hat most of the brethren in the Lord,
being confident through my bonds, are more
abundantly bold to speak the word of God without
fear. 15. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy
and strife; and some also of good will: 16. The
one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the
defence of the gospel: 17. But the other proclaim
Christ of faction, not sincerely, thinking to
raise up affliction for me in my bonds. 18. What
then? only that in every way, whether in pretence
or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and therein I
rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. 19. For I know
that this shall turn to my salvation, through your
supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ. 20. According to my earnest expectation
and hope, that in nothing shall I be put to shame,
but that with all boldness, as always, so now also
Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by
life or by death.'--PHIL. i. 12-20 (R.V.)

Paul's writings are full of autobiography, that is partly owing to
temperament, partly to the profound interpenetration of his whole
nature with his religion. His theology was but the generalisation of his
experience. He has felt and verified all that he has to say. But the
personal experiences of this sunny letter to his favourite church have a
character all their own. In that atmosphere of untroubled love and
sympathy a shyer heart than Paul's would have opened: his does so in
tenderness, gladness, and trust. We have here the unveiling of his
inmost self in response to what he knew would be an eager desire for
news of his welfare. This whole section appears to me to be a wonderful
revelation of his prison thoughts, an example of what we may call the
ennobling power of a passionate enthusiasm for Christ. Remember that he
is a prisoner, shut out from his life's work, waiting to be tried before
Nero, whose reign had probably, by this time, passed from its delusive
morning of dewy promise to its lurid noon. The present and the future
were dark for him, and yet in spite of them all comes forth this burst
of undaunted courage and noble gladness. We simply follow the course of
the words as they lie, and we find in them,

I. An absorbing purpose which bends all circumstances to its service and
values them only as instruments.

The things which happe