YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL T. and T. Clark's Publications. GRIMM'S LEXICON. Just published in demy 4 ovts oiTChog of&oto; ipol duuxrot/ kmtcc- xohovdqtrctt t>7 aotyla, tov y-oocuoiov koci \itho%ov Tloivkov, og yevoftsvog tv vf/>lv xoctoc irpoaaitov thju tg't£ cci/Cpcj7rcov ehfhec&v axpttSag koX fiefixiag tov irspi dhrifet'ctg Tioyov, og Kat cbirav v(A~iv eypec^/sv e?rioTQ7\oLg, rig ag sccv eyKV^ryiTS, ^ivv/iOvjvsadt oitcodo- LCiiG&oti rig tv,v ^o&riaav vfilv wtartv' yrtg early fAqrYip TroLUTMU Vjftuu, i7r»x,o*\avQovoYig ryjg eT^/tios, 7rpoayovay}g 7%;' dya.7TYi; TVig elg ®$ov x,at X/wrov Kat ug tov irT^Yialov. lav yap Tig rovrav lurog fi, •7re,7r?^9)p&>%sy IwtoA^v "htKcttoavuing' 6 ydp '£x>cdv dya^-fiV pcaxpav ioTiv 7roiavig dbftotpTtag." — POLYCARP,^025/. ad Philipp. c. iii. PREFACE. Encouraged by the favourable reception given to previous volumes on Our Lord's Messages to the Seven Churches of Asia, and on St. Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians, I now publish these Lectures on the Epistle to the Philippians. Like its predecessors, the book is chiefly expository. It is indeed more strictly so than they. While, however, as distinguished from a mere series of pulpit homilies, it professes to be a commentary, it is one in which the course of the apostle's thought is not only carefully traced, but also to a certain extent applied. This mode of treatment adapts itself more readily to this Epistle than to any other. In the study of none of Paul's Epistles is it more needful to remem ber the oft-repeated saying of Melanchthon, " Pectus est quod theologum facit." The apostle's own heart in all its varying moods is felt throughout this informal and friendly Epistle, and those who would rightly Tunderstand its teaching must have their hearts open to its loving appeals. While, therefore, I have endeavoured to expound it VI PEEFACE. as the words must have been understood by its first readers, I have sought also to bear in mind what Bacon has said, that "the Scriptures, being written to the thoughts of man, and to the succession of all ages, are not to be interpreted only according to the latitude of the proper sense of the place, and respect ively towards that present occasion whereupon the words were uttered ; but have infinite springs and streams of doctrine to water the Church in every part." The difficulties besetting the exegesis of this Epistle are greater and more numerous than at first sight appear. Emotion mingles so largely with the thought, that the sudden transitions, and the subtle links of connection, as well as the delicate shades of meaning, at times almost baffle investigation. The study none the less, indeed all the more, is attractive and instructive. The apostle stands out before the reader with special distinctness, as he felt, and thought, and acted, when his mission was drawing near its close. What Isaac Taylor has so well said of the Pauline Epistles as a whole, holds good pre-eminently of this "Epistle to the Philippians : " Everything is concrete, personal, local, exact ; there is all that precise col location of phrases and allusions to the particular proprieties of the occasion on which he was writing, which is characteristic of an active, energetic, and cultivated mind ; — nothing is vague, nothing unfixed ; PREFACE. Vll each arrow has its aim ; — if Paul contended in the Christian warfare, ' not as one wiio beateth the air,' so he writes not as one who brandishes a pen without a specific object. He ever labours to produce a definite and premeditated effect upon the minds of such and such individuals, with whose circumstances, feelings, prejudices, faults, and virtues he is accurately acquainted, and which, amid all the heat of his feelings and the rapidity of his eloquence, he never for a moment forgets : — again and again inserting some allusion, some abrupt but significant phrase, which at once grapples his argument upon the personal feelings of those to whom he writes, and proves that he is himself never unmindful of their particular welfare." ( The Process of Historical Proof, chap, xii.) I have made use of most of the commentaries which English and German exegetical literature supply. These are for the most part specified, either in tbe Lectures or in the Notes. I am indebted to those of Holemann and Weiss in particular. The former is a thesaurus of the different views which commentators have advanced ; the latter is valuable for its historical survey of the exposition of the Epistle. The notes and illustrations appended may prove interesting and suggestive to fellow-students. In one or two passages, where almost the same ground is traversed as in First and Second Thessa lonians, I have not thought it necessary entirely to avoid repetition. To ensure something of complete- VU1 PREFACE. ness, I have chosen to repeat rather than merely to refer to another work. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends, the Eev. George B. Carr, Edinburgh, and the Eev. D. W. Forrest, M.A., Hamilton, for careful revision of proof- sheets, and not a few valuable hints. My brother, the Eev. M. B. Hutchison, M.A., of Lincoln College, Oxford, Examining chaplain to the Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway, has, as on previous occasions, effectively rendered me similar service. I appreciate his aid all the more that his communion is different from my own. Afton Lodge, Bonnington, 1st December 1886. CONTENTS. LECTURE PAOB I. Phil. i. 1, The Church in Philippi, ... .1 II. „ i. 2-5, Apostolic Prayer and Thankfulness, . 12 III. „ i. 6-8, Christian Progress and Fellowship, . . 23 IV. „ i. 9-11, Christian Discernment and Conduct, . 33 V. „ i. 12-18, Paul and the Gospel in Rome, . . 43 VI. „ i. 19-24, Paul's Estimate of Life and Death, . 55 VII. „ i. 25-30, Christian Citizenship in Heaven in its relation to the World, 66 VIII. „ ii. 1-4, Concord and Humility, . . 78 IX. „ ii. 5-8, Our Lord's Humiliation, . . 89 X. „ ii. 9-11, Our Lord's Exaltation, . . .101 XI. „ ii. 12-16, Personal Piety, a Power for Good, . 112 XII. „ ii. 17-24, Martyrdom anticipated, .... 124 XIII. „ ii. 25-30, Apostolic Solicitude for the Church, . 136 XIV. „ iii. 1-6, Apostolic "Warnings, 148 XV. „ iii. 7-9, The Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus, 162 XVI. „ iii. 10, 11, Tlie Fellowship of Christ's Sufferings, . 173 XVII. „ iii. 12-14, The Christian Pace, . . . 185 XVIII. „ iii. 15-19, Enemies of the Cross of Christ, . 196 XIX. „ iii. 20-iv. 1, The Glorification of the Body of our Humiliation, 211 XX. „ iv. 2, 3, Peace-making, .... 221 XXI. „ iv. 4-7, Christian Equanimity, . 233 XXII. „ iv. 8, 9, Christian Graces, . 245 XXIII. „ iv. 10-14, Apostolic Contentment, . . . 256 XXIV. „ iv. 15-23, Christian Giving and its Blessedness, . 268 Notes and Illustrations, 281 LECTUEE I. " Nulla ali'oquin Paulina epistola perinde pathetica est pater- nisque affectibus referta, ut haic ipsa." — Castalio. "Est hate epistola, quamquam in vinculis scripta, loztior, alacrior, et blandior cwteris." — Grotius. "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." —Phil. i. 1. TN the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Acts we ¦*- learn that Paul, ¦ with his travelling companions, was directed away from Asia to the Macedonian city of Philippi. On their arriving there, they repaired to the oratory " by the river-side," where a few women were in the habit on the Sabbath day of worshipping the true God. It was thus not in a synagogue, as in the case of the founding of the sister Church of Thessa lonica, but under the free air of heaven, that the gospel message was here first proclaimed. It was during this apostolic visit of " certain days' " extent that this earliest European Church was formed. It has often been noticed that as this city was more than usually representative of varied nationalities and modes of life, so was the infant Church which arose within its walls. We are familiar with the first three outstanding converts. Lydia, the seller of purple, whose business had brought her into Macedonia from her native city of Thyatira, heard the apostle's message, and the Lord opened her heart to receive it. She believed, and was baptized, and her household. Turning away in heart from her costly 2 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. I. merchandise, she now rejoiced in the assurance which Paul Gerhardt's hymn so beautifully represents — " When I into Thy kingdom come, And taste the sacred rest, Thy blood shall be my purple robe, In it alone I'm dressed." Alongside of this Asiatic convert there stands con spicuous the Greek female slave, — the girl with the Pytho - spirit, herself superstitious, and ministering, under avaricious masters, to the degrading superstition of others, — she too, cleansed and in her right mind, became henceforth a willing servant of Christ Jesus. Once more, we see the Eoman jailor, bearing, doubtless, in his character and conduct all the marks of pride of race and supercilious contempt of others, it may be, hardened by official duties, and utterly unspiritual in his personal thoughts and actions, brought suddenly to exclaim, " What must I do to be saved ? " and in the heart-acceptance of the answer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," at length rejoicing, — "believing in God with all his house." When we contemplate these three converts, so different in nationality, in social position, in the occupa tions of daily life, in mental training, henceforth one in sentiment and work, we see even thus early in the progress of Christianity its adaptation to universal needs, and its claim to universal dominion. The Church, whose beginnings we can so clearly trace, grew and multiplied, and mightily prevailed. Almost at once, at least long before this Epistle was addressed to it, it had become a vigorous, because a united company — a visible corporation, completely equipped and organized. " In brotherhood they met, the natural birth and kindred of each forgotten, the baptism alone remem- LECT. I.] CHAP. I. VER. 1. 3 bered in which they had been born again to God and to each other." 1 The special characteristics of this Church are not unlike those of the Church of Thessalonica. Its mem bers were chiefly Gentile. There is not a single Old Testament quotation or allusion in this Epistle ad dressed to it. Exposure to persecution from without, tendencies on the part of a few to disunion within, are common to both Churches. In Philippi, however, there is far less of disorder, and much more of calm and joyful service, than in Thessalonica. The apostle finds in his Philippian friends little to reprove, and much in the warmest terms to commend. It is perhaps quite justi fiable further to institute a comparison between this European Church of Philippi and the Asiatic Church of Thyatira. The first convert, Lydia, at once suggests this. We may regard her as in some respects the actual founder of both. We know that at Philippi her house became the centre of Christian influences. Paul and his companions abode there, and " their peace was on that house." But this dwelling, we may safely con clude, was not her permanent residence, for no mention is made of her in this Epistle, though it contains several names less prominent, we may surely say, than hers. When, therefore, she returned to her own home in Thyatira, she would certainly not be less active and zealous there than she had been in the city of her casual or occasional abode. In the circle of her friends, and probably these were many, for her position seems to have been one of affluence and influence, she would be a loyal witness for Christ. The truth thus pro claimed by a woman's lips, and illustrated and enforced by a woman's life, could not fail to leave its deep and 1 Ecce Homo, p. 136. 4 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. T. abiding impress upon the Christian communities of both these heathen cities. And so, indeed, we find it to have been. The love and faith exhibited in minis tering works which in our risen and glorified Lord's message to the angel of the Church of Thyatira 1 receive their due award of praise, these are equally prominent, indeed more so, in Philippi. The Philippian Church on three separate occasions sent subsidies to relieve Paul's necessities. We may therefore be warranted in tracing the character as well as the origin of these two Churches to the one source — the impress of an ardent and organ izing female influence, an impress visible in the bene volent forms which their faith so readily assumed. When we think of these money subsidies, forwarded once and again to the apostle, we feel that these instances of gold thus lovingly consecrated to Christian uses far outshine the once celebrated wealth of the Philippian gold mines. They live on in the ever-increasing gifts of Christian liberality. And when we think of the new springs of Christian beneficence here opened up by the gospel and refreshing the weary hearts of men, we feel that Philippi in a new and higher sense made good its title to its early name, the city of the fountains (^viSe?). But what do we know of the further history of this Church, of its glory and its decline ? Almost nothing. The apostle returned to Philippi some five years after his first visit, immediately after the uproar at Ephesus because of the endangered throne of the goddess Diana. It has been thought that the purpose of his visit was to warn his friends against dangers which similar out breaks in their own city, or suspicions thereof because of their friendship with him, might produce, and to 1 Eev. ii. 19 ; vid. thereon the author's work, The Messages to the Seven Churches. LECT. I.] CHAP. I. VER. 1. 5 instruct them, in view of such dangers, how prudently and yet faithfully, amid heathen neighbours, to conduct themselves. And again Paul, as his course was nearing its close, paid them a passing visit (Acts xx. 6) on his return from Achaia to Judaea, but the circumstances attending it are not recorded. Further on in the story of the early Church we meet with the tradition, but it is nothing more, of Erastus, the chamberlain of the city of Corinth (Eom. xvi. 23), being bishop at Philippi, and of his martyrdom along with Lydia and Parmenas. We come, however, to something reliable in a.d. 107. The Church in that city was then visited by Ignatius, on his way to his martyrdom at Eome. Shortly there after a letter was sent to Philippi by Polycarp of Smyrna, along with copies of the Ignatian Epistles, which the Christians there were desirous to possess. In this letter of Polycarp's, amid much that is interest ing, we gather this, that the Philippians " continued stedfastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers." As to subsequent times, we only know that for centuries Philippi was the seat of a bishopric, and that now and for long its site is marked only by ruins, and its name only feebly echoed in the modern Filibah or Filibejeh. How it came to be so utterly destroyed no record remains to tell. Bishop Lightfoot closes his discussion of the Church of Philippi thus : "Of the Church which stood foremost among all the apostolic communities in faith and love' it may literally be said that not one stone stands upon another. Its whole career is a signal monument of the inscrutable counsels of God. Born into the world with the brightest promise, the Church of Philippi has lived without a history, and perished without a memorial." 6 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. I. But we turn now from the Church itself to the Epistle addressed to it. The indications both of the time and place of its composition are more than usually clear. It belongs, beyond all doubt, if we diligently search for what Euskin calls " some floating buoy of a date," to Paul's first Eoman imprisonment, that is to say, to the period of two complete years, embraced in a.d. 61-63. Whether it was penned in the earlier or in the later section of that time is, however, a much debated point. Lightfoot and Farrar emphatically declare for the earlier date, but a majority of critics, apparently with the balance of evidence in their favour, incline to the later. A goodly summary of arguments in support of both views may be found in the Speaker's Commentary, or in Wordsworth's, specially the argu ments for the later date. It is sufficient to say here, that with considerable probability we may regard this Epistle as the last in order of the so-called four Epistles of Paul's first captivity. It is more interesting and instructive to turn to the other question — from the consideration of the date to that of the place. The apostle is in Eome — all other theories as to Corinth or Csesarea must be set aside — a stranger almost, in the city which was the very epitome of the world. Yet that captive Jew was, though men knew it not, the greatest power in this city of power. Whether in the barracks adjoining the imperial residence on the Palatine, or in the camp of the Praetorians or Imperial Guard lying to the north east of the city, he found " his own hired house," or rather apartment, or whether the restraints of military custody permitted him yet greater freedom of abode in the squalid Jewish quarter beyond the Tiber, these are all matter of conjecture, and of that alone. But LECT. I.] CHAP. I. VER. 1. 7 this we know, that in this Epistle there went forth from Eome itself a new power for the subjugation of the world to Him who is Lord of all. The Epistle itself — what are its main characteristics ? These, of course, will unfold themselves as we proceed in its exposition. It is none the less useful at the threshold of such a study to notice its leading general features. It is pre-eminently " an occasional letter." As such it is almost entirely destitute of systematic plan, and in its subject-matter is less dogmatic than the Pauline Epistles usually are. As Farrar has well put it, "It is not a trumpet-note of defiance, like the Epistle to the Galatians. It is not the reply to a number of questions, like the First to the Corinthians. It is not a treatise of theology, like the Epistle to the Eomans. It has more of a personal character, like the Second Epistle to the Corinthians ; but it is poured forth, not to those towards whom he had little cause for gratitude and much need for forbearance, — not to jealous critics and bitter opponents, — but to the favourite converts of his ministry, to the dearest children of his love. It is a genuine and simple letter ¦ — the warm, spontaneous, loving effusion of a heart which could express itself with unreserved affection to a most kind and a most beloved Church." x This is in every way a right estimate of this Epistle, as opposed to the blind estimate of such an one as Baur, who is not ashamed to speak of it as " dull and uninteresting," " a feeble and lifeless copy," " a production marked by poverty of thought." Nay, it is "an Epistle ofthe heart" (Meyer), noble in its fervent, trustful, joyful utterances — a heart " sorrowing yet alway rejoicing." It is " the swan song of the apostle," 2 and its all-pervading note is 1 The Messages ofthe Books, p. 298. * Bruch in Short Prot. Com. on K T. 8 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. I. this, "Eejoice in the Lord alway."1 It has then its lesson of Christian conduct as well as of creed for all time. The analysis — plan, strictly speaking, there is none — may be found well stated in Lightfoot, or the Speaker's Commentary, or in Ellicott's Commentary for N. T. Readers. In its opening salutation the apostle associates the name of Timothy with his own. His own convert and son in the faith — above all, his chief fellow-labourer in Philippi as he had been in Thessalonica, he is naturally thus mentioned. But this is all. He is in no sense joint author. Paul starts with the use of the first person singular, and maintains it throughout the Epistle, and in ch. ii. v. 19, Timothy is expressly spoken of in the third person. Paul further does not designate himself an apostle. In this he departs from his usual practice, assuredly not, as has been suggested, because in the self-abnega tion of his humility and in the tenderness of his regard for his associate he desired to place himself on a level with him : there is nothing that is elevating in such a suggestion — not that his work for the Churches being well-nigh done, he would divest himself of all official titles and leave them behind him for others, just as Aaron before his death laid aside his sacred garments that they might be worn by his successors (Words worth) : such an explanation is unreal and fantastic. The solution surely lies nearer at hand. In this informal letter, a letter of a friend to friends, he recognises no need of emphasizing his apostolic claims, claims in no way questioned. He prefers, as he often does, that other title, sharing it with Timothy, " servants of Christ Jesus." All apostles are such servants, and 1 " Summa epistolse, gaudeo, gaudete," Bengel. LECT. I.] CHAP. I. VER. 1. 9 rejoice that no higher dignity can be theirs. The burden of honour is recognised by them in the burden of duty. In the Old Dispensation the Covenant-God calls His Son " My righteous Servant," and of, His chosen people He says, " Thou art my servant, 0 Israel, in whom I will be glorified." In like manner the true Israel of the New Testament Church share in the title of their Lord ; as servants of Christ Jesus they are servants of the Most High God. But we must not forget that the word means strictly slaves. It is one of the many words, ignoble in their first use, which have been elevated into new and unknown dignity by being applied to Christian life. That word slave, which, as the inscriptions of the Eoman Cata combs testify, Christianity began at once to obliterate from the vocabulary of men, is enlisted henceforth by Christianity into a new service. The Lord's freedmen are His joyful slaves. He is Lord of all, and they rejoice and glory in His bonds. " This honour have all His saints." This greeting is addressed to " all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi," — the resident members of the Church in that city (rot? ovaiv). AU. The suggestion (de Wette) that Paul would thus declare himself no partisan in Philippian divisions, but would embrace them all in his greeting, without distinction and without exception, is unnatural. So, too, is the other view, that he is thus careful not to wound the feelings of any who may not have taken part in the money contribution in his aid, by excluding them from his loving address. The all, repeated as it is in vers. 4, 7, 8, is simply, as even our own epistolary experience may suggest to us, the natural outcome of warm and overflowing affection. AU is a word which in such a 10 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. I. connection comes readily to our pen. But these " all are called here " saints." The apostle invariably uses the same designation as applied to Churches, except in the case of the Thessalonians, his earliest Epistle, and the Galatians, his severest. As a title of the Christian Church, we first meet with it in Acts ix. 13. "Thy saints," Ananias says, in speaking of this same Paul's persecution of the Church to the Lord in heaven. The word involves consecration as its central idea — dedica tion to religious service, with the allied idea of holiness of heart and life befitting such service. The New Testament Church, we thus see, inherits the privileges and titles of the covenant people. It is "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." This consecration, with the implied promise of actual sanctification, is " in Christ Jesus." He Himself is the vine ; His people are the branches. All true growth in holiness is in union with Him alone. In Him alone His saints on earth are " made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light." But in the addition, " with the bishops and deacons," we have a Pauline usage entirely unique. It may be reasonably explained thus : These officials would naturally be the authorized collectors of the contribu tions sent to the apostle ; through them, too, would the aid be forwarded to him. It is thus with a delicate touch of naturalness and exactness that they are here singled out. They are not marked off by any spirit of sacerdotalism, unknown in those early days, as distinct from the flock, nor are they marked out as existing for the flock, and so mentioned after the saints ; they are simply remembered in the gratitude of Paul's heart, as having been prominently engaged in ministering to his necessities. LECT. I.] CHAP. I. VER. 1. 11 No discussion is called for here as to the bishops (overseers, in margin of E.V.) in their identity with the elders in New Testament usage. The substantial identity is now all but universally acknowledged. ; The " deacons," on the other hand, are those who stood to the bishops or elders in the relation of assistants. The origin of the diaconate is probably given us in Acts vi. 1-4. The deacons were distributers of alms in their earliest ministry, under the bishops, who were chief almoners ; and in this case of the Philippian Church specially, they doubtless discharged that duty, yet they appear elsewhere, like Stephen himself, as engaged directly in the work of the evangelist. The nature and scope of their functions in other respects cannot clearly be defined. These seem to have varied with varying needs. It is enough that in all, their work was a true service of the Lord. LECTUEE II. "From God's lone through His Son, crucified for us from the beginning of the world, religion begins; and in lone towards God and the creatures of God, it hath its end and completion. "— Colebidge, Lay Sermons. "Largely Thou givest, gracious Lord, Largely Thy gifts should be restored : Freely Thou gioest, and Thy word Is 'Freely giue.' He only who forgets to hoard Has learned to Hoe." Keble, Cliristian Year. "Manus pauperum est Christi gazophylacium." "Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always iu every supplication of mine on behalf of you all, making my sup plication with joy, for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel, from the first day until now." — Phil. i. 2-5. PAUL, as we have already noticed, has not in this Epistle called himself an apostle. In this in formal, friendly letter, he has merged that distinctive official title in the more general, in the humbler yet no less honourable name of servant — bond-slave of Christ Jesus. But while he has refrained from the use of the apostolic designation, he does not refrain from discharging apostolic functions. Hence the apostolic greeting in its usual form is given. Grace and peace — a blending into one formula of the usual Greek and Hebrew modes of salutation, " that union of Asiatic repose and European alacrity " which has henceforth become invested with a new and infinitely precious significance. These well - worn and faded LECT. IL] CHAP. I. VERS. 2-5. 1 3 formulae of friendly intercourse have by apostolic use become consecrated for evermore to the interests of man's spiritual life — the new life in Christ Jesus. In the New Testament sense grace is the free favour of God in the gift of eternal life ; peace, the inner happiness and joy which become ours in the reception of grace. Grace may be represented as gospel-blessing coming from the heart of God ; peace, as gospel-blessing abiding in the heart of man. Together they repre sent the fulness of salvation. These words, as thus understood, fall as heaven's best benison upon the weary, fainting Church on earth. While the universal human heart, because of sin and its companion sorrow, " heaves moaning as the ocean," this benediction brings a great calm — the very rest of heaven. While the universal human life is disquietude, toil, disorder, danger, when this benediction falls upon it there is henceforth " no jangled discord, but sweet music in the life." While the universal human gaze turns fearfully at last to "the skeleton face of the world," and the terrors of the dark and silent land, this benediction gives the assurance of final peace in the city of peace, where "there shall be no more curse." This apostolic benediction, therefore, is full of holiest meaning. It tells us of peace through divine grace — an inward possession, yet working ever outward, from the heart into the life, and rising ever upward, from the poor and imperfect life on earth to the glorified life in heaven. . But this " grace and peace " is "from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." This addition has un doubted right to its place in the text, though that right may fairly be disputed in the corresponding greeting in 1 Thess. i. 1. The blessing comes from God the Father as the primal source of all good, and it 14 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. II. comes from Christ Jesus as the mediating source. The apostle delights to speak of the God of all grace as " the God of peace," and assuredly no other designation brings Him more tenderly near to the human heart — "the very God of peace." Peace can never dwell in our souls of ourselves. One man cannot procure it for and bestow it upon another. It is a heavenly gift. It is " the peace of God," and it is ours through " the Lord of peace," — "our Peace," — our Daysman, who reconciles things on earth and things in heaven. " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ ; by whom also we have access by faith unto this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." It is therefore when God is our Father in heaven, by our having the adoption which is through Christ, that we can possess the peace "which passeth understanding." Peace ! the word in the original use of it means that which binds together. There thus lies in the very term a testimony to eternal truth, that man can be at peace only when all his varied interests are " bound by gold chains about the feet of God." The multi tude of the angelic host praising God at Jesus' birth sang of " peace on earth." The multitude of human worshippers at Jesus' triumphal entry into the city of David sang responsive of " peace in heaven." Peace, then, is the sign and seal of Christ's kingdom, both in its state of patience here and in its state of glory hereafter. " Great peace have they which love Thy laws." Its subjects call God Father, because they have first called Christ Jesus Lord. But, passing from the apostolic greeting, we come to the apostolic prayerfulness. These alike are marked characteristics of Paul's Epistles. The words are very LECT. IL] CHAP. I. VERS. 2-5. 15 similar to the opening words of his two Epistles to the Thessalonians. A close parallel exists between them ; yet minor differences are noticeable and instructive. He alludes to his many supplications. While his life was one of unexampled activity, it was also one of continual prayerfulness. These two aspects of his life are mutually explana-tory. His activity was unwearied, just because his prayerfulness was unceasing. His religion was a life, and the heart of that life was prayer. The risen and exalted Saviour's words uttered in regard to him at his conversion held good ever afterwards : " Behold, he prayeth." " As a good soldier of Jesus Christ," he had all-prayer as the weapon of his warfare. But the element of thanks giving in his prayer is here peculiarly prominent. It is a more than usually full overflow of adoring gratitude : " I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all." This part of prayer — pre-eminently Christian as it is, for of the Gentiles, whatever their relation to the Unknown God, it is said, they " glori fied Him not, neither were they thankful" — is the dominant idea here. It was, further, thanksgiving " always." This is a favourite and oft - recurring Pauline word. In such a connection as the present it breathes forth the warmth of his emotion. While he prayed without ceasing, there always rose up before his spirit's eye the urgent claims of gratitude. This heart-offering, he declares, he presents "to my God." " My." The closest personal relation between God and himself is thus emphasized. Standing on the deck of the wind-buffeted ship in the Mediterranean Sea, he had once spoken, to his affrighted companions in danger, of God over all, "whose I am and whom I 1G PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. II. serve." The declaration was then specially impressive in the presence of these heathen. He would tell them of his God, who is also willing to be theirs. But here he is addressing his own converts to the faith. " My God," he says, therefore, not in any way as making a severance between himself and them, but as uttering his ardent thanksgiving to that loving God who had anew been gracious to him in so abundantly blessing them. Thomas Erskine of Linlathen has well said, " All religion is in the change from He to Thou. It is a mere abstraction so long as it is He ; only with the Thou we know God." This is the central truth in regard to our soul's salvation. When we, turning away from ourselves to God, can say Thou to Him, we can also turn to our fellow-men and individually say of God, He is " my God." Each believer stands in a personal heart-relation to Him who is God over all. Each one can say — " I and my Lord, — between me and between Him Eises the lucent ladder of my faith.'' But this thanksgiving is on behalf of others. His gratitude arises from his contemplation of the gifts and graces which he recognises in others. In all his remembrance of his Philippian friends he discovers cause of gratitude. The memory of what they are and what they do sweetens all his trials, makes his bonds all the lighter to bear, fills his heart with a quenchless joy- _ This leads us to another conspicuous characteristic of the apostle's prayerfulness, the joyfulness as well as the thankfulness which pervade it. "With joy" he says. There is indeed a joy which can never be severed from prayer. There is the joy which springs from the LECT. IL] CHAP. I. VERS. 2-5. 17 assurance that God is near, and that He is ever near to answer in peace. But what Paul here declares is that his supplications for the Philippians were joyful suppli cations, because he knew that they were already God's people, already giving evidence that He was " working in them to will and to do of His good pleasure." Had they been an erring or corrupt Church, the apostle's supplications on their behalf would have been just as ardent, but they could not have been joyful. They would have been supplications with weeping. But no tears of sorrow mingle in these present prayers of his. The Philippians were blessed seals of his ministry, and over them he prays " with joy." The pastor of any church who, in apparently unrequited labours, has had wrung from his wearied and wounded spirit only the complaint — " Lord, in Thy field I work all day, I read, I teach, I warn, I pray, And yet these wilful, wandering sheep Within Thy fold I cannot keep," has not the joy which was the portion of Paul. The blame may lie at his own door, even as it does at theirs : but however that may be, at all events he cannot say of them what the apostle said of the Thessalonians, " What thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God ? " He cannot say with John, as representing his own happy experience, " I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." Once more, when we contemplate this unfailing daily supplication of the apostle, " this aspiration of eternal prayer " on behalf of his friends, we turn to think of our own daily prayers, and to contrast them with his. Those dear to us have, it is true, as a rule, a place in these petitions of ours, 18 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. II. but how formal and unreal ofttimes do our requests for them appear ! and so these requests remain unblessing and unblest. Again, God's people, in such prayer for friends, have frequently to present them in no sense " with joy," but altogether with doubts and anxieties and soul-consuming fears. These prayers may well be urgent, they may even be hopeful, but joyful they cannot be. This joy can only mingle with such peti tions when the souls of those whom we love are, with our own, " bound in the bundle of life with the Lord our God." Further, the apostolic supplications, with joyful thanksgiving, are " on behalf of you all." The " all " must not be so pressed as to imply that without exception the members of this Church wTere truly Chris tian, that each individual heart had received the gospel with its renovating power. The Epistle itself would forbid this supposition. Doubtless there were there, as elsewhere, professions belied by practice — forms of godliness which denied its power. Yet none the less the apostle would not be scrupulously careful, in such a connection as this, to draw the line between the two classes. It is enough for his present purpose to express his gratitude in regard to all, and his prayers on behalf of all ; they appear before his spirit's eye as one com pany, with common privileges and work and aspirations ¦ — all within the influence of a preached gospel, and more or less profiting by it. But the object of the apostolic joyful thanksgiving in the case of the Philippians is " your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel." What are we to under stand by this ? Not, as Alford, " their entire accord, unanimous action." It can hardly be said that even in this highly exemplary Church there prevailed entire LECT. IL] CHAP. I. VERS. 2-5. 19 and perfect harmony of feeling and of conduct. There are traces in this Epistle itself, slight indeed, yet not difficult to find, of the existence of jealousies and con sequent divisions. The very exhortations addressed by Paul to his friends imply that the need thereof was not awanting, e.g. i. 27, ii. 2 and 14, iii. 16, 17, and iv. 2. These passages show us that the satisfaction with which the apostle contemplated their Christian fellowship was not without its measure of alloy. The word, indeed, does mean fellowship in the general sense in which it is usually employed, co-operation in sym pathy and active effort, and there is no reason why we should by any means exclude this meaning here. But while this is its first and foremost meaning, it is to be noticed that it is one of many words which, by being lifted up to a place in Christian literature, have become tinged with the beauty of a heavenly morality, charged indeed with a new significance. Hence we find it in the language of the New Testament and of the early Fathers very often meaning fellowship in one special way, communicating of one's substance to the poor, contributing to others' necessities, almsgiving. Paul's Epistles afford frequent instances of this usage of the word, fellowship or communicating, all bearing upon Church life in the first dawn of Christianity. This is just what we might expect when we consider the sur roundings and the needs of these Christian communities. "They were drawn together in the first instance, no doubt, by the force of a great spiritual emotion, the sense of sin, the belief in a Eedeemer, the hope of a life to come. But when drawn together they ' had all things common.' They were ' members one of another.' The duty of those who had 'this world's goods' to help those who were in need was primary, absolute, 20 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. II. incontrovertible. The teaching of our Lord Himself had been a teaching of entire self-sacrifice, ' Sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.' And the teaching of the earliest Christian homily which has come down to us (2 Clem. Eom. 16), elevates almsgiving to the chief place in Christian practice : ' Fasting is better than prayer, almsgiving is better than fasting : blessed is the man who is found perfect therein, for almsgiving lightens the weight of sin.' " * It is this co-operation, then, with the apostle and his fellow - workers, in furtherance of the gospel, based on the realization of Christian unity, and issuing in liberality in money gifts for the cause of Christ, that is chiefly alluded to here. The Philippian believers are commended lovingly by the apostle. They are the subject of his joyful thanksgiving to God in his prayers, in that their money contributions had abounded, that the word of truth might spread. " From the first day until now," from the first entrance of the gospel into Philippi through Paul's preaching at the oratory by the river-side, when Lydia's heart, being opened to " attend unto the things which were spoken of Paul," was also opened to the constraining ministries of hospitality, — from that day onwards to the sending of the fourth money subsidy to the apostle in his bonds, this grace of Christian co operation, especially in the form of liberality, had been continuously evinced. Eeturning to this New Testament meaning of the word " fellowship " or " communicating," we may notice the new order of things which Christianity has introduced. It has given to human nature a new dignity. It has given, not only to the word "fellow- 1 Hatch, The Organization ofthe Early Christian Churclies, p. 35. LECT. IL] CHAP. I. VERS. 2-5. 21 ship," but also to the word "humanity," a new significance. That Latin word " humanity," in its Eoman use, meant " the mental and moral cultiva tion befitting a man." But now in its Christian use it means benevolence. A humane man is one who has tenderness of heart, manifesting itself in gifts, kindness. Kindness,— here, too, in this Saxon word, as well as in its Greek and Latin companions, the same change is observable. It has flowered out into new beauty on Christian soil. A kind person is properly a kinned person, one of kin, " one who .acknowledges and acts upon his kinship with other men, confesses that he owes to them, as of one blood with himself, the debt of love." 1 Christianity we thus see, the history of language itself being witness, has refined and intensified and systematized the natural feelings of benevolence in the heart. No religion but that of Christ could originate a community such as that of which the heathen satirist Lucian, the Voltaire of the second century, as he has been called, has said that their Lawgiver had actually succeeded in persuading them that they were all brethren, loving one another, though they may be unknown to one another, one in the bonds of a friendship stronger than death itself.2 This original mark of its divine source, being indeed an essential mark, is seen in Christianity still. Not to speak of agencies directly connected with religious work, to it we owe infirmaries and orphanages and reformatories. We have in our midst, because Christianity is in our midst, societies for the repression of vice, for the recovery of the fallen, for the spread of temperance, for visiting the sick, for free emigration, 1 Trench, Study of Words, p. 68. 2 Neander, Gelegenheits Schriften, p. 192. 22 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. II. for savings banks, even for the protection of animals. No country in the world stands forth so conspicuously in these respects as our own, doubtless for this reason, that with all its faults it is the most thoroughly per vaded with Christian influence ; and what is directly to the point in our present exposition is, as the well- known French critic Taine 1 has wonderingly noticed, that in our land these agencies are all largely originated and supported by private benevolence. All these varied forms of philanthropy, therefore, with which Christianity "has jewelled the ages," are a standing witness that the gospel makes men intensely practical. . It is goodwill from God to men, and from men to one another, " fellowship in furtherance of the gospel," co-operation in.every form of well-doing, a communicat ing one with another, in money contributions no less than in sympathy and effort, that the gospel may not be hindered, but may be directly helped in its blessed work of regenerating the world. 1 Impressions of England, p. 205. LECTUEE III. " Der Junger Christi zeichen ist, Wenn aus dem Herzen \Liebe fliesst, Und fin der That sich zeiget. Gott fordert Liebe nicht allein Fur sich, es soil auch Liebe sein, Die sich zum Ndchsten neiget." "Athletes, workmen of Jesus Christ, you haue engaged yourselves to fight for Him all the day, to bear all its heat. Seek not repose before its end ; wait for the evening, that is to say, the end of life, the hour at which the householder shall come to reckon with you, and pay you your wages."— St. Basil in Motr- talembert's Monks of the West, i. 351. " 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." — Phil. i. 6-8. ri^HE Philippian believers' fellowship with the apostle -*- in furtherance of the gospel, their partnership with him in aiding its diffusion, by prayer and co operation and contributions alike, was " from the first day until now." That is to say, it had been manifested from the clay on which the gospel had come to them " in demonstration of the spirit and of power," till the day in which the apostle in this Epistle poured forth his thanksgiving to God. Their loving active fellowship with him had not been fitful and uncertain. Its current had been constant and increasing. In explanation of his gratitude in respect of these his friends, Paul proceeds to declare that he is fully per- 24 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. III. suaded — has an unshaken confidence, arising from his past experience of them — that " a good work " of this kind — their loving co-operation with him — could not fail to advance towards its final and ideal perfection. His joy of thankfulness thus naturally passes into the joy of hope on their behalf. He has thorough belief in their further Christian progress. This good work is described as not only among them, but also and specially in them. Although it is regarded in this con nection pre-eminently as a work on their part of mere pecuniary contribution, — assistance rendered to Paul by gifts of the hands, — it has none the less, he would remind them, its other aspect. It has its root in a work of grace carried on in their hearts — a work begun in them by God Himself, by the renewing and con straining influences of His Holy Spirit. This being so, the apostle is warranted in holding that God will care for and watch over this His own work in them. Having "begun" it, He will "perfect" it.1 These words, found linked together more than once in Pauline usage, e.g. 2 Cor. viii. 6, Gal. iii. 3, have probably, as Bishop Lightfoot suggests, a sacrificial import. They are used in describing religious cere monials, and especially the ritual of sacrifice. The metaphor then may be this : just as a sacrifice, when once it is solemnly inaugurated, is carried through with all the appropriate rites to its completion, so every work of grace in the believer's heart, being not only God's work, but a work which is an offering presented unto Him, will be carried on to its proper consumma tion. Nothing will be allowed to come in the way, so as to render it a half-finished, a mutilated, an imperfect thing. Begun, it must be "performed." The old 1 " Initium est pignus consummationis," Bengel. LECT. IIL] CHAP. I. VERS. 6-8. 2 0 translators possibly had this metaphor in view in the use of that word. It has now, indeed, lost its earlier significance. But in their day it seems to have had at least a tinge of ritual significance in it, as Dryden's lines may show — " Thou, my love, Perform his fun'rals with paternal care." Paul is now writing to a Christian community com posed for the most part of those who had once been heathen ; his language therefore purposely takes appro priate colouring from their former but now forsaken rites. There is, he would say, a sacrifice carried on within their souls, a work of grace, a work shown in Christian liberality, which God will not permit to remain mutilated and incomplete. This explanation is all the more probable in view of a similar figure found in ii. 17 : "Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you alL" There substantially the same metaphor appears distinctly on the surface, which at least lies only hidden here. It reminds us of the infinite solemnity belonging to every good work wrought within us and wrought by us. It. is " an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well -pleasing to God." But the apostle directs the thought forward to the final com pletion of this service, " until the day of Jesus Christ." He connects the first day of their new life of faith and service with what, both in the Gospels and Epistles, is called emphatically " that day." The labour of love is regarded not only in its beginning and progress, but also and conspicuously in its triumph and reward. The day of Jesus Christ is not the day of each believer's death, though that idea is involved in it. Scripture upon the whole does not lay much stress 26 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. III. upon the end of each one's earthly existence. It rather directs the gaze of faith beyond this "hour- girt life " of time, to the day-dawn of eternity— the day of the coming of the Son of man, and that coming as involving decision and separation, when every man shall be rewarded according to his deeds. This passage has often and very naturally been pressed into the interests of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. It can hardly be so used with perfect pro priety, because its reference is only to a specific case, and no " general statement of a principle " is laid down. None the less the doctrine is implied. And we may safely say wTith Neander, that God does nothing by halves, and that in the greatest of all works, the regeneration and sanctification and ultimate glorification of every believer, His work cannot remain unfinished and in vain. The apostle now passes from the joy of thankfulness and of hope in regard to his Philippian friends to the joy of love. The persuasion, amounting to full assured confidence, which he cherished as to their perseverance and progress in good, has a firm basis. He is entitled to hold such comforting thoughts about them. It is a right thing for him so to do, because these convictions of his were no mere unmeaning senti ment, but were the result of his ardent love for them. " Because I have you in my heart," he says, and he feels certain that love such as his going forth towards them could not lead his judgment astray in regard to them. We often speak of love as blind. There is indeed a sense in which this familiar saying can be justified, but it is no less true, that love sees farther and clearer than mere reason can do, and in many cases its verdict clearly and unhesitatingly pronounced is LECT. III.] CHAP. I. VERS. C-8. 27 henceforth irreversible. So it was in the apostle's case. " The depth of his love warrants the fulness of his confidence " (Ellicott). What he means by having these friends of his in his heart he explains in the words which follow, " Inas much as both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers with me of grace." His oneness with them, his close, in separable fellowship with them, arose from common sufferings and common toils. The strong bond of unity between them was forged in £he furnace of affliction — affliction arising from what they both had to endure and to accomplish. But in their trials and their toils alike they were partakers with himself of grace. " All " shared in this blessing. The grace is not to be understood in any restricted sense, as, e.g., the privilege of suffering for Christ's sake. This indeed is described by the apostle as divine favour ; he has said, vers. 29, 30, " For unto you it is given (it is a matter of gracious favour), in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer 'for His sake : " nor is it to be understood as signifying the apostolic office of preaching the truth, as, e.g., in Eph. iii. 8, " Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Still less is it to be narrowed down to the sense of the grace of thank fulness, which so signally was Paul's possession. It is rather the grace of God in the widest acceptation of the word, divine favour shared in by the apostle and his friends, first of all " in bonds." It was fellowship with him in suffering, and therein God's grace was abund antly manifested towards them and in them. We have a striking parallel in the words of another apostle. 28 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. III. In the opening of his Book of Eevelation John says, " I, John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." Those who are together within Christ's kingdom have, in virtue of their citizenship in it, tribulation, because the world is ever rising up against it and seeking its overthrow ; but they have also wrought in them divine grace, and this grace manifests itself in patience, quiet submission to the divine will under evil endured, and unflinching courage and stedfastness in holding fast the profession of their faith. Thus it is that in those who are God's heroes, though they may be only the world's helots, there is ever appearing the growing beauty of the new life — the life that is hid with Christ in God. It is eminently true what Eothe (Stille Stunden) has said, " Niemand AVird ohne Leiden geadelt " — " No one attains to real nobility except through sufferings." These, indeed, do not necessarily or in themselves ennoble. There is nothing elevating in the mere fact of being in the midst of suffering and sorrow ; but when these evils are endured for Christ's sake, and in the patience and strength which Christ gives, then they become channels for new supplies of grace. Chrysostom has well said,1 " When so vast a flame was raised, in the case of the Babylonian furnace, it was a dew to those blessed children ;" so in like manner we may say, that persecutions, bonds, trials of every kind, borne because of the truth, may be all- consuming flames, but they cannot fail to be trans formed into the very dews of heaven, refreshing, beautifying, fruitful. So it was here ; Paul in his' bonds in Eome, his converts in their trials in Philippi, 1 Homilies on Ep. to Philip. LECT. III.] CHAP. I. VERS. 6-8. 29 were alike sharing in divine grace. He loved them because of this their common lot, and he had the assurance that their works of faith would never fail. But this divine favour they shared with him further " in the defence and confirmation of the gospel." There is the one idea implied here, the advancement of the Saviour's cause — that as ministered to by his bonds and their sufferings, he and they being together partakers of grace in this advancement. But this furtherance of the gospel is in two ways — defence and aggression. The gospel vindicated against the assaults of gainsayers, such is one side of duty ; the other side is the gospel glorified in the establishment of its adherents in faith and zeal. The testimony in words and deeds and patience alike, which went forth from him and them, was a testimony of power. Objections to Christianity became weak, futile, in face of the consistency of their character and conduct, and the hearts of feeble converts caught the blessed contagion of their strength. Thus the foes of the faith were overthrown, and the friends of the faith encouraged. Chrysostom says on this passage, " So then Paul's bonds were a confirmation of the gospel, and a defence. And most truly so. For if he had shunned bonds, he might have been thought a deceiver ; but now by enduring everything, both bonds and affliction, he shows that he suffers this for no human reason, but for God, who rewards. For no one would have been willing to die, or to incur such great risks, no one would have chosen to come into collision with such an emperor, I mean, as Nero, unless he had looked to another far greater King. Truly a confirma tion of ihe gospel were his bonds. See how he more than succeeded in turning all things to their opposite. For what they supposed to be a weakness and a detrac- 30 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. III. tion, that he calls a confirmation; and had not this taken place, there had been a weakness." But not only in suffering, but also in direct acts of service, in the labours of our lives, and by the utterance of our lips, we likewise, if we are Christ's, must ever aim at the advancement of His cause in these two ways, which indeed are our defence and confirmation. We must be ourselves a Christian apologia, often the only one the children of the world will read, and we must also strive to be strengtheners of the brethren — "Con firming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith." Thus we together become partakers of grace, and shall pass at last from grace to glory. And now the apostle turns aside, as it were, from the expression of hopeful assurance in regard to the Philippians, and even from the declaration of his love towards them, to pathetic memories wThich the very thought of them summons up in his mind ; and his heart overflows with tearful longings, " For God is my witness, how I long after }Tou all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus." He calls God to witness that his words, breathing such ardent, even abnormal, affection, were literally " painted with colours of the heart." He who " can thoughts unveil e'en in their dumb cradles," will testify to his sincerity, is witness that he regards his friends with the feelings of intensest yearning, which have their origin and strength "in the tender mercies " of their common Lord and Master. They are all one in Him.1 This form of solemn 1 " With true Christian hearts, Their mutual share in Jesus' blood An everlasting bond imparts Of holiest brotherhood." LECT. IIL] CHAP. I. VERS. 6-8. 31 asseveration, arising from intense earnestness of motive, and aiming at the highest and holiest ends, is clearly not forbidden in Scripture. What is prohibited by the law, and by Him who is the fulfiller of the law, is the flippant, the aimless, the profane appeal to the omni science of God. That is God -dishonouring and soul- debasing. A true man, having respect alike for self and for the name of God — " Honouring his own word As if it were his God's,'' will never throw discredit upon his own integrity by such unneeded appeals.1 But here, as elsewhere in Paul's Epistles, the appeal is justified as the outcome of an overflowing and almost overmastering emotion — an emotion that in struggling for utterance bursts all the restraints of cold and formal expression, and merges into ejaculatory cry to God. In closing our study of these opening words of the Epistle, we ought to notice that which throbs through out the whole passage, — the inward joy of the apostle in the midst of this martyrdom in daily life. The bond-servant of Christ Jesus is too ennobled by these very bonds to repine, to be hopeless or spiritless, because of cruelty and wrong. No word of murmuring escapes from his lips. So far from inwardly rebelling at his lot, he does not even seem to regard his resigna tion as in any sense a virtue. It comes to him naturally, because his nature has been renewed. So has it ever been. In this the children of the kingdom are far apart from the children of the world. Truly, prison literature has an imperishable interest and an enduring lesson clinging to it. John, in the exile and slavery of the 1 Vid. on 1 Thess. ii. 5. 32 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. III. lonely rock of Patmos, around which the storm-winds of persecution are raging, giving forth a solemn voice of comfort and warning and direction to the universal Church, as "the awful vision of coming destiny" is unfolded before his view, — Paul, here, in the restraints and bonds of the Eoman Prsetorium penning his Epistles, ¦ — -Luther in his chamber in the Wartburg, translating them, — Bunyan in his prison at Bedford, "forthe word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ," commencing his immortal allegory with an allusion to his personal trials, brief, artless as this, " As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep," — these and many similar cases prove to us that prison walls, to the inner eye of the believer, may dilate in ever widening vistas into the world unseen. They give eminent illustration of this truth, that " the mouth which persecution closes God opens, and bids it speak to the world." LECTUEE IV. "He that shuts love out, in turn shall be Shut out from love. " — Tennyson. "Yea, Lord, 1 know it. teach me yet anew With what a fierce and patient purity I must confront the horror of the world." F. W. H. Myers, St. John file, Baptist. " 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 righteous ness, which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."