Chapter V: AUTOGRAPH CONCLUSION.--1. The Judaisers' motive (ch. vi. 12, 13) (27)

+Lessons.+--1. _Christ is the sum and pattern of the highest good._ 2. _Progress in religious experience is a growing likeness to Christ._ 3. _The soul retains its highest enjoyment and power only in Christ._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Ver. 13. _The Happy Day and its Sequel._

+I. St. Paul did not forget the circumstances of his arrest by
Jesus.+

+II. St. Paul's remembrance of his arrest led to a practical inquiry
as to its purpose.+

+III. The purpose of his arrest by Christ Jesus is before and not
behind him, even in his old age.+

+IV. What is the mark to which he presses onward?+--1. _A perfect
likeness to Christ._ 2. _A perfect service._ 3. _The reward
in heaven.--W. Hawkins._

Vers. 13, 14. _Pressing toward the Mark._

+I. The apostle's sense of his own shortcomings.+--1. _It argued a high estimate of a Christian's duty._ Perfection is his aim, although not his attainment.

2. _It argued a humble estimate of himself._--Though the most eminent Christian on earth, he was fully conscious of his own imperfection.

+II. The apostle's method of Christian progress.+--1. _The concentration of his energies._ Many things he did, and he did them wholly. But he made them all subservient to his one idea, which thus unified them all. Decision of character.

2. _Oblivion of the past._--A wonderful past was his, but he forgot it, except as it might supply a stimulus to his future advances--past times, past pleasures, past sins, past labours, past attainments. The past must have dwelt in his memory, but it did not satisfy him. "Onward" was his motto, and every day he began his race afresh.

3. _Untiring activity._--He had the goal ever in his eye; he often measured the distance between him and the goal; he stretched every nerve to reach the goal. (1) Do we resemble Paul in his aim? (2) Do we resemble Paul in his efforts?--_G. Brooks._

_Aim High_--

+I. In pursuit of moral excellence.+

+II. Intellectual character.+

+III. Active usefulness.+

+Lessons.+--1. _God Himself has commanded it._ 2. _Society expects it of you._ 3. _The age in which you live demands it.--E. D. Griffin._

Vers. 15, 16. _The Temper to be cultivated by Christians of Different Denominations toward each other._

+I. Those who adhere to this rule.+--1. _Seek and cultivate their society._ 2. _Use means to promote the mutual improvement of these persons and of ourselves._ 3. _Do all we can to render our mutual reciprocal union more perfect and our usefulness more extensive._

+II. Those who differ from us in matters of great importance.+--1. _Give consideration to the way in which their_ _religious characters have been formed._ 2. _Pay regard to the difficulties and misapprehensions which lie in the use of words._ 3. _Reflect what would probably have been the effects upon our minds had we been placed in their circumstances._ 4. _Act towards them with justice and kindness._

+III. Those who differ from us in matters of smaller moment.+--1. _Show them sincere and honest respect and kindness._ 2. _Cultivate friendly intercourse with them as far as they are disposed to reciprocate such intercourse._ 3. _Show that we esteem the essential principle of the Gospel more than controversial preciseness and ecclesiastical form.--J. P. Smith._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 17-19.

_Good and Bad Examples._

+I. A good example should be attentively studied.+--"Mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample" (ver. 17). We cannot imitate what we do not see and know. It will help us to be good if we carefully watch and meditate on the conduct of the truly good. The best example of uprightness and consistency is worthy of the most painstaking study. "Wherever they found the life of the apostle imitated and displayed the Philippians were to mark it and make it their pattern. Any excellence which they thus discovered they might by God's grace attain to. It was not some distant spectacle they were to gaze at and admire, but an embodiment of earnest faith, walking on the same platform with them., and speaking, acting, praying, suffering, and weeping among them. What had been possible to others was surely not impossible to them" (_Eadie_). A Polish prince was accustomed to carry the picture of his father always in his bosom, and on particular occasions used to take it out and view it, saying, "Let me do nothing unbecoming so excellent a father."

+II. A good example should be faithfully imitated.+--"Brethren, be followers together of me" (ver. 17). Paul had studied profoundly the character of Christ, and was earnestly striving to follow Him. He therefore exhorts the Philippians to imitate him as he sought to imitate Christ; or rather, as Bengel puts it, he invites them to be "fellow-imitators of Christ." To imitate Christ is not copying Him in every particular. We cannot follow Him as Saviour, Mediator, Redeemer. What is meant is, that we are to do our work in the Spirit of Christ, as He would do it. He who follows Christ never misses the right way, and is always led on to victory. When in the Mexican war the troops were wavering, a general rose in his stirrups and dashed into the enemies' lines, shouting, "Men, follow me!" They, inspired by his courageous example, dashed on after him and gained the victory. What men want to rally them for God is an example to lead them.

+III. A bad example is in antagonism to the highest truth.+--"Many walk, of whom I have told you, . . . they are the enemies of the cross of Christ" (ver. 18). Professed friends, dubious in their attachment and promises, are enemies of Christ, and of the great movement in human redemption represented by His cross. While professing to maintain the doctrines of the cross, by their wicked lives they are depreciating them.

1. _A bad example is set by those who concentrate their chief thought on the material._--"Who mind earthly things" (ver. 19). The world has many attractions, but it has also many dangers. To be wholly absorbed in its pursuits weans the soul from God and holiness and heaven. Gosse tells us, in his _Romance of Natural History,_ of certain animals which inhabit the coral reefs. So long as they keep the passage to the surface clear they are safe; but, this neglected, the animal finds the coral has grown around it and enclosed it in a living tomb. And so it is with the life of the soul on earth. The world is around us everywhere; the danger is when we allow it to grow between our souls and God.

