Colossians 3
THE TRUE CHRISTIAN
LIFE (vs. 1-17)
The apostle, having delivered his attack on the system of
error inculcated at
of his letter. There is no break, however, in the current
of his thought; for
throughout this chapter he urges the pursuit of a practical
Christian life in a
sense and in a manner silently opposed to the tendencies of
Gnosticizing
error. How much more congenial was the task to which he now
addresses
himself we may judge, perhaps, from the ease and simplicity
which mark
the language of this chapter, as compared with the abrupt
and seemingly
embarrassed style of the last section. We may analyze the
teaching section
of the Epistle (ch. 3:1- ch. 4:6) as follows:
forgivingness, love;
life — inward, social, secular;
duties, as wives and husbands,
children and fathers, servants and
masters, under the sense of their allegiance to the Lord Christ;
the apostle himself at the
present juncture; and
vs. 5-6, to wise conduct and
edifying speech toward them that are
without.
It will be seen how much more comprehensive and systematic
is
the view thus presented of Christian duty than that
furnished by earlier
Epistles; and how the ideas of the supremacy of Christ,
the unity of the
Christian brotherhood, and
the sacredness of the natural constitution of
human life, which were
threatened by the rise of Gnosticism in
underlie the apostle’s exposition of Christian ethics.
Verses 1-17, we have
grouped together under the title given to this
section; vs. 18- ch. 4:1,
demands a separate treatment; and vs. 2-6 will finally
be bracketed together.
1 “If ye then
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set
your affection
on
things above, not on things on the earth.”
(ch. 2:11-13, 20; Romans
6:1-11; Ephesians 1:20-22; Philippians 3:20; Matthew
6:19-20; Luke 12:13-40).
The apostle has already shown that when his readers,
entering the gate of
baptism, became Christians through faith in Christ, they died
with Him (ch.
2:20), were buried, then raised and made alive
together with Him (Ibid. 11-13):
Compare Romans 6:1-11. So they were restored to
peace and favor with God
(ch. 1:21-23; 2:13-14), severed from their old life
of sin (Ibid. 2:11), and set in
the path of holiness (Ibid. 1:22). At the same time,
they left behind all
childish, tentative forms and notions (“rudiments”) of
religion, whether
Jewish or non-Jewish (ch.2:8, 11, 18, 20-23). They became
dead both from
sin and from human modes of salvation. Both are included in
“the
things upon
the earth,” to which belong at once the grosser sensual forms of sin
(v. 5) with
its “surfeiting of
the flesh” (ch. 2:23), and that vaunted philosophy, which is
after all earth born and earthward tending (Ibid. vs.:8,
20), bringing the soul
again into bondage to material things. The apostle lifts
his readers into a new,
heavenly sphere. He
bids them make “the things above,” i.e. “the things of
Christ,” the one
object of their thought and endeavor. So they will master the
flesh by rising above it, instead of fighting it on its own ground by ceremonial
rite and ascetic regimen. “The things above” are no abstract, transcendental
conception, as in the theology of Paul’s opponents, for
they are “where
Christ is.” The
things “in the heavens” as well as
those “upon the earth”
were created “in Him, through
Him, unto Him” (ch. 1:16); Romans 11:36)
there He is Lord, even
as here (ch. 1:17; 2:10; Matthew 28:18). His presence
gives distinctness and positiveness to the Christian’s view
of heaven, and
concentrates his interests and affections there (compare
Philippians 1:23; 3:20;
I Thessalonians 1:10; Ephesians 1:3; 2:6; Matthew
6:19-20; John 12:26; 14:3;
Acts 1:11; 7:56). “Seated” is placed with emphasis at the end of its clause,
indicating the completeness
of the Saviour’s work and the dignity of His
position (compare
Ephesians 1:20-22; Hebrews 1:3; 10:12-13; Revelation 3:21).
For “the things above,” see vs. 3-4; also
chps. 1:5 and 2:18 compared with
Philippians 3:11-14, 20-21; Romans 2:7; 8:17-23; I
Corinthians 15:42-49;
II Corinthians 4:16-5:8; John 17:24.) To “seek” these things is to strive
that they may be ours in the future; to “mind” them is to occupy our
thoughts with them in the present. (For the word “mind” (φρονέω – phroneo –
to think), compare
Philippians 3:19 and Romans 8:5-7 (φρόνημα – phronema –
thought; minding); in
Romans 14:6 it is rendered by “regard.”)
3 “For ye are dead,
and your life is hid, with Christ, in God.”
(ch. 2:11-13, 20; Ephesians 4:22; Philippians 3:20; Romans
6:1-14; 7:1-6;
II Corinthians 5:14-15; Galatians 2:20; I Corinthians 3:23;
John 15:5;
12:26; Revelation 3:21).
In this hidden life of the Christian lies the
ground and the spring of the more outward life of thought
and endeavor
of vs. 1-2. And this life comes through death, from
that “dying with Christ”
out of which we “rose with Him” (v. 1; ch. 2:11-13, 20; Romans 6:3-4, 8).
“The aorist ἀπεθάνετε – apothanete - ye died - denotes the
past act; the perfect
κέκρυπται – kekruptai - - hath been and is
hid - the permanent effects”.
(On the nature of this death, see notes to ch.
2:11-13.) “Died
— and your life!” this paradox is explained in
Romans 6:10-11, and
repeated in Galatians 2:20; II Corinthians 5:14-15. The
Christian’s
life is lodged in the
sphere of “the unseen and eternal.” It centers in Christ,
and as He is hidden — withdrawn from the world of
sense, yet with us
always in His Spirit (John 14:16-20; 16:16-22) — so our
life with Him.
And if “with Christ,” then “in God;” for “Christ is God’s” (I Corinthians
3:23); “lives to God”
(Romans 6:10), and “is at God’s
right hand” (v. 1),
being “the Son of his
love” (ch. 1:13; John 1:18). The
apostle says, “in God”
(“in heaven,” Philippians 3:20), to
emphasize the fact of the union of Christ
with God, or perhaps to deepen the reader’s sense of the sacredness of this life
in Christ (compare I Timothy 6:14-16). “Is hid” (ch. 1:26-27;
2:2-3), another
allusion to the fondness of the Colossian errorists for mysteries.
In ch. 1:26
Paul spoke of the ancient mystery of a Christ for all the
world; then of the new,
perpetual mystery of a Christ dwelling within believing
hearts. But this
second mystery is equally that of our life in Christ as of Christ’s life in us,
lifting us to heaven while it brings Him down to earth.
This mutual indwelling
of the Head in heaven and the members upon earth is the
most intimate and
inscrutable of all secrets (John 14:20; 15:1-7; 17:22-23,
26). The world knows
neither Christ nor Christians, and Christians do not even know themselves.
But as the old historic secret had its manifestation at last
(ch. 1:26),
so
will the new secret that lies enfolded within every Christian life.
Heavenly
Things the True Object of Christian Contemplation
(vs. 2-3)
“Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the
things that are
upon the earth; for ye died, and your life is hid with Christ
in God.”
We must not only seek things above, but think them.
* THE OBJECT OF
CHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATION.
Ø
Not things upon the earth, because
o
they are below us
(Philippians 3:8, 19);
o
unsatisfying (Luke
8:18; Proverbs 23:5; Hosea 13:13;
Psalm 78:39);
o
full of anxieties
(Matthew 13:22; Job 38:22);
o
unnecessary to
our happiness (Job 28:14);
o
transient and uncertain (Proverbs 23:5; Luke 12:19-20).
Ø
“Things that are above.” (See hints on
previous verse.) We
ought to set our mind upon them, because
o
they are satisfying;
o
suitable;
Ø
because our treasure
is there — of riches (Matthew 6:19-21),
of honors (1 Samuel 2:30), of pleasures (Psalm 16:11).
* THE DUTY OF SETTING THE MIND UPON RIGHT OBJECTS
OF
THOUGHT AND AFFECTION. This is the
secret of heavenly
mindedness. “Tell me what a man thinks, and I will tell you what he
is.”
Ø
It is our duty not to set our
mind on things on the earth, because:
o
God may give them to
you as your entire portion (Psalm
17:14);
o
you may provoke him to
take them away (ibid. ch. 78:5-7);
o
they will turn away your thoughts from heaven (ibid.
10:3-4);
o
they will distract you
in duty (Ezekiel 33:31);
o
they involve the guilt of idolatry (v. 5).
Ø
It is our duty to set our mind
on things above, because
o
there is nothing else
worth our serious thought (1 John 2:15);
o
they will keep you
from over anxiety about the affairs of this
life (Philippians 4:11-12);
o
the thought of them
will increase your fitness for duty (Acts 20:24);
o
they will make the thought of death more pleasant in
anticipation (Philippians 1:23).
* THE REASON FOR OUR SELECTING SUCH OBJECTS OF
BELIEVING
CONTEMPLATION. “For ye died, and your life is
hid with
Christ in God.”
The thought is twofold — it refers to a past act and to a
continuous state.
Ø
Our death in Christ. This involves
o
our death to sin
(Romans 6:2) and
o
our death to the world (Galatians 6:14). We are, therefore,
cut loose from “things on the earth.”
Ø
Our hidden life in God. “Your life is hid
with Christ in God.”
o
The Christian life is a hidden life:
§
in its origin (John
3:8);
§
it is hid, as an
experience, from the world;
§
it is hid from the
believer himself in times of spiritual
desertion;
§
the full glory of this
life is hidden even from the believer
(1 John 3:1).
o
the Christian life
has its hidden source and abiding strength
“with Christ in God.”
Christ is now hid in heaven and our life
is hid with Him.
o
It is hid with Him as
our Representative; this marks its security; this is the sheet anchor of our
spiritual existence.
o
It is hid with Him as
its constant source; “For He is our Life,” in
whom we realize a growth in all the graces of the Spirit
(Galatians
5:22); “Because I live, ye shall live
also; I am come that ye may
have life.., more abundantly.”
(John 10:10)
o
God is Himself the sphere or
element in which our life is hid.
It is “with Christ in God.” The
Son is “in the bosom of the
Father,” and thus we have fellowship with both the Father and
the Son (1 John 1:3). Thus THE BELIEVER IS DOUBLY
SECURE! He is not only hidden in God’s home; he is
hidden
in God’s heart. Therefore we
can understand the import of the
phrase, “And ye are Christ’s, and Christ
is God’s” (1 Corinthians
3:23).
4 “When Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory.” (Jude 1:14; Romans 8:18-23; Philippians 3:21; I Corinthians
1:7; 4:5; I Thessalonians 1:10; I Timothy 6:15; II Timothy
2:10-12; 4:8; Titus 2:13;
I John 3:2; 2:28). Our
future destiny, with our present redemption (ch. 1:14),
is wrapped up in Christ. Our life is not only “with Him” (v. 3); it is “Himself”
(Philippians 1:21; Hebrews 1:3; John 1:4; 6:50-57; 14:6; I John 5:12); He is
its
source and ground, way and rule, means and end — its all (v. 11: compare
1:20; 2:6-10; Ephesians 1:3, 23; 3:17-19; 4:13; Philippians 3:10;
4:19). From the
hour of His ascension He has been hidden (Acts 1:9;
3:21; I Peter. 1:8); and His
manifestation is as
much a part of the Christian creed as His death and resurrection
(Acts 17:31; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:16; II Thessalonians
1:10; 2:8; I Corinthians
15:23; Philippians 3:20; II Timothy 4:1; John 14:3; I John 3:2-3;
Revelation 22:12, 20).
Then the Christian
will have his manifestation also with Him, in the “revelation
of the sons of God”
(Romans 8:19); who will receive their second “adoption,
to wit, the
redemption of their body” (Ibid. 8:23). “Seeing Him as He is” in His
glory, “we shall be
like him” (I John 3:2) in glory. At last the spiritual life of the
soul will have its due organic expression, in a body
perfect and heavenly as itself
(I Corinthians 15:35-49; II Corinthians 5:1-5; Job
19:25-27). This is already the
case with our human nature in Christ (Philippians 3:21);
and the change will proceed
from the Head to the members (I Corinthians 15:23), who
will be conformed to His
“body of glory,”
as now they are being conformed to His spiritual image (Romans
8:9-11, 29-30; 12:2; II Corinthians 3:18; John 17:22-26; I John
4:17). Observe that
“Christ” is
repeated four times in the last four verses.
5
“Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth;”(ch. 2:11; 3:9;
Ephesians 4:21-22; Philippians 3:19; Romans 6:6; 8:13; 13:14). “Your” is omitted by
most textual critics, but English idiom requires it in translation. In
its absence a stronger
emphasis falls on the defining clause, “that are upon the earth.” As these things may
no longer be pursued or studied (vs. 1-2), the organs devoted to them must
be put
to death. These members are indeed those of the
actual body (Romans 6:13, 19; 7:5,
23; 8:13); but these in so far
as ruled hitherto by sinful impulse and habit,
constituting the body of “the
old man”
(v. 9; Ephesians 4:22; Romans 6:6), “of the
flesh” (ch. 2:11), “of sin,” and “of death” (Romans 6:6; 7:24), with “sinful
passions working in its members, bearing fruit unto death” (Romans
7:5): compare,
note, ch. 2:11. That body is
“made dead” by destruction of the evil passions that
animated it. The body of “the new man” is physically identical with it,
but different
in moral habit and diathesis — a difference that manifests itself even
in bodily
expression and manner (II Corinthians 5:17) - Νεκρόω – nekroo – to make dead;
mortify - occurs besides in the New
Testament only in Romans 4:19 and Hebrews
11:12 (in Romans 8:13, a still stronger word is used of “the practices” of the
body): as the aged Abraham had been made
dead in respect of the natural
possibility of fatherhood, so the body of the Christian is to be dead
for purposes of
sin. If there were any doubt as to the writer’s meaning, the next
clause removes it.
His language has approached that of the philosophical ascetics (see ch.
2:23, note
and quotations); hence the abrupt explanatory apposition that follows: “fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection (sensual passion), evil concupiscence (evil
desire), and covetousness, which
is idolatry:” - (Ephesians 5:3-5; Philippians
3:19; I Corinthians 6:9-11; 5:11; Romans 1:29; I Timothy 6:17; Matthew
6:24,
31-32; Luke 12:21; Psalm 49:6; 52:7). To these vices the Colossian
Gentiles
(some of them at least) had been to such a degree devoted that their members
had become virtually identified therewith. The
first two sins are related as particular
and general. The second pair, πάθος – pathos – affection of the
mind; a
passionate desire; and ἐπιθυμία – epithumia – a desire, longing,
craving,
mostly of evil desires; sometimes translated lust; are combined
in I
Thessalonians
4:4 in contrast to “(bodily) sanctification and honour” (compare ch. 2:23, and
“passions of dishonour,” Romans 1:26). The
former denotes a morbid,
inflamed condition of the sensual appetite; the latter, craving for
some
particular gratification of it. Neither of these words is
etymologically, or invariably,
evil in sense. The
degradation of such terms in all languages is a sad evidence of the
corruption of our nature - πλεονεξία – pleonexia
– covetousness - is both
wider and more intense in meaning than our covetousness. It denotes radically the
disposition to “have more,” “grasping greed,”
“selfishness grown to a
passion.” Hence it applies to sins of impurity,
greediness for sensual pleasure
(I Thessalonians 4:6; Ephesians 4:19); but by the emphatic use of the
article (“the
covetousness”), and by the words
that follow, it is marked out as a distinct
type of sin; so in Ephesians 5:3, 5, where “uncleanness” and “greed”
are stigmatized as vile forms
of sin. This word, often used by St. Paul, is
peculiar to him in the New Testament. (ἥτις
– haetis - “The which” - compare
Ἅτινά - hatina – ch.2:23) gives a
reason while it states a fact (“inasmuch as
it is idolatry”). For the thought, compare Ephesians 5:5 and I Timothy 6:17,
also Matthew 6:24; it is a commonplace
of religion, and appears in Philo and
Jewish rabbis.
6
“For
which things’ sake the wrath of God
cometh on the children of
disobedience:” - Ephesians 2:2-3; 5:6; Galatians 5:21; Romans 1:18; 2:5-9; 5:9;
I Thessalonians 1:10; 2:16; II Thessalonians
1:5-10; John 3:36; Revelation 6:17;
Malachi 3:2). “The anger of God is coming” is a sentence
complete in itself
(compare Romans 1:18). God’s “anger”- ὀργή - orgae - is His settled
punitive
indignation against sin, of which His “wrath” - θυμός –
thumos - is the terrible
outflaming (Revelation 16:1; 14:10);
“Cometh” implies a continuing
fact or
fixed principle; or rather, perhaps, signifies that this “anger” is in course of
manifestation, is “on the way:” compare I Thessalonians 1:10, “the anger that
is coming,” not “to come,” also the use of ἔρχομαι –erchomai – I am coming –
in John 14:3, 18; Hebrews 10:37.
The objects of this anger “children of wrath,”
Ephesians 2:2-3) are “the sons of disobedience.” The expressive
Hebraism by
which a man is said to be s child
or son of the dominant quality or influence of his
life is frequent in the New
Testament.
7
“In the
which ye also walked some time (once),
when ye lived in them.”
(Ephesians 2:3; 5:8; Romans 6:19-21; I Corinthians 6:11; 12:2; Titus 3:3;
I Peter 4:3). These sins are
visited with the Divine anger, and moreover
are the
very sins in which the Colossians aforetime had lived; observe the same
connection in Ephesians 5:6-8; I Corinthians 6:10-11 – “ye lived” stands opposed
to “mortify” or make dead of
v. 5, and to “ye are dead” (v. 3:
compare ch. 2:20;
Galatians 2:20); it marks the time when “the old man” (v. 9), with his “earthly
members’’ (v. 5) was alive and active (compare
Romans 7:5, 9, “sin came
to life”). When ye lived “in these things” - τούτοις,– toutois - points to
the things enumerated in v. 6, with a mental gesture of contempt.
The Duty of Mortifying
the Old Man (vs. 5-7)
The apostle proceeds to deduce the practical consequences
of our “death in
Christ” in the
mortifying of tendencies to impurity, covetousness, malice,
and
falsehood. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon
the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, evil desire, and covetousness,
which is
idolatry.”
·
THE NATURE AND DUTY OF MORTIFICATION.
Ø
Its nature. It is to resist the solicitations of sin, to suppress its
first
motions, to weaken its power.
o
It is a gradual
process — it is “to crucify the flesh,” implying a lingering process; it is a
destruction that goes on daily, for the remains
of the old life
still abide, though not in power, in the believer.
o
The word “mortify”
implies that sin is not to be allowed to die out of
itself; we must kill it.
o
It is a painful
process.
Ø The duty of
mortification.
o
It is commanded. We
are to show no more mercy to the “old man” than
to the “right eye” or the “right
hand” that offends us
(Matthew 5:29-30).
o
It is done in the power of the Spirit. “For if ye through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13). Therefore
it becomes not only possible, but actual. Thus “our
instruments of
unrighteousness” are turned into “instruments
of righteousness unto God” (ibid. ch. 6:13).
o
It is the true consequence of our “death in Christ;” for the apostle
says, “Mortify therefore your
members,” in allusion to this death
(ch. 2:20; 3:3). We must carry out this principle
of death to
sin, to the flesh, to the world.
·
THE SPHERE OF THIS MORTIFICATION, “Your members which
are upon the earth.”
He refers:
Ø
To the instruments of sinfulness. They are called
members in allusion to
the apostle’s figure of sin, as a body of sin (ch. 2:11), and in
allusion to the necessity of the bodily organization to their
action. They are
“upon the earth,”
because they belong to our body or our earthly
condition, or tend to mere earthly gratification. But they are to be
turned
into “instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Ø To the various
manifestations of this sinfulness.
o
Sins affecting our
personal life.
§
Sins of impurity.
(α) Fornication.
(i.) It is God’s will we should abstain from it (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4).
(ii.) It is one of the works of the
flesh (Galatians 5:19).
(iii.) It ought not once to be
named among Christians
(Ephesians 5:12).
(iv.) It takes away the heart (Hosea 4:11).
(v.) It brings dishonour and shipwreck of character (Proverbs 6:27-29; 23:28).
(vi.)
The body was made, not for a harlot, but
for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:15-16). It is a sin against our own bodies.
(vii.) The promises of the gospel
ought to engage us to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of
the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear
of God” (II Corinthians 7:1).
(β) Uncleanness. This is a generic product, as fornication is a specific product, of “the
earthly members.” The observations in the one apply to the other. Those
who commit such sins are “alienated from
the life of God
through
their ignorance and hardness of heart”
(Ephesians
4:17), and are “delivered up to a reprobate mind”
(Romans 1:24, 26).
(γ) Lustfulness and
evil desire. These point to “the
lust of concupiscence” (1 Thessalonians 4:5), which is of the devil
(John 8:44), which wars against the soul (1 Peter 2:11), which drowns men in
destruction and perdition
(1 Timothy 6:9), and keeps men
from “coming
to the
knowledge of the truth” (II
Timothy 3:7).
These various sins of impurity
are to be mortified: how?
ü
We can only cleanse
our hearts by taking heed to the Word (Psalm 119:9).
ü
By prayer, as the
apostle did with the thorn in his flesh (II Corinthians 12:9).
ü
By watchfulness
(Proverbs 23. 26-27). We ought to guard against idleness (Ezekiel 16:49),
fullness of bread, evil company (Proverbs 1:20).
ü
We must not “fulfil
the lusts of the flesh,” but “put on Christ” (Romans 13:14).
o
The sin of covetousness. The apostle here introduces a new type of sin by the use
of the definite article, as if he thus exhausted the full catalogue of sin in
the world. It is curious to find it linked with sins of impurity. Yet it is so elsewhere (1 Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:3;
II Peter 2:14). There is a
likeness between these two classes of sins. They both imply an unlawful
direction of desires not in themselves unlawful, and they both grow
by indulgence.
§
Covetousness:
(α) Issues, as a defiling thing, “out of the heart of man”
(Mark 7:22).
(β) It implies a greedy and distracting care (Luke 12:15).
(γ) It exposes to many a piercing sorrow (1 Timothy 6:10).
(δ) It is a trouble to a man’s own house (Proverbs 15:27).
(ε) It argues little dependence or faith in the Lord (Luke
12:30) Therefore“let us have our conversation
without
covetousness and
be content with such things as we
have”
(Hebrews 13:5).
(ζ) Its heinousness — “seeing it is idolatry.” It sets up
another
object of worship
besides God. We cannot “serve both God
and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Covetousness is base, because it sets up self in the heart,
it is odious to God (Psalm 10:3), turns our hearts away from Him (1 John
2:15), and grudges
the time spent in God’s worship
(Amos
8:5). Sins of impurity are the sins of youth as the
sin of covetousness is the sin of old age.
·
ARGUMENTS TO ENCOURAGE US TO THIS DUTY OF
MORTIFICATION. “For
which things’ sake cometh the wrath of God
upon the sons of disobedience: in the which ye also walked
aforetime,
when ye lived in these things.”
Ø The
consideration of the wrath of God.
o
It is the displeasure
of a personal God, the moral Governor, against sin, and the moving cause of the
punishment He inflicts. It is not identical with the punishment, which is only
the effect of it. It is a first principle in natural theology (Romans 1:32); it
has its root in the moral excellence of God; and is inseparable from the
attitude of God toward moral evil (Hebrews 3:11; Romans 9:22).
o
It is an enduring fact of God’s moral government — “the wrath of God doth come.” Nothing
has occurred to break the connection between sin and God’s anger, except in the
case of those whom Christ has “delivered
from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
o
It is directed against
the sons of disobedience, who disregard
alike the principles of Law and gospel.
Ø
A consideration of the former state of the
Colossians. “In the which ye
also walked aforetime, when ye lived in these things.” It is good to be
reminded of our past sin,
o
because it recalls the
misery and guilt of our former state and makes us shrink from the thought of a
return to it;
o
because it humbles us
under a sense of our personal unworthiness;
o
because it quickens our sense of God’s mercy that drew us out of it.
o
8
“But
now ye also put off all these (things);”
- (v. 9; ch. 2:11; Ephesians
4:22, 25; Romans 13:12; I Peter 2:1). The thought of the death of the old life
gives place to that of the divesting of the old habit; the new life
wears a new
dress, Mark the triumphant emphasis in “but now!” (opposed to the “once”
of
v. 7), characteristic of the writer (compare ch. 1:21, 26; Romans 3:21;
6:22).
Τὰ πάντα (“all these things,” “the whole” of them) summarizes the vices
specified in v. 5, and forms the starting point of another series, in
which malice
predominates, as impurity in the previous list; anger, wrath, malice, evil
speaking, foul speech from your mouth (Ephesians 4:26-31; 5:4; Romans
1:29-31;
I Corinthians 6:10; Galatians
5:20-21; Titus 3:3). There is a similar
order and
division between these two chief classes of sin in the parallel
passages. In
Ephesians 4:31-32 and 5:3-5 the order is reversed. “Anger” (ὀργή) is
ascribed to God in v. 6 (compare Ephesians 4:26; Hebrews 10:30). (On “anger”
and “wrath” (or “rage”), see
v. 6.) The latter is once ascribed to God by Paul
(Romans 2:8), more frequently in the Apocalypse. In man it is
universally
condemned. (For κακία – kakia –malice, malignity, badness of disposition,
compare Romans 1:29; I
Corinthians 14:20;
Titus
3:3) - Βλασφημία
–-
blashphemia – blasphemy - in its original sense, includes
injurious speech of any
kind, either against man or God (see Romans
3:8; 14:16;
I Corinthians
10:30;
Titus 3:2) - αἰσχρολογία
– aischrologian – filthy communication - (only here
in the New Testament) denotes, like the English “foul,” either
“scurrilous” or “filthy.”
The former kind of speech is suggested by the foregoing blasphemia; but
especially
in such an atmosphere as that of
Greek city life (USA
- ??? – CY – 2011),
scurrility commonly runs into filthiness. In Ephesians 5:4, where a
slightly
different word occurs, the latter idea is prominent. The two last vices, being
sins
of speech, must be put away “out of your mouth.” “Your” bears the
emphasis
in the Greek; such utterance is quite unfit for a Christian mouth (compare
Ephesians 4:29; 5:3-4; James 3:10; and the prohibition of
lying in the next verse).
9
Lie not
one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his
deeds;” - (Ephesians 4:14-15;
20-25; I Timothy 1:6; Revelation 21:8; ch. 2:11;
Romans 6:6; 8:12-13; Galatians 5:16, 24). The imperatives of vs. 5 and 8
were
aorists, enjoining a single, decisive act;
this is present, as in vs. 1-2, 15, 18, etc.,
giving a rule of life. Only in Colossians and Ephesians do we find the
apostle give
a general warning against lying. What
reason there was for this we cannot tell;
unless it lay in the deceit of
the heretical teachers (ch. 2:8: compare Ephesians
4:14-15; Acts 20:30; II Corinthians 11:13; I Timothy 4:2; II Peter 2:1; I John
4:1; Revelation 2:2; 3:9). The lying
in question is uttered within the Church
(“to one another”), and is
fatal to its unity (v. 11; Ephesians
4:25; Acts 20:28-30).
The following aorist participles, “having
stripped off” and “having put on”
(v. 10),
may, grammatically, be part of the
command — “put off,” and “lie not”
— as e.g.
in I
Thessalonians 5:8; Hebrews 12:1; or may state the fact on which that command
is based. The latter view is preferable for the participles describe a
change already
realized — a change of principle,
which has, however, still to be more fully carried
out in practice (ch.2:11-13,
20; here: v.1, 3,7,11; Ephesians
4:20-24; Galatians
3:27-28): in v. 12 the
imperative mood is resumed with an emphatic “therefore,”
implying a previous reference to fact. (On the double compound ἀπ εκ δυσάμενοι
–
apekdusamenoi - “having
stripped off (and put) away,” see
notes, ch. 2:11, 15.)
The “Old man”; is the former
self, the “I no longer living”
(Galatians 2:20)
of the Colossian believer, to whom “the
members that are upon the earth”
(v. 5) belonged — the entire sinful personality of “him who is in the flesh”
(Romans 8:8). His πράξεσιν –
praxesin - deeds; practices;business;
habits of doing - Romans 8:13) are the pursuits of which vs. 5, 8-9
supply examples.
10
“And have put on the new man, which
is renewed in knowledge, after
the image of Him that created
him:” - (Ephesians
2:15; 4:23-24;; Romans 6:4; 7:6;
8:1-4; 13:12-14; II
Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15;
ch.1:9; 2:2-3; Genesis 1:26-28;
Matthew 5:48; Hebrews 12:10; I Peter 1:16; Romans 8:29). New (νέον – neon
-
new; young; that which is recent; (compare the “once,” “but now” of vs. 7-8;
also ch. 1:5-8; I Peter 2:1-2). whose birth was well remembered, and which
presented so vivid a contrast to
the “old man with his deeds.” - (ἀνακαινούμενον –
anakainvoumenon - “being renewed” derived from the adjective καινός –
kainos - new) sets
forth the other side of this newness, its novelty
of quality and
condition (compare “newness of
life,” Romans 6:4). And this participle is in the
present tense (continuous), while the former is in the aorist
(historical). So
the notions are combined of a new birth taking place once for all, and a
new character in course of formation. In Ephesians 4:23-24
these
ideas are in the same order. “Full
knowledge” was one purpose of this renewal,
the purpose most necessary to be set before the Colossians. The nature
and
objects of this knowledge have
been already specified (ch. 1:6, 9, 27-28; 2:2-3, 9-10:
compare Ephesians 1:18-19; 3:18-19; Philippians 3:8-14; I Corinthians
1:18-31; and
on ἐπίγνωσιν – epignosin – knowledge - see note,
(ch.1:6). “After (the) image”
is clearly an allusion to Genesis 1:26-28; so in Ephesians 4:24 (“after God). It
is
adverbial to “renewed,” not
to “knowledge.” Man’s renewal in Christ makes
him what the Creator at first designed him to be, namely, His own image
(compare note on “reconcile,” - ch.1:20). Some take “Christ” as “Him
that
created,” in view of 1:15-16;
but then it is said that all things “were created in…
through… for Christ,” not absolutely that Christ created them. But “the image
of God after which” man was created and is now
recreated, is seen in Christ
(Romans 8:29; II Corinthians 3:18; 4:4; John 1:18).
11 “Where
there is neither Greek and Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor
free:” - (Galatians 3:28; 6:15; Ephesians
2:14-18;
4:25; I Corinthians 12:13; Romans
15:5-12; Philemon 15-16; John
13:12-17;
17:20-23; Luke 22:24-27;). “In Christ” these distinctions are
non-existent.
There is no place for them. These and the following words indicate the
sphere, as
“unto knowledge” the
end,
and “after the image” the ideal or norm, of the
progressive renewal to be effected in the Colossian believer. It can be carried
on
only where and so far as these distinctions are set aside. The “new man” knows
nothing of them. The enmity between Greek and Jew being removed,
the malice
and falsehood that grew
out of it will disappear (vs. 8-9: compare Romans 15:7;
Ephesians 4:25). In Galatians 3:28 “Jew”
stands first, and the distinction of sex is
added. The distinctions here enumerated appear as looked at from the
Greek side.
Only here in the New Testament does “Greek”
precede “Jew” (compare Romans
1:16; I Corinthians 12:13). “Barbarian”
(Romans 1:14) and “Scythian” (only
here
in the New Testament) are together opposed to “Greek,” and imply want of
culture rather than alien nationality, the Scythian being the rudest of
barbarians.
Such terms of contempt would, in Asia Minor, be commonly applied by
Greeks to
the native population. The party who affected philosophic culture (ch.
2:8, 23) may,
perhaps, have applied them to simple, uneducated Christians (see note
on ch.1:28).
(On “circumcision,” see 2:11;
and for the connection with v. 9, compare Galatians
6:15.) For “bond” and “free,” a division then pervading
society universally,
compare Galatian list. Onesimus and Philemon are doubtless in the
apostle’s mind.
On this relationship he enlarges in the next section (vs. 22-4:1). The
four pairs of
opposed terms represent distinctions:
“but Christ is all, and in
all.” (ch.1:15-20; 2:9-10; 3:4, 17;
Ephesians 1:3,10,
22-23; 2:13-22; 3:8, 19; Philippians 1:21; 3:7-14; 4:19; Galatians
2:20; 5:2, 4;
Romans 5:10; 8:32, 39). “Christ” stands at the end of the
sentence, with
accumulated emphasis. The Church regards
and values each man in his
relation to Christ, and bids every other consideration bow to this. He
is “all things”
- our common center, our standard of reference, and fount of honor, the
sum of all
we acknowledge and desire; and He is “in all” — the common life and
soul of
His people, the substance of all we experience and possess as
Christians. The
second “all” is masculine, referring more specially to the classes
just enumerated.
Similarly, in Ephesians 4:6: compare ch.1:27; Ephesians 3:17; Galatians
1:15; 2:20;
4:19. (While He is “in all,” it is equally true
that all
are “in Him:” compare
John 15:4; 17:23, 26.) Just as in the spiritual sphere, and in the
relations between
God and man, Christ is shown to be all, so that “principalities
and powers” are
comparatively insignificant (ch.1:16; 2:9-10, 15); so in the moral
sphere, and in the
relations between man and man. All human distinctions, like all
angelic offices,
must pay
homage to His supremacy, and submit to the reconciling unity of
His kingdom (Ephesians 1:10).
12 “Put
on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved,” - (vs. 9,14;
Ephesians 1:3-5; 4:24; Galatians 3:27; Romans 13:14; I Thessalonians
1:4; 5:8;
II Thessalonians 2:13; Titus 1:1; Romans 8:28-39; I Peter 1:1-2; I John
3:1). The
terms “elect,” “holy” (same
as “saints,” ch. 1:2; see note), “beloved,”
apply alike and separately to those addressed. Colossian believers are “elect” in
virtue of an antecedent choice of them to salvation on the part of God,
as those who
would believe on His Son (I Thessalonians 1:4; II Thessalonians 2:13;
Ephesians 1:4-5;
2:8; Romans 8:28-30; II Peter 1:1-2). Their whole Christian standing
springs from and
witnesses to God’s eternal (Ephesians 1:4) election of them — an election which,
however, presumes faith on their part from beginning to end
(ch.1:22-23; Romans
9:30-33; 11:5-10,17-24). “Elect”
and “called,” with Paul, are
coextensive terms:
compare Romans 1:7 (Revised Version) with this passage, also I
Corinthians 1:26-27.
To address the Colossian Christians as elect is to remind them of all that they owe to
God’s grace. “Elect” as chosen
by God, they are “holy” as devoted to
God. By the
latter title they were first addressed (ch.1:2); holiness is the essence of Christian
character. That they should gain
this character and appear in it at the last judgment
was the purpose of Christ’s atoning death (ch.1:21-22), as it was the
purpose of God’s
eternal election of believers (Ephesians 1:4; II Thessalonians 2:13; I
Peter. 2:9).
