The Pulpit Commentary — Philippians — Section 177

the eternnl order of tliin_gs, _while a lio, bo~ver glossed over, is an Infringement of that order. But our whole hfe 1s to be founded m truth. If it is to be founded in the work of Christ, yet is it in the work of Christ, M wrought out in sccordance with eternal principles, and in that work 1\8 giving, relatively to ua, added e&nction and lustre to ihose principles, ns w~at must regulate our life. We l&re, therefore, under all tempta• 110n to have to do with falsehood, to hold close by the true ns that alone which can (:".ivc stability to our life. "Whatsoever things are honourable." There are thicgs which are honourable in themselves. They arc more than venerable from antiquity. They arc to be honoured from their essential and eternal worth. As subsisting in God they are the ground of his being infinitely to be honoured. The things that are honour~ able are also to be in ourselves. That certainly means that we are to be honast, as the ":ord used to he in the ttllnslation. For there is disgrace necessarily attaching to a dishonest action. But more t.han that, it means that our whole life is to be based on what can be thoroughly respected-on what can bear looking into as in its nature and bearings honourable ; on "ll·hat is to be honoured, whether men honour it or not ; on what we cannot respect ourselves if we do not honour. If we, amid all temptation to nrt basely, keep our mind open to the honourable, then we shall have a dignity, gravity, taken from that to which we look and with which we converse. "Whatsoel'er thinO"s are just." This brings in relation to l,aw. 'l'he things tha.t are just arc in God in the position in which he is placed as Lawgh-er and Administrator. He absolutely fills up what belongs to him in the position; he acts- according to the eterna.lly true ancl hon- our:1ble, i.e. according to his own eternal excellence as moraLGovernor. He is just in placiog us under law, in the nature which he has given us, in what he exacts of us and in all his dealing with us as under law. He never can do wroog to any of.his creat~es. 'l'hough clouds and darkness are round about him, yet judgm.ent and justice are the habi- tation of bis tbro!le. And the things that are just are to be in us, as placed under law to God. We are to :fill up the measure of duty that belongs to us in the.•J>osition, Obedience, compliance with the Divine will in all matterR, is what we owe to God.. •Justice requires that, aii dependent creatures, we should humbly acknowledge and worship him. Weare to do the duty of every relation in wb.ich ,ve stand to our fellow-men. We are to be in suhje::tion to the higher powers, and not only because of the wrath, but also for con~ science sake. We are to honour all meu, whatever their condition, because of the dignity of their nature. And far be it from us that we should do any of our fellow-men the injustice of defrauding them or of treating them unchruitably.. We are. to be cha- racterized by universal, deep-reaching conscientiousness. " Whatsoever things are pure.• There is not only justioe, but purity in relation to law. The things that are pure are absolutely in God. He is so pure that even the stars are not pure in his sight~ He rules in the interests of purity. He holds up before us a high conception of purity in his Statute-book. " The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried .in, a fur- nace of earth, purified seven times;" "The commandment of the Lord is pure." He looks upon purity wherever it is with complacency, and it.has a place with him; but he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and evil shall uot dwell with him. 'l'he things that are pure are also to be in ourselves. We are to be pure in the. nanower scn~e. Vil' c are to be chaste in our thought.6, in our words, in our actions. More than that, we are to have chastity as a preservative and a. defence to our whole nature. We are to be kept within the Law, by our great sensitiveness and strong attraction to snow- whiie purity, to heavenliness, and b! our repellin~ the ~lightest suggestion of i111pudty, by our shrinking from the slightest touch of worldhncss. We are to have God's own love for that which makes and keeps us pure, and his own abhorrence and loathing of sin as that which defiles. "·whatsoever things are lovely." This brings in relation to the estimation in which thinl!s are held. For the Greek word seems to yYJiut to thi!lgs which are worthy of love. 'l'here are, indeed, things which are lovely according to the eternal standard of taste. A,s subsisting in God they are the ground of his being infioitely to be loved. We read of the beauty of the Lord our God. He is beautiful in his whoie character, but esp~cially in his love in Christ. God is love; a.nu herei11 is love. In this he as it were surpasses himself. He magnifies his Word above all hi,; Name. He is beaut1 rul as he comes forward and does not spare his own Son, but t'cli\'<:rs him up for us all. IIe is b~autiful in l1is forbearance towards sinners and his ••:crci .iug t,c,wards them the prerogative of pardon. His beauty is n1anifosted in hlm 011, IV, 1-23.] THE EPIS'rLE TO 'l'HE PIIILIPPIANS.