Therefore Philippians 4:1-3 Unity of service at Philippi H. Quick. I. LOVE. "Beloved and longed for" is not a mere hurried phrase, or a gush of exuberant feeling that quickly dries up. There are rivers which dip down and flow underground, and then come out again into the light. So Paul's love, always flowing though some times unseen here sparkles in the sunshine. This love was grounded — 1. In a common discipleship of the same Master. To love the same Saviour opens a new fountain of love in our hearts. As men are drawn to Christ, they are drawn closer to each other. 2. In the fact that they were the fruit of his ministry. They were the "joy" of his soul travail and the "crown" of his labour. Of all bonds this is the closest. Are ye not wise enough to win souls and be a joy and a crown to one another? II. STEADFASTNESS. To do the right thing is good, but to stand fast in it is better. 1. Men get hindered and move away from the hope of the gospel. 2. It is a grand thing to stand fast to what is good and true in this changeful world ( John 8:31 ; Matthew 10:22 ). 3. Some stand fast in their Churchmanship, Presbyterianism, Methodism, Independency; but we may stand fast in these out side things without being "in the Lord." That is the only standing fast worth anything. Stand fast in Him, and He will stand fast by you. III. UNITY. Euodias and Syntyche had disagreed, and were exhorted to be of the same "mind." 1. Not of the same opinion, Paul knew too much of human nature to expect that. 2. The word has reference to the disposition rather than to the intellect. There is a way of holding truth in love to those who differ from us, and in the midst of differing creeds to be of the "same mind." The apostle appeals to both in the same way, so as to leave no suspicion of favouritism. O that all the wrangling Euodiases and contentious Syntyches would hear this admonition. High Church Euodias and Low Church Syntyche, Conforming Syntyche and Nonconforming Euodias say to one another as Abraham did to Lot, "Let there be no strife between me and thee." 3. The centre and circumference of this unity is "in the Lord." There is no real unity in creeds or formularies, in uniformity of discipline and worship. Every true Christian is united to Christ, and through Him each to the other. The world waits to believe until the disciples of Jesus are one. How long shall we keep them waiting? IV. MUTUAL SERVICE. Ver. 3 is full of work and workers. 1. There was the "true yokefellow." A yoke signifies hard work. Oxen are yoked together for work, and this person must have worked shoulder to shoulder with Paul. 2. There were the women who laboured with him in the gospel. These women had their "rights," glorious rights to labour in the gospel. Would there were more candidates for these honours. 3. Clement was no fine gentleman sitting at ease in Zion, doing nothing himself and finding fault with those who did work. That Church at Philippi was a hive of bees. No wonder they were so exemplary. They were too busy to be mischievous. Depend upon it God helped them all. 4. Think of the honour Paul assigned them — "Whose names are in the book of life." As the Jews of old kept a register of the living in their tribes and families from which the dead were blotted out, so God keeps a book of His living ones who will never die. Paul knew their names were there because of their character. They were living ones, and were giving the best possible proof of life, viz., work. Dead people do not work. Love and help one another. Are our names in the book of life? If not read Revelation 20:15 . 5. It is the Lamb's book of life. The matter can only be dealt with at the Cross of Jesus. ( H. Quick. )

Benson Commentary Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Php 4:1-2 . Therefore, my brethren — The exhortation contained in this verse appears to be closely connected with the latter part of the preceding chapter, from which certainly it ought not to have been separated. It is as if the apostle had said, Since such a glorious change awaits all those who, in consequence of their faith in Christ, and in the truths and promises of his gospel, are citizens of heaven, and have their thoughts and affections placed there, let me exhort you to be steadfast in your adherence to that religion which is the foundation of all your glorious hopes. Dearly beloved and longed for — Whose welfare and happiness I earnestly desire; my joy and crown — Whose faith and piety give me now great joy, and I trust will be to the honour of my ministry in the expected day of final accounts, manifesting that I have not laboured in vain; so stand fast in the Lord — In your faith in Christ, and in your expectation of eternal life from him, as you have hitherto done, and as it becomes those to do who are so nearly related and so dear to him. I beseech Euodias, &c. — Macknight, following the order of the words in the original, reads, Euodia I beseech, and Syntyche I beseech; he repeats the word beseech twice, as if speaking to each face to face, and that with the utmost tenderness; that they be of the same mind in the Lord — That whatever cause of difference may have arisen between them, they would lay aside their, disputes for the credit of the gospel, which they both profess to believe. The apostle’s expression, ?? ???? ??????? , may be rendered to mind, or care for, the same thing; that is, as Whitby understands the apostle, to promote the success of the gospel as with one soul. For he thinks the apostle could not mean to exhort them to be of one judgment, because “no man can become of the same judgment with another by entreaty, but only by conviction.” Philippians 4:2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. Philippians 4:3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life. Php 4:3 . I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow — St. Paul had many fellow- labourers, not many yoke-fellows. In this number was Barnabas first, and then Silas, whom he probably addresses here; for Silas had been his yoke- fellow at the very place, Acts 16:19 . Help those women who laboured together with me — Greek, ?????????? ??? , literally, who wrestled, or contended together, with me — The word does not imply preaching, or any thing of that kind, but opposition, danger, and toil, endured for the sake of the gospel. With Clement also — Who endured the same things along with them; and with other my fellow-labourers — Here the word is ???????? , fellow-workers, which may imply fellow-preachers; whose names are in the book of life — (Although not set down here,) as are those of all true believers. See the margin. The apostle alludes to the case of the wrestlers in the Olympic games, whose names were all enrolled in a book. Reader, is thy name in the book of life? Hast thou passed from death to life in consequence of being pardoned and accepted through faith in Christ? Then walk circumspectly, lest thou go back from life to death, and the Lord blot thee out of his book. It may not be improper to observe here, that according to some ancient Christian writers, the Clement mentioned in this verse is the person of the same name who afterward became bishop of the church at Rome, and who, to compose some dissensions which had arisen in the church at Corinth, about their spiritual guides, wrote an epistle to the Corinthians, which is still extant. Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Php 4:4-7 . Rejoice in the Lord alway — For, as believers in Christ, as children and heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ of the heavenly, incorruptible inheritance, and as persons assured that all things, even those that are the most distressing in appearance, shall work together for your good, you have sufficient reason for rejoicing always. And again I say, Rejoice — The apostle repeats the exhortation, because the honour of Christ, and the comfort of his followers, greatly depend on its being taken. Let your moderation — Both in the pursuit of the various enjoyments of life, and in the sense you have of the injuries and indignities you may meet with: or your gentleness and sweetness of temper, as ???????? ???? may here be rendered, the result of your joy in the Lord. Moderation, says Macknight, “means meekness under provocation, readiness to forgive injuries, equity in the management of business, candour in judging of the character and actions of others, sweetness of disposition, and the entire government of the passions, Titus 3:2 ; James 3:17 .” Be known unto all men — Good and bad, gentle and froward; be made manifest in your whole behaviour. Those of the roughest tempers are good-natured to some, (from natural sympathy, and various motives,) a Christian to all. The Lord — The Judge, the Rewarder, the Revenger; is at hand — Standeth at the door, James 5:9 : he will quickly come to close the scene, and put an end to all your temporal enjoyments, and all that you can suffer from your enemies. Be careful for nothing — With a distrusting, distracting care: if men are not gentle toward you, yet neither on this, nor on any other account, be anxiously careful, but apply to God in prayer, committing the matter, which might otherwise be the cause or subject of your anxiety, to his disposal. And in every thing — Great and small; let your requests be made known unto God — They who, by a preposterous shame, or distrustful modesty, cover, stifle, or keep in their desires, as if they were either too small or too great to be spread before God, must be racked with care, from which they are entirely delivered who pour them out with a free and filial confidence. By prayer and supplication — Some by the former word, ???????? , understand petition for mercies, and by the latter, ?????? , deprecation of judgment; but it seems more probable that by the latter, properly enough rendered supplication, the apostle meant nothing more than enlarging upon and urging our petitions; with thanksgiving — For blessings already received, and for the general or particular goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering of God toward us. For thanksgiving there is always room and always occasion, even in circumstances of the greatest affliction and distress, our chastisements being always less severe than we deserve, and being salutary in their nature and tendency, and in all our trials supporting grace being invariably given, and God being engaged by promise to make them all work for our good. The apostle’s exhortation doubtless “implies, not only that the afflicted have many mercies for which they ought to give God thanks, but that they ought to be thankful for their very afflictions, because they are the means by which the Father of their spirits makes them partakers of his holiness, in order to fit them for living with himself in heaven for ever.” Thanksgiving, joined with prayer, is a sure mark of a soul free from anxiety, and possessed of true resignation. And the peace of God — Not only peace with God, and peace of conscience, arising from the remission of past sin, and a consciousness of present power over sin; but the peace of God, that calm, heavenly repose, that tranquillity of Spirit, which God only can give; which passeth all understanding — Which none can properly comprehend or appreciate, but those that receive it; shall keep — ????????? , shall guard, as in a citadel or place of defence; your hearts — Your will and affections; and minds — Your understandings, imaginations, intentions, determinations, and all the various workings of them in the knowledge and love of God; through Christ Jesus — Through his truth and grace, through his merits and Spirit, through his dwelling in your hearts by faith. Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Php 4:8-9 . Finally — ?? ?????? , as for what remains for me to say, it may be despatched in a few words. The apostle, says Macknight, “being anxious to make the Philippians virtuous, mentions, in this exhortation, all the different foundations on which virtue had been placed, to show that it does not rest on any of these singly, but on them all jointly; and that its amiableness and obligation result from” whatsoever things are true — Conformable to truth; honest — ????? , grave, or venerable; just — Equitable and righteous; pure — Chaste and holy; lovely — ???????? , amiable, or, as the word may be rendered, friendly and kind; of good report — ?????? , of good fame, or reputable; if there be any virtue — Any real worth, or beneficial tendency, in any quality or action: in this place alone does St. Paul use the word ????? , rendered virtue: if there be any praise — Justly resulting from any thing. Bengelius gives a somewhat different view of the contents of this verse, thus: “Here are eight particulars placed in two four-fold rows; the former containing their duty, the latter the commendation of it. The first word in the former row answers the first in the latter; the second word the second; and so on: true — In speech; honest — In actions; just — With regard to others; pure — With regard to yourselves; lovely — And what more lovely than truth? of good report — As is honesty, even when it is not practised. If there be any virtue — And all virtues are contained in justice; if there be any praise — In those things which relate rather to ourselves than to our neighbour; think on these things — That ye may both practise them yourselves, and recommend them to others.” Those things which ye have learned — As catechumens; and received — By continual instructions; and