— Phil. i. 9-11. rriHE apostle in the opening words of the Epistle -*- makes allusion to his " every supplication " on behalf of the Philippians. He now defines the purport and the purpose of these supplications. The purport or subject-matter of his petitions is that their love may abound and be rightly regulated and manifested ; and the purpose, the design of his petitions, is that, in their progressive Christian attainments — in their entire inner and outer life as believers — they may be even now, and wholly hereafter, consecrated to the divine glory and praise. Such a prayer as this — a prayer for one another — befits all those who have "fellowship in furtherance of the gospel." The theme divides itself into two parts — Christian love in its proper growth and manifestation, and the perfection of the Christian life thereby attained. The apostle prays " that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment." 34 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IV. Each word demands some exposition. The love is not specially that which was cherished towards the apostle. From his point of view that love was already sufficiently abundant — much more, indeed, than he had looked for. Besides, it could hardly be described as increasing in their knowledge of him and discernment regarding him. Such a turn given to his supplications for the growth of their personal attachment to him is barely conceiv able. Nor, again, is it to be restricted to brotherly love, or even love to all men. True, the apostle has given this injunction, " Owe no man anything, but to love one another." That is a debt the claims of which can never cease.1 But there is no reason why the conception should have such limits assigned to it. It is not even specially love towards God and Christ Jesus ; still less is it loving activity in Christian service. It is rather love in the absolute sense of the term — the inward state of the heart, which is also the motive power of the life, — love " infused by God and effused in good works." Now, it is no mere rhetorical accident here which makes this grace the very essence of the renewed life. It would indeed have been right enough to pray that faith, or hope, or joy, may abound. But such a prayer would not have touched at once the central idea of spiritual life. Love alone is " the fulfilling of the law." As Luther has said of it : " So ist nun dies Gebot der Liebe ein kurz Gebot und ein lang Gebot, ein einig Gebot und viel Gebot, es ist kein Gebot und alle Gebote." It is the life of the believer's soul, and the soul of his life. It is therefore with conscious design and with perfect propriety that he who penned the noble hymn of praise in honour of love (1 Cor. xiii.), 1 " Amare debitum immortale," Bengel. LECT. IV.] CHAP. I. VERS. 9-11. 35 should here go at once to the root of the matter, and specify love as the distinctive mark — the very nature of the life that is hid with Christ in God. The illustra tion employed by Goethe ( Wahlverwandschaften), in a very different connection, is very applicable here. He says, " We hear of a particular regulation in force in the British naval service. The whole cordage, from the strongest to the weakest, has a red thread moving throughout it, which cannot be twisted out without undoing it all. In this way even the smallest parts are recognised as the property of the Crown." Love in the Christian character, we may say, is that which is woven into every part of it, is that which cannot be removed without destroying the whole, and is that which is enduring and indestructible evidence that the character is owned by Him who is King. This love, however, although it is " the bond of per fection," is itself never perfect on earth. There is always to be found in it " that which is lacking." No attainment, however high in this grace, can be regarded as a goal. Hence there must be a constant and per sistent going on unto perfection. Commending by implication what of love the Philippians had, the apostle prays that it "may abound yet more and more." He regards it as " the fire which saith not, it is enough." But while it is a fire that must ever burn brightly, Christians dare not say of it — " Keep up the fire, And leave the generous flames to shape themselves." The flames need to be shaped'. The abounding, manifold outgoings of love need direction and control, and it is this aspect of the case which Paul emphasizes when he adds "in knowledge and all discernment." These two words represent one thought. Christian 36 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IV. love, as it has been said, " cannot live for ever in a cell apart from thought." It needs to be associated with what the wise king calls (and Paul's utterance here may be a reminiscence of the phrase) " knowledge and discretion " (Prov. i. 4). We are therefore taught that the love of the renewed heart, if it is to abound rightly, must live in the sphere of increasing, deepening spiritual knowledge, that knowledge of which the gospel is the subject— what the apostle elsewhere in this Epistle calls " the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord " — a clear perception of the Saviour's person and character and work, accompanied by a heart -interest therein, a dis cernment of the deep things of God, and a practical insight into " all things which pertain to life and godliness" — a knowledge which reaches deeper than the understanding, which takes lasting possession of the heart, and regulates the heart's emotions. This abounding of love in knowledge is consequently also an abounding " in all discernment ; " that is to say, in " every moral sense or feeling, which almost intuitively perceives what is right, and almost unconsciously shrinks from what is wrong" (Wordsworth). It is spiritual discrimination, or what has been well called (De Wette) "moral tact." It is that clearness of inner vision that has to do with the practical application of the general principles which knowledge gives. We are thus re minded that there can be no truly advanced Christian without this kind of growth. Christ's people " put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge," that is, which is gradually renewed towards perfect knowledge. If advancement is sought, it must never be simply by an increasing measure of feeling. That in reality would be degeneracy — a falling into the snare of senti- mentalism on the one hand, or of formalism on the LECT. IV.] CHAP. I. VERS. 9-11. 37 other. Progress in Christian love must be sought, and must also be tested, by accompanying knowledge and discernment. In this way alone can Christ's people become "full of goodness, filled with all knowledge." This is apparent so soon as we look at the next clause. It tells us what the function of love thus regulated is : "So that ye may approve the things that are excellent." Love would utterly fail in its purpose if it failed to do this, for all in whom it dwells must " by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Love, then, abounding in "all discernment distinguishes the wrong from the right, just as a good ear distinguishes a false and imperfect note " from the true (Webster and Wilkinson). Love without such " knowledge and discernment " will fall short of this. It may even unwittingly take the side of the wrong, and become allied with much that is evil. To " prove the things that differ," which is the marginal reading, is in reality much the same as to " approve the things that are excellent." The two renderings merge into the same significance. Love, the most excellent of the Christian graces, has, as its function, to prove, and so to approve, things that differ in being better — in being " excellent." But what are those excellent things which love discovers and delights in ? We have the clearest and noblest answer in the apostle's own words as he closes this Epistle, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things ¦ are honourable (or, grave, reverend), whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever tilings are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report (or, gracious) ; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on (or, take account of) these things." 38 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IV. Here, then, the excellent things spoken of in the begin ning are specified in detail at the end — a catalogue of everything that is good and that makes for good in the renewed heart and life. A truly practical lesson lies in this — -a lesson which the history of the Church and daily experience too sadly show to be needed. Love may set on foot many schemes of usefulness. It may bring means and talents and varied influences to bear upon them. And yet the issue may be disappointment, failure, or even something worse. The explanation in such cases is simply this, that while love has abounded, it has not been " in knowledge and all discernment." It never can be right to cultivate the one central grace to the neglect of the others. The best intentions of love we must offer to our Lord, but we must also have the best knowledge to carry these intentions into action. We must be eager to "redeem the time (to buy up every opportunity of service), because the days are evil ; " but we must remember that the apostle adds to that precept another which cannot be severed from it : " Wherefore be ye not unwise, but under standing what the will of the Lord is." The use of " knowledge and all discernment," then, as added to love, is to act the part of regulator — a discerner not only between good and bad, but between good and best, and an approver of all that is excellent. It is the " oculus, auriga virtutum." The chariot in ancient warfare had its two occupants, the warrior and the charioteer : the one could not engage the enemy, unless the other held the reins and guided the course. So love, the true, the only commissioned soldier in that warfare, whose every triumph is peace, can fight towards victory only when knowledge directs and controls every movement that is made. LECT. IV. J CHAP. I. VERS. 9-11. 39 But the reader's thought is now directed from the consideration of Christian love in its proper growth and manifestation to the consideration of the perfection of the Christian life thereby attained. What the apostle prays for is followed by the reason why it is that he prays for it. " That ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Christ," — that they may become inwardly pure and outwardly blameless. " Sincere." The word rewards examination. It means spotless, pure, clear. Some (as Lightfoot) see in it a military figure, the result of dividing an army into several sections, so as to separate and group by themselves the more hardy and valiant, as Gideon set apart from his motley host the three hundred chosen of the Lord. According to this idea, the word means selected, and so excellent. Others see in it an agricultural figure, the word thus meaning select, pure, as corn that is purged by the winnowing fan or threshing roller. But the other view, that it means tested or judged by the sunbeam, is -the most probable one. Christ's people therefore, whose love abounds in knowledge and all discernment, " are pure, like the gem held up to the sunlight and found to be without a flaw. They are unsullied, clear, walking in the light of the truth," in the white radiance of eternity, even amid the clouded darkness of earth. Such they become in themselves. But this is not all. It follows that they become also, in relation to others, "void of offence." They are outwardly as well as inwardly pure. They are free from stumbling-blocks — that is to say, not as some explain it, freed from stumbling in themselves, but rather, giving no occasion for stumbling to others. So it ever is. A Christian who is thoroughly consistent in his own character is also inoffensive in his relation to those with whom he 40 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IV. comes in contact. His love, abounding in the sphere of growing knowledge and discernment, adorns his own life and proves a blessing to the lives of others. No evil influences go forth from such an one. His silent, unconscious example, as well as his words and deeds, is a power only for good. He brings no reproach on the gospel, causing it to be evil spoken of; but he adorns and commends it in all things, " giving no offence in anything." And this he does " unto the day of Christ." The whole description is an ideal one. The present reality, even in the case of the most eminent and spiritually -minded Christian, falls very far short of it. Yet none the less, there is ever a reaching forward to its realization on " that day." The apostle therefore views Christian progress towards per fection in the light of the final day of scrutiny and reward. He contemplates the whole new creation in Christ Jesus as advancing onwards to it, and "that day " being thus ever present to the eye of his heart, he regards all true believers as already approved and perfect, "sincere and void of offence," even now and evermore. Those then to whom this description applies, being the children of the light and of the day, and having " no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness," are further thus depicted : " Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ" (rather, "the fruit which is"). This is the more posi tive and active side of Christian development. The expression " fruit of righteousness " is an Old Testa ment one, fulness of fruit in the region of righteousness, the believer's whole spiritual disposition, this too at tained only in union with Christ Jesus. He Himself has said, " He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same LECT. IV.] CHAP. I. VERS. 9-U. 41 bringeth forth much fruit ; for without Me ye can do nothing." The " much fruit" with which the character and conduct of the advanced Christian is filled means simply the graces of the new life, plentiful and also varied as is the fulness of the harvest time. Thus we have in this figure the earth set before us as " a sacra mental token of the divine presence," and an allegory of spiritual things. Just as the fruits which men, with grateful and rejoicing hearts, gather in at harvest-home are not only much in quantity, but also many in variety, so in the Church, the garden of the Lord, His planting that He may be glorified, there are manifold good thoughts and deeds and impulses, all springing up from the one seed of love, and maturing to life eternal, to be garnered in when " the harvest of the earth is ripe." And all this is " unto the glory and praise of God." This is the ultimate aim and end of all, — -the divine perfections thus manifested, and the ascription of all adoration thus given. " For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To whom be glory for ever. Amen." Now in this prayer of the apostle, fervid even beyond compare, for his Philippian converts, regarded in its purport and purpose, that is to say, , as to what he prays for, and why he prays for it, we have one of the noblest portraitures, even in Scripture itself, of what the Christian life in each believer should be. As we have been studying it, we have to a large extent been simply determining the significance of words, and pos sibly it may. be said of words only. But words are symbols of thoughts, and the words of Scripture, beyond all others, are instinct with spiritual life. They are living words. As Luther used to say of them, at least of those which were Paul's, they have almost hands 42 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IV. and feet. This is well illustrated here. We learn that the new life in man has love as its beginning, and God's glory as its end. We learn further that in its progress onwards to perfection it is evinced by service in holiness, in wisdom approving " things that are excellent" by severing them from all that is earthly and base. In its results it is a yielding, in ever increasing measure, of "the fruits of righteousness" in ever fresh and ever fairer Christian graces, till at last that love, which is the source of all, be glorified in the glory of heaven. Love, which first binds our souls, with all their interests and desires to God in Christ, will then alone survive, for it is " the bond of perfect ness." " Hope, faith, and love at God's high altar shine Lamp triple- branched, and fed with oil divine. Two of these triple lights shall once grow pale, They burn without, but love within the veil." Such, then, is Paul's prayer for his friends and all who, like him, seek love, knowledge, discernment for themselves and for others. Thus " the things which are excellent " give a nameless beauty, a beauty that is not of earth, to all Christian fellowship. Thus sincere in heart and blameless in life, fruitful in every good work, when the day of Christ dawns, and the shadows flee away, each and all become in eternity " unto the glory and praise of God." " Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." LECTUEE V. " Nulla tam modesta felicitas est, quo? malignitatis dentes vitare possit." Valerius Max. iv. 7. 2. " Such was her house within ; but all without, The barren ground was full of wicked weedes, Which she her selfe had sowen all about, Now growen great, at first of little seedes, The seedes of evill wordes and factious deedes, Which, when to ripenesse due they growen arre, Bring forth an infinite increase, that breedes Tumultuous trouble, and contentious jarre, The which most often end in bloudshed and in wane." Spenser, Faerie Queene, iv. 1, on Ate (Discord). "' Invidia,' jealousy of our neighbour's good, has been, since dust was first made flesh, the curse of man, and 'Charitas,' the desire to do our neighbour grace, the one source of all human glory, power, and material blessing."— Buskin, Fors Glavigem, vii. 16. " A hero hates not even the foe Whose deadly bow is 'gainst him bent ; The sandal-tree with fragrant scent Imbues the axe which lays it low." Muir's Metrical Trartslation from Sanskrit, p. 88. " 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 praetorian 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 goodwill ; 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." — Phil. i. 12-18. THE apostle now passes on to a new and a specific theme. He makes the transition thus, " Now I would have you know." He has given expression to 44 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. V. the fervent love which he cherished in his heart towards his friends ; but he feels assured that on their part their love towards him is yearning to know all about his affairs. They cannot be happy so long as they are ignorant about what concerns him. He therefore at once proceeds to relieve their burdened spirits, by removing all their natural apprehensions in regard to himself. Since he had sailed with his com panions "away from Philippi" (Acts xx. 6), many things had happened to him — his arrest at Jerusalem, his prolonged captivity at Caesarea, and now his enforced residence at Eome. He knew wTell that they were eagerly desiring to learn about all this, and he tells them. But he does not speak of these affairs of his as misfortunes or trials. The serene composure of his spirit forbids him so to describe them. He calls them simply " the things which happened unto me." The words are colourless. They have caught no tinge' of complaint or despondency. They simply mention events, in themselves neither good nor bad. But having thus characterized his circumstances, he goes on to show that they had been in every way graciously overruled for good. They had issues of infinite importance and preciousness, for they served "unto the furtherance of the gospel," rather than, as might have been anticipated, unto its hindrance. We learn in this section how it was so. The first blessed result was that his very captivity had been serviceable for the diffusion of the truth among those who otherwise might not have heard of it. While he " suffered trouble as an evil-doer, even unto bonds," he saw that just on that very account " the word of God is not bound" (2 Tim. ii. 9). "My bonds," he says. We can almost trace his tacit LECT. V.] CHAP. I. VERS. 12-18. 45 rejoicing in them. We feel that he is alluding to them with something of affectionate regard. He was linked with a chain to the wrist of the soldier who was responsible for his safe keeping ; and over and over again do we find him recalling to himself and others the fact. " For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain," so he spoke three days after his entrance into the imperial city, as he " dwelt by himself with the soldier that kept him," and with a momentary glance at his fetters addressed there the assembled Jews whom he had invited to meet him (Acts xxviii. 20). " The mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds," literally, in a chain, so he wrote at the close of his letter to the Ephesians. " The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain," so he wrote to Timothy, his own son in the faith (2 Tim. i. 16). Thus it is that we see him glorying with a chastened holy delight in his bonds. . They were to him, to use the touching simile of Ignatius, as links of spiritual pearls, his garb of affliction was as a robe of beauty ; and for this reason, that they were " manifest in Christ." These Eoman fetters he regarded, not as they were in themselves, degrading and galling, but as they appeared in their relation to Christ's cause, as worn in His service, and in His fellowship, and for His sake. They were, in a word, borne by him, not as an evil-doer, but as a faithful witness for Christ. The manifestation of his bonds in this way tended to advance the gospel. It was this — not the chain, but the chain "manifested in Christ" — in which he rejoiced. All who came in contact with him recognised in him not a political offender, not in any way a law-breaker, but a humble, a patient, a contented man — bearing the 46 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. V. loss of liberty, bereft of all things, and facing the probable loss of life itself, because of his devotion to a heavenly Master's cause. The apostle, we wrell know, was very sensitive on this very point — ever resolute and persistent in clearing his own character, that so the gospel committed to his trust might not suffer. In the sight of Jews and heathen alike, as Acts xxviii. shows, he will declare that bonds in his case imply not guilty deeds,' but faithful service. But this manifestation of his bonds in Christ was "throughout the whole praetorian guard." "In all the palace " is the received translation, and it has much that can be said in its support. The word is " prsetorium." Early expositors, Greek as well as Latin, understand by it the royal palace of Nero, on the Palatine Hill, south of the Eoman Forum, or, at all events, if not the royal residence itself, the barracks of the guard attached to it, and almost forming an integral part of it, for a cohort was in constant attend ance on the emperor as his bodyguard. Besides, as Merivale x reminds us, " the palace, like other patrician mansions, was surrounded by numerous cabins, tenanted by the retainers of the great man himself, and in one of these, as ' a hired house,' the apostle was (may have been) permitted to dwell, from the favour perhaps in which his nation was held, instead of being cast into the vaults beneath the palace floors." It is interesting ^thus to think of Paul as possibly occupying some such cell as the four square rooms discovered in 1856, in the excavations carried on at the expense of Nicholas, the Czar of Eussia. It was in one of these that the rude wall sketch was found — the blasphemous carica ture of the crucifixion, with the scoffing words attached, 1 History of ihe Romans under tlie Empire, vi. 438. LECT. V.] CHAP. I. VERS. 12-18. 47 " Alexaminus worships his God." That graffito, with its scrawl, indeed cannot well be regarded as earlier than the close of the second century, yet it none the less may faithfully represent the taunting ridicule of the soldiery of Paul's own time,1 to which he was forced to be exposed. As has been already said, this view as to the locality of Paul's imprisonment is not in any way to be lightly set aside. It receives some support from the reference to " Caesar's house hold" at the end of the Epistle, and Wordsworth's elaborate arguments are not without force in favour of it. Yet, upon the whole, the objections are weighty. It seems to have been only, or at least chiefly, in the provinces that a royal palace received the military name " praetorium," or general's tent. The emperor's house at Eome would not be so designated. Indeed, to call it so would at that time probably have been an insult to the Eoman populace, who were jealous of the power of the soldiery. So Bishop Lightfoot, whose discussion of the question is most able and thorough. We therefore adopt, as upon the whole the more probable, the rendering of the Eevised Version, making the word refer, not primarily to place, but to persons, viz. the imperial regiments, the camp of praetorian soldiers. But locality is also involved in the word. We know from other sources that their camp lay in the north-east quarter of the city. The view that the soldiery themselves are signified appears the more likely, further, as it better fits into the next clause, " and to all the rest." This view gives us an equally interesting picture of the apostle. His guard was continually changing. Soldiers came and went, on the probably unwelcome duty of keeping him in 1 Vid. Northcote and Brownlow's Roma Sotteranea, ii. Appendix A. 48 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. V. custody. Each one, we can conceive, would return to his comrades, puzzled and amazed at the bearing of the man to whom for the time being he had been bound. Conversation throughout the camp would thus soon become general about him. Perplexity, ridicule, in quiry, inclination to believe, all these phases of character and conduct would certainly appear. Some soldiers evidently were favourably impressed, and brought to the truth, enlisted henceforth on that nobler war in which there is no discharge. It has been suggested that among these there may have been rude, unlettered warriors from the northern forests of Germany, and we know that at least one of the traditions regarding the first promulgation of the gospel in our own Britain ascribes it to soldiers who may have listened to Paul's instructions in his Eoman prison.1 But it was not the army alone, which came to know of Paul in his bonds, and of the good confession he witnessed therein. "All the rest" are mentioned. That is clearly the people in the city generally. These could not fail to hear about him. We may safely hold this, without accepting the view that his public trial had already taken place, and that this Epistle was penned in the interval between that trial and the sentence : for we know that he was all along free, at least to this extent, that he could hold intercourse with all whom he invited, " preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbid ding him." Now it was this experience in his captivity which made his chains to sit lightly upon him. He thought of them only in their connection with the 1 Vid. Dr. Lumby in Popular Commentary on New Testament edited by Dr. Schaff. LECT. V.] CHAP. I. VERS. 12-18. 49 x gospel's progress. As men recognised in him no ordinary state-prisoner, but rather a patient, hopeful, joyful sufferer for conscience' sake, and also a tender, loving teacher of a new faith, and so felt drawn through him to the Master whom he served, he blessed his enforced imprisonment as the very means of preaching with more freedom and effect than if he had been rejoicing in the fullest liberty. A sermon preached by sorrow and patience is winged with double power to touch the heart. The gospel finds its noblest triumphs when it is proclaimed by its adherents in their time of trial. The word of God most "mightily prevails" (Acts xix. 20) when the forces of the world seem to be prevailing against it. The saying of Prince William of Orange is a saying of wisdom, that "when truth rests it rusts, but when it is rubbed it is whetted." Hence the apostle could say here that the things which happened unto him had turned out, not for evil, but " rather unto the progress of the gospel." Progress — the figure is perhaps military. As the progress of armies is facilitated by the cutting down of obstructing trees, so trials were but the means of cutting down all hindrances to the onward march of the truth.1 The second blessed result of Paul's captivity was, that it made those who were already believers increas ingly bold of speech. Not only was his imprisonment itself in effect a preaching, but it helped others also to preach. " Most of the brethren," — not " in the Lord," for that clause belongs to " being confident," — " Most," there were exceptions, but they were not numerous, and that is no small credit to the Christian com munity in Eome, "being confident in the Lord 1 ivpoKOTtiiv ; vid. as its opposite, htxo-J/iv, 1 Thess. ii. 18. D 50 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. V. through my bonds." His very captivity was to them " in the Lord" a source of courage, for in fellowship with his Lord and theirs, they felt that the calm courage which was his ought also to be theirs — that the sustaining grace which he received was also offered to them. Thus relying upon his bonds, — strange foundation on which to rest their confidence, — they became " more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear ; " that is to say, more than usually bold, and more even than if he had been entirely free in their midst. If he, they doubtless thought, was thus preaching in fetters, why should not they in freedom 1 They would have been ashamed of themselves if they had felt and reasoned otherwise. Cautious, even timid, as they may have been before, they now knew no restraints of worldly interest or even of self-preserva tion. All these were thrown off, and in trustful abandonment of spirit they spoke out (\a\elv) their new faith. It was " the word of God " they declared. Greater therefore was He who was for them, than all they that could be against them. Thus it was that even so early in the annals of Christ's Church, Eome, " the proudest of earthly powers, arrayed in the plenitude of material resources, was humbling herself before a power founded on a sense of the unseen." ^ We may learn from this instance how the demeanour of every brave and much-enduring Christian man brings power, new accession of strength, to others. They see something underlying his serenity and con tentment, even God's sustaining grace, and seeing this they become themselves "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." But there is a dark shadow resting on the picture 1 Cardinal Newman, Grammar of Assent, p. 472. LECT. V.] CHAP. I. VERS. 12-18. 51 which this section presents. Christ was indeed preached, but preached from varying motives. There were indeed " men of goodwill " towards the apostle and towards his Lord — men who preached " of love," that is, out of love the root Christian grace, but also (with a specific refer ence, almost a limitation) out of love to the apostle, as he says, " knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel." They recognised in him the appointed and accredited vindicator and defender of the faith, not merely, or even specially, in his formal defence before Nero, though this was in the near future, but in his whole apostolic office. And as he was now partially restrained from the exercise of that office, they recog nised all the more the obligations resting upon them selves, to give themselves to work in the same line as his. How could they better show their love towards him than by so doing ! Such, then, were the good and loyal preachers of Christ, and they were the " most of the brethren." But there were others, — men who preached Christ " even of envy and strife," — who pro claimed Him " of faction " or partisanship, " not sincerely," nor out of pure love of the truth, but with a leaven of ill-feeling in their work — "thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds." Their animosity had an evil intention, but the intention failed in success. They thought to give him not only " trouble of spirit " (Alford), but also, as ver. 20 suggests, outward affliction — not arising from the ex asperation of the Eoman authorities, but rather from the "ill treatment at the hands of the Jews and Judaizing Christians" (Ellicott). These men were themselves a Judaizing party, and so were bitter opponents of the apostle. There is ample evidence, by inference at least, that 52 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. V. such a party did exist in Eome. Paul even seemed doubtful, when on his way to the city, of the recep tion which, owing to their influence, might be accorded him. Hence, at Appii Forum, and also at the Three Taverns, he " thanked God and took courage " when so many warm-hearted friends came out unexpectedly to meet him. That it was such a party of Judaizing Christians and not a distinctly Petrine party, as Eadie elaborately seeks to prove, and not " sound preaching by unsound men," as Vaughan, is fully established by Lightfoot (p. 16 ff). This virulent party, then, out of " envy and strife " sought to thwart Paul, and make his chains galling. But in vain. Even the evil inten tion of their hearts could not neutralize the good effect of their preaching of Christ. Imperfect as their gospel was as compared with "the simplicity that is in Christ," still it was a " proclaiming " of Christ, and in so far as it was such Paul rejoiced in it. " Their gospel was dwarfed and mutilated ; it ignored the principle of liberty which was a main feature of the true gospel ; but though their motives were thus unworthy, and their doctrine distorted, still Christ was preached ; and for this cause, smothering all personal feeling, the apostle constrained himself to rejoice" (Lightfoot). Now, in his Epistle to the Galatians this same party is vehemently and unsparingly denounced, and their teaching wholly rejected, by Paul. Why then does he rejoice in their work and preaching here ? The difference in the two cases is easily recognised and ex plained. He is not here comparing in his mind party with party, but Christianity with heathenism. Even an imperfect gospel was to him precious in view of the nameless corruptions of pagan Eome. Hence he welcomed it with all its faults of motive and of subject- LECT. V.] CHAP. I. VERS. 12-18. 53 matter. Wrong-headed and wrong-hearted as these preachers were, they did not speak lightly of Christ, though they gainsaid and disparaged Paul. Besides, their very pronounced hostility to himself saved him from being compromised by their errors, and he was assured that these errors would yet be exorcised by the power of the simple truth. Thus, while grieving over and denouncing all evil motives, as he does, he yet declares that nothing can keep him from rejoicing at the result. Whatever these opponents protested, what ever cloak they threw over their designs, he says : " What then ? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed ; and therein (that is, in the fact that He is proclaimed) I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." The same experience is seen still in mission -fields. All minor differences' of church organization or of creed dwindle down into nothingness, or at least into little ness, in the presence of the hideous corruption of the pagan world. So, too, is it, or ought it to be, in Christian lands in view of home -heathenism. While jealousy for the truth is a duty, and combating every form of error, and of wrong organization too, is never to be foregone, yet face to face, not with one another, but with the combined forces of Satan, Christians rejoice that in every way Christ is preached, though the work be done by irregular and untrained forces, or even through ignorant .and partially erroneous presenta tions of truth. Our Lord said to John and his fellow- disciples when they had forbidden one who in Christ's name cast out devils, and who yet did not company with them: "Forbid him not; for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My name that can lightly speak evil of Me." Learning then this lesson from 54 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. V. the Saviour's own lips, His people rejoice that, while ofttimes different sections of the Church may speak evil of one another, they yet do not speak evil of Him, and that even " out of envy and strife " the cause of love and of peace may, under the Divine overruling, advance to its triumph. LECTUEE VI. "Bono viro vivendum est, non quamdiu juvat, sed quamdiu oportet. . . . Ingentis animi est alienQ causa ad vitam reverti." — Seneca, Epist. 104. " Blot, ro xspdoz ixfiioyv xxff Y,f&Zpzv.'' Gregorius NaZIENZENL'S. "Non patienter moritur sed patienter uivit et delectabiliter moritur. " — Augustin. " Der Mensch lebt urn zu sterben, Der Christ stirbt um zu leben." Luthardt, Das Heil in Christo, p. 36. " For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your supplica tion 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. For to 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." — Phil. i. 19-24. " TT^OE I know that this shall turn unto my salvation." ¦*- There can be little doubt that the " for " links this clause on to the immediately preceding one. The apostle has declared that he will not cease to rejoice in the fact that there is a proclamation of Christ, however mixed and impure the motives which prompt that proclamation may be. He now gives a reason for this his persistency. He knows well — it is the con viction of his inmost soul — that this disinterested and unfeigned joy will issue in his salvation. The reference of " this " to the rejoicing mentioned immediately 56 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VI. before is, upon the whole, the most satisfactory view (vid. Eadie). We are not to water down the meaning of the word " salvation " here to any form of temporal deliverance, — any escape from his present bonds, or from his many enemies, or from his impending trial at the imperial judgment -seat. His personal joy could have no bearing upon these. Nor is his "salvation" to be twisted into signifying the salvation of others "through his fruitfulness for Christ." It is not even, directly at least, his own spiritual prosperity. The requirements of the context show that the whole passage is utterly enervated unless we assign to the word its usual and proper significance, viz. his full and final salvation. " Turn to my salvation," he says. The expression, it is interesting to notice, is an exact reproduction of Job xiii. 16 (LXX.), whether con sciously or unconsciously on the apostle's part it is impossible to say. The meaning of the whole passage is this : had Paul, instead of rejoicing, been envious, murmuring, rebelling when he perceived the proclama tion of Christ to be in unfriendly hands, he might well have doubted about his own spiritual state. But as in all sincerity he found that he. could actually rejoice therein, he felt that he had a new evidence of his pro gressing sanctification, and even a direct means, through this chastening of his spirit, whereby he would at last attain to his eternal reward. Having this disinterested joy, he could not fall short of his salvation. But now, as if fearing he had been looking too much to self, and that even this holy joy might readily change into its opposite, and suddenly appear as self-complacency, and so as self- destruction, he turns to others. His own inner life is bound up with their " supplication." Even his joy, which he regards as the means and manifestation of his LECT. VI.] CHAP. I. VERS. 19-24. 57 salvation, needs to be replenished and sustained by their loving intercessions on his behalf, because thereby " the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ " will be his. While he worked out his own salvation, while he ever recognised divine grace as needful thereto, he yet felt that others, his own converts and friends, were " also helping together by prayer for him" (2 Cor. i. 11). He valued this agency, for he had often felt its power. The longings of sympathetic hearts in prayer for him, he felt assured, would be answered in his own person for good. He would receive that without which no salvation can ever be realized, the supply, in abound ing, unstinting liberality (eV^o^-via?), of divine grace. " The supply of the Spirit," that is, most probably, the Spirit whom Jesus Christ gives. The Spirit is thus not the Giver, but the Gift here, and in so far as the Giver is alluded to at all, He is the second Person of the Trinity Himself. The Spirit proceedeth from the Son as well as from the Father — from the Son, who is now the risen and ascended Saviour, exalted, so that He may send forth His representative, His Paraclete, to His struggling Church on earth. The apostle conceives this supply as coming to him through the intercession of others. The language represents their petition and his reception as bound up inseparably together. He did not forget that it is not our own prayers alone for ourselves which avail, but also the prayers of others on our behalf ; the how we may not know, the fact we ' dare not doubt. " Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats, That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer, 58 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VI. Both for themselves and those who call them friend 1 For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." But in the analysis of this passage we have to notice the ebb and flow of the apostle's feeling. He had said, " I know ; " but now he almost retracts. He will at least modify his declaration. Hence the words, " according to my earnest expectation and hope." Knowledge is too strong. It savours, he would say, too much of self-sufficiency. The better attitude of the mind and heart regarding the soul's future prosperity is that of expectation blending with a living hope. But the word rendered " earnest expectation," found only here and in Eom. viii. 19, is in no way to be overlooked. It means " the waiting with the head raised, and the eye fixed on that point of the horizon from which the expected object is to come. What a plastic representation ! An artist might make a statue of Hope out of this Greek term." 1 Such is the apostle's impatient yet trustful outlook towards the expected future, " that in nothing shall I be put to shame " (not "in none of you," nor "in none of them" who pro claimed Christ Jesus in Eome, but far more naturally), " in no one thing," in no conceivable circumstances, in no respect could his portion be, as his enemies desired and expected, shame because of unfulfilled and ruined hopes. So far from anticipating that issue, he can say, " but that with all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." Freedom, frankness of speech, is here set over against shame. Indeed, to be abashed and to be bold are represented in Scripture as the final and eternal opposites at the judgment-day. For instance, 1 Godet on Eom. viii. 19. LECT. VI.] CHAP. I. VERS. 19-24. 59 we have, 1 Johnii. 28, " And now, little children, abide in Him ; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." At the judgment-seat, where man must " render account," to shrink from Him who is judge, " as a guilty thing surprised," is to fall short of salva tion ; while to have open, free, unreserved utterance in His presence is to attain to salvation. This is the thought that runs through the apostle's language here. It points forward for final and full salvation, yet in the foreground there is present to his mind the unknown issues of his approaching trial. His Master, even Jesus, whom he preached, and for whom he suffered, " shall be magnified in His servant's ' body,' " whether that body be yet preserved a little longer for the slow martyrdom of a faithful life, or for the quick and sharp martyrdom of a felon's death. Here is the true hero ; amid natural shrinkings of heart, his one determina tion, strengthened by his own faith and the prayers of others on his behalf, is to glorify his Lord, in service rendered in the body, if so it be appointed, — in suffering endured in the body, if so it is to be. He knows this at least, that the Lord, who in either issue is magnified, " is the Saviour of the body" (Eph. v. 23), and that therefore even it, " the worn-out fetter which the soul has broken and thrown away," will be, along with spirit and soul, " preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." And now we have the confirmation of all he has been declaring, in the short compressed announcement, the utterance of a consecration unparalleled in the whole experience of the Christian Church, " For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." We instinctively enter into the meaning of these noble words, and yet so soon 60 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VI. as we endeavour to expand or expound them, we feel how many-sided and exhaustive they are. Carrying on his reverie about himself, his present and his future, he says, " for me," whatever it may be with others, it is this with him, " To live is Christ." Following Cornelius a Lapide, we might say, Christ is the efficient cause', the originator and upholder of the believer's spiritual life. He is also the objective cause, the exemplar and pattern of that life. He is, last of all, the final cause of that life : — Love to Him and zeal for His honour inciting believers to undertake all toils and endure all sufferings, for that in reality is the essential life in a man which is the principle of all his vital movements. Or, to put it otherwise,1 " the whole concrete state of life is so lived in Him that it becomes a simple manifestation of His presence ; " or, once more, we may say with Ellicott, " Living consists only in union with and devotion to Christ ; the believer's whole being and activities are His." Such, then, is the new life, considered in its relations to earth and time. The next clause, " And to die is gain," sets that same life before us in its relation to that which is beyond earth and time. " To die " is literally " to have died." " It is not the act of dying which is gain to any man. Many unreal things have been written by the ignorant living as to the bliss of dying. It is not dying which is bliss, but the having died ; the having gone through that which is in itself all-humiliating and all-painful into the clear light and into the perfect peace beyond." So Vaughan,2 and rightly too. Yet may we not say that even in the very article of death, the loving touch of a benefactor being felt in it, there may be the exclamation of the 1 Dr. Berry in N. T. Com. for English Readers. 2 Lectures on Phil. p. 55. LECT. VI.] CHAP. I. VERS. 19-24. 6 1 soul " trembling, hoping, lingering, flying," " Oh the pain, the bliss of dying ! " — bliss overcoming pain, because there is then the end of toil, the beginning of rest, the end of sorrow, the beginning of joy, the end of the life that now is, the beginning of that life which knows no evening but lasteth evermore ? In a word, it is the having died that is "gain." But the apostolic reverie proceeds still further. Having so directly given the preference to death, the apostle almost recoils from his own declaration. In sentences broken by the very pressure of emotion — the brokenness none the less only heightening the rhetorical effect, if indeed it be per missible to speak of rhetoric at all where heart and not art alone holds sway — he exclaims : "But if to live in the flesh,— if this is the fruit of my work, then what I shall choose I wot not." The thought presses in upon his mind that he is in no sense warranted in contemplating, as he has just been doing, life and death simply as these may affect himself. To do so, indeed, is in effect to deny his own dictum, that " to live is Christ." He is a bond-slave of Christ. To serve Him, therefore, must be his all and in all. He is to have no thoughts other than those which concern the interests of His kingdom. Therefore, if to continue on earth is to be fruitful of service, if fruit in the salvation of others is to grow out of his prolonged life of apostolic usefulness, then, he savs, " I cannot tell " — I do not discern and I have no right to declare what I shall choose. He thus acknowledges that the decision does not lie with him at all. Thus it is that in broken and embarrassed, struggling yet glowing utterance, he declares his entire self-surrender to his Master's will. Yet the contrasts, the opposites, the magnifying of 6 2 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VI. Christ by his life on the one hand, and the personal gain which is to follow death on the other, come once more vividly before his view — " Between two worlds life hovers like a star, 'Twixt night and morn, upon the horizon's verge,'' and he exclaims : " But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ ; for it is very far better." " Desire ; " the word, by frequent use, seems to have acquired a certain kind of consecration to give expression to the yearning, the home - sickness, the life - long hunger in all martyr -hearts for heaven. It helped them to live in patience and to die in rejoicing. " Qui desiderat dissolvi, et esse cum Christo, patienter vixit, et delec- tabiliter moritur" (Augustin). "Desire to depart." Departure is, indeed, a common enough word for death. We use it every day. But we fail ofttimes to see the beautiful picture which it presents. It means (avaXvo-cu), literally, to break up. The metaphor is drawn from the breaking up of encampments. " The camp life of the Israelites in the wilderness, as com memorated by the annual feast of Tabernacles, was a ready and appropriate symbol of man's transitory life on earth ; while the land of promise, with its settled abodes, the land flowing with milk and honey, typified the eternal inheritance ofthe redeemed" (Heb. iv. 1 sq.). So Lightfoot. Or possibly better, with Vaughan and others, we may say the metaphor is taken " from the loosing of the cables which bind a vessel to the shore till the moment of its sailing : then the rope is untied or broken, and the ship weighs anchor. Paul's desire, the preference of his will, was in favour of starting at once on that brief voyage across the narrow sea of LECT. VI.] CHAP. I. VERS. 19-24. 63 death, which would bring him to the haven where he would be (Ps. cvii. 30), even into the everlasting pre sence of his loved Lord and Saviour." Either figure, however, or any other that lies enshrined in the word, suggests travelling, and death as the end thereof, the going home to the abiding city, the quiet haven of eternal rest, the being " with Christ." The contrast, therefore, is not between earth and heaven, but between service of Christ on earth and fellowship with Him in heaven. "With Christ" — we have the parallel in 1 Thess. iv. 17: "with the Lord." In that case, however, it is perfected communion with Him after the resurrection of the body ; here, on the other hand, it is before. The difference thus opens up to us the whole question, full of interest, yet beset with diffi culties, of the intermediate state. We cannot doubt, wdth such a declaration as this of Paul's, that even while waiting for the redemption of the body the spirits of just men made perfect are in the state of security and sinlessness and happiness which being " with Christ " implies. It is assuredly a state of more than fulness of rest, though it may be one of less than fulness of glory. It is, at least, a state of present bliss, which is a foretaste of perfected bliss in store. Our passage, taken along with 2 Cor. v. 6, " Whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord," sheds something of light on this otherwise dark theme. It sheds holiest dawn into " the gloomy caverns of the peopled tomb." " Departed believers are with Christ ; and if so, they are not unconscious ; for the unconscious are practically nowhere. Their nearness to Christ is such that compared with it their present spiritual union with Him is absence. And although they have not yet entered their eternal house and put on their 64 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VI. heavenly clothing, still in the presence of Christ they are at home. And their eternal intercourse with Christ (1 Thess. iv. 17) has begun."1 This, then, the apostle may well hold to be "very far better." The compara tive is intensified by a triple form, in a way .which has no New Testament parallel, as if to show us that the difference is one as between earth and heaven. But here again we have to note the alternation of feeling in the apostle's mind. He has been doing once more what he, as it were, has been correcting himself for doing at all, indicating something like a personal choice, when all decision lies in no way with him, but solely with his Lord. Hence he comes back to this : " Yet to abide in the flesh," in this lower life of toil, " is more needful for your sake." Whatever its trials and drawbacks, it has its necessity, and therein will he rejoice. His Master needs him in service for them, and he wTill joyfully tarry — "a vessel meet for the Master's use." He will not therefore pray that God would "shorten the race and lift him to the goal." He will rather in patience make his soul his own. We see in such a portraiture of consecrated zeal as this, fed as it is by a strong, a living faith, what a noble and blissful thing it is to be a Christian. Socrates in prison in Athens, as Paul was in Eome, unjustly accused, too, as he was, a good teacher further, accord ing to his light, though a despised and rejected one, was sustained by the consciousness that no crime had been his, by the thought, also, that his suffering and death were of God's will. But among his last words, before the hemlock bowl had done its work, was this saddest saying to his friends : " It is now time to depart : — for me to die — for you to live — but which of 1 Jos. Agar Beet on 2 Thess. iv. 6. LECT. VI.] CHAP. I. VERS. 19-24. 65 us is going to a better thing, is uncertain to every one except only to the Deity." 1 These words are not unlike those of Paul, but nothing of Paul's hope and assurance glows within them. All is gloomy uncer tainty, if not even despair. There is nothing said of gain, and where it is to be found. Let us then gather from this whole section what our privilege is, and what present duty is. It is to see that a holy longing to depart and be with Christ, and an equally holy willing ness to remain in the world, blend together in our spiritual experience. They are both sure marks of the new life — indeed, indispensable manifestations of it. We are not to permit this longing to be with Christ to die away amid the attractions of the world on the one hand, and we are not on the other to permit it so to dominate every thought that neglect of the duties of this world may ensue. Neither of these errors is to be ours. We have to remember that while the Chris tian loses nothing by death, but gains everything by being with Christ, yet he may have gains — spoils for his Lord — still to win, and that, therefore, it may be -more needful for him to remain yet a while with sinners. In a word, we must leave all issues in God's hands, and when, at the end of the day's work, we may desire to lay our burden down, we must do it in the spirit of Whitefield's dying prayer, " Lord, I am weary in Thy work, but I am not weary of it." That saintly weariness, and it alone, shall find rest. 1 Plat. Apol. ad fin. Vid. Hampden's Fathers of Greek Philosophy, p. 383. LECTUEE VII. "Omnis pugna unanimiter aggressa victoriam parit."— Anselm. "God's ways seem dark, but soon or late They touch the shining hills of day. The evil cannot brook delay ; The good can well afford to wait."— Whittiee. "ft is for faith to trace the hidden equities of divine reward, and catch sight, through the darkness, of the fateful threads of woven fire that connect error with retribution. " — Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies. 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 glory ing may abound in Christ Jesus in me, through my presence with you again. 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. 25-30. " A "^"^ having this confidence," that is to say, being -^*- assured of this, that " to abide in the flesh is more needful" for his Philippian friends, the apostle amid all his uncertainties and fears, amid all his waver ings as to what he would choose for himself, were choice permitted him, is certain at least of this, that they would profit by the continuance of his loving and watchful care, and therefore he is bold even to say, " I know." He thus gives utterance to the strong conviction which has taken possession of his mind, that it was yet to be his lot to tarry in this life of toil, and LECT. VII.] CHAP. I. VERS! 25-30. 67 more, to tarry, to abide even with them, — that they would "all" yet rejoice in his release and in his restoration to their fellowship. Of course this is not to be regarded as an express revelation granted to him as to the turn events were to take. He is simply putting strongly his firm personal and present con viction that there was work still to be done in Philippi, and the thought of this work, lying very near to his heart, gives rise to a firm confidence that he would yet be spared to do it. The outlook which his immediate surroundings in Eome presented was thus, after all, more cheerful than gloomy. This " I know " of the apostle has something like its parallel in that of Luther, when his friend and true yoke-fellow, Melanchthon, lay at the point of death. The reformer, it is said, after earnest prayer approached the sick-bed, and uttered these prophetic words, " Cheer up, Philip ; you are not going to die."1 Luther was in no sense prophesying, but he had been praying ; and in answer to his prayer the conviction was irresistibly borne in upon his mind and heart, that his colleague, for wThom so much work was waiting, would yet live to do it. What, then, of personal conviction Luther asserted about another, Paul here asserts about himself. We thus see that blended humility and trustfulness, more especially in strongly emotional natures, can dare sometimes to use the bold language of assured conviction even in regard to issues which are to us uncertain, for they are with God alone. But it is to be noticed that this language never can be used when merely personal or private ends are in view. When Paul said "I know" in this case, he was indeed alluding to his own future, but he was contemplating it in relation not to his own individual 1 " Seid getrost, Philipp ; ihr werdet nicht sterben.'' 68 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VII. interests, but solely to his friends' " progress and joy in the faith," — their advancement in the inner life through strengthening faith, and their joy, as over flowing out of that faith, in their outward life of Christian service. All this would be theirs by his presence restored to them for a time, more than by any letter, however tender, which he could write to them. This joy, the flowering out of faith as it is, he declares would show itself thus — "that your glorying may abound in Christ Jesus in me, through my presence with you again." " Glorying ; " — the word with its cognate verb is no uncommon one with Paul, even with him whose lowliness of heart led him to say, " Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ " (Eph. iii. 8). The element of evil, which usually lies in the word, is entirely eliminated in all right Christian use of it. We cease to associate any thought of imperfection or sin with the " matter of boasting " (for such is the full significance of the expression), when we find it linked on to what follows, " in Christ Jesus." It then becomes a holy thing. Abounding in such glorying can never be other than good, for it is the emptying of self. In this case it was Paul and his presence once more with the Philippians which was to be the occasion of this spiritual exultation ; but the occasion only, for the sphere in which it was to live and move and have its being, was alone to be Christ Jesus Himself. What ever blessing resulted from their restored intercourse, the glory thereof was all to be ascribed to Him who is Lord of all. Where such a spirit of glorying exists, there is no room for any other kind. All self-elation LECT. VII.] CHAP. I. VERS. 25-30. 