XV.

how to be in a Strait.

"For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ; which is far better.”—PHIL. i. 23.

HE most richly-endowed of all beings is the Chris

tian. The world on which he stands is beneath his feet, and that above his head is his portion: both wait on him, though he may tread a wilderness path; yet up there, where Christ is all, is his home; grace has made him a glorious being in every sense; his expectations and hopes cannot be disappointed, for, "according to his earnest expectation and his hope, in nothing shall he be ashamed."

When St. Paul wrote this Epistle to the Philippians, he was in prison, and in a strait betwixt two-between the desire for fellowship with Christ in sufferings while doing God's work here, on the one hand, and fellowship with Christ in the glory which shall be revealed, on the other. But whichever way Paul's choice was made, he was no loser; for if he chose life," to him to live was Christ"; and if death, "to die was gain."

But St. Paul was not the only one who is in a strait. Many are conscious of being so; but not like Paul.

The rich man in our Lord's parable was as to whether he should let his old building stand, or pull down his barns and build greater. He chose to pull them down; and that night God called him a fool, for his soul was required of him.

Ah, many are in straits about the things of this world, and many will be at the hour of death; they cannot live, and dare not die. Men must stand before the All-seeing Eye; no refuge of lies will hide-no excuses avail them.

How different was Paul's strait. Whichever way his choice inclined, it was blessed, it was happiness; for "to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord."

Was the great Apostle of the Gentiles weary of his service? You know the soldier is often weary when the fight is long; the traveller as the shadows of the evening gather around him; the tempest-tossed mariner as the storm rages; the watchman on his lonely beat—was this the reason why Paul desired to depart?

No; "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil. iv. 11-13.)

"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Cor. xii. 9.)

That man knows little of the glorious service of his

precious Saviour who does not count it worth while to labour, toil, fight, though the way be rough, the ascent steep, and the enemies numerous. What child of God does not know that there are lessons to be learned about the grace of his Lord and Master here, which he could not learn up there, and that he has an experience of comforts, supplies of strength, blessed communications and support here in His service, which he could have nowhere else?

The sweetest fare God has provided is that of the wilderness; His choicest comforts are dispensed to mourners; while great victories are achieved through Him in His people. Here faith is begotten and tried ; there is no room for it in heaven; here hope is kindled and plumed; here love is begotten and deepened; here patience has its perfect work; the service here is peculiar : there will be none such there-no more turning of the sinner from the error of his way in heaven; no plucking of brands from the burning there, or drying of mourners' tears; no sympathising with sufferers; none of the privileges of an ambassador there; proclaiming (even amidst tears, temptations, and conflicts). the name of Jesus.

Men and women of the world, a Christian has his worst here, and you have your best; but a Christian's worst is better than your best; his sorrows even than your fulness. Paul knew that he could do all things through Christ, and was not weary of service, but he pressed "toward the mark for the prize of his high calling." "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. iii. 14.) What, then, did he mean?

Did he think it was

necessary to depart in order to have Christ with him? Oh, no. In all his wanderings, conflicts, distresses, difficulties, services, he knew that his glorious Christ was with him; we have his own authority for saying that at his first answer (before his judge) all men forsook him, yet his Lord stood with him and strengthened him. If Paul was not himself conscious of His presence, how could he have comforted his troubled brethren with the assurance that the Lord was their helper, for that He had said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee"?

St. Paul knew that Christ was his light, and he could have no darkness; his life, though he was always delivered unto death; Christ was his joy, hope, and crown. What could Paul have done, or any poor believer, in the wilderness without Christ? What could the sheep do without their Shepherd? The branches severed from the Vine? The members without their Head? The tempest-tossed, tried, weary one without his Comforter? Or the sinner without his Saviour and Friend? Oh, no. Paul, who had heard that voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" could never question the presence and identification of the Saviour with His people. What, then, did he mean by saying he had "a desire to depart and to be with Christ "?

The word which is here translated " depart" is a peculiar word, and it only occurs in one other place in the New Testament, in Luke xii. 36, where it is translated "return" from the wedding. The allusion is to a ship leaving one coast to make for another on the return voyage, taking up its anchor, loosing its hold, and setting sail for the opposite shore. It describes the position of a man standing upon such a ship looking out to the

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brighter shore and longing for the ship's cable to be let go, and the anchor taken up, that he may go home. is "far better."

In speaking of the verse "from glory to glory" we remarked that God reserves His best gifts and works for the last. Thus in creation man was His last and greatest work; the last covenant of grace was better than the first of works; and so the home beyond is better than that here, the fellowship better than what we enjoy here; the glory, enjoyments, and employments are better; for this reason Paul desired to depart-it was far better, for he wanted to be with Christ, in his element.

Christ is the believer's element, and he longs to lose himself in Him. Things are not happy if you take them out of their element; whether fishes out of water; birds out of the air; or the worldling out of the world-ay, and often such are not happy out of sin. Christ is the believer's element-the thing he enjoys most; and so he desires to be more at liberty with Him, for here he is fettered, being burdened, and he longs to be like a bird set free-free from self and sin, to element.

enjoy his

More of his Christ; to saw Him here, “through know as he was known,

What was it Paul wanted? see Him as He is; not as he a glass, darkly;" he wanted to to know all about his precious Christ, to be with Him without interruption from within or without; to see the hands that were pierced; the brow that was crowned with thorns for him; to hear the voice that had once said, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" He wanted to hear heaven ring with notes in the Saviour's praise. And longed to cast the crown which had been