Lecture X · Stedfastness for Christ

THE great comprehensive precept with which this paragraph begins has already been illustrated with considerable fulness. We proceed now to examine what follows.

The paraphrase with which the last Lecture closed, ended with these words, ‘Thus’ (by your maintaining a conversation becoming the gospel) ‘abundant reward will come to me for all my labours and sufferings on your behalf.’ This thought the apostle brings out in the next clause. It is obviously a very natural one, considering the close relations which existed between him and the Philippians; and that in the earlier part of the letter he had spoken so fully and warmly of his affection for them. ‘ That whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs,—tidings such as shall gladden my heart.’ The apostle’s mode of expression, as you will notice, has a little irregularity,—his meaning being evidently, ‘that, whether I come and see you, or be absent and hear of you, either way I may come to know’—what follows. ee oo Un

Now comes a statement of what it is that he wishes always to find in them,—eminence in stedfastness and mutual love. These were the elements of a ‘conversation becoming the gospel,’ which had been most vividly before his mind in giving them the injunction; no doubt because, whilst being of vital importance in any circumstances, they were those which the particular circumstances of the Philippians placed most in peril. ‘My desire is, that I may hear of your affairs to this effect, that ye stand fast” Throughout the passage the figure of a contest is employed. ‘ You have spiritual enemies, virulent and powerful. The world and the flesh and the devil are all at war with you. See that, in the struggle, you stand fast. Neither apostatize nor compromise. Be not attracted by any temptation, nor daunted by any persecution, from your post in the army of the Captain of salvation, or from faithful, unflinching discharge of your duty there,—however exposed the post may be, and however trying the duty. Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.’

‘ And, to this end, see that ye be zx one spirit. From various hints given in the Epistle, we see that dissensions had arisen among some members of the church at Philippi. News of these had greatly pained the apostle, both on account of his affection for the persons immediately concerned, and his interest in the progress of the cause of Christ, which these quarrels could not but impede. In one case, perhaps from the notoriety of the dissension, or the evil which had been wrought by it in particular, he judged it needful to address the parties by name, and plead with them to ‘be of the same mind in the Lord’ (iv. 2). In the passage before us, he appeals to the members of the church generally to ‘stand fast in one spirit’ of holy love and devotion,—as in an atmosphere which should penetrate, stimulate, and sustain them all, and in which they should feel themselves bound closely to each other through their common ardour of love to God. The more ac-

curately we know ourselves, my brethren, the more clearly we shall see that this is a state of feeling in the spirit of man which can be produced only by the indwelling of the Spirit of God.

This oneness of ‘spirit’—unity of view and feeling with regard to the highest matters—should bring about also, the apostle intimates, a oneness of ‘mind, or ‘soul.’ That you may understand with precision his meaning here, I must direct your attention for a moment to a particular New Testament representation of the constitution of man, on which his language is based. Sometimes in Scripture, as commonly among ourselves, man is spoken of as consisting of a body and a soul, in which case ‘soul’ is used in the widest sense. Sometimes, however, we have three constituents mentioned or alluded to, —the body, soul, and spirit.” According to this division, the ‘soul’ comprehends only those energies and capacities of mind and heart which have to do with the world known by our bodily senses ; whilst the ‘spirit’ is that grandest power of a rational being, by which it can apprehend the idea of God, and hold communion with Him,—by which, through faith, it can live under the influences of an unseen world. The ‘ spirit,’ which should be the governing principle, holding the whole nature under a firm and healthful sway, is in man by nature, as you know, brethren, darkened, enfeebled, dethroned, through sin ; and the ‘soul,’ unhappily freed from the rule of its rightful director, tends to become ever more and more subject to the lowest element of our constitution—the appetites of the body. Through the light and strength given by God’s Spirit, and thus only, our spirits can take their rightful dignity and rule. But even in saints, in whom, through this divine influence, the spirit does hold sway, the government is far from perfect. The ‘soul’ but too often breaks away from its authority, and yields itself to the power of carnality. In the very forming and carrying out of plans for the extension of the Redeemer’s kingdom this may show itself. For instance, where combined ‘ See, for example, 1 Thess, v. 23 and Heb. iv. 12.

action is desirable, incongruities and repugnances of natural temperament may be so given way to, that sound judgment and right feeling are for a time vanquished ; and legitimately divergent opinions regarding the best modes of doing the Lord’s work may be maintained with a discourtesy and virulence very much calculated to do the work of Satan. Carnal tempers, such as act in the ways I have indicated, often take to themselves the noble name of ‘conscientiousness ;’? and in the plausibility of this name lies their strongest entrenchment and chief hazard for Christians. None the less for the name are they really carnal, and tend to maintain the power of sin in the world ; ‘for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.’

