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diff --git a/39788-0.txt b/39788-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c1611c --- /dev/null +++ b/39788-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8477 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the +Philippians, by Robert Rainy + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Philippians + +Author: Robert Rainy + +Release Date: May 25, 2012 [EBook #39788] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE *** + + + + +Produced by Colin Bell, Julia Neufeld and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + +Variations in spelling have been preserved except in obvious cases of +typographical error. Hyphenation is inconsistent. + +Page 331: The transcriber has supplied the word "a"--"who has not made +it a matter of personal study". + + + + + THE EPISTLE + TO THE + PHILIPPIANS + + BY + ROBERT RAINY, D.D. + PRINCIPAL OF NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH + + + NEW YORK: + FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, + LAFAYETTE PLACE. + 1900. + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE. + + +Not much need be said by way of preface, in addition to what is +suggested in the introductory chapter. + +It may be observed, however, that the Apostle's teaching repeatedly +touches on the question, How the problem of practical human life on this +earth is to be conceived and dealt with under the light and the +influences of Christianity? The thought occurred that some expository +passages might be superseded by an appendix summing up in one view the +principles conceived to underlie the Apostle's way of dealing with such +topics, which could be referred to on each separate occasion: and such a +statement was prepared. It was, however, finally judged more suitable to +the nature of an exposition to keep as close as possible to the +Apostle's turn of thought in each of the cases in which he approaches +the subject, rather than to try to secure brevity by a more summary +treatment. + +A few sentences have been transferred from a lecture on the Apostle +Paul, published some years ago. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + PAGE + + INTRODUCTORY: THE SALUTATION 3 + + CHAPTER II. + + THE APOSTLE'S MIND ABOUT THE PHILIPPIANS 19 + + CHAPTER III. + + HOW THE PHILIPPIANS SHOULD THINK OF PAUL AT ROME 45 + + CHAPTER IV. + + THE CHOICE BETWEEN LIVING AND DYING 65 + + CHAPTER V. + + UNDAUNTED AND UNITED STEADFASTNESS 77 + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE MIND OF CHRIST 95 + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE MIND OF CHRIST (_continued_) 111 + + CHAPTER VIII. + + WORKING AND SHINING 131 + CHAPTER IX. + + TIMOTHY AND EPAPHRODITUS 157 + + CHAPTER X. + + NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH 171 + + CHAPTER XI. + + THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST 199 + + CHAPTER XII. + + THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH 217 + + CHAPTER XIII. + + RESURRECTION LIFE AND DAILY DYING 237 + + CHAPTER XIV. + + CHRISTIAN LIFE A RACE 259 + + CHAPTER XV. + + ENEMIES OF THE CROSS 281 + + CHAPTER XVI. + + OUR CITY AND OUR COMING KING 299 + + CHAPTER XVII. + + PEACE AND JOY 317 + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + THE THINGS TO FIX UPON 337 + + CHAPTER XIX. + + GIFTS AND SACRIFICES 353 + + + + +_INTRODUCTORY. THE SALUTATION._ + + "Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in + Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: + Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus + Christ."--PHIL. i. 1, 2 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER 1. + +_INTRODUCTORY. THE SALUTATION._ + + +The sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles contains the account +of the Apostle Paul's first intercourse with the Philippians, and of the +"beginning of the gospel" there. The date may be fixed as A.D. 51. After +the council at Jerusalem (Acts xv.), and after the dissension between +Paul and Barnabas (ver. 39), the Apostle of the Gentiles, accompanied by +Silas, took his journey through Syria and Cilicia. "Confirming the +Churches," he went over a good deal of ground which he had traversed +before. At Lystra he assumed Timothy as an additional companion and +assistant; and he passed on, guided in a very special manner by the Holy +Spirit, until he arrived at Troas. Here a Divine warning, in a dream, +determined him to break ground in a new field. The little company, to +which Luke was now added, passed on to Macedonia, and, having landed at +Neapolis, where they do not seem to have made any stay or found any +opportunity of preaching, they came to Philippi. This therefore was the +first city in Europe in which, so far as we have any distinct +intimation, the gospel of the grace of God was declared. + +Philippi was a city of some importance, and had the position and +privileges of a Roman colony. It was situated in a fruitful district, +was near to gold mines, and was also near enough to the sea to serve as +a depôt for a good deal of Asiatic commerce. + +It is hardly necessary to remind readers of the Scripture how Lydia and +others received the word; how the preachers were followed by the damsel +with the spirit of divination; how, when that damsel had been silenced +by Paul, her masters raised a tumult against Paul and Silas, and got +them scourged and cast into prison; how the earthquake, which followed +during the night, resulted in the conversion of the jailor, and in Paul +and Silas being sent forth from the city with honour. Perhaps Luke and +Timothy remained behind at Philippi, and continued to edify the +believers. At any rate, Paul himself had by this time continued there +"many days." Two short visits of the Apostle to Philippi at a subsequent +time are known to us (Acts xx. 2, 6). + +The Church thus founded proved to be an interesting one, for it +possessed much of the simplicity and earnestness of true Christianity. +Both in the Epistles to the Corinthians and in this Epistle, the +Philippians are singled out, above all Churches, for their cordiality of +feeling towards the Apostle who had brought to them the knowledge of the +truth. They made liberal contributions for the furtherance of his work +in other regions, beginning shortly after he left Philippi, and +repeating them from time to time afterwards. They seem to have been +remarkably free from some of the defects incidental to those early +Churches, and to the Churches at all periods. The Apostle's +commendations of them are peculiarly warm and glowing; and scarcely +anything had to be noticed in the way of special warning, except a +tendency to disagreement among some of their members. It does not appear +that there was any great number of Jews at Philippi, and we find no +trace of a synagogue. This may account in some measure for their freedom +from the Judaising tendency: for we find the Philippians exhorted, +indeed, to beware of that evil, but not reprehended as if it had taken +any strong hold among them. On the other hand, they seem to have +remained in a good measure free from evils to which Gentile Churches +were most exposed, and which, at Corinth for example, produced much that +was disheartening and perplexing. + +Eleven years, probably, had now passed since Paul had brought to +Philippi the knowledge of Christ Jesus. During that time he had +undergone many vicissitudes, and now he had been for some time a +prisoner at Rome. Probably he had already written the Epistles to the +Ephesians, the Colossians, and to Philemon. Comparing these with our +Epistle, we may conclude that his prospects as a prisoner had not +improved, but rather darkened, since the date of those letters. At this +time, then, Epaphroditus arrived, apparently after a dangerous journey, +bearing with him a supply for the Apostle's wants, bringing tidings of +the state of the Philippian Church, and assuring him of their sympathy +and their prayers on his behalf. It is no wonder that, in these +circumstances, the Epistle bears marks of having been written by the +Apostle with a special flow of tenderness and of affection. + +The scope of the letter may be briefly stated. After the usual +inscription and salutation, the Apostle expresses (as he does so often +in his Epistles) his thankfulness for what the Philippians had attained, +and his desire that they might grow to yet higher things. He goes on to +tell them how matters stood with himself, and opens up, as to those whom +he reckons trusted friends, the manner in which his mind was exercised +under these providences. Returning to the Philippians, and aiming at +this, that they and he might have growing fellowship in all Christian +grace, he goes on to set before them Christ, specially in His lowliness +and self-sacrifice. This is the grand end; attainment to His likeness is +work for all their lives. Paul sets forth how earnestly his heart is set +on this object, and what means he is taking to advance it. After a brief +digression relating to his circumstances and theirs, he returns again to +the same point. In order that defects may be removed, dangers avoided, +progress made, Christ must be their joy, their trust, their aim, their +very life. They, like the Apostle himself, must press on, never content +till the consummate salvation is attained (iii. 21). If this should be +so, his desires for them would be fulfilled. So he closes (iv. 2) with +directions rising out of this central view, and with renewed expression +of the comfort he had derived from their affectionate remembrance. Their +goodwill to the cause in which his life was spent, and to himself, had +cheered his heart. And he took it as God's blessing to him and to them. + +Such is a brief outline of the course of thought. But the Epistle, while +perfect in the unity of its feeling and of its point of view, is +remarkable for the way in which it alternates between matters proper to +the Philippians, including the instruction Paul saw fit to impress upon +them, and matters personal to himself. The Apostle seems to feel sure of +affectionate sympathy in both regions, and in both equally; therefore in +both his heart utters itself without difficulty and without restraint. +Ch. i. 3-11, i. 27--ii. 16, iii. 1--iv. 9, are occupied with the one +theme, and i. 12-26, ii. 17-30, iv. 10-21, with the other. In short, +more than any other Epistle, if we except, perhaps, that to Philemon, +the Epistle to the Philippians has the character of an outpouring. The +official aims and obligations of the Christian instructor are fused, as +it were, in the glowing affection of the personal friend. He is sure of +his place in the hearts of his correspondents, and he knows how glad +they will be to be assured of the place they hold in his. + +Let us now attend to the inscription and salutation. Those who send the +Epistle are Paul and Timothy. Yet plainly we are not to regard it as a +joint Epistle proceeding from both equally; for it is Paul who speaks +throughout, in his own name and by his own authority. Timothy only +joins, as Sosthenes and Silas do in other cases, in heartily commending +to the Church at Philippi whatever the Epistle contains. As there was +harmony between the two labourers when they laid the foundation at +Philippi, so there is also in the building up. Timothy is joined in the +love and care; but the authority is Paul's. Both alike are called +"servants of Jesus Christ"; for to this Church no further commendation +and no rehearsal of a special right to speak and teach are needed. And +yet, to understanding hearts, what commendation could be more weighty? +If these two men are called and allowed by Christ to be His servants, if +they are loyal and faithful servants, if they come on an errand on which +Christ has sent them, if they deliver His message and do His work, what +more need be said? This is honour and authority enough--to be, in our +degree, Christ's servants. But the word is stronger: it means +bondservants, or slaves,--such as are the master's property, or are at +his absolute disposal. So Paul felt; for we are not to reckon this to +be, on his part, a mere phrase. Already, in this word, we recognise the +sense of entire consecration to his Master and Lord; in which, as we +shall see, he felt he could count upon the hearty sympathy of his +Philippian friends. + +Those who are addressed are, in the first place, "all the saints in +Christ Jesus who are at Philippi." The saints, or holy ones, is a common +expression in the Scriptures. The word "sanctify" is applied both to +persons and to things. Bible-readers will have noticed that the term +seems to vibrate or vacillate between two meanings,--signifying on the +one hand the production of personal intrinsic holiness, and on the other +merely consecration, or setting apart of anything to God's service. Now +the connection of both meanings will appear, if we mark how both meet in +the word as it is applied to the children of God. For such are +separated, set apart for God from sin and from the world; not, however, +by a mere outward destination, devoting them to a certain use and +service, but by an internal hallowing, which makes the man really in his +inward nature holy, fit for God's service and God's fellowship. This is +done by the regeneration of the Spirit, and by His indwelling +thereafter. Hence, to distinguish this consecration from the mere +outward ceremonial sanctification, which was so temporary and shadowy, +we find the Apostle Peter (i. 2) saying that God's children are chosen +"by sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the +blood of Jesus." For the ancient Israel was sanctified to obedience in +another manner (Exod. xxiv. 6). + +Now because this real consecration takes place when we are grafted into +Christ by faith, because the Spirit comes to us and abides in us as the +Spirit of Christ, because whatever the Spirit does, as our Sanctifier, +has its rise from Christ's redeeming work, because He unites us to +Christ and enables us to cleave to Christ and hold fellowship with Him, +therefore those who are thus sanctified are called saints _in_ Jesus +Christ. It is the Spirit who sanctifies; but He does so inasmuch as He +roots us _in_ Christ and builds us up in Christ. Therefore saints are +sanctified _by_, or _of_, the Spirit; but they are sanctified (or holy) +_in_ Christ Jesus. + +This expression, "saints," or some phrase that is equivalent, occurs +commonly in the Epistles as the designation of the parties addressed. +And two things are to be observed in connection with it. _First_, when +the Apostle addresses "all the saints," in any Epistle, he is not +shutting out any professed members of the Church, any professed +believers in the Lord. He never speaks at the outset of an Epistle as if +he meant to make deliberate distinction between two several classes of +members of the Church: as who should say, "I write now to some part of +the Church, viz., the saints; as for the rest, I do not now address +them." Hence we find the term used as equivalent to the Church--"to the +Church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all +Achaia," and again "to them ... that are called to be saints." We shall +see presently the lesson which this is fitted to teach. But, _secondly_, +on the other hand, the Apostle's use of the word makes it clear that he +uses it in the full sense which we have explained, of a real saintship. +He does not restrain the sense to some merely external saintship, as if +his meaning were "professing Christians whether they are real or not." +The word stands, in the inscriptions, as equivalent to "sanctified in +Christ Jesus," "faithful in Christ Jesus," "beloved of God"; or as in 2 +Peter i., "them that have obtained like precious faith with us," and in +1 Peter, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God unto obedience." +Thus then we are to take it:--The Apostle wrote to the visible, or the +professed and accepted followers of the Lord, on the understanding that +they were what they professed to be. He was not to question it: he +assumed that they were saints of God, for to profess the faith of Christ +is to claim that character. He rejoiced to hope that it would prove to +be so, and gladly took note of everything which tended to assure him +that their holiness was real. He proclaims to them, in the character of +saints, the privileges and the obligations that pertain to saints. It +was the business of every man to look well to the reality of his faith, +and to try the grounds on which he took his place with those addressed +as beloved of God and called to be saints. There might be some who had +but a name to live (2 Cor. xiii. 5). If so, it was not the Apostle's +part, writing to the Church, to allow that possibility to confuse or +lower the style of his address to Christ's Church. He wrote to all the +saints in Christ Jesus who were at Philippi. + +This is evident from the strain of all the Pauline Epistles, and it is +important to observe it and apply it. Otherwise we shall readily fall +into this way of reasoning,--"Since there must have been some in these +Churches who were only nominally and not really believers, the word +_saints_ must include such; therefore it can imply only an outward +separation of men, apart from any determination of their inward state." +If we do so, then everything the Apostle says to saints, their standing, +their privileges, their obligations, and their hopes, will come to be +strained and lowered in the interpretation, so as to mean only that such +privileges and blessings are somehow attainable, and if attained may +also on certain terms be secured. The interpretation of the Apostle's +teaching on these subjects will, in short, be what it _must_ be, if it +is taken to apply at once, in his intention, to those who are indeed +saints and to those who are not. This line, in point of fact, has been +taken, in the interpretation of the Epistles, so as to resolve +everything the Apostle says about the eternal life of saved men, as +actually theirs, from their election downwards, into a mere matter of +outward privileges. This view, no doubt, involves a straining of plain +words. Yet it will always seem to force itself upon us, unless we hold +fast (what is indeed demonstrably true) that when the Apostle speaks to +saints, he says what should be said to those who are indeed saints, and +on the understanding that those whom he addresses are such. + +In like manner, on the other side, we have a lesson to learn from the +unhesitating way in which the Apostle writes to the saints, and sends +the letter to the members of a Christian Church as the parties +intended. He may have some things to reprehend; he may even have to +express fears, when things have gone amiss, that some in the Church may +yet prove to be no saints. Yet writing to the Church, he writes to +saints. Let us learn from this what those lay claim to who become +members of Christ's Church, and what responsibilities they take on. They +claim, in Christ, the salvation which makes men saints--_i.e._, persons +set apart under the influence of the Holy Spirit to enjoy Christ's +forgiveness and to walk in His ways. Christ does this for us, if He does +a Saviour's work. It is a thing incongruous, a thing, in the Apostle's +view, not to be taken for granted, that any one shall hold his place in +Christ's Church who is worldly, earthly, unholy. There may be such, but +Paul will not assume it; he will not measure the Christianity of +Christ's Church by any such standard. Neither will he go about to +determine whether perhaps it is so or not in the case of any who are +professing Christ in the ordinary way. _If_ any have entered Christ's +Church who are content to continue in worldliness and sin, not seeking +in Christ the grace which saves, that is solely their own personal sin, +and in it they lie unto the Lord. But not for that will the Apostle come +down to speak to Christ's Church as if it should be thought of as a +company to which holy and unholy may equally well belong. If any be +there who are in no vital sense saints, their intrusion will not hinder +Paul from speaking to the Church of God in its own proper character and +according to its calling. + +But let it be remarked at the same time, that this same fact shows us +that the Apostle was wont to judge of men and Churches charitably; yes, +with a very large charity. We may be very sure that there was a good +deal in all those Churches, and a great deal in some, that needed to be +judged charitably. They were not all clear, eminent, conspicuous saints; +so far from that, there might well be some whole Churches in which +saintship was, so far as man's inspection could perceive, faint and +questionable. But the Apostle was far from thinking of shutting out the +man whose faith was weak, whose attainments were small, whose regard to +Christ was but a struggling and germinating thing. Far from being +disposed to shut him out, no doubt the Apostle's whole desire was to +shut such an one in, among the saints in Jesus Christ. + +To be accepted in the Beloved, to be sanctified in Christ Jesus, is a +very great thing. No less than this great thing Christ offers, and no +less we humbly claim in faith. Also it is no less than this that Christ +bestows on those who come to Him. Let Christians, on the one hand, look +to Christ, as able and willing to do no less than this even for them; on +the other hand, let them look to themselves, that they neither deceive +themselves with false pretences, nor trifle idly with so great a gospel. +And in the case of others, let hasty and needless adverse judgments be +avoided. Let us be glad to think that Christ may see His own, where our +dim sight can find but scanty tokens of His work. + +Along with the saints the letter specifies, in particular, the bishops +and deacons. The former were the officers who took the oversight, as the +word implies; the deacons those who rendered service, especially in the +Church's outward and pecuniary concerns. These two standing orders are +recognised by the Apostle. It is obvious that this does not suggest +diocesan Episcopacy, for that implies three orders, the highest being a +single bishop, to the exclusion of others assuming the office in that +place. + +It is more important to observe that the Epistle is not directed to the +bishops primarily, or as if they were entitled to come between the +people and the message. It is directed to all the saints. To them the +Epistle, to them all the Scriptures belong, as their own inheritance, +which no man may take from them. In so far as the bishops and deacons +are distinguished from other saints, the Scriptures pertain to them that +they may learn their own duty, and also may help the people in the use +and enjoyment of that which is already theirs. + +Now follows the salutation--Grace be unto you and peace. This is the +ordinary salutation, varied and amplified in a few of the Epistles. It +may be said to express the sum of all Christian well-being in this life. + +Grace is, first of all, the word which expresses the free favour of God, +manifested towards the unworthy in Christ Jesus. But it is further +extended in meaning to that which is the fruit of this favour, to the +principles and dispositions in the mind which result from grace, which +recognise grace, which in their nature correspond to the nature of +grace. In this sense it is said "grow in grace." Peace is the +well-grounded tranquillity and sense of well-being which arises from the +sight of God's grace in Christ, from faith in it, and experience of it. +Grace and peace are the forerunners of glory. That is a blessed company +to which so great a fulness of good is commended, as ordinarily theirs. + +And from whom is this good expected to proceed? From God our Father and +the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father who loved us, the Son who charged +Himself with the burden of our salvation, impart a grace and a peace +fragrant with that Divine love and charged with the efficacy of that +blessed mediation. If any one wonders why the Holy Spirit is left out, a +reason may be given for it. For if we look to the substance of the +blessings, what are this grace and peace but the Holy Spirit Himself +dwelling in us, revealing to us the Father and the Son from whom He +comes, and enabling us to continue in the Son and in the Father? + + + + +_THE APOSTLE'S MIND ABOUT THE PHILIPPIANS._ + + "I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always in every + supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication + with joy, for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the + first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that He + which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of + Jesus Christ: even as it is right for me to be thus minded on + behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, + both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, + ye all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how I + long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. And this + I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge + and all discernment; so that ye may approve the things that are + excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day + of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are + through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."--PHIL. i. + 3-11 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_THE APOSTLE'S MIND ABOUT THE PHILIPPIANS._ + + +After the salutation, the first thing in the Epistle is a warm utterance +of the feelings and the desires which Paul habitually cherishes in +relation to his converts at Philippi. This is expressed vv. 3-11. + + * * * * * + +Note the course of thought. In ver. 3 he declares his thankfulness and +in ver. 4 his prayerfulness on their behalf; and he puts these two +together, without as yet saying why he thanks and what he prays for. He +puts them together, because he would mark that with him these are not +two separate things; but his prayer is thankful, and his thankfulness is +prayerful; and then, having so much to be thankful for, his prayers +became, also, joyful. The reason why, he presently explains more +particularly. For, ver. 5, he had to thank God, joyfully, for their +fellowship in the gospel in the past; and then, ver. 6, knowing to what +this pointed forward, he could pray joyfully--that is, with joyful +expectation for the future. And thus he prepares the way for telling +what special things he was led to pray for; but first he interposes +vv. 7 and 8, to vindicate, as it were, the right he had to feel so warm +and deep an interest in his Philippian friends. The matter of his prayer +follows in vv. 9-11. + +First he thanks God for grace bestowed upon the Philippians. As often as +he remembered them, as often as he lifted up his heart in prayer to make +request for them, he was cheered with the feeling that he could make +request joyfully--_i.e._, he could rejoice over mercies already given. +We know that the Apostle, in his letters to the Churches, is found +always ready to evince the same spirit; he is prompt to pour out his +thanks for anything attained by those Churches, either in gifts or +grace. We find it so in his letters to the Churches of Corinth and +Ephesus and Colossæ and Thessalonica. He does this, always, in a full +and hearty way. He evidently counted it both duty and privilege to take +note of what God had wrought, and to show that he prized it. Like John, +he had no greater joy than to hear that his children walked in the +truth; and he gave the glory of it to God in thanksgiving. In the case +of this Church, however, the ground of thanksgiving was something that +bound them to Paul in a peculiar manner, and touched his heart with a +glow of tenderer love and gladness. It was, ver. 5, "their fellowship in +the gospel (or rather, unto the gospel) from the first day until now." +He means, that from their first acquaintance with the gospel, the +Philippian Christians had, with unusual heartiness and sincerity, +committed themselves to the cause of the gospel. They had made it their +own cause. They had embarked in it as a fellowship to which they gave +themselves heart and soul. There might be Churches, more distinguished +for gifts than that of Philippi was, where less of this magnanimous +spirit appeared. There might be Churches, where men seemed to be +occupied with their own advantage by the gospel, their individual and +separate advantage, but withheld themselves from the fellowship unto +it,--did not readily commit themselves to it and to each other, as +embarking wholly and for ever in the common cause. This misconception, +this servility of spirit, is but too easy. You may have whole Churches, +in which men are full of self-congratulation about attainments they make +in the gospel, and gifts they receive by the gospel, and doctrines they +build up about it--but the loving "fellowship unto it" fails. A large +measure of a better spirit had been given to the Philippians from the +first. They were a part of those Macedonian Churches, who "first gave +their own selves" to the Lord and His Apostles, and then also their help +and service. It was an inward fellowship before it was an outward one. +They first gave their own selves, so that their hearts were mastered by +the desire to see the ends of the gospel achieved, and then came service +and sacrifice. Trials and losses had befallen them in this course of +service; but still they are found caring for the gospel, for their +brethren in the gospel, for their father in the gospel, for the cause of +the gospel. This fellowship--this readiness to make common cause with +the gospel, out and out, had begun at the first day; and after trouble +and trial it continued even until now. + +The disposition here commended has its importance, very much because it +implies so just a conception of the genius of the gospel, and so hearty +a consent to it. He whose Christianity leads him to band himself with +his fellow-Christians, to get good by their help, and to help them to +get good, and along with them to do good as opportunity arises, is a man +who believes in the work of the gospel as a vital social force; he +believes that Christ is in his members; he believes that there are +attainments to be made, victories won, benefits laid hold of and +appropriated. He is in sympathy with Christ, for he is attracted by the +expectation of great results coming in the line of the gospel; and he is +one who looks not merely on his own things, but rejoices to feel that +his own hope is bound up with a great hope for many and for the world. +Such a man is near the heart of things. He has, in important respects, +got the right notion of Christianity, and Christianity has got the right +hold of him. + +Now if we consider that the Apostle Paul, "the slave of Jesus Christ," +was himself a marvellous embodiment of the spirit he is here commending +to the Philippians, we shall easily understand with what satisfaction he +thought upon this Church, and rejoiced over them, and gave thanks. Was +there ever a man who, more than Paul, evinced "the fellowship of the +gospel" from the first hour to the last? Was there ever one whose +personal self was more swallowed up and lost, in his zeal to be spent +for the cause,--doing all things for the gospel's sake that he might +have part therein? Did ever man, more than he, welcome sufferings, +sacrifices, toils, if they were for Christ, for the gospel? Was man ever +possessed more absolutely than he with a sense of the worthiness of the +gospel to be proclaimed everywhere, to every man--and with a sense of +the right the gospel had to himself, as Jesus Christ's man, the man that +should be used and expended on nothing else but upholding this cause, +and proclaiming this message to all kinds of sinners? The one great +object with him was that Christ should be magnified in him, whether by +life or by death (ver. 20). His heart, therefore, grew glad and thankful +over a Church that had so much of this same spirit, and, for one thing, +showed this by cleaving to him in their hearts through all the +vicissitudes of his work, and following him everywhere with their +sympathy and their prayers. Some Churches were so much occupied with +themselves, and had so little understanding of him, that he was obliged +to write to them at large, setting forth the true spirit and manner of +his own life and service; he had, as it were, to open their eyes by +force to see him as he was. This was not needed here: the Philippians +understood him already: they did so, because, in a degree, they had +caught the contagion of his own spirit. They had given themselves, in +their measure, in a fellowship unto the gospel, from the first day +until now. They had claimed, and they still claimed, to have a share in +all that befell the gospel, and in all that befell the Apostle. + +Paul ascribed all this to God's grace in them, and thanked God for it. +True, indeed, much activity about the gospel, and much that looks like +interest in its progress, may proceed from other causes besides a living +fellowship with Jesus, and a true disposition to forsake all for Him. +The outward activity may be resorted to as a substitute for the inward +life; or it may express the spirit of sectarian selfishness. But when it +appears as a consistent interest in the gospel, when it is accompanied +by the tokens of frank goodwill and free self-surrender to the Church's +evangelical life, when it endures through vicissitudes of time, under +trial, persecution, and reproach, it must arise, in the main, from a +real persuasion of the Divine excellence and power of the gospel and the +Saviour. Not without the grace of God does any Church manifest this +spirit. + +Now to the Apostle who had this cause of gladness in the past, there +opened (ver. 6) a gladdening prospect for the future, which at once +deepened his thankfulness and gave expectancy to his prayers. "Being +confident of this very thing, that He that hath begun a good work in you +will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." "Being confident of this +very thing" is equivalent to "Having no less confidence than this"; for +he desires to express that his confidence is emphatic and great. + +The confidence so expressed assumes a principle, and makes application +of that principle to the Philippian saints. + +The principle is that the work of saving grace clearly begun by the +Spirit of God shall not be destroyed and come to nothing, but shall be +carried on to complete salvation. This principle is not received by all +Christians as part of the teaching of Scripture; but without entering +now into any large discussion, it may be pointed out that it seems to be +recognised, not merely in a few, but in many passages of Holy Writ. Not +to recite Old Testament indications, we have our Lord's word (John x. +28): "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, +neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." And there is hardly an +Epistle of our Apostle in which the same principle is not presented to +us, stated in express terms, or assumed in stating other doctrines, and +applied to the comfort of believers (1 Thess. v. 23, 24; 1 Cor. i. 8; +Rom. viii. 30). The ultimate salvation of those in whom a good work is +begun, is, in this view, conceived to be connected with the stability of +God's purposes, the efficacy of the Son's mediation, the permanence and +power of the Holy Spirit's influence, and the nature of the covenant +under which believers are placed. And the perseverance thus provided for +is supposed to be made good through the faith, patience, fear, and +diligence of those who persevere, and by no means without these. As to +the place before us, whatever exceptions and whatever distinctions may +be taken on the subject, it must be owned that, gladly recognising +Christian character and attainment as a fact, he finds therein a warrant +for emphatic confidence about the future, even to the day of Christ. + +As to the application of this principle to the Philippians, the method +in which the Apostle proceeds is plain. He certainly does not speak as +by immediate insight into Divine counsels about the Philippians. He is +directed to utter a conclusion at which he had arrived by a process +which he explains. From the evidence of the reality of their Christian +calling, he drew the conclusion that Christ was at work in them, and the +further conclusion that this work would be completed. It may be asked +how so confident an application of the principle now in view could be +reached on these terms? How could the Apostle be sure enough of the +inward state of his Philippian friends, to enable him to reason on it, +as here he seems to do? In answer, we grant it to be impossible for any +one, without immediate revelation on the point, to reach absolute +assurance about the spiritual state of other people. And therefore we +are to keep in view, what has already been suggested, that the Apostle, +speaking to "saints," really remits to themselves and to their Lord the +final question as to the reality of that apparent saintship. But then, +we are taught by the Apostle's example that where ordinary tokens, and +especially where more than ordinary tokens of Christian character +appear, we are frankly and gladly to give effect to those signs in our +practical judgments. There may be an error, no doubt there is, in +unbounded charity; but there is error also when we make a grudging +estimate of Christian brethren; when, on the ground of some failing, we +allow suspicion to obliterate the impressions which their Christian +faith and service might fairly have made upon us. We are to cherish the +thought that a wonderful future is before those in whom Christ is +carrying on His work of grace; and we are to make a loving application +of that hope in the case of those whose Christian dispositions have +become specially manifest to us in the intercourse of Christian +friendship. + +However, the Apostle felt that he had a special right to feel thus in +reference to the Philippians--more, perhaps, than in regard to others; +and instead of going on at once to specify the objects of his prayers +for them, he interposes a vindication, as it were, of the right he +claimed (ver. 7): "Even as it is meet for me to be thus minded with +respect to all of you, because I have you in my heart, you who are all +partakers of my grace, not only in the defence and confirmation of the +gospel, but also in my bonds." As if he would say,--There are special +ties between us, which justify on my part special tenderness and +vigilance of appreciation and approbation, when I think of you. A father +has a special right to take note of what is hopeful in his son, and to +dwell with satisfaction on his virtues and his promise; and friends who +have toiled and suffered together have a special right to cherish a +deep trust in one another's well-tried fidelity and nobleness. Let +strangers, in such cases, set, if they will, a slight value on +characters which they hardly know; but let them not dispute the right +which love has to scrutinise with delight the nobler qualities of those +who are beloved. + +The Philippians were sharers of Paul's grace, as sharing his enthusiasm +for the successful advocacy and confirmation of the gospel. So they had +their share in the grace that was so mighty in him. But besides that, +the Apostle's heart had been cheered and warmed by the manifestation of +their sympathy, their loving thoughtfulness in reference to his bonds. +So he joyfully owned them as partakers in spirit in those bonds, and in +the grace by which he endured them. They remembered him in his bonds, +"as bound with him." Every way their fellowship with him expressed +itself as full and true. No jarring element broke in to mar the happy +sense of this. He could feel that though far away their hearts beat +pulse for pulse with his, partakers not only of his toil but of his +bonds. So he "had them in his heart": his heart embraced them with no +common warmth and yielded to them no common friendship. And what then? +Why then "it is meet that I should be thus minded," "should use love's +happy right to think very well of you, and should let the evidence of +your Christian feeling come home to my heart, warm and glowing." It was +meet that Paul should joyfully _repute them to be sincere_--to be men +cleaving to the gospel in a genuine love of it. It was meet that he +should _thank_ God in their behalf, seeing these happy attainments of +theirs were so truly a concern of his. It was meet he should _pray_ for +them with joyful importunity, counting their growth in grace to be a +benefit also to himself. + +It would be a helpful thing if Christian friends cherished, and if they +sometimes expressed, warm hopes and expectations in behalf of one +another. Only, let this be the outcome of truly spiritual affection. +Paul was persuaded that his feelings arose from no mere human impulse. +The grace of God it was which had given the Philippians this place in +his heart. God was his record that his longing after them was great, and +also that it was in the mercies of Christ. He loved them as a man in +Christ, and with Christlike affections. Otherwise, words like these +assume a canting character, and are unedifying. + +Now at last comes the tenor of his prayer (ver. 9): "That your love may +abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that ye +may approve the things that are excellent," and so on. + +Let this first be noted, that it is a prayer for growth. All that grace +has wrought in the Philippian believers, everything in their state that +filled his heart with thankfulness, he regards as the beginning of +something better still. For this he longs; and therefore his heart is +set on progress. So we find it in all his Epistles. "As ye have received +how ye ought to walk and to please God--so abound more" (1 Thess. iv. +1). This is a very familiar thought, yet let us spend a sentence or two +upon it. The spiritual prosperity of believers should be measured not so +much by the point they have reached, but by the fact and measure of the +progress they are making. Progress in likeness to Christ, progress in +following Him; progress in understanding His mind and learning His +lessons; progress ever from the performance and the failures of +yesterday to the new discipline of to-day,--this is Paul's Christianity. +In this world our condition is such that the business of every believer +is to go forward. There is room for it, need of it, call to it, +blessedness in it. For any Christian, at any stage of attainment, to +presume to stand still, is perilous and sinful. A beginner that is +pressing forward is a happier and a more helpful Christian than he is +who has come to a stand, though the latter may seem to be on the borders +of the land of Beulah. The first may have his life marred by much +darkness and many mistakes; but the second is for the present +practically denying the Christian truth and the Christian call, as these +bear on himself. Therefore the Apostle is bent upon progress. And here +we have his account of that which suggested itself to him as the best +kind of progress for these converts of his. + +The life of their souls, as he conceived it, depended on the operation +of one great principle, and he prays for the increase of that in +strength and efficacy. He desires that their love may abound more and +more. He was glad to think they had shown, all along, a loving +Christian spirit. He wished it to grow to its proper strength and +nobleness. + +No one doubts that, according to the Scriptures, love is the practical +principle by which the fruits of faith are brought forth. The Christian +character peculiarly consists in a Christlike love. The sum of the law +from which we fell is, Thou shalt love; and, being redeemed in Christ, +we find the end of the commandment to be love, out of a pure heart, and +a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. Redemption itself is a process +of love, setting forth from heaven to earth to create and kindle love, +and make it triumph in human hearts and lives. Every one that loveth is +born of God and knoweth God. No point is so well settled. Nobody doubts +it. + +Yet, alas! how many of us are truly aware of the great meaning which +apostolic words, which Christ's words, carry, when this is spoken of? or +how shall it be made inwardly and vividly present to us? In the heart of +Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us, was a great purpose to +awaken in human hearts a deep and strong affection, kindred to His +own--true, tender, steadfast, all-prevailing, all-transforming. +Apostles, catching the fire in their degree, were full of the wonder of +it, of the glad surprise and yet the sober reality of it; and they +carried about the gospel everywhere, looking to see men thrill into this +new life, and become instances of its strength and gladness. And we? +Let each man answer for himself. He is a happy man who can answer +clearly. What is it to have love for the inspiration of the heart and +the life: love submerging the lower cravings, love ennobling and +expanding all that is best and highest, love consecrating life into a +glad and endless offering? Which of us has that within him which could +break into a song, like the thirteenth chapter of Corinthians, rejoicing +in the goodness and nobleness of love? "That your love may abound." In +our tongue it is but one syllable. So much the easier for our perversity +to slide over the meaning as we read. But all our earthly life is too +short a space for learning how deep and how pertinent to ourselves this +business of love is. + +No doubt, the kindness the Philippians had shown to the Apostle, of +which he had been speaking, naturally prepares the way for speaking of +their love, as the verse before us does. But we are not to take the word +as referring only to the love they might bear to other believers, or, in +particular, to the Apostle. That is in the Apostle's mind; but his +reference is wider, namely, to love as a principle which operates +universally--which first holds lowly fellowship with the love of God, +and then also flows out in Christian affection towards men. The Apostle +does not distinguish these, because he will not have us to separate +them. The believer has been brought back in love to God, and having his +life quickened from that source he loves men. The manward aspect of it +is made prominent in the Bible for this reason, that in love towards +men the exercise of this affection finds the most various scope, and in +this way also it is most practically tested. The Apostle would not grant +to any of us that our profession of love to God could be genuine, if +love did not exert itself towards men. But neither would he suffer it to +be restricted in the other direction. In the present case he gladly +owned the love which his Philippian friends bore to himself. But he sees +in this the existence of a principle which may signalise its energy in +all directions, and is able to bear all kinds of good fruit. Therefore +his prayer fixes on this, "that your love may abound." + +Now here we must look narrowly into the drift of the prayer. For the +Apostle desires that love may abound and work in a certain manner, and +if it shall, he assures himself of excellent effects to follow. Perhaps +we may best see the reason which guided his prayer, if we begin with the +result or achievement he aimed at for his Philippian friends. If we can +understand that, we may the better understand the road by which he hoped +they might be carried forward to it. + +The result aimed at is this (vv. 10, 11): "that ye may be sincere and +without offence until the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of +righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of +God." The last end is the glory and praise of God. This, let us be +assured, is no mere phrase with the Apostle. All these things are real +and vivid to him. If he were to come among us, knowing us to be +professed believers, then, strange as some of us may think it, he would +actually expect that a great degree of praise and glory to God should +accrue out of our lives. The time he fixes on for the manifestation of +this, the time when it should be seen how this has come to pass, is the +day of Christ. That great day of revealing shall witness, in particular, +the consummate glory of Christ's salvation in His redeemed. And he prays +that unto that day and at that day they may be sincere, without offence, +filled with fruits of righteousness. + +_First_, sincere: that signifies simplicity of purpose, and singleness +of heart in following out that purpose. Sincere Christians cherish in +their hearts no views, no principles, adverse to the Christian calling. +The test of this sincerity is that a man shall be honestly willing to +let light shine through him, to evince the true character of his +principles and motives. Such a man is on the road to the final, +victorious, and eternal sincerity. For the present there may be within +him too much of that which hinders him, and mars his life. But if he is +set on expelling this, and welcomes the light which exposes it, in order +that he may expel it, then he has a real, present sincerity, and his +course is brightening towards the perfect day. + +_Second_, without offence. This is the character of the man who walks +without stumbling. For there are obstacles in the way, and they are +often unexpected. Grant a man to be in a measure sincere--the call of +the gospel has really won his heart. Yet as he goes, there fall in +trials, temptations, difficulties, that seem to come upon him from +without, as it were, and he stumbles: he fails to preserve the +uprightness of his life, and to keep his eye fixed with due steadiness +on the end of his faith. Suddenly, before he is well aware, he is almost +down. So he brings confusion into his mind, and guilt upon his +conscience; and in his bewilderment he is too likely to make worse +stumbles ere long. He who would be a prosperous Christian has not only +to watch against duplicity in the heart: he must give diligence also to +deal wisely with the various outward influences which strike into our +lives, which seem often to do so cruelly and unreasonably, and which +wear some false guise that we had not foreseen. Paul knew this in his +own case; and therefore he "studied to keep a conscience void of +offence." We may have wisdom enough for our own practice as to this, if +we know where to go for it. + +_Third_, filled with fruits of righteousness--which is the positive +result, associated with the absence of guile and the freedom from +stumbling. A tree that bears any fruit is alive. But one that is filled +with fruit glorifies the gardener's care. "Herein is My Father +glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples." +Distinct and manifold acts of faith and patience are the proper +testimonies of the soul that is sincere and without offence. + +This is the line of things which the Apostle desires to see running its +course towards the day of Christ. Now let us ask, In what circumstances +is the believer placed for whom Paul desires it? + +He is placed in a world that is full of adverse influences, and is apt +to stir adverse forces in his own heart. If he allows these influences +to have their way--if he yields to the tendencies that operate around +him, he will be carried on in a direction quite different from that +which Paul contemplates. Instead of sincerity, there will be the +tainted, corrupt, divided heart; instead of freedom from offence, there +will be many a fall, or even a complete forsaking of the way; instead of +fruits of righteousness filling the life, there will be "wild grapes." +On the other hand, if, in spite of these influences, the Christian is +enabled to hold his course, then the discipline of conflict and trial +will prove full of blessing. Here also shall the promise be fulfilled +that all things work together for good to them that love God. Strong +temptations are not overcome without sorrow and pain; but being +overcome, they turn out ministers of good. In this experience sincerity +clears and deepens; and the bearing of the Christian acquires a firmness +and directness not otherwise attainable; and the fruits of righteousness +acquire a flavour which no other climate could have developed so well. +This hard road turns out to be the best road towards the day of Christ. + +The effect, then, of the circumstances in which the believer is thus +placed will be according to the way in which he deals with them. But +plainly, to deal rightly with them, implies a constant effort of JUDGING +the things within him and without him, the world within and the world +without, that he may "approve what is more excellent"--that he may +choose the good and refuse the evil. Discerning, distinguishing, as to +opinions, influences, feelings, habits, courses of conduct, and so +forth, so as to separate right and wrong, spiritual and carnal, true and +false, must be the work in hand. There must be the prevailing practical +mind to elect and to abide by the proper objects of choice, to cleave to +the one and to put away the other. + +So we can understand very well, if the Philippians were to be sincere, +without offence, filled with fruits of righteousness, that they must, +and ever more and more searchingly and successfully, "approve the things +that are more excellent." The phrase is also rendered "try the things +which differ"; for the expression implies both. It implies such a +putting to proof of that which is presented to us, as to make just +distinctions and give to each its proper place--silver on the one side, +dross on the other. What is the whole life and business of the +Philippians, of any Christians, as Christians, but that of following out +perpetually a choice, on given principles, among the multitude of +objects that claim their regard? The fundamental choice, arrived at in +believing, has to be reiterated continually, in a just application of it +to a world of varying and sometimes perplexing cases. + +When we have all this in view it is easy to understand the scope of the +Apostle's prayer about the growth and education of their love. _Out of +love this needed discrimination must come._ For + +1. No practical discriminations or determinations are of any worth in +God's sight except as they are animated by love, and, indeed, determined +by it. If a Christian should choose anything, or reject anything, yet +not in love, his choice as to the matter of fact may be right, but for +all that the man himself is wrong. + +2. Love alone will practically carry through such habitual +discrimination, such faithful and patient choice. Love becomes the new +instinct which gives life, spring, and promptitude to the process. When +this fails, the life of approving the things that are more excellent +will fail; the task will be repudiated as a burden that cannot be +endured. It may still be professed, but it must inwardly die. + +3. Nothing but love can enable us to see and to affirm the true +distinctions. Under the influence of that pure love (that arises in the +heart which God's love has won and quickened) the things which differ +are truly seen. So, and only so, we shall make distinctions according to +the real differences as these appear in God's sight. Let us consider +this a little. + +Evidently among the things that differ there are some whose +characteristics are so plainly written in conscience or in Scripture, +that to determine what should be said of them is matter of no difficulty +at all. It is no matter of difficulty to decide that murder and theft +are wrong, or that meekness, benevolence, justice are right. A man who +has never been awakened to spiritual life, or a Christian whose love has +decayed, can make determinations about such things, and can be sure, as +he does so, that as to the thing itself he is judging right. Yet in this +case there is no just apprehension of the real difference in God's sight +of the things that differ, nor a right mind and heart to choose or to +reject so as to be in harmony with God's judgment. + +And if so, then in that large class of cases where there is room for +some degree of doubt or diversity, where some mist obscures the view, so +that it is not plain at once into what class things should be +reckoned--in cases where we are not driven to a decision by a blaze of +light from Scripture or conscience--in such cases we need the impulse of +the love which cleaves to God, which delights in righteousness, which +gives to others, even to the undeserving, the brother's place in the +heart. Without this there can be no detection of the real difference, +and no assurance of the rectitude of the discrimination we make. + +Now it is in such matters that the especial proof and exercise of +religious life goes on. Here, for example, Lot failed. The beauty of the +fair and prosperous valley so filled his soul with admiration and +desire, that it chilled and all but killed the affections that should +have steadied and raised his mind. Had the love of the eternal and +supreme maintained its power, then in that day when God on the one hand +and Lot on the other looked down on the plain, they would have seen the +same sight and judged it with the same mind. But it was otherwise. So +the Lord lifted up His eyes and saw that the men of Sodom were wicked +and sinners before the Lord exceedingly; and Lot lifted up his eyes and +saw only that the plain was well watered everywhere, as the garden of +the Lord, as the land of Egypt. + +But the love of which the Apostle speaks is the breath of the upper +world and of the new life. It cleaves to God, it embraces the things +which God loves, it enters into the views which God reveals,--and it +takes the right view of men, and of men's interest and welfare. The man +that has it, or has known it, is therein aware of what is most material. +He has a notion of the conduct that is congruous to love's nature. What +love knows, it is the nature of love to practise, for it knows lovingly; +and at every step the practice confirms, establishes, and enlarges the +knowledge. So the genuine growth of love is a growth in knowledge (ver. +9)--the word implies the kind of knowledge that goes with intently +looking into things: love, as it grows, becomes more quick to see and +mark how things really are when tried by the true standard. Conversing +practically with the mind of God in the practice of life, love +incorporates that mind and judges in the light of it. This prepares a +man to detect the false and counterfeit, and to try the things that +differ. + +Not only in knowledge shall love grow, but "in all discernment," or +perception, as it might be rendered. There may be instances in which, +with our best wisdom, we find it hard to disentangle clear principles, +or state plain grounds which rule the case; yet love, growing and +exercised, has its percipiency: it has that accomplished tact, that +quick experienced taste, that fine sensibility to what befriends and +what opposes truth and right, which will lead to right distinctions in +practice. So you discriminate by the sense of taste things that differ, +though you can give no reason to another, but can only say, "I perceive +it." In this sense "he that is spiritual judgeth all things." + +For all this the aid of the Holy Spirit is held out to us, as we may see +in 1 John ii. He makes love to grow, and under that master influence +unfolds the needed wisdom also. So comes the wisdom "from above, which +is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of +mercy and of good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy" +(James iii. 17). It is hidden from many wise and prudent, but God has +often revealed it unto babes. + + + + +_HOW THE PHILIPPIANS SHOULD THINK OF PAUL AT ROME._ + + "Now I would have you know, brethren, that the things which + happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the + gospel; so that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the + whole prætorian guard, and to all the rest; and that most of the + brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more + abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear. Some indeed + preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: + the one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the + gospel: but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely, + thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds. What then? only + that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is + proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I + know that this shall turn to my salvation, through your + supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, + according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall + I be put to shame, but that with all boldness, as always, so now + also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by + death."