Lecture XIV · Lights in the World

THE exact connection of thought between the injunction with which this paragraph opens and the preceding passage, is not altogether clear. The view we take of it will be mainly determined by our judgment with regard to the reference of the ‘murmurings and disputings.’ These may be against God,—the uprising, particularly under persecution, or affliction generally, of a rebellious will, and the intellectual restlessness naturally associated with such rebellion. In this case the connection is with the immediately preceding verse,— the thought of the duty of cordial and entire submission to the will of God, alike with regard to action and endurance, being suggested by the statement there made of our absolute dependence on Him. To this view of the apostle’s reference some support is given by an allusion he makes, as we shall see, in the 15th verse, to the wickedness of ancient Israel, whose perversity showed itself most prominently in ‘murmurings’ against God. On the whole, however, it seems to me more probable that the precept is a prohibition of ‘murmurings and disputings’ against men—jealousies and dissensions among the Philippians themselves. This view of the meaning brings the injunction into natural connection with the whole strain of

counsel from the beginning of the chapter. It accords, too, better than the other, as it appears to me, with the prominence given in the present paragraph to the thought of the healthful influence on the world of a holy Christian life ; for murmurings and disputings of brethren against each other are observed by those around, and thus obstruct the beneficial power of Christian example, whilst risings of will and thought against God may be secret, and oftenest are.

In ‘all things’—ecclesiastical procedure, ordinary business, social intercourse of every kind—‘ murmurings and disputings’ are forbidden, and quietness, gentleness, and courtesy enjoined. The fact that such is a Christian’s duty belongs to the elements of religious knowledge,—‘ for this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,’ and with love to one another ‘murmurings and disputings’ are evidently inconsistent. But ah, brethren, how slow is our progress towards steady obedience! Living in a world where blustering and self-assertion are very largely employed to gain men’s ends, and often prove for a time not inefficient aids, how apt even believers are to drift with the current,—to give way to unhallowed tempers,—ay, to bring jealousy and anger into the consideration and discussion of matters immediately concerning the kingdom of God! How apt we are to forget that ‘the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God!’ Persistent and prayerful effort to give obedience to the apostle’s precept here, by always avoiding arrogant and angry language, would both prevent much injury to the cause of God in the world, and exert a bracing influence on our own spiritual life. Energetic endeavours to keep the tongue under restraint, have an invigorating power over the whole nature. A man of violent temper, who, when the gust of passion comes over his heart, has Christian wisdom and power of will enough to ‘keep the door of his lips,’ will find, not merely that he is saved from speaking words which might cause him and others sorrow, but that, through prayerful, per-

severing struggles of this kind, the power of the evil spirit within him is broken,—as certainly as, in cases where passion finds free utterance, the power of the demon steadily grows. * Do all things,’ then, brethren, ‘ without murmurings and disputings.’

The apostle proceeds in the rest of the passage to set forth his object in giving this precept. This was twofold. First and chiefly, that, through adornment with the holy beauties of love, the Philippians might exert a winning influence over the society in which God’s providence had placed them, leading the heathen around to recognise in Christianity ‘the power of God and the wisdom of God.’ Secondly, that, through their growth in Christian loveliness and usefulness, there might be stored up for himself, as their spiritual father, an exquisite joy, to be realized fully in the ‘day of the Lord.’ In mentioning each of these objects, the apostle plainly exhibits a powerful argument for obedience to the precept,—the one addressing itself to the regard felt by the Philippian Christians for the honour of their Lord and the welfare of men, the other to their personal affection for him whom God had made the instrument of ‘ turning them from darkness to light.’

The first object is that, by beauty and completeness of Christian character, the members of the Philippian church may act powerfully on the world on behalf of Christ: ‘ ¢hat ye may ée’—rather ‘approve yourselves,’ ‘come out’ from the trial which is found in the excitements, irritations, and seductions of the world—‘ d/ameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life?

