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PHILIPPIAN STUDIES
PHILIPPIAN STUDIES
Lessons in Faith and Love from St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians by Principal of Ridley Hall and Formerly Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge " Let us pray to God, that we may speak, think, believe, live, and depart hence, according to the wholesome doctrine and verities of His Word. " THE HOMILIES, i, 1. Third Edition London Hodder and Stoughton 27, Paternoster Row 1900 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. COLOSSIAN STUDIES. EPHESIAN STUDIES. TO MY YOUNGER BRETHREN ON PASTORAL L
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TO THE
TO THE
"Thou the Way art, Thou the Prize That beyond the journey lies; Thou the Truth art, Thou the Guide, Gone before, yet at our side; Everlasting life below It is truly Thee to know: Such to Thy Saints wast Thou of yore; Unchangeable Thou art, and shall be evermore." MONSELL....
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PREFACE
PREFACE
The plan and purpose of the following pages will be soon evident to the reader. The whole aim is towards edification. What is said in the way of historical introduction, what is done in the course of the chapters in the way of rendering and grammatical explanation, all has this aim in view. The Epistle is handled throughout with the firm belief that it is an Oracle of God, while that Oracle is conveyed through the mind and heart of one of the greatest of the sons of men; and the Expositor's aim
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
THE INTIMACY OF HUMAN HEARTS IN CHRIST (PHIL. i. 1-11.)...
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
THE APOSTLE'S POSITION AND CIRCUMSTANCES (PHIL. i. 12-20.)...
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
THE CHRISTIAN'S PEACE AND THE CHRISTIAN'S CONSISTENCY (PHIL. i. 21-30.)...
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
UNITY IN SELF-FORGETFULNESS: THE EXAMPLE OF THE LORD (PHIL. ii. 1-11.)...
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CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI
THE LORD'S POWER IN THE DISCIPLE'S LIFE (PHIL. ii. 12-18.)...
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CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII
TIMOTHEUS AND EPAPHRODITUS (PHIL. ii. 19-30.)...
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
JOY IN THE LORD AND ITS PRESERVING INFLUENCE "THAT I MAY KNOW HIM" (PHIL. iii. 1-11.)...
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CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX
CHRISTIAN STANDING AND CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. (PHIL. iii. 12-16.)...
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
THE BLESSED HOPE AND ITS POWER (PHIL. iii. 17-21.)...
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CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
PURITY AND PEACE IN THE PRESENT LORD (PHIL. iv. 1-9.)...
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
THE COLLECTION FOR ST PAUL: THE FAREWELL (PHIL. iv. 10-23.) "Holy Scripture is the Letter of God Almighty to His creatures; learn God's heart in God's Words." GREGORY THE GREAT, Epist. , iv. 31....
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INTRODUCTORY
INTRODUCTORY
O Gracious GOD and most mercifull Father, which hast vouchsafed us the rich and precious iewell of thy holy worde, assist us with thy Spirit, that it may be written in our hearts to our euerlasting comfort, to reforme us, to renew us according to thine owne image, to build us up, and edifie us into the perfect building of thy Christ, sanctifying and increasing in us all heauenly vertues. Graunt this O heauenly Father, for Iesus Christes sake. Amen. From the GENEVA BIBLE, 1557....
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
Characteristics of the Epistle—The Bible is ever young—Littera Scripta Manet—"This Same Jesus"—Philippi—How the mission church had grown—Where was the Epistle written?—When was the Epistle written?—"The word endureth" The Epistle of St Paul to the Philippians is, to careful and loving Bible-students, one of the fairest and dearest regions of the Book of God. It is true that the Christian who genuinely believes that "every Scripture is God-inspired" (2 Tim. iii. 16), and who realizes that the "Di
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THE INTIMACY OF HUMAN HEARTS IN CHRIST
THE INTIMACY OF HUMAN HEARTS IN CHRIST
"I learned without booke almost all Paules Epistles, yea and I weene all the Canonical! Epistles, save only the Apocalyps. Of which study, although in time a great part did depart from me, yet the sweete smell thereof I trust I shall cary with me into heaven."...
