered into the composition of many human
bodies. Whence then shall come each body complete ? Yet
is such a difficulty greater than those which meet us in the
facts of our present life ? I know, from the clear demonstra-
tions of science, that not a particle of my present bodily frame
was in the body I had as a child; but I know at the same time
as certainly, from the testimony of consciousness, that I, the
man, am the same who was then a child, and that for the deeds
done in the body then I still am responsible. Shall I deem it a
greatly more wonderful thing than this, that, through the power
of God, I shall stand at His bar at the last in a body which,
fully and satisfyingly, I shall recognise as my own ? In regard
to the one matter, I believe the testimony of science and con-
sciousness, though seeing only very dimly into the hoiv. In
regard to the other, should I hesitate to believe the testimony
of God in His word ? — or, compassed as I am by mystery in
this present life, would it not be most irrational in me to allege
the existence in the Bible of statements which human philosophy
cannot see all round and all through, as a ground of doubt
whether the testimony of God really be found in the Bible ?

However great the difficulties may be, an answer completely

332 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. hi.

satisfactory to every Christian mind is made to all objections
and doubts on this head, in the apostle's last words in the
passage before us, — ' according to the working whereby He is
able' — or, 'according to the working of His power' — ^ ei'en to
subdue all things unto Himself.' Christ, as Mediator, has
received of His Father ' all power in heaven and in earth,' and
this ' to put all enemies under His feet.' The full belief of
this belongs to the basis of reasonable peace, in our thoughts
of our relation to God : for our salvation is solely ' in Christ,'
and if there be any foe of His and ours whom He cannot
conquer, then by that foe we may be utterly and for ever
oppressed. But we are left in no uncertainty on this matter
of transcendent moment, Christian brethren. The Son of God
can fail in nothing ; and as He ' was manifested to destroy
the works of the devil,' those works shall be destroyed, — every
one of them. Among those works is death, — and Christ's
people shall certainly rejoice, at the last, in the complete
emancipation of every element of their nature from the thral-
dom of this tyrant. ' When Christ shall have put down all
rule and all authority and power — for He must reign till He
hath put all enemies under His feet, — the last enemy shall be
destroyed, death.' ' For this corruptible must put on incor-
ruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory.'

Every Christian sees in his own spiritual life — in the reason-
able peace, and the holy longings, of a soul which by nature
was * dead in trespasses and sins ' — evidence of the victory of
his Saviour over death; and finds his faith thus ever stronger to
anticipate with full confidence the day of complete redemption
— entire * deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the children of God.' It is plain to him
that, 'according to the working,' already manifested, ' of Christ's
power to subdue' his hard heart 'to Himself,' nothing is im-

VKR. 2 1.] The SainCs Citizaiship and Hope. y^i

possible to liis Lortl. The resurrection of the body is, after
all, but a little thing compared with the resurrection of a
dead soul. Those who even here, as with trustfulness and love
they 'behold the glory of their Lord,' 'are changed' spiritually
* into the same image, from glory to glory,' need have no
difficulty in expecting a time when ' the body of their humilia-
tion' too shall be 'fashioned like unto the body of His glor)',*
— and thus in fulness, ' as they have borne the image of the
earthy, they shall also bear the image of the heavenly.'

334 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

XXV.

STEDFASTNESS IN THE LORD.

* Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown,
so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.' — Phil. iv. i.

THE division into chapters has not been very happily
made here. The ' therefore'' which introduces the verse
before us, shows plainly that the injunction, ' Stand fast in the
Lord,' is closely connected with what precedes, as the practical
application. It would consequently have been better had this
verse, at least, been attached to the 3rd chapter. Again, the
2nd and 3rd verses appear to be a kind of appendix to the ist,
applying the general rule there given to a special case. With
them ends the important section of the Epistle which began
with the 2nd verse of the 3rd chapter, and which is, in its
nature, something of an episode, or digression. In the 4th
verse, the apostle returns to the point he had reached in the
I St verse of the previous chapter, and reiterates the precept
there given. With this reiteration the 4th chapter would most
naturally have begun.

' Therefore'' has been held by some to point back over the
whole of the episodical section of which I have spoken. In
this case, the apostle's meaning would be, — ' Vou are ex-
posed, on the one hand, to the influence of some active and
plausible teachers, who would have you substitute entirely,
or partially, faith in ritual and your own works for faith in
Christ, — on the other hand, to that of persons who tell you
that, because we are saved through faith in Christ alone, a
holy life is a matter of no account. See to it, therefore, that

VKR. I.] S led fastness in the Lord. 335

yc ^^ stand fast in the Lord^'' — maintaining,', by prayer and firm
resistance to self righteousness, a sjjirit of absolute childlike
dependence on Him; and proving that you are in Him, and
understand the nature of His salvation and of saving faith, by
living a godly life.' This reference to both parts of the pre-
vious discussion would, I think, have been the most natural,
but for the word ''so' — ''So stand fast in the Lord.' This
particle seems to connect the injunction specially with the
immediately preceding verses, and thus with the second part
of the discussion ; for the force of the * so ' is, apj)arently, *as
becomes persons who are citizens of heaven, and entertain
such glorious hopes.' Whilst the apostle, therefore, glances,
no doubt, at the whole ground occupied in his previous obser-
vations, yet, in enjoining the Philippians to ' stand fast in the
Lord,' the thought of holiness is mainly in his mind. ' See to
it that, through thoughtfulness, and vigilance, and prayer,
your character be such as, with growing clearness, to evince
spiritual union with the Lord.'

The union between Christ and His people, to which the
phrase ' in the Lord'' points, and which is the spring of all the
Christian's joys and hopes, is of a twofold character, legal and
spiritual. By His Father's appointment, and His own ineffable
love, Jesus was so identified, as it were, with those He came
to save, as to be treated, not according to His deserts, but
theirs, — wounded and bruised, subjected to grief and to death,
in their room ; whilst they are so identified with Him, as to
be treated, not according to their own deserts, but to His, —
introduced, for His sake, into glory, and honour, and eternal
life. This legal union is the fundamental blessing of the Chris-
tian salvation. All the others rest upon it. The spiritual union
is what may be described as the community of spiritual life
— of thought, and affection, and enjoyment — existing between
Christ and believers. This is produced by the influence of
the Holy Spirit, through the operation on our souls of that
same faith of the gospel by which, according to God's ap-

2)2,^ Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

pointment, we enter actually into the legal relation of union
to our Saviour — or, in other words, are justified. Christ's
mind and heart are unfolded in His word ; and, by the con-
stitution of our moral nature, become our mind and heart, in
proportion as we understand and believe the word. The
believer, in so far as he is a believer, has the same views and
the same desires as his Lord. ' He that is joined to the Lord
is one spirit.' ' If any man be in Christ,' says the apostle in
another place, 'he is a new creature.' The meaning of his
exhortation in the verse now before us then, I apprehend, is,
* Let the fact that you are new creatures be so indisputable
as to prove that you are in Christ, — let the flower bloom so
beautifully as to leave no room for doubt regarding the exist-
ence and healthy vigour of the unseen root.'

How the life of Christ in a true believer, through the spiritual
union, will reveal itself, the candid reader of Scripture can be
in no doubt. The new man feels himself sweetly constrained
to 'cease to do evil,' and to 'learn to do well.' He is impelled
by the mercies of God to ' present his body a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God;' feeling this to be 'reasonable
service,' and that anything else, on the part of a being like
man, who has a body, and lives an outward life, would be an
insult to the Father of our spirits and the Former of our
bodies. He is no longer ' conformed to this world,' but
' transformed by the renewing of his mind.' He loves his
fellow-men, and cares for them with an interest which regards
eternity as well as time. Honour and manliness, courtesy and
gentleness, in all his dealings, reveal a heart made generous
and tender through the knowledge of the love of Christ. His
life, in all its relations, is regulated by reverence and affection
for his Saviour ; so that he is a legible ' epistle of Christ,'
telling all around who do not wilfully close their eyes, of the
grace and power of his Lord. By such a life as this — a holy
Christlike life, at home and with strangers, in business and in
recreation, with servants and with superiors — a man is shown

VER. I.] S ted fastness in the Lord. 337

to be 'in Christ.* It is true that the most spiritually-minded
Christian, so long as he is on earth, will fall far short of per-
fectly exhibiting the Christian c har.icter ; but no man who
does not earnestly and prayerfully aim at exhibiting it per-
fectly, has any right to believe himself to be ' in Christ.' And,
the nearer the approach made, the clearer and more comforting
always is the evidence. * Stand fast in the Lord,' then, dear
brethren. T.et no temptation attract you — let no persecution
daunt you — from that consistent beauty and energy of godli-
ness by which faith approves itself sincere.

Strong arguments in support of the apostle's injunction are
found in the statements he has made in the verses immediately
preceding, — to which he directs attention by his ^ t/ierefore^
and ^ so.'' 'Seeing that, as Christians, your position is one of
such dignity, and your hopes are so lofty, — stand fast in the
Lord with the energy and persistency beseeming persons who
regard themselves as citizens of heaven, and look for their
Saviour to introduce them into the full blessedness and glory
of His kingdom.' The citizenship of heaven carries responsi-
bility with it. A member of an illustrious community may
reasonably be expected to guard the honour of the community,
— to increase the respect felt for it, if this be in his power, and,
at least, to abstain from everything which will reflect discredit
upon it. A nobleman, even if he be in spirit a mean man, is
strongly bound by his position to what the traditions of his
class call honourable conduct. When a native of Great
Britain, or of any other country distinguished by Christian
civilisation, travels in a foreign land, he should feel — and,
in innumerable instances, no doubt, does feel — that the re-
putation of his country is, to some extent, in his keeping ;
and the sense of this will co-operate with other influences to
restrain him from what is mean or cruel. Now the citizens of
heaven have the most illustrious dignity which can be enjoyed
by any creature ; and this dignity has been bestowed upon
them, not from any desert on their part, but simply through

338 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

the kindness of their King. Ardent gratitude for His good-
ness, then, dear brethren, should certainly lead us to be
vigilant in regard to our character, that thus glory may accrue
to Him. The men of the world, the strangers to Christ,
know that we claim to hold close relations with heaven. Let
them be compelled to acknowledge that there is in us a purity
and nobleness of sentiment and life, such as mere earthly in-
fluences are insufficient to produce. The life of every Chris-
tian should be like the fragrant breeze which, in tropical
waters, tells the mariner, while still far out at sea, that the
land from which it comes is a land of pleasant forests and
gardens, where ' the spices flow forth.' It should testify, truth-
fully and clearly, of the sweetness and grace of heaven.

The apostle has drawn particular attention to the fact that
Christians expect the Saviour, at His appearing, to change the
* bodies of their humiliation ' — the bodies in which, at the pre-
sent, fleshly lusts exert such power, and which are subject to
pain, and disease, and death, — and to make them like the^body
in which His own mediatorial glory manifests itself. This ex-
pectation should give a deep sense of responsibility for our
treatment of the body, as an instrument of our moral nature.
My body is not loosely or temporarily connected with me.
As I am an embodied thinking being now, so I shall be an
embodied thinking being throughout eternity. The lips, then,
which are to sing the high praises of our King above, — the
limbs which are to be employed in serving Him day and
night in His temple, — dare we use these as the instruments
of frivolity or vice ? * What, know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, — which ye have of
God ; and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price ?
Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which
are God's.'

There can be no doubt that, in all by whom such views
regarding their present position, and such expectations re-
garding their future, as the apostle here speaks of, are intelli-

vi:r. I.] SUdfastness in the Lord. 339

gently and vividly cherished, these views and hopes arc fitted
to exert very stroni^'ly an elevating influence on the heart and
life. * Kvery \wx\\ that hath this hoj)e in Christ/ says the
Apostle John, * purifieth himself, even as Christ is pure.' In
the measure of its liveliness, the hope holds uj) before the soul
a noble ideal of character. Any man who really and intelli-
gently regards himself as a citizen of heaven, and hopes for
holy blessedness — the full enjoyment of this citizenshijj — after
death, must often have before his mind heaven, and the moral
features of its inhabitants. In common life, the life of buying
and selling, of strifes and frivolities, men and women naturally
form low conceptions both of what they may be and of what
they should be. A character of fair outward resi>ectability,
but destitute of all real nobleness — of all high and generous
aims, — is ver)' apt to appear sufficient. To all who are unre-
generate, however much there may be in their spirit which is
beautiful and amiable, still something far below the highest
capabilities of man always does seem sufficient But as the
spear of Milton's Ithuriel had the power, by its touch, of
making evil spirits stand forth in their native blackness and
uncomeliness, however skilfully they had disguised themselves
as angels of light ; so the Christian's sense of his relation to
heaven reveals to his heart the essential vanity and despicable-
ness of any form of life which is alien from the will of God.
The application of the touchstone question, ' How would such
conduct answer in heaven ? How would such conduct become
one who hopes for heaven, and deems himself a citizen of
heaven ? ' — this shows things as they are.

The ideal of character which in this way is brought and
kept before the believer, is no mere abstraction, but is em-
bodied in his Lord. He knows that the destiny of the
Christian is to be, in the fullest sense of the wonderful words,
up to the highest capabiHties of humanity ' conformed to the
image of God's Son.' His expectation is that, when the
Saviour shall appear * to change the body of our humiliation.

340 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

that it may be fashioned like unto the body of His glory,' the
soul then re-united to the body will be a perfectly Christlike
soul. As, through the wondrous art of the photographer, the
light of the sun of our firmament can print an image of beauty
on paper which was once but filthy rags, so the light of the
glory of grace will one day imprint the image of Jesus on the
hearts of all His redeemed ones, — hearts which, by nature,
were * deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.' Now
what the ' open vision ' of the ' Altogether Lovely ' will effect
perfectly in that day when * we shall see Him as He is,' the
partial vision enjoyed in the present state accomplishes in some
degree. Here, on earth, with love, and confidence, and hope,
* beholding the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same
image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.'

The belief in our being citizens of heaven through faith in
Christ Jesus, and the expectation of being with Him and like
Him for ever there, are, beyond question, eminently fitted,
through the blessing of the Holy Ghost, to beautify and ennoble
the character. Holiness is the proper fruit of intelligent Chris-
tian hope. ' Therefore, my brethren, so stand fast in the Lord.'

This most important injunction is sent home to the hearts
of the Philippians with peculiar power by the apostle's tender
words of endearment. He begins the verse by calling them
his ^brethren dearly beloved and longed for,' his ^Joy and
crown;' and he ends it, lingering most touchingly on the
thought of his delight in them, with the repetition of his first
epithet, * my dearly beloved.' It is as if he said, ' By our
brotherhood in Christ — by the ardent love I have for you, and
have in many ways proved — by my joy and glorying in your
Christian stedfastness and beauty hitherto — and by the hopes I
have been led to cherish of rejoicing and glorying in you in
the day of Christ, — I beseech you to stand fast in the Lord,
my dearly beloved.' You feel that pleading of this kind,
falling on the ears of men who knew how true Paul was in
all things, could not fail to be profoundly influential.

VLK. I.] Stcdfastness in the Lord. 341

' My joy and crcnvn * exhibits a thouj^ht very familiar to the
apostle. 'I'he Vr(/7f'// ' is not here the diadem of royalty, but
the garlaiul of victory. He has in his mind, as so often, the
famous public athletic games of the (ireeks, — which the diligent
training, and the strenuous and persevering exertion, needed to
gain the * corruptible crown ' of laurel, and the intensity of joy
felt by the victors, rendered an admirable illustration of the
Christian life, whether as regards the spiritual j)rogress of the
believer himself, or his work for the salvation of others. The
apostle believed that he would be enabled to * rejoice in the
day of Christ, that he had not run in vain ' as a minister of
Christ. He believed that the Lord would place around his
brow an unfading garland of honour, of which each soul that
had been quickened, comforted, strengthened by him, would
be, so to speak, a spray or leaf, — ' for,' says he to the Thessa-
lonians, * what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?
Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at
His coming? for ye are our glory and joy.' And even noWy
from his confidence in the Christian character of the Philip-
pians, as of many of his other converts, and his vivid anticipa-
tion of their welcome by the Master on the great day, he felt
them to be ' his joy and crown.' In Nero's prison, aged, worn
with trouble, manacled, uncertain whether he might not soon
be led forth to death by the executioner, he knew himself to
be yet in truth, as a successful minister of Christ, a conqueror,
wreathed with amaranth. The emperor in his palace was, in
heart, weary and wretched. The prisoner was restful and
happy. The glitter of the emperor's power and grandeur
would very soon pass away, and be as a dream. His prisoner
was already invested with a glor)' which, recognised in this
world only by those whose eyes had been opened to discern
spiritual things, should yet be manifested before the universe,
— for * they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the
stars for ever and ever.'

;42 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

XXVI.
BROTHERLY-KINDNESS.

' I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same
mind in the Lord. 3 And I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow, help
those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement
also, and with other my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book
of life.' — Phil. iv. 2, 3.

IN these verses we have an interesting ghmpse of several
prominent members of the Philippian church, and of the
apostle's wise and affectionate dealings with them as their
spiritual father. Paul had learned, probably from Epaphro-
ditus, that between Euodias (or rather, more exactly, Euodia)
and Syntyche, two of the female members, there had unhappily
arisen a quarrel or coldness, which, as we may infer from his
reference to it in this public letter, had become well known
among the brethren, and had in various ways done harm to
the good cause. They were both excellent women, and, as
the apostle remembered, had shown their zeal in former years,
when he himself was labouring for Christ in their city, by
working diHgently along with him. The position of influence
in the church which we may reasonably suppose them to have
thus acquired, made their dissension peculiarly painful to the
right-minded. At the same time, it gave them a peculiarly
strong claim on the friendly offices of their brethren, to bring
about a reconciliation. Accordingly, the apostle not merely
appeals to Euodia and Syntyche themselves to return to
sisterly affection, but also requests a brother in the church,
whom he calls ' true yoke-fellow,' to do what may be in his
power to remove difficulties out of their way.

VERS. 2, 3.] Brotherly- Kindness. 343

It is not necessary to seek for any close connection of
thought between this reference to the quarrel of these good
women aiul the preceding context. A familiar letter allows
much freedom in passing from one subject to another; and
towards the close, in particular, observations of an isolated
kind arc to be looked for. In the case before us, however, it
appears to me most natural to regard these verses as some-
what closely connected with that immediately preceding. The
a|)Ostle has called on his dear children at Philij)pi to ' stand
fast in the Lord.' Whilst he writes the words, he feels his
heart burdened with the thought of the dissension between his
two friends, as a f)ainful illustration of the way in which be-
lievers may fiiil to * stand fast in the Lord ' clearly and firmly ;
and thus, really, though not formally put as such, we have in
the verses before us a practical application to a special case of
the general counsel given in the ist verse.

The passage, then, suggests to our minds the transcendent
importance of the grace of love, as the grand evidence of our
* standing fast in the Lord.' * God is love.' To be without
love, therefore, is to be without God ; whilst * he that dwelleth
in love, dwelleth in God.' Love is the chief purifying and
ennobling element of Christian feeling. Under its genial influ-
ence, faith and hope — spiritual wisdom and strength and joy —
flourish in luxuriance. This fact is strikingly brought out in a
prayer of Paul for the other great Macedonian church, that of
Thessalonica, — * The Lord make you to increase and abound in
love one towards another, and towards all men, to the end He
may stablish your hearts unb/ameable in holiness.'

To the importance of ' brotherly-kindness,' the love which it
becomes Christians to cherish ' especially to them who are of
the household of faith,' the reference made by the aposde to
the relations between Euodia and Syntyche draws our atten-
tion particularly. Christians are, in a sense altogether peculiar,
the family of God. From the far country of sin, into which
as prodigals we had wandered, our Father's gracious influence

344 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

has brought us home \ and now, not merely through the fact
of our being His moral creatures, but by the new spiritual
birth, we are ' sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.' All
His ' sons and daughters ' are our brothers and sisters ; and
' every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is
begotten of Him.' Discerning in all our fellow-believers some-
thing of those qualities which, as they appear in infinite per-
fection in the character of our common Father, have won for
Him our supreme love ; we find ourselves drawn to them by
common sympathies and interests, with respect to the matters
which have come to be felt by us as of greatest moment.
Wherever there is true love to God, next to it, and necessarily
resulting from it, stands love to the godly. This affection of
complacency and delight is an image of that ineffable love
which reigns between the Father and His Eternal Son ; for the
prayer of Him whom the Father heareth always was, 'that
they may be one, as we are, I in them and Thou in Me, — that
they may be made perfect in one.' Surely, my brethren, when
we think of this wondrous ideal of brotherly love, and look
abroad on the Christian church as it is, we have much reason
to hide our faces in shame ; for, ' whereas there is among us
envying and strife and divisions, are we not carnal, and walk
as men ? '

The law of brotherly love is not far to seek, nor difficult to
bear in mind. 'A new commandment I give unto you,' said
the Lord, in the last tender hour of communion with His
sorrowing disciples, ' that ye love one another as I have loved
you.' This commandment was old in its general principle,
old as the first inculcation of religious duty ; but it was ' new,'
sublimely new, in its example, showing with a new clearness
the vastness of the breadth and the length of the love required,
' as I have loved you,' — new, too, in the motive exhibited to en-
force it, * because I have so loved you.' But who is — who can
be — sufficient for these things ? Who can love like Him who
left the bosom of His Father to dwell as a servant among sinful

VERS. 2, 3.] Brotherly- Kindness. 345

men, and sufTcr and die for their salvation? Yet in kind our
love may resemble His ; and with such love our fmite hearts
may he full. The drop they contain may be kindred to the
ocean of His love. 'I'he practical application of the Lord's
rule by the Christian heart will always be somewhat on this
wise : when the icy fingers of worldliness chill the soul, and
the whisper rises, 'Have I not loved my brother enough?'
answers the still small voice of conscience, * Hast thou loved
him as thy Saviour has loved thee ? Hast thou done for thy
brother what your common Elder Brother has done for thee ? *
The remembrance of the love of Christ is the only thing which
can sustain brotherly love in vigorous exercise ; and in exact
proportion as our spirits go on to know more of the love which,
in its fulness, 'passeth knowledge,' does its image on earth
become brighter and truer.

To the cultivation of love to the brotherhood very peculiar
importance is attached in Scripture. It is constantly set before
us as the most distinct evidence of the possession of vital re-
ligion. ' We know,' says the Apostle John, ' that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. If we love
one another, God dwelleth in us.' The Master Himself tells
us, * By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye
have love one to another.' In the early days of the church,
nothing so impressed ' them that were without ' as the strong
mutual affection of the believers in Christ. The observers
said with wonderment, ' Behold these Christians, — how they
love one another ! ' In our time, alas ! brotherly love has in
many waxed cold ; and, in so far as the church has thus lost its
great ornament, the world has been deprived of one main
quickening power. Not till the daughter of Zion arrays her-
self again in the 'beautiful garments' of brotherly-kindness,
w^ll she convince the world that her Lord is He whose name
is love.

The ground of the dissension bet^veen Euodia and Syntyche is

34^ Lectures on Pkilippians. [ch. iv.

not mentioned. It was possibly something altogether frivolous,
for even mature Christians act sometimes like silly children.
Perhaps, however, seeing that they were both active servants
of Christ, the origin of the coldness was some difference of
opinion with respect to the best modes of carrying on the
'Lord's work. In an unguarded soul, zeal often opens the
door to unholy anger. When men believe themselves to be
' doing a great work,' their enthusiasm tends to produce im-
patience. When thwarted, or, as they think, unreasonably
hindered, their souls strike fire against the obstacles, and, tor-
menting themselves at the disappointment, they are apt to
break out in language they will regret afterwards. To a
thoughtful mind, perhaps no element in the character of Jesus
more impressively shows that character to be absolutely unique,
than His sublime equanimity, while prosecuting so great a
work with so great enthusiasm, counting it His ' meat,' and
pouring into it all the energies of His life. ' He is as serene
and even in all His hindrances from foolish unreasonable men,
and in all troubles of every kind, as if He had nothing great
on hand to do. He is clothed with an armour of holy
patience, through which no weapon can pierce. He is never
disheartened, fretted, or ruffled.' ^

Whatever the ground of dissension, their wise friend Paul
can have but one advice to them, with regard to their relations
to each other. To the Colossians he gives it very fully, in this
form: ' Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
long - suffering ; forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another, if any man have a quarrel against any ; even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye ; and above all these things
put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness,' In the
present passage, his entreaty is that his dear friends would * be
of the same mind.^ This is not by any means an injunction to
have the same views on everything. Differences of tempera-

' Bushneil.

VKR. 2.] Brotherly- Kindness. 347

ment, training, intellectual power, arfiuiremcnts, and surround-
ings, might render that, or even any very close approach to it,
impossible. Paul's favourite phrase, which follows, explains
the thought. His wish is that they should 'be of the .same
mind /// the Lord' 'I'hey are to 'endeavour to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace,' — to remember the tran-
scendent importance of the matters in which their views accord,
— to consider how utterly unsuited quarrelling or coldness is
for those who are united ' in the Lord,* — and therefore, with
regard to any matter on which they fail to see eye to eye, to
* agree to differ,' and follow out their separate views lovingly
and with mutual helpfulness. The praise which Christian lives
send up to heaven cannot be a song in unison ; but it may be
and should be a song in harmony, which is far richer and
deeper than unison.

How gloriously catholic and tolerant is the love to us of our
divine Elder Brother ! Glance at His relations to those He
gathered round Him during His earthly life. There were many
varieties of temperament, many different degrees of capacity
for clearness and breadth of view, many varied measures of
natural Icveableness, among His followers ; but for all of them
— for Peter, the frank, ardent, impulsive ; for John, the medi-
tative, poetical, spiritual; for Thomas, the slow-minded, moody,
difficult to influence but immediately through the senses ; for
Martha, the bustling and practical ; for Mary, whose one desire
was to sit at her Lord's feet and drink in His words ; for all,
differing in everything except love to Him, His heart had
ample room. He loved them all. You and I too should
embrace with warm brotherly affection all who give evidence
of loving our common Lord, whatever differences there may
be in many things. But imperfectly sanctified humanity is
deplorably prone to sectarianism. Hardly had the nations
which had sat in darkness begun to see the great light, before
rancorous dissensions saddened the hearts of the apostles and
primitive teachers, — nay, before they found their own names

34^ Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

employed as instruments to bring dishonour on the name of
their Lord, and 'Paul,' 'Apollos,' and 'Cephas,' rung out as
the gathering cry for the battle of sects. Even Christianized
human nature loves to be angry, when with any plausibility it
can flatter itself that it ' does well to be angry,' and is 'jealous
for the Lord God of hosts.' But the spirit of Christ is
eminently an unsectarian spirit. It is natural and not wrong
that the love of a believer's heart should go forth with
special intensity to those of his brethren whose souls are
most kindred with his own. Jesus, though He loved all
His ' little children,' had yet a specially tender love for Peter
and James and John ; and even of this inner circle there
is one who is called with emphasis ' the disciple whom Jesus
loved.' But there is something far wrong, when any Chris-
tian's love is hedged in by denominational bounds or eccle-
siastical forms, by points of criticism or peculiarities of
temperament. For all who ' love the Lord Jesus in sincerity,'
our hearts should have room, as His has. And the nearer
that,- by the gracious influence of His Spirit, we are brought
to Him, the nearer continually we shall be brought to each
other.

No attentive reader can fail to be struck with the mode in
which Paul intervenes between Euodia and Syntyche, to set
them at one again. For one thing, he makes not the slightest
reference to the particular cause of dissension. In a vast pro-
portion of cases, attempts at reconciliation will be more likely to
succeed, if the original matter of difl'erence be allowed to sleep
among dead things, than if it be roused to life and subjected
anew to examination. Again, — from his apostolic authority,
and the nature of his relation to the church of Philippi in par-
ticular, Paul might most reasonably have been * much bold in
Christ to enjoin them that which was convenient ; yet for love's
sake he rather beseeches them.' He beseeches them separately
too. Possibly the one was more to blame than the other for
the origin or the continuance of the coldness ; but the apostle

VER. 3.] Brothcrly-Kindyiess. 349

treats them with exactly the same consideration : * / besfcch
Euoifiti, — and I beseech Syntyche.'

In tlic 3r(l verse he goes on to ask a friend of influence
among the believers at Thilippi to help the ladies he has been
pleading with to come to a reconciliation. ' And' (or, accord-
ing to a better supported reading, yea^ introducing another
request which, yet more clearly than the preceding, shows
Paul's earnestness of feeling with regard to the matter in hand)
*/ entreat thee also^ true yoke-fe/hnv, help those women which
Liboured icith me in the ^(^ospel.^ The rendering of our translators
here is, if not inaccurate, at least likely to mislead. It seems
to mean, ' Help my female fellow-labourers' generally, whereas
the apostle's request really refers simply to Euodia and Syn-
tyche, and to his wish that their coldness should be brought to
an end, — ' Help them ' — to be of the same mind in the Lord, —
* seeing that they laboured with me in the gospel.'

It thus appears that women were zealous and efficient
workers for Christ at Philippi. These two ladies had ^laboured
with Paur — 'shared with him in his strenuous contendings,'
for the primary reference of the original word is to athletic
contests — * in the gospel.' This fact accords exactly — and the
obviously undesigned coincidence is very interesting — with
the account given in Acts of the first visit of the apostle to
Philippi, when, as you remember, the gospel was first pro-
claimed to, and accepted by, women. ' On the Sabbath we
went out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was wont to
be made, and sat down and spake unto the women which
resorted thither ; and a certain woman named Lydia heard us,
whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the
things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was bap-
tized, and her household, she besought us, saying. If ye have
judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house,
and abide there, — and she constrained us' (Acts xvi. 13-15).
Lydia, Euodia, and Syntyche, appear to have been represen-
tatives of a very large class of women in the early church, who

350 Lectures on Philippians, [CH. iv.

not merely for themselves ' chose that good part which should
not be taken away from them/ but also ' did what they could '
to bring others to choose it. Again and again we find special
mention made of such, — for example, ' Mary, who bestowed
much labour on us ;' ' Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in
the Lord ; ' * the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the
Lord.' It was obviously felt by the believers generally, that
Christ's call was not simply to the enjoyment of peace in Him,
but to exertion, as in His providence He gave opportunity, for
the extension of His kingdom ; and that women had their
sphere of Christian work, which they could fill better than men.
In all society they of necessity exercise an extensive and power-
ful influence ; they have peculiarly free access to their own sex ;
and for ministrations in time of trouble, when the heart is
frequently most open to religious impressions, they have a
special aptitude. To do efficient service to the Master, it is
not, as a rule, either necessary or desirable that women should
step out of the domestic and quiet social spheres within which
it is plainly the will of God that they should ordinarily move.
Any mode of action which brushes off the beautiful bloom of
female modesty and gentleness is not likely to commend the
gospel. The wise female Christian worker will always resemble
her already named, who, while ' labouring much in the Lord,'
remained ever, for all who knew her, 'the beloved Persis.' Few
features in the Christian life of our own time are more pleasing
than the activity of pious women, and the sweet and beautiful
womanliness with which they commonly do their work.

The friend to whom Paul addresses himself in the 3rd verse
is requested by him to ' help ' Euodia and Syntyche to become
reconciled. The duty might be felt by these good women to
be a hard one. Even if they both clearly saw the sinfulness
of their dissension, and longed for the pleasant intercourse of
former days, pride was apt to interpose obstacles. A thoroughly
discreet friend of both, on the spot, could do not a little, in
various ways, to smooth the path to unity. This is a form

V K K . 3 . ] Jh'otJicrly- Kindness. 3 5 i

of Christian work, my brethren, to which (iod in His providence
may occasionally call you or me. None needs more delicacy
of handling' ; anil, from consciousness of this, and a fear lest
throngii interference the alienation be widened, and the
friend who interfered brought in to share somewhat of its dis-
comforts, there is j)erhaps no field of Christian love from the
cultivation of which believers generally are more prone to
shrink. But none, when lovingly and prayerfully tilled, yield
richer fniits. It cannot but be, that on efforts to restore
interrupted brotherly afiection, the Saviour who said, ' This is
My commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved
you,' looks down with peculiar tenderness and complacency.

Regarding the person addressed as * true yoke-fellow^ there
have been various conjectures. A common use of the original
word in classical writers is in the sense of 'spouse.' By some
interpreters, accordingly, it has been thought that the apostle
here refers to his wife, — supposed by them to have been at this
time, for some reason, living at Philippi, and, both from her
relation to him, and her own character, a person of influence
among the Christians there. This view is in no wise natural ;
hardly accords, to say the least, with the grammar of the
original ; and is inconsistent with Paul's language elsewhere, —
all his allusions to his own position leading us to believe either
that he had never been married, or that he was a widower.
Others again have thought of the husband of Euodia or Syn-
tyche. This also seems wholly unnatural. Had such been
the reference intended, the language employed would almost
certainly have been more specific ; and besides, after such dis-
tinct evidence of the apostle's determination to remain entirely
impartial, as we have had in ' I beseech Euodia, — and I be-
seech Syntyche,' an appeal for aid to a person inevitably inte-
rested on the one side is utterly improbable. There can be
little doubt, I think, that Paul here addresses an eminently
pious and judicious member, and probably office-bearer, of the
Philippian church, who, from some circumstances unknown to

352 Lectures on Philippians. [cii. iv.

us, was specially fitted to help the apostle in his endeavour to
reconcile the sisters in Christ who were unhappily at variance.
But in a letter superscribed ' To all the saints in Christ Jesus
which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons/ 'true
yoke-fellow ' seems a curiously indefinite way of addressing an
individual member, bishop, or deacon, however prominent.
This very early suggested to some interpreters the thought
that perhaps Synzygus, or Syzygus, the original word rendered
' yoke-fellow,' was in this case a proper name, on which Paul
plays with a little affectionate pleasantry, — ' true, genuine
Synzygus,' — ' Yoke-fellow, whose character accords with thy
name.' This view seems to me highly probable. It is evident
to any student of Paul's writings in the original that he loved
an occasional play upon words ; and in one case at least he
plays upon a proper name. * Onesimus ' means 'profitable;'
and the apostle says to Philemon, ' I beseech thee for my son
Onesimus, — which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but
now profitable to thee and to me.' The fact that Synzygus is
not known to occur elsewhere as a proper name, presents no
difficulty whatever in the way of our holding it to be such in
the passage before us, — considering how small a proportion the
names preserved in extant literature must bear to those which
were actually in use. The word is certainly one quite likely to
have been employed as a name ; just as, among ourselves, we
find such surnames as Friend, Dear, Goodfellow, Goodman,
and the like, more or less common. The view that we have
here a proper name, removes all indefiniteness from the ad-
dress ; gives a peculiar pointedness to the epithet 'true' or
' genuine ; ' and accounts perfectly for the use of this particular
word Synzygus, or ' yoke-fellow,' which occurs nowhere else in
Paul's writings, or indeed in the New Testament.

