those circumstances in which, and in reference to which, these holy men spoke and acted. Herein we recognise the designs of Divine wisdom in the government of the church, that Divine truth has been revealed to us, not in a law of the letter not in any summary of determined articles of belief, but that it has been communicated to us in this historical embodiment, in its particular application to particular cases, to ascertained historical relations and circumstances of life, through the instrumen tality of appointed human organs, who lived among men as representatives of Divine truth, who, amid the world and its concerns, witnessed to and revealed the things of God, and who, in their peculiar human manner, though in a manner sanctified by the Spirit of God, humanly spoke and acted. Thus was it ordained, that Divine truth should, humanly, be brought near to us. To our own intellectual and spiritual energies, animated, indeed, and guided by the Spirit of God, without whom nothing Divine can be apprehended or understood, it has been committed, to, investigate the Divine in its connection with the human; from the particular, to deduce the universal; and again, by its application to the special circumstances of our own time and life, to show the action of the universal in our particular relations; and in what these organs of the Spirit of Christ spoke and did, under the peculiar conditions of the Past, to discover its applicability to the conditions and relations of our Present times. As, in order rightly to understand the word of God in its human embodiment, and, according to this understanding, to apply it, humble submission to the Divine Spirit, who alone guides into all truths, and reveals the depths of His word, is always requisite; so also is it always requisite that we carefully attend to all these human relations. The word of God desires no indolent hearers, but claims all the powers of feeling and of mind. So only can its treasures be discovered. If we fail to discover them, if amid the darkness of the present, we murmur for want of light, we must attribute this to our own shortcomings of these requirements. That pregnant saying of our Lord, "He that hath, to him shall be given," may here be applied, as well to excite and encourage, as to warn and rebuke us in our inquiries.

The principles above stated find especial application in the Epistles of the Apostles, in which we should find far more to instruct, to edify, and to guide us in all the relations of life, if, with due attention and earnestness, we endeavoured to investigate their contents in this manner, if, in accordance with these rules, we sought to weigh each word. May the Spirit of God enlighten and guide us, thus to learn to understand and apply one of the noblest epistles of the apostle Paul, who wrote as no other could write, and in which, the living image of the apostle of the Gentiles is placed before our eyes,-the Epistle to the Philippians.

We must, therefore, first realise to ourselves the peculiar circumstances and aspects, under which the apostle wrote this epistle. Zeal for the salvation of the Gentile world had brought upon him his last persecutions from the frenzy of the Jews, who refused to grant to the Heathen equal participation and equal rights in the kingdom of God. It was this which occasioned his seizure in Jerusalem, his captivity of several years in the city of Cæsarea, and, on his appeal to the Roman emperor, his imprisonment at Rome, the issue of which was still uncertain. Care for the welfare of the churches in various parts of the world, which, through the dangers that had befallen their apostolical teacher, might become unstable in their faith itself, and which, in the approach of troublous and agitated days, would be deprived of his personal guidance, occupied his thoughts in his bonds and imprisonment, far more than care for his own life. This deficiency he designed to supply through the medium of his disciples and companions in the preaching of the Gospel, who formed the living bond of union between himself and these churches, and by his own epistles. Of these the church at Philippi in Macedonia was one, and the first which Paul had founded in that country. Having witnessed the odium and the sufferings endured by Paul for the cause of the Gospel, -of which we have the record in the Acts of the Apostles,having seen before their own eyes the example of his boldness in the faith, of his devotion to the Lord, of his triumphant enthusiasm for His cause, of his rejoicing amid all his trials, of the wonderful dispensations of the Lord, through which he

