uences: "_Many persons walk_ whom I tell you of with tears as the
enemies of the cross of Christ." And of these persons, as such, it is
unflinchingly said that their end is _atoleia_, "ruin," "perdition";
dread and hopeless word. In all this lies a lesson for our day. In
many quarters the solemn utterance of warning is now almost silent; it
is regarded as almost unchristian to warn sinners, even open sinners,
to do anything so much out of the fashion as "to flee from the wrath to
come," "the wrath which is coming upon the children of disobedience."
But this is not the apostolic way, nor the Lord's way.

Yet this passage, this heart-searching appeal, while it deals with
warning, does not end with it. Its strongest and chosen argument is
not fear but hope; not perdition but "the coming again of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him." St Paul has to
guard the Philippians against a most subtle form of sensual temptation,
a masterpiece of the Enemy. In passing, and with bitter tears, he
points to the gulph where that path ends. In closing, and with his
whole heart, he points to the coming Lord in His benignant glory, and
to the unutterable joy of our being then, finally and even in our
material being, transfigured for ever into His likeness.

For our own blessing, and for that of others, let us follow this
example. Whether in the pulpit to a listening throng, or in more
individual approaches to other men, or when we turn in upon ourselves,
and, like the Psalmists, speak to our own souls, in the most secret
possible hour, let us seek to speak thus. Let us not take an opiate
against the ideas of judgment, wrath, perdition--unless, with our
Bibles quite open, we are quite sure that such things are only dreams
of a past religious night. Let us take urgent heed, above all for
ourselves, lest we _lose faith in the warnings_ of God. But all the
while let us present to ourselves, and to others, as the great argument
of all for saying "No" to specious sin, "that blessed Hope." Let us
consider Jesus Christ, till He shines upon us in something of the glory
of His Person and His Work. Let us wait for Him from heaven. More and
more, as the years roll, and the suns set, and "that day" is
approaching, let us take our place among those who "love His
appearing." And as for our bodies, and His call to be pure in body as
in spirit, let us continually remember that "the body is for the Lord,
and the Lord for