The thought of the loving and efficient aid which the apostle
had received in his work at Philippi from Euodia and Syntyche,
brings with it pleasant memories of other helpers ; and to
these, most naturally, he makes now a brief reference, — ' with

VER. 3.] Brotherly- Kindness. 353

CUmmt alsOy and wi(h other my fe/Iaiu- labourers,* In the latter
part of the first century there was a distinguished minister of
the church in Rome, nameil Clement, the writer of two letters
to the church of Corinth, which are still extant With him
early tradition identified the Clement mentioned here. There
is nothing impossible, or improbable, in the supposition that
they were the same. But the name was by no means an un-
common one.

Clement had perhaps held some kind of acknowledged
precedence among the helpers of Paul in Christian work ;
and thus we find the others alluded to more generally, * with
my other fello7u-labourcrs^* — as we might name a minister,
and add ' with his elders,' or name the superintendent of
a Sabbath school, and add * with the teachers.' But though
not naming them, the apostle well remembered them and
their earnest work, and gives his impression of them here
in words signally fitted to gladden their hearts, and cheer them
on to continued exertion in the Lord's service, — ' whose names
are in the book of life.' Having had ample opportunities of
judging of them, Paul felt convinced that their profession of
faith in Christ expressed a reality, — that they had in truth

* passed from death unto life,' and were safe for ever. Their
zeal and perseverance in the service of Christ proved to him
that what the Lord, employing the same figure used here, had
said of the seventy disciples, was true of these brethren also, —

* their names were ^\Titten in heaven.' ' This honour have all
the saints ; ' and earnest and patient continuance in well-doing
gives assurance of it with growing distinctness, both to the
Christian himself and to spiritual observers of his life.

By the figure of a book, in which the names of God's people
are recorded, is plainly and most gladdeningly set before the
believing heart the perfect knowledge He has of all them that
are His, and thus the certainty that to every one of them His

* exceeding great and precious promises ' will be fulfilled. This
image presents itself pretty frequently, both in the Old Testa-

354 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. iv.

ment and the New. The thought specially intended seems to
be of a register of the citizens of the heavenly city.^ This is,
in the amplest sense, a ' book of life.' Those who are ' written
among the living in Jerusalem' have true 'Hfe' in Christ even
here, while as yet afar in the wilderness. Yonder its strength,
and beauty, and blessedness are enjoyed in fulness. And this
enjoyment is for ever. The life is ' eternal life.' They that
dwell in the city of God ' go no more out.' 'Their sun shall
no more go down, neither shall their moon withdraw itself; for
the Lord shall be their everlasting light, and the days of their
mourning shall be ended.'

^ The use of this particular image here may not improbably have been
suggested to the apostle by the reference he had made a few verses before
(iii. 20, — see the exposition of the first clause) to the fact that the believer's
* citizenship is in heaven. '

VER. 4.] Pray erf Illness and the Peace of God.

J30

XXVII.
PRAYERFULNESS AND THE PEACE OF GOD.

* Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your modera-
tion be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for
nothing ; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanks
giving, let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace
of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.' — Phil. iv. 4-7.

WITH this paragraph, as we have already seen, the
4th chapter ought to have commenced ; because the
singularly interesting and important digression which began
with the 2nd verse of the 3rd chapter, ends with the 3rd verse
of the present, and the interrupted line of exhortation is
resumed here. The transition occurs very naturally. The
apostle has been speaking of a dissension between two hon-
oured members of the church of Philippi, such as was cal-
culated to cause all the brethren discomfort. In connection
with this, as it seems to me, there rises in his mind again the
thought of those troubles from the hatred of unbelievers, by
which the Philippian Christians were tried, and on which he
has touched more than once in the ist chapter, particularly at
the close. The whole tenor of the present paragraph, I think,
shows that, whilst its precepts and assurances are most im-
portant and precious to the people of God under any circum-
stances, yet, as addressed to the first readers of the Epistle,
they were specially intended to guide and cheer them as a
persecuted church.

The opening injunction, * Rejoice i?i the Lord,' was fully con-
sidered on occasion of its former occurrence, in the ist verse

356 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. iv.

of the 3rd chapter. But there are interesting additions here.
'■ Rejoice alway.^ * Though your position may be such as to
cause nature only pain, yet rise by faith above nature into
joy. Even if the billows of trouble sweep wildly around, and
threaten to overwhelm you, look up to Him who " sitteth upon
the flood, yea, who sitteth King for ever;" who "is mightier
than the mighty waves of the sea," and in a moment can by
His word bring a great calm ; — look up to Him, and be glad
in Him.' This precept the apostle knew to be one which, to
many of the members of a persecuted church, would at first
seem impracticable, — indeed, almost paradoxical. To his own
heart also, I apprehend, just as he was writing or dictating
the * Rejoice alway,' there came a sudden depression, — the
weakness of nature, amid the trials of the prison, sending a
sense of weariness and sorrow over him. But grace triumphed
in a moment, — and to a spiritual ear how grand are the simple
words of the voice of triumph, — how stimulating to the suf-
fering Philippians, — * and again I say ' (more exactly, ' will
say'), ^ Rejoice!^ As regards the momentary struggle in Paul's
heart between nature and grace, of which, as I have said, I
think these words give us 'an interesting glimpse, the pas-
sage reminds us of one in the ist chapter: 'Some preach
Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add afflic-
tion to my bonds, but others of love. What then? Not-
withstanding, every way, whether in pretence or in truth,
Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, — yea^ and will
rejoice.^

' Rejoice in the Lord ; and, that you may do this, commit
your way wholly to Him. Towards your foes show the for-
bearance of a wise, loving, well-governed spirit, not returning
evil for evil. Let all men with whom you come into contact
find this to be your habitual course. May not the sight of a
character so strange and heavenly have a blessed influence
over some of them, and give you the exquisite joy of bringing
souls to your Lord — of making those who were your enemies

VLK. 5.] Praycrfuhicss and the Peace 0/ God. 357

brethren in Him? Hut, liowcvcr this may be, leave tlie
wrong ilonc you to be dealt witli by the Lord. His coming
is near, and He will do all things well. In regard to all your
wants and anxieties, too, of every kind, speak to God in
prayer, and His peace will keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. 'I'hus you will rejoice in the Lord alway.'
Such appears to mc to be the connection of thought in the
paragraj)h.

By 'moderation,' in the 5th verse, is meant, as the para-
phrase just given has already suggested to you, not temperance
in the gratification of our desires generally, but specially tem-
perance or self-restraint in our relations to others, abstinence
from anger, harshness, vengeance. Elsewhere in the New
Testament, where the original word occurs, the rendering is
'gentleness,' 'clemency,' 'patience,' any one of which is pre-
ferable to this ambiguous 'moderation.' The exact idea is 'a
considerate and forbearing spirit.' The apostle would have
us make allowances for the ignorance and weakness of others,
knowing how much and constant need we stand in of having
allowances made for ourselves, both by God and man. Taken
generally, his precept here calls upon us, for example, in our
business dealings, to remember that human laws, however
carefully devised, may ever and anon, if rigidly enforced, act
unjustly and cruelly ; and to guide ourselves therefore, in every
case, by the broad principles of equity in the sight of God.
Similarly, in our judgment of the conduct of men, it en-
joins upon us to take a kindly view, wherever this is pos-
sible, never believing evil of them until we cannot help it.
In the case which seems to be at present specially before
Paul's mind, that of a person who is ' persecuted for righteous-
ness' sake,' he would have the sufferer to form the mildest
judgment he can respecting the procedure and character of
his enemy ; to remember and pity the melancholy darkness
of soul which prompts the persecution ; and, even if he be in
a position to avenge himself, to withhold his hand, and leave

358 Lectures on PJiilippians. [cri. iv.

the matter with the Lord Jesus. When He comes to judg-
ment, all wrongs will be righted.^

The suffering believers might well be patient, considerate,

and forbearing, — for, says the apostle, * The Lord is at hand.'

Whether looked at simply by themselves, or in their logical

connection with the context, these words might very naturally

be [taken to mean that Christ is ever ready to sustain and

deliver His people, ' nigh unto all them that call upon Him,'

* a very present help in trouble,' — not like such gods as the

Philippians had worshipped in their days of darkness, of

which their votaries, through sad experience of neglect, were

compelled to believe, as Elijah derisively reminded the priests

of Baal, that, at the very time their aid was needed, they

might be 'pursuing, or in a journey/ But the general usage

of the New Testament points decidedly to that other meaning

which I have already indicated, — ' The adz'ent of the Lord is

at hand.' As James has it, ' The coming of the Lord draweth

nigh.' 2 The promise of the Saviour Himself is, ' Behold, I

come quickly.'

At first sight, declarations like these from the Lord and
His inspired apostles startle us, through their apparent incon-
sistency with what we know to have subsequently happened.
Eighteen centuries have gone by. The world has continued
* buying and selling, planting and building, marrying 'and
giving in marriage.' The 'sign of the Son of man' has not

' In the Epistle of James, v. 9, — ' Grudge not one against another,
brethren, lest ye be condemned : behold, the Judge standeth before the
door,' the 5th verse finds a very complete parallel, — the only difference
being that there the reference is to relations between believers, whilst here,
as I apprehend, the apostle is thinking mainly of the relations of Chris-
tians to * them that are without. '

■ The author having had occasion, in his Lectures on the Epistle of
jfameSy to discuss, in connection with the passage quoted above, the same
somewhat difficult question suggested by the words of Philippians now
before us, — the two following paragraphs are, in substance, transferred
from that work. The same is the case also with a paragraph on another
branch of the same subject, in a previous lecture.

VER. 5.] Praycrfulncss and the Peace of God. 359

yet appeared in the sky. Scoffers say, * Where is the promise
of His (oming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things con-
tinue as they were from the beginning of the c rcation.' How
then could the Saviour's second advent be predicted in those
old days as then near? Because thus the eye of Ood sees it
The Apostle Peter, you will remember, answers the question
in this way, telling us that when ' some men count the Lord
slack concerning His promise,' they leave out of their com-
putation this element, that with Him *a thousand years are
as one day.' God's 'soons' and * quicklies ' are not to be
estimated by our imj^atient reckonings. * Ethiopia shall soon
stretch forth her hands unto God,' comes sounding to us over
the distance of three thousand years, — and how very partially
is it yet fulfilled! 'Near' and 'distant' are relative terms.
For the little child, whose limbs soon grow weary, the friend's
house is far away, which for his father is but a step from home.
So to the child, reckoning by his life, an event seems long
past, far away in a hoar}' antiquity, which to the man on whom
have come the snows of many winters, and who reckons by
his life, seems to have occurred but yesterday. Now faith, in
the measure of its vigour, enables us to see things in the light
of God, giving us oneness of view with Him. When, then,
our aposde says, ' The Lord is at hand,' he speaks as one who
has been taught to reckon according to the years of the life-
time of the Most High — unbeginning, unending. On the
same principle, you remember, in another place, he estimates
the Christian's affliction — affliction extending perhaps over
threescore years and ten — as ' but for a moment,' because the
standard by which he computes is the ' eternal ' duration of
the ' weight of glory ' which is to follow.

That such is the true explanation of ' nigh,' ' soon,' ' quickly,'
* at hand,' in this connection, is shown by the fact that our
Lord and the apostles tell us in other places of various things,
of a kind requiring what men call a long time, which are to
happen before His coming. Paul, too, finding that the Thes-

360 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. iv.

salonians had misconceived the principle of the reckoning,
expressly cautions them against their error, as a dangerous
one. * Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,
that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither
by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any
means' (2 Thess. ii. 1-3). Yet the church should always feel
her Lord's coming to be near ; and when her faith is lively,
and her love glowing, she does. As, under the clear Eastern
sky, a range of lofty mountains, which is yet many days' jour-
ney distant, seems almost at hand ; so, in the pellucid atmo-
sphere of faith, the great towering event of the future, dwarfing
all else, seems close above us. In seasons of elevated spiritu-
ality we feel the advent to be near. Chronologically, perhaps
many years, as men reckon, may yet be to elapse ; but faith
sees Him coming 'like to a roe or a young hart leaping on
the mountains of spices.' And when the grand event has
happened, brethren, and we look back upon it from the
eternity of blessedness and glory, we shall see ever more
clearly — for we shall understand the reckoning ever more
perfectly — how exactly the Lord fulfilled His promise, * Be-
hold, I come quickly.' The suff"ering Christians of Philippi
might well cultivate * moderation ' of spirit and conduct with
respect to their persecutors; we, too, in every trouble and
alarm, may well 'be patient, and stablish our hearts,' — for
' the liOrd is at hand,' — * the Judge standeth before the door.'

As we have seen, the substance of the 5th verse is this, —
' In your trouble from persecutors, cast your burden on your
Lord, — who will soon come, to introduce His people into the
fulness of rest' The transition from this to the precept of the
6th is simple and natural : ' Remember, too, that your Father
in heaven cares for you with tender love, — wherefore in all
your difficulties and needs of every kind, go to Him by prayer.'

By the '■And'* which begins the 7th verse it is shown that

VER. 6.] Praycyfulncss and tJic Peace of God. 36 1

the 6th and 71)1 belong closely to each other; and it is very
important to notice this. The i)recej)t and the promise,
which are felt by all of us to be most beautiful and [precious
separately, have yet a singularly exciuisite loveliness in the
connection originally given them by the Spirit.

The precept subdivides itself into a negative and a positive
injunction. The negative is, ^ Be careful for twihinj^' In
illustrating this, I must begin by obviating a natural miscon-
ception. Through alteration, since the time our translation
of the Bible was made, in the shade of meaning attached to
some English words, the rendering here, — and that other, of
substantially the same original words, in the Sermon on the
Mount, * Take no thought,' — inadequately represent the mind
of the Spirit. Indeed, though at the time correct, according to
the force given to ' thought ' and ' careful,' they are now posi-
tively misleading. Literally understood, they appear to enjoin
what is impracticable, and, even if it were practicable, would
be a breach of Christian duty, — for the purpose of Christianity
is the very opposite of making men thoughtless or careless. Its
direct object is to lead to constant and intense thought and
care regarding the interests of the soul ; and its principles
legitimately lead also to thought and care in regard to the in-
terests of this life. Scripture distinctly enjoins, indeed, and
that in very emphatic terms, that we should * provide for our
own, specially for those of our own house,' and that we should
* provide things honest (or honourable) in the sight of all men.'
Now this involves much of thought and care. The teachings
of our religion, properly understood, give no discouragement,
much encouragement, to diligence and discretion in every part
of our life, and to all prudent worldly forethought, such as is
exhibited in life-assurance and similar ways, — always provided
that we remember to ' sttV first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness.'

The truth is, that the force of the word which our translators
have rendered by ' thought ' and * care,' is * division^ or distrac-

62 Lectures on Philippians. [cH. iv.

tion, of mind/ — such anxiety as is fitted to draw the mind
away from God, distracting the Christian soul, making the
earthly doubts and fears oppose but too effectually the heaven-
ward longings, and rendering the believer for the time almost a
' double-minded man.' ' In regard to nothing, have distracting
anxiety,' — this is the apostle's precept. The Philippian Chris-
tians, like the great majority of Christians in all ages, were most
of them poor, struggling hard for daily bread. They were ex-
posed, as all of us are, to disease and pain and bereavement.
They were liable, like ourselves, to be at times misjudged and
calumniated. And, living as they did among a heathen popu-
lation, they were exposed to forms of persecution of which,
through God's kind providence, we know nothing. ' Let none
of these things move you,' says Paul, — ' let none of them cause
you tumult or distraction of soul. Never let your hearts be
tossed with anxiety, like a ship driven hither and thither by
the unruly billows.'

All of us, brethren, know by experience the power of worldly
anxieties, of one kind or another, to enfeeble our religious
energies, and diminish our religious enjoyments. We go to
pray ; and when our thoughts and desires should ascend to
God, these anxieties call them down, and drag them another
way. We go to hear the word of God ; and these anxieties,
like the birds of the air in the parable, pick up the good seed
almost before it reaches the ground. They haunt us in the
closet, in the pew, at the communion table. They keep us
from truly approaching God at all, or, if we enter His presence,
it is with 'the loins of our mind' sadly ungirded — with the
garments of our spirits dragging loosely, and sweeping after
us the dust of the world. ' If, then,' says the apostle, * you
desire to live a life of elevated spirituality, of holy happiness
and full usefulness, let nothing cause you distracting anxiety.'

The noblest system of heathen philosophy regarded an
equability of mind, imperturbable alike by the troubles and
the allurements of the world, as the highest state of the soul.

VF.R. 6.] P raycrf Illness and the Peace of God. 363

But philosophy could furnish no adequate motive power for
attaining this ccjuabilily. It could only state the theory, and
exhibit its importance. And, as was to he anticipated, human
nature had its own way against philosophy. liut the apostle
of Jesus Christ can supply tlic missing link. He f:an not
merely tell us to be trancjuil, but show us liow the tranquillity
is to be attained, and maintained.

Let us now, then, look at the positive side of the prece[)t :

* In nrryt/iirii^, by prayer and supplication^ luith thanks-
^vingy id your requests be made known unto God.' It is
true that all our circumstances, and all our thoughts and
feelings regarding them, are already ^ knoian unto God.'' He

* compasseth our path and our lying down, and is accjuainted
with all our ways ; and understandeth our thought afar off.'
Still, in regard to every blessing. He loves ' to be inquired of,
to do it for us.' In infinite wisdom and kindness He com-
mands us to ' ask,' that we may ' receive.' Imagine that a
mother among us were able to know, and to anticipate, all the
troubles of her child, and did fully anticipate them, so that
the child never came to her with any request, — do you think
the life of either would be made happier by this, — that the
sweetness of the blessed relation between mother and child
would be by either more fully experienced ? Do you suppose
that such freedom from the need of expressing his affectionate
dependence on his mother, and trust in her, would be for the
good of the child ? I know that the heart of every mother
here responds at once with an unhesitating * God forbid that
such should be the relation between me and my child ! ' So
we might conceive the system of relations between God and
His people such that prayer was not called for. But what
Christian does not feel that such a system would lack what
his heart knows to be inexpressibly precious ? What man of
prayer would be willing to give up the joy of asking His
Father, even if he knew that blessings both temporal and
spiritual would come to him abundantly without asking ?

364 Lectures on Philippians, [cii. iv.

* Prayer and supplication ' are several times spoken of to-
gether by Paul. The difference in meaning between the
original words so translated seems to be, that the former is
general, * a devotional approach to God,' — the latter, particular,
' a special petition for the divine help.' ' By prayer, and, in
this exercise, not merely by general and, it may be, vague
entreaty, but by definite petition regarding the matter which at
the time burdens your hearts, let your desires — thus becoming
always, in the measure of your spiritual enlightenment, your
'''•requests'''' — be made known unto God.' Has there not been
commonly, in our Scottish type of religion, think you, my
brethren, too little of the particularity in prayer, which Paul
here enjoins ? In reverence, as we have thought, for the
glory of God, have we not allowed ourselves to miss some-
what of a clear view of the glory of His Fatherly tenderness,
as wiUing to listen lovingly to the tale of all our difficulties
and wants ? Has not heart been taken out of our devotional
exercises sometimes by the generality to which we have thought
it dutiful and becoming to confine ourselves ? Would it not
really honour God more, then, and would it not bring very
much more comfort to ourselves, if we fully laid out the
specialties of our position before Him ? To want of this, I
believe, is to be ascribed not a little of spiritual feebleness
and spiritual gloom.

Observe the range of proper subjects of prayer — proper sub-
jects of special petition, — ' i?i everything.^ The antithesis to
the first clause of the verse, * Be careful for nothing^ is direct
and complete. And, no doubt, there is a particular reference
here, as there, to temporal matters — persecution, poverty, and
the like, — such as tended to arouse distracting care, and tempted
to the despondency, or the sternness and vengefulness, against
which the precepts of the immediately preceding verses have
been directed. A distinctive feature in the religion of the
Bible, as compared with every system which has spnmg up in
the corrupt heart of man, is the completeness with which it

VKR. 6.] Praycrfiiljicss and tJic Peace of Cod. 365

embraces every clement of our nature. A thoughtful heathen
could rise to a wistful and vague idea that perhaps his soul
might live for ever, — that the bird might soar to i)urer air and
sing exultantly, when its prison cage, the body, was destroyed ;
but an immortality of the body itself never entered his wildest
dreams. The ' babbler ' on Areopagus was deemed by the
Athenians to set forth strange gods, when * he preached to
them Jesus and the resurrection.* The gospel recognises the
body as essential to complete man, — not, as the sages of old
would have it, an accidental companion, whose society degrades
the soul. At the right hand of the Father, Jesus sits, in fashion
as a man ; and, by and by, the bodies of His people shall be
made like to His glorious body. Surely, then, when the Father
watches over the sleeping dust of His saints, we may feel well
assured that He will watch over their outward interests while
they live, and hear and honour their prayers regarding the
troubles and difficulties connected with the affairs of this world
as lovingly as the petitions which bear immediately on their
spiritual interests. The truth is, indeed, that, just because the
body holds so important and influential a place in our nature,
we cannot draw a sharp line of distinction between our spiritual
and our outward interests. Our spiritual life and our visible
life act constantly and most powerfully on each other. As
we have seen in examining the negative precept, the troubles
of our daily course — the difficulties, often of a most trifling
kind, which yet tend so much to fret — aff"ect our religious feel-
ings strongly, and constitute indeed a most important part of
the discipline by which God trains His children to spiritual
wisdom. We may confidently look, surely, for His gracious
answer to all prayers for guidance and support, in connection
with any form of this discipline.

But do we not often forget this most blessed and consoling
truth, dear friends ? The wants which we consider strictly
spiritual we carry to the throne of grace ; but in the cares of
this world — in the disappointment of cherished hopes, the

366 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

thwarting of carefully devised plans, the anxieties of narrow
income — do we not frequently nurse our depression, failing to
remember the glorious breadth of the invitation and injunction,
' In everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be
made known unto God ' ? Can we trust Him with our eternal
welfare, and not with the care of our life here ? * Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do
they spin j and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God
so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow
is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O
ye of little faith ? ' ' Our Father which art in heaven, give us
this day our daily bread.' In regard to every department of
our life, my brethren, the fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much, and will bring down showers of blessing, in
views cleared, obstacles removed, and desires furthered, so far
as it shall serve for God's glory and the true good of the
petitioner. Our Father's providence knows no distinction of
great, to be cared for, and minute, to be disregarded. He
who '■ stretched out the heavens as a curtain,' is the same who
preserves the sparrows, and numbers the hairs of our heads.
' In everything^ then, let your desires be made known unto
God,' — for whatever interests His people interests Him.

Further, the apostle enjoins upon us to offer our petitions
* with thanksgiving.^ No true prayer lacks this. It is generally
expressed, and always implied. The renewed heart cannot
but pour out its utterances of gratitude to Him who ' crowneth
us with loving-kindness and tender mercies;' and in the thanks-
giving, we obtain encouragement for the supplication. * The
Lord hath been mindful of us ; He will bless us.' The great
general ground of thanksgiving is always present with us, — the
love of God in Christ, which permits us to look on Him against
whom we had sinned, as our Father, and to approach Him
with filial confidence. However the believer may be situated,
too, and whatever the nature of his petitions may be, he has

VKR. 6.] P ray erf Illness and ihc Peace of God. 367

always soinctliing special to thank Ooil for. In sore affliction,
a Christian rightly cxurcnscd — whilst he feels very deeply that
certainly his position is 'for the i)resent not joyous, but
grievous,' and asks Ood for the lightening of His hand, if this
be consistent with His will — feels, at the same time, joy and
gratitude in the depths of his soul, in the knowledge that in
sending such discij)line * God dealcth with us as with sons,
chastening us for our profit, that we may be made partakers of
His holiness.' He is always sensible, too, however severe his
trial may be, that it is not so severe as it might have been, and
as it would have been had he received his deserts at God's
hand. The rod of kindness has been employed, not the
'scorpions' of stern judgment. When Jenisalem was over-
thrown, and God's covenant people were scorched with the
flames of divine anger, they could still say, ' It is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed.^ When prayer is sent up in
an hour of sore temptation, there may well be special thanks-
giving for strength already received, and for the guidance and
impulse aftbrded by the earnest warnings of the Word, and its
* exceeding great and precious promises.' And even when, in
the very saddest sense, a Christian's cry to God is * out of the
depths,' — even when he has fallen into grievous sin, — still,
surely, he has great cause of thanksgiving, that he has not been
allowed to run on in sin, but has been led to the mercy-seat to
seek forgiveness.

We have now examined with considerable fulness the
apostle's double precept. It is very important for us always to
bear in mind that the contrast he exhibits is between prayer-
fulness and anxiety^ not between prayerfulness and exertion.
The sincere and intelligent offerer of prayer is always one who,
at the same time, thoughtfully and watchfully and vigorously
exerts himself for the attainment of the end he desires. He
knows that God blesses labour, not indolence. To say * Give
us this day our daily bread,' and at the same time to let the
hands hang down in sloth, — to say ' Lead us not into tempta-

68 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

tion,' and at the same time to go needlessly into positions
where former experience has shown us that we are in temp-
tation,— this is but to insult God. No one ought to be so
impelled to effort, or so sustained in effort, as he who has com-
mitted his way unto the Lord, and looks up for direction and
support. No logical connection is more direct and complete
than that which the apostle exhibits earlier in the epistle,
' Work, for it is God which worketh in you.'

As has been already remarked, the connection between the
6th and yth verses, shown by the ' A7id^ which introduces the
7 th, is very close and very beautiful. * Be careful for nothing ;
but in everything by prayer let your requests be made known
unto God; and — doing this you will find that — the peace of God^
which passeth all understandings shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. ^

Within our hearts by nature, my brethren, there is rioting
and turbulence, the will warring with the conscience, the fleshly
lusts stifling the spiritual aspirations, and over all the dark
shadow of a * fear that hath torment' ' There is no peace,
saith my God, to the wicked.' Amid all the joys we have, the
thought, more or less definite, of sin and its deserts will still
enter, to mar happiness. This thought is ever a skeleton at
the feast, a bitter in the cup of sweet, a blighting shadow on the
flowery path. So long as there is dissension in the depths of
our hearts, — so long as we carry about with us a half-acknow-
ledged conviction that we must have been made for some end far
higher and nobler than any we have attained, or are even aim-
ing at, that ' the wages of sin is death,' and that we have earned
them, — we cannot by possibility have true, satisfying peace.

But when faith sees the grace of God in Christ, then comes
spiritual rest. Jesus * is our /^^^^.' The billows of self-reproach
and anguish of conscience, even in their hour of wildest com-
motion, obey His voice, saying, 'Peace, be still.' When our
iniquities, like embattled hosts, array themselves against our
peace, faith's firm utterance of the name in which she trusts,

VKK. 7-] Praycrf Illness a7id the Peace of God. 369

' The Ix)rd our Righteousness/ can put their terrors all to
tlight This sweet trancjuillity of spirit is 'the peace of God ^ —
given by His grace, and essentially akin to the ineffable peace
of His own nature. 'The fruit of the Spirit* of Him who
^ rests in His loi'c^ is, most naturally, * love, joy, peace.'

Those to whom the apostle wrote were already Christians.
To some extent, therefore, they had experience of spiritual
peace. But the connection in which he places his sweet
assurance here, reminded them most helpfully of the nature
and the needful sustenance of their happiness. * Let your
hearts have ever a vivid sense of the Fatherly relation to you
of God in Christ ; and seek close and constant communion
with Him. Thus your '' peace shall be as a river." To
" pray without ceasing " is the secret of ability to *' rejoice
evermore." God "will keep the man in perfect peace whose
mind is stayed on Him." ' Such is evidently the apostle's
teaching ; and the experience of all generations of true be-
lievers, my brethren, has proved its truth. Amid the sorest
buffetings of the storms of adversity, they who, through the
energy of faith, are enabled ' in rceryt/iing, by prayer and sup-
plication, with thanksgiving, to let their requests be made
known unto God,' find breathed over their spirits a holy calm.
Childlike trust like that of the shipmaster's little son, in the
familiar story, who had no fear, * because his father was at the
helm,' will never fail to bring similar childlike rest.

This spiritual rest ^ passeth all understanding.^ To the natural
man it is an utter mystery-. He may read of it in the Bible,
or hear believers tell of their experience of it, but the words
convey to his mind no distinct impression. No mode or
amount of explanation could give a man, deaf from his birth,
a clear apprehension of the sweetness of Handel's rendering of
' He shall feed His flock like a shepherd ; ' or a man blind from
his birth, a clear apprehension of the glory of the sun, and the
beauty of nature which the sun lights up ever}-\vhere. Similarly
the unbeliever cannot by possibility see the splendours of the

2 A

370 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

Sun of righteousness, or understand why Christians * rejoice
in that light,' — cannot by possibiHty know the peace which
Christ's ' Httle flock ' have in hearing the voice of their good
Shepherd, and following Him. ' The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned/

Even to believers themselves, too, this peace * passeth all
understanding ; ' and this, doubtless, is the thought mainly in
the apostle's mind here. Its nature is transcendently sublime,
and its preciousness immeasurable. It flows from ' the love
which passeth knowledge,' and which * does exceeding abun-
dantly, above all that we ask or think.' God alone fully under-
stands the grandeur of His own gift. And this peace, dear
friends. He offers freely to you and me, by nature ' alienated
and enemies in our minds by wicked works.' ' Behold, what
manner of love ! '

This wondrous peace, the apostle goes on to tell the Philip-
pians, ^ shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ^
Exactly rendered, the last words are ^ in Christ Jesus,' the
phrase so dear to the apostle, and so constantly occurring in
his letters. It is as in vital union to Christ, — it is through
the wisdom and the energy given by His indwelling Spirit, that
peace will carry on its blessed work. * As the branch can-
not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more
can ye except ye abide in Me, — for without Me ye can do
nothing.'

* In Him,' then, * the peace of God shall keep our hearts^
We have here a charming and most suggestive paradox, — for
the word rendered ' keep ' means strictly ' to guard ' as a soldier.
* The peace of God shall, with strength for war, defend you '
— * shall garrison your hearts.' Persecution may come to the
gates of the soul's fortress, hurling against them its most
appalling terrors ; but all who cast their care on God, knowing
that He careth for them, will, by the peace He inbreathes, be

vi:k. /.] Praycrficlncss and the Peace of God. ^'j i

shielded from tormenting fear and from apostasy. * These
things I have spoken unto you,' — said the Lord, in ending His
valedictory words to His dis(:ij)lcs, — * i/t<U in Mc yc mi\^ht have
peace : \\\ tlic world yc shall have tribulation, hut he of good
cheer, — I have overcome the world.' These words arc 'Yea
and Amen in Him.' They that heard the stern denunciations
of Stephen * were cut to the heart, and gnashed on him with
their teeth ; hut he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up
stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God.' Even under the twilight
of the Old Economy, too, how gloriously the power of * the
peace of God ' to garrison the soul in time of trial was
evinced ! ' Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abedncgo, If ye worship not the golden image
which I have set up, ye shall be cast the same hour into the
midst of a burning fiery furnace ; and who is that God that
shall deliver you out of my hands ? Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar,
we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O
king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we
will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which
thou hast set up.' ' In Him ' who was to be the mysterious
Fourth with them, ' walking in the midst of the fire,' ' the
peace of God guarded their hearts.' * When He giveth quiet-
ness,' dear brethren, ' who can make trouble ? '

Under trials of every kind the sublime power of this peace
is shown. Place the believer where you will, — in sudden
poverty, — on a bed of pain, — by the grave of a dear friend :
he cannot but feel the affliction painful, perhaps very painful, —
yet the guardian * peace of God ' will keep him from murmur-
ing. He knows that, whatsoever passes away, his most precious
treasure is safe for ever, and that ' all things work together for
good ' to him. He can say, therefore, * I have all and abound.

372 Lectures on Philippia^is. [ch. iv.

None of these things move me. Nay, in them all I am more
than a conqueror, through Him that loved me.'

Against the seductions of worldly pleasure, too, where can
any defence be found like that which heavenly peace supplies?
Will a man sigh for husks, when he feels that God is giving
him continually the bread of life? Will he who can say,
* The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup,'
seek ' to lay hold on folly ' ? 'By faith Moses refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season, — esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the
recompense of the reward.'