heard and seen — In my life and conversation; these do, and the God of peace shall be with you — Not only the peace of God, but God himself, the fountain of peace. Philippians 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. Philippians 4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Php 4:10 . I rejoiced in the Lord greatly — Who directs all events. St. Paul was no stoic; he had strong passions, but all devoted to God; that now, at the last — By your present, which I have received from Epaphroditus; your care of me has flourished again — “Here, as in many other passages of his writings, the apostle shows the deep sense which he had of Christ’s governing the affairs of the world for the good of his servants: for this new instance of the Philippians’ care of his welfare, he ascribes expressly to the providence of Christ. And in the figurative expression, ????????? ?? ???? ???? ??????? , which is, literally, ye have flourished again to think or care, concerning me, he likens the Philippians’ care of him to a plant, which withers and dies in winter, but grows again in the following year; or to trees, which, after their leaves drop in autumn, put them forth again next spring. Lest, however, the Philippians might think this expression insinuated a complaint, that they had been negligent latterly, the apostle immediately adds, that they had always been careful to supply his wants, but had not had an opportunity till now.” Either they were in straitened circumstances themselves, or wanted a proper messenger by whom to send their bounty. Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Php 4:11-14 . Not that I speak in respect of want — As if he had said, I do not speak thus feelingly of the renewal of your care because I was unhappy in poverty; for I have learned — From God, he only can teach this; in whatever state I am — In whatever circumstances God is pleased to place me, whether in plenty or want, in honour or reproach, in health or sickness, ease or pain; therewith to be content — Joyfully and thankfully patient. Nothing less is Christian contentment. We may observe a beautiful gradation in the expressions, I have learned; I know; I am instructed; I can. I know how to be abased — When it pleases God to humble me, by depriving me of what seems needful for my body; and to abound — Having wherewith to relieve others also. Presently after, the order of words is inverted, to intimate his frequent transition from scarcity to plenty, and from plenty to scarcity. I am instructed — ???????? , literally, I am initiated. But as the initiated in the heathen mysteries were believed to be instructed in the most excellent and useful knowledge, the word signifies to be completely instructed in any science or art. The apostle seems to have used it on this occasion to intimate, that his bearing both adversity and prosperity properly was a sacred mystery, in which he had been initiated by Christ, and which was unknown to the men of this world; both to be full and to be hungry, &c. — To avoid the temptations, and perform the duties, both of a plentiful and scanty condition, and to be contented in either. I can do all things — Which God has made it my duty to do: I can even fulfil all the will of God; through Christ which strengtheneth me — Who confers on me the ability of mind and body which I have not by nature. “This is not arrogant boasting. For the apostle glories not in his own strength, but in the strength of another. The fathers, as Whitby informs us, observed three things on this passage: 1st, That the virtue of contentment requires much exercise, learning, and meditation. 2d, That it is as difficult to learn how to be full as to be hungry; abundance having destroyed more men than penury, and exposed them to more pernicious lusts. 3d, That our proficiency in this, or in any other virtue, is to be ascribed, not to ourselves, but to the divine assistance.” — Macknight. Notwithstanding, &c. — Though I was not dejected by my wants; yet you have well done that you did communicate with my affliction — Had a fellow-feeling of my sufferings, and helped me to bear the burden of them, by so liberally contributing to my necessities. Here the apostle teaches us, that the servants of Christ are not to be neglected in their afflictions, because they have learned to bear them patiently. Philippians 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction. Philippians 4:15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. Php 4:15-19 . Ye know that in the beginning of the gospel — When it was first preached at Philippi; no church — No Christian society, as such; communicated with me — In the matter of giving me money, and of my receiving money from them; but ye only — I received money from no church but yours. Not because I desire a gift, &c. — I would not have you think that I commend your liberality merely out of respect to myself; but I desire fruit, &c. — I do it chiefly out of respect to you; that you may do that which may turn to your everlasting advantage. But l have all — So also the Vulgate reads the clause; but the original expression, ????? ????? , according to Estius, may be translated, I have from you all things; that is, my wants are amply supplied by you; and I abound — I have more than sufficient for my present state; having received of Epaphroditus the things sent from you — Besides money, the Philippians may have sent to the apostle clothes and other necessaries: an odour of a sweet smell — A service wherewith God is well pleased. See Hebrews 13:16 . “The same epithets were anciently given to all the kinds of sacrifices; not only in the peace and thank-offerings, but to the burnt-offerings and sin-offerings. See note on Ephesians 5:2 . Here they are given to the present which the Philippians sent to the apostle; not because that present partook of the nature of any sacrifice or offering whatever, as is plain from this, that it was offered immediately to the apostle, and not to God; but merely to show how acceptable to God that work of charity was which the Philippians had performed to the suffering apostle of Christ.” — Macknight. But my God — Whose ambassador I am; shall supply all your need — As he has mine. He shall recompense you even in this life, as far as he knows will be for your good; according to his riches in glory — And he is well able to do it, being gloriously rich in blessings of all kinds. Philippians 4:16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Philippians 4:17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. Philippians 4:18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:20 Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Php 4:20-22 . Now unto God and, rather, even our Father — Or, To our God and Father, as ?? ??? ??? ????? ???? properly signifies, be glory for ever — Which is justly due, and shall certainly be given to him by those of the angelic host who never fell, and by those of mankind who have been or shall be recovered from their fall. The brethren who are with me — My dear fellow-labourers, with whom I daily converse; greet you — Sincerely wish you peace and prosperity. These are supposed to be those whom he mentions at the close of his epistle to the Colossians and to Philemon. All the other saints — Here at Rome; salute you, chiefly they of Cesar’s household — See note on Php 1:13 . It is uncertain whether the apostle meant some of the members of Cesar’s family, or his household servants, or the officers of his court, or his guards. Here Beza remarks, “What was this but that God reigned in the midst of hell?” The salutation from the brethren, in the emperor’s family, must have been a great consolation to the Philippians. For when they heard that the gospel had got footing in the palace, they would naturally presage the further progress of it in Rome. And the respect which persons, such as the Christians in Cesar’s house, here expressed for the Philippians, in sending their salutations to them, must have filled them with joy. And it seems very probable, as Macknight observes, though the apostle has not mentioned it in any of his letters, that, not long after this epistle was written, he obtained a fair hearing, and an honourable release, through the good offices of the Christians in Nero’s family, as well as on account of the justice of his cause. Philippians 4:21 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. Philippians 4:22 All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. Philippians 4:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Philippians 4:2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. Chapter 17 PEACE AND JOY. Php 4:2-7 (R.V.) DR. LIGHTFOOT has observed that the passages in the Acts of the Apostles which record the Macedonian experiences of Paul have a good deal to say about women. { Acts 16:1-40 ; Acts 17:1-34 } They convey the impression that in Macedonia women had a position and exercised an influence, at least in religious matters, that was not usual in the Greek world. And he has appealed to the remains of ancient Macedonian inscriptions to support the general idea that exceptional respect was accorded to women in that country. Here, at any rate, we have two women of note in the Church at Philippi. They might, very likely, possess social standing and influence. They had been qualified to render, and in point of fact did render, important help in setting forward the cause of Christ in that city. We cannot doubt therefore that they were warm-hearted Christian women, who had deeply felt the power of the gospel, so that, like many of their sisters in later days, they gladly embarked in the service of it. In those days such service on the part of women implied no small effort of faith; and doubtless it had cost them something in the way of cross-bearing. But now, disagreements and estrangement had fallen out between them. Most likely the keen practical energies, which made them serviceable Christians, had brought about collision on some points in which their views differed. And then they had not managed the difference well. Self came in, and coloured and deepened it. Now, one may think, they were in danger of being always ready to differ, and to differ with mutual distrust and dislike. People cannot always think alike, not even Christians who share the same service. But there is a Christian way of behaving about these inevitable divergences. And, in particular, in such cases we might be expected to show a superiority, in Christ our Lord, to minor differences, not allowing them to trouble the great agreement and the dear affection in which Christ has bound us. Whatever is to be said about a difference, as to its merits, the main thing that has to be said about it often is, "You should not have let it come between you. You should both of you have been big enough and strong enough in Christ, to know how to drop it and forget it. In making so much of it, in allowing it to make so much of itself, you have been children, and naughty children." What this difference was we do not know; and it is of no consequence. Paul does not address himself to it. He holds both parties to be in the wrong now, and, for his purpose, equally in the wrong; and he addresses entreaty to both, in exactly the same terms, to agree in Christ and be done with it: no longer to allow this thing to mar their own edification and hinder the cause of Christ. Yet, while he is sure that this is the right way, he does not conceal from himself how difficult human nature finds it to come happily out of such a complication. So he appeals to some old comrade at Philippi, whom he calls his "genuine yokefellow," to lend a hand. A Christian bystander, a friend of both parties, might help them out of the difficulty. In this connection the apostle’s mind goes back to happy days of cordial effort at Philippi, in which these women, and the "yokefellow," and Clement, and others had all been at work, shoulder to shoulder, all rejoicing in the common salvation and the joint service. In difficulties between Christians, as between other people, wise and loving friendship may perform the most important services. Selfishness shrinks from rendering these; and on the other hand, meddlesomeness, which is a form of egotism combined with coarseness, rushes in only to do harm. Wisdom is needed, mainly the wisdom which consists in loving thoughtfulness. The love which seeketh not her own, and is not easily provoked, is much called for in this ministry of reconciliation. These good women had little idea, probably, that their names should come down the ages in connection with this disagreement of theirs; and they might have deprecated it if they had thought of it. But let them be remembered with all honour-two saints of God, who loved and laboured for Christ, who bore the cross, and each of whom was so important to the Church, that it was a matter of public interest to have this difficulty removed out of the way of both. As to it, we of later times have not succeeded in keeping Christian activity so free of personal misunderstandings as to be entitled on this account to assume any attitude of superiority. Let us think only with tenderness and affection of those venerable and beloved, those long-remembered mothers in Christ, Euodia and Syntyche. The commentators have tried to divine something further about this "true yokefellow"; but with no success. As to Clement, some have been willing to identify him with the Clement known to have laboured in the first age at Rome, and who is