{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_39788/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_39788","id":"gutenberg_39788","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39788","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Philippians -- Commentaries","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Colin Bell, Julia Neufeld and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nText enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\nSmall capital text has been replaced with all capitals.\n\nVariations in spelling have been preserved except in obvious cases of\ntypographical error. Hyphenation is inconsistent.\n\nPage 331: The transcriber has supplied the word \"a\"--\"who has not made\nit a matter of personal study\".\n\n\n\n\n  THE EPISTLE\n  TO THE\n  PHILIPPIANS\n\n  BY\n  ROBERT RAINY, D.D.\n  PRINCIPAL OF NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH\n\n\n  NEW YORK:\n  FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY,\n  LAFAYETTE PLACE.\n  1900.\n\n\n\n\nPREFATORY NOTE.\n\n\nNot much need be said by way of preface, in addition to what is\nsuggested in the introductory chapter.\n\nIt may be observed, however, that the Apostle's teaching repeatedly\ntouches on the question, How the problem of practical human life on this\nearth is to be conceived and dealt with under the light and the\ninfluences of Christianity? The thought occurred that some expository\npassages might be superseded by an appendix summing up in one view the\nprinciples conceived to underlie the Apostle's way of dealing with such\ntopics, which could be referred to on each separate occasion: and such a\nstatement was prepared. It was, however, finally judged more suitable to\nthe nature of an exposition to keep as close as possible to the\nApostle's turn of thought in each of the cases in which he approaches\nthe subject, rather than to try to secure brevity by a more summary\ntreatment.\n\nA few sentences have been transferred from a lecture on the Apostle\nPaul, published some years ago.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n  CHAPTER I.\n                                                     PAGE\n\n  INTRODUCTORY: THE SALUTATION                          3\n\n  CHAPTER II.\n\n  THE APOSTLE'S MIND ABOUT THE PHILIPPIANS             19\n\n  CHAPTER III.\n\n  HOW THE PHILIPPIANS SHOULD THINK OF PAUL AT ROME     45\n\n  CHAPTER IV.\n\n  THE CHOICE BETWEEN LIVING AND DYING                  65\n\n  CHAPTER V.\n\n  UNDAUNTED AND UNITED STEADFASTNESS                   77\n\n  CHAPTER VI.\n\n  THE MIND OF CHRIST                                   95\n\n  CHAPTER VII.\n\n  THE MIND OF CHRIST (_continued_)                    111\n\n  CHAPTER VIII.\n\n  WORKING AND SHINING                                 131\n  CHAPTER IX.\n\n  TIMOTHY AND EPAPHRODITUS                            157\n\n  CHAPTER X.\n\n  NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH                          171\n\n  CHAPTER XI.\n\n  THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST                             199\n\n  CHAPTER XII.\n\n  THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH                          217\n\n  CHAPTER XIII.\n\n  RESURRECTION LIFE AND DAILY DYING                   237\n\n  CHAPTER XIV.\n\n  CHRISTIAN LIFE A RACE                               259\n\n  CHAPTER XV.\n\n  ENEMIES OF THE CROSS                                281\n\n  CHAPTER XVI.\n\n  OUR CITY AND OUR COMING KING                        299\n\n  CHAPTER XVII.\n\n  PEACE AND JOY                                       317\n\n  CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n  THE THINGS TO FIX UPON                              337\n\n  CHAPTER XIX.\n\n  GIFTS AND SACRIFICES                                353\n\n\n\n\n_INTRODUCTORY. THE SALUTATION._\n\n     \"Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in\n     Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:\n     Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus\n     Christ.\"--PHIL. i. 1, 2 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER 1.\n\n_INTRODUCTORY. THE SALUTATION._\n\n\nThe sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles contains the account\nof the Apostle Paul's first intercourse with the Philippians, and of the\n\"beginning of the gospel\" there. The date may be fixed as A.D. 51. After\nthe council at Jerusalem (Acts xv.), and after the dissension between\nPaul and Barnabas (ver. 39), the Apostle of the Gentiles, accompanied by\nSilas, took his journey through Syria and Cilicia. \"Confirming the\nChurches,\" he went over a good deal of ground which he had traversed\nbefore. At Lystra he assumed Timothy as an additional companion and\nassistant; and he passed on, guided in a very special manner by the Holy\nSpirit, until he arrived at Troas. Here a Divine warning, in a dream,\ndetermined him to break ground in a new field. The little company, to\nwhich Luke was now added, passed on to Macedonia, and, having landed at\nNeapolis, where they do not seem to have made any stay or found any\nopportunity of preaching, they came to Philippi. This therefore was the\nfirst city in Europe in which, so far as we have any distinct\nintimation, the gospel of the grace of God was declared.\n\nPhilippi was a city of some importance, and had the position and\nprivileges of a Roman colony. It was situated in a fruitful district,\nwas near to gold mines, and was also near enough to the sea to serve as\na dep\u00f4t for a good deal of Asiatic commerce.\n\nIt is hardly necessary to remind readers of the Scripture how Lydia and\nothers received the word; how the preachers were followed by the damsel\nwith the spirit of divination; how, when that damsel had been silenced\nby Paul, her masters raised a tumult against Paul and Silas, and got\nthem scourged and cast into prison; how the earthquake, which followed\nduring the night, resulted in the conversion of the jailor, and in Paul\nand Silas being sent forth from the city with honour. Perhaps Luke and\nTimothy remained behind at Philippi, and continued to edify the\nbelievers. At any rate, Paul himself had by this time continued there\n\"many days.\" Two short visits of the Apostle to Philippi at a subsequent\ntime are known to us (Acts xx. 2, 6).\n\nThe Church thus founded proved to be an interesting one, for it\npossessed much of the simplicity and earnestness of true Christianity.\nBoth in the Epistles to the Corinthians and in this Epistle, the\nPhilippians are singled out, above all Churches, for their cordiality of\nfeeling towards the Apostle who had brought to them the knowledge of the\ntruth. They made liberal contributions for the furtherance of his work\nin other regions, beginning shortly after he left Philippi, and\nrepeating them from time to time afterwards. They seem to have been\nremarkably free from some of the defects incidental to those early\nChurches, and to the Churches at all periods. The Apostle's\ncommendations of them are peculiarly warm and glowing; and scarcely\nanything had to be noticed in the way of special warning, except a\ntendency to disagreement among some of their members. It does not appear\nthat there was any great number of Jews at Philippi, and we find no\ntrace of a synagogue. This may account in some measure for their freedom\nfrom the Judaising tendency: for we find the Philippians exhorted,\nindeed, to beware of that evil, but not reprehended as if it had taken\nany strong hold among them. On the other hand, they seem to have\nremained in a good measure free from evils to which Gentile Churches\nwere most exposed, and which, at Corinth for example, produced much that\nwas disheartening and perplexing.\n\nEleven years, probably, had now passed since Paul had brought to\nPhilippi the knowledge of Christ Jesus. During that time he had\nundergone many vicissitudes, and now he had been for some time a\nprisoner at Rome. Probably he had already written the Epistles to the\nEphesians, the Colossians, and to Philemon. Comparing these with our\nEpistle, we may conclude that his prospects as a prisoner had not\nimproved, but rather darkened, since the date of those letters. At this\ntime, then, Epaphroditus arrived, apparently after a dangerous journey,\nbearing with him a supply for the Apostle's wants, bringing tidings of\nthe state of the Philippian Church, and assuring him of their sympathy\nand their prayers on his behalf. It is no wonder that, in these\ncircumstances, the Epistle bears marks of having been written by the\nApostle with a special flow of tenderness and of affection.\n\nThe scope of the letter may be briefly stated. After the usual\ninscription and salutation, the Apostle expresses (as he does so often\nin his Epistles) his thankfulness for what the Philippians had attained,\nand his desire that they might grow to yet higher things. He goes on to\ntell them how matters stood with himself, and opens up, as to those whom\nhe reckons trusted friends, the manner in which his mind was exercised\nunder these providences. Returning to the Philippians, and aiming at\nthis, that they and he might have growing fellowship in all Christian\ngrace, he goes on to set before them Christ, specially in His lowliness\nand self-sacrifice. This is the grand end; attainment to His likeness is\nwork for all their lives. Paul sets forth how earnestly his heart is set\non this object, and what means he is taking to advance it. After a brief\ndigression relating to his circumstances and theirs, he returns again to\nthe same point. In order that defects may be removed, dangers avoided,\nprogress made, Christ must be their joy, their trust, their aim, their\nvery life. They, like the Apostle himself, must press on, never content\ntill the consummate salvation is attained (iii. 21). If this should be\nso, his desires for them would be fulfilled. So he closes (iv. 2) with\ndirections rising out of this central view, and with renewed expression\nof the comfort he had derived from their affectionate remembrance. Their\ngoodwill to the cause in which his life was spent, and to himself, had\ncheered his heart. And he took it as God's blessing to him and to them.\n\nSuch is a brief outline of the course of thought. But the Epistle, while\nperfect in the unity of its feeling and of its point of view, is\nremarkable for the way in which it alternates between matters proper to\nthe Philippians, including the instruction Paul saw fit to impress upon\nthem, and matters personal to himself. The Apostle seems to feel sure of\naffectionate sympathy in both regions, and in both equally; therefore in\nboth his heart utters itself without difficulty and without restraint.\nCh. i. 3-11, i. 27--ii. 16, iii. 1--iv. 9, are occupied with the one\ntheme, and i. 12-26, ii. 17-30, iv. 10-21, with the other. In short,\nmore than any other Epistle, if we except, perhaps, that to Philemon,\nthe Epistle to the Philippians has the character of an outpouring. The\nofficial aims and obligations of the Christian instructor are fused, as\nit were, in the glowing affection of the personal friend. He is sure of\nhis place in the hearts of his correspondents, and he knows how glad\nthey will be to be assured of the place they hold in his.\n\nLet us now attend to the inscription and salutation. Those who send the\nEpistle are Paul and Timothy. Yet plainly we are not to regard it as a\njoint Epistle proceeding from both equally; for it is Paul who speaks\nthroughout, in his own name and by his own authority. Timothy only\njoins, as Sosthenes and Silas do in other cases, in heartily commending\nto the Church at Philippi whatever the Epistle contains. As there was\nharmony between the two labourers when they laid the foundation at\nPhilippi, so there is also in the building up. Timothy is joined in the\nlove and care; but the authority is Paul's. Both alike are called\n\"servants of Jesus Christ\"; for to this Church no further commendation\nand no rehearsal of a special right to speak and teach are needed. And\nyet, to understanding hearts, what commendation could be more weighty?\nIf these two men are called and allowed by Christ to be His servants, if\nthey are loyal and faithful servants, if they come on an errand on which\nChrist has sent them, if they deliver His message and do His work, what\nmore need be said? This is honour and authority enough--to be, in our\ndegree, Christ's servants. But the word is stronger: it means\nbondservants, or slaves,--such as are the master's property, or are at\nhis absolute disposal. So Paul felt; for we are not to reckon this to\nbe, on his part, a mere phrase. Already, in this word, we recognise the\nsense of entire consecration to his Master and Lord; in which, as we\nshall see, he felt he could count upon the hearty sympathy of his\nPhilippian friends.\n\nThose who are addressed are, in the first place, \"all the saints in\nChrist Jesus who are at Philippi.\" The saints, or holy ones, is a common\nexpression in the Scriptures. The word \"sanctify\" is applied both to\npersons and to things. Bible-readers will have noticed that the term\nseems to vibrate or vacillate between two meanings,--signifying on the\none hand the production of personal intrinsic holiness, and on the other\nmerely consecration, or setting apart of anything to God's service. Now\nthe connection of both meanings will appear, if we mark how both meet in\nthe word as it is applied to the children of God. For such are\nseparated, set apart for God from sin and from the world; not, however,\nby a mere outward destination, devoting them to a certain use and\nservice, but by an internal hallowing, which makes the man really in his\ninward nature holy, fit for God's service and God's fellowship. This is\ndone by the regeneration of the Spirit, and by His indwelling\nthereafter. Hence, to distinguish this consecration from the mere\noutward ceremonial sanctification, which was so temporary and shadowy,\nwe find the Apostle Peter (i. 2) saying that God's children are chosen\n\"by sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the\nblood of Jesus.\" For the ancient Israel was sanctified to obedience in\nanother manner (Exod. xxiv. 6).\n\nNow because this real consecration takes place when we are grafted into\nChrist by faith, because the Spirit comes to us and abides in us as the\nSpirit of Christ, because whatever the Spirit does, as our Sanctifier,\nhas its rise from Christ's redeeming work, because He unites us to\nChrist and enables us to cleave to Christ and hold fellowship with Him,\ntherefore those who are thus sanctified are called saints _in_ Jesus\nChrist. It is the Spirit who sanctifies; but He does so inasmuch as He\nroots us _in_ Christ and builds us up in Christ. Therefore saints are\nsanctified _by_, or _of_, the Spirit; but they are sanctified (or holy)\n_in_ Christ Jesus.\n\nThis expression, \"saints,\" or some phrase that is equivalent, occurs\ncommonly in the Epistles as the designation of the parties addressed.\nAnd two things are to be observed in connection with it. _First_, when\nthe Apostle addresses \"all the saints,\" in any Epistle, he is not\nshutting out any professed members of the Church, any professed\nbelievers in the Lord. He never speaks at the outset of an Epistle as if\nhe meant to make deliberate distinction between two several classes of\nmembers of the Church: as who should say, \"I write now to some part of\nthe Church, viz., the saints; as for the rest, I do not now address\nthem.\" Hence we find the term used as equivalent to the Church--\"to the\nChurch of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all\nAchaia,\" and again \"to them ... that are called to be saints.\" We shall\nsee presently the lesson which this is fitted to teach. But, _secondly_,\non the other hand, the Apostle's use of the word makes it clear that he\nuses it in the full sense which we have explained, of a real saintship.\nHe does not restrain the sense to some merely external saintship, as if\nhis meaning were \"professing Christians whether they are real or not.\"\nThe word stands, in the inscriptions, as equivalent to \"sanctified in\nChrist Jesus,\" \"faithful in Christ Jesus,\" \"beloved of God\"; or as in 2\nPeter i., \"them that have obtained like precious faith with us,\" and in\n1 Peter, \"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God unto obedience.\"\nThus then we are to take it:--The Apostle wrote to the visible, or the\nprofessed and accepted followers of the Lord, on the understanding that\nthey were what they professed to be. He was not to question it: he\nassumed that they were saints of God, for to profess the faith of Christ\nis to claim that character. He rejoiced to hope that it would prove to\nbe so, and gladly took note of everything which tended to assure him\nthat their holiness was real. He proclaims to them, in the character of\nsaints, the privileges and the obligations that pertain to saints. It\nwas the business of every man to look well to the reality of his faith,\nand to try the grounds on which he took his place with those addressed\nas beloved of God and called to be saints. There might be some who had\nbut a name to live (2 Cor. xiii. 5). If so, it was not the Apostle's\npart, writing to the Church, to allow that possibility to confuse or\nlower the style of his address to Christ's Church. He wrote to all the\nsaints in Christ Jesus who were at Philippi.\n\nThis is evident from the strain of all the Pauline Epistles, and it is\nimportant to observe it and apply it. Otherwise we shall readily fall\ninto this way of reasoning,--\"Since there must have been some in these\nChurches who were only nominally and not really believers, the word\n_saints_ must include such; therefore it can imply only an outward\nseparation of men, apart from any determination of their inward state.\"\nIf we do so, then everything the Apostle says to saints, their standing,\ntheir privileges, their obligations, and their hopes, will come to be\nstrained and lowered in the interpretation, so as to mean only that such\nprivileges and blessings are somehow attainable, and if attained may\nalso on certain terms be secured. The interpretation of the Apostle's\nteaching on these subjects will, in short, be what it _must_ be, if it\nis taken to apply at once, in his intention, to those who are indeed\nsaints and to those who are not. This line, in point of fact, has been\ntaken, in the interpretation of the Epistles, so as to resolve\neverything the Apostle says about the eternal life of saved men, as\nactually theirs, from their election downwards, into a mere matter of\noutward privileges. This view, no doubt, involves a straining of plain\nwords. Yet it will always seem to force itself upon us, unless we hold\nfast (what is indeed demonstrably true) that when the Apostle speaks to\nsaints, he says what should be said to those who are indeed saints, and\non the understanding that those whom he addresses are such.\n\nIn like manner, on the other side, we have a lesson to learn from the\nunhesitating way in which the Apostle writes to the saints, and sends\nthe letter to the members of a Christian Church as the parties\nintended. He may have some things to reprehend; he may even have to\nexpress fears, when things have gone amiss, that some in the Church may\nyet prove to be no saints. Yet writing to the Church, he writes to\nsaints. Let us learn from this what those lay claim to who become\nmembers of Christ's Church, and what responsibilities they take on. They\nclaim, in Christ, the salvation which makes men saints--_i.e._, persons\nset apart under the influence of the Holy Spirit to enjoy Christ's\nforgiveness and to walk in His ways. Christ does this for us, if He does\na Saviour's work. It is a thing incongruous, a thing, in the Apostle's\nview, not to be taken for granted, that any one shall hold his place in\nChrist's Church who is worldly, earthly, unholy. There may be such, but\nPaul will not assume it; he will not measure the Christianity of\nChrist's Church by any such standard. Neither will he go about to\ndetermine whether perhaps it is so or not in the case of any who are\nprofessing Christ in the ordinary way. _If_ any have entered Christ's\nChurch who are content to continue in worldliness and sin, not seeking\nin Christ the grace which saves, that is solely their own personal sin,\nand in it they lie unto the Lord. But not for that will the Apostle come\ndown to speak to Christ's Church as if it should be thought of as a\ncompany to which holy and unholy may equally well belong. If any be\nthere who are in no vital sense saints, their intrusion will not hinder\nPaul from speaking to the Church of God in its own proper character and\naccording to its calling.\n\nBut let it be remarked at the same time, that this same fact shows us\nthat the Apostle was wont to judge of men and Churches charitably; yes,\nwith a very large charity. We may be very sure that there was a good\ndeal in all those Churches, and a great deal in some, that needed to be\njudged charitably. They were not all clear, eminent, conspicuous saints;\nso far from that, there might well be some whole Churches in which\nsaintship was, so far as man's inspection could perceive, faint and\nquestionable. But the Apostle was far from thinking of shutting out the\nman whose faith was weak, whose attainments were small, whose regard to\nChrist was but a struggling and germinating thing. Far from being\ndisposed to shut him out, no doubt the Apostle's whole desire was to\nshut such an one in, among the saints in Jesus Christ.\n\nTo be accepted in the Beloved, to be sanctified in Christ Jesus, is a\nvery great thing. No less than this great thing Christ offers, and no\nless we humbly claim in faith. Also it is no less than this that Christ\nbestows on those who come to Him. Let Christians, on the one hand, look\nto Christ, as able and willing to do no less than this even for them; on\nthe other hand, let them look to themselves, that they neither deceive\nthemselves with false pretences, nor trifle idly with so great a gospel.\nAnd in the case of others, let hasty and needless adverse judgments be\navoided. Let us be glad to think that Christ may see His own, where our\ndim sight can find but scanty tokens of His work.\n\nAlong with the saints the letter specifies, in particular, the bishops\nand deacons. The former were the officers who took the oversight, as the\nword implies; the deacons those who rendered service, especially in the\nChurch's outward and pecuniary concerns. These two standing orders are\nrecognised by the Apostle. It is obvious that this does not suggest\ndiocesan Episcopacy, for that implies three orders, the highest being a\nsingle bishop, to the exclusion of others assuming the office in that\nplace.\n\nIt is more important to observe that the Epistle is not directed to the\nbishops primarily, or as if they were entitled to come between the\npeople and the message. It is directed to all the saints. To them the\nEpistle, to them all the Scriptures belong, as their own inheritance,\nwhich no man may take from them. In so far as the bishops and deacons\nare distinguished from other saints, the Scriptures pertain to them that\nthey may learn their own duty, and also may help the people in the use\nand enjoyment of that which is already theirs.\n\nNow follows the salutation--Grace be unto you and peace. This is the\nordinary salutation, varied and amplified in a few of the Epistles. It\nmay be said to express the sum of all Christian well-being in this life.\n\nGrace is, first of all, the word which expresses the free favour of God,\nmanifested towards the unworthy in Christ Jesus. But it is further\nextended in meaning to that which is the fruit of this favour, to the\nprinciples and dispositions in the mind which result from grace, which\nrecognise grace, which in their nature correspond to the nature of\ngrace. In this sense it is said \"grow in grace.\" Peace is the\nwell-grounded tranquillity and sense of well-being which arises from the\nsight of God's grace in Christ, from faith in it, and experience of it.\nGrace and peace are the forerunners of glory. That is a blessed company\nto which so great a fulness of good is commended, as ordinarily theirs.\n\nAnd from whom is this good expected to proceed? From God our Father and\nthe Lord Jesus Christ. The Father who loved us, the Son who charged\nHimself with the burden of our salvation, impart a grace and a peace\nfragrant with that Divine love and charged with the efficacy of that\nblessed mediation. If any one wonders why the Holy Spirit is left out, a\nreason may be given for it. For if we look to the substance of the\nblessings, what are this grace and peace but the Holy Spirit Himself\ndwelling in us, revealing to us the Father and the Son from whom He\ncomes, and enabling us to continue in the Son and in the Father?\n\n\n\n\n_THE APOSTLE'S MIND ABOUT THE PHILIPPIANS._\n\n     \"I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always in every\n     supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication\n     with joy, for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the\n     first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that He\n     which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of\n     Jesus Christ: even as it is right for me to be thus minded on\n     behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as,\n     both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel,\n     ye all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how I\n     long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. And this\n     I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge\n     and all discernment; so that ye may approve the things that are\n     excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day\n     of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are\n     through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.\"--PHIL. i.\n     3-11 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n_THE APOSTLE'S MIND ABOUT THE PHILIPPIANS._\n\n\nAfter the salutation, the first thing in the Epistle is a warm utterance\nof the feelings and the desires which Paul habitually cherishes in\nrelation to his converts at Philippi. This is expressed vv. 3-11.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNote the course of thought. In ver. 3 he declares his thankfulness and\nin ver. 4 his prayerfulness on their behalf; and he puts these two\ntogether, without as yet saying why he thanks and what he prays for. He\nputs them together, because he would mark that with him these are not\ntwo separate things; but his prayer is thankful, and his thankfulness is\nprayerful; and then, having so much to be thankful for, his prayers\nbecame, also, joyful. The reason why, he presently explains more\nparticularly. For, ver. 5, he had to thank God, joyfully, for their\nfellowship in the gospel in the past; and then, ver. 6, knowing to what\nthis pointed forward, he could pray joyfully--that is, with joyful\nexpectation for the future. And thus he prepares the way for telling\nwhat special things he was led to pray for; but first he interposes\nvv. 7 and 8, to vindicate, as it were, the right he had to feel so warm\nand deep an interest in his Philippian friends. The matter of his prayer\nfollows in vv. 9-11.\n\nFirst he thanks God for grace bestowed upon the Philippians. As often as\nhe remembered them, as often as he lifted up his heart in prayer to make\nrequest for them, he was cheered with the feeling that he could make\nrequest joyfully--_i.e._, he could rejoice over mercies already given.\nWe know that the Apostle, in his letters to the Churches, is found\nalways ready to evince the same spirit; he is prompt to pour out his\nthanks for anything attained by those Churches, either in gifts or\ngrace. We find it so in his letters to the Churches of Corinth and\nEphesus and Coloss\u00e6 and Thessalonica. He does this, always, in a full\nand hearty way. He evidently counted it both duty and privilege to take\nnote of what God had wrought, and to show that he prized it. Like John,\nhe had no greater joy than to hear that his children walked in the\ntruth; and he gave the glory of it to God in thanksgiving. In the case\nof this Church, however, the ground of thanksgiving was something that\nbound them to Paul in a peculiar manner, and touched his heart with a\nglow of tenderer love and gladness. It was, ver. 5, \"their fellowship in\nthe gospel (or rather, unto the gospel) from the first day until now.\"\nHe means, that from their first acquaintance with the gospel, the\nPhilippian Christians had, with unusual heartiness and sincerity,\ncommitted themselves to the cause of the gospel. They had made it their\nown cause. They had embarked in it as a fellowship to which they gave\nthemselves heart and soul. There might be Churches, more distinguished\nfor gifts than that of Philippi was, where less of this magnanimous\nspirit appeared. There might be Churches, where men seemed to be\noccupied with their own advantage by the gospel, their individual and\nseparate advantage, but withheld themselves from the fellowship unto\nit,--did not readily commit themselves to it and to each other, as\nembarking wholly and for ever in the common cause. This misconception,\nthis servility of spirit, is but too easy. You may have whole Churches,\nin which men are full of self-congratulation about attainments they make\nin the gospel, and gifts they receive by the gospel, and doctrines they\nbuild up about it--but the loving \"fellowship unto it\" fails. A large\nmeasure of a better spirit had been given to the Philippians from the\nfirst. They were a part of those Macedonian Churches, who \"first gave\ntheir own selves\" to the Lord and His Apostles, and then also their help\nand service. It was an inward fellowship before it was an outward one.\nThey first gave their own selves, so that their hearts were mastered by\nthe desire to see the ends of the gospel achieved, and then came service\nand sacrifice. Trials and losses had befallen them in this course of\nservice; but still they are found caring for the gospel, for their\nbrethren in the gospel, for their father in the gospel, for the cause of\nthe gospel. This fellowship--this readiness to make common cause with\nthe gospel, out and out, had begun at the first day; and after trouble\nand trial it continued even until now.\n\nThe disposition here commended has its importance, very much because it\nimplies so just a conception of the genius of the gospel, and so hearty\na consent to it. He whose Christianity leads him to band himself with\nhis fellow-Christians, to get good by their help, and to help them to\nget good, and along with them to do good as opportunity arises, is a man\nwho believes in the work of the gospel as a vital social force; he\nbelieves that Christ is in his members; he believes that there are\nattainments to be made, victories won, benefits laid hold of and\nappropriated. He is in sympathy with Christ, for he is attracted by the\nexpectation of great results coming in the line of the gospel; and he is\none who looks not merely on his own things, but rejoices to feel that\nhis own hope is bound up with a great hope for many and for the world.\nSuch a man is near the heart of things. He has, in important respects,\ngot the right notion of Christianity, and Christianity has got the right\nhold of him.\n\nNow if we consider that the Apostle Paul, \"the slave of Jesus Christ,\"\nwas himself a marvellous embodiment of the spirit he is here commending\nto the Philippians, we shall easily understand with what satisfaction he\nthought upon this Church, and rejoiced over them, and gave thanks. Was\nthere ever a man who, more than Paul, evinced \"the fellowship of the\ngospel\" from the first hour to the last? Was there ever one whose\npersonal self was more swallowed up and lost, in his zeal to be spent\nfor the cause,--doing all things for the gospel's sake that he might\nhave part therein? Did ever man, more than he, welcome sufferings,\nsacrifices, toils, if they were for Christ, for the gospel? Was man ever\npossessed more absolutely than he with a sense of the worthiness of the\ngospel to be proclaimed everywhere, to every man--and with a sense of\nthe right the gospel had to himself, as Jesus Christ's man, the man that\nshould be used and expended on nothing else but upholding this cause,\nand proclaiming this message to all kinds of sinners? The one great\nobject with him was that Christ should be magnified in him, whether by\nlife or by death (ver. 20). His heart, therefore, grew glad and thankful\nover a Church that had so much of this same spirit, and, for one thing,\nshowed this by cleaving to him in their hearts through all the\nvicissitudes of his work, and following him everywhere with their\nsympathy and their prayers. Some Churches were so much occupied with\nthemselves, and had so little understanding of him, that he was obliged\nto write to them at large, setting forth the true spirit and manner of\nhis own life and service; he had, as it were, to open their eyes by\nforce to see him as he was. This was not needed here: the Philippians\nunderstood him already: they did so, because, in a degree, they had\ncaught the contagion of his own spirit. They had given themselves, in\ntheir measure, in a fellowship unto the gospel, from the first day\nuntil now. They had claimed, and they still claimed, to have a share in\nall that befell the gospel, and in all that befell the Apostle.\n\nPaul ascribed all this to God's grace in them, and thanked God for it.\nTrue, indeed, much activity about the gospel, and much that looks like\ninterest in its progress, may proceed from other causes besides a living\nfellowship with Jesus, and a true disposition to forsake all for Him.\nThe outward activity may be resorted to as a substitute for the inward\nlife; or it may express the spirit of sectarian selfishness. But when it\nappears as a consistent interest in the gospel, when it is accompanied\nby the tokens of frank goodwill and free self-surrender to the Church's\nevangelical life, when it endures through vicissitudes of time, under\ntrial, persecution, and reproach, it must arise, in the main, from a\nreal persuasion of the Divine excellence and power of the gospel and the\nSaviour. Not without the grace of God does any Church manifest this\nspirit.\n\nNow to the Apostle who had this cause of gladness in the past, there\nopened (ver. 6) a gladdening prospect for the future, which at once\ndeepened his thankfulness and gave expectancy to his prayers. \"Being\nconfident of this very thing, that He that hath begun a good work in you\nwill perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.\" \"Being confident of this\nvery thing\" is equivalent to \"Having no less confidence than this\"; for\nhe desires to express that his confidence is emphatic and great.\n\nThe confidence so expressed assumes a principle, and makes application\nof that principle to the Philippian saints.\n\nThe principle is that the work of saving grace clearly begun by the\nSpirit of God shall not be destroyed and come to nothing, but shall be\ncarried on to complete salvation. This principle is not received by all\nChristians as part of the teaching of Scripture; but without entering\nnow into any large discussion, it may be pointed out that it seems to be\nrecognised, not merely in a few, but in many passages of Holy Writ. Not\nto recite Old Testament indications, we have our Lord's word (John x.\n28): \"I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,\nneither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.\" And there is hardly an\nEpistle of our Apostle in which the same principle is not presented to\nus, stated in express terms, or assumed in stating other doctrines, and\napplied to the comfort of believers (1 Thess. v. 23, 24; 1 Cor. i. 8;\nRom. viii. 30). The ultimate salvation of those in whom a good work is\nbegun, is, in this view, conceived to be connected with the stability of\nGod's purposes, the efficacy of the Son's mediation, the permanence and\npower of the Holy Spirit's influence, and the nature of the covenant\nunder which believers are placed. And the perseverance thus provided for\nis supposed to be made good through the faith, patience, fear, and\ndiligence of those who persevere, and by no means without these. As to\nthe place before us, whatever exceptions and whatever distinctions may\nbe taken on the subject, it must be owned that, gladly recognising\nChristian character and attainment as a fact, he finds therein a warrant\nfor emphatic confidence about the future, even to the day of Christ.\n\nAs to the application of this principle to the Philippians, the method\nin which the Apostle proceeds is plain. He certainly does not speak as\nby immediate insight into Divine counsels about the Philippians. He is\ndirected to utter a conclusion at which he had arrived by a process\nwhich he explains. From the evidence of the reality of their Christian\ncalling, he drew the conclusion that Christ was at work in them, and the\nfurther conclusion that this work would be completed. It may be asked\nhow so confident an application of the principle now in view could be\nreached on these terms? How could the Apostle be sure enough of the\ninward state of his Philippian friends, to enable him to reason on it,\nas here he seems to do? In answer, we grant it to be impossible for any\none, without immediate revelation on the point, to reach absolute\nassurance about the spiritual state of other people. And therefore we\nare to keep in view, what has already been suggested, that the Apostle,\nspeaking to \"saints,\" really remits to themselves and to their Lord the\nfinal question as to the reality of that apparent saintship. But then,\nwe are taught by the Apostle's example that where ordinary tokens, and\nespecially where more than ordinary tokens of Christian character\nappear, we are frankly and gladly to give effect to those signs in our\npractical judgments. There may be an error, no doubt there is, in\nunbounded charity; but there is error also when we make a grudging\nestimate of Christian brethren; when, on the ground of some failing, we\nallow suspicion to obliterate the impressions which their Christian\nfaith and service might fairly have made upon us. We are to cherish the\nthought that a wonderful future is before those in whom Christ is\ncarrying on His work of grace; and we are to make a loving application\nof that hope in the case of those whose Christian dispositions have\nbecome specially manifest to us in the intercourse of Christian\nfriendship.\n\nHowever, the Apostle felt that he had a special right to feel thus in\nreference to the Philippians--more, perhaps, than in regard to others;\nand instead of going on at once to specify the objects of his prayers\nfor them, he interposes a vindication, as it were, of the right he\nclaimed (ver. 7): \"Even as it is meet for me to be thus minded with\nrespect to all of you, because I have you in my heart, you who are all\npartakers of my grace, not only in the defence and confirmation of the\ngospel, but also in my bonds.\" As if he would say,--There are special\nties between us, which justify on my part special tenderness and\nvigilance of appreciation and approbation, when I think of you. A father\nhas a special right to take note of what is hopeful in his son, and to\ndwell with satisfaction on his virtues and his promise; and friends who\nhave toiled and suffered together have a special right to cherish a\ndeep trust in one another's well-tried fidelity and nobleness. Let\nstrangers, in such cases, set, if they will, a slight value on\ncharacters which they hardly know; but let them not dispute the right\nwhich love has to scrutinise with delight the nobler qualities of those\nwho are beloved.\n\nThe Philippians were sharers of Paul's grace, as sharing his enthusiasm\nfor the successful advocacy and confirmation of the gospel. So they had\ntheir share in the grace that was so mighty in him. But besides that,\nthe Apostle's heart had been cheered and warmed by the manifestation of\ntheir sympathy, their loving thoughtfulness in reference to his bonds.\nSo he joyfully owned them as partakers in spirit in those bonds, and in\nthe grace by which he endured them. They remembered him in his bonds,\n\"as bound with him.\" Every way their fellowship with him expressed\nitself as full and true. No jarring element broke in to mar the happy\nsense of this. He could feel that though far away their hearts beat\npulse for pulse with his, partakers not only of his toil but of his\nbonds. So he \"had them in his heart\": his heart embraced them with no\ncommon warmth and yielded to them no common friendship. And what then?\nWhy then \"it is meet that I should be thus minded,\" \"should use love's\nhappy right to think very well of you, and should let the evidence of\nyour Christian feeling come home to my heart, warm and glowing.\" It was\nmeet that Paul should joyfully _repute them to be sincere_--to be men\ncleaving to the gospel in a genuine love of it. It was meet that he\nshould _thank_ God in their behalf, seeing these happy attainments of\ntheirs were so truly a concern of his. It was meet he should _pray_ for\nthem with joyful importunity, counting their growth in grace to be a\nbenefit also to himself.\n\nIt would be a helpful thing if Christian friends cherished, and if they\nsometimes expressed, warm hopes and expectations in behalf of one\nanother. Only, let this be the outcome of truly spiritual affection.\nPaul was persuaded that his feelings arose from no mere human impulse.\nThe grace of God it was which had given the Philippians this place in\nhis heart. God was his record that his longing after them was great, and\nalso that it was in the mercies of Christ. He loved them as a man in\nChrist, and with Christlike affections. Otherwise, words like these\nassume a canting character, and are unedifying.\n\nNow at last comes the tenor of his prayer (ver. 9): \"That your love may\nabound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that ye\nmay approve the things that are excellent,\" and so on.\n\nLet this first be noted, that it is a prayer for growth. All that grace\nhas wrought in the Philippian believers, everything in their state that\nfilled his heart with thankfulness, he regards as the beginning of\nsomething better still. For this he longs; and therefore his heart is\nset on progress. So we find it in all his Epistles. \"As ye have received\nhow ye ought to walk and to please God--so abound more\" (1 Thess. iv.\n1). This is a very familiar thought, yet let us spend a sentence or two\nupon it. The spiritual prosperity of believers should be measured not so\nmuch by the point they have reached, but by the fact and measure of the\nprogress they are making. Progress in likeness to Christ, progress in\nfollowing Him; progress in understanding His mind and learning His\nlessons; progress ever from the performance and the failures of\nyesterday to the new discipline of to-day,--this is Paul's Christianity.\nIn this world our condition is such that the business of every believer\nis to go forward. There is room for it, need of it, call to it,\nblessedness in it. For any Christian, at any stage of attainment, to\npresume to stand still, is perilous and sinful. A beginner that is\npressing forward is a happier and a more helpful Christian than he is\nwho has come to a stand, though the latter may seem to be on the borders\nof the land of Beulah. The first may have his life marred by much\ndarkness and many mistakes; but the second is for the present\npractically denying the Christian truth and the Christian call, as these\nbear on himself. Therefore the Apostle is bent upon progress. And here\nwe have his account of that which suggested itself to him as the best\nkind of progress for these converts of his.\n\nThe life of their souls, as he conceived it, depended on the operation\nof one great principle, and he prays for the increase of that in\nstrength and efficacy. He desires that their love may abound more and\nmore. He was glad to think they had shown, all along, a loving\nChristian spirit. He wished it to grow to its proper strength and\nnobleness.\n\nNo one doubts that, according to the Scriptures, love is the practical\nprinciple by which the fruits of faith are brought forth. The Christian\ncharacter peculiarly consists in a Christlike love. The sum of the law\nfrom which we fell is, Thou shalt love; and, being redeemed in Christ,\nwe find the end of the commandment to be love, out of a pure heart, and\na good conscience, and faith unfeigned. Redemption itself is a process\nof love, setting forth from heaven to earth to create and kindle love,\nand make it triumph in human hearts and lives. Every one that loveth is\nborn of God and knoweth God. No point is so well settled. Nobody doubts\nit.\n\nYet, alas! how many of us are truly aware of the great meaning which\napostolic words, which Christ's words, carry, when this is spoken of? or\nhow shall it be made inwardly and vividly present to us? In the heart of\nChrist, who loved us and gave Himself for us, was a great purpose to\nawaken in human hearts a deep and strong affection, kindred to His\nown--true, tender, steadfast, all-prevailing, all-transforming.\nApostles, catching the fire in their degree, were full of the wonder of\nit, of the glad surprise and yet the sober reality of it; and they\ncarried about the gospel everywhere, looking to see men thrill into this\nnew life, and become instances of its strength and gladness. And we?\nLet each man answer for himself. He is a happy man who can answer\nclearly. What is it to have love for the inspiration of the heart and\nthe life: love submerging the lower cravings, love ennobling and\nexpanding all that is best and highest, love consecrating life into a\nglad and endless offering? Which of us has that within him which could\nbreak into a song, like the thirteenth chapter of Corinthians, rejoicing\nin the goodness and nobleness of love? \"That your love may abound.\" In\nour tongue it is but one syllable. So much the easier for our perversity\nto slide over the meaning as we read. But all our earthly life is too\nshort a space for learning how deep and how pertinent to ourselves this\nbusiness of love is.\n\nNo doubt, the kindness the Philippians had shown to the Apostle, of\nwhich he had been speaking, naturally prepares the way for speaking of\ntheir love, as the verse before us does. But we are not to take the word\nas referring only to the love they might bear to other believers, or, in\nparticular, to the Apostle. That is in the Apostle's mind; but his\nreference is wider, namely, to love as a principle which operates\nuniversally--which first holds lowly fellowship with the love of God,\nand then also flows out in Christian affection towards men. The Apostle\ndoes not distinguish these, because he will not have us to separate\nthem. The believer has been brought back in love to God, and having his\nlife quickened from that source he loves men. The manward aspect of it\nis made prominent in the Bible for this reason, that in love towards\nmen the exercise of this affection finds the most various scope, and in\nthis way also it is most practically tested. The Apostle would not grant\nto any of us that our profession of love to God could be genuine, if\nlove did not exert itself towards men. But neither would he suffer it to\nbe restricted in the other direction. In the present case he gladly\nowned the love which his Philippian friends bore to himself. But he sees\nin this the existence of a principle which may signalise its energy in\nall directions, and is able to bear all kinds of good fruit. Therefore\nhis prayer fixes on this, \"that your love may abound.\"\n\nNow here we must look narrowly into the drift of the prayer. For the\nApostle desires that love may abound and work in a certain manner, and\nif it shall, he assures himself of excellent effects to follow. Perhaps\nwe may best see the reason which guided his prayer, if we begin with the\nresult or achievement he aimed at for his Philippian friends. If we can\nunderstand that, we may the better understand the road by which he hoped\nthey might be carried forward to it.\n\nThe result aimed at is this (vv. 10, 11): \"that ye may be sincere and\nwithout offence until the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of\nrighteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of\nGod.\" The last end is the glory and praise of God. This, let us be\nassured, is no mere phrase with the Apostle. All these things are real\nand vivid to him. If he were to come among us, knowing us to be\nprofessed believers, then, strange as some of us may think it, he would\nactually expect that a great degree of praise and glory to God should\naccrue out of our lives. The time he fixes on for the manifestation of\nthis, the time when it should be seen how this has come to pass, is the\nday of Christ. That great day of revealing shall witness, in particular,\nthe consummate glory of Christ's salvation in His redeemed. And he prays\nthat unto that day and at that day they may be sincere, without offence,\nfilled with fruits of righteousness.\n\n_First_, sincere: that signifies simplicity of purpose, and singleness\nof heart in following out that purpose. Sincere Christians cherish in\ntheir hearts no views, no principles, adverse to the Christian calling.\nThe test of this sincerity is that a man shall be honestly willing to\nlet light shine through him, to evince the true character of his\nprinciples and motives. Such a man is on the road to the final,\nvictorious, and eternal sincerity. For the present there may be within\nhim too much of that which hinders him, and mars his life. But if he is\nset on expelling this, and welcomes the light which exposes it, in order\nthat he may expel it, then he has a real, present sincerity, and his\ncourse is brightening towards the perfect day.\n\n_Second_, without offence. This is the character of the man who walks\nwithout stumbling. For there are obstacles in the way, and they are\noften unexpected. Grant a man to be in a measure sincere--the call of\nthe gospel has really won his heart. Yet as he goes, there fall in\ntrials, temptations, difficulties, that seem to come upon him from\nwithout, as it were, and he stumbles: he fails to preserve the\nuprightness of his life, and to keep his eye fixed with due steadiness\non the end of his faith. Suddenly, before he is well aware, he is almost\ndown. So he brings confusion into his mind, and guilt upon his\nconscience; and in his bewilderment he is too likely to make worse\nstumbles ere long. He who would be a prosperous Christian has not only\nto watch against duplicity in the heart: he must give diligence also to\ndeal wisely with the various outward influences which strike into our\nlives, which seem often to do so cruelly and unreasonably, and which\nwear some false guise that we had not foreseen. Paul knew this in his\nown case; and therefore he \"studied to keep a conscience void of\noffence.\" We may have wisdom enough for our own practice as to this, if\nwe know where to go for it.\n\n_Third_, filled with fruits of righteousness--which is the positive\nresult, associated with the absence of guile and the freedom from\nstumbling. A tree that bears any fruit is alive. But one that is filled\nwith fruit glorifies the gardener's care. \"Herein is My Father\nglorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.\"\nDistinct and manifold acts of faith and patience are the proper\ntestimonies of the soul that is sincere and without offence.\n\nThis is the line of things which the Apostle desires to see running its\ncourse towards the day of Christ. Now let us ask, In what circumstances\nis the believer placed for whom Paul desires it?\n\nHe is placed in a world that is full of adverse influences, and is apt\nto stir adverse forces in his own heart. If he allows these influences\nto have their way--if he yields to the tendencies that operate around\nhim, he will be carried on in a direction quite different from that\nwhich Paul contemplates. Instead of sincerity, there will be the\ntainted, corrupt, divided heart; instead of freedom from offence, there\nwill be many a fall, or even a complete forsaking of the way; instead of\nfruits of righteousness filling the life, there will be \"wild grapes.\"\nOn the other hand, if, in spite of these influences, the Christian is\nenabled to hold his course, then the discipline of conflict and trial\nwill prove full of blessing. Here also shall the promise be fulfilled\nthat all things work together for good to them that love God. Strong\ntemptations are not overcome without sorrow and pain; but being\novercome, they turn out ministers of good. In this experience sincerity\nclears and deepens; and the bearing of the Christian acquires a firmness\nand directness not otherwise attainable; and the fruits of righteousness\nacquire a flavour which no other climate could have developed so well.\nThis hard road turns out to be the best road towards the day of Christ.\n\nThe effect, then, of the circumstances in which the believer is thus\nplaced will be according to the way in which he deals with them. But\nplainly, to deal rightly with them, implies a constant effort of JUDGING\nthe things within him and without him, the world within and the world\nwithout, that he may \"approve what is more excellent\"--that he may\nchoose the good and refuse the evil. Discerning, distinguishing, as to\nopinions, influences, feelings, habits, courses of conduct, and so\nforth, so as to separate right and wrong, spiritual and carnal, true and\nfalse, must be the work in hand. There must be the prevailing practical\nmind to elect and to abide by the proper objects of choice, to cleave to\nthe one and to put away the other.\n\nSo we can understand very well, if the Philippians were to be sincere,\nwithout offence, filled with fruits of righteousness, that they must,\nand ever more and more searchingly and successfully, \"approve the things\nthat are more excellent.\" The phrase is also rendered \"try the things\nwhich differ\"; for the expression implies both. It implies such a\nputting to proof of that which is presented to us, as to make just\ndistinctions and give to each its proper place--silver on the one side,\ndross on the other. What is the whole life and business of the\nPhilippians, of any Christians, as Christians, but that of following out\nperpetually a choice, on given principles, among the multitude of\nobjects that claim their regard? The fundamental choice, arrived at in\nbelieving, has to be reiterated continually, in a just application of it\nto a world of varying and sometimes perplexing cases.\n\nWhen we have all this in view it is easy to understand the scope of the\nApostle's prayer about the growth and education of their love. _Out of\nlove this needed discrimination must come._ For\n\n1. No practical discriminations or determinations are of any worth in\nGod's sight except as they are animated by love, and, indeed, determined\nby it. If a Christian should choose anything, or reject anything, yet\nnot in love, his choice as to the matter of fact may be right, but for\nall that the man himself is wrong.\n\n2. Love alone will practically carry through such habitual\ndiscrimination, such faithful and patient choice. Love becomes the new\ninstinct which gives life, spring, and promptitude to the process. When\nthis fails, the life of approving the things that are more excellent\nwill fail; the task will be repudiated as a burden that cannot be\nendured. It may still be professed, but it must inwardly die.\n\n3. Nothing but love can enable us to see and to affirm the true\ndistinctions. Under the influence of that pure love (that arises in the\nheart which God's love has won and quickened) the things which differ\nare truly seen. So, and only so, we shall make distinctions according to\nthe real differences as these appear in God's sight. Let us consider\nthis a little.\n\nEvidently among the things that differ there are some whose\ncharacteristics are so plainly written in conscience or in Scripture,\nthat to determine what should be said of them is matter of no difficulty\nat all. It is no matter of difficulty to decide that murder and theft\nare wrong, or that meekness, benevolence, justice are right. A man who\nhas never been awakened to spiritual life, or a Christian whose love has\ndecayed, can make determinations about such things, and can be sure, as\nhe does so, that as to the thing itself he is judging right. Yet in this\ncase there is no just apprehension of the real difference in God's sight\nof the things that differ, nor a right mind and heart to choose or to\nreject so as to be in harmony with God's judgment.\n\nAnd if so, then in that large class of cases where there is room for\nsome degree of doubt or diversity, where some mist obscures the view, so\nthat it is not plain at once into what class things should be\nreckoned--in cases where we are not driven to a decision by a blaze of\nlight from Scripture or conscience--in such cases we need the impulse of\nthe love which cleaves to God, which delights in righteousness, which\ngives to others, even to the undeserving, the brother's place in the\nheart. Without this there can be no detection of the real difference,\nand no assurance of the rectitude of the discrimination we make.\n\nNow it is in such matters that the especial proof and exercise of\nreligious life goes on. Here, for example, Lot failed. The beauty of the\nfair and prosperous valley so filled his soul with admiration and\ndesire, that it chilled and all but killed the affections that should\nhave steadied and raised his mind. Had the love of the eternal and\nsupreme maintained its power, then in that day when God on the one hand\nand Lot on the other looked down on the plain, they would have seen the\nsame sight and judged it with the same mind. But it was otherwise. So\nthe Lord lifted up His eyes and saw that the men of Sodom were wicked\nand sinners before the Lord exceedingly; and Lot lifted up his eyes and\nsaw only that the plain was well watered everywhere, as the garden of\nthe Lord, as the land of Egypt.\n\nBut the love of which the Apostle speaks is the breath of the upper\nworld and of the new life. It cleaves to God, it embraces the things\nwhich God loves, it enters into the views which God reveals,--and it\ntakes the right view of men, and of men's interest and welfare. The man\nthat has it, or has known it, is therein aware of what is most material.\nHe has a notion of the conduct that is congruous to love's nature. What\nlove knows, it is the nature of love to practise, for it knows lovingly;\nand at every step the practice confirms, establishes, and enlarges the\nknowledge. So the genuine growth of love is a growth in knowledge (ver.\n9)--the word implies the kind of knowledge that goes with intently\nlooking into things: love, as it grows, becomes more quick to see and\nmark how things really are when tried by the true standard. Conversing\npractically with the mind of God in the practice of life, love\nincorporates that mind and judges in the light of it. This prepares a\nman to detect the false and counterfeit, and to try the things that\ndiffer.\n\nNot only in knowledge shall love grow, but \"in all discernment,\" or\nperception, as it might be rendered. There may be instances in which,\nwith our best wisdom, we find it hard to disentangle clear principles,\nor state plain grounds which rule the case; yet love, growing and\nexercised, has its percipiency: it has that accomplished tact, that\nquick experienced taste, that fine sensibility to what befriends and\nwhat opposes truth and right, which will lead to right distinctions in\npractice. So you discriminate by the sense of taste things that differ,\nthough you can give no reason to another, but can only say, \"I perceive\nit.\" In this sense \"he that is spiritual judgeth all things.\"\n\nFor all this the aid of the Holy Spirit is held out to us, as we may see\nin 1 John ii. He makes love to grow, and under that master influence\nunfolds the needed wisdom also. So comes the wisdom \"from above, which\nis first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of\nmercy and of good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy\"\n(James iii. 17). It is hidden from many wise and prudent, but God has\noften revealed it unto babes.\n\n\n\n\n_HOW THE PHILIPPIANS SHOULD THINK OF PAUL AT ROME._\n\n     \"Now I would have you know, brethren, that the things which\n     happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the\n     gospel; so that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the\n     whole pr\u00e6torian guard, and to all the rest; and that most of the\n     brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more\n     abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear. Some indeed\n     preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:\n     the one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the\n     gospel: but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely,\n     thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds. What then? only\n     that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is\n     proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I\n     know that this shall turn to my salvation, through your\n     supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,\n     according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall\n     I be put to shame, but that with all boldness, as always, so now\n     also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by\n     death.\"--PHIL. i. 12-20 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n_HOW THE PHILIPPIANS SHOULD THINK OF PAUL AT ROME._\n\n\nHaving poured out his feelings about those dear friends and children in\nthe Lord at Philippi, the Apostle recognises corresponding feelings on\ntheir part towards him. These must naturally be feelings of anxiety to\nknow how it was with him in body and spirit, and how far he had been\nprotected and sustained amid the dangers and sorrows of a prisoner's\nlot. On this then he is glad to be able to give them good tidings. He\ncan do so, because he is in the hands of a wonder-working Lord, who\nturns the shadow of death into the morning. Hence his history as well as\ntheirs (ver. 11) is moving towards the glory and praise of God.