tihxaxy of €he theological ^tmimry 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 The Estate of the 
 Rev. John B. Wiedinger 
 
Of PB/*^ 
 
 Paul's Le 
 
 / By 
 David James TBurrell, D. D., LL. D, 
 
 Author of "Paul's Companions," "Paul's Campaigns," 
 "The Apostles' Creed," "We Would See Jesus," 
 "The Old-Time Religion," "At the Gate Beau- 
 tiful," "The Cloister Book," "The Resur- 
 rection and the Life Beyond," 
 etc., etc, 
 
 
 American Tract Society 
 
 Park Avenue and 40th Street 
 New York 
 
Copyright, 1921, 
 By American Thact Society 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 If any one is looking for a critical exposition 
 of Paul's Epistles he will not find it here. The 
 Author's desire has been to show forth the main 
 purpose of the Apostle in writing these won- 
 derful letters, so far forth as would be likely to 
 whet the appetite for a deeper study of them. 
 God speed the little book to that end! 
 
PREFACE 
 
 "LETTERS WEIGHTY AND POWERFUL." 
 2 Cor. 10:9 
 
 The conversion of Paul, his divine call to the 
 apostolate and his separation to the special task 
 of reducing the teachings of Christ to sys- 
 tematic form are one of the supreme evidences 
 of God's providential care of his people. The 
 preaching of Christ, for obvious reasons, was 
 in popular terms; for the uses of succeeding 
 ages (as theologians would say, for didactics 
 and apologetics) it must be welded into logical 
 unity. For this task who would be so well 
 qualified as Saul of Tarsus, a graduate of the 
 University of Jerusalem, brought up at the feet 
 of Gamaliel, versed in Rabbinical lore and in 
 Greek philosophy, the most skillful dialectician 
 of his time? God wanted him; and, when God 
 wants a man, the man is forthcoming. God 
 called him on the way down to Damascus, and 
 the answer was immediate, "What wilt thou 
 have me to do?" God showed him his task; and 
 his Epistles are the result. The feeble voice of 
 Paul was silenced centuries ago ; but the letters 
 
 V 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 that he wrote with his tremulous old hand, sur- 
 viving the tooth of time and razure of oblivion, 
 abide as fingerposts of the centuries pointing 
 to Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life. 
 
 It will be observed that the Epistles are not 
 treated in the chronological order of their com- 
 position but as they occur in the Canon. The 
 reasons for this are obvious and seem to over- 
 balance whatever may be said against it. 
 
 It will also be observed that no attempt is 
 made to treat the Epistles exegetically, but 
 only to present such a broad outline as may 
 incline the reader to go more deeply into them. 
 
 VI 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. The Epistle to the Romans 
 
 II. First Corinthians 
 
 III. Second Corinthians 
 
 IV. The Epistle to the Galatians 
 V. The Epistle to the Ephesians 
 
 VI. The Epistle to the Philippians 
 
 VII. The Epistle to the Colossians 
 
 VIII. First Thessalonians 
 
 IX. Second Thessalonians 
 
 X. First Timothy 
 
 XI. Second Timothy . 
 
 XII. The Epistle to Titus 
 
 XIII. The Epistle to Philemon 
 
 XIV. The Epistle to the Hebrews 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 30 
 
 43 
 
 59 
 
 71 
 
 84 
 
 94 
 
 107 
 
 118 
 
 129 
 
 136 
 
 145 
 
 160 
 
 vn 
 
"His letters, say they, are weighty and pow- 
 erful; but his bodily presence is weak and his 
 speech contemptible." 2 Cor. 10:10. 
 
 VIII 
 
Paul's Letters 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 
 THE GOSPEL IN A NUTSHELL 
 
 This Epistle was written from Corinth, 
 A. D. 58; that is, more than a score of years 
 after Paul's conversion. What had he been 
 doing in the meantime? Not writing letters 
 certainly; he had been too busily engaged in 
 carrying on his evangelistic campaigns. He 
 had now reached Corinth on his third mission- 
 ary journey, and he had no doubt begun to feel 
 the flagging of his physical strength. It may 
 have been the consequent need of rest that gave 
 him larger freedom with his pen. He had pre- 
 viously written only two inspired letters (First 
 and Second Thessalonians) ; but from now on 
 we shall find him, under the guidance of the 
 Spirit, corresponding not infrequently with 
 the churches and personal friends. 
 
 1 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 The early history of the Roman Church is 
 lost in obscurity. Possibly it was founded by 
 those "strangers of Rome" who were present 
 in Jerusalem at the Pentecostal effusion of the 
 Spirit (Acts 2:10), who would naturally keep 
 up their new-found religion on returning to 
 their homes. In the reign of Claudius (A. D. 
 41-54) this church was so much in evidence that 
 many of its members were expelled from the 
 city for their loyalty to Christ. Among these 
 were the two tentmakers, Aquila and Priscilla, 
 who were settled in Corinth when this letter 
 was written. It was from them, doubtless, that 
 Paul had received much of his information con- 
 cerning this persecuted flock. 
 
 It was now four years since he had set out 
 on his third missionary journey, in which he 
 had two objects in view. For one thing, he was 
 acting as a sort of Field Secretary for the 
 relief of the famine-stricken members of the 
 mother church in Jerusalem. It must be re- 
 membered that Paul, the Jew, never lost his 
 vital interest in the welfare of his countrymen; 
 as the divinely commissioned Apostle to the 
 Gentiles, he was still profoundly concerned for 
 them. By making this appeal to the Gentiles 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 for the relief of suffering Jews, he hoped to 
 unite both factions of the church. Love like 
 this is the "one touch of nature" that *makes 
 the whole world kin." 
 
 But this "drive" for famine relief was wholly 
 subordinate to his prime purpose, namely, the 
 preaching of the Gospel. For this he had been 
 "sent" and "separated"; so that, whatever of 
 so-called social service he might render on side 
 lines, he could by no means nor in any measure 
 be diverted for a moment from his commission 
 "to seek and save the lost" by bringing them 
 to a saving knowledge of the grace of God. 
 
 In this Epistle we have a comprehensive 
 view of the whole doctrinal system of our re- 
 ligion. And here we happen upon a noteworthy 
 fact, to wit, that Christianity is the only one 
 of the so-called great religions of the world 
 that is capable of being reduced to a system. 
 No such thing as real unity is claimed for 
 Islamism or Buddhism or Confucianism, their 
 inconsistencies being freely admitted and ex- 
 cused in many ways. But the essential truths 
 of Scripture hang together like the links of an 
 endless chain, so that if one link be broken the 
 whole falls asunder. 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 INTRODUCTION; GOING TO ROME 
 Chaptee 1:1-17 
 
 The Epistle begins (as it ends) with Paul's 
 familiar countersign, "Grace to you, and 
 peace," and then sets forth the Apostle's desire 
 and purpose to visit Rome. For years he had 
 been directing his course that way. Twice he 
 had set out with his face toward the Imperial 
 City and been baffled ; now, for the third time, 
 he cherished the hope of reaching it. 
 
 This was for two reasons. One was that 
 Rome was the center of the civilized world. If 
 he could preach the Gospel from that coign of 
 vantage it would sound forth to the uttermost 
 parts of the earth. No man was ever more 
 ambitious than Paul to extend his influence as 
 far as possible ; for he realized, as every Chris- 
 tian should, that in making the most of himself 
 as an Ambassador of Christ he would be ren- 
 dering the best possible service to his divine 
 Lord. 
 
 The other reason was because the church in 
 Rome had a very special interest for him. It 
 was made up of Jews and Gentiles, and on that 
 account appealed to him both as a loyal Jew 
 
 4 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 and as the Apostle to the Gentiles. It was the 
 very place to demonstrate the unifying power 
 of Christian love. 
 
 But Rome was out of the question as yet. 
 In the fulness of time he was to arrive there, 
 but in a most unexpected way. He was des- 
 tined to be led along the Appian Way in 
 chains, to wear out the remainder of his life as 
 a prisoner in Rome, and die at length beneath 
 the shadow of its walls. 
 
 In the meantime, however, he was held at 
 Corinth by a multiplicity of duties and must 
 make the best of it. He determined therefore 
 to write a letter to the Christians at Rome. It 
 so happened that Phoebe, a deaconess of Cen- 
 chrea, the nearby seaport of Corinth, was about 
 to visit Rome on a matter of personal business, 
 and, in the absence of other postal facilities, 
 the conveyance of the letter was entrusted to 
 her. 
 
 THE KEYNOTE: JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 
 
 At the outset the writer avows himself to be 
 a servant of Jesus Christ, "called to be an 
 apostle and separated unto the Gospel of 
 God" ; and he closes this avowal with the ring- 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 ing words, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel 
 of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salva- 
 tion to every one that believeth, to the Jew first 
 and also to the Greek. For therein is the 
 righteousness of God revealed from faith to 
 faith; as it is written, The just shall live by 
 faithr 
 
 In 1517 Luther, then a monk in the Convent 
 at Erfurt, went to Rome in the hope of dispell- 
 ing certain doubts which greatly troubled him. 
 As he was climbing the Sancta Scala in Rome, 
 telling his beads and murmuring Pater Nosters 
 by way of penance, he seemed to hear a Voice 
 saying, "The just shall live by faith!" He 
 sprang to his feet a new man in Christ Jesus. 
 Thenceforth he gave up merit-making and de- 
 voted himself to the preaching of this supreme 
 truth. It was with these words, "The just 
 shall live by faith," ringing through his brain 
 and conscience that he presently nailed his 
 ninety-five theses to the chapel door at Witten- 
 berg and sent the thunders of the Reformation 
 rolling around the world. He called this doc- 
 trine of justification by faith articulum ecclesice 
 stantis aut cadentis; that is, "the postulate of a 
 
 6 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 standing or falling church"; and so it has 
 proved to be. 
 
 THE SINFULNESS OF SIN 
 
 Chapters 1 : 18-31 ; 2 
 
 In the remainder of the first two chapters 
 Paul sets forth strongly the exceeding sinful- 
 ness of sin. 
 
 There are passages here that are not to be 
 read publicly, but only in those trysting-places 
 where a man is alone with God. It is a mistake 
 to think that the whole Bible was intended to 
 be read aloud, either in the sanctuary or at the 
 family altar. One of the favorite criticisms of 
 Robert IngersoU against the Bible was that it 
 contains many portions which his audience 
 would blush to hear. This is quite true, and 
 incidentally it reveals on the part of IngersoU 
 and like-minded people a dense ignorance of 
 the whole plan and purpose of Revelation. The 
 Bible was intended to touch human life at every 
 single point in its circumference. In making 
 its spiritual diagnosis it is not content with 
 looking at the patient's tongue and counting 
 his pulse, but goes down into the secret imag- 
 inations of his inmost heart and lays a merciless 
 
 7 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 hand on certain sins which no man ever con- 
 fesses to his fellow-men. 
 
 Paul, in this expose of sin, mentions some 
 of its worst developments. And he signifi- 
 cantly adds that, at this point, there is "no dif- 
 ference": no difference between Jews and Gen- 
 tiles; no difference between so-called moral and 
 immoral men: for all are "concluded under 
 sin." The word concluded means literally "shut 
 up together," the picture being of all mankind 
 in one prison and under the same sentence of 
 spiritual death, which is eternal alienation from 
 a holy God. 
 
 THE ADVANTAGE OF THE JEW 
 
 Chapters 3-5 
 
 Paul then addresses his argument more par- 
 ticularly to his own countrymen. The fact that 
 they were "children of Abraham," he says, 
 would not save them; for salvation is never by 
 inheritance. No more would the fact that they 
 were scrupulously observant of the ceremonial 
 law; "for by the deeds of the law shall no flesh 
 be justified." 
 
 Well, then, "what advantage hath the Jew? 
 Much every way: chiefly because that unto 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 them were committed the oracles of God." By 
 this it appears that the Jews were "chosen" to 
 the special privilege and corresponding re- 
 sponsibility of preserving the Scriptures — in 
 which were enshrined the prophecies of the 
 coming Christ — and handing them down in- 
 violate to succeeding ages. Their advantage 
 was not in any hypothetical salvation on ac- 
 count of that privilege, but in the superior 
 light of the Messianic hope. If justified at all 
 they must be justified by faith in the Messiah; 
 even as Abraham, seeing Christ afar off, "was 
 justified by faith and no? by works." This 
 was the proverbial "Hope of Israel"; the hope 
 that persisted along the red trail of prophecy 
 down to Calvary, where it was quenched in the 
 blood of him for whom they had so long been 
 looking! 
 
 SIN vs. GRACE 
 
 Chapters 6, 7 
 
 Then follows Paul's vindication of the doc- 
 trine of free grace as against the objection of 
 the Antinomians, who said, "If we are justi- 
 fied without reference to our good works, why 
 
 9 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 should we not go on to sin?" The mere sug- 
 gestion is fraught with horror to the mind of 
 the great apostle. Hear him: "How shall we 
 that are dead to sin live any longer therein? 
 God forbid! . . . For the wages of sin is 
 death, but the gift of God is eternal life 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord." And he pro- 
 ceeds to show how the whole grapple of the 
 Christian life is against sin. In himself he 
 likens it to the struggle of a convict who has 
 been chained to a corpse and thrown into the 
 sea. "O wretched man that I am! Who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death?" And 
 then comes the hopeful cry of victory, "I 
 thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" 
 
 THE WONDERFUL EIGHTH OF ROMANS 
 
 This brings us to the eighth chapter. The 
 Christian who can read this chapter without a 
 thrill of exultation is "fit for treasons, strata- 
 gems and spoils." We were dead, but are alive 
 again in Christ; we were in bondage, but are 
 forever free! Was ever such a challenge as 
 this : "Who shall lay anything to the charge of 
 God's elect? It is God that justifieth! Who 
 is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, 
 
 10 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 yea, rather, that is risen again, . . . who 
 also maketh intercession for us! Who shall 
 separate us from the love of Christ?" Come 
 death, come life, come angels, principalities, 
 powers, things present, things to come, height, 
 depth or any other creature; we are in Christ 
 Jesus, wherefore nothing can separate us from 
 the love of God! Of this inspired presenta- 
 tion of the vital union of the believer with his 
 Lord we have a faint echo in Wesley's familiar 
 words : 
 
 "This one thing I find: 
 We two are so joined, 
 Christ can't go to heaven 
 And leave me behind" 
 
 THE CONVERSION OF THE JEWS 
 Chapters 9-11 
 
 In the next three chapters we have a clear 
 presentation of God's purpose with respect to 
 the chosen people. For though this, the most 
 "general" of all Paul's Epistles, was addressed 
 to Rome as the outstanding figure in a univer- 
 sal church, not for an instant could Paul per- 
 mit his heart to wander from his own country- 
 
 11 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 men though they had cast him off. Hear him: 
 "My heart's desire for Israel is that they 
 might be saved." Blessed desire of Great- 
 heart ! 
 
 There is an accent of hope in his anguished 
 cry, "Hath God cast away his people? God 
 forbid!" For a time indeed — as he intimates 
 — they are blind and in bondage, denying 
 their own Messiah "whom kings and prophets 
 longed to see and died without the sight" ; but 
 in the fulness of time the veil is to be removed 
 from their eyes and they are to come flocking 
 to Christ as doves to their windows. Then 
 shall the mystery of God's gracious dealings 
 with his people be made clear. In the mean- 
 time this must suffice: "How unsearchable are 
 his judgments and his ways past finding out!" 
 11:33. 
 
 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS 
 Chapters 12-15:12 
 
 Paul next dwells upon the importance of 
 translating faith into the terms of common 
 life. A creed on parchment is an insignificant 
 thing; it has value only when it walks out on 
 
 12 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 two feet and busies itself with two hands in 
 the work of the kingdom of God. As food is a 
 vain thing unless it be assimilated and trans- 
 muted into blood and sinew and bone, so is 
 faith in Christ except it be changed into high 
 purpose and efficiency; for thus it is written: 
 "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man 
 and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." 
 
 A PROPOSED JOURNEY INTO SPAIN 
 Chapter 15 : 12-24 
 
 The essential part of his Epistle being dis- 
 posed of, Paul makes known the world-wide 
 scope of his mission. He purposes a journey 
 even "into Spain"! The height of his ambi- 
 tion, so far as previously disclosed, had been 
 to visit Rome; it now appears, however, that 
 Rome was a mere way station in his itinerary. 
 The world was his parish. The Master had 
 enjoined him to "Go!" and go he would, and 
 keep going until he had reached the "utter- 
 most parts of the earth." For Spain was at 
 the Pillars of Hercules, on the margin of the 
 uncharted seas. 
 
 13 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 CONCLUSION: SALUTATIONS 
 Chapter 16 
 
 The last chapter is given up to affectionate 
 greetings and hopeful farewells; and here we 
 have a sidelight into the sweet domesticity of 
 the early church. Blest be the tie that binds 
 our hearts in Christian love ! There is no bond 
 of consanguinity that can for a moment com- 
 pare with the blood-covenant of the church. 
 Believing Jews and Gentiles are one in him 
 who loved us and gave himself for us. 
 
 There are two singular things to be noted 
 in this chapter of greetings. 
 
 One of these is the parenthesis, "I, Tertius, 
 who wrote this Epistle, salute you in the 
 Lord." By this we are given to understand 
 that Paul dictated this letter to an amanuen- 
 sis, a fact probably due to the infirmities of in- 
 creasing age. As he was sending these saluta- 
 tions to his Roman friends he may have been 
 called aside for a moment; and just there and 
 then was where Tertius, his secretary, took 
 advantage of the opportunity of putting in 
 this salutation of his own. It has made him 
 immortal; for, indeed, this is everything that 
 
 14 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 we know about him. Let us be glad, in pass- 
 ing, that Paul did not feel constrained to cut 
 out the parenthesis of this humble man — who 
 is here embalmed like a fly in amber — for it 
 gives us a pleasant sidelight into the family 
 relations of the early church. 
 
 The other singular thing in this closing 
 chapter is the fact that it contains no reference 
 to Peter. The papal doctrine of the primacy 
 of Peter rests upon the assumption that the 
 Roman Church was founded by him about 
 A. D. 42, and that he continued to be Bishop 
 there for a period of twenty-five years. If so, 
 then, of course, he must have been at Rome 
 when this Epistle was written. This leaves us 
 in a quandary; for if that were so, it is unac- 
 countable, to say the least, that Paul should 
 not only make no mention of him in the entire 
 course of this Epistle, but that in these final 
 greetings he should not refer to him in any 
 way. 
 
 It only remains for us to hear Paul saying 
 to his amanuensis, "The grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." Grace 
 " — grace — the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: 
 
 15 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 whenever you hear it you may know that Paul 
 is somewhere on the premises or near by; for 
 the gratis of salvation was his only boast; and 
 Christ for him was first, last, midst and all 
 in all. 
 
 le 
 
II 
 
 FIRST CORINTHIANS 
 PRACTICAL RELIGION 
 
 The city of Corinth had been utterly de- 
 stroyed in the time of the Peloponnesian War 
 and remained in ruins until the time of Julius 
 Csesar. He rebuilt it because he saw that its 
 situation, on a peninsula with a seaport on 
 either side, afforded a coign of vantage for 
 commercial pre-eminence, as indeed it subse- 
 quently proved when ships of the Seven Seas 
 brought their cargoes to its markets. The city 
 on being rebuilt was dedicated to Venus Aph- 
 rodite, the goddess of sensuality; and at the 
 time of our narrative a thousand so-called 
 "vestals" were set apart there for the celebra- 
 tion of her unspeakably impure rites. 
 
 Paul came to Corinth on his second mis- 
 sionary journey, A. D. 52, and remained there 
 a year and a half. At that time the city had 
 a threefold renown: first, as the seat of the 
 
 IT 
 
PAULAS LETTERS 
 
 far-famed Isthmian or Corinthian games; 
 second, as a great commercial centre; and 
 third, as the Vanity Fair of the world. 
 
 The church which Paul founded in Corinth 
 was made up most largely of Greeks, who were 
 doubly handicapped by heredity and environ- 
 ment. The impure blood of many generations 
 was flowing in their veins and they were sur- 
 rounded by a people wholly given to popular 
 vices. It was to be expected, under such cir- 
 cumstances, that the new converts to Christ 
 would find it no easy matter to adjust them- 
 selves to the stern requirements of the Chris- 
 tian life. 
 
 The occasion of this letter was as follows: 
 An important member of the Corinthian 
 Church came to Ephesus (A. D. 57) on a visit, 
 while Paul was ministering there, and brought 
 news of spiritual declension among the Corin- 
 thian Christians which greatly distressed him. 
 Not long after this he received a letter from 
 certain members of that church which not only 
 emphasized what he had already heard, but 
 gave him still greater cause for anxiety; and 
 presently a delegation of three of its members 
 came with a formal request that Paul would 
 
 18 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 advise them as to what was to be done. His 
 desire was to go immediately to Corinth and 
 attend to the matter, but circumstances in 
 Ephesus were such that this was out of the 
 question. The next best thing to do was to 
 write a letter, which, under the direction of the 
 Holy Spirit, he proceeded to do. 
 