In the passage before us, Paul calls on his readers to struggle against this evil tendency of their nature ; and, by the connection of clauses, he shows at the same time how alone it can be overcome. In the measure in which believers are really ‘in one spirit, and stand fast therein—in common simplicity and ardour of faith in the one Lord, and attachment to His cause,— will there be found also ‘ oneness of soul, subjection of natural discordances, and sweetening of all social relations, through the power of Christian love. In the delightful account we have in Acts, of the church of the first days in Jerusalem, we are told that ‘they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spake the word of God with boldness ; and’—being ‘in one spirit,’ through the indwelling of the Divine Spirit in fulness—‘ the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul’ (Acts iv. 31, 32). One of the most cheering facts with regard to the state of religion in our own time is the obvious and rapid growth, in many sections of the church, of a conviction that, in so far as Christ’s people are not manifestly one—not by any means necessarily in formal organization, but in sincere affection,—in so far as there is anywhere among them alienation or mutual thwarting, instead of mutual help,—they are doing much to prevent the world from seeing that the gospel comes

from God, who ‘is love.’ It is, my brethren, when the church shall be ‘ fair as the moon’ with holy beauties, the beauties of love, that she shall be ‘terrible as an army with banners’ to Satan and his hosts,—then, not till then.

The apostle hopes to hear, regarding his dear Philippians, that, under the sweet constraint of the ‘one spirit,’ they are ‘with one soul striving together’—fighting shoulder to shoulder, giving mutual support and cheer—‘ for the faith of the gospel.’ These last words might mean ‘for evangelical doctrine ;’ in which case the whole expression, ‘Strive together for the faith of the gospel,’ would be equivalent to Jude’s ‘Contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints’ (Jude 3). Paul’s general mode of using the word ‘ faith,’ however, makes it more probable that he means here rather ‘faith zz the gospel.’ ‘Strive together for the maintenance and advancement in yourselves and your fellow-Christians, and for the diffusion among those who as yet do not know Christ, of faith in the precious truth which is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.’

This ‘ good fight of faith’ is of necessity a hard one, alike as regards the Christian’s personal character and his efforts to extend his Lord’s kingdom. It is a very difficult thing for us, amid the constant and obtrusive presence of the seen and tangible, to live habitually under the influence of a vivid realizing belief in the transcendent importance of what is invisible and spiritual. All of us have something—many, no doubt, have much—of the spirit of Thomas,—‘ Except I see, I will not believe.’ Consider, in addition, the element of depravity, a strong natural bias in every one of us against the unseen God, and the peculiarities of life in Christ,—further, in some persons the hardening, the bent of the whole man towards evil, which had been produced by a wicked life,—in many, too, the secularizing power of perhaps unavoidable close and frequent intercourse, even after conversion, with unsympathizing associates. When you take opposing influences like these into ΒΡ ῬῸΝ

consideration, you cannot but feel that the Christian’s struggle to live under ‘the powers of the world to come,’ must be in every case hard,—in some, from temperament and circumstances, intensely severe. In striving, too, for the extension of ‘the faith of the gospel,’ this ‘good fight’ cannot but be a very hard one. Here also, as in the case of our own personal battle, the depravity of the human heart, sustained by the innumerable surrounding influences of a depraved world, and backed by the craft and power of Satan,—this is the foe. In various ways, my brethren, you and I have had ample experience of the strength of this opponent. We feel that of ourselves we could do nothing against him. But the Captain of salvation bids us ‘be of good cheer.’ He has ‘ overcome the world,’ and by Him ‘the prince of this world is cast out.’ We ‘can do all things in Christ who strengtheneth us.’ ‘The weapons of our warfare’ will approve themselves ‘ mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.’

