And wherever you
and I may be, we cannot be in any place where it is so hard to live a
consistent life as these people were. Young men in warehouses, people
in business here in Manchester, some of us with unfortunate domestic
or relative associations, and so on--we may all feel as if it would
be so much easier for us if this, that, and the other thing were
changed. No, it would not be any easier; and perhaps the harder the
easier, because the more obviously the atmosphere is poisonous, the
more we shall put some cloth over our mouths to prevent it from
getting into our lungs. The dangerous place is the place where the
vapours that poison are scentless as well as invisible. But whatever
be the difficulties, there is strength waiting for us, and we may all
win the praise which the Apostle gives to another of these Roman
brethren, whom he salutes as 'Apelles, approved in Christ'--a man
that had been 'tried' and had stood his trial. So in our various
spheres of difficulty and of temptation we may feel that the greeting
from heaven, like Paul's message to the slaves in Rome, comes to us
with good cheer, and that the Master Himself sees us, sympathises
with us, salutes us, and stretches out His hand to help and to keep
us.

TRYPHENA AND TRYPHOSA

'Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour
in the Lord.'--ROMANS xvi. 12.

The number of salutations to members of the Roman Church is
remarkable when we take into account that Paul had never visited it.
The capital drew all sorts of people to it, and probably there had
been personal intercourse between most of the persons here mentioned
and the Apostle in some part of his wandering life. He not only
displays his intimate knowledge of the persons saluted, but his
beautiful delicacy and ingenuity in the varying epithets applied to
them shows how in his great heart and tenacious memory individuals
had a place. These shadowy saints live for ever by Paul's brief
characterisation of them, and stand out to us almost as clearly and
as sharply distinguished as they did to him.

These two, Tryphena and Tryphosa, were probably sisters. That is
rendered likely by their being coupled together here, as well as by
the similarity of their names. These names mean luxurious, or
delicate, and no doubt expressed the ideal for their daughters which
the parents had had, and possibly indicate the kind of life from
which these two women had come. We can scarcely fail to note the
contra