\n\nThe Apostle's affairs had seemed to be full of trial to himself, all the\nmore that they bore so discouraging an aspect towards the cause to which\nhe was devoted. He had been for years a prisoner. The work of preaching\nto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ had been stopped,\nexcept as the narrow opportunities of a prisoner's life offered scant\noutlets for it. He had, no doubt, his own share of experiences tending\nto depress and embitter: for in his day philanthropy had not yet done\nmuch to secure good treatment for men situated as he was. Still more\ndepressing to an eager soul was the discipline of delay: the slow,\nmonotonous months passing on, consuming the remainder of his life, while\nthe great harvest he longed to reap lay outside uncared for, with few to\nbring it in. Meanwhile even the work done in Christ's name was largely\ntaking a wrong direction: those who under the Christian name preached\nanother gospel, and perverted the gospel of Christ, had a freer hand to\ndo their work. Paul, at least, had no longer the power to cross their\npath. Ground on which he might have worked, minds which he might have\napproached, seemed to be falling under their perverting influence. All\nthis seemed adverse--adverse to Paul, and adverse to the cause for which\nhe lived--fitted therefore to awaken legitimate concern: fitted to raise\nthe question why God's providence should thus depress the heart and\nwaste the life of an agent so carefully prepared and so incomparably\nefficient.\n\nMost likely these things had tried the faith of Paul himself, and they\nmight distress and perplex his loving friends at Philippi. It was right\nto feel that these providences were trying; but one might be tempted\nalso to conclude that they were in every sense to be lamented. So much\nthe better it was, therefore, that the Apostle could testify how here\nalso all things were working for good, and in particular were turning\nout to be for the furtherance of the gospel. This was taking place in\ntwo ways at least.\n\nFirst, Paul's imprisonment had become the means of bringing to the\nknowledge of the gospel many who were not likely ever to hear of it in\nany other way; for his bonds had become manifest in Christ in the\nPr\u00e6torium, and in all other places. The precise meaning of the several\nwords here used has become matter of discussion; but the general result\nis much the same whatever view is taken of the matters debated. The word\ntranslated \"palace\" in the Authorised Version (Marg. C\u00e6sar's Court) may\nperhaps refer to the quarters of the guard, in the immediate\nneighbourhood of the palace. Prisoners whose cases were in a special\nmanner reserved to the Emperor were sometimes confined there. And Paul,\nwhether actually confined there or not, must have come into contact with\nthe troops stationed there, for we know he had been delivered to the\ncaptain of the guard (Acts xxviii. 16[1]). Then the \"all others\" (Marg.\nof A.V.) may probably mean the rest of the Emperor's household (comp.\nch. iv. 22), and would naturally be connected with it in the minds of\nmen, so that a mere indication like this was enough. For, in a military\nsystem such as that of the Empire was, the soldiers and officers of the\nguard formed an important part of the household. That household,\nhowever, was an immense affair, including hundreds or even thousands of\npersons--mostly freedmen or slaves, performing all sorts of functions.\n\n  [1] This, however, is omitted in critical editions.\n\nPaul, then, in charge of the guard, coming in contact with individuals\nbelonging to the various reliefs which successively had him in custody,\nspoken of as one reserved to the judgment of the Emperor himself, became\nknown throughout the quarters of the guard, and to persons of the\nhousehold of every rank and class. In point of fact we know and can\nprove from evidence external to the Bible that a few years later than\nthis (perhaps even earlier than this) there were members of the\nhousehold who were Christians. Before the end of the century a branch of\nthe family which then occupied the imperial throne seems to have joined\nthe Church, perhaps through the influence of a Christian nurse, who is\ncommemorated in an inscription still preserved.\n\nBut how did his bonds \"become manifest in Christ\"? The words no doubt\nmean that he became known extensively as a man whose bonds, whose\nimprisonment, was for his adherence to the name and doctrine of Jesus\nChrist. Let us consider how this would come about.\n\nThere might, at first, be universal indifference with reference to the\ncause of this prisoner's confinement. When his character and statements\nled to some curiosity about him, men might find it difficult to\nunderstand what the real nature of this mysterious case could be. For\nwhile the charge, whatever form it took, was not yet a common one, we\nmay be very sure that the man struck people as profoundly different\nfrom ordinary prisoners. For ordinary prisoners the one thing desirable\nwas release; and they employed every artifice, and exhausted every form\nof influence and intrigue, and were prepared to sacrifice every scruple,\nif only they could get free. Here was a man who pleaded for truth; his\nown freedom seemed to be quite secondary and subordinate. So at last men\ncome to an understanding, more or less, of the real cause of his bonds.\nThey were bonds for Christ. They were the result of his adherence to the\nfaith of Christ's resurrection, and to the truths which that great event\nsealed. They were connected with a testifying for Christ which had\nbrought him into collision with the authorities of his own nation, which\nhad set on Jews \"everywhere\" to \"speak against\" him (Acts xxviii. 22).\nAnd in his imprisonment he did not lay down his testimony, but preached\nwith all his heart to every man who would hear him. This state of things\ndawned upon men's minds, so far as they thought about him at all; it\nbecame clear; it was \"manifest in the Pr\u00e6torium, and to all the others.\"\n\nOne influence was at work which would at least direct attention to the\ncase. There were certainly Jews in the household; there were also Jews\nin Rome who made it their business, for their worldly interest, to\nestablish connections in the household; and about this time Jewish\ninfluence rose to the person nearest to Nero himself. There was\ntherefore a class of persons in the household likely to feel an interest\nin the case. And on these most likely the influence of Jewish religious\nauthorities would be exerted to produce an unfavourable opinion of Paul.\nIt would be felt desirable that the Jews of the household should think\nof Paul as no loyal Jew, as a seditious person, and of his opinions as\nnot legitimately pertaining to Jewish religion--as a religious belief\nand practice which Judaism repudiated and denounced. Thus, while Paul's\ncase might begin to influence the guard, because members of it were\npersonally in contact with him, in the rest of the household there was a\nclass of persons who would feel an interest in discussing his case. One\nway or another, some impression as to the peculiar character of it was\nacquired.\n\nNow think how much was done when some view of the real nature of Paul's\nbonds had been lodged in the minds of these men. Think what an event\nthat was in the mental history of some of these heathens of the old\nworld. Paul was, in the first place, a man very unlike the ordinary type\nof movers of sedition. It seemed that his offence stood only in\nreligious opinions or persuasions; and that itself, precisely in Nero's\ndays, was a little singular to figure as the ground of political\nimprisonment. He was persecuted and endangered for his faith, and he\nneither denied nor disguised that faith, but spent all possible pains in\nproclaiming it. This was new. He had a faith, resting professedly on\nrecent facts, which he proclaimed as indispensably necessary to be\nreceived by all men. This was new. He seriously told men, any man and\nevery man, that their welfare must be attained through their being\nindividually transformed to a type of character of the unworldliest\ntype; he could press that alike on sordid Jews and gay young officers.\nThis was new. He was a man who, in place of the ordinary anxieties and\nimportunities of a prisoner, was ever ready to speak and plead in behalf\nof Christ, that singular young Jew who had died thirty years before, but\nwhom Paul affirmed to be alive. And in all this, however it might strike\none as foolish or odd, there were tokens of an honesty, a sanity, and a\npurity that could not be explained away. All this struck men who stood\nnear the centre of a world falling many ways into moral ruin, as\nsomething strange and new. Paul's own explanation of it was in the one\nword \"Christ.\" So his bonds were manifest in Christ.\n\nA few of them might have heard previously of Christianity as a new and a\nmalignant superstition. But another conception of it reached them\nthrough the bonds of Paul. This imprisoned man was a fact to be\naccounted for, and a problem to be solved. In him was an influence not\nwholly to be escaped, an instance that needed a new interpretation. Many\nof them did not obey the truth, some did; but at least something had\nbecome manifest that could not easily be got rid of again,--the\nbeginning, in their case, of that leaven which was eventually to\nrevolutionise the thinking and feeling of the world. Remember also that\nmost of these were men to whom Paul at liberty, speaking in synagogues\nand the like, would have found no access, nor would he have come near\nthe circles to which their influence extended. But now, being\nimprisoned, his bonds became manifest in Christ.\n\nThus does it often come to pass that what seems adverse, proves to be on\nour side. Fruit is not always borne most freely when the visible\nopportunities of labouring are most plentiful. Rather the question is,\nhow the opportunities given are employed, and how far the life of the\nlabourer bears witness of the presence and power of Christ.\n\nBut besides the direct impression on those who were outside, arising\nfrom the fact of Paul's imprisonment, it became the means of stimulating\nand reinforcing the labours of other Christians (ver. 14). It is not\nhard to see how this might be. From Paul's bonds, and from the manner\nand spirit in which they were borne, these brethren received a new\nimpression as to what should be done and what should be borne in the\nservice of Christ. They were infected with the contagion of Paul's\nheroism. The sources of Paul's consecration and of his comfort became\nmore real to them; and no discouragement arising from pain or danger\ncould hold its ground against these forces. So they waxed confident.\nWhile dangers that threaten Christians are still only impending, are\nstill only looming out of the unknown future, men are apt to tremble at\nthem, to look with a shrinking eye, to approach with a reluctant step.\nNow here in the midst of those Roman Christians was Paul, in whom were\nembodied the trouble accepted and the danger defied. At once Christian\nhearts became inspired with a more magnanimous and generous spirit.\nWherever dangers and hardships are endured, even apart from\nChristianity, we know how prompt the impulse is to rush in, to give\nhelp, and to share burdens. How much more might it be so here.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNot that the impulse to evangelistic earnestness, arising from Paul's\npresence in Rome, was all of this kind. It was not so. Some preached out\nof goodwill, in full sympathy with the spirit that animated Paul's own\nlabours and sustained him in his trials. But some preached Christ out of\nenvy and spite, and supposed to add affliction to his bonds. How are we\nto fit this into our notions of the Primitive Church?\n\nThe truth is that, ever since the gospel began to be preached, unworthy\nmotives have combined with worthier in the administration and professed\nservice of it. Mixture of motive has haunted the work even of those who\nstrove to keep their motives pure. And men in whom lower motive and\nworse motive had a strong influence have struck into the work alongside\nof the nobler and purer labourers. So it has pleased God to permit; that\neven in this sacred field men might be tried and manifested before the\njudgment of the great day; and that it might be the more plain that the\neffectual blessing and the true increase come from Himself.\n\nMore especially have these influences become apparent in connection\nwith the divisions of judgment about Christian doctrine and practice,\nand with the formation of parties. The personal and the party feelings\nhave readily allied themselves, in too many men, with a self-regarding\nzeal and with envy or spite. And where these feelings exist they come\nout in other forms besides their own proper colours and their direct\nmanifestation. More often they find vent in the way of becoming the\nmotive power of work that claims to be Christian--of work that ought to\nbe inspired by a purer aim.\n\nThere were, as we all know, in the Church of those days powerful\nsections of professed believers, who contested Paul's apostleship,\nquestioned his teaching, and wholly disliked the effects of his work.\nPerhaps by this time the strain of that conflict had become a little\nless severe, but it had not wholly passed away. We call these persons\nthe Judaisers. They were men who looked to Jesus Christ as the Messiah,\nwho owned the authority of His teaching, and claimed interest in His\npromises. But they insisted on linking Christianity to Jewish forms, and\nrules, and conditions of law-keeping, which were on various grounds dear\nand sacred to them. They apprehended feebly the spirituality and\nDivineness of Christ's religion; and what they did apprehend they wished\nto enslave, for themselves and others, in a carnal system of rules and\nritual that tended to stifle and to bury the truth. With this there went\na feeling towards Paul of wrath fear, and antipathy. Such men there\nwere in Rome. Possibly there might even be a Christian congregation in\nthe city in which this type prevailed. At any rate, they were found\nthere. Before Paul's coming no very remarkable nor very successful\nefforts to spread abroad the gospel in that great community had been\ngoing on. But Paul's arrival made men solicitous and watchful. And when\nit was seen that his presence and the enthusiasm that gathered round him\nwere beginning to give impulse and effect to the speaking of the word,\nthen this party too bestirred itself. It would not--could not--oppose\nthe carrying of the message of Christ to men. But it could try to be\nfirst in the field; it could become active, energetic, dexterous, in\nlaying hold of inquiring and susceptible persons, before the other side\ncould do so; it could subject Paul to the mortification, _the deserved\nmortification_, of failure or defeat, so far as these would be implied\nin his seeing the converts going to the side which was not his side.\nEvangelistic zeal awoke on these terms, and bestirred itself. And\nsheaves that in other circumstances might have lain untended long\nenough, were gathered now.\n\nThis very same spirit, this poor and questionable zeal for Christ, still\nworks, and does so plentifully. The activities of Churches, the\nalertness of Mission societies and agencies, still partake, in far too\nmany instances, of this sinister inspiration. We ought to watch against\nit in ourselves, that we may overcome the evil and grow into a nobler\ntemper. As regards others, we may, in special cases, see the working of\nsuch motives clearly enough, as Paul saw them at Rome. But usually we\nshall do well, when we can, to impute the work of others to the better\nside of their character: and we may do so reasonably; for as Christian\nwork is far from being all of it so pure and high as we might desire, on\nthe other hand, the lowly and loving temper of Christ's true followers\nis very often present and operative when it is not easy for us to see\nit. Let us believe it, because we believe in Him who worketh all in all.\n\nNow the Apostle, looking at this, is glad of it. He is not glad that any\nmen, professing Christ, give way to evil and unchristian tempers. But he\nis glad that Christ is preached. There were cases in which he vehemently\ncontended with such persons--when they strove to poison and pervert\nChristians who had learned the better way. But now he is thinking of the\noutside world; and it was good that the making known of Christ should\ngather strength, and volume, and extension. And the Apostle knew that\nthe Lord could bless His own message, imperfectly delivered perhaps, to\nbring thirsty souls to Himself, and would not fail in His unsearchable\nwisdom to care for those who came, and to lead them in the ways He\nthought best. Let Christ be preached. The converts do not belong to the\ndenominations, but first of all to Christ. Neither is it appointed that\nthe denominations shall permanently hold those whom they bring in; but\nChrist can hold them, and can order their future in ways we cannot\nforetell.\n\nIt is not true that the preaching of Christ serves no purpose and yields\nno fruit, in cases where it is not carried on in the right, or the best\nspirit. Indeed, God honours the pure, loving, lowly hearts, which He has\nHimself cleansed; they are appropriate agents for His work, and often\nreceive a special blessing in connection with it. But God is not tied up\nto give no success to men acting under wrong motives: at least, if we\nare not to say He gives the success to them, yet in connection with them\nHe is well able to take success to Himself. Through strange channels He\ncan send blessings to souls, whatever He gives or denies to the unworthy\nworkmen. But perhaps the success which attends such preachers is not\nremarkable nor very long continued. Souls truly gathered in will soon\nget beyond their teaching. At any rate, it is a poor business to be\nserving Christ upon the devil's principles. It cannot be good for\nus--whatever good may sometimes come thereby to others. Let us purge\nourselves from such filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit.\n\n\"Christ is preached.\" How glad the Apostle was to think of it! How he\nlonged to see more of it, and rejoiced in all of it that he saw! One\nwonders how far the thoughts and feelings associated with these words in\nPaul's mind, find any echo in ours. Christ is preached. The meaning for\nmen of that message, as Paul conceived it, grew out of the anguish and\nthe wonder of those early days at Damascus, and had been growing ever\nsince. What might Christ be for men?--Christ their righteousness, Christ\ntheir life, Christ their hope; God in Christ, peace in Christ,\ninheritance in Christ; a new creature, a new world; joy, victory--above\nall, the love of Christ, the love which passes knowledge and fills us\nwith the fulness of God. Therefore also this was the burning conviction\nin Paul's soul--that Christ must be preached; by all means, on all\naccounts, Christ must be preached. The unsearchable riches of Christ\nmust be proclaimed. Certainly, whoever might do or not do, _he_ must do\nit. He was to live for nothing else. \"I Paul am made a minister of it.\"\n\"Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.\"\n\nLastly, as to this, not only does he rejoice that Christ is announced to\nmen, but he has an assurance that this shall have a happy issue and\ninfluence towards himself also. What is so good for others shall also be\nfound to contribute an added element of good to his own salvation; so\ngood and rich is God, who, in working wide results of Divine\nbeneficence, does not overlook the special case and interest of His own\nservant. This work, from which the workmen would shut Paul out, shall\nprove to pertain to him in spite of them; and he, as reaper, shall\nreceive here also his wages, gathering fruit unto life eternal.\n\nFor it is characteristic of this Epistle (ii. 17; iv. 10, 18) that the\nApostle reveals to his Philippian friends not only his thoughts\nconcerning the great objects of the gospel, but also the desires and\nhopes he had about his own experience of deliverance and well-being in\nconnection with the turns and changes of progressive providences. Here,\nit is as if he said: \"I confess I am covetous, not a little covetous, to\nhave many children in Christ: I would fain be a link in many a chain of\ninfluences, by which all sorts of persons are reached and blessed in\nChrist. And here where I sit confined, and am also the object of envy\nand strife that are solicitous to baffle me, I can descry ties forming\nbetween my influence in my prison and results elsewhere with which I\nseem to have little to do. I can claim a something of mine, granted me\nby my Lord, in the Christianity of those who are kept far from me, and\ntaught perhaps to doubt and dislike me. If I in my prison experience can\nbut live Christ, then all sorts of effects and reactions, upon all sorts\nof minds, will have something in them that accrues as fruit to\nChrist--and something also that accrues as my Lord's loving recognition\nof me. Only do you pray--for this is a great and high calling--pray, you\nwho love me, and let the Lord in answer plentifully give His Spirit; and\nthen, while I lie here in the imprisonment which my Lord has assigned to\nme, and in which He vitalises me, oh how fruitful and successful shall\nmy life be, what gain and wealth of salvation shall be mine! There shall\nbe fruit for an Apostle still, coming in ways I cannot follow; and in\nit, and with it, the confirmation and deepening of my own eternal life.\nIt shall turn to my salvation.\"\n\nSo the eager Apostle, caged and cabined, triumphed still in Christ,\nassured that there was a way of dealing with his Lord's will,\ndiscouraging as that might seem, in which it would reveal both\nenlargement for the Kingdom and the most loving enrichment also for\nhimself.\n\nThis is a commonplace of Christianity. Christians trust in Christ to\ncause all to work for good. They know He can impart His most precious\ngifts through what seem adverse providences. But it is a memorable\nembodiment of this conviction that meets us in the Apostle's confidence,\nthat when Christ's providence outwardly stops his work, it not the less\npertains to Christ's wisdom to continue and extend his usefulness. The\napplications of the same principle to various cases in which Christians\nare trained through disappointment are innumerable. But mostly, even\nwhen, in a way, we are open to the lesson, we take it too easily. We\nforget that here also it is Christlike life and life in Christ that\nproves so fruitful and so happy. We do not apprehend how great a thing\nit is--what prayer it asks--what supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.\nFor the Apostle, as we learn from what presently follows, this blessing\ncame in the line of \"earnest expectation and hope.\" It was not an\nexceptional effort of faith which awoke in him so firm a confidence\nabout his circumstances at Rome, and was rewarded so manifestly. His\nwhole life was set on the same key. He applied to that Roman experience\nthe same mode of view which he strove to apply to every experience. This\nwas his expectation--he was on the outlook for it--and this his hope,\nthat not only in one great crisis, but all along his pilgrimage, his\nlife should _eventuate_ one way--should shape into glory to Christ. His\nwhole life must turn out to be a loving, believing, effectual\nmanifestation of the greatness and goodness of Christ. This was what\nrose before his mind as SUCCESS IN LIFE. His thoughts, his prayers\nturned this way. As some men's minds turn spontaneously to money, and\nsome to family prosperity, and some to fame, and some to various lines\nof recreation or of accomplishment, so Paul's turned to this. And in\nthis world of failure and disappointment, success welcomed him and\ngladdened him. His would have been the nobler life even if its\nexpectation had been disappointed. But this is the life which cannot\nfail, because God is in it.\n\nThere is a great admonition here for all of us who profess to be\nfollowers of Christ. Our line of service may not be so emphatically\nmarked out for distinction, for special and exceptional eminence of\ndoing and suffering, as Paul's was. But for every believer the path of\nservice opens, however commonplace and undistinguished its scenery may\nbe. And in some of its stages it takes, for all of us, the peculiar\ncharacter, it assumes the distinguishing features which mark it out as\nChristian. Here, in Paul, we see the spirit that should inspire\nservice, should make the strength, the peculiarity, the success of it,\nshould be the quickening and gladdening influence of its efforts and its\nprayers. This ought to be for us also the longing outlook and the hope.\n\nLet us note also, before we pass on, that the Lord's personal kindness\nto ourselves is matter of legitimate rejoicing and legitimate desire.\nThat may be gathered from almost every verse. There have been persons\nwho conceived that a true Christian is to be so occupied with the\nthought of God's glory and will, or so occupied with the weal of others,\nas to have no personal desires or interests at all. This is a mistake.\nOne of the most intimate and special channels in which the glory of God\nand the revelation of it are secured, is in the expression of His\ngoodwill to His child's own heart. This is the privilege of faith, to\ncherish the expectation that His glory and our good are to agree well\ntogether. Only, as to the latter, let us leave it to Him how it is to\ncome to pass; and then it will come divinely and wonderfully. \"The Lord\nis my shepherd, _I_ shall not want.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE CHOICE BETWEEN LIVING AND DYING._\n\n     \"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if to live in\n     the flesh,--if this is the fruit of my work, then what I shall\n     choose I wot not. But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the\n     desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better: yet\n     to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake. And having\n     this confidence, I know that I shall abide, yea, and abide with you\n     all, for your progress and joy in the faith; that your glorying may\n     abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you\n     again.\"--PHIL. i. 21-26 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n_THE CHOICE BETWEEN LIVING AND DYING._\n\n\nAt the close of the preceding section we see that the ruling principle\nof the Apostle--the earnest expectation and hope which inspired his\nlife--came into special exercise at this time with reference to the\npossibility, and the likelihood, of an early and violent death. Dying\nfor the name of the Lord Jesus, as well as enduring imprisonment for\nHim, might be near. He might not only be straitened in his labours, and\nsecluded from the activities connected with his loved work on earth, but\nmight be completely and finally withdrawn from it by Roman doom and\nexecution. The Apostle's faith looked steadily at this final\npossibility. As at all times, so now also, Christ should be magnified in\nhim, whether by life or by death.\n\nNow, when some great alternative of the future rises before a\nChristian,--some possibility which God's providence may turn either\nway,--it is natural that he should look heedfully to it, that he may\norder aright his faith and patience as the day of decision draws near.\nAnd it is natural in particular that his thoughts should be occupied by\nthe consideration how far the one way of it is in itself more attractive\nto him than the other. For in view of that he has to watch his heart,\nthat as to what seems more attractive he may not desire it idolatrously,\nnor let his heart be \"overcharged\" with it if it is realised; and that\nas to what seems less attractive he may await God's will with submission\nand faith, and welcome it, if so it come to pass, with sincerity. So\nalso the Apostle fixes his eye, ponderingly, on this alternative of life\nor death, so strongly suggested by his circumstances. But, as it were,\nwith a smile he recognises that to a man standing, as he did, in the\nlight of Christ, it was hard to say which should attract him most. Life\nand Death--what had they once been to him? what were they still to many?\nTo live, self--self pleased, provided for, contended for, perhaps\nfighting for itself a losing battle with a bitter heart; to die, a dark,\ndire necessity, full of fear and doubt. But now, to live is Christ. In\nall life as it came to him, in all its various providences, he found\nChrist; in all life, as it fell to him to be lived, he found the\ncircumstances set for him and the opportunity given to follow Christ; in\nall the attraction and all the pressure, the force and strain of life,\nhe found the privilege of receiving Christ and employing Christ's grace,\nthe opportunity for living by the faith of the Son of God. That was all\nvery real to him: it was not only a fine ideal, owned indeed but only\ndistantly and dimly descried; no, it was a reality daily fulfilled to\nhim. To live was Christ, with a support, an elevation, and a love in it\nsuch as the world knows not. That was good, oh how good! And then to die\nwas better: to die was gain. For to die, also, was \"Christ\"; but with\nmany a hindrance passed away, and many a conflict ended, and many a\npromise coming into fulfilment as here it could not do. For if, as to\nhis own interest and portion, he lived by hope, then death was a long\nstep forward into possession and realisation. By grace Paul was to show\nhow he valued Christ; he was to show it in his life. And Christ was to\nshow His care for Paul--in this life, no doubt, very lovingly; but more\nlargely and fully at his death. To live is Christ--to die is gain; to be\nall for Christ while I live, to find at length He is all for me when I\ndie!\n\nWhich should he prefer, which should he pray for (subject to God's\nwill), which should he hope for, life or death? The one would continue\nhim in a labour for Christ, which Christ taught him to love. The other\nwould bring him to a sinless and blessed fellowship with Christ, which\nChrist taught him to long for. Looking to the two, how should he order\nhis desires?\n\nIt is because he speaks as one always does speak who is pondering\nsomething--the words rising, as it were, from what he sees before\nhim--that he speaks so elliptically in ver. 22. \"But if to live in the\nflesh come to me, as its fruit and reward bringing....\" What? The\nApostle sees, but does not say: something that might well reconcile him\nto prolonged toil and suffering. But why produce the considerations on\neither side, why balance them against one another? It is too long, too\ndifficult a process. And how can even an apostle confidently judge as to\nbetter or best here? \"And what I shall choose, really I do not know.\"\nBut this he knows, that so far as his own desires are concerned, so far\nas the possible futures draw his spirit, he is in a strait between two,\nhaving a desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far better;\nand yet that he should continue in the flesh is of more imperative\nnecessity for the sake of friends like the Philippians.\n\nNot every Christian is in the state of mind which would naturally\nexpress itself as a desire forthwith to depart and be with Christ. The\ngreat hope claims its place in every Christian heart; but not in every\ncase so as to inspire the longing to overleap all intermediate stages.\nRather must we not say that there are periods of Christian experience,\nas there are also casts of character, for which it is more usual and\nnatural to desire, if it be God's will, some further experience of life\non earth? If this be immature Christianity, we will not, therefore,\njudge that it cannot be genuine.\n\nYet to be ready, and, subject to God's will, desirous to depart, is an\nattainment to be aimed at and made good. Sooner or later it should come.\nIt lies in the line of ripening Christian affection and growing\nChristian insight. For this is better. It is not that life in this world\nis not good: it is good, when it is life in Christ. It has its trials,\nits conflicts, and its dangers; it has also its elements of defect and\nevil: yet it is good. It is good to be a child of God in training for a\nbetter country; it is good to be one who carries the life of faith\nthrough the experiences of time. And, for some especially, there is a\nstrong and not an unworthy attraction in the forms of exercise which\nopen to us just in such a life as this, under the guarantee and the\nconsecration of Christ. Knowledge opens its career, in which many a\ngenerous mind is drawn to prove its powers. Love, in all the variety of\nits calmer and its more ardent affections, sends a glow through life\nwhich gladdens it with promise. The tasks which call for practical\neffort and achievement stir vigorous natures with a high ambition. And\nwhen all these spheres are illuminated by the light, and dominated by\nthe authority, and quickened for us by the love of Christ, is not life\non those terms interesting and good? True, it is destined to disclose\nits imperfection. Our knowledge proves to be so partial; our love is so\nsorely grieved, so often bereaved, sometimes it is even killed; and\nactive life must learn that what is crooked cannot wholly be made\nstraight, and that what is wanting cannot be numbered. So that life\nitself shall teach a Christian that his longings must seek their rest\nfurther on. Yet life in Christ here upon the earth is good: let us say\nno unkind word of those who feel it so,--whose hearts, with true loyalty\nto Christ, would yet if it be His will put life fully to the proof\nbefore they go. Still, this must be said and pressed--let it be\njoyfully believed--that to depart is better. It is _far_ better. It is\nbetter to be done with sin. It is better to be where all hopes are\nfulfilled. It is better to rise above a scene in which all is\nprecarious, and in which a strange sadness thrills through our happiness\neven when we possess it. To be where Christ most fully, eminently,\nexperimentally is, that is best. Therefore it is better to depart. Let\nmortality be swallowed up of life.\n\nIt is not only better, so that we may own it so to be as a certainty of\nfaith; but also so that we may and ought to feel it warming and drawing\nthe heart with delight and with desire. It is not needful that we should\njudge more hardly of life on earth; but we might attain a far more\ngladdening appreciation of what it must be to be with Christ. With no\nrebellion against God's appointment when it keeps us here, and no\ngrudging spirit towards earth's mercies and employments, we might yet\nhave this thought of departing in God's time as a real and bright hope;\na great element of comfort and of strength; a support in trouble; an\nelevating influence in times of gladness; an anchor of the soul, sure\nand steadfast, entering into that which is within the veil.\n\nThe hope of the gospel implies it. If that hope is ours and is duly\ncherished, must it not assert itself and sway the heart, so as more and\nmore to command the life?\n\nThe earnest of the Spirit implies it. Of the very substance of the life\neternal a foretaste comes, in the presence and grace of the Spirit of\nlove and comfort. Can that be with us, can that leaven work duly in our\nhearts, and not awaken longing for the full entrance into so great a\ngood? It may be expected of us Christians that we should lift up our\nheads because redemption is drawing nigh.\n\nAs for the Apostle, however, if the choice were his, he felt that it\nmust fall in favour of still cleaving to the present life; for this,\nthough less attractive to himself, was more necessary for the Churches,\nand, in particular, for his friends at Philippi. This was so clear to\nhim that he was persuaded his life would, in fact, be prolonged by Him\nwho appoints to all their term of ministry. Probably we are not to take\nthis as a prophecy, but only as the expression of a strong persuasion.\nWork still lay before him in the line of training and cheering these\nbelieving friends, furthering and gladdening their faith. He hoped to\nsee them yet, and to renew the old glad \"fellowship\" (ch. i. 5). So\nthere should be for the Philippians fresh matter of exultation,--exultation\nprimarily in the great salvation of Christ, but yet receiving impulse and\nincrease from the presence and ministry of Paul. Mainly, they would be\nexceeding glad of Christ; but yet, subordinately, exceeding glad of Paul\nalso.\n\nIt is a striking thing to see how confident the Apostle was of the\nresources given to him to wield. He knew how profitable and how\ngladdening his coming would be to the Philippian believers. He admits\nno doubt of it. God has set him in the world for this, that he may make\nmany rich. Having nothing, he yet goes about, as one possessing all\nthings, to impart his treasures to all kinds of people. To disguise this\nwould be for him mock humility; it would be a denying of his Master's\ngrace. When ministers of Christ come aright to this impression of their\nown calling, then they are also powerful. But they must come to it\naright. For it was not the Apostle's consciousness of himself, but his\nconsciousness of his Master, that bred this superb confidence, this\nunabated expectation. In subordination to that faith the Apostle no\ndoubt had specific reason to know that his own personal mission was of\nthe highest importance, and was designed to accomplish great results.\nOrdinary ministers of Christ do not share this peculiar ground of\nconfidence. But no one who has any kind of mission from Christ can\ndischarge it aright if he is destitute of the expectancy which looks\nforward to results, and, indeed, to momentous results; for the reapers\nin Christ's harvest are to \"gather fruit unto life eternal.\" To cherish\nthis mood, not in the manner of a vain presumption, but in the manner of\nfaith in a great Saviour, is the practical question for gospel\nministers.\n\nAlike in the utterance of his mind about his Philippian friends, and in\nhis explanations about himself, it is remarkable how thoroughly the\nApostle carries his faith through the whole detail of persons and\nthings. The elements and forces of the Kingdom of God are not for him\nremote splendours to be venerated from afar. To his faith they are\nembodied, they are vitally and divinely present, in the history of the\nChurches and in his own history. He sees Christ working in the\nPhilippian believers; he sees in their Christian profession and service\na fire of love caught from the love of Christ--the increase and triumph\nof which he anticipates with affectionate solicitude. The tender mercies\nof Christ are the element in which he and they are alike moving, and\nthis blessedness it is their privilege assiduously to improve. So he was\nminded in regard to all the Churches. If in any of them the indications\nare feeble and dubious, only so much the more intently does he\nscrutinise them, to recognise, in spite of difficulty, that which comes\nand only could come from his Master's Spirit. If indications too\nsignificant of a wholly different influence have broken out, and demand\nthe severest rebukes, he still casts about for tokens of the better\nkind. For surely Christ's Spirit is in His Churches, and surely the seed\nis growing in Christ's field towards a blessed harvest. If men have to\nbe warned that naming the name of Christ they may be reprobates, that\nwithout the Spirit of Christ they are none of His, this comes as\nsomething sad and startling to be spoken to men in Christian Churches.\nSo also in his own case--Christ is speaking and working by him, and all\nprovidences that befall him are penetrated by the love, the wisdom, and\nthe might of Christ. In nothing is the Apostle more enviable than in\nthis victoriousness of his faith over the earthly shows of things, and\nover the unlikelihoods which in this refractory world always mask and\nmisrepresent the good work. We, for our part, find our faith continually\nabashed by those same unlikelihoods. We recognise the course of this\nworld, which speaks for itself; but we are uncertain and discouraged as\nto what the Saviour is doing. The mere commonplaceness of Christians,\nand of visible Christianity, and of ourselves, is allowed to baffle us.\nNothing in the life of the Church, we are ready to say, is very\ninteresting, very vivid, very hopeful. The great fire burning in the\nworld ever since Pentecost is for us scarcely recognisable. We even take\ncredit for being so hard to please. But if the quick faith and love of\nPaul the prisoner were ours, we should be sensitive to echoes and\npulsations and movements everywhere,--we should be aware that the voice\nand the power of Christ are everywhere stirring in His Churches.\n\n\n\n\n_UNDAUNTED AND UNITED STEADFASTNESS._\n\n     \"Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ,\n     that, whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your\n     state, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving for\n     the faith of the gospel; and in nothing affrighted by the\n     adversaries: which is for them an evident token of perdition, but\n     of your salvation, and that from God; because to you it hath been\n     granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but\n     also to suffer in His behalf: having the same conflict which ye saw\n     in me, and now hear to be in me.\"--PHIL. i. 27-30 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n_UNDAUNTED AND UNITED STEADFASTNESS._\n\n\nAt ver. 27 the letter begins to be hortative. Up to this point the\nApostle has been taking the Philippians into his confidence, in order\nthat they may share his point of view and see things as He sees them.\nNow he begins more directly to call them to the attitude and work which\nbecome them as Christians; but up to ver. 30 the sense of the dear tie\nbetween him and them is still very present, colouring and controlling\nhis exhortations.\n\n\"Be assured,\" he has been saying, \"that by the grace of God, abounding\namid trials, it is well with me; and I have very good hope of yet again\nenjoying this honour, that through my means it may be well with\nyou:--_only_ fix you on this, let this be your concern, to walk as it\nbecomes the gospel: this is the ground on which you must win your\nvictory; this is the line on which alone you can make any effectual\ncontribution to our common welfare, and that of all the Churches.\" So\nthe Apostle urges. For, let us be assured of it, while we debate with\nourselves by what efforts and in what lines we can do some stroke of\nservice to the good cause, or to some special representative of it,\nafter all the greatest and weightiest thing by far that we can do is to\nbe thoroughly consistent and devoted in our own Christian walk, living\nlives answerable to the gospel.\n\nThe original suggests that the Apostle thinks of the Philippians as\ncitizens of a state, who are to carry on their life according to the\nconstitution and laws of the state to which they belong. That\ncitizenship of theirs, as we shall afterwards see, is in heaven (ch.\niii. 20), where Christ their head is gone. The privilege of belonging to\nit had reached them through the call of God. And it was their business\non the earth to act out the citizenship, to prove the reality of it in\ntheir conduct, and to manifest to the world what sort of citizenship it\nis. Now the standard according to which this is to be done is the gospel\nof Christ--the gospel, not only as it contains a code of rules for\npractice, but as it reveals the Saviour to whom we are to be conformed,\nand discloses a Divine order of holiness and grace to the influence of\nwhich our souls are to bow. And indeed, if our thinking, and speaking,\nand acting held some proportion to the gospel we profess to believe; if\nthey corresponded to the purity, the tenderness, the Divine worth of the\ngospel; if from step to step of life we were indeed building ourselves\non our most holy faith, what manner of persons should we be? This opens\nmore fully in the next chapter.\n\nBut we are tried by circumstances; and the same Christianity will take\ndifferent manifestations according to the circumstances in which it is\nunfolded. For every Christian and for every Christian community much\ndepends on the shaping influence of the providences of life. The\nApostle, therefore, must have regard to the circumstances of the\nPhilippians. We are all ready, commonly, to exert ourselves, as we say,\nto \"improve our circumstances\"; and, in one view, it is natural and\nfitting enough. Yet it is of more importance--much more--that in the\ncircumstances as they stand we should bear ourselves in a manner worthy\nof the gospel. Some of us are ready to stir heaven and earth in order\nthat certain unwelcome conditions of our lot may be altered or\nabolished. It would be more to the point to walk with God under them as\nlong as they last. When they have passed away, the opportunity for\nfaith, love, and service which _they_ have furnished will have passed\naway for ever.\n\nThe Apostle, therefore, specifies what he wished to see or hear of in\nthe Philippian Church, as proper to the circumstances in which they\nstood. He calls for steadfastness as against influences that might shake\nand overthrow, put in motion against them by the enemies of the gospel.\n\nThe words suggest the strain of the situation as it was felt in those\nsmall early Churches. It is difficult for us adequately to conceive it.\nThere was the unfriendly aspect both of Roman law and of public opinion\nto unauthorised religious fraternities; there was the hostility of\nardent Jews, skilful to stir into activity enmities which otherwise\nmight have slumbered; there was the jealousy of religious adventurers of\nall kinds with whom that age was becoming rife. But besides, there was\nthe immense pressure of general unbelief. Christianity had to be\nembraced and maintained against the judgment and under the cool contempt\nof the immense majority, including the wealth, the influence, the\nwisdom, the culture--all that was brilliant, imposing, and conclusive.\nThis temper was disdainful for the most part: it became bitter and\nspiteful if in any instance Christianity came near enough to threaten\nits repose. It found, no doubt, active interpreters and representatives\nin every class, in every family circle. Christianity was carried forward\nin those days by a great spiritual power working with the message. It\nneeded nothing less than this to sustain the Christian against the\ndeadweight of the world's adverse verdict, echoing back from every\ntribunal by which the world gives forth its judgments. Then, every\nfeeling of doubt, or tendency to vacillate, created by these influences,\nwas reinforced by the consciousness of faults and failings among the\nChristians themselves.\n\nAgainst all this faith held its ground, faith clinging to the unseen\nLord. In that faith the Philippians were to stand fast. Not only so;\nlooking on \"the faith\" as if it were a spiritual personality, striving\nand striven with, they were to throw their own being and energy into\nthe struggle, that the cause of faith might make head and win fresh\nvictories. The faith is knocking at many doors, is soliciting many\nminds. But much depends on ardent and energetic Christians, who will\nthrow their personal testimony into the conflict, and who will exert on\nbehalf of the good cause the magic of Christian sympathy and Christian\nlove. So they should be fellow-athletes contending on the side of faith,\nand in the cause of faith.\n\nIn our own day a livelier sense has awakened of the obligation lying\nupon Christians to spend and be spent in their Master's cause, and to be\nfellow-helpers to the truth. Many voices are raised to enforce the duty.\nStill, it cannot be doubted that in most cases this aspect of the\nChristian calling is too languidly conceived and too intermittently put\nin practice. And many in all the Churches are so little qualified to\nlabour for the faith, or even stand fast in it, that their Christianity\nis only held up externally by the consent and custom of those about\nthem.\n\nAt this point and in this connection the Apostle begins to bring forward\nthe exhortation to peace and unity which goes forward into the following\nchapter. Apparently no steadfastness will, in his view, be \"worthy of\nthe gospel,\" unless this loving unity is added. If there was a common\ninstinct of worldliness and unbelief, giving unity to the influences\nagainst which the Philippians had to contend, the operation of a mighty\nuniting influence was to be expected on the other side, an influence\nDivine in its origin and energy. The subject is brought forward, one\ncan see, in view of tendencies to disagreement which had appeared at\nPhilippi. But it was a topic on which the Apostle had intensely strong\nconvictions, and he was ever ready to expatiate upon it.\n\nWe need not be surprised at the earnestness about peace and unity\nevinced in the Epistles, nor think it strange that such exhortations\nwere required. Consider the case of these early converts. What varieties\nof training had formed their characters; what prejudices of diverse\nraces and religions continued to be active in their minds. Consider also\nwhat a world of new truths had burst upon them. It was impossible they\ncould at once take in all these in their just proportions. Various\naspects of things would strike different minds, and difficulty must\nneeds be felt about the reconciliation of them. In addition to theory,\npractice opened a field of easy divergence. Church life had to be\ndeveloped, and Church work had to be done. Rules and precedents were\nlacking. Everything had to be planned and built from the foundation. The\nvery energy of the Christian faith tended to produce energetic\nindividualities. If all these things are weighed, instead of being\nsurprised at the rise of difficulties we may rather wonder how\ninterminable disagreement was averted. The temper of \"standing fast\"\nmight seem perhaps likely rather to aggravate than to alleviate some of\nthese sources of discord.\n\nOn the other hand, to the Apostle's mind a glorious unity was one\nespecial mark of the triumph of the Kingdom of God. That expressed the\nvictory in all the members of the new society of one influence\nproceeding from one Lord; it expressed the prevalence of that new life\nthe chief element of which is the uniting grace, the grace of love. It\nshould not be difficult to understand the value which the Apostle set on\nthis feature in the life of Churches, how he longed to see it, how he\npressed it so ardently on his disciples. Sin, dividing men from God, had\ndivided them also from one another. It introduced selfishness,\nself-seeking, self-worship, self-assertion, everything that tends to\ndivide. It rent men into separate interests, societies, classes,\nworships; and these stood over against one another isolated, jealous,\nconflicting. Men had long ago ceased to think it possible to have things\notherwise ordered. They had almost ceased to desire it. How eminently\nthen did the glory of the redemption in Christ appear in the fact that\nby it the dispersed out of all kinds of dispersion were gathered into\none. They were bound to one another as well as to Christ: they became\nmore conscious of oneness than ever they had been of separation. It\ntestified to the presence and working of Him who made all, and from whom\nall, by different paths, had gone astray.\n\nThe means by which this unity was to be maintained was chiefly the\nprevalence of the Christian affections in the hearts of believers--the\npresence and power of that mind of Christ, of which more must be said in\nconnection with the following chapter. Certainly the Apostle regards\nthis as, at any rate, the radical security for unity in life and work,\nand without it he does not suppose the unity for which he cares can\nexist at all. In this connection it is worth observing that the unity he\nis thinking of is chiefly that which should bind together the members of\nthose little communities which were rising up in various places under\nhis ministry. It is the harmony of those whose lot is cast in the same\nplace, who can influence one another, whose plain business it was to\nconfess Christ together. Wider unity was supposed indeed, and was\nrejoiced in; but the maintenance of it had not yet become so much a\npractical question. This continued to be the case for some time after\nthe Apostolic period. Men were anxious to hold each local congregation\ntogether, and to avert local splits and quarrels. If that were done, it\nseemed as though nothing further were urgently needed.\n\nYet the same principles establish the unity of the visible Church\nthroughout the world, and indicate the discharge of the duties which are\nnecessary in order to the expression of it. Christians differ indeed\namong themselves upon the question how far the Church has received\norganic institutions fitted to give expression or embodiment to her\nunity; and diversity of judgment on that point is not likely soon to be\nremoved. For the rest the main thing to observe is that Christ's Church\n_is_ one, in root and principle. This applies not only to the Church\ninvisible, but to the Church visible too. Only the latter, as she falls\nshort in all service and attainment, falls short also in expressing her\nown unity and in performing the duties connected with it. On the one\nhand they err who think that because the state of the visible Church is\nmarred by divisions, therefore unity in her case is a dream, and that\nthe unity of the Church invisible is alone to be asserted. On the other\nhand they err who, on much the same grounds, conclude that only one of\nthe organised communions can possess the nature and attributes of the\nvisible Church of Christ. The visible Churches are imperfect in their\nunity as they are in their holiness. In both respects their state is\nneither to be absolutely condemned nor to be absolutely approved. And no\none of them is entitled to throw upon the rest all the blame of the\nmeasure of disunion. Any one that does so becomes a principal fomenter\nof disunion.\n\nThis is too wide a subject to follow further. Meanwhile it may be\ngathered from what has been said that the most direct application of the\nApostle's language must be, not to the mutual relations of great\ncommunions, but to the mutual relations of Christians in the same local\nsociety. There is great room for such an application of it. Exaggerated\nstatements may sometimes be made as to the indifference of Christians in\nmodern congregations to one another's weal or woe; but certainly very\noften self-will and bitter feeling are allowed to prevail, as if the\ntender ties and solemn obligations of Christian fellowship had been\nforgotten. And very often mutual ignorance, indifference, or silent\naversion mark the relations of those who have worshipped God together\nfor long years. Certainly there is either some element lacking in the\nChristianity which is supposed to sustain Church life of this kind, or\nelse the temperature of it must be low. Hence it comes, too, that the\nedification of Christians has so largely dissociated itself from the\nfellowship of the Churches to which they still resort, and seeks support\non other lines. It was not so in those earliest Churches. The life and\ngrowth of the Christians were nursed in the Church meetings. There they\ngathered to read and sing and pray and break bread; to strengthen one\nanother against Pagan violence and seduction; to love one another, as\nbound together by ties which Pagans never knew; to endure together the\nscorn and wrong which Christ's name might bring upon them; and not\nimpossibly, after they had thus fought side by side, to die together one\ntriumphant martyr death. Similar conditions have more or less returned\nagain whenever the Churches have been tolerably pure and united, and\nhave at the same time been subjected to some sharp pressure of\npersecution.\n\nThey were to stand fast then in one spirit, cherishing that \"spirit of\nthe mind\" which is the immediate fruit of the working of the One Spirit\nof God, the common gift of the Father. It is supposed that Christians\nknow what this is and can recognise it. But they might not be solicitous\nenough to maintain it, and they might be betrayed into preferring a\nspirit of their own. The Holy Spirit's influence, creating in each of\nthem the new spirit of the mind, would be the key to right conduct in\ntheir common life. It would inspire a purer wisdom and a higher motive\nthan the flesh supplies. Recognising it in one another, they would find\nthemselves confirmed and cheered, established against external\nopposition and internal strife. Too easily we content ourselves with\nthoughts, words, and deeds which come only from our own private \"spirit\"\nand which are governed by that. We are too careless of living in a\nhigher region. For the want of this some persons among us are infidels.\nThey think they can account for all they see in Christians from the\nmen's own spirit. Their cavil is by no means always true or fair; yet it\nfinds too much plausible support.\n\nThe same unity in the one spirit, with its accompanying vitality,\ngladness, and courage, was to characterise their active labours in the\ngospel. Let it be remembered that men do not make this attainment in a\nmoment by stepping across some definite line. They grow into it by\nsincerity of aim, and by steadfast endeavour in the strength of Christ.\nIn this way the \"fellowship unto the gospel\" (ver. 5), already so\nhappily characteristic of the Philippians, was to grow yet more in\ncordiality, devotedness, and power.\n\nMeanwhile, what were they to make of the attacks directed against them\nby those who hated the gospel? This was no doubt a very practical\nquestion. Although persecution of the Christians had not yet revealed\nthe energy it was afterwards to assume, their lot was often hard\nenough. The first burst of trial of this kind exerts a very depressing\ninfluence on some minds: with others the prolonged endurance of it,\nwearing out the spirit, is the more dangerous experience. Either way the\ndark cloud is felt, suddenly or gradually, shutting out the sky. This\nfeeling of depression and dismay is to be steadfastly resisted. Enmity,\nunpleasant and ominous as it may be, is not to perturb or move you. It\nis not to be regarded as a reason for depression or an augury of defeat.\nFar otherwise: here should be discerned and grasped a token of salvation\ngiven by God Himself.\n\nIt has been said that earthly prosperity was the promise of the Old\nCovenant, but adversity that of the New. This is, at least, so far true,\nthat the necessity and benefit of chastening are very plainly set before\nus. Such discipline is part of the salvation secured for us; it is\nnecessary to lead us aright to final well-being; and it will be\nadministered to God's children as He sees fit. When it comes, it does\nnot necessarily indicate special Divine displeasure, still less Divine\nill-will. It does indicate that we have lessons to learn, attainments to\nmake, and faults to be purged out; it indicates also that God is taking\nloving pains with us for these ends. All these things ought to be very\ncertain to Christians. Yet some Christians, when their own turn comes,\nfind it very hard to believe so much. Pains, losses, and\ndisappointments, coming in the very forms they most deprecate, wear\nsuch an unfriendly aspect, that they can only feel scorched and\naffronted; and the hurt spirit breaks out in a querulous \"Why?\" To be so\nthrown off our balance is a failure of faith.\n\nBut Paul is occupied here with the spirit in which one special form of\ntrial is to be dealt with. Antipathy, contempt, and persecution are\nbitter, very bitter to some sensitive souls; but when they come upon us\nas followers of Christ, and for His sake, they have a consolation proper\nto themselves. They are to be borne gladly, not only because all\nchastening is guided by fatherly love and wisdom, but because this kind\nof suffering is our glory. It comes to believers as part of their\nfellowship with Christ; and it is such a part of that fellowship as\ncarries with it a peculiar power of assurance and confirmation.\nChristians share with Christ the enmity of the world's unbelief, because\nthey share with Him the knowledge and love of the Father. If, indeed, by\nindulging self-will and passion (though perhaps under religious forms)\nwe bring enmity on ourselves, then we suffer as evil-doers. But if we\nsuffer for righteousness, the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us.\nSome share of suffering for Christ comes, therefore, as God's gift to\nHis children, and ought to be valued accordingly.\n\nAs to the exact point of the Apostle's remark on the \"token\" of\nperdition and of salvation, two views may be taken. In the line of what\nhas just been said, he may be understood to mean simply that when God\nallows believers to suffer persecution for Christ's sake, it is a sign\nof their salvation; just as, on the contrary, to be found opposing and\npersecuting God's children is a sign and omen of destruction. As if he\nsaid: \"It is not you but they who have cause to be terrified: for lo!\nthine enemies, O Lord, for lo! thine enemies shall perish.\"\n\nThis is a scriptural view. Yet both here and in 2 Thess. i. 6 it is\nperhaps more precise to say that for the Apostle the special sign of\nsalvation on the one side, and destruction on the other, is the patience\nand calmness with which Christians are enabled to endure their trials.