Philippian Studies Part 14

Again he will not be misunderstood. This warmly expressed grat.i.tude may conceivably be mistaken for an indirect pet.i.tion, "thanks for favours to come." So with sensitive delicacy he pursues:

Ver. 17. +Not that I am in quest of+ (_epizeto_: almost, "I am hunting for") +the gift+, the mere sum of money, in and for itself; +but I am in quest of the interest that is acc.u.mulating to your account+;[8] I am bent upon just such a developement of your generosity as will win from the heavenly Master more and yet more of that supreme reward, His own "Well done, good and

Ver. 18. faithful." +But+ (he is still anxious, lest this too should be mistaken for a personal bid for more) +I have received in full+ (_apecho_); you have amply discharged love's obligations, in the gift now sent; +and I run over+; the largeness of your bounty makes an overflow. +I have been filled full, in accepting from Epaphroditus what+ came +from you; an odour of fragrancy, a sacrifice acceptable, pleasing to G.o.d+, to whom you have really presented what you have sent to the man who serves Him--this evidence of your sacrifice to Him of yourselves and your possessions, a burnt offering (Lev. i. 9) of surrender, a peace offering (Lev. ii. 2, iii. 5) of thanksgiving.[9] I cannot

Ver. 19. requite you; +but my G.o.d shall fill up every need of yours+ (_pasan chreian_, not _p._ten chr._), making up to you in His own loving providence the gap in your means left by this your bounty, and enriching you the while in soul, +according to+, on the scale of, +His wealth, in glory, in Christ Jesus+. Yes, He will draw on no less a treasury than that of "His glory," His own Nature of almighty Love, as it is manifested to and for you "in Christ Jesus," in whom "all the

Ver. 20. Fulness dwells."[10] +But now to our G.o.d and Father+, to Him of whom I and you are alike the dear children, +be the glory+, the praise for this and for all like acts of His children's love, +for ever and ever+; "to the ages of the ages," the endless cycles of eternal life, in which shall it be fully seen how He was the Secret of all the holiness of all His saints. _Amen_.

So the utterance of thanks for a loving and liberal collection closes.

Here is another case of the phenomenon we have seen already--the beautiful skill with which a local and personal incident is used as the occasion for a whole revelation of grace and truth. We can easily imagine a gift like that which came from Philippi acknowledged with a few cordial words which would adequately express grat.i.tude and pleasure, but would otherwise terminate wholly in themselves. How different is this paragraph! Throughout it, side by side, run at once the most perfect and delicate human courtesy and considerateness, and suggestions of eternal and spiritual relations, in which "the gift"

touches at every point the heart of the Lord, and the promises of grace, and the hope of glory. This message of thanks gives us, just in pa.s.sing, such oracles of blessing as, "I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me," and "My G.o.d shall supply all your need." It is on one side a model of n.o.bility and fineness of human thought and feeling, on the other an oracle of G.o.d. This is just in the manner of Scripture. "Never book spake like this Book."

Now the close comes. The greetings which those who are one in the Lord cannot but send to one another in His name, have to be spoken, and then the scribe's pen will rest.

Ver. 21. +Salute every saint in Christ Jesus+, every holy one of your circle, holy because in Him; pa.s.s the greetings round from my heart to each member of the Church. And as I write, the Christians now around me, my personal friends upon the spot, must send their message too; +there salute you all the brethren who are with me+. And not they only, but all the believers of the Roman mission, represented around me in my chamber as I dictate, do the same; and among them one cla.s.s asks to join with special warmth; +there+

Ver. 22. +salute you all the saints, but particularly those who belong to+ (_oi ek_) +the household of the Emperor+ (_kaisaros_); the Christians gathered from the retainers of the Palace; peculiar in their circ.u.mstances of temptation, and quickened thereby to a special warmth of faith and love.[11]

Nothing is left now but the final message from the Lord Himself; the invocation of that "grace" which means in fact no abstract somewhat but His living Self, present in His people's inmost being, to vivify and to bless.

Ver. 23. +The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.[12]

Amen.+

The voice is silent; the pen is laid aside. In due time the papyrus roll, inestimable ma.n.u.script, is made ready for its journey. And perhaps as it now lies drying the Missionary and his brethren turn to further conversation on the beloved Philippian Church, and recall many a scene in the days that are over, and which are now gliding far into the past of the crowded years; and they speak again of the brightness of Philippian Christian life, and the shadows that lie on it here and there; and then, while the Praetorian sentinel looks on in wonder, or perhaps joins in as a believer, they pray together for Philippi, and pour out their praises to the Father and the Son, and antic.i.p.ate the day of glory.