69 or glorification in those who are merely agents in Christ's work is excluded. He is all and in all. In this spirit all faithful workers try to make Paul's exclamation their own — "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, aiid I unto the world." Such then — their joyful progress in faith — was the " fruit of his work " which the apostle sought in the Philippian Church, and for the ingathering of which he was willing for a season to abide in the flesh, and felt assured that he would so abide. Did he then find this strong conviction of his at length realized, or did his " I know " at length need to be corrected by " I have been mistaken'"? The answer to this question is, that there is very good reason to conclude that the apostle was set at liberty for a time, and that in this period of freedom he did make yet another visit to Macedonia (1 Tim. i. 3), embracing a residence in Philippi sufficiently prolonged to allow of his strengthen ing the brethren there. It is beyond the scope of lectures of this kind to discuss this somewhat diffi cult question. But this view is that most widely received. The apostle, in ver. 27, turns away from matters which might seem, at least, to be too closely relating to self. He would now turn to what is of paramount concern to his readers themselves as detached in thought from himself. " Only," he says — there is this one thing which he would press upon them, setting aside all others, or rather leaving them in God's hands, " let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ." All apostolic counsel is, as it were, summed up in this. " Manner of life " has in the Eevised Version very properly taken the place of the obsolete " conversation." It is not language 70 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VII. but life that is meant to be expressed; but even "manner of life " fails to bring out the figure distinctly, and so far it falls short of accurate rendering. The word (which is found only here and in Acts xxiii. 1, where it is simply rendered " I have lived ") means strictly, as in the marginal reading of the Eevised Version, "behave as citizens;" or, as Lightfoot, "perform your duties as citizens ; " or still better, as Ellicott, " lead your life of (Christian) citizenship." The apostle chooses this word with manifest design. He was himself in Eome, the metropolis of the world. He was writing to men who lived in Philippi, proud of its status as a Eoman colony, — a city in which he himself had once, amid outrages endured, asserted his Eoman citizenship, and found that there was a spell in the very name (Acts xvi. 12, 377 38). The apostle and his readers alike put a high, a just value upon their civil rights and privileges, and hence the use of the word has the design of lifting up the thoughts to a higher kingdom than that of Imperial Eome, the only true oupavoTToXt,?, the heaven-city of all Christian desire. It reminds believers that they are " fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God ;" that as such they stand related to one another both in privilege and in duty. Indeed, this is the distinction between " manner of life " or " citizenship " and the other ex pression, not unfrequently found, "walking." For instance, we have the close parallel in 1 Thess. ii. 12 : " That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory." Walking appears to portray the whole character and conduct of the Christian as an individual ; citizenship, on the other hand, describes that same character and conduct of the Christian regarded as a member of Christ's "holy LECT. VII.] CHAP. I. VERS. 25-30. 71 nation " — viewed in his relation to the whole con secrated company of which Christ Jesus is Lord and Head. There is therefore much implied in "manner of life " as thus explained — faithful allegiance to Him who is King, joyful obedience to His laws, affectionate interest in all His subjects, valiant fighting in His service, co-operation in all efforts for the prosperity and triumph of His cause. It is such a " manner of life" alone that can be "worthy of the gospel of Christ," — the gospel, that is, which relates to Him, and has to do with Him, and which, whenever it is accepted, brings men under His sway. Life spent thus worthily is a "walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and in creasing in the knowledge of God." It is indeed a life lived by those "of whom the world is not worthy;" but while they live it in the earthly " kingdom and patience," they hold fast their risen and glorified Saviour's own promise : " They shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy." Clothed in the " Bright rbbes Of shadowy silver or enshining light," wearing " the best robe," the robe of unsullied purity, they will then enjoy in the fulness of its bliss their "citizenship in heaven," even "the kingdom and glory." The apostle proceeds in effect to say, that it is after all a matter of small moment whether he come to see them or be absent, provided he has good tidings of their state. Whether the good news come direct from their own lips, or be brought to him by others, is a matter of minor importance : their progress in the divine life is everything. The structure of the sentence 72 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VII. hardly satisfies the demands of grammatical precision : "I may hear of your state." "Hear" properly fits only into the supposition of his absence. But " in these departures from strict accuracy of style, we have an interesting reminder of Paul's chained arm, as well as of his habitual use of an amanuensis in writing, whether from defective sight or other causes," 1 and thus we feel that in these his sufferings and frailties, stamped as they are upon his very words, he is all the nearer to us who read. Their state, literally, " all about them," he goes on to describe, as he desires and expects to hear ( of it or to see it. He exhorts them so to order their "manner of life" that he may learn first of all that they are united, — "that ye stand fast in one spirit." The idea of citizenship passes without any, great abruptness into that of warfare. Loyal citizCns, if need be, must also be soldiers. This thought is all the more natural and appropriate here, as Philippi, because,. it was a Eoman colony, was also a Eoman garrison. Believers, then, must so live, that in view of danger they shall maintain their stand. The Church of Christ is ever exposed to assault. Eesistance can only avail when the standing fast is " in one spirit " — not in the Divine Spirit, but in oneness of their own spiritual life, and so presenting a compact unbroken phalanx to the enemy. In religious experience, isolation of spirit is spiritual torpor, ending in death. Oneness of spirit, on the other hand, is spiritual activity and life to each and triumph to all. But the apostle passes from the idea of Christian stedfastness, combined power of resistance, to a second thought. He desires and hopes to learn that in their " manner of life " his friends will prove also to be aggressive, resolute in attack, " with 1 Vid. Vaughan's note. LECT. VII.] CHAP. I. VERS. 25-30. 73 one soul striving for the faith of the gospel." Soul is here the living principle, the seat of the personality — the intellect, the affections, and the will.1 Thus the word is distinguished from "spirit." With all enthu siasm of heart, therefore, and energy of mind, they are together to strive, not along with the faith, as if it were personified as fighting (so Lightfoot and Vaughan), but for it, on its behalf, — the faith revealed in the gospel and held fast in their hearts is what is worth fighting for by them all in one united band. They are not depicted here as athletes in the amphitheatre, but rather as warriors on the field ; and therefore their striving is to be a combined effort. Otherwise the words of Tacitus descriptive of the struggles of the ancient Britons with the legions of Eome would receive a new illustration in them — fighting separately, they would be conquered collectively.2 But the picture of a consecrated life is not yet complete. Paul exhorts his friends so to live that, in addition to being united and resolute, they may be undismayed. He adds, " And in nothing affrighted by the adversaries." Who were these adversaries, appearing now for the first time in the foreground of the Epistle ? We do not accurately know. We are only sure of this, that, like all the other Churches of the first days, that of Philippi was "beset with leaguer of stern foes." We may, however, conclude from the comparison in ver. 30, made between their trials and those of the apostle himself at Philippi, that it was some outbreak of popular hostility, and therefore chiefly persecution from the Gentiles. Jewish zealots, regarding Christians not unnaturally as their worst enemies, robbers who had stolen from them 1 Vid. on 1 Thess. v. 23. 2 " Ita singuli pugnant universi vincuntur.'' 74 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VII. the glory of their religion, ofttimes wandered from city to city, impelled by implacable hatred, for the sole purpose of rousing heathenism against the Church, — heathenism, which otherwise, for a time at least, might possibly have remained apathetic. The adversaries we may regard, therefore, as Jews and Gentiles combined. Well might the little band of Christians be terrified in the presence of such malignity. But they were to be " in nothing affrighted." The rendering of the Eevised Version is very happily chosen. The word is used of horses shying in view of any unusual or unexpected object. Believers are apt to be so scared ; but then it is implied in the word used that a sudden fright or panic may after all arise from trifling cause. It is that which need not disturb. Whatever it is that causes the alarm it is seen to be powerless, even to vanish whenever it is boldly approached. All such trials to God's people are like the lions in the narrow path leading to the Palace Beautiful of Bunyan's allegory. They were chained as the Pilgrim espied them, but he knew it not. They have therefore only to be courageously approached, and then the voice of Watchful is heard, "Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none. Keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee." But still keeping these " adversaries " in view, the apostle says "which," namely, your freedom from fright, " is for them an evident token of perdition." It is so in this sense, that the trustful boldness of the persecuted is a manifestation of the guilt of the perse cutors ; it is a demonstration of their utterly failing in all their evil efforts, and a forecasting, a sign of the LECT. .VII.] CHAP. I. VERS. 25-30. 75 final retribution awaiting them. There is evidence in the failure of their plans that they themselves shall be destroyed. " Perdition " 1 is entire destruction, ruin of soul, as contrasted with what is set forth in the next clause, "but of your salvation, and that from God." That which is an evident token of perdition to God's foes, is declared to be an evident token of salvation to God's friends. The boldness in time of trial which they by His grace exhibit here — their "patient hope and dumb humility " — is proof that theirs shall be boldness in the day of judgment hereafter, that they will at last "receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls" (1 Pet. i. 9). Such a token, with all the patience and peace which it brings, is God's own gift to His troubled and struggling saints. Cornelius a Lapide's comment on this clause is good, though somewhat inaccurate in exegesis : " Persecutio haec Gentium ipsosmet perdet, et ducet in Gehennam, vos autem ducet ad salutem et gloriam ; ad eam hac via dirigente vos ac ducente Deo." The meaning becomes clear in the light of a very striking parallel passage in 2 Thess. i. 4-7.2 Both in thought and in expression the two passages throw light on one another. In amplification and explanation of what he has said, the apostle adds, "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." Another disturbed con struction. Men do not strictly believe on behalf of Christ. They believe on Him. It is the suffering, not the belief, which they endure on His behalf. But indeed these peculiarities of style are the peculiarities of the man himself; and it may be said of Paul's 1 " Ostentatio interitus," as Ambrose puts it. 2 Vid. the author's lectures thereon. 76 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VII. letters, as it was of the first Napoleon's despatches, that while they exhibit what might be called even distinct blunders of form, the corrections attempted invariably only mar the vigour of the thought. So it is here. Paul says that to suffer for Christ's sake is a mark of divine favour ; but in the act of saying this he remembers a yet earlier mark of that favour, namely, to believe on Him, and he interjects this, even at the risk of interrupting the flow of his expression. The ruggedness of the language thus gives life and energy to the thought. And this thought has in all ages been the stay of God's suffering saints. The sword of James the Great, the fuller's club of James the Less, the lance of Thomas, the cross of Peter, these instruments of suffering, Church- symbolism has for ever associated , with these martyrs' names as the noblest badges of their heavenly citizenship. And so, too, in our own time, to take only one illustration, the apostolic William Burns of China, when once, as he preached in Montreal, he was furiously assailed by the Eomanist mob, and wounded, could say to his sympathizing friends : " Never mind, it's only a few scars in the Master's service. ' I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.' " Such honour have God's saints. To them is this grace given, having believed, to suffer for His sake. Paul adds, ver. 30, " Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me," — yet another clause expository of the suffering he has referred to. The construction is confused again, as if overmastering emotion refused to be bound. But the sense is clear. He alludes, as he does also in 1 Thess. ii. 2, to the indignities of the treatment he had received himself in Philippi (Acts xvi. 19 ff). His readers themselves LECT. VII .] CHAP. I. VERS. 25-30. 77 knew well about it. He alludes also to what they had learned from Epaphroditus of the similar treatment accorded him in Eome. Flesh and blood rebelled against such trials. He well calls them " a conflict," what in Heb. x. 32 is called "a great fight of afflictions" (E.V. "a great conflict of sufferings"). But he speaks of them here simply that he may comfort and strengthen them. He would remind them again 1 that he and they are now " companions in tribulation, and in the king dom and patience of Jesus Christ" (Eev. i. 9). He has been calling them already citizens of that kingdom, and he would now remind them that its badge is patience. They, it is true, were not, like him, in actual bonds ; yet none the less in their suffering they could be figuratively spoken of as " being bound in fetters, and holden in cords of affliction" (Job xxxvi. 8). Hence the tenderest yearning of his heart goes out towards them, and the word "conflict" (ayava) he means to be a word of cheer to them, for it speaks of the wreath of victory to be theirs at last. St. Gregory of Nazianzus has well said, " The conflict which brings thee near to God is better than the peace which separates thee from Him." 1 Vid. on ver. 7, pp. 27, 28. LECTUEE VIII. "Concordia uictoriam, discordia exitium proebuit."— Quoted in Cornelius a Lapide. "Viget (gloria caritatis) sed adhuc in hieme: viget radix sed quasi aridi sunt rami. Intus est medulla quae viget, intus sunt folia arborum, intus fructus ; sed cestatem expectant." — Augustin. "Non idea libertas succubuit, quia humilitas semetipsam libere prostravit." — Ambrosius Autpertus in Monta- lembeht's Monks of West, i. 33. " 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. TT is often somewhat difficult to discern the exact -*- connection in which the several clauses stand to one another, as the apostle passes, with what has been called the tautology of earnestness, from one thought to another. The difficulty lies chiefly in this, that his thought is tinged with emotion, and to a certain extent disordered by it. Hence we find that such particles as " therefore," " that," " because," and many others, are links not so much in the actual language employed, as in the feeling which the language is struggling to portray. We have an illustration of this here. " If there is therefore," he says. The " therefore " carries us back to the foregoing, but only in a somewhat loose and general way. If, however, we seek to fix it down with precision, we may perhaps explain it thus ; seeino- LECT. VIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 1-4. 79 that you have so much in common with myself, that we are so closely associated together in the privileges of faith on our Lord, and also in the sufferings which that faith occasions, I beseech you. The appeal is made with all the passionate yearning of his heart — and it is an appeal for concord. He desires to have complete joy in learning of their complete unanimity — agreement in mind and heart. He had good cause for making this appeal. He had fears that a spirit of faction and dis- peace was not altogether unknown, even in so faithful a Church as that of Philippi ; and he well knew, as Calvin with a side glance at his own troubled experi ences has here put it, that there is always in discord an open door for Satan's assaults, and that it is only in concord that the true guard for the repulse of these is to be found. Hence the urgency of the appeal. It is like a trumpet-call to arms, but it is a call in the interest of peace. The call is broken up into four parts, each of which is a statement of motive. These are not, however, to be regarded as entirely distinct. They rather blend naturally into one other, each one as it is presented giving warmth and energy to what has gone before. The first is, " If there is any comfort in Christ." This almost peculiarly Pauline word needs definition. It means exhortation, with the implied purpose of establishing and strengthening. It therefore sometimes passes over into the sense of simple consola tion. Here it possibly occupies a middle position, representing persuasion, or, better still, encouragement — the putting of spirit or heart into a man. If, then, there be such a treasure of heartening stored up in Christ and His gospel, and available for His people ; if He, in this sense, is the " consolation of Israel," for whom the saints of old waited, and in whom all saints 80 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VIII. in the new dispensation rejoice, then, the apostle says, " fulfil ye my joy." The next motive is thus stated, " if any consolation of love," — that is to say, if this encouragement is that not only of admonition, but also of loving sympathy, the mutual comfort of men "whose loves in higher love endure " — the bracing of the heart through the consolation which alone love can impart'. This naturally merges into the presentation of the third motive or appeal, " if any fellowship of the spirit, any communion of saints, any spiritual form of brotherhood, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in each renewed heart, any oneness, amid varied tastes and work and surroundings and earthly destinies, in their higher sympathies and aims and hopes ; still more, if there are in a word, the apostle goes on to say, ' any tender mercies and compassions' whatever, any overmastering of warm emotions, and any outcome of these in loving ministrations — the plural form suggests the many varied channels into which the tender compassion of a believer's heart may flow and shape itself. If all these exist in the Church of Christ, and it is implied that they of necessity do exist there. The 'if is in effect equal to ' since,' as, for instance, we might say, ' If you be children, honour then your father,' which is the same as if we were to say, ' Since you are children, honour then your father ' " (Daille). Thus we see the apostle, in the rushing rhetoric which cannot linger calmly to separate and define, pleading with his friends in their own character and conduct to fulfil his joy. He had satisfaction and joy in them all along (i. 4, iv. 1); but with the delicacy of expression, which comes naturally even in this torrent of earnestness to his pen, because it is the language of the heart, he asks them to fulfil it, to complete it to overflowing. The LECT. VIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 1-4. 81 whole passage may be thus expounded : if they know experimentally, as indeed they do, "the comfort in Christ," he entreats them to make that comfort to abound to him in his own silent meditations ; if they know, as they do know, the "consolation of love," he entreats them to increase that consolation to him in his loneliness of heart ; if they realize, as they do, the communion of saints in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, he beseeches them to cause him, who regarded himself as the least of all saints, more largely to participate in its blessedness. If, in a word, they know, as they do, what it is to have "put on bowels of mercies" (Col. iii. 12, E.V., "a heart of compassion), let them pity him who even now, as he adjures them, is suffering the loss of all things, and is a Eoman prisoner in chains. The consciousness, on his part, of such a communion of their spirits with his, would render his joy in their Christian advancement exuberant and full. It would be a joy exulting in this, that (iva) his friends are "of the same mind," or "that so ye be like-minded " (Ellicott), " thinking of the same thing." This clause is the general statement which is expounded by the three more specific clauses which follow. It describes agreement in all matters which might come before them as believers. "Not in trade, politics, or the common concerns of life, indeed, but in all things on which, as members of the Church, they might be expected to form a judgment, they were to think the same thing, or to come to a unanimous decision" (Eadie). This can only be, however, when the suc ceeding clause is a reality, — "having the same love." Brotherhood in opinion, that is to say, can exist rightly only when it exists in the sphere of brotherly love, or rather love to Christ Jesus, and in Him to one 82 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VIII. another. No real sameness of sentiment can be looked for except in this "gemina caritas," as the old Latin hymnology has it, that twin love by which the Saviour is loved for Himself, and our brethren in Him and for His sake. "Being of one accord," exhibiting entire harmony of -feeling, community of life in mutual con sideration and esteem; and now the last of the four clauses turns back upon the first and intensifies it, — " of one mind," — not as to the one thing needful, as it has sometimes been explained, but in all things having the one common centre around which all their thoughts and feelings are to revolve. Thus it is that in all the different lights in which language can show it, Christian fellowship in union of hearts rises up before us. In its highest manifestation it is the realization of the old heathen definition of friendship — one soul in many bodies. It is finding satisfaction in each other's sympathy, bearing each other's burdens, sharing each other's joys, interchanging of sentiments and good offices with one another for the Saviour's sake. We are thus led to the practical manifestation of this ideal Christian concord. "Doing nothing through faction or through vainglory." Doing ; there is no word corresponding with this in the original. It seems indeed purposely omitted, so as to include devising (povovvre<; of the previous clause) and doing alike. The apostle apparently reverts in thought to what he had already said (ch. i. 15, 16) about the factious preachers of Christ in Eome, who, in their bitter unfriendliness towards himself, sought, by their very proclamation of Christ, to add affliction to his bonds, and he warns his Philippian friends against such unholy service. He urges them in no case to act in a spirit of such contentious partisanship. Their work, even when LECT. VIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 1-4. 83 good in itself, would become evil, and only evil to themselves, if the motive prompting it were the desire to exalt party rather than truth. Eancour and rivalry can never be called in as allies in fighting the battles of the truth. As Ignatius, in writing in later days to another Christian Church — that of Philadelphia — has said, " Where there is division and anger, there God abideth not. ... I entreat you, do ye nothing in the spirit of factiousness, but after the teaching of Christ." ' But this is not all. Even in cases where the motive is not the exaltation of party, it may be the yet meaner motive — the exaltation of self ; what is here called "vainglory," or, more literally, empty conceit, the spirit of vanity which Spenser has thus described, — " Vainglorious man, when fluttering wind does blow In his light wings,- is lifted up to sky." A partisan may haA'e some element, though degraded, of nobility in his nature, but the vain man cannot. His very nature is emptiness, as Bacon (JEssays) puts it, " Vain glorious men are the scorn of wise men, the admiration of fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of their own vaunts." Both these therefore, faction and vain glory, are alien to the Christian grace of humility. It is this grace alone, because its essence is a looking away from self, that can yield acceptable service to the Lord. Hence the apostle adds, " but in lowliness of mind, each counting; the other better than himself." Chris- tianity has lent a new dignity to this word " humility."2 It is now not meanness, but true nobility. It depicts pre-eminently Paul's own character : he could say of 1 Ignat. Ep. ad Philad. viii., Lightfoot's ed. 2 Vid. Trench, N. T. Synon. § 42. 84 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VIII. himself, " Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more." It sets before us a greater than Paul. Our Lord Himself has said, " I am meek and lowly in heart ;" and He has said to His followers, " Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister ; and who soever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Thus it is that, " in honour preferring one another," all Christ's people are to " be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility ;" or, as we have it described in our present passage, " not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others." In a word, the directions of all the clauses gather themselves up into one, a caution against selfishness, that sin which is the root-sin of all. But what, we have to ask, are we to understand by a man's "own things" and by "the things of others"? Some hold that the meaning is, each man's own virtues and excellences, and that believers are not to be thinking so much of these as of the good qualities of others. Thus, " Do not ye so much bend your eyes upon your own good parts, admiring them, and priding yourselves in them, as upon the more excellent graces of other men."1 But this view cannot stand. It does not agree with what follows. It cannot harmonize with the example of Christ Jesus, which is immediately afterwards set forth. The mind that was in Him was not a disregard of His own unspotted excellence and a regard of the excel lences of the children of men. This could not be. His unapproachable meekness could never assume such form. Others again hold that the reference is solely to spiritual 1 Bishop Hall's Hard Texts. LECT. VIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 1.-4. 85 things, and that the injunction is not to seek, each man, his own spiritual advancement, to the neglect of, or at the expense of, that of his neighbours. This view is open to the same objection as are the others. Besides, it is in every way too restrictive. The precept is quite general. A man's things are, in the widest sense of the expression, his own affairs, both temporal and spiritual, and the looking on these is simply the seek ing of his own exclusive interest or benefit, whether for time or for eternity. Again, the precept is not absolute in its reference. We cannot for a moment conclude that looking at one's own things is entirely forbidden. The " also " in the second part of the clause modifies what is said in the first. It means, " but every man also, that is, as on his own things, so in the same way and to the same degree on the things of others." The love of self, that is, the true love of our true self, is not forbidden. It is expressly enjoined. It is the very rule or measure of the love we are to cherish towards others. " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." There is much implied in such a command as this. First of all, there is implied the spirit of Christian courtesy in dealing with the feelings of others. This may be regarded as the lowest, the lightest form of obedience to ;the precept. None the less, so far from being over looked, it needs to be emphasized. Courtesy, " a com bination of tact and sympathy," as it has been well defined,1 is the outgoing of the heart in kindliness towards others, and such a delicacy of mind as leads to doing the right thing in the right way. The apostle gives us the noblest portrayal of this grace, for in reality it is a Christian grace, in 1 Cor. xiii., and he gave the noblest embodiment of it in his own conduct. 1 Howson's Lectures on the Character of St. Paul, p. 79. 86 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VIII. Jowett quotes well the saying that Paul was " the finest gentleman that ever lived." * And Stanley adds that he is the first example in detail of what we mean by a gentleman. And Newman2 expresses his view thus : " There is not any one of those refinements and delicacies of feeling which are the result of advanced civilisation, not any of those proprieties and embellish ments of conduct in which the cultivated intellect delights, but he is a pattern of it, in the midst of that assemblage of other supernatural excellences which is the common endowment of apostles and saints." But in this command there is also implied a spirit of kindly consideration for the. true welfare of others. This, though not separated in thought from the idea of Christian courtesy, is a further development of it. Each one, feeling all his brethren to be, as it were, existing in himself, is enjoined ever to find his own things, not apart from, but in the things of others. Thus in a world of suffering the religion of Christ Jesus, exemplified in this way, proves its adaptation to human needs. In its progress among mankind it smooths the ruffled face of care, binds up the bleeding heart, and will at length lighten up the earth by the diffusion of a universal brotherhood. There is yet one other aspect in which this command is to be obeyed. It implies a tender regard for the consciences of others. There is perhaps no point in the whole range of Paul's Epistles more frequently and earnestly touched upon than this, the scrupulous consideration that should ever be given by each one to the conscientious views of others with whom he may come in contact. Candour in contro versy, when it is needful to engage in it, forbearance 1 On Rom. vol. i. p. 300. 2 Quoted by Howson, Lectures on the Character of St. Paul, p. 78. LECT. VIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 1-4. 87 even with error, and true sympathy with honest doubt in others when we meet it — these are evidences that the meaning of this saying is understood, " Even as I please men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." Apart from the guidance of the Spirit, it is empha tically true that " all men seek their own."- Selfishness is the cherished enemy of every soul. It has its thousand subtle snares. While all men hate it when they think of it in the abstract, or when they see it stamped too plainly in the character and conduct of others, they are in danger all the time of overlooking it entirely in themselves. Thus the command needs all the reiteration that the apostle here gives it, " Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." But coming back to the earlier part of this section, we are reminded that Paul is pleading that his joy in the Philippians may be made full by his assurance that they are all abiding in concord. It is as if he had said, " Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ; " and he has shown that in order thereto two things are necessary, humility and unselfishness. These have been well called " the two nursing mothers of concord " (Daille). Herein is a lesson to all times, and to all the sections of the Church, in " this ever-changing world of circum stance." Avoiding faction and self-elation, in lowliness of mind and in brotherly regard, while contending for the truth, Christ's people are to be animated with a common love and joy and hope, being all heirs of the common salvation. Thus even amid the jarrings and clashings of conflicting views and interests, believers, to use the figure of Ignatius (Ep. ad Eph.), are to be as 88 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. VIII. the many-stringed lyre, touched by the Master's hand, at once divine and human, and thus in different notes, but yet with perfect concord, yielding the melody of praise to God. The King of the Lacedaemonians being once asked why it was that Sparta was not surrounded by walls, is said to have pointed to the citizens, all filled with one and the same enthusiasm, — one united band, — and to have answered, " These are the walls of the Spartan State. With these, thus separate and yet one, all enemies can be repelled." So is it with the city of God, Christ's own Church. Its citizens, when they are of one mind and heart, are its unassailable bulwarks. The gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Thus, when warfare is over and victory is won, in the city of Peace, where no bulwarks can ever be needed, those who have over come will join in " The undisturbed song of pure consent, Aye sung before the sapphire-coloured throne.'' LECTUEE IX. " Deus ; quid gloriosius ? Caro ; quid vilius 1 Deus in carne ; quid mirabilius ? " Augustin. " Du fragst, was Demuth sei ? Ich sag', sich selbst vergessen. Das magst du nicht: du willst dieh gerne messen,— Wohlan, so miss dich recht an Finem, Und du wirst alles andre Messen Gar bald vergessen." Tholuck, Stunden der Andacht. 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." — Phil. ii. 5-8. PT^HEBE can be no true concord unless there be -¦- unselfishness and humility, and the noblest, the supreme embodiment and illustration of these graces are to be found in Christ Jesus. The apostle therefore enforces his exhortation by directing his readers at once to Him — " Have this mind," this dis position, this manner of thinking and acting, " which was also in Him." The " also " enforces the identity of disposition. The very same mind which He had should also be theirs. We are thus confronted with the great outstanding doctrinal passage of this Epistle, the completest and most formal statement in Pauline literature regarding our Lord's humiliation. And we almost feel that we are confronted with it suddenly and abruptly. But it is quite in accordance with the apostle's method, that we find him, in the midst of 90 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IX. exposition of Christian duty, thus turning aside to- the statement of central Christian doctrine. He feels that every duty, of whatever complexion it is, is rightly viewed only when it is set in the light of the Saviour's person and work. For instance, the duty of caring for the poor is thus enforced : " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich ; " and the duty of bearing in a spirit of self-sacrifice the infirmities of the weak, thus : " Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not Himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on Me." What was Paul's practice was also that of Peter and John (e.g. 1 Pet. ii. 21-23, and iv. 1 ; and 1 John ii. 6). Indeed, it must be the practice of all Christian teachers ; for in this they but follow their Master's own example. He too confirmed His teaching of duty by pointing to Himself — " Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me ; for I am meek and lowly of heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls." The passage is one of no ordinary difficulty. The controversies of the ages have gathered around it. Years would probably not suffice to master its whole literature. Almost every word in these verses has been a battlefield of contention. A sense of con fusion therefore may well settle down upon the mind in trying to study this theme ; and yet the more we do study it, the sense of its grandeur grows the more overmastering. It is the theme of all Scripture. Its teaching is the meeting-point of all humble, believing hearts. Yet the exposition of it cannot but be feeble, when what is to be expounded " makes breath poor LECT. IX.] CHAP. II. VERS. 5-8. 91 and speech unable," — transcends, in a word, all mortal thought. We must content ourselves with the simple endeavour to bring out the meaning of the words into clearer light. In the choice of the terms employed, we see how the apostle wrote, as it were, with the point of a diamond. As Farrar1 well puts it, "The chief truths of the profoundest Christology could not have been expressed more grandly, and at the same time more tersely, than in this swift outline of Christ's passage downwards, step by step, from the infinite heights into the uttermost abyss of self-humiliation, and then His re-ascent upwards into the super-exalta tion of unimaginable dominion." Or we might use the words of Daille, the worthy French Eeformed theo logian of the seventeenth century : " The meaning is so noble and so well-established that nothing more powerful could be imagined ; the apostle battering down in these few words all that hell has ever invented against this sacred and inviolable foundation of our faith." Or, going back much farther in the literature of the Church, it is worthy of notice how, in the two very striking sermons of Chrysostom, this passage in its several clauses is used as a weapon by which all the varied heresies of his time are broken to shivers. We have, however, to remember throughout our exposition that the apostle is in no sense purposely formulating the doctrine of our Lord's divinity and humanity, and atoning work and mediatorial glory and dominion. All this, indeed, is done ; yet the one direct and immediate aim is simply to enforce and illustrate the preceding words, " Not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the 1 Messages ofthe Booh, p. 299. 92 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IX. things of others." It is simply as the supreme enforce ment of this Christian duty that the awfully profound and mysterious truths herein taught about Christ Jesus are to be contemplated. " Who," that is, He whom we now adore alike as the eternal Son of the eternal Father, and as Jesus Christ, the Son of man. But the necessities of the context make the reference to Him as in the bosom of the Father before His incarnation. "Being in the form of God" — the word "being" is emphatic. It means " subsisting," " being to begin with " (Webster and Wilkinson), or, as in the margin of the Eevised Version, " being originally." It lays stress upon the reality of His existence, not neces sarily, however, upon eternal pre-existence, though this indeed is involved in the clause taken as a whole. He is described then as thus existing " in the form of God." The word is striking in such a connection as this. It certainly does not mean " fashion " or " mere semblance," on the one hand, nor does it mean exactly " nature, essence," on the other. It rather shades off into both meanings. It represents actual specific character — that which manifests the essential nature. Of course this word, as applied to our Lord, implies His possession of the divine attributes, for, as Chry sostom says, "It is not possible to be of one essence, and to have the form of another ; " and besides, it is placed in apposition to " the form of a servant," and as this latter means assuredly true condition, so must the former. Our passage, then, is in reality identical with the unapproachably grand yet simple opening words of the prologue to the Fourth Gospel : " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beoin- ning with God. ' The choice of the word " form " is yet LECT. IX.] CHAP. II. VERS. 5-8. 93 further significant. It directs our thoughts specially, not to the divine nature itself, but rather to the infinite majesty and glory pertaining to it. This is put by none so well as by Daille : " To be in the form of God signifies not only to be King, to possess majesty and power, but also to have the insignia of royalty, its courtly train and equipage. . . . Thus formerly arnong the Eomans we might call the form of a consul, the equipage and pomp with which the laws and customs of that people invested those who exercised the office ; the purple, the ivory chair, the twelve lictors with their fasces and rods, and such-like. When, then, the apostle here says that the Lord, before taking our nature upon Him, was in the form of God, he does not merely intend that He was God in Himself, and that He had the true nature of the divinity ; but, further still, that He possessed the glory, and enjoyed all the dignity, majesty, and grandeur due to so high a name. This is precisely what our Lord means in St. John by the glory which He says He had with the Father before the world was." It was this alone that in His humiliation He renounced. He could not empty Himself of His essential perfections, for, in deed, one of these perfections is unchangeableness itself. Holding fast, then, by this view, we advance with some sure guidance to the next clause : " counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God." " On an equality with God " is a happy rendering. It is to be His equal in state, in glory, just as He is His equal in essence ("o-a 6eq>, io-o<; 8e). This, then, " He counted not to be a prize ; " that is, a thing to be grasped, and grasped so as to retain for Himself. This, notwithstanding all that is claimed for the gram matical form of the word apirayfj.6?, commends itself 94 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IX. as upon the whole the most natural rendering. The divine state He, in the act of His loving resolve for man's salvation, did not regard as a thing to be tenaciously held fast. " He set no store on that equality, as a glory to Himself, compared with the power of giving salvation to men " (Barry). Co- eternity, co-equality, consubstantiality with God — these were His of right. The glory of these it was no arro gance in Him to claim,1 but, so far from doing so, " He emptied Himself." This rendering, as opposed to the Authorized Version, " thought it not robbery to be equal with God," is now generally accepted. The several minor shades of meaning need hardly be described, — " emptied Himself," divested Himself of that which is His own, — relinquished, renounced the glory of the Godhead. This same apostle, from another point of view, declares (Col. ii. 9) : " In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." This "fulness" of His may be here set over against His emptying Him self. There is infinite, unfathomable mystery in both. Yet with the heart His people hold fast this truth. It is clothed in the language of earth, because no other can even in part be understood. Jesus Christ, " though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich." That declaration is the summed sweetness of the Gospel of peace. This self-emptying is more specifically described in the participial clauses following. " Taking the form of a servant," or rather " bond-servant," is the first. He laid aside " the form of God," and in doing so assumed " the form of a bondsman." As true divinity is implied in the use of the one word " form," so is 1 " Rapina hsec est arrogantia, vel arrogantise effectus ; rapere enim alterius gloriam est eam sibi arrogare," Cornelius a Lapide. LECT. IX.] CHAP. II. VERS.. 5- 8. 95 true humanity in the use of the other. A servant ! the condition of creatureship which He took is in its very nature a condition of servitude towards God. Hence we find our Lord declaring, " I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me ; " but it was also, though it is not directly implied in the clause, a condition of servitude towards men whose kinship He deigned to claim. Hence we hear Him in the circle of His disciples saying, " I am among you as he that serveth." The idea, however, is that of subjection generally. In addition to human life, He chose that path in it which in its every stage was a " via dolorosa." But what new aspect of this great mystery of godliness does the next clause present, " being made in the likeness of men " ? It is no mere repetition, though at first sight it may seem so. Nor is it in any sense a toning down or refining away of the doctrine of our Lord's true humanity. The truth of His humanity is formulated in the words, " Form of a servant ; " but then it is added, " in the likeness of men,'' in order that this, His true humanity, might be marked out as distinct from that of all other men, — first of all, in its sinlessness ; compare Eom. viii. 3 : "In the likeness of sinful flesh ; " and secondly, in its being inseparably allied with divinity. He is one of " men," yet at the same time more than all men,- — " Son of man," but also " Son of God." All the interests of right doctrine regarding the person of Christ are thus carefully guarded by the choice of the words so carefully employed. And now we are led to fall back upon the earlier parts of the passage. Bearing in mind the significance of the phrase, " the form of God," we learn that the Godhead in Christ Jesus was not changed into His humanity nor confused with it, and 96 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IX. yet it was one with it. While He laid aside the manifested glory of the Godhead, its essence, which separates Him from all-creature life, was His still and is His for evermore. To turn to the representation of this mystery given by another apostle, we read of "the Word made flesh." That veil of flesh was, as it were, the veil of cloud in which the divine glory was hidden, yet gleams of it none the less, ever and anon, burst forth in His earthly ministry. In His miracles He " manifested forth His glory." His three chosen followers on the Mount of Transfiguration beheld Him all glowing with a radiance that was not of earth — the very body of His flesh made luminous with the glory which had made it its abiding-place. It burst forth further in His resurrection and ascension, but most of all in His life of spotless purity and in His teaching of divine love and truth. Thus, then, we see that "in the form of a servant and in the like ness of men," while He emptied Himself, yet " His glory shone through His tabernacle, as the glow of lamps at night makes a tent in the desert or in a military encampment luminous in the surrounding darkness." x Eesuming the solemn theme, as if he were recalling himself, after being lost in wondering and adoring contemplation over the words which he had been guided to utter to his amanuensis, — turning from such a reverie as this into which we may well con ceive him to have fallen, the apostle says, " And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Him self." His entrance into our world by His incarnation is the first stage in the descent. His self-abasement in the world is the second. " Being found " is 1 Macdonald, Life and Writings of St. John, On John's Gospel, i. 14. LECT. IX.] CHAP. II. VERS. 5-8. 97 probably a Hebrew idiom. It means, being mani fested, presented to the view of men and angels, and so recognised as a man. The word " fashion " is a variation in phraseology from " likeness," but it is little of a variation in meaning. It speaks chiefly, because it refers to His earthly ministry, of " outward form, demeanour, manner of life " (Ellicott). Thus, then, He " humbled " Himself. We are now for the first time in the whole passage directly reminded of the purpose it has in view, viz. the inculcation of humility on all who bear the Saviour's name. This self-humiliation of His is evinced in His obedience. " Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered " (Heb. v. 8). That life of obedience to God led up to. obedience "even unto death," — " that final sign of sad humanity." Nor is this all ; it was " the death of the cross." That death was one of exceptional ignominy and shame. It was that adjudged to a criminal slave. It had stamped upon it the curse of the Mosaic law, and in the eye of the Gentiles it was invested with every attribute of horror. But our Lord's obedience was shown in His " despising the shame." Paul doubtless remembered that Eome in her better days would have none of that punishment, and, even when she latterly adopted it from the more cruel practices of the East, with " proud discrimination " she decreed it only for the alien and the enslaved. Lightfoot well reminds us that " the con trast of his own position must have deepened St. Paul's sense of his Master's humiliation. As a Eoman citizen he could under no circumstances suffer such degrada tion ; and accordingly, if we may accept the tradition, while St. Peter died on the cross, he himself was executed by the sword." It is in such light, and in 98 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IX. the light of Scripture-teaching regarding sin, that with the eye of faith we are invited to gaze on " That pale form, whose outstretched limbs so long Made kingship of the infamy of wrong, O'er whose thorn-twined majestic brows ran down Blood for anointing from the bitter crown." But we must now bring this peculiarly doctrinal passage into its proper relation to the lesson of un selfishness and humility, by noticing the emphasis on the repeated word " Himself." His lot of suffering was in nowise of constraint — it was in no sense im posed upon Him unwilling. His self-sacrifice was the exhibition of His perfect free will. " He humbled Himself" He Himself has declared, " I lay down My life. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." His was no mere resignation, for that is the attitude of the soul toward the inevit able. A creature may risk his life, indeed, provided the aim be a true and noble one ; but no right is his to throw it away. He is, on the contrary, bound to conserve it, if he can do so without the sacrifice of higher interests. But Christ Jesus in His perfect obedience died, because He so willed, and when and as He willed. There stands in a Strasburg church a monument suggestive in its sculptured group. It is the figure of a warrior before an open grave. Death at his side is touching him with his inevitable dart, and he is represented as descending with manly step, but saddened brow, into the sepulchre yawning at his feet. Thus is depicted the lot of our common humanity. " It is appointed unto men once to die," and when death comes, he comes resistlessly. Thus are depicted, further, the noble submission and fortitude with which LECT. IX.] CHAP. II. VERS. 5-8. 9 9 the brave man, brave because he is good, meets death. But with the Captain of our salvation it was far other wise. He had His life either to give or to keep. He gave His life with all its preciousness, a freewill offer ing, a priceless sacrifice " of a sweet-smelling savour unto God." Thus we have touched, but only touched, all along the threshold of this most sacred of all subjects. It is needful to do so reverently. Yet we should only suffer loss in our study of it, did we fail to remember that no framework of dogmatic statement can ever adequately contain the truth. We need to take to heart the words of Tholuck : 1 "I think it would have fared better with the word of redemption, particularly in modern times, if people had contemplated the sun as the sun, instead of plucking out the beams one by one, which, thus isolated, must indeed vanish. I also have tried it and failed — have applied the square of theoretically acquired formulas to the great mystery of godliness, until the square shrivelled up in my hand, and I could no longer measure till it was cast away." Bearing this lesson in mind, while we study we must also adore, and we can adore only when we strive to imitate. " Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." His example has a constraining power. It excites adoring admiration. It is a perfect example. This admiration is the only path to imitation, and striving to imitate Him brings at length likeness. It further appeals to His people's sense of duty. His example is itself a commandment. It has been called " living legislation." It is law embodied and pictured forth in a perfect humanity. By exhibiting self-sacrifice and humility, He also enjoins them. Thus obligation rests on us to 1 In Oosterzee, Dogmatics, p. 538. 100 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. IX. be " followers (i.e. imitators) of God, as dear children." His example is constraining power, and direct precept too, because it makes appeal to His people's gratitude. He humbled Himself that we might be exalted. He " pleased not Himself," that God might be well pleased with us. He died that we might live. Thus gratitude, awakened by this truth received by the faith of the heart, impels men to live no longer to themselves, but to Christ Jesus, who has bought them. They henceforth " live unto the Lord," and living to Him rightly mani fests itself in " looking not each one to his own things, but each also to the things of others." Augustine has said, " In order that pride (the root of all diseases) might be cured, the Son of God came down from heaven, and humbled Himself. Therefore, 0 man, why art thou proud ? The Son of God was made humble for thy sake. Perhaps thou mayest be ashamed to imitate a man in humility ; imitate God, who humbled Himself and set you an example of humility. ' I came not to do Mine own will.' Humility does the will of God." It is only those who go down in acts of loving ministration to others, who shall at last each one receive the greeting of divine approval and welcome, — "Friend, go up higher." LECTURE X. "Humilitas ctaritatis est meritum, claritas humilitatis premium." — Augustin. "Sola est humilitas, qua! exaltat, solaque ducit ad vitam. Ho30 via non est alia prazter ipsam. Qui aliter uadit, cadlt potius, quam ascendit." — S. Beknard, Serm. ii. De Asccnsione. " 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. 9-11. \17~HEN allusion is made in prophecy to our Lord's ' ' " humiliation, it is usually found to be in close connection with that which is its counterpart, His exaltation. The contemplation of the one invites to the contemplation of the other. For instance, He who is described in Isaiah liii. as God's " righteous servant " is not only foretold as " despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," but is also set before us as at length having the divine promise fulfilled in regard to Him, " Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong." In this respect doctrinal statement is at one with prophetic. They both represent the Saviour's humiliation and exaltation as mutually explanatory. They both connect these two aspects of His work by a " wherefore." As the result and the direct reward of his self-abasement, He is " highly exalted." We have His own corresponding 102 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. X. declaration too, given to His wondering disciples on the way to Emmaus, all the more significant as having been uttered in the time between His resurrection and ascension : " Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory ? " In the present connection the exaltation, therefore, is set forth as being a twin thought with the humiliation. In the apostle's mind the one inevitably suggests the other. The cross of shame is also, as the Latin Hymnology puts it, the " lignum triumphale." But there is another reason, another purpose, in the reference. It continues the illustration and enforcement of the Christian duties of unselfishness and humility. It supplies a new motive for seeking earnestly these " best gifts " — even the motive of self- interest. Scripture is not slow to ply men even with such an appeal. It shows us how self-sacrificing meekness yields in the end its own solid and eternal gain. That earthly flower bears heavenly fruit. Our Lord Himself has said, in the parable of the Wedding Guests (Luke xiv. 11), and again in that ofthe Pharisee and Publican (Luke xviii. 14), "Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." With the example of such teaching from the Great Teacher's own lips, the apostle does not hesitate, nor need We, to inculcate the duty of showing forth this lowliest and loveliest grace by an appeal to the reward which is at last to crown it. In our Lord's exaltation, therefore, we have the pattern and pledge of our own. But is there no heresy lurking in our thus explaining the particle " wherefore " — no tinge of Arianism in our thus regarding the Saviour's glory as the recompense of His obedience, and nothing more ? Not in the least degree. He who is thus highly exalted is not viewed LECT. X.] CHAP. II. VERS. 9-11. 103 here as Son of God simply, in His own essence the Infinite Being, through whom and in whom all things were created. As such, it is quite true, He could not be exalted, for He is over and above all. But He is contemplated as the God -man, in His totality, if we may dare so to speak. As Son of God He is now what and where He ever was ; but, having in His humilia tion united humanity with divinity, He is now in the body of His humiliation highly exalted, even at God's right hand — " high-throned above all height." In this connection it is to be observed that the words run, not " God hath highly exalted and given Him," but, as in the Revised Version, " God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him." The language, that is to say, describes a definite act — something which took place at a certain time and in a certain way, not the state or condition resulting from it. The act of giving, not the fact of having given, is what is emphasized. So similarly Eph. i. 20, and 1 Pet. i. 21, "God gave Him glory." But there is yet another aspect of this mystery which we are invited reverently to scan. " Wherefore also God highly exalted Him." The previous verses show us what the Son of God did. He, " the Lord of glory," emptied Himself — "He humbled Himself." This verse now shows us what God "also," God on His part, did. He exalted the Son of man. The Son of man did not exalt Himself. He was " obedient " unto God, and God has rewarded His obedience. He humbled Himself in assuming human nature, and therefore in that same nature God highly exalted Him. This super- exaltation, then, is described as of God's favour. The following clause brings this out yet more clearly : " And gave unto Him a name which is above every name." It is a free gift (e'xapWro). 104 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. X. The word, which in the New Testament is peculiar to Luke and Paul, means graciously to bestow, — not merely to grant, but to grant as a token of loving approval. Our Lord "counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God." So far from grasping this for Himself as of right, He emptied Himself of it ; and now He has received all this and more, for now it is as God- man that He receives it, as the free gift of the Father. It is a gift in answer to His own earthly prayer — a prayer in which He conceives His earthly ministry as already done : " I have glorified Thee on the earth : I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, 0 Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." Now, in dealing with such a theme as this we must confess, and that with adoring awe, that we cannot attain to knowledge. " For knowledge is the swallow on the lake That sees and stirs the surface-shadow there, But never yet hath dipt into the abysm." We have, therefore, when we speak at all, to have our words well ordered. They are nowhere better ordered than in a passage in Origen,1 which runs thus : "He is said to be exalted, as having wanted it before ; but in respect only of His humanity; and He has a name given Him, as it were a matter of favour, which is above every name, as the blessed Apostle Paul expresses it. But in truth and reality this was not the giving Him anything which He naturally had not from the beginning ; so far from it, that we are rather to esteem it His returning to what He had in the beginning, essentially and unalterably; on which ground it is, that He, having condescended, oIkovolwcws, to put 1 Com. in Johan. (quoted by Wordsworth on Eph. i. 22). LECT. X.] CHAP. II. VERS. 9-11. 