III. What is the intent and object of these Divine operations?—1. They are not designed to transform the character as, when after conversion, they are media of sanctification. 2. Human co-operation is the indispensable condition of progress. 3. Will and do. These describe the duty of the unconverted man.—S. Olin, D.D.
Man’s Work and God’s Work.
- This salvation is begun when we believe in Christ, but it requires to be worked out.
- The fact that God works in us renders our working possible.
- The fact that God works in us should make us fear and tremble.—R. Abercrombie, M.A.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 14–18.
The Lustre of a Blameless Life—
I. Suppresses all murmuring and doubt as unworthy of the children of God.—“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke” (vers. 14, 15). As the sons of God, distinguished by so high and holy a calling, believers should be blameless and pure. Their spiritual integrity should lift them above the cause of blame. To be pure and blameless they must not yield to the spirit of dissatisfaction and doubt. “No matter what may tend to excite this spirit, it must not be indulged, whether the temptation to it be the Divine command, the nature of the duty, the self-denial it involves, or the opposition occasionally encountered. There was neither grudge nor reluctance with Him whose example is described in the preceding verses, no murmur at the depth of His condescension, or doubt as to the amount or severity of the sufferings which for others He so willingly endured” (Eadie).
II. Sheds a guiding light in the midst of a dark world.—“In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life” (vers. 15, 16). The Philippians were to be a light and guide to their fellow-citizens, a people made up of Jew and pagan, moved by tortuous and perverse impulses. Nothing would please them: give them one argument, they cry for another; tell them of the simplicity of the Gospel, they prefer you should dwell on its mysteries; speak of its power, they ask you to expound its charity. The children of God are to society everywhere what the heavenly luminaries are to the world—they are to diffuse light, and guide the way to a better life. The star which led the wise men to Christ, the pillar of fire which led the children of Israel into Canaan, did not only shine, but went before them. Believers shine by the light of the Word which they hold forth, and that light is the guide to others. Virtue should shine in cities, not in solitudes. The Christian’s duty is here among men; and the nearer he draws to his fellow-men, so that his religion be real and true, the more good he is likely to do them. On the north coast of Cornwall and Devon is a lighthouse, which first of all was placed high upon the cliffs, where the mists and fogs often obscured and hid its brightness from the passing mariner in hours of the sorest need. So they took it down and built it afresh on the rock out at sea, amid the waves of that dangerous coast, there to shine where it was most necessary.
III. Supplies a prolific theme of ministerial joy.—1. A joy complete when his work is finally appraised. “That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (ver. 16). The apostle had run with the eagerness of a racer in the Isthmian games—the prizes he sought, the souls of men; he had laboured with strenuous and persevering diligence—the wages he sought, the souls of men; and now looking by anticipation at the results of his apostolic toil, in the light of the great day of Christ, his greatest joy will be that his efforts have not been in vain. His joy then will be, not in the number and wealth of the Churches he founded, but in the spiritual progress and advancement of the members. The results of work for Christ are often in this world obscured and confused; but in the day of Christ all will be clear and the work seen in all its beauty and dimensions. The joy of success is often checkered and interrupted in this life; but yonder the joy will be complete and full. We shall share the joy of the conquering Christ.
2. A joy not diminished though life is prematurely sacrificed.—“Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all” (ver. 17). The apostle’s image is that of an altar, on which the faith of the Philippians is laid by him as priest, while his own blood is being poured out as the usual drink-offering or libation. In the near prospect of martyrdom he has no gloomy anticipations. Death will not terminate his joy, but accelerate it, as it will admit him to realms where all is calm and joy and peace. Such is the triumph of the Christian spirit; it can rejoice in tribulation and in the very presence of death.
3. A joy in which his converts may share.—“For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me” (ver. 18). So far from being dispirited by the prospect of his martyrdom, the apostle calls upon them to share his joy on account of the success of the Gospel. How often in the changeful experiences of life are joy and sorrow mingled together. “Joy lives in the midst of the sorrow; the sorrow springs from the same root as the gladness. The two do not clash against each other, or reduce the emotion to a neutral indifference, but they blend into one another, just as in the Arctic regions, deep down beneath the cold snow with its white desolation and its barren death, you shall find the budding of the early spring flowers and the fresh green grass; just as some kinds of fire burn below the water; just as in the midst of the barren and undrinkable sea there may be welling up some little fountain of fresh water that comes from a deeper depth than the great ocean around it and pours its sweet streams along the surface of the salt waste” (Maclaren).