THE BLESSED HOPE AND ITS POWER
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
in "the righteousness which is of God by faith," and the sanctification
of the believer through union with his Lord and in an always growing
communion with Him. Throughout this deep and most tender argument has
run everywhere the truth with which it began, that the sure antidote to
the spiritual errors in question is "joy in the Lord." The glad use of
Jesus Christ in His personal glory and perfection, as He merited for
us, and as we abide in Him--this is the way.
Already another class of mistake and danger has risen before his mind,
and occupies it now exclusively. From ver. 12 onward, if I read the
passage aright, he has been thinking not of the legalist only, who
opposed and denounced his doctrine of grace and faith, but of the
school or schools which rather would applaud it--and then distort it.
There was the teacher who would assert a premature and delusive
personal perfection, proclaiming himself so close to Christ that he had
already reached the holy goal. And there was the teacher who would
reason so upon the perfectness of the atoning merits as to disclaim the
need of seeking with all his soul a personal conformity to the Lord of
the Atonement. Such a man would conceivably affirm for himself an
experience of intense spiritual insight, a communion with God profound
and direct, an exaltation into a celestial atmosphere of consciousness;
while yet, and on his own avowed theory, he was living a life in which
sin was allowed to reign in his mortal body, What did it matter? The
spirit soared and expatiated in a higher region. The true man lived in
the world above, "commercing with the skies"; it was but the body, soon
to perish, which went its own way, and might be allowed to do so, for
it could never be other than the uncongenial burthen of the real man.
Such theories, as all are aware, were largely developed and widely
spread in the sub-apostolic age. The word Gnosticism, so familiar to
the reader of the early history of thought in and around the Church,
reminds us of this; for while many Gnostics were severe ascetics,
others were practical libertines; and the divergent practices sprang
from one deep source of error, dishonour of the body. To both schools,
spirit was good, matter was evil. By both therefore the body was
viewed not as a subject of redemption, but as a barrier in its way.
The one aimed to wear out the barrier, to help it to disappear. The
others left it, as they thought, alone; leapt, as they thought, over
it; as if they could pursue a spiritual life which should be
irrespective of the body's hopeless evils.
The embryo, at least, of this latter type of thought was beyond doubt
apparent in St Paul's day, and had begun to be felt at Philippi.
There, in that loving and beloved community, the plague had begun, or
at least the infection was imminent. "Many walked" (perhaps not
actually at Philippi yet, but they might soon come) in the foul broad
road which they asserted to be clean and narrow. Very probably they
used the terms of the Pauline Gospel, and said much of grace, and
faith, and the Spirit, and the things above. But none the less they
were the victims of an awful self-delusion; teachers whose doctrine led
downwards to the pit. To them he comes at length, explicitly and
finally. In view of them he places before the Philippians once more
the fact of his own and his brethren's examples, and then the
sanctifying power of that blessed hope, the Redemption of the Body.
Ver. 17. +United imitators of me become ye, brethren+; taking me, your
long-known guide in the Lord, for your moral pattern, and strengthening
your mutual cohesion (_summimetai_) by so doing (an appeal prompted not
by egotism or self-confidence, but by single-hearted certainty about my
message and my purpose); +and mark+, watch, in order to tread in their
steps,[1] +those who so walk as you have us+, me and my
missionary-brethren, +for a model+; those whose practical conduct in
human life and intercourse (_peripatein_), seen among you day by day in
its wholesomeness and truth, plainly reproduces what you remember of
ours. There is need for this attention, and for this
Ver. 18. discrimination. +For there are many men walking+, pursuing a
line of conduct and practice, +whom I often used to tell you of+, in
the days of our direct intercourse, +but+ (_de_) +now tell you of
actually+ (_kai_) +with cries and tears+ (_klaion_), (so much has the
evil grown, in extent and in depth, so awfully apparent are its issues,
for this world and the world to come,) +as the enemies+, _the_ personal
enemies (_tous echthrous_), as if in a bad pre-eminence, +of the Cross
of our+ (_tou_) +Christ+, that Cross of whose virtues they can say
much, but whose power upon the soul they utterly ignore; +of+
Ver. 19. +whom the end is perdition+, ruin of the whole being,[2]
final and hopeless; +of whom the god is the belly+, (the sensual
appetites, the body's degradation, not its function,) while they claim
an exalted and special intimacy with the Supreme; +and their+ (_he_)
+glory+, their boast to see deeper and to soar higher than others, +is
in their shame; men whose mind is for+ (_phronouten_) +the things on
earth+, not, as they dream, or as at least they say, for the things of
an upper and super-corporeal world. No; their subtle doctrine of
spirit and body--what is it when tested in its issues? It is but a
philosophy of sin; a gossamer robe over the self-indulgence which has
come to be the real interest of the theorist, the real occupation of
his will. All is really, with them, of the earth, earthy. Far other
is the doctrine we have learned, and have striven to exemplify, at the
feet of Christ.