ἠγαπημένοι
- aegapemenoi – beloved - is the perfect participle passive; it describes
the position of those who,
carrying out by their present holiness the purpose of their
past election, are the objects of
God’s abiding love (I Thessalonians
1:4). This love
dictated their election and set at work the means by
which it should be secured
(Ephesians 1:3-14; 2:4; Romans 8:28-30, 39; I John 3:1; 4:9-10). As its purposes
are increasingly fulfilled in them, it
rests on them with an abiding complacency and
satisfaction (Ephesians 5:1; John 14:21-23). Christ
is “the
beloved One”
(Ephesians 1:6; Matthew 3:17), and those who are “in him” in their measure
share
the same title (John 17:23-26). But their choice by God
and devotion to God, who
is all love to them (I John 4:16), must in turn beget a loving heart in them (I John
4:11) – “bowels of mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, long
suffering;” - (Ephesians 4:1-2,
32-5:2; Philippians 2:1-4; Galatians 5:22;
I Corinthians 13:4; I Peter 3:8-9; Matthew 5:5, 7; 11:29; Luke
6:35-36). “The
σπλάγχνα –
splagchna - are properly the nobler viscera, always in the plural,
and properly denotes the physical organs of the intestines rather than the bowels.
The use of this figure, found three times in Philemon, is Hebraistic
(compare Luke
1:78; II Corinthians 6:12; Philemon 7, 12, 20; James 5:11; I John 3:17),
though
similar expressions occur in Greek poets.“Pity” (or, “compassion”)
is an attribute
of God in Romans 12:1; II Corinthians 1:3: compare Luke 6:36 (“pitiful”)
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord
pitieth them that fear
Him.” (Psalm 103:13)
On kindness,
or kindliness, see Galatians 5:22;
I Corinthians 13:4; II Corinthians 6:6 — in each case following “long suffering;”
Romans 11:22, where it is opposed to “severity” in God (compare Romans 2:4);
Ephesians 2:7; Titus 3:4, where it is ascribed to God in His dealing
with men in
Christ; also Matthew 11:30.) It is synonymous with“goodness” (Galatians 5:22;
Ephesians 5:9; Matthew 7:11; 12:35); but “goodness” looks chiefly to benefit
intended or conferred,“kindness” to
the spirit and manner of bestowal. The
objects of “pity” are the
suffering and miserable; of “kindness,”
the needy and
dependent. The “lowliness of
mind” of ch. 2:18, 23 was something specious
and to be guarded against; here it is the central and essential
element of the true
Christian temper (Acts 20:19; Philippians 2:3; I
Peter 5:5; Luke 14:11; 18:14), its
self-regarding element (Romans 12:3). It is linked with meekness, as in
Ephesians 4:2
and Matthew 11:29. “Pity” and
“kindness,” preceding “humility,” relate to the
claims of others upon us; “meekness”
and “long suffering,” to our
bearing towards
them. “Meekness,” the opposite of rudeness and self assertion
(I Corinthians 13:5),
is a delicate consideration for the
rights and feelings of others, especially necessary
in administering rebuke or discipline (Galatians 6:1; II Timothy 2:25;
I Corinthians 4:21; Titus 3:2), and conspicuous in Christ (Matthew 11:29; 21:5;
II Corinthians 10:1). Peter marks it as a womanly virtue (I Peter 3:4).
“Long
suffering” is called forth by the conduct of
“the evil and unthankful” (see
ch.1:11, and note). Paul claims this quality for himself (II
Corinthians 6:6;
II Timothy 3:10). Throughout Scripture it is ascribed to God (Exodus
34:6; Romans 2:4; 9:22; I Timothy 1:16; II Peter 3:9,15).
13
“Forbearing
one another, and forgiving one another,
if any man have
a quarrel against any:” - (Ephesians 4:1-2, 32;
5:1; I Thessalonians 5:14;
I Corinthians 6:7-8; II Corinthians 2:10; Matthew 6:14-15; 18:21-35;
Mark 11:25;
Luke 17:3-4). (On “bearing with” or “forbearing,” see I Corinthians
4:12;
II Corinthians 11:19-20; Matthew 17:17.) It is ascribed to God, with “long-
suffering,” especially as shown
in His dealing with the sins of men before the coming
of Christ (Romans 2:4; 3:26: compare Acts 17:30). Long suffering may be shown
towards all who do us injury; forbearance
especially towards those from whom
regard or obedience is due. It falls short of forgiveness, which can only ensue on
repentance (Luke 17:3-4: compare Romans 3:25-26; Acts 17:30). The
change of
pronoun in the two participial clauses appears also in Ephesians 4:2
and 32: the first
is reciprocal, but the second is reflexive, implying the oneness of the forgiving and the
forgiven party. Forgiving a Christian brother, it is as though a man
were forgiving
himself (compare vs. 14-15; Galatians 6:1; Romans 12:5; 15:5-7; and the
same
variation in I Peter 4:8-10). “Forgive”
is literally “to grant grace,” used
of
Divine forgiveness in ch. 2:13 (see note). The words, “if any have any complaint,”
would certainly apply to Philemon
as against Onesimus (Philemon 18-19: compare
II Corinthians 2:5-11; Mark 11:25) – “even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
(ch.. 2:13; Ephesians 1:7; 4:32; Romans 3:24-26; II Corinthians 5:19;
Acts 5:31;
13:38; I John 1:9; Matthew
9:1-8; 18:27; Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 103:3). This
argument is latent in the appeal to the “elect” and “beloved” of
v. 12. The evidence
for the alternative readings, “Lord”
and “Christ,” is nearly equal in
weight. In any
case, the “Lord” is “Christ” in this passage (ch.
2:6; 3:17, 24): and that He forgave
(compare 1:20, note) is quite consistent with the assertion that God forgave (2:13),
for God forgave “in
Christ” ( Ephesians 4:32). So “God in Christ
reconciled”
(II Corinthians 5:19); and yet “Christ reconciled us” (ch. 1:20-21; Ephesians 2:16).
“Forgiving,” supplied in thought
from previous context, completes the sense of
“so also ye.” V. 14 shows that the leading imperative, “put on,” of v. 12 is still
in the writer’s mind. For the reciprocal double καί - kai - “even.., also”), compare
ch.1:6 or Romans 1:13; is characteristic of the writer.
14
“And
above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness.”
(ch. 2:2; Ephesians 4:2-3;
5:1; Philippians 2:2; I Corinthians
13.;
Galatians 5:13-15,
22; Romans 13:8-10; II Peter
1:7; I John 4:7-21; John 13:34-35). In I Corinthians 13
“love” is the
substance or substratum of the Christian virtues; in Galatians 5:22
it is their head and beginning; here it is that which
embraces and completes them.
They imply love, but it is more than them all
together. They lie within its circumference;
wanting it, they fall to pieces
and are nothing. For συνδεσμός –
sundesmos - bond
or band - compare ch. 2:19. In Ephesians 4:3 we have the “bond of peace” (see
next verse below). Love is the
bond in the active sense, as that wherewith the
constituents of a Christian character or the members of a Church are bound together:
peace, in a passive sense, as
that wherein the union consists (compare I Corinthians
1:10; II Corinthians 13:11). “Love” (compare “covetousness,” v. 5) is made
conspicuous by the Greek definite article — being that eminent, essential grace of
Christian love (ch. 1:4, 8; 2:2; I Corinthians 13.; I John 4:16). “Perfectness”
is
genitive of object, not of quality: love unifies the elements of
Christian goodness
and gives them in itself their “perfectness” - (Romans 13:10). (For “perfectness,”
see note on “perfect,” ch.1:28; and compare
ch. 4:12.) Against Galatian teachers of
circumcision, and Corinthian exalters of knowledge, the apostle had
magnified the
supremacy of love (Galatians 5:6; I Corinthians
8:1-3); and so against the
Colossian mysticism and asceticism he sets it forth as the crown of
spiritual
perfection, the goal of human excellence (compare Ephesians 4:15-16).
The Duty of Putting on All the
Characteristic Qualities of the New Man
( vs. 12-14)
We must not only “cease to do evil” in putting off
the old man, we “must
learn to do well.” “Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and
beloved, a
heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long
suffering.”
·
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN POSITION. “As God’s
elect, holy and beloved.”
They are chosen unto holiness that they should be
without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4). The saints are:
Ø
The elect ones of God. They are chosen to final
salvation (Matthew
24:22, 24, 31;
Revelation 17:14; Titus 1:1; Romans 8:33).
Ø The elect
are:
o holy:
§
consecrated to God,
§
subjectively holy
(II Corinthians 7:1);
o
beloved :
§
the election is connected with God’s love (Romans 11:28);
§
it is a free love (Hosea
14:5),
§
a tender love (Joel 2:13),
§
an everlasting love (Zephaniah 3:17).
·
THE DISCHARGE OF THESE CHRISTIAN OBLIGATIONS. We
are to put on:
Ø
A heart of compassion; not a head of high
knowledge, after Gnostic
perception. The apostle begins with the
natural and universal instinct of
pity, which is here more an act of grace than of nature, for it springs
from
love to God. We ought
to cultivate it,
o
because the Father of
mercies is merciful (Matthew 5:45);
o
because those who need
it are our own flesh (Isaiah 58:7);
o
because it will attest
the reality and worth of our religion (James 1:27);
o
because we shall reap
after the measure of mercies both here and
hereafter (Hosea 10:12).
Ø
Kindness. This is the temper of mind which produces a sweet and happy
intercourse with others. Our English word is derived from “kin,” and thus a
kind man is a kinned man;
we ought to regard the saints as kinsfolk,
for
they are children of God and brethren in Christ.
Ø
Humility. This is the temper of mind which affects our estimate of
ourselves. It is closely allied to kindness, for it takes an unselfish view of
personal interests. We
ought to “seek lowliness” (Zephaniah 2:3),
because:
o
It is one of Christ’s
own graces (Matthew 11:29).
o
God regards it as a
grace eminently worthy of our vocation
(Ephesians
4:1-2).
o
He loves to dwell
in a lowly soul (Isaiah 57:15). He giveth
grace to
the lowly (1 Peter 5:5-6).
o
He does not despise
their prayers (Psalm 102:7).
Ø
Meekness, long suffering. They affect our
outward bearing towards
others, especially in the case of injury or insult. They are
linked together as
companion graces in Galatians 5:22. They are eminently illustrated in
the life of Christ, and are both fruits of the Spirit (ibid.). God
will guide the meek in judgment and teach them His way (Psalm
25:9).
It is the praise of Christian
love that it suffers long (1 Corinthians 13:4).
Ø
Forbearance and mutual forgiveness. “Forbearing one another, and
forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any.” This
temper is eminently conducive to peaceful
relations and diminishes the
natural friction of life. It implies:
o
a bearing with the
infirmities of others (Galatians 6:2);
o
a disposition to take wrong
rather than stand upon the last jot of our
rights (1 Corinthians 6:7);
o
a pleasing of our
neighbor for his good to edification (Romans 15:1-2);
o
a frank forgiveness of
our neighbor in case of a fault, — jars and
discords may arise even among saints.
o
It is a temper which
is illustrated and enforced by the example of
Christ: “Even
as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye.” His example
is decisive both as to the act and the manner of it. He forgave His enemies; He forgave freely; He forgave
finally, for salvation.
Ø
Love. “And above all
these things put on love, which is the bond of
perfectness.” This love to
the brethren is to be put on as the cincture to
bind the other graces together.
o
The necessity of this love.
§
It is the proof of
faith (Galatians 5:6).
§
It tends to the
increase of the mystical body (Ephesians 4:17).
§
It makes us like God
Himself (1 John 4:16).
§
It is a demonstration
of the reality of religion to a godless world
(John 15:8; Matthew 5:16).
o
The dignity of this love; it is “the bond of perfectness.” It holds
together all the graces which make up perfection. The
Judaeo-Gnostics
found their perfection in knowledge; the apostle finds it in
love.
Knowledge puffeth up, charity
edifieth” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Love
binds believers together, and looks to their final perfection in
God.
“The Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me.” (Psalm 138:8)
15
“And
let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,” - (ch.1:14, 20-22; 2:18;
Ephesians 2:13-18; Romans 5:1,10; II Corinthians 5:18-21; Acts 10:36;
Hebrews 13:20; Philippians 3:14). “Of God,” the reading of the
Received Text, is
borrowed from Philippians 4:7, where, however, “in Christ Jesus” follows
(compare v.13b, and Ephesians 4:32). “The peace of Christ” is that which He
effects in reconciling men to God, and to Himself as their Lord (v.13b; ch.1:20,
see note; Romans 5:1). Here is the source of inner
tranquility and health
of soul (see note on “peace,”- ch 1:2; Romans 8:6-9; John 16:33); and of
the
outward union and harmony of the Church, the body of Christ (Ephesians
2:16;
4:2-3; Romans 14:15-19; 15:7). In John 14:27, on the other hand, Christ’s peace,
His “legacy,” is that which He
possessed and exemplified — an idea foreign
to this context. This “peace” is
to “rule” or “act as umpire” in the Christian’s
heart. The compound κατα
βρὰβεύω - kata brabeuo - “act as umpire against you”-
has already been used in ch.
2:18 (see note; also Philippians 3:14, cognate βραβεῖον –
brabeion – prize) of the false teacher who, in condemning the faith of the
Colossian Christians as insufficient for the attaining of “perfectness” (v. 14)
without angel worship, etc., virtually took away their prize and judged them
“unworthy
of eternal life.” The Greek commentators seem to be right in
retaining the primary sense of the verb instead of generalizing it into
“rule”
or the like. It stands in precise antithesis, both of sense and sound,
to
ch. 2:18: “Let not the deceivers
decide against you, but let the
peace of Christ decide in your
hearts.” “The peace of Christ” dwelling
within the heart is to be the security of the Colossian believer against the
threats
of false teachers: “They seek to rob you of your prize; let this assure
you of it.”
Present, conscious peace with God is a warrant
of the Christian’s hope of
everlasting life (Romans 5:1-11; 8:31-39; 15:13; Ephesians 1:13-14;
I Thessalonians 5:23; Titus 3:7). This assurance is identical with “the witness of
the Spirit” - (Romans 8:15-16; Galatians 4:6-7; Ephesians 1:13-14).
The
apostle argued in ch.1:4-5 from the present faith and love of his
readers to
“the hope laid up for them in heaven;” here he bids them find in the peace
which Christ has brought to their souls the earnest of their
future bliss.
It is but a generalizing of the same idea when he speaks in Philippians
4:7 of “the
peace of God” as “garrisoning the heart and
thoughts” against fear and doubt.
“to the which also ye are called,
in one
body;” -
(ch. 1:12, 18; 2:2;
Ephesians 4: 1-6, 14-18; Philippians 1:27-28; I Corinthians 10:17;
12:12-13;
Romans 12:5). So this “peace”
is to be at once their inward safeguard, and the
ground of their outward union. They are to stand together in its
defense
(Philippians 1:27-28). Error, which blights the
Church’s hope, destroys
her unity. So the maintenance of that “one hope of our calling,” assured by
a Divine peace within the soul, unites all Christian hearts in a common
cause
(compare the connection of vs. 18 and 19 in ch. 2.). With Paul, the
peace of
God’s children with Him and with each other is so essentially one that
he speaks
almost indistinguishably of both (Ephesians 2:15-16; II Corinthians
13:11;
II Thessalonians 3:16). He adds,
“and be ye thankful.” - (ch.1:3-5,
12; 2:7; 3:17;
4:2; Ephesians 5:20); viz. “for this assurance of your future
blessedness afforded by
the peace of Christ within your hearts, with its outward evidence in
your Christian
unity.” The apostle gave thanks for them on like grounds (ch.1:3-5:
compare
ch.1:12-14). The command to give thanks prevails in this Epistle,
as that to rejoice
in Philippians. “Be” is the
Greek γίνομαι – ginomai - become; so in Ephesians
4:32; 5:1,17. It implies “striving after an aim as not yet realized” -
compare John 15:8 –
rather, therefore, “to be in act,” “to
prove”
or “show one’s self
thankful” –
(compare Romans 3:4; Luke 10:36).
16
“Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom;” - (ch.1:5,9,27-28;
2:2-3; 4:5-6; Ephesians
1:17-18; 3:8-9; I Corinthians 1:5-6; II Timothy 3:15). The
“word of Christ” is the Christian doctrine, the gospel in the widest sense of the
term
(ch.1:5), as proceeding from Christ (Galatians 1:11-12; Hebrews 2:3;
Matthew 28:20;
II Corinthians 13:3). This precise phrase occurs only here, where the name of Christ
is emphasized in so many ways (compare I Thessalonians 1:8; II
Thessalonians 3:1).
The apostle, it may be, alludes primarily to the personal teaching of
Christ Himself
(compare Acts 20:35; I Corinthians 7:10). “You” is understood collectively by
some interpreters and others (“amongst
you”); but the verb“dwell in”
(Romans 8:11; II Timothy 1:5, 14) requires the stronger sense, suggested also
by the “in your hearts” of v.
15 (compare note on “in you,” – ch.
1:27). As
“the word” is rich in the Divine wealth stored in it (Ibid.; Ephesians 1:7, 18;
2:4,7; 3:8; Titus 3:6), so it
is to dwell “richly” in those who
possess it. “In all
wisdom” God’s grace abounded
(Ephesians 1:8), and Paul himself taught
(ch.1:28); so with the richly
indwelling word in the minds of the Colossians,
especially as they were beset by intellectual forms of error (ch.1:9;
2:2-4, 8, 23:
compare ch.4:5; Ephesians 5:15) - “teaching
and admonishing one another” –
[or, yourselves: compare v. 13,
note] (ch.1:28; Romans 15:14; Hebrews 5:12;
10:24-25; Ephesians 4:15-16). (For this absolute participial
nominative, so
marked a feature of Paul’s style, compare 1:10; 2:2; Ephesians 1:18;
4:2;
Philippians 1:30; 3:10; II Corinthians 7:5) What he is doing in his own
ministry
and by writing this letter, he bids the Colossians do for each other. “Teaching”
precedes, being suggested by “wisdom” - “in
psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs,” - (Ephesians 5:19; I
Corinthians 14:26). These are to be a chief means of
mutual edification. The repeated “and,”
also the singular “heart,” and “Lord” in
place of “God” in the sequel
of the verse, are borrowed by the Received Text from
Ephesians 5:19. The Greeks, the Asiatic Greeks in particular, were
devoted to the
arts of music. Song and jest,
stimulated by the wine cup, were the entertainment
of their social hours (Ephesians 5:4,18-19).
Their Christian intercourse is still to be
enlivened by the varied use of song, and by the play of wholesome wit
(ch. 4:6;
Ephesians 4:29); but both song and speech are to be “in grace,” stamped with a
spiritual character and governed by a serious Christian purpose. A ψαλμοῖς –
psalmoi - psalm - (from ψάλλω
- psallo
- to play an instrument) is “a song set to
music;” but this name was already in the Septuagint appropriated to its
present use.
Whether its application here is restricted to the psalms of the Old
Testament is
doubtful (compare I Corinthians 14:15,26). (ὕμνοις - humnois - hymn) denotes a
solemn, religions composition, or song of Divine praise. The word, ᾠδή - ode –
song - is wider in sense; hence is qualified by “spiritual,” equivalent to “with
[or, ‘in’] the Spirit” - (Ephesians
5:18) — “songs of a spiritual nature,
inspired
by the Holy Ghost” (compare “spiritual wisdom,”-ch.1:9). Such songs would
echo the varied sentiments and experiences of the Christian life. In
Ephesians 5:14
and II Timothy 2:11-13, very possibly, we have fragments of an early
Christian song.
Paul’s own language, in more exalted moods, tends to assume a rhythmic
and lyrical
strain (ch.1:15-20) – “singing
with grace in your hearts to God.” θεῷ –- theo –
God - not κυρίῳ – kurio – Lord - (ch.4:5; Ephesians 5:19; I Corinthians 14:2,15,28;
Romans 8:27; Revelation 2:23; I Samuel 16:7; I Chronicles 28:9). The
correct reading
is ἐν τῇ χάριτι -
en tae
chariti - in the grace); The tendency to omit the
article in
prepositional phrases should be taken into account in its favor here.
And the article helps
the sense by giving “grace” a
definite Christian meaning (so “the
love,” v. 14). Other-
wise, ἐν χάριτι may mean no more than
“gracefully,” “pleasantly;” compare ch.4:6.
“The (Divine) grace” is the pervasive element and subject matter of
Christian song.
Its constant refrain will be, “to
the praise of the glory of His grace!” (Ephesians
1:6, 12,14: compare Romans 1:5-6). “In
your hearts” (v. 15) — the inner region
of the soul — there is the counterpart, audible “to God,” of the song that vibrates
on the lips. In Ephesians 5:19 we read, “with your hearts” — the instrument
(here the region) of the song. (For the connection of “in your
hearts” and
“to God,” compare vs. 22-23; Luke
16:15; Acts 1:24; 15:8; Romans 8:27;
I Thessalonians 2:4; I John 3:19.)
17 “And
whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus,” - (I Corinthians 5:4; 10:31; Ephesians 5:20; II Thessalonians 2:17).
V. 16 speaks of “word” only; to it is added the “deed,” which stands for all the
practical activities of life. Both meet in the following
“all.” “The name of the
Lord Jesus” is the expression of His
authority as “Lord” (ch.1:13, 15, 18;
2:6; Philippians 2:9-11; Ephesians 1:21-23; I
Corinthians 12:3; Romans 14:9;
Acts 10:36), and of His personal character and relation to us as “Jesus” –
(Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12; 16:31, Revised Text) - “giving thanks to God and
the Father by Him.” (v. 15; ch.1:12-14;
2:7; 4:2). Again thanksgiving is
urged
on the Colossians. It is to be the accompaniment of daily talk and work —
to be offered to God in His character as “Father”- (see notes on
ch.1:2-3, 12),
and “through
the Lord Jesus” - (Romans 1:8; 7:25), by whom we have access
to the Father (Ephesians 2:18; 3:12; Romans 5:1-2; Hebrews 10:19-22)
and receive from Him all the benefits of redemption (ch.1:14; Ephesians
2:5-10;
Romans 3:24-26; Titus 3:4-7).
(Mighty powerful words indeed! – CY – 2011)
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF FAMILY DUTIES (vs.
18-ch. 4:1)
We note that in each of the three family relations
here dealt with, the subordinate
party is first addressed, and the duty
of submission is primarily insisted upon
(vs.18, 20, 22: compare I Peter 2:13,18; 3:1-6). So in Ephesians 5:21-24; 6:1-3,
5-8.
There
may have been some special reason for this in the state of the Asiatic
Churches or of Greek society in that region. But other indications show
(I Corinthians 7:24; 11:3-16; 14:34-35; Galatians 5:13; I Thessalonians
4:11;
II Thessalonians 3:11-12; I Timothy 2:11-12; 6:1-2; Titus 2:5, 9-10;
3:1) that the
apostle perceived and sought to check the danger of unsettlement in the
natural
order of family and social life which often attends great spiritual
revolutions,
especially when they are in the direction of
religious liberty. As in the case
of Luther, the apostle’s later teaching is largely directed against the
antinomianism
which resulted, by way of perversion and abuse, from the preaching of
salvation
by grace and of the sanctity of the individual believer (compare
introductory
note to this chapter). Observe how the
Lord and His authority are made to
furnish a higher sanction for each of these natural duties.
18 “Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as is fit in the
Lord.” - (Ephesians 5:22-24; I Timothy
2:11-15; Titus 2:5; I Corinthians 11:3;
14:34-35; I Peter 3:1-6; Genesis 3:16).
On this duty the apostle dilates in the
Ephesian letter, in illustration of its teaching respecting “Christ and the Church”
(compare the very different treatment of it in I Peter 3:1-7), The use
of the article
(αἱ γύναικες
– hai gunaikes – wives) in the nominative of address is frequent
in New Testament, though not in classical Greek. Ανηκεν– anaken – proper;
literally
- it was fit; - stands in the imperfect tense, denoting a normal
propriety
(compare Ephesians 5:4, for the general expression, see I Corinthians
11:13-14;
Philemon 1:8; Ephesians 5:3; I Timothy 2:10; Philippians 4:8; Romans
1:29). Like
all men of a sound moral nature, Paul has a strong sense of natural
propriety. The
adjunct “in the Lord” belongs to “was fit,” not “be subject” (compare v. 20).
The constitution of nature, as we have learnt in ch.1:15-18, is
grounded
“in the Lord.” In Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul shows
that this inherent propriety
has a deep spiritual significance; and he makes the subjection of the Church
to her heavenly Lord a new reason for wifely submission.
The Duties
of Wives (v. 18)
The apostle next proceeds to enjoin family duties, not in the
spirit of those
errorists, who imagined that such duties were vulgar and
inconsistent with
the
contemplative aspect of the Christian life. His first practical exhortation
is
to wives, and is summed up in the single duty — “submit yourselves.”
·
THE DUTY OF SUBMISSION.
“Wives,
submit yourselves to your
own husbands.” This
duty includes:
Ø
Honor. They must
honour their husbands as their head
(1 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Peter
3:6).
Ø
Truthfulness.
(Proverbs 2:17.)
Ø
Obedience. (Ephesians 5:23; 1 Corinthians 7:34.)
Ø
Cooperation with their husbands in all family affairs. They must “guide
the house with discretion” (Titus 2:4-5).
Ø
They must not assume
authority over their husbands, either in
ecclesiastical or in domestic affairs (1 Timothy 2:14).
·
REASONS FOR THIS DUTY.
“As
it is fit in the Lord.” In Oriental
countries, woman was the slave rather than the companion of man, but
in
the Grecian communities of
and her new position under
the gospel may have led her to carry her
freedom to the point of licence.
It was, therefore, necessary to define her
position accurately. Her subjection to man is “fit in the Lord” on
several
grounds.
Ø
From man’s priority of creation. (1
Timothy 2:13.)
Ø
The woman was made for man, not
the man for the woman.
(1
Corinthians 11:9.)
Ø
The woman’s priority in the original transgression. (1 Timothy
2:14.)
Ø
The man’s headship over the woman. (1 Corinthians 11:3.)
Ø
Her weakness.
She is “the weaker vessel” (1
Peter 3:7), and
therefore stands in need of his greater strength and protection.
Ø The
subjection to man is placed on the same basis as the subjection of
the Church to Christ. (Ephesians 5:22-24.)
Ø
But the apostle’s
language in the text implies a limitation upon her
submission; for she is to be subject to him “in the Lord.” Both husband and
wife must have a due consideration for each other’s position, because they are “heirs of the
grace of life,” and they must see that
“their
prayers are not hindered” (1 Peter 3:7).
19
“Husbands, love your wives, and be
not bitter against them.” (Ephesians
5:25-31; I Peter 3:7). “Love” is ἀγαπᾶτε - agapate - the word
which expresses
the highest spiritual affection — “even as Christ loved the Church” (Ephesians
5:25). Here, first and most of all,
the“new commandment” of John 13:34
applies.
Paul only uses the verb πικραίνεσθε -
pikrainesthe - to make bitter - here, but
he has the noun πικρία – pikria – bitterness - in a wider application in
Ephesians 4:31. It denotes “exasperation,” prompting to hasty severity,
a type of
hatred infused into love???
The Duties
of Husbands (v. 19)
“Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”
·
THE DUTY OF LOVE.
This love, which is consistent with his headship
over her, implies:
Ø That he is
to delight in her (Proverbs 5:18-19), and
please her
(1 Corinthians 7:33).
Ø
That he is to cherish her as Christ the Church (Ephesians 5:29),
providing for her support and comfort (1 Timothy 5:3).
Ø That he is to
protect her as the weaker vessel.
Ø
That he is not to be bitter against her, using bitter words or
sour looks,
acting rigorously or imperiously, as if she were a slave and not
a
companion.
Ø That he is
to seek her spiritual good, for she is to be
an heir with him of
the grace of life. (1 Peter 3:7.)
·
THE REASONS OF THIS DUTY.
Ø
The intimacy of the relationship between them. He leaves father and
mother to cleave to his wife. She is bone of his bone and flesh
of his
flesh (Ephesians 5:28-29, 33).
Ø
She was originally provided as a help meet for him. (Genesis 2:18.)
“Yet is she thy
companion, and the wife of thy covenant”
(Malachi 2:14).
Ø
She is the glory of the man. (1 Corinthians 11:7.)
Ø The strongest
argument is the analogous love of Christ to His Church.
(Ephesians 5:25-28.)
20
“Children,
obey your parents in all things: for
this is well pleasing unto
the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:1-2; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Leviticus
19:3;
Proverbs 23:22; Luke
2:51-52). In Ephesians 6:1-2 - (κατὰ πάντα -
kata panta -
in regard to all things) is wanting; and not the extent, but the
intrinsic rightness of the
command as it is found in the Decalogue is insisted on. But here, where
“Christ
is
all and in
all”
(v. 11), it is “in the Lord” (Revised Text) that
the child’s obedience
is declared to be “well
pleasing.” There is something especially pleasing in the
behavior of a lovingly obedient child, that wins “favor” both “with God and
man”
(Luke 2:52). The law of filial obedience has its creative ground “in Him” (ch.1:16),
and is an essential part of the Christian order of life, which is the
natural order
restored and perfected. “Well
pleasing” is a favorite word of Paul’s - (compare
ch.1:10; Ephesians 5:10; Philippians 4:8; Romans 14:18; Titus 2:9; used also in
Hebrews).
The Duties
of Children (v. 20)
“Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is
well pleasing to the Lord.”
·
THE DUTY OF CHILDREN m OBEDIENCE. This includes:
Ø
Reverence. (Leviticus 19:3; Ephesians 6:1-2.)
Ø
Readiness to receive instruction from parents. (Proverbs 1:8.)
Ø
Submission to their rebukes. (ibid. ch. 13:1.)
Ø
Gratitude. (1 Timothy 5:4.)
Ø
Submission to their just commands. They are to obey “in
all things,” that
is, in all lawful things, for it must be done “in
the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1).
·
THE GROUNDS OF THIS DUTY. “For this is well pleasing to the
Lord.” This is, in itself, a sufficient reason for filial
obedience, But it is well
pleasing to the Lord for several reasons. It is not enough to serve
God, but
we must serve Him so as to please Him (Hebrews 12:28).
Ø
It is agreeable to His Law. (Exodus 20:12.)
Ø
It is right in itself. (Ephesians 6:1.)
Ø
Christ was obedient to his parents. (Luke 2:51.)
Ø It is necessary
to the good order of family life.
Ø
The welfare of the child depends upon its obedience, especially at a
time
when it cannot reason upon what is right.
21
“Fathers, provoke not your children
to anger, lest they be discouraged.”
(Ephesians 6:4). ἐρεθίζετε – erethizete – provoke or irritate) Paul uses once
besides (II Corinthians 9:2), in a good sense. It implies a use of
parental authority
which, by continual exactions and complaints, teaches the child to look
on the
father as his enemy rather than his friend. The synonymous παροργίζετε –
parorgizete – of Ephesians 6:4, found here in many copies, is, more definitely
“to rouse to anger.” ἀθυμῶσιν – athumosin - (only here in the New Testament)
means “to lose heart,” “to be spiritless” - to have the confidence and high
spirit of youth broken. In place of this treatment, “the discipline and
admonition
of the Lord” are recommended in
Ephesians 6:4.
The Duties
of Fathers (v. 21)
“Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be
discouraged.”
·
THE DUTY OR PARENTS. It
is here exhibited on its negative side.
They are not to abuse their
authority over their children by too great
severity either in words or deeds. Some
parents spoil their children by
indulgence; others, by unwise severities. Bitter words are used,
unreasonable commands are given, immoderate correction is
administered.
Parents are to behave lovingly
to their children, even while maintaining
their just authority over them.
·
THE DANGER OF NEEDLESS HARSHNESS. “Lest they be
discouraged.” They may lose
heart; their spirit may be broken; they may
become morose, sullen, and reckless. Thus they may be turned
aside from
the service of God, lose the capacity to do great things,
become
pusillanimous (timid; spineless) , and eventually become a sad
disappointment
to their parents.
22 “Servants
(literally, bondmen), obey in all things your masters according
to
the flesh;” - (Ephesians 6:5-9; I Timothy 6:1-2; Titus 2:9-10; I Corinthians 7:21-24;
Romans 13:1, 5; I Peter 2:18-25). The duties of servants and masters are prominent
here (v. 22- ch.4:1), in view of the emphasis thrown upon the lordship
of Christ; and
partly, no doubt, with reference to the case of the runaway slave
Onesimus (ch.4:9;
Epistle to Philemon). “Servant” is δοῦλος
– doulos - bondman, is common in
Paul’s writings. In I Peter. 2:18 we have the milder οἰκέται –
oiketai – a house
servant; domestic. The vast majority of servants of all kinds at this time in the Greek
and Roman world were slaves. In most districts the slaves were much more numerous
than the free population. And they were
undoubtedly numerous in the early Church.
The gospel has always been welcome to the poor and oppressed. The attitude of Paul
and of Christianity towards slavery claims consideration under
the Epistle to Philemon.
Here and in Ephesians 6:5 (compare vs. 7-8)
the apostle calls the master κύριος –
kurios - lord) in reference to “the Lord Christ” (vs. 22b, 24); elsewhere in the New
Testament, as in common Greek, the opposite of δοῦλος is δεσποτής – despotes –
one who has absolute ownership and
uncontrolled power - (I Timothy 6:1-2;
II Timothy 2:21), “According to
the flesh,” that is, “in outward, earthly relationship”
(compare Romans 4:1): Christ is the Lord in the absolute and abiding sense of the
word (similarly, “in the flesh”
and “in the Lord,” - Philemon 16) – “not with
eyeservice (literally, not in eye services), as man pleasers; but in singleness
of heart, fearing God.” - (Ephesians 6:6;
5:21; I Thessalonians 2:4; Galatians 1:10;
Matthew 6:22; Luke 11:34; James 1:5-8; Psalm 123:2; Isaiah 8:13; Revelation 2:23).
“Eye service” is plural here,
according to Revised Text; singular in Ephesians 6:6.
