faith of 1l1e gospe_l" As enfranchieed citizens it would devolve upon them to fight, The object for which they would have to fight 'Was the faith of the gospel. .An attempt would be made to make them believe a lie. 'l'hey ,vcre to present e.n unbroken front to the enemy. 'J'hey were to stand faet, striving for the faith of the l'.!°''~pel In one spfrit they were to -smnd fast. The spirit is the reason conscienco rli~t which governs in our n11.ture. A common principle, the will of Christ as thei; Cnmmander, was t-o regulate them. With one soul they were to strive. 'l'he soul is that which is go'l"erned in onr nature. Under common regulation there was to be con- c,1rdant thought, feeling, action, as in an :i1my engnged in warfare. (2) Undaunted- ,iess. " And in nothing 11.ffri.ghted by the adversaries." Attempts would be mnde to intimidate them. All forms of pressure would be brought to bear upon them, to make them gi'l"e np the faith of the gospel Their very life would be placed in danger. Ilut in nothing were they to be affrigbted, turned aside in fright from what they helie'l"ed. Twofold consi,deration. (a) Their undauntedness a Divine token. "Which is for them an e\"ident token of perdition, but of your salvation, and that from God." It was a Divine token with a double meaning. It was a token of perdition to the adveJ'1!8.I"ies. It was a proof that they were in the wrong, seeing that, by all their threatenings and tortures, they could not make the Christians blench. And it was a token of salvation, of final victory, to the Christians. It ll'BS a proof to th!lm that they were in the right, and would be shown to be in the right, seeing that their faith raised them above the influence of fear. (b) Called to a high destiny wliich they shared with Paul. " Because to you it bath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in his behalf: having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me." To all who deserve the name of Christians it is given to witness for Christ by their faith. To some it is given to witness for Christ by their mfferin!!S. Of this numbt:r was Paul, who bad ea.rued the name of confessor when at Philippi, and was bearing the same name at Rome. Ho was in painful conflict with the powers of the world. And the same conflict these Philippian Christians encl.ured.. Let them rejoice in their high destiny, that thereby they were enrolled in the noble army of confessc-~s and martyrs.-R. It'.
Vers. 1, 2.-Paul:'s salutation. "This Epistle," sa.ys the learned Lewin, "was wri.tt.en during Paul's captivity, en te tois desmois mon (eh. i. 7), and at Rome (eh. iv. 22). And Paul had been long enough a prisoner to have produced. great effects both in the Prmtorin.m and elsewhere (eh. i. 13). The long captivity of the apostle before the date of the letter appears also from this. The Philippians had. heard of his imprisonment at Rome, and bad sent him pecuniary relief by the hands of Epaphroditus (eh. i. 7; iv. 18); and Epaphroditus had fallen ill at Rome (eh. iL 27), the Philippians heard of it, and the report to that effect bad gone back from Philippi to Rome (eh. ii. 26). In short, the Epistle was written when Paul was in such confident expecta.tion of his release that he was making arrangements for his departure, and he tells us that his intentions were, immediately on being released, to send off Timothy to Philippi to learn their 61:.ate and to bri.nu ha.ck word to Paul in the West, and then both were to sail together to the East, :nd after some little interval Paul hoped to visit Philippi in person." In this salutation we have three subjects for thought-- I. THE MOST DIG~"IFIBD OF ALL Ol"FICEB. " Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ." The apostle does not here assert his apostleship as in some other placea, but speaks of himself and Timotheus simply as the servants of Jesus Christ. Now, whilst to be a servant of some men and institutions implies degradation, to be the servant of Jesus Christ is to sustain an office the most honourable and glorious; fur note the followinu thinas connected with this service :-1. it meets with the full con- currence of consc~ce. "There are many services in which men are engaged, som.! most lucrative, s'.lme associated with worldly honours, yet they fail to enlist the full con- currence of conscience, nay, conscience often raises its protest against them, and it often happens that the protests are 60 strong that men have felt bound to resign, But in this service conscience goes with every effort put forth; for to serve Christ is to run with tlie principles of eternal right, to render to the Almighty his claims, and to all ~l(•atures their due. 2. it affords ample scope for the full development of the soul's Ja, ,.ltv:,~. 1n how many ~ervices have men to be engaged in this world which onl.v OH. l. 1-30,] 'l'HE EPISTLE TO 'fHE PHILIPPlANS. ,37