\nThis patience, while it is a desirable attainment on their part, is also\nsomething secured for them and given to them by their Lord. It is very\nprecious and should be earnestly embraced. In this view the Apostle\nsays: \"In no wise be terrified by your adversaries; and this\ntranquillity of yours shall be a sign, on the one part, of your\nsalvation, and also, on the other part, if they repent not, of their\ndestruction. For this tranquillity is a victory given to you by God,\nwhich endures when their malice is exhausted. Does it not tell of a\npower working for you which mocks their malice, a power which is well\nable to perfect your salvation as well as to overthrow the enemies of\nGod? So you find coming into experience that which beforehand was given\nyou by promise. It _was_ given you to believe in Christ, and also to\nsuffer for Him. Now that you find yourselves enabled to suffer for Him\nso calmly, will not that become a sign to confirm all you have\nbelieved?\" For the tranquillity of spirit into which faith rises under\npersecution is an evidence of the source from which it comes. Much may\nbe borne by resolute men for any cause in which they have embarked. But\nvery different from this striving of the human heart hardening itself to\nbear, in order that an enemy's malice may not spy out its weakness, are\nthe calmness and patience given to God's children in the hour of trial.\nThat bespeaks an inward support more mighty than all sorrow. The\nDivineness of it becomes still more conspicuous when it approves itself\nas the One Spirit, triumphing in persons of diverse tempers and\ncharacters. This has been a sign to many an unbeliever filling him with\nrage and fear. And to the children of God it has been the Spirit\nwitnessing with their spirit that they _are_ His children.\n\nThe Apostle will not allow it to be overlooked that in this point as in\nothers his Philippian friends and he are tied together in closest\nfellowship. This conflict of theirs is the same which they had heard of\nand seen as proceeding in his case too. Perhaps we may say of this that\nit admonishes us not to think too meanly of our own Christian\nexperience, and of the questions and decisions which it involves. The\nApostle knew that his Philippian friends regarded his conflict as\nsomething conspicuous and great. He was a standard bearer, on whom much\ndepended; and then, all the movements of his soul were magnanimous and\ngrand. But their own experience might seem petty--almost mean; their\ntrials not very serious, and their way of dealing with them at times so\nhalting and half-hearted, that it seemed an offence against humility to\nmake much account of them. If this was the true view, then also it must\nbe Christ's view; and so a very depressed way of looking at their\ncalling and their encouragements might set in. The Apostle will not\nallow this. He thinks, and they are to think, that it is the same\nquestion that is being fought out in their case as in his--the same\nforces are arrayed against one another in both cases--and the victory in\nboth cases will be equally momentous. So he would quicken their sense of\nthe situation by the energy and vivacity of his own convictions. It is\nunquestionable that Christians suffer much loss by indulging a certain\nbastard humility, which leads them to underrate the solemnity of the\ninterest attaching to their own history. This renders them inattentive\nto the serious eyes with which Christ their Master is looking down upon\nit.\n\n\n\n\n_THE MIND OF CHRIST._\n\n     \"If there is therefore any comfort in Christ, if any consolation of\n     love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and\n     compassions, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having\n     the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing\n     through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each\n     counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his\n     own things, but each of you also to the things of others.\"--PHIL.\n     ii. 1-4 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n_THE MIND OF CHRIST._\n\n\nIn the verses last considered the Apostle had begun to summon his\nPhilippian friends to Christian duty. But so far his words bear the\ncharacter only of occasional exhortation, which falls naturally in as he\ndwells upon his own circumstances and on theirs. Associated as they have\nbeen and are, let there be no mistake as to the central bond between him\nand them. Let the Philippian believers partake increasingly in his own\nglowing apprehensions of the Christian calling. Let them abound in the\nloving, steadfast, energetic, expectant life in which men are united who\nhave become acquainted with Christ.\n\nBut he thinks fit to press the theme in a more set and deliberate way.\nFor it is no light thing to awaken in men's hearts a right impression of\nwhat it is to be a Christian; or if it has been awakened, to nurse it to\ndue strength. These Christians possessed some insight into the world of\ntruth which held the mind of Paul; they had some experience of\nevangelical impression: in these things they had a happy fellowship\nwith one another and with their great teacher. But all this must be\naffirmed and embodied in the conflict and ministry of Christian life. It\nmust prove strong enough for that. Deeds are the true confession of our\nfaith; they are the verification of our religious experience. And in\nthis practical form we must overcome, not the temptations of other\npeople or other ages, but our own. There is no more dangerous working of\nunbelief than that in which it never questions the doctrinal theory, but\nrenders our Christianity cold and slack, and leads us to indulge a\npreference for a religion that goes easy. Could we but see as we are\nseen, we should find this to be a matter of endless lamentation.\n\nTemptations to rivalry and discord were working at Philippi. We are not\nobliged to think that they had gone very far; but one could see a risk\nthat they might go further. The Apostle has it in his heart to expel\nthis evil, by promoting the principles and dispositions that are opposed\nto it. And in this work the Philippians themselves must embark with all\ntheir might.\n\nIt has been remarked already that causes are easily found to account for\nrivalries and misunderstandings springing up in those primitive\nChristian congregations. The truth is, however, that in all ages and\nconditions of the Church these dangers are nigh at hand. Self-seeking\nand self-exaltation are forms in which sin works most easily, and out of\nthese come rivalry and discord by the very nature of the case. Eager\ngrasping at our own objects leads to disregard of the rights and\ninterests of others; and thence come wars. Danger in this direction was\nvisible to the Apostle.\n\nIt may be asked how this should be, if the Philippians were genuine and\nhearty Christians, such as the Apostle's commendations bespeak them?\nHere a principle comes to light which deserves to be considered. Even\nthose who have cordially embraced Christianity, and who have loyally\ngiven effect to it in some of its outstanding applications, are\nwonderfully prone to stop short. They do not perceive, or they do not\ncare to realise, the bearing of the same principles, which they have\nalready embraced, upon whole regions of human life and human character;\nthey do not seriously lay to heart the duties Christianity imposes or\nthe faults it rebukes in those departments. They are pleased to have won\nso much ground, and do not think about the Canaanites that still hold\n_their_ ground. So, in whole regions of life, the carnal mind is allowed\nto work on, undetected and practically unopposed. This tendency is aided\nby the facility we have in disguising from ourselves the true character\nof dispositions and actions, when these do not quite plainly affront\nChristian rules. Self-assertion and bad temper, for example, can put on\nthe character of honest firmness and hearty zeal. More particularly,\nwhen religious principles have led us into certain lines of action, we\nare apt to take for granted that all is right we do in those lines.\nReligious zeal leads a man to take trouble and incur responsibility in\nChurch work. Under this notion, then, he readily persuades himself that\nall his Church work is conscientious and disinterested: yet it may be\nlargely and deeply tainted with the impulses of the fleshly mind. In a\nmeasure it might be so here. The Philippians might be generally a\ncompany of sincerely Christian people. And yet the churchmanship of some\nof them might disclose sad tokens of selfishness and bitterness.\nTherefore they must be called to give heed to the principles and to give\neffect to the motives that expel those sins.\n\nIn all this we may feel ourselves in the region of commonplaces; we know\nit all so well. But the very point in hand is that for the Apostle these\nare not commonplaces. He is greatly in earnest about the matter, and his\nheart is full of it. We do not understand him until we begin to\nsympathise with his sorrow and his anxiety. This is for him no mere\nmatter of expediencies or of appearances. He is striving for the victory\nof grace in the souls of his beloved friends; for the glory of Christ;\nfor his own comfort and success as Christ's minister. All these are, as\nit were, at stake upon this question of the life of the Philippian\nChurch proving to be, under the influence of Christ, lowly, loving, and\nanswerable to the gospel.\n\nNo one more than Paul appreciates the value of good theological\nprinciples; and no one more than he lays stress on the mercy which\nprovides a gracious and a full salvation. But no one more than he is\nintent upon Christian practice: for if practice is not healed and\nquickened, then salvation ceases to be real, the promises wither\nunfulfilled, Christ has failed. We may well feel it to be a great\nquestion whether our own sympathy with him on such points is growing and\ndeepening. The Kingdom of God within us must exist in a light and love\nfor which goodness is a necessity, and evil a grief and heart-break. But\nif it is not so with us, where do we stand?\n\nIn four clauses the Apostle appeals to great Christian motives, which\nare to give strength to his main appeal--\"If there be any comfort (or\nstore of cheering counsel) in Christ Jesus, if any consolation of love,\nif any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies or compassions\";\nin a fifth clause he draws a motive from the regard they might have for\nhis own most earnest desires--\"fulfill ye my joy\"; and then comes the\nexhortation itself, which is to unity of mind and heart--\"that ye be of\nthe same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.\"\nThis, in turn, is followed by clauses that fix the practical sense of\nthe general exhortation.\n\nIt has been made a question whether the Apostle means to say, \"If there\nbe among you, Philippians, influences and experiences such as these,\" or\n\"If there be anywhere in the Church of God.\" But surely he means both.\nHe appeals to great practical articles of faith and matters of\nexperience. The Church of God believes them and claims a part in them.\nSo does the Church of Philippi, in its degree. But there may be a great\ndeal more in them than the Philippian believers are aware of,--more in\nthem as truths and promises; more in them as contemplated and realised\nby riper Christians, like Paul himself. He appeals, certainly, to what\nexisted for the faith of the Philippians; but also to that \"much more\"\nwhich might open to them if their faith was enlarged.\n\nThe \"comfort\" or cheering counsel \"in Christ\" is the fulness of gospel\nhelp and promise. Great need of this is owned by all believers; and,\ncoming as needed succour to them all, it may well bind them all together\nin the sense of common need and common help. As it comes from the good\nShepherd Himself to all and each, so it is conceived to be ever sounding\nin the Church, passing from one believer to another, addressed by each\nto each as common succour and common comfort. Hence, in the next place,\nthere comes into view the mutual ministry of \"consolation\" which\nChristians owe to one another, since they \"receive\" one another, and are\nto do to one another as Christ has done to them. Here the consolation\nacquires a special character, from the individual affection and\nfriendship breathed into it by the Christian, who carries it to his\nneighbour to encourage and cheer him on his way. This love of the\nChristian to his brother, which comes from God, is itself a means of\ngrace; and therefore the \"consolation of love\" deserves to be distinctly\nnamed.\n\nThe \"fellowship of the Spirit\" (see 2 Cor. xiii. 13) is the common\nparticipation of the Holy Spirit of God in His gracious presence and\nworking. Without this no one could have a real share in Christian\nbenefits. The Spirit reveals to us the Son and the Father, and enables\nus to abide in the Son and in the Father. He brings us into communion\nwith the mind of God as revealed in His word. He makes real to us the\nthings of the Kingdom of God; and it is He who opens to us their worth\nand sweetness, especially the lovingkindness which breathes in them all.\nThrough Him we are enabled to exercise Christian affections, desires,\nand services. It is He, in a word, through whom we are participant in\nthe life of salvation; and in that life He associates together all who\nshare His indwelling. The Apostle supposes that no Christian could ever\ncontemplate without, shall we say, a pang of gratitude, the\ncondescension, the gentleness, and the patience of this ministration.\nAnd as all Christians are recipient together of so immense a benefit,\nthey might well feel it as a bond between them all. But more especially,\nas the Holy Spirit in this dispensation evinces a most Divine love and\nkindness--for what but love could be the spring of it?--so also the\nupshot of all His work is the revelation of God in love. For love is at\nthe heart of all God's promises and benefits: they are never understood\nuntil we reach the love that is in them. And God is love. So the love of\nGod is shed abroad in the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit\ngiven to them. Hence this is the leading view of that which the Spirit\ncomes to do: He comes to make us members of a system in which love\nrules; and He inspires all loving affections and dispositions proper to\nmake us congruous members of so high and good a world.\n\nTherefore, in the fourth place, it is to be supposed that \"tender\nmercies and compassions\" in human breasts are abundant where the\nfellowship of the Spirit is. How abundant they _might_ be: surely also\nin some measure they must be present; they must abound, amid all human\ninfirmities and mistakes. All kinds of gentle, friendly, faithful, wise\nand patient dispositions might be expected. They are the fruits of the\ncountry in which Christians have come to dwell.\n\nTo all these the Apostle appeals. Perhaps a pathos is audible in the\nform of his appeal. \"If there be any.\" Alas! is there then any? Is there\nsome at least, if not much? For if all these had been duly present to\nthe faith and in the life of the Church, they would have spoken their\nlesson for themselves, and had not needed Paul to speak for them.\n\nThe form of appeal \"Fulfil ye my joy\" brings up one more motive--the\nearnest desires of one who loved them wisely and well, and whom they,\nwhatever their shortcomings, loved in turn. It is worth observing that\nthe motive power here does not lie merely in the consideration \"Would\nyou not like to give me pleasure?\" The Philippians knew how Paul had at\nheart their true welfare and their true dignity. That which, if it came\nto pass, would so gladden him, must be something great and good for\nthem. If their own judgment of things was cold, might it not take fire\nfrom the contagion of his? The loving solicitude of a keener-sighted and\na more single-hearted Christian, the solicitude which makes his heart\nthrob and his voice tremble as he speaks, has often startled slumbering\nbrethren into a consciousness of their own insensibility, and awakened\nthem to worthier outlooks.\n\nIn regard to all these considerations, the main point is to catch sight\nof the moral and spiritual scenery as the Apostle saw it. Otherwise the\nwords may leave us as dull as they found us. For him there had come into\nview a wonderful world of love. Love had come forth preparing at great\ncost and with great pains a new destiny for men. Love had brought in\nPaul and the other believers, one by one, into this higher region. And\nit proved to be a region in which love was the ground on which they\nstood, and love the heaven over their heads, and love the air they\nbreathed. And here love was coming to be their own new nature, love\nresponsive to the love of Father, Son, and Spirit, and love going out\nfrom those who had been so blessed to bless and gladden others. This was\nthe true, the eternal goodness, the true, the eternal blessedness; and\nit was theirs. This was what faith embraced in Him \"who loved me and\ngave Himself for me.\" This was what faith claimed right to be and do. If\nthis was not so, Christianity was reduced to nothing. If a man have not\nlove, he is nothing (1 Cor. xiii.). \"Is there any truth at all in this\nglorious faith of ours? Do you believe it at all? Have you felt it at\nall? Fulfil then my joy.\" Unity of mind and of heart is the thing\ninculcated. Under the influence of the great objects of faith and of the\nmotive forces of Christianity this was to be expected. Their ways of\nthinking and their ways of feeling, however different, should be so\nmoulded in Christ as to reach full mutual understanding and full mutual\naffection. Nor should they rest contented when either of these failed:\nfor that would be contentment with defeat; but Christ's followers are to\naim at victory.\n\nIt is obvious to say here that cases might arise in which turbulent or\ncontentious persons might make it impossible for the rest of the Church,\nhowever well disposed, to secure either one accord or one mind. But the\nApostle does not suppose that case to have arisen. Nothing had occurred\nat Philippi which Christian sense and Christian feeling might not\narrange. When the case supposed does occur, there are Christian ways of\ndealing with it. Still more obviously one might say that conscientious\ndifferences of opinion, and that even on matters of moment, must\ninevitably occur sooner or later; and a general admonition to be of one\nmind does not meet such a case. Perhaps it may be said in reply that the\nChurch and the Christians have hardly conceived how much might be\nattained in the way of agreement if our Christianity were sincere\nenough, thorough enough, and affectionate enough. In that case there\nmight be wonderful attainment in finding agreement, and in dismissing\nquestions on which it is not needful to agree. But, if we are not to\nsoar so high as this, it may at least be said that, while conscientious\ndiversities of judgment are not to be disguised, they may be dealt with,\namong believers, in a Christian way, with due emphasising of the truth\nagreed upon, and with a prevailing determination to speak truth in love.\nHere again, however, the Apostle recognises no serious difficulty of\nthis kind at Philippi. The difficulties were such as could be got over.\nThere was no good reason why the Philippians should not in their Church\nlife exhibit harmony: it would be so, if Christian influences were\ncordially admitted into minds and hearts, and if they made a fit\nestimate of the supreme importance of unity in Christ. The same thing\nmay be said of innumerable cases in later times in which Christians have\ndivided and contended. It is right to say, however, that these\nconsiderations are not to be applied without qualification to all kinds\nand degrees of separation between Christians. It is a cause for sorrow\nthat denominational divisions are so many; and they have often been both\ncause and consequence of unchristian feeling. Yet when men part\npeaceably to follow out their deliberate convictions, to which they\ncannot give effect together, and when in doing so they do not unchurch\nor condemn one another, there may be less offence against Christian\ncharity than in cases where a communion, professedly one, is the scene\nof bitterness and strife. In either case indeed there is something to\nregret and probably something to blame; but the former of the two cases\nis by no means necessarily the worse.\n\nIn following out the line of duty and privilege set before them by the\nApostle, Christians have to get the better of arrogance and selfishness\n(vv. 3, 4).\n\nIn the Church of Christ no man has a right to do anything from a spirit\nof strife or vainglory. Strife is the disposition to oppose and thwart\nour neighbour's will, either from mere delight in contest, or in order\nto assert for our own will a prevalence which will gratify our pride;\nand this is the animating principle of \"faction.\" \"Vainglory\" is the\ndisposition to think highly of ourselves, to claim for ourselves a great\nplace, and to assert it as against the claims of others. In the jostle\nof the world it may perhaps be admitted that forces acting on these\nlines are not without their use. They compensate one another, and some\nmeasure of good emerges from their unlovely energies. But such things\nare out of place among Christians, for they are right against the spirit\nof Christianity; and Christianity relies for its equipoise and working\nprogress on principles of quite another kind. Among Christians each is\nto be lowly-minded, conscious of his own defects and of his ill-desert.\nAnd this is to work in the way of our esteeming others to be better than\nourselves. For we are conscious of our own inward and deep defect as we\ncannot be of any other person's. And it is abundantly possible that\nothers may be better than we are, and safe for us to give full effect\nto that possibility. It is said, indeed, that we may possibly have\nconclusive reason to believe that certain other persons, even in\nChrist's Church, are worse than we are. But, apart from the\nprecariousness of such judgments, it is enough to say it is not for us\nto proceed on such a judgment or to give effect to it. We all await a\nhigher judgment; until then it becomes us to take heed to our own spirit\nand walk in lowliness of mind.\n\nSelfishness (\"looking to its own things,\" ver. 4), as well as arrogance,\nneeds to be resisted; and this is an even more pervading and inward\nevil. In dealing with it we are not required to have no eye at all to\nour own things; for indeed they are our providential charge, and they\nmust be cared for; but we are required to look _not only_ on our own,\nbut every man on the things of others. We have to learn to put ourselves\nin another's place, to recognise how things affect him, to sympathise\nwith his natural feelings in reference to them, and to give effect in\nspeech and conduct to the impressions hence arising. So a Christian man\nis to \"love his neighbour as himself\"--only with a tenderer sense of\nobligation and a consciousness of more constraining motive than could be\nattained by the Israelite of old. Lovingly to do right to a brother's\nclaims and to his welfare should be as cogent a principle of action with\nus as to care for our own.\n\nArrogance and selfishness--perhaps disguised in fairer forms--had bred\nthe disturbance at Philippi. The same baleful forces are present\neverywhere in all the Churches to this day, and have often run riot in\nthe House of God. How shall the ugliness and the hatefulness of the\nevery-day selfishness, the every-day self-assertion, the every-day\nstrifes of Christians, be impressed upon our minds? How are we to be\nawakened to our true calling in lowliness and in love?\n\n\n\n\n_THE MIND OF CHRIST (Continued)._\n\n     \"Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being\n     in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality\n     with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being\n     made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man,\n     He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the\n     death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave\n     unto Him the name which is above every name; that in the name of\n     Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on\n     earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should\n     confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the\n     Father.\"--PHIL. ii. 5-11 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n_THE MIND OF CHRIST (Continued)._\n\n\nIt proves hard to make us aware of the sin and the misery involved in\nthe place commonly allowed to SELF. Some of its conspicuous outrages on\nChristian decency we do disapprove and avoid: perhaps we have embarked\nin a more serious resistance to its domination. Yet, after all, how\neasily and how complacently do we continue to give scope to it! In forms\nof self-assertion, of arrogance, of eager and grasping competition, it\nbreaks out. It does so in ordinary life, in what is called public life,\nand, where it is most offensive of all, in Church life. Hence we fail so\nmuch in readiness to make the case of others our own, and to be\npractically moved by their interests, rights, and claims. There are\ncertainly great differences here; and some, in virtue of natural\nsympathy or Christian grace, attain to remarkable degrees of generous\nservice. Yet these also, if they know themselves, know how energetically\nself comes upon the field, and how much ground it covers. Many among us\nare doing good to others; but does it never strike us that there is a\ndistant and arrogant way of doing good? Many in Christian society are\nkind, and that is well; but undoubtedly there are self-indulgent ways of\nbeing kind.\n\nHaving to deal with this evil energy of self, the Apostle turns at once\nto the central truth of Christianity, the person of Christ. Here he\nfinds the type set, the standard fixed, of what Christianity is and\nmeans: or rather, here he finds a great fountain, from which a mighty\nstream proceeds; and before it all the forms of self-worship must be\nswept away. In bringing this out the Apostle makes a most remarkable\nstatement regarding the Incarnation and the history of our Lord. He\nreveals, at the same time, the place in his own mind held by the thought\nof Christ coming into the world, and the influence that thought had\nexerted on the formation of his character. He bids us recognise in\nChrist the supreme exemplification of one who is looking away from his\nown things--whose mind is filled, whose action is inspired by concern\nfor others. This is so at the root of the interposition of Christ to\nsave us, that the principle becomes imperative and supreme for all\nChrist's followers.\n\nWe have to consider the facts as they presented themselves to the mind\nof Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, that we may estimate the\nmotive which he conceives them to reveal, and the obligation which is\nthus laid upon all who name the name of Christ and take rank among His\nfollowers.\n\nThe Apostle, let us first observe, speaks of the Incarnation as that\nreveals itself to us, as it offers itself to the contemplation of men.\nTo involve himself in discussion of inner mysteries concerning the\nDivine nature and the human, and the manner of their union, as these are\nknown to God, is not, and could not, be his object. The mysteries must\nbe asserted, but much about them is to continue unexplained. He is to\nappeal to the impression derivable, as he maintains, from the plainest\nstatement of the facts which have been delivered to faith. This being\nthe object in view, determines the cast of his language. It is the\n_manner_ of being, the _manner_ of living, the _manner_ of acting\ncharacteristic of Christ at successive stages, which is to occupy our\nminds. Hence the Apostle's thought expresses itself in phrases such as\n\"_form_ of God,\" \"_form_ of a servant,\" and the like. We are to see one\nway of existing succeeding another in the history of Christ.\n\nFirst, our Lord is recognised as already existing before the beginning\nof His earthly history; and in that existence He contemplates and orders\nwhat His course shall be. This is plain; for in the seventh verse He is\nspoken of as emptying Himself, and thus assuming the likeness of men.\nFor the Apostle, then, it was a fixed thing that He who was born in\nNazareth pre-existed in a more glorious nature, and took ours by a\nnotable condescension. This pre-existence of Christ is the first thing\nto consider when we would make clear to ourselves how Christ, being true\nman, differs from other men. In this point Paul and John and the writer\nto the Hebrews unite their testimony in the most express and emphatic\nway; as we hear our Lord Himself also saying, \"Before Abraham was, I\nam,\" and speaking of the glory which He had before the world was. But\nwhat manner of existence this was is also set forth. He \"existed in the\nform of God.\" The same word \"form\" recurs presently in the expression\n\"the form of a servant.\" It is distinguished from the words \"likeness,\"\n\"fashion,\" which are expressed by other Greek terms.\n\nFrequently we use this word \"form\" in a way which contrasts it with the\ntrue being, or makes it denote the outward as opposed to the inward. But\naccording to the usage which prevailed among thinking men when the\nApostle wrote, the expression should not be understood to point to\nanything superficial, accidental, superimposed. No doubt it is an\nexpression which describes the Being by adverting to the attributes\nwhich, as it were, He wore, or was clothed with. But the word carries us\nespecially to those attributes of the thing described which are\ncharacteristic; by which it is permanently distinguished to the eye or\nto the mind; which denote its true nature because they rise out of that\nnature; the attributes which, to our minds, express the essence. So\nhere. He existed, how? In the possession and use of all that pertains to\nthe Divine nature. His manner of existence was, what? The Divine manner\nof existence. The characters through which Divine existence is revealed\nwere His. He subsisted in the form of God. This was the manner of it,\nthe glorious \"form\" which ought to fix and hold our minds.\n\nIf any one should suggest that, according to this text, the pre-existent\nChrist might be only a creature, though having the Divine attributes and\nthe Divine mode of life, he would introduce a mass of contradictions\nmost gratuitously. The Apostle's thought is simply this: For Christ the\nmode of existence is first of all Divine; then, by-and-by, a new form\nrises into view. Our Lord's existence did not begin (according to the\nNew Testament writers) when He was born, when He was found in fashion as\na man, sojourning with us. He came to this world from some previous\nstate. One asks from what state? Before He took the form of man, in what\nform of existence was He found? The Apostle answers, In the form of God.\n\nTo Him, therefore, with and in the Father, we have learned to ascribe\nall wisdom and power, all glory and blessedness, all holiness and all\nmajesty. Specially, through Him the worlds were made, and in Him they\nconsist. The fulness, the sufficiency, the essential strength of Godhead\nwere His. The exercise and manifestation of all these was His form of\nbeing. One might expect, then, that in any process of self-manifestation\nto created beings in which it might please Him to go forth, the\nexpression of His supremacy and transcendence should be written on the\nface of it.\n\nThe next thought is expressed in the received translation by the words\n\"thought it no robbery to be equal with God.\" So truly and properly\nDivine was He that equality with God could not appear to Him or be\nreckoned by Him as anything else than His own. He counted such equality\nno robbery, arrogance, or wrong. To claim it, and all that corresponds\nto it, could not appear to Him something assumed without right, but\nrather something assumed with the best right. So taken, these words\nwould complete the Apostle's view of the original Divine pre-eminence of\nthe Son of God. They would express, so to say, the equity of the\nsituation, from which all that follows should be estimated. Had it\npleased the Son of God to express only, and to impress on all minds only\nHis equality with God, this could not have seemed to Him encroachment or\nwrong.\n\nI think a good deal can be said for this. But the sense which, on the\nwhole, is now approved by commentators is that indicated by the Revised\nVersion. This takes the clause not as still dwelling on the primeval\nglory of the Son of God, and what was implied in it, but rather as\nbeginning to indicate how a new situation arose, pointing out the\ndispositions out of which the Incarnation came. \"He counted it not a\nprize to be on an equality with God.\" To hold by this was not the great\nobject with Him. In any steps He might take, in any forthgoings He might\nenter on, the Son of God might have aimed at maintaining and disclosing\nequality with God. That alternative was open. But this is not what we\nsee: no holding by that, no solicitude about that appears. His\nprocedure, His actings reveal nothing of this kind. What we see filling\nHis heart and fixing His regard, is not what might be due to Himself or\nassumed fitly by Himself, but what might bring deliverance and\nblessedness to us.[2]\n\n  [2] Various shades of meaning have been proposed. Meyer, whose opinion\n  has weight, virtually interprets in this way: He did not reckon equality\n  with God (which was His) to imply or to be fitly exercised in\n  acquisition, or in accumulation of benefit to Himself: and Hofmann,\n  after supporting another view, appears (in his _Hist. Schrift. N. T._)\n  to agree with this. To be equal to God, and to put forth power for His\n  own enrichment, were for the Son very different things. The one He\n  possessed: the other He renounced.\n\nOn the contrary, \"He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant,\nbeing made in the likeness of men.\" In the Incarnation our Lord assumed\nthe \"form\" of a servant, or slave: for in the room of the authority of\nthe Creator, now appears the subjection of the creature. He who gave\nform to all things, and Himself set the type of what was highest and\nbest in the universe, transcending meanwhile all created excellence in\nHis uncreated glory, now is seen conforming Himself to the type or model\nor likeness of one of His creatures, of man. He comes into human\nexistence as men do, and He continues in it as men do. Yet it is not\nsaid that He is now merely a man, or has become nothing but a man; He is\nin the likeness of men and is found in fashion as a man.\n\nIn taking this great step the Apostle says \"He emptied Himself.\" The\nemptying is perhaps designedly opposed to the thought of accumulation or\nself-enrichment conveyed in the phrase \"He counted it not a prize.\"\nHowever this may be, the phrase is in itself a remarkable expression.\n\nIt seems most certain, on the one hand, that this cannot import that He\nwho was with God and was God could renounce His own essential nature and\ncease to be Divine. The assertion of a contradiction like this involves\nthe mind in mere darkness. The notion is excluded by other scriptures;\nfor He who came on earth among us is Immanuel, God with us: and it is\nnot required by the passage before us; for the \"emptying\" can at most\napply to the \"form\" of God--the exercise and enjoyment of Divine\nattributes such as adequately express the Divine nature; and it may,\nperhaps, not extend its sense even so far; for the writer significantly\nabstains from carrying his thought further than the bare word \"He\nemptied Himself.\"\n\nOn the other hand, we are to beware of weakening unduly this great\ntestimony. Certainly it fixes our thoughts on this, at least, that our\nLord, by becoming man, had for His, truly _for His_, the experience of\nhuman limitation, human weakness and impoverishment, human dependence,\nhuman subjection, singularly contrasting with the glory and plenitude of\nthe form of God. This became His. It was so emphatically real, it became\nat the Incarnation so emphatically the form of existence on which He\nentered, that it is the thing eminently to be regarded, reverently to\nbe dwelt upon. This emptiness, instead of that fulness, is to draw and\nfix our regard. Instead of the form of God, there rises before us this\ntrue human history, this lowly manhood--and it took place by His\nemptying Himself.\n\nVarious persons and schools have thought it right to go further. The\nword here used has appeared to them to suggest that if the Son of God\ndid not renounce His Godhead, yet the Divine nature in Him must have\nbereaved itself of the Divine attributes, or withheld itself from the\nuse and exercise of them; so that the all-fulness no longer was at His\ndisposal. In this line they have gone on to describe or assign the mode\nof self-emptying which the Incarnation should imply.\n\nIt does not appear to me that one can lay down positions as to the\ninternal privations of One whose nature is owned to be essentially\nDivine, without falling into confusion and darkening counsel. But\nperhaps we may do well to cherish the impression that this self-emptying\non the part of the eternal Son of God, for our salvation, involves\nrealities which we cannot conceive or put in any words. There was more\nin this emptying of Himself than we can think or say.\n\nHe emptied Himself when He became man. Here we have the eminent example\nof a Divine mystery, which, being revealed, remains a mystery never to\nbe adequately explained, and which yet proves full of meaning and full\nof power. The Word was made flesh. He through whom all worlds took\nbeing, was seen in Jud\u00e6a in the lowliness of that practical historical\nmanhood. We never can explain this. But if we believe it all things\nbecome new for us: the meaning it proves to have for human history is\ninexhaustible.\n\nHe emptied Himself, \"taking the form of a servant,\" or bondslave. For\nthe creature is in absolute subjection alike to God's authority and to\nHis providence; and so Christ came to be. He entered on a discipline of\nsubjection and obedience. In particular He was made after the likeness\nof men. He was born as other children are; He grew as other children\ngrow; body and mind took shape for Him under human conditions.\n\nAnd so He was \"found in fashion as a man.\" Could words express more\nstrongly how wonderful it is in the Apostle's eyes that _He_ should so\nbe found? He lived His life and made His mark in the world in human\nfashion--His form, His mien, His speech, His acts, His way of life\ndeclared Him man. But being so, He humbled Himself to a strange and\ngreat obedience. Subjection, and in that subjection obedience, is the\npart of every creature. But the obedience which Christ was called to\nlearn was special. A heavy task was laid upon Him. He was made under the\nlaw; and bearing the burden of human sin, He wrought redemption. In\ndoing so many great interests fell to Him to be cared for; and this was\ndone by Him, not in the manner of Godhead which speaks and it is done,\nbut with the pains and labour of a faithful servant. \"I have a\ncommandment,\" He said, as He faced the Jews, who would have had His\nMessianic work otherwise ordered (John xii. 49).\n\nThis experience deepened into the final experience of the cross. Death\nis the signature of failure and disgrace. Even with sinless creatures it\nseems so. Their beauty and their use are past; their worth is measured\nand exhausted; they die. More emphatically in a nature like ours, which\naims at fellowship with God and immortality, death is significant this\nway, and bears the character of doom. So we are taught to think that\ndeath entered by sin. But the violent and cruel death of crucifixion,\ninflicted for the worst crimes, is most significant this way. What it\ncomprehended for our Lord we cannot measure. We know that He looked\nforward to it with the most solemn expectation; and when it came the\nexperience was overwhelming. Yes, He submitted to the doom and blight of\ndeath, in which death He made atonement and finished transgression. The\nIncarnation was the way in which our Lord bound Himself to our woful\nfortunes, and carried to us the benefits with which He would enrich us;\nand His death was for our sins, endured that we might live. But the\nApostle does not here dwell on the reasons why Christ's obedience must\ntake this road. It is enough that for reasons concerning our welfare,\nand the worthy achievement of the Father's Divine purposes, Christ bowed\nHimself to so great lowliness. A dark and sad death--a true obedience\nunto death--became the portion of the Son of God. \"I am the Living One,\nand I was dead.\" So complete was the self-emptying, the humiliation,\nthe obedience.\n\n\"Therefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him the Name that\nis above every name.\" For still we must think of Him as One that has\ncome down into the region of the creatures, the region in which we are\ndistinguished by names, and are capable of higher and lower in endless\ndegrees. God, dealing with Him so situated, acts in a manner rightly\ncorresponding to this great self-dedication, so as to utter God's mind\nupon it. He has set Him on high, and given Him the Name that is above\nevery name; so that Divine honour shall be rendered to Him by all\ncreation, and knees bowed in worship to Him everywhere, and all shall\nown Him Lord--that is, partaker of Divine Sovereignty. All this is \"to\nthe glory of the Father,\" seeing that in all this the worthiness and\nbeauty of God's being and ways come to light with a splendour heretofore\nunexampled.\n\nSo then, we may say, perhaps, that as in the humiliation He who is God\nexperienced what it is to be man, now in the exaltation He who is man\nexperiences what it is to be God.\n\nBut the point to dwell on chiefly is this consideration--What is it that\nattracts so specially the Father's approbation? What does so is Christ's\ngreat act of self-forgetting love. That satisfies and rests the Divine\nmind. Doubtless the Son's pure and perfect character, and the perfection\nof His whole service, were on all accounts approved; but specially the\n_mind_ of Christ revealed in His self-forgetting devotion. _Therefore_\nGod has highly exalted Him.\n\nFor, in the first place, Christ in this work of His is Himself the\nrevelation of the Father. All along the Father's heart is seen\ndisclosed. It was in fellowship with the Father, always delighting in\nHim, that the history was entered on; in harmony with Him it was\naccomplished. Throughout we have before us not only the mind of the Son,\nbut the mind of the Father that sent Him.\n\nAnd then, in the next place, as the Son, sent forth into the world, and\nbecome one of us, and subject to vicissitude, accomplishes His course,\nit is fitting for the Father to watch, to approve, and to crown the\nservice; and He who has so given Himself for God and man must take the\nplace due to such a \"mind\" and to such an obedience.\n\nLet us observe it then: what was in God's eye and ought to be in ours,\nis not only the dignity of the person, the greatness of the\ncondescension, the perfection of obedience and patience of endurance,\nbut, in the heart of all these, _the mind of Christ_. That was the\ninspiration of the whole marvellous history, vivifying it throughout.\nChrist, indeed, was not One who could so care for us, as to fail in His\nregard to any interest of His Father's name or kingdom; nor could He\ntake any course really unseemly, because unworthy of Himself. But\ncarrying with Him all that is due to His Father, and all that befits\nHis Father's Child and Servant, the wonderful thing is how His heart\nyearns over men, how His course shapes itself to the necessities of our\ncase, how all that concerns Himself disappears as He looks on the fallen\nrace. A worthy deliverance for them, consecrating them to God in the\nblessedness of life eternal--this is in His eye, to be reached by Him\nthrough all kinds of lowliness, obedience, and suffering. On this His\nheart was set; this gave meaning and character to every step of His\nhistory. This was the mind of the good Shepherd that laid down His life\nfor the sheep. And this is what completes and consecrates all the\nservice, and receives the Father's triumphant approbation. This is the\nLamb of God. There never was a Lamb like this.\n\nHow all this was and is in the Eternal Son in His Divine nature we\ncannot suitably conceive. In some most sublime and perfect manner we own\nit to be there. But we can think of it and speak of it as the \"mind of\nChrist\": as it came to light in the Man of Bethlehem, who, amid all the\npossibilities of the Incarnation, is seen setting His face so steadily\none way, whose life is all of one piece, and to whom we ascribe GRACE.\n\"Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.\" _Therefore_ God has highly\nexalted Him, and given Him the Name that is above every name. _This_ is\nthe right way. _This_ is the right life.\n\nAre we followers of Christ? Are we in touch with His grace? Do we yield\nourselves to His will and way? Do we renounce the melancholy\nobstructiveness which sets us at odds with Christ? Do we count it our\nwisdom now to come into His school? Then, let this mind be in you which\nwas also in Christ Jesus, this lowly, loving mind. _Let it._ Look not\nevery man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.\nDo nothing through strife or vainglory. In lowliness of mind let each\nesteem the other better than himself. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and\nanger, and envy, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all\nmalice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one\nanother, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. If there is\nany comfort in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of\nthe Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, let this be so. Let\nthis mind be in you; and find ways of showing it. But, indeed, if it be\nin you it will find ways to show itself.\n\nThe Church of Christ has not been without likeness to its Lord, and\nservice to its Lord: yet it has come far short in showing to the world\nthe mind of Christ. We often \"show the Lord's death.\" But in His death\nwere the mighty life and the conclusive triumph of Christ's love. Let\nthe life also of Christ Jesus be manifest in our mortal body.\n\nWe see here what the vision of Christ was which opened itself to\nPaul,--which, glowing in his heart, sent him through the world, seeking\nthe profit of many, that they might be saved. This was in his mind, the\nwonderful condescension and devotion of the Son of God. \"It pleased God\nto reveal His Son in me.\" \"God, who commanded the light to shine out of\ndarkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge\nof the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.\" \"Ye know the grace of\nour Lord Jesus Christ, how that though He was rich yet for our sakes He\nbecame poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich.\" \"He loved\nme and gave Himself for me.\" And in various forms and degrees the\nmanifestation of this same grace has astonished, and conquered, and\ninspired all those who have greatly served Christ in the Church in\nseeking to do good to men. Let us not separate ourselves from this\nfellowship of Christ; let us not be secluded from this mind of Christ.\nAs we come to Him with our sorrows, and sins, and wants, let us drink\ninto His mind. Let us sit at His feet and learn of Him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA line of contemplation, hard to follow yet inspiring, opens up in\nconsidering the Incarnation of our Lord as permanent. No day is coming\nin which that shall have to be looked upon as gone away into the past.\nThis is suggestive as to the tie between Creator and creature, as to the\nbridge between Infinite and finite, to be evermore found in Him. But it\nmay suffice here to have indicated the topic.\n\nIt is more to the point, in connection with this passage, to call\nattention to a lesson for the present day. Of late great emphasis has\nbeen laid by earnest thinkers upon the reality of Christ's human nature.\nAnxiety has been felt to do full right to that humanity which the\nGospels set before us so vividly. This has been in many ways a happy\nservice to the Church. In the hands of divines the humanity of Christ\nhas sometimes seemed to become shadowy and unreal, through the stress\nlaid on His proper Godhead; and now men have become anxious to possess\ntheir souls with the human side of things, even perhaps at the cost of\nleaving the Divine side untouched. The recoil has carried men quite\nnaturally into a kind of humanitarianism, sometimes deliberate,\nsometimes unconscious. Christ is thought of as the ideal Man, who, just\nbecause He is the ideal Man, is morally indistinguishable from God, and\nis in the closest fellowship with God. Yet He grows on the soil of human\nnature, He is fundamentally and only human. And this, it is implied, is\nenough: it covers all we want. But we see this was not Paul's way of\nthinking. The real humanity was necessary for him, because he\ndesiderated a real incarnation. But the true original Divine nature was\nalso necessary. For so he discerned the love--the grace, and the gift by\ngrace; so he felt that the Eternal God had bowed down to bless him in\nand by His Son. It makes a great difference to religion when men are\npersuaded to forego this faith.\n\n\n\n\n_WORKING AND SHINING._\n\n     \"So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my\n     presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own\n     salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in\n     you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure. Do all things\n     without murmurings and disputings; that ye may be blameless and\n     harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked\n     and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the\n     world, holding forth the word of life; that I may have whereof to\n     glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain neither\n     labour in vain. Yea, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and\n     service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all: and in the\n     same manner do ye also joy, and rejoice with me.\"--PHIL. ii. 12-18\n     (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n_WORKING AND SHINING._\n\n\nAfter his great appeal to the mind of Christ, the Apostle can pursue his\npractical object; and he can do so with a certain tranquillity,\nconfident that the forces he has just set in motion will not fail to do\ntheir work. But yet that same appeal itself has tended to broaden and\ndeepen the conception of what should be aimed at. He had deprecated the\narrogant and the selfish mind, as these are opposed to lovingkindness\nand regard for others. But now, in presence of the great vision of the\nIncarnation and obedience of Christ, the deeper note of lowliness must\nbe struck in fit accord with that of love; not only lowliness in the way\nof doing ready honour to others, but deep and adoring lowliness towards\nGod, such as is due both from creatures and from sinners. For if\nChrist's love fulfilled itself in such a perfect humility, how deeply\ndoes it become us to bear towards God in Christ a mind of penitence and\ngratitude, of loving awe and wonder, such as shall at the same time for\never exclude from our bearing towards others both pride and\nself-seeking. In this way the one practical object suggested by the\ncircumstances at Philippi--namely, loving unity--now allies itself\nnaturally with ideas of complete and harmonious Christian life; and\nvarious views of that life begin to open. But each aspect of it still\nproves to be connected with the gracious and gentle mind of Christ, in\nthe lowly form of that mind which is appropriate for a sinner who is\nalso a believer.\n\nSo then they are to apply themselves to the \"calling wherewith they are\ncalled,\" in a spirit of \"fear and trembling.\" The phrase is a common one\nwith the Apostle (1 Cor. ii. 3; 2 Cor. vii. 15; Eph. v. 6). He uses it\nwhere he would express a state of mind in which willing reverence is\njoined with a certain sensitive anxiety to escape dangerous mistakes and\nto perform duty well. And it is fitly called for here, for\n\n1. If lowliness so became the Divine Saviour, who was full of grace,\nwisdom, and power, then what shall be the mind of those who in great\nguilt and need have found part in the salvation, and who are going\nforward to its fulness? What shall be the mind of those who, in this\nexperience, are looking up to Christ--_looking up to_ lowliness? Surely\nnot the spirit of strife and vainglory (ver. 3), but of fear and\ntrembling--the mind that dreads to be presumptuous and arrogant, because\nit finds the danger to be still near.\n\n2. The salvation has to be wrought out. It must come to pass in your\ncase in the line of your own endeavour. Having its power and fulness in\nChrist, and bestowed by Him on you, yet this deliverance from distance,\nestrangement, darkness, unholiness, is given to believers to be wrought\nout: it comes as a right to be realised, and as a power to be exercised,\nand as a goal to be attained. Think of this,--you have in hand your own\nsalvation--great, Divine, and wonderful--to be _wrought out_. Can you go\nabout it without fear and trembling? Consider what you are--consider\nwhat you believe--consider what you seek--and what a spirit of lowly and\ncontrite eagerness will pervade your life! This holds so much the more,\nbecause the salvation itself stands so much in likeness to Christ--that\nis to say, in a loving lowliness. Let a man think how much is in him\nthat tends, contrariwise, to self-assertion and self-seeking, and he\nwill have reason enough to fear and tremble as he lays fresh hold on the\npromises, and sets his face to the working out of this his own\nsalvation.\n\n3. This very working out, from whom does it come? Are you the\nexplanation and last source of it? What does it mean? Wherever it takes\nplace, it means that, in a very special sense, God's mighty presence and\npower is put forth in us to will and to do. Shall not this thought quell\nour petulance? Where is room now for anything but fear and trembling--a\ndeep anxiety to be lowly, obedient, compliant?\n\nWhether, therefore, we look to the history of the Saviour, or to the\nwork to which our own life is devoted, or to the power that animates\nthat work and on which it depends--in all alike we find ourselves\ncommitted to the lowly mind; and in all alike we find ourselves beset\nwith a wealth of free beneficence, which lays obligation on us to be\nself-forgetting and loving. We are come into a wonderful world of\ncompassionate love. That is the platform on which we stand--the light we\nsee by--the music that fills our ears--the fragrance that rises on every\nside. If we are to live here, there is only one way for it--there is\nonly one kind of life that _can_ live in this region. And, being, as we\nare, alas, so strangely coarse and hard--even if this gospel gladdens\nus, there may well thrill through our gladness a very honest and a very\ncontrite \"fear and trembling.\"\n\nNow all this is by the Apostle persuasively urged upon his Philippian\nchildren (ver. 12): \"As ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence\nonly, but now much more in my absence.\" For, indeed, it proves easy\ncomparatively for our human indolence to yield to the spell of some\ngreat and forcible personality when he is present. It is even pleasant\nto allow ourselves to be borne on by the tide of his enthusiastic\ngoodness. And when the Apostle was at Philippi, it might come easier to\nmany of them to feel the force and scope of their calling in Christ. And\nyet now that he was gone, now was the time for them to prove for\nthemselves, and evince to others, the durable worth of the great\ndiscovery they had made, and the thoroughness of the decision which had\ntransformed their lives. Now, also, was the time to show Paul himself,\nthat their \"obedience\" was of the deep and genuine quality which alone\ncould give content to him.\n\nSuch in general seems to be the scope of these two verses. But one or\ntwo of the points deserve to be considered a little before we go on.\n\nMark how emphatically the Apostle affirms the great truth, that every\ngood thing accompanying salvation which comes to pass in Christians is\nof the mighty power and grace of God. Therefore Christianity must stand\nso much in asking and in thanking. It is God that worketh in you. He\ndoes it, and no other than He; it is His prerogative. He worketh to will\nand to do. The inclination of the heart and the purpose of the will are\nof Him; and the striving to bring forth into act and deed what has been\nso conceived--that also is of Him. He quickens those who were dead in\ntrespasses and sins; He gives the renewing of the Holy Ghost; He makes\nHis children perfect, working in them that which is well pleasing in His\nsight through Jesus Christ. All this He does in the exercise of His\nproper power, in the \"exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who\nbelieve\"--\"according to the working of His mighty power, which wrought\nin Christ when He was raised from the dead.\" Apparently we are to take\nit that in the children of God there is the new heart, or new nature, in\nrespect of which they are new creatures; and also the indwelling of God\nby His Spirit; and also the actual working of the same Spirit in all\nfruits of righteousness which they bring forth to the glory and praise\nof God. And these three are so connected, that regard should be had to\nall of them when we contemplate each.\n\nHe worketh to will and to do. From Him all godly desires and purposes\nproceed--from Him, every passage in our lives in which the \"salvation\nthat is in Christ Jesus\" is by us received, put to proof, wrought out\ninto the transactions of our lives. It must be so, if we will only think\nof it. For this \"salvation\" involves an actual, and in principle a\ncomplete agreement with God, affirmed and embodied in each right\nthought, and word, and deed. Whence could this flow but from Himself?\n\nIn their statements and explanations about this Christians have\ndiffered. The difference has been mainly on the point, how to make it\nclear that men are not dealt with as inert nor as irresponsible; that\nthey must not hold themselves excused from working on the ground that\nGod works all. For all agree that men are called to the most serious\nearnestness of purpose and the most alert activity of action; but the\ntheorising of this activity occasions debate. It is from the motive of\ntrying to make more room for these indispensable elements on the human\nside, that modes of statement have been suggested which limit or explain\naway the Apostle's statement here. The motive is commendable, but the\nmethod is not commonly successful. All efforts to divide the ground\nbetween God and man go astray. In the inward process of salvation, and\nespecially in this \"willing and doing,\" God does all, and also man does\nall. But God takes precedence. For it is He that quickeneth the dead,\nand calleth things that are not as though they were. Here we may say, as\nthe Apostle does in another case, \"This is a great mystery.\" Let us\nrecognise it as a mystery bound up with any hope we ourselves have of\nproving to be children of God. And under the sense of it, with fear and\ntrembling let us work, for it is God that worketh in us to will and to\ndo.\n\nHe worketh in us to will. When I trace back any of my actions to the\nfountain where it takes its rise _as mine_, I find that fountain in my\nwill. The materials which I take up into my act, the impressions which\ngather together to create a situation for me, may all have their\nseparate history going back in the order of cause and effect to the\nbeginning of the world; but that which makes it mine, is that _I will_,\n_I choose_, and thereupon I do it. Therefore also it is that I must\nanswer for it, because it is mine. I willed it, and in willing it I\ncreated something which pertains to me, and to no other; something began\nwhich is mine, and the responsibility for it cleaves only to me. But in\nthe return to God through Christ, and in the working out of that\nsalvation, there are acts of mine, most truly mine; and yet in these\nanother Will, the Will of Him who saves, is most intimately concerned.\nHe worketh in us to will. It is not an enslaving, but an emancipating\nenergy. It brings about free action, yet such as fulfils a most gracious\nDivine purpose. So these \"willings\" embody a consent, a union of heart\nand mind and will, His and mine, the thought of which is enough to bow\nme to the ground with \"fear and trembling.\" This is He who gathereth the\ndispersed of Israel into one.\n\nOn the other hand, the salvation is to be wrought out by us. To have\nfaith in the Son of God in exercise and prevalence; to have heart and\nlife formed to childlike love of God, and to the fulfilment of His will;\nto carry this out against the flesh and the world and the devil,--all\nthis is a great career of endeavour and attainment. It is much to make\nthe discoveries implied in it: finding out at each stage the meaning of\nit, and how it should take shape. It is much to have the heart brought\nto beat true to it, to love it, consent to it, be set upon it. It is\nmuch to embody it in faithful and successful practice in the rough\nschool of life, with its actual collision and conflict. Now the nature\nand working of God's grace at each stage is of this kind, that it\noperates in three ways at least. It operates as a _call_, an effectual\ncall, setting a man on to arise and go. It operates also in a way of\ninstruction, setting us to learn lessons, _teaching_ us how to live, as\nit is said in Titus ii. 11, 12. And it operates as a _power_, as help in\ntime of need. He that sits still at the call--he that will not be\nconsiderate to learn the lesson--he that will not cast himself on the\nstrength perfected in weakness, that he may fulfil and do the Father's\nwill--he is a man who despises and denies the grace of God.