Still further, however, — not the ' hearts ' only, but also the
^ minds ^ or 'thoughts,' of God's people, are 'kept' by 'joy
and peace in believing.' The missiles of unbelief, which are
flying so thick and fast in our day, can make no impression on
a mind defended by the ' assurance of hope.' The man of
self-knowledge, who can say, with a full sense of the meaning
of his declaration, ' Thy words were found, and I did eat them,
and Thy word is unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart,'
has here for himself an impregnable argument against all at-
tempts to discredit the authority of that word, or to mystify or
fritter away the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a guardianship
incomparably more secure than that which can be afforded by
any acquaintance with the works of learned writers on the
evidences of Christianity, or any skill in dialectic fence, —
valuable as both of these are, in their o\\ti place ; and it is the
guardianship, not of folly or inertness of spirit, but, as seen in
the light of God, of the truest and deepest reason. ' The man
who has this peace of God, " has the witness in himself"
which scoffers cannot silence. Tell him that his Bible is not
true, — that his Saviour has no existence, — that his religion
is a fable, and his hope a dream ; while you are talking and
reasoning, he is feeling the power of all these things — experi-

vi;k. 7.] Praycrfuhicss a)id the Peace of (tod.

J/ J

cncing their iruih and reality and blessedness. His religion
has ceased to be a subject of speculation ; it has become a
matter of sense. You might as well tell him, in the broad
lii;ht of day, that there is no sun in the heavens to shine on
him, — or that he himself, living, breathing, and acting, has no
existence.* '

IJy nature, in many respects, * a reed shaken with the wind,*
the man in whom dwells * the peace of God ' has mind and
heart sliicklcd thereby. His thoughts of God are kept true
and intlucntial ; his affections are ke])t set supremely on Him.
' The joy of the Lord is the strength ' of His saints.

* Charles Bradley.

74 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

XXVIII.

SUMMARY OF DUTY.

' Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
hqnest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, what-
soever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if
there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard
and seen in me, do : and the God of peace shall be with you.' — Phtl.
iv. 8, 9.

THE series of practical counsels, into which the line of
thought in the 3rd chapter naturally led the apostle,
is here closed by a singularly clear and comprehensive sum-
mary of Christian duty, and an affectionate appeal to his
readers to cultivate, thoughtfully and diligently, universal holi-
ness. ' Having named the name of Christ,' he says, ' give all
diligence to depart from iniquity, and to add to your faith
every strong virtue and every tender grace of Christian cha-
racter. In such a world as this it is hard, under any circum-
stances, to live a godly life. For you Philippians, brought up
many of you in heathenism, and all surrounded constantly by
the abominations of heathenism, — exposed, too, occasionally,
to the misleading teaching of professed disciples of the Lord
Jesus, who, while claiming to be peculiarly spiritual, do in fact
" glory in their shame, and mind earthly things," — it is very hard.
Strive, then, dear brethren, with intense earnestness, to adorn the
doctrine of God your Saviour, by lives of blamelessness, and
patience, and consecration to the advancement of His kingdom.'
Observe the force of ^ whatsoe'er things' here. We feel that
the repetition of these words so many times gives them most

VER. 8.] Suwynary of Duty. 375

marked emphasis. Wc seem to liear the apostle saying; in
them, ' Do not content yourselves with the perrci)tion and ac-
ceptance of the general |)rinciple, that truthfulness and justice
and i)urity are beautiful anfl needful ; hut bear in mind con-
stantly, that a life of truthfulness and justice and purity is
made u|) of daily and hourly acts characterized by these
virtues. The true economist of his income is the man who
not merely holds that economy is desirable, but brings this
conviction to bear on " whatsoever things " involve outlay of
money. Time is *' redeemed " by those who carry a sense
of its value into "whatsoever things" claim their attention.
Similarly, his life is a godly life, who remembers that life is
made up of days and hours, and the acts performed in days and
hours, — who is always thoughtful and watchful and prayerful, —
and from whose heart, purified by grace, there exhales a fra-
grance of heaven, to pervade " whatsoever things " God's provi-
dence brings him into connection with. The wise Christian
will bring his Christianity into all the details of his life. Ob-
serve also that such a Christian will not " pick and choose "
among the aspects and elements of godliness ; but " whatsoever
things" his conscience and his Bible tell him to be accordant
with the divine will, these all and always he will do, — " esteem-
ing all God's commandments concerning all things to be right,
and hating every false way." The full beauty of the Christian
character, and its full effectiveness as a sweet persuasive influ-
ence on the world, are not obtained by the exhibition of one
or two virtues with great completeness and constancy, but by
the manifest presence and harmonious development of all.
Exhibit in your character, therefore, all the elements of a full
ripe Christianity. Lead forth in your life all the graces in
choral order and festal array,^ that each may take her fitting

' Something like this image lies in the word \xi^ofnyri<Ta.ri, with which
(2 Ep. i. 5) Peter introduces a summary of Christian duty, similar to the
present, and which our translators have rendered, of necessity perhaps, but
certainly prosaically enough, by 'add.'

37^ Lectures on Philippia^is. [ch. iv.

and needful part in the grand anthem which every sanctified
nature is continually raising to the glory of Him who " washed
us from our sins in His own blood." '

The words which the apostle employs in this summary of
duty may be taken, and by some expositors are taken, in a
sense so wide as to comprehend, each of them, universal holi-
ness. Thus, to cherish and show truthfulness in all things,
towards God and ourselves and our fellow-men, — to be pure,
to be just or righteous, to be lovely, in all our relations to
God and man, — every one of these denotes universal con-
formity to the divine will. In this case, by the group of terms
are set forth various aspects of this universal holiness. The
force of the passage, however, seems to me to be somewhat
lost by taking this view of the meaning. It appears very much
more natural and very much more accordant with Paul's usual
pointedness of practical teaching, to regard the several terms as
describing distinct excellences — distinct elements of Christian
character. This paragraph, and that which immediately pre-
cedes it, are shown by the similarity of their conclusions to
have had in the apostle's mind a close connection. Now in
the former he enforces the importance of communion with
God — of entering by faith into the ' secret of His tabernacle,'
and there abiding with Him in blessed fellowship. In the
present passage, then, as I apprehend, presupposing the exist-
ence and cultivation of such fellowship, he passes on to speak
of the kind of life in the world which becomes the Christian
profession. By * whatsoever things are true,' he means, I
think, simply, * truthfulness in all our dealings of every kind
with our fellow-men,* — by ' whatsoever things are pure,' * purity
in everything,' in the sense in which we should commonly
understand such words, — and similarly of the rest.

^ Whatsoever things are true^ comes first, — truthfulness in all
circumstances. Without truthfulness there can be no basis of
order among moral beings, no possibility of happiness in their
relations to each other. If God were not absolutely true, we

vi:r. 8.] Summary of Duty, 377

could have no reasonable peace or hope in Him ; and, accord-
ing to the measure in which men imitate the truthfulness of
God, is the comfort of social life. Men living together con-
stitute, for many pur])Oses, one body ; and the welfare of this
body politic is as really dependent on the veracity of the
various members, as that of the body of each individual is on
the truthful communications of its organs with each other.
This is the exact image and argument employed by Paul in
writing to the Ephcsians. ' Putting away lying,* he says,
* speak every man truth with his neighbour, /<7r we are members
one of another' (Eph. iv. 25). This is beautifully expanded
by an eloquent father of the church : * Let not the eye lie to
the foot, nor the foot to the eye. If there be a deep pit, and
its mouth, covered with reeds, present to the eye the appear-
ance of solid ground, will not the eye use the foot to ascertain
whether it is hollow or firm ? Will the foot tell a lie, and not
the very truth ? And what, again, if the eye were to spy a
serpent or wild beast, would it lie to the foot?'^ ' Whatsoever
things are true,' then — truth-telling at all times, in all ways, at
all hazards — this is what God enjoins upon us, — here, as in
ever}'thing, commanding what accords with perfect wisdom
and perfect love. It is not needful, at present, to enter into
the consideration of questions of casuistry regarding the law-
fulness of deceptions in war, of pla)ful deceptions, and the
like ; the answer to which is, in some instances, difficult, — in
very many, ob>'ious to common sense. The grand general
rule is, that wilful deception, by word or act, directly or by
equivocation, is forbidden by God.

With hearts like ours, and in a world like this, it is very
hard to maintain perfect truthfulness. To falsehood, especially
in its most common form, oral untruth, temptations are pecu-
liarly frequent and strong. They present themselves in con-
nection with all the circumstances of social life, alike in business
and in recreation. Then the sin is committed so easily and

^ Chrysostom.

37^ Lectures on Philippia^is. [ch. iv.

rapidly that, almost before we are conscious that the thought
of uttering a falsehood has entered the mind, a lie may have
been spoken. We obtain very little help, too, for cleaving to

* whatsoever things are true,' from popular feeling on the sub-
ject. The heathen neighbours of the Philippian Christians
scarcely felt that truth was at all morally preferable to false-
hood ; and even among ourselves, after Christianity has been
acting upon public feeling for many centuries, — whilst in re-
spectable society a clear, well-defined lie may be frowned upon,
yet how sadly the boundaries between truthfulness and false-
hood have been broken down ! A broad border territory, or
debateable land, seems to be recognised, of exaggerations and
misrepresentations such as the world smilingly calls ' white
lies,' — a territory in which even the Christian may sometimes
be in danger of losing his way, and straying into the enemy's
country. The only safe course is to disregard the world's
maps of morality, and study God's, given in the Bible and the
conscience. There all lies are marked black.

' Whatsoever things are honest.^ The word ' honest^ which
now we commonly use only to describe honourable feeling and
conduct in relation to property^ meant in the older English

* honourable ' generally, and this is its meaning wherever it
occurs in the Bible. The particular original word so translated
here is used elsewhere in the New Testament only with refer-
ence to the character which becomes office-bearers in the
church, and their wives, and members advanced in life ; and in
this connection is always rendered by 'grave.' ^ In the verse
before us its force is given by our translators in the margin,
with much precision, by the word ' venerable.' It designates
dignified conduct, such conduct as shows self-respect, and wins
respect from others.

Frivolity — the aversion of men, by nature, to seriousness of
thought and feeling — is one of the greatest obstacles to the
progress of the gospel. The Christian has been enabled by
* See I Tim. iii. 8, ii ; Titus ii. 2.

VKR. 8.] Su))n)iary of Jhily. 379

God's grace to overcome this hindrance. He has learned to
take the unseen world into his calculations, and to see how
serious a thin^ it is to spend the life which is the seed-time for
the harvest ol' eternity. He feels, too, the luftiness of his [)osi-
tion in Christ, as a child of (iod, a citizen of heaven, liuf
foonery and silly lightness of demeanour are obviously altogether
unsuitable to one holding such views, and cherishing .such
hopes as his ; and he neglects his duty, if he fail to ponder
and practise * whatsoever things are grave — honourable — digni-
fied.' He may be, and should be, the very opposite of morose.
He should be felt to bring habitually into society a bright
atmosphere, an element of cheerfulness. But the cheerfulness
should be always * with grace,* spiritually healthful. There can
be few influences for good stronger than that of the man from
whose society his friends always depart with the imj)ression
that his companionship has added much to their happiness,
whilst, throughout, his speech and conduct have been ' seasoned
with the salt ' of truth and love. Wit and humour are exceed-
ingly liable to be abused ; but the employment of them in a
spirit of purity and kindness, and in moderation, by such as
have the gift of using them, and the hearty enjoyment of them
by such as have the gift of appreciating them, are in nowise
inconsistent with the noblest Christian character, and are often
seen to give a special charm to such a character. The very fact
that these are gifts of God, implies that they should be turned
to account ; and by them many a heavy heart is lightened.
Christians who lack a sense of humour have no more right to
think ill of brethren who possess it, and use it, than Chris-
tians who have no ear for music have to frown upon others
who enjoy and find themselves sweetened and elevated in
spirit by a symphony of Beethoven. Whatever wreaths of
pleasantry, however, may be thrown around a Christian life,
yet, as a whole, the life should show such chastening and
sobriety as accord with the conviction that sin and death
are awful realities, — such calm, quiet dignity as beseems one

80 Lectures on P Jiilippia7is . [ch. iv.

who, in Christ, is a ' king and priest unto God,' and who aims
to become 'meet for the inheritance of the saints in hght.'

It is very needful that young Christians, in particular, should
keep this duty in mind. We see all around us thoughtless,
giddy self-indulgence, which calls itself gaiety. We hear all
around us ' the laughter of the fool, which is as the crackling
of thorns under a pot,' ending very soon in cold, and silence,
and darkness. Frivolous literature, too, meets us everywhere.
Vast multitudes appear to read little else than what, profess-
ing to be comic, is frequently, in fact, the dreariest rubbish,
wholly destitute of the true wit which has power to brighten
and refresh, and, even where it is really marked by ability, deals
often with subjects wholly unsuited for such a mode of treat-
ment— subjects calling really for gravity, and, it may be, for
sadness. Familiarity with this mountebank style of literature
has a tendency to foster a foolish, flippant style of thinking and
speaking, and to lead to a giddy, trifling style of life, even in
those who have, acting within them, distinct impulses to better
things. It is therefore very necessary that, as a counteractive
to all such evil agencies, we keep with liveliness before our
hearts the great ends for which life was given us, and its tran-
scendently important relations to the life to come. Thus we
shall be led growingly to feel how much it befits us to be sober-
minded, and to follow diligently ' whatsoever things accord with
Christian dignity and gravity.'

Further, ' ivhatsoever things are Just.'' By 'yV/j/,' in the moral
system of Christianity, is meant ' equitable,' — the giving to
others their due, not merely in the sense in which human law
may construe obligation, but in the sense, as the apostle has it
fully elsewhere, of * that which is just and equal' in the view of
an enlightened conscience. Human laws, however carefully and
wisely framed, will, if applied with rigour to every case, some-
times act oppressively. The Christianly just man recognises
this fact, and tries always to follow the principles of true fair-
dealing. He does not take advantage of obvious slips of the

VKR. 8.] Summary of Duty. 381

pen, of the arcidcntal invalidity of donimcnts or bargains, of
manifest oversights of any kind. He endeavours, in all matters
of business, to do to others as he thinks it might not be
unreasonable for him, if he were in the j)lace of those others,
to wish that they should do to him. He holds it unjust — a
substantial violation of the eighth commandment of the deca-
logue— for a tradesman to sell, as genuine, goods which he
knows to be adulterated, or to impose on an ignorant purchaser
a price higher than would otherwise be asked; for an employer
to exact from a servant work not coming within the terms or
spirit of the engagement; for a servant to spend time for which
his employer pays in doing nothing, or in doing work merely
for himself. Justice, in the broad Christian meaning of the
word, requires us to act, in all business relations of every kind,
'not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart,
fearing God, — and, whatsoever we do, to do it heartily, as to
the Lord and not unto men.' That this is the true Christian
principle on the subject, no person at all acquainted with
Scripture will deny. But ah, dear brethren, have we not reason
to fear that, if this be justice, then in our counting-houses, and
warehouses, and workshops, and private dwellings, there is to
be found a vast amount of injustice, perpetrated by men and
women who have named the name of Christ ? We sadly lack
a vivid practical conviction that religion has to do with every-
thing^ and that those eyes which 'are as a flame of fire' * are in
every place.'*

The apostle mentions next ' whatsoever things are pure. ^ The
term in the original would probably, from its ordinary applica-
tion, suggest to the Philippians precisely what ' pure ' does to
us, — freedom generally from all that is gross and sensual,
selfish and mean, and also, more specially, chastity in thought
and feeling, word and conduct. The enlightened Christian
shrinks from moral defilement of every kind, whether of heart
or life. 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'
' Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of

382 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

the Lord.' * Ye were sometimes darkness,' says Paul to the
Christians of Ephesus, *but now are ye light in the Lord : walk
as children of light, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Fornication and
all uncleanness, let it not be once named among you, as
becometh saints ; neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor
jesting, which are not convenient ; but rather giving of thanks.'
To professing Christians living among the heathen, by whom
many forms of uncleanness were regarded as matters of entire
indifference morally, it was obviously needful that the teachers
of Christianity should give such warnings with great earnest-
ness. Ah, my friends, is it not deplorable to observe the
abundant evidence we have of the needfulness of giving the
very same warnings with intense earnestness still, to gospel
hearers even among our own dear Scottish people, heirs of the
influence of Bible knowledge and Christian institutions for
many generations ? Dear brethren, let us all lay to heart the
affectionate pleadings of the Spirit, that, ' as strangers and
pilgrims, we should abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against
the soul,' and should be 'holy in all manner of conversation,
as He which hath called us is holy.' 'The wisdom that is from
above \% first pure.'

Looking back now over the points which have come under
our consideration, you see that substantial elements of a strong
and noble character have been before us. The Christian as he
ought to be, and in the measure of his faith is, thoughtfully
and prayerfully practises imt/t, — so that in every department of
his life you find freedom from pretence and affectation, and his
word is as good as his bond. Seriousness and self-respect show
themselves always in his speech and deportment. His business
dealings with others are marked by a scrupulous regard to
equity. And those who take knowledge of his private life can-
not fail to recognise a firm self-restraint , and superiority of spirit
to all sensuality and baseness. Such a character as this, con-
sistently maintained, evinces clearly to thoughtful observers

VER. 8.] Sumynary of Duty. 383

the working of the Divine Spirit, and is eminently fitted to
gain for its possessor general esteem and admiration. Yet, as
regards influence for good on the world, such a life may be
cold and statue-like, destitute of the clement which quickens.
This life-giving power is manifested loi'e.

In an address to a body of young medical brethren, the late
eminent physician Sir James Simpson, whose own practice
abundantly illustrated the teaching I here quote, said, — * Let
us all cultivate to the utmost the steady manliness of hand and
head which our profession so urgently demands ; but do not
despise that gentle womanliness of heart which the sick in
their depression and pain so often look for, and long for, and
])rofit by. Be to every man his beloved, as well as his trusted,
j)hysician.' We all feel that this advice was sound and im-
jiortant for the young men to whom it was given. And it
holds, Christian friends, for you and me, whatever our worldly
occupation may be ; for our profession, as Christians, is that of
spiritual physicians. Our vocation in Christ, through whom
alone the disease of sin can be overcome, is, by lip and by life,
to commend to men the gospel, which is * the power of God
unto' spiritual healing. To the manly strength of veracity and
dignity, justice and purity, therefore, we must add the tender
and winning graces also. The grand element of curative
energy in the gospel is its proof that ' God is love;' and in
the measure in which God's children show likeness to their
Father will be the persuasive and healthful influence of their
character on men around. Hence the apostle's^next injunction
in the passage before us is to ponder and practise ' whatsorcer
things are Icrcely.^

By * loi'ely ' is meant ' calculated to gain love ; ' and, prac-
tically, ' whatsoever things are calculated to gain love ' is an
expression equivalent to ' whatsoever things show love.' Dr.
Doddridge, speaking of a little daughter who died young, and
who was a great favourite with all the friends of the family,
mentions that, when he once asked her what made everybody

3 84 Lcctin'es 07i Philippia^is. [ch. iv.

love her so well, she answered, ' Indeed, papa, I cannot think,
unless it be because I love everybody,' — ' a sentiment,' he
truly remarks. ' obvious to the understanding of a child, 5'-et
not unworthy the reflection of the wisest man.' ^ Veracity,
dignity, justice, and purity may procure respect ; but love alone
is likely to win love.

Loveliness of character is the reflection of His beauty who
' is love.' ' The wisdom from above is peaceable, gentle, easy
to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits.' The Christianly
wise man, then, will be of a forgiving spirit, remembering that
' God for Christ's sake has forgiven him.' He will endeavour
to be courteous and kindly in all his dealings, feeling that,
whatever his lot in life be, God has called him to be a gentle-
man, in the truest, richest sense of the name. He will enter
\s\!&v real interest into the feelings of those with whom he is
brought into contact, ' rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and
weeping with them that weep.' His kindly heart will reveal
itself in kindly speech — or, it may be, kindly silence, — in
tenderness, considerateness, and benevolent activity. Of every
means \dthin his reach of promoting the temporal and spiritual
welfare of men he will gladly avail himself, labouring personally
in this cause, and cordially helping forward every enterprise
which aims at loosing any of the bands of v^-ickedness, imdoing
any of the heavy burdens, breaking any of the yokes, under
which humanity groans. His charity will flow forth unobtru-
sively, but constantly, by all the channels within his reach. He
will be ' eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame, and a father to
the poor. The blessing of him that was ready to perish will
come upon him, and he will cause the widow's heart to sing
for joy.' He will strive to cultivate a spirit which *is not easily

' In a note, Doddridge quotes an interesting parallel from Seneca
(Ep. 9), — Tibi monstrabo amatorium sine medicanutito^ sine herbis^ sine
itllius veneficcB carmine: si vis amari, ama, — *I will tell you of a love-
charm which needs no drugs, nor simples, nor witch's incantation : if you
7vish to be laved y love. '

VER. 8.] Summary of Duty. 385

provoked, thinketh no evil, beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.' To follow Him
who Himself * took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses,' and
*■ went about doing good ; ' who ' breaks not the bruised reed,
nor quenches the smoking flax;' who 'feeds His flock like a
shepherd, gathering the lambs with His arm, and carrying
them in His bosom,' — this is to j)ursue * whatsoever things are
lovely.' We see here the full flower of Christianity, the crown
of all the graces.

' Meek and lowly,
Pure and holy,

Chief among the blessed three, —
Turning sadness
Into gladness.
Heaven-bom art thou. Charity.'

As has been already suggested, an une.xpressed thought in
the apostle's mind, in urging attention to ' whatsoever things
are lovely,' was probably this, — ' that thus you may fulfil your
calling as lights of the world, by commending the gospel of
Christ to the society among whom His providence has placed
you.' This thought is yet more obviously present in connec-
tion with the counsel which follows, to the cultivation of
' li'hatsorc'er things are of good reports ' See to it that, while
paying most dihgent attention to those departments of cha-
racter which the true believer alone, the man who is *•' taught
of God," at all appreciates, you fail not also to exhibit fully
those features which the conscience even of the natural man
unhesitatingly approves, and which he may not unreasonably
apply, to some extent, as a standard in estimating the value of
the religion you profess.'

Such features of character are, in a measure, all that have
been mentioned by the apostle, especially * loveliness ' of de-
portment. As here named distinctively, however, we may
think, perhaps, chiefly of those classes of virtues which are

universally esteemed the peculiar excellences of the sexes

2 B

386 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. iv.

respectively, and which we sum up under the names of ' man-
liness ' and ' womanliness.' A Christian woman, in whom all
that know her recognise modesty, self-restraint, * the ornament
of a meek and quiet spirit,' is manifestly by these beautiful
characteristics, which, being * of good report ' — ' of great price '
in the eyes of men, as well as ' in the sight of God ' — secure
the esteem of those around, placed in a position very favour-
able for winning their hearts to her Saviour. Similar commen-
dation of the gospel is given by a Christian man conspicuously
free from moral cowardice, from everything like effeminacy
in his tone of thought and feeling, and from narrowness of
sentiment and life, — a man who, whilst plainly having strong
religious convictions, and maintaining, under all circumstances,
earnestly and perseveringly, what appears to him to be impor-
tant truth, has no bigotry, nor disposition to harp always on one
string; but, with broad liberal sympathies, interests himself,
not merely in the progress of his own religious denomination,
nor even merely in the progress of religion generally, but also
in all that concerns the social improvement of the community,
and in the progress of literature, arts, and sciences. It contri-
butes very largely to the influence for good of a servant of
God, that he be known as a public-spirited citizen, and a large-
hearted and energetic friend of all that is noble, and elevating,
and healthful. This, I apprehend, may be what Paul points
to particularly by ' whatsoever things are of good report.'

The apostle's purpose in giving this summary of duties, we
have seen, was to speak of Christian character so far as it
exhibits itself in the relations of the believer to his fellow-
men. Having now set this character forth fully, alike in its
strength and its gracefulness, he proceeds, in another short
clause, to sum up what he has said, that it might be fixed in
the memories of his readers : ' if there be any virtue^ and if
there be any praise,^ — that is, according to an idiom of the
original language, * whatever virtue there is, and whatever
praise.' In ^virtue,' the four excellences of character first

VER. 8.] Summary of Duty, 387

mentioned arc gathered up, — tnithfulness, self-respect, equity,
and purity ; by Upraise,' the last two are obviously referred to,
loveliness of demeanour, and regard to * whatsoever things are
of good report.'

The word rendered ^virtue' is one largely employed in the
writings of the heathen philosophers. It occurs but seldom in
the New Testament, probably because it had been debased in
its use by some of the philosophical schools, having had ideas
attached to it very discordant with tmc goodness, and such as
strikingly to illustrate how needful it was * that He who created
man for Himself should tell him what best became him, — what
he was made for, and what he should aspire to.' ^ This is the
only passage in Paul's writings where the word is found.
Possibly, in using it, some such thought as this may have
been intended — launching the whole appeal with special power
upon the consciences of persons brought up, as the Philippians
had been, with knowledge of and interest in the moral teaching
of the heathen sages, — ' Give diligence that you exhibit to
observers, fairly and winningly, the character which Christian
faith is fitted to produce ; remembering that even your pagan
neighbours have some conception of the nature and excellence
of virtue^ and that though, unhappily, their views are in many
respects defective and false, yet they can, in no small measure,
recognise what is truly estimable and noble. Let them
always see in you, therefore, what their hearts will acknow-
ledge as good and beautiful, that thus your Saviour may be
glorified.'

It is not without significance that the mention of ' things
lovely,' and * things of good report,' comes last in Paul's list of
graces, and that, in the summary, ' praise ' follows ' virtue.'
He would have us, while deeming it important to attend to
what is amiable and to what men praise, to remember always
that truth and self-respect, equity and purity, must take pre-
cedence. T\\Q first question of a good man will be, not * What

^ Dr. Eadie.

388 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

will please those around me ? ' but, ' What is right ? ' Chris-
tian courtesy and amiability must never pandei to falsehood,
baseness, or frivolity, — however skilfully these may disguise
themselves in graceful vestures. The world's standards for
' good report ' are variable. God's is immutable, like Himself.
To this difference in the standards, the results of adherence
to them correspond. In the degree in which a man tends
towards 'loving the praise of men more than the praise of
God,' he makes approach to linking his destiny with the perish-
able. * The world passeth away, and the lust thereof.' ' But
he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.'

The exact connection of the first clause of the 9th verse is
somewhat doubtful. It seems to me to belong naturally to
what precedes, rather than to what follows, thus, — ' Whatso-
ever things are true,' and the rest, — * if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things, — which also
ye learned, and received, and heard and saw in me.' Then
comes a separate sentence, — ' These things do, and the God of
peace shall be with you.' The meaning is obviously, in sub-
stance, the same on either constmction.

' Observe, too,' the apostle continues, ' that in directing your
thoughts to the needfulness of cultivating these Christian graces,
I am by no means introducing to you anything new. The
subject is one on which, in my visits to you, I often spoke; and
the moral truths which you thus ^^ learned ^^^ you ^^ received" with
faith and hearty welcome. There was instruction by example,
also, as well as precept. I have a full consciousness of much
spiritual defect, — I have not yet attained, neither am already
perfect, — yet I may safely point to my life among you, as
having, on the whole, truthfully exemplified the moral prin-
ciples I taught you and am now recalling to your minds. What
you *' heard and sa7C' in me," illustrated, as regarded speech
and conduct, " the things which are true, and dignified, and
just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report." ^ I need not

^ Some remarks on the becomingness of such references by the apostle

VKK. 9- 1 Suniniary of Duty. 389

now, therefore, enter into any detailed exposition of duty.
'I'he sinii)le summary which 1 have given you, will, I know,
suffice.'

With resi)e( t to the points of cliaracter he has mentioned,
Paul's injunction is twofold. He charges the Philippians, first,
to ^ think on these thini^s.^ This is a matter of very great
moment ; and to neglect of the duty of considerini^ the ele-
ments of a noble Christian life, rather than to positive indiffer-
ence to them, is, no doubt, due in large measure the moral
defectiveness of many professed servants of Christ, and, by
consequence, their lack of spiritual joy, and the meagreness of
their influence for good. ' Let not holiness in the general
merely, but the various features of a holy character, be much
before your minds. Meditate on them. Think of their rela-
tions to each other, — of the occasions which peculiarly call for
exhibition of the various graces, — of the temptations which
have special force with regard to them respectively.'

But secondly, with earnestness and perseverance, * do these
things.^ ' Let the fruit of thought and prayer be seen in lives
of holy stability, and energy, and beauty. Give all diligence
thus to adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour. Be it your
aim to follow the l^oxd fully ; to live so as to evince on all the
sides of your life that you have put on Christ.'

* A fid (so) the God of peace shall be luith you.^ This conclu-
sion seems to show that the paragraph is intended to be parallel
to that which preceded. There w^e had the injunction, ' Be
careful for nothing ; but in everything by prayer let your re-
quests be made known unto God,' — followed by the promise,
* and the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds.' Here
we have the injunction, ' Do whatsoever things are true, and
dignified, and just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report,'
— followed by the promise, ' and the God of peace shall be
with you.' Combining the two, we obtain this teaching : * Vital

to his own example will be found in the comment on the 1 7th verse of the
3rd chapter, — ' Brethren, be followers together of me.'

390 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

religion, in healthy activity, gives, and can alone give, a rest-
fulness of spirit such as the troubles of outward life are impo-
tent to disturb. Now the two grand elements of vital religion
are communion with God as our Father, and the thoughtful
and diligent cultivation of universal holiness — conformity to the
will of God in all things. Pray without ceasing, then, — and
bring forth abundantly the fruit of the Spirit, which is in all
goodness, and righteousness, and truth, — and the God of peace
shall be with you, shedding abroad His peace in your souls,
to keep them, by its glorious guardianship, from all harm.'

VLR. lo.] Christian CoJitcntmcnt. 391

XXIX.
CHRISTIAN CONTENTMENT.

* But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me
hath llourislied again ; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked
opportunity. II Not that 1 speak in respect of want ; for I have
Icarnctl, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to he content. 12 I
know both how to be abased, and 1 know how to abound ; everywhere,
and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me. ' — PHiL, iv. 10-13.

THE apostle has now ended the counsels which it was in
his heart to give to his brethren at Philippi. There
remains for him only the duty of thanking them for the pecu-
niary help which they had sent to him through Epaphroditus ;
and this he does in the closing paragraph of his letter, in lan-
guage fitted greatly to gratify the givers, and, at the same time,
to minister to their spiritual wisdom. The paragraph presents
for consideration several points of interest and importance,
with regard to Christian giving, and Christian receiving, and
Christian feeling about worldly circumstances generally.

In various parts of his writings, Paul lays it down very dis-
tinctly as a law of Christ, — a law obviously equitable, and
in its operation spiritually healthful to both parties, — that
ministers should be supported by those for whose religious in-
struction and welfare they care. ' The Lord hath ordained,*
he says, ' that they which preach the gospel should live of the
gospel' (i Cor. ix. 14). It is evident, too, from allusions in
the chapter from which these words are quoted, that most of
the apostles and primitive teachers were in fact maintained by

392 Lectures on Philippimts. [ch. iv.

the free-will offerings of the churches. Paul himself, however,
in consequence of the bitter opposition and misrepresentation
to which he was subjected by teachers who wished to bring the
Christians under the yoke of Jewish ordinances, preferred, in
many places, to support himself by working at his trade of
tent-making, that thus he might ' cut off occasion from them
which desired occasion ' to accuse him of preaching the gospel
for the sake of gain (2 Cor. xi. 12). But his faith in the affec-
tion and spiritual intelligence of the church at Philippi was
such that, both now, and also, as he mentions in the i6th verse,
at an earlier time, he unhesitatingly accepted a pecuniary gift
from them. Manifestly no circumstances could be more suit-
able for making such a gift than when he was imprisoned, and
thus very probably prevented, in a great measure at least, from
earning a livelihood by the labour of his hands.

Observe the quiet dignity with which, at the outset of his
acknowledgment of their contribution, Paul lifts this money
matter up into a sphere where all things become sublime. The
pleasure he felt in receiving their gift was * in the Lord^ —
Christian joy. It was the Lord Jesus who had put it into their
hearts to do this thing ; and it was as an evidence of loyalty
to Him, and affection, for His sake, to His minister, that the
apostle welcomed the money. In the thoughtful kindness to
him, the servant, which showed that the friends he loved so
dearly cherished gratitude and devotion to his Master, it was
most reasonable that he should ' rejoice greatly.^

You will mark, too, the spirit of the trice gentleman breathing
through his language here, as always. I do not know that
anything more clearly brings out whether a man really has
this spirit, than the mode in which he receives kindness.
How beautiful the mode is here ! How perfectly free alike
from boorish bluntness in the assertion of independence,
and from adulation, or over-wrought expression of gratitude !
Having delicately kept his acknowledgments on this subject
for the close of the Epistle, because it was not seemly that, in

VKR. lo.] Christian Contentment. 393

the communications of those whom divine grace had united by
the tender tie of spiritual father and children, matters of this
kind should hold other than an altogether subordinate place, —
he begins his reference to it by stating that he felt great satis-
faction in the Lord, ' that ncnu at the last their care of him had
flourished ai^ain' His thought, you observe, blossoms into
jioetry. 1 n former years the apostle's heart had been gladdened,
ever and anon, by kind messages and gifts from his friends at
Philippi. For a considerable time, however, there had been
none ; but now, as after a long winter, the tree of their affec-
tion had 'flourished agaiti^ putting forth leaf, and flower, and
fruit. The * iioiu at the last ' tells us touchingly of the weary
longings he had felt for intercourse with his Philippian friends.
Amid the sufferings of his imprisonment, and the troubles
caused him in Rome by false brethren, he had often thought
of the sweet simplicity of Christian feeling which had always
prevailed among the members of the Philippian church, and
the comfort he had always found in intercourse with them ; and
had yearned strongly for a renewal of this fellowship. * Now at
the last ' the renewal had come, in a way fitted in every respect
greatly to refresh him. In writing this ' now at the last ' there
was no thought further from his mind than that of reproach, —
no thought present except the desire to tell his friends how
much his heart had gone forth to them during the time when
circumstances had prevented intercourse. The figure he has
employed, too, is one fitted, perhaps, to obviate any idea that
he intended reproach ; for, though the tree be bare during
winter, yet then, no less really than in the summer, it has Hfe.
But no sooner had the words been written, than the apostle
saw that they were open to misconstruction ; and he at once
throws in a clause guarding against this, — ' a matter wherein ye
were careful also in the intermediate time, but ye lacked oppor-
tunity,"— the reference in these last words being probably to
the difficulty of obtaining a suitable messenger. Nothing
could well gratify the Philippians more than such a statement

394 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. iv.

as this, showing the apostle's full confidence in the constancy
of their love.

