_THE MIND OF CHRIST._
In the verses last considered the Apostle had begun to summon his
Philippian friends to Christian duty. But so far his words bear the
character only of occasional exhortation, which falls naturally in as he
dwells upon his own circumstances and on theirs. Associated as they have
been and are, let there be no mistake as to the central bond between him
and them. Let the Philippian believers partake increasingly in his own
glowing apprehensions of the Christian calling. Let them abound in the
loving, steadfast, energetic, expectant life in which men are united who
have become acquainted with Christ.
But he thinks fit to press the theme in a more set and deliberate way.
For it is no light thing to awaken in men's hearts a right impression of
what it is to be a Christian; or if it has been awakened, to nurse it to
due strength. These Christians possessed some insight into the world of
truth which held the mind of Paul; they had some experience of
evangelical impression: in these things they had a happy fellowship
with one another and with their great teacher. But all this must be
affirmed and embodied in the conflict and ministry of Christian life. It
must prove strong enough for that. Deeds are the true confession of our
faith; they are the verification of our religious experience. And in
this practical form we must overcome, not the temptations of other
people or other ages, but our own. There is no more dangerous working of
unbelief than that in which it never questions the doctrinal theory, but
renders our Christianity cold and slack, and leads us to indulge a
preference for a religion that goes easy. Could we but see as we are
seen, we should find this to be a matter of endless lamentation.
Temptations to rivalry and discord were working at Philippi. We are not
obliged to think that they had gone very far; but one could see a risk
that they might go further. The Apostle has it in his heart to expel
this evil, by promoting the principles and dispositions that are opposed
to it. And in this work the Philippians themselves must embark with all
their might.
It has been remarked already that causes are easily found to account for
rivalries and misunderstandings springing up in those primitive
Christian congregations. The truth is, however, that in all ages and
conditions of the Church these dangers are nigh at hand. Self-seeking
and self-exaltation are forms in which sin works most easily, and out of
these come rivalry and discord by the very nature of the case. Eager
grasping at our own objects leads to disregard of the rights and
interests of others; and thence come wars. Danger in this direction was
visible to the Apostle.
It may be asked how this should be, if the Philippians were genuine and
hearty Christians, such as the Apostle's commendations bespeak them?
Here a principle comes to light which deserves to be considered. Even
those who have cordially embraced Christianity, and who have loyally
given effect to it in some of its outstanding applications, are
wonderfully prone to stop short. They do not perceive, or they do not
care to realise, the bearing of the same principles, which they have
already embraced, upon whole regions of human life and human character;
they do not seriously lay to heart the duties Christianity imposes or
the faults it rebukes in those departments. They are pleased to have won
so much ground, and do not think about the Canaanites that still hold
_their_ ground. So, in whole regions of life, the carnal mind is allowed
to work on, undetected and practically unopposed. This tendency is aided
by the facility we have in disguising from ourselves the true character
of dispositions and actions, when these do not quite plainly affront
Christian rules. Self-assertion and bad temper, for example, can put on
the character of honest firmness and hearty zeal. More particularly,
when religious principles have led us into certain lines of action, we
are apt to take for granted that all is right we do in those lines.
Religious zeal leads a man to take trouble and incur responsibility in
Church work. Under this notion, then, he readily persuades himself that
all his Church work is conscientious and disinterested: yet it may be
largely and deeply tainted with the impulses of the fleshly mind. In a
measure it might be so here. The Philippians might be generally a
company of sincerely Christian people. And yet the churchmanship of some
of them might disclose sad tokens of selfishness and bitterness.
Therefore they must be called to give heed to the principles and to give
effect to the motives that expel those sins.
In all this we may feel ourselves in the region of commonplaces; we know
it all so well. But the very point in hand is that for the Apostle these
are not commonplaces. He is greatly in earnest about the matter, and his
heart is full of it. We do not understand him until we begin to
sympathise with his sorrow and his anxiety. This is for him no mere
matter of expediencies or of appearances. He is striving for the victory
of grace in the souls of his beloved friends; for the glory of Christ;
for his own comfort and success as Christ's minister. All these are, as
it were, at stake upon this question of the life of the Philippian
Church proving to be, under the influence of Christ, lowly, loving, and
answerable to the gospel.