Ver. 20. For our city-home, the seat of our citizenship, and of the
conduct which it demands and inspires,[3] +subsists in the heavens+, is
always there, an antecedent and abiding fact (_huparchei_), on which we
are to act in life; in that heavenly world, where the Lord is, and for
which He is training us; the eternal Country of this eternal City and
Home; +out of which+ (city)[4] +we are actually+ (_kai_) +waiting for,
as our Saviour+, in the full and final sense, the +Lord Jesus Christ,
who will+
Ver. 21. +transfigure+--not annihilate, not cast away as essentially
evil, but wonderfully change in its conditions, and so in its guise, in
its semblance (_schema_)--+the body of our humiliation+, this body, now
inseparably connected with the burthens and abasements of our
mortality, _humbling_ us continually in the course of its necessities,
and of its sufferings, but not therefore, in its essence, other than
God's good handiwork; +to be conformed+, with a resemblance based on an
essential assimilation (_summorphon_, _morphe_), +to the body of His
glory+, as He resumed His blessed Body when He rose, and as He wears it
now upon the Throne, and in it manifests Himself to the happy ones in
their bliss; +according to+, in ways and measures conditioned only by,
+the forth-putting+ (_energeia_) +of His ability actually to subdue to
Himself all things that are+ (_ta panta_).
So the great passage, the pregnant chapter, ends. As it began so it
closes--with Jesus Christ. With Him His servant can never have done;
"Him first, Him midst, Him last, and without end." Jesus Christ is the
present joy, and the everlasting hope. His perfected righteousness is
the believer's actual deep safety and repose. His unsearchable riches
of personal grace and glory are the constant animation and ever-rising
standard of the believer's spiritual progress. He is the eternal
Antidote to our fears, and also to our sins. He is the infinite
Contradiction to the least compromise, under any pretext, with evil;
and He is this, among other ways, by being Himself "that blessed Hope";
"the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our Hope" (1 Tim. i. 1); so that the
prospect of His Return, and of what He will do for us, and for Himself
(_eauto_), when He returns, is to be our mighty motive in the matter of
practical, aye of bodily, cleanness and holiness of life.
The whole passage now before us is strongly characteristic of the New
Testament way of dealing with sin. In the first place, there is no
lack of urgent and explicit warning. The moral and spiritual evil is
labelled unmistakably. It is pointed out as a danger not hypothetical
but actual; not floating in the air, but embodied in lives and
influences: "_Many persons walk_ whom I tell you of with tears as the
enemies of the cross of Christ." And of these persons, as such, it is
unflinchingly said that their end is _atoleia_, "ruin," "perdition";
dread and hopeless word. In all this lies a lesson for our day. In
many quarters the solemn utterance of warning is now almost silent; it
is regarded as almost unchristian to warn sinners, even open sinners,
to do anything so much out of the fashion as "to flee from the wrath to
come," "the wrath which is coming upon the children of disobedience."
But this is not the apostolic way, nor the Lord's way.
Yet this passage, this heart-searching appeal, while it deals with
warning, does not end with it. Its strongest and chosen argument is
not fear but hope; not perdition but "the coming again of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him." St Paul has to
guard the Philippians against a most subtle form of sensual temptation,
a masterpiece of the Enemy. In passing, and with bitter tears, he
points to the gulph where that path ends. In closing, and with his
whole heart, he points to the coming Lord in His benignant glory, and
to the unutterable joy of our being then, finally and even in our
material being, transfigured for ever into His likeness.
For our own blessing, and for that of others, let us follow this
example. Whether in the pulpit to a listening throng, or in more
individual approaches to other men, or when we turn in upon ourselves,
and, like the Psalmists, speak to our own souls, in the most secret
possible hour, let us seek to speak thus. Let us not take an opiate
against the ideas of judgment, wrath, perdition--unless, with our
Bibles quite open, we are quite sure that such things are only dreams
of a past religious night. Let us take urgent heed, above all for
ourselves, lest we _lose faith in the warnings_ of God. But all the
while let us present to ourselves, and to others, as the great argument
of all for saying "No" to specious sin, "that blessed Hope." Let us
consider Jesus Christ, till He shines upon us in something of the glory
of His Person and His Work. Let us wait for Him from heaven. More and
more, as the years roll, and the suns set, and "that day" is
approaching, let us take our place among those who "love His
appearing." And as for our bodies, and His call to be pure in body as
in spirit, let us continually remember that "the body is for the Lord,
and the Lord for the body" (1 Cor. vi. 13). Let us not merely try to
reason down temptation, or to order it down, in the name of abstract
rightness, or of concrete peril. Let us recollect as a glorious fact
that the body is the purchased property of the Lord Jesus; that He
cares for it, as His dear-bought possession; that He can, by His own
Spirit, sanctify it now, through and through; and that He is coming,
perhaps very soon indeed, to "transfigure it to be conformed to the
body of His glory."