2. _A bad example is set by those who are supremely controlled by their sensual appetites._--"Whose God is their belly" (ver. 19). The desires of the flesh invite to self-indulgence--to gluttony, revelling, drunkenness; to gaudiness, extravagance, and immodesty of dress; to impurity of speech and conduct. A sensual man looks as if lust had drawn her foul fingers over his features and wiped out the man. The philosopher Antisthenes, who had a contempt for all sensual enjoyment, used to say, "I would rather be mad than sensual."

3. _A bad example is set by those who gloat in their degradation._--"Whose glory is in their shame" (ver. 19). Man has reached the lowest depth of vice when he boasts in what is really his shame. The last rag of modesty is thrown aside. "These enemies of the cross were not hypocrites, but open and avowed sensualists, conscious of no inconsistency, but rather justifying their vices, and thus perverting the Gospel formally for such detestable conduct."

4. _The end of a bad example is ruin._--"Whose end is destruction" (ver. 19). Evil is the broad way that leadeth to destruction. Sin must be inevitably punished; it works its own fate--"sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." Judge Buller, speaking to a young gentleman of sixteen, cautioned him against being led astray by the example or persuasion of others, and said, "If I had listened to the advice of some of those who called themselves my friends, when I was young, instead of being a judge of the King's Bench, I should have died long ago a prisoner in the King's prison."

+IV. Professed members of the Church who set a bad example are the occasion of constant solicitude and sorrow to the truly good.+--"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping" (ver. 18). Even when denouncing the worst sins, the apostle does it, not with harshness and imperious superiority, but with the greatest tenderness and grief. The anxious minister may well weep over the folly and delusion of half-hearted adherents, over their false and distorted conceptions of the Gospel, over the reproach brought against the truth by their inconsistent and licentious lives, and over their lamentable end. The conduct of sinners is more a matter of heart-breaking sorrow than of wrathful indignation.

+Lessons.+--1. _Example is more potent than precept._ 2. _A bad example should be carefully shunned._ 3. _A good example should be diligently imitated._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Ver. 17. _Imitation of the Good_--

+I. Possible only where there is a sympathetic resemblance to and
admiration of the character sought to be copied.+--"Brethren."

+II. Is easier when joined with those who have similar aims.+--"Be
followers together of me."

+III. Is aided by careful observation and study.+--"Mark them."

+IV. Every good man is an example for others to imitate.+--"So as ye
have us for an ensample."

Vers. 18, 19. _Enemies of the Cross_--

+I. Deny the efficacy and purpose of Christ's sufferings.+

+II. Are incompetent to appreciate the spiritual significance of the
cross.+--"Who mind earthly things."

+III. Are the victims of sensuality.+--"Whose god is their belly."

+IV. Are degraded beyond all bounds of modesty.+--"Whose glory is in
their shame."

+V. Will be inevitably punished.+--"Whose end is destruction."

+VI. Are the cause of much grief to those who must constantly expose
them.+--"Of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even
weeping."

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20, 21.

_Christian Citizenship_--

+I. Has its centre of life and privileges in heaven.+--"For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven" (ver. 20). To show the contrast between the earthly things which absorb the thought of the worldly, and the things of heaven, the apostle proceeds to indicate that the life of the believer, even on earth, is associated with the privileges and blessings of the heavenly commonwealth, of which he is a member. In this world the Christian is but a stranger--living in temporary exile. His city, his home, is in heaven. Longing to enter into possession of all the privileges of the heavenly franchise, earthly things have no attraction for him, and he seeks to act in harmony with his high destiny.

+II. Is assured of the deliverance of its members from the perils and hardships of earth.+--"From whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 20). The apostle characterises Jesus as Saviour, or as expected in the character of Saviour, and thus suggests an awful contrast, in point of destiny, between himself and those like-minded with him, and the party reprobated by him in the two preceding verses. Their end is destruction, but ours is salvation; to the one He descends as Judge, but to us as Saviour. If there be such visible difference in present character, there is a more awful contrast in ultimate destiny--the two poles of humanity--everlasting punishment; eternal life (_Eadie_). The great Deliverer will emancipate us from the thraldom, suffering, and sorrow of the present world, and complete in its fulness the salvation which is now in process.

+III. Has the confident hope of future dignity and blessedness.+--1. _The body of humiliation shall be transformed into the likeness of Christ's glorified body._ "Who shall change our vile body, that it may fashioned like unto His glorious body" (ver. 21). The body of our humiliation connects us with the soil, out of which it was formed, and by the products of which it is supported, on which it walks, and into which it falls at death. It keeps us in constant physical connection with earth, whatever be the progress of the spirit towards its high destiny--its commonwealth in heaven. It limits intellectual power and development, impedes spiritual growth and enjoyment, and is soon fatigued with the soul's activity. In it are the seeds of disease and pain, from functional disorder and organic malady. It is an animal nature which, in spite of a careful and vigilant government, is prone to rebellious outbreaks. But this body is reserved to a high destiny: it shall be like Christ's heavenly body. The brightness of heaven does not oppress Him, neither shall it dazzle us. Our humanity dies indeed, and is decomposed; but when He appears, it shall be raised and beautified. These bodies shall cease to be animal without ceasing to be human bodies, and they shall become spiritual bodies--etherealised vehicles for the pure spirit that shall be lodged within them (_Eadie, passim_).