 With this explanation of the circumstances 
 under which the letter was written, we can 
 easily surmise what its character was likely to 
 be. There was no complaint as to the ortho- 
 doxy of the Corinthian Church. Its members 
 were intellectually true to the doctrines of the 
 Christian faith, but they failed to translate 
 their faith into the practical terms of common 
 life. A reference is made by Paul to this fact 
 where he says, "As a wise master builder I 
 have laid the foundation, and another (namely, 
 Apollos, who succeeded him in the pastorate 
 at Corinth) buildeth thereon. But let every 
 man take heed how he buildeth thereupon, for 
 other foundation can no man lay than that is 
 laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any 
 man build upon this foundation gold, silver, 
 precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every 
 man's work shall be made manifest; for the 
 
 19 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 day shall declare it, because it shall be re- 
 vealed by fire and the fire shall try every 
 man's work of what sort it is." The reference 
 in this passage is to the well-remembered con- 
 flagration of Mummius which had destroyed 
 all the combustible homes of the ancient city 
 and left only those substantial buildings which 
 had been built on good foundations. 
 
 It will be seen, therefore, why so little em- 
 phasis is put in this Epistle upon the doctrines 
 of our Christian faith and so great an empha- 
 sis on the importance of living up to them. In 
 the Epistle to the Romans, the circumstances 
 being totally different, we have the great doc- 
 trinal symbol of the New Testament; but in 
 this First Epistle to the Corinthians we have a 
 monumental thesis on Practical Religion, 
 
 CHRISTIAN UNITY 
 Chapters 1-4 
 
 The first four chapters after Paul's cus- 
 tomary greeting, "Grace be unto you," are 
 devoted to reproof and counsel with special 
 reference to the schisms which were prevalent 
 in the Corinthian church: *'For it hath been 
 
 20 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 declared unto me that there are contentions 
 among you." 
 
 There were four parties among them. First, 
 those who called themselves Pauline, because 
 they followed him as the founder of their 
 church. Second, the Petrine party, who allied 
 themselves with Peter (Cephas), these being 
 probably converted Jews who had reason to 
 think of Peter as more sympathetic with 
 Jewish methods than the Apostle of the Gen- 
 tiles was likely to be. Third, the Apollonian 
 party, who lined up with Apollos as a man of 
 persuasive eloquence and the former pastor of 
 their church. And fourth, a party made up 
 of such as preferred to call themselves simply 
 Christians, possibly with an assumption of 
 greater devotion to Christ, but probably in- 
 volving also a renunciation of apostolic teach- 
 ing. To all these Paul gives the same advice : 
 "I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same 
 thing, and that there be no divisions among 
 you; but that ye be perfectly joined together 
 in the same mind and in the same judgment." 
 
 It is at this point that Paul thanks God that 
 he had baptized none of them but Crispus, the 
 
 21 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 master of the synagogue, and his old friend 
 Gains, "lest any should say that I had bap- 
 tized in mine own name." He also thanks God 
 that he had taught no philosophy of his own, 
 by which they might have been warranted in 
 claiming to be his disciples rather than Christ's. 
 On coming to Corinth five years previously, 
 with his failure in Athens fresh in memory, he 
 had resolved that he would never again preach 
 the Gospel with wisdom of words lest the 
 Cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 
 Wherefore his teaching among them had been 
 with simplicity, the substance of it being, as 
 he says, "Christ the power of God and the 
 wisdom of God." 
 
 PERSONAL PURITY 
 Chapters 5-14 
 
 The next eight chapters are devoted to the 
 correction of the particular evils which had 
 been reported to him by the delegation from 
 the Corinthian church. 
 
 To begin with, he takes up the matter of 
 personal purity. There was one man there 
 who had greatly scandalized the church by 
 habitual indulgence in nameless vice. He in- 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 structs them that such an one should be "de- 
 livered unto Satan for the destruction of the 
 flesh." This meant, of course, that disciphne 
 should be administered by the officers of the 
 church — a policy which has unfortunately 
 fallen into disuse in our time. The offender 
 was not merely to be suspended but to be ex- 
 communicated; that is, '^delivered unto Satan" 
 or utterly separated from the people of Christ, 
 to the end that he might bring forth fruits 
 meet to repentance and so be brought back to 
 God. 
 
 Then follow certain instructions as to the 
 sanctity of the marriage tie and other points 
 relating to purity in personal life, all the 
 Apostle's injunctions here and further on in 
 the Epistle being based, as will be seen, on 
 certain great principles which are as enduring 
 as the moral law. In reading them we natur- 
 ally come upon certain passages which are not 
 to be read in public but in the secret place 
 where the soul of a man is bared in the pres- 
 ence of God. 
 
 NON-CONFORMITY 
 
 The next point taken up by the Apostle is 
 that of compromise with prevalent customs, 
 
 23 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 Let it be remembered that most of the mem- 
 bers of the Corinthian chm^ch were Greeks 
 who had formerly taken part in the worship 
 of Venus, and who after their conversion con- 
 tinued to be on f amihar terms with their pagan 
 friends. It would appear that some of these 
 converts had gone so far as to attend the feasts 
 given in honor of the unclean goddess. Of 
 course, this could not be tolerated in those who 
 were members of a Christian church; but one 
 of the questions which the delegation had 
 brought to Paul had to do with certain others 
 who, while not actually attending the feasts, 
 could see no harm in partaking of meats which 
 had been laid upon the altars of Venus and 
 thereafter sold in the shambles. What sin 
 could there be in purchasing and partaking of 
 those meats when they knew that "an idol was 
 nothing in the world"? 
 
 It is just here that Paul makes his great 
 argument as to refraining from that which is 
 not wrong of itself but becomes so when it 
 leads weak consciences astray. "Take heed," 
 he says, "lest by any means this liberty of 
 yours become a stumbling-block to them that 
 are weak." Suppose that one sitting at the 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 table, having previously been a worshipper of 
 Venus, and, not being able to perceive that her 
 worship was mere superstition, were to be led 
 back by the example of a stronger brother into 
 his former method of life? The safer plan is, 
 therefore, to abstain. At any rate, Paul him- 
 self will take no risks: "If meat make my 
 brother to offend I will eat no flesh while the 
 world standeth!" Here is the spirit of self- 
 sacrifice at its best. 
 
 MODESTY 
 
 This is followed by the consideration of a 
 certain matter which may seem of small mo- 
 ment to us, but had apparently given rise to 
 scandal in connection with public worship. It 
 seems that some of the women had attended 
 church with their heads uncovered. What a 
 molehill to dwell upon, in a letter like this! 
 But Paul did not think so. The priestesses of 
 Venus Aphrodite were wont to publish their 
 shameful vocation by appearing at her great 
 festivals with uncovered heads; this was the 
 token of their calling. When Christian women 
 appeared in public in similar guise what would 
 naturally be thought of them? It was there- 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 fore a matter of vital importance that they 
 should avoid it. 
 
 THE lord's supper 
 
 A matter of related but still greater mo- 
 ment was the abuse of the Lord's supper. 
 There were some among the Christians of 
 Corinth who had turned it into a revel not 
 greatly differing from the hilarious feasts of 
 Aphrodite. The rich were accustomed to bring 
 with them the viands of the feast and to par- 
 take gluttonously, not without drunkenness on 
 the part of some, while the poorer members of 
 the church sat hungrily by. "What," cries 
 Paul, **have ye not houses to eat and drink in? 
 or despise ye the church of God, and shame 
 them that have not? What shall I say to you? 
 I praise you not." Then follows a noble dis- 
 quisition on the divine beauty and simplicity 
 of the sacramental feast. 
 
 SPIRITUAL GIFTS 
 
 Still another abuse in public worship was 
 due to the improper use of the charismata, or 
 spiritual gifts, and particularly of the gift of 
 tongues. It would appear that some of the 
 members of the church, assuming themselves 
 
 36 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 to be possessed of this miraculous gift, had 
 been hfting up their voices in the pubHc assem- 
 bHes in a sort of gibberish which neither their 
 hearers nor probably themselves were able to 
 understand ; and the result was utter confusion 
 and disorder. 
 
 It may be noted, in passing, that the same 
 "gift of tongues" has not infrequently been 
 claimed and exercised with like results at dif- 
 ferent periods in the modern church, as for 
 example among the followers of Edward Irv- 
 ing, whose later life was clouded by many de- 
 lusions. There was a reason for the conferring 
 of such miraculous gifts on the members of 
 the infant church, precisely as there is a reason 
 for the use of a scaffolding in the early stages 
 of the erection of a building; but as the scaf- 
 folding is taken down when no longer needed, 
 so with the charismata; they would hamper 
 rather than help the progress of the modern 
 church, 
 
 CHARITY 
 
 The counsel of Paul with respect to these 
 spiritual gifts is interrupted by the wonderful 
 Song of Charity (chapter 13), which he pro- 
 
 27 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 nounces to be the greatest of all gifts. 
 *' Though I speak with the tongues of men 
 and of angels, and have not charity (love, 
 R. v.), I am become as sounding brass or a 
 tinkling cymbal. . . . Now abideth faith, 
 hope, love, these three; and the greatest of 
 these is love." 
 
 THE RESURRECTION 
 Chapter 15 
 
 While the members of the Corinthian church 
 stood foursquare as to the fundamental doc- 
 trines of the Christian faith, there was one 
 doctrine of prime importance which had been 
 assailed by certain false teachers who had 
 crept in among them ; namely, the resurrection 
 of the dead. In order to forestall any further 
 inroads in this direction, Paul gives us a con- 
 vincing argument as to life and immortality. 
 It concludes with the challenge: "O death, 
 where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy vic- 
 tory? The sting of death is sin; and the 
 strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to 
 God, which giveth us the victory through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ!" 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 Chapter 16 
 
 The Epistle concludes with a chapter of 
 greetings in which Paul again refers to the 
 fact that he is collecting funds among the 
 Gentiles for his famine-stricken friends in the 
 mother church at Jerusalem and requests their 
 generous contributions. The letter is sent by 
 the hand of Timothy, for whom he asks the 
 loving consideration of the Christians in Cor- 
 inth. Finally, "Watch ye, stand fast in the 
 faith, quit you like men, be strong! Let all 
 things be done with charity." And then, of 
 course, his countersign, "The grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." 
 
 99 
 
Ill 
 
 SECOND CORINTHIANS 
 A SELF-RESPECTING MAN 
 
 It will be remembered that Paul wrote his 
 First Epistle to the Corinthians during his 
 three years' pastorate at Ephesus. Not long 
 after that he was attacked by a mob and 
 obliged to flee for his life. This happened in 
 the month of May, A. D. 57, while the great 
 feast in honor of Diana was going on. By 
 this time Paul had been long enough in Ephe- 
 sus to make grave inroads on the traffic in 
 little images of the goddess which were cus- 
 tomarily sold at the feast. The shop-keepers 
 and particularly the manufacturers of such 
 wares, being naturally indignant on account 
 of their losses, held a meeting at which Deme- 
 trius the silversmith made a fiery address, with 
 the result that an uproar was raised in the city 
 and a search was instituted for Paul, who, had 
 he been found, would without doubt have been 
 
 30 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 summarily dealt with. After being kept under 
 cover for a while by friends, he quietly left the 
 city. 
 
 So it came to pass that this Second Epistle, 
 which is a postscript to the First, was not 
 written at Ephesus, but in some unknown 
 place where Paul found shelter after his flight. 
 He had set out with the evident intention of 
 going to Corinth, in pursuance of a promise 
 that, as soon as possible, he would visit the 
 people there. He had advised them through 
 Titus, the postman of his First letter, that 
 they might expect him; and they had accord- 
 ingly been preparing to receive him. He had 
 enjoined Titus to return at the earliest pos- 
 sible moment with information as to how his 
 previous letter was received; but up to the 
 time of Paul's leaving Ephesus his messenger 
 had not returned ; and now that he had reached 
 Macedonia there was still no news. He had 
 waited for Titus at Troas in vain; and with 
 an anxious heart he continued his evangelistic 
 work in towns along the way. 
 
 News came at length, while he was some- 
 where among the Macedonian hills, and news 
 of a most distressing sort. The church in 
 
 31 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 Corinth was sadly divided; the majority of its 
 members had received his reproofs in a proper 
 spirit of humihty; but there were trouble- 
 makers who not only resented his interference 
 with their worldly manner of life but went so 
 far as to deny outright his apostolic authority. 
 Others denounced him as a promise-breaker, 
 affirming that he had never really intended to 
 visit them, broadly hinting that he was a coward 
 and afraid to confront them face to face with 
 the severe charges of immorality which he had 
 brought against them. 
 
 These were the circumstances under which 
 he sat down, somewhere in Macedonia, to write 
 this letter in self-defence. Was it worth 
 while? Is it ever worth while for a man to 
 vindicate himself? If so, it was doubly impor- 
 tant for Paul to set himself right as an apostle 
 of Christ. The validity of his apostolic teach- 
 ing was at stake, not only as it concerned the 
 church members of Corinth, but for all Chris- 
 tians who were to receive his writings as 
 canonical and trustworthy through the coming 
 ages. 
 
 It is important that we should know whether 
 Paul was really an authorized and inspired 
 
 32 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 teacher of the doctrines of Christ. For in our 
 time there is no lack of accusers, like those at 
 Corinth, who look askance at Paul and speak 
 slightingly of "Pauline theology," as if an 
 invidious distinction were to be drawn between 
 the trustworthiness of Christ and that of his 
 apostles. They either forget or choose to 
 ignore and practically deny the fact that the 
 apostolic Scriptures were underwritten by 
 Christ himself when he said not only, "He that 
 heareth you heareth me," but conversely, "He 
 that despiseth you despiseth me." 
 
 It is of supreme importance therefore that 
 Paul should vindicate his standing as an 
 apostle, particularly by reason of the fact that 
 he, of all the apostles, was pre-eminently 
 chosen to formulate and systematize the doc- 
 trines of the Christian faith. 
 
 In this Second Epistle to the Corinthians 
 we have that vindication. It would be worth 
 while if it contained no more than the pas- 
 sionate effort of an ordinary man to uphold 
 his honor. But it is immeasurably more than 
 that; it is the picture of one of the Lord's 
 mighties standing for the defence of his am- 
 bassadorship, and therefore for the authority 
 
 33 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 of the message which, as he steadfastly affirms, 
 comes through his lips from the very throne 
 of God. 
 
 A MAN OF HIS WORD 
 Chapters 1, 2 
 
 In the first two chapters, Paul, after his 
 customary salutation,' assures his friends that 
 no fault of his had prevented the fulfillment 
 of his promise to visit them. "Man proposes 
 but God disposes." The fact was that on his 
 journey he had been prostrated by an attack 
 of illness that threatened his very life. (2 Cor. 
 1: 8-12.) This was an excuse that would hold 
 in any court of justice. In reply to those who 
 accused him of being afraid to meet them face 
 to face, he affirms that he had never so lived as 
 to lay himself open to the charge of evasion or 
 prevarication. "Our word toward you is not 
 yea and nay; but as the promises of God in 
 Christ are yea and amen, so have I always 
 endeavored to speak the truth, the whole truth, 
 and nothing but the truth." It would be hard 
 to find a nobler tribute to transparent candor. 
 The water-carriers of Christ cannot carry 
 
 34 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 water on both shoulders. As children of light 
 their yea must be yea and their nay nay. 
 
 A VERITABLE APOSTLE 
 Chapters S-& 
 
 In these chapters Paul sets forth his cre- 
 dentials as an apostle. It is true he did not 
 belong to the original Twelve. He admits 
 that, as an apostle, he was "as one born out 
 of due time." But in due time he did receive 
 his commission; and it bore the sign-manual 
 of Christ himself. 
 
 No one could be an apostle who had not 
 seen Christ. No one could write Scripture 
 who had not seen Christ. This was the fact 
 which ultimately sealed the canon of the New 
 Testament: only such books were included as 
 were definitely known to have been written by 
 men who had seen the living Christ. But Paul 
 had seen him. On his way down to Damascus 
 — "out of due season" indeed — he had looked 
 upon him in "a light above the brightness of 
 the sun." And he had received his apostolic 
 commission in unmistakable terms that day. 
 
 But they demanded formal credentials. 
 Perhaps they wanted letters of commendation 
 
 35 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 from the mother church in Jerusalem. Here 
 was Paul going around among both Jews and 
 Gentiles without a written line or syllable to 
 authenticate his claims! What has he to say- 
 to that? "Do we begin again to commend 
 ourselves ? Or need we, as some others, epistles 
 of commendation to you or letters of commen- 
 dation from you? Ye are our epistle, written 
 in our hearts, known and read of all men." 
 Hear that, ye who clamor for a place in "the 
 apostolic succession." Where are your con- 
 verts, the conquests of your faith, the living 
 epistles that certify to the validity of your 
 call? Stand up, all "unordained" evangelists 
 whose crowns are shining full of stars, stand 
 up in the presence of mitres and canonicals 
 and let your works witness for you! 
 
 But that was not all: Paul claimed to have 
 other credentials: "Always bearing about in 
 the body," he says, "the dying of the Lord 
 Jesus" ; or, as he puts it in Galatians, "Let no 
 man trouble me: for I bear in my body the 
 marks (stigmata) of the Lord Jesus." The 
 scars of many scourgings were upon him. 
 Who are these who call him charlatan? "Are 
 thev ministers of Christ? I more! In labors 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 more abundant, in stripes above measure, in 
 prisons more frequent, in deaths oft!" (2 Cor. 
 11:23.) Let him be judged not only by what 
 he had done, but by what he had suffered in 
 the Master's name. 
 
 Were other credentials called for? We shall 
 find them further on (2 Cor. 12) : "I will come 
 to visions and revelations of the Lord," says 
 Paul. **I knew a man in Christ above four- 
 teen years ago (whether in the body, I cannot 
 tell ; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell : 
 God knoweth) ; such an one caught up into 
 Paradise, the third heaven, where he heard 
 unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a 
 man to utter. Of such an one will I glory." 
 
 Not less than twenty-nine times in this 
 Epistle do we come upon that word. Paul 
 seems to be boasting continually, yet not of 
 himself, save as an ambassador of Christ. As 
 such, it behooves him to contend for the integ- 
 rity of his message. "I am become a fool in 
 glorying," he says; "ye have compelled me; 
 for I ought to have been commended of you. 
 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought 
 among you in all patience, in signs and won- 
 ders and mighty deeds." 
 
 37 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 A FAITHFUL MINISTER 
 
 Chapters 6, 7 
 
 In chapters six and seven he speaks for 
 himself as the former pastor of the Corinthian 
 church. And here his heart is in his throat. 
 What severe tenderness! He reminds them 
 how patiently and earnestly he had served 
 them. (For a perfect picture of a faithful 
 pastorate read 2 Cor. 6: 3-10.) And how had 
 they recompensed him? *'Ye are not straitened 
 in us, but ye are straitened in your own affec- 
 tions. Our mouth is open unto you, O Corin- 
 thians, our heart is enlarged." They had lent 
 a willing ear even to the unrighteous who ac- 
 cused him. *'Come out from among them and 
 be ye separate, saith the Lord. . . . Open 
 your hearts to us; we wronged no man." 
 
 He acknowledges the severity of his former 
 letter, but insists not only that the circum- 
 stances of the case required it but that results 
 had fully justified it. For Titus, on his return 
 from Corinth, had informed him of a notable 
 betterment of life among the Christians there. 
 Wherefore he says that though he had made 
 them sorry with his letter he did not repent, 
 but rather rejoiced that they were made sorry 
 
 38 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 with a godly sorrow that needed not to be 
 repented of. 
 
 THE COLLECTION 
 
 Chapters 8, 9 
 
 In the next two chapters Paul appeals for a 
 generous contribution in behalf of the famine- 
 stricken members of the mother church in 
 Jerusalem. The fact that these Christians of 
 Corinth were mostly Gentiles would make 
 such an offering significant of church unity 
 and magnanimity. He ventures to stimulate 
 their spirit of emulation by reminding them of 
 the forwardness of the churches of Macedonia 
 which had given generously in "deep poverty'* 
 and *'in a great trial of affliction." He as- 
 sures them that such beneficence can involve 
 no loss, since giving to the poor is but lending 
 to the Lord. And finally he puts them in re- 
 membrance of Christ as the unspeakable Gift 
 of God. 
 
 SELF-RESPECT 
 Chapters 10-13 
 
 In the remaining chapters Paul makes a 
 clean job of his defence, taking up and dis- 
 
 39. 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 posing of everything that had been alleged 
 against him. 
 