Here the word ὀφθαλμοδουλεία – ophthalmodoulia – eyeservice – denotes
service performed only under the master’s eye,
diligently done when he is
looking, but
neglected in his absence. It
first occurs in Greek, like
ἐθελοθρησκεία – ethelothreskeia – will worship – voluntarily
adopted
worship, whether bidden or forbidden, not that which
is imposed by
others, but one which affects what they think of you
- (ch. 2:23). It strikes
at the besetting sin of servants of all kinds. Ανθρωπάρεσκος - anthropareskos –
man pleaser - occurs in the Septuagint, Psalm 52:6 - (compare I
Thessalonians 2:6;
Galatians 1:10). The servant whose aim it is to please his earthly
master in what
will catch his eye, plays a double part, acting in one way when observed,
in
another when left to himself; with this duplicity is
contrasted “singleness
of heart”
- (compare Romans 12:8; II Corinthians 11:3; ἀπλότης – haplotes – singleness –
implying
liberality; bounty; generosity; sincerity - in II Corinthians 8:2 and 9:11, 13
has
a different application). “Fearing the Lord” more than the eye of his earthly
lord,
the Christian servant will always act in “singleness
of heart;” for “the
eyes of the
Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the
good” – (Proverbs 15:3) –
In the same manner the apostle – a bondman of Christ Jesus - speaks of his own
relations to men and to the Lord Christ respectively (I Corinthians 4:3-5;
II Corinthians 5:11; Galatians 1:10; I Thessalonians 2:4-6; - compare
John 5:37-44).
23
“And
whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men.”
(v. 17; Ephesians 6:6-7; I Corinthians 7:21-23). (On the first clause,
see v. 17.) In the
Revised Text, however, the turn of expression differs from that of ver.
17, παν
-– pan
- everything - being cancelled. The
writer is thinking, not so much of the variety of
service possible, as of the spirit which should pervade it. “Do” is replaced in the –
second clause by the more energetic “work,”
opposed to indolent or useless doing
(compare Ephesians 4:28; II Thessalonians 3:10; John 5:17; 9:4). “From ἐκ
-–ek -
out of] the soul” indicates the spring of their
exertions — inward principle,
not outward compulsion; the servant must put
his soul into his work. “Soul” -
ψυχῆς - psychaes – heart, mind, soul - implies, even more
than “heart,”
the engagement of the man’s best individual powers (compare Philippians
1:27,
as well as Ephesians 6:6). The slaves’ daily task-work is to be done,
not only in
sight and in fear of the Lord (v. 22b;
Ephesians 5:21), but as actually “to the Lord.”
Him they are serving (v. 24b), who alone is “the Lord” (ch.2:6); every mean
and hard task is dignified and sweetened by the thought of being done for Him,
and the commonest work must be done with the zeal and thoroughness
that His service demands (compare Ephesians 6:7, “with good will doing
bond service”). The word “not” (οὐ instead of μὴ) implies that their
service is actually rendered to One other and higher than “men” (I Corinthians
7:22; Galatians 1:10).
,
24 “Knowing
that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance:”
-
(Ephesians
6:8; Romans 2:6-11; II Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 22:12; Psalm 62:12).
(εἰδότες – eidotes - knowing — that of which one
is aware, not merely learning or
γινώσκω – ginosko - getting
to know - see both words in Ephesians 5:5 and John
14:7, Revised Text; also Romans 6:6 and 9; I John 5:20. The
absence of the definite
article” before Kuri>ou –
kuriou – Lord - is the more remarkable, because it is
studiously inserted in the context. Paul virtually says, “There is a Master
who will
recompense you, if your earthly masters never do” (compare ch.4:1). The
ἀντὶ
- anti - in ἀνταπόδοσιν – antapodosin – recompence; renders it a just
recompense
or reward - (a word common in Septuagint), implying “equivalence”
or “correspondence” (compare . ἀνταναπληρῶ -
antanaplaero – to fill up; -
in ch.1:24; also Romans 11:35; 12:19; I Thessalonians 3:9; II
Thessalonians
1:6; Luke 6:38; 14:12,14) — a reward in the case of each individual,
and in
peach particular, answering
to the service rendered to “the Lord” (compare
Matthew 25:14-30). The opposite truth is asserted in v. 25; Ephesians
6:8
combines them both. The recompense of the faithful Christian slave is
nothing
less than “the inheritance” of God’s children (ch. 1:12;
Ephesians 1:5,11,14; 3:6;
5:5; Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:29; I Corinthians 6:9-10; 15:50; Titus
3:7;
I Peter 1:4), which the apostle has so often under other terms assured
to his readers
(ch.1:5, 23, 27; 2:18; 3:4, 15). For a slave to be heir was “a paradox”: see
Galatians 4:1,7; Romans 8:15-17. No form of praise could be more
cheering and
ennobling to the despised slave than this. “In Christ,” Onesimus is “no longer
as a slave, but a brother beloved” ( Philemon 1:16), and if a brother, then a
joint heir with his master Philemon in the
heavenly inheritance (3:11) - “for ye
serve the Lord Christ.” - (vs. 22, 25; ch.2:6; Ephesians 6:6; Romans 14:8-9;
I Corinthians 6:19-20; 7:22-23; John 13:13); that is, Christ is the Lord whose
bondmen ye are. “For” is probably a correct gloss, though a corrupt reading.
Its insertion indicates that the sentence was read indicatively; not
imperatively
“serve the Lord Christ.”. The verse amounts to this: “Work as for the
Lord: He
will repay you; you are His servants.”
25 “But he
that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done:
and there is no respect of
persons.” (Ephesians 6:8-9; Philippians
1:28;
II Thessalonians 1:5-7; I Peter 1:17; Romans 2:11; Galatians 2:6). Here
we have the
other side of the recompense promised in v. 24a, to which the explanatory “but”
points
back. The impartial justice which avenges every wrong guarantees the
reward of the
faithful servant of Christ. So the Old Testament saints rightly argued
(Psalm 37:9-11;
58:10-11; 64:7-10) that the punishment of the evil doer affords hope to
the righteous
man. This warning is quite
general in its terms, and applies alike to the unfaithful
servant and to the unjust master (compare Ephesians 6:8). At the judgment
seat of
Christ there will be no favoritism: all ranks and orders of men will
stand on precisely
the same footing (ch.3:11). The word ἀδικῶν –
adikon – wrong; wrong doing;
twice employed here, denotes a
legal wrong or injury (I Corinthians 6:7-8); e.g.
the conduct of Onesimus towards Philemon (v. 18). The verb (κομίζομαι –
komisetai - carry off, gain; to receive back again; - Ephesians 6:8;
II Corinthians 5:10; I Peter 5:4; Matthew 25:27) looks more to the receiver,
whereas ,
ἀπολήμψεσθε ἀπό (v. 24) points to the
giver. Προσωπολημψία -
prosopolempsia - literally, accepting of the face- here translated respect
of persons”) is a pure Hebraism,
found in St. James twice, and four times in Paul’s
writings. In the next chapter the apostle turns from the slave to
address his master.
The Duties
of Servants (vs. 22-25)
The apostle enters into fuller detail in his injunctions to
servants, because
his
friendship with Onesimus, a Colossian slave now returning to his
master Philemon in a new character, had turned his thoughts to
the
condition and difficulties of the whole class of dependants. His
injunctions
to
them imply that they had a right to be instructed out of the Word, and
that if men have less consideration for their interests, the Lord redoubles
his
concern for them. There was a danger that slaves in the
might repudiate their relation to their masters, and accordingly
the apostle
enjoins the duty of obedience to masters, while he announces
principles
destined ultimately to destroy the
unnatural relation.
·
THE FAULTS OF SERVANTS.
He specifies five of them.
Ø
Eye service. There was a temptation to this fault where the master’s
authority was regarded as unjust and cruel.
Ø
Hypocritical service, arising out of a
divided interest and the absence of
singleness of heart.
Ø
Half service.
Servants might not please their masters “in
all things,” but
in such things as pleased themselves.
Ø
Godlessness. They
chose to please men rather than the Divine Master.
Ø
A base and discouraged spirit, which was to be
banished by prospects
of heavenly reward.
·
THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS.
These are all summed up in the one
word “obedience.” But this obedience must
be becomingly rendered in
several important respects.
Ø “Not with eye
service, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart,
fearing God.”
o
Eye service is designed to please man. Work will be done only
so long as the master’s eye is on the servant. There is no
thought
of pleasing aught but man.
o
There must be
singleness of heart, that is, simplicity and sincerity of spirit,
that will lead to an undivided devotion to work, arising from “the fear
of God,” because they realize that the eye of the Divine Master is ever
upon them. Dissimulation, duplicity, pretence, deceit, must be far from Christian
servants.
Ø
It must be hearty service. “And whatsoever ye
do, do it heartily, as to
the Lord, and not to men.” Servants, in obeying their masters, serve the
Lord. They do the will of God
from the heart, not grudgingly or
murmuringly, but with a truly hearty obedience.
Ø
It must be obedience “in all things;” that is, in all
things lawful. But
servants must consider the master’s commands as well as his
interests,
and seek to obey them in everything, however irksome or
humiliating.
·
THE ENCOURAGEMENTS OF SERVANTS. “Knowing that of the
Lord ye shall
receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
Christ.”
Ø It is an encouragement for them to know that masters are only
“according to the flesh.” This limits human
slavery. The
master
cannot touch the soul, which is the
temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 3:16), for the slave is “Christ’s freeman” (ibid. ch. 7:22).
Ø There is a
reward for true obedience as well as a compensation for
wrongs endured.
o
Servants ought to know
of their blessed prospects.
o
Their works will be
surely rewarded, reckoned, no doubt, of grace, not of debt. They shall receive “the
reward of the inheritance,” the heavenly glory, by the Father’s bequest. God will be their Paymaster if they are wronged or
defrauded by man. Therefore they have strong encouragement to give just
obedience to man.
Ø There is a
retribution on unjust or tyrannical masters for the wrongs
they have done to their servants. “But he that doeth
wrong shall receive
for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of
persons.”
Some think this refers to
dishonest servants, or to both servants and
masters who may have failed in their duty to each other. It is
more
natural to regard it as referring to the case of masters, for the passage is designed to encourage servants suffering
injustice with the prospect of a day of judgment for those who wronged them. God is “no respecter of persons.” Man may make a difference. God finds
the claim of the slave
as valid as the claim
of the master.
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The True
Christian Life (vs. 1-17
From above only can we be raised. There is no
salvation in mere aversion.
Disgust at the vanities of life, repulsion from earthly
things, will of itself
never lift us beyond them; it needs the superior influence
of heavenly things
to do that. This the Colossian errorists did not rightly
understand; or they
could not have made ceremonial purifications and bodily
austerities the
way of holiness, the means of reaching spiritual
perfection. “Touch not,
taste not” (ch.
2:20-21), — these were their chief commandments. The physical
life was their great aversion, and to reduce and harass it was the leading
object
of
their moral endeavors. In the last two sections of his letter (ibid. vs. 8-23) the
apostle has denounced their system as false and mischievous, to be
rejected by
Christian believers, since it is not according to
Christ, but is, in spite of its
high pretensions, essentially base and earthly. He now proceeds,
by way of
command and appeal, to
delineate the true Christian character, the working
of Christian
principles of life, as contrasted with the
mystico-ceremonial
and ascetic ideal of the Gnosticizing teachers. The Christian
he describes is
one whose “life is Christ” — a life derived from, and animated and
governed by, “the Lord from heaven,” and not by “the
tradition of men and
the
rudiments of the world” — “the things upon the earth” (compare
John 6:31-33, 41-42, 47-59).
·
THE HIDDEN LIFE. (vs. 1-4.)
Ø The vital spring
of a practical Christian life is personal union with
Christ. “Ye were raised with
Christ; your life is hid with Christ;
ye
shall be manifested with
Him; Christ is your life” (vs. 1-4).
o
Not only
must the principle of a perfect and all-sufficing life for men be
heavenly; it must be personal. “We live by admiration, hope, and love.”
All really
commanding and sovereign influences acting on human nature
contain a
personal element. We cannot sustain ourselves on abstract
laws, or
great universal ideas, or “streams of tendency;” on a
something
not ourselves that makes for this or that; on formulas or
generalizations of any kind, however grand and comprehensive, however
true and
useful in their place. In spite of all plausible argument and
elegant
raillery, and underneath the changing modes and fashions of
polite or
scientific thought, it yet remains a constitutional and fixed
necessity
of the human soul to find in that which is higher than
itself
Some One to
reverence and to obey.
Against this necessity,
Alexandrine
theosophy and modern skepticism equally contend in vain.
Men want a living God, One who knows, who loves and
hates, who wills
and acts — a just God and a Saviour; and they will not
have
these terms explained away. We are not to be frightened or
uncomposed
by being told that our God is “a magnified, non-natural
Man,” and that
our notions are grossly “anthropomorphic.” We cannot
believe
that the Power which is infinitely greater than ourselves
is less than a Person. “That which may be known of God is”
so far
“manifest in ourselves” (Romans 1:19), that what we find there of
highest
and most
distinctive — in thought, in will, in affection, in
moral
self consciousness
— must needs be an index, the surest and
most
direct that reason furnishes (for it is given by the very being of
reason
itself), to the nature of that Power which made and governs us.
To this first
principle we are compelled to hold, notwithstanding the
metaphysical difficulties old as human thought, which surround those
indications
— difficulties which meet every interpretation of them alike.
The Incarnation has confirmed, while
it has corrected, this universal
assumption.
In the mind of Christ, in the love of Christ, in the holy
will
that says, “Father,
I will… nevertheless, not what I will, but
what thou wilt” (John 17:24; Mark 14:36), we behold
in its purest
and most
satisfying form that which may be known of God, and the
relations
in which as men we stand thereto. How much God is beyond
and
behind all that, we cannot guess; but He is all that, He is nothing
less
than, nothing different from, that which we see “in the face of
Jesus
Christ” (ch. 1:15; II
Corinthians 4:4; John 1:18).
o
The
man whose “life is hid with Christ” is “joined in one spirit”
(1 Corinthians
6:17) — in a sympathy of love and fellowship of
thought
and aim
the most complete of which the human soul is capable — with
a living
Person in heaven. He is “joined to the Lord,” who has “all
authority in heaven and in earth” (ch. 1:13, 15, 18; Romans 14:9;
John 17:2;
Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:5), with the wisdom
that
touches on the one side the resources of omniscience and on the
other the
everyday experience of human infirmity and suffering
(ch. 2:3; 1 Corinthians 1:24; John 2:25; 16:30; Matthew
11:27;
Hebrews
2:17-18; 4:15; Revelation 2:23), and the claims on our
devotion
of One who “loved us and gave Himself for us” (ch. 1:14,
20-22;
Ephesians 2:13-14; Galatians 2:20; II Corinthians 8:9; John
10:15; 15:13;
Revelation 1:5; 5:12). In Him we recognize personal
being,
personal worth, and personal rights in relation to ourselves,
the
highest conceivable both in kind and degree. To have a life hid
with Christ is to dwell in an inward communion of
heart with One
whom
we can perfectly trust, perfectly love, and absolutely obey.
o
This is life indeed (John 6:53; 1 John 5:12). This fellowship
supplies,
as nothing else can do in the nature of things, the means of
moral
culture, the influences by which men may be “redeemed from
all iniquity” (Titus 2:14; Galatians 1:4; John 15:3), by
which a Divine
character
is formed in the soul (Galatians
4:19) and it is trained for
the life
of heaven (ch. 1:27; Philippians 1:6). The Christian life
is nothing less than a Divine friendship (John
15:12-15; Isaiah
41:8; Exodus 33:11; Genesis 5:24; 18:17). To gain this life one
may
gladly consent to die to all that is alien from the life of Christ
(v. 3; ch.
2:11, 20; Philippians 3:7-12; Romans 6:2, 11; 7:4-6).
Ø A true union with Christ lifts our aims above this world. “Ye were
raised with Christ, seek,
mind, the things above, where Christ is, for
(from
the things on the earth) ye died” (vs. 1-3). Christ has gone
to
heaven, and He is our Life. Thither He has carried with Him our desires
and hopes (Philippians 1:23; II Corinthians 5:6-8). To be where He is, is
the deepest longing of the Christian heart; and its attainment
is the
supreme reward of faithful service
(John 12:26; 14:1-6; Revelation
3:21; 14:4). Heaven is the
Christian’s home, because He is there. And He
has gone thither, not simply as to “the place where He was before”
(John
6:62), and to which He
properly belongs (John 3:13), but as our
“Forerunner” (Hebrews 6:20), the “Firstborn among many brethren”
(ch. 1:18;
Romans 8:29). Heaven is the goal which
He has marked out
for His followers, the “Father’s house,” the native city of
all the
members of His body, the Church (Ephesians 1:18-23; Philippians
3:20; John 14:2; Hebrews 11:10,
13-16). “The prize of our high
calling” (τῆς ἄνω κλήσεω - taes ano klaeseo - that calls us
above) is
bestowed at “the resurrection of the dead”
(Philippians 3:9-21).
o
As
workmen, as tradesmen, as citizens, our aims terminate with the
things upon the earth; as Christians, we seek
the things that are
above. The present in our view is the seed time, the training school
for the
immortal future; and its value lies in what it leads to rather
than in
what it is. Our present spiritual life, the
knowledge of Christ
and
communion with Him we now enjoy, is but “the
earnest of our
inheritance,” “the firstfruits of the
Spirit” (Ephesians
1:14; Romans
8:23; Philippians
3:12-14). “By” this “hope we are saved” (Romans
8:17-25); for
this, most of all, do we give thanks (ch. 1:3-5, 23;
Philippians
1:6; 1
Corinthians 1:7-8; 1 Peter 1:3-7)
o
Yet this minding of the things above
involves no disparagement of the
interests and claims of secular life. For this present is the
pathway to
that future. How seriously important, how carefully to
be studied and
appraised,
how diligently to be improved, are the “few things” of our
earthly
stewardship, if by a right management of them we may become
“lords” of the “many things” of the everlasting
habitations (Matthew
25:14-30; Luke
16:9-12; 1 Corinthians 7:31)! But
we must keep
our
thoughts and aims above the world, taking care not to be
overcharged with “cares
and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14;
21:34), “declaring plainly that we seek a country”
(Hebrews 11:14),
turning
earth at every step into “a scale to heaven,” MAKING
CHRIST
ALL IN ALL in family and social life, in
business and
in politics.
Ø
The Christian life
is, therefore, in its essence a mystery. “Your life is
hid” (v. 3).
o
“The
world knoweth us not”
(1 John 3:1). As to the life of the
children
of this world, and of the Christian man so far as he is a man
of the
world, everything is plain. The principles and motives of the man
of
business, the politician, or the scientist are easily stated and generally
intelligible. And the influences which govern the depraved, ungodly man
are all
too plain; “the works of the flesh are manifest” (Galatians 5:19).
But the man
whose “citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians
3:20), who
“walks by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7), who is “looking
for
and hasting unto the coming of the day of
God” (II Peter 3:12),
whose life
it is to love and serve a Master who was crucified
two
thousand years ago, and whom he expects to see only after he
himself
is dead, — such a person is an enigma to natural men born only
of this
world; he is “judged of no man” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).
Political
economy, experimental psychology with its “analysis of
the
human
mind,” fail to account for him; and the philosopher haply will
pass him
by as a pretence or an abnormity. He is like a planet deflected
from its
course by some unknown body out of telescopic reach, whose
magnitude
and position it is impossible scientifically to determine.
o
Our life is
hidden, because He who is our Life is hidden. “Ye see
me no more,” said Jesus; and again, “The world seeth me no more;
but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live
also” (John 16:10;
14:19).
“Therefore
the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not”
(1 John 3:1).
Our life is wrapped up in One “whom
we have not seen”
(1 Peter 1:8-9), with whom we can have no kind
of sensible
communication; in a Christ who indeed was “manifested in the flesh,”
but was
scornfully disbelieved and put to death, “justified” only “in
the
Spirit, “seen only” of
angels” (1 Timothy 3:16). A mystery to the
world,
the Christian life is a mystery also to
its possessor as respects
the methods by which it is
bestowed and sustained on God’s part.
“The
things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit
of God,” and though we receive this Spirit, “we
know” but “in part”
His operations (1 Corinthians 2:11; 13:12). “Thou hearest the voice
thereof “ — that is all (John 3:8). There is a supernatural something
that defies
analysis and measurement in the experience of every
Christian
— a Divine life as distinct from the natural soul life, as that
is from
mere animal vitality; and this is just the sovereign creative
factor of
his religion, the principle of his new birth and new manhood:
his
life is “hid in God.” But while this life itself
is hidden, its fruits
are not (v. 5 to ch. 4:6; Ephesians 5:8-14; Philippians 2:1-16;
Titus
2:11-12;
Matthew 5:14-16; John
13:35; 1 Peter 2:9, 12, 15; 3:1-2,
15-16).
Ø
But
the mystery of the Christian life is to have its revelation. “When
Christ shall be
manifested, then shall ye also be manifested with
him, in
glory” (v. 4). This
riddle of life must be solved (1 Corinthians 13:12,
Revised Version margin); “the things shaken” must
be removed, “that
the things unshaken may remain” (Hebrews 12:27); appearance must
give place to reality; “mortality” must be “swallowed up of life;” God
has “wrought us for this
very thing” (II Corinthians 5:4-5).
Faith is the
virtue of education, and must have its reward
in sight; if there is nothing
to be seen, then those are not “blessed,” but only
mistaken, “who have
not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Hope must be crowned
with fruition, or it will “put us to shame” (Romans
5:5). And love,
content now to “see Him not” (1 Peter 1:8), is
only so content on the
assurance that “we shall see Him even as He is” (1
John 3:3; Acts 1:11;
John 14:3).
o
Christ shall be manifested. He has pledged Himself,
both to His
friends and to
His foes, to return (John 14:3; Matthew 26:63-64). That
pledge
He gave in the most public and solemn manner possible, in
assertion
of His Divine sonship and Messiahship. HIS
SECOND
COMING
is the goal of New Testament
prophecy, and of the Church’s
hope and
longing through the ages (Matthew 25:19, 31; Acts 3:21;
17:31; 1
Thessalonians 4:14-18; Philippians 3:20; Titus 2:13; Hebrews
9:28; 1 Peter
1:7; 1 John 2:28; Revelation 1:7; 22:20). It
is the consummation
of human history, the denouement (result)
of the
great
time drama, “the one far off Divine event, to which the whole
creation
moves.” But He waits till “the gospel of the kingdom is
preached to all the nations,” “till His enemies be
made His footstool,”
till “the
harvest of the earth is ripe,” till the hour has struck
appointed
in the Father’s eternal counsels (Mark 13:10, 32;
Hebrews 10:12-13; Revelation 14:15, 18). Then He will appear in
that glory
(Matthew 25:31; 26:64; Titus 2:13), something of which
the three
saw “in
the holy mount” (II Peter 1:16-18), which dying
Stephen beheld
as he fell asleep, and Saul of Tarsus as he journeyed
to
of which
in entering upon His earthly estate He had “emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7). “We shall see him
even as He is — the
Lord of glory” (1 John 3:3; James 2:1).
o
Christ’s
glory his saints will share. They, too, will be manifested.
There will be
an “unveiling
of the sons of God” (Romans 8:18-25).
“In
this tabernacle we do groan, being burdened” (II Corinthians
5:4). Our life is “cribbed, cabined, and confined.” The body,
virtually
“dead because of sin,” oppresses and conceals, while it contains,
the
immortal “spirit, which is life because of righteousness”
(Romans
8:10-11). “Now
we see through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
We move about
as if
under a heavy, muffling cloak. “We are spirits
in
prison, able only to make signals to each other.” But we
shall then
enjoy “the
liberty of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
This “natural
body” will become a “spiritual body,” in
which the
spirit
will be perfectly expressed and for ever at home. (I Corinthians
15:44)
o
Then Christ’s
glory will be manifest in us. He will be “glorified in His
saints,” and they glorified in Him (II Thessalonians 1:10; Psalm
90:16-17). Like
some sculptor’s work, prepared in concealment and with
long
labor, carved out of the rough, unshapely block by many a painful
stroke of
hammer and of chisel, till the artist’s glorious ideal is wrought
out, and on some public day the
finished masterpiece is at last unveiled;
so the man, perfect in Christ, will
be “presented
faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (ch. 1:22, 28; Jude 1:24).
·
THE DEATH OF THE OLD SELF. (vs. 5-9) Impurity, greed,
malice, falsehood, — these are the
leading features of the former life of sin
which the apostle represents his
readers as having followed before they
became Christians. He does not,
of course, charge all of them equally and
alike with these offences. But
then, as now, these four types of vice
were
prevalent amongst the great mass of ungodly men (v. 7; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Such statements, when applied to
men living under the influences of Christian
society, must be applied with discrimination, and in the light of
our Lord’s
teaching addressed to the moral Jews in Matthew 5:17-48, etc. These vices are
native to the soil of the human heart (Mark 7:20-23). By habitual practice
they take possession of the man, so that his “members” are made “slaves
to
uncleanness and iniquity” (Romans 6:19; John 8:34), and his body becomes
a “body of sin” and “of death” (ch. 2:11; Romans 6:6; 7:23-25). They
become virtually His “members that are upon the earth” (v. 5).
Under the
sway of sensual appetite and
worldly desire, ungoverned by any influence
from “the things above,” his person becomes
more and more completely an
incarnation of sin (Romans 7:5, 20, 23).
These “members,” then,
individually and collectively, must be “put to death;” this “body
of the
flesh,” as a “body
of sin,” must be “stripped off” and “done
away”
(ch. 2:11; Romans 6:6). Christ cannot dwell
in the soulwhile
“sin reigns in the mortal body” (ibid. v. 12). He
has no
“concord with Belial,”
or with Mammon (II Corinthians 6:15;
Matthew 6:24). “The
old man” must be “so buried, that the new man
may be raised up” in
us (compare Ephesians 4:17-24).
Ø
Unchastity was
the most conspicuous sin of the Gentile world in which
forms; and its prevalence is a
fearful warning, as he points out
Romans 1:18-27), OF THE OUTCOME OF A GODLESS
CIVILIZATION. The society of the populous Greek cities of
that
day was one in which “fornication,
uncleanness, lustful passion, evil
desire” (v. 5), had free course, and its moral condition was only
less
abandoned than the “reeking rottenness”
of
Adultery, indeed, was condemned
as a civil crime by pagan moralists;
but fornication they held, as a rule, to be an innocent and
almost a
necessary thing. It was in writing to
city in that licentious age, that the apostle launched his sternest and most
vehement interdict against this crime, which is a moral leprosy and
pestilence. There he marks it
out as peculiar from all other sins
in being a sin against a man’s own body, and an
especial insult and
outrage to the Holy Spirit who claims the human body for His
temple
(1 Corinthians 6:13-20: compare
1 Thessalonians 4:2-8). There are too
many evidences in the state of modern society, both in high
quarters
and in low, that as Christian
sentiment grows weak and religious faith
dies down, in the
same proportion the perversion of 19-20) the relaxation
of moral fiber, the destruction of social confidence, and
the physical
decay of the corrupted race. Man
begins by denying his Maker, and ends
by degrading himself. There are times and places where
plain speaking
on this subject is needful, and no prudery or sentimental
delicacy should
prevent it. The tempted must be warned; the guilty rebuked; bodily
self respect must be taught in good time. The pure will know how to do
this, like the apostle himself and like his Master, “in all purity.” When
once inward chastity has been lost and uncleanness spots the
soul,
the stain is not easily effaced. Evils of this kind flourish in the dark
and love to be ignored.
(John 3:18-19)
Ø
Covetousness is idolatry. (v. 5.) It is,
obviously and directly,
“worshipping and serving the creature” (Romans 1:25). While it
appeases to be self love, it is really the sacrifice of self to the
world,
offered at the shrine of wealth, or fame, or pleasure. The man seeks to
gain power over other men or things; but if this becomes his
supreme
desire, or if he seeks to attain it by evil means,
then from that moment
the object of his guilty pursuit gains power over him, and
begins to
entangle and enslave him (John 8:34; Romans 7:23). His
passion
becomes his tyrant, his ambition an insanity, his pursuit of
pleasure
an infatuation. Even the thirst for knowledge, the noblest of natural
desires, may grow into a selfish greed, jealous and grasping, eating
out the best affections, and producing an accomplished
scholar, a master
of science, void of all goodness of heart and human
worth. All creaturely
things, regarded out of God, are but “passing shows” (εἰδωλα - eidola -
idols) of the absolute and enduring goodness that belongs to Him
(Matthew 19:17). The homage
rendered to them — whether by the
savage to his fetish,
by the civilized worldling to his wealth or rank,
or by the scientist to his laws and forces of
nature — is idolatry, the
worshipping of shams and shows, in so far as it is a departing from
the
living God (Hebrews 3:12;
Exodus 20:3; Isaiah 43:10; 1 Corinthians
8:4-6). And
with life
thus perverted at its fountainhead, it
becomes a
mere vanity and vexation of spirit.
Ø
Malice is
universally denounced. Moralists of all schools and all ages
agree in proscribing this vice, though in little else. The
malicious man is
instinctively dreaded; he is a
peril to every one. Sins of malice and
of
falsehood
strike directly at the existence of society, while the two
former classes of offence threaten it more gradually and
indirectly.
o
Yet
it can scarcely be denied that anger, wrath, malice, railing,
shameful speaking, are,
to a large extent, congenital to human
nature. It is true
that there is an instinctive benevolence, a fellow
feeling
for one’s kind, only exceptionally wanting; but at the same
time
there exists a tendency, that is often terribly strong even in its
earliest
manifestations, in the opposite direction. “Cain was of that wicked one, and slew his
brother; and wherefore slew he him?
because his own works were evil, and his
brother’s righteous”
(1 John 3:12).
It is a weak and fatal delusion to rely on natural benevolence as an effective
and commanding moral force, a stable foundation for a system of practical
ethics. Nor is it possible in the
nature of
things that enlightened self interest or any combination of prudential or
utilitarian considerations should ever teach men to love their neighbors as themselves,
or should succeed in suppressing
rage and
jealousy and the murderous passions slumbering in
the blood
of the race. We must be “taught of God to love
one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9; see 1 John 2:7-11;
3:13-24;
4:7-21).
o
The love of Christ will at last subdue the fratricidal passions of
mankind,
will “make
wars to cease unto the ends of the earth”
(Psalm 46:9);
and one day will bring men of the most distant
climes
and hostile interests to clasp each other’s hands and
look into
each other’s eyes and say, “Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another!” (ibid.
v.11)
Here lies the
only hope of the fraternization of mankind.
Ø
If impurity
dishonours the body, falsehood dishonours
the mind. This
sin at once degrades the man, wrongs by deceiving his fellow,
and
insults his God, the ever present Witness and Guardian of truth
(Acts 5:4; Romans 9:1; 1
Thessalonians 2:5; >Psalm 139:4;
Jeremiah 5:3). Here the apostle
points out:
o
its
inconsistency with the Christian character of the man (vs. 9-10); and
o
its
contradiction to the Christian view of society (v. 11). Similarly in
Ephesians 4:25: “For we are members one of another.” For a man to
deceive his
neighbor by word or deed, is as if the eyes should conspire to
trick the ear or
misguide the hand. The
ancients condemned falsehood
between men of the same community, but
generally regarded it as a lawful weapon
to use against enemies or strangers; although the Stoics, with their wider views of humanity, taught on
this point, as on others, a higher
morality. The “Greek” might deceive the “barbarian,” the “bondman” might lie to his master,
and have no sense of moral wrong. And
so it has been too commonly in the dealing of servants or schoolboys with their masters,
of civilized men with savages, of libertines
in their conduct towards the other sex. Witness the immoral maxim, “All’s fair in love and war.” One
chief cause of deceit would
be removed if men
would
understand that the instinct of honor which bids them be truthful to their equals
and comrades, requires the same honesty
in dealing with every man as man. The Christian acts on this principle; he will
not in any sense “hold the faith of our Lord Jesus
with respect of
persons” (James 2:1). Many
men who would resist the temptation
to utter a lie in so many words, will silently act it;
especially in a continued course
of action, where the deception lies not in any
single definite
act, but in the general construction which they lead
others to put on
their proceedings. Such deception is no less blameable
in itself, and as
a rule still more disastrous in its effects, than a palpable lie. And again, men find it easy to lie collectively
who would not do so
singly.
Though men of probity in their private affairs, they will put their
hands to
documents, they will consent with others to acts, which they
know to be
misleading, or, at least, which they do not know to be true.
And now that business is becoming more and
more a matter of “limited
liability,” the
perils of divided responsibility in this direction should be well understood.
Ø
“Because of all
these things God’s anger is coming on the sons of
disobedience” (v. 6). Every
act or thought of any of these kinds is a
disobedience, a breach of “the holy and just and good Law”
under which
man was first created in his Maker’s image (v. 10). This “Law
worketh
out wrath,”
inexorably and perpetually, against “every soul of man that
doeth evil” (Romans
2:9; 4:15). And that anger of God is coming
(Isaiah 30:27-28). THERE IS A DAY
COMING FOR ITS “revelation’’
(Romans 2:5, 16; Malachi 4:1),
even as for “the manifestation of
the sons of God” (v. 4;
Romans 8:19). It is already “revealed
from
heaven” (Romans 1:18), and gives forewarning of its advent in many a
personal and public calamity (Isaiah 26:9; Malachi 3:5; Matthew
24:3-42; 1 Corinthians 5:3-5; 11:30-32). On every account, the
Christian must have done with
the old life of sin. He sees it to
be incompatible with fellowship with Christ, to be hateful
to God,
to be ruinous to himself and to his fellow men. No return to it, no
renewal of it, no dallying or temporizing with it in any kind or
degree, can be tolerated. IT MUST DIE IF HE IS TO
LIVE!
·
THE UNITY OF MANKIND IN CHRIST. (vs. 10-11.) This truth
belonged, at least in
knowledge, “unto which” the believer was “being
renewed” (v. 10); and
the Church still comes far short
of its full apprehension.
Ø
The gospel of Christ reveals the spiritual unity of
mankind. To make
this known was a part of the apostle’s mission, and of the
special
“mystery God”
entrusted to him (ch. 1:25-28; Ephesians 3:1-6;
Romans 3:9-30; 15:5-12). Its
manifestation, and the consequent
“breaking down
of the middle wall of partition” (Ephesians 2:14),
were necessary to a complete Christian virtue, the proper
virtue of man
as man, carried out in all his relations to God and to his
fellows; and for the regeneration of human society, the salvation of the
world. There was a preparation for this belief in the breaking
down of the old nations into the unity of the Roman empire, in the decay of
local and ancestral religions, and in the advance of philosophy from the
narrower and more political ethics of Plato and Aristotle to the moral system
of the Stoics, which was at once more inward and more humane. But there was wanting that conception of a living, Divine center of the human
race, given in Christ, which alone could make the sentiment of universal humanity
a creative, organic force.