Every true disciple of Christ, and every healthy Christian association, are, to some extent, engaged in this ‘ good fight’ against the influences of the world, ‘for the faith of the gospel ;’ and are therefore naturally objects of dislike to the world,—a dislike which, under certain circumstances, deepens down into hatred, and shows itself in active hostility. ‘Witnesses’ for God always, like those of the Apocalypse, ‘ zorvment them that dwell on the earth’ (Rev. xi. 10). The church of Philippi— eminent, as the whole tenor of this Epistle shows, for holy beauty and energy—could not escape the antagonism of the wicked ; and evidently, when the apostle wrote, there had been for a time some kind of positive persecution. The ‘ adversaries’ of whom he speaks in the 28th verse were probably heathen, there being no allusion in the Epistle leading us to think that in Philippi Jews were numerous or influential. We cannot suppose that in a Roman Colony there was any formal avowed persecution by the government, the Emperor not having yet issued an edict expressly against Christians. But, without this,

there might easily be endless annoyances,—harassing lawsuits on false accusations, impoverishment of trades-people through the withdrawment of custom, and the like; and probably it was to troubles of this sort that the Christians were exposed. To persecution in some form believers living among heathen were constantly liable. Apart altogether from hostility on really religious grounds, hostility which availed itself of the popular dislike to the new religion must often have been aroused by mere worldly selfishness. Just as among ourselves a wide-spread revival of religion might be expected to diminish the profits of the keepers of gin-palaces and other haunts of vice, and thus excite in them bitterness of spirit; so among pagans, almost universally given up to cruelty, licentiousness, and every form of self-indulgence, Christianity cannot gain any considerable strength without materially affecting the income of many classes who live by ‘wages of unrighteousness.’ The real cause of the nominally religious outbreak against Paul at Ephesus, you remember, was that the ‘craft’ by which certain traders on superstition ‘had their wealth,’ ‘was in danger to be set at nought ;’ and of his scourging and imprisonment in this very town of Philippi, the true explanation was to be found in the fact that some wicked men ‘saw that the hope of their gains was gone.’ No doubt these cases were representative of very many.

Whatever the particular nature of the persecution, Paul calls on his spiritual children to be ‘én mothing terrified’ by their adversaries,—‘ which,’ says he, ‘is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation.” The reference of ‘ which’ is to ‘ your being in nothing terrified by their opposition.’ ‘ The fact,—for, as I know it to have been hitherto, so I believe it will continue to be a fact,—that their bitterest hostility does not drive you away from your faith and confession of Christ, is a distinct proof to them, if they would only candidly consider the matter, that, should they persist in their opposition to the gospel, they shall in the end perish miserably, whilst to you a Ἢ

the pricks’ of conscience against which Paul had ‘kicked’ before the Lord appeared to him on the way to Damascus, had been mainly caused by his remembrance of the wonderful demeanour of Stephen during his martyrdom. The good missionary, Mr. Ellis, states that when he visited Madagascar in 1862, after the death of the persecuting queen, he asked the Christians often, to what they thought must chiefly be ascribed the astonishing increase in their numbers during their time of terrible suffering ; and that in reply they mentioned, among other influences, ‘an indescribable feeling of interest in the Christians, or sympathy with them in the injustice and cruelty which they suffered, impressing some with a feeling that there must be something important connected with Christianity. The patient and most uncommon conduct of the Christians under such trials—not cursing their persecutors, but praying for them ; not seeking to be revenged, but to convert—affected the minds of many.’

Amid the troubles which the Philippians suffered, the thought could scarcely but sometimes rise in their minds,— ‘ While it certainly seems to us that in the patience, and persistent adherence to the faith of the gospel, with which we are enabled to bear our persecution, we see evidence that God is with us, and therefore confirmation of the belief we have been taught to cherish, that in His good time we shall receive complete deliverance,—yet, after all, may we not be deceiving ourselves ? Is not the very fact that we are encompassed with distresses on account of religion perhaps a proof that God does not care for us, and that in the whole matter we are fundamentally in error?’ It can hardly be doubted that, amid the fires of sore trial, faithless thoughts like these have at times shot across the hearts of even the most enlightened and devoted servants of the Lord Jesus. An anticipatory answer to such the apostle gives in the emphatic words with which the 28th verse closes: ‘Your boldness under persecution is to your adversaries an evident token of perdition, but to you

of salvation,—and that of God.” ‘You are to consider the patience as certainly bestowed by Him, and therefore as a token from Him of the issue of the contest.’

