PHILIPPIANS I. 21 291
signs of pagan gloom and hopelessness. The inscriptions are either cynical at the expense of the gods, or embittered in their complaints. Hard by is a chamber where are buried those who suffered the extremities of persecution at the hands of men — martyrs who were burned, or crucified, or sawn asunder, or thrown to the beasts. But here there is no gloom ; lilies adorn the tombs expressive of immortality ; the inscriptions express a serene joy ; the whole chamber is decked as if for marriage rather than for death, and the spirit pervading it is a gladness that excludes all sorrow. And that which created this was the conscious presence of the living Christ, and the present participa- tion of His followers in the joy set before them.^
Fear death? — to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face. When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place, The power of the night, the press of the storm.
The post of the foe; Where he stands, the Arch Fear is a visible form.
Yet the strong man must go: For the journey is done and the summit attained,
And the barriers fall, Though a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained,
The reward of it all. I was ever a fighter, so — one fight more.
The best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore,
And bade me creep past. No ! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers
The heroes of old. Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears
Of pain, darkness, and cold. For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave,
The black minute's at end, And the elements' rage, the fiend voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend. Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain,
Then a light, then thy breast, 0 thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again.
And with God be the rest!^
^ J. Burns, Elustrations from Art (1912), 29.
2 Browning, " Prospice " {Poetical Works, i. 599).
Work Out Your Own Salvation.
ay3
Literature.
Haslam (W.), The Threefold Gift of God, 189.
Horton (R. F.), Lyndhurst Bead Pulpit, 199.
Howard (H.), The Summits of the Soul, 171.
Jeffrey (R. T.), The Salvation of the Gospel, 256.
Keble (J.), Sermons for the Christian Year ; Sundays after Trinity, i.-xii.,
313. King (D.), Memoir and Sermons, 291. Lewis (F. W.), The Unseen Life, 74.
Maclaren (A.), Sermons Preached in Manchester, 1st Ser., 208. McNeill (J.), Regent Square Pulpit, i. 113. Maurice (F. D.), The Prayer Book and the Lord's Prayer, 207. Momerie (A. W.), The Origin of Evil, 172. Moore (E. W.), The Promised Best, 187. Munger (T. T.), The Appeal to Life, 169. Murray (W. H.), The Fruits of the Spirit, 168. Purves (G. T.) Faith and Life, 141.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xiv. (1868), No. 820. Strong (A. H.), Miscellanies, ii. 129. Talbot (E. S.), Some Aspects of Christian Faith, 1. Thorn (J. H.), Laws of Life after the Mind of Christ, 89. Yorke (H. L.), The Law of the Spirit, 157. Christian World Pulpit, x. 410 (Beecher) ; xlvi. 116 (Smith) ; xlvii. 27
(Cameron Lees), 221 (Stalker) ; Ixxvii. 168 (Marshall). Church of England Pulpit, xlv. 257 (Venn) ; Ix. 42 (Hitchcock) j Ixi 132
(Hitchcock). Expositor, 2nd Ser., vii. 145 (Murphy).
394
Work Out your Own Salvation.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling ; for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.— Phil. ii.
12, 13.
From the beginning the treatment of St. Paul by the Philippian Church was worthy of all praise. They received him as the ambassador of Christ, and listened to him as the oracle of God. Their care of him had abounded, and in all his trials he enjoyed their fiill sympathy. He presumes on that cordial relationship in addressing them on the subject of Church unity. Old memories stir up old emotions, and he would, through the old love, repossess their hearts. They had not only obeyed the truth as the founda- tion of their religious life, but they had obeyed the Apostle in matters of Church government. This indeed was to be expected while the Apostle was with them, for his presence would carry weight; but the Philippian Christians had obeyed even more fully in his absence. This afforded the greater proof of their love for him. The letter which he was now writing would supply his place, and contain the many counsels which he personally might administer.
It is not well to be always under the influence of a command- ing personality. The weaker will may come to be dominated by the stronger, and the cultivation of our own judgment and character may be neglected. Against this danger the Apostle utters a warning. He exhorts the Christians at Philippi to self- reliance. Do not, he says, depend upon me. "Work out your own salvation — not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. In depending upon yourselves you are depending upon God, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do.
^ I have sometimes seen melancholy instances of religious partnerships dissolved. When certain associations have been