reported to have been the writer of a. well-known Epistle from the Church at Rome to that at Corinth. He, again, has been by some identified with another Clement, also a Roman, a near relation of the Emperor Domitian, whom we have reason to believe to have been a Christian. Both identifications are probably mistaken; and the Clement now before us was no doubt resident at Philippi, and belonged to a somewhat earlier generation than his Roman namesake. The Roman world was full of Clements, and there is nothing surprising in meeting several Christians who bore the name. With the "yokefellow" and with Clement, the Apostle recalls other "labourers" who belonged to the fellowship of those gospel days at Philippi. We are not to think that they were all gifted as teachers or preachers; but they were zealous Christians who helped as they could to gather and to confirm the Church. Paul will not give their names; but it must not be thought that the names have ceased to be dear and honourable to him. "They shall not be in my letter," he says, "but they are written in even a better place, in the book of life. They are precious, not to me only, but to my Master." Here, again, if any one had asked Paul how he ventured to speak with so much assurance of the condition of persons whose course was not yet ended, he would no doubt have replied, as in: Php 1:7 "It is meet for me to think thus of them, because I have them in my heart: because both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, they all are partakers with me of grace." These personal references indicate that the main burden of the Apostle’s thought in the Epistle has been disposed of, and that it is drawing to a close. Yet he finds it natural to add some closing admonitions. They are brief and pithy; they do not seem to labour with the weight of thought and feeling which pours through the preceding chapter. Yet they are not quite fragmentary. A definite conception of the case to be provided for underlies them, and also a definite conception of the way in which its necessities are to be met. He had been pouring out his soul on the subject of the true Christian life-the deep sources from which it springs, the great channels in which it runs, the magnificent conditions of Christ’s kingdom under which it becomes possible and is accomplished. But yet, another order of things crosses all this. It is the incessant detail of human life on earth, with its pettiness and superficiality, and yet with its inevitable hold upon us all. How much we are at the mercy of it! How hard to keep quite true to the grand music of the gospel we believe, amid the multifarious patter of the incidents of life, playing on the surface only, but on the sensitive surface of our being. The case of Euodia and Syntyche was but itself an illustration of the commonest kind, of the liability of believing lives to be swayed and marred in this way. For all these little things claim attention; they assume a magnitude that does not belong to them, and they take a place to which they have no right. Can anything be said to help us to some prevailing mood, in which we shall be likely to take the right attitude toward these elements of life, and, at the same time, to keep due touch with the springs of our spiritual welfare? The Apostle reverts to the significant "goodbye" which was heard at the beginning of the third chapter. "Rejoice," "Be of good cheer," was the usual farewell salute. He had begun to use it in the third chapter, with an emphasis on the native signification of the word. Now he resumes it more emphatically still, for here he finds the keynote which he wants: "Rejoice in the Lord alway; again I will say it, Rejoice." If joy be possible, it would seem to need no great persuasion to induce men to embrace it. But, as a matter of fact, Christians fail greatly here. In the Old Testament there are abundant exhortations to Israel to rejoice in the Lord: the Lord being Jehovah, without further distinction or limitation; and the ground of rejoicing being His revealed character, especially His mercy and His truth, and the fact that He is Israel’s God. Here the Lord is our Lord Jesus, in whom the Father is both known and found. Now, to rejoice in Him is, and should be recognised as being, for believers, the most direct inference from their faith. For if this Lord be what the believer holds Him to be, then there is more in Christ to make him glad, than there can be in anything whatever to make him sorry. This applies even to remembered sin; for where sin abounded, grace doth much more abound. If indeed the joy be really in the Lord, it will be found to agree well with humility and penitence, as well as with diligence and patience; for all these things, and whatever should accompany them, come naturally from faith in Christ. But not the less, joy should have its place and its exercise. If one will think of it, it will be plain that rejoicing in the Lord just denotes this, viz., that the influence of the objects of faith has free play through the soul. It is well that faith should bring our intellective powers under its influence-that we should be brought to a vivid sense of the reality of Christ, and that our minds should work in reference to Him as they do in reference to things which are felt to be real, and which claim to be understood. That is well, even if, as yet, some malign force seems to impede cordial appreciation and personal fellowship. It is well, again, if Christ is felt drawing out personal trust, and with that, genuine affection, so that the heart beats with desire and admiration, even though for the present that can only be under the burden of a perplexed and sorrowful mind. But when the conviction makes way through all the soul, first that Christ is most real, and second that Christ is most good and desirable, and thirdly that Christ is for me, and when the soul surrenders thoroughly to it all, then gladness is the token that faith is playing through the human soul, throughout all its provinces. It is the flag hoisted to signify that Christ is believed and loved indeed. On the other hand, wrong is done to the Lord, and an evil report is brought up upon Him, when those who profess to believe in Him fail to rejoice in Him. You well may rejoice in the Lord; you ought surely to do it. You ought to give yourselves time to think and feel so as to rejoice; you should be ashamed to fail to rejoice. You do not apprehend aright your position as a believer, you do not take the attitude that befits you, if the Lord believed in, though perhaps He makes you diligent, and patient, and penitent, and thankful, does not also make you heartily glad. Let the elements of this gladness come warm home to your heart and do their work. Then you will realise as, short