105 on the humble garb of humanity, said, ' Father, glorify Me with the glory which I had.' For He was always invested with divine glory, having been co- existent with His Father before all ages, and before all time and the foundation of the world." But to return, what of " the Name," as the Revised Version rightly renders it ? Name has been defined as the "summary of the person" (Vaughan). Though men often fail to see it, through the blinding effect of use, the conferring of a name is designed to have a deep significance. This holds good pre-eminently in the Biblical conception of name-giving. We see this in the dealing of the covenant-God with His saints in the old dispensation, and in the dealing of our Lord with His followers in the new. The same idea is prominent here in God the Father's giving a name to God the Son, after, and because of, His humiliation. Now, it has been held that the name given to the exalted Saviour is none other than the incommunicable name of Jehovah, or the name of the Lord proclaimed to Moses from out of the cloud on Mount Sinai (Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7) ; or, again, that it is the title " Son of God," He having been declared such " with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Rom. i. 4) ; or "the Word of God ;" or " King of kings and Lord of lords " (Rev. xix. 13, 16). These solutions are not probable. Nor is the term "name" to be explained away as equivalent simply to dignity, majesty. The general context, as well as a reference to such passages as Acts ii. 36, iii. 26, ix. 5, suggests rather that the name is none other than the name " Jesus." This was His indeed by divine com mand " before He was conceived in the womb." It is His still, for, as Peter's Pentecostal sermon declares, 106 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. X. "God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." And He delighted to claim it, in the very act of calling Paul himself to service, " I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." But it is now, as it were, given anew, for that name which on earth was looked upon as the lowliest and most despised among men is now the highest in heaven, invested with all the glory of His accomplished work — a name far above that of prophet, priest, or king — a name above all angels and archangels — a name most blessed in this, that it can never be torn from the hearts of humble men. It is " the Name," for thus it stands solitary in its unapproachable grandeur in one New Testament passage (3rd Epistle of John ver. 7), by believing on which men are saved, and for the sake of which, doing and enduring all things, they themselves shall at last overcome, and realize the promise vouchsafed to the victor, " I will give him the white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." The 10th verse carries on this thought, "that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth," or, as in the margin of the Revised Version, " things of the world below." This apparently signifies that throughout the limitless universe the whole intelli gent creation shall worship Him. But who are these specifically who render this worship ? It has been con jectured (Webster and Wilkinson) that the threefold division answers to that which the pagan world made of their deities (Iliad, iii. 276-279), and is here intro duced as a gloss upon a passage which predicts universal submission to the one true God, as contrasted with the heathen objects of worship ; intimating the subjection LECT. X.] CHAP. II. VERS. 9-11. 107 and homage of all spiritual powers and beings to Christ, as Lord of heaven and earth, the holder of the keys of "the invisible world and of death." This is altogether fanciful ; so likewise is the other extreme — the view which understands the reference as pointing to Chris tians, Jews, and heathen. It is safer, upon the whole, to refrain from pressing the division too severely. The leading idea is simply universality — all creatures capable of rendering homage, whatever be the conditions of their existence. We may profitably compare Rev. v. 3 : " And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon." Compare also Rev. v. 13, which is even more to the point, as it speaks of adoration rendered. Angels and archangels, all heavenly intelligences, who behold His face, where He is in heaven — men who are or are to be on earth, who have heard or are yet to hear about Him — those who are asleep in the spirit- world awaiting His coming, but even now rendering a present homage, the abode of departed spirits being popularly represented in ancient thought as the under world. It seems better to exclude the idea of the spirits of evil here, for " the homage of impotence or subjugated malice " (Ellicott) is foreign to the thought of the passage. It is at least not suggested by bowing the knee, nor by the word Hades, which does not represent their abode. Besides, their homage could not be " in the name of Jesus," in whatever way we understand that phrase. But, following both the Received and the Eevised Versions, others, notably Lightfoot, with considerable reason, relying upon Eev. v. 13, Eph. i. 20-22, Eom. viii. 22, understand things instead oi persons. But while it is assured truth that all the universe, animate and inanimate, must render 108 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. X. praise to the Eedeemer, the figure of bowing the knee points only to intelligent homage, and so, too, do the words following, — " every tongue confess." It is better, therefore, thus to restrict it, and this is in effect not to detract from the universality of the adoration, but only to define the nature of the adoration that is described. Our Lord Himself, before His ascension, said to His disciples : " All power (authority) is given unto Me in heaven and in earth," and the seer of the latter days heard the loud voice saying in heaven, " Now is come the power (authority) of His (God's) Christ." This name of Jesus, then, thus magnified beyond all human thought, is "a name which, being pronounced, as it were, makes the very universe quiver with spontaneous and irresistible enthusiasm." 1 We have thus substantially already fixed the mean ing of the passage : to bow the knee is to do obeisance, to render homage. But here a point presents itself : is not the bowing of the knee only homage rendered to God the Father " in the name of Jesus," and therefore the homage of prayer simply, and that given to God in Jesus' name ? Some most orthodox commentators, as e.g. Dr. Crawford,2 take this view, making this an un doubted reference to Christ's intercession for us, as one of the chief purposes for which He has been thus exalted — " in the name of Jesus," as being that of our only Intercessor, in whose name all prayer and suppli cation must be offered up. But, though the doctrine thus enunciated is most surely believed among us, it is totally alien to the scope of the present passage, for, first of all, the angels in heaven, the unfallen and pure intelligences of the universe, need not, and, indeed, 1 Beecher, Sermon on The Name of Jesus. 2 The Atonement, p. 108. LECT. X.] CHAP. II. VERS. 9-U. 109 cannot pray, in the name of such a Mediator or Inter cessor ; it is theirs simply to adore Him as " Lord of all." Then, secondly, "in the name of" is a Hebraism (1 Chron. xvi. 10, and Ps. Ixiii. 4, and elsewhere), and as such brings the God-man Jesus as closely as language can do into oneness with Jehovah. For instance, when the Psalmist says, " I will lift up my hands in Thy name," he declares that he will adore Jehovah ; and so similarly to bow the knee in Jesus' name is to adore Jesus. It is, therefore, not prayer through Jesus, but direct worship of Jesus that is here set forth. Even rationalistic exegesis does not hesitate to accept this view (e.g. Schenkel). The Revised rendering, therefore, is no proof, as Dean Burgon passionately complains,1 that the result of N. T. Revision is unfavourable to orthodoxy. It is not so at least here, if the words be but rightly understood, and his opponent, Dr Vance Smith, has no warrant to speak thus : "The only instance in the New Testament in which the religious worship or adoration of Christ was apparently implied has been altered by the Revision ; ' A t the name of Jesus every knee shall bow ' is now to be read ' in the name.' Moreover, no alteration of text or of translation will be found anywhere to make up for this loss ; as, indeed, it is wrell understood that the New Testament contains neither precept nor example which really sanctions the religious worship of Jesus Christ." " This statement is glaringly incorrect ; while then the Revised rendering is to be accepted, the injurious inference wrongly drawn from it is unhesitatingly to be rejected. The whole passage, this and what follows, is undoubtedly modelled on Isa. xiv. 23 : "I have sworn by Myself, 1 The Revision Revised, p. 513. 2 Texts and Margins, p. 47, cited by Burgon. 110 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. X. the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear " (the words are directly cited in Rom. xiv. 11,12). All this homage to God, then, is realized in the worship of Jesus. The next clause, "And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord," is more explicit than the preceding one. It refers to the open acknowledgment in humble, grateful praise — the public avowal of what before is confessed in the awful silence of the heart ; and the confession is that He is Lord — in the full, absolute sense, " Lord of all." And the final aim of all this worship of Jesus the God-man is " the glory of God the Father." We have our Lord's own comment upon this declaration : "I honour My Father. ... I seek not Mine own glory" (John viii. 49, 50); "He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him." So He spake on earth, and what He said holds good of Him in heaven. But none the less, while the worship of Christ Jesus, direct and absolute, is warranted and enjoined, still, in the ineffable mys tery of the Trinity, this worship of the Son glorifies God the Father. All this is infinitely beyond our ken. To frame the statement of these truths is in the nature of things to make them finite. Yet must it be ours to " Cling to faith beyond the forms of faith." We have but to remember this, "that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." It is not by reasoning ; it is by being spiritually-minded that the eye of the heart can see Christ Jesus, and the tongue confess Him thus, " My Lord, and my God." He has given us this promise, " Whosoever shall confess Me before men, Him will I confess before My Father in heaven." LECT. X.1, CHAP. II. VERS. 9-11. Ill But we dare never forget that to confess Him is to live to Him. It is to have the same mind in us that was in Him. Turning, therefore, once more back to the motive of this whole passage, the inculcation of the duty of self-sacrificing humility, we can say, in view of the reward in store, — - " The saint that wears heaven's brightest crown In deepest adoration bends ; The weight of glory bows her down The most, when most her soul ascends. Nearest the throne of God we see What honour hath humility." We can say more than this. We can learn the lesson of humility and its honour not merely in the saints around the throne, but most of all in Him who " in the white radiance of eternity " sits on the throne Himself — even Jesus, who humbled Himself, and is now highly exalted, " King of kings and Lord of lords." LECTURE XI. " The elixir of life we have ; the doctrine and means of perfectibility we have ; and we know them to be true and sure. But they are not of our own making. They do not lie within the compass of our own being. They came to us from without, from above. The only view of human nature, as left to itself, which is not incom patible with all experience, is not its perfectibility, but its corruptibility. " — Hare's Guesses at Truth. " So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my pre sence 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." — Phil. ii. 12-16. HPHE apostle, with deep heart -yearning over his -*- friends, Christ's purchased ones, now turns from the explicit statement of great doctrinal truth to general admonition. He resumes the course of his exhortation, interrupted, as in a sense it has been, by his allusion to the Saviour's humiliation and exaltation, although, strictly speaking, that allusion itself has a directly hortatory purpose in view,— its aim is not speculation, but duty. "So then:" it is indeed wonderful that this simple link of connection has been so differently and so perversely misunderstood. It is the most natural form of transition possible, and its explanation lies almost on the surface. The description just given of our Lord's work and reward is contem plated here, as it always is in Scripture, as " the great LECT. XL] CHAP. II. 12-16. 113 mystery of godliness" (1 Tim. iii. 16) — the mystery revealed to men to make them godly. It is the hidden truth which, being accepted by faith, makes for godly living, disclosing as it does alike God's goodwill to mankind - sinners, the help He has brought to them, the dignity He confers on them, and the destiny He has in store for them. It is therefore in every way natural that the thought of this mystery should merge into the cognate thought of the salvation it has pro cured, and the relation in which believers stand to it. Thus the apostle's thought turns to his converts, — " my beloved," as he calls them, — because he recognises in them those that are loved of his Lord, who once suffered and now reigns on their behalf. Having been through faith on Him " added to the Church," they are " those that are being saved " (Acts ii. 47) ; and consequently he urges them to show more earnestness than ever in regard to their souls, that they " may prosper and be in health." He exhorts them, so far from neglecting " so great salvation," to maintain their interest in it, " to make their calling and election sure." It is then, first of all, their duty in relation to themselves which is enforced — personal religion. He prefaces admonition, however, by commendation. It is noticeable that this Epistle, while it is devoid of all direct reproof, abounds in such words of praise. " Even as ye have always obeyed" — he thus commends their past docility and fidelity towards himself, the apostle of the Lord, who ' had begotten them in the gospel, and who had anxiously tended them, " as a father doth his children" (1 Thess. ii. 11). Such is the relation in which, he reminds them, he stood to them. He was their teacher, and they had obeyed him ; but then, as his teaching con cerned spiritual things, the obedience which they 114 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XI. accorded to himself was also obedience rendered directly to God. This is certainly implied ; perhaps, too, there may be a backward reference to ver. 8, to the perfect obedience of Christ Jesus to God His Father, as a pattern for His people. But this is not so clear. This docile, loving obedience to the apostle the Philippians had " always " exhibited to their own profit while he was with them. Starting then from this acknowledgment, he proceeds to say, " not as in my presence only ; but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation." He had been in their midst, " imparting unto them some spiritual gift, to the end they might be established" (Rom. i. 11); but he was no longer their mentor still with them ; he was able now only to instruct them " with ink and pen" (3 John 13). He tells them therefore all the more diligently to follow up his directions, " not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ," and the one all-embracing direction is to " work out" their salvation, to bring it to its proper and ultimate issue, to accomplish it. They were to do this by prayer for new and ever larger supplies of grace, by carefully keeping the body under, by making their very temptations aids to progress, — in a word, by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. Such is the sum and substance of the whole duty of the Chris tian man in its personal aspect. It is each believer's own work in regard to his own salvation, not the salvation of one another that is emphasized. They must act individually for themselves in this matter, which lies between God and each renewed soul. The command is, "Exercise thyself unto godliness" (1 Tim. iv. 7). And the spirit in which this work is to be carried on is thus defined, " with fear and trembling." The words speak of holy anxiety, overmastering con- LECT. XL] CHAP. II. 12-16. 115 scientiousness, an abiding, all-absorbing sense of respon sibility (Eph. vi. 5 ; 1 Cor. ii. 3). This state of mind and heart does not arise from aught of doubt or mis trust of God and His faithfulness, for it is humble and reverend, and as it is consciousness of weakness, it is the opposite of self-reliance. Henry Ward Beecher x puts it well thus : " What is meant by fear and trembling is the antithesis of conceit. It is the antithesis of that contentment which springs from overweening confi dence or indifference. If men think they are so nearly good that they do not need to be anxious, the word of the Lord to them isy '' Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit ? there is more hope of a fool than of him ; ' but if a man, on the other hand, has such a sense of his real deficiency, that he feels his need of education in divine things, if he says, ' The work is so great that it can only be accomplished by the putting forth of every endeavour,' then there will be that fear and trembling of which the text speaks, — that natural insight, that alertness, that earnest circumspection, which eve^ man has who addresses himself to a thing which is valued." The trembling fear is a holy appre hension lest enough may not be done in reliance upon God, and too much may be attempted in reliance upon self. Hence in working out, our salvation we have ever to listen to the command, "Be not high-minded, but fear." Thus alone can God's people go on unto perfection. ' ' We desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end" (Heb. vi. 11). " And he who flags not in the earthly strife, From strength to strength advancing, only he, His soul well knit, and all his battles won, Mounts, and that hardly, to eternal life." 1 Sermon on text. 116 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XL But encouragement is always an element in apostolic exhortation, and sometimes also a corrective. We have both in the clause which follows : " For it is God which worketh in you (not in your midst, but in your several hearts), both to will and to work, for His good pleasure." The "for" is rather explanatory than argumentative. It serves to associate God's gracious energy with man's feeble efforts. Such is the contrast, the divine and the human, not the divine and the apostolic. In some very slight and subordinate sense, indeed, a feeble com pany of believers, in the midst of the untold corruptions of a heathen city, and tenderly attached to the teacher whose absence from them through Roman bonds they deplored, may have felt the need of the comfort implied in the suggestion that though Paul was not with them, God Himself was. But it would be very unnatural to give prominence, to this.1 Rather their salvation is said to be their own, and they have their own work in regard to it; but none the less, and above all, it is God's work. It is a work to be done in fear, but also in con fidence. Doing it in unflagging zeal and watchfulness, believers have this comfort — God is doing it for them. Supernatural grace works persistently and effectually in renewed hearts. Thus believers are able to will (gratia prceveniens), and also to work effectually (the same word as that already used in regard to God) (gratia co-operans) towards the one end. " The will and the work are alike from God, or from the operation of His grace and spirit ; not the work without the will — an effect without a cause ; not the will without the work — an idle and effortless volition " (Eadie). Here then we stand face to face with the great outstanding paradox of Christian life — the coexistence and interpenetration 1 " Prsesens vobis etiam absente me," Bengel. LECT. XL] CHAP. II. 12-16. 117 of man's free will and of God's constraining grace. While, indeed, by reasoning we cannot reconcile these two, yet by searching our deepest consciousness, and recognising therein an " under-sense of powerlessness," we cannot fail to acknowledge them both. It is beyond all controversy that Scripture gives prominence some times to the one and at other times to the other, but withholds from us the " tertium quid," which alone can harmonize them. The perplexity is one whieh belongs to all spiritual life ; it is substantially that which is felt in regard to prayer and its efficacy — " That mystery Where God in man is one with man in God." This at least is true to universal experience, that both freewill and constraining grace must be recognised as existing and working together wherever progress in the inner life is secured. But in the issue of this work ing out of salvation there is found no place for human merit. All is of divine grace. In this " God worketh ... for His good pleasure." He is thereby carrying out into fulfilment His own eternal purposes of love. The apostle, however, cannot conceive of Christians' duty in relation to themselves as separate from their duties to one another. Progress in personal piety is not to be sought in isolation. Hence, having shown his readers what they are to do for themselves, he now directs them how for the general good they are to do it. They have a common work in regard to " the common salvation." " Do all things," he says ; the injunc tion is not absolute ; it is not the same as 1 Cor. x. 31 : " Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." The allusion here is not to everything, but, as the context restricts it, to all 118 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XI. those things which pertain to the working out of each one's salvation, those matters which pertain to Church privileges and practices, all duties which are binding on believers as members of Christ's mystical body, the Church. And the spirit in which these things are to be done is thus set forth : " without murmurings and dis putings." The words may be thus distinguished : Mur murings are the outward manifestation, the ill-concealed expression of sullen discontent — dissatisfaction with God's dealings, with what' He enjoins and what He imposes ; disputings are evil imaginations, unreasonable thoughts finding utterance thereanent.1 These, as has been said, are directed specially against God, not (as Alford holds) against man. This is all the more evident when we put the passage in connection with what is said before about the example of Christ Jesus. He in His obedience murmured not against God. Besides, there is here, as in the corresponding passage in 1 Cor. x. 10, an undoubted allusion to the conduct of the Israelites in the wilderness. Still, these " murmurings and disputings," wherever cherished, soon evince themselves all too clearly in the bickerings of party strife, in the embit tering of that spirit of brotherhood which is the proper mark of all Christian fellowship. All such blights, therefore, upon their piety are to be avoided. Murmur ing, involving as it does so many elements of evil, both to the individual and to the community, is not to be so much as named among them, for, as Chrysostom has said, "It is intolerable. It borders on blasphemy. It is a proof of ingratitude ; the murmurer is ungrateful to God, but whoso is ungrateful to God does thereby become a blasphemer." Therefore let no such verdict hold good, as that which Jude has pronounced in words 1 Vid. Webster's Syntax and Synonyms ofthe New Testament, p. 202. LECT. XL] CHAP. II. 12-16. 119 of withering denunciation, "These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts." The Christian's life ought ever to be one of contentment and inward peace ; otherwise he is to that extent failing to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, and at the same time hindering the salva tion of the brethren. But the apostle contemplates obedience to his exhortation in yet another aspect — the blessed effect it is certain to have, not only on their own spiritual progress, but also upon those who are without. The aim of their doing " all things without murmurings and disputings," is " that ye may be blameless and harmless." Without blame in the presence of their fellow-men, but also, as seems implied, " unblameable in holiness before God" at the day of Christ (1 Thess. iii. 13). Harmless, that is, simple, sincere, having their character unmixed, and thus guileless, — as the heathen poet puts it, " Integer vitas scelerisque purus," — blame less because harmless. But it is too great a refinement to say unmurmuring, and thus blameless; not disputing, and thus harmless. The connection is rather such as is set forth in the line — " Blame I can bear, though not blameworthiness." l In such freedom from reproach and from all that is worthy of reproach, they become " children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation." But this clause needs elucidation. We may at once set aside the view that the " generation " here means the numerous Jewish inhabitants of Philippi, ever on the outlook for opportunities to revile and reproach the followers of Christ. True, the Israelites 1 Browning, Ring and the Book. 120 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XI. in their rebelliousness of heart are so described in these very words which Paul here quotes from the Song of Moses, in Deut. xxxii. 5 (LXX.). Our Lord, too, applies similar words to them, in Matt. xvii. 17, Luke ix. 41 ; and so Peter also, in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 40). Yet the references in these cases are certain; they are definitely fixed down; whereas here the reference would be very far-fetched. It is therefore preferable to understand all Christians as here called " children of God," and the world in which they live, " the world lying in wickedness," the kingdom of darkness, " where Satan's seat is," as the generation of evil-doers, " crooked and perverse," being characterized, as unregenerate human nature ever is, by " moral obliquity and distorted spiritual growth." Believers, then, are in the midst of such evil men, men ever acting and "talking like this world's brood," "men of the world, which have their portion in this life " (Ps. xvii. 14). Their lives are lived in such bad surround ings, and exposed to all the corrupting influences which such surroundings produce. But they are enjoined for this very reason to be without reproach, to lay them selves open to no censure from the enemy. They are to be " children of God without blemish." But why " without blemish"? The explanation of this somewhat strange predicate lies in the reference which the passage has to Moses' Song. In Deut. xxxii. 5 we read, " Their spot is not the spot of His children ; they are a perverse and crooked generation." This very obscure and per plexing verse the Revised Version renders thus : " They are not His children ; it is their blemish ; they are a perverse and crooked generation." While neither of these translations is clear, it is hard to judge between them. But "blemish" or "blot" is in both, as a LECT. XL] CHAP. II. 12-16. 121 declaration that these children of disobedience were not God's children, and this is enough for our purpose. And here the apostle says, Christians are to be in reality the children of God, because, unlike the Israelites in their backsliding, they are to be without "blemish" or "spot." This indeed they never are actually on earth ; yet they are always advancing towards it, till at length they become " without spot and blameless." "Among whom ye are seen (ye appear, not, ye shine) as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life." It is not enough to give no cause of reproach to men ; we must lead them on to their sharing in " the common salvation." " Among whom," that is, the men of that generation in which " vice had attained its zenith," — in such a world of abnormal wickedness, believers are represented as " lights." The idea is specially Johan nine. Light is the symbol of that holiness which the reception of " the word of life " gives. Most commen tators understand by "lights" luminaries, believers being to the dark moral world what the heavenly bodies are to the material world.1 Undoubtedly much can be adduced in support of this view. But it lies open to serious objection. For instance, it may be said, that while glorified saints are compared with the brightness of the firmament, and with the stars (Dan. xii. 3 ; Matt. xiii. 43), Christians still on earth can hardly be so spoken of. Then, again, " among whom " surely requires the idea of earthly lights ; and so also does " a crooked and perverse generation." The figure seems altogether disturbed unless we so understand it. The sense of the passage is therefore best preserved by regarding the lights as torches or lamps. Believers are 1 Vid. Trench, Synonyms, xlvi., and On the Authorized Version, p. 148. 122 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XI. compared with these. But it is asserted that the word ($&>o-T%>e?) does not bear this mean, ing. It is sufficient to reply that while heavenly luminaries are indeed so called, the word itself simply means light-bearers, and that in later Greek especially it was often used in quite a general way for any opening, such as a window or door, through which light might come. Besides, it may have this latter meaning with special propriety here, since they, believers, are not the lights themselves, but only holders of it forth, the light itself being " the word of life." Their part, as they advance in holiness, "filling more and more with crystal light," is firmly to retain it and to display it, but the life-working word of truth alone is the flame of fire that streams forth from them. Keeping, therefore, rour Lord's own de claration in view, " Ye are the light of the world," we may safely understand His apostle's utterance in the same way as his Master's. Believers are seen among men as lights to guide them in the crooked paths of the world to the true way, even the way to heaven. " Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do, — Not light them for themselves." Wordsworth, who takes this view, suggests that the figure is taken from the custom of carrying torches to guide passengers along the dark and narrow streets of ancient cities, perhaps of Rome itself, which, before it was destroyed by Nero's conflagration, was remarkable for such narrow windings. Be this as it may, — and the suggestion is decidedly far-fetched, — he adds well that " The Christians of these times little thought, when they read these words, that some of their number would soon literally be made to be G>o-n?pe?) in ver. 15, un consciously forecasting the horrors of the Neronian persecution. In this case, however, Paul may quite consciously have alluded not only to a presentiment of his death, but also to the most likely mode of it. As he thinks of " that way which leads through night to light," he remembers that, being a Roman citizen, he cannot be condemned, like his Master, to suffer on the cross. He knows further that no Jewish mode of punishment, such as stoning, could be reserved for him ; this would be barely conceivable in the imperial city of Rome. But he could hardly fail to contemplate his end by decapitation. And so, we need not doubt, 128 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XII. it was. Outside the Ostian gate, at the Tre Fontane of the Campagna, he was beheaded by the sword. There did he literally pour out his life-blood upon the sacrifice of his converts' faith, as he gave " His pure soul unto his Captain, Christ, Under whose colours he had fought so long." Once more Bishop Lightfoot makes a very interesting comparison between the apostle's language and that of his great heathen contemporary, Seneca. We may add to it that, as tradition holds that these two famous men of their age actually once met and disputed with one another, it is conceivable that this metaphor of Paul's, which seems to have been a favourite and oft-repeated one, may have been heard and caught up by the heathen moralist, and reproduced by him in the hour of his own extremity. At all events, Tacitus reports him to have said, as he entered the pool of heated water from which he sprinkled the nearest of his slaves, " I offer this liquid as a libation to Jupiter the Deliverer." ' It is more interesting, however, and profitable to com pare the experience of the Church - father, Ignatius, modelled, as it certainly is, upon the words of the apostle : " Nay, grant me nothing more than that I be poured out a libation to God, while there is still an altar ready." L He is alluding probably in the word " altar " to the Flavian Amphitheatre, where his mar tyrdom took place. These citations are useful to this extent at least, as showing us that there was no diffi culty in the apostle's time, whatever there may be in 1 " Respergens proximos servorum, addita voce libare se liquorem ilium Jovi liberatori."— Ann. xv. 64. Compare also Thrasea's death in Ann. xvi. 35. 2 i-Tismi/ os fill fii) ¦n-xpi-jcmk rou airo'jhaS^ai 0;f, a; hi 6vi7ia.tiritpioy hot- p.ou sotiv. — Ignatii Ep. ad Rom. ii. LECT. XII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 17-24 129 ours, in understanding the sacrificial metaphor of this passage. But indeed it is not unfamiliar in its main point to ourselves. We quite frequently speak of making a sacrifice, of sacrificing oneself, when we wish to describe any action of benevolent self-denial. In so doing we are adopting substantially the language of Paul, and it is intelligible at once to us all. Turning back to the verse, we find the apostle de claring that in view of such a contingency as his violent death, he joys and rejoices with them all. If, he says, such a supposition come to be realized, and I am indeed martyred, then they together (he and the Philippians alike) have only cause of rejoicing. " And in the same manner do ye also joy and rejoice with me." The offering up of their faith to God is a matter of joy both to them and to him ; and the offering up of his Hfe, if need be, in connection with it, ought to be the same ; for " to die is gain." " To be with Christ is very far better" (i. 21, 23), and although for him " to abide in the flesh is more needful for their sakes," yet they are not to withhold from him their part in the mutual joy. The rendering "congratulate" is not necessary, and it is not happy. Its meaning, indeed, blends with " rejoicing with," but still is slightly apart from it. Any supposed tautology in the clauses is sufficiently explained as the tautology of emotion — no vain repetition, but the throbbing, the abounding eloquence of intense feeling. There is no overstrained and unnatural exultation here. We indeed may think there is, in such easy going times as ours. But in all situations parallel with that of apostolic days these words of Paul have found ready response in consecrated hearts. For instance, Chrysostom exclaims : " Oh, blessed soul ! His bringing 130 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XU. men to God he calls a sacrifice, which teaches us that it is much better to present a soul than to present oxen." And even though death should be mingled with such a work of ministration, it is none the less, yea, all the more, a joyful sacrifice ; for, as DaiUe" well says, " It is to insult a martyr of Jesus Christ to weep for his death. It is to injure his sacrifice and pollute his triumph. Rejoice in it, says the apostle, and rejoice with him." The true instincts of the Christian Church, further, have in this same spirit claimed for the mar tyr's death-day the nobler designation of his birthday into endless life. Perhaps one of the closest parallels with the apostle's spirit and word is that of the vener able Latimer, as at the stake in front of Balliol College at Oxford he encouraged his younger companion in tribulation, Ridley : " Be of good cheer, brother ! We shall this day kindle such a torch in England as by the blessing of God shall never be extinguished." A new section begins probably with ver. 19 : "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." He turns now to matters of more im mediate and practical import ; and in doing so his language presents, as in chap. i. 21-26, a rapid change from the presentiment of death to the conviction that, after all, his life-work is not yet done. His hope is " in the Lord ; " it is cherished in faith upon Him, and in humble confidence in His guidance and aid. It is a hope that a way may shortly be opened up for send ing Timothy as his messenger to Philippi. Though absent from his friends, he is present with them in spirit, and hence this contemplated mission of Timothy, as regards himself, will give comfort to his heart by the tidings about them brought back, and as regards LECT. XII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 17-24. 131 them it will bring to them edification and strength. The project aims at benefiting them both. Rejoicing, as he was, even in the midst of manifold sufferings and in the outlook towards a violent death, he yet longed with vehement yearning, more than lesser natures do, for the fellowship of kindred spirits. Absorbed as all his energies were in devotion to his Master, he yet loved, on his part, to lean on the devotion of his friends. He desires by the knowledge of their state to become himself still more firm-hearted and cheerful. It is Timothy whom he resolves to entrust with this mission. "For," as he says, "I have no man like- minded who will care truly for your state." Timothy is described as most suited, indeed as alone suited, for the duty, because he alone stands out among the group of Eoman Christians as like-minded with Paul himself (not " no man like-minded with Timothy," as some understand it). There were others near Paul, but they were not like him. They were not, to use an old English term, " inner friends " of his. Their sympathies in the matter of attachment to the Philip pians and interest in their welfare were not like his, nor was their spirit in regard to Christian service in general like his. Hence they were not available. It- was otherwise with Timothy. Paul had called him in earlier days " my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord" (1 Cor. iv. 17), and again he had given him this generous certificate of character, " He worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do " (1 Cor. xvi. 10). The Eoman adage says, " It is a noble honour to be praised by a man that is praiseworthy : " such honour was Timothy's. This apostolic messenger, then, so like Paul himself, so equal-souled with him, was in every way a man who would care for their state. He would do so " truly " — in 132 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XII no formal or mere official way, but " with natural true- born genuine affection" as Paul's "own son in the faith " (1 Tim. i. 2).1 He would put just such inquiries about their condition and prospects as Paul would do, and he would address to them just such exhortation and counsels as he would give. He was thus a messenger acceptable in the highest degree to the sender and the visited alike. But in thus commending Timothy, the apostle condemns, or, at least, strongly reproves others. The contrast rises up before his mind, " For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ." The Christians with whom he came in contact in Eome were all intent upon the pursuit of their own interests and aims. They were forgetful of the precept, on which all true Christian brotherhood rests, " Let no man seek his own, but each his neigh bour's good" (1 Cor. x. 24). Now, a sweeping con demnation of this kind is undeniably startling. How are we to explain so severe a sentence upon the whole Christian community in Eome ? First of all, we may safelv conclude that the brethren and fellow -workers who were associated with the apostle, when he wrote his Epistle to the Colossians and the private letter to Philemon (Col. iv. 10-12; Philem. 23, 24), were no longer with him. We cannot, for instance, conceive Luke the beloved physician, and others like-minded, as coming under this scathing denunciation.2 The absence of these friends, too, is the more readily conjectured, when we notice the entire absence in this Epistle of any greetings sent in their name to Philippi. But again, while these eminent Christian workers were not 1 yj'wioy rkunn, compared with yumiag. 2 Vid. Lightfoot p. 35, for probable explanation of Luke's absence from Rome. LECT. XII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 17-24. 133 with Paul, we have to remember that there were others with him who were good and true men. He speaks, in chap. iv. 21, 22, of "the brethren which are with him," and he adds, " all the saints salute you." How then is it to be explained that such brethren, called even "saints," are said all to "seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ " ? Probably in this way : they were indeed Christians, and as such capable enough of undertaking this mission, but their Christian life was low. They were feeble in faith and deficient in the spirit of self-sacrifice. They were too much engrossed with their own worldly interests. The apostle detected these disqualifications in their character, and compar ing them in all humility with the high standard which he himself had reached, he finds them wanting. He knew that even in good men, when ease or interest dominates the conduct, the higher interests of Christ's kingdom will be neglected, if not disowned. Thus, gentle and forbearing as he is, he bitterly reproaches them for their low- toned Christianity. He does not deny their Christian character altogether, but he brands them as, in this matter, walking unworthily of it. His own consecrated zeal cannot endure without rebuke such half-heartedness in others. Just as he had once resented the conduct of John Mark, without denying his genuine Christian character, who went not with him to the work, preferring a course of less difficulty and danger (Acts xv. 38), so he condemns the believers in Eome. The Demas -spirit was prevailing in their midst — that spirit regarding which he, at a later period, sorrowfully said, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica." Not that Demas had deliberately and finally turned his back upon the religion of Christ, but 134 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XII. only that he had unworthily and unfaithfully preferred, to the more arduous service, an easier and less danger ous one.1 So it seems to have been in regard to this projected mission to Philippi. The believers in Eome were too lukewarm and selfish to be worthy of the honour and danger of being sent; and as for others who were preaching Christ in a spirit of perversity and opposition to Paul (chap. i. 15), these, it is readily understood, would refuse to go, even had they been selected. Thus we see the apostle encircled by fellow- believers indeed, and yet, as it were, alone, so unsym pathetic and lukewarm were they in seconding his efforts and in carrying out his plans. The apostolic churches thus appear, in this disadvantageous light, as no better than our own. In every age, even among Christ's people, it is the few only who are strong in faith, ever ready and able to serve, because the love of Christ constraineth them. But, as if unwilling longer to linger on such dis creditable defection and disloyalty, the apostle turns once more in thought to his faithful Timothy, "But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child serveth a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the gospel." He delights thus ungrudgingly to commend his youthful colleague, and in this way to smooth his path for him. The timid self- depreciating gentleness of Timothy needed such encouragement of warm apostolic commendation in order that, as with the Corinthians, so also with the Philippians, he might be "without fear" (1 Cor. xvi. 10). Paul would thus magnify his intended gift to them, that so that gift might yield, in their experience, its fulness of blessing. This testimony to Timothy's approved character for 1 Vid. Pearce, p. 44, LECT. XII.] CHAP. IT. VERS. 17-24. 135 integrity and constancy and fidelity — whether any particular incident in his earlier residence in Philippi be referred to or not it is impossible to decide — they themselves, from personal knowledge, could affirm. They had themselves seen how, as a child in loving obedience serves a father, he had done service in association with Paul in advancing the interests of the Saviour's kingdom. "Him therefore," with all this attestation to his usefulness, and with all their common knowledge of his value, " I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me ; " that is to say, the result of his trial before the imperial tribunal. He will naturally delay till he definitely ascertain how matters are to issue with himself in his relation to the Eoman authorities whose chained prisoner he wTas. Because the Philippians would eagerly seek informa tion from Timothy on this point, he must be able to satisfy them in regard to it. As for tidings to be brought back by him about " their state," however much these might be desired and welcomed he feels, in the anticipation rising up within his soul, that he can say, "But," over and above all these projected plans, " I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall come shortly." In a similar connection, in reference too to the sending of Timothy, we find him writing to the Corinthians (1 Cor. iv. 17-19), "But I will come unto you shortly, if the Lord will." Unvarying tradi tion has always declared that this expectation was at length realized. For him "the twelve hours in the clay " (John xi. 9) were not yet quite spent. His day's task of apostolic service was not yet finished. He was permitted to visit his Philippian friends once more. LECTUEE XIII. " Signum veri Pastoris, quod quum procul abesset pioque officio volens distineretur, tamen afficiebatur gregis sui cura et desiderio : quumque intelligeret sua causa tristes esse oves, anxius erat ipsarum dolore. Vicissim pia Philippensium sollicitudo pro Pastore suo indicatur."— Calvin, in loc. " 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. 25-30. TIMOTHY'S proposed visit to Philippi depended upon certain contingencies. Indeed, it is alluded to only as a matter of hope. So too is it with that of the apostle, although hope in regard to it passes in his mind almost into assured conviction. But as these projected journeys could not be in the very near future, and the Philippians stood in immediate need of counsel and comfort, Paul judged it necessary meanwhile (Se) to take other means of communicating with them. Epaphroditus, whom they themselves had sent to him, he now resolves at once to send back. This Philippian deputy might have made this return journey later in company with Timothy, or even with Paul himself, but there were urgent reasons for his setting out even now, LECT. XIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 25-30. 137 and, as is implied, as the bearer of this very letter. The Philippians apparently had intended that this messenger of theirs, after delivering the gifts which he brought, should remain for a time with the apostle, — ¦ and become himself in his personal presence a loving gift from friends, a gift more prized than any mere money contribution. His sudden and unexpected return, therefore, it may be supposed, would awaken among the Philippians feelings of disappointment and dis pleasure. How, they would, possibly say, could this our messenger have so ill fulfilled his commission as to return, even though he had been sick, with such unseemly haste ? Hence, to set him right in view of such anticipated complaints, the apostle explains how his return had been brought about. " I counted it necessary," he strongly says ; and to ensure for him a hearty welcome, he proceeds, with considerate tender ness, to load him with honourable titles, and to bespeak for him all loving interest and confidence, by allusion to his self-denying labours and the dangers to which he had been exposed. Such is the burden of this section. Nothing is known of this Epaphroditus except what can be gathered from this Epistle, and that is but little.1 It has been held by some, originally by Grotius, that he is identified with Epaphras of Colosse. This view, however, is in the highest degree unlikely. It does not explain how the same individual should invariably appear as bearing the shortened form of name in the Epistle to the Colossians and the longer form in that to the Philippians. Besides, the Macedonian Philippi lay far distant from the Phrygian Colosse, where Epaphras 1 The surmises that he was one of our Lord's seventy disciples, and the vague traditions about his relations with Nero, have nothing to commend them. 138 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIII. was settled pastor, and it is barely conceivable that the Philippians would choose as their representative and messenger to the apostle a stranger from a distant city. It is further to be noticed that the name Epa phroditus, as distinct from Epaphras, is of quite common occurrence in first century annals. In relation to Paul, Epaphroditus is described as "my brother and fellow -worker and f ellow- soldier " — "Frater in fide co-operator in praadicatione, commilito in adversis" (Anselm). " My brother ; " there is thus defined close and endearing kinship in the common " faith of the gospel." " The Christians in these early ages called each other brother, a name full of sweetness and friend liness, derived from the custom of the Jewish Church, of which Christianity is the daughter." So says Daille : whether this be the right explanation or not, Chris tians are, as Abraham's spiritual children, all brethren, through faith in Christ Jesus, the seed of Abraham, all spiritually of one race, the one " holy nation." "Fellow-worker" — the apostle has given this honourable name to others. Timothy, Titus, Aquila and Priscilla, Mark, and others wear it. It implies fellowship in active effort as well as in sentiment ; effort, too, not unaccompanied by toil and distress. " Fellow-soldier " — a name elsewhere only given to Archippus (Philem. 2). It speaks of companionship in arms, comradeship in warring " a good warfare." (1 Tim. i. 8). Taking, as he so often does, his metaphor from the armies of Im perial Eome, Paul speaks of partnership in the conflicts and the conquests of the cross, in that war of which he has declared " the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds " — the war against every form of evil. In this frequent metaphor of his the apostle would set forth LECT. XIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 25-30. 139" the Christian life as one of struggle, and as one that through struggle passes at last into the victory and glory of heaven. In these three titles of true honour this almost unknown Epaphroditus is associated for ever with the apostle of the Gentiles. He has fellowship with him in the possession of the truth, in toil on behalf of the truth, and in triumph in its diffusion. But such honour belongs in reality to all Christ's people, for the Christian life, in its collective aspect, is a brotherhood, a citizenship, a warfare. No one who affects isolation in faith or work or warfare can be a true follower of Christ Jesus. But the commendation of Epaphroditus is not yet exhausted. The clause is added, " And " (or " but," for there is slight contrast implied) " your messenger and minister to my need." Thus the relation in which he stands to the Philippians is set forth. The word " messenger " in this sentence has been the battlefield of controversy. It is " apostle," but, apart from its strictly ecclesiastical usage, an apostle is simply one sent on any special business or errand. That it means nothing more than this in the present passage commen tators are now almost entirely agreed. To say that Epaphroditus was the apostle or bishop of Philippi is to lose sight of various considerations. The first is that the title " apostle " was not, so far as is known, borne by any except the Twelve, and by Paul and Barnabas, who stood upon the same footing as they. Another consideration is that the office of the apostolate was, as regards locality, not a fixed, but a general one. It was attached to no single city or church. A third is that apostles are called Christ's apostles, but not the apostles of Christians. Hence "your apostle" here would be an expression entirely unintelligible. Apostles 140 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIII. were Christ's messengers or deputies, not the Church's. Last of all, that the meaning " messenger" or " legate " is the only admissible one appears from the defining clause which follows, "minister to my needs"— Your messenger sent • by you to my aid. The word is to be understood, therefore, as it is in 2 Cor. viii. 23, "the messengers of the Churches," where the reference is the same as here, to the sending of money supplies. But while no ecclesiastical sense belongs to the word " mes senger " in the present passage, something of a priestly sense belongs to the word " minister." The work undertaken by Epaphroditus was in a certain sense and degree religious work. It was priestly service in so far as it wTas done for Christ. No common office this which was assigned to him ; it was consecrated because undertaken in faith on Christ Jesus and carried out in His name.1 But before leaving this point, we may suggest that this Epaphroditus was in all probability more than a private member of the Philippian Church, however valued and trusted. The whole section lends itself to the view that he was a church official, probably one of the accredited teachers. One of lesser note would not probably have received so high and responsible a commission. Besides, the longing after them all seems to suggest pastoral relationship, and so, too, does the apostolic exhortation to receive him on his return with joy, and, above all, the clause, " hold such in honour." Here surely are indicated the ties of office, strengthened and hallowed by those of mutual esteem. Ver. 26. "Since"2 — we have here stated formally 1 "hinovpyov. Compare "htnovpyitt in ver. 17, "Besorger des priester- 1 ich en Dienstes," Grau. Compare isparofiTro;, the name given by Philo to the bringer of sacred tribute. 2 tKuori, in Pauline usage, found only here and four times in 1 Cor. LECT. XIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 25-30. 141 the reason of the necessity for his sending Epaphroditus. In i. 8 we find the apostle himself declaring, " God is my witness how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Jesus Christ." In this overmastering yearn ing of his heart he has found one exactly like-minded in Epaphroditus. " Since he longed after you all " — we can conceive Paul all the more drawn close to him by this community of feeling. This longing, appa rently constant and increasing (i-rrnrodcbv ty), made him " sore troubled." It showed itself in great perplexity and anxiety. His ardent and sympathetic tempera ment refused him rest, when he knew that they had heard " that he was sick." How he came to learn that information about himself had reached them, there is nothing in the narrative to show. A nature such as his would doubtless seek to withhold such news ; but, on the other hand, their affectionate inquisitiveness had thwarted the attempt. Further, he on his part learned that they had heard, and so the tenderness of his sympa thetic emotion had been increased ; and bearing down all else, with returning health home-sickness asserted its authoritative power. Carlyle has somewhere said, " not till we can think that here and there one is thinking of us, one is loving us, does this waste earth become a peopled garden." That sentiment is true to universal experience ; it is true in the fullest sense to Christian experience ; sympathy has a tinge of new and heavenly beauty when it can be said of it that its " love in higher love endures." The rumour which had disquieted the Philippian believers had been no baseless one. It was a report of fact. The apostle thus confirms it, " for indeed he was sick nigh unto death." He had been brought thus face to face with the realities of the unseen world, brought 142 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIII. near to the confines of the grave, possibly by over exertion in his journey, in the eager desire to execute his commission with alacrity, or it may have been from unguarded exposure to the climate of the Eoman Cam pagna, even then to some extent beset with the dangers which infest it now, or yet again, from the infection caught in the work of evangelization in the squalid and degraded streets and the pestiferous atmosphere of the Jewish quarter. Be this as it may, it was " for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death," and therefore he stands forth as the true hero, not afraid to die as the true martyr. The Saviour Himself has said, " He that is near Me is near the fire : " that unwritten saying of the divine Teacher is ever receiving new illustration in the self-denying and self-forgetful service of those who bear His name. , There is a point worthy of notice here. It shows us how biblical chronology may receive aid from slight and entirely incidental allusions. Observe how a consider able space of time must be conceived to have elapsed between the date of Paul's arrival in Eome and the date of this Epistle. The Philippians in this interval had learned of the apostle's pecuniar}" straits, and had carried out their arrangements for gathering money to aid him. They had sent the money on to Eome. Then after it had reached Paul, some time must be allowed for Epaphroditus' working in Eome and his consequent sickness. Still more time must be allowed for the news travelling so far as Philippi, and for the further news reaching Eome that it had so travelled. All these details necessitate the conclusion that Paul's im prisonment had been considerably prolonged before this Epistle was penned. The question first started apparently by Ambrosi- LECT. XIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 25-30. 