Ø
This unity has been realized in the Christian Church. It appears in the
beautiful simplicity of its childlike beginning, in the communism of
the
infant
and fuller way by the Apostle Paul in addressing the mixed
Churches of the great cities where he labored; and was actually put into
practice there in a good degree. Jew and Greek (Galatians 2:12), rich and poor
(1 Corinthians 11:20-22; the
exception proves the rule: compstr James 2:1-4), master and slave (Philemon
1:16-17), met at the same table of the Lord, mingled as equals in the same
Christian society, distinguished only by the measure of “grace” and
“spiritual gifts” bestowed on each (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians
12:7-11). And the records of the first three
Christian centuries show how
faithfully, on the whole, this principle was
maintained, and how nobly the
Church held herself superior to temporal
distinctions of wealth and rank.
Far indeed has she subsequently departed
from this rule; and
lost how much thereby in spiritual dignity and power! We admire it
now as a proof of special humility if the titled or cultured man forgets amongst
Christian brethren his worldly eminence; if the employer of labor is glad to sit at
the feet of his workman, when that workman, as may often be the case, is
his spiritual superior; if the wealthy contributor to a Church fund does not
expect, on that account, to dictate in its management.
Ø The Church
is destined to gather mankind into a spiritual common,
wealth. In it there is to be
no “strife
as to who shall be greatest;” but in
humility and self forgetfulness “the greater shall be as the
younger, and the chief as he that doth serve” (Luke 22:24-26). There “all
are brethren,
with one Master even Christ” (Matthew 23. 8-12). All authority and office are derived
from Him, and attested by His Spirit in His people
(1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Acts
1:24; 13. I-4; Galatians 1:1; John
20:21). The Church is His
body, complete in Him — a unity in itself and in its action, because in every
limb it draws its life and gets its direction from the Head. And as the Church
becomes a greater and more pervasive power in the world, the spiritual
brotherhood it creates will work appeasingly on the “wars and fightings,” on
the aristocratic exclusiveness and haughtiness, the democratic bitterness and
jealousy, the invincible prejudices, the clashing interests, by which society
is distracted and its bonds are strained almost to rending, and the nations are
kept in arms and hurled repeatedly against each other in deadly conflict. When
mankind recovers its unity in Him in whom it was created and redeemed, when it
is reconciled to God and bows its every knee “at
the name of Jesus,” —then at last there will be “peace on earth.” Where “Christ is all
and in all” antipathy must cease.
·
THE NEW CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. (vs. 12-17.) We have
traced the principle of the Christian life in its inner ground
and aim, as “hid
with Christ” and
seeking its home in heaven (vs. 1-4); in its
uncompromising and mortal warfare with the old life of sin (vs. 5-9); in
its purpose to form a new
humanity in the individual soul, and in the world
at large (vs. 10, 11). We are now to follow its practical
working, to see
how the “new man” is to show himself in a
new habit and style of living,
how the “hidden life” is to blossom out into
its fragrance and beauty, and
its “celestial fruit” to “grow
on earthly ground.” We note that the Christian
character is one derived from God and that refers
to God in everything. It
is as “God’s elect, His holy and beloved ones’ (v. 12), that
we are called
to assume the new habits of
Christian grace and goodness. Knowing what
the Divine Father is, and what He has done for us (ch.
1:12-14), and what He intends us to be (Ephesians 1:4-6), sensible of our
filial relation to Him
(Romans 8:15-17; Galatians
4:1-7; 1 John 3:1-2), loyally embracing His will (Romans 6:22) and seeking to
be conformed to His nature as that is translated
for us into “the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29;
II Peter 1:4; 1 John 4:17), we shall be “holy in all manner of conversation.”
But God is known to us through
Christ. And, therefore, in the
formation of the Christian character “Christ is
all and in all” (v.
13; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Romans 15:3; Philippians 2:5;
1 Peter 2:22;
1 John 2:6; John 13:15). It is nothing
else than Christ formed
in us (Galatians 4:19).
In the perfect Christian character, then:
Ø
Christ’s love rules. (vs. 13-14; II
Corinthians 5:14; 1 John 3:23;
John 13:34.) The tender heart of
compassion, the gentle, sympathetic kindliness, the lowliness of mind, the
uncomplaining meekness,
the patient long-suffering, the forbearance and forgivingness
(vs.
12-13) of the Christian nature, — these center in the all-perfect
and all-perfecting grace of Christ-like love (1 Corinthians
13;
1 John 4:7-21; Romans 13:9-10).
He in whose heart dwells the love of Christ cannot “shut up his compassion”
from any within reach of help who need it (1 John 3:17); cannot be rude and ungracious,
or hard and unforgiving (Ephesians 4:31-32; II Corinthians 2:5-11); cannot be
self-asserting, clamorous, overbearing (ibid.
ch. 10:1; Philippians 2:6,
Revised Version margin; Matthew
12:19); cannot be passionate and resentful, irritable and fault finding,
obstinate in prejudice, intolerant of opposition. The love of Christ will assimilate His whole
disposition and make it sweet, gracious, unselfish, loving, and lovable as that
of an innocent child (Matthew 18:1-4). And the Christian man who in the spirit
of this love can “possess his soul in patience” (Luke 21:19), through all the
strenuous endeavors and painful collisions and vexing wrongs of life, wears
“the girdle of perfectness,” and has attained the perfect Christian temper.
Ø
Christ’s peace guards. (v. 15.) The
Christian’s faith and hope are
assailed by a thousand enemies. Sometimes amid the common incidents
of life, sometimes in “the heavenly places” of his richest experience
and most exalted communion with spiritual things (Ephesians 6:12) —
sometimes brought about by open
and palpable causes, sometimes by
strange influences shadowing the
inner life and coming we know not
whence or how — sometimes
through the ruggedness and gloom of his
providential rule, sometimes
through mental perplexities and the chilling
and confused intellectual
atmosphere around him, — in any or in all of
these ways “the trial of his faith” comes —
comes, in one shape or other,
to every man who has a faith
worth trial. And then, whatever be the form
which the assault takes or the quarter from which it is
directed, he may find in “the peace of Christ” his strong
tower of defense and harbor of refuge. His difficulties may not disappear under
this influence; his doubts may not be at once dispelled; the conflict may still
rage furiously around and within him; but he will be kept, the fortress
of his heart will not be surrendered (1 Peter 1:5; Philippians 4:7). So long as
“we
have peace with
God through our
Lord Jesus Christ,” and “His
love is shed abroad in our hearts” (Romans 5:1-5), nothing can shake
our essential faith or rob us of our immortal hope (Psalms 27 and
46; Luke 12:32; Revelation 1:17), Neither
sophistry (ch. 2:4) nor threatening (ibid. v.18) will take from us “the prize of our high calling.” “One
thing,” at any rate, “we know” (John 9:25); and to it “we
have the witness in ourselves” (1 John 5:10),
in “the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding,” “to which we were called,” in the “new
heart and right spirit” He has “put within” us, in the moral
victory attained over self and the world (1 John 5:4-5): “we know that we have passed from death
unto life” (ibid. ch. 3:14).
And we safely infer that He “who has begun a good work in us” will
carry it through (Philippians 1:6); that He will keep that which we commit
to Him, and “none shall pluck us out of His hand” (II Timothy 1:12; John
10:27-29; Romans 8:31-39). So, unitedly and thankfully, we “hold
fast the beginning of our confidence, and the glorying of our hope, firm unto
the end” (Hebrews 3:6, 14).
Ø
Christ’s word inspires. (v. 16.) It is to “dwell
in the heart richly” —
to be the welcome visitant and constant inhabitant of the mind; to be
listened to and diligently
learned; to be cherished and pondered in inward
meditation, not as an object of theoretic study only, but as the
power which is to shape the character and guide the life of the Christian
(Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Psalm
119:105; John 17:17), as the
soul’s daily nutriment — the bread of God, “which strengtheneth man’s
heart,” “the word of eternal life” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 4:4; John 6:63,
68),
o
This word gives all wisdom —the best of God’s gifts to
man, which
instructs
the mind and prompts the tongue and guides the action of its
possessor
(ch. 2:2-3; 4:5-6). So furnished, every Christian (ch. 1:28) is able to
minister something to his fellows of that which God has taught him by his own
study of the Word and its practice in his experience of life (Matthew 13:52;
Romans 15:14; 1 Corinthians 14:31). Thus the
members of the Church are able, “in the meekness of wisdom,” to “teach and admonish one another,” “being
knit together in love, and led into all the riches of the full assurance of
the understanding, into the
knowledge of the mystery of God” (ch. 2:2).
o
And
it stirs in the heart an ardor of holy feeling that finds expression in
Christian song. “The
word of Christ,”
cherished in thought, kindles the
emotions
and wakens all the music of the soul. The early Christians were a singing
people, for they were a cheerful and thankful people. And
subsequent
revivals of religious life, as a rule, have been attended with
fresh
outbursts of sacred song (Psalm 40:3). The singing of a people
— its heartiness, and simplicity, and the care and pains taken
in its
cultivation, are a good test of their spiritual state. “Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs” —
hymns old and new, narrative, didactic, lyrical; in every measure and
every tone of expression:
§
songs
of praise,
§
of
confession,
§
of
wailing sorrow,
§
of
ecstatic joy;
for the
congregation, the household, or the private chamber; —
all find
a place in the diapason (a grand swelling burst of harmony)
of the Church’s
music.
o
Christ’s name hallows everything. (v. 17.) Our eating and drinking —
acts
which seem the most ordinary and purely physical, and quite remote
from the
interests and sentiments of the spiritual life — these are to be
“sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:5), by the
mention
of Christ’s name in thanksgiving to the Father, WHO
THROUGH HIM SENDS US ALL LIFE’S
BLESSINGS. And if our mere
animal necessities of life are capable of being thus hallowed, there is nothing
in family relations, or secular employments, or social or civil duties, which
may not receive and does not demand the same consecration. (A very profound
thought to which I was exposed once
upon a
time is THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTIANITY IS TO SANCTIFY THE SECULAR! - CY -
2021) We may
associate Christ with everything we do, doing all as His servants and under His
eye, and in such a way that, by every part of our work, He may be glorified in
us. And this will be a safeguard to the Christian man. If he is to do
everything in Christ’s name, he must do nothing unworthy of that name,
nothing with which he cannot associate it. Nowhere, in any company or on any
business, must he forget, “either in word or deed,” that this “worthy
name” is the name which he bears, and whose honur is in his keeping.
This is the seal that marks the true
(II Timothy
2:19).
The Christian View of Family Duties
(v. 18-ch. 4:1)
Certain general considerations bearing on the family and
social constitution
of life may be drawn from the teaching of this section.
1. We note that the
apostle brings each of the three primary relationships of
which he speaks into connection with “the Lord.” The natural
order of
human life is
grounded in Christ. If “all things were created and do consist
in Him” (ch. 1:16-17), then, amongst the rest, this also and in
chief. For man in his relation to the world around him is “the
image of
God,” even as
Christ is to the whole universe (1 Corinthians 11:7;
James 3:9; Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8.). And man is not a
solitary
individual; he is a social being, a race unity. And those
relations which
are
essential and fundamental to human society:
have, most of all, their spiritual type and creative ground in Christ. This
is
obvious in the case of the two latter relations; as to the first, see
Ephesians 5:22-32.
2. The intrinsic
fitness of a right discharge of natural
duties is affirmed in
the
first case (v. 18), and implied in the other two. The apostle
recognizes and appeals more than once to the sense of
ethical propriety,
that which “nature itself teaches” (1 Corinthians 11:14), which belongs
to the universal conscience surviving in our nature though
fallen and
debased. All true sentiments of natural morality the
Christian revelation
reaffirms and supports with its effectual sanctions, “as
is fit in the Lord”
(compare Philippians 4:8). Their
consciousness of the right as the
beautiful (τὸ καλὸν
- to
kalon )
was a sound and valuable element in the
teaching of the best Greek moralists. They regarded conduct as a
work of art, in
which grace and fitness were to be studied, and the perfection
of an ideal beauty
to be the aim of life. While men may have, as a rule, a
stronger sense of the
right, women better
understand the fitting; and it is in regard to the place
and duties of woman that
and
decorum (compare 1 Corinthians 11:13; 1 Timothy 2:9-10).
3. We are taught,
indirectly, to cherish a pleasant and cheerful temper in
domestic life. Bitterness (v. 19) and harshness, with the
distrust and
timidity which they engender (v. 21), and a sullen or constrained
obedience (v. 23), are forbidden; and these are the common elements of
domestic unhappiness. Where the husband is gentle, and the father tender
though strict, and the master considerate, and the servants
willing and
honestly anxious to please, there all goes well. Whatever storms may beat
upon that house from without,
there is peace and sunshine within. And this
is “well pleasing in
the Lord.”
4. The principle of authority is
steadfastly maintained throughout. (vs.
18, 20, 22.) In every house that is not to be “divided
against itself,” there
must be a single head, a ruling will, a definite center of power and
direction. And that power God has placed, as a solemn trust, in the hands
of the husband,
father, master, who is in his prerogative within his own
house an image of
Christ in the Church (ch. 4:1; Ephesians
5:23), of God
Himself, the Father of men (Hebrews 12:9). This principle is
the corner-stone
of order in human
society. Here is “pure religion breathing
household laws” (Wordsworth).
* HUSBAND AND WIFE. (vs. 18-19.) The marriage relation stands
first, being the basis of the family, which again is the basis of
society and of
the community of mankind. “He which made them from the beginning,
made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4-6). Marriage is to be
“had in honor among all” (Hebrews 13:4; 1 Timothy 4:1-3); and
not merely the criminal act, but any
impure word, thought, or look which
offends against its sanctity, “defiles the man” from whom it proceeds,
offends in an especial way the
Holy Spirit of God, and brings down His
wrath upon the offender (Matthew 5:27-28; Mark 7:20-23; 1
Thessalonians 4:3-8;
1 Corinthians 6:13-20). The degree of
honor and reverence in which it is
held in any society largely, determines the
degree of soundness
in its moral condition.
Where the opposite vices prevail, whether
secretly or openly practiced, general moral
corruption and decay set in
(see
homiletics, sect, 7, II. 1).
Ø
On the one side, there is to be submission. The apostle says,
“Children,… servants, obey”
(s. 20, 22); but not “Wives, obey your
husbands:” “Be in subjection” (v. 18) is a
gentler and fitter term to use.
Obedience implies a certain distance and inferiority that has no
place here.
There is something wrong on one
side, or on both, when the husband gives
formal orders to his wife. There
should be such an intimacy of mutual
understanding and sympathy
between them, that they seem to have but one
mind and will in all common
matters, And while to that single mind the
wife contributes the queenly
influence of her insight and persuasion, she
will feel and show that resolve
and direction belong to him and not to her.
The final responsibility for the
business of the house devolves on the
husband, by the ordinance of God
and by the nature of things, which are
but two expressions of the same fact (1 Corinthians 11:3-15).
It is his
part to “rule well his own house” (1 Timothy
3:4).
Ø
It was not so needful
to say, “Wives, love your
husbands;” though the
apostle once enjoins this, in speaking of “the younger women” in
Titus
2:4. For failure on the wife’s
side in this respect is comparatively rare. But
the man, full of business, often
absent, and with his more exacting nature,
is more liable to fall into some
disloyalty. He allows other company to
become more agreeable to him;
seeks amusements and pursuits in which
his wife cannot join; no longer
makes her his confidante and the sharer of
his inner life; and allows home to become little more to him
than a selfish
convenience. And with
this selfishness and the uneasiness of conscience
that attends it, there supervenes often an irritableness of
temper that chafes
over every domestic care or trouble, and makes no allowance
for infirmities
in others; that
magnifies every trifling mistake or mishap into an injury, and
ignores the wife’s patient affection and eagerness to please. How different
is all this from the exalted
ideal that
husband! — “Love your wife even as Christ
loved the Church, and gave
himself for her”
(Ephesians 5:25). Bengel’s shrewd and caustic remark
on this passage is too often
verified: “There are many, who out of doors
are civil and kind to all; when
at home, towards their wives and children
whom they have no need to fear, they freely practice secret
bitterness.”
* FATHER AND CHILD. (vs.
20-21,)
Ø
From children, obedience to their parents in all
things is required, and
therefore in many things contrary to their inclination and
opinions.
Childhood means dependence and
ignorance. It is only under the shelter of
parental oversight that the incipient faculties and
plastic nature of the child
can be formed to the strength of judgment and firmness of
character which
will enable him to meet the tasks and the perils of adult life. And for this
discipline to be effective, the submission of the child must be
absolute.
Only when a parental command
plainly contradicts the Law of God and
violates the child’s conscience,
can any kind of disobedience be justified. In
that case, obedience cannot be “well pleasing in the Lord.”
But even the
worst of parents will rarely be
found to have so little respect for the
conscience of childhood as to
enforce such an injunction. The requirement
addressed to the child presumes that the parent exacts obedience. This is
his inalienable prerogative.
Instant, unmurmuring obedience should be
made the habit of the child’s
life, and as a law of nature to it. To have this
understood from the first is the
simplest and easiest course. If the child be
allowed, through passion or persistence, once successfully to rebel, a
mischief is done not
easily to be repaired. His own self mastery, and the
sense of law and of duty which are to attend him through the whole of life,
largely rest on this basis of
ingrained obedience. For this purpose, children
should be in their earliest years as much as possible under the
direct
influence of their parents’ presence and authority. The parental office
cannot be discharged by proxy. (It is said that if a parent does not his
work with the child, it is for
ever undone! CY - 2021) And there must be
unity
of parental administration, as well as harmony between
precept and practice, if a true and reverent obedience is to be possible. In no State was
the authority of
the father (patria potestas - the power of the father) so strict and
absolute as in ancient
Ø On the other hand, the father must beware lest his
authority should wear
a needless aspect of severity. His righteous desire
to “command
his
children and his household after him” (Genesis 18:19), and his anxious
sense of responsibility, may
occasion this, if not relieved by more genial
influences. The innocent
liveliness and the many unintended offences
of
childhood must not provoke him to ill temper. He must learn by patience
and tenderness to win the
child’s affection and open-hearted trust, without
impairing its submissive
reverence. A mechanical, unsympathetic
strictness,
or an angry and unequal discipline, will fatally alienate the sensitive heart of
the child, which in that case either sinks down into a dull,
spiritless apathy,
or prepares for a passionate revolt when the hour of its
strength shall
come. Too often those
most anxious to commend religion to their children
have made it odious by
presenting it in forms unintelligible to the young
mind, and associating it with
tasks unsuited to its powers, and burdens that
it found “grievous to be borne.” (Matthew
23:4) As
the child should find in
the child Jesus its pattern and model (Luke 2:40-52), so the parent should seek to be to his children an
image of “our Father in heaven.”
* MASTER AND SERVANT. (v. 22 —-ch.4:1.) This third
relationship is one which we may be sure will continue
to exist, however varied the forms it may take, so long as the world stands. And
what the apostle says here is of universal application, though slavery has
happily given place to free service. Even when our lower classes shall have
become so far raised in intelligence and independence that
cooperation in
industrial labor will become the rule instead of the exception, still
there
must be some to command, others to obey. Indeed, the more
extended and
complicated the operations of trade and manufacture become,
the more
thoroughly labor needs to be organized and authority graduated, and
the
more entirely success depends on management and discipline
and on a right
adjustment of the relations of master and servant.
Ø From servants Christianity demands, what conscience
demands, an
honest obedience, that
serves as well behind the master’s back as to his
face (v. 22). As a mere matter of commercial advantage, the
uniform
presence of this quality would
be an incalculable economy and enrichment
of the community. And religion
secures this, directly and of necessity. The
man who does his work in God’s
sight — “as ever in his great
Taskmaster’s eye” — and as for
the judgment day, cannot skimp any part
of it. He is serving, not a man
like himself, but a heavenly Lord, whose
searching eye is always upon
him, who understands and can judge every
man’s work (v. 24; 1 Peter. 1:17),
and who has promised infinite rewards
for faithfulness in the “few things” of our earthly
probation (Matthew
25:21, 23). These
convictions form the best guarantee, with the mass of
men the only sufficient and effectual guarantee, for good
work and
thorough workmanship in every department of life.
“A servant
with this clause,
Makes
drudgery divine;
Who sweeps
a room as for thy laws,
Makes that
and the action fine.”
(George Herbert.)
Ø
And the Christian master,
whether at the head of a farm or a factory, of
a commercial house or a private family, will remember that he
has his
duties along with his rights
as a master. He is dealing with human beings,
not with machines. The
laws of political economy are not to be his only
guide. “The nexus of cash
payments” can never be the sole link that
associates any two men together.
Woe be to him if he says, with Cain, “Am
I my brother’s
keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). “Just
dealing and fairness”
(ch.
4:1) must rule in the relations of master and man, if they
are to be on a moral and
righteous footing. He will not take a hard
advantage of his servant’s
necessity; or allow, if he can help it, his dealings
with him to degenerate into a mere struggle between capital and
labor for
every inch of advantage. The cruel greed that grasps at
immediate gain at
whatever cost of toil and poverty to others, and that “grinds
the faces of
the poor” (Isaiah
3:15), may enrich the individual, but in the long run
is fatal to the class or the trade which practices it. And the rich oppressor
will have to appear at a tribunal where “there is no respect of persons”
(v. 25). Political economy itself teaches that ill-paid
labor is the most
expensive and wasteful. The man who has
want and fear gnawing at his
heart cannot be a good workman, even if, in
spite of extreme temptation,
he be an honest one.
Injustice and over reaching on the part of the rich and
governing classes, political and social institutions that favor “the
fat and
the strong” at the expense
of the weak and poor (Ezekiel 34:16-27),
are sure of God’s heavy
judgment. They generate in the hatred excited in
those subject to them an
explosive force which, with a suitable train of
circumstances, will burst forth,
as in the French Revolution, in some
volcanic upheaval that the
strongest social fabric will be unable to resist.
Christ’s golden rule of equity (Luke
6:31) is
the only safe, as it is the
only righteous, basis for the dealings of man
with man, of class with
class, or of nation with nation in the world’s great polity.
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HOMILIES BY T.
CROSKERY.
Ver. 1. —
The obligations of the risen life.
We have here a transition to the practical part of this
Epistle. “If ye then
were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ
is, seated on the right hand of God.”
I. OUR
RESURRECTION WITH CHRIST. We are not only “dead with
Christ,” but “risen with him;” “not only planted in the
likeness of his death,
but planted together in the likeness of his resurrection;”
“that we may walk
in newness of life” (<450602>Romans 6:2-4).
This translation has altered our
standpoint. We are “quickened together with Christ, and
raised together
with him” (<490205>Ephesians 2:5, 6). We have now an entirely new sphere of
intellectual conception and moral aspiration. “Old things
have passed away;
behold, all things have become new” (<470517>2 Corinthians 5:17).
II. THE
PRACTICAL DUTY INVOLVED IN THIS RESURRECTION.
“Seek those things which are above.”
1. “The things
above” are all things pertaining to our true home — “the
new Jerusalem” and “the heavenly citizenship,” in contrast
to “the things
upon the earth.” They include
(1) the vision of
Christ (<431724>John 17:24);
(2) the enjoyment of
God, which is promoted
(a) by our fuller
knowledge of him (<431703>John 17:3),
(b) by our growing
love to him (<620416>1 John 4:16), and
(c) by the manifold
expressions of his love to us (<360317>Zephaniah
3:17);
(3) the society of
angels and saints.
2. The excellence
of “the things above.” They are
(1) satisfying, as
things on earth are unsatisfying;
(2) certain, as
things on earth are uncertain;
(3) perpetual and
everlasting, as things on earth are transient and
decaying;
(4) suitable, as things
on earth are unsuitable to an immortal spirit.
3. They are to be
sought, implying
(1) our knowledge of
them;
(2) our longing for
them;
(3) our anxious
effort to realize them (<400633>Matthew 6:33).
III. AN
ARGUMENT TO INCITE AND ENCOURAGE US TO THIS
DUTY. “Where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.”
There are two
facts here stated.
1. Christ our Head
is in heaven. Therefore heaven must be the objective
point of our thoughts as well as our hopes. We look up
because he, who is
our Hope, is there — “within the vail.” The thought of
Christ’s presence
gives definiteness to our ideas of heaven. “Where our
treasure is, there will
be our heart also.”
2. Christ is
sitting at the right hand of God. This implies:
(1) His intercessory
work; for he has entered into “heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us” (<580924>Hebrews 9:24; <620201>1 John
2:1).
(2) His mediatorial
dominion and power (<502910>Philippians 2:10).
(3) Our sitting with
him — “he raised us up and made us to sit in heavenly
places in Jesus Christ.” These places are those he premised
to prepare for
his people (<431402>John 14:2). “He that overcometh, to him will I give to sit
with me in my throne” (<660321>Revelation 3:21).
— T. C.
Ver. 4. —
The believer’s final manifestation with Christ.
“When Christ, who is our Life, shall be manifested, then
shall ye also with
him be manifested in glory.” The believer’s life will not
be always hidden,
any more than the believer’s Lord. There will be a period
of manifestation
for both. This marks the last stage of spiritual life.
I. CHRIST
IS THE ESSENCE OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE. This is more
than saying that our life is hid with him or that he is the
Author of it. “He
that hath the Son hath life” (<620512>1 John 5:12; <480220>Galatians 2:20;
<500121>Philippians 1:21). We possess this life in virtue of our
union with him
and his resurrection (<431419>John 14:19).
II. WE
SHALL SHARE WITH HIM IN HIS FINAL
MANIFESTATION. 1, The manifestation of Christ is the “blessed
hope”
of the saints. (<560213>Titus 2:13; <540614>1 Timothy 6:14; <550110>2 Timothy 1:10;
4:1-8.) He will then be seen as he is (<620302>1 John 3:2), though mockers may
ask, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (<610304>2 Peter 3:4). He will then
appear glorious in his person, glorious in his retinue of
angels, glorious in
his authority.
2. We shall share
in that manifestation. “It doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for
we shall see him as he is” (<620301>1 John 3:1,
2); “We wait for the Saviour”
(<500321>Philippians 3:21); “The glory thou hast given me I have
given them”
(<431722>John 17:22); “If so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also
glorified together” (<450817>Romans 8:17). We
shall be manifested with Christ
in the glory of our complete manhood, when the conjunction
of soul and
body shall be perfect and indissoluble. We may well set our
mind on things
above in view of such a glorious prospect. — T. C.
Vers. 8, 9. —
A warning against social sins.
The sins already noticed are personal; the sins now to be
specified arise in
connection with man’s social relationships. “But now put ye
also away all
these: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out
of your mouth.
Lie not one to another.” These sins, again, divide
themselves into two
classes — three of each:
(1) sins of inward
feeling;
(2) sins of outward
expression.
I. SINS
OF INWARD FEELING. “Anger, wrath, malice.”
1. Anger and wrath.
There is an anger that is righteous. “Be angry and sin
not” (<490426>Ephesians 4:26). Even our Lord was angry as he looked upon
the Pharisees (<410305>Mark 3:5). But
the anger here condemned is sinful. It is
a settled feeling of hatred as distinguished from wrath,
which is more
passionate and transient.
(1) We are warned
against both. “Cease from anger, leave off wrath, fret
not thyself to do evil” (<193708>Psalm
37:8). We are not to give place to them
(<451219>Romans 12:19). “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry”
(<210711>Ecclesiastes 7:11). We ought to be “slow to wrath” (<590119>James
1:19). We ought not “to let the sun go down upon it.”
(2) They lay the
heart open to the devil (<490417>Ephesians 4:17).
(3) They grieve the
Spirit of God (<490430>Ephesians 4:30, 31).
(4) They intercept
prayer (<540208>1 Timothy 2:8).
2. Malice. This
is the vicious habit of mind that delights in injury to others.
(1) It is the sign
of an unregenerate nature (<560303>Titus 3:3; <620209>1 John 2:9).
(2) It springs from
pride and envy (<201310>Proverbs 13:10).
(3) It is entirely
opposed to that love that “worketh no ill to his neighbour”
(<451310>Romans 13:10).
(4) It grieves the
Holy Spirit (<490430>Ephesians 4:30, 31).
II. SINS
OF OUTWARD EXPRESSION. “Railing, shameful speaking out
of your mouth. Lie not one to another.”
1. Railing. This
is “the strife of words.”
(1) It is speaking
evil of men, and springs from envy or malice. The tongue
of the railer is compared to the sting of adders, to a
sharp sword, to
arrows.
(2) It leads to reprisals;
for “if ye bite and devour one another, take heed
lest ye be consumed one of another” (<480515>Galatians 5:15).
(3) The Judge will
condemn the railer (<590509>James 5:9).
(4) It hinders the
success of the Word (<600201>1 Peter 2:1, 2). We ought,
therefore, to “put far from us a froward mouth and perverse
lips”
(<200424>Proverbs 4:24).
2. Shameful
speaking. This applies to foul abuse, not to obscene language.
While railing is the expression of angry and malicious
feeling, this is the
expression of coarse contempt and insolence.
3. Falsehood. This
habit is to be put off; for:
(1) It is that of
the devil, who is the father of lies (<430844>John 8:44).
(2) God hates it (<201222>Proverbs 12:22).
(3) It is a breach
of the social contract (<490425>Ephesians 4:25).
(4) It shuts out
from heaven (<662215>Revelation 22:15). Let us pray God to
remove far from us vanity and lies (<200308>Proverbs 3:8). — T. C.
Vers. 9, 10. —
The ground of these practical precepts.
“Seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds,
and have put on
the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after
the image of
him who created him.” We have here the negative and the
positive aspects
of the great spiritual change effected in conversion.
I. THE
NEGATIVE ASPECT OF CONVERSION. “Ye have put off the
old man with his deeds.”
1. The old man is
the old unconverted self, strong in his deeds of sin. His
deeds are catalogued among the “works of the flesh;” (<480522>Galatians 5:22,
23), as well as in the context. He is to be discerned,
indeed, by his works
like a tree by its fruits.
2. The putting off
of the old man is twofold, namely, at conversion and in
the gradual process of sanctification. Some teach that the old man is an
unchanged and unchangeable being, and that, as he has been
crucified in
Christ (<450606>Romans 6:6), we have nothing more to do with him. In that
case, if we have put on the new man, we are perfectly
sinless.
(1) There is a
putting off of the old man at our justification.
(2) There is a
gradual putting off likewise — a “mortifying your members
which are upon the earth,” which is to continue till we get
rid of all his
deeds. The counsel, therefore, to put off the old man and
put on the new
man is like the similar counsel, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ”
(<451314>Romans 13:14), addressed to those who had already “put on
Christ”
(<480327>Galatians 3:27).
II. THE
POSITIVE ASPECT OF CONVERSION. “And have put on the
new man.” This is the regenerate man. He is a “new
creation” (<470517>2
Corinthians 5:17; <480615>Galatians 6:15).
1. The nature of
this newness.
(1) He has a new
nature — “born from above” (<430303>John 3:3). He has “a
new heart.”
(2) He has a new
obedience, both as to its spirit, its matter, and its end
(<451201>Romans 12:1).
(3) He has a new
citizenship (<500320>Philippians 3:20).
(4) He has new
desires (<195102>Psalm 51:2; <400506>Matthew 5:6; <540408>1 Timothy
4:8).
2. It is a nature
constantly renewed unto full knowledge. “Which is being
renewed unto knowledge.” It is not at once complete, but in
a state of
constant development by the Holy Spirit. Knowledge is a
principal part of
the new grace of the believer.
(1) It is the
beginning of eternal life (<431703>John 17:3).
(2) It has
transforming power (<470701>2 Corinthians 7:18).
(3) It is necessary
to our understanding the wiles of the devil and resisting
the temptations of the world (<600509>1 Peter 5:9).
3. Its renewal is
after a Divine pattern. “After the image of him who
created him.” The allusion is to <010126>Genesis 1:26. The image of Christ in
the believer is analogous to that of the image of God in
the original man,
but will be far more glorious, as the second Man is more
glorious than the
first man. Thus we see the process of putting on the new
man in its
beginning (<480327>Galatians 3:27), in its continuance (<451314>Romans 13:14),
and in its completeness (<461553>1
Corinthians 15:53, 54). — T.C.
Ver. 11. —
All distinctions obliterated in Christ.
“Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and
uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman: but Christ is all,
and in all.” The
old distinctions which separated man from man can have no
existence in
the new spiritual life.
I. NATIONAL
DISTINCTIONS ARE ABOLISHED IN CHRIST.
“Greek and Jew.” The peculiar privilege of Abraham’s
natural seed is gone.
Mercy is shown on exactly similar terms to Jew and to
Gentile. Thus is
manifest that catholicity of the gospel which the Gnostics
repudiated.
II. RITUALISTIC
DISTINCTIONS ARE ABOLISHED. “Circumcision
and uncircumcision.” The errorists in Galatia would have
imposed
circumcision on the Gentile Christians, but neither
circumcision nor the
want of it availed anything in Christ’s kingdom, but “a new
creation”
(<480615>Galatians 6:15). Thus, while it was an advantage to be born
a Jew
rather than a Gentile, it was none to become as a Jew by
conforming to its
ritual (<460719>1 Corinthians 7:19).
III. NO
DISTINCTION IS RECOGNIZED AS TO CIVILIZATION OR
REFINEMENT. “Barbarian, Scythian.” The barbarian was the
foreigner,
the Scythian the savage. The gospel turns the barbarian
into a brother, and
lifts even the Scythians — the lowest type of barbarians —
into the dignity
of Christian fellowship.
IV. SOCIAL
DISTINCTIONS ARE ABOLISHED. “Bondman, freeman.”
The gospel has placed them on one level of religious
privilege.
V. CHRIST
HAS OBLITERATED ALL THESE DISTINCTIONS. “But
Christ is all, and in all.” He has absorbed them all into
himself, filling the
whole sphere of human life in its widest varieties of development.
He
dwells in all, their true Centre; for the life of all
believers is “hid with Christ
in God.” This fact places the saints under immense
obligations. They must
consecrate all to Christ and resign all to his wise and
loving will. — T. C.
Ver. 15. —
Peace and thanksgiving.
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the
which also ye were
called in one body; and be ye thankful.”
I. CHRISTIAN
PEACE.
1. Its Author.
(1) Christ is our
Peace (<490214>Ephesians 2:14), and “the Lord of peace”
(<530316>2 Thessalonians 3:16), and “the Prince of peace” (<230906>Isaiah 9:6).
(2) It is his legacy
to the Church (<431427>John 14:27). It is one of the fruits of
the Spirit (<480522>Galatians 5:22).
(3) He proclaims it
— “that publisheth peace” (<235207>Isaiah 52:7).
2. The sphere or
element of its exercise. “To the which also ye were called
in one body.” As “God hath called us in peace” (<460715>1 Corinthians 7:15),
we are to realize our unity by it as members of the body.