of this, you never can, how the believer rises above the things that threaten to entangle him, and can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth him. And, in particular, how influential this is to preserve men from being unduly moved and swayed by the passing things of time! These sway us by joy and grief, by hope and fear; and what an inordinate measure of those affections they do beget in us! but let the great joy of the Lord have its place, and then those lesser claimants will have to content themselves with smaller room. A great grief shuts out lesser griefs. When a woman has lost her son, will she grieve greatly for the loss of her purse? So a great joy keeps down the excess of lesser joys. A man that has just won the heart and hand of the woman he loves will not be greatly concerned about winning or losing at some game. He will be about equally glad either way. So he whose heart thrills with the joy of Christ will feel the pleasure and pain of earthly things; but they will not master him, nor run away with him. According to the Apostle, a believer in the way of his duty, if he cherishes this joy, may ordinarily have a great deal of it. And, as it were, he urges us: "Now do not be moved away from it. Do not be so foolish. Various things will come, all sorts of things, claiming to preoccupy your mind, so that for the present this joy shall fall into the background. They claim it-and far too often they are allowed to succeed. Do not let them. ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway; again I will say, Rejoice.’" Always: for many believers rejoice in the Lord sometimes; for example, in hours of undisturbed meditation. But when they go out into the stir of life, to meet experiences which neither greatly gratify nor greatly grieve them, then it seems fit that the new passion should have its turn, and the heart insists on this indulgence. So also when some great hope absorbs the mind, or some great anxiety weighs upon it, the soul seems fascinated with the coming good or ill, and hangs upon the prospect as if nothing else for the present could be minded. Now the Apostle does not say that insensibility is the duty of Christians in these circumstances. Indeed it is because these experiences do interest and impress, that they become an effective instrument of Divine training. But Christ is fit to be rejoiced in, right through all vicissitudes; and common experiences, duly dealt with, ought to throw into relief the reasons why He must still be cause of gladness, whatever may be felt about other things. This maintained joy of the Lord - a rejoicing faith, a rejoicing love, a rejoicing obedience-this is the temper in virtue of which all else of life will fall into its due place, and will assume its just proportion. "‘Though the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." { Habakkuk 3:17-18 } So then, "Let your moderation (or forbearance) be known to all men." The word here used expresses a state of mind opposed to the eagerness that overrates the worth of our personal objects, and to the arrogance that insists on our own will about them. Some would render it "considerateness." It is a temper which dictates a gentle and forbearing way of dealing with men. This is the appropriate evidence that the impetuosity of the heart about earthly things has been assuaged by the unseen presence and the influence of Christ. Christ seen, felt, and rejoiced in, is the secret of this moderation. A great vision of faith, and that not a vision which is dreaded, but a vision which is loved, brings the movement of the soul into a happy order. Now, not only so: not only does the love of Christ, unseen and absent, work in this way; but Christ is coming and is near. The hopes connected with Him are soon to be realised, the gladness of fellowship with Him is soon to be complete. The Lord is at hand. "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Stablish your hearts. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh." { Jam 5:7 } For believers, as we have already seen, the coming of the Lord is, according to the New Testament, the great hope. Then the joy in the Lord is to be complete and crowned. Those who apprehend that glad day as near are not supposed to be capable of yielding up their hearts to the uncontrolled sway of mere earthly interests. Here, however, a question arises. Paul speaks of the day as near, and calls on his disciples to live under the influence of that belief. He does not merely say that it may be near, but that it is. Yet we now know that the day was then more than eighteen hundred years away. In the light of this fact one asks what we are to make of the statement before us, and what we are to make of the view of Christian life which the statement implies. Our Lord expressly withheld from His disciples all definite statement of times and seasons in this connection. Yet the Early Church with one consent expected the Lord to come within comparatively few years (what are commonly called few), and language shaped itself in accordance with that impression. We have here, however, more than a mere mode of phrasing. The nearness of Christ is emphasised as the ground on which Christian experience ought to build. Was not this a mistake? But one may ask in reply, Was it after all untrue that Christ’s coming was near then, or that it is near now? Even if anticipations in our own day which bring it within a generation are to fail again, as they have always done before, shall we think that the Lord is not near? There is a nearness which pertains to all future events which are at once very great and important, and also are absolutely certain. Being so great, involving interests so great, and being contemplated in their inevitable certainty, such events can loom large upon the eye, and they can make their influence felt in the present, whatever tale of days may interpose before they actually arrive. If, for instance, one were told of a friend, whom he supposed he might meet at any time, "You shall certainly see him six months hence," the reply might be, "Six months! That is a long time to wait." But if he were told with infallible authority, "Six months hence you shall die," would he then say, "It is a long time"? Would he not feel that it was near? Would not an event so momentous as death, so inclusive of all interests and all issues, prove able to stretch, as it were, across six months, and to come into each day, as part of that day’s concern? So of the coming of Christ. It is the great event for the individual, the Church, the world. All issues run up to it; all developments are broken off by it; all earthly histories await its decision. To it all earthly movement tends; from it all that lies beyond is dated. It is the great gate of the