[2] The middle suggests a certain fulness of action.
[3] I think the definite article should be supplied in English; the reference is to the work of works.
[4] I give both the possible renderings of _huper_. Both would certainly be in place, as he thought of them and prayed and gave thanks for them.
[5] The derivation is doubtful, but the idea of the word in usage is clearness, freedom from complication.
[6] With some hesitation I assign to _dikaiosune_ here the meaning of the righteousness of justification, as in iii. 9.
[7] F. R. Havergal.
[8] Cowper, _Conversation_.
"Yield to the Lord, with simple heart, All that thou hast and all thou art, Renounce all strength but strength divine, And peace shall be for ever thine." MME DE LA MOTHE GUYON, _translated by_ COWPER.
PHILIPPIANS i. 12-20
Disloyal "brethren"--Interest of the paragraph--The victory of patience--The Praetorian sentinel--Separatism, and how it was met--St Paul's secret--His "earnest expectation"--"Christ magnified"--"In my body"
St Paul has spoken his affectionate greeting to the Philippians, and has opened to them the warm depths of his friendship with them in the Lord. What he feels towards them "in the heart of Christ Jesus," what he prays for them in regard of the growth and fruit of their new life, all has been expressed. It is time now to meet their loving anxieties with some account of his own position, and the circumstances of the mission in the City. Through this passage let us follow him now; we shall find that the quiet picture, full of strong human interest in its details, is suffused all over with the glory of the presence and the peace of Christ.
Ver. 12. +Now I wish you to know, brethren, that my position and circumstances+ (_ta kat eme_, "_the things related to me_") +have come out+, have resulted, +rather for the progress of the Gospel+ message and enter-
Ver. 13. prise, than otherwise; +so that my bonds+, my imprisonment, with its _custodia militaris_, +are become unmistakable+ (_phanerous_) as being +in Christ+; as due to no social or political crime, but to the name and cause of the Messiah of Israel, the Saviour of the world. This is the case in the +whole Praetorium+,[1] in all ranks of the Imperial Guard, +and among other people in general+ (_tois loipois pasi_[2]). And
Ver. 14. another result is[3] +that the majority+ (_tous plaionas_) +of the brethren in the Lord+, the converts of the Roman mission, +feeling a new confidence in connexion with my bonds+,[4] animated by the fact of my imprisonment, realizing afresh the glory of the cause which makes me happy to suffer, +venture more abundantly+, more frequently, more openly, +fearlessly to speak the Word+, the message of Christ, of the Cross, of Truth, of Life. There is a drawback in this
Ver. 15. welcome phenomenon: +some indeed actually+ (_kai_) +for envy and strife, while others as truly+ (_kai_) +for goodwill, are proclaiming the Christ+. The latter[5]
Ver. 16. are at work thus +from+ motives of love, love to the Lord and to me His captive Messenger, +knowing+ that on purpose +for the vindication+ (_apologian_) +of the Gospel I am posted+ (_keimai_, as a soldier, fixed by his captain's order) here. The former from
Ver. 17. motives of +faction+, partizanship (_eritheia_) in a self-interested propaganda of their own opinions, +are announcing the Christ, not purely, thinking+ and meaning +to raise up+ (_egeirein_, so read) +tribulation for+ me in +my bonds+; as so easily they can do, by detaching from me many converts who would otherwise gather round me, and generally by the mortifying thought of their freedom and activity in contrast to my enforced isolation. Shall I give way to the trial, and lose patience and peace? Must I? Need
Ver. 18. I? Nay; +what matters it+ (_ti gar_)? Is not the fiery arrow quenched in Christ for me? Is it not thus nothing to me? Yes--yet not nothing, after all; for it brings a gain; it spreads the Gospel so much further; so that to my "What matters it?" I may add, +Only, in every way+, fair or foul, +Christ is being announced; and in this I rejoice, aye, and rejoice I shall+; the future can only bring me fresh reasons for a joy which lies wholly in the triumphs of my Lord, and can only bring fresh blessings to