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNow what has been said of the believer's relation to the saving God,\nprepares the way for referring to his office towards the world. Here the\nmoral and practical theme which is in the Apostle's mind all through\nproves again to be in place: the lowly and loving mind will best\ndischarge that office towards the world, which the arrogant and\ndistempered mind would hinder. \"Do all things without murmurings and\ndisputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless.\"\n\nA murmuring and disputatious temper--murmuring at what displeases us,\nand multiplying debate about it--is simply one form of the spirit which\nPaul deprecates all through this context. It is the sign of the\ndisposition to value unduly one's own ease, one's own will, one's own\nopinion, one's own party, and to lie at the catch for opportunities to\nbring that feeling into evidence. Now observe the harm which the Apostle\nanticipates. It is your office to serve God by making a right impression\non the world. How shall that come to pass? Chiefly, or at least\nprimarily, the Apostle seems to say, by the absence of evil. At least,\nthat is the most general and the safest notion of it, with which to\nbegin. Some, no doubt, make impressions by their eloquence, or by their\nwisdom, or by their enterprising and successful benevolence--though all\nthese have dangers and drawbacks attending them, in so far as the very\nenergy of action provides a shelter for unperceived self-will. Still,\nlet them have their place and their praise. But here is the line that\nmight suit all. A man whose life stands clear of the world's\ndeformities, under the influence of a light and a love from which the\nworld is estranged, gradually makes an impression.\n\nNow murmuring and disputing are precisely adapted to hinder this\nimpression. And sometimes they hinder it in the case of people of high\nexcellence--people who have much sound and strong principle, who have\nlarge benevolence, who are capable of making remarkable sacrifices to\nduty when they see it. Yet this vice, perhaps a surface vice, of\nmurmuring and disputing, is so suggestive of a man's self being\nuppermost, it so unpleasantly forces itself in as the interpretation of\nthe man, that his real goodness is little accounted of. At all events,\nthe peculiar purity of the Christian character--its blamelessness and\nharmlessness, its innocence--does not in his case come to light. People\nsay: \"Ah, he is one of the mixed ones, like ourselves. Christian\ndevoutness suits some people: they are sincere enough in it very likely;\nbut it leaves them, after all, pretty much as it found them.\"\n\nI say no more about murmuring and disputing as these reveal themselves\nin our relations to others. But the same spirit, and attended in its\noperations with the same evil effects, may manifest itself in other\nways besides that of unkindness to men. As frequently, perhaps, it may\nshow itself in our behaviour towards God; and in that case it interferes\nat least as seriously with the shining of our light in the world.\n\nJust as in the camp of Israel of old on many memorable occasions there\narose a murmuring of the people against God, when His ways crossed their\nwill, or seemed dark to their wisdom; just as, on such occasions, there\nbroke out among the people the expression of doubt, dislike, and\ndisputation, and they criticised those Divine dealings which should have\nbeen received with trust and lowliness,--so is it also, many a time, in\nthe little world within us. There are such and such duties to be\ndischarged and such and such trials to be encountered--or else a general\ncourse of duty is to be pursued under certain discouragements and\nperplexities. And, you submit, you do these things. But you do them with\nmurmuring and disputing in your heart. Why should it be thus? \"How is it\nfit,\" you say, \"that such perplexities or such burdens should be\nappointed? Is it not reasonable, all things considered, that I should\nhave more indulgence and greater facilities; or, at least, that I should\nbe excused from this conflict and this burden-bearing for the present?\"\nMeanwhile our conscience is satisfied because we have not rebelled in\npractice; and it takes no strict account of the fretfulness which marred\nour act, or the grumbling which well-nigh withheld us from compliance.\nYou are called, perhaps, to speak to some erring friend, or you have to\ngo on a message of mercy to some one in affliction. Indolently you\npostpone it; and your heart begins to stretch out its arms and to cling\nto the careless temper it has begun to indulge. At last conscience\nstirs, conscience is up, and you have to do something. But what you do\nis done grudgingly, with a heart that is murmuring and disputing. Again,\nyou are called to deny yourself some worldly pleasure; in Christian\nconsistency you have to hold back from some form of dissipation; or you\nhave to take up a position of singularity and separation from other\npeople. Reluctantly, you comply; only \"murmuring and disputing.\" Now\nthis inward temper may never come to any man's knowledge, but shall we\nsuppose it does not tell on the character and the influence of the life?\nCan you, in that temper, play your part with the childlike, the\ncheerful, the dignified bearing, with the resemblance to Christ in your\naction, which God calls for? You cannot. The duty as to the husk and\nshell of it may be done; but there can be little radiation of Christ's\nlikeness in the doing of it.\n\nNotice the Apostle's conception of the function which believers are to\ndischarge in the world. They are set in the midst of a crooked and\nperverse nation. These words were applied to the children of Israel of\nold on account of the stubborn insubordination with which they dealt\nwith God; and they were applicable, for the same reason, to the\nGentiles, among whom the gospel had come, but who had not bowed to it.\nJudged by the high and true standard, these Gentiles were crooked and\nperverse in their ways with one another, and still more so in their ways\nwith God. Among them the Christians were to show what Christianity was,\nand what it could do. In the Christians was to appear, embodied, the\ntestimony proposed to the crooked and perverse nation, a testimony\nagainst its perverseness, and yet revealing a remedy for it. In the\npersons of men, themselves originally crooked and perverse, this was to\nbecome plain and legible. Now how? Why, by their being blameless and\nharmless, the sons of God without rebuke.\n\nIt has been remarked already that the special way in which we are to\nmanifest to the world the light of Christianity is here represented as\nthe way of blamelessness. That man aright represents the mind of Christ\nto the world, who in the world keeps himself unspotted from the\nworld,--in whom men recognise a character that traces up to a purer\nsource elsewhere. As years pass, as cross lights fall upon the life,\neven in its most common and private workings, if it still proves that\nthe man is cleansed by the faith he holds, if the unruly working of\ninterest, and passion, and will, give way in him to motives of a higher\nstrain, men will be impressed. They will own that here is something rare\nand high, and that some uncommon cause is at the bottom of it. For the\nworld knows well that even the better sort of men have their weaker\nside, often plainly enough revealed by the trials of time. Therefore\nsteadfast purity makes, at last, a deep impression.\n\nInnocence indeed is not the whole duty of a Christian; active virtue is\nrequired as well. The harmlessness called for is not a mere negative\nquality--it is supposed to be exhibited in an active life which strives\nto put on Christ Jesus. But the Apostle seems to lay stress especially\non a certain quiet consistency, on a lowly and loving regard to the\nwhole standard, which gives evenness and worthiness to the life. If you\nwill do a Christian's office to the \"perverse nation,\" you have to seek\nthat they may have nothing against you except concerning the law of your\nGod; you have to seek that your reproach may be exclusively the reproach\nof Christ: so that if at any time the malice of men seeks to misconstrue\nyour actions, and lays to your charge things which you know not, your\nwell-doing may silence them; and having no evil thing to say of you,\nthey may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in\nChrist.\n\nStrong appeals are made in our day to members of the Christian Church to\nengage actively in all kinds of Christian work. They are summoned to go\nforth aggressively upon the world's misery and sin. This has become a\ncharacteristic note of our time. Such appeals were needed. It is a shame\nthat so many Christians have absolved themselves from the obligation to\nplace at their Lord's service the aptitudes and the energies with which\nHe has endowed them. Yet in this wholesale administration diversities\nare apt to be overlooked. Christians may be undervalued who do not\npossess qualities fitting them for the special activities; or,\nattempting these without much aptitude, and finding little success, they\nmay be unduly cast down. It is important to lay stress on this. There\nare some, perhaps we should say many, who must come to the conclusion,\nif they judge aright, that their gifts and opportunities indicate for\nthem, as their sphere, a somewhat narrow round of duties, mostly of that\nordinary type which the common experience of human life supplies. But if\nthey bring into these a Christian heart; if they use the opportunities\nthey have; if they are watchful to please their Lord in the life of the\nfamily, the workshop, the market; if the purifying influence of the\nfaith by which they live comes to light in the steady excellence of\ntheir character and course,--then they need have no sense of exclusion\nfrom the work of Christ and of His Church. They, too, do missionary\nwork. Blameless, harmless, unrebuked, they are seen as lights in the\nworld. They contribute, in the manner that is most essential of all, to\nthe Church's office in the world. And their place of honour and reward\nshall be far above that of many a Christian busybody, who is too much\noccupied abroad to keep the light clear and bright at home.\n\nBlameless, then, harmless, unaspersed, must the children of God, His\nredeemed children, be. So will the light of Christian character come\nclearly out, and Christians will be \"luminaries, holding forth the word\nof life.\"\n\nThe word of life is the message of salvation as it sets forth to us\nChrist, and goodness and blessedness by Him. Substantially it is that\nteaching which we have in the Scriptures; although, when Paul wrote, the\nNew Testament was not yet a treasure of the Churches, and the \"word of\nlife\" only echoed to and fro from teacher to taught, and from one\ndisciple to another. Still, the teaching rested on the Old Testament\nScriptures understood in the light of the testimony of Jesus; and it was\ncontrolled and guided by men speaking and writing in the Spirit. What it\nwas therefore was very well known, and the influence of it as the seed\nof life eternal was felt. It was for Christians to _hold by it_, and to\n_hold it out_,--the expression used in ver. 16 may have either meaning;\nand virtually both senses are here. In order to give light there must be\nlife. And Christian life depends on having in us the word, quick and\npowerful, which is to dwell in us richly in all wisdom and spiritual\nunderstanding. This must be the secret of blameless Christian lives; and\nso those who have this character will give light, as holding forth the\nword of life. The man's visible character itself does this. For while\nthe word and message of life is to be owned, professed, in fit times\nproclaimed, yet the embodiment of it in the man is the main point here,\nthe character being formed and the practice determined by the \"word\"\nbelieved. So also we are said to live by the faith of the Son of God.\nThe life of faith on Him, is the life of having and holding forth His\nword.\n\nHere, as everywhere, our Lord goes first. The Apostle John, speaking in\nhis Gospel of the Eternal Word, tells us that in Him was life, and the\nlife was the light of men. It was not merely a doctrine of light; the\nlife was the light. As He lived, in His whole being, in His acting and\nsuffering, in His coming and staying and departing, in His Person and in\nHis discharge of every office, He manifested the Father. Still we find\nit so; as we contemplate Him, as His words leads us to Himself, we\nbehold the glory, the radiance of grace and truth.\n\nNow His people are made like Him. They too, through the word of life,\nbecome partakers of true life. This life does not dwell in them as it\ndoes in their Lord, for He is its original seat and source; hence they\nare not the light of the world in the same sense in which He is so.\nStill they are luminaries, they are stars in the world. By manifesting\nthe genuine influence of the word of life which dwells in them, they do\nmake manifest in the world what truth and purity and salvation are. This\nis their calling; and, in a measure, it is their attainment.\n\nThe view of the matter given here may be compared with that in 2 Cor.\niii. 4. Christ, the Father's Word, may also be regarded as the Father's\nliving Epistle. Then those who behold Him, and drink in the significance\nof this message, are also themselves, in their turn, Epistles of\nChrist, known and read of all men.\n\nSo to shine is the calling of all believers, not of some only; each,\naccording to his opportunities, may and ought to fulfil it. God designs\nto be glorified, and to have His salvation justified, in this form.\nChrist has said, in the plainest terms, \"Ye are the light of the world.\"\nBut to be so implies separateness from the world, in root and in fruits;\nand that is for many a hard saying. \"Ye are a holy nation, a peculiar\npeople, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who called you out\nof darkness into His marvellous light.\"\n\nIn the sixteenth and following verses comes in again Paul's own share in\nthe progress and victory of the Christian life in his friends. \"It would\nbe exceeding well,\" he seems to say, \"for you; how well, you may gather\npartly from learning how well it would be for me.\" He would have cause\nto \"rejoice in the day of Christ\" that he had \"not run in vain, neither\nlaboured in vain.\" What might be said on this has been anticipated in\nthe remarks made on ch. i., ver. 20 fol. But here the Apostle is\nthinking of something more than the toil and labour expended in the\nwork. More than these was to fall to his lot. His life of toil was to\nclose in a death of martyrdom. And whether the Apostle was or was not\nenabled to foresee this certainly, doubtless he looked forward to it as\naltogether probable. So he says: \"But if I be offered (or poured out as\na drink-offering) in the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and\nrejoice with you all; and do ye also likewise joy and rejoice with me.\"\n\nTo see the force of this expression we must remember that it was an\nancient custom to seal and complete a sacrifice by the pouring out of a\nlibation on the altar or at the foot of it. This might be intended as\nthe crowning testimony of the abundant freewill with which the service\nhad been rendered and the sacrifice had been offered. To some such rite\nthe Apostle alludes when he speaks of himself--that is to say, of his\nown life--as poured forth at the sacrifice and service of their faith.\nAnd it is not hard to understand the idea which dictates this mode of\nspeech.\n\nWe read in Romans xii. an exhortation to the saints to yield themselves\na living _sacrifice_, which sacrifice is their reasonable _service_.\nThey were to do so in the way of not being conformed to the world, but\ntransformed by the renewing of their minds. So here: the course of\nconduct which the Apostle had been exhorting the Philippians to pursue\nwas an act of worship or service, and in particular it was a sacrifice,\nthe sacrifice of their faith, the sacrifice in which their faith was\nexpressed. Each believer in offering this sacrifice acts as a priest,\nbeing a member of the holy priesthood which offers to God spiritual\nsacrifices (1 Peter ii. 5). Such a man is not, indeed, a priest to make\natonement, but he is a priest to present offerings through Christ his\nHead. The Philippians, then, in so far as they were, or were to be,\nyielding themselves in this manner to God, were priests who offered to\nGod a spiritual sacrifice.\n\nHere let us notice, as we pass, that no religion is worth the name that\nhas not its sacrifice through which the worshipper expresses his\ndevotion. And in Christian religion the sacrifice is the consecration of\nthe man and of his life to God's service in Christ. Let us all see to it\nwhat sacrifices we offer.\n\nThis doctrine, then, of the priesthood and the sacrifice was verified in\nthe case of the Philippians; and, by the same rule, it held true also in\nthe case of Paul himself. He, as little as they, was priest to make\natonement. But certainly when we see Paul so cordially yielding himself\nto the service of God in the gospel, and discharging his work with such\nwilling labour and pains, we see in him one of Christ's priests offering\nhimself to God a living sacrifice. Now is this all? or is something more\nto be said of Paul? More is to be said; and although the point now in\nview is not prominent in this passage, it is present as the underlying\nthought. For the whole sacrifice of holy life rendered by the\nPhilippians, and by his other converts, was, in a sense, the offering of\nPaul also; not theirs only, but his too. God gave him a standing in the\nmatter, which he, at least, was not to overlook. God's grace, indeed,\nhad wrought the work, and Paul was but an instrument; yet so an\ninstrument, that he had a living and abiding interest in the result. He\nwas not an instrument mechanically interposed, but one whose faith and\nlove had wrought to bring the result to pass. To him it had been given\nto labour and pray, to watch and guide, to spend and to be spent. And\nwhen the Apostle saw the lives of many true followers of Christ unfold\nas the result of his ministry, he could think that God owned his place\ntoo in bringing all this tribute to the temple. \"God grants me a\nstanding in the service of this offering. The Philippians bring it, each\nfor himself, and it is theirs; but I also bring it, and it is my\noffering too. God takes it at their hand, but also at my hand, as\nsomething which with all my heart I have laboured for and won, and\nbrought to His footstool. I also have my place to present to Christ the\nsacrifice and service of faith of all these men who are living fruits of\nmy ministry. I have been minister of Christ to these Gentiles,\n'ministering the gospel of the grace of God, that the offering up of\nthese Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.\nI have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ'\" (Rom. xv.\n16, 17).\n\nThere remains but one step to be made, to reach the seventeenth verse.\nConsider the Apostle's heart glowing with the thought that God counted\nthe holy fruits of those believing lives to be sacrifice and service of\nhis, as well as theirs, and accepted it not only from their hands, but\nfrom Paul's too. Consider the gladness with which he felt that after all\nhis toil and pains he had this great offering to bring, as _his_\nthank-offering to his Lord. And then imagine him hearing a voice which\nsays: \"Now then, seal your service, crown your offering; be yourself\nthe final element of sacrifice; pour out your life. You have laboured\nand toiled, spent years and strength, very willingly, and most\nfruitfully: that is over now; one thing remains; die for the worthy name\nof Him who died for you.\" It is this he is contemplating: if I _be_\npoured out at the sacrifice and service of your faith; if I am called to\ngo on and to complete the sacrifice and service; if one thing more alone\nis left for Paul the aged and the prisoner, and that one thing be to lay\ndown the life whose labours are ending; if the life itself is to run out\nin one final testimony that my whole heart, that all I am and have are\nChrist's,--shall not I rejoice? will not you rejoice with me? That will\nbe the final identification of my life with your sacrifice and service.\nIt will be the expression of God's accepting the completed gift. It will\nbe the libation that crowns the service. I am not to be used, and then\nset aside as having no more interest in the results. On the contrary,\nyour Christianity and mine, in the wonderful relation they have to one\nanother, are to pass to God together as one offering. If, after running\nand labouring, all issues in my life being finally poured out in\nmartyrdom, that, as it were, identifies me finally and inseparably with\nthe sacrifice and service which has filled your lives, and also my life.\nIt becomes one complete offering.\n\nIt may give cause for thought to ministers of the gospel that the\nApostle should so vitally and vividly connect himself with the results\nof his work. It was no languid, no perfunctory ministry that led up to\nthis high mood. His heart's blood had been in it; the strength and\npassion of his love to Christ had been poured out and spent on his work\nand his converts. Therefore he could feel that in some gracious and\nblessed way the fruits that came were still his--given to _him_ to bring\nto the altar of the Lord. How well shall it be with the Churches when\nthe ministry of their pastors burns with a flame like this! What an\nimage of the pastoral care is here expressed!\n\nBut may not all Christian hearts be stirred to see the devotedness and\nthe love which filled this man's soul? The constraining power of the\nlove of Christ so wrought in him that he triumphed and rejoiced both in\nbringing and in becoming an offering,--breaking out, as it were, into\nsacrifice and service, and pouring out his life an offering to the\nFather and the Son. All hearts may be stirred; for all, perhaps, can\nimagine such a mood. But how many of us have it as a principle and a\npassion entering into our own lives?\n\n\n\n\n_TIMOTHY AND EPAPHRODITUS._\n\n     \"But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you,\n     that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I\n     have no man likeminded, who will care truly [genuinely] for your\n     state. For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.\n     But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child serveth a father, so\n     he served with me in furtherance of the gospel. Him therefore I\n     hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with\n     me: but I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall come shortly.\n     But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother\n     and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and\n     minister to my need; since he longed after you all, and was sore\n     troubled, because ye had heard that he was sick: for indeed he was\n     sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him\n     only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow. I\n     have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when ye see him\n     again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.\n     Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy; and hold such in\n     honour: because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death,\n     hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service\n     toward me.\"--PHIL. ii. 19-30 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n_TIMOTHY AND EPAPHRODITUS._\n\n\nThe outpouring of his thoughts, his feelings, and his desires towards\nthe Philippians has so far spent itself. Now he turns to mention the\nsteps he is taking, in response to their communication, to express\npractically his love and his care for their welfare. Yet we must carry\nalong with us what has just been said of the Christian service and\nsacrifice, and of the tie between the Apostle and his converts; for\nthese thoughts are still in the Apostle's mind, and they gleam through\nthe passage which now comes before us.\n\nPaul had been contemplating the possibility of dying soon in his\nMaster's cause: no doubt it was an alternative often present to his\nmind; and we see with what a glow of high association it rose before\nhim. Still he, like ourselves, had to await his Master's will, had\nmeanwhile to carry on the business of his life, and indeed (ch. i. 25)\nwas aware that the prolongation of his life might very likely be a\ncourse of things more in the line of God's purpose, and more serviceable\nto the Churches at Philippi and elsewhere. So, while he has expressed\nthe mood in which both they and he are to face the event of his\nmartyrdom, when it comes, he does not hesitate to express the\nexpectation that he may be set free and may see them again. Meanwhile he\nhas made up his mind ere long to send Timothy. Timothy will bring them\nnews of Paul, and will represent the Apostle among them as only a very\nnear and confidential friend could do; at the same time he will bring\nback to Paul an account of things at Philippi, no doubt after doing all\nthat with God's help he could to instruct, correct, and edify the Church\nduring his stay. In this way a sustaining and gladdening experience for\nthe Philippian Christians would be provided; and, at the same time, Paul\ntoo (I _also_, ver. 19) would be gladdened by receiving from so\ntrustworthy a deputy a report upon men and things at Philippi. In\nconnection with this declaration of his intention, the Apostle reveals\nsome of the reflections which had occupied his mind; and these suggest\nseveral lessons.\n\n1. Notice the spirit of self-sacrifice on Paul's part. Timothy was the\none thoroughly trusted and congenial friend within his reach. To a man\nwho was a prisoner, and on whom the burden of many anxieties fell, it\nwas no small ease to have one such friend beside him. Our blessed Lord\nHimself craved for loving human fellowship in His time of sorrow; and so\nmust Paul do also. Yet all must give way to the comfort and well-being\nof the Churches. As soon as Paul can descry how it is to go with him,\nso that plans may be adjusted to the likelihoods of the situation,\nTimothy is to go on his errand to Philippi.\n\n2. Notice the importance which may justly attach to human\ninstrumentalities. One is not as good as another. Some are far more fit\nfor use than others are. The Apostle thought earnestly on the point who\nwas fittest to go, and he was glad he had a man like Timothy to send. It\nis true that the supreme source of success in gospel work is God\nHimself; and sometimes He gives unexpected success to unlikely\ninstruments. But yet, as a rule, much depends on men being adapted to\ntheir work. When God prepares fresh blessing for His Church, He commonly\nraises up men fitted for the service to be rendered. Therefore we do\nwell to pray earnestly for men eminently qualified to do the Lord's\nwork.\n\n3. Timothy's special fitness for this mission was that he had a heart to\ncare for them, especially to care for their true and highest interests.\nSo far, he resembled Paul himself. He had the true pastoral heart. He\nhad caught the lessons of Paul's own life. That was the main thing. No\ndoubt he had intellectual gifts, but his dispositions gave him the right\nuse of gifts. The loving heart, and the watchfulness and thoughtfulness\nwhich that inspires, do more to create pastoral wisdom than any\nintellectual superiority. Timothy had a share of the \"mind\" of Christ\n(ver. 5), and that made him meet to be a wise inspector and adviser for\nthe Philippians, as well as a trustworthy reporter concerning their\nstate and prospects.\n\n4. What is most fitted to impress us, is the difficulty which Paul\nexperienced in finding a suitable messenger, and the manner in which he\ndescribes his difficulty. He was conscious in himself of a\nself-forgetting love and care for the Churches, which was part, and a\ngreat part, of his Christian character. He was ready (1 Cor. x. 33) to\nplease all men in all things, not seeking his own profit, but the profit\nof many, that they might be saved. He looked out for men among his\nfriends whose hearts might answer to him here, but he did not find them.\nHe had no man likeminded. One indeed was found, but no more. As he\nlooked round, a sense of disappointment settled on him.\n\nOne asks of whom this statement is made--that he finds none\nlikeminded--that all seek their own? Probably not of Epaphroditus, for\nEpaphroditus goes at any rate, and the question is about some one in\naddition, to be, as it were, Paul's representative and commissioner. Nor\nare we entitled to say that it applies to Tychicus, Aristarchus, Marcus,\nand Jesus, mentioned in Colossians iv. For these men might not be with\nthe Apostle at the precise moment of his writing to the Philippians; and\nthe character given to them in the Epistle to the Colossians seems to\nset them clear of the inculpation in this passage: unless we suppose\nthat, even in the case of some of them, a failure had emerged near the\ntime when the Epistle was written, which vexed the Apostle, and forced\nhim to judge them unprepared at present for the service. It will be\nsafest, however, not to assume that these men were with him, or that\nthey are here in view.\n\nStill, the sad comment of the Apostle must apply to men of some standing\nand some capacity,--men of Christian profession, men who might naturally\nbe thought of in connection with such a task. As he surveyed them, he\nwas obliged to note the deplorable defect, which perhaps had not struck\nhimself so forcibly until he began to weigh the men against the mission\nhe was planning for them. Then he saw how they came short; and also, how\nthis same blight prevailed generally among the Christians around him.\nMen were not \"likeminded\"; no man was \"likeminded.\" _All_ seek their\nown, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. Is not this a sad saying?\nWhat might one expect at the outset of a noble cause, the cause of\nChrist's truth and Church? What might one count upon in the circle that\nstood nearest to the Apostle Paul? Yet this is the account of it,--All\nseek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.\n\nIs it any wonder that the Apostle pleads earnestly with Christians to\ncherish the mind of \"not looking each of you to his own things\" (ver.\n4); that he presses the great example of the Saviour Himself; that he\ncelebrates elsewhere (1 Cor. xiii.) the beauty of that love which\nseeketh not its own and beareth all things? For we see how the meaner\nspirit beset him and hemmed him in, even in the circle of his Christian\nfriends.\n\nWhat does his description mean? It does not mean that the men in\nquestion broke the ordinary Christian rules. It does not mean that any\nChurch could have disciplined them for provable sins. Nay, it does not\nmean that they were destitute of fear of God and love to Christ. But\nyet, to the Apostle's eye, they were too visibly swayed by the eagerness\nabout their own things; so swayed, that their ordinary course was\ngoverned and determined by it. It might be love of ease, it might be\ncovetousness, it might be pride, it might be party opinion, it might be\nfamily interests, it might even be concentration on their own religious\ncomfort:--however it might be, to this it came in the end, All seek\ntheir own. Some of them might be quite unsound, deceivers or deceived;\nespecially, for instance, if Demas (2 Tim. iv. 10) was one of them. But\neven those of whom the Apostle might be persuaded better things, and\nthings that accompany salvation, were so far gone in this disease of\nseeking their own, that the Apostle could have no confidence in sending\nthem, as otherwise he would have done, on a mission in which the mind\nand care of Christ were to be expressed to Christ's Church. He could not\nrely on a \"genuine care.\"\n\nYou mistake if you suppose this faulty state implied, in all these\ncases, a deliberate, conscious preference of their own things above the\nthings of Jesus Christ. The men might really discern a supreme beauty\nand worth in the things of Christ; they might honestly judge that\nChrist had a supreme claim on their loyalty; and they might have a\npurpose to adhere to Christ and Christ's cause at great cost, if the\ncost must finally be borne. And yet meanwhile, in their common life, the\nother principle manifested itself far too victoriously. The place which\ntheir own things held--the degree in which their life was influenced by\nthe bearing of things on themselves, was _far_ from occupying that\nsubordinate place which Christ has assigned to it. The things of Jesus\nChrist did not rise in their minds above other interests, but were\njostled, and crowded, and thrust aside by a thousand things that were\ntheir own.\n\nYou may not cherish any avowed purpose to seek your own; you may have\nlearned to love Christ for the best reasons; you may have the root of\nthe matter in you; you may have made some sacrifices that express a\nsense of Christ's supreme claims: and yet you may be a poor style of\nChristian, an inconsistent Christian, a careless, unwatchful Christian.\nEspecially you may habitually fail to make a generous estimate of the\nplace to be given to the things of Jesus Christ. You may not be reckoned\nso defective either in general judgment or in your own esteem, because\nyou may come up very well to what is usually expected. And yet you may\nbe allowing any Christianity you have to be largely stifled and\nrepressed by foreign and alien influences, by a crowd of occupations and\nrecreations that steal heart and life away. You may be taking no proper\npains, no loving pains, to be a Christian, in Christ's sense of what\nthat should be. Though only at the beginning of the conflict, you may be\nliving as if there was scarcely a conflict to be fought. And so in\npractice, in the history of your hours, you may be seeking your own\nthings to an extent that is even disgraceful to Christian religion. You\nmay allow your course of thought and action to be dictated by that which\nis of self, by gain, self-indulgence, or frivolity, to a degree that\nwould even be appalling if your eyes were opened to discern it. We all\nknow that in religious exercises formality may usurp a large place, even\nin the case of men who have received power for reality. Just so in the\nChristian course, and under the Christian name and calling, what is\n\"your own\" may be suffered to encroach most lamentably on the higher\nprinciple; so that an Apostle looking at you must say, \"They all seek\ntheir own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's.\" You are not faithful\nenough to apply Christ's standard to your heart and ways, nor diligent\nenough to seek His Spirit. Perhaps if you were strongly tempted to deny\nChrist, or to fall into some great scandalous sin, you would awaken to\nthe danger and cling to your Saviour for your life. But as things go\ncommonly, you _let_ them go. And the consequence is, you are largely\nlosing your lives. What should be your contribution to the good cause,\nand so should be your own gladness and honour, never comes to pass. Some\nof you have thoughts in your own minds upon this point, why you do not\nseem to find any doorways into Christian usefulness. You do wish to see\nChrist's cause prosper. Yet somehow it never seems to come to your hands\nto do anything effectually or fruitfully for the cause. What can the\nreason be? Alas, in the case of how many the reason is just what it was\nin the case of Paul's friends: you are so largely seeking your own\nthings, not the things that are Jesus Christ's, that you are not fit to\nbe sent on any mission. If the Apostle could say this to the Christians\nof his day, how great must be the danger still!\n\nNow if we look at it as part of the experience of Paul the Apostle, to\nfind this temper so prevailing around him, we learn another lesson. We\nknow Paul's character, his enthusiasm, the magnanimous faith and love\nwith which he counted all to be loss in comparison of Christ. And yet,\nwe see what he found among the Christians around him. This has been so\nin every age. The unreasonableness, faintheartedness, and faithlessness\nof men, the unchristlikeness of Christians, have been matter of\nexperience. If our hearts were enlarged to plan and endeavour more\ngenerously for Christ's cause, we should feel this a great trial. All\nlarge-hearted Christians have to encounter it. Let it be remembered that\nit is not peculiar to any age. The Apostle had full experience of it.\n\"Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.... Alexander\nthe coppersmith did me much evil.... At my first answer no man stood\nwith me, but all men forsook me\" (2 Tim. iv. 10-16). Let us be assured,\nthat if Christ's work is to be done, we must be prepared not only for\nthe opposition of the world, but for the coldness and the disapprobation\nof many in the Church--of some whom we cordially believe to be, after\nall, heirs of the kingdom.\n\nTimothy is to go to Philippi, and is to bring to Paul a full report.\nBut, at the same time, the Apostle finds it necessary to send\nEpaphroditus, not, apparently, with a view to his returning to Rome\nagain, but to resume his residence at Philippi. It seems, on all\naccounts, reasonable to believe that Epaphroditus belonged to the\nPhilippian Church, and was in office there. In this case he is to be\ndistinguished from Epaphras (Col. iv. 12), with whom some would identify\nhim, for no doubt Epaphras belonged to Coloss\u00e6. Epaphroditus had come to\nRome, bearing with him the gifts which assured Paul of the loving\nremembrance in which he was held at Philippi, and of the abiding desire\nto minister to him which was cherished there. His own Christian zeal led\nEpaphroditus to undertake the duty, and he had borne himself in it as\nbecame a warm-hearted and public-spirited Christian. He had been Paul's\nbrother and fellow-workman and fellow-soldier. But, meanwhile, the\nApostle was aware how valuable his presence might be felt to be at\nPhilippi. And Epaphroditus himself had conceived a longing to see the\nold friends, and to resume the old activities in the Philippian Church.\nFor he had been sick, very sick, almost dead. Amid the weakness and\ninactivity of convalescence, his thoughts had been much at Philippi,\nimagining how the brethren there might be moved at the tidings of his\nstate, and yearning, perhaps, for the faces and the voices which he knew\nso well. Paul was accustomed to restrain and sacrifice his own feelings;\nbut that did not make him inattentive to the feelings of other people.\nTrying as his position at Rome was, he would not keep Epaphroditus in\nthese circumstances. He had had great comfort in his company, and would\nbe glad to retain it. But he would be more glad to think of the joy at\nPhilippi when Epaphroditus should return. So he gives back Epaphroditus.\nAs he does so he admonishes his friends to value adequately what they\nare receiving. Paul was sending to them a true-hearted and large-hearted\nChristian; one who allowed nothing--neither difficulties nor risks--to\nstand in the way of Christian service and Christian sympathy. Let such\nmen be had in reputation. It is a lawful and right thing to make a high\nestimate of Christian character where it eminently appears, and to\nhonour such persons very highly in love. If _they_ are not honoured and\nprized, it is too likely that others will be whom it is not so fit and\nso wholesome to admire. And the ground of admiration in the case of\nEpaphroditus sets once more before us the theme of the whole chapter:\nEpaphroditus was to be had in reputation because he had approved himself\nto be one seeking not his own, one willing to lay down his life for the\nbrethren.\n\n\n\n\n_NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH._\n\n     \"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same\n     things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe.\n     Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the\n     concision: for we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit\n     of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the\n     flesh: though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh: if\n     any other man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more:\n     circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of\n     Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; as\n     touching zeal, persecuting the Church; as touching the\n     righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. Howbeit what\n     things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea\n     verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the\n     knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.\"--PHIL. iii. 1-8 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n_NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH._\n\n\nThe third chapter contains the portion of this Epistle in which,\nperhaps, one is hardest put to it to keep pace with the writer. Here he\ngives us one of his most remarkable expositions of true Christian\nreligion as he knew it, and as he maintains it must essentially exist\nfor others also. He does this in a burst of thought and feeling\nexpressed together: so that, if we are to take his meaning, the fire and\nthe light must both alike do their work upon us; we must feel and see\nboth at once. This is one of the pages to which a Bible reader turns\nagain and again. It is one of the passages that have special power to\nfind and to stir believing men.\n\nYet it seems to find its place in the letter almost incidentally.\n\nIt would seem, as some have thought, that in the first verse of this\nchapter the Apostle begins to draw his letter to a close. Cheerful words\nof farewell begin to shape themselves. At the same time a closing\nreference is in view to some practical danger that required to be\nguarded against. Almost suddenly things take a new turn, and a flood of\ngreat ideas claim and take their place.\n\n\"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.\" Rejoice, Be of good cheer,\nwas the common formula of leave-taking. The same word is translated\n\"farewell\" in 2 Cor. xiii. 11 (Authorised and Revised Versions). But the\nApostle, especially in this Epistle, which is itself inspired by so much\nof Christian gladness, cannot but emphasise the proper meaning of the\ncustomary phrase. Rejoice, yes, rejoice, my brethren, in the Lord. The\nsame turn of thought recurs again in ch. iv. 4. What it is fitted to\nsuggest will be equally in place when we reach that point.\n\nNow he seems to be on the point of introducing some subject already\nreferred to, either in this or in a previous Epistle. It concerned the\nsafety of the Philippians, and it required some courteous preface in\ntouching on it once again; so that, most likely, it was a point of some\ndelicacy. Some have thought this topic might be the tendency to\ndissension which had appeared in Philippi. It is a subject which comes\nup again in ch. iv.: it may have been upon the point of coming up here.\nThe closing words of ver. 1 might well enough preface such a reference.\nThe theme was not so pleasant as some of those on which he had written:\nit might be delicate for him to handle; and it might call for some\neffort on their part to take it well. Yet it concerned their safety they\nthat should fully realise this element of the situation, and should\ntake the right view of it. Therefore also the Apostle would not count it\nirksome to do his part in relation to it. People entangled in a fault\nare in circumstances not favourable to a right estimate of their own\ncase. They need help from those who can judge more soundly. Yet help\nmust be tendered with a certain considerateness.\n\nBut at this point a new impulse begins to operate. Perhaps the Apostle\nwas interrupted, and, before he could resume, some news reaches him,\nawakening afresh the indignation with which he always regarded the\ntactics of the Judaisers. Nothing indicates that the Philippian Church\nwas much disposed to Judaise. But if at this juncture some new\ndisturbance from the Judaisers befell his work at Rome, or if news of\nthat kind reached him from some other field, it might suggest the\npossibility of those sinister influences finding their way also to\nPhilippi. This is, of course, a conjecture merely; but it is not an\nunreasonable one. It has been offered as an explanation of the somewhat\nsudden burst of warning that breaks upon us in ch. iii. 2; while, in the\nmore tranquil strain of ch. iv., topics are resumed which easily link\nthemselves to ch. iii. 1.[3]\n\n  [3] In the text Ewald's suggestion is followed, in the form given to it\n  by Lightfoot. Meyer's view, however, may seem simpler to some readers.\n  He thinks that \"the same things\" of ch. iii. 1 are the warnings against\n  Judaising which actually follow in ver. 2. According to Meyer, the\n  Apostle had already, in a previous Epistle, warned the Philippians\n  against the Judaisers, and he considers it \"safer\" for them and \"not\n  irksome\" to himself to repeat the admonition. In this view the\n  connection between vv. 1 and 2 may be stated in this way: \"Rejoice in\n  the Lord;\" and, need I repeat it?--yes, it is better that I should\n  repeat it,--rejoicing in the Lord is wholly contrary to that boasting in\n  the flesh which characterises some great religious pretenders well known\n  to you and me. Beware of them! The energetic scorn of the phrasing is\n  explained by supposing that the circumstances and the argument of the\n  former Epistle had led to this animated denunciation, so that the\n  Apostle recapitulates phrases that were well remembered in the\n  Philippian congregation.\n\nStill, even if this denunciation of Judaising comes in rather\nunexpectedly, it does not really disturb the main drift of the Epistle,\nnor does it interfere with the lessons which the Philippians were to\nlearn. It rather contributes to enforce the views and deepen the\nimpressions at which Paul aims. For the denunciation becomes the\noccasion of introducing a glowing description of how Christ found Paul,\nand what Paul found in Christ. This is set against the religion of\nJudaising. But at the same time, and by the nature of the case, it\nbecomes a magnificent exposure and rebuke of all fleshly religionising,\nof all the ways of being religious that are superficial, self-confident,\nand worldly-minded. It also becomes a stirring call to what is most\ncentral and vital in Christian religion. If then there was at Philippi,\nas there is everywhere, a tendency to be too easily contented with what\nthey had attained; or to reconcile Christianity with self-seeking; or to\nindulge a Christianised arrogance and quarrelsomeness; or, in any other\nshape, \"having begun in the spirit to be made perfect in the\nflesh,\"--here was exactly what they needed. Here, too, they might find a\nvivid representation of the \"one spirit\" in which they were to \"stand\nfast,\" the \"one soul\" in which they were to \"labour\" together (ch. i.\n27). That \"one spirit\" is the mind which is caught, held, vitalised,\ncontinually drawn upwards and forwards, by the revelation and the\nappropriation of Christ.\n\nThe truth is that a remiss Christianity always becomes very much a\nJudaism. Such Christianity assumes that a life of respectable\nconventions, carried on within sacred institutions, will please God and\nsave our souls. What the Apostle has to set against Judaism may very\nwell be set against that in all its forms.\n\n\"Keep an eye on the dogs, on the evil workers, on the concision.\" The\nJudaisers are not to occupy him very long, but we see they are going to\nbe thoroughly disposed of. Dogs is a term borrowed from their own\nvocabulary. They classed the Gentiles (even the uncircumcised\nChristians) as dogs, impure beings who devoured all kinds of meat and\nwere open to all kinds of uncleanness. But themselves, the Apostle\nintimates, were the truly impure, shutting themselves out from the true\npurity, the heart's purity, and (as Dr. Lightfoot expresses it)\n\"devouring the garbage of carnal ordinances.\" They were also evil\nworkers, mischievous busybodies, pertinaciously busy, but busy to undo\nrather than to build up what is good, \"subverting men's souls\" (Acts\nxv. 24). And they were the concision; not the circumcision according to\nthe true intent of that ordinance, but the concision, the mutilation or\ngashing. Circumcision was a word which carried in its heart a high\nmeaning of separation from evil and of consecration to the Lord. That\nmeaning (and therefore also the word which carried it) pertained to\ngospel believers, whether outwardly circumcised or not. For the\nJudaising zealots could be claimed only a circumcision which had lost\nits sense, and which no more deserved the name,--a senseless gashing of\nthe flesh, a concision. All these terms seem to be levelled at certain\npersons who are in the Apostle's view, and are not unknown to the\nPhilippians, though not necessarily resident in that city.\n\nFor any full statement of the grounds of the Apostle's indignation at\nthe Judaising propaganda, the reader must be referred to the expository\nwritings on other Epistles, especially on those to the Corinthians and\nto the Galatians. Here a few words must suffice. Judaising made the\nhighest pretensions to religious security and success; it proposed to\nexpound the only worthy and genuine view of man's relation to God. But\nin reality the Judaisers wholly misrepresented Christianity, for they\nhad missed the main meaning of it. Judaising turned men's minds away\nfrom what was highest to what was lowest,--from love to law, from God's\ngifts to man's merits, from inward life and power to outward ceremonial\nperformance, from the spiritual and eternal to the material and the\ntemporary. It was a huge, melancholy mistake; and yet it was pressed\nupon Christians as the true religion, which availed with God, and could\nalone bring blessing to men. Hence, as our Lord denounced the Pharisees\nwith special energy,--sometimes with withering sarcasm (Luke xi.\n47),--so, and for the same reasons, does Paul attack the Judaisers. The\nPharisees applied themselves to turn the religion of Israel into a\nsoul-withering business of formalism and pride; and Paul's opponents\nstrove to pervert to like effect even the gracious and life-giving\ngospel of Christ. To such he would give place, no, not for an hour.\n\nTwo things may be suggested here. One is the responsibility incurred by\nthose who make a religious profession, and in that character endeavour\nto exert religious influence upon others. Such men are taking\npossession, as far as they can, of what is highest and most sacred in\nthe soul's capacities; and if they misdirect the soul's life here, if\nconsciously or unconsciously they betray interests so sacred, if they\nsuccessfully teach men to take false coin for true in the matter of the\nsoul's dealings with God and with its own welfare, their responsibility\nis of the heaviest.\n\nAnother point to notice is the energy with which the Apostle thinks it\nright to denounce these evil workers. Denunciation is a line of things\nin which, as we know very well, human passion is apt to break loose--the\nwrath of man which worketh not the righteousness of God. The history of\nreligious controversy has made this very plain. Yet surely we may say\nthat zeal for truth must sometimes show itself in an honest indignation\nagainst the wilfulness and the blindness of those who are misleading\nothers. It is not always well to be merely mild and placable. That may\narise in some cases from no true charity, but rather from indifference,\nor from an amiability that is indolent and selfish. It is good to be\nzealously affected in a good thing. Only, we have reason to take heed to\nourselves and to our own spirit, when we are moved to be zealous in the\nline of condemning and denouncing. Not all who do so have approved their\nright to do it, by tokens of spiritual wisdom and single-hearted\nsincerity such as marked the life and work of Paul.\n\nThe Judaisers put abroad the false coin, and believers in Christ,\nwhether circumcised or not, had the true. \"We are the circumcision, who\nworship by the Spirit of God, and who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put\nno confidence in the flesh.\" Such are truly Abraham's children (Gal.\niii. 29). To them belong whatever relation to God, and interest in God,\nwere shadowed forth by circumcision in the days of old.\n\nNo doubt, the rite of circumcision was outward; and no doubt it came to\nbe connected with a great system of outward ordinances and outward\nprovidences. Yet circumcision, according to the Apostle, pointed not\noutwards, but inwards (Rom. ii. 28, 29). Elsewhere he lays stress on\nthis, that circumcision, when first given, was a seal of faith. In the\nOld Testament itself, the complaint made by the prophets, speaking for\nGod, was that the people, though circumcised in flesh, were of\nuncircumcised heart and uncircumcised ears. And God threatens to punish\nIsrael with the Gentiles--the circumcised with the uncircumcised--because\nall the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.\n\nThe true circumcision then must be those, in the first place, who have\nthe true, the essentially true worship. Circumcision set men apart as\nworshippers of the true God: hence Israel came to be thought of as a\npeople \"instantly serving (or worshipping) God day and night.\" That this\nworship must include more than outward service in order to be a\nsuccess--that it should include elements of high spiritual worth, was\ndisclosed in Old Testament revelation with growing clearness. One\npromise on which it rested was: \"The Lord thy God will circumcise thine\nheart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy\nheart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.\" The true\ncircumcision, those who answer to the type which circumcision was meant\nto set, must be those who have the true worship. Now that is the worship\n\"by the Spirit\"; on which we shall have a word to say presently.\n\nAnd again, the true circumcision must be those who have the true\nglorying. Israel, called to glory in their God, were set apart also to\ncherish in that connection a great hope, which was to bless their line,\nand, through them, the world. That hope was fulfilled in Christ. The\ntrue circumcision were those who welcomed the fulfilment of the\npromise, who rejoiced in the fulness of the blessing, because they had\neyes to see and hearts to feel its incomparable worth.\n\nAnd certainly, therefore, as men who had discovered the true foundation\nand refuge, they must renounce and turn from the false trust, they must\nput no confidence in the flesh. Is this, however, a paradox? Was not\ncircumcision \"outward, in the flesh\"? Was it not found to be a congruous\npart of a concrete system, built up of \"elements of this world\"? Was not\nthe temple a \"worldly sanctuary,\" and were not the sacrifices \"carnal\nordinances\"? Yes; and yet the true circumcision did not trust in\ncircumcision. He who truly took the meaning of that remarkable\ndispensation was trained to say, \"Doth not my soul wait on God? from Him\ncometh my salvation.\" And he was trained to renounce the confidences in\nwhich the nations trusted. Hence, though such a man could accept\ninstruction and impression from many an ordinance and many a providence,\nhe was still led to place his trust higher than the flesh. And now, when\nthe true light was come, when the Kingdom of God shone out in its\nspiritual principles and forces, the true circumcision must be found in\nthose who turned from that which appealed only to the earthly and the\nfleshly mind, that they might fasten on that in which God revealed\nHimself to contrite and longing souls.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Apostle therefore claimed the inheritance and representation of the\nancient holy people for spiritual believers, rather than for Judaising\nritualists. But apart from questions as to the connection between\nsuccessive covenants, it is worth our while to weigh well the\nsignificance of those features of Christian religion which are here\nemphasised.\n\n\"We,\" he says, \"worship by the Spirit of God.\" The Holy Spirit was not\nabsent from the old economy. But in those days the consciousness and the\nfaith of His working were dim, and the understanding of the scope of it\nwas limited. In the times of the New Testament, on the contrary, the\npromise and the presence of the Spirit assume a primary place. This is\nthe great promise of the Father which was to come into manifestation and\nfulfilment when Christ had gone away. This, from Pentecost onwards, was\nto be distinctive of the character of Christ's Church. According to the\nApostle Paul, it is one great end of Christ's redemption, that we may\nreceive the promise of the Spirit through faith. So, in particular,\nChristian worship is by the Spirit of God. Therefore it is a real and\nmost inward fellowship with God. In this worship it is the office of the\nHoly Spirit to give us a sense of the reality of Divine things,\nespecially of the truths and promises of God; to touch our hearts with\ntheir goodness, on account especially of the Divine love that breathes\nin them; to dispose us to decision, in the way of consent and surrender\nto God as thus revealed. He takes the things of Christ, and shows them\nto us. So he brings us, in our worship, to meet with God, mind to mind,\nheart to heart. Although all our thoughts, as well as all our desires,\ncome short, yet, in a measure, a real consent with God about His Son and\nabout the blessings of His Son's gospel comes to pass. Then we sing with\nthe Spirit, when our songs are filled with confidence and admiration,\narising out of a sense of God's glory and grace; and we pray in the Holy\nGhost, when our supplications express this loving and thankful close\nwith God's promises. It is our calling and our blessedness to worship by\nthe Spirit of God. Much of our worship might fall silent, if this alone\nshould be upheld: yet this alone avails and finds God. Whatever obscures\nthis, or distracts attention from it, whether it be called Jewish or\nChristian, does not aid worship, but mars it.\n\nIt is true that the presence of the Spirit of God is not discernible\notherwise than by the fruits of His working. And the difficulty may be\nraised, how can we, in practice, be secure of having the Spirit, thereby\nto worship God? But, on the one hand, we know in some degree what the\nnature of the worship is which He sustains; we can form some conception\nof the attitude and exercise of soul towards Christ and God which\nconstitutes that worship. We do therefore know something as to what we\nshould seek; we are aware of the direction in which our face should be\nset. On the other hand, the presence of the Spirit with us, to make such\nworship real in our case, is an object of faith. We believe in God for\nthat gracious presence, and ask for it; and so doing, we expect it,\naccording to God's own promise. On this understanding we apply ourselves\nto find entrance and progress in the worship which is by the Spirit.\n\nAll appliances which are supposed to aid worship, which are conceived to\nadd to its beauty, pathos, or sublimity, are tolerable only so far as\nthey do not tend to divert us from the worship which is by the Spirit.\nExperience shows that men are extremely prone to fall back from the\nsimplicity and intentness of spiritual worship; and then they cover the\ngap, which they cannot fill, by outward arrangements of an impressive\nand affecting kind. Outward arrangements can render real service to\nworshippers, only if they remove hindrances, and supply conditions under\nwhich the simplicity and intentness of the worship \"by the Spirit\" may\ngo on undisturbed. Very often they have tended exactly in the contrary\ndirection; not the less because they have been introduced, perhaps, with\nthe best intentions. And yet the chief question of all is not the more\nor less, the this or that, of such circumstantials; but rather what the\nheart fixes on and holds by.\n\nAgain, we \"glory in Christ Jesus.\" Christians are rich and great,\nbecause Christ Jesus assumes a place in their mind and life, such as\nmakes them partakers of all spiritual blessing in Him. They glory, not\nin what they are, or do, or become, or get, but in Christ. Glorying in\nanything implies a deep sense of its wonderfulness and worth, along\nwith some persuasion that it has a happy relation to ourselves. So\nChrist is the power and wisdom of God, the revelation of the Father, the\nway to the Father, the centre of blessing, the secret of religious\nrestoration, attainment, and success: and He is ours; and He sets the\ntype of what we through Him shall be. To glory and triumph in Christ is\na leading characteristic of Christian religion.\n\nAnd so, then, we \"put no confidence in the flesh.\" If in Christ, under\nthe revelation which centres in Him, we have found the way to God and\nthe liberty to serve God, then all other ways must be for us _ipso\nfacto_ exposed and condemned; they are seen to be fallacious and\nfruitless. All these other ways are summed up in \"the flesh.