Unity is out of the
question without peace. Let us show the fruit of our
calling by being lovers
of peace. The kingdom of God is “righteousness and peace.”
3. Its enthronement
as umpire in the heart. “Let it be umpire
in your
hearts.”
(1) It is to act
with decisive force in the conflict of impulses or feelings that
may arise in a Christian life.
(2) Yet we must
retain truth along with peace (<581214>Hebrews 12:14;
<410950>Mark 9:50). The true wisdom is to be “first pure, then
peaceable”
(<590317>James 3:17).
II. THANKSGIVING.
“And be ye thankful.” It is our duty to be always
thankful to God. It held a constant place in the apostle’s
thoughts. The
word, in its substantive and verbal forms, occurs
thirty-seven times in his
Epistles. We must be in a constant mood of thanksgiving for
his mercies,
for his grace, for his comforts, and for his ordinances. —
T. C.
Ver. 16. —
The use of the Word for spiritual edification.
The apostle, in view of the right exercise of the foregoing
graces, counsels
the Colossians to make the Word of Christ the subject of
experimental
study. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom.”
1. THE EFFICACY OF
CHRIST’S WORD.
1. The Scriptures
are Christ’s Word. They have Christ for their Author, for
their Subject, for their End. This is the Word that is
“sounded forth”
everywhere (<520108>1 Thessalonians 1:8), that “runs” everywhere, to be
glorified in its success. It is Christ, too, who gives
power to this Word.
2. This Word ought
to dwell in us. Not come and go, but tarry as in a fixed
abode. It ought to be an abiding power within us. “The Word
of God
abideth in you” (<620214>1 John 2:14).
3. The place of its
indwelling is the heart; not the memory or the head, but
the heart. “Thy Word have I hid in my heart” (is. 119:11).
4. The manner of
its indwelling. “Richly in all wisdom.”
(1) Not “with a
scanty foothold, but with a large and liberal occupancy.”
(2) It implies
(a) receiving the
Word with all meekness and humility (<590121>James
1:21);
(b) dividing it aright
(<550215>2 Timothy 2:15);
(c) trying all
things so as to keep that which is good (<520521>1
Thessalonians 5:21).
II. THE
USE OR END OF CHRIST’S WORD. “Teaching and
admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” There is a
double function
here assigned to the Word: one making its influence felt
upon the mind —
“teaching;” the other upon the heart — “singing” with
thanksgiving.
1. The Word is
useful for teaching and for warning. These represent the
positive and the negative sides of instruction.
(1) Teaching.
(a) This implies
that the Word is to be used by every Christian for the
purposes of instruction (<022412>Exodus
24:12). When we have received the
“ingrafted Word” into our hearts, we must spread it abroad.
(b) It deepens our
sense of the value of the Word to impart it to others.
(c) It is a test of
the sincerity of our attachment to make it known.
(d) It is by the
efforts of all Christians in this way that the Word will
eventually reach the ends of the earth.
(2) Admonition.
(a) It must be
grounded on the Word (<560106>Titus 1:6).
(b) It must be done
in love and meekness (<530301>2 Thessalonians 3:1;
<480601>Galatians 6:1).
(c) With a
reasonable secrecy (<401815>Matthew 18:15).
(d) With compassion
and tenderness (<470204>2 Corinthians 2:4).
(e) With
perseverance (<201319>Proverbs 13:19).
2. The Word is
useful for the purpose of sacred song. As those who make
the songs of a nation can shape its political and moral
life, so the hymn
writers have in a large degree shaped the theology of the
Church.
(1) Singing is a
necessary part of Divine worship (<490619>Ephesians 6:19;
<590513>James 5:13; <196601>Psalm 66:1, 2). It is good for spiritual recreation
(<590513>James 5:13). We should sing in our houses as well as in our
churches
(<19A101>Psalm 101:1, 2; i Corinthians 14:26).
(2) The matter of
singing — “psalms, hymns, spiritual songs.” These are
supposed to represent three varieties of the psalms of
Scripture. There is
evidence, however, that Christians themselves composed
hymns for public
worship (<461426>1 Corinthians 14:26).
(3) The manner of
singing — “singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord.”
(a) It was to be
with the accompaniment of Divine grace, that is, with a
holy joy (<190902>Psalm 9:2), with a humble trust in the Lord’s mercies
(<191305>Psalm 13:5), with a lively recollection of his benefits (<194707>Psalm
47:7).
(b) It was to be the
outcome of the heart’s feeling as well as the expression
of the life. This implies singing with understanding (<461414>1 Corinthians
14:14). Therefore we are to prepare our hearts before we
sing (<195707>Psalm
57:7).
(c) It was to be
addressed to the Lord, not to man. — T. C.
Ver. 17. —
The principle of a godly life.
This is the practical lesson that flows from the theology
of the Epistle.
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the Name
of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
I. THE
WHOLE EXTENT OF CHRISTIAN LIFE IS CONSECRATED
TO THE LORD. Everything falls under the two heads of words
and deeds.
1. Words.
(1) We must avoid
words that would dishonour Christ — vain words
(<490506>Ephesians 5:6), bitter words (<180603>Job 6:3), deceitful words
(<193603>Psalm 36:3), idle words (<401236>Matthew
12:36). James tells us the sins
of the tongue (<590302>James 3:2).
(2) We must use
words of wisdom (Book of Proverbs), words of truth and
soberness (<442325>Acts 23:25), words of righteousness (<180625>Job 6:25),
wholesome words (<550113>2 Timothy 1:13),
words of eternal life (<430668>John
6:68).
2. Deeds. These
must be done
(1) in faith, for
“whatsoever is not of faith is sin;”
(2) in prayer (<190901>Psalm 9:1);
(3) with warrant
from God’s Word (<230820>Isaiah 8:20);
(4) with
perseverance (<480609>Galatians 6:9).
3. All, both words
and deeds, must be done in the Name of the Lord. They
must have supreme reference to him (<461031>1 Corinthians 10:31); they must
be done under his warrant or authority, in the strength of
his grace, after
his own glorious example, and with ultimate regard to his
glory.
4. Christian
obedience must all the while be mingled with thanksgiving to
God the Father. We
thank him
(1) for the ability
to do all our works in the Lord’s Name;
(2) for our liberty
in Christ;
(3) for our victory
over sin;
(4) for our manifold
blessings in Christ.
II. REASONS
FOR THE CONSECRATION OF OUR WHOLE LIFE
TO THE LORD. We ought to be more circumspect than others in
our
words and deeds:
1. Because “we live
and die to the Lord.” (<451408>Romans 14:8.) We are
“the Lord’s.”
2. Because we are
entrusted with such blessings. “Because God hath
bestowed upon them more blessings, and therefore as he
gives more
wages, requires more work.”
3. Because we are
more observed than others. Therefore we must “walk
circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (<490515>Ephesians 5:15).
4. Because we have
the prospect of an abundant reward according to our
works. — T. C.
HOMILIES BY R. M. EDGAR
Vers. 1, 2. —
The heavenly life.
Paul has been warning his Colossian converts against the
superstitious
interest in ceremonies which the false teachers tried to
foster; and now he
passes to the higher things and thoughts which should
occupy the soul. He
speaks of their resurrection with Christ if they are real
converts, and of the
consequent duty of living a heavenly life, which consists
in setting one’s
heart upon heavenly things in contrast to the things which
are upon the
earth. He further shows that this heavenly life is to end
in a glorious
manifestation at the second advent of Christ. The line of
thought here is
consequently of the highest character.
I. THE
DEATH TO EARTHLY THINGS. (Ver. 3.) The apostle here
affirms that the Colossian Christians “died” (Revised
Version). Now, this
represents a distinct element in Christian experience; it
means that the soul
passes through a death to earthly things — to sin and the
allurements of the
flesh, just as our Lord died upon the tree. The Crucifixion
must have its
counterpart within us. We die to the attractions of the
world. “The dead,”
says Augustus Hare, in a sermon on this passage, “know not
nor care for
anything in this world. Their love and hatred and envy are
clean wiped out.
A dead man is as cold and motionless as a stone, to all
that the living make
the greatest stir about. How perfectly, then, how entirely,
ought we to be
free from sin, in order to be dead to it! It is not
enough to keep from
outward acts of sin, if the heart cherishes any secret
liking for it. This is not
dying to it. Before we can attain to that perfect sinlessness,
our hearts must
be as completely closed against the tempter as if we were
nailed down in
our coffins; our ears must be deaf to his voice; our eyes
must be blind to
his charms. We must not only give up every evil practice;
we must also
stifle every evil desire. Nothing less can deserve the name
of being dead to
sin. This, then, is the perfection of innocency which we
are to strive after.”
Now, every true Christian has experienced in larger or
smaller measure this
deadening to things earthly which has its perfect ideal in
absolute death.
The world has not the attractions for our deadened hearts
that it once had.
II. THE
RESURRECTION TO NEWNESS OF LIFE. (Ver. 1.)
Simultaneously with the death to things earthly comes the
resurrection to
newness of life. We are regarded as rising along with
Christ out of our
grave in trespasses and in sins (<490202>Ephesians 2:2-5) and entering into a
new lifo unto God. Our Lord’s life after his resurrection
is thus the type of
our new life. As our Lord entered by resurrection into an immortal
life
such as he had not before he suffered, according to his
words, “I am he
that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for
evermore;” so
believers enter by resurrection into a new life essentially
different from the
old. We have passed by faith “from death unto life.” “A
resurrection,” says
Liddon, “is a transfer from one state to another. It is a
passage from the
darkness of the tomb to the sunshine of the upper air. It
is an exchange of
the coldness, stillness, corruption of death, for the
warmth and movement
and undecayed energies of life.” We have in resurrection
attained to “life
eternal.”
III. THE
ASCENSION INTO HEAVENLY RELATIONS. (Vers. 1, 2.)
Not only does Paul regard believers as “raised together
with Christ,” but
also as bound to ascend in spirit into heavenly relations.
“The things which
are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of
God,” are to
concern us. Our mind is to be set upon these things instead
of upon the
things that are upon the earth, Having so risen with
Christ, we are bound
to show the reality of our resurrection by leading a new
life and seeking the
things that are above. “As Christ did not break loose from
the grave,” says
Hare, “to tarry on earth, but, having risen from the dead,
ascended into
heaven, so, instead of lingering among the things of earth,
we too should
ascend into heaven in heart and mind, and dwell there with
him
continually.” Now, suppose we ascended into heaven and sat
down with
Christ upon his throne (<490206>Ephesians 2:6),
what should we realize about
our relations to heavenly things?
1. We should realize
that Christ is our Life. The heavenly world depends
consciously upon Jesus for its glorious existence. He is
the Life of each and
of all. As the source of life, he is there beyond the reach
of change, an
exhaustless Fountain.
2. We should realize
that Christ is the Object of supreme affection. The
celestial world not only traces all its life to Jesus, but
centres all its love in
him. To love him with all the soul, heart, mind, and
strength is deemed, not
the duty merely, but the constant privilege of all. He is
the Beloved One
who is loved beyond all conception.
3. We should realize
that Christ’s kingdom and reign are the supreme
concern of the whole heavenly world. Angels and redeemed ones alike
bend in rapturous interest over the progress of Christ’s
kingdom and
inquire doubtless in what ways they can promote it. The
heavenly life is
thus a life of hope for the triumph of that sacred cause
which centres in the
Son of God.
4. We should realize
that Christ’s second advent in glory is to be the date
of our glorification with him. The heavenly world not only awaits Christ’s
triumph, but also his manifestation as the glorified
Saviour. And in that
manifestation of the Son the other sons of God are to
share. So that the
second advent of Christ into this world is a distinct
matter of hope to the
celestial inhabitants. Now, in all these ways we can in
this life realize
heavenly relations. We can regard Christ as our Life,
hidden, doubtless,
from the eye of sense, but palpable to faith, and rejoice
in him as our
Divine and exhaustless Source of life. We can set our
heart’s supreme
affections on him, loving him and all he loves for his own
dear sake. We
can make his kingdom and reign our supreme concern, every
other thought
being subsidiary and tributary to this. We can, lastly,
hope for and love his
appearing as the time for the manifestation of the sons of
God. Thus shall
we live the heavenly life on earth. Thus shall we show that
we are more
citizens of the other world than of this, and that we are
contemplating the
time of our emigration with satisfaction. We have
acquainted ourselves
with the nature of the country we are going to; we have
studied the guide
book and consulted the faithful and true Witness about
heavenly things; the
soil and climate of the better land are not altogether
unknown. Its holy and
fragrant air, its religious and happy spirit, its bountiful
conditions, we have
tried to realize, and when we are transferred to it we feel
persuaded we
shall be at home. — R.M.E.
Vers. 5-11. —
Mortification after death.
Paul, having spoken of our death to earthly things and of
our heavenly life,
speaks next of mortification as succeeding death. It seems
at first sight
strange, yet, when analyzed, it is seen to convey most
important truth. To
quote from Coder’s ‘Etudes Bibliques:’ “When this apostle
[Paul] wishes
to teach us how one may attempt to die to sin and to live
to God, see how
he expresses himself: ‘Reckon that you are dead to
sin and living unto
God in Jesus Christ our Lord’ (<450611>Romans 6:11). This language is but
little conformed to that of reason. Human wisdom says,
‘Disengage
yourself little by little from the bonds of sin; learn
gradually to love God
and live for him.’ But in such a way we should never break
radically with
sin and we should never give ourselves completely unto God.
We dwell in
the dark and troubled atmosphere of our own nature and we
cannot
contemplate the full blaze of the Divine holiness. Faith,
on the contrary,
raises us, in some sort by a bond, to the royal position
which Jesus Christ
now occupies and which in him is already ours. From that
position we see
sin under our feet; there we relish (savourons) the
life of God as our true
essence in Jesus Christ. Reason says, ‘Become holy
by being so.’ Faith
says, ‘ Thou art so; become it, then. Thou
art so in Christ; become it in
thine own person.’ Or, as St. Paul says to the <510303>Colossians 3:3, 5, ‘Ye
are dead; mortify, then,
your terrestrial members.’” Accordingly we have
here —
I. THE
IDEAL DEATH TO SIN. The only one in this world who was
really dead to sin was our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
His real
experience is only our ideal. Of course, we get the benefit
of his deadness
to sin. It encircles as with a halo all believers. But for
this very reason we
make it the ideal of our heart and aim after it. To be as
dead to the
allurements of earth as Jesus was upon the cross, as the
body of Jesus was
when in Joseph’s tomb, — this is the goal of our spiritual
ambition. Faith
bounds across the chasm which separates the real and ideal,
and reckons it
as already ours. Faith is thus victorious anticipation that
the ideal shall be
real one day.
II. THE
REALITY OF MORTIFYING OUR MEMBERS. (Vers. 5-9.)
The Colossians seem to have been chained by habits of gross
sin. It was no
simple matter to break the chain and assert their spiritual
freedom. Before
death sets in, when mortification of the physical kind is
approaching, the
suffering is intense. But once the part is deadened, pain
has ceased. This
has its spiritual counterpart. The process of mortification
is painful in the
extreme. The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the mind and
heart, cannot be
mortified by magic. It is a slow undermining of the sinful
nature, like the
crucifixion of the body. But we must be prepared for it,
and manfully must
we sit, like executioners, beside our darling sins and nail
them to Christ’s
cross.
III. THE
DIVINE WRATH AGAINST SIN HELPS US IN OUR
MORTIFICATION. (Ver. 6.) When we realize God’s attitude
towards our
darling sins, that they are abominable in his sight, and
that towards those
who cherish them his wrath must be manifested, then we are
determined to
prosecute our mortification work with the utmost zeal.
Those who throw
doubts upon the Divine anger have failed to appreciate what
a mighty
moral strength lies within it.
IV. THE
GLORIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS ALSO COMES THAT
CHRIST IS ALL AND IN ALL. (Ver. 11.) The old man, or old
nature,
being mortified, the new man, or new nature, which is in
the Divine image,
takes its place. But in addition Christ is realized as
dwelling within and
reinforcing our “better self.” By his indwelling all the old
distinctions of
Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian
and Scythian,
bond and free, are felt to be of no account; for, if Christ
dwells within each,
he secures the unity of all. It is this glorious
consummation which the
apostle contemplated. He rejoiced in the thought of
unification through the
indwelling Christ. “Our mind,” it has been said, “must
become Christ’s, as
Christ is God’s. Our very self consciousness, crucified
with him, must
cease to be our own. Only then can our work, as being of
God that
worketh in us, work out the true salvation, the deliverance
from selfseeking
self.” We may also refer to a sermon of Tholuck, in which
from
this eleventh verse he treats of “Christ before us
as our Pattern; Christ in
us as our Life; and Christ for us as
our Righteousness.” — R.M.E.
Vers. 12-17. —
The new life of love.
We have turned over a new leaf, so to speak, in these
verses. The old life
we have to mortify gives place to a new life of love which
we have to
develop. Now, the moment we speak of love, we are
brought into relations
with others. It is the social Christian life, therefore, of
which Paul here
speaks. As already seen, he is aiming at the unity of
the Church. Here we
have the means by which it is secured. Let us briefly
analyze this life of
love.
I. IT
HAS A HEART OF COMPASSION. (Ver. 12, Revised Version.) All
the emotion which misfortune evokes in the heart of God is
to have its
counterpart in the heart of his people. “Kindness,
humility, meekness, and
long suffering” are to be in exercise within us
continually. The apparent
drawbacks in others are thus transfigured by our kindly
spirit into helps to
unity.
II. IT
HAS A FORGIVINGNESS LIKE THAT OF GOD. (Ver. 13.)
Church members and those outside the Church will, from time
to time, be
guilty of injustice towards us; we may have just ground of
complaint. But
how our brother’s offences dwindle into utter
insignificance when
compared with the offences we have ourselves committed
against God! It
will not do to be severe on our debtors after God has been
so forgiving
towards ourselves (<401821>Matthew
18:21-35). If we cultivate a God-like
forgivingness, then we shall be promoting constantly the
unity of the
Church.
III. LOVE
IS ITS BOND OF PERFECTNESS. (Ver. 14.) We need only
study 1 Corinthians 13. to see how love is the
all-important matter. It is
what brings the whole life into harmony. For love expresses
the willingness
of the person to give himself to the good of others. It is
the principle of the
new life, without which it cannot exist.
IV. GOD’S
PEACE RULES AND EVOKES MAN’S GRATITUDE.
(Ver. 15.) For when we are God like in our compassion,
forgiveness, and
love, we find a peaceful temper laying hold of us. We
cannot war with
others, but must follow the things that make for peace. To
the unity of
peace we feel that God has called us. He has been our
Peacemaker and the
Peacemaker of many more, and so we dwell in the unity of
the one mystical
body, And surely such a state of mind and heart is
something to be thankful
for. A grateful spirit for our personal peace and for the
peace which
permeates through the Church of God.
V. GOD’S
WORD IS TRANSLATED INTO HEARTFELT PRAISE.
(Ver. 16.) For we can only sustain the new life by the
reception of God’s
quickening Word. It must dwelt within us richly. And if it
do, it will evoke
praise from our grateful hearts. We will sing in our social
gatherings one to
another, and be mutually helpful. The meetings of the
saints shall be of a
most joyful character. And what a unifying element is
always found in
social praise! How it blends our hearts into unity as we
praise the one
Lord. The very harmony of the music catches our souls and
blends them
into something like the harmony of heaven.
VI. ALL
LIFE BECOMES SACRAMENTAL. (Ver. 17.) There can be no
idle words nor random deeds in the new life. All is
consecrated to the
Lord. His Name is our banner, and under it all is done. God
has thus come
and made “the common” clean, and the life on earth
is like the great sheet
of the Apostle Peter, in which the four footed beasts and
creeping things
were pure. Into every nook and cranny of the new life the
consecrated
spirit is carried. The meanest matters are thus lifted into
heavenly light, and
God reigns over all. Thus it is that the sacramental
element is carried into
all things, and we feel that “the communion of the Lord’s
Supper is meant
to be a sample of, and not an exception to, our common
days; and in the
rite there lies a mighty power to make the whole of the
rest of life like
itself.” Arnold has a curious sermon on this text, in which
he advocates the
consecration in the making of “wills.” But this is only an
illustration of a
universal principle which God requires in the Christian
life. There is to be
no exception to consecration. In a grateful spirit we are
to do all in Christ’s
Name. May it be our single ambition! — R.M.E.
Ver. 18-ch. 4:1.
—
Christianity remodelling the ancient household.
The unity of the Church, which Paul has in view, is to have
its counterpart
and model in the unity of the Christian household. The
Church is only an
enlarged family. Hence Church officers are to serve their
apprenticeship in
the matter of rule in the family. If they are not able to
rule their own
families well, they have no business to take office in the
Church of God
(<540302>1 Timothy 3:2, 12). Of necessity, therefore, Christianity
takes up the
household and sanctifies it. The relation of Christianity
to family life is
most important. In the present section Paul takes up three
relations and
shows how love is to regulate them all.
I. THE
RELATIONS OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES. (Vers 18, 19)
Now, it is well known that women did not get justice under
the ancient
regime, and yet the
apostle exhorts the wives to be in subjection to their
husbands, as is fitting in the Lord (Revised Version).
Christianity has
emphasized the passive virtues; it glorifies woman,
therefore, by showing
to the world how glorious a thing it is to be subject and
even to suffer for
love. Apparently this
is to neglect “women’s rights,” but really it has
secured them. It is in woman lovingly filling her station
that she secures,
not only her rights, but absolutely her reign. Husbands,
again, are exhorted
to give up all bitterness against their wives and to love
them. Elsewhere he
shows that the measure of the husband’s love is to be the
love of Christ for
his Church; that is, a love which can be self sacrificing
if need be, and
which will be considerate at all times (<490522>Ephesians 5:22-33). In such a
case, how harmonious family life proves! The stronger and
the weaker
natures are blended by love into one. Each has its sphere,
and there need be
no collision amid the responsibilities of love.
II. THE
RELATIONS OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. Here, again, the
apostle appeals first to the weaker side. He wishes
children to think how
pleasing to the Father in heaven obedience is, and, as he
has put their
parents over them to be obeyed, the children should obey
them in all
things. There is to be strict obedience in all things to
the natural authority.
On the other hand, the fathers are exhorted not to provoke
the children by
their tyranny, lest the little ones be discouraged. Paul
saw no such danger
from the mother’s rule. A mother comes with a
tenderness and sympathy
such as the harder nature of the father cannot always
command. This
exhortation to fathers is surely a great triumph for
the mother.
III. THE
RELATIONS OF MASTERS TO SLAVES. And here, again,
Paul appeals first to the slaves. He does not encourage
revolt, but the
conquest which comes through loving obedience. Let the
slave simply obey
in the fear and love of God; let him do his work, not in a
spirit of eye
service as a pleaser of men, but in a spirit of
conscientiousness as a slave of
Christ, and he may rest assured of compensation from his
Master in due
season. This is liberty — the liberty of love, even though
he is still
nominally a slave. It is this Christian spirit which has
made its mark and
won the sympathy of the world, and issued in the
emancipation of the
slaves. Although Christianity apparently neglected the
slaves, it has really
been their deliverer. For what has it insisted on among the
masters? On
justice. Above them it has pointed out a heavenly Master,
with whom there
is no respect of persons, and who will do right by slave as
well as by
freeman, and give all their due. The gospel has contended
for justice as
between man and man, and the world is gradually coming to
it. This
freedom from respect of persons which characterizes God is
a terror at
once to the evil-doing slave and to the evil-doing master.
If we could bring
the world to this, men’s wrongs would soon be righted. We
are coming to
it, blessed be God, steadily. The Christianized household
is thus seen to be
a unity. Husbands and wives are united in love’s best
bonds. Parents and
children are united in beautiful authorities and
subordinations. And masters
and servants are united as subjects and servants of the one
Master in
heaven. It is the one God of love, who, as he overshadows
all, unifies them
in a life of love, which is the greatest witness he can
have on earth. Let us
see to it that the Christian spirit in all its beautiful
and unifying power
reigns in our households and fulfils within them the work
of God. —
R.M.E.
HOMILIES R. FINLAYSON
Vers. 1-4. —
Our risen life.
“If then ye were raised together with Christ.” At this
point the apostle
leaves the polemical and begins the practical. Doctrine
again forms the
foundation for exhortation. As in combating asceticism he
proceeded upon
the fact that we were sharers with Christ in his death, so
in presenting a
substitute for asceticism, he proceeds upon the fact that
we were sharers
with him in his resurrection. Our being baptized with him
extended, not
only to our dying with him, but also to our rising with
him.
I. ITS
HEAVENWARD DIRECTION.
1. In its
connection with Christ. “Seek the things that are above, where
Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.” It was when we
were raised
with Christ that we were introduced to the things that are
above. There,
henceforth, we found our proper sphere. Our being must now
ever, and
increasingly, tend thitherward. The things that are above
we are to seek
supremely. They are the only things which are worthy of
being sought in
the fullest sense. Of the heavenly sphere Christ is the
blessed and glorious
Centre. He is, in a word, the things that are above. He is
here mentioned
with a local reference. The time was when he was on earth
and mingled
with men. He was seen by the eleven disciples going up into
heaven. He
was seen by the dying Stephen standing on the right hand of
God. And we
are to think of him as still stationed (“seated,” it is
here, and according to
the usual conception) on the right hand of God. To him,
then, must our
being now and ever tend. He has gone into heaven to draw
our desires and
affections after him and up toward him. We are to turn to
him with our
whole desire. We are to turn to him for all that we
neon. Our spiritual life
cannot be maintained without the things that are above in
the shape of
heavenly blessing, s descending on us, and we must turn to
him for their
bestowal (in regal manner, seeing that he occupies the seat
of rule). We
must turn to him with the whole affection of our
being. For he is a Person
(the Manifester of God, and Author of our salvation), and
is pronounced
“the altogether lovely.” And to be powerfully drawn toward
him is the only
way to be delivered from that in regard to which asceticism
is pronounced
ineffective, viz. the temptations of the flesh. Drawn
toward him, we are
drawn away from all that should be below us, and we are
drawn up to the
things which are high. We have thus, though on earth, a
great elevation for
our being. And, in accordance with it, we should look
high, even up to him
who is seated on the right hand of God.
2. In its contrast
with an earthward direction. “Set your mind on the things
that are above, not on the things that are .upon the
earth.” There is a word
employed here with a slightly different meaning from
“seek.” The idea is
that we are to be so drawn to the things that are above as
that they are to
occupy our thoughts. There is not only the sphere of the
things that are
above, but there is the sphere of the things that are upon
the earth, to
which also we are related. We are not to think of the
latter with a sinful
association. The things upon the earth have been made by
God, and are,
therefore, good in themselves. But they are evidently
placed in a certain
subordination. They are things upon the earth, in contrast
with the things
that are above. It is implied that they are not to be
sought supremely, but
(if they would be sought truly according to their nature
and purpose) with
a due subordination and subservience to the things that are
above. We are
not to allow them to occupy our thoughts. And the reason is
obvious. They
cannot so fill up our being as to bring about our
perfection and happiness.
De Quincey thus concludes his apostrophe to opium: “Thou
only givest
these gifts to men; and thou hast the keys of Paradise, O
just, subtle, and
mighty opium!” But the opium-eater’s Paradise easily
changes into its
opposite. There is a fluctuation connected with all things
that are upon the
earth. And we know that soon our whole earthly prospect
will dissolve.
That is intended to teach us this lesson, that we are not
to set our mind on
earthly things. We are not to feel toward them as though
they were
essential to our being. But, feeling them to be limited in
quality and
duration, we are to set our mind on that which is unlimited
in quality and
duration.
II. ITS
HIDDEN NATURE.
1. We are dead to
the outwardness of the worldly life. “For ye died.” There
is a hiddenness connected with the worldly life which is
not to be spoken
of. “My soul, come not thou into their secret.” But the
worldly life is
characteristically a life in the outward. It is a life
within the sphere of the
five senses. It is a life of communion and commerce with
earthly things. It
is a life which has its roots in the world. It is a life
the highest ambition of
which is to appear well to the world, and to continue to
appear well. Now,
as Christians, we are dead, so far as going after the outward
is concerned.
We occupy a different standpoint altogether. We are dead
where men of
the world are alive. And the course we have to take, in
obedience to
Christ, may even bring us into collision with the world.
2. It is a life
hidden with Christ in God. “And your life is hid with Christ in
God.”
(1) It is hidden
from the world. We are in a position to
comprehend the
worldly life from our experience of what sin is. But the
Christian life is
beyond the comprehension of men of the world, for they have
had no
experience of it. They have no affinities to it, and,
therefore, it is an enigma
to them, as nature and art are to those who have no
appreciation of the
beautiful. They see the manifestations of the Christian
life, but they cannot
appreciate the motives by which we are actuated, the
principles by which
we are guided.
(2) It is partly
hidden from ourselves. There is a mystery
in all life. We cut
into a plant to find what life is, but it eludes the finest
perception.
Christians, then, cannot be expected to understand the
mystery of the life
of God in the soul. And, apart from that, we can only
imperfectly
understand our experiences. Our life goes forward according
to the
thought and working of One unseen.
(3) It is a life
of hidden fellowship with Christ. It commenced
in that
region of the soul which is penetrated only by our own eye
and by the eye
of God. There with Christ we dedicated ourselves to him.
There we have
fellowship with Christ, in our joys, even in our earthly
joys. There we have
fellowship with Christ in our sorrows, even our sorrows of
repentance and
painful struggles after virtue. And there he is with us to
encourage us in all
the efforts we put forth for the advancement of his cause.
(4) It is hidden
in God. The worldly life has its roots in
the world. The life
which consists in fellowship with Christ is hidden because
it is lived in God.
He is essentially hidden — the invisible God; he is called
in this Epistle,
elsewhere, a God that hideth himself. Our life, then, has
its roots hidden in
him, in his eternal purpose and inexhaustible goodness.
III. ITS
FUTURE MANIFESTATION. “When Christ, who is our Life,
shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be
manifested in glory.”
The Christian life is to be manifested to men. We are to
make our light so
shine before men that others, seeing our good works, may
glorify our
Father which is in heaven. But the manifestation referred
to here is that to
which we are to look forward as the crown of our being.
1. It results frown
our relation to Christ. Our life is not only with him, but
he is our Life. He is the life of our life. The
essential thing in the relation
here is that, thus living within us, he gives type and form
to our life.
2. It results from
his manifestation. There is a manifestation yet before
him. “When Christ… shall be manifested.” It is implied that
at present he is
in a condition of concealment. He is concealed from the
world. Many think
that he and his cause are under a cloud. He is, to a
certain extent,
manifested in heaven; but he is not manifested in the full
meaning of his
work, in his full glory as Saviour. His manifestation will
be our
manifestation. We shall he completely vindicated before
men. It will be
made completely manifest that we are sons of God and
friends of Christ.
Christ within us will work out till we are made glorious in
body and in soul
with his glory. — R.F.
Vers. 5-11. —
Dying before rising.
There is an alternating between dying and rising.
Having carried out the
idea of rising, the apostle goes back to the idea of dying;
and, before this
paragraph is concluded, he goes back to the idea of rising.
I. MORTIFYING
OF OUR MEMBERS WITH REFERENCE TO TWO
SINS. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
earth.” It is
not a ground of condemnation that our members are upon the
earth. The
idea is simply the members through which we hold
correspondence with
earth. Of these members, collectively, the apostle says, “I
beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies a living
sacrifice.” Our members may be instruments of righteousness
or
instruments of unrighteousness. We are to mortify them by
refusing to use
them as instruments of unrighteousness.
1. Sensuality. “Fornication,
uncleanness, passion, evil desire.” There are
four words used to describe this sin. The first describes a
special form of
uncleanness. The second is wider, and includes all forms of
uncleanness.
The third is wider still, and describes such heated desire
as may lead to
uncleanness. The fourth is widest of all, and includes all
such desire as
implies want of purity of feeling.
2. Covetousness. “And
covetousness, the which is idolatry.” The article
being used with “covetousness” (not with the other four
words) indicates
the introduction of a new class. These four form one class;
and this fifth is
a class by itself. The fact that it is associated (as in
Ephesians) with forms
of sensuality marks the sense which the apostle had of its
evil character.
There is not here the thought that it is to be among the
things which are
not to be named. But there is the thought, which follows in
Ephesians, that
covetousness is idolatry; that is to say, idolatry by pre-eminence.
Sensuality is also idolatry. It is making an idol of self in
the form of lower
and momentary enjoyment. Covetousness has a certain aspect
of
unselfishness. It is a giving up of present enjoyment; it
is a giving up even
of future enjoyment. But when unveiled it is really a more
systematic form
of selfishness. It is making an idol of self, not in the
form of future
enjoyment, but (which is no better) in the form of the means
of future
enjoyment. And experience shows that the one idol is less
readily
dethroned than the other. The next thought (which
also follows in
Ephesians) is that for these sins God deals with men. “For
which things’
sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of
disobedience.” They
disobey, for the first commandment is “Thou shalt have no
other gods
before me.” They transgress the laws of the body; they
transgress also the
laws of the spiritual nature. They not only disobey, but
they persist in
courses of disobedience. They are the sons of
disobedience. They are as
though they had disobedience as their father; so vile is
their parentage.
They refuse the gospel, by which they could be delivered
from their evil
courses. And therefore it is that the wrath of God cometh
upon them. It
cometh upon them incipiently now. It cometh upon
them in the shape of a
materializing of the
spirit. It cometh upon them in the shape of inward
dispeace. It cometh
upon them in the shape of disturbance from without
(bodily malady, loss of estate, loss of respect,
complications). God has
many ways of showing his displeasure against men for these
sins even now,
and his displeasure will yet be more decidedly manifested. The
next thought
(which also follows, though not under the same figure, in
Ephesians) is
that they were to remember their former participation in
these sins. “In the
which ye also walked aforetime, when ye lived in these
things.” In
heathenism they lived in an atmosphere which was pollution.
And then they
participated in these sins. If in this fact there was
danger of their being
decoyed hack to their former ways under false
representations, on the
other hand there was strength to be got from realizing how
much they had
benefited by the change from heathenism to Christianity. In
their present
joys and habits (for which they were indebted to Christ)
they had
wherewith to oppose temptations from their past.
II. THESE
AND OTHER SINS TO BE PUT AWAY. “But now put ye
also [as well as others rescued from heathenism] away all
these.” There
seems to be a retrospective as well as a prospective
reference in the
injunction. The other sins are in two classes.
1. Sins of temper. “Anger, wrath, malice.” The first describes a more
settled, the second a
more eruptive, state of our feeling against others.