 Paul was under fire. There were those at 
 Corinth who said, "His letters are indeed 
 weighty and powerful, but his bodily pres- 
 ence is weak and his speech is contemptible," 
 which was presumably the reason why he, not- 
 withstanding his promise, had failed to visit 
 them. To this he replies, first, by accusing 
 his accusers of grave presumption and, sec- 
 ond, by emphasizing his purpose not only to 
 come to Corinth but to "stretch himself" even 
 to the regions beyond. 
 
 And then, as if swept away by righteous 
 indignation on account of the wrongs inflicted 
 upon him, he becomes, as he says, a very fool 
 in boasting. (Read 2 Cor. 11:18-12:13.) At 
 this point one cannot fail to recall the infidel 
 Renan's description of Paul as "the ugly lit- 
 tle Jew." But how that ugly little Jew towers 
 aloft in defence of himself as a duly accredi- 
 ted ambassador of Christ! Nor is this the 
 only occasion when he stood upon his official 
 dignity. Once imprisoned at Philippi by mag- 
 istrates who, having exceeded their authority, 
 became frightened and ordered the jailer to 
 
 40 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 let him go, he refused to be let go, saying, 
 **They have beaten us openly, uncondemned, 
 and now do they thrust us out privily? Nay, 
 verily, but let them come themselves and fetch 
 us out!" And come they did, "and brought 
 them out and desired them to depart out of 
 the city." 
 
 All honor to the man who knows his rights 
 and knowing dares maintain ! There is no room 
 in practical Christianity for " 'umbleness" like 
 that of Uriah Heep. And certainly no ambas- 
 sador is at liberty to endure silently an af- 
 front to the Government that commissions 
 him. 
 
 Hear him again — this "ugly little Jew" — 
 asserting his rights in the Praetorian palace at 
 CsBsarea. He had been beaten about in one 
 petty court after another until forbearance 
 had ceased to be a virtue; so that when Fes- 
 tus proposed that he consent to go up again 
 to Jerusalem to be badgered by the rabbis, he 
 answered, "If I have committed anything 
 worthy of death I refuse not to die; but if 
 there be none of these things whereof they 
 accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. 
 I appeal unto Caesar!" He thus fell back upon 
 
 41 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 his rights as a citizen of Rome. Again, I 
 say, all honor to him! 
 
 No Christian is at liberty to dishonor him- 
 self. Christ himself was the manliest of men. 
 To use the words of Milton, his was "that 
 lofty lowliness of mind which is exalted by its 
 own humiliation!" One who would truly fol- 
 low Christ in this respect must be jealous not 
 only for his own character but for his repu- 
 tation also, in order that his influence may 
 work to the uttermost for the good of his fel- 
 low-men. 
 
 In conclusion Paul reiterates his expectation 
 of reaching Corinth in due time ; and, in antic- 
 ipation of his coming, exhorts his friends, "Ex- 
 amine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; 
 prove your own selves." Then his farewell, 
 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the 
 love of God and the communion of the Holy 
 Ghost be with you all. Amen." 
 
 43 
 
IV 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 
 
 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 
 
 This Epistle was written about A. D. 58. 
 It was occasioned by the fact that, while Paul 
 was on his third missionary journey, news 
 reached him that members of the church in 
 Galatia were being persuaded by Judaizers 
 to return again from the simplicity of the 
 Gospel to the bondage of the Ceremonial Law. 
 
 SALUTATION 
 
 Chapter 1:1-5 
 
 In his three years' ministry at Ephesus the 
 Apostle was assisted by a noble band of 
 workers, among whom were Gains, Tim- 
 othy, Tychicus and Trophimus, Sopater, Aris- 
 tarchus, Secundus and the ever-faithful tent- 
 makers Aquila and Priscilla. The fact that 
 these were informed as to the purpose of this 
 letter and in full accord with it is intimated 
 by their joining in the greeting, "Grace be to 
 you and peace." 
 
 43 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 REMONSTRANCE 
 Chapter 1 : 6-12 
 
 It must have been something starthng in 
 the news from Galatia that moved Paul to ex- 
 claim, *'I marvel!" It was, indeed; for it had 
 been reported that the church members there 
 were "removed unto another gospel." And 
 the new gospel which they preferred to the 
 Gospel of Christ was really "not another," 
 but a transparent fraud, because it brought 
 them no "good news" of salvation from sin. 
 
 In view of the many evasions and make- 
 shifts and substitutes which in our day are 
 offered for the old-time religion it may be 
 well to emphasize the words of Paul in this 
 connection: "Though we, or an angel from 
 heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, let 
 him be anathema!" 
 
 A terrible judgment, this; which he justi- 
 fies by saying that the Gospel which he 
 preached was received by the direct "revelation 
 of Jesus Christ" and not like those others 
 "after man." If this means anything it means 
 that those who profess to follow Christ are not 
 at liberty to formulate their creed according 
 to the teachings of any man or body of men 
 
 44 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 whatsoever, but are under bonds to regard as 
 final the authority of the oracles of God. 
 
 REVELATION VINDICATED 
 
 Chapters 1 : 13-2 
 
 At this point the Apostle proceeds to show 
 how the Gospel was revealed to him. At 
 the time of his conversion, he says, he did not 
 feel qualified at once to enter upon his min- 
 istry; but "conferring not with flesh and 
 blood," not even going up to Jerusalem to ad- 
 vise with those who were Apostles before him, 
 he "went away into Arabia" where among the 
 solitudes he pursued a three-years theological 
 course. Then, having received the divine title 
 of B. D., he went up to Jerusalem, where 
 he remained for fifteen days in conference 
 with Peter and James, the pastor of the moth- 
 er church. After that, for a period of eleven 
 years, he carried on a sort of independent 
 work among the neglected peoples of Syria 
 and Cilicia. Meanwhile, he says, he was "un- 
 known by face unto the churches of Judea," 
 save as rumors came to them that "he which 
 persecuted us in times past now preacheth 
 the faith." Then, after this apprenticeship of 
 
 45 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 fourteen years, he did go up to Jerusalem 
 *'by revelation" to attend the Council which 
 had been called to determine whether Gentile 
 converts must enter the Church by complying 
 with the Levitical rules and regulations or 
 not; and then and there the career of Paul 
 as an "ordained" minister began, as it is writ- 
 ten that they gave him the right hand of fel- 
 lowship that he should "go unto the heathen." 
 As Peter had been set apart and ordained "to 
 the apostleship of the circumcision," so Paul 
 was now designated for special service among 
 the Gentiles; and at the same time he was 
 commissioned to solicit offerings from the 
 Gentile converts for the relief of the famine- 
 stricken Christians of Jerusalem. His work 
 was now clearly marked out; and never for a 
 moment thereafter did he swerve from it. 
 
 On one occasion, he says, he had been forced 
 to take issue with Peter and "withstand him 
 to the face." This was during the revival at 
 Antioch A. D. 42. (Acts 15:22-26.) For a 
 while Peter mingled with the Gentile converts 
 there on terms of equality, but under the in- 
 fluence of certain members of the church in 
 Jerusalem he "withdrew and separated him- 
 
 ^6 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 self, fearing them which were of the circum- 
 cision." For this, says Paul, "he was to be 
 blamed"; wherefore there occurred a tempor- 
 ary breach between the two apostles ; but Paul 
 had the right of it. Compromise in moral ques- 
 tions never pays. Peter, by endeavoring to 
 carry water on both shoulders, was really con- 
 senting that the Gentiles must enter the 
 Christian Church by the Jewish door. All 
 praise to Paul — Jew that he was — for his 
 vigorous defence of Gentile rights! Hear 
 him: "A man is not justified by the works of 
 the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." "I 
 do not frustrate the grace of God; for if 
 righteousness come by the law, then Christ 
 is dead in vain!" *'I am crucified with Christ: 
 nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth 
 in me: and the life which I now live in the 
 flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, 
 who loved me and gave himself for me." 
 
 WITCHCRAFT 
 Chapter 3 
 
 "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched 
 you?" A severe indictment, this, but amply 
 
 47 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 justified, as Paul proceeds to show, by the 
 facts in the case. By lending an ear to those 
 who taught salvation by deeds of the law, they 
 had been as really bewitched as King Saul 
 was at En-dor. And how groundlessly ! For 
 Christ had been "evidently set forth crucified" 
 among them. Wherefore they were without 
 excuse. 
 
 Those among them who were converted 
 Jews professed to be children of Abraham; 
 but even Abraham, as Paul shows, was not 
 saved by works; he "believed God, and it was 
 accounted to him for righteousness." This 
 belief in God was based upon the Messianic 
 promise, "In thee shall all the families of the 
 earth be blessed." (Gen. 12:3.) In other 
 words, Abraham was a Christian and was 
 saved by faith in the Saviour whom he saw 
 afar off. 
 
 Not only so, the Ceremonial Law was so far 
 from having of itself any saving power that 
 it was merely "a schoolmaster to lead unto 
 Christ," which is evident in the fact that all 
 its rites and ceremonies, its oblations and ablu- 
 tions, its ark and altars and sacrifices, pointed 
 forward to him. 
 
 48 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 *'Not all the blood of beasts 
 
 On Jewish altars slain 
 Can give the guilty conscience peace 
 
 Or take away its stain; 
 But Christ, the heavenly Lamb, 
 
 Takes all our sins away, 
 A sacrifice of nobler name 
 
 And richer blood than they." 
 
 By this it appears that the old-time worth- 
 ies were saved precisely as we are — they by 
 looking forward and we by looking backward 
 to Christ. As there is only one God, so there 
 is only one way of approach to him. ."I am 
 the way," said Jesus; "no man cometh unto 
 the Father but by me." One God, one Gos- 
 pel of salvation, "one Church above, beneath, 
 though now divided by the stream, the narrow 
 stream of death." Thus are the ends of the 
 earth and of history brought nigh together, 
 even as Paul says, "There is neither Jew nor 
 Greek; ye are all the children of God by faith 
 in Christ Jesus. ' And if ye be Christ's, then 
 are ye Abraham's seed." Which is only an- 
 other way of saying that all who have believed 
 in Christ since the foundation of the world 
 belong to the true Israel of God. 
 
 49 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 AN ALLEGORY 
 Chapter 4 
 
 "It IS written that Abraham had two sons, 
 the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free 
 woman: which things are an allegory; for 
 these are the two covenants'' 
 
 First, the Covenant of Works. "The Law 
 is not of faith, but the man that doeth them 
 shall live in them"; and, conversely, whosoever 
 breaketh the Law shall die under it. "The 
 wages of sin is death." Sin, in the nature 
 and necessity of the case, alienates from a holy 
 God; ^nd this is spiritual death. To be with 
 God is heaven ; to be anywhere away from God 
 is hell. 
 
 The Law requires perfect obedience. One 
 sin is enough to make an outlaw ; as it is writ- 
 ten, "Whosoever shall keep the whole Law, 
 and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of 
 all." The moment a planet leaves its orbit 
 by so much as an inch it becomes a wanderer 
 in infinite space. "The soul that sinneth, it 
 shall die"; that is, it shall part company with 
 God. 
 
 And, alas, "there is none that doeth good, 
 no, not one!" "The Scripture hath con-eluded 
 
 so 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 (i. e., shut up together) all under sin." No 
 longer free, but servants of sin! Children of 
 the bondwoman! Aliens from the common- 
 wealth of Israel! Exiles from the presence 
 of a hoty God! 
 
 And law deals only with justice. It knows 
 no mercy. It makes no provision for pardon. 
 It exacts its penalty to the uttermost farth- 
 ing. Wherefore under the covenant of works 
 the sinner is "without God and without hope 
 in the world." What is to be done? Noth- 
 ing, unless the omniscient and omnipotent 
 God shall make bare his arm. 
 
 Second, the Covenant of Grace. In the 
 fulness of time God does make bare his arm. 
 He interposes in behalf of the hopeless race, 
 as it is written, "God so loved the world that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him should not perish but have 
 everlasting life." Thus those who were con- 
 demned under the old Covenant of Works are 
 justified by faith under the new Covenant of 
 Grace: as it is written, "For what the Law 
 could not do, in that it was weak through the 
 flesh (i. e., our sinful flesh), God, sending 
 his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, 
 
 51 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that 
 the righteousness of the Law might be ful- 
 filled in us." (Romans 8:3.) 
 
 That is, if we choose to have it so. For 
 every man must determine for himself whether 
 he will live under the Covenant of Works or 
 under the Covenant of Grace, whether he will 
 be a child of the bondwoman or of the free- 
 woman, whether he will accept the wages of 
 sin which is death, or the gift of God which is 
 eternal life. 
 
 This is where the Galatians were in danger 
 of being led astray, of leaving Christ and re- 
 turning to the bondage of the Jewish law. 
 Nor has that danger passed. In our time 
 Judaism is as much in evidence as ever. Men 
 would rather be saved under the law than un- 
 der grace. Grace and gratis are cognate 
 words. Pride forbids our taking salvation 
 "without money and without price." That 
 word gratis offends the natural man. If it 
 were possible that a pilgrimage of a thousand 
 miles afoot on bread and water could earn 
 a "title clear to mansions in the skies," the 
 thoroughfare would be crowded. But that is 
 impossible; good works have no atoning pow- 
 
 52 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 er: there is no adaptation of the means to the 
 end. Good behavior has no margin to apply 
 beyond the passing hour. 
 
 Nor is there any expiatory value in punish- 
 ment. Not all the fires of hell itself can burn 
 out the record of past sin. The dead cannot 
 bury its dead. Unless God interposes in his 
 behalf, the bondwoman's child can never be- 
 come an heir of God. The Cross is the one 
 monument of grace. Its benefits are gratis, 
 based on the sole condition of faith. * 'Who- 
 soever will, let him come." To will to accept 
 Christ and be saved through him is to cross 
 the line from hell to heaven. To will to be 
 saved by personal merit is to remain under the 
 sentence of the law. And every one must say 
 for himself which it shall be. 
 
 STANDFASTNESS 
 Chapter 5 
 
 The argument thus far is unanswerable and 
 its conclusion is inevitable: "Stand fast there- 
 fore!" In what? "In the liberty wherewith 
 Christ hath made us free." As against what? 
 As against any "entanglement with the yoke 
 of bondage"; the old yoke of Judaism, that is 
 
 53 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 — the hope of winning heaven by deeds of the 
 law. 
 
 (1) The Judaizers in Corinth were saying 
 that circumcision was necessary for entrance 
 into the Church. Paul says, "If ye be circum- 
 cised, Christ shall profit you nothing." The 
 moment one consents that justification is by 
 works instead of faith, he "falls from grace" 
 and "becomes a debtor to do the whole law." 
 There can be no compromise. The only con- 
 dition affixed to full and complete salvation 
 is faith, as Jesus said, "This is the work of 
 God (i.e., the only work that commends us 
 in the sight of God), that ye believe on him 
 whom he hath sent." (John 6:29.) 
 
 (2) Wherefore, says Paul, yield not an 
 inch. It is dangerous to palter with error: 
 "a little leaven leaventh the whole lump." If 
 we are saved gratis, then we are no longer 
 under the yoke of legalism. Does this mean 
 that as Christians we are absolved from obedi- 
 ence to the moral law? Not at all! Listen 
 to Paul in another place (Romans 6:2) : "How 
 shall we that are dead to sin live any longer 
 therein? God forbid!" But obedience is now 
 lifted from the carnal plane of duty to the 
 
 54. 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 spiritual plane of love. If we are true fol- 
 lowers of Christ, we keep the law "not for the 
 hope of winning heaven or of escaping hell," 
 but from a sense of gratitude to him who 
 suffered on the Cross to deliver us from the 
 shame and power and penalty of sin. 
 
 (3) Thus, says Paul, we are "called unto 
 liberty." He is the freeman whom the truth 
 makes free, 
 
 "Free from the law, O happy condition! 
 Jesus hath died and there is remission; 
 Cursed by the law, and bruised by the fall, 
 Christ hath redeemed us once for all." 
 
 Where then do good works come in? As 
 the test and touchstone of faith, and as a 
 preparation for service further on. Our title 
 clear to heaven is assured solely by faith in 
 Christ ; but what sort of a heaven that will be 
 is determined by our walk and conversation 
 here and now. Some are saved like Lot "so 
 as by fire," while others go "sweeping through 
 the gates" with an abundant entrance into the 
 Kingdom of God. (Read 1 Cor. 3:10-14.) 
 
 Our life here is merely an apprenticeship in 
 which we learn how to do things in that heav- 
 en further on where "his servants do serve 
 
 55 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 him.'' Alas for the minimum Christian who 
 goes out into eternity like an unskilled work- 
 man; but "they that be wise shall shine as 
 the brightness of the firmament ; and they that 
 turn many to righteousness as the stars for- 
 ever and ever." Oh, yes, good works tell, tell 
 forever; but not for salvation, which is only 
 and always "the gift of God." 
 
 (4) Thus Paul arrives, naturally and logi- 
 cally, at the conflict between the flesh and 
 the spirit, which is the great conflict of the 
 Christian life. And here are the two categor- 
 ies: read them: "The works of the flesh" 
 (verses 19-21), and 'Hhe fruit (i. e., the nat- 
 ural outgrowth) of the Spirit" (verses 22, 23.) 
 In other words, the "good works" of a Chris- 
 tian are not such as are laboriously wrought 
 in obedience to law but such as grow natur- 
 ally out of a sense of gratitude to him who 
 loved us and gave himself for us: that is to 
 say, they are an expression of "the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God." 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 Chapter 6 
 
 The Apostle has now accomplished his pur- 
 pose in this Epistle, which was to show the 
 
 56 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 vital importance of the doctrine of Justifica- 
 tion by Faith. 
 
 It remains for him to say what shall be 
 done with the Jewish propagandists who have 
 been so sedulously advocating the false doc- 
 trine of justification by works. He has already 
 intimated that they should be "cut off," i. e., 
 subjected to church discipline; but he now de- 
 clares that such discipline must only be ad- 
 ministered "in the spirit of meekness" and 
 with a view to their "restoration," since, when 
 all is said and done, love is the fulfilling of 
 the law. 
 
 Then follows a singular farewell: "Ye see 
 how large a letter I have written unto you 
 with mine own hand." In fact, however, this 
 Epistle of only six chapters is not a large one : 
 but it was written in "large letters" (R. V.) 
 as the half -blind Apostle would be likely to 
 write; and, most significantly, it was written, 
 not like the other Epistles by the hand of an 
 amanuensis, but doubtless with much difficulty 
 with the tremulous own hand of Paul. Thus 
 does he certify to his deep concern for the 
 welfare of his Galatian friends. 
 
 57 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 But suppose he should be criticised for an 
 undue presumption upon his apostolic func- 
 tions? Listen to his noli me tangere: "Let 
 no man trouble me; I bear about in my body 
 the stigmata of the Lord Jesus!" His scars 
 of service are his best credentials. And the 
 same holds true of all who follow Christ. 
 
 Finally what? Grace, of course. ''Brethren, 
 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with 
 your spirit." 
 
 58 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 
 THE CHURCH 
 
 (As an introduction to this Epistle the stu- 
 dent would do well to read Acts 19:1-10, in 
 which an account is given of Paul's first visit 
 to the Christians at Ephesus, A, Z). 55; also 
 Acts 20:17-38, where, four years later, he bids 
 them farewell, ) 
 
 This Epistle was written while Paul was a 
 prisoner in the Prgetorian camp at Rome, 
 A. D. 64. While it was addressed in particular 
 to the Christians at Ephesus it was really a 
 round robin, intended for all the churches 
 then and now. 
 
 Its theme is The Church, and it contains 
 all ecclesiology in a nutshell. It portrays the 
 Church as a living organism, made up of all 
 in every age and of every name who are by 
 faith vitally united with Christ. Not all whose 
 
 59 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 names are written on the visible roster of the 
 denominations are really members of this in- 
 visible organism; but only such as have their 
 names written in the Lamb's book of life by 
 reason of a living faith in him. 
 
 THE BODY OF CHRIST 
 Chaptee 1 
 
 The customary greeting of the Apostle, 
 "Grace be to you," is immediately followed by 
 a grateful recognition of that grace in Elec- 
 tion, as the divine method of incorporating 
 penitent sinners into the Church as members 
 of the living body of Christ. 
 
 This election, says Paul, is "a mystery": 
 wherefore he does not undertake to explain it. 
 But there are some things, nevertheless, that 
 we know and may confidently affirm concern- 
 ing it. First, it is a fact. God would not be 
 omniscient did he not foresee the future; and 
 what God foresees is as certain to come to pass 
 as if he foreordained it. Second, the doctrine 
 of Election is not inconsistent with the free- 
 dom of the human will. God has foreknown 
 from all eternity whether or no I will lift my 
 hand a moment from now; but I know that I 
 
 60 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 can do as I please about it. Third, the impor- 
 tant matter is not that I should pry into the 
 why and wherefore of Election, which is one 
 of the state secrets of the Almighty, but that 
 I should make my own "calling and election 
 sure" by accepting Christ, as Paul says, "for 
 the forgiveness of sins according to the riches 
 of his grace." 
 