In the 14th and following verses, Paul continues those grate-
ful acknowledgments of the kindness of his friends begun by
him in the loth, which we have just examined. The three
verses intervening, which will occupy our attention during the
remainder of this lecture, constitute a digression. It occurred
to him, as it would seem, that, from the warmth of his state-
ment, ' I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that your care of me
hath flourished again,' some might mistakenly infer that he
had been restless under the privations he suffered, and that
the gift brought by Epaphroditus had suddenly aroused him
from dejection to cheerfulness. Immediately, therefore, he
guards against this impression, seeing that such a state of
feeling would have been dishonouring to religion. In opposi-
tion to this thought, he bears testimony to the power of divine
grace, in his experience, to give equability and restfulness of
spirit amid all vicissitudes and trials of life. This digression
is a passage of much interest and importance, exhibiting in a
very graphic way a prominent feature of the apostle's character,
and therein vividly illustrating the sustaining and beautifying
power of the Divine Spirit. 'I rejoiced in the Lord greatly,
that your care of me hath flourished again. Not^ however,
that I speak in respect of want ; for I have learned^ in what-
soever state I am, therewith to be content.^ The apostle liad
come to know, like David, that ' there is no want to them that
fear the Lord.'

The word ' content ' means originally, and indeed is only
another form of, * contained.' We have in it, therefore, as no
doubt in all words, if we fully understood them, not a cold
symbol merely, but a lively pictorial illustration of the meaning.
The man is ' content,' who is able to feel himself ' contained '
by his lot, — who in the position which God has assigned him
can find room, so that he has rest and satisfaction, — who within
his circumstances at the time can always discern a home of

VERS. II, 12.] Christiaji Cojitaiimcnt. 395

reasonable comfort, and therefore, however his desires may at
times healthfully enough roam beyond its bounds, yet never
has them j)ainfully so exercised. ICvery person of the slightest
thoughtfulness is sensible of the dignity and hai)piness con-
nected with such a state of mind as this. It is evident, too,
that all around the contented man derive advantage from his
contentment, because, so far as he is concerned, they are
secure from various sources of trouble. To discontent alone
are due avarice and ambition and envy, and the innumerable
sins and crimes which spring from these. A world of universal
contentment would be Paradise restored.

To every moderately attentive and candid observer of human
life, one strong argument for the cultivation of contentment
presents itself clearly and constantly, in the fact that a law of
compensation acts so extensively in connection with men's lot.
The poor man lacks, in some measure, the means of ministering
to outward comfort and refinement which the rich man has ;
but at the same time he is free from many anxieties, many dis-
tractions and fears, which wealth generally brings with it. The
childless wife may remember that parents, amid their peculiar
and exquisite joys, have also innumerable peculiar difficulties
and burdens ; and, as she thinks of her neighbour whose heart
a prodigal son has ' pierced through with many sorrows,' she
may well * possess her soul in patience.' Power, with all its
attractions, has endless troubles ; and no doubt the sentiment
of ver}' many kings and rulers was expressed by the pope who
left this epitaph for himself : * Here lies Adrian the Sixth, who
thought nothing in his life to have befallen him more unhappy
than that he had to rule.' Advancement in fame and influence
involves special exposure to envy and calumny ; and thus, ob-
serving how ' that fierce light which beats upon ' high estate, in
any department of life, ' blackens every blot,' and how assi-
duously and malevolently the character of eminent men, who,
it may be, endeavour faithfully to ' wear the white flower of a
blameless life,' is misrepresented, the lowly may be grateful

39^ Lectures on Philippians. [cH. iv.

for their obscurity. It is ver>' plain that no ' inheritance ' of
earthly good is ' undefiled,' any more than it is ' incorruptible.'
Obvious, however, as are the dignity and manifold advan-
tages of a contented spirit, and plain as is the teaching of the
facts which have just been adverted to, still the experience of
all ages has shown that, without the influence of true religion,
men cannot attain to such a spirit, with anything like fulness
and constancy. Thought and observation, while helpful as
handmaids of religion, are impotent standing alone. Nature
persistently defines ' Enough ' to mean ' Something more than
we have.' Heathen philosophers could see truth on the sub-
ject so clearly as to make contentment their ideal. Heathen
poets could thus sing, —

* Tossed on a sea of troubles, O my soul,

Thyself do thou control ;
And to the weakness of advancing foes

A stubborn heart oppose ;
Undaunted 'mid the hostile might
Of squadrons burning for the fight.

* Thine be no boasting, when the victor's crown

Wins thee deserved renown ;
Thine no dejected sorrow, when defeat

Would urge a base retreat.
Rejoice in joyous things, — nor overmuch

Let grief thy bosom touch
Midst evil ; and still bear in mind
How changeful are the ways of human kind. ' ^

But self-seeking had its own way against theory. Envy and
ambition proved the feebleness of abstract principles, when
brought into contention with human depravity. In the re-
ligion of the Bible alone, which gives the soul the knowledge
of the living God as an object of love and confidence, is found
a motive power strong enough to enable a man to struggle
successfully with his natural tendencies to discontent. Nothing
else can inbreathe a spirit of true rest.

' Archilochus. The translation is from Lord Neaves's Greek Anthology.

VLRs. 1 1, I 2. 1 Christian Contentment. 397

Christian contentment is that feehn^ of repose of heart
whicli results from an intelli^'cnt recognition of divine provi-
dence, as the care of an infinitely kind and wise and holy
Heing, exerted constantly in regard to all things, great and
small, and absolutely controlling everything, so as to make it
subservient to His ends. When a man sincerely believes in
such providence, and this as the providence of a Juiihcr, he
cannot but be content with whatever is his lot, — because God
has assigned it to him, and what seems good to God must
certainly be best.

Men who are in a torpor, through indolence, sometimes
fancy themselves contented. With this feeling Christian con-
tentment has nothing in common. It naturally stands associ-
ated with energy, with vigorous and gladsome activity ; for the
very same faith in providence which inspires the believer with
content, gives him also a stimulus to exertion. He believes
that the Lord his God will bless him in the works of his hand,
so far as such success would bring him real good.

Christian contentment is essentially distinct, too, from mere
tiatural resolution — such as is occasionally found in men, in
considerable strength — not to be bent or broken by circum-
stances. Of this the sustenance is pride. When the man of
such mere natural resolution asserts his ability to retire within
himself, and in his own mind find comfort and quiet, however
wintrily stonns may rage without, — he glorifies himself. The
believer also retires within himself; but it is because God has
come to dwell in his heart, and thus made it a holy place.
Fellowship with that Divine Friend, whom he knows to be, by
every variety of providential dealing, working out towards him
the purposes of Fatherly love, gives him rest of spirit Thus
his contentment evidently and eminently glorifies God.

The reasonableness and dutifulness of contentment with any
lot in life will become ever clearer to the Christian, if he allow
his mind to rest on the various aspects of the subject, as
lighted up by Scripture.

39^ Lectures on Philippians, [ch. iv.

He will feel increasingly that the least he enjoys is immeasur-
ably more than in justice he could expect, and that the worst he
can here suffer is immeasurably less than he deserves. ' It is of
the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.' ' Wherefore
doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his
sins ? ' If we can habituate ourselves to look at our circum-
stances in their relation to our deserts, rather than to our
likings, we shall see, on every side, abundant grounds for
thankfulness and praise. Alleviations will be found in con-
nection with the heaviest trouble ; some brightness even where
at first all seemed dark. The chastisement is with * whips,'
when it might have been with ' scorpions.' We have had but
to * run with the footmen,* instead of having to ' contend with
horses.' The clouds do not always ' return after the rain.'

Again, the conviction will become always more impressive,
that all God^s dealings with us in providence are meant to serve
as a discipline for the soul. Said Moses to Israel, ' Remember
all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years
in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee ; and He
humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with
manna, that He might make thee know that man doth not live
by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of the Lord doth man live.' For a moral end, you
observe — for training to spiritual wisdom — were intended both
the adversity and the prosperity, the ' suffering to hunger ' and
the ' feeding with manna.' In nothing is growth towards the

* measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ' more marked,
than in increase of practical apprehension of the truth that to
moral ends divine providence always works, with a variety
of treatment most graciously adapted to the requirements of
varied temperaments and varied intelligence. According to
an image employed by Isaiah, the Divine Husbandman deals
with us as the Eastern farmer with different kinds of grain :
the harder and coarser kinds he bruises with the iron wheel,

* but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin

VERS. II, 12.] Christian Contenlmait. 399

with a rod' (Isa. xxviii. 27). In the degree in which he
understands all this, a believer is content. He has come to
know and feel that the welfare of the soul is infinitely more
important than anything merely temporal can be ; and there-
fore he will accept thankfully the j)Osition in life which God
has assigned him, as the best for his spiritual health at the
time. He has prayed, * Search me, O Ood, and know my
heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; cleanse me from secret
faults;' and he believes God's providential actings towards
him to be one mode in which He is answering the prayer.
When trouble of any kind comes upon him, therefore, he will,
on the one hand, * not despise the chastening of the Lord,' but
gravely consider it, as being a minister of God for his soul's
good ; and, on the other hand, he will not ' faint when thus
rebuked of Him,' but cast himself, with a child's trust, on His
sustaining and comforting grace.

It is very important, — and this is one of the highest and most
difficult attainments in Christian wisdom, — that there should be
a realizing operative sense of the inilimited range of the dis-
cipline of providence. We are exceedingly prone, even while
recognising it, and giving ourselves up to the teaching in
prominent occurrences in our lives, to forget that the training
is as really given in all that befalls us. John Ne\vton says,
* Many Christians who bear the loss of a child, or the destruc-
tion of all their property, with the most heroic Christian forti-
tude, are entirely vanquished by the breaking of a dish, or the
blunders of a servant ; and show so unchristian a spirit, that we
cannot but wonder at them.' The observation of us all tells
that this \vitness is true. Now such sinful outbreaks of dis-
content are plainly due to a forgetfulness that in what we
reckon the little events of life, as well as in the great, divine
providence is present — present to teach, ' to humble us, and
to prove us, and to know what is in our hearts, whether we
will keep God's commandments, or no.' By far the larger
proportion of the history of all men is made up of little occur-

400 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

rences ; and the sum of the influence of these little things on
our character is a great sum. Let us believe, then, that He
by whom ' the hairs of our heads are all numbered,' is, by the
little sorrows and the little joys of life, offering us instruction,
as really as by the more notable. The truth is, that nothing is
little which has moral bearings.

The thought, too, is fitted to be a most influential one with
the child of God, that, however dreary to the carnal eye his lot
here may be^ he will very soon exchange it for heaven. Earth is
not our home. We are but journeying homewards ; and — as
wayfaring men before whose hearts already rises the vision of
their own happy fireside, and all the dear ones around it, may
well bear easily the discomforts of the resting-places into which
they turn to tarry for a night on the way — so is it most reason-
able that the Christian should be content with the entertain-
ment he receives here below, since he expects to reach heaven
so speedily. When our hearts are depressed, then, by diffi-
culties and vexations, let us pray that God would give us ears
to hear the voice of true wisdom, saying —

* Be comforted,
And, like a cheerful traveller, take the road,
Singing beside the hedge. What if the bread
Be bitter in thine inn, and thou unshod
To meet the flints ? At least it may be said,
*' Because the way is shorty I thank thee, God." ' ^

This thought, of the brevity of this earthly life, and the little-
ness of even its greatest possible distresses, as seen in the
light which shines from heaven, is probably, in most cases,
the most efficient practical argument for Christian content-
ment. Without it, the others would be featherless and untipped
arrows; whilst in our consideration of it, the energy of the
others seems to gather around it. We feel the case to be so ;
and the first Christians felt it so. The Hebrew believers * took
joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing in themselves

* Mrs. Browning.

VEK. 12.] CJiristian Contentment. 401

that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance.'
The Apostle Paul ' fainted not, while he looked not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen ;
for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal ;' and * reckoned that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us.' Is it wonderful
that one who could, with vivid realization, so 'reckon,' should
liave the contentment with his earthly lot of which we read in
the passage now under consideration ? Could any state of
feeling be more reasonable ?

Whilst beginning, as his actual circumstances and the con-
nection of his remarks naturally suggested, with a reference to
his contentment under poverty and manifold sufferings, the
apostle goes on to magnify the grace of his Saviour by telling
his friends that he found himself enabled to bear prosperity
also with equability of spirit. He was led so fully and vividly
to apprehend the truth that God alone can satisfy man's heart
— God's favour, and fellowship, and likeness, — and that God
can satisfy the heart perfectly, that nothing external — neither
poverty nor riches, humiliation nor honour, trouble nor rest —
could seriously destroy the balance of his feelings. Now and
again, in his course as a minister of Christ, he had been in
positions of considerable outward comfort, surrounded by kind
and helpful friends, and free from physical privations. He
had found, in such cases, that he was able to enjoy the pro-
sperity without undue delight in it ; as well as now to endure
the hardships of his imprisonment without great depression of
spirits. '/ know both how to be abased, and I kno^v how to
aboiPid : rcerywhere, and in all things^ I am mstructed both to
be full and to be hungry, both to aboimd and to suffer need.'

We naturally think, all of us, that w^e could bear wealth
better than poverty. Observation and Scripture both tell us
the contrary. It needs a very steady hand satisfactorily to
carry a full cup. No doubt the cares of this world, to which

2 c

402 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

the poor are exposed, are apt to 'choke' the good seed of
the word, and make it unfruitful ; and in extreme poverty,
where a father or mother hears children crying for bread, and
has none to give them, it must be very hard to retain entire
restfulness of heart in the divine love. But among persons to
some extent influenced by religion, we should find, I appre-
hend, a much greater proportion of the poor uninjured spiritu-
ally by their poverty, than of the rich uninjured by their riches.
We have in Scripture a very much larger number of ' charges to
them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded,
nor trust in uncertain riches,' than we have of warnings to the
poor regarding the hazards connected with their condition.
As regards spiritual life, the tendency of outward prosperity is
to enervate, to make a man flaccid and pithless, easily over-
come by temptations to self-indulgence, to pride and vain-
glory, and, curiously enough, to discontent and greed. It is
frequently ' when riches increase,' that men are most liable to
'set their heart upon them.' Often, in his heart, as Zophar
the Naamathite remarked long ago, a rich man, * in the fulness
of his sufficiency, is in straits.' The peevishness and unman-
Kness of Ahab, the king of Israel, who ' laid him down upon
his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread,'
because Naboth declined to sell him his vineyard; and of
Haman, the favourite of the king of Persia, whom all his suc-
cess ' availed nothing, so long as Mordecai the Jew bowed
nat, nor did him reverence,' — this not merely has innumerable
counterparts in ungodly men who prosper in the world, but
has too much also that resembles it, there is ground to fear,
even in the prosperous who know the Lord. On the whole, it
seems to be a rarer and grander attainment, to ' know how to
abound,' even than to 'know how to suff"er need.'

The apostle tells us very distinctly that, to obtain either
knowledge, we must ' kam.^ God has revealed to us truth
which, when understood and believed, can keep the soul
equable in all worldly circumstances — calm and restful in Him.

vi:r. 13.] Christian Cotitnitmcnt, 403

He gives us, in His providence, fields for j)roving and improv-
ing our spiritual strength. He offers to us, freely and abun-
dantly, the guiding and sustaining influences of His Spirit.
We, on our part, having thus the privilege of divine teaching,
are called on, if we would make progress, to set ourselves to
' learn,' by being thoughtful, and vigilant, and prayerful. We
must be diligent students, if we are to succeed ; for certainly
no form of Christian excellence is harder of attainment than
such equipoise of spirit as is here described by Paul. The
difficulty and sublimity of this knowledge are perhaps suggested
by the original word rendered in our translation * instructed^
for, in its strict use, it was applied to initiation into the famous
heathen mysteries, — those of Eleusis, and the like. The man
who knows * both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need,' takes his place not in the outer ranks, but
among the most proficient students of religion. He has
learned the secret of a happy life. He has been * initiated '
into the ' mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.'

In the 13th verse, the apostle's statement of the moral power
possessed by him becomes yet bolder. It takes a form, how-
ever, which prevents the possibility of any accusation of vain-
glor}', by ascribing all the glory to the Redeemer. No man
ever had a lowlier opinion of himself than Paul had. His
whole history and character prove that he felt in his inmost
soul what he said, when he spoke of himself as ' not meet to be
called an apostle,' as ' less than the least of all saints,' as * the
chief of sinners.' Yet at times, in his letters to the churches,
— whose own experience enabled them to confirm this class of
statements to the letter, however much, one can hardly but
think, they sometimes lovingly doubted the other, — he is led
to speak of his ministerial efiiciency, and of the consistency of
his Christian character ; — with what exquisite humility always,
and wondering thankfulness ! His crown was ever cast down
before the throne of his Saviour. * I laboured more abundantly
than they all, — yet not I, but the grace of God which was with

404 Lect2t7^es on Philippians. [cii. iv.

me.' *Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience
that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conver-
sation in the world, — by the grace of God.' So here, ' I am
instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. I can do all things^ — through Christ which
strengtheneth me J

A more exact rendering of the last words is ' in Christ which
strengtheneth me,^ or rather, — according to a reading which is
probably the true one, being found in the oldest manuscripts, —
* in Z^/w which strengtheneth me.' This latter mode of ex-
pression pleasantly illustrates the familiarity to the mind of
Paul himself and, as he doubted not, to that of his readers, of
the thought that the spring of their spiritual energy was in their
Lord. The apostle puts the truth explicitly elsewhere, ' I
thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me,' or
' strengthened me,' — in the original, the same word as here
(i Tim. i. 12).

Paul's language here, you observe, implies an acknowledg-
ment of personal weakness. This we have very fully in other
places. * I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no
good thing, — for to will is present with me, but how to per-
form that which is good I find not. O wretched man that I
am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? /
thank God through Jesics Christ our Lord.' Naturally powerless
and dead, the believer finds in Him ' the Resurrection and the
Life.' By Christ he is taught truth which presents to him the
strongest motives to holy devotedness ; and the example of
Christ, as his Forerunner, is felt by him to be most stimulating.
But this is not all, nor most. He is, through the grace of
God, so vitally united to Christ by his faith, that Christ's life
is revealed in his. All our power for true service of God, my
brethren, is * in Christ, who strengtheneth us.' ' He that is
joined unto the Lord is one spirit.' *We live ; yet not we, but
Christ liveth in us.' Thus Paul was not merely * content ' to
bear imprisonment and poverty, but would * most gladly glory

w.n. 13.1 Christian Contentment, 405

in his infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon him ;
for, when he was weak, then was he strong' through His strength
who had saiil to liim, * My grace is sufficient for thee; for My
strength is made perfect in weakness.' In the circumstances
where man most feels his own impotence, the glory of the
Saviour, who lives in I lis people, and whose strength reveals
itself in them, is most signally attested ; and, therefore, in
being placed in such circumstances the apostle would even
exult.

* In Christ,' the believer has — or may have, if he will rise to
the apprehension and acceptance of it — what may be called a
moral omnipotence. There is no duty so arduous, that 'in
Him,' the Almighty and All-wise, it cannot be discharged, — no
trial so severe, that ' in Him ' it cannot be undergone with for-
titude and spiritual advantage. '' I can do all things in Him
which strengtheneth me.' Would that we understood this more,
— that we proved its truth for ourselves, — that in our Christian
life we looked away more entirely from mere earthly helps,
and practically showed belief that ' Christ Jesus is made of
God to us,' not ' wisdom and righteousness ' only, but also
* sanctification ' !

4o6 Lectures on Philip pia^is. [ch. iv.

XXX.
CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY AND ITS REWARD.

* Notwithstanding, ye have well done that ye did communicate with my
affliction. 15 Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of
the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communi-
cated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only ; 16
For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
17 Not because I desire a gift ; but I desire fruit that may abound to
your account. 18 But I have all, and abound ; I am full, having re-
ceived of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour
of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. 19 But
my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. 20 Now unto God and our Father be glory for
ever and ever. Amen. 21 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The
brethren which are with me greet you. 22 All the saints salute you,
chiefly they that are of Csesar's household. 23 The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.' — Phil. iv. 14-23.

THROUGHOUT the larger part of this closing passage
of the Epistle, Paul continues his grateful acknowledg-
ments of the thoughtful kindness of his friends at Philippi.
This leads into a doxology to the gracious ' God and Father '
from whom he and they alike received all their support, and all
their stimulus to holy love. Then come some brief salutations,
and the usual final benediction.

In examining the loth verse we had occasion to admire the
beauty with which the spirit of the Christian gentleman revealed
itself there in the apostle's language, — an exquisite freedom
from fawning or flattery on the one hand, and from everything
like morose or boorish self-assertion on the other. Through-
out the passage before us now, every attentive reader is struck

VKR. 14-] CJiristia7i Liberality ajid its Rcivard. 407

with the same delicate courtesy. You observe, at the very
outset, the j)Ieasing way in which, from the digression on con-
tentment that has occupied from the nth to the 13th verse,

he returns at the i4tli to the main course of remark : ^ Noi-
7uithstandini^, thougli I have thus told you of the power which
my gracious Lord has given me to cherish eciuability of spirit
in any lot of life, do not allow yourselves for a moment to think
that your gift is of little account to me, or other than a source
of very great satisfaction. Ye have well done^ in having become
partakers (or, " in having entered into fellowship ") in my afflic-
tiony — for this last is the precise force of the words rendered
in our version ^ that ye did communicate 7vith my affliction,^
This * participation in the affliction ' was the element in the
contribution of the Philippians which made it pleasant to
Paul. They were known by him to have such sincere, earnest,
loving sympathy — in the strictest sense of that word, ' feeling
along with him ' — that, in their prayers, and kind words, and
kind deeds, they seemed to him to be actually putting their
own shoulders under his burden of trouble, and thus easing
him. No higher praise could be bestowed upon their gift, no
loftier expression of gratitude employed, than such a testimony
as this from Christ's illustrious servant. Let us remember,
brethren, that in every form of effort to do good — whether by
giving, or teaching, or speaking words of comfort to sorrowing
hearts, or in any other way — we shall be most successful, when
the objects of our care feel that there is a real entering of
thought and love into their circumstances, and, so far as it is
possible, a ' feeling with them ' of their difficulties and distresses.
To our own souls, too, the benefit of such efforts will generally
be proportioned to the degree in which there has been in our
hearts such a sincere ' fellowship ' in others' sufiterings.

The expression employed in the loth verse, 'Your care of
me hath flourished again^ implied a pleasant remembrance
of similar kindnesses done to the apostle by the church of
Philippi in former days. To these, in the 15th and i6th

4o8 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. iv.

verses, he makes more particular reference, — appealing to the
knowledge which the Philippians themselves had of the cir-
cumstances, and, as is obviously suggested, might thus have,
also, of his peculiar satisfaction in the renewal of such sweet
communications of Christian love from spiritual children whose
early proofs of thoughtful and self-sacrificing affection had
greatly cheered him. His mind goes back ten or eleven years
to ' tJu beginning of the gospel^ — so far, that is to say, as re-
garded Philippi and Europe generally, — the early days of their
Christian era. He remembered how, when he left Macedonia,
pecuniary aid had come to him from Philippi, and from
Philippi alone.

The words, ' when I departed from Macedonia,^ lead us to sup-
pose that the apostle had in his mind some contribution sent
to him just before he left Berea, or when he was on his way to
Athens,^ — a time when, not improbably, he was somewhat low-
spirited, from having seen the virulent hostility to the religion
of Jesus shown at Thessalonica and Berea by his brethren after
the flesh, and when, consequently, the considerate Christian
kindness of his friends at Philippi would be felt by him as
peculiarly soothing and strengthening. But, while he writes,
yet earlier proofs of their love rush in upon his memory, and
occupy the foreground, so that the ''For'' of the i6th verse,
instead of introducing, as we expect, a specific notice of the
gift sent * when he departed from Macedonia,' brings in an
account of help ministered while he was still in the midst of
his labours in that region. ' Even in Thessalonica ' — whilst it
might not unreasonably have been anticipated that the Philip-
pian believers would still feel confused and dispirited, in con-
sequence of the persecution which had driven Paul from their
town — they had * sent once and again ttnto his necessity*

The evidence given in this little retrospect, of the distinct-
ness and the satisfaction with which the apostle recalled their
efforts to help him in former days, could not but be most

1 Acts xvii. 10-15.

VER. 15.] CJu'istian Liberality ayid its Rauard. 409

gratifying to the good I'liilippians. With rcsjjcct to the sufll-
cicncy of tlicir present gift, too, his assurances in the 18th
verse are most ample and satisfactory : * Having:; received of
Epaphnniitus the thiw^s ivhich were sent from yoUy J have all that
I nccil ; indeed, I abound, — I am full.'

In the i5tli verse, you will observe, the apostle states that,
at the time when he departed from Macedonia, no church
except that of Philippi ' communicated with him,' or ' entered
into fellowshi[) with him' ^ as coNcerning givini^ and receivini;^' —
more exactly, perhaps, * as regarded an account of giving and
receiving.' In these words he shows us the light in which such
a transaction as he is speaking of appeared to him, and in
which, as he knew, it appeared also to the Philippians. While
their gifts were a true and beautiful expression of love to
Christ and Christ's servant, justice had its voice in the matter
also. What in legal phraseology is called a * deed of gift '
might be, in one aspect, the image from the ordinary life of
the world suitable to illustrate the conduct of the apostle's
warm-hearted spiritual children ; in another, an ' account of
giving a?id receiving^ — a ledger, with credit and debit columns
or pages — was not unsuitable. Paul had ' sown unto them
spiritual things, — was it a great thing if he should reap their
carnal things ? ' In ordinary circumstances, if a minister of
Christ is at all satisfactorily to edify his people, and exercise
pastoral care over them, he must not attempt to conjoin with
his ministerial labours worldly means of earning a livelihood.
The church, therefore, to whose interests he gives his energies,
is clearly bound in justice to provide for his support. ' Do ye
not know,' Paul asks the Corinthians, ' that they which minister
about holy things, live of the things of the temple ; and they
which wait at the altar, are partakers with the altar ? Even so
hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the gospel
should live of the gospel.' The Philippians understood all
this ; and felt that in giving, according to their ability, for the
temporal comfort of him who had brought to them the know-

41 o Lectures on Pkilippians. [ch. iv.

ledge of ' the unsearchable riches of Christ,' and who had in
every way devoted himself so heartily to the promotion of
their spiritual interests, they were displaying justice as w^ell as
love.

It is of the very highest importance, however, for a Christian
minister, that he exhibit no ground for any suspicion, on the
part of his people, that he labours among them merely or
mainly for temporal reward, — but distinct proof that ' he seeks
not theirs, but them.' In so far as a man is believed to have
had himself ' put into one of the priest's offices, that he may
eat a piece of bread,' his influence for spiritual good is de-
stroyed. 'Observe then,' says the apostle in the 17th verse,
' that the warmth of my acknowledgment of your past and
present kindness to me is not because I desire a gift.^

I do not know that to an attentive reader anything in the
Epistle more conclusively proves Paul's singular confidence in
the Christian intelligence and right feeling of the Philippians,
than the slightness and casual nature of this remark, on a
point about which he w^as peculiarly sensitive. In his intense
anxiety to remain absolutely free from any suspicion of world-
liness, he, in many places, whilst constantly maintaining the
duty of believers to support their ministers, abstained person-
ally from asking or receiving pecuniary aid. The circum-
stances in which he was placed, — surrounded by virulent
opponents waiting eagerly for any opportunity of charging him
with self-seeking, — seemed to him to make this the right course.
To the Thessalonians he writes, ' Ye remember, brethren, our
labour and travail, for, labouring night and day, because we
would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto
you the gospel of God.' To the Corinthians, after giving them
that explicit teaching regarding what 'the Lord hath ordained*
on the subject of ministerial support, which I quoted a little
ago, he goes on thus, — ' But I have used none of these things;
neither have I written these things that it should be so done
unto me ; for it were better for me to die, than that any man

\i:u. 1 8.] Christian Liberality and its Reward. 411

should make my glorying void.' To the elders of Kphcsus,
convened at Miletus, he said, * I have coveted no man's silver,
or gold, or apparel : yea, ye yourselves know that these hands
have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were
with nu-.' Hut the gifts of the Philippians he accei)ted freely ;
and the only reference he thinks it needful to make to the
possibility of any thought entering their minds of his being at
all under the influence of selfish motives, is this quiet ' Not
that I desire a gift.' He knew his whole life to be such an
ample exposition and confirmation of this statement, and to be
so well understood as such by his beloved Philippians, that he
had no need to say anything further on the subject.

These words lead into the presentation of another, and a
most important, aspect of Christian giving. * Not that I desire
a gift,' he says, * but I desire fruit that may abound to your
account^ — more exactly, ' the fruit which abounds to your
account ' from every such contribution to the cause of Christ.
The image of the account -book comes up here again, you
observe, but in another connection. Every act of genuine
piety is like the sowing of seed, which ' in that day,' and
throughout eternity, will yield rewards of grace. Of these
' fruits ' God has an * account,' ' a book of remembrance,' for
every one of His people. For gifts from his spiritual children
Paul had but little desire, in so far as their ministering to his
o^vn comfort was concerned ; but for the sake of his converts
themselves he desired such gifts exceedingly, that the record
of enduring 'fruits' of glory and joy, yielded by 'faith working
by love,' might be full.

The closing words of the i8th verse exhibit the basis on
which rested the apostle's assurance that ' fruits ' of glorious
reward would spring from liberality. He knew that such a
gift as his friends had sent him, suggested by a true and ardent
love to Christ — to Christ's people — to Christ's work, — was
looked upon by their Father in heaven with gracious approval,
— was ' an odour of a sweet smelly a sacrifice acceptable, well-

412 Lectures on Philippians, [ch. iv.

plcasmg to God.^ These expressions are as nearly as possible
equivalent to each other. We read in the 8th chapter of
Genesis, that Noah, after coming out of the ark, 'builded an
altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar,
and the Lord smelled a sweet savour ;^ and frequently elsewhere,
throughout the Old Testament, the same phrase is employed
to describe the acceptance of a sacrifice. In the New Testa-
ment, it is used of the great propitiation : ' Christ hath loved
us, and hath given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God, for a sweet-smelling savour.' And, in Christ, His
people's thank-offering of holy thoughts and affections — holy
activity and liberality and patience — is ' an odour of a sweet
smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.'

The doctrine of these words, you observe, is that giving
for the cause of Christ is worship — acceptable worship. It
belongs to the same class of acts as the presentation of sacri-
fices under the old economy, which was the central act of
worship. The same representation of giving is found, you
will remember, also in the Epistle to the Hebrews, — ' To do
good and to communicate forget not ; for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased' (Heb. xiii. i6). Worship is the direct
expression to God, in any way, of the love, and trust, and
devotion of His moral creatures. The grateful Christian heart,
recognising in all its powers, and possessions, and opportuni-
ties, gifts of God, finds everywhere materials for dedication to
Him, — for sacrifice, — for worship. The sincere surrender of
the whole life to God is represented and attested by the con-
scious, definite, direct surrender of somewhat, in the exercise
of the powers, and employment of the possessions. The lips
are, of necessity, much engaged with the matters of this world ;
but ' the sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to His name,' is an acknowledgment that the lips are
His. Our time is, of necessity, largely given to the business of
earth ; but sincerely and gladly to give the Lord the Sabbath
Day, is to worship Him with our time. The case is similar

vicR. 1 8.] Christian Liberality and its Reward. 4 1 3

with money. Our Master has instituted ordinanrcs for foster-
ing the spiritual life of His people, — some of which cannot, in
ordinary circumstances, be maintained without money. He
has given to His church the duty and privilege of spreading
the knowledge of His salvation throughout the world. He
has told us to 'consider the poor.' No intelligent Christian,
then, who ponders the matter, can doubt either the reason-
ableness and the needfulness, or the aj)pointed way, of wor-
shipping God with his money — * honouring the Lord with his
substance.'

But ah ! my brethren, worldliness often deafens us to the
call of duty in this matter. We are prone to act as if we
thought that, after all, what we possess is our own, and not
God's, — forgetting that not merely by every original right are
we and all we have entirely His, but that Christians are
their Lord's by a new and glorious and most tender right,
being * bought with a price.' From the frequency with which
our Lord speaks on the subject, we see the importance which
He attaches to our considering ourselves as not proprietors,
but stewards for God, of all that we have. Forgetfulness of
this, and of what it involves, is the true root of all sin in this
matter. ' It is required in stewards that a man be found faith-
ful ; ' and the main elements of faithfulness are the cherishing
always of a full sense that the property in his hands is not his
own, but his master's, and constantly acting in reference to it
with a view to the advancement of his master's interests.
Now, our stewardship for God extends to all our means of
glorifying Him — all our ' talents,' whether five, or two, or but
one. With regard to them all, self-denial is needed for faithful
discharge of duty. The steward of a rich man peculiarly re-
quires self-restraint if his master is at a distance, or exercises
but a slight supervision. How strong, then, are the tempta-
tions with which even true believers have to struggle, dealing,
as we do, with the entrusted goods of a God who reveals
Himself to faith and not to sight, — a faith, alas, which, amid

414 Lectures on Philippians. [ch. iv.

the attractions and distractions of sense, is not seldom dim
of vision, and which permits us often to think of Him as far
away, ' though He be not far from every one of us ! ' For
the proper use of no talent is self-denial more needed than
for that of money; because the old nature deems this its
peculiar glory, its unfailing spring of happiness. Serious and
steady consideration of duty, and severe restraint of nature's
tendencies to self-seeking, are here therefore peculiarly need-
ful ; and with respect to no department of stewardship is failure
more common among Christians. ' The deceitfulness of riches
chokes the word.'

