Yer. 29.-Sufferfrig in behalf of Clll'ist. St. Paul feels peculiar sympathy for the Philippians on account of the fact that they arc like himself in suffering persecution on account of Christ. Common sufferings promote common sympathies. Only they who ha"e suffere<l. themselves can understand the sufferings of others. 'l'bus it seems to be part of the mission of pain to enlarge and deepen our sympathies. l. Cmu~IA1'-S ICA Y BE CALLED TO SUFFER IN BEHALF 01!' CHRIST. Let a man count the cost. To be a Christian is not only to believe on Christ. It may involve loss, pain, death. 1. We may suffer through our con'Tl.eCtion with Christ. Thus was it with the persecuted. Now, we may have to give up lucrative but un-Christlike occupations, and to meet with ridicule or opposition in our attempt to serve Christ faithfully. 2. We may suffer for the cause of Christ. We may serve him by our suffering. Faithful endurance is it.self a grand witness to Christ. The martyr preaches Christ as truly as the missionary. Even the patient endurance of pain because it is Christ's will that we should bear it does honour to Christ. Many a helpless sufferer, who thinks his life a useless burden to others, teaches such high lessons by the spirit of· faith and love with which he endures, that he serves Christ more effectually in his sick-chamber than others by the most vigorous activity in wide fields of enterprise. II. JT IS A BEAL BLESSING TO BE PERMl'l"rED TO SUFFER- IN BEHALF OF CHRIST. St. Paul regards the fact with joy. 1. It is proof of fidelity. Not being "affrighted by the adversaries," the persecuted have their faith confirmed in their trials. 2. It is a means of BCT'"lnng Christ. It is a.n honour and e. .ioy to serve Christ in any way, and most of all where the service is most effective. 3. It is a proof of peculiar dutinction. The best soldiers are selected for the hardest service. The martyrs are the flower of the Chr:;;tian army. It will lead to the greatest reward, (1) because the most arduous task will justly receive .the richest recompense ; and (2) because the peace and joy of heaven will be intensified by contrast with the pain and war of earth. Only the toiler: mn know the true sweetness of rest, and only the sufferer the deep blessedness of heaven.-W. F. A..
EXPOSITION. Bhip of the Spirit, If the indwelling of the CHAPTER ll. Holy Ghost be trne, a felt reality in tl10 Ver. 1.-If there be therefore, any oonso- Christian life. Not, as some unclerijta,nd, latfon in Christ. Mark the fen-our of the "If there be any fellowship of spirit among apostle. "Opa ,rii,s >..rrapii>s, ,rii,s ,r,po'6pii>s, .,,.;;,s themselves." If any bowelll and meroies. µ.E'Ta cruµwaBda.s ,ro>..>-'i;s (Chrysostom). He Bowels (see note on eh. i. 8), the seat of tile appcr,ls to the Christian experience of the foelings of compassion; mercies, those feel- Phllippians; if these experiences are real, ings themselves. The pronoun "any," ac- 8B they a.re; facts w,rified in the believer's cording to tho reading of all the best cc,nsciol!bness ; not talk, not mere forms of manuscripts, is masculine singular; the word spooch,-then fulfil yt my joy. Comol,ation; "bowels," being neuter plural: ,r Tu u1r>..d-yx11a. ptrhaps "exhortation" iB the more suitable If St, Paul really wrote thus, we must sup- rc1Hlcriog in this place: if the presence of pose that the warmth of his feelings suddenly Christ, if commllllion with ChrU, hath led him to substituto u1rl\d-yx11a for. eorno pcrn n to stir the heart, to stimulate the other word originaU yin his thoughts. "U ndcr ew()Lions, to constrain the will. Il any any circumstances," says Bishop Lightfoot; comfort of love; comfort springing out of "the reading ,r T« i~ a valnable'testimony love. Love is the subjective result of the t.o the scrupulous fidelity of the early tran- presence of Chriiit as an objectirn reality; scribers, who copied the text es they found a:id with love comes comfort (comp. l Cor. it, even when it contained readings BO mani• lll v. 3 a.Du 1 Thess. ii, 11 ). If any fellow- feetly difficult." orr. II. 1-30.J THE EPIS'fLE TO TIIE PIIILIPPIANS. 5!)