 The moment a sinner does that he becomes 
 a new man in Christ Jesus, being incorporated 
 into the invisible Church, which is his body, 
 as a living member of it. This is "the mystery 
 of his will." In pursuance of that mystery 
 all things will ultimately be "gathered togeth- 
 er in one in Christ, according to the purpose 
 of him who worketh all things after the coun- 
 sel of his own will." 
 
 This chapter ends with one of the most re- 
 markable prayers ever offered (verses 15-23), 
 which closes with a grateful and exultant trib- 
 ute to God, who has thus in the exercise of his 
 sovereign will put all things under the feet 
 of his beloved Son and given him to be "the 
 Head over all to the Church, which is his 
 body, the fulness of him that fiUeth all in all." 
 
 61 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 A LIVING BODY 
 Chapter 2 
 
 In this chapter Christians are enjoined to 
 "remember" certain things. The first is that 
 until the hour of their conversion they were 
 "dead in trespasses and sins." This is no 
 mere figure of speech. We know that a man 
 is physically dead when his physical powers 
 no longer function. He has eyes but they see 
 not, ears but they hear not; his lips are dumb 
 and his heart is still. In like manner a man 
 is spiritually dead when his spiritual faculties 
 are inoperative: when he cares nothing for life 
 and immortality, nothing for God's Word and 
 work, has lost "the gift of the knees" and is 
 out of touch with God. 
 
 The second thing to "remember" is that con- 
 version is a "quickening" from the dead. It 
 is a "gain-birth," as the fathers used to call 
 it. The Christian is "a new man in Christ 
 Jesus": he is "alive from the dead," being 
 risen with Christ to newness of life. And 
 this is his de facto initiation into the invisible 
 Church. As Paul puts it, whereas "ye were 
 aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and 
 strangers from the covenants of promise," ye 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 are now "fellow-citizens with the saints and of 
 the household of God." 
 
 The third thing here called to remembrance 
 is that all this is not for personal merit but 
 "that God might show the exceeding riches 
 of his grace in his kindness toward us." We 
 cannot take credit for the act of faith which 
 unites us with Christ; "for by grace are ye 
 saved, through faith, and that not of your- 
 selves ; it is the gift of Godf' 
 
 In the last three verses of this chapter we 
 have Paul's splendid description of the Church 
 as a Temple. (1) Its corner-stone is Christ. 
 
 (2) Its foundation is "the apostles and proph- 
 ets," i. e., the Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments as the veritable Word of God. 
 
 (3) It "groweth." The word here is used 
 only of organic growth; i. e., of a living thing. 
 In one of Ruskin's Essays he speaks of archi- 
 tecture as "frozen music," but this is not true 
 of the Church. Its members are "living stones, 
 built up a spiritual house" (cf. 1 Peter 2:5), 
 stones with eyes to see and hearts to pity and 
 voices to sing "all hail the power of Jesus' 
 name." (4) It groweth "unto a holy tem- 
 ple .. . for a habitation of God." This 
 
 63 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 is the end and purpose of the Church, to be 
 a center for the radiation of all the sweet in- 
 fluences of truth and righteousness and life. 
 
 AN ARTICULATED BODY 
 Chapter 3 
 
 At this point the Apostle unveils the fel- 
 lowship of the mystery, presenting the Church 
 as a family, constituted of many articulated 
 members, into w^hich the Gentiles are wel- 
 comed on an even footing with the Jews, as 
 "fellow-heirs and partakers of the promises 
 in Christ." 
 
 A sidelight is thus opened into the domestic 
 life of the Church ; a vision that carries us back 
 to the supper-room in Jerusalem where Jesus 
 spoke of "the Father's house"; and to "the 
 church in the house" of the early Christians, 
 and onward to heaven as our final home, 
 whereof we sing, 
 
 "One family we dwell in him, 
 One Church above, beneath, 
 Though now divided by the stream. 
 The narrow stream of death." 
 
 There is no tie of blood that can bind us so 
 closely in kinship as does the blood of our 
 Saviour. The death that breaks up all earth- 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 ly homes can only reunite the several mem- 
 bers of Christ. 
 
 It was a wonderful prayer that Paul of- 
 fered in chapter 1; but observe how his soul 
 mounts to loftier realms in the prayer which 
 he now offers: "I bow my knees unto the 
 God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 of whom the whole family in heaven and earth 
 is named," etc. (verses 14-21). Was there 
 ever a "family prayer" like this? Was ever 
 one that so mounted up as on eagle's wings to 
 sweep the sunlit heavens with undazzled eyes? 
 It ends its flight only in the immediate pres- 
 ence of him who sitteth on the great white 
 throne — "that je might be filled with all the 
 fulness of God!" 
 
 ONE BODY 
 
 Chapter 4 
 
 He dwells here on the unity, diversity and 
 co-operate efficiency of the Church. 
 
 First, its unity: "One Lord, one faith, one 
 baptism," i. e., of the Spirit for growth in 
 character and usefulness; "one God and Fa- 
 ther of all, who is above all and through all 
 and in you all." 
 
 65 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 Second, its diversity. No two Christians 
 are precisely alike, for "unto every one is giv- 
 en grace according to the measure of the gift 
 of Christ." The risen and reigning Christ is 
 set forth as the measurer of divers gifts to his 
 people, which they are enjoined to use without 
 envying. Shall the hand say to the foot, "I 
 have no need of thee"? (Read 1 Cor. 12.) 
 The glory of the Church is this unity in diver- 
 sity. 
 
 Men, like sheep, are made to segregate. 
 "Birds of a feather flock together." Baptists, 
 Methodists, Episcopalians and Presbyterians 
 are where they belong. They differ and group 
 themselves accordingly. No effort to combine 
 them with iron clamps will succeed or ever 
 should, because "God hath made them so." 
 But underlying all their divergences is a vital 
 bond of union in their mutual devotion to 
 Christ and to the vital truths and principles 
 that center in him. It is a wise proverb that 
 "fences make good neighbors," providing 
 they are not "spite fences": for "love is the 
 fulfilling of the law." 
 
 Third, the important thing to be desired is 
 not rigid uniformity, but mutual co-operation, 
 
 66 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 in which all the differing members of the body 
 of Christ shall agree to differ and keep sweet. 
 Everything depends on the pervasive life of 
 Christ, "from whom the whole body, fitly 
 joined together and compacted by that which 
 every joint supplieth, according to the effec- 
 tual working in the measure of every part, 
 maketh increase of the body unto the edifying 
 of itself in love." 
 
 In pursuance of these conditions the mem- 
 bers of the church are exhorted (1) to "put 
 away lying to their neighbor," (2) to "put 
 of" the sinful habits of the carnal man, (3) 
 and to "put on the new man, which after 
 God is created in righteousness and true holi- 
 
 ness." 
 
 A NUPTIAL BODY 
 Chapter 5 
 
 The apostle here suggests "a great mys- 
 tery"; to wit, the relation of Christ to his 
 Church as the Bridegroom to his bride. "And 
 they twain shall be one flesh." A great mys- 
 tery indeed! We are "flesh of his flesh and 
 bone of his bone!" The same figure runs 
 through Scripture from beginning to end. 
 
 67 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 (See Solomon's Song; Hosea 2:16 and 19 
 20; Isaiah 54:5 and 62:5; Jeremiah 3:14; 
 John 3:29; Rev. 21:2-9, etc.) 
 
 In view of this mystical union of the Church 
 with Christ, its members are enjoined to pur- 
 ity of life. "Be ye therefore followers of God, 
 as dear children," i. e., as children adopted 
 into spiritual kinship with Christ the only-be- 
 gotten Son. For "as the husband is head of 
 the wife, even so Christ is the head of the 
 Church"; and as husbands love their wives 
 even so "Christ also loved the Church and 
 gave himself for it." Why? "That he might 
 sanctify and cleanse it." 
 
 It thus appears that the Church is not per- 
 fect as yet; but the time is coming when the 
 Bridegroom shall lead his bride to the altar 
 "without spot or blemish or any such thing." 
 Not one in all the assembled multitude shall 
 then be able to point a scornful finger at her. 
 The Church will be arrayed in "fine linen, 
 clean and w^hite, which is the righteousness of 
 saints." Then the marriage supper of the 
 Lamb. May we be there to partake of it! 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 A MILITANT BODY 
 Chapter 6 
 
 It IS written of Christ that he came not only 
 to die for the ruined race and so to open the 
 gates of heaven for all believers, but "to de- 
 stroy the works of the devil," and thus make 
 this world a better place to live in. "I am 
 come," he said, "not to bring peace but a 
 sword." This means the Holy War. The 
 Church is presented as an army, in which all 
 Christians are enlisted to fight against sin, 
 against every form of sin, against the works 
 of the devil in themselves and everywhere in 
 this world of ours. 
 
 The countersign is En devoir! Ever on 
 guard! And a divine armory is provided for 
 the equipment of every follower of Christ. 
 "Take unto you the whole armor of God; — 
 girdle of truth, breastplate of righteousness, 
 sandals of preparation, shield of faith, helmet 
 of salvation (all hail, the white plume!) and 
 (as your only weapon) the sword of the Spirit 
 which is the Word of God." Thus harnessed, 
 we are enjoined to "stand" and "withstand," 
 to defend ourselves and contend for the wel- 
 fare of all. 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 It thus appears that the Church is the uni- 
 versal "League to Enforce Peace." Where- 
 fore the Apostle concludes this great Epistle 
 with the words "Peace be to the brethren, and 
 love with faith"; and one thing more, his in- 
 dispensable sign-manual, "Grace be with all 
 them that love our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen." 
 
 70 
 
VI 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 
 THE GREATER SALVATION 
 
 The story of the Philippian Church is 
 fraught with romantic interest. It began in 
 the year 53, when Paul on his second mis- 
 sionary journey had reached Troas, where he 
 awaited the direction of the Holy Spirit as to 
 his further progress. Nor did he wait in vain. 
 In the night he saw a man of Macedonia beck- 
 oning and calling, "Come over and help us!'* 
 Paul was never "disobedient to the heavenly 
 vision." He knew what this meant — on to 
 Europe — on to Europe and the conquest of 
 the world! 
 
 We can imagine him down at the dock in 
 the early morning, inquiring for the first ship 
 to cross the Hellespont. In company with 
 Silas, Timothy and Luke he landed at Neap- 
 olis and immediately pushed on by the moun- 
 tain road to Philippi, in quest of the man with 
 outstretched hands. There was no synagogue 
 
 71 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 in the city; but just outside there was a j)^^- 
 seuclia or "place where prayer was wont to be 
 made." Finding a group of Jewish women 
 assembled there, Paul preached to them with 
 such effect that among others Lydia, a wealthy 
 and influential purple-seller, was converted. 
 She, strange to say, proved to be the "man 
 of Macedonia." In the course of his brief 
 campaign so many others were converted that 
 when Paul was obliged to leave the city he left 
 behind him a strong church, probably wor- 
 shipping in the house of Lydia, and counting 
 in its membership a slave girl, formerly a 
 pythoness, and the jailer of Philippi with his 
 whole family: so that, notwithstanding the 
 hardships involved, Paul had reason to rejoice 
 in many trophies of grace. 
 
 It was now 64 A. D. Eleven years had 
 elapsed, eventful years. Paul was a prisoner 
 in the Praetorian camp at Rome, nearing the 
 end of his busy life. The memories of past 
 sufferings and blessings came crowding thick 
 and fast upon him. He saw again the beck- 
 oning hands of Macedonia. Hence this letter. 
 
 Observe its greetings: "I have you in my 
 heart"; "I long after you"; "I thank my God 
 
 n 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 upon every remembrance of you"; '*In every 
 prayer of mine for you all making request 
 with joy"; "I am confident that he which hath 
 begun a good work in you will perfect it"; 
 and (of course) "The grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ be with you all." 
 
 Then another of Paul's wonderful prayers 
 (verses 9-11) in which he asks (1) that these 
 Philippian Christians may "abound in knowl- 
 edge and common sense" (margin), (2) that 
 they may "try the things that differ" (mar- 
 gin) and so discriminate between truth and 
 error; (3) that they "may be sincere and with- 
 out offence until the coming of Christ," and 
 (4) that they "may be filled with the fruits 
 of righteousness unto the glory and praise of 
 God." What more could be desired? 
 
 And after that, throughout the whole of 
 this brief Epistle, he dwells upon the Greater 
 Salvation, i. e., the "good work" which the 
 Lord had "begun" in them. Only begun, 
 mark you. If any Christian imagines that the 
 end of salvation is mere deliverance from the 
 penalty of sin he is tremendously mistaken. 
 The moment one accepts Christ as his Saviour 
 he is truly and entirely saved from all danger 
 
 73 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 of spiritual death; but if that were all it would 
 merely induct him into the vestibule of a mea- 
 ger heaven. This is but the initial step of a 
 journey whose end is perfection — perfection 
 in character and perfect efficiency in the 
 Lord's service. 
 
 THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING 
 Chapter 1 
 
 The first factor which enters into the prob- 
 lem of the Greater Salvation is suifering for 
 Christ's sake. A church member who knows 
 nothing of this has reason to suspect his call- 
 ing. It is only those who have offered them- 
 selves to "the fellowship of the sufferings of 
 Christ for righteousness' sake" who shall ulti- 
 mately put on the crown of righteousness and 
 reign with him. 
 
 (1) As for himself, says Paul, though his 
 "bonds in Christ are manifest," they in com- 
 mon with everything else that has happened, 
 "have fallen out unto the furtherance of the 
 Gospel"; wherefore his friends in Philippi 
 must not worry on his account. It is enough 
 for him that Christ is being "magnified in his 
 body, whether it be by life or by death." 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 (2) As for themselves, he exhorts them to 
 "be nothing terrified by their adversaries," be- 
 cause it "is given unto them, in the behalf 
 of Christ, not only to believe on him but also 
 to suffer for his sake." Paul could think of 
 no greater privilege than to "fill up that which 
 is behind of the sufferings of Christ," a privi- 
 lege of which their persecutions were a mani- 
 fest proof and token. For if they were duly 
 "exercised thereby" they would find that in 
 patient endurance they were moving on 
 toward the ultimate attainment of perfection 
 in the spiritual life. 
 
 We who are living in these piping times of 
 peace can scarcely realize what all this meant 
 to the Christians of those days: but it is as 
 true now as ever that cross-bearing is an im- 
 measurable factor in character-building, and 
 that those who suffer with Christ shall also 
 reign with him. 
 
 IMITATIO CHRISTI 
 Chapter 2 
 
 The second of the factors that enter into the 
 attainment of the Greater Salvation is the 
 imitation of Christ. "Let this mind be in 
 
 75 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 you," says Paul, "which was also in Christ 
 Jesus." 
 
 In explaining what he means by "the mind 
 that was in Christ Jesus," the Apostle sets 
 forth a great doctrine, called by the early fa- 
 thers "The Kenosis," which is not sufficiently 
 emphasized in our time (verses 5-11). 
 
 Firsts Christ was "in the form of God," a 
 reference to his pre-existence "in the glory 
 of the Father before the world was." 
 
 Second, though he was "equal with God" he 
 did not think the "form" of his Godhead was 
 to be so cherished as to prevent his working 
 out salvation for the children of men. 
 
 Third, in order to accomplish his beneficent 
 purpose in our behalf he became incarnate, 
 laying aside his divine "form" and taking 
 upon him "the form of a servant, being made 
 in the likeness of sinful men," that so he might 
 expiate our sins by becoming "obedient unto 
 death, even the death of the cross." 
 
 Fourth, by this temporary surrender of his 
 divine glory he wrought out for himself an im- 
 measurable triumph. When he returned again 
 to "the glory which he had with the Father 
 before the world was," what a welcome 
 
 76 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 awaited him! "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, 
 and let the King of glory enter in!" The 
 gates of heaven are ever thronged with a 
 countless multitude who enter to sing the 
 praises of him who hath redeemed them with 
 his blood. These are *'the fruit of the travail 
 of his soul," of whom it was prophesied, 
 "When thou shalt make his soul an offering 
 for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong 
 his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
 prosper in his hand." 
 
 This, then, is the doctrine of the Kenosis, 
 or "self-emptying" of Christ. This is the 
 mind of self-denial that was in Christ Jesus; 
 and this is the mind that must also be in those 
 who profess to follow him. 
 
 And just here is where Paul strikes the 
 keynote of the whole Epistle in these words: 
 ''Wherefore work out your own salvation with 
 fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh 
 in you/^ It is obvious that he does not refer 
 to mere salvation from the penalty of sin; 
 for all along he has been strenuously insisting 
 that a salvation of that sort is of grace and not 
 by works. "Ye are saved by faith, and that 
 not your own, it is the gift of God." A larger 
 
 77 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 salvation is here designated, in which we co- 
 operate with God. It begins at the moment 
 when one accepts Christ and is "worked out" 
 as he goes on thenceforward from grace to 
 grace, from glory to glory, translating faith 
 into the known terms of character and use- 
 fulness, until it ends in a salvation not "so as 
 by fire," but with a triumphant and abundant 
 entrance into the Kingdom of God. 
 
 We are encouraged to work out this great 
 salvation, because God "worketh in us to will 
 and to do of his good pleasure." We know 
 what that "good pleasure" is: it is that we 
 should make the most of ourselves by serving 
 him and our fellow-men. In thus co-opera- 
 ting with his indwelling Spirit we may be 
 confident of ultimately attaining unto com- 
 plete sanctification ; for "if God be for us, 
 who can be against us?" 
 
 FIRST FINALLY 
 Chapter 3 
 
 "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord." 
 Why "finally"? Because in striking this ex- 
 ultant note the Apostle had reached a good 
 stopping-place. We shall find another "final- 
 
 78 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 ly" further on and one of vast importance; 
 all of which intimates that Paul had reached 
 such momentum that, like many an earnest 
 preacher, he found two finallys necessary for 
 the "practical application" of his theme. 
 
 But why "rejoice"? What ground of re- 
 joicing had these persecuted church members 
 of Philippi? This in particular, that in much 
 tribulation and by the patient imitation of 
 Christ they were surely working out for them- 
 selves a salvation which would ultimately in- 
 troduce them into the immediate presence of 
 him at whose right hand are pleasures for- 
 evermore. 
 
 "Rejoice, ye pure in heart. 
 
 Rejoice, give thanks and sing; 
 Your glorious banner waves on high. 
 
 The Cross of Christ your King! 
 Still lift your standard high. 
 
 Still march in firm array ! 
 As warriors, through the darkness toil 
 
 Till dawns the golden day!" 
 
 Now here is a wonderful thing. Unable 
 to restrain himself, this worn-out, half -blind, 
 crippled old soldier of the Cross gives way to 
 his joy in such boasting as, under other cir- 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 cumstances, would have been most unseemly 
 (verses 4-14). But his boasting is neither 
 here nor ever in himself: his birth as "a He- 
 brew of the Hebrews," his "righteousness as 
 touching the Law," his zeal, culture, Roman 
 citizenship — all these are less than nothing. 
 "To know Christ and be found in him," this 
 is his heavenly privilege, his river of joy, his 
 irrepressible boast! 
 
 A boy again in Tarsus, he sits in the agora 
 witnessing an Olympic race. The king stands 
 by the golden milestone holding the laurel 
 wreath. The athletes, stripped to the waist, 
 with every muscle tense, are at the purple line. 
 The signal is given; the runners are off! Be- 
 hold how Paul imagines himself among them: 
 "Brethren, I count not myself to have appre- 
 hended (i. e., laid hands upon the prize) ; but 
 this one thing I do: forgetting those things 
 which are behind and reaching forth unto those 
 things which are before, I press toward the 
 mark (the milestone) for the prize (the laurel 
 crown) of the high calling of God in Christ 
 Jesus!" 
 
 And what is this "high calling of God in 
 Christ Jesus"? What but the calling of God 
 
 ao 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 to come up higher? What but the calling of 
 Christ our King to so run as to obtain the un- 
 fading crown of righteousness? What but 
 the call of the Holy Spirit to co-operate with 
 him in working out for ourselves that Greater 
 Salvation which means not a scant "title clear 
 to mansions in the skies" but the service chev- 
 ron and promotion to the front rank of service 
 in the Kingdom of God? 
 
 In pursuance of this injunction the Apos- 
 tle warns the Christians of Philippi to be ever 
 on guard against *'dogs (i. e., carnal and mas- 
 terless), evil workers, and the concision" (i. e., 
 compromise with ceremonialism), and to have 
 their "conversation" (i. e., manner of life) in 
 heaven *'from whence we look for the coming 
 of Christ." 
 
 SECOND FINALLY 
 
 Chapter 4 
 
 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are 
 true, whatsoever things are honest (serious), 
 whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things 
 are pure, w^hatsoever things are lovely, what- 
 soever things are of good report, if there be 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 any virtue and if there be any praise, think 
 on these things." 
 
 STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN ! 
 
