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Title: The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the Books of the Bible: Volume 29 (of 32)
- The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and I-II Thessalonians
Author: Barlow, George
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the Books of the Bible: Volume 29 (of 32)
- The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and I-II Thessalonians" ***
+Transcriber's Notes+
- This book uses SMALL CAPS occasionally throughout. You might need
to experiment with browsers and fonts to find a combination that
shows SMALL CAPS correctly.
- The text of the series shifts among font sizes and between one and
two column presentations, in an effort to maximize the amount of
text that can appear on the printed page. This transcription will
dispense with that formatting because costs are so much lower in
the digital world.
- This book is a collection of men's opinions on six epistles of
Apostle Paul: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First
Thessalonians, and Second Thessalonians, in the Bible, the
inspired Word of God. The book was printed toward the end of the
19th century. Some of the comments might be considered culturally
insensitive today.
+THE PREACHER'S+
+COMPLETE HOMILETIC+
+COMMENTARY+
+ON THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE+
+WITH CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES,
INDEXES, ETC., BY VARIOUS AUTHORS+
+THE OLD TESTAMENT
_Volumes 1-21_+
+THE NEW TESTAMENT
_Volumes 22-32_+
VOLUME 29
+The Preacher's Complete Homiletic+
COMMENTARY
ON THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE
+Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians,+
_AND_
+I.-II. Thessalonians+
_By the_ REV. GEORGE BARLOW
_Author of the Commentaries on Kings, Psalms (CXXI.--CXXX.),
Lamentations, Ezekiel, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon_
[LOGO]
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK
THE
+PREACHER'S HOMILETICAL COMMENTARY.+
* * * * * * * *
+GALATIANS.+
+INTRODUCTION.+
+Character of the Galatians.+--These people were of Celtic descent.
They were the relics of a Gaulish invasion which swept over
South-eastern Europe in the early part of the third century before
Christ and poured into Asia Minor. Here the Celtic tribes maintained
themselves in independence under their native princes, until a
hundred years later they were subdued by the Romans. Their country
now formed a province of the empire. They had retained much of their
ancient language and manners; at the same time, they readily acquired
Greek culture, and were superior to their neighbours in intelligence.
Jews had settled among them in considerable numbers and had prepared
the way of the Gospel; it was through their influence that the
Judaistic agitation took so strong a hold of the Galatian Churches.
The epistle implies that its readers generally were acquainted with
the Old Testament and with Hebrew history, and that they took a
lively interest in the affairs of the Churches of Jerusalem and
Antioch. None of the New Testament Churches possesses a more strongly
marked character. They exhibit the well-known traits of the Celtic
nature. They were generous, impulsive, vehement in feeling and
language; but vain, fickle, and quarrelsome. Cæsar wrote: "The
infirmity of the Gauls is that they are fickle in their resolves,
fond of change, and not to be trusted"; and by Thierry they are
characterised thus: "Frank, impetuous, impressible, eminently
intelligent, but at the same time extremely changeable, inconstant,
fond of show, perpetually quarrelling, the fruit of excessive
vanity." Eight of the fifteen works of the flesh enumerated in chap.
v. 20, 21 are sins of _strife._ They could hardly be restrained from
"biting and devouring one another" (ch. v. 15). Like their kinsmen at
this time in the west of Europe, they were prone to revellings and
drunkenness. They had probably a natural bent towards a scenic and
ritualistic type of religion, which made the spirituality of the
Gospel pall upon their taste and gave to the teaching of the
Judaisers its fatal bewitchment.
+The authorship of the epistle.+--That it was written by St. Paul has
never been seriously doubted. His authorship is upheld by the
unanimous testimony of the ancient Church. Allusions and indirect
citations are found in the writings of the apostolic
Fathers--Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, and Justin Martyr, or whoever
wrote the _Oratio ad Græcos. The internal evidence of Pauline
authorship is conclusive by allusions to the history and by the
self-portrayal of the writer's character. No forger ever made an
imitation in which were so many secret threads of similarity, which
bore such a stamp of originality, or in which the character, the
passion, the mode of thought and reasoning, were so naturally
represented. The apostle's mental characteristics are indelibly
impressed on the letter.
+The time of writing the epistle.+--Lightfoot, in disagreement from
most earlier interpreters, maintained that this epistle was written
between 2 Corinthians and Romans--that is, during the latter part of
Paul's journey in Macedonia, or the earlier part of his sojourn at
Corinth, towards the close of the year 57 or 58 A.D. Dr. Beet comes
to the same conclusion. There is nothing in the letter itself to fix
definitely either the place or time of its composition. From chap.
i. 9, iv. 13, v. 3 we gather that St. Paul had now been in Galatia
twice; the epistle was therefore subsequent to the journey which he
took across Asia Minor in setting out on his third missionary tour
(Acts xviii. 22--xix. 1). All students are agreed that it belongs to
the period of the legalist controversy and to the second group of the
epistles. On every account one is inclined to refer the letter to the
last rather than to an earlier period of the third missionary tour.
Comparison with the other epistles of the group raises this
probability almost to a certainty and enables us to fix the date and
occasion of this letter with confidence.
+The purpose and analysis of the epistle.+--It is intensely
polemical. It is a controversial pamphlet rather than an ordinary
letter. The matter of dispute is twofold: 1. Paul's apostleship; and
2. The nature of the Gospel and the sufficiency of faith in Christ
for full salvation. This gives the order of the first two and main
parts of the epistle. A third section is added of a moral and
hortatory nature. The contents of the epistle may be thus analysed:--
I. INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.--1. The apostolic salutation (ch. i. 1-5).
2. The Galatians' defection (ch. i. 6-10).
II. PERSONAL APOLOGIA: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL RETROSPECT.--The apostle's
teaching derived from God and not man, as proved by the circumstances
of: 1. His education (ch. i. 13, 14). 2. His conversion (ch. i.
15-17). 3. His intercourse with the other apostles (ch. i. 18-24, ii.
1-10). 4. His conduct in the controversy with Peter at Antioch (ch.
ii. 11-14). The subject of which controversy was the supersession of
the law by Christ (ch. ii. 15-21).
III. DOGMATIC APOLOGIA: INFERIORITY OF JUDAISM, OR LEGAL
CHRISTIANITY, TO THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH.--1. The Galatians bewitched
into retrogression from a spiritual system into a carnal system (ch.
iii. 1-5). 2. Abraham himself a witness to the efficacy of faith (ch.
iii. 6-9). 3. Faith in Christ alone removes the curse which the law
entails (ch. iii. 10-14). 4. The validity of the promise unaffected
by the law (ch. iii. 15-18). 5. Special pædagogic function of the law
(ch. iii. 19-29). 6. The law a state of tutelage (ch. iv. 1-7).
7. Meanness and barrenness of mere ritualism (ch. iv. 8-11). 8. The
past zeal of the Galatians contrasted with their present coldness
(ch. iv. 12-20). 9. The allegory of Isaac and Ishmael (ch. iv. 21-31).
IV. HORTATORY APPLICATION OF THE FOREGOING.--1. Christian liberty
excludes Judaism (ch. v. 1-6). 2. The Judaising intruders (ch. v.
7-12). 3. Liberty not licence, but love (ch. v. 13-15). 4. The works
of the flesh and of the Spirit (ch. v. 16-26). 5. The duty of
sympathy (vi. 1-5). 6. The duty of liberality (ch. vi. 6-10).
V. AUTOGRAPH CONCLUSION.--1. The Judaisers' motive (ch. vi. 12, 13).
2. The apostle's motive (ch. vi. 14, 15). 3. His parting benediction and
claim to be freed from further annoyance (ch. vi. 16-18). (_Findlay_ and
_Sanday._)
+CHAPTER I.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Paul, an apostle.+--He puts his own name and apostleship
prominent, because his apostolic commission needs to be vindicated
against deniers of it. +Not of,+ or from, +men, but by,+ or from,
+Jesus Christ and God the Father.+ The Divine source of his
apostleship is emphatically stated, as also the infallible authority
for the Gospel he taught.
Ver. 6. +I marvel that ye are so soon removed.+--So quickly removed;
not so soon after your conversion, or soon after I left you, but so
soon after the temptation came; so readily and with such little
persuasion (cf. ch. v. 7-9). It is the fickleness of the Galatians
the apostle deplores. An early backsliding, such as the contrary view
assumes, would not have been matter of so great wonder as if it had
taken place later.
Vers. 8, 9. +Any other gospel.+--The apostle is here asserting the
oneness, the integrity of his Gospel. It will not brook a rival. It
will not suffer any foreign admixture. +Let him be
accursed.+--Devoted to the punishment his audacity merits. In its
spiritual application the word denotes the state of one who is
alienated from God by sin.
Ver. 11. +Not after man.+--Not according to man; not influenced by
mere human considerations, as it would be if it were of human origin.
Ver. 12. +But by the revelation of Jesus Christ.+--Probably this took
place during the three years, in part of which the apostle sojourned
in Arabia (vers. 17, 18), in the vicinity of the scene of the giving
of the law; a fit place for such a revelation of the Gospel of grace
which supersedes the ceremonial law. Though he had received no
instruction from the apostles, but from the Holy Ghost, yet when he
met them his Gospel exactly agreed with theirs.
Ver. 14. +Exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.+--St.
Paul seems to have belonged to the extreme party of the Pharisees
(Acts xxii. 3, xxiii. 7, xxvi. 5; Phil. iii. 5, 6), whose pride it
was to call themselves "zealots of the law, zealots of God." A
portion of these extreme partisans, forming into a separate sect
under Judas of Galilee, took the name of zealots _par excellence,_
and distinguished themselves by their furious opposition to the
Romans.
Ver. 16. +To reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him.+--The
revealing of His Son by me to the Gentiles was impossible, unless He
had first revealed His Son in me; at first on my conversion, but
especially at the subsequent revelation from Jesus Christ (ver. 12),
whereby I learnt the Gospel's independence of the Mosaic law.
Ver. 24. +They glorified God in me.+--He does not say, adds
Chrysostom, they marvelled at me, they praised me, they were struck
with admiration of me, but he attributes all to grace. They glorified
God in me. How different, he implies to the Galatians, their spirit
from yours.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-5.
_Apostolic Credentials._
+I. That apostolic credentials claim distinctively Divine
authority.+--"Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by
Jesus Christ and God the Father" (ver. 1). It must have been a
painful moment when Paul first became aware that spurious teachers
questioned the validity of his apostolic call, and a still more
painful disappointment when he discovered his Galatian converts so
readily gave credence to those who maligned him. His fears were
roused, not so much for his personal reputation as for the injury to
the religious life of his converts if they cherished suspicions as to
the Divine character of the truth they had been taught. The mischief
must be dealt with at once. He boldly and emphatically declared that
his commission was direct from God and bore the same Divine stamp as
that of the other apostles, whose authority even the false teachers
had not the temerity to deny. It has been ever the _rôle_ of the
subtle adversary of man to strive to eliminate the Divine element
from the truth and drag it down to a common human level. Truth then
loses its stability, begins to move in a flux of confused human
opinions, and the soul is plunged into bewilderment and doubt.
Whatever tends to vitiate the truth brings peril to the peace and
upward progress of the soul. The power of the teacher increases with
an ever-deepening conviction of the Divine authority of his message.
+II. That apostolic credentials recognise the oneness of the
Christian brotherhood.+--"And all the brethren which are with me"
(ver. 2). Here is the indication that St. Paul was not unduly
solicitous about his personal reputation. While insisting upon the
unquestioned Divine source of his apostleship, he does not arrogate a
haughty superiority over his brethren. He is one with them in Christ,
in the belief of and fidelity to the truth, in the arduous labours of
pioneer work, in building up and consolidating the Church, and unites
them with himself in his Christian greeting. It is the sublime aim of
the Gospel to promote universal brotherhood by bringing men into
spiritual union with Christ, the Elder Brother. Christ is the
unifying force of redeemed humanity. Ecclesiastical ranks are largely
human expedients, necessary for maintaining order and discipline. The
great Head of the Church has promulgated the unchallengeable law of
religious equality: "One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are
brethren" (Matt. xxiii. 8).
+III. That apostolic credentials justify the use of a sublime and
comprehensive greeting.+--"Grace be to you and peace," etc. (ver. 3).
A greeting like this from some lips would be fulsome, or at the best
mere exaggerated politeness. But coming from one who was in constant
communion with the Source of the blessings desired, and from which
Source he had received his call to the apostleship, it is at once
dignified, large-hearted, and genuine. _Grace_ and _peace_ are
inclusive of the best blessings Heaven can bestow or man receive.
They are Divine in their origin and nature--"from God the Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ." Grace is the spontaneous outflow of Divine
love in the redemption of the race and is the more precious because
unmerited; and peace is the conscious experience of that grace in the
believing soul--peace from outward dissension and inward fret, peace
of conscience, peace with God and man. The blessings the apostle
desires God is ever eager to bestow. "Filling up our time with and
for God is the way," said David Brainerd, "to rise up and lie down in
peace. I longed that my life might be filled up with fervency and
activity in the things of God. Oh, the peace, composure, and God-like
serenity of such a frame! Heaven must differ from this only in
degree, not in kind."
+IV. That apostolic credentials are evident in the clear statement of
the great principles of the Gospel salvation.+--"Who gave Himself for
our sins, that He might deliver us," etc. (vers. 4, 5). In these
words, we have a suggestive epitome of the whole Gospel. Man is
delivered from sin and from the present evil age by the
self-sacrifice of Jesus; and this method is "according to the will of
God," and brings unceasing glory to His name. This is the Gospel in a
nutshell and involves all the grand principles of redemption the
apostle was commissioned to declare, and which he develops more
clearly in the course of this epistle. Deliverance is Divinely
provided, irrespective of human effort or merit. The Galatians in
seeking to return to legal bondage ignored the root principles of the
Gospel and imperilled their salvation. The apostle vindicated the
credentials of his high office by faithful remonstrance and plain
authoritative statement of the truth Divinely revealed to him. It is
a mark of high intellectual power to make the greatest truths clear
to the humblest mind. Christian teaching has all the more weight when
associated with irreproachable moral character.
+Lessons.+--1. _God should be gratefully recognised as the Giver of
all good._ 2. _The special endowments of one are for the benefit of
all._ 3. _It is a solemn responsibility to be entrusted with the
preaching of the Gospel._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 1. _The Power of the Gospel._--1. Free grace doth often light
upon the most unworthy, not only by giving salvation to themselves,
but making them instrumental for the kingdom of Christ, and bringing
about the salvation of others. 2. Faithful and called ministers of
Christ are to be so far from cowardly ceding, or heartless fainting
under the bold, bitter, and unjust aspersions of those who question
their calling, and thereby weaken their authority and render the
truth of their doctrine doubtsome, that they ought the more to avow
their calling against all who question it. 3. The office of an
apostle had this peculiar to itself, that the designation was not
mediately by the election and suffrages of men, as in the calling of
ordinary office-bearers, but immediately from God, so that the
function of the apostles ceased with them and did not pass by
succession to a pope or any other. 4. The false apostles, that they
might shake the truth preached by Paul and establish their own
contrary error, alleged that he was no lawful apostle. This Paul
refutes by showing he was called by Christ after He was raised from
the dead and had taken possession of His kingdom, so that his calling
had at least no less dignity and glory in it than if he had been
called by Christ when He was on earth.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 2. _The Church a Witness._--1. The more they are whom God maketh
use of to hold out the beauty of truth that we may embrace and follow
it, or the deformity and danger of error that we may fly from and
hate it, we are the more to take heed how we reject or embrace what
is pressed upon us, as there will be the more to bear witness of our
guilt and subscribe to the equity of God's judgment if we obey not.
2. We are not so to stumble at the many sinful failings which may be
in Churches, as to unchurch them, by denying them to be a Church, or
to separate from them, if their error be not contrary to fundamental
truths, or if they err from human frailty, and not obstinately and
avowedly.--_Ibid._
Ver. 3. _Christian Salutation._--1. God's gracious favour and
goodwill is to be sought by us in the first place, whether for
ourselves or others, that being a discriminating mercy betwixt the
godly and the wicked. 2. Peace is to be sought after grace, and not
to be expected before it. Peace without grace is no peace. There can
be no peace with God or His creatures, nor sanctified prosperity,
except through Jesus Christ we lay hold on God's favour and grace.
3. Grace and peace we cannot acquire by our own industry or pains.
They come from God, are to be sought from Him, and His blessing is
more to be depended on than our own wisdom or diligence. 4. They to
whom grace and peace belong are such as acknowledge Christ to be
their Lord to command and rule them, and yield subjection to Him in
their heart and life.--_Ibid._
_Grace and Peace._
I. +Grace+ is not any gift in man but is God's and in God. It
signifies His gracious favour and goodwill, whereby He is well
pleased with us in Christ.
II. +Peace+ is a gift not in God, but in us. 1. Peace of
conscience--a quietness and tranquillity of mind arising from a sense
of reconciliation with God. 2. Peace with the creatures--with angels,
with the godly, with our enemies. 3. Prosperity and good success.
III. Whereas Paul begins his prayer with grace we learn that +grace
in God is the cause of all good things in us.+
IV. The chief things to be sought after are +the favour of God in
Christ and the peace of a good conscience.+
V. As grace and peace are joined we learn that +peace without grace
is no peace.+--_Perkins._
Vers. 4, 5. _The Unselfishness of Jesus._
+I. Prompting self-surrender.+--"Who gave Himself."
+II. His self-surrender was an unmerited and unlooked-for
expiation.+--"For our sins."
+III. Creates the hope and possibility of immediate
salvation.+--"That He might deliver us from this present evil
world."
+IV. Was a suggestive revelation of the Divine
character.+--"According to the will of God and our Father."
+V. Should evoke the spirit of grateful praise.+--"To whom be glory
for ever and ever. Amen."
Ver. 4. _Christ our Sacrifice._
I. Whereas Christ is the giver of Himself it follows that +His death
and sacrifice were voluntary.+
II. Therefore, +all merit and satisfaction for sin are reduced to the
person of Christ,+ and there are no human satisfactions for sin, nor
meritorious works done by us.
III. +Christ our sacrifice works love in us.+--We must in mind and
meditation come to the cross of Christ. 1. The consideration of His
endless pains for our sins must breed in us a godly sorrow. If He
sorrowed for them, much more must we. 2. This knowledge is the
beginning of amendment of life. 3. Is the foundation of comfort in
them that truly turn to Christ.
IV. +Christ gave Himself that He might deliver us from this evil
world.+--1. We must be grieved at the wickedness of the world. 2. We
must not fashion ourselves to the wicked lives of the men of this
world. 3. Seeing we are taken out of this world, our dwelling must be
in heaven.--_Perkins._
_The Gift of Christ._
I. +The gift.+--"He gave Himself." Regard Christ: 1. As the object of
every prophecy. 2. The substance of every type and shadow. 3. The
subject of every promise. 4. He was qualified for the work of
redemption. Divine, human, spotless.
II. +Christ's marvellous act.+--"He gave Himself for our sins." 1. To
what He gave Himself. To all the privations and sorrows of human
life, to obscurity and indigence, to scorn and infamy, to pain and
anguish, to an ignominious and painful death. 2. The purpose for
which He gave Himself. To deliver us from sin's curse, defilement,
dominion, and from the effects of sin in this world and in eternity.
III. +The design of Christ's offering.+--"That He might deliver us
from the present evil world." From its evil practices, its spirit,
from attachment to it, and from the condemnation to which it will be
subjected.
IV. +Christ's offering was according to the will of God.+--1. It was
the will of God we should be saved. 2. Christ was the appointed
agent. 3. The sacrifice of Christ was voluntary.--_Helps._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-9.
_The One Gospel._
+I. Is an introduction into the grace of Christ.+--"I marvel that ye
are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of
Christ" (ver. 6). The one true Gospel is the emphatic call of God to
man to participate and revel in the grace of Christ as the element
and the only means by which his salvation can be secured. The grace
of Christ, with its persuasive gentleness and vast redemptive
resources, is in vivid contrast to the grim formalism and impossible
demands of the yoke of bondage into which the Galatians were being so
foolishly seduced. There is only one Gospel that can introduce the
soul into the midst of saving influences and bring it into contact
with the living Christ. This one fact differentiates the Gospel from
all mere human methods and gives it a unique character as the only
remedial agency in dealing with human sin and sorrow.
+II. The perversion of the one Gospel is not a gospel.+--"Unto
another gospel which is not another" (vers. 6, 7).
1. _It is a caricature of the true Gospel._--"And would pervert the
gospel of Christ" (ver. 7). The perversion is not in the one Gospel,
which is impossible of perversion (for truth is an incorruptible
unity), but in the mind of the false teacher. He distorts and
misrepresents the true Gospel by importing into it his own corrupt
philosophy, as the wolf did with Baron Munchausen's horse. Beginning
at the tail, it ate its way into the body of the horse, until the
baron drove the wolf home harnessed in the skin of the horse. The
Gospel has suffered more from the subtle infusion of human errors
than from the open opposition of its most violent enemies.
2. _It occasions distractions of mind._--"There be some that trouble
you" (ver. 7). A perverted gospel works the greatest havoc among
young converts. They are assailed before they reach the stage of
matured stability. Their half-formed conceptions of truth are
confused with specious ideas, attractive by their novelty, and
mischief is wrought which in many cases is a lifelong injury. The
spirit that aims at polluting a young beginner in the way of
righteousness is worse than reckless; it is diabolical.
+III. The propagator of a perverted gospel incurs an awful
malediction.+--"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel, . . . let him be accursed" (vers. 8, 9). Let him be
devoted to destruction, as one hateful to God and an enemy of the
truth. The word denotes the condition of one alienated from God by
persistent sin. He not only rejects the truth himself, but
deliberately plots the ruin of others. He reaps the fruit of his own
sowing. It is impossible to do wrong without suffering. The greater
the wrong-doing, the more signal is the consequent punishment. All
perversions of truth are fruitful in moral disasters. It is a mad,
suicidal act for man to fight against God.
+Lessons.+--1. _There can be but one true and infallible Gospel._
2. _The best human method for moral reformation is but a caricature
of the true._ 3. _The false teacher will not escape punishment._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 6, 7. _Remonstrance with Revolters against the Gospel._
I. +The apostle reproves with meekness and tenderness of heart.+
II. +He frames his reproof with great wariness and
circumspection.+--He says not, ye of yourselves do remove to another
gospel, but ye are removed. He blames them but in part and lays the
principal blame on others.
III. +The revolt was a departure from the calling to the grace of
Christ.+--1. They were soon carried away. This shows the lightness
and inconstancy of man's nature, especially in religion. The
multitude of people are like wax and are fit to take the stamp and
impression of any religion; and it is the law of the land that makes
the most embrace the Gospel, and not conscience. 2. That we may
constantly persevere in the profession of the true faith we must
receive the Gospel simply for itself. 3. We must be renewed in the
spirit of our minds and suffer no by-corners in our hearts. 4. We
must not only be hearers but doers of the Word in the principal
duties to be practised.
IV. The Galatians revolt to +another gospel, compounded of Christ and
the works of the law.+--Here we see the curious niceness and
daintiness of man's nature that cannot be content with the good
things of God unless they be framed to our minds. If they please us
for a time, they do not please us long, but we must have new things.
The apostle shows that, though it be another gospel in the estimation
of the false teachers, is not another, but a subversion of the Gospel
of Christ. There is but one Gospel, one in number, and no more. There
is but one way of salvation by Christ, whereby all are to be saved
from the beginning of the world to the end.
V. +The apostle charges the authors of this revolt with two
crimes.+--1. They trouble the Galatians, not only because they make
divisions, but because they trouble their consciences settled in the
Gospel of Christ. 2. They overthrow the Gospel of Christ. They did
not reach a doctrine flat contrary. They maintained the Gospel in
word and put an addition to it of their own out of the law--salvation
by works. They perverted and turned upside-down the Gospel of
Christ.--_Perkins._
_The Perversion of Truth--_
+I. Supplants the Gospel with a valueless imitation.+--"Another
gospel which is not another."
+II. Is contrary to the Divine purpose.+--"From Him that called you
into the grace of Christ."
+III. Creates a gulf between the soul and God.+--"I marvel that ye
are so soon removed from Him."
+IV. Unsettles the faith of new converts.+--"There be some that
trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ."
Ver. 6. _Disappointed Hopes in Christian Work._--1. It is the duty of
Christian ministers, not only to hold out the pure truth of the
Gospel, but to defend it by convicting gainsayers and reproving
solidly those who are carried away with contrary errors. 2. Ministers
in all their reproofs are to use much wariness and circumspection,
not omitting any circumstance which may justly extenuate the sin or
furnish ground of hope of amendment. Hereby the bitter portion of a
medicinal reproof is much sweetened, and the guilty patient allured
to the more thorough receiving of it. 3. The most quick-sighted may
be deceived and disappointed in their expectation of good things from
some eminent professors, and so may readily fall short of their hope.
4. As the dangerous consequences which follow upon error ought to be
presented unto people that they may fly from it, so there are some
errors in doctrine which do no less separate from God than profanity
of life doth, of which errors this is one--the maintaining of
justification by works. 5. It is ordinary for seducers to usher in
their errors by some excellent designations as of new lights, a more
pure gospel way, and what not, as here they designate their error by
the name of another gospel.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 7. _The Inviolable Unity of the Gospel._--1. There is but one
Gospel, one in number and no more, and but one way to salvation,
which is by faith. 2. The effect of error is to trouble the Church's
peace; peace among themselves, the patrons of error being zealous of
nothing so much as to gain many followers, to attain which they
scruple not to make woeful rents and deplorable schisms; inward peace
of conscience, while some are perplexed and anxious what to choose
and refuse until they question all truth, and others to embrace error
for truth and so ground their peace on an unsure foundation. 3. The
doctrine which maintains that justification is partly by Christ and
partly by the merit of good works is a perverting and total
overturning of the Gospel, in so far as it contradicts the main scope
of the Gospel, which is to exalt Christ as our complete Saviour,
Mediator, and Ransom, and not in part only.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 8. _The Inviolability of Christianity._
I. +The import and construction of the Gospel cannot be vague and
indeterminate.+--The character of the Gospel was alleged to be its
truth. This was, to the sophists of that era, a strange and novel
pretension. To require faith to a testimony only so far as
conformable to fact, only so far as supported by evidence, appeared
to them a startling affectation. In the fixed character we recognise
the true perfection of the Gospel. It is the same through all ages,
not changing to every touch and varying beneath every eye but
unfolding the same features and producing the same effects. Unless
there was this invariableness in the Christian system, if a fixed
determination of its purport is impossible, we should be at a loss in
which manner to follow the conduct and imbibe the spirit of the early
Christians. Those lights and examples of the Church would only
ensnare us into a mien and attitude ridiculous as profane. It would
be the dwarf attempting to bare a giant's arm, a wayfaring man
aspiring to a prophet's vision. The truth as it is in Jesus is
contained in that Word which is the truth itself; there it is laid up
as in a casket and hallowed as in a shrine. No change can pass upon
it. It bears the character of its first perfection. Like the manna
and the rod in the recess of the Ark, it is the incorruptible bread
of heaven, it is the ever-living instrument of might, without an
altered form or superseded virtue.
II. +Its Divine origin and authority cannot be controverted.+--The
history of Saul of Tarsus has often been cited with happy success in
confirmation of Christianity. 1. What must have been the strength and
satisfaction of conviction entertained by the writer! The conviction
has to do with facts. It pertains to no favourite theory, no abstract
science, but occurrences which he had proved by sensible observation
and perfect consciousness. Wonders had teemed around him; but his own
transformation was the most signal wonder of all. Nothing without him
could equal what he discerned within. 2. As we estimate the measure
and force of his convictions, inquire what weight and credibility
should be allowed them. Put his conduct to any rack, his design to
any analysis, and then determine whether we are not safe where he is
undaunted, whether we may not decide for that on which he perils all,
whether the anathema which he dares pronounce does not throw around
us the safeguard of a Divine benediction.
III. +Its efficacy cannot be denied.+--It was not called into
operation until numberless expedients of man had been frustrated.
Philosophy, rhetoric, art, were joined to superstitions, radicated
into all habits and vices of mankind. The very ruins which survive
the fall of polytheism--the frieze with its mythological tale, the
column yet soaring with inimitable majesty, the statue breathing an
air of divinity--recall the fascinations which it once might boast
and of the auxiliaries it could command. Yet these were but the
decorations of selfishness most indecently avowed, of licentiousness
most brutally incontinent, of war the most wantonly bloody, of
slavery the most barbarously oppressive. And Christianity subverted
these foundations of iniquity; and yet so all-penetrating is its
energy, that it did not so much smite them as that they sank away
before it. It reaches the human will and renews the human heart. And
a thousand blessings which may at first appear derived from an
independent source are really poured forth from this.
IV. +The authority and force of the present dispensation of Divine
truth cannot be superseded.+--It is final. In it He hath spoken whose
voice shall be heard no more until it "shake not the earth only but
also heaven." No other sensible manifestation can be given, the
doctrine is not to be simplified, the ritual is not to be defined to
any further extent, nothing more will be vouchsafed to augment its
blessings or ratify its credentials. We possess the true light, the
perfect gift, the brightest illumination, the costliest boon. Such a
dispensation constituted to be co-existent with all future time, must
resist every view which would impress a new form or foist a strange
nature upon it.
V. +No circumstance or agency can endanger the existence and
stability of the Christian revelation.+--When the security of the
Gospel is to be most confidently predicted and most strongly
ascertained, supernatural power is restrained--a curse encloses it
round about, a "flaming sword turning every way guards this tree of
life." It shall endure coevally with man. Feeble are our present
thoughts, confused our perceptions; we see everything as from behind
a cloud and in a disproportion. Our convictions are more like
conjectures and our speculations dreams. But we shall soon emerge
from this state of crude fancies and immature ideas. Worthy
sentiments and feelings will fill up our souls. Each view shall be as
a ray of light striking its object, and each song the very echo of
its theme. Then shall we adequately understand why apostles kindled
into indignation and shook with horror at the idea of "another
gospel," and why even angels themselves must have been accursed had
it been possible for them to have divulged it.--_R. W. Hamilton._
_A Supernatural Revelation._--There can be no doubt whatever as a
matter of historic fact, that the apostle Paul claimed to have
received direct revelation from heaven. He is so certain of that
revelation that he warns the Galatians against being enticed by any
apparent evidence to doubt it. It would be impossible to express a
stronger, a more deliberate, and a more solemn conviction that he had
received a supernatural communication of the will of God.--_Dr. Wace,
Bampton Lectures._
_The Best Authority to be obeyed._--A dispute having arisen on some
question of ecclesiastical discipline and ritual, King Oswi summoned
in 664 a great council at Whitby. The one set of disputants appealed
to the authority of Columba, the other to that of St. Peter. "You
own," cried the puzzled king to Colman, "that Christ gave to Peter
the keys of the kingdom of heaven: has He given such power to
Columba?" The bishop could but answer, "No." "Then I will obey the
porter of heaven," said Oswi, "lest when I reach its gates he who has
the keys in his keeping turn his back on me, and there be none to
open."
_Latitudinarianism._--Referring to Erasmus's temporising policy in
the Reformation, Froude says: "The question of questions is, what all
this latitudinarian philosophising, this cultivated epicurean
gracefulness, would have come to if left to itself, or rather, what
was the effect which it was inevitably producing? If you wish to
remove an old building without bringing it in ruin about your ears,
you must begin at the top, remove the stones gradually downwards, and
touch the foundation last. But latitudinarianism loosens the
elementary principles of theology. It destroys the premises on which
the system rests. It would beg the question to say that this would in
itself have been undesirable; but the practical effect of it, as the
world then stood, would have been only to make the educated into
infidels, and to leave the multitude to a convenient but debasing
superstition."
Ver. 9. _The True Gospel to be preached and believed._
I. The repetition of these words by Paul +signify that he had not
spoken rashly but advisedly,+ whatsoever he had said before.
II. +That the point delivered is an infallible truth of God.+
III. +That we may observe and remember what he had said as the
foundation of our religion+--that the doctrine of the apostles is the
only infallible truth of God, against which we may not listen to
Fathers, Councils, or to the very angels of God.
IV. They are accursed +who teach otherwise than the Galatians had
received.+--As Paul preached the Gospel of Christ, so the Galatians
received it. The great fault of our times is that whereas the Gospel
is preached it is not accordingly received. Many have no care to know
it; and they who know it give not unto it the assent of faith, but
only hold it in opinion.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-12.
_The Superhuman Origin of the Gospel._
+I. The Gospel is not constructed on human principles.+--"But I
certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is
not after man" (ver. 11). Its character is such as the human mind
would never have conceived. When it was first proclaimed it was the
puzzle of the religious and the ridicule of the learned--"unto the
Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." It is
wholly opposed to the drift of human tendencies. Its supreme aim is
to effect a complete transformation of human nature. Not to destroy
that nature, but to renew, elevate, and sublimate it. By its
principle of self-sacrificing love, its insistence of the essential
oneness of the race, its methods in dealing with the world's evils,
its lofty morality, and its uncompromising claims of superiority the
Gospel transcends all the efforts of human ingenuity. Augustine, the
father of Western theology in the fifth century, divided the human
race into two classes--the one who lived according to man and the
other who lived according to God. The Gospel is the only revelation
that teaches man how to live according to God.
+II. The Gospel does not pander to human tastes.+--"For do I now
persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet
pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (ver. 10). The
adversaries of the apostle insinuated that he was a trimmer,
observing the law among the Jews and yet persuading the Gentiles to
renounce it; becoming all things to all men that he might form a
party of his own. Such an insinuation was based on an utter
misconception of the Gospel. So far from flattering, Paul preached a
Gospel that humbled men, demanding repentance and reform. It often
came in collision with popular tastes and opinions; and though the
apostle was a man of broad views and sympathies, he was ever the
faithful and uncompromising servant of Christ. Public opinion may be
hugely mistaken, and there is danger of over-estimating its
importance. It is the lofty function of the preacher to create a
healthy public opinion and Christianise it, and he can do this only
by a scrupulous and constant representation of the mind of Christ,
his Divine Master. The wise Phocion was so sensible how dangerous it
was to be touched with what the multitude approved that upon a
general acclamation made when he was making an oration he turned to
an intelligent friend and asked in a surprised manner, "What slip
have I made?" George Macdonald once said, "When one has learned to
seek the honour that cometh from God only, he will take the
withholding of the honour that cometh by man very lightly indeed."
+III. The Gospel has a distinctly superhuman origin.+--"For I neither
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ" (ver. 12). Paul's reception of the Gospel was not only
a revelation of Christ _to_ him, but at the same time a revelation of
Christ _in_ him. The human vehicle was spiritually prepared for the
reception and understanding of the Divine message; and this moral
transformation not only convinced him of the superhuman character of
the Gospel, but also empowered him with authority to declare it. The
Gospel carries with it the self-evidencing force of its Divine origin
in its effect upon both preacher and hearer. It is still an enigma to
the mere intellectual student; only as it is received into the inmost
soul, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, is its true nature apprehended
and enjoyed.
+Lessons.+--1. _Man everywhere is in dire need of the Gospel._
2. _The human mind is incapable of constructing a saving Gospel._
3. _The Gospel is inefficacious till it is received as a Divine gift._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 10. _Fidelity in the Ministry._
I. +The proper nature of the ministry is not the word or doctrine of
man but of God.+--Ministers are taught to handle their doctrine with
modesty and humility, without ostentation, with reverence, and with a
consideration of the majesty of God, whose doctrine it is they utter.
II. +The dispensing of the Word must not be for the pleasing of men
but God.+--Ministers must not apply and fashion their doctrine to the
affections, humours, and dispositions of men, but keep a good
conscience and do their office.
III. +If we seek to please men we cannot be the servants of God.+--He
that would be a faithful minister of the Gospel must deny the pride
of his heart, be emptied of ambition, and set himself wholly to seek
the glory of God in his calling.--_Perkins._
_The Servant of Christ._
+I. There is nothing dishonourable in the idea of a servant
absolutely considered.+--On the contrary, there may be much in it
that is noble and venerable. Nothing can be more contemptible than an
affectation of independence which resents or is ashamed of a
servant's name. And many who despise servants should be told that
they themselves are so worthless that nobody would think of honouring
them with hiring them for service. It was Christ's honour that His
Father so employed Him for the work of our salvation, and said,
"Behold My Servant, whom I have chosen": and the highest honour of
the preachers of the Gospel is that they are the ministers, that is,
the servants, both of Christ and His Church. There are cases, no
doubt, in which servitude is degrading. The master may be infamous;
though even then the servant's condition is not dishonourable unless
he be employed in infamous work. Many servants have wrought out most
honourable names for themselves in doing good work under bad masters.
Matthew Henry has said well that there is nothing mean but sin, and
with such meanness and dishonour is every man affected who is not a
servant of Christ. There is for us all the choice of only two
conditions; there is not a third and neutral one. The alternative is
a servant of the Son of God or a slave of sin. It may not be of sin
in its most hideous forms, in the form in which it tyrannises over
the drunkard, the lewd man, or the ambitious, but even in its milder
and less-offensive form, when it may reign only with the power which
it exercises over the worshipper of wealth or of human applause;
still, it is a degrading vassalage. Let no worldly man, then, affect
to pity or scorn the disciple of the Gospel as being one whom
superstition enslaves, though it were admitted to be a slavery; he
himself labours under one infinitely more oppressive and degrading.
Whose appears the greater liberty and the least oppression, he who is
governed by the salutary laws of the Gospel, or he who is the sport
and victim of his own ignorance and passions, or of the opinion of
the world, to which, at the expense of the violation of his own
conscience, he feels himself compelled ignominiously to submit? The
question needs not an answer. There is everything honourable in the
one service, everything dishonourable in the other. Only that man is
truly a free man who is a servant of Christ.
+II. The servant of Christ.+--Others profess that they are servants
of God; the Christian replies that he is a servant of Christ. There
is perhaps nothing by which his faith is more distinctly
characterised than this. "Is he not, then, a servant of God?" some
one may ask, either in the spirit of a scorning objector or in that
of an astonished inquirer who is as yet ignorant of the beautiful
mystery of Christian salvation. When others profess that they are the
servants of God, and when the Christian replies that he is a servant
of Christ, does it signify that he is not a servant of the eternal
Father? Such is the question; and our reply is, that in serving
Christ he approves himself not only the best servant of God, but the
only one whose service is genuine. In serving Christ he serves God,
because God has so appointed and ordained. He has ordained that we be
the servants of His Son; and if we serve not His Son, then we resist
His ordination, so that we serve neither His Son nor Himself.
+III. The Christian is Christ's servant, not by hire, but by
purchase.+--This is a circumstance which claims our most thoughtful
consideration. In the case of a servant who is hired there is a
limitation of the master's right, by the terms of the agreement, in
respect to the kind and amount of labour to be exacted. There is also
a definite term, at the expiry of which the right of service ceases,
and the remuneration of the service is exigible by law. There is a
vast difference in the case of a purchased servant, or, as otherwise
expressed, a slave. He is his master's property, to be treated
entirely according to his master's discretion. There is no limitation
either to the amount or nature of the work which he may exact. The
period of service is for life, and no remuneration can be claimed for
the labour, howsoever heavy and protracted. Our servant-condition in
relation to Christ is of this character: He does not hire us but has
purchased us--purchased us by His blood, and made us His property, to
be used according to His sovereign will. But this is far from being
all. Our gracious Master often sinks, as it were, the consideration
of His past services--His humiliation, His privation, His wounds and
agony by which He saved us from punishment and woe--and reasons and
deals with us as if we were hired servants and could merit something
at His hand, animating us in our work by exhibiting to our hope that
crown of glory which He will confer on all who are faithful unto
death. Blessed servitude--the servitude of the Christian! Servitude
of peace! Servitude of honour! Servitude of liberty! Servitude of
victory and everlasting glory! 1. The Christian, as a servant,
_submits his mind to the authority of Christ_--submits it to Him in
respect of his opinions; at the utterance of His Word renounces its
own judgments and prejudices, and turns away from the teaching of the
world's philosophy and priesthood in scorn, saying, "You have no part
in me. Christ is the Lord of my conscience; I will listen to Him."
2. As the servant of Christ, the Christian _subjects his body to His
control and regulation_ in the gratifying of its appetites, and in
providing for its comfort and adornment; his lips in what they speak;
his hands in what they do; his ears in what they listen to; his eyes
in what they read and look at; and his feet in all their journeying
and movements. 3. As the servant of Christ, he _regulates his family
according to his Master's mind and law._ 4. As a servant of Christ,
he _conducts his business according to Christ's law,_ with the
strictest honesty, and for Christ's end, distributing his profits in
a proportion--I shall say a large proportion; nay, I shall say a very
large proportion--to the maintenance and education of his family, and
some provision of an inheritance for them, and even a considerable
proportion for the gratification of his own tastes. Is not that a
large allowance for a slave? But oh, some of you! you seize on
all--wickedly appropriate all to yourselves, or part, and that with a
grudge, a murmur, and a scowl, with but the smallest fraction to the
Master's poor and the Master's Church! Slaves indeed! Slaves of
Avarice and his daughter, Cruelty! 5. As a servant of Christ, _the
country of the Christian is Christ's,_ to be regulated, so far as his
influence and vote may extend, by Christ's rule, for Christ's
ends.--_W. Anderson, LL.D._
Vers. 11, 12. _The Gospel and the Call to preach it._
I. It is necessary that men should be assured and certified that +the
doctrine of the Gospel and the Scripture is not of man but of
God.+--That the Scripture is the Word of God there are two
testimonies. 1. One is the evidence of God's Spirit imprinted and
expressed in the Scriptures, and this is an excellence of the Word of
God above all words and writings of men and angels. 2. The second
testimony is from the prophets and apostles, who were ambassadors of
God extraordinarily to represent His authority unto His Church, and
the penmen of the Holy Ghost to set down the true and proper Word of
God.
II. It is necessary that men should be assured in their consciences
that +the calling and authority of their teachers are of God.+--To
call men to the ministry and dispensation of the Gospel belongs to
Christ, who alone giveth the power, the will, the deed; and the
Church can do no more than testify, publish, and declare whom God
calleth.
III. +The Gospel which Paul preached was not human+--he did not
receive it, neither was he taught it by man; and preached it not by
human but by Divine authority. 1. Christ is the great prophet and
doctor of the Church. His office is: (1) To manifest and reveal the
will of the Father touching the redemption of mankind. (2) To
institute the ministry of the Word and to call and send ministers.
(3) To teach the heart within by illuminating the mind and by working
a faith of the doctrine taught. 2. There are two ways whereby Christ
teaches those who are to be teachers. (1) By immediate revelation.
(2) By ordinary instruction in schools by the means and ministry of
men.
IV. +They who are to be teachers must first be taught,+ and they must
teach that which they have first learned themselves. They are first
to be taught, and that by men where revelation is wanting. This is
the foundation of the schools of the prophets. All men should pray
that God would prosper and bless all schools of learning where this
kind of teaching is in use.--_Perkins._
_The Gospel a Divine Revelation._
+I. It is not constructed by human ingenuity.+--"The gospel which
was preached of me is not after man" (ver. 11).
+II. It derives no authority from man.+--"For I neither received it
of man" (ver. 12).
+III. It is not acquired by mere mental culture.+--"Neither was I
taught it."
+IV. It is a direct and special revelation from heaven.+--"But by
the revelation of Jesus Christ."
_Apostolic Assurance of the Supernatural Character of the
Gospel._--1. It is the custom of the adversaries of the truth, when
they have nothing to say in reason against the doctrine itself, to
cast reproach on those who preach it, and to question their call and
authority to preach, that so they may indirectly at least reflect
upon the doctrine. 2. As none may take upon him to dispense the Word
of God publicly unto others without a call from God, so there are
several sorts of callings: one of men and ordinary when God calls by
the voices and consent of men; another of God and extraordinary, the
call of the Church not intervening. 3. It is required of an apostle
to have the infallible knowledge of the truth of the Gospel and this
not wholly by the help of human means, as we learn at schools and by
private study, but mainly by immediate inspiration from the Spirit of
God. Paul shows that the Gospel was not taught him of man; and this
he saith, not to depress human learning, but that he may obviate the
calumny of his adversaries who alleged he had the knowledge of the
Gospel by ordinary instruction from men only, and so was no
apostle.--_Ferguson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13, 14.
_A Zealous Ritualist--_
+I. Is conspicuous for his adherence to religious formalities.+--"For
ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion"
(ver. 13)--_of my manner of life formerly in Judaism._ Saul of Tarsus
was a full-blown ritualist, and a master-leader in the art, setting
the pattern to all his contemporaries. He did not play at forms and
ceremonies. Their observance was to him a matter of life and death.
An intense nature like his could do nothing by halves. The
listlessness and pictorial parade of modern ritualism he would have
denounced with withering scorn. Religious formality has for some
minds an irresistible fascination. It appeals to the instinct of
worship which is latent in all, and to the love of æstheticism which
is shared by most in varying degrees. The votary deludes himself into
the belief that signs and symbols represent certain great truths; but
the truths soon fade away into the background, and he is in turn
deluded in regarding the outward ceremonies as everything. Formality
is the tendency of the mind to rest in the mere externals of religion
to the neglect of the inner life of religion itself. It is the folly
of valuing a tree for its bark instead of its goodly timber, of
choosing a book for its ornate binding irrespective of its literary
genius, of admiring the finished architecture of a building
regardless of its accommodation or the character of its inmates.
"There are two ways of destroying Christianity," says D'Aubigné; "one
is to deny it, the other is to displace it." Formality seeks to
displace it. Ritualism may be of use in the infantile stage, either
of the world or the individual. It is a reversion to the petrifaction
of ancient crudities. A robust and growing spiritual manhood is
superior to its aids.
+II. Violently opposes the representatives of genuine piety.+--"How
that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God, and wasted it"
(ver. 13). Animated by extravagant zeal for the religion of his
forefathers, the bigoted Pharisee became the deadliest enemy of the
Church of Christ in its infant days. Indifferent to personal peril or
to the feelings of the oppressed, he prosecuted his work of
destruction with savage energy. He was a type of the Jewish fanatics
who afterwards thirsted and plotted for his life, and the forerunner
of the cruel zealots of the Inquisition and the Star Chamber in later
times. The curse of ritualism is excessive intolerance. Blinded and
puffed up with its unwarrantable assumptions, it loses sight of the
essential elements of true religion. It sees nothing good in any
other system but its own, and employs all methods that it dare, to
compel universal conformity. It admits no rival. It alone is right;
everything else is wrong, and all kinds of means are justifiable in
crushing the heresy that presumes to deny its supreme claims. "Christ
and Ritualism," says Horatius Bonar, "are opposed to each other, as
light is to darkness. The cross and the crucifix cannot agree. Either
ritualism will banish Christ or Christ will banish ritualism."
+III. Is distinguished by his ardent study and defence of traditional
religionism.+--"And profited in the Jews' religion above many my
equals in my mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the
traditions of my fathers" (ver. 14). The apostle had studied the
Mosaic law under the ablest tutors of his day. He knew Judaism by
heart and won a distinguished reputation for learning and for his
strict adherence to the minutest details of traditional legalism. He
was one of the ablest champions of the Mosaic system. The zealous
ritualist spends his days and nights in studying, not the Word of
God, but the sayings of men and the rules of the Church handed down
by the traditions of past generations. Divine revelation is ignored,
and human authority unduly exalted. His studies are misdirected, and
his zeal misspent. He is wasting his energy in defending a lifeless
organism. No man can honestly and prayerfully study God's Word and
catch its meaning, and remain a mere ritualist.
+Lessons.+--1. _Ritualism is the worship of external forms._ 2. _It
breeds a spirit of intolerance and persecution._ 3. _It supplants
true religion._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 13, 14. _Mistaken Zeal--_
+I. May create a reputation for religious devotion.+--"Ye have
heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion"
(ver. 13).
+II. Breeds the spirit of violent persecution.+--"How that beyond
measure I persecuted the Church of God, and wasted it" (ver.
13).
+III. Makes one ambitious for superiority.+--"Profited . . . above
many my equals, . . . being more exceedingly zealous of the
traditions of my fathers" (ver. 14).