--PHIL. i. 12-20 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_HOW THE PHILIPPIANS SHOULD THINK OF PAUL AT ROME._ + + +Having poured out his feelings about those dear friends and children in +the Lord at Philippi, the Apostle recognises corresponding feelings on +their part towards him. These must naturally be feelings of anxiety to +know how it was with him in body and spirit, and how far he had been +protected and sustained amid the dangers and sorrows of a prisoner's +lot. On this then he is glad to be able to give them good tidings. He +can do so, because he is in the hands of a wonder-working Lord, who +turns the shadow of death into the morning. Hence his history as well as +theirs (ver. 11) is moving towards the glory and praise of God. + +The Apostle's affairs had seemed to be full of trial to himself, all the +more that they bore so discouraging an aspect towards the cause to which +he was devoted. He had been for years a prisoner. The work of preaching +to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ had been stopped, +except as the narrow opportunities of a prisoner's life offered scant +outlets for it. He had, no doubt, his own share of experiences tending +to depress and embitter: for in his day philanthropy had not yet done +much to secure good treatment for men situated as he was. Still more +depressing to an eager soul was the discipline of delay: the slow, +monotonous months passing on, consuming the remainder of his life, while +the great harvest he longed to reap lay outside uncared for, with few to +bring it in. Meanwhile even the work done in Christ's name was largely +taking a wrong direction: those who under the Christian name preached +another gospel, and perverted the gospel of Christ, had a freer hand to +do their work. Paul, at least, had no longer the power to cross their +path. Ground on which he might have worked, minds which he might have +approached, seemed to be falling under their perverting influence. All +this seemed adverse--adverse to Paul, and adverse to the cause for which +he lived--fitted therefore to awaken legitimate concern: fitted to raise +the question why God's providence should thus depress the heart and +waste the life of an agent so carefully prepared and so incomparably +efficient. + +Most likely these things had tried the faith of Paul himself, and they +might distress and perplex his loving friends at Philippi. It was right +to feel that these providences were trying; but one might be tempted +also to conclude that they were in every sense to be lamented. So much +the better it was, therefore, that the Apostle could testify how here +also all things were working for good, and in particular were turning +out to be for the furtherance of the gospel. This was taking place in +two ways at least. + +First, Paul's imprisonment had become the means of bringing to the +knowledge of the gospel many who were not likely ever to hear of it in +any other way; for his bonds had become manifest in Christ in the +Prætorium, and in all other places. The precise meaning of the several +words here used has become matter of discussion; but the general result +is much the same whatever view is taken of the matters debated. The word +translated "palace" in the Authorised Version (Marg. Cæsar's Court) may +perhaps refer to the quarters of the guard, in the immediate +neighbourhood of the palace. Prisoners whose cases were in a special +manner reserved to the Emperor were sometimes confined there. And Paul, +whether actually confined there or not, must have come into contact with +the troops stationed there, for we know he had been delivered to the +captain of the guard (Acts xxviii. 16[1]). Then the "all others" (Marg. +of A.V.) may probably mean the rest of the Emperor's household (comp. +ch. iv. 22), and would naturally be connected with it in the minds of +men, so that a mere indication like this was enough. For, in a military +system such as that of the Empire was, the soldiers and officers of the +guard formed an important part of the household. That household, +however, was an immense affair, including hundreds or even thousands of +persons--mostly freedmen or slaves, performing all sorts of functions. + + [1] This, however, is omitted in critical editions. + +Paul, then, in charge of the guard, coming in contact with individuals +belonging to the various reliefs which successively had him in custody, +spoken of as one reserved to the judgment of the Emperor himself, became +known throughout the quarters of the guard, and to persons of the +household of every rank and class. In point of fact we know and can +prove from evidence external to the Bible that a few years later than +this (perhaps even earlier than this) there were members of the +household who were Christians. Before the end of the century a branch of +the family which then occupied the imperial throne seems to have joined +the Church, perhaps through the influence of a Christian nurse, who is +commemorated in an inscription still preserved. + +But how did his bonds "become manifest in Christ"? The words no doubt +mean that he became known extensively as a man whose bonds, whose +imprisonment, was for his adherence to the name and doctrine of Jesus +Christ. Let us consider how this would come about. + +There might, at first, be universal indifference with reference to the +cause of this prisoner's confinement. When his character and statements +led to some curiosity about him, men might find it difficult to +understand what the real nature of this mysterious case could be. For +while the charge, whatever form it took, was not yet a common one, we +may be very sure that the man struck people as profoundly different +from ordinary prisoners. For ordinary prisoners the one thing desirable +was release; and they employed every artifice, and exhausted every form +of influence and intrigue, and were prepared to sacrifice every scruple, +if only they could get free. Here was a man who pleaded for truth; his +own freedom seemed to be quite secondary and subordinate. So at last men +come to an understanding, more or less, of the real cause of his bonds. +They were bonds for Christ. They were the result of his adherence to the +faith of Christ's resurrection, and to the truths which that great event +sealed. They were connected with a testifying for Christ which had +brought him into collision with the authorities of his own nation, which +had set on Jews "everywhere" to "speak against" him (Acts xxviii. 22). +And in his imprisonment he did not lay down his testimony, but preached +with all his heart to every man who would hear him. This state of things +dawned upon men's minds, so far as they thought about him at all; it +became clear; it was "manifest in the Prætorium, and to all the others." + +One influence was at work which would at least direct attention to the +case. There were certainly Jews in the household; there were also Jews +in Rome who made it their business, for their worldly interest, to +establish connections in the household; and about this time Jewish +influence rose to the person nearest to Nero himself. There was +therefore a class of persons in the household likely to feel an interest +in the case. And on these most likely the influence of Jewish religious +authorities would be exerted to produce an unfavourable opinion of Paul. +It would be felt desirable that the Jews of the household should think +of Paul as no loyal Jew, as a seditious person, and of his opinions as +not legitimately pertaining to Jewish religion--as a religious belief +and practice which Judaism repudiated and denounced. Thus, while Paul's +case might begin to influence the guard, because members of it were +personally in contact with him, in the rest of the household there was a +class of persons who would feel an interest in discussing his case. One +way or another, some impression as to the peculiar character of it was +acquired. + +Now think how much was done when some view of the real nature of Paul's +bonds had been lodged in the minds of these men. Think what an event +that was in the mental history of some of these heathens of the old +world. Paul was, in the first place, a man very unlike the ordinary type +of movers of sedition. It seemed that his offence stood only in +religious opinions or persuasions; and that itself, precisely in Nero's +days, was a little singular to figure as the ground of political +imprisonment. He was persecuted and endangered for his faith, and he +neither denied nor disguised that faith, but spent all possible pains in +proclaiming it. This was new. He had a faith, resting professedly on +recent facts, which he proclaimed as indispensably necessary to be +received by all men. This was new. He seriously told men, any man and +every man, that their welfare must be attained through their being +individually transformed to a type of character of the unworldliest +type; he could press that alike on sordid Jews and gay young officers. +This was new. He was a man who, in place of the ordinary anxieties and +importunities of a prisoner, was ever ready to speak and plead in behalf +of Christ, that singular young Jew who had died thirty years before, but +whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And in all this, however it might strike +one as foolish or odd, there were tokens of an honesty, a sanity, and a +purity that could not be explained away. All this struck men who stood +near the centre of a world falling many ways into moral ruin, as +something strange and new. Paul's own explanation of it was in the one +word "Christ." So his bonds were manifest in Christ. + +A few of them might have heard previously of Christianity as a new and a +malignant superstition. But another conception of it reached them +through the bonds of Paul. This imprisoned man was a fact to be +accounted for, and a problem to be solved. In him was an influence not +wholly to be escaped, an instance that needed a new interpretation. Many +of them did not obey the truth, some did; but at least something had +become manifest that could not easily be got rid of again,--the +beginning, in their case, of that leaven which was eventually to +revolutionise the thinking and feeling of the world. Remember also that +most of these were men to whom Paul at liberty, speaking in synagogues +and the like, would have found no access, nor would he have come near +the circles to which their influence extended. But now, being +imprisoned, his bonds became manifest in Christ. + +Thus does it often come to pass that what seems adverse, proves to be on +our side. Fruit is not always borne most freely when the visible +opportunities of labouring are most plentiful. Rather the question is, +how the opportunities given are employed, and how far the life of the +labourer bears witness of the presence and power of Christ. + +But besides the direct impression on those who were outside, arising +from the fact of Paul's imprisonment, it became the means of stimulating +and reinforcing the labours of other Christians (ver. 14). It is not +hard to see how this might be. From Paul's bonds, and from the manner +and spirit in which they were borne, these brethren received a new +impression as to what should be done and what should be borne in the +service of Christ. They were infected with the contagion of Paul's +heroism. The sources of Paul's consecration and of his comfort became +more real to them; and no discouragement arising from pain or danger +could hold its ground against these forces. So they waxed confident. +While dangers that threaten Christians are still only impending, are +still only looming out of the unknown future, men are apt to tremble at +them, to look with a shrinking eye, to approach with a reluctant step. +Now here in the midst of those Roman Christians was Paul, in whom were +embodied the trouble accepted and the danger defied. At once Christian +hearts became inspired with a more magnanimous and generous spirit. +Wherever dangers and hardships are endured, even apart from +Christianity, we know how prompt the impulse is to rush in, to give +help, and to share burdens. How much more might it be so here. + + * * * * * + +Not that the impulse to evangelistic earnestness, arising from Paul's +presence in Rome, was all of this kind. It was not so. Some preached out +of goodwill, in full sympathy with the spirit that animated Paul's own +labours and sustained him in his trials. But some preached Christ out of +envy and spite, and supposed to add affliction to his bonds. How are we +to fit this into our notions of the Primitive Church? + +The truth is that, ever since the gospel began to be preached, unworthy +motives have combined with worthier in the administration and professed +service of it. Mixture of motive has haunted the work even of those who +strove to keep their motives pure. And men in whom lower motive and +worse motive had a strong influence have struck into the work alongside +of the nobler and purer labourers. So it has pleased God to permit; that +even in this sacred field men might be tried and manifested before the +judgment of the great day; and that it might be the more plain that the +effectual blessing and the true increase come from Himself. + +More especially have these influences become apparent in connection +with the divisions of judgment about Christian doctrine and practice, +and with the formation of parties. The personal and the party feelings +have readily allied themselves, in too many men, with a self-regarding +zeal and with envy or spite. And where these feelings exist they come +out in other forms besides their own proper colours and their direct +manifestation. More often they find vent in the way of becoming the +motive power of work that claims to be Christian--of work that ought to +be inspired by a purer aim. + +There were, as we all know, in the Church of those days powerful +sections of professed believers, who contested Paul's apostleship, +questioned his teaching, and wholly disliked the effects of his work. +Perhaps by this time the strain of that conflict had become a little +less severe, but it had not wholly passed away. We call these persons +the Judaisers. They were men who looked to Jesus Christ as the Messiah, +who owned the authority of His teaching, and claimed interest in His +promises. But they insisted on linking Christianity to Jewish forms, and +rules, and conditions of law-keeping, which were on various grounds dear +and sacred to them. They apprehended feebly the spirituality and +Divineness of Christ's religion; and what they did apprehend they wished +to enslave, for themselves and others, in a carnal system of rules and +ritual that tended to stifle and to bury the truth. With this there went +a feeling towards Paul of wrath fear, and antipathy. Such men there +were in Rome. Possibly there might even be a Christian congregation in +the city in which this type prevailed. At any rate, they were found +there. Before Paul's coming no very remarkable nor very successful +efforts to spread abroad the gospel in that great community had been +going on. But Paul's arrival made men solicitous and watchful. And when +it was seen that his presence and the enthusiasm that gathered round him +were beginning to give impulse and effect to the speaking of the word, +then this party too bestirred itself. It would not--could not--oppose +the carrying of the message of Christ to men. But it could try to be +first in the field; it could become active, energetic, dexterous, in +laying hold of inquiring and susceptible persons, before the other side +could do so; it could subject Paul to the mortification, _the deserved +mortification_, of failure or defeat, so far as these would be implied +in his seeing the converts going to the side which was not his side. +Evangelistic zeal awoke on these terms, and bestirred itself. And +sheaves that in other circumstances might have lain untended long +enough, were gathered now. + +This very same spirit, this poor and questionable zeal for Christ, still +works, and does so plentifully. The activities of Churches, the +alertness of Mission societies and agencies, still partake, in far too +many instances, of this sinister inspiration. We ought to watch against +it in ourselves, that we may overcome the evil and grow into a nobler +temper. As regards others, we may, in special cases, see the working of +such motives clearly enough, as Paul saw them at Rome. But usually we +shall do well, when we can, to impute the work of others to the better +side of their character: and we may do so reasonably; for as Christian +work is far from being all of it so pure and high as we might desire, on +the other hand, the lowly and loving temper of Christ's true followers +is very often present and operative when it is not easy for us to see +it. Let us believe it, because we believe in Him who worketh all in all. + +Now the Apostle, looking at this, is glad of it. He is not glad that any +men, professing Christ, give way to evil and unchristian tempers. But he +is glad that Christ is preached. There were cases in which he vehemently +contended with such persons--when they strove to poison and pervert +Christians who had learned the better way. But now he is thinking of the +outside world; and it was good that the making known of Christ should +gather strength, and volume, and extension. And the Apostle knew that +the Lord could bless His own message, imperfectly delivered perhaps, to +bring thirsty souls to Himself, and would not fail in His unsearchable +wisdom to care for those who came, and to lead them in the ways He +thought best. Let Christ be preached. The converts do not belong to the +denominations, but first of all to Christ. Neither is it appointed that +the denominations shall permanently hold those whom they bring in; but +Christ can hold them, and can order their future in ways we cannot +foretell. + +It is not true that the preaching of Christ serves no purpose and yields +no fruit, in cases where it is not carried on in the right, or the best +spirit. Indeed, God honours the pure, loving, lowly hearts, which He has +Himself cleansed; they are appropriate agents for His work, and often +receive a special blessing in connection with it. But God is not tied up +to give no success to men acting under wrong motives: at least, if we +are not to say He gives the success to them, yet in connection with them +He is well able to take success to Himself. Through strange channels He +can send blessings to souls, whatever He gives or denies to the unworthy +workmen. But perhaps the success which attends such preachers is not +remarkable nor very long continued. Souls truly gathered in will soon +get beyond their teaching. At any rate, it is a poor business to be +serving Christ upon the devil's principles. It cannot be good for +us--whatever good may sometimes come thereby to others. Let us purge +ourselves from such filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit. + +"Christ is preached." How glad the Apostle was to think of it! How he +longed to see more of it, and rejoiced in all of it that he saw! One +wonders how far the thoughts and feelings associated with these words in +Paul's mind, find any echo in ours. Christ is preached. The meaning for +men of that message, as Paul conceived it, grew out of the anguish and +the wonder of those early days at Damascus, and had been growing ever +since. What might Christ be for men?--Christ their righteousness, Christ +their life, Christ their hope; God in Christ, peace in Christ, +inheritance in Christ; a new creature, a new world; joy, victory--above +all, the love of Christ, the love which passes knowledge and fills us +with the fulness of God. Therefore also this was the burning conviction +in Paul's soul--that Christ must be preached; by all means, on all +accounts, Christ must be preached. The unsearchable riches of Christ +must be proclaimed. Certainly, whoever might do or not do, _he_ must do +it. He was to live for nothing else. "I Paul am made a minister of it." +"Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." + +Lastly, as to this, not only does he rejoice that Christ is announced to +men, but he has an assurance that this shall have a happy issue and +influence towards himself also. What is so good for others shall also be +found to contribute an added element of good to his own salvation; so +good and rich is God, who, in working wide results of Divine +beneficence, does not overlook the special case and interest of His own +servant. This work, from which the workmen would shut Paul out, shall +prove to pertain to him in spite of them; and he, as reaper, shall +receive here also his wages, gathering fruit unto life eternal. + +For it is characteristic of this Epistle (ii. 17; iv. 10, 18) that the +Apostle reveals to his Philippian friends not only his thoughts +concerning the great objects of the gospel, but also the desires and +hopes he had about his own experience of deliverance and well-being in +connection with the turns and changes of progressive providences. Here, +it is as if he said: "I confess I am covetous, not a little covetous, to +have many children in Christ: I would fain be a link in many a chain of +influences, by which all sorts of persons are reached and blessed in +Christ. And here where I sit confined, and am also the object of envy +and strife that are solicitous to baffle me, I can descry ties forming +between my influence in my prison and results elsewhere with which I +seem to have little to do. I can claim a something of mine, granted me +by my Lord, in the Christianity of those who are kept far from me, and +taught perhaps to doubt and dislike me. If I in my prison experience can +but live Christ, then all sorts of effects and reactions, upon all sorts +of minds, will have something in them that accrues as fruit to +Christ--and something also that accrues as my Lord's loving recognition +of me. Only do you pray--for this is a great and high calling--pray, you +who love me, and let the Lord in answer plentifully give His Spirit; and +then, while I lie here in the imprisonment which my Lord has assigned to +me, and in which He vitalises me, oh how fruitful and successful shall +my life be, what gain and wealth of salvation shall be mine! There shall +be fruit for an Apostle still, coming in ways I cannot follow; and in +it, and with it, the confirmation and deepening of my own eternal life. +It shall turn to my salvation." + +So the eager Apostle, caged and cabined, triumphed still in Christ, +assured that there was a way of dealing with his Lord's will, +discouraging as that might seem, in which it would reveal both +enlargement for the Kingdom and the most loving enrichment also for +himself. + +This is a commonplace of Christianity. Christians trust in Christ to +cause all to work for good. They know He can impart His most precious +gifts through what seem adverse providences. But it is a memorable +embodiment of this conviction that meets us in the Apostle's confidence, +that when Christ's providence outwardly stops his work, it not the less +pertains to Christ's wisdom to continue and extend his usefulness. The +applications of the same principle to various cases in which Christians +are trained through disappointment are innumerable. But mostly, even +when, in a way, we are open to the lesson, we take it too easily. We +forget that here also it is Christlike life and life in Christ that +proves so fruitful and so happy. We do not apprehend how great a thing +it is--what prayer it asks--what supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. +For the Apostle, as we learn from what presently follows, this blessing +came in the line of "earnest expectation and hope." It was not an +exceptional effort of faith which awoke in him so firm a confidence +about his circumstances at Rome, and was rewarded so manifestly. His +whole life was set on the same key. He applied to that Roman experience +the same mode of view which he strove to apply to every experience. This +was his expectation--he was on the outlook for it--and this his hope, +that not only in one great crisis, but all along his pilgrimage, his +life should _eventuate_ one way--should shape into glory to Christ. His +whole life must turn out to be a loving, believing, effectual +manifestation of the greatness and goodness of Christ. This was what +rose before his mind as SUCCESS IN LIFE. His thoughts, his prayers +turned this way. As some men's minds turn spontaneously to money, and +some to family prosperity, and some to fame, and some to various lines +of recreation or of accomplishment, so Paul's turned to this. And in +this world of failure and disappointment, success welcomed him and +gladdened him. His would have been the nobler life even if its +expectation had been disappointed. But this is the life which cannot +fail, because God is in it. + +There is a great admonition here for all of us who profess to be +followers of Christ. Our line of service may not be so emphatically +marked out for distinction, for special and exceptional eminence of +doing and suffering, as Paul's was. But for every believer the path of +service opens, however commonplace and undistinguished its scenery may +be. And in some of its stages it takes, for all of us, the peculiar +character, it assumes the distinguishing features which mark it out as +Christian. Here, in Paul, we see the spirit that should inspire +service, should make the strength, the peculiarity, the success of it, +should be the quickening and gladdening influence of its efforts and its +prayers. This ought to be for us also the longing outlook and the hope. + +Let us note also, before we pass on, that the Lord's personal kindness +to ourselves is matter of legitimate rejoicing and legitimate desire. +That may be gathered from almost every verse. There have been persons +who conceived that a true Christian is to be so occupied with the +thought of God's glory and will, or so occupied with the weal of others, +as to have no personal desires or interests at all. This is a mistake. +One of the most intimate and special channels in which the glory of God +and the revelation of it are secured, is in the expression of His +goodwill to His child's own heart. This is the privilege of faith, to +cherish the expectation that His glory and our good are to agree well +together. Only, as to the latter, let us leave it to Him how it is to +come to pass; and then it will come divinely and wonderfully. "The Lord +is my shepherd, _I_ shall not want." + + + + +_THE CHOICE BETWEEN LIVING AND DYING._ + + "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if to live in + the flesh,--if this is the fruit of my work, then what I shall + choose I wot not. But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the + desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better: yet + to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake. And having + this confidence, I know that I shall abide, yea, and abide with you + all, for your progress and joy in the faith; that your glorying may + abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you + again."--PHIL. i. 21-26 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_THE CHOICE BETWEEN LIVING AND DYING._ + + +At the close of the preceding section we see that the ruling principle +of the Apostle--the earnest expectation and hope which inspired his +life--came into special exercise at this time with reference to the +possibility, and the likelihood, of an early and violent death. Dying +for the name of the Lord Jesus, as well as enduring imprisonment for +Him, might be near. He might not only be straitened in his labours, and +secluded from the activities connected with his loved work on earth, but +might be completely and finally withdrawn from it by Roman doom and +execution. The Apostle's faith looked steadily at this final +possibility. As at all times, so now also, Christ should be magnified in +him, whether by life or by death. + +Now, when some great alternative of the future rises before a +Christian,--some possibility which God's providence may turn either +way,--it is natural that he should look heedfully to it, that he may +order aright his faith and patience as the day of decision draws near. +And it is natural in particular that his thoughts should be occupied by +the consideration how far the one way of it is in itself more attractive +to him than the other. For in view of that he has to watch his heart, +that as to what seems more attractive he may not desire it idolatrously, +nor let his heart be "overcharged" with it if it is realised; and that +as to what seems less attractive he may await God's will with submission +and faith, and welcome it, if so it come to pass, with sincerity. So +also the Apostle fixes his eye, ponderingly, on this alternative of life +or death, so strongly suggested by his circumstances. But, as it were, +with a smile he recognises that to a man standing, as he did, in the +light of Christ, it was hard to say which should attract him most. Life +and Death--what had they once been to him? what were they still to many? +To live, self--self pleased, provided for, contended for, perhaps +fighting for itself a losing battle with a bitter heart; to die, a dark, +dire necessity, full of fear and doubt. But now, to live is Christ. In +all life as it came to him, in all its various providences, he found +Christ; in all life, as it fell to him to be lived, he found the +circumstances set for him and the opportunity given to follow Christ; in +all the attraction and all the pressure, the force and strain of life, +he found the privilege of receiving Christ and employing Christ's grace, +the opportunity for living by the faith of the Son of God. That was all +very real to him: it was not only a fine ideal, owned indeed but only +distantly and dimly descried; no, it was a reality daily fulfilled to +him. To live was Christ, with a support, an elevation, and a love in it +such as the world knows not. That was good, oh how good! And then to die +was better: to die was gain. For to die, also, was "Christ"; but with +many a hindrance passed away, and many a conflict ended, and many a +promise coming into fulfilment as here it could not do. For if, as to +his own interest and portion, he lived by hope, then death was a long +step forward into possession and realisation. By grace Paul was to show +how he valued Christ; he was to show it in his life. And Christ was to +show His care for Paul--in this life, no doubt, very lovingly; but more +largely and fully at his death. To live is Christ--to die is gain; to be +all for Christ while I live, to find at length He is all for me when I +die! + +Which should he prefer, which should he pray for (subject to God's +will), which should he hope for, life or death? The one would continue +him in a labour for Christ, which Christ taught him to love. The other +would bring him to a sinless and blessed fellowship with Christ, which +Christ taught him to long for. Looking to the two, how should he order +his desires? + +It is because he speaks as one always does speak who is pondering +something--the words rising, as it were, from what he sees before +him--that he speaks so elliptically in ver. 22. "But if to live in the +flesh come to me, as its fruit and reward bringing...." What? The +Apostle sees, but does not say: something that might well reconcile him +to prolonged toil and suffering. But why produce the considerations on +either side, why balance them against one another? It is too long, too +difficult a process. And how can even an apostle confidently judge as to +better or best here? "And what I shall choose, really I do not know." +But this he knows, that so far as his own desires are concerned, so far +as the possible futures draw his spirit, he is in a strait between two, +having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far better; +and yet that he should continue in the flesh is of more imperative +necessity for the sake of friends like the Philippians. + +Not every Christian is in the state of mind which would naturally +express itself as a desire forthwith to depart and be with Christ. The +great hope claims its place in every Christian heart; but not in every +case so as to inspire the longing to overleap all intermediate stages. +Rather must we not say that there are periods of Christian experience, +as there are also casts of character, for which it is more usual and +natural to desire, if it be God's will, some further experience of life +on earth? If this be immature Christianity, we will not, therefore, +judge that it cannot be genuine. + +Yet to be ready, and, subject to God's will, desirous to depart, is an +attainment to be aimed at and made good. Sooner or later it should come. +It lies in the line of ripening Christian affection and growing +Christian insight. For this is better. It is not that life in this world +is not good: it is good, when it is life in Christ. It has its trials, +its conflicts, and its dangers; it has also its elements of defect and +evil: yet it is good. It is good to be a child of God in training for a +better country; it is good to be one who carries the life of faith +through the experiences of time. And, for some especially, there is a +strong and not an unworthy attraction in the forms of exercise which +open to us just in such a life as this, under the guarantee and the +consecration of Christ. Knowledge opens its career, in which many a +generous mind is drawn to prove its powers. Love, in all the variety of +its calmer and its more ardent affections, sends a glow through life +which gladdens it with promise. The tasks which call for practical +effort and achievement stir vigorous natures with a high ambition. And +when all these spheres are illuminated by the light, and dominated by +the authority, and quickened for us by the love of Christ, is not life +on those terms interesting and good? True, it is destined to disclose +its imperfection. Our knowledge proves to be so partial; our love is so +sorely grieved, so often bereaved, sometimes it is even killed; and +active life must learn that what is crooked cannot wholly be made +straight, and that what is wanting cannot be numbered. So that life +itself shall teach a Christian that his longings must seek their rest +further on. Yet life in Christ here upon the earth is good: let us say +no unkind word of those who feel it so,--whose hearts, with true loyalty +to Christ, would yet if it be His will put life fully to the proof +before they go. Still, this must be said and pressed--let it be +joyfully believed--that to depart is better. It is _far_ better. It is +better to be done with sin. It is better to be where all hopes are +fulfilled. It is better to rise above a scene in which all is +precarious, and in which a strange sadness thrills through our happiness +even when we possess it. To be where Christ most fully, eminently, +experimentally is, that is best. Therefore it is better to depart. Let +mortality be swallowed up of life. + +It is not only better, so that we may own it so to be as a certainty of +faith; but also so that we may and ought to feel it warming and drawing +the heart with delight and with desire. It is not needful that we should +judge more hardly of life on earth; but we might attain a far more +gladdening appreciation of what it must be to be with Christ. With no +rebellion against God's appointment when it keeps us here, and no +grudging spirit towards earth's mercies and employments, we might yet +have this thought of departing in God's time as a real and bright hope; +a great element of comfort and of strength; a support in trouble; an +elevating influence in times of gladness; an anchor of the soul, sure +and steadfast, entering into that which is within the veil. + +The hope of the gospel implies it. If that hope is ours and is duly +cherished, must it not assert itself and sway the heart, so as more and +more to command the life? + +The earnest of the Spirit implies it. Of the very substance of the life +eternal a foretaste comes, in the presence and grace of the Spirit of +love and comfort. Can that be with us, can that leaven work duly in our +hearts, and not awaken longing for the full entrance into so great a +good? It may be expected of us Christians that we should lift up our +heads because redemption is drawing nigh. + +As for the Apostle, however, if the choice were his, he felt that it +must fall in favour of still cleaving to the present life; for this, +though less attractive to himself, was more necessary for the Churches, +and, in particular, for his friends at Philippi. This was so clear to +him that he was persuaded his life would, in fact, be prolonged by Him +who appoints to all their term of ministry. Probably we are not to take +this as a prophecy, but only as the expression of a strong persuasion. +Work still lay before him in the line of training and cheering these +believing friends, furthering and gladdening their faith. He hoped to +see them yet, and to renew the old glad "fellowship" (ch. i. 5). So +there should be for the Philippians fresh matter of exultation,--exultation +primarily in the great salvation of Christ, but yet receiving impulse and +increase from the presence and ministry of Paul. Mainly, they would be +exceeding glad of Christ; but yet, subordinately, exceeding glad of Paul +also. + +It is a striking thing to see how confident the Apostle was of the +resources given to him to wield. He knew how profitable and how +gladdening his coming would be to the Philippian believers. He admits +no doubt of it. God has set him in the world for this, that he may make +many rich. Having nothing, he yet goes about, as one possessing all +things, to impart his treasures to all kinds of people. To disguise this +would be for him mock humility; it would be a denying of his Master's +grace. When ministers of Christ come aright to this impression of their +own calling, then they are also powerful. But they must come to it +aright. For it was not the Apostle's consciousness of himself, but his +consciousness of his Master, that bred this superb confidence, this +unabated expectation. In subordination to that faith the Apostle no +doubt had specific reason to know that his own personal mission was of +the highest importance, and was designed to accomplish great results. +Ordinary ministers of Christ do not share this peculiar ground of +confidence. But no one who has any kind of mission from Christ can +discharge it aright if he is destitute of the expectancy which looks +forward to results, and, indeed, to momentous results; for the reapers +in Christ's harvest are to "gather fruit unto life eternal." To cherish +this mood, not in the manner of a vain presumption, but in the manner of +faith in a great Saviour, is the practical question for gospel +ministers. + +Alike in the utterance of his mind about his Philippian friends, and in +his explanations about himself, it is remarkable how thoroughly the +Apostle carries his faith through the whole detail of persons and +things. The elements and forces of the Kingdom of God are not for him +remote splendours to be venerated from afar. To his faith they are +embodied, they are vitally and divinely present, in the history of the +Churches and in his own history. He sees Christ working in the +Philippian believers; he sees in their Christian profession and service +a fire of love caught from the love of Christ--the increase and triumph +of which he anticipates with affectionate solicitude. The tender mercies +of Christ are the element in which he and they are alike moving, and +this blessedness it is their privilege assiduously to improve. So he was +minded in regard to all the Churches. If in any of them the indications +are feeble and dubious, only so much the more intently does he +scrutinise them, to recognise, in spite of difficulty, that which comes +and only could come from his Master's Spirit. If indications too +significant of a wholly different influence have broken out, and demand +the severest rebukes, he still casts about for tokens of the better +kind. For surely Christ's Spirit is in His Churches, and surely the seed +is growing in Christ's field towards a blessed harvest. If men have to +be warned that naming the name of Christ they may be reprobates, that +without the Spirit of Christ they are none of His, this comes as +something sad and startling to be spoken to men in Christian Churches. +So also in his own case--Christ is speaking and working by him, and all +providences that befall him are penetrated by the love, the wisdom, and +the might of Christ. In nothing is the Apostle more enviable than in +this victoriousness of his faith over the earthly shows of things, and +over the unlikelihoods which in this refractory world always mask and +misrepresent the good work. We, for our part, find our faith continually +abashed by those same unlikelihoods. We recognise the course of this +world, which speaks for itself; but we are uncertain and discouraged as +to what the Saviour is doing. The mere commonplaceness of Christians, +and of visible Christianity, and of ourselves, is allowed to baffle us. +Nothing in the life of the Church, we are ready to say, is very +interesting, very vivid, very hopeful. The great fire burning in the +world ever since Pentecost is for us scarcely recognisable. We even take +credit for being so hard to please. But if the quick faith and love of +Paul the prisoner were ours, we should be sensitive to echoes and +pulsations and movements everywhere,--we should be aware that the voice +and the power of Christ are everywhere stirring in His Churches. + + + + +_UNDAUNTED AND UNITED STEADFASTNESS._ + + "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, + that, whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your + state, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving for + the faith of the gospel; and in nothing affrighted by the + adversaries: which is for them an evident token of perdition, but + of your salvation, and that from God; because to you it hath been + granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but + also to suffer in His behalf: having the same conflict which ye saw + in me, and now hear to be in me."--PHIL. i. 27-30 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_UNDAUNTED AND UNITED STEADFASTNESS._ + + +At ver. 27 the letter begins to be hortative. Up to this point the +Apostle has been taking the Philippians into his confidence, in order +that they may share his point of view and see things as He sees them. +Now he begins more directly to call them to the attitude and work which +become them as Christians; but up to ver. 30 the sense of the dear tie +between him and them is still very present, colouring and controlling +his exhortations. + +"Be assured," he has been saying, "that by the grace of God, abounding +amid trials, it is well with me; and I have very good hope of yet again +enjoying this honour, that through my means it may be well with +you:--_only_ fix you on this, let this be your concern, to walk as it +becomes the gospel: this is the ground on which you must win your +victory; this is the line on which alone you can make any effectual +contribution to our common welfare, and that of all the Churches." So +the Apostle urges. For, let us be assured of it, while we debate with +ourselves by what efforts and in what lines we can do some stroke of +service to the good cause, or to some special representative of it, +after all the greatest and weightiest thing by far that we can do is to +be thoroughly consistent and devoted in our own Christian walk, living +lives answerable to the gospel. + +The original suggests that the Apostle thinks of the Philippians as +citizens of a state, who are to carry on their life according to the +constitution and laws of the state to which they belong. That +citizenship of theirs, as we shall afterwards see, is in heaven (ch. +iii. 20), where Christ their head is gone. The privilege of belonging to +it had reached them through the call of God. And it was their business +on the earth to act out the citizenship, to prove the reality of it in +their conduct, and to manifest to the world what sort of citizenship it +is. Now the standard according to which this is to be done is the gospel +of Christ--the gospel, not only as it contains a code of rules for +practice, but as it reveals the Saviour to whom we are to be conformed, +and discloses a Divine order of holiness and grace to the influence of +which our souls are to bow. And indeed, if our thinking, and speaking, +and acting held some proportion to the gospel we profess to believe; if +they corresponded to the purity, the tenderness, the Divine worth of the +gospel; if from step to step of life we were indeed building ourselves +on our most holy faith, what manner of persons should we be? This opens +more fully in the next chapter. + +But we are tried by circumstances; and the same Christianity will take +different manifestations according to the circumstances in which it is +unfolded. For every Christian and for every Christian community much +depends on the shaping influence of the providences of life. The +Apostle, therefore, must have regard to the circumstances of the +Philippians. We are all ready, commonly, to exert ourselves, as we say, +to "improve our circumstances"; and, in one view, it is natural and +fitting enough. Yet it is of more importance--much more--that in the +circumstances as they stand we should bear ourselves in a manner worthy +of the gospel. Some of us are ready to stir heaven and earth in order +that certain unwelcome conditions of our lot may be altered or +abolished. It would be more to the point to walk with God under them as +long as they last. When they have passed away, the opportunity for +faith, love, and service which _they_ have furnished will have passed +away for ever. + +The Apostle, therefore, specifies what he wished to see or hear of in +the Philippian Church, as proper to the circumstances in which they +stood. He calls for steadfastness as against influences that might shake +and overthrow, put in motion against them by the enemies of the gospel. + +The words suggest the strain of the situation as it was felt in those +small early Churches. It is difficult for us adequately to conceive it. +There was the unfriendly aspect both of Roman law and of public opinion +to unauthorised religious fraternities; there was the hostility of +ardent Jews, skilful to stir into activity enmities which otherwise +might have slumbered; there was the jealousy of religious adventurers of +all kinds with whom that age was becoming rife. But besides, there was +the immense pressure of general unbelief. Christianity had to be +embraced and maintained against the judgment and under the cool contempt +of the immense majority, including the wealth, the influence, the +wisdom, the culture--all that was brilliant, imposing, and conclusive. +This temper was disdainful for the most part: it became bitter and +spiteful if in any instance Christianity came near enough to threaten +its repose. It found, no doubt, active interpreters and representatives +in every class, in every family circle. Christianity was carried forward +in those days by a great spiritual power working with the message. It +needed nothing less than this to sustain the Christian against the +deadweight of the world's adverse verdict, echoing back from every +tribunal by which the world gives forth its judgments. Then, every +feeling of doubt, or tendency to vacillate, created by these influences, +was reinforced by the consciousness of faults and failings among the +Christians themselves. + +Against all this faith held its ground, faith clinging to the unseen +Lord. In that faith the Philippians were to stand fast. Not only so; +looking on "the faith" as if it were a spiritual personality, striving +and striven with, they were to throw their own being and energy into +the struggle, that the cause of faith might make head and win fresh +victories. The faith is knocking at many doors, is soliciting many +minds. But much depends on ardent and energetic Christians, who will +throw their personal testimony into the conflict, and who will exert on +behalf of the good cause the magic of Christian sympathy and Christian +love. So they should be fellow-athletes contending on the side of faith, +and in the cause of faith. + +In our own day a livelier sense has awakened of the obligation lying +upon Christians to spend and be spent in their Master's cause, and to be +fellow-helpers to the truth. Many voices are raised to enforce the duty. +Still, it cannot be doubted that in most cases this aspect of the +Christian calling is too languidly conceived and too intermittently put +in practice. And many in all the Churches are so little qualified to +labour for the faith, or even stand fast in it, that their Christianity +is only held up externally by the consent and custom of those about +them. + +At this point and in this connection the Apostle begins to bring forward +the exhortation to peace and unity which goes forward into the following +chapter. Apparently no steadfastness will, in his view, be "worthy of +the gospel," unless this loving unity is added. If there was a common +instinct of worldliness and unbelief, giving unity to the influences +against which the Philippians had to contend, the operation of a mighty +uniting influence was to be expected on the other side, an influence +Divine in its origin and energy. The subject is brought forward, one +can see, in view of tendencies to disagreement which had appeared at +Philippi. But it was a topic on which the Apostle had intensely strong +convictions, and he was ever ready to expatiate upon it. + +We need not be surprised at the earnestness about peace and unity +evinced in the Epistles, nor think it strange that such exhortations +were required. Consider the case of these early converts. What varieties +of training had formed their characters; what prejudices of diverse +races and religions continued to be active in their minds. Consider also +what a world of new truths had burst upon them. It was impossible they +could at once take in all these in their just proportions. Various +aspects of things would strike different minds, and difficulty must +needs be felt about the reconciliation of them. In addition to theory, +practice opened a field of easy divergence. Church life had to be +developed, and Church work had to be done. Rules and precedents were +lacking. Everything had to be planned and built from the foundation. The +very energy of the Christian faith tended to produce energetic +individualities. If all these things are weighed, instead of being +surprised at the rise of difficulties we may rather wonder how +interminable disagreement was averted. The temper of "standing fast" +might seem perhaps likely rather to aggravate than to alleviate some of +these sources of discord. + +On the other hand, to the Apostle's mind a glorious unity was one +especial mark of the triumph of the Kingdom of God. That expressed the +victory in all the members of the new society of one influence +proceeding from one Lord; it expressed the prevalence of that new life +the chief element of which is the uniting grace, the grace of love. It +should not be difficult to understand the value which the Apostle set on +this feature in the life of Churches, how he longed to see it, how he +pressed it so ardently on his disciples. Sin, dividing men from God, had +divided them also from one another. It introduced selfishness, +self-seeking, self-worship, self-assertion, everything that tends to +divide. It rent men into separate interests, societies, classes, +worships; and these stood over against one another isolated, jealous, +conflicting. Men had long ago ceased to think it possible to have things +otherwise ordered. They had almost ceased to desire it. How eminently +then did the glory of the redemption in Christ appear in the fact that +by it the dispersed out of all kinds of dispersion were gathered into +one. They were bound to one another as well as to Christ: they became +more conscious of oneness than ever they had been of separation. It +testified to the presence and working of Him who made all, and from whom +all, by different paths, had gone astray. + +The means by which this unity was to be maintained was chiefly the +prevalence of the Christian affections in the hearts of believers--the +presence and power of that mind of Christ, of which more must be said in +connection with the following chapter. Certainly the Apostle regards +this as, at any rate, the radical security for unity in life and work, +and without it he does not suppose the unity for which he cares can +exist at all. In this connection it is worth observing that the unity he +is thinking of is chiefly that which should bind together the members of +those little communities which were rising up in various places under +his ministry. It is the harmony of those whose lot is cast in the same +place, who can influence one another, whose plain business it was to +confess Christ together. Wider unity was supposed indeed, and was +rejoiced in; but the maintenance of it had not yet become so much a +practical question. This continued to be the case for some time after +the Apostolic period. Men were anxious to hold each local congregation +together, and to avert local splits and quarrels. If that were done, it +seemed as though nothing further were urgently needed. + +Yet the same principles establish the unity of the visible Church +throughout the world, and indicate the discharge of the duties which are +necessary in order to the expression of it. Christians differ indeed +among themselves upon the question how far the Church has received +organic institutions fitted to give expression or embodiment to her +unity; and diversity of judgment on that point is not likely soon to be +removed. For the rest the main thing to observe is that Christ's Church +_is_ one, in root and principle. This applies not only to the Church +invisible, but to the Church visible too. Only the latter, as she falls +short in all service and attainment, falls short also in expressing her +own unity and in performing the duties connected with it. On the one +hand they err who think that because the state of the visible Church is +marred by divisions, therefore unity in her case is a dream, and that +the unity of the Church invisible is alone to be asserted. On the other +hand they err who, on much the same grounds, conclude that only one of +the organised communions can possess the nature and attributes of the +visible Church of Christ. The visible Churches are imperfect in their +unity as they are in their holiness. In both respects their state is +neither to be absolutely condemned nor to be absolutely approved. And no +one of them is entitled to throw upon the rest all the blame of the +measure of disunion. Any one that does so becomes a principal fomenter +of disunion. + +This is too wide a subject to follow further. Meanwhile it may be +gathered from what has been said that the most direct application of the +Apostle's language must be, not to the mutual relations of great +communions, but to the mutual relations of Christians in the same local +society. There is great room for such an application of it. Exaggerated +statements may sometimes be made as to the indifference of Christians in +modern congregations to one another's weal or woe; but certainly very +often self-will and bitter feeling are allowed to prevail, as if the +tender ties and solemn obligations of Christian fellowship had been +forgotten. And very often mutual ignorance, indifference, or silent +aversion mark the relations of those who have worshipped God together +for long years. Certainly there is either some element lacking in the +Christianity which is supposed to sustain Church life of this kind, or +else the temperature of it must be low. Hence it comes, too, that the +edification of Christians has so largely dissociated itself from the +fellowship of the Churches to which they still resort, and seeks support +on other lines. It was not so in those earliest Churches. The life and +growth of the Christians were nursed in the Church meetings. There they +gathered to read and sing and pray and break bread; to strengthen one +another against Pagan violence and seduction; to love one another, as +bound together by ties which Pagans never knew; to endure together the +scorn and wrong which Christ's name might bring upon them; and not +impossibly, after they had thus fought side by side, to die together one +triumphant martyr death. Similar conditions have more or less returned +again whenever the Churches have been tolerably pure and united, and +have at the same time been subjected to some sharp pressure of +persecution. + +They were to stand fast then in one spirit, cherishing that "spirit of +the mind" which is the immediate fruit of the working of the One Spirit +of God, the common gift of the Father. It is supposed that Christians +know what this is and can recognise it. But they might not be solicitous +enough to maintain it, and they might be betrayed into preferring a +spirit of their own. The Holy Spirit's influence, creating in each of +them the new spirit of the mind, would be the key to right conduct in +their common life. It would inspire a purer wisdom and a higher motive +than the flesh supplies. Recognising it in one another, they would find +themselves confirmed and cheered, established against external +opposition and internal strife. Too easily we content ourselves with +thoughts, words, and deeds which come only from our own private "spirit" +and which are governed by that. We are too careless of living in a +higher region. For the want of this some persons among us are infidels. +They think they can account for all they see in Christians from the +men's own spirit. Their cavil is by no means always true or fair; yet it +finds too much plausible support. + +The same unity in the one spirit, with its accompanying vitality, +gladness, and courage, was to characterise their active labours in the +gospel. Let it be remembered that men do not make this attainment in a +moment by stepping across some definite line. They grow into it by +sincerity of aim, and by steadfast endeavour in the strength of Christ. +In this way the "fellowship unto the gospel" (ver. 5), already so +happily characteristic of the Philippians, was to grow yet more in +cordiality, devotedness, and power. + +Meanwhile, what were they to make of the attacks directed against them +by those who hated the gospel? This was no doubt a very practical +question. Although persecution of the Christians had not yet revealed +the energy it was afterwards to assume, their lot was often hard +enough. The first burst of trial of this kind exerts a very depressing +influence on some minds: with others the prolonged endurance of it, +wearing out the spirit, is the more dangerous experience. Either way the +dark cloud is felt, suddenly or gradually, shutting out the sky. This +feeling of depression and dismay is to be steadfastly resisted. Enmity, +unpleasant and ominous as it may be, is not to perturb or move you. It +is not to be regarded as a reason for depression or an augury of defeat. +Far otherwise: here should be discerned and grasped a token of salvation +given by God Himself. + +It has been said that earthly prosperity was the promise of the Old +Covenant, but adversity that of the New. This is, at least, so far true, +that the necessity and benefit of chastening are very plainly set before +us. Such discipline is part of the salvation secured for us; it is +necessary to lead us aright to final well-being; and it will be +administered to God's children as He sees fit. When it comes, it does +not necessarily indicate special Divine displeasure, still less Divine +ill-will. It does indicate that we have lessons to learn, attainments to +make, and faults to be purged out; it indicates also that God is taking +loving pains with us for these ends. All these things ought to be very +certain to Christians. Yet some Christians, when their own turn comes, +find it very hard to believe so much. Pains, losses, and +disappointments, coming in the very forms they most deprecate, wear +such an unfriendly aspect, that they can only feel scorched and +affronted; and the hurt spirit breaks out in a querulous "Why?" To be so +thrown off our balance is a failure of faith. + +But Paul is occupied here with the spirit in which one special form of +trial is to be dealt with. Antipathy, contempt, and persecution are +bitter, very bitter to some sensitive souls; but when they come upon us +as followers of Christ, and for His sake, they have a consolation proper +to themselves. They are to be borne gladly, not only because all +chastening is guided by fatherly love and wisdom, but because this kind +of suffering is our glory. It comes to believers as part of their +fellowship with Christ; and it is such a part of that fellowship as +carries with it a peculiar power of assurance and confirmation. +Christians share with Christ the enmity of the world's unbelief, because +they share with Him the knowledge and love of the Father. If, indeed, by +indulging self-will and passion (though perhaps under religious forms) +we bring enmity on ourselves, then we suffer as evil-doers. But if we +suffer for righteousness, the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us. +Some share of suffering for Christ comes, therefore, as God's gift to +His children, and ought to be valued accordingly. + +As to the exact point of the Apostle's remark on the "token" of +perdition and of salvation, two views may be taken. In the line of what +has just been said, he may be understood to mean simply that when God +allows believers to suffer persecution for Christ's sake, it is a sign +of their salvation; just as, on the contrary, to be found opposing and +persecuting God's children is a sign and omen of destruction. As if he +said: "It is not you but they who have cause to be terrified: for lo! +thine enemies, O Lord, for lo! thine enemies shall perish." + +This is a scriptural view. Yet both here and in 2 Thess. i. 6 it is +perhaps more precise to say that for the Apostle the special sign of +salvation on the one side, and destruction on the other, is the patience +and calmness with which Christians are enabled to endure their trials. +This patience, while it is a desirable attainment on their part, is also +something secured for them and given to them by their Lord. It is very +precious and should be earnestly embraced. In this view the Apostle +says: "In no wise be terrified by your adversaries; and this +tranquillity of yours shall be a sign, on the one part, of your +salvation, and also, on the other part, if they repent not, of their +destruction. For this tranquillity is a victory given to you by God, +which endures when their malice is exhausted. Does it not tell of a +power working for you which mocks their malice, a power which is well +able to perfect your salvation as well as to overthrow the enemies of +God? So you find coming into experience that which beforehand was given +you by promise. It _was_ given you to believe in Christ, and also to +suffer for Him. Now that you find yourselves enabled to suffer for Him +so calmly, will not that become a sign to confirm all you have +believed?" For the tranquillity of spirit into which faith rises under +persecution is an evidence of the source from which it comes. Much may +be borne by resolute men for any cause in which they have embarked. But +very different from this striving of the human heart hardening itself to +bear, in order that an enemy's malice may not spy out its weakness, are +the calmness and patience given to God's children in the hour of trial. +That bespeaks an inward support more mighty than all sorrow. The +Divineness of it becomes still more conspicuous when it approves itself +as the One Spirit, triumphing in persons of diverse tempers and +characters. This has been a sign to many an unbeliever filling him with +rage and fear. And to the children of God it has been the Spirit +witnessing with their spirit that they _are_ His children. + +The Apostle will not allow it to be overlooked that in this point as in +others his Philippian friends and he are tied together in closest +fellowship. This conflict of theirs is the same which they had heard of +and seen as proceeding in his case too. Perhaps we may say of this that +it admonishes us not to think too meanly of our own Christian +experience, and of the questions and decisions which it involves. The +Apostle knew that his Philippian friends regarded his conflict as +something conspicuous and great. He was a standard bearer, on whom much +depended; and then, all the movements of his soul were magnanimous and +grand. But their own experience might seem petty--almost mean; their +trials not very serious, and their way of dealing with them at times so +halting and half-hearted, that it seemed an offence against humility to +make much account of them. If this was the true view, then also it must +be Christ's view; and so a very depressed way of looking at their +calling and their encouragements might set in. The Apostle will not +allow this. He thinks, and they are to think, that it is the same +question that is being fought out in their case as in his--the same +forces are arrayed against one another in both cases--and the victory in +both cases will be equally momentous. So he would quicken their sense of +the situation by the energy and vivacity of his own convictions. It is +unquestionable that Christians suffer much loss by indulging a certain +bastard humility, which leads them to underrate the solemnity of the +interest attaching to their own history. This renders them inattentive +to the serious eyes with which Christ their Master is looking down upon +it. + + + + +_THE MIND OF CHRIST._ + + "If there is therefore any comfort in Christ, if any consolation of + love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and + compassions, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having + the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing + through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each + counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his + own things, but each of you also to the things of others."