Influence on others by example being prominent in the apostle’s mind, he naturally puts ‘ d/ameless’ first—‘ living a life which no one can justly reproach.’ Yet here, as always, he desires to keep his spiritual children in mind that purity of the whole nature, blamelessness through the study and powerful action of holy affections, is alone beautiful in God’s sight. He would therefore have them ‘ armless’ too,—or rather, ‘ simple,’ ‘ guileless,’ ‘ single-hearted,’ literally, ‘free from mixture or adulteration.’ The original word is the same which is rendered by ‘simple’ in a passage in the Epistle to the Romans, where Paul says, ‘I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil’ (Rom. xvi. 19). Such was Nathanael, of whom the Lord said, ‘ Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!’ Very great prominence is given in Scripture to this grace of simplicity, oneness of purpose, directness of aim, freedom from by-ends. In the measure in which the faith of a Christian is lively and intelligent, the will of God, as made known in Scripture, will be his rule of judgment and action, and thus his moral life will be simple and stable. There will be no double dealing either with himself or with the world, but sincerity and candour, his words and deeds according with his real views and feelings. ‘Guileless’ and ‘simple’ are, in the ordinary use of language among us at present, generally employed in the sense of ‘ unsuspicious, not given to think evil of others.’ This is included in the Scripture idea of ‘simplicity’ of character. Christian love ‘believeth all things, hopeth all things.’ The view which we take of the people we meet in the world is not a little due to reflection, in the optical sense of the word. We are very apt to think we see in others what we know to be in ourselves ; and thus the selfish. and deceitful man is much more likely to see selfish and deceitful men around him, than the man is whom divine grace has made loving and truthful. But Christian ‘guilelessness’ is perfectly compatible with great shrewdness and sagacity. The believer, while he keeps his own affections and aims single, may see very clearly the duplicity of some with whom he has to do, and guard himself against its effects. He will not wear his heart on his sleeve, for the birds of the air to peck at. He will never consciously say or act that which is false; but he will not open up all his thoughts and feelings to every one. —

He will choose his seasons and his listeners. The Lord’s precept to His apostles called upon them, whilst being ‘ harmless ’—‘ guileless,’ the same word as that employed in the passage before us—‘ as doves,’ to be at the same time ‘ wise as serpents.’

The connection between ‘ simplicity’ of spirit and ‘ doing all things without murmurings and disputings,’ is not far to seek. When, in reference to anything, a man shows jealousy and illtemper, it is made thereby very plain that he has not that entire singleness of aim to do the will of God, to which Christ calls His people. Ah, brethren, if, as the apostle has it in the 2nd verse of this chapter, we ‘ with accordant souls minded ¢he one thing,’ to how great an extent would the jealousies and heartburnings which at present disfigure our ecclesiastical and our ordinary social life be mere memories! Controversy, no doubt, is at times lawful and needful; and in some controversies the tones of stern, solemn denunciation ought to be heard. He who is the ‘ Lamb of God’ is no less the ‘ Lion of the tribe of Judah.’ The same voice which said, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,’ said also, ‘Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.’ But this sternness was ‘ His strange work.’ His delight was in the ‘still small voice’ of pity and grace, as it was foreshown of Him by the prophet,—‘ He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street: a bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench.’ Let this, too, be the joy and the habitual practice of His brethren !

Continuing his statement of the object he had in view in giving the precept of the 14th verse, the apostle goes on,— ‘that ye may approve yourselves ‘ie sons’—or rather, simply, without the article, ‘children’—‘ of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation’—more exactly, ‘ generation.’ The language of this clause is moulded after that of a verse in the great ‘Song of Moses,’ given in the 32nd chapter