world to come. Let us think what it means: and suppose that we could be assured that it is still ten thousand years away, shall we say, "How far off it is"? Not if we believe in its certainty, and realise what it means. If we do so our hearts will stir and thrill as we hearken how the surges of the eternal world are beating on the thin barrier of ten thousand years. Come when it may, it comes hasting to us, pressing before it all that lies between, big with the decisions and the fulfillments of Eternity. If we truly believe and rightly estimate it, we shall feel that it is near-even at the door. We shall be aware whenever we look forward that beyond all possible events of earthly history it rises high, catching and holding our gaze, and hurrying toward our individual selves not one whir the less because it aims at others too. We are apt to ask why the words of warning and encouragement in reference to the future are not connected with the prospect of death, rather than with that of the Lord’s return; for death certainly is the topic generally selected for such purposes by moralists and preachers of more recent days. The answer may partly be, that the possibility and likelihood of the Lord’s return, even in the lifetime of themselves and their contemporaries, might render it more natural for the Apostles to fix all but exclusively on that. Yet this will not suffice. For nobody could overlook the fact that some believers were dying, and that death before the Lord’s return might well be the portion of more. Besides, in particular circumstances, death does come into view in a perfectly easy and natural way, as at Php 1:23 ; and the bearing of it on what lies nearer is considered. The true answer is that death is not the great expectation of the believer-not death, but victory over death, consummated and conclusively manifested when the Lord comes. This expectation is certainly associated with the solemn prospect of judgment; but not so as to quench the gladness of the hope for those who love the Lord and have trusted in Him. This is our expectation -" the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope." { 1 Timothy 1:1 } Death is a great event; but it is negative, privative, and, after all, provisional. True, it seals us up for the coming of the Lord, and so, in many respects, it may be, for many purposes, practically identified with that coming. The sermons which are preached upon it, commonly from Old Testament texts, are, no doubt, well grounded and edifying. But the New Testament, speaking to believers, all but constantly passes on to the day of the Lord as the true focus of the future; and it will be well for us to conform our thinking and our feeling to this model. No one can estimate, who has not made it matter of personal study, how large and how influential a place this topic takes in New Testament teaching. Meanwhile, no doubt, the vicissitudes and the possibilities of earthly life press upon us. Now the Apostle provides a special additional relief for that. We are not merely prepossessed with a joy that should fortify us against undue disturbance from this source, but we have access in all things to the mind and heart of our Father. We can bring our thoughts and wishes about them all into contact with the deep, true thoughts and with the fatherly love of God. The incidents and the possibilities of life exercise us: they tend to become anxieties, keen and wearing; and anxieties are the materials of disturbance and temptation. "Be anxious about nothing; but in all things by prayer and supplication, with thankfulness, let your requests be made known unto God." This is the practical way of getting continually to those springs of joy which comfort and establish the heart. The way to be anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything. It is promised that when we pray in faith God hears us, and that he that asketh receiveth. However, this does not mean that whatever appears to us desirable shall certainly be brought to pass in answer to prayer. That would be to sacrifice our own welfare, and also the order of God’s world, to our shortsightedness and vanity. There is great reason to believe indeed that those who live by prayer find many a desire granted, and many a burden lifted, in token of God’s loving interest in them, and the heed He gives to their prayers. But we are not to start from a general principle that we are to get all our own way by praying. Two things we may fix upon: First, the absolute promises of the gospel, the blessings which pertain to eternal life, are given to us through prayer. "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." Secondly, concerning all other things we have access to God in prayer, as to One who grudges us no good thing; we are to express our anxieties and our desires, and to receive the assurance that they are lovingly considered by One who knows our frame and understands our troubles. Often the answer comes, even in small things. But, generally, we may in this point have an absolute assurance that we shall either have what we ask, or else something which God sees to be better for us than that. It is this second article of the doctrine of prayer that is chiefly in view here. The prayer of faith must be a prayer of thanksgiving, because faith knows how much it owes to God. "Thou hast not dealt with us after our sins." At the same time it has supplications and requests, over and above the great petition for life eternal. For our daily human experience is God’s providence to us. It exercises our thoughts and feelings, and sets a-going contemplations and desires, which may be short-sighted and erring, but, so far, they are the best that we can make of it; or, if not the best, they have the more need to be corrected. Here, then, we are encouraged to pour out our hearts to God. We are to do it with submission: that is one of the best parts of the privilege, for our Father knows best. At the same time, we are to do it with supplication; we not only may, but we should. Our desires should all be made known in this quarter; nowhere will they have a kindlier hearing. So, last of all, we come, not only touching eternal life, but touching each day’s concerns, into a blessed agreement with God our Father through Christ. It is agreed that He takes loving charge of our anxieties and desires, as One who would withhold no good from us; and it is agreed that we put unreserved confidence in Him, -in which confidence we say, "Abba, Father; not our will, but Thine be done." The confidence we have that all this is most real and solid, and not merely a deceptive piece of religious acting, comes to us in the channel of the faith and experience which have been fulfilled in God’s children from the first; but it is most