--PHIL. + ii. 1-4 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_THE MIND OF CHRIST._ + + +In the verses last considered the Apostle had begun to summon his +Philippian friends to Christian duty. But so far his words bear the +character only of occasional exhortation, which falls naturally in as he +dwells upon his own circumstances and on theirs. Associated as they have +been and are, let there be no mistake as to the central bond between him +and them. Let the Philippian believers partake increasingly in his own +glowing apprehensions of the Christian calling. Let them abound in the +loving, steadfast, energetic, expectant life in which men are united who +have become acquainted with Christ. + +But he thinks fit to press the theme in a more set and deliberate way. +For it is no light thing to awaken in men's hearts a right impression of +what it is to be a Christian; or if it has been awakened, to nurse it to +due strength. These Christians possessed some insight into the world of +truth which held the mind of Paul; they had some experience of +evangelical impression: in these things they had a happy fellowship +with one another and with their great teacher. But all this must be +affirmed and embodied in the conflict and ministry of Christian life. It +must prove strong enough for that. Deeds are the true confession of our +faith; they are the verification of our religious experience. And in +this practical form we must overcome, not the temptations of other +people or other ages, but our own. There is no more dangerous working of +unbelief than that in which it never questions the doctrinal theory, but +renders our Christianity cold and slack, and leads us to indulge a +preference for a religion that goes easy. Could we but see as we are +seen, we should find this to be a matter of endless lamentation. + +Temptations to rivalry and discord were working at Philippi. We are not +obliged to think that they had gone very far; but one could see a risk +that they might go further. The Apostle has it in his heart to expel +this evil, by promoting the principles and dispositions that are opposed +to it. And in this work the Philippians themselves must embark with all +their might. + +It has been remarked already that causes are easily found to account for +rivalries and misunderstandings springing up in those primitive +Christian congregations. The truth is, however, that in all ages and +conditions of the Church these dangers are nigh at hand. Self-seeking +and self-exaltation are forms in which sin works most easily, and out of +these come rivalry and discord by the very nature of the case. Eager +grasping at our own objects leads to disregard of the rights and +interests of others; and thence come wars. Danger in this direction was +visible to the Apostle. + +It may be asked how this should be, if the Philippians were genuine and +hearty Christians, such as the Apostle's commendations bespeak them? +Here a principle comes to light which deserves to be considered. Even +those who have cordially embraced Christianity, and who have loyally +given effect to it in some of its outstanding applications, are +wonderfully prone to stop short. They do not perceive, or they do not +care to realise, the bearing of the same principles, which they have +already embraced, upon whole regions of human life and human character; +they do not seriously lay to heart the duties Christianity imposes or +the faults it rebukes in those departments. They are pleased to have won +so much ground, and do not think about the Canaanites that still hold +_their_ ground. So, in whole regions of life, the carnal mind is allowed +to work on, undetected and practically unopposed. This tendency is aided +by the facility we have in disguising from ourselves the true character +of dispositions and actions, when these do not quite plainly affront +Christian rules. Self-assertion and bad temper, for example, can put on +the character of honest firmness and hearty zeal. More particularly, +when religious principles have led us into certain lines of action, we +are apt to take for granted that all is right we do in those lines. +Religious zeal leads a man to take trouble and incur responsibility in +Church work. Under this notion, then, he readily persuades himself that +all his Church work is conscientious and disinterested: yet it may be +largely and deeply tainted with the impulses of the fleshly mind. In a +measure it might be so here. The Philippians might be generally a +company of sincerely Christian people. And yet the churchmanship of some +of them might disclose sad tokens of selfishness and bitterness. +Therefore they must be called to give heed to the principles and to give +effect to the motives that expel those sins. + +In all this we may feel ourselves in the region of commonplaces; we know +it all so well. But the very point in hand is that for the Apostle these +are not commonplaces. He is greatly in earnest about the matter, and his +heart is full of it. We do not understand him until we begin to +sympathise with his sorrow and his anxiety. This is for him no mere +matter of expediencies or of appearances. He is striving for the victory +of grace in the souls of his beloved friends; for the glory of Christ; +for his own comfort and success as Christ's minister. All these are, as +it were, at stake upon this question of the life of the Philippian +Church proving to be, under the influence of Christ, lowly, loving, and +answerable to the gospel. + +No one more than Paul appreciates the value of good theological +principles; and no one more than he lays stress on the mercy which +provides a gracious and a full salvation. But no one more than he is +intent upon Christian practice: for if practice is not healed and +quickened, then salvation ceases to be real, the promises wither +unfulfilled, Christ has failed. We may well feel it to be a great +question whether our own sympathy with him on such points is growing and +deepening. The Kingdom of God within us must exist in a light and love +for which goodness is a necessity, and evil a grief and heart-break. But +if it is not so with us, where do we stand? + +In four clauses the Apostle appeals to great Christian motives, which +are to give strength to his main appeal--"If there be any comfort (or +store of cheering counsel) in Christ Jesus, if any consolation of love, +if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies or compassions"; +in a fifth clause he draws a motive from the regard they might have for +his own most earnest desires--"fulfill ye my joy"; and then comes the +exhortation itself, which is to unity of mind and heart--"that ye be of +the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." +This, in turn, is followed by clauses that fix the practical sense of +the general exhortation. + +It has been made a question whether the Apostle means to say, "If there +be among you, Philippians, influences and experiences such as these," or +"If there be anywhere in the Church of God." But surely he means both. +He appeals to great practical articles of faith and matters of +experience. The Church of God believes them and claims a part in them. +So does the Church of Philippi, in its degree. But there may be a great +deal more in them than the Philippian believers are aware of,--more in +them as truths and promises; more in them as contemplated and realised +by riper Christians, like Paul himself. He appeals, certainly, to what +existed for the faith of the Philippians; but also to that "much more" +which might open to them if their faith was enlarged. + +The "comfort" or cheering counsel "in Christ" is the fulness of gospel +help and promise. Great need of this is owned by all believers; and, +coming as needed succour to them all, it may well bind them all together +in the sense of common need and common help. As it comes from the good +Shepherd Himself to all and each, so it is conceived to be ever sounding +in the Church, passing from one believer to another, addressed by each +to each as common succour and common comfort. Hence, in the next place, +there comes into view the mutual ministry of "consolation" which +Christians owe to one another, since they "receive" one another, and are +to do to one another as Christ has done to them. Here the consolation +acquires a special character, from the individual affection and +friendship breathed into it by the Christian, who carries it to his +neighbour to encourage and cheer him on his way. This love of the +Christian to his brother, which comes from God, is itself a means of +grace; and therefore the "consolation of love" deserves to be distinctly +named. + +The "fellowship of the Spirit" (see 2 Cor. xiii. 13) is the common +participation of the Holy Spirit of God in His gracious presence and +working. Without this no one could have a real share in Christian +benefits. The Spirit reveals to us the Son and the Father, and enables +us to abide in the Son and in the Father. He brings us into communion +with the mind of God as revealed in His word. He makes real to us the +things of the Kingdom of God; and it is He who opens to us their worth +and sweetness, especially the lovingkindness which breathes in them all. +Through Him we are enabled to exercise Christian affections, desires, +and services. It is He, in a word, through whom we are participant in +the life of salvation; and in that life He associates together all who +share His indwelling. The Apostle supposes that no Christian could ever +contemplate without, shall we say, a pang of gratitude, the +condescension, the gentleness, and the patience of this ministration. +And as all Christians are recipient together of so immense a benefit, +they might well feel it as a bond between them all. But more especially, +as the Holy Spirit in this dispensation evinces a most Divine love and +kindness--for what but love could be the spring of it?--so also the +upshot of all His work is the revelation of God in love. For love is at +the heart of all God's promises and benefits: they are never understood +until we reach the love that is in them. And God is love. So the love of +God is shed abroad in the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit +given to them. Hence this is the leading view of that which the Spirit +comes to do: He comes to make us members of a system in which love +rules; and He inspires all loving affections and dispositions proper to +make us congruous members of so high and good a world. + +Therefore, in the fourth place, it is to be supposed that "tender +mercies and compassions" in human breasts are abundant where the +fellowship of the Spirit is. How abundant they _might_ be: surely also +in some measure they must be present; they must abound, amid all human +infirmities and mistakes. All kinds of gentle, friendly, faithful, wise +and patient dispositions might be expected. They are the fruits of the +country in which Christians have come to dwell. + +To all these the Apostle appeals. Perhaps a pathos is audible in the +form of his appeal. "If there be any." Alas! is there then any? Is there +some at least, if not much? For if all these had been duly present to +the faith and in the life of the Church, they would have spoken their +lesson for themselves, and had not needed Paul to speak for them. + +The form of appeal "Fulfil ye my joy" brings up one more motive--the +earnest desires of one who loved them wisely and well, and whom they, +whatever their shortcomings, loved in turn. It is worth observing that +the motive power here does not lie merely in the consideration "Would +you not like to give me pleasure?" The Philippians knew how Paul had at +heart their true welfare and their true dignity. That which, if it came +to pass, would so gladden him, must be something great and good for +them. If their own judgment of things was cold, might it not take fire +from the contagion of his? The loving solicitude of a keener-sighted and +a more single-hearted Christian, the solicitude which makes his heart +throb and his voice tremble as he speaks, has often startled slumbering +brethren into a consciousness of their own insensibility, and awakened +them to worthier outlooks. + +In regard to all these considerations, the main point is to catch sight +of the moral and spiritual scenery as the Apostle saw it. Otherwise the +words may leave us as dull as they found us. For him there had come into +view a wonderful world of love. Love had come forth preparing at great +cost and with great pains a new destiny for men. Love had brought in +Paul and the other believers, one by one, into this higher region. And +it proved to be a region in which love was the ground on which they +stood, and love the heaven over their heads, and love the air they +breathed. And here love was coming to be their own new nature, love +responsive to the love of Father, Son, and Spirit, and love going out +from those who had been so blessed to bless and gladden others. This was +the true, the eternal goodness, the true, the eternal blessedness; and +it was theirs. This was what faith embraced in Him "who loved me and +gave Himself for me." This was what faith claimed right to be and do. If +this was not so, Christianity was reduced to nothing. If a man have not +love, he is nothing (1 Cor. xiii.). "Is there any truth at all in this +glorious faith of ours? Do you believe it at all? Have you felt it at +all? Fulfil then my joy." Unity of mind and of heart is the thing +inculcated. Under the influence of the great objects of faith and of the +motive forces of Christianity this was to be expected. Their ways of +thinking and their ways of feeling, however different, should be so +moulded in Christ as to reach full mutual understanding and full mutual +affection. Nor should they rest contented when either of these failed: +for that would be contentment with defeat; but Christ's followers are to +aim at victory. + +It is obvious to say here that cases might arise in which turbulent or +contentious persons might make it impossible for the rest of the Church, +however well disposed, to secure either one accord or one mind. But the +Apostle does not suppose that case to have arisen. Nothing had occurred +at Philippi which Christian sense and Christian feeling might not +arrange. When the case supposed does occur, there are Christian ways of +dealing with it. Still more obviously one might say that conscientious +differences of opinion, and that even on matters of moment, must +inevitably occur sooner or later; and a general admonition to be of one +mind does not meet such a case. Perhaps it may be said in reply that the +Church and the Christians have hardly conceived how much might be +attained in the way of agreement if our Christianity were sincere +enough, thorough enough, and affectionate enough. In that case there +might be wonderful attainment in finding agreement, and in dismissing +questions on which it is not needful to agree. But, if we are not to +soar so high as this, it may at least be said that, while conscientious +diversities of judgment are not to be disguised, they may be dealt with, +among believers, in a Christian way, with due emphasising of the truth +agreed upon, and with a prevailing determination to speak truth in love. +Here again, however, the Apostle recognises no serious difficulty of +this kind at Philippi. The difficulties were such as could be got over. +There was no good reason why the Philippians should not in their Church +life exhibit harmony: it would be so, if Christian influences were +cordially admitted into minds and hearts, and if they made a fit +estimate of the supreme importance of unity in Christ. The same thing +may be said of innumerable cases in later times in which Christians have +divided and contended. It is right to say, however, that these +considerations are not to be applied without qualification to all kinds +and degrees of separation between Christians. It is a cause for sorrow +that denominational divisions are so many; and they have often been both +cause and consequence of unchristian feeling. Yet when men part +peaceably to follow out their deliberate convictions, to which they +cannot give effect together, and when in doing so they do not unchurch +or condemn one another, there may be less offence against Christian +charity than in cases where a communion, professedly one, is the scene +of bitterness and strife. In either case indeed there is something to +regret and probably something to blame; but the former of the two cases +is by no means necessarily the worse. + +In following out the line of duty and privilege set before them by the +Apostle, Christians have to get the better of arrogance and selfishness +(vv. 3, 4). + +In the Church of Christ no man has a right to do anything from a spirit +of strife or vainglory. Strife is the disposition to oppose and thwart +our neighbour's will, either from mere delight in contest, or in order +to assert for our own will a prevalence which will gratify our pride; +and this is the animating principle of "faction." "Vainglory" is the +disposition to think highly of ourselves, to claim for ourselves a great +place, and to assert it as against the claims of others. In the jostle +of the world it may perhaps be admitted that forces acting on these +lines are not without their use. They compensate one another, and some +measure of good emerges from their unlovely energies. But such things +are out of place among Christians, for they are right against the spirit +of Christianity; and Christianity relies for its equipoise and working +progress on principles of quite another kind. Among Christians each is +to be lowly-minded, conscious of his own defects and of his ill-desert. +And this is to work in the way of our esteeming others to be better than +ourselves. For we are conscious of our own inward and deep defect as we +cannot be of any other person's. And it is abundantly possible that +others may be better than we are, and safe for us to give full effect +to that possibility. It is said, indeed, that we may possibly have +conclusive reason to believe that certain other persons, even in +Christ's Church, are worse than we are. But, apart from the +precariousness of such judgments, it is enough to say it is not for us +to proceed on such a judgment or to give effect to it. We all await a +higher judgment; until then it becomes us to take heed to our own spirit +and walk in lowliness of mind. + +Selfishness ("looking to its own things," ver. 4), as well as arrogance, +needs to be resisted; and this is an even more pervading and inward +evil. In dealing with it we are not required to have no eye at all to +our own things; for indeed they are our providential charge, and they +must be cared for; but we are required to look _not only_ on our own, +but every man on the things of others. We have to learn to put ourselves +in another's place, to recognise how things affect him, to sympathise +with his natural feelings in reference to them, and to give effect in +speech and conduct to the impressions hence arising. So a Christian man +is to "love his neighbour as himself"--only with a tenderer sense of +obligation and a consciousness of more constraining motive than could be +attained by the Israelite of old. Lovingly to do right to a brother's +claims and to his welfare should be as cogent a principle of action with +us as to care for our own. + +Arrogance and selfishness--perhaps disguised in fairer forms--had bred +the disturbance at Philippi. The same baleful forces are present +everywhere in all the Churches to this day, and have often run riot in +the House of God. How shall the ugliness and the hatefulness of the +every-day selfishness, the every-day self-assertion, the every-day +strifes of Christians, be impressed upon our minds? How are we to be +awakened to our true calling in lowliness and in love? + + + + +_THE MIND OF CHRIST (Continued)._ + + "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being + in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality + with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being + made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, + He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the + death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave + unto Him the name which is above every name; that in the name of + Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on + earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should + confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the + Father."--PHIL. ii. 5-11 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_THE MIND OF CHRIST (Continued)._ + + +It proves hard to make us aware of the sin and the misery involved in +the place commonly allowed to SELF. Some of its conspicuous outrages on +Christian decency we do disapprove and avoid: perhaps we have embarked +in a more serious resistance to its domination. Yet, after all, how +easily and how complacently do we continue to give scope to it! In forms +of self-assertion, of arrogance, of eager and grasping competition, it +breaks out. It does so in ordinary life, in what is called public life, +and, where it is most offensive of all, in Church life. Hence we fail so +much in readiness to make the case of others our own, and to be +practically moved by their interests, rights, and claims. There are +certainly great differences here; and some, in virtue of natural +sympathy or Christian grace, attain to remarkable degrees of generous +service. Yet these also, if they know themselves, know how energetically +self comes upon the field, and how much ground it covers. Many among us +are doing good to others; but does it never strike us that there is a +distant and arrogant way of doing good? Many in Christian society are +kind, and that is well; but undoubtedly there are self-indulgent ways of +being kind. + +Having to deal with this evil energy of self, the Apostle turns at once +to the central truth of Christianity, the person of Christ. Here he +finds the type set, the standard fixed, of what Christianity is and +means: or rather, here he finds a great fountain, from which a mighty +stream proceeds; and before it all the forms of self-worship must be +swept away. In bringing this out the Apostle makes a most remarkable +statement regarding the Incarnation and the history of our Lord. He +reveals, at the same time, the place in his own mind held by the thought +of Christ coming into the world, and the influence that thought had +exerted on the formation of his character. He bids us recognise in +Christ the supreme exemplification of one who is looking away from his +own things--whose mind is filled, whose action is inspired by concern +for others. This is so at the root of the interposition of Christ to +save us, that the principle becomes imperative and supreme for all +Christ's followers. + +We have to consider the facts as they presented themselves to the mind +of Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, that we may estimate the +motive which he conceives them to reveal, and the obligation which is +thus laid upon all who name the name of Christ and take rank among His +followers. + +The Apostle, let us first observe, speaks of the Incarnation as that +reveals itself to us, as it offers itself to the contemplation of men. +To involve himself in discussion of inner mysteries concerning the +Divine nature and the human, and the manner of their union, as these are +known to God, is not, and could not, be his object. The mysteries must +be asserted, but much about them is to continue unexplained. He is to +appeal to the impression derivable, as he maintains, from the plainest +statement of the facts which have been delivered to faith. This being +the object in view, determines the cast of his language. It is the +_manner_ of being, the _manner_ of living, the _manner_ of acting +characteristic of Christ at successive stages, which is to occupy our +minds. Hence the Apostle's thought expresses itself in phrases such as +"_form_ of God," "_form_ of a servant," and the like. We are to see one +way of existing succeeding another in the history of Christ. + +First, our Lord is recognised as already existing before the beginning +of His earthly history; and in that existence He contemplates and orders +what His course shall be. This is plain; for in the seventh verse He is +spoken of as emptying Himself, and thus assuming the likeness of men. +For the Apostle, then, it was a fixed thing that He who was born in +Nazareth pre-existed in a more glorious nature, and took ours by a +notable condescension. This pre-existence of Christ is the first thing +to consider when we would make clear to ourselves how Christ, being true +man, differs from other men. In this point Paul and John and the writer +to the Hebrews unite their testimony in the most express and emphatic +way; as we hear our Lord Himself also saying, "Before Abraham was, I +am," and speaking of the glory which He had before the world was. But +what manner of existence this was is also set forth. He "existed in the +form of God." The same word "form" recurs presently in the expression +"the form of a servant." It is distinguished from the words "likeness," +"fashion," which are expressed by other Greek terms. + +Frequently we use this word "form" in a way which contrasts it with the +true being, or makes it denote the outward as opposed to the inward. But +according to the usage which prevailed among thinking men when the +Apostle wrote, the expression should not be understood to point to +anything superficial, accidental, superimposed. No doubt it is an +expression which describes the Being by adverting to the attributes +which, as it were, He wore, or was clothed with. But the word carries us +especially to those attributes of the thing described which are +characteristic; by which it is permanently distinguished to the eye or +to the mind; which denote its true nature because they rise out of that +nature; the attributes which, to our minds, express the essence. So +here. He existed, how? In the possession and use of all that pertains to +the Divine nature. His manner of existence was, what? The Divine manner +of existence. The characters through which Divine existence is revealed +were His. He subsisted in the form of God. This was the manner of it, +the glorious "form" which ought to fix and hold our minds. + +If any one should suggest that, according to this text, the pre-existent +Christ might be only a creature, though having the Divine attributes and +the Divine mode of life, he would introduce a mass of contradictions +most gratuitously. The Apostle's thought is simply this: For Christ the +mode of existence is first of all Divine; then, by-and-by, a new form +rises into view. Our Lord's existence did not begin (according to the +New Testament writers) when He was born, when He was found in fashion as +a man, sojourning with us. He came to this world from some previous +state. One asks from what state? Before He took the form of man, in what +form of existence was He found? The Apostle answers, In the form of God. + +To Him, therefore, with and in the Father, we have learned to ascribe +all wisdom and power, all glory and blessedness, all holiness and all +majesty. Specially, through Him the worlds were made, and in Him they +consist. The fulness, the sufficiency, the essential strength of Godhead +were His. The exercise and manifestation of all these was His form of +being. One might expect, then, that in any process of self-manifestation +to created beings in which it might please Him to go forth, the +expression of His supremacy and transcendence should be written on the +face of it. + +The next thought is expressed in the received translation by the words +"thought it no robbery to be equal with God." So truly and properly +Divine was He that equality with God could not appear to Him or be +reckoned by Him as anything else than His own. He counted such equality +no robbery, arrogance, or wrong. To claim it, and all that corresponds +to it, could not appear to Him something assumed without right, but +rather something assumed with the best right. So taken, these words +would complete the Apostle's view of the original Divine pre-eminence of +the Son of God. They would express, so to say, the equity of the +situation, from which all that follows should be estimated. Had it +pleased the Son of God to express only, and to impress on all minds only +His equality with God, this could not have seemed to Him encroachment or +wrong. + +I think a good deal can be said for this. But the sense which, on the +whole, is now approved by commentators is that indicated by the Revised +Version. This takes the clause not as still dwelling on the primeval +glory of the Son of God, and what was implied in it, but rather as +beginning to indicate how a new situation arose, pointing out the +dispositions out of which the Incarnation came. "He counted it not a +prize to be on an equality with God." To hold by this was not the great +object with Him. In any steps He might take, in any forthgoings He might +enter on, the Son of God might have aimed at maintaining and disclosing +equality with God. That alternative was open. But this is not what we +see: no holding by that, no solicitude about that appears. His +procedure, His actings reveal nothing of this kind. What we see filling +His heart and fixing His regard, is not what might be due to Himself or +assumed fitly by Himself, but what might bring deliverance and +blessedness to us.[2] + + [2] Various shades of meaning have been proposed. Meyer, whose opinion + has weight, virtually interprets in this way: He did not reckon equality + with God (which was His) to imply or to be fitly exercised in + acquisition, or in accumulation of benefit to Himself: and Hofmann, + after supporting another view, appears (in his _Hist. Schrift. N. T._) + to agree with this. To be equal to God, and to put forth power for His + own enrichment, were for the Son very different things. The one He + possessed: the other He renounced. + +On the contrary, "He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, +being made in the likeness of men." In the Incarnation our Lord assumed +the "form" of a servant, or slave: for in the room of the authority of +the Creator, now appears the subjection of the creature. He who gave +form to all things, and Himself set the type of what was highest and +best in the universe, transcending meanwhile all created excellence in +His uncreated glory, now is seen conforming Himself to the type or model +or likeness of one of His creatures, of man. He comes into human +existence as men do, and He continues in it as men do. Yet it is not +said that He is now merely a man, or has become nothing but a man; He is +in the likeness of men and is found in fashion as a man. + +In taking this great step the Apostle says "He emptied Himself." The +emptying is perhaps designedly opposed to the thought of accumulation or +self-enrichment conveyed in the phrase "He counted it not a prize." +However this may be, the phrase is in itself a remarkable expression. + +It seems most certain, on the one hand, that this cannot import that He +who was with God and was God could renounce His own essential nature and +cease to be Divine. The assertion of a contradiction like this involves +the mind in mere darkness. The notion is excluded by other scriptures; +for He who came on earth among us is Immanuel, God with us: and it is +not required by the passage before us; for the "emptying" can at most +apply to the "form" of God--the exercise and enjoyment of Divine +attributes such as adequately express the Divine nature; and it may, +perhaps, not extend its sense even so far; for the writer significantly +abstains from carrying his thought further than the bare word "He +emptied Himself." + +On the other hand, we are to beware of weakening unduly this great +testimony. Certainly it fixes our thoughts on this, at least, that our +Lord, by becoming man, had for His, truly _for His_, the experience of +human limitation, human weakness and impoverishment, human dependence, +human subjection, singularly contrasting with the glory and plenitude of +the form of God. This became His. It was so emphatically real, it became +at the Incarnation so emphatically the form of existence on which He +entered, that it is the thing eminently to be regarded, reverently to +be dwelt upon. This emptiness, instead of that fulness, is to draw and +fix our regard. Instead of the form of God, there rises before us this +true human history, this lowly manhood--and it took place by His +emptying Himself. + +Various persons and schools have thought it right to go further. The +word here used has appeared to them to suggest that if the Son of God +did not renounce His Godhead, yet the Divine nature in Him must have +bereaved itself of the Divine attributes, or withheld itself from the +use and exercise of them; so that the all-fulness no longer was at His +disposal. In this line they have gone on to describe or assign the mode +of self-emptying which the Incarnation should imply. + +It does not appear to me that one can lay down positions as to the +internal privations of One whose nature is owned to be essentially +Divine, without falling into confusion and darkening counsel. But +perhaps we may do well to cherish the impression that this self-emptying +on the part of the eternal Son of God, for our salvation, involves +realities which we cannot conceive or put in any words. There was more +in this emptying of Himself than we can think or say. + +He emptied Himself when He became man. Here we have the eminent example +of a Divine mystery, which, being revealed, remains a mystery never to +be adequately explained, and which yet proves full of meaning and full +of power. The Word was made flesh. He through whom all worlds took +being, was seen in Judæa in the lowliness of that practical historical +manhood. We never can explain this. But if we believe it all things +become new for us: the meaning it proves to have for human history is +inexhaustible. + +He emptied Himself, "taking the form of a servant," or bondslave. For +the creature is in absolute subjection alike to God's authority and to +His providence; and so Christ came to be. He entered on a discipline of +subjection and obedience. In particular He was made after the likeness +of men. He was born as other children are; He grew as other children +grow; body and mind took shape for Him under human conditions. + +And so He was "found in fashion as a man." Could words express more +strongly how wonderful it is in the Apostle's eyes that _He_ should so +be found? He lived His life and made His mark in the world in human +fashion--His form, His mien, His speech, His acts, His way of life +declared Him man. But being so, He humbled Himself to a strange and +great obedience. Subjection, and in that subjection obedience, is the +part of every creature. But the obedience which Christ was called to +learn was special. A heavy task was laid upon Him. He was made under the +law; and bearing the burden of human sin, He wrought redemption. In +doing so many great interests fell to Him to be cared for; and this was +done by Him, not in the manner of Godhead which speaks and it is done, +but with the pains and labour of a faithful servant. "I have a +commandment," He said, as He faced the Jews, who would have had His +Messianic work otherwise ordered (John xii. 49). + +This experience deepened into the final experience of the cross. Death +is the signature of failure and disgrace. Even with sinless creatures it +seems so. Their beauty and their use are past; their worth is measured +and exhausted; they die. More emphatically in a nature like ours, which +aims at fellowship with God and immortality, death is significant this +way, and bears the character of doom. So we are taught to think that +death entered by sin. But the violent and cruel death of crucifixion, +inflicted for the worst crimes, is most significant this way. What it +comprehended for our Lord we cannot measure. We know that He looked +forward to it with the most solemn expectation; and when it came the +experience was overwhelming. Yes, He submitted to the doom and blight of +death, in which death He made atonement and finished transgression. The +Incarnation was the way in which our Lord bound Himself to our woful +fortunes, and carried to us the benefits with which He would enrich us; +and His death was for our sins, endured that we might live. But the +Apostle does not here dwell on the reasons why Christ's obedience must +take this road. It is enough that for reasons concerning our welfare, +and the worthy achievement of the Father's Divine purposes, Christ bowed +Himself to so great lowliness. A dark and sad death--a true obedience +unto death--became the portion of the Son of God. "I am the Living One, +and I was dead." So complete was the self-emptying, the humiliation, +the obedience. + +"Therefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him the Name that +is above every name." For still we must think of Him as One that has +come down into the region of the creatures, the region in which we are +distinguished by names, and are capable of higher and lower in endless +degrees. God, dealing with Him so situated, acts in a manner rightly +corresponding to this great self-dedication, so as to utter God's mind +upon it. He has set Him on high, and given Him the Name that is above +every name; so that Divine honour shall be rendered to Him by all +creation, and knees bowed in worship to Him everywhere, and all shall +own Him Lord--that is, partaker of Divine Sovereignty. All this is "to +the glory of the Father," seeing that in all this the worthiness and +beauty of God's being and ways come to light with a splendour heretofore +unexampled. + +So then, we may say, perhaps, that as in the humiliation He who is God +experienced what it is to be man, now in the exaltation He who is man +experiences what it is to be God. + +But the point to dwell on chiefly is this consideration--What is it that +attracts so specially the Father's approbation? What does so is Christ's +great act of self-forgetting love. That satisfies and rests the Divine +mind. Doubtless the Son's pure and perfect character, and the perfection +of His whole service, were on all accounts approved; but specially the +_mind_ of Christ revealed in His self-forgetting devotion. _Therefore_ +God has highly exalted Him. + +For, in the first place, Christ in this work of His is Himself the +revelation of the Father. All along the Father's heart is seen +disclosed. It was in fellowship with the Father, always delighting in +Him, that the history was entered on; in harmony with Him it was +accomplished. Throughout we have before us not only the mind of the Son, +but the mind of the Father that sent Him. + +And then, in the next place, as the Son, sent forth into the world, and +become one of us, and subject to vicissitude, accomplishes His course, +it is fitting for the Father to watch, to approve, and to crown the +service; and He who has so given Himself for God and man must take the +place due to such a "mind" and to such an obedience. + +Let us observe it then: what was in God's eye and ought to be in ours, +is not only the dignity of the person, the greatness of the +condescension, the perfection of obedience and patience of endurance, +but, in the heart of all these, _the mind of Christ_. That was the +inspiration of the whole marvellous history, vivifying it throughout. +Christ, indeed, was not One who could so care for us, as to fail in His +regard to any interest of His Father's name or kingdom; nor could He +take any course really unseemly, because unworthy of Himself. But +carrying with Him all that is due to His Father, and all that befits +His Father's Child and Servant, the wonderful thing is how His heart +yearns over men, how His course shapes itself to the necessities of our +case, how all that concerns Himself disappears as He looks on the fallen +race. A worthy deliverance for them, consecrating them to God in the +blessedness of life eternal--this is in His eye, to be reached by Him +through all kinds of lowliness, obedience, and suffering. On this His +heart was set; this gave meaning and character to every step of His +history. This was the mind of the good Shepherd that laid down His life +for the sheep. And this is what completes and consecrates all the +service, and receives the Father's triumphant approbation. This is the +Lamb of God. There never was a Lamb like this. + +How all this was and is in the Eternal Son in His Divine nature we +cannot suitably conceive. In some most sublime and perfect manner we own +it to be there. But we can think of it and speak of it as the "mind of +Christ": as it came to light in the Man of Bethlehem, who, amid all the +possibilities of the Incarnation, is seen setting His face so steadily +one way, whose life is all of one piece, and to whom we ascribe GRACE. +"Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." _Therefore_ God has highly +exalted Him, and given Him the Name that is above every name. _This_ is +the right way. _This_ is the right life. + +Are we followers of Christ? Are we in touch with His grace? Do we yield +ourselves to His will and way? Do we renounce the melancholy +obstructiveness which sets us at odds with Christ? Do we count it our +wisdom now to come into His school? Then, let this mind be in you which +was also in Christ Jesus, this lowly, loving mind. _Let it._ Look not +every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. +Do nothing through strife or vainglory. In lowliness of mind let each +esteem the other better than himself. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and +anger, and envy, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all +malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one +another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. If there is +any comfort in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of +the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, let this be so. Let +this mind be in you; and find ways of showing it. But, indeed, if it be +in you it will find ways to show itself. + +The Church of Christ has not been without likeness to its Lord, and +service to its Lord: yet it has come far short in showing to the world +the mind of Christ. We often "show the Lord's death." But in His death +were the mighty life and the conclusive triumph of Christ's love. Let +the life also of Christ Jesus be manifest in our mortal body. + +We see here what the vision of Christ was which opened itself to +Paul,--which, glowing in his heart, sent him through the world, seeking +the profit of many, that they might be saved. This was in his mind, the +wonderful condescension and devotion of the Son of God. "It pleased God +to reveal His Son in me." "God, who commanded the light to shine out of +darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge +of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus." "Ye know the grace of +our Lord Jesus Christ, how that though He was rich yet for our sakes He +became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich." "He loved +me and gave Himself for me." And in various forms and degrees the +manifestation of this same grace has astonished, and conquered, and +inspired all those who have greatly served Christ in the Church in +seeking to do good to men. Let us not separate ourselves from this +fellowship of Christ; let us not be secluded from this mind of Christ. +As we come to Him with our sorrows, and sins, and wants, let us drink +into His mind. Let us sit at His feet and learn of Him. + + * * * * * + +A line of contemplation, hard to follow yet inspiring, opens up in +considering the Incarnation of our Lord as permanent. No day is coming +in which that shall have to be looked upon as gone away into the past. +This is suggestive as to the tie between Creator and creature, as to the +bridge between Infinite and finite, to be evermore found in Him. But it +may suffice here to have indicated the topic. + +It is more to the point, in connection with this passage, to call +attention to a lesson for the present day. Of late great emphasis has +been laid by earnest thinkers upon the reality of Christ's human nature. +Anxiety has been felt to do full right to that humanity which the +Gospels set before us so vividly. This has been in many ways a happy +service to the Church. In the hands of divines the humanity of Christ +has sometimes seemed to become shadowy and unreal, through the stress +laid on His proper Godhead; and now men have become anxious to possess +their souls with the human side of things, even perhaps at the cost of +leaving the Divine side untouched. The recoil has carried men quite +naturally into a kind of humanitarianism, sometimes deliberate, +sometimes unconscious. Christ is thought of as the ideal Man, who, just +because He is the ideal Man, is morally indistinguishable from God, and +is in the closest fellowship with God. Yet He grows on the soil of human +nature, He is fundamentally and only human. And this, it is implied, is +enough: it covers all we want. But we see this was not Paul's way of +thinking. The real humanity was necessary for him, because he +desiderated a real incarnation. But the true original Divine nature was +also necessary. For so he discerned the love--the grace, and the gift by +grace; so he felt that the Eternal God had bowed down to bless him in +and by His Son. It makes a great difference to religion when men are +persuaded to forego this faith. + + + + +_WORKING AND SHINING._ + + "So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my + presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own + salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in + you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure. Do all things + without murmurings and disputings; that ye may be blameless and + harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked + and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the + world, holding forth the word of life; that I may have whereof to + glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain neither + labour in vain. Yea, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and + service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all: and in the + same manner do ye also joy, and rejoice with me."--PHIL. ii. 12-18 + (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_WORKING AND SHINING._ + + +After his great appeal to the mind of Christ, the Apostle can pursue his +practical object; and he can do so with a certain tranquillity, +confident that the forces he has just set in motion will not fail to do +their work. But yet that same appeal itself has tended to broaden and +deepen the conception of what should be aimed at. He had deprecated the +arrogant and the selfish mind, as these are opposed to lovingkindness +and regard for others. But now, in presence of the great vision of the +Incarnation and obedience of Christ, the deeper note of lowliness must +be struck in fit accord with that of love; not only lowliness in the way +of doing ready honour to others, but deep and adoring lowliness towards +God, such as is due both from creatures and from sinners. For if +Christ's love fulfilled itself in such a perfect humility, how deeply +does it become us to bear towards God in Christ a mind of penitence and +gratitude, of loving awe and wonder, such as shall at the same time for +ever exclude from our bearing towards others both pride and +self-seeking. In this way the one practical object suggested by the +circumstances at Philippi--namely, loving unity--now allies itself +naturally with ideas of complete and harmonious Christian life; and +various views of that life begin to open. But each aspect of it still +proves to be connected with the gracious and gentle mind of Christ, in +the lowly form of that mind which is appropriate for a sinner who is +also a believer. + +So then they are to apply themselves to the "calling wherewith they are +called," in a spirit of "fear and trembling." The phrase is a common one +with the Apostle (1 Cor. ii. 3; 2 Cor. vii. 15; Eph. v. 6). He uses it +where he would express a state of mind in which willing reverence is +joined with a certain sensitive anxiety to escape dangerous mistakes and +to perform duty well. And it is fitly called for here, for + +1. If lowliness so became the Divine Saviour, who was full of grace, +wisdom, and power, then what shall be the mind of those who in great +guilt and need have found part in the salvation, and who are going +forward to its fulness? What shall be the mind of those who, in this +experience, are looking up to Christ--_looking up to_ lowliness? Surely +not the spirit of strife and vainglory (ver. 3), but of fear and +trembling--the mind that dreads to be presumptuous and arrogant, because +it finds the danger to be still near. + +2. The salvation has to be wrought out. It must come to pass in your +case in the line of your own endeavour. Having its power and fulness in +Christ, and bestowed by Him on you, yet this deliverance from distance, +estrangement, darkness, unholiness, is given to believers to be wrought +out: it comes as a right to be realised, and as a power to be exercised, +and as a goal to be attained. Think of this,--you have in hand your own +salvation--great, Divine, and wonderful--to be _wrought out_. Can you go +about it without fear and trembling? Consider what you are--consider +what you believe--consider what you seek--and what a spirit of lowly and +contrite eagerness will pervade your life! This holds so much the more, +because the salvation itself stands so much in likeness to Christ--that +is to say, in a loving lowliness. Let a man think how much is in him +that tends, contrariwise, to self-assertion and self-seeking, and he +will have reason enough to fear and tremble as he lays fresh hold on the +promises, and sets his face to the working out of this his own +salvation. + +3. This very working out, from whom does it come? Are you the +explanation and last source of it? What does it mean? Wherever it takes +place, it means that, in a very special sense, God's mighty presence and +power is put forth in us to will and to do. Shall not this thought quell +our petulance? Where is room now for anything but fear and trembling--a +deep anxiety to be lowly, obedient, compliant? + +Whether, therefore, we look to the history of the Saviour, or to the +work to which our own life is devoted, or to the power that animates +that work and on which it depends--in all alike we find ourselves +committed to the lowly mind; and in all alike we find ourselves beset +with a wealth of free beneficence, which lays obligation on us to be +self-forgetting and loving. We are come into a wonderful world of +compassionate love. That is the platform on which we stand--the light we +see by--the music that fills our ears--the fragrance that rises on every +side. If we are to live here, there is only one way for it--there is +only one kind of life that _can_ live in this region. And, being, as we +are, alas, so strangely coarse and hard--even if this gospel gladdens +us, there may well thrill through our gladness a very honest and a very +contrite "fear and trembling." + +Now all this is by the Apostle persuasively urged upon his Philippian +children (ver. 12): "As ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence +only, but now much more in my absence." For, indeed, it proves easy +comparatively for our human indolence to yield to the spell of some +great and forcible personality when he is present. It is even pleasant +to allow ourselves to be borne on by the tide of his enthusiastic +goodness. And when the Apostle was at Philippi, it might come easier to +many of them to feel the force and scope of their calling in Christ. And +yet now that he was gone, now was the time for them to prove for +themselves, and evince to others, the durable worth of the great +discovery they had made, and the thoroughness of the decision which had +transformed their lives. Now, also, was the time to show Paul himself, +that their "obedience" was of the deep and genuine quality which alone +could give content to him. + +Such in general seems to be the scope of these two verses. But one or +two of the points deserve to be considered a little before we go on. + +Mark how emphatically the Apostle affirms the great truth, that every +good thing accompanying salvation which comes to pass in Christians is +of the mighty power and grace of God. Therefore Christianity must stand +so much in asking and in thanking. It is God that worketh in you. He +does it, and no other than He; it is His prerogative. He worketh to will +and to do. The inclination of the heart and the purpose of the will are +of Him; and the striving to bring forth into act and deed what has been +so conceived--that also is of Him. He quickens those who were dead in +trespasses and sins; He gives the renewing of the Holy Ghost; He makes +His children perfect, working in them that which is well pleasing in His +sight through Jesus Christ. All this He does in the exercise of His +proper power, in the "exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who +believe"--"according to the working of His mighty power, which wrought +in Christ when He was raised from the dead." Apparently we are to take +it that in the children of God there is the new heart, or new nature, in +respect of which they are new creatures; and also the indwelling of God +by His Spirit; and also the actual working of the same Spirit in all +fruits of righteousness which they bring forth to the glory and praise +of God. And these three are so connected, that regard should be had to +all of them when we contemplate each. + +He worketh to will and to do. From Him all godly desires and purposes +proceed--from Him, every passage in our lives in which the "salvation +that is in Christ Jesus" is by us received, put to proof, wrought out +into the transactions of our lives. It must be so, if we will only think +of it. For this "salvation" involves an actual, and in principle a +complete agreement with God, affirmed and embodied in each right +thought, and word, and deed. Whence could this flow but from Himself? + +In their statements and explanations about this Christians have +differed. The difference has been mainly on the point, how to make it +clear that men are not dealt with as inert nor as irresponsible; that +they must not hold themselves excused from working on the ground that +God works all. For all agree that men are called to the most serious +earnestness of purpose and the most alert activity of action; but the +theorising of this activity occasions debate. It is from the motive of +trying to make more room for these indispensable elements on the human +side, that modes of statement have been suggested which limit or explain +away the Apostle's statement here. The motive is commendable, but the +method is not commonly successful. All efforts to divide the ground +between God and man go astray. In the inward process of salvation, and +especially in this "willing and doing," God does all, and also man does +all. But God takes precedence. For it is He that quickeneth the dead, +and calleth things that are not as though they were. Here we may say, as +the Apostle does in another case, "This is a great mystery." Let us +recognise it as a mystery bound up with any hope we ourselves have of +proving to be children of God. And under the sense of it, with fear and +trembling let us work, for it is God that worketh in us to will and to +do. + +He worketh in us to will. When I trace back any of my actions to the +fountain where it takes its rise _as mine_, I find that fountain in my +will. The materials which I take up into my act, the impressions which +gather together to create a situation for me, may all have their +separate history going back in the order of cause and effect to the +beginning of the world; but that which makes it mine, is that _I will_, +_I choose_, and thereupon I do it. Therefore also it is that I must +answer for it, because it is mine. I willed it, and in willing it I +created something which pertains to me, and to no other; something began +which is mine, and the responsibility for it cleaves only to me. But in +the return to God through Christ, and in the working out of that +salvation, there are acts of mine, most truly mine; and yet in these +another Will, the Will of Him who saves, is most intimately concerned. +He worketh in us to will. It is not an enslaving, but an emancipating +energy. It brings about free action, yet such as fulfils a most gracious +Divine purpose. So these "willings" embody a consent, a union of heart +and mind and will, His and mine, the thought of which is enough to bow +me to the ground with "fear and trembling." This is He who gathereth the +dispersed of Israel into one. + +On the other hand, the salvation is to be wrought out by us. To have +faith in the Son of God in exercise and prevalence; to have heart and +life formed to childlike love of God, and to the fulfilment of His will; +to carry this out against the flesh and the world and the devil,--all +this is a great career of endeavour and attainment. It is much to make +the discoveries implied in it: finding out at each stage the meaning of +it, and how it should take shape. It is much to have the heart brought +to beat true to it, to love it, consent to it, be set upon it. It is +much to embody it in faithful and successful practice in the rough +school of life, with its actual collision and conflict. Now the nature +and working of God's grace at each stage is of this kind, that it +operates in three ways at least. It operates as a _call_, an effectual +call, setting a man on to arise and go. It operates also in a way of +instruction, setting us to learn lessons, _teaching_ us how to live, as +it is said in Titus ii. 11, 12. And it operates as a _power_, as help in +time of need. He that sits still at the call--he that will not be +considerate to learn the lesson--he that will not cast himself on the +strength perfected in weakness, that he may fulfil and do the Father's +will--he is a man who despises and denies the grace of God. + + * * * * * + +Now what has been said of the believer's relation to the saving God, +prepares the way for referring