\" For the\nflesh is human nature fallen, with the resources which it wields, drawn\nfrom itself or from earthly materials of some kind. And in some\nselection or combination of these resources, the religion of the flesh\nstands. The renunciation of trust in such ways of establishing a case\nbefore God is included in the acceptance of Christ's authority and\nChrist's salvation. This condemns alike the confidence in average\nmorality, and that in accredited ecclesiastical surroundings. It\ncondemns confidence in even the holiest Christian rites, as if they\ncould transfer us, by some intrinsic virtue, into the Kingdom of God, or\ncould accredit our standing there. The same holds of confidence in\ndoctrines, and even of confidence in sentiments. Rites, doctrines, and\nsentiments have their place of honour, as lines in which Christ and we\nmay meet. Otherwise they all fall into the category of the flesh. Many\nthings the flesh can do, in worship as in other departments; but it\ncannot attain to the worship that is by the Spirit of God. Much it can\nboast of; but it cannot replace Immanuel; it cannot fill the place of\nthe reconciliation and the life. When we learn what kind of confidence\nis needed towards God, and find the ground of it in the Christ of God,\nthen we cease to rely on the flesh.\n\nAt this point the Apostle cannot but emphasise his own right to speak.\nHe appeals to his remarkable history. He knows all about this Judaic\nreligion, which glories in the flesh, and he knows also the better way.\nThe experience which had transformed his life entitled him to a hearing;\nfor, indeed, he, as no man else, had searched out the worth of both the\nways of it. So he is led into a remarkable testimony regarding the\nnature and the working forces of true Christian religion. And this,\nwhile it serves the purpose of throwing deserved disgrace on the poor\nreligion of Judaising, serves at the same time a higher and more durable\npurpose. It sets the glory of the life of faith, love, and worship,\nagainst the meanness of all fleshly life whatever; and thus it vividly\nimpresses on all hearers and readers the alternatives with which we have\nto deal, and the greatness of the choice which we are called to make.\n\nIf Paul decries the Jewish glorying in the flesh, it is not because he\nlacked ground, that had enabled him to cherish it and might enable him\nstill to do so. \"I also have material enough of fleshly confidence:--if\nany other thinks to have confidence in the flesh, I more.\" Then comes\nthe remarkable catalogue of the prerogatives which had once meant so\nmuch for Saul of Tarsus, filling his heart with confidence and\nexultation. \"Circumcised the eighth day\"--for he was no proselyte, but\nborn within the fold: \"of the stock of Israel\"--for neither had his\nparents been proselytes: in particular, for he was one whose pedigree\nwas ascertained and notorious, \"of the tribe of Benjamin\": \"an Hebrew of\nHebrews\"--nursed and trained, that is to say, in the very speech and\nspirit of the chosen people; not, as some of them, bred up in a foreign\ntongue, and under alien influences: \"concerning the law, a\nPharisee\"--that is, \"of the strictest sect of our religion\" (Acts xxvi.\n5); for, as a Pharisee, Saul had given himself wholly to know the law,\nto keep the law, to teach the law. More yet--\"as to zeal, a persecutor\nof the Church\"; in this clause the heat of the writer's spirit rises\ninto pathetic irony and self-scorn: \"This appropriate outcome of carnal\nJudaism, alas, was not lacking in me: _I_ was not a Judaiser of the\nhalf-hearted sort.\" The idea is, that those who, trusting in fleshly\nJudaism, claimed also to be Christians, knew neither their own spirit,\nnor the proper working of their own system. Saul of Tarsus had been no\nsuch incoherent Jew; only too bloodily had he proved himself thorough\nand consistent. Lastly, as to \"law righteousness,\" the righteousness of\ncompliance with rules, he had been unchallengeable; not a pharisaic\ntheorist only, but a man who made conscience of his theory. Ah! he had\nknown all this; and more, he had been forced in a great crisis of his\nlife to measure and search out the whole worth of it.\n\n\"But what things were gain to me\"--the whole class of things that ranked\nthemselves before my eyes, and in my heart, as making me rich and\nstrong--\"those I have esteemed\" (in a mass) \"to be loss for Christ.\"\nThey ceased to be valuable, they began to be reckoned as elements of\ndisadvantage and of loss, in comparison of Christ. Nor these things\nonly, but even all things--\"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but\nloss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.\" \"All\nthings\" must include more than those old elements of fleshly confidence\nalready enumerated. It must include everything which Paul still\npossessed, or might yet attain, that could be separated from Christ,\nweighed against Him, brought into competition with Him--all that the\nflesh could even yet take hold of, and turn into a ground of separate\nconfidence and boasting. So the phrase might cover much that was good in\nits place, much that the Apostle was glad to hold in Christ and from\nChrist, but which yet might present itself to the unwatchful heart as\nmaterial of independent boasting, and which, in that case, must be met\nwith energetic and resolute rejection. \"All things\" may include, for\ninstance, many of those elements of Christian and Apostolic eminence\nwhich are enumerated in 2 Cor. xi.; for while he thankfully received\nmany such things, and lovingly prized them \"in Christ Jesus,\" yet as\nthey might become occasions to flatter or seduce even an\nApostle--betraying him into self-confidence, or into the assertion of\nsome separate worth and glory for himself--they must be rejected and\ncounted to be loss.\n\nThe difficulty for us here is to estimate worthily the elevation of that\nregard to Christ which had become the inspiration of the life of Paul.\n\nAt the time when he was arrested on the road to Damascus, God revealed\nHis Son to him and in him. Paul then became aware of Jesus as the\nMessiah of his people, against whom his utmost energies had bent\nthemselves--against whom he had sinned with his utmost determination.\nThat discovery came home to him with a sense of great darkness and\nhorror; and, no doubt, at the same time, his whole previous conceptions\nof life, and his judgments of his own life, were subverted, and fell in\nruins around him. He had had his scheme of life, of success, of welfare:\nit had seemed to him a lofty and well-accredited one; and, with whatever\nmisgivings he might occasionally be visited, on the whole he thought of\nhimself as working it out hopefully and well. Now on every side were\nwritten only defeat, perplexity, and despair. But ere long the Son of\nGod was revealed in his heart (Gal. i. 16) as the Bearer of\nrighteousness and life to sinners--as the embodiment of Divine\nreconciliation and Divine hope. In this light a new conception of the\nworld, a new scheme of worthy and victorious life, opened itself to\nPaul--new and wonderful. But the reason of it, the hopefulness of it,\nthe endless worth of it, lay chiefly here, that God in Christ had come\ninto his life. The true relation of moral life to God, and the ends of\nhuman life as judged by that standard, were opening before him; but, if\nthat had stood alone, it might only have completed the dismay of the\nparalysed and stricken man. What made all new was the vision of Christ\nvictoriously treading the path in which we failed to go, and of Christ\ndying for the unrighteous. So God came into view, in His love,\nredeeming, reconciling, adopting, giving the Holy Spirit--and He came\ninto view \"in Christ Jesus.\" God was in Christ. The manifold relation of\nthe living God to His creature man, began to be felt and verified in the\nmanifold relation of Christ the Son of God, the Mediator and Saviour, to\nthe broken man who had defied and hated Him. Christ henceforth became\nthe ground, the meaning, and the aim of Paul's life. Life found its\nexplanation, its worth, its loving imperative here. All things else that\nonce had value in his eyes fell away. If not entirely dismissed, they\nwere now to have only such place and use as Christ assigned to them,\nonly such as could fit the genius of life in Christ. And all new\nprerogatives and attainments that might yet accrue to Paul, and might\nseem entitled to assume value in his eyes, could only have the same\nsubordinate place:--Christ first, whose light and love, whose power to\nfix and fill and attract the soul, made all things new; Christ first,\nso that all the rest was comparatively nowhere; Christ first, so that\nall the rest, if at any time it came into competition with Him, if it\noffered itself to Paul as a source of individual confidence and\nboasting, is recognised as mere loss, and in that character resolutely\ncast away.\n\nThis had become the living and ruling principle with Paul; not so,\nindeed, as to meet with no opposition, but so as to prevail and bear\ndown opposition. Enthusiastically accepted and embraced, it was a\nprinciple that had to be maintained against temptation, against\ninfirmity, against the strong tides of inward habit and outward custom.\nHere lay the trial of Paul's sincerity and of Christ's fidelity and\npower.\n\nThat trial had run its course: it was now not far from its ending. The\nopening of heart and mind to Christ, and the surrender of all to Him,\nhad not been the matter merely of one hour of deep impression and high\nfeeling. It had continued, it was in full force still. Paul's value for\nChrist had borne the strain of time, and change, and temptation. Now he\nis Paul the aged, and also a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Has he abated\nfrom the force or cooled from the confidence of that mind of his\nconcerning the Son of God? Far otherwise. With a \"Yea doubtless\" he\ntells us that he abides by his first conviction, and affirms his first\ndecision. Good right he had to testify. This was not a matter of inward\nfeeling only, however sincere and strong. He had been well proved. He\n_has_ suffered the loss of all things; he has seen all his\ntreasures--what are counted for such--swept away from him as the result\nof unflinching faith and service; and he counts all to be well lost for\nChrist.\n\nThis passage sets before us the essential nature of Christianity--the\nessential life of a Christian, as revealed by the effect it has on his\nesteem for other things. Many of us, one supposes, cannot consider it\nwithout a sense of deep disgrace. The view here given awakens many\nthoughts. Some aspects of the subject must be dwelt upon for a moment.\n\nThose things that were gain, all things that can be gain, such are the\nobjects Paul here reckons with. The believing mind concerning Christ\ncarries with it a changed mind as regards all these.\n\nApparently, in some deep sense, there arises for us in this world an\ninevitable competition between Christ on the one hand and _all things_\non the other. If we should say _some_ things, we might be in danger of\nsliding into a one-sided puritanism. But we escape that risk by saying,\nemphatically, _all_ things. A decision upon this has to be reached, it\nhas to be maintained, it is to be reaffirmed in particulars, in _all_\nparticulars. For we must remember that the heart of Paul, in this burst\nof loyalty, is only echoing the call of Christ: \"He that loveth father\nor mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me.\" Let us repeat it, this\napplies to ALL things. Because a certain way of feeling and thinking\nabout these things, and especially about some of them, is present with\nus all, which asserts itself against this principle, therefore Christian\nlife, however rich and full, however gracious and generous its character\ntruly is, must include a negative at the base of it. \"Let a man deny (or\nrenounce) himself, and take up his cross.\"\n\nThat life should be subjected to this severe competition seems hard: we\nmay repine at it, and count it needless. We may ask, \"Why should it be\nso? Why might not Christ take His place in our regard--His first, His\nideal, His incomparable place--and, at the same time, all the other\nthings take their place too, each in due order, as the true conception\nof human life may imply, and as the claims of loyalty to Christ may\ndictate? Why should not each take its place, more prominent or more\nsubordinate, on a principle of harmony and happy order? Why should life\nbe subjected to conflict and strain?\" We may dream of this; but it will\nnot be. We are such persons, and the world about us is so related to us\nnow, that the \"all things\" are found continually claiming a place, and\nstriving to make good for themselves a place in our heart and life, that\nwill not consist with the regard due to Christ. They can be resisted\nonly by a great inward decision, maintained and renewed all along our\nlife, for Christ and against them. The nearest approach the believer\nmakes in this life to that happy harmony of the whole being which was\nspoken of just now, is when his decision for Christ is so thorough and\njoyful, that the other elements--the \"all things\"--fall into their\nplace, reduced into obedience by an energy that breaks resistance. Then\ntoo, in that place, they begin to reveal their proper nature as God's\ngifts, their real beauty and their real worth.\n\nBut then, in the next place, though the decision cannot be escaped, yet,\nlet us be assured, there is in this no real hardship. To be so called to\nthis decision is the greatest blessedness of life. There is that in\nChrist for men, on account of which a man may gladly count all else but\nloss, may count it abundantly well worth his while to make this choice.\nChrist as binding us to God, Christ as the living source of\nreconciliation and sonship, Christ as the spring of a continually\nrecruited power to love and serve and overcome, Christ as assuring to us\nthe attainment of His own likeness, Christ as the Revealer of a love\nwhich is more and better than all its own best gifts--Christ discloses\nto us a world of good, for the sake of which it is well done to cast, if\nneed be, all else away. It proves reasonable to reject the importunate\nclaim which other things make to be reckoned indispensable. It proves\nnatural, according to a new nature, to hold all else loosely, that we\nmay hold this one interest fast.\n\nYet this is not to be done or endeavoured by dismissing out of life all\nthat gives character and movement to human existence. Not so: for indeed\nit is human life itself, with its complex of relations and activities,\nthat is to receive the new inspiration. The decision is to be made by\naccepting the principle that life, throughout, must be life in Christ,\nlife for Christ; and by setting ourselves to learn from Him what that\nprinciple means. Of the \"all things\" many must continue with us; but if\nso, they must continue on a new principle: no longer as competitors,\ncertainly not as allowed competitors, but as gifts and subjects of\nChrist, accepting law and destination from Him. Then, also, they may\ncontinue to carry with them many a pleasant experience of our Master's\nprovidential goodness. The effort to comply with Paul's example by\nmutilating human life of some of its great elements has often been a\nsincere and earnest effort. But it implies a distorted, and eventually a\nnarrowed view of the Christian's calling. For, short of suicide, we can\nnever deal with ALL things on that principle of simple amputation. Now\nthe Apostle says _all things_: \"I count all things to be loss.\"\n\nLet this, however, be noted, that loyalty requires something more than\nmerely a new valuation of things in our minds, however sincere that\nvaluation might be. It demands also actual sacrifice, when duty or when\nfaithful service calls for it. Paul's Christianity was prompt to lay\ndown, as circumstances in the course of following Christ might demand,\neverything, anything, even that which, in other circumstances, might\nretain its place in life, and be counted, in its own place, seemly and\nwelcome. Not only shall a man _count_ all to be loss for Christ: he\nshall actually, when called upon, suffer the loss of anything or of all\nthings. No Christian life is without its occasions when this test has to\nbe accepted. Most Christian lives include lessons in this department at\nthe very outset. Some Christian lives are very full of them,--full, that\nis, of experiences in which contented submission to privation, and\ncheerful acceptance of trouble and danger, must approve the sincerity of\nthe esteem for Christ our Saviour which is the common profession of us\nall. So it was with Paul. He had suffered the loss of all things.\n\nIt is because the \"all things,\" in their infinite variety of aspect and\ninfluence, tend so constantly to come into competition with Christ, to\nour great hurt and danger, that they must be so emphatically repudiated,\nand counted to be \"loss.\" They are loss indeed, when they succeed in\ntaking the place they claim, for then they impoverish our life of its\ntrue treasure. We may suffer this encroachment to take place\nstealthily--all but unconsciously. All the more fit it is that we should\nlearn to assert loyalty to our Lord with a magnanimous vigilance. It\nbecomes us to set His worth and claims emphatically, with a \"yea\ndoubtless,\" against the poor substitutes for which we are tempted\nsilently to exchange Him. If not, we are likely to come back to that sad\nstage which has been already brought before us (ch. ii.), the condition\nof those Christians who \"all seek their own, not the things which are\nJesus Christ's.\"\n\nLet us own, however, that men are trained in different lines of\ndiscipline to the same great result. The lesson broke into the life of\nPaul with astounding force at one great crisis. Some, on the contrary,\nbegin their training in little instances of early life, and under\ninfluences working too gently to be afterwards recalled. Gradually they\ngrow into a clearer perception of the gifts Christ offers and of the\nclaims He makes; and each step of decision paves the way to new\nattainments. The experience of all Christians, however diversified their\ntraining may be, is harmonised in the fidelity of each to the light he\nhas, and of all to the Lord who calls them all to follow Him.\n\n\n\n\n_THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST._\n\n     \"Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency\n     of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the\n     loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may gain\n     Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of mine\n     own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith\n     in Christ, the righteousness which is of [from] God by [upon]\n     faith: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and\n     the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His\n     death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the\n     dead.\"--PHIL. iii. 8-11 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n_THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST._\n\n\nMr. Alexander Knox, in a letter to a friend,[4] makes the following\nremark: \"Religion contains two sets of truths, which I may venture to\ndenominate _ultimate_ and _mediatory_: the former refer to God as an\noriginal and end; the latter to the Word made flesh, the suffering,\ndying, rising, ruling Saviour; the way, the truth, the life. Now I\nconceive these two views have almost ever been varying, in the minds\neven of the sincerely pious, with respect to comparative consequence;\nand, while some have so regarded the ultimate as in some degree to\nneglect the mediatory, others have so fixed their view on the mediatory\nas greatly and hurtfully to lose sight of the ultimate.\" This writer\nrefers to Tillotson on one side, and Zinzendorf on the other, as\ninstances of these extremes; and indicates that perhaps his own leaning\nmight be a little too much in the former direction.\n\n  [4] _Remains_, iv., p. 156.\n\nIt can hardly be doubted that there is something in this suggestion. In\nthe guidance and training of the soul some aim mainly at right\ndispositions towards God and His will, without much dwelling on what\nKnox calls mediatory truths; because they assume that the latter exist\nonly with a view to the former; and if the end has been brought into\nview and is coming to be attained, there is no special need of dwelling\non the means. Others aim mainly at receiving the right impressions about\nChrist dying and rising, and at complying with the _way_ of salvation as\nit is set forth to us in Christ; because they are persuaded that here\nthe secret lies of all deliverance and progress, and that the end cannot\notherwise be reached. And Mr. Knox suggests, with truth most likely,\nthat such persons have often so occupied themselves with what may be\ncalled the means of salvation, that they lose sight in a great degree of\nthe end to which all tends--life in God, life in fellowship with His\nloving goodness and His holy will.\n\nWhat application these views may have to divergences of our own day it\nwould take too long to consider. Mr. Knox's remark has been referred to\nhere in order to throw light on the mental attitude of Paul. Paul will\nhardly be accused of losing sight of the ultimate truths; but certainly\nhe delights to view them through the mediatory truths; and he strives to\nreach the ultimate victory, through the most realising application to\nhis heart and life of what those mediatory truths embody and disclose.\nThrough the mediatory truths the ultimate ones reveal themselves to him\nwith a wealth and an intensity otherwise unattainable. And the eternal\nlife comes into experience for him as he takes into his soul the full\neffect of the provision which God has made, in Christ, to bestow eternal\nlife upon him. That order of things which is mediatory is not regarded\nby Paul only as a fitting introduction, on God's part, to His ultimate\nprocedure; it is also in the same degree fitted to become for the\nindividual man the medium of vision, of assurance, of participation. In\nother words, Paul finds God and makes way into goodness through Christ;\nand not through Christ merely as an embodied ideal, but through union to\nChrist Divine and human, Christ living, dying, rising, redeeming,\njustifying, sanctifying, glorifying. He never pauses in any of these, so\nas to fail in looking onward to God, the living God. But neither does he\npass on to that goal so as to disregard the way unto the Father. If he\ncould have foreseen the method of those who are striving in our day to\nbring men to the blessedness which Christianity holds out by dwelling\nexclusively on Christian ethics, he might have sympathised with their\nethical intensity; but he would surely have wondered that they failed to\nfind in Christianity more pregnant springs of motive and of power.\nPerhaps he would even be moved to say, \"O foolish Galatians (or\nCorinthians), who hath bewitched you?\" Not less, it must also be said,\nmight he wonder at many a gospel preacher, who rehearses the \"way of\nsalvation\" until the machinery clanks and groans, unable apparently to\ndivine--unable, at least, to bring out--that glory of God in it, that\nwonderful presence and influence of infinite holiness, goodness, and\npity, which make the gospel the power of God.\n\nWe, meanwhile, shall do well to imitate the charity of Mr. Knox, who\ncordially owned the Christian piety of those who might go too far either\nway. Few of us, indeed, can dispense with the charity that is tender to\npartial and imperfect views. But if we are to understand Paul, we must\nfind our way into some sympathy with him here; not only as he is seen on\nthis line to have attained so far in saintship, but as he is seen to be\nsure that this way lay much more--that on this line his road lay to the\nglory that should be revealed. He could contemplate the practice and\ngrowth of piety in many lights; yet it came home to him most evidently\nas growth in the knowledge and in the appropriation of Jesus Christ.\n\nHe has cast away for the sake of Christ the treasures so much valued by\nthe Jews, and many a treasure more. But what he would chiefly impress on\nthe minds of those to whom he writes is not so much the amount of what\nhe has cast away, but rather the worth of that which he has found, and\nmore and more is finding. The mass of things set down for loss is a mere\nstepping-stone to this central theme. But though he tells us what he\nthought and felt about it, most of us learn but slowly how much it meant\nfor him. When we sit down beside the Apostle to learn his lesson, we\nbecome conscious that he is seeing what we cannot descry; he is\nsensitive to Christ through spiritual senses which in us are torpid and\nundeveloped. Christ holds him all through. It is faith, and love, and\ngratitude; it is self-devotion, and obedience, and wonder, and worship;\nand, through all, the conviction glows that Christ is his, that in\nChrist all things have changed for him. \"In Christ we have redemption\nthrough His blood, the forgiveness of sin. He hath made me accepted in\nthe Beloved. I live; yet not I, but Christ. In Christ, old things have\npassed away, all things are made new. Christ is made of God unto us\nwisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Who shall\nseparate us from the love of Christ?\" The intense heat of this\nconception of Christ, it must once more be said, gives its distinctive\ncharacter to the religious life of Paul. May we not say that the\nlamentable distinction of a great deal of current Christianity is the\ncoldness of men's thoughts about their Saviour? The views of many may be\ncharacterised as \"correct, but cold.\" Only what can be more incorrect,\nwhat can more effectually deny and controvert the main things to be\nasserted, than coldness towards our Saviour, and cold thoughts of His\nbenefits? This we should hold to be unpardonable. We never should\nforgive it to ourselves.\n\n\"For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.\" Christ had come\ninto the life of Paul as a wonderful knowledge. Becoming thus known to\nhim, He had transformed the world in which Paul lived, and had made him\nconscious of a new order of existence, so that old things passed away\nand all became new. The phrase employed combines two ideas. In the first\nplace, Paul felt Christ appealing to him as to a thinking, knowing\nnature. Various influences were reaching him from Christ which bore on\nheart, will, conscience: but they all came primarily as a revelation;\nthey came as light. \"God, who commanded the light to shine out of\ndarkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge\nof the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.\" In the next place,\nthis discovery came with a certain assuredness. It was felt to be not a\ndream, not a fair imagination only, not a speculation, but a knowledge.\nHere Paul felt himself face to face with the real--indeed, with\nfundamental reality. In this character, as luminous knowledge, the\nrevelation of Christ challenged his decision, it demanded his\nappreciation and adherence. For since Christ claims so fundamental a\nplace in the moral world, since He claims so intimate and fruitful a\nrelation to the whole state and prospects of the believing man,\nacquaintance with Him (at least, if it be acquaintance in Paul's style)\ncannot pause at the stage of contemplation: it passes into appropriation\nand surrender. Christ is known as dealing with us, and must be dealt\nwith by us. So this knowledge becomes, at the same time, experience.\n\nHence, while in ver. 8 the Apostle speaks of himself as encountering all\nearthly loss that he may _know_ Christ, in ver. 9 it is that he may\n_gain_ Christ and may be _found in Him_. Christ so came into the field\nof his knowledge as to become the treasure of his life, replacing those\nthings which heretofore had been gain, and which now figured as loss.\nWhen Paul turned from all else to know Christ, he turned, at the same\ntime, to have Christ, \"gaining Him,\" and to be Christ's, \"found in Him.\"\n\nChrist, in fact, comes to us with commandments, \"words\" (John xiv. 23),\nwhich are to be kept and done. He comes to us, also, with promises, the\nfulfilment of which, in our own case, is a most practical business. Some\nof these promises concern the world to come; but others apply to the\npresent; and these, which lie next us, either are neglected, or are\nembraced and put to proof, every day of our lives. Besides all this,\nChrist comes to us to fix and fill our minds, and to endear Himself to\nus, in virtue simply of what He is. So viewed, He is to be owned as our\nbest Friend, and indeed henceforth, with reverence be it said, by far\nour nearest Relation. This is to be, or else it is not to be. Each day\nasks the question, Which? Paul's Christianity was the answer to that\nquestion. How his answer rings in all our ears! Our Christianity also is\nmaking its reply.\n\nBoth as to knowledge and as to experience the type was fixed from the\nfirst: there could be no doubt about either. But both were to deepen and\nwiden as life went on. Christ was apprehended at first as a wonderful\nWhole of good; but so that indefinite fields of progress were\ncontinually to open up. In the very first days a knowledge dawned, for\nthe sake of which all else was counted loss; yet a world of truths\nremained to know, as well as of good to experience, for the sake of\nwhich also all else should continue to be counted but loss. This, in\nfact, is only one way of saying that Christ and His salvation _were_\nrealities, divinely full and worthy. Being real, the full acquaintance\nwith all they mean for men can only arise in a historical way. Paul\ntherefore emphasises this, that real Christianity, the right kind of\nChristianity, just because it has found a treasure, is set on going on\nto find that same treasure still further and still more (comp. ch. i.\n9). If the treasure is real and the man is in earnest, that will be so.\nSuch had been the course of his own Christian life from the first. Now,\nthough many years have disciplined him, though changing experiences have\ngiven him new points of view, still, no less than at the first, his\nrejoicing in the present goes hand in hand with reaching onward to the\nfuture. The one, in fact, is the reason of the other. Both are rational,\nor neither. He _has_ counted all to be loss for the excellency of the\nknowledge which has broken upon his soul: and still he presses on, that\nhe _may_ know; for the same strong attraction continues and grows.\n\nBefore passing to details, something more should perhaps be said of this\nmagnificent generality, \"the knowledge of Christ.\"\n\nChrist is first of all known historically; so He is presented to us in\nthe Gospels. His story is part of the history of our race. He passes\nthrough youth to manhood. We see Him living, acting, enduring; and we\nhear Him teaching--wonderful words proceed from His mouth. We\ncontemplate Him in His humiliation, under the limits to which He\nsubmitted that He might share our state and bear our burdens. In the\npathways of that Jewish life He discloses a perfect goodness and a\nperfect dignity. We see especially that He cherishes a purpose of\ngoodwill to men which He bears to them from the Father. It overflows in\nall His words and works, and in the prosecution of it He moves on to lay\ndown His life for us. This is the beginning of the knowledge of the Only\nBegotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Much may as yet be\nundefined; many questions may crowd on us that receive as yet no precise\nanswer; nay, much may seem to us as yet to be strangely entangled in the\nparticulars of an individual and of a provincial existence. But this\npresentation of Christ can never be dispensed with or superseded; and,\nfor its essential purpose, it never can be surpassed. For this is the\nLife. \"The Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and show unto you\nthat Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto\nus.\"\n\nThis vision, which the Gospels set before us, was also before the mind\nof Paul. And words of our Lord, delivered in His earthly ministry, and\npreserved by those who heard Him, were treasured by the Apostle of the\nGentiles, and reproduced to guide the Churches as need required. Yet\nthere is a sense in which we may say that it is not exactly the Christ\nof the Gospels who comes before us in the Pauline writings. The Christ\nof Paul is the Lord who met him by the way. It is Christ dead, risen,\nand ascended; it is Christ with the reason and the result of His\nfinished work made plain, and with the relation unveiled which He\nsustains to men who live by Him; it is Christ with the significance of\nHis wonderful history for believers shining out from Him--Christ\n_vestitus Evangelio_. Now He has gone up above all worlds. No longer is\nHe hedged about by necessities of mortal life; no longer tied by earthly\nbonds to some places and some men and one nation. He is glorified; all\nfulness dwells in Him; all God's purposes are seen to centre in Him. And\nthen, by His death and resurrection, the tie between Him and His people\nis unveiled to faith, as it could not be before. They are one with\nHim--in Him redeemed, endowed, triumphant, glorified. Every Christian\nprivilege and attainment, every grace, every virtue and good gift, takes\non a celestial character, as it is seen to be an element in our\nfellowship with Christ. The state of Christians is seen reflected in\ntheir Head. And, in turn, Christ is seen, as it were, through the medium\nof the relation which He sustains to them, and of the wealth of good\narising to them by it. It is Christ as He is to His people, Christ as He\nis set in the centre of the world of good that radiates to them all,\nwhom Paul wonders at and worships. And he finds all this to be rooted\nin our Lord's death upon the cross, which was the crisis of the whole\nredemption. All that follows took character and efficacy from that\ndeath.\n\nA special insight into all this was included in the wisdom given to\nPaul. And yet this view of things does not turn out to be something\ndiverse or alien from what the Gospels set before us. Rather it is the\ngospel story revealing its native significance and virtue along many\nlines which were not so distinct before.\n\nBut now all this, in turn, leads us to the third aspect of the case.\nWhat Christ is and what He does may be described; but there is a\nknowledge of it which is imparted practically, in the progressive\nhistory of the believer. According to the Christian teaching, we enter,\nas Christians, on a new relation; and in that relation a certain blessed\nwell-being is appointed to us. This well-being is itself an unfolding or\ndisclosure of Christ. Now this well-being comes home to us and is\nverified in the course of a progressive human experience. Life must\nbecome our school to teach us what it all means. Life sets us at the\npoint of view now for one lesson, now for another. Life moves and\nchanges, and brings its experiences; its problems, its conflicts, its\nanxieties, its fears, its temptations; its need of pity, pardon,\nstrengthening; its experience of weakness, defeat, and disgrace; its\nopportunities of service, self-denial, fidelity, victory. For all these\noccasions Christ has a meaning and a virtue, which, in those occasions,\nis to become personal to ourselves. This makes knowledge indeed. This\nbecomes the vivid commentary upon the historical and the doctrinal\ninstruction. Life, _taken in Christ's way_, along with prayer and\nthought, manifests Christ's meaning, and makes it real to us, as nothing\nelse can. It furnishes the stepping-stones for passing onward, in the\nknowledge of Christ.\n\nThis also was Paul's condition, though he was an inspired man. He too\nwas fain to improve his knowledge in this school. And when we take all\nthree aspects together, we shall see how truly, for Paul and for us, the\nknowledge of Christ is, on the one hand, so excellent from the first,\nthat it justifies the great decision to which it calls us; and, on the\nother hand, how it creates a longing for further insight and fresh\nattainment. The latter we see in the Apostle as plainly as the former.\nFrom the first, he knew in whom he believed, and was persuaded that for\nHis sake all else was to be resigned. Yet to the end he felt the\nunsatisfied desire to know more, to gain more; and his heart, if we may\napply here the Psalmist's words, was breaking for this longing which it\nhad.\n\nIt was remarked above that the \"excellency of the knowledge of Christ\"\nin ver. 8 corresponds in the Apostle's thought to the \"gaining\" of\nChrist and being \"found in Him\" of ver. 9; and this may be the best\nplace to say a word on these two phrases. To gain Christ, points to a\nreceiving Christ as one's own; and the Apostle uses the phrase so as to\nimply that this finding of Christ, as One who is gained or won, was\nstill going on; it was progressive. Clearly also the alternative is\nimplied, that what is not gained is lost. The question in the Apostle's\nlife, about which he was so decided, was about no less than losing or\ngaining Christ. The phrase \"be found\" points to the verification of\nPaul's relation to Christ in his history and in its results. That\nrelation is contemplated as something that _proves_ true. It turns out\nto be _so_. We shall best understand the phrase as referring, not to\nsome one future date at which he should be so found, but rather to\npresent and future alike. As men, or angels, or God, or Christ might\nview him, or as he might take account of his own state, this was what he\nwould have _found_ in regard to himself. Every way he would be found in\nChrist. The form of expression, however, is specially appropriate here,\nbecause it fits so well into the doctrine of righteousness through\nChrist, which the Apostle is about to emphasise. A similar remark\napplies to the expression \"in Christ\" so frequently occurring in the\nPauline writings. This is usually explained by saying that the Apostle\nsets before us Christ as the sphere of his spiritual being--in whom he\nlived and moved--never out of relation to Him, and not so related to any\nother. Such explanations are true and good: only we may say that the\npregnant strength of the expression seems to be weakened even by the\nbest explanations. The relation in view is too wonderful ever to be\nadequately described. The union between Christ and His Church, between\nChrist and the believing man, is a mystery; and, like all objects of\nfaith, it is dimly apprehended by us for the present. But the certainty\nof it, and its wonderfulness, we should never allow ourselves to\noverlook. Christ is able to bring men into fellowship with Himself, to\nassume responsibility for them, to represent their interests and to care\nfor their good; and men may receive Christ into their lives; with a\ncompleteness on both sides which no explanations can adequately\nrepresent. The identification with Christ which the phrase suggests\nnaturally fits what follows.\n\nNow the Apostle goes more into detail. He tells us what were for him the\nmain articles of this good state of being \"found in Christ.\" He\nindicates, with a certain eager gratitude, the main lines along which\nthe benefits of that state had come into experience, and along which he\nwas pressing on to know the fulness of Christ. First, in Christ he has\nand shall have not his own righteousness, which is that of the law, but\nthat which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of\nGod by faith. Then, secondly, he has in hand a practical knowledge of\nChrist, culminating in the complete deliverance of the resurrection. It\nincludes two aspects or elements; Christ known in the power of His\nresurrection, and Christ known in the fellowship of His sufferings.\n\nThe first thing then which rises distinctly into view in connection\nwith being found in Christ is the possession of the new righteousness.\nWe have seen already that value for righteousness such as is of law, and\nhope of achieving it, had been associated with Paul's old days of Jewish\nzeal. He then stood on the law, and gloried in the law. But that had\npassed away when he learned to count all things loss for the excellency\nof the knowledge of Christ. Ever after, the contrast between the two\nways of seeking \"righteousness\" continued to be fundamental in Paul's\nChristian thinking.\n\nThe law here in view was the whole revealed will of God touching man's\nbehaviour, coming as a will of authority, requiring obedience. The\ndiscussion in the earlier chapters of the Epistle to the Romans makes\nthis plain. And Paul's way of keeping the law, in those old days, though\nit was necessarily too external, had not been so merely external as is\nsometimes supposed. His obedience had been zealous and resolute, with as\nmuch heart and meaning as he could put into it. But law-keeping for\nrighteousness had been the principle of it. The Jew was placed under a\nlaw; obedience to that law should be his pathway to a destiny of\nincomparable privilege and gladness. That was the theory. So believing,\nPaul had given himself with zeal to the work, \"living in all good\nconscience before God.\" A great change had now befallen him; but that\ncould not imply on his part a renunciation of God's law. The law, better\nunderstood indeed, and far more inwardly apprehended, still retained\nfor Paul its great outlines, and was reverenced as Divine. It was holy\nand just and good. It was felt still to shed its steadfast light on\nhuman duty, awakening and illuminating the conscience; and therefore it\nrevealed most authentically the moral situation, with its elements of\nfailure, and danger, and need. The law stood fast. But the scheme of\nlife which stood in keeping the law _for righteousness_ had passed away\nfor Paul, vanishing in the light of a new and better day.\n\nHere, however, we must ask what the Apostle means when he speaks of the\nrighteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, the righteousness\nwhich is of God unto or upon faith. Great disputes have arisen over this\nquestion. We must endeavour to find the Apostle's main meaning, without\ninvolving ourselves too much in the mazes of technical debate.\n\n\n\n\n_THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH._\n\n     \"Not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the\n     law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness\n     which is of [from] God by [upon] faith.\"--PHIL. iii. 9 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n_THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH._\n\n\nRighteousness is a term which is applied in different ways. Often it\ndenotes excellence of personal character. So used, it suggests the idea\nof a life whose manifestations agree with the standard by which lives\nare tried. Sometimes it denotes rectitude or justice, as distinguished\nfrom benevolence. Sometimes a claim to be approved, or judicially\nvindicated, is more immediately in view when righteousness is asserted.\nPaul himself freely uses the word in different applications, the sense,\nin each passage, being determined by the context. Here we have the\nrighteousness of faith, as distinguished from the righteousness of\nworks, or righteousness by the law. The passage belongs to a large class\nin which righteousness is spoken of as accruing, through Christ, to\nthose who are unrighteous, or whose own righteousness has proved\nunreliable. Let us try to fix the thought which the Apostle designed to\ninculcate in such passages.[5]\n\n  [5] The statement which follows in the next six paragraphs is partly\n  based on Pfleiderer, _Paulinismus_, p. 172 fol. He will perhaps be\n  regarded as a tolerably impartial reporter on this point.\n\nThe Apostle, then, conceives of the righteousness, of which he has so\nmuch to say, as God's: it is the \"righteousness of God\" (Rom. i. 17,\niii. 22, x. 3). Yet it is not God's in the sense of being an attribute\nof His own Divine nature: for (in the passage before us) it is called\n\"the righteousness _from_ God\"; it arises for us by our faith in Jesus\nChrist; and so (2 Cor. v. 21) \"we are made the righteousness of God in\nChrist.\" It is, therefore, something that is from God to us believing, a\n\"gift of righteousness\" (Rom. v. 17). At the same time it is not, on the\nother hand, an attribute or quality of the human mind, whether natural\nor imparted; for it is something \"revealed\" (Rom. i. 17). Also, it is\nopposed to the wrath of God. Now, that wrath is indeed an element of our\nstate as sinners, but not a feature of our character. Further, it could\nnot be said of any internal character of our own, that we are to be\n\"obedient,\" or are to \"submit\" to it (Rom. x. 3).\n\nIn the latter part of Romans v. we have set before us two counter\nconceptions: the one of sin and condemnation, deriving from Adam,\nantecedent to the personal action and offence of those who descend from\nhim; the other of free gift unto justification, following from the\nrighteousness or obedience of Christ, this being a gift of grace\nabounding unto many. In either case the Apostle sees arising from one a\nrelation which pertains to many, and which brings forth its results to\nthem: on the one hand, sin and death; on the other, righteousness and\nlife. In both cases a common relation is recognised, under which\nindividuals are found existing; and in either case it traces up to the\none--to Adam or to Christ. Whatever difficulties may be felt to attach\nto this passage, the Apostle's doctrine of the righteousness of faith\nmust be understood so as to agree with the way of thinking which the\npassage expresses.\n\nIt appears, then, that the righteousness which is from God, unto or upon\nfaith, expresses a relation between God and believers that is the proper\nbasis for fellowship with God, confiding on their part, communicative of\nthe best blessings on His. It is analogous to the relation conceived to\narise when a perfectly righteous man is approved and set apart to weal;\nand like that it stands in contrast with the relation due to sin as it\nincurs wrath. It follows that this righteousness, if it exists or\nbecomes available for those who have sinned, includes the forgiveness of\nsins. But it includes more than forgiveness, in so far as it is not\nmerely negative. It is the concession to us of a standing which is a\npositive basis for experiences, pointing towards eternal life, and\nrising into it.\n\nThis relation to Himself God has founded for us sinful men in Christ,\nand specially in His atonement. It is part of what is divinely held out\nto us, as life or well-being in Christ. When we do awaken to it, our\nwhole religious attitude towards God takes character from it, and is to\nbe ordered accordingly. This way of being related to God is called God's\nrighteousness, or righteousness \"from God,\" because it is not set up by\nus, but by God's grace, through the redeeming work of Christ (\"being\njustified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ\nJesus\"--Rom. iii. 24). On the other hand, it is righteousness \"of\nfaith,\" or \"through faith of Christ,\" because faith subjects itself to\nthe order of grace, revealed and made effectual in Christ, and therein\nfinds the reconciliation. For the believing man the relation becomes\neffectual and operative. He is \"accepted in the Beloved.\" He is\n\"constituted righteous\" (Rom. v. 19), and his intercourse with his\nHeavenly Father regulates itself accordingly, he being justified\n\"from--or upon--his faith.\" The harmony with God on which he has entered\nbecomes, in some degree, matter of consciousness for himself (Rom. v.\n1). With this connection of things in view, the Apostle teaches that\nrighteousness is imputed, or reckoned, to him who believes in Jesus\n(Rom. iv. 24).\n\nWhatever opinion we may choose to entertain of this scheme, it ought not\nto be disputed that this, in general, is Paul's conception of the\nmatter.\n\nHowever, let us emphatically note that it is as \"in Christ,\" \"found in\nHim,\" the Apostle possesses this form of well-being. If there be such a\nthing as a real union between the Saviour and Paul, then in the Saviour\nand with the Saviour Paul is thus righteous. The faith to which this\nrighteousness arises is faith that unites to Christ, and not any other\nkind of faith. And so, if it be possible for Paul to fall from Christ,\nthen also he must fall from the righteousness of faith. In Christ a\nrelation to God appears, made good, maintained, and verified, in which\nHe gathers to Himself and comprehends all true believers: \"for which\ncause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.\" Hence also this\nChristian benefit, though it is distinguishable, is not separated\nradically from the other benefits. It is not possible to take the one\nand leave the rest; for Christ is not divided. But there is an order in\nHis gifts; and, for Paul, this gift is primary. God is ours in Christ;\ntherefore religion, true religion, may begin and go on.\n\nIt is of weight with Paul that this righteousness of faith, arising for\nhim who is \"found\" in Christ, is founded for us in the atonement. That\nis to say, the new relation is not represented as a relation created for\nus by a mere Divine fiat that it shall be so. It is represented as\narising for sinful men out of the redemption of Christ; which redemption\nis represented as in its own nature fitted to fructify into this result,\nas well as into other fruits which are due to it. Christ's atonement is\nthe way which grace has taken to bring in the righteousness of faith. In\nparticular, we are made righteous (in this sense) through Christ, in a\nmanner corresponding to that in which He was made sin for us (2 Cor. v.\n21). Hence the blood, the sacrifice, the obedience of Christ are\nreferred to on all occasions, in connection with the righteousness of\nfaith, as explicative causes to which this is to be traced. The relation\nis first of all a relation completely grounded and made good in Christ;\nand then we are participant in it with Him, in virtue of our faith in\nHim.\n\nClearly the Apostle thinks of this righteousness of faith as something\nvery wonderful. It is for him fundamental. It is the first article in\nwhich he celebrates the worth of the knowledge of Christ; no doubt,\nbecause he felt it transforming his whole moral and spiritual\nexperience; and, in particular, because it contrasted so vividly with\nthe nugatory righteousness of earlier days.\n\nIn earlier days Paul sought righteousness--an approved and accepted\nstanding with God--by the works of the law. That project failed when the\ngreat discovery on the road to Damascus showed him to himself as all\nastray; in particular, when the law itself, coming home to him in the\nfulness of its meaning, both revealed to him the beggarliness of his own\nperformance, and, at the same time, stung into appalling activity\nungodly elements within him. Then he saw before him the law rising from\nits deep foundations in eternal strength and majesty, imperative,\nunalterable, inexorable; and over against it his own works lay withered\nand unclean. But another vision came. He saw the Son of God in His life,\ndeath, and resurrection. Mere love and pity were the inspiration of His\ncoming: obedience and sacrifice were the form of it. So in that great\nvision one element or aspect that rose into view was righteousness,--\nrighteousness grounded as deep as the law itself, as magnificent in its\ngreat proportions, as little subject to change or decay, radiant with\nsurpassing glory. As he saw, and bowed, an trusted, he became conscious\nof a new access and nearness to God Himself; he passed into the\nfellowship of God's dear Son; he found acceptance in the Beloved. Here\nwas the answer to that woful problem of the law: righteousness in Christ\nfor a world of sinners, coming to them as a free gift to faith. Here was\nthe strong foundation on which faith found itself set to learn its\nlessons, and perform its service, and fight its battles. In Christ he\nreceived the reconciliation--merciful, and also righteous. As Paul\nthought of the ground on which he once had stood, and of the standing\ngranted to him now, \"in Him,\"--it was with a \"yea doubtless\" he declared\nthat he counted all to be loss for the gain of Christ, in whom he was\nfound, not having his own righteousness, which was of the law, but that\nwhich is by the faith of Christ.\n\nRighteousness of faith, as the Apostle conceives it, is to be\ndistinguished from personal righteousness, or goodness, as an attribute\nof human character, but yet is most closely connected with it.\nRighteousness of faith opened what seemed to Paul the prosperous way\ninto righteousness of daily living. In the very hour when he first\nbelieved for righteousness, he felt himself entering a kingdom of light,\nand love, and power, in which all things were possible; and ever after\nthe same order of experience verified itself for him afresh. The\nrighteousness of faith being the relation in which, through Christ, he\nfound himself standing to God, fixed at the same time his relation to\nall Christian benefits, including, as a principal element, conformity to\nthe likeness of Christ. To the man in Christ all these benefits\npertained; in Christ he could claim them all: in Christ he found himself\nbefore doors that opened of their own accord to let him in; in Christ it\nproved to be a fit thing, grounded deep in the congruities of God's\nadministration, that God should be for him; therefore, also, the pathway\nof holiness lay open before him. The fulness of blessing had not yet\ncome into possession and experience. But in the righteousness of faith\nhe apprehended all blessings as stretching out their hands to him,\nbecause through Christ they ought to be his. That he should find himself\nin a relation to God so simple and so satisfying was wonderful; all the\nmore, when it was contrasted with the condemnation belonging to him as a\nsinner. This was the righteousness from God to faith, in the strength of\nwhich he could call all things his own.\n\nIf Paul had succeeded in the enterprise of his earlier days, when he\nsought righteousness by the law, he would, as he hoped, have found\nacceptance in the end; and various blessings would have followed. He\nwould have emerged from his task a man stamped as righteous, and fit to\nbe treated accordingly. That would have been the end. But now, in\nreference to his present enterprise, he has found, being in Christ,\nacceptance at the beginning. So often as faith lifts him into the\nheavenly places where Christ is, he finds all things to be his; not\nbecause he has achieved righteousness, but because Christ has died and\nrisen, and because God justifies him who believes in Jesus. The platform\nhe hoped to reach by the efforts of a lifetime is already under his\nfeet. Paul faces each arduous step in his new enterprise, strong in the\nconviction that his standing before God is rooted, not in his doings nor\nin his feelings, but in his Saviour in whom he holds the righteousness\nof faith.\n\nWe need not conceal from ourselves, however, that many find the doctrine\nthus ascribed to Paul unacceptable. If they do not count it positively\nmisleading, as some do, they yet regard it as unprofitable theory.\n\nApart from objections drawn from theology or morals or texts, they\nargue, for example, that it is all in the air, away from real\nexperience. Christian religion is a practical matter,--a question of\nimproved dispositions, improved habits, and improved prospects. If,\nthrough Christ, such things as these arise for us, if, through Him,\ninfluences reach us that tend to such results, then those are the\npractical specimens which interpret to us a Saviour's kindness. To know\nChrist in these must be the true knowledge of Him. To carry us away\nbeforehand into the region of a supposed relation to God is a\nprecarious, and may be a delusive business; it is, at any rate, a\ndogmatic nicety rather than a vital element in religion. If we are to\nexperience God's mercy or Christ's kindness in any practical form, then\nthat is to be so; and it is shorter to say so at once. Let us fix on\nthat, without interposing any doctrine of \"righteousness by faith.\"\n\nBut it must be said, in reply, that to speak of this righteousness of\nfaith as unpractical, is a strange mistake. All religion aims at\nfellowship with God; and in Christian religion that fellowship becomes\nreal and authentic in Christ. Through all exercises and attainments of\nChristian religion that are genuine, this thread goes. We have access to\nGod, and we abide in the Father and the Son. How imperfectly this takes\nplace on our part need not be said. The imperfection on our part is,\nindeed, only exceeded by the condescension on His. Yet our faith is that\nthis is real, otherwise Christianity would not be for us the opening of\nan eternal blessedness. How can it be judged unpractical, if God reveals\nto men, first, that in the room of those confused and melancholy\nrelations to God which arise for us out of our own past history, He has\nconstituted for us a relation, apprehensible by faith, in which we find\nourselves pardoned, accepted, commended to God to be made partakers of\nlife eternal; and, secondly, that this is grounded in the service and\nsacrifice of His Son, sent forth to save us; so that we enter this\nrelation and hold it, not independently, but in fellowship with the Son\nof God, His sonship becoming the model of ours? Is this unpractical? Is\nit unpractical to be conscious of such a relation between God and men,\nfor ever embodied and made accessible in His Son our Saviour? Is it\nunpractical to apprehend God in the attitude towards us which is due to\nsuch a relation, and to take, ourselves, the attitude of gratitude and\npenitence and trust which on our side corresponds to it? It cannot be\nunpractical. It may be pernicious, if it takes the form of a cold,\npresumptuous arrogance, or of a self-satisfied Pharisaism; that is to\nsay, if God be not in it. But if God in Christ is reaching us along\nthose lines, or if we, alive to His eternal character, and conscious of\nour guilt and need, are reaching out to real relations and real\nfellowship with Him through His Son our Lord, then it cannot be\nunpractical. And, indeed, however men may differ as to theological\nexplanations, some sense of the worth of the thing intended has reached\nthe hearts of all true Christians.\n\nPerhaps the state of the case will more clearly appear if we fix\nattention on one Christian benefit. Let us take the forgiveness of sins.\n\nForgiveness of sins is the primary grace, and it sets the type of the\ngrace to which we owe all benefits. Forgiveness, as it were, leads in\nall other blessings by the hand; or, each blessing as it advances into a\nChristian life comes with a fresh gift of forgiveness in the heart of\nit. If this is so, then the tendency, which is observable in various\nquarters, to pass forgiveness by, as a matter of course, and to hurry on\nto what are reckoned more substantial, or more experimental benefits,\nmust be attended with loss. It must, so far, damage our conceptions of\nthe manner in which it befits God to bestow blessings on sinful men, and\nalso our conception of the spirit in which we should receive them.\n\nBut then, in the next place, the forgiveness of sins itself is referred\nto the mediation of Christ, and the work accomplished in that mediation,\nas its known basis. Forgiveness of sins was to arise out of an order of\ngrace, embodied in history--namely, in the history of the Incarnate Son\nof God; and we are not entitled to take for granted it could fitly arise\notherwise. Apparently Christ Himself came into the inheritance which He\nholds for us, by an order of things which it was imperative on Him to\nregard, and by a history which He must fulfil. And we, believing in Him,\nfind, in consequence, a new place and standing; we receive a \"gift of\nrighteousness\" which contains the forgiveness of sins; we obtain,\nthrough Christ, a mode of access to God, of which forgiveness is a\nfeature. So the place of forgiveness in the Divine administration is\nvindicated and safe-guarded; and while forgiveness comes to us as a gift\nof the Father's compassionate heart, it is found to be true also that\n\"Christ washed us from our sins in His own blood.\" \"God sent His Son,\nmade of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the\nlaw.\" \"God hath sent Him forth for a propitiation, through faith in His\nblood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are\npast, ... that He might be just, and the Justifier of him that\nbelieveth in Jesus.\" Our forgiveness is a free gift of God's goodness;\nyet also, it is our participation with Christ, sent to us from the\nFather, in a wonderful relation which He has come to hold to sin and to\nrighteousness. If we overlook this, we conceal from ourselves great\naspects of the work undertaken for us by the love of God.\n\nBut if forgiveness, which is itself a meeting with God in peace, refers\nitself to the mediation of Christ as preparing for us a blessed relation\nto God--a righteousness of faith--how should our whole fellowship with\nGod, in grace, fail to presuppose the same foundation?\n\nBut argument upon this topic might lead us far. Let us close the chapter\nin another vein.\n\nAll religion, worth recognising in that character, implies earnestness,\nserious aspiration and endeavour. It supposes human life to place itself\nunder the influence of an order of motives that is to be comprehensive\nand commanding. And this is true also of Christian religion. But\nChristian religion, as we know, does not begin with a consciousness of\nability to achieve success; it is not grounded in an expectation that by\nstrenuous or apt effort of ours, we may achieve the aims and secure the\nbenefits at which religion points. That is not the root of Christian\nreligion. It begins with a consciousness and confession of weakness: the\nsoul owns its incompetency to deal with the great interests that reveal\nthemselves in the light of Christ; it is without strength for tasks like\nthese. And so the deepest and earliest exercise of Christian religion\nis Prayer. It asks great things from a great God. \"This poor man cried,\"\nand the Lord heard him. Paul's Christianity began thus: \"Behold, he\nprayeth.