The mind that was in Christ Jesus.
The experience of Christ is the supreme example of his doctrine that "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." It is here described as an incentive to our duty of unselfish humility. But as the apostle narrates the wonderful facts, and enumerates the details with evident delight on their own account, we may find in them an inexhaustible subject for meditation, and, while not forgetting the object of drawing a practical lesson from them, we may be prepared to receive that lesson more fully by realizing more thoroughly the great example with which it. is enforced.
I. THE HUMBLING OF CHRIST.
1. It was voluntary. The example of Christ is very different from that of Job. Job suffered from misfortunes that came upon him unsought; but Christ freely chose his own humiliation. Therefore the mind that was in Christ was not simply like Job's, a mind of patience and faithfulness; it was a mind of self-abnegation.
2. It was great in extent. We measure a fall, not by the absolute level reached, but by comparison with the altitude left. To fall from a steeple to the common earth on which most men walk, is to make a tremendous descent. In becoming man Christ humbled himself. As a man he humbled himself further than ever man did before, in submitting to shame and death.
3. It was perfect in quality. Look at some of the particulars.
II. THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST. The story of Christ does not end with Calvary. The sequel is as glorious in the experience as the first part is in the character of Christ.
1. The exaltation is God's act. Christ humbled himself, but Christ never sought his own glory, not even after his humiliation. "God highly exalted him." Neither on earth nor in heaven, neither now nor ever, neither when ill deserved nor when well deserved, does the highest glory come to those who seek it for themselves. It is always conferred unsought on the self-forgetful.
2. The exaltation is a consequence of the humbling of Christ. "Wherefore," etc. Christ is not simply reinstated in his old dignity. He receives new honors in direct recognition of his self-sacrifice. It is not merely as a compensation for the suffering, but rather as a reward for the disposition and will of self-abnegation, that the higher glory is accorded to Christ. The spirit in which he suffered, the "wilt" that sanctifies us, the "mind" that was in him, receive the reward.
3. The exaltation is perfect.
Heaven, earth, and hell are ultimately to confess Christ's authority. What a victory! Nothing short of voluntary submission could ever please Jesus as he was known on earth and as he is changeless in character through eternity. In his glowing vision of the future, St. Paul sees all evil conquered and all beings in the universe turned from their rebellion to the acceptance of Christ as their Lord.
III. THE EXAMPLE. This sublime picture is not simply drawn to excite our admiration, nor merely to move our gratitude, but directly to rouse us to imitation. Unlike our modern selfish use of the experience of Christ when we too commonly dwell upon it simply that we may "appropriate the fruits" of it, the apostles almost always refer to it by way of illustration to urge us to show the same spirit. Indeed, our enjoy-merit of the results of Christ's humbling of himself for us is closely connected with this nee of his experience; for we profit by them when we follow him (1 Peter 2:17, 1 Peter 2:18).—W.F.A.
Working out our own salvation.
I. WE MUST WORK OUT OUR OWN SALVATION.
1. Our salvation is from evils within our reach, if it consisted chiefly of deliverance from future punishment, we could not touch it. But it is, in the main, deliverance from present ills—the sins, temptations, and troubles that beset us. A man's foes are them of his own household, even of his own heart.
2. Our salvation is not yet accomplished. It may be nearer than when we first believed. But while one sin still haunts us, one temptation still attacks us, or one trouble still threatens us, our salvation is not fully accomplished. We can only be called "saved" in the first act of faith, because salvation then begins and the promise of its completion is given us. But the perfecting of salvation is a lifelong, gradual process.
3. The securing of this salvation is in our own hands. St. Paul gives no justification for that one-sided perversion of the doctrine of grace, according to which "doing is a deadly thing." Except we work and fight, Christ's work and victory cannot profit us.
4. The salvation must be worked out to be perfected. We have to carry on what God begins, to develop the seed he sows, to work from the new heart within to the outer life.
5. This process must be carried on "with a nervous and trembling anxiety to do right" (Lightfoot).
II. WE CAN WORK OUT OUR OWN SALVATION BECAUSE GOD WORKS IN US.
1. God is in us. The language of the apostle is no empty metaphor. It describes a spiritual fact. The Christian is a temple because God inhabits him.
2. God works in us. We may contrast this truth with the Stoic doctrine of the indwelling Divinity. "Reverence the Divinity that is within thee," says Marcus Aurelius. But the Stoic, though reverencing, does not look for much active aid from the indwelling God. The Christian receives God in him for a great purpose. God works, creating the disposition to do well—"to will," giving energy for the execution of it; "to do," and directing the course of our action, "for his good pleasure."
3. This working of God in us should prevent us from looking too much for extraneous human aid. The early Church was in danger of leaning too much on the apostles. When the guidance and inspiration of an apostle was removed, the Christians felt the loss of a great support. Especially must this have been the case with Churches founded and fostered by so great a man as St. Paul. There was danger in this. The apostle warns the Philippians against it, and tells them that they should do as well in his absence as in his presence, because God dwells in them. We often make too much of human teachers and leaders, instead of seeing that our real strength lies in immediate personal communion with God. He who trusts God most can be most self-reliant.
4. The working of God within us should be the great encouragement of our own energies. This great truth has been abused so as to encourage indolence, or at least to discourage effort. It is here brought before us with the very opposite purpose. For God works to enable us to work. His work in us is frustrated if we do not co-operate. But when we work we find the power in God, and so are encouraged to labor, knowing that, when most weak in ourselves, we are most strong in God.—W.F.A.