to his office towards the world. Here the +moral and practical theme which is in the Apostle's mind all through +proves again to be in place: the lowly and loving mind will best +discharge that office towards the world, which the arrogant and +distempered mind would hinder. "Do all things without murmurings and +disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless." + +A murmuring and disputatious temper--murmuring at what displeases us, +and multiplying debate about it--is simply one form of the spirit which +Paul deprecates all through this context. It is the sign of the +disposition to value unduly one's own ease, one's own will, one's own +opinion, one's own party, and to lie at the catch for opportunities to +bring that feeling into evidence. Now observe the harm which the Apostle +anticipates. It is your office to serve God by making a right impression +on the world. How shall that come to pass? Chiefly, or at least +primarily, the Apostle seems to say, by the absence of evil. At least, +that is the most general and the safest notion of it, with which to +begin. Some, no doubt, make impressions by their eloquence, or by their +wisdom, or by their enterprising and successful benevolence--though all +these have dangers and drawbacks attending them, in so far as the very +energy of action provides a shelter for unperceived self-will. Still, +let them have their place and their praise. But here is the line that +might suit all. A man whose life stands clear of the world's +deformities, under the influence of a light and a love from which the +world is estranged, gradually makes an impression. + +Now murmuring and disputing are precisely adapted to hinder this +impression. And sometimes they hinder it in the case of people of high +excellence--people who have much sound and strong principle, who have +large benevolence, who are capable of making remarkable sacrifices to +duty when they see it. Yet this vice, perhaps a surface vice, of +murmuring and disputing, is so suggestive of a man's self being +uppermost, it so unpleasantly forces itself in as the interpretation of +the man, that his real goodness is little accounted of. At all events, +the peculiar purity of the Christian character--its blamelessness and +harmlessness, its innocence--does not in his case come to light. People +say: "Ah, he is one of the mixed ones, like ourselves. Christian +devoutness suits some people: they are sincere enough in it very likely; +but it leaves them, after all, pretty much as it found them." + +I say no more about murmuring and disputing as these reveal themselves +in our relations to others. But the same spirit, and attended in its +operations with the same evil effects, may manifest itself in other +ways besides that of unkindness to men. As frequently, perhaps, it may +show itself in our behaviour towards God; and in that case it interferes +at least as seriously with the shining of our light in the world. + +Just as in the camp of Israel of old on many memorable occasions there +arose a murmuring of the people against God, when His ways crossed their +will, or seemed dark to their wisdom; just as, on such occasions, there +broke out among the people the expression of doubt, dislike, and +disputation, and they criticised those Divine dealings which should have +been received with trust and lowliness,--so is it also, many a time, in +the little world within us. There are such and such duties to be +discharged and such and such trials to be encountered--or else a general +course of duty is to be pursued under certain discouragements and +perplexities. And, you submit, you do these things. But you do them with +murmuring and disputing in your heart. Why should it be thus? "How is it +fit," you say, "that such perplexities or such burdens should be +appointed? Is it not reasonable, all things considered, that I should +have more indulgence and greater facilities; or, at least, that I should +be excused from this conflict and this burden-bearing for the present?" +Meanwhile our conscience is satisfied because we have not rebelled in +practice; and it takes no strict account of the fretfulness which marred +our act, or the grumbling which well-nigh withheld us from compliance. +You are called, perhaps, to speak to some erring friend, or you have to +go on a message of mercy to some one in affliction. Indolently you +postpone it; and your heart begins to stretch out its arms and to cling +to the careless temper it has begun to indulge. At last conscience +stirs, conscience is up, and you have to do something. But what you do +is done grudgingly, with a heart that is murmuring and disputing. Again, +you are called to deny yourself some worldly pleasure; in Christian +consistency you have to hold back from some form of dissipation; or you +have to take up a position of singularity and separation from other +people. Reluctantly, you comply; only "murmuring and disputing." Now +this inward temper may never come to any man's knowledge, but shall we +suppose it does not tell on the character and the influence of the life? +Can you, in that temper, play your part with the childlike, the +cheerful, the dignified bearing, with the resemblance to Christ in your +action, which God calls for? You cannot. The duty as to the husk and +shell of it may be done; but there can be little radiation of Christ's +likeness in the doing of it. + +Notice the Apostle's conception of the function which believers are to +discharge in the world. They are set in the midst of a crooked and +perverse nation. These words were applied to the children of Israel of +old on account of the stubborn insubordination with which they dealt +with God; and they were applicable, for the same reason, to the +Gentiles, among whom the gospel had come, but who had not bowed to it. +Judged by the high and true standard, these Gentiles were crooked and +perverse in their ways with one another, and still more so in their ways +with God. Among them the Christians were to show what Christianity was, +and what it could do. In the Christians was to appear, embodied, the +testimony proposed to the crooked and perverse nation, a testimony +against its perverseness, and yet revealing a remedy for it. In the +persons of men, themselves originally crooked and perverse, this was to +become plain and legible. Now how? Why, by their being blameless and +harmless, the sons of God without rebuke. + +It has been remarked already that the special way in which we are to +manifest to the world the light of Christianity is here represented as +the way of blamelessness. That man aright represents the mind of Christ +to the world, who in the world keeps himself unspotted from the +world,--in whom men recognise a character that traces up to a purer +source elsewhere. As years pass, as cross lights fall upon the life, +even in its most common and private workings, if it still proves that +the man is cleansed by the faith he holds, if the unruly working of +interest, and passion, and will, give way in him to motives of a higher +strain, men will be impressed. They will own that here is something rare +and high, and that some uncommon cause is at the bottom of it. For the +world knows well that even the better sort of men have their weaker +side, often plainly enough revealed by the trials of time. Therefore +steadfast purity makes, at last, a deep impression. + +Innocence indeed is not the whole duty of a Christian; active virtue is +required as well. The harmlessness called for is not a mere negative +quality--it is supposed to be exhibited in an active life which strives +to put on Christ Jesus. But the Apostle seems to lay stress especially +on a certain quiet consistency, on a lowly and loving regard to the +whole standard, which gives evenness and worthiness to the life. If you +will do a Christian's office to the "perverse nation," you have to seek +that they may have nothing against you except concerning the law of your +God; you have to seek that your reproach may be exclusively the reproach +of Christ: so that if at any time the malice of men seeks to misconstrue +your actions, and lays to your charge things which you know not, your +well-doing may silence them; and having no evil thing to say of you, +they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in +Christ. + +Strong appeals are made in our day to members of the Christian Church to +engage actively in all kinds of Christian work. They are summoned to go +forth aggressively upon the world's misery and sin. This has become a +characteristic note of our time. Such appeals were needed. It is a shame +that so many Christians have absolved themselves from the obligation to +place at their Lord's service the aptitudes and the energies with which +He has endowed them. Yet in this wholesale administration diversities +are apt to be overlooked. Christians may be undervalued who do not +possess qualities fitting them for the special activities; or, +attempting these without much aptitude, and finding little success, they +may be unduly cast down. It is important to lay stress on this. There +are some, perhaps we should say many, who must come to the conclusion, +if they judge aright, that their gifts and opportunities indicate for +them, as their sphere, a somewhat narrow round of duties, mostly of that +ordinary type which the common experience of human life supplies. But if +they bring into these a Christian heart; if they use the opportunities +they have; if they are watchful to please their Lord in the life of the +family, the workshop, the market; if the purifying influence of the +faith by which they live comes to light in the steady excellence of +their character and course,--then they need have no sense of exclusion +from the work of Christ and of His Church. They, too, do missionary +work. Blameless, harmless, unrebuked, they are seen as lights in the +world. They contribute, in the manner that is most essential of all, to +the Church's office in the world. And their place of honour and reward +shall be far above that of many a Christian busybody, who is too much +occupied abroad to keep the light clear and bright at home. + +Blameless, then, harmless, unaspersed, must the children of God, His +redeemed children, be. So will the light of Christian character come +clearly out, and Christians will be "luminaries, holding forth the word +of life." + +The word of life is the message of salvation as it sets forth to us +Christ, and goodness and blessedness by Him. Substantially it is that +teaching which we have in the Scriptures; although, when Paul wrote, the +New Testament was not yet a treasure of the Churches, and the "word of +life" only echoed to and fro from teacher to taught, and from one +disciple to another. Still, the teaching rested on the Old Testament +Scriptures understood in the light of the testimony of Jesus; and it was +controlled and guided by men speaking and writing in the Spirit. What it +was therefore was very well known, and the influence of it as the seed +of life eternal was felt. It was for Christians to _hold by it_, and to +_hold it out_,--the expression used in ver. 16 may have either meaning; +and virtually both senses are here. In order to give light there must be +life. And Christian life depends on having in us the word, quick and +powerful, which is to dwell in us richly in all wisdom and spiritual +understanding. This must be the secret of blameless Christian lives; and +so those who have this character will give light, as holding forth the +word of life. The man's visible character itself does this. For while +the word and message of life is to be owned, professed, in fit times +proclaimed, yet the embodiment of it in the man is the main point here, +the character being formed and the practice determined by the "word" +believed. So also we are said to live by the faith of the Son of God. +The life of faith on Him, is the life of having and holding forth His +word. + +Here, as everywhere, our Lord goes first. The Apostle John, speaking in +his Gospel of the Eternal Word, tells us that in Him was life, and the +life was the light of men. It was not merely a doctrine of light; the +life was the light. As He lived, in His whole being, in His acting and +suffering, in His coming and staying and departing, in His Person and in +His discharge of every office, He manifested the Father. Still we find +it so; as we contemplate Him, as His words leads us to Himself, we +behold the glory, the radiance of grace and truth. + +Now His people are made like Him. They too, through the word of life, +become partakers of true life. This life does not dwell in them as it +does in their Lord, for He is its original seat and source; hence they +are not the light of the world in the same sense in which He is so. +Still they are luminaries, they are stars in the world. By manifesting +the genuine influence of the word of life which dwells in them, they do +make manifest in the world what truth and purity and salvation are. This +is their calling; and, in a measure, it is their attainment. + +The view of the matter given here may be compared with that in 2 Cor. +iii. 4. Christ, the Father's Word, may also be regarded as the Father's +living Epistle. Then those who behold Him, and drink in the significance +of this message, are also themselves, in their turn, Epistles of +Christ, known and read of all men. + +So to shine is the calling of all believers, not of some only; each, +according to his opportunities, may and ought to fulfil it. God designs +to be glorified, and to have His salvation justified, in this form. +Christ has said, in the plainest terms, "Ye are the light of the world." +But to be so implies separateness from the world, in root and in fruits; +and that is for many a hard saying. "Ye are a holy nation, a peculiar +people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who called you out +of darkness into His marvellous light." + +In the sixteenth and following verses comes in again Paul's own share in +the progress and victory of the Christian life in his friends. "It would +be exceeding well," he seems to say, "for you; how well, you may gather +partly from learning how well it would be for me." He would have cause +to "rejoice in the day of Christ" that he had "not run in vain, neither +laboured in vain." What might be said on this has been anticipated in +the remarks made on ch. i., ver. 20 fol. But here the Apostle is +thinking of something more than the toil and labour expended in the +work. More than these was to fall to his lot. His life of toil was to +close in a death of martyrdom. And whether the Apostle was or was not +enabled to foresee this certainly, doubtless he looked forward to it as +altogether probable. So he says: "But if I be offered (or poured out as +a drink-offering) in the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and +rejoice with you all; and do ye also likewise joy and rejoice with me." + +To see the force of this expression we must remember that it was an +ancient custom to seal and complete a sacrifice by the pouring out of a +libation on the altar or at the foot of it. This might be intended as +the crowning testimony of the abundant freewill with which the service +had been rendered and the sacrifice had been offered. To some such rite +the Apostle alludes when he speaks of himself--that is to say, of his +own life--as poured forth at the sacrifice and service of their faith. +And it is not hard to understand the idea which dictates this mode of +speech. + +We read in Romans xii. an exhortation to the saints to yield themselves +a living _sacrifice_, which sacrifice is their reasonable _service_. +They were to do so in the way of not being conformed to the world, but +transformed by the renewing of their minds. So here: the course of +conduct which the Apostle had been exhorting the Philippians to pursue +was an act of worship or service, and in particular it was a sacrifice, +the sacrifice of their faith, the sacrifice in which their faith was +expressed. Each believer in offering this sacrifice acts as a priest, +being a member of the holy priesthood which offers to God spiritual +sacrifices (1 Peter ii. 5). Such a man is not, indeed, a priest to make +atonement, but he is a priest to present offerings through Christ his +Head. The Philippians, then, in so far as they were, or were to be, +yielding themselves in this manner to God, were priests who offered to +God a spiritual sacrifice. + +Here let us notice, as we pass, that no religion is worth the name that +has not its sacrifice through which the worshipper expresses his +devotion. And in Christian religion the sacrifice is the consecration of +the man and of his life to God's service in Christ. Let us all see to it +what sacrifices we offer. + +This doctrine, then, of the priesthood and the sacrifice was verified in +the case of the Philippians; and, by the same rule, it held true also in +the case of Paul himself. He, as little as they, was priest to make +atonement. But certainly when we see Paul so cordially yielding himself +to the service of God in the gospel, and discharging his work with such +willing labour and pains, we see in him one of Christ's priests offering +himself to God a living sacrifice. Now is this all? or is something more +to be said of Paul? More is to be said; and although the point now in +view is not prominent in this passage, it is present as the underlying +thought. For the whole sacrifice of holy life rendered by the +Philippians, and by his other converts, was, in a sense, the offering of +Paul also; not theirs only, but his too. God gave him a standing in the +matter, which he, at least, was not to overlook. God's grace, indeed, +had wrought the work, and Paul was but an instrument; yet so an +instrument, that he had a living and abiding interest in the result. He +was not an instrument mechanically interposed, but one whose faith and +love had wrought to bring the result to pass. To him it had been given +to labour and pray, to watch and guide, to spend and to be spent. And +when the Apostle saw the lives of many true followers of Christ unfold +as the result of his ministry, he could think that God owned his place +too in bringing all this tribute to the temple. "God grants me a +standing in the service of this offering. The Philippians bring it, each +for himself, and it is theirs; but I also bring it, and it is my +offering too. God takes it at their hand, but also at my hand, as +something which with all my heart I have laboured for and won, and +brought to His footstool. I also have my place to present to Christ the +sacrifice and service of faith of all these men who are living fruits of +my ministry. I have been minister of Christ to these Gentiles, +'ministering the gospel of the grace of God, that the offering up of +these Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. +I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ'" (Rom. xv. +16, 17). + +There remains but one step to be made, to reach the seventeenth verse. +Consider the Apostle's heart glowing with the thought that God counted +the holy fruits of those believing lives to be sacrifice and service of +his, as well as theirs, and accepted it not only from their hands, but +from Paul's too. Consider the gladness with which he felt that after all +his toil and pains he had this great offering to bring, as _his_ +thank-offering to his Lord. And then imagine him hearing a voice which +says: "Now then, seal your service, crown your offering; be yourself +the final element of sacrifice; pour out your life. You have laboured +and toiled, spent years and strength, very willingly, and most +fruitfully: that is over now; one thing remains; die for the worthy name +of Him who died for you." It is this he is contemplating: if I _be_ +poured out at the sacrifice and service of your faith; if I am called to +go on and to complete the sacrifice and service; if one thing more alone +is left for Paul the aged and the prisoner, and that one thing be to lay +down the life whose labours are ending; if the life itself is to run out +in one final testimony that my whole heart, that all I am and have are +Christ's,--shall not I rejoice? will not you rejoice with me? That will +be the final identification of my life with your sacrifice and service. +It will be the expression of God's accepting the completed gift. It will +be the libation that crowns the service. I am not to be used, and then +set aside as having no more interest in the results. On the contrary, +your Christianity and mine, in the wonderful relation they have to one +another, are to pass to God together as one offering. If, after running +and labouring, all issues in my life being finally poured out in +martyrdom, that, as it were, identifies me finally and inseparably with +the sacrifice and service which has filled your lives, and also my life. +It becomes one complete offering. + +It may give cause for thought to ministers of the gospel that the +Apostle should so vitally and vividly connect himself with the results +of his work. It was no languid, no perfunctory ministry that led up to +this high mood. His heart's blood had been in it; the strength and +passion of his love to Christ had been poured out and spent on his work +and his converts. Therefore he could feel that in some gracious and +blessed way the fruits that came were still his--given to _him_ to bring +to the altar of the Lord. How well shall it be with the Churches when +the ministry of their pastors burns with a flame like this! What an +image of the pastoral care is here expressed! + +But may not all Christian hearts be stirred to see the devotedness and +the love which filled this man's soul? The constraining power of the +love of Christ so wrought in him that he triumphed and rejoiced both in +bringing and in becoming an offering,--breaking out, as it were, into +sacrifice and service, and pouring out his life an offering to the +Father and the Son. All hearts may be stirred; for all, perhaps, can +imagine such a mood. But how many of us have it as a principle and a +passion entering into our own lives? + + + + +_TIMOTHY AND EPAPHRODITUS._ + + "But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, + that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I + have no man likeminded, who will care truly [genuinely] for your + state. For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. + But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child serveth a father, so + he served with me in furtherance of the gospel. Him therefore I + hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with + me: but I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall come shortly. + But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother + and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and + minister to my need; since he longed after you all, and was sore + troubled, because ye had heard that he was sick: for indeed he was + sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him + only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow. I + have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when ye see him + again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. + Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy; and hold such in + honour: because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death, + hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service + toward me."--PHIL. ii. 19-30 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_TIMOTHY AND EPAPHRODITUS._ + + +The outpouring of his thoughts, his feelings, and his desires towards +the Philippians has so far spent itself. Now he turns to mention the +steps he is taking, in response to their communication, to express +practically his love and his care for their welfare. Yet we must carry +along with us what has just been said of the Christian service and +sacrifice, and of the tie between the Apostle and his converts; for +these thoughts are still in the Apostle's mind, and they gleam through +the passage which now comes before us. + +Paul had been contemplating the possibility of dying soon in his +Master's cause: no doubt it was an alternative often present to his +mind; and we see with what a glow of high association it rose before +him. Still he, like ourselves, had to await his Master's will, had +meanwhile to carry on the business of his life, and indeed (ch. i. 25) +was aware that the prolongation of his life might very likely be a +course of things more in the line of God's purpose, and more serviceable +to the Churches at Philippi and elsewhere. So, while he has expressed +the mood in which both they and he are to face the event of his +martyrdom, when it comes, he does not hesitate to express the +expectation that he may be set free and may see them again. Meanwhile he +has made up his mind ere long to send Timothy. Timothy will bring them +news of Paul, and will represent the Apostle among them as only a very +near and confidential friend could do; at the same time he will bring +back to Paul an account of things at Philippi, no doubt after doing all +that with God's help he could to instruct, correct, and edify the Church +during his stay. In this way a sustaining and gladdening experience for +the Philippian Christians would be provided; and, at the same time, Paul +too (I _also_, ver. 19) would be gladdened by receiving from so +trustworthy a deputy a report upon men and things at Philippi. In +connection with this declaration of his intention, the Apostle reveals +some of the reflections which had occupied his mind; and these suggest +several lessons. + +1. Notice the spirit of self-sacrifice on Paul's part. Timothy was the +one thoroughly trusted and congenial friend within his reach. To a man +who was a prisoner, and on whom the burden of many anxieties fell, it +was no small ease to have one such friend beside him. Our blessed Lord +Himself craved for loving human fellowship in His time of sorrow; and so +must Paul do also. Yet all must give way to the comfort and well-being +of the Churches. As soon as Paul can descry how it is to go with him, +so that plans may be adjusted to the likelihoods of the situation, +Timothy is to go on his errand to Philippi. + +2. Notice the importance which may justly attach to human +instrumentalities. One is not as good as another. Some are far more fit +for use than others are. The Apostle thought earnestly on the point who +was fittest to go, and he was glad he had a man like Timothy to send. It +is true that the supreme source of success in gospel work is God +Himself; and sometimes He gives unexpected success to unlikely +instruments. But yet, as a rule, much depends on men being adapted to +their work. When God prepares fresh blessing for His Church, He commonly +raises up men fitted for the service to be rendered. Therefore we do +well to pray earnestly for men eminently qualified to do the Lord's +work. + +3. Timothy's special fitness for this mission was that he had a heart to +care for them, especially to care for their true and highest interests. +So far, he resembled Paul himself. He had the true pastoral heart. He +had caught the lessons of Paul's own life. That was the main thing. No +doubt he had intellectual gifts, but his dispositions gave him the right +use of gifts. The loving heart, and the watchfulness and thoughtfulness +which that inspires, do more to create pastoral wisdom than any +intellectual superiority. Timothy had a share of the "mind" of Christ +(ver. 5), and that made him meet to be a wise inspector and adviser for +the Philippians, as well as a trustworthy reporter concerning their +state and prospects. + +4. What is most fitted to impress us, is the difficulty which Paul +experienced in finding a suitable messenger, and the manner in which he +describes his difficulty. He was conscious in himself of a +self-forgetting love and care for the Churches, which was part, and a +great part, of his Christian character. He was ready (1 Cor. x. 33) to +please all men in all things, not seeking his own profit, but the profit +of many, that they might be saved. He looked out for men among his +friends whose hearts might answer to him here, but he did not find them. +He had no man likeminded. One indeed was found, but no more. As he +looked round, a sense of disappointment settled on him. + +One asks of whom this statement is made--that he finds none +likeminded--that all seek their own? Probably not of Epaphroditus, for +Epaphroditus goes at any rate, and the question is about some one in +addition, to be, as it were, Paul's representative and commissioner. Nor +are we entitled to say that it applies to Tychicus, Aristarchus, Marcus, +and Jesus, mentioned in Colossians iv. For these men might not be with +the Apostle at the precise moment of his writing to the Philippians; and +the character given to them in the Epistle to the Colossians seems to +set them clear of the inculpation in this passage: unless we suppose +that, even in the case of some of them, a failure had emerged near the +time when the Epistle was written, which vexed the Apostle, and forced +him to judge them unprepared at present for the service. It will be +safest, however, not to assume that these men were with him, or that +they are here in view. + +Still, the sad comment of the Apostle must apply to men of some standing +and some capacity,--men of Christian profession, men who might naturally +be thought of in connection with such a task. As he surveyed them, he +was obliged to note the deplorable defect, which perhaps had not struck +himself so forcibly until he began to weigh the men against the mission +he was planning for them. Then he saw how they came short; and also, how +this same blight prevailed generally among the Christians around him. +Men were not "likeminded"; no man was "likeminded." _All_ seek their +own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. Is not this a sad saying? +What might one expect at the outset of a noble cause, the cause of +Christ's truth and Church? What might one count upon in the circle that +stood nearest to the Apostle Paul? Yet this is the account of it,--All +seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. + +Is it any wonder that the Apostle pleads earnestly with Christians to +cherish the mind of "not looking each of you to his own things" (ver. +4); that he presses the great example of the Saviour Himself; that he +celebrates elsewhere (1 Cor. xiii.) the beauty of that love which +seeketh not its own and beareth all things? For we see how the meaner +spirit beset him and hemmed him in, even in the circle of his Christian +friends. + +What does his description mean? It does not mean that the men in +question broke the ordinary Christian rules. It does not mean that any +Church could have disciplined them for provable sins. Nay, it does not +mean that they were destitute of fear of God and love to Christ. But +yet, to the Apostle's eye, they were too visibly swayed by the eagerness +about their own things; so swayed, that their ordinary course was +governed and determined by it. It might be love of ease, it might be +covetousness, it might be pride, it might be party opinion, it might be +family interests, it might even be concentration on their own religious +comfort:--however it might be, to this it came in the end, All seek +their own. Some of them might be quite unsound, deceivers or deceived; +especially, for instance, if Demas (2 Tim. iv. 10) was one of them. But +even those of whom the Apostle might be persuaded better things, and +things that accompany salvation, were so far gone in this disease of +seeking their own, that the Apostle could have no confidence in sending +them, as otherwise he would have done, on a mission in which the mind +and care of Christ were to be expressed to Christ's Church. He could not +rely on a "genuine care." + +You mistake if you suppose this faulty state implied, in all these +cases, a deliberate, conscious preference of their own things above the +things of Jesus Christ. The men might really discern a supreme beauty +and worth in the things of Christ; they might honestly judge that +Christ had a supreme claim on their loyalty; and they might have a +purpose to adhere to Christ and Christ's cause at great cost, if the +cost must finally be borne. And yet meanwhile, in their common life, the +other principle manifested itself far too victoriously. The place which +their own things held--the degree in which their life was influenced by +the bearing of things on themselves, was _far_ from occupying that +subordinate place which Christ has assigned to it. The things of Jesus +Christ did not rise in their minds above other interests, but were +jostled, and crowded, and thrust aside by a thousand things that were +their own. + +You may not cherish any avowed purpose to seek your own; you may have +learned to love Christ for the best reasons; you may have the root of +the matter in you; you may have made some sacrifices that express a +sense of Christ's supreme claims: and yet you may be a poor style of +Christian, an inconsistent Christian, a careless, unwatchful Christian. +Especially you may habitually fail to make a generous estimate of the +place to be given to the things of Jesus Christ. You may not be reckoned +so defective either in general judgment or in your own esteem, because +you may come up very well to what is usually expected. And yet you may +be allowing any Christianity you have to be largely stifled and +repressed by foreign and alien influences, by a crowd of occupations and +recreations that steal heart and life away. You may be taking no proper +pains, no loving pains, to be a Christian, in Christ's sense of what +that should be. Though only at the beginning of the conflict, you may be +living as if there was scarcely a conflict to be fought. And so in +practice, in the history of your hours, you may be seeking your own +things to an extent that is even disgraceful to Christian religion. You +may allow your course of thought and action to be dictated by that which +is of self, by gain, self-indulgence, or frivolity, to a degree that +would even be appalling if your eyes were opened to discern it. We all +know that in religious exercises formality may usurp a large place, even +in the case of men who have received power for reality. Just so in the +Christian course, and under the Christian name and calling, what is +"your own" may be suffered to encroach most lamentably on the higher +principle; so that an Apostle looking at you must say, "They all seek +their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's." You are not faithful +enough to apply Christ's standard to your heart and ways, nor diligent +enough to seek His Spirit. Perhaps if you were strongly tempted to deny +Christ, or to fall into some great scandalous sin, you would awaken to +the danger and cling to your Saviour for your life. But as things go +commonly, you _let_ them go. And the consequence is, you are largely +losing your lives. What should be your contribution to the good cause, +and so should be your own gladness and honour, never comes to pass. Some +of you have thoughts in your own minds upon this point, why you do not +seem to find any doorways into Christian usefulness. You do wish to see +Christ's cause prosper. Yet somehow it never seems to come to your hands +to do anything effectually or fruitfully for the cause. What can the +reason be? Alas, in the case of how many the reason is just what it was +in the case of Paul's friends: you are so largely seeking your own +things, not the things that are Jesus Christ's, that you are not fit to +be sent on any mission. If the Apostle could say this to the Christians +of his day, how great must be the danger still! + +Now if we look at it as part of the experience of Paul the Apostle, to +find this temper so prevailing around him, we learn another lesson. We +know Paul's character, his enthusiasm, the magnanimous faith and love +with which he counted all to be loss in comparison of Christ. And yet, +we see what he found among the Christians around him. This has been so +in every age. The unreasonableness, faintheartedness, and faithlessness +of men, the unchristlikeness of Christians, have been matter of +experience. If our hearts were enlarged to plan and endeavour more +generously for Christ's cause, we should feel this a great trial. All +large-hearted Christians have to encounter it. Let it be remembered that +it is not peculiar to any age. The Apostle had full experience of it. +"Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.... Alexander +the coppersmith did me much evil.... At my first answer no man stood +with me, but all men forsook me" (2 Tim. iv. 10-16). Let us be assured, +that if Christ's work is to be done, we must be prepared not only for +the opposition of the world, but for the coldness and the disapprobation +of many in the Church--of some whom we cordially believe to be, after +all, heirs of the kingdom. + +Timothy is to go to Philippi, and is to bring to Paul a full report. +But, at the same time, the Apostle finds it necessary to send +Epaphroditus, not, apparently, with a view to his returning to Rome +again, but to resume his residence at Philippi. It seems, on all +accounts, reasonable to believe that Epaphroditus belonged to the +Philippian Church, and was in office there. In this case he is to be +distinguished from Epaphras (Col. iv. 12), with whom some would identify +him, for no doubt Epaphras belonged to Colossæ. Epaphroditus had come to +Rome, bearing with him the gifts which assured Paul of the loving +remembrance in which he was held at Philippi, and of the abiding desire +to minister to him which was cherished there. His own Christian zeal led +Epaphroditus to undertake the duty, and he had borne himself in it as +became a warm-hearted and public-spirited Christian. He had been Paul's +brother and fellow-workman and fellow-soldier. But, meanwhile, the +Apostle was aware how valuable his presence might be felt to be at +Philippi. And Epaphroditus himself had conceived a longing to see the +old friends, and to resume the old activities in the Philippian Church. +For he had been sick, very sick, almost dead. Amid the weakness and +inactivity of convalescence, his thoughts had been much at Philippi, +imagining how the brethren there might be moved at the tidings of his +state, and yearning, perhaps, for the faces and the voices which he knew +so well. Paul was accustomed to restrain and sacrifice his own feelings; +but that did not make him inattentive to the feelings of other people. +Trying as his position at Rome was, he would not keep Epaphroditus in +these circumstances. He had had great comfort in his company, and would +be glad to retain it. But he would be more glad to think of the joy at +Philippi when Epaphroditus should return. So he gives back Epaphroditus. +As he does so he admonishes his friends to value adequately what they +are receiving. Paul was sending to them a true-hearted and large-hearted +Christian; one who allowed nothing--neither difficulties nor risks--to +stand in the way of Christian service and Christian sympathy. Let such +men be had in reputation. It is a lawful and right thing to make a high +estimate of Christian character where it eminently appears, and to +honour such persons very highly in love. If _they_ are not honoured and +prized, it is too likely that others will be whom it is not so fit and +so wholesome to admire. And the ground of admiration in the case of +Epaphroditus sets once more before us the theme of the whole chapter: +Epaphroditus was to be had in reputation because he had approved himself +to be one seeking not his own, one willing to lay down his life for the +brethren. + + + + +_NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH._ + + "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same + things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe. + Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the + concision: for we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit + of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the + flesh: though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh: if + any other man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more: + circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of + Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; as + touching zeal, persecuting the Church; as touching the + righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. Howbeit what + things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea + verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the + knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."--PHIL. iii. 1-8 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH._ + + +The third chapter contains the portion of this Epistle in which, +perhaps, one is hardest put to it to keep pace with the writer. Here he +gives us one of his most remarkable expositions of true Christian +religion as he knew it, and as he maintains it must essentially exist +for others also. He does this in a burst of thought and feeling +expressed together: so that, if we are to take his meaning, the fire and +the light must both alike do their work upon us; we must feel and see +both at once. This is one of the pages to which a Bible reader turns +again and again. It is one of the passages that have special power to +find and to stir believing men. + +Yet it seems to find its place in the letter almost incidentally. + +It would seem, as some have thought, that in the first verse of this +chapter the Apostle begins to draw his letter to a close. Cheerful words +of farewell begin to shape themselves. At the same time a closing +reference is in view to some practical danger that required to be +guarded against. Almost suddenly things take a new turn, and a flood of +great ideas claim and take their place. + +"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord." Rejoice, Be of good cheer, +was the common formula of leave-taking. The same word is translated +"farewell" in 2 Cor. xiii. 11 (Authorised and Revised Versions). But the +Apostle, especially in this Epistle, which is itself inspired by so much +of Christian gladness, cannot but emphasise the proper meaning of the +customary phrase. Rejoice, yes, rejoice, my brethren, in the Lord. The +same turn of thought recurs again in ch. iv. 4. What it is fitted to +suggest will be equally in place when we reach that point. + +Now he seems to be on the point of introducing some subject already +referred to, either in this or in a previous Epistle. It concerned the +safety of the Philippians, and it required some courteous preface in +touching on it once again; so that, most likely, it was a point of some +delicacy. Some have thought this topic might be the tendency to +dissension which had appeared in Philippi. It is a subject which comes +up again in ch. iv.: it may have been upon the point of coming up here. +The closing words of ver. 1 might well enough preface such a reference. +The theme was not so pleasant as some of those on which he had written: +it might be delicate for him to handle; and it might call for some +effort on their part to take it well. Yet it concerned their safety they +that should fully realise this element of the situation, and should +take the right view of it. Therefore also the Apostle would not count it +irksome to do his part in relation to it. People entangled in a fault +are in circumstances not favourable to a right estimate of their own +case. They need help from those who can judge more soundly. Yet help +must be tendered with a certain considerateness. + +But at this point a new impulse begins to operate. Perhaps the Apostle +was interrupted, and, before he could resume, some news reaches him, +awakening afresh the indignation with which he always regarded the +tactics of the Judaisers. Nothing indicates that the Philippian Church +was much disposed to Judaise. But if at this juncture some new +disturbance from the Judaisers befell his work at Rome, or if news of +that kind reached him from some other field, it might suggest the +possibility of those sinister influences finding their way also to +Philippi. This is, of course, a conjecture merely; but it is not an +unreasonable one. It has been offered as an explanation of the somewhat +sudden burst of warning that breaks upon us in ch. iii. 2; while, in the +more tranquil strain of ch. iv., topics are resumed which easily link +themselves to ch. iii. 1.[3] + + [3] In the text Ewald's suggestion is followed, in the form given to it + by Lightfoot. Meyer's view, however, may seem simpler to some readers. + He thinks that "the same things" of ch. iii. 1 are the warnings against + Judaising which actually follow in ver. 2. According to Meyer, the + Apostle had already, in a previous Epistle, warned the Philippians + against the Judaisers, and he considers it "safer" for them and "not + irksome" to himself to repeat the admonition. In this view the + connection between vv. 1 and 2 may be stated in this way: "Rejoice in + the Lord;" and, need I repeat it?--yes, it is better that I should + repeat it,--rejoicing in the Lord is wholly contrary to that boasting in + the flesh which characterises some great religious pretenders well known + to you and me. Beware of them! The energetic scorn of the phrasing is + explained by supposing that the circumstances and the argument of the + former Epistle had led to this animated denunciation, so that the + Apostle recapitulates phrases that were well remembered in the + Philippian congregation. + +Still, even if this denunciation of Judaising comes in rather +unexpectedly, it does not really disturb the main drift of the Epistle, +nor does it interfere with the lessons which the Philippians were to +learn. It rather contributes to enforce the views and deepen the +impressions at which Paul aims. For the denunciation becomes the +occasion of introducing a glowing description of how Christ found Paul, +and what Paul found in Christ. This is set against the religion of +Judaising. But at the same time, and by the nature of the case, it +becomes a magnificent exposure and rebuke of all fleshly religionising, +of all the ways of being religious that are superficial, self-confident, +and worldly-minded. It also becomes a stirring call to what is most +central and vital in Christian religion. If then there was at Philippi, +as there is everywhere, a tendency to be too easily contented with what +they had attained; or to reconcile Christianity with self-seeking; or to +indulge a Christianised arrogance and quarrelsomeness; or, in any other +shape, "having begun in the spirit to be made perfect in the +flesh,"--here was exactly what they needed. Here, too, they might find a +vivid representation of the "one spirit" in which they were to "stand +fast," the "one soul" in which they were to "labour" together (ch. i. +27). That "one spirit" is the mind which is caught, held, vitalised, +continually drawn upwards and forwards, by the revelation and the +appropriation of Christ. + +The truth is that a remiss Christianity always becomes very much a +Judaism. Such Christianity assumes that a life of respectable +conventions, carried on within sacred institutions, will please God and +save our souls. What the Apostle has to set against Judaism may very +well be set against that in all its forms. + +"Keep an eye on the dogs, on the evil workers, on the concision." The +Judaisers are not to occupy him very long, but we see they are going to +be thoroughly disposed of. Dogs is a term borrowed from their own +vocabulary. They classed the Gentiles (even the uncircumcised +Christians) as dogs, impure beings who devoured all kinds of meat and +were open to all kinds of uncleanness. But themselves, the Apostle +intimates, were the truly impure, shutting themselves out from the true +purity, the heart's purity, and (as Dr. Lightfoot expresses it) +"devouring the garbage of carnal ordinances." They were also evil +workers, mischievous busybodies, pertinaciously busy, but busy to undo +rather than to build up what is good, "subverting men's souls" (Acts +xv. 24). And they were the concision; not the circumcision according to +the true intent of that ordinance, but the concision, the mutilation or +gashing. Circumcision was a word which carried in its heart a high +meaning of separation from evil and of consecration to the Lord. That +meaning (and therefore also the word which carried it) pertained to +gospel believers, whether outwardly circumcised or not. For the +Judaising zealots could be claimed only a circumcision which had lost +its sense, and which no more deserved the name,--a senseless gashing of +the flesh, a concision. All these terms seem to be levelled at certain +persons who are in the Apostle's view, and are not unknown to the +Philippians, though not necessarily resident in that city. + +For any full statement of the grounds of the Apostle's indignation at +the Judaising propaganda, the reader must be referred to the expository +writings on other Epistles, especially on those to the Corinthians and +to the Galatians. Here a few words must suffice. Judaising made the +highest pretensions to religious security and success; it proposed to +expound the only worthy and genuine view of man's relation to God. But +in reality the Judaisers wholly misrepresented Christianity, for they +had missed the main meaning of it. Judaising turned men's minds away +from what was highest to what was lowest,--from love to law, from God's +gifts to man's merits, from inward life and power to outward ceremonial +performance, from the spiritual and eternal to the material and the +temporary. It was a huge, melancholy mistake; and yet it was pressed +upon Christians as the true religion, which availed with God, and could +alone bring blessing to men. Hence, as our Lord denounced the Pharisees +with special energy,--sometimes with withering sarcasm (Luke xi. +47),--so, and for the same reasons, does Paul attack the Judaisers. The +Pharisees applied themselves to turn the religion of Israel into a +soul-withering business of formalism and pride; and Paul's opponents +strove to pervert to like effect even the gracious and life-giving +gospel of Christ. To such he would give place, no, not for an hour. + +Two things may be suggested here. One is the responsibility incurred by +those who make a religious profession, and in that character endeavour +to exert religious influence upon others. Such men are taking +possession, as far as they can, of what is highest and most sacred in +the soul's capacities; and if they misdirect the soul's life here, if +consciously or unconsciously they betray interests so sacred, if they +successfully teach men to take false coin for true in the matter of the +soul's dealings with God and with its own welfare, their responsibility +is of the heaviest. + +Another point to notice is the energy with which the Apostle thinks it +right to denounce these evil workers. Denunciation is a line of things +in which, as we know very well, human passion is apt to break loose--the +wrath of man which worketh not the righteousness of God. The history of +religious controversy has made this very plain. Yet surely we may say +that zeal for truth must sometimes show itself in an honest indignation +against the wilfulness and the blindness of those who are misleading +others. It is not always well to be merely mild and placable. That may +arise in some cases from no true charity, but rather from indifference, +or from an amiability that is indolent and selfish. It is good to be +zealously affected in a good thing. Only, we have reason to take heed to +ourselves and to our own spirit, when we are moved to be zealous in the +line of condemning and denouncing. Not all who do so have approved their +right to do it, by tokens of spiritual wisdom and single-hearted +sincerity such as marked the life and work of Paul. + +The Judaisers put abroad the false coin, and believers in Christ, +whether circumcised or not, had the true. "We are the circumcision, who +worship by the Spirit of God, and who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put +no confidence in the flesh." Such are truly Abraham's children (Gal. +iii. 29). To them belong whatever relation to God, and interest in God, +were shadowed forth by circumcision in the days of old. + +No doubt, the rite of circumcision was outward; and no doubt it came to +be connected with a great system of outward ordinances and outward +providences. Yet circumcision, according to the Apostle, pointed not +outwards, but inwards (Rom. ii. 28, 29). Elsewhere he lays stress on +this, that circumcision, when first given, was a seal of faith. In the +Old Testament itself, the complaint made by the prophets, speaking for +God, was that the people, though circumcised in flesh, were of +uncircumcised heart and uncircumcised ears. And God threatens to punish +Israel with the Gentiles--the circumcised with the uncircumcised--because +all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. + +The true circumcision then must be those, in the first place, who have +the true, the essentially true worship. Circumcision set men apart as +worshippers of the true God: hence Israel came to be thought of as a +people "instantly serving (or worshipping) God day and night." That this +worship must include more than outward service in order to be a +success--that it should include elements of high spiritual worth, was +disclosed in Old Testament revelation with growing clearness. One +promise on which it rested was: "The Lord thy God will circumcise thine +heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy +heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." The true +circumcision, those who answer to the type which circumcision was meant +to set, must be those who have the true worship. Now that is the worship +"by the Spirit"; on which we shall have a word to say presently. + +And again, the true circumcision must be those who have the true +glorying. Israel, called to glory in their God, were set apart also to +cherish in that connection a great hope, which was to bless their line, +and, through them, the world. That hope was fulfilled in Christ. The +true circumcision were those who welcomed the fulfilment of the +promise, who rejoiced in the fulness of the blessing, because they had +eyes to see and hearts to feel its incomparable worth. + +And certainly, therefore, as men who had discovered the true foundation +and refuge, they must renounce and turn from the false trust, they must +put no confidence in the flesh. Is this, however, a paradox? Was not +circumcision "outward, in the flesh"? Was it not found to be a congruous +part of a concrete system, built up of "elements of this world"? Was not +the temple a "worldly sanctuary," and were not the sacrifices "carnal +ordinances"? Yes; and yet the true circumcision did not trust in +circumcision. He who truly took the meaning of that remarkable +dispensation was trained to say, "Doth not my soul wait on God? from Him +cometh my salvation." And he was trained to renounce the confidences in +which the nations trusted. Hence, though such a man could accept +instruction and impression from many an ordinance and many a providence, +he was still led to place his trust higher than the flesh. And now, when +the true light was come, when the Kingdom of God shone out in its +spiritual principles and forces, the true circumcision must be found in +those who turned from that which appealed only to the earthly and the +fleshly mind, that they might fasten on that in which God revealed +Himself to contrite and longing souls. + + * * * * * + +The Apostle therefore claimed the inheritance and representation of the +ancient holy people for spiritual believers, rather than for Judaising +ritualists. But apart from questions as to the connection between +successive covenants, it is worth our while to weigh well the +significance of those features of Christian religion which are here +emphasised. + +"We," he says, "worship by the Spirit of God." The Holy Spirit was not +absent from the old economy. But in those days the consciousness and the +faith of His working were dim, and the understanding of the scope of it +was limited. In the times of the New Testament, on the contrary, the +promise and the presence of the Spirit assume a primary place. This is +the great promise of the Father which was to come into manifestation and +fulfilment when Christ had gone away. This, from Pentecost onwards, was +to be distinctive of the character of Christ's Church. According to the +Apostle Paul, it is one great end of Christ's redemption, that we may +receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. So, in particular, +Christian worship is by the Spirit of God. Therefore it is a real and +most inward fellowship with God. In this worship it is the office of the +Holy Spirit to give us a sense of the reality of Divine things, +especially of the truths and promises of God; to touch our hearts with +their goodness, on account especially of the Divine love that breathes +in them; to dispose us to decision, in the way of consent and surrender +to God as thus revealed. He takes the things of Christ, and shows them +to us. So he brings us, in our worship, to meet with God, mind to mind, +heart to heart. Although all our thoughts, as well as all our desires, +come short, yet, in a measure, a real consent with God about His Son and +about the blessings of His Son's gospel comes to pass. Then we sing with +the Spirit, when our songs are filled with confidence and admiration, +arising out of a sense of God's glory and grace; and we pray in the Holy +Ghost, when our supplications express this loving and thankful close +with God's promises. It is our calling and our blessedness to worship by +the Spirit of God. Much of our worship might fall silent, if this alone +should be upheld: yet this alone avails and finds God. Whatever obscures +this, or distracts attention from it, whether it be called Jewish or +Christian, does not aid worship, but mars it. + +It is true that the presence of the Spirit of God is not discernible +otherwise than by the fruits of His working. And the difficulty may be +raised, how can we, in practice, be secure of having the Spirit, thereby +to worship God? But, on the one hand, we know in some degree what the +nature of the worship is which He sustains; we can form some conception +of the attitude and exercise of soul towards Christ and God which +constitutes that worship. We do therefore know something as to what we +should seek; we are aware of the direction in which our face should be +set. On the other hand, the presence of the Spirit with us, to make such +worship real in our case, is an object of faith. We believe in God for +that gracious presence, and ask for it; and so doing, we expect it, +according to God's own promise. On this understanding we apply ourselves +to find entrance and progress in the worship which is by the Spirit. + +All appliances which are supposed to aid worship, which are conceived to +add to its beauty, pathos, or sublimity, are tolerable only so far as +they do not tend to divert us from the worship which is by the Spirit. +Experience shows that men are extremely prone to fall back from the +simplicity and intentness of spiritual worship; and then they cover the +gap, which they cannot fill, by outward arrangements of an impressive +and affecting kind. Outward arrangements can render real service to +worshippers, only if they remove hindrances, and supply conditions under +which the simplicity and intentness of the worship "by the Spirit" may +go on undisturbed. Very often they have tended exactly in the contrary +direction; not the less because they have been introduced, perhaps, with +the best intentions. And yet the chief question of all is not the more +or less, the this or that, of such circumstantials; but rather what the +heart fixes on and holds by. + +Again, we "glory in Christ Jesus." Christians are rich and great, +because Christ Jesus assumes a place in their mind and life, such as +makes them partakers of all spiritual blessing in Him. They glory, not +in what they are, or do, or become, or get, but in Christ. Glorying in +anything implies a deep sense of its wonderfulness and worth, along +with some persuasion that it has a happy relation to ourselves. So +Christ is the power and wisdom of God, the revelation of the Father, the +way to the Father, the centre of blessing, the secret of religious +restoration, attainment, and success: and He is ours; and He sets the +type of what we through Him shall be. To glory and triumph in Christ is +a leading characteristic of Christian religion. + +And so, then, we "put no confidence in the flesh." If in Christ, under +the revelation which centres in Him, we have found the way to God and +the liberty to serve God, then all other ways must be for us _ipso +facto_ exposed and condemned; they are seen to be fallacious and +fruitless. All these other ways are summed up in "the flesh." For the +flesh is human nature fallen, with the resources which it wields, drawn +from itself or from earthly materials of some kind. And in some +selection or combination of these resources, the religion of the flesh +stands. The renunciation of trust in such ways of establishing a case +before God is included in the acceptance of Christ's authority and +Christ's salvation. This condemns alike the confidence in average +morality, and that in accredited ecclesiastical surroundings. It +condemns confidence in even the holiest Christian rites, as if they +could transfer us, by some intrinsic virtue, into the Kingdom of God, or +could accredit our standing there. The same holds of confidence in +doctrines, and even of confidence in sentiments. Rites, doctrines, and +sentiments have their place of honour, as lines in which Christ and we +may meet. Otherwise they all fall into the category of the