Strength and Riches in Christ
I can do all things IN CHRIST which streugtheneth me.” — Phil. iv. 13. ’ But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory IN Christ Jesus.” — Phil. iv. 19.
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IN the verse which formed the subject of our last meditation, we found that our excellent Bible translators had unaccountably employed the preposition “through,” instead of the more literal one of “in.”
In the above two verses which follow in the same postscript-chapter, there is a similar departure from the translation of other passages. In both cases, however, we have ventured to restore the rendering, so that each may take its place, as it ought, among the monogrammottoes of the Great Apostle/
They both occur in connection with a tribute of
Phil. iv. 13. Udm-a lax “TV Him). The Xpiart in the Received text is not found in versions of highest authority. * * But the reference is unmistakeable; and the omission of the name wes a peculiar point to the starting declaration.” — Dr. Eadie in loco.
M grateful acknowledgment paid to the beloved Philippian Church, for what they had done on his behalf in a season of constrained silence and inactivity. By the hands, too, of the faithful Epaphroditus, they had sent him substantial tokens of their sympathy ‘and affection. He received these, as he received everything, “IN Christ.” “I rejoiced m the Lord greatly” (ver. lo). 1% the Lord the gift was given. In, the Lord the gift, with a thankful heart, is accepted. With the courtesy and delicacy of a noble mind, he is fearful, lest in the very act of acknowledgment, his words and feelings may have been misapprehended. He may have conveyed the impression of indulging in a querulous and complaining spirit, hinting at wants, and chafing under penury. To have done so would have been alien to his nature, k sufficient and ample refutation truly was his whole past disinterested life. He takes, however, the special opportunity of assuring them that he was not one thus to repine under straits and fret under discouragements. His new ‘life in Christ’ had enabled him, with calm and cheerful equanimity, to rise superior to the mere ‘accidents’ of existence. Whether it be * abasement or abounding,’ indigence or fulness, an embittered lot or outward prosperity, he was alike content in the sovereign, all-gracious will of Him who regulated his chequered history. His, at the same time, was no sullen, stoical acquiescence in a hard, but hopeless fate. Indeed, even in the very conveyance of this assurance of his contentment, we may note a beautiful testimony to his humility: “I have learned,” he says, “in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” It is a frank avowal that he had, by nature, a mind as prone to impatience as others; that it was with struggle and self-discipline he had schooled himself into this “calm and heavenly frame.” In a word, that its root and secret were not in himself. His In Christo solves it all. * I can face all things, and do all things, and suffer all things, in Christ, who strengthenetJi me.’
That ’ fortress ’ (to recur to the symbol of the previous meditation) was full of all manner of store. It contained the * panoply of God.’ He was “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” He was strong for duty; he was strong for (what to him was perhaps more difficult than duty) restraint and inaction. He had “learned “that hardest lesson of strength.” Their
Barnes.
* Tije same Greek word is employed several times by him, as in I Tim. i. 12 — ‘I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me,” infused strength into me, “inspired me with strength.” (See Lightfoot on Philippians, p. 164.) As the Apostle’s monogram has suggested many references to the Roman Catacombs, it may be worth while, in connection with this verse, to refer to another frequent hieroglyph there found, and one which seems to have shared mth the chrism a special favouritism with the early Christians. Indeed, the two are often combined. It is the symbol of the fish: — and this, at first sight singular partiality, is readily understood and accounted for from the explanation given by Augustine. The initial letters of the Greek word for fish (IX0T2) read as an acrostic — Irjffovs Xpi<xToi Geou Tios “Zur-qp, — “Jesus Christ God’s Son Saviour.” Thus, to use the words of that ancient Father, “the name of Christ is mystically designated.”
Moreover, this symbol is sometimes still further significantly coni8o 7iV CJIRISTO.
strength is to sit still “(Isa. xxx. 7). A noble testimony he adds, in a succeeding verse, to this same contentment in Christ. To others, what must he have appeared to be? Indeed, what was he? A prisoner; his liberty curtailed; his energies cramped. No longer permitted, as the freeman, to bound at will over the waves of the Great Sea, or to foot the passages of the Pisidian Alps; to join the Sabbath prayer-meeting by the Philippian river-side; to grapple with subtle intellects in the bazaars of Corinth, or in the Athenian Agora. Now, even when he tells the cherished story of the cross, he is subjected to jealous espionage. The clank of the chain mingles with the silvery accents of his voice. Yet, what is his testimony and avowal? what the manifesto of one who never spoke but in words of truth and soberness? “/ have all and abound “(Phil, iv. 1 8). A beautiful and succinct comment on these, his present (indeed on his habitual) feelings, is conjoined with others; e.g., not on slabs, but on rings and seals, a lamb is represented as standing on the back of the fish: — the weak believer supported by Christ. Or, of similar import, a ship or galley — the Christian symbol of the Church — is represented as borne through” the waves of this troublesome world “on the same figurative fish. It is the believer individually, as well as the Church eollectively, riding out the storm, and reaching the hea,venly port in safety, through and in the strengthening and sustaining power of” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Saviour.” We have reason to know, from Clement of Alexandria, that this symbol was familiar in the second century. Indeed, De Rossi clearly shows, by ]3ainstaking investigation, that it was one peculiar to the very earliest age, and is rarely found subsequent to the time of Constantino. (See former books of reference. Also, an excellent compendium, “The Catacombs of Rome,” passim.)
STRENGTH AND RICHES IN CHRIST. 18i
tained in Col. i. 1 1: “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joy fulness.”