 Our troubles and disappointments are most 
 largely due to thoughtlessness. "I didn't 
 think" shuts the gates of heaven to a great 
 multitude that no man can number. The 
 sweet reasonableness of the Great Salvation 
 commends it to all thoughtful men. Every- 
 body would believe in Christ were it not that 
 many refuse to look at him long enough to 
 know him. 
 
 STAND FAST! 
 
 "Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved, so 
 stand fast in the Lord." Steadfastness is 
 merely another way of spelling Standfastness. 
 It is well to do well, but "patient continuance 
 in well-doing" is what we need most of all. 
 Wherefore let us run and not faint. The 
 word of the Master is, "Be thou faithful unto 
 death, and I will give thee the crown of life." 
 
 The Epistle closes with a grateful acknowl- 
 edgment of the kindness of Paul's Philippian 
 friends in contributing "once and again" to 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 his necessities. He wishes them to know, how- 
 ever, that the Lord is abundantly providing 
 for him. Then the customary salutations, and 
 last of all "The grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ be with you all," without which he can 
 never conclude his messages of love. 
 
 83 
 
VII 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 
 THE CHRISTOCENTRIC EPISTLE 
 
 It was while Paul was still a prisoner in the 
 PrfBtorian camp at Rome that Epaphras, the 
 minister of the church at Colosse, came to 
 visit him. It was a long journey from Colosse 
 in the center of Asia JNIinor to Rome; and 
 only an errand of grave importance could war- 
 rant it. So far as we know, Paul had never 
 been at Colosse, and the church members there 
 were strangers to him. Their pastor was trou- 
 bled by certain dissensions among them, due 
 to the presence of false teachers who had been 
 "spoiling them through philosophy and vain 
 deceit." Under these circumstances, who 
 would be so likely to give him wise counsel 
 as Paul the aged, with his vast experience 
 and tact in the administration of church af- 
 fairs? Epaphras found the old man in chains 
 and bowed under many burdens, but busy as 
 always, unconquerably cheerful and ready to 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 entertain his visitor with all the resources of a 
 most Christian heart and hospitable hand. 
 
 It chanced that before this visit was over a 
 disciple named Tychicus was constrained to 
 make a journey into the east via Colosse; and 
 Paul took advantage of the opportunity to 
 write this Epistle and forward it by him. It 
 will be observed that, in the prefatory greet- 
 ing, the apostle takes occasion to speak to the 
 members of the Colossian Church of Epaph- 
 ras, their absent pastor, as "a faithful minis- 
 ter of Christ," and again in his closing salu- 
 tations as one * 'laboring fervently for you 
 in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and 
 complete in all the will of God." 
 
 The letter opens with "Grace be unto you," 
 which is followed by loving salutations, and 
 then by another of Paul's wonderful prayers 
 (verses 9-15). In this prayer for the church 
 members of Colosse he asks three things in 
 particular: First, for their "knowledge of 
 God's will," that they might "walk worthy 
 of him." Second, for strength "according to 
 his glorious power" so that in their afflictions 
 they might be "patient with joyfulness." And 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 third, for gratitude by reason of their trans- 
 lation into *'the Kingdom of his dear Son." 
 
 THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST 
 Chapter 1 
 
 (1) As Creator. * 'AH things in heaven and 
 earth, visible and invisible, were created by 
 him and for him" (verses 16, 17). 
 
 (2) As "Head of the Church which is his 
 body": wherefore he, being "the first-born 
 from the dead," is Elder Brother of all those 
 who are quickened from the dead by a living 
 faith in him (verses 18-20). 
 
 (3) As "Reconciler of all things unto him- 
 self." An earnest and forecast of his univer- 
 sal reign, when every knee shall bow before 
 him, is given in the reconciliation of these 
 Christians of Colosse, who "were sometime 
 alienated and enemies by wicked works," but 
 were now incorporated "into the body of his 
 flesh," that they might ultimately be presented 
 "holy and unblamable and unreprovable in 
 his sight" (verses 21-23). 
 
 To declare this supremacy of Christ, says 
 Paul, is "the end of his ministry" (verses 24- 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 29). And by the same token, it must be the 
 aim and purpose of every faithful minister. 
 
 This brings us to "the riches of the glory 
 of the Mystery" (verses 27-29). What is the 
 mystery here referred to? Nothing less than 
 "Christ in you!" By this we are given to un- 
 derstand that the life of Christ as Head of the 
 Church pervades the humblest of the members 
 of his body. Here is a truth that goes deeper 
 even than the intimation in the parable of 
 the Vine and its branches. The will of Christ 
 as Saviour of the world moves in us and 
 "works mightily" through us! Blessed is the 
 Christian who realizes this mystery, for so it 
 comes to pass that the Kingdom of God is 
 within us and "the hope of glory" before us. 
 
 THE SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST 
 Chapter 2 
 
 We have here a clear statement of the great 
 doctrine of the Pleroma, or fulness of Christ. 
 
 (1) In him, says Paul, are "hid all the treas- 
 ures of wisdom and knowledge": this against 
 the false teaching not only of the Judaizers and 
 Platonists of Colosse, but everywhere in these 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 last days. What a safeguard would be ours 
 against all error were we willing to sit as dis- 
 ciples at the feet of our Master instead of lis- 
 tening at the false oracles of those who would 
 "beguile us with enticing words." 
 
 (2) "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily." Observe the comprehensive- 
 ness of this statement: "all fulness" — "all the 
 fulness of the Godhead" — "all the fulness of 
 the Godhead bodily!" If every other affirma- 
 tion of Scripture — and they are many and 
 divers — with respect to the eternal and co- 
 equal divineness of Christ were to be explained 
 away, here is a challenge so clear, definite and 
 conclusive thrit it can only be answered by an 
 outspoken denial of the Scriptures as the 
 Word of God. 
 
 (3) "In him ye are complete." For this 
 let us substitute the quaint rendering of the 
 Wycliffe version, "In hym ye ben fylled." 
 What need of consulting pagan philosophy if 
 "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" 
 are offered in Christ? Or why go back to "the 
 rudiments" of Jewish ceremonialism if, as 
 Paul says, "ye are circumcised in Christ by 
 the putting off of sin"? The prophetic pur- 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 pose of the Levitical law, as "a shadow of 
 things to come," was so perfectly fulfilled in 
 Christ as its antitype that he absolutely "blot- 
 ted out this handwriting of ordinances (i. e., 
 the Ceremonial Law), nailing it to his cross" 
 and so "taking it out of the way." 
 
 (4) Therefore, says Paul, "let no man be- 
 guile you" into any mode of thinking or be- 
 lieving which does not hold to Christ as "the 
 Head, from which all the body is knit together, 
 being nourished in its joints and bands, and 
 thus increasing with the increase of God." In 
 other words, Christ for the Christian is Alpha 
 and Omega, the beginning of hope and the 
 end of endeavor; first, last, midst and all in 
 all. 
 
 OUR LIFE IN CHRIST 
 Chapter 3 
 
 "If ye be risen with Christ" — a mighty, 
 comprehensive "if"! For the man who is not 
 risen with Christ is still dead in trespasses and 
 sins, inasmuch as he is still "concluded" under 
 the law which says "The soul that sinneth it 
 shall die." But faith in Christ links us so vi- 
 tally with him that we triumph in his triumph 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 over death and hell. "Because he liveth we 
 shall live also!" Or, to speak again with 
 Wesley, "We two are so joined, he can't go 
 to heaven and leave me behind." The believ- 
 er — always assuming that his faith is heart- 
 wise — is forever safe, because his "life is hid 
 with Christ in God" — hid as a beleaguered 
 garrison in an impregnable castle, so secure- 
 ly that the blazing gates of hell shall not pre- 
 vail against him. 
 
 But the mighty "if" is followed by an 
 equally mighty "therefore." If a man be 
 truly risen with Christ it must follow, as the 
 night the day, that his walk and conversation 
 will show it. First, by a ''putting off" of 
 "the old man with his deeds" (verses 5-9). 
 Second J by a "putting on" of "the new man 
 who is renewed after the image of Christ" 
 (verses 10-14). Third, by the indwelling and 
 supreme control of the Word and peace of 
 God (verses 15, 16) ; and fourth, by an out- 
 going of this indwelling life "in word and 
 deed" (verses 17-25). 
 
 There is cold comfort for a melancholy 
 Christian in this presentment of the case; 
 since even our "teaching and admonition" 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 must be with the joy of "singing in psalms 
 and hymns and spiritual songs." Alas, then, 
 for those who "wear long faces, just as if 
 their Maker, the Lord of glory, were an un- 
 dertaker!" To look dyspeptic is ill becoming 
 to one who is risen with Christ. It is a poor 
 way of showing that his religion agrees with 
 him. Wherefore "whatsoever we do" — 
 whether it be to carry a banner or a burden — 
 let us "do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 giving thanks to God and the Father by 
 him." 
 
 The remainder of this chapter is addressed 
 to husbands and wives, parents and children, 
 masters and servants, with reference to the 
 supreme duty of serving "not with eyeservice, 
 as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, 
 fearing God." 
 
 SALUTATIONS 
 Chapter 4 
 
 Nothing remains but to salute the brethren 
 in the fellowship of this mystery. 
 
 (1) Tell them to "continue in prayer," not 
 forgetting to "pray for me that I may speak 
 
 91 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 the mystery of Christ and manifest it as I 
 ought to." 
 
 (2) Tell them "to walk in wisdom toward 
 them that are without" (i. e., the "friendly 
 citizens"), seasoning their speech with salt, 
 that they "may know how to answer every 
 man." 
 
 (3) Say to Archippus, who brings you this 
 letter, "Take heed to the ministry which thou 
 hast received of the Lord, that thou fulfil 
 it." 
 
 (4) Tychicus ("a beloved brother"), Ones- 
 imus (the runaway slave, "who is one of 
 you"), Aristarchus ("my fellow prisoner"), 
 Marcus (the same John Mark who once for- 
 sook us, Acts 13:13), Epaphras (your own 
 "faithful minister," now visiting me), Luke 
 ("the beloved physician"), Demas (not al- 
 ways reliable, 2 Tim. 4:10) — all these salute 
 you. 
 
 (5) Salute not only the brethren in Co- 
 losse, but those in the neighboring town of 
 Laodicea; and "cause that this letter be read 
 likewise to them." To them? "How far yon 
 little candle throws its beams!" The round- 
 
 93 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 robin has crossed the Seven Seas and all the 
 intervening centuries even down to us I 
 
 (6) *'The salutation by the hand of me 
 Paul." It is thus intimated that, while the 
 doctrinal parts of this Epistle were dictated 
 to an amanuensis, the greetings were in the 
 handwriting of Paul himself: as if to illus- 
 trate the saying, "Now abide these three, 
 faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these 
 is love." In all the world there is no tie 
 like "the tie that binds our hearts in Chris- 
 tian love." 
 
 And after that, nothing remains but to say, 
 '*Grace be with you?" 
 
 9S 
 
VIII 
 
 FIRST THESSALONIANS 
 THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST 
 
 The date of this letter is A. D. 52. It is 
 the first of Paul's letters on record, having 
 been written seventeen years after his con- 
 version. No doubt he had written others pre- 
 viously, but this, like the other thirteen which 
 are included in the canon of the Scriptures, 
 was composed under the immediate direction 
 of the Spirit of God. 
 
 It was written at Athens, under the follow- 
 ing circumstances: When Paul set out from 
 Antioch with Silas on his second missionary 
 journey he crossed the Hellespont into Eu- 
 rope, preached at Philippi, where he was 
 scourged and imprisoned; passed on to Thes- 
 salonica, where after three successful weeks 
 he was driven out by a mob; proceeded to 
 Berea, where further opposition awaited him, 
 and had now reached Athens, where he was 
 hoping to continue in peace. In order to as- 
 sure himself as to the welfare of those recent- 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 ly converted he sent Timothy back to revisit 
 them. The report appears to have been 
 favorable except in the case of the Thessalo- 
 nians, who were greatly disturbed by certain 
 misapprehensions as to the Second Coming. 
 They expected this to occur in the immediate 
 future: indeed they were looking for it with 
 the dawn of every day. 
 
 In this connection, they were fearful lest 
 their deceased friends would have to sleep in 
 their graves until the final resurrection, while 
 they themselves at his coming were to be 
 caught up into the air to meet him. 
 
 It was to correct such erroneous views that 
 this letter was Avritten. The necessity was 
 pressing, because many of these recent con- 
 verts had, in the enthusiasm of their new 
 hope, given up all attention to secular af- 
 fairs and put on ascension robes, so to speak, 
 in anticipation of Christ's appearance. There 
 was a hurry-call for action, and Paul, under 
 the influence of the Spirit, was impelled to 
 meet it. 
 
 A word, before we go any further, as to 
 Thessalonica and its people. The city, for- 
 merly called Thermee, had been restored and 
 
 95 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 greatly improved by Cassander, a general in 
 the Macedonian army, after winning a battle 
 there, 300 B. C, and had been renamed in 
 honor of his wife, a sister of Alexander the 
 Great. The place was from the beginning 
 a famous resort for Jews. It ultimately be- 
 came an important center of Christian influ- 
 ence, from which the Gospel "sounded forth" 
 like a clarion to all the surrounding region. 
 (Chap. 1:8.) In recent times Salonica has 
 been the seat of important events in the 
 World War. It has a population of about 
 100,000, one-third of whom are Jews. 
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 The skill of Paul as a dialectician will be 
 observed in his method of gradual approach. 
 He does not plunge at once into the business 
 in hand — that is, the correction of mistakes as 
 to the Second Coming — but, like an experi- 
 enced barrister, or diplomatist, he advances 
 other considerations, not unimportant in 
 themselves, to prepare the way. 
 
 He begins with the salutation "Grace be 
 unto you." This is the sign-manual of all 
 Paul's letters. By "grace" he means the un- 
 
 96 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 merited favor of God in the gift of his only- 
 begotten Son. 
 
 "Grace, 'tis a charming sound. 
 Harmonious to the ear; 
 Heaven with the echo shall resound. 
 And all the earth shall hear." 
 
 Our salvation is not of merit but of grace. 
 The word is cognate with gratis, God is not 
 a merchant, that he should sell heaven for a 
 quid pro quo; and, if he were, what coin 
 have we that could pass current between us? 
 Good works? What are they to him? He 
 is no merchant bartering with bankrupt men, 
 but a King, the very King of kings, with a 
 heart as generous as his inexhaustible excheq- 
 uer, loving to give and giving right royally. 
 *'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters; yea, come; buy wine and milk with- 
 out money and without price!" 
 
 But alas, our natural pride revolts! We 
 would fain be saved but not for nothing. Let 
 us earn heaven by "deeds of the law," by 
 penance and ceremonial observance and long 
 pilgrimages, anything rather than "without 
 money and without price." Yet on this point 
 the Gospel is clear: we must be justified by 
 
 97 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 faith alone, which is simply a heartfelt ac- 
 ceptance of the unspeakable gift. 
 
 As we proceed with Paul's letters we shall 
 find this thought of salvation by grace per- 
 vading every one of them. "By the deeds of 
 the law shall no flesh be justified." "For 
 what the law could not do, in that it was weak 
 through the flesh (i. e., our sinful flesh), 
 God, sending his own Son in the likeness of 
 sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in 
 the flesh, that the righteousness of the law 
 might be fulfilled in us who walk not after 
 the flesh but after the Spirit." Wherefore 
 salvation is free, its only condition being faith 
 in Christ as our Saviour. It cannot be earned 
 by anything we can do. "This is the work 
 of God (i. e., the only work that can make us 
 acceptable in his sight) , that ye believe on him 
 whom God hath sent." That is to say, we 
 must be willing to be saved gratis or not at 
 all. 
 
 THANKSGIVING 
 
 Chapter 1 
 
 (1) Paul is grateful to God for their elec- 
 tion and conversion, and for their "work of 
 faith and labor of love and patience of hope." 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 The Gospel which Paul had preached to them 
 had come *'not only in word but in power, 
 in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance." 
 Of this they had given proof by "turning 
 from idols to serve the living and true God." 
 
 (2) Nor was this all; not content with the 
 assurance of their own salvation, they had 
 "sounded abroad" the Gospel in all the sur- 
 rounding country; and that despite "much 
 affliction" or opposition and persecution on 
 the part of Jews and others who differed with 
 them. 
 
 By the time the members of the Thessalo- 
 nian Church had Hstened to the reading of the 
 letter thus far they would probably have con- 
 ceived a rather more than fair opinion of 
 themselves: but as it proceeds they would be 
 likely to discover plenty of room for improve- 
 ment. Paul is no novice in the art of per- 
 suasion. Was he not a disciple of Gamaliel, 
 that famous advocate who was called "the 
 Flower of the Law"? 
 
 REMEMBRANCE 
 Chapter 2 
 
 (1) He reminds them of his pastoral care; 
 how he had gone in and out among them 
 
 99 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 night and day, "gently as a nurse," "charg- 
 ing and exhorting and comforting as a father 
 doth his children"; and how, meanwhile, he 
 had worked at his trade as a tentmaker so 
 "that he might not be chargeable unto them." 
 A good pastor, this man. 
 
 (2) He reminds them also of his preach- 
 ing: how he had declared the truth as God 
 had given him to see it, without fear or favor, 
 "not of guile nor with flattering words, not 
 as pleasing men but God." What better test 
 of faithful preaching could there be? 
 
 (3) Moreover he reminds them to their 
 credit how joyously they had received his 
 message, "not as the word of men but, as it 
 is in truth, the Word of God." 
 
 (4) And, better still, he reminds them how 
 they had translated this hearing of the Gospel 
 into the terms of common life; "suffering 
 of their own countrymen" without resent- 
 ment, and seeking to follow Christ and ex- 
 emplify the truth as he taught it. 
 
 (5) For all this Paul congratulates both 
 himself and them, saying, "Ye are our glory 
 and joy." 
 
 100 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 PASTORAL CONCERN 
 Chapter 3 
 
 He explains why he had sent Timothy to 
 visit them. 
 
 (1) To begin with, his young friend was 
 instructed to comfort them in their afflictions. 
 It would appear that the Jews in Thessalo- 
 nica were giving these Christians no peace. 
 *'We told you before," says Paul, "that ye 
 should suffer tribulation, even as it has come 
 to pass"; "but now we live, if ye stand fast 
 in the Lord." To stand fast, and "having 
 done all to stand" — with what a martial 
 sound that message rings, over and over 
 again, from the brave lips of this veteran of 
 the Holy War! 
 
 (2) His other purpose in sending Timo- 
 thy, he says, was "to establish them concern- 
 ing their faith." It is a great thing to be es- 
 tablished in faith, to be able to lay one's 
 hand on certain fundamentals and say, 
 "These things I know!" There is no room 
 for an if or a peradventure in the teaching 
 of Christ. Put an if under the manger, the 
 cross or the open sepulchre, and it will prove 
 
 101 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 as disastrous as a charge of dynamite. The 
 only escape from the distress of doubt and 
 uncertainty is in turning' a deaf ear to the 
 caviller, taking Christ at his word and rest- 
 ing in him. 
 
 SANCTIFICATION 
 Chapter 4 
 
 "This is the will of God, even your sancti- 
 fication." 
 
 (1) Personal purity. The besetting sin of 
 the Thessalonians was sensuality. In accord- 
 ance with Paul's custom he calls a spade a 
 spade, dealing with marital infidelity and so- 
 cial promiscuity in unmeasured terms. Here 
 is another of those portions of Scripture which 
 was not intended to be read aloud in public 
 assemblies or even at the family altar, but in 
 the secret place, where all alone a man faces 
 the searching eyes of God. 
 
 (2) Brotherly love. Not even in dealing 
 with the most scandalous offenders against 
 the law of personal purity must the Church 
 forget the requirements of Christian charity: 
 "for ye are taught to love one another: but 
 we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase 
 more and more." 
 
 102 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 (3) Attention to business. The apostle is 
 now approaching his main object, which is 
 to persuade these Christians to take a sober 
 and sensible view of religion, particularly 
 with reference to the Second Coming of 
 Christ. "Study to be quiet," he says; for 
 they were so enthusiastically overwrought by 
 their consuming interest in the Parousia that 
 they were in danger of overlooking other im- 
 portant matters. It is well to be zealously 
 affected in a good cause; but the zeal of 
 these church members of Thessalonica had over- 
 ripened into a veritable fanaticism which led 
 them into a disregard of the common duties 
 of life. "Do your own business," says Paul; 
 "work with your own hands, walk honestly 
 toward them that are without." It is time 
 to call a halt when a man's interpretation of 
 any Christian doctrine sets him at odds with 
 the welfare of the workaday world about him. 
 
