" All things." He made the statement just as broad and in- clusive as possible. Not all his ill-grounded hopes merely ; not the advantages merely which came to him from his conformity to the law, for what was "gain" to him in these respects he " counted loss " ; but " all things " — personal comfort, personal ends, personal prospects, personal ambitions, the affection of friends, the joys of social life, the triumphs of competition, his own self-development, will, earthly hopes, each and all were to be held second and subordinate by him to obedience to Jesus.
Without Thy presence wealth is bags of cares;
Wisdom but folly ; joy, disquiet, sadness ; Friendship is treason, and delights are snares ;
Pleasures but pain, and mirth but pleasing madness. Without Thee, Lord, things be not what they be. Nor have their being, when compared with Thee.
^ Cardinal Newman.
PHILIPPIANS III. 7-9 333
In having all things, and not Thee, what have I ?
Not having Thee, what have my labours got ? Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave I ?
And having Thee alone what have I not ? I wish nor sea, nor land, nor would I be Possessed of heaven, heaven unpossessed of Thee.
4. What he set down at first as loss he now describes as dung or refuse. The word signifies that which is worthless, and is used to express the lees and dregs of wine, the sediment which a man finds in his cup, and drains out upon the ground when he has drunk his liquor, the refuse of fruit, the dross of metals, and the chaff and stubble of wheat. In fact, the root of the word signifies things cast to dogs — dogs' meat, bones from the plates, crumbs and stale pieces brushed from the table, and such things as one is anxious to be rid of.
^ You may remember Shakespeare's wonderful story of the lady who was sought in marriage by many suitors. To test their manhood, her father had three caskets made — one of gold, one of silver, and one of lead — and in one of the caskets the lady's picture was placed. Each casket had a motto. On the gold one, this —
"Who chooseth me shall get what many men desire." On the silver one, this —
"Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves." But on the lead one, this —
"Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath."
The gold and silver caskets spoke of getting ; the lead casket spoke of giving. He who gave most gained most, for the lady's picture was in the casket that bade a man give and hazard all he had.
I, says Paul, for the image of my Lord, for the excellency of the knowledge of Him, will count all things but loss, will give and hazard all I have.^
I wanted wealth, and, at my dear request,
Earth lent a quick supply; I wanted mirth to charm my sullen breast,
And who more brisk than I ? I wanted fame to glorify the rest,
My fame flew eagle-high ;
* C. Silvester Home, The Soul's Awakening, 191.
334 THE EXCELLENT EXCHANGE
My joy not fully ripe, but all decayed,
Wealth vanished like a shade ;
My mirth began to flag, my fame began to fade.
My trust is in the Cross; let beauty flag
Her loose and wanton sail, Let count'nance-gilding honour cease to brag
In courtly terms, and vail ; False beauty's conquest is but real loss. And wealth but golden dross, Best honours but a blast: my trust is in the Cross.
The Power of His Resurrection.
Literature.
Alford (H.), Quebec Chapel Sermons, iii. 187.
Bainbridge-Bell (W.), Repentance and Perseverance, 71, 87, 100, 112, 124. Baring- Gould (S.), The Mystery of Suffering, 97. Brooks (P.), Sermons for the Principal Festivals, 269. Clark (H. W.), Meanings and Methods of the Spiritual Life, 27. ■kDavidson (A. B.), Waiting upon God, '2.11. Davies (J. A.), in Sermons by Welshmen in English Pulpits, 306. Dix (M.), Christ at the Door of the Heart, 144. Dyke (H. van), Manhood, Faith, and Courage, 73. Ellicott (C. J.), Sermons at Gloucester, 120. Fairweather (D.), Bound in the Spirit, 67. Gibson (J. G.), Stepping -Stones to Life, 188. Hodge (C), Princeton Sermons, 260. Hull (E. L.), Sermons, 1st Ser., 28. Liddon (H. P.), Easter in St. Paul's, 122. Moore (A. L.), From Advent to Advent, 140. Peabody (A. P.), King's CJiapel Sermons, 305. Selby (T. G.), The Alienated Crown, 275. Stowell (H.), Sermons, 309.
Talbot (E.), Sermons Preached in the Leeds Parish Church, 187. Walpole (G. H. S.), Vital Religion, 89. Wilberforce (B.), Following on to Know the Lord, 115. Christian World Pulpit, viii. 373 (Brown) ; Ixxiii. 285 (Robinson). Church of England Pulpit, xxviii, 246 (Field) ; lix. 26 (Crawford) ; Ixiii. 283 (Robinson).
336
The Power of His Resurrection.
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellow- ship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death ; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.— Phil. iii. lo, ii.
1. Paul's first sight of Christ was a sight of the risen Lord. On the way to Damascus he first knew Christ, and it was in the power of His resurrection. And this first sight gave a direction to all the thoughts he had about Him ; and, like all men who have profound experiences and a mental history, he started from that which made the crisis in his own life, and put the resurrection in the forefront of his preaching. Among the philosophers on Mars' hill he preached the resurrection, — an idea so foreign to Greek speculation that they could not understand him. They thought " resurrection " was a deity which he wished to introduce ; and in some perplexity they canvassed his sermon, saying, " He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods." With the Corinthians, who were inclined to doubt the bodily resurrection, he could come to no compromise. He pushed the question to the extreme. He showed how if this was lost all was lost. " If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Ye are yet in your sins."