No one more than Paul appreciates the value of good theological
principles; and no one more than he lays stress on the mercy which
provides a gracious and a full salvation. But no one more than he is
intent upon Christian practice: for if practice is not healed and
quickened, then salvation ceases to be real, the promises wither
unfulfilled, Christ has failed. We may well feel it to be a great
question whether our own sympathy with him on such points is growing and
deepening. The Kingdom of God within us must exist in a light and love
for which goodness is a necessity, and evil a grief and heart-break. But
if it is not so with us, where do we stand?
In four clauses the Apostle appeals to great Christian motives, which
are to give strength to his main appeal--"If there be any comfort (or
store of cheering counsel) in Christ Jesus, if any consolation of love,
if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies or compassions";
in a fifth clause he draws a motive from the regard they might have for
his own most earnest desires--"fulfill ye my joy"; and then comes the
exhortation itself, which is to unity of mind and heart--"that ye be of
the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."
This, in turn, is followed by clauses that fix the practical sense of
the general exhortation.
It has been made a question whether the Apostle means to say, "If there
be among you, Philippians, influences and experiences such as these," or
"If there be anywhere in the Church of God." But surely he means both.
He appeals to great practical articles of faith and matters of
experience. The Church of God believes them and claims a part in them.
So does the Church of Philippi, in its degree. But there may be a great
deal more in them than the Philippian believers are aware of,--more in
them as truths and promises; more in them as contemplated and realised
by riper Christians, like Paul himself. He appeals, certainly, to what
existed for the faith of the Philippians; but also to that "much more"
which might open to them if their faith was enlarged.
The "comfort" or cheering counsel "in Christ" is the fulness of gospel
help and promise. Great need of this is owned by all believers; and,
coming as needed succour to them all, it may well bind them all together
in the sense of common need and common help. As it comes from the good
Shepherd Himself to all and each, so it is conceived to be ever sounding
in the Church, passing from one believer to another, addressed by each
to each as common succour and common comfort. Hence, in the next place,
there comes into view the mutual ministry of "consolation" which
Christians owe to one another, since they "receive" one another, and are
to do to one another as Christ has done to them. Here the consolation
acquires a special character, from the individual affection and
friendship breathed into it by the Christian, who carries it to his
neighbour to encourage and cheer him on his way. This love of the
Christian to his brother, which comes from God, is itself a means of
grace; and therefore the "consolation of love" deserves to be distinctly
named.
The "fellowship of the Spirit" (see 2 Cor. xiii. 13) is the common
participation of the Holy Spirit of God in His gracious presence and
working. Without this no one could have a real share in Christian
benefits. The Spirit reveals to us the Son and the Father, and enables
us to abide in the Son and in the Father. He brings us into communion
with the mind of God as revealed in His word. He makes real to us the
things of the Kingdom of God; and it is He who opens to us their worth
and sweetness, especially the lovingkindness which breathes in them all.
Through Him we are enabled to exercise Christian affections, desires,
and services. It is He, in a word, through whom we are participant in
the life of salvation; and in that life He associates together all who
share His indwelling. The Apostle supposes that no Christian could ever
contemplate without, shall we say, a pang of gratitude, the
condescension, the gentleness, and the patience of this ministration.
And as all Christians are recipient together of so immense a benefit,
they might well feel it as a bond between them all. But more especially,
as the Holy Spirit in this dispensation evinces a most Divine love and
kindness--for what but love could be the spring of it?--so also the
upshot of all His work is the revelation of God in love. For love is at
the heart of all God's promises and benefits: they are never understood
until we reach the love that is in them. And God is love. So the love of
God is shed abroad in the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit
given to them. Hence this is the leading view of that which the Spirit
comes to do: He comes to make us members of a system in which love
rules; and He inspires all loving affections and dispositions proper to
make us congruous members of so high and good a world.