They are to be condemned
(1) when they are
accompanied with want of self possession;
(2) when they are
accompanied with want of reasonable ground;
(3) when they are
accompanied with malice or anything like delight
in the evil condition of others.
When these elements are wanting, they are not to be
condemned, but need
to be carefully watched.
2. Sins of speech. “Railing,
shameful speaking out of your mouth.” Railing
is speaking abusively (it may not be clamorously) against
others. This is to
be condemned when it is accompanied with foulness of speech
(shameful
speaking). The mouth should not be prostituted to such
uses. “Lie not one
to another.” We are not even to lie to ourselves. We
are not to make
ourselves believe that we are other (even worse) than we
really are. We are
not to see things other than they really are. We are not to
lie to others. We
are not to make it appear to them that we are other than we
really are. We
are not to make them out to be other (even better) than
they really are. We
are not to state things to be other than they really are.
We are to put away
all falsehood from our intercourse with others. Reason
given for putting
away the last and all the sins that have been named. “Seeing that ye have
put off the old man with his doings.” Our old condition is
personified as
“the old man.” His doings have been pointed to. In
baptism we put off the
old man with his doings. We must not be as though
unregenerate. We must
have nothing to do with practices the time of which is
past.
III. THE
PUTTING ON IN’ THE NEW LIFE. “And have put on the new
man.” Our recent condition is personified as “the new man.”
There is a
prefacing with two important statements.
1. There is a
distinctly defined renewal constantly going on. “Which is
being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that
created him.” It
may be said that Christ perfected the new condition for us.
As appropriated
by us, it is in the way of a constant renewal of our life.
As in a tree, so with
us, with repeated endeavours there ever results fresh
accession of life. The
end of the renewal is here said to be knowledge. The
false teachers claimed
wisdom, claimed by their philosophy to give the power to
know. The
apostle shows how knowledge was to be come to. He thinks of
it as the
terminus of a long process of renewal. It is the word which
means
thorough knowledge, i.e.
of God and redemption. There is thus accordance
with the great statement, “And this is life eternal, that
they should know
thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even
Jesus Christ.”
There is nothing foreign to our nature in this renewal. God
made us in his
own image. He designed a renewal to go forward in us
according to a God
like type. He designed in our renewal that we should come
to the thorough
knowledge of himself. And this is what redemption effects
for us.
2. In respect of
this renewal earthly distinctions are of no importance.
“Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and
uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman: but Christ is all,
and in all.” There
is a parallel passage in <480328>Galatians
3:28. The first distinction there
(“neither Jew nor Greek”) may be said to cover the first
three distinctions
here. Distinction is denied as to nationality (“Greek and
Jew”). Distinction
is denied as to religious position (“circumcision and
uncircumcision”).
Distinction is denied as to culture; and here the apostle
does not take the
extremes of culture; but more strikingly takes those who to
the cultured
Greeks were barbarians, and to them opposes the
Scythians who were
barbarians to the barbarians. Distinction is denied as to social status
(“bondman, freeman”), which distinction had significance in
the early
Christian Churches, from the number of slaves connected
with them, and
had special significance in the Colossian Church, from the
conversion of a
Colossian slave still with the apostle at Rome. There is
not, and cannot be,
any of these distinctions. In Galatians the apostle teaches
that there are no
distinctions on the ground of our sonship in Christ. Here
he teaches that
there are no distinctions (in keeping with the thought of
the pre-eminence
of Christ) on the ground of Christ being all and in
all in the great renewal.
(1) Christ is all
in the renewed. The great need of our
nature is to be
renewed, and Christ fully meets that need. He gives the
whole contents and
form to our renewal. United
to Christ by faith, we become receptacles of
Christ. The pleroma dwells in him, and that pleroma
floods our being with
light, with strength, with purity, with all things. Renewed
only from Christ,
our life manifests itself only in Christian forms.
(2) Christ is all
in all the renewed. Men were broken up
into classes,
castes. The Jew drew back from the uncircumcised; the
Greek despised
the barbarian; the barbarian despised the Scythian; the
freeman despised the
bondman. The apostle points to the fact that the great
renewal takes place
in all alike. Alike in being created in the image of God,
they are also alike
in the renewal that takes place on that ground and
according to that fact.
The poor Scythian can be filled full and beautified in the
possession of
Christ as well as the Greek, the bondman as well as the
freeman. In view of
this essential identity, all these earthly distinctions
become of no account.
— R.F.
Vers. 12-17. —
What particularly we are to put on. How we are addressed.
“Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved.” The
Colossian
Christians had been elected by God out of a state of
heathenism. By
arrangements over which they had exercised no control, the
gospel had
been brought to them and had been the means of their
conversion. As
elected by God, they were consecrated to God and were in
the enjoyment
of the Divine love. The Colossian Christians were not
exceptional. We
have been elected by God out of the ungodly state of our
own hearts and
out of the ungodly influences that more or less prevail in
a semi-Christian
state of society. Thus brought into a true Christian state,
and in that state
devoted to God, and the recipients of many tokens of the
Divine favour, it
becomes us to fed the force of it in reference to our duty.
I. THE
CHRISTIAN FORMS OF LOVE. The concluding representation
is that all are bound together by love.
1. “A heart of
compassion.” In the original there is
indicated the supposed
seat of the sympathetic feelings. In heathenism it was
rather a heart of
cruelty that was worn. The weak were down trodden and
neglected. The
softening influence of Christianity appears in our
hospitals and asylums, in
our abhorrence of oppression, in the missionary enterprise.
There is a fine
sensibility to the miseries of others in those who have
felt the Divine
compassions toward them. Especially are we to feel the
sorrows of our
fellow Christians.
2. “Kindness.” We may
show kindness where there is nothing to draw forth
compassion. Under all circumstances are we to be king.
There is nothing
which we can wear outwardly to be compared with kindness.
“Kind hearts
are more than coronets.” Kindness is the disposition to
think about others,
it adds greatly to the joy of their existence to let them
see (even in little
ways) that we are not forgetting them, but are giving them
a place in our
thoughts. As God’s holy and beloved, we are to be the
vehicles of the
Divine thoughtfulness.
3. “Humility.” As a
Christian grace, humility is founded upon the fact of
our having humbled ourselves before God as sinners. As a
form of love, it
is the disposition which forbids us to exalt ourselves over
others. It is a
form of selfishness simply to wish to give others a sense
of our importance
and of their unimportance. Rather does love impel us to
sink our own
importance and to prefer them.
4. “Meekness.” This is
founded on the fact of God being the First Cause of
the provocation received from others. As a form of love, it
is the
disposition which prompts us to endure rather than retaliate
on those who
have wronged us.
5. “Long
suffering.” This is founded on the fact of God having suffered
long and much with us. As a form of love, it is the
disposition which
forbids us to weary of the good of others. It is enduring
in hope.
6. “Forbearing one
another.” Forbearance seems to be the practical
exhibition of the last disposition. It is implied that we
all need to have
forbearance exercised toward us, as well as to exercise
forbearance
ourselves.
7. “And forgiving
each other, if any man have a complaint against any.”
It is here “each other,” with a look forward to the thought
of our being all
first forgiven by Christ. Just cause of complaint has
already been supposed.
How are we, as just complainants against a brother, to act?
We are not
merely to endure and to endure for his good, but we are to
advance to
positive forgiveness. That is to say, in love we are to
remove the
complaint, so that it is as though it had never been. The
highest example of
forgiveness. “Even as
the Lord forgave you, so also do ye.” The Lord had
just complaint against us; who shall estimate what it was?
But he carried
out a work for us the purport of which was the removal of
the complaint.
That we have appropriated, and now we are in the position
of those from
whom complaint has been removed. Forgiveness is usually
associated with
God, but in this Epistle, in which prominence is given to
the Person of
Christ, it is associated with him. The fact of Christ being
called here “the
Lord” points to the fact that, as his servants, we are
bound by his example.
If the Lord has so acted, servants must not nurse their
wrath. The seven
graces bound together by love. “And above all these things put on love,
which is the bond of perfectness.’’ There is the perfect
number, and they
are bound in the bond of perfectness. Love is thought of as
the girdle
which binds the garments which have been put on. We have
seen its
presence in all the seven. They are simply love in seven
different relations.
There is thus no looseness about them, but they constitute
a perfect whole.
II. THE
CHRISTIAN FORM OF CONCORD. “And let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were
called in one body.”
The peace which is the principle of concord is
distinctively the peace of
Christ. That is to say, it is the peace which Christ
possessed and which he
left as a legacy to his disciples. He possessed a holy
feeling of tranquillity in
view of death and under the wrongs which were heaped upon
him, in the
enjoyment of his Father’s love and in the conscious and
complete carrying
out of his Father’s purposes of love toward men. And this
holy feeling of
tranquility it is intended that we too should have, in all
circumstances (in
our case based on the atonement), in the enjoyment of our
Father’s love
and in the conscious endeavour to carry out his purposes of
love. The
peace of Christ is to rule in our hearts. In the
margin it is “arbitrate.” And
some have thought the meaning to be that, between
contending feelings,
the peace of Christ is to act as umpire. But the meaning
seems simply to be
that it is to rule so as to put down all disquieting
feeling, and so that we
have it toward God and toward all around us. The one
body is here
thought of as a society in which all are called to a holy
feeling of
satisfaction. It is, therefore, a society in which concord
(out of a Christian
ground) reigns. “And be ye thankful.” This is the
recurrence of what has
been noticed as a subordinate feature in the Epistle. What
we are to be
thankful for is the tranquility which makes concord.
III. THE
CHRISTIAN FORMS OF RELIGIOUS EXERCISE.
1. The reception of
the Word. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly
in all wisdom.” The Word also is distinctively the Word of
Christ. That is
to say, it is the Word which Christ spake and which he
caused to be
proclaimed. It may be taken as including inspired
additions. There is a
great richness in the Word of Christ. It contains all the
thoughts that are
needed to give us peace, guidance, strengthening,
heartening, under earthly
conditions. We are to receive it to be our permanent
possession. We are to
receive it, not scantily, but in all its richness. We
are to receive it in all
wisdom, that is, in
all wise apprehension of its meaning, and not in the way
of false interpretation.
2. Christian song. In
Ephesians this is introduced as a counteractive of
false excitement, as one of the manifestations of a true
excitement of the
Spirit. Here it is introduced as the result of the
indwelling of the Word of
Christ. It was out of no cold heart, but out of a heart of
summer gladness,
that the Word of Christ came, and, received into us, it
wells up in all joyful
feelings which find expression in song.
(1) Responsive
song. “Teaching and admonishing one
another with psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs.” The historic psalms and
other
compositions used in the service of praise which are called
hymns, fall
under the head of “spiritual songs.” In Ephesians the idea
of responsiveness
was brought out in the words “speaking one to another.”
Here it is said
more definitely “teaching and admonishing one another.” The
principal
purpose of song is to enliven. But the apostle here
teaches, that it is not
aside from its principal purpose to teach and admonish. And
this subsidiary
didactic, monitory purpose it is fitted to serve from its
being the outcome
of the Word of Christ.
(2) Silent song. “Singing with grace in your hearts unto God.” This singing
is only in the ear of God. Our other exercises are heard by
God too. For it
is said, “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to
another: and the
Lord hearkened, and heard it.” But this is for self
edification, with God as
the only listener. It is singing with grace, not with
gracefulness, but with
the grace that preserves from vanity, from extravagance,
and enriches with
all Christian elements.
IV. THE
CHRISTIAN FORM OF SPEAKING AND ACTING. “And
whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the Name of
the Lord
Jesus.” This, like the others, is associated with Christ.
His being called
“Jesus” points to his having been a speaker and doer in
human nature
himself. The meaning is, not that we are formally to invoke
the Name of
Christ in connection with our speaking and doing. But they
are to be
according to the rules laid down by Christ and as unto
Christ. They will
thus be redeemed from all mere naturalness and all sinful
elements that mix
with them, and will have a richness as from the Word of
Christ. “Giving
thanks to God the Father through him.” This is again the
refrain of the
Epistle, with a certain prominence. Our thanksgivings are
to be unto the
Father. We are to give thanks through Christ as Mediator.
It is only
through him that we have leave to thank God. It is only
through him that
we have anything to thank God for. It is through him that
all the blessings
of salvation come to us; and so it is through him that we
are to thank God
for them. — R.F.
Ver. 18-ch. 4:1. —
Relative duties,
The two considerations on which the apostle’s treatment of
the relative
duties here seems to be based are these:
1. The position of
authority is also relatively, by Divine constitution, the
stronger position.
2. Christ is to be
regarded as represented in the position of authority.
Throughout the paragraph he is designated in respect of his
authority. That
there may be no doubt about the reference, it is expressly
stated, in the
twenty-fourth verse, that Christ is Lord.
I. WIVES
AND HUSBANDS.
1. Wives. “Wives,
be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the
Lord.” The wife has the weaker position. “The weaker
vessel” is the
language used by Peter. She is more delicately constituted,
and is not so
fitted to fight her way in the world. She is made to lean
upon her husband,
and therefore it is fitting that in her duty she should
fall into a certain
subordination to him. This is not only fitting in itself,
but it is fitting in the
Lord. That is to say,
it is Christ who is over her in her husband. If, then,
she is a Christian wife, she has more than her husband to
regard in the
relation. She will be willing to be directed by Christ in
her husband.
2. Husbands. “Husbands,
love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”
The husband (“band of the house”) has the stronger
position. He is more
robustly constituted. He has a bolder judgment. And so the
controlling
power has been placed in him. But that does not point to
his using it for
selfish ends. Christ, as the Head of the Church, as is
brought out in
Ephesians, used his position only to love the Church and to
give himself up
for its deliverance. So it is the duty of the husband, as
the representative of
Christ in the relation, to love his wife and to protect her
weakness with his
strength. He is not to be a despot, putting bitterness into
his strength
against his wife; — that would be utterly inconsistent with
acting in the
Name of Christ.
II. CHILDREN
AND PARENTS.
1. Children. “Children,
obey your parents in all things, for this is well
pleasing in the Lord.” Children are at first utterly
helpless. And for a long
time they are dependent on their parents. Especially, in
their inexperience,
are they dependent on the experience of their parents. That
points to their
being obedient to their parents. The principle is, as
stated here, obedience
in all things, there
being no exception to it in the mere pleasure of the
child. In Ephesians the rule is grounded on its being right.
The rule for the
wife, we have seen, is grounded on its being fitting. The
rule for children
here is grounded on its being well pleasing. That is
to say, it is a beautiful
thing to see children subjecting their impulses, their
wishes, their plans, to
the better judgment, riper experience, of their parents. It
is a beautiful thing
to see them rendering prompt and universal obedience. This
is not only
beautiful in itself, but it is beautiful in the Lord. That
supposes that they
have given themselves to the Lord. In that case they will
regard their
parents as given them by the Lord. And not only so,
but they will regard
them as in the place of the Lord to them. It is
pre-eminently a beautiful
thing when children learn to reverence and obey their
parents, not simply as
their parents, but as placed over them by Christ.
2. Parents. “Fathers,
provoke not your children, that they be not
discouraged.” Parents (for we are to think of the whole
ruling power
relative to the children) have the stronger position. There
is great disparity
at first for purposes of rule, But they are not to use
their position to
provoke their children. That
is the coarse way of ruling. The rod, though
necessary at times, is not to be the substitute for reason.
It is also generally
the selfish way. Parents cannot take pains with
their children. They cannot
bear with their dulness. They have not the patience to deal
with their self
will so as to have it overcome. They cannot bear to have
their liberty
curtailed, their comfort disturbed, by their children. And
so they
passionately, tyrannically, carry out their pleasure on
their children. That is
not only to be condemned in itself, but it is especially to
be condemned in
those who should regard themselves as the representatives
of Christ to
their children. Christ does not act harshly to men. He does
not act harshly
to them. And therefore they should not act
harshly to their children. The
effects are, as might be expected, bad. The children are discouraged.
Youth is the time of hopefulness. With the wakening of the
powers hopes
spring forth. And parents have carefully to watch over the calling
forth of
the powers of their children. It is all important that
these be directed in a
Christian way. But children are easily discouraged. They
lose heart before
the difficulties connected with following out useful and
Christian aims. And
they need to have many words of encouragement spoken to
them. They
need to be shown what they can do. But to give them no
encouragement,
to treat them as though they were incapable of anything
great, to heap
reproaches on them, to punish them harshly, is to crush the
life out of
them. The breaking of the spirit is said to be the bane of
youth.
III. SERVANTS
AND MASTERS.
1. Servants.
(1) Rule. “Servants, obey in all things them that are your masters
according
to the flesh.” The slave was entirely at the mercy of his master.
God never
intended any one to be in that position. The servant with
whom we have
now to do occupies a very different position — still,
however, the weaker
position in the relation. And as for children, so for
servants, the rule is
obedience in all things. That is to say, within the proper
sphere of work
there is no exception founded on the mere pleasure of the
servant. When it
is said that obedience is to be rendered to them that are
masters according
to the flesh, there is a suggestion, though yet only a
suggestion, of a
relation to a higher Master.
(2) Principle. “Not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of
heart, fearing the Lord.” The principle is not men
pleasing, or regard
simply for the human master. That is not fitted to be a principle,
for it
proceeds on a variable element. It requires no more than
eye service, or as
it is here (as distinguished from Ephesians), acts of
eye service. The eye of
the master cannot always be on the servant. If, then, the
servant is
regulated by the eye of the master, his work must vary
accordingly, being
sometimes well done, sometimes ill done, and sometimes not
done at all.
The principle is fearing the Lord, or regard for the
Divine Master. We are
not to understand regard for the authority of Christ in
general, but regard
for the authority of Christ as represented in the master,
even in the slave
master. This is fitted to be law universal. For the eye, of
Christ, being all
seeing, is always on the servant. There is thus excluded
duplicity; there is
required singleness of service, or the eye always on Christ
in the work
done.
(3) Quality. “Whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not
unto men.” If the slave looked away to the Lord beyond his
master, then,
whatsoever he did, whether it was work great or small,
oppressive or not
oppressive, he could do it, not only with a sense of
freedom, but cordially.
Christ regarding his work and entering thoroughly into it,
he could do it
from his inmost being. And so when a Christian servant
falls in with a bad
master, he is not at liberty, as taught here, to do his
work grudgingly. He
has this reason in any case for heartiness in the work,
that he is rendering it
to One who is worthy.
(4) Encouragement.
“Knowing that from the Lord ye shall
receive the
recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ.”
This was a new
order of things, a new field of thought, for the slave. A
servant rightly
considers himself entitled to payment for his labour. The
slave was entitled
too; but he was not accustomed to look for payment.
Certainly he never
thought of being recompensed with an inheritance. In the
eye of the law he
could not hold an inheritance. He was only property
himself. And yet here,
as a freeman in Christ Jesus, it is promised that he would have
an
inheritance. This was nothing less than the inheritance
promised down the
ages to the people of God — the inheritance without any
subtraction from
it. This he would receive at the hands of the Rewarder of
his servants. He
was defrauded all his days of the just reward of his
labour; but the Lord
would see to his being recompensed, and in better kind. The
Lord whom
he served was no tyrant, but the Christ who had died for
bondman as well
as for freeman. And so the Christian servant can make sure
of being
recompensed. It should be a pleasure to serve the Lord
Christ now. It
should be a pleasure to serve him even without thought of
reward. But the
Lord Christ is of liberal mind, and will see to all hearty
work being
rewarded. And if the heartiness has been overlooked on
earth, the reward
will only be the greater in heaven.
(5) Warning. “For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong
that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.” If
a servant gives
eye service to his master, or in any form wrongs him, it is
not to be
supposed that the Lord Christ will overlook the wrong.
There will be a
receiving again for the wrong that he hath done. It will be
so much taken
from the final reward. Christ is partial neither to servant
nor to master, and,
in the final righting that is to take place between the
two, it will be seen
that his face is set only against wrong doing.
2. Masters. “Masters,
render unto your servants that which is just and
equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” The
master has the
stronger position; but that is only that he may use his
position for the sake
of the weaker. He is to render to his servant that which is
just, that which
does not depend on his pleasure, but is grounded on the
eternal order of
things. And beyond the just he is to render to him that
which is equal. In
Ephesians it is said that he is to do the same things. The
meaning seems to
be that, as the servant is required to give him hearty
work, so he is
required, on his part, to give considerate treatment. Such
equality is
becoming in a Christian master. For he also has a Master in
heaven. The
servant is to give hearty work out of regard to that
Master. Out of regard
to the same Master he is to give considerate treatment.
That Master is
considerate toward him; he is to be considerate toward him
who has been
placed by Christ under him as a servant. — R. F.
HOMILIES BY U.R. THOMAS
Vers. 1-4. —
The Christian’s higher life.
Our text gives us a magnificent picture of the higher life
of man, indicating
the means of its beginning, the signs of its progress, and
the hope of its
perpetuity.
I. THE
EXPERIENCES OF THE BEGINNING OF THE HIGHER LIFE.
These initial experiences are spoken of under the three
allied figures of
death, the hiding as of burial and resurrection. There is
an experience:
1. As of death. “Ye
have died.” The soul as it becomes Christian passes
through a death with Christ —
(1) a death to sin,
(2) a death to the
bondage of outwardness.
Dead, yet alive! — the paradox that finds its counterpart
in the gardener’s
insertion of the vine shoot, that was cut off and so dead
to its old stock,
under the bark of the living vine.
2. As of hiding
away in burial. “Hid.” That may mean
(1) what is
concealed now will be revealed by and by; or
(2) it may denote a
life of much blessed solitude, and so of sacred
seclusion; or
(3) it may mean a
life of fellowship with the hidden Christ; or
(4) it may tell of a
life whose purposes and inspirations are hid in God.
3. As of resurrection.
“Risen.” That must indicate
(1) a living life,
such a life as Ezekiel portrays, “I will open your graves,
and give you a new heart, a heart of flesh;” and
(2) an elevated
life. No more of the earth — earthy, no more grave clothes,
sepulchre, and earthworms, but such beauty and activity and
blessedness as
belong to the scenes of Christ’s forty days’ risen life.
II. THE
DUTY OF THE HIGHER LIFE. The duty is twofold, and the
way of obeying is twofold also.
1. The twofold duty
of the higher life.
(1) The withdrawal
of chief concern from inferior things. “Set not your
affections,” etc. Does not this mean, cease to entwine your
affections
round the things of time, cease to concentrate your
energies on the things
of this world? So far we have only the negative aspect of
duty; but there is:
(2) The fixing of
chief interest on superior things. They are twice spoken of
here as “things above;” and may they not denote what is
above socially,
intellectually, spiritually?
2. The twofold
method of attaining the performance of
this duty.
(1) “Seek the things
that are above.” Let the higher things be the object of
pursuit. What higher things? Plato would have said, “The
true, the
beautiful, the good.” Most modern Christians, meaning the
same, would
have said, “Heaven.” And Paul, meaning the same, would have
said,
“Christ.” For surely Christ is heaven and heaven is Christ.
Well, therefore,
does Bishop Pearson urge, “Rise to Christ with the wings of
your
meditation and in the chariot of your affections.”
(2) “Set your
affections on things that are above.” Not only seek heaven,
but think heaven; not only think heaven, but love heaven.
Our life cannot
rise into a higher realm of itself any more than a bar of
iron can lift itself.
Both have capacity of response. Christ is the magnet to
uplift our natures.
Love him, and the love of him lifts up.
III. THE
DESTINY OF THE HIGHER LIFE. In the fourth verse we
have the onward aspect of the higher life.
1. There is to be a
complete manifestation of this higher life. Paul has said
now it is “hid,” then it will be unveiled; now it is
buried, then it will be
“risen.” Because of misunderstandings, and misconceptions,
and harsh
judgments of others, the “higher life” is now often hid;
then all will be
explained, interpreted, rectified. Because now that life is
so often in itself
distorted, confused, it is partially “hid;” then in ease
and naturalness and
grace it will gloriously “appear.”
2. The perfect
revelation of this life will be in perfect union with Christ.
(1) How? Because he
is the Origin and Sustenance, the Life of man’s own
inner higher life.
(2) When? No
calendar can fix the date. It will be the time of his appearing;
and that will be to the ages as his incarnation was “the
fulness of the
times.”
(3) What? The glory
we shall have will be his glory. That is the glory of
purity, simplicity, victory, sacrifice, love. The paragraph
we have thus
considered names Christ four times. Our model is Christ’s
death; our
strength is Christ’s risen life; our heaven is Christ’s glory;
our hope is
Christ’s coming.
“Yea, thro’ life, death, thro’ sorrow and
thro’ sinning,
He shall suffice me, for he hath sufficed:
Christ is the End, for Christ was the
Beginning;
Christ the Beginning, for the End is
Christ.”
U.R.T.
Vers. 5-11. —
Death to evil.
The central thought around which the strange and striking
ideas of these
sentences gather is “Death to evil.” St. Paul exhorts us to
put evil to death,
to make a corpse of it. Here we have truly “Mors janua
vitae.” We inquire
—
I. IN
WHAT THIS DEATH CONSISTS. “Put to death your members
which are upon the earth.” The meaning seems to be the same
as Christ’s
command, “If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out,” etc.
Neither Christ’s nor
Paul’s injunction can mean hack, hew, maim, the limbs and
organs of the
body. For that is contradicted by such other teaching as
“Yield your
members as the instruments of righteousness;” and such
disabling of limbs
and organs would be useless, for the dumb can be profane,
and the blind
lustful, and the crippled dishonest. “Out of the heart
proceeds evil.” The
figure in the injunction of our text may be that which the
whole context
suggests, namely, put these members to death, so far as
evil practices are
concerned; be as dead to them. Or the figure may have reference
to that
which describes the entire sinful character as “the old
man” — an old man
having limbs, organs, etc., here called members.
So these physical members are but symbols of the moral.
Anyhow, there is
clearly enjoined here:
1. Death to corrupt
living. This corrupt living is divided here into two
classes — impurity and covetousness. These divided between
them include
the whole domain of sin and selfishness. Covetousness,
which is cherished
by many who have the repute of respectability and even of Christianity,
is
so base, so loathsome, so irreligious, that it is here
linked with hideous
uncleanness, and is distinctly declared to be idolatrous.
Avarice becomes
the worldling’s religion; greed of gain the miser’s
worship. Evils such as
these, and on which the apostle says God’s wrath rests,
must be slain.
2. Death to wrong
conversation. Paul deals with the sins of speech which
seemed, like echoes of the past, to linger on the lips of
the Colossians.
They are to put off
(1) “anger,” i.e.
settled hatred;
(2) “wrath,” i.e.
tumultuous outburst of passion;
(3) “malice,” i.e.
malignity, spitefulness;
(4) “blasphemy,” i.e.
slandering;
(5) “foul-mouthed
abuse,” i.e. all such rough speech as now is known as
the Billingsgate of social, political, or theological controversy;
(6) “falsehood,” a
word, alas! that needs no description. All these six evils
of speech are to be slain.
3. Death to
conventional distinctions. The special errors that we have seen
were prevalent at Colossae were those that primarily led
Paul to deal with
this evil. Four conventional distinctions that, wherever
they separate men’s
interests or destroy their mutual sympathies, must be
slain, are here
described.
(1) National
distinctions: “Greek and Jew.”
(2) Ceremonial:
“circumcision or uncircumcision.”
(3) Distinctions of
culture: “barbarian, Scythian.” Max Muller finely shows
how, until Christianity inserted the word “brother” instead
of “barbarian,”
as descriptive of humanity, there was no science of
language.
(4) Social: “bond
and free.” There seems to be special reference here to the
runaway slave who was going to carry to his master the
apostle’s letter,
and who was to be received as a brother both of Philemon
and Paul.
II. HOW
THIS DEATH IS TO BE EFFECTED. Evil does not die of
itself, but must be slain. Nor does it die easily; it must
be struggled with. It
is to be put to death:
1. By human
endeavour. “Put to death.” You are wrestler in some tragic
game, soldier in the momentous battle, executioner
in the solemn
judgment; therefore you must throw your opponent, stay your
enemy, hang
or gibbet the culprit. Here is abundant and righteous scope
for all our
fighting instincts.
2. By Divine
renewal “Which is renewed.” The death of
the old is ensured
by the life of the new; just as old leaves are pushed off
the boughs and
branches by the young vegetation of spring, so the old
character is
displaced by the new. This power is
(1) Divine;
(2) constantly put
forth;
(3) according to
Divine ideal
— “after the image of him that created him.” Christ the
Ideal is Christ the
Source of all. He is in the renewed man as the germ of
life, whose
outbursting, as by one blow, kills evil, and whose constant
development
insures all good. — U.R.T.
Vers. 12-17. —
The marks, method, and motive of the Christian life.
This paragraph is part of the practical application of the
great principle St.
Paul has been expounding in this chapter, viz. the
Christian’s death to evil
through the death of Christ, and life to holiness through
his life. We have
here —
I. THE
MARKS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. When the Christian life is
illustrated, as here, by a garment, the analogy must not be
pressed too far.
For instance, unlike a garment, the Christian character is
not
(1) merely outside a
man, nor
(2) separable from a
man. But that character is like a garment:
1. Because by it a man
is known and recognizable.
2. Because by it a man
is adorned. There are in Paul’s description eight
characteristics by which, as by a beautiful garment, the
Christian man is
recognizable and is adorned.
(1) “Bowels of
mercies,” which we may paraphrase as “a heart of
compassion.” Anthropologists largely judge what physical
race a man
belongs to by his skull; the Christian must judge what race
a man belongs
to by his heart. Tender heartedness is a sign of the
Christian as certainly as
truthfulness, or temperance, or honesty.
(2) “Kindness:” this
is the constant, steady, often noiseless, but always
beneficent, stream flowing from such a heart.
(3) “Meekness;” for whilst
the apostle sternly condemns mock humility,
which the pietistic among the Colossians had affected, he
rigorously insists
on that self humiliation without which no man can be
reckoned a follower
of the meek and lowly Jesus.
(4) “Long
suffering:” this is a temper of life described in the beautiful word
“patience,” and it indicates freedom from the intellectual
impatience which
makes men proud and restive, and from the emotional
impatience which
makes men fretful and irritable.
(5) “Forbearance and
forgivingness,” which need no description.
(6) “Charity;” the
love that girdles and holds together all the graces.
(7) “Peace of
Christ;” which is the peace Christ gives, and is like the peace
he possesses.
(8) “Thankfulness;”
gratitude to God and to one another, which implies a
whole catalogue of virtues.
II. THE
METHOD OF ATTAINING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. The
method here described is threefold.
1. Christ’s dealing
with us. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
“The Word of Christ.” By this we understand:
(1) The Word that
came from Christ to us. That Word is not to pass away,
but to “dwell” in us.
(2) The Word that
spoke of him. Whether it were in Scripture prophecy,
parable, or statement, it unveiled Christ to us. That
vision is not to pass
away, but to “dwell” in us.
(3) The Word that
Christ himself speaks. He communes with us in the
secret chambers of our soul, and what his still, small
voice says to us there
about pardon, duty, God, must not pass away; it must dwell
there.
(4) The Word is indeed
Christ himself. He is the uttered thought, the
expressed love from God to our soul. He must dwell in us.
2. Our words to one
another. We only gain ourselves as we help others.
We must communicate what we have received if we are to
become strong.
(1) We are to teach.
(2) We are to
admonish.
Of this there are many ways. One is here described by
“psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs.”
3. Our word to God.
“Sieging with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
There must be the outpouring of the heart to God.
III. THE
MOTIVE INSPIRING CHRISTIAN LIFE.
1. Here is the
widest description of the Christian life. It covers “word and
deed.”
2. Here is the
deepest motive of the Christian life. “The Name of the Lord
Jesus.” It is the Name of him who brings God near, who is
the
Reconciliation of all things to God. So that what is truly
done in the Name
of Christ brings the world near God, lifts up human nature
into fellowship
with God. No wonder that Paul adds, for all this let there
be “giving of
thanks.” The Christian life ought to be a eucharist. —
U.R.T.
Vers. 18-21. —
The Christian view of family life.
The spirit which was abroad in the early Colossian Church
was at once so
ascetic and so pietistic that it undervalued home,
depreciated family ties,
despised human relationships. We have heard Paul boldly
meet this spirit
with the great doctrine that Christ is the Fulness of all
things, Sustainer of
all, Mediator of all, King of all, End of all. Here, and in
preceding
paragraphs, he is meeting detailed developments of that
evil spirit by
detailed precepts flowing out of that great doctrine of
Christ the Fulness.
In our text the apostle teaches what we may group around
three points.
I. THE
DUTIES OF FAMILY LIFE ARE RECIPROCAL, He addresses
first one and then another of the group in a home. He does
not speak of
them or describe them to one another, but sharply, smartly,
directly, he
turns to each with the summons, “Ye.” And thus he summons
each to the
task of his own duty, the fulfilment of his own obligation.
As in some noble
antiphon the singers take up their alternative parts, so in
the music of home
life the members of the family respond with their
alternative duties.
Between husband and wife, parent and child, the only truly
Christian
relationship is that of interdependence and of reciprocity.
II. THE
PRINCIPLES TO GUIDE FAMILY LIFE ARE SIMPLE AND
YET SUFFICIENT. The statement of the principles here does
not seem
intended to be exhaustive. Some parallel passages to the
Ephesians are
much more complete. But the principles here noted are
specimens. They
are moral samples of what must actuate family life. And
they are simple
enough. Nothing grand, romantic, or impossible. “Wives,
submit.” This
cannot mean where conscience protests. It must rather
indicate where taste
or opinion differ. Defer rather than strive. “Husbands,
love.” This great
king word” love” (which Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 13.)
claims from
the husband what Christ gives to the Church — his all. And
one injunction
of that love will be “Be not bitter,” i.e. rough,
rude. Many a courtier in
society is uncouth as a bear at home. Then he is not a
Christian husband
after this model. “Children, obey.” Cultivate the spirit in
which the child
Jesus went down to Nazareth, and was subject to his
parents. Such a going
down prepares for the true exaltation; such subjection
qualifies for
subsequent sovereignty. “Fathers, provoke not.” Avoid the
harshness, and
even the thoughtless exactions from your children by which
their spirits
will become sullen, hopeless, moody. They will want spirits
that parents
have helped to make buoyant, not that parents have broken.
III. THE
MOTIVE FOR FULFILLING THE DUTIES OF FAMILY
LIFE IS DIVINE. Whilst secondary motives are thus given to
fathers, etc.,
we find in the passage the highest motive is again and
again pressed. “In
the Lord,” “Well pleasing to the Lord,” “As unto the Lord,”
etc. Such a
life as Paul described can only be achieved by the force of
sufficient
motive. And such motive he supplies. Here is argument
enough for such a
course of conduct, inspiration enough for such a spirit of
family life. “In the
Lord.” There is a wonderful fulness of meaning in that
phrase, as the Greek
language employed it. But not a profounder fulness than the
Christian
experience interprets when it shows Jesus to be the Source
of motive, the
Standard of duty, the very Sphere of being to the
Christ-loving man. —
U.R.T.