The grand counteractive to this evil tendency is thoughtful
and prayerful contemplation of the marvels. of divine grace.
As we grow in experimental acquaintance with that ' love
which passeth knowledge,' the sense of privilege becomes
ever more prominent, in connection with every form of
worship. In this, worship with money fully shares. It
comes to be held as a joy — as that use of money which, of
all uses, yields immeasurably the greatest happiness — to give
to Him who gave Himself for us. We discern more clearly
that no claim on our wealth, itself His own gift, can by pos-
sibility be more reasonable than His who, ' though He was
rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His
poverty might be rich.' With growing spirituality, we learn
to appreciate also more accurately the necessity for liberal ex-
penditure on the work of Christ. Rejoicing in our own light
and liberty of soul, we recognise more distinctly the gloom of
the darkness, and the terribleness of the bondage, in which
sin keeps such vast multitudes of our fellows. The ear is
opened to hear, alike from the dens of ignorance and wicked-
ness in our own cities, and from the regions of heathenism and
superstition abroad, a cry for help, of intense pathos and power.

How sweetly persuasive, too, is the assurance which the apostle
has given us here of * fruit abounding to the account ' of every
one who, in sincere love, gives to the Saviour ! Liberality for

V E R. 1 8 . ] Cli ristia n L ibcrality a?id its Rcwa rd. 4 1 5

Christ is a holy priidcnrc, in wliich (hity and the highest interest
kiss each otlier. The more faithful the steward is in giving
(}od His own, the more is he laying up for himself ' a treasure
in the heavens, that faileth not.* What we spend on ourselves,
passes away from us ; what we spend for Christ, we shall find
again. Or, according to that most winning exhibition of the
case by our Lord, — to layout the 'mammon of unrighteous-
ness' in aiding our brethren, and in winning souls, is thereby
to * make to ourselves friends, who, when we fail, shall receive
us into everlasting habitations.' True and powerful friends,
assuredly. Many of them we know not, and shall never know
in this life. Yet all the richest and strongest influences of
friendship are acting for our highest good from every soul
that ever, in true Christian love, we have been privileged to
succour. As of old, so still ' the Lord sits over against the
treasury, and beholds how the people cast money into the
treasury.' Marking also the destination and the effect of all
the gifts, He sees all the ' friends ' who are * made ' thereby.
Now too, as then, the greatness of the gifts in His sight accords
not with their value in man's finance, but with the greatness
of the love and devotion from which they spring. Let the
' poor widow,' then, who, in glowing love to her Redeemer,
and profound pity for perishing souls, has cast in what men
call but a little offering, know that the offering is great in His
sight, ' an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-
pleasing to God.' And the ' friends ' she has made by her
offering help her mightily. Every prayer which rises from the
hearts of those who, by the city or foreign missionary she has
helped to support, have been turned to God, or strengthened in
holy purpose, — every aspiration of gratitude which ascends from
homes that through the influence of the gospel, proclaimed by
him, have been made happy, — will drop as a genial and refresh-
ing rain of blessing on her. And, at the last, ' when she ' faileth,'
these ' friends ' ' will receive her into everlasting habitations,' —
Jesus looking upon her with a smile of ineffable love, as He

4 1 6 Lecttcres on Philippians. [ch. iv.

welcomes her home, and says, ' Inasmuch as thou didst it
unto one of the least of these My brethren, thou didst it
unto Me.'

That this is the line in which the apostle's own thoughts are
running, is shown us by the great assurance in the 19th verse,
' But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches
in glory ^ by Christ Jesus.'* Most of the Christians in Philippi,
like most Christians in all ages, were poor. The apostle, hav-
ing occasion, in writing to the Corinthians, to speak of a former
contribution made by the church of Philippi, along with the
other churches of Macedonia, for another Christian object,
says, ' The abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty,
abounded unto the riches of their liberality.' He knew that
the same was the case with respect to the present gift. ' Now,'
says he, * for your loving ministry to my need I cannot repay
you. But my God will repay you, — He whose I am, and whom
I serve, and who looks with a Father's interest on everything
that concerns me. According to His riches i?i glory — the pleni-
tude of power, and wisdom, and grace, which constitutes His
glory, and makes Him to all His creatures the Fountain of all
blessing — He shall supply all your need, in Christ Jesus, — in
whom He has reconciled you to Himself, and regards you with
complacency and love.'

The primary reference of this promise seems to me to be
undoubtedly to supply for temporal need. This is shown by
the whole tenor of the context, and particularly by the distinct
allusion in ' all your need ' to ' my necessity,' or ' need ' (the
same word in the original), of the i6th verse. The apostle's
declaration, then, is, in substance, that through God's kind-
ness the generous Philippians will find themselves none the
poorer for their care of him. They will have proof that ' there
is that scattereth and yet increaseth,' — that, if we * seek
first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,' all other
things which are truly good for us ' shall be added unto us,' —
that * godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of

VER. 1 9.] Christian Liberality and its Reward. 4 1 7

the life that now is,' as well as *of that which is to come' But
observe, that it is our '■need' which is to be supplied, — not
every desire, which may be of mere nature. * No ^ood thing
will He withhold.'

It is clear, however, to the spiritually-minded reader, that
Paul's assurance, while pointing in the first instance to temporal
blessings, reaches — and by him, and by the Divine Spirit speak-
ing through him, was meant to reach — far beyond these. In
ministering to the apostle's physical wants, the Philippians had,
at the same time, 'supplied a need ' of his heart. It is evi-
dent from the whole tone of the Epistle that God had made
their gift a most efficient instrument of cheering His servant
amid the dispiriting influences of his imprisonment. Like need
of the Philippians, in all its length and breadth, their heavenly
Father would supply. They would find that, in the richest
sense of the word, ' the liberal soul was made fat, and he that
watered was watered also himself.' Spiritually, as well as tem-
porally, ' they were poor and needy, yet the Lord thought upon
them,' and, * according to His riches in glor}', would supply all
their need, in Christ Jesus.' Hungering and thirsting, they
would receive of their Father the bread and the water of life.
Wandering at times, in ignorance and folly, from the fold, they
would by * the Good Shepherd ' be brought back to safety and
peace. Sorrowing, they would find in Him ' the Consolation
of Israel.' Weak, they would have ever fresh experience that
He is ' the Strength of Israel.' ' There is no want to them that
fear the Lord.'

My brethren, how sublime, how imperial, is the position of
God's saints, as illustrated in Paul here ! A prisoner, in
chains, needing pecuniary aid from his friends, who themselves
are very poor, — he looks calmly up, beyond the prison, beyond
the sky, to the treasure-house of the great King, to the King
Himself, already stretching forth His hand to reward the
helpers of His servant, and this with the fulness of divine
munificence, * according to His riches in glory.' How utterly

2 D

41 8 Lectures on Philippians, [ch.iv.

insignificant the glory of earth is, or its power, in the light of
such a scene as this ! Nero can imprison this man, or behead
him ; but the prisoner can say, ' All things are mine — the world,
and life, and death, and things present, and things to come, —
all are mine, for I am Christ's, and Christ is God's.'

The sweet assurance of the 19th verse leads most naturally
into a doxology, which — also most naturally after the reference
made to the paternal care that ' supplies all the need ' of
believers — assumes the form of praise to ' God and our Father^
or rather, * our God and Father.'

The salutations are brief and comprehensive. The apostle
desires his affectionate greetings ^ in Christ Jesus'' (for these
words are probably to be taken with ' salute ') to be given to
all the members of the church. ' Every saint ' was to con-
sider himself remembered by Paul with sincere regard. * Simi-
lar kind wishes are sent also,' he adds, ' by the brethren which
are with me^ — that is, evidently, as in the 2nd verse of the ist
chapter of Galatians, those ministers who at the time were
closely associated with him, and ' labouring in the gospel '
under his direction. With the exception of Timothy, whom
the references made to him in the 2nd chapter lead us to think
of as in Rome when the Epistle was written, we cannot
definitely determine the persons meant, — for in all likelihood
the apostle's companions varied at different periods of his
imprisonment. Still further, ' all the saints ' who were aware
that Paul was writing to the church of Philippi, wished to
have their loving greetings given. Many of them might
never have seen any of the Philippian Christians, but they
knew the closeness of their relation to them in the common
Lord, and delighted to hail them as brethren. Specially affec-
tionate salutations were sent by '■them of Ccesar's household"*
who were believers. What a triumph of divine grace these
words bring before us, my friends, — the gospel, which is * the
power of God unto salvation,' known and loved in the house
of that emperor whose name has become for all generations

VER. 23.] Christian Liberality and its Reward. 4 1 9

a by-word for cruelty and universal wickedness ! The ex-
pression, ' they that are of Cxsar's household,' may designate
either kinsfolk of Nero, or servants in the palace. It is
certainly improbable that so many near relatives of the
emperor should have yielded themselves to Christ, as to be
described by this phrase ; and it seems hardly natural to sup-
pose a combination of these two classes grouped under the
one head. In all likelihood, therefore, the apostle's refer-
ence is to servants holding more or less important positions
in the imperial household, some of them, no doubt, slaves.
It is not unreasonable to think that, as Paul had been sent
to Rome because, from the jurisdiction of a provincial gover-
nor, he had ' appealed unto Ca;sar,' and consequently, while
awaiting the decision of his case, was under the charge of
the commander of the emperor's body guard, servants of the
palace might frequently have opportunities of meeting him,
and hearing his teaching. One can easily suppose, too, that
in the close intercourse with the apostle thus permitted by
their position, those of them who became * obedient to the
faith ' might hear from him more regarding the high Christian
excellence of the members of the church of Philippi, which
was so dear to him, than could be known to the saints in Rome
generally. This may account for their being * chiefly ' wishful
that the apostle would send to the Philippian brethren the
expression of their warm regards.

Paul closes the letter, according to his custom, with a solemn
and affectionate benediction, — * The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you all,' — or, according to another reading, which
has better manuscript authority, and which is found also in the
closing doxology of several of the other Epistles, * be with your
spirit,' ' May His favour be manifested to you, especially in
enriching the noblest element of your nature with His choicest
blessings, — in making you to grow in spiritual wisdom, and
energ)', and beauty, and happiness !' * Amen'

REVISED TRANSLATION

OF THE

EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

I. I Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the
saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the
2 bishops and deacons. Grace be unto you, and peace,
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

3, 4 I thank my God on all my remembrance of you, always,
in every supplication of mine for you all, presenting the

5 supplication with joy, for your fellowship with regard to

6 the gospel from the first day until now ; being confident
of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good
work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus ;

7 even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, be-
cause I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in
my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the

8 gospel ye are all partakers with me of my grace. For
God is my witness, how I long after you all in the
tender heart of Christ Jesus.

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet
ID more and more in knowledge and all discernment, so

that ye may try the things which differ, that ye may be

pure and free from stumbling against the day of Christ,

II being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which is

through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

42 2 Revised Translation of the

12 But I would have you know, brethren, that my
matters have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of

13 the gospel ; so that in all the praetorium,. and to all the

14 rest, my bonds are become manifest as in Christ, and
that the more part of the brethren, being confident in
the Lord through my bonds, are more exceedingly bold

15 to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach
Christ even for envy and strife, but some also for good

16 will. The ^ one party of love, knowing that I am set

17 for the defence of the gospel, but the other of factious-
ness proclaim Christ, not sincerely, thinking to raise up

18 galling to my bonds. What then ? Notwithstanding,
every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is
proclaimed ; and therein I rejoice, yea, and shall re-

19 joice; for I know that this shall issue to me unto salva-
tion, through your supplication and the supply of the

20 Spirit of Jesus Christ, — according to my earnest longing
and hope that in nothing I shall be put to shame, but
that in all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall
be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

21, 22 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if
I live in the flesh, this is to me fruit of labour ; and what

23 I shall choose I wot not ; but I am in a strait betwixt
the two, having my desire toward departing and being

24 with Christ, for it is better by very far ; but to abide in

25 the flesh is more needful on your account. And, being
persuaded of this, I know that I shall abide and con-
tinue with you all for your furtherance and joy in your

26 faith ; that your matter of glorying' may abound in
Christ Jesus through me, by my presence with you
again.

27 Only, live as becometh the gospel of Christ, that
whether I come and see you, or be absent, I may hear

* In the oldest manuscripts the i6th and 17th verses are found in the re-
verse order from that followed in our Authorized Version.

Epistle of Paul to the Pliilippiajis. 423

of your affairs, that ye arc standing fast in one spirit,
with one soul striving together for the faith of the

28 gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries ;
the which is to them a token of perdition, but of your

29 salvation, and this of Ciod : for unto you it hath been
given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on

30 Him, but also to suffer in His behalf, having the same
conflict as ye saw in me, and now hear of in me.

n. I \i there b(, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any
comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any

2 tender-heartedness and compassions, fill ye up my joy,
that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, with

3 united souls minding the one thing ; doing nothing ac-
cording to factiousness or vainglory, but in lowliness
of mind esteeming each other better than yourselves ;

4 looking not each on your own things, but each also on

5 the things of others. For have that mind in you, which

6 was also in Christ Jesus ; who, being in the form of
God, thought it not a prize to be on equality with God,

7 but emptied Himself, taking upon Hif?i the form of a

8 ser/ant, being made in the likeness of men ; and, being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becom-
ing obedient even unto death, yea the death of the cross ;

9 wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave Him

10 a name which is above every name, that in the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and

1 1 things on earth, and things under the earth, and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

1 2 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye always obeyed, so, not
as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and

13 trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to

1 4 will and to work, of His good pleasure. Do all things

15 without murmurings and disputings, that ye may ap-

424 Revised Translation of the

prove yourselves blameless and guileless, children of
God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and per-
verse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the

16 world, holding forth the word of life ; that I may have
matter of glorying laid up for me against the day of
Christ, that I did not run in vain, neither labour in vain.

17 Yea, and if, besides the sacrifice and service of your
faith, I be poured forth, I joy, and congratulate you all ;

18 and for the same cause do ye also joy, and congratulate
me.

19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy
shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort,

20 when I know your state. For I have no man like-

21 minded, who will truly care for your state. For all of
them seek their own, not the things which are Jesus

2 2 Christ's. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child
serveth a father, he served with me for the furtherance

23 of the gospel. Him, therefore, I hope to send imme-

24 diately on my seeing how it will go with me. But I
trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.

25 But I have thought it necessary to send to you
Epaphroditus, my brother, and fellow - labourer, and
fellow-soldier, but your messenger and minister to my

26 need ; seeing that he was longing after you all, and full
of heaviness because ye had heard that he had been

27 sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death; but
God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on
me also, that I should not have sorrow upon sorrow.

28 I have been, therefore, the more earnest to send him,
that, seeing him, ye may rejoice again, and that I my-

29 self may be the less sorrowful. Receive him, therefore,
in the Lord with all gladness ; and hold such in reputa-

30 tion ; because for the work of Christ he came nigh
unto death, having hazarded his life to supply your
lack in your service toward me.

Epistle of Paid to the Philippians, 425

III. I Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write
the same things to you, to me is not irksome, and for
you is safe.

2 Ikware of the dogs; beware of the evil workers;

3 beware of tlie concision. For wc are the circum-
cision, which worship by the Spirit of (iod, and
glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the

4 flesh ; — though I myself might have confidence in the
flesh also. If any other man thinketh that he might

5 put confidence in the flesh, I more : circumcised the
eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews ; as touching the

6 law, a Pharisee ; as touching zeal, persecuting the
church ; as touching the righteousness which is in the

7 law, having approved myself blameless. But what
things were gains to me, those for Christ I have counted

8 loss. Yea, doubtless, and I still count them all to be
loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord : for whom I suffered the loss of all,
and count them to be dung, that I may win Christ,

9 and be found in Him, not having mine own righteous-
ness, which is of the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God,

10 resting on faith ; that I may know Him, and the power
of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings,

1 1 being fashioned after the likeness of His death, — if by
any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the

1 2 dead. Not that I have already taken hold, either am
already perfected ; but I follow after, if that I may even
lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by

13 Christ. Brethren, I count not myself to have laid hold ;
but one thing, — forgetting those things which are be-
hind, and reaching forth unto those things which are

14 before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

426 Revised Trans lati07i of the

15 Let us, therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus
minded ; and, if in anything ye are otherwise minded,

16 this also God shall reveal unto you. Only, whereto we
have attained, by the same let us walk.

17 Be followers together of me, brethren, and mark them

18 which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. For
many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell
you even weeping, — the enemies of the cross of Christ ;

19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and
their glory in their shame, who mind the earthly things.

20 For our citizenship is in the heavens, from whence also

2 1 we look for the Lord Jesus Christ as a Saviour ; who
shall change the body of our humiliation, that it may be
fashioned like unto the body of His glor>', according to
the working of His power even to subdue all things

IV. r unto Himself. Wherefore, my brethren, beloved and
longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord,
beloved.

2 I beseech Euodia, and I beseech Syntyche, to be of

3 the same mind in the Lord. Yea, I entreat thee also,
true yoke-fellow, help them, seeing that they laboured
with me in the gospel, along with Clement also, and
my other fellow-workers, whose names are in the book
of life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord alway : again I will say. Rejoice.

5 Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The

6 Lord is at hand. Be anxious about nothing ; but in
everything by your prayer and your supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto

7 God : and the peace of God, which passeth all under-
standing, shall keep your hearts and your thoughts in
Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what-
soever things are seemly, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely.

Episllc of Paul to I he Philippians. 427

whatsoever things are of good report ; whatever virtue
there is, and wliatcvcr praise ; think on these things, —
9 which also ye learned and received, and heard and saw
in me. These things do, and the God of jjeace shall
be with you.

10 lUit I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at length
ye have flourished again as to your care for me ; for
which ye were also careful, but lacked opportunity.

11 Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have

12 learned, in what state I am, therein to be content. I
know both him' to be abased, — I know also how to
abound ; in all and everything I am instructed both to
be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer

13 want. I can do all things in Him which strengtheneth
me.

14 Notwithstanding, ye did well that ye had fellowship

15 with my affliction. And ye yourselves also know,
Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when
I departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship
with me as touching an account of giving and receiving,

16 but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once

1 7 and again unto my need. Not that I seek your gift, —
but I seek the fruit which aboundeth to your account.

18 But I have all things, and abound; I am full, having
received from Epaphroditus the things which were sent
from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice ac-

19 cep table, well-pleasing to God. But my God shall fully
supply all your need, according to His riches in glory,

20 in Christ Jesus. Now unto our God and Father be
the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2 1 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which

22 are with me salute you. All the saints salute you, but
especially they that are of Caesar's household.

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Amen.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TEXT.

CHAPTER I.

Ver. I. The designation SovXot 'Itto-ov XpLcrrov is, in itself,
general — applicable to all Christians : compare Rev. ii. 20,
vii. 3. Official position in the church is suggested by the
connection merely. This expression has no altogether adequate
representative in our language. As distinguished from vTrqpinq^;
and 8taxovo9, it implies absoluteness and permanence of sub-
jection. 'Bondsman,' 'bond-servant,' and the like, express
these ideas ; but bring in also the degrading associations of
slavery.

The omission of the article before cTricrKOTrots kcCl Zlokovol^
accords with a frequent usage in cases where two or more
nouns, obviously definite, are joined by conjunctions. This
usage is sufficiently accounted for by 'the tendency of col-
loquial language to unburden itself of particles which may,
without serious ambiguity, be dispensed with ' (Green's Gram-
mar of the New Tesfamefit, p. 46) ; and the naturalness of the
omission of the article in this particular class of cases is illus-
trated by the fact that our English idiom also, under the same
circumstances, often allows the omission. Compare, for ex-
ample, ^[att. X. 28, Kol \lrv)(rjv KoX (rioixa aTroXecrai, ' tO destroy
both soul and body ; ' IMatt. x. 37, 6 <f>L\Q)v Trarcpa ^ firp-epa,
* he that loveth father or mother ; ' also with plurals (as in the
place before us) ; Acts xxi. 5 ; i Pet. iii. 22.

3. The presence of the article in iroury rfj /xvcta vfxwv makes

430 The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. i. 4, 5.

it necessary to translate, not, as in our version, 'every re-
membrance of you,' but * all my remembrance of you.' *E7ri,
in the connection, means, therefore, not ' on the occasion of,'
but * on the ground of.'

4. We may construe virX^ Travrmf vfxCjv either with the
preceding or the following words, — thus, either * always, in
every prayer of mine for you all, presenting the prayer with
joy,' according to the connection adopted by our translators ;
or * always, in every prayer of mine, presenting the prayer for
you all with joy.' The former seems to me preferable. The
article with Serja-Lv might, no doubt, mean ' the prayer which
you know well I do offer for you all ;' but appears to refer more
naturally to the previous SeTJo-et, as already limited by \m\^
TrdvToiv vfxdv. Again, the course of thought requires us, ap-
parently, to give /x€Ta ;j(apas considerable emphasis, — and this,
according to the construction followed in our version, these
words have, standing at the beginning of the second half of
the clause ; while the other connection gives them a position
altogether unemphatic.

5. 'Etti here may be taken as parallel to iirl of the 3rd
verse, introducing a statement of the subject of the /xvcta there
mentioned. This connection, however, is too remote and arti-
ficial for the style of Paul. The view, obviously entertained
by our translators, that this verse is in immediate dependence
on ixera ^apas of the 4th, — with, of course, a dependence also,
but more remote, on €vxo-pL(rTu> of the 3rd, — is more natural
and satisfactory.

Kotvtuvta €t5 TO tvayyeXtov means ' fellowship unto — towards
— for the furtherance of — the gospel.' The expression is, in
itself, quite general; and there is nothing in the context to
suggest a limited reference, — rather the contrary, particularly
in the 7 th verse, which seems to be in a measure parallel to
this. Paul's thought, therefore, as it appears to me, when fully
exhibited, is this, — ' your fellowship of feeling and effort with
each other, with me, with all believers, for the advancement of

CI I. I. 3-5.] Notes on the Greek Text. 431

the Saviour's cause, — all springinp^ from fcllowshii) with Him.'
Sometimes in the New Testament, as, for example, in Kom. xv.
26, and Heb. xiii. 16, Koivuivia. denotes spccifirally one very
beautiful form in which the spirit of Christian fellowship may
display itself, namely almsgiving, * communicating' with the
need of poor brethren. Considering that the apostle had re-
cently received from the Philippians a pecuniary contribution,
and, as his warm acknowledgments in the last chapter show,
had been much gratified by their thoughtful kindness, it is
natural to think that this use of the word was in his mind
when he wrote it here. But the whole context appears to
show that, if intended at all, this reference lies in the back-
ground only.

The non-repetition of the article tt^ before cis to iiayyiXiov
is to be explained by the writer's having before his mind
KoivcDvta €t? TO cvayyikLov as otie thought^ SO that the one article
covers the whole, like the co-efficient of bracketed quantities
in algebra : Winer, Gram. § 20. 2, b. Then the specification
of time, ciTro 7rpu}Ty]<; r]fji€pa<; a^L tov vvVj IS attached tO kolvwvlo.
€is TO cvayyc'Atov without an article, because the mind very
naturally construes such a noun as KOLvwvia in the same way
as the verb KOLvuivilv, to which the adverbial expression joins
itself on directly. As Ellicott observes, too, ' the insertion of
the article would give the duration of the KOLvujvia a far greater
prominence than the apostle seems to have intended.' The
omission of the article before TrpwTT/? is in accordance with a
pretty frequent usage in the case of ordinal numerals, in which
obviously, as a rule, no ambiguity is caused by its absence :
Winer, § 19. 2, ^.

3-5. Dr. Lightfoot takes a peculiar view of the construc-
tion of this passage. Regarding /x-era x^P^is ttjv hi-qaLv iroiov-
/A€vo9 as a parenthesis, he connects the rest of the 4th verse,
and the whole of the 5th, immediately with evx^-pia-Tu). — trans-
lating thus, ' I thank my God for you all at all times, as I
think of you, whensoever I pray for you (and these prayers I

432 The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. i. 6.

offer with joy), for that you have co-operated with me,' etc.
His reasons are, that ' the stmcture of the passage is dislocated,
and its force weakened, by disconnecting clauses pointed out
so obviously as correlative by the repetition of the same word,
TTOLcrr), iravTOTc, Tracrrj, TrdvTuiv ; ' and that there is ' great awk-
wardness ' in having ev Trdo-r) Sc-qa-ei and rrjv Sirjcrcv ttoiov/xcvos
in one clause. The question seems, therefore, to be almost
wholly one of the balance and force of the sentence, read ac-
cording to the one or the other construction ; and I cannot
persuade myself that Dr. Lightfoot's is in any way preferable
to that followed in our version. The ordinary construction
seems to me very much the more simple and natural, and to
give more elegance and lightness of movement to the sentence,
with quite as much force.

6. AvTo TovTo is an accusative of reference, — ' with re-
gard to this very thing.' Often in the New Testament, in the
writings of Paul and John particularly, we find a demonstrative
pronoun placed, as here, before a clause with on, tva, or the
like, to give it special prominence : Winer, § 23. 5. The avro
added to tovto suggests a reference to something expressed or
implied in what has preceded ; compare Col. iv. 8 ; Gal. ii. 10 ;
2 Pet. i. 5. Here, I apprehend, the reference is to the subject
of the prayer spoken of in the 4th verse. The apostle is con-
tinuing his statement of the ground of his 'joy' in praying for
them, and of his gratitude to God for them ; and the course of
thought is this, — 'With joy, I say, I present my prayer for you,
being confident with regard to this very thing for which chiefly,
as you well know, I ask God on your behalf, namely that,' etc.

In ipyov dyaObv there is obviously a reference to ' the fellow-
ship for the furtherance of the gospel,' spoken of in the 5th
verse. The omission of the article shows distinctly enough,
however, as it appears to me, that the reference is not meant
to be definite and exclusive. Rather, by the general expres-
sion, ' a good work,' the apostle designates that of which the
* fellowship ' is one very beautiful fruit, — vital godliness.

CI I. I. 7, 8.] Notes on the Greek Text. 433

7. The subject of ^x"*' "^'^Y ^^ cither /ic or v/aSs. Th^
latter view is supported by Rosenmiillcr, Storr, Conybeare,
Alford, in one of his books/ and others ; and is certainly
tenable, in so far as the language merely is concerned. But
the former construction is the more natural according to the
arrangement of the words, and seems to accord better with
the line of thought, — as to which, see the lecture on the
passage.

Tlie words from Iv tc rot? Swr/i-ois to cvayytXiov may be
joined with c^ctv /xc or with v/xa? ovra?. Chrysostom, Neander,
De Wette, Meyer, Alford, and others, approve of the former
connection, regarding the words as intended to bring out still
more clearly the depth of Paul's affection for the Philippians,
seeing that even 'this condition of suffering, and the great duty
which he had to discharge in it, could not dislodge them from
his heart ' (Meyer). But the clause seems to have more rele-
vancy and force, when connected, as in our version, with v/xas

ovras.

We may regard the /aov between cnryKotvwvou? and -nj? x^ptros
as governed by x^tptro?, or take o-vyKoivwvovs as governing both
genitives, — the one of the person, the other of the thing. This
latter construction is perhaps slightly preferable. The mean-
ing then is, ' partakers with me of the grace ' which God gives
me for sufifering, and for the defence and confirmation of the
gospel.

8. ' The o-TrXayxva are properly the nobler viscera, the
heart, lungs, liver, etc., as distinguished from the ewrepa, the
lower viscera, the intestines ' (Lightfoot). As here employed,
the expression cv (nrXdyxyois is equivalent to ev rj KapSia of the
preceding verse, — only that, according to New Testament use,

^ In his Commentary, Alford says that * the context cleariy shows ' Rosen-
miiller's construction to be wrong. But in his Authorized Version Revised
(published in 1870), he renders the clause, 'because you have me in your
heart.' This may be supposed to exhibit his final judgment on the
question.

2 E

434 ^'^^ Epistle to the Philippians. [cH. i. 9.

the idea of tenderness is in this even more prominent than in
the other.

9. The clause with Iva. obviously explains the tovto, stating
the substance of the apostle's prayer. It gives us the pur-
pose and the purport of the prayer conjoined. There is
thus a manifest, but a most natural, departure from the pure
telic force of Iva. ; and there are numerous cases in the New
Testament in which the divergence from^ this original use is
much greater. See, for example, John xv. 8; Gal. v. 17.
Meyer, Alford, and others, who maintain the telic force of the
particle everywhere, are driven often to most artificial explana-
tions. Thus on the present passage Alford observes : ' There
is an ellipsis in the sense between tovto and iva, — tovto intro-
ducing the substance of the prayer, Iva its aim.^ This appears
to me wholly unnatural. Beyond doubt aim is set forth, but
involved inseparably with substance. See Winer, § 44. 8 ;
Green, p. 170, foil.

Examining the sentence contained in vers. 9-1 1, we find
that it exhibits a series of aims, each beyond the preceding,
and well marked off, through their being introduced alternately
by Lva and et?. The apostle's prayer is, in purpose and pur-
port, tva 7} ay dm] 7r€pL(r<Tev7), k.t.X. The end he has in view,
in asking this, is ct? to SoKi/xdlitv v/xag, k.t.X. Of to 8oKifxd^€Lv
the intent is tva tJtc ctAtKptvet?, k.t.X. And the grand ultimate
aim is cts ho^av Kal tTratvov 0€ov.

In the connection in which 17 dyaTn; occurs here, it is natur-
ally taken in the widest sense, — as love to God, to each other,
to the apostle, to fellow-Christians generally, to the world.
The apostle's prayer is, that in his dear Philippians this beauti-
ful grace ' may abound in ' — possess abundantly — * knowledge
and all judgment,' as her handmaids, helpers, instruments.
*E7rtyvo>ori9 is '/w// knowledge.' Lightfoot well illustrates its
force by a reference to i Cor. xiii. 12, — 'Now I know (yivwa-Ko))
in part, but then shall I know (iTnyvwa-ofiaL) even as also I
am known (cVcyvwo-^Tyv) ;' and says, ' The intensive preposi-

CI I. I. lo, II.] Notes on the Greek Text. 435

tion before yvioa-ti answers to the adjective before aUrdrjrrtL.'
AurOrja-i^ is 'discernment' or * percej)tion ' as to the practical
application of the j)rin(:iples with which iiriyvuxrifi deals. I)c
Wette excellently calls it 'moral tact.' Iltur?;, pointing to the
innumerable occasions in life for the exercise of such a faculty,
describes a delicacy of spiritual judgment ready to meet them all.

10. According to New Testament usage, 8oKi/xa^€ii' ra 8ta-
ff)€povTa may mean either 'to try the things which differ,' or
' to ai)i)rove the things which arc excellent.' Practically, in the
connection in which the words occur here, the force is the
same, the one being simply a stage leading to the other. The
former rendering, in which we have the primitive, or at least
an earlier, meaning of both words, is perhaps the more natural
and forcible.

'ATTpoo-KOTTos occurs in the New Testament in only two places
besides the present, — in Acts xxiv. 16, with the sense of 'with-
out stumbling' (equivalent to aTrraio-Tos, 'free from falling,' in
Jude 24), and in i Cor. x. 32, where it means 'not causing
stumbling' to others. In the present passage the former sense
is more accordant with the context than the latter, — influence
on others not being spoken of.

Ets r]fx€pav Xpta-Tov does not seem to mean ' //// the day of
Christ,' but ' against,' ' with a view to,' ' looking towards ' it, —
that is to say, practically, as Chrj'sostom puts it, ' that ye may
be found faultless in that day.' This force of ct? — which is
obviously closely connected with the frequent use of the pre-
position to express purpose, or is indeed but a case of that
use — is very common in the New Testament ; whilst a careful
examination will show that its use in the sense of ' till ' simply,
as in John xiii. i, is rare.

11. Kapirov — which is unquestionably the true reading,
KapTTwv, of the Received Text, having no uncial authority —
is an accusative of reference, — the exact meaning, therefore,
being, ' filled,' or ' fully stored,' ' as to fruit of righteousness.'
Col. i. 9 contains a similar construction.

43^ The Epistle to the Philippians. [cH. i. i

-7

Ai/catoo-vi/7;s may be taken as a genitive either of apposition
or of origin. The former is, perhaps, the more natural ; but
the sense is substantially the same either way, — the image,
however, being differently conceived. See the lecture on the
passage.

When, as here, So^a and cTratvo? are distinguished, the
former must be regarded as designating * the manifestation of
the divine majesty and excellence,' the latter 'its recognition
and acknowledgment ' by God's moral creatures.

13. It seems to me that u^a-n here shows us, inciden-
tally, the pure spiritual atmosphere by which all the apostle's
thinking was surrounded. Looking merely to Xhtform of what
he has said in the 12th verse, the 13th and 14th rather contain
an explanation than exhibit a result. But really uppermost in
Paul's mind, I apprehend, was the thought, — ' Through what
seemed likely to obstruct the progress of the gospel in Rome
God has graciously wrought for its furtherance, so that^ etc.

The position of cf>av€pov<s shows clearly that ev Xpto-Tw is to
be joined with //, — not with Sca-fiov?, as has been done by
our translators and others ; the meaning being ' manifest as —
or, to be — in Christ,' that is, ' as borne in fellowship with Him.'
To all who knew of the apostle's imprisonment, it was clear
that he was in bonds, not for crime in any ordinary sense, but
simply for his love to Christ and devotion to His service. By
many, doubtless, this was apprehended only in a very vague
way ; but the apostle expresses the idea in the formula, dear
and familiar to him, which states the case as it really stood,
and this with the utmost intensity and sublimity.