flesh. Many +things the flesh can do, in worship as in other departments; but it +cannot attain to the worship that is by the Spirit of God. Much it can +boast of; but it cannot replace Immanuel; it cannot fill the place of +the reconciliation and the life. When we learn what kind of confidence +is needed towards God, and find the ground of it in the Christ of God, +then we cease to rely on the flesh. + +At this point the Apostle cannot but emphasise his own right to speak. +He appeals to his remarkable history. He knows all about this Judaic +religion, which glories in the flesh, and he knows also the better way. +The experience which had transformed his life entitled him to a hearing; +for, indeed, he, as no man else, had searched out the worth of both the +ways of it. So he is led into a remarkable testimony regarding the +nature and the working forces of true Christian religion. And this, +while it serves the purpose of throwing deserved disgrace on the poor +religion of Judaising, serves at the same time a higher and more durable +purpose. It sets the glory of the life of faith, love, and worship, +against the meanness of all fleshly life whatever; and thus it vividly +impresses on all hearers and readers the alternatives with which we have +to deal, and the greatness of the choice which we are called to make. + +If Paul decries the Jewish glorying in the flesh, it is not because he +lacked ground, that had enabled him to cherish it and might enable him +still to do so. "I also have material enough of fleshly confidence:--if +any other thinks to have confidence in the flesh, I more." Then comes +the remarkable catalogue of the prerogatives which had once meant so +much for Saul of Tarsus, filling his heart with confidence and +exultation. "Circumcised the eighth day"--for he was no proselyte, but +born within the fold: "of the stock of Israel"--for neither had his +parents been proselytes: in particular, for he was one whose pedigree +was ascertained and notorious, "of the tribe of Benjamin": "an Hebrew of +Hebrews"--nursed and trained, that is to say, in the very speech and +spirit of the chosen people; not, as some of them, bred up in a foreign +tongue, and under alien influences: "concerning the law, a +Pharisee"--that is, "of the strictest sect of our religion" (Acts xxvi. +5); for, as a Pharisee, Saul had given himself wholly to know the law, +to keep the law, to teach the law. More yet--"as to zeal, a persecutor +of the Church"; in this clause the heat of the writer's spirit rises +into pathetic irony and self-scorn: "This appropriate outcome of carnal +Judaism, alas, was not lacking in me: _I_ was not a Judaiser of the +half-hearted sort." The idea is, that those who, trusting in fleshly +Judaism, claimed also to be Christians, knew neither their own spirit, +nor the proper working of their own system. Saul of Tarsus had been no +such incoherent Jew; only too bloodily had he proved himself thorough +and consistent. Lastly, as to "law righteousness," the righteousness of +compliance with rules, he had been unchallengeable; not a pharisaic +theorist only, but a man who made conscience of his theory. Ah! he had +known all this; and more, he had been forced in a great crisis of his +life to measure and search out the whole worth of it. + +"But what things were gain to me"--the whole class of things that ranked +themselves before my eyes, and in my heart, as making me rich and +strong--"those I have esteemed" (in a mass) "to be loss for Christ." +They ceased to be valuable, they began to be reckoned as elements of +disadvantage and of loss, in comparison of Christ. Nor these things +only, but even all things--"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but +loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." "All +things" must include more than those old elements of fleshly confidence +already enumerated. It must include everything which Paul still +possessed, or might yet attain, that could be separated from Christ, +weighed against Him, brought into competition with Him--all that the +flesh could even yet take hold of, and turn into a ground of separate +confidence and boasting. So the phrase might cover much that was good in +its place, much that the Apostle was glad to hold in Christ and from +Christ, but which yet might present itself to the unwatchful heart as +material of independent boasting, and which, in that case, must be met +with energetic and resolute rejection. "All things" may include, for +instance, many of those elements of Christian and Apostolic eminence +which are enumerated in 2 Cor. xi.; for while he thankfully received +many such things, and lovingly prized them "in Christ Jesus," yet as +they might become occasions to flatter or seduce even an +Apostle--betraying him into self-confidence, or into the assertion of +some separate worth and glory for himself--they must be rejected and +counted to be loss. + +The difficulty for us here is to estimate worthily the elevation of that +regard to Christ which had become the inspiration of the life of Paul. + +At the time when he was arrested on the road to Damascus, God revealed +His Son to him and in him. Paul then became aware of Jesus as the +Messiah of his people, against whom his utmost energies had bent +themselves--against whom he had sinned with his utmost determination. +That discovery came home to him with a sense of great darkness and +horror; and, no doubt, at the same time, his whole previous conceptions +of life, and his judgments of his own life, were subverted, and fell in +ruins around him. He had had his scheme of life, of success, of welfare: +it had seemed to him a lofty and well-accredited one; and, with whatever +misgivings he might occasionally be visited, on the whole he thought of +himself as working it out hopefully and well. Now on every side were +written only defeat, perplexity, and despair. But ere long the Son of +God was revealed in his heart (Gal. i. 16) as the Bearer of +righteousness and life to sinners--as the embodiment of Divine +reconciliation and Divine hope. In this light a new conception of the +world, a new scheme of worthy and victorious life, opened itself to +Paul--new and wonderful. But the reason of it, the hopefulness of it, +the endless worth of it, lay chiefly here, that God in Christ had come +into his life. The true relation of moral life to God, and the ends of +human life as judged by that standard, were opening before him; but, if +that had stood alone, it might only have completed the dismay of the +paralysed and stricken man. What made all new was the vision of Christ +victoriously treading the path in which we failed to go, and of Christ +dying for the unrighteous. So God came into view, in His love, +redeeming, reconciling, adopting, giving the Holy Spirit--and He came +into view "in Christ Jesus." God was in Christ. The manifold relation of +the living God to His creature man, began to be felt and verified in the +manifold relation of Christ the Son of God, the Mediator and Saviour, to +the broken man who had defied and hated Him. Christ henceforth became +the ground, the meaning, and the aim of Paul's life. Life found its +explanation, its worth, its loving imperative here. All things else that +once had value in his eyes fell away. If not entirely dismissed, they +were now to have only such place and use as Christ assigned to them, +only such as could fit the genius of life in Christ. And all new +prerogatives and attainments that might yet accrue to Paul, and might +seem entitled to assume value in his eyes, could only have the same +subordinate place:--Christ first, whose light and love, whose power to +fix and fill and attract the soul, made all things new; Christ first, +so that all the rest was comparatively nowhere; Christ first, so that +all the rest, if at any time it came into competition with Him, if it +offered itself to Paul as a source of individual confidence and +boasting, is recognised as mere loss, and in that character resolutely +cast away. + +This had become the living and ruling principle with Paul; not so, +indeed, as to meet with no opposition, but so as to prevail and bear +down opposition. Enthusiastically accepted and embraced, it was a +principle that had to be maintained against temptation, against +infirmity, against the strong tides of inward habit and outward custom. +Here lay the trial of Paul's sincerity and of Christ's fidelity and +power. + +That trial had run its course: it was now not far from its ending. The +opening of heart and mind to Christ, and the surrender of all to Him, +had not been the matter merely of one hour of deep impression and high +feeling. It had continued, it was in full force still. Paul's value for +Christ had borne the strain of time, and change, and temptation. Now he +is Paul the aged, and also a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Has he abated +from the force or cooled from the confidence of that mind of his +concerning the Son of God? Far otherwise. With a "Yea doubtless" he +tells us that he abides by his first conviction, and affirms his first +decision. Good right he had to testify. This was not a matter of inward +feeling only, however sincere and strong. He had been well proved. He +_has_ suffered the loss of all things; he has seen all his +treasures--what are counted for such--swept away from him as the result +of unflinching faith and service; and he counts all to be well lost for +Christ. + +This passage sets before us the essential nature of Christianity--the +essential life of a Christian, as revealed by the effect it has on his +esteem for other things. Many of us, one supposes, cannot consider it +without a sense of deep disgrace. The view here given awakens many +thoughts. Some aspects of the subject must be dwelt upon for a moment. + +Those things that were gain, all things that can be gain, such are the +objects Paul here reckons with. The believing mind concerning Christ +carries with it a changed mind as regards all these. + +Apparently, in some deep sense, there arises for us in this world an +inevitable competition between Christ on the one hand and _all things_ +on the other. If we should say _some_ things, we might be in danger of +sliding into a one-sided puritanism. But we escape that risk by saying, +emphatically, _all_ things. A decision upon this has to be reached, it +has to be maintained, it is to be reaffirmed in particulars, in _all_ +particulars. For we must remember that the heart of Paul, in this burst +of loyalty, is only echoing the call of Christ: "He that loveth father +or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me." Let us repeat it, this +applies to ALL things. Because a certain way of feeling and thinking +about these things, and especially about some of them, is present with +us all, which asserts itself against this principle, therefore Christian +life, however rich and full, however gracious and generous its character +truly is, must include a negative at the base of it. "Let a man deny (or +renounce) himself, and take up his cross." + +That life should be subjected to this severe competition seems hard: we +may repine at it, and count it needless. We may ask, "Why should it be +so? Why might not Christ take His place in our regard--His first, His +ideal, His incomparable place--and, at the same time, all the other +things take their place too, each in due order, as the true conception +of human life may imply, and as the claims of loyalty to Christ may +dictate? Why should not each take its place, more prominent or more +subordinate, on a principle of harmony and happy order? Why should life +be subjected to conflict and strain?" We may dream of this; but it will +not be. We are such persons, and the world about us is so related to us +now, that the "all things" are found continually claiming a place, and +striving to make good for themselves a place in our heart and life, that +will not consist with the regard due to Christ. They can be resisted +only by a great inward decision, maintained and renewed all along our +life, for Christ and against them. The nearest approach the believer +makes in this life to that happy harmony of the whole being which was +spoken of just now, is when his decision for Christ is so thorough and +joyful, that the other elements--the "all things"--fall into their +place, reduced into obedience by an energy that breaks resistance. Then +too, in that place, they begin to reveal their proper nature as God's +gifts, their real beauty and their real worth. + +But then, in the next place, though the decision cannot be escaped, yet, +let us be assured, there is in this no real hardship. To be so called to +this decision is the greatest blessedness of life. There is that in +Christ for men, on account of which a man may gladly count all else but +loss, may count it abundantly well worth his while to make this choice. +Christ as binding us to God, Christ as the living source of +reconciliation and sonship, Christ as the spring of a continually +recruited power to love and serve and overcome, Christ as assuring to us +the attainment of His own likeness, Christ as the Revealer of a love +which is more and better than all its own best gifts--Christ discloses +to us a world of good, for the sake of which it is well done to cast, if +need be, all else away. It proves reasonable to reject the importunate +claim which other things make to be reckoned indispensable. It proves +natural, according to a new nature, to hold all else loosely, that we +may hold this one interest fast. + +Yet this is not to be done or endeavoured by dismissing out of life all +that gives character and movement to human existence. Not so: for indeed +it is human life itself, with its complex of relations and activities, +that is to receive the new inspiration. The decision is to be made by +accepting the principle that life, throughout, must be life in Christ, +life for Christ; and by setting ourselves to learn from Him what that +principle means. Of the "all things" many must continue with us; but if +so, they must continue on a new principle: no longer as competitors, +certainly not as allowed competitors, but as gifts and subjects of +Christ, accepting law and destination from Him. Then, also, they may +continue to carry with them many a pleasant experience of our Master's +providential goodness. The effort to comply with Paul's example by +mutilating human life of some of its great elements has often been a +sincere and earnest effort. But it implies a distorted, and eventually a +narrowed view of the Christian's calling. For, short of suicide, we can +never deal with ALL things on that principle of simple amputation. Now +the Apostle says _all things_: "I count all things to be loss." + +Let this, however, be noted, that loyalty requires something more than +merely a new valuation of things in our minds, however sincere that +valuation might be. It demands also actual sacrifice, when duty or when +faithful service calls for it. Paul's Christianity was prompt to lay +down, as circumstances in the course of following Christ might demand, +everything, anything, even that which, in other circumstances, might +retain its place in life, and be counted, in its own place, seemly and +welcome. Not only shall a man _count_ all to be loss for Christ: he +shall actually, when called upon, suffer the loss of anything or of all +things. No Christian life is without its occasions when this test has to +be accepted. Most Christian lives include lessons in this department at +the very outset. Some Christian lives are very full of them,--full, that +is, of experiences in which contented submission to privation, and +cheerful acceptance of trouble and danger, must approve the sincerity of +the esteem for Christ our Saviour which is the common profession of us +all. So it was with Paul. He had suffered the loss of all things. + +It is because the "all things," in their infinite variety of aspect and +influence, tend so constantly to come into competition with Christ, to +our great hurt and danger, that they must be so emphatically repudiated, +and counted to be "loss." They are loss indeed, when they succeed in +taking the place they claim, for then they impoverish our life of its +true treasure. We may suffer this encroachment to take place +stealthily--all but unconsciously. All the more fit it is that we should +learn to assert loyalty to our Lord with a magnanimous vigilance. It +becomes us to set His worth and claims emphatically, with a "yea +doubtless," against the poor substitutes for which we are tempted +silently to exchange Him. If not, we are likely to come back to that sad +stage which has been already brought before us (ch. ii.), the condition +of those Christians who "all seek their own, not the things which are +Jesus Christ's." + +Let us own, however, that men are trained in different lines of +discipline to the same great result. The lesson broke into the life of +Paul with astounding force at one great crisis. Some, on the contrary, +begin their training in little instances of early life, and under +influences working too gently to be afterwards recalled. Gradually they +grow into a clearer perception of the gifts Christ offers and of the +claims He makes; and each step of decision paves the way to new +attainments. The experience of all Christians, however diversified their +training may be, is harmonised in the fidelity of each to the light he +has, and of all to the Lord who calls them all to follow Him. + + + + +_THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST._ + + "Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency + of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the + loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may gain + Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of mine + own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith + in Christ, the righteousness which is of [from] God by [upon] + faith: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and + the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His + death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the + dead."--PHIL. iii. 8-11 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST._ + + +Mr. Alexander Knox, in a letter to a friend,[4] makes the following +remark: "Religion contains two sets of truths, which I may venture to +denominate _ultimate_ and _mediatory_: the former refer to God as an +original and end; the latter to the Word made flesh, the suffering, +dying, rising, ruling Saviour; the way, the truth, the life. Now I +conceive these two views have almost ever been varying, in the minds +even of the sincerely pious, with respect to comparative consequence; +and, while some have so regarded the ultimate as in some degree to +neglect the mediatory, others have so fixed their view on the mediatory +as greatly and hurtfully to lose sight of the ultimate." This writer +refers to Tillotson on one side, and Zinzendorf on the other, as +instances of these extremes; and indicates that perhaps his own leaning +might be a little too much in the former direction. + + [4] _Remains_, iv., p. 156. + +It can hardly be doubted that there is something in this suggestion. In +the guidance and training of the soul some aim mainly at right +dispositions towards God and His will, without much dwelling on what +Knox calls mediatory truths; because they assume that the latter exist +only with a view to the former; and if the end has been brought into +view and is coming to be attained, there is no special need of dwelling +on the means. Others aim mainly at receiving the right impressions about +Christ dying and rising, and at complying with the _way_ of salvation as +it is set forth to us in Christ; because they are persuaded that here +the secret lies of all deliverance and progress, and that the end cannot +otherwise be reached. And Mr. Knox suggests, with truth most likely, +that such persons have often so occupied themselves with what may be +called the means of salvation, that they lose sight in a great degree of +the end to which all tends--life in God, life in fellowship with His +loving goodness and His holy will. + +What application these views may have to divergences of our own day it +would take too long to consider. Mr. Knox's remark has been referred to +here in order to throw light on the mental attitude of Paul. Paul will +hardly be accused of losing sight of the ultimate truths; but certainly +he delights to view them through the mediatory truths; and he strives to +reach the ultimate victory, through the most realising application to +his heart and life of what those mediatory truths embody and disclose. +Through the mediatory truths the ultimate ones reveal themselves to him +with a wealth and an intensity otherwise unattainable. And the eternal +life comes into experience for him as he takes into his soul the full +effect of the provision which God has made, in Christ, to bestow eternal +life upon him. That order of things which is mediatory is not regarded +by Paul only as a fitting introduction, on God's part, to His ultimate +procedure; it is also in the same degree fitted to become for the +individual man the medium of vision, of assurance, of participation. In +other words, Paul finds God and makes way into goodness through Christ; +and not through Christ merely as an embodied ideal, but through union to +Christ Divine and human, Christ living, dying, rising, redeeming, +justifying, sanctifying, glorifying. He never pauses in any of these, so +as to fail in looking onward to God, the living God. But neither does he +pass on to that goal so as to disregard the way unto the Father. If he +could have foreseen the method of those who are striving in our day to +bring men to the blessedness which Christianity holds out by dwelling +exclusively on Christian ethics, he might have sympathised with their +ethical intensity; but he would surely have wondered that they failed to +find in Christianity more pregnant springs of motive and of power. +Perhaps he would even be moved to say, "O foolish Galatians (or +Corinthians), who hath bewitched you?" Not less, it must also be said, +might he wonder at many a gospel preacher, who rehearses the "way of +salvation" until the machinery clanks and groans, unable apparently to +divine--unable, at least, to bring out--that glory of God in it, that +wonderful presence and influence of infinite holiness, goodness, and +pity, which make the gospel the power of God. + +We, meanwhile, shall do well to imitate the charity of Mr. Knox, who +cordially owned the Christian piety of those who might go too far either +way. Few of us, indeed, can dispense with the charity that is tender to +partial and imperfect views. But if we are to understand Paul, we must +find our way into some sympathy with him here; not only as he is seen on +this line to have attained so far in saintship, but as he is seen to be +sure that this way lay much more--that on this line his road lay to the +glory that should be revealed. He could contemplate the practice and +growth of piety in many lights; yet it came home to him most evidently +as growth in the knowledge and in the appropriation of Jesus Christ. + +He has cast away for the sake of Christ the treasures so much valued by +the Jews, and many a treasure more. But what he would chiefly impress on +the minds of those to whom he writes is not so much the amount of what +he has cast away, but rather the worth of that which he has found, and +more and more is finding. The mass of things set down for loss is a mere +stepping-stone to this central theme. But though he tells us what he +thought and felt about it, most of us learn but slowly how much it meant +for him. When we sit down beside the Apostle to learn his lesson, we +become conscious that he is seeing what we cannot descry; he is +sensitive to Christ through spiritual senses which in us are torpid and +undeveloped. Christ holds him all through. It is faith, and love, and +gratitude; it is self-devotion, and obedience, and wonder, and worship; +and, through all, the conviction glows that Christ is his, that in +Christ all things have changed for him. "In Christ we have redemption +through His blood, the forgiveness of sin. He hath made me accepted in +the Beloved. I live; yet not I, but Christ. In Christ, old things have +passed away, all things are made new. Christ is made of God unto us +wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Who shall +separate us from the love of Christ?" The intense heat of this +conception of Christ, it must once more be said, gives its distinctive +character to the religious life of Paul. May we not say that the +lamentable distinction of a great deal of current Christianity is the +coldness of men's thoughts about their Saviour? The views of many may be +characterised as "correct, but cold." Only what can be more incorrect, +what can more effectually deny and controvert the main things to be +asserted, than coldness towards our Saviour, and cold thoughts of His +benefits? This we should hold to be unpardonable. We never should +forgive it to ourselves. + +"For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus." Christ had come +into the life of Paul as a wonderful knowledge. Becoming thus known to +him, He had transformed the world in which Paul lived, and had made him +conscious of a new order of existence, so that old things passed away +and all became new. The phrase employed combines two ideas. In the first +place, Paul felt Christ appealing to him as to a thinking, knowing +nature. Various influences were reaching him from Christ which bore on +heart, will, conscience: but they all came primarily as a revelation; +they came as light. "God, who commanded the light to shine out of +darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge +of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus." In the next place, +this discovery came with a certain assuredness. It was felt to be not a +dream, not a fair imagination only, not a speculation, but a knowledge. +Here Paul felt himself face to face with the real--indeed, with +fundamental reality. In this character, as luminous knowledge, the +revelation of Christ challenged his decision, it demanded his +appreciation and adherence. For since Christ claims so fundamental a +place in the moral world, since He claims so intimate and fruitful a +relation to the whole state and prospects of the believing man, +acquaintance with Him (at least, if it be acquaintance in Paul's style) +cannot pause at the stage of contemplation: it passes into appropriation +and surrender. Christ is known as dealing with us, and must be dealt +with by us. So this knowledge becomes, at the same time, experience. + +Hence, while in ver. 8 the Apostle speaks of himself as encountering all +earthly loss that he may _know_ Christ, in ver. 9 it is that he may +_gain_ Christ and may be _found in Him_. Christ so came into the field +of his knowledge as to become the treasure of his life, replacing those +things which heretofore had been gain, and which now figured as loss. +When Paul turned from all else to know Christ, he turned, at the same +time, to have Christ, "gaining Him," and to be Christ's, "found in Him." + +Christ, in fact, comes to us with commandments, "words" (John xiv. 23), +which are to be kept and done. He comes to us, also, with promises, the +fulfilment of which, in our own case, is a most practical business. Some +of these promises concern the world to come; but others apply to the +present; and these, which lie next us, either are neglected, or are +embraced and put to proof, every day of our lives. Besides all this, +Christ comes to us to fix and fill our minds, and to endear Himself to +us, in virtue simply of what He is. So viewed, He is to be owned as our +best Friend, and indeed henceforth, with reverence be it said, by far +our nearest Relation. This is to be, or else it is not to be. Each day +asks the question, Which? Paul's Christianity was the answer to that +question. How his answer rings in all our ears! Our Christianity also is +making its reply. + +Both as to knowledge and as to experience the type was fixed from the +first: there could be no doubt about either. But both were to deepen and +widen as life went on. Christ was apprehended at first as a wonderful +Whole of good; but so that indefinite fields of progress were +continually to open up. In the very first days a knowledge dawned, for +the sake of which all else was counted loss; yet a world of truths +remained to know, as well as of good to experience, for the sake of +which also all else should continue to be counted but loss. This, in +fact, is only one way of saying that Christ and His salvation _were_ +realities, divinely full and worthy. Being real, the full acquaintance +with all they mean for men can only arise in a historical way. Paul +therefore emphasises this, that real Christianity, the right kind of +Christianity, just because it has found a treasure, is set on going on +to find that same treasure still further and still more (comp. ch. i. +9). If the treasure is real and the man is in earnest, that will be so. +Such had been the course of his own Christian life from the first. Now, +though many years have disciplined him, though changing experiences have +given him new points of view, still, no less than at the first, his +rejoicing in the present goes hand in hand with reaching onward to the +future. The one, in fact, is the reason of the other. Both are rational, +or neither. He _has_ counted all to be loss for the excellency of the +knowledge which has broken upon his soul: and still he presses on, that +he _may_ know; for the same strong attraction continues and grows. + +Before passing to details, something more should perhaps be said of this +magnificent generality, "the knowledge of Christ." + +Christ is first of all known historically; so He is presented to us in +the Gospels. His story is part of the history of our race. He passes +through youth to manhood. We see Him living, acting, enduring; and we +hear Him teaching--wonderful words proceed from His mouth. We +contemplate Him in His humiliation, under the limits to which He +submitted that He might share our state and bear our burdens. In the +pathways of that Jewish life He discloses a perfect goodness and a +perfect dignity. We see especially that He cherishes a purpose of +goodwill to men which He bears to them from the Father. It overflows in +all His words and works, and in the prosecution of it He moves on to lay +down His life for us. This is the beginning of the knowledge of the Only +Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Much may as yet be +undefined; many questions may crowd on us that receive as yet no precise +answer; nay, much may seem to us as yet to be strangely entangled in the +particulars of an individual and of a provincial existence. But this +presentation of Christ can never be dispensed with or superseded; and, +for its essential purpose, it never can be surpassed. For this is the +Life. "The Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and show unto you +that Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto +us." + +This vision, which the Gospels set before us, was also before the mind +of Paul. And words of our Lord, delivered in His earthly ministry, and +preserved by those who heard Him, were treasured by the Apostle of the +Gentiles, and reproduced to guide the Churches as need required. Yet +there is a sense in which we may say that it is not exactly the Christ +of the Gospels who comes before us in the Pauline writings. The Christ +of Paul is the Lord who met him by the way. It is Christ dead, risen, +and ascended; it is Christ with the reason and the result of His +finished work made plain, and with the relation unveiled which He +sustains to men who live by Him; it is Christ with the significance of +His wonderful history for believers shining out from Him--Christ +_vestitus Evangelio_. Now He has gone up above all worlds. No longer is +He hedged about by necessities of mortal life; no longer tied by earthly +bonds to some places and some men and one nation. He is glorified; all +fulness dwells in Him; all God's purposes are seen to centre in Him. And +then, by His death and resurrection, the tie between Him and His people +is unveiled to faith, as it could not be before. They are one with +Him--in Him redeemed, endowed, triumphant, glorified. Every Christian +privilege and attainment, every grace, every virtue and good gift, takes +on a celestial character, as it is seen to be an element in our +fellowship with Christ. The state of Christians is seen reflected in +their Head. And, in turn, Christ is seen, as it were, through the medium +of the relation which He sustains to them, and of the wealth of good +arising to them by it. It is Christ as He is to His people, Christ as He +is set in the centre of the world of good that radiates to them all, +whom Paul wonders at and worships. And he finds all this to be rooted +in our Lord's death upon the cross, which was the crisis of the whole +redemption. All that follows took character and efficacy from that +death. + +A special insight into all this was included in the wisdom given to +Paul. And yet this view of things does not turn out to be something +diverse or alien from what the Gospels set before us. Rather it is the +gospel story revealing its native significance and virtue along many +lines which were not so distinct before. + +But now all this, in turn, leads us to the third aspect of the case. +What Christ is and what He does may be described; but there is a +knowledge of it which is imparted practically, in the progressive +history of the believer. According to the Christian teaching, we enter, +as Christians, on a new relation; and in that relation a certain blessed +well-being is appointed to us. This well-being is itself an unfolding or +disclosure of Christ. Now this well-being comes home to us and is +verified in the course of a progressive human experience. Life must +become our school to teach us what it all means. Life sets us at the +point of view now for one lesson, now for another. Life moves and +changes, and brings its experiences; its problems, its conflicts, its +anxieties, its fears, its temptations; its need of pity, pardon, +strengthening; its experience of weakness, defeat, and disgrace; its +opportunities of service, self-denial, fidelity, victory. For all these +occasions Christ has a meaning and a virtue, which, in those occasions, +is to become personal to ourselves. This makes knowledge indeed. This +becomes the vivid commentary upon the historical and the doctrinal +instruction. Life, _taken in Christ's way_, along with prayer and +thought, manifests Christ's meaning, and makes it real to us, as nothing +else can. It furnishes the stepping-stones for passing onward, in the +knowledge of Christ. + +This also was Paul's condition, though he was an inspired man. He too +was fain to improve his knowledge in this school. And when we take all +three aspects together, we shall see how truly, for Paul and for us, the +knowledge of Christ is, on the one hand, so excellent from the first, +that it justifies the great decision to which it calls us; and, on the +other hand, how it creates a longing for further insight and fresh +attainment. The latter we see in the Apostle as plainly as the former. +From the first, he knew in whom he believed, and was persuaded that for +His sake all else was to be resigned. Yet to the end he felt the +unsatisfied desire to know more, to gain more; and his heart, if we may +apply here the Psalmist's words, was breaking for this longing which it +had. + +It was remarked above that the "excellency of the knowledge of Christ" +in ver. 8 corresponds in the Apostle's thought to the "gaining" of +Christ and being "found in Him" of ver. 9; and this may be the best +place to say a word on these two phrases. To gain Christ, points to a +receiving Christ as one's own; and the Apostle uses the phrase so as to +imply that this finding of Christ, as One who is gained or won, was +still going on; it was progressive. Clearly also the alternative is +implied, that what is not gained is lost. The question in the Apostle's +life, about which he was so decided, was about no less than losing or +gaining Christ. The phrase "be found" points to the verification of +Paul's relation to Christ in his history and in its results. That +relation is contemplated as something that _proves_ true. It turns out +to be _so_. We shall best understand the phrase as referring, not to +some one future date at which he should be so found, but rather to +present and future alike. As men, or angels, or God, or Christ might +view him, or as he might take account of his own state, this was what he +would have _found_ in regard to himself. Every way he would be found in +Christ. The form of expression, however, is specially appropriate here, +because it fits so well into the doctrine of righteousness through +Christ, which the Apostle is about to emphasise. A similar remark +applies to the expression "in Christ" so frequently occurring in the +Pauline writings. This is usually explained by saying that the Apostle +sets before us Christ as the sphere of his spiritual being--in whom he +lived and moved--never out of relation to Him, and not so related to any +other. Such explanations are true and good: only we may say that the +pregnant strength of the expression seems to be weakened even by the +best explanations. The relation in view is too wonderful ever to be +adequately described. The union between Christ and His Church, between +Christ and the believing man, is a mystery; and, like all objects of +faith, it is dimly apprehended by us for the present. But the certainty +of it, and its wonderfulness, we should never allow ourselves to +overlook. Christ is able to bring men into fellowship with Himself, to +assume responsibility for them, to represent their interests and to care +for their good; and men may receive Christ into their lives; with a +completeness on both sides which no explanations can adequately +represent. The identification with Christ which the phrase suggests +naturally fits what follows. + +Now the Apostle goes more into detail. He tells us what were for him the +main articles of this good state of being "found in Christ." He +indicates, with a certain eager gratitude, the main lines along which +the benefits of that state had come into experience, and along which he +was pressing on to know the fulness of Christ. First, in Christ he has +and shall have not his own righteousness, which is that of the law, but +that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of +God by faith. Then, secondly, he has in hand a practical knowledge of +Christ, culminating in the complete deliverance of the resurrection. It +includes two aspects or elements; Christ known in the power of His +resurrection, and Christ known in the fellowship of His sufferings. + +The first thing then which rises distinctly into view in connection +with being found in Christ is the possession of the new righteousness. +We have seen already that value for righteousness such as is of law, and +hope of achieving it, had been associated with Paul's old days of Jewish +zeal. He then stood on the law, and gloried in the law. But that had +passed away when he learned to count all things loss for the excellency +of the knowledge of Christ. Ever after, the contrast between the two +ways of seeking "righteousness" continued to be fundamental in Paul's +Christian thinking. + +The law here in view was the whole revealed will of God touching man's +behaviour, coming as a will of authority, requiring obedience. The +discussion in the earlier chapters of the Epistle to the Romans makes +this plain. And Paul's way of keeping the law, in those old days, though +it was necessarily too external, had not been so merely external as is +sometimes supposed. His obedience had been zealous and resolute, with as +much heart and meaning as he could put into it. But law-keeping for +righteousness had been the principle of it. The Jew was placed under a +law; obedience to that law should be his pathway to a destiny of +incomparable privilege and gladness. That was the theory. So believing, +Paul had given himself with zeal to the work, "living in all good +conscience before God." A great change had now befallen him; but that +could not imply on his part a renunciation of God's law. The law, better +understood indeed, and far more inwardly apprehended, still retained +for Paul its great outlines, and was reverenced as Divine. It was holy +and just and good. It was felt still to shed its steadfast light on +human duty, awakening and illuminating the conscience; and therefore it +revealed most authentically the moral situation, with its elements of +failure, and danger, and need. The law stood fast. But the scheme of +life which stood in keeping the law _for righteousness_ had passed away +for Paul, vanishing in the light of a new and better day. + +Here, however, we must ask what the Apostle means when he speaks of the +righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, the righteousness +which is of God unto or upon faith. Great disputes have arisen over this +question. We must endeavour to find the Apostle's main meaning, without +involving ourselves too much in the mazes of technical debate. + + + + +_THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH._ + + "Not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the + law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness + which is of [from] God by [upon] faith."--PHIL. iii. 9 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH._ + + +Righteousness is a term which is applied in different ways. Often it +denotes excellence of personal character. So used, it suggests the idea +of a life whose manifestations agree with the standard by which lives +are tried. Sometimes it denotes rectitude or justice, as distinguished +from benevolence. Sometimes a claim to be approved, or judicially +vindicated, is more immediately in view when righteousness is asserted. +Paul himself freely uses the word in different applications, the sense, +in each passage, being determined by the context. Here we have the +righteousness of faith, as distinguished from the righteousness of +works, or righteousness by the law. The passage belongs to a large class +in which righteousness is spoken of as accruing, through Christ, to +those who are unrighteous, or whose own righteousness has proved +unreliable. Let us try to fix the thought which the Apostle designed to +inculcate in such passages.[5] + + [5] The statement which follows in the next six paragraphs is partly + based on Pfleiderer, _Paulinismus_, p. 172 fol. He will perhaps be + regarded as a tolerably impartial reporter on this point. + +The Apostle, then, conceives of the righteousness, of which he has so +much to say, as God's: it is the "righteousness of God" (Rom. i. 17, +iii. 22, x. 3). Yet it is not God's in the sense of being an attribute +of His own Divine nature: for (in the passage before us) it is called +"the righteousness _from_ God"; it arises for us by our faith in Jesus +Christ; and so (2 Cor. v. 21) "we are made the righteousness of God in +Christ." It is, therefore, something that is from God to us believing, a +"gift of righteousness" (Rom. v. 17). At the same time it is not, on the +other hand, an attribute or quality of the human mind, whether natural +or imparted; for it is something "revealed" (Rom. i. 17). Also, it is +opposed to the wrath of God. Now, that wrath is indeed an element of our +state as sinners, but not a feature of our character. Further, it could +not be said of any internal character of our own, that we are to be +"obedient," or are to "submit" to it (Rom. x. 3). + +In the latter part of Romans v. we have set before us two counter +conceptions: the one of sin and condemnation, deriving from Adam, +antecedent to the personal action and offence of those who descend from +him; the other of free gift unto justification, following from the +righteousness or obedience of Christ, this being a gift of grace +abounding unto many. In either case the Apostle sees arising from one a +relation which pertains to many, and which brings forth its results to +them: on the one hand, sin and death; on the other, righteousness and +life. In both cases a common relation is recognised, under which +individuals are found existing; and in either case it traces up to the +one--to Adam or to Christ. Whatever difficulties may be felt to attach +to this passage, the Apostle's doctrine of the righteousness of faith +must be understood so as to agree with the way of thinking which the +passage expresses. + +It appears, then, that the righteousness which is from God, unto or upon +faith, expresses a relation between God and believers that is the proper +basis for fellowship with God, confiding on their part, communicative of +the best blessings on His. It is analogous to the relation conceived to +arise when a perfectly righteous man is approved and set apart to weal; +and like that it stands in contrast with the relation due to sin as it +incurs wrath. It follows that this righteousness, if it exists or +becomes available for those who have sinned, includes the forgiveness of +sins. But it includes more than forgiveness, in so far as it is not +merely negative. It is the concession to us of a standing which is a +positive basis for experiences, pointing towards eternal life, and +rising into it. + +This relation to Himself God has founded for us sinful men in Christ, +and specially in His atonement. It is part of what is divinely held out +to us, as life or well-being in Christ. When we do awaken to it, our +whole religious attitude towards God takes character from it, and is to +be ordered accordingly. This way of being related to God is called God's +righteousness, or righteousness "from God," because it is not set up by +us, but by God's grace, through the redeeming work of Christ ("being +justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ +Jesus"--Rom. iii. 24). On the other hand, it is righteousness "of +faith," or "through faith of Christ," because faith subjects itself to +the order of grace, revealed and made effectual in Christ, and therein +finds the reconciliation. For the believing man the relation becomes +effectual and operative. He is "accepted in the Beloved." He is +"constituted righteous" (Rom. v. 19), and his intercourse with his +Heavenly Father regulates itself accordingly, he being justified +"from--or upon--his faith." The harmony with God on which he has entered +becomes, in some degree, matter of consciousness for himself (Rom. v. +1). With this connection of things in view, the Apostle teaches that +righteousness is imputed, or reckoned, to him who believes in Jesus +(Rom. iv. 24). + +Whatever opinion we may choose to entertain of this scheme, it ought not +to be disputed that this, in general, is Paul's conception of the +matter. + +However, let us emphatically note that it is as "in Christ," "found in +Him," the Apostle possesses this form of well-being. If there be such a +thing as a real union between the Saviour and Paul, then in the Saviour +and with the Saviour Paul is thus righteous. The faith to which this +righteousness arises is faith that unites to Christ, and not any other +kind of faith. And so, if it be possible for Paul to fall from Christ, +then also he must fall from the righteousness of faith. In Christ a +relation to God appears, made good, maintained, and verified, in which +He gathers to Himself and comprehends all true believers: "for which +cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren." Hence also this +Christian benefit, though it is distinguishable, is not separated +radically from the other benefits. It is not possible to take the one +and leave the rest; for Christ is not divided. But there is an order in +His gifts; and, for Paul, this gift is primary. God is ours in Christ; +therefore religion, true religion, may begin and go on. + +It is of weight with Paul that this righteousness of faith, arising for +him who is "found" in Christ, is founded for us in the atonement. That +is to say, the new relation is not represented as a relation created for +us by a mere Divine fiat that it shall be so. It is represented as +arising for sinful men out of the redemption of Christ; which redemption +is represented as in its own nature fitted to fructify into this result, +as well as into other fruits which are due to it. Christ's atonement is +the way which grace has taken to bring in the righteousness of faith. In +particular, we are made righteous (in this sense) through Christ, in a +manner corresponding to that in which He was made sin for us (2 Cor. v. +21). Hence the blood, the sacrifice, the obedience of Christ are +referred to on all occasions, in connection with the righteousness of +faith, as explicative causes to which this is to be traced. The relation +is first of all a relation completely grounded and made good in Christ; +and then we are participant in it with Him, in virtue of our faith in +Him. + +Clearly the Apostle thinks of this righteousness of faith as something +very wonderful. It is for him fundamental. It is the first article in +which he celebrates the worth of the knowledge of Christ; no doubt, +because he felt it transforming his whole moral and spiritual +experience; and, in particular, because it contrasted so vividly with +the nugatory righteousness of earlier days. + +In earlier days Paul sought righteousness--an approved and accepted +standing with God--by the works of the law. That project failed when the +great discovery on the road to Damascus showed him to himself as all +astray; in particular, when the law itself, coming home to him in the +fulness of its meaning, both revealed to him the beggarliness of his own +performance, and, at the same time, stung into appalling activity +ungodly elements within him. Then he saw before him the law rising from +its deep foundations in eternal strength and majesty, imperative, +unalterable, inexorable; and over against it his own works lay withered +and unclean. But another vision came. He saw the Son of God in His life, +death, and resurrection. Mere love and pity were the inspiration of His +coming: obedience and sacrifice were the form of it. So in that great +vision one element or aspect that rose into view was righteousness,-- +righteousness grounded as deep as the law itself, as magnificent in its +great proportions, as little subject to change or decay, radiant with +surpassing glory. As he saw, and bowed, an trusted, he became conscious +of a new access and nearness to God Himself; he passed into the +fellowship of God's dear Son; he found acceptance in the Beloved. Here +was the answer to that woful problem of the law: righteousness in Christ +for a world of sinners, coming to them as a free gift to faith. Here was +the strong foundation on which faith found itself set to learn its +lessons, and perform its service, and fight its battles. In Christ he +received the reconciliation--merciful, and also righteous. As Paul +thought of the ground on which he once had stood, and of the standing +granted to him now, "in Him,"--it was with a "yea doubtless" he declared +that he counted all to be loss for the gain of Christ, in whom he was +found, not having his own righteousness, which was of the law, but that +which is by the faith of Christ. + +Righteousness of faith, as the Apostle conceives it, is to be +distinguished from personal righteousness, or goodness, as an attribute +of human character, but yet is most closely connected with it. +Righteousness of faith opened what seemed to Paul the prosperous way +into righteousness of daily living. In the very hour when he first +believed for righteousness, he felt himself entering a kingdom of light, +and love, and power, in which all things were possible; and ever after +the same order of experience verified itself for him afresh. The +righteousness of faith being the relation in which, through Christ, he +found himself standing to God, fixed at the same time his relation to +all Christian benefits, including, as a principal element, conformity to +the likeness of Christ. To the man in Christ all these benefits +pertained; in Christ he could claim them all: in Christ he found himself +before doors that opened of their own accord to let him in; in Christ it +proved to be a fit thing, grounded deep in the congruities of God's +administration, that God should be for him; therefore, also, the pathway +of holiness lay open before him. The fulness of blessing had not yet +come into possession and experience. But in the righteousness of faith +he apprehended all blessings as stretching out their hands to him, +because through Christ they ought to be his. That he should find himself +in a relation to God so simple and so satisfying was wonderful; all the +more, when it was contrasted with the condemnation belonging to him as a +sinner. This was the righteousness from God to faith, in the strength of +which he could call all things his own. + +If Paul had succeeded in the enterprise of his earlier days, when he +sought righteousness by the law, he would, as he hoped, have found +acceptance in the end; and various blessings would have followed. He +would have emerged from his task a man stamped as righteous, and fit to +be treated accordingly. That would have been the end. But now, in +reference to his present enterprise, he has found, being in Christ, +acceptance at the beginning. So often as faith lifts him into the +heavenly places where Christ is, he finds all things to be his; not +because he has achieved righteousness, but because Christ has died and +risen, and because God justifies him who believes in Jesus. The platform +he hoped to reach by the efforts of a lifetime is already under his +feet. Paul faces each arduous step in his new enterprise, strong in the +conviction that his standing before God is rooted, not in his doings nor +in his feelings, but in his Saviour in whom he holds the righteousness +of faith. + +We need not conceal from ourselves, however, that many find the doctrine +thus ascribed to Paul unacceptable. If they do not count it positively +misleading, as some do, they yet regard it as unprofitable theory. + +Apart from objections drawn from theology or morals or texts, they +argue, for example, that it is all in the air, away from real +experience. Christian religion is a practical matter,--a question of +improved dispositions, improved habits, and improved prospects. If, +through Christ, such things as these arise for us, if, through Him, +influences reach us that tend to such results, then those are the +practical specimens which interpret to us a Saviour's kindness. To know +Christ in these must be the true knowledge of Him. To carry us away +beforehand into the region of a supposed relation to God is a +precarious, and may be a delusive business; it is, at any rate, a +dogmatic nicety rather than a vital element in religion. If we are to +experience God's mercy or Christ's kindness in any practical form, then +that is to be so; and it is shorter to say so at once. Let us fix on +that, without interposing any doctrine of "righteousness by faith." + +But it must be said, in reply, that to speak of this righteousness of +faith as unpractical, is a strange mistake. All religion aims at +fellowship with God; and in Christian religion that fellowship becomes +real and authentic in Christ. Through all exercises and attainments of +Christian religion that are genuine, this thread goes. We have access to +God, and we abide in the Father and the Son. How imperfectly this takes +place on our part need not be said. The imperfection on our part is, +indeed, only exceeded by the condescension on His. Yet our faith is that +this is real, otherwise Christianity would not be for us the opening of +an eternal blessedness. How can it be judged unpractical, if God reveals +to men, first, that in the room of those confused and melancholy +relations to God which arise for us out of our own past history, He has +constituted for us a relation, apprehensible by faith, in which we find +ourselves pardoned, accepted, commended to God to be made partakers of +life eternal; and, secondly, that this is grounded in the service and +sacrifice of His Son, sent forth to save us; so that we enter this +relation and hold it, not independently, but in fellowship with the Son +of God, His sonship becoming the model of ours? Is this unpractical? Is +it unpractical to be conscious of such a relation between God and men, +for ever embodied and made accessible in His Son our Saviour? Is it +unpractical to apprehend God in the attitude towards us which is due to +such a relation, and to take, ourselves, the attitude of gratitude and +penitence and trust which on our side corresponds to it? It cannot be +unpractical. It may be pernicious, if it takes the form of a cold, +presumptuous arrogance, or of a self-satisfied Pharisaism; that is to +say, if God be not in it. But if God in Christ is reaching us along +those lines, or if we, alive to His eternal character, and conscious of +our guilt and need, are reaching out to real relations and real +fellowship with Him through His Son our Lord, then it cannot be +unpractical. And, indeed, however men may differ as to theological +explanations, some sense of the worth of the thing intended has reached +the hearts of all true Christians. + +Perhaps the state of the case will more clearly appear if we fix +attention on one Christian benefit. Let us take the forgiveness of sins. + +Forgiveness of sins is the primary grace, and it sets the type of the +grace to which we owe all benefits. Forgiveness, as it were, leads in +all other blessings by the hand; or, each blessing as it advances into a +Christian life comes with a fresh gift of forgiveness in the heart of +it. If this is so, then the tendency, which is observable in various +quarters, to pass forgiveness by, as a matter of course, and to hurry on +to what are reckoned more substantial, or more experimental benefits, +must be attended with loss. It must, so far, damage our conceptions of +the manner in which it befits God to bestow blessings on sinful men, and +also our conception of the spirit in which we should receive them. + +But then, in the next place, the forgiveness of sins itself is referred +to the mediation of Christ, and the work accomplished in that mediation, +as its known basis. Forgiveness of sins was to arise out of an order of +grace, embodied in history--namely, in the history of the Incarnate Son +of God; and we are not entitled to take for granted it could fitly arise +otherwise. Apparently Christ Himself came into the inheritance which He +holds for us, by an order of things which it was imperative on Him to +regard, and by a history which He must fulfil. And we, believing in Him, +find, in consequence, a new place and standing; we receive a "gift of +righteousness" which contains the forgiveness of sins; we obtain, +through Christ, a mode of access to God, of which forgiveness is a +feature. So the place of forgiveness in the Divine administration is +vindicated and safe-guarded; and while forgiveness comes to us as a gift +of the Father's compassionate heart, it is found to be true also that +"Christ washed us from our sins in His own blood." "God sent His Son, +made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the +law." "God hath sent Him forth for a propitiation, through faith in His +blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are +past, ... that He might be just, and the Justifier of him that +believeth in Jesus." Our forgiveness is a free gift of God's goodness; +yet also, it is our participation with Christ, sent to us from the +Father, in a wonderful relation which He has come to hold to sin and to +righteousness. If we overlook this, we conceal from ourselves great +aspects of the work undertaken for us by the love of God. + +But if forgiveness, which is itself a meeting with God in peace, refers +itself to the mediation of Christ as preparing for us a blessed relation +to God--a righteousness of faith--how should our whole fellowship with +God, in grace, fail to presuppose the same foundation? + +But argument upon this topic might lead us far. Let us close the chapter +in another vein. + +All religion, worth recognising in that character, implies earnestness, +serious aspiration and endeavour. It supposes human life to place itself +under the influence of an order of motives that is to be comprehensive +and commanding. And this is true also of Christian religion. But +Christian religion, as we know, does not begin with a consciousness of +ability to achieve success; it is not grounded in an expectation that by +strenuous or apt effort of ours, we may achieve the aims and secure the +benefits at which religion points. That is not the root of Christian +religion. It begins with a consciousness and confession of weakness: the +soul owns its incompetency to deal with the great interests that reveal +themselves in the light of Christ; it is without strength for tasks like +these. And so the deepest and earliest exercise of Christian religion +is Prayer. It asks great things from a great God. "This poor man cried," +and the Lord heard him. Paul's Christianity began thus: "Behold, he +prayeth." + +Now just so Christian religion does not begin with a consciousness of +deserving something, or an idea that by taking pains we may deserve +something, may single ourselves out for at least some modest share of +favourable recognition. Rather it often begins with the fading away of +such ideas when they were present before. Christian religion roots +itself in the confession of sin, and therefore of ill-desert; it +signalises itself by a deepening sense of the seriousness of the +situation in this respect. With this it comes face to face before God. +"I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord." "God be merciful to me +a sinner." We have nothing that is not sinful to bring before Him; so, +at length, we come with that. It is all we have. Our prayer rises not +merely out of the sense of weakness, but out of the consciousness of +demerit. + +But in Christian religion we are aware, as of strength which can remedy +our weakness, so of forgiveness which can put away our sins. "There is +forgiveness with Thee." "Through this Man is preached to us the +forgiveness of sins." It is clear also that this forgiveness comes, +wherever it comes, as full and free forgiveness, "forgiving you all +trespasses." So that in Christian religion we listen at Christ's feet to +the testimony directed to all penitent believers, that instead of +reckoning in part or whole about the guilt of sins committed, we are to +find God in Christ to be One who simply puts away our sin. That shall +hold us apart from God no more. Rather, the putting of it away brings +with it the strangest, lowliest access to God. "O God, thou art my God." +"Who is a God like unto Thee?" Forgiveness is by no means mere immunity +(least of all for Christian religion). Punishment, certainly, in the +sense of the separation and evil which sin deserves, passes away. But +forgiveness, in Christian religion, is forgiveness _with the Forgiver in +it_. We meet God in the forgiveness of sins. We abide with God in the +forgiveness of sins. + +Forgiveness, too, as we already foresee, is but the foundation and +beginning of a history in which we are called to go forward. This +history may have sad passages in it; but in going forward in it in faith +we are assured that on God's part it is a history of most painstaking +and most sublime benefaction: all of it ordered so as to be of a piece +with His sending of His Son; all of it instinct with the grace of our +Lord Jesus Christ. Faith looking to Christ believes this, and receives +it. And to faith upheld by Him on whom we trust all this is more and +more made good, and comes true. It is a history of progress in true +goodness. And the end is life everlasting. + +Now the words before us suggest, upon the one hand, very strongly, the +simply gratuitous character of the Christian benefits, and the sense of +undeserved kindness with which they are to be received. In Christian +religion we begin as those who have no righteousness, who plead no +merit, who owe and are to owe all to Divine mercy. From the base upwards +Christian religion is a religion of grace; and "it is of faith, that it +might be by grace." Whatever activities, whatever successes may fall +into the Christian's career, whatever long possession of accustomed good +may eventually mark his experience, all is to be informed and inspired +by this initial and perpetual conviction, "Not having mine own +righteousness, which is of the law." + +At the same time, the same words of the Apostle suggest very strongly +the Divine stability of the good which meets us in Christ. A very strong +foundation has been laid for those who flee for refuge to lay hold of +the hope set before them in the gospel. To our sense, indeed, things may +seem to be most mutable. But when faith reaches to the things not seen, +it learns another lesson. In Christ believers are graced with entrance +into an order of salvation divinely strong and durable. When God gave us +Christ, He gave us, in a sense, "all things," and indeed all things +ordering themselves into an eternal expression of fatherly love and +care. In Christ comes into view not goodness only, but goodness allying +itself for us with Wisdom and Power and Right. It makes its way by +incarnation and atonement and resurrection to a kingdom which, being +first Christ's, appointed to Him, is also His people's, appointed to +them. Now a relation to God which looks forward to all this, which is +the basis for it and the entrance to it, descends on the believing man +through Christ. It is due to Christ that it should come so. It is the +Father's loving will that it should be so. All that is needful to ground +and vindicate that most gracious relation is found in Christ, who of God +is made unto us righteousness; in whom we hold the righteousness which +is of God on faith. + +The Apostle's course of thought has not led us to raise any question +about the nature and the virtue of the faith which apprehends and +receives the righteousness of God. It is a subject on which much has +been said. What seems needful here may be soon spoken. + +The only way of entering on new relations with God, or ourselves +becoming new men, is the way of faith. This Christian way is the only +way. Every other is simply impossible. Let any man seriously try it, and +he will find it so. But the question, What kind of faith? is best +answered by saying, Such faith as is called for by the object of faith +set before us, when that is honestly and intently regarded. As the +gospel is, the faith must be; for the gospel is the instrument by which +faith is evoked, sustained, and guided. The great object of faith is +God, graciously revealing Himself through Christ. Every genuine aspect +of this revelation takes its significance from its disclosure of God. +The faith, so called, which misses this, is wrong faith; the faith which +marks and welcomes this is right faith. And such faith is already, even +in its earliest life, breaking forth into repentance and love and +obedience. It must be, for God is in it. + +So, to confine ourselves to the aspect of things which occupies this +chapter, the faith which meets God in the forgiveness of sins through +Christ, and genuinely accepts from Him the wonderful position of holding +fellowship with God forgiving, is already, virtually, repentance as well +as faith. The man who so meets with God, is therein agreed with God +about his own sin: he feels God to be in the right and himself to be +wholly in the wrong; he feels, in particular, God to be most sublimely +and conclusively in the right in the holy pity of His forgiveness. The +man who does not feel this, is _not accepting forgiveness_. He may be +posturing as if he were, but he is not doing it. + +There is just one difficulty in faith--the difficulty of being real. But +when it _is_ real, it makes all things new. + + + + +_RESURRECTION LIFE AND DAILY DYING._ + + "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the + fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death; if + by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the + dead."