But to pass to the other memorable entry at the head of this meditation.
What can be his recompense to his beloved Philippians for all their generous deeds; and — better to the truly great soul than deeds — the tender affectionate solicitude and sympathy which evoked and inspired them?
He feels he can give at least no personal return or equivalent. He was powerless as a little child! Even when in the enjoyment of liberty and independent action, his hands ministered to his own necessities.^ What can he do now? How can he shape now his acknowledgment and reply? His monogram furnishes and dictates the message. ‘I can give nothing back; I can send nothing back,’ he seems to say. * “Silver and gold have I none:” — nevertheless, the cup of cold water will not go unrewarded. I look away from my poor self to the Great Eecompenser — “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. iv. 19). The cloud you have loaded will descend in sure blessings on your heads.’ He remembered the words of the Lord Jesus how He said —” Inasmuch as ye have done
Acts XX. 34.
it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me” (Matt. xxv. 40).
A beautiful contrast has been noted in the pronoun here employed — “My God.” ‘You have generously met and supplied all my wants, ministering to me in my distress; God, on my behalf, will return the boon. As ye have been my helpers, God will be yours. Once and again ye sent unto my necessity. He will befriend you by supplying “all your need.” Yes, and in a way I never could. My best recompensing blessings, even if I had them to give, would be limited, temporary. His are inexhaustible. And, better still, they are “riches in glory;” — recompense beyond the bounds of earth.^ And all ‘IN Christ Jesus.* That is the climax: here, as elsewhere, giving value, and security, and permanence: — the divine secret of that illimitable supply.
The unfallen angels are as dependent as we are on God’s bounty. Direct from Him they receive every blessing. They can appropriate the first part of the verse — “My God shall supply all your need out of His riches;” but it is the sinner, redeemed by the blood of the divine Surety, — he who has his privileges and immunities ensured and guaranteed by covenant, who alone can lay claim to the wealth of meaning in the concluding words — “In glory in Christ Jesus.” His are the illimitable gifts and legacies of
‘’UXvpdipec iv S6^7y seems to be a pregnant phrase, signifying ‘shall supply, by placing you in glory.’” — Light Joot, note, p. 167.
gro.ce, — each of which has, in the words of the old writers, ‘the mark of the cross upon it, — the badge and pledge of inviolability.
How often has the experience of Paul been borne out in that of His true followers in every age! In circumstances where poor, frail humanity reeled and staggered: in battles of the faith, or battles of the soul, where there seemed nothing but failure, defeat, discomfiture; how wondrously has upholding, sustaining, conquering grace been vouchsafed! Is it some evil habit, some secret sin, some debasing propensity, some grovelling appetite and passion to subdue? In Christ he has been strengthened. Is it some life-long affliction to bear — reverses in fortune, wearing, wasting disease and sickness, breaches in the loved circle; or, what is harder still, some of life’s unspoken sorrows, the hidden wound of the lacerated heart? In Christ he has been strengthened. Is it some painful or perilous duty to encounter or discharge — from which flesh and blood recoil, but which some dire necessity of circumstance renders imperative? In Christ he has been strengthenedo Is it some unforeseen assault of the evil one, the presentation of ’ the tempting opportunity: ’ — one footstep more, conscience shipwrecked and peace bartered? In Christ he has been and he will be strengthened. Yes! beautiful is this promise of grace for every recurring exigency. The supply, not of one want, but of all wants. Grace, too, given, not in anticipation of the trial or the temptation, but when these come, it is meted out in loving proportion to our needs. “My God shall supply.” It is like the Physician watching his patient, and ready to give the restorative or counteractive as these may be required — “As thy day is, so shall thy strength be.” Teaching us, thereby, not to dishonour God, or to perplex ourselves, with uneasy forebodings and apprehensions as to the unravelled and unrevealed future; but to trust Him, that in the right time and in the right way the want will be supplied, or the difficulty solved, or the heart-ache soothed — “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Cor. ix. 8). Think as soon of exhausting the ocean, as of exhausting that infinite, divine supply. Millions of His children have come, and are coming, as needy suppliants; and still, over the portico of the Paternal dwelling gleam the words — “There is bread enough in your Father’s house, and to spare!” To quote an old Scotch divine on this passage — “There is a kind of omnipotency in a believer being supported by Christ’s strengthening power; so that there is nothing within the compass of his Christian calling, and for which there is a covenant-promise for through-bearing, — there is no such thing impossible for Him to do: — * I am able to do all things.’” One other thought, suggested by these two previous
Fcrgiisson of Kilwinning, 1656; p.
meditations. We have surely here brought before us, in the testimony and experience of St. Paul, thejoy/ul element of the religion of Jesus. If “in Christ” be the keynote, “joy” is the refrain of this whole chapter — this whole Epistle — “Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say. Rejoice.” It may be otherwise counterfeited and misrepresented; but Christianity is, or ought to be, the religion of joy. Compare it with the teachings of the great sages and masters of antiquity, — leaders in the schools of Pagan thought. How their boasted philosophic systems pale into dead ashes beside these glowing embers in the writings of St. Paul! The one is like a sluggish pool, a cold, dreary, moorland tarn, compared with the rush and sparkle of a pure, life-giving stream, whose banks all along its course are carpeted with verdure, and bathed in sunshine — “The JOY of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. viii. 10).
Appropriate and beautiful, as a close, seem the words of the Apostle at the end of this Epistle to the Philippians; a doxology to God, a salutation to His saints — “Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salute every saint IN CHRIST JESUS” (iv. 20, 21).