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Those whose God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ find their glory in His
presence, and in His smile, they look forward to the day when they, together with Christ
their life, shall be manifested in glory; those whose God is their belly find their glory in
their shame. Of the Lord it is written that He endured the cross, and despised the shame.
The apostle in Phil. 1: 20, speaking of his deliverance from prison, says:--
"According to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but that with all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life or by death."
Paul's conception of shame seems to be a denial of Christ, the pleasing of self before
the Lord; it is fairly certain that those whose God is their belly would not be likely to
magnify God in their body. In what way such could find their glory in their shame may
be difficult to detail, the fact is sufficient for the purpose of a warning. It is the special
feature of the truth of the prison epistles that those who are blessed under the
dispensation of the mystery are blessed "in the super-heavenlies", to such the apostle
writes:--
"If ye then were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the
earth" (Col. 3: 1, 2).
The concluding description of those whose example was to be avoided is that they
"mind earthly things". The earthly things (epigeios) are contrasted with heavenly things
in John 3: 12, and also in Phil. 2: 10. The same is also true of I Cor. 15: 40, where
the heavenly body is contrasted with the earthly body; or of II Cor. 5: 1, where the
earthly house is contrasted with the house not made with hands, age-abiding in the
heavens. The contrast is most severe in James 3: 15, where contrasted with the wisdom
that descends from above is the wisdom that is "earthly, sensual (or natural, that which
pertains to the soul, and so to the first man Adam, see I Cor. 15: 45), demoniacal". It is
evident that one cannot have the mind that was in Christ Jesus, and mind earthly things at
the same time. While the usage of the word "earthly" would seem to favour the thought
that the evil things of earth are prominent, it is not exclusively so. What may be called
legitimate earthly things may prove a snare should they absorb the mind of believers. It
is right to be diligent in business, it is right to provide for one's own, it is right to labour
with one's hands, yet business, family cares, and the necessities of daily life must not be
allowed to take first place however great the pressure upon us may be. We all are more
likely to become like Martha, cumbered with much serving, than Mary, choosing that
good part of sitting at the Master's feet and learning of Him. If the Philippians with their
light and advancement needed the words of warning that have occupied our attention,
how much more do we need them? Let us keep before us the practical as well as the
doctrinal truth, that there is, to us, one God, and that our glory and our minds are not
connected with earthly things, but where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.
"I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I
have preached to others, I myself should be disapproved" (I Cor. 9: 27).