\"\n\nNow just so Christian religion does not begin with a consciousness of\ndeserving something, or an idea that by taking pains we may deserve\nsomething, may single ourselves out for at least some modest share of\nfavourable recognition. Rather it often begins with the fading away of\nsuch ideas when they were present before. Christian religion roots\nitself in the confession of sin, and therefore of ill-desert; it\nsignalises itself by a deepening sense of the seriousness of the\nsituation in this respect. With this it comes face to face before God.\n\"I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.\" \"God be merciful to me\na sinner.\" We have nothing that is not sinful to bring before Him; so,\nat length, we come with that. It is all we have. Our prayer rises not\nmerely out of the sense of weakness, but out of the consciousness of\ndemerit.\n\nBut in Christian religion we are aware, as of strength which can remedy\nour weakness, so of forgiveness which can put away our sins. \"There is\nforgiveness with Thee.\" \"Through this Man is preached to us the\nforgiveness of sins.\" It is clear also that this forgiveness comes,\nwherever it comes, as full and free forgiveness, \"forgiving you all\ntrespasses.\" So that in Christian religion we listen at Christ's feet to\nthe testimony directed to all penitent believers, that instead of\nreckoning in part or whole about the guilt of sins committed, we are to\nfind God in Christ to be One who simply puts away our sin. That shall\nhold us apart from God no more. Rather, the putting of it away brings\nwith it the strangest, lowliest access to God. \"O God, thou art my God.\"\n\"Who is a God like unto Thee?\" Forgiveness is by no means mere immunity\n(least of all for Christian religion). Punishment, certainly, in the\nsense of the separation and evil which sin deserves, passes away. But\nforgiveness, in Christian religion, is forgiveness _with the Forgiver in\nit_. We meet God in the forgiveness of sins. We abide with God in the\nforgiveness of sins.\n\nForgiveness, too, as we already foresee, is but the foundation and\nbeginning of a history in which we are called to go forward. This\nhistory may have sad passages in it; but in going forward in it in faith\nwe are assured that on God's part it is a history of most painstaking\nand most sublime benefaction: all of it ordered so as to be of a piece\nwith His sending of His Son; all of it instinct with the grace of our\nLord Jesus Christ. Faith looking to Christ believes this, and receives\nit. And to faith upheld by Him on whom we trust all this is more and\nmore made good, and comes true. It is a history of progress in true\ngoodness. And the end is life everlasting.\n\nNow the words before us suggest, upon the one hand, very strongly, the\nsimply gratuitous character of the Christian benefits, and the sense of\nundeserved kindness with which they are to be received. In Christian\nreligion we begin as those who have no righteousness, who plead no\nmerit, who owe and are to owe all to Divine mercy. From the base upwards\nChristian religion is a religion of grace; and \"it is of faith, that it\nmight be by grace.\" Whatever activities, whatever successes may fall\ninto the Christian's career, whatever long possession of accustomed good\nmay eventually mark his experience, all is to be informed and inspired\nby this initial and perpetual conviction, \"Not having mine own\nrighteousness, which is of the law.\"\n\nAt the same time, the same words of the Apostle suggest very strongly\nthe Divine stability of the good which meets us in Christ. A very strong\nfoundation has been laid for those who flee for refuge to lay hold of\nthe hope set before them in the gospel. To our sense, indeed, things may\nseem to be most mutable. But when faith reaches to the things not seen,\nit learns another lesson. In Christ believers are graced with entrance\ninto an order of salvation divinely strong and durable. When God gave us\nChrist, He gave us, in a sense, \"all things,\" and indeed all things\nordering themselves into an eternal expression of fatherly love and\ncare. In Christ comes into view not goodness only, but goodness allying\nitself for us with Wisdom and Power and Right. It makes its way by\nincarnation and atonement and resurrection to a kingdom which, being\nfirst Christ's, appointed to Him, is also His people's, appointed to\nthem. Now a relation to God which looks forward to all this, which is\nthe basis for it and the entrance to it, descends on the believing man\nthrough Christ. It is due to Christ that it should come so. It is the\nFather's loving will that it should be so. All that is needful to ground\nand vindicate that most gracious relation is found in Christ, who of God\nis made unto us righteousness; in whom we hold the righteousness which\nis of God on faith.\n\nThe Apostle's course of thought has not led us to raise any question\nabout the nature and the virtue of the faith which apprehends and\nreceives the righteousness of God. It is a subject on which much has\nbeen said. What seems needful here may be soon spoken.\n\nThe only way of entering on new relations with God, or ourselves\nbecoming new men, is the way of faith. This Christian way is the only\nway. Every other is simply impossible. Let any man seriously try it, and\nhe will find it so. But the question, What kind of faith? is best\nanswered by saying, Such faith as is called for by the object of faith\nset before us, when that is honestly and intently regarded. As the\ngospel is, the faith must be; for the gospel is the instrument by which\nfaith is evoked, sustained, and guided. The great object of faith is\nGod, graciously revealing Himself through Christ. Every genuine aspect\nof this revelation takes its significance from its disclosure of God.\nThe faith, so called, which misses this, is wrong faith; the faith which\nmarks and welcomes this is right faith. And such faith is already, even\nin its earliest life, breaking forth into repentance and love and\nobedience. It must be, for God is in it.\n\nSo, to confine ourselves to the aspect of things which occupies this\nchapter, the faith which meets God in the forgiveness of sins through\nChrist, and genuinely accepts from Him the wonderful position of holding\nfellowship with God forgiving, is already, virtually, repentance as well\nas faith. The man who so meets with God, is therein agreed with God\nabout his own sin: he feels God to be in the right and himself to be\nwholly in the wrong; he feels, in particular, God to be most sublimely\nand conclusively in the right in the holy pity of His forgiveness. The\nman who does not feel this, is _not accepting forgiveness_. He may be\nposturing as if he were, but he is not doing it.\n\nThere is just one difficulty in faith--the difficulty of being real. But\nwhen it _is_ real, it makes all things new.\n\n\n\n\n_RESURRECTION LIFE AND DAILY DYING._\n\n     \"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the\n     fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death; if\n     by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the\n     dead.\"--PHIL. iii. 10, 11.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n_RESURRECTION LIFE AND DAILY DYING._\n\n\nWe have still other aspects to consider of that \"gain\" which the Apostle\ndescried in Christ, for the sake of which he had cast so much away.\n\nTo prize the righteousness of faith was an element in the true knowledge\nof Christ; but it was so far from exhausting that knowledge, that it\nonly opened a door of progress, and brought near the most stirring\npossibilities. For, indeed, to be found in Christ having that\nrighteousness meant that God in Christ was his, and had begun to\ncommunicate Himself in eternal life. Now this must still reveal itself\nin further and fuller knowledge of Christ. According to the Apostle's\nconception, that which Christ means to be to us, that which we may\nattain to be by Christ, opens progressively to the soul that has been\nwon to this pursuit; it comes into view and into experience in a certain\ngrowing knowledge. It is a practical historical career; and the Apostle\nwas set on achieving it, not by strength or wisdom of his own, but by\nthe continual communication of grace, responding to desire and prayer\nand endeavour.\n\nWe must not forget, what has more than once been said, that this earthly\nlife of ours is the scene in which the discipline goes on, in which the\ncareer is achieved. It is the calling here and now, not at some other\nstage of being, that the Apostle is thinking of for himself and for his\ndisciples. And as earthly life is the scene, so earthly life also\nfurnishes the occasions and opportunities by which the knowledge of\nChrist is to advance. Any other way of it is for us inconceivable. This\nlife in all the various forms which it assumes for different men, in all\nthe changing experiences which it brings to each of us--life on the\nearth we know so well--with its joy and sorrow, its labour and rest, its\ngifts and its bereavements, its friends and foes, its times and places,\nits exercise and interest for body and mind, for intellect and heart and\nconscience, with its temptations and its better influences,--life must\nfurnish the opportunities for acquiring this practical knowledge of\nChrist. For that which falls to us, if we are in Christ, is a certain\nblessed well-being (itself an unfolding of Christ's wisdom and grace).\nAnd this must impart itself, and reveal itself, in our actual\nexperience, but in an experience which we pass through under the\nguidance of Christ.\n\nThis familiar life, then, is the scene; it alone can furnish the\nopportunities. And yet what the Apostle apprehends, as coming into\npossession and experience, is a life of a higher style, a life set on a\nnobler key: it is a life that has its centre and source and true type\nelsewhere; it belongs to a higher region; indeed, it is a life whose\nperfect play pertains to another, coming world. Capacity for such a life\nis not something superhuman; it is congenital to man, made in the image\nof God. And yet, if these capacities unfold, man's life must, in the\nend, become other than we know it now; with a new proportioning of\nelements, with a new order of experience, with new harmonies, with\naptitudes for love and service and worship that are beyond us now. Only\nnow, they begin and grow; they are now to be aimed at, and realised in\nearnest and firstfruit, and embraced in hope. For they are elements in\nthe knowledge of Christ, who is ours to know.\n\nThis is indicated in the Apostle's aspiration after knowing Christ in\nthe power of His resurrection, and his yearning if by any means he might\nattain to the resurrection of the dead.\n\nThe resurrection of Christ marked the acceptance of His work by the\nFather, and revealed the triumph in which that work ended. Death and all\nthe power of the enemy were overcome, and victory was attained. For one\nthing, the resurrection of Christ made sure the righteousness of faith.\nHe rose again for our justification. So every passage of the Apostle's\nlife which proved that his confidence in that respect was not vain, that\nGod in Christ was truly his God, was an experience of the power of\nChrist's resurrection. But the resurrection of Christ was also His\nemergence--His _due_ emergence--into the power and blessedness of\nvictorious life. In the Person of Christ life in God, and unto God, had\ndescended into the hard conditions set for Him who would associate a\nworld of sinners to Himself. In the resurrection the triumph of that\nenterprise came to light. Now, done with sin, and free from death, and\nasserting His superiority to all humiliation and all conflict, He rose\nin the fulness of a power which He was entitled also to communicate. He\nrose, with full right and power to save. And so His resurrection denotes\nChrist as able to inspire life, and to make it victorious in His\nmembers.\n\nWhen, then, Paul says that he would know Christ in the power of His\nresurrection, he aims at a life (already his, but capable of far more\nadequate development) conformed to the life which triumphed in the risen\nChrist, one with that in principle, in character, and in destiny. This\nwas, in the meantime, to be human life on the earth, with the known\nelements and conditions of that life; including, in Paul's case, some\nthat were hard enough. But it was to be transformed from within,\ninspired with a new meaning and aim. It was to have its elements\npolarised anew, organised by new forces and in a new rhythm. It was, and\nwas to be, pervaded by peace with God, by the consciousness of\nredemption, by dedication to service. It was to include a recoil from\nevil, and a sympathy with goodness,--elements these which might be so\nfar thought of as a reverting to the unfallen state. But it had more in\nit, because it was based on redemption, and rooted in Christ who died\nand rose again. It was baptised with the passion of gratitude; it was\ndrawn into the effort to build up the Redeemer's kingdom; and it aimed\nat a better country.\n\nSo while the life we know so well was the sphere in which this\nexperience fulfilled itself, the longings it included pointed to an\nexistence higher up and further on--to an existence only to be reached\nby resurrection from the dead, an existence certainly promised to be so\nreached. All the effort and the longing pointed to that door of hope;\nPaul was reaching on to the resurrection of the dead. For that blessed\nresurrection would consummate and fulfil the likeness to Christ and the\nfellowship with Him, and would usher into a manner of being where the\nexperience of both should be unimpeded. The life of \"knowing Christ\"\ncould not be contented here, could not rest satisfied short of that\nconsummation. For indeed to be with Christ and to labour for Christ here\non earth was good; yet so that to depart and be with Christ was far\nbetter.\n\nWe have here to do with the active and victorious aspect of Christian\nlife, the energy in it that makes it new and great. It holds by a title\nand it draws from a source which must be looked for, both of them, high\nup in heaven. Something in it has already triumphed over death.\n\nIt may be felt, however, that there is some danger here lest the great\nwords of Paul may carry us off our feet, and divorce us from _terra\nfirma_ altogether. Some one may ask, But what does all this mean in\npractice? What sort of life is it to be? Apostles can soar, perhaps; but\nhow about the man in the workshop or in the counting-house, or the woman\nbusied in family cares? A life in \"the power of a resurrection\" seems to\nbe something that transcends earthly conditions altogether. These are\nperfectly fair questions, and one should try to meet them with a plain\nreply.\n\nThe life in view is first of all goodness in its ordinary sense, or what\nwe call common morality--common honesty, common truthfulness, common\nkindness. \"Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour\";\n\"Not slothful in business\"; \"Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put\noff the old man with his deeds.\" But then this common morality begins to\nhave an uncommon heart or spirit in it, by reason of Christ. So a new\nlove for goodness and a new energy of rejection of evil begin to work;\nalso, a new sensitiveness to discern good, where its obligation was not\nfelt before, and to be aware of evil which, before, was tolerated.\nMoreover, in the heart of this \"common morality\" the man carries about a\nconsciousness of his own relation to God, and also of the relation to\nGod of all with whom he meets. This consciousness is very imperfect,\nsometimes perhaps almost vanishes. Yet the man is aware that an immense\ntruth is here close to him, and he has begun to be alive to it. This\nconsciousness tends to give a new value to all the \"moralities\": it\nawakens a new percipiency as to good and evil; in particular, the great\nduty of purity in relation to the man himself, and to others, acquires a\nnew sacredness. The place and claims of self also begin to be judged by\na quite new standard. In all directions possibilities of good and evil\nin human life are descried; and the obligation to refuse the evil and to\nchoose the good presses with a new force. So far, the remark made a\nlittle ago is justified, that the Christian life of Paul was a life that\nhad begun to point practically towards sinlessness, towards what we call\nan unfallen state; however far off it might be, as yet, from that\nattainment. But this would be a very limited account of the matter. The\nwhole region of duty and privilege Godwards is lighted up now by the\nfaith of redemption in Christ; that not only awakens gratitude, but\ninspires a new passion of desire and hope into all moral effort. And the\nman, being now aware of a kingdom of goodness set up by Christ, which is\nmaking its way to victory against all the power of evil, and being aware\nof the agencies by which it works, must give himself in his own place to\nthe service of that kingdom, that he may not hurt but help the cause\nwhich it embodies. The new life is therefore to be an energetic life of\nthe plainest goodness. Only faith places it in relation to the world of\nfaith, and inspires it with the passion of love and gratitude, and\namplifies it by the new horizons that fall back on all sides, and gives\nit a goal in the hope of life eternal.\n\nReturning to the instance of the Apostle Paul, one observes from his\naccount of it that the regard of the believer to Christ, such regard as\nmay actually be attained and operative in this life, ought to fructify\ninto desires and prayers that point beyond this life, and reach out to\nthe resurrection of the dead. There is a contentedness with life here\nthat is not Christian. It would agree well with a thankful use of\nearthly comforts, and a cheerful serenity amid earth's changes, that we\nshould feel our home and our treasure to be in another place, and the\nenjoyment of them to lie in a coming world. Not otherwise shall we know\nhow to make a right Christian use and have a right Christian enjoyment\nof this life. We are not prepared to get the full good of this world\nuntil we are ready and willing to go out of it.\n\nLet it be observed, also, how the Apostle strove to \"attain\" the\nresurrection of the dead. The great things of the Kingdom of God are\nexhibited in various connections, none of which are to be overlooked.\nOne of these connections is here exhibited.\n\nWe know that in Scripture a distinction is made between the resurrection\nof the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked. A solemn obscurity\nrests on the manner and the principles of the latter, the resurrection\nto shame. But the resurrection of the just takes place in virtue of\ntheir union to Christ; it is after the example of His resurrection; it\nis to glory and honour. Now this resurrection, while it is most\nobviously a crowning blessing and benefaction coming from God, is\nrepresented also as having the character of an attainment made by us.\nThe faith in which we turn to God is the beginning of a course leading\nto the \"end of our faith, the salvation of our souls.\" This end\ncoincides with the resurrection. Then the hour comes which completes,\nthen the state arrives in which is completed, the redemption of the man.\nThe resurrection rises before us, therefore, as something which, while\non the one hand promised and given by God, is, on the other hand,\n\"attained\" by us. Our Lord (Luke xx. 35) speaks of those who shall be\n\"counted worthy to attain that world, and the resurrection of the dead.\"\n\nThe resurrection is promised to believers. It is promised to arise to\nthem in sequel to a certain course--a history of redemption, made good\nin their lives. How shall the disciple verify his expectation of this\nfinal benefit? Not surely without verifying the intermediate history.\nThe way must point towards the end--_at least_, must _point_ towards it.\nA resurrection state, if it be like Christ's, how much must it include!\nWhat purity, what high aptitudes, what delicate congenialities! The\ndesires of the true Christian life, its aspirations and efforts, as well\nas the promises which animate and the influences which sustain it, all\npoint in this direction. But how if in any case this prove unreal,\ndeceptive; how if it be ostensible only? How if no real changes take\nplace, or if they die out again? What if soul and body rise unchanged,\nthe soul polluted, and so the very body bearing the stamp of old sins?\nWhat if the murderous eye of hate, or the lurid eye of lust, shall look\ninto the eyes of Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire? Accordingly this\nconnection of things is impressed upon us by our Apostle (Rom. viii.\n11): \"_If_ the Spirit of Him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell\nin you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your\nmortal body by His Spirit which dwelleth in you.\" While we live here,\nour body, however disciplined, must still be the body of our humiliation\n(ver. 21); and sin continues to beset even renewed souls. But if the\nSpirit of grace is even now bringing all into subjection to the\nobedience of Christ, enabling us to die to sin and to live to\nrighteousness, that points forward to the completion of the work, in the\nresurrection to glory.\n\nThis, then, is one view in which the Apostle realises the solemnity and\ninterest of Christian life. It is the way that leads up to such a\nresurrection. The resurrection rises before him as the consummate\ntriumph of that life for which he came to Christ, the life which he\nlongs perfectly to possess, perfectly to know. The success of his great\nventure is to meet Him in the rising from the dead; his course,\nmeanwhile, is a striving onwards to it. How was it to be reached? In\norder to that, much must still be brought into experience of the\nresurrection power of Christ. Only in that strength did Paul look to be\ncarried to the point at which, ending his course, he should lie down (if\nhe died before Christ come) in the blessed hope of the rising from the\ndead. For this he looked to Christ to work mightily in him; for this he\nowned himself bound, under the grace of Christ, to strive mightily, if\n\"by any means\" he might attain to it. So great is this consummation; so\ngreat are those things which fitly lead up to it. Is it not a great view\nof Christian religion that it sends men onward in a life in which they\n\"attain\" to the resurrection of the dead? Must not that be a great\nhistory of which this is the appropriate close?\n\nPaul, then, was eager to go forward in a life intense and mighty,\ndrawing on a great power to sustain it, and rising into splendid effects\nand results. But yet, in respect of some of its aspects, it rather\nseemed to the Apostle to be a certain deliberate and blessed dying. At\nleast, the life must fulfil and realise itself along such a dying; and\nthis also, this emphatically, he pressed on to know--\"the fellowship of\nHis sufferings, being made conformable to His death.\"\n\nOur Lord's life on earth, strong and beautiful though it was, was really\nat the same time His procedure towards death. He lived as one laying\ndown His life, not merely in one great sacrifice at the close, but from\nstep to step along His whole earthly history. With no touch of the\nmorbid or the fanatical, yet His course, in practice, had to be one of\nself-impoverishment, of loneliness, of acquaintance with energetic\nhostility of sin and sinners. It had to be so if it was to be faithful.\nHe knew not where to lay His head; He endured the contradiction of\nsinners against Himself; He came unto His own, and His own received Him\nnot. Even His friends, whom He so loved, and who loved Him in their\nimperfect way, did not love Him wisely or magnanimously, and constantly\nbecame occasions of temptation which had to be resisted. Pain and trial\nwere the inevitable characters of the work given Him to do. It lay in\nHis calling to put a strong and faithful negative on the natural desire\nfor safety, for happiness, for congenial society and surroundings, for\nfree and unembarrassed life. All this He had steadily to postpone to a\nperiod beyond the grave, and meanwhile make His way to the final crisis,\nat which, under a mysterious burden of extreme sorrow, accepted as the\nSaviour's proper portion, He died for our sins. By this sacrifice He\ndid, no doubt, relieve His followers of a burden which they never could\nhave borne. But yet in doing so He made it possible for them to enter,\nhappily and hopefully, on a life so far like His own. Their life, too,\ncomes to be governed by a decision, maintained and persisted in, _for_\nGod's will, and against the impulse, in their case the impure and\ntreacherous impulse, of their own will. They also, in their turn, but\nunder His influence and with His loving succour, have so to live as in\nthat life to die. They learn to say \"No\" for their Master's sake to many\nobjects which strongly appeal to them. They consent to postpone the\nperiod of perfectly harmonious life, free and unimpeded, to the time\nwhich lies beyond death. They must count their true life to be that\nwhich, perfectly conformed to and associated with their Master's life,\nthey shall live in another scene of things. Meanwhile, as to the\nelements of this world, the life which stands in these must die, or they\nmust die to it, growing into the mind of their Lord.\n\nIt is difficult to speak of this without, on the one hand, conveying a\nstrained and unreal view of the Christian's attitude towards the present\nlife, or, on the other hand, weakening too much the sense of \"conformity\nto His death.\" In the first place, the Christian's dying is mainly, and\ncertainly it is first of all, a dying to sin, a mortifying the flesh\nwith the affections and lusts. It is the practical renunciation of evil,\nalong with the maintenance of the watchfulness and self-discipline\nneeded in order to be ready to renounce evil when it comes. Evil has to\nbe rejected, not merely by itself, but at the cost of those earthly\ninterests which are involved in the surrender to it, however dear or\nconstraining those interests may seem to be; so that conformity to\nChrist's death, if it covered no more, would still cover a great deal of\nground. But it seems to cover something more--namely, a general\nloosening of the grasp upon this life, or on the temporary and sensible\nelements of it, in view of the worth and certainty of the higher and the\nbetter life. This life, indeed, as long as we are in it, can never lose\nits claims upon us, as the sphere of our duty, and the scene of our\ntraining. Here we have our place to fill, our relations to sustain, our\npart to play, our ministries to perform. In all these ways of it we\nhave some good to do, of lower or loftier kinds; in all, we have many\nlessons to learn, which crowd upon us to the last; through all, we have\nto carry the faith of the unseen Kingdom and the unseen Lord; and in all\nthese aspects of earthly life, if God gives us any cheering experience\nof earthly brightness, surely it is to be taken most thankfully. It is a\npoor way of construing the conformity to Christ's death, to renounce\ninterest in the life of which we are a part, and the world which is the\nscene of it. But the interest should fasten more intently on the things\nwhich interest our Lord, and eagerness of spirit about earthly good for\nourselves must give place and subside.\n\nAnd yet, when one thinks of the beauty and sweetness of much that\npertains to our earthly existence, and of the goodness of God in\nmaterial or temporal gifts, and of the thankfulness with which Christian\nhearts are to take these when they are given, and are to walk with God\nin the use of them, one feels the risk of involving oneself here in\nextravagance or in contradiction. We are not going to maintain that the\nApostle would shut himself out, or us, from interest or delight in the\ninnocent beauty or gladness of the earth. But yet, is it not true that\nwe are all passing on to death, and in death are to be parted from all\nthis? Is it not true that as Christians we consent to dying; we count it\nthe good discipline of Christ's people that they should die, and pass so\ninto the better life? Is it not true that our life as Christians should\ntrain us to maintain this mind deliberately and habitually, calmly and\ngladly? For indeed this life, at its purest and best, still offers to us\na vision of good that is apt to steal our hearts away from the supreme\ngood, the best and highest. Now that best and highest rises before us,\nas practically to be made ours, in the resurrection.\n\nMeanwhile, it is well, no doubt, that we should cherish a frank and\nthankful gladness in all earthly good and earthly beauty that can be\ntaken as from the Father's hand. Yet there should grow upon us an inward\nconsent, strengthening as the days go by, that this shall not endure;\nthat it shall not be our permanent possession; that it shall be loosely\nheld, as ere long to be parted from. Such a mind should grow, not\nbecause our hearts are cold to the present country of our being, but\nbecause they are warming towards a better country. These earthly things\nare good, but they are not ours; we have only a lease of them,\nterminable at any time. Who shall bring us to that which is, and shall\neternally be, our very own?\n\nSo Christ our Master passed through life, with an open eye and heart for\nthe fair and the lovable around Him, for flowers and little children,\nand for what was estimable or attractive in men, even in a natural way.\nSurely all was dear to Him on which He could see the trace of the\nCreator's holy hands. Yet He passed on and passed by, going forward to\ndeath and consenting to die, His face set steadfastly to a joy before\nHim which could not be realised by lingering here.\n\nNow let this be especially observed, that while we may here recognise a\npractical lesson to be learned, the wisest of us may also recognise it\nas a lesson we could not undertake to teach to ourselves. To oppose sin,\nwhen conscience and God's word warn us of its presence, is at least\nsomething definite and plain. But how to take the right attitude and\nbear the right mind towards this various, manifold, engrossing,\nwonderful human life, as it unfolds for us here--how shall that be done?\nSome have tried to answer by amputating large sections of human\nexperience. But that is not the way. For, indeed, it is in human life\nitself--in this present, and, for the present, the only form of our\nexistence--that we must take the right view of human life, and form the\nright mind about it. Moreover, our conditions are varying continually,\nfrom the state of the little child, open to every influence that strikes\nthe sense, to the state of the old man, whom age is shutting up in a\ncrippled and stunted existence. The just equipoise of soul for one stage\nof life, could it be attained, would not be the just equipoise for the\nnext.\n\nThe truth is, there is no ready-made theory here for any of us. All our\nattainments in it are tentative and provisional; which does not hinder,\nhowever, that they may be very real. When we believe in Christ we become\naware that there is a lesson in this department to be learned, and we\nbecome willing, in a measure, to learn it. But we should learn little\nwere it not for three great teachers that take us in hand.\n\nThe first is the inevitable conflict with sin and temptation. The\nChristian must, at all events, strive against known sin, and he must\nhold himself ready to resist the onset of temptation, watching and\npraying. In this discipline he soon learns how sin is entangled for him\nwith much that in other respects seems desirable or good; he learns that\nin rejecting sin he must forgo some things which on other accounts he\ngladly would embrace. It is often a painful conflict through which he\nhas to pass. Now in seeking help from his Lord, and entering into the\nfellowship of the mind of Christ, he is not only strengthened to repel\nthe sin, but also learns to submit willingly to any impoverishment or\nabridgement of earthly life which the conflict entails. He is taught in\npractice, now in one form, now in another, to count _all_ things but\nloss--to lower the overweening estimate of earthly treasure and let it\ngo, dying to it with his dying Lord.\n\nThen, besides, there is the discipline of suffering. Sorrow, indeed, is\nnot peculiar to Christians. Of it, all are partakers. But Christian\nendurance is part of a fellowship with Christ, in which we learn of Him.\nIn the warm air of prosperity a hot mist rises round the soul, that\nhides from view the great realities, and that deceives and misleads us\nwith its vain mirage. But in suffering, taken in Christ's way and in\nfellowship with Him, in the pain of disappointment and of loss, and\nespecially in the exercise of submission, we are taught feelingly where\nour true treasure is; and we are trained to consent to separations and\nprivations, for the sake of Christ, and under the influence of the love\nof Christ.\n\nAnd, lastly, the growth of Christian experience and Christian character\ndeepens our impressions of the worth of Christ's salvation, and gives\nmore body and more ardour to Christian hope. As that world with its\nperfect good draws the believer, as it becomes more visible to faith and\nmore attractive, his grasp of this world becomes, perhaps, not less\nkindly, but it becomes less tenacious. Knowledge, such as the schools of\nearth afford, we still feel to be desirable and good. Love, under the\nconditions which earth supplies for its exercise, we still feel to be\nvery dear. The activities which call out courage and resource, we still\nfeel to be interesting and worthy. Yet knowledge proves to be but in\npart. And love, if it does not die, needs for its health and security a\npurer air. And in the problems of active life failure still mingles with\nsuccess. But the love of God which is in Jesus Christ grows in worth and\npower; so that, in new applications of the principle, we learn afresh to\n\"count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of\nChrist.\"\n\nIn a word, then, that we may grow into the mind of Christ, sufferings\nand self-denials are appointed to come into experience. He sets them for\nus; we should not wisely set them for ourselves. They come in the\nconflict with sin or in the ordinary discipline of life. Either way they\nbecome for believers the fellowship of Christ's sufferings; for they are\ntaken in Christ's way, under His eye, endured in the strength of His\ntruth and grace and salvation. So believers become more conformable to\nHis death. Hence this discipline of trial is indispensable to all\ndisciples.\n\nSome such view of the ends of Christ in regard to separation from sin\nand disengagement from the life which is doomed to die, we suppose to\nhave been before Paul's mind. He had come to Christ for life, abundant\nand victorious, such as should be answerable to the power of Christ's\nresurrection. But he saw that such life must fulfil itself in a certain\ndying, made good in a fellowship of Christ's sufferings; and it must\nfind its completeness and its peace beyond death, in the resurrection of\nthe dead. Did he flinch or shrink from this? No: he longed to have it\nall perfectly accomplished. His knowledge of Christ was to be not only\nin the power of His resurrection, but in the fellowship of His\nsufferings, being made conformable to His death.\n\nWhatever mistakes have been made by followers of the ascetic life, it is\na mistake on the other side to neglect this element of Christianity. He\nwho is not self-denied, and that cheerfully, to the danger and seduction\nof _lawful_ things, is one who has not his loins girt nor his lamp\nburning.\n\nIt is worth our while to mark the thoroughgoing sincerity of the\nApostle's Christianity. Not merely did he in general embrace Christ and\nsalvation: but with the utmost cordiality he embraced the method of\nChrist; he strove after fellowship with Christ's mind in living, and\nalso in dying; he did so, though the fellowship included not only the\npower of His resurrection, but the fellowship of His sufferings. He\nlonged to have it all fulfilled in his own case. So he strove toward the\nresurrection of the dead.\n\nIn parting from these great Christian thoughts we may note how fitly the\npower of Christ's resurrection takes precedence of the fellowship of His\nsufferings and the being made conformable to His death. Some have\nthought that, as death comes before resurrection, the order of the\nclauses might have been inverted. But it is only through the precedent\nvirtue of Christ's resurrection that such a history is achieved, either\nin Paul or in any of us. We must be partakers of life in the power of\nChrist's resurrection, if we are to carry through the fellowship with\nthe suffering and the death.\n\n\n\n\n_CHRISTIAN LIFE A RACE._\n\n     \"Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but\n     I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that for which also I was\n     apprehended by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself yet to\n     have apprehended: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which\n     are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before,\n     I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of\n     God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be\n     thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, even this\n     shall God reveal unto you: only, whereunto we have already\n     attained, by that same rule let us walk.\n\n     \"Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them which so\n     walk even as ye have us for an ensample.\"--PHIL. iii. 12-17 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n_CHRISTIAN LIFE A RACE._\n\n\nVarious passages in this Epistle suggest that the Apostle's Philippian\nfriends or some of them were relaxing in diligence; they were failing\nperhaps to lay to heart the need of progress, less sensitive than they\nought to be to the impulse of Christianity as a religion of effort and\nexpectancy. Some of them, it might be, were inclined to think of\nthemselves as now pretty well initiated into the new religion, and as\npretty thorough adepts in its teaching and its practice; entitled\ntherefore to sit down and look round with a certain satisfaction and\ncomplacency. If it were so, the tendency to division would be accounted\nfor. Arrogance in Christians is a sure preliminary to heats and\ndisputings. At all events, however it might be at Philippi, an insidious\ncomplacency in little improvements and small attainments is not unknown\namong Christians. It is, one may fear, a common impression among us that\nwe are fair average Christians,--a feeling perhaps not so cherished as\nto make us boast, but yet so cherished as to make us feel content. And,\nalas! the very meaning of Christianity was to inspire us with a spirit\nthat would refuse so to be contented.\n\nSome feeling of this kind may have led the Apostle to lay stress on the\nonward energising character of Christianity as _he_ knew it. This was\nthe manner of his regard to his Lord. At the foundation of his religion\nthere was, indeed, the faith of a wonderful gift of righteousness and\nlife. That gift he welcomed and embraced. But it wrought in him\neagerness of desire, and intentness of purpose, to secure and have all\nthat this gift implied. It stirred him to activity and progress. His was\nnot the Christianity of one who counts himself to have already obtained\nall into possession, nor of one who finds himself landed already in the\nstate at which the Christian promises aim. Rather he is one set in full\nview of a great result: some experience of the benefits of it is already\nentering into his history; but it is yet to be brought to pass in its\nfulness; and that must be along a line of believing endeavour, Christ\nworking and Paul working, Christ faithful with Paul faithful. \"I follow\nafter, if that I may lay hold and extend _my_ grasp, seeing Christ has\nlaid hold with _His_ grasp on me.\" Christ had a purpose, and has\nmightily inaugurated a process through which this purpose may be\nachieved in the history of Paul. And as Christ lays His grasp on Paul,\nbehold the purpose of Christ becomes also the purpose of Paul, and _he_\nnow throws himself into the process with all his force, to apprehend\nthat for the sake of which Christ apprehended him.\n\nHere Paul signalised one distinguishing attribute of genuine\nChristianity as he knew it. He did not yet count himself to have laid\ncomplete grasp on the whole of Christian good. In a very important\npractical sense salvation was still something ahead of him, as to the\nfinal, secure, complete possession; Christ Himself was an object still\nbefore him, as to the knowledge and the fellowship for which he longed.\nBut one thing is vital and distinctive. \"This Saviour with His salvation\nholds me so, that I count all but loss for Him. He holds me so, that\nforgetting all that lies behind, I bend myself to the race, stretching\nout towards the goal at which the prize of the high calling of God in\nChrist is won. That is _my_ Christianity.\" He who had suffered loss of\nall for Christ, he who so burned with desire to know Him in His\nrighteousness, in the power of His resurrection, in the fellowship of\nHis sufferings, is far from thinking he has reached the goal. Because\nthe knowledge of Christ is so great a thing in his eyes, therefore, on\nthe one hand, all he has attained as yet seems partial and imperfect;\nbut for the same reason, on the other hand, he feels the great\nattraction by which all his powers are drawn into the endeavour which so\ngreat a prize shall crown.\n\nThe question may here be put how the consistency of the gospel can be\nmade out if we are called to rest and rejoice in Christ, and if, at the\nsame time, we find ourselves committed to so absorbing a struggle for a\nprize. If God will have us, it may be said, to seek and strive that we\nmay obtain, then we must do so because it is His will. But where is the\nconnection of things that will avert inconsistency, and bring out a\nreasonable continuity of principles, between the call to rest on Christ\nfor full salvation, and the call to run a race, and so run as to obtain?\nFor answer it is to be remembered, in the first place, that (as commonly\nhappens in matters where life and its activities are concerned) the\ndifficulty concerns only the adjustment of our theory; it begins to\nvanish when we come to practice. When we are in vital contact with the\nspiritual realities themselves, we find both elements of the case to be\ntrue for us, and each indispensable to the truth of the other. The rest\nof faith and the fight of faith belong to each other. But not to dwell\non so general a consideration, two lines of thought may be suggested to\nthose who are conscious of embarrassment at this point.\n\nFirst, let it be considered that the faith of a Christian embraces real\nrelations with the living God, different from anything that is possible\nto unbelief. Through Christ we believe in God. Those relations are\nconceived to be real and vital from the first, though the perfect\nexperience of all that they imply belongs to the future. Faith means\nthat from the outset of believing we are to be to God, and God is to be\nto us, something different from what the flesh perceives. Christ\nbelieved in is an assurance that so it is and shall be. But now, the\nstate of men is such, as long as they have to carry on a life of faith\nin a world of sense and sin, that this faith of theirs presently meets\nwith flat contradiction. The course of the world treats it all as null.\nSin in their own hearts, and many experiences of life, seem to negative\nthe pretensions and the claims of faith. And strong temptations whisper\nthat this high fellowship with a living God not only does not exist, but\nthat it is not desirable that it should. So that from the outset and all\nalong, faith, if it is not content to be a mere dream, if it will count\nfor a reality, must contend for its life. It must fight, \"praying always\nwith all prayer,\" to make good its ground, and to hold on to its Lord.\nIt is indeed the nature of faith to rest, for it is a trust; not less\ncertainly faith is under necessity to strive, for it is challenged and\nimpeached.\n\nIt lies therefore in the very nature of the case that, if faith is in\nearnest in embracing real and progressive salvation, it must find itself\ndrawn into conflict and effort to assert the reality and to experience\nthe progress. The opposition it meets with ensures this.\n\nOn the other hand, it is the nature of the gospel to set men free for\nactive service. It supplies motives, therefore, for enterprise,\ndiligence, and fidelity; and it provides a goal towards which all shall\ntend. So men become fellow-labourers with their Lord. And if it is\nintelligible that the Lord should exert continual care for them, it\nought to be intelligible also that they are to be exercised in a\ncontinual care for Him; care, that is, for the discharge of the trust\nwhich they hold from Him.\n\nThe Apostle dwells on all this, evidently because he felt it to be a\npoint of so great importance in practical Christianity. In this world\nthe right Christian is the man who knows well he has not attained, but\nwho devotes his life to attaining. Paul brings this out by means of the\nimage of a race for a prize, such as might be seen in the public games.\nThis is a favourite illustration with him. His use of it illustrates the\nway in which things that are steeped in worldliness may aid us in\napprehending the things of God's kingdom. They do so, because they\ninvolve elements or energies of man's nature that are good as far as\nthey go. As the Apostle thought of the racers, prepared by unsparing\ndiscipline, which had been concentrated on the one object; as he thought\nof the determination with which the eager runners started, and of the\nway in which every thought and every act was bent upon the one purpose\nof success, until the moment when the panting runner shot past the goal,\nit stirred him with the resolve to be not less eager in his race; and it\nmade him long to see the children of light as practical and wise as, in\ntheir generation, the children of this world are.\n\nAs usual in the case of illustrations, this one will not hold in all\npoints. For instance, in a race one only wins, and all the rest are\ndefeated and disappointed. This is not so in the Christian race. The\nanalogies lie elsewhere. In order to run well the runners submit to\npreparation in which everything is done to bring out their utmost energy\nfor the race. When the race comes each competitor may possibly win: in\norder to win he must put forth his utmost powers; he must do so within a\nshort period of time; and during that time nothing must distract him\nfrom the one aim of winning. He does this for a benefit embodied in, or\nsymbolised by, the prize which rewards and commemorates his victory.\nThese are the points in which the races of public games afford lessons\nfor the Christian race. In the former the fact that the success of any\none competitor deprives the others of the prize they seek, is the\ncircumstance that puts intensity into the whole business, and makes a\nreal race of it. So also in the spiritual antitype there are elements\nwhich make the race most real, though they are elements of another kind.\n\nThe prize can be nothing else than the life eternal (1 Tim. vi. 12)\nwhich comes, as we have seen, into full possession at the resurrection\nof the dead. He whose favour is life confers it. The bestowment of it is\nconceived as taking place with gladness and with honourable approbation:\n\"Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy\nLord.\" The prize stands in strict connection with the perfecting of the\nbeliever: the time of receiving the prize is also the time of being\npresented faultless. Neither prize nor perfectness is attained here;\nneither is attained unless sought here; and the blessedness bestowed is\nconnected in fact and measure with the faith and diligence expended on\nthe race. On all these accounts the prize is spoken of as a crown: a\ncrown of glory, for it is very honourable; a crown of life,\nincorruptible, that fadeth not away, for it shall never wither on the\nbrow, as the wreaths of those earthly champions did. Now to run his race\nwas for Paul the one thing. He had not yet attained; he could not sit\nstill as if he had: it was his living condition that he must run, as one\nnot _yet there_, following on in earnest that he might actually have the\nprize.\n\nPerhaps some one may regard it as objectionable to conceive practical\nChristianity as a race for a prize. This seems, it may be said, to\nsubordinate the present to the future, this world to the other world,\nand, in particular, virtue to happiness; because in this way the efforts\nof goodness here are conceived only as a means to enjoyment or\nsatisfaction there. We reply that the prize does indeed include joy, the\njoy of the Lord. But it includes, first of all, goodness, consummate in\nthe type of it proper to the individual; and gladness is present no\notherwise than as it is harmonised with goodness, being indeed her\nproper sister and companion. Besides, the elements of the gladness of\nthat state come in as the expression of God's love--a love both holy and\nwise. Communion with that love is the true security for goodness. It is\nequally absurd to suppose, on the one hand, that when that love fills\nthe heart with its unreserved communication there can fail to be\ngladness; and, on the other hand, to suppose that fellowship with it can\nbe other than the proper and supreme object of a creature's aspiration.\n\nThere is no unworthiness in devoting life to win this prize; for it is a\nstate of victorious well-being and well-doing. The highest goodness of\nall intervening stages is to aspire to that highest goodness of all.\nWhatever we may do or be, meanwhile, is best attained and done as it\nconfesses its own shortcoming, and hopes and longs to be better and to\ndo more.\n\nIt is true that a complete gift of eternal life is held out to us in\nChrist, and it is faith's part to accept that gift and to rest in it.\nBut yet part of that gift itself is an emancipation of the soul; in\nvirtue of this the man becomes actively responsive to the high calling,\nreiterates his fundamental decision all along the detail of mortal life,\naffirms his agreement with the mind and life of his Lord, approves\nhimself faithful and devoted, and runs so as to obtain. All this is in\nthe idea of the gift bestowed, and is unfolded in the experience of the\ngift received. So the prize is to arise to us as the close of a course\nof progressive effort tending that way: the reality of the prize\ncorresponds to the reality of the progress; the degree of it, in some\nway, to the rate of that progress. The progress itself is made good, as\nwe have said, by perpetually re-affirming the initial choice; doing so\nin new circumstances, under new lights, with a new sense of its meaning,\nagainst the difficulties implied in new temptations; yet so as ever, in\nthe main, to abide by the beginning of our confidence. With all this let\nit be remembered that the time is short; and it will be understood that\nthe Christian life, so viewed, assumes the character, and may well\nexhibit the intensity and pressure, of a race.\n\nHow far short men fall of the great idea of such a life--how they flinch\nfrom the perfectness of this Christian imperfection--need not be\nenlarged upon. But if any life is wholly untrue to this ideal, the\nApostle seemingly could not count it Christian. This one thing _he_ did,\nhe bent himself to the race. For if the ultimate attainment has become\nvery attractive, if the sense of present disproportion to it is great,\nand if, in Christ, both the obligation and the hopefulness of reaching\nthe perfect good have become imperatively plain, what can a man do but\nrun?\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nVerses 15 and 16 state the use which the Apostle desires his disciples\nto make of this account of his own views and feelings, his attitude and\nhis effort,--\"As many of us as are perfect.\"\n\nSince the Apostle has disclaimed (ver. 12) being already perfected, it\nmay seem strange that he should now say, \"As many of us as are perfect.\"\nHis use of language in other places, however, warrants the position that\nhe is not speaking of absolute perfection, as if the complete result of\nthe Christian calling had been attained. Rather he is thinking of ripe\npractical insight into the real spirit of the Christian life--that is to\nsay, advanced acquaintance, by experience, with the real nature of the\nChristian life. He uses this word \"perfect\" in contrast to \"babes\" or\n\"children\" in Christ. These last are persons who have been truly\nbrought to Christ; but their conceptions and their attainments are\nrudimentary. They have not attained to large insight into the means and\nends of the Christian life, nor to any ripe acquaintance with the\nposition of a Christian man, and the relation he holds to things around\nhim. They are therefore unready to face the responsibilities and perform\nthe duties of Christian manhood. Hence the translators of the Authorised\nVersion, in some passages, render the same word so as to bring out this\nsense of it. So 1 Cor. xiv. 20, \"Be not children in understanding:\nhowbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men\"\n(\u03c4\u1f11\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9), and Heb. v. 14, \"Strong meat belongs to those that are\nof _full age_\" (\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u1f31\u03c9\u03bd).\n\nIt cannot be doubted, however, that the word is used here with a certain\nemphatic significance in reference to the previous disclaimer, \"I am not\nyet perfected.\" In the Philippians, or in some of them, Paul apprehended\nthe existence of a self-satisfied mood of mind, such as might perhaps be\nwarrantable if they were now perfect, if Christianity had brought forth\nall its results for them, but on no other terms. In contrast to this he\nhad set before them the intense avidity with which he himself stretched\nout towards attainment and completeness which he had not reached. And\nnow he teaches them that to be thus well aware how far we are from the\ntrue completeness, to be thus reaching out to it, is the true perfection\nof our present state: he only is the perfect Christian who is \"thus\nminded\"; who knows and feels how much remains to be attained, and gives\nhimself up to the effort and the race under that inspiration. It is as\nif he said: Would you approve yourselves to be believers, advanced and\nestablished; would you show that you have come to a larger measure of\njust views and just feelings about the new world into which faith has\nbrought you; would you have the character of men well acquainted with\nyour Lord's mind about you, with your own position in relation to Him;\nin short, would you be perfect, fully under the influence of the\nChristianity you profess:--then let you and me be \"thus minded\"; let us\nevince the lowly sense of our distance from the goal, along with a\nliving sense of the magnificence and urgency of the motives which\nconstrain us to press on to it.\n\nFor is there such a thing attainable here as a Christian perfectness, a\nripe fulness of the Christian life, which exhibits that working of it,\nin its various forces, which was designed for this stage of our history?\nIf so, what must it be? That man surely is the perfect man who fully\napprehends the position in which the gospel places him here, and the\nends it sets before him, and who most fully admits into his life the\nviews and considerations which, in this state of things, the gospel\nproposes. Then, he must be a man penetrated with a sense of the\ndisproportion between his attainment and Christ's ideal, and at the same\ntime set on fire with the desire and hope of overcoming it. Has a man\nexperienced many gracious dealings at his Lord's hands, has he made\nattainments by grace, has he come to a Christian standing that may be\ncalled full age, would he be what all this would seem to imply,--then\nlet him take heed to be \"thus minded.\" Otherwise he is already beginning\nto lose what he seemed to have attained.\n\nIt is not so surprising, and it is not so severely to be reprehended, if\nthose fail in this point who are but children in Christ. When the\nglorious things of the new world are freshly bursting into view, when\nthe affections of the child of God are in their early exercise, when sin\nfor the present seems stricken down, it is not so wonderful if men\nsuppose danger and difficulty to be over. Like the Corinthians, \"now\nthey are full, now they are rich, now they have reigned as kings.\" It\nhas often been so; and at that stage it may be more easily pardoned. One\nmay say of it, \"They will learn their lesson by-and-by; they will soon\nfind out that in the life of a Christian all is not triumph and\nexultation.\" But it concerns those who have got further on, and it is\nexpected of them, that they should be \"thus minded\" as the Apostle Paul\nwas. It is a more serious business for them to be of another mind on\nthis point, than for those who are only children in Christ. It tends to\ngreat loss. Are we, says the Apostle, come to a point at which we may be\nthought to be--may hope we are--experienced believers, well acquainted\nnow with the salvation and the service, men in Christ? Then as we would\never act in a manner answerable, at this stage, to the gospel and to our\nposition under the gospel, let us be thus minded; forgetting that which\nis behind, reaching forth to that which is before, let us press toward\nthe mark. For at each stage of progress much depends on the way in which\nwe deal with the position now attained, with the views which have opened\nto us, and with the experiences that have been acquired. This may decide\nwhether the stage reached shall be but a step towards something better\nand more blessed, or whether a sad blight and declension shall set in.\nThere are Christian lives to-day sadly marred, entangled and bewildered\nso that one knows not what to make of them, and all by reason of failure\nto be \"thus minded.\"\n\nA man is awakened to the supreme importance of Divine things. At the\noutset of his course, for years perhaps, he is a vigorous and growing\nChristian. So he comes to a large measure of establishment: he grows\ninto knowledge of truth and duty. But after a time the feeling creeps\ninto his mind that matters are now less urgent. He acts rather as a man\ndisposed to keep his ground, than as one that would advance. Now he\nseems to himself to lose ground somewhat, now to awaken a little and\nrecover it, and on those terms he is fairly well contented. All this\nwhile it would be unjust to say that he does not love and serve Christ.\nBut time passes on; life draws nearer to its close. The period at which\nGod's afflictions usually multiply has arrived. And he awakens at last\nto see how much of his life has been lost; how extensively, though\nsecretly, decay has marred his attainments and his service; and how\nlittle, in the result, of that honourable success has crowned his life\nwhich once seemed fair before him.\n\n\"Let us be thus minded.\" Let Christians be admonished who have for some\ntime been Christians, and especially those who are passing through\nmiddle life, or from middle life into older years. There is enchanted\nground here, in passing over which too many of Christ's servants go to\nsleep. Leave that which is behind.\n\nLet us be thus minded: but this proves hard. One may see it in a general\nway to be most reasonable, but to come up to it in particulars is hard.\nIn all particular cases we are tempted to be otherwise minded. And in\nmany particulars we find it very difficult to judge the manner of spirit\nthat we are of. Were all right in us, absolutely right, rectitude of\ndisposition and of moral action would be in a manner instinctive. But\nnow it is not so. With reference to many aspects of our life, it is very\ndifficult to bring out distinctly to our own minds how the attitude that\nbecomes us is to be attained and maintained. The difficulty is real; and\ntherefore a promise is annexed. \"If in anything ye be otherwise minded.\"\nThat may realise itself in two ways. You may be distinctly conscious\nthat your way of dealing with some interests which enter into your\nlives is unsatisfactory, is below your calling and privilege as a\nChristian; and yet you may find it hard to see how you are to rise into\nthe worthier life. It is like a problem which you cannot solve. Or,\nagain, you may fear that it is so; you may fear that if things were seen\nin the true light it would turn out so. But you cannot see clearly; you\ncannot identify the faulty element, far less amend it. Here the promise\nmeets you. \"If in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even\nthis unto you.\" Keep your face in the right direction. Be honestly set\non the attainment, and the way will open up to you as you go. You will\nsee the path opening from the point where you stand, into life that\nthroughout is akin to the aspiration and the achievement of the life of\nPaul.\n\nPaul here has regard to a distinction which theorists are apt to\noverlook. We have a sufficient objective rule in the word and example of\nChrist. This may be summarised in forms easily repeated, and a man may,\nin that respect, know all that need be said as to what he is to do and\nto be. But in morals and in spiritual life this is only the beginning of\nanother process--namely, the subjective individual entrance into the\nmeaning of it all and the practical appropriation of it. I know the\nwhole of duty on the human side: I am to love my neighbour as myself. It\nis most essential to know it, and a grand thing to have consented to\nmake a rule of it. But, says one, there remains the difficulty of doing\nit? Is that all? I reply. There is another previous difficulty. I can\npreach a sermon on loving my neighbour as myself. But what does that\nmean, for me, not for any one else, but for myself, on a given day in\nNovember, at half-past one in the afternoon, when I am face to face with\nmy neighbour, who has his merits, and also his defects, being, perhaps,\nprovoking and encroaching, with whom I have some business to arrange?