143 aster is a natural one, Why did not Paul miraculously heal this valued coadjutor of his 1 Many cures of this kind are ascribed to him. We read expressly in Acts xix. 11, 12, that "God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul ; so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them." Could not, then, something of this kind which happened at Ephesus have also taken place at Eome ? Yes ; but not in such a case as this. We have to remember that miraculous interventions of this kind are not usually described in Scripture as taking place in the interests of believers, but rather for the sake of unbelievers. These wondrous works were wrought as- " the signs of an apostle," but nothing more. In the present case no such signs seemed need ful, and therefore we may conclude that God would work no cure by Paul. But who will venture to say that Epaphroditus' restoration was not in some un known yet inseparable way associated with the apostle's prayer ? God healed him through natural means, we need not doubt ; yet also, wTe may be assured, in answer to His apostle's cry. This restoration to health, con nected with Paul's entreaty, is thus described : " God had mercy on him." As in Hezekiah's case, the sun dial of his days was a few degrees turned backward, and this prolongation of his life Paul acknowledges to be an evidence — a token of divine mercy extended to him. But how is this to be harmonized with the apostle's previous declaration, that to depart and be with Christ " is very far better " (i. 23) ? Simply thus. While Christianity necessarily regards the glorified life of heaven, even the state of the believing dead before the resurrection, as infinitely more blessed than the life on earth, yet none the less life, in and by itself con- 144 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIII. sidered, is always represented as an excellent gift of God, a solemn and a sacred gift, and therefore precious. God then, He who is " the very fountain of pity," is merciful when He extends it. Its restoration to Epa phroditus was a new mercy from his heavenly Father's hands, a life renewed and purified by affliction, pro longed that henceforth it might in higher measure become a life of consecrated service. But with a touch of beautiful self-consciousness and loving brotherly-kindness alike, Paul adds : "And not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow." God's gracious favour to Epa phroditus was also a favour thankfully received and acknowledged by the apostle. It was a boon vouch safed to him in answer to his entreaty ; for amid his many sorrows the death of his loved friend and helper would have been a new and heavy one — a sorrow piled upon all the rest. The apostle is no iron-bound Stoic. His is a heart of flesh. Euskin has well said : 1 " I find this more and more every day : an infinitude of tender ness is the chief gift and inheritance of all the truly great men." Judged by such a test, Paul is foremost among the greatest. This appears still more in what follows — " I have sent him, therefore, the more dili gently, that when ye see him again ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful." This sending of Epaphroditus, presumably, as has been said, along with this Epistle,2 was a doing violence to his own feelings. Christian fellowship was with him a necessity ; yet he here promptly surrenders it for higher ends. He had felt anew in this visit paid to him in Eome that 1 The Two Paths, p. 32. 2 Eph. vi. 22, Col. iv. 8, Philem. 2, and perhaps 2 Cor. ix. 3, are parallels. LECT. XIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 25-30. 145 " a faithful friend is the medicine of life." He had clung to his Philippian visitor with passionate affec tion. He had rejoiced in the interchange of sentiment and in the reciprocation of kind wishes and good offices which had thus been afforded him. But all this he has now determined to forego. He even sends his friend away "the more diligently" than he would have thought needful, had he not learned that they had been so painfully disquieted by the report of Epaphroditus' sickness. He will not delay the reblossoming of their joy in their once more beholding his face. But he will not make it appear as if he were making any sacrifice in so doing. Their returning joy rather will be the means of lessening his sorrow — lessening, he says, not taking it away. In these shifting lights and shadows of tenderest emotion flitting athwart the pages of this Epistle, we come the more distinctly to see and know the man. " Eeceive him therefore in the Lord with all joy ; and hold such in honour." " In the Lord," that is to say, welcome him in a truly Christian way, as being all one in Christ Jesus ; or, as we have it put in Eom. xvi. 2, " as becometh saints." All such good and faithful men are to be held in honour — " Honos propter onus." Honour is due always where duty is clone. Epaphro ditus is declared to be signally worthy of this welcome and respect. His arrival is to be hailed, not with annoyance that he has returned so soon, but with effusive demonstration of joyfulness, — joyful recognition of his self-denying spirit and his accomplished task, above all, of his having in the path of duty and in their name faced danger and death itself. Paul has in effect said this before, but he is not satisfied till he has repeated and emphasized it : " Because for the work of 146 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIII. Christ he came nigh unto death, hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me" (vid. 1 Cor. xvi. 17). The ancient Greek com mentators unite in holding that this danger because of Christ's work — labour in His service — arose from persecution encountered by Epaphroditus, chiefly in endeavouring to minister to the apostle's needs, pos sibly in standing by his side as he appeared before the Imperial Tribunal. It may be so. But it is, upon the whole, preferable to seek the explanation, as has already been done, in bodily ailment, caused in some such way as has been suggested. Whatever it was, it was a distinct hazarding of his life. In self-forgetfulness he had been " animse magnse prodigus." 1 As the word 2 means, he had risked his life as the gambler does his stake. He had played with it as in a game of chance. The same word in later days, and possibly with a direct reference to this passage, has given a name to an inferior, and though sometimes a disorderly, yet a self-forgetful class of church-officers, who from Con stantine's time onwards were set apart as attendants on the sick and dying. They were men who hazarded their lives in times of plague and contagious sickness, like the irapdfSoXoi, or bestiarii, who exposed themselves to the risk of death in conflict with the wild beasts of the Amphitheatre. s It was in some such way as this that Epaphroditus staked his life in faithfully repre senting the Philippian Church in carrying out the mission with which he had been entrusted. What they could not by reason of distance personally do, he had done courageously in their name. He had laid their 1 Horace, Od. i. 12. 17. -- 2 ¦z-xpxfir/Aevo-tifiivos is the preferable reading. 3 Vid. Smith's Bid. of Christian Antiquities, art. " Parabolani." LECT. XIII.] CHAP. II. VERS. 25-30. 147 gifts before the apostle. He had lovingly ministered to him ; in some way not specified he had ventured his life for love of him. Thus what of necessity was lack ing in the ministration, the religious presentation of their gift, he had devotedly supplied. Epaphroditus, almost unknown as he is, thus stands forth in the volume of the book as a noble instance of ardent, bold, self-forgetful, unwearied service — service rendered to an apostle, and rewarded, as all such service is, by the apostle's Lord. LECTUEE XIV. "Gaudium in Domino semper augeatur, in scsculo semper minuatur, donee finitur/'—AvausTis. "Amicus, cui salus alius curw cordique est, ex repetenda admonitione haud molestiam capit." — Am Ende, in loc. " Continuanda est antithesis. Nos in re ipsa, quum Mi in symbolis hatreant : nos in corpore manemus, quum Mi ad umbras respectent." — Calvin, in he. " 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, per secuting the Church ; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless."— Phil. iii. 1-6. " 1/1 IN ALLY, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord" — the •*- word "finally" indicates, as in 1 Thess. iv. 1, a transition from the preceding narrative style to the more strictly didactic and hortatory. It also gives the first intimation of the approaching end of the Epistle. This end, however, is not necessarily defined by it as immediate. Indeed in this case we find that well-nigh half of the Epistle is yet to follow. The word, we may perhaps with greater accuracy say, suggests to the reader chiefly that the main purpose of the apostle's writing has already been served, and that what follows, important though it is, partakes more or less of the nature of a supplement. LECT. XIV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 1-6. 149 " My brethren " — in the apostle's characteristic style of address the "my" is not usually associated with "brethren." By adopting it in this case he places himself rather in accord with the common usage of James. But it serves its purpose here ; in its slightly intensive significance it brings his friends in thought all the more closely to him, and that with special propriety, as his exhortation is that they rejoice, as he himself is doing, "in the Lord" — the Lord in whom alone all believers are "brethren." The injunction is, that however much they may be living, like himself, in the sphere of sorrow, they should show the reality and the blessedness of their Christian profession in their being " girded with gladness." This joy is not the spurious joy which sinners may possess— - for even they have a certain kind of joy. Solomon has said, " Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom." But the Christian's joy is joy of heart, one of the immediate fruits of the Spirit. It is "joy in the Holy Ghost," and therefore "joy before God." Our Lord Himself calls it " My joy : " He gives it, and earth cannot take it away. It is possessed in ever increasing measure in fellowship with Him, and His presence fills each heart with abiding peace. " To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe " — we are here con fronted with a passage very different in tone from any which have preceded it. So suddenly and almost violently introduced indeed is it, that some have con jectured that we have now the beginning of a second Epistle. This view, however, has absolutely nothing to commend it. Whether, relying on a statement in Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians, chap, iii., that Paul had written letters (eVtoToXa?) to that Church, we 150 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIV. conclude that more than one Epistle had been received by it, and this is by no means clear, as the plural is well known in such a connection often to designate only a single letter, — whether we accept this conclusion or not, we may safely hold that the two are not to be discovered by arbitrarily splitting up this Epistle into halves. This section, it is true, is, as Farrar well describes it,1 " a digression singularly unlike the calm, sweet tolerant tone of the rest of the letter. It is like coming across a stream of molten lava in the midst of green fields ; " yet the explanation of the abruptness can, with tolerable certainty, be found in the apostle's own surroundings. We have but to call in the aid of imagination in order to find it. As he sat in fetters, dictating to his amanuensis, we can suppose that some tidings may have reached him of the jealousies and mischief- working strife of the Judaizing party in Rome, or of that same party in some other regions where the gospel had been preached ; and we can imagine him at once turning aside from his immediate purpose to warn his Philippian friends of similar ex periences, possibly in the near future, also awaiting them. He will therefore sound a note of warning, and as is natural, his warning word is winged with indigna tion. If this be the right explanation, "the same things " appear at once to receive their proper defini tion. The phrase does not mean the same directions in regard to rejoicing which had already in various forms been given in this Epistle, or in any earlier one which the apostle may have addressed to the Philip pians. Nor does it mean the same directions now reduced to writing which he had previously given them by word of mouth. The reference is rather to 1 The Messages of the Books, p. 301. LECT. XIV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 1-6. 151 the warnings which he had addressed to other Churches in other Epistles. That such warnings are alluded to seems clear from the contrast implied in the words- irksome to him, safe for them. This language surely points to dangers rather than to comforts. It refers not to rejoicing, but to watching, or, strictly speaking, to the joy in the Lord which can only be retained by watching. He says that it is not troublesome or annoying for him to reiterate these cautions ; but that, whether it be or not, is a matter of trivial importance. The main concern for them is that it is conducive to their safety, their true prosperity of soul. It is thus very important that he write the same things to them as he had done to others. This view, that of Words worth, seems, though not held in much favour by commentators, to be on the whole as satisfactory as any of the others. This was probably the last Epistle from the apostle's pen addressed to any Gentile Chris tian Church; but what he had previously written to the several Churches was designed for all (2 Pet. iii. 16), and would be gradually circulated among all. To you therefore, he says, emphasizing the you, as well as to the others, I must address the same words of caution. In this way we may naturally account for the abrupt introduction of this passage, embraced in vers. 1-14. It is distinctly a doctrinal one, like that in ii. 5-11. Yet how different these two sections are in spirit ! The one breathes of the calm meditative contemplation of the great mystery of godliness ; the other is a fiery invective against the doings of perverse and unholy men. But a true teacher, we are thus shown, in addition to leading those whom he instructs to holy meditation, must be ready to warn, and must himself be on fire when he does warn. His watchful love 152 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIV. towards the saints must be the measure of his wrathful hatred of the ways of sinners. Paul cannot forget that if the Philippian believers would hold fast their joy in the Lord, they must be put on their guard against trusting and rejoicing in any form of will -worship. While they rejoice they must watch, else their joy will be lost. But a lesson is suggested by the clause, " the same things." It reminds us that all true preachers of the word ought to aim not at what is new, but at what, whether it be new or not, is needful. It wras the Sophists who scoffed at Socrates because he wTas always teaching " the same things," 1 and in this their mockery of the great heathen teacher they but disclosed their own folly. It was the Romanists in Reformation times who frequently laid to the charge of the Reformers that they were always harping upon the same string. It is a mark of the present day still to show a craving for what is new, and to find that craving too eagerly met and ministered to ; but as Paul knew, so do all preachers of the doctrines of grace know, that if the Divine Word Himself chose to utter the same truths ofttimes in the same form, they have their ample justification in that example of His which to them is also of necessity precept. We have now to inquire what the subject-matter of this oft-repeated caution is. It is threefold in form — " Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision." A class is thus prominently brought forward, and its distinctive marks are adduced, — a class of men whose doings have to be watched. The Philippians are to keep their eye upon them, so that, should they appear, they may be at once detected 1 Vid. Xenophon, Mem. iv. 4. 6. LECT. XIV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 1-6. 153 and avoided. The danger is regarded not as actually present, but as anticipated. It is simply a threatened danger ; yet to be forewarned is to be forearmed. But the article " the," so emphatic as it is, points out these evil men as a class already well known by report to the Philippians, and a class, too, against which they were aware that the apostle had already cautioned other Churches. We thus find in the emphatic use of the article an incidental confirmation of the explanation of " the same things " given above. The meaning is, "the dogs, the evil workers, the concision," who till now are not alluded to in this Epistle at all, but who are none the less known to the Philippians, because they (the Philippians) were acquainted with "the same things " which already in other letters had been written about them. Who then are these ? Now, it has been concluded from the threefold form of the sentence that there are three distinct classes thus branded, viz. apostates, heretics, and open foes : so Van Hengel. Or again, as Weiss with great elaboration seeks to prove, " the dogs " may refer to the heathen, with their distinctive marks of profanity and uncleanness — the "crooked and perverse generation" (ii. 15), among whom be lievers " are seen as lights in the world " — men " who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Eph. iv. 19). " The evil workers," again, may be the so-called Christian teachers already mentioned in i. 15-17, in their self-conceit and hatred of Paul, preach ing Christ indeed, yet in a spirit which is very far from beina His — evil workers, false labourers in the Master's true vineyard. " The concision," last of all, may repre sent the Jews in their blind dependence on mere 154 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIV. external rites, and in their envenomed enmity towards the truth, themselves persisting in adherence to their carnal ordinances, and insisting upon the inflicting of these burdens upon Gentile converts. It might seem at first sight that the proper explanation is reached by this view. But what follows presents a serious objec tion to it. According to this exposition, the apostle's reasoning in regard to these dangerous enemies who are to be shunned would apply properly only to the last category. It fits only into the case of the Jews ; in regard to heathen and ill-disposed Christians it is meaningless. Whereas it is abundantly clear that the argument applies to the whole three. It is almost certain, then, that only one class is specified, and that this one class is the Jewish people, with an implied reference to Judaizing Christians. The thrice repeated " Beware," and the several designations to which it is attached, arise simply out of the intensity of the writer's emotion. " The dogs ; " possibly turning a common saying to his own definite purpose,1 the apostle lays hold of the most signally opprobrious appellation he can find — a name that possibly in every language, but pre-eminently in the languages of the East, represents the perfection of scorn. We can imagine his feelings, as, himself a Jew, he hurls it at his unbelieving and perverse countrymen. We may believe that he would not have applied it to the Gen tiles, whose apostle he was, and over whose ignorance he mourned, and for whose salvation he yearned. It was now rather the Jews who had earned this name by their arrogance and blind hatred of others. To them now pertains the ignominy of the name, whatever their vaunted ceremonial cleanness may be, or the superiority 1 " Tritum fortasse proverbium ad rem suam convertens," Van Hengel. LECT. XIV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 1-6. 155 among the nations which they claim. What does the word suggest ? Bold shamelessness, envy, insatiable greed, rapacity, and filth ; or, as some think, loud howling and snapping directed against the truth and its defenders ? This latter view receives some counte nance from the direct application of the name " dogs " to persecutors in some of the Messianic Psalms.1 But it is neither needful nor desirable in any such way as this to fix down the meaning of the allusion. The word is employed simply as a general denunciation of scorn for those who by their rejection of Christ Jesus have placed themselves wilfully outside of the covenant blessings, and among those of whom in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem, before the volume of the book is closed, it is said, " without are dogs." These men justify this designation of disgrace, inas much as they are "the evil workers," wily workers. Similarly we find that the wicked and rejected among the Jews are called by our Lord Himself " workers of iniquity" (Luke xiii. 27), as contrasted with the faith ful and accepted among the Gentiles. But here the allusion is not to workers of what is evil, so much as to workers in an evil way. They are men who, imagining all the while that they are expending their energies rightly, are yet only mischievous. They are labouring from evil motives and by evil means, and also, as necessarily follows, towards an evil end. This is declared to be evident, for they are " the concision " — the most contemptuous appellation of all. It is universally acknowledged that this is a happy rendering of the original word, preserving, as it does, 1 Dr. Weiss gives a long but not very instructive list of the various shades of meaning which commentators have given to the appellation. 156 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIV. the play upon the word " circumcision." Substituting the abstract for the concrete, the apostle is describing the adherents of this so-called concision. Circumcision, which as a rite enjoined upon the Jewish nation once had its significance and value, is circumcision no longer. It is now meaningless, useless, degrading. It is henceforth the cutting of the flesh, — bodily muti lation, and nothing more, — a practice no better than that of the followers of Baalim in their vain competi tion with the prophet of the Lord, " cutting themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them" (1 Kings xviii. 28). Thus it is that the scorn which God's chosen people once so freely heaped upon the Gentiles, one of their own race, while yearning over them with all the tenderness of his heart, the apostle of the Gentiles now turns upon themselves. He declares their distinctive rite to be henceforth no badge of honour, but a brand of disgrace. As showing the progressive attitude of Paul's own mind towards Judaizing practices, it may be useful to cite what Dr. Birks has said,1 in tracing the very striking gradation in the apostle's language regarding circumcision : " In Acts xiii. 39 circumcision is included in the negative description as a part of the law which could not justify. In the Epistle to the Galatians its spiritual inefficiency is proved, Gal. v. 6 ; but it still remains the distinctive title of the Jews, Gal. ii. 9-12. In 1 Cor. vii. 18, 19, it is spoken of as a point of in difference. In later Epistles stronger language is used. In Eom. ii. 28, 29, the substance of the ordinance is claimed for every true believer, while the shadow is assigned to the unbelieving Jew. In Col. ii. 11, iii. ] 1, 1 Horce Apost. p. 271. LECT. XIV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 1-6. 157 the true circumcision is described as the exclusive privilege of the believer in Christ ; and in Phil. iii. 2, 3, the very name is denied to those who rejected or perse cuted the gospel of Christ, and an expressive term of reproach is substituted as the proper designation of those who rested in their outward circumcision." The apostle proceeds now to justify his declaration thus : " For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." It is as if he had said, I have called these men " the concision," not the circum cision, for it is " we," all true believers in Christ Jesus, Jews and Gentiles alike, and not they, who are now "the Israel of God" (Gal. vi. 16);— "For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly ; neither is that circum cision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly : and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter" (Eom. ii. 28, 29). We are thus taught that Christianity is described in Scripture, not as directly opposed to true Judaism, but rather as the actual fulfilment of it, the unfolding of its inner spiritual essence. But while this is so, Christianity is at the same, time represented as utterly opposed to all Judaism which sets itself up against the religion of Christ. The marks, or notes of the true circumcision, which is the portion of all believers, are simply these. They, those who possess it, "worship by the Spirit of God." The "service of God " (Eom. ix. 4) now pertains to them ; and theirs is a spiritual priesthood, ever offering up the acceptable sacrifice of the heart, because they are renewed and taught and sustained by the Spirit of God. Our Lord's own words to the woman of Samaria are henceforth realized : " The hour cometh, and now is, when the 15 8 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIV. true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." Not on certain spots, not by certain rites (in the matter neither of to7to? nor of T/307ro?), but by the indwelling of that Divine Spirit of adoption are men enabled to cry, " Abba, Father." By His energizing presence in the heart are men born again ; not by external service, but in the heart, — "in truth" do they become His children. Here we have the charter of our spiritual liberty secured for evermore. The worship which is accept able is spiritual and moral, not outward and ritual. It follows that where this worship is rendered there can be no boasting or glorying, except that which is "in the Lord." What Dr. Chalmers has called "the ex pulsive power of a new affection " has expelled all else. The believer henceforth exclaims, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. vi. 14). Henceforth there can be no trusting in " the flesh," for flesh is the direct antithesis to " the spirit." All that the word " flesh " in Pauline usage implies — whatever is merely outward in man, and is away from Christ 5 — must cease to be regarded as a ground of confidence. Like the brazen serpent, the object in Hezekiah's reign of superstitious reverence, but declared to be Nehushtan, only a thing of brass, so is all legal ordinance simply a vain thing. In his ardent, impetuous assault on these, his Jewish opponents, the apostle proceeds to show that, on their own false ground of boasting he himself could, if he so desired or dared, claim the advantage over them all. 1 "Quidquid est externum in homine et extra Christum." LECT. XIV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 1-6. 159 Such passages as 2 Cor. xi. 18-23, and Eom. xi. 1, suggest that this mode of meeting his adversaries and turning their arguments against themselves, was a favourite one with him. It served at once the purpose both of self-defence and of attack. He says, " Though I myself might have confidence in the flesh : if any other man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more." While he utterly condemns their point of view, they are not to suppose that he does so because he cannot make it his own. So far from this, he asserts that he could even more justly claim it than they. He draws up a list, as it were, of seven articles, in which as a Jew he might boast of himself as standing in a position higher than theirs. " Circumcised the eighth day," — he was therefore neither an Ishmaelite, who submitted to the rite in his fourteenth year, nor a mere adult proselyte. " Of the stock of Israel " (vid. 2 Cor. xi. 22). He was therefore no descendant of proselytes, but conspicuously a scion of the covenant stock. He had no Idumsean blood coursing in his veins ; his ancestor was Jacob, the father of the patriarchs, • the prince of God. " Of the tribe of Benjamin." He knew from which tribe he had sprung, — a knowledge which to many of his opponents did not belong, — and it was the tribe which traced its- begin ning to the loved and honoured Eachel, a tribe also which during the great division was loyal to the sceptre of Judah, and on whose territory the sacred city stood. It was, further, a tribe foremost in war : " After thee, Benjamin," was Israel's battle-cry (Judg. v. 14). It was, last of all, the tribe of the first king, whose name, Saul, the apostle himself had borne. "A Hebrew of Hebrews," — he was therefore no Hellenist, but one of pure Hebrew language and training and customs, 160 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIV. both hereditarily and personally. In having both his parents Hebrew, and his teacher the celebrated Gamaliel, he was pre-eminently a Jew. Nay, more, " As touching the law, a Pharisee," — and therefore as to matters regarding the interpretation and observance of the Mosaic law, he could claim to be a member of the straitest sect, even that of the Pharisees. " As touching zeal, persecuting the Church," — a sad record this of his attachment, as a zealot, to the law ! Self- abased, as he said it, counting himself as once having a place among " the evil workers " whom he has just denounced, he yet, from his opponents' point of view, claims even this bad pre-eminence as a matter in which he might boast. He had sought to destroy the Church, — Christ's own mystical body : the glorified Saviour had said, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" " As touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless," — therefore as to observance of the cold, formal precepts of right living, he was in the outward, common judgment of men one without re proach and above suspicion, — in the discharge of all moral duties a conscientious and estimable man. A man may be all this ; yet in order to be a Christian he must turn his back upon his former self. He must renounce his past life, his so-called excellences, his "self," if he would "gain Christ and be found in Him." Now this defunct controversy, here so vividly por trayed, between Jew and Gentile, has its abiding significance. Luther knew this well when he laid hold of the Epistle to the Galatians, and wielded it as a weapon against Romanism. The old controversy ever reappears, and that in two forms. It arises in the battle with the world : outward, formal respectability LECT. XIV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 1-6. 161 is declared to be nothing in the sight of God. It arises also in the struggle with undue ritualism within the Church. This, too, is nothing ; one thing only is needful, "a new creature." All true Christian worship, that of direct adoration and that of daily obedience is " by the Spirit of God." LECTURE XV. "Si Christum nosti, nil est, si ccetera nescis." Joh. Valent. Andrese in Heobner. " 0 wie so glucklich w'dren wir, Du unser Herzenskbnig1 Wenn wir nichts wu'ssten auser Dir, Es sei viei Oder wenig, Und wenn wir jedes andre Ding Nur gauz vergessen kbnnten, So wichtig oder so gering Es andre Menschen nennten." " 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 excel lency 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 God by faith." — Phil. iii. 7-9. A LL that belonged to the apostle as a Jew, and -^- by which in earlier days as Saul he had been accustomed to lay store — the prerogatives which he could claim, the characteristics in which he prided himself, the attainments which he had laboriously ac quired — all the separate items, which he has just been describing in detail — he declares he had counted up at the time of his great change, and still counts up, and the sum of them all is only one huge loss. Previously, indeed, in his estimation they had been gains ; and to him at the time, so far as he personally was con cerned, they had not only been apparent gains ; they had been real. But he will no longer so regard them ; LECT. XV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 7-9. 163 he conceives them now simply as loss. In the all- important account-book which he keeps of his life, the entries he had once made, in all their number and variety, on the gain side, are now remorselessly trans ferred to the side of loss. So soon as the light of Christ's own truth broke in upon his soul, debit and credit with him had entirely and for ever changed places. Thus in a peculiarly striking and apt mer cantile figure does he depict the entire reversal of his life. Once " apprehended of Christ Jesus," he felt that his former so-called gains could no longer be retained. Now that he had gained Christ, they ceased for him to have aught of value. He considers them "loss :" not only loss, but, if he were for a moment to value them as he had hitherto done, as entailing nothing but loss. In his eyes they are not simply useless ; they are worse than useless — they are essentially harmful. They are so in this respect, that whenever they are valued they keep alive a spirit of self-righteousness, and the cherish ing of that spirit destroys all right sense of personal unworthiness, and helplessness, and need, and so hinders the reception of the blessing which is in Christ. Therefore it is that the apostle feels that in reality he gains by losing. It has been said (by Lestrange), " He that loses anything and gets wisdom by it, is a gainer by the loss." This truth the apostle realized, and the whole explanation of it lies in the words " for Christ." But the declaration goes farther than this. He will not for a moment allow it to be supposed that he had ultimately modified in any way the estimate of things which he formed at his conversion. Men mio-ht think that his convictions had changed, now that they had " passed through the crucible of time." But no : he will reiterate them, and that too with renewed 164 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XV. emphasis. " Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss : " his language grows in force. He had said, " whatsoever things were gain to me," he will now say " all things," without limitation or reserve. All conceivable worldly advantages — the privileges of Judaism, and everything that the world loves and seeks — he now, even in view of all he has already suffered " for Christ," calmly contemplates as loss. As in the past so now he renounces all. Like the mariner in near danger of shipwreck, he tosses all his goods over board that life may be retained. He does this joyfully : he even exults in doing it, for he now understands the meaning of his Master's words, " What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? " With him " the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus " is supreme, for the possession of that knowledge is the salvation of the soul. It is the recognition of Christ Jesus as the Saviour. " My Lord," Paul says. He had known about Christ before : but the knowledge of Him in this new and blissful relation was first vouchsafed when in the light of " the sundering firma ment," on the way to Damascus, he saw the Lord. Henceforth, as the utterance of inmost love and adoring gratitude and loyal obedience, he exclaimed, "Mv Lord," and the word "My" makes it the knowledge of the heart. All bliss is gathered up in this, for thus to know Christ Jesus is to be accepted of God. God the Father through His prophet has said, "By His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many." The apostle having " come to himself," having seen him self in the fierce, all-revealing light of Christ's truth, and so having become " self-scorned, self-spoiled, self-hated, and self-slain," has surrendered what he once so highly LECT. XV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 7-9. 165 prized — " the poor toys of his imprisonment ; " but as the Lord's freedman he has now gained all. He has for gotten, forsworn, disdained all his earlier aspirations, because his "world-wide soul" now lays hold of "the further hope," even to be found in Christ at last. It is therefore " the excellency " of this knowledge which is here emphasized. It is the recognition of this excel lency which enables him to set it over against everything else. " The manifold wisdom of God " is his. He wears it; as the word " manifold " implies, like a richly variegated, many-tinted flower - chaplet around his brows, and all else to him is as nothing. Even the noblest of earthly possessions, worldly knowledge itself, compared with this is poor and despicable. It is of the head, while this is of the heart. It is "that knowledge which separates, in bitterness, hardness, and sorrow, the heart of the full-grown man from the heart of the child," 1 and its ever-increasing possession brings ofttimes a load of new weariness ; but this heart- knowledge of Christ Jesus brings men to the joy of childlike innocence, and endows the soul with new born strength. In regard to it the words have their highest meaning, " that the soul be without knowledge it is riot good." " True knowledge is of virtue only," so says one of the greatest teachers of our age. The saying is true in a sense, but it needs to be illumined by Christian thought before it can take its place among the sayings of highest wisdom. True knowledge, we must rather say, is of righteousness, that is, justification and sanctification — "the righteousness which is of God by faith." To the soul oppressed by " the over mastering agony of sin," all else is but loss, refuse, that which is loathsome and loathed. He, on the other 1 Ruskin, Crown of Wild Olives, p. 80. 166 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XV. hand, who has proved the excellency of this heart- knowledge can say — " Wealth, honours, fame, — hope's common range, — We name, and smile, and pass them by : No shine or shade without can change The vision of the inward eye." Such an one, though like the apostle he suffer the loss of all things, possesses the word of promise — " And in that charter reads with sparkling eyes A title to a treasure in the skies." Paul has been giving expression in these declarations of his to no mere untried sentiment. He could make, as he now does, his appeal to fact. He could point to what had been his own experience. He had literally for Christ " suffered the loss of all things." He there fore knew well what he was speaking about. Utter confiscation of his all had taken place. But like another great teacher, it could be said of him, that " he was tender to dulness to all forms of poverty." Family, society, wealth, intellectual status, these are as nothing. So eager is he to declare this convincingly to others, that he stretches his language even further ; he says, " And do count them but dung " — garbage, to be re jected with disgust. This, upon the whole, is the more likely meaning. Lightfoot, indeed, relying upon a derivation of the word which is accepted by many, would make it signify, the refuse or leavings of a feast, the food thrown away from the table and offered to the dogs ; and he adds, " The Judaizers spoke .of themselves as banqueters seated at the Father's table, of Gentile Christians as dogs greedily snatching up the refuse meat which fell therefrom. St. Paul has reversed the image. The Judaizers are themselves the dogs (ver. 2) ; LECT. XV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 7-9. 167 the meats served to the sons of God are spiritual meats ; the ordinances, which the formalists value so highly, are the mere refuse of the feast." But this exposition, or expansion of the apostle's thought, is too artificial. He is speaking of " all things " in the full extent of the words, including, indeed, but going far beyond, the mere ordinances of the law ; and these " all things" are represented not as coming in any sense from God's table of New Testament blessing, but as utterly alien to it, — what has to be thrown away, indeed, before that feast of good things can be enjoyed. The idea of worthlessness, and consequent rejection, is all that is brought out, and this as contrasted with preciousness and consequent acceptance. Paul so regards " all things " as dregs, as offal, in order that he " may win Christ " — that he may gain Him ; not the mere knowledge of Him, not merely His favour ; still less simply, that he may become a Chris tian. These are feeble and tasteless renderings, true, indeed, but far from exhibiting the whole truth. To win Christ is to gain Him in all His exhaustless fulness, to gain Him, too, for one's own direct personal benefit. It is, to use the oft-quoted words of Bishop Hall, " to lay fast hold upon Him, to receive Him inwardly into our bosoms, and so to make Him ours and ourselves His, that we may be joined to Him as our head, espoused to Him as our husband, incor porated into Him as our nourishment, engrafted in Him as our stock, and laid upon Him as a sure foundation."1 Such gain is satisfying gain, because it is sanctifying. To him who wins Christ, by giving up all for Him, the assurance is given, "All things are yours." He has "that good part which shall not be taken from" him. 1 Christ Mystical, chap. vi. 168 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XV. While the prophet Habakkuk denounces "woe to him that getteth evil gain," he who gains Christ gains ever lasting life, even bliss for evermore. But while such are the thoughts suggested by win ning Christ, we have to notice how the apostle himself expands the expression ; he adds, " and be found in Him." Thus there rises up before us here chiefly, though not probably exclusively, the great day of account, the day of unfailing and impartial scrutiny, when to be in safety is to be in Christ. When in the days of old the avenger of blood, " with his sword-arm free," was abroad and ever closer in his approach, the one gain which the fleeing Hebrew sought — no other had any value for him — was to be found in the City of Refuge, secure within its closed gates ; so when earth's year of grace is ended, on that day which closes the ages of time and opens up "the Now" of eternity, the one gain is to be found in that Man who is " ordained to be a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." Paul, as " a prisoner of hope," looks forward to this, and he is joyful in the Lord. Even in bonds he felt that "things present" were his, because he knew also of these " things to come." But this "being found in Christ" receives its more doctrinal or theological definition in what follows. Indeed, we have set before us in the next clauses what has almost attained to the dignity of a locus classicus in connection with the great central doctrine of justi fication by faith alone. " 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 God by faith " — the margin of the Revised Version possibly has even a better rendering : " Not having as my righteousness that which is of the law." LECT. XV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 7-9. 169 The apostle thus goes back in words to what through out the whole passage is the undertone of his thoughts, the contrast between the law as his Jewish opponents regarded it, and the gospel of the grace of God in which he himself was rejoicing. He declares that, when he speaks about being found in Christ, he means that he shall have then, as he has even now, a true righteousness — one which he can emphatically call his own ; a righteousness, too, which is all-powerful to justify and to claim acceptance with God, but a righteousness none the less which in no sense he has wrought out for himself by a fulfilling of the law's demands. He rejects that thought with all the energy of his soul. To think that such a poor and imperfect righteousness could avail would be to trust in a refuge of lies. He knows that the law is holy, but he also knows that no man has rendered to its requirements a whole, a holy obedience. Hence, then, he in effect declares that he is no longer to be classed with those who " vainly go about to establish their own righteous ness " (Rom. x. 3). The true righteousness which he now possesses, and which will stand him in good stead on "that day," is an imputed righteousness, — his because realized within him " through faith in Christ," the fulfill er of the law. This is emphatically " the righteousness of God" (Rom. i. 17, iii, 21). It is " of God," because it is His gift freely bestowed. It comes out of His boundless love to the worst of sinners ; but, indeed, in relation to this gift the words " better and worse" are meaningless. " There is no difference ; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God " (Rom. iii. 22, 23). It must be accepted by all exactly in the same way, because all stand on exact equality as to the fact of transgression. It comes, that is to say, 170 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XV. " upon all them that believe." It comes, then, through Christ, and by faith on Him. He has wrought it out : we, on our part, receive it by faith, and " that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God." " By faith," the apostle again repeats (iirl rrj -n-ia-Tei), but he has changed the preposition. He means that the right eousness he has thus described is infinitely precious, because it rests " on the ground of faith," and on that alone, — on no treacherous sand, but on the rock- foundation ; that faith, that simple heart-acceptance of Christ's righteousness, which He Himself gives. It may be proper here to notice that the impetuous, almost fierce contrasts drawn by the apostle between law and gospel afford no justification of the disparage ment of the Levitical law in itself, and the denial of its divine origin, in which in early days the Mar- cionites and other sectaries indulged. To say, as these did, that if that law had been of God it would never have been denounced by His apostle in such opprobrious terms as " loss " and " refuse," is altogether beside the mark. It is entirely to misapprehend the apostle's course of thought. He is not condemning the law itself, nor even the legal righteousness which it de mands. He is scorning rather his own previous reliance on his imperfect and formal obedience to it, and his self-righteous confidence in the privileges and distinctions which, as belonging to a nation to whom the law had been given, he possessed, and possessed in a greater measure than most of his fellow-countrymen could boast. While he thus felt and spoke, he knew well the value, the preciousness of that law, which, rightly used, was a tutor to bring men unto Christ, that they might be justified by faith (Gal. iii. 24). All such similes, then, as appear so conspicuously in Patristic LECT. XV.] CHAP. III. VERS. 7-9. 171 exposition may be accepted as representing truth, though they have no special significance in relation to the apostle's present argument — such similes as these — the candle is no longer needed when the sun has arisen ; the ladder may be neglected when the height has been at tained; silver maybe surrendered when gold is offered; lead may be at once left when diamonds are lying at our feet : so similarly is it in our relation to the law. We do not revile it when we turn our eyes away from it, but we simply look to what is far better ; for now and hence forth " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness," " Christ is all and in all." " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircum cision, but a new creature." " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things are passed away : behold, all things are become new." Turning back to the mercantile figure which lies embedded in the opening words of this section, we are reminded of the paramount importance of having the record-books of our inner life rightly kept. The great German satirist, Heinrich Heine,1 has scornfully depicted the mere worldling thus : " Business men have the same religion throughout the whole world. They find in their office their church, in their desk their prayer-cushion, in their ledger their Bible. The warehouse is their inner sanctuary; the exchange bell is their summons to prayer ; their God is their gold ; their faith is their credit." The apostle was never so low in the scale as these words represent justly the mere worldling to be. He was, even as Saul the perse cutor, of a very different and a far higher type. None the less these scathing words describe too closely the character and conduct of countless thousands, who all 1 Brief e aus Berlin. 172 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. _ XV. the time are not ashamed and not afraid to bear the name of Christian. But in contrast to such a picture we have the new man, renewed in heart and life ; he, too, has his all-engrossing concerns. He, too, has his books, recording the transactions which take place in bis inmost soul. He keeps them rightly. No false entries are seen there. The things of the world, what ever their value in themselves may be, are, as related to the soul's interests, entered as loss. The things of the kingdom alone appear as gain. True wealth — that which alone can claim the name of substance — is summed up in righteousness : life in Christ Jesus — life which in Him is everlasting. LECTURE XVI. " oV ou ('Irirou X/Jiff-roD) iav [avj xlBatpirw; i%&)fj.lv ri SnoSatve t us to oivrev — atfoj, to £-/jv kutou oi* imv iv v)fitv," — Ignatius, ad Magnesios v. "Sanctitas via intelligentice." " 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. " PT^HAT I may know Him : " it is usual to under- -"- stand this clause as indicating the final end or purpose to be realized. By a slight change in gram matical form, not very easily made intelligible in an English rendering, but quite frequent in New Testament Greek, the apostle would thus go on to explain the design of what is described in the preceding state ments. So far as the structure of the language is con cerned, there can be no objection taken to this view. But there are difficulties of an exegetical kind which stand conspicuously in its way. If the clause repre sents final end or purpose, the question arises, the final end or purpose of what ? Of the gaining Christ Jesus, or the being found in Him, or of the immediately preceding " faith," or of " the righteousness which is of God," or of the " not having a righteousness of mine own " ? All these varied views have their adherents, and whichever of them is selected, the apostle's train of thought appears somewhat obscure. Is there not then a far simpler and more natural explanation lying 174 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVI. quite openly before us ? May it not be this, simply to attach this clause on to the first part of ver. 8 ? The knowledge of Christ Jesus is the leading thought in the apostle's mind, or rather, " the excellency " of this knowledge making all else appear but as loss ; what follows is but a digression in every way natural, and indeed pre-eminently characteristic of Pauline style. But now in ver. 10 he reverts to the prominent thought — it has only, after all, been temporarily in abeyance — he resumes it by a short repetition, in effect, of this kind, " the excellency of the knowing (tov yvcbvai) Him, and the power of His resurrection," and so on. This placing of ver. 1 0 in simple apposition with the earlier part of ver. 8, and so regarding it as a resumption of theme, so far from "disturbing the easy and natural sequence of thought " (Ellicott), makes the whole passage at once clear. It accounts for what otherwise seems only a tasteless and needless repetition ofthe words, "that I may know Him," and it gives a statement, which the reader naturally looks for, of what the knowledge of Christ actually means, and of that in which its supreme excellency consists. What then, we have to inquire, is signified by our knowing Christ, knowing Him with the conscious fellowship of the heart ? The range of this knowledge is set forth in the clauses which follow. His resurrection and sufferings and death are specified, and these in the order which they naturally assume in the apostle's mind, and indeed in the order of universal Christian experience in relation to them. The first is " the power of His resurrection." We are to understand by this not the divine power which was manifested in His rising from the dead, but the power which inherently lies in His resur- LECT. XVI.] CHAP. III. VERS. 10, 11. 175 rection, and which is exerted efficaciously upon His people.1 It is the living heart-knowledge of the significance and virtue of the Saviour's resurrec tion as a convincing evidence to the believer that His whole work for the salvation of man has been triumphantly completed. Hence we find that the fact of the Saviour's rising again was the prominent and constant theme of apostolic testimony. We read, " with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ; and great grace was upon them all." " Indeed, it is impossible to read the reports of the early teaching of the apostles without noticing that their teaching centred in, and rested on, the resurrection. The resurrection was their reason for teaching at all ; it was also the main substance of what they taught. If they were deceived as to its reality, their teaching had neither basis nor substance ; their exhortations, their apologies, their appeals, their en treaties, their interpretations of prophecy, their account of the facts before them, their anticipations as to the future, all became forthwith a confused and irrational array of phrases ; and the world might well regret that such teaching had not already died away upon the breeze and been forgotten. Nay, St. Paul uses sterner language. If Christ be not raised, ' we are found false witnesses of God ; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ.' Full well might he exclaim, ' If Christ be not risen . . . our preaching is vain.'"B The virtue or power, then, of our Lord's resurrection which the apostle expresses his desire increasingly to know, lies in its being the seal and pledge, first of all, to those whom " God hath quickened together with Christ " (Eph. ii. 5), of their justification even now in 1 " Vis et potestas." 2 Liddon, Easter in St. Paul's, i. p. 56. 176 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVI. God's sight. He was " raised again for our justifica tion" (Eom. iv. 25). And then of their final triumph individually over death and the grave in their own bodily resurrection. " If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus 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 " (Eom. viii. 11). And, last of all, it is the seal and pledge of His people's glorification in heaven. "Wlien Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory " (Col. iii. 4). Thus, experimentally to know the power of Christ's resurrection, in these different aspects of it, is to possess in Him an ever- living, ever-present, ever -sustaining Lord, the author and dispenser of all spiritual and eternal life. This knowledge is infinite gain, for it enables its possessor triumphantly to exclaim, " Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us " (Eom. viii. 34). In all these varying lights then we see set forth " the power of His resurrection," and we learn why the apostle gives it the first place in his thoughts as indeed gathering up in itself all Christian truth. It has been said, " the resurrection of Christ, once performed in act, is im mortal in energy ; He rises again in every new-born child of God. Every hour witnesses this incessant work of the new life He inspires ; yea, He is now as active in the miracle of inward resurrection as He shall yet be in the great day of the universal one. Wondrous as was His own rising from the grave, it is yet more wondrous, if that be possible, in its consequences than in itself. ... In the union of Christ with His faithful there is a perpetual reiteration of all He did, even to LECT. XVI.] CHAP. III. VERS. 10, 11. 177 the end of the world ; He is for ever crucified in the self-denying, for ever buried in the self-forgetting, for ever risen in the joyous freedman of God. ... As the resurrection was the antecedent ground and proof of His power to build the kingdom of -God upon earth, so is the continued work of resurrection His main function in building it. He spreads the mighty miracle of His own resurrection from the dead along the whole line of its history ; He repeats it in every new member of the city of God ; the Church's is an everlasting Easter." J No one called Christian can ever utter those words of blank despair in regard to his Lord — " Now He is dead ! Par hence He lies In the lorn Syrian town ; And on His grave, with shining eyes, The Syrian stars look down." 2 Eather the gladsome utterance "He is risen" has flooded every believer's soul with a ceaseless joy. But when the apostle speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and "the power of His resurrec tion," another thought rises up at once in his mind. If men do rejoice in the knowledge of the Saviour's resurrection-power, they must also be willing to know His passion-fellowship. Hence the next clause, " And the fellowship of His sufferings." There is a sense in which, we must never forget, all believers have this participation spiritually with Christ Jesus, and knowT that they have it, and glory in the knowledge of it. When the heart by faith in a risen Saviour, in all the power of His resurrection, has been brought under the influences of "the powers of the world (age) to come" (Heb. vi. 5), — influences which nullify the 1 Archer Butler on " the Power of the Resurrection." 2 Matth. Arnold, Obermann Once more. M 178 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVI. opposing influences of the present world, — then the renewed man can say as the utterance of his own inner experience, "lam crucified together with Christ ; nevertheless I live" — "By Christ Jesus the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." In this inner sphere, then, — the region of his hidden spiritual life, — the Christian knows Christ " in the fellowship of His sufferings." Thus, as the Saviour had His passion on the cross, set up on Calvary at Jerusalem, so we may say, there is also the cross, a Calvary, in each renewed heart, where His people have their passion— are crucified with Christ, that is to say, the flesh with the affections and lusts.1 This is not language meaningless or mystic. It is a strictly scriptural way of depicting the central fact of every believer's experience in his conversion and sanctification. The apostle elsewhere says, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Christ's people have thus an inner communion with Him in that passion of His whereby " In one complete and sacred agony He lifted all the weight of all the world." All evangelical theology clings to this representation of saving truth as " the summed sweetness " of the gospel of reconciliation. But while a general allusion to this probably underlies the apostle's present course of thought, the fellowship which he is here declaring that he knows and values, is fellowship specially with his Master in the sufferings which attachment to His cause entails — participation in the sufferings of " the Man of sorrows," by enduring all things for His sake — Christ- likeness in trials as well as in character, and these two indeed as inseparably associated. " He that is near Me 1 Vid. Liddon's Easter Sermons, i. 176. LECT. XVI.] CHAP. III. VERS. 10, 11. 179 is near the fire," 1 is, as has been earlier stated, one of our Lord's own unwritten sayings. Those, that is to say, who are baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire are also baptized into fiery trials. Paul had in very abundant measure the experimental knowledge through out his whole apostolic career of this fellowship with his Lord. He had the honour and glory of this blessed companionship, he had proved the excellency of thus knowing Christ ; for it had enabled him to suffer and be strong, knowing that through much tribula tion he must pass into the kingdom. We have his own exposition, as it were, of this clause in such utterances as these, and they are frequent throughout his Epistles, "If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together" (Eom. viii. 17). " For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth in Christ " (2 Cor. i. 5). " All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecutions" (2 Tim. iii. 12). This is a universal Christian experience. Every one who knows — who feels in his heart the power of the Saviour's resur rection, so far from shrinking from this fellowship with Him in trial, will glory in it, not indeed with the false and exaggerated taste for martyrdom which was so prevalent in the early days of the Church, but with a humble and chastened spirit, " As. sorrowing yet always rejoicing." It must needs be so ; for while likeness to Christ Jesus produces suffering, because the world will persecute it, the suffering tends on its part to prove and promote that likeness by bringing His image into growing distinctness in His people's hearts and lives. Hence with a dim forecasting, it may be, of his own martyr - death, the apostle 1 6 syyvg fiov lyyvg tou irvpo;. 