 (4) Freedom from anxiety. In thinking of 
 the Resurrection of the Dead in relation to 
 the Second Coming of Christ these Christians 
 of Thessalonica had somehow arrived at the 
 conclusion that while they were to be "caught 
 up into the air to meet him," their dead were 
 
 103 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 to sleep for an indefinite period; which in- 
 volved a frightful separation! But Paul as- 
 sures them that nothing of the sort awaited 
 them. Their loved ones who had fallen asleep 
 in Christ were "first to rise" and then those 
 who remained were to be "caught up together 
 with them," so that all would be "together 
 with the Lord." Blessed reunion! Happy 
 day! 
 
 AS TO THE TIMES AND SEASONS 
 Chapter 5 
 
 (1) The Lord himself had said with ref- 
 erence to his coming again, "It is not for 
 you to know the times or the seasons, which 
 the Father hath put in his own power." (Acts 
 1:7.) This should be sufficient for all who 
 are inclined to a close mathematical interpre- 
 tation of the prophecies bearing upon this 
 event. 
 
 (2) But "ye yourselves know that the day 
 of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the 
 night"; that is, unexpectedly. When men 
 are looking for it is the very time when it 
 is unlikely to come to pass. 
 
 (3) Wherefore, to be watchful is the im- 
 portant matter. "Let us not sleep as do 
 
 104- 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 others, but let us watch and be sober." 
 Watch! Watch! Watch and pray! ^'Blessed 
 are all they that love his appearing!" 
 
 "I know not when — I only know the fact 
 That he is coming, and he bids me wait 
 In joyful expectation day by day. 
 Uncertainty does not one whit detract 
 From me the joy of watching at the gate; 
 It rather adds delight and buoyancy 
 To my fair hope — 
 That any night, or any day, 
 I quickly may be called away 
 To meet the Lord. 
 "But though I do not know the how or when, 
 I know my Lord, and 'tis for him I wait. 
 Long years the blessed hope of seeing him 
 Has been my joy. And though beyond my ken 
 The day and hour of the opening gate. 
 And many happenings to my mind are dim. 
 Yet this I know — 
 That any night, or any day, 
 I gently may be caught away 
 To meet the Lord." 
 
 All Christians are "millenarians" ; but 
 whether "pre" or "post" involves a futile and 
 unseemly controversy. Let it suffice that 
 Christ is coming, and that we watch and 
 prayerfully wait for him; not as those who 
 look out of the windows toward the east, but 
 rather as servants with sickle in hand and 
 
 105 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 sleeves rolled back addressing ourselves to 
 the harvesting of the fields of God. 
 
 He is coming, coming "even as he went 
 into heaven," coming in the clouds of heaven 
 and all the holy angels with him! Though 
 the prophecies bearing upon this supreme 
 event, like all other prophecies, involve not 
 only a revelation but an adumbration (that 
 is, a purposed dimness as to particulars, leav- 
 ing room for the exercise of faith), neverthe- 
 less the fact itself is unveiled in clearest light. 
 All such prophecies in their lack of perspec- 
 tive are like Japanese pictures: you will 
 search them in vain for the foreshortening of 
 details but always in the background behold 
 Fujiyama, snow-crowned Fujiyama! So rings 
 the word JNIaranatha through all the vague 
 prophecies of Scripture. Maranatha! "The 
 Lord Cometh!" This is that "one supreme 
 event to which the whole creation moves." 
 
 Amen: even so come, Lord Jesus! Roll 
 swifter round, ye wheels of time, and bring 
 the welcome day! 
 
 106 
 
IX 
 
 SECOND THESSALONIANS 
 
 THE SECOND COMING (Continued) 
 
 Time. A. D. 52; Shortly after the former letter. 
 Place. Written from Athens. 
 
 Not long after the First Epistle had been 
 despatched to Thessalonica it came to Paul's 
 knowledge that a spurious letter, purporting 
 to have been written by him (chap. 2:2) had 
 enkindled a more passionate hope than ever 
 among the Christians there for the immediate 
 coming of Christ. He now writes briefly and 
 in haste to disavow the erroneous views which, 
 in that forged letter, had been attributed to 
 him. 
 
 CONGRATULATIONS 
 Chapter 1 
 
 He begins with his customary greeting 
 "Grace unto you," and proceeds at once to 
 assure them of his thankfulness for their 
 growth in three Christian graces. 
 
 107 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 First: "Because your faith groweth exceed- 
 ingly." A little faith if it "groweth" is better 
 than a larger faith that simply holds its own. 
 Here is the deeper significance of the mus- 
 tard seed, not that it is "indeed the least of 
 all seeds," but that it "groweth into a tree, 
 so that the fowls of the air come and lodge 
 in the branches of it." The church members 
 of Thessalonica were entitled to the greater 
 credit because their faith grew in spite of 
 the fact that false teachers had insidiously 
 crept in among them. It is by the upward 
 look and a purposeful resistance to error that 
 we become great believers. We are in no dan- 
 ger of drifting from our moorings so long as 
 we have an anchor to windward, "an anchor 
 sure and steadfast and taking hold of that 
 which is within the veil." 
 
 Second: "Your love aboundeth toward each 
 other." No doubt there were differences of 
 opinion among these people, but they knew 
 how to differ and keep sweet. There were 
 grounds for mutual criticism, but they had 
 learned that "charity suffereth long and is 
 kind." They were not intent on pulling motes 
 out of each other's eyes with hot pincers, but 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 rather with that delicate touch of sympathy 
 which transforms fault-finding into a heaven- 
 ly grace and makes a whole Gospel of the 
 proverb, *Taithful are the wounds of a 
 friend." 
 
 Third: "Ye are patient in persecution and 
 tribulation," which, says Paul, are permitted 
 "that ye may be counted worthy of the King- 
 dom of God." If we must needs suffer, it 
 is comforting to know that our sufferings are 
 a part of the Father's gracious plan to fit 
 us for glory further on. A woodchopper does 
 not complain of the knots which he encoun- 
 ters, but wisely and consistently regards them 
 as **all in the day's work." So must we: be- 
 cause we know that our adversity, whatever 
 it may be, is included in the "all things" 
 that "work together for good to them that 
 love God." 
 
 So much for Paul's congratulations. He 
 follows them with an earnest prayer for three 
 things: first, "that our God would count you 
 worthy of this calling" ; second, that he would 
 "fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness" 
 (what a complexity of divine love is em- 
 braced in those words!) ; and third, that he 
 
 109 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 would fulfil "the work of faith with power." 
 Three great petitions; and, for ourselves, 
 amen to them! 
 
 CORRECTION 
 
 Chapter 2 
 
 Here is where the forged letter comes in: 
 "We beseech you, brethren, that ye be not 
 soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither 
 by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from 
 usr 
 
 "Shaken" from what? From the truth 
 with respect to the Parousia, as Paul had 
 previously declared it. 
 
 "Troubled" about what? About the happy 
 reunion with the scattered members of the 
 family when Christ should come again to 
 claim his own. 
 
 One sign is given as a safeguard against 
 any possible misapprehension with respect to 
 the great event, namely, "That day shall not 
 come except there come a falling away first 
 and that man of sin be revealed." 
 
 (1) As to the "falling away," no explana- 
 tion is needed. It is always going on, due 
 to false teaching in the very air. The propa- 
 
 110 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 ganda is carried on "by spirit and by word 
 and by letter as from us." Books and news- 
 papers are full of it, and there is no lack 
 of pulpits to spread it. And alas, to those 
 who lend a willing ear, "God sendeth strong 
 delusion, that they should believe a lie!" Our 
 only safety lies in steadfastness; that is, in 
 steering by the Word of God. No man can 
 take fire into his bosom without being burned 
 by it. 
 
 (2) But what of "that man of sin"! This 
 "mystery of iniquity doth already work," and 
 he shall be "revealed in his time." There are 
 certain marks, however, by which he may be 
 recognized. To begin with, "he sitteth in the 
 Temple of God." Moreover "he showeth 
 himself that he is God"; by which we under- 
 stand that he assumes divine authority by 
 making himself the Court of Final Appeal in 
 all problems of the spiritual life. Still fur- 
 ther, "his coming is after the working of Sa- 
 tan, with all power and signs and lying won- 
 ders." By putting these marks together we 
 have the very portrait of Antichrist as 
 painted elsewhere by the Apostle John: 
 "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus 
 
 111 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denieth 
 the Father and the Son." (See 1 John 2:18- 
 22, also 2 John 7.) 
 
 It thus appears that any denial of the co- 
 equality of Jesus with the Father or any as- 
 sumption of authority which conflicts with 
 his as set forth in the Scriptures is a direct 
 emanation from the "mystery of iniquity" 
 and, therefore, to be scrupulously repelled by 
 all who would not be "given over to believe 
 a lie." 
 
 "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold 
 the traditions which ye have been taught." 
 Traditions, forsooth! Are we not warned 
 against "traditional religion" here and there 
 and everywhere! But what is meant by "tra- 
 dition" except that which is handed down; 
 that is, from those who have gone before us? 
 To be sure, it is a preposterous thing to 
 accept any doctrine for the sole reason that 
 our fathers believed it; but it is folly un- 
 speakable to reject "the old-time religion" 
 merely because of past approval. The best 
 things in the world are old. Old air, old 
 sunshine, old spring-water — who can improve 
 upon them? In everything except "new 
 
 11^ 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 thought" (God save the mark!) the pre- 
 sumption is always in favor of experience. 
 "Ring out the old, ring in the new"? Surely, 
 if only we "ring out the false, ring in the 
 true!" 
 
 The Germans have a proverb: "Take heed 
 lest you throw out the baby with the bath- 
 water." Many an adventurous captain has 
 courted defeat by cutting off his army from 
 its source of supplies. We are safe so long 
 as we rest our ultimate faith in the binomial 
 revelation, namely, the Incarnate and written 
 Word of God. The moment a Christian 
 abandons these, allured by the man of sin 
 in any guise whatsoever, he is like a planet 
 sweeping out of its orbit and lost in infinite 
 space. Wherefore it behooves us to earnestly 
 contend for the faith delivered to the saints 
 once for all. 
 
 This chapter of the Epistle, so full of por- 
 tentous warning and exhortation, closes with 
 an assurance of Paul's confidence in the 
 steadfastness of his Thessalonian friends: 
 "We are bound to give thanks, brethren be- 
 loved, because God hath chosen you." Chosen 
 them to what? Four great things: "Salva- 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 tion, Sanctification, Belief of the Truth and 
 the Obtaining" of Glory." What more could 
 be desired? INIuch more, as the following 
 chapter will disclose to us. 
 
 MUTUAL PRAYER 
 
 Chapter 3 
 
 There is something pathetic in this "Breth- 
 ren, pray for us." Why should these Thes- 
 salonians be praying for Paul in Athens? 
 Ah, there was a tie between them stronger 
 than the strongest tie of consanguinity! He 
 was not only a fellow-Christian but a former 
 pastor of these people, and, with the burden 
 of all the churches upon him, he needed their 
 sympathy and co-operation, even as Moses 
 needed the upholding of his hands by Aaron 
 and Hur in the valley of Rephidim. And he 
 does not hesitate to mention the special 
 prayers that they were desired to offer for 
 him. 
 
 First, that the Word which he preached 
 might "have free course and be glorified"; 
 in other words, that his sermons might not 
 be like water poured upon the ground, which 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 cannot be gathered up again, but rather like 
 good seed sown in good ground and bearing 
 fruit abundantly in the salvation of souls to 
 the glory of God. 
 
 Second, that he might be "delivered from 
 unreasonable and wicked men" who were 
 "without faith." By this we are given to 
 understand that Paul knew himself to be a 
 man of like infirmities with other men and 
 that he was afraid of being allured from 
 truth and righteousness by the wiles of 
 wicked men. We all stand on slippery 
 places. "Let him that thinketh he standeth 
 take heed lest he fall." 
 
 But Paul asks for nothing without an 
 adequate return; he assures these friends 
 that while they are praying for him he will 
 also be praying for them; jirst, that their 
 hearts may be directed "into the love of 
 God"; and second, into the "patient waiting 
 for Christ"; and he affirms his "confidence" 
 in the result of this mutual intercession. 
 Verily, "more things are wrought by prayer 
 than this world dreams of!" 
 
 The rest of the Epistle is given to such 
 practical exhortations as would naturally 
 
 115 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 occur to a wise shepherd in caring for his 
 flock. For one thing, they are urged to 
 "withdraw themselves" from those who have 
 been making trouble; and for another, to 
 admonish these mischief-makers not unkindly 
 but "as brethren." Still further they are 
 enjoined to give up watching the skies for 
 the Lord's return and attend to business; 
 "for we hear that there are some which walk 
 among you disorderly, working not at all." 
 
 The purpose of the Apostle, namely, to 
 repair the damage wrought by the forged 
 letter, is now accomplished and nothing 
 remains but to pronounce his usual benedic- 
 tion, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 be with you all." 
 
 It is easy to imagine how this letter was 
 received at Thessalonica, with what search- 
 ings of heart and reconsecration to duty and 
 vows of "patient waiting for Christ." 
 
 It is related that on the morning of the 
 historic "Dark Day" a member of the Legis- 
 lature of Connecticut, then in session, moved 
 to adjourn in view of the fact that the world 
 was probably coming to an end, whereupon 
 the presiding officer ordered the candles to be 
 
 115 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 lit and business continued, saying t "If this 
 really betokens the coming of Christ, he 
 could not find us better employed than at our 
 usual tasks." Good advice for us and for all 
 who love his appearing. 
 
 117 
 
FIRST TIMOTHY 
 
 THE YOUNG MINISTER 
 
 In the year 53 Paul was stoned at Lystra. 
 (Acts 14.:6-20.) His ministry there, how- 
 ever, was not fruitless. His bleeding and 
 miserable body was cared for by a Jewess 
 named Eunice, and her son Timothy, who 
 was destined to play a conspicuous part in the 
 subsequent history of the Church. An ex- 
 traordinary friendship sprang up between the 
 Apostle and this "gentle boy of Lystra," 
 whom he called his "own son in the faith." 
 
 In the year 65, i.e., twelve years after, this 
 young man was settled as minister of the im- 
 portant church at Ephesus. It was a difficult 
 field. The Christians there — "a feeble folk 
 like the conies" — were overshadowed by the 
 pomp and circumstance of * 'great Diana," 
 whose temple was accounted one of the seven 
 wonders of the world. But, worse than that, 
 they were divided among themselves, owing 
 
 118 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 to the influence of certain false teachers who 
 had "crept in among them." 
 
 In the years that intervened between 
 Timothy's conversion and the writing of this 
 letter, many things happened. Paul had 
 passed through all sorts of vicissitudes, 
 including a weary imprisonment at Csesarea, 
 and subsequently in the Praetorian camp at 
 Rome. 
 
 At the time of this writing he had left 
 Rome, after an acquittal or release of some 
 sort, and, despite his age and oft infirmities, 
 had apparently set out upon another mis- 
 sionary tour in the hope of even reaching 
 Spain. It was somewhere on this journey — 
 a journey which was presently to come to a 
 tragic end — that Paul, with a heart longing 
 for home and fellowship, sat down to write 
 this letter to his young successor in the pas- 
 torate of the Ephesian church, 
 
 A PASTORAL CHARGE 
 
 AS TO PREACHING 
 
 Chapter 1 
 
 It would appear that certain ones in 
 Ephesus were trying to persuade the young 
 
 119 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 minister to turn aside from the Gospel unto 
 "fables and endless genealogies, which," says 
 Paul, "minister questions rather than godly 
 edifying." Fables, speculations, religion by 
 inheritance, "science falsely so called," philos- 
 ophy, politics — these beckoned to Timothy 
 no more alluringly than they do to the young 
 minister in our time: wherefore, this Pastoral 
 Charge of the great Apostle is quite abreast 
 of the age. 
 
 The point of his charge is. Preach the 
 Word. He would have Timothy hew to the 
 line and not be "swerved aside" — aside from 
 what? From the Word, which, as he says, 
 consists in brief of a presentation of the jus- 
 tice and love of God. 
 
 (1) God's justice is set forth in his Law 
 (verses 8-10). But inasmuch as by the Law 
 all alike are "concluded under sin," the 
 preacher must move his pulpit over from Si- 
 nai to Calvary; as it is written, "The Law is 
 our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ." 
 
 (2) God's love is set forth in the sacrifice 
 of Christ. "The end of the commandment is 
 love" (verse 5) . Was ever love like that of the 
 spotless Son of God, who gave himself for 
 
 120 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 US? To exalt that sacrifice is the prime busi- 
 ness of every minister; as Jesus said, "I, if I 
 be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." 
 What other magnet do we need? Why turn 
 aside to adventitious attractions when Christ 
 so clearly promises to do the "drawing" for 
 us? 
 
 The pith of the whole matter is in the 
 "faithful saying" which the Pastor Emeritus 
 of the Ephesian Church here prescribes to his 
 young successor as the subject matter of all 
 worth-while sermons, namely, "that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 
 
 AS TO PUBLIC WORSHIP 
 
 Chapter 2 
 
 One of the most important parts of the 
 service of the sanctuary is the; minister's 
 prayer. It is, indeed, not his prayer, but that 
 of the whole congregation speaking through 
 him. It behooves him therefore to keep a 
 guard upon his lips; and it behooves the peo- 
 ple to follow him with one accord as he "lifts 
 up holy hands unto God." 
 
 In this official prayer mention is to be made 
 of "kings and all in authority, that we may 
 
 121 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godli- 
 ness and honesty." But suppose some Nero 
 is on the throne? All the more reason for 
 us to be praying that he may turn from his 
 wicked ways. 
 
 We observe here an important injunction 
 as to the behavior of the Ephesian women at 
 these public services. They were to present 
 themselves "in modest' apparel," and while 
 the services were going on they were enjoined 
 to keep silence, deferring to the male mem- 
 bers of the church. There was a special 
 reason for this in the fact that the unclean 
 profession of the priestesses of Diana was 
 advertised by their gay apparel and loud 
 behavior. In like circumstances the same 
 counsel must needs be given in these days. 
 
 AS TO CHURCH GOVERNMENT 
 Chapter 3 
 
 We are here advised with respect to official 
 positions in the church: of which two are 
 mentioned, and only two, namely, bishops 
 and deacons. (Phil. 1:1.) 
 
 (1) Bishops. The word here is episcopos, 
 meaning overseer, which is used interchange- 
 
 122 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 ably with preshuteros, or elder. (See Acts 
 20:17, 28, etc.) There were two kinds of 
 elders, viz., (a) teaching elders or preachers, 
 and (b) ruling elders, whose special function 
 was to govern in spiritual affairs. (1 Tim. 
 5:17; 1 Pet. 5:1-4, etc.) The qualifications 
 for the bishopric in both the teaching and 
 ruling class are here given in detail (verses 
 1-7). 
 
 (2) Deacons. The business of the deacons 
 was, in general terms, to look after the tem- 
 poral affairs of the church and, more par- 
 ticularly, to see that adequate provision was 
 made for the poor. (Acts 6:1-6.) The qual- 
 ifications for the diaconate are also given in 
 detail (verses 8-10). 
 
 (3) Their Wives (verse 11). Here is 
 something to make a note of. It is safe to say 
 that nowadays, even in the choice of a min- 
 ister, too little attention is given to the min- 
 ister's right hand and right eye, to wit, his 
 wife. And when it comes to the election of 
 ruling elders and deacons, few questions are 
 asked concerning their better halves. This, 
 Paul gives us to understand, was not so in 
 
 123 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 the early church. Query: is not the old way 
 the better way? 
 
 This chapter ends with a closing hymn: 
 Subject, The Mystery of Godliness, 
 
 "Great is the mystery of godliness: 
 God was manifest in the flesh (John 1:14), 
 Justified in the Spirit (Matt. 3:16), 
 Seen of angels (Luke 2:13, etc.). 
 Preached unto the Gentiles (Eph. 3:1-9), 
 Believed on in the world (Rom. 16:25-27), 
 Received up into glory" (Acts 1:9). 
 
 AS TO PERSONAL CHARACTER 
 Chapter 4 
 
 The young minister is here reminded of 
 the importance of illustrating his preaching 
 in his walk and conversation. The "seduc- 
 ing spirits" of Ephesus were all the while 
 beckoning him away from a consistent Chris- 
 tian life. "Take heed to thyself," says Paul; 
 "Exercise thyself unto godliness"; "Be thou 
 an example of the believers"; "Let no man 
 despise thy youth." The "charges" delivered 
 at the installation of young ministers in our 
 time are practically all based on this ancient 
 
 124 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 charge of Paul to Timothy: and they echo 
 this wholesome advice as to the translation 
 of doctrine into life. 
 