--PHIL. iii. 10, 11. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_RESURRECTION LIFE AND DAILY DYING._ + + +We have still other aspects to consider of that "gain" which the Apostle +descried in Christ, for the sake of which he had cast so much away. + +To prize the righteousness of faith was an element in the true knowledge +of Christ; but it was so far from exhausting that knowledge, that it +only opened a door of progress, and brought near the most stirring +possibilities. For, indeed, to be found in Christ having that +righteousness meant that God in Christ was his, and had begun to +communicate Himself in eternal life. Now this must still reveal itself +in further and fuller knowledge of Christ. According to the Apostle's +conception, that which Christ means to be to us, that which we may +attain to be by Christ, opens progressively to the soul that has been +won to this pursuit; it comes into view and into experience in a certain +growing knowledge. It is a practical historical career; and the Apostle +was set on achieving it, not by strength or wisdom of his own, but by +the continual communication of grace, responding to desire and prayer +and endeavour. + +We must not forget, what has more than once been said, that this earthly +life of ours is the scene in which the discipline goes on, in which the +career is achieved. It is the calling here and now, not at some other +stage of being, that the Apostle is thinking of for himself and for his +disciples. And as earthly life is the scene, so earthly life also +furnishes the occasions and opportunities by which the knowledge of +Christ is to advance. Any other way of it is for us inconceivable. This +life in all the various forms which it assumes for different men, in all +the changing experiences which it brings to each of us--life on the +earth we know so well--with its joy and sorrow, its labour and rest, its +gifts and its bereavements, its friends and foes, its times and places, +its exercise and interest for body and mind, for intellect and heart and +conscience, with its temptations and its better influences,--life must +furnish the opportunities for acquiring this practical knowledge of +Christ. For that which falls to us, if we are in Christ, is a certain +blessed well-being (itself an unfolding of Christ's wisdom and grace). +And this must impart itself, and reveal itself, in our actual +experience, but in an experience which we pass through under the +guidance of Christ. + +This familiar life, then, is the scene; it alone can furnish the +opportunities. And yet what the Apostle apprehends, as coming into +possession and experience, is a life of a higher style, a life set on a +nobler key: it is a life that has its centre and source and true type +elsewhere; it belongs to a higher region; indeed, it is a life whose +perfect play pertains to another, coming world. Capacity for such a life +is not something superhuman; it is congenital to man, made in the image +of God. And yet, if these capacities unfold, man's life must, in the +end, become other than we know it now; with a new proportioning of +elements, with a new order of experience, with new harmonies, with +aptitudes for love and service and worship that are beyond us now. Only +now, they begin and grow; they are now to be aimed at, and realised in +earnest and firstfruit, and embraced in hope. For they are elements in +the knowledge of Christ, who is ours to know. + +This is indicated in the Apostle's aspiration after knowing Christ in +the power of His resurrection, and his yearning if by any means he might +attain to the resurrection of the dead. + +The resurrection of Christ marked the acceptance of His work by the +Father, and revealed the triumph in which that work ended. Death and all +the power of the enemy were overcome, and victory was attained. For one +thing, the resurrection of Christ made sure the righteousness of faith. +He rose again for our justification. So every passage of the Apostle's +life which proved that his confidence in that respect was not vain, that +God in Christ was truly his God, was an experience of the power of +Christ's resurrection. But the resurrection of Christ was also His +emergence--His _due_ emergence--into the power and blessedness of +victorious life. In the Person of Christ life in God, and unto God, had +descended into the hard conditions set for Him who would associate a +world of sinners to Himself. In the resurrection the triumph of that +enterprise came to light. Now, done with sin, and free from death, and +asserting His superiority to all humiliation and all conflict, He rose +in the fulness of a power which He was entitled also to communicate. He +rose, with full right and power to save. And so His resurrection denotes +Christ as able to inspire life, and to make it victorious in His +members. + +When, then, Paul says that he would know Christ in the power of His +resurrection, he aims at a life (already his, but capable of far more +adequate development) conformed to the life which triumphed in the risen +Christ, one with that in principle, in character, and in destiny. This +was, in the meantime, to be human life on the earth, with the known +elements and conditions of that life; including, in Paul's case, some +that were hard enough. But it was to be transformed from within, +inspired with a new meaning and aim. It was to have its elements +polarised anew, organised by new forces and in a new rhythm. It was, and +was to be, pervaded by peace with God, by the consciousness of +redemption, by dedication to service. It was to include a recoil from +evil, and a sympathy with goodness,--elements these which might be so +far thought of as a reverting to the unfallen state. But it had more in +it, because it was based on redemption, and rooted in Christ who died +and rose again. It was baptised with the passion of gratitude; it was +drawn into the effort to build up the Redeemer's kingdom; and it aimed +at a better country. + +So while the life we know so well was the sphere in which this +experience fulfilled itself, the longings it included pointed to an +existence higher up and further on--to an existence only to be reached +by resurrection from the dead, an existence certainly promised to be so +reached. All the effort and the longing pointed to that door of hope; +Paul was reaching on to the resurrection of the dead. For that blessed +resurrection would consummate and fulfil the likeness to Christ and the +fellowship with Him, and would usher into a manner of being where the +experience of both should be unimpeded. The life of "knowing Christ" +could not be contented here, could not rest satisfied short of that +consummation. For indeed to be with Christ and to labour for Christ here +on earth was good; yet so that to depart and be with Christ was far +better. + +We have here to do with the active and victorious aspect of Christian +life, the energy in it that makes it new and great. It holds by a title +and it draws from a source which must be looked for, both of them, high +up in heaven. Something in it has already triumphed over death. + +It may be felt, however, that there is some danger here lest the great +words of Paul may carry us off our feet, and divorce us from _terra +firma_ altogether. Some one may ask, But what does all this mean in +practice? What sort of life is it to be? Apostles can soar, perhaps; but +how about the man in the workshop or in the counting-house, or the woman +busied in family cares? A life in "the power of a resurrection" seems to +be something that transcends earthly conditions altogether. These are +perfectly fair questions, and one should try to meet them with a plain +reply. + +The life in view is first of all goodness in its ordinary sense, or what +we call common morality--common honesty, common truthfulness, common +kindness. "Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour"; +"Not slothful in business"; "Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put +off the old man with his deeds." But then this common morality begins to +have an uncommon heart or spirit in it, by reason of Christ. So a new +love for goodness and a new energy of rejection of evil begin to work; +also, a new sensitiveness to discern good, where its obligation was not +felt before, and to be aware of evil which, before, was tolerated. +Moreover, in the heart of this "common morality" the man carries about a +consciousness of his own relation to God, and also of the relation to +God of all with whom he meets. This consciousness is very imperfect, +sometimes perhaps almost vanishes. Yet the man is aware that an immense +truth is here close to him, and he has begun to be alive to it. This +consciousness tends to give a new value to all the "moralities": it +awakens a new percipiency as to good and evil; in particular, the great +duty of purity in relation to the man himself, and to others, acquires a +new sacredness. The place and claims of self also begin to be judged by +a quite new standard. In all directions possibilities of good and evil +in human life are descried; and the obligation to refuse the evil and to +choose the good presses with a new force. So far, the remark made a +little ago is justified, that the Christian life of Paul was a life that +had begun to point practically towards sinlessness, towards what we call +an unfallen state; however far off it might be, as yet, from that +attainment. But this would be a very limited account of the matter. The +whole region of duty and privilege Godwards is lighted up now by the +faith of redemption in Christ; that not only awakens gratitude, but +inspires a new passion of desire and hope into all moral effort. And the +man, being now aware of a kingdom of goodness set up by Christ, which is +making its way to victory against all the power of evil, and being aware +of the agencies by which it works, must give himself in his own place to +the service of that kingdom, that he may not hurt but help the cause +which it embodies. The new life is therefore to be an energetic life of +the plainest goodness. Only faith places it in relation to the world of +faith, and inspires it with the passion of love and gratitude, and +amplifies it by the new horizons that fall back on all sides, and gives +it a goal in the hope of life eternal. + +Returning to the instance of the Apostle Paul, one observes from his +account of it that the regard of the believer to Christ, such regard as +may actually be attained and operative in this life, ought to fructify +into desires and prayers that point beyond this life, and reach out to +the resurrection of the dead. There is a contentedness with life here +that is not Christian. It would agree well with a thankful use of +earthly comforts, and a cheerful serenity amid earth's changes, that we +should feel our home and our treasure to be in another place, and the +enjoyment of them to lie in a coming world. Not otherwise shall we know +how to make a right Christian use and have a right Christian enjoyment +of this life. We are not prepared to get the full good of this world +until we are ready and willing to go out of it. + +Let it be observed, also, how the Apostle strove to "attain" the +resurrection of the dead. The great things of the Kingdom of God are +exhibited in various connections, none of which are to be overlooked. +One of these connections is here exhibited. + +We know that in Scripture a distinction is made between the resurrection +of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked. A solemn obscurity +rests on the manner and the principles of the latter, the resurrection +to shame. But the resurrection of the just takes place in virtue of +their union to Christ; it is after the example of His resurrection; it +is to glory and honour. Now this resurrection, while it is most +obviously a crowning blessing and benefaction coming from God, is +represented also as having the character of an attainment made by us. +The faith in which we turn to God is the beginning of a course leading +to the "end of our faith, the salvation of our souls." This end +coincides with the resurrection. Then the hour comes which completes, +then the state arrives in which is completed, the redemption of the man. +The resurrection rises before us, therefore, as something which, while +on the one hand promised and given by God, is, on the other hand, +"attained" by us. Our Lord (Luke xx. 35) speaks of those who shall be +"counted worthy to attain that world, and the resurrection of the dead." + +The resurrection is promised to believers. It is promised to arise to +them in sequel to a certain course--a history of redemption, made good +in their lives. How shall the disciple verify his expectation of this +final benefit? Not surely without verifying the intermediate history. +The way must point towards the end--_at least_, must _point_ towards it. +A resurrection state, if it be like Christ's, how much must it include! +What purity, what high aptitudes, what delicate congenialities! The +desires of the true Christian life, its aspirations and efforts, as well +as the promises which animate and the influences which sustain it, all +point in this direction. But how if in any case this prove unreal, +deceptive; how if it be ostensible only? How if no real changes take +place, or if they die out again? What if soul and body rise unchanged, +the soul polluted, and so the very body bearing the stamp of old sins? +What if the murderous eye of hate, or the lurid eye of lust, shall look +into the eyes of Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire? Accordingly this +connection of things is impressed upon us by our Apostle (Rom. viii. +11): "_If_ the Spirit of Him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell +in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your +mortal body by His Spirit which dwelleth in you." While we live here, +our body, however disciplined, must still be the body of our humiliation +(ver. 21); and sin continues to beset even renewed souls. But if the +Spirit of grace is even now bringing all into subjection to the +obedience of Christ, enabling us to die to sin and to live to +righteousness, that points forward to the completion of the work, in the +resurrection to glory. + +This, then, is one view in which the Apostle realises the solemnity and +interest of Christian life. It is the way that leads up to such a +resurrection. The resurrection rises before him as the consummate +triumph of that life for which he came to Christ, the life which he +longs perfectly to possess, perfectly to know. The success of his great +venture is to meet Him in the rising from the dead; his course, +meanwhile, is a striving onwards to it. How was it to be reached? In +order to that, much must still be brought into experience of the +resurrection power of Christ. Only in that strength did Paul look to be +carried to the point at which, ending his course, he should lie down (if +he died before Christ come) in the blessed hope of the rising from the +dead. For this he looked to Christ to work mightily in him; for this he +owned himself bound, under the grace of Christ, to strive mightily, if +"by any means" he might attain to it. So great is this consummation; so +great are those things which fitly lead up to it. Is it not a great view +of Christian religion that it sends men onward in a life in which they +"attain" to the resurrection of the dead? Must not that be a great +history of which this is the appropriate close? + +Paul, then, was eager to go forward in a life intense and mighty, +drawing on a great power to sustain it, and rising into splendid effects +and results. But yet, in respect of some of its aspects, it rather +seemed to the Apostle to be a certain deliberate and blessed dying. At +least, the life must fulfil and realise itself along such a dying; and +this also, this emphatically, he pressed on to know--"the fellowship of +His sufferings, being made conformable to His death." + +Our Lord's life on earth, strong and beautiful though it was, was really +at the same time His procedure towards death. He lived as one laying +down His life, not merely in one great sacrifice at the close, but from +step to step along His whole earthly history. With no touch of the +morbid or the fanatical, yet His course, in practice, had to be one of +self-impoverishment, of loneliness, of acquaintance with energetic +hostility of sin and sinners. It had to be so if it was to be faithful. +He knew not where to lay His head; He endured the contradiction of +sinners against Himself; He came unto His own, and His own received Him +not. Even His friends, whom He so loved, and who loved Him in their +imperfect way, did not love Him wisely or magnanimously, and constantly +became occasions of temptation which had to be resisted. Pain and trial +were the inevitable characters of the work given Him to do. It lay in +His calling to put a strong and faithful negative on the natural desire +for safety, for happiness, for congenial society and surroundings, for +free and unembarrassed life. All this He had steadily to postpone to a +period beyond the grave, and meanwhile make His way to the final crisis, +at which, under a mysterious burden of extreme sorrow, accepted as the +Saviour's proper portion, He died for our sins. By this sacrifice He +did, no doubt, relieve His followers of a burden which they never could +have borne. But yet in doing so He made it possible for them to enter, +happily and hopefully, on a life so far like His own. Their life, too, +comes to be governed by a decision, maintained and persisted in, _for_ +God's will, and against the impulse, in their case the impure and +treacherous impulse, of their own will. They also, in their turn, but +under His influence and with His loving succour, have so to live as in +that life to die. They learn to say "No" for their Master's sake to many +objects which strongly appeal to them. They consent to postpone the +period of perfectly harmonious life, free and unimpeded, to the time +which lies beyond death. They must count their true life to be that +which, perfectly conformed to and associated with their Master's life, +they shall live in another scene of things. Meanwhile, as to the +elements of this world, the life which stands in these must die, or they +must die to it, growing into the mind of their Lord. + +It is difficult to speak of this without, on the one hand, conveying a +strained and unreal view of the Christian's attitude towards the present +life, or, on the other hand, weakening too much the sense of "conformity +to His death." In the first place, the Christian's dying is mainly, and +certainly it is first of all, a dying to sin, a mortifying the flesh +with the affections and lusts. It is the practical renunciation of evil, +along with the maintenance of the watchfulness and self-discipline +needed in order to be ready to renounce evil when it comes. Evil has to +be rejected, not merely by itself, but at the cost of those earthly +interests which are involved in the surrender to it, however dear or +constraining those interests may seem to be; so that conformity to +Christ's death, if it covered no more, would still cover a great deal of +ground. But it seems to cover something more--namely, a general +loosening of the grasp upon this life, or on the temporary and sensible +elements of it, in view of the worth and certainty of the higher and the +better life. This life, indeed, as long as we are in it, can never lose +its claims upon us, as the sphere of our duty, and the scene of our +training. Here we have our place to fill, our relations to sustain, our +part to play, our ministries to perform. In all these ways of it we +have some good to do, of lower or loftier kinds; in all, we have many +lessons to learn, which crowd upon us to the last; through all, we have +to carry the faith of the unseen Kingdom and the unseen Lord; and in all +these aspects of earthly life, if God gives us any cheering experience +of earthly brightness, surely it is to be taken most thankfully. It is a +poor way of construing the conformity to Christ's death, to renounce +interest in the life of which we are a part, and the world which is the +scene of it. But the interest should fasten more intently on the things +which interest our Lord, and eagerness of spirit about earthly good for +ourselves must give place and subside. + +And yet, when one thinks of the beauty and sweetness of much that +pertains to our earthly existence, and of the goodness of God in +material or temporal gifts, and of the thankfulness with which Christian +hearts are to take these when they are given, and are to walk with God +in the use of them, one feels the risk of involving oneself here in +extravagance or in contradiction. We are not going to maintain that the +Apostle would shut himself out, or us, from interest or delight in the +innocent beauty or gladness of the earth. But yet, is it not true that +we are all passing on to death, and in death are to be parted from all +this? Is it not true that as Christians we consent to dying; we count it +the good discipline of Christ's people that they should die, and pass so +into the better life? Is it not true that our life as Christians should +train us to maintain this mind deliberately and habitually, calmly and +gladly? For indeed this life, at its purest and best, still offers to us +a vision of good that is apt to steal our hearts away from the supreme +good, the best and highest. Now that best and highest rises before us, +as practically to be made ours, in the resurrection. + +Meanwhile, it is well, no doubt, that we should cherish a frank and +thankful gladness in all earthly good and earthly beauty that can be +taken as from the Father's hand. Yet there should grow upon us an inward +consent, strengthening as the days go by, that this shall not endure; +that it shall not be our permanent possession; that it shall be loosely +held, as ere long to be parted from. Such a mind should grow, not +because our hearts are cold to the present country of our being, but +because they are warming towards a better country. These earthly things +are good, but they are not ours; we have only a lease of them, +terminable at any time. Who shall bring us to that which is, and shall +eternally be, our very own? + +So Christ our Master passed through life, with an open eye and heart for +the fair and the lovable around Him, for flowers and little children, +and for what was estimable or attractive in men, even in a natural way. +Surely all was dear to Him on which He could see the trace of the +Creator's holy hands. Yet He passed on and passed by, going forward to +death and consenting to die, His face set steadfastly to a joy before +Him which could not be realised by lingering here. + +Now let this be especially observed, that while we may here recognise a +practical lesson to be learned, the wisest of us may also recognise it +as a lesson we could not undertake to teach to ourselves. To oppose sin, +when conscience and God's word warn us of its presence, is at least +something definite and plain. But how to take the right attitude and +bear the right mind towards this various, manifold, engrossing, +wonderful human life, as it unfolds for us here--how shall that be done? +Some have tried to answer by amputating large sections of human +experience. But that is not the way. For, indeed, it is in human life +itself--in this present, and, for the present, the only form of our +existence--that we must take the right view of human life, and form the +right mind about it. Moreover, our conditions are varying continually, +from the state of the little child, open to every influence that strikes +the sense, to the state of the old man, whom age is shutting up in a +crippled and stunted existence. The just equipoise of soul for one stage +of life, could it be attained, would not be the just equipoise for the +next. + +The truth is, there is no ready-made theory here for any of us. All our +attainments in it are tentative and provisional; which does not hinder, +however, that they may be very real. When we believe in Christ we become +aware that there is a lesson in this department to be learned, and we +become willing, in a measure, to learn it. But we should learn little +were it not for three great teachers that take us in hand. + +The first is the inevitable conflict with sin and temptation. The +Christian must, at all events, strive against known sin, and he must +hold himself ready to resist the onset of temptation, watching and +praying. In this discipline he soon learns how sin is entangled for him +with much that in other respects seems desirable or good; he learns that +in rejecting sin he must forgo some things which on other accounts he +gladly would embrace. It is often a painful conflict through which he +has to pass. Now in seeking help from his Lord, and entering into the +fellowship of the mind of Christ, he is not only strengthened to repel +the sin, but also learns to submit willingly to any impoverishment or +abridgement of earthly life which the conflict entails. He is taught in +practice, now in one form, now in another, to count _all_ things but +loss--to lower the overweening estimate of earthly treasure and let it +go, dying to it with his dying Lord. + +Then, besides, there is the discipline of suffering. Sorrow, indeed, is +not peculiar to Christians. Of it, all are partakers. But Christian +endurance is part of a fellowship with Christ, in which we learn of Him. +In the warm air of prosperity a hot mist rises round the soul, that +hides from view the great realities, and that deceives and misleads us +with its vain mirage. But in suffering, taken in Christ's way and in +fellowship with Him, in the pain of disappointment and of loss, and +especially in the exercise of submission, we are taught feelingly where +our true treasure is; and we are trained to consent to separations and +privations, for the sake of Christ, and under the influence of the love +of Christ. + +And, lastly, the growth of Christian experience and Christian character +deepens our impressions of the worth of Christ's salvation, and gives +more body and more ardour to Christian hope. As that world with its +perfect good draws the believer, as it becomes more visible to faith and +more attractive, his grasp of this world becomes, perhaps, not less +kindly, but it becomes less tenacious. Knowledge, such as the schools of +earth afford, we still feel to be desirable and good. Love, under the +conditions which earth supplies for its exercise, we still feel to be +very dear. The activities which call out courage and resource, we still +feel to be interesting and worthy. Yet knowledge proves to be but in +part. And love, if it does not die, needs for its health and security a +purer air. And in the problems of active life failure still mingles with +success. But the love of God which is in Jesus Christ grows in worth and +power; so that, in new applications of the principle, we learn afresh to +"count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of +Christ." + +In a word, then, that we may grow into the mind of Christ, sufferings +and self-denials are appointed to come into experience. He sets them for +us; we should not wisely set them for ourselves. They come in the +conflict with sin or in the ordinary discipline of life. Either way they +become for believers the fellowship of Christ's sufferings; for they are +taken in Christ's way, under His eye, endured in the strength of His +truth and grace and salvation. So believers become more conformable to +His death. Hence this discipline of trial is indispensable to all +disciples. + +Some such view of the ends of Christ in regard to separation from sin +and disengagement from the life which is doomed to die, we suppose to +have been before Paul's mind. He had come to Christ for life, abundant +and victorious, such as should be answerable to the power of Christ's +resurrection. But he saw that such life must fulfil itself in a certain +dying, made good in a fellowship of Christ's sufferings; and it must +find its completeness and its peace beyond death, in the resurrection of +the dead. Did he flinch or shrink from this? No: he longed to have it +all perfectly accomplished. His knowledge of Christ was to be not only +in the power of His resurrection, but in the fellowship of His +sufferings, being made conformable to His death. + +Whatever mistakes have been made by followers of the ascetic life, it is +a mistake on the other side to neglect this element of Christianity. He +who is not self-denied, and that cheerfully, to the danger and seduction +of _lawful_ things, is one who has not his loins girt nor his lamp +burning. + +It is worth our while to mark the thoroughgoing sincerity of the +Apostle's Christianity. Not merely did he in general embrace Christ and +salvation: but with the utmost cordiality he embraced the method of +Christ; he strove after fellowship with Christ's mind in living, and +also in dying; he did so, though the fellowship included not only the +power of His resurrection, but the fellowship of His sufferings. He +longed to have it all fulfilled in his own case. So he strove toward the +resurrection of the dead. + +In parting from these great Christian thoughts we may note how fitly the +power of Christ's resurrection takes precedence of the fellowship of His +sufferings and the being made conformable to His death. Some have +thought that, as death comes before resurrection, the order of the +clauses might have been inverted. But it is only through the precedent +virtue of Christ's resurrection that such a history is achieved, either +in Paul or in any of us. We must be partakers of life in the power of +Christ's resurrection, if we are to carry through the fellowship with +the suffering and the death. + + + + +_CHRISTIAN LIFE A RACE._ + + "Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but + I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that for which also I was + apprehended by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself yet to + have apprehended: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which + are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, + I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of + God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be + thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, even this + shall God reveal unto you: only, whereunto we have already + attained, by that same rule let us walk. + + "Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them which so + walk even as ye have us for an ensample."--PHIL. iii. 12-17 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_CHRISTIAN LIFE A RACE._ + + +Various passages in this Epistle suggest that the Apostle's Philippian +friends or some of them were relaxing in diligence; they were failing +perhaps to lay to heart the need of progress, less sensitive than they +ought to be to the impulse of Christianity as a religion of effort and +expectancy. Some of them, it might be, were inclined to think of +themselves as now pretty well initiated into the new religion, and as +pretty thorough adepts in its teaching and its practice; entitled +therefore to sit down and look round with a certain satisfaction and +complacency. If it were so, the tendency to division would be accounted +for. Arrogance in Christians is a sure preliminary to heats and +disputings. At all events, however it might be at Philippi, an insidious +complacency in little improvements and small attainments is not unknown +among Christians. It is, one may fear, a common impression among us that +we are fair average Christians,--a feeling perhaps not so cherished as +to make us boast, but yet so cherished as to make us feel content. And, +alas! the very meaning of Christianity was to inspire us with a spirit +that would refuse so to be contented. + +Some feeling of this kind may have led the Apostle to lay stress on the +onward energising character of Christianity as _he_ knew it. This was +the manner of his regard to his Lord. At the foundation of his religion +there was, indeed, the faith of a wonderful gift of righteousness and +life. That gift he welcomed and embraced. But it wrought in him +eagerness of desire, and intentness of purpose, to secure and have all +that this gift implied. It stirred him to activity and progress. His was +not the Christianity of one who counts himself to have already obtained +all into possession, nor of one who finds himself landed already in the +state at which the Christian promises aim. Rather he is one set in full +view of a great result: some experience of the benefits of it is already +entering into his history; but it is yet to be brought to pass in its +fulness; and that must be along a line of believing endeavour, Christ +working and Paul working, Christ faithful with Paul faithful. "I follow +after, if that I may lay hold and extend _my_ grasp, seeing Christ has +laid hold with _His_ grasp on me." Christ had a purpose, and has +mightily inaugurated a process through which this purpose may be +achieved in the history of Paul. And as Christ lays His grasp on Paul, +behold the purpose of Christ becomes also the purpose of Paul, and _he_ +now throws himself into the process with all his force, to apprehend +that for the sake of which Christ apprehended him. + +Here Paul signalised one distinguishing attribute of genuine +Christianity as he knew it. He did not yet count himself to have laid +complete grasp on the whole of Christian good. In a very important +practical sense salvation was still something ahead of him, as to the +final, secure, complete possession; Christ Himself was an object still +before him, as to the knowledge and the fellowship for which he longed. +But one thing is vital and distinctive. "This Saviour with His salvation +holds me so, that I count all but loss for Him. He holds me so, that +forgetting all that lies behind, I bend myself to the race, stretching +out towards the goal at which the prize of the high calling of God in +Christ is won. That is _my_ Christianity." He who had suffered loss of +all for Christ, he who so burned with desire to know Him in His +righteousness, in the power of His resurrection, in the fellowship of +His sufferings, is far from thinking he has reached the goal. Because +the knowledge of Christ is so great a thing in his eyes, therefore, on +the one hand, all he has attained as yet seems partial and imperfect; +but for the same reason, on the other hand, he feels the great +attraction by which all his powers are drawn into the endeavour which so +great a prize shall crown. + +The question may here be put how the consistency of the gospel can be +made out if we are called to rest and rejoice in Christ, and if, at the +same time, we find ourselves committed to so absorbing a struggle for a +prize. If God will have us, it may be said, to seek and strive that we +may obtain, then we must do so because it is His will. But where is the +connection of things that will avert inconsistency, and bring out a +reasonable continuity of principles, between the call to rest on Christ +for full salvation, and the call to run a race, and so run as to obtain? +For answer it is to be remembered, in the first place, that (as commonly +happens in matters where life and its activities are concerned) the +difficulty concerns only the adjustment of our theory; it begins to +vanish when we come to practice. When we are in vital contact with the +spiritual realities themselves, we find both elements of the case to be +true for us, and each indispensable to the truth of the other. The rest +of faith and the fight of faith belong to each other. But not to dwell +on so general a consideration, two lines of thought may be suggested to +those who are conscious of embarrassment at this point. + +First, let it be considered that the faith of a Christian embraces real +relations with the living God, different from anything that is possible +to unbelief. Through Christ we believe in God. Those relations are +conceived to be real and vital from the first, though the perfect +experience of all that they imply belongs to the future. Faith means +that from the outset of believing we are to be to God, and God is to be +to us, something different from what the flesh perceives. Christ +believed in is an assurance that so it is and shall be. But now, the +state of men is such, as long as they have to carry on a life of faith +in a world of sense and sin, that this faith of theirs presently meets +with flat contradiction. The course of the world treats it all as null. +Sin in their own hearts, and many experiences of life, seem to negative +the pretensions and the claims of faith. And strong temptations whisper +that this high fellowship with a living God not only does not exist, but +that it is not desirable that it should. So that from the outset and all +along, faith, if it is not content to be a mere dream, if it will count +for a reality, must contend for its life. It must fight, "praying always +with all prayer," to make good its ground, and to hold on to its Lord. +It is indeed the nature of faith to rest, for it is a trust; not less +certainly faith is under necessity to strive, for it is challenged and +impeached. + +It lies therefore in the very nature of the case that, if faith is in +earnest in embracing real and progressive salvation, it must find itself +drawn into conflict and effort to assert the reality and to experience +the progress. The opposition it meets with ensures this. + +On the other hand, it is the nature of the gospel to set men free for +active service. It supplies motives, therefore, for enterprise, +diligence, and fidelity; and it provides a goal towards which all shall +tend. So men become fellow-labourers with their Lord. And if it is +intelligible that the Lord should exert continual care for them, it +ought to be intelligible also that they are to be exercised in a +continual care for Him; care, that is, for the discharge of the trust +which they hold from Him. + +The Apostle dwells on all this, evidently because he felt it to be a +point of so great importance in practical Christianity. In this world +the right Christian is the man who knows well he has not attained, but +who devotes his life to attaining. Paul brings this out by means of the +image of a race for a prize, such as might be seen in the public games. +This is a favourite illustration with him. His use of it illustrates the +way in which things that are steeped in worldliness may aid us in +apprehending the things of God's kingdom. They do so, because they +involve elements or energies of man's nature that are good as far as +they go. As the Apostle thought of the racers, prepared by unsparing +discipline, which had been concentrated on the one object; as he thought +of the determination with which the eager runners started, and of the +way in which every thought and every act was bent upon the one purpose +of success, until the moment when the panting runner shot past the goal, +it stirred him with the resolve to be not less eager in his race; and it +made him long to see the children of light as practical and wise as, in +their generation, the children of this world are. + +As usual in the case of illustrations, this one will not hold in all +points. For instance, in a race one only wins, and all the rest are +defeated and disappointed. This is not so in the Christian race. The +analogies lie elsewhere. In order to run well the runners submit to +preparation in which everything is done to bring out their utmost energy +for the race. When the race comes each competitor may possibly win: in +order to win he must put forth his utmost powers; he must do so within a +short period of time; and during that time nothing must distract him +from the one aim of winning. He does this for a benefit embodied in, or +symbolised by, the prize which rewards and commemorates his victory. +These are the points in which the races of public games afford lessons +for the Christian race. In the former the fact that the success of any +one competitor deprives the others of the prize they seek, is the +circumstance that puts intensity into the whole business, and makes a +real race of it. So also in the spiritual antitype there are elements +which make the race most real, though they are elements of another kind. + +The prize can be nothing else than the life eternal (1 Tim. vi. 12) +which comes, as we have seen, into full possession at the resurrection +of the dead. He whose favour is life confers it. The bestowment of it is +conceived as taking place with gladness and with honourable approbation: +"Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy +Lord." The prize stands in strict connection with the perfecting of the +believer: the time of receiving the prize is also the time of being +presented faultless. Neither prize nor perfectness is attained here; +neither is attained unless sought here; and the blessedness bestowed is +connected in fact and measure with the faith and diligence expended on +the race. On all these accounts the prize is spoken of as a crown: a +crown of glory, for it is very honourable; a crown of life, +incorruptible, that fadeth not away, for it shall never wither on the +brow, as the wreaths of those earthly champions did. Now to run his race +was for Paul the one thing. He had not yet attained; he could not sit +still as if he had: it was his living condition that he must run, as one +not _yet there_, following on in earnest that he might actually have the +prize. + +Perhaps some one may regard it as objectionable to conceive practical +Christianity as a race for a prize. This seems, it may be said, to +subordinate the present to the future, this world to the other world, +and, in particular, virtue to happiness; because in this way the efforts +of goodness here are conceived only as a means to enjoyment or +satisfaction there. We reply that the prize does indeed include joy, the +joy of the Lord. But it includes, first of all, goodness, consummate in +the type of it proper to the individual; and gladness is present no +otherwise than as it is harmonised with goodness, being indeed her +proper sister and companion. Besides, the elements of the gladness of +that state come in as the expression of God's love--a love both holy and +wise. Communion with that love is the true security for goodness. It is +equally absurd to suppose, on the one hand, that when that love fills +the heart with its unreserved communication there can fail to be +gladness; and, on the other hand, to suppose that fellowship with it can +be other than the proper and supreme object of a creature's aspiration. + +There is no unworthiness in devoting life to win this prize; for it is a +state of victorious well-being and well-doing. The highest goodness of +all intervening stages is to aspire to that highest goodness of all. +Whatever we may do or be, meanwhile, is best attained and done as it +confesses its own shortcoming, and hopes and longs to be better and to +do more. + +It is true that a complete gift of eternal life is held out to us in +Christ, and it is faith's part to accept that gift and to rest in it. +But yet part of that gift itself is an emancipation of the soul; in +virtue of this the man becomes actively responsive to the high calling, +reiterates his fundamental decision all along the detail of mortal life, +affirms his agreement with the mind and life of his Lord, approves +himself faithful and devoted, and runs so as to obtain. All this is in +the idea of the gift bestowed, and is unfolded in the experience of the +gift received. So the prize is to arise to us as the close of a course +of progressive effort tending that way: the reality of the prize +corresponds to the reality of the progress; the degree of it, in some +way, to the rate of that progress. The progress itself is made good, as +we have said, by perpetually re-affirming the initial choice; doing so +in new circumstances, under new lights, with a new sense of its meaning, +against the difficulties implied in new temptations; yet so as ever, in +the main, to abide by the beginning of our confidence. With all this let +it be remembered that the time is short; and it will be understood that +the Christian life, so viewed, assumes the character, and may well +exhibit the intensity and pressure, of a race. + +How far short men fall of the great idea of such a life--how they flinch +from the perfectness of this Christian imperfection--need not be +enlarged upon. But if any life is wholly untrue to this ideal, the +Apostle seemingly could not count it Christian. This one thing _he_ did, +he bent himself to the race. For if the ultimate attainment has become +very attractive, if the sense of present disproportion to it is great, +and if, in Christ, both the obligation and the hopefulness of reaching +the perfect good have become imperatively plain, what can a man do but +run? + + * * * * * + +Verses 15 and 16 state the use which the Apostle desires his disciples +to make of this account of his own views and feelings, his attitude and +his effort,--"As many of us as are perfect." + +Since the Apostle has disclaimed (ver. 12) being already perfected, it +may seem strange that he should now say, "As many of us as are perfect." +His use of language in other places, however, warrants the position that +he is not speaking of absolute perfection, as if the complete result of +the Christian calling had been attained. Rather he is thinking of ripe +practical insight into the real spirit of the Christian life--that is to +say, advanced acquaintance, by experience, with the real nature of the +Christian life. He uses this word "perfect" in contrast to "babes" or +"children" in Christ. These last are persons who have been truly +brought to Christ; but their conceptions and their attainments are +rudimentary. They have not attained to large insight into the means and +ends of the Christian life, nor to any ripe acquaintance with the +position of a Christian man, and the relation he holds to things around +him. They are therefore unready to face the responsibilities and perform +the duties of Christian manhood. Hence the translators of the Authorised +Version, in some passages, render the same word so as to bring out this +sense of it. So 1 Cor. xiv. 20, "Be not children in understanding: +howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men" +(τἑλειοι), and Heb. v. 14, "Strong meat belongs to those that are +of _full age_" (τελεἱων). + +It cannot be doubted, however, that the word is used here with a certain +emphatic significance in reference to the previous disclaimer, "I am not +yet perfected." In the Philippians, or in some of them, Paul apprehended +the existence of a self-satisfied mood of mind, such as might perhaps be +warrantable if they were now perfect, if Christianity had brought forth +all its results for them, but on no other terms. In contrast to this he +had set before them the intense avidity with which he himself stretched +out towards attainment and completeness which he had not reached. And +now he teaches them that to be thus well aware how far we are from the +true completeness, to be thus reaching out to it, is the true perfection +of our present state: he only is the perfect Christian who is "thus +minded"; who knows and feels how much remains to be attained, and gives +himself up to the effort and the race under that inspiration. It is as +if he said: Would you approve yourselves to be believers, advanced and +established; would you show that you have come to a larger measure of +just views and just feelings about the new world into which faith has +brought you; would you have the character of men well acquainted with +your Lord's mind about you, with your own position in relation to Him; +in short, would you be perfect, fully under the influence of the +Christianity you profess:--then let you and me be "thus minded"; let us +evince the lowly sense of our distance from the goal, along with a +living sense of the magnificence and urgency of the motives which +constrain us to press on to it. + +For is there such a thing attainable here as a Christian perfectness, a +ripe fulness of the Christian life, which exhibits that working of it, +in its various forces, which was designed for this stage of our history? +If so, what must it be? That man surely is the perfect man who fully +apprehends the position in which the gospel places him here, and the +ends it sets before him, and who most fully admits into his life the +views and considerations which, in this state of things, the gospel +proposes. Then, he must be a man penetrated with a sense of the +disproportion between his attainment and Christ's ideal, and at the same +time set on fire with the desire and hope of overcoming it. Has a man +experienced many gracious dealings at his Lord's hands, has he made +attainments by grace, has he come to a Christian standing that may be +called full age, would he be what all this would seem to imply,--then +let him take heed to be "thus minded." Otherwise he is already beginning +to lose what he seemed to have attained. + +It is not so surprising, and it is not so severely to be reprehended, if +those fail in this point who are but children in Christ. When the +glorious things of the new world are freshly bursting into view, when +the affections of the child of God are in their early exercise, when sin +for the present seems stricken down, it is not so wonderful if men +suppose danger and difficulty to be over. Like the Corinthians, "now +they are full, now they are rich, now they have reigned as kings." It +has often been so; and at that stage it may be more easily pardoned. One +may say of it, "They will learn their lesson by-and-by; they will soon +find out that in the life of a Christian all is not triumph and +exultation." But it concerns those who have got further on, and it is +expected of them, that they should be "thus minded" as the Apostle Paul +was. It is a more serious business for them to be of another mind on +this point, than for those who are only children in Christ. It tends to +great loss. Are we, says the Apostle, come to a point at which we may be +thought to be--may hope we are--experienced believers, well acquainted +now with the salvation and the service, men in Christ? Then as we would +ever act in a manner answerable, at this stage, to the gospel and to our +position under the gospel, let us be thus minded; forgetting that which +is behind, reaching forth to that which is before, let us press toward +the mark. For at each stage of progress much depends on the way in which +we deal with the position now attained, with the views which have opened +to us, and with the experiences that have been acquired. This may decide +whether the stage reached shall be but a step towards something better +and more blessed, or whether a sad blight and declension shall set in. +There are Christian lives to-day sadly marred, entangled and bewildered +so that one knows not what to make of them, and all by reason of failure +to be "thus minded." + +A man is awakened to the supreme importance of Divine things. At the +outset of his course, for years perhaps, he is a vigorous and growing +Christian. So he comes to a large measure of establishment: he grows +into knowledge of truth and duty. But after a time the feeling creeps +into his mind that matters are now less urgent. He acts rather as a man +disposed to keep his ground, than as one that would advance. Now he +seems to himself to lose ground somewhat, now to awaken a little and +recover it, and on those terms he is fairly well contented. All this +while it would be unjust to say that he does not love and serve Christ. +But time passes on; life draws nearer to its close. The period at which +God's afflictions usually multiply has arrived. And he awakens at last +to see how much of his life has been lost; how extensively, though +secretly, decay has marred his attainments and his service; and how +little, in the result, of that honourable success has crowned his life +which once seemed fair before him. + +"Let us be thus minded." Let Christians be admonished who have for some +time been Christians, and especially those who are passing through +middle life, or from middle life into older years. There is enchanted +ground here, in passing over which too many of Christ's servants go to +sleep. Leave that which is behind. + +Let us be thus minded: but this proves hard. One may see it in a general +way to be most reasonable, but to come up to it in particulars is hard. +In all particular cases we are tempted to be otherwise minded. And in +many particulars we find it very difficult to judge the manner of spirit +that we are of. Were all right in us, absolutely right, rectitude of +disposition and of moral action would be in a manner instinctive. But +now it is not so. With reference to many aspects of our life, it is very +difficult to bring out distinctly to our own minds how the attitude that +becomes us is to be attained and maintained. The difficulty is real; and +therefore a promise is annexed. "If in anything ye be otherwise minded." +That may realise itself in two ways. You may be distinctly conscious +that your way of dealing with some interests which enter into your +lives is unsatisfactory, is below your calling and privilege as a +Christian; and yet you may find it hard to see how you are to rise into +the worthier life. It is like a problem which you cannot solve. Or, +again, you may fear that it is so; you may fear that if things were seen +in the true light it would turn out so. But you cannot see clearly; you +cannot identify the faulty element, far less amend it. Here the promise +meets you. "If in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even +this unto you." Keep your face in the right direction. Be honestly set +on the attainment, and the way will open up to you as you go. You will +see the path opening from the point where you stand, into life that +throughout is akin to the aspiration and the achievement of the life of +Paul. + +Paul here has regard to a distinction which theorists are apt to +overlook. We have a sufficient objective rule in the word and example of +Christ. This may be summarised in forms easily repeated, and a man may, +in that respect, know all that need be said as to what he is to do and +to be. But in morals and in spiritual life this is only the beginning of +another process--namely, the subjective individual entrance into the +meaning of it all and the practical appropriation of it. I know the +whole of duty on the human side: I am to love my neighbour as myself. It +is most essential to know it, and a grand thing to have consented to +make a rule of it. But, says one, there remains the difficulty of doing +it? Is that all? I reply. There is another previous difficulty. I can +preach a sermon on loving my neighbour as myself. But what does that +mean, for me, not for any one else, but for myself, on a given day in +November, at half-past one in the afternoon, when I am face to face with +my neighbour, who has his merits, and also his defects, being, perhaps, +provoking and encroaching, with whom I have some business to arrange? +What does it mean then and there and for me? Here there opens the whole +question of the subjective insight into the scope and genius of the +rule; in which problem heart and mind must work together; and commonly +there has to be training, experience, growth, in order to the expert and +just discernment. Short of that there may be honest effort, blundering +most likely, but honest, and lovingly accepted through Christ. But there +ought to be growth on this subjective side. + +Moreover, when progress has been made here it imposes responsibility. +Have you been carried forward to such and such degrees of this +subjective insight? Then this ought to be for you a fruitful attainment. +Do not neglect its suggestions, do not prove careless and untrue to +insight attained. Whereto we have attained, "by the same rule let us +walk,"--or, as we may render it, "go on in the same line." So new +insight and new achievement shall wait upon our steps. + +Generally, if their Lord had carried the Philippians forward to genuine +attainments of Christian living, then that history of theirs was a track +which reached further on. It was not a blind alley, stopping at the +point now reached. It had had a meaning; there was some rationale of it; +it proceeded on principles which could be understood, for they had been +put in practice; and it demanded to be further pursued. There is a +continuity in the work of grace. There is a rational development of +spiritual progress in the case of each child of God. What God means, +what the direction is in which His finger beckons, what the dispositions +are under the influence of which His call is complied with and +obeyed,--these are things which have been so far learned in that course +of lessons and conflicts, of defeats and backslidings, restorations and +victories, which has brought you so far. Let this be carried out; keep +on in the same road. Whereto you have attained, go on with the same. + +But such an admonition at once raises a question; the question, namely, +whether we are at _any_ stage in the pathway of Christian attainment, +whether there is for us as yet _any_ history of a Divine life. Among +those who claim part in Christ's benefits are some whom the grace of God +has never taught to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live +soberly, righteously, and godly; for they have been persistently deaf to +the lesson. There are some who do not know how Christ turns men from +darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. To them the +line of admonition now in hand does not apply: to exhort them to "walk +on in the same" would be to perpetuate for them a sad mistake. Their +course has been dark and downward. Therefore to the admonition already +given, the Apostle adds another. "Brethren, be followers together of me, +and mark (keep sight of) them who walk so as ye have us for an example." +Do not mistake the whole nature of Christianity; do not altogether miss +the path in which God's children go. It is one spirit that dwells in the +Church; let not your walk forsake the fellowship of that spirit. +Christians are not bound to any human authority: Christ is their Master. +They must sometimes assert their independence, even with respect to the +maxims and manners of good people. Yet there is one spirit in God's true +Church, and there is in the main one course of life which it inspires. +God's children have not been mistaken in the main things. In these, to +forsake the spirit and the way of Christ's flock is to forsake Christ. + + + + +_ENEMIES OF THE CROSS_. + + "For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even + weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose + end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in + their shame, who mind earthly things."