The whole genius of the Gospel tends to connect together, as closely as
possible, holiness and happiness. They are to act and react in
manifold ways in the Christian life. Holiness lies at the root of
happiness, as its deep condition. But also happiness, from another
point of view, waters the root of holiness, and expands its flowers,
and brings its sweet fruit to fulness. "The joy of the Lord is your
strength"--your strength to say to temptation a "No" which shall be
entirely willing and simple. Never shall we so tread down the tempter,
and the traitor, as when we are "rejoicing in Christ Jesus," and "in
the hope of the glory of God."
Then let us cultivate this blessed secret. Let us prove the power of
Christ loved and looked for. In a very special sense let St Paul teach
us here to apply to our present needs the force of a heavenly future,
the future of His coming, and of our meeting Him and being transfigured
by Him. In many directions, in the Church, this rule is being
practised now with great earnestness, and with happy issues; the
looking for the Lord's Return is indeed a reality to many. But in many
directions it is otherwise. Christian thought and labour too often
seem to limit themselves to the sphere of the present, and to forget
that the goal of the Gospel is not a state of social _bien-etre_
developed by philanthropy under the auspices, so to speak, of Christ,
but an immortality of holy power and service, won for us by His merits,
prepared for us by His exaltation, while we are prepared for it by His
Spirit working in us. Again and again we need to remember this. The
Gospel showers along its path, upon the mortal life of man, personal
and social blessings of the philanthropic kind which nothing else can
possibly bring down. It makes to-day infinitely important by
connecting it with the eternal to-morrow. But the path is towards that
to-morrow. "We look at the things not seen, for the things which are
not seen are eternal." We "desire a better country, that is, an
heavenly." "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; we shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
Much current Christian teaching practically tends to drop immortality
very nearly out of sight. The Lord's Return, the heavenly Life, "the
liberty of the glory of the sons of God"--these topics are either
little mentioned, or treated too much as luxuries and ornaments of the
Gospel. But it was not so for the Lord Jesus, and for His Apostles.
And we shall find that to follow Him and them in this, as in other
things, is best. It "hath the promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come." Their doctrine of the future is much more than
an antidote to death. It is the mighty animation of life. It makes
altogether for present purity, and righteousness, and self-sacrificing
love, in the concrete circumstances of this generation. It is the
thought in which alone man can live his true life _now_, as a being who
is made "to glorify God--and to enjoy Him fully _for ever_."
As a matter of fact, no human life is so true, full, and beautiful as
that which is at once assiduously attentive to present duty and
service, and full of the everlasting hope. Such lives are being lived
all around us. Which of my readers has not known at least one such?
For me, one among many shines out in my heart radiant with a brightness
all its own; it is the life of my blessed Mother. She has now been a
great while with the Lord, on whom she so long believed. But the
impression of what that "conversation" was is not only indelible; it
lives and moves, as fresh to-day as ever. It was a busy life--the life
of a wife, a mother of many sons, a friend of many friends, the
pastor's help-mate in a poor parish. It was a life of minute and
devoted attention to every duty, large and little. It was a life of
warm and ready sympathies, and manifold interests. But it was a life
all the while of divine communion, and of an unwavering "hope full of
immortality." Dear to that heart indeed were husband, children,
friends, neighbours, suffering and sinning world. Very fruitful was
that life for individual and social blessing, just such as the
philanthropist seeks to convey. Side by side with my Father, who
laboured incessantly through a long life for God and man, and for men's
health as well as their salvation, my Mother lived for others in all
their present needs. But the springs of what she was, and did, were
within the veil. And the choice and the longing were always, in
perfect harmony with every strong human affection, directed towards
heaven She did indeed "wait, as for her Saviour, for the Lord Jesus
Christ." And the whole result, for those whom that life affected, was
a deep, strong evidence of Christianity. In her we saw the Gospel
beautify the present by lifting the veil of the blessed future. We
recognized the reality of Jesus Christ now by converse with one who so
much desired the sight of His glory _then_.
As we draw to an end, let us take up the closing words of our
paragraph, and read them as a special "lesson of faith." St Paul is
telling us of a change yet to pass over us, over these our bodies,
altogether inconceivable in kind and degree. They are to be
"transfigured into conformity to the body of our Saviour's glory."
Yes, it is inconceivable; in modern parlance, it is "unthinkable."