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
PHILIPPIANS i. 1-11 The Apostle and his converts one—The possible isolation of hearts—Union with and in Christ—Christ and the personality—Christ the secret of intimacy—Is the secret ours?—Reserve in Christian intercourse Let us begin our verbal study of the Letter which Epaphroditus carried to Philippi. We attempt first a translation of its first main section, interspersed with an explanatory paraphrase. This will be followed by a brief meditation upon one of the main "Lessons in Faith and Love"
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THE APOSTLE'S POSITION AND CIRCUMSTANCES
THE APOSTLE'S POSITION AND CIRCUMSTANCES
"Yield to the Lord, with simple heart, All that thou hast and all thou art, Renounce all strength but strength divine, And peace shall be for ever thine." MME DE LA MOTHE GUYON, translated by COWPER....
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
PHILIPPIANS i. 12-20 Disloyal "brethren"—Interest of the paragraph—The victory of patience—The Praetorian sentinel—Separatism, and how it was met—St Paul's secret—His "earnest expectation"—"Christ magnified"—"In my body" St Paul has spoken his affectionate greeting to the Philippians, and has opened to them the warm depths of his friendship with them in the Lord. What he feels towards them "in the heart of Christ Jesus," what he prays for them in regard of the growth and fruit of their new life,
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THE CHRISTIAN'S PEACE AND THE CHRISTIAN'S CONSISTENCY
THE CHRISTIAN'S PEACE AND THE CHRISTIAN'S CONSISTENCY
O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed; Give unto Thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that both our hearts may be set to obey Thy commandments, and also that by Thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. The Second Collect at Evening Prayer ....
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
PHILIPPIANS i. 21-30 He will be spared to them—Spiritual wealth of the paragraph—Adolphe Monod's exposition—Charles Simeon's testimony—The equilibrium and its secret—The intermediate bliss—He longs for their full consistency—The "gift" of suffering Ver. 21. +For to me, to live is Christ+; the consciousness and experiences of living, in the body, are so full of Christ, my supreme Interest, that CHRIST sums them all up; +and to die+, the act of dying,[1] +is gain+, for it will usher me in from an
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
PHILIPPIANS ii. 1-11 Dissensions incident to activity—Arguments for heart-union—"No plunderer's prize"—"The name"—The tone of the great passage—What the "Kenôsis" cannot be—It guarantees the infallibility—Doctrine and life—"Only thou" In the section which we studied last we found the Apostle coming to the weak point of the Christian life of the Philippians. On the whole, he was full of thankful and happy thoughts about them. Theirs was no lukewarm religion; it abounded in practical benevolence,
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CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI
PHILIPPIANS ii. 12-18 "Your own salvation"—Stars in the midnight sky—Truth and holiness—The atonement and the indwelling—Mystery and need of the indwelling—Indifference in God—Spiritual power shewn in love—Aggression and witness—The witnesses and the martyr We have just followed the Apostle as he has followed the Saviour of sinners from the Throne to the Cross, and from the Cross to the Throne. And we have remembered the moral motive of that wonderful paragraph of spiritual revelation. It was wr
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CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII
PHILIPPIANS ii. 19-30 Epaphroditus—The variety of Scripture—Contrasts in context—Henry Martyn's letter—"The human element"—"His letters I have read"—The two aspects of Scripture—Divine messages in human context—"Together with them" Ver. 19. +But I hope in the Lord Jesus+, with an expectation conditioned by my union with Him in all things, and with you in Him, +promptly to send to you Timotheus,[1] that I too+, I as well as you, who will of course be gladdened by his presence, +may be of good che
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
PHILIPPIANS iii. 1-11 Doctrinal perils at Philippi—"Be glad in the Lord"—The true Israel—An ideal legalist—Position and experience—The spiritual power of holy joy—Acceptance and holiness—Atoning Cross and Risen Life With the section just closed the Epistle reaches its middle point and already looks towards its end. We may lawfully think of St Paul as pausing here in his dictation; he returns to it after some considerable interval, with new topics, or rather with one important new topic, in his m
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CHRISTIAN STANDING AND CHRISTIAN PROGRESS
CHRISTIAN STANDING AND CHRISTIAN PROGRESS
"I want that adorning divine Thou only, my God, can'st bestow; I want in those beautiful garments to shine Which distinguish Thy household below. "I want, as a traveller, to haste Straight onward, nor pause on my way, Nor forethought nor anxious contrivance to waste On the tent only pitch'd for a day. "I want—and this sums up my prayer— To glorify Thee till I die, Then calmly to yield up my soul to Thy care, And breathe out, in faith, my last sigh."