 AS TO THE CURE OF SOULS 
 Chapter 5 
 
 There is no more difficult art than that of 
 fault-finding; and it devolves on every faith- 
 ful minister to master it. For discipline, 
 though practically abandoned in our time, is 
 as necessary as ever to the peace and order 
 and well-being of the church. Timothy is 
 here advised: first, as to the proper method of 
 dealing with the older and younger men 
 (verse 1) ; second, with the older and younger 
 women (verse 2) ; third, with the widows 
 (4-16). Here the problem becomes more 
 complex: for, owing to social conditions in 
 pagan communities, there were countless 
 "grass widows" who, as dependents and of- 
 tentimes lewd outcasts, were only too glad to 
 take advantage of the "deacons' fund" even 
 at the expense of a spurious confession of 
 faith. This will explain the importance of 
 careful discrimination between those who 
 
 125 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 were "widows indeed" and those who were 
 "wanton, wandering about from house to 
 house" as "tattlers" and "busybodies, speak- 
 ing things which they ought not." Fourth j 
 as to the supervision to be exercised by elders 
 of both the teaching and the ruhng class 
 (verses 17-20). 
 
 This brochure on Discipline ends with a 
 solemn injunction as to impartiality. In the 
 administration of order in church affairs the 
 bishop, i.e., minister, is to be no respecter of 
 persons. He must remember that all alike 
 are imperfect, the difference being largely in 
 the measure of prudent concealment. Some 
 men wear their hearts on their sleeves, so that 
 their sins go trumpeting before them to judg- 
 ment; while others are not found out until 
 their sins unheralded rise up to condemn 
 them. 
 
 (At this point a brief parenthesis is intro- 
 duced with reference to Timothy's scrupu- 
 losity in refusing to take wine even in the 
 form of a medicine. Paul suggests that he 
 would do well to let the physician prescribe 
 for him.) 
 
 126 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 AS TO SERVICE IN GENERAL 
 Chapter 6 
 
 (1) There were both masters and servants 
 in the Ephesian church; or, as we would say 
 nowadays, both employers and employes. 
 The apostle here proposes the Christian solu- 
 tion — and the only ultimate solution — of the 
 problem of Capital and Labor, namely, a 
 mutual attitude of brotherhood, or, in other 
 words, of mutual service. "Live and let 
 live" is but a paraphrase of the Golden Rule 
 of Christ. As he came "not to be ministered 
 unto, but to minister," so must his followers 
 serve one another in a spirit of fraternal 
 love. 
 
 (2) This shuts out the desire of gain as 
 the ruling motive of service. Not money, 
 but the love of money, is indeed "a root of 
 all evil." On the other hand, however, "god- 
 liness with contentment is great gain." To 
 serve in the spirit of Christ is its own reward. 
 No doubt Timothy could have earned a bet- 
 ter salary than he was getting in the pas- 
 torate of the Ephesian church, but the Lord's 
 "penny at evening" — a penny bearing the 
 
 127 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 image of the King with the superscription, 
 "Well done, good and faithful servant" — 
 would compensate him abundantly for all the 
 sacrifices and hardships of his ministerial 
 Hfe. 
 
 (3) Therefore, "O Timothy, keep that 
 which is committed to thy trust." No doubt 
 there were times when the young minister 
 was tempted to wish for a larger parish with 
 a better salary, but his foster father in Christ 
 urges him to "abide still at Ephesus," and 
 be loyal to the solemn trust which had been 
 reposed in him. 
 
 And then this most impressive and exem- 
 plary "Charge to the Pastor" closes with the 
 best of benedictions in the familiar words, 
 "Grace be with thee. Amen." 
 
 128 
 
XI 
 
 SECOND TIMOTHY 
 THE APOSTLE'S FAREWELL 
 
 You will remember that Paul wrote his 
 first letter to Timothy after his first impris- 
 onment at Rome, while on a missionary jour- 
 ney. He was presently rearrested and 
 brought back. He was now (A. D. 66) in 
 the Mammertine jail awaiting his summons 
 to death. These were the circumstances 
 under which this second letter was written to 
 his "beloved son." 
 
 The underground jail in which the old mis- 
 sionary spent his closing days is still shown 
 and is as well identified as any of the antiq- 
 uities of the Imperial City. A door has 
 been made for the convenience of visitors, but 
 Paul was probably let down through the cir- 
 cular opening which still remains in the ceil- 
 ing. It is a noisome place. In the wall is a 
 rusted ring to which, the attendant tells you 
 with all confidence, the prisoner was chained. 
 
 129 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 There in lonely submission to his Master s 
 will he awaited the footfall of his executioner ; 
 and by the dim light through the roof of 
 his dungeon he wrote this last farewell. 
 
 There are only four chapters, and each has 
 its keynote. That of the first chapter is 
 Remember, Here Paul revives his memories 
 of the old home at Lystra, when his wounds 
 had been bandaged and cared for by Mother 
 Eunice and Grandmother Lois and where 
 Timothy had espoused the faith. 
 
 (1) He enjoins Timothy to "stir up the 
 gift that is in him." What that gift was he 
 does not say, but presumably it was one of 
 those charismata or spiritual gifts with which 
 the Lord's people were equipped for service. 
 (See Eph. 4:4-16.) Whatever a Christian's 
 gift may be, it behooves him to stir it up 
 continually, lest the fire die down into the 
 dull embers of spiritual apathy. 
 
 (2) He exhorts him to guard "that good 
 thing which was committed unto thee, 
 through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in 
 us." This trust was the Gospel, of which 
 every Christian is a steward, under bonds to 
 dispense it to the glory of God. 
 
 130 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 The keynote of the second chapter is "Be 
 strong/' It is pathetic to hear this old man, 
 small of stature and of feeble physique, dwell- 
 ing so strenuously on the importance of being 
 strong. He could not be an athlete, but Tim- 
 othy must be. He could not be a soldier, but 
 Timothy must fight for mastery. He him- 
 self could only be patient now. "Be not 
 ashamed of my sufferings, for in them I do 
 fill up the measure of the sufferings of 
 Christ. As for thyself, however, be strong; 
 be a wise contender in the games, that thou 
 mayest win the crown; be a good soldier of 
 Jesus Christ; be an able workman, needing 
 not to be ashamed, rightly handling the 
 word of truth!" 
 
 It is easy to be a minimum Christian, but 
 maximum is Paul's word to Timothy. It is 
 easy to stand in the market place with folded 
 hands waiting for a job; but when the Master 
 comes this way pointing to the yellow harvest 
 and saying, "Come thou and reap with me," 
 the quality of our Christian life depends on 
 how we answer him. 
 
 The keynote of the third chapter is Con- 
 tinue. "For grievous times shall come" when 
 
 131 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 men shall have *'a form of godliness while 
 denying the power thereof; from such turn 
 away." 
 
 (1) Continue in "the power of godliness." 
 What is that? It is the opposite of "the 
 form" of godliness. It is a Christian pro- 
 fession translated into character and useful- 
 ness. It is a name written not only on a 
 church roster but in the Lamb's book of life 
 for faithfulness. It is religion as a business 
 and not as an avocation for odd moments. 
 It is a dynamic for service and not a mere 
 sentiment for tears and prayers. 
 
 (2) Continue in "the knowledge of the 
 truth." And here is where the Scriptures 
 come in. "But continue thou in the things 
 which thou hast learned and hast been assured 
 of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 
 and that from a child thou hast known the 
 holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee 
 wise unto salvation through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by 
 inspiration of God and is profitable for doc- 
 trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- 
 tion in righteousness: that the man of God 
 
 132 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto 
 all good works." (3:14-17.) 
 
 The young man is here advised that there 
 are professing Christians in his parish who 
 are "ever learning and never able to come to 
 the knowledge of the truth," because they 
 have no ultimate standard of truth except 
 that of their "inner consciousness" as against 
 the ultimate and trustworthy authority of 
 Scripture. There are such people in every 
 parish, who never rest in any postulate long 
 enough to say, "This I know," but are for- 
 ever going back to rediscuss the rudiments, 
 which they should have settled long ago. 
 
 The keynote of the fourth chapter is 
 Preach, Preach what? "Preach the Word." 
 Why? Because "the time will come when 
 they will not endure sound doctrine ; but after 
 their own lusts shall they heap to themselves 
 teachers, having itching ears; and they shall 
 turn away their ears from the truth, and 
 shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou 
 in all things, endure afflictions, do the work 
 of an evangelist, make full proof of thy 
 ministry." (4:3-5.) 
 
 133 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 By this it appears that Timothy was to 
 give the people not what they craved but 
 what they needed, namely, the Word of God. 
 On this is conditioned the success of all 
 preaching. It was not Timothy's word that 
 the people needed, but God's Word. Here 
 is the promise: **My word (not yours) shall 
 not return unto me void, but shall accomplish 
 that which I please and prosper in the thing 
 whereunto I sent it." 
 
 In closing, Paul entreats Timothy to come 
 to him with all haste, because, save for faith- 
 ful Luke, he is alone and lonely. The winter 
 is drawing on, the dungeon is cold: "When 
 thou comest, bring with thee the cloak which 
 I left at Troas." 
 
 And then farewell. "I am now ready to be 
 offered and the time of my departure is at 
 hand. I have fought a good fight. I have 
 finished my course, I have kept the faith: 
 henceforth there is laid up for me a crown 
 of righteousness which the Lord, the right- 
 eous Judge, shall give me at that day." 
 (4:6-8.) 
 
 134 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 'Servant of God, well done. 
 
 Rest from thy loved employ : 
 The battle fought, the victory won. 
 
 Enter thy Master's joy. 
 The voice at midnight came; 
 
 He started up to hear; 
 A mortal arrow pierced his frame; 
 
 He fell, but felt no fear. 
 
 At midnight came the cry, 
 
 *To meet thy God prepare !* 
 He woke, and caught his Captain's eye 
 
 Then, strong in faith and prayer, 
 His spirit with a bound 
 
 Left its encumbering clay; 
 His tent, at sunrise, on the ground, 
 
 A darkened ruin lay. 
 
 The pains of death are past. 
 
 Labor and sorrow cease. 
 And, life's long warfare closed at last, 
 
 His soul is found in peace. 
 Soldier of Christ, well done. 
 
 Praise be thy new employ; 
 And, while eternal ages run. 
 
 Rest in thy Saviour's joy." 
 
 135 
 
XII 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO TITUS 
 
 THE PASTOR OF A HARD PARISH 
 
 In the year 66 Paul was summoned before 
 Nero and, strange to say, acquitted and set 
 free. He refers to it briefly as follows: "At 
 my first answer no man stood with me, but all 
 men forsook me. I pray God that it may not 
 be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the 
 Lord stood with me and strengthened me: 
 that by me the preaching might be fully 
 known and that all the Gentiles might hear: 
 and I was delivered out of the mouth of the 
 lion." (2 Tim. 4:16, 17.) 
 
 On being released from custody he imme- 
 diately set about preparing for another mis- 
 sionary journey. We have no means of 
 knowing who were chosen to be his com- 
 panions on this journey, except that among 
 them was Titus, a young Gentile, and prob- 
 ably one of the first converted under Paul. 
 It is quite possible that at the outset the 
 
 136 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 missionary group made for Spain, in fulfil- 
 ment of one of Paul's long-cherished dreams. 
 (Romans 15:24-28.) 
 
 On returning from Spain they would nat- 
 urally sail eastward through the Mediter- 
 ranean and certainly touch at the island of 
 Crete for supplies. Crete (Candia) was then 
 an important place, as it has ever since con- 
 tinued to be. It was only a hundred and 
 forty miles long and one quarter as wide, but 
 the density of its population may be inferred 
 from the fact that Virgil called it "the island 
 of a hundred cities." The Cretans were no- 
 torious for their sensual vices; but when Paul 
 and his companions landed they found not 
 a few Christians among them. It may be 
 that the Gospel had been introduced by cer- 
 tain Cretans who are mentioned as having 
 been present in Jerusalem, thirty odd years 
 before, at the Pentecostal effusion of the 
 Spirit. (Acts 2:11.) In any case there were 
 Christians on the island who needed care; and 
 Paul was not the man to neglect them. 
 
 It was decided that Titus should remain 
 and take charge of this difficult parish. His 
 unswerving loyalty to the faith and tactful- 
 
 137 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 ness in meeting difficult situations, as at the 
 Council in Jerusalem and on other occasions 
 (see Gal. 2:3-5, also 2 Cor. 12:18), were in 
 evidence as qualifications for the place. It 
 was not Paul's purpose, however, to leave 
 him there permanently, but only until some 
 other suitable man could be sent to relieve 
 him. (Titus 3:12.) 
 
 So the ship sailed on. It was Paul's plan 
 to winter in Nicopolis and then resume his 
 itinerary. Meanwhile Titus remained alone 
 in Crete; and while there he received this 
 letter, the Epistle to Titus, containing in- 
 structions as to his work. 
 
 AS TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CRETAN 
 CHURCH 
 
 Chapter 1 
 
 "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that 
 thou shouldest set in order the things that are 
 wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as 
 I had appointed thee." 
 
 It was no small task to "set in order" the 
 affairs of Christians in a hundred cities and 
 bind them together in due form under 
 ordained elders. It is safe to say that these 
 believers, having been so long without com- 
 
 138 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 petent teachers and leaders, had the loosest 
 sort of notions as to the duties and responsi- 
 bilities of the Christian life. 
 
 And consider their surroundings. The 
 people of the island were proverbially vicious. 
 To begin with, they were indolent, or, to use 
 Paul's homely phrase, "slow bellies." Many 
 of them were wreckers; having no means of 
 gaining a livehhood but by luring vessels to 
 ruin on the rocky coasts and plundering 
 them. 
 
 And they were known everywhere for their 
 untruthfulness. "The Cretans," says Paul, 
 quoting from Epimenides, one of their own 
 teachers, "are always liars." This is a vice 
 common to all Oriental peoples, who are 
 habitually secretive and averse to making a 
 clean breast of anything; but the Cretans 
 were accorded a singular pre-eminence in this 
 particular. 
 
 Their third notorious vice was sensuality. 
 Paul speaks of them as "evil beasts," which 
 is usually regarded as having reference to 
 gluttony; but gluttony does not cover the 
 case. They were addicted to other and baser 
 
 139 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 indulgences of the flesh, which must be left 
 to the imagination rather than spoken of. 
 
 Now these were the people among whom a 
 handful of Christians, without the guidance 
 of teachers or the support of organization, 
 had been trying for years to maintain their 
 spiritual life. Surely Titus had a difficult 
 task before him. 
 
 THE YOUNG MINISTER IS FURTHER ENJOINED TO 
 
 LOOK TO THE ORTHODOXY OF 
 
 HIS PARISHIONERS 
 
 Chapter 2 
 
 "Speak thou the things which become 
 sound doctrine." A literal translation of the 
 word orthodoxy is "straight teaching," which 
 was what the Cretans needed. It goes with- 
 out saying that, after so long neglect, they 
 had fallen into many errors of belief. We 
 are inclined to over-emphasize the prevalence 
 of heresy in the churches of our time; the 
 fact being that the early Christians — before 
 the historic creeds or symbols of belief were 
 formulated — had to be constantly recalled 
 from doctrinal aberrations to the necessity of 
 standing by the faith once for all delivered to 
 the saints. It would be strange, indeed, con- 
 
 140 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 sidering their environment, had the Cretans 
 needed no special correction and no "straight 
 teaching" as to the fundamental doctrines 
 that center in Christ. 
 
 This injunction of Paul is logically fol- 
 lowed by another, to wit: that Titus shall 
 see to it that his parishioners "adorn the doc- 
 trine"; which means, of course, that they live 
 up to it. For "faith without works is dead"; 
 in other words, it is no faith at all. Ortho- 
 doxy saves nobody unless it is translated into 
 the terms of daily life. Straight teaching 
 must, therefore, be followed up by the incul- 
 cation of straight living. 
 
 At this point the Apostle becomes very 
 specific, advising the aged men and women, 
 then the young men and women, and then the 
 slaves as to how they can best show them- 
 selves "patterns of good works"; and his 
 advice is based upon the fact that Christ 
 had died for us "that he might redeem us 
 from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 
 peculiar people, zealous of good works" 
 
 Those who think that the Apostle James 
 was at odds with the Apostle Paul as to the 
 necessity of good works in the scheme of sal- 
 
 141 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 vation will do well to stop, look and listen a 
 while. 
 
 THE DUTY OF OBEDIENCE IS HERE ENJOINED, 
 
 FIRST TO CHRIST, AND THEN TO THE 
 
 POWERS THAT BE 
 
 Chapter 3 
 
 It was necessary to remind these peopie, 
 belonging to a lawless community, that as 
 Christians they must be in subjection to mag- 
 istrates because, however inefficient those 
 magistrates might be as executives of law 
 and order, they were "ordained by God." 
 
 The young minister having been thus duly 
 enjoined to "exhort and rebuke," the rest of 
 the brief Epistle is taken up with affectionate 
 greetings, and it closes, of course, with the 
 benediction, "Grace be unto you." 
 
 How Titus succeeded in his hard parish we 
 have no means of knowing: but we may rest 
 assured that he did his best, leaning hard on 
 God. In the centuries that have intervened 
 between then and now the island has not 
 lacked for Christian witnesses. It has long 
 been under the political domination of the 
 Turks, but the religion of the false prophet 
 has never gained a substantial foothold there. 
 
 142 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 The prevailing form of worship has always 
 been that of the Greek Church; and inas- 
 much as the island has recently been restored 
 to Greece by the arbitrament of war, there is 
 reason to hope for better days. 
 
 It is related that while Dr. Guthrie was 
 minister in the Cowgate at Edinburgh, he 
 was visited by his friend. Dr. Chalmers, 
 whose parish was of a very different sort. 
 One night as they stood together on one of 
 the bridges over the ravine which divides the 
 old city from the new, looking down upon 
 "the Cowgate" with its surging throng of 
 submerged souls, Dr. Guthrie turned to his 
 friend and said with tears in his voice, "O 
 Chalmers, this is my golden field! See them, 
 the dear reckless people, whom the Lord has 
 given me to win for him!" 
 
 So must Titus have thought of his Cretan 
 parish. It was his golden field! But the 
 probability is that his pastorate was a brief 
 one. It was PauFs purpose to send Artemas 
 or Tychicus to relieve him as soon as pos- 
 sible; and then he wrote to Titus: "Be dili- 
 gent to come unto me to Nicopolis, for I have 
 determined there to winter." 
 
 143 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 It is a true saying, Man proposes, but God 
 disposes. Paul planned, after wintering at 
 Nicopolis, to resume his missionary journey, 
 taking Titus with him. But instead of win- 
 tering in Nicopolis, he summered in heaven. 
 He was rearrested and carried back to Rome, 
 where, at his second trial, sentence of death 
 was passed upon him. Somewhere outside 
 the walls the tired missionary bowed his head 
 to the axe, closed his dim old eyes and, a 
 moment later, opened them in the Kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 144 
 
XIII 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON 
 
 "THE POLITE EPISTLE" 
 
 Keynote: "For Love's Sake" 
 
 As a rule the letters of Paul are distin- 
 guished for strength rather than for rhetor- 
 ical finish. In this one, however, he betrays 
 the scholarly culture which he had received 
 in the University of Jerusalem, where he sat 
 at the feet of Gamaliel, "the Flower of the 
 Law." 
 
 It is the only letter addressed by Paul to 
 a layman. His other Epistles were either 
 general, parochial or pastoral; but here he 
 writes to a private friend; and for this reason 
 the letter affords an interesting sidelight into 
 the writer's personal life and character. 
 
 And it was written with Paul's own hand. 
 In other cases he made use of an amanuensis, 
 which was necessary not only by reason of his 
 age and infirmities, but because he was a pris- 
 
 145 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 oner in chains. Here, however, the writing 
 is his very own. It is safe to say the lines 
 were uncertain and the characters rude; hut 
 what would we not give to see that tremulous 
 autograph: "I, Paul, with mine own hand. 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with 
 your spirit"! 
 
 The letter is chiefly remarkable, however, 
 for its broad spirit of humanity. It touches 
 on one of the greatest of social questions and 
 in doing so lays a mighty emphasis on the 
 brotherhood of man. Nowhere else does the 
 great Apostle so uncover his breast as in this 
 little letter addressed to Philemon as his spir- 
 itual son. 
 
 It carries us back to the year 56, when 
 Paul was sojourning in Ephesus. He 
 preached there for a period of two years, 
 making his headquarters in the lecture room 
 of Tyrannus. Meanwhile he extended his 
 ministry by frequent itineraries among the 
 outlying towns. 
 
 One of these towns was Colosse. There he 
 made the acquaintance of a weaver whose 
 name was Philemon. It was natural that 
 Paul, who made his living by the kindred 
 
 146 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 trade of tentmaking, should cultivate friendly 
 relations with him. In due time, almost as a 
 matter of course, this weaver was converted 
 to Christ. His wife, Apphia, and his son, 
 Archippus, were also baptized; and presently 
 we hear of "the church in the house of Phile- 
 mon," which was destined to play an import- 
 ant part in subsequent events. In this house 
 Paul was accustomed to hold divine service, 
 with the family and neighbors gathered about 
 him. The slaves of Philemon, of whom he 
 probably had a considerable number engaged 
 in his shop and warehouse, were present at 
 these services. 
 