\nWhat does it mean then and there and for me? Here there opens the whole\nquestion of the subjective insight into the scope and genius of the\nrule; in which problem heart and mind must work together; and commonly\nthere has to be training, experience, growth, in order to the expert and\njust discernment. Short of that there may be honest effort, blundering\nmost likely, but honest, and lovingly accepted through Christ. But there\nought to be growth on this subjective side.\n\nMoreover, when progress has been made here it imposes responsibility.\nHave you been carried forward to such and such degrees of this\nsubjective insight? Then this ought to be for you a fruitful attainment.\nDo not neglect its suggestions, do not prove careless and untrue to\ninsight attained. Whereto we have attained, \"by the same rule let us\nwalk,\"--or, as we may render it, \"go on in the same line.\" So new\ninsight and new achievement shall wait upon our steps.\n\nGenerally, if their Lord had carried the Philippians forward to genuine\nattainments of Christian living, then that history of theirs was a track\nwhich reached further on. It was not a blind alley, stopping at the\npoint now reached. It had had a meaning; there was some rationale of it;\nit proceeded on principles which could be understood, for they had been\nput in practice; and it demanded to be further pursued. There is a\ncontinuity in the work of grace. There is a rational development of\nspiritual progress in the case of each child of God. What God means,\nwhat the direction is in which His finger beckons, what the dispositions\nare under the influence of which His call is complied with and\nobeyed,--these are things which have been so far learned in that course\nof lessons and conflicts, of defeats and backslidings, restorations and\nvictories, which has brought you so far. Let this be carried out; keep\non in the same road. Whereto you have attained, go on with the same.\n\nBut such an admonition at once raises a question; the question, namely,\nwhether we are at _any_ stage in the pathway of Christian attainment,\nwhether there is for us as yet _any_ history of a Divine life. Among\nthose who claim part in Christ's benefits are some whom the grace of God\nhas never taught to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live\nsoberly, righteously, and godly; for they have been persistently deaf to\nthe lesson. There are some who do not know how Christ turns men from\ndarkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. To them the\nline of admonition now in hand does not apply: to exhort them to \"walk\non in the same\" would be to perpetuate for them a sad mistake. Their\ncourse has been dark and downward. Therefore to the admonition already\ngiven, the Apostle adds another. \"Brethren, be followers together of me,\nand mark (keep sight of) them who walk so as ye have us for an example.\"\nDo not mistake the whole nature of Christianity; do not altogether miss\nthe path in which God's children go. It is one spirit that dwells in the\nChurch; let not your walk forsake the fellowship of that spirit.\nChristians are not bound to any human authority: Christ is their Master.\nThey must sometimes assert their independence, even with respect to the\nmaxims and manners of good people. Yet there is one spirit in God's true\nChurch, and there is in the main one course of life which it inspires.\nGod's children have not been mistaken in the main things. In these, to\nforsake the spirit and the way of Christ's flock is to forsake Christ.\n\n\n\n\n_ENEMIES OF THE CROSS_.\n\n     \"For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even\n     weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose\n     end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in\n     their shame, who mind earthly things.\"--PHIL. iii. 18, 19 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n_ENEMIES OF THE CROSS._\n\n\nThe New Testament writers, and not least the Apostle Paul, are wont to\nbring out their conception of the true Christian life by setting it\nvividly in contrast with the life of the unspiritual man. They seem to\nsay: \"If you really mean to say No to the one, and Yes to the other, be\nsincere and thorough: compromises are not possible here.\" So 1 Tim. vi.\n10: \"The love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted\nafter, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through\nwith many sorrows. But thou, O man of God,\" etc. Or Jude 18: \"mockers,\nwalking after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who separate\nthemselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But, ye beloved,\" etc. Here\nin like manner the course of worldliness and self-pleasing life is\nsketched in concrete instances, that its sin and shame may be felt, and\nthat by contrast the true calling of a Christian may be discerned and\nmay be impressed on the disciples.\n\nIt may be taken as certain that the Apostle is not speaking of mere Jews\nor mere heathen. He is speaking of professing Christians, whose\npractical life belied their profession. In general they are enemies of\nthe cross of Christ; that is the first thing he thinks fit to say of\nthem. And here it may be asked whether the Apostle has in view, if not\nJews, yet the Judaising faction about which he had already said strong\nthings in the beginning of this chapter. Some have thought so; and it\nmust be owned that antagonism to the cross, ignorance of its virtue, and\nantipathy to its lessons, is exactly what the Apostle was wont to impute\nto those Judaisers; as may be seen in the Epistle to the Galatians, and\nin other Pauline writings. But it is preferable, as has been already\nindicated, to take it that the Apostle has turned from the particular\nissue with those Judaisers; and having been led to declare emphatically\nwhat the life of Christianity was in his own experience and practice, he\nnow sets this life in Christ not merely against the religion of the\nJudaisers, but in general against all religion which, assuming the name\nof Christ, denied the power of godliness; which meddled with that worthy\nname, but only brought reproach upon it. It is quite possible indeed\nthat here he might have in view some of the Judaisers also; for there\nwas a sensual side of popular Judaism which might be represented also\namong the Judaising Christians. But it is more likely that the Apostle's\neye is turning mainly to another class of persons. It seems that in the\nearly Churches, especially perhaps at the time when the later Epistles\nwere written, a recognisable tendency to a loose and lawless\nChristianity was finding representatives. Warning against these was\nneeded; and they embodied a form of evil which might serve to show the\nPhilippians, as in a mirror, the disaster in which an idle,\nself-satisfied, vainglorious Christianity was like to land its votaries.\n\nWhat first strikes the Apostle about them is that they are enemies of\nthe cross of Christ. One asks, Does he mean enemies of the doctrine of\nthe cross, or of its practical influence and efficiency? The two are\nnaturally connected. But here perhaps the latter is principally\nintended. The context, especially what follows in the Apostle's\ndescription, seems to point that way.\n\nWhen Christ's cross is rightly apprehended, and when the place it claims\nin the mind has been cordially yielded, it becomes, as we see in the\ncase of Paul himself, a renovating principle, the fountain of a new view\nand a new course. That immense sacrifice for our redemption from sin\ndecides that we are no more to live the rest of our time in the flesh to\nthe lusts of men (1 Peter iv. 1). And that patience of Christ in His\nlowly love to God and man under all trial, sheds its conclusive light\nupon the true use and end of life, the true rule, the true inspiration,\nand the true goal. So regarded, Christ's cross teaches us the slender\nworth, or the mere worthlessness, of much that we otherwise should\nidolise; on the other hand, it assures us of redemption into His\nlikeness, as a prospect to be realised in the renunciation of the \"old\nman\"; and it embodies an incomparable wealth of motive to persuade us\nto comply, for we find ourselves in fellowship with Love unspeakable.\n\nUnder this influence we take up our cross; which is substantially the\nsame as renouncing or denying ourselves (Matt. xvi. 24) carried\npractically out. It is self-denial for Christ's sake and after Christ's\nexample, accepted as a principle, and carried out in the forms in which\nGod calls us to it. This, as we have seen, takes place chiefly in our\nconsenting to bear the pain involved in separation from sin and from the\nlife of worldliness, and in carrying on the war against sin and against\nthe world. It includes rejection of known sin; it includes watchfulness\nand discipline of life with a view to life's supreme end; and so it\nincludes prudential self-denial, in avoiding undue excitement and\nover-absorbing pleasure, because experience and God's word tell us it is\nnot safe for our hearts to be so \"overcharged\" (Luke xxi. 34). This\ncross in many of its applications is hard. Yet in all its genuine\napplications it is most desirable; for in frankly embracing it we shall\nfind our interest in salvation, and in the love which provides it,\nbrought home with comfort to our hearts (1 Peter iv. 14).\n\nIt seems, then, that there are professing Christians who are enemies of\nthe cross of Christ. Not that it is always an open and proclaimed\nhostility; though, indeed, in the case of those whom Paul is thinking\nof, it would appear to have revealed itself pretty frankly. But at all\nevents it is a real aversion; they would have nothing to do with the\ncross, or as little as they may. And this proves that the very meaning\nof salvation, the very end of Christ as a Saviour, is the object of\ntheir dislike. But in Christianity the place of the cross is central. It\nwill make itself felt somehow. Hence those who decline or evade it find\nit difficult to do so quietly and with complacency. Eventually their\ndislike is apt to be forced into bitter manifestation. They begin,\nperhaps, with quiet and skilful avoidance; but eventually they become,\nrecognisably, enemies of the cross, and their religious career acquires\na darker and more ominous character.\n\nIt is, however, an interesting question, What draws to Christianity\nthose who prove to be enemies of the cross? Nowadays we may explain the\nadhesion of many such persons to Christian profession by referring to\nfamily and social influences. But we can hardly set much down to that\nscore when we are thinking of the days of Paul. It cannot be doubted\nthat some persons were then strongly drawn by Christianity, who did not\nprove amenable to its most vital influence. And that may persuade us\nthat the same phenomenon recurs in all ages and in all Churches. For\ndifferent minds there are different influences which may operate in this\nway. Intellectual interest may be stirred by the Christian teachings;\nthe sense of truth and reality may be appealed to by much in the\nChristian view of men and things; there may be a genuine satisfaction in\nhaving life and feelings touched and tinged with the devout emotions\nwhich breathe in Christian worship; there may be a veneration, real as\nfar as it goes, for some features of Christian character, as set forth\nin Scripture and embodied in individual Christians; and, not to dwell on\nmere particulars, the very goodness of Christian truth and life, which a\nman will not pay the cost of appropriating to himself, may exert a\nstrong attraction, and draw a man to live upon the borders of it. Nay,\nsuch men may go a good long way in willingness to do and bear for the\ncause they have espoused. Men have run the risk of loss of life and\ngoods for Christianity, who have yet been shipwrecked on some base lust\nwhich they could not bring themselves to resign. And who has not known\nkindly, serviceable men, hanging about the Churches with a real\npredilection for the suburban life of Zion,--men regarding whom it made\nthe heart sore to form any adverse judgment, and yet men whose life\nseemed just to omit the cross of Christ?\n\nIn the case of those whom Paul thinks of there was no room for doubt as\nto the real nature of the case; and therefore the Apostle cannot too\nemphatically bring it out. He puts first the most startling view of it.\nTheir end is destruction. Not salvation, but destruction is before them,\nalthough they name the name of Christ. Destruction is the port they are\nsailing for: that is the tendency of their whole career. Their place\nmust be at last with those on whom the day of the Lord brings sudden\ndestruction, so that they shall not escape. Alas for the Christians\nwhose end is destruction!\n\n\"Their god is their belly.\" Their life was sensual. Most likely,\njudging from the tone of expression, they were men of coarse and\nunblushing indulgence. If so, they were only the more outstanding\nrepresentatives of the sensual life. The things which delight the senses\nwere for them the main things, and ruled them. They might have\nintellectual and \u00e6sthetic interests, they might own family and social\nconnections, they certainly did attach importance to some religious\nviews and some religious ties; but the main object of their life was to\nseek rest and content for those desires which may have rest apart from\nany higher exercise or any higher portion. Their life was ruled and\nguided by its lower and sensual side. So their belly was their god. Yet\nthey claimed a place in the Christian fellowship, in which Christ has\nrevealed God, and has opened the way to God, and brings us to God. But\ntheir thoughts ran, and their plans tended, and their life found its\nexplanation, _bellywards_. This was _their_ god. Their trust and their\ndesire were placed in the things which the flesh appreciates. These they\nserved, and of these they took on the likeness. They served not the Lord\nJesus Christ, but their own belly. One cannot think of it, without grave\nquestions as to the direction in which life preponderates. That would\nseem to indicate our god. One does not severely judge \"good living.\" And\nyet what may \"good living\" denote in the case of many a professing\nChristian? In what direction do we find the tides of secret and\nunrestrained thought setting?\n\nAnd they glory in their shame. In this Epistle and elsewhere, one sees\nthe importance attached by the Apostle to that which a man glories in,\nas marking his character. For himself, Paul gloried in the cross of\nChrist: he counted all things but loss for the knowledge of Christ. And\nthese men also were, or claimed to be, in Christ's Church, in which we\nare taught to rate things at their true value and to measure them by the\nauthentic standard. But they gloried in their shame. What they valued\nthemselves upon; what they inwardly, at least, rejoiced in, and\napplauded themselves for; what they would, perhaps, have most cheerfully\ndwelt upon in congenial company, were things of which they had every\nreason to be ashamed--no doubt, the resources they had gathered for the\nworship of this god of theirs, and the success they had had in it. For\nexample, such men would inwardly congratulate themselves on the measure\nin which they were able to attain the kind of satisfaction at which they\naimed. They gloried in the degree in which they succeeded in bringing\nabout a perfect accommodation between themselves and the objects which\nsense alone appreciates, and in producing a harmonious and balanced\nlife, set on that key. Really, it should have been to them a cause of\ngrief and shame to find themselves succeeding here, and failing in\nattaining a right relation to Christ and to the things of God's kingdom,\nto righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. So they\ngloried in their shame. This was seen in their lives. Alas, is there no\nreason to fear that when the thoughts of all hearts are revealed, too\nmany whose lives are subject to no obvious reproach shall be found to\nhave lived an inward life of evil thought, of base desire, of coarse and\nlow imagination, that can only rank in the same class with these--men\nwhose whole inward life gravitates, and gravitates unchecked, towards\nvanity and lust?\n\nIn a word, their character is summed up in this, that they mind earthly\nthings. That is the region in which their minds are conversant and to\nwhich they have regard. The higher world of truths and forces and\nobjects which Christ reveals is for them inoperative. It does not appeal\nto them, it does not awe them, it does not govern them. Their minds can\nturn in this direction on particular occasions, or with a view to\nparticular discussions; but their bent lies another way. The home of\ntheir hearts, the treasure which they seek, the congenial subjects and\ninterests, are earthly.\n\nSince this whole description is meant to carry its lesson by suggestion\nof contrast, the clause last referred to brings powerfully before us the\nplace to be given to the spiritual mind in our conception of a true\nChristian life. In the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans we\nare told that to be carnally minded--or the minding of the flesh--is\ndeath, but the minding of the spirit is life and peace. Care, therefore,\nis to be taken of our thoughts and of our practical judgments, so that\nthey may be according to the spirit. Effort in this direction is hopeful\neffort, because we believe that Christ grants His Spirit to hallow\nthose regions of the inward man by His illuminating and purifying\npresence. It cannot be doubted that many lives that were capable of\nyielding much good fruit, have been frittered away and wasted through\nindulged vanity of thought. Others, that are methodical and energetic\nenough, are made sterile for Christian ends by the too common absence or\nthe too feeble presence of the spiritual mind. It is not altogether\ndirect meditation on spiritual objects that is here to be enforced. That\nhas its important place; yet certainly, frank converse with the whole\nrange of human interests is legitimately open to the Christian mind.\nWhat seems to be essential is that, through all, the regard to the\nsupreme interests shall continue; and that the manner of thinking and of\njudging, the modes of feeling and impression, shall keep true to faith\nand love and Christ. The subject recurs in another form at the eighth\nverse of the following chapter.\n\nProbably, as was said, the Apostle is speaking of a class of men whose\nfaults were gross, so that at least an Apostolic eye could not hesitate\nto read the verdict that must be passed upon them. But then we must\nconsider that his object in doing this was to address a warning to men\nto whom he imputed no such gross failings; concerning whom, indeed, he\nwas persuaded far other things, even things that accompany salvation;\nbut whom he knew to be exposed to influences tending in the same\ndirection, and whom he expected to see preserved only in the way of\nvigilance and diligence. Outstanding failures in Christian profession\nmay startle us by their conspicuous deformity; but they fail to yield us\ntheir full lesson unless they suggest the far finer and more subtle\nforms in which the same evils may enter in, to mar or to annul what\nseemed to be Christian characters.\n\nThe protest against the cross is still maintained even in the company of\nChrist's professed disciples. But this takes place most commonly, and\ncertainly most persuasively, without advancing any plea for conduct\ngrossly offensive, or directly inconsistent with Christian morals. The\n\"enemies of the cross\" retreat into a safer region, where they take up\npositions more capable of defence. \"Why have a cross?\" they say. \"God\nhas not made us spiritual beings only: men ought not to attempt to live\nas if they were pure intelligences or immaterial spirits. Also, God has\nmade men with a design that they should be happy; they are to embrace\nand use the elements of enjoyment with which He has so richly surrounded\nthem. He does not mean us to be clouded in perpetual gloom, or to be on\nour guard against the bright and cheering influences of the earth. He\nhas made all things beautiful in their time; and He has given to us the\ncapacity to recognise this that we may rejoice in it. Instead of\nscowling on the beauty of God's works, and the resources for enjoyment\nthey supply, it is more our part to drink in by every sense, from nature\nand from art, the brightness, and gladness, and music, and grace. Let us\nseek, as much as may be in this rough world, to have our souls attuned\nto all things sweet and fair.\"\n\nThere is real truth here; for, no doubt, it lies in the destiny of man\nto bring the world into experience according to God's order: if this is\nnot to be done in ways of sin and transgression, it is yet to be done in\nright ways; and in doing it, man is designed to be gladdened by the\nbeauty of God's handiwork and by the wealth of His beneficence. And yet\nsuch statements can be used to shelter a life of enmity to the cross,\nand they are often employed to conceal the more momentous half of the\ntruth. As long as the things of earth can become materials by means of\nwhich we may be tempted to fall away from the Holy One, and as long as\nwe, being fallen, are corruptly disposed to make idols of them, we\ncannot escape the obligation to keep our hearts with diligence. So long,\nalso, as we live in a world in which men, with a prevailing consent,\nwork up its resources into a system which shuts God and Christ out; so\nlong as men set in motion, by means of those resources, a stream of\nworldliness by which we are at all times apt to be whirled away,--so\nlong every man whose ear and heart have become open to Christ will find\nthat as to the things of earth there is a cross to bear. For he must\ndecide whether his practical life is to continue to accept the Christian\ninspiration. He must make his choice between two things, whether he will\nprincipally love and seek a right adjustment with things above, with the\nobjects and influences of the Kingdom of God, or whether he will\nprincipally love and seek a right, or at least a comfortable adjustment\nwith things below. He must make this choice not once only, but he must\nhold himself at all times ready to make it over again, or to maintain it\nin reiterated applications of it. The grace of Christ who died and rose\nagain is his resource to enable him.\n\nEvery legitimate element of human experience, of human culture and\nattainment, is, doubtless open to the Christian man. Only, in making his\npersonal selection among them, the Christian will keep sight of the goal\nof his high calling, and will weigh the conditions under which he\nhimself must aim at it. Still every such element is open; and all\nlegitimate satisfaction accruing to men from such sources is to be\nreceived with thankfulness. Let all this be recognised. But\nChristianity, by its very nature, requires us to recognise _also_, and\n_in a due proportion_, something else. It requires us to recognise the\nevil of sin, the incomparable worth of Christ's salvation. Along with\nthese things, duly regarded, let all innocent earthly interests take\ntheir place. But if we are conscious that as yet we have very\nincompletely established the right proportionate regard, is it any\nwonder if we are obliged to keep watch, lest the treacherous idolatry of\nthings seen and temporal should carry us away,--obliged to accept the\ncross? We are obliged; but in the school of our Master we should learn\nto do this thing most gladly, not by constraint, but of a ready mind.\n\nThe ideal life on earth no doubt would be a life in which all was\nperfectly harmonised. The antagonism of the interests would have passed\naway. Loyalty and love to God's kingdom and to His Son would embody\nthemselves in all human exercise and attainment as in their proper\nvesture, each promoting each, working together as body and soul. There\nare Christians who have gone far towards this attainment. They have been\nso mastered by the mind of Christ, that while, on the one hand, they\nhabitually seek the things above, on the other hand there is little\ntrace of bondage or of timorousness in their attitude towards the bright\naspects of earthly experience. Some of them were happily carried in\nearly days into so clear a decision for the better part; some emerged\nlater, after conflict, into so bright a land of Beulah, that they find\nit easy, with little conflict and little fear, to take frank use of\nforms of earthly good which other Christians must treat with more\nreserve.\n\nThis is one of the reasons why we must not judge one another about these\nthings; why we must not lay down absolute rules about them; why even our\nrecommendations must be provisional and prudential only. It is at the\nsame time a reason for the more fidelity in each of us towards himself,\nto see that we do not trifle with the great trust of regulating our own\nlife. It is possible to give to God and to Christ a recognition which is\nnot consciously dishonest, and yet to fail in admitting any deep and\ndominant impression of the significance of Christ's redemption for\nhuman life. So the heart is yielded, the time is surrendered, the\nstrength is given to attractive objects, which are not indeed\nessentially immoral, but which are suffered to usurp the heart, and to\nestrange the man from Christ. Such persons prove enemies of the cross of\nChrist: they mind earthly things.\n\nSince the earthly side of human life, with its sorrow and joy, its work\nand its leisure, is legitimate and inevitable, questions arise about\nadjusting details. And in particular, those who retain a relation to\nChristianity while they cherish a worldly spirit, take a delight in\nraising questions as to the forms of life which are, or are not, in\nharmony with Christianity, and as to whether various practices and\nindulgences are to be vindicated or condemned. It is a satisfaction to\npersons of this sort to have a set of fixed points laid down, with\nrespect to which, if they conform, they may take the credit of doing so,\nand if they rebel, they may have the comfort of feeling that the case is\narguable: as indeed these are often matters upon which one may argue for\never. Now what is clearly prohibited or clearly warranted in Scripture,\nas permanent instruction for the Church, must be maintained. But beyond\nthat point it is often wisest to refuse to give any specific answer to\nthe questions so raised. The true answer is, Are you a follower of\nChrist? Then it is laid on your own conscience, at your own\nresponsibility, to answer such questions for yourself. No one can come\nin your place. You must decide, and you have a right to decide for\nyourself, what course is, for you, consistent with loyalty to Christ and\nHis cross. Only it may be added, that the very spirit in which one puts\nthe question may be significant. One who minds earthly things will put\nthe question in one way; one whose citizenship is in heaven, in another.\nAnd the answer which you attain will be according to the question you\nhave put.\n\n\n\n\n_OUR CITY AND OUR COMING KING._\n\n     \"For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a\n     Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of\n     our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory,\n     according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all\n     things unto Himself.\"--PHIL. iii. 20, 21 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n_OUR CITY AND OUR COMING KING._\n\n\nTo live, amid the things of earth, and in constant converse with them, a\nlife in the power of Christ's resurrection, and in the fellowship of His\nsufferings, was the Apostle's chosen course; in which he would have the\nPhilippians to follow him. For a moment he had diverged to sketch, for\nwarning, the way of the transgressors, who spend their lives intent on\nthe things that pass away. Now he brings the argument to a close, by\nonce more proclaiming the glory of the high calling in Christ. As the\nChristian faith looks backward to the triumph of Christ's resurrection,\nand to the meekness of His suffering, and receives its inspiration from\nthem, so also it looks upward, and it looks forward. It is even now in\nhabitual communion with the world on high; and it reaches on towards the\nhope of the Lord's return.\n\n\"Our citizenship is in heaven.\" The word here used (comp. i. 27) means\nthe constitution or manner of life of a state or city. All men draw much\nfrom the spirit and laws of the commonwealth to which they belong; and\nin antiquity this influence was even stronger than we commonly find it\nto be in our day. The individual was conscious of himself as a member of\nhis own city or state. Its life enfolded his. Its institutions set for\nhim the conditions under which life was accepted and was carried on. Its\nlaws determined for him his duties and his rights. The ancient and\ncustomary methods of the society developed a common spirit, under the\ninfluence of which each citizen unfolded his own personal peculiarities.\nWhen he went forth elsewhere he felt himself, and was felt to be, a\nstranger. Now in the heavenly kingdom, which had claimed them and had\nopened to them through Christ, the believers had found their own city;\nand finding it, had become, comparatively, strangers in every other.\n\nA way of thinking and acting prevails throughout the world, as if earth\nand its interests were the whole sphere of man; and being pervaded by\nthis spirit, the whole world may be said to be a commonwealth with a\nspirit and with maxims of its own. We, who live in it, feel it natural\nto comply with the drift of things in this respect, and difficult to\nstand against it; so that separation and singularity seem unreasonable\nand hard. We claim for our lives the support of a common understanding;\nwe yearn for the comfort of a system of things existing round us, in\nwhich we may find countenance. It was urged against the Christians of\nthe early ages that their religion was unsocial--it broke the ties by\nwhich men held together; and doubtless many a Christian, in hours of\ntrial and depression, felt with pain that much in Christian life offered\na foundation for the reproach. On the other hand, those who, like the\nenemies of the cross, refer their lives to the world's standard, rather\nthan to Christ's, have at least this comfort, that they have a tangible\ncity. The world is their city: therefore also the prince of it is their\nking. But the Apostle, for himself and his fellows, sets against this\nthe true city or state--with its more original and ancient sanctions;\nwith its more authoritative laws; with its far more pervading and mighty\nspirit, for the Spirit of God Himself is the life which binds it all\ntogether; with its glorious and gracious King. This commonwealth has its\nseat in heaven; for there it reveals its nature, and thence its power\ndescends. We recognise this whenever we pray, \"Thy will be done in earth\nas it is in heaven.\" This, says the Apostle, is our citizenship. The\narchaism of the Authorised Version, \"Our conversation\" (that is, our\nhabitual way of living) \"is in heaven,\" expresses much of the meaning;\nonly the \"conversation\" is referred, by the phrase employed in the text,\nto the sanctions under which it proceeds, the august fellowship by which\nit is sustained, the source of influence by which it is continually\nvitalised. Our state, and the life which as members of that state we\nclaim and use, is celestial. Its life and strength, its glory and\nvictory, are in heaven. But it is ours, though we are here on earth.\n\nTherefore, according to the Apostle, the standard of our living, and its\nsanctions, and its way of thinking and proceeding, and, in a word, our\ncity, with its interests and its objects, being in heaven, the earnest\nbusiness of our life is there. We have to do with earth constantly and\nin ways most various; but, as Christians, our way of having to do with\nthe earth itself is heavenly, and is to be conversant with heaven. What\nwe mainly love and seek is in heaven; what we listen most to hear is the\nvoice that comes from heaven; what we most earnestly speak is the voice\nwe send to heaven; what lies next our heart is the treasure and the hope\nwhich are secure in heaven; what we are most intent upon is what we lay\nup in heaven, and how we are getting ready for heaven; there is One in\nheaven whom we love above all others; we are children of the kingdom of\nheaven; it is our country and our home; and something in us refuses to\nsettle on those things here that reject the stamp of heaven.\n\nDoes this go too high? Does some one say, \"Something in this direction\nattracts me and I reach out to it, but ah! how feebly\"?--then how\nstrongly does the principle of the Apostle's admonition apply. If we own\nthat this city rightfully claims us, if we are deeply conscious of\nshortcoming in our response to that claim, then how much does it concern\nus to allow no earthly thing that by its own nature drags us down from\nour citizenship in heaven.\n\nIt is in heaven. Many ways it might be shown to be so; but it is enough\nto sum up all in this, that One has His presence there, who is the Life\nand the Lord of this city of ours, caring for us, calling us to the\npresent fellowship with Him that is attainable in a life of faith, but\nespecially (for this includes all the rest) whom we look for, to come\nforth from heaven for us. He has done wonders already to set up for us\nthe grace of the kingdom of heaven, and He has brought us in to it; He\nis doing much for us daily in grace and in providence, upholding His\nChurch on earth from age to age; but this \"working\" is proceeding to a\nfinal victory. He is \"able to subject all things to Himself.\" And the\nemphatic proof of it which awaits all believers, is that the body\nitself, reconstituted in the likeness of Christ's own, shall at last be\nin full harmony with a destiny of immortal purity and glory. So shall\nthe manifestation of His power and grace at last sweep through our whole\nbeing, within and without. That is the final triumph of salvation, with\nwhich the long history finds all its results attained. For this we await\nthe coming of the Saviour from heaven. Well therefore may we say that\nthe state to which we pertain, and the life which we hold as members of\nthat state, is in heaven.\n\nThe expectation of the coming of Christ out of the world of supreme\ntruth and purity, where God is known and served aright, to fulfil all\nHis promises,--this is the Church's and the believer's great hope. It is\nset before us in the New Testament as a motive to every duty, as giving\nweight to every warning, as determining the attitude and character of\nall Christian life. In particular, we cannot deal aright with any of the\nearthly things committed to us, unless we deal with them in the light of\nChrist's expected coming. This expectation is to enter into the heart of\nevery believer, and no one is warranted to overlook or make light of it.\nHis coming, His appearing, the revelation of Him, the revelation of His\nglory, the coming of His day, and so forth, are pressed on us\ncontinually. In a true waiting for the day of Christ, is gathered up the\nright regard to what He did and bore when He came first, and also a\nright regard to Him as He is now the pledge and the sustainer of our\nsoul's life: the one and the other are to pass onward to the hope of His\nappearing.\n\nSome harm has been done, perhaps, by the degree in which attention has\nbeen concentrated on debatable points about the time of the Lord's\ncoming, or the order of events in relation to it; but more by the\nmeasure in which Christians have allowed the world's unbelieving temper\nto affect on this point the habit of their own minds. It must be most\nseriously said that our Lord Himself expected no man to succeed in\nescaping the corruption of the world and enduring to the end, otherwise\nthan in the way of watching for his Lord (see Luke xii. 35-40--but the\npassages are too numerous to be quoted).\n\nAnd the Apostle lays an emphasis on the character in which we expect\nHim. The word \"Saviour\" is emphatic. We look for a Saviour; not merely\nOne who saved us once, but One who brings salvation with Him when He\ncomes. It is _the_ great good, in its completeness, that the Church sees\ncoming to her with her Lord. Now she has the faith of it,--and with the\nfaith an earnest and foretaste,--but then salvation comes. Therefore the\ncoming is spoken of as redemption drawing nigh, as the time of the\nredemption of the purchased possession. So also in the Epistle to the\nGalatians the end of Christ's sacrifice is said to be to \"deliver us\nfrom this present evil world.\"\n\nDoubtless it is unwise to lay down extreme positions as to the spirit in\nwhich we are to deal with temporal things, and especially with their\nwinning and attractive aspects. Christian men, at peace with God, should\nnot only feel spiritual joy, but may well make a cheerful use of passing\nmercies. Yet certainly the Christian's hope is to be saved out of this\nworld, and out of life as he knows it here, into one far better--saved\nout of the best and brightest state to which this present state of\nthings can bring him. The Christian spirit is giving way in that man\nwho, in whatever posture of his worldly affairs, does not feel that the\npresent is a state entangled with evil, including much darkness and much\nestrangement from the soul's true rest. He ought to be minded so as to\nown the hope of being saved out of it, looking and hasting to the coming\nof the Lord.\n\nIf we lived out this conviction with some consistency, we should not go\nfar wrong in our dealings with this present world. But probably there\nis no feature in which the average Christianity of to-day varies more\nfrom that of the early Christians, than in the faint impressions, and\nthe faint influence, experienced by most modern Christians in connection\nwith the expectation of the Lord's return.\n\nAs far as individual life goes, the position of men in both periods is\nmuch the same; it is so, in spite of all the changes that have taken\nplace. Then, as now, the mirage of life tempted men to dream of\nfelicities here, which hindered them from lifting up their heads to a\nprospect of redemption. But now, as then, counter influences work; the\nshort and precarious term of human life, its disappointments, its cares\nand sorrows, its conflicts and falls, conspire to teach even the most\nreluctant Christian that the final and satisfying rest is not to be\nfound here. So that the difference seems to arise mainly from a secret\nfailure of faith on this point, due to the impression made by long ages\nin which Christ has not come. \"Where is the promise of His coming? All\nthings continue as they were.\"\n\nThis may suggest, however, that influences are recognisable, tending to\nform, in modern Christians, a habit of thought and feeling less\nfavourable to vivid expectation of Christ's coming. It does not arise so\nmuch in connection with individual experience, but is rather an\nimpression drawn from history and from the common life of men. In the\ndays of Paul, general history was simply discouraging to spiritual\nminds. It led men to think of all creation groaning together.\nCivilisation certainly had made advances; civil government had conferred\nsome of its benefits on men; and, lately, the strong hand of Rome,\nhowever heavily it might press, had averted or abridged some of the\nevils that afflicted nations. Still, on the whole, darkness, corruption,\nand social wrong continued to mark the scene, and there was little to\nsuggest that prolonged effort might gradually work improvement. Rather\nit seemed that a rapid dispensation of grace, winning its way by\nsupernatural energy, might well lead on to the winding up of the whole\nscene, sweeping all away before the advent of new heavens and a new\nearth. But, for us, nineteen hundred years have well-nigh passed. The\nChristian Church has been confronted all that time with her great task;\nand, however imperfect her light and her methods have often been, she\nhas set processes agoing, and pressed on in lines of action, in which\nshe has not been without her reward. Also the public action of at least\nthe European races, stimulated and guided by Christianity, has been\ninspired by faith in progress and in a reign of justice, and has applied\nitself to improve the conditions of men. How much of sin and pain still\nafflict the world is too sadly evident. But the memory of the successive\nlives of saints, thinkers, men of public spirit and devoted public\naction, is strong in Christian minds to-day--it is a long, animating\nhistory. And never more than at the present time did the world press\nitself on the Christian mind as the sphere for effort, for helpful and\nhopeful achievement. All this tends to fix the eye on what may happen\n_before_ Christ comes; for one asks room and time to fight the battle\nout, to see the long co-operant processes converge upon their goal. The\nconflict is thought of as one to be bequeathed, like freedom's battle,\nfrom sire to son, through indefinite periods beyond which men do not\nvery often look. And, indeed, the amelioration of the world and remedy\nof its ills by works of faith and love is Christlike work. The world\ncannot want it; the fruit of it will not be withheld; and the hopeful\nardour with which it is pursued is Christ's gift to His people. For\nChrist Himself healed and fed the multitudes. Yet all this shall not\nreplace the coming of Christ, and the redemption that draws nigh with\nHim. The longing eyes that gaze into the prospects of public-spirited\nbeneficence and Christian philanthropy, do well; but they must also look\nhigher up and further on.\n\nOne thing must be said. It is vain for us to suppose we can adjust\nbeforehand, to our own satisfaction, the elements which enter into the\nfuture, so as to make a well-fitted scheme of it. That was not designed.\nAnd in this case two ways of looking at the future are apt to strive\ntogether. The man who is occupied with processes that, as he conceives,\nmight eventuate in a reign of goodness reached by gradual amelioration,\nby successive victories of the better cause, may look askance on the\npromise of Christ's coming, because he dislikes catastrophe and\ncataclysm. First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear,\nis his motto. And the man who is full of the thought of the Lord's\nreturn, and deeply persuaded that nothing less will eradicate the\nworld's disease, may look with impatience on measures that seem to aim\nat slow and far results. But neither the one mode of view nor the other\nis to be sacrificed. Work is to be done in the world on the lines that\npromise best to bless the world. Yet also this faith must never be let\ndown--The Lord is coming; the Lord shall come.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHow decisive the change is which Christ completes at His coming--how\ndistinctive, therefore, and unworldly, that citizenship which takes its\ntype from heaven where He is, and from the hope of His appearing--is\nlast of all set forth. Paul might have dwelt on many great blessings the\nfull meaning of which will be unfolded when Christ comes; for He is to\nconform all things to Himself. But Paul prefers to signalise what shall\nbefall our bodies; for that makes us feel that not one element in our\nstate shall fail to be subjected to the victorious energy of Christ. Our\nbodies are, in our present state, conspicuously refractory to the\ninfluences of the higher kingdom. Regeneration makes no improvement on\nthem. In our body we carry about with us what seems to mock the idea of\nan ethereal and ideal life. And when we die, the corruption of the\ngrave speaks of anything but hope. Here, then, in this very point the\nsalvation of Christ shall complete its triumph, saving us all over and\nall through. He \"shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it\nmay be conformed to the body of His glory.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFor the Apostle Paul the question how the body is to be reckoned with in\nany lofty view of human life had a peculiar interest. One sees how his\nmind dwelt upon it. He does not indeed impute to the body any original\nor essential antagonism to the soul's better life. But it shares in the\ndebasement and disorganisation implied in sin; it has become the ready\navenue for many temptations. Through it the man has become participant\nof a vivid and unintermittent earthliness, contrasting all too sadly\nwith the feebleness of spiritual impressions and affections, so that the\nbalance of our being is deranged. Nor does grace directly affect men's\nbodily conditions. Here, then, is an element in a renewed life that has\na peculiar refractoriness and irresponsiveness. So much is this so that\nsin in our complex nature easily turns this way, easily finds resources\nin this quarter. Hence sin in us often takes its denomination from this\nside of things. It is the flesh, and the minding of the flesh, that is\nto be crucified. On the other hand, just because life for us is life in\nthe body, therefore the body with its members must be brought into the\nservice of Christ, and must fulfil the will of God. \"Yield your bodies\na living sacrifice.\" \"Your bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost.\" A\ndisembodied Christianity is to the Apostle no Christianity. There may be\ndifficulties, indeed, in carrying this consecration through, elements of\nresistance and insubordination to be overcome. If so, they must be\nfought down. \"I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest I\nprove a castaway.\" To be thorough in this proved hard even for Paul.\n\"Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?\"--a text in which one\nsees how the \"body\" offered itself as the ready symbol of the whole\ninward burden and difficulty. So the body is dead because of sin: dying,\nfit to die, appointed to die, and not now renewed to life. \"But if the\nSpirit of Him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, He that\nraised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by\nHis Spirit that dwelleth in you.\" Then, limits now imposed on right\nthinking, right feeling, right acting, shall be found to have passed\naway. Till then we groan, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of\nthe body; but then shall be the manifestation of the sons of God. To\nPaul this came home as one of the most definite, practical, and decisive\nforms in which the triumph of Christ's salvation should be declared.\n\nThe body, then, by which we hold converse with the world, and by which\nwe give expression to our mental life, has shared in the evil that comes\nby sin. We find it to be the body of our humiliation. It is not only\nliable to pain, decay, and death, not only subject to much that is\nhumbling and distressing, but it has become an ill-adapted organ for an\naspiring soul. The bodily state weighs down the soul, when its\naspirations after good have been rekindled. It is not wholly unconnected\nwith our physical state that it is so hard to carry the recognition of\nGod and the life of faith into the comings and goings of the outward\nlife; so hard to wed the persuasions of our faith to the impressions of\nour sense. But we look forward to our Lord's coming with the expectation\nthat the body of our humiliation shall be transfigured into the likeness\nof the body of His glory. In this we discern with what a pervading\nenergy He is to subdue all things to Himself. Love in righteousness is\nto triumph through all spheres.\n\nWe have more than once acknowledged how natural it is to dream of\nconstructing a Christian life on earth with all its elements, natural\nand spiritual, perfectly harmonised, each having its place in relation\nto each so as to make the music of a perfect whole. And in the strength\nof such a dream, some look down on all Christian practice as blind and\nnarrow, which seems to them to mar life by setting one element of it\nagainst another. It must be owned that narrow types of Christianity have\noften needlessly offended so. Nevertheless we have here a new proof that\nthe dream of those who would achieve a perfect harmony, in the present\nstate and under present conditions, is vain. A perfect Christian harmony\nof life cannot be restored in the body of our humiliation. The nobler\npart is to own this, and to confess that amid many undeserved good\ngifts, yet, in relation to the great hope set before us, we groan,\nwaiting for the redemption; when Christ who now fits us to run the race\nand bear the cross shall come and _save_ us out of all this, changing\nthe body of our humiliation into the likeness of the body of His glory.\n\nAgainst the ways of Jewish self-righteousness, and against the impulses\nof fleshly minds, the Apostle had set the true Christianity--the methods\nin which it grows, the influences on which it relies, the truths and\nhopes by which it is mainly sustained, the high citizenship which it\nclaims and to the type of which it resolutely conforms. All this was\npossible in Christ, all this was actual in Christ, all this was theirs\nin Christ. Yet this is what is brought into debate, by unbelief and sin;\nthis against unbelief and sin has to be maintained. Some influences come\nto shake us as to the truth of it--\"It is not so real after all.\" Some\ninfluences come to shake us as to the good of it--\"It is not after all\nso very, so supremely, so satisfyingly good.\" Some influences come to\nshake us as to our own part in it--\"It can hardly control and sustain my\nlife, for after all perhaps--alas, most likely--it is not for me, it\ncannot be for me.\" Against all this we are to make our stand, in and\nwith our Lord and Master. He is our confidence and our strength. How the\nApostle longed to see this victory achieved in the case of all these\nPhilippians, who were the treasure and the fruit of his life and\nlabour! Be decided about all this, be clear about it, cast every other\nway of it from you. \"Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, my joy and\ncrown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.\"\n\n\n\n\n_PEACE AND JOY._\n\n     \"I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in\n     the Lord. Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help these\n     women, for they laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also,\n     and the rest of my fellow-workers whose names are in the book of\n     life.\n\n     \"Rejoice in the Lord alway: again I will say, Rejoice. Let your\n     forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. In nothing\n     be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with\n     thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the\n     peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your\n     hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.\"--PHIL. iv. 2-7 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n_PEACE AND JOY._\n\n\nDr. Lightfoot has observed that the passages in the Acts of the Apostles\nwhich record the Macedonian experiences of Paul, have a good deal to say\nabout women (Acts xvi., xvii.). They convey the impression that in\nMacedonia women had a position and exercised an influence, at least in\nreligious matters, that was not usual in the Greek world. And he has\nappealed to the remains of ancient Macedonian inscriptions to support\nthe general idea that exceptional respect was accorded to women in that\ncountry. Here, at any rate, we have two women of note in the Church at\nPhilippi. They might, very likely, possess social standing and\ninfluence. They had been qualified to render, and in point of fact did\nrender, important help in setting forward the cause of Christ in that\ncity. We cannot doubt therefore that they were warm-hearted Christian\nwomen, who had deeply felt the power of the gospel, so that, like many\nof their sisters in later days, they gladly embarked in the service of\nit. In those days such service on the part of women implied no small\neffort of faith; and doubtless it had cost them something in the way of\ncross-bearing. But now, disagreements and estrangement had fallen out\nbetween them. Most likely the keen practical energies, which made them\nserviceable Christians, had brought about collision on some points in\nwhich their views differed. And then they had not managed the difference\nwell. Self came in, and coloured and deepened it. Now, one may think,\nthey were in danger of being always ready to differ, and to differ with\nmutual distrust and dislike.\n\nPeople cannot always think alike, not even Christians who share the same\nservice. But there is a Christian way of behaving about these inevitable\ndivergences. And, in particular, in such cases we might be expected to\nshow a superiority, in Christ our Lord, to minor differences, not\nallowing them to trouble the great agreement and the dear affection in\nwhich Christ has bound us. Whatever is to be said about a difference, as\nto its merits, the main thing that has to be said about it often is,\n\"You should not have let it come between you. You should, both of you,\nhave been big enough and strong enough in Christ, to know how to drop it\nand forget it. In making so much of it, in allowing it to make so much\nof itself, you have been children, and naughty children.\"\n\nWhat this difference was we do not know; and it is of no consequence.\nPaul does not address himself to it. He holds both parties to be in the\nwrong now, and, for his purpose, equally in the wrong; and he addresses\nentreaty to both, in exactly the same terms, to agree in Christ and be\ndone with it: no longer to allow this thing to mar their own edification\nand hinder the cause of Christ. Yet, while he is sure that this is the\nright way, he does not conceal from himself how difficult human nature\nfinds it to come happily out of such a complication. So he appeals to\nsome old comrade at Philippi, whom he calls his \"genuine yokefellow,\" to\nlend a hand. A Christian bystander, a friend of both parties, might help\nthem out of the difficulty. In this connection the Apostle's mind goes\nback to happy days of cordial effort at Philippi, in which these women,\nand the \"yokefellow,\" and Clement, and others had all been at work,\nshoulder to shoulder, all rejoicing in the common salvation and the\njoint service.\n\nIn difficulties between Christians, as between other people, wise and\nloving friendship may perform the most important services. Selfishness\nshrinks from rendering these; and on the other hand, meddlesomeness,\nwhich is a form of egotism combined with coarseness, rushes in only to\ndo harm. Wisdom is needed, mainly the wisdom which consists in loving\nthoughtfulness. The love which seeketh not her own, and is not easily\nprovoked, is much called for in this ministry of reconciliation.\n\nThese good women had little idea, probably, that their names should come\ndown the ages in connection with this disagreement of theirs; and they\nmight have deprecated it if they had thought of it. But let them be\nremembered with all honour--two saints of God, who loved and laboured\nfor Christ, who bore the cross, and each of whom was so important to\nthe Church, that it was a matter of public interest to have this\ndifficulty removed out of the way of both. As to it, we of later times\nhave not succeeded in keeping Christian activity so free of personal\nmisunderstandings as to be entitled on this account to assume any\nattitude of superiority. Let us think only with tenderness and affection\nof those venerable and beloved, those long-remembered mothers in Christ,\nEuodia and Syntyche.\n\nThe commentators have tried to divine something further about this \"true\nyokefellow\"; but with no success. As to Clement, some have been willing\nto identify him with the Clement known to have laboured in the first age\nat Rome, and who is reported to have been the writer of a well-known\nEpistle from the Church at Rome to that at Corinth. He, again, has been\nby some identified with another Clement, also a Roman, a near relation\nof the Emperor Domitian, whom we have reason to believe to have been a\nChristian. Both identifications are probably mistaken; and the Clement\nnow before us was no doubt resident at Philippi, and belonged to a\nsomewhat earlier generation than his Roman namesake. The Roman world was\nfull of Clements, and there is nothing surprising in meeting several\nChristians who bore the name.\n\nWith the \"yokefellow\" and with Clement, the Apostle recalls other\n\"labourers\" who belonged to the fellowship of those gospel days at\nPhilippi. We are not to think that they were all gifted as teachers or\npreachers; but they were zealous Christians who helped as they could to\ngather and to confirm the Church. Paul will not give their names; but it\nmust not be thought that the names have ceased to be dear and honourable\nto him. \"They shall not be in my letter,\" he says, \"but they are written\nin even a better place, in the book of life. They are precious, not to\nme only, but to my Master.\" Here, again, if any one had asked Paul how\nhe ventured to speak with so much assurance of the condition of persons\nwhose course was not yet ended, he would no doubt have replied, as in\nch. i. 7: \"It is meet for me to think thus of them, because I have them\nin my heart: because both in my bonds, and in the defence and\nconfirmation of the gospel, they all are partakers with me of grace.\"\n\nThese personal references indicate that the main burden of the Apostle's\nthought in the Epistle has been disposed of, and that it is drawing to a\nclose. Yet he finds it natural to add some closing admonitions. They are\nbrief and pithy; they do not seem to labour with the weight of thought\nand feeling which pours through the preceding chapter. Yet they are not\nquite fragmentary. A definite conception of the case to be provided for\nunderlies them, and also a definite conception of the way in which its\nnecessities are to be met.\n\nHe had been pouring out his soul on the subject of the true Christian\nlife--the deep sources from which it springs, the great channels in\nwhich it runs, the magnificent conditions of Christ's kingdom under\nwhich it becomes possible and is accomplished. But yet, another order\nof things crosses all this. It is the incessant detail of human life on\nearth, with its pettiness and superficiality, and yet with its\ninevitable hold upon us all. How much we are at the mercy of it! How\nhard to keep quite true to the grand music of the gospel we believe,\namid the multifarious patter of the incidents of life, playing on the\nsurface only, but on the sensitive surface of our being. The case of\nEuodia and Syntyche was itself but an illustration, of the commonest\nkind, of the liability of believing lives to be swayed and marred in\nthis way. For all these little things claim attention; they assume a\nmagnitude that does not belong to them, and they take a place to which\nthey have no right. Can anything be said to help us to some prevailing\nmood, in which we shall be likely to take the right attitude towards\nthese elements of life, and, at the same time, to keep due touch with\nthe springs of our spiritual welfare?\n\nThe Apostle reverts to the significant \"good-bye\" which was heard at the\nbeginning of the third chapter. \"Rejoice,\" \"Be of good cheer,\" was the\nusual farewell salute. He had begun to use it, in the third chapter,\nwith an emphasis on the native signification of the word. Now he resumes\nit more emphatically still, for here he finds the keynote which he\nwants: \"Rejoice in the Lord alway; again I will say it, Rejoice.\"\n\nIf joy be possible, it would seem to need no great persuasion to induce\nmen to embrace it. But, as a matter of fact, Christians fail greatly\nhere. In the Old Testament there are abundant exhortations to Israel to\nrejoice in the Lord: the Lord being Jehovah, without further distinction\nor limitation; and the ground of rejoicing being His revealed character,\nespecially His mercy and His truth, and the fact that He is Israel's\nGod. Here the Lord is our Lord Jesus, in whom the Father is both known\nand found. Now, to rejoice in Him is, and should be recognised as being,\nfor believers, the most direct inference from their faith. For if this\nLord be what the believer holds Him to be, then there is more in Christ\nto make him glad, than there can be in anything whatever to make him\nsorry. This applies even to remembered sin; for where sin abounded,\ngrace doth much more abound. If indeed the joy be really in the Lord, it\nwill be found to agree well with humility and penitence, as well as with\ndiligence and patience; for all these things, and whatever should\naccompany them, come naturally from faith in Christ. But not the less,\njoy should have its place and its exercise.\n\nIf one will think of it, it will be plain that rejoicing in the Lord\njust denotes this, viz., that the influence of the objects of faith has\nfree play through the soul. It is well that faith should bring our\nintellective powers under its influence--that we should be brought to a\nvivid sense of the reality of Christ, and that our minds should work in\nreference to Him as they do in reference to things which are felt to be\nreal, and which claim to be understood. That is well, even if as yet\nsome malign force seems to impede cordial appreciation and personal\nfellowship. It is well, again, if Christ is felt drawing out personal\ntrust, and with that, genuine affection, so that the heart beats with\ndesire and admiration, even though for the present that can only be\nunder the burden of a perplexed and sorrowful mind. But when the\nconviction makes way through all the soul, first that Christ is most\nreal, and second that Christ is most good and desirable, and thirdly\nthat Christ is for me, and when the soul surrenders thoroughly to it\nall, then gladness is the token that faith is playing freely through the\nhuman soul, throughout all its provinces. It is the flag hoisted to\nsignify that Christ is believed and loved indeed. On the other hand,\nwrong is done to the Lord, and an evil report is brought up upon Him,\nwhen those who profess to believe in Him, fail to rejoice in Him.