had been delivered, the faith of the Christians there had been peculiarly confirmed and strengthened, while their love to him, who was ready to sacrifice everything to bring them the glad tidings of salvation, became the more warm and fervent. They followed the example of their faithful teacher. Although, at that period, Christianity had not attracted the attention of the Roman government, nor was the object of persecution through any express edicts, as, on account of its revolt against the old state-religion, it must soon become, according to the Roman constitution in reference to the affairs of religion; and although, therefore, no general persecutions against Christianity and the church had as yet taken place, and the Christians, in most regions, enjoyed rest, yet, in this respect, Macedonia formed an exception. From the very first, the rage of the Jews, who were dispersed in considerable numbers among the commercial towns, had been excited against the preachers and the professors of the Gospel, and the dissensions which necessarily arose between believers and their heathen fellow-citizens, they sought to strengthen. Although there were no statutes in force against Christianity, the heathen population, from whom the new Christians were so strikingly distinguished by the peculiarity of their Christian life and conversation, could easily devise manifold means to disturb and annoy them; just as, in the history of modern missions, we see a repetition of such efforts in the intercourse of the newly converted and their old heathen associates. Amid such persecutions, the church at Philippi remained steadfast, and thereby their faith and their love were tested. Hence, also, the persecutions which had befallen their apostolical teacher could not confound their faith. They were conscious of a communion in a higher life with him, amid all his conflicts and sufferings. Through his afflictions and the dangers impending over him, their love and sympathy for him were only the more kindled. To prove this to him, they had sent one of their own number, Epaphroditus, to obtain, through him, more accurate intelligence of his situation. We know that, although the Lord Christ conferred on His apostles the power of imposing on those for whose salvation they laboured, the provision of their bodily wants, Paul had not availed him

self of this right. As the preventing and saving grace of the Lord had manifested itself in so peculiar a manner in him, as from being the most vehement persecutor, it transformed him into a preacher of the Gospel, so he felt himself constrained to do more than the others, whom Christ had called to himself in the usual way, and had gradually trained for His service, and to renounce a right, which, like the other apostles, he might have exercised. By his more abundant labours and sufferings, by his greater acts of self-denial, did he, who had been called as by force, seek to show his free love in the dispensation committed to him. (1 Cor. ix. 17-19.) His own peculiar nature, strengthened by the supernatural gift of the Spirit, enabled him to be of those whom Christ counted blessed, because they renounced marriage for the kingdom of heaven's sake; who were so counted blessed, not on account of the celibate life in itself, as if Paul could have any pre-eminence above Peter, who, in marriage sanctified by the Lord, laboured for the advancement of the kingdom of God,—but on account of the feelings which prompted them to renounce it, viz. love, sacrificing all for the kingdom of God. It was this spirit of all-sacrificing love which animated Paul, which led him to regard as his duty, and undertake with joyous zeal, everything which, under any given circumstances, tended to promote his vocation. From the same principle he supported himself amid all his labours of preaching, by the work of his own hands, as a tentmaker. He felt in himself the truth of the word spoken by the Lord, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." To avoid every appearance of self-seeking, to remove every ground of suspicion from his opponents among the Jews and Judaizing Christians, he took on himself alone the care of his temporal maintenance. The Christian community at Philippi, however, urged by their sincere love, had anticipated his wants, and had several times sent him contributions in money, well knowing the straits he would often be put to, in order to gain his livelihood; and Paul, though himself desiring nothing, would not, considering the source of such feeling, repel these offerings of free love. Thus, at that period, had this church shown its active sympathy for Paul, through their emissary Epaphroditus. This

mark of affectionate remembrance, and the information regarding the state of the community at Philippi, which he learnt from Epaphroditus, were the occasion of Paul's writing this epistle, the design of which was, to express his gratitude and love to the church at Philippi,—to comfort them regarding his own condition, to exhibit before it his Christian tone of feeling amid his conflicts and dangers, and to impart those exhortations and encouragements which were adapted to its own

state.

We must now, therefore, direct our attention to Paul's condition during his imprisonment at Rome,-to those lessons which are to be learnt from his conduct during it, and from that picture of his state of mind, which this epistle affords us, and to his instructions to this church, in reference to its peculiar position, for the various application of which, our own cognate circumstances will afford us abundant matter.

First, then, with regard to the condition of Paul, which was one calculated to produce a conflict of feelings in his heart. He had publicly testified to the cause of the Lord, and made his own defence. His apology had produced the general impression, that his imprisonment was the result, not of any disturbance he had raised against the public peace, nor of any other criminal transgression laid to his charge, but solely on account of his preaching a faith odious to the Jews, against which new faith, as we have already remarked, no statutes were in existence. If then, on this point, Paul could triumphantly prove his innocence, his safety might thence appear secured. According to the Roman laws, however, the act of seducing the citizens and subjects of the Roman empire to revolt against the religion of the state, and of seeking to make proselytes to a faith, which, though not yet expressly condemned by an edict, from its very nature must perpetually conflict with this state religion, would be regarded as punishable. Paul's case, therefore, was not so simple; there might still be room for manifold perplexities. At one time, expectations, founded on the impression, which his public defence had made, would arise in him, that he would safely be delivered from his bonds, and that it would again. be possible to him, to visit the churches he had formerly