"How can these things be?" Well, Scripture does not invite us to
"conceive" it, to "think" it, in the sense of thinking it out. It
helps us indeed elsewhere (1 Cor. xv.) with intimations and
illustrations, up to a certain point; but this is not to explain, or to
ask us to explain. What it does is something better; it invites us to
trust a personal Agent, who understands all that He has undertaken, and
who is able. "How can these things be?" Not according to this or that
law, principle, or tendency, which we can divine. No; but "according
to the mighty working whereby HE is able to subdue all things unto
Himself."
The method of the Bible is to give us ample views of what Jesus Christ
is, and then (not before) to ask us to trust Jesus Christ to DO what he
says He can. He says, "I will raise you up at the last day." And He
does not go on to explain. He says nothing in detail of His _modus
operandi_. We are in absolute ignorance of it, as much as the
Christians of five, or ten, or eighteen centuries ago. We do not know
how. But we know Him. And He has said, "I will"--and has died and
risen again.
Shall we not rest here? It is good ground. "I know whom I have
believed; and am persuaded that He is able."
And what is true of His power and promise in this great matter of our
resurrection and our glory, is true of course all round the circle of
His undertakings. "He can subdue all things." And therefore, not only
death, and the grave, and the mysteries of matter, but also our hearts,
our affections, our wills. He can "bring every thought into captivity"
to the holy rule of His thought. He can "subdue our iniquities." And
he can subdue also all that we know as circumstance and condition;
making the crooked straight, and the rough places plain. How, we may
be wholly ignorant beforehand; only, "according to the mighty working."
Lastly, it is _heauto_,[5] "unto HIMSELF." What a word of rest and
power! Our expectation of His victories in us and for us does not
terminate upon ourselves; it is never safe to terminate things there.
It rises and rests in Himself. Our glorification, body and soul, is,
ultimately, "unto Him"; therefore the prospect, and the desire, are
boundlessly right and safe. "To subdue all things _unto Himself_"; so
as to serve Him, to promote His ends, to do His will. Our absolute
emancipation from all the limitations of both moral and material evil
is "unto Himself." Emancipation on this side, it is an entire and
eternal annexation on the other. The being will be fully liberated
that it may fully serve--"day and night in His temple."
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Come, to our full and final salvation.
Come, that we, the beings whom Thou hast made, and remade, may enjoy
"the liberty of the glory" (Rom. viii. 21) for which we were destined
in Thy love. Come, that we may be for ever happy, and strong, and
free, in that wonderful world of the resurrection. Come, that we may
meet again with exceeding joy the beloved ones who have gone before us,
and all Thy saints, and may with them inherit the everlasting kingdom.
But oh come yet more for Thyself, and for Thy glory, and to take Thy
full possession. "Subdue all things," Lord Jesus, "unto Thyself."
Subdue our death for ever, that our endless life may be, in all its
fulness, spent for Thee.
"For Thou hast met our longings
With words of golden tone,
That we shall serve for ever
Thyself, Thyself alone;
"Shall serve Thee, and for ever,
Oh hope most sure, most fair;
The perfect love outpouring
In perfect service there." [6]
[1] _skopeite_: _skopein_ usually has reference to the attention which
results in avoidance; so Rom. xvi. 17: _parakalo skopein tous ta
skandala poiountas kai ekklinate k.t.l._ But here obviously the
"looking" is for imitation.--The Philippians knew St Paul's teaching,
and in his attached leading disciples among them they could _see_ it
embodied.
[2] Cp. Matt. vii. 13; Rom. vi. 21; 2 Cor. xi. 15; Heb. vi. 8; 1 Pet.
iv. 17.
[3] I thus attempt to give the meaning of _politeuma_, so far as I
understand it. The R.V. renders it "_citizenship_," and
"_commonwealth_" in the margin. The usage of the word in Greek
literature amply justifies either, and either well suits the general
context. The Apostle means that Christians are citizens of the
heavenly City as to their _status_, and are therefore "obliged by their
nobility" to live, however far from their home, as those who belong to
it, and represent it. What seems lacking however in the rendering of
the R.V. is the idea of _locality_, which (to me) was clearly present
to St Paul's mind in his use of _politeuma_ here. The proof of this
lies in the words _ex ou_ just below; not _ex on_ (_ouranon_) but _ex
ou_ (_politeumatos_): I can find _no proof_ of the assertion (Moulton's
_Winer_, p. 177) that _ex ou_ is a mere equivalent for _hothen_, and so
may refer to the plural _ouranoi_. The rendering "_seat_ of
citizenship" seems fairly to represent _politeuma_ thus.--The A.V.
"_conversation_" (Lat. _conversatio_, "intercourse of life") probably
represents an impression of the translators that the Apostle is as it
were echoing i. 27, _axios tu euaggeliou politeuesthe_. But the
imagery here is different, and definite.
[4] See note just above on _ex ou_.
[5] Perhaps read _auta_. But the translation must remain the same.
[6] F. R. Havergal.
_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.