_DISOWNED_ ‘Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things.’ Php_3:8 These words of St. Paul seem very definite when we begin to think about them. They appear to contain an allusion to some definite circumstance in his past life, of which we hear nothing, or next to nothing... [ Continue Reading ]
_PAUL’S DESIRE_ ‘That I may win Christ.’ Php_3:8 With St. Paul Christ was the one object which eclipsed everything he had before counted gain. Can you, as St. Paul did, take the things you value most, and with true sincerity of heart put them side by side with Christ and count them all loss? I.... [ Continue Reading ]
_IN CHRIST_ ‘And be found in Him.’ Php_3:9 The words ‘found in Him’ are one of the seven wishes of St. Paul. To the early Christians the words ‘in Christ’ meant so much—indeed they meant everything. I. IT SHOULD BE THE VERY GOLDEN CORE OF OUR RELIGION, the summit of our hopes, all our salvation... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST_ ‘That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection.’ Php_3:10 St. Paul tells us what he meant by the knowledge of Christ. It is personal knowledge, the knowledge of a person, the acquaintance of one person with another. Let this be our aspiration, namely, to know Hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_CONCENTRATION_ ‘One thing I do.’ Php_3:13 The words ‘I do’ are not found in the original, they are scarcely needed. The Apostle wishes to lay stress not so much on doing as being. One thing absorbed him, possessed his life, controlled all his energies. I. THE IDEAL THE APOSTLE SET BEFORE HIM.—... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE DEAD PAST_ ‘Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.’ Php_3:13 What had the Apostle in mind when he spoke of forgetting the things which are behind? If you read the chapter you will be at no loss to understand his meaning. He is describ... [ Continue Reading ]
_EARTHLY THINGS_ ‘Who mind earthly things.’ Php_3:19 Every circumference is generated from a centre; every life must have its pivot. I. GOD IS THE ONE TRUE CENTRE OF OUR LIFE.—It has been said, ‘God’s centre is everywhere; His circumference nowhere.’ If you and I refuse to take God as the centr... [ Continue Reading ]
_HEAVENLY CITIZENSHIP_ ‘Our conversation [or citizenship] is in heaven.’ Php_3:20 If we pondered more deeply the cost of our redemption we should prize more highly the privileges of our citizenship. I. THE PRIVILEGES OF OUR CITIZENSHIP ARE MANY AND VARIED. (_a_) _ Pardon, cleansing_ is the fir... [ Continue Reading ]
_LOOKING FOR THE SAVIOUR_ ‘For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.’... [ Continue Reading ]
_IMMORTALITY_ ‘Our conversation [or commonwealth] is in heaven.’ Php_3:20 We who hold the Christian faith in a life to come have sometimes to meet severe criticisms from those who do not. I. WE HAVE SOMETIMES TO MEET A CHARGE OF SELFISHNESS in looking forward to a future life, and this charge c... [ Continue Reading ]
_HEAVEN_ ‘For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Php_3:20 What is heaven? That is a question to which the Church can give a partial, though as yet necessarily an incomplete, answer. I. WE TURN, THEN, TO THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST.—And... [ Continue Reading ]