It is all over now; it all happened very long ago. But though that blessed group of our elder brethren "are all gone into the world of light" these many more than eighteen hundred human years, that Letter is our contemporary still. "The word of G.o.d _liveth_ and _abideth for ever_" (1 Pet. i. 23); it is never out of date, never touched by the pathetic glamour of the past, with the suggestion of farewells, and waxings old, and vanis.h.i.+ngs away. To us to-day, so near the twentieth century, the Epistle to the Philippians is immortal, modern, true for our whole world and time.

And what is its secret, its elixir of undying life? It is the Name of Jesus Christ. It is that these pages are the message of "the chosen Vessel" about that Name.

Our studies in the Epistle shall close with that reflexion. The incidental topics and interests of the doc.u.ment are numerous indeed; but the main theme is one, and it is Jesus Christ. From first to last, under every variety of reference, "Christ is preached."

Let me quote from a Sermon preached many years ago, the last of a series in which I attempted to unfold the Epistle to a Christian congregation in the beloved Church of Fordington, Dorchester, then my Father's cure and charge.

"The mere number of mentions of the Saviour's name is remarkable. More than forty times we have it in this short compa.s.s; that is to say, it occurs, amidst all the variety of subjects, on an average of about once in every two or three verses. This is indeed perfectly characteristic, not of this Epistle only but of the whole New Testament. What the Apostles preached was not a thing but a Person; Christ, Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus the Lord.

"But let us not look only on this frequency of mention. Let us gather up something of what these mentions say 'concerning the King.'

"The writer begins with describing himself and his a.s.sociates as the servants, the absolute bondmen, _of Jesus Christ_. And truly such servants witness to the worthiness of their Master.

"He addresses those to whom he writes as saints, as holy ones, _in Jesus Christ_. Their standing, their character, their all, depends on Him; on union with Him, on life in Him. Without Him, apart from Him, they would not be saints at all.

"The writer speaks of his imprisonment at Rome; the subject is full of Jesus Christ. 'My bonds _in Christ_' is his remarkable description of captivity. And the result of that captivity was, to his exceeding joy, just this, amidst a great variety of conditions in detail, including some exquisite trials to patience and peace: '_Christ_ is being preached'; 'that _Christ_ may be magnified in my body, whether by life or death.' He is kept absolutely cheerful and at rest; and the secret is Jesus Christ.

"He has occasion to speak of his trial, with its delays, and its suspense between life and death. The whole is full of Jesus Christ.

'To me to live is _Christ_'; He fills, and as it were makes, life for me. 'And to die is gain'--why? Because 'to depart and to be with _Christ_ is far, far better.' The dilemma in which he stands (for he is 'in a strait betwixt the two') is a dilemma between Christ and Christ, Christ much and Christ more, Christ by faith and Christ by sight.

"He dwells, in various places, on the life and duties of the Philippians. His precepts are all this, in effect--Christ applied to conduct. 'Let your life-walk be as it becometh the Gospel of _Christ_'; 'Filled with the fruit of righteousness which is through _Jesus Christ_'; 'It is granted to you not only to believe in _Christ_ but also to suffer for His sake.'

"In particular, he has to press on them the homely duty of practical self-forgetfulness. He takes them for model and motive to the heaven of heavens, and shews them 'Christ Jesus' there, as for us men and for our salvation He prepares to come down, and comes. 'Let this mind be in you,' as you contemplate the original Glory, the amazing Incarnation, the atoning Death, of _Christ Jesus_.

"He expresses hopes, intentions, resolutions, as to his own actions.

All is still 'in Jesus Christ.' 'I trust in _the Lord Jesus_ to send Timotheus,' 'I trust in _the Lord_ to come myself shortly.'

"Does he speak of the believer's joy? 'We rejoice in _Christ Jesus_,'

'Rejoice in _the Lord_ alway, and again I say, Rejoice.' Does he speak of pardon and of peace? 'I counted all things but loss that I might win _Christ_, and be found in Him, having the righteousness which is of G.o.d by faith.' Does he speak of knowledge, and of power? 'That I might know _Christ_, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellows.h.i.+p of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death'; 'I can do all things in _Christ_ which strengtheneth me.'