+IV. Is neither good nor wise.+
+V. Stores up a retrospect of bitter and humiliating regret.+
_Review of a Misspent Life._--1. A sincere convert will not shun to
make confession of his wicked life, not omitting anything which may
tend to a just aggravation of it, not in a boasting manner, but that
the freedom of God's grace may be commended. 2. That the Scriptures
were indited by the Spirit of God, and the penmen not actuated with
human policy, appears from this, with other evidences in the
Scripture itself, that they concealed not their own faults, but
blazed them to the world when the glory of God did so require.
3. Though the Church of God, as to the inward estate, cannot be
utterly wasted, neither can the outward state be so far decayed as to
cease to be, yet the Lord may so far give way to the rage of
persecutors that the outward face and beauty of the Church may be
totally marred, the members partly killed, partly scattered, the
public ordinances suppressed, and the public assemblies interrupted.
4. The life and way of some engaged in a false religion may be so
blameless and, according to the dictates of their deluded conscience,
so strict, as that it may be a copy unto those who profess the true
religion and a reproof for their palpable negligence. 5. As our
affections of love, joy, hatred, anger, and grief are by nature so
corrupt that even the choicest of them, if not brought in subjection
to the Word by the Spirit, will lay forth themselves upon forbidden
and unlawful objects, so our zeal and fervency of spirit will bend
itself more toward the maintenance of error than of truth. Error is
the birth of our own invention; so is not truth.--_Fergusson._
_True and False Zeal._
+I. Zeal is a certain fervency of spirit arising out of a mixture of
love and anger,+ causing men earnestly to maintain the worship of God
and all things pertaining thereto, and moving them to grief and anger
when God is in any way dishonoured.
+II. Paul was zealous for the outward observance of the law+ and for
Pharisaical unwritten traditions.
+III. He himself condemns his zeal because it was against the Word,+
and tended to maintain unwritten traditions, and justification by the
works of the law, out of Christ. What Paul did in his religion we are
to do in the profession of the Gospel. 1. We are to addict and set
ourselves earnestly to maintain the truth of the Gospel. 2. We are to
be angry in ourselves and grieved when God is dishonoured and His
Word disobeyed. 3. We are not to give liberty to the best of our
natural affections as to zeal, but mortify and rule them by the
Word.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-19.
_The Imperative Claims of a Divine Commission--_
+I. Are independent of personal merit.+--"But when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace"
(ver. 15). From the beginning the apostle was Divinely destined to
fulfil his high vocation. His Hebrew birth and Hellenistic culture
combined to prepare him for his future work. When he developed into a
hot persecutor of the Christian faith he seemed far away from his
life-mission. But a change took place, and it soon became apparent
that, not on the ground of any merit of his own, but because it
pleased God, the training from his birth was the best possible
preparation for his lofty calling. We cannot see far into the future
or forecast the issue of our own plans or of those we form for others.
"There is a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them as we may."
The Divine element in our lives becomes more evident as we faithfully
do the duty imposed on us. Joseph recognised this when he declared to
his brethren, "It was not you that sent me hither, but God" (Gen.
xlv. 8).
+II. Are based on an unmistakably Divine revelation.+--"To reveal His
Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen" (ver. 16). The
dazzling appearance of Christ before his eyes, and the summons of His
voice addressed to Saul's bodily ears, formed the special mode in
which it pleased God to call him to the apostleship. But there was
also the inward revelation of Christ to his heart by the Holy Ghost.
It was this which wrought in him the great spiritual change and
inspired him to be a witness for Christ to the Gentiles. His Judaic
prejudices were swept away, and he became the champion of a universal
Gospel. The same revelation that made Paul a Christian made him the
apostle of mankind. The true preacher carries within his own
spiritually renovated nature evidence and authority of his Divine
commission.
"This is what makes him the crowd-drawing preacher,
There's a background of God to each hard-working feature;
Every word that he speaks has been fierily furnaced
In a blast of a life which has struggled in earnest."
+III. Are superior to the functions of human counsel.+--"I conferred
not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them
which were apostles before me" (vers. 16, 17). The counsel of the
wise and good is valuable, and ordinarily should be diligently sought
and thoughtfully pondered. But when God calls, the commission is
beyond either the advice or the opposition of men. Paul had reached a
state into which no human authority could lift him, and from which it
could not dislodge him. He might legitimately confer with others as
to methods of work, but his call to work was imposed upon him by a
power to which all human counsellors and ecclesiastical magnates must
submit. Channing once said: "The teacher to whom are committed the
infinite realities of the spiritual world, the sanctions of eternity,
the powers of the life to come, has instruments to work with which
turn to feebleness all other means of influence."
+IV. Stimulate to active service.+--"But I went into Arabia, and
returned again unto Damascus" (ver. 17). Immediately after his
conversion the history tells us, "Straightway he preached Christ in
the synagogues" (Acts ix. 20). In Arabia, a country of the Gentiles,
he doubtless preached the Gospel, as he did before and after at
Damascus, and thus demonstrated the independence of his apostolic
commission. A call to preach demands immediate response and impels to
earnest and faithful endeavour. It is said that Whitefield's zealous
spirit exhausted all its energies in preaching, and his full
dedication to God was honoured by unbounded success. The effect
produced by his sermons was indescribable, arising in a great degree
from the most perfect forgetfulness of self during the solemn moment
of declaring the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. His evident
sincerity impressed every hearer and is said to have forcibly struck
Lord Chesterfield when he heard him at Lady Huntingdon's. The
preacher, as the ambassador for Christ, is eager to declare His
message, and anxious it should be understood and obeyed.
+V. Are recognised by the highest ecclesiastical authority.+--"Then
after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and . . .
James the Lord's brother" (vers. 18, 19). The claims of Paul to the
apostleship, evidenced by such supernatural signs and such solid
Christian work and patient suffering, were at length acknowledged by
the chief leaders of the mother Church in Jerusalem. Good work
advertises itself, and sooner or later compels recognition. What an
eventful meeting of the first Gospel pioneers, and how momentous the
influence of such an interview and consultation! Though the call of
God is unacknowledged, ridiculed, and opposed, its duties must be
faithfully discharged. The day of ample reward will come.
+Lessons.+--1. _God only can make the true preacher._ 2. _A call to
preach involves suffering and toil._ 3. _The fruit of diligent and
faithful work will certainly appear._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15-17. _The Conversion and Vocation of St. Paul._
+I. The causes of St. Paul's conversion.+--1. The good pleasure of
God. 2. His separation from the womb, which is an act of God's
counsel whereby He sets men apart to be members of Christ and to be
His servants in this or that office. 3. His vocation by grace--the
accomplishment of both the former in the time which God had appointed.
+II. The manner of his vocation.+--"To reveal His Son in me." 1. By
preparation. God humbled and subdued the pride and stubbornness of
his heart and made him tractable and teachable. 2. By instruction.
(1) Propounding unto him the commandment of the Gospel, to repent and
believe in Christ. (2) Offering to him the promise of remission of
sins and life everlasting when he believed. 3. By a real and lively
teaching when God made Paul in his heart answer the calling.
Ministers of Christ must learn Christ as Paul learned Him.
+III. The end of Paul's conversion.+--To preach Christ among the
Gentiles. 1. Christ is the substance or subject-matter of the whole
Bible. 2. To preach Christ is: (1) To teach the doctrine of the
incarnation of Christ, and His offices as King, Prophet, and Priest.
(2) That faith is an instrument to apprehend and apply Christ. (3) To
certify and reveal to every hearer that it is the will of God to save
him by Christ if he will receive Him. (4) That he is to apply Christ
with His benefits to himself in particular. 3. To preach to the
Gentiles: (1) Because the prophecies of the calling of the Gentiles
must be fulfilled. (2) Because the division between the Jews and
Gentiles is abolished.
+IV. Paul's obedience to the calling of God+ (vers. 16,
17).--1. God's Word, preached or written, does not depend on the
authority of any man--no, not on the authority of the apostles
themselves. 2. There is no consultation or deliberation to be used at
any time touching the holding or not holding of our religion. 3. Our
obedience to God must be without consultation. We must first try what
is the will of God, and then absolutely put it into execution,
leaving the issue to God. 4. Paul goes into Arabia and Damascus, and
becomes a teacher to his professed enemies.--_Perkins._
Vers. 15, 16. _Conversion as illustrated by that of St. Paul._--In
the case of St. Paul there are many circumstances not paralleled in
the general experience of Christians; but in its essential features,
in the views with which it was accompanied and the effects it
produced, it was exactly the same as every one must experience before
he can enter into the kingdom of God.
+I. Its causes.+--1. Paul was chosen by God before his birth to be a
vessel of honour. "It pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb." Are not all genuine Christians addressed as "elect of God" or
chosen of God, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ? Why should not the
real Christian give scope to those emotions of gratitude which such
reflections will inspire? 2. The more immediate cause was the call of
Divine grace. "And called me by His grace." There is a general call
in the Gospel addressed to all men indiscriminately. There is, in
every instance of real conversion, another and inward call, by which
the Spirit applies the general truth of the Gospel to the heart. By
this interior call Christ apprehends, lays hold on the soul, stops it
in its impenitent progress, and causes it to hear His voice.
+II. The means by which conversion is effected.+--"To reveal His Son
in me." The principal method which the Spirit adopts in subduing the
heart of a sinner is a spiritual discovery of Christ. There is an
outward revelation of Christ--in the Scriptures; and an internal, of
which the understanding and the heart are the seat. 1. The Spirit
reveals the greatness and dignity of Christ. 2. The transcendent
beauty and glory of Christ. 3. The suitableness, fulness, and
sufficiency of Christ to supply all our wants and relieve all our
miseries.
+III. The effect of conversion on St. Paul.+--"Immediately I
conferred not with flesh and blood." He set himself without
hesitation or demur to discharge the duties of his heavenly vocation.
1. His compliance with the will of Christ was immediate. 2. Universal
and impartial. 3. Constant and persevering.--_Robert Hall._
Ver. 16. _The Qualification of the True Minister_--
+I. Begins in an unmistakable revelation of Christ to his own
soul.+--"To reveal His Son in me."
+II. Urges him to declare the Gospel to the most needy.+--"That I
might preach Him among the heathen."
+III. Raises him above the necessity of mere human
authority.+--"Immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood."
Ver. 17. _The Divine Call to the Apostleship._--1. That extraordinary
way whereby the Lord made known His mind to the penmen of Scripture
was so infallible in itself and so evident to those to whom it came
to be no delusion that they were above all doubt and needed not to
advise with the best of men in order to their confirmation about the
reality of it. 2. The Lord maketh sometimes the first piece of public
service as hazardous, uncouth, and unsuccessful as any wherein He
employs them afterwards, that His ministers may be taught to depend
more on God's blessing than on human probabilities, and that they may
give proof of their obedience. Thus it was with Moses (Exod. ii. 10),
and Jeremiah (Jer. i. 19). 3. The apostles were not fixed to any
certain charge, as ordinary ministers are. Their charge was the whole
world. They went from place to place as the necessities of people
required, or as God by His providence and Spirit
directed.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 18. _Requirement of a Preparation for Work._--"I went into
Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus." 1. Affording opportunity
for thought and self-testing. 2. Gives leisure for study and forming
plans for future service. 3. Is often the prelude of a busy and
prosperous career.
Vers. 18, 19. _The Divine Call acknowledged._--1. That nothing of
Peter's supposed supremacy over Paul and the rest of the apostles can
be gathered from this place appears from this, that Paul went first
to his work before he came to Peter, and that his business with Peter
was not to receive ordination from him or to evidence his subjection
to him, but from respect and reverence to give him a friendly visit.
2. It ought to be the endeavour of Christ's ministers to entertain
love and familiarity one with another, as also to make their doing so
evident to others, it being most unseemly for those who preach the
Gospel of peace to others to live in discord among themselves. 3. As
ministers may and ought to meet sometimes together, to evidence and
entertain mutual love and concord, and because of that mutual
inspection which they ought to have one of another, so their meeting
ought neither to be so frequent nor of so long continuance that their
flocks suffer prejudice.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20-24.
_God glorified in His Servant_--
+I. By the undoubted truthfulness of his statements.+--"Now the
things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not" (ver.
20). The assertions of the apostle flatly contradicted the
allegations of his enemies. They insinuated that Paul was but a
messenger of the authorities of the Church at Jerusalem, and that all
he knew of the Gospel had been learned from the twelve. So far from
this being the case it is evident that for several years he had been
preaching the Gospel, and had not seen any of the twelve, except
Peter and James, and that only for a fortnight at Jerusalem about
three years after his conversion. "In the present case," remarks
Professor Jowett, "it is a matter of life and death to the apostle to
prove his independence from the twelve." Having said all he can to
substantiate his point, he concludes by a solemn appeal to God as to
his veracity: "Behold, before God, I lie not." The apostle never
makes an appeal like this lightly, but only in support of a vital
truth he is specially anxious to enforce (Rom. ix. 1; 2 Cor. i. 17,
18, 23; 1 Thess. ii. 5).
"When fiction rises pleasing to the eye;
Men will believe, because they love the lie;
But truth herself, if clouded with a frown,
Must have some solemn proof to pass her down."--_Churchill._
The vigorous and faithful maintenance of the truth brings glory to
God.
+II. By his evangelistic activity.+--"Afterwards I came into the
regions of Syria and Cilicia" (ver. 21). During this tour very
probably the Churches were founded, referred to in Acts xv. 23, 41.
"A man's work," says George Macdonald, "does not fall upon him by
chance, but it is given him to do; and everything well done belongs
to God's kingdom, and everything ill done to the kingdom of
darkness." God is the sublime end of all human activity, and our
powers can never be more nobly employed than in expounding His will,
unfolding His gracious character, advancing the interests of His
kingdom, and striving to promote His glory among the children of men.
Man is never so great, so luminous, so grand as when he is doing work
for God with the light and help of God; and all such work is a
revelation of the character and purposes of God open to the eyes of
all who will see.
+III. By the reputation of his changed life.+--"And was unknown by
face unto the Churches: . . . they had heard only, That he which
persecuted us in times past now preached the faith which once he
destroyed" (vers. 22, 23). The conversion of Saul of Tarsus was one
of the most striking events in the early history of the Church. It
was a marvel to all who had known his previous life. It was an
unanswerable testimony to the power of the Gospel, and an argument
that has been used in all ages to illustrate the possibility of the
salvation of the worst of sinners. It is said the Duke of Burgundy
was born terrible. He would indulge in such paroxysms of rage that
those who were standing by would tremble for his life. He was
hard-hearted, passionate, incapable of bearing the least opposition
to his wishes, fond of gambling, violent hunting, the gratifications
of the table, abandoned to his pleasures, barbarous, and born to
cruelty. With this was united a genius of the most extraordinary
kind; quickness of humour, depth and justice of thought, versatility
and acuteness of mind. The prodigy was, that in a short space of time
the grace of God made him a new man. He became a prince, affable,
gentle, moderate, patient, modest, humble, austere only to himself,
attentive to his duties, and sensible of their extent. If we could
lay a hand on the fly-wheel of the Scotch express, running fifty or
sixty miles an hour, and stop it, we should perform an astounding
miracle. But this is what God does in His miracles of conversion. He
laid His mighty hand on the fly-wheel of Paul's life, and not only
stopped its mad career, but turned it right round in the opposite
direction. The persecutor becomes a preacher.
+IV. By the recognition of His Divine call.+--"And they glorified God
in me" (ver. 24). The attempt to disparage the authority of Paul was
the work of a few malcontents, who sought to ruin his influence in
order to extend their own. The Churches of Jerusalem and Judea,
though many of them had not seen the apostle, acknowledged and
praised God for the Divine work done in him and by him. A few false
teachers may work much mischief, but they cannot overturn the work of
God, nor prevent its full recognition. The faithful servant may
safely leave his reputation in the hands of God. It lifts humanity,
especially Christianised humanity, into special dignity, when it is
discovered that God is glorified in man.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel elevates man by transforming him._ 2. _The
conscientious worker has God on his side._ 3. _God is glorified by
obedient toil._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 20. _Self-conscious Truth._--1. The choicest servants of Christ
may be looked upon as liars and unworthy to be trusted, even by those
to whom they are sent, and yet they must not give over to preach as
knowing that the Word spoken by them doth still get credit from some,
and will beget trust to itself from others, and for the rest it will
seal up their condemnation and make them inexcusable. 2. It is not
unlawful for Christians to take an oath, providing it be with these
conditions: (1) That the thing we swear be truth. (2) That there be
weighty reasons for taking an oath. (3) That we swear only by the
name of God, and not by the creatures, seeing none but God can bear
witness to the secrets of the heart.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 21-24. _The Self-evidencing Proof of a Divinely commissioned
Messenger._--1. Seen in disinterested labours and travels (vers. 21,
22). 2. Seen in a remarkable change of character and conduct (ver.
23). 3. Seen in that the glory of his work is ascribed to God (ver.
24).
_Practical Proofs of Apostleship._
I. +Paul went from Jerusalem into Syria and Cilicia.+--1. Because he
was ordained specially to be the apostle of the Gentiles. 2. Because
Cilicia was his own country, and his love to his country was great.
If any apostle above the rest be the pastor and universal bishop of
the Church over the whole world, it is Paul and not Peter.
II. +Paul was known to the Christian Jews only by hearsay,+ because
it is the office of an apostle not to build on the foundation of
another or to succeed any man in his labour, but to plant and found
the Church of the New Testament.
III. Seeing the intent of the devil and wicked men is to destroy
the faith, +we must have a special care of our faith.+--1. We must
look that our faith be a true faith. 2. We must keep and lock up our
faith in some safe and sure place--in the storehouse or treasury of a
good conscience. 3. Our care must be to increase in faith that our
hearts may be rooted and grounded in the love of God.
IV. +Our duty is to sanctify and glorify the name of God in every
work of His.+--Neglect in glorifying and praising God is a great
sin.--_Perkins._
Ver. 24. _God glorified in Good Men._--We are taught to honour God in
man and man in God. We are taught to avoid, on the one hand, all
creature idolatry, and, on the other, that cynical severity, or
ungrateful indifference to the Author of all good in man, which
undervalues or neglects the excellencies which ought to be held up to
admiration that they may be imitated by ourselves and others. Each of
these extremes robs God of His just revenue of grateful praise. In
what does creature idolatry consist but in honouring and trusting in
the natural and acquired excellencies of creatures to the exclusion
of God? But is there then no wisdom, no might, no excellence, in man?
As it were absurd to deny this, it would be affectation to pretend to
overlook it. Admire and deny not this wisdom, acknowledge this
efficiency, and affect not to lower its estimate; only glorify God
who worketh all in all. If He has chosen any of them to be more
eminently His instruments for the furtherance of His purposes of
mercy to mankind, He does it by virtue of His sovereignty. If He
continues their useful lives, whilst you have their light rejoice in
the light and glorify Him from whom it comes as its original and
source; and when He chooses to quench these stars of His right hand
in the darkness of death, still glorify Him. As to us, this is to
remind us of our dependence on Him, who appointed their orbit and
invested them with their different degrees of glory; and as to them,
though their lustre fades from these visible skies, it is that it may
be rekindled in superior glory in the kingdom of their
Father.--_R. Watson._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER II.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Then fourteen years after.+--From Paul's conversion
inclusive. +I went again to Jerusalem.+--The same visit referred to
in Acts xv., when the council of the apostles and Church decided that
Gentile Christians need not be circumcised.
Ver. 2. +I went up by revelation.+--Quite consistent with the fact
that he was sent as a deputy from the Church at Antioch (Acts xv. 2).
The revelation suggested to him that this deputation was the wisest
course. +Communicated privately to them which were of
reputation.+--It was necessary that the Jerusalem apostles should
know beforehand that the Gospel Paul preached to the Gentiles was the
same as theirs, and had received Divine confirmation in the results
it wrought on the Gentile converts.
Ver. 3. +Neither Titus+ [not even Titus], +being a Greek, was
compelled to be circumcised.+--The apostles, constrained by the
firmness of Paul and Barnabas, did not compel or insist on his being
circumcised. Thus they virtually sanctioned Paul's course among the
Gentiles, and admitted his independence as an apostle. To have
insisted on _Jewish_ usages for _Gentile_ converts would have been to
make them essential parts of Christianity.
Ver. 4. +False brethren unawares+ [in an underhand manner] +brought
in privily to spy out.+--As foes in the guise of friends, wishing to
destroy and rob us of our liberty--from the yoke of the ceremonial
law.
Ver. 5. +To whom we gave place by subjection not for an hour.+--We
would willingly have yielded for love, if no principle was at issue,
but not in the way of subjection. Truth precise, unaccommodating,
abandons nothing that belongs to itself, admits nothing that is
inconsistent with it (_Bengel_).
Ver. 6. +They in conference added nothing to me.+--As I did not by
conference impart to them aught at my conversion, so they now did not
impart aught additional to me above what I already knew. Another
evidence of the independence of his apostleship.
Ver. 9. +They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of
fellowship.+--Recognising me as a colleague in the apostleship, and
that the Gospel I preached to the Gentiles by special revelation was
the same as theirs.
Ver. 10. +Remember the poor.+--Of the Jewish Christians in Judea then
distressed. Paul's past care for their poor prompted this request.
His subsequent zeal in the same cause was the answer to their appeal
(Acts. xi. 29, 30; Rom. xv. 26, 27; 1 Cor. xvi. 3; 2 Cor. ix. 1; Acts
xxiv. 17).
Ver. 11. +When Peter was come to Antioch I withstood him to the
face.+--The strongest proof of the independence of his apostleship in
relation to the other apostles, and an unanswerable argument against
the Romish dogma of the supremacy of St. Peter.
Ver. 13. +The other Jews dissembled likewise with him.+--The question
was not whether Gentiles were admissible to the Christian covenant
without becoming circumcised, but whether the Gentile Christians were
to be admitted to social intercourse with the Jewish Christians
without conforming to the Jewish institution. It was not a question
of liberty and of bearing with others' infirmities, but one affecting
the essence of the Gospel, whether the Gentiles are to be virtually
compelled to live as do the Jews in order to be justified.
Ver. 14. +Walked not uprightly according to the truth of the
Gospel.+--Which teaches that justification by legal works and
observances is inconsistent with redemption by Christ. Paul alone
here maintained the truth against Judaism, as afterwards against
heathenism (2 Tim. iv. 16, 17).
Ver. 17. +Is therefore Christ the minister of sin?+--Thus to be
justified by Christ it was necessary to sink to the level of
Gentiles--to become sinners, in fact. But are we not thus making
Christ a minister of sin? Away with the profane thought! No; the
guilt is not in abandoning the law, but in seeking it again when
abandoned. Thus, and thus alone, we convict ourselves of
transgression (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 19. +I through the law am dead to the law.+--By believing union
to Christ in His death we, being considered dead with Him, are
severed from the law's past power over us.
Ver. 21. +If righteousness came by the law, then Christ is dead in
vain.+--Died needlessly, without just cause. Christ's having died
shows that the law has no power to justify us, for if the law can
justify or make us righteous, the death of Christ is superfluous.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-9.
_Confirmatory Proofs of a Divine Call--_
+I. Seen in a prudent consultation with the acknowledged leaders of
the church+ (vers. 1, 2).--The men of reputation referred to in these
verses are not so called by way of irony, but because of their
recognised authority in the mother Church. Paul was not summoned to
Jerusalem, but Divinely directed to take the journey. Neither his
teaching nor his office was called in question, nor did he fear the
most searching inquiry into his commission. Conscious of his Divine
call, he claimed equality of status with the rest of the apostles and
explained to them and to the Church the principles and methods of the
Gospel he preached. He had nothing to fear, whatever might be the
judgment of the Church leaders in Jerusalem. He expected from them
nothing but sympathy and encouragement in his work, and he hailed
with joy the opportunity of sharing the counsel of men as interested
as himself in the success of the Gospel. With his God-given
convictions and views, it was impossible for him to meet the apostles
on any other ground than that of perfect equality.
+II. Seen in a prompt and stern refusal to compromise principle+
(vers. 3-5).--The object of Paul's visit to Jerusalem was to discuss
a vital principle of the Gospel--the right of the Gentiles to the
privileges of the Gospel without observing the works of the Jewish
law. A misunderstanding at that critical moment might have imperilled
the liberty of the Gospel. The presence of Barnabas and Titus was
significant--the one a pure Jew, a man of gentle disposition and
generous impulse; and the other a Gentile convert, representing the
world of the uncircumcised. It is to the credit of the Church leaders
at Jerusalem that, with their strong Jewish prejudices, they admitted
that the legal rite of circumcision must not be imposed on Gentile
converts. They were so convinced that this was the will of God, and
that He had already sanctioned this an essential feature of the
Gospel, that they dared do no other. An attempt was made, not by the
apostles, but by certain "false brethren," to insist that Titus
should be circumcised; but this was promptly and stoutly opposed. A
concession on this point would have been fatal to the universality of
the Gospel--the whole Gentile world would have been trammelled with
the bondage of legal ceremonies. It was then that the great battle of
Christian liberty was fought and won. The victory was another
testimony of the validity and power of the Divine commission with
which Paul was entrusted.
+III. Seen in the inability of the wisest leaders to add anything to
the Divine authority.+--"But of these who seemed to be somewhat . . .
in conference added nothing to me" (ver. 6). When Paul was called to
the apostleship he "conferred not with flesh and blood"; now he
affirms that flesh and blood did not confer anything on him. In
conference and debate with the chiefs of the Church he showed himself
their equal, and on the great essentials of the Gospel he was in
perfect agreement with them. Though Paul is too modest to say it, so
far from his learning anything from them, they were more likely to
learn something from him, especially as to the wider scope of the
Gospel. "In doctrine Paul holds the primacy in the band of the
apostles. While all were inspired by the Spirit of Christ, the
Gentile apostle was in many ways a more richly furnished man than any
of the rest. The Paulinism of Peter's first epistle goes to show that
the debt was on the other side. Their earlier privileges and
priceless store of recollections of all that Jesus did and taught
were matched on Paul's side by a penetrating logic, a breadth and
force of intellect applied to the facts of revelation, and a burning
intensity of spirit which in their combination was unique. The
Pauline teaching, as it appears in the New Testament, bears in the
highest degree the marks of original genius, the stamp of a mind
whose inspiration is its own" (_Findlay_).
+IV. Seen in winning the recognition of a special mission and of
equality in the apostleship.+--"They saw that the gospel of the
uncircumcision was committed unto me, . . . and perceived the grace
that was given unto me," etc. (vers. 7-9). Paul won the confidence
and admiration of his fellow-apostles. They listened with candour and
ever-deepening interest to his explanations, and, whatever might have
been their prejudices, they frankly acknowledged his Divine
commission. What a memorable day was that when James, Peter, John,
and Paul met face to face! "Amongst them they have virtually made the
New Testament and the Christian Church. They represent the four sides
of the one foundation of the City of God. Of the evangelists, Matthew
holds affinity with James; Mark with Peter; and Luke with Paul. James
clings to the past and embodies the transition from Mosaism to
Christianity. Peter is the man of the present, quick in thought and
action, eager, buoyant, susceptible. Paul holds the future in his
grasp and schools the unborn nations. John gathers present, past, and
future into one, lifting us into the region of eternal life and love."
+Lessons.+--_A Divine call._--1. _Confers the necessary
qualifications to carry out its mission._ 2. _Demands courage and
fidelity._ 3. _Compels public recognition._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1, 2. _Truth its Own Evidence._--1. Though the minister of
Jesus Christ is not to depend upon the approbation of others for
confirmation of his doctrine, as if he were uncertain before their
testimony is added, yet he is not to be so self-willed as to
misregard what others judge or think, but ought to demit himself so
far as to give a friendly account of the doctrine, that mistakes
arising from misinformation may be removed and the joint consent of
others to the truth obtained. 2. As there are always some in the
Church of God who have deservedly more reputation than others, so
Christian prudence will teach a man to be so far from striving
against such that he will endeavour, by giving due respect to them,
to receive approbation from such, that he may be in a better capacity
to do good to others. 3. Nothing marreth the success of the Gospel
more than difference of judgments and strifes and debates among
eminent preachers, many resolving to believe nothing till preachers
agree among themselves, and many stumbling-blocks are cast before
people by the venting of passions, jealousies, animosities, and
revenge. Paul endeavoured to get the consent of the other apostles to
the doctrines preached by him, lest by the calumnies of his
adversaries his preaching should be useless.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 3-5. _The Power of Truth._
+I. Superior to ceremonial observances+ (ver. 3).
+II. Detects and exposes the wiliest tactics of false teachers+
(ver. 4).
+III. Is uncompromising in its attitude towards the subtlest errors+
(ver. 5).
Vers. 4, 5. _False Brethren and their Treatment._
+I. The Church of God on earth, even at the best, hath wicked men and
hypocrites in it.+
+II. They who teach Christ, joining some other thing with Him in the
cause of salvation, are said to creep in,+ because in appearance they
maintain Christ; yet because they add something to Christ, they
neither enter nor continue in the true Church with any good warrant
from God.
+III. No man can set down the precise time when errors had their
beginning,+ for the authors thereof enter in secretly, not observed
of men.
+IV. The false brethren urged circumcision to bring the converts+
+into bondage.+--They that be of a corporation stand for their
liberties. What a shame it is that men should love bondage and
neglect the spiritual liberty which they have by Christ.
+V. The false brethren urged the apostles to use circumcision but
once;+ but they would not yield so much as once, because their act
would have tended to the prejudice of Christian liberty in all
places. Julian, sitting in a chair of state, gave gold to his
soldiers one by one, commanding them to cast frankincense so much as
a grain into the fire that lay upon a heathenish altar. Christian
soldiers refused to do it, and they which had not refused afterwards
recalled their act and willingly suffered death. We are not to yield
the least part of the truth of the Gospel. This truth is more
precious than the whole world beside. There is no halting between two
religions.
+VI. The apostles gave no place by way of subjection.+--They
willingly suffered their doctrine to be tried, yet they were not
bound to subjection. We are to give place by meek and patient bearing
of that which we cannot mend, but we are not to give place by
subjection.
+VII. If circumcision be made a necessary cause of salvation, the
truth of the Gospel does not continue,+ and falsehood comes in the
room.--_Perkins._
Ver. 4. _A Spy._--Captain Turner Ashby was a young officer in the
Confederate army, the idol of the troops for his general bravery, but
especially for his cleverness in gathering information of the enemy.
On one occasion he dressed himself in a farmer's suit of homespun
that he borrowed and hired a plough-horse to personate a rustic
horse-doctor. With his saddlebags full of some remedy for spavin or
ringbone, he went to Chambersburg, and returned in the night with an
immense amount of information. His career was one full of romantic
episode.
Ver. 5. _Fidelity to Truth._--1. Though much may be done for
composing Church differences by using meekness and forbearance
towards those who oppose themselves, yet we are not for peace' sake
to quit the least part of truth. Thus Paul, who for lawful ceding
became all things to all men, would not give place by way of
subjection, so as to yield the cause to the adversaries; neither
would he do anything, in its own nature indifferent, that would be an
evidence of yielding. 2. A minister, when called to confess and avow
truth, hath not only his own peace with God and keeping of a good
conscience to look to, but also the condition of his flock, who will
be shaken or confirmed in the truth by his faint or bold and faithful
confession. 3. It is not enough that people have the name of the
Gospel among them or some truths mixed with errors; but all, and
especially ministers, should endeavour to have the Gospel in purity
and integrity, free from any mixture of contrary errors.--_Fergusson._
_The Truth not to be yielded._--Shortly after James I. came to the
throne of England he set up a claim to all the small estates in
Cumberland and Westmorland, on the plea that the _Statesmen_ were
merely the tenants of the Crown. The Statesmen met, to the number of
two thousand, at Ratten Heath, between Kendal and Staveley, where
they came to the resolution that "they had won their lands by the
sword and were able to hold them by the same." After that meeting no
further claim was made to their estates on the part of the Crown.
Vers. 6-9. _Recognition of a Special Mission._
+I. By men of reputation who confessed their inability to augment
its authority+ (ver. 6).
+II. Acknowledging that the commission was distinctly Divine+ (vers.
7, 8).
+III. Confirmed by cordially admitting the messenger into the
fellowship of highest service+ (ver. 9).
Vers. 8, 9. _Divine Blessing the Highest Sanction of Ministerial
Authority._--1. It is not the pains of ministers, or any virtue in
the Word preached, from whence success flows, but from the effectual
working of the Spirit. Paul ascribed the success both of his own and
Peter's ministry to this. 2. Whom God doth call to any employment,
and chiefly whom He calls to the ministry, He fitteth with gifts and
abilities suitable thereto. James, Cephas, and John did not
acknowledge Paul to be an apostle called by God, but on perceiving
that grace and gifts, ordinary and extraordinary, were bestowed upon
him. 3. We ought not to withhold our approbation, especially when it
is craved, from that which by evident signs and reasons we perceive
to be approved of God, though the giving of our approbation may
disoblige those who pretend much friendship towards us.--_Fergusson._
_The Efficacy of the Christian Ministry._
+I. That grace or power to regenerate is not included in the Word
preached,+ as virtue to heal in a medicine. To regenerate is
the proper work of God.
+II. That grace is not inseparably annexed and tied to the Word
preached,+ for to some it is the savour of death unto death.
+III. The preaching of the Word is an external instrument of faith+
and regeneration, and the proper effect of it is to declare or
signify.
IV. The apostles at Jerusalem +acknowledged Paul to be an apostle
because he had the gifts of an apostle,+ and because his
ministry was powerful among the Gentiles.
V. As all minsters in their places are pillars, they are hereby
admonished +to be constant in the truth against all enemies
whatsoever.+
VI. As ministers are pillars, we are taught +to cleave to them and
their ministry+ at all times--in life and death.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 10.
_Christianity and Poverty._
+I. Christianity has ever been the friend of the poor.+--1. _The poor
who are made so by accepting Christianity._ Accepting Christ often
means the loss of friends, of status, of fortune. The discovery of
this result among the first Christians might have much to do in the
formation of a common fund. There are many Jews and heathen to-day
who are convinced of the truth of Christianity but hesitate to make a
public avowal of their belief because of the apparent impossibility
of gaining a livelihood and the certainty of social ostracism.
Christian missionaries are not in a position to guarantee their
support, nor do they wish to encourage, a system that might easily
degenerate into wholesale bribery. There are converts who run all
risks and deliberately accept Christ and poverty. All such the
Christian Church, often at great sacrifice, does its best to befriend.
2. _The poor who are made so by unavoidable calamity._--Judea was
devastated by famine in the reign of Claudius Cæsar, and the apostles
promptly organised relief for the sufferers in the Jewish Churches
(Acts xi. 27-30). Christianity has ever been ready to help the
distressed and unfortunate. The hospitals, alms-houses, and other
benevolent institutions that abound are substantial monuments of the
practical benevolence of the Christian Church. Christianity is the
best friend of the people.
+II. Christianity inculcates a zealous and unselfish charity.+--"Only
they would that we should remember the poor; the same I also was
forward [zealous] to do." Paul had already rendered noble service in
this direction, and was prompted by the Spirit of the Gospel to
continue to do so. He was zealous in good works, though he stoutly
denied any merit in them to justify the sinner. His first concern was
to help the _Jewish_ poor, though many of them impugned his apostolic
authority and strove to ruin his influence. As champion of the
Gentiles he employed the wealth of his converts in supplying the
needs of his famishing Jewish brethren. Christian charity is superior
to the jealousies of sects and parties, and even to personal insult
and wrong. Behind the hand of the generous alms-giver is the heart of
love.
+III. Christianity elevates and enriches the poor.+--It enjoins
temperance, industry, honesty, and perseverance--the practice of
which has raised many from poverty to wealth. The man who has
prospered should never forget the claims of the poor. It is said that
a certain man dreamed that the Saviour appeared to him and upbraided
him with giving so little to His cause. The man replied, "I can't
afford it." "Very well," said the Saviour; "let it be so. But do you
remember, that when that business panic happened, how you prayed to
Me to keep you out of difficulties? and I heard your prayer and tided
you over the trouble. And do you remember also, when your little
child was sick, how you prayed that her life might be spared, and
again I heard your prayer and restored her? But now let it be an
understanding between us that henceforth when you are in trouble I do
nothing for you, seeing you can't afford to help Me." The man's
conscience was touched, and he exclaimed, "Lord, take what I have; it
is Thine."
+Lessons.+--1. _Christianity is the source of the highest
philanthropy._ 2. _Is the unfailing hope and comfort of the poor._
3. _Has achieved its greatest triumphs among the poor._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 10. _Remember the Poor._
I. +The Church of Jerusalem was in extreme poverty.+--1. Because the
poorer sort received the Gospel. 2. Because the richer were deprived
of their riches for their profession of the name of Christ.
II. It is the office of pastors and teachers, not only to preach and
dispense the Word, but also +to have care of the poor.+
III. +Satisfaction, recompense, and restitution are the way to life+
by the appointment of God.--1. He must restore who is the cause of
any wrong or loss to others and all that are accessory.
2. Restitution is to be made to him that is wronged and bears the
loss if he be known and alive; if he be dead, to his heirs; if all be
dead, to the poor. 3. The things to be restored are those which are
of us unjustly received or detained, either known to us or unknown.
4. As to the order of restitution, things certain must first be
restored, and things uncertain after.
IV. It is not enough for us to give good words and wish well, but we
must in our places and calling +do our endeavour that relief may be
sealed to our poor.+--1. The charge was great to maintain the altar
of the Lord in the Old Testament; the poor come in the room of the
altar. 2. The poor represent the person of Christ. 3. Compassion in
us is a pledge or an impression of the mercy that is in God towards
us, and by it we may know or feel in ourselves that mercy belongs
unto us. The observing of the commandment of relief is the enriching
of us all.--_Perkins._
_Christian Duty to the Poor._--1. It is frequently the lot of those
who are rich in grace to be poor in the things of the present life,
and driven into such straits as to be forced to live upon some
charitable supply from others, God seeing it convenient hereby to
wean them from worldly contentments that heaven may be more longed
after and more sweet when it comes. 2. Though those who are our own
poor, within the bounds where we live, are chiefly to be relieved by
us, yet in cases of extremity the poor who live remote from us are
also to be supplied. 3. Ministers ought to press upon the people, not
only duties which are easy and cost them nought, but also those that
are burdensome and expensive, especially that they would willingly
give of those things they enjoy for the supply of others who
want.--_Fergusson._
_The Poor Representative of Christ._--One evening at supper, when one
of the boys had said the grace, "Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest, and
bless what Thou hast provided," a little fellow looked up and said,
"Do tell me why the Lord Jesus never comes. We ask Him every day to
sit with us, and He never comes!" "Dear child, only believe, and you
may be sure He will come, for He does not despise our invitation." "I
shall set a seat," said the little fellow, and just then there was a
knock at the door. A poor frozen apprentice entered, begging a
night's lodging. He was made welcome, the chair stood empty for him,
every child wanted him to have his plate, and one was lamenting that
his bed was too small for the stranger, who was quite touched by such
uncommon attentions. The little one had been thinking hard all the
time. "Jesus could not come, and so He sent this poor man in His
place: is that it?" "Yes, dear child; that is just it. Every piece of
bread and every drink of water that we give to the poor, or the sick,
or the prisoners for Jesus' sake, we give to Him."--_Memoir of John
Falk._
_Remembrance of the Poor recommended._
+I. The nature of the assertion.+--1. Remember the work of the poor.
2. The deprivations of the poor. 3. Our remembrance of the poor
should be founded on a personal acquaintance with their
circumstances. "Indeed, sir," said a person of large property, "I am
a very compassionate man; but to tell you the truth, I do not know
any person in want." He kept aloof from the poor.
+II. Obligations to comply with the recommendation.+--1. The dictates
of humanity require it. 2. The demands of duty. 3. The rights of
justice. 4. The claims of interest.
+III. Answer objections.+--Such as: 1. My circumstances are
impoverished and I have nothing to spare. 2. Charity must begin at
home. 3. I have a right to do what I will with my own. 4. The poor do
not deserve to be remembered.--_Beta._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-21.
_A Fearless Defence of Fundamental Truth--_
+I. Does not hesitate to impeach a distinguished Church dignitary of
inconsistency.+--"But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him
to the face, because he was to be blamed," etc. (vers. 11-14). Peter
had been accustomed to mingle with the Gentile converts on the ground
of perfect social equality. Influenced by the fierce bigots of
legalism, who insinuated that the circumcised occupied a superior
status to the uncircumcised, he withdrew from the social circle of
the Gentiles and confined himself to that of his Jewish brethren. The
pliability of his impulsive nature led him into this as into other
mistakes. To create a social distinction between Jew and Gentile was
to undermine the Gospel. Paul saw at a glance the threatened peril,
and it needed all his tact and courage to confront it. Though it
meant a public impeachment of the sincerity and consistency of one of
the most venerated apostles, the champion of the Gentiles did not
hesitate. Alone, even Barnabas having for the time being deserted
him, he stood up boldly for the truth of the Gospel.
+II. Is the opportunity for an authoritative restatement of the truth
imperilled+ (vers. 15-18).--In these verses the apostle again sets
forth the fundamental doctrine of justification by faith, without the
works of the law. The Judaisers contended that to renounce legal
righteousness was in effect to promote sin--to make Christ the
minister of sin (ver. 17). Paul retorts the charge on those who made
it and showed that they promote sin who set up legal righteousness
again (ver. 18). The reproach of the Judaisers was in reality the
same that is urged against evangelical doctrine still--that it is
_immoral,_ placing the virtuous and vicious in the common category of
sinners (_Findlay_). "The complaint was this," says Calvin,--"Has
Christ therefore come to take away from us the righteousness of the
law, to make us polluted who were holy? Nay, Paul says--he repels the
blasphemy with detestation. For Christ did not introduce sin but
revealed it. He did not rob them of righteousness, but of the false
show thereof."
+III. Is made more impressive by showing the effect of the truth on
personal experience+ (vers. 19-21).--In these words the apostle
indicates that his own deliverance from the law was effected by being
dead to the law--being crucified with Christ; and that his own
spiritual life was originated and sustained by a living faith in a
loving and self-sacrificing Christ. "Legalism is fatal to the
spiritual life in man. Whilst it clouds the Divine character, it
dwarfs and petrifies the human. What becomes of the sublime mystery
of the life hid with Christ in God, if its existence is made
contingent on circumcision and ritual performance? To men who put
meat and drink on a level with righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost, or in their intercourse with fellow-Christians set points
of ceremony above justice, mercy, and faith, the very idea of a
spiritual kingdom of God is wanting. The religion of Jesus and of
Paul regenerates the heart, and from that centre regulates and
hallows the whole ongoing of life. Legalism guards the mouth, the
hands, the senses, and imagines that through these it can drill the
man into the Divine order. The latter theory makes religion a
mechanical system; the former conceives it as an inward, organic
life."
+Lessons.+--1. _The leaven of error is not easily suppressed._
2. _True religion has never lacked a race of brave defenders._
3. _Experimental religion is the best guarantee of its permanence._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 11-13. _Christian Consistency_--
+I. May be spoilt by yielding to an unworthy fear+ (ver. 12).
+II. Should be strictly maintained for the sake of others+ (ver. 13).
+III. Should be defended with intrepid courage+ (ver. 11).
Ver. 11. _An Astute Defender of the Faith._
+I. Here we have an example of true virtue,+ in St. Paul resisting
evil to the utmost of his power. In like manner must every one of us
resist evil, first in himself and then in them that appertain to him.
+II. An example of boldness and liberty in reproving sin.+--1. This
liberty in reproving is not the fruit of a bold and rash disposition,
but is the fruit of God's Spirit, and is so to be acknowledged.
2. This liberty is to be ordered by a sound mind whereby we are able
to give a good account of our reproofs, both for the matter and
manner of them. 3. Our admonitions must be seasoned and tempered with
love.
+III. An example of an ingenuous and honest mind.+--When Paul sees
Peter he reproves him to the face. Contrary to this is the common
practice in backbiting, whispering, and tale-bearing, whereby it
comes to pass that when a man is in fault every man knows it save he
who is in fault. We see that excellent men, even the chief apostles,
are subject to err and be deceived.--_Perkins._
Vers. 12, 13. _The Power of Example._--1. So weak and inconstant are
the best of men that, being left to themselves, the least blast of
temptation will make them break off the course of doing well in the
very midst, and without respect either to conscience or credit,
openly desert it. 2. To separate from a true Church and break off
communion with its members cannot be attempted without sin, not
though we eschew the offence and stumbling of many. 3. Of so great
force is the bad example of men, eminent, gracious, and learned, that
not only the weak and infirm, but even those who are strong and
richly endowed with both grace and parts, will sometimes be corrupted
by it. It is usual for us unawares to esteem such as more than men
and being once so far engaged in our esteem of them we do not so
narrowly examine their actions as we do those of other men. 4. An
inundation of evil examples, though held forth by private Christians,
is so impetuous and of such force to carry others along with it, that
even the very best of men can hardly stand against it.--_Fergusson._
_An Erring Apostle._
+I. Peter's sin was simulation.+--Among the Gentiles at Antioch he
used Christian liberty in eating things forbidden by the ceremonial
law; yet after the coming of certain Jews from Jerusalem, he
separates himself from the Gentiles, and plays the Jew among the
Jews. This act of Peter was not a sin in itself, but the
circumstances made it a sin. 1. He not only abstained from meats
forbidden by the ceremonial law but withdrew himself from the
Gentiles and kept company apart with the Jews. 2. He abstained not
among the Jews at Jerusalem, but at Antioch among the Gentiles, where
a little before he had openly done the contrary, using his Christian
liberty. 3. He used this abstinence when certain Jews came from
Jerusalem to search out the liberty of the Gentiles. 4. While Peter
seeks to avoid the small offence of some Jews, he incurs a greater
offence of all the Gentiles. 5. This act of Peter tended to the
overthrowing of Paul's ministry and the suppressing of the truth of
the Gospel.
+II. The cause of Peter's sin was fear of offending the Jews.+--It
was a sin because he feared man more than God. It was a sin, not of
malice, but infirmity. A sin of infirmity is when there is a purpose
in the heart not to sin, and yet for all this the sin is committed,
by reason the will is over-carried by temptation, or by violence of
affection as by fear, anger, lust.
+III. The effect of Peter's sin.+--He drew the Jews and Barnabas to
the like dissimulation. Here we see the contagion of an evil example.
1. Ministers of the Word must join with good doctrine the example of
a good life. 2. Practice in the ministry is a part of the teaching.
3. All superiors are warned to go before their inferiors by good
example. 4. The consent of many together is not a note of truth.
Peter, Barnabas, and the Jews, all together are deceived; Paul alone
has the truth. Ponormitane said, "A layman bringing Scripture is to
be preferred before a whole council." Paphnutius alone had the truth,
and the whole council of Nice inclined to error.--_Perkins._
Vers. 14-16. _Justification by Faith, not by Works._--1. Though
private sins, which have not broken forth to a public scandal, are to
be rebuked in private, public sins are to receive public rebukes,
that public scandal may be removed, and others scared from taking
encouragement to do the like (ver. 14). 2. Though the binding power
of the ceremonial law was abrogated at Christ's death, and the
practice in some things left as a thing lawful and in itself
indifferent, yet the observance, even for that time, was dispensed
with more for the Jews' sake, and was more tolerable in them who were
born and educated under that yoke, than in the Gentiles, to whom that
law was never given, and so were to observe it, or any part of it,
only in case of scandalising the weak Jews by their neglecting of it
(ver. 14). 3. Though every man by nature is a child of wrath and
enemy to God, yet those born within the visible Church have a right
to Church privileges and to enjoy the external means of grace and
salvation (ver. 15). 4. The doctrine of justification by faith and
not by works was early opposed, and no doctrine so much opposed,
because no truth is more necessary to be kept pure, as if it be kept
pure several other truths are kept pure also, and if it fall other
truths fall with it (ver. 16).--_Fergusson._
Ver. 16. _Justification by Faith._
+I. Man is justified by the mere mercy of God.+--And there is
excluded by justification all merit of congruity, all meritorious
works of preparation wrought by us, all co-operation of man's will
with God's grace in the effecting of our justification.
+II. Man is justified by the mere merit of Christ.+--That is, by the
meritorious obedience which He wrought in Himself, and not by
anything wrought by Him in us.