2. _This transformation shall be effected by the Divine power that controls the universe._--"According to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (ver. 21). While omniscience is the actual possession or exercise of all knowledge, omnipotence is universal ability, which may or may not yet have put forth all its energies, for what is possible to it may not have been effected by it. But Christ shall put forth His power, as we know from other sources, and death itself shall be swallowed up in victory--that which has swallowed up all humanity shall be surrounded by a wider vortex and be itself engulfed. This body of our humiliation has some surviving element, or some indissoluble link, which warrants the notion and shall secure the consciousness of identity, in whatever that identity may consist (_Eadie_). If man's art and device can produce so pure and white a fabric as paper from filthy rags, what shall hinder God by His mighty power to raise the vile body from the grave and refine and fashion it like unto the glorious body of Christ? "Not a resurrection," says Neander, "as a restoration merely of the same earthly body in the same earthly form; but a glorious transformation, proceeding from the Divine, the all-subduing power of Christ; so that believers, free from all the defects of the earthly existence, released from all its barriers, may reflect the full image of the heavenly Christ in their whole glorified personality, in the soul pervaded by the Divine life and its now perfectly assimilated glorified organ."

+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian citizen is but a sojourner on earth._ 2. _His conduct on earth is regulated by a heavenly life._ 3. _He looks for his highest honours and enjoyments in the future._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Ver. 20. _Christian Citizenship._

+I. The heavenly citizenship of Christians.+--1. _The city to which they belong_--heaven. 2. _When are true Christians made citizens of this heavenly state?_ When they are pardoned. 3. _What are the privileges connected with this state of relation to the heavenly city?_ (1) _Freedom._ (2) _Admits to honourable employment and office._ (3) _Fellowship and communion with the whole body of Israel._ 4. _A right to the common property_--the inheritance of the saints in light.

+II. The conduct manifested by true Christians, and corresponding with their privilege.+--1. _Holiness._ 2. _Boast of the institutions of the heavenly city._ 3. _Are bold and courageous._ 4. _It will be seen in our spirit._ 5. _Our affections are in heaven.--R. Watson._

Ver. 21. _The Resurrection of the Human Body._

+I. We must be reminded of our sinful condition.+--1. _Our body is called a body of humiliation, because it, as well as the spirit, is the seat of sin._ 2. _If we consider the immense labour necessary to provide for its wants._ 3. _If we consider it as a clog to our devotion._ 4. _It must be still further humbled by death._

+II. The transformation of this humbled body.+--1. _There can be no deformity._ 2. _The excessive care necessary for the support of the body shall exist no more._ 3. _It shall be an assistant and no longer a hindrance to the operations of the deathless spirit._

+III. The means by which the transformation will be effected.+--The power of God answers all objections, removes all difficulties.

+Lessons.+--1. _It becomes us to aspire to as much of the glory of the future state as can be attained._ 2. _This subject affords encouragement to us on the loss of our friends._ 3. _Ought to fortify our minds against the fear of death.--Ibid._

_The Glorious Destiny of the Human Body._--If we are in Christ, He will gather up what is left, He will transfigure it with the splendour of a new life, He will change our body of humiliation that it may be fashioned like unto the body of His glory. Sown in the very extreme of physical weakness, it will be raised in a strictly superhuman power; sown a natural body controlled on every side by physical law, it will be a true body still, but a body that belongs to the sphere of spirit. Most difficult indeed it is even to the imagination to understand how this poor body, our companion for so many years--part of our very selves--is to be first wrenched from us at death and then restored to us if we will, transfigured by the majestic glory of the Son of God. Little can we understand this inaccessibility to disease, the radiant beauty, the superiority to material obstacles in moving through space, the spirituality, in short, which awaits without destroying it.

"Heavy and dull this frame of limbs and heart.
Whether slow creeping on cold earth, or borne
On lofty steed
Or loftier prow, we dart
O'er wave or field,
Yet breezes laugh to scorn
Our puny speed,
And birds, and clouds in heaven,
And fish like living shafts that pierce the main,
And stars that shoot through freezing air at even.
Who would not follow, might he break his chain?
And thou shalt break it soon.
The grovelling worm
Shall find his wings, and soar as fast and free
As his transfigured Lord, with lightning form
And snowy vest. Such grace He won for thee
When from the grave He sprang at dawn of morn,
And led, through bondless air, thy conquering road,
Leaving a glorious track where saints new-born
Might fearless follow to their blest abode."--_H. P. Liddon._

* * * * * * * *

+CHAPTER IV.+

_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._

Ver. 1. +Brethren beloved and longed for . . . beloved.+--By these caressing titles, which, however, are not words of flattery but of sincere love, he works his way into their hearts. The "beloved" repeated at the close of the verse is like the clinging embrace of affection. +My joy.+--The most delectable joy of St. John was to hear that his children walked in truth. So St. Paul says of his Philippian converts, as he had said of their neighbours of the Thessalonian Church, that they are his joy. +And crown.+--"The word must be carefully distinguished from 'diadem.' It means a chaplet or wreath, and the idea it conveys may be either (1) victory, or (2) merriment, as the wreath was worn equally by the conqueror and by the holiday-maker" (_Lightfoot_).