Vers. 22-25. —
Religious regulations for master and servant.
The length of the paragraph on this topic is probably
partly the result of
Paul’s having then and there so much to do with Onesimus,
the runaway
slave whom he was sending back to his master. “Bought and
adopted and
in Christ a brother; claimed and completed, and in Christ a
man.” But
besides this personal reason, Paul must have felt that
there was, in the state
of the Colossian society of the time, an urgent need for
this lengthy and
detailed description of duty. And is there not now? Are not
masters and
servants in England failing in their reciprocal duties very
largely because
they are expecting, as Dr. Chalmers said, “universal
selfishness to do the
work of universal love”? Therefore we may well notice —
I. THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF A TRUE SERVANT’S SERVICE. It is
marked by:
1. Obedience. Engaged
for given duties, do them. Refusal to do them,
neglect in doing them, is immoral, irreligious. You cannot
be a good
Christian and a bad servant.
2. Thoroughness. Not
“eye service.” This happy expression is probably the
apostle’s coinage. It describes obedience that is
superficial, inconstant,
hollow.
3. Simplicity of
motive. “Singleness of heart.” Not having two purposes
nor secondary aims.
4. Earnestness. “Do
it heartily.” Whatsoever ye do, work at it. The lazy
and lethargic are repulsive, the enthusiastic are noble.
II. THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF A TRUE MASTER’S
MASTERSHIP. The duties of a master are as clearly enforced
as those of
the servant. “The same light attempers various colours; so
the same
principle regulates various duties.” There is claimed from
the master:
1. Justice. That
is, what the law demands, what is legally right and square.
There is, however, much more.
2. Equity. “What
is equal.” Equity is more than law, more than legal claim.
It is a liberal interpretation of justice in common
matters; a response to the
intuition of what is right, even though no law defined it
or enforced it. It
was this teaching about equity that was really the
insertion of the leaven
that has destroyed slavery in Christendom. What is the
touchstone of this
equity? Surely this golden rule, “Whatsoever ye would that
men should do
to you, do ye even the same to them likewise.”
III. THE
MOTIVES BOTH OF TRUE SERVICE AND OF TRUE
MASTERSHIP. The motives put before both masters and
servants are
two.
1. They both
sustain a common relationship to Christ.
(1) All are his
servants. Servants, “Ye serve the Lord Christ;” masters, “Ye
also have a Master in heaven.”
(2) All work is done
in his sight. Therefore do it “fearing God.”
(3) All may be done
for his glory. “There is no respect of persons.”
2. Christ will
rightly deal out retribution and reward. With Christ is “the
reward of the inheritance.” From Christ men shall receive
for “the wrong
which they have done.”
Our conclusion is:
1. Cherish a Christian
ambition to serve well.
2. Cherish a Christian
ambition to rule well. — U. R.T.
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT
Vers. 1-4. —
Present privileges: future glory.
The apostle now proceeds to the application of the grand
truths he has
been expounding. Note in what a lofty strain he begins. As
in the previous
section he refutes practical errors by reminding of the
sublimest doctrines,
so here, before giving exhortations on special sins and
duties, he seeks to
lift the Colossians to the heights of that new spiritual,
heavenly life it is
their privilege to live. (Like a commander encouraging his
troops in the
field to maintain the strictest discipline by motives
suggested by the purest
patriotism and the dignity of their trust.)
I. THE
CHRISTIANS PRESENT PRIVILEGES.
1. “Ye died.” This
figurative expression describes the complete change
which takes place in those who are truly regenerated. It is
most strikingly
illustrated in the conversion of an idolatrous or a
profligate man. But every
true convert dies to his former self, i.e. is
separated from it as by a death
and burial. (Illustrate from <210905>Ecclesiastes
9:5, 6, 10.) As a Christian
martyr, worn down by the sickness and pain of a long
persecution, obtains
a blessed release and separation from this present evil
world by death, so is
the Christian, by union with Christ, set free, as by a
death and burial, from
two of his most formidable foes — the Law and sin.
(1) We died to the
Law (<450704>Romans 7:4, 6; <480219>Galatians 2:19).
We
renounced all dependence on works of Law and trusted for
justification
alone to the work of Christ.
(2) We died to sin.
We were set free from the love of sin and are being set
free from its power. Crucifixion, though fatal, was not
immediately so. So
our “old man was crucified with him, that the body
of sin might be done
away (katarghqh~|), that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin”
(<450606>Romans 6:6, 15).
“It was the sight of thy dear cross
First weaned my soul from earthly things,”
etc.
2. “Ye were raised
together with Christ.” (<490204>Ephesians 2:4-6;
<480104>Galatians 1:4.) In the world, not of it. “We dwell in
the flesh, but do
not live in the flesh” (Luther). The true sphere of
our life is “heavenly
places.” Does this
seem mystical when spoken of tradesmen, engine
drivers, or kitchen maids? But if they are Christ’s they
have a life which is
“hid with Christ in God.” It is a still and secret life,
hidden from the world.
The Christian has a different spirit (<431417>John 14:17) and aim (<461031>1
Corinthians 10:31) and strength (<500413>Philippians 4:13). He is like a palm
tree in the desert, verdant and fruitful, because far
beneath the sand the
fibres of its roots are enjoying a hidden life of moisture
which keeps the
tree alive in spite of arid sand and cloudless sky.
3. Ye may “seek”
and “set your mind on the things that are above.” Is not
this a privilege as well as a duty? Reflect on the honour
of being allowed to
fix our best thoughts and our purest affections on persons and
objects not
at all affected by the change and disappointment and
transitoriness of this
world. (Like a sailor amid the hardships of a long winter
voyage, whose
thoughts and emotions are constantly turning to wife and
children in his
distant home. He does not need to be told, “You ought to
think of them;
you must love them.”) What are “the things that are
upon the earth”? Find
the answer in <620216>1 John 2:16, 17.
They belong to a state from which we
profess to have been conclusively delivered. Shall Lazarus
take pleasure in
his grave clothes or the healed demoniac in his fetters?
Shall those who
profess to be living a resurrection life with Christ “mind
earthly things”?
Riches? (<196210>Psalm 62:10; Proverbs 23. 5; <540607>1 Timothy
6:7). Worldly
power or fame? (<197318>Psalm 73:18-20; <234006>Isaiah 40:6-8; <590110>James 1:10,
11). Shall we cling to a sinking vessel when our home is in
sight? If we find
it hard to enjoy our privileges, let us take the following
hints.
(1) Give more
thought to “the things that are above” — to the great
themes of God, Christ, heaven, eternity; and in the light
of these, look
down on the transitory trifles of this world.
(2) Do more for
Christ, who, “seated on the right hand of God,” is doing
so much for us (<400633>Matthew 6:33).
(Illustrate Christ’s manifold activities
for his people in that heavenly world.) Recognize that you
have a
citizenship in the heavenly places, and therefore civic
duties among them.
(3) Make sacrifices
for Christ and eternity. Treasure there as large a
proportion as your conscience will justify of money, time,
and every talent
you possess (<400619>Matthew 6:19-21).
II. THE
CHRISTIAN’S FUTURE GLORY. (Ver. 4.) This follows from
ver. 3. Concealment with Christ ensures safety. Our future
is wrapped up
with his (<431419>John 14:19). Our life is, as it were, deposited with
Christ’s
life in the very sanctuary of the Godhead. God will not
forget that trust
(<550112>2 Timothy 1:12). Christ himself liveth in us and is our
life. What is
awaiting Christ? A glorious manifestation (<560213>Titus 2:13; cf. <440321>Acts
3:21 and <520110>1 Thessalonians 1:10). That manifestation will, by reason
of
the identity of Christ and his servants, be the
manifestation in glory of
Christians also, “the sons of God” (<450819>Romans 8:19). (Illustrate from
contrasts suggested by <236014>Isaiah 60:14; <401343>Matthew 13:43; <431724>John
17:24.) Christ is now concealed, and it is our winter; his
revelation will
bring summer to our souls (<530110>2
Thessalonians 1:10). The glory in which
we shall be revealed was said by the schoolmen to consist
of the robe of
the soul and the robe of the body.
1. There will be glory
for the soul. No more sin (<620302>1 John 3:2), or
sorrow (<450717>Romans 7:17), or divided affections, or darkness (<461312>1
Corinthians 13:12; cf. Romans 22:3, 4; perfect service,
perfect satisfaction,
perfect security).
2. In that glory the
body shall share (<461542>1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 53;
<500321>Philippians 3:21). “The resurrection of the dead is the
confidence of
Christians” (Tertullian; <600113>1 Peter
1:13). That “grace to be brought unto
us” will brighten into glory. It will be his glory;
that is enough for us. —
E.S.P.
Vers. 5-7. —
Sins of the flesh and the sin of covetousness.
Paul, an example to faithful preachers, is not satisfied
with general
exhortations; he is pointed and personal in his allusion to
special sins. The
great motive power is in the preceding truths (vers. 1-4, “Mortify
therefore,” etc.). What
neither Jewish ceremonialism nor Gnostic teaching
could secure (<510223>Colossians 2:23),
Christ “our Life,” our “Hope of
glory,” could effect. Note the use of similar lofty motives
in <450601>Romans
6:1, 2; 12:1; <460615>1 Corinthians
6:15, 19, 20. The term “members” is used,
not physically but figuratively, as is “old man” in ver. 9,
including those
bodily and mental faculties which may be the occasion of
sins of the flesh
and sins of the spirit. We find first a list of various —
I. SINS
OF THE FLESH. (Ver. 5.) Contrast freedom of the apostolic
speech on such subjects and the reserve of the present day,
which may be
excessive, seeing that sins of intemperance and unchastity
are the most
frequent causes of Church discipline. The conscience must
be instructed as
well as aroused. Hints as to safeguards to be thrown around
the young by
Christians; their duties to their own sons and daughters,
their apprentices,
and domestic servants; social customs, such as “statute
fairs” for hiring
servants, “treating,” crowded homes, etc.; bad laws (young
girls
insufficiently protected; state recognition of vice;
licensing laws, etc.). The
censure and treatment of offenders of both sexes should be
far more
impartial, and profligate men be branded by the indignation
of Christians as
one faint image of “the wrath of God” (ver. 6). While
seeking to put away
these sins from our midst, we must also put to death the
very roots of these
prolific evils in our own hearts (<400527>Matthew 5:27, 28). Govern the
thoughts. (Distinguish between a thought injected into
the mind as a
temptation, and indulged as a sin, <580415>Hebrews 4:15.) Guard all the
avenues of temptation (cf. <183101>Job 31:1; <191703>Psalm 17:3; <490504>Ephesians
5:4): bad books; dangerous company; amusements that excite
the passions;
intoxicants (<400529>Matthew 5:29, 80;
<450812>Romans 8:12, 13; <480524>Galatians
5:24). Let the body and the brain and the mind be kept in
healthy exercise;
this will aid us to “keep under the body” (<460927>1 Corinthians 9:27). God
knoweth our frame;” Christ “our Life has passed through our
temptations.
Elevation of spirit (vers. 1 and 2), unlike pride (<201618>Proverbs 16:18), may
guard us from debasing ourselves: “Ye were raised with
Christ; mortify
therefore,” etc.
II. THE
SIN OF COVETOUSNESS. Covetousness (pleunexi>a) has
been described as “the fierce and ever fiercer longing of
the creature which
has turned from God to fill itself with the inferior
objects of sense.” It is a
wider term than “the love of money,” though that “root of
all evil” is the
most glaring form of it and the one we take as our
illustration. It is
significant that here and in <490505>Ephesians
5:5 St. Paul couples
covetousness with the most loathsome sins. A covetous man
is an idolater
because he loves, trusts, and serves money more than God.
This sin is:
1. Multiform. It
is Proteus-like in its shapes: the avarice of the miser, the
ostentation of the nouveau fiche, or “that loudest
laugh of hell, the pride of
dying rich.” One of its most common and yet scandalous
forms is
withholding “more than is meet,” robbing God of “the first
fruits of all our
increase,” which God claims under the gospel, though not in
the form of
Jewish tithe (cf. <200309>Proverbs 3:9, 10;
11:24; <461601>1 Corinthians 16:1, 2;
<470812>2 Corinthians 8:12; 9:6, 7). This form of covetousness
among
Christians may need to be mortified by repeated acts of
giving, though
painful at first, till duty becomes privilege and the
lesson is learned, “It is
more blessed to give than to receive.”
2. It is specious. It
is a subtle spirit, needing great discernment for its
detection and great grace for its expulsion. It transforms
itself into an angel
of light, and calls itself “prudence” and other
deceptive names. It is said
that St. Francis de Sales received at the confessional a
greater number of
persons than were ever known to visit one confessor
besides, but that he
did not remember a single instance in which covetousness
had been
confessed. No wonder, then, that Church censure for
covetousness is
exceedingly rare (<460509>1 Corinthians
5:9).
3. It is odious to
God. (Ver. 6.)
4. It is ruinous to
the soul. (<480607>Galatians 6:7, 8; <490505>Ephesians 5:5, 6;
<540609>1 Timothy 6:9, 10.)
5. It needs
ceaseless vigilance and all the powers of the heavenly life to
mortify this “member,” which is so peculiarly tenacious of
life. Christ’s
love and power alone can avail (<560214>Titus 2:14). — E.S.P.
Vers. 8-11. —
The new life in Christ the death warrant to old sins.
The apostle still employs the most powerful motives
possible in his
exhortations to personal holiness. His figures and
illustrations vary (“Ye
died; ye were raised with Christ; therefore put your
sins to death.” “Ye put
off your old nature and put on a new nature; therefore put
away your old
sins”).
I. OLD
SINS TO BE PUT AWAY. From the sins of the flesh Paul passes
on to sins of the spirit and the tongue. There are two
groups.
1. “Anger, wrath,
malice.” Discriminate between these. Orgh> may be a
right state of mind (<410305>Mark 3:5; <490426>Ephesians 4:26), but is easily
depraved into a criminal anger, or into qumo>v
(wrath, passion), or kaki>a
(malice which wishes or seeks to do injury). In fact, all
our evil principles
may be said to be good principles fallen and debased.
Selfishness is fallen
self love; envy is depraved emulation; revenge is fallen
resentment; sinful
anger is righteous indignation degraded and debased. The
lawfulness of
anger must be determined by its direction, its degree, and
its motive. In the
daily struggle against various forms of sinful anger, we
may give the
following hints.
(l) When passion
rises in the soul, let it not overflow through the lips.
Suppress the mutiny within the citadel (<191703>Psalm 17:3; 39:1; <590119>James
1:19).
(2) Let the battle
be fought in sight of the cross and in memory of the
provocations we have given to God (<490431>Ephesians 4:31, 32).
(3) Rely on Christ’s
power to save now (<560214>Titus 2:14).
2. “Railing,”
“shameful speaking,” lying. Among the commonest forms of
these fruits of an evil heart (<401234>Matthew 12:34) we note: “Backbiting,”
reckless detraction, i.e. seeking to draw a person
down from the reputation
he enjoys. (It is not necessary or lawful to speak all we
know against a
person, though many act as though they were at perfect
liberty to utter it, if
only it is true.) Attributing wrong motives — a very common
form of
“shameful speaking,” a gross breach of “charity” (<461307>1 Corinthians 13:7),
and an arrogant claim to a “discerning of spirits.”
Exaggerations; false
advertisements; conventional falsehoods in business (<400537>Matthew 5:37;
<470112>2 Corinthians 1:12, 17, 18; <490425>Ephesians
4:25).
II. THE
DEATH WARRANT OF THESE OLD SINS. Covet not, rail
not, lie not, etc., “seeing ye have put off,” etc. Two
truths are taught.
1. We profess to be
enjoying a new life. So complete is the change it is
described as a change of nature (“old man… new man”), a new
creation
(<470517>2 Corinthians 5:17; <480615>Galatians 6:15), a
new birth, a new
resurrection. Of this new life we learn:
(1) It is Divine in
its origin (“him that created him”).
(2) Progressive in
its nature (“being renewed unto knowledge”), like a
statue becoming more and more like the ideal of the
sculptor; or a youth
maturing into manhood; or a pupil growing into intimate
acquaintance with
his master’s deepest thoughts (<431703>John 17:3; <451202>Romans 12:2; <470416>2
Corinthians 4:16; <490316>Ephesians
3:16-19; <500309>Philippians 3:9-14).
(3) God like in its
character (“after the image,” etc., <490424>Ephesians 4:24).
A renewed saint is more God like than an unfallen Adam (<450521>Romans
5:21). The issue of this progressive growth “unto
knowledge” and mature
Christian character is seen in <490413>Ephesians 4:13-16. Everything connected
with that new life is in deadly antagonism to every kind of
sin, which must
be “put away,” like slothful habits by the scholar, or
“weight” by the
runner. Sin is like poison to the new life we profess to
enjoy, depressing
vitality if it does not extinguish life altogether.
2. In this life
Christ claims supremacy. (Ver. 11.) Dr. Lightfoot suggests
that the distinctions here said to be abolished were
selected with special
reference to the circumstances of the Colossian Church: to
the Judaizing of
some, to the Gnostic pride of others who despised the
unlettered; and that
his relation at the time he wrote to the slave Onesimus led
him to add
“bondman, freeman.” The unity of the race and the
brotherhood of men are
distinctly Christian doctrines. “The head of every man is
Christ” (<461103>1
Corinthians 11:3). Our union and subordination to him
constitute our
equality with one another in the world of grace (Matthew
23. 8-10). For all
earthly distinctions sink into insignificance compared with
his supremacy
and his presence in us all.
(1) “Christ is all:”
he is “all” to God (<510119>Colossians 1:19; cf. <234201>Isaiah
42:1; <400317>Matthew 3:17), as the only begotten Son, the one atoning
Sacrifice (“the Lamb of God”), the only Mediator, the appointed
Judge
(<430522>John 5:22, 23; <441731>Acts 17:31).
Contrast the limitations attached to
Abraham, the friend of God (<011818>Genesis
18:18-33), and Moses, who was
“faithful as a servant,” but could not redeem his brethren
(<023232>Exodus
32:32, 33), and “the fulness” of Christ (<580926>Hebrews 9:26; 10:10-14).
Being “all” to God, he is all to us; the Centre and
Circumference of truth;
the Alpha and Omega of our life; “the Author and Finisher
of our faith.”
He is a Saviour in whom “dwelleth all the fulness,” etc. (<510209>Colossians
2:9), “in whom are hid,” etc. (<510203>Colossians 2:3), who is “full of grace
and truth,” whose love “passeth knowledge,” whose blood
“cleanseth from
all sin,” and “who of God is made unto us,” etc. (<460130>1 Corinthians 1:30).
(2) Christ is “in
all” — in all of us; for he comes to save, to conquer, to
reign, to share his very life with us (<480220>Galatians 2:20). Where he comes,
sin must go; he can brook no rival; for “in all things he
must have the preeminence.”
And he is in all things: “He fills all things” (<490123>Ephesians 1:23;
4:10). A sense of the all-pervading presence and power of
Christ should
(a) abase the
Christian tempted to be proud of birth, purse, or
brain;
(b) give dignity to
the lowliest disciple in whom the Son of God
dwells;
(c) pledge us to
ceaseless strife against every form of sin. — E.S.P.
Vers. 12, 13. —
The Christian’s wardrobe.
The apostle, having bidden the Colossian converts strip off
the filthy rags
of their old life, takes them into the Christian’s wardrobe
and shows them
some of the robes of righteousness, the beauties of
holiness, the jewels of
grace, with which they may decorate themselves. These are
the only
priestly vestments in which God’s “royal priesthood”
may appear
“glorious in the eyes
of the Lord.” Nor should we ever dare present
ourselves before the Lord unless we are attempting to “put
on” all these.
(Illustrate from “court dress,” or <402211>Matthew 22:11-13.) This spiritual
investiture is urged on the Colossians by two considerations.
I. THEIR
RELATIONS TO GOD. “Elect, holy, beloved.”
1. Elect. Our
outward religious privileges (<460407>1 Corinthians 4:7) and our
inward spiritual state (<461510>1 Corinthians
15:10) are the result of a Divine
choice. Christian experience, no less than God’s Word,
attributes the
beginning of the new life within us to a work of God, and
therefore to a
purpose anti choice of God (<550109>2 Timothy
1:9). But for what end has he
thus chosen us .9 We find answers in such words as “fruit”
(<431516>John
15:16), “holy” (<490103>Ephesians 1:3,
4), “sanctification’’ (<530213>2
Thessalonians 2:13), “obedience” (<600102>1 Peter 1:2).
2. Holy. Here is the true idea of the only Christian priesthood,
viz.
consecration, being set apart for service and spiritual
sacrifices to God. The
self denial of the one High Priest is our pattern and our
inspiration
(<431719>John 17:19; <580301>Hebrews 3:1). There are not, in the New Testament,
two groups of virtues, one for the clergy, the other for
the laity, as (Mr.
Ruskin tells us) are represented by some of the mediaeval
poets and
painters. All Christ’s disciples are called as priests, to
be equally “saints,”
“holy” (<600114>1 Peter 1:14, 15).
3. “Beloved;”
enjoying that special love of complacency and delight of
which Christ speaks (<431421>John 14:21;
16:27). “The order of the words
admirably corresponds to the order of the things: eternal election
precedes
sanctification in
time; the sanctified feel God’s love and forthwith imitate
it” (Bengel).
II. THE
EXCELLENCE OF THESE CHRISTIAN GRACES.
1. “A heart of
compassion” towards those who are in a worse condition
than ourselves, whether caused by sin or calamity. A
compassionate nature
brings pain with it, yet it is “twice blessed.” Silver is
no substitute for
sympathy. Money sent by a rich Christian who will
not take the trouble to
“visit the fatherless and widows” is worth less than the
sympathetic words
and deeds of a poor compassionate neighbour. Refer to
Christ being often
“moved with compassion” and putting forth a healing touch.
So now
<580415>Hebrews 4:15; <620317>1 John 3:17, 18.
2. “Kindess” to
all, perhaps especially to those who are our equals and
need no special compassion (cf. <480610>Galatians 6:10; <500408>Philippians 4:8;
<600308>1 Peter 3:8). A kind heart is a cheerful heart, and
provides “a continual
feast” (<442035>Acts 20:35).
3. “Humility.”
“There are many,” says Augustine, “who would more
readily give all they have to feed the poor than become
beggars themselves
before God.” So humility needs to go hand in hand, with
compassion and
kindness. It is fostered by a true view both of our own
sinfulness and the
dignity bestowed upon us. We need it in prosperity lest we
become insolent
to our neighbours (<170305>Esther 3:5; <421811>Luke 18:11), or even towards God
(<142616>2 Chronicles 26:16; <281306>Hosea 13:6); and
in adversity, lest we
“faint,” etc. (<581205>Hebrews 12:5-9).
4. “Meekness;” that
quiet, gentle spirit which will calmly endure
disappointments or slights. It is a source of power (<210708>Ecclesiastes 7:8).
It is not constantly vindicating itself and disputing with
assailants
(<193705>Psalm 37:5, 6, 11). When we see the power which meek
spirits gain
over others stronger and rougher than themselves, we see
the words
fulfilled, “A little child shall lead them.”
5. Long suffering. In
regard to Divine afflictions, see on <510111>Colossians
1:11. It is more difficult to exercise it towards men than
towards God. In
relation to our fellow sinners we may learn from God’s long
suffering
towards them. (See the legend of Abraham and the fire
worshipper in
Stanley’s ‘Jewish Church,’ 1:21.) And if we are long
suffering towards
those that sin against God, how much more towards those
that offend us!
Let us learn of God (<400545>Matthew 5:45; <450204>Romans 2:4) and of his
beloved Son (<600223>1 Peter 2:23).
6. Forbearance and
forgiveness. “Forbearing one another.”
This is often
the first step towards frank forgiveness. It may avert a
quarrel, for which
two are needed. “To conquer one’s self is the greatest of
conquests,” says
Plato (cf. <201632>Proverbs 16:32). This victory over self aids us in the
victory
over the transgressor (<451221>Romans 12:21; e.g.
David, 1 Samuel 24.).
“Forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against
any.” Our Lord
has laid down the law of offences among disciples (<401815>Matthew 18:15-17;
<421703>Luke 17:3, 4). A Christian spirit will hail the signs of
incipient
repentance, and will exact no unreasonable humiliation. And
even towards
the most impenitent offender we may exercise the most
forgiving spirit, like
God, “ready to forgive” (<400544>Matthew
5:44, 45). Observe the pathetic plea
urged: “Even as the Lord forgave you,” etc. Our Master
Christ still has this
power (<400906>Matthew 9:6; <440531>Acts 5:31). He
has used it on our behalf,
first when we applied to him with the burden of all the
guilty past, and
since then day by day (<431310>John 13:10).
Shall he be so prompt and free,
and we be hesitating and reluctant (<620212>1 John 2:12)? And this motive is as
stringent as it is pathetic. Note the prayer taught (<421104>Luke 11:4), the
command given (<411125>Mark 11:25, 26),
the warning uttered (<401835>Matthew
18:35). Imagine an unforgiving man offering the prayer
(Matt 6:12), “As
we forgive,” etc., and interpret it into plain language. If
we do not forgive,
do not let us dare to pray (<540208>1 Timothy
2:8). — E.S.P.
Vers. 14, 15. —
A threefold cord of grace.
We have here an attractive picture of a loving, peaceful,
thankful Christian.
I. LOVE.
It is compared to the girdle, put on over the other articles of
attire, and helping to bind all in their place. Christian
love is no mere
natural emotion or self interested affection. It is the
fruit of the Spirit,
whereby God is sincerely loved for his own sake, and one’s
neighbour for
God’s sake. To love even our fellow Christians because they
are God’s
children is not always easy, on account of their inconsistencies.
But it is
eminently a Christian grace (<431335>John 13:35;
<620501>1 John 5:1). It is called
“the bond of perfectness,” because:
1. It is the
element of all other graces, the sphere in which they are
exercised. It is like
the golden light in which some summer evening
landscape is bathed, or the green grass on which the
multicoloured flowers
are blooming. Without love, “knowledge puffeth up,” gifts
are “sounding
brass,” faith is idle (<480506>Galatians 5:6),
zeal may be wildfire, mercy
weakness, humility pride, and charity ostentation. With
love, each of these
maybe the Spirit’s fruit. It is thus the bond of
perfectness, the distinctive
feature of a complete Christian character (<451308>Romans 13:8; <461308>1
Corinthians 13:8, 13; <480514>Galatians 5:14).
2. Love is the
pledge of all other graces. For if we
dwell in love and in
God (<620416>1 John 4:16) we enjoy increasingly the perfections of God.
The
outer dress is generally the most valuable part, and a sign
that other parts
are present and in keeping with it. So the precious girdle
of love, visible to
all, is a sign that other graces are present and kept in
their place by this
“bond of perfectness.” Cultivate it by charitable
judgments, by much
forbearance, by seeking to win and refine the less
attractive, and to walk in
the path marked out for us by Christ (<431512>John 15:12; <490502>Ephesians 5:2).
II. PEACE.
This peace is described by a most attractive name, “the peace
of Christ” (<431427>John 14:27), the tranquillity of a trustful child. The term
“rule” may be
understood in two senses.
1. Exert its power to
protect. (See <500407>Philippians 4:7, where God’s peace
is likened to a garrison; <19B207>Psalm
112:7; <232603>Isaiah 26:3.) Peace gives
strength, and strength peace (<192911>Psalm 29:11).
2. Sit as umpire. When
in doubt in regard to business speculations, worldly
amusements, etc., we may ask, “Which course will the peace
of Christ
ruling in my heart approve?” To such peace we are called,
but to enjoy it
we must allow this peace to rule. We shall then be kept
from falling
(<19B9165>Psalm 119:165), have peace in conflict (<431633>John 16:33) and in
inaction (<190408>Psalm 4:8), through life and in death (<193737>Psalm 37:37).
Peace is the faithful handmaid of love, which attends it
even in the stormier
days of life (<451513>Romans 15:13).
III. THANKFULNESS.
If God’s love is shed abroad and Christ’s peace
rules in our hearts, grateful feelings will well up like
sparkling streams. And
gratitude to God will deepen love and preserve in peace,
fostering
forbearance, pity, unselfishness, and patience under those
trials which a
loving Father appoints for our education. — E.S.P.
Vers. 16, 17. —
The power of the Word and the Name of Christ.
“Having exhorted them to be thankful, he also shows them
the way”
(Chrysostom). But the connection is wider than this. In
ver. 16 the apostle
shows how a right use of Christ’s gospel may promote the
graces to which
he has been exhorting; and in ver. 17 how the right
recognition of the
Name of Christ will be a comprehensive rule to aid us in
every duty of life.
I. THE
POWER OF THE WORD OF CHRIST.
1. “Let the Word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” If “every
word of God is pure,” and therefore both powerful and
precious, this is
pre-eminently so with “the word of the truth of the
gospel.” To exert its
power it must not be a transient visitor (cf. <241408>Jeremiah 14:8), but a
resident in the soul, and that “richly.” We must
welcome it impartially —
its doctrines (<450116>Romans 1:16, 17, etc.),
precepts (<19B9128>Psalm 119:128),
and promises (<450420>Romans 4:20, 21).
We must receive it with joy as a
treasure we prize (<19B972>Psalm 119:72; <241516>Jeremiah 15:16), like sweet
poetry that lingers in the memory, or a friend enshrined in
the heart
(<200421>Proverbs 4:21, 22). We may expect it to be a power to
ourselves; it
will promote in us every kind of wisdom, making us “wise
unto salvation,”
and enlightening the intelligence as well as the heart (<191907>Psalm 19:7, 8;
119:130). One chief motive for seeking this blessed occupancy
of the soul
is that we may be useful to others.
2. “Teaching and
admonishing one another,” etc. The picture presented is
one of unconstrained, cheerful, social religion, as in <440242>Acts 2:42-47;
mutual counsel, encouragement, reproof, and interchange of
experience
(<19E105>Psalm 141:5; <390316>Malachi 3:16; <520514>1 Thessalonians 5:14;
<580313>Hebrews 3:13; 10:24, 25, etc.). For this end “the sacrifice
of praise”
has an especial value. (Power of poetry and song: e.g.
<441625>Acts 16:25;
<590513>James 5:13. Pliny’s testimony; the psalmody of the
Reformation;
recent developments of sacred song, and conversions
therefrom.) Let us
seek to sing “with grace in our hearts,” so that every hymn
may be a means
of grace to ourselves and to others (<195023>Psalm 50:23).
II. THE
POWER OF THE NAME OF CHRIST. We may be said to do or
suffer anything in the Name of Christ when we do it or
endure it in
recognition of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and
in subordination
to him. As all thoughtful men have some ruling passion in
life — wealth,
fame, patriotism, etc. — the Christian’s will be the will
and honour of his
Divine Lord. This is:
1. A comprehensive
rule. It applies to words and deeds (<461031>1 Corinthians
10:31; 1 Peter. 4:10, 11). “It is one thing to be
reproached, another to be
saved, another to be baptized, another to command, another
to pray,
another to give thanks in the Name of the Lord;” but all
may be done by his
authority and for his honour.
2. A valuable test;
as was “the peace of Christ.” (Ver. 15.)
Can I do this
“in the Name of Christ,” “giving thanks to God”? Illustrate
this in relation
to business (e.g. a godly grocer thinking about
going into the liquor
traffic), amusements, politics, etc. We are not at liberty
to take any part of
our life from under this rule. The doctrine that religion
and business are
disconnected is a “damnable heresy.”
3. A powerful
encouragement. It dignifies drudgery, sanctifies commerce,
hallows recreation. Having traded in the Name of Christ, we
may pray in
that Name and be assured of an answer (<431414>John 14:14). We may thank
God for our subjection to the power of that Name, which
ennobles every
service and lightens every trial (<490520>Ephesians 5:20; <520518>1 Thessalonians
5:18). But the first thing to be done in the Name of Christ
is to trust in him
for salvation (<430318>John 3:18; <440412>Acts 4:12). Unless that is done, nothing
can be truly done “in the Name of the Lord Jesus” (<430629>John 6:29; <620323>1
John 3:23). — E.S.P.
Vers. 18, 19. —
Husbands and wives.
Notice the honour given to marriage by Moses (<010223>Genesis 2:23, 24), and
still more by Christ (<400531>Matthew 5:31, 32;
19:3-9) and his apostles
(<490522>Ephesians 5:22-33; <540403>1 Timothy 4:3;
5:14; <581304>Hebrews 13:4,
etc.). Christianity a gospel of great joy to the world’s
suffering women.
But blessings rest upon law. The nearer marriage is brought
to God the
more sacred its duties become. In vers. 18, 19 we have in a
condensed
form rules more fully set forth elsewhere (1 Corinthians
7.; Ephesians 5.;
Titus 2.; 1 Peter 3.). We see exhortations —
I. TO
WIVES. Gathering together some of the precepts scattered through
the Epistles, we find a fuller summary of the Christian
wife’s duties at
home in <560204>Titus 2:4, 5 (make home the happiest place in the world for
both husband and children). In <600301>1 Peter 3:1-6 a contrast is drawn
between bodily and spiritual attire, between that which may
please the eye
of frivolous men and women and that which “in the sight of
God is of great
price;” not the latest Paris fashions, but “the
ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit” (a lesson especially to Christian matrons to set a
safe example to
their juniors). The “manner of life” prescribed in both
these passages may
be attained by a conscientious observance of the
exhortation, “be in
subjection.” Every family must have one head. Though” love
is the
fulfilling of the Law,” if the words “authority” and
“subjection” are never
to be heard in the home, it must be through a conscientious
regard to
mutual duties. This subjection is “fitting.” “Doth
not even nature itself
teach?” The satire poured on an imperious wife, and the
sympathy felt for a
widow deprived of her stay, supply answers. Scripture
teaches the preeminence
of the husband as illustrated by various relations between
the
sexes: e.g. the order of creation (<540213>1 Timothy 2:13), the derivation of
woman (<461108>1 Corinthians 11:8), her destiny (<010220>Genesis 2:20; <461107>1
Corinthians 11:7, 9), her share in the first transgression
(<540214>1 Timothy
2:14) and penalty (<010316>Genesis 3:16),
and their relative position in the
kingdom of grace (<461103>1 Corinthians 11:3).
Thus submission is “fitting in
the Lord.” And the
same words remind us of the only limit to it (<440419>Acts
4:19; 5:29). Two motives are suggested.