180 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVI. adds, as confirmatory and expository of what he has just said, " becoming conformed unto His death," literally, "being fashioned to the likeness of His death." His partnership with his Lord and Master in suffering he cheerfully contemplates as becoming closer and closer, till it reach its completion in his own violent death. " Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus " (2 Cor. iv. 10, vid. also Eom. vi. 3 ; Col. ii. 11, 12), he anticipates the approaching close of his life-service, and he trustingly knows that it will be like Christ's, because it will be met in His strength. He thinks of it as showing forth Christ's spirit in the person of His servant, this spirit of submission, self-abnegation, yearning for the salva tion of men, calm trustfulness of heart. If he, the disciple, exhibits these in his death, then the disciple will be as his Master ; the apostle will be conformed unto the Saviour's death. But now in the alternation of feeling which medita tion upon such things could not fail to produce, Paul seems to dread that the very earnestness of his words, the intensity of his utterances about these experiences of his, should have the appearance of savouring of spiritual pride. Hence, summoning up the thought of his own unprofitableness and imperfection, realizing how far he is after all from Christ's likeness, he checks himself by exclaiming, " if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead." This is the exclamation, not so much of actual uncertainty as of watchful, self-distrustful anxiety. He who had said in this very Epistle, " For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain," and whose whole language in addressing the Philippians is that of jubilant though humble con fidence as to his final reward, is not here expressing LECT. XVI.] CHAP. III. VERS. 10, 11. 181 distressful doubt in regard to the future ; he is simply clothing in words his eager struggling towards the goal. It is the declaration of a truly consecrated soul, guard ing, indeed, against all false security, but in " the impetuous urgency of a fierce unrest," reaching forward to the consummation of all his hopes.1 " If by any means," by making any sacrifice or by enduring any suffering whatever, — he is ready to do and bear all, that he may arrive at this goal of his desire. And what is this goal ? It is " the resurrection from the dead." We are thus brought back to the clause with which this short paragraph starts. The preciousness, the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and the power of His resurrection, consists in its fullest form in this, that it secures, for those who are His, participation in the resurrection unto eternal life and glory. The allusion is undoubtedly not to the general resur rection of the dead (1 Cor. xv. 42). All must attain unto that. No striving is needed thereto. It stands fast in the decrees of heaven, and none can fall short of it or frustrate it. What is referred to here is that which is to be reached, as a safe and peaceful haven (icaTavTrjo-a>, vid. Acts xxvii. 12) — that which is attained after clanger and toil, and attained as a blissful reward. It is what is elsewhere called " the better resurrection" (Heb. xi. 35), " the resurrection of the just" (Luke xiv. 14 ; Acts iv. 2), "the first resur rection" (Eev. xx. 5). It is the resurrection of " the dead in Christ," those who are " fallen asleep in Jesus," awaiting the blessed and glorified life of heaven (1 Thess. iv. 16 ff.) — the resurrection of those who are " begotten again unto a lively hope by the 1 " Non sollicita et fluctuans dubitatio, sed cura potius continua et sub- missa de se ipso sentiendi modestia innuitur," Storr. 182 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVI. resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away" (1 Pet. i. 3, 4). Such is the aim of all the apostle's hopes and longings, his efforts and prayers — to be found in Christ at last, and so among those who "shall be ever with the Lord," walking with Him in white, and finally rejoicing in "the fellowship," not of His sufferings, but of His glory— clothed in the robe of purity and immortality, the dazzling raiment to which " the gleam of bliss is given." It has been supposed that some countenance is shown here to the theory of annihilation, or the theory that those who are not Christ's remain in Hades. If the general phrase, " the resurrection from the dead," be explained as having a reference only to " the dead in Christ," — if those who are His enemies are ignored in this passage, then is not the inference warranted that it is for believers alone- that the resurrection is in store ? So it has been contended. But the argument is unjust. The apostle has no need here to allude to the general resurrection at all. It is, it is true, an article of his belief, but he has no call to state it here, and indeed the whole course of his thought prohibits allusion to it. It is the resurrec tion "par eminence" — the resurrection unto life alone with which he is concerned, in depicting his own personal relation to Christ, and his longing to share in the bliss of heaven. The resurrection of mankind as a whole has no place in his present utterance, though it has a firm place none the less in his creed. And now it is worthy of notice that this description of heart-knowledge of Christ Jesus, deeply tinged as it is by the apostle's own experiences and surroundings LECT. XVI.] CHAP. III. VERS. 10, 11. 183 and anticipations, is yet a description which all believers must more or less clearly realize as true. It is indeed clothed in language suggested by Paul's own sufferings, and so may appear unreal, at least in part, to those who are far behind him in intensity of the inner life and in trials of the outer. But the description is designed to sustain and cheer the Philippians in view of their troubles and dangers : and it is designed to serve the same purpose for us. This knowledge of Christ Jesus alone has " excellency." It alone is infinite gain. It makes suffering light, for it is borne in fellowship with Him. It makes death stingless, for in His death, to which His people are conformed, He has abolished death. It makes the resurrection-morn the dawning of an eternal day of bliss ; for " them that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." We must then seek the full assurance of faith and of hope in this Saviour who offers His fellowship to us. In a holy confidence, born of humility — a confidence which ever turns away from self, and ever turns to Him, we must endeavour to have a better confession than that which John Sterling on his death-bed wrote to Thomas Carlyle, " I tread the common road into the great darkness, without any thought of fear, and with very much of hope. Certainty, indeed, I have none." Touching as that declaration is, and trustful, too, as we may believe it in his case to have been, it is yet not what we are entitled to rest satisfied with. We may have more. It is our own loss if we have not, and it is also our own blame. We are invited in dividually to exclaim, but only if we truly acknow ledge "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus," " I am persuaded that neither death, nor 184 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVI. life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which, is in Christ Jesus our Lord." LECTUEE XVII. "Currite velociter rectam viam, ipsa enim vos perducit ad patriam, ad Mam patriam, cujus elves angeli sunt, cujus templum Deus, cujus splendor Filius, cujus caritas Spiritus sanctus : civitas sancta, civitas beata, civitas ubi nullus per it amicus, quo nullus admittitur inimicus ; ubi nullus moritur, quia nullus oritur ; nullus infirmatur, quia incorrupta salute Icetatur." — Augustin, de Cant. novo, 10. " 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 t 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." — Phil. iii. 12-14. OTILL carefully guarding against any misunder- *-' standing of his eager, enthusiastic utterances — ¦ ever mindful to balance any statement he has made regarding his personal attainments in the divine life by a free declaration of his personal shortcomings, the apostle proceeds thus : " Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect." In this way he disclaims for himself all self-sufficiency, and at the same time cautions his readers against any tendency on their part to spiritual pride. Obtained what ? Not, as many would have it, " the prize of the high calling," which is afterwards mentioned. His readers could hardly project their thoughts forward to the illustration which, while it is beginning to take shape in the apostle's mind, is as yet entirely unexpressed. It is much simpler and more natural to supply the 186 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVII. object obtained from what precedes. Is it, then, the blessed " resurrection from the dead," with all the fulness of glory which it implies ? No. It would be a mere truism for Paul to say that he had not yet obtained that. Is it, then, "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus " ? Not specially. The very fact that the word " obtained " here stands alone, and, as it were, hangs in suspense, shows that the object to be obtained should not be too minutely defined. What he disclaims having already reached is simply the state ofideal perfection which the pre vious verses in general terms depict. His fervid, impassioned words had presented a noble, a perfect picture to his readers of heart and life consecration. But now he says, do not suppose for a moment that it is a picture of myself. I am not " already made perfect." Perfection he has portrayed as his aim, ^ut not at all as his possession. The truly perfected are those alone who by " death's disrobing hand " have passed from earth to heaven. The glorified saints are " the spirits of just men made perfect." It is they who have reached the consummation of bliss which is to be found in perfect holiness (Heb. xii. 23, and also xi. 40). The Church rightly calls not those who are still in the struggle, but only the martyr-spirits who are crowned, "the perfected ones."1 Frederick Eobertson, in his striking sermon on " Christian Progress by Oblivion of the Past," has said : " It is easily perceivable why this perfection is unattainable in this life. Faultlessness is conceivable, being merely the negation of evil. But perfection is positive, the attainment of all conceivable excellence. It is long as eternity, expansive as God. Perfection is our 1 Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. 3. 25, and 71. 15. LECT. XVII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 12-14. 187 mark ; yet never will the aim be so true and steady as to strike the golden centre. Perfection of character, yet even to the dying hour it will be but this, ' I count not myself to have apprehended.' " The more advanced the renewed man is, the more readily and with the deeper self-abasement does he acknowledge that there are still measureless heights of progress opening up before him, and that towards these he must " strive and pant and yearn." He longs after more light in knowledge, more purity in will, more strength in struggle, more warmth in love, more stedfastness in faith, more joy in all that is Christ-like, — in a word, more consecration to his Master and His service. It is, then, only a false spiritual life which is unwilling to adopt this self-depreciating declaration of the apostle. The greatest of all faults is to acknowledge none. Even in the region of the intellect self-satisfaction is self- destruction. Thorwaldsen proved himself a philosopher as well as an artist when he sorrowfully recognised the first hints of -decaying power in the unfault-finding complacency with which he contemplated one of his later works. He knew too well by this token that there henceforth awaited him, not progress, but decline. The apostle, acknowledging consciousness of the unattained as an impulse to advance, adds, " but I press on." Neither in possession nor in position is he what he desires to be. He has therefore still to pursue his ideal, sending hope before to grasp it. He " follows after " it. And now the metaphor of the race-course begins to come into view. The first indications of it are hardly noticeable, but at length it appears highly developed in its finished beauty. Like the allied one of the Militia Christi, the Christian warfare, as, for instance, we have it in 2 Cor. x. 3-5, it is a favourite 188 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVII. figure with the apostle. But before entering on its con sideration we have to decide the question as to the kind of race to which the allusion is made. Farrar,1 with his glowing rhetoric, thus describes it : " The apostle is like one of those eager characters of whom his guards men so often talked to him when they had returned from the contests in the Circus Maximus, and joined their shouts to those of the myriads who cheered their favourite colours, leaning forward in his flying car, bend ing over the shaken rein and the goaded steed, forgetting everything — :every peril, every competitor, every circling ofthe_meta in the rearms, he, pressed on for the goal by which sat the judges with the palm-garlands that formed tiie~prize?' According to this view, the allusion is to a chariot-race. In this Farrar follows Wordsworth :2 "Doubtless St. Paul, a prisoner in the Palatine Hill, often heard the loud and enthusiastic shouts of the multitude cheering on their favourite charioteers, and applauding the successful efforts of the victors in the course, which stirred so strongly the passions of the Eoman people in 'the age of Nero, who himself entered the lists of com petitors for the prize. St. Paul derives his imagery and language from that exciting spectacle. The apostle has a spiritual circus of his own. He, too, is a charioteer. He presses eagerly onward to the mark. He also has a prize to gain — the palm-branch of victory from the hand of Christ." The passage, however, in some of its details points much more naturally to a foot-race. This is Paul's usual metaphor. . We find it in 1 Cor. ix. 24 and Gal. ii. 2, and in many other places, where it often lies imbedded only in a single word ; and indeed we find it already introduced into this Epistle. We read in chap. ii. 16, "that I may 1 St. Paul, ii. 434. 2 In loc. LECT. XVII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 12-14. 189 have whereof to glory in the clay of Christ that I did not run in vain." Now, we must bear in mind that an illustration of this kind, while in our thoughts it is associated with something of vulgarity, was one emi nently picturesque and vivid to the communities of Paul's age. These athletic contests wre^iryestedjyy. the ancient healHien^wqrld .almost with the sanctity of reIigTomT They suggested .all noble and even solemn thoughts. ___ Thus, with such associations clinging to it, a foot-race was a most fitting symbol of Christian experience. A heathen contest in the apostle's hands is lifted up to a new dignity, becomes consecrated for evermore as illustrative of the zeal and energy of the new life in Christ. Paul says, " I press on ; " literally, I pursue. The word must not be overlooked. We find it in ver. 6, but there rendered "persecuting." It is certainly no casual thing that it is repeated here. It was a word ever in the apostle's memory, because it describes one of " the things which are behind," which he himself never could forget. It spoke to him of his own previous life, when, as " touching zeal, persecuting the Church," he was - arrested by the voice from heaven : " Saul, Saul, why/ pl^secuTielsFniou Mel" This one word seems to have\~ clung to him — haunted him, so that he could hot "rid ^ Himself of it, if indeed Jhe ever so willed. When, for i instance, in Jerusalem he was describing his former life, he said, " I persecuted this way " (Acts xxii. 4, 7). When in the presence of Agrippa he made his defence, ' he said, " I persecuted them even unto strange cities " (Acts xxvi. 11). Again, he. writes to the Corinthians, " I am not meet to be called an apostle, because I per secuted the Church of God" (1 Cor. xv.- 9) ; and to 1 Vid. Dean Howson's Metaphors of St Pault p. 137 ff. 190 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVII. the Galatians : " Beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God, and wasted it" (Gal. i. 13). Now, keeping the solemn use of this word in our view, — a word which he had been taught by his Lord Himself expressly so to use at the time when his life-career was so suddenly changed, — we feel at once that he is making a tacit allusion to his past self when he applies it to describe the new career on which he had entered, and indeed had now so long persevered. He presses on, he pursues, he persecutes .still ; Jbut Jiis ., jrim is now, d entirely reversed^ He has the old zeal, _but_ jt_is _now seen not on the way of death, but on the way jof Jife. " If so be that I may apprehend that for which I was apprehended by Christ Jesus." 1 He pursues — presses on, that he may lay hold of that which his Master designed him to gain when He lovingly laid hold of him. There is a play upon the words similar to what we find in 1 Cor. xiii. 1 2, " But then shall I know even as also I am known." But if there be a hidden reference to the apostle's past life in the word, "I press on," there is certainly a similar reference in the other word, " I was apprehended." We feel at once that it points to his conversion. It is a strong word. It means " I was arrested." Paul on the way to Damascus was seized that he might thence forth serve, for impressment into public service is distinctly implied. He was laid hold of for duty here, for glory hereafter. So, too, it ever is in the case of Christ's people. In the turning-point, the crisis of their inner lives, — in all the infinite variety of cir cumstances attending it, they are all alike laid hold of lovingly, and so made " masterhaft," to use an old ' ' The competing rendering of sp' f>, given in the margin of the Eevised Version, " seeing that also," is not to be preferred. LECT. XVII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 12-14. 191 English word ; that is to say, they are " thirled " henceforth to His service. Tliere is a beauty, and perhaps also a mystic meaning, in the old Greek super stition (wfi^ok^ta), that whosoever in wandering in the woods caught a passing glimpse of the Sylvan God, became from that moment onwards forgetful of all earthly things, and followed in wrapt ecstasy the unseen footsteps of the present god. It is no superstition, but a felt reality, that so soon as the eye of a man's heart has been opened, a,s the apostle's was, to see Christ Jesus, then henceforth he sees no man, and nothing, "save Jesus only." For getting the things which are behind, " he follows the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." " Brethren, I count not myself yet to have apprehended " — in the intense earnestness of appeal, Paul draws still nearer to his readers in the utterance of brotherly love. He desires further both to caution and to encourage them by depict ing his own personal spiritual experiences. He speaks, too, as a man who bv long and faithful self-examination has learned to know himself. " I reckon," he says. He has calculated, as this frequent and favourite Pauline word means, all about himself, and therefore he feels that he is not speaking at random. He declares that whatever others may think about him, or rather what ever others may think or do in regard to themselves, he on his part in relation to his whole Christian course has formed this estimate of himself. He has no ground for self-complacency. He would repeat this with all the emphasis in his power, " But one thing I do " — not " one thing I think or say or even do ;" a better sup plement is, "Ime thing is my concern " (piXei p,oi). We are thus reminded of the saying which fell from our I^dVTips in the household of Bethany, " One thing 192 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVII. is needful" (Luke x. 42) — one thing is of permanent, all-engrossing importance. And here the metaphor expands at once into the fulness of its beauty. Its details, so rich in significance, almost raise it to the dignity of a parable. " Forgetting the things which are behind " — and what are these ? Not, as some hold, the things of his former unregenerate life, his pre-Christian course of conduct, with its Judaism and pride of race and Pharasaic respectability and righteous ness. These he could not but remember, though not to regret, but to renounce them for ever. The refer ence is not to a turning away from past things, as contrasted with the turning, in the spirit of Lot's wife, back to them. The true explanation is not to be sought in the saying of our Lord, " No man having; put_his handto the plough, and .looking., back, Js, fit for the Mngdom_of Godj.' (Luke ix. 62), or in the saying that on one memorable occasion many of His disciples "went back, and walked no more with Him" (John vi. 66), The language in these two passages, indeed, is identical with Paul's (ek ja, 6iriaa>), but the course of thought is different. Nor does the explanation lie in the picture of the awakened sinner in Bunyan's allegory. Christian, when once his face is turned towards the wicket gate, resolutely refuses to look behind towards the city of Destruction he has left. " So I saw in my dream that the man began to run. Now, he had not run far from his own door, but his wife and children perceiving it, began to cry after him to return ; but the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran on, crying, Life ! life ! eternal life ! So he looked not behind him, but fled towards the middle of the plain." This, indeed, is all in strictest accord with true Christian experience, but the figure of the eager foot-runner demands another LECT. XVII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 12-14. 193 explanation. " The things which are behind " must, in* consistency with the metaphor, be understood in the • more restricted sense of previous stages in the race/ < The apostle . therefore is describing the past of his Christian life only — all the progress he may have made since he entered upon the Christian course. And he ' declares that he has no time to survey that. This past is as nothing to him. He has blotted it out of his sight and thought. He deliberately ignores it all, for " the things which are before" alone concern, him. So would he teach us that at whatever stage the Christian may be,, there is no room for resting complacently even for a moment on memories of past achievements. _ No backward look on successes already won is allowable. We musT~bF~ever~simply "stretching forward to the things which are before," like the runner with out stretched head and hand, pressing on " toward the goal." The "mark" or "goal," distant yet near, is ever before the eye of him who presses on unto " the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." The mark on which the runner's eye is fixed is ^erfectiqnj the prize to be bestowed when that mark is reached is gTorj^— the blessedness which follows the resurrection unto life. But retaining still the figurative language of the passage, we have the apostle's own description of this prize, a description penned when that prize was almost already in his grasp. " I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appear ing" (2 Tim. iv. 7, 8). We have words even more inspiriting still, for they are the words of the risen and glorified Lord Himself, who is even now presiding over 194 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVII. this contest, and surveying all the issues which it involves. His message to the angel of the Church in Smyrna is this : " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life " (Eev. ii. 10). This crown of righteousness, this crown of life, is His gift, " which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him." It is not of merit, but of grace. The believer is ever willing to exclaim in regard to it — " The gift is Thine ; we strive, Thou crown'st our strife ; Thou giv'st us faith ; and faith a crown of life." Hence it is described as the " prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." That is to say, it is God who, in His calling of us, holds out this prize to view. In this way He calls us to "His kingdom and glory" (1 Thess. ii. 12) ; and He does so in His Son. In Him God thus addresses us, and in Him we listen and obey. All "partakers of the heavenly calling" (Heb. iii. 1) are thus called " in the Lord" (1 Cor. vii. 22). Though " the high calling " here spoken of is not to be rendered " the calling upwards," or even " the calling from on high," but simply " the high or heavenly calling," it seems, like the other words we have already singled out, to have a personal reference. The apostle's call was signally one that was high and also from on high, and he at once and loyally obeyed. And in the course of his new life of service, notwithstanding its toil and suffering, he had in reality " Laurelled victory and smooth success Bestrewed before his feet." It could not be otherwise, for he was crowned at last. The gathered lessons of this section of the Epistle are easily learned. They are these ; our aim must not LECT. XVII.] CHAF. III. VERS. 12-14. 195 be progress merely, but perfection. This aim we must be ever approaching, even though the stages we may not always trace. .-?' The Christian life, while it is a standing fast, is never j, standing still.AB~ut, however advanced a believer may be, he is yet, as compared with the end to which he looks, only, after all, merely a beginner. Efforts, indeed, are always successes in the region of the soul's progress, but these successes only mark stages short at best and arduously won. Behind us the path traversed is very little ; before us there stretches outthe long and distant course. We are always, therefore, only in reality setting out on the race. A saintly life has been beautifully called by Faber " nothing else than an entanglement of generous beginnings." The aged Ignatius gave touching confirmation of this truth when, on the way to his martyrdom, the prize almost in his grasp, yet feeling with all the vividness of a first ex perience how much is implied in following the Saviour, he exclaimed, " Now I am but beginning to be a disciple." While, then, it is good to set out well, and better still to run well, the main point to remember is that it canal£ne_aya^to_ejidjw'ell, ever pressing on toward the goal, till at last, toil over, victory won, we " walk with Christ in white," the robe of unsullied , purity, " being worthy." LECTUEE XVIII. "In omnibus caritas servanda est, ita in dubiis libertas ; in necessariis vero unitas." — Auoustin. " Paulus boni Domini famulus et singularis Magistri prat- clarus imitator, qui in vestigiis Domini sui ambulans patentiara quodammodo et expressiora pedibus suis fecit Domini sui esse vestigia." Salvian, de Gnbernat. Dei, iii. 72. " Faciunt hoc homines, quos in summa nequitia non solum libido et voluptas, verum etiam ipsius nequitia fama delectat." — Cicero, Verr. ii. 47. " Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded : and if in any thing 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. 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 perdi tion, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." — Phil. iii. 15-19. WHO then are the "perfect" as thus addressed? The answer has sometimes been given that they are " those who are well advanced in the race." The answer is substantially correct, though it seems to prolong the figure of the contest — the race for the prize — somewhat unduly. Yet in support of it, it ought to be remembered that " the perfect athlete " is a phrase not unknown in the apostolic Fathers.1 Upon the whole, however, it is probably sufficient to under stand the word " perfect " in a purely ethical sense, as 1 Vid. Ignatius' Epistle to Polycarp, i., and Lightfoot's note thereon in his Apostolic Fathers, ii. 1, p. 335, LECT. XVIII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 15-19. 197 depicting those who, as contrasted with " children in understanding" (1 Cor. xiv. 20), are "grown men." The perfect are those who are now " no more children " — babes such as are described in Heb. v. 13, but "of full age," even " those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." They are men who have " put away childish things " — " the weak and beggarly elements " (Gal. iv. 9) of Judaizing ordinances, and have become "spiritual" (1 Cor. iii. 1) — able therefore to discern spiritual things and to ap preciate justly and use rightly the freedom of manhood which is in Christ Jesus. They are, in a word, those who shall at last come " in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. iv. 13). The passage then in no way represents even the most mature Christians as absolutely perfect. The antithesis is simply between childhood and manhood. While these advanced be lievers have reached no complete conformity to a perfect moral ideal, they are yet, as Jeremy Taylor puts it,1 " not always employed in the elements, and infant propositions, and practices of religion, but doing noble actions, well skilled in the deepest mysteries of faith and holiness." The apostle says " as many as be perfect : " in this way he leaves to each one of his friends after conscien tious self-examination to decide whether he be among the perfect or not, whether he be enrolled or not in that band of travellers who, to use Augustine's words, are simply " perfecti viatores," but not yet " perfecti possessores." Now a characteristic mark of perfection 1 Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, cited by Trench. Synonyms, § xxii. 198 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVIII. as thus explained, is the consciousness of imperfection. Such is the true and ever-present paradox of the Chris tian life. Hence the exhortation, " Let us, as many as be perfect, be thus minded " — let us have the atti tude of mind and heart which, like that of the eager runner, presses forward to something as yet unattained. A conviction of the trifling progress already made, and of the consequent need of " going on unto perfec tion," is of the very essence of the renewed life. Stand ing fast implies that there be advancement. But the next clause links a promise with the precept ; " and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, even this shall God reveal unto you." This state of maturity of Christian experience was not attained by all. There were some who are described as " otherwise minded " ¦ — heterodox, for an unfavourable sense is implied. " Minded amiss " might be accepted as a good rendering — otherwise minded than they ought to be, tested by the standard which the apostle has assigned. In this description it is implied that this community also ex hibited differences one with another. Even within the sphere of Christian life and work they were far from seeing eye to eye in matters which were of minor im portance. But the apostolic assurance is giyen that God will yet bring them, notwithstanding all their diverging views, into true harmony. "Even this," that is to say, the "anything" previously mentioned, the matter in regard to which all may be at variance, and some may be actually erring, even this God shall reveal. Becoming at last all "taught of God" (1 Thess. iv. 9) by " the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him," they are to attain to unity of sentiment. But increase of mental and spiritual illu mination can be vouchsafed only to those who rightly LECT. XVIII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 15-19. 199 use the light they already have. Hence the qualifying clause is added, and the exhortation embraced in it is full of significance ; " only whereunto we have already attained, by that same rule let us walk." " Only," this one direction is to be observed, amid existing differences concord must ever bear sway. Where there is agree ment in the highest things, there ought to be friendly forbearance in the lower. "By that same rule," the rule supplied by their points of common agreement, if they cannot run with joyful alacrity, they must at least walk (oroixeiv). The rule of faith which all have reached must in this way be the rule of conduct which all must obey. It thus appears that diversity may manifest itself, and that without serious injury, within this true Christian unity. Individual types of cha racter and consequently of opinion may together be gradually developing into perfection. Euskin has a passage, interesting and instructive,1 which may not stand amiss in this connection. He is speaking of doubts being ended by action alone — action as the only true means of attaining knowledge of the truth, and the only sign of men's possessing it. " As surely as we live, this truth of truths can only be so discerned ; to those who act on what they know, more shall be revealed ; and thus, if any man will do His will, he shall know the doctrine whether it be of God. Any man, — not the man who has most means of knowing, who has the subtlest brains, or sits under the most orthodox preacher, or has his library fullest of most orthodox books, — but the man who strives to know, who takes God at His word, and sets himself to dig up the heavenly mystery, roots and all, before sunset and the night come, when no man can work. Beside such 1 Vid. Euskin, Notes on the Construction of Sheepfoldt. 200 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVIII. a man, God stands in more and more visible presence as he toils, and teaches him that which no preacher can teach, no earthly authority gainsay." Those who thus walk by that same rule whereunto they have already attained — who in this way regulate the moral conduct of their lives, cannot fail, being " fruitful in every good work," to be also " increasing in the know ledge of God." And now, in enforcing this exhortation, the apostle's language assumes a tone of tenderest solicitude : " Brethren, be ye imitators together of me." With a tacit reference to erroneous teachers, he proposes him self in all humility as a pattern to his converts. This certainly is the meaning of the clause ; to render it, " Unite with me in imitating God," 1 is entirely to go astray, notwithstanding the words in Eph. v. 1 : " Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children." Nor need we at all shrink from the full significance of the apostle's exhortation to follow himself. We have a. parallel in 1 Thess. i. 6 : " Ye became imitators of us." But in that passage we have the qualifying addition, " and of the Lord." We have yet another in 1 Cor. xi. 1 : "Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ" (vid. also 1 Cor. iv. 16). With the limitation, therefore, or corrective, which these passages supply, the apostle does not hesitate to beseech his friends to lift up their lives to a level with his own, for while he does so he is careful not in any way to place himself on a level with Christ. He offers himself simply as a feeble, imperfect, yet genuine instance of what a believer is, — an instance that may be helpful to others who are lagging behind.2 But " imitators together," — the word thus rendered 1 As Webster and Wilkinson. 2 Vid. on 2 Thess. iii. 9. LECT. XVIII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 15-19. 201 is only found here, — has also its lesson. The idea of joint-imitators, or copyists, suggests fellowship, not fellowship with the apostle, or with those afterwards alluded to as imitators of him, but fellowship with one another. They are urged to engage in a holy rivalry, a vying with each other in growing likeness to their trusted friend and teacher. Those who are " perfect " and those who in spiritual understanding are children — the stronger Christians and the weaker — are all alike to emulate one another ; they are to be a company of competitors in this imitation. In this they are to be of one mind and heart — one conse crated band. But imitators in what ? The answer lies chiefly in the preceding context, namely, the apostle's energetic and unflagging striving towards the goal, and that which is won when the goal is reached, " the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." And now, with the unconscious humility of all highest Christian excellence, Paul turns aside from the thought of self to the recognition of others ; he adds, " and mark them which so walk even as ye have us for an ensample," or, as possibly it may be better rendered, " which so walk as I walk, according as ye have us for an example." He would say, while ye take me for a pattern, take careful notice of others also, whose walk is the same as mine, according as you find a copy in us all. In this way he associates with himself, not his Lord, as some strangely hold, but his friends and fellcw- workers, Timothy, Silas, Luke, Epaphroditus, and all faithful labourers in the Church. All, in a word, whose character and conduct corresponded with his own, and reflected in some true though imperfect measure the likeness of Christ Jesus, are to be marked. Their con- 202 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVIII. versation, that is, their behaviour1 (1 Pet. ii. 12), is to be considered that so it may be imitated ; just as in the opposite case those are to be marked for avoidance who cause "divisions and offences" (Eom. xvi. 17). But the use of the word " ensample " in the singular is not to be overlooked. The apostle and all those like- minded with him form one pattern. In their varieties of character and life they — all good and true men — are one, for they all bear the marks of Christ's likeness. It is this one perfect image that is traced, at best so imperfectly, in them all. The injunction thus to imitate himself and his associates the apostle enforces by reminding his readers that they are surrounded by other and very adverse in fluences,—" for many walk " in a far different way. He justifies what might be regarded as almost blameworthy egotism, in speaking so plainly about himself, by this consideration, that there are many, some of them perhaps even within the Church, whose life-walk is entirely the reverse of his. These bad and soul-destroying " en- samples " were abounding, and " many followed their pernicious ways " (2 Pet. ii. 2). These men are described in sentences somewhat broken, but sufficiently intel ligible. In the sorrow and indignation which the thought of them occasions the apostle neglects formally to define his verb "walk" more closely ; the grammati cal structure of the sentence undergoes a sudden change. He would in this way, with all the greater emphasis of appeal, say, as his brother-apostle John does, "Beloved, follow (imitate) not that which is evil, but that which is good " (3 Ep. of John ver. 11). He has elsewhere, in 1 Their iuao-Tpo^, their whole ethical conduct as having a heavenly ^ohinvpi.a., is implied in the word "walking." Vid. note p. 280 in the author's Messages to the Severi Churches. LECT. XVIII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 15-19. 203 regard to contact with evil, declared that " evil com munications (or companionships) corrupt good manners " (1 Cor. xv. 33). He has enforced this truth by that quotation from the Athenian comic dramatist Menander, as a confirmation, all the stronger that it comes from the realm of heathenism, of the moral sense of man. In view of this universal experience he now exhorts the Philippians to choose with discriminating care only such ensamples as are right. It was not the first time that a warning note of this kind had been sounded. " Of whom I told you often," he says, not as some (Hofmann, for instance) render, " Whom I often used to name." In personal teaching during his visits to Philippi, and possibly also in written communications, he had alluded to these men frequently already. His reiterated reference to them now is solemnly intensified by his tears — " and now tell you even weeping." His emotion is deepened as he reverts in thought to these bad and dangerous men ; as he reflects that their number is great, their disposition earthly, their conduct shameful, and their end dis astrous. He weeps, further, in the reflection that the faithful in Philippi, as in Eome, are exposed to no common peril in their nearness to these men of repro bate minds. Thus it is that " out of much affliction and anguish of heart he is writing unto them with many tears " (2 Cor. ii. 4). All evil, more, especially in the peril into which it may bring good, claims the tribute of tears. Just indignation ever needs to be tempered and chastened by sorrow. We can all the more readily enter into these emotions of the apostle's heart, when we endeavour to realize to ourselves the joy which the success of his early missionary labour had given him. He had 204 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVIII. been honoured in winning many to the cross of Christ, and now, just because of this success, adverse influ ences, agencies for evil, had begun to appear ; for as the old adage has it, " where our Lord God builds a church, beside it the devil builds also a chapel." x Not only so, but in this case apparently the evil, that was at work alongside of the good, was evil in its most insidious and dangerous form, under the guise of good. It was depravity sheltering itself under the fair semblance of Christian freedom. Hence the apostle's tears, not only because of the danger to which his converts were exposed, but shed also " over souls that will not be redeemed." 2 The greatness of his joy was in reality the measure of the intensity of his sorrow. But who were these men, and how are we to account for their presence in the Church at all ? for it is implied that they were not heathen, but nominally Christian. They were men who had become weary of the empty polytheism of the age, which had led the wiser spirits to say, as did Pliny, " one thing only do I know, and that is, that nothing can be known." They had even for a time revolted, as we can conceive, from "the rotting, aimless chaos of sensuality," as Gibbon has called it, which everywhere asserted its presence. Thus, admitted within the Church of Christ, yet not regenerated by His Spirit, they would naturally develope, first of all into speculative error, and then into practical transgression. These men therefore, we may conclude, a,re not to be identified with those who in iii. 2 are designated " the dogs," nor with that other class of evil workers, who in i. 15 1 " Wo unser Herr Gott eine Kirche hinbaut, da baut der Teufel auch eine Kapelle." 2 Vid. Howson's The Character of St. Paid, pp. 53-58. LECT. XVIII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 15-19. 205 are represented as preachers of Christ " of envy and strife." They are rather the votaries of Epicurean error, tinged, it may be, with the first taint of Gnosticism — error chiefly as shown in practice. They exhibited in their conduct the Antinomian licentiousness so vigorously denounced by James in the words, " turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness." While nominally they were Christians, actually they were heathen profligates. They resembled those professors in the Old Testament of whom it is said that " they feared the Lord, and served their own gods." But we must regard the picture somewhat more closely. It is presented in no very definite method : it has even somewhat of the appearance of an anti climax : yet the order of the clauses is easily and naturally explained. The apostolic utterance, full of indignation as it is, is governed by an inner logical precision. The distinctive title of these ungodly men is found in the first clause of the description — " the enemies of the cross of Christ." Paul ' had often previously declared that they are so. Now, men nLay be the foes of Christ's cross in either of two ways : by unbelief in " Christ Jesus and Him crucified " and open rejection of Him, on the one hand ; or by actual denial of Him, while at the same time formally pro fessing allegiance to His cause, thus " crucifying the Son of God afresh, and putting Him to an open shame," on the other. It is in this latter and worse sense that the words are to be understood. While in the Church, these men, as has already been said, were false to it. So far from the cross of Christ proving itself to be " the power of God " in their reformation of heart and life, it was actually used by them as a plea for transgression. In their unbridled licentious- 206 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVIII. ness they continued in sin, that, as they supposed, grace might abound (Eom. vi. 1). They thus by their practice contradicted, denied, and put to scorn the very significance and design of the Saviour's death. So far from knowing " the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed unto His death," they did despite unto the cross in its saving and sanctifying energy, and made the religion, whose symbol it is,1 not only a cause of ruin to themselves, but also a scandal to the world. The apostle in the next clause expands and justifies what he has said in regard to these reprobate men — " whose end is perdition." The words cannot bear the rendering which some assign to them, "whose intent or purpose is the destruction of Christianity." The " end " is rather the result in themselves of their own corrupt " walking " — that in which their behaviour of necessity issues. Their walking in hostility to Christ's cross leads inevitably to the final doom which such behaviour merits. And this doom is not represented here as the ultimate cessation of their existence. The word." end " gives no countenance to this view. It means " not simply the point at which something ceases, but the goal towards which it tends, and in which existing forces find their full outworking and the whole its con summation." 2 It thus signifies here not the passing out of all existence, but the passing from the present state of existence into a future and final one. While, therefore, Christ's true people " receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls" (1 Pet. i. 9), those who are His enemies receive the end of their enmity, even perdition — the ruin, as opposed to the salvation, of their souls — failure, utter and irretrievable loss, as opposed to gain — even " the prize of the high 1 Cor in cruce, crux in corde. 2 Vid. Agar Beet on 2 Cor. xi. 15. LECT. XVIII.] CHAP. III. VERS. 15-19. 207 calling of God in Christ Jesus." " Therefore the un godly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous ; but the. way of the ungodly shall perish " (Ps. i. 5, 6).1 Their " end shall be according to their works," — " Transgressors shall be destroyed together : the end of the wicked shall be cut off" (Ps. xxxvii. 38), — " That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned " (Heb. vi. 8). The further clause of this description — " whose god is their belly," implies that such " perdition of ungodly men " (2 Pet. iii. 7), awaiting the enemies of the cross of Christ, is retributive justice. We can readily see in the words the apostle's contempt and scorn mingling with his sorrow. Such men, he would say, while they are the most formidable, are at the same time the most ignoble enemies of Christ's cause. They are those who, given over to the idolatry of appetite, sunk in sensuality of diverse kinds, " serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly" (Eom. xvi. 18). Even heathen thought, in its higher types, could brand sensualists as koCKio- Salfiove^, men who worshipped belly -gods. The strik ing words which Euripides puts into the mouth of the Cyclops, the type of this class, have often been cited in this connection : "I sacrifice to no one but myself; not to the gods, but to this my belly, the greatest of the gods ; for to eat and -drink each day is the god for wise men."2 We have further the greatest of the German poets representing Mephisto- 1 Compare i. 28 and 1 Thess. v. 3 ; vid. note on atzuhutx. and ShtSpog in Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 360. 2 Euripides, Cyclops, 334 ff. 208 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVIII. pheles as contemptuously, yet insinuatingly saying to the fool rejoicing in his possessions, "Du hast dafiir was Schlund und Bauch begehrt." And we have the words of scathing denunciation of another great teacher of his age, " The creation over which God appointed us kings, and in which we have chosen to live as swine." ' With such instances of the contempt with which men can justly regard the lower, baser levels of life, we can the better comprehend the indignant yet sorrowing scorn with which the apostle contemplates the objects of his denunciation. In view, too, of such grossness of nature as is here depicted, we can listen to the call which Chrysostom has addressed to every true cross- bearer — the call to higher things — "Thou hast received a belly that thou mayest feed, not distend it ; that thou mayest have the mastery over it, not have it as mistress over thee ; that it may minister to thee for the nourishment of the other parts, not that thou mayest minister to it ; not that thou mayest exceed limits. The sea, when it passes its bounds, doth not work so many evils as the belly doth to our body, together with our soul." Therefore keeping the body under, in self-restraint and purity, Christ's people desire in their progress in all nobler aspirations to have it said of them, that " Through the body's prison- bars, The soul possessed the sun and stars." But there are still words of yet more fiery indignation. The apostle adds, " and whose glory is in their shame." Licentiousness reaches its lowest depths of degradation when it is not only practised, but also gloried in. Even those men who advance no claim to be called good 1 Euskin, Fors Clavigera, No. liii. LECT. XVIIL] CHAP. III. VERS. 15-19. 209 feel that "it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done by them (that is, by evil men) in secret." But those whom the apostle is now denounc ing are represented as boasting openly of their wicked ness. " Walking after the flesh in the lust of unclean ness," they are those who " count it pleasure to riot in the day-time." The best comment on this clause is supplied to us by such passages as 2 Pet. ii. 9-19, and the corresponding words of Jude, " Paging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame." What is only their disgrace they have come to regard even as matter for their glorying ; but this, their disgrace, issues at last in their confusion, for the divine judg- has gone forth against all such enormity of transgres sion, " I will change their glory into shame" (Hos. iv. 7). The root explanation of the abnormal wickedness of these " enemies of the cross of Christ " lies in the last clause — a clause, in the original, made all the more prominent by a change of construction, " who mind earthly things." It is clearly indicated that the climax is to be sought in these last words. Apparently milder than those which go before, they are in reality more awful in their suggestiveness. They set forth the essential character, the inner nature of worldlings, sordid men. These are men who "mind" only the seen and temporal — who have " the set of their thoughts and desires " (Alford) earthward — who say, " This earth is our portion, and our lot is in this." 1 They are men who, in the contemptuous words of the Eoman satirist, in their all-engrossing care for their belly and their amusements, ask no other favours of their emperor than " bread and circus-games." 2 They are those who, 1 Vid. the Wisdom of Solomon ii. 1-9. 1 Juvenal, Sat. x. 81, "Panem et circenses." 0 210 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XVIII. as Cornelius a Lapide puts it, are like the moles, ever concerned with the earth, ever blindly digging in the earth, and ever breathing of the earth, whereas Chris tians feed on heavenly food and breathe the air of heaven.1 Or once more, we can recognise these men in the picture in the interpreter's chamber of Bunyan's allegory, " The man that could look no way but down wards, with the muck-rake in his hand, while there stood over his head one with a celestial crown in his hand, and proffered him that crown for his muck-rake ; but the man did neither look up nor regard, but raked to himself the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the floor." All, to whom such descriptions apply, are forgetful of this truth that earthly, so-called gains are " occult curses;" they are vanity — real only in their soul- destroying power. In the lurid light of these words, winged as they are with the fire of a holy indignation, the reader's gaze is thrown backwards to the exhortation, "Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them which so walk, even as ye have us for an ensample." It is in this imitation alone that Christ's people find even the earthly things of their individual lives transfigured — made beautiful by the holiest light of heaven falling upon them. It is in this " walking " alone that they find their footsteps keeping time with the chanting of their own heart's melody, even the music of heaven. Thus " singing in the ways of the Lord," they shall at last exchange "earthly things" for "the things which are above," even the pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore. 1 " Terreni quasi talpse in terra versantur, terrain fodicant terrae inhiant ; nos Christiani coelestibns pascimur et inhiamus." LECTUEE XIX. " 0 gens beata cosiitum, Sanctorum phalanx principum, 0 quanta Dei gratia Inundat vos per omnia I Supremus vobis Dominus Summum dat bonum cominus, Quo frui licet omnibus. Deum videtis principem De facie ad faciem, Ex quo vobis ccelestia Nascuntur tanta gaudia, Quanta nee videt oculus. Nee ullus cepit auribus — Hie mundus sordet omnibus." Hymnus de gaudiis Sanctorum. " 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. Wherefore, my brethren beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my beloved." — Phil. iii. 20-iv. 1. "TX7'0ELDLINGS, sensualists, are to be shunned. ' ' They are to be marked that they may be avoided, for their end is perdition. The apostle, and all associated with him in the ministry of the gospel, and indeed all who are like-minded with him, and so called " perfect," are, on the other hand, to be followed. Their conduct is to be observed, studied, that it may be reproduced in imitation ; for " our citizenship is in heaven." " Our " is emphatic, and serves to mark a strong contrast. Set over against the worldly-minded are the spiritually-minded. Their citizenship — that of all believers, alike those who are far advanced and those 212 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIX. who are still lagging behind — is not in this world. It once was, but it is so no longer. In regard to them a spiritual revolution has taken place. The result of this is that the centre of their thoughts and actions is hence forth not earthly but heavenly. To use De Quincey's terms descriptive of the altered and transfigured moral relations which the religion of Christ has introduced, their centre is no longer geocentric, but heliocentric. They mind heavenly things. Such is substantially the purport of the clause, whatever be the shade of meaning we may assign to the chief word in it. Between these shades it is not altogether easy to decide, as the word is not elsewhere found in the New Testament. It has been understood to mean the citizen-life we lead, the commonwealth or state to which we belong, or the citizenship, the civil rights which we enjoy.1 Upon the whole, however, the rendering " citizenship " seems the most justifiable. The meaning thus given blends most readily with the context, and reverts very naturally on the exhortation of i. 27. This right of citizenship, then, this civil status of believers in the kingdom of heaven, is represented as an actual present reality. It subsists (lirdp'xei) even now in heaven for those who are still on earth. " They have not yet1 reached their country ; they are only on the way to it ; but already, before they touch its shores, they have been invested with its rights of citizenship, in consideration of the command ing merits and self-sacrificing generosity of their Leader. They are in the position of emigrants, for whom the friendly government of a colony should provide before hand a home and civic duties."2 Such is the glorious 1 (1) dvttvTpoQvi, conversatio ; (2) varpk, irihii, patria, civitas; (3) •xo'hrti'ttt.,jus civitatis. 2 Canon Liddon, Easter Sermons, vol. ii. 66. LECT. XIX.] CHAP. III. VER. 20-IV. L 213 privilege which believers prize. It cannot fail, so far as it is realized by them, to renew and beautify their lives. The early picture which the unknown author of the Epistle to Diognetus has lovingly drawn of the Chris tian's character and conduct has often been cited ; it .-cannot be too often. It shows what this citizenship is, and what it does for a man : " Christians sever them selves from others neither in dwelling, nor language, nor habits. Although they live in the towns of the Greeks and foreigners, just as falls to their lot, and in respect of apparel and food follow the usages of their country, they are yet distinguished by a peculiar and striking mode of life. They inhabit their own fatherland, but they do so as foreigners. They do whatever is their duty as citizens, and yet suffer all things as aliens. Every foreign land is to them a home, and every home is to them a foreign land. They marry and have families, but they never expose their offspring as the heathen do. They live in the flesh, but not according to the flesh. They dwell on earth, but they live in heaven. They obey the existing laws, but by their conduct they exalt themselves above the laws. They love all, yet they are disowned, persecuted, condemned of all. They are killed, and so they are made alive. They are poor, and yet make many rich. They are in want of all things, yet they have all and abound. They are derided, and they bless. In a word, what the soul is to the body, that are Christians to the world. The soul is not itself the body, though it tenants it ; so do Christians dwell in the world, and are yet not of it. The invisible soul is in a visible body : so Christians are seen as dwellers in the world, but their true life is unseen. The flesh hates and rebels against the soul, though the soul, so 214 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XIX. far from harming it, restrains it only for its good ; so are Christians hated of the world, although they are benefiting it by contending with its evil. It is the soul that holds the body together, and so it is Christians who preserve the world. The soul is in a mortal body, and so Christians dwell as strangers in that which is seen and temporal, and wait for the eternal life in heaven. Such is the noble office assigned by God to His people, and they dare not decline it." Alongside of this picture, beautiful in its simplicity, of early Christian life, we may place that part of the great modern religious allegory which shows us Chris tian and Faithful in their experiences of the allurements and frivolities of Vanity Fair. While that Fair lasts all the year long, they are merely passers through it. As pilgrims, they are uninterested spectators of all that is going on. Their strange raiment and outlandish speech are noticed only to be despised and mocked at. Their demeanour, when they stand their examination at the tribunal of their enemies, is that of humility and trustfulness and patience : their defence is simply this, " that they are going to their own country, which is the heavenly Jerusalem, and that they buy not the wares of the Fair, but only the truth." In these two representa tions of the relation of Christ's people to the world we have the best commentary on the words, " our citizen ship is in heaven." Now all those who can take this declaration as descriptive of themselves are in the nature of things " children of hope ; " hence the apostle adds : " From whence also we look for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." The right of citizenship belongs only to those who " send hope before to grasp it," who live much in LECT. XIX.] CHAP. III. VER. 20-IV. 1. 215 the future, and whose attitude is that of longing and expectation. "From whence," that is, from which heaven.1 He who is so often spoken of as " the Coming One " (6 ipx6fievo Itjtherefore corresponds_with_ the first of the seven precepts with which i;ha_E.b?st Epistle to the Thessalonians closes, ".Ejjoice^evcrrnore." Thus ijEpEhlf earliest of his Epistles, as well as in this, one of the latest, the apostle would urge his converts, whatever their environment of trials may be, to be " girded with gladness." Having heart -experience of this "joy in the Holy Ghost" himself, he cannot be weary of commending it to others : " Again I will say, Eejoice." " In the Lord," in fellowship with Him, this joy must ever grow, and its increase must ever corre- 234 PHILIPPIANS. .