Ver. 3. +And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow.+--It is doubtful whom the apostle addresses. On the whole, however, it seems most probable that Epaphroditus, the bearer of the epistle, is intended (so Lightfoot, following Hofmann). Meyer says: "Laying aside arbitrariness and seeing that the address is surrounded by proper names, we can only find in the word for 'yokefellow' a proper name, . . . genuine Syzygus, _i.e._ thou who art in reality and substantially that which thy name expresses: '_fellow-in-yoke,_ fellow-labourer.'" +Whose names are in the book of life.+--St. Paul had before said the polity of the Christians was a heavenly one. Here he says there is a "burgess list" from which no name of a true citizen is ever by accident omitted--though by any chance he might have omitted to mention his co-workers in his epistle.

Ver. 4. +Rejoice in the Lord.+--R.V. margin, "Farewell." The word is neither "farewell" alone, nor "rejoice" alone (_Lightfoot_). That the A.V. and R.V. texts are justified in so translating seems clear from the "always" which follows.

Ver. 5. +Let your moderation be known.+--This moderation or forbearance is the very opposite of the spirit which will "cavil on the ninth part of a hair" in the way of asserting personal rights.

Ver. 6. +Be careful for nothing.+--R.V. "in nothing be anxious." The word suggests the idea of a poor distraught mind on which concerns have fastened themselves, which drag, one in one direction, another in the opposite. Well says Bengel, "Care and prayer are more opposed than water and fire." In all things, prayer--in nothing, care. +By prayer.+--The general idea of an expression of dependence. +Supplication.+--The specific request--the word hinting too at the attitude of the petitioner, _e.g._ clasping the feet of the person from whom the favour is asked. +With thanksgiving.+--The preservative against any possible defiance which might otherwise find its way into the tone of the prayer, or on the other hand against a despair which creeps over those who think God "bears long" and forgets to answer.

Ver. 7. +And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.+--If we say the peace of God is so profound that the human mind cannot comprehend it, no doubt that is an admissible interpretation of these words; but it seems better far to say, the peace of God excels all that the mere reason of man can do. The νοῦς, the highest faculty of man as such, intended to be the guide of life, oftener brings anxiety than a calm heart. +Shall keep your+ +hearts.+--As a watchman keeps a city. Lightfoot says we have a verbal paradox, for "to keep" is a warrior's duty; God's peace shall stand sentry, shall keep guard over your hearts. +And minds.+--R.V. much better, "and thoughts," for it is not the mind which thinks, but the products of thinking which the word indicates. The sentry questions all suspicious characters (cf. Prov. iv. 23, and Matt. xv. 19).

Ver. 8. +Whatsoever things are true.+--The apostle recognises the ability of the renewed mind to discern truth under any guise. "Ye have an unction from the Holy One and know all things" (1 John ii. 20). +Honest.+--A.V. margin, "venerable." R.V. text, "honourable." R.V. margin, "reverend." This variety shows the difficulty of finding an exact equivalent for the word of St. Paul, in which the sense of gravity and dignity, and of these as inviting reverence, is combined. +Just.+--Answering to that which is normally right (_Cremer_). +Pure.+--As there is no impurity like fleshly impurity, defiling body and spirit, so the word "pure" expresses freedom from these (_Trench_). It denotes chastity in every part of life (_Calvin_). +Lovely.+--Christian morality as that which is ethically beautiful is pre-eminently worthy to be loved. _"Nihil est amabilius virtute,"_ says Cicero. +Of good report.+--R.V. margin, "gracious." Lightfoot says _"fair-speaking"_ and so "winning, attractive." Meyer says, "that which, when named, sounds significant of happiness, _e.g._ brave, honest, honourable." +If there be any virtue.+--The New Testament is frugal of the word which is in such constant use in the heathen moralists. If they sought to make man self-confident, it seeks to shatter that confidence. The noblest manliness is godliness. +Think on these things.+--They are things to be reckoned with by every man sooner or later--occupy the thoughts with them now.

Ver. 9. +Those things . . . do.+--Here speaks the same man, with a mind conscious of its own rectitude, who could say, "I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day." He had not only "allured" his Philippian converts "to brighter worlds," but had "led the way." +The God of peace shall be with you.+--Note the phrase in connection with "the peace of God shall mount guard" (ver. 7).

Ver. 10. +Hath flourished again.+--R.V. "ye have revived your thought for me." The active generosity of the Philippians towards St. Paul had never died, any more than a tree does when it sheds its leaves and stands bare all through the winter. The winter of their disability was past, and the return of the sun of prosperity made the kindly remembrance of the apostle sprout into a generous gift to him.

Ver. 11. +Not that I speak, etc.+--"Do not mistake me; I am not moved thus by the good of my own need." The apostle does not leave it possible for one to say with the melancholy Jaques, "When a man thanks me heartily, methinks I have given him a penny and he renders me the beggarly thanks." +I have learned . . . to be content.+--"Self-sufficiency," said Socrates, "is nature's wealth." St. Paul is only self-sufficient so far as Christ dwells in him and assures him, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (cf. Heb. xiii. 5).

Ver. 12. +I know how to be abased.+--To be "in reduced circumstances." +I know how to abound.+--To be in affluence. By this it does not appear that St. Paul meant, "I have chewed the bitter cud of penury, and tasted the sweets of prosperity." Many a man has had to do that--everything lies in how it is done. It is as much beneath the Christian philosopher to make a wry face at the one, as to clap the hands in childish glee at the other. +I am instructed, etc.+--Lit. "I have been initiated." The pass-word is in the apostle's possession--no novice is he. +To be full and to be hungry.+--As if we said "to pasture and to pine." It is the psalmist's "green pastures and still waters. . . . The valley of the shadow of death" (Ps. xxiii.).