of Deuteronomy. According to the famous Greek version of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, which was extensively used in the days of our Lord and His apostles, and which is often quoted in the New Testament, the latter part of the 5th verse of that chapter is rendered in a way of which the translation runs thus, ‘ children worthy of rebuke, a crooked and perverse generation.’ Of these words Paul here makes a most interesting and suggestive application. Israel, through covenant privilege God’s ‘children’ in a special sense, and, as such, called upon to exhibit simplicity, uprightness, rectitude of character, the product of a will aiming straight at compliance with the will of their heavenly Father, had, in fact, shown the utmost contortedness, the utmost ‘crookedness and perversity’ of spirit and of life,—a character twisted at all points, through prejudice and aversion to the will of God. They had thus, in truth, lived not as ‘ children of God,’ but as depraved, unconverted men, the enemies of God. ‘Now,’ says the apostle to the Philippians, ‘ you have all around you the wicked world, to whose ways unhappy Israel conformed,—men and women whose religion is a gross superstition, and their feelings and conduct godless and vicious,—‘‘a crooked and perverse generation.” You are placed “zz the midst” of these men and women of crooked character, that you may set them an example of straightness, holy directness of purpose. As Christians, you enjoy the sublime dignity of being “ children of God.” See to it, then, that, as such, ye be in all things “ without rebuke,” so that your character may speak on behalf of God among those who surround you. Israel, called to be children, themselves lived perversely. My earnest desire for you, dear friends, is, that through avoiding murmurings and disputings, and cultivating a spirit of simplicity and gentleness, you may truthfully exhibit the image of your Father, who “is love,” and win men’s hearts to Him.’

This counsel is addressed to you and me, my brethren, as fully as it was to the Philippians. Placed, as really as they

were, ‘in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,’ may we have grace from above to be thoughtful and vigilant, and much given to prayer, that we may approve ourselves ‘ children of God without rebuke,’ showing them, clearly and winningly, in blamelessness, earnestness, and beauty of character, our Father’s likeness! By inconsistencies in the life of professed children of God with the obvious moral requirements of the gospel, immeasurable harm is done to religion. When piety seems all reserved for the Sabbath and the sanctuary,— when at home there is harshness, and in business frequent evidence of keen and unscrupulous worldliness,—when the declaration, implied in presence at the communion table, that ‘the world is crucified unto us, and we unto the world,’ is followed during the week by a manifestly dominant interest in the vanities and indulgences of the world—when men and women, who in name‘ fear the Lord, in practice ‘serve other gods,’—can the great multitude who, with regard to religion as to everything else, will not study abstract principles, but form their judgments according to embodiments, be expected to think otherwise than that religion is a thing of emptiness, a name merely, altogether devoid of power? ‘Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.’

The thought of responsibility for the power of example, which, as we have seen, is suggested by ‘in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,’ is explicitly brought out by the apostle in his next clause,—‘ among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. These words may be taken as an injunction, ‘among whom shine ye.’ The view of the meaning given by our translators, however, is at least as natural. Paul appears to be, with a little variation, repeating, perhaps consciously, the statement of the Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, where He tells His hearers what is their cad/ing as His disciples,—‘ Ye are the light of the world’ (Matt. v. 14).

‘Being placed,’ the apostle says, ‘in the midst of godless men and women, you are, according to your profession, the illuminators of these darkened ones, and this by holding forth to them the word of life; —that is, ‘by bringing impressively and winningly before them the gospel of Jesus Christ, which, when received by faith into any soul, shows itself the incorruptible seed of true life, even that life eternal, which is to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent.’

The original word employed by the apostle here for ‘ Zights’ is not the form in ordinary use, but one which strictly means ‘light-givers,’ ‘luminaries.’ As it is that found in the Greektranslation of the Old Testament, in the 1st chapter of Genesis, for the ‘lights in the firmament of the heaven,’ it seems probable that the apostle had this image specially in his mind. The Lord Jesus is our spiritual Sun, the ultimate Source of all our light and heat. His followers, like the moon, can but reflect the light which they receive from the Sun; yet when, like the moon at the full, they ‘walk in brightness,’ the darkness around is helpfully dispelled, and many have cause to ‘rejoice in that light.’ To shed this kindly radiance is the vocation of believers. One. great end for which, instead of being taken away at once to heaven on accepting Christ, they are left ‘zz the world, is, that the gloom in which sin has enshrouded it may, to some degree, be broken in upon by the beams from their holy character ; and that men may be led by the beauty of the Junar rays to open their minds and hearts to the full glorious light of the Sun. This is our calling, Christian brethren, and in a measure all true followers of the Saviour fulfil it; for to believe the gospel is to become ‘light in the Lord.’ ‘But, as has been finely said, ‘it is with believers as it is with the new moon in the heavens. There is at first only a sharp and narrow surface of light; and not unfrequently there may be seen, embosomed in the luminous outline, the large dark shadow of the old nature, But the imperfect circle is gradually filled up, till there is presented at last a broad

and complete surface of light. They appear clothed with the sun,’ } ;