[LECT. XXI. spond with the decrease of satisfaction in the things of earth and time, till at length the very joy of heaveA take full possession of the heart. The., motive for the repetition^ this exhortation lies in tliELirnineoliately foregoing context. Those " whose names are in the book "of life" may well have within their breasts, even now, the sweetness and the calm of their promised bliss. The Saviour's own express command to His disciples sets this directly before us, " Eejoice because your names are written in heaven " (Luke x. 20). And now, with a possible backward reference to the misunderstandings and consequent irritations of spirit which he has been striving to remove in the case of Euodia and Syntyche, the apostle exhorts his readers further, "Let your .forbearance be known unto all men." " Gentleness " is the alternative rendering in the margin of the Eevised Version. Neither of the words entirely suffices to represent the original ; still less satisfactory is Tyndale's " courtesy," or Cranmer's " softness." We find the word used in 1 Tim. iii. 3 of a good bishop, " gentle, not .contentious." The negative " not conten tious " explains in part what the positive " gentle " is. It describes the disposition of heart and mind which willingly surrenders " the assertion of legal rights, lest they should be pushed into moral wrongs." l It sets before us the character of the man who is " not only passively non-contentious, but actively considerate and X forbearing, wriving even just legal redress." 2 The word thu^_embraces the various__elements of clemejncy_,xir yieldingness, and the result as seen in^ejjuanimity. The~Greek expositors generally explain it in the present passage as descriptive of the attitude of Christ's people 1 Vid. Trench, N. T. Synonyms, § 43. 2 Vid. Webster, N. T. Grammar, p. 194. LECT. XXL] CHAP. IV. VERS. 4-7. 235 towards the enemies of the cross. This is so far correct. It was of a truth in this spirit of meekness that the early apologists and martyrs gained their triumphs for Christ. But the apostle clearly gives a wider range to this Christian grace. It is to be " known unto all men." Foes, half-hearted friends, feeble-minded brethren, all alike are to feel its influence, and to be benefited by it, and this is no matter of easy attainment. The voice of the world ever finds utterance in the execrable pro verb common in Calvin's time, " You must howl with the wolves, else they will tear you ; whoever makes himself a sheep, offers himself to be devoured." That is to say, if men do not always stand upon their rights, if they fail to resent every injury, they will only be wronged and trampled upon the more. Or it may find expression in the saying of Cosmo de Medici, the famous Duke of Florence, " You shall read that we are com manded to forgive our enemies ; but you never read that we are commanded to forgive our friends." His forbearance or gentleness would pardon much, but not all. Wrongs done him by a friend, forbearance could not reach to these. But in opposition to all mani festations of such an unchastened spirit stands the beatitude of the kingdom, " Blessed are the meek ; for they shall inherit the earth." The soft answer, which turneth away wrath, is. ever the right utterance, for it tells of " the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great pricei' But a peculiar reason for the exhibition of this Chris tian grace is assigned in the clause which follows, "The Lord is at hand." This bold and sudden expression of the Church's belief and hope may be understood in either of two senses. It jnay refer to His nearness in Hjg sustaining and guiding gad protecting power, or to 236 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXI. the nearness of His final ^coming. The objection to acceptinglhe first sense is that* " the Lord " would thus most naturally refer to God the Father, as in Ps. xxxiv. 18, cxix. 151, cxlv. 18 ; and this can hardly be regarded as Pauline usage. It is better then, upon the whole, to accept the second sense. The Lord, even Jesus Christ the Saviour, is near as regards His approach. He is indeed near at all times to succour and defend those who in the midst of difficulties and injustice let their " forbearance be known unto all men." They may therefore leave all their interests in His keep ing. This undoubtedly is truth, and may be truth latent in this announcement. But His advent specially is near, and therefore His people in the midst of trial may be gentle and forbearing — this is the immediate and prominent, thought. The passage has its exact parallel in Jas. v. 9, where the injunction in like manner concerns brotherly relations of gentleness towards one another. " Judge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned ; behold, the Judge standeth before the door." He whom His people wait for as Saviour from heaven (iii. 20) is near as " The just and gentle Monarch, To terminate the evil, and diadem the right." Therefore the apostle would say, Be forbearing, gentle, calm. " Be ye patient ; stablish your hearts ; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." It is interesting in this connection to compare the couplet of the poet- artist, William Blake, in his Auguries of Innocence. He is pleading for gentleness, not of man to man, but of man to the lower animal creation, and he uses, with a certain prophet instinct, the same plea — " Kill not the moth nor butterfly ; For the last judgment draweth nigh." LECT. XXL] CHAP. IV. VERS. 4-7. 237 But while this early Christian watchword, as it has been called, " The Lord is at hand," is linked to what has gone before, it no less certainly seems also to connect itself with what follows. It is, in truth, the nexus in the apostle's mind between both. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is at hand. The ever present con viction of this gives force to the injunction to rejoice always^ and to be forbearing to all^men ; but it also enforces the next injunction, " In nothing be anxious." The exhortation has its close parallel in our Lord's saying in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vi. 25), " I say unto you, take no thought for your life," or in the Eevised Version, " Be not anxious for your life." The word points to distrustful, disquieting, vexing harass ment of soul, that care which eats out the right care for' higher things, that self-occupied care which is the direct opposite of self-forgetful forbearance, and which is in reality a refusal to obey the apostolic precept, " Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." " Who does not feel the wisdom of this charge ? What good can anxiety do ? Anxiety in itself is an idle thing ; the mind hovers and flutters round the subject, goes over the same ground again and again, wearies itself in vain repetitions of the same cares and fears ; but what has it done ? Has it advanced the matter one real step ? Has it arrived at one good counsel, or set itself to one wise act? Anxiety is an enfeebling thing ; it eats the very life out of the ener gies; it leaves the man not only where he was, but ten times less capable and less vigorous than at the beginning. Anxiety is an irritating thing ; it ruffles the temper, it upsets the balance of the spirit, it is the sure source of moodiness and sharpness and petulance and anger ; it sets a man at war with himself, with his 238 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXL neighbour, with God's Providence and God's appoint ments. Anxiety is a sign of mistrust, a sign of feeble faith, of flagging energy, and languid obedience." x So far, then, from cherishing such a soul-enervating and God-dishonouring spirit, Christ's people are " iri every thing to give thanks." The motto of their trustful love is that which once was wont to stand over many a door way in our old English dwellings, " God's Providence is mine inheritance." " In nothing anxious, in everything prayerful," the apostle says. The one clause is the counterpart of the other. " In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." On all occasions, under all conditions, at all times is this command to be obeyed (1 Thess. v. 17, 18), and in this obedience every anxiety disappears. " Your requests ; " the word occurs in the New Testament only once in the singular, in a very outstanding passage referring to the petitions of man to his brother man. We read, "Pilate gave sentence that what they asked for should be done " (Luke xxiii. 24, E.V.). In other two passages, this and 1 John v. 15, it appears in the plural, and refers to the petitions which men present to God ; rather, strictly speaking, it means in John's usage, not the requests themselves, so much as the substance of the requests, that for which petition is made. As used here, the requests are the several petitions,2 which together constitute prayer, chiefly such as might arise out of the anxious circum stances which call for the exercise of forbearance, but of course including at the same time all the desires of the renewed heart. While then the Christian's character .must be made known to all men in forbearance, his inner life must ever " be made known unto God in 1 Vaughan, Lectures, in loc. 2 Desideria, vota. LECT. XXL] CHAP. IV. VERS. 4-7. 239 aspirations^ If this inner life be thus " hid with Christ in God," there can be no danger as to the outer life as it manifests itself towards men. But this injunction to make known our requests unto God (an uncommon way of stating the duty of prayer) is full of suggestive- ness, and true to all Christian experience. We make known to Him who knows all that which we desire. It has been admirably said by Euskin,1 " The whole con fidence and glory of prayer is in its appeal to a Father who knows our necessities before we ask, who knows our thoughts before they rise in our hearts, and whose decrees, as unalterable in the eternal future as in the eternal past, yet in the close verity of visible fact bend like reeds before the foreordained and faithful prayers of His children."; As to the mode of making these requests known unto God, we have three words in the passage claiming our attention ; they form a threefold cord that cannot be broken. The first two, "Prayer and supplication," found here, as frequently elsewhere, together, do not repre sent simply one thought in its strongest expression ; nor do they signify, severally, petitions in relation to things good and to things evil.2 " Prayer " rather is the more general term, — the term which is set apart to sacred use. It represents a specifically religious act. It depicts the attitude of the heart turned towards God. " Supplication," on the other hand, is petition for par ticular benefits ; it is thus an essential part of prayer, although in no sense the whole of it. But both must' alike be interpenetrated "with thanksgiving." No prayer can be acceptable if this element be awanting. When we draw near to God, grateful acknowledgment 1 An Oxford lecture. Nineteenth Century, January 1878. 2 Precatio and deprecatio, Grotius. 240 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXI. of past mercies must ever blend with earnest humble petition for future. As we have already said on i. 3, this thanksgiving is indeed the peculiar characteristic of Christian .prayer. " There are some prayers," it has been observed, " in Homer's poems, but how few thanksgivings ! " The Gentiles, whatever their relation to the unknown God, "glorified Him not, neither were they thankful." It is far otherwise with the children of the kingdom. They know their covenant God as their Benefactor. They believe that " every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." They there fore feel that, as the stream of blessing, which is ever flowing to them, has its source in God alone, so to Him must the thanksgiving of their hearts ceaselessly ascend. This thanksgiving, characteristic, as we have seen, of all Christian prayer, is pre-eminently so of Pauline prayer. Allusions to it everywhere abound in the Epistles. In every variety of mode it is inculcated. Now, alongside of such thankful prayerfulness of spirit, anxiety, in so far as it is sinful solicitude, cannot live. Hence the apostle, while forbidding anxiety, has enjoined prayerfulness. Every Christian's experience knows the significance of this. Archbishop Trench's poem has given true expression to it — " Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make, What heavy burdens from our bosoms take, What parched grounds refresh, as with a shower ! We kneel, and all around us seems to lower ; We rise, and all, the distant and the near, Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear ; We kneel how weak, we rise how full of power ! Why therefore should we do ourselves this wronc, Or others — that we are not always strong, LECT. XXL] CHAP. IV. VERS. 4-7. 241 That we are ever overborne with care, That we should ever weak or heartless be, Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer, And joy. and strength and courage are with Thee ? " And now we reach that verse which, amid all earth's discords and tumults, all earth's care and crime, is ever falling upon the heart like the hushed melody of heaven. Paul says to his readers, that if his precept be practised, then as the sure result " the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." What then is this peace ? The reference is not to brotherly con cord in Church fellowship, as opposed to contention and disorder. A meagre exposition of this kind altogether fails to satisfy the requirements of the context. Nor is the reference merely to the state of heart-reconcilia tion of man with God — the cessation of alienation — the relation of friendship with God, which in Christ Jesus believers enjoy. Correct so far as it goes, this view is needlessly restrictive. This peace the Philippian "saints in Christ Jesus " already had, whereas here is given them the promise of something over and above — some additional blessing. The peace here specified, as con trasted with all worldly anxiety, and as growing out of prayer and thanksgiving, is abiding tranquillity of soul — the calm which is shed abroad therein by com munion with God — heart-happiness which no worldly woes can ever touch. The heart, that before was troubled and tossed, now at rest; the life now no longer jangled discord, but melody — even the melody of heaven — a foretaste of peace at last in the city of peace. Whence comes this peace ? It is " of God." He is expressly called "the God of peace" (ver. 9, and 1 Thess. 242 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXI. v. 23, and Heb. xiii. 20). He is so in Himself, and He manifests His own divine nature and power in making peace a reality, an abiding possession in His people's hearts. Men cannot impart this peace to one another. Each one is too tossed about by his own disquiet to be able in any true sense to help his brother. We must, if we would find peace, look no lower than God Himself for it — we must ever say with Augustine, " Thou, 0 God, hast made us for Thyself, and our souls are restless till they rest in Thee." What, further, is the function assigned here to this " peace of God " ? It stands in closest relation to believers' "hearts and thoughts" — the souls, and the thoughts that are in them. The words together repre sent the whole life of a man in all its compass of feeling and thinking and willing, and, as necessarily follows, also of acting. This life, God's peace "shall guard." The New Testament has several words signifying to keep, and they have their separate shades of meaning. Here the word means to keep by guarding — to keep in safety as a garrison would keep a beleaguered city. Here, then, God's peace is spoken of as doing a warrior's duty, — standing as it were sentry over the hearts of His people and the issues thereof, — forming a blissful line of defence around them lest their spiritual enemies should assault and overcome them. The Psalmist has said (xxix. 11): " The Lord will give strength unto His people ; the Lord will bless His people with peace." The connection between strength and peace is substanti ally the same there as here. A heart which has God's peace cannot but be strong. As Matthew Henry well says, " The peace of God will keep us from sinning under our troubles, and from sinking under them." LECT. XXL] CHAP. IV. VERS. 4-7. 243 Thus they who in peace " wait upon the Lord renew their strength." And this strength — this protection, as the future tense implies, will not be withheld till the victory be won. And God's peace thus acts as guard " in Christ Jesus." He is " the Lord of peace." He Himself is " our Peace," and to be in Him is to be in safety — guarded — " preserved in Christ Jesus and called " (Jude 1). What, last of all, is the surpassing excellence of this peace ? It " passeth all understanding," not to con ceive, as passing wonderful to men and even to the angels of heaven ; not to produce, as being beyond the device of man to realize ; but, the apostle apparently would say, this peace guards the heart and mind, a work which is beyond the power of all human understanding to do. And this witness is true. There was a contem porary of Paul in Eome, Seneca the philosopher, the moralist, the man of the world, the idol at one period of Caesar's court, and altogether one of the most pro minent figures^ of his age, one who may possibly, as tradition asserts, have conversed with the • apostle regarding " the faith of the gospel." This man fell into adversity, and in the midst of it, stern and firm as he at first was, he ultimately gave way to unavailing complaints. His anguish has found voice in words which call only for pity not unmingled with contempt. The case of this man in his exile in Corsica — even though his death at last had certain elements of nobility in it — is the emphatic contrast to that of Paul. Paul's suffering only ennobled him the more. In his heart there rested all the more abidingly the covenant of peace. So, also, it doubtless was with " the saints in Caesar's household." They were not disconsolate and depressed. They were joyful 244 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXI. in the Lord. They were receiving in their own experience the fulfilment of the promise — " The Lord will bless His people with peace." That blessing, of guarding them with peace, it passeth all understand ing — all ' the wisdom of- the world — to grant. It is God's own gift. This promise then is precious. It is the believer's heritage through life, his stay in death, his reward for eternity. LECTUEE XXII. " Know well that evil we have power to seize In cumulative fulness and with ease ; For short the way, she dwelleth ever nigh ; But before virtue have the gods on high Sweat of the brow ordain'd, much toil precedes, And long and steep the path that to her leads; Arduous at first — until it reach the height, Easy thenceforth the way, and fair the sight. " Hesiod, Works and Da/ys, i. 285. St. Basil on the above passage. " What else can we suppose was the intention of Hesiod in composing those verses which are in the mouths of all, but that of exhorting young men to virtue ? It appears to me that in such a description he is but exhorting us all to be good, and not to be so dis heartened by the toils as to fall away from the end. And in truth if there is any one else who hath written strains like these in the praise of virtue, we may well receive his sayings as tending to the same end as ourselves." — Basil, de leg. lib. gen., quoted in The Christian Scholar. " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honourable, 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. " |j^ IN ALLY, brethren;" the apostle has already, -¦- in iii. 1, used this formula, suggestive of the close. He had even then, in the middle of the Epistle, been hastening towards the end, but in the unre strained freedom of a friendly letter he had allowed himself to turn aside for a time from his purpose. The course of his thought may possibly have been interrupted by some unrecorded incident connected 246 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXII. with his imprisonment among the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard. Be this as it may, he is reaching the conclusion now, and it appropriately, as in the similar case of 1 Thess. v. 16-23, takes the form of recapitulation. In a single sentence, moulded by the loving earnestness of his heart into an appeal of special force and beauty, he sets forth what has been called a " Compendium Theologise Moralis," — the apostolic summary and standard of all Christian life and work. The passage is an attractive one. It has been used with striking effect by Klopstock in the Ode to the Messias, with which his great poem closes. In the enumeration of the precepts already more or less distinctly implied or expressed, it may be compared with "the last sedulous touches of an accomplished artist, who having completed an excellent piece of work, reluctantly withdraws his hand while it seems yet possible to add a higher lustre to its polish." x The language as to its form finds something of a parallel in ii. 1, 2. In the order in which these duties, or things which must dutifully be regarded appear, we are certainly not to expect the exactness of a tabulated scheme. Such an arrangement would be entirely un natural — out of keeping with the impetuous warmth which breathes throughout the whole Epistle. None the less, the general outline of a classification is suffi ciently apparent. This too must not be overlooked — indeed it is the prominent feature of the passage — that Christian duty is represented both in its variety and in its completeness. The renewed character is one, but it is also many-sided. In endeavouring to attain to it there must be no picking and choosing between the graces which belong to it. He who would be 1 Isaac Taylor, The Transmission of Ancient Books, p. 397. LECT. XXII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 8, 9. 247 wholly Christ's must render Him a whole - hearted allegiance. Whatsoever things pertain to His service must be thought on and must be done. In dealing with the several parts, it is at once felt that the significance of the individual words is not altogether easy to grasp ; still less easy is it exactly to represent them by English equivalents. The mean ings are found to a certain extent to overlap one another. We are first of all introduced into the region in which human thought does its part — " Whatsoever things are true." The reference is not to be restricted to true doctrine, " sound doctrine " as in the pastoral Epistles it is so frequently called ; nor is it to be fixed down simply to truthfulness in speech. The word as here used has the widest ethical range that can be assigned to it. In the full sense it is " that which is in harmony with the objective standard of morality contained in the gospel" (Meyer) — everything in the renewed man, as to thought, word, and deed, which is in accordance with an ingenuous, sincere, simple character. In no way and in no degree can the idea of the perfect Christian man be sullied by the slightest taint of falsehood. The followers of Him who is em phatically " the Truth," in seeking conformity to the likeness of His image, must themselves in all things be truthful. The words of Euskin 1 are words of highest wisdom, "Do not let us lie at all. Do not think of one falsity as harmless, and another as slight, and another as unintended. Cast them all aside ; they may be light and accidental ; but they are an ugly soot from the smoke of the pit, for all that ; and it is better that our hearts should be swept clean of them, without over care as to which is largest and blackest." 1 The Seven Lamps of Architecture, -p. 31. 248 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXII. In the next clause we are introduced into the region, not of thought merely, but also of feeling, — heart- piety — " whatsoever things are honourable," or in the margin of the Eevised Version, "reverend" — things which in the sight of God pertain to gravity of demeanour, and so deserve and claim respect and veneration. The rendering " honest " of the Eeceived Version was, at the time it was given, correct enough, but this special old English sense of the word has now departed from it. The epithet is found in the Pastoral Epistles depicting the gravity of deportment becoming the character and office of presbyters and deacons. What is commended here therefore is that which is seemly, because of moral earnestness — that which is in every' way becoming in the man who meditates on all that is true. The words together — true and honourable, have their somewhat striking parallel in Horace's " Verum atque decens."1 As certainly embraced in what has gone before, but as giving breadth and fulness to it, we reach the next clause — "Whatsoever things are just." We thus stand in the region of eternal law in its bearing upon human duty. In its widest application the word "just" sets forth the actions of men in their normal relation to the will and judgment of God, and these actions specially in their bearing upon men's relation to one another.2 Closely allied with this is the next clause — " What soever things are pure." Christian duty is here con templated specially from the standpoint of sin — every thing that is transgression of that divine law whose existence the word " just " implies. Pure things further suggest the duties which the renewed man owes to himself. There is probably a latent refer- 1 Epist. I. i. 11. » Vid. on 1 Thess. ii. 10. LECT. XXII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 8, 9. 249 ence to the sins of the flesh, that impurity which Christianity everywhere unsparingly denounces, and with which in its early days in the presence of all- prevailing heathenism it waged ceaseless and uncom promising war. But the word " pure " must not be narrowed down to this. It means freedom from everything that is corrupt. Its root-idea is that of dedication by sacrifice, and of consequent purification — stainlessness in the midst of all the pollution of earth. He of whom this exemption from contamina tion can be affirmed is not only just, he is also pure. Once more we have these two terms paralleled by the Eoman poet, " Integer vitae scelerisque purus." J Things true, honourable, just, and pure form a group by themselves. They are described as what they are, good in their essential nature. The next two clauses describe good things in the impression which they make for good upon the minds and hearts of those who behold them. The first of this pair is, " Whatsoever things are lovely " — things which exhibit " the beauty of holiness " — things in the sphere of Christian morals which are felt to be agreeable, acceptable, and therefore dear — all lovely things, in a word, which excite the emotion of love : in the beholder. This, and not, as some would have it, " kind or friendly," is the purport of the word — a word which is otherwise unknown in New Testament usage. The second clause is, " What soever things are gracious." This, the marginal render ing of the Eevised Version, is upon the whole to be preferred to " of good report," for this latter category appears afterwards in the word " praise." Besides, the form of the word, which like its predecessor is found nowhere else in the New Testament, suggests the active 1 Horace, Odes, I. 22. 1. 250 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXII. sense, " well-speaking," rather than well spoken of, and thus of auspicious nature, winning, attractive, con ciliating general favour. And now, in order to give rhetorical emphasis and completeness to the enumeration of all excellent things, the apostle adds, " If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise." Bishop Lightfoot, and others following his example, take a somewhat strange and striking view of the allusion to " virtue " in this passage. The word is exceedingly rare in the New Testament, — Paul only uses it here, and it has only one imperfect parallel elsewhere, namely in 2 Pet. i. 5. It has been supposed that, being the favourite term with heathen moralists, it has been purposely avoided by apostolic teachers. This is indeed not unlikely, as in heathen usage the moral excellence which it represents is that which rests on self-reliance and courage, and is therefore a very different thing from Christian morality. This being so, it is suggested that the apostle, addressing readers whose modes of thought were characteristically Eoman, takes up this common word of Eoman moralists, and by a skilful change of construction in the sentence, says in effect, " Whatever value may reside in your old heathen conception of virtue, and whatever consideration is due to the praise of men" — think on these things, — as if the apostle were anxious not to omit any possible ground of appeal. Or it may be put thus, "Nay, if there be any truth in the virtue and praise of mere human morality."1 But this exposition, interesting and ingenious as it is, seems somewhat forced and unnatural. It is not in accord with Pauline modes of thought, and has altogether a somewhat modern look about it. But 1 Barry, in New Testament Commentary for English Readers. LECT. XXII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 8, 9. 251 while it is probably to be set aside, the other view is not to be adopted, viz. if there be any other virtue and praise,1 other, that is to say, than what has already been specified. The words simply have the force, not of an expression of doubt, but of an adjuration exactly as in ii. 1. The apostle says, with the emphasis of increasing earnestness, — whatever moral excellence there is, and whatever approbation is to be bestowed upon it, think thereon. The " whatsoever things " of the earlier part of the verse brings, on the one hand, the comprehensiveness of the enumeration into view ; the repeated "if there be any," on the other hand, emphasizes the truth that in this comprehensive summary no one part can be excepted. " Virtue " looks back to the first four conceptions, things true, honourable, just and pure ; " praise " — the award which virtue claims, the " good report of the truth itself" — looks back to the last two conceptions, things lovely and gracious. This meed of praise, willingly rendered by all right hearts to things which are praiseworthy, is not a matter beyond the sphere of the apostle's exhortation and his readers' regard. Nor ought it in any sense to be beyond ours. While Christ's people are not to fear the world's censure, they are not to be indifferent to its praise. A good life must be lived by them, but in living it they are not to despise the comfort of a good name, and the blessing which the possession of it may confer on others ; for, as 1 The somewhat peculiar use of the word " praise '' may receive its illustration in the last two lines of Coventry Patmore's verse, The Angel in the House, Part I. cant. 8 : — " Spirit of knowledge, grant me this ; A simple heart and subtle wit To praise the thing whose praise it is That all which can be praised is it." 252 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXII. has been well said : "He who keeps his life clear of sin does good to himself; he who keeps it clear of sus picion is merciful to others. Our life is necessary to ourselves, but pur good name to others." The believer's aim, therefore, must be not to fall short of that which Demetrius is declared to have attained : " Good report of all men, and of the truth itself" (3 John 12). Now this earnest and exhaustive summation of all that makes true Christian character and conduct, this portrayal of " all-glowing virtue,' the unconsuming fire and inner lamp of life," x is set before us that we may meditate upon it. The apostle says : " Think on these things," or " take account of these things." Substan tially the word means : think on the way whereby these things may be attained. The mind and heart, renewed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, have to be exercised upon these things. A steady and continued attention must be given to them. They can never otherwise become our true possession. The immediate purpose of all such thinking is acting. The apostle goes on to say : " These things do." Medi tation precedes action ; and action must always follow meditation — " For if our virtues Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike As if we had them not." Thoughts must always be translated into deeds. Conduct is sometimes said to be three - fourths of religion. It is more : it is the whole of it. But an adage of this kind must never be used to exalt practice at the expense of meditation. These are inseparably united in a truly prosperous Christian life. Good 1 Buskin, Queen of the Air, p. 72. LECT. XXII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 8, 9. 253 thoughts must ever abound, if the life would be fruitful of good deeds. Hence the man of reflection ought in the highest sense to be also the man of action. Thus, in steady and consistent progress, unhasting and unresting, he reaches at last "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." But in the exhortation to action, as growing out of the contemplation of the graces already described, the apostle specifies four different ways by which his readers had already been trained in the graces and duties of the Christian life. " The things which ye both learned, and received, and heard, and saw in me, these things do." These four particulars seem to fall naturally into pairs. They had "learned" lessons in Christian doctrine.1 They had "received" precepts, directions as to Christian conduct. This on the one hand; on the other, they had "heard" by means of the apostle's own oral teaching, and they had " seen " in the apostle's own life, what it is to be a Christian. His precepts had been winged with persuasive power by the example of his own consecrated life. His teaching was powerful, because he could accompany it with the command : " Brethren, be followers together of me " (iii. 17). The Philippian believers thus had the highest of all privileges. While they had not as yet the formulated canon of New Testament Scripture, they had received Christian truth from apostolic lips, and breathing in living characters in that teacher, who, as he in this Epistle reminds them, had communicated to them in spiritual things, and for whose temporal neces sities they now felt it to be their peculiar happiness and honour to care. Thus " they continued stedfastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of 1 Compare Eom. xvi. 17, "The doctrine which ye have learned." 254 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXII. bread and in prayers." So long as they thought and acted in the way he commends, he assures them of their own prosperity of soul, in their reception of the divine approval. " And the God of peace shall be with you." As the section immediately preceding closes with the promise of the guardianship of " the peace of God " "(ver. 7), so this closes with the yet higher promise of the very presence of " the God of peace " Himself ; and in that presence realized, their lives would be beautified by the holiness of heaven. God is the God of peace in Himself, in the nature and design of His gospel, and in the constitution and administration of His Church. He is the God of peace (vid. on v. 7), for He manifests His divine nature and power in making peace a blissful reality, an abiding possession in the hearts of His people. His presence, then, amid all the discords of time — amid all the sorrows of " this sin- worn globe " — sheds abroad in each believer's heart a profound and sweetest calm. It fills the heart with a melody that is not of earth, even " an undertone of holy litanies." In the realization of that Divine Presence there are found1 internal peace of conscience, fraternal peace of friend ship, and supernal peace of glory. " Great peace have they which love Thy law." It is otherwise with those who are not God's children, who neither think on these things^nor do them. They in a sense are heaven-deserted men, because in forsaking Him they " forsake their own mercy " (Jonah ii. 8). These know not what peace is, because they refuse to know Him who alone is the Peace-dispenser. At best they know it only by its absence, by the aching void in the heart which nothing earthly can ever fill. Sad 1 "Pax interna conscientise, pax fraterna amicitise, pax superna glorias," De Lyra. LECT. XXII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 8, 9. 255 expression has been given to this conscious emptiness in the well-known lines of Goethe — " Der Du von dem Himmel bist, Alles Leid und Schmerzen stillest, Den, der doppelt Elend ist, Doppelt mit Erquickung fullest ; — ¦ Ach ! ich bin des Treibens miide ! "Was soil all' der Schmerz, die Lust ? Siisser Friede ! Komm, ach komm in meine Brust." Blissful answer to that cry is found in our text : " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." In this doing of them "the God of peace shall be with you." LECTUEE XXIII. " Penuriam quippe pati quorumcunque hominum est, sed scire penuriam pati, magnorum est, sie et abundare quis non potest; scire autem et abundare non nisi eorum est quos abundantia non corrumpit."— Augustus, de Bono Conjug. c. 21. " There is a jewel which no Indian mine can buy. No chemlc art can counterfeit ; It makes men rich in greatest poverty, Makes water wine, turns wooden cups to gold, The homely whistle to sweet music's strain. Seldom it comes, to few from heaven sent, That much in little, all in nought, content." Wilbye's Madrigals. " 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." — Phil. iv. 10-14. "VX7 E now reach the final section of the Epistle. It * " is introduced by " but," not, indeed, implying any marked contrast, but simply indicating transition to matters of special and personal detail, as we might say, matters of business. But even the treatment of such matters by the apostle is tinged with the beauty of his religious emotion ; it becomes transfigured with the heavenly radiance of a holy life. He is in effect doing nothing more than tendering his acknowledg ments for the gift of money which the self-denying friendship of the Philippians had forwarded to him. LECT. XXIII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 10-14. 257 He does so with simple words of unfeigned thanks giving. But the position of this thanksgiving in the Epistle may profitably claim our notice. In this spe cific form it is reserved for the close. We do not find it at the beginning (though indirect reference is indeed made to it there, i. 5), as if it held the chief place in the apostle's thought ; nor does he omit it altogether, as if it had no place in his thought at all ; but he gives it its due position, after more important, because spiritual, themes, a prominent, though not too obtrusive position towards the end. And the expression of his gratitude is, if we may use such language, in exquisite Christian taste, " I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length ye have revived your thought for me." He is without doubt here, as also in ii. 25, and again in ver. 18 of this chapter, alluding to the pecuniary gift which had been sent him. When it reached him, it brought him not only substantial aid, but also abounding joy. Yet this joy was in no way excessive. " Greatly," a word found in Scripture only in this place, might seem to breathe a spirit of self-complacency and pride. He therefore carefully qualifies it by his well-known formula, " in the Lord." His joy, in its exceeding greatness, was yet a true Christian joy, purified, sus tained, hallowed in his fellowship with Christ Jesus. It was thus a joy which overflowed in thankfulness to that Lord who had given his Philippian friends both the power and the will to render him this service. " Now at length," a change, much looked for and long deferred, in their relations towards him had at last taken place. They had once more opened up communications with him in his Eoman imprisonment. There is no reproach whatever lying in the words, that there had been any culpable neglect of privilege and duty on the 258 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIII. part of the Philippians. The clause simply gives express sion to the apostle's own feeling, his own hope deferred, making the heart sick. He had longed and waited ; yet days and weeks came and went, leaving only the deeper mark of growing disappointment on his spirit. But along with the gift brought to his hands, there had at last come gladness to his heart. " Ye have revived your thought for me." Ewald supposes, but it is per haps a supposition and nothing more, that the apostle in this phraseology is referring directly to words already used in the letter with which the Philippian gift, brought by Epaphroditus, had been accompanied. It is, however, more profitable to turn from such unsupported suggestions to what the words themselves mean. The Eevised Version understands, and that with good warrant, the verb as used transitively. Upon the whole, however, for reasons somewhat minute, but well advanced by Meyer and also in the Speaker's Com mentary, the intransitive use is to be preferred, " Ye flourished again as concerning caring for me." This rendering has the advantage of avoiding the implica tion of any blame to the Philippians, as if their goodwill to Paul had been, as it were, for a time dead ; but, as has been already said, the language throughout is too refined in its gentleness to admit of this view : besides, it is directly negatived by what follows, " Ye lacked opportunity." It is therefore not revived goodwill, but revived power that is spoken of. The metaphor is taken from spring-time, though it is going too far, with Bengel and others, to see in it an allusion to the season of the year when the gift arrived. Without fixing it down in this way, we feel it to be perfectly intelligible as well as eminently natural and beautiful. The love of this Church towards himself, of which he was all LECT. XXIII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 10-14. 259 along well assured, the apostle regards as having been, owing to adverse circumstances, like the life of the tree in the sleep of winter ; but now, after this long winter of enforced delay, it had put forth shoots anew. Its spring-time of activity had come. Their love indeed had always been there, as the sap is always in the tree, but now it had burst out into the manifestation of life. It was indeed now bearing visible fruit in the gift he had received. Such is the figure ; it has something of a parallel in the line of Tennyson1 — " And every thought breaks out a rose." But fearing lest a tacit, though undesigned reproach might possibly seem to lurk in the metaphor, Paul hastens, with sensitive eagerness, to guard against such misunderstanding of it ; he promptly adds, " Wherein ye did indeed take thought, but ye lacked opportunity." The long, dispiriting delay had not been their fault ; it had simply been their misfortune, as it had been also his. It sprang not from their indifference ; but, pro bably still prolonging the figure, he says, favourable season for the re -blossoming of their friendship had been awanting. If this be the right conception of the passage, the view already hinted at is at once rejected as absurd, that those who were Paul's warmly attached friends in the Philippian Church had been seduced for a time by the Judaizing teachers in their midst from their heart - allegiance to him, and so had callously neglected his wants. Their whole character, as dis closed in this Epistle, further contradicts this unworthy view. The circumstances, indeed, cannot be definitely ascertained ; but clearly outward hindrances alone are implied. Either the Philippians had been long in hear- 1 In Memoriam, cxxii. 260 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIII. ing about their friend's imprisonment and straitened condition, or they had no one sufficiently capable and trustworthy immediately at hand, whom they could send to him in their name when they did hear. Most probable of all, however, is the view suggested by i. 30 and 2 Cor. viii. 1, 2, that the difficulties of their posi tion as Christians in the midst of a heathen community, and also the deep poverty which five or six years before had fallen upon the Macedonian Churches, had deprived the Philippian believers of their worldly means. Here then in the gift which had now reached him was a proof to the apostle of a certain revival of their temporal prosperity, and amid his own misfortunes he unfeignedly rejoiced thereat. His was no selfish isolation of spirit ; his was no " hermit-spirit," looking only to the things of his own life. He could see and feel all his friends, existing, as it were, in himself. He rejoiced in the gift as in itself so acceptable to his needs ; he still more rejoiced in it as an evidence of the returning prosperity which was now gladdening their hearts ; he rejoiced in it most of all as a pledge and renewed assurance of their undiminished love to himself in Christ Jesus, their common Lord. In words of refined and simple courtesy he adds, " not that I speak in respect of want." He has too much of self-respect to do so, and too much of respect for them to suppose that they would so misunderstand him. His own personal penury could never utter itself in ignoble complaints. He does not, it is true, deny, or even make light of, his indigence. But that which they had sent to relieve it was accepted by him chiefly as a token of their spiritual prosperity, an evidence that they had learned the precious significance of their divine Master's saying, a saying which Paul's own LECT.. XXIII.] CHAr. IV. VERS. 10-14. 261 address to the elders of the Ephesian Church at Miletus has preserved, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts xx. 35); that they had exchanged the old heathen adage, possibly not unknown in their midst, " Silly the giver, happy the getter," for the noble utter ance of the blessedness of self-sacrificing love. " For I (for my part, eyo* ydp) have learned," by painful experi ence throughout my whole apostolic ministry, " in what soever state I am, therein to be content." The word " content," with its kindred substantive, is found in the New Testament only here and in 2 Cor. ix. 8 and 1 Tim. vi. 6. It means, properly, self-sufficient, because having enough in oneself, self-contained, and therefore indepen dent. It is the recognised word for that moral quality which Aristotle claims as an essential element in all true happiness.1 This self-sufficiency was the ceaseless theme of Stoic commendation, — a noble theme too upon the whole, although it could hardly fail in heathen philosophy to be presented in unworthy aspects, such as its disregard of reverence of the Power above man, and its selfish indifference on the part of the indi vidual, to the interests of others. Now the apostle seems to have adopted the word here all the more readily that his readers knew it to represent a common place in heathen systems of morals. But while he adopts it, he infuses into it a noble significance. He declares that he has attained to his self-sufficiency, not because his heart has become petrified to tender emo tions, but because it has been softened, warmed, set on fire by the contemplation of heavenly realities. His state of mind and heart is that which the saying of Savonarola so well expounds, " What must not he possess, who possesses the Possessor of all ? " Eather, ' Nicom. Eth. I. vii. 6. 262 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIII*"' we may surely say, it is illustrated better still by his own sober yet ecstatic utterance, " All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's " (1 Cor. iii. 23). Thus, then, it is that in a higher sense than that which the Eoman poet understood, the apostle was " in se ipso totus." x In a spirit of peaceful repose, because resting all on Christ Jesus, he had learned the secret of " making the first possession self-possession." 2 His celebrated heathen contemporary, Seneca, could say, " Beatus est praesentibus, qualiacunque sunt, contentus." " Blessed is he who is satisfied with things present, whatever they are. " 3 But a Christian apostle can say far more : " Godliness with contentment is great gain." The higher philosophy of Christian life represents con tentment, not as a mere end in itself, but as fitting for service : " God is able to make all grace abound unto you ; that ye, having always all-sufficiency in every thing, may abound unto every good work " (2 Cor. ix. 8). But the general statement that he had attained to the blessedness of a contented spirit, the apostle feels is not sufficiently explicit. Hence he proceeds to ex pand it : he enforces and illustrates it in the clauses which follow. Somewhat irregular as they are in form, these are yet felt, perhaps felt all the more, to be full of rhetorical force — " I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound." The extremes of human life are thus set forth, but not with absolutely logical precision. " Abased," strictly speaking, has its opposite in " being exalted ; " and " to abound" finds its exact opposite in " being in want." But of course it is at once felt that the conception of abasement includes also that of want, and is therefore quite a legitimate 1 Horace, Sat. ii. 7. 86. 2 Euskin, Unto this last, p. 170. 3 Ve vita beata, c. 6. LECT. XXIII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 10-14. 263 and intelligible opposite to the conception of abound ing. The apostle had learned to adapt himself to either condition, and in making this declaration he is, as Schenkel reminds us, laying down an emphatic pro test against the self-assumed poverty of asceticism on the one hand, and that dangerous illusion of modern socialism, which would in effect destroy poverty by . destroying wealth, on the other. The Christian cha racter, strong in heavenly aid vouchsafed, must be able to withstand the dangers of both — alike the temptation to murmuring rebellion and to overbear ing pride. " In everything and in all things," not " in all things and among all men " (Conybeare), nor " in every place and at every time," but " in each and all," with the thought implied, — in life regarded as a whole, and in. all the varied incidents of which it is composed — in and by means of all such experiences " have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want." Here the contrast is in both clauses literally exact. We have Paul's own comment upon this declaration in 2 Cor. iv. 8-10 and vi. 8-10. What is to be noticed here is the intensely strong way in which the alternatives are put. Even as to bodily needs, the very necessaries of life, and also as to possessions of whatever kind, which men so usually and so falsely call their substance, he could say as the result of his own experience that the words of the wise man hold true, " A good man shall be satisfied from himself." There are blessings in a "laeta paupertas" when it is accompanied, as in his case, with right aims and holy aspirations. But we must look at the expression, " I have learned the secret." It completes what probably is a distinct 264 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIII. climax. "I have learned;" further, as the result of this learning, " I know ; " last of all, this knowing led the apostle up into the most secret things of Christian contentment. As in iii. 20 allusion is appropriately made to Eoman citizenship, of the honours of which Philippi was specially proud, and in this present con nection also, in ver. 11, to the heathen doctrine of self- sufficiency or contentment, well known to the citizens of Philippi, so now a word is significantly chosen which breathes only of heathen superstition. It speaks of initiation into the mysteries. Literally it means, " I have been initiated." The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament ; but its meaning could not be misunderstood by the first readers of this Epistle. They doubtless felt that the apostle was saying to them that he had been fully instructed, taught in regard to those higher things which are hidden from those who are only exoterically trained. The difficulty of reaching this high degree of contentment, its rarity, its value, its solemnity, are thus all emphasized. But then, on the other hand, it is, pro perly speaking, now no longer a secret thing. At least it is now what Vaughan has well called " an open secret" to all Christ's disciples. All are invited to learn it. It will cost toil, self-denial, pain ; it will take time, many and varied experiences of life ; it will demand prayer and meditation, fervent and un ceasing. But all will be rewarded at last : " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant." What, then, is the secret of this contentment or self-sufficiency? The answer follows, " I can do all things in Him that strength eneth me." We have exactly the same phrase in 1 Tim. i. 1 2, with the addition of the name of Christ, LECT. XXm.] CHAP.. IV. VERS. 10-14. 265 which possibly accounts for the unwarranted insertion of it in many MSS. here. The. passage is the true ex planation of the ever-present paradox of all Christian life, " when I am weak, then am I strong." The believer, weak, helpless, as of himself he is, is yet in Christ Jesus — shut up as it were in Him, fenced about by Him, — and thus heaven's own strength encompasses earth's weakness. And this strength is all-sufficient ; hence the believer's self-sufficiency. It suffices for the doing of " all things " — not merely what may be included in the preceding words, but all conditions, all trials, all duties, without distinction and without exception, that a follower of Christ may be called upon to face. " Our sufficiency is of God." In this verse, then, " we have the world - wide distinction between the Stoic and the Christian. Each teaches respect for the higher humanity in the soul ; but to the one that humanity is our own, to the other it is ' the Christ within,' dwelling in the heart, regenerat ing and conforming it to Himself. The words of St. Paul are but a practical corollary to the higher truth, ' To me to live is Christ.' " x " Howbeit ye did well that ye had fellowship with my affliction." The apostle, after all, was very far from thinking lightly of the gift that had been sent. He will therefore guard against any misconception of his words as if they indicated his depreciation of the offer ing. Having learned the secret of Christian content ment, he had not unlearned the duty, the privilege of thankfulness. His friends had done well, nobly, and he willingly gives them the tribute of praise. This well-doing is not in their jointly contributing, as some would understand it, but in their joining themselves 1 Dr. Barry in Ellicott's N. Test. Commentary. 266 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIII. on as it were to him. They took up his affliction as if it were their own. His pecuniary straits, the restraints of his captivity, — all the varied elements of sorrow which made his lot in Eome so hard, — the burden of all these they showed by their gift that they sympathetically shared, and he in effect on his part declares that by so sharing it they lightened it ; they in a word, translated into action the apostle's own pre cept, " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ " (Gal. vi. 2). As we have to some extent been treating of initia tion into Christian privilege and duty, of contentment as contrasted with the cold and distressful self-suffi ciency of heathen philosophy, the words of our best loved and gentlest Christian moralist may well close our study. These are the words of Addison:1 " I was once engaged in discourse with a Eosicrucian about ' the great secret.' As this kind of men (I mean those of them who are not professed cheats) are overrun with enthusiasm and philosophy, it was very amusing to hear this religious adept descanting on his pretended discovery. He talked of the secret as of a spirit which lived within an emerald, and converted every thing that wTas near it to the highest perfection it is capable of. It gives a lustre, says he, to the sun, and water to the diamond. It irradiates every metal, and enriches lead with all the properties of gold. It heightens smoke into flame, flame into light, and light into glory. He further added, that a single ray of it dissipates pain, and care, and melancholy from the person on whom it falls. In short, says he, its pre sence naturally changes every place into a kind of heaven. After he had gone on for some time in 1 Spectator, No. 574. LECT. XXIII.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 10-14. 267 this unintelligible cant, I found that he jumbled natural and moral ideas together in the same dis course, and that his great secret was nothing else but content. This virtue does indeed produce in some measure all those effects which the alchemist usually ascribes to what he calls the philosopher's stone ; and if it does not bring riches, it does the same thing, by banishing the desire for them. If it cannot remove the disquietudes arising out of a man's mind, body, or fortune, it makes him easy under them. It has indeed a kindly influence on the soul of man, in respect of every being to whom he stands related. It extin guishes all murmur, repining, and ingratitude towards that Being who has allotted him his part to act in this world. It destroys all inordinate ambition, and every tendency to corruption, with regard to the community wherein he is placed. It gives sweetness to his con versation, and a perpetual serenity to all his thoughts. . . . Upon the whole, a contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world ; and if in the present life his happiness arises from the subduing of his desires, it will arise in the next from the gratifica tion of them." LECTUEE XXIV. " Etsi omnia caduca sunt hominum et temporum diutur- nitate labuntur, sunt tamen ex hominibus aliqua perpetua stabititate connexa, ilia videlicet, quos divinis addita cultibus, hoereditatis Dei funiculum inter homines amplectuntur." — Pirro, Sicilia Sacra, in Montalambert's Monks of the West, i. 121. " Arce quibus imponi debent ex facultatibus nostris sacrificia, pauperes sunt et servi Christi,"— Calvin, in loc. " 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 Csesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." —Phil. iv. 15-23. " "\7"E Philippians ! " The apostle, in the fulness of -*- ,his heart, addresses his readers by name. There are only other two instances of his doing so in the body of his Epistles. The emotion which prompts this direct appeal is in this case not that of vehement sorrow and anger, as when he exclaims, " 0 foolish Galatians ! " (Gal. iii. 1), but that of overflowing tenderness, as when he says, "0 ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged " (2 Cor. LECT. XXIV.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 15-23. 