+III. A sinner is justified by mere faith.+--That is, nothing within
us concurs as a cause of our justification but faith, and nothing
apprehends Christ's obedience for our justification but faith. This
will more easily appear if we compare faith, hope, and love. Faith is
like a hand that opens itself to receive a gift, and so is neither
love nor hope. Love is also a hand, but yet a hand that gives out,
communicates, and distributes. For as faith receives Christ into our
hearts, so love opens the heart and pours our praise and thanks to
God and all manner of goodness to men. Hope is no hand, but an eye
that wistfully looks and waits for the good things faith believes.
Therefore, it is the only property of faith to clasp and lay hold of
Christ and His benefits.
+IV. The practice of them that are justified is to believe.+--To put
their trust in Christ. 1. Faith and practice must reign in the heart
and have all at command. We must not go by sense, feeling, reason,
but shut our eyes and let faith keep our hearts close to the promise
of God. Faith must overrule and command nature and the strongest
affections thereof. 2. When we know not what to do by reason of the
greatness of our distress, we must fix our hearts on Christ with
separation, as he that climbs up a ladder or some steep place: the
higher he goes the faster he holds.--_Perkins._
Vers. 17, 18. _False Methods of Salvation_--
+I. To seek justification in any other way than through
Christ.+--"If, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we
ourselves are found sinners" (ver. 17).
+II. Reflect unjustly on the character of the only Saviour.+--"Is
therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid" (ver. 17).
+III. Aggravate our sin by restoring in practice what we have
abandoned in theory.+--"For if I build again the things which
I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor" (ver. 18).
Ver. 19. _The Christian Dead to the Law._
+I. The state in which the apostle describes himself to be.+--"I am
dead to the law." Not the moral law of God. Every rational creature
in the universe is under its dominion, the believer as well as
others. He must escape from existence before he can escape from the
law of God. The apostle means he is dead to it as a covenant between
God and himself. There still stands the law before him in all its
primitive authority, purity, and majesty; he honours it and strives
to obey it, and often rejoices in the thought that the time will come
when he shall have his soul in a state of perfect conformity to it,
but this is all. Its life-giving, death-bringing powers are utterly
at an end, and he knows they are at an end. He is dead to all hope
from the law, dead to all expectation of heaven or of salvation from
it. He builds no more hope on his obedience to it than as though the
law had ceased to exist, and no more fear has he of condemnation from
it. The believer, dead to the legal covenant, rests from it. The
connection between him and it is over, and with it are over the
feelings within him, the painful, perturbing, apprehensive, slavish
feelings arising out of it.
+II. The means whereby the apostle has been brought into the state he
describes.+--"I through the law am dead to the law." Suppose a man
anxious to pass from one country to another, from a dangerous and
wretched country to a safe and happy one. Directly in his road stands
a mountain which he cannot pass over, and which he at first imagines
he can without much difficulty climb. He tries, but scarcely has he
begun to breast it when a precipice stops him. He descends and tries
again in another direction. There another precipice or some other
obstacle arrests his course; and still ever as he begins his ascent
he is baffled, and the little way he contrives to mount serves only
to show him more and more of the prodigious height of the mountain,
and its stern, rugged, impassable character. At last, wearied and
worn, heart-sick with labour and disappointment, and thoroughly
convinced that no efforts of his can carry him over, he lies down at
the mountain's foot in utter despair, longing still to be on the
other side, but making not another movement to get there. Now ask him
as he lies exhausted on the ground what has occasioned his torpor and
despair; he will say that mountain itself: its situation between him
and the land of his desires, and its inaccessible heights and
magnitude. So stands the law of God between the Christian and the
land he longs for. The impossibility of making our way to God by
means of the law arises from the extent of its requirements, and the
unbending, inexorable character of its denunciations. We can do
nothing but die to it, sink down before this broad, high, terrific
mountain in utter despair. While through the law the believer dies to
all hope from the law, through the cross of Christ he also dies to
all apprehension from it.
+III. The design of this deadness to the law in the Christian's
soul.+--"That I might live unto God." This living unto God dethrones
self, discovers to the man the base, degrading idol to which he has
been bowing down, makes him ashamed of the worship he has paid it,
and places on the throne of his heart his Saviour and his God. His
renunciation of his self-righteousness has gradually brought on other
renunciations of self. The law driving him to Christ has been the
means of driving him out of self altogether. It has brought him into
the sphere of the Gospel and among those soul-stirring principles,
feelings, and aspirations connected with the Gospel. There is no
greater mistake than to imagine that the Gospel has destroyed the law
or loosened in any degree its hold on men. The Gospel rests on the
law. But for the law and its unbending, unchangeable, external
character the Gospel had not existed, for it would not have been
needed. Dead to the law and alive unto God are two things that go
together; the one springs out of the other. The more completely we
die to the law as a covenant, the more fully, freely, and happily
shall we live unto God.--_C. Bradley._
_Dead to the Law by the Law._
+I. The person justified is dead to the law.+--Here the law is
compared to a hard and cruel master, and we to slaves or bondmen, who
so long as they are alive are under the dominion and at the command
of their masters; yet when they are dead they are free from that
bondage, and their masters have no more to do with them. To be dead
to the law is to be free from the dominion of the law. 1. In respect
of the accusing and damnatory sentence of the law. 2. In respect of
the power of the law. 3. In respect of the rigour of the law,
exacting most perfect obedience for our justification. 4. In respect
of the obligation of the conscience to the observance of ceremonies.
+II. The justified person is dead to the law by the law.+--By the law
of Moses I am dead to the law of Moses. The law accuses, terrifies,
and condemns us, and therefore occasions us to flee unto Christ who
is the cause that we die unto the law. As the needle goes down and
draws in the thread which sews the cloth, so the law goes before and
makes a way that grace may follow after and take place in the heart.
+III. The end of our death to the law is that we may live to
God.+--We live to God wisely in respect of ourselves, godly in
respect go God, justly in respect to men. That we may live godly we
must: 1. Bring ourselves into the presence of the invisible God and
set all we do in His sight and presence. 2. We must take knowledge of
the will of God in all things. 3. In all we do and suffer we must
depend on God for success and deliverance. 4. In all things we must
give thanks and praise to God.--_Perkins._
Ver. 20. _The Believer crucified with Christ, and Christ living in
the Believer._
+I. The believer is conformed to the death of Christ.+--1. The nature
of this crucifixion. It is figurative, not literal; yet real, and not
chimerical. It not only signifies suffering and dying to sin, but
also to effect this by the efficacy of Christ's cross. 2. The objects
to which the Christian is crucified, and the principles which thereby
expire: (1) The law considered as a means of justification. (2) The
world--its applause, treasures, gratification. (3) Self. 3. The
sufferings which accompany this crucifixion. Severe conviction and
mortification. The complete surrender of heart is attended with many
pangs. The continuance of the struggle is grievous.
+II. The believer participates in the life of Christ.+--1. The
principle of the life--Christ living in the soul. 2. The evidences of
this life--holy tempers, spiritual conversation, benevolent actions.
3. The instrument by which this life is introduced and maintained in
the soul--faith.
+Lessons.+--1. _This subject furnishes a test to try the reality of
our religion and the measure of our attainments._ 2. _Exposes the
delusion of Pharisees, hypocrites, and antinomians._ 3. _Exhibits the
dignity, felicity, and exalted hopes of the real believer.--Delta._
_The Religious Life of the Apostle_--
+I. Was characterised from the beginning by promptitude of action.+
+II. Was marked by a constant solicitude for his own personal
salvation.+
+III. Was eminent for its spirit of devotion.+
+IV. Was one of high fellowship with the Divine.+
+V. Had its foundation and power in a living faith in Christ.+
_Truths to live on._--Some one has said, "Give me a great truth that
I may live on it." And the preacher may well say, "Give me a great
truth that I may preach it." There are many great truths in this
verse. And yet how simply are they put! The first great truth taught
in this verse is the _oneness_ between Christ and those who believe
in Him. What St. Paul means is this, that having died with Christ on
the cross, he has in Christ paid the penalty of sin, and it is no
longer his old self that lives and rules, but Christ lives in him.
And is not this the Christ I want? Not only a Christ to copy, not a
Christ outside me, but a Christ living and reigning within. The
believer lives by faith, and faith lives on the promises, for faith
is a loving trust. The presence or absence of faith rules the whole
destiny of every man. The man who believes will live one way. The
unbeliever will live in another way. If you have this simple trust in
Christ, you may appropriate the last clause of the verse, "He loved
me, and gave Himself for me." When did that love begin? Never. When
will that love end? Never.
"Every human tie may perish,
Friend to friend ungrateful prove,
Mothers cease their own to cherish,
Heaven and earth at last remove;
But no changes
Can attend the Saviour's love."
For those Christ loves He will undertake altogether. He gives them
His peace, His joy, His smile, His arm, His hand, His home. For _He
gave Himself._ There are all treasures in Him. Strength for every
need, wisdom for every question, comfort for every sorrow, healing
for every wound, provision for every day. "For _me,_" so
insignificant, unworthy, so bad; for me, whose iniquities have
darkened the blue heavens; for me, a slave of sin.
"Why was I made to hear Thy voice
And enter while there's room,
While thousands made a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?
'Twas the same love that spread the feast,
That gently forced me in,
Else I had still refused to taste,
And perished in my sin."
--_F. Harper, M.A._
_The Love of the Son of God to Men._
+I. The existence of this amazing affection.+--Let not the
strangeness of the love stagger us into doubt or disbelief, but let
us receive and rest in the revealed fact. Viewed from the side of the
Divine, it is affection from a superior towards those vastly
inferior. Viewed from the side of the human beings beloved, it is an
affection altogether undeserved. The contrast between His dignity and
our demerit is the background on which His love stands out
conspicuously.
+II. The proof of affection He gave.+--Not left to assertion or
speculation, but proved by a public act. What he _did_ expresses what
He felt. He showed it openly by self-denial and self-surrender. He
gave not His substance or possessions, not another being, but to
procure our salvation and express His love He delivered up His own
person.
+III. The personality or individuality of the affection.+--He died
for all and for each. His love to each human being might be inferred
from that to the whole race, but it is affirmed directly. Each singly
had a distinct place in His loving death. Each was a unit before Him,
and had a personal interest in His affection.--_W. Smiley, B.A._
_The Life of Faith._
+I. The life which the apostle lived in the flesh.+--1. _His whole
life was a life of religious decision._ He made his choice and never
faltered in it. He saw what he had to do, and he began to do it at
once. He allowed no parley with the enemy. Nor was this resolution
fleeting; it continued through life.
2. _His life was marked by a solemn regard and care for his own
personal salvation._--There are two sources of religious danger of
which we are not always sufficiently aware--zeal for doctrinal truth,
and active employment in promoting the spread of truth. How possible
it is that, through the treachery of our hearts, even these may be
allowed insensibly to sap the very foundations of that solemn fear,
as to our own selves, which ought to influence us! Remember that
truth is not the substance of salvation but its instrument. Water
others, but neglect not your own vineyard.
3. _His life was truly a life of devotion._--His was a life of
prayer. Philosophy asks for a reason for the efficacy of prayer, and
waiting for an answer, never prays at all. Religion hears that God
will be inquired of by us, thankfully bends the knee, touches the
golden sceptre, and bears away the blessing. We always want; we must
always pray. And wish we for a model of high aspiration in prayer?
Let the apostle elevate and expand our languid desires.
4. _His life was one of heavenly-mindedness._--He lived indeed in the
flesh, but his life was in heaven. Heavenly-mindedness is the result
of three things--an assurance of present acceptance with God,
habitual intercourse with Him through His Son, and the extinction of
the worldly spirit. Our fears and aversions result from principles
directly opposite.
5. _His life was one of cheerful submission to providential
appointments._--His was no life of envied ease. In every city bonds
and afflictions awaited him. These dispensations operated on a tender
and delicate mind, for in him were united great energy and great
tenderness. Yet this man, hunted like a beast of prey, always
preserves and exhibits a contented cheerfulness. There was no sorrow
for himself, none allowed to others for him. The principle itself
reason could not furnish; but when furnished it is seen to be most
reasonable.
6. _His life was one of laborious usefulness._--He lived not to
himself, but to Christ Jesus his Lord, in the promotion of His will
in the moral benefit and eternal salvation of men. This was the life
he lived in the flesh, even to spread the light and influence of the
Gospel to all.
+II. The principle and source of his life.+--1. _It is Christian
faith._ Its object, the Son of God. It receives His words as true,
and regards Him as an atoning sacrifice. "He gave Himself for me."
2. _In its nature it is confiding and appropriating._--How does faith
connect itself with the results stated? (1) It regenerates as well as
justifies. (2) It produces vital union with Christ. (3) It is
habitual in its exercise. (4) It is realising. It gives a spiritual
apprehension of invisible and eternal realities.--_R. Watson._
_Self-abolished and Replaced._--Caroline Herschel, the sister of the
great astronomer, was through all her life the most attached servant
of her brother. She called herself "a mere tool, which my brother had
the trouble of sharpening." She learned the details of observing with
such success that she independently discovered eight comets. Her
devotion was most complete. Wherever her brother was concerned she
abolished self and replaced her nature with his. Having no taste for
astronomy, her work at first was distasteful to her; but she
conquered this and lived to help his work and fame.
Ver. 21. _The Perils of False Teaching._
+I. It seeks to base personal righteousness on an effete
legalism.+--"If righteousness come by the law."
+II. It defeats the gracious purposes of God.+--"I do not
frustrate the grace of God."
+III. It renders the sacrifice of Christ nugatory.+--"Then Christ is
dead in vain."
_Frustrating Divine Grace._--1. The joining of works with faith in
the manner of justification is a total excluding of God's free grace
and favour from any hand in the work. Grace admits of no partner. If
grace does not all, it does nothing; if anything be added, that
addition makes grace to be no grace. 2. That the apostle doth exclude
in this dispute from having any influence in justification the works,
not only of the ceremonial but also of the moral law, appears from
this--that he opposes the merit of Christ's death to all merit of our
own, whether by obedience to the one law or the other. 3. If there
had been any other way possible by which the salvation of sinners
could have been brought about but by the death of Christ, then Christ
would not have died. To suppose Christ died in vain or without cause
is an absurdity. If justification could have been attained by works
or any other means, then His death had been in vain, and it were an
absurd thing to suppose He would have died in that case.--_Fergusson._
_Justification by Works makes Void the Grace of God._
I. +Grace must stand wholly and entirely in itself.+--God's grace
cannot stand with man's merit. Grace is not grace unless it be freely
given every way. Grace and works of grace in the causing of
justification can no more stand together than fire and water.
II. The apostle answers the objection +that if a sinner is justified
only by faith in Christ then we abolish the grace of God.+--He shows
that if we be justified by our own fulfilment of the law then Christ
died in vain to fulfil the law for us.
III. +We have here a notable ground of true religion.+--That the
death of Christ is made void if anything be joined with it in the
work of our justification as a means to satisfy God's justice and to
merit the favour of God. Therefore the doctrine of justification by
works is a manifest error.--_Perkins._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Who hath bewitched you?+--Fascinated you, as if overlooked
by the evil eye, so that your brain is confused. The Galatians were
reputed to possess acute intellects: the apostle marvelled the more
at their defection. +That you should not obey the truth.+--Omitted in
R.V. +Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth,
crucified.+--In preaching, a vivid portraiture of Christ crucified
has been set before you as if depicted in graphic characters
impossible to mistake.
Ver. 3. +Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the
flesh?+--What monstrous folly is this! Will you so violate the Divine
order of progress? The flesh may be easily mistaken for the Spirit,
even by those who have made progress, unless they continue to
maintain a pure faith (_Bengel_).
Ver. 4. +Have ye suffered so many things in vain?+--Since ye might
have avoided them by professing Judaism. Will ye lose the reward
promised for all suffering?
Ver. 5. +He that worketh miracles among you.+--In you, at your
conversion and since.
Ver. 6. +Even as Abraham believed God.+--Where justification is there
the Spirit is, so that if the former comes by faith the latter must
also.
Ver. 8. +Preached before the Gospel unto Abraham.+--Thus the Gospel
in its essential germ is older than the law, though the full
development of the former is subsequent to the latter. The promise to
Abraham was in anticipation of the Gospel, not only as announcing the
Messiah, but also as involving the doctrine of righteousness by faith.
Ver. 10. +As many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse.+--This the Scripture itself declares. It utters an anathema
against all who fail to fulfil every single ordinance contained in
the book of the law (Deut. xxvii. 26).
Ver. 13. +Christ hath redeemed us from the curse.+--Bought us off
from our bondage and from the curse under which all lie who trust to
the law. The ransom price He paid was His own precious blood (1 Pet.
i. 18, 19). +Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.+--Christ's
bearing the particular curse of hanging on the tree is a sample of
the general curse which He representatively bore. Not that the Jews
put to death malefactors by hanging, but after having put them to
death otherwise, in order to brand them with peculiar ignominy, they
hung the bodies on a tree, and such malefactors were accursed by the
law. The Jews in contempt called Him _the hanged one._ Hung between
heaven and earth as though unworthy of either.
Ver. 17. +The covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ,
the law cannot disannul.+--From the recognised inviolability of a
human covenant (ver. 15), the apostle argues the impossibility of
violating the Divine covenant. The law cannot set aside the promise.
Ver. 19. +Wherefore then serveth the law?+--As it is of no avail for
justification, is it either useless or contrary to the covenant of
God? +It was added because of transgressions.+--To bring out into
clearer view the transgression of the law; to make men more fully
conscious of their sins, by being perceived as transgression of the
law, and so make them long for the promised Saviour. +It was ordained
by angels in the hand of a Mediator.+--As instrumental enactors of
the law. In the giving of the law the angels were representatives of
God; Moses, as mediator, represented the people.
Ver. 20. +Now a Mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is
one.+--The very idea of mediation supposes two persons at least,
between whom the mediation is carried on. The law then is of the
nature of a contract between two parties--God on the one hand, and
the Jewish people on the other. It is only valid so long as both
parties fulfil the terms of the contract. It is therefore contingent
and not absolute. Unlike the law, the promise is absolute and
unconditional. It depends on the sole decree of God. There are not
two contracting parties. There is nothing of the nature of a
stipulation. The Giver is everything, the recipient nothing
(_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 22. +The Scripture hath concluded all under sin.+--The written
letter was needed so as permanently to convict man of disobedience to
God's command. He is shut up under condemnation as in a prison.
Ver. 24. +The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.+--As
a tutor, checking our sinful propensities, making the consciousness
of the sinful principle more vivid, and showing the need of
forgiveness and freedom from the bondage of sin.
Ver. 26. +Ye are all the children of God.+--No longer children
requiring a tutor, but sons emancipated and walking at liberty.
Ver. 28. +Ye are all one in Christ Jesus.+--No class privileged above
another, as the Jews under the law had been above the Gentiles.
Difference of sex makes no difference in Christian privileges. But
under the law the male sex had great privileges.
Ver. 29. +If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and
heirs.+--Christ is Abraham's seed, and all who are baptised into
Christ, put on Christ (ver. 27), and are one in Christ (ver. 28), are
children entitled to the inheritance of promise.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-5.
_The Deceptive Glamour of Error_--
+I. Diverts the gaze of the soul from the most suggestive
truth.+--"Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set
forth, crucified" (ver. 1). The cross of Christ was the great theme
of Paul's preaching. He depicted it in such vivid colours and dwelt
on every detail of the story with such intense earnestness and loving
emphasis, that the Galatians were arrested, excited, charmed. They
were smitten with a sense of sin. They seemed to be actors in the
scene, as if their own hands had driven in the nails that pierced the
sacred Victim. They were bowed with shame and humiliation, and in an
agony of repentance they cast themselves before the Crucified and
took Him for their Christ and King. While they looked to Jesus they
were secure, but when they listened to the deceptive voice of error,
their gaze was diverted, and the deep significance of the cross
became obscured. Then backsliding began. Like mariners losing sight
of their guiding star, they drifted into strange waters. The cross is
the central force of Christianity; when it fades from view
Christianity declines. "As the sun draws the vapours of the sea, and
then paints a rainbow on them, so Christ draws men and then glorifies
them. His attraction is like that of the sun. It is magnetic too,
like that of the magnet to the pole. It is not simply the Christ that
is the magnet; it is the crucified Christ. It is not Christ without
the cross, nor the cross without Christ; it is both of them together."
+II. Confuses the mind as to the nature and value of spiritual
agencies.+--1. _Concerning the method of their first
reception._--"Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith?" (ver. 2). Making it appear that spiritual
blessings were acquired by outward observance rather than by inward
contemplation and faith. Confusing the true method of moral
regeneration, it arrests all growth and advancement in the spiritual
life. It throws back the soul on the weary round of toilsome and
hopeless human effort.
2. _Concerning the purpose for which they were given._--"Having begun
in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (ver. 3). It
was a reversal of the Divine order. Having begun in the Spirit, so
they must continue, or they would be undone. It was absurd to look
for perfection in the flesh, especially when they had discovered its
helplessness and misery. Pharisaic ordinances could do nothing to
consummate the work of faith and love; Moses could not lead them
higher than Christ; circumcision could never effect what the Holy
Ghost failed to do. Spiritual results can be brought about only by
spiritual agencies.
3. _Rendering suffering on behalf of the truth meaningless._--"Have
ye suffered so many things in vain?" (ver. 4). The Galatians on their
conversion were exposed to the fiercest persecution from the Jews and
from their own countrymen incited by the Jews. No one could come out
of heathen society and espouse the cause of Christ in those days, nor
can he do so to-day, without making himself a mark for ridicule and
violence, without the rupture of family and public ties, and many
painful sacrifices. But if the truth may be so easily abandoned, all
early struggles against opposition and all the educative influence
and promised reward of suffering must go for nothing. It is
disappointing and disastrous when a youthful zeal for religion
degenerates in maturer life into apathy and worldliness, when the
great principles of right and liberty, for which our fathers fought
and suffered, are treated by their descendants with supine
indifference.
+III. Creates misconceptions as to the Divine method of ministering
spiritual blessing.+--"He that ministereth to you the Spirit, and
worketh miracles, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?" (ver. 5). One of the most subtle effects of error
is to suspend the mind in a state of hesitation and doubt. It is a
dangerous mood. Confidence in the truth is shaken, and for the moment
the soul has nothing stable on which to lay hold. It is the
opportunity for the enemy, and damage is done which even a subsequent
return to the truth does not wholly efface. Paul saw the peril of his
converts, and he suggests this test--the Spirit of God had put His
seal on the apostle's preaching and on the faith of his hearers. Did
any such manifestation accompany the preaching of the legalists? He
takes his stand on the indubitable evidence of the work of the
Spirit. It is the only safe ground for the champion of experimental
Christianity (1 Cor. ii. 14, 15).
+Lessons.+--1. _Every error is the distortion of some truth._ 2. _The
cross is the central truth of Christianity._ 3. _The highest truths
are spiritually discerned._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 1. _Faithful Reproof._--1. The minister when he is called to
insist upon the clearing up of truth, whether positively by showing
what is revealed in Scripture or controversially by refuting errors,
should mix his discourse with exhortation and reproof, to excite and
quicken the affections of his hearers. 2. False teachers, who by fair
words deceive the simple, are spiritual sorcerers, and error is
spiritual witchcraft. As sorcerers by deluding the senses make people
apprehend that they see what they see not, so false teachers, by
casting a mist of seeming reason before the understanding, delude it,
and make the deluded person to believe that to be truth which is not.
3. Though Christ and His sufferings are to be vividly represented and
pictured by the plain and powerful preaching of the Gospel, yet it
does not follow they are to be artificially painted with colours on
stone or timber for religious use. The graven image is a teacher of
lies (Hab. ii. 18).--_Fergusson._
_The Folly of Disobedience._
+I. We are wise in matters of the world, but in matters concerning
the kingdom of heaven the most of us are fools,+ besotted and
bewitched with worldly cares and pleasures, without sense in matters
of religion; like a piece of wax without form, fit to take the form
and print of any religion.
+II. The truth here mentioned is the heavenly doctrine of the
Gospel,+ so called because it is absolute truth without error, and
because it is a most worthy truth--the truth according to godliness.
+III. The office of the minister is to set forth Christ
crucified.+--1. The ministry of the Word must be plain, perspicuous,
and evident, as if the doctrine were pictured and painted out before
the eyes of men. 2. It must be powerful and lively in operation, and
as it were crucifying Christ within us and causing us to feel the
virtue of His passion. The Word preached must pierce into the heart
like a two-edged sword. 3. The effectual and powerful preaching of
the Word stands in three things: (1) True and proper interpretation
of the Scripture. (2) Savoury and wholesome doctrine gathered out of
the Scriptures truly expounded. (3) The application of the said
doctrine, either to the information of the judgment or the
reformation of the life.
+IV. The duty of all believers is to behold Christ crucified.+--And
we must behold Him by the eye of faith, which makes us both see Him
and feel Him, as it were, crucified in us. 1. By beholding Christ
crucified we see our misery and wickedness. 2. This sight brings us
true and lively comfort. 3. This sight of Christ makes a wonderful
change in us. The chameleon takes the colours of the things it sees
and that are near to it; and the believing heart takes to it the
disposition and mind that was in Christ--_Perkins._
_Attractiveness of Worth._--In the Paris Salon some few years ago
there was a bust of the painter Baudry by Paul Dubois, one of the
greatest modern sculptors. Mr. Edmund Gosse was sitting to
contemplate this bust when an American gentleman strolled by, caught
sight of it, and after hovering round it for some time came and sat
by his side and watched it. Presently he turned to Mr. Gosse
inquiring if he could tell him whose it was, and whether it was
thought much of, adding with a charming modesty, "I don't know
anything about art; but I found that I could not get past that head."
Would that we could so set forth Christ that His Word might be
fulfilled, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me"! (John
xii. 32).
Vers. 2-5. _Searching Questions._--1. As to the mode of receiving the
Spirit (ver. 2). 2. As to the folly of expecting advancement by
substituting an inferior for a superior force (ver. 3). 3. As to the
uselessness of suffering (ver. 4). 4. As to the exercise of spiritual
and miraculous power (ver. 5).
Ver. 4. _Suffering for the Truth._--1. They may suffer many things
for truth who afterwards fall from it. As the example of others,
particular interest and general applause will make even hypocrites
suffer much, so continued suffering will make even the godly faint
for a time. The best, being left to themselves, in an hour of
temptation, will turn their back upon truth, so that no profession,
no experience or remembrance of the joy and sweetness found in the
way of truth, nor their former sufferings for it, will make them
adhere to it. 2. Whatever have been the sufferings for truth, they
are all in vain, lost and to no purpose, if the party make defection
from and turn his back upon the truth. 3. Though those who have
suffered much for the truth should afterwards fall from it, we are to
keep charity towards them, hoping God will give them repentance and
reclaim them. All our sharpness towards them ought to be wisely
tempered, by expressing the charitable thoughts we have of
them.--_Fergusson._
_The Uses of Suffering._--1. They serve for trial of men, that it may
appear what is hidden in their hearts. 2. They serve for the
correction of things amiss in us. 3. They serve as documents and
warnings to others, especially in public persons. 4. They are marks
of adoption if we be content to obey God in them. 5. They are the
trodden and beaten way to the kingdom of heaven.--_Perkins._
Ver. 5. _Miracles confirmatory of the Truth._--1. The Lord
accompanied the first preaching of the Gospel with the working of
miracles that the truth of the doctrine might be confirmed, which
being once sufficiently done, there is no further use for miracles.
2. So strong and prevalent is the spirit of error, and so weak the
best in themselves to resist it, that for love to error they will
quit truth, though confirmed and sealed by the saving fruits of God's
Spirit in their hearts.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-9.
_The Abrahamic Gospel_--
+I. Recognised the principle that righteousness is only by
faith.+--"Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness" (ver. 6). The promise to Abraham contained the germ of
the Gospel and was the only Gospel known to pre-Christian times.
Though dimly apprehending its vast import, Abraham trusted in God's
Messianic promise, and his unfaltering faith, often severely tried,
was in the judgment of the gracious God imputed to him as rectitude.
"In this mode of salvation there was after all nothing new. The
righteousness of faith is more ancient than legalism. It is as old as
Abraham. In the hoary patriarchal days as now, in the time of promise
as of fulfilment, faith is the root of religion; grace invites,
righteousness waits upon the hearing of faith."
+II. Was universal in its spiritual provisions.+--"The Scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached
before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be
blessed" (ver. 8). Twice is Abraham designated "the friend of God."
The Arabs still call him _the friend._ His image has impressed itself
with singular force on the Oriental mind. He is the noblest figure of
the Old Testament, surpassing Isaac in force, Jacob in purity, and
both in dignity of character. His religion exhibits a heroic strength
and firmness, but at the same time a large-hearted, genial humanity,
an elevation and serenity of mind, to which the temper of those who
boasted themselves his children was utterly opposed. Father of the
Jewish race, Abraham was no Jew. He stands before us in the morning
light of revelation a simple, noble, archaic type of man, true father
of many nations. And his faith was the secret of the greatness which
has commanded for him the reverence of four thousand years. His trust
in God made him worthy to receive so immense a trust for the future
of mankind (_Findlay_).
+III. Shares its privilege and blessing with all who believe.+--"They
which are of faith, the same are the children of . . . are blessed
with faithful Abraham" (vers. 7, 9). With Abraham's faith the
Gentiles inherit his blessing. They were not simply blessed _in_ him,
through his faith which received and handed down the blessing but
blessed _with_ him. Their righteousness rests on the same principle
as his. Reading the story of Abraham, we witness the bright dawn of
faith, its springtime of promise and of hope. These morning hours
passed away; and the sacred history shuts us in to the hard school of
Mosaism, with its isolation, its mechanical routine and ritual
drapery, its yoke of legal exaction ever growing more burdensome. Of
all this the Church of Christ was to know nothing. It was called to
enter into the labours of the legal centuries without the need of
sharing their burdens. In the "Father of the Faithful" and the
"Friend of God" Gentile believers were to see their exemplar, to find
the warrant for that sufficiency and freedom of faith of which the
natural children of Abraham unjustly strove to rob them (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel has an honourable antiquity._
2. _Righteousness is the practical side of true religion._ 3. _Faith
is the way to righteousness._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 6-9. _Righteousness through Faith._
+I. The Divine method of blessing in past ages+ (ver. 6).
+II. Modern believers are spiritual successors of the most eminent
examples of faith in ancient times+ (ver. 7).
+III. The unchanging Gospel taught in Holy Scripture+ (ver. 8).
+VI. Ensures the enjoyment of promised blessings+ (ver. 9).
Vers. 6, 7. _Imitators of Abraham's Faith._
+I. We must have knowledge of the main and principal promise touching
the blessing of God in Christ,+ and all other promises depending on
the principal; and we must know the scope and tenor of them that we
be not deceived.
+II. We must with Abraham believe the truth and power of God+ in the
accomplishment of the said promises, or in the working of our
vocation, justification, sanctification, glorification.
+III. We must by faith obey God+ in all things, shutting our eyes and
suffering ourselves to be led blindfold, as it were, by the Word of
God. Thus did Abraham in all things, even in actions against nature.
But this practice is rare among us. For there are three things which
prevail among us--the love of worldly honour, the love of pleasure,
and the love of riches; and where these bear sway there faith takes
no place.--_Perkins._
Vers. 8, 9. _All Nations blessed in Abraham._--1. The covenant of
grace with Abraham extended not only to his carnal seed, but to all
believers, even among the Gentiles. 2. The blessings promised to
Abraham were not only temporal, but heavenly and spiritual: the
temporal were often inculcated on the ancient Church, not as if they
were all or the main blessings of the covenant, but as they were
shadows of things heavenly. 3. The promise to Abraham contained the
sum of the Gospel--the glad tidings of all spiritual blessings, and
that the Gentiles should have access, in the days of the Gospel, to
these blessings. The Gospel is therefore no new doctrine, but the
same in substance with that taught to Abraham and to the Church under
the Old Testament. 4. Eminent privileges bestowed on particular
persons do not exempt them from walking to heaven in the common
pathway with others. Abraham, the father of believers, in whom all
nations were blessed, enjoyed the blessing, not because of his own
merit, but freely and by faith as well as others.--_Fergusson._
_The Abrahamic Gospel intended for All._
+I. The nation of the Jews shall be called and converted to the
participation of this blessing.+--When and how, God knows; but it
shall be done before the end of the world. If all nations be called,
then the Jews.
+II. That which was foretold to Abraham is verified in our
eyes.+--This nation and many other nations are at this day blessed in
the seed of Abraham. 1. Give to God thanks and praise that we are
born in these days. 2. We must amend and turn to God that we may now
be partakers of the promised blessing. 3. We must bless all, do good
to all, and hurt to none.
+III. All men who are of Abraham's faith shall be partakers of the
same blessing with him.+--God respects not the greatness of our faith
so much as the truth of it.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-14.
_The Conflict between the Law and Faith._
+I. The law condemns the least violation of its enactments.+--"Cursed
is every one that continueth not in all things . . . in the law to do
them" (ver. 10). The law is a unity; to violate a part is to violate
the whole. It is like a perfect bell, every stroke resounds through
every atom of the metal. If the bell is fractured in the least
degree, the dissonance is evident in every part. Law is so
all-pervasive and so perfect that to break one law is to be guilty of
all. It is intolerant of all imperfection and makes no provision to
prevent or repair imperfection except by a rigid obedience to every
statute. If obedience could be perfect from this moment onwards, the
past disobedience would not be condoned; we should be still liable to
its penalties, still be under the curse. To pledge ourselves to
unsinning obedience is to pledge ourselves to the impossible. All our
efforts to obey law--to conform our life to the law of righteousness,
the purity and beauty of which we perceive even while in a state of
lawless unnature--are futile. It is like running alongside a parallel
pathway into which we are perpetually trying to turn ourselves, but
all in vain. We cannot escape the condemnation of the disobedient.
+II. The law cannot justify man.+--"But that no man is justified by
the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live
by faith" (ver. 11). The law reveals our sin and our utter
helplessness to rid ourselves of its misery. The law forces out the
disease that is spreading under the skin. Such is its task. But
healing it does not bring. "The law," says Luther, "is that which
lays down what man is to do; the Gospel reveals whence man is to
obtain help. When I place myself in the hands of the physician, one
branch of art says where the disease lies, another what course to
take to get quit of it. So here. The law discovers our disease, the
Gospel supplies the remedy." We become aware in critical moments that
our evil desires are more powerful than the prohibition of law and
are in truth first stirred up thoroughly by the prohibition. And this
disposition of our heart is the decisive point for the question,
"Whether then the holy law, the holy, just and good commandment makes
us holy, just, and good men?" The answer to this is, and remains a
most decided, "No."
+III. The law ignores faith.+--"The law is not of faith: but, The man
that doeth them shall live in them" (ver. 12). Its dictum is _do,_
not _believe_; it takes no account of faith. To grant righteousness
to faith is to deny it to legal works. The two ways have different
starting-points, as they lead to opposite goals. From faith one
marches through God's righteousness to blessing; from works, through
self-righteousness, to the curse. In short, the legalist tries to
make God believe in him. Abraham and Paul are content to believe in
God. Paul puts the calm, grand image of Father Abraham before us for
our pattern, in contrast with the narrow, painful, bitter spirit of
Jewish legalism, inwardly self-condemned.
+IV. The law, the great barrier to man's justification, is done away
in Christ.+--"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law"
(ver. 13). Christ brought us out of the curse of the law by Himself
voluntarily undergoing its penalty and submitting to the utmost
indignity it imposed--hanging on a tree. It was this crowning scandal
that shocked the Jewish pride and made the cross an offence to them.
Once crucified, the name of Jesus would surely perish from the lips
of men; no Jew would hereafter dare to profess faith in Him. This was
God's method of rescue; and all the terrors and penalties of law
disappear, being absorbed in the cross of Christ. His redemption was
offered to the Jew first. But not to the Jew alone, nor as a Jew. The
time of release had come for all men. Abraham's blessing, long
withheld, was now to be imparted, as it had been promised, to all the
tribes of the earth. In the removal of the legal curse, God comes
near to men as in the ancient days. In Christ Jesus crucified, risen,
reigning, a new world comes into being, which restores and surpasses
the promise of the old.
+V. Faith ends the conflict of the law by imparting to man a superior
spiritual force.+--"That we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith" (ver. 14). Faith is a spiritual faculty, and its
exercise is made possible by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The
law of works is superseded by the higher law of the Spirit. It is in
the human soul that law has its widest sweep and accomplishes its
highest results. The soul can never rise higher in its experience and
efforts than the law by which it is governed. The law of sin has
debased and limited the soul, and only as it is united by faith to
Christ and responds to the lofty calls of His law will it break away
from the corruption and restraints of the law of sin and rise to the
highest perfection of holiness. "In every law," says F. W. Robertson,
"there is a spirit, in every maxim a principle; and the law and the
maxim are laid down for the sake of conserving the spirit and the
principle which they enshrine. Man is severed from submission to the
maxim because he has got allegiance to the principle. He is free from
the rule and the law because he has got the spirit written in his
heart."
+Lessons.+--1. _It is hopeless to attain righteousness by law._
2. _Faith in Christ is the only and universal way of obedience._
3. _The law is disarmed by obeying it._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 10-12. _The Inexorability of Law._
+I. The law renders no help in fulfilling its requirements but
curses the incompetent+ (ver. 10).
+II. The law, though strictly observed, is powerless to justify+
(ver. 11).
+III. The law does not admit of faith; it offers life only to the
doer+ (ver. 12).
Ver. 11. _Man is justified by Faith alone._--One day wishing to
obtain an indulgence promised by the Pope to all who should ascend on
their knees what is called Pilate's Staircase, the poor Saxon monk,
Luther, was humbly creeping up those steps when he thought he heard a
voice of thunder crying from the bottom of his heart, as at
Wittenberg and Bologna, "The just shall live by faith!" He rises in
amazement, he shudders at himself, he is ashamed of seeing to what a
depth superstition had plunged him. He flies from the scene of his
folly. It was in these words God then said, "Let there be light, and
there was light" (Gen. i. 3).--_D'Aubigné._
Ver. 12. _The Difference between the Law and the Gospel._
+I. The law promises life to him who performs perfect obedience,+ and
that for his works. The Gospel promises life to him who doeth nothing
in the cause of his salvation, but only believes in Christ; and it
promises salvation to him who believeth, yet not for his faith or for
any works else, but for the merit of Christ. The law then requires
doing to salvation, and the Gospel believing and nothing else.
+II. The law does not teach true repentance,+ neither is it any cause
of it, but only an occasion. The Gospel only prescribes repentance
and the practice of it, yet only as it is a fruit of our faith and as
it is the way to salvation.
+III. The law requires faith in God,+ which is to put our affiance in
him. The Gospel requires faith in Christ, the Mediator God-man; and
this faith the law never knew.
+IV. The promises of the Gospel are not made to the work, but to the
worker;+ and to the worker not for his work, but for Christ's sake,
according to His work.
+V. The Gospel considers not faith as a virtue or work, but as an
instrument,+ or hand, to apprehend Christ. Faith does not cause or
procure our salvation, but as the beggar's hand it receives it, being
wholly wrought and given of God.
+VI. This distinction of the law and the Gospel must be observed
carefully,+ as the two have been often confounded. It has been
erroneously stated that the law of Moses, written in tables of stone,
is the law; the same law of Moses, written in the hearts of men by
the Holy Ghost, is the Gospel. But I say again that the law written
in our hearts is still the law of Moses. This oversight in mistaking
the distinction of the law and the Gospel is and has been the ruin of
the Gospel.--_Perkins._
Vers. 13, 14. _Redemption and its Issues._
+I. Redemption was effected by Christ enduring the penalty of
violated law+ (ver. 13).
+II. Redemption by Christ has brought blessing to all
nations.+--"That the blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ" (ver. 14).
+III. The spiritual results of redemption are realised only by
faith.+--"That we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith" (ver. 14).
Ver. 13. _The Curse and Sentence of the Law_ lies on record against
sinners, it puts in its demand against our acquittance, and lays an
obligation upon us unto punishment. God will not reject nor destroy
His law. Unless it be answered, there is no acceptance for sinners.
Christ answered the curse of the law when He was made a curse for us,
and so became, as to the obedience of the law, the end of the law for
righteousness to them that believe. And as to the penalty that it
threatened, He bore it, removed it, and took it out of the way. So
hath He made way for forgiveness through the very heart of the law;
it hath not one word to speak against the pardon of those who
believe.--_John Owen._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-18.
_The Divine Covenant of Promise_--
+I. Is less susceptible of violation than any human
covenant.+--"Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be
confirmed [approved], no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto" (ver.
15). Common equity demands that a contract made between man and man
is thoroughly binding and should be rigidly observed; and the civil
law lends all its force to maintain the integrity of its clauses. How
much more certain it is that the Divine covenant shall be faithfully
upheld. If it is likely that a human covenant will not be interfered
with, it is less likely the Divine covenant will be changed. Yet even
a human covenant may fail; the Divine covenant never. It is based on
the Divine Word which cannot fail, and its validity is pledged by the
incorruptibility of the Divine character (Mal. iii. 6).
+II. Is explicit in defining the channel of its fulfilment.+--"Now to
Abraham and his seed were the promises made; . . . to thy seed, which
is Christ" (ver. 16). The promise is in the plural because the same
promise was often repeated (Gen. xii. 3, 7, xv. 5, 18, xvii. 7,
xxii. 18), and because it involved many things--earthly blessings to
the literal children of Abraham in Canaan, and spiritual and heavenly
blessings to his spiritual children; and both promised to Christ--the
Seed and representative Head of the literal and spiritual Israel
alike. Therefore the promise that in him "all families of the earth
shall be blessed" joins in this one Seed--Christ--Jew and Gentile, as
fellow-heirs on the same terms of acceptability--by grace through
faith; not to some by promise, to others by the law, but to all
alike, circumcised and uncircumcised, constituting but one seed in
Christ. The law, on the other hand, contemplates the Jews and
Gentiles as distinct seeds. God makes a covenant, but it is one of
promise; whereas the law is a covenant of works. God makes His
covenant of promise with the one Seed--Christ--and embraces others
only as they are identified with and represented by Him (_Fausset_).
+III. Cannot be set aside by the law which was a subsequent
revelation.+--"The covenant, . . . the law, which was four hundred
and thirty years after, cannot disannul" (ver. 17). The promise to
Abraham was a prior settlement, and must take precedence, not only in
time but also in authority, of the Mosaic law. It was a bold stroke
of the apostle to thus shatter the supremacy of Mosaism; but the
appeal to antiquity was an argument the most prejudiced Jew was bound
to respect. "The law of Moses has its rights; it must be taken into
account as well as the promise to Abraham. True; but it has no power
to cancel or restrict the promise, older by four centuries and a
half. The later must be adjusted to the earlier dispensation, the law
interpreted by the promise. God has not made two testaments--the one
solemnly committed to the faith and hope of mankind, only to be
retracted and substituted by something of a different stamp. He could
not thus stultify Himself. And we must not apply the Mosaic
enactments, addressed to a single people, in such a way as to
neutralise the original provisions made for the race at large. Our
human instincts of good faith, our reverence for public compacts and
established rights, forbid our allowing the law of Moses to trench
upon the inheritance assured to mankind in the covenant of Abraham"
(_Findlay_).
+IV. Imposed no conditions of legal obedience.+--"If the inheritance
be of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham
by promise" (ver. 18). The law is a system of conditions--so much
advantage to be gained by so much work done. This is all very well as
a general principle. But the promise of God is based on a very
different ground. It is an act of free, sovereign grace, engaging to
confer certain blessings without demanding anything more from the
recipient than faith, which is just the will to receive. The law
imposes obligations man is incompetent to meet. The promise offers
blessings all men need and all may accept. It simply asks the
acceptance of the blessings by a submissive and trustful heart. The
demands of the law are met and the provisions of the covenant of
promise enjoyed by an act of faith.
+Lessons.+--1. _God has a sovereign right to give or withhold
blessing._ 2. _The Divine covenant of promise is incapable of
violation._ 3. _Faith in God is the simplest and sublimest method of
obedience._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15-18. _The Promise a Covenant confirmed._
+I. The promises made to Abraham are first made to Christ, and then
in Christ to all that believe in Him.+--1. Learn the difference of
the promises of the law and the Gospel. The promises of the law are
directed and made to the person of every man particularly; the
promises of the Gospel are first directed and made to Christ, and
then by consequent to them that are by faith ingrafted into Christ.
2. We learn to acknowledge the communion that is between Christ and
us. Christ died upon the cross, not as a private person, but as a
public person representing His people. All died in Him, and with Him;
in the same manner they must rise with Him to life. 3. Here is
comfort against the consideration of our unworthiness. There is
dignity and worthiness sufficient in Him. Our salvation stands in
this, not that we know and apprehend him, but that He knows and
apprehends us first of all.
+II. The promise made to Abraham was a covenant confirmed by
oath.+--Abraham in the first making and in the confirmation thereof
must be considered as a public person representing all the faithful.
Here we see God's goodness. We are bound simply to believe His bare
Word; yet in regard of our weakness He ratifies His promise by oath,
that there might be no occasion of unbelief. What can we more require
of him?
+III. If the promise might be disannulled, the law could not do
it.+--1. The promise, or covenant, was made with Abraham, and
continued by God four hundred and thirty years before the law was
given. 2. If the law abolish the promise, then the inheritance must
come by the law. But that cannot be. If the inheritance of eternal
life be by the law, it is no more by the promise. But it is by the
promise, because God gave it unto Abraham freely by promise;
therefore, it comes not by the law. This giving was no private but a
public donation. That which was given to Abraham was in him given to
all that should believe as he did.--_Perkins._
Vers. 15-17. _Divine and Human Covenants._
I. A covenant, as between man and man, is honourably binding (ver.
15).
II. The Divine covenant made to Abraham ensures the fulfilment of
promises to all who believe as Abraham did (ver. 16).
III. The law cannot abrogate the Divine covenant of promise (ver. 17).
Ver 18. _Law and Promise._--1. So subtle is the spirit of error that
it will seem to cede somewhat to truth, intending to prejudice the
truth more than if it had ceded nothing. The opposers of
justification by faith did sometimes give faith some place in
justification and pleaded for a joint influence of works and faith,
of law and promise. 2. The state of grace here and glory hereafter is
the inheritance of the Lord's people, of which the land of Canaan was
a type. There are only two ways of attaining a right to this
inheritance--one by law, the other by promise. 3. There can be no
mixture of these two, so that a right to heaven should be obtained
partly by the merit of works and partly by faith in the promise. The
only way of attaining it is by God's free gift, without the merit of
works.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19, 20.
_The Inferiority of the Law._
+I. It did not justify but condemn the sinner by revealing his
sin.+--"It was added because of transgressions" (ver. 19). Law has no
remedial efficacy. It reveals and emphasises the fact of sin. It has
no terror while it is obeyed. When it is violated then it thunders,
and with pitiless severity terrifies the conscience and inflicts
unsparing punishment. There is no strain of mercy in its voice, or in
the inflexibility of its methods. It surrenders the condemned to an
anguish from which it offers no means of escape. It is said that,
after the murder of Darnley, some of the wretches who were concerned
in it were found wandering about the streets of Edinburgh crying
penitently and lamentably for vengeance on those who had caused them
to shed innocent blood.
+II. It was temporary in its operation.+--"Till the seed should come
to whom the promise was made" (ver. 19). The work of the law was
preparatory and educative. Centuries rolled away and the promised
Seed was long in coming, and it seemed as if the world must remain
for ever under the tutelage of the law. All the time the law was
doing its work. God was long in fulfilling His promise because man
was so slow to learn. When Christ, the promised Seed, appeared, the
law was superseded. Its work was done. The preparatory gave place to
the permanent; the reign of law was displaced by the reign of grace.
The claims of the law were discharged once for all.
+III. Its revelation was through intermediaries.+--"It was ordained
by angels in the hand of a Mediator" (ver. 19). In the Jewish
estimation the administration of the law by angels enhanced its
splendour, and the pomp and ceremony with which Moses made known the
will and character of Jehovah added to the impressiveness and
superiority of the law. In the Christian view these very methods were
evidences of defect and inferiority. The revelations of God by the
law were veiled and intermediate; the revelation by Grace is direct
and immediate. Under the law God was a distant and obscured
personality, and the people unfit to enter His sacred presence; by
the Gospel God is brought near to man and permitted to bask in the
radiance of His revealed glory, without the intervention of a human
mediator. The law, with its elaborate ceremonial and multiplied
exactions, is a barrier between the soul and God.