\n\nYou well may rejoice in the Lord; you ought surely to do it. You ought\nto give yourselves time to think and feel so as to rejoice; you should\nbe ashamed to fail to rejoice. You do not apprehend aright your position\nas a believer, you do not take the attitude that befits you, if the Lord\nbelieved in, though perhaps He makes you diligent, and patient, and\npenitent, and thankful, does not also make you heartily glad. Let the\nelements of this gladness come warm home to your heart, and do their\nwork. Then you will realise, as, short of this, you never can, how the\nbeliever rises above the things that threaten to entangle him, and can\ndo all things through Christ that strengtheneth him.\n\nAnd, in particular, how influential this is to preserve men from being\nunduly moved and swayed by the passing things of time! These sway us by\njoy and grief, by hope and fear; and what an inordinate measure of those\naffections they do beget in us! But let the great joy of the Lord have\nits place, and then those lesser claimants will have to content\nthemselves with smaller room. A great grief shuts out lesser griefs.\nWhen a woman has lost her son, will she grieve greatly for the loss of\nher purse? So a great joy keeps down the excess of lesser joys. A man\nthat has just won the heart and hand of the woman he loves, will not be\ngreatly concerned about winning or losing at some game. He will be about\nequally glad either way. So he whose heart thrills with the joy of\nChrist will feel the pleasure and the pain of earthly things; but they\nwill not master him, nor run away with him.\n\nAccording to the Apostle, a believer in the way of his duty, if he\ncherishes this joy, may ordinarily have a great deal of it. And, as it\nwere, he urges us: \"Now do not be moved away from it. Do not be so\nfoolish. Various things will come, all sorts of things, claiming to\npreoccupy your mind, so that for the present this joy shall fall into\nthe background. They claim it--and far too often they are allowed to\nsucceed. Do not let them. 'Rejoice in the Lord _alway_; again I will\nsay, Rejoice.'\"\n\nAlways: for many believers rejoice in the Lord sometimes; for example,\nin hours of undisturbed meditation. But when they go out into the stir\nof life, to meet experiences which either greatly gratify or greatly\ngrieve them, then it seems fit that the new passion should have its\nturn, and the heart insists on this indulgence. So also when some great\nhope absorbs the mind, or some great anxiety weighs upon it, the soul\nseems fascinated with the coming good or ill, and hangs upon the\nprospect as if nothing else for the present could be minded. Now the\nApostle does not say that insensibility is the duty of Christians in\nthese circumstances. Indeed it is because these experiences do interest\nand impress, that they become an effective instrument of Divine\ntraining. But Christ is fit to be rejoiced in, right through all\nvicissitudes; and common experiences, duly dealt with, ought to throw\ninto relief the reasons why He must still be cause of gladness, whatever\nmay be felt about other things. This maintained joy of the Lord--a\nrejoicing faith, a rejoicing love, a rejoicing obedience--this is the\ntemper in virtue of which all else of life will fall into its due place,\nand will assume its just proportion. \"Though the fig tree shall not\nblossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive\nshall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut\noff from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will\nrejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation\" (Hab. iii.\n17, 18).\n\nSo then, \"Let your moderation (or forbearance) be known to all men.\"\nThe word here used expresses a state of mind opposed to the eagerness\nthat overrates the worth of our personal objects, and to the arrogance\nthat insists on our own will about them. Some would render it\n\"considerateness.\" It is a temper which dictates a gentle and forbearing\nway of dealing with men. This is the appropriate evidence that the\nimpetuosity of the heart about earthly things has been assuaged by the\nunseen presence and the influence of Christ. Christ seen, felt, and\nrejoiced in, is the secret of this moderation. A great vision of faith,\nand that not a vision which is dreaded, but a vision which is loved,\nbrings the movement of the soul into a happy order. Now, not only so:\nnot only does the love of Christ, unseen and absent, work in this way;\nbut Christ is coming and is near. The hopes connected with Him are soon\nto be realised, the gladness of fellowship with Him is soon to be\ncomplete. The Lord is at hand. \"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the\ncoming of the Lord. Stablish your hearts. The coming of the Lord draweth\nnigh\" (James v. 7).\n\nFor believers, as we have already seen, the coming of the Lord is,\naccording to the New Testament, the great hope. Then the joy in the Lord\nis to be complete and crowned. Those who apprehend that glad day as near\nare not supposed to be capable of yielding up their hearts to the\nuncontrolled sway of mere earthly interests.\n\nHere, however, a question arises. Paul speaks of the day as near, and\ncalls on his disciples to live under the influence of that belief. He\ndoes not merely say that it _may_ be near, but that it is. Yet we now\nknow that the day was then more than eighteen hundred years away. In the\nlight of this fact, one asks what we are to make of the statement before\nus, and what we are to make of the view of Christian life which the\nstatement implies.\n\nOur Lord expressly withheld from His disciples all definite statement of\ntimes and seasons in this connection. Yet the Early Church with one\nconsent expected the Lord to come within comparatively few years (what\nare commonly called few), and language shaped itself in accordance with\nthat impression. We have here, however, more than a mere mode of\nphrasing. The nearness of Christ is emphasised as the ground on which\nChristian experience ought to build. Was not this a mistake?\n\nBut one may ask in reply, Was it after all untrue that Christ's coming\nwas near then, or that it is near now? Even if anticipations in our own\nday which bring it within a generation are to fail again, as they have\nalways done before, shall we think that the Lord is not near?\n\nThere is a nearness which pertains to all future events which are at\nonce very great and important, and also are absolutely certain. Being so\ngreat, involving interests so great, and being contemplated in their\ninevitable certainty, such events can loom large upon the eye, and they\ncan make their influence felt in the present, whatever tale of days may\ninterpose before they actually arrive. If, for instance, one were told\nof a friend, whom he supposed he might meet at any time, \"You shall\ncertainly see him six months hence,\" the reply might be, \"Six months!\nThat is a long time to wait.\" But if he were told with infallible\nauthority, \"Six months hence you shall die,\" would he then say, \"It is a\nlong time\"? Would he not feel that it was near? Would not an event so\nmomentous as death, so inclusive of all interests and all issues, prove\nable to stretch, as it were, across six months, and to come into each\nday, as part of that day's concern? So of the coming of Christ. It is\nthe great event for the individual, the Church, the world. All issues\nrun up to it; all developments are broken off by it; all earthly\nhistories await its decision. To it all earthly movement tends; from it\nall that lies beyond is dated. It is the great gate of the world to\ncome. Let us think what it means: and suppose we could be assured that\nit is still ten thousand years away, shall we say, \"How far off it is\"?\nNot if we believe in its certainty, and realise what it means. If we do\nso, our hearts will stir and thrill as we hearken how the surges of the\neternal world are beating on the thin barrier of ten thousand years.\nCome when it may, it comes hasting to us, pressing before it all that\nlies between, big with the decisions and the fulfilments of Eternity. If\nwe truly believe and rightly estimate it, we shall feel that it is\nnear--even at the door. We shall be aware whenever we look forward that\nbeyond all possible events of earthly history it rises high, catching\nand holding our gaze, and hurrying toward our individual selves not one\nwhit the less because it aims at others too.\n\nWe are apt to ask why the words of warning and encouragement in\nreference to the future are not connected with the prospect of death,\nrather than with that of the Lord's return; for death certainly is the\ntopic generally selected for such purposes by moralists and preachers of\nmore recent days. The answer may partly be, that the possibility and\nlikelihood of the Lord's return, even in the lifetime of themselves and\ntheir contemporaries, might render it more natural for the Apostles to\nfix all but exclusively on that. Yet this will not suffice. For nobody\ncould overlook the fact that some believers were dying, and that death\nbefore the Lord's return might well be the portion of more. Besides, in\nparticular circumstances, death does come into view in a perfectly easy\nand natural way, as at ch. i. 23; and the bearing of it on what lies\nnearer is considered. The true answer is that death is _not_ the great\nexpectation of the believer--not death, but victory over death,\nconsummated and conclusively manifested when the Lord comes. This\nexpectation certainly is associated with the solemn prospect of\njudgment; but not so as to quench the gladness of the hope for those who\nlove the Lord and have trusted in Him. This is our expectation--\"the\nLord Jesus Christ, who is our hope\" (1 Tim. i. 1). Death is a great\nevent; but it is negative, privative, and, after all, provisional.\nTrue, it seals us up for the coming of the Lord, and so, in many\nrespects, it may be, for many purposes, practically identified with that\ncoming. The sermons which are preached upon it, commonly from Old\nTestament texts, are, no doubt, well grounded and edifying. But the New\nTestament, speaking to believers, all but constantly passes on to the\nday of the Lord as the true focus of the future; and it will be well for\nus to conform our thinking and our feeling to this model. No one can\nestimate, who has not made it a matter of personal study, how large and\nhow influential a place this topic takes in New Testament teaching.\n\nMeanwhile, no doubt, the vicissitudes and the possibilities of earthly\nlife press upon us. Now the Apostle provides a special additional relief\nfor that. We are not merely prepossessed with a joy that should fortify\nus against undue disturbance from this source, but we have access in all\nthings to the mind and heart of our Father. We can bring our thoughts\nand wishes about them all into contact with the deep, true thoughts and\nwith the fatherly love of God. The incidents and the possibilities of\nlife exercise us: they tend to become anxieties, keen and wearing; and\nanxieties are the materials of disturbance and temptation. \"Be anxious\nabout nothing; but in all things by prayer and supplication, with\nthankfulness, let your requests be made known unto God.\"\n\nThis is the practical way of getting continually to those springs of joy\nwhich comfort and establish the heart. The way to be anxious about\nnothing is to be prayerful about everything.\n\nIt is promised that when we pray in faith God hears us, and that he that\nasketh receiveth. However, this does not mean that whatever appears to\nus desirable shall certainly be brought to pass in answer to prayer.\nThat would be to sacrifice our own welfare, and also the order of God's\nworld, to our shortsightedness and vanity. There is great reason to\nbelieve indeed that those who live by prayer find many a desire granted,\nand many a burden lifted, in token of God's loving interest in them, and\nthe heed He gives to their prayers. But we are not to start from a\ngeneral principle that we are to get all our own way by praying. Two\nthings we may fix upon. First, the absolute promises of the gospel, the\nblessings which pertain to eternal life, are given to us through prayer.\n\"This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.\" Secondly, concerning all\nother things, we have access to God in prayer, as to One who grudges us\nno good thing; we are to express our anxieties and our desires, and to\nreceive the assurance that they are lovingly considered by One who knows\nour frame and understands our troubles. Often the answer comes, even in\nsmall things. But, generally, we may in this point have an absolute\nassurance that we shall either have what we ask, or else something which\nGod sees to be better for us than that.\n\nIt is this second article of the doctrine of prayer that is chiefly in\nview here. The prayer of faith must be a prayer of thanksgiving, because\nfaith knows how much it owes to God. \"Thou hast not dealt with us after\nour sins.\" At the same time it has supplications and requests, over and\nabove the great petition for life eternal. For our daily human\nexperience is God's providence to us. It exercises our thoughts and\nfeelings, and sets agoing contemplations and desires, which may be\nshortsighted and erring, but, so far, they are the best that we can make\nof it; or, if not the best, they have the more need to be corrected.\nHere, then, we are encouraged to pour out our hearts to God. We are to\ndo it with submission: that is one of the best parts of the privilege,\nfor our Father knows best. At the same time, we are to do it with\nsupplication; we not only may, but we should. Our desires should all be\nmade known in this quarter; nowhere will they have a kindlier hearing.\nSo, last of all, we come, not only touching eternal life, but touching\neach day's concerns, into a blessed agreement with God our Father\nthrough Christ. It is agreed, that He takes loving charge of our\nanxieties and desires, as One who would withhold no good from us; and it\nis agreed, that we put unreserved confidence in Him,--in which\nconfidence we say, \"Abba, Father; not our will, but Thine be done.\"\n\nThe confidence we have that all this is most real and solid, and not\nmerely a deceptive piece of religious acting, comes to us in the channel\nof the faith and experience which have been fulfilled in God's children\nfrom the first; but it is most emphatically confirmed and made sure to\nus by Christ. He has taught us to pray. His is the religion in which men\npray. Under His influence we come away from ceremonial utterances, and\nalso from the despairing experiments of supplication with which, in\nother religions, men assail the heavens; and, hand in hand with that\nloving Mediator, we pray. Prayer, when it is real, when it is \"in the\nHoly Spirit,\" is a wonderfully simple and a wonderfully great thing.\n\nSo it comes to pass that the peace of God which passeth all\nunderstanding is found. For this great and deep agreement with God in\nChrist, about all things great and small, is the very entrance into the\npeace of God Himself, and is the participation of it. In this, as in\nother aspects, things are daily realised in the history of believers,\nthat pass all understanding, because God in Christ is in the matter. The\ninfinite and eternal life is wedding itself to us and our affairs. It\nmay be understood, finally, that this peace, arising to Christians at\nthe throne of grace, guards their minds and hearts. It guards them\nagainst being overcharged, outworn, surprised; it guards them against\nbeing carried captive by earthly care. Yet this peace does not disable\nthem for earthly business. Rather, because their main interests are so\nsecure, it gives them calmness and clearness; it supplies them a moral\nvantage ground from which to dispose of all earthly affairs.\n\n\n\n\n_THE THINGS TO FIX UPON._\n\n     \"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things\n     are honourable [venerable], whatsoever things are just, whatsoever\n     things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things\n     are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any\n     praise, think on these things. The things which ye both learned and\n     received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of\n     peace shall be with you.\"--PHIL. iv. 8, 9 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n_THE THINGS TO FIX UPON._\n\n\nThe topics last considered bring us naturally to the remarkable\nexhortation of vv. 8 and 9. This proceeds on the same view of the moral\nand spiritual situation, and completes what the Apostle has to say in\nreference to it.\n\nIf men are to live as citizens of a heavenly commonwealth, on great\nprinciples and to great ends, it is, as we have seen, a very practical\nquestion, What to do about the inevitable play and onset of this\nchanging earthly life, which assails us with motives, and detains us\nupon interests, and inspires us with influences, of its own. These\ncannot be abjured: they are not easy to harmonise with the indications\nof that loftier and purer world; they are prone to usurp the whole\nheart, or at least a very undue share of it. This is the practical\nproblem of every honest Christian. In reference to the solving of it the\nApostle had suggested the place given to Christian joy; he had suggested\nalso the place and power of prayer. These were indications as to the\nspirit and the method in which a believer might bring into play the\nresources of the Kingdom of Christ to control and subjugate those\ninsubordinate forces. But might not all this seem to be too negative?\nDoes it not speak too much of holding off and holding in? After all, do\nnot all human experiences constitute the scene in which we are both\nformed and tried? What can we make of life unless we are interested in\nit? How otherwise can we even be religious in it? What _is_ life, if it\nis not a scene of inquiry and of search set in motion by the objects\naround us, a scene in which we like and dislike, hope and fear, desire\nand think? The answer is, Yes, we are to be keenly interested in the\nexperiences of life, and in the possibilities it opens. Life is our way\nof existing; let existence be animated and intense. But while the\naspects of it that are merely transient are to have their place, and may\nattract a lively interest, there are other aspects, other interests,\nother possibilities. All the transient interests have an outgate towards\nsuch as are eternal. Life is the experience of beings that have high\ncapacities, and can rise to noble destinies. It is the experience of\nsocieties of such beings, who mould one another, exchanging influences\ncontinually. The changing experience of human life, when seen in the\ntrue light, is found to add to all its lower interests a play of\ninterests that are more interesting as well as more worthy. It is\niridescent with lights which it catches from the infinite and the\neternal. Every step of it, every turn of it, asks questions, offers\nopportunities, calls for decisions, holds out treasures, which it is\nthe business of a lifetime to recognise and to secure. It has gains, it\nhas victories, it has accomplishments, it has glories, which need not\nlead us to deny its lower interests, but which we may reasonably feel to\nbe far the higher. Endless shades, and forms, and types of goodness, of\nbeing good, getting good, doing good, gleam reflected to us from the\nchanging experience. Goodness is not one monotonous category embodied in\nsome solemn phrase, and exhausted when that is learned. There is no end\nto the rich variety in which it is offered, and in which it is to be\ncaught, understood, appropriated. And life, through all the manifoldness\nof its legitimate interests, and its illegitimate possibilities, is the\nscene in which all this passes before us, and asks to be made ours. The\nApostle says to us, Think on these things. Take account, that is, of\nwhat they are, and what their worth is. Lay forth on these the care and\npains, which spent themselves before on mere pain and pleasure, loss and\ngain. Reckon what these are, search out their nature, prove their\ncapabilities, appropriate and enjoy them. _Think_ on these things. So\nearthly life, through all its busy processes, shall acquire a nobler\ninterest; and it shall begin, at the same time, to minister with\nunexpected readiness to your true welfare. Enter then, or press on, in\nthis wide field. Be this your passion and pursuit; that which unifies\nyour life, and draws all its resources towards one result.\n\nWe may be helped to fix more firmly the point of view from which this\nstriking catalogue of good things is drawn up, if we observe that the\nApostle collects all these excellences under the notion of \"a virtue and\na praise.\" Let us consider how men are trained to progressive\nconceptions of virtue and praise. For virtue and praise, both name and\nnotion, have had a large place in men's minds and a great influence on\ntheir actions. How has this influence been sustained and made to grow?\n\nMen are conscious of obligations; and they are aware, more dimly or more\nclearly, that the standard of those obligations must exist somehow above\nthemselves. It is a standard not of their own creation, but such as\nclaims them by an antecedent right. Yet if each individual could hold\nhimself apart, forming his own conceptions of fit and right for himself\nwithout regard to others, the standard would tend downwards rapidly,\nbecause moral judgment would be warped by each man's selfishness and\npassion, excusing evil in his own case and putting it for good. Even as\nit is, this has taken place only too widely. But yet the tendency is\npowerfully counteracted by the fact that men do not exist, nor form\ntheir notions, in that separate way. A principle within them prompts\nthem to seek one another's approbation, and to value one another's good\nopinion. Indeed the consciousness that what is law for me is law for\nothers, and that they are judging as well as I, is one of the forms in\nwhich we realise that duty descends upon us all, from some august and\nholy source.\n\nThis principle of regarding the judgment and seeking the approbation of\nothers, has had an enormous effect on men and on society. For though men\nare skilful enough, in their own case, in averting or silencing the\nadmonition of the monitor within, they have little reluctance to make\nfull use of their sense of right in scrutinising one another. They\njudge, in their thoughts about each other, with far more clearness,\nshrewdness, and certainty than they do about themselves. Men do in this\nway make requirements of one another, which each of them might be slow\nto make from himself. This is a great operative force in all cases; and\nin those cases in which, in any society, vivid convictions about truth\nand duty have taken possession of some minds, the principle we are\nspeaking of propagates an influence through the whole mass, with effects\nthat are very striking.\n\nThis mutual criticism of men \"accusing or else excusing one another,\"\nhas had a great effect in sustaining what we call common morals. But\nespecially let it be observed that this criticism, and the consciousness\nof it, stimulating the higher class of minds, sustains and develops the\nfiner perceptions of morality. There are minds that eminently strive for\ndistinction in things that are counted for a virtue and a praise. And\nthrough them is developed in the general mind the approving perception\nof more delicate shades of worthy conduct, which in a coarser age were\nunperceived or unheeded. These come up in men's mutual judgments; they\nare scrutinised; they interest the mind and take hold of it. So, whether\nin the case of those who begin to pay respect to such forms of good\nbecause they perceive that others approve of them, or in the case of\nthose who, when those forms of good are thus presented, perceive a worth\nin them and take a pride in living up to them for their own sake,--in\nboth cases, the creating and sustaining of the higher standard depends\non the principle we have now before us.\n\nThus there arises, for example, the code of honour, the fine perception\nof what is socially right, becoming, and graceful. Men, no doubt, are\nalways to be found who cultivate the nicest sense of this, not from a\nmere desire that others should know it, but because they see it to be\ndesirable in itself, and because they shun the sense of inward disgrace\nthat follows when they fall below their own standard. Yet it is the\nprocess of mutual criticism which develops the consciousness, and it is\nthis which, on the whole, sustains it.\n\nThus we find in the world not merely a sense of duty, but something that\nhas spurred men on to things counted for a virtue and a praise. Outside\nof all Christian influences, wonderful examples are found of\nself-sacrificing devotion to the noble and the true. Men have eagerly\npursued the nicest discriminations of duty and honour, that they might\nbe, and might show themselves to be, accomplished, finished, not merely\nin some things, but in whatever things were counted to be the proper\ntokens of a noble mind.\n\nWell now, the Apostle is not shutting out from his plan of mental life\nthe attainments made in this way in the true or the good, even apart\nfrom Christian teaching. Far less is he excluding the human social\nmethod, in which mind whets mind, and one stirs another to discern and\nappropriate what is for a virtue and for a praise. He supposes this mode\nof influence to go on in Christianity more successfully than ever. And\nhe is not at all excluding the natural life of men; for that is the\nscene, and that yields the materials, for the whole process. But he does\nsuppose that now all old attainment shall be set in a new light, and\nacquire a new life and grace, and that new attainment shall come\nwonderfully into view by reason of the new element which for us has\nentered into the situation. And what is this element? Is it that we\nrecognise around us a society of Christians with whom we share a higher\nstandard, and with whom we can give and take the contagion of a nobler\nconception of life? Yes, no doubt; but far before that, the great new\nelement in the situation is the Lord--in whom we trust and rejoice.\n\nIt is always human duty to have regard to the will of God, however it\nmay reach us. But when you are called to know the Lord and to rejoice in\nHim, when He vouchsafes Himself to be yours, when you begin to enjoy His\npeace, and to walk with Him in love, and to have it for your hope to be\nwith Him for ever, then you are placed in a new relation to Him. And it\nis such a near and dear relation on both sides that much may be\nexpected from you in it. If this be so, you are now dealing with Him\n_always_; not merely in direct acts of worship, but in your thoughts,\nyour feelings, your words, your business, your common intercourse with\nmen, and all your daily life, you walk with Him. You cannot repudiate\nhaving so much to do with Him, unless you will repudiate your\nChristianity. Then, if so, something new is expected. A new test of the\nbecoming, of that which is for a virtue and for a praise, has come into\noperation, and has become intelligible to you; and it is a test of new\ndelicacy and new force. It is expected we should recognise it. Not now\nthe mutual judgments merely of erring men, but His mind and His will,\nwhat He delights in and approves,--this begins to solicit us and press\nupon us, for we walk with Christ. That this \"walk\" of ours may escape\nbeing mean, coarse, offensive, we have great lessons to learn. We have\nto learn what, in His judgment, as seen by His eye, as tried by the\nsensibilities of His heart, are the things that are true and venerable\nand just, what with Him counts for a virtue and a praise.\n\nAnd here, indeed, is our crown. The crown of honour which man cast away\nwhen sin gained him, was the approbation of the Lord. But now we are set\non afresh to seek it, testing our ways by the perception of that which\nHe approves; or, on the other hand, what He counts to be mean and\ndegrading, fit to be recoiled from and rejected. It is our calling\n(whatever our attainment may be) to be more sensitive to the nicest\ntouches of truth and honour towards our Lord than ever we were towards\nmen. And this does not apply only to some narrow field of life. It goes\nthrough all relations, up to God and Christ, and out through all duties\nand ties. The great calling reaches wide and far; it is very high and\nnoble: we cannot pretend to disclaim it, unless we disclaim the Lord.\nThis way lies God's crown. Win it; wear it; let no man take thy crown.\n\nWhen our Lord's mind and heart are said to be the test, this does not\nexclude our profiting by our fellows, accepting the admonition contained\nin human judgments, and especially in those of Christian people. Great\ngood comes to us in such channels. Only now the judgment of our fellows\nis to refer itself always to a further standard; and a new Presence\nbrings new tenderness and grace, new depth and significance, to every\nsuggestion of right feeling and worthy life. This is the light and this\nthe influence under which we are to learn what shall be counted for a\nvirtue and for a praise. And we must bend our mind to _think upon it_,\nif we are to learn our lesson.\n\nWe must think upon it. For, on the one hand, it is not \"some things,\"\nbut \"whatsoever things.\" What should we say of a man who proposed in his\ndealings with others to do \"some things\" that are honourable, but not\nall things, not \"whatsoever things\"? And, on the other hand, we may be\nfurther off from even a small measure of attainment in this field than\nwe are disposed to think. Christians who, as to all social excellence,\nas that is commonly understood between man and man, are unexceptionable,\nmay be sadly blind to the requirements of an honourable walk with God;\nmay be sadly wanting even in the conception of what is due in all love\nand honour to Christ, and to men for His sake. Men may be the soul of\nhonour and delicacy in their ways, judged from the world's point of\nview; yet not far from a savage coarseness in the manner of their life\njudged by Christ's standard. We would not needlessly wound another's\nfeelings; but with what indifference have we \"grieved the Spirit.\" We\nwould shrink from saying anything to our fellows that is deceitful and\nhypocritical: can we say as much for our prayers? In our common life we\nmaintain truth in the ordinary sense between men; but do we loyally\nexpress and act out the truth by which God's children live in our speech\nand action among men? Is there that fine congruity of our bearing to the\ntruth we live by, which becomes a child of God?\n\nWe are greatly hindered here by the assumption we make, that when we\nhave mastered the form of knowledge concerning the will of God, we then\nknow all about our calling. It is a great delusion. We must not only sit\ndown at the feet of Christ to learn from Him; but also, with a watchful\neye on the phases of life, catching the lessons which things and men\nafford, we must be trained to know and sharpened to loving discernment\nas to our Master's mind, and so, as to what is honourable and\nright-minded, refined and noble, in a walk with God. We do not easily\nemerge from the meanness of our spirits; we do not easily shake off that\ninsensibility to what is spiritually fair and fit, on which the angels\nlook down with pity and wonder.\n\nTherefore, says the Apostle, _think_ on these things, the things which\nin the Lord's kingdom and under the Lord's eye are well-pleasing, and\ncount for a virtue and a praise; think on those things which are related\nto His esteem, and to the esteem of persons who learn of Him, as various\nexcellences are to the common judgment of the world. Do so, for here you\nare close to the genuinely and supremely true and good; and this, as was\nsaid before, is your crown.\n\nThe Apostle is thinking of a perception of duty and privilege attained\nnot merely by studying a catalogue of virtues, but by a far finer and\nmore living process--by life that is instinct with observant\nwatchfulness, that is frank in self-criticism, that is recipient of the\nlight flashing from the experience and the censure of others: all this\nunder constant regard to the Lord, and leading us into fuller sympathy\nwith Him.\n\nThat this is so, appears from the Apostle's way of arranging the\nparticulars of his exhortation. He does not merely desire his disciples\nto discern what is right in general: but he would have them grow into a\nvital knowledge, so as to feel the right in those matters where the\nshading becomes delicate; where it may be difficult to distinguish\nargumentatively an absolute right and wrong, but where a mind purged and\ntrained in the Master's school can well discern a difference.\n\"Whatsoever things are true\"--which includes not only veracity and\nfidelity, but also whatever in conduct and temper God's truth requires\nas agreeable to itself; and then \"Whatsoever things are venerable\"--the\ncharacter that emerges when all that is congruous to truth, in its\nfinest filaments and ramifications, has been developed, and has assumed\nits own place. \"Whatsoever things are just\"--rightfully due on all hands\nto God and to man; and then \"Whatsoever things are pure\"--the character\nthat recoils from all that sullies, from the smallest shade or infection\nof iniquity. \"Whatsoever things are lovely\"--the dear or amiable,\nwhatever draws out love, cherishes it, befits it; and then \"Whatsoever\nthings are of good report\"--actions that can hardly be more\ndiscriminatingly classified than by saying that the heart is pleased to\nhear of them; it confesses that they are of a good name, of a welcome\nsound; they are like some delicate sound or odour on which you dwell\nwith delight, but cannot definitely describe it. In a word, \"If there be\nany virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.\" Study\nthem, look out for them, learn to recognise them, to know their worth,\nto pursue them lovingly through all their manifestations.\n\nThus, let it be said once more, the Apostle is not open to the objection\nthat he calls us to a mere retreat from energetic life. To such a call\nmen have always replied, that they find in themselves capacities\nwonderfully adapted to grapple with life, and to do so with interest and\nwith energy. Virtually the Apostle says, Yes, true; and life has aspects\nto interest the mind, and results to engage the will, which are its\nnoble and its imperative possibilities: for the followers of Christ\nthese become dominant; they afford noble scope for all human faculty;\nand all forms of life are dignified as they become subservient to these\nsupreme interests and aims. _Now_, lay forth the care and pains that\nfastened before on mere joy and sorrow, hope and fear, on a certain\n_thinking_ and making _account_ of the true, the venerable, the just,\nthe pure, the lovely, that which is of good report. Reckon what they\nare; search out their nature; make them your serious object. \"O man of\nGod, flee those things; but follow after righteousness, godliness,\nfaith, love, patience, meekness.\"\n\nBut progress is not to be made in this line by mere subtle refining and\ncontemplation. If there was any danger that the Apostle's call to\n\"think\" might be interpreted that way, presently it is corrected. The\nthinking is to be practical thinking, bending itself to action. \"What\nthings ye have received and learned\"--those practical points in which\nthe Apostle always taught his Gentile converts to put to proof the grace\nof Christ; and \"What ye have heard and seen in me\"--in a man poor,\ntried, persecuted, a man whose life was rough and real, who knew\nweakness and sorrow, who bore heavy burdens, that were not proudly\nparaded, but which brought him lowly and weary to Christ's feet,--these\nthings _do_. That is the road to the attainments on which I bid you\n_think_.\n\n\"And the God of peace shall be with you.\" In those ways (for they are\nHis own ways) God walks with men; and peace with God, spreading out into\npeace with men, becomes the atmosphere in which such wayfarers move.\n\n\n\n\n_GIFTS AND SACRIFICES._\n\n     \"But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length ye have\n     revived your thought for me; wherein ye did indeed take thought,\n     but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want: for\n     I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. I\n     know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything\n     and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and\n     to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things\n     in Him that strengtheneth me. Howbeit ye did well, that ye had\n     fellowship with my affliction. And ye yourselves also know, ye\n     Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed\n     from Macedonia, no Church had fellowship with me in the matter of\n     giving and receiving, but ye only; for even in Thessalonica ye sent\n     once and again unto my need. Not that I seek for the gift; but I\n     seek for the fruit that increaseth to your account. But I have all\n     things, and abound: I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus\n     the things that came from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a\n     sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. And my God shall fulfil\n     every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ\n     Jesus. Now unto our God and Father be the glory for ever and ever.\n     Amen.\n\n     \"Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me\n     salute you. All the saints salute you, especially they that are of\n     C\u00e6sar's household.\n\n     \"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.\"--PHIL.\n     iv, 10-23 (R.V.).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n_GIFTS AND SACRIFICES._\n\n\nThe Apostle had urged joy in the Lord, and a moderation visible to all\nmen. If any one supposes that in doing so he recommended a stoical\ntemper, insensible to the impressions of passing things, the passage\nwhich now comes before us will correct that error. It shows us how the\nApostle could \"rejoice in the Lord,\" and yet reap great satisfaction\nfrom providential incidents. \"I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now\nat last you have revived your thought for me,\" or, as in the older\nversion, \"that your care for me has flourished again.\"\n\nWorldly eagerness, and worldly care and anxiety about persons and\nthings, are rebuked by the spirit of rejoicing in the Lord. But the\npersons and the things about us all have a connection with the Lord, if\nwe have eyes to see it, and hearts to mark it; and that is _the chief\nthing about them_. They are in the Lord's world, the Lord calls us to\nhave to do with them: as for the persons, they are, some of them, the\nLord's servants, and all of them the Lord calls us to love and to\nbenefit; as for the things, the Lord appoints our lot among them, and\nthey are full of a meaning which He puts into them. So regard to the\nLord and a spirit of rejoicing in Him may pervade our earthly life. The\nworldly eagerness and worldly care must be controlled. There is no\navoiding that conflict. But now--shall we in faith give ourselves to\nlearn the true rejoicing in the Lord? If not, our Christianity must be\nat best low and comfortless. But if we do, we shall be rewarded by a\ngrowing liberty. The more that joy possesses us, the more will it give\noccasion to the finest and freest play of feeling in reference to\npassing things; and some of these which, on other accounts, might seem\ninsignificant, will begin to yield us an abounding consolation.\n\nThese Philippians, who had given early proof of attachment to the\ngospel, had lately, for some reason or other, been unable, \"lacked\nopportunity,\" to minister to the wants of Paul. Now the winter, whatever\nit was, that hindered the expression of their goodwill was gone, and\ntheir care of Paul flourished again. Did the Apostle think it needful to\nfreeze up the feelings of satisfaction which this incident awakened? No:\nbut in his case those feelings, having spiritual elevation, became so\nmuch the more deep and glad. He rejoiced greatly in this; and still, he\nwas rejoicing in the Lord. Let us mark how this comes out both when we\nconsider what was _not_ the spring of his gladness, and what it was.\n\n\"Not that I speak in respect of want.\" It was not the change from want\nto comparative plenty that explained the nature of his feelings. Yet he\nevidently implies that he _had_ been in want, strange as that may seem\nin a city where there was a Christian congregation. But though the\nremoval of that pressure would no doubt be thankfully taken, yet for a\nman whose gladness was in the Lord no mere change of that kind would\nlead to \"rejoicing greatly.\" \"I speak not in respect of want: I have\nlearned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know how\nto be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all\nthings have I learned the secret (have been initiated) both to be filled\nand to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things\nthrough Him that strengtheneth me.\"\n\n\"Therewith to be content.\" Paul had learned to be so minded that, in\ntrying circumstances, he did not anxiously cast about for help, but was\nsufficed: his desires were brought down to the facts of his condition.\nIn that state he counted himself to have enough. He knew how to suit\nhimself to abasement, that common experience of the indigent and\nfriendless; and he knew how to suit himself to abundance, when that was\nsent: each as a familiar state in which he made himself at home--not\novergrieved or overjoyed, not greatly elevated or greatly depressed. \"I\nhave been instructed,\" or initiated (the word used by the heathen of\nintroduction to the mysteries), \"not only into the experience of those\nconditions, but into the way of taking kindly with them both.\" Mark how\nhis words follow one another: \"I have learned\"--been put through a\ncourse of teaching and have had a teacher; \"I know\"--it has become\nfamiliar to me, I understand it; \"I am initiated\"--if there is a secret\nin it, something hidden from the natural man, I have been led into that,\nout and in, through and through.\n\nIf we would know by what discipline the Lord trained Paul to this mind,\nwe may listen to what Paul himself says of it (1 Cor. iv. 9-13): \"I\nthink God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to\ndeath: for we are made a spectacle unto the world.... Even unto this\npresent hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are\nbuffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and we toil, working with\nour own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;\nbeing defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, the\noffscouring of all things, unto this day\" (see also 2 Cor. vi. 4, xi.\n23). If, again, we would know the manner of his training in such\nexperiences, take 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9: \"Concerning this thing I besought\nthrice that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is\nsufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most\ngladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities.\" Also how his\nfaith wrought and gathered strength in all these, we may see from Rom.\nviii. 24-28: \"We are saved by hope.... If we hope for that which we see\nnot, then do we with patience wait for it. Also the Spirit helpeth our\ninfirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit\nHimself maketh intercession for us.... And we know that all things work\ntogether for good to them that love God.\" So \"being strengthened with\nall might, according to His glorious power, to all patience and\nlongsuffering with joyfulness\" (Col. i. 11), he was able to say, \"I can\ndo all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.\"\n\nThis was the course, and this the fruit, of Paul's biography. But each\nChristian has his own life, the tenor and the upshot of which should not\nbe wholly estranged from Paul's.\n\nNow what it was that did move him so to rejoice is explained when he\nspeaks of the Philippians \"holding fellowship with his affliction\"; and,\nagain, when he says, \"I desire fruit that may abound to your account.\"\nHe saw in their succour the blessed unity of Christ's living Church, the\nmembers having mutual interest, so that if one suffers all suffer. The\nPhilippians claimed a right to take part as fellow-members in the\nApostle's state and wants, and to communicate with his affliction. And\nthis was only a continuation of their former practice in the beginning\nof the gospel. This, as a fruit of Christ's work and of the presence of\nHis Spirit, refreshed the Apostle. It was a manifestation in the sphere\nof temporal things of the working of a high principle, communion with\nthe common Lord. And it betokened the progress of the work of grace, in\nthat the Philippians were not weary in well-doing. So it was fruit that\nabounded to their account.\n\nIt may be noticed that the directness and frankness of the Apostle's\nspeech to the Philippians on these matters convey a testimony to the\ngenerous Christian feeling which prevailed among them. He speaks as one\nwho feared no misconstruction. He does not fear that they will either\nmistake his meaning or do wrong to his motives; as he, on the other\nside, puts no other than a loving construction upon their action. He\ncould not so trust all the Churches. In some there was so little of\nlarge Christian sympathy that a complaining tone in such matters was\nforced on him. But in the case of the Philippians he has no difficulty\nin interpreting their gift simply as embodying their earnest claim to be\ncounted \"partakers of the benefit,\" and therefore entitled to bear the\nburdens and alleviate the sufferings of Paul. Gladly he admits and\nwelcomes this claim. It is worth observing that the way of giving vent\nto Christian feeling here exemplified was apparent at Philippi from the\nvery first. Not only did it appear when Paul departed from Macedonia\n(ver. 15); but, before that, the earliest convert, Lydia, struck the\nkeynote,--\"If ye judge me faithful in the Lord, come into my house\"\n(Acts xvi. 15). Both in individuals and in Churches, the style of\nfeeling and action embraced at the outset of Christianity, under the\nfirst impressions, often continues to prevail long after.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNow, in virtue of this liberality, Paul had all and abounded. He had\ndesired to see the old spirit flourish again, and he had his wish. \"I\nhave all: I feel greatly enriched since I received the things sent by\nEpaphroditus.\" What gladdened him was not the outward comfort which\nthese gifts supplied, but much more, the spiritual meaning they carried\nin their bosom. Let us see how he reads that meaning.\n\nThis gift comes to him. As it comes, what is it? From its destination\nand its motives it takes on a blessed character. It is \"an odour of a\nsweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing unto God.\" _This_ was\nwhat came to the Apostle: something that was in a peculiar manner God's\nown, something which _He_ regarded, set value on, and counted precious.\nFurther, it turned out to be something in connection with which the\nassurance ought to go forth, \"My God shall fulfil every need of yours.\"\nThey had ministered to Paul's need, in faith, love, thankfulness, and\nloyal care of Christ's servant. Christ counted it done to Him: as such\nHe would surely repay it, supplying their need with that considerate\nliberality which it becomes Him to exhibit. Observe, then, the position\nin which the Apostle finds himself. He is himself the object of\nChristian kindness; affections wrought in the Philippians by the Holy\nGhost are clinging to him and caring for him. He is also one so linked\nwith God's great cause, that offerings sent to him, in the spirit\ndescribed, become an \"odour of a sweet smell, an acceptable sacrifice to\nthe Lord.\" Also this supply of _his_ need is so directly a service done\nto Christ, that when it is done, God, as it were, stands forth directly\non His servant's behalf: _He_ will repay it, supplying the need of those\nwho supplied His servant. Poor though Paul may be, and sometimes sad,\nyet see how the resources of God must be pledged to requite the kindness\ndone to him. All this made him very glad. His heart warmed under it.\nWhat a blessed, happy, secure, and, looking forward, what a hopeful\nstate was his! This came home to him all at once with the Philippians'\ngift. No wonder that he says, \"I have all and abound.\"\n\nIf any one chooses to say that all this was true about the Apostle, and\nhe might have known it, apart from the gift, and even if it had never\ncome, that may be a kind of truth, but it signifies exactly nothing to\nthe purpose. It is one thing to have a doctrine which one knows: it is\nanother thing to have the Holy Spirit setting it home with a warmth and\nglory that fills the man with joy. The Spirit of God may do this without\nmeans, but often He uses means, and, indeed, what we esteem little\nmeans; by little things carrying home great impressions, as out of the\nmouths of babes and sucklings He perfects praise. When a child of God is\ncast down, no one can tell out of how small a thing the Spirit of God\nmay cause to arise a peace that passeth all understanding.\n\nChristianity confers great weight and dignity on little things. This\ngift, not in itself very great, passing between Christians at Philippi\nand an Apostle imprisoned at Rome, belongs after all to an unearthly\nsphere. Paul sees its connection with all spiritual things, and with\nthe heavenly places where Christ is. And it comes to him carrying a rich\nmeaning, preaching everlasting consolation and good hope through grace.\n\nMark, again, the illustration of the truth that the members have need of\none another, and are compacted by that which every joint supplieth,\naccording to the effectual working in the measure of every part. The\nstrong may benefit by the weak, as well as the weak by the strong. This\nApostle, who could do all things through Christ who strengthens him,\nmight be very far more advanced as a Christian than any one in Philippi.\nPossibly there was nothing any of them could say, no advice they could\ntender to him in words, that would have been of material benefit to the\nApostle. But that which, following the impulse of their faith and love,\nthey did, _was_ of material benefit. It filled his heart with a joyful\nsense of the relation in which he stood to them, to Christ, to God. It\nwelled up for him like a water-spring in a dry land. No one can tell how\nit may have conduced to enable him to go forward with more liberty and\npower, testifying in Rome the gospel of God.\n\nNor must we omit the comfort to all who serve God in their generation\narising from the view which the Apostle is here led to take. There may\nbe trials from without and trials from within. Still God careth for His\nservant. God will provide for him out of that which is peculiarly His\nown. God so identifies him with Himself, that He must needs requite all\nwho befriend him out of His own riches in glory.\n\nSo far for the bearing of the case on Paul. We have still to look a\nlittle into the view given of this Philippian gift on its own account.\nIt is emphatically called a sweet savour, an offering acceptable and\nwell-pleasing to God. We have seen already (ch. ii. 17) that believers\nare called upon to offer themselves as a sacrifice; and now we see also\nthat their obedience, or that which they do for Christ's sake, is\nreckoned as an offering to God. So it is said (Heb. xiii. 16) \"to do\ngood and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well\npleased.\" It need hardly be said they are not sacrifices to atone for\nsin. But they are offerings accepted by God, at His altar, from His\nchildren's hands. They suitably express both the gratitude of believers\nto God, and the sincerity of their Christianity in general. God grants\nus this way of expressing the earnestness of our regard to Him: and He\nexpects that we shall gladly avail ourselves of it; our obedience is to\nassume the character of a glad and willing offering. The expressions\nused by the Apostle here assure us that there is a Divine complacency in\nthe manifestation of this spirit on the part of God's children. The\nheart of Him who has revealed Himself in Christ, of Him who rested and\nwas refreshed on the seventh day over His good and fair works, counts\nfor a sweet savour, acceptable and well-pleasing, the works of faith and\nlove willingly done for His name's sake.\n\nIn this connection it is fit we should remember that the view we take of\nmoney, and the use we make of it, are referred to with extraordinary\nfrequency in the New Testament, as a decisive test of Christian\nsincerity. This feature of Bible teaching is very faintly realised by\nmany.\n\nThe other point noteworthy in relation to this Philippian gift is the\nassurance that it shall be recompensed. God will not be unfaithful to\nreward their work and labour of love, in that they have ministered to\nHis servant.\n\nWe are not to shrink from the doctrine of reward because it has been\nperverted. It is true the good works of a Christian cannot be the\nfoundation of his title to life eternal. They proceed from the grace of\nGod; they are very imperfect and mixed at their best. Yet they are\nprecious fruits of Christ's death, and of God's grace, arising through\nthe faith and love of souls renewed and liberated. When a penitent and\nbelieving man is found devoting to God what he is and has, doing so\nfreely and lovingly, that is a blessed thing. God sets value on it. It\nis accepted as fruit which the man brings, as the offering which he\nyields. The heart of Christ rejoices over it. Now it is fit that the\nvalue set on this fruit should be shown, and the way God takes to show\nit is to reward the service. Such a man \"shall in no wise lose his\nreward.\" God orders the administration of His mercy so that it really\ncomes in a way of recompense for works of faith and labours of love.\n\nThis may well convince us that the kindness of our Father is\nmeasureless. He omits nothing that can win His children's love, and\nbind them to Himself. Might not those servants who have gone furthest\nand done most, feel it almost a bitter thing to hear reward spoken of?\nFor if their service could be far more worthy, it could not amount to an\nadequate expression of gratitude for all their Father has done for them.\nYet He will certainly reward. Cups of cold water given to disciples\nshall have remembrance made of them, by Him who reckons all those gifts\nto be bestowed upon Himself. Every way God overwhelms His children with\nHis goodness. There is no dealing with this God, otherwise than by\nconfessing that every way we are debtors. It is vain to think of paying\nthe debt, or relieving oneself of any of the weight of obligation. Only\nwe may with all our hearts give glory to Him to whom we owe all.\n\nAccordingly the Apostle closes in a doxology: \"Now unto our God and\nFather be glory for ever.\"\n\nAmong the salutations with which the Epistle winds up, every one must be\nstruck with that which goes in the name of \"those of C\u00e6sar's household.\"\nBishop Lightfoot has annexed to his Commentary an essay on this topic,\nwhich collects, with his usual skill, the available information. It was\nremarked in connection with ch. i. 12, that C\u00e6sar's household was an\nimmense establishment, comprehending thousands of persons, employed in\nall sorts of functions, and composed chiefly, either of slaves, or of\nthose who had emerged from slavery into the condition of freedmen.\nIndications have been gathered from ancient mortuary inscriptions\ntending to show that a notable proportion of Christians, whose names are\npreserved in this way, had probably been connected with the household.\nAt the end of the first century, a whole branch of the Flavian imperial\nfamily became Christian; and it is possible, as indicated in an earlier\npage, that they may have done so under the influence of Christian\nservants. This, however, fell later. The Apostle wrote in Nero's days.\nIt is certain that at this time singularly profligate persons exercised\ngreat sway in the household. It is also certain that powerful Jewish\ninfluences had got a footing; and these would in all likelihood act\nagainst the gospel. Yet there were also Christian brethren. We may\nbelieve that Paul's own work had operated notably to produce this result\n(ch. i. 12). At all events, there they were. Amid all that was vile and\nunscrupulous, the word of God had its course; men were converted and\nwere sanctified by the washing of water by the word. Then, as now, the\nLord gathered His elect from unlikely quarters: how secure soever the\nstrong man's goods seemed to be, his defences went down before the might\nof a stronger than he. Probably the Christians in the household belonged\nchiefly or exclusively to the lower grades of the service, and might be\npartly protected by their obscurity. Yet surely entanglements and\nperplexities, fears and sorrows, must often have been the portion of the\nsaints of Nero's household. Out of all these the Lord delivered them.\nThis glimpse lets us see the process going on which by-and-by made so\nstrange a revolution in the heathen world. It reminds us also for what\npeculiarities of trial God's grace has been found sufficient.\n\n\"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.\" This is the\nparting benediction; certainly an appropriate one, for the whole Epistle\nbreathes the same atmosphere. The Epistle would not fail of its effect,\nif their spirit retained the consciousness of the grace of Christ; if\nthroughout their life they owned its sway, and felt its attraction, its\ncharm, its power to elevate and purify and comfort.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn following the course of thought and feeling which this letter\nembodies, we have seen the Apostle touch various topics. They rise into\nview as pastoral care, or friendly feeling, as outward circumstances\nsuggest them. The demands of Christian friendship, the responsibilities\nof the Christian ministry, the trials of Christian endurance; what is\ndue from an apostle, or from a Church member; how life and death are to\nbe confronted; what is to be done about dangers and faults; how pride\nand self-will are to be judged and remedied; how the narrow heart is to\nbe rebuked and enlarged; how the life of a disciple is to become\nluminous and edifying,--in reference to all, and all alike, he speaks\nfrom the same central position, and with the same fulness of resource.\nIn Christ revealed, in Christ received and known, he finds the light,\nand the strength, and the salve, which every case requires. Each new\ndemand unlocks new resources, new conceptions of goodness and of\nvictory.\n\nSo, in one great passage, in the third chapter, catching fire, as it\nwere, from the scorn with which a religion of externals fills him, he\nbreaks forth into a magnificent proclamation of the true Christianity.\nHe celebrates its reality and intensity as life in Christ--Christ known,\nfound, gained--Christ in the righteousness of faith and in the power of\nresurrection. He depicts vividly the aspiration and endeavour of that\nlife as it continually presses onward from faith to experience and\nachievement, as it verifies relations to a world unseen, and looks and\nhastes towards a world to come. Then the wave of thought and feeling\nsubsides; but its force is felt in the last wavelets of loving counsel\nthat ripple to the shore.\n\nOne feels that for Paul, who was rich in doctrine, doctrine is after all\nbut the measure of mighty forces which are alive in his own experience.\nNo doctrine, not one, is for the intellect alone: all go out into heart\nand conscience and life. More than this: he lets us see that, for\nChristians, Christ Himself is the great abiding means of grace. He is\nnot only the pledge and guarantee that holiness shall be reached: He is\nHimself our way of reaching it. He is so for the Christian societies, as\nwell as for the individual Christian soul.\n\nOne cannot but wonder sometimes in reading Paul's Epistles what manner\nof congregations they were to whom such remarkable letters were sent.\nDid they understand the deeper and loftier passages? Were Paul and they\non common ground? But the answer may be, that whatever they failed to\nattain, they at least apprehended a new world created for them by the\ninterposition of Christ--new horizons, new possibilities, new hopes and\nfears, new motives, new consolations, new friendships, and a new\ndestiny. The grace of Christ had made all new--in which process they\nthemselves were new. Their \"spirit\" had become like a lyre new-strung to\nrender new harmonies. And the great thoughts of the Apostle, if not\nalways grasped or followed, yet made every string vibrate--so much on\nhis part and so much on theirs being sensitive to the grace of our Lord\nJesus.\n\nEre long they all passed away: Paul beheaded at Rome, as the story goes;\nthe Philippian converts dying out; and the world changing in manners,\nthought, and speech, in all directions. But the message entrusted to\nPaul lives still, and awakens the same response in the hearts of\nChristians of to-day, as it did among the Philippians when first read\namong them. It still assures us that the highest thing in life has been\nfound,--that it meets us in Him who came among us meek, and having\nsalvation.","title":"The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Philippians","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":87803}