269 vi. 11). The address, however, serves the further purpose of marking his readers out, as contrasted with others, for peculiar honour. He reminds them of that which indeed they quite well knew, but in their self- forge tfulness might not duly consider, — since all true kindliness of heart is self-forgetful, — that as a Church they stood alone in the willing aid they had rendered him. We thus see that it is a good, a proper thing to remind good-doers of their good deeds. By so doing they may be stimulated to higher effort ; and com mendation, therefore, while it should be wise, should not be stinted. "Being such an one as Paul the aged," the apostle in this his last Epistle to a Gentile Church takes a retrospective view of the early events of his apostolic career. He goes back in thought to " the first day " (i. 5) : even the days of the first proclamation of the gospel in Europe. Placing himself at his readers' point of view, he speaks of that time as " the beginning of the gospel." So it was to them. For them this was the commencement of the Christian era (Alford). It was so also signally for others, because Philippi was the first city in Europe that heard the truth from the apostle's lips. He recalls what happened when he departed from Macedonia. The allusion is prqbably not to the supplies he received when he was at Corinth (2 Cor. xi. 9). These supplies did indeed come in whole or in part from Philippian friends ; but an earlier incident is doubtless alluded to. The reference seems to be to some Philippian gift (vid. Acts xvii. 14) sent to him just as he was leaving Berea. The tense of the verb favours this view, and the clause, " the beginning of the gospel," almost necessitates it. It points to the earliest possible period. It further fits into this view that at 270 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIV. the time thus fixed the apostle would very naturally be in despondency, and possibly in deepest need. He had but recently suffered from the Eoman rods at Philippi, and endured outrages at Thessalonica and Berea. All his means, too, we may readily conceive, may have been confiscated. It was in such a position of affairs, therefore, that aid was then doubly welcome, and was now remembered with more than common gratitude. The Philippians alone " had fellowship with him in the matter of giving and receiving." A mercantile meta phor lies in the words, as we now and again find, — for instance, Eph. v. 16, and elsewhere. Christian privilege and duty are illustrated and enforced by reference to the commercial pursuits of men. The allusion is to credit and debit, the two sides of account which money dealings imply. It is surely, however, too much to gather from such an expression that the apostle kept a strict record of these moneys received, so that when fitting season came he might repay ; or that he did actually in return forward to Philippi money which other Churches had sent to him. Again, it is too little to infer that no reciprocation whatever is implied. The old and common viewT is still the most satisfactory, that a literal giving and receiving is spoken of — the apostle communicating to them " spiri tual things," and they in return recognising the obligation of rendering to him " carnal things."1 Has he not elsewhere said : " If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things ?" (1 Cor. ix. 11 ; vid. also Eom. xv. 27). " For " (not " that ; " a reason is adduced) " even in Thessalonica " they had shown their goodwill to him. " Ye sent once and again to my need." At least two 1 Professor Johnstone well supports this view. LECT. XXIV.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 15-23. 271 distinct instances — possibly more — are adduced, each of earlier date than that to which reference had just been made, and Paul's gratitude, the memory of the heart, will not overlook them. Communication between Philippi and Thessalonica was easy, and advantage had been taken of this to help him in his need. His own need, certainly, though this has been doubted, is referred to. The suggestion of Grotius, that the gifts were in aid of the Christian poor in other cities, is entirely fanciful, and directly contradicted also by the phraseology.1 The gifts in themselves, indeed, would seem to have been trivial, for Paul (2 Thess. iii. 8) at that time was working for his own support ; but inasmuch as in them his friends had given their hearts, these gifts were valued by him as beyond all price. If we seek for an explanation of the apostle's need and reception of these gifts at Eome, it may be found in this, that the Eomans were not, in all likelihood, his own converts, and he may therefore not have felt that he had the same claims upon them as upon others. More probably it lies in the fact that he had opponents, suspicious and envious, in the Imperial city (i. 15-18), and in their presence he would not expose himself to the charge, however groundless, of self-seeking, which these might be too ready to bring against him. We know that this is in entire accord with his principle and practice. Some Churches would not give him aid ; others could not. From some, again, he refused aid, either because of their poverty or because of the disadvantages anticipated to his Master's cause ; and from others he joyfully and gratefully accepted it. This latter he did here. He would not do wrong to the feelings of the Philippians, or violence to his own, 1 If tyi'j spiv be awanting, its absence is compensated for by the 14.01. 272 PHILIPPIANS. .[LECT. XXIV. by refusal. Still, in his scrupulous sensitiveness he finds it proper to add, "Not that I seek for the gift." Acceptable though it was, and possibly also sorely needed, it was not that which he had been seeking ; still less the repetition of it (eVi^™). He could willingly, cheerfully dispense with material aid; but what he could not surrender, what he could not cease longing for, was " fruit that increaseth to their account." The gift was chiefly valued as being an evi dence of this fruit. We have a similar use of the word " fruit " in John iv. 36. Our Lord there declares : " He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal." But the word in that case is directly suggested by the allusion to the harvest. Here, on the contrary, it stands unconnected with any such figure. Still the meaning is much the same. Possibly we may hold, reasoning from the law term " usufruct," that the mercantile figure is still retained, and that " fruit " represents the interest on that which the Philippians had, as it were, laid out on the apostle's behalf, and which God in His good time and way would repay. The wise man has declared, " He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord ; and that which he hath given will He pay him again." There is then a true profit accruing as a surplus to the giver in every Christian act of liberality — a blessing both for this life and for that which is to come. It is this blessing to their own souls, and this reward finally to be theirs, which the apostle desires to see as the fruit of the Philippians' gift to himself. But once more, as if still keeping himself clear of any possible misunderstanding, he adds, " But I have all things, and abound : " — I have got out of (dvrexco) your gift much, though you yourselves will get out LECT. XXIV.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 15-23. 273 of it much more. This in effect is his declaration — not only have I all I need, but I have superfluity. He was himself realizing the blessed significance of his own saying, " all things are yours." The words show us how truly and thoroughly a Christian may rise above all worldly cares, and breathe even in adversity the peace ful atmosphere of heaven. All sorrows may and ought to be sweetened by that cheerfulness, which is begotten of a childlike confidence in God's loving care. They show us further how even earthly possessions, as well as earthly sorrows, may and ought to be consecrated to heavenly uses, and that when they are so, they cannot fail to bring their own blessing to the giver. Even Muhammad (in the Traditions) could say, " The liberal man is near to God, near to Paradise, near to men, and distant from hell. Every morning God sends two angels, and one of them says : ' 0 God, give to the liberal man something in lieu of that which he has given away ! ' And the other says : ' 0 God, ruin the property of the miser ! ' " J But Scripture has a nobler way of illustrating and commending this duty. The apostle says : "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." Giving then has its relation not only to the giver in " the fruit of righteousness " which it produces in his own heart, — not only to the recipient in the temporal benefits it confers, but also, and chiefly, to God the Father of all, inasmuch as He approves and accepts it as a work done unto Himself. The reference here is a double one, — to the altar of incense and the altar of burnt-offering alike. The Philippian gift is compared to both of 1 Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, art. "Liberality." S 274 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIV. these, and thus represented as a sacred thing, an offer ing not to a suffering saint merely, but also and chiefly to Him " whose is the silver and whose is the gold." In aiding Paul, the Philippians were priests unto God, and their ministration received the divine approval — therefore "To do good and to communicate forget not ; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased " (Heb. xiii. 16). With the sacrifice of communicating, in the way of giving, God is well pleased, because it is God like. He is ever giving : while the part of recipient is ours. In thus acting, therefore, we are like Him, and He regards us with complacency and love. He is well pleased with it further, because it is pre-eminently Christlike : " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." It is His law, for it is the very essence of His atonement, — His law, because the only perfect exemplification of it is His own life ; — His, yet again, for He has directly enjoined it upon His followers. Hence God for His Son's sake is well pleased with those who obey it. Finally, God is well pleased with such sacrifices, because they represent work done for Him, and it cannot fail in its reward. Even on earth benevolence is fruitful of noble and happy thoughts in our own breasts ; and all burdens of duty, here borne willingly, " lightly as a flower," for Christ's sake, will be recompensed at last by an " exceeding weight of glory," a burden of bliss. In view of all this, the words of Calvin are words of highest truth, " the altars on which our offerings to God ought to be presented, axe the poor, and the servants of Christ." While the apostle feels that he himself is help less to recompense his benefactors, he declares that they can in no way fall short of their reward. LECT. XXIV.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 15-23. 275 Like Peter and John at the temple gate, he could say, " Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee," and he gives his benediction : " My God," he says (vid. on i. 3) with the emphasis of solemnity ; that God whom I serve, who has all along been my shield and reward, and the lifter up of my head, whose fellowship and sustaining grace I have enjoyed in the apostleship of His Son, " shall fulfil every need of yours." The "every" clearly lifts the word "need" out of its mere reference to earthly things. The needs are spiritual and temporal alike. " According to His riches in glory ; " that is to say, in accordance with the exhaustless, the infinite fulness which is treasured up in Himself, and that " in glory ; " the essential nature of these riches is that they are not like the riches of earth corruptible, but " in glory " — " past man's power to paint them, time's to close." The word " glory," it is interesting to notice, is peculiarly frequent in the Epistles of the captivity. It would seem as if in old age, in feebleness and penury, while all earthly hopes were fast fading, the apostle sat penning these Epistles of instruction to the universal Church, and all the time unconsciously a light that is not of earth was falling on his spirit, even the peaceful dawning, in his stormy earthly sun set, of the day of eternal joy. And all this God will do to His people " in Christ Jesus," for in Christ they are the people of His own purchase — in Him their ministering love has its life, its activity, and the assur ance of its reward. "Now unto our God and Father be the glory for ever and ever. Amen." " My God," he had just said : He will now in the doxology rather say : " Our God ; " recognising the precious truth, on which all believers 276 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIV. are invited to rest their hope, that He who is the Almighty God is ever extending towards them His loving and protecting care, — His Fatherly loving-kind ness, — and is ever requiring from them the grateful tribute of their adoring praise. Whatever happens to the Philippian Church or to the apostle, to whose heart the interests of that Church were so dear, the glory of God shall be "for ever and ever." To this assurance they and he together must declare their ceaseless assent — must accord the " Amen " of their inmost hearts. We have now reached the close of the Epistle, and we find it naturally taking the form of salutation. The apostle thinks not only of the Christian com munity at Philippi as a whole, but also of each member of it. His heart goes out towards his friends as he remembers them individually and by name, and he on his part desires in the same way to be remembered by them. Yet, while he thus salutes each one, he himself names none : they are all alike embraced in his loving regard. He goes in thought even beyond Philippi. " Every saint " in any of the neighbouring Churches is his friend, and therefore to every saint he extends his greeting. The salutation is "in Christ Jesus" (Eom. xvi. 22 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 19), and hence it refuses to be limited by lesser bounds than those of the whole household of faith. It may be said even to reach down through the ages to ourselves. But the apostle is not alone ; he has " the brethren " with him. These he would therefore associate with himself in brotherly expressions of goodwill. They, as well as he, have heartfelt greetings to send. The allu sion to the presence of these brethren with Paul does not conflict with his previous declaration, in which he LECT. XXIV.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 15-23. 277 says: "I have no man like-minded, who will care truly for your state."1 While many of the Eoman believers were far from being rightly sympathetic, were even low-toned in their Christianity, and were consequently severely spoken of in the earlier part of the Epistle, the apostle had not broken friendship with them. Sadly disappointed in them as to the warmth of their zeal, he yet loves them still ; he recognises them as brethren. Besides, we can understand that, while not definitely excluding any, he is alluding specially to those who were his immediate fellow- workers. He is thinking not so much of believers with whom he came in contact in Eome, as of those who were there closely associated with him in work. Who these were, amid the shifting experiences of his lot, we have no means of conjecturing. But further, as if fearing lest the word "brethren" might be taken simply in this narrower sense, and might therefore wound any loving heart, he goes on to say unreservedly : "All the saints salute you." All friends of Christ Jesus are friends of one another, and as such cannot fail to join in this friendly greeting. Once more in the quick alternations of emotion — the changing moods of an unchanging love — the language becomes contracted, " especially they that are of Csesar's household." There has been much discussion in regard to these. The probability is that the clause does not refer, on the one hand, to the Praetorian guard — at least not to it alone — nor, on the other hand, to the members of Nero's family, those who were his kinsmen. It is known indeed that of these latter there were now very few remaining. The allusion is most likely to the servants, the retainers in the Imperial household — those who in later times, for instance in the 1 Vid. on ii. 20, pp. 131-134. 278 PHILIPPIANS. [LECT. XXIV. edict of Valerianus, are expressly called " Csesariani." We should say, the Emperor's people. This company of slaves and freedmen alike we can conceive as having occasional opportunities of meeting with that Jewish prisoner who had " appealed unto Caesar." In this way they may have been brought to Christ Jesus ; or, if previously Christian, may have been confirmed in " the faith of the gospel." It may also be surmised that these officials of the Imperial palace at Eome may readily have made acquaintance with some of the Christians in Philippi, a city which was a Eoman colony, and associated to some extent with Eoman life. Without, however, dwelling upon such suppositions, we have this truth brought home to our minds, that, even thus early in its career, Christianity was surely and rapidly winning its way into most unlikely regions — gaining triumphs where they might least have been expected. Caesar's household was peculiarly at this period the centre of all that was unholy. " Exeat aula, qui volet esse pius " — " Let him leave the court who desires to be upright," was the utterance of the gathered experience of that age. The adage: "Diu in aula, diu in Gehenna," was becoming a commonplace on the lips of honourable men. Yet here are trophies of the religion of the cross already won in the palace of the worst of the Caesars ; and ere long emperors themselves are found enlisted under the banner of Him who is " Lord of all." " A new doctrine was already taught in the Forum, and believed even on the Palatine. Over against the altars of Nero and Poppsea the voice of a prisoner was daily heard, and daily woke in grovelling souls the conscious ness of their divine destiny. Men listened, and knew that self-sacrifice was better than ease, humiliation more exalted than pride, to suffer nobler than to reign. They LECT. XXIV.] CHAP. IV. VERS. 15-23. 279 felt that the only religion which satisfied the needs of man was the religion of sorrow, the religion of self- devotion, the religion ofthe Cross."1 " The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." All good wishes are summed up in this benediction. To have that grace in the spirit is to have the true joy, of which this Epistle so often speaks, as an enduring possession. It is to have the pledge and foretaste of eternal glory. 1 Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, chap. xxvi. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. PHILIPPIANS. THE Epistle may be outlined in the following way : — It opens with a greeting addressed to all the saints, along with the bishops and deacons (i. 1, 2). Then follows the introduction, in which the apostle expresses his gratitude to God for the Philippians' fellowship in the furtherance of the gospel, his con fident assurance of their perseverance, his yearning love towards them, and his prayer that they may increasingly abound in love and all spiritual discern ment, that they may be void of offence, and filled with the fruits of righteousness " unto the day of Christ" (i. 3-11). In the first section (i. 12-26) the apostle informs his friends about his own situation and prospects, and the bearing that these have upon the cause of Christ, which he and they alike have at heart. His imprisonment, so far from having turned out to the disadvantage of the gospel, has proved helpful. Even the proclamation of that gospel by his opponents, from impure motives, was so far a satisfaction to him. He rejoiced that even in this way his Master's name was becoming known (vers. 12-18). He further de clares his conviction that, through his friends' inter cessions, all will turn out for the best in regard to himself, whether it be release or martyrdom which in the near future awaits him. Calmly regarding the possibility of either issue, he hesitates, as it were, between them. It is preferable for himself to depart ; 284 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. it is profitable for them that he remain. He is confi dent, after all, that this latter will be realized (vers. 19-26). In the next section (i. 27-30) the apostle passes from personal matters to exhortation. He urges his readers, in view of their many adversaries, to stand fast. His own joy is bound up with their stedfast ness. Their own salvation is associated with their sufferings. But their suffering is a token of God's favour towards them. Having received grace to believe on Christ's name, they are honoured also in suffering for His sake. The exhortation, which the apostle deems needful to address to his friends, is contained chiefly.in ii. 1-18. It begins with a solemn adjuration, and its main purpose is to commend oneness of mind and spirit, as opposed to faction and vainglory (1-4). This Christian mood is to be sought in humility. The example of the Saviour Himself is adduced. He humbled Himself, and therefore was He exalted (5-11). Hence in the spirit which He has exhibited, His people are to exercise themselves unto godliness. The apostle urges his readers to do so, all the more that he is absent from them : and he encourages them by the assurance that their own efforts cannot fail, because God does all for them. Whatever they do must be done without murmurings and disputings. In this way alone can they become "blameless and harmless," and consequently exercise an influence for good upon others. Paul's own rejoicing as an apostle, " in the day of Christ," is bound up with their con sistent and holy lives. Even though he meet, a martyr's death this joy will still be his, and they ought to share in it (12-18). The Epistle now becomes occupied with matters of detail (ii. 19-30). His loving consideration for the Philippians had led the apostle to make the best arrangement he could for their welfare and his own comfort. Timothy he purposed soon to send to NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 285 them. He was the only messenger available amid the prevalent indifference or half-heartedness of the Eoman Christians (19-23). But Epaphroditus meanwhile is sent back at once to them. In his sickness and conval escence he had longed after them. The apostle there fore willingly surrenders him, and restores him to his friends, and bespeaks for him a warm-hearted welcome on his return. This messenger deserved well at their hands, for all he had endured, as their representative, for the apostle's sake (24-30). Turning aside from such directly personal matters, Paul once more reverts to the dangers which beset the Philippian Church. A caution is given against erroneous teachers and Jewish adversaries (iii. 1-iv. 1). These are alluded to in the strongest language. In regard to his kinsmen according to the flesh and their assumption of superiority, Paul shows how he can claim precedence of them all (4-6). But he has cast all such grounds of boasting aside as worthless. He values nought now but the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord (7-11). Yet would he not assert for a moment that in this new life, in union with the Saviour, he is " perfect." The goal he has not yet reached. He presses continually towards it (12-14). They in this are to follow his example ; in concord walking together " by that same rule " (15, 16). With a reference to the evil-workers already described, the apostle offers himself as a pattern. Contrasted with these corrupt men, he and his fellow-believers have a heavenly citizenship : so far from being earthly-minded, they are ever looking towards heaven awaiting their Lord's coming, and in His coming their own glorifica tion. In this expectation they are stedfastly to stand. The conclusion of the Epistle (iv. 2-21) is occupied first of all with an earnest appeal to Euodia and Syntyche to resume a broken friendship (2, 3). Then follow a general exhortation to joy fulness in the Lord, and a direction to maintain all virtuous and 286 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. praiseworthy character and conduct (4-9). Then the apostle makes a full and express acknowledgment of his thankfulness for the Philippian money -gifts which he had received. He values these chiefly as a manifestation of their love. However needful this aid was, he had yet been initiated into the learning of contentment in whatsoever state he might be placed (10-19). A doxology, a greeting, and a benediction close the Epistle (21-23). LECTUEE I. Note 1, p. 2. — " The order of the conversions is worthy of a moment's notice. The proselyte, the Greek, the Eoman — that has been the order of the diffusion of Christianity through the world ; and it is so in principle at this day. We expect our first successes among those who have had some religious advantages, our next among the susceptible around, and our last among the men of the world. The varieties, too, are beautiful. These converts have nothing in common : probably not one of them before this time knew the other, nor would they have had the least interest in each other — the first an Asiatic, the second a Greek, the third a Eoman ; a merchant, a chattel, a soldier. And yet they are brought easily into the kingdom of harmony, into the brotherhood of the gospel. So they come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." Dr. Ealeigh, " The Gospel brought into Europe," in Dawn to the Perfect Day. Note 2, p. 10, ver. 1. — In Christ Jesus. Opitz (Das System des Paulus nach seinen Briefen darge- stellt, p. 299) has a good note on this oft-recurring Pauline formula : " Christus, als der Mittelpunkt und Inbegriff des Christlichen Glaubens, ist das personliche NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 287 Princip unseres Denkens, Wollens und Thuns, nicht bloss in dem, was unmittelbar auf den christlichen Glauben sich bezieht, sondern uberhaupt in Allem ; weil Alles bestimmt ist, von seinem universellen Geistes- leben angeeichnet zu werden. Daher das oft wieder- holte iv Xpio-Toi, das Element aussagend, worin fiir den Christen Alles sich bewegt, und den Grund, worauf es fiir ihn beruht, und das parallele iv Kvpim, das Verhalt- niss bezeichnend, in welchem Christus fiir den Christen das Princip seines Wesens und Lebens ist. Der Christ hat an Christus den Herrn nicht bloss im Eeich der Gnade, sondern auch in alien naturlichen Lebensbezie- hungen. Col. iii. 17 : Kal irdv 6 n dv iroirjre iv \6 ivSwa/novvrl p,ot in iv. 13. These all more or less have a certain military tinge. Vid. Howson's Lectures on the Character of St. Paul, p. 208. LECTUEE VI. Note 1, p. 55, ver. 19.—/ knoiv that this shall turn to my salvation. Many, following the Patristic com mentators, refer the rovro to the enmity of the apostle's NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 293 envious opponents, and the tribulation which it caused him. But rovro can hardly be thrown back, over ver. 18, to vers. 15 and 16. Nor is the reference, as many understand it, to the preaching of the gospel by his adversaries, the rovro being in this way the same as the rovrm immediately preceding. Dr. Eadie rather seems to have caught the right connection. He understands the rovro to refer to the state of mind described in the former verse, — his joy in the preaching of Christ, from whatever motive. " For this state of mind indicated his supreme regard for Christ, that he preferred Him above everything, that he could bear to be an object of malevolence and jealousy, if so his Master was exalted, and that, provided Christ was preached, he cared not for tarnished fame or heavy affliction. This mental condition was an index to him of a healthy spiritual state. . . . His present Christ like frame of spirit was salvational, if the expression may be coined, — it was an index of present attainment, and the sure instrument of subsequent glory." Note 2, p. 59, ver. 21. — " To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." The meaning of this declaration is well put by Matthies, " Meines Lebens Geistesgrund, Mit- telpunct und Ziel ist Christus, so das dieser die wesent- liehe Substanz, den unendlichen gegenstand, Inhalt und Zweck seines Daseins ausmacht (Col. iii. 4 ; Gal. ii. 20)." Holemann's notes are quite a thesaurus of parallel passages as to the language. The epitaphs of the Eoman Catacombs (Northcote, passim) supply a touching com ment upon the spirit of these apostolic words. They reveal to us very significantly the new region of thought regarding death into which the religion of Christ has introduced mankind. Wordsworth quotes here the words of Ignatius as forming an interesting parallel. Here is a beautiful passage from the Eoman Breviary, on St. Martin's Day, Nov. 11.: "Qui cum postea ad Candacensem vicum sui Dicecesis in gravem febrim incidisset, assidua Deum oratione precabatur, ut se ex 294 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. illo mortali careere liberaret. Quem audientes discipuli, sic rogabant : Cur nos pater deseris ? Cui nos miseros derelinquis ? Quorum voce commotus Martinus, ita Deum orabat : Domine, si adhuc populo tuo sum necessarius, non recuso laborem. 0 beatum virum Martinum Antistitem, qui nee mori timuit, nee vivere recusavit." This is the spirit that breathes in every consecrated life. Note 3, p. 61, vers. 22 and 24. — " Wendt states that the apostle uses iv rfj aap/cl when speaking specially of the earthly body, from which he might wish to be set free on his own account, but does not wish it for the sake of the Church ; and remarks that the word o-wp,a might here have been misunderstood, seeing that the apostle con templates the being clothed upon with a new organism, and so does not wish to be altogether free from awfia (2 Cor. v. 1 ff). But Wendt apparently overlooks the fact that in the sequel of that passage (ver. 8) the apostle uses the expression o-c2pa of that which was his present place of sojourn, but which he preferred to leave — ivBrjLi,ovvre Kal Bid Aoyov, the true noumenon or ens intel- ligibile of Christ. To bow at hearing the cognomen may become a universal, but it is still only a non essential consequence of the former. But the debase ment of the idea is not the worst evil of this false rendering ;— it has afforded the pretext and authority for unchristian intolerance." S. T. Colerido-e, Notes on English Divines, ii. p. 174. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 301 LECTURE XI. P. 121, vers. 15, 16. — In ihe midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. We are inclined to follow Hofmann's guidance as to the meaning of o-rrjpe<; : " Denn nicht ' Himmelslichter ' darf man o)o-T%e?, aber darum bedeutet doch <£»o-T%}e? ohne Artikel keineswegs die Sterne oder Sonne, Mond und Sterne, sondern Leuchten liberhaupt (Apok. xxi. 11). Die Leser werden also nicht in ihrer Eigenschaft als Christen mit den Gestirnen verglichen, sondern w? besagt, in welcher Eigenschaft sie leuchten, namlich als <})0)o~rfjpe<; iv Koaptp Xoyov £a>7j? eirkyovres. Sonst lasst man Xoyov fwiy? eirexovre<; angeben, in wie fern sie leuchten. Auf keinen Fall darf man aber eire%eiv ' festhalten ' bedeuten lassen, was es nur im Sinne von ' anhalten,' oder * inne haben,' was es nur im Sinne von ' unter sich haben ' oder ' beherrschen ' heisst. Die allein passende Bedeutung ist ' hinhalten.' Es giebt Leuchten droben am Himmel, die ihr Licht ausgiessen liber die Welt unter ihnen. Die Christen aber sind Leuchten, die inner die Welt ein Wort des Lebens hinhalten, damit es sich diejenigen, die nach dem Leben Verlangen tragen, das ihnen zum Leben leuchtende Licht sein lassen. Leuchten die Leser in dieser Weise unter denen, die der Apostel ein ver- kehrtes Geschlecht genannt hat, so sind sie ihm ein Stolz und Ruhm fiir den Tag Christi." On the phrase " crooked and perverse " compare Ps. xviii. 26, where two words appear in the original meaning, "perverse" and "froward," both from roots meaning to twist. The metaphor may depict either the character itself, or the conduct which is the mani festation of the character. Vid. on the passage, Aglen in 0. T. Commentary for English Readers. 302 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. LECTURE XII. Note 1, p. 125, ver. 17. — If I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith. Ignatius (Epist. ad Rom. ii.) uses o-irivBopai in the same sense as it has here, and according to one reading, in close con nection with the metaphor of the stadium, just as it is in this passage and also in 2 Tim. iv. 6. On Xeirovpyia, vid. Godet's note on Rom. xv. 16. Note 2, p. 130, vers. 19-30. — In Dawn to the Perfect Day, Dr. Raleigh has a beautiful and suggestive sermon on Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus, as this section sets them before us. Note 3, p. 132, ver. 21. — They all seek their oivn. They all. Flatt says well, "Die negation. muss wohl comparativ genommen werden. Auch das ot irdvres braucht man nicht im strengsten Sinne zu nehmen, das es so viel ware als ; alle ohne Ausnahme. Es ist bekannt, dass dieses Wort im popularen Sprach- gebrauche nicht immer vollkommene Allgemeinheit bezeichnet ; oft nur ; beinahe alle, die meisten." LECTURE XIII. Note 1, p. 139, ver. 25. — Your messenger and minister to my need. Peirce has an elaborate and ingenious note in support of another rendering, viz., " vestrum autem apostolum et mei muneris vicarium apud vos " — " Your apostle who is now to act for me with you." In this he follows Castellio. But this view cannot be sustained. Meyer sufficiently refutes it. Xeirovpyov may have a certain retrospective reference to Xeirovpyia in ver. 17. Note 2, p. 141, ver. 26. — Was sore troubled. dBrjpoveov. Buttmann in his Lexilogus, p. 29 ff, dis- . NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 303 cusses this word. He finds its original meaning to be " away from home," then to be " not at home in a thing, and therefore ill at ease, uncomfortable." He compares the German phrase, " mir ist unheimlich," i.e. it is strange and perplexing to me. The word thus easily merges into the idea of anxiety, trouble. There are various renderings of it here. The Vulgate has "mcestus erat;" Calvin and Grotius have "anxius erat ;" Van Hengel, " gravissime angebatur ;" Erasmus, "psene exanimari et deficere prae dolore." This pro bably is too strong a rendering ; yet in support of it Hippocrates, as Am Ende shows, uses dBrjpoves to describe "homines tristissimi in morbo mortifero." These words are almost exactly Paul's own words in regard to Epaphroditus. Vaughan does well to remind us that " a sanctity is attached to this word by its being only used besides (in Scripture) in the narrative of the agony ; " Matt. xxvi. 37 and Mark xiv. 33, uand began to be . . . very heavy (sore troubled)." Note 3, p. 145, ver. 30. — For the work of Christ. Westcott and Hort read to epyov Kvpiov. Meyer and Lightfoot, with many others, would, read simply rb epyov. The work would thus be referred to absolutely, and all the more powerfully — the work which stands conspicuous, unapproachable in its importance and grandeur. It is so used not infrequently in the Apostolic Fathers, e.g. Ignatius' Ep. to the Ephes. chap. xiv. LECTURE XIV Note 1, p. 154, ver. 2. — Beware ofthe dogs. There is a somewhat similar apostolic denunciation of the Jewish adversaries of Christianity in 1 Thess. ii. 14 ff'. Vid. Lectures on Thess. p. 88 ff). On the epithet " dogs," vid. Lightfoot's works, Pitman's edition, vol. vi. p. 139: "The Talmud, in 304 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Sanhedrim, in the 11th chapter, hath these words : 'R. Juda saith, In the generation in which the son of David shall come, the house of the assembly shall be a stews, — the wisdom of the scribes shall fail, they that fear sin shall be despised, and the face of that generation shall be like dogs.' St. Paul hits them with their own title, ' Beware of dogs, beware of the concision ; ' and so doth John seem also to do : ' Without are dogs.' Such another testimony doth David Kimchi give out of the Rabbins on Isa. lix. 16 : ' Rabbi Johanan saith (saith he), The Son of David cometh not, but either in a generation all holy, as it is written, Thy people shall all be righteous, and inherit the land for ever ; or in a generation all wicked, as it is written, He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor.' Too pregnant and woful experience showed that the latter was only true ; and their own behaviour at our Saviour's coming confirmeth the gloss to prophecy truly, that their manners then should be most corrupt." Note 2, p. 157, ver. 3. — We are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God. Augustine has two sermons, largely expository, on this passage (vid. Library of the Fathers, Augustine's Homilies on the N. T. pp. 854 and 871). He has described all legal ordinances thus : Before the gospel they were " viva sed non vivica." After the gospel, but before the destruction of the temple, they were " moribunda sed non mortifera." After the de struction, of the temple and the diffusion of the gospel they were "mortua et mortifera." LECTURE XV. Note 1, p. 164, ver. 7. — Whatsoever things were gain to me. dnva, qucecunque ; all that are implied in vers. 5, 6, and everything else of a similar kind that NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 305 can be suggested. The plural form KepBrj s to be accounted for, both as a "pluralis grandis " (Bengel), and as chosen " propter rerum varietatem " (Van Hengel). The gain is one, because it is conceived of as all gathered up in Christ Himself; it is manifold, because of the unnumbered blessings which it involves (Rom. iii. 2). Note 2, p. 168, ver. 9. — Not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, ihe righteousness which is of God by faith. Dr. Hodge (Theology, iii. 156) thus writes on this passage : " Here one's own righteousness is contrasted with that which is of God. The word must have the same sense in both members. What Paul trusted to was not his own righteousness, not his own subjective goodness, but a righteousness provided for him and received by faith. De Wette (no Augustinian) on this passage says the righteousness of God here means ' a righteousness received from God (graciously imputed) on condition of faith.' " The passage is an important one in Pauline literature, as setting forth the contrast between the false and the true righteousness, in connection with the doctrine of justification. The false righteousness is a man's own righteousness (Rom. x. 3), conceived as coming through the law, and as being secured by obedience to the law (Rom. x. 5), but yet as having never been actually so secured, for all men are law-breakers (Gal. iii. 10). The true righteousness is that which is received from God ; it is the gift of His grace upon the ground of. faith (vid. Weiss, Biblical Theology, Clark's translation, ii. 83). Thus the Greek Fathers explain it, and rightly so far. But in their conception of it the distinction between the two is mainly one of degree. Augustine, however, strikes a clearer note. The false righteous ness is in itself regarded as insufficient, because it is realized through fear and not through love, and because, 306 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. further, it is conceived as capable of realization by a man's own strength. Hence he exclaims : " Tolle te a te, impedis te ; si tu aedificas, ruinam aedificas." It is God who made thee a man : He, too, must make thee a righteous man. But " facit te nescientem, justificat te volentem." He does this latter, inasmuch as He removes the fear, and gives the love ; thus by the energy of the Holy Spirit working "justification" in the believer, and in the word there is involved the idea of the restoration of " inhaerens justitia." The reformers advance still farther. They emphasize the truth that this " infusa justitia " is yet what each believer is entitled to call e^ BiKaiocvvv. Thus there comes clearly into view the distinction in kind, as well as in degree, between the false and the true righteous ness, and the consequent reason why the realization of this latter must be alone of God. An interesting review of the development of this doctrine in the region of exegetical theology may be found in Weiss, Commentar, in loc. LECTURE XVI. P. 173, ver. 10. — Tliat I may know Him. Vid. Mansel, The Gnostic Heresies, pp. 5-7, on the true and false, gnosis, and on " the manifest indications of the existence, even in apostolic times, of a system of false teaching which had usurped to itself especially the name of knowledge." Neander reminds us that " this knowledge, in the Pauline sense, is not something merely intellectual, or merely notional ; not certain particular articles of faith concerning Christ, as they have been notionally deve loped and delivered; but, as the following clauses testify, a knowledge which has its root in life, and which proceeds from life, a thing of inner experience, the consciousness of Christ as the Son of God and our Redeemer." Vid. Neander, in loc. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 307 LECTURE XVII. P. 188, ver. 12. — Wordsworth, on 1 Cor. ix. 24, compares the conclusion of Tertullian's Treatise de Spectaculis, and his eloquent passage addressed to the Christian martyrs (ad Martyres, c. 3) : " Proinde vos, benedicti, quodcunque hoc durum est, ad exercita- tionem virtutum animi et corporis deputate. Bonum agonem subituri estis, in quo Agonothetes Deus vivus est, Xystarches Spiritus Sanctus, Corona seternitatis, bravium angelica? substantise/poZ^a in ccelis, gloria in saecula sseculorum. Itaque Epistates vester Jesus Christus, qui vos spiritu unxit, et ad hoc scamma pro- duxit. . . . Nempe enim et athleta? segregantur ad strictiorem disciplinam, ut robori aedificando valeant, continentur a luxuria, a cibis lautioribus, a potu jucundiore . . . et illi, inquit apostolus, ut coronam corruptibilem consequantur. Nos, seternam conse- cuturi, carcerem pro palaestra interpretemur, ut ad Stadium Tribunalis, bene exercitati incommodis omni bus, producamur." Vid. also Clem. Rom. 2 Ep. ad Cor. c. vii., and Lightfoot's note thereon, for interesting parallels in Lucian and Seneca. LECTURE XVIII. Note 1, p. 196, ver. 15. — Perfect. reXeioi. The word is a favourite one with the Apostle James. On its various usages, .vid. Trench, Synonyms, § xxii. Godet, on 1 Cor. ii. 6, says : " The word perfect has a meaning much narrower than believer. It denotes the state of the mature man, in opposition to that of the infant. Paul thereby denotes believers who have reached, not absolute perfection, but the full maturity of Christian faith and life. Heinrici objects that in Christianity there is no aristocracy ; and Holsten, that according to 308 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Paul every believer has received the Spirit, and that the Spirit cannot make progress. To the first objection Riickert has already made answer, that every believer being called to that state of maturity, all aristocratic distinctions are ipso facto banished. And as to the second, if the Spirit be not open to progress, the believer's life may be gradually penetrated by this perfect principle. Does not the apostle say to the Galatians (iv. 19): 'My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you ' ? The perfect are therefore in his eyes the most confirmed Christians in whom the new life has attained the normal stature of Christ (Eph. iv. 13, 14)." Daille may profitably be consulted on this passage. Note 2, p. 199, ver. 16. — By that same rule let us walk. " Mitten in dieser Einheit ist aber Mannigfaltig- keit moglich. Fortschritt und Mannigfaltigkeit ! Aber nicht ausserhalb der einen christlichen Lebensbahn, sondern innerhalb dieser und ihrer Schranken. Die eine Regel (Kanon) nach der alle Christen zu wandeln haben, ist nicht irgend welche Glaubens-oder Sitten- formel, sondern der eine aus dem Geist geborne christ liche Charakter des Lebens, den allerdings in sich echt darzustellen Paulus, wie die andern Apostel (vgl. z. B. 1 Joh. ii. 19, iv. 6) sich bewusst ist." — Grau, in loc. Neander's note may be added to this : " We should not therefore precipitately enter into controversy, by which our distance from each other is so easily widened, and by which, through obstinate adherence to our once formed views, we so readily become hardened in oppo sition ; much less should we condemn each other, but endeavour to preserve that unity of the Christian spirit which is raised above all subordinate differences. To the common Teacher, the Holy Spirit, should all yield themselves, and all trust that He who is the best Teacher will yet more and more further them and each other. While all proceed from the Divine foundation once laid, the unfolding and progressive purification of NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 309 the Divine work should be left to the operation of the Holy Spirit, who first began it in each." Walk. The choice of the word o-roixeiv, instead of irepiirarelv, or iropeveoSai, which is also, though rarely, used in an ethical sense, may possibly indicate orderly walking, and that, too, in fellowship one with another — walking in a line or in order. This common meaning of the word fits with special propriety into the course of thought. Note 3, p. 201, ver. 17. — As ye have us for an example. rvirov, an . image deeply engraved, and capable of reproducing its own impression in others. Exemplum, exemplar. irpoirXaapa and viroBeiypa. Cle ment of Rome, 1 Ep. ad Cor. v., calls Paul a notable pattern of patient endurance : — viropovrjrj. The sister art of sculpture supplies a similar metaphor in virorvirma-i<}, the first rough model, 1 Tim. i. 16 ; 2 Tim. i. 13." Note 4, pp. 207 and 209, ver. 19. — Whose god is their belly. Vid. Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, Book ii. chap, iv., the worldling's epitaph. Who mind earthly things. Compare Homer, Odyss. xxi. 85 : — vilinoi hypoiarai, iqsnftipi* (Ppoi/toims, men, that is to say, with no thought beyond the things of the day. We have, an Old Testament parallel in Ps. xvii. 14 : " Men of the world, which have their portion in this life; and whose belly Thou fillest with Thy hid treasure." Men who are of the world, " deriving from it their motives and objects ; who have here all that is due to them, all that they care to receive." — Vid. Speaker's Commentary, in loc. They are men who correspond with the description which the Apostle John gives of them in the word Koo-po<;. 310 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. LECTUEE XIX. Note 1, p. 212, ver. 20. — Our citizenship is in heaven, virdpxei, subsists. It has been suggested that the apostle may be casting a side glance on "the revolu tionary doctrines of the Judaizing heresies, as though he had said, ' They desire an earthly empire, but we look only for a heavenly one.'" So Webster and Wilkinson. But this view is far-fetched. The contrast seems alone that which exists between the things of earth and the things of heaven. The clause is well explained by Holemann thus : "Tota vita nostra quasi jam nunc apud Deum naturasque coelestes puriores versatur, longe remota a toi? iir iy eioi<; (v. 19) eorumque captatione." Note 2, p. 216, ver. 21. — The body of our humilia tion. In the Life of Archbishop Whately, ii. 418, we read, " It was on the night following this, I think, that another of his chaplains was watching beside him, and in making some remark expressive of sympathy for his distressing suffering and helplessness, quoted the words from Phil. iii. 21, 'Who shall change our vile body.' The archbishop interrupted him with the request, ' Eead the words.' The attendant read them from the English Bible ; but he reiterated, ' Eead his own words.' The chaplain, not being able to find the Greek Testament at the moment, repeated from memory the literal transla tion, 'this body of our humiliation.' 'That's right,' interrupted the archbishop, ' not vile — nothing that He made is vile.' " In Liddon's sermon on this passage (Easter Sermons, ii. 68) we find the subject looked at from a slightly different point of view : " The human frame appeared to Greek artists the most exquisite thing in nature ; it was the form which seemed to them most nearly to unveil a Divine Beauty to the eye of sense. We know from their sculptures which have come down to us how NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 311 fondly they studied it; they have left in stone the splendid record both of their genius and of their enthu siasm. ^ How impossible it is to imagine the phrase, ' our vile body,' upon the lips of the men who decorated the Parthenon ! Such a phrase belongs to another and a totally distinct world of feeling and of thought. It implies that the man who uses it has seen deeper and higher than the realm of sense. The Greek knew only this visible world, and he made the most of it. The Hebrew had had a revelation of a higher Beauty ; and when men have come into contact with the Eternal they sit lightly to the things of time. The Greek wTas occupied with the matchless outline of the human form. The Hebrew could not forget that his bodily eye rested, after all, on a perishable mass of animated clay ; he could not but think of what was coming, of the decaying texture and substance of the flesh, of the darkness and corruption of the grave. . . . Not that this New Testament phrase (our body of humiliation) imphes any one-sided depreciation of the body, such as we meet with, for instance, in heathen ascetics. . . . The body, in the revealed doctrine about man, has all the honour which can belong to it, as a necessary part of man's nature. . . t Yet masterful as the body is, it is not the governing element in man's nature. Mark the phrase : ' our body of humiliation.' Man is something higher, nobler than the animal form with which he is so intimately identified that it is part of himself ; " vid. Eadie on "fashioned anew." According to the working, ivepyeia, as Calvin notices, is not " potentia," but " efficacia," i.e. " potentia in actu se exserens," or as de Wette, " wirksame Kraft." LECTURE XX. P. 225, ver. 3. — True yoke-fellow. Dr. Smith of Jordanhill, in his dissertation on the life and writings of St. Luke, prefixed to his Voyage and Shipwreck of 312 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. St. Paul, thus argues in favour of the identification of the true yoke - fellow with Luke : " When St. Paul ascertained that his case could not come before the emperor for a considerable length of time, and that till it was decided he was in no personal danger, we find that his first care was to despatch Tychicus to the Churches in Asia Minor. We may suppose that Luke would be sent on a similar mission ; but if so, the Church at Philippi is clearly the one to which conjec ture would lead us. Now there is, I think, very strong reason for believing that he actually was there when the Epistle to that Church was written, and that the ' true yoke-fellow ' addressed in it was no other than St. Luke. Had it been a Philippian presbyter that was meant, we must suppose that he would have named him ; whereas, if he sent Luke to the Philippians, as he did Tychicus to the Asiatic Churches, it would be unnecessary. The terms in which the message is expressed show clearly that it was addressed to one of the class of St. Paul's friends to which St. Luke belonged ; and from the evident allusions to what took place on his former visit to Philippi (comp. Phil. iv. 3 with Acts xvi. 13), it must have been one of those who was with him at the time. Now, we know very accurately those who were the members of the mission. It consisted at first of Paul and Silas. Timothy joined them at Lystra (Acts xvi. 1), and the author of the Acts at Troas (Acts xvi. 10). There is no mention of any other of the apostle's companions ; nor does St. Luke's style of narration afford any warrant for sup posing that there were any except those mentioned. The true yoke-fellow must therefore have been either Timothy, Silas, or Luke. Timothy it could not be, for he was at Rome when St. Paul wrote the Epistle (2 Cor. i. 1). Neither, I apprehend, could it be Silas ; he disappears from the page of sacred history at least ten years before the date of the Epistle, a circumstance which could not have happened had he continued a fellow-labourer of St. Paul. ... We are thus led to NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 313 fix upon St. Luke. The very terms of the message point to one who was a beloved friend as well as a fellow- labourer." This view, though open to several serious objections, is perhaps not to be hastily set aside; it cer tainly cannot be regarded as proved. LECTURE XXI. Note 1, p. 233, vers. 4-7. — Newman on this passage (Sermons, v. 28) is worthy of perusal. It is a noble exposition of the duty of Christian equanimity. Note 2, p. 234, ver. 5. — Forbearance, rb iirieiK&, or equity, is discussed in Aristotle, Ethics Nicom. v. c. ix. and x., as the complement of law and justice. Sir Alexander Grant, in loc, says : " Equity is a higher and finer kind of justice coming in where the law was too coarse and general. The best illustration of this conception is to be found in the beautiful description given in Rhet. I. xiii. : ' It is equity to pardon human failings, and to look to the lawgiver, and not to the law ; to the spirit, and not to the letter ; to the inten tion, and not to the action ; to the whole, and not to the part ; to the character of the actor in the long run, and not in the present moment ; to remember good rather than evil, and good that one has received, rather than good that one has done ; to bear being injured ; to wish to settle a matter by words rather than by deeds ; lastly, to prefer arbitration to judgment, for the arbitrator sees what is equitable, but the judge only the law, and for this an arbitrator was first appointed, in order that equity might flourish.' " Note 3, pp. 337-339, ver. 6. — In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication, ivith thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. On p^epipivdre, vid. Achelis, Die Bergpredigt, p. 348 314 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. — a good discussion of the word. On Serja-i<; and eixapiafia, vid. Weiss, note, in loc. " The great witness of our weakness becomes, in the poor and feeble breast, a power redoubtable and irre sistible to heaven itself : Omnipotentia supplex. God, in throwing us into the depths of this valley of misery, has willed to bestow upon our feebleness, upon our crimes even, the potency of prayer against Himself and His justice. When a man makes up his mind to pray, and when he prays well, his weakness itself becomes a strength." — Bishop Dupanloup, in Montalembert's Monks of the West, i. p. 44. Note 4, p. 243, ver. 7. — Which passeth all under standing. "i>ous das besonnene Bewusstsein, im Unter- schied von der Begeisterung und Aufregung." — Immer's Hermeneutik des N. T. p. 206. " The mind as con sciously exercising its reflective faculty and pronouncing moral judgment." — Professor Dickson, St. Paul's Use ofthe Terms Flesh and Spirit, p. 431. On the tradition of the meeting of Paul and Seneca, Faber has the sonnet — " Oft in the crowd and crossings of old Eome The Christ-like shadow of the gifted Paul, As he looked forth betimes from his hired home, Might at this Gentile's hurrying footsteps fall, When, from his mornings in the Caesar's hall, Spurred by great thoughts, the troubled sage might come. Some balmy truths most surely did he borrow From the sweet neighbourhood of Christ, to bring The harsh, hard waters of his heathen spring, In softening ducts o'er wastes of Pagan sorrow. As slips of green from fertile confines shoot Into the tracts of sand, so heathen duty Caught from his guided pen a cold bright beauty, Where flowers might all but blossom into fruit." tfOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 315 LECTURE XXII. Note 1, p. 248, ver. 8. — Whatsoever things are pure. dyvd. " It is not easy to lay down sharply the distinction between ayvo? and KaOapos. As far as the usage of the New Testament is concerned, dyvos has a personal, an internal reference, which is wanting in Kadapos. 'Ayv6<; suggests the notion of shrinking from contamination, of a delicate sensibility to pollution of any kind, while KaOapos expresses simply the fact of cleanness. 'Ayvos marks predominantly a feeling, and Ka0ap6<; a state. 'Ayveia comes as the result of an inward effort, KaOapbriji by the application of some outward means. He of whom it is said that he dyvl£ei eavrov, not only keeps himself actually 'pure,' but disciplines and trains himself that he may move more surely among the defilements of the world (l Tim. v. 22 ; 1 Pet. iii. 2). Both dyvos and KaOapbs differ from dyiof in that they admit the thought or the fact of temptation or pollution ; while dyios describes that which is holy absolutely, either in itself or in idea. God can be spoken of as dyios, but not as dyvos, while Christ can be spoken of as dyvos in virtue of the per fection of His humanity. A man is ayto? in virtue of his divine destination (Heb. x. 10), to which he is gradually conformed (dyid£erai, Heb. x. 14) ; he is dyvos in virtue of earthly human discipline." — Westcott on 1 John iii. 3. Note 2, p. 252, ver. 8. — Think on these things. " The word means not simply to think, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, on the matters which are the subjects of thought, but to consider them, — to judge of them, — to reason upon them, — and draw conclusions from them. The expression thus means a continued and intense application of the mind to the truths, so that we may deduct from them all the conclusions and principles which they are calculated to yield as matters 316 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. ' of faith, and all that influence which they are fitted to produce upon the emotions of the heart, and the whole conduct of the life. Such and so extensive appears to be the mental process which the apostle enjoins, and the field of mental exercise which he presents to us, when he calls upon us to ' think on whatsoever things are true.' " — Dr. Abercromby, Tlie Culture and Disci pline ofthe Mind, Essay iv., "Think on these things." LECTURE XXIII. Note 1, p. 260, ver. 10. — His was no selfish isolation of spirit. — Newman (Sermons on Subjects of the Day, p. 404) says of Paul, "He had a thousand friends, and loved each as his own soul, and seemed to live a thousand lives in them, and died a thousand deaths when he must quit them; that great apostle's very heart was broken when his brethren wept ; he ' lived if they stood fast in the Lord ; ' he was ' glad when he was weak and they were strong ; ' and he was ' willing to have imparted unto them his own soul, because they were dear unto him.'" Note 2, p. 264, ver. 13. — / can do all things in Him that strengthened me. " Nihil est, quod non perpetiar infracto animo, confirmante et corroborante me Jesu Christo, cujus prsesidio for tis sum, quum ex me ipso sim nihil." Holemann. " Quanta? fiduciae vox, omnia possum in eo qui me confortat ? Nihil omnipotentiam verbi clariorem red dit quam qubd omnipotentes facit omnes, qui in se sperant. Denique omnia possibilia sunt credenti. An non omni- potens, cui omnia possibilia sunt ? Ita animus si non praesumat de se, sed si confortetur a Verbo, poterit utique dominari sui, ut non dominetur ei omnis iniquitas ; ita inquam Verbo innixum, et indutum virtute ex alto nulla vis, nulla fraus, nulla jam illecebra poterit vel stantem dejicere vel subjicere dominantem," St. Bernard, Serm. 85 in Cant. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 317 LECTURE XXIV. Note 1, p. 270, ver. 16. — Ye sent once and again to my need. It has been conjectured that " though the Macedonian Churches in geineral were poor, at least as compared with commercial Corinth (2 Cor. viii. 2), yet the gold mines probably exempted the Philippians from the common lot of their neighbours, and at first enabled them to be conspicuously liberal in almsgiving, and afterwards laid them open to strong warnings against the love of money (Phil. iv. 15 ; 2 Cor. viii. 3 ; and Polyc. iv., vi., xi.)." — Vid. Smith's Diet, of Bible, art. "Epistle to Philippians." But while this conjecture may be a right one, the mention of covetousness in Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians is accounted for simply by the sin of Valens mentioned in chap. xi. of that Epistle, and not by any supposed general tendency on the part of the Philippian Christians to the love of money. Note 2, p. 277, ver. 22. — Especially they that are of Ccesar's household. Vid. on this much discussed subject, Rheinwald, p. 26 ff, a,nd the very thorough discussion in Lightfoot's detached note. the end. MORRISON AND GIBB, EDINBURGH, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE T. and T. Clark's Publications. Just published, in demy 8vo, price 10s. 6d., THE JEWISH AND THE CHRISTIAN MESSIAH. A STUDY IN THE EARLIEST HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY. By VINCENT HENRY STANTON, M.A., FELLOW, TUTOR, AND DIVINITY LECTURER OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ; LATE HULSEAN LECTURER. CONTENTS.— Part I. Introductory. Chap. I. The Scope of our Inquiry and its Bearing upon Modern Theories of the Eise of Christianity. II. The Documents. III. General Views of the History of Messianic Expectation among the Jews to the Christian Era. IV. Gt-neral Character of the Christian Transformation of the Idea of the Messiah. V. The Use of the Old Testament in the Early Church. — Part II. The Attitude of Jesus to Messianic Beliefs. Chap. I. The Teaching of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God. II. 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