ad 'hazarded' his life, or, as we might
put it with equal accuracy and more force, had 'gambled' his life, or
'staked it on the die' for Paul's sake. No wonder that men were eager to
risk their lives for a leader who lavished such praise and such love
upon them. A man who never opens his lips but to censure or criticise,
who fastens on faults as wasps do on blemished fruit, will never be
surrounded by loyal love. Faithful service is most surely bought by
hearty praise. A caressing hand on a horse's neck is better than a whip.

We may further note the intensity of Paul's sympathy. He speaks of
Epaphroditus' recovery as a mercy to himself 'lest he should have the
sorrow of imprisonment increased by the sorrow of his friend's death.'
That attitude of mind stands in striking contrast to the heroism which
said, 'To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain,' but the two are
perfectly consistent, and it was a great soul which had room for them
both.

We must not leave unnoticed the beautiful self-abnegation which sends
off Epaphroditus as soon as he was well enough to travel, as a gift of
the Apostle's love, in order to repay them for what they had done for
him. He says nothing of his own loss or of how much more lonely he would
be when the brother whom he had praised so warmly had left him alone.
But he suns himself in the thought of the Philippians' joy, and in the
hope that some reflection of it will travel across the seas to him, and
make him, if not wholly glad, at any rate 'the less sorrowful.'

We have also to notice Paul's delicate recognition of all friendly help.
He says that Epaphroditus risked his life to 'supply that which was
lacking in your service toward me.' That implies that all which the
Philippians' ministration lacked was their personal presence, and that
Epaphroditus, in supplying that, made his work in a real sense theirs.
All the loving thoughts, and all the material expressions of them which
Epaphroditus brought to Paul were fragrant with the perfume of the
Philippians' love, 'an odour of a sweet smell, acceptable' to Paul as to
Paul's Lord.

We briefly note some general lessons which may be suggested by the
picture of Epaphroditus as he stands by the side of Paul.

The first one suggested is the very familiar one of the great uniting
principle which a common faith in Christ brought into action. Think of
the profound clefts of separation between the Macedonian and the Jew,
the antipathies of race,