In his statement of the way in which Christians ‘ shine,’— by ‘ holding forth the word of life,—the apostle passes from the image of the luminary, and adopts one somewhat of this kind, —a herald of the King of kings, holding out to public view a scroll, on which is inscribed, in great letters, a proclamation of mercy, a promise of everlasting life to all that believe in Jesus. The primary reference here is evidently, from the tenor of the whole passage, to that proclamation of the truth and power of the gospel which, to all who are willing in any degree to attend, is made by completeness of Christian character,— by the exhibition of spiritual energy and sweetness and patience. Nothing ‘holds forth the word of life’ more impressively than a life manifestly governed by that word. A Christian of this type is himself a gospel, an ‘ epistle of Christ,’ written in letters so large and fair, that even those who run can scarce but read. Such a distinct Christian life, a life explicit and convincing to all observers as a ‘confession of Christ,’ is the legitimate fruitage from the seed of truth received by the soul. Scripture knows nothing of invisible religion. ‘Men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick ; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father which is in heaven.’

But to ‘old forth the word of life’ implies not merely quiet, consistent beauty of character, but definite action for the extension of the kingdom of Christ. Every believer has heard his Father say, ‘Son, go work in my vineyard,’ and is in some way busy among the vines. His faith has given him oneness of purpose with Christ,—who died, and who reigns, to overthrow sin. By lip, then, as well as by the eloquence of holy living, the saint endeavours to speak for Christ, as God gives 1 Dr. Smith, of Biggar,

him ability and opportunity—be it to his little children by his own fireside, or to assembled thousands. He ‘cannot but speak the things’ which grace has taught him, and given him to experience. He delights, too, to send the truth to multitudes whom personally he cannot reach, by aiding in the support of agents for the enlightenment of the darkened at home and abroad. Through them*he endeavours to ‘go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,—and He who ‘seeth the end from the beginning,’ recognises in His servant’s sympathy and prayers and gifts for missions, a true ‘holding forth of the word of life’ everywhere.

Looking back over the clauses, you see now, my brethren, who they are that show themselves ‘children of God without rebuke.’ They are the ‘blameless and single-minded,’ who aim ever to be ‘perfect, even as their Father which 15: in heaven is perfect.’ Like their Father, too, they are full of the energy of love, ceaseless in beneficent activity, diffusers of genial light and heat, as beseems children of the ‘ Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good gift and every perfect gift.’

The passage closes with a reference, most natural and beautiful in the relations which existed between Paul and the Philippians, to his own joy in ministerial success, as an object which he had in view in thus pleading with them to cultivate a lofty Christian character,—an object, too, the thought of which might reasonably be expected, from their great love to him, to serve somewhat as a stimulus to spiritual diligence. ‘Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may approve yourselves children of God without rebuke,—+that J may rejoice in the day of Christ, that 7 have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. ‘The apostle had ‘wn’ with the eagerness of a racer at the Isthmian or Olympic games,—the prize he sought, the souls of men. He had ‘~/adoured’ with strenuous and persevering diligence,—the wages he sought, the souls of men. ‘God grant,’ was ever the fervent cry of the noble heart, full of

-. © ὟΣ γε love and pity for his fellow-men,—‘ God grant that I may not run iv vain, nor labour in vain, but may have abundant cause to rejoice!’ He did not look for the joy other than very partially here below. To the eye of men, the results of work for Christ have, at the present, much that is obscure and confused. But ‘ in the day of Christ’ all will be clear. All the ripe grain will be gathered into the garner of God. Many who below had deemed their work profitless, ‘going forth,’ year after year, ‘weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.’ Of the work of every labourer in the field of the great Husbandman there will then be a full and gracious acknowledgment ; and

‘he that sowed and he that reaped shall rejoice together.’

‘See to it, then,’ the apostle says here to his beloved Philippians, ‘that you give me ever fuller reason to believe that I shall find you on that day where my heart desires to find you, and where the gospel, truly believed and loved, will place you. See to it that, when I rest from my labours, my works follow me.