+IV. It was contingent, not absolute, in its primal terms.+--"Now a
Mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one" (ver. 20). Where a
mediator is necessary unity is wanting--not simply in a numerical but
in a moral sense, as a matter of feeling and of aim. There are
separate interests, discordant views, to be consulted. This was true
of Mosaism. It was not the absolute religion. The theocratic
legislation of the Pentateuch is lacking in the unity and consistency
of a perfect revelation. Its disclosures of God were refracted in a
manifest degree by the atmosphere through which they passed. In the
promise God spoke immediately and for Himself. The man of Abraham's
faith sees God in His unity. The legalist gets his religion at
second-hand, mixed with undivine elements. He projects on the Divine
image confusing shadows of human imperfection (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--1. _The law is powerless to remove the sin it exposes._
2. _The law had the defect of all preparatory dispensations._ 3. _The
law imposes conditions it does not help to fulfil._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 19, 20. _The Law is for Transgressors._
+I. We are taught to examine and search our hearts by the law of
God.+--1. When any sin is forbidden in any commandment of the law,
under it all sins of the same kind are forbidden, all causes of them
and all occasions. 2. A commandment negative includes the
affirmative, and binds us not only to abstain from evil, but also to
do the contrary good. 3. Every commandment must be understood with a
curse annexed to it, though the curse be not expressed. 4. We must
especially examine ourselves by the first and last commandments. The
first forbids the first motions of our hearts against God, and the
last forbids the first motions of our hearts against our neighbour.
+II. The law of God to be reverenced.+--1. Because it was ordained or
delivered by angels. 2. We are to fear to break the least
commandment, because the angels observe the keepers and breakers of
it, and are ready to witness against them that offend. 3. If thou
offend and break the law, repent with speed, for that is the desired
joy of angels. 4. If thou sin and repent not, look for shame and
confusion before God and His angels.
+III. God, the Author and Source of law, is one.+--1. He is
unchangeable. 2. His unchangeableness the foundation of our comfort.
3. We should be unchangeable in faith, hope, love, good counsels,
honest promises, and in the maintenance of true religion.--_Perkins._
Ver. 19. _The Use of the Law._
+I. It is a standard to measure our defects.+
+II. It is a sword to pierce our conscience.+
+III. It is a seal to certify that we are in the way of
grace.+--_Tholuck._
_No Trust in Legal Prescriptions._--St. Paul, with the sledge-hammer
force of his direct and impassioned dialectics, shattered all
possibility of trusting in legal prescriptions, and demonstrated that
the law was no longer obligatory on Gentiles. He had shown that the
distinction between clean and unclean meats was to the enlightened
conscience a matter of indifference, that circumcision was nothing
better than a physical mutilation, that ceremonialism was a yoke with
which the free, converted Gentile had nothing to do, that we are
saved by faith and not by works, that the law was a dispensation of
wrath and menace introduced for the sake of transgressions, that so
far from being, as all the Rabbis asserted, the one thing on account
of which the universe had been created, the Mosaic code only
possessed a transitory, subordinate, and intermediate character,
coming in, as it were in a secondary way, between the promise of
Abraham and the fulfilment of that promise in the Gospel of
Christ.--_Dean Farrar._
_The Use of the Law under the Gospel._
+I. The law never was intended to supersede the Gospel as a means of
life.+
+II. The most perfect edition of the Gospel, so far from having
abolished the least tittle of the moral law, has established it.+
+III. The use of the law.+--1. To constitute probation. 2. The law is
our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. 3. The law serves to give
beauty and symmetry to the hidden man of the heart. 4. To vindicate
the conduct of our Judge in dooming the impenitent to eternal death.
+Lessons.+--1. _Since the law as a covenant has been superseded by a
covenant better adapted to our guilty and helpless circumstances, let
us make a proper use of the mercy, acquaint ourselves with its
demands, and abound in the holiness it enjoins._ 2. _Mark those who
set aside the law, shun their company, and pray for their
repentance._--_Iota._
Ver. 20. _The Unity of God and His Purpose regarding Man._--1. The
covenant with Adam in his innocency was immediate, no mediator
intervening to make them one; there was no disagreement betwixt them
because of sin. 2. No man can attain heaven, or reap any advantage,
except he be perfectly holy. God made no covenant of works with men
on Mount Sinai, nor could they have reaped benefit from such a
covenant as they were a sinful people, standing in need of a midsman
betwixt God and them. 3. The Lord in all His dispensations is always
one and like to Himself without shadow of turning. If any plead a
right to heaven by the merit of their works, God will abate nothing
of what He did once prescribe and require of man in the covenant of
works.--_Fergusson._
_An Effectual Mediator._--Edward III., after defeating Philip of
France at Creçy, laid siege to Calais, which, after an obstinate
resistance of a year, was taken. He offered to spare the lives of the
inhabitants on the condition that six of their principal citizens
should be delivered up to him, with halters around their necks, to be
immediately executed. When these terms were announced the rulers of
the town came together, and the question was proposed, "Who will
offer himself as an atonement for the city? Who will imitate Christ
who gave Himself for the salvation of men?" The number was soon made
up. On reaching the English camp they were received by the soldiers
of Edward with every mark of commiseration. They appeared before the
king. "Are these the principal inhabitants of Calais?" he inquired
sternly. "Of France, my lord," they replied. "Lead them to
execution." At this moment the queen arrived. She was informed of the
punishment about to be inflicted on the six victims. She hastened to
the king and pleaded for their pardon. At first he sternly refused,
but her earnestness conquered, and the king yielded. When we submit
our hearts as captives to the Father, and feel that we are condemned
and lost, we have an effectual Mediator who stays the hand of justice.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21-25.
_The True Use of the Law_--
+I. Was not intended to bestow spiritual life.+--"If there had been a
law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should
have been by the law" (ver. 21). The law was not against the
promises. It was a Divine method in dealing with man, and one Divine
method never conflicts with another. It was intended to mediate
between the promise and its fulfilment. It is not the enemy but the
minister of grace. It did not profess to bestow spiritual life; but
in its sacrifices and oblations pointed to the coming Christ who is
"the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth"
(Rom. x. 4).
+II. Was to reveal the universal domination of sin.+--"The Scripture
hath concluded all under sin" (ver. 22). The Bible from the beginning
and throughout its course, in its unvarying teaching, makes the world
one vast prison-house with the law for gaoler, and mankind held fast
in chains of sin, condemned and waiting for the punishment of death.
Its perpetual refrain is, "All have sinned and come short of the
glory of God." Its impeachment covers the whole realm of human life,
thought, and desire. "Every human life," says Martensen, "that has
not yet become a partaker of redemption is a life under the law, in
opposition to the life under grace. The law hovers over his life as
an unfulfilled requirement; and, in the depth of his own being,
remains as an indismissible but unsatisfied and unexpiated claim on
him, which characterises such a human existence as sinful and
guilt-laden."
+III. Was to teach the absolute necessity of faith in order to escape
its condemnation.+--"But before faith came, we were kept under the
law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed"
(ver. 23). The law was all the while standing guard over its
subjects, watching and checking every attempt to escape, but
intending to hand them over in due time to the charge of faith. The
law posts its ordinances, like so many sentinels, round the
prisoner's cell. The cordon is complete. He tries again and again to
break out; the iron circle will not yield. But deliverance will yet
be his. The day of faith approaches. It dawned long ago in Abraham's
promise. Even now its light shines into his dungeon, and he hears the
word of Jesus, "Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace." Law, the
stern gaoler, has after all been a good friend if it has reserved him
for this. It prevents the sinner escaping to a futile and illusive
freedom (_Findlay_).
+IV. Was to act as a moral tutor to train us to the maturity and
higher freedom of a personal faith in Christ.+--"Wherefore the law
was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ," etc. (vers. 24, 25).
The schoolmaster, or pedagogue, among the Greeks meant a faithful
servant entrusted with the care of the boy from childhood, to keep
him from evil, physical and moral, and accompany him to his
amusements and studies. "If then the law is a pedagogue," says
Chrysostom, "it is not hostile to grace, but its fellow-worker; but
should it continue to hold us fast when grace has come, then it would
be hostile." Judaism was an education for Christianity. It trained
the childhood of the race. It humbled and distressed the soul with
the consciousness of sin. It revealed the utter inadequacy of all its
provisions to justify. It brought the despairing soul to Christ and
showed that the true way to righteousness was by personal faith in
Him.
+Lessons.+--1. _Law is the revealer of sin._ 2. _Law demands
universal righteousness._ 3. _Law is a training for faith._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 21, 22. _The Law not contrary to
the Divine Promise._--1. It is the way of some to make one Scripture
contradict another, yet their bold allegations will be found always
false, and truth to be every most consonant and never contrary to
itself. 2. So exact and full is the righteousness required in order
to life, and so far short do all mankind come of it, that no works of
our own, done in obedience to the law, can amount to that
righteousness. 3. Though all men by nature be under sin, it is a
matter of no small difficulty to convince any man of it. The work of
the law, accusing, convincing, or condemning the sinner, is compared
to the work of a judge detaining a malefactor in prison which is not
effectuated but with force and violence. 4. The law by its
threatenings prepares and necessitates the soul to embrace salvation
by faith in the Christ revealed in the promise.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 22. _The Great Prison; or, All concluded under Sin._--1. Satan
does indeed draw and drive men into sin--this is the accursed work of
his restless, Sabbath-less life; and when he has got them there he
binds them fast and will not let them flee from his toils. He builds
a high wall of sin all round them so that they shall not look over it
into the goodly land beyond, and here he shuts them up together,
sinner with sinner, a never-ending ghastly multitude, that they may
encourage and pamper each other in wickedness, and that no example,
no voice of holiness, may ever reach and startle them. But God never
drove, never drew, any man into sin. He is calling us to come out
from the deadly land, from the loathsome, plague-breathing dungeon.
So, when the Scripture concludes, or shuts all men up together under
sin, it is not by driving them into sin, but for the sake of calling
them out of it. 2. With all the light of the Scripture shining around
us, with the law of God ever sounding in our ears, and the life of
Christ set continually before us, how prone are we to forget our
sinfulness, to turn away from the thought of it, to fancy we are as
good as we need be, and that, though we might certainly be better,
yet it does not matter much! How apt are we still to forget that we
are concluded under sin, to forget that we are shut up in a prison!
Although the souls of so many millions are lying around us, bloated
with the poison of sin, how tardily do we acknowledge that the poison
by which they perished must also be deadly to us! 3. Suppose you were
to be carried before an earthly court of justice, and that one
sweeping accusation were to be brought against you; suppose you were
found guilty, and the excuse you set up were the complete proof of
your guilt,--what would follow? The judge would straightway pass
sentence upon you, and you would be condemned to suffer punishment
according to the measure of your offence. And must we not expect that
the course of things should be the very same when you are carried
before a heavenly court of justice? 4. When a man's eyes are opened
to see the prison in which he is shut up, to see and feel the chains
that are fast bound round his soul and have eaten into it; when he
has learnt to see and know that the pleasures, whatever they may, of
sin are only, like the flesh-pots of Egypt, intoxicating drugs, given
to him to deprive him of all sense of his captivity,--then will he
long for a deliverer, rejoice on hearing of his approach, hail him
when he comes in view, and follow him whithersoever he may lead. As
unbelief is the one great universal sin, in which all mankind are
concluded, as it is only from having let slip our faith in God that
we have yielded our hearts to the temptations of the world and given
ourselves up to its idolatries, so it is only through faith that we
can be brought back to God--that we can receive the promise given to
those who believe.--_J. C. Hare._
Ver. 23. _"Shut up unto the faith." The Reasonableness of
Faith._--The mode of conception is military. The law is made to act
the part of a sentry, guarding every avenue but one, and that one
leads those, who are compelled to take it, to the faith of the
Gospel. Out of the leading varieties of taste and sentiment which
obtain in the present age we may collect something which may be
turned into an instrument of conviction for reclaiming men from their
delusions and shutting them up to the faith.
+I. There is the school of natural religion.+--It is founded on the
competency of the human mind to know God by the exercise of its own
faculties, to clothe Him in the attributes of its own demonstration,
to serve Him by a worship and a law of its own discovery, and to
assign to Him a mode of procedure in the administration of this vast
universe upon the strength and plausibility of its own theories. They
recognise the judicial government of God over moral and accountable
creatures. They hold there is a law. One step more, and they are
fairly shut up to the faith. That law has been violated.
+II. There is the school of classical morality.+--It differs from the
former school in one leading particular. It does not carry in its
speculations so distinct and positive a reference to the Supreme
Being. Our duties to God are viewed as a species of moral
accomplishment, the effect of which is to exalt and embellish the
individual. We ask them to look at man as he is and compare him with
man as they would have him to be. If they find that he falls
miserably short of their ideal standard of excellence, what is this
but making a principle of their own the instrument of shutting them
up unto the faith of the Gospel, or at least shutting them up into
one of the most peculiar of its doctrines, the depravity of our
nature, or the dismal ravage which the power of sin has made upon the
moral constitution of the species? This depravity the Gospel proposes
to do away.
+III. There is the school of fine feeling and poetical
sentiment.+--It differs from the school of morality in this--the one
makes virtue its idol because of its rectitude, the other makes
virtue its idol because of its beauty, and the process of reasoning
by which they are shut up unto the faith is the same in both. However
much we may love perfection and aspire after it, yet there is some
want, some disease, in the constitution of man which prevents his
attainment of it, that there is a feebleness of principle about him,
that the energy of his practice does not correspond to the fair
promises of his fancy, and however much he may delight in an ideal
scene of virtue and moral excellence, there is some lurking malignity
in his constitution which, without the operation of that mighty power
revealed to us in the Gospel, makes it vain to wish and hopeless to
aspire after it.--_Dr. Thomas Chalmers._
Vers. 24, 25. _The Law our Schoolmaster._--There was a time when God
put His world under a schoolmaster; then it would have been
preposterous to apply faith. There is a time when a larger spirit has
come, and then it would be going back to use law.
+I. The uses of restraint in the heart's education.+--1. _The first
use of law is to restrain from open violence._ It is necessary for
those who feel the inclination to evil, and so long as the
inclination remains so far must a man be under law. Imagine a
governor amidst a population of convicts trusting to high principle.
Imagine a parent having no fixed hours, no law in his household, no
punishment for evil. There is a morbid feeling against punishment;
but it is God's method.
2. _The second use of restraint is to show the inward force of
evil._--A steam-engine at work in a manufactory is so quiet and
gentle that a child might put it back. But interpose a bar of iron
many inches thick, and it cuts through as if it were so much leather.
Introduce a human limb--it whirls round, and the form of man is in
one moment a bleeding, mangled, shapeless mass. It is restraint that
manifests this unsuspected power. In the same way law discovers the
strength of evil in our hearts.
3. _The third use is to form habits of obedience._--In that
profession which is specially one of obedience--the military
profession--you cannot mistake the imparted type of character.
Immediate, prompt obedience, no questioning "why?" Hence comes their
decision of character. Hence, too, their happiness. Would you have
your child, happy, decided, manly? Teach him to obey. It is an error
to teach a child to act on reason, or to expect reasons why a command
is given. Better it is that he should obey a mistaken order than be
taught to see that it is mistaken. A parent must be the master in his
own house.
4. _The fourth use is to form habits of faith._--As Judaism was a
system calculated to nurture habits of obedience, so was it one which
nourished the temper of faith. All education begins with faith. The
child does not know the use of the alphabet, but he trusts. The boy
beginning mathematics takes on trust what he sees no use in. The
child has to take parental wisdom for granted. Happy the child that
goes on believing that nothing is wiser, better, greater, than his
father! Blessed spirit of confiding trust which is to be transferred
to God.
+II. The time when restraint may be laid aside.+--1. _When
self-command is obtained._ Some of us surely there are who have got
beyond childish meanness: we could not be mean; restraint is no
longer needed; we are beyond the schoolmaster. Some of us there are
who have no inclination to intemperance; childish excess in eating
and drinking exists no longer. Some of us there are who no longer
love indolence. We have advanced beyond it. The law may be taken
away, for we are free from law. True Christian liberty is
this--self-command, to have been brought to Christ, to do right and
love right, without a law of compulsion to school into doing it.
2. _When the state of justification by faith has been
attained._--There are two states of justification--by the law and by
faith. Justification by the law implies a scrupulous and accurate
performance of minute acts of obedience in every particular;
justification by faith is acceptance with God, not because a man is
perfect, but because he does all in a trusting, large, generous
spirit, actuated by a desire to please God. In Christianity there are
few or no definite laws--all men are left to themselves.
3. _Restraint must be laid aside when the time of faith has come,
whether faith itself have come or not._--It is so in academical
education. We may have attained the full intellectual comprehension
of the Gospel, but religious goodness has not kept pace with it, and
the man wakes to conviction that the Gospel is a name and the powers
of the world to come are not in him. You cannot put him to school
again. Fear will not produce goodness. Forms will not give reverence.
System will not confer freedom. Therefore the work of childhood and
youth must be done while we are young, when the education is not too
late.--_F. W. Robertson._
Ver. 24. _The Law preparing for Christ._
+I. The law led men to Christ by foreshadowing Him.+--This was true
of the ceremonial part of it. The ceremonies meant more than the
general duty of offering to God praise and sacrifice, since this
might have been secured by much simpler rites. What was the meaning
of the solemn and touching observance of the Jewish Day of Atonement?
We know that what passed in that old earthly sanctuary was from first
to last a shadow of the majestic self-oblation of the true High
Priest of Christendom, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Each
ceremony was felt to have some meaning beyond the time then present,
and so it fostered an expectant habit of mind; and as the ages passed
these expectations thus created converged more and more towards a
coming Messiah, and in a subordinate but real way the ceremonial law
did its part in leading the nation to the school of Christ.
+II. By creating in man's conscience a sense of want which Christ
alone could relieve.+--This was the work of the moral law, of every
moral precept in the books of Moses, but especially of those most
sacred and authoritative precepts which we know as the Ten
Commandments. So far from furnishing man with a real righteousness,
so far from making him such as he should be, correspondent to the
true ideal of his nature, the law only inflicted on every conscience
that was not fatally benumbed a depressing and overwhelming
conviction that righteousness, at least in the way of legal
obedience, was a thing impossible. And this conviction of itself
prepared men for a righteousness which should be not the product of
human efforts, but a gift from heaven--a righteousness to be attained
by the adhesion of faith to the perfect moral Being, Jesus Christ, so
that the believer's life becomes incorporate with His.
+III. By putting men under a discipline which trained them for
Christ.+--What is the Divine plan for training, whether men or
nations? Is it not this--to begin with rule and to end with
principle, to begin with law and to end with faith, to begin with
Moses and to end with Christ? God began with rule. He gave the Mosaic
law, and the moral parts of that law being also laws of God's own
essential nature could not possibly be abrogated; but as rules of
life the Ten Commandments were only a preparation for something
beyond them. In the Christian revelation God says, "Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ." When you have done this, and He on His part has
by His Spirit infused into you His Divine life so that you are one
with Him, you will not depend any longer mainly upon rules of
conduct. Justification by faith is so far from being moral anarchy
that it is the absorption of rule into the higher life of principle.
In the experience of the soul faith corresponds to the empire of
principle in the growth of individual character and in the
development of national life, while the law answers to that
elementary stage in which outward rules are not yet absorbed into
principle.--_H. P. Liddon._
_The Law a Schoolmaster._
+I. The Jewish religion brought men to Christ by the light, the
constraining force, of prophecy.+--First, a human deliverance of some
kind, then a personal Saviour, is announced. He was exactly what
prophecy had foretold. He Himself appealed to prophecy as warranting
His claims.
+II. By that ceremonial law which formed so important a part of
it.+--The Jewish ceremonial pointed to Christ and His redemptive work
from first to last. The epistle to the Hebrews was written to show
this--that the ceremonial law was far from being a final and complete
rule of life and worship, did but prefigure blessings that were to
follow it, that it was a tutor to lead men to the school of Christ.
+III. By creating a sense of moral need that Christ alone could
satisfy.+--The moral law--God's essential, indestructible moral
nature in its relation to human life, thrown for practical purposes
into the form of commandments--is essentially, necessarily beyond
criticism; but when given to sinful man it does, but without grace,
discover a want which it cannot satisfy. It enhanced the acting sense
of unpardoned sin before a holy God. It convinced man of his moral
weakness, as well as of his guilt, of his inability without the
strengthening grace of Christ ever to obey it.
+Lessons.+--1. _We see a test of all religious privileges or gifts:
Do they or do they not lead souls to Christ?_ 2. _Observe the
religious use of all law--to teach man to know his weakness and to
throw himself on a higher power for pardon and strength._ 3. _We see
the exceeding preciousness of Christ's Gospel--the matchless value of
that faith which lives in the heart of the Church of God.--H. P.
Liddon._
_The Progress of Revelation._
+I. The law was our schoolmaster as giving precepts in which
principles were involved but not expressly taught.+
+II. As teaching inadequate and not perfect duties+--a part instead
of the whole, which was to develop into the whole. Examples--the
institution of the Temple worship; the observance of the Sabbath; the
third commandment.
+Lessons:+--1. _Revelation is education._ 2. _Revelation is
progressive._ 3. _The training of the character in God's revelation
has always preceded the illumination of the intellect.--F. W.
Robertson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 26-29.
_The Dignity of Sonship with God_--
+I. Enjoyed by all who believe in Christ.+--"For ye are all children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (ver. 26). Faith in Christ
emancipates the soul from the trammels and inferior status of the
tutorial training and lifts it to the higher and more perfect
relationship of a free son of God. The believer is no longer a pupil,
subject to the surveillance and restrictions of the pedagogue; but a
son, enjoying immediate and constant intercourse with the Father and
all the privileges and dignities of a wider freedom. The higher
relation excludes the lower; an advance has been made that leaves the
old life for ever behind. The life now entered upon is a life of
faith, which is a superior and totally different order of things from
the suppressive domination of the law.
+II. It is to be invested with the character of Christ.+--"For as
many as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ" (ver. 27).
For if Christ is Son of God, and thou hast put on Him, having the Son
in thyself and being made like to Him, thou wast brought into one
kindred and one form of being with Him (_Chrysostom_). To be baptised
into Christ is not the mere mechanical observance of the rite of
baptism; the rite is the recognition and public avowal of the
exercise of faith in Christ. In the Pauline vocabulary baptised is
synonymous with believing. Faith invests the soul with Christ, and
joyfully appropriates the estate and endowments of the filial
relationship. Baptism by its very form--the normal and most
expressive form of primitive baptism, the descent into and rising
from the symbolic waters--pictured the soul's death with Christ, its
burial and its resurrection in Him, its separation from the life of
sin, and entrance upon the new career of a regenerated child of God
(Rom. vi. 3-14).
+III. Implies such a complete union with Christ as to abolish all
secondary distinctions.+--"For there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond
nor free, male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (ver.
28). All distinctions of nationality, social status, and
sex--necessary as they may be in the worldly life--disappear in the
blending of human souls in the loftier relationship of sons of God.
The Gospel is universal in its range and provisions and raises all
who believe in Christ to a higher level than man could ever reach
under the Mosaic regimen. To add circumcision to faith would be not
to rise but to sink from the state of sons to that of serfs. Christ
is the central bond of unity to the whole human race; faith in Him is
the realisation by the individual of the honours and raptures of that
unity.
+IV. Is to be entitled to the inheritance of joint heirship with
Christ.+--"If ye be Christ's, then are ye . . . heirs according to
the promise" (ver. 29). In Christ the lineal descent from David
becomes extinct. He died without posterity. But He lives and reigns
over a vaster territory than David ever knew; and all who are of His
spiritual seed, Jew or Gentile, share with Him the splendours of the
inheritance provided by the Father. Here the soul reaches its supreme
glory and joy. In Worcester Cathedral there is a slab with just one
doleful word on it as a record of the dead buried beneath. That word
is _Miserrimus._ No name, no date; nothing more of the dead than just
this one word to say he who lay there was or is _most miserable._
Surely, he had missed the way home to the Father's house and the
Father's love, else why this sad record? But in the Catacombs at Rome
there is one stone recently found inscribed with the single word
_Felicissima._ No name, no date again, but a word to express that the
dead Christian sister was _most happy._ Most happy; why? Because she
had found the Father's house and love, and that peace which the
storms of life, the persecutions of a hostile world, and the light
afflictions of time could neither give nor take away.
+Lessons.+--1. _Faith confers higher privileges than the law._
2. _Faith in Christ admits the soul into sonship with God._ 3. _The
sons of God share in the fulness of the Christly inheritance._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 26-29. _Baptism._
+I. The doctrine of Rome.+--Christ's merits are instrumentally
applied by baptism; original sin is removed by a change of nature; a
new character is imparted to the soul; a germinal principle or seed
of life is miraculously given; and all this in virtue, not of any
condition in the recipient, nor of any condition except that of the
due performance of the rite. The objections to this doctrine are:
1. _It assures baptism to be not the testimony to a fact, but the
fact itself._ Baptism proclaims the child of God; the Romanist says
it creates him. 2. _It is materialism of the grossest kind._ 3. _It
makes Christian life a struggle for something that is lost, instead
of a progress to something that lies before._
+II. The doctrine of modern Calvinism.+--Baptism admits all into the
visible Church, but into the invisible Church only a special few. The
real benefit of baptism only belongs to the elect. With respect to
others, to predicate of them regeneration in the highest sense is at
best an ecclesiastical fiction, said in the judgment of charity. You
are not God's child until you become such consciously. On this we
remark: 1. _This judgment of charity ends at the baptismal font._
2. _This view is identical with the Roman one in this respect--that
it creates the fact instead of testifying to it._ 3. _Is pernicious
in its results in the matter of education._
+III. The doctrine of the Bible.+--Man is God's child, and the sin of
the man consists in perpetually living as if it were false. To be a
son of God is one thing; to know that you are and call Him Father is
another. Baptism authoritatively reveals and pledges to the
individual that which is true of the race. 1. _This view prevents
exclusiveness and spiritual pride._ 2. _Protests against the notion
of our being separate units in the Divine life._ 3. _Sanctifies
materialism.--F. W. Robertson._
Ver. 26. _The Children of God._
+I. We are all children.+
+II. We are all children of God.+
+III. We are all children of God through faith.+
+IV. We are all children of God in Christ Jesus.+--_Dr. Beet._
_God's Children._
+I. If thou be God's child, surely He will provide all things
necessary for soul and body.+--Our care must be to do the duty
that belongs to us; when this is done our care is ended. They
who drown themselves in worldly cares live like fatherless
children.
+II. In that we are children we have liberty to come into the
presence of God.+
+III. Nothing shall hurt those who are the children of God.+
+IV. Walk worthy of your profession and calling.+--Be not vassals of
sin and Satan; carry yourselves as King's sons.
+V. Our care must be to resemble Christ.+
+VI. We must have a desire and love to the Word of God+ that we may
grow by it.
+VII. We must have afflictions, if we be God's children,+ for He
corrects all His children.--_Perkins._
Vers. 27, 28. _The Christly Character_--
+I. Acquired by a spiritual union with Christ.+--"Baptised into
Christ."
+II. Is a complete investiture with Christ.+--"Have put on Christ."
+III. Is a union with Christ that absorbs all conventional
distinctions+ (ver. 28).
Ver. 27. _Profession without Hypocrisy._--Hypocrisy is professing
without practising. Men profess without feeling and doing or are
hypocrites in nothing so much as in their prayers. Let a man set his
heart upon learning to pray and strive to learn, and no failures he
may continue to make in his manner of praying are sufficient to cast
him from God's favour. Let him but be in earnest, striving to master
his thoughts and to be serious, and all the guilt of his incidental
failings will be washed away in his Lord's blood. We profess to be
saints, to be guided by the highest principles, and to be ruled by
the Spirit of God. We have long ago promised to believe and obey. It
is true we cannot do these things aright--nay, even with God's help
we fall short of duty. Nevertheless, we must not cease to profess.
There is nothing so distressing to a true Christian as to have to
prove himself such to others, both as being conscious of his own
numberless failings and from his dislike of display. Christ has
anticipated the difficulties of his modesty. He does not allow such a
one to speak for himself; He speaks for him. Let us endeavour to
enter more and more fully into the meaning of our own prayers and
professions; let us humble ourselves for the very little we do and
the poor advance we make; let us avoid unnecessary display of
religion. Thus we shall, through God's grace, form within us the
glorious mind of Christ.--_Newman._
_Teachings of Baptism_--
I. +Our baptism must put us in mind that we are admitted and received
into the family of God.+
II. +Our baptism in the name of the Trinity must teach us to know and
acknowledge God aright.+
III. +Our baptism must be unto us a storehouse of comfort in time of
need.+
IV. +Baptism is a putting on of Christ.+--Alluding to the custom of
those who were baptised in the apostle's days putting off their
garments when they were baptised, and putting on new garments after
baptism. 1. In that we are to put on Christ we are reminded of our
moral nakedness. 2. To have a special care of the trimming and
garnishing of our souls. 3. Though we be clothed with Christ in
baptism, we must further desire to be clothed upon--clad with
immortality.--_Perkins._
Ver. 28. _All are One in Christ._
+I. People of all nations, all conditions, and all sexes.+
II. They who are of great birth and high condition must be put in
mind not to be high-minded, nor despise them of low degree,
+for all are one in Christ.+
+III. All believers must be of one heart and mind.+
+IV. We learn not to hate any man, but do good to all.+--Men turn
their swords and spears into mattocks and scythes, because they
are one with Christ by the bond of one Spirit.--_Perkins._
Ver. 29. _The Promise of Grace._--The specific form of the whole
Gospel is promise, which God gives in the Word and causes to be
preached. The last period of the world is the reign of grace. Grace
reigns in the world only as promise. Grace has nothing to do with law
and requisition of law; therefore, the word of that grace can be no
other than a word of promise. The promise of life in Christ Jesus is
the word of the new covenant. The difference between the Gospel of
the old covenant and that of the new rests alone on the
transcendently greater glory of its promise.--_Harless._
_Heirs according to the Promise._
+I. The basest person, if he believes in Christ, is in the place of
Abraham,+ and succeeds him in the inheritance of the kingdom of
heaven.
+II. Believers must be content in this world with any estate God may
lay upon them,+ for they are heirs with Abraham of heaven and
earth.
+III. They that believe in Christ must moderate their worldly cares+
and not live as drudges of the world, for they are heirs of God,
and are entitled to all good things promised in the covenant.
+IV. Our special care must be for heaven.+--The city of God is thy
portion, or child's part.--_Perkins._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER IV.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1 +The heir, as long as he is a child.+--An infant, one under
age. +Differeth nothing from a servant.+--A slave. He is not at his
own disposal. He could not perform any act but through his legal
representative.
Ver. 2. +Under tutors and governors.+--Controllers of his person and
property.
Ver. 3. +Under the elements of the world.+--The rudimentary religious
teaching of a nonreligious character. The elementary lessons of
outward things.
Ver. 4. +God sent forth His Son.+--Sent forth out of heaven from
Himself. Implies the pre-existence of the Son. +Made of a
woman.+--Made to be born of a woman. Indicating a special
interposition of God in His birth as man. +Made under the law.+--By
His Father's appointment and His own free will, subject to the law,
to keep it all, ceremonial and moral, for us, as the Representative
Man, and to suffer and exhaust the full penalty of our violation of
it.
Ver. 5. +The adoption of sons.+--Receive as something destined or
due. Herein God makes of sons of men sons of God, inasmuch as God
made of the Son of God the Son of man (_Augustine_).
Ver. 6. +Abba, Father.+--_Abba_ is the Chaldee for father. The early
use of it illustrates what Paul has been saying (ch. iii. 28) of the
unity resulting from the Gospel; for Abba, Father, unites Hebrew and
Greek on one lip, making the petitioner at once a Jew and a Gentile.
Ver. 9. +How turn ye again+ [anew]?--Making a new beginning in
religion, lapsing from Christianity just in as far as they embrace
legalism. +To the weak and beggarly elements.+--Weak is contrasted
with power as to effects, and beggarly with affluence in respect of
gifts. The disparaging expression is applied; not to the ritualistic
externalism of heathen religions, but rather to that God-given system
of ritualistic ordinances which had served the Church in her infancy.
That which was appropriate food for a babe or sick man is feeble and
poor for a grown man in full health.
Ver. 12. +Be as I am, for I am as ye are.+--Paul had become as a
Gentile, though he was once a passionate Jew. Their natural leanings
towards Judaism they ought to sacrifice as well as he.
Ver. 13. +Ye know how through infirmity of flesh I preached.+--The
weakness may have been general debility, resulting from great
anxieties and toils. It has been supposed that Paul was feeble-eyed,
or blear-eyed (Acts xxii. 6), and that this special weakness had been
aggravated at the time now in question.
Ver. 17. +They zealously affect you, but not well.+--They keenly
court you, but not honourably. +They would exclude you+--from
everything and every one whose influence would tend to bring the
Galatians back to loyalty to the Gospel.
Ver. 20. +I desire to be present with you, and to change my
voice.+--To speak not with the stern tones of warning, but with
tender entreaties. +I stand in doubt of you.+--I am sorely perplexed,
nonplussed, bewildered, as if not knowing how to proceed.
Ver. 24. +Which things are an allegory.+--Under the things spoken
of--the two sons, with their contrast of parentage and
position--there lies a spiritual meaning.
Ver. 25. +Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her
children.+--Judaism as rejecting the light and liberty of the new
dispensation.
Ver. 26. +But Jerusalem which is above is free.+--Is the spiritual
reality which, veiled under the old dispensation, is comparatively
unveiled in the dispensation of grace, and destined to be fully and
finally manifested in the reign of glory. Christians are very
different in standing to slave-born slaves.
Ver. 27. +The desolate hath many more children than she which hath an
husband.+--The special purpose of the quotation appears to be to show
that the idea of a countless Church, including Gentiles as well as
Jews, springing out of spiritual nothingness, was apprehended under
the Old Testament as destined for realisation under the New.
Ver. 30. +Cast out the bondwoman and her son.+--Even house-room to
Judaism is not matter of right, but only by sufferance, and that so
long and so far as it leaves the Gospel undisturbed in full
possession.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-7.
_The Nonage of the Pre-Christian World._
+I. Mankind in pre-Christian times was like the heir in his
minority.+--1. _In a state of temporary servitude, though having
great expectations._ "The heir differeth nothing from a servant,
though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors" (vers.
1, 2). Under the Old Testament the bond-servant had this in common
with a son, that he was a recognised member of the family; and the
son had this in common with the slave, that he was in servitude, but
with this difference, the servitude of the son was evanescent, that
of the slave was permanent. The heirship is by right of birth, but
possession and enjoyment can be reached only by passing through
servitude and attaining majority. The minor is in the hands of
guardians who care for his person and mental training, and of
stewards who manage his estate. So the world, though possessing the
promise of great blessing, was held for ages in the servitude of the
law.
2. _Subject to the restraint of external ordinances._--"Were in
bondage under the elements of the world" (ver. 3). The commandments
and ordinances imposed by the law belonged to an early and elementary
period. In their infantile externalism they stand contrasted with the
analogous things of the new dispensation, in which the believer is a
grown man who casts away childish things. The Mosaic system watched
over and guarded the infancy of the world. It exacted a rigid
obedience to its mandates, and in doing so trained mankind to see and
feel the need and appreciate the rich heritage of the covenant of
grace. Mosaism rendered invaluable service to Christianity. It
safe-guarded the writings that contained promises of future blessings
and educated the race throughout the period of its nonage.
+II. The matured sonship of mankind is accomplished through
redemption.+--1. _The Redeemer is Divinely provided and of the
highest dignity._ "God sent forth His Son" (ver. 4). The mystical
Germans speak of Christ as the ideal Son of man, the foretype of
humanity; and there is a sense in which mankind was created in Christ
Jesus, who is "the image of God, the first born of every creature."
But the apostle refers here to a loftier dignity belonging to Christ.
He came in the character of God's Son, bringing His sonship with Him.
The Word, who became flesh, was with God, and was God, in the
beginning. The Divine Son of God was sent forth into the world by the
all-loving Father to be the Redeemer of mankind and to put an end to
the world's servitude.
2. _The Redeemer assumes the nature and condition of those He
redeems._--"Made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law" (vers. 4, 5). Christ was born of woman as other
men are, and, like them, was at first a weak and dependent babe. His
child-life has for ever beautified and consecrated child-nature. He
was born under law--not the law as a mere Jew, which would have
limited His redeeming work to the Jewish nation, but under law in its
widest application. He submitted not only to the general moral
demands of the Divine law for men, but to all the duties and
proprieties incident to His position as a man, even to those ritual
ordinances which His coming was to abolish. The purpose of His being
sent was "to redeem them that were under the law"--to buy them out of
their bondage. He voluntarily entered into the condition of the
enslaved that He might emancipate them.
3. _The sonship acquired through redemption is not by merit or legal
right, but by adoption._--"That we might receive the adoption of
sons" (ver. 5). The sonship is by grace, not of nature. Man lost his
sonship by sin; by grace he gets it back again. Adoption we do not
get back; we simply receive it. It is an act of God's free grace.
+III. The attainment of sonship is a conscious reality.+--1. _Made
evident by the Spirit of God witnessing in us and crying to Him as to
a Father._ "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (ver. 6). God sent
forth His Son into the world of men: He sent forth the Spirit of His
Son into their individual hearts. The filial consciousness was born
within them, supernaturally inspired. When they believed in Christ,
when they saw in Him the Son of God, their Redeemer, they were
stirred with a new ecstatic impulse; a Divine glow of love and joy
kindled in their breasts; a voice not their own spoke to their
spirit; their soul leaped forth upon their lips, crying to God
"Father, Father!" They were children of God and knew it.
2. _Confirmed by the heirship that results from the Divine
adoption._--"If a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (ver. 7).
The nonage, the period of servitude and subjection, is passed. It
gives place to the unrivalled privilege of a maturer spiritual
manhood, and the heirship to an inheritance of indescribable and
imperishable blessedness.
+Lessons.+--1. _The law held the world in bondage._ 2. _The Gospel is
a message of liberty by redemption._ 3. _Redemption by Christ confers
distinguished privileges._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 4, 5. _Christ's Mission for the Adoption of Sons in the Fulness
of Time._
+I. The mission of Jesus Christ and the manner in which He manifested
Himself.+--"God sent forth His Son." These words present the great
fact of Christ's mission from the Father and His appearance in the
world. To denote the inexpressible dignity of Jesus, as being one
with the Father in His most essential prerogatives and perfections,
He is here styled, "His Son." He was "made of a woman." The
circumstances of His incarnation placed Him at an immeasurable
distance from all other parts of the human race. He was the immediate
production of God, by His Divine power He was conceived of the Holy
Ghost, and thereby completely exempted from the taint of original
sin. He was the holy thing born of a virgin. He was by constitution
placed in the same state as our first parents. He underwent a similar
but severer trial and maintained His innocence against all the
assaults of Satan. He was "_made_ under the law"; whereas all other
creatures are under it by the very terms of their existence, by the
condition of their nature. He was made under the _ceremonial_ law,
under the _moral_ law, under the _mediatorial_ law.
+II. The design of Christ's mission.+--"To redeem." He came not
merely to exemplify a rule of life, but to satisfy its violation; not
to explain the statutes of heaven, but to pay the penalty arising
from the curse announced against their transgression. He came
essentially to change the moral situation of mankind. Christ has
added to our original brightness; He has not only redeemed us from
the first transgression, but accumulated blessings which man, even in
innocence, could never have obtained.
+III. The fitness of the season at which Christ was
manifested.+--"The fulness of time." 1. It was the period foretold by
the prophets. Hence the general expectation of His coming. 2. It was
a period of advancement in politics, legislation, science, and arts,
and manners; an age of scepticism. 3. It was a period of toleration.
The epoch will arrive when this world shall be thought of as nothing
but as it furnished a stage for the manifestation of the Son of
God.--_Robert Hall._
Ver. 4. _The Fulness of the Time._--Christ comes when a course of
preparation, conducted through previous ages, was at last complete.
He was not the creation of His own or any preceding age. What is true
of all other great men, who are no more than great men, is not true
of Him. They receive from their age as much as they give it; they
embody and reflect its spirit. Christ really owed nothing to the time
or the country which welcomed His advent.
+I. The world was prepared politically for Christ's work.+--There was
a common language--the Greek; a common government--the Roman.
+II. There was a preparation in the convictions of mankind.+--The
epoch of religious experiments had been closed in an epoch of despair.
+III. There was a preparation in the moral experience of
mankind.+--The dreadful picture of the pagan world which St. Paul
draws at the close of the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans
is not a darker picture than that of pagan writers--of moralists like
Seneca, of satirists like Juvenal, of historians like Tacitus; and
yet enough survived of moral truth in the human conscience to condemn
average pagan practice. It led them to yearn for a deliverer,
although their aspirations were indefinite enough. This widespread
corruption, this longing for better things, marked the close of the
epoch of moral experiments.
+Lessons.+--1. _The earthly life of Christ stood in a totally
different relation towards moral truth from that of every other man._
2. _It was a life at harmony with itself and a revelation of higher
truth._ 3. _His incarnation delivers us from false views of the world
and of life, from base and desponding views of our human nature, and
from bondage.--H. P. Liddon._
_Christ Obedient to the Law._
+I. This obedience was not a matter of course,+ following upon His
incarnation. He might have lived and died, had it been consistent
with His high purpose, in sinless purity, without expressly
undertaking as He did openly to fulfil the law. It was a voluntary
act, becoming and fit for the great work He had in hand.
+II. This obedience was not only an integral but a necessary part of
His work of redemption.+--Had this not been so, redemption would have
been incomplete. Not only God's unwritten law in the conscience, but
God's written law in the tables of stone, must be completely
satisfied. It being shown, by both Gentile and Jew, that neither by
nature nor by revealed light was man capable of pleasing God, all men
were left simply and solely dependent on His free and unmerited
grace. All cases of guilt must be covered, all situations of
disobedience taken up and borne and carried triumphantly out into
perfection and accordance with the Father's will, by the Son of God
in our flesh.
+III. This obedience for man was to be not only complete,+ so that
Christ should stand in the root of our nature as the accepted man,
+but was to be our pattern,+ that as He was holy so we might be holy
also.
+IV. This obedience arose from the requirements of His office
connected with the law.+--He was the end of the law. It all pointed
to Him. Its types and ceremonies all found fulfilment in His person
and work. All has been fulfilled. All looked forward to One that was
to come--to one who has come, and in His own person has superseded
that law by exhausting its requirements, has glorified that law by
filling out and animating with spiritual life its waste and barren
places. So that God has not changed, nor has His purpose wavered, nor
are His people resting on other than their old foundation.--_Dean
Alford._
Ver. 5. _Under the Law_--
+I. As the rule of life.+--Thus angels are under the law. Adam was
before his fall, and the saints in heaven are so now. None yield more
subjection to the law than they, and this subjection is their liberty.
+II. As a grievous yoke which none can bear.+--1. It bound the Church
of the Old Testament to the observance of many and costly ceremonies.
2. It binds every offender to everlasting death. 3. It is a yoke as
it increases sin and is the strength of it. The wicked nature of man
is the more to do a thing the more he is forbidden.--_Perkins._
_Adoption._
+I. In what adoption consists.+--1. The points of resemblance between
natural and spiritual adoption. (1) We cease to have our former name
and are designated after the name of God. (2) We change our abode.
Once in the world, now in the Church and family of God. (3) We change
our costume. Conform to the family dress: garments of salvation.
2. The points of difference between natural and spiritual adoption.
(1) Natural adoption was to supply a family defect. God had hosts of
children. (2) Natural adoption was only of sons. No distinction in
God's adoption. (3) In natural adoption there was only a change of
condition. God makes His children partakers of His own nature. (4) In
natural adoption only one was adopted, but God adopts multitudes.
(5) In natural adoption only temporal advantages were derived, but in
spiritual the blessings are eternal.
+II. Signs of adoption.+--1. Internal signs. Described in ch. iv. 6;
Rom. viii. 14-16. 2. External signs. (1) Language; (2) Profession;
(3) Obedience.
+III. Privileges of adoption.+--1. Deliverance from the miseries of
our natural state. 2. Investiture into all the benefits of Christ's
family. 3. A title to the celestial inheritance.
+Learn+--1. _The importance of the blessing._ 2. _Seek the good of
God's family._ 3. _Invite strangers to become sons and heirs of
God.--Sketches._
_Adoption and its Claims._--Among the American Indians when a captive
was saved to be adopted in the place of some chieftain who had
fallen, his allegiance and his identity were looked upon as changed.
If he left a wife and children behind him, they were to be forgotten
and blotted from memory. He stood in the place of the dead warrior,
assumed his responsibilities, he was supposed to cherish those whom
he had cherished and hate those whom he had hated; in fact, he was
supposed to stand in the same relation of consanguinity to the
tribe.--_Bancroft._
Vers. 6, 7. _Evidences of Sonship._
+I. The presence of the Spirit in the heart.+--1. The beginning of
our new birth is in the heart, when a new light is put into the mind,
a new and heavenly disposition into the will and affection. 2. The
principal part of our renovation is in the heart were the Spirit
abides. 3. The beginning and principal part of God's worship is in
the heart. 4. Keep watch and ward about thy heart, that it may be a
fit place of entertainment for the Spirit, who is an Ambassador sent
from God to thee.
+II. The work of the Spirit.+--1. Bestowing conviction that the
Scriptures are the Word of God. 2. Submission to God and a desire to
obey Him. 3. The testimony of the Spirit--a Divine manner of
reasoning framed in the mind--that we are God's children. 4. Peace of
conscience, joy, and affiance in God.
+III. The desires of the heart directed towards God.+--1. Our cries
are to be directed to God with reverence. 2. With submission to His
will. 3. With importunity and constancy.--_Perkins._
_The Character and Privileges of the Children of God._
+I. The distinguishing characteristic of the children of
God.+--1. _It is a spirit of filial confidence as opposed to servile
fear._ No unpardoned sinner has a sufficient ground of confidence in
God. Till assured that God loves him, he knows not how God may treat
him at any particular time. But we cannot believe that God loves us
and at the same time doubt His mercy. He that heartily reposes on
God's favour cannot dread His vengeance.
2. _This filial spirit is one of holy love as opposed to the bondage
of sin._--The love of God is a powerful element well calculated to
change the whole of our inner man. It gives a new bias to our wayward
affections and a healthful vigour to every good desire.
3. _The filial spirit is one of ready obedience as opposed to the
gloomy spirit of servitude._--The service of a slave is unwilling,
extorted, unsatisfactory; the obedience of a child is ready, loving,
energetic. Love is self-denying, soul-absorbing, devoted.
+II. Some of the distinguishing privileges of the children of
God.+--1. _The child of God has a part in the Father's love and
care._ 2. _Has a filial resemblance to the heavenly Father._
3. _Children of God have the privileges of family communion and
fellowship._ 4. _Have a share in the family provisions._ 5. _Have a
title to the future inheritance.--Robert M. Macbrair._
Ver. 7. _God's Offspring._--1. This is the state of all poor heathen,
whether in England or foreign countries: they are children, ignorant
and unable to take care of themselves, because they do not know what
they are. Paul tells them they are God's offspring, though they know
it not. He does not mean that we are not God's children till we find
out that we are God's children. You were God's heirs all along,
although you differed nothing from slaves; for as long as you were in
heathen ignorance and foolishness God had to treat you as His slaves,
not as His children. They thought that God did not love them, that
they must buy His favours. They thought religion meant a plan for
making God love them. 2. Then appeared the love of God in Jesus
Christ, who told men of their heavenly Father. He preached to them
the good news of the kingdom of God, that God had not forgotten them,
did not hate them, would freely forgive them all that was past; and
why? Because He was their Father and loved them so that He spared not
His only begotten Son. And now God looks at us in the light of Jesus
Christ. He does not wish us to remain merely His child, under tutors
and governors, forced to do what is right outwardly and whether it
likes or not. God wishes each of us to become His son, His grown-up
and reasonable son. 3. It is a fearful thing to despise the mercies
of the living God, and when you are called to be His sons to fall
back under the terrors of His law in slavish fear and a guilty
conscience and remorse which cannot repent. He has told you to call
Him your Father; and if you speak to Him in any other way, you insult
Him and trample underfoot the riches of His grace. You are not God's
slaves, but His sons, heirs of God and joint-heirs of Christ. What an
inheritance of glory and bliss that must be which the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself is to inherit with us--an inheritance of all that is
wise, loving, noble, holy, peaceful, all that can make us happy and
like God Himself.--_C. Kingsley._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 8-11.