Therefore, in the fourth place, it is to be supposed that "tender
mercies and compassions" in human breasts are abundant where the
fellowship of the Spirit is. How abundant they _might_ be: surely also
in some measure they must be present; they must abound, amid all human
infirmities and mistakes. All kinds of gentle, friendly, faithful, wise
and patient dispositions might be expected. They are the fruits of the
country in which Christians have come to dwell.
To all these the Apostle appeals. Perhaps a pathos is audible in the
form of his appeal. "If there be any." Alas! is there then any? Is there
some at least, if not much? For if all these had been duly present to
the faith and in the life of the Church, they would have spoken their
lesson for themselves, and had not needed Paul to speak for them.
The form of appeal "Fulfil ye my joy" brings up one more motive--the
earnest desires of one who loved them wisely and well, and whom they,
whatever their shortcomings, loved in turn. It is worth observing that
the motive power here does not lie merely in the consideration "Would
you not like to give me pleasure?" The Philippians knew how Paul had at
heart their true welfare and their true dignity. That which, if it came
to pass, would so gladden him, must be something great and good for
them. If their own judgment of things was cold, might it not take fire
from the contagion of his? The loving solicitude of a keener-sighted and
a more single-hearted Christian, the solicitude which makes his heart
throb and his voice tremble as he speaks, has often startled slumbering
brethren into a consciousness of their own insensibility, and awakened
them to worthier outlooks.
In regard to all these considerations, the main point is to catch sight
of the moral and spiritual scenery as the Apostle saw it. Otherwise the
words may leave us as dull as they found us. For him there had come into
view a wonderful world of love. Love had come forth preparing at great
cost and with great pains a new destiny for men. Love had brought in
Paul and the other believers, one by one, into this higher region. And
it proved to be a region in which love was the ground on which they
stood, and love the heaven over their heads, and love the air they
breathed. And here love was coming to be their own new nature, love
responsive to the love of Father, Son, and Spirit, and love going out
from those who had been so blessed to bless and gladden others. This was
the true, the eternal goodness, the true, the eternal blessedness; and
it was theirs. This was what faith embraced in Him "who loved me and
gave Himself for me." This was what faith claimed right to be and do. If
this was not so, Christianity was reduced to nothing. If a man have not
love, he is nothing (1 Cor. xiii.). "Is there any truth at all in this
glorious faith of ours? Do you believe it at all? Have you felt it at
all? Fulfil then my joy." Unity of mind and of heart is the thing
inculcated. Under the influence of the great objects of faith and of the
motive forces of Christianity this was to be expected. Their ways of
thinking and their ways of feeling, however different, should be so
moulded in Christ as to reach full mutual understanding and full mutual
affection. Nor should they rest contented when either of these failed:
for that would be contentment with defeat; but Christ's followers are to
aim at victory.
It is obvious to say here that cases might arise in which turbulent or
contentious persons might make it impossible for the rest of the Church,
however well disposed, to secure either one accord or one mind. But the
Apostle does not suppose that case to have arisen. Nothing had occurred
at Philippi which Christian sense and Christian feeling might not
arrange. When the case supposed does occur, there are Christian ways of
dealing with it. Still more obviously one might say that conscientious
differences of opinion, and that even on matters of moment, must
inevitably occur sooner or later; and a general admonition to be of one
mind does not meet such a case. Perhaps it may be said in reply that the
Church and the Christians have hardly conceived how much might be
attained in the way of agreement if our Christianity were sincere
enough, thorough enough, and affectionate enough. In that case there
might be wonderful attainment in finding agreement, and in dismissing
questions on which it is not needful to agree. But, if we are not to
soar so high as this, it may at least be said that, while conscientious
diversities of judgment are not to be disguised, they may be dealt with,
among believers, in a Christian way, with due emphasising of the truth
agreed upon, and with a prevailing determination to speak truth in love.
