Phil. ii. 17, 18. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
THE hope of benefiting immortal souls is most delightful to a benevolent mind ; and a successful
issue to our labours is replete with joy. The disciple who was honoured with his Master's love beyond all others, even he knew " no greater joy than to see his children walk in truth a." This accounts for the extreme earnestness with which St. Paul laboured for the salvation of men, and for their sake. He knew, that, even in the eternal world, it would augment his happiness to see that he had been instrumental in saving others ; and that " he should rejoice in the day of Christ, when he found that he had not laboured in vain, or run in vainV Indeed, so entirely was he swallowed up in the prosperity of his converts, that he was ready even to die for them, if need were ; yea, and to welcome the most cruel death as a blessing, rather than to deprecate it as an evil, if only it might be subservient to the welfare of their souls. This is a most remarkable assertion : and, for the purpose of unfolding it, I will shew,
I. What was the event which is here so gladly wel- comed—
The event itself was martyrdom —
[The terms in which he speaks of martyrdom need expla- nation amongst us ; but to Christians of that day, conversant as they were with the Jewish ritual, they would convey his meaning in a most intelligible and striking form.
The Jews had sacrifices offered every morning and every evening throughout the year. Upon these sacrifices were offered a meat-offering of flour mingled with oil, and a drink- offering of winec. Now, these sacrifices represented, not only the Great Sacrifice which was in due time to be offered for the sins of men, but Christians themselves, who, at the time of their conversion, are given up to Almighty God to serve him, and to glorify his name. The ministers who were instru- mental in bringing them to Christ were, so to speak, the priests who offered them up : in conformity with which idea, St. Paul speaks of being the "minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghostd," But, in the passage before us there is a pecu- liar beauty : for the people are regarded, not only as the sacri- fice that was offered, but as the priests that offered it ; since,
a 3 John, ver. 4. b ver. 15, 16.
c Numb, xxviii. 3 — 7. d Rom. xv. 16.