Ver. 13. +I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.+--A fresh general statement of the self-sufficiency of ver. 11. "In the grand brevity how marked is the assurance, and at the same time humility" (_Meyer_).

Ver. 15. +No Church communicated with me.+--The lofty independence of the apostle had not unbent to any other Church as to this. There are men from whom one could never receive a gift without sacrifice of self-respect. St. Paul was not the man to be patronised.

Ver. 18. +An odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.+--The last word transfers their deed to another sphere entirely. "Ye did it unto _Me,_" says Christ (Matt. xxv. 40).

Ver. 19. +My God shall supply all your need.+--Did I say, "I am filled"? (ver. 18). I can make you no return, but my God will. He will fulfil every need of yours. +According to His riches in glory.+--According to the abundant power and glorious omnipotence whereby as Lord of heaven and earth He can bestow what He will.

Ver. 22. +The saints . . . of Cæsar's household.+--This expression does not oblige us to think that any relatives of Cæsar had embraced Christianity. It comprises all who in any way were connected with the imperial service.

Ver. 23. +Be with you all.+--The oldest MSS. read, "Be with your spirit."

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 1.

_A Plea for Steadfastness_--

+I. After the pattern of those worthy of imitation.+--"So stand fast in the Lord." Having pointed out the dignity of Christian citizenship and the exalted conduct befitting those possessing its privileges, the apostle exhorts them to steadfastness in imitating those who, through evil and good report and in the midst of opposition and suffering, had bravely maintained their loyalty to Christ. "_So_ stand fast"--be sincere and earnest in devotion to God, as they were; be faithful and unflinching, as they were; triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil, as they did. "Behold, we count them worthy who endure;" and the same distinction of character is attainable by every follower of Christ, attainable by patient continuance in well-doing. The ideal of a steadfast character is embodied in the Lord, who was Himself a supreme example of unfaltering obedience and love. Follow Him; being united to Him by faith, deriving continual inspiration and strength from His Spirit, stand fast in Him. Riding up to a regiment that was hard pressed at Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington cried to the men, "Stand fast, Ninety-fifth! What will they say in England?" History records how successfully the appeal was obeyed. Stand fast, Christians! What will they say in the heavenly city to which you belong, and for whose interests you are fighting? William of Orange said he learnt a word while crossing the English Channel which he would never forget. When in a great storm the captain was all night crying out to the man at the helm, "Steady! steady! steady!"

+II. Addressed to those who have given evidence of willingness to be instructed.+--"My joy and crown." The Philippians who had embraced the Gospel he preached, and whose lives had been changed by its power, were the joy and crown of the devoted apostle. The crown was not the diadem of royalty, but the garland of victory. He has in his mind the famous athletic games of the Greeks, which in the diligent training and the strenuous effort to gain the laurel coronet, and the intensity of joy felt by the victors, were a significant illustration of the Christian life, whether as regards the spiritual progress of the believer himself, or his work for the salvation of others. He believed the Lord would place around his brow an imperishable garland of honour, of which each soul that had been quickened, comforted, and strengthened by him would be a spray or leaf. In Nero's prison, aged, worn with trouble, manacled, uncertain of life, he rejoiced in being a successful minister of Christ--a conqueror wreathed with amaranth. The emperor in his palace was in heart weary and wretched; the prisoner was restful and happy, invested with a glory that should shine on undimmed, when the glitter of Nero's power and grandeur should vanish as a dream. The satisfaction enjoyed by those who first led us to Christ and who have helped us in our spiritual struggles, is another reason for continued steadfastness and fidelity.

+III. Urged with affectionate solicitude.+--"My brethren deeply beloved and longed for, . . . my dearly beloved." The terms employed are the outflow of a jubilant spirit, and are full of tender endearment and loving appreciation. Love delights to exaggerate; yet there is no exaggeration here. The Philippians were to the apostle "brethren beloved--dearly beloved"--children of the same spiritual Father, members of the one family of God, united together in a happy Christian brotherhood. He recalls the first introduction of the Gospel into Philippi, the preaching of the Word, the impression made, the converts won, the formation of the Church, and its growth and prosperity, amid labours and suffering. Attachments were then formed that deepened and strengthened with the years. Christian friendships call forth the finest feelings of the soul, and form a strong bond of union in the love of a common Saviour. Christ will have no forced selection of men, no soldiers by compulsion, no timorous slaves, but children, brethren, friends.

+Lessons.+--1. _Steadfastness is a test of genuine devotedness._ 2. _Instability is a loss of advantages often won at great cost._ 3. _They who endure will finally conquer._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 2, 3.

_Glimpses of Life in the Early Church._

+I. The early planting of the Gospel involved arduous and united toil.+--"Which laboured with me in the gospel" (ver. 3). Prodigious as were the labours of Paul, he could never have accomplished the work he did but for the willing co-operation of others. There is great art in evoking the sympathy and help of those who can help forward the work of God. Christian work finds scope for all kinds of talents and agencies. Pioneer work is rough work and tests all our powers and resources. The difficulties of the work unite its propagators in heart and hand. There is little good done without strenuous labour, though the results of our toil are not always immediately apparent. Dr. Judson laboured diligently for six years in Burmah before he baptised a convert. At the end of three years he was asked what evidence he had of ultimate success. He replied, "As much as there is a God who will fulfil all His promises." A hundred churches and thousands of converts already answer his faith.

