no common
thanks to them. All honour shall be done by the Lord's great servant
to those who have done the Lord this service in him; they shall know
how it has rejoiced and warmed his heart; they shall be made very sure
that "inasmuch as they have done it to" their Missionary "they have
done it to" their KING.

We do not know how much the money amounted to. It was not improbably a
substantial sum. Among the contributors might be Lydia, whose means
may well have been comfortable; and the Keeper of the Prison would be
by no means a beggar: what gratitude to St Paul glowed in both those
hearts! But not in theirs only; the rank and file of the mission would
do all that love could do for the man who had manifested JESUS to them.
And when that is the spirit, the liberality will often be surprising.
Not long ago in one of our North American missions a small meeting of
poor Christian Indians apologized for the scantiness of their
collection for _missionary objects_; it was worth only L7; they would
do better the next time!

But small or large, the Philippian gift was precious with the weight of
love. And no doubt it was exceedingly useful practically. It would
secure for the imprisoned missionary many alleviating personal
comforts, and part of it would probably be spent upon the work of
evangelization in Rome and its neighbourhood; for then as now work
inevitably meant expense.

Ver. 10. +But+, to turn now from teaching to thanking--+I rejoice+
(_echaren_: the English present best gives the point of the
"epistolary" aorist) +in the Lord+, in our union of heart and life with
Him, +greatly, that now at length+, after an interval which was no
fault of yours, +you have blossomed, out[1] into+ loving +thought on my
behalf+. +With a view to this+ (_eph o_), this effort to aid me, you
+were, I know+ (_kai_), +taking thought+ (_ephroneite_), even when you
made no sign; +but you were at a loss for opportunity+ for the
transmission; no bearer for your bounty could be spared, or found.

Ver. 11. +Not that I speak thus in the tone of need+ (_kath
usteresin_), as if I had been wondering, and fretting, and suspecting
you of forgetfulness or of parsimony; no, I have been in a happier mood
than that; +for I, for my part+ (_ego_: slightly emphatic), have learnt
(_emathon_: our perfect tense best gives this aorist) +to be, in my
actual circumstances, self-sufficing+ (_autarkes_); "carrying with me
all I have"; independent, not of