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CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX
PHILIPPIANS iii. 12-16 Christian exultation—Christian confidence—"Not in the flesh"—"In Jesus Christ"—The prize in view—No finality in the progress—"Not already perfect"—The recompense of reward—What the prize will be In a certain sense we have completed our study of the first section of the third chapter of the Epistle. But the treatment has been so extremely imperfect, in view of the importance of that section, that a few further remarks must be made. Let us ponder one weighty verse, left almo
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THE BLESSED HOPE AND ITS POWER
THE BLESSED HOPE AND ITS POWER
"We are waiting, we are yearning for Thy voice Through the long, long summer day and winter night; We are mourning till Thou bid'st our souls rejoice, Till Thy coming turns our darkness into light: Come, Lord Jesus, come again; We shall see Thee as Thou art, Then, and not till then, In Thy glory bear a part; Then, and not till then, Thou wilt satisfy each heart." J. DENHAM SMITH....
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
PHILIPPIANS iii. 17-21 The problem of the body—Cautions and tears—"That blessed hope"—The duty of warning—The moral power of the hope—The hope full of immortality—My mother's life—"He is able"—The promise of his coming The Apostle draws to the close of his appeal for a true and watchful fidelity to the Gospel. He has done with his warning against Judaistic legalism. He has expounded, in the form of a personal confession and testimony, the true Christian position, the acceptance of the believer i
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PURITY AND PEACE IN THE PRESENT LORD
PURITY AND PEACE IN THE PRESENT LORD
"Now the Christians, O King, as men who know God, ask from Him petitions which are proper for Him to give and for them to receive; and thus they accomplish the course of their lives. And because they acknowledge the goodnesses of God towards them, lo! on account of them there flows forth the beauty that is in the world."— Apology of Aristides, about A.D. 130; translated by MRS RENDEL HARRIS....
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CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
PHILIPPIANS iv. 1-9 Euodia and Syntyche—Conditions to unanimity—Great uses of small occasions—Connexion to the paragraphs—The fortress and the sentinel—A golden chain of truths—Joy in the Lord—Yieldingness—Prayer in everything—Activities of a heart at rest Ver. 1. +So, my brethren beloved and longed for+, missed indeed, at this long distance from you, +my joy and crown+ of victory ( stephanos ), +thus+, as having such certainties and such aims, with such a Saviour, and looking for such a heaven,
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THE COLLECTION FOR ST PAUL: THE FAREWELL
THE COLLECTION FOR ST PAUL: THE FAREWELL
"Is thy cruse of comfort wasting? rise and share it with another, And through all the years of famine it shall serve thee and thy brother. "Is thy burthen hard and heavy? do thy steps drag wearily? Help to bear thy brother's burthen; God will bear both it and thee. "Is the heart a living power? self-entwin'd, its strength sinks low; It can only live in loving, and by serving love will grow." E. RUNDLE CHARLES....
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
PHILIPPIANS iv. 10-23 The Philippian alms—His sense of their faithful love—He has received in full—A passage in the Scriptural manner—The letter closes—"Christ is preached"—"Together with them" The work of dictation is nearly done in the Roman lodging. The manuscript will soon be complete, and then soon rolled up and sealed, ready for Epaphroditus; he will place it with reverence and care in his baggage, and see it safe to Philippi. But one topic has to be handled yet before the end. "Now concer
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THE PRAETORIAN AND THE APOSTLE
THE PRAETORIAN AND THE APOSTLE
ACTS xxviii. 16, 31 "Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. . . . preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ." (THE SOLDIER loquitur.) Father, the dawn is near! the shield Of Luna sinks remote and pale O'er Tiber and the Martial field; The breeze awakes; the cressets fail: This livelong night from set of sun Here have we talk'd: thy task is done. But yesterday I smil'd or frown'd To watch thy audi
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