dwelt upon? And have not the sign gifts (such as tongues and healing) come prominently

into view? We await the answer with confidence. The only power that can enable

anyone to fight the good fight of Eph. 6: is the power of Eph. 1: 19, 20. If that has not

bee worked in, it cannot be worked out, and so poor souls go into battle at their own

charges and without the complete armour, attempting to gain victory instead of standing

in a victory already theirs. No wonder there are shipwrecks of faith, broken hearts,

crushed spirits, and ruined homes.

We have drawn attention in other articles to the peculiar nature of the epistle to the

Philippians as compared with that to the Ephesians. The latter may be summed up in the

words of Eph. 3: 12, "In Whom we have boldness and access with confidence",

whereas the standpoint of the former is expressed in the words of Phil. 2: 12, "Work out

. . . . . with fear and trembling". In the one case we have our position, in the other our

responsibility. In the first case there can be no element of reward or loss, for all is a gift

in absolute grace; in the second case the salvation already possessed is to be "worked

out", and in that realm there is room for "gain" and "loss", and for a "prize". In Phil. 2:

Christ is not put forward as Saviour, but as Example, His humiliation and subsequent

exaltation are applied to the believer as an exhortation, "Wherefore . . . . . work out", and

we have the completion in chapter 3: in the apostle's example where he is seen running

for the prize, avoiding the entanglements of this life, and forgetting the things that are

behind. This last expression may be linked with Numb. 11: 5, "We remember . . . . .

Egypt". These were the words of those who, redeemed out of bondage, fell in the

wilderness principally through the evil influence of the "mixed multitude" who went with

In II Cor. 4: 17 the term "work out" is found in a similar context. "For our light

affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal

weight of glory". Here we return to the teaching of II Tim. 2:, "If we endure, we shall

Reverting for a moment to the fact that no Israelite was permitted to bear arms and to

go to war before the age of 20 years, we shall find that this further illustrates the

distinctive character of the soldier which we have noticed in  II Timothy  and

Philippians, namely, a close association with crown and prize:--

Here we have responsibility, forfeiture and loss for those not standing in grace, and

this is true of the soldier in Paul's epistles as in the law of Moses.

A further full comment on the true qualities of the soldier can be gathered from the

witness of Scripture to the stand of Caleb and Joshua, which our readers are urged to read

in conjunction with Heb. 3: and 4: This relation of the soldier with the overcomer is

further set out in the matter of those worthies who were given such a high place in the

kingdom of David. Jashobeam, the Hachmonite, Eleazar, the Ahohite, Joab, Benaiah and