The precise meaning of vpaiTwpLov here is uncertain.
Originally * the tent of a general,' prcBtorium came naturally
enough to be applied to the official residence of a provincial
governor, or the palace of a king. These secondary applica-
tions are found in the New Testament ; see, for example,
John xviii. 28; Acts xxiii. 35. Our translators, with many
others, have supposed the reference in the passage before us to

CI I. I. 13.] Nolcs on tJic Greek Text, 437

be to the palace of Nero. We know from the 22nd verse of the
last chapter, that some of * Cxsar's household ' knew Paul ;
and it is reasonable to suj)pose, considering the apostle's i)Osi-
tion as a prisoner who had * appealed unto Caesar/ that, in
whatever part of Rome he lived, the servants of the palace had
specially free intercourse with him. Hut no certain instance
has been adduced from any writer, of the application of the
name pnctorium to the emperor's palace at Rome ; which, con-
sidering how frequent arc the occasions of reference to it, seems
to make it probable that that particular palace never was so
called. Most modern commentators have been of opinion
that the reference here is to the camp of the Praetorian Cohorts,
— a camp constructed for them in the immediate neighbour-
hood of the city by Tiberius. But a similar objection lies
against this view ; for there is no evidence that the camp was
ever known as the prcetoritim. But the brigade of guards itself
was unquestionably called by this name, being spoken of as
freely under the appellation of the pratorium as under that of
prcBtoriani. It seems to me therefore, on the whole, that the
word has a personal rather than a local meaning here, — ' in the
prcXtorian guard, or brigade.' To this view, which is Dr.
Lightfoot's, Hackett objects that, in this case, we might have
expected the dative without cv, as in the other clause. But
a literal English translation affords an exact analogy, — * my
bonds have become manifest (or well known) as in Christ,
— in all the regiment, and to all the rest.' The variation of
expression, with ' in ' and * to,' is perfectly natural in our lan-
guage. Equally natural is the variation in the apostle's mode
of expression, because viilitare (or merere) in prcetorio was the
phrase he heard around him every day, for * to serve in the
guard.' Lightfoot's admirable detached note exhausts the
subject. In a case like this, of some uncertainty as to the
exact meaning, it seems best in translation to retain the original
word * praetorium.'

Our translators have regarded rots Xotirots ttoo-iv as governed

43^ The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. l i 4- i 7.

by hv. This is possible, but hardly natural. It is rather, as
they have taken it in their margin, to be put in direct connec-
tion with <f>av€povs, — ' to all the rest ; ' compare 2 Cor. xiii. 2.

* To all the rest ' in Rome who knew of Paul's imprisonment,

* his bonds were manifest to be in Christ.' Bengel — referring
to I Thess. iv. 13, to which Van Hengel, who adopts his view,
adds Eph. ii. 3 — explains rot? Xolttol? as indicating unbelievers.
But this in the connection appears very far from natural.

14. "Ev Kvpto) may be joined either with twv dSeAc^wv or
with TreTTot^oras rol? Scer/xots /xov. To the former construc-
tion the non-repetition of tCjv constitutes no objection ; see
note on Koivoivia cts to evayyeXiov, ver. 5. But this combination
does not occur anywhere else in the New Testament ; whilst
ev Kv/Dt'o) is several times found with forms of TrcVot^a ; see,
for example, chap. ii. 24. Then the paradox TrcTrot^oTas rots
8eo-/xots calls for explanation, which is fully given by cv Kvpio),
— naturally placed, therefore, in the position of emphasis,
at the head of the combination. As usual, 'in the Lord' ex-
hibits the sphere or element. It was ' in Him,' ' in union with
Him,' that 'confidence in Paul's bonds' was felt. 'Bonds' here
is, obviously enough, a terse and pointed expression for all the
apostle's experience in connection with his imprisonment. The
brethren had confidence grounded on the sustaining grace
which had been granted to him abundantly in his affliction.
HiiroiOa with a simple dative, instead of iirl or ev, is found also
in Philemon 21, and (of the person) in 2 Cor. x. 7.

15. Meyer takes koL in both clauses to mean 'also;' but
it appears more natural to regard it in the first as meaning
' even,' — that is, ' strange as it may seem.'

16. 17. According to the authority of MSS.,the order in which
these verses stand in the Received Text must be reversed. Trans-
position by copyists was most natural here, to suit the order in
which the two classes of preachers are mentioned in verse 15.

We may construe i$ dyaTny? immediately with ot fxev, and
e^ ipiOiLas immediately with ot 81, with the sense of ' they that

cii. I. 1 6, 17.] Notes 071 the Greek Text. 439

are of love,' and ' they that are of factiousness,' — that is, prac-
tically, * the loving,' * the factious ;' compare Rom. ii. 8 ; Gal.
iii. 7 ; John xviii. 37. The exact meaning of such expressions
is, ' they whose starting-point, as regards effort, is love, fac-
tiousness,' or the like. Meyer, De Wette, Ellicott, and others,
adopt this construction. That followed by our translators,
however, with Lightfoot, Alford, Eadie, and others, seems
preferable, because on the former view the arrangement of the
words in the second clause is hardly natural, tov Xpurrov Karay
yikXovcTLv having the place of emphasis.

Kct/xat is regarded by Van Hengel and others as here mean-
ing ' lie in a state of suffering.' This is a classical use of the
verb ; but the sense given by our translators, ' am set,' or
* appointed,' accords better with New Testament usage and
with the context. See Luke ii. 34, i Thess. iii. 3. In this use
Kct/xat is equivalent to the perfect passive of TiO-qjju.

*Ept^€ia is not to be confounded with Ipt?, as has been done
by our translators and many other interpreters. The words are
expressly distinguished in 2 Cor. xii. 20, Gal. v. 20 ; and if
they are etymologically connected with each other at all, the
connection is only remote. *Ept^€ta is from tpiBo^^ ' a hired
servant,' and therefore means originally ' labouring for wages,'
and hence 'self-seeking, factiousness, caballing.'

Tov Xpta-Tov KarayyeWovcTLv is not necessary to the con-
struction, seeing that ol /xev and ol SI might be in apposition to
TLvh /x€v and nvh Se (taken inversely). The apostle, as Dr.
Lightfoot acutely suggests, may have repeated the ' preach
Christ,' ' to bring out the contrast between the character of the
motives of the second class of preachers and the subject of
their preaching, for there is a moral contradiction between
iptOcLa and Xpto-T05.' No special significance seems to lie in
the substitution of KarayyeXXova-t for the almost exactly synony-
mous K-qpV(T(TOV(TlV.

Lightfoot thinks that in 6\i\f/Lv eyetpar, standing in connec-
tion with Sctr/otoi?, we are to recognise an intended reference to

440 The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. i. 19.

the original meaning of OXIxf/L^, * pressure, galling.' This seems
in every way probable, and adds point to the clause.

19. The reference of tovto has been variously conceived.
It does not seem satisfactory to regard it, with Alford and
others, as pointing to the preaching of the gospel, thus
taking up again the immediately preceding ev tovtw. The
repetition of the demonstrative with the same reference is not
altogether natural, and the course of thought somewhat obscure.
Neither does the sense go smoothly, if we accept Dr. Eadie's
view that the apostle's 'joy in the preaching of Christ, from
whatever motive,' is meant. It seems to me that tovto refers to
what is actually the nearest antecedent thought, namely that,
unexpressed but obvious and prominent, at the close of the
previous verse, — *Yea, and will rejoice, though hatred to me is
the moving spring with so many^ By tovto, I apprehend, is
meant the hatred, and — the thought widening out at once
before the apostle's mind — the condition of trouble generally
in which he is placed. This, in substance, is the view of
Lightfoot, Hackett, and Conybeare.

The words used by the apostle here, tovto — o-omyptW, are the
Septuagint rendering of the first clause of Job xiii. 16. The
context there makes it not unlikely that Paul had the passage
before his mind.

Tov IIvcv/xaTos may be either a subjective or an objective
genitive, — the meaning of the whole expression being, in the
former case, *the supply which the Spirit of Jesus Christ gives j'
in the latter, * the supply which is the Spirit of Jesus Christ.'
The former seems preferable, because, as EUicott observes,
'the parallelism, "the prayers you offer — the aid the Spirit
supplies," is thus more exactly retained.'

The non-repetition of 8ia t^s before hn^o^yp/ioM shows a close
connection in the apostle's mind between the gifts of the Spirit
and the prayers of his friends. But the view of Meyer, followed
by Alford, that we should translate thus, * through your prayer
and your supply' — by that prayer — * of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,'

CI I. I. 20, 2 1.] Notes on the Greek Text. 441

is, as Ellicott clearly shows, though consistent with the construc-
tion, not necessarily recpiired by it ; and seems far from natural.

20. With regard to the force of Kara, airoKd^xihoKLavy cATrtda,
and tti(r;^vv^»/(r()^ai, sce the lecture on the passage.

As iv -traunj Trafifyrjaicf. fi€yaXvv6-q<T€TaL Xpurro?, ' Christ shall
be magnified in ' (that is, practically, ' through the manifesta-
tion of) ' all boldness,'— full boldness under all circumstances,
— is connected with 8m Oavdrov, as well as with 8ia ^ojtJs, it
appears that the apostle's thought, in reference to death, is,
primarily, of sustaining grace during his last sufferings. The
explanation of this part of the statement, in the next verse,
* To me to die is gain,' exhibits the hope, through the influence
of which, in the hour of death, as he felt well assured, Christ
would magnify Himself in him. In the expression, however,
the /io/>d passes out of view, the sublime fact itself standing
forth in prominence, 'To die is gain.' Thus the absolute
security of the Christian's hope is suggested, — and the magni-
fying of Christ through His gloriously faithful fulfilment of His
promise to His people of heavenly blessedness.

21. Schenkel, Vaughan, Lightfoot, and others, observe that
by passing from the present, ^rjv, to the aorist, a-n-oOaviLVy the
apostle intimates that it is not dying, but the resuU of death,
which is ' gain.' However true this is in itself, and however
certainly it would have been implied in the perfect tense, it
may be doubted whether it can be said strictly to be set forth
by the use of the aorist. The change of tense corresponds
naturally to the difference between the state of living and the
act of dying. Compare 2 Cor. vii. 3, cis to a-wa-KoQavCiv kox
o-w^^v. This passage Dr. Lightfoot quotes as favouring his
view of the meaning, rendering it by * to be with you in death
and in life.' But this ' to be with you in death ' is ambiguous.
Does not the apostle mean simply, * to die \vith you,' * to be
with you when dying,' rather than * to be with you when dead^
— which latter sense would be required by Dr. Lightfoot's
argument? Compare Mark xiv. 31, and Acts xxv. 11.

442 The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. i. 22-25.

22. Various constructions of this verse have been proposed.
Of these, two only seem worthy of serious examination. We
may regard the protasis as running on to ^yov, tovto simply
summing up what precedes it, and Kai, with the force of the
logical ' then,' introducing the apodosis : thus, — ' But if I live
in the flesh, (if) this is fruit of labour to me, — then what I
shall choose I wot not.' This, with some variations of detail,
has commended itself to very many commentators. The other
construction is that of our translators, and of Bengel, Peirce,
Vaughan, and others, — according to which rovro begins the
apodosis. To me the latter seems decidedly the preferable.
The only difficulty in it lies in our having to supply, in the
protasis, some such words as co-rt /xot, * be my lot.' Now,
though this ellipsis would be harsh in ordinary writing, its
occurrence in a passage like the present, which is, most obvi-
ously, one very much of musing aloud, appears not unnatural.
Granting this supplement, — all the rest of the sentence goes
smoothly enough. To the other construction the somewhat
formal use of rovro which it supposes, presents an objection,
as hardly natural in a ' musing.' The chief ground of doubt
with regard to this construction, however, lies in the sense
given to koX. No example of a precisely similar use of this
particle has been adduced from the New Testament ; and in
classical writers it seems to be poetical.

rvojpi^eti/ means 'to discern,' — or 'to make known.' In
classical writers the former sense appears to be the more
common ; but in the New Testament, in every place where
the word occurs except the present, it has the second meaning.
In its connection here, however, it cannot naturally bear any
sense but ' discern,' * see clearly.'

23. *Ek rZiv 8vo means ' in consequence of the two.'
Double comparatives, like /aoAAov Kpeicrcrovy occur in Mark

vii. 36 ; 2 Cor. vii. 13. See Winer, § 35.

25. For the construction tovto ttcttoc^ws, compare note on
ver. 6 above. Some commentators, joining 7rc7rot^o>s closely to

cii. I. 26, 27.] Notes on the Greek Text. 443

o7Sa, make toOto the object of o78a, — thus, 'of this I am con-
fidently persuaded, that,' etc. The construction adopted by
our translators appears by far the more natural.

MtVfti/ is * to stay;' napafxiyeiv, ' to stay with,' or 'at.' Having
no similar compound in English, we cannot adecjuately exhibit
the beauty of the transition, prompted by the apostle's loving
heart, from the absolute ' stay,' to the relative * stay with you.'
In I Cor. xvi. 6, Trapa/xcVciv is construed with tt^o? ; but in
Gen. xliv. ;^^j the LXX. has it with the dative, as here.

UpoKOTrrjv Kol ^apav both govern Trj<; ttiVtcws and vfxu)V, — * for
your furtherance and joy in your faith.' The force of the
genitive ttiVtcw? is not altogether the same, when looked at in
its relations to the one governing substantive and to the other ;
but the construction is quite simple and natural.

26. Our translators regarded Kavxyp-o- in many places as
equivalent to Kavxv^'-'*- ^ careful examination of the passages
in the New Testament in which it occurs, however, shows
clearly that, probably in all, certainly in almost all, it has the
sense properly belonging to a noun in -/xa, — not 'glorying,'
but ' matter, or ground, of glorying.' So here. The reference
is fully explained in the lecture on the passage.

The position of the words indicates that neither iv Xpto-rw
'Ir/o-ov nor ev ifxol is in immediate dependence on Kavx^fJ-o-, but
that both stand connected with the verb Trepta-a-evrj. 'Ev c/xot,
in whatever way the figure involved in the preposition be con-
ceived, seems to mean practically ' through me.' Compare Matt.
ix. 34; Acts iv. 9, xvii. 31; Eph. iv. 30. See Winer, § 48. a, d.
Into this use of ev here the apostle might naturally be led by
ev Xpto-Tw *lrj(rov immediately preceding. Here, as often, that
expression has obviously very much the force of ' through your
being in Christ' Now, though this sense lies in the connec-
tion rather than in the phrase itself, yet, as it seems to me,
it might to some extent lead the way into the use of ev kp.oi
with very nearly the force of 8t* kp.ov.

27. IIoAtrevecr^e means, in a general way, 'conduct your-

444 The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. i. 28, 29.

selves,' — but strictly, 'exercise your (Christian) citizenship.'
The peculiar impressiveness of this word, as addressed to the
Philippians, is illustrated in the lecture on the passage. Com-
pare Polycarp's Epistle, § 5.

In the second clause there are slight irregularities of con-
struction. Carried on according to its beginning, it would
have run thus : u/o, citc cX^wj/ Kat iSwv v/iSs, ctrc aTrcbv Kttt
oKovwi/, /xa^cu, /c.r.X, or the like. Again, for 'that I may hear
of your affairs, that ye stand fast,' we expect rather something
like, * that, as regards your affairs, I may hear this, that,' etc
Some commentators accordingly explain 71a as equivalent to
ravra ; others, as an accusative of reference, ' as regards your
affairs.' But neither is natural; and the true explanation
seems to be, that the apostle's love takes it as certain that
their spiritual state will be such as he is about to describe, —
so that to ' your affairs ' the ' that,' or ' namely that,' attaches
itself directly.

5t7;kco, as used by Paul, has the idea oi Jirfnness very pro-
minent j see I Cor. xvi. 13 ; Gal. v. i ; i Thess. iil 8.

Lightfoot, following Erasmus, regards ttiVtci as personified,
and as governed by the a-vv of o-wa^Aovvrc?, — translating thus,
' striving in concert with the faith.' The construction adopted
by our translators, according to which ttiVtci is a dative of
advantage, appears to me very much more simple and natural.
The general Pauline usage suggests that ' faith ' is probably to
be taken here as subjective, not objective.

28. The antecedent of rp-i^ is the previous clause, /x^ irrvpo-
/Acvot, k.tA., the gender being through attraction to the pre-
dicate «/8€i|ts : compare Mark xv. 16; i Tim. iii. 15. The
compound relative has here, as occasionally, something of the
force of ' since, seeing that;* compare Eph. iii. 13. On Gal.
iv. 24, EUicott has a long and very excellent note on the uses

of OO'Tl?.

29. In the aorist ixapta-Orj the apostle looks back to the first
bestowment of the boon, and refers to it simply as an historical

CH. I. 30.] Notes on the Greek Text. 445

fact. According to our idiom, however, in a case like this, the
natural translation is by the perfect, * has been given.' Com-
pare i. 6, 13 ; iv. 10.

"Yttcp XpioTov belongs to 7rJfrx<ii' ; but, a clause being inter-
jected, in a way very characteristic of the apostle's style, to
bring out with force the specialty of the grace given to the
Philippians, vizXp avrov is afterwards inserted for clearness.

30. Supposing this verse to be in close connection with the
29th, strict grammar requires the participle to be in the dative,
in agreement with vylv. Some commentators clear the con-
struction by regarding from 17x19, of the 28th verse, to the end of
the 29th, as a parenthesis. In this case e;(ovT€9,'like (rwa^A-ovvrcs
and TTTvpo'/icvot, would agree with the subject of o-ttjkctc in
ver. 27. On this view, however, the sentence is stiff and
artificial, and thus unlike the style of the apostle. It is better
to suppose an irregularity.^ Illustrations of this particular kind
of irregularity — that of using a participle in the nominative,
where strict construction would require an oblique case — are
not uncommon in Paul's writings \ compare, for example, Eph.
iv. 2 ; Col. iii. 16 ; and see Winer, § 63. I. 2.

^ Through a curious oversight, Alford (in his second edition at least),
\vhilst in his note on the passage arguing strongly against the parenthetical
construction, has the parenthesis marked in his text.

44^ The Epistle to the Philippiaiis. [ch. ii. i.

CHAPTER II.

Ver. I. napaK/\77o-i$ and TrapafivOiov are, as nearly as possible,
synonymous, — both meaning sometimes ' exhortation,' some-
times * consolation/ By some interpreters 7rapdK\r}crL<: is re-
garded as used in the present passage in the former sense, and
7rapafj.vOiov in the latter. But the climax of the appeal, * if any
bowels and mercies,' and the form of the entreaty, ' fulfil ye my
joy,' suggest, as it appears to me, that the thought of the whole
verse is this, — ' If your own experience of spiritual comfort has,
through your fellowship with the Spirit, produced in you a desire
to give comfort' 'Consolation' and 'comfort,' therefore, I think,
excellently represent the two words ; and there is no tautology,
for ' in Christ' and ' of love' give sufficiently distinct thoughts.

There is no need to limit the breadth of reference naturally
found in dyctTny?. To say, with some commentators, that it
refers specially to the love of God the Father, so that in the
first three clauses we have an allusion to each of the Persons
of the Trinity, is far-fetched. To restrict the sense, with
others, to ' brotherly-kindness,' appears, looking at the first
and third clauses, to be equally unjustified.

In the last clause, all the uncial mss. read ns instead of nva.
Green (Gram. p. 109), admitting also the form tl<s for n before
TrapafivOiov, where it has but little MS. support, says that these
readings ' seem to point to a colloquial licence, according to
which the combination €? tl<; was used as an indeclinable
particle.' A larger number of cases, it seems to me, would be
needed to justify such a view. If T15 be really the apostle's
word, it can hardly be othenvise accounted for than on the
supposition that he meant to use some singular masculine or
feminine substantive, but under some sudden impulse sub-

CH. II. 2.] Notes on the Greek Text. 447

stituted o-TrXayxva Kai otKTtp/xot' The anomaly, however, is
probably due to a blunder of some very early copyist

2. The clause introduced by Iva. may be regarded as in
apposition to xa^a.v, — the connection of thought being as if the
apostle had said, * Fulfil ye my joy, and this is my joy, that ye,'
etc. ; comp. John xvii. 3. The construction is the more
natural, too, because in the writer's mind the idea of OiXm or
TropaxaXui was SO vividly present, both of which, according to
New Testament usage, may be construed with iko. The
attempts of Meyer and Alford to make out that Iva. has here
its telic meaning, are singularly forced. See note on chap. i. 9.

2v/xi/a;xot may Stand by itself, as in our version, or may be
joined to the following words. The latter construction seems
to give more compactness and force to the sentence. By most
commentators ro cv is regarded as not differing in meaning
from TO avTo preceding, except that the expression is * stronger'
(Lightfoot and Eadie), or * affords a more rigid notion' (Green).
If this be so, then aijfjulrvxoL alone — which in this case, as it
appears to me, musl be taken as an integral part of the clause
— gives a clearly distinctive thought, preventing tautology.
If TO ev be nearly equivalent to to avro, then the best explana-
tion of the article before ev appears to be that of Green (Gram.
p. 63), that it is employed, according to a familiar use, to bring
out the abstract idea — the sense of to ev <f>povovvTi<i, therefore,
being ' minding unity.' Still it may be questioned whether this
is altogether natural. The article certainly in the first instance
suggests that some particular 'one thing,' some definite refer-
ence, is in the apostle's mind. Grotius, followed by Bishop
Middleton (in an interesting note on the passage, in the second
part of his Doctrine of the Greek Article), joins the clause with
what follows, — thus, * minding the one thing, namely doing
nothing according to factiousness,' etc. But is there any
straining in taking the reference to be to ' the advancement of
Christ's cause in themselves and others ' ? Would not any
Christian congregation, hearing, in such a connection as the

44^ The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. ii. 3-5.

words have in the passage before us, the exhortation * Mind
the one thing/ immediately and most naturally give it such a
meaning ?

3. To govern fxrjSh/j <f>povovvT€s is easily supplied from the
words of the previous clause, or, if we prefer it, iroiowTcs from
the sentiment.

The article in rrj Ta7reLvo(f>poa-vvr) may perhaps mean * that
which beseems you,' or * which I know you possess,' and may
thus be rendered by * due,' or by * your j ' but it may be simply
the mark of the abstract.

4. The KOL after aXXa assumes that, though the prohibition
in the previous clause of ' looking upon our own things' is, in
form, absolute, yet, from the nature of the case, the reader has
taken the ' not ' with the force of ' not only.' As often in the
New Testament, particularly with rules of conduct which are
opposed to the strongest of the evil tendencies of depraved
nature, the main precept is expressed in a very pointed and
startling form, peculiarly fitted to secure its being remembered
and thought over.

5. If yap belongs, as seems probable, to the true text, we
must suppose that the form in which the thought first presented
itself to the apostle's mind was, ' Look not every man on his
own things, but every man also on the things of others, for it
becomes us, as Christians, to have in us the same mind — the
same spirit of self-sacrifice — as our Lord.' This latter clause,
however, is thrown into an imperative form, — with the intro-
ductory particle retained, although, strictly speaking, not suited
to the imperative.

^pov€L(r6o), the reading of the Received Text, has some uncial
authority; but there is great preponderance in favour of <f)pov€LT€.
If we accept the latter, then there are two slight irregularities
of construction in what follows. For tv vfuVf connected with
a verb in the second person, strict grammar would require
€v vfXLv auTots, or, according to New Testament usage, iv cavrois.
Again, the regular form of the relative clause after fftpovdrt

en. II. 6.] Notes on the Greek Text. 449

would ol)viously be o kvX Xpioro? 'It/o-oC? (€<^poi/<i), — whereas
with cV X/iurrul 'h/ffou wc must supply iKftpoviiTo. It was pro-
bably to obviate these irregularities that some early copyist
substituted <f>fuiV€i(T6u) for <f)f)<)vilT€.

6. The verb vTrdp)^€Lv — in the participle at least, which is the
form mainly used by Paul — appears to differ from cTi/at chiefly
in that it calls particular attention to its predicate, as being
specially important in itself, or in the argument ; compare i
Cor. xi. 7 ; Gal. i. 14, ii. 14.

Mop<f>rj is certainly not, as was maintained by the Fathers,
equivalent to ovaia or <f>v<TLi ; * yet the possession of the fioptfirj
involves participation in the ovcrCa also, for fi.op<f>r] impHes
not the external accidents but the essential attributes ' (Light-
foot). The proof of this is given in detail by Lightfoot in a
long, admirable, conclusive detached note. See also Trench,
Synonyms of the New Testament ^ 2d series, § 20. In cV fJiop<j>rj
0€ov vTrap)(ixiv, therefore, we have the Lord's true divinity im-
plied, and, in the next verse, in fjiop(f>r]v SovXov \a(3oiv, His true
humanity.

If ap7ray/Lios here be taken, according to the ordinary sense

of nouns in -/xos, to mean ' an act of plundering,' then the

meaning of the clause is exactly as in our version, and we have

in it a continuation of the statement of our Lord's pre-incamate

glory, to intensify the effect of the subsequent mention of His

condescension. In this case, the sense of the participle

virdpxoiv, when fully exhibited, is * because He was.' If we take

ap7rayp.6<s as equivalent to ap7rayfj.a, * something carried off,

booty,' then — the phrase ap7ray/xa rjyiia-OaL, iroulcrBaL, or the

like, occurring not unfrequently in the secondary sense of * to

reckon something as a prize,' ' to set great store by ' — the force

of the clause is, ' did not regard it as a prize to be on equality

with God.' In this case the clause begins the statement of the

Saviour's condescension; and v-n-dpxoiv means ^though He was.'

The form dp7ray/i.os occurs very rarely. Only one instance has

been observed in a classical wnriter (Plutarch), and there it

2 F

450 The Epistle to the Philippians. [cH. ii. 6.

denotes the act; but ecclesiastical Tviiters have it more than
once, and their use of it is as equivalent to apTrayfia. It would
seem, therefore, that the context alone must decide what is the
meaning borne by the word here ; and, looking both at what
precedes and what follows, the second view of the meaning
seems the preferable. This passage is obviously introduced to
illustrate self-sacrificing love. We naturally therefore expect
the relative clause to have as its main statement mention of
the great act of condescending grace ; so that, had the apostle
intended to express the thought given in our version, it would
probably have been thrown into the form of a clause subordi-
nate to the relative clause, — thus, 'who, — although being in the
form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
— yet emptied Himself,' etc. Again, — ov^ before ap-nrayfxbvy and
oAAa at the beginning of the 7th verse, certainly seem to cor-
respond, as ' not the one, but the other.' Now this is the con-
nection brought out by the second view of the meaning, whilst
the first view disregards it entirely, giving aXXa the force of
dAA' o/xcos. Still further, — the emphatic position of apTrayfxov
seems more natural on the second than on the first view.
Finally, — the use of the adverbial construction rb cTvat ura 0€(3,
* to be on equality with God,' instead of to ctvat tcrov 0€<3, * to
be equal with God,' seems to accord less with ' thought it not
robbery,' than with ' thought it not a prize ; ' for the adverb
points naturally to equality in glory of manifestation, thus being
substantially equivalent to ev /xop^^ ®€ov, — a thought which
suits the second view perfectly, whilst on the other we expect
something of an advance from ' form ' to ' nature,' such as the
adjective to-ov would exhibit. On the interpretation of ov^
apTrayfxbv yjyi^a-aTo, Lightfoot has a long and excellent detached
note. On the meaning of the whole passage, nothing probably
can be found anywhere more satisfactory, for learning, exegeti-
cal acumen, and candour, than the discussion in Dr. Pye Smith's
Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, fifth edition, vol. ii. pp.
122-149.

CM. II. 7-10.] Notes 071 the Greek Text. 451

7. Aorist participles connected with a main verb in the
aorist are fre(]uently coincident in time with the main verb.
So in this verse and the next, — kaftwv meaning, not ' having
taken,' but * taking ;' and similarly with the others.

8. To the use of 8i, as in Oavdrov Si o-ravpov, with a repeated
word to which something strengthening is added, there is a
parallel in Rom. iii. 22. Its exact force is 'but further.' *Even,'
of the Authorized Version, represents it well.

9. 10. It is doubtful whether after i^^apicraTo avrta the reading
should be ovo/xa alone, or rh ovo/xo. There is weighty ms.
authority both for the insertion and for the omission of the
article. Lachmann, Meyer, Lightfoot, insert ; Tischendorf,
Alford, Ellicott, omit If the article be read, the meaning may
be, * the name, or dignity, which you all know so well.' If
this dignity must be thought of as expressed by some particular
designation, probably the name of * Lord ' is intended, — ^judging
from the manner in which that name is spoken of in the 4th
verse. Lightfoot thinks that * the divine name ' is meant, ac-
cording to the frequent use in the Old Testament of such
expressions as ' to praise, bless, fear, the name of God.' It
seems clear at least that the personal name ' Jesus,' borne by
the Lord during His humiliation, is not meant, — for the ovo/xa
here spoken of was ' given ' Him by God in His exaltation.
Had the name ' Jesus ' been meant, the words would have run,
* God granted to Him that His name should be above every
name,' or the like. As it stands, the language will not bear
this sense. Accordingly the words ev to) ovo/xart 'It^o-oO, in
which, obviously, from the connection, the same ovo/xa is
thought of as in the preceding clause, must mean, not * in the
name Jesus,' but 'in the name' — that is, in recognition of the
dignity and glor)- — '^ Jesus.' The use by the apostle here of
the name by which the Lord had been known in His lowliness
has a rich significance, which is adverted to in the lecture on
the passage. It is obvious from all this that the practice
followed by some sections of the church, and founded, no

45 2 The Epistle to the Philippians. [cH. ii. i o, 12.

doubt, on the present passage, of bowing whenever the name
' Jesus ' occurs in the pubHc prayers, is not merely a supersti-
tious deference to the letter of Scripture, but to a misunder-
standing of the letter.

10. It may be doubted (see the lecture on the passage)
whether i-n-ovpavLOJv, cTTtyctW, and Kara^^OovLuiv are masculine.
Even admitting them to be masculine, it may be doubted
whether, in what is so evidently simply a rhetorical expansion of
the conception, ' God's moral creatures everywhere,' it is neces-
sary to define particularly the various classes. If we regard
such definition as needful, — then, as it appears to me, the
apostle's reference is most naturally taken to be to angels and
'the spirits of just men made perfect,' — to men living on the
earth, — and to the devils, and the spirits of lost men. Meyer,
EUicott, and others, make the classes to be, respectively,
angels, — living men, — and dead men. But that the apostle, a
very few verses after he has told us of his full conviction that
for him ' to depart ' would be * to be wif/i Christy which is far
better,' should include departed saints in a class distinct from
the iTTovpaj/coc, — ^and this, too, in a passage where we instinc-
tively think, not of the body, but of the spirit, — seems to me
in the very highest degree improbable. Meyer's objection to
the other view, that elsewhere in Paul's writings (as in Eph.
ii. 2, vi. 12) he speaks of the evil spirits being situated other-
wise than as KaraxOovLoiy has little weight. In a passage of
this kind they are naturally spoken of in connection with their
true home, — the abyss (Luke viii. 31).

12. By some interpreters vinjKova-aTe is thought to involve
a reference to vTrqKoos of ver. 8, and therefore to mean
' obeyed God.' The distance, however, makes the reference
scarcely natural ; and, looking at the clause which follows,
' obeyed me ' seems rather to be the sense. But, of course,
this means * me, as God's ambassador.' Compare 2 Cor. ii. 9.

The use of the subjective particle of negation, fxrj, seems to
show clearly that the combination of words introduced by it

ni. II. 15, 17.] Notes on the Greek Text. 453

beloni^s to the imperative KartpydCtaOi, not, as our translators
liavc thouglit, to the indicative vTrT/Koixrarc. Compare Winer,
§55. 1, (jy remark on Kjjh. v. 15. The whole sentence gains
niucli in i)oint, too, by adopting this connection.

'iU means obviously, ^ as if you thought it right to obey in
my presence only.'

For Paul's use of ^^6^0% #cat rpofinq with some such force as

* self-distrust and strong solicitude,' compare 2 Cor. vii. 15;
Eph. vi. 5. In the Septuagint use of the combination we find
generally the full, strong, original sense of the words retained.
See, for example. Gen. ix. 2 ; Ex. xv. 16 ; Deut ii. 25.

15. As a rule, the active form KJiaLvav is used in the sense of

* to shine,' whilst <f>aLV€<T6aL means ' to appear.' Occasionally,
however, (fyaivea-OaL seems hardly to differ in meaning from
<f)aLV€Lv ; see, in the Septuagint, Isa. Ix. 2, 2 Mace xii. 9 ; and
in the New Testament, Matt xxiv. 27. The present appears
to be another case of the kind. Though the image in <}>uxrTrjp€q
is probably that of the heavenly bodies, yet <f)aLV€cr6<u can
scarcely have here, as suggested by Meyer and Ellicott, its
special use, to indicate their appearance or 7'isiftg; because,
whilst this w^ould suit the bcgiimiJig of a Christian life, it does
not seem to accord with that continued exhibition of a holy
example, of which the apostle is speaking. -Applying the
exact force of the middle voice, the meaning of the clause
is, * Ye show yourselves as light- givers.' This thought is
adequately exhibited by 'shine;' and therefore, with Alford,
I am disposed to adhere to the rendering of the Authorized
Version.