--PHIL. iii. 18, 19 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_ENEMIES OF THE CROSS._ + + +The New Testament writers, and not least the Apostle Paul, are wont to +bring out their conception of the true Christian life by setting it +vividly in contrast with the life of the unspiritual man. They seem to +say: "If you really mean to say No to the one, and Yes to the other, be +sincere and thorough: compromises are not possible here." So 1 Tim. vi. +10: "The love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted +after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through +with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God," etc. Or Jude 18: "mockers, +walking after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who separate +themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But, ye beloved," etc. Here +in like manner the course of worldliness and self-pleasing life is +sketched in concrete instances, that its sin and shame may be felt, and +that by contrast the true calling of a Christian may be discerned and +may be impressed on the disciples. + +It may be taken as certain that the Apostle is not speaking of mere Jews +or mere heathen. He is speaking of professing Christians, whose +practical life belied their profession. In general they are enemies of +the cross of Christ; that is the first thing he thinks fit to say of +them. And here it may be asked whether the Apostle has in view, if not +Jews, yet the Judaising faction about which he had already said strong +things in the beginning of this chapter. Some have thought so; and it +must be owned that antagonism to the cross, ignorance of its virtue, and +antipathy to its lessons, is exactly what the Apostle was wont to impute +to those Judaisers; as may be seen in the Epistle to the Galatians, and +in other Pauline writings. But it is preferable, as has been already +indicated, to take it that the Apostle has turned from the particular +issue with those Judaisers; and having been led to declare emphatically +what the life of Christianity was in his own experience and practice, he +now sets this life in Christ not merely against the religion of the +Judaisers, but in general against all religion which, assuming the name +of Christ, denied the power of godliness; which meddled with that worthy +name, but only brought reproach upon it. It is quite possible indeed +that here he might have in view some of the Judaisers also; for there +was a sensual side of popular Judaism which might be represented also +among the Judaising Christians. But it is more likely that the Apostle's +eye is turning mainly to another class of persons. It seems that in the +early Churches, especially perhaps at the time when the later Epistles +were written, a recognisable tendency to a loose and lawless +Christianity was finding representatives. Warning against these was +needed; and they embodied a form of evil which might serve to show the +Philippians, as in a mirror, the disaster in which an idle, +self-satisfied, vainglorious Christianity was like to land its votaries. + +What first strikes the Apostle about them is that they are enemies of +the cross of Christ. One asks, Does he mean enemies of the doctrine of +the cross, or of its practical influence and efficiency? The two are +naturally connected. But here perhaps the latter is principally +intended. The context, especially what follows in the Apostle's +description, seems to point that way. + +When Christ's cross is rightly apprehended, and when the place it claims +in the mind has been cordially yielded, it becomes, as we see in the +case of Paul himself, a renovating principle, the fountain of a new view +and a new course. That immense sacrifice for our redemption from sin +decides that we are no more to live the rest of our time in the flesh to +the lusts of men (1 Peter iv. 1). And that patience of Christ in His +lowly love to God and man under all trial, sheds its conclusive light +upon the true use and end of life, the true rule, the true inspiration, +and the true goal. So regarded, Christ's cross teaches us the slender +worth, or the mere worthlessness, of much that we otherwise should +idolise; on the other hand, it assures us of redemption into His +likeness, as a prospect to be realised in the renunciation of the "old +man"; and it embodies an incomparable wealth of motive to persuade us +to comply, for we find ourselves in fellowship with Love unspeakable. + +Under this influence we take up our cross; which is substantially the +same as renouncing or denying ourselves (Matt. xvi. 24) carried +practically out. It is self-denial for Christ's sake and after Christ's +example, accepted as a principle, and carried out in the forms in which +God calls us to it. This, as we have seen, takes place chiefly in our +consenting to bear the pain involved in separation from sin and from the +life of worldliness, and in carrying on the war against sin and against +the world. It includes rejection of known sin; it includes watchfulness +and discipline of life with a view to life's supreme end; and so it +includes prudential self-denial, in avoiding undue excitement and +over-absorbing pleasure, because experience and God's word tell us it is +not safe for our hearts to be so "overcharged" (Luke xxi. 34). This +cross in many of its applications is hard. Yet in all its genuine +applications it is most desirable; for in frankly embracing it we shall +find our interest in salvation, and in the love which provides it, +brought home with comfort to our hearts (1 Peter iv. 14). + +It seems, then, that there are professing Christians who are enemies of +the cross of Christ. Not that it is always an open and proclaimed +hostility; though, indeed, in the case of those whom Paul is thinking +of, it would appear to have revealed itself pretty frankly. But at all +events it is a real aversion; they would have nothing to do with the +cross, or as little as they may. And this proves that the very meaning +of salvation, the very end of Christ as a Saviour, is the object of +their dislike. But in Christianity the place of the cross is central. It +will make itself felt somehow. Hence those who decline or evade it find +it difficult to do so quietly and with complacency. Eventually their +dislike is apt to be forced into bitter manifestation. They begin, +perhaps, with quiet and skilful avoidance; but eventually they become, +recognisably, enemies of the cross, and their religious career acquires +a darker and more ominous character. + +It is, however, an interesting question, What draws to Christianity +those who prove to be enemies of the cross? Nowadays we may explain the +adhesion of many such persons to Christian profession by referring to +family and social influences. But we can hardly set much down to that +score when we are thinking of the days of Paul. It cannot be doubted +that some persons were then strongly drawn by Christianity, who did not +prove amenable to its most vital influence. And that may persuade us +that the same phenomenon recurs in all ages and in all Churches. For +different minds there are different influences which may operate in this +way. Intellectual interest may be stirred by the Christian teachings; +the sense of truth and reality may be appealed to by much in the +Christian view of men and things; there may be a genuine satisfaction in +having life and feelings touched and tinged with the devout emotions +which breathe in Christian worship; there may be a veneration, real as +far as it goes, for some features of Christian character, as set forth +in Scripture and embodied in individual Christians; and, not to dwell on +mere particulars, the very goodness of Christian truth and life, which a +man will not pay the cost of appropriating to himself, may exert a +strong attraction, and draw a man to live upon the borders of it. Nay, +such men may go a good long way in willingness to do and bear for the +cause they have espoused. Men have run the risk of loss of life and +goods for Christianity, who have yet been shipwrecked on some base lust +which they could not bring themselves to resign. And who has not known +kindly, serviceable men, hanging about the Churches with a real +predilection for the suburban life of Zion,--men regarding whom it made +the heart sore to form any adverse judgment, and yet men whose life +seemed just to omit the cross of Christ? + +In the case of those whom Paul thinks of there was no room for doubt as +to the real nature of the case; and therefore the Apostle cannot too +emphatically bring it out. He puts first the most startling view of it. +Their end is destruction. Not salvation, but destruction is before them, +although they name the name of Christ. Destruction is the port they are +sailing for: that is the tendency of their whole career. Their place +must be at last with those on whom the day of the Lord brings sudden +destruction, so that they shall not escape. Alas for the Christians +whose end is destruction! + +"Their god is their belly." Their life was sensual. Most likely, +judging from the tone of expression, they were men of coarse and +unblushing indulgence. If so, they were only the more outstanding +representatives of the sensual life. The things which delight the senses +were for them the main things, and ruled them. They might have +intellectual and æsthetic interests, they might own family and social +connections, they certainly did attach importance to some religious +views and some religious ties; but the main object of their life was to +seek rest and content for those desires which may have rest apart from +any higher exercise or any higher portion. Their life was ruled and +guided by its lower and sensual side. So their belly was their god. Yet +they claimed a place in the Christian fellowship, in which Christ has +revealed God, and has opened the way to God, and brings us to God. But +their thoughts ran, and their plans tended, and their life found its +explanation, _bellywards_. This was _their_ god. Their trust and their +desire were placed in the things which the flesh appreciates. These they +served, and of these they took on the likeness. They served not the Lord +Jesus Christ, but their own belly. One cannot think of it, without grave +questions as to the direction in which life preponderates. That would +seem to indicate our god. One does not severely judge "good living." And +yet what may "good living" denote in the case of many a professing +Christian? In what direction do we find the tides of secret and +unrestrained thought setting? + +And they glory in their shame. In this Epistle and elsewhere, one sees +the importance attached by the Apostle to that which a man glories in, +as marking his character. For himself, Paul gloried in the cross of +Christ: he counted all things but loss for the knowledge of Christ. And +these men also were, or claimed to be, in Christ's Church, in which we +are taught to rate things at their true value and to measure them by the +authentic standard. But they gloried in their shame. What they valued +themselves upon; what they inwardly, at least, rejoiced in, and +applauded themselves for; what they would, perhaps, have most cheerfully +dwelt upon in congenial company, were things of which they had every +reason to be ashamed--no doubt, the resources they had gathered for the +worship of this god of theirs, and the success they had had in it. For +example, such men would inwardly congratulate themselves on the measure +in which they were able to attain the kind of satisfaction at which they +aimed. They gloried in the degree in which they succeeded in bringing +about a perfect accommodation between themselves and the objects which +sense alone appreciates, and in producing a harmonious and balanced +life, set on that key. Really, it should have been to them a cause of +grief and shame to find themselves succeeding here, and failing in +attaining a right relation to Christ and to the things of God's kingdom, +to righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. So they +gloried in their shame. This was seen in their lives. Alas, is there no +reason to fear that when the thoughts of all hearts are revealed, too +many whose lives are subject to no obvious reproach shall be found to +have lived an inward life of evil thought, of base desire, of coarse and +low imagination, that can only rank in the same class with these--men +whose whole inward life gravitates, and gravitates unchecked, towards +vanity and lust? + +In a word, their character is summed up in this, that they mind earthly +things. That is the region in which their minds are conversant and to +which they have regard. The higher world of truths and forces and +objects which Christ reveals is for them inoperative. It does not appeal +to them, it does not awe them, it does not govern them. Their minds can +turn in this direction on particular occasions, or with a view to +particular discussions; but their bent lies another way. The home of +their hearts, the treasure which they seek, the congenial subjects and +interests, are earthly. + +Since this whole description is meant to carry its lesson by suggestion +of contrast, the clause last referred to brings powerfully before us the +place to be given to the spiritual mind in our conception of a true +Christian life. In the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans we +are told that to be carnally minded--or the minding of the flesh--is +death, but the minding of the spirit is life and peace. Care, therefore, +is to be taken of our thoughts and of our practical judgments, so that +they may be according to the spirit. Effort in this direction is hopeful +effort, because we believe that Christ grants His Spirit to hallow +those regions of the inward man by His illuminating and purifying +presence. It cannot be doubted that many lives that were capable of +yielding much good fruit, have been frittered away and wasted through +indulged vanity of thought. Others, that are methodical and energetic +enough, are made sterile for Christian ends by the too common absence or +the too feeble presence of the spiritual mind. It is not altogether +direct meditation on spiritual objects that is here to be enforced. That +has its important place; yet certainly, frank converse with the whole +range of human interests is legitimately open to the Christian mind. +What seems to be essential is that, through all, the regard to the +supreme interests shall continue; and that the manner of thinking and of +judging, the modes of feeling and impression, shall keep true to faith +and love and Christ. The subject recurs in another form at the eighth +verse of the following chapter. + +Probably, as was said, the Apostle is speaking of a class of men whose +faults were gross, so that at least an Apostolic eye could not hesitate +to read the verdict that must be passed upon them. But then we must +consider that his object in doing this was to address a warning to men +to whom he imputed no such gross failings; concerning whom, indeed, he +was persuaded far other things, even things that accompany salvation; +but whom he knew to be exposed to influences tending in the same +direction, and whom he expected to see preserved only in the way of +vigilance and diligence. Outstanding failures in Christian profession +may startle us by their conspicuous deformity; but they fail to yield us +their full lesson unless they suggest the far finer and more subtle +forms in which the same evils may enter in, to mar or to annul what +seemed to be Christian characters. + +The protest against the cross is still maintained even in the company of +Christ's professed disciples. But this takes place most commonly, and +certainly most persuasively, without advancing any plea for conduct +grossly offensive, or directly inconsistent with Christian morals. The +"enemies of the cross" retreat into a safer region, where they take up +positions more capable of defence. "Why have a cross?" they say. "God +has not made us spiritual beings only: men ought not to attempt to live +as if they were pure intelligences or immaterial spirits. Also, God has +made men with a design that they should be happy; they are to embrace +and use the elements of enjoyment with which He has so richly surrounded +them. He does not mean us to be clouded in perpetual gloom, or to be on +our guard against the bright and cheering influences of the earth. He +has made all things beautiful in their time; and He has given to us the +capacity to recognise this that we may rejoice in it. Instead of +scowling on the beauty of God's works, and the resources for enjoyment +they supply, it is more our part to drink in by every sense, from nature +and from art, the brightness, and gladness, and music, and grace. Let us +seek, as much as may be in this rough world, to have our souls attuned +to all things sweet and fair." + +There is real truth here; for, no doubt, it lies in the destiny of man +to bring the world into experience according to God's order: if this is +not to be done in ways of sin and transgression, it is yet to be done in +right ways; and in doing it, man is designed to be gladdened by the +beauty of God's handiwork and by the wealth of His beneficence. And yet +such statements can be used to shelter a life of enmity to the cross, +and they are often employed to conceal the more momentous half of the +truth. As long as the things of earth can become materials by means of +which we may be tempted to fall away from the Holy One, and as long as +we, being fallen, are corruptly disposed to make idols of them, we +cannot escape the obligation to keep our hearts with diligence. So long, +also, as we live in a world in which men, with a prevailing consent, +work up its resources into a system which shuts God and Christ out; so +long as men set in motion, by means of those resources, a stream of +worldliness by which we are at all times apt to be whirled away,--so +long every man whose ear and heart have become open to Christ will find +that as to the things of earth there is a cross to bear. For he must +decide whether his practical life is to continue to accept the Christian +inspiration. He must make his choice between two things, whether he will +principally love and seek a right adjustment with things above, with the +objects and influences of the Kingdom of God, or whether he will +principally love and seek a right, or at least a comfortable adjustment +with things below. He must make this choice not once only, but he must +hold himself at all times ready to make it over again, or to maintain it +in reiterated applications of it. The grace of Christ who died and rose +again is his resource to enable him. + +Every legitimate element of human experience, of human culture and +attainment, is, doubtless open to the Christian man. Only, in making his +personal selection among them, the Christian will keep sight of the goal +of his high calling, and will weigh the conditions under which he +himself must aim at it. Still every such element is open; and all +legitimate satisfaction accruing to men from such sources is to be +received with thankfulness. Let all this be recognised. But +Christianity, by its very nature, requires us to recognise _also_, and +_in a due proportion_, something else. It requires us to recognise the +evil of sin, the incomparable worth of Christ's salvation. Along with +these things, duly regarded, let all innocent earthly interests take +their place. But if we are conscious that as yet we have very +incompletely established the right proportionate regard, is it any +wonder if we are obliged to keep watch, lest the treacherous idolatry of +things seen and temporal should carry us away,--obliged to accept the +cross? We are obliged; but in the school of our Master we should learn +to do this thing most gladly, not by constraint, but of a ready mind. + +The ideal life on earth no doubt would be a life in which all was +perfectly harmonised. The antagonism of the interests would have passed +away. Loyalty and love to God's kingdom and to His Son would embody +themselves in all human exercise and attainment as in their proper +vesture, each promoting each, working together as body and soul. There +are Christians who have gone far towards this attainment. They have been +so mastered by the mind of Christ, that while, on the one hand, they +habitually seek the things above, on the other hand there is little +trace of bondage or of timorousness in their attitude towards the bright +aspects of earthly experience. Some of them were happily carried in +early days into so clear a decision for the better part; some emerged +later, after conflict, into so bright a land of Beulah, that they find +it easy, with little conflict and little fear, to take frank use of +forms of earthly good which other Christians must treat with more +reserve. + +This is one of the reasons why we must not judge one another about these +things; why we must not lay down absolute rules about them; why even our +recommendations must be provisional and prudential only. It is at the +same time a reason for the more fidelity in each of us towards himself, +to see that we do not trifle with the great trust of regulating our own +life. It is possible to give to God and to Christ a recognition which is +not consciously dishonest, and yet to fail in admitting any deep and +dominant impression of the significance of Christ's redemption for +human life. So the heart is yielded, the time is surrendered, the +strength is given to attractive objects, which are not indeed +essentially immoral, but which are suffered to usurp the heart, and to +estrange the man from Christ. Such persons prove enemies of the cross of +Christ: they mind earthly things. + +Since the earthly side of human life, with its sorrow and joy, its work +and its leisure, is legitimate and inevitable, questions arise about +adjusting details. And in particular, those who retain a relation to +Christianity while they cherish a worldly spirit, take a delight in +raising questions as to the forms of life which are, or are not, in +harmony with Christianity, and as to whether various practices and +indulgences are to be vindicated or condemned. It is a satisfaction to +persons of this sort to have a set of fixed points laid down, with +respect to which, if they conform, they may take the credit of doing so, +and if they rebel, they may have the comfort of feeling that the case is +arguable: as indeed these are often matters upon which one may argue for +ever. Now what is clearly prohibited or clearly warranted in Scripture, +as permanent instruction for the Church, must be maintained. But beyond +that point it is often wisest to refuse to give any specific answer to +the questions so raised. The true answer is, Are you a follower of +Christ? Then it is laid on your own conscience, at your own +responsibility, to answer such questions for yourself. No one can come +in your place. You must decide, and you have a right to decide for +yourself, what course is, for you, consistent with loyalty to Christ and +His cross. Only it may be added, that the very spirit in which one puts +the question may be significant. One who minds earthly things will put +the question in one way; one whose citizenship is in heaven, in another. +And the answer which you attain will be according to the question you +have put. + + + + +_OUR CITY AND OUR COMING KING._ + + "For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a + Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of + our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, + according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all + things unto Himself."--PHIL. iii. 20, 21 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_OUR CITY AND OUR COMING KING._ + + +To live, amid the things of earth, and in constant converse with them, a +life in the power of Christ's resurrection, and in the fellowship of His +sufferings, was the Apostle's chosen course; in which he would have the +Philippians to follow him. For a moment he had diverged to sketch, for +warning, the way of the transgressors, who spend their lives intent on +the things that pass away. Now he brings the argument to a close, by +once more proclaiming the glory of the high calling in Christ. As the +Christian faith looks backward to the triumph of Christ's resurrection, +and to the meekness of His suffering, and receives its inspiration from +them, so also it looks upward, and it looks forward. It is even now in +habitual communion with the world on high; and it reaches on towards the +hope of the Lord's return. + +"Our citizenship is in heaven." The word here used (comp. i. 27) means +the constitution or manner of life of a state or city. All men draw much +from the spirit and laws of the commonwealth to which they belong; and +in antiquity this influence was even stronger than we commonly find it +to be in our day. The individual was conscious of himself as a member of +his own city or state. Its life enfolded his. Its institutions set for +him the conditions under which life was accepted and was carried on. Its +laws determined for him his duties and his rights. The ancient and +customary methods of the society developed a common spirit, under the +influence of which each citizen unfolded his own personal peculiarities. +When he went forth elsewhere he felt himself, and was felt to be, a +stranger. Now in the heavenly kingdom, which had claimed them and had +opened to them through Christ, the believers had found their own city; +and finding it, had become, comparatively, strangers in every other. + +A way of thinking and acting prevails throughout the world, as if earth +and its interests were the whole sphere of man; and being pervaded by +this spirit, the whole world may be said to be a commonwealth with a +spirit and with maxims of its own. We, who live in it, feel it natural +to comply with the drift of things in this respect, and difficult to +stand against it; so that separation and singularity seem unreasonable +and hard. We claim for our lives the support of a common understanding; +we yearn for the comfort of a system of things existing round us, in +which we may find countenance. It was urged against the Christians of +the early ages that their religion was unsocial--it broke the ties by +which men held together; and doubtless many a Christian, in hours of +trial and depression, felt with pain that much in Christian life offered +a foundation for the reproach. On the other hand, those who, like the +enemies of the cross, refer their lives to the world's standard, rather +than to Christ's, have at least this comfort, that they have a tangible +city. The world is their city: therefore also the prince of it is their +king. But the Apostle, for himself and his fellows, sets against this +the true city or state--with its more original and ancient sanctions; +with its more authoritative laws; with its far more pervading and mighty +spirit, for the Spirit of God Himself is the life which binds it all +together; with its glorious and gracious King. This commonwealth has its +seat in heaven; for there it reveals its nature, and thence its power +descends. We recognise this whenever we pray, "Thy will be done in earth +as it is in heaven." This, says the Apostle, is our citizenship. The +archaism of the Authorised Version, "Our conversation" (that is, our +habitual way of living) "is in heaven," expresses much of the meaning; +only the "conversation" is referred, by the phrase employed in the text, +to the sanctions under which it proceeds, the august fellowship by which +it is sustained, the source of influence by which it is continually +vitalised. Our state, and the life which as members of that state we +claim and use, is celestial. Its life and strength, its glory and +victory, are in heaven. But it is ours, though we are here on earth. + +Therefore, according to the Apostle, the standard of our living, and its +sanctions, and its way of thinking and proceeding, and, in a word, our +city, with its interests and its objects, being in heaven, the earnest +business of our life is there. We have to do with earth constantly and +in ways most various; but, as Christians, our way of having to do with +the earth itself is heavenly, and is to be conversant with heaven. What +we mainly love and seek is in heaven; what we listen most to hear is the +voice that comes from heaven; what we most earnestly speak is the voice +we send to heaven; what lies next our heart is the treasure and the hope +which are secure in heaven; what we are most intent upon is what we lay +up in heaven, and how we are getting ready for heaven; there is One in +heaven whom we love above all others; we are children of the kingdom of +heaven; it is our country and our home; and something in us refuses to +settle on those things here that reject the stamp of heaven. + +Does this go too high? Does some one say, "Something in this direction +attracts me and I reach out to it, but ah! how feebly"?--then how +strongly does the principle of the Apostle's admonition apply. If we own +that this city rightfully claims us, if we are deeply conscious of +shortcoming in our response to that claim, then how much does it concern +us to allow no earthly thing that by its own nature drags us down from +our citizenship in heaven. + +It is in heaven. Many ways it might be shown to be so; but it is enough +to sum up all in this, that One has His presence there, who is the Life +and the Lord of this city of ours, caring for us, calling us to the +present fellowship with Him that is attainable in a life of faith, but +especially (for this includes all the rest) whom we look for, to come +forth from heaven for us. He has done wonders already to set up for us +the grace of the kingdom of heaven, and He has brought us in to it; He +is doing much for us daily in grace and in providence, upholding His +Church on earth from age to age; but this "working" is proceeding to a +final victory. He is "able to subject all things to Himself." And the +emphatic proof of it which awaits all believers, is that the body +itself, reconstituted in the likeness of Christ's own, shall at last be +in full harmony with a destiny of immortal purity and glory. So shall +the manifestation of His power and grace at last sweep through our whole +being, within and without. That is the final triumph of salvation, with +which the long history finds all its results attained. For this we await +the coming of the Saviour from heaven. Well therefore may we say that +the state to which we pertain, and the life which we hold as members of +that state, is in heaven. + +The expectation of the coming of Christ out of the world of supreme +truth and purity, where God is known and served aright, to fulfil all +His promises,--this is the Church's and the believer's great hope. It is +set before us in the New Testament as a motive to every duty, as giving +weight to every warning, as determining the attitude and character of +all Christian life. In particular, we cannot deal aright with any of the +earthly things committed to us, unless we deal with them in the light of +Christ's expected coming. This expectation is to enter into the heart of +every believer, and no one is warranted to overlook or make light of it. +His coming, His appearing, the revelation of Him, the revelation of His +glory, the coming of His day, and so forth, are pressed on us +continually. In a true waiting for the day of Christ, is gathered up the +right regard to what He did and bore when He came first, and also a +right regard to Him as He is now the pledge and the sustainer of our +soul's life: the one and the other are to pass onward to the hope of His +appearing. + +Some harm has been done, perhaps, by the degree in which attention has +been concentrated on debatable points about the time of the Lord's +coming, or the order of events in relation to it; but more by the +measure in which Christians have allowed the world's unbelieving temper +to affect on this point the habit of their own minds. It must be most +seriously said that our Lord Himself expected no man to succeed in +escaping the corruption of the world and enduring to the end, otherwise +than in the way of watching for his Lord (see Luke xii. 35-40--but the +passages are too numerous to be quoted). + +And the Apostle lays an emphasis on the character in which we expect +Him. The word "Saviour" is emphatic. We look for a Saviour; not merely +One who saved us once, but One who brings salvation with Him when He +comes. It is _the_ great good, in its completeness, that the Church sees +coming to her with her Lord. Now she has the faith of it,--and with the +faith an earnest and foretaste,--but then salvation comes. Therefore the +coming is spoken of as redemption drawing nigh, as the time of the +redemption of the purchased possession. So also in the Epistle to the +Galatians the end of Christ's sacrifice is said to be to "deliver us +from this present evil world." + +Doubtless it is unwise to lay down extreme positions as to the spirit in +which we are to deal with temporal things, and especially with their +winning and attractive aspects. Christian men, at peace with God, should +not only feel spiritual joy, but may well make a cheerful use of passing +mercies. Yet certainly the Christian's hope is to be saved out of this +world, and out of life as he knows it here, into one far better--saved +out of the best and brightest state to which this present state of +things can bring him. The Christian spirit is giving way in that man +who, in whatever posture of his worldly affairs, does not feel that the +present is a state entangled with evil, including much darkness and much +estrangement from the soul's true rest. He ought to be minded so as to +own the hope of being saved out of it, looking and hasting to the coming +of the Lord. + +If we lived out this conviction with some consistency, we should not go +far wrong in our dealings with this present world. But probably there +is no feature in which the average Christianity of to-day varies more +from that of the early Christians, than in the faint impressions, and +the faint influence, experienced by most modern Christians in connection +with the expectation of the Lord's return. + +As far as individual life goes, the position of men in both periods is +much the same; it is so, in spite of all the changes that have taken +place. Then, as now, the mirage of life tempted men to dream of +felicities here, which hindered them from lifting up their heads to a +prospect of redemption. But now, as then, counter influences work; the +short and precarious term of human life, its disappointments, its cares +and sorrows, its conflicts and falls, conspire to teach even the most +reluctant Christian that the final and satisfying rest is not to be +found here. So that the difference seems to arise mainly from a secret +failure of faith on this point, due to the impression made by long ages +in which Christ has not come. "Where is the promise of His coming? All +things continue as they were." + +This may suggest, however, that influences are recognisable, tending to +form, in modern Christians, a habit of thought and feeling less +favourable to vivid expectation of Christ's coming. It does not arise so +much in connection with individual experience, but is rather an +impression drawn from history and from the common life of men. In the +days of Paul, general history was simply discouraging to spiritual +minds. It led men to think of all creation groaning together. +Civilisation certainly had made advances; civil government had conferred +some of its benefits on men; and, lately, the strong hand of Rome, +however heavily it might press, had averted or abridged some of the +evils that afflicted nations. Still, on the whole, darkness, corruption, +and social wrong continued to mark the scene, and there was little to +suggest that prolonged effort might gradually work improvement. Rather +it seemed that a rapid dispensation of grace, winning its way by +supernatural energy, might well lead on to the winding up of the whole +scene, sweeping all away before the advent of new heavens and a new +earth. But, for us, nineteen hundred years have well-nigh passed. The +Christian Church has been confronted all that time with her great task; +and, however imperfect her light and her methods have often been, she +has set processes agoing, and pressed on in lines of action, in which +she has not been without her reward. Also the public action of at least +the European races, stimulated and guided by Christianity, has been +inspired by faith in progress and in a reign of justice, and has applied +itself to improve the conditions of men. How much of sin and pain still +afflict the world is too sadly evident. But the memory of the successive +lives of saints, thinkers, men of public spirit and devoted public +action, is strong in Christian minds to-day--it is a long, animating +history. And never more than at the present time did the world press +itself on the Christian mind as the sphere for effort, for helpful and +hopeful achievement. All this tends to fix the eye on what may happen +_before_ Christ comes; for one asks room and time to fight the battle +out, to see the long co-operant processes converge upon their goal. The +conflict is thought of as one to be bequeathed, like freedom's battle, +from sire to son, through indefinite periods beyond which men do not +very often look. And, indeed, the amelioration of the world and remedy +of its ills by works of faith and love is Christlike work. The world +cannot want it; the fruit of it will not be withheld; and the hopeful +ardour with which it is pursued is Christ's gift to His people. For +Christ Himself healed and fed the multitudes. Yet all this shall not +replace the coming of Christ, and the redemption that draws nigh with +Him. The longing eyes that gaze into the prospects of public-spirited +beneficence and Christian philanthropy, do well; but they must also look +higher up and further on. + +One thing must be said. It is vain for us to suppose we can adjust +beforehand, to our own satisfaction, the elements which enter into the +future, so as to make a well-fitted scheme of it. That was not designed. +And in this case two ways of looking at the future are apt to strive +together. The man who is occupied with processes that, as he conceives, +might eventuate in a reign of goodness reached by gradual amelioration, +by successive victories of the better cause, may look askance on the +promise of Christ's coming, because he dislikes catastrophe and +cataclysm. First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, +is his motto. And the man who is full of the thought of the Lord's +return, and deeply persuaded that nothing less will eradicate the +world's disease, may look with impatience on measures that seem to aim +at slow and far results. But neither the one mode of view nor the other +is to be sacrificed. Work is to be done in the world on the lines that +promise best to bless the world. Yet also this faith must never be let +down--The Lord is coming; the Lord shall come. + + * * * * * + +How decisive the change is which Christ completes at His coming--how +distinctive, therefore, and unworldly, that citizenship which takes its +type from heaven where He is, and from the hope of His appearing--is +last of all set forth. Paul might have dwelt on many great blessings the +full meaning of which will be unfolded when Christ comes; for He is to +conform all things to Himself. But Paul prefers to signalise what shall +befall our bodies; for that makes us feel that not one element in our +state shall fail to be subjected to the victorious energy of Christ. Our +bodies are, in our present state, conspicuously refractory to the +influences of the higher kingdom. Regeneration makes no improvement on +them. In our body we carry about with us what seems to mock the idea of +an ethereal and ideal life. And when we die, the corruption of the +grave speaks of anything but hope. Here, then, in this very point the +salvation of Christ shall complete its triumph, saving us all over and +all through. He "shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it +may be conformed to the body of His glory." + + * * * * * + +For the Apostle Paul the question how the body is to be reckoned with in +any lofty view of human life had a peculiar interest. One sees how his +mind dwelt upon it. He does not indeed impute to the body any original +or essential antagonism to the soul's better life. But it shares in the +debasement and disorganisation implied in sin; it has become the ready +avenue for many temptations. Through it the man has become participant +of a vivid and unintermittent earthliness, contrasting all too sadly +with the feebleness of spiritual impressions and affections, so that the +balance of our being is deranged. Nor does grace directly affect men's +bodily conditions. Here, then, is an element in a renewed life that has +a peculiar refractoriness and irresponsiveness. So much is this so that +sin in our complex nature easily turns this way, easily finds resources +in this quarter. Hence sin in us often takes its denomination from this +side of things. It is the flesh, and the minding of the flesh, that is +to be crucified. On the other hand, just because life for us is life in +the body, therefore the body with its members must be brought into the +service of Christ, and must fulfil the will of God. "Yield your bodies +a living sacrifice." "Your bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost." A +disembodied Christianity is to the Apostle no Christianity. There may be +difficulties, indeed, in carrying this consecration through, elements of +resistance and insubordination to be overcome. If so, they must be +fought down. "I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest I +prove a castaway." To be thorough in this proved hard even for Paul. +"Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"--a text in which one +sees how the "body" offered itself as the ready symbol of the whole +inward burden and difficulty. So the body is dead because of sin: dying, +fit to die, appointed to die, and not now renewed to life. "But if the +Spirit of Him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, He that +raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by +His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Then, limits now imposed on right +thinking, right feeling, right acting, shall be found to have passed +away. Till then we groan, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of +the body; but then shall be the manifestation of the sons of God. To +Paul this came home as one of the most definite, practical, and decisive +forms in which the triumph of Christ's salvation should be declared. + +The body, then, by which we hold converse with the world, and by which +we give expression to our mental life, has shared in the evil that comes +by sin. We find it to be the body of our humiliation. It is not only +liable to pain, decay, and death, not only subject to much that is +humbling and distressing, but it has become an ill-adapted organ for an +aspiring soul. The bodily state weighs down the soul, when its +aspirations after good have been rekindled. It is not wholly unconnected +with our physical state that it is so hard to carry the recognition of +God and the life of faith into the comings and goings of the outward +life; so hard to wed the persuasions of our faith to the impressions of +our sense. But we look forward to our Lord's coming with the expectation +that the body of our humiliation shall be transfigured into the likeness +of the body of His glory. In this we discern with what a pervading +energy He is to subdue all things to Himself. Love in righteousness is +to triumph through all spheres. + +We have more than once acknowledged how natural it is to dream of +constructing a Christian life on earth with all its elements, natural +and spiritual, perfectly harmonised, each having its place in relation +to each so as to make the music of a perfect whole. And in the strength +of such a dream, some look down on all Christian practice as blind and +narrow, which seems to them to mar life by setting one element of it +against another. It must be owned that narrow types of Christianity have +often needlessly offended so. Nevertheless we have here a new proof that +the dream of those who would achieve a perfect harmony, in the present +state and under present conditions, is vain. A perfect Christian harmony +of life cannot be restored in the body of our humiliation. The nobler +part is to own this, and to confess that amid many undeserved good +gifts, yet, in relation to the great hope set before us, we groan, +waiting for the redemption; when Christ who now fits us to run the race +and bear the cross shall come and _save_ us out of all this, changing +the body of our humiliation into the likeness of the body of His glory. + +Against the ways of Jewish self-righteousness, and against the impulses +of fleshly minds, the Apostle had set the true Christianity--the methods +in which it grows, the influences on which it relies, the truths and +hopes by which it is mainly sustained, the high citizenship which it +claims and to the type of which it resolutely conforms. All this was +possible in Christ, all this was actual in Christ, all this was theirs +in Christ. Yet this is what is brought into debate, by unbelief and sin; +this against unbelief and sin has to be maintained. Some influences come +to shake us as to the truth of it--"It is not so real after all." Some +influences come to shake us as to the good of it--"It is not after all +so very, so supremely, so satisfyingly good." Some influences come to +shake us as to our own part in it--"It can hardly control and sustain my +life, for after all perhaps--alas, most likely--it is not for me, it +cannot be for me." Against all this we are to make our stand, in and +with our Lord and Master. He is our confidence and our strength. How the +Apostle longed to see this victory achieved in the case of all these +Philippians, who were the treasure and the fruit of his life and +labour! Be decided about all this, be clear about it, cast every other +way of it from you. "Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, my joy and +crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved." + + + + +_PEACE AND JOY._ + + "I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in + the Lord. Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help these + women, for they laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, + and the rest of my fellow-workers whose names are in the book of + life. + + "Rejoice in the Lord alway: again I will say, Rejoice. Let your + forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. In nothing + be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with + thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the + peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your + hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus."--PHIL. iv. 2-7 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_PEACE AND JOY._ + + +Dr. Lightfoot has observed that the passages in the Acts of the Apostles +which record the Macedonian experiences of Paul, have a good deal to say +about women (Acts xvi., xvii.). They convey the impression that in +Macedonia women had a position and exercised an influence, at least in +religious matters, that was not usual in the Greek world. And he has +appealed to the remains of ancient Macedonian inscriptions to support +the general idea that exceptional respect was accorded to women in that +country. Here, at any rate, we have two women of note in the Church at +Philippi. They might, very likely, possess social standing and +influence. They had been qualified to render, and in point of fact did +render, important help in setting forward the cause of Christ in that +city. We cannot doubt therefore that they were warm-hearted Christian +women, who had deeply felt the power of the gospel, so that, like many +of their sisters in later days, they gladly embarked in the service of +it. In those days such service on the part of women implied no small +effort of faith; and doubtless it had cost them something in the way of +cross-bearing. But now, disagreements and estrangement had fallen out +between them. Most likely the keen practical energies, which made them +serviceable Christians, had brought about collision on some points in +which their views differed. And then they had not managed the difference +well. Self came in, and coloured and deepened it. Now, one may think, +they were in danger of being always ready to differ, and to differ with +mutual distrust and dislike. + +People cannot always think alike, not even Christians who share the same +service. But there is a Christian way of behaving about these inevitable +divergences. And, in particular, in such cases we might be expected to +show a superiority, in Christ our Lord, to minor differences, not +allowing them to trouble the great agreement and the dear affection in +which Christ has bound us. Whatever is to be said about a difference, as +to its merits, the main thing that has to be said about it often is, +"You should not have let it come between you. You should, both of you, +have been big enough and strong enough in Christ, to know how to drop it +and forget it. In making so much of it, in allowing it to make so much +of itself, you have been children, and naughty children." + +What this difference was we do not know; and it is of no consequence. +Paul does not address himself to it. He holds both parties to be in the +wrong now, and, for his purpose, equally in the wrong; and he addresses +entreaty to both, in exactly the same terms, to agree in Christ and be +done with it: no longer to allow this thing to mar their own edification +and hinder the cause of Christ. Yet, while he is sure that this is the +right way, he does not conceal from himself how difficult human nature +finds it to come happily out of such a complication. So he appeals to +some old comrade at Philippi, whom he calls his "genuine yokefellow," to +lend a hand. A Christian bystander, a friend of both parties, might help +them out of the difficulty. In this connection the Apostle's mind goes +back to happy days of cordial effort at Philippi, in which these women, +and the "yokefellow," and Clement, and others had all been at work, +shoulder to shoulder, all rejoicing in the common salvation and the +joint service. + +In difficulties between Christians, as between other people, wise and +loving friendship may perform the most important services. Selfishness +shrinks from rendering these; and on the other hand, meddlesomeness, +which is a form of egotism combined with coarseness, rushes in only to +do harm. Wisdom is needed, mainly the wisdom which consists in loving +thoughtfulness. The love which seeketh not her own, and is not easily +provoked, is much called for in this ministry of reconciliation. + +These good women had little idea, probably, that their names should come +down the ages in connection with this disagreement of theirs; and they +might have deprecated it if they had thought of it. But let them be +remembered with all honour--two saints of God, who loved and laboured +for Christ, who bore the cross, and each of whom was so important to +the Church, that it was a matter of public interest to have this +difficulty removed out of the way of both. As to it, we of later times +have not succeeded in keeping Christian activity so free of personal +misunderstandings as to be entitled on this account to assume any +attitude of superiority. Let us think only with tenderness and affection +of those venerable and beloved, those long-remembered mothers in Christ, +Euodia and Syntyche. + +The commentators have tried to divine something further about this "true +yokefellow"; but with no success. As to Clement, some have been willing +to identify him with the Clement known to have laboured in the first age +at Rome, and who is reported to have been the writer of a well-known +Epistle from the Church at Rome to that at Corinth. He, again, has been +by some identified with another Clement, also a Roman, a near relation +of the Emperor Domitian, whom we have reason to believe to have been a +Christian. Both identifications are probably mistaken; and the Clement +now before us was no doubt resident at Philippi, and belonged to a +somewhat earlier generation than his Roman namesake. The Roman world was +full of Clements, and there is nothing surprising in meeting several +Christians who bore the name. + +With the "yokefellow" and with Clement, the Apostle recalls other +"labourers" who belonged to the fellowship of those gospel days at +Philippi. We are not to think that they were all gifted as teachers or +preachers; but they were zealous Christians who helped as they could to +gather and to confirm the Church. Paul will not give their names; but it +must not be thought that the names have ceased to be dear and honourable +to him. "They shall not be in my letter," he says, "but they are written +in even a better place, in the book of life. They are precious, not to +me only, but to my Master." Here, again, if any one had asked Paul how +he ventured to speak with so much assurance of the condition of persons +whose course was not yet ended, he would no doubt have replied, as in +ch. i. 7: "It is meet for me to think thus of them, because I have them +in my heart: because both in my bonds, and in the defence and +confirmation of the gospel, they all are partakers with me of grace." + +These personal references indicate that the main burden of the Apostle's +thought in the Epistle has been disposed of, and that it is drawing to a +close. Yet he finds it natural to add some closing admonitions. They are +brief and pithy; they do not seem to labour with the weight of thought +and feeling which pours through the preceding chapter. Yet they are not +quite fragmentary. A definite conception of the case to be provided for +underlies them, and also a definite conception of the way in which its +necessities are to be met. + +He had been pouring out his soul on the subject of the true Christian +life--the deep sources from which it springs, the great channels in +which it runs, the magnificent conditions of Christ's kingdom under +which it becomes possible and is accomplished. But yet, another order +of things crosses all this. It is the incessant detail of human life on +earth, with its pettiness and superficiality, and yet with its +inevitable hold upon us all. How much we are at the mercy of it! How +hard to keep quite true to the grand music of the gospel we believe, +amid the multifarious patter of the incidents of life, playing on the +surface only, but on the sensitive surface of our being. The case of +Euodia and Syntyche was itself but an illustration, of the commonest +kind, of the liability of believing lives to be swayed and marred in +this way. For all these little things claim attention; they assume a +magnitude that does not belong to them, and they take a place to which +they have no right. Can anything be said to help us to some prevailing +mood, in which we shall be likely to take the right attitude towards +these elements of life, and, at the same time, to keep due touch with +the springs of our spiritual welfare? + +The Apostle reverts to the significant "good-bye" which was heard at the +beginning of the third chapter. "Rejoice," "Be of good cheer," was the +usual farewell salute. He had begun to use it, in the third chapter, +with an emphasis on the native signification of the word. Now he resumes +it more emphatically still, for here he finds the keynote which he +wants: "Rejoice in the Lord alway; again I will say it, Rejoice." + +If joy be possible, it would seem to need no great persuasion to induce +men to embrace it. But, as a matter of fact, Christians fail greatly +here. In the Old Testament there are abundant exhortations to Israel to +rejoice in the Lord: the Lord being Jehovah, without further distinction +or limitation; and the ground of rejoicing being His revealed character, +especially His mercy and His truth, and the fact that He is Israel's +God. Here the Lord is our Lord Jesus, in whom the Father is both known +and found. Now, to rejoice in Him is, and should be recognised as being, +for believers, the most direct inference from their faith. For if this +Lord be what the believer holds Him to be, then there is more in Christ +to make him glad, than there can be in anything whatever to make him +sorry. This applies even to remembered sin; for where sin abounded, +grace doth much more abound. If indeed the joy be really in the Lord, it +will be found to agree well with humility and penitence, as well as with +diligence and patience; for all these things, and whatever should +accompany them, come naturally from faith in Christ. But not the less, +joy should have its place and its exercise. + +If one will think of it, it will be plain that rejoicing in the Lord +just denotes this, viz., that the influence of the objects of faith has +free play through the soul. It is well that faith should bring our +intellective powers under its influence--that we should be brought to a +vivid sense of the reality of Christ, and that our minds should work in +reference to Him as they do in reference to things which are felt to be +real, and which claim to be understood. That is well, even if as yet +some malign force seems to impede cordial appreciation and personal +fellowship. It is well, again, if Christ is felt drawing out personal +trust, and with that, genuine affection, so that the heart beats with +desire and admiration, even though for the present that can only be +under the burden of a perplexed and sorrowful mind. But when the +conviction makes way through all the soul, first that Christ is most +real, and second that Christ is most good and desirable, and thirdly +that Christ is for me, and when the soul surrenders thoroughly to it +all, then gladness is the token that faith is playing freely through the +human soul, throughout all its provinces. It is the flag hoisted to +signify that Christ is believed and loved indeed. On the other hand, +wrong is done to the Lord, and an evil report is brought up upon Him, +when those who profess to believe in Him, fail to rejoice in Him. + +You well may rejoice in the Lord; you ought surely to do it. You ought +to give yourselves time to think and feel so as to rejoice; you should +be ashamed to fail to rejoice. You do not apprehend aright your position +as a believer, you do not take the attitude that befits you, if the Lord +believed in, though perhaps He makes you diligent, and patient, and +penitent, and thankful, does not also make you heartily glad. Let the +elements of this gladness come warm home to your heart, and do their +work. Then you will realise, as, short of this, you never can, how the +believer rises above the things that threaten to entangle him, and can +do all things through Christ that strengtheneth him. + +And, in particular, how influential this is to preserve men from being +unduly moved and swayed by the passing things of time! These sway us by +joy and grief, by hope and fear; and what an inordinate measure of those +affections they do beget in us! But let the great joy of the Lord have +its place, and then those lesser claimants will have to content +themselves with smaller room. A great grief shuts out lesser griefs. +When a woman has lost her son, will she grieve greatly for the loss of +her purse? So a great joy keeps down the excess of lesser joys. A man +that has just won the heart and hand of the woman he loves, will not be +greatly concerned about winning or losing at some game. He will be about +equally glad either way. So he whose heart thrills with the joy of +Christ will feel the pleasure and the pain of earthly things; but they +will not master him, nor run away with him. + +According to the Apostle, a believer in the way of his duty, if he +cherishes this joy, may ordinarily have a great deal of it. And, as it +were, he urges us: "Now do not be moved away from it. Do not be so +foolish. Various things will come, all sorts of things, claiming to +preoccupy your mind, so that for the present this joy shall fall into +the background. They claim it--and far too often they are allowed to +succeed. Do not let them. 