_Legalism a Relapse._
+I. Legalism is no advance on heathenism.+--"When ye knew not God, ye
did service unto them which by nature are no gods" (ver. 8). Paganism
was an elaborate system of formalism. The instinct of worship led men
to sacrifice to imaginary deities--gods which were no gods. Ignorant
of the true God, they multiplied deities of their own. The Galatian
pagans created a strange Pantheon. There were the old weird Celtic
deities before whom our British forefathers trembled. On this
ancestral faith had been superimposed the frantic rites of the
Phrygian mother Cebele, with her mutilated priests, and the more
genial and humanistic cultus of the Greek Olympian gods. The
oppressive rites of legalism were little better than the heathen
ritual. Religion degenerated into a meaningless formality. Dickens
describes how in Genoa he once witnessed a great feast on the hill
behind the house, when the people alternately danced under tents in
the open air and rushed to say a prayer or two in an adjoining church
bright with red and gold and blue and silver--so many minutes of
dancing and of praying in regular turns of each.
+II. Legalism to converted heathen, is a disastrous relapse.+--"After
ye have known God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly
elements? . . . Ye observe days and months and times and years"
(vers. 9, 10). The heathen in their blindness and ignorance might be
excused, and ritualism, even to the Jews before the coming of the
Messiah, might be well enough; but for Christians, who had received
ampler knowledge and been illumined by the Holy Spirit, to return to
the weak and beggarly elements, was irrational, monstrous! Having
tasted the sweets of liberty, what folly to submit again to slavery!
having reached spiritual manhood, how childish to degenerate!
Legalism destroys the life of religion and leaves only a mass of
petrified forms. In his _Stones of Venice,_ Ruskin says: "There is no
religion in any work of Titian's; there is not even the smallest
evidence of religious temper or sympathies either in himself or those
for whom he painted. His larger sacred themes are merely for the
exhibition of pictorial rhetoric--composition and colour. His minor
works are generally made subordinate to the purposes of portraiture.
The Madonna in the Frari church is a mere lay figure, introduced to
form a link of connection between the portraits of various members of
the Pesaro family who surround her. Bellini was brought up in faith;
Titian in formalism. Between the years of their births the vital
religion of Venice had expired."
+III. A relapse to legalism is an occasion of alarm to the earnest
Christian teacher.+--"I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon
you labour in vain" (ver. 11). The apostle knew something of the
fickleness of the Galatians and of the weakness of human nature but
was hardly prepared for such a collapse of the work which he had
built up with so much anxiety and care. He saw, more clearly than
they, the peril of his converts, and the prospect of their further
defection filled him with alarm and grief. It meant the loss of
advantages gained, of precious blessing enjoyed, of peace, of
character, of influence for good. It is a painful moment when the
anxious Christian worker has to mourn over failure in any degree.
+Lessons.+--1. _Legalism suppresses all religious growth._ 2. _Is a
constant danger to the holiest._ 3. _Shows the necessity for earnest
vigilance and prayer._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 8-11. _The Dilemma of Turncoats._
+I. Their first condition was one of ignorance.+--1. _Ignorance of
God._ (1) The light of nature is imperfect, because we know by it
only some few and general things of God. (2) It is weak, because it
serves only to cut off excuse, and is not sufficient to direct us in
the worship of God. (3) It is a great and grievous sin.
2. _Idolatry._--(1) When that which is not God is placed and
worshipped in the room of the true God. (2) When men acknowledge the
true God, but do not conceive Him as He will be conceived, and as He
has revealed Himself. (3) What a man loves most, cares for most, and
delights in most, that is his god. Where the heart is, there is thy
god.
+II. Their changed condition is the knowledge of God in
Christ.+--1. This is a special knowledge whereby we must acknowledge
God to be our God in Christ. 2. This knowledge must be not confused,
but distinct. (1) We must acknowledge God in respect of His presence
in all places. (2) In respect of His particular providence over us.
(3) In respect of His will in all things to be done and suffered.
3. This knowledge must be an effectual and lively knowledge, working
in us new affections, and inclinations.
+III. Their revolt is an abandonment of salvation.+--It is an
exchange of knowledge for ignorance, of the substance for the shadow,
of reality for emptiness--a return to weak and beggarly elements. It
is the substitution of ceremonies for genuine worship.
+IV. The conduct of turn-coats is an occasion of ministerial
disappointment and alarm+ (ver. 11).--Work that is in vain in respect
of men is not so before God.--_Perkins._
Vers. 8, 9. _Ignorance of God a Spiritual Bondage._--1. However
nature's light may serve to make known there is a God and that He
ought to be served, it is nothing else but ignorance, as it leaves us
destitute of the knowledge of God in Christ, without which there is
no salvation. 2. Men are naturally inclined to feign some
representation of the Godhead by things which incur in the outward
senses, from which they easily advance to give Divine worship unto
those images and representations. 3. Though the Levitical ceremonies
were once to be religiously observed as a part of Divine worship
leading to Christ, yet when the false teachers did urge them as a
part of necessary commanded worship, or as a part of their
righteousness before God, the apostle is bold to give them the name
of "weak and beggarly elements." 4. People may advance very far in
the way of Christianity, and yet make a foul retreat afterwards in
the course of defection and apostasy.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 9, 10. _God's Sabbatic Law antedated the Mosaic Law._--And
whatever of legal bondage has been linked with the observance of the
Jewish Sabbath was eliminated together with the change to the first
day of the week. This at once removes the Lord's Day from the
category of days, and also of weak and beggarly elements. The mode of
observance is learned from the Lord's words, "The Sabbath was made
for man, and not man for the Sabbath," which at the same time imply,
when rightly understood, the perpetual necessity for a
Sabbath.--_Lange._
Ver. 11. _Ministerial Anxiety_--1. Prompts to earnest efforts in
imparting the highest spiritual truths. 2. Looks for corresponding
results in consistency of character and conduct. 3. Is grieved with
the least indications of religious failure.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-20.
_The Pleadings of an Anxious Teacher with his Pupils in Peril._
+I. He reminds them of the enthusiastic attachment of former
days.+--1. _Urges them to exercise the same freedom as he himself
claimed._ "Be as I am; for I am as ye are" (ver. 12). Though himself
a Jew, Paul had assumed no airs of superiority, and did not separate
himself from his Gentile brethren; he became as one of them. He asks
them to exercise a similar liberty; and lest they should fear he
would have a grudge against them because of their relapse, he hastens
to assure them, "Ye have not injured [wronged] me at all" (ver. 12).
2. _Recalls their extravagant expression of admiration on their first
reception of his teaching._--"Ye know how through infirmity I
preached at the first. My temptation ye despised not; but received me
as an angel of God. . . . Ye would have plucked out your own eyes,
and have given them to me" (vers. 13, 14, 15). His physical weakness,
which might have moved the contempt of others, elicited the sympathy
of the warm-hearted Galatians. They listened with eagerness and
wonder to the Gospel he preached. The man, with his humiliating
infirmity, was lost in the charm of his message. They were thankful
that, though his sickness was the reason of his being detained among
them, it was the opportunity of their hearing the Gospel. Had he been
an angel from heaven, or Jesus Christ Himself, they could not have
welcomed him more rapturously. They would have made any sacrifice to
assure him of their regard and affection.
3. _Shows he was not less their friend because he rebuked them._--"Am
I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" (ver.
16). And now they rush, with Gallic-like fickleness, to the opposite
extreme. Because he attacks the new fancies with which they have
become enamoured, and probes them with some wholesome and unwelcome
truths, they imagine he has become their enemy. Not so; he is but
using the privilege of a true and faithful friend.
+II. He warns them against the seductive tactics of false
teachers.+--1. _Their zealous flattery was full of danger._ "They
zealously affect you, but not well; they would exclude you" (ver.
17). They are courting you, these present suitors for your regard,
dishonourably; they want to shut us out and have you to themselves,
that you may pay court to them. They pretend to be zealous for your
interests; but it is their own they seek. They would exclude you from
all opportunities of salvation--yea, from Christ Himself. The
flatterer should be always suspected. The turning away from sound
doctrine goes hand in hand with a predilection for such teachers as
tickle the ear, while they teach only such things as correspond to
the sinful inclinations of the hearers.
2. _Though genuine zeal is commendable._--"It is good to be zealously
affected always in a good thing" (ver. 18). Christian zeal must be
seen not only to correspond and to be adapted to the intellect but
must also be in harmony with the highest and profoundest sentiments
of our nature. It must not be exhibited in the dry, pedantic
divisions of a scholastic theology; nor must it be set forth and
tricked out in the light drapery of an artificial rhetoric, in
prettiness of style, in measured sentences, with an insipid
floridness, and in the form of elegantly feeble essays. No; it must
come from the soul in the language of earnest conviction and strong
feeling.
+III. He pleads with the tender solicitude of a spiritual
parent.+--"My little children, of whom I travail in birth
again, . . . I desire to be present with you, and to change my voice;
for I stand in doubt of you" (vers. 19, 20). As a mother, fearful of
losing the affection of her children for whom she has suffered so
much, the apostle appeals to his converts in tones of pathetic
persuasion. His heart is wrung with anguish as he sees the peril of
his spiritual children, and he breaks out into tender and impassioned
entreaty. And yet he is perplexed by the attitude they have taken,
and as if uncertain of the result of his earnest expostulations. The
preacher has to learn to be patient as well as zealous.
+Lessons.+--1. _Strong emotions and warm affections are no guarantee
for the permanence of religious life._ 2. _How prone are those who
have put themselves in the wrong to fix the blame on others._ 3. _Men
of the Galatian type are the natural prey of self-seeking agitators._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 12. _Christian Brotherhood._--Here is: 1. A loving
compellation--"Brethren." 2. A submissive address by way of
comprecation--"I beseech you." 3. A request most reasonable--"Be ye
as I am; for I am as ye are." 4. A wise and prudent preoccupation or
prevention which removes all obstructions and forestalls those
jealousies, those surmises and groundless suspicions, which are the
bane of charity and the greatest enemies to peace. "Ye have not
injured me at all."
+I. Nature herself hath made all men brethren.+--1. _This may serve
to condemn all those who look upon men under other consideration than
as men_ or view them in any other shape than as brethren. And the
very name of man and of brother should be an amulet for all mankind
against the venom of iniquity and injustice.
2. _By this light of nature we may condemn ourselves when any
bitterness towards our brother riseth in our hearts,_ and allay or
rather root it out as inhuman and unnatural. None can dishonour us
more than ourselves do, when one man hath trodden down another as the
clay in the streets, when we think ourselves great men by making our
brethren little, when we contemn and despise, hate and persecute them.
+II. Brethren as Christians professing the same faith.+--There is
such a brotherhood that neither error nor sin nor injury can break
and dissolve it.
1. _Men may err and yet be brethren._--We may be divided in opinion
and yet united in charity. Consider the difficulty of finding out
truth in all things and avoiding error, that our brother may err
rather from want of light than out of malice and wilfully and
conceive it possible we may err as foully as others.
2. _Men may sin and yet be brethren._--Charity, because she may err,
nay, because she must err, looks upon every Christian as a brother.
If he err, she is a guide to him; if he sin, she is a physician; if
he fall, she strives to lift him up, being a light to the blind and a
staff to the weak.
3. _Men may injure each other and yet be brethren._--Socrates, being
overcome in judgment, professed he had no reason to be angry with his
enemies unless it were for this, that they conceived and believed
they had hurt him. Indeed, no injury can be done by a brother to a
brother. The injury is properly done to God, who reserves all power
of revenge to Himself. "If a brother strike us," said Chrysostom,
"kiss his hand; if he would destroy us, our revenge should be to save
him." Nazianzen said to the young man who was suborned to kill him,
"Christ forgive thee, who hath also forgiven me, and died to save me."
+Lessons.+--1. _Brotherly love is pleasant and delightful._
2. _Profitable and advantageous._ 3. _So necessary that it had been
better for us never to have been than not to love the
brethren.--A. Farindon._
Vers. 13-15. _Love for the Preacher_--
+I. Notwithstanding the physical infirmity of the messenger+ (ver.
13).
+II. Generates the loftiest esteem for his character and abilities+
(ver. 14).
+III. Is often expressed in exaggerated terms+ (ver. 15).
Ver. 14. _The Authority of the Messenger of God._
+I. He is to be heard even as Christ Himself,+ because in preaching
he is the mouth of God.
II. Here we see the goodness of God, +who does not speak to us in
His majesty, but appoints men in His stead,+ who are His
ambassadors.
+III. There must be fidelity in teachers.+--They stand in the stead
of Christ, and must deliver only that which they know to be the
will of Christ.
+IV. They must have especial care of holiness of life.+
+V. The people are to hear their teachers with reverence,+ as if
they would hear the angels or Christ Himself.
+VI. The comfort of the ministry is as sure+ as if an angel came
down from heaven, or Christ Himself, to comfort us.--_Perkins._
Ver. 16. _The Right Mode of giving and receiving Reproof._--Should it
be esteemed the part of a friend faithfully to tell men the truth?
and should the suppression of truth and the substitution of its
opposite be held to mark the character of an enemy? How often has the
amicable state of feeling been broken up by telling the truth, even
when done in a proper spirit and manner!
+I. What would you wish your friend to be?+--1. Sincere. 2. That he
should take a very general interest in my welfare and be desirous to
promote it. 3. A person of clear, sound, discriminating judgment, and
with a decided preference in all things. 4. That he should not be a
man full of self-complacency, a self-idolater, but observant and
severe towards his own errors and defects. 5. A man who would include
me expressly in his petitions, praying that I may be delivered from
those evils which he perceives in me, and God far more clearly.
6. Such that, as the last result of my communications with him, a
great deal of what may be defective and wrong in me shall have been
disciplined away.
+II. Why do we regard a friend as an enemy because he tells us the
truth?+--1. Because plain truth, by whatever voice, must say many
things that are displeasing. 2. Because there is a want of the real
earnest desire to be in all things set right. 3. Because there is
pride, reacting against a fellow-mortal and fellow-sinner. 4. Because
there is not seldom a real difference of judgment on the matters in
question. 5. Because there is an unfavourable opinion or surmise as
to the motives of the teller of truth.
+III. How should reproof be administered?+--1. Those who do this
should well exercise themselves to understand what they speak of.
2. It should be the instructor's aim that the authority may be
conveyed in the truth itself, and not seem to be assumed by him as
the speaker of it. 3. He should watch to select favourable times and
occasions.
+IV. How should reproof be received?+--1. By cultivating a
disposition of mind which earnestly desires the truth, in whatever
manner it may come to us. 2. There have been instances in which a
friend, silent when he should have spoken, has himself afterwards
received the reproof for not having done so from the person whom he
declined to admonish. 3. If there be those so painfully and irritably
susceptible as to be unwilling to hear corrective truth from others,
how strong is the obligation that they should look so much the more
severely to themselves.--_John Foster._
Ver. 18. _Zeal._
+I. Various kinds of zeal.+--1. There is a zeal of God which is not
according to knowledge. 2. There is a mistaken zeal for the glory of
God. (1) When that is opposed which is right, under a false notion of
its being contrary to the glory of God. (2) When ways and methods
improper are taken to defend and promote the glory of God. (3) There
is a superstitious zeal, such as was in Baal's worshippers, who cut
themselves with knives and lancets; particularly in the Athenians,
who were wholly given to idolatry; and the Jews, who were zealous of
the traditions of the fathers. (4) There is a persecuting zeal, under
a pretence of the glory of God. (5) There is a hypocritical zeal for
God, as in the Pharisees, who make a show of great zeal for piety, by
their long prayers, when they only sought to destroy widows' houses
by that means. (6) There is a contentious zeal, which often gives
great trouble to Christian communities. (7) True zeal is no other
than a fervent, ardent love to God and Christ, and a warm concern for
their honour and glory.
+II. The objects of zeal.+--1. The object of it is God. The worship
of God, who must be known, or He cannot be worshipped aright. 2. The
cause of Christ is another object of zeal. The Gospel of Christ;
great reason there is to be zealous for that, since it is the Gospel
of the grace of God. 3. The ordinances of Christ, which every true
Christian should be zealous for, that they be kept as they were first
delivered, without any innovation or corruption. 4. The discipline of
Christ's house should be the object of our zeal. 5. True zeal is
concerned in all the duties of religion and shows itself in them.
+III. Motives exciting to the exercise of true zeal.+--1. The example
of Christ. 2. True zeal answers a principal end of the redemption of
Christ. 3. It is good, the apostle says, to be zealously affected in
and for that which is good. 4. A lukewarm temper, which is the
opposite to zeal, seems not consistent with true religion, which has
always life and heat in it. 5. The zeal of persons shown in a false
way should stimulate the professors of the true religion to show at
least an equal zeal.--_Pulpit Assistant._
_Christian Zeal_--
+I. Implies unwavering steadfastness of purpose.+
+II. Universal and hearty obedience to God's commands+ in all things,
small as well as great.
+III. Supreme devotion of heart and life to Christ.+
+IV. Should be exercised in a good thing.+--True zeal seeks
benevolent ends by lawful means, else it is fanaticism. It
seeks practical ends by wise means, else it is enthusiasm.
Zeal should be shown in active and useful devotion to the
cause of religion, rather than in excitement and warm
devotional exercise.
+V. Should be uniform, not periodical.+--It should not depend upon
the fluctuations of feeling, but should act upon principle.
Periodical fervours are deceitful, dangerous, injurious,
dishonourable to religion. They are commonly a proof of
superficial piety, or of none at all.--_Stephen Olin._
_Godly Zeal and its Counterfeits._
+I. Let us distinguish between mere natural zeal and spiritual
ardour.+--1. There is a zeal of _sympathy_ which is awakened by the
zeal of others with whom we associate. It is only that of the soldier
who, though himself a coward, is urged on to battle by the example of
those around him. 2. There is _constitutional_ zeal, a warmth, an
ardour, which enters into all we say or do, which pervades all our
actions and animates all our services. This is not strictly religious
but animal excitement and is no more allied to our soul-life than our
arms or our feet. 3. There is a zeal which is merely _sentimental._
It throws a romantic glamour over our objects; but its exercises are
too occasional, too random, to produce much effect. 4. There is a
zeal of _affectation_ like that of Jehu (2 Kings x. 16). This is
religious foppery and hypocritical vanity. 5. _Christian_ zeal is a
fair demonstration of what is felt within. It seeks not the eye of
man but acts under the conviction of God's omniscience.
+II. Consider the objects to which Christian zeal should be
directed.+--This "good thing" may be taken as including all true
religion, and embracing: 1. The promotion of God's glory. 2. The
extension of Christ's kingdom. 3. The salvation of men. 4. The
conversion of the world.
+III. The good that results from the exercise of Christian zeal to
the persons that possess it.+--1. It renders them more Christ-like.
2. It furthers the Divine designs in the most effective way. 3. We
become worthy followers of the great heroes of faith in the past
ages.--_The Preacher's Magazine._
_True Christian Zeal._
+I. The Christian convert is zealously affected in a good
thing.+--1. _All the teachings of Christianity are good._ They
enlighten, guide, and sanctify. They are peculiar, harmonious,
infallible, Divine. Their morality is sublime, their spirit heavenly,
their effect glorious.
2. _The influence of Christianity is good._--It has created the sweet
charities of national and domestic life, sanctified advancing
civilisation, softened the fierceness of war, stimulated science,
promoted justice and liberty. Sceptics have admitted this.
3. _All that Christianity accomplishes for man is good._--It saves
him from sin, from the stings of guilt, from the eternal consequences
of wrong-doing.
+II. The zeal of the Christian convert is to be steady and
continuous.+--There should be no diminution nor fluctuation in our
zeal. 1. _Because no reason can be assigned why we should not be as
zealous at any after-hour as at the hour of our conversion._
2. _Because it is only by steady and continuous zeal that a proper
measure of Christian influence can be exerted._ 3. _Because only by
steady and continuous zeal can Christian character be matured._
4. _Because only thus can success in Christian enterprises be
attained._ 5. _Because steady and continuous zeal will alone bring
Divine approval._
+III. The zeal of the Christian convert is not to be unduly
influenced by the presence of others.+--While Paul was with the
Churches in Galatia they were zealous, but after his departure their
zeal ceased. To lose our zeal because we have lost the influence of
another is to show: 1. _That we never possessed true Christian
motives._ 2. _That our supposed attachment to Christ and His cause
was delusive._ 3. _That our zeal had merely been an effort to please
men, not God.--The Lay Preacher._
Ver. 19. _The Christmas of the Soul._--The apostle refers to the
spiritual birth. The soul then rises into a consciousness of its
infinite importance; its thoughts, sympathies, and purposes become
Christ-like, and Christ is manifested in the life. The soul-birth
were impossible if Christ had not been born in Bethlehem. That was an
era in the world's history, this in the individual life; that was
brought about by the Holy Spirit, this is effected by the same Divine
Agent; that was followed by the antagonism of the world, this is
succeeded by the opposition of evil, both within and without; that
was the manifestation of God in the flesh, this is the renewing of
man's nature in the image of God; that came to pass without man's
choice, this requires man's seeking. Has this spiritual birth taken
place in you? If so, you have a right to the enjoyment of a happy
Christmas. Keep the feast as a new man in Christ Jesus.--_Homiletic
Monthly._
Ver. 20. _A Preacher's Perplexity_--
+I. Occasioned by the defection of his converts.+--"I stand in
doubt of you."
+II. As to what method he should adopt to restore them.+--"And to
change my voice."
+III. Increased by the difficulty of effecting a personal
interview.+--"I desire to be present with you now."
_"I stand in doubt of you." Doubtful Christians._
+I. Persons whose religion is liable to suspicion.+--1. Those who
have long attended the means of grace, and are very defective in
knowledge. 2. Who profess much knowledge and are puffed up with it.
3. Who contend for doctrinal religion rather than for that which is
practical and experimental. 4. Who waver in their attachment to the
fundamental principles of the Gospel. 5. Who neglect the ordinances
of God's house. 6. Who neglect devotional exercises. 7. Who
co-operate not with the Church to advance the kingdom of Christ in
the world.
+II. The improvement to be made of the subject.+--1. Should lead to
self-examination. 2. Shows the loss and danger of persons so
characterised. 3. Should lead to repentance and faith. 4. While
exercising a godly jealousy over others, let Christians watch with
greater jealousy over themselves.--_Helps._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21-31.
_The History of Hagar and Sarah allegorical of the Law and the Gospel._
+I. The two women represented two different covenants.+--1. _Hagar
represented Sinai, typical of the law with its slavish exactions and
terrible threatenings_ (vers. 22, 25). Sinai spoke of bondage and
terror. It was a true symbol of the working of the law of Moses,
exhibited in the present condition of Judaism. And round the base of
Sinai Hagar's wild sons had found their dwelling. Jerusalem was no
longer the mother of freemen. Her sons chafed under the Roman yoke.
They were loaded with self-inflicted burdens. The spirit of the
nation was that of rebellious, discontented slaves. They were
Ishmaelite sons of Abraham, with none of the nobleness, the
reverence, the calm and elevated faith of their father. In the
Judaism of the apostle's day the Sinaitic dispensation, uncontrolled
by the higher patriarchal and prophetic faith, had worked out its
natural result. It gendered to bondage. A system of repression and
routine, it had produced men punctual in tithes of mint and anise,
but without justice, mercy, or faith; vaunting their liberty while
they were servants of corruption. The Pharisee was the typical
product of law apart from grace. Under the garb of a freeman he
carried the soul of a slave.
2. _Sarah represented Jerusalem, typical of the Gospel with its
higher freedom and larger spiritual fruitfulness_ (vers.
26-28).--Paul has escaped from the prison of legalism, from the
confines of Sinai; he has left behind the perishing earthly
Jerusalem, and with it the bitterness and gloom of his Pharisaic
days. He is a citizen of the heavenly Zion, breathing the air of a
Divine freedom. The yoke is broken from the neck of the Church of
God; the desolation is gone from her heart. Robbed of all outward
means, mocked and thrust out as she is by Israel after the flesh, her
rejection is a release, an emancipation. Conscious of the spirit of
sonship and freedom, looking out on the boundless conquests lying
before her in the Gentile world, the Church of the new covenant
glories in her tribulations. In Paul is fulfilled the joy of prophet
and psalmist, who sang in former days of gloom concerning Israel's
enlargement and world-wide victories (_Findlay_).
+II. The antagonism of their descendants represented the violent and
incessant opposition of the law to the Gospel.+--"As he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even
so it is now. . . . Cast out the bondwoman and her son" (vers. 29,
30). Sooner or later the slave-boy was bound to go. He has no proper
birthright, no permanent footing in the house. One day he exceeds his
licence, he makes himself intolerable; he must be gone. The
Israelitish people showed more than Ishmael's jealousy toward the
infant Church of the Spirit. No weapon of violence or calumny was too
base to be used against it. Year by year they became more hardened
against spiritual truth, more malignant towards Christianity, and
more furious and fanatical in their hatred towards their civil
rulers. Ishmael was in the way of Isaac's safety and prosperity
(_Ibid._).
+III. The Gospel bestows a richer inheritance than the law.+--"The
son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the
freewoman. . . . We are children of the free" (vers. 30, 31). The two
systems were irreconcilable. The law and the Gospel cannot coexist
and inherit together; the law must disappear before the Gospel. The
higher absorbs the lower. The Church of the future, the spiritual
seed of Abraham gathered out of all nations, has no part in legalism.
It embraces blessings of which Mosaism had no conception--"an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away"
(1 Pet. i. 4).
+Lessons.+--1. _The law and the Gospel differ fundamentally._ 2. _The
law imposes intolerable burdens._ 3. _The Gospel abrogates the law by
providing a higher spiritual obedience._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 21-31. _Legal Bondage and Spiritual Freedom contrasted_--
+I. In their inception and development+ (vers. 21-27).
+II. In their ceaseless antagonism+ (ver. 29).
+III. In their inevitable results+ (vers. 28, 30, 31).
Ver. 21. _A Lesson from the Law_--
+I. Addressed to those eager for its subjection.+--"Ye that desire
to be under the law."
+II. Is suggestive of solemn warning.+
+III. Should be seriously pondered.+--"Tell me, do ye not hear the
law?"
Ver. 26. _Jerusalem Above._
+I. The Church of Christ as she exists in the present
world.+--"Jerusalem, above and free."
1. _Above; that is, seen in connection with God and the scenes of the
heavenly world._--(1) Her Head is from above. (2) If we take the
Church as a whole, though she is in part on earth, the greater number
of her members are in heaven. (3) Our Jerusalem is above because her
members all fix their affections there and thither then as the great
end of their profession.
2. _Jerusalem above is free, and so are her children._--From the
bondage of seeking salvation by works of law, from the guilt of sin,
from its dominion.
+II. The filial sentiment with which we ought to regard the Church of
Christ.+--She is "the mother of us all." The general idea is, that if
we are indeed spiritual, under God, we owe all to the Church. To her
God has committed the preservation of His truth. In stormy times she
has sheltered her lamps in the recesses of the sanctuary, and in
happier times has placed them on high to guide and save. The Spirit
of God is in the Church. To her you owe your hallowed fellowships. In
the Church it is that God manifests Himself.
+III. The animating anticipations we are thus taught to form of the
Church as glorified.+--Turn to the description given in Revelation
xxi. 1. _Mark the wall great and high_--denoting the perfect,
impregnable security of those who dwell there. 2. _At the gates are
angels_--still ushering in the heirs of salvation and disdaining not
to be porters to this glorious city. 3. _Mark the foundations,_
garnished with all manner of precious stones--implying permanency.
4. _Mark the circumstance that in the twelve foundations are
inscribed the names of the twelve apostles_--the whole being the
result of their doctrine. 5. _The whole city is a temple all filled
with the presence and glory of God._ No holiest of all is there where
every part is most holy. All are filled, sanctified, beatified, by
the fully manifested presence of God. He is all in all; all things in
and to all.--_Richard Watson._
_Jerusalem a Type of the Universal Church._
+I. God chose Jerusalem above all other places to dwell in.+ The
Church catholic is the company chosen to be the particular people of
God.
+II. Jerusalem is a city compact in itself by reason of the bond of
love and order among the citizens.+ In like sort the members of the
Church catholic are linked together by the bond of one Spirit.
+III. In Jerusalem was the sanctuary, a place of God's presence,+
where the promise if the seed of the woman was preserved till the
coming of the Messiah. Now the Church catholic is in the room of the
sanctuary, in it we must seek the presence of God and the Word of
life.
+IV. In Jerusalem was the throne of David.+ In the Church catholic is
the throne or sceptre of Christ.
+V. The commendation of a city, as Jerusalem, is the subjection and
obedience of the citizens.+ In the Church catholic all believers are
citizens, and they yield voluntary obedience and subjection to Christ
their King.
+VI. As in Jerusalem the names of the citizens were enrolled in a
register,+ so the names of all the members of the Church catholic are
enrolled in the Book of Life.
+VII. The Church catholic is said to be above:+ 1. In respect to her
beginning. 2. Because she dwells by faith in heaven with
Christ.--_Perkins._
Ver. 28. _Believers Children of Promise._
+I. The character.+--1. Believers are the children of promise by
regeneration. 2. By spiritual nourishment. 3. In respect of
education. 4. With respect to assimilation, likeness, and conformity.
+II. State the comparison.+--1. Isaac was the child of Abraham, not
by natural power. Believers are children of Abraham by virtue of
promise. 2. Isaac was the fruit of prayer, as well as the child of
the promise. 3. Isaac's birth was the joy of his parents. Even so
with reference to believers. 4. Isaac was born not after the flesh,
but by the promise; not of the bondwoman, but of the free. So,
believers are not under the law. 5. Isaac was no sooner born but he
was mocked by Ishmael; so, it is now. 6. Isaac was the heir by
promise, though thus persecuted. Even so believers.
+III. How the promise hath such virtue for begetting children to
God.+--1. As it is the discovery of Divine love. 2. The object of
faith. 3. The ground of hope. 4. The seed of regeneration. 5. The
communication of grace. 6. The chariot of the Spirit.
+Inferences.+--1. _If believers are children of promise, then
boasting is excluded._ 2. _Then salvation is free._ 3. _The happiness
and dignity of believers--they are the children of God.--Pulpit
Assistant._
Ver. 29. _On Persecution._
+I. That no privilege of the Church can exempt her from
persecution.+--1. _From the consideration of the quality of the
persons here upon the stage, the one persecuting, the other
suffering._ (1) The persecuting--"born after the flesh." Like
Hannibal, they can part with anything but war and contention; they
can be without their native country, but not without an enemy. These
whet the sword, these make the furnace of persecution seven times
hotter than it would be. The flesh is the treasury whence these winds
blow that rage and beat down all before them. (2) The
suffering--"born after the Spirit." Having no security, no policy, no
eloquence, no strength, but that which lieth in his innocency and
truth, which he carrieth about as a cure, but it is looked upon as a
persecution by those who will not be healed. "For he must appear,"
said Seneca, "as a fool that he may be wise, as weak that he may be
strong, as base and vile that he may be more honourable." If thou be
an Isaac, thou shalt find an Ishmael.
2. _From the nature and constitution of the Church which in this
world is ever militant._--Persecution is the honour, the prosperity,
the flourishing condition of the Church. When her branches were
lopped off she spread the more, when her members were dispersed there
were more gathered to her, when they were driven about the world they
carried that sweet-smelling savour about them which drew in
multitudes to follow them.
3. _From the providence and wisdom of God who put this enmity between
these two seeds._--God's method is best. That is method and order
with Him which we take to be confusion, and that which we call
persecution is His art, His way of making saints. In Abraham's family
Ishmael mocketh and persecuteth Isaac, in the world the synagogue
persecuteth the Church, and in the Church one Christian persecuteth
another. It was so, it is so, and it will be so to the end of the
world.
+II. The lessons of persecution.+--1. _The persecution of the Church
should not create surprise._ 2. _Not to regard the Church and the
world as alike._ 3. _Build ourselves up in faith so as to be prepared
for the fiery trial._ 4. _Love the truth you profess._ 5. _Be renewed
in spirit.--A. Farindon._
Ver. 30. _Cast out the Bondwoman and her Son._--To cast out is an act
of violence, and the true Church evermore hath the suffering part.
How shall the Church cast out those of her own house and family?
1. By the vehemency of our prayers that God would either melt their
hearts or shorten their hands, either bring them into the right way,
or strike off their chariot wheels. 2. By our patience and
longsuffering. 3. By our innocency of life and sincerity of
conversation. 4. By casting our burden upon the Lord.--_Ibid._
_The Fate of Unbelievers._
+I. All hypocrites, mockers of the grace of God, shall be cast forth
of God's family,+ though for a time they bear a sway therein. This is
the sentence of God. Let us therefore repent of our mocking and
become lovers of the grace of God.
+II. The persecution of the people of God shall not be perpetual,+
for the persecuting bondwoman and her son must be cast out.
+III. All justiciary people and persons that look to be saved and
justified before God by the law,+ either in whole or in part, are
cast out of the Church of God, and have no part in the kingdom of
heaven. The casting out of Hagar and Ishmael is a figure of the
rejection of all such.--_Perkins._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER V.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Stand fast in.+--Stand up to, make your stand for. +The
liberty wherewith Christ has made you free.+--As Christ has given you
this liberty you are bound to stand fast in it. +Be not
entangled.+--Implicated in a way which involves violence to true
spontaneous life. +The yoke of bondage.+--Contrasted with the yoke of
Christ, which is compatible with the fullest spiritual freedom.
Ver. 2. +If ye be circumcised.+--Not simply as a national rite, but
as a symbol of Judaism and legalism in general; as necessary to
justification. +Christ shall profit you nothing.+--The Gospel of
grace is at an end. He who is circumcised is so fearing the law, and
he who fears disbelieves the power of grace, and he who disbelieves
can profit nothing by that grace which he disbelieves (_Chrysostom_).
Ver. 5 +Wait for the hope of righteousness.+--Righteousness, in the
sense of justification, is already attained, but the consummation of
it in future perfection is the object of hope to be waited for.
Ver. 6. +Faith which worketh by love.+--Effectually worketh, exhibits
its energy by love, and love is the fulfilling of the law.
Ver. 9. +A little leaven.+--Of false doctrine, a small amount of evil
influence.
Ver. 10. +He that troubleth you.+--The leaven traced to personal
agency; whoever plays the troubler. +Shall bear his judgment.+--Due
and inevitable condemnation from God.
Ver. 11. +Then is the offence of the cross ceased.+--The offence, the
stumbling-block, to the Jew which roused his anger was not the shame
of Messiah crucified, but the proclamation of free salvation to all,
exclusive of the righteousness of human works.
Ver. 12. +I would they were cut off which trouble
you.+--Self-mutilated, an imprecation more strongly expressed in
chap. i. 8, 9. Christian teachers used language in addressing
Christians in the then heathen world that would be regarded as
intolerable in modern Christendom, purified and exalted by Christ
through their teachings.
Ver. 13. +Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh.+--Do not give
the flesh the handle or pretext for its indulgence, which it eagerly
seeks for. +By love serve one another.+--If ye must be in bondage, be
servants to one another in love.
Ver. 15. +If ye bite and devour one another, . . .
consumed.+--Figures taken from the rage of beasts of prey. The
_biting_ of controversy naturally runs into the devouring of
controversial mood waxing fierce with indulgence. And the
controversialists, each snapping at and gnawing his antagonist,
forget the tendency is to _consume_ the Christian cause. Strength of
soul, health of body, character, and resources, are all consumed by
broils.
Ver. 18. +If ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the
law.+--Under no irksome restraint. To him who loves, law is not
irksome bondage but delightful direction. Active spiritual life is a
safeguard against lawless affection.
Ver. 19. +The works of the flesh.+--1. _Sensual vices_--"adultery
[omitted in the oldest MSS.], fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness." 2. _Theological vices_--"idolatry, witchcraft."
3. _Malevolent vices_--"hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, envyings, murders." 4. _Vices of
excess_--"drunkenness, revellings."
Ver. 22. +The fruit of the Spirit.+--The singular _fruit,_ as
compared with the plural _works,_ suggests that the effect of the
Spirit's inworking is one harmonious whole, while carnality tends to
multitudinousness, distraction, chaos. We are not to look for a
rigorous logical classification in either catalogue. Generally, the
fruit of the Spirit may be arranged as: I. _Inward graces_--"love,
joy, peace." II. _Graces towards man_--"longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith." III. _A more generic form of inward
graces_--"meekness, temperance."
Ver. 23. +Against such there is no law.+--So far from being against
love, law commands it.
Ver. 24. +Have crucified the flesh.+--Not human nature, but depraved
human nature. +With the affections and lusts.+--Affections refer to
the general frame of mind; the lusts to special proclivities or
habits.
Ver. 26. +Not to be desirous of vainglory, provoking+ [challenging],
+envying one another.+--Vaingloriousness provokes contention;
contention produces envy.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 1.
_Christian Liberty_--
+I. Should be valued considering how it was obtained.+--"The liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free." It is a liberty purchased at a
great cost. Christ, the Son of God, became incarnated, suffered in a
degree unparalleled and incomprehensible, and died the shameful and
ignoble death of the crucified to win back the liberty man had
forfeited by voluntary sin. The redemption of man was hopeless from
himself, and but for the intervention of a competent Redeemer he was
involved in utter and irretrievable bondage. Civil liberty, though
the inalienable right of every man, has been secured as the result of
great struggle and suffering. "With a great sum," said the Roman
captain to Paul, "obtained I this freedom;" and many since his day
have had to pay dearly for the common rights of citizenship. But
Christian liberty should be valued as the choicest privilege,
remembering it was purchased by the suffering Christ, and that it has
been defended through the ages by a noble army of martyrs.
+II. Should remind us of the oppression from which it
delivers.+--"And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
The Galatians had been bondmen, enslaved by the worship of false and
vile deities. If they rush into the snare of the legalists, they will
be bondmen again, and their bondage will be the more oppressive now
they have tasted the joys of freedom. Disobedience involves us in
many entanglements. It is among the most potent of the energies of
sin that leads astray by blinding and blinds by leading astray; that
the soul, like the strong champion of Israel, must have its eyes put
out, when it would be bound with fetters of brass and condemned to
grind in the prisonhouse (Judg. xvi. 21). Redemption from the slavery
of sin should fill the heart with gratitude. A wealthy and kind
Englishman once bought a poor Negro for twenty pieces of gold. He
presented him with a sum of money that he might buy a piece of land
and furnish himself a home. "Am I really free? May I go whither I
will?" cried the Negro in the joy of his heart. "Well, let me be your
slave, massa; you have redeemed me, and I owe all to you." The
gentleman took him into his service, and he never had a more faithful
servant. How much more eagerly should we do homage and service to the
divine Master, who Himself has made us free!
+III. Should be rigorously maintained.+--"Stand fast therefore." The
price of freedom is incessant vigilance; once gained it is a prize
never to be lost, and no effort or sacrifice should be grudged in its
defence. "As far as I am a Christian," said Channing, "I am free. My
religion lays on me not one chain. It does not hem me round with a
mechanical ritual, does not enjoin forms, attitudes, and hours of
prayer, does not descend to details of dress and food, does not put
on me one outward badge. It teaches us to do good but leaves us to
devise for ourselves the means by which we may best serve mankind."
The spirit of Christian liberty is eternal. Jerusalem and Rome may
strive to imprison it. They might as well seek to bind the winds of
heaven. Its seat is the throne of Christ. It lives by the breath of
His Spirit. Not to be courageous and faithful in its defence is
disloyalty to Christ and treachery to our fellow-men.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christ is the true Emancipator of men._ 2. _Christian
liberty does not violate but honours the law of love._ 3. _Liberty is
best preserved by being consistently exercised._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 1. _Freedom from Bondage._--1. Every man by nature is a
bondslave, being under the bondage of sin. The Jews were under
bondage to the ceremonial law, involving great trouble, pain in the
flesh, and great expense. 2. Jesus Christ by His obedience and death
has purchased freedom and liberty to His Church--liberty not to do
evil, nor from the yoke of new obedience, nor from the cross, nor
from that obedience and reverence which inferiors owe to superiors;
but from the dominion of sin, the tyranny of Satan, the curse and
irritating power of the law, and from subjecting our consciences to
the rites, doctrines, ceremonies, and laws of men in the matter of
worship. 3. Though civil liberty be much desired, so ignorant are we
of the worth of freedom from spiritual bondage that we can hardly be
excited to seek after it, or made to stand to it when attained, but
are in daily hazard of preferring our former bondage to our present
liberty.--_Fergusson._
_Bondage and Liberty._
+I. We are in bondage under sin.+
+II. We are subject to punishment.+--Implying: 1. Bondage under
Satan, who keeps unrepentant sinners in his snare. 2. Bondage under
an evil conscience, which sits in the heart as accuser and judge, and
lies like a wild beast at a man's door ready to pluck out his throat.
3. Bondage under the wrath of God and fear of eternal death.
+III. We are in bondage to the ceremonial law.+--To feel this bondage
is a step out of it; not to feel it is to be plunged into it.
+IV. We have spiritual liberty by the grace of God.+--1. Christian
liberty is a deliverance from misery. (1) From the curse of the law
for the breach thereof. (2) From the obligation of the law whereby it
binds us to perfect righteousness in our own persons. (3) From the
observance of the ceremonial law of Moses. (4) From the tyranny and
dominion of sin. 2. Christian liberty is freedom in good things.
(1) In the voluntary service of God. (2) In the free use of all the
creatures of God. (3) Liberty to come to God and in prayer to be
heard. (4) To enter heaven.
+V. Christ is the great Liberator.+--He procured this liberty: 1. By
the merit of His death. The price paid--His precious blood--shows the
excellence of the blessing, and that it should be esteemed. 2. By the
efficacy of His Spirit--assuring us of our adoption and abating the
strength and power of sin.
+VI. We are to hold fast our liberty in the day of trial.+--1. We
must labour that religion be not only in mind and memory but rooted
in the heart. 2. We must join with our religion the soundness of a
good conscience. 3. We must pray for all things needful.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 2-6.
_Christianity Superior to External Rites._
+I. External rites demand universal obedience.+--"Every man that is
circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law" (ver. 3). The Galatians
were in a state of dangerous suspense. They were on the brink of a
great peril. Another step and they would be down the precipice. That
step was circumcision. Seeing the imminence of the danger the apostle
becomes more earnest and emphatic in his remonstrance. He warns them
that circumcision, though a matter of indifference as an external
rite, would in their case involve an obligation to keep the whole
law. This he has shown is an impossibility. They would submit
themselves to a yoke they were unable to bear, and from whose galling
tyranny they would be unable to extricate themselves. Knowing this,
surely they would not be so foolish as, deliberately and with open
eyes, to commit such an act of moral suicide. There must be a strange
infatuation in ritualistic observances that tempts man to undertake
obligations he is powerless to perform, utterly heedless of the most
explicit and faithful warnings.
+II. Dependence on external rites is an open rejection of
Christ.+--"Christ shall profit you nothing; . . . is become of no
effect unto you; ye are fallen from grace" (vers. 2, 4). Here the
result of a defection from the Gospel is placed in the most alarming
aspect and should give pause to the wildest fanatic. It is the
forfeiture of all Christian privileges, it is a complete rejection of
Christ, it is a loss of all the blessings won by faith, it is a fall
into the gulf of despair and ruin. It cannot be too plainly
understood, nor too frequently iterated, that excessive devotion to
external rites means the decline and extinction of true religion.
Ritualism supplants Jesus Christ. "It is evident that the disciples
of the Church of Rome wish to lead us from confession and absolution
to the doctrine of transubstantiation, thence to the worship of
images, and thence to all the abuses which at the end of the
fifteenth century and at the beginning of the sixteenth excited the
anger and scorn of Luther, Calvin, Zwinglius, and others. The primary
faith of the Reformers is in the words of Christ. The primary faith
of the ritualists is in Aristotle. If the British nation is wise, it
will not allow the Roman Church with its infallible head, or the
ritualists with their mimic ornaments, or those who are deaf to the
teachings of Socrates and Cicero, of Bacon and Newton, to deprive
them of the inestimable blessings of the Gospel."
+III. Christianity as a spiritual force is superior to external
rites.+--1. _It bases the hope of righteousness on faith._ "For we
through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith" (ver.
5). Look on this picture and on that. Yonder are the Galatians, all
in tumult about the legalistic proposals, debating which of the
Hebrew feasts they shall celebrate and with what rites, absorbed in
the details of Mosaic ceremony, all but persuaded to be circumcised
and to settle their scruples out of hand by a blind submission to the
law. And here on the other side is Paul with the Church of the
Spirit, walking in the righteousness of faith and the communion of
the Holy Spirit, joyfully awaiting the Saviour's final coming and the
hope that is laid up in heaven. How vexed, how burdened, how narrow
and puerile is the one condition; how large, lofty, and secure the
other! Faith has its great ventures; it has also its seasons of
endurance, its moods of quiet expectancy, its unweariable patience.
It can wait as well as work (_Findlay_).
2. _Faith is a spiritual exercise revealing itself in active
love._--"Faith worketh by love" (ver. 6). In ver. 5 we have the
_statics_ of the religion of Christ; in ver. 6 its _dynamics._ Love
is the working energy of faith. "Love gives faith hands and feet;
hope lends it wings. Love is the fire at its heart, the life-blood
coursing in its veins; hope the light that gleams and dances in its
eyes." In the presence of an active spiritual Christianity, animated
by love to Christ and to men, ritualism diminishes into
insignificance. "In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
anything nor uncircumcision" (ver. 6). The Jew is no better or worse
a Christian because he is circumcised; the Gentile no worse or better
because he is not. Love, which is the fulfilling of the law, is the
essence of Christianity, and gives it the superiority over all
external rites.
+Lessons.+--1. _Externalism in religion imposes intolerable burdens._
2. _To prefer external rites is an insult to Christ._ 3. _The
superiority of Christianity is its spiritual character._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 2-4. _Christianity nullified by Legalism._
+I. To accept legalism is to reject Christ+ (vers. 2, 4).
+II. Legalism demands universal obedience to its enactments+ (ver.
3).
+III. Legalism is a disastrous abandonment of Christianity.+--"Ye are
fallen from grace" (ver. 4).
Vers. 5, 6. _Righteousness attained by Active Faith._--1. No personal
righteousness entitles us to the blessed hope of the heavenly
inheritance, but only the righteousness of Christ apprehended by
faith. It is only the efficacious teaching of God's spirit which can
sufficiently instruct us in the knowledge of this righteousness and
make us with security and confidence venture our hope of heaven upon
it. 2. To impose the tie of a command on anything as a necessary part
of Divine worship wherein the Word has left us free, or to subject
ourselves to such command, is a receding from and betrayal of
Christian liberty. 3. The sum of a Christian's task is faith; but it
is always accompanied with the grace of love. Though faith and love
are conjoined, faith, in the order of nature, has the
precedency.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 6. _Religion is Faith working by Love._
+I. External and bodily privileges are of no use and moment in the
kingdom of Christ.+--1. We are not to esteem men's religion by their
riches and external dignities. 2. We are to moderate our affections
in respect of all outward things, neither sorrowing too much for them
nor joying too much in them.
+II. Faith is of great use and acceptance in the kingdom of
Christ.+--1. We must labour to conceive faith aright in our hearts,
by the use of the right means--the Word, prayer, and sacraments, and
in and by the exercises of spiritual invocation and repentance.
2. Faith in Christ must reign and bear sway in our hearts and have
command over reason, will, affection, lust. 3. It is to be bewailed
that the common faith of our day is but a ceremonial faith.
+III. True faith works by love.+--Faith is the cause of love, and
love is the fruit of faith.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-12.
_Disturber of the Faith--_
+I. Checks the prosperous career of the most ardent Christian.+--"Ye
did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?"