1. An ungodly husband
may thus be won for Christ (<600301>1 Peter 3:1; <460716>1
Corinthians 7:16).
2. An obedient wife is
a living type of Christ’s obedient Church, and is thus
a witness to the reality of Christ’s authority in both the
family and the
Church.
II. TO
HUSBANDS. “In exhortations the scales should be equally poised”
(Chrysostom) as they are here. For what St. Paul has said
to wives already
suggests to husbands: If our wives are to be such to us,
“what manner of
persons,” etc.? (<610311>2 Peter 3:11).
Turning to <600307>1 Peter 3:7, we see
some of the husband’s duties. “Dwell with them” (making
home magnetic)
“according to knowledge” (the highest wisdom you can gain
for governing
and guiding), “giving honour,” etc. (the honour of esteem,
of attention to
the latest day of life, of confidence, etc.). These duties
are summed up here
in “love” (<451310>Romans 13:10). St. Paul does not say, as the complement of
ver. 18, “Govern them,” but “Love them.” The loving husband
will secure
the dutiful wife. Motives are suggested both by reason and
revelation.
1. A wife is, by God’s
appointment, part of our very selves (<490531>Ephesians
5:31 and 28). Marriage is a union of souls. “Bitter against
them?” —
against those we have taken into the very shrine of our
lives? Plutarch tells
us, “They who did sacrifice at the rites of Juno took out
the gall of the
victim and threw it away, signifying by the ceremony that
it was not fit that
bile and bitterness should enter into the married state.”
W. Jay quotes
<490529>Ephesians 5:29 thus: “‘No man ever yet hated his own
flesh,’ but
many a monster has done so.”
2. A wife is the
weaker vessel physically, not spiritually. Further motives,
addressed to the godly, are:
3. You are “heirs
together of the grace of life.” Disunion will hinder
prayers (<401819>Matthew 18:19) and progress in your pilgrimage.
4. A husband’s love is
to be a copy of Christ’s love (<490525>Ephesians 5:25-
27), self sacrificing, purifying, winning the allegiance of
the whole nature.
Learn:
1. The grave
responsibility of entering the marriage relation. Take no one
as a wife for whom you cannot cherish the love of esteem;
or as a husband
whom you cannot reverence as worthy of being a guide and a
stay.
2. The duty of
Christians to marry “only in the Lord” (ver. 17; <460739>1
Corinthians 7:39).
3. The preciousness of
a spiritual bond which shall survive the dissolution
of the marriage tie by death (<422035>Luke 20:35, 36). — E. S. P.
Vers. 20, 21. —
Children and parents.
The family and the Church, the natural and spiritual home,
are the two
most sacred associations on earth, having as their Head. “the
Father from
whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (<490315>Ephesians 3:15).
The strength of the nation and the welfare of the world are
inseparably
bound up with families. Madame de Stael, asked by Bonaparte
what was
the greatest want of France, replied, “Mothers.” The gospel
brings to
families the blessing of Abraham (<011707>Genesis 17:7) and of Jesus Christ
(<401913>Matthew 19:13-16; <440239>Acts 2:39). It
has messages to children and
to parents.
I. THE
MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL TO CHILDREN. Children have a
place in the kingdom of heaven (<411016>Mark 10:16), recognized by baptism
into the Name of Christ, the Lord of all (<402818>Matthew 28:18-20). Hence
they are addressed as called to be young disciples. The
obedience of
childhood to both parents (<200108>Proverbs
1:8) prepares for dutiful love in
more advanced years (<202322>Proverbs 23:22),
and teaches lessons of
submission to the will of the Divine Father. Three motives
are suggested in
these messages.
1. “For this is
right.” (<490601>Ephesians 6:1.) There is a fine ring as of
genuine metal in this motive — the supremacy of duty
irrespective of
reward. Obedience is but payment in part of a debt due to
parents.
2. “This is well
pleasing in the Lord.” Remembering the one qualification
suggested by “in the Lord,” children may enjoy Enoch’s
testimony
(<581105>Hebrews 11:5).
3. It has a special
promise (<490602>Ephesians 6:2, 3), which was given to
Gentiles. Illustrate from the national persistence of the
Chinese; from the
continuance of the Rechabites (<243518>Jeremiah 35:18, 19; and see Smith’s
‘Dictionary of the Bible,’ 2:1008); and from the tendency
of obedience and
purity in youth to promote health and long life in
maturity. But the
complexity of natural laws forbids us to consider this an
absolute promise
to each individual. The most dutiful Child among men (<420251>Luke 2:51;
<431925>John 19:25-27) died young under the law of obedience and
sacrifice
for others (<431224>John 12:24-26).
II. THE
MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL TO PARENTS. Combining ver.
21 and <490604>Ephesians 6:4, we are reminded of the following truths.
1. The grave
responsibility of parents towards their children: who bear on
them the image of God, though marred by evil; who belong to
Christ and
have a place in the kingdom of God, and yet are in a world
of sin; who
have to be steered through the perils of youth to a
Christian manhood and
womanhood, which we desire to be something better than our
own.
2. The privilege of
recognizing their relationship to Christ. They belong to
him. They need not to be brought into, but to be brought
up in, the nurture
of the Lord. Christ (<430109>John 1:9) is
nearer to them and speaks to them
earlier than we can. If we are giving to them wise
Christian nurture we
should expect that they will grow up within the shelter of
the fold,
following the Shepherd’s steps.
3. There is a
treatment which discourages early piety. Anything calculated
to provoke to anger tends to discourage children from
believing they can
be young disciples and seeking to live as such. Hence this
caution to
fathers (as heads of
the home and as more likely to abuse their authority).
From which caution and the precept in <490604>Ephesians 6:4, we may gather
such hints on parental duty as the following. Make the
character and
temperament of each child a special study, employing moral
principles
impartially, but adapting treatment to individual cases.
Rule by love and
not by fear, avoiding the perils of over indulgence (<090313>1 Samuel 3:13;
<110106>1 Kings 1:6) and over commandment, never making false
threats, nor
hesitating to revoke a hasty command which reflection will
not justify; nor
punishing under the influence of passion. Seek to win the
confidence of the
children in regard to their spiritual history. Do not
propose to them tests of
Christian character unsuitable to their age, or visit
childish faults as though
they were grave moral delinquencies. In choosing for them
companions,
schools, occupations, “seek first the kingdom of God,” etc.
(As warning
illustrations, cf. <011310>Genesis 13:10-13;
19:14, 31, etc.; <141801>2 Chronicles
18:1; 21:6.) In every department of life seek to combine
the needed
discipline (paidei>a) and instruction (nouqesi>a) with that personal
influence and example which alone can make them “the
chastening and
admonition of the Lord.”
4. Children are a
most powerful and touching motive to parental piety.
(Cf. <431719>John 17:19.) — E.S.P.
Ver. 22-ch. 4:1. —
Servants and their masters.
Many of the “servants” of the New Testament were slaves.
Their general
condition was lamentable. Illustrate this from the penal
code, etc. (Smith’s
‘Dictionary of Antiquities,’ art. “Servus”), and from the
incident that had
recently occurred at Rome (Tacitus, ‘Ann.,’ 14:42-45, or
Conybeare and
Howson’s ‘St. Paul,’ 2:468, n.). Paul’s connection with
Onesimus also
brought the subject prominently before his mind.
Christianity, by the very
divinity of its truths, tended to unsettle the mind of a
converted slave if his
master were a Christian, and still more if he were a
reckless heathen, It
came like a torch of truth into an atmosphere laden with
the explosive
materials of falsehood and fraud. It might easily have lit
up the flames of a
new servile war. But Jesus Christ came to effect the
grandest revolution,
noiselessly, by the spread of Divine principles fatal to
every wrong
(<234202>Isaiah 42:2-4, 6, 7). The precept, <400712>Matthew 7:12, laid the axe to
the root of slavery, as it also under minded the ramparts
of every other
ancient wrong. Christianity must crush slavery, or it will
be corrupted and
vitiated by it. Meanwhile it bettered the position of
converted slaves. It
made them masters of their own consciences. It taught them
so to prize
their spiritual privileges as not to be over anxious about
their earthly lot
(<460721>1 Corinthians 7:21-24). The same principles are applicable
to the
present conditions of Christian servants and their masters.
I. THE
DUTY AND DIGNITY OF CHRISTIAN SERVANTS. It is
significant that some of the most impressive statements of
Christian
doctrine and duty are found in sections of the Epistles
addressed to
servants (vers. 22-25; <560209>Titus 2:9-14; <600218>1 Peter 2:18-25). In this
passage we see:
1. The servant’s
duty. (Ver. 22.) We are reminded here, as in the previous
exhortations, of the qualification implied in the term,
“according to the
flesh;” e.g. Obadiah (<111803>1 Kings
18:3, 4). Masters cannot command the
consciences even of young apprentices (cf. <402221>Matthew 22:21;
<451412>Romans 14:12). God only can adjust the shares of
responsibility for a
double sin (Job. 12:16). Servants are especially warned
against a common
form of unconscientiousness — “eye service;” e.g. wasting
a master’s time,
or hiding up slovenly work done in his absence. The
fidelity of Joseph
(<013903>Genesis 39:3, 6, 22, 23) may be taken as a pattern, and
Nehemiah’s
maxim (<160515>Nehemiah 5:15) as a motto.
2. The servant’s
privilege. (Ver. 23.) Being bound to do everything in the
fear of God, he may do everything in the love of God. The
great regulating
principle of the Christian life may be a motive and an
undercurrent of
thought in every detail of duty (as the love of wife and
children is to a
father busied in commerce). As Jesus was “about his
Father’s business”
when at the carpenter’s bench, and as Paul was “serving the
Lord Christ”
when plying the needle or shuttle, so may Christ be served
in the kitchen.
(Illustrate from George Herbert’s ‘The Elixir.’) Such
service being “from
the soul” will be such as can be presented to the eye of
the Divine Master,
who is always watching us, with that “singleness of heart”
which is the
strength and stay of every true disciple’s character (<470112>2 Corinthians
1:12).
3. The servant’s
recompense. (Vers. 24, 25.) The twenty-fifth verse
reminds even down-trodden slaves that the wrongs they
endure will be no
excuse for the wrongs they do. The law of <031915>Leviticus 19:15 is the rule
of the Divine Judge. But the encouragement precedes the
warning. The
reward will be proportionate (<490608>Ephesians 6:8; cf. <460308>1 Corinthians
3:8). It will consist of an inheritance (<402534>Matthew 25:34; <600104>1 Peter
1:4), the chief glory of which will be its sinless service
of a Master who, by
giving us the honour of thus serving him (<662203>Revelation 22:3, 4), will be
serving us (<421237>Luke 12:37).
II. THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF CHRISTIAN MASTERS.
(<510401>Colossians 4:1.) Two things are demanded even for a slave.
1. Justice. This
could easily be refused; and human tribunals, if they could
be appealed to, might entangle the weak, but be powerless
to restrain the
strong. Plato (‘De Leg.,’ c. 6) tells us that the noblest
specimen of justice is
when a man abstains from injuring those he may easily
wrong. Christianity
demands even more than this. Hence such cautions as some of
the rules of
feudalism suggest: “Between the servant and the lord there
is no judge save
God;” “The lord who exacts what is unjust from his servant
exacts it at the
peril of his soul.”
2. “That which is
equal.” (Cf. <490609>Ephesians 6:9.) This extends to slaves
the protection of our Lord’s “golden rule,” and places
masters under this
royal law. This points towards emancipation, and in most
cases enforces it
on the enlightened conscience. In our present circumstances
the rendering
of that which is equal will restrain masters from giving
the lowest market
price for labour such as bare justice might demand when
that price involves
grinding poverty; and leaving old servants to “the law of
demand and
supply.” But servants must live under the same law, not
forgetting the
responsibilities and risks of capital, or nurturing an
unreasonable
selfishness. Some noble illustrations of how Christianity
leavens commerce
in this aspect have been seen in England during the “cotton
famine” of
1862, and in more recent years, when, for the sake of the
workpeople,
mills have been kept running and collieries working at a
very serious loss.
Observe the motive: “Ye have a Master in heaven,” “higher
than the
highest,” before whom earthly distinctions are but trifles;
who delights to
observe every generous act who at any time may call master
or servant to
give an account of his stewardship; from whom we shall need
to receive,
not rigid justice, but unmerited mercy, through his own
generous gift of
grace in Christ Jesus (<400507>Matthew 5:7;
7:2). — E.S.P.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADNENEY
Ver. 1. —
Christian aspiration.
If we would understand St. Paul we must often remind
ourselves of his
view of the Christian life as a union and identification
with the life of Christ
in its several stages. The apostle teaches that the
Christian has to live
spiritually the same life that Christ lived both
spiritually and visibly. He
must humble himself like Christ, his old self must be
crucified, he must be
buried to the world and then rise again in a new life. Now,
we are to see
how the Ascension follows the Resurrection; how, as it was
in the human
experience of Christ, so spiritually to us there must be a
rising to the things
above after we have come from the death of sin to the new
Christian life.
I. CHRISTIAN
ASPIRATION SPRINGS FROM THE EXPERIENCE
OF A NEW SPIRITUAL LIFE. The resurrection must precede the
ascension. Christ rose from the dead before he was received
up into
heaven. We have our resurrection. Without it we vainly
strive to aspire to
higher things. So long as the soul is dead in trespasses
and sins it can have
no power to rise to the heights of celestial experience.
But this resurrection
has taken place in every true Christian. Christianity does
not satisfy itself
with the death of the old life of sin. It is itself a new
resurrection life. The
destruction of old habits, evil pleasures, a wicked will,
etc., are but the first
process. The very purpose of this killing of the old is to
make way for the
awakening of the new life. Christ could not have risen if
he had not died.
He died that he might rise again. We die to sin that we may
thereby rise
into newness of life. The Christian lives with the
energies, faculties, hopes,
and aims of a new life. All is not done in the act of the
new birth. This, like
natural birth, is the beginning of greater things. The
aspect of the new life
must be onward and upward.
II. CHRISTIAN
ASPIRATION AIMS AT THE THINGS THAT ARE
ABOVE. It must soar above the sinful pleasures and habits
of the past. It
would be undoing all the work of redemption if the freed
soul were to let
itself be again taken captive by sin. The death agonies of
repentance and
the birth throes of the new life would be endured in vain
if, like a sow
returning to its wallowing in the mire, the soul went back
again to grovel in
the low and evil things of its old life. What is the use of
the beautiful wings
of the moth if it continues to crawl over the garbage on
which the
caterpillar fed? Moreover, the Christian aspiration must
carry him away
from the old narrow restraints and formal methods and laws
of the old life.
It is not for him to go back to “ordinances” (<510220>Colossians 2:20).
Observe, however, that the aspiration is to be to that
which is above, not
merely to that which is future. The mere longing for heaven
as a home of
the future may degenerate into an idle sentiment. The true
Christian
aspiration looks upward rather than forward. It seeks the
heavenly things
that may be had already in some degree. Its aims are for
those things which
are spiritually higher and better than the things at
present experienced. The
Christian should prefer heavenly treasure to earthly
riches; the smile of
God to the favour of man; truth, purity, and love to any
things that are seen
and temporal.
III. CHRISTIAN
ASPIRATION IS SUPPORTED BY FELLOWSHIP
WITH CHRIST. Nothing is more difficult than active
aspiration. The
aspiration of sentiment that looks up may be easy. But the
aspiration of life
that seeks the things that are above is beyond our common
endeavours.
The wings of the soul are feeble. We lose ourselves in the
clouds of our
lower atmosphere before we have a glimpse of the stars
above. Storms
beat us back again to earth, weak and weary and sad. We can
only safely
aspire in Christ. As we die with him and rise from the
grave of our old
selves with him, so we ascend by continued fellowship with
him. We may
hold it true
“That men may rise on stepping stones
Of their dead selves to higher things.”
But we find in experience that the process is slow and
toilsome. We want a
hand above to draw us up. Now, as Christ is already in
glory, when we
seek to be near to Christ we approach his high estate. Two
important
lessons flow from this truth.
1. We cannot remain in
fellowship with Christ if we grovel among the
things of earth. Christ ascending to heavenly places will
leave us behind
and beneath his companionship unless we ascend to heavenly
mindedness.
The worldly minded Christian is the Christless Christian.
2. But close
fellowship with Christ is the one way by means of which we
may ascend to the things which are above. — W.F.A.
Ver. 3. —
The hidden life.
After Christ died he was seen no more by the world. It is
true that for forty
days he appeared repeatedly on earth, but only to his own
disciples. The
world never saw him after the stone was rolled against the
entrance of the
sepulchre in Joseph’s garden on the night of the
Crucifixion. And soon he
ascended to heaven to be with God, and was no longer
visible even to his
own followers. But he will come again, when “every eye
shall behold him.”
Now, a similar experience is that of he true life of the
Christian. He has
died to the old life in the world which the world fully
understood. He has
risen to a new life which the world does not understand — a
secret,
internal, spiritual life united to the life of Christ and
hidden in God. But this
life will be revealed when Christ appears again.
I. THE
CHRISTIAN LIFE IS HIDDEN.
1. Its source of
supply is hidden. Its origin is mysterious; for “the wind.
bloweth where it listeth,” etc. And its continued
sustenance is mysterious.
The same Spirit which feeds it gives its birth. The world
sees the fire in the
front, and they wonder that the waters of adversity do not
quench it; but
not behind, where One is constantly pouring on the oil of
spiritual grace.
2. Its true nature
is hidden. The fruits are manifest. The hidden nature of
the spiritual life is no excuse for fruitlessness in the
outer life. But the life
itself is not the less secret. The stream flows
underground, though it proves
its presence by the fresh verdure above. It is known only
to the soul and to
God; known perfectly only to God, for we are mysteries to
ourselves.
3. Its destiny is
hidden. We may hear the deep murmur of the water of life.
But we cannot trace the course of the river, nor see where
it flows into the
ocean of God’s being. The world does not understand the aims
and
aspirations of the Christian. Thus he may be much maligned.
Let him
mercifully refrain from judging those who in their
opposition know not
what they do.
II. THIS
LIFE IS WITH CHRIST IN GOD.
1. It is with
Christ. That is the essential characteristic of it. Union with
Christ is the cause of all the glorious and mysterious
results of Christian
experience. Christ is now hidden in God. Therefore his
people are
spiritually hidden with him. Better be hidden with Christ
than famous
without him. There are secrets that are delicious in their
very secrecy.
What can be more happy than the secret relation of Christ
to the soul?
2. It is in God. This fact accounts for the secret character of the life.
God is
unseen, and all relations with him are invisible. To be deep
and spiritual our
life must go out into the darkness that it may find its
home in God. If there
is no mystery in our Christian experience, this must be
shallow and
altogether earthly. It can have no living relation to God.
III. THE
HIDDEN LIFE WILL BE MANIFESTED IN THE FUTURE.
We talk too exclusively of the revelation of evil
experiences in the great
future. But many good and glorious secrets will also be
declared. The
despised faithful servant of Christ will be honoured, the
misjudged
character will be cleared, the hidden life will reveal
itself in glory. The idea
of a “spiritual body” seems to imply the visible appearance
of the spiritual
life. The manifestation of Christ will bring with it this
manifestation of his
people (<620302>1 John 3:2). Note, the doctrine of the hidden Christian
life is
placed between two practical exhortations:
(1) that we should
set our mind on the things that are above (ver.
2); and
(2) that we should
mortify what remains of the evil life (ver. 5). —
W.F.A.
Ver. 11 (last clause).
—
Christ all, and in all.
I. THE
FACT.
1. Christ is
everything to the Christian. All other
interests sink into
insignificance before him, as the stars fade at the rising
of the sun.
(1) Christ is the
whole price of redemption. We need no additional grace to
that of his gospel. We have not to supplement that gospel
by the Law, or
to eke out the store of grace with our good works, or to
add the
intercession of saints to that of Christ, or to offer any
fresh sacrifices to
complete the atonement. Christ cried on the cross, “It is
finished.” He, and
he alone, is sufficient to bring full salvation.
(2) Christ is the
one Lord of our lives. He will accept no divided devotion.
He, and he alone, has a claim to rule over our hearts.
There is but one King
of the kingdom of heaven that is set up in our midst. Any
priestly
pretension, any dogmatic teaching, or any political
coercion that interferes
with the authority of Christ, is treason against Heaven.
(3) In Christ are
all our requirements. To be in him now is the deepest
peace; to be with him hereafter is the joy of heaven. All
sympathy for all
kinds of men, in all possible conditions of sorrow or of
joy, may be found
in him. All truth of the highest Divine things may be seen
in him, the
“Word” of God.
2. Christ fills
everything for the Christian. He is in all.
(1) Christ is in the
whole heart. All the true Christian’s thought and
affection are filled with Christ. It is true that Christ
does not exclude
natural human affections. It was the fantastic mistake of
the Church that a
St. Catherine, in order to be the bride of Christ, must be
excluded from
human love. On the contrary, Christ enters our human
affections and
pervades them. In regard to social intercourse we may say —
“Let not my heart within me burn
Except in all I thee discern.”
(2) Christ is in the
whole of life. lie does not belong to a small consecrated
section of it, a temple of holiness, shut off from the busy
haunts of
commerce and pleasure. He comes into our business, our
pleasure, our
mundane affairs generally, he is as much in the office and
the workshop as
in the Church. He claims the six days as much as the
Sunday.
(3) Christ is in
each and all of his people, he is not only in apostolic leaders
and pattern saints; he is in little children, the ignorant,
the insignificant, the
imperfect, the latest converts of a mission to degraded
heathen.
II. THE
CONSEQUENCES OF THIS FACT.
1. It is a motive
for holiness. If we are new men in Christ, all life belongs to
him. There is no room for the indulgence of sin. Any
unclean spot is a
desecration of his temple.
2. This fact breaks
down the separating barrier between man and man.
Political distinctions (“Greek and Jew”), religious
distinction’s apart from
Christ (“circumcision and uncircumcision”), distinctions of
civilization
(“barbarian, Scythian”), social distinctions (“bondman,
freeman”), all melt
before the unifying influence of the common presence of
Christ.
3. This fact is a
motive for Christian charity. (Vers. 12,13.) It should lead
to wider sympathy and warmer compassion; to greater
gentleness,
forbearance, and meekness; to a more forgiving spirit among
Christians.
Remember that as you treat your fellow Christian so you are
treating Christ
(<402545>Matthew 25:45). If it is difficult to love him for his own
sake, love
him for the sake of Christ. If there is little of beauty in
his soul and much to
repel and annoy us, still consider that, though the temple
is not attractive,
there dwells within it One who is altogether lovely. Love
the Christ who
may be found even in the uncouth Christian. — W.F.A.
Ver. 14. —
The bond of perfectness.
I. NO
CHRISTIAN CHARACTER IS PERFECT WITHOUT LOVE.
There may be wide knowledge, stainless purity, and fiery
zeal. But the
character will be broken and unfinished if the golden grace
is missing. This
has been singularly forgotten by the Church. Anything but
Christian charity
has been sought after. In the very zeal for other
excellences this one has
been trampled underfoot.
II. LOVE
IS THE CROWNING CHRISTIAN GRACE. “Above all these
things put on love.”
1. Love is the highest
pinnacle of the Christian temple. Too often the
supremacy has been given to orthodoxy, to negative purity,
or to rigorous
devotion. It has to be learnt that it is better to be
heterodox and to love our
brethren, than to be sound in doctrine and selfish in
heart. It needs also to
be more understood that he who denies himself most for his
brother stands
higher than he who is simply irreproachable in behaviour.
2. Love is thus
supreme
(1) because it is of
the essential nature of God, who is love;
(2) because it is
the source of all other graces;
(3) because in
itself it is better than anything else.
III. LOVE
BINDS TOGETHER ALL OTHER CHRISTIAN GRACES.
Without it the character is not only imperfect, it lacks
unity and cohesion.
Love is like the keystone of the arch, which beth completes
the structure
and holds all the other stones together.
1. Love should surround
every other grace as the bend surrounds the
bundle. Purity, truth, justice, courage, temperance, etc.,
should all be
exercised in love.
2. Love should bring
all other graces nearer together. Through love we
should realize the relation between generosity and justice,
purity and
liberty, meekness and courage.
3. Love should make a harmonious
whole of the character. The separate
sticks become one bundle when tied up together. Love should
give unity of
spirit and purpose to the whole life.
4. Love should perfect
the strength of the Christian character. When all the
graces are bound by the bond of love they mutually
strengthen one another.
Selfishness distracts, divides, and weakens life. The soul
that is possessed
by love is strong. — W.F.A.
Ver. 15. —
Peace the umpire.
St. Paul is not exactly desiring that the peace of Christ
may have a large
place in the hearts of his readers, that it may be
unfettered and dominant,
that it may govern all the affections and passions of the
soul, as the
translation in our Authorized Version would lead us to read
his words, and
as they are commonly quoted. Instead of the word “rule” we
should read
“arbitrate.” The apostle would have this peace arbitrating
among the
conflicting claims of various interests and the mutually
opposing forces of
various thoughts and feelings. In fact, it is to be an
umpire.
I. WE
NEED AN UMPIRE IN OUR HEARTS. The conditions of our
troublesome inner life prove this necessity.
1. The war of
passions. Earthly desire fights against heavenly aspiration,
bodily appetite against spiritual hunger, selfish greed
against generous love,
wild passion against pure emotion.
2. The conflict of
claims. Public claims conflict with private claims. Future
interests do not agree with temporary advantages. We are
drawn hither and
thither by cross attractions, confused by a babel of
contradictory voices,
urged by the force of a tempest of impulses.
3. The distraction
of doubts. Our thoughts will not harmonize. One idea
clashes with another. We hear no music of the spheres in
the circling
doubts of our troubled minds. We need an umpire to help us
to discover
what are true among so many prophet voices.
II. PEACE
IS THE UMPIRE SEEDED BY OUR HEARTS. When we
possess our souls in quietness we are able to see the right
and the truly
desirable as we never can while we are distracted by
exciting influences.
1. Peace arbitrates
between the passions. Like a runaway horse who has
taken the bit in his teeth and rushes on blindly to
destruction, passion sees
nothing, and the soul possessed by passion wrecks its
highest interests. We
must be calm to know what feelings may be indulged and what
must be
curbed.
2. Peace arbitrates
between conflicting claims. When all claimants shout
together it is impossible to discover the rights of any.
There must be quiet
in the court of justice. There must be quiet in the soul,
that a calm
consideration of apparently opposed duties and interests
may be made.
3. Peace arbitrates
between distracting thoughts. While the storm rages the
sea is turbid. The waters must be calm if we are to look
down to the pearls
that may lie in their depths. We must think quietly if we
would think truly.
III. IS
CHRIST WE FIND THE PEACE WHICH WILL BE THE
UMPIRE NEEDED BY OUR SOULS. It is vain simply to exhort the
heart
to beat more calmly. The very effort to do so only
increases the
perturbation. It would be cruel mockery for a man to say to
one in distress
and tumult, “Let peace arbitrate in your heart.” You may as
well command
the wild waves of the sea to hush themselves to rest.
1. Christ gives
peace. He who said, “Peace, be still!” to the waters and
there was a great calm, speaks peace to the troubled soul:
“Come unto
me,… and I will give you rest.”
2. Christ gives his own
peace. The peace of Christ is that which dwells in
him. As he desired that his joy might be in his disciples,
so he also blessed
them by leaving his own peace as a legacy when he departed.
“My peace I
give unto you” (<431427>John 14:27).
Nothing is more wonderful, nothing is
more beautiful, than the calmness of Jesus among the storms
of human foes
and diabolical temptations that beat upon him. Like the
steady beams of the
lighthouse shining calmly over a wild waste of howling
waters, Christ, the
Light of the world, shone in quietness of soul over all
storms and tumults.
Now he gives this his peace to his people. — W.F.A.
Ver. 16. —
Psalmody.
Psalmody held a very prominent position in Jewish worship,
and there are
evidences from the apostolic writings that it was not less
honoured in the
Christian Church. Certainly a dispensation which was
ushered in by angel
anthems, and which surpassed all that went before it in
gladness, should
not be wanting in scope for praise and adoration. The
Church that neglects
psalmody neglects a most important element of its life and
work, and will
assuredly suffer in consequence. Let us especially beware
of the absurd
notion that good music is essentially allied to any
particular kind of
teaching, and the most foolish, suicidal policy of
degrading the service of
song because we may not agree with the doctrines of those
people who
develop it most richly. This is to leave to them a monopoly
of a pleasing
attraction and of a function of the Christian life which
all Christians have a
right and a duty to employ. If it was wise not to “let the
devil have all the
best tunes,” it must be unwise to permit those people whose
religious
teaching we think erroneous to have all the good music.
Consider some of
the leading characteristics of good psalmody.
I. IT
SHOULD BE BEAUTIFUL. This is but an external condition, and
worthless without higher qualifications. But it is not
unimportant.
1. We should offer
our best to God. It is unworthy to cultivate good music
in our homes and to seek the best music for our
entertainments, and to yet
offer our praises to God in slovenly, unmusical tones.
2. We should help
the expression of our own devotion by all means in our
power. Good psalmody
will not create devotion in an undevout heart, but it
will assist it in one that is devout, while wearisome
dulness and jarring
discords will greatly hinder it.
3. We should
attract others to our religion. It is not
only lawful, it is our
duty, to use all means that we may win some. No means are
more effective
than good psalmody. Now, this beauty of psalmody is
evidently
contemplated by St. Paul. “Psalms” represent what is sung
to musical
accompaniments; “songs,” what is rendered in poetry. Poetry
and music
constitute the external beauty of psalmody.
II. IT
SHOULD BE HEARTFELT. “Singing with grace in your hearts.”
1. The first condition
is the enjoyment of Divine grace. Psalmody should
be the expression of adoration and praise in response to
the grace of God.
If we have not the grace we cannot truly take our part in
the Church’s song
of praise. But let us not distress ourselves with the narrow
notion that none
who are not clearly spiritual Christians can take part in
Christian psalmody.
For the grace of God is so wide and various that every man
has tasted
some, and they who have not the highest grace have still
enough for devout
thankfulness.
2. The praise must come
from the heart. Whether we have received much
or little grace we must be consciously thankful, and must
sing God’s
praises in our souls if we are really to praise him at all.
After all, the music
of the heart, even if it be sounded forth by a very harsh
voice, is what God
most values.
III. IT
SHOULD BE OFFERED TO GOD, THOUGH ALSO AIMED
AT OUR OWN MUTUAL INSTRUCTION.
1. The first great
object of psalmody is “singing… unto God.” This gives
to it its peculiar solemn interest. Worship is expressed by
it, and worship is
the noblest act of the soul.
2. Nevertheless,
indirectly we teach and admonish one another by these
songs. Strictly didactic poetry is not, perhaps, either
very interesting or
very instructive. But the experience of one soul when
breathed forth in
song may be helpful to another soul. Hence the supreme
value of the
Hebrew psalms, those inimitable expressions of universal
religious
experience. We may receive in song what we would not heed
or feel when
offered in formal instruction. — W.F.A.
Vers. 18, 19. —
Husbands and wives.
(See on <490522>Ephesians 5:22, 23.) — W.F.A.
Vers. 20, 21. —
Children and parents.
(See on <490601>Ephesians 6:1-4.) — W.F.A.
Ver. 22-<510401>Colossians 4:1.
—
Servants and masters.
(See on <490605>Ephesians 6:5-9.) — W.F.A.
Ver. 24 (last
clause). —
The service of Christ.
St. Paul is giving directions to bondservants. But if they
serve the Lord
Christ, so also must all other Christians (<510401>Colossians 4:1). The
principles of conduct recommended to the slaves may be
taken home to
ourselves by all of us.
I. CHRISTIANITY
IS THE SERVICE OF THE LORD CHRIST, St.
Paul, the greatest of the apostles, called himself the
“bond servant of Jesus
Christ.” Christ spoke of his disciples as “servants” (<401024>Matthew 10:24),
though he generously raised them above the common
limitations of service
by admitting them into the confidences of friendship (<431515>John 15:15). The
gospel first offers free gifts — grace, love, forgiveness,
etc. But while
accepting these gifts, and neither needing nor able to make
any adequate
return, we are not to be nothing but recipients. The
blessings are given to
fit us for service.
The Church is not an almshouse for the indolent; it is a
hive of industry.
Christ is Master as well as Saviour. The first act of faith
is to receive the
grace of Christ in order that the second may be to obey his
commandments
(<431415>John 14:15).
II. THE
SERVICE OF CHRIST EXTENDS TO THE WHOLE OF LIFE.
It is not simply a matter of what we call religious affairs,
the devotions of
the sanctuary, etc. It is not merely the doing of work that
is called spiritual,
such as preaching, teaching, etc. The bond servants are
bidden to serve
Christ in their daily work. They are exhorted to work
heartily as unto the
Lord, in whatsoever they do (ver. 23). We must serve Christ
in our daily
business.
III. THE
SERVICE OF CHRIST MUST BE SINCERE.
1. It must not
degenerate into eye service. Our work is not to please men,
but to serve Christ. His eye is ever on us. It matters
little whether men
admire or neglect our work.
2. It must be done in singleness
of heart. Christ will take no divided
devotion. We must not be covertly seeking our own interests
as distinct
from the interests of Christ, so as to have a double,
distracting, and often
conflicting series of ends to be pursued. We shall gain our
own blessedness
in the single-eyed service of Christ, and not as a side
issue.
3. It must be done
from the heart. It must be no mechanical work. We
must think about it and put our heart and soul into it.
There is a world of
difference between the obedience that simply follows the
word of
command as the signal rises or falls when the lever is
moved, and the
obedience that considers, feels, and adopts the wishes of
the master, and
carries them out intelligently and voluntarily, as the
signalman interprets
and follows the code of directions.
IV. SUCH
SERVICE OF CHRIST ENNOBLES ALL WORK. Work is
noble or mean, not so much because of the kind of things
done, as on
account of the motives that inspire it. A surgeon has to do
things which
would be disgusting in themselves, but which are refined by
the humane
motives that prompt them. No task undertaken for a pure
purpose can be
degrading. The most menial work done for Christ’s sake is
elevated to the
level of the devotion of the angels.
V. CHRIST
WILL RECOMPENSE HIS SERVANTS ACCORDING TO
THEIR SERVICE. “We shall all appear before the judgment
seat of
Christ.” This is the judgment of Christians. We are
inclined to forget this
while warning publicans and sinners of their coming
judgment. Christians
will have to give an account of the use of their talent.
1. Then deceitful
eye service will be exposed and punished.
2. Then faithful, obscure
devotion will be revealed and rewarded. —
W.F.A.