weep rather than rejoice, when he prays for the people of his charge? Do not ministers see many of their flock living more after the manner of worldly men, than like those faithful saints whose consistent and holy lives caused joy to the heart of the devoted apostle? May God once more refresh his barren church with the sight of a pious people devoted with all the affection of their hearts to a minister, who, by disinterested, untiring labours for their spiritual good, shall prove himself worthy of their love and esteem!

The cause of the apostle's joy is specified in the 5th verse, to be "for their fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now." "Fellowship in the Gospel" means (1) participation in the blessings of the Gospel ; (2) the union of Christians in a corporate capacity, in order to realize all those blessings; and (3) the co-operation of Christians, in order to promote that Gospel among others. Perhaps it is in this latter sense that we are to understand the words of our text. The apostle in subsequent parts of the epistle commends the kindness of the Philippians in lending him their aid, while labouring for the extension of the Gospel in other parts. When the heart of a Christian is warmed with the love of Christ, he is easily led to enter with zeal into all the efforts in which his brethren are engaged, for the benefitting of those who are yet unblest with the knowledge of salvation through Christ crucified.

We have now finished our observations on the verses read as the foundation for this morning's lecture. May we all reverently attend to the doctrines which have now been presented to us, so far as they have been accordant with the oracles of Truth! May we seek to

C

be adorned with all the virtues which characterize the saints of God;-may "grace and peace" be experienced by us all; may we have joy when we "remember" each other in our prayers" at the throne of mercy; and may we all be bound affectionately together in "the fellowship of the Gospel!"

LECTURE II.

PHILIPPIANS I. 6.

Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

THIS verse is in connexion with what goes before. It expresses one of the reasons which the Apostle had for the joy mentioned in the 4th verse. One cause of the Apostle's joy was, that the Philippians had become partakers of the Gospel and sharers with him in the efforts to extend the knowledge thereof among the ignorant. And the other cause of the Apostle's joy was, the delightful persuasion that the Philippians would continue to go on in the good course on which they had been led to enter. The Philippians had been converted from the sins of their former life: this indeed was to them a great good, and to Paul their friend a source of joy; but the value of their conversion is considerably modified by the manner in which the question is to be answered, Is this conversion permanent in its effects? This is a world of change, and man is liable to be interfered with by a thousand influences. Is there then any reason whatever to rejoice that a man is doing well in the present time, when to-morrow perhaps he will be turned

upon

to evil? If man's continuance in well-doing depended his own power, these questions should receive an unfavourable reply. But he who has been turned from the evil of his ways is under the protection and control of Him, "with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning." Those for whose benefit the Almighty interposes are made partakers to a certain degree of His own

nature.

The doctrine maintained in this verse is a very important one. It is generally known among theologians by the name of "the perseverance of the saints." Before proceeding to state the grounds of this doctrine, let us attend to one or two inquiries in regard to the phraseology of the text.

1. What is meant by the word confident? It does not appear necessary to understand this word in its modern sense, of being absolutely certain. Unless Paul had been gifted either with the attribute of seeing the hearts of his fellow-creatures, or of foreknowledge, it was certainly out of his power to affirm that every one of the members of the Philippian Church was to continue stedfast in the faith until the day of Jesus Christ. We must therefore understand the word as merely synonymous with "being persuaded." It may be that there is a certain condition tacitly implied. "He that hath begun a good work will continue the same, i. e. provided the work has been begun—which I am fully persuaded it has,-then doubtless that work shall be brought to its completion."

2. What is the "good work" mentioned in the text? A late German critic has represented it as the charitable work of sending pecuniary relief to St. Paul

when a prisoner in Rome. But it is difficult to see in what sense such a work was to go on until the day of Jesus Christ. It is much easier to make sense of the passage, by supposing that the "good work" was the work of their conversion. This word is frequently found in such a sense in New Testament. (St. John, vi. 28, 29.) The Jews asked our Lord, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." The believing of the Gospel is the work of God in two senses-l. It is the work which God enjoins ; and 2. It is the work which He Himself performs. In 1 Cor. iii. 9, St. Paul represents himself as a labourer together with God, and the Corinthians as the husbandry or tillage on which he was employed. The conversion of the Corinthians by St. Paul is evidently the work to which allusion is made in subsequent verses of the same chapter. In 1 Cor ix. 1, 2, we read, "Are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord." The work of preaching the Gospel for the conversion of men is called, in Acts, xv. 38, "the work," by way of eminence, as if that were the most important of all works. According to the same phraseology, St. Paul says of Timothy "He worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do," (1 Cor. xvi. 10.) and elsewhere calls him his "work-fellow." (Rom. xvi. 21.) There is no passage, however, which throws greater light on the expression in our text than the words in II. 12, 13, of this same epistle-"“ Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for