+II. The names of Gospel pioneers are not forgotten.+--"With Clement also, and with other my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life" (ver. 3). Some of these names are recorded in the pages of history and handed down to our day; the rest, though unknown on earth, are registered in the imperishable pages of "the book of life." Clement, though unknown to fame and unidentified with any other of the same name mentioned in history, is referred to here as recognising the apostle's cordial recollection of his valuable work. But the unknown on earth are not forgotten in heaven. The work we do for God will live for ever. When Columbus was homeward bound after his brilliant discovery of a new world he was overtaken by a terrible storm. In his indescribable agony that not only his life and that of his crew, but his magnificent discovery must all go down and be lost in the abyss, and that, too, not far from land, he committed to the deep hurried entries of that discovery sealed up in bottles, in the hope that some day they might reach land. We need not be unduly anxious about either our work or our fame; God will take care of both.

+III. From the earliest times women have rendered valuable help in the propagation of the Gospel.+--"Euodias, Syntyche, . . . women which laboured with me in the gospel" (vers. 2, 3). In the Temple worship the Jewish women were fenced off in a court by themselves. The woman occupied an inferior religious position in Rabbinical teaching. It was a shock to public feeling to see a rabbi talking to a female. Even the disciples were surprised that their Master should be found conversing with a woman on the brink of the Samaritan well. Jesus Christ broke down this middle wall of partition as He had broken down the other. Here, again, He made both one. If in Christ there is no distinction of Jew and Gentile, neither is there of male or female. Women were His faithful and constant attendants; women were the favoured witnesses of His resurrection; women were among the most helpful fellow-workers of the apostles. There was an organised ministry of women deaconesses and widows in the Apostolic Church. "What women those Christians have," exclaimed the heathen rhetorician, on learning about Anthusa, the mother of Chrysostom. Anthusa at the early age of twenty lost her husband, and thenceforward devoted herself wholly to the education of her son, refusing all offers of further marriage. Her intelligence and piety moulded the boy's character and shaped the destiny of the man, who in his subsequent eminence never forgot what he owed to maternal influence. It is no exaggeration to say that we owe those rich homilies of Chrysostom, of which interpreters of Scripture still make great use, to the mind and heart of Anthusa.

+IV. We learn the apostolic method of reconciling two eminent women in serious disagreement.+--1. _He addresses to each an earnest and pointed exhortation to unity._ "I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord" (ver. 2). He repeats the entreaty to show that he placed the like obligation on each of them. He does not exhort the one to be reconciled to the other, for they might have doubted who should take the initiative, and they might wonder, from the position of their names and construction of the sentence, to which of them the apostle attached the more blame. But he exhorts them both, the one and the other, to think the same thing--not only to come to a mutual understanding, but to preserve it. The cause of quarrel might be some unworthy question about priority or privilege, even in the prosecution of the good work--vainglory leading to strife. It does not seem to have been any difference in creed or practice (_Eadie_).

2. _He recognises their devoted and impartial labours._--"Those women which laboured with me in the gospel" (ver. 3). Their work does not appear to have been done from personal friendship, as is often the case; they treated all and helped all alike. They were deeply interested in the spread of the Gospel and the increase of the Church, and toiled with such self-sacrificing devotion as to elicit the special commendation of the apostle.

3. _He entreated that help might be rendered them in the adjustment of their quarrel._--"And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women" (ver. 3). A third party is appealed to, to interpose his good offices--an evidence that Paul regarded the harmony of these two women a matter of no small importance. Mediation between two persons at variance is delicate and difficult work, but if judiciously done may help to a reconciliation. Women were the first to receive the Gospel at Philippi, and from the first used their influence and opportunities in commending it to their sex. The unseemly misunderstanding between these two women whose labours had been so blessed made it the more necessary that something should be done to heal the breach.

+Lessons.+--1. _Pioneer work has special hardships and temptations._ 2. _The best of women may quarrel._ 3. _It is the wise policy of the Christian statesman to compose and strive to prevent discord and disunion._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Ver. 2. _Feminine Disagreement_--

+I. May occasion much mischief in a Church.+

+II. All the more dangerous where the parties are eminent in gifts
and labours+ (ver. 3).

+III. Reconciled when truly possessing one mind in Christ.+--"Be of
the same mind in the Lord."

+IV. The most earnest entreaty should be employed to rectify.+--"I
beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche."

Ver. 3. _Names in the Book._

+I. Some observations.+--1. _It is a great thing to have a name in the New Testament._--Think of the roll-call in Rom. xvi. and Heb. xi.

2. _It is a great thing now to have a name in the family Bible,_ for that generally signifies Christian training and parental prayers.

3. _It is a great thing to have a name upon the pages of a church register._--How affecting are these old manuals, with their lists of pious men and women, many of whom have passed into the skies.

4. _It is the greatest thing of all to have a name in the Lamb's Book of Life._--Beyond all fame (Matt. xi. 11). Beyond all power (Luke x. 20).

+II. Some questions.+--1. _In how many books is your name written now?_ 2. _How can a human name be written securely in the Lamb's Book of Life?_ 3. _To backsliders: are you going to return to your name, or do you want it to come back to you?_ 4. _To Christian workers: how many names have you helped to write in the Book of Life?_ 5. _Is there any cheer in thinking how our names will sound when the books are opened in the white light of the throne?--Homiletic Monthly._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 4.