Proof of this assertion is exhibited in the verses which follow : ‘ Kor unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake,—having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me Here he tells them that their sufferings for religion, far from being a ground of doubt respecting God’s love, were in truth a mark of His special affection and esteem ; and illustrates this ‘hard saying’ by alluding to the likeness between their circumstances and his own,—a reference eminently fitted, from the great love and admiration they felt for him, to convince and to cheer them. ‘You may well believe that the boldness you are strengthened to display is a token from God of your ultimate deliverance and triumph, because it is indeed,—difficult as it may be, impossible for mere nature, to believe this,— it is indeed from His special love to you that you have been brought into your position of trial. I know that you love and honour me as your spiritual father, and believe me to be a true apostle of Christ, loved and honoured by God. Now you saw, when I was with you at the first, what kind of conflict with the hostility of evil men I had to endure,—and how the earthquake, and the glorious conversion of the jailor, bore testimony to God’s gracious presence with me in the midst of persecution. ‘You hear, too, now, that, being in prison in Rome, and perhaps, for aught that yet distinctly appears, about to be put to death, I am still called on to maintain a similar struggle. Now I hold this to be a kindness and an honour shown me by God in His providence. To you likewise it has been given in God’s grace, not only to believe on Christ,—that is the foundation boon of saving grace, and therefore common to you with all God’s children,—but also to suffer for Him. Be assured, then, that since God has appointed you this conflict, and that as a mark of His favour, His purpose is to ripen and beautify

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your religious character thereby, and at the right time give victory and rest; and in His sustaining grace now you have an earnest of the grace which will bring full deliverance.’

The word in the beginning of the 29th verse, rendered ‘ z¢ is given, is one strongly expressive of doving bestowal. It is the same with which Paul closes that sublimely conclusive question in the 8th chapter of Romans, ‘ He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also /ree/y give us all things?’ It is the same also which is employed in the next chapter of this Epistle, where we are told of Jesus that ‘God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name.’

In the account of the gift there is a little irregularity of composition, very characteristic of the apostle’s style. ‘lz behalf of Christ’ is a phrase which obviously suits ‘to suffer,’ but hardly ‘to believe.’ It was, no doubt, intended to be connected immediately with ‘to suffer ;? but the thought entered of mentioning faith, ‘the gift of God’ to αὐ Christians, and thus showing more clearly the specialty of grace enjoyed by the Philippians in being permitted also to suffer for their Lord. Thus the sentence takes the form it has ; and for clearness the ‘in His behalf’ is repeated at the end, where somewhat needlessly our translators have substituted for it ‘for His sake.’

The ‘grace’ of suffering for the Saviour has been already spoken of by the apostle in the 7th verse, where he describes the Philippian believers as, with regard to his ‘bonds’ as well as his ministerial devotedness, ‘ partakers of his grace.’ Some illustration of the thought was given to you in the Lecture on that passage, and therefore a mere word or two further will suffice here. All true believers, my brethren, have some experience of trouble through the antagonism of the world to Christ. In this subjection to affliction for His sake, to help on the cause for which He suffered,—the cause of the world’s emancipation from spiritual slavery, and from all the other forms of bondage which that has brought with it,—there is evi-

dently an element of likeness to Him. The severer the trial, this likeness to Him is ever more manifest,—and the more distinct and gladdening therefore may the assurance grow of ultimate deliverance and triumph—the assurance that, having union with Him in the afflictions of His time of lowliness, there will be union also in the glory of His exaltation. For it is a faithful saying, ‘If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.’ The Philippians might well ‘rejoice,’ then, as the apostles did, in being, according to that exquisite expression of Acts (v. 41), ‘counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ’s - name,’—obtaining grace to receive disgrace,—being honoured το endure dishonour—for their Lord. Their suffering for Him, and the strength He gave them to suffer patiently, were ‘an evident token of salvation,’—a clear proof that in His good time God would take them away from all struggle and pain and fear, to join the happy company of those ‘ which came out of great tribulation, and are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple,—who ‘hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither doth the sun light on them, nor any heat ; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne feedeth them, and leadeth them unto living fountains of waters ; and God wipeth away all tears from their eyes.’