emphatically confirmed and made sure to us by Christ. He has taught us to pray. His is the religion in which men pray. Under His influence we come away from ceremonial utterances, and also from the despairing experiments of supplication with which, in other religions, men assail the heavens; and hand in hand with that loving Mediator, we pray. Prayer, when it is real, when it is "in the Holy Spirit," is a wonderfully simple and a wonderfully great thing. So it comes to pass that the peace of God which passeth all understanding is found. For this great and deep agreement with God in Christ, about all things great and small, is the very entrance into the peace of God Himself, and is the participation of it. In this, as in other aspects, things are daily realised in the history of believers, that pass all understanding, because God in Christ is in the matter. The infinite and eternal life is wedding itself to us and our affairs. It may be understood, finally, that this peace, arising to Christians at the throne of grace, guards their minds and hearts. It guards them against being overcharged, outworn, surprised; it guards them against being carried captive by earthly care. Yet this peace does not disable them for earthly business. Rather, because their main interests are so secure, it gives them calmness and clearness; it supplies them a moral vantage ground from which to dispose of all earthly affairs. Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Chapter 18 THE THINGS TO FIX UPON. Php 4:8-9 (R.V.) THE topics last considered bring us naturally to the remarkable exhortation of Php 4:8-9 . This proceeds on the same view of the moral and spiritual situation, and completes what the Apostle has to say in reference to it. If men are to live as citizens of a heavenly commonwealth, on great principles and to great ends, it is, as we have seen, a very practical question, What to do about the inevitable play and onset of this changing earthly life, which assails us with motives, and detains us upon interests, and inspires us with influences, of its own. These cannot be abjured: they are not easy to harmonise with the indications of that loftier and purer world; they are prone to usurp the whole heart, or at least a very undue share of it. This is the practical problem of every honest Christian. In reference to the solving of it the Apostle had suggested the place given to Christian joy; he had suggested also the place and power of prayer. These were indications as to the spirit and the method in which a believer might bring into play the resources of the Kingdom of Christ to control and subjugate those insubordinate forces. But might not all this seem to be too negative? Does it not speak too much of holding off and holding in? After all, do not all human experiences constitute the scene in which we are both formed and tried? What can we make of life unless we are interested in it? How otherwise can we even be religious in it? What is life if it is not a scene of inquiry and of search set in motion by the objects around us, a scene in which we like and dislike, hope and fear, desire and think? The answer is, Yes, we are to be keenly interested in the experiences of life, and in the possibilities it opens. Life is our way of existing; let existence be animated and intense. But while the aspects of it that are merely transient are to have their place, and may attract a lively interest, there are other aspects, other interests, other possibilities. All the transient interests have an outgate towards such as are eternal. Life is the experience of beings that have high capacities, and can rise to noble destinies. It is the experience of societies of such beings, who mould one another, exchanging influences continually. The changing experience of human life, when seen in the true light, is found to add to all its lower interests a play of interests that are more interesting as well as more worthy. It is iridescent with lights which it catches from the infinite and the eternal. Every step of it, every turn of it, asks questions, offers opportunities, calls for decisions, holds out treasures, which it is the business of a lifetime to recognise and to secure. It has gains, it has victories, it has accomplishments, it has glories, which need not lead us to deny its lower interests, but which we may reasonably feel to be far the higher. Endless shades, and forms and types of goodness, of being good, getting good, doing good, gleam reflected to us from the changing experience. Goodness is not one monotonous category embodied in some solemn phrase, and exhausted when that is learned. There is no end to the rich variety in which it is offered, and in which it is to be caught, understood, appropriated. And life, through all the manifoldness of its legitimate interests, and its illegitimate possibilities, is the scene in which all this passes before us, and asks to be made ours. The Apostle says to us, Think on these things. Take account, that is, of what they are, and what their worth is. Lay forth on these the care and pains which spent themselves before on mere pain and pleasure, loss and gain. Reckon what these are, search out their nature, prove their capabilities, appropriate and enjoy them. Think on these things. So earthly life, through all its busy processes, shall acquire a nobler interest; and it shall begin, at the same time, to minister with unexpected readiness to your true welfare. Enter then, or press on, in this wide field. Be this your passion and pursuit; that which unifies your life, and draws all its resources towards one result. We may be helped to fix more firmly the point of view from which this striking catalogue of good things is drawn up, if we observe that the Apostle collects all these excellences under the notion of "a virtue and a praise." Let us consider how men are trained to progressive conceptions of virtue and praise. For virtue and praise, both name and notion, have had a large place in men’s minds and a great influence on their actions. How has this influence been sustained and made to grow? Men are conscious of obligations; and they are aware, more dimly or more clearly, that the standard of those obligations must exist somehow above themselves. It is a standard not of their own creation, but such as claims them by an antecedent right. Yet if each individual could hold himself apart, forming his own conceptions of fit and right for himself without regard to others, the standard would tend downwards rapidly, because moral judgment would be warped by each man’s selfishness and passion, excusing evil in his own case and putting it for good. Even as it is, this has taken place only too widely. But yet the tendency is powerfully counteracted by the fact tha