Paul's Unselfish Devotion to Christ

Notes

1. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." The superficial observer might fail to see the fulfillment of this in the case of Paul. The trouble is that too many in reading the text think only of selfish good. They do not realize that everything is good which tends to the advancement of the cause of Christ. And when one has accepted God's will as his will, and realizes that God is ordering all his ways, he knows and feels that nothing but good can come to him. This is the only sure preventive of complaining at one's lot, and worrying over the future. Paul's cruel treatment at Philippi would have been called by some the worst thing that could happen to him; nevertheless, if it had not been for that, it is most likely that the jailer and his family would not have heard the gospel. It worked to the good of the jailer, and then to the honor of Christ, and this was good to the apostle, who had no ambition but to honor his Master. That he felt that it was good is shown by the fact that he sang over it. Happy the soul who can say:—

> "Let good or ill befall, > It must be good for me, > Secure of having Thee in all, > Of having all in Thee."

2. There were two classes of people who preached the gospel in Rome, as a consequence of Paul's imprisonment there. One class was moved by a sincere love of the truth, the other by envy. The latter class was no doubt composed of people whom Paul would never have thought of commissioning to preach the gospel, but he did not waste time in mourning, and thinking that the work was all going to pieces because he could not direct it. He knew that he himself was only a servant, and that the Master was competent to care for his own work. He knew that the truth would triumph, even if he should die. Although there is no evidence that these men were preaching false doctrine, since they preached the word, and Paul rejoiced at it, we may learn a lesson that may be applicable in cases where men oppose the truth; for certainly the truth is more in danger from indiscreet advocates than from avowed opposers. The lesson is that the truth cannot suffer in the long run, because it has a power in itself. "Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" Jer. 23:29.

3. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Those who understand this verse as though it read, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain to me," can have but a very imperfect conception of the spirit of the great apostle to the Gentiles. To read such an idea into the verse is to do violence to the whole passage. Even if we know nothing of Paul's character but what we find here, we might learn that Paul has no thought of personal gain (even if that could be secured by death), but only of gain to Christ. The whole passage is full of expressions of desire for the advancement of the cause of Christ. Paul's imprisonment has resulted in the furtherance of the gospel, and he rejoices, knowing that he is set for the defense, not of himself, but of the gospel. In verse 20 he says that his earnest expectation and hope is that Christ should be magnified in his body, whether by life or by death. How forced and unnatural, then, the supposition that in the very next sentence he should break the continuity of his thought, and speak about his death being a gain to himself! No; Paul was ready to die "for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:13), and as his whole life was given to Christ, his only thought of death was that it might also tend to advance the cause.