Here again, however, the Apostle recognises no serious difficulty of
this kind at Philippi. The difficulties were such as could be got over.
There was no good reason why the Philippians should not in their Church
life exhibit harmony: it would be so, if Christian influences were
cordially admitted into minds and hearts, and if they made a fit
estimate of the supreme importance of unity in Christ. The same thing
may be said of innumerable cases in later times in which Christians have
divided and contended. It is right to say, however, that these
considerations are not to be applied without qualification to all kinds
and degrees of separation between Christians. It is a cause for sorrow
that denominational divisions are so many; and they have often been both
cause and consequence of unchristian feeling. Yet when men part
peaceably to follow out their deliberate convictions, to which they
cannot give effect together, and when in doing so they do not unchurch
or condemn one another, there may be less offence against Christian
charity than in cases where a communion, professedly one, is the scene
of bitterness and strife. In either case indeed there is something to
regret and probably something to blame; but the former of the two cases
is by no means necessarily the worse.
In following out the line of duty and privilege set before them by the
Apostle, Christians have to get the better of arrogance and selfishness
(vv. 3, 4).
In the Church of Christ no man has a right to do anything from a spirit
of strife or vainglory. Strife is the disposition to oppose and thwart
our neighbour's will, either from mere delight in contest, or in order
to assert for our own will a prevalence which will gratify our pride;
and this is the animating principle of "faction." "Vainglory" is the
disposition to think highly of ourselves, to claim for ourselves a great
place, and to assert it as against the claims of others. In the jostle
of the world it may perhaps be admitted that forces acting on these
lines are not without their use. They compensate one another, and some
measure of good emerges from their unlovely energies. But such things
are out of place among Christians, for they are right against the spirit
of Christianity; and Christianity relies for its equipoise and working
progress on principles of quite another kind. Among Christians each is
to be lowly-minded, conscious of his own defects and of his ill-desert.
And this is to work in the way of our esteeming others to be better than
ourselves. For we are conscious of our own inward and deep defect as we
cannot be of any other person's. And it is abundantly possible that
others may be better than we are, and safe for us to give full effect
to that possibility. It is said, indeed, that we may possibly have
conclusive reason to believe that certain other persons, even in
Christ's Church, are worse than we are. But, apart from the
precariousness of such judgments, it is enough to say it is not for us
to proceed on such a judgment or to give effect to it. We all await a
higher judgment; until then it becomes us to take heed to our own spirit
and walk in lowliness of mind.
Selfishness ("looking to its own things," ver. 4), as well as arrogance,
needs to be resisted; and this is an even more pervading and inward
evil. In dealing with it we are not required to have no eye at all to
our own things; for indeed they are our providential charge, and they
must be cared for; but we are required to look _not only_ on our own,
but every man on the things of others. We have to learn to put ourselves
in another's place, to recognise how things affect him, to sympathise
with his natural feelings in reference to them, and to give effect in
speech and conduct to the impressions hence arising. So a Christian man
is to "love his neighbour as himself"--only with a tenderer sense of
obligation and a consciousness of more constraining motive than could be
attained by the Israelite of old. Lovingly to do right to a brother's
claims and to his welfare should be as cogent a principle of action with
us as to care for our own.
Arrogance and selfishness--perhaps disguised in fairer forms--had bred
the disturbance at Philippi. The same baleful forces are present
everywhere in all the Churches to this day, and have often run riot in
the House of God. How shall the ugliness and the hatefulness of the
every-day selfishness, the every-day self-assertion, the every-day
strifes of Christians, be impressed upon our minds? How are we to be
awakened to our true calling in lowliness and in love?
_THE MIND OF CHRIST (Continued)._
"Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being
in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality
with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being
made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man,
He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the
death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave
unto Him the name which is above every name; that in the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on
earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father."--PHIL. ii. 5-11 (R.V.).