_Christian Joy_--

+I. Is in the Lord.+--"Rejoice in the Lord." The joy of the Christian is not in his own achievements, still less is it in himself or in his own experiences. A glance at ourselves and the imperfections of our work for God fills us with shame and sadness. Pure, lasting joy is found nowhere but "in the Lord." When Möhler, the eminent Roman Catholic symbolist, asserted that "in the neighbourhood of a man who, without any restriction, declared himself sure of his salvation, he should be in a high degree uneasy, and that he could not repel the thought that there was something diabolical beneath this," he only afforded a deep glance into the comfortlessness of a heart which seeks the ultimate ground of its hope in self-righteousness, and in making assurance of salvation to depend on attainment in holiness instead of in simple faith in Christ. The friends of Haller congratulated him on the honour of having received a visit in his last hours from the emperor Joseph II.; but the dying man simply answered, "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." The more we realise Christ, not as a dim abstraction or a mere historic personage, but as a living and loving personal reality, the more truly can we rejoice in Him.

+II. Is constant.+--"Always." Christian joy is not a capricious sentiment, a fitful rapture, but a steady, uniform, and continued emotion. The direction of the apostle to rejoice always sounds like a paradox. How can we continually rejoice when we are continually in the midst of sin, suffering, and sorrow? Still, when we think of the change Divine grace has wrought in us, when we think of the ample provisions of the Gospel every moment available to us, when we contemplate the bright prospects before us which even present distresses cannot dim, and when we remember the infinite ability of our Lord to accomplish all He had promised us, our joy may well be perennial. Airay, the earliest English expositor of this epistle, has well said: "When Satan, that old dragon, casts out many flouds of persecutions against us; when wicked men cruelly, disdainfully, and despitefully speake against us; when lying, slandering, and deceitful mouthes are opened upon us; when we are mocked and jested at and had in derision of all them that are about us; when we are afflicted, tormented, and made the world's wonder; when the sorrowes of death compasse us and the flouds of wickednesse make us afraid, and the paines of hell come even unto our soule; what is it that holds up our heads that we sinke not, how is it that we stand either not shaken, or, if shaken, yet not cast downe? Is it not by our rejoycing which we have in Christ Jesus?"

+III. Is recommended by experience.+--"And again I say rejoice." Paul recommended what he himself enjoyed. If he, in the midst of disappointment, imprisonment, and suffering, would rejoice and did rejoice, so may others. It might be that, as he wrote these words, a temporary depression crept over him, as he thought of himself as a prisoner in the immediate prospect of a cruel death. It was but a passing feeling. In a moment Divine grace triumphed, and with heightened elation and emphasis he repeated, "And again I _will_ say, rejoice." We have already remarked that joy is the predominating feature of this epistle, and to the last the apostle maintains the exalted strain.

+Lessons.+--1. _Great joy is found in working for God._ 2. _Joy is found not so much in the work as in the Lord._ 3. _It is the Christian's privilege to rejoice always._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._

Ver. 4. _Rejoicing in the Lord._

+I. The text involves the fact that believers may and should rejoice.+--1. _The world holds that believers have no enjoyment._ 2. _There are believers who all but teach this;_ for--(1) they use not the language of joy themselves; (2) they discourage it in others. 3. _But that believers may and should rejoice is evident_ for--(1) joy is commanded as a duty; (2) it is mentioned as a fruit of the Holy Ghost; (3) it is a feature of the Christian, portrayed in the Scriptures (Acts ii. 46, 47). 4. _The spiritually-minded, if not warped by some defective system of doctrine, rejoice._ 5. _Joy is quite consistent with those states of mind which are thought to be inconsistent with it._ "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." 6. _Joy is the natural result of peace with God._

+II. The text exhibits the nature of the joy peculiar to the believer.+--He rejoices "in the Lord." 1. _The world rejoices in the creature and shuts out God._ 2. _The believer rejoices only in God._ 3. _This joy has several elements._ (1) The believer rejoices that God is--"I am." (2) He rejoices that He is what He is. (3) He rejoices in the manifestations of His glory, which He has made in His Word, works, and ways. (4) He rejoices in his own relation to Him in Christ--"boasting himself in God." (5) He rejoices in the hope of the glory of God. 4. _Every element of pure and elevated pleasure is found in His joy._ 5. _It is fellowship with God Himself in His joy._

+III. The text renders it binding upon the believer at all times to seek this privilege and to cherish this feeling+--"always."--This command is reasonable, for: 1. _God is always the same._ 2. _The believer's relation to Him is unalterable._ 3. _The way to God is always open._ 4. _The mind may always keep before it the views which cause joy_--by the indwelling Spirit.

+IV. The manner in which the commandment of the text is pressed teaches us the importance of the duty it inculcates.+--Its importance is manifest, for: 1. _It is the mainspring of worship and obedience._ 2. _It prevents a return to sinful pleasures._ 3. _It renders us superior to temporal suffering_--fits for enduring for Jesus Christ. 4. _It presents to the world_ (1) True religion. (2) Connected with enjoyment.

+V. The manner in which the commandment of the text is expressed implies that there are obstacles in the way of obedience.+--What are some of the obstacles? 1. _A habit, natural and strong, of drawing our satisfaction from the creature._ 2. _Not keeping "a conscience void of offence towards God and man."_ 3. _Not having the heart in a state to have sympathy with God's character._ 4. _Not proportioning aright the amount of attention given to self and Christ._ 5. _Not making sure of our interest in Christ.--Stewart._

_Joy in the Lord_--

+I. Is intellectual.+

+II. Moral.+

+III. Spiritual.+

+Lessons.+--1. _Our power of rejoicing in the Lord is a fair test of our moral and spiritual condition._ 2. _Is a Christian's main support under the trials of life._ 3. _Is one of the great motive forces of the Christian life.--H. P. Liddon._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 5.