17. 'AAAa appears to refer to an unexpressed thought arising
most naturally out of tSpa/xov and eKOTrtWa, with which the
preceding sentence closed : * A running and a labouring I have
called my ministerial work, — yet think not that I have any
regret at having encountered the toil. Nay, — but if I be even
offered as a libation, I rejoice.' Thus the dAAa, while retaining
fully its adversative force, introduces a stronger statement than

454 '^^^ Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. ii. i8.

the preceding ; compare James ii. 1 8. The * yea, and ' of our
version renders it well.

Alford translates ci koL (nrevBofxou, ' if I am even being poured
out,' — ' because the danger was besetting him now, and waxing
onward to its accomplishment.' The present with ct may have
this force ; but it may simply exhibit a vivid realization of the
supposition before the mind; compare Mark xi. 26; i Cor.
vii. 9.

ntcTTecD? is governed by both Ovo-lo. and Aetroupyt'o, standing
related to the two, however, in somewhat different ways. With
the former the genitive is one of apposition, — ' the sacrifice
which consists in your faith ; ' with the latter, one of somewhat
loose connection, — ' the priestly service relating to, or con-
nected with, your faith.' By some interpreters Ova-la is taken
here for the acf of sacrificing ; but New Testament usage is in
favour of giving it the sense of the victim. "EttI seems to mean
* in addition to.' The statement of Josephus (Antiq. iii. 9. 4),
that in drink-off"erings the wine was poured around the altar,
does not present any difficulty in the way of our translating it
' upon,' because, as Dr. Lightfoot notices, the Septuagint cer-
tainly uses cVt to describe these libations ; which would be
ample authority for thus picturing the scene in a figurative
reference like the present. But it does not seem possible to
give any distinct idea to ' upon ' in connection with the second
governed substantive, ' service.'

2vyxaipo> sometimes means ' congratulate,' and such seems
to be its sense here ; for after the statement * I rejoice with
you all,' — that is, * You and I rejoice together,' — the counsel
or injunction of the i8th verse would be superfluous. Now in
' congratulation ' ' reciprocation on the part of the person
appealed to is not so much presupposed as invited ' (Light-
foot). In Luke i. 58 also the word may very well have this
meaning.

1 8. To avTo is an accusative of reference, — * with regard
to the same thing,' — that is here, practically, as our version

cji. II. 19, 20.] Notes on the Grrrk Text. 455

has it, ' for the same cause.' The phrase occurs also in Matt,
xxvii. 44 ; where its for( e sccnis to be rather, * in the same
way.'

19. Ac a[)pears to connect cAtti^oj with ei xal rr7rcV8o/xai, —
the course of thought being of this kind, ' lUit, whilst I have
spoken of speedy removal by a bloody death, as a possibility
which I must fully take into my calculations, still I hope to
have intercourse with you yet a while, — through Timothy in
the first instance, and afterwards (ver. 24) personally.' To this
connection Lightfoot objects that * the possibility of his own
death, and the intention of sending Timotheus, do not stand in
any sort of opposition.' But the possibility of his death,
speedily at least, and his * knowing their state ' through
Timothy, so as to ' be of good comfort,' — stand in a certain
opposition. And the thought of the 24th verse may naturally
be supposed to be already fully before the apostle's mind.
Lightfoot himself connects ver. 19 with ver. 12 : 'I urged
the duty of self-reliance during my absence,— >'^/ I do not
intend to leave you without guidance.' To my mind, the
distance is much too great to admit of this.

20. 'Icroi/ru;(ov is by many commentators — as Meyer, Alford,
Ellicott, Eadie — taken to mean Mike-minded with me'' (the
apostle). The opinion of Beza, Rilliet, Lightfoot, Hackett,
and others, that the sense is 'like-minded with him' (Timothy),
seems to me very much more probable. Seeing that the
apostle undoubtedly regarded Timothy as like-minded with
himself, he would certainly, I think, had he intended the
former meaning, have said, not ovSei/a alone, but ovhkva. oAAov \
just as Alford finds it needful to give in his note the rendering
' none ehe^ and De Wette, * keinen andern^ Meyer says that,
as no avro) is expressed, the * like-mindedness ' must be in
relation to the subject of the governing verb ex^- ^^'^ ^'^ ^^
connection, I apprehend, the mind much more naturally sup-
plies avTo) than aXKov.

The compound relative oorts here represents its antecedent as

456 The Epistle to the Philippiaiis. [ch. ii. 22, 2

belonging to a class marked by certain qualities, — * of that kind
who,' 'such a one as.' See Jelf's Greek Grammar, § 816. 5.

In the revised translation of the Epistle given in this volume,
yvq(Ti(ii<i has been rendered by 'truly/ This is inadequate;
but the word in this connection is difficult to translate. Tyn-
dale has 'with so pure affection.' Our translators, in their
'naturally,' seem to have intended to bring out the idea of
yfv-, the root of yi/T/o-to)?, — ' \vith the love of one who is kin in
Christ.' ' Genuinely,' which, etymologically and otherwise, is
the most exact English equivalent, they shunned, — probably
as being in their day used only in poetry. Now also, though
sufficiently common in prose, it might sound oddly in the
connection. Conybeare gives 'in earnest.' EUicott renders
verb and adverb together, ' will have a true care.'

22. In SoKi/xrj, as in the other words from the same root,
the primary sense, ' proof,' leads easily into a secondary, ' aj>-
provaL* Compare, in English, '• z. proved friend,' 'a tried friend.'
Here, therefore, the meaning may be, as in the Authorized
Version, ' the proof of him, that,' — that is, ' the proof of what
kind of man he is, afforded by the fact that;' or 'his proved
character, his approved excellence, namely, that.' Of this
latter sense of Soki/xtj there are, perhaps, instances in Rom. v. 4 ;
2 Cor. ii. 9, ix. 13.

Our translators have taken Trarpt as governed by (rvv under-
stood, the (Tvv being expressed in the second member of the
comparison, o-vv ifxoi But such a construction is found in
poetry only; see Jelf, § 650. 2. It is probable, therefore, that
there is a variation of construction in the two members, Trarpt
being governed by SovXcvci understood ; see Winer, § 50. 7.
As to the significance of this variation, see the lecture on the
passage.

23. ^E^avr^s belongs closely to w? av, k.t.X., ' immediately on
my seeing.' The form dc^tSw, for d-n-LSoi of the ordinary text,
is supported by the most ancient mss., and has been received
by the chief recent editors. Lightfoot has a list of a number

(11. II. 25-2S.] Notes on the (irec/c Text. 457

of cases in wlii( h, in this and other compounds of cKov, the
aspirate is found in the oldest authorities. There is here, no
doubt, a reUc of the digamma which the word had, and which
has its representatives in the form the root takes in other
languages, — in the 7' of the Latin viderCy and the w of the
German wisscn and English wit.

25. As Epaphroditus was evidently the bearer of the letter,
it is plain that in -riyrjadfjLrjv, and in iTr^^xpa (ver. 28), we have
cases of what is known as the epistolary aorist, — the writer
l)lacing himself in imagination at the point of time when his
letter was rautj and when consequently the thoughts and feel-
ings of the time of writing would be past ; Winer, § 40. 5, by 2.
'I'he imperfect yvy in the subordinate clause (ver. 26), is, of
course, to be explained on the same principle. In Latin, the
imperfect and perfect are similarly used in letters, the purely
formal nature of the preterite being shown by the fact that the
adverb 7iunc may be joined with the verb, whilst a real preterite
would require tunc ; for example, novi nihil nu?ic erat apud noSj
— literally, * there was at present no news with us ;' see Zumpt,
§ 503. Our idiom, in such cases, uses either the present or
the perfect. For the 'supposed' and ' sent' of the Authorized
Vernon, therefore, we must substitute either * suppose ' and
' send,' or ' have supposed ' and ' have sent.'

27. Kat yap adds something strengthening, the Kat having a
force akin to its usual ' even,' — ' for indeed, or really, he was
sick.' See Jelf, § 786, obs. 8.

For the reading of the Received Text, and the more usual
construction, tVt AvTny, the great majority of the uncial mss.
have tTrl Xvmjv. With the accusative the idea of ^notion enters,
the difference of meaning between the constructions being
merely such as may be represented by ' sorrow tipon sorrow,*
and * sorrow laid upon sorrow.'

28. HaXiv may be connected either with iSoVrc? or with
XapriTt. The latter is probably that intended by the apostle,
for he usually puts ttoAiv before the verb it belongs to. With

45 8 The Epistle to the Philippians. [cH. ii. 30.

this connection, moreover, the thought seems, perhaps, richer
and more forcible.

30. It is doubtful whether rov Xpio-rov belongs to the true
text. The mss. have a considerable variety of readings, —
XptcTTov, rov Xpto-Tov, and Kv/atov ; and one uncial, C, has no
genitive at all. It is not improbable that this last manuscript
exhibits the real state of the case, the various genitives being
glosses by copyists to fill up what seemed to them the some-
what bald 8ta TO epyov. But a similar use of to tpyov alone, for
' the work of Christ,' occurs in Acts xv. 38. Compare also to
€v in ver. 2 above, with the note.

The MSS. are divided also between Trapa/JovAcvo-a/xevos and
Trapa (3 oX€V(TdfX€vo<:, but with a great preponderance of authority
in favour of the latter. The verb -jrapa/SovXeveo-daL has the
sense of the Latin ma/e consulere^ ' to make poor provision for,'
* have little regard for,' — rrapa here, as in many compounds,
having the force of ' amiss ' — strictly, * going aside or beyond^
missing the mark. The other verb Trapa^oXeveor^at does not
occur elsewhere, but is a form which — in the same way as
7r€p7r€p€veorOaL (i Cor, xiii. 4), from TTcpTrepos, and others — may
be derived from the adjective Trapd/SoXos, 'gambling, reckless.'
Hapa(3o\€V€(r6aL, then, will mean ' to play the gambler,' — rfj
^XV^ ' ^vith his life.' * Hazard ' excellently represents the
thought, the original meaning of this word (which is probably
derived from the Latin fessera, ' a die,' through the Italian
azzardoj a corruption of a-tsar, for tessar,-do) being * a game of
chance.' Obviously, as used by the apostle, irapapoXev^crdaL
has nothing of blame in it, but simply sets forth, with much
liveliness, the utter lack of care for himself which Epaphroditus
had shown in his zeal to serve Christ by ministering to His
servant.

CI I. III. I.] Notes on the Greek Text. 459

CHATTER III.

Vkr. I. We naturally refer ra avra to the precept just given,
XOi'pcTc cv Ktpt'o*. It is true that this precept has not occurred
in the Epistle before in the same words, or in as general a
form; but, besides the injunction of chap. ii. 18, there have
been several references to spiritual joy, of a kind to impress
every thoughtful reader with the conviction that to the apostle
the cultivation of such a spirit seemed of the very highest
moment, — references, therefore, equivalent to precepts. See
chap. i. 4, 18, 25, 26 ; ii. 2, 17, 28. Some commentators have
imagined that there is an allusion to a repeated occurrence of
this precept (or of that of the second verse, with which, though
not so naturally, the clause may be connected) in some previous
and now lost letter from the apostle to the Philippians,^ or in
his oral teaching when with them. But there seems to be no
reason whatever for our going out of the Epistle itself to find
a sufficient explanation of the reference. Lightfoot objects to
making ra avra point back to yaip^rf. kv Kvpt'o), on the grounds
that ' such an injunction has no very direct bearing on the
safety of the Philippians,' and that ' its repetition could hardly
be suspected of being irksome' (grievous) * to the apostle.' To
the former of these objections the apostle himself seems to
furnish a sufficient reply in chap. iv. 7, where he says, ' The
peace of God ' — an expression which is very nearly equivalent
to 'joy in the Lord' — ^ shall keep (<^povpT^€i, "garrison")
your hearts and minds.' Neither does the second objection
appear valid, because the aposde's word oKvrjpov does not

* The idea that the apostle wrote more than one letter to this church is
supposed to find support in the Epistle of Polycarp, § 3 ; but see note on
the passage.

460 The EpistU to the Philippiatis. [cH. iii. 2, 4.

necessarily imply that the subject in his mind was in itself a
disagruable one. Looking merely at his originative power and
at his impetuosit}' of spirit, and not at his tender fatheriy care
for the training of his spiritual children, one might naturally
think that the iteration and reiterarion of any principle or
precept would be * irksome ' to him. Lightfoot supposes that
ra atTci points forward to something which the apostle was
about to say, but has not said, — his thoughts, when he had
reached this point in the letter, being through some circum-
stance diverted into a new channel. He thinks the subject on
which Paul intended to speak was probably the dissension
among certain members of the Philippian church, already
alluded to in chap, ii 1-4. That there was at the close of
the I St verse of the 3rd chapter a sudden diversion of thought,
I think highly probable (see the lecture on the passage) ; but
the ordinal}- \-iew of the reference of ra axra. seems to me
decidedly more likely than this.

2. The sense of * Beware ' is given here to /SXcjreiv with the
accusative, by the context merely. Compare, for example,
CoL iv. 1 7. BAeTTca- d-6 means ' to beware of,' ' to give heed
to, in such a way as to separate ourselves from ; ' see Mark
viiL 15, xiL 38.

4. The construction is easily explained. Kcu'-cp is regularly
construed with a participle. Had the reference of the state-
ment in the first clause of this verse been as wide as that
of the 3rd verse — namely to all believers, whether Jews or
Gentiles, — the apostle would have written KcuVcp exovre: ; but
seeing that the statement made here was true of himself, but
not of the PhiHppian Christians, he takes hiftiself out of the
whole subject ^//x^rg, retaining the participial construction, Koi-rtp

The primajy sense of the words extov ireTroL&rja-w iv a-apKL, —
* having confidence in the flesh,' — is clearly not the meaning
here ; because such a statement would be directly contradictory
of that made in the immediately preceding clause. We may.

CH. III. 4.] Notes on the Greek Text. 461

with Van Hcnf^cl, take the time of the particiijle to be past, —
or, more exactly, hold the participle to be used almost as a
substantive or an adjective, the time being given by the context
— ' though I (was once) a truster in the flesh.' Compare
hiuiKitiv in ver. 6, which apparently must be explained some-
what in this way ; see also the use of tav in John ix. 25. Or,
with Beza and others, we may regard TriTroiOr^Lv as denoting
' a ground of confidence, a right to trust,' — the apostle in this
case, as often, placing himself on the ground occupied by his
adversaries : * Supposing — what is not true — that, under any
circumstances, a man might place confidence in the flesh, then
I have ground for doing so.' In Ps. Ixx. 7, Symmachus has
7mroLdrj(TL<: in this sense, representing the Hebrew npTO. Com-
pare the use of cAttI? and x^^ i" i Thess. ii. 19. Indeed, the
use of such nouns as 'trust,' 'hope,' 'joy,' for the ground of
the feeling, is so natural, that probably in all languages it is
found to some extent. This, I apprehend, is the true explana-
tion. Most recent commentators put it aside, and content
themselves with saying that in e^wv the apostle is to be regarded
as declaring that he ' /las,' ^ possesses^ but does not * use* the
confidence. But I think Beza's sense of TmroiBr)<TLv is here
really assumed ; for, whilst ' to have, but not use, a ground of
confidence ' has a distinct meaning, I cannot see that * to have,
but not use, 3. feeling of confidence,' has any.

Having used c^wv 7r€7roi(hq<TLv in this sense, the apostle not
unnaturally, in the 2nd clause of the verse, gives ir^TroLOevai the
same or a similar sense, ' to trust (with good ground).' Even
apart from the evidence afforded by the general line of argu-
ment, the use of SokcI shows that some such meaning must
be given to TrciroLOevai. ' If any other man regards himself as
having \.\\q feeling of confidence,' would not be a natural mode
of expression ; while ' if any other man regards himself as
having a ground of confidence,' or, ' as trusting with good
ground,' is a clear and natural thought. EUicott renders, 'if
any other man deemeth that he can put confidence in the

462 The Epistle to the Philippia7is. [cH. iii. 6-10.

flesh ;' Conybeare, * if any other man thinks that he has ground
of confidence in the flesh / Alford (in his Authorized Version
Revised)^ * if any other man thinketh to trust in the flesh.'

6. On the use of the present participle Siwkwv, see in notes
on ver. 4.

7. We may take /xot in the sense which first presents itself,
— namely as a dative of advantage ; for the facts which the
apostle has enumerated were really, in his early days, great
advantages to him, as regards his prospects of worldly advance-
ment among his countrymen. Or, if we take ' gains ' as mean-
ing ' advantages with respect to standing before God,' then /aoi
will mean ' in my judgment.' According to the train of thought,
the latter appears the more probable sense.

8. It is evident from the emphatic position of rjyovfxcu, and
the unemphatic position of Travra, that the antithesis set forth
by the adversative and strengthening combination dAAa fxev ovv
is not between ravra and Travra, but between rffqjxai and
rjyovfxai. "Hyry/xat has its full force as a perfect, — describing a
past fact having some direct relation to the present time. * But
think not that the present feeling exhibited in this ^yiy/xat is, as
it were, a mere dull impression resulting from the judgment
formed on the subject long ago. Nay, but (dAAa), in truth
(/x€v), looking over the whole case (ow), I also now deliberately
reckon them all to be loss.'

10. For the use of the infinitive with the genitive of the
article before it, to express design, see Winer, § 44. 4, b ;
Green, p. 178; Jelf, § 492. 2, and § 678. 3, b. This genitive,
explained by the older scholars as governed by IvcKa or xa^iv
understood, is in truth a simple genitive of cause, — a use
according perfectly with the force of this case. By some com-
mentators rox) yvZivai avrov is regarded as co-ordinate with tva
Xptarov KcpSTJcrw, and therefore in immediate dependence on ra
iravTa ilrjfxiwOrp^, kol rjyov/xaL (TKv^aXa cTvat ; but this view of the
construction does not accord with the inartificial character of
the apostle's style. It is much more natural to take the loth

CI r. III. II.] Notes on the Greek Text, 463

verse as subordinate to the clause with i^a, exhibiting a further
object. Though Xpia-rov kcp8t/<7oj points to all the blessings
enjoyed in Christ by the believer, yet the expansion of the
thought given in the 9th verse shows tliat justification was
mainly in the apostle's mind at this jjoint. Now every
Christian — to some extent from the moment of conversion,
and ever the more as he ripens in spiritual wisdom — while
rejoicing with profoundest thankfulness in pardon and accept-
ance, as in themselves unspeakably precious, longs to have,
through the state of acceptance and the divine guidance thus
granted to him, more abundant experimental knowledge of
Christ.

The participle o-v/x/xop<^i^o/x€vo? stands in connection with
the unexpressed subject of yvtuvat ; and its being in the nomi-
native accords with the usual tendency of the Greek language
in cases where the (unexpressed) subject of an infinitive is the
same as the subject of the governing verb. For another con-
struction in a clause with -rov and the infinitive, see Rom. vii. 3.
From the course of thought, it is evident that the participial
clause stands in special connection with what im??iediately pre-
cedes it, Tov yvojvat rr\v KOLVoiVtav tujv Tra^T^/xartuv avrov ', and
that avfMfj.op<j)L^6fji€vo<; is very nearly equivalent to 8ia tov a-v/x-

fJiOp<f>L^i(T0aL.

II. For the force of c? ttw? here, see the lecture on the
passage. KaravTTJo-w may be either the future indicative, —
with which e? ttws is construed in Rom. i. 10, — or the first
aorist subjunctive. Though the subjunctive with ct is rare in
prose (see Jelf, § 854. i, obs. i; and Winer, § 41. d, 2, c) ; yet
the fact that an indisputable case occurs in the very next verse,
€t KaToXdpoj, makes it likely that we should regard the form
here also as subjunctive. Of sentences with d employed as it
is in these verses, the ultimate explanation probably is, that the
apodosis (some consequence, happy, useful, injurious, etc., as
the case may be) is suggested and loosely represented by the verb
of the main clause, as here by yvwvai and Skjjko) respectively.

464 The Epistle to the Philippians. [cH. iii. 12.

But, practically, hypothesis has passed entirely into the back-
ground in such cases, the subjunctive being employed ' as an
expression of design, to which a tone of diffidence is imparted
by its being cast in a hypothetical form' (Green).

The compound c^avao-racrt?, which occurs here only in the
New Testament, is by some regarded as having a special force,
— denoting distinctively a resurrection of the righteous prior
to that of the wicked. Thus Mr. Birks, in his Outlines of
Unfulfilled Prophecy, says that it * might be rendered " the
peculiar resurrection." ' This seems to strain the word. EUi-
cott observes that this double compound * does not appear to
have any special force, but seems only an instance of the
tendency of later Greek to adopt such forms without any
increase of meaning.'

Somewhat similarly, dvacrTa(ns (or here, c^avGurraorts) Ik v€KpQ>v,
as distinguished from dvao-rao-ts vcKpcov, is supposed to refer
specifically to the resurrection of Christ or of His people.
Such certainly is the reference of the form of expression with
€K, wherever it occurs in the New Testament. The other form
also, however, which is considerably more frequent, has the
same reference in a large proportion of instances. An in-
teresting discussion on these points is to be found in Dr.
David Brown's work on Christ's Second Coming, sixth edition,
pp. 182-187.

12. The aorist and perfect have their full distinctive force,
— ikajiov pointing back to the time of conversion, TCTcXctcoftat
referring to the apostle's subsequent life up to the time of
writing. As object to (Xa(3ov we may either, from what
precedes, supply ' the full experimental knowledge of Christ,'
or, from what follows, 'the prize' or *the goal.' The latter
seems to me the more probable. In the translation, I have
used for (Xaftov and KaTaXd^io expressions kindred to each
other, to suggest the connection. Whether this be judged
necessary or not, however, it seems clear that ' attained,' of
the Authorized Version, is an unhappy rendering, as suggesting

CH. III. 13, 14.] Notes on the Greek Text. 465

a connection with * attain ' of the previous verse, where ko.tq.v-
ryfTix) is the Greek word.

*E</)' <J may be exi)laincd in two ways. It may mean 'be-
cause,' the construction of the relative being one of attraction
for €7rt Tov'r^) oTi, * on the ground of this, \\\dX^' propterca quod;
see Rom. v. 12 ; 2 Cor. v. 4. Or, as our translators have
taken it, it may mean * for which,' referring to an omitted
TovTo, the object of KaraAa^w : with regard to the omission,
comp. Luke v. 25 ; and with regard to this force of cVt, Eph.
ii. 10; Gal. v. 13 ; and, in this very phrase <<^' (J, Phil. iv. 10.
The latter seems the probable sense here, the argument as
brought out by it appearing somewhat more compact and
forcibly expressed than on the other view of the meaning.

The Kttt before KaraXdISo) is taken by Meyer to contrast that
verb with the preceding (Xa(3ov, ' if that not Xa^w merely, but
also (or even) KaraAaySo) ; ' by Alford and Ellicott, to contrast
it with SiwKO). I am inclined to think that the view indicated
by De Wette is perhaps more probable than either, — that the
apostle, having already the great thought, KartKrjK^Stjv xrrro
Xpio-Tov, vividly before his mind, instinctively attached the koX
to KaTaXdjSu), in contrast with that as yet unexpressed thought

Kara in KaToXafxpdveLv seems to have, as often in composi-
tion, a strengthening power, giving the idea of strenuousness,
suddenness, or the like. This is prominent in a considerable
number of the instances in which the verb occurs in the New
Testament. Paul's general use of it is, as here, with reference
to such exertion as was shown by the racers in the great
games ; comp. Rom. ix. 30 ; i Cor. ix. 24.

13. Regarding tv Sk, and the image in eTrcKTctvo/xcvos, see the
lecture on the passage.

14. *Ev Xpto-Tw 'Irjarov may be joined either with StoaKw or
with kAtJo-cws. No difficulty in the way of this latter construc-
tion arises from the absence of a connecting ttJs; because to
substantives like KXrj(rL<s, in which the notion of the verb they
are derived from presents itself very prominently, adverbial

2 G

466 The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. hi. i6, 17.

combinations of words are often attached immediately, just as
to the verb itself Compare the connection of dTro irp(oT>ys
yfiepa^ with Kocvwvta, in chap. i. 5, and the note.

16. The fact that the most ancient mss., A B N, omit xavovt,
TO avTo <f>pov€LVj and that in the others there are variations in
words or order, renders it in the highest degree probable that
these words do not belong to the true text, but are a copyist's
gloss, derived from chap. ii. 2 and Gal. vi. 16. The meaning
of the words which remain is, * Nevertheless ' (or better per-
haps, *Only'), * whereto we have (now, and at any time)
attained, by the same let us walk.' With knowledge of duty,
practice is always to correspond.

On <fi$dv€iv, Ellicott remarks, — * The primary and classical
meaning of this verb (/nrvenire) appears to have been almost
entirely lost sight of in Alexandrian Greek, and to have merged
in the general meaning " venire," and, with cts, ^' pervenire." '

^TOLXiiv has the force of oro^xw/xcv, * let us walk.' This use
of the infinitive with a hortatory or imperative force is not very
uncommon in classical writers, but is somewhat rare in the
New Testament. Compare Rom. xii. 15. It ' can be used of
all three persons, as a general expression of necessity or of
something to be done' (Jelf, § 671. <r). For the exhibition of
general principles of duty, the absence of a distinct exhibition
of the idea of person renders the infinitive specially suitable ;
and in the present passage * it points out with peculiar effect
the unchanging rule for directing the Christian life ' (Winer,
§ 43- 5> ^- To govern such an infinitive, the mind instinctively
supplies xpv o^ ^"- Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, and others, trans-
late cTToixitv here, ' walk ye; ' but, with the first person (<f>6d-
<rafx€v in the relative clause, this seems exceedingly unnatural,
— and the instances of the use of the infinitive for the Jirsf
person^ cited by Jelf, in the paragraph above referred to, from
Herodotus and Sophocles, quite justify our taking it with the
same force here. So De Wette and Lightfoot.

17. To the verb o-kottcii/, 'to look at, mark,' the idea, 'for

cu. III. 18-20.] Notes on the Greek Text. 467

imitation,* is given here simply by the connection. In Rom.
xvi. 1 7, the apostle, using this same verb, says, * Mark, and
avoid.^ Compare note on the use of ftXtntLv \n the 2nd verse
of this chapter.

18. With TTfpiTraTovo-t we expect an adverb or adverbial
clause, — * wickedly,' ' in a way to prove themselves enemies
of the cross of Christ,' or the like. In his earnestness, how-
ever, the apostle hastens on into the relative clause, and takes
into it the thought which, according to exactness of composi-
tion, would have been expressed in immediate connection with
7r«/3t7raTou(rt. Storr and others give TrcpiTrarovo-i the sense of
* go about, itinerate,' — as in i Pet. v. 8 ; but this is altogether
unnatural. The word must unquestionably have the same
meaning here as in the previous verse.

19. The last clause receives a peculiar prominence through
its isolation in construction. With regard to the significance
of this, see the lecture on the passage. As to the frequent
occurrence of the nominative in participial clauses, where pro-
perly one of the oblique cases would be required, compare
note on chap. i. 30. Strictly speaking, however, as Ellicott
observes, the use of the nominative in the present passage can
hardly be called an anacoluth, but is rather ' an emphatic re-
turn to the primary construction : ' ' many walk — the minders
of earthly things.'

20. The precise meaning of Trokirev^a here is not altogether
clear. In the sense given by our translators, ' conversation,'
or ' mode of conduct,' the noun does not seem to occur, though
the verb TroXtTevW^at is used in the sense of ' to conduct one's
self;' see chap. i. 27. The thought, moreover, according to
this rendering, 'Our conversation is in heaven,' is peculiar,
and difficult to grasp with definiteness ; for this is a consider-
ably different statement from that in Col. iii. 3, *Your life
(^(o^) is hid with Christ in God,' — the reference there being
to the spring or principle of the believer's life, while ' conver-
sation' denotes daily conduct in its details. The statement

468 The Epistle to the Philipptans. [cH. iii. 20.

that this, the Christian's daily Hfe, — ^not, * is regulated, accord-
ing to the measure of his faith, by principles taught him from
heaven,' or ' by the spirit becoming one who hopes for heaven,'
but — * is in heaven * (and this with the strong word virap^i)^ is
certainly remarkable, and does not seem to have anything
very closely resembling it elsewhere in Scripture. IIoXtTcv/xa
is found not unfrequently in the sense of 'state, common-
wealth, country,' to which men belong as TroA-trat ; and this is
the meaning attached to it here by Meyer, EUicott, and others.
The sense of ' citizenship,' adopted by Wiesinger, Braune, and
others, appears to me preferable, — the express exhibition of the
relation of believers to the heavenly Jerusalem seeming to
accord more perfectly with the natural course of thought than
the simple objective exhibition of the city or country itself. It
is true that no instance has been adduced of the use of the
word in this sense, — but it is certainly a sense most naturally
suggested by the form ; and the use, in Latin, of civitas for * a
state,' or for * citizenship in a state,' and, in Greek, similarly,
of 7roXtT€ta, shows how easily one word could represent both
ideas. YLokirda occurs only twice in the New Testament, — in
Eph. iL 12, and in Acts xxii. 28 ; and in the one place it bears
the one meaning, * commonwealth,' in the other, the other,
* citizenship.' Then the idea of 'citizenship in heaven' was
one familiar to religious thinkers of various schools ; and both
Philo and the author of the Epistle to Diognetus use the verb
iroXiT€V€tr^at in this connection. It seems to me, therefore, to
be the sense which attaches itself most readily and naturally
to the substantive here.

On vTrapxit-v, see note on chap. ii. 6. No one who has at
all looked into the use of this verb will entertain any doubt
that it was always intended to bear some shade of meaning
additional to that of the simple substantive verb cTmt, though
it is difficult occasionally to determine with precision what
that shade is. In this verse the thought may be, ' is even now,
is already,' or * is, let me remind you.' On this latter use of

CH. III. 2 1.] Notes on the Greek Text. 469

W6^\iiv^ to exhibit something as new, or, at least, as probably
not obvious to readers at the moment, or not recognised by
them in its full significance, see Alford's note on Acts xvi. 20.

If TToXiTivfia be taken to mean * state, country,' then the
relative ov may agree with it as its antecedent. But, on the
other hand, whatever be the sense of TroAiVtv/i-a, i^ ov may be
looked on as simply an adverbial phrase, meaning * whence,' —
with the relative not in strict construction at all. See Winer,
§ 21. 3.

The position of a-wnjpa shows that the emphasis is on it,
the contrast being very vivid in the writer's mind between the
position of those who cherish such an expectation and that of
those previously mentioned, wv to tcXos dTrojActcu Tyndale
brings out the meaning well by his ' from whence we look for
a Saviour, even the Lord Jesus Christ.'

21. 2x^/xa and fJiop<fir} are, respectively, * fashion ' and ' form,'
— the one comparatively transient, depending on casual cir-
cumstances ; the other, the expression or manifestation of the
real nature, and thus, it may be, enduring. The distinction is
found also in the compounds. In Rom. xii. 2, — where our
Authorized Version, by using in both clauses a compound of
' form,' * conformed,' and ' transformed,' hides the distinction
entirely, — ' being in agreement with the fieeting /as/iion of this
world' {(Tva-xvH-o-TL^^o-OaL) is contrasted with * exhibiting « M^;/^^
o//i/e adequately represe?iting a change in the depths of the nature^
(fX€Taixop<f)ov(rOaL). In the verse before us the distinction is not
so obvious. The meaning, however, seems to be, as Dr Light-
foot gives it, 'will change the fashion {y.iTaa-yy)\ka.Tl(T(.i) of the
body of our humiliation, and fix it in the form {(rvfifxop(f>ov)
of the body of His glory.' Lightfoot, in a long detached
note, discusses this distinction with characteristic thorough-
ness. Trench's remarks also in his Synonyms, 2nd series, § 20,
well repay perusal.

MiTourxqi^cLTLCTiL — (rofxpiopc^ov means 'will change, so that it
shall be conformed,' the connection being accurately given by

470 The Epistle to the Fhilippians. [ch. hi. 2 r.

the words cts to ycveV^at avro, which are found in the Textus
Receptus before o-v/x)u.op<^ov, but are unquestionably a gloss.
For similar constructions, see Rom. viii. 29 ; Jas. ii. 5 ; and
compare Winer, § dd. 3.

Kara t^v evepyeiav rov SvvacrOaL avrbv is, * according tO the
exercise of His power.' On the force given by the introduc-
tion of ivipyaav, see the last paragraph of the lecture on the
passage. The form of expression with the infinitive does not
differ in meaning from Svva/txts otherwise than as setting forth,
* perhaps a little more forcibly, the enduring nature and lati-
tude of that power ' (Ellicott).

For cavTw, of the Received Text, the recent critical editions,
following the most ancient mss., read avT<S, — as in many similar
cases in the New Testament, where the reference is to the
subject of the main verb. In classical Greek cavrw would have
been necessary, just as * Himj-^^' is in English ; but in the
later Greek the forms of the simple avros were very commonly
employed instead of those strictly reflective.

•CM. IV. 2-4.] Notes on the Greek Text. 471

CHAPTER IV.

Vfr. 2. The first name in this verse, looking simply at the
form, might designate a mari^ as has been supposed by our
translators. The name Euodianus occurs occasionally, — of
which Euodias might be a shortening. Tyndale took the other
also to be a man's name, giving it as * Sintiches,' — a form for
which there seems to be no authority. But when we look at
the verse in its connection with the next, it becomes clear that
both names designate wotnen ; because for avrat? of the 3rd
verse there is no possible reference except the two persons here
named. The true forms, then, are * Euodia ' and * Syntyche,' —
both of which occur in inscriptions.

3. Failing, as has been observed in the previous note, to see
the reference of avrat? to the women mentioned in the 2nd
verse, our translators have given the pronoun the force of a
demonstrative, and thus made the apostle speak generally of
the women who had been helpful to him in his Christian work
at Philippi; whilst the real meaning is, 'Help them (Euodia
and Syntyche), seeing that they laboured.' With regard to this
force of the compound relative ocm.';^ as equivalent to the
Latin quippe qui, or utpote qui, compare chap. i. 28, with note.

