The Pulpit Commentary — Philippians — Section 120

danger of a violent clcnth. But his soul was raised above his 011tward troubles by lho blessed_ prese?ce of the Lord within him. His heart was glad ; the crown of righteous- ness hud up m heaven_for all who love the appearing of the Lord was ever before hi~ thoughts; he could reJoice himself; he could bid others rejoice with him. It is indeed a great example of the power of faith, an illustration of the Saviour's words, " Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, and believe in me." 3. Because to be gloomy and melancholy implies a want of gratitude. The Christian who knows that l,is Redeemer liveth, that Chtist the Son of God died for his sins and rose again for his justification, that he is even now interceding for him in heaven, ought to be bright and cheerful. He has no right to give way to despondent thoughts. The temptation will come sometimes; but it is a matter of duty to struggle against it ; for to yield is to dishonour the Lord. "Count it all joy," says St. James, "when ye fall into divers temptations." III. To BE ENFORCED BY CONSTANT EXHORTATION. 1. The gospel, UJ ever fresh, ever new. " It is not irksome to write the same things, says St. Paul." The Christian is never tired of repeating, never tired of hearing, the blessed story of the love of Jesus. The Athenians "spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing." The Christian is content with the old, old story-the holy life, the blessed death, of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is sometimes the preacher's temptation to strain after novelty; he should seek simply to save souls. 2. It is hard to rejoice ever- more; it is a duty to befrequently pressed. To rejoice in sickness, in distress, in times of anxiety, is very hard; but it is our duty; we must enforce it constantly upon our- selves, upon others. And it is a source of safety; the soul that is learning to rejoice in the Lord, to take delight in communion with him in prayer and praise and holy sacrament, is not easily separated from the love of Christ. IV. CONTRASTS BETWEEN THE TRUE CHRISTIANS AND THE JuDA.IZERS. 1. These last 1·ejoice, not in the Lord, but in outward distinctions. 'l'hey pride themselves on their circumcision, but it is merely outward, in the flesh. They ma.y be clean ceremonially, but they are unclean in heart; for they are workers of eviL 2. The Christian has the true circumcision and the true worship. The true circumcision is "that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter." The true worship, too, is in the highest sense not that of form and ceremony, but inward and spiritnal. The Christian worships by the Spirit of God, by his help, by his teaching, by his inspiration ; all true prayer is prayer in the Holy Ghost. 3. The <Jhristian glories only in <Jhrist. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Christian glories in the Saviour's love, in the atonement wrought by his most precious blood, in his prevailing intercession, in the hope of seeing him face to face in his kingdom. In him is his con- fidence, not in any outward rite. .LESSONS. 1. Pray for the great gift of holy joy: "Ask, and ye shall have." 2. To win that joy we must renounce confidence in the flesh. 3. We must worship by the Spirit of Goel, with real heart-worship, and that by the help of God the Holy Ghost. Vers. 4-11.-The e:i:ample of St. Paul. I. WHAT HE RENOUNCED. All confidence in the flesh. 1. He enumerates the privileges of the Jew, and claims them as his own. He had the seal of circumcision, the inheritance of the covenant; he was brought up in tho Hebrew learning; he belonged to the strictest sect; he was zealous; he had lived a blameless life. In outward grounds of confidence no man could surpass him. He had all the privileges that could issue from the Judaism of the time. 2. He renounces them all. He slllllll them up together and renounces them; more than that, he counts them as loss; further yet, he counts all things as loss in comparison with the one gracious presence, the one glorious hope which now fills his heart. ll. WHAT HE BOUGHT. 1. The knowledge of <Jhrist. This knowled~e is: (1) A per- sonal knowledge. "Mine own know me," says our Lord, in John x. 14, Revised Version, "as I know the Father." 'l'he knowledge wherewith the true sheep know the good Shepherd is compared by our Lord himself to the knowledge with which the Son of God knows the eternal Father. It is a knowledge of love, a knowledge of intimate persoD&l communion. It is less in the intellect than in the heart ; it is gS\ined not so much by study, as by prayer 1md holy sacrament and the daily effort of faith to realize tho Saviour's nearness and to imitate his holy life. (2) It is 1r.1:oelle-nt. St. Paul can  THE EPISTLE TO 'l'IIE PHILIPPIANb.