Believe me, my friends, your interest or indifference has a great deal to do with the spirit in which the truth of God is proclaimed to you, and that again tells upon the success of the truth. Second: Besides the general attitude and bearing of the Philippians, the apostle recalls special services done for him as a preacher. They had ministered to him in his bonds, they had stood by him in preaching and confirming the gospel. Now I shall not at present speak of the nature of their gifts, as the subject will come up again; I only want you to observe that all that was done for him was ultimately done for the gospel, because it cheered and sustained him who was the preacher and defender of the gospel, and now a prisoner for its sake. The practical lesson from this part of our subject seems to be, that, however powerful and useful a minister may be, his church can indefinitely increase his power by sympathy, by prayer, and by co-operation. Ministers know best how true that is; some because they lack their church's aid, others because they enjoy it. IV. The saints at Philippi also formed the deep conviction in the apostle's mind that God would FINISH IN THEIR HEARTS THE GOOD WORK WHICH HE HAD BEGUN IN THEM. He declared that he was confident it would be so, and that it was only just of him to think this of them all. This expression of thought and hope has been made the battle ground where Arminian and Calvinist have stoutly and obstinately fought over the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints; but I have not the slightest wish to break a lance in that fray. For I am quite out of sympathy with these contentions. It matters everything to me that words like these should be taken for a safe platform of action and work; and as such the apostle intended them to be taken. He never meant them to minister to pride or to indulgence of the flesh he never meant any one to believe that because God had bestowed some grace upon him therefore he was sure to enter through the gates into the city, even if he were to the end of his days to live in sin. The words themselves refute such an idea, for they say that, "He that hath begun a good work in you will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ," but if a man lives in sin, where is the good work of God in him? All such perversions come of not rightly seeing what Christ came into the world to do-to save sinners, to save them from sin. How refreshing is Paul's confidence for his brethren, when you put yourself in his place. He looks with glad gratitude upon what his brethren are and upon what they have done; and then he asks himself whether all this is to be as fading beauty, whether the ardour of this zeal will cool, whether the boldness of this confession will be struck with the palsy of fear, whether this loving devotion will become estranged, whether this noble help will be withdrawn? And he answers, "No, it never can be. God began this good work in them, for the good works done without are only the fruit of the good work done by God within them; and He who of His great love, and because He is rich in mercy did this, will not forsake the work of His own hands, but will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ. Besides, I have you all in my heart; the bonds which bind us together are spiritual; you are part of myself; I can no more think that you will be unfaithful to Christ, that you will cast off the beginning of your confidence, that you will turn aside to the beggarly elements of the world, than that I will. My very heart would have to be torn out of me, before that could come to pass. It is only just and meet for me to think this of you all; and I will not think less hopefully of any of you." There is the logic of love and faith in that passage. Your love sometimes tells you some bad things never can be, and that some good things must be. You feel that the moral order of the universe would suffer a tremendous shock if your confidence were confounded; nay, you will not have it that your confidence ever can be put to shame. God must be untrue, all love and sacrifice and service must be a delusion, before you can believe that some good men whom you know will ever forsake Christ. Very helpful is this faith. Very comforting is it to think of some whose ultimate salvation you feel is inevitably secure. Yes, and very sad it is to recall others of whom you can only say, "I stand in doubt of you." Perhaps if you could read your pastor's thoughts about you, you might therein read your future destiny. V. The last advantage to the apostle of knowing these saints that I shall notice is, that THEY INTENSIFIED HIS CHRISTIAN BROTHERLY LOVE. "God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ." Some people quicken brotherly love; others drown it. Mark, I say, brotherly love, the love of Christian sympathy and Christian confidence. There is an affection which has nothing of these qualities in it, such as I can suppose the apostle feeling for a doubtful professor of the faith; but here the whole heart goes out in sympathy, without restraint of any kind. The apostle was great in brotherly love; the Philippians were great in being worthy of it, in inciting it, in calling it forth. Theirs was the glory of quickening and evoking the noblest feelings of a noble nature. With some people you are at your worst, with others at your best. We constitute an atmosphere for each other, and according to its temperature do we close or expand, as flowers in sunshine or shade. So stimulating had these saints been to the love of Paul that it was as if the tender yearnings, the mighty longings of the heart of Christ heaved in his soul. Greater benefit than this none can bring to us, that we should dwell in Christ, and Christ should dwell in us. Streatham Hill. J. P. GLEDSTONE. MISTRUST.-The world is an old woman, that mistakes any gilt farthing for a gold coin; whereby, being often cheated, she will henceforth trust nothing but the common copper. THOMAS CARLYLE. EDUCATION.-An educated man stands, as it were, in the midst of a boundless arsenal and magazine, filled with all the weapons and engines which man's skill has been able to devise, from the earliest time; and he works accordingly, with a strength borrowed from all past ages. How different is his state, who stands on the outside of that storehouse, and feels that its gates must be stormed, or remain for ever shut against him! His means are the commonest and rudest; the mere work done is no measure of his strength. A dwarf behind his steam engine may remove mountains; but no dwarf will hew them down with the pickaxe, and he must be a Titan that hurls them abroad with his arms. THOMAS CARLYLE. 193 Germs of Thought. THE PREACHER'S FINGER-POST. Future Retribution, the Receiving Back in Eternity the Deeds of Time. "THAT EVERY ONE MAY RECEIVE THE THINGS DONE IN HIS BODY." 2 COR. v. 10. WE detach these words from the context, for reasons that will hereafter appear. In this and the two preceding verses the Apostle seems to be giving the philosophy of his courage in the prospect of death. "Therefore we are always confident," or courageous, as it should have been rendered. His courage seemed to be based on: First: A consciousness that death would not destroy the personality of his existence. "Whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord." Death he speaks of as a mere change of residence and costume. Secondly: A consciousness that death would not frustrate the grand purpose of his existence. "Therefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him." Purpose is that which gives a conscious value to a man's life. When a man's purpose is gone life is valueless. All the purposes of an unregenerate man terminate at the grave, hence to him death is terrible, whereas the grand purpose of a godly man runs on through all ages, it is to be "accepted of Him." Thirdly A consciousness that death would not break the continuity of his existence. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of P |