Lightfoot would join /xcra koX KX-qfxa/roSy K.T.X.j with (Tv\-
Xa/x^avov, rather than with crw-qOX-qarav, — supposing that the
apostle's object is *to engage a// in the work of conciliation.*
But this does not appear natural. In particular, the clause
u)v TO. ovo/xara cv ^i/?Aa) ^oj^s would lack relevancy and point
with this connection.

4. 'Eptu (from a present ctpw, used by Homer) is always a
future in the New Testament, as in classical writers : ^wills3,y,*

therefore, — not * say,' as in the Authorized Version.

472 The Epistle to the Philippians. [CH. iv. 5-8.

5. As to the exact meaning of bndK^ia^ or to eTrtetKc?, see
Trench's Synonyms, ist series, § 43.

6. As to the distinction of meaning between izpocrf-vyj] and
Berja-L?, see Trench's Synonyms, 2nd series, § i.

7. Meyer and Lightfoot take 17 vTrcpe^ovo-a Travra vovv to
mean ' which surpasseth every counsel, or device ' (of man), as
a defence for the soul. This thought is in itself true and per-
tinent ; but a comparison of Eph. iii. 20 naturally leads one to
think it more probable that the ordinary view of the meaning
was that intended by the apostle.

The feelings having, with regard to all subjects of thought,
and especially in the sphere of morals, very great influence on
the judgment. Scripture language does not draw the sharp line
which we often do between the action of ' head ' and ' heart'
The KapBia, therefore, may be looked on as the fountain of
vorjfjLara ; compare 2 Cor. iii. 14, 15. But in the vast majority
of instances where KopSta occurs, the prominent thought in-
tended is evidently ' the seat of feeling; ' whilst etymologically,
and in ordinary use, vorjfia is * an act of the reason.* In the
place before us, as it seems to me, one naturally attaches these
meanings to the words, because the use of vfiwv with each
separately appears to require a wider distinction in the sense
than is brought out by * the KopSta and its issues.' Our version
therefore seems to give the apostle's meaning with substantial
accuracy by ' hearts and minds,' — though, for the latter,
* thoughts ' would be more exact. Meyer says that ' the refer-
ence distinctively of KopSta to feelings and will, and of vorjixara
to intellectual action, is arbitrary.' But in truth, while per-
mitted by the usage of the words, it appears to be naturally
suggested by the connection and way in which they are here
employed.

8. For the use of ct n? as practically equivalent to * what-
ever,' compare Rom. xiii. 9 and Eph. iv. 29.

Koyit^icrdcu means ' to think about ' (in a serious way) ; and
thus when, as here, moral duties are the subject, a definite aim

cii. IV. 9, lo.] Notes on the Greek Text. 473

to bring results of thought into practice is naturally implied ;
coraj)are i Cor. xiii. 5. IIprurtrcTt of ver. 9, therefore, simply
takes up what Aoyt^co-^c has already suggested, and sends it
home with energy.

9. The relative clause a kui ^/xa^rrc, k.tA., may be construed,
as by our translators, with the raOra which stands before
'jrpaa-(T€T€. Thus the whole verse is a separate sentence, co-
ordinate with the 8th. But, according to the flow of the
language, a seems to connect itself more naturally with the
Tavra preceding, — that before Xoyi^eo-^c. In this case the sen-
tence of the 8th verse is continued to cV c/iot, where a colon or
a full stop is put. This is the connection adopted by the
earher English versions. With this construction, the first koI
of the 9th verse appears to mean ' also,' rather than * both.'
Ellicott translates a koI by 'which also ;' and yet puts a colon
before the a, and a comma after c/aot, — evidently making the
Tavra of the 9th verse the antecedent to cL To me this appears
confused and unsatisfactory.

IlapaXaixfidvtLv is sometimes used as almost an exact synonym
for fiavOdv€Lv ; see Gal. i. 12; i Thess. ii. 13. But here it
evidently means * \.o accept,' as in John i. 11 ; i Cor. xv. i.

'HKovo-aTc is by Ellicott, Lightfoot, Alford, and others, taken
to mean ' heard of.* It seems to me more natural to regard
the apostle as referring in y]Kov(Ta.rf. and ciSctc respectively to
the exemplification which had been given to them of Christian
character in his speech and cotiduct, when he was among them :
* which things — ye heard and saw in me.* So Meyer. Out of
CV c/xol, which belong immediately to the last two verbs (and
with regard to this use of which compare chap. i. 30), the
mind readily supplies Trap' k\i.ov for iixdOin and TropeXa^cTc.

10. ^AvaOdWtLv is used both intransitively, 'to bloom again,'
and transitively, ' to cause to bloom again.' De Wette, Light-
foot, and others, regard it as used here transitively, — * ye revived
your interest in me.' A serious objection to this construction
is, that it seems to make the blooming of kind attention to the

474 The Epistle to the Philippians. [ch. iv. lo.

apostle dependent on the will of the Philippians ; whereas the
whole passage shows that circumstances alone had prevented
the practical expression of what had all along been in their
hearts. Supposing the verb to be intransitive, two modes of
construing the following words are possible. To virkp ifiov
<f)pov€iv may be taken together as an accusative of reference,
' as to your care for me ;' or Kjipovilv may be joined immediately
to dvc^oAerc, as governed by it in a somewhat loose way, and
TO v7r€p kfjLov be taken as the object of ^povctv, — 'ye bloomed
again to care for my interest' The latter of these construc-
tions, adopted by Bengel, Meyer, Alford, and Eadie, seems

* artificial, and contrary to the current and sequence of the
Greek' (EUicott). The only argument in its favour is that,
according to it, l<j> (S of the following clause refers with logical
propriety to to virlp Ifxov', whereas, according to the other con-
struction, it refers formally to the whole, to v-n-ep ifxov (fypovelv,
and thus we have in the relative clause this statement, eVt tw
<f)poveLv €0pov€tTe. Yet, in truth, the mind instinctively takes
out of the whole clause 'my interest' as the antecedent to

* which ;' — and a slight irregularity of construction appears
very much more accordant with Paul's style than the somewhat
stiff construction proposed.

With regard to e<^' w, * for which,' compare note on chap. iii.
12. Had the connection been with €(/)pov€rT€ alone, a simple
accusative of the object, o, might have been expected; but c<^'
w suits also rjKaipita-de. Some commentators, as Calvin and
Rilliet, to avoid the awkwardness of construction discussed in
the previous note, make <S masculine, referring to c/xov. But,
as Meyer points out, <S, in this phrase c(^' (S, is elsewhere used
by Paul only as neuter ; and, besides, it is difficult to see why
the apostle, had ifiov been the antecedent in his mind, should
have used iirl instead of simply repeating the v-n-kp of the former
clause.

Kat, ' also,* before t^povilrt^ has relation to the tense of the
verb. The apostle had expressed his joy that their care of

c 1 1. IV. 1 1, I 2.] Notes on the Greek Text. 475

him had * ncnv at last flourished again.' No sooner has he
written or dictated the words, than it occurs to him that his
statement might easily be misconstrued into one of reproach
for their conduct in the past ; and accordingly he adds, — * a
matter for which ye were careful also* before this, * but lacked
opportunity' of practically showing your affection.

1 1. Ka^* varTtprjcriv means 'in consequence of want.* For this
force of Kara, compare Matt xix. 3 ; Acts iii. 17 ; and see
Winer, § 49. ^, b. /^

For an admirable statement of the meaning of avrapKrj^, see
Barrow, Sermon xxxvii., near the beginning.

12. The second word of this verse is, according to the true
reading, koI, instead of h\ of the common text. This koX is by
Meyer, Ellicott, Eadie, and others, taken to mean ' also,' — as
serving *to annex the special instance to the more general
statement' (Ellicott). But passages such as Eph. v. 18, to
which Ellicott refers, where koX is used in the sense of * and (in
particular),' do not supply a real analogy to its use here. I
cannot think that 'also' could ever be employed to annex a
particular case to the mention of a general principle. Light-
foot's opinion appears very much more probable, — that the
apostle originally intended to write simply koX Tairuvova-Bax koI
7r€pLa(T€V€Ly, ' both to be abased and to abound,' but, after
having shaped the first part suitably to this, then interrupted
the connection by the repetition of oTSa for the sake of
emphasis. In the revised version of the Epistle given in this
volume, the irregularity is imitated.

*Ev Travrl kol ev 7ra<7t seems to be a colloquial mode of
expression, setting forth universality with liveliness, like our
English 'in each and all things,' or, 'in all and everything.'
To suppose, with our translators, Beza, and others, an ellipsis
after Travrl of tottw, or, with Chrysostom and Grotius, of ^6vi^ ;
or, with Luther and Bengel, to take hv ttqxti as meaning ' among
all men^ — is altogether arbitrary. Most of the commentators
who take kv ■kovti koX kv iraai to mean ' in all and everj-thing,*

4/6 TJie Epistle to tJie Philippians, [cH. iv. 13, 15.

construe these words with fiefivrjfiaL, — regarding the infinitives
which follow as a statement in detail of what is meant by ' all
and everything : ' * in all and everything I have been initiated,
namely/ etc. Meyer, followed by Alford, objects to this con-
nection, on the ground that the verb fivelv is nowhere found
construed \sith iv. He therefore, putting no comma after
^cfxvTjixai^ joins €v Travrlj K.T.X., with the infinitives, giving the
words the sense of 'in all circumstances.' The objection to
the ordinary connection appears ' somewhat hypercritical '
(EUicott), — the construction of /j.€fxvr]^aL with cv, though not
actually found elsewhere, being in itself simple and natural
enough.

13. Uavra is an accusative of reference, — ' I have availing
power with regard to all things.' Probably, however, the more
accurate explanation of the construction of such a verb as
ia-xy^Lv with an accusative, is that from its meaning it very
easily receives a distinct transitive notion ; thus here, ' I can
(do) all things.' Comp. Gal. v. 6; James v. 16.

15. Ets Xoyov is occasionally used in the sense of 'wnith
regard to.' Some interpreters take this to be its meaning
here. The use of Xoyos in ver. 17, however, for *an account,
reckoning,' seems to make it probable that here also, con-
nected as it is with Soo-cws koI \ij\p€<s}<:, we should give it this
sense, — the tls, by itself, meaning, as often, * with regard to.'
The reference of Boa-eoys koL Atji/^cojs has been variously ex-
plained. The most natural and satisfactory view seems to me
to be, that the same thought was in the apostle's mind which
he expresses in i Cor. ix. 11 (comp. also Rom. xv. 27), — the
thought, namely, that having received of him ' spiritual things,'
the Philippians acted reasonably and honourably in giving to
him in return of their * carnal things.' So Chrysostom, followed
by many other expositors, including, of the more recent,
Wiesinger, Schenkel, Braune, and Ellicott. There is nothing
* arbitrary ' in this explanation, as Meyer alleges ; for in con-
nection with any gift to the apostle from the members of a

CH. IV. 16-19.] Notes on Ihc Greek Text. 477

church which he had founded, their indebtedness to him could
not but be prominently before their minds, and to some extent
also before his. Neither can I a^ree with Lightfoot, that the
reference to Paul's having given the Philippians * spiritual
things ' is * plainly inappropriate.' On the contrary, it seems
to me to accord admirably with the apostle's dignity of spirit,
which shows itself conspicuously throughout the whole of this
paragraph.

16. The force of xai aTro^ Kai 8ts is 'not once only, but
tMrice.* Comp. i Thess. ii. 18.

17. To %6y.a. seems to mean, according to the connection,
* the gift (in any case of this kind),' rather than, ' the gift (in
this particular case).'

The repetition of iin^rjTw, in a passage like this, where its
use only once would have been sufficient for clearness, gives it
on its second occurrence considerable emphasis, — well brought
out by our English present with * do ; ' ' but I do seek the
fruit.'

19. By many commentators, cV 80^ is connected with ttXtj-
po)€r€L, — the meaning being variously conceived. Meyer and
Alford take the sense to be — according to the use of cv with
the same verb in Eph. v. 18 — 'shall supply your every need
with (by means of) glory.' To this the objection presents
itself, that we naturally expect here a promise relating — to a
certain extent, at least — to the present life. Alford feels this,
but does not succeed in showing clearly that the sense he
gives to the words accords >\ith this expectation. Calvin,
Rilliet, De Wette, Schenkel, Eadie, and others, suppose the
meaning to be ' in a glorious way.' But this use of the ex-
pression has hardly any parallel elsewhere ; and the statement,
so understood, does not seem altogether so full or so forcible
as Paul's style leads one to expect. Lightfoot's view, approved
by Hackett, that kv is to be taken in its ordinary local sense,
and that the whole expression TrXrjpoxTeL ev B6^ is ' a pregnant
phrase, signifying " shall supply by placing you in glory," '

478 The Epistle to the Philippians, [ch. iv. 19.

is perhaps the best, if these words are to be taken together.
But the sense thus obtained Hes under the same objection as
the view of Meyer. On the whole, it seems to me that the
construction adopted by our translators, with Grotius, Storr,
and others, is the most satisfactory. The non-repetition of
the article before ev Soiy presents no difficulty ; because, as the
verb irXovTetv is construed with ev (see i Tim. vi. i8, and
comp. I Cor. i. 5 ; 2 Cor. ix. 11), the cognate substantive also
may be connected immediately with ev, — according to the
principle illustrated in the note on Kotvwvio, d7r6 7rptor»7s ^/x-e/oas,
in chap. i. 5. To our supposing this the construction here,
however, it is objected that, as a matter of fact, the apostle
has several times elsewhere ttXovtos ttJs S6$r)<s, and never
ttXovtos ev Soiy ; see Rom. ix. 23 ; Eph. i. 18, iii. 16 ; Col. i. 27.
But to this it may be replied, that there is in the present pas-
sage, through the antithesis to xpctav, a special emphasis on
ttAovto?, such as is not found in the other places : * My God
shall fully supply your need according to His wealth.^ Now
the construction with the genitive would not have exhibited
this emphasis ; whilst that with iv obviously does.

APPENDIX.

THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE
PHILIPPIANS.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

POLYCARP was for many years pastor of the church in
Smyrna. We know but little of his history. All we
do know, however, shows him to have been a man of eminent
wisdom and excellence, who most justly exercised great influ-
ence among the Christians of his time. He was personally
acquainted, early writers tell us, with the Apostle John, and
with others who had seen the Lord ; and it is not impossible
that he already held his charge in Smyrna at the time when,
through John,) the Epistle contained in the 2nd chapter of
Revelation was addressed to the church there by the glorified
Saviour. During a persecution which broke out at Smyrna
he was arrested, and brought before the proconsul. The
magistrate said to him, * Revile Christ, and I will let thee go.'
* Eighty and six years have I served Him,' replied the man
of God, ' and He never did me \vrong. How, then, can I
blaspheme my King, who hath saved me ? ' Threats of being
thrown to wild beasts, and of being burned to death, failed to
move him ; and, in the end, he was sentenced to the stake,
and suffered martyrdom with heroic fortitude. The exact date
of his death is uncertain ; but it occurred, in all probability,
between a.d. 160 and a.d. 170.

The letter to the Christians of Philippi, of which a transla-
tion is here given, is the only extant production of this Father.
Its genuineness is supported by ample evidence, external and
internal, and is all but universally admitted.

480 Appendix,

The occasion of the letter is easily gathered from statements
made in it. The famous Ignatius, pastor of the church in
Antioch, and a dear friend of Polycarp, had been condemned
to death, and taken to Rome, there to be thrown to wild
beasts in the amphitheatre. On his way he passed through
Philippi, and was very kindly received by the brethren, and
escorted on his journey. Thus led to cherish a peculiar in-
terest in this illustrious servant of God, they wrote some time
afterwards to Polycarp, asking that he would send them copies
of any letters from Ignatius on Christian doctrine or duty,
which he, or the church of Smyrna, had ; and also that he
would himself write to them some words of counsel. With
both requests he complied. As the martyrdom of Ignatius
occurred between a.d. 107 and a.d. 116, the date of Polycarp's
letter falls almost certainly before a.d. 120; for it seems plain,
from passages in it, that it was written not very long after that
event. Taking together the 9th paragraph and the close of
the 13 th, we see that Polycarp had heard of his friend's death,
but was still only imperfectly acquainted with the closing
incidents of his life, and anxious to obtain information.

The letter is interesting, from the illustration it gives of the
piety and wisdom of Polycarp, and from the light it casts on
the condition of the church of Philippi in the age immediately
following that of the apostles. It is exceedingly valuable, too,
for the distinct evidence it affords of the early existence, and
wide circulation, of the books of the New Testament. Indis-
putable quotations are numerous ; and besides these, there are
very many touches, in sentiment and in mode of expression,
no less fitted than the direct quotations to impress a candid
reader with the conviction that the writer had passages of the
New Testament before his mind. The letter shows, also, that
Polycarp held the apostles to have been inspired men. Such
language as is employed by him in the third paragraph, —
* Neither am I, nor is any other like me, able to follow the
wisdom of the blessed and illustrious Paul, who, when he was

Epistle of Polycarp. 4^ ^

among you, taught with exactness and certainty the word con-
cerning the truth,' — seems plainly to indicate that, whilst,
perhaj)s, he had not attempted to define to himself very rigidly
what insj)iration was, yet assuredly he believed the difference
between the * wisdom ' of the apostles and that of even the
most eminent of other Christian teachers to be one not of
degree merely, but of kind. His own teaching might be helpful
to his brethren ; but the * exactness and certainty ' of Paul's
made it authoritative.

No Christian can read this simple and beautiful letter with-
out having his faith confirmed. He will see that in the age
immediately following that of the apostles, — within twenty
years from the death of the Apostle John, and ninety years
from the ascension of the Lord, — the same precious documents
to which we look for trustworthy information regarding the
facts of the Saviours life, and the doctrines of His religion,
were with fullest confidence recognised by His followers as
faithful and inspired. He will see that the same fundamental
verities on which his hope rests were the stay of theirs, — the
forgiving grace of the Father, the true Godhead of the Re-
deemer, His atoning death. His resurrection, ascension, media-
torial reign, and second coming.

EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

Polycarp, and the elders which are ^^'ith him, to the church
of God sojourning at Philippi. Mercy be multiplied to you,
and peace, from God Almighty, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ, our SaWour.

L I congratulate ^ you greatly in our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye received the ensamples of true love, and, as
became you, accompanied on their way those who were

^ Or, ' rejoice with you.' The tense in the orii;inal is the epistolary
aorist, often best rendered in our idiom by the present.

2 H

48 2 Appe7idix.

bound with the chains which adorn saints, — the which
are diadems of the true elect of God and our Lord ;
and because the firm root of your faith, spoken of from
ancient times, continueth until now, and bringeth forth
fruit unto our Lord Jesus Christ, who endured^ for our
sins even unto death : whom God raised up, * having
loosed the pains of death ; ' 2 in whom, having seen
Him not, ye believe, ' and believing rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory,' s — into which joy many
desire to enter, knowing that ' by grace ye are saved,'
' not of works,' ■* but by the will of God, through Jesus
Christ.
11. 'AVherefore, girding up your loins,' 5 serve God in
fear and truth, forsaking empty and foolish talking, and
the error of the multitude, believing in Him that raised
up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave Him
glory, and a throne at His right hand ; to whom all
things were made subject, which are in heaven and
which are on earth ; whom all breath worshippeth ;
who cometh as Judge of quick and dead ; whose blood
^ God shall require of them that believe not on Him.
Now He that raised Him up from the dead, shall raise
up us also, if we do His will, and walk in His com-
mandments, and love what things He loved, abstaining
from all unrighteousness, greediness, love of money, evil-
speaking, false witness, ' not rendering evil for evil, or
railing for railing,' ^ or blow for blow, or curse for curse,
but remembering the things which the Lord said in His
teaching, 'Judge not, that ye be not judged ;"^ For-
give, and ye shall be forgiven ; Show mercy, that mercy
may be shown to you ; ^ ' With what measure ye mete,

^ Literally, 'endured to go.' ^ Acts ii. 24. ' i Pet. i. 8.

< Ei)h. ii. 8, 9. ^ I Pet. i. 13. *^ i Pet. iii. 9, ^ Matt. vii. i.

^ These two references to the Sermon on the Mount (Luke vi. 37 ; Matt.
V. 7) are made freely, the words in the original being difierent.

J:pis//c of Polycarp. 483

it shall be measured to you again ; ' • and * Blessed are
the i)Oor,^ and they which are persecuted for righteous-
ness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of (iod.' ^

III. These things, brethren, I write to you concerning
righteousness, not having taken this charge upon my-
self, but because ye first called on me to do it. For
neither am I, nor is any other like me, able to follow
the wisdom of the blessed and illustrious Paul : who,
when he was among you, in the ])rescnce of the men
that then were, taught with exactness and certainty the
word concerning the truth ; who also, when he was
absent, wrote to you Epistles,* into the which if ye look
closely, ye will be able to be built up into the faith
given unto you, * which is the mother of us all,'^ — hope
following, love leading the way, rccn Icrcc to God and
Christ and to our neighbour. For if any one have
these within him,^ he hath fulfilled the commandment
of righteousness ; for he that hath love is far from
all sin.

IV. The love of money is the beginning of all mischiefs.
Knowing, therefore, that 'we brought nothing into this
world,' but neither have we power to ' carry anything
out,' " let us arm ourselves with the armour of righteous-
ness ; and teach ourselves, in the first place, to walk in

' Matt. vii. 2. "^ Luke vi. 20. ^ Matt. v. 10.

* Polycarp's reference in the nth paragraph to 'the beginning of his
(Paul's) EpistW seems to show clearly that he knew of only one letter of
the apostle to the Philippians, — that which has come down to us. The
word ' Epistles,' in the place before us, was used by him, perhaps, through
some doubt whether they might not have received others, though he knew
of only one. The likelihood is, however, that the plural is only a rhetorical
roundness of expression, the singular being really meant. There is abun-
dant evidence that the Greeks often used Xthttokcli with reference merely to
one letter. See Lightfoot's Commentary on Philippians, p. 138.

' An evident quotation from Gal. iv. 26, somewhat quaintly applied.

^ Or, ' be within these.' The reading is doubtful.

^ I Tim. vi. 7.

484 Appendix.

the commandment of the Lord ; then your wives also
to 7valk in the faith and love and purity given to them,
loving their own husbands with all truth, and cherishing
affection to all others equally, with all self-restraint ; and
let ns teach ourselves^ to train our children with the
training of the fear of God.

Let the widows be discreet with regard to the faith of
the Lord, making intercession without ceasing for all
men, being far from all slander, evil -speaking, false
witness, love of money, and every evil thing, knowing
that they are an altar of God,^ and that He looketh
into all things, and nothing is hid from Him, neither of
reasonings nor of thoughts, nor any of the secrets of the
V. heart. Knowing, then, that 'God is not mocked,'^ we
ought to walk worthily of His commandment and glory.

Likewise let the deacons be blameless in the presence
of His righteousness, as servants* of God and Christ,
and not of men, — not slanderers, not double-tongued,
not lovers of money, temperate with regard to all things,
compassionate, careful, walking according to the truth
of the Lord, who became the servant of all : whom if
we please in the world which now is, we shall receive
also the world to come, according as He promised us
to raise us up from the dead, and that, if we have a
conversation worthy of Him,* we ' shall also reign with
Him,' ^ — if we believe.

' Or the supplement may be, ' let us teach our wives,'

2 Evidently a variation of Paul's figure, ' Ye are the temple of the living
God ' (2 Cor. vi. 16). ' Gal. vi. 7.

* Strictly 'deacons,' the original word from which 'deacon ' is derived
meaning 'servant.'

'" There seems to be a reference here to Phil. i. 27, the peculiar word
meaning strictly * to live as citizens ' being employed in both. It is not
imj)robable, as Dr. Lightfoot suggests, that, in the connection in which
Polycarp here places the word, he intended this thought to come out dis-
tinctly : thus, ' If wc live as citizens in a way worthy of Him, we shall ly
and by be XvV/^o with Him.' " 2 Tim. ii. 12.

Epistle of Poly carp, 48 5

Likewise also let the younger men be blameless in
all things, caring before everything for purity, and
reining themselves in from every evil. For it is good
to cut ourselves off from the lusts which are in the
world; because every lust warrcth against the Spirit,
and * neither fornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of
God;'^ neither they that do perversely. Wherefore it
is needful to abstain from all these things, submitting
yourselves to the elders and deacons, as to God and
Christ.

Let the virgins walk in a blameless and pure con-
science.
VL And let the elders ^ also be compassionate, merciful
towards all, turning back those that have been led
astray, visiting all the sick, neglecting no widow, or
orphan, or person in poverty, but providing always for
what is seemly before God and men ; keeping them-
selves from all anger, respect of persons, unrighteous
judgment ; being far removed from all love of money ;
not hastily believing rcil against any one ; not harsh in
judgment, knowing that we are all sinners.' If, there-
fore, we pray the Lord to forgive us, we ought also to
forgive ; for we are before the eyes of our Lord and
God, and 'must all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ,' and 'every one give account of himself.'* Let

' I Cor. vi. 9, 10.

2 It will be observed that not the slightest evidence presents itself in this
letter, of any approach in the constitution of the church at Philippi towards
prelatical episcopacy. The office-bearers in Polycarp's days were still, as
in Paul's (Phil. i. i), 'the bishops' — otherwise called 'elders' — 'and
deacons.'

=* Literally, * debtors of sin.' Compare Luke xiii. 4, in the original, and
the parallel in ver. 2. Taking this expression here along with the first
clause of the next sentence, we cannot fail to see a reference by Polycarp
to Matt. vi. 12.

* Rom. xiv. 10, 12.

4S6 Appendix,

us, therefore, so serve Him with fear and all reverence,
as He Himself commanded, — and the apostles who
preached the gospel unto us, and the prophets who
announced beforehand the coming of our Lord ; zealous
for what is good, keeping ourselves from the stumbling-
blocks, and the false brethren, and those that carry about
on their lips the name of the Lord in hypocrisy, who
VH. lead away vain men. For every one ' that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,' is an anti-
Christ;^ and whosoever confesseth not the testimony
of the cross is of the devil ; and whosoever perverteth
the oracles of the Lord according to his own lusts, and
saith that there is neither resurrection nor judgment,
this is the first-born of Satan. Wherefore, leaving the
vanity of the multitude, and their false teachings, let us
turn to the word which hath been handed down to us
from the beginning ; ' watching unto prayer/ ^ and per-
severing in fastings ; in supplications asking God, who
seeth all things, to ' lead us not into temptation : ' ^ as
saith the Lord, ' The spirit indeed is wilHng, but the
flesh is weak.' 4
VIIL Let us, then, without ceasing, cleave to our Hope, and
to the Earnest of our righteousness, which is Christ
Jesus, — ' who bare our sins in His own body to the
tree,' ^ — 'who did no sin, neither was guile found in
His mouth,' ^ but endured all things for us, 'that we
might live in Him.' "^ Let us therefore be imitators of
His patience ; and if we suffer for His name, let us
glorify Him ; for in Himself He set us this example, —
and we have believed this.

' I John iv. 3.

* I Pet. iv. 7. This quotation is made freely, a different word being
used for * prayer. '

^ Matt. vi. 13. ■• Matt. xxvi. 41. ^ I Pet. ii. 24.

• I Pet. ii. 22. ' I John iv. 9.

Epistle of Poly car p. 487

IX. I beseech you all, therefore, to obey the word of right-
eousness, and to practise all patience, which ye have
also seen ' sd forth before your eyes, not only in the
blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus,* but also in
others, some of your own number, and in Paul himself
and the rest of the apostles ; being fully persuaded that
all these * did not run in vain,'3 but in faith and right-
eousness, and that they are gone to the place due to
them, to be with the Lord, with whom also they suffered,
— for they loved not the present world, but Him who
died for us, and for our sakes was raised up by God.
X. Stand * fast therefore in these things, and follow the
example of the Lord ; firm and unchangeable in faith,
' lovers of the brotherhood,'^ * kindly affectioned one
to another,' « joined together in the truth, displaying to
one another the gentleness of the Lord, despising no
one. When ye can do good, defer it not, for * alms
doth deliver from death.'' * All of you be subject one
to another,' ^ * having your conversation irreproachable
among the Gentiles,'^ — that from your good works both
yo. yourselves may receive praise, and the Lord may not

'Or, according to Jacobson's text, an imperative, — 'which also see.'
This seems unnatural. The sounds of £< and < have often been confounded
by the transcribers of Greek MSS. In the case of this very word ulin or
lli-i, see illustrations in Phil. i. 30 ; James v. ii.

- Of the latter two martyrs nothing is known. From the connection in
which their names occur here, we may infer that they were taken to Rome
to suffer along with Ignatius.

3 Phil. ii. 16.

* From this point to the end of the Epistle, the original Greek is not
extant, except in the larger part of the 13th paragraph, which has been
preserved by the ecclesiastical historian Eusebius, Here, therefore, we
are obliged to follow an old Latin version. In this part, of course, we can-
not feel so certain regarding the exact wording of references to the New
Testament, as in the earlier portion.

^ I Pet. ii. 17. ^ Rom. xii. 10.

" This is a quotation from the apocrj-phal Book of Tobit, iv. lo, xii. 9.

** I Pet. V. 5. ' I Pet. ii. 12.

488 Appendix.

be blasphemed among you. But woe to him through
whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed ! There-
fore teach all men sobriety, in which live also yourselves.
XI. I have been grieved exceedingly for Valens, who was
once made an elder among you ; ^ because he is so
ignorant of the place which was given to him. I advise,
therefore, that ye keep yourselves from covetousness ;
and be chaste and truthful. Keep yourselves from all evil.
But he who cannot govern himself in these things, how
doth he declare this duty unto another ? If any one
have not kept himself from covetousness, he will be
defiled with idolatry,^ and judged as if among the
heathen. But who of you are ignorant of the judgment
of the Lord ? ' Do we not know that the saints shall
judge the world ?'^ as Paul teacheth. But I have per-
ceived or heard of no such thing in you, among whom
the blessed Paul laboured ; who dj^ praised^ in the be-
ginning of his Epistle. For he glorieth of you in all the
churches which alone at that time knew God, — but we ^
did not yet know Him. I am greatly grieved there-
fore, brethren, for Valens,^ and for his wife, — to whom
the Lord grant true repentance ! Be ye also, therefore,
sober-minded in this matter ; and do not think of such
as enemies, but call them back, as weak and erring
members, that ye may save the body of you all. For,

^ Valens and his wife, it would seem, had given some very distressing
evidences of avarice, of which Polycarp had heard. This fact probably
accounts for the emphasis laid by him, throughout the letter, on the need-
fulness of shunning this vice. He says, however, a little below, that, so
far as he knew, the case of Valens was exceptional among the Philippian
Christians.

'' An evident reference to Col. iii. 5.

"* I Cor, vi. 2.

* Some such word as ' praised ' has, no doubt, been accidentally omitted
by a copyist of the version.

^ The people of Smyrna.

" * Him' in the version.

Jipisllc of Polycarp, 489

XII. doing this, ye build yourselves up. For I have confi-
dence that ye are well versed in the Holy Scriptures,
and nothing is hid from you ; and it is not my ])art to
try to build you up} Only, as it is said in these
Scriptures, * Be ye angry, and sin not,' and * Let not the
sun go down upon your wrath.' • lilessed is he who
remembereth this, which I believe ye do.

Now the Ciod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the Eternal Priest Himself, Jesus Christ the Son
of God, build you up in f:iith and truth, and in all
gentleness and freedom from wrath, and in patience and
long-suffering and endurance and chastity ; and give you
* lot and part'^ among His saints, — and to us with you,
and to all who are under heaven, that shall believe in
our Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Father, who raised
Him from the dead 1

Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings, and
authorities, and princes ; and for them that persecute
and hate you ; and for 'the enemies of the cross,' ^ that
your fruit may be manifest among all,^ — that ye may
be perfect in Him.
XHL Ye wrote to me, and Ignatius also, that if any one went
from haice into Syria, he should take also the letter from
you f which I will see to, if I obtain an opportunity, —

^ The text of the Latin version appears to be corrupt here. By the
supplement given above, however, — in accordance with a suggestion of
Jacobson, — the sense runs smoothly.

- The former of these precepts occurs in Ps. iv. 4 (as given in the Septua-
gint and Vulgate), and also in Eph. iv. 26, — where alone the second pre-
cept is found. The mode of citation shows d.stinctly, whether we regard
both as quoted from the Epistle to the Ephesians, or the one from Psalms,
that Polycarj-), and the Philippians, to whom he wrote, held the books of
the New Testament to belong, in the fullest serse, to the 'Holy Scriptures.'

' Acts viii. 21. * Phil. iii. iS.

* Or, 'in all things.'

• The reference seems to be to a letter addressed to the church of Antioch,
and forwarded through Polycarp.

490 Appendix,

either in person, or by one whom I shall send to act
also as your deputy.

The letters of Ignatius — those which were sent to us
by him, and others, as many as we have with us — we
send to you, as ye desired ; the which are subjoined
to this letter. And from them ye will be able to obtain
much help ; for they treat of faith and patience, and
all upbuilding as concemeth our Lord.

Regarding Ignatius himself also, and those that were
with him,^ make ye known to me what ye have learned
with any certainty.
XIV. These things I write to you by Crescens, whom up
to the present day I have commended to you, and now
commend, for he hath lived with us free from blame ;
as, I believe, likewise with you. Moreover, ye will
hold his sister commended when she cometh to you.
Be ye safe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with
you all. Amen !

' The Latin version has a present tense here, qtii cum eo sunt ; but, no
doubt, this is a mistranslation of Polycarp's tuv ahv ccItu. We see from the
9th paragraph that he knew of Ignatius's death.

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