J T Mawson

"Finally, brethren, " he says, "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." We feel as we read this list of exalted things that our heads will not be like a tavern of low punch-drinkers if they fill our thoughts, but where are they to be found? We must have guidance if we are to get on the track of them. And Paul does not leave us to our own imaginations as to what they are, but continues, "Those things, which ye have both learned and received, and heard, and seen in me, do." In a former chapter he had written, "For me to live is Christ." So that these things that controlled Paul's mind and came out in his speech and deeds when he was at Philippi, whether by the river-side, in the house of Lydia, in the inner dungeon, the jailer's house or in the assembly, are all enfolded and disclosed in Christ.