(ver. 7). The Galatians were charmed with the truth as it fell from
the lips of the apostle; it was to them a new revelation; they
eagerly embraced it, it changed their lives, and they strove to
conform their conduct to its high moral teachings. The apostle was
delighted with the result and commended their Christian enthusiasm.
They were running finely. But the intrusion of false teaching changed
all this. Their progress was arrested, their faith was disturbed,
they wavered in their allegiance, and were in danger of losing all
the advantages they had gained. The influence of false doctrine is
always baneful, especially so to new beginners, in whom the
principles of truth have not become firmly rooted. The loss of truth,
like inability to believe, may be traced back to an unhealthy
corruption of the mind. The great danger of unsound doctrine lies in
this, that, like a cancer, it rankles because it finds in the
diseased condition of the religious life ever fresh nourishment.
+II. Is opposed to the Divine method of justification.+--"This
persuasion cometh not of Him that calleth you" (ver. 8). The
disturber of the Galatians taught a human method of salvation--a
salvation by the works of the law. This was diametrically opposed to
the Divine calling, which is an invitation to the whole race to seek
salvation by faith. The persuasion to which the Galatians were
yielding was certainly not of God. It was a surrender to the enemy.
All error is a wild fighting against God, an attempt to undermine the
foundations that God has fixed for man's safety and happiness.
+III. Suggests errors that are contagious in their evil
influence.+--"A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump" (ver. 9). A
proverbial expression the meaning of which is at once obvious. A
small infusion of false doctrine, or the evil influence of one bad
person, corrupts the purity of the Gospel. It is a fact well known in
the history of science and philosophy that men, gifted by nature with
singular intelligence, have broached the grossest errors and even
sought to undermine the grand primitive truths on which human virtue,
dignity, and hope depend. The mind that is always open to search into
error is itself in error, or at least unstable (1 Cor. xv. 33;
Eccles. ix. 18).
+IV. Shall not escape chastisement whatever his rank or
pretensions.+--1. _Either by direct Divine judgment._ "He that
troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be" (ver. 10).
The reference here may be to some one prominent among the seducers,
or to any one who plays the troubler. God will not only defend His
own truth but will certainly punish the man who from wicked motives
seeks to corrupt the truth or to impair the faith of those who have
embraced it. The seducer not only deceives himself but shall suffer
judgment for his self-deception and the injury he has done to others.
2. _Or by excision from the Church._--"I would they were even cut off
which trouble you" (ver. 12). An extravagant expression, as if the
apostle said, "Would that the Judaising troublers would mutilate
themselves," as was the custom with certain heathen priests in some
of their religious rites. The phrase indicates the angry contempt of
the apostle for the legalistic policy, and that the troublers richly
deserved to be excluded from the Church and all its privileges. The
patience of the Gentile champion was exhausted and found relief for
the moment in mocking invective.
+V. Does not destroy the hope and faith of the true teacher.+--1. _He
retains confidence in the fidelity of those who have been temporarily
disturbed._ "I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will
be none otherwise minded" (ver. 10). Notwithstanding the insidious
leaven, the apostle cherishes the assurance that his converts will
after all prove leal and true at heart. He has faithfully chided them
for their defection, but his anger is directed, not towards them, but
towards those who have injured them. He is persuaded the Galatians
will, with God's help, resume the interrupted race they were running
so well.
2. _His sufferings testify that his own teaching is unchanged._--"If
I preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the
offence of the cross ceased" (ver. 11). The rancour and hostility of
the legalists would have been disarmed, if Paul advocated their
doctrine, and the scandalous "offence of the cross"--so intolerable
to the Jewish pride--would have been done away. But the cross was the
grand vital theme of all his teaching, that in which he most ardently
gloried, and for which he was prepared to endure all possible
suffering. The value of truth to a man is what he is willing to
suffer for it.
+Lessons.+--1. _The man who perverts the truth is an enemy to his
kind._ 2. _The false teacher ensures his own condemnation._ 3. _Truth
becomes more precious the more we suffer for it._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 7-10. _How Perfection is attained._--Everything in the universe
comes to its perfection by drill and marching--the seed, the insect,
the animal, the man, the spiritual man. God created man at the lowest
point, and put him in a world where almost nothing would be done for
him, and almost everything should tempt him to do for
himself.--_Beecher._
Ver. 7. _The Christian Life a Race._
+I. Christians are runners in the race of God.+--1. They must make
haste without delay to keep the commandments of God. It is a great
fault for youth and others to defer amendment till old age, or till
the last and deadly sickness. That is the time to end our running,
and not to begin. 2. We are to increase and profit in all good
duties. We in this age do otherwise. Either we stand at a stay or go
back. There are two causes for this: (1) Blindness of mind. (2) Our
unbelief in the article of life everlasting. 3. We must neither look
to the right nor the left hand, or to things behind, but press
forward to the prize of eternal life. 4. We must not be moved with
the speeches of men which are given of us, for or against. They are
lookers on and must have their speeches. Our care must be not to heed
them but look to our course.
+II. Christians must not only be runners, but run well.+--This is
done by believing and obeying, having faith and a good conscience.
These are the two feet by which we run. We have one good foot--our
religion--which is sound and good; but we halt on the other foot. Our
care to keep conscience is not suitable to our religion. Three things
cause a lameness in this foot: the lust of the eye--covetousness, the
lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
+III. Christians must run the race from the beginning to the
end.+--1. We must cherish a love and fervent desire of eternal life,
and by this means be drawn through all miseries and overpass them to
the end. 2. We must maintain a constant and daily purpose of not
sinning.--_Perkins._
_Bad Companions._--"Bad company," wrote Augustine, "is like a nail
driven into a post, which, after the first or second blow, may be
drawn out with very little difficulty; but being once driven up to
the head, the pincers cannot take hold to draw it out, which can only
be done by the destruction of the wood." Of course, it is useless to
define bad company. Men and women, boys and girls, feel instinctively
when they have fallen in with dangerous associates; if they choose to
remain amongst them they are lost. So in the high tides, barks of
light draught will float over Goodwin quicksands; in summer at low
tide the venturous boys and young people will play cricket thereon:
but neither can remain long in the neighbourhood. The time comes when
the sands are covered with but a thin surface of water, and beneath
is the shifting, loose, wet earth, more dangerous and treacherous
than springtide ice; and then it is that to touch is to be drawn in,
and to be drawn in is death. So is it with bad company.--_The Gentle
Life._
_Cowardly Retreat._--General Grant relates that just as he was hoping
to hear a report of a brilliant movement and victory of General
Sigel, he received an announcement from General Halleck to this
effect: "Sigel is in full retreat on Strasburg; he will do nothing
but run; never did anything else." The enemy had intercepted him,
handled him roughly, and he fled.
Vers. 8-10. _The Disintegrating Force of Error._--1. Whatever
persuasion cometh not of God and is not grounded on the Word of
truth, is not to be valued, but looked upon as a delusion (ver. 8).
2. The Church of Christ, and every particular member thereof, ought
carefully to resist the first beginnings of sin, for the least of
errors and the smallest number of seduced persons are here compared
to leaven, a little quantity of which secretly insinuates itself and
insensibly conveys its sourness to the whole lump (ver. 9). 3. The
minister is not to despair of the recovery of those who oppose
themselves, but ought in charity to hope the best of all men, so long
as they are curable; and to show how dangerous their error was by
denouncing God's judgment against their prime seducers (ver. 10).
4. So just is God, He will suffer no impenitent transgressor, however
subtle, to escape His search, or to pass free from the dint of His
avenging stroke, whoever he be for parts, power, or
estimation.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 9. _Reform of Bad Manners._
+I. We must resist and withstand every particular sin.+--One sin is
able to defile the whole life of man. One fly is sufficient to mar a
whole box of sweet ointment. One offence in our first parents brought
corruption on them and all mankind; yea, on heaven and earth.
+II. We must endeavour to the utmost to cut off every bad example in
the societies of men.+--One bad example is sufficient to corrupt a
whole family, a town, a country. A wicked example, being suffered,
spreads abroad and does much hurt.
+III. We are to withstand and cut off the first beginnings and
occasions of sin.+--We say of arrant thieves they began to practise
their wickedness in pins and points. For this cause, idleness,
excessive eating, drinking and swilling, riot, and vanity in apparel
are to be suppressed in every society as the breeder of many
vices.--_Perkins._
Ver. 11. _The Perversion of Apostolic Preaching._--There are two
attempts or resolves in constant operation as to the cross. One is
man's, to accommodate to human liking and taste; the second is God's,
to raise human liking and taste to it.
+I. The aim of man.+--The following may be named as the principal
exceptions taken to the cross by those who rejected it:--
1. _It was an improbable medium of revelation._--Man can talk loudly
how God should manifest Himself. Shall the cross be the oracle by
which He will speak His deepest counsels to our race?
2. _It was a stigma on this religion which set it in disadvantageous
contrast with every other._--It was unheard of that the vilest of all
deaths should give its absolute character to religion, and that this
religion of the cross should triumph over all.
3. _It was a violent disappointment of a general hope._--There was a
desire of all nations. And was all that the earliest lay rehearsed,
all that the highest wisdom enounced, only to be wrought out in the
shameful cross?
4. _It was a humiliating test._--Ambition, selfishness, insincerity,
licentiousness, ferocity, pride, felt that it was encircled with an
atmosphere in which they were instantly interrupted and condemned.
Man is desirous of doing this away as a wrongful and unnecessary
impression. He would make the offence of the cross to cease: (1) By
fixing it upon some extrinsic authority. (2) By torturing it into
coalition with foreign principles. (3) By transforming the character
of its religious instructions. (4) By applying it to inappropriate
uses. (5) By excluding its proper connections.
+II. The procedure of God.+--1. _It is necessary, if we would receive
the proper influence of the cross, that we be prepared to hail it as
a distinct revelation._ Science and the original ethics of our nature
do not fall within the distinct province of what a revelation
intends. Its strict purpose, its proper idea, is to make known that
which is not known, and which could not be otherwise known. Not more
directly did the elemental light proceed from God who called it out
of darkness than did the making known to man of redemption by the
blood of the cross.
2. _When we rightly appreciate the cross, we recognize it as the
instrument of redemption._--This was the mode of death indicated by
prophecy. The cross stands for that death; but it is an idle,
unworthy superstition that this mode of death wrought the stupendous
end. It is only an accessory. We must look further into the mystery.
"He His own self bore our sin in His own body on the tree." It is
that awful identity, that mysterious action, which expiates, and not
the rood.
3. _When our mind approves this method of salvation, it finds in the
cross the principle of sanctification._--A new element of thought, a
new complexion of motive, enter the soul when the Holy Spirit shows
to it the things of Christ. We are new creatures. We reverse all our
sins and desires. We are called unto holiness. (1) Mark the
_process._ We had hitherto abided in death. But now we are quickened
with Him. (2) Mark the _necessity._ Until we be brought nigh to it,
until we take hold of it, the doctrine of the crucified Saviour is an
unintelligible and uninteresting thing. (3) Mark the _effect._ There
is a suddenly, though a most intelligently, developed charm. It is
the infinite of attraction. All concentrates on it. It absorbs the
tenderness and the majesty of the universe. It is full of glory. Our
heart has now yielded to it, is drawn, is held, coheres, coalesces,
is itself impregnated by the sacred effluence. The offence of the
cross has ceased.--_R. W. Hamilton._
Ver. 12. _Church Censure._--The spirit of error may so far prevail
among a people that discipline can hardly attain its end--the shaming
of the person censured, and the preservation of the Church from being
leavened. In which case the servants of God should proceed with slow
pace, and in all lenity and wisdom, and should rather doctrinally
declare the censures deserved than actually inflict the censure
itself.
_Judgment on the Troubles of the Church._
+I. God watches over His Church with a special providence.+
+II. The doctrine of the apostles is of infallible certainty+
because the oppugners of it are plagued with the just judgment
of God.
+III. Our duty is to pray for the good estate of the Church of God,+
and for the kingdoms where the Church is planted.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13-18.
_Love the Highest Law of Christian Liberty._
+I. Love preserves liberty from degenerating into licence.+--"Only
use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh" (ver. 13). Christian
liberty is a great boon, but it also a solemn responsibility. It is
hard to win and is worth the most gigantic struggle; but the moment
it is abused it is lost. Men clamour for liberty when they mean
licence--licence to indulge their unholy passions unchecked by the
restraints of law. Christian liberty is not the liberty of the flesh,
but of the Spirit, and love is the master-principle that governs and
defines all its exercises.
"He is the freeman whom the truth makes free,
And all are slaves besides."
We know no truth, no privilege, no power, no blessing, no right,
which is not abused. But is liberty to be denied to men because they
often turn it into licentiousness? There are two freedoms--the false,
where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where a man is
free to do what he ought. Love is the safeguard of the highest
liberty.
+II. Love is obedience to the highest law.+--"For all the law is
fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself" (ver. 14). "By love serve one another" (ver. 13). We may be
as orthodox as Athanasius and as scrupulous as Jerome, we may be
daily and ostentatiously building to God seven altars and offering a
bullock and a ram on every altar, and yet be as sounding brass and as
a clanging cymbal, if our life shows only the leaves of profession
without the golden fruit of action. If love shows not itself by deeds
of love, then let us not deceive ourselves. God is not mocked; our
Christianity is heathenism, and our religion a delusion and a sham.
Love makes obedience delightful, esteems it bondage to be prevented,
liberty to be allowed to serve.
"Serene will be our days and bright,
And happy will our nature be,
When love is an unerring light,
And joy its own security."--_Wordsworth._
+III. Love prevents the mutual destructiveness of a contentious
spirit.+--"But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye
be not consumed one of another" (ver. 15). The condition of the
Galatians at this time was very different from the ideal Paul set
before them. The quick, warm temperament of the Gauls was roused by
the Judaistic controversy, and their natural combativeness was
excited. It was easy to pick a quarrel with them at any time, and
they were eloquent in vituperation and invective. The "biting"
describes the wounding and exasperating effect of the manner in which
their contentions were carried on; "devour" warns them of its
destructiveness. If this state of things continued, the Churches of
Galatia would cease to exist. Their liberty would end in complete
disintegration. Love is the remedy propounded for all ills--the love
of Christ, leading to the love of each other. Love not only cures
quarrels but prevents them.
+IV. Love by obeying the law of the Spirit gains the victory in the
feud between the flesh and the Spirit.+--"Walk in the Spirit, and ye
shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh: . . . these are contrary the
one to the other" (vers. 16, 17). The flesh and the Spirit are
rivals, and by their natures must be opposed to and strive with each
other. The strong man is dispossessed by a stronger than he--the
Spirit. The master must rule the slave. "This soul of mine must rule
this body of mine," said John Foster, "or quit it." The life of a
Christian is lived in a higher sphere and governed by a higher
law--walking in the Spirit. Christianity says, "Be a man, not a
brute. Not do as many fleshly things as you can but do as many
spiritual things as you can." All prohibitions are negative. You
can't kill an appetite by starvation. You may kill the flesh by
living in the higher region of the Spirit; not merely by ceasing to
live in sin, but by loving Christ. The more we live the spiritual
life, the more sin becomes impossible. Conquest over the sensual is
gained, not by repression, but by the freer, purer life of love.
+V. Love emancipates from the trammels of the law.+--"If ye be led by
the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (ver. 18). The Spirit of love
does not abolish the law, but renders it harmless by fulfilling all
its requirements, without being compelled to it by its stern
commands. Law does not help the soul to obey its behests, but it has
nothing to say, nothing to threaten, when those behests are obeyed.
To be under the law is to be under sin; but yielding to the influence
of the Spirit, and living according to His law, the soul is free from
sin and from the condemnation of the law. Freedom from sin, and
freedom from the trammels of the Mosaic law--these two liberties are
virtually one. Love is the great emancipator from all moral tyrannies.
+Lessons.+--1. _Love is in harmony with the holiest law._ 2. _Love
silences all contention._ 3. _Love honours law by obeying it._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 13, 14. _The Service of Love_--
+I. Is the noblest exercise of Christian liberty+ (ver. 13).
+II. Preserves Christian liberty from degenerating into selfish
indulgence+ (ver. 13).
+III. Is the fulfilment of the highest law+ (ver. 14).
Ver. 13. _The Abuse of Christian Liberty._
+I. To use it as an occasion of fleshly and carnal liberty.+--When
men make more things indifferent than God ever made. Thus, all abuses
of meat, drink, apparel, rioting, gaming, dicing, and carding are
excused by the names of things indifferent.
+II. Our liberty is abused by an immoderate use of the gifts of
God.+--1. Many gentlemen and others offend when they turn recreation
into an occupation. 2. When men exceed in eating and drinking.
3. They offend who, being mean persons and living by trades, yet for
diet and apparel are as great gentlemen and gentlewomen.
+III. Liberty is abused when the blessings of God are made
instruments and flags and banners to display our riot, vanity,
ostentation, and pride.+--It is the fashion of men to take unto
themselves a toleration of sinning. Some presume on the patience of
God, others on the election of grace, and others on the mercy of God.
A certain dweller in Cambridge made away with himself. In his bosom
was found a writing to this effect: that God did show mercy on great
and desperate sinners, and therefore he hoped for mercy though he
hanged himself. Of this mind are many ignorant persons, who persevere
in their sins, yet persuade themselves of mercy.--_Perkins._
_The Right Use of Christian Liberty._
+I. We ourselves must be renewed and sanctified.+--The person must
first please God before the action can please Him.
+II. Besides the lawful use of the creatures we must have a spiritual
and holy use of them.+--1. The creatures of God must be sanctified by
the Word and prayer. 2. We must be circumspect lest we sin in the use
of the creatures. In these days there is no feasting or rejoicing
unless all memory of God be buried, for that is said to breed
melancholy. 3. We must use the gifts of God with thanksgiving. 4. We
must suffer ourselves to be limited and moderate in the use of our
liberty. 5. Our liberty must be used for right ends--the glory of
God, the preservation of nature, and the good of our neighbour.
+III. We must give no occasion of sinning by means of Christian
liberty.+--_Ibid._
Ver. 14. _The Law fulfilled in Love to Others._
+I. The end of man's life is to serve God in serving others.+
+II. True godliness is to love and serve God in serving man.+--To
live out of all society of men, though it be in prayer and fasting in
monkish fashion, is no state of perfection, but mere superstition.
That is true and perfect love of God that is showed in duties of love
and in the edification of our neighbour. It is not enough for thee to
be holy in church; thou mayest be a saint in church and a devil at
home.--_Ibid._
_Regard for a Neighbour's Rights._--Speaking of the early American
prairie settlements a modern historian says: "Theft was almost
unknown. The pioneers brought with them the same rigid notions of
honesty which they had previously maintained. A man in Mancoupin
county left his waggon loaded with corn stuck in the prairie mud for
two weeks near a frequented road. When he returned he found some of
his corn gone, but there was money enough tied in the sacks to pay
for what was taken."
Ver. 15. _Church Quarrels._--1. When schism in a Church is not only
maintained on the one hand with passion, strife, reproaches, and real
injuries, but also impugned on the other hand, not so much with the
sword of the Spirit as with the same fleshly means, then is it the
forerunner and procuring cause of desolation and ruin to both parties
and to the whole Church. 2. As it is a matter of great difficulty to
make men of credit and parts, being once engaged in contentious
debates, to foresee the consequence of their doing so further than
the hoped-for victory against the contrary party, so it were no small
wisdom, before folk meddle with strife, seriously to consider what
woeful effects may follow to the Church of God.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 16. _The Positiveness of the Divine Life._
+I. There are two ways of dealing with every vice.+--One is to set to
work directly to destroy the vice; that is the negative way. The
other is to bring in as overwhelmingly as possible the opposite
virtue, and so to crowd and stifle and drown out the vice; that is
the positive way. Everywhere the negative and positive methods of
treatment stand over against each other, and men choose between them.
A Church is full of errors and foolish practices. It is possible to
attack those follies outright, showing conclusively how foolish they
are; or it is possible, and it is surely better, to wake up the true
spiritual life in that Church which shall itself shed those follies
and cast them out, or at least rob them of their worst harmfulness.
The application of the same principle is seen in matters of taste,
matters of reform, and in matters of opinion.
+II. In St. Paul and in all the New Testament there is nothing more
beautiful than the clear, open, broad way in which the positive
culture of human character is adopted and employed.+--We can conceive
of a God standing over His moral creatures, and, whenever they did
anything wrong, putting a heavy hand on the malignant manifestation
and stifling it, and so at last bringing them to a tight, narrow,
timid goodness--the God of repression. The God of the New Testament
is not that. We can conceive of another God who shall lavish and pour
upon His children the chances and temptations to be good; in every
way shall make them see the beauty of goodness; shall so make life
identical with goodness that every moment spent in wickedness shall
seem a waste, almost a death; shall so open His Fatherhood and make
it real to them that the spontaneousness of the Father's holiness is
re-echoed in the child; not the God of restraint, but the God whose
symbols are the sun, the light, the friend, the fire--everything that
is stimulating, everything that fosters, encourages, and helps. When
we read in the New Testament, lo, that is the God whose story is
written there, the God whose glory we see in the face of Jesus
Christ. The distinction is everywhere. Not merely by trying not to
sin, but by entering further and further into the new life in which,
when it is completed, sin becomes impossible; not by merely weeding
out wickedness, but by a new and supernatural cultivation of
holiness, does the saint of the New Testament walk on the
ever-ascending pathway of growing Christliness and come at last
perfectly to Christ.
+III. This character of the New Testament must be at bottom in
conformity with human nature.+--The Bible and its Christianity are
not in contradiction against the nature of the man they try to save.
They are at war with his corruptions, and, in his own interest, they
are for ever labouring to assert and re-establish his true self.
Man's heart is always rebelling against repression as a continuous
and regular thing. There is a great human sense that not suppression,
but expression is the true life. It is the self-indulgence of the
highest and not the self-surrender of the lowest that is the great
end of the Gospel. The self-sacrifice of the Christian is always an
echo of the self-sacrifice of Christ. Nothing can be more unlike the
repressive theories of virtue in their methods and results than the
way in which Christ lived His positive life, full of force and
salvation. The way to get out of self-love is to love God. "Walk in
the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the
flesh."--_Phillips Brooks._
_The Flesh and the Spirit._
I. When St. Paul talks of man's flesh +he means by it man's body,
man's heart and brain, and all his bodily appetites and powers+--what
we call a man's constitution, the animal part of man. Man is an
animal with an immortal spirit in it, and this spirit can feel more
than pleasure and pain; it can feel trust, hope, peace, love, purity,
nobleness, independence, and, above all, it can feel right and wrong.
There is the infinite difference between an animal and man, between
our flesh and our spirit; an animal has no sense of right and wrong.
+II. There has been many a man in this life, who had every fleshly
enjoyment which this world can give, and yet whose spirit was in hell
all the while, and who knew it;+ hating and despising himself for a
mean, selfish villain, while all the world round was bowing down to
him and envying him as the luckiest of men. A man's flesh can take no
pleasure in spiritual things, while man's spirit of itself can take
no pleasure in fleshly things. Wickedness, like righteousness, is a
spiritual thing. If a man sins, his body is not in fault; it is his
spirit, his weak, perverse will, which will sooner listen to what his
flesh tells him is pleasant than to what God tells him is right. This
is the secret of the battle of life.
+III. Because you are all fallen creatures there must go on in you
this sore lifelong battle between your spirit and your flesh+--your
spirit trying to be master and guide, and your flesh rebelling and
trying to conquer your spirit and make you a mere animal, like a fox
in cunning, a peacock in vanity, or a hog in greedy sloth. It is your
sin and your shame if your spirit does not conquer your flesh, for
God has promised to help your spirit. Ask Him, and His Spirit will
fill you with pure, noble hopes, with calm, clear thoughts, and with
deep, unselfish love to God and man; and instead of being the
miserable slave of your own passions, and of the opinions of your
neighbours, you will find that where the Spirit of the Lord is there
is liberty, true freedom, not only from your neighbours' sins, but,
what is far better, freedom from your own.--_C. Kingsley._
_Walking in the Spirit._
+I. The Spirit is a Divine nature, quality, or condition whereby we
are made conformable to Christ.+--1. _It is a rich and liberal grace
of God._ It contains the seeds of all virtues. 2. _Its largeness._
The Spirit is in all the powers of them who are regenerate in mind,
conscience, will, affections, and in the sensual appetite. 3. _Its
sincerity._ The grace of God is without falsehood or guile. 4. _Its
excellency._ The spirit of grace in Christians is more excellent than
the grace of creation, in respect of the beginning thereof, and in
respect of constancy. 5. _Its liveliness,_ whereby the Spirit is
effectual in operation. (1) The Spirit works in and by the Word of
God. (2) Works by degrees, to make us feel our need of Christ, and to
kindle in us a desire for reconciliation with God. (3) Works to write
the law in our hearts.
+II. Walking in the Spirit is to order our lives according to the
direction and motion of the Spirit.+--1. _The Spirit renews our
nature._ (1) Makes us put a further beginning to our actions than
nature can, causing us to do them in faith. (2) To do our actions in
a new manner, in obedience to the Word. (3) Makes us put on a new end
to our actions--to intend and desire to honour God. 2. _We must
become spiritual men._ Must do things lawful in a spiritual manner.
3. _We must not judge any man's estate before God by any one or some
few actions,_ good or bad, but by his walking, by the course of his
life.--_Perkins._
Ver. 17. _The Strife of the Flesh and Spirit._
+I. Man, under the influence of corruption, is called flesh.+--He may
be said to be a spiritual being because he is possessed of an
immortal spirit; but the term flesh seems to be awfully appropriate,
because he is wholly and exclusively under the dominion of matter. In
the text it implies the evil principle that inhabits the bosom of
man. It is the mighty autocrat of humanity in the wreck of the Fall.
Sin is such a mighty monster that none can bind him in fetters of
iron and imprison him but God Himself. In the operation of weaving,
different materials cross each other in the warp and woof in order to
make one whole, and this is the case with the family of heaven here
below. Sin and grace are perpetually crossing each other.
+II. The spiritual offspring which is born of God is called the new
man.+--It is the junior offspring, the junior disposition, the
offspring of the second Adam. Corruption has its root only in
humanity. Not so with grace. This springs alone from God. The new man
lives in Him; his head is above the skies, his feet lower than hell;
and the reason why he is destined to be conqueror is that he fights
in and under the inspiration of Heaven.
+III. These two principles are in a state of ceaseless warfare, ever
opposed to each other.+--They are like two armies, sometimes
encamped, at others engaged in terrible conflict; but, whether
apparently engaged or not, each seeks the destruction of the other
perpetually. They are and must be ever opposed, till one fall; one
must perish and the other live eternally. Where there is no conflict
there can be no grace.
+IV. Consider the wisdom and valour evinced by this new
principle.+--It is illumined by the Spirit and by the truth of God.
The sun does not give me an eye. God alone can confer this organ; yet
it is equally true my eye must attain its full vigour in the light of
the sun: so the external means are necessary to teach us what God is,
and to develop all the principles of the new man, to clothe it with
the panoply of Deity, and to lead it on from battle to battle, and
from victory to victory, till the last battle is eventually fought,
the last victory won, and the fruits of triumph enjoyed for
ever.--_William Howels._
Ver. 18. _The Leading of the Spirit._--1. The new man performs the
office of guide to the godly in all actions truly spiritual. (1) As
it is ruled by the Word, which is the external light and lantern to
direct our steps. (2) The work of grace itself is the internal light
whereby the regenerate man spiritually understands the things of God.
(3) The same work of grace being actuated by the continual supply of
exciting grace from the Spirit is a strengthening guide to all
spiritual actions. 2. The natural man is so much a slave to his
sinful lusts that the things appointed by God to curb and make them
weaker are so far from bringing this about that his lusts are thereby
enraged and made more violent. The rigidity of the law, which tends
to restrain sin, is turned by the unregenerate man into an occasion
for fulfilling his lusts.--_Fergusson._
_The Guidance of the Spirit._
+I. Preservation,+ whereby the Holy Ghost maintains the gift of
regeneration in them that are regenerate.
+II. Co-operation,+ whereby the will of God, as the first cause,
works together with the regenerate will of man, as the second cause.
Without this co-operation, man's will brings forth no good action; no
more than the tree which is apt to bring forth fruit yields fruit
indeed till it have the co-operation of the sun, and that in the
proper season of the year.
+III. Direction,+ whereby the Spirit of God ordereth and establisheth
the mind, will, and affections in good duties.
+IV. Excitation,+ whereby the Spirit stirs and still moves the will
and mind after they are regenerate, because the grace of God is
hindered and oppressed by the flesh.
+V. Privilege of believers not to be subject to the ceremonial
law.+--"Ye are not under the law." Not under the law respecting its
curse and condemnation, though we are all under law, as it is the
rule of good life.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-21.
_The Works of the Flesh_--
+I. Are offensively obtrusive.+--"Now the works of the flesh are
manifest" (ver. 19). Sin, though at first committed in secret, will
by-and-by work to the surface and advertise itself with shameless
publicity. The rulers of the civilised world in the first century of
the Christian era, such as Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Domitian, are
the execration of history as monsters of vice and cruelty. Their
enormities would have been impossible if the people they governed had
not been equally corrupt. It is the nature of evil to develop a
terrible energy the more it is indulged, and its works are apparent
in every possible form of wickedness. "Every man blameth the devil
for his sins; but the great devil, the house-devil of every man that
eateth and lieth in every man's bosom, is that idol which killeth
all--himself."
+II. Furnish a revolting catalogue.+--The sins enumerated may be
grouped into four classes:--
1. _Sensual passions._--"Adultery [omitted in the oldest MSS.],
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness" (ver. 19). _Fornication_
was practically universal. Few were found, even among severe
moralists, to condemn it. It is a prostitution of the physical nature
which Jesus Christ wore and still wears, which He claims for the
temple of His Spirit, and will raise from the dead to share His
immortality. _Uncleanness_ is the general quality of licentiousness,
and includes whatever is contaminating in word or look, in gesture or
in dress, in thought or sentiment. _Lasciviousness_ is uncleanness
open and shameless. It is the final loathsome analysis of the works
of the flesh.
2. _Unlawful dealing in things spiritual._--"Idolatry, witchcraft
[sorcery]," (ver. 20). _Idolatry_ and sensuality have always been
closely related. Some of the most popular pagan systems were
purveyors of lust and lent to it the sanctions of religion. When man
loses the true conception of God he becomes degraded. _Sorcery_ is
closely allied to idolatry. A low, naturalistic notion of the Divine
lends itself to immoral purposes. Men try to operate upon it by
material causes, and to make it a partner in evil. Magical charms are
made the instruments of unholy indulgence.
3. _Violations of brotherly love._--"Hatred [enmities], variance
[strife], emulations [jealousies], wrath [ragings], strife
[factions], seditions [divisions], heresies [keen controversial
partisanship], envyings, murders" (vers. 20, 21). A horrible progeny
of evils having their source in a fruitful hotbed of unreasoning
hatred, each vice preying upon and feeding the other. Settled rancour
is the worst form of contentiousness. It nurses its revenge, waiting,
like Shylock, for the time when it shall "feed fat its ancient
grudge."
4. _Intemperate excesses._--"Drunkenness, revellings, and such like"
(ver. 21). These are the vices of a barbarous people. Our Teutonic
and Celtic forefathers were alike prone to this kind of excess. The
Greeks were a comparatively sober people. The Romans were more
notorious for gluttony than for hard drinking. The practice of
seeking pleasure in intoxication is a remnant of savagery which
exists to a shameful extent in our own country. With Europe turned
into one vast camp, and its nations groaning audibly under the weight
of their armaments, with hordes of degrading women infesting the
streets of its cities, with discontent and social hatred smouldering
throughout its industrial populations, we have small reason to boast
of the triumphs of modern civilisation. Better circumstances do not
make better men (_Findlay_).
+III. Exclude the sinner from the kingdom of God.+--"They which do
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (ver. 21). How poor
life seems outside that kingdom! How beautiful and glorious inside
its gates! If I tried to tell you how Christ brings us there, I
should repeat to you once more the old familiar story. He comes and
lives and dies and rises again for us. He touches us with gratitude.
He sets before our softened lives His life. He makes us see the
beauty of holiness and the strength of the spiritual life in Him. He
transfers His life to us through the open channel of faith, and so we
come to live as He lives, by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God. How old the story is, but how endlessly fresh and true
to him whose own career it describes (_Phillips Brooks_). Exclusion
from the kingdom of God is man's own act; it is self-exclusion. He
_will not_ enter in; he loves darkness rather than light.
+Lessons.+--1. _Sin is an active principle whose works are
perniciously evident._ 2. _Sin is the primal cause of every possible
vice._ 3. _Sin persisted in involves moral ruin._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 19-21. _Biblical Account of Sin._--A mournful catalogue of
words, based on a great variety of images, is employed in Scripture
to describe the state of sinfulness which man inherits from his
birth. Sometimes it is set forth as the _missing of a mark or aim_;
sometimes as the _transgressing of a line_--the word occurs seven
times in the New Testament and is twice applied to Adam's Fall (Rom.
v. 14; 1 Tim. ii. 14); sometimes as _disobedience to a voice, i.e._
to hear carelessly, to take no need of--the word occurs three times
(Rom. v. 19; 2 Cor. x. 6; Heb. ii. 2); sometimes as _ignorance of
what we ought to have done_ (Heb. ix. 7); sometimes as _a defect or
discomfiture_--to be worsted, because, as Gerhard says, "A sinner
yields to, is worsted by, the temptations of the flesh and of Satan";
sometimes as _a debt_ (Matt. vi. 12); sometimes as _disobedience to
law_--the word occurs fourteen times in the New Testament and is
generally translated by "iniquity." The last figure employed in the
most general definition of sin given in the New Testament--_sin is
the transgression of the law_ (1 John iii. 4).--_Trench and Maclear._
_The Works of the Flesh._
+I. Sins against chastity.+--Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
wantonness. 1. We must stock up the root of these things, mortify the
passion of concupiscence. 2. All occasions of these sins must be cut
off, two especially, idleness and the pampering of the body. 3. All
signs of these vices must be avoided, any speech or action that may
give suspicion of incontinent disposition, as light talk, wanton
behaviour, curiousness and excess in trimming of the body, suspected
company.
+II. Sins against religion.+--Idolatry, witchcraft, heresies.
+III. Sins against charity.+--Enmity, debate, emulations, anger,
contention, seditions.
+IV. Sins against temperance.+--Drunkenness, gluttony. 1. We may use
meat and drink not only for necessity, but also for delight. 2. That
measure of meat and drink which in our experience makes us fit both
in body and mind for the service of God and the duties of our calling
is convenient and lawful. To be given to drinking and to love to sit
by the cup, when there is no drunkenness, is a sin. Drunkenness:
(1) Destroys the body. (2) Hurts the mind. (3) Vile imaginations and
affections that are in men when they are drunk remain in them when
they are sober, so being sober they are drunk in
affection.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 22-26.
_The Fruit of the Spirit_--
+I. Is evident in manifold Christian virtues.+--1. _Virtues
describing a general state of heart._ "The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace" (ver. 22). _Love_ is foremost of the group of
Christian graces, and gives a nameless charm to all the rest, for
there is an element of love in all true goodness. Love derives its
power from being in the first place, love to God. When the soul
centres its affection in God through Christ all its outgoings are
influenced and regulated accordingly. _Joy_ is the product of love. A
philosophy or religion which has no room for the joy and pleasure of
man is as little conversant with the wants of man as with the will of
God. "Joy in the Lord quickens and elevates, while it cleanses all
other emotions. It gives a new glow to life. It sheds a Diviner
meaning, a brighter aspect, over the common face of earth and sky.
Joy is the beaming countenance, the elastic step, the singing voice,
of Christian goodness." _Peace_ is the holy calm breathed into the
soul by a pardoning God. It is the gift of Christ, giving rest to the
soul in the midst of external agitations. "It is a settled quiet of
the heart, a deep, brooding mystery that 'passeth all understanding,'
the stillness of eternity entering the spirit, the Sabbath of God. It
is the calm, unruffled brow, the poised and even temper which
Christian goodness wears."
2. _Virtues exercised in the Christian's intercourse with his
neighbour._--"Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness." Charity suffereth
long. The heart at peace with God has patience with men.
_Longsuffering_ is the patient magnanimity of Christian goodness, the
broad shoulders on which it "beareth all things." _Gentleness_ (or
kindness, as the word is more frequently and better rendered)
resembles longsuffering in finding its chief objects in the evil and
unthankful. But while the latter is passive and self-contained,
kindness is an active, busy virtue. It is the thoughtful insight, the
delicate tact, the gentle ministering hand of charity. Linked with
kindness comes _goodness,_ which is its other self, differing from it
as only twin sisters may, each fairer for the beauty of the other.
Goodness is perhaps more affluent, more catholic in its bounty;
kindness more delicate and discriminating. Goodness is the honest,
generous face, the open hand of charity (_Findlay_).
3. _Virtues indicating the principles which regulate the Christian's
life._--"Faith [honesty, trustworthiness], meekness, temperance"
(vers. 22, 23). The _faith_ that unites man to God in turn joins man
to his fellows. Faith in the divine Fatherhood becomes trust in the
human brotherhood. He who doubts every one is even more deceived than
the man who blindly confides in every one. Trustfulness is the warm,
firm clasp of friendship, the generous and loyal homage which
goodness ever pays to goodness. _Meekness_ is the other side of
faith. It is not tameness and want of spirit; it comports with the
highest courage and activity and is a qualification for public
leadership. It is the content and quiet mien, the willing
self-effacement, that is the mark of Christ-like goodness.
_Temperance,_ or self-control, is the third of Plato's cardinal
virtues. Temperance is a practised mastery of self. It covers the
whole range of moral discipline and concerns every sense and passion
of our nature. It is the guarded step, the sober, measured walk in
which Christian goodness keeps the way of life, and makes straight
paths for stumbling and straying feet (_Ibid._).
+II. Violates no law.+--"Against such there is no law" (ver. 23;
comp. ver. 18). The fruit of the Spirit is love; and the law, so far
from being against love, commands it (ver. 14). The practice of love
and all its works is the fulfilling of the law and disarms it of all
terror. The expression, "Against such there is no law," so far from
being more than superfluous, as Hoffman asserts, is intended to make
evident how it is that, by virtue of this, their moral frame, those
who are led by the Spirit are not subject to the Mosaic law. For
whosoever is so constituted that a law is not against him, over such
a one the law has no power.
+III. Indicates the reality of a great spiritual change.+--1. _The
old self-hood is crucified._ "They that are Christ's have crucified
the flesh" (ver. 24). This well expresses how sin must, little by
little, be disabled and slain, for the crucified man did not die at
once. He was first made fast with nails to the cross, and then kept
there, till through hunger and thirst and loss of blood he became
weaker and weaker, and finally died. We are to be executioners,
dealing cruelly with the body of sin which caused the acting of all
cruelties on the body of Christ.
2. _A new law now regulates the life._--"If we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit" (ver. 25). The life is governed, not
by the law of the flesh, but of the Spirit. The electrician can
demagnetise and remagnetise a bar of iron, but the biologist cannot
devitalise a plant or an animal and revivify it again. Spiritual life
is not a visit from a force, but a resident tenant in the soul. The
Spirit who created the life within sustains it and directs all its
outgoings.
3. _Everything provocative of strife and envy is carefully
avoided._--"Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one
another, envying one another" (ver. 26). Vaingloriousness was a
weakness of the Galatic temperament; and is not unknown in modern
Christian life. Superiority, or fancied superiority, in talents or
status is apt to proudly display itself. It is indeed a pitiable
exhibition when even spiritual gifts are made matter of ostentation,
exciting the jealousy of inferior brethren, and creating discontent
and envy. The cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit is the best
remedy against all bitterness and strife.
+Lessons.+--1. _The fruit of the Spirit a suggestive contrast to the
works of the flesh._ 2. _Consistency of life is the test of genuine
religion._ 3. _The operations of the Spirit are in harmony with the
highest law._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 22, 23. _The Fruit of the Spirit._
+I. Love.+--1. The love of God. (1) Shown in a desire of fellowship
with God. (2) To love the Word of God above all earthly treasure, and
to tread our own will underfoot. (3) The love of them that love God
and Christ. 2. The love of our neighbour. This is love indeed, to
show love and to do good to them that wrong and abuse us.
+II. Joy.+--1. To rejoice in the true acknowledgment of God. 2. To
rejoice in the work of our regeneration. 3. To rejoice in the hope of
eternal glory.
+III. Peace.+--To maintain peace and concord: 1. Neither take offence
nor give offence. 2. Seek to edify one another; either do good or
take good.
+IV. Longsuffering.+--To moderate our anger and desire of revenge
when many and great wrongs are done us. Set and sow this plant in the
furrows of your heart, and consider: 1. The goodness of God, who
forgives more to us than we can forgive. 2. It is the duty of love to
suffer and forbear. 3. It is a point of injustice to revenge
ourselves, for then we take to ourselves the honour of God, and
against all equity--we are the parties and judge and witness and all.
4. We are often ignorant of the mind of men in their actions, and of
the true circumstances thereof, and so may easily be deceived.
+V. Gentleness.+--Right courtesy is with an honest heart to bless
when we are wronged.
+VI. Goodness.+--The virtue whereby we communicate to others good
things, for their good and benefit.
+VII. Faith.+--Faith towards man, which means: 1. To speak the truth
from the heart. 2. To be faithful and just in the keeping of our
honest promise and word. This faith a rare virtue in these days. The
common fashion of them that live by bargaining is to use glorying,
facing, soothing, lying, dissembling, and all manner of shifts. They
that deal with chapmen shall hardly know what is truth, they have so
many words and so many shifts.
+VIII. Meekness.+--The same in effect with longsuffering. The
difference is that meekness is more general, and longsuffering the
highest degree of meekness.
+IX. Temperance.+--The moderation of lust and appetite in the use of
the gifts and creatures of God. 1. We must use moderation in meats
and drinks. That measure of meat and drink which serves to refresh
nature and make us fit for the service of God and man is allowed us
of God and no more. 2. We must use moderation in the getting of
goods. 3. In the spending of our goods--contrary to the fashion of
many who spend their substance in feasting and company, and keep
their wives and children bare at home. 4. In our apparel. To apparel
ourselves according to our sex, according to the received fashion of
our country, according to our place and degree, and according to our
ability.
+X. Against such virtues there is no law.+--1. No law to condemn.
2. No law to compel obedience. Spiritual men freely obey God, as if
there were no law; they are a voluntary and free people, serving God
without restraint.--_Perkins._
Ver. 22. _Love an Attendant of Regeneration._--1. Love is a delight
in happiness. 2. Is universal. 3. Is just. 4. Is disinterested. 5. Is
an active principle. 6. Is the only voluntary cause of happiness.
7. Is the only equitable spirit towards God and our fellow-creatures.
8. Is the only disposition which can be approved or loved by
God.--_Dr. Dwight._
_The Powers of Love._--If these be the fruit of the Spirit, they
cannot be mere matters of temperament. When philosophy gives an
account of the human soul it can find only constitutional
propensities and voluntary acquisitions. When we interrogate
Christianity, we are told besides of communicated sanctities, states
of mind which inheritance cannot give or resolution command, which
need some touch of God to wake them up, which are above us and yet
ours, and seem to lie on the borderland of communion between the
finite and the infinite Spirit.
+I. There is humane love,+ which constitutes the humblest and most
frequent form of unselfish feeling. It finds its objects among the
miserable and attaches itself to them in proportion to their woes. In
human pity there is a strange combination of repulsion and
attraction, which it is the paradox of philosophy to state, and the
mercy of God to ordain; it cannot endure the sight of wretchedness,
and yet can never leave it. But there is a work ordained for us which
this impulse will not suffice to do. Fastening itself on suffering
alone, it sees nothing else. Yet beneath the smooth and glossy
surface of easy life there may hide itself many an inward disease
which the mere glance of pity does not discern. Flourishing iniquity
that gives no seeming pain it lets alone; invisible corruption may
spread without arrest.
+II. There is imaginative or æsthetic love,+ which attaches itself to
objects in proportion as they are beautiful, kindles the enthusiasm
of art, and completes itself in the worship of genius. Yet is this
affection very barren until thrown into the midst of others to
harmonise and glorify them. No reciprocal sympathy is requisite to
this sentiment; that which is admired as beautiful does not admire in
return. And above all there is a direct tendency to turn with
indifference or even merciless repugnance from what is unlovely.
+III. There is moral love,+ which has reference to persons only, not
to things, which attaches itself to them in proportion as they are
good, judges them by the standard of an internal law, and expresses
itself in tones, not of tenderness as in pity, or of admiration as in
the trance of beauty, but of grave and earnest approval. Even this
moral love is not without imperfections. Its characteristic sentiment
of approbation has always in it a certain patronising air not welcome
to the mercy of a true heart, and more like the rigour of a Zeno than
the grace of Christ.
+IV. There is a Divine love,+ directed first upon God Himself, and
thence drawn into the likeness of His own love, and going forth upon
other natures in proportion to their worth and claims. This is the
crowning and calming term of all prior affections, presupposing them,
and lifting them up from clashing and unrest to harmony and peace.
The humane, the beautiful, the right, remain only scattered elements
of good till they are gathered into the Divine and blended into one
by the combining love of God.--_Dr. Martineau._
_Love the Perfection of Character._--The fruit of the _true_ vine has
been analysed, and in the best specimens nine ingredients are found.
In poor samples there is a deficiency of one or other of these
elements. A dry and diminutive sort is lacking in peace and joy. A
tart kind, which sets the teeth on edge, owes its austerity to its
scanty infusion of gentleness, goodness, and meekness. There is a
watery, deliquescent sort which, for the want of longsuffering, is
not easily preserved; and there is a flat variety which, having no
body of faith or temperance, answers few useful purposes. Love is the
essential principle which is in no case entirely absent, and by the
glistening fulness and rich aroma which its plentiful presence
creates you can recognise the freshest and most generous clusters,
whilst the predominance of some other element gives to each its
distinguishing flavour, and marks the growth of Eshcol, Sibmah, or
Lebanon.--_Dr. James Hamilton._
_The Power of Meekness and Affection._--Once in Holland a person of
high rank invited Tersteegen to be his guest. This individual
imagined himself to have attained to a state of peculiar inward peace
and took occasion during dinner to criticise Tersteegen for being too
active, and for not sufficiently knowing the ground on which he
wrought. Tersteegen attended meekly and silently to all that was
said; and when dinner was over he offered up a fervent prayer in
which he commended his host to the Lord in terms of such affection
and compassion that this great and warm-tempered man was so much
struck and affected by it that his feelings overpowered him, and he
fell upon the neck of his guest and begged his forgiveness.
_Who are the Meek?_--A missionary to Jamaica was once questioning the
little black boys on the meaning of Matt. v. 5, and asked, "Who are
the meek?" A boy answered, "Those who give soft answers to rough
questions."
_The Grace of Gentleness._
+I. It is not a gift, but a grace.+--It is not a natural demeanour,
amiable and courteous, a soft, feminine compliance, but a grace of
the Spirit which takes into it the strength of the Divine. You may
have the instinct of delicacy, a natural tenderness and affability,
yet not have this grace of the Spirit which impels you for Christ's
sake to deal gently and save men. It is the underlying motive which
determines whether grace or nature reigns. How is it when your ideas
and methods of doing good are thwarted? Moses seems to have in
Zipporah what Socrates had in Xantippe, yet her abuse had no more
abiding effect on him than the spray which angry waves toss against
the rock. Calvin hearing of Luther's ire said, "Let him hate me and
call me a devil a thousand times; I will love him and call him a
precious servant of God."
+II. The cultivation of this grace will cost you many a
struggle.+--You are to get the better of your temper on your knees.
No minstrel as in the case of Saul can do the work. We must forgive
in our heart those who offend us.
+III. The grace of gentleness is a queen with a train of
virtues.+--It ennobles our whole nature. An English nobleman could
not be bound to keep the peace, for it was supposed that peace always
kept him. So we should suppose that every professed Christian would
have this grace; but if you should put your ear to the door of some
Christian homes, it would be like listening to a volcano. If you did
not behold a sulphurous flame bursting out, you might hear a
continual grumbling. A man said to me once, "When I see Mr. So-and-so
my passion is bigger than myself, and I long to make him feel it."
