the form of a servant[4].' This bestowal was no doubt a giving
anew to Him, as man and as head of the Church, what was eternally His
as Son of the Father.

There is another interpretation adopted by Chrysostom in ancient times,
and by Dr. Hort among moderns, of the phrase 'the church which is his
body, the fulness of him who filleth all in all.' According to them
the Church is regarded as making the Christ complete. It is in this
sense the 'fulfilment' of Christ, because without the Church He would
be a head without its members: and then the rest of the sentence should
be translated differently--'the church which is his body, the
fulfilment of him who is fulfilled in all ways with all things.' But
this is decidedly less agreeable to the general use of the expression
'the fulness' in the epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians[5].

{83}

[Sidenote: _Some practical lessons_]

We may also pause to recognize one or two ways in which St. Paul's view
of the Christian religion, as exhibited in the opening of this epistle,
suggests special deficiencies among ourselves.

(1) St. Paul's Christianity is a religion of thankfulness. This
epistle is a burst of exuberant praise. Yet he was himself a prisoner,
and the church of Ephesus, with the other Asiatic churches, was sorely
threatened with moral and spiritual perils of all kinds. The secret of
this thankfulness is that he looks straight away from himself and his
surroundings up to God. He measures the value of human life and work
not by what immediate experience suggests, but by what he knows of the
purpose of God. In spite of all the obstacles opposed by human
wilfulness and weakness and sin, he knows that His purpose will effect
itself: therefore he 'rejoices in the Lord always,' and no discouraging
circumstances can quench the springs of his rejoicing. Our
Christianity is apt to be of a very 'dutiful' kind. We mean to do our
duty, we attend church and go to our communions. But our hearts are
full of the difficulties, the hardships, {84} the obstacles which the
situation presents, and we go on our way sadly, downhearted and
despondent. We need to learn or learn anew from St. Paul that true
Christianity is inseparable from deep joy; and the secret of that joy
lies in a continual looking away from all else--away from sin and its
ways, and from the manifold hindrances to the good we would do--up to
God, His love, His purpose, His will. In proportion as we do l