Phil. i. 18. Christ is preached ; and I therein do rejoice, yea,
and will rejoice.
WHEN our blessed Lord came into the world, it was said concerning him, that he was " set for the
fall and rising again of many in Israel, that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed3." And certainly his Gospel has been an occasion of display- ing, in a far greater degree than at any former period, the extreme wickedness of the human heart, and, at the same time, the astonishing efficacy of divine grace to renew and sanctify the soul. The virulent oppo- sition made to the Gospel by its professed enemies may, in some measure, illustrate the former. But the subtle contrivances of its professed friends to adulterate its truths and to subvert its influence, shewed a degree of malignity perfectly Satanic : whilst the virtues which have, by these means, been drawn forth into exercise, have been no less illustra- tive of the power and grace of Christ. In several of the apostolic Churches, there were not only some who perverted the Gospel by a mixture of self-right- eous doctrines, but some who actually preached the Gospel for the very purpose of undermining its proper influence. In the context, this curious device is fully developed, and the mask is taken from the faces of these base hypocrites ; whilst the effect of their en- deavours on the Apostle's mind is plainly declared.
By the Roman magistrates, St. Paul had been sent to Rome, and imprisoned. This, which seemed likely to stop the progress of the Gospel, had, in reality, turned out to the furtherance of it ; because the zeal of many others was called forth, in a much greater degree, to advance its interests. But some, who sought only their own glory, took occasion, from his imprisonment, to practise on the minds of his fol- lowers, and to draw them away from him. Paul's converts, however, were too well instructed to be wrought upon by false doctrines : and, therefore, these teachers preached the true Gospel itself, that so they might insinuate themselves into the affections of their simple-minded hearers, and thus form them into a party against the Apostle himself, and ulti- mately establish their own authority on the ruin of his. Hear the Apostle's own account of it : " Some
a Luke ii. 34, 35.