The Spirit of Christ leads us to pray for those who despitefully use
us. Only as His temper prevails in us shall we be able to illustrate
the beauty of Divine greatness.--_Homiletic Monthly._
_Constant Joy._--Father Taylor, the Boston sailor-preacher, when
going out to make a call, said to his host on the doorstep, "Laugh
till I get back."
Ver. 24. _Crucifying the Flesh._
+I. What is meant by being Christ's.+--It is to accept of and have an
interest in Christ in His prophetic, kingly, and sacerdotal offices.
By His prophetic office we come to know His will; by His kingly
office, ruling and governing us, we come to yield obedience to that
will; and by His sacerdotal or priestly office we come to receive the
fruit of that obedience in our justification.
+II. What is meant by the flesh.+--The whole entire body of sin and
corruption; that inbred proneness in our nature to all evil,
expressed by concupiscence. 1. _It is called flesh because of its
situation and place, which is principally in the flesh._ 2. _Because
of its close, inseparable nearness to the soul._ 3. _Because of its
dearness to us._ Sin is our darling, our Delilah, the queen-regent of
our affections; it fills all our thoughts, engrosses our desires, and
challenges the service of all our actions. This reveals: (1) The
deplorable state of fallen man. (2) The great difficulty of the duty
of mortification. (3) The mean and sordid employment of every
sinner--he serves the flesh.
+III. What is imported by the crucifixion of the flesh.+--1. _The
death of it._ He that will crucify his sin must pursue it to the very
death. 2. _A violent death._ Sin never dies of age. The conquest need
be glorious, for it will be found by sharp experience that the combat
will be dangerous. 3. _A painful, bitter, and vexatious death._ 4. _A
shameful and cursed death._
+IV. The duty of crucifying the flesh.+--1. _A constant and
pertinacious denying it in all its cravings for satisfaction._
2. _Encounter it by actions of the opposite virtue.--Robert South._
Ver. 25. _Life and Walk in the Spirit._--Life relates to what is
inward, walk to what is outward.
+I. To live in the Spirit.+--1. The Spirit begins the life of God in
the soul. 2. The Spirit gives new desires and changes all the motives
of life. 3. The Spirit lives in us.
+II. To walk in the Spirit.+--1. The walk will follow from the life,
for every kind of life is after its own kind and development.
2. Every outward manifestation will correspond to the inward
principle of life and will be marked by love to God and love to man.
3. Reputation will correspond to character and conduct to life.
+III. To be led by the Spirit.+--1. The Christian's life is a growth,
his walk a progress; but he is led and guided by the Spirit. 2. No
new revelation is made by the Spirit. He leads and guides by what is
written in the Word.
+IV. Learn our relations to the Spirit.+--1. We live under the
Spirit's dispensation. 2. He is the Spirit of God, and so of life,
truth, and authority. 3. He is the Spirit of Christ, and so unites us
to Him. 4. If we live by the Spirit, let conversation and conduct be
answerable thereunto.--_Homiletic Monthly._
_Walking in the Spirit--_
+I. Is to savour the things of the Spirit.+--To subject a man's soul
to the law of God in all the faculties and powers of the soul. The
things revealed in the law are the things of the Spirit, which Spirit
must at no hand be severed from the Word.
+II. To walk in the path of righteousness without offence to God or
man.+
+III. To walk not stragglingly, but orderly by rule, by line and
measure.+--To order ourselves according to the rule and line of the
Word of God. The life of a man will discover to the world what he
is.--_Perkins._
Ver. 26. _Vaingloriousness._
+I. The exciting cause of many quarrels.+
+II. A source of envy and disappointment.+
+III. Unbecoming the dignity and aims of the Christian life.+
_The Vice of Vainglory and its Cure._
+I. Vainglory is a branch of pride,+ wherein men principally refer
all their studies, counsels, endeavours, and gifts to the honouring
and advancing of themselves. They who have received good gifts of God
are often most vainglorious. Whereas all other vices feed upon that
which is evil, this vice of vainglory feeds upon good things. A man
will sometimes be proud even because he is not proud.
+II. The cure of vainglory.+--1. _Meditation._ (1) God resisteth all
proud persons and gives grace to the humble, because the vainglorious
man, seeking himself and not God, robs God of His honour. (2) It is
the work of the devil to puff up the mind with self-liking and
conceit, that thereby he may work man's perdition. (3) There is no
religion in that heart that is wholly bent to seek the praise of men.
The man who desires to be talked of and admired by others gives
notice to the world that his heart is not sound in the sight of God.
2. _Practice._ (1) Endeavour to acknowledge the great majesty of God,
and our own baseness before Him. (2) We ought to ascribe all good
things we have or can do to God alone, and nothing to ourselves.
(3) In all actions and duties of religion we must first endeavour to
approve ourselves to God, and the next place is to be given to man.
(4) When we are reviled we must rest content; when we are praised
take heed. Temptations on the right hand are far more dangerous than
those on the left. (5) Men who are ambitious, if they be crossed,
grow contentious; if they prosper, they are envied by others. Abhor
and detest vainglory; seek to preserve and maintain love.--_Perkins._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER VI.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Overtaken in a fault.+--Be caught red-handed in any
transgression, the result of some sudden and overpowering gust of
evil impulse. +Restore such an one.+--The same word used of a
dislocated limb reduced to its place. Such is the tenderness with
which we should treat a fallen member in restoring him to a better
state. +In the spirit of meekness.+--Meekness is that temper of
spirit towards God whereby we accept His dealings without disputing;
then towards men whereby we endure meekly their provocations, and do
not withdraw ourselves from the burdens which their sins impose upon
us (_Trench_).
Ver. 2. +Bear ye one another's burdens.+--The word is "weights,"
something exceeding the strength of those under them. "One another's"
is strongly emphatic. It is a powerful stroke, as with an axe in the
hand of a giant, at censoriousness or vainglorious egotism. We are
not to think of _self,_ but of one another. To bear the burden of an
erring brother is truly Christ-like. +And so fulfil the law of
Christ.+--If you must needs observe a law, let it be the law of
Christ.
Ver. 3. +He deceiveth himself.+--He is misled by the vapours of his
own vanity, he is self-deceived.
Ver. 4. +Rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.+--In that
his own work stands the test after severe examination, and not that
he is superior to another.
Ver. 6. +Communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.+--Go
shares with him in the good things of this life. While each bears his
own burden he must think of others, especially in ministering out of
his earthly goods to the wants of his spiritual teacher (see 2 Cor.
xi. 7, 11; Phil. iv. 10; 1 Thess. ii. 6, 9; 1 Tim. v. 17, 18).
Ver. 7. +God is not mocked.+--The verb means to sneer with the
nostrils drawn up in contempt. Excuses for illiberality may seem
valid before men but are not so before God.
Ver. 8. +He that soweth to his flesh.+--Unto his own flesh, which is
devoted to selfishness. +Shall reap corruption.+--Destruction, which
is not an arbitrary punishment of fleshly-mindedness, but is its
natural fruit; the corrupt flesh producing corruption, which is
another word for destruction. Corruption is the fault, and corruption
the punishment.
Ver. 9. +Let us not be weary: we shall reap, if we faint
not.+--"Weary" refers to the will; "faint" to relaxation of the
powers. No one should faint, as in an earthly harvest sometimes
happens.
Ver. 11. +Ye see how large a letter I have written with mine own
hand.+--At this point the apostle takes the pen from his amanuensis,
and writes the concluding paragraph with his own hand. Owing to the
weakness of his eyesight he wrote in large letters. He thus gives
emphasis to the importance of the subjects discussed in the epistle.
Ver. 12. +Lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ.+--They would escape the bitterness of the Jews against
Christianity and the offence of the cross, by making the Mosaic law a
necessary preliminary.
Ver. 13. +For neither they themselves keep the law.+--So far are they
from being sincere that they arbitrarily select circumcision out of
the whole law, as though observing it would stand instead of their
non-observance of the rest of the law. +That they may glory in your
flesh.+--That they may vaunt your submission to the carnal rite, and
so gain credit with the Jews for proselytising.
Ver. 14. +God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross.+--The
great object of shame to them, and to all carnal men, is the great
object of glorying to me. +By whom the world is crucified unto
me.+--By His cross, the worst of deaths, Christ has destroyed all
kinds of death. Legal and fleshly ordinances are merely outward and
elements of the world. To be crucified to the world is to be free
from worldliness, and all that makes men slaves to creature
fascinations.
Ver. 15. +But a new creature.+--All external distinctions are
nothing. The cross is the only theme worthy of glorying in, as it
brings about a new spiritual creation.
Ver. 16. +As many as walk according to this rule.+--Of life: a
straight rule to detect crookedness. +Upon the Israel of God.+--Not
the Israel after the flesh, but the spiritual seed of Israel by faith.
Ver. 17. +I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.+--The
Judaising teachers gloried in the circumcision marks in the flesh of
their followers; St. Paul in the scars or brands of suffering for
Christ in his own body--the badge of an honourable servitude.
Ver. 18. +Brethren.+--After much rebuke and monition, he bids them
farewell with the loving expression of brotherhood as his last
parting word, as if Greatheart had meant to say, "After all, my last
word is, I love you, I love you."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-5.
_Mutual Sympathy in Burden-bearing._
+I. That sympathy towards the erring is a test of
spiritual-mindedness.+--1. _Shown in the tenderness with which the
erring should be treated._ "If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye
which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness"
(ver. 1). Worldly and self-seeking men are often severe on a
neighbour's fault. They are more likely to aggravate than heal the
wound, to push the weak man down when he tries to rise than to help
him to his feet. The spiritual, moved by genuine compassion, should
regard it as their duty to set right a lapsed brother, to bring him
back as soon and safely as may be to the fold of Christ. To reprove
without pride or acrimony, to stoop to the fallen without the air of
condescension, requires the spirit of meekness in a singular degree.
2. _Reflecting that the most virtuous may some day be in need of
similar consideration._--"Considering thyself, lest thou also be
tempted" (ver. 1). The disaster befalling one reveals the common
peril; it is a signal for every member of the Church to take heed to
himself. The scrutiny which it calls for belongs to each man's
private conscience. The faithfulness and integrity required in those
who approach the wrong-doer with a view to his recovery must be
chastened by personal solicitude. The fall of a Christian brother
should be in any case the occasion of heart-searching and profound
humiliation. Feelings of indifference towards him, much more of
contempt, will prove the prelude of a worse overthrow for ourselves.
+II. That sympathy in burden-bearing is in harmony with the highest
law.+--"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ" (ver. 2). As much as to say, "If ye will bear burdens, bear
one another's burden; if ye will observe law, observe the highest
law--the law of love." There is nothing more Christ-like than to bear
the burden of a brother's trespass. Christ bore burdens which to us
would have been intolerable and overwhelming. The heaviest burden
becomes supportable when shared with loving sympathy. Kindness
towards the needy and helpless is work done to Christ. There is a
poetic legend among the Anglian kings that Count Fulc the Good,
journeying along Loire-side towards Tours, saw, just as the towers of
St. Martin's rose before him in the distance, a leper full of sores
who put by his offer of alms and desired to be borne to the sacred
city. Amidst the jibes of his courtiers, the good count lifted him in
his arms and carried him along bank and bridge. As they entered the
town the leper vanished from their sight, and men told how Fulc had
borne an angel unawares! Mutual burden-bearing is the practical proof
of the unity and solidarity of the Christian brotherhood.
+III. That no man can afford to be independent of human
sympathy.+--1. _Fancied superiority to sympathy is self-deception._
"If a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself" (ver. 3). Others will see how little his affected
eminence is worth. Some will humour his vanity, many will ridicule or
pity it, few will be deceived by it. Real knowledge is humble; it
knows its nothingness. Socrates, when the oracle pronounced him the
wisest man in Greece, at last discovered that the response was right,
inasmuch as he alone was aware that he knew nothing, while other men
were confident of their knowledge. It is in humility and dependence,
in self-forgetting, that true wisdom begins. Who are we, although the
most refined or highest in place, that we should despise plain,
uncultured members of the Church, those who bear life's heavier
burdens and amongst whom our Saviour spent His days on earth, and
treat them as unfit for our company, unworthy of fellowship with us
in Christ? (_Findlay_). The most exalted and gifted is never lifted
above the need of fellow-sympathy.
2. _A searching examination into our conduct will reveal how little
cause there is for boasting a fancied superiority._--"But let every
man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself
alone, and not in another" (ver. 4). As if the apostle said: "Let
each man try his own work. Judge yourselves instead of judging one
another. Mind your own duty rather than your neighbours' faults. Do
not think of your worth or talents in comparison with theirs but see
to it that your work is right." The question for each of us is not,
"What do others fail to do?" but, "What am I myself really doing?
What will my life's work amount to when measured by that which God
expects from me?" The petty comparisons which feed our vanity and our
class-prejudices are of no avail at the bar of God. If we study our
brother's work, it should be with a view of enabling him to do it
better, or to learn to improve our own by his example; not in order
to find excuses for ourselves in his shortcomings. If our work abide
the test, we shall have glorying in ourselves alone, not in regard to
our neighbour. Not his flaws and failures, but my own honest work,
will be the ground of my satisfaction (_Ibid._).
+IV. That individual responsibility is universal.+--"For every man
shall bear his own burden [load]" (ver. 5). No man can rid himself of
his life-load; he must carry it up to the judgment-seat of Christ,
where he will get his final discharge. Daniel Webster was present one
day at a dinner-party given at Astor House by some New York friends,
and in order to draw him out one of the company put to him the
following question, "Will you please tell us, Mr. Webster, what was
the most important thought that ever occupied your mind?" Mr. Webster
merely raised his head, and passing his hand slowly over his
forehead, said, "Is there any one here who doesn't know me?" "No,
sir," was the reply; "we all know you and are your friends." "Then,"
said he, looking over the table, "the most important thought that
ever occupied my mind was that of my individual responsibility to
God"; and he spoke on the subject for twenty minutes. The higher
sense we have of our own responsibility the more considerate we are
in judging others and the more we sympathise with them in their
struggles and trials. Æsop says a man carries two bags over his
shoulder, the one with his own sins hanging behind, that with his
neighbour's sins in front.
+Lessons.+--1. _Sympathy is a Christ-like grace._ 2. _Sympathy for
the erring does not tolerate wrong._ 3. _Practical help is the test
of genuine sympathy._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 1. _The Sins of Others._
+I. The follies and misconduct of others are the choice subjects of
conversation in every stage of society; and if we take slander out of
these conversations, we rob them of their keenest fascination.+ I
have felt it, that fearful joy which the discovery of others' faults
produces; and then I found nothing at all extravagant in the
strongest expressions by which the Scriptures depict the depth of our
fall and the depravity of our heart.
+II. One of your brethren has lapsed: but you who condemn him, have
you never erred?+ Do you know his history? Did he know what you know
yourself? The fall of a brother should call forth a painful
self-examination and a sincere humiliation before God.
+III. Real and profound compassion should be felt for the brother
whom sin has overtaken.+ But sympathy alone will not suffice. There
is a sympathy which is mere weakness. Our mission lays upon us the
duty of restoration. This is a delicate and sublime work, for it is
the work of God, but the work of God destined to be accomplished by
man. Do the work of Jesus Christ in the spirit of Jesus Christ. You
must have for your fallen brethren a love without weakness and a
holiness without pride. We cannot raise them _en masse,_ and by I
know not what a collective action which would exempt us from
individual love and sacrifice. All will be of no avail unless each of
us, in the post where God has placed him, acts upon those around him,
and brings them all individually under that influence of love which
nothing can either equal or replace. Have you never asked yourself
with terror if you have not lost some soul? Do you know if, among all
those unfortunate beings whom God will cast from His presence at the
last day, more than one will not sorrowfully turn towards you and
say, "It is thou, it is thou that has lost me"?--_Eugene Bersier._
Vers. 1, 2. _Christian Reformation._
+I. A thief is the man who uses, in order to keep up appearances,
that which does not justly belong to him,+ whether that appearance be
kept up by actually robbing his neighbour's pocket, or by delaying
the payment of his just debts, or by stinting God and man of their
dues in any way. Such a one has, for keeping up appearances, every
advantage up to a certain point, and that point is the moment of
detection. After that, all is changed. The detected thief is the most
miserable of men. Two ways only are open to him by which he can
endure life or carry on hope. One if these is to declare war against
society, and become an open instead of a secret offender; the other
is to begin anew, and strive to build up a fresh reputation under
more favourable auspices, it may be by shrewder and deeper deceit, or
it may be in the way of genuine repentance and amendment. It is hard
to say whether of these two is the more difficult or hopeless.
+II. Were we all true men, safe in our own consciences, fearless of
detection in any point ourselves, we should be ever ready to help up
an erring brother or sister;+ but it is just because we are afraid of
our own weak and unsound points that we are so reluctant ever to let
a tarnished character again brighten itself. It is hardly possible to
over-estimate the vast conspiracy which is arranged against the
delinquent's effort to be reinstated in the favour of his fellow-men.
III. It would be by no means uninstructive to inquire +how far these
feelings have influenced us in our views and practice with regard to
the punishment of crime.+ The last thing we believe in is
reformation. You may view this as a judicial consequence of guilt.
Terrible as may be the fears of a conscience dreading detection, far
more difficulty, far more anguish, far bitterer self-reproach, is in
store for the penitent struggling to regain peace and the fair name
which he has lost. He carries the past evermore, as it were, branded
on his brow, for men to see and avoid.
IV. While we rejoice and are grateful to God for His mercy to us, +we
should at the same time tremble at our own unworthiness, and ever
bear in mind our personal liability to fall into sin.+ In such a
spirit should we set about the blessed work of restoration, ever
looking on the fallen as our brethren, going to meet them across the
gulf which human Pharisaism has placed between them and us, the
undetected; as common children of that God whose grace is able to
raise them up again, bearing their burdens instead of disclaiming
them and letting them sink under their weight, and so fulfilling the
law of Christ.--_Dean Alford._
_The Restoration of the Erring._
+I. The Christian view of other men's sins.+--1. _The apostle looks
upon sin as if it might be sometimes the result of a surprise._
2. _As that which has left a burden on the erring spirit._ (1) One
burden laid on fault is that chain of entanglement which seems to
drag down to fresh sins. (2) The burden of the heart weighing on
itself. (3) The burden of a secret, leading a man to tell the tale of
his crimes as under the personality of another, as in the old fable
of him who breathed his weighty secret to the reeds; to get relief in
profuse and general acknowledgment of guilt; evidenced in the
commonness of the longing for confession. (4) The burden of an
intuitive consciousness of the hidden sins of others' hearts.
+II. The Christian power of restoration.+--1. _Restoration is
possible._ 2. _By sympathy._ 3. _By forgiveness._ 4. _In the spirit
of meekness._ 5. _The motive urging to attempt
restoration._--"Considering thyself," etc.--_F. W. Robertson._
_Brotherly Reproof._--1. A man must so reprove his brother as that it
may be most for the advancement of God's glory, best for winning him
to God, and least to the defaming of him abroad. He must pray that
God would guide his tongue and move the other's heart. We may not
traduce him to others, either before or after our reproof. 2. Every
reproof must be grounded on a certainty of knowledge of the fault
committed. 3. It is very requisite the reprover be not tainted with
the like fault he reproves in another. 4. The vinegar of sharp
reprehension must be allayed and tempered with the oil of gentle
exhortation. The word "restore" signifies to set a bone that is
broken. We are to deal with a man who has fallen and by his fall
disjoined some member of the new man as the surgeon does with an arm
or leg that is broken or out of joint--handle it tenderly and gently,
so as to cause least pain. 5. Every reproof must be fitted to the
quality and condition of him we reprove and to the nature of the
offence. 6. Must be administered in fit time when we may do the most
good. 7. Secret sins known to thee or to a few must be reproved
secretly. 8. We must be careful to observe the order set down by our
Saviour (Matt. xviii. 15).--_Perkins._
Vers. 2, 5. _Our Twofold Burdens._--1. The burden which every man
must bear for himself is the burden of his own sins, and from this
burden no man can relieve him. 2. If a man be overtaken in a fault,
we are to bear his burden by trying to restore him. 3. We are to do
this in the spirit of meekness, bending patiently under the burden
which his fault may cast on us. This spirit towards those who commit
faults is wholly at variance with the natural man's way of acting,
speaking, and thinking. We are to love our friends in spite of their
faults, to treat them kindly, cheerfully, graciously, in spite of the
pain they may give us. 4. Our Saviour has given us an example of what
we should wish and strive to be and do. The law of Christ is the law
of love.--_J. C. Hare._
Ver. 2. _Bear One Another's Burdens._--The law of Christ was
lovingkindness. His business was benevolence. If we would resemble
Him,--
1. _We must raise up the fallen._--This was hardly ever attempted
till Christ set the pattern. People went wrong, and the world let
them go; they broke the laws, and the magistrate punished; they
became a scandal, and society cast them out--out of the synagogue,
out of the city, out of the world. But with a moral tone infinitely
higher Christ taught a more excellent way.
2. _We must bear the infirmities of the weak._--Very tiresome is a
continual touchiness in a neighbour, or the perpetual recurrence of
the same faults in a pupil or child. But if by self-restraint and
right treatment God should enable you to cure those faults, from how
much shame and sorrow do you rescue them, from how much suffering
yourself.
3. _We must bear one another's trials._--With one is the burden of
poverty; with another it is pain or failing strength, the extinction
of a great hope, or the loss of some precious faculty. A little thing
will sometimes ease the pressure. In a country road you have seen the
weary beast with foaming flank straining onward with the overladen
cart and ready to give in, when the kindly waggoner called a halt,
and propping up the shaft with a slim rod or stake from the hedgerow,
he patted and praised the willing creature, till after a little rest
they were ready to resume the rough track together. Many a time a
small prop is quite sufficient.
4. _By thus bearing others' burdens you will lighten your
own._--Rogers the poet has preserved a story told him by a
Piedmontese nobleman. "I was weary of life, and after a melancholy
day was hurrying along the street to the river, when I felt a sudden
check. I turned and beheld a little boy who had caught the skirt of
my cloak in his anxiety to solicit my notice. His look and manner
were irresistible. Not less so was the lesson I learnt. 'There are
six of us, and we are dying for want of food.' 'Why should I not,'
said I to myself, 'relieve this wretched family? I have the means,
and it will not delay me many minutes.' The scene of misery he
conducted me to I cannot describe. I threw them my purse, and their
burst of gratitude overcame me. It filled my eyes; it went as a
cordial to my heart. 'I will call again to-morrow,' I cried. Fool
that I was to think of leaving a world where such pleasure was to be
had, and so cheaply." There is many a load which only grows less by
giving a lift to another. A dim Gospel makes a cold Christian; a
distant Saviour makes a halting, hesitating disciple.--_Dr. James
Hamilton._
Ver. 2. _Christian Generosity._
+I. The duty enjoined.+--1. It may apply to a weight of labour or
bodily toil. 2. To a weight of personal affliction. 3. To a weight of
providential losses and embarrassments. 4. To a weight of guilt.
5. Of temptation. 6. Of infirmities.
+II. The enforcing motive.+--1. The apostle's requirement is worthy
of the character of Christ, as it is a law of equity. 2. It is
congenial with the Spirit of Christ. 3. It is agreeable to the
example of Christ. 4. It is deducible from the precepts of Christ.
5. It has the approbation of Christ.--_Sketches._
_Bearing One Another's Burdens._--The metaphor is taken from
travellers who used to ease one another by carrying one another's
burdens, wholly or in part, so that they may more cheerfully and
speedily go on in their journey. As in architecture all stones are
not fit to be laid in every place of the building, but some below and
others above the wall, so that the whole building may be firm and
compact in itself; so, in the Church those who are strong must
support the weak. The Italians have a proverb--_Hard with hard never
makes a good wall,_ by which is signified that stones cobbled up one
upon another without mortar to combine them make but a tottering wall
that may be easily shaken; but if there be mortar betwixt them
yielding to the hardness of the stones, it makes the whole like a
solid continued body, strong and stable, able to endure the shock of
the ram or the shot of the cannon. So that society, where all are as
stiff as stones which will not yield a hair one to another, cannot be
firm and durable. But where men are of a yielding nature society is
compact, because one bears the infirmities of another. Therefore the
strong are to support the weak, and the weak the strong; as in the
arch of a building one stone bears mutually, though not equally, the
burden of the rest; or as harts swimming over a great water do ease
one another in laying their heads one upon the back of another--the
foremost, having none to support him, changing his place and resting
his head upon the hindermost. Thus in God's providence. Luther and
Melancthon were happily joined together. Melancthon tempered the heat
and zeal of Luther with his mildness, being as oil to his vinegar;
and Luther, on the other side, did warm his coldness, being as fire
to his frozenness.--_Ralph Cudworth._
_Association (A Benefit Club Sermon)._--1. This plan of bearing one
another's burdens is not only good in benefit clubs--it is good in
families, in parishes, in nations, in the Church of God. What is
there bearing on this matter of prudence that makes one of the
greatest differences between a man and a brute beast? Many beasts
have forethought: the sleep-mouse hoards up acorns against the
winter, the fox will hide the game he cannot eat. The difference
between man and beast is, that the beast has forethought only for
himself, but the man has forethought for others also. 2. Just the
same with nations. If the king and nobles give their whole minds to
making good laws, and seeing justice done to all, and workmen fairly
paid, and if the poor in their turn are loyal and ready to fight and
work for their king and their nobles, then will not that country be a
happy and a great country? 3. Just the same way with Christ's Church,
the company of true Christian men. If the people love and help each
other, and obey their ministers and pray for them, and if the
ministers labour earnestly after the souls and bodies of their
people, and Christ in heaven helps both minister and people with His
Spirit and His providence and protection, if all in the whole Church
bear each other's burdens, then Christ's Church will stand, and the
gates of hell will not prevail against it.--_Charles Kingsley._
_Burden-bearing._
+I. Different kinds of burdens.+--1. _Those that are necessary._
2. _Those that are superfluous._ 3. _Those that are imaginary._
+II. What shall we do with them?+--1. _Reduce their number to the
limits of necessity._ 2. _Some of these we are expected to carry
ourselves._ 3. _Some we may expect our friends to help us to carry._
4. _We may take them all to the Lord that He may either remove them
or sustain us under them._
+Lessons.+--1. _With grace burdens are removed or lightened._ 2. _In
what way can we best help others with their burdens?_ "Thou
lightenest thy load by lightening his." 3. _Let our burdens be
reduced to light running order._--_Homiletic Monthly._
_Practical Christian Sympathy._
+I. Consider the burdens you can bear for others.+--All have to bear
burdens. Some man can only bear for himself. Others he can be helped
to bear, such as the burden of carnal tendency, persecution, anxiety
over loved ones, affliction that is not punishment.
+II. Consider how we may bear the burdens of others.+--1. _We can
bear them on our hearts in prayer._ 2. _We can lighten the burden by
friendly help._ 3. _We can by the strength of our sympathies come
under the burdens of others._
+III. Bearing the burdens of others is the chief way by which we can
fulfil the law of Christ.+--Nothing will give us such a resemblance
to Him. He lives solely for others. He came voluntarily under the
burden of man's miseries, sacrificing Himself for the race.
+IV. Consider the importance of obeying this injunction.+--1. _For
our own sakes._ 2. _For the good of others._ 3. _For the prosperity
of the Church._--_The Lay Preacher._
Ver. 5. _Burden-bearing._
+I. There is the burden of personal responsibility.+--This comes out
in the formation of character.
+II. There is the burden of toil.+--Among the steep precipitous
mountains of Thibet the traveller meets long processions of hungry,
ill-clad Chinamen, carrying enormous loads of tea. There they go,
climb, climbing day after day up the rough sides of the mountains,
each with his great burden on his back, eyes fixed on the ground, all
silent, stepping slowly, and leaning on great iron-pointed sticks,
till the leader of the gang gives the signal for a halt, and, after
standing for a few minutes, the heavy load again falls on the back
and head, the body is again bent towards the ground, and the caravan
is once more in motion. You do not wonder that, with a task so
monotonous, these poor drudges should acquire a dreary, stupid look,
little better than beasts of burden; and you feel sorry for those in
whose lives there is a large amount of the like irksome and
exhausting routine. Yet there are many who, in order to earn their
daily bread, must go through a similar task.
+III. There is the burden of sorrow.+--Sorrow dwells beneath a king's
robes as much as beneath a peasant's cloak; the star of the noble,
the warrior's corslet, the courtier's silken vesture, cannot shut it
out. That rural home is such a picture of peace we cannot believe
that care or tears are there. That noble castle amidst ancient trees
is surely lifted up in its calm grandeur above sighs and sadness.
Alas! it is not so. Man is the tenant of both, and wherever man
dwells sorrow is sure to be with him.
+IV. There is one burden which it is wrong to bear.+--It is a sin and
a shame to you if you are still plodding along under the burden of
unpardoned transgression. The load of guilt, the feeling that our sin
is too great for the blood of Christ to expiate, or the grace of God
to pardon--this burden it is wrong to bear.--_Dr. James Hamilton._
_Bearing our Burdens Alone._
+I. The loneliness of each one of us.+--One of the tendencies of
these bustling times it to make us forget that we are single beings,
detached souls. Each great star flung out like an atom of gold dust
into space may seem lost amid the hundreds of millions of mightier
worlds that surround; and yet no; it rolls on, grave in itself,
careering in its own orbit, while its sister-stars sweep round on
every side. We stand cut off from one another. We are to stave up
side by side our own destiny, we are to be alone with our burdens,
not lost in the forest of human lives.
+II. Look at some of the forms of this burden.+--1. _There is the
burden of being itself._ 2. _The burden of duty._ 3. _The burden of
imperfection and sin._ 4. _The burden of sorrow._ 5. _The burden of
dying alone._ 6. _If a man is lost, he is lost alone; if saved, he is
saved alone.--The Lay Preacher._
_Every Man has his Own Burden._
I. No man can pay a ransom for his brother, or redeem his soul from
death, or satisfy the justice of God for his sin, seeing that every
+man by the tenor of the law is to bear his own burden,+ and by the
Gospel none can be our surety but Christ.
II. +We see the nature of sin that is a burden to the soul.+--It is
heavier than the gravel of the earth and the sand of the sea.
III. We are not to wonder that +sin being so heavy a burden+ should
be made so light a matter by carnal men, for it is a spiritual burden.
IV. +The more a man fears the burden of his sins+ the greater measure
of grace and spiritual life he has, and the less he feels it the more
he is to suspect himself.
V. The greatest part of the world are dead in their sins in that
+they have no sense of feeling of this heavy burden.+
VI. We are to take heed of every sin, for +there is no sin so small
but hath its weight.+--Many small sins will as easily condemn as a
few great. Like as sands, though small in quantity, yet being many in
number, will as soon sink the ship as if it were laden with the
greatest burden.
VII. Feeling the weight and burden of our sins, +we are to labour to
be disburdened;+ and this is done by repentance towards God and faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-10.
_Moral Sowing and Reaping._
+I. Beneficence by the taught towards the teacher is sowing good
seed.+--"Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that
teacheth in all good things" (ver. 6). The good things referred to,
though not confined to temporal good, do certainly mean that. While
every man must bear his own burden, he must also help to bear the
burden of his brother. Especially must the taught go shares with his
spiritual teacher in all things necessary. But beneficence shown
towards the minister in temporalities is the least, and with many the
easiest, part of the duty. Teacher and taught should mutually
co-operate with each other in Christian work, and share with each
other in spiritual blessings. The true minister of the Gospel is more
concerned in eliciting the co-operation and sympathy of the members
of his Church than in securing their temporal support. If he
faithfully ministers to them in spiritual things, they should be
eager to minister unto him of their worldly substance, and to aid him
in promoting the work of God. Every good deed, done in the spirit of
love and self-sacrifice, is sowing good seed.
+II. By the operation of unchanging Divine law the reaping will
correspond to the kind of seed sown and the nature of the soil into
which it is cast.+--"Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth
to his flesh," etc. (vers. 7, 8). Men may wrong each other, but they
cannot cheat God. To expect God to sow His bounties upon them, and
not to let Him reap their gratitude and service, is mockery. But it
is not God they deceive; they deceive themselves. For at last every
one shall reap as he sows. The use made of our seed-time determines
exactly, and with a moral certainty greater even than that which
rules in the natural field, what kind of fruitage our immortality
will render. Eternity for us will be the multiplied, consummate
outcome of the good or evil of the present life. Hell is just sin
ripe--rotten ripe. Heaven is the fruitage of righteousness. "He that
soweth to his own flesh reaps corruption"--the moral decay and
dissolution of the man's being. This is the natural retributive
effect of his carnality. The selfish man gravitates downward into the
sensual man; the sensual man downward into the bottomless pit. "He
that soweth to the Spirit reaps life everlasting." The sequence is
inevitable. Like breeds its like. Life springs of life, and death
eternal is the culmination of the soul's present death to God and
goodness. The future glory of the saints is at once a divine reward
and a necessary development of their present faithfulness (_Findlay,
passim_).
+III. Sowing the seed of good deeds should be prosecuted with
unwearied perseverance.+--1. _Because the harvest is sure to follow._
"Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap,
if we faint not" (ver. 9). Here is encouragement for the wearied,
baffled worker. We have all our moments of despondency and
disappointment and are apt to imagine our labours are futile and all
our painstaking useless. Not so. We are confounding the harvest with
the seed-time. "In due season"--in God's time, which is the best
time--"we shall reap, if we faint not." Our heavenly harvest lies in
every earnest and faithful deed, as the oak with its centuries of
growth and all its summer glory sleeps in the acorn-cup, as the
golden harvest slumbers in the seeds under their covering of wintry
snow.
2. _Because the opportunity of doing good is ever present._--"As we
have opportunity let us do good unto all men, especially unto them
who are of the household of faith" (ver. 10). The whole of life is
our opportunity, and every day brings its special work. Opportunity
is never to seek; it is ever present. There is not a moment without a
duty. While we are looking for a more convenient opportunity, we lose
the one that is nearest to us. As members of the household of faith
there is ever work enough to do--work that fits us to do good on a
wider scale--"unto all men." True zeal for the Church broadens rather
than narrows our charities. Household affection is the nursery, not
the rival, of love to our fatherland and to humanity.
+Lessons.+--1. _Our present life is the seed-time of an eternal
harvest._ 2. _The quality of the future harvest depends entirely on
the present sowing._ 3. _God Himself is the Lord of the moral
harvest._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 6. _Pastors and People._
I. It is the duty of the people +to give their pastors not only
countenance but maintenance.+
II. It is the law of nations, and a conclusion grounded on common
equity, that those who spend themselves, as a candle, to give light
to others and for the common good of all, +should be maintained of
the common stock by all.+
III. Every calling is able to maintain them that live therein,
therefore we may not think that +the ministry, the highest calling,
should be so base or barren+ as that it cannot maintain them that
attend thereupon.
IV. Ministers are the Lord's soldiers, captains, and
standard-bearers, and therefore +are not to go a warfare at their own
cost.+
V. Ministers are to give themselves wholly to the building of the
Church and to the fighting of the Lord's battles. Therefore they are
to have their pay +that they may attend upon their calling without
distraction.+
VI. It is the ordinance of God +that they which preach the Gospel
should live of the Gospel.+--Ministers should be liberally provided
for, yet with moderation, that they draw not all men's wealth into
their purses. He that would live of the Gospel must teach the Gospel.
A benefit requires a duty, and diligence is that duty.--_Perkins._
_Ministerial Maintenance._--1. Seeing Christ's ministers are to
bestow themselves wholly in the work of the ministry and not to be
entangled with the affairs of this life, therefore the people of God,
among whom they spend their strength, are bound by common equity to
give them worldly maintenance, that they may be neither diverted from
nor discouraged in their work of watching over souls. 2. This
maintenance, though it should be moderate and such as may not through
abundance occasion pride, luxury, and prodigality, yet should be
liberal and creditable, such as may not only supply pinching
necessities, but also that they may have wherewith to supply the
necessities of the indigent, to educate their children so as they may
sustain themselves and be profitable members both of Church and
commonwealth. 3. The Church's maintenance is only due unto such
ministers as have abilities to preach and are faithful and diligent
labourers in the Word. Those who are unfit or unwilling to preach
should be removed from their charge, and not suffered to eat up the
Church's maintenance, feeding themselves and starving the souls of
people committed to their charge.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 7-9. _Deceived Sowers to the Flesh._
+I. The solemnity of the apostle's warning.+--He seems to intimate
that such is the audacious wickedness of the human heart, that it has
within it so many latent mazes of iniquity, that they might be
self-deceived either as to their apprehensions of that which was
right before God, or as to their own actual condition in His sight;
and he tells them God is not mocked by this pretended service, that
to Him all hearts are open, and that in impartial and discriminating
arbitration He will render to every man according to his deeds. It is
sad to be deceived in a friend, in our estimate of health, in our
computation of property; but a mistake about the state of the soul--a
veil folded about the heart so that it cannot see its own
helplessness and peril--this is a state of which thought shudders to
conceive, and to describe whose portentousness language has no words
that are sufficiently appalling. There can be no peril more imminent
than yours. The headlong rider through the darkness before whom the
dizzy precipice yawns; the heedless traveller for whom in the bosky
woodland the bandits lie in ambush, or upon whom from the jungle's
density the tiger waits to spring; the man who, gazing faintly
upward, meets the cruel eye and lifted hand and flashing steel of his
remorseless enemy; they of whose condition you can only poorly image,
who in far dungeons and beneath the torture of a tyrant's cruelty
groan for a sight of friend or glimpse of day; all around whom perils
thicken hopelessly, and to whom, with feet laden with the tidings of
evil, the messengers of disaster come,--how they move your sympathy,
how you shudder as you dwell upon their danger, how you would fain
stir yourselves into brave efforts for their rescue or their warning!
Brethren, your own danger is more nearly encompassing and is more
infinitely terrible.
+II. The import of the apostle's statement.+--We have largely the
making or the marring of our own future--that in the thoughts we
harbour, in the words we speak and in the silent deeds, which, beaded
on Time's string, are told by some recording angel as the story of
our lives from year to year, we shape our character and therefore our
destiny for ever. There are three special sowers to the flesh--the
_proud,_ the _covetous,_ the _ungodly._ They are all spiritual
sins--sins of which human law takes no cognisance, and to which codes
of earthly jurisprudence affix no scathing penalty. There is the
greater need, therefore, that these spiritual sins should be
disclosed in all their enormity and shown in their exceeding
sinfulness and in their disastrous wages, in order that men may be
left without excuse if they persist wilfully to believe a
lie.--_W. M. Punshon._
Vers. 7, 8. _The Double Harvest._
+I. Our present life is a moral trial for another to come.+--On till
death is our seed-sowing; after death is the sure and universal
harvest. On till death is our moral trial; after death is the life of
judicial retribution, alike for the just and the unjust.
+II. Human life has one or the other of two great characters, and
will issue in one or the other of two great results.+--1. They sow to
the flesh who live under the influence of their natural inclinations
and desires, pleasing only themselves and despising or neglecting the
holy will of God. They live to the Spirit the whole current of whose
being has been supernaturally reversed under the grace of the Gospel.
2. The sowers to the Spirit live. And this true and proper life of
man, in its maturity and full perfection, is the great and glorious
reward which, by Divine appointment, shall eventually crown the
labours of the sowers to the Spirit. The sowers to the flesh sow seed
which brings forth death. Even now their life is death in rudiment,
and in the end, they must reap it in its full and external
development. Degraded existence, miserable existence, everlastingly
degraded and miserable existence.
+III. We are liable to delusions with respect to these great
verities.+--All history and experience teem with illustrations of the
spiritual spells and juggleries which men, prompted by the invisible
potentate of evil, practise upon themselves, that so they may reduce
to their convictions the sinfulness of sin, and may tone the booming
of the great bell of Scripture menace down to the gentle whisper of
an amiable reprimand.--_J. D. Geden._
_On the Difference between sowing to the Flesh and to the Spirit._
+I. The man who soweth to his flesh.+--It is to spend our lives in
doing these works of the flesh--to lay out our time, our thoughts,
and our care in gratifying the vain, sensual, and selfish
inclinations which the evil state of the heart naturally and
continually puts forth. Broken health, loathsome diseases, ruined
fortunes, disappointed wishes, soured tempers, infamy, and shame are
among those things which usually come from walking after the flesh.
+II. The man who soweth to the Spirit.+--It is to live under the
guidance of God's Holy Spirit, and in every part of our conduct to
bring forth the fruits of the Spirit. He enjoys even at present the
fruit of his labour: inward peace and joy, and a hope full of
immortality.--_Edward Cooper._
_The Principle of the Spiritual Harvest._
+I. The principle is this, "God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap."+--There are two kinds of good
possible to men--one enjoyed by our animal being, the other felt and
appreciated by our spirits. Reap _what_ you have sown. If you sow the
wind, do not complain if your harvest is the whirlwind. If you sow to
the Spirit, be content with a spiritual reward, invisible, within,
more life and higher life.
+II. The two branches of the application of this
principle.+--1. Sowing to the flesh includes those who live in open
riot. 2. Those who live in respectable worldliness. 3. Sowing to the
Spirit, the harvest is life eternal. 4. The reward is not arbitrary
but natural. The thing reaped is the very thing sown, multiplied a
hundredfold. You have sown a seed of life, you reap life
everlasting.--_F. W. Robertson._
Ver. 7. _Sowing and Reaping in their bearing on the Formation of
Individual Character._--There are three plots in which every man is
perpetually engaged in sowing and reaping--in the plot of his
thoughts, in the plot of his words, and in the plot of his deeds. And
there is a storehouse into which the harvests from these three plots
are being secretly but unmistakably garnered--the storehouse of
individual character. The moral condition of the man to-day is the
inevitable result of his thoughts, words, and deeds; his selfhood is
rich or poor according to his sowing and reaping in these respective
fields.
+I. Whatever a man sows in thought that will he also reap in the
formation, tone, and tendency of his intellectual and moral
nature.+--1. _Vain thoughts._ If we indolently sport with vain and
foolish thoughts, they will inevitably produce a crop of the same
kind. The mind will be garnished with flimsy and unprofitable
fancies, inflated with a too conscious self-importance, and the
outcome is heard in "the loud laugh that proclaims the vacant mind,"
and seen in the pompous swagger of the intellectual fop (Prov.
xiii. 16; Ps. xciv. 11).
2. _Proud thoughts._--The man dominated by pride is the most pitiable
of objects. His pride of birth will not bear investigation into three
generations, his pride of social status is snubbed in a way that
leaves a wound that never heals, his pride of wealth smitten down by
an unexpected turn of the ever-revolving wheel of fortune, and his
pride of life withered by the passing breath of the great Destroyer.
But he reaps what he sowed. He sowed the dragon's teeth of proud and
boastful thoughts, and the monster grew up and devoured him (Prov.
xvi. 18).
3. _Thoughts of sinful pleasure._--If we allow the mind to dream of
pleasures that are forbidden, the bloom of innocence is rubbed off
never to be again replaced, the conscience is outraged till its voice
is muffled and but feebly heard, one vile thought indulged breeds
another that is viler still, and the moral atmosphere of the soul is
poisoned. What he sows he reaps.
4. _Good thoughts._--The mind that aims at the loftiest style of
thought, declining to tolerate the presence of a debasing sentiment,
that keeps in check the wild and savage brood of evil thoughts ever
seeking to overrun and defile the mind, that cultivates a chaste
imagination and cherishes the exalted and unselfish charity that
"thinketh no evil"--reaps the result in an accession of intellectual
vigour, in the creation of a nobler standard by which to judge of men
and things, in the unbounded raptures of a refined and fertile
imagination, and in the increase of power for doing the highest kind
of work for God and humanity.
+II. Whatsoever a man sows in words that shall he also
reap.+--1. _Bitter and rancorous words._ If a man studies how much of
spiteful venom he can pack into a single sentence, how he can most
skilfully whet and sharpen the edge of his words so as to make the
deepest wound and raise the most violent storm of irritation and
ill-feeling, unalterable as the course of nature the harvest is sure
to come. "Our unkind words come home to roost." The man offensive
with his tongue is the devil's bellows with which he blows up the
sparks of contention and strife, and showers of the fiery embers are
sure to fall back upon himself to scathe and destroy.
2. _False words._--If we deliberately and maliciously concoct a lie,
and utter the same with whispered humbleness and hypocritical
commiseration, as sure as there is justice in the heavens, the lie
will come back with terrific recompense upon the head of the
originator.
3. _Kind and loving words._--If we speak in the kindest spirit of
others, especially in their absence, if we stand up for a friend
unjustly maligned and defend him with dignity and faithfulness, if we
study to avoid words which cannot but grieve and irritate, then as we
have sown so shall we reap--reap the tranquil satisfaction of
conscious inoffensiveness, and, best of all, the Divine approval.
"Heaven in sunshine will requite the kind."
+III. Whatsoever a man sows in deeds that shall he also
reap.+--1. _Cruel deeds._ If we take a savage delight in torturing
beast or bird or insect, if we plot how we can inflict the most
exquisite pain on our fellow-man, if we make sport of the anguish and
distress of others which we make no effort to relieve, we shall
inevitably reap the harvest--reap it in the embruting and degradation
of our finer sensibilities, reap it in the tempest of rebellion and
retaliation which those we outraged will launch upon us.
2. _Selfish deeds._--If we live for our own selfish gratification,
indifferent to the rights and woes of others; if we surrender
ourselves to a covetous spirit, living poor that we may die rich--as
we sow we reap. The thing we lived to enjoy ceases to gratify, and
our noblest sentiments are buried amid the rubbish of our own
sordidness.
3. _Generous and noble deeds._--If we aim at the elevation of
ourselves and others, if we seek to act on the highest level of
righteousness and truth, if we are diligent, unwearied, and
persistent in well-doing, then in due season we shall reap the
harvest--reap it in a heightened and expansive nobility of character,
in an intensified influence and enlarged capacity for doing good, and
in the eternal enrichment of the Divine plaudit, "Well done."
_Be not Deceived._--This phrase occurs several times as preface to
warning, seeming to indicate thus that the subject of the warning is
one about which we are specially liable to deception, and upon
examination we find that observation justifies the presumption. We
are thus guarded against any deception as to the following important
practical truths:--
+I. The contaminating influence of evil associations+ (1 Cor.
xv. 33).
+II. The personal responsibility of each for his own sin+ (Jas.
i. 16).
+III. Entrance into heaven conditioned on character+ (1 Cor.
vi. 9).
+IV. Human destiny, once settled, irreversible+ (Gal.
vi. 7).--_British and Foreign Evangelical Review._
Ver. 8. _Sowing to the Spirit._
+I. The natural man has no desire for immortality.+--He has not been
seized with the earnest and real wish for a future life; but he is
entirely bound by this world in all his thoughts, aims, and wishes:
he identifies life and existence altogether with this world, and life
out of this world is a mere name to him. He is shut up within the
walls of the flesh and within the circle of its own present aims and
projects.
+II. The spiritual man has a strong desire for immortality,+ and it
is the beginning and foundation of the religious life he leads here.
Every field of action becomes unimportant and insignificant compared
with the simply doing good things, because in that simple exercise of
goodness lies the preparation for eternity.
+III. The natural and spiritual man are divided from each other by
these distinctions+--one has the desire for everlasting life, the
other has not. The success of the one perishes with the corruptible
life to which it belongs; the success of the other endures for all
ages in the world to come.--_J. B. Mozley._
_The Law of Retribution._
I. +We see the justice of God--His bounty and severity.+--His bounty
in recompensing men above their deserts; His severity in punishing
sinners according to their deserts.
II. This doctrine, that we shall drink such as we brew, reap such as
we sow, and that men have degrees of felicity or misery answerable to
their works, +will make us more careful to avoid sin.+
III. +It serves as a comfort against inequality;+ whereas the wicked
flourish and the godly live in contempt, the time shall come when
every one shall reap even as he has sown.