 So it happened that Onesimus, one of these 
 slaves, heard the Gospel. His heart, no doubt 
 embittered by his bondage, was poor soil for 
 the good seed. He could not forget the dis- 
 tant home, from which he had probably been 
 carried away in some Roman raid. The in- 
 justice of his bonds rankled within him. He 
 was at odds with fate, with his master, and 
 with God. 
 
 All this was seven years before the writing 
 of this letter. In the meantime many things 
 have happened. Paul had gone hither and 
 
 147 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 yon on his missionary journeys, crossing the 
 deserts and climbing the mountains to preach 
 the Gospel of Christ. He had endured 
 "perils of robbers, perils of his own country- 
 men, perils by the heathen, perils in the city, 
 perils in the wilderness and perils in the sea." 
 He had known "weariness and painfulness, 
 hunger and thirst, fastings and cold and nak- 
 edness." He had been stoned more than once 
 and had suffered shipwreck. Five times he 
 had received forty stripes save one. He had 
 tasted prison fare in many cities. He had 
 passed two dreary years in the Castle at 
 Ceesarea; after which, falling back on his 
 rights as a Roman citizen, he had made his 
 appeal to Caesar. Reaching Rome at length, 
 through many vicissitudes, he was taken to 
 the Prsetorian camp and kept as a prisoner 
 of importance with guards chained to his 
 wrists. He was, however, allowed a certain 
 measure of freedom, being permitted to dwell 
 in his own hired house and receive his friends. 
 His preaching at this time was fruitful in 
 many conversions, among whom were some of 
 the attendants in Caesar's palace. The hired 
 
 148 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 house of Paul was the resort of many seekers 
 after truth. 
 
 One day a wretched man in rags and 
 tatters came to visit him. He was worn and 
 emaciated, with a hunted look in his eyes. It 
 was the slave Onesimus, who had heard the 
 Gospel in the house of Philemon so long ago. 
 Paul received him, won his confidence and 
 brought him to the saving knowledge of 
 Christ. Then came his confession: he had 
 escaped from Colosse and made his way 
 through danger and difficulty to Rome, a 
 thousand miles away! It sounds like the 
 stories we used to hear of negroes fleeing 
 through the Dismal Swamp with bloodhounds 
 baying behind them. The runaway had 
 hoped, no doubt, to lose himself among the 
 throngs of Rome; for there is no wilderness 
 like a great city. But conscience pursued 
 him. He confessed to Paul that he was not 
 only a fugitive but a thief. He had robbed 
 his master. How could he become a Chris- 
 tian with that awful shadow over him? The 
 advice of Paul was that he should at once 
 return to his master and give himself up. 
 
 149 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 These were the circumstances under which 
 this letter was written. Onesimus himself was 
 charged with its safe transmission to Colosse, 
 and he was a voluntary postman. "Haste, 
 post, haste!" Imagine the meeting of this 
 runaway slave and his master! 
 
 The letter is very brief, consisting of a 
 single chapter only twenty-five verses long; 
 but what a multum in parvo! 
 
 Greeting (verses 1-3) from Paul and Tim- 
 othy, his "brother," to Philemon, his wife 
 Apphia and son Archippus (see Col. 4:17), 
 together with the church in their house, 
 "Grace to you, and peace." 
 
 Introduction (4-9). The request which 
 Paul is about to make of Philemon demands 
 the exercise of consummate tact. Observe 
 now the tact and tactics of this clever dialec- 
 tician: he does not plunge abruptly in medias 
 res, but puts Philemon in remembrance of his 
 indebtedness to Paul for having conveyed to 
 him "every good thing which was in him" by 
 the faith of the unspeakable riches of Jesus 
 Christ; "wherefore," says the writer, "though 
 I might enjoin thee, yet for love's sake, I 
 rather beseech thee." 
 
 150 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 The Business in Hand (10-22). It is easy 
 to imagine the scene: Philemon in his door- 
 way at Colosse, facing his former slave, who 
 awaits with anxiety a decision that means 
 everything to him. The master reads, "I 
 beseech thee for my son Onesimus.'' He 
 knows what that means; for he is himself one 
 of Paul's large family of spiritual sons. Is 
 this runaway slave of his, now trembling at 
 his threshold, indeed a brother in Christ? 
 Then, truly, their relations are changed. And 
 this is what Paul now proceeds to show in a 
 threefold request. 
 
 First (10-14), he bespeaks a welcome for 
 Onesimus: "Thou, therefore, receive him as 
 mine own heart." 
 
 Second (15-17), he asks Philemon to re- 
 ceive this runaway bondman as a fellow- 
 worker in spiritual things: "If thou count 
 me therefore a partner, receive him as my- 
 self," i.e., no longer as a menial, but as a 
 brother beloved and as a profit-sharer in the 
 service of Christ. Here verily is the true 
 Christian spirit ; for in this fellowship there is 
 neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian, Scythian, 
 bond nor free; but Christ is all and in all. 
 
 151 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 Third (18, 19), he asks that Onesimus may 
 be forgiven of whatever wrong or injury he 
 may have done his master. This includes the 
 money that he had stolen from him. *'If he 
 oweth thee aught," says Paul, "put that on 
 mine account. I, Paul, have so written with 
 mine own hand; I will repay it." This sounds 
 like a promissory note; and considering the 
 financial status of Paul, it could scarcely be 
 expected that he would ever pay it. He re- 
 minds Philemon, however, that he has a run- 
 ning account with him and that he proposes 
 to draw on it, "Albeit, I do not say to thee 
 how thou owest unto me even thine own self." 
 He engages, however, that Onesimus shall 
 make all possible restitution, saying, "He 
 who was in time past unprofitable shall now 
 be profitable unto thee." * 
 
 *A letter written by Pliny to his friend Sabinianus, in behalf 
 of a runaway slave, is referred to as furnishing a singular 
 parallel to this Epistle of Paul. In that letter, which is here 
 given, it will be observed that, notwithstanding its beautiful 
 spirit, there is no mention of equality or brotherly love. "Pliny 
 to Sabinianus, greeting: Your freedman, whom you lately men- 
 tioned to me with displeasure, has been with me, and threw 
 himself at my feet with as much submission as he could have 
 done at yours. He earnestly requested me, with many tears, 
 and even with all the eloquence of silent sorrow, to intercede 
 for him ; in short, he convinced me by his whole behavior that he 
 sincerely repents of his fault. I am persuaded he is thoroughly 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 So runs the philosophy of the Gospel. 
 Down go the artificial walls of caste! How 
 hard it is for us to realize this. We are slow 
 to admit that blood is thicker than water; 
 and that in the atoning blood of Christ a 
 kinship is created which bridges the gulf be- 
 tween prince and peasant, between master 
 and man, between the stately housewife and 
 Cinderella at her kitchen fire. 
 
 The remainder of this brief Epistle is taken 
 up with salutations and the benediction, "The 
 
 reformed, because he seems deeply sensible of his guilt. I 
 know you are angry with him, and I know it is not without 
 reason; but clemency can never exert itself more laudably than 
 when there is the most cause for resentment. You once had 
 an affection for this man, and, I hope, will have again; in the 
 meanwhile, let me only prevail with you to pardon him. If he 
 should incur your displeasure hereafter, you will have so much 
 the stronger plea in excuse for your anger as you show your- 
 self the more exorable to him now. Concede something to his 
 youth, to his tearS' and to your own natural mildness of temper; 
 do not make him uneasy any longer, and I will add, too, do 
 not make yourself so; for a man of your benevolence of heart 
 cannot be angry without feeling great uneasiness. I am afraid, 
 were I to join my entreaties with his, I should seem rather to 
 compel than request you to forgive him. Yet I will not scruple 
 even to unite mine with his; and in so much the stronger terms, 
 as I have very sharply and severely reproved him, positively 
 threatening never to interpose again in his behalf. But though 
 it was proper to say this to him, in order to make him more 
 fearful of offending, I do not say so to you. I may, perhaps, 
 again have occasion to entreat you upon his account, and again 
 obtain your forgiveness; supposing, I mean, his fault should 
 be such as may become me to intercede and you to pardon. 
 Farewell." 
 
 153 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your 
 spirit." 
 
 Let us accompany Onesimus on his return 
 to Colosse with this letter in hand. He pre- 
 sents himself at his owner's door — for the last 
 time at the back door. Observe the masterful 
 look in Philemon's face. He is thinking, 
 perhaps, of the bastinado; and in common 
 justice the runaway thief deserves it. But as 
 Philemon reads, his countenance changes; the 
 angry wrinkles are smoothed out; a warm 
 hand is extended : "Welcome, Onesimus, my 
 brother in Christ." 
 
 So ends the story, like the "Mystery of 
 Edwin Drood," with a long dash. But tradi- 
 tion furnishes the sequel; it says that Onesi- 
 mus became a faithful toiler in the shop of 
 Philemon, that he lived a consistent Christian 
 life, that in later years he became pastor of 
 the Colossian church, and finally sealed his 
 faithfulness with martyrdom. If so, there 
 must have been a fine greeting at heaven's 
 gate when Paul, who had been beheaded be- 
 neath the walls of Rome, met the slave who 
 had just arrived at heaven's gate in a chariot 
 of fire. 
 
 154 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS , 
 
 There are two practical thoughts suggested 
 by this letter. 
 
 The first is the power of the Gospel to 
 revolutionize the character of a man. In 
 Luther's exposition of this Scripture he says, 
 "We are all Onesimi"; by which I suppose 
 he means that we are all fugitives from law 
 and justice; "for there is no difference; all 
 have sinned and come short of the glory of 
 God." We are runaways from truth and 
 duty, from conscience and from God. 
 
 And to all alike the Gospel offers a free 
 pardon. The plea which Christ makes for 
 us sinners is the same that Paul made in be- 
 half of the fugitive slave. He takes our place 
 at the bar of the offended law, saying, "If 
 this man hath wronged thee or oweth thee 
 aught, put that to mine account. I, Christ, 
 with mine own hand, I will repay it!" 
 
 Nor is that all. He proposes to recon- 
 struct us; so that whereas we have been un- 
 profitable servants, we may now be profitable 
 to God. He turns us right about face. He 
 regenerates us by his Spirit; so that "old 
 things are passed away and, behold, all 
 things are become new." One who truly 
 
 155 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 submits himself to the power of Christ gets a 
 new mind, a new heart, a new conscience, 
 and a new will. Is there any power on earth 
 except the Gospel which can do this? We 
 speak of the mystery of regeneration; but 
 however mysterious it may be, there is no 
 denying it. The miracle is constantly going 
 on. How often have we seen a drunkard 
 taken out of the gutter and set upon his feet 
 by the grace of God! How often have we 
 seen a forlorn woman taken out of her shame 
 and restored to character and self-respect by 
 the Gospel! We may not be able to under- 
 stand or explain it; but blessed be God, we 
 are familiar with it. 
 
 The other truth that lingers with us is the 
 power of the same Gospel to transform the 
 world. We have been wondering, no doubt, 
 why Paul in this letter to Philemon did not 
 denounce slavery in scathing terms. What 
 an opportunity he had for the use of dyna- 
 mite just there! But this is not the divine 
 way of doing things. God works in the calm 
 logic of events. "The eternal years are his." 
 
 As to the horrible evil of human bondage 
 there is no manner of doubt nor ever was. 
 
 156 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 The slave-market in Rome was the industrial 
 center of the world at the beginning of the 
 Christian era. The Roman armies went forth 
 to conquest and returned with long proces- 
 sions of captives who were exposed for sale 
 like cattle in the market. There were only 
 two thousand patricians or independent men 
 in the city of Rome and half a million slaves. 
 The auction block furnished the shops with 
 toilers, the arena with gladiators, and the 
 brothels with inmates. These slaves lived in 
 stalls or ergastulce; and when they died they 
 were thrown to the fishes or cast into a pit. 
 All this was horrible beyond words. God 
 knew it; and he proposed to do away with it. 
 But his ways are not always our ways. Christ 
 came into the world to break every chain and 
 bid the oppressed go free. The Gospel is 
 full of abolitionism; but not that of John 
 Brown of Osawatomie. There is more of 
 love and less of battle in it. 
 
 Our Lord likened the Kingdom to leaven 
 which works noiselessly but in due time leav- 
 ens the lump. He set certain great prin- 
 ciples in motion which were destined to bring 
 about the desired result. He gave the world 
 
 15T 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 his Golden Rule: "Do unto others as ye 
 would be done by." How gloriously that 
 principle has been doing its beneficent work 
 in the progress of the ages! 
 
 The world has been drawing nearer and 
 nearer to the brotherhood of man as it has 
 learned more and more of the Fatherhood of 
 God. All civilization is to-day embraced 
 within the charmed circle which we call Chris- 
 tendom; and of the nations within its bounds 
 there is not one which tolerates slavery. "He 
 that believeth shall not make haste." 
 
 We are told by scientists that leaven is a 
 mass of living cells; that fermentation is not 
 death and decay, but a manifestation of life. 
 So is God's love in the world. "God is love," 
 and love is life. God has manifested himself 
 in Christ, who said, "I am come that ye might 
 have life, and that ye might have it more 
 abundantly." His Gospel is love alive. Its 
 influence is transforming the world. Men 
 and nations are drawing closer together and 
 seeing face to face and eye to eye. We may 
 not precipitate the Golden Age; but we can 
 
 158 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 lend a hand to bring it in. We can fall in 
 with those who follow the conquering Christ 
 and, by interpreting divine love in terms of 
 practical life, we may hasten the coming of 
 the time when all alike shall enter into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God. 
 
 159 
 
XIV 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 
 "THE ANONYMOUS EPISTLE" 
 
 We come now to Paul's fourteenth letter. 
 Of course you know there are those who say 
 Paul did not write it. So far as the inspired 
 truth of the Epistle goes it makes little or 
 no difference whether he did or not; but I 
 think Paul was its author, and my reasons 
 are the very ones that are urged against it. 
 
 (1) Its anonymity. The presumption is 
 that Paul, having written one Epistle to the 
 Romans, would not willingly close his career 
 without writing another to his own country- 
 men for whose salvation he professed an over- 
 mastering concern. (Rom. 9:3.) But he 
 was in such bad odor with the Jews on ac- 
 count of his insistence that Jesus was their 
 Messiah, that he would certainly deem it un- 
 wise to address them over his own name. In 
 writing to the Gentiles he could boldly say, 
 *'I, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, salute 
 
 m 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 you," but not in approaching a people who 
 were bitterly prejudiced against him. 
 
 (2) Its rhetorical style. They say the dic- 
 tion of the Epistle is unlike Paul. No doubt, 
 in some respects, this is correct; but suppose 
 the original was written in Hebrew, as there 
 is good reason to believe, and translated into 
 Greek by his faithful and learned friend 
 Luke, is it not likely that there would be 
 some twisting and turning and polishing of 
 rhetorical phrases in the process? Neverthe- 
 less there are enough Pauline ear-marks to 
 warrant the conclusion that scarcely any one 
 else could have written it. 
 
 (3) But the tout ensemble is the main argu- 
 ment for its Pauline authorship. The propo- 
 sition, though treated from a different stand- 
 point, is precisely that of the Epistle to the 
 Romans, to wit, Justification by Faith; and 
 Paul stands forth above all others as the his- 
 toric advocate and defender of that * 'postu- 
 late of a standing or a falling church," as 
 Luther called it. The two great Epistles com- 
 plement each other so perfectly that it is dif- 
 ficult to account for either their agreements 
 
 161 
 
PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 or their differences except on the assumption 
 that one composer was behind them. 
 
 The title of the Epistle is The Priestly Of- 
 fice of Christ, 
 
 In the first two chapters the inspired au- 
 thor shows that Jesus as our atoning High 
 Priest is superior to angels. This rests upon 
 his claim as the Son, the begotten Son, and 
 the only begotten Son of God. "For unto 
 which of the angels said he at any time, 
 Thou art my son: this day have I begotten 
 thee?" 
 
 In the next two chapters he shows that 
 Christ as our High Priest is superior to 
 Moses, who was regarded by the Jews as 
 second only to God himself. This rests upon 
 the fact that Moses, however great, was a 
 servant, while Christ as a Son claimed to be 
 co-equal with the Father. Then too Moses 
 as representing the Law "could not enter in," 
 while Christ as "Joshua" or Jesus leads his 
 people by way of Calvary into the Land of 
 Rest. 
 
 In chapters 5-8 he shows the superiority 
 of Christ to Aaron. This is based upon the 
 fact that Aaron was a man, serving in an of- 
 
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 fice "ordained of men in things pertaining 
 to God," while Christ is "a Priest forever 
 after the order of Melchizedek." The mys- 
 terious figure of Melchizedek here introduced 
 must not be invested with the supernatural; 
 the simple and significant fact being that he 
 was not of Israel nor of the Aaronic line, but 
 a devout priest of some alien tribe, of whose 
 history, that is, the "beginning and end of 
 his days," little or nothing was known. He 
 belonged to the universal order of priesthood 
 made up of those who everywhere wait upon 
 God. To this superior order, rather than to 
 that of Aaron, did Christ belong, inasmuch 
 as he dwelt beyond the horizons of all human 
 ordination. 
 
 In chapters 9, 10 he affirms the superiority 
 of Christ to Levi. The family of Levi were 
 the administrators of the ceremonial or Levit- 
 ical Law. This most elaborate cult of rites 
 and ceremonies was intended to keep alive the 
 Messianic hope until Christ should appear. 
 When he came these types and symbols nat- 
 urally and automatically ceased to be bind- 
 ing, being fulfilled in him, as shadows vanish 
 at the break of day. Thus it is written he 
 
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 blotted out "the handwriting of ordinances 
 that was against us, which was contrary to 
 us, and took it out of the way, naihng it to 
 his cross; and, having spoiled principalities 
 and powers, he made a show of them openly, 
 triumphing over them in it." (Col. 2:14, 15.) 
 
 In chapter 11 we reach the climax of the 
 argument. In this wonderful chapter we 
 have ''the Canticle of Faith'' 
 
 "Now faith is the substance of things 
 hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 
 There are those who regard believers as a 
 credulous folk; but faith, so far from being 
 credulity, is substantial and evidential: only 
 it has to do with things beyond the purview 
 of the physical senses. It has pleased God 
 to equip man with a sixth sense for the ap- 
 prehension of spiritual truth. By the use of 
 this sense, which distinguishes him from all 
 the lower orders of life, he is able, as Kepler 
 said, "to think God's thoughts after him." 
 
 A man without faith is a materialist, being 
 shut up within the circumscription of his fin- 
 ger-tips. How much better is he than a 
 sheep? By faith we solve the problems that 
 have to do with our eternal destiny. The 
 
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PAULAS LETTERS 
 
 men whose names are enshrined in this monu- 
 mental eleventh of Hebrews were all heroes 
 of faith. They dreamed dreams and saw vis- 
 ions of something better than yellow dust or 
 Sodom-apples or fading wreaths of laurel. 
 They had the far-away look; and that far- 
 away look was fixed on the remote figure of 
 One "whom kings and prophets longed to see 
 and died without the sight." 
 
 Now observe the strange anticlimax: 
 "These all, having obtained a good report, 
 through faith, received not the promise." 
 Why not? ''God having provided some bet- 
 ter thing for us, that they without us should 
 not be made perfect." Thus do the ends of 
 history come together in Christ. These fath- 
 ers labored in faith and, behold, how we have 
 entered into their labors. Go back to the be- 
 ginning of the Epistle and read again: "God, 
 who at sundry times and in divers manners 
 spake in time past unto the fathers by the 
 prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto 
 us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir 
 of all things, by whom also he made the 
 worlds." 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 This chapter really concludes with the two 
 first verses of the next, in which we, as the 
 heirs of our believing forefathers, are urged 
 to look to Jesus as the "author and finisher" 
 of faith. Great verses these: "Wherefore, 
 seeing we also are compassed about with so 
 great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside 
 every weight, and the sin which doth so easi- 
 ly beset us, and let us run with patience the 
 race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus 
 the author and finisher of our faith; who for 
 the joy that was set before him endured the 
 cross, despising the shame, and is set down at 
 the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 
 12:1, 2.) 
 
 Chapters 12 and 13 contain, as the logical 
 terminus ad quern of all that goes before, an 
 exhortation to leave the rudiments of the 
 Gospel and press on to higher levels of truth 
 and character; which does not mean that we 
 are to forsake the fundamentals, but to 
 "leave" them as a flower leaves its bud, or a 
 stream its fountain, or a growing youth his 
 childhood in pressing on toward the fulness 
 
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PAUL'S LETTERS 
 
 of the measure of the stature of a man. And 
 this is to be done by a constant increase in 
 faith as we keep our eyes fixed upon him who 
 is "the author and finisher" of it. 
 
 And then the benediction, in which the 
 anonymous author betrays his identity: for 
 here is the sign-manual of Paul, "Grace be 
 with you all. Amen." 
 
 167 
 

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