'Rejoice in the Lord _alway_; again I will +say, Rejoice.'" + +Always: for many believers rejoice in the Lord sometimes; for example, +in hours of undisturbed meditation. But when they go out into the stir +of life, to meet experiences which either greatly gratify or greatly +grieve them, then it seems fit that the new passion should have its +turn, and the heart insists on this indulgence. So also when some great +hope absorbs the mind, or some great anxiety weighs upon it, the soul +seems fascinated with the coming good or ill, and hangs upon the +prospect as if nothing else for the present could be minded. Now the +Apostle does not say that insensibility is the duty of Christians in +these circumstances. Indeed it is because these experiences do interest +and impress, that they become an effective instrument of Divine +training. But Christ is fit to be rejoiced in, right through all +vicissitudes; and common experiences, duly dealt with, ought to throw +into relief the reasons why He must still be cause of gladness, whatever +may be felt about other things. This maintained joy of the Lord--a +rejoicing faith, a rejoicing love, a rejoicing obedience--this is the +temper in virtue of which all else of life will fall into its due place, +and will assume its just proportion. "Though the fig tree shall not +blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive +shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut +off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will +rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. iii. +17, 18). + +So then, "Let your moderation (or forbearance) be known to all men." +The word here used expresses a state of mind opposed to the eagerness +that overrates the worth of our personal objects, and to the arrogance +that insists on our own will about them. Some would render it +"considerateness." It is a temper which dictates a gentle and forbearing +way of dealing with men. This is the appropriate evidence that the +impetuosity of the heart about earthly things has been assuaged by the +unseen presence and the influence of Christ. Christ seen, felt, and +rejoiced in, is the secret of this moderation. A great vision of faith, +and that not a vision which is dreaded, but a vision which is loved, +brings the movement of the soul into a happy order. Now, not only so: +not only does the love of Christ, unseen and absent, work in this way; +but Christ is coming and is near. The hopes connected with Him are soon +to be realised, the gladness of fellowship with Him is soon to be +complete. The Lord is at hand. "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the +coming of the Lord. Stablish your hearts. The coming of the Lord draweth +nigh" (James v. 7). + +For believers, as we have already seen, the coming of the Lord is, +according to the New Testament, the great hope. Then the joy in the Lord +is to be complete and crowned. Those who apprehend that glad day as near +are not supposed to be capable of yielding up their hearts to the +uncontrolled sway of mere earthly interests. + +Here, however, a question arises. Paul speaks of the day as near, and +calls on his disciples to live under the influence of that belief. He +does not merely say that it _may_ be near, but that it is. Yet we now +know that the day was then more than eighteen hundred years away. In the +light of this fact, one asks what we are to make of the statement before +us, and what we are to make of the view of Christian life which the +statement implies. + +Our Lord expressly withheld from His disciples all definite statement of +times and seasons in this connection. Yet the Early Church with one +consent expected the Lord to come within comparatively few years (what +are commonly called few), and language shaped itself in accordance with +that impression. We have here, however, more than a mere mode of +phrasing. The nearness of Christ is emphasised as the ground on which +Christian experience ought to build. Was not this a mistake? + +But one may ask in reply, Was it after all untrue that Christ's coming +was near then, or that it is near now? Even if anticipations in our own +day which bring it within a generation are to fail again, as they have +always done before, shall we think that the Lord is not near? + +There is a nearness which pertains to all future events which are at +once very great and important, and also are absolutely certain. Being so +great, involving interests so great, and being contemplated in their +inevitable certainty, such events can loom large upon the eye, and they +can make their influence felt in the present, whatever tale of days may +interpose before they actually arrive. If, for instance, one were told +of a friend, whom he supposed he might meet at any time, "You shall +certainly see him six months hence," the reply might be, "Six months! +That is a long time to wait." But if he were told with infallible +authority, "Six months hence you shall die," would he then say, "It is a +long time"? Would he not feel that it was near? Would not an event so +momentous as death, so inclusive of all interests and all issues, prove +able to stretch, as it were, across six months, and to come into each +day, as part of that day's concern? So of the coming of Christ. It is +the great event for the individual, the Church, the world. All issues +run up to it; all developments are broken off by it; all earthly +histories await its decision. To it all earthly movement tends; from it +all that lies beyond is dated. It is the great gate of the world to +come. Let us think what it means: and suppose we could be assured that +it is still ten thousand years away, shall we say, "How far off it is"? +Not if we believe in its certainty, and realise what it means. If we do +so, our hearts will stir and thrill as we hearken how the surges of the +eternal world are beating on the thin barrier of ten thousand years. +Come when it may, it comes hasting to us, pressing before it all that +lies between, big with the decisions and the fulfilments of Eternity. If +we truly believe and rightly estimate it, we shall feel that it is +near--even at the door. We shall be aware whenever we look forward that +beyond all possible events of earthly history it rises high, catching +and holding our gaze, and hurrying toward our individual selves not one +whit the less because it aims at others too. + +We are apt to ask why the words of warning and encouragement in +reference to the future are not connected with the prospect of death, +rather than with that of the Lord's return; for death certainly is the +topic generally selected for such purposes by moralists and preachers of +more recent days. The answer may partly be, that the possibility and +likelihood of the Lord's return, even in the lifetime of themselves and +their contemporaries, might render it more natural for the Apostles to +fix all but exclusively on that. Yet this will not suffice. For nobody +could overlook the fact that some believers were dying, and that death +before the Lord's return might well be the portion of more. Besides, in +particular circumstances, death does come into view in a perfectly easy +and natural way, as at ch. i. 23; and the bearing of it on what lies +nearer is considered. The true answer is that death is _not_ the great +expectation of the believer--not death, but victory over death, +consummated and conclusively manifested when the Lord comes. This +expectation certainly is associated with the solemn prospect of +judgment; but not so as to quench the gladness of the hope for those who +love the Lord and have trusted in Him. This is our expectation--"the +Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope" (1 Tim. i. 1). Death is a great +event; but it is negative, privative, and, after all, provisional. +True, it seals us up for the coming of the Lord, and so, in many +respects, it may be, for many purposes, practically identified with that +coming. The sermons which are preached upon it, commonly from Old +Testament texts, are, no doubt, well grounded and edifying. But the New +Testament, speaking to believers, all but constantly passes on to the +day of the Lord as the true focus of the future; and it will be well for +us to conform our thinking and our feeling to this model. No one can +estimate, who has not made it a matter of personal study, how large and +how influential a place this topic takes in New Testament teaching. + +Meanwhile, no doubt, the vicissitudes and the possibilities of earthly +life press upon us. Now the Apostle provides a special additional relief +for that. We are not merely prepossessed with a joy that should fortify +us against undue disturbance from this source, but we have access in all +things to the mind and heart of our Father. We can bring our thoughts +and wishes about them all into contact with the deep, true thoughts and +with the fatherly love of God. The incidents and the possibilities of +life exercise us: they tend to become anxieties, keen and wearing; and +anxieties are the materials of disturbance and temptation. "Be anxious +about nothing; but in all things by prayer and supplication, with +thankfulness, let your requests be made known unto God." + +This is the practical way of getting continually to those springs of joy +which comfort and establish the heart. The way to be anxious about +nothing is to be prayerful about everything. + +It is promised that when we pray in faith God hears us, and that he that +asketh receiveth. However, this does not mean that whatever appears to +us desirable shall certainly be brought to pass in answer to prayer. +That would be to sacrifice our own welfare, and also the order of God's +world, to our shortsightedness and vanity. There is great reason to +believe indeed that those who live by prayer find many a desire granted, +and many a burden lifted, in token of God's loving interest in them, and +the heed He gives to their prayers. But we are not to start from a +general principle that we are to get all our own way by praying. Two +things we may fix upon. First, the absolute promises of the gospel, the +blessings which pertain to eternal life, are given to us through prayer. +"This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." Secondly, concerning all +other things, we have access to God in prayer, as to One who grudges us +no good thing; we are to express our anxieties and our desires, and to +receive the assurance that they are lovingly considered by One who knows +our frame and understands our troubles. Often the answer comes, even in +small things. But, generally, we may in this point have an absolute +assurance that we shall either have what we ask, or else something which +God sees to be better for us than that. + +It is this second article of the doctrine of prayer that is chiefly in +view here. The prayer of faith must be a prayer of thanksgiving, because +faith knows how much it owes to God. "Thou hast not dealt with us after +our sins." At the same time it has supplications and requests, over and +above the great petition for life eternal. For our daily human +experience is God's providence to us. It exercises our thoughts and +feelings, and sets agoing contemplations and desires, which may be +shortsighted and erring, but, so far, they are the best that we can make +of it; or, if not the best, they have the more need to be corrected. +Here, then, we are encouraged to pour out our hearts to God. We are to +do it with submission: that is one of the best parts of the privilege, +for our Father knows best. At the same time, we are to do it with +supplication; we not only may, but we should. Our desires should all be +made known in this quarter; nowhere will they have a kindlier hearing. +So, last of all, we come, not only touching eternal life, but touching +each day's concerns, into a blessed agreement with God our Father +through Christ. It is agreed, that He takes loving charge of our +anxieties and desires, as One who would withhold no good from us; and it +is agreed, that we put unreserved confidence in Him,--in which +confidence we say, "Abba, Father; not our will, but Thine be done." + +The confidence we have that all this is most real and solid, and not +merely a deceptive piece of religious acting, comes to us in the channel +of the faith and experience which have been fulfilled in God's children +from the first; but it is most emphatically confirmed and made sure to +us by Christ. He has taught us to pray. His is the religion in which men +pray. Under His influence we come away from ceremonial utterances, and +also from the despairing experiments of supplication with which, in +other religions, men assail the heavens; and, hand in hand with that +loving Mediator, we pray. Prayer, when it is real, when it is "in the +Holy Spirit," is a wonderfully simple and a wonderfully great thing. + +So it comes to pass that the peace of God which passeth all +understanding is found. For this great and deep agreement with God in +Christ, about all things great and small, is the very entrance into the +peace of God Himself, and is the participation of it. In this, as in +other aspects, things are daily realised in the history of believers, +that pass all understanding, because God in Christ is in the matter. The +infinite and eternal life is wedding itself to us and our affairs. It +may be understood, finally, that this peace, arising to Christians at +the throne of grace, guards their minds and hearts. It guards them +against being overcharged, outworn, surprised; it guards them against +being carried captive by earthly care. Yet this peace does not disable +them for earthly business. Rather, because their main interests are so +secure, it gives them calmness and clearness; it supplies them a moral +vantage ground from which to dispose of all earthly affairs. + + + + +_THE THINGS TO FIX UPON._ + + "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things + are honourable [venerable], whatsoever things are just, whatsoever + things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things + are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any + praise, think on these things. The things which ye both learned and + received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of + peace shall be with you."--PHIL. iv. 8, 9 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_THE THINGS TO FIX UPON._ + + +The topics last considered bring us naturally to the remarkable +exhortation of vv. 8 and 9. This proceeds on the same view of the moral +and spiritual situation, and completes what the Apostle has to say in +reference to it. + +If men are to live as citizens of a heavenly commonwealth, on great +principles and to great ends, it is, as we have seen, a very practical +question, What to do about the inevitable play and onset of this +changing earthly life, which assails us with motives, and detains us +upon interests, and inspires us with influences, of its own. These +cannot be abjured: they are not easy to harmonise with the indications +of that loftier and purer world; they are prone to usurp the whole +heart, or at least a very undue share of it. This is the practical +problem of every honest Christian. In reference to the solving of it the +Apostle had suggested the place given to Christian joy; he had suggested +also the place and power of prayer. These were indications as to the +spirit and the method in which a believer might bring into play the +resources of the Kingdom of Christ to control and subjugate those +insubordinate forces. But might not all this seem to be too negative? +Does it not speak too much of holding off and holding in? After all, do +not all human experiences constitute the scene in which we are both +formed and tried? What can we make of life unless we are interested in +it? How otherwise can we even be religious in it? What _is_ life, if it +is not a scene of inquiry and of search set in motion by the objects +around us, a scene in which we like and dislike, hope and fear, desire +and think? The answer is, Yes, we are to be keenly interested in the +experiences of life, and in the possibilities it opens. Life is our way +of existing; let existence be animated and intense. But while the +aspects of it that are merely transient are to have their place, and may +attract a lively interest, there are other aspects, other interests, +other possibilities. All the transient interests have an outgate towards +such as are eternal. Life is the experience of beings that have high +capacities, and can rise to noble destinies. It is the experience of +societies of such beings, who mould one another, exchanging influences +continually. The changing experience of human life, when seen in the +true light, is found to add to all its lower interests a play of +interests that are more interesting as well as more worthy. It is +iridescent with lights which it catches from the infinite and the +eternal. Every step of it, every turn of it, asks questions, offers +opportunities, calls for decisions, holds out treasures, which it is +the business of a lifetime to recognise and to secure. It has gains, it +has victories, it has accomplishments, it has glories, which need not +lead us to deny its lower interests, but which we may reasonably feel to +be far the higher. Endless shades, and forms, and types of goodness, of +being good, getting good, doing good, gleam reflected to us from the +changing experience. Goodness is not one monotonous category embodied in +some solemn phrase, and exhausted when that is learned. There is no end +to the rich variety in which it is offered, and in which it is to be +caught, understood, appropriated. And life, through all the manifoldness +of its legitimate interests, and its illegitimate possibilities, is the +scene in which all this passes before us, and asks to be made ours. The +Apostle says to us, Think on these things. Take account, that is, of +what they are, and what their worth is. Lay forth on these the care and +pains, which spent themselves before on mere pain and pleasure, loss and +gain. Reckon what these are, search out their nature, prove their +capabilities, appropriate and enjoy them. _Think_ on these things. So +earthly life, through all its busy processes, shall acquire a nobler +interest; and it shall begin, at the same time, to minister with +unexpected readiness to your true welfare. Enter then, or press on, in +this wide field. Be this your passion and pursuit; that which unifies +your life, and draws all its resources towards one result. + +We may be helped to fix more firmly the point of view from which this +striking catalogue of good things is drawn up, if we observe that the +Apostle collects all these excellences under the notion of "a virtue and +a praise." Let us consider how men are trained to progressive +conceptions of virtue and praise. For virtue and praise, both name and +notion, have had a large place in men's minds and a great influence on +their actions. How has this influence been sustained and made to grow? + +Men are conscious of obligations; and they are aware, more dimly or more +clearly, that the standard of those obligations must exist somehow above +themselves. It is a standard not of their own creation, but such as +claims them by an antecedent right. Yet if each individual could hold +himself apart, forming his own conceptions of fit and right for himself +without regard to others, the standard would tend downwards rapidly, +because moral judgment would be warped by each man's selfishness and +passion, excusing evil in his own case and putting it for good. Even as +it is, this has taken place only too widely. But yet the tendency is +powerfully counteracted by the fact that men do not exist, nor form +their notions, in that separate way. A principle within them prompts +them to seek one another's approbation, and to value one another's good +opinion. Indeed the consciousness that what is law for me is law for +others, and that they are judging as well as I, is one of the forms in +which we realise that duty descends upon us all, from some august and +holy source. + +This principle of regarding the judgment and seeking the approbation of +others, has had an enormous effect on men and on society. For though men +are skilful enough, in their own case, in averting or silencing the +admonition of the monitor within, they have little reluctance to make +full use of their sense of right in scrutinising one another. They +judge, in their thoughts about each other, with far more clearness, +shrewdness, and certainty than they do about themselves. Men do in this +way make requirements of one another, which each of them might be slow +to make from himself. This is a great operative force in all cases; and +in those cases in which, in any society, vivid convictions about truth +and duty have taken possession of some minds, the principle we are +speaking of propagates an influence through the whole mass, with effects +that are very striking. + +This mutual criticism of men "accusing or else excusing one another," +has had a great effect in sustaining what we call common morals. But +especially let it be observed that this criticism, and the consciousness +of it, stimulating the higher class of minds, sustains and develops the +finer perceptions of morality. There are minds that eminently strive for +distinction in things that are counted for a virtue and a praise. And +through them is developed in the general mind the approving perception +of more delicate shades of worthy conduct, which in a coarser age were +unperceived or unheeded. These come up in men's mutual judgments; they +are scrutinised; they interest the mind and take hold of it. So, whether +in the case of those who begin to pay respect to such forms of good +because they perceive that others approve of them, or in the case of +those who, when those forms of good are thus presented, perceive a worth +in them and take a pride in living up to them for their own sake,--in +both cases, the creating and sustaining of the higher standard depends +on the principle we have now before us. + +Thus there arises, for example, the code of honour, the fine perception +of what is socially right, becoming, and graceful. Men, no doubt, are +always to be found who cultivate the nicest sense of this, not from a +mere desire that others should know it, but because they see it to be +desirable in itself, and because they shun the sense of inward disgrace +that follows when they fall below their own standard. Yet it is the +process of mutual criticism which develops the consciousness, and it is +this which, on the whole, sustains it. + +Thus we find in the world not merely a sense of duty, but something that +has spurred men on to things counted for a virtue and a praise. Outside +of all Christian influences, wonderful examples are found of +self-sacrificing devotion to the noble and the true. Men have eagerly +pursued the nicest discriminations of duty and honour, that they might +be, and might show themselves to be, accomplished, finished, not merely +in some things, but in whatever things were counted to be the proper +tokens of a noble mind. + +Well now, the Apostle is not shutting out from his plan of mental life +the attainments made in this way in the true or the good, even apart +from Christian teaching. Far less is he excluding the human social +method, in which mind whets mind, and one stirs another to discern and +appropriate what is for a virtue and for a praise. He supposes this mode +of influence to go on in Christianity more successfully than ever. And +he is not at all excluding the natural life of men; for that is the +scene, and that yields the materials, for the whole process. But he does +suppose that now all old attainment shall be set in a new light, and +acquire a new life and grace, and that new attainment shall come +wonderfully into view by reason of the new element which for us has +entered into the situation. And what is this element? Is it that we +recognise around us a society of Christians with whom we share a higher +standard, and with whom we can give and take the contagion of a nobler +conception of life? Yes, no doubt; but far before that, the great new +element in the situation is the Lord--in whom we trust and rejoice. + +It is always human duty to have regard to the will of God, however it +may reach us. But when you are called to know the Lord and to rejoice in +Him, when He vouchsafes Himself to be yours, when you begin to enjoy His +peace, and to walk with Him in love, and to have it for your hope to be +with Him for ever, then you are placed in a new relation to Him. And it +is such a near and dear relation on both sides that much may be +expected from you in it. If this be so, you are now dealing with Him +_always_; not merely in direct acts of worship, but in your thoughts, +your feelings, your words, your business, your common intercourse with +men, and all your daily life, you walk with Him. You cannot repudiate +having so much to do with Him, unless you will repudiate your +Christianity. Then, if so, something new is expected. A new test of the +becoming, of that which is for a virtue and for a praise, has come into +operation, and has become intelligible to you; and it is a test of new +delicacy and new force. It is expected we should recognise it. Not now +the mutual judgments merely of erring men, but His mind and His will, +what He delights in and approves,--this begins to solicit us and press +upon us, for we walk with Christ. That this "walk" of ours may escape +being mean, coarse, offensive, we have great lessons to learn. We have +to learn what, in His judgment, as seen by His eye, as tried by the +sensibilities of His heart, are the things that are true and venerable +and just, what with Him counts for a virtue and a praise. + +And here, indeed, is our crown. The crown of honour which man cast away +when sin gained him, was the approbation of the Lord. But now we are set +on afresh to seek it, testing our ways by the perception of that which +He approves; or, on the other hand, what He counts to be mean and +degrading, fit to be recoiled from and rejected. It is our calling +(whatever our attainment may be) to be more sensitive to the nicest +touches of truth and honour towards our Lord than ever we were towards +men. And this does not apply only to some narrow field of life. It goes +through all relations, up to God and Christ, and out through all duties +and ties. The great calling reaches wide and far; it is very high and +noble: we cannot pretend to disclaim it, unless we disclaim the Lord. +This way lies God's crown. Win it; wear it; let no man take thy crown. + +When our Lord's mind and heart are said to be the test, this does not +exclude our profiting by our fellows, accepting the admonition contained +in human judgments, and especially in those of Christian people. Great +good comes to us in such channels. Only now the judgment of our fellows +is to refer itself always to a further standard; and a new Presence +brings new tenderness and grace, new depth and significance, to every +suggestion of right feeling and worthy life. This is the light and this +the influence under which we are to learn what shall be counted for a +virtue and for a praise. And we must bend our mind to _think upon it_, +if we are to learn our lesson. + +We must think upon it. For, on the one hand, it is not "some things," +but "whatsoever things." What should we say of a man who proposed in his +dealings with others to do "some things" that are honourable, but not +all things, not "whatsoever things"? And, on the other hand, we may be +further off from even a small measure of attainment in this field than +we are disposed to think. Christians who, as to all social excellence, +as that is commonly understood between man and man, are unexceptionable, +may be sadly blind to the requirements of an honourable walk with God; +may be sadly wanting even in the conception of what is due in all love +and honour to Christ, and to men for His sake. Men may be the soul of +honour and delicacy in their ways, judged from the world's point of +view; yet not far from a savage coarseness in the manner of their life +judged by Christ's standard. We would not needlessly wound another's +feelings; but with what indifference have we "grieved the Spirit." We +would shrink from saying anything to our fellows that is deceitful and +hypocritical: can we say as much for our prayers? In our common life we +maintain truth in the ordinary sense between men; but do we loyally +express and act out the truth by which God's children live in our speech +and action among men? Is there that fine congruity of our bearing to the +truth we live by, which becomes a child of God? + +We are greatly hindered here by the assumption we make, that when we +have mastered the form of knowledge concerning the will of God, we then +know all about our calling. It is a great delusion. We must not only sit +down at the feet of Christ to learn from Him; but also, with a watchful +eye on the phases of life, catching the lessons which things and men +afford, we must be trained to know and sharpened to loving discernment +as to our Master's mind, and so, as to what is honourable and +right-minded, refined and noble, in a walk with God. We do not easily +emerge from the meanness of our spirits; we do not easily shake off that +insensibility to what is spiritually fair and fit, on which the angels +look down with pity and wonder. + +Therefore, says the Apostle, _think_ on these things, the things which +in the Lord's kingdom and under the Lord's eye are well-pleasing, and +count for a virtue and a praise; think on those things which are related +to His esteem, and to the esteem of persons who learn of Him, as various +excellences are to the common judgment of the world. Do so, for here you +are close to the genuinely and supremely true and good; and this, as was +said before, is your crown. + +The Apostle is thinking of a perception of duty and privilege attained +not merely by studying a catalogue of virtues, but by a far finer and +more living process--by life that is instinct with observant +watchfulness, that is frank in self-criticism, that is recipient of the +light flashing from the experience and the censure of others: all this +under constant regard to the Lord, and leading us into fuller sympathy +with Him. + +That this is so, appears from the Apostle's way of arranging the +particulars of his exhortation. He does not merely desire his disciples +to discern what is right in general: but he would have them grow into a +vital knowledge, so as to feel the right in those matters where the +shading becomes delicate; where it may be difficult to distinguish +argumentatively an absolute right and wrong, but where a mind purged and +trained in the Master's school can well discern a difference. +"Whatsoever things are true"--which includes not only veracity and +fidelity, but also whatever in conduct and temper God's truth requires +as agreeable to itself; and then "Whatsoever things are venerable"--the +character that emerges when all that is congruous to truth, in its +finest filaments and ramifications, has been developed, and has assumed +its own place. "Whatsoever things are just"--rightfully due on all hands +to God and to man; and then "Whatsoever things are pure"--the character +that recoils from all that sullies, from the smallest shade or infection +of iniquity. "Whatsoever things are lovely"--the dear or amiable, +whatever draws out love, cherishes it, befits it; and then "Whatsoever +things are of good report"--actions that can hardly be more +discriminatingly classified than by saying that the heart is pleased to +hear of them; it confesses that they are of a good name, of a welcome +sound; they are like some delicate sound or odour on which you dwell +with delight, but cannot definitely describe it. In a word, "If there be +any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Study +them, look out for them, learn to recognise them, to know their worth, +to pursue them lovingly through all their manifestations. + +Thus, let it be said once more, the Apostle is not open to the objection +that he calls us to a mere retreat from energetic life. To such a call +men have always replied, that they find in themselves capacities +wonderfully adapted to grapple with life, and to do so with interest and +with energy. Virtually the Apostle says, Yes, true; and life has aspects +to interest the mind, and results to engage the will, which are its +noble and its imperative possibilities: for the followers of Christ +these become dominant; they afford noble scope for all human faculty; +and all forms of life are dignified as they become subservient to these +supreme interests and aims. _Now_, lay forth the care and pains that +fastened before on mere joy and sorrow, hope and fear, on a certain +_thinking_ and making _account_ of the true, the venerable, the just, +the pure, the lovely, that which is of good report. Reckon what they +are; search out their nature; make them your serious object. "O man of +God, flee those things; but follow after righteousness, godliness, +faith, love, patience, meekness." + +But progress is not to be made in this line by mere subtle refining and +contemplation. If there was any danger that the Apostle's call to +"think" might be interpreted that way, presently it is corrected. The +thinking is to be practical thinking, bending itself to action. "What +things ye have received and learned"--those practical points in which +the Apostle always taught his Gentile converts to put to proof the grace +of Christ; and "What ye have heard and seen in me"--in a man poor, +tried, persecuted, a man whose life was rough and real, who knew +weakness and sorrow, who bore heavy burdens, that were not proudly +paraded, but which brought him lowly and weary to Christ's feet,--these +things _do_. That is the road to the attainments on which I bid you +_think_. + +"And the God of peace shall be with you." In those ways (for they are +His own ways) God walks with men; and peace with God, spreading out into +peace with men, becomes the atmosphere in which such wayfarers move. + + + + +_GIFTS AND SACRIFICES._ + + "But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length ye have + revived your thought for me; wherein ye did indeed take thought, + but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want: for + I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. I + know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything + and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and + to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things + in Him that strengtheneth me. Howbeit ye did well, that ye had + fellowship with my affliction. And ye yourselves also know, ye + Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed + from Macedonia, no Church had fellowship with me in the matter of + giving and receiving, but ye only; for even in Thessalonica ye sent + once and again unto my need. Not that I seek for the gift; but I + seek for the fruit that increaseth to your account. But I have all + things, and abound: I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus + the things that came from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a + sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. And my God shall fulfil + every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ + Jesus. Now unto our God and Father be the glory for ever and ever. + Amen. + + "Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me + salute you. All the saints salute you, especially they that are of + Cæsar's household. + + "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit."--PHIL. + iv, 10-23 (R.V.). + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_GIFTS AND SACRIFICES._ + + +The Apostle had urged joy in the Lord, and a moderation visible to all +men. If any one supposes that in doing so he recommended a stoical +temper, insensible to the impressions of passing things, the passage +which now comes before us will correct that error. It shows us how the +Apostle could "rejoice in the Lord," and yet reap great satisfaction +from providential incidents. "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now +at last you have revived your thought for me," or, as in the older +version, "that your care for me has flourished again." + +Worldly eagerness, and worldly care and anxiety about persons and +things, are rebuked by the spirit of rejoicing in the Lord. But the +persons and the things about us all have a connection with the Lord, if +we have eyes to see it, and hearts to mark it; and that is _the chief +thing about them_. They are in the Lord's world, the Lord calls us to +have to do with them: as for the persons, they are, some of them, the +Lord's servants, and all of them the Lord calls us to love and to +benefit; as for the things, the Lord appoints our lot among them, and +they are full of a meaning which He puts into them. So regard to the +Lord and a spirit of rejoicing in Him may pervade our earthly life. The +worldly eagerness and worldly care must be controlled. There is no +avoiding that conflict. But now--shall we in faith give ourselves to +learn the true rejoicing in the Lord? If not, our Christianity must be +at best low and comfortless. But if we do, we shall be rewarded by a +growing liberty. The more that joy possesses us, the more will it give +occasion to the finest and freest play of feeling in reference to +passing things; and some of these which, on other accounts, might seem +insignificant, will begin to yield us an abounding consolation. + +These Philippians, who had given early proof of attachment to the +gospel, had lately, for some reason or other, been unable, "lacked +opportunity," to minister to the wants of Paul. Now the winter, whatever +it was, that hindered the expression of their goodwill was gone, and +their care of Paul flourished again. Did the Apostle think it needful to +freeze up the feelings of satisfaction which this incident awakened? No: +but in his case those feelings, having spiritual elevation, became so +much the more deep and glad. He rejoiced greatly in this; and still, he +was rejoicing in the Lord. Let us mark how this comes out both when we +consider what was _not_ the spring of his gladness, and what it was. + +"Not that I speak in respect of want." It was not the change from want +to comparative plenty that explained the nature of his feelings. Yet he +evidently implies that he _had_ been in want, strange as that may seem +in a city where there was a Christian congregation. But though the +removal of that pressure would no doubt be thankfully taken, yet for a +man whose gladness was in the Lord no mere change of that kind would +lead to "rejoicing greatly." "I speak not in respect of want: I have +learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know how +to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all +things have I learned the secret (have been initiated) both to be filled +and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things +through Him that strengtheneth me." + +"Therewith to be content." Paul had learned to be so minded that, in +trying circumstances, he did not anxiously cast about for help, but was +sufficed: his desires were brought down to the facts of his condition. +In that state he counted himself to have enough. He knew how to suit +himself to abasement, that common experience of the indigent and +friendless; and he knew how to suit himself to abundance, when that was +sent: each as a familiar state in which he made himself at home--not +overgrieved or overjoyed, not greatly elevated or greatly depressed. "I +have been instructed," or initiated (the word used by the heathen of +introduction to the mysteries), "not only into the experience of those +conditions, but into the way of taking kindly with them both." Mark how +his words follow one another: "I have learned"--been put through a +course of teaching and have had a teacher; "I know"--it has become +familiar to me, I understand it; "I am initiated"--if there is a secret +in it, something hidden from the natural man, I have been led into that, +out and in, through and through. + +If we would know by what discipline the Lord trained Paul to this mind, +we may listen to what Paul himself says of it (1 Cor. iv. 9-13): "I +think God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to +death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world.... Even unto this +present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are +buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and we toil, working with +our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; +being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, the +offscouring of all things, unto this day" (see also 2 Cor. vi. 4, xi. +23). If, again, we would know the manner of his training in such +experiences, take 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9: "Concerning this thing I besought +thrice that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is +sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most +gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities." Also how his +faith wrought and gathered strength in all these, we may see from Rom. +viii. 24-28: "We are saved by hope.... If we hope for that which we see +not, then do we with patience wait for it. Also the Spirit helpeth our +infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit +Himself maketh intercession for us.... And we know that all things work +together for good to them that love God." So "being strengthened with +all might, according to His glorious power, to all patience and +longsuffering with joyfulness" (Col. i. 11), he was able to say, "I can +do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." + +This was the course, and this the fruit, of Paul's biography. But each +Christian has his own life, the tenor and the upshot of which should not +be wholly estranged from Paul's. + +Now what it was that did move him so to rejoice is explained when he +speaks of the Philippians "holding fellowship with his affliction"; and, +again, when he says, "I desire fruit that may abound to your account." +He saw in their succour the blessed unity of Christ's living Church, the +members having mutual interest, so that if one suffers all suffer. The +Philippians claimed a right to take part as fellow-members in the +Apostle's state and wants, and to communicate with his affliction. And +this was only a continuation of their former practice in the beginning +of the gospel. This, as a fruit of Christ's work and of the presence of +His Spirit, refreshed the Apostle. It was a manifestation in the sphere +of temporal things of the working of a high principle, communion with +the common Lord. And it betokened the progress of the work of grace, in +that the Philippians were not weary in well-doing. So it was fruit that +abounded to their account. + +It may be noticed that the directness and frankness of the Apostle's +speech to the Philippians on these matters convey a testimony to the +generous Christian feeling which prevailed among them. He speaks as one +who feared no misconstruction. He does not fear that they will either +mistake his meaning or do wrong to his motives; as he, on the other +side, puts no other than a loving construction upon their action. He +could not so trust all the Churches. In some there was so little of +large Christian sympathy that a complaining tone in such matters was +forced on him. But in the case of the Philippians he has no difficulty +in interpreting their gift simply as embodying their earnest claim to be +counted "partakers of the benefit," and therefore entitled to bear the +burdens and alleviate the sufferings of Paul. Gladly he admits and +welcomes this claim. It is worth observing that the way of giving vent +to Christian feeling here exemplified was apparent at Philippi from the +very first. Not only did it appear when Paul departed from Macedonia +(ver. 15); but, before that, the earliest convert, Lydia, struck the +keynote,--"If ye judge me faithful in the Lord, come into my house" +(Acts xvi. 15). Both in individuals and in Churches, the style of +feeling and action embraced at the outset of Christianity, under the +first impressions, often continues to prevail long after. + + * * * * * + +Now, in virtue of this liberality, Paul had all and abounded. He had +desired to see the old spirit flourish again, and he had his wish. "I +have all: I feel greatly enriched since I received the things sent by +Epaphroditus." What gladdened him was not the outward comfort which +these gifts supplied, but much more, the spiritual meaning they carried +in their bosom. Let us see how he reads that meaning. + +This gift comes to him. As it comes, what is it? From its destination +and its motives it takes on a blessed character. It is "an odour of a +sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing unto God." _This_ was +what came to the Apostle: something that was in a peculiar manner God's +own, something which _He_ regarded, set value on, and counted precious. +Further, it turned out to be something in connection with which the +assurance ought to go forth, "My God shall fulfil every need of yours." +They had ministered to Paul's need, in faith, love, thankfulness, and +loyal care of Christ's servant. Christ counted it done to Him: as such +He would surely repay it, supplying their need with that considerate +liberality which it becomes Him to exhibit. Observe, then, the position +in which the Apostle finds himself. He is himself the object of +Christian kindness; affections wrought in the Philippians by the Holy +Ghost are clinging to him and caring for him. He is also one so linked +with God's great cause, that offerings sent to him, in the spirit +described, become an "odour of a sweet smell, an acceptable sacrifice to +the Lord." Also this supply of _his_ need is so directly a service done +to Christ, that when it is done, God, as it were, stands forth directly +on His servant's behalf: _He_ will repay it, supplying the need of those +who supplied His servant. Poor though Paul may be, and sometimes sad, +yet see how the resources of God must be pledged to requite the kindness +done to him. All this made him very glad. His heart warmed under it. +What a blessed, happy, secure, and, looking forward, what a hopeful +state was his! This came home to him all at once with the Philippians' +gift. No wonder that he says, "I have all and abound." + +If any one chooses to say that all this was true about the Apostle, and +he might have known it, apart from the gift, and even if it had never +come, that may be a kind of truth, but it signifies exactly nothing to +the purpose. It is one thing to have a doctrine which one knows: it is +another thing to have the Holy Spirit setting it home with a warmth and +glory that fills the man with joy. The Spirit of God may do this without +means, but often He uses means, and, indeed, what we esteem little +means; by little things carrying home great impressions, as out of the +mouths of babes and sucklings He perfects praise. When a child of God is +cast down, no one can tell out of how small a thing the Spirit of God +may cause to arise a peace that passeth all understanding. + +Christianity confers great weight and dignity on little things. This +gift, not in itself very great, passing between Christians at Philippi +and an Apostle imprisoned at Rome, belongs after all to an unearthly +sphere. Paul sees its connection with all spiritual things, and with +the heavenly places where Christ is. And it comes to him carrying a rich +meaning, preaching everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. + +Mark, again, the illustration of the truth that the members have need of +one another, and are compacted by that which every joint supplieth, +according to the effectual working in the measure of every part. The +strong may benefit by the weak, as well as the weak by the strong. This +Apostle, who could do all things through Christ who strengthens him, +might be very far more advanced as a Christian than any one in Philippi. +Possibly there was nothing any of them could say, no advice they could +tender to him in words, that would have been of material benefit to the +Apostle. But that which, following the impulse of their faith and love, +they did, _was_ of material benefit. It filled his heart with a joyful +sense of the relation in which he stood to them, to Christ, to God. It +welled up for him like a water-spring in a dry land. No one can tell how +it may have conduced to enable him to go forward with more liberty and +power, testifying in Rome the gospel of God. + +Nor must we omit the comfort to all who serve God in their generation +arising from the view which the Apostle is here led to take. There may +be trials from without and trials from within. Still God careth for His +servant. God will provide for him out of that which is peculiarly His +own. God so identifies him with Himself, that He must needs requite all +who befriend him out of His own riches in glory. + +So far for the bearing of the case on Paul. We have still to look a +little into the view given of this Philippian gift on its own account. +It is emphatically called a sweet savour, an offering acceptable and +well-pleasing to God. We have seen already (ch. ii. 17) that believers +are called upon to offer themselves as a sacrifice; and now we see also +that their obedience, or that which they do for Christ's sake, is +reckoned as an offering to God. So it is said (Heb. xiii. 16) "to do +good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well +pleased." It need hardly be said they are not sacrifices to atone for +sin. But they are offerings accepted by God, at His altar, from His +children's hands. They suitably express both the gratitude of believers +to God, and the sincerity of their Christianity in general. God grants +us this way of expressing the earnestness of our regard to Him: and He +expects that we shall gladly avail ourselves of it; our obedience is to +assume the character of a glad and willing offering. The expressions +used by the Apostle here assure us that there is a Divine complacency in +the manifestation of this spirit on the part of God's children. The +heart of Him who has revealed Himself in Christ, of Him who rested and +was refreshed on the seventh day over His good and fair works, counts +for a sweet savour, acceptable and well-pleasing, the works of faith and +love willingly done for His name's sake. + +In this connection it is fit we should remember that the view we take of +money, and the use we make of it, are referred to with extraordinary +frequency in the New Testament, as a decisive test of Christian +sincerity. This feature of Bible teaching is very faintly realised by +many. + +The other point noteworthy in relation to this Philippian gift is the +assurance that it shall be recompensed. God will not be unfaithful to +reward their work and labour of love, in that they have ministered to +His servant. + +We are not to shrink from the doctrine of reward because it has been +perverted. It is true the good works of a Christian cannot be the +foundation of his title to life eternal. They proceed from the grace of +God; they are very imperfect and mixed at their best. Yet they are +precious fruits of Christ's death, and of God's grace, arising through +the faith and love of souls renewed and liberated. When a penitent and +believing man is found devoting to God what he is and has, doing so +freely and lovingly, that is a blessed thing. God sets value on it. It +is accepted as fruit which the man brings, as the offering which he +yields. The heart of Christ rejoices over it. Now it is fit that the +value set on this fruit should be shown, and the way God takes to show +it is to reward the service. Such a man "shall in no wise lose his +reward." God orders the administration of His mercy so that it really +comes in a way of recompense for works of faith and labours of love. + +This may well convince us that the kindness of our Father is +measureless. He omits nothing that can win His children's love, and +bind them to Himself. Might not those servants who have gone furthest +and done most, feel it almost a bitter thing to hear reward spoken of? +For if their service could be far more worthy, it could not amount to an +adequate expression of gratitude for all their Father has done for them. +Yet He will certainly reward. Cups of cold water given to disciples +shall have remembrance made of them, by Him who reckons all those gifts +to be bestowed upon Himself. Every way God overwhelms His children with +His goodness. There is no dealing with this God, otherwise than by +confessing that every way we are debtors. It is vain to think of paying +the debt, or relieving oneself of any of the weight of obligation. Only +we may with all our hearts give glory to Him to whom we owe all. + +Accordingly the Apostle closes in a doxology: "Now unto our God and +Father be glory for ever." + +Among the salutations with which the Epistle winds up, every one must be +struck with that which goes in the name of "those of Cæsar's household." +Bishop Lightfoot has annexed to his Commentary an essay on this topic, +which collects, with his usual skill, the available information. It was +remarked in connection with ch. i. 12, that Cæsar's household was an +immense establishment, comprehending thousands of persons, employed in +all sorts of functions, and composed chiefly, either of slaves, or of +those who had emerged from slavery into the condition of freedmen. +Indications have been gathered from ancient mortuary inscriptions +tending to show that a notable proportion of Christians, whose names are +preserved in this way, had probably been connected with the household. +At the end of the first century, a whole branch of the Flavian imperial +family became Christian; and it is possible, as indicated in an earlier +page, that they may have done so under the influence of Christian +servants. This, however, fell later. The Apostle wrote in Nero's days. +It is certain that at this time singularly profligate persons exercised +great sway in the household. It is also certain that powerful Jewish +influences had got a footing; and these would in all likelihood act +against the gospel. Yet there were also Christian brethren. We may +believe that Paul's own work had operated notably to produce this result +(ch. i. 12). At all events, there they were. Amid all that was vile and +unscrupulous, the word of God had its course; men were converted and +were sanctified by the washing of water by the word. Then, as now, the +Lord gathered His elect from unlikely quarters: how secure soever the +strong man's goods seemed to be, his defences went down before the might +of a stronger than he. Probably the Christians in the household belonged +chiefly or exclusively to the lower grades of the service, and might be +partly protected by their obscurity. Yet surely entanglements and +perplexities, fears and sorrows, must often have been the portion of the +saints of Nero's household. Out of all these the Lord delivered them. +This glimpse lets us see the process going on which by-and-by made so +strange a revolution in the heathen world. It reminds us also for what +peculiarities of trial God's grace has been found sufficient. + +"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." This is the +parting benediction; certainly an appropriate one, for the whole Epistle +breathes the same atmosphere. The Epistle would not fail of its effect, +if their spirit retained the consciousness of the grace of Christ; if +throughout their life they owned its sway, and felt its attraction, its +charm, its power to elevate and purify and comfort. + + * * * * * + +In following the course of thought and feeling which this letter +embodies, we have seen the Apostle touch various topics. They rise into +view as pastoral care, or friendly feeling, as outward circumstances +suggest them. The demands of Christian friendship, the responsibilities +of the Christian ministry, the trials of Christian endurance; what is +due from an apostle, or from a Church member; how life and death are to +be confronted; what is to be done about dangers and faults; how pride +and self-will are to be judged and remedied; how the narrow heart is to +be rebuked and enlarged; how the life of a disciple is to become +luminous and edifying,--in reference to all, and all alike, he speaks +from the same central position, and with the same fulness of resource. +In Christ revealed, in Christ received and known, he finds the light, +and the strength, and the salve, which every case requires. Each new +demand unlocks new resources, new conceptions of goodness and of +victory. + +So, in one great passage, in the third chapter, catching fire, as it +were, from the scorn with which a religion of externals fills him, he +breaks forth into a magnificent proclamation of the true Christianity. +He celebrates its reality and intensity as life in Christ--Christ known, +found, gained--Christ in the righteousness of faith and in the power of +resurrection. He depicts vividly the aspiration and endeavour of that +life as it continually presses onward from faith to experience and +achievement, as it verifies relations to a world unseen, and looks and +hastes towards a world to come. Then the wave of thought and feeling +subsides; but its force is felt in the last wavelets of loving counsel +that ripple to the shore. + +One feels that for Paul, who was rich in doctrine, doctrine is after all +but the measure of mighty forces which are alive in his own experience. +No doctrine, not one, is for the intellect alone: all go out into heart +and conscience and life. More than this: he lets us see that, for +Christians, Christ Himself is the great abiding means of grace. He is +not only the pledge and guarantee that holiness shall be reached: He is +Himself our way of reaching it. He is so for the Christian societies, as +well as for the individual Christian soul. + +One cannot but wonder sometimes in reading Paul's Epistles what manner +of congregations they were to whom such remarkable letters were sent. +Did they understand the deeper and loftier passages? Were Paul and they +on common ground? But the answer may be, that whatever they failed to +attain, they at least apprehended a new world created for them by the +interposition of Christ--new horizons, new possibilities, new hopes and +fears, new motives, new consolations, new friendships, and a new +destiny. The grace of Christ had made all new--in which process they +themselves were new. Their "spirit" had become like a lyre new-strung to +render new harmonies. And the great thoughts of the Apostle, if not +always grasped or followed, yet made every string vibrate--so much on +his part and so much on theirs being sensitive to the grace of our Lord +Jesus. + +Ere long they all passed away: Paul beheaded at Rome, as the story goes; +the Philippian converts dying out; and the world changing in manners, +thought, and speech, in all directions. But the message entrusted to +Paul lives still, and awakens the same response in the hearts of +Christians of to-day, as it did among the Philippians when first read +among them. It still assures us that the highest thing in life has been +found,--that it meets us in Him who came among us meek, and having +salvation. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to +the Philippians, by Robert Rainy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE *** + +***** This file should be named 39788-0.txt or 39788-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/7/8/39788/ + +Produced by Colin Bell, Julia Neufeld and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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