_Christian Equity_--

+I. Does not exact all the claims of legal justice.+--"Let your moderation [forbearance] be known." Human laws, however carefully devised, may sometimes, if rigidly enforced, act unjustly and cruelly. We should guide ourselves at all times by the broad principles of equity in the sight of God. We should not urge our own rights to the uttermost, but be wiling to waive a part, and thus rectify the injustice of justice. "The archetype of this grace is God, who presses not the strictness of His law against us as we deserve, though having exacted the fullest payment for us from our Divine Surety" (_Fausset_). It is not gentleness as an innate feeling, but as the result of self-restraint. It does not insist on what is its due, it does not stand on etiquette or right, but it descends and complies. It is opposed to that rigour which never bends nor deviates, and which, as it gives the last farthing, uniformly exacts it. It is not facile pliability--a reed in a breeze--but that generous and indulgent feeling that knows what is its right, but recedes from it; is conscious of what is merited, but does not contend for strict proportion. It is that grace which was defective in one or other, or both, of the women who are charged by the apostle to be of one mind in the Lord. For, slow to take offence, it is swift to forgive it. Let a misunderstanding arise, and no false delicacy will prevent it from taking the first step towards reconciliation or adjustment of opinion (_Eadie_).

+II. Should be evident in dealing with all classes.+--"Be known unto all men." We are to practise forbearance, not only towards our Christian brethren, but towards the world, even towards the enemies of the Gospel. It is a rebuke to the Christian spirit to be austere, unbending, and scrupulously exacting. If we are always rejoicing in the Lord, we cannot cherish hard feelings towards any. The Christian should be notorious for gentleness and forbearance; all with whom we come in contact should be made to know it and feel it. We should be prepared for yielding up what may be our own rights, and to endure wrong rather than dishonour Christ, or give a false representation of the heavenly life which He exemplified and recommended, and which is becoming in all His professed followers. "This gentleness manifests itself at one time as equanimity and patience under all circumstances, among all men and in manifold experiences; at another as integrity in business relations; as justice, forbearance, and goodness in exercising power; as impartiality and mercy in judging; as noble yielding, joyful giving, and patent enduring and forgiving" (_Passavant_).

+III. Should be practised as conscious of the near advent of Christ.+--"The Lord is at hand." The early Church had a vivid sense of the immediateness of the second coming of Christ, and were taught to do and bear everything as in His sight. We lose much in spiritual power, and in the realisation of eternal things, when we consign that advent to the remote and indistinct future. After all, the second coming of Christ, and not our own death, is the goal on which our eye should be fixed, as the period which will furnish us with the true and final value of our life-work. In the first ages it would have been deemed a kind of apostasy not have sighed after the day of the Lord. The coming of the Lord is a motive to show moderation and clemency towards all men, even towards our enemies, for the great Judge is near, who will rectify all inequalities and redress all wrongs.

+Lessons.+--1. _Equity is superior to legal enactments._ 2. _It is a sorry spectacle when Christians appeal to the civil courts to settle their differences._ 3. _The Christian spirit is the highest equity._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6, 7.

_The Cure of Care._

+I. That all anxious care is needless.+--"Be careful for nothing" (ver. 6). It is not forethought that is here condemned, but anxious, distracting care. Care is a kill-joy and is the great enemy of Christian peace. The future is not ours; why be anxious about it? The past is done with, and regrets about it are unavailing. The future is provided for, for God, the great Provider, is ahead of every step we take towards that future. The ancient custom of distracting a criminal by tying him to the wheels of two chariots which were then driven in opposite directions well illustrates how cares may be allowed to distract the mind. We put ourselves on the rack when we ought to cast our care on God, not in part, nor occasionally, but in all things and at all times. Care depreciates the value of all our past blessings and dims our vision of the blessings we now actually possess. After the great military victories of Marlborough in 1704, he one day said: "I have for these last ten days been so troubled by the many disappointments I have had, that I think if it were possible to vex me so for a fortnight longer, it would make the end of me. In short, I am weary of my life."

+II. That all anxious care should be taken to God in thankful prayer.+--"But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God" (ver. 6). The best system of heathen philosophy regarded equability of mind, undisturbed alike by the troubles and allurements of the world, as the most perfect state of the soul; but it did not provide any adequate motive for attaining this desirable equipoise. It could only state the theory and insist on its importance; but refractory human nature had its own way, in spite of philosophy. The apostle supplies in these words a nobler and more workable philosophy. He not only exhorts us to tranquillity of mind but shows us how it may be attained and kept. In all kinds of anxieties and especially in the struggles of religious doubt, prayer is the truest philosophy. Our difficulties vanish when we take them to God.

"By caring and by fretting,
By agony and fear,
There is of God no getting;
But prayer He will hear."

We should cast our care on God because He is our Father. A father's office is to provide for his family. It is out of place for a child to be anxiously making provision for emergencies--asking where to-morrow's food and clothing are to come from, and how the bills are to be paid. We should rebuke such precocity, and send the child to school or to play, and leave all such matters to the ordained caretaker. The birds of the air are taken care of; so shall we be, even though our faith is small. "Our prayers run along one road, and God's answers by another, and by-and-by they meet. God answers all true prayer, either in kind or in kindness" (_Judson_).