III. Personal Circumstances of th Writer at th Time.
I. Paul's connection with Philippi was of a peculiar character, which gave rise to the writing of this 1 pisl le. Thai city, important as a mart for the produce of the neighboring gold-mines, and as a Roman stronghold to check the rude Thraeiaii mountaineers, was distin- guished as the scene of the great battle fatal to BrutUS and Gassius, B.C. 42. Mure than ninety \ cars after- wards Paul entered its walls, accompanied by Silas, who had been with him since he started from Antioch, and by Timothy and Luke, whom lie afterwards at- tached to himself; the former at Derbe. the latter quite recently at Troas. Il may well he imagined that the patience of the zealous aposlle had been tried by his mysterious repulse, first from Asia, then from Pilhynia and Mysia, and that his expectations had been Stirred up by the vision which hastened his departure with his new-found associate, Luke, from Troas. A swifl pa~- saue brought him to the European shore at Neapolis, whence he look the road, about ten miles long, across the mountain ridge called Symbolum to Philippi (Acts wi. 12). There at a greater distance from Jerusalem than any apostle had yel penetrated, the long-restrained energy of Paul was again employed in laying the foun- dation of a Christian Church. Seeking first the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he went on a Sabbath-da; with the few .lews who resided in Philippi to their small Proseucha on the hank of the river Gangites. The missionaries sat down and spoke to the assembled women. One of them, Lydia, nol horn of the seed "i Abraham, hut a proselyte, whose name and occupation,
as well as her birth, connect her with Asia, gave heed unto Paul, and she and her household were baptized,
perhaps on the same Sabbath-day. Her house became the residence oi i he missii maries. Many days they re- Borted to the Proseucha. and the result of their short sojourn in Philippi was 1 he conversion of man} persons iwi. 10), including al last their jailer and his house- hold. Philippi was endeared to Paul, not only by the hospitality of Lydia. 1 he deep Byrapathj of the com erts,
and the remarkable miracle which Bel a seal on his
preaching, bul also by the successful exercise of his missionary activity after a Ion-- Buspense, and by the
PHILIPPIANS, EPISTLE TO THE 97 PHILIPPIANS, EPISTLE TO THE
happy consequences of his undaunted endurance of ig- nominies which remained in his memory (Phil, i, 30) after a long interval. Leaving Timothy and Luke to watch over the infant Church, Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica (1 Thess. ii, 2), whither they were followed by the alms of the Philippians (Phil, iv, 16), and thence southwards. Timothy, having probably carried out sim- ilar directions to those which were given to Titus (i, 5) in Crete, soon rejoined Paul. We know not whether Luke remained at Philippi. The next six years of his life are a blank in our records. At the end of that pe- riod he is found again (Acts xx, G) at Philippi.
After the lapse of five years, spent chiefly at Corinth and Ephesus, Paul, escaping from the incensed worship- pers of the Ephesian Diana, passed through Macedonia, A.D. 54, on his way to Greece, accompanied by the Ephesians Tychicus and Trophimus, and probably vis- ited Philippi for the second time, and was there joined by Timothy. His beloved Philippians, free, it seems, from the controversies which agitated other Christian churches, became still dearer to Paul on account of the solace which they afforded him when, emerging from a season of dejection (2 Cor. vii, 5), oppressed by weak bodily health, and anxious for the steadfastness of the churches which he had planted in Asia and Achaia, he wrote at Philippi his second Epistle to the Corinthians. On returning from Greece, unable to take ship there on account of the Jewish plots against his life, he went through Macedonia, seeking a favorable port for em- barking. After parting from his companions (Acts xx, 4), he again found a refuge among his faithful Philippi- ans, where he spent some days at Easter, A.D. 55, with Luke, who accompanied him when he sailed from Ne- apolis.
Finally, in his Roman captivity (A.D. 57), their care of him revived again. They sent Epaphroditus, bearing their alms for the apostle's support, and ready also to tender his personal service (Phil, ii, 25). He stayed some time at Rome, and while employed as the organ of communication between the imprisoned apos- tle and the Christians, and inquirers in and about Rome, he fell dangerously ill. When he was sufficiently recov- ered, Paul sent him back to the Philippians, to whom he was very dear, and with him our epistle. See Phi- lippi.
2. The state of the Church at Rome should be consid- ered before entering on the study of the Epistle to the Philippians. Something is to be learned of its condi- tion about A.D. 55 from the Epistle to the Romans, and more about A.D. 58 from Acts xxviii. Possibly the Gospel was planted there by some who themselves re- ceived the seed on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii, 10). The converts were drawn chiefly from Gentile proselytes to Judaism, partly also from Jews who were such by birth, with possibly a few converts direct from heathenism. In A.D. 55 this Church was already eminent for its faith and obedience: it was exposed to the machina- tions of schismatical teachers; and it included two con- flicting parties, the one insisting more or less on observ- ing the Jewish law in addition to faith in Christ as necessary to salvation, the other repudiating outward observances even to the extent of depriving their weak brethren of such as to them might be really edifying. We cannot gather from the Acts whether the whole Church of Rome had then accepted the teaching of Paul as conveyed in his epistle to them. But it is cer- tain that when he had been two years in Rome, his oral teaching was partly rejected by a party which per- haps may have been connected with the former of those above mentioned. Paul's presence in Rome, the free- dom of speech allowed to him, and the personal freedom of his fellow-laborers were the means of infusing fresh missionary activity into the Church (Phil, i, 12-14). It was in the work of Christ that Epaphroditus was worn out (ii, 30). Messages and letters passed between the apostle and distant churches ; and doubtless church- es near to Rome, and both members of the Church and VIII.— G