_A PLEASANT REMEMBRANCE_ ‘I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.’ Php_1:3 A cheerpul and even joyous spirit breathes through this Epistle. Yet the Apostle was a prisoner in Rome. He is happy in the midst of the most sorrowful circumstances. I. THE SORROW OF HIS IMPRISONMENT IS TEMPERED B... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH_ ‘Being confident of this very thing, that He Which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.’ Php_1:6 If St. Paul could thus speak confidently as to God’s purpose for one branch of the Universal Church, which had been only some ten years... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE INTELLECT AND THE HEART_ ‘This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all discernment.’ Php_1:9 In the school of God, the heart is even more important than the head. But the intellect is important also; and we must not forget that another text had long ago as... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE HIGHER LIFE_ ‘That ye may approve things that are excellent.’ Php_1:10 This is the second time that St. Paul has made use of this expression—to the Christians of Rome, and now to his spiritual children at Philippi. Let us see what the Apostle means by it. I. IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY ARE... [ Continue Reading ]
_WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?_ ‘Set for the defence of the Gospel.’ Php_1:17 What is the Gospel for the defence of which the Apostle declared himself to be set? It cannot be comprehended in its fulness, but there are aspects of it to which we may call attention. The Gospel tells us— I. OF A MANIFESTED G... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘CHRIST IS PREACHED’_ ‘What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.’ Php_1:18 Our circumstances differ widely from those in which St. Paul was placed. Whatever differences may now exist amongst Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE SECRET OF LIFE_ ‘To me to live is Christ.’ Php_1:21 What was the secret of St. Paul’s life, that secret which made him the greatest of all missionaries to the Gentile world? We have not to go far in our search, for he himself has revealed it in the words of the text. The secret of St. Paul’s... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE SAINTS IN PARADISE_ ‘For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far hetter.’ Php_1:23 What a new view of Death, the King of terrors—that death which we are told held mankind in bondage through fear—does Christianity bring to bear upon this ou... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE GOSPEL AND SOCIAL LIFE_ ‘Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ.’ Php_1:27 It is not said that we are always—in every place—to talk of religion; that would not be religious. But we are to talk and act religiously. I. THERE IS TO BE A RELIGIOUS TONE, an under-curr... [ Continue Reading ]