"He speaks of a holy immortality, of eternal glory, and of pleasures for evermore. It is no vague aspiration; it is a sure and certain hope; and it is altogether in Jesus Christ. 'Our home, our citizens.h.i.+p, is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord _Jesus Christ_, who shall change the body of our humiliation into likeness to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto--Himself.'

"He bids his beloved converts stand fast; it is 'in _the Lord_.' He bids them be of one mind; it is 'in _the Lord_.' He bids them be always calm, always self-forgetting; '_the Lord_ is at hand.' He a.s.sures them of an all-sufficient resource for their every need; 'My G.o.d shall supply all, according to His riches, in glory, in _Christ Jesus_.'

"His last message of blessing brings together their inmost being and this same wonderful Person; 'The grace of our Lord _Jesus Christ_ be with your spirit. Amen.' . . .

"What a witness it all is to the glory of our beloved Redeemer; to the majesty of His Person; to the fulness and perfection of His Work; to the solidity, the sobriety, the strength, of the faith which is in Him!

There is no inflation or rhetoric in the language of the Epistle about Him. Glowing with love, it is all clear and calm. Yes, for Christ Jesus is not a phantom of the fancy; a hope floating on the thick waves of a wild enthusiasm. He is an anchor, sure and steadfast. Blessed are they who ride secure on the deep, held fast by Him.

"The Epistle witnesses to Him as to a Treasure worth all our seeking, at any cost; infinitely precious to our joyful finding; infinitely deserving of our keeping, of our holding, our 'apprehending,' as He in His mercy has laid hold of us, and will keep hold of us, even to the end; 'unto the day of Jesus Christ.' As then, so now;

'He help'd His saints in ancient days Who trusted in His name; And we can witness to His praise, His love is still the same.'

"May the Spirit bring home to our spirit this great witness of the Epistle; it has its perfect adaptation to each heart, to every life, to every hour.

"Then hereafter we shall give G.o.d thanks yet better for 'Philippians,'

as we too enter, late or soon, into that world where the Apostle, and Timotheus, and Epaphroditus, and Euodia, and Syntyche, and Clement, and the saints of Caesar's household, have so long beheld the Lord. In that land of light we, who have believed, shall rest with them. We shall know them. In the long leisure of endless life we shall enjoy their company, amidst the mult.i.tudinous congregation of the just made perfect. There we shall understand how, under the infinite differences of our earthly conditions, the one Hand led them and led us along the one way of salvation to the one end of everlasting life. Above all, we there, with them, shall know JESUS CHRIST, even as we are known. There we, with them, shall realize how to Him, and to Him alone, from all His servants, from Hebrew, and Roman, and Philippian, and Englishman, and African, from ancients and moderns, wise and ignorant, of all kinds and times, was due the whole praise of their whole salvation.

'Conflicts and trials done His glory they behold, Where JESUS and His flock are one, One Shepherd and one fold.'"

[1] _Anethalete to huper emou phronein_. Literally, "_you shot forth_ (as a branch) _thought in my behalf_." (The English perfect best represents this aorist.) The phrase is unmistakably pictorial, poetical. If I read it aright, it is touched with _a smile_ of gentle pleasantry; the warm heart comes out in a not undesigned quaintness of expression.

[2] _tapeinousthai_ is used in cla.s.sical Greek of the falling of a river in drought. Perhaps such an image is present in the language here.

[3] _Memuemai_: the verb whose root is that of _mysterion_, _mysterium_, "mystery." In the Greek world "mysteries" were systems of religious belief and practice derived, perhaps, from pre-h.e.l.lenic times, and jealously guarded from common knowledge by their votaries.

Admission into their secrets, as into those of Freemasonry now, was sought by people of all kinds, from Roman consuls and emperors downwards; with the special hope of freedom from evil in this life and the next. St Paul's use of this phenomenon to supply language for Christian experience is beautifully suggestive. The knowledge of the peace of G.o.d is indeed an _open_ secret, open to "whosoever will"

"learn of Him." But it is a secret, a mystery, none the less.

[4] The word _Christo_ should be omitted from the reading, though perfectly right as a note or explanation.--The _iochus_ is the forth-putting of the _dunamis_--the _action_ of the _faculty_. He is ready to act (or to bear) in a power always latent, always present, through his union with his Lord. The "all things" so met are, of course, the all things of the will of G.o.d, the choice of the Master for the servant in the way of circ.u.mstance and trial; not the all things of the mere wish or ambition of the servant.

[5] _Philippesioi_: the Greek form represents a Latin _Philippenses_, by which the residents in the _Roman "colony"_ would call themselves.