IV. +It crosses the conceit of those who promise to themselves an
impunity from sin and immunity from all the judgments of God,+
notwithstanding they go on in their bad practices.--_Perkins._
Ver. 9. _Against Weariness in Well-doing._--1. There is the
prevailing temper of our nature, the love of ease--horror of hard
labour. 2. The reluctance and aversion are greater when the labour is
enjoined by extraneous authority--the imperative will of a foreign
power. 3. In the service of God there is a good deal that does not
seem for ourselves. 4. There is a principle of false humility--what
signifies the little I can do? 5. The complaint of deficient
co-operation. 6. In the cause of God the object and effect of
well-doing are much less palpable than in some other provinces of
action. 7. Yet the duty expressly prescribed is an absolute thing,
independently of what men can foresee of its results. 8. There is the
consciousness and pleasure of pleasing God. 9. What relief has man
gained by yielding to the weariness? 10. Our grave accountableness is
for making a diligent, patient, persevering use of the means God has
actually given us.--_J. Foster._
_Apathy one of our Trials._--1. Because, as in everything else, so in
our spiritual growth, we are inevitably disappointed in much of our
expectations. 2. The temptation to weariness is no sign at all that
the man so tempted is not a true servant of God, though this very
often is the first thought that enters the mind. It is no sin to feel
weary; the sin is to be weary--that is, to let the feeling have its
way and rule our conduct. 3. We expect a kind of fulness of
satisfaction in God's service which we do not get nearly so soon as
we fancy that we shall. 4. You are quite mistaken to your belief that
former prayers and former resolutions have been in vain and have
produced no fruit because no fruit is visible. 5. In due season we
shall find that it has been worth while to persevere in trying to
serve Christ.--_Dr. Temple._
_Well-doing._
+I. Contrasted with fruitless profession.+--It is possible to have a
clear notion of Christian truth and to talk well, and yet be idle and
useless.
+II. Contrasted with mistaken standards.+--It is easy to do as others
are doing; but are _they_ doing well? Practice must be guided by holy
precepts.
+III. Contrasted with wrong motives.+--Many are careful to do what is
literally the right thing, but they do it with base motives. The
correct motives are--love (2 Cor. v. 14), gratitude (Ps. cxvi. 12),
compassion (2 Cor. v. 11), desire to imitate Christ. All well-doing
is humble and self-renouncing.--_The Lay Preacher._
_"Reap if we faint not."_--The image is agricultural.
+I. Points of resemblance.+--1. The material harvest is of two
kinds--weeds and golden grain. 2. The spiritual harvest is of two
kinds--corruption and everlasting life. 3. A combination of agencies.
(1) For the material harvest seed, soil, and elements work with the
efforts of the farmer. (2) For the spiritual harvest the seed of the
Word and the power of God must co-operate with man's agency. 4. As to
difficulties. (1) The season may be too wet, too dry, or too hot, or
an army of insects may attack the growing grain. (2) The foes of the
spiritual harvest are the world, the flesh, and the devil.
+II. Points of contrast.+--1. The material harvest is annual, the
spiritual eternal. 2. There are seasons so unfavourable that all the
efforts of the farmer prove in vain; the spiritual harvest will never
fail. 3. The drouth of one year may be made good by next year's
abundance, but eternity cannot compensate for what was lost in time.
+III. Encouragements.+--1. "Our labour is not in vain in the Lord."
2. "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not." 3. The harvest
will be glorious and eternal.--_Homiletic Monthly._
Ver. 10. _On doing Good._
+I. It is our duty to do good.+--This duty is enforced both by the
words and example of Christ. Christianity not only requires its
adherents to abstain from evil, but it demands their active service.
+II. In doing good man attains to true nobility of character.+--The
characters in history that exert the greatest fascination over us are
not those of eminent statesmen or scientists, but those who have been
distinguished for their philanthropy. We see in them a moral dignity
that is unique. What reversals in human estimates of character will
take place when the Divine standard of greatness is appealed to!
+III. In doing good we find true happiness.+--God has so constituted
us that the exercise of our malevolent passions is productive of
inward dissatisfaction, while the exercise of benevolent affections
is attended with the greatest joy. There is real luxury in doing
good.--_Preacher's Magazine._
_The Opportunity of Beneficence._
+I. What a precious thing is opportunity.+--People talk about making
time for this or that purpose. The time is really made for us, only
we are too idle or too careless to use it for the proper end.
Opportunities of usefulness are of frequent occurrence; they are wont
to come and go with rapidity. They must be seized as you would lay
hold of a passing friend in the street.
+II. The whole of life is an opportunity.+--There is such a thing as
a useful life, a true life, a noble life, though all lives must needs
contain a multitude of neglected opportunities. As a series of
opportunities its record is woefully imperfect. As one opportunity it
is not utterly unworthy of the example of Christ. Let us have a
thread of right intention running through life. Let us have an active
purpose of benevolence--a constant design of love. The continuous
opportunity of life must be utilised, if the particular opportunities
of life are to be turned to the best account.
+III. The field of beneficence is very wide.+--Wherever men are found
it is possible for us to do them good. We touch only a few persons,
but each of these is in contact with others. To do great things with
great powers is easy enough; but things so done may be undone so. The
glory of Christianity has always been that it does great things with
small powers, or powers that men think small; and the results of its
work remain. Good work done by many hands is better than the extended
philanthropy of an individual; for what is this but the effort of one
man to make amends for the neglect of a thousand?
+IV. Though all men have a claim on our Christian benevolence some
are entitled to a special share.+--A man does not become a better
citizen when he spurns his own family and neglects his duties at
home. On the contrary, the noblest philanthropist is the most
affectionate of fathers and husbands, and he who loves most widely in
the world loves most intensely in his own house. So it will be with
us in our Christian charity. We shall begin with those who are called
by the common name and worship the common Lord, and from these we
shall go on, with our energy not exhausted but rather refreshed, to
the great mass of mankind.--_Edward C. Lefroy._
_Doing Good._
+I. We must do good with that only which is our own.+--We may not cut
a large and liberal shive off another man's loaf; we may not steal
from one to give to another, or deal unjustly with some that we may
be merciful to others.
+II. We must do good with cheerfulness and alacrity.+--What more free
than gift; therefore we may not play the hucksters in doing good, for
that blemishes the excellency of the gift.
+III. We must so do good as that we do not disable ourselves for ever
doing good.+--So begin to do good as that we may continue.
+IV. We must do all the good we can within the compass of our
calling+ and hinder all the evil.
+V. We must do good to all.+--1. From the grounds of love and
beneficence. 2. God is good and bountiful to all. 3. Do good to
others as we would they should do to us. 4. Our profession and the
reward we look for require us to do this.
+VI. There is no possibility of doing good to others after this
life.+--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-13.
_Apostolic Exposure of False Teachers._
+I. The apostle gives special emphasis to his warning by concluding
his epistle in his own handwriting.+--"Ye see how large a letter I
have written unto you with mine own hand" (ver. 11). The apostle
usually dictated his epistle to an amanuensis, except the concluding
salutation, which he wrote himself by way of authentication. At this
point of the epistle to the Galatians he appears to have taken the
pen from the hand of the amanuensis, and with his own hand written
the concluding sentences in clear, bold characters, thus giving the
utmost possible emphasis and solemnity to his words. They are a
postscript, or epilogue, to the epistle, rehearsing with incisive
brevity the burden of all that it was in the apostle's heart to say
to these troubled and shaken Galatians. He wishes to reimpress upon
his emotional readers the warnings he had already expressed against
the false teachers, to assure them of his intense regard for their
welfare, and to lay additional stress upon the peril of their
hesitating attitude. The more apparent and imminent the danger, the
louder and more earnest is the warning expressed.
+II. It is shown that the policy of the false teachers was to avoid
the suffering connected with the ignominy of the cross of
Christ.+--"They constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they
should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ." (ver. 12). The
false teachers were really cowards, though this accusation they would
be the first indignantly to resent. They wanted to mix up the old
faith with the new, to entangle the new Christian converts with
Mosaic observances. If they succeeded in persuading the Gentile
Christians to be circumcised, they would propitiate the anger of
their Israelite kindred, and dispose them to regard the new doctrine
more favourably. They would, with heartless recklessness, rob the
believer of all his privileges in Christ in order to make a shield
for themselves against the enmity of their kinsmen. Cowards at heart,
they were more afraid of persecution than eager to know and propagate
the truth. If a man will be a Christian, he cannot avoid the cross;
and to attempt to avoid it will not release from suffering. It is a
craven fear indeed that refuses to espouse the truth because it may
bring pain. "No servant of Christ," says Augustine, "is without
affliction. If you expect to be free from persecution, you have not
yet so much as begun to be a Christian."
+III. The insincerity of the false teachers was apparent in their not
keeping the law themselves, but in boasting of the number of their
converts to its external observance.+--"For neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised,
that they may glory in your flesh" (ver. 13). The Judaists were not
only cowardly, but insincere. It was not the glory of the law they
were concerned about, but their own success. If they had tried to
convert the heathen, however imperfect might be their creed, they
would have merited some respect; but, like some religious troublers
to-day, they selected for their prey those who were already
converted. They practised their wiles on the inexperience of young
believers, as they expected to gather from that class the greater
number of proselytes of whom to make their boast. "Their policy was
dishonourable both in spirit and in aim. They were false to Christ in
whom they professed to believe, and to the law which they pretended
to keep. They were facing both ways, studying the safest not the
truest course, anxious in truth to be friends at once with the world
and Christ. Their conduct has found many imitators, in men who make
godliness a way of gain, whose religious course is dictated by
considerations of worldly self-interest. Business patronage,
professional advancement, a tempting family alliance, the _entrée_
into some select and envied circle--such are the things for which
creeds are bartered, for which men put their souls and the souls of
their children knowingly in peril."
+Lessons.+--1. _The false teacher may be the occasion of much
mischief and spiritual loss._ 2. _He succumbs in the presence of
suffering._ 3. _He is more anxious for public success than for the
spread of the truth._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 12. _The Odium of the Cross of Christ._
+I. The history of the cross.+--It is a history of sin on our part,
and of suffering on the part of Christ. What a change has been
produced in the moral aspect of the universe by the preaching of the
cross!
+II. The odium connected with the cross.+--There is odium and
suffering connected with the cross still; in some shape we shall
suffer persecution for it. If we will lead a holy life, then
suffering, persecution, reproach, hatred and ill-will, sarcasm, wit,
ridicule, and obloquy will be cast upon us. It was said by one, when
several were expelled from one of our universities, that "if some are
expelled for having too much religion, it is high time to begin to
inquire whether there are not some who have too little." If we speak
of the reproach of the cross, what should that reproach be? Not that
you have too much religion, but that you have too little, and that
many of you have none at all.
+III. As to those who suffer persecution for the cross,+ it is the
greatest possible honour to be laughed at, mocked, and insulted for
the sake of the Saviour. If the spirit of the martyrs influenced us,
there would be no shunning of persecution on account of the cross,
but suffering would be welcomed with joy.--_The Pulpit._
_Christianity and Persecution._
+I. We should suspect ourselves+ that our hearts are not sound, nor
our practice sincere, +when all men speak well of us.+
II. We must not be discouraged +though there be never so many that
make opposition, or so mighty+ that raise persecution against
us.
III. That we think it not strange +when we find affliction or meet
with persecution.+ The Gospel and persecution go hand in hand,
or follow one another inseparably.--_Perkins._
Ver. 13. _Empty Boasting_--
+I. When professed teachers do not practise the virtues they
enforce on others.+
+II. When zeal for the observance of outward rites disguises the
lack of personal godliness.+
+III. When success is sought simply to be able to boast of success.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14, 15.
_Glorying in the Cross_--
+I. Because of the great truths it reveals.+--"But God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 14).
"The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" is a comprehensive phrase
signifying the whole redeeming work of Christ--the salvation effected
for the race by His crucifixion and death upon the cross. The problem
how God can forgive sin without any breach in His moral government,
or dimming the lustre of His perfections, is solved in the cross. God
is great in Sinai. The thunders precede Him, the lightnings attend
Him, the earth trembles, the mountains fall in fragments. But there
is a greater God than this. On Calvary, nailed to a cross, wounded,
thirsting, dying, He cries, "Father, forgive them; they know not what
they do!" Great is the religion of power, but greater is the religion
of love. Great is the religion of implacable justice, but greater is
the religion of pardoning mercy. The cross was the master-theme of
the apostle's preaching and the chief and exclusive subject of his
glorying.
+II. Because of its contrast to effete ceremonialism.+--"For in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision" (ver. 15). To the Jew circumcision was everything. By
the cross Judaism, as a means of salvation, is utterly abolished.
Uncircumcision includes all Gentile heathenism. Before the cross all
heathen religions must perish. The Gentile cultus was never intended
to supplant Jewish customs; both are excluded as unavailing in human
salvation. The devotees of form and ceremony are apt to develop into
bigotry and pride; the foes of ritualism are in danger of making a
religion of their opposition; and both parties indulge in
recriminations that are foreign to the spirit of Christianity. "Thus,
I trample on the pride of Plato," said the cynic, as he trod on the
philosopher's sumptuous carpets; and Plato justly retorted, "You do
it with greater pride." Ceremonialism is effete, and is not worth
contending about. It is nothing; Christ is everything, and the cross
the only subject worthy of the Christian's boast.
+III. Because of the moral change it effects.+--"But a new
creature"--a new creation (ver. 15). In the place of a dead
ceremonialism the Gospel plants a new moral creation. It creates a
new type of character. The faith of the cross claims to have produced
not a new style of ritual, not a new system of government, but new
men. The Christian is the "new creature" which it begets. The cross
has originated a new civilisation, and is a conspicuous symbol in the
finest works of art. Ruskin, describing the artistic glories of the
Church of St. Mark in Venice, says: "Here are all the successions of
crowded imagery showing the passions and pleasures of human life
symbolised together, and the mystery of its redemption: for the maze
of interwoven lines and changeful pictures lead always at last to the
cross, lifted and carved in every place and upon every stone,
sometimes with the serpent of eternity wrapped round it, sometimes
with doves beneath its arms and sweet herbage growing forth from its
feet; but conspicuous most of all on the great rood that crosses the
church before the altar, raised in bright blazonry against the shadow
of the apse. It is the cross that is first seen and always burning in
the centre of the temple, and every dome and hollow of its roof has
the figure of Christ in the utmost height of it, raised in power, or
returning in judgment." The true power of the cross is not artistic
or literary or political, but moral. It is a spiritually transforming
force that penetrates and guides every form of human progress.
+IV. Because of personal identification with its triumph over the
world.+--"By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world" (ver. 14). As the world of feverish pleasure, of legal
ordinances, was conquered by the cross, so the faith of the apostle
in the crucified One gave him the victory over the world, so that it
lost all power to charm or intimidate. The world of evil is doomed,
and the power of the cross is working out its ultimate defeat. I have
seen a curious photograph of what purports to be a portrait of the
Saviour in the days of His flesh, and which by a subtle manipulation
of the artist has a double representation. When you first look upon
the picture you see the closed eyes of the Sufferer, and the face
wears a pained and wearied expression; but as you gaze intently the
closed eyes seem to gently open and beam upon you with the light of
loving recognition. So, as you gaze upon the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ it seems to you the symbol of suffering and defeat, but as you
keep your eyes steadily fixed upon it the cross gradually assumes the
glory of a glittering crown, incorruptible, undefiled, and that
fadeth not away (1 Pet. i. 4).
+Lessons.+--1. _The cross is the suggestive summary of saving truth._
2. _The cross is the potent instrument of the highest moral
conquests._ 3. _The cross is the loftiest theme of the believer's
glorying._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 14. _Christ Crucified._
I. By Christ crucified +we have reconciliation with God,+
remission of sins, and acceptance to eternal life.
+II. We have the peace of God,+ peace with men, with ourselves,
with the creatures.
+III. We recover the right and title which we had in creation+ to all
the creatures and blessings of God.
+IV. All afflictions cease to be curses and punishments+ and become
either trials or corrections.
+V. Those who can truly glory in the cross are dead to the world
and the world to them.+
VI. We are taught +to carry ourselves in the world as crucified and
dead men,+ not to love, but to renounce and forsake
it.--_Perkins._
_Glorying in the Cross of Christ._
+I. We glory in the doctrine of the cross--the justification of
guilty men through a propitiatory sacrifice--because of its
antiquity.+--It was taught by patriarchs and prophets, the law of
sacrifice was its grand hieroglyphical record, the first sacrifices
were its types, the first awakened sinner with his load of guilt fell
upon this rock and was supported, and by the sacrifice of Christ
shall the last sinner saved be raised to glory.
+II. Because it forms an important part of the revelation of the New
Testament.+
+III. As affording the only sure ground of confidence to a penitent
sinner.+
+IV. Because of its moral effects.+--Not only in the superstitions
and idolatries it has destroyed, the barbarous nations it has
civilised, the cruel customs it has abrogated, and the kindly
influence it has shed upon the laws and manners of nations; but in
its moral effect on individuals, producing the most ardent love to
God and kindling benevolence towards all--_Richard Watson._
_The True Glory of the Christian._
+I. The disposition of mind denoted by the expressions--"The world is
crucified unto me; I am crucified to the world."+--1. The nature of
it--a total rupture with the world. 2. The gradations of which it
admits. Deadness to avarice and pride--in respect to exertion and
actual progress--in respect of hope and fervour. 3. The difficulty,
the bitterness, of making a sacrifice so painful.
+II. In such a disposition true glory consists.+--Comparison between
the hero of this world and the Christian hero. The hero derives his
glory from the greatness of the master he serves, from the dignity of
the persons who have preceded him in the same honourable career, from
the brilliancy of his achievements, from the acclamations his
exploits excite. How much more the Christian hero!
+III. The cross of Christ alone can inspire us with these
sentiments.+--If we consider it in relation to the atrocious guilt of
those who despise it, in relation to the proofs there displayed of
Christ's love, in the proofs it supplies of the doctrine of Christ,
and in relation to the glory that shall follow.--_Saurin._
_The Cross a Burden or a Glory._
+I. There is the constant ordinary discipline of human life.+--Life
when it is earnest contains more or less of suffering. There is a
battle of good and evil, and these special miseries are the bruises
of the blows that fill the air, sometimes seeming to fall at random
and perplexing our reason, because we cannot rise to such height of
vision as to take in the whole field at once.
+II. There is the wretchedness of feeling self-condemned.+--Law alone
is a cross. Man needs another cross--not Simon's, but Paul's. He took
it up, and it grew light in his hands. He welcomed it, and it glowed
with lustre, as if it were framed of the sunbeams of heaven.
+III. The same spiritual contrast, the same principle of difference
between compulsory and voluntary service, opens to us two
interpretations of the suffering of the Saviour Himself.+--Neither
the cross of Simon nor the cross of Paul was both literally and
actually the cross of Christ. Its charm was that it was chosen. Its
power was that it was free. The cross becomes glorious when the Son
of God takes it up; there is goodness enough in Him to exalt it. It
was the symbol of that sacrifice where self was for ever crucified
for love.--_F. D. Huntington._
_The Cross--_
+I. The sinner's refuge.+
+II. The sinner's remedy.+
+III. The sinner's life.+
_The Glory of the Cross._
+I. The cross was the emblem of death.+
+II. Christ was not only a dead Saviour, but a condemned Saviour.+
+III. A disgraced Saviour,+ because the cross was a disgraceful kind
of punishment.
+IV. Paul gloried in the cross because it is an exhibition of the
righteousness of God.+
+V. Because it proclaims His love.+
+VI. The contemplation of Christ's cross helps us to conquer the
world.+--_Newman Hall._
_Glorying in the Cross._
+I. The subjects in which the apostle gloried.+--1. He might have
gloried in his distinguished ancestry. 2. In his polished education.
3. In the morality of his former life. 4. In his extraordinary call
to the apostleship. 5. In his high ecclesiastical position. 6. He did
not glory in the literal cross. 7. Nor in the metaphorical cross.
8. But in the metonymical cross (1 Cor. i. 17; Col. i. 20).
+II. The characteristics of the apostle's glorying.+--1. His glorying
was not merely verbal, but practical. 2. Not sectarian, but Christian
and catholic. 3. Not temporary, but permanent.
+III. The reasons of the apostle's glorying.+--1. Here he saw a
grander display of the Divine character and perfections than
elsewhere. 2. This was the scene of the most glorious victory ever
witnessed. 3. It was the centre of all God's dispensations. 4. The
cross was the most powerful incentive to true morality. 5. Hence
flowed all the blessings of the Gospel economy. 6. Here was made an
atonement equal to the needs of our fallen world.
+Lessons.+--1. _Let us here see the purity of the moral law and the
heinousness of sin._ 2. _Let the sinner come to the cross for pardon,
purity, peace, and joy._--_W. Antliff._
_Glorying in the Cross._
+I. Paul's enthusiasm as expressed in the exclamation of the text.+
+II. One main source of his zeal lay in the subject of his
enthusiasm.+--1. The cross is a fit subject for glory as symbolising
_an infinite, boundless truth._ 2. Because it is _an eternal fact._
3. Because it is _the ground of man's justification and the symbol of
his redemption._
+III. Look at the result--crucifixion to the world.+--The true
solution of the Christian's relationship to the world lies in the
fact that it is a separation not in space but in
spirit.--_J. Hutchinson, in "Scottish Pulpit."_
Ver. 15. _Scriptural View of True Religion._
+I. What true religion is not.+--1. It is not circumcision nor
uncircumcision. 2. It is not an outward thing. (1) You are not
religious because you have been baptised. (2) Because you are called
a Christian, and have been born of Christian parents. (3) Because you
frequent the Church, attend the Lord's Supper, and are regular at
your devotions.
+II. What true religion is.+--1. It is not an outward but an inward
thing. It is not a new name, but a new nature. A _new creation_
describes a great change in man. 2. The greatness of this change
shows also the power by which it is wrought. Creation is a Divine
work. 3. The rite of circumcision taught the necessity of the change.
Though it was a _seal_ of the righteousness of faith, it was also a
sign of the inward renewal and purification of the heart. Baptism in
the Christian Church teaches the same truth. The texts of Scripture
which set forth the evil nature of man set forth the necessity of
this great change.--_Edward Cooper._
_The New Creature._--The new creature is the only thing acceptable to
God. It is the renovation of the whole man, both in the spirit of our
minds and in the affections of our heart. Neither the substance nor
the faculties of the soul are lost by the Fall, but only the
qualities of the faculties, as when an instrument is out of tune the
fault is not in the substance of the instrument, nor in the sound,
but in the disproportion or jar in the sound: therefore, the
qualities only are renewed by grace. These qualities are either in
the understanding or the will and affections. The quality in the
understanding is knowledge; in the will and affections they are
righteousness and holiness, both which are in truth and sincerity.
Holiness performs all the duties of piety, righteousness the duties
of humanity, truth seasoning both the former with sincerity.--_Ralph
Culworth._
_The Necessity of a New Nature._--The raven perched on the rock where
she whets her bloody beak, and with greedy eye watches the
death-struggles of an unhappy lamb, cannot tune her croaking voice to
the mellow music of a thrush; and since it is out of the abundance of
the heart that the mouth speaketh, how could a sinner take up the
strain and sing the song of saints?--_Guthrie._
_The New Birth begins our True Life._--A stranger passing through a
churchyard saw these words written on a tombstone: "Here lies an old
man seven years old." He had been a true Christian only for that
length of time.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 16-18.
_A Dignified and Touching Farewell_--
+I. Supplicates the best blessing on the truly righteous.+--"As many
as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God" (ver. 16). Jewish discipline and pagan culture are
for ever discredited by the new creation of moral virtue. The rule of
the renewed inward life supersedes the works of the condemned flesh.
On all who seek to regulate their lives according to this rule the
apostle invokes the peace and mercy of God. Peace is followed by the
mercy which guards and restores it. Mercy heals backslidings and
multiplies pardons. She loves to bind up a broken heart or a rent and
distracted Church. For the betrayers of the cross he has stern
indignation and alarms of judgment. Towards his children in the faith
nothing but peace and mercy remains in his heart. As an evening calm
shuts in a tempestuous day, so this blessing concludes the epistle so
full of strife and agitation. We catch in it once more the chime of
the old benediction, which through all storm and peril ever rings in
ears attuned to its note: "Peace shall be upon Israel" (Ps. cxxv. 5).
+II. Pleads the brand of suffering for loyalty to Christ as
conclusive proof of authority.+--"From henceforth let no man trouble
me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (ver. 17). The
apostle has sufficiently vindicated his authority by facts and
arguments, and he would effectually silence all quibbles on this
subject by triumphantly pointing to the marks of suffering on his own
body received in his Master's service. These marks he carried
wherever he went, like the standard-bearer of an army who proudly
wears his scars. No man would have suffered as Paul did unless he was
convinced of the importance of the truth he had received and of his
supernatural call to declare the same. Suffering is the test of
devotion and fidelity. For a picture of the harassed, battered,
famished sufferer in the cause of Christ and His Gospel read 2 Cor.
iv. 8-10, xi. 23-28. Marks of suffering are more eloquent than words.
The highest eminence of moral perfection and influence cannot be
reached without much suffering. It is a callous nature indeed that is
not touched with the sight of suffering heroically endured. The calm
bravery of the early Christians under the most fiendish persecution
won many a convert to the truth.
+III. Concludes with an affectionate benediction.+--"Brethren, the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen" (ver. 18).
Placing the word "brethren" at the end of the sentence, as in the
Greek, suggests that, after much rebuke and admonition, the apostle
bids his readers farewell with the warm-hearted expression of
brotherhood. Notwithstanding fickleness on their part, his love
towards them remains unchanged. He prays that the grace of Christ,
the distinctive and comprehensive blessing of the new covenant, may
continue to rest upon them and work its renewing and sanctifying
power upon their spirit, the place where alone it can accomplish its
most signal triumphs. Forgiveness for their defection and confidence
in their restoration to the highest Christian privileges and
enjoyment, are the last thoughts of the anxious apostle. Between them
and moral bankruptcy is the prayerful solicitude of a good man.
+Lessons.+--1. _When argument is exhausted prayer is the last
resource._ 2. _Prayer links Divine blessing with human entreaty._
3. _Last words have about them a solemn and affecting efficacy._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 16. _The True Israel of God_--
+I. Are those who personally enjoy the inward righteousness that
comes through faith.+
+II. Who live consistently with their spiritual profession and the
truth they have embraced.+
+III. Enjoy the Divine benedictions of mercy and peace.+
Ver. 17. _Marks of the Lord Jesus._
+I. The word picture here presented.+--1. _The figure_--slave-brands,
στἱɣμɑτɑ. 2. _The facts_--Paul's historic experiences (1 Cor.
iv. 9-15; 2 Cor. xi. 23-30). 3. _The challenge_--"Let no man trouble
me."
+II. The suggestion the picture makes.+--1. He who follows the Lord
Jesus must expect some will try to trouble him. 2. He whose marks are
most conspicuous will be troubled the least. 3. He who has marks may
take comfort in knowing how much his Master paid for him. 4. He who
is owned may remember that his Master owns and recognises the marks
also. 5. He that has no marks is either a better or a poorer
Christian than the apostle Paul. 6. Satan outwits himself when he
gives a believer more marks. 7. A sure day is coming when the marks
will be honourable, for the body of humiliation will be like the
glorious body of Christ.--_Homiletic Monthly._
_Marked Men._
+I. Ill-marked men.+--Think of the marks left on men by sickness,
intemperance, impurity, crime, sin of any kind. Evil will always
leave its mark.
+II. Well-marked men.+--1. _Christian marks_--the marks of Christ.
Paul was the slave of Christ. Some of his marks for Christ were
literal, as the _weals_ caused by the rods of the Roman Cæsars, the
_red lines_ caused by scourging in Jewish synagogues, the _scars_
caused by repeated stonings. The marks of the Christian are mainly
spiritual--marked by trustfulness, gentleness, purity, unselfishness.
2. _Distinct marks._--Marked that he may be recognised. If you have
the marks of Jesus, confess and obey Him.
3. _Deep marks._--Branded on the body, not lines that can easily be
removed, but going down to the flesh. Our Christian life is often
feeble because it is not deep.
4. _Personal marks._--The marks of Jesus of no avail unless you
possess them. No man can really trouble you if you bear branded on
your body the marks of Jesus.--_Local Preacher's Treasury._
_Suffering for Jesus._
I. The scars of the saints for the maintenance of the truth +are the
sufferings, wounds, and marks of Christ Himself,+ seeing they are the
wounds of the members of that body whereof He is Head.
II. +They convince the persecutors that they are the servants of
Christ who suffer thus for righteousness' sake.+
III. +If men be constant in their profession--in faith and
obedience--the marks of their suffering are banners of victory.+--No
man ought to be ashamed of them, no more than soldiers of their
wounds and scars, but rather in a holy manner to glory of them.
Constantine the Great kissed the holes of the eyes of certain bishops
who had them put out for their constant profession of the faith of
Christ, reverencing the virtue of the Holy Ghost which shined in
them. 1. By suffering bodily afflictions we are made conformable to
Christ. 2. They teach us to have sympathy with the miseries of our
brethren. 3. Our patient enduring of affliction is an example to
others and a means of confirming them in the truth. 4. They serve to
scour us from the rust of sin.--_Perkins._
Ver. 18. _Concluding Benediction._
+I. The apostle invokes the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ.+--1. Because He is the fountain of it. 2. Because He is the
conduit or pipe by which it is conveyed to us.
+II. Christ is called our Lord+--1. By right of creation. 2. Of
inheritance. 3. Of redemption. 4. Of conquest. 5. Of contract and
marriage.
+III. Observe the emphasis with which the apostle concludes the
epistle.+--1. Opposing Christ, the Lord of the house, to Moses, who
was but a servant. 2. The grace of Christ to inherent justice and
merit of works. 3. The spirit in which he would have grace to be
seated, to the flesh in which the false teachers gloried so much.
4. Brotherly unity one with another--implied in the word
"brethren"--to the proud and lordly carriage of the false
teachers.--_Ibid._
* * * * * * * *
+Transcriber's Notes+
- Page 1, Introduction, "Character" paragraph, add comma to "time
they"; remove comma from "numbers, and"; apply Reverential
Capitalisation (RC) to "the Gospel."
- Page 2, same paragraph, change "v. 15" reference to "ch. v. 15";
apply RC to "the Gospel." "Time of writing" paragraph, remove
comma from "certainty, and." "Purpose and analysis" paragraph,
apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Pages 2 and 3, table, change each reference to prefix "ch."
- Page 5, Notes for chapter i., verse 1, apply RC to "Divine source"
and "the Gospel." Verse 6, change "cf." to "cf. ch." Verses 8 and
9, apply RC to "his Gospel." Verse 12, apply RC to "the Gospel"
and "his Gospel." Verse 16, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Lesson "Apostolic Credentials," point I, apply RC to "Divine authority."
- Page 6, same lesson, point I, apply RC to "Divine character";
remove comma from "God, and"; apply RC to "Divine stamp," "Divine
element," and "Divine authority." Point II, apply RC to "Divine
source" and "the Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "are Divine" and
"Divine love"; remove comma from "race, and"; add comma to "Oh,
the." Point IV, apply RC to "Gospel salvation"; add comma to
"words we"; apply RC to "the whole Gospel" and "the Gospel";
remove comma from "nutshell, and"; apply RC to "Divinely provided"
and "the Gospel."
- Page 7, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "Divinely revealed."
Application ("Lessons"), apply RC to "the Gospel." "The Power"
note, remove comma from "them, and." "Grace and Peace" note, point
I, remove comma from "man, but."
- Page 8, "Unselfishness" note, apply RC to "Divine character."
"Christ our Sacrifice" note, point II, add comma to "Therefore
all."
- Page 9, lesson "The One Gospel," point I, apply RC to "one true
Gospel," "one Gospel," and "the Gospel"; remove comma from
"methods, and." Point II, apply RC to "one Gospel." Point II. 1,
apply RC to "true Gospel," "one Gospel," "true Gospel," and "the
Gospel." Application ("Lessons"), apply RC to "infallible Gospel."
"Remonstrance" note, point II, remove comma from "part, and."
Point III, remove comma from "wax, and"; apply RC to "the Gospel"
(twice).
- Page 10, same note, same paragraph, apply RC to "the Word." Point
IV, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "one Gospel." Point V, apply RC
to "the Gospel" (four times); remove comma from "word, and."
"Perversion" note, point I, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point II,
apply RC to "Divine purpose." "Disappointed Hopes" note, apply RC
to "the Gospel"; add comma to "sweetened and." "Inviolable Unity"
note, apply RC to "one Gospel."
- Page 11, same note, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice).
"Inviolability of Christianity" note, point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (thrice); remove comma from "eye, but"; and apply RC to
"that Word." Point II, apply RC to "Divine origin" and "Divine
benediction." Point IV, apply RC to "Divine truth."
- Page 12, same note, point V, apply RC to "the Gospel." "Best
Authority" note, add a missing sentence-ending period after "St.
Peter"; add double quotes around the response "No."
- Page 13, "True Gospel" note, point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(twice). Lesson "Superhuman Origin," point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (thrice). Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice), "a
Gospel," and "Divine Master." Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(twice) and "Divine message" (across page break).
- Page 14, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice)
and "Divine origin." Application ("Lessons"), apply RC to "the
Gospel," "saving Gospel," "the Gospel," and "Divine gift."
"Fidelity" note, point I, add sentence-ending period after "they
utter." Point II, apply RC to "the Word." Point III, apply RC to
"the Gospel." "Servant of Christ" note, point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel"; remove comma from "dishonourable, unless" apply RC to
"the Gospel" (twice).
- The break between pages 14 and 15 is in the word "compelled":
com|pelled. In this and every subsequent case, the Transcriber
moved the whole word to the earlier page.
- Page 15, same lesson, point III, remove comma from "us, but";
apply RC to "He saved us" and "of His Word."
- The break between pages 15 and 16 is in the word "maintenance":
mainte|nance.
- Page 16, "The Gospel and the Call," point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel" and "the Word" (thrice). Point II, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel," "Divine authority,"
and "the Word." "Apostolic Assurance" note, apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 17, same note, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice).
- Page 18, lesson "Zealous Ritualist," point III, remove comma from
"heart, and"; apply RC to "the Word" and "God's Word." "Review of
a Misspent Life," apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 19, "True and False Zeal," point III, apply RC to "the Word,"
"the Gospel" (twice), "His Word," and "the Word." Lesson
"Imperative Claims," point I, apply RC to "Divinely destined" and
remove comma from "future, or." Poem, apply RC to "Divinity."
After poem, apply RC to "Divine element." Point II, apply RC to
"Divine revelation"; remove comma from "change, and"; apply RC to
"universal Gospel" and "Divine commission."
- Page 20, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel"; remove
commas from "response, and" and "hearer, and." Point V, apply RC
to "first Gospel pioneers." "Conversion" note, point II, apply RC
to "the Gospel."
- Page 21, same note, point IV, apply RC to "God's Word."
"Conversion as Illustrated" note, point I 2, apply RC to "Divine
grace" and "the Gospel" (twice). "Qualification" note, point II,
apply RC to "the Gospel." "Divine Call" note, remove comma from
"doubt, and."
- Page 22, same note, change the scripture reference after
"Jeremiah" from "i. 19" to "Jer. i. 19" to avoid any confusion.
"Divine call" note, apply RC to "the Gospel." Lesson "God
Glorified," point I, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice).
- Page 23, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
IV, apply RC to "Divine call" and "Divine work." Application
("Lessons"), apply RC to "the Gospel." "Self-conscious Truth"
note, apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 24, "Self-evidencing Proof" note, apply RC to "Divinely
commissioned." "God Glorified" note, apply RC to "if He continues."
- Page 25, Notes for chapter ii., verse 2, apply RC to "the Gospel"
and "Divine confirmation." Verse 9, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Verse 13, apply RC to "the Gospel." Verse 14, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 26, lesson "Confirmatory Proofs," point I, apply RC to
"Divinely directed" and "Divine call"; remove comma from
"apostles, and"; apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice). Point II, apply
RC to "the Gospel" (five times) and "Divine commission." Point
III, apply RC to "Divine authority" and "the Gospel" (twice).
- Page 27, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "Divine commission"
and remove comma from "past, and." Application ("Lessons") apply
RC to "Divine call." "Truth its Own Evidence" note, apply RC to
"the Gospel."
- Page 28, same lesson, "False Brethren" note, point IV, remove
comma from "bondage, and." Point V, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Point VII, apply RC to "the Gospel." "A spy" note, remove comma
from "borrowed, and." "Fidelity" note, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(twice). "Truth" note, remove comma from "sword, and."
"Recognition" note, point II, apply RC to "distinctly Divine."
- The break between pages 28 and 29 is in the word "admitting":
ad|mitting.
- Page 29, same lesson, "Divine Blessing" note, apply RC to "the
Word." "Efficacy" note, point I, apply RC to "the Word." Point II,
apply RC to "the Word." Point III, apply RC to "the Word." Point
IV, remove comma from "apostle, because." Lesson "Christianity and
Poverty," point I 1, remove comma from "Christianity, but."
- Page 30, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Spirit of the
Gospel." "Remember the Poor" note, point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 31, lesson "Fearless Defence," point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 32, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
II, remove commas from "it, and" and "sin, but." Point III, apply
RC to "Divine character" and "Divine order" and change "brganic
life" to "organic life." "Astute Defender" note, point I, change
"His power" to "his power," referring to Paul.
- Page 33, same lesson, "Power of Example," remove comma from "men,
and." "Erring Apostle" note, point I 1, remove comma from "law,
but." Point I 5, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point III 1, apply RC
to "the Word."
= Page 34, same lesson, "Justification" note, point III, add comma
to "Therefore it." Point IV, final sentence, the Transcriber
inserted a colon after "place."
- Page 35, "Christian Dead to the Law" note, point III, apply RC to
"the Gospel" (five times).
- Page 36, "Dead to the Law by the Law" note, point II, add
sentence-ending period after "law of Moses." Point III 1, remove
comma from "God, and." "Religious Life" note, point IV, apply RC
to "the Divine."
- Page 37, "Love of the Son" note, point I, apply RC to "the
Divine." Point II, add the hyphen to "self-denial." "Life of
Faith" note, point I 2, remove comma from "salvation, but."
- Page 38, "Life of Faith" note, point I 6, apply RC to "the
Gospel." "Self-abolished" note, remove comma from "this, and."
- Page 39, Notes for chapter iii., verse 3, apply RC to "Divine
order." Verse 8, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice). Verse 17,
apply RC to "Divine covenant."
- The break between pages 39 and 40 is within an element that style
indicates should not be broken, "transgressions.|--To." In this
and every subsequent case, the Transcriber moved the entire
element to the earlier page.
- Page 40, lesson "Deceptive Glamour," point I, remove comma from
"colours, and"; add commas to "error their" and "diverted and."
- Page 41, same lesson, point II 2, apply RC to "Divine order."
Point III, apply RC to "Divine method." "Faithful Reproof" note,
apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 42, "Folly" note, point II, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
III, apply RC to "the Word" (thrice). "Attractiveness" note, apply
RC to "His Word"; add "John xii. 32" reference.
- Page 43, same lesson, "Uses of Suffering" note, remove comma from
"adoption, and." "Miracles" note, apply RC to "the Gospel." Lesson
"Abrahamic Gospel," in point I, apply RC to and remove comma from
"the Gospel, and" and apply RC to "only Gospel." Point III, remove
comma from "blessing, but."
- Page 44, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), apply RC to "the
Gospel." "Righteousness through Faith" note, point I, apply RC to
"Divine method"; point III, apply RC to "unchanging Gospel."
"Imitators of Abraham's Faith" note, point III, apply RC to "the
Word." "All Nations" note, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice).
- Page 45, lesson "The Conflict," point I, remove comma from
"imperfection, and." Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice);
remove comma from "law, and." At the end of the paragraph, add
double quotes around "No."
- Page 46, same lesson, "The Inexorability" note, point I, remove
comma from "requirements, but." "Justified" note, add "Gen. i. 3"
reference. "The Difference" note, point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (twice). Each of points II and III, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "His work."
- Page 47, same lesson, same note, point V, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point VI, apply RC to "the Gospel" (four times). Lesson
"Divine Covenant," point I, remove comma from "binding, and";
apply RC to "Divine covenant" (thrice); apply RC to "the Divine
Word" and "Divine character."
- Page 48, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC
to "Divine covenant." "Promise a Covenant" note, point I, apply RC
to "the Gospel" (twice).
- Page 49, same lesson, same note, point II, apply RC to "His bare
Word." Point III, add comma to "therefore it." "Divine and Human
Covenants" note, each of points II and III, apply RC to "Divine
covenant." "Law and Promise" note, remove comma from
"justification, and."
- Page 50, lesson "Inferiority of the Law," point III, apply RC to
"the Gospel"; remove comma from "man, and." Point IV, apply RC to
"Divine image."
- Page 51, same lesson, "No Trust" note, apply RC to "the Gospel."
"Use of the Law" note, each of points I and II, apply RC to "the
Gospel." "Unity" note, point 3, remove comma from "one, and."
- Page 52, lesson "True Use of the Law," point I, apply RC to
"Divine method" (twice). Point IV, remove comma from "Christ, and."
- On page 53, same lesson, "Great Prison" note, change "sabbathless"
to "Sabbath-less"; remove comma from "fast, and"; add comma to "So
when."
- On page 54, same lesson, "Shut up unto the faith" note, apply RC
to "the Gospel." Point II, remove comma from "is, and" and apply
RC to "the Gospel" (twice). Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 55, same lesson, "Law our Schoolmaster" note, in point III 3,
apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice).
- Page 56, same lesson, "Law preparing" note, point I, capitalize
"Day of Atonement." Each of points II and III, capitalize "Ten
Commandments." Point III, apply RC to "Divine plan" and "Divine
life."
- Page 57, same lesson, "Law a Schoolmaster" note, application
("Lessons"), apply RC to "Christ's Gospel." Lesson "Dignity of
Sonship," point I, remove comma from "training, and"; point III,
apply RC to "the Gospel"; remove comma from "provisions, and."
- Page 58, same lesson, point IV, add comma to "Surely he."
"Baptism" note, point III 2, apply RC to "Divine life."
- Page 59, same lesson, "God's Children" note, point VI, apply RC to
"Word of God." "Profession" note, remove comma from "doing, or";
add comma to "Nevertheless we."
- Page 60, same lesson, "Promise of Grace" note, apply RC to "whole
Gospel" and "the Word"; add comma to "therefore, the"; apply RC to
"the Gospel." Notes for chapter iv., correct "V r. 1" to "Ver. 1."
Verse 6, recognise "Abba" as Chaldee (Hebrew) and set it in
Italic; change "iii. 28" to "ch. iii. 28"; apply RC to "the
Gospel"; and add the sentence-ending period to the second sentence.
- Page 61, each of the notes for verses 17 and 30, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Lesson "Nonage," point I 2, remove comma from "blessings,
and." Point II 1, apply RC to "Divinely provided."
- Page 62, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine Son." Point
II 2, apply RC to "Divine law." Point III 1, apply RC to "Divine
glow" and remove comma from "God, and." Point III 2, apply RC to
"Divine adoption." Application ("Lessons"), apply RC to "the
Gospel." "Christ's Mission" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine
power."
- Page 63, same lesson, same note, same point, remove comma from
"trial, and."
- Page 64, same lesson, "Adoption" note, point I, remove comma from
"name, and." Point II 1, change "iv. 6" to "ch. iv. 6."
- Page 65, same lesson, "Evidences of Sonship" note, point II 1,
apply RC to "the Word of God." Point II 3, apply RC to "Divine
manner." "God's Offspring" note, point 2, remove comma from
"Father, and."
- Page 66, lesson "Legalism a Relapse," point II, remove comma from
"religion, and." Point III, remove comma from "nature, but."
- Page 67, same lesson, "Dilemma" note, point I 2 (3), make "his
god" and "thy god" lowercase, because the focus has been taken
from God. "Ignorance" note, each of points 2 and 3, apply RC to
"Divine worship."
- Page 68, lesson "Pleadings," point I 2, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(twice). Point II 2, remove comma from "intellect, but."
- Page 69, same lesson, "Christian Brotherhood" note, point I,
remove comma from "men, or." Point II 1, remove comma from
"wilfully, and."
- Page 71, same lesson, "Objects" note, point II, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (twice). "Godly Zeal" note, point I 2, remove comma from
"excitement, and."
- Page 72, same lesson, same note, point I 5, remove comma from
"man, but." Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine designs." "True"
note, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 5, apply RC to
"Divine approval." "Christmas" note, apply RC to "Divine Agent."
- Page 73, same lesson, "Doubt" note, point I 2, remove comma from
"knowledge, and"; point I 4, apply RC to "the Gospel." Lesson
"History," point I 2, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "Divine
freedom." In point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 74, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice)
and add "1 Pet. i. 4" reference. Application ("Lessons"), apply RC
to "the Gospel" (twice). "Jerusalem Above" note, point III 2,
remove comma from "salvation, and."
- Page 75, same lesson, "Jerusalem a Type" note, point III, correct
"Messias" to "Messiah" and apply RC to "the Word." "Believers"
note, point II 4, add comma to "So believers" and "so it." Point
III 1, apply RC to "Divine love."
- Page 76, same lesson, "Fate" note, point I, remove comma from
"mocking, and." Notes for chapter v., verse 2, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 77, lesson "Christian Liberty," point I, correct
"where.|with" to "wherewith."
- Page 78, same lesson, in point II, capitalize "Negro" (twice).
Point III, remove comma from "good, but."
- Page 79, same lesson, "Bondage and Liberty" note, point V, remove
comma from "adoption, and." Point VI, remove comma from "memory,
but." Lesson "Christianity Superior," point II, apply RC to "the
Gospel"; remove comma from "aspect, and."
- Page 80, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "the Gospel."
"Righteousness attained" note, apply RC to "Divine worship" and
"the Word."
- Page 81, same lesson, "Religion is Faith working" note, point II,
apply RC to "the Word." Lesson "Disturber," point I, remove comma
from "result, and." Point II, apply RC to "Divine method" and
"Divine calling." Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point IV 1,
apply RC to "Divine judgment" and remove commas from "truth, but"
and "himself, but."
- Page 82, same lesson, point IV 2, add double quotes around "Would
that the Judaising troubles would mutilate themselves"; remove
comma from "exhausted, and." "Like a Race" note, point I 4, remove
commas from "on, and" and "them, but."
- Page 83, same lesson, "Bad Companions" note, add comma to "course
it." "Disintegrating Force" note, point 1, remove comma from "God,
and" and apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 84, same lesson, "Perversion" note, point II, add comma to
"known and."
- Page 85, same lesson, "Judgment" note, remove comma from
"certainty, because." Lesson "Love," point I, remove comma from
"win, and."
- Page 86, same lesson, point III, remove comma from "quarrels,
but." Point IV, remove comma from "sphere, and" add double quotes
around "Be a man . . . as you can"; remove comma from "can, but."
"Abuse" note, point I, add comma to "Thus all."
- Page 87, same lesson, "Right Use" note, point II 1, apply RC to
"the Word."
- Page 88, same lesson, "Positiveness" note, point III, add comma to
"suppression but" apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 89, same lesson, "Walking in the Spirit" note, point I, apply
RC to "Divine nature." Each of points I 5 (1) and II 1 (2), apply
RC to "the Word." "The Strife" note, point I, change "imprison
Him" to "imprison him" referring to sin. Point II, apply RC to "in
Him."
- Page 90, same lesson, "Leading of the Spirit" note, apply RC to
"the Word."
- Page 91, lesson "Works," point II 1, apply Italic formatting to
"fornication" in the second sentence for consistency. Point II 2,
apply Italic formatting to "idolatry" for consistency; remove
comma from "lust, and"; apply RC to "the Divine." Point III, add
"and rises again" because man religious leaders have died, only
One has risen again. Use lowercase for "him whose own career it
describes" as referring to a saved person.
- Page 92, same lesson, "Biblical Account" note, remove comma from
"Testament, and"; capitalize "Adam's Fall"; remove comma from
"Testament, and." Lesson "Fruit," point I 1, add comma to "place
love" and apply RC to "Diviner meaning."
- Page 93, same lesson, point I 3, remove commas from "activity,
and" and "discipline, and."
- Page 94, same lesson, "Fruit" note, point I 1 (2), apply RC to
"the Word."
- The break between pages 94 and 95 is in the word "according":
accord|ing.
- Page 95, "Powers" note, add comma to "Christianity we." Point I,
remove comma from "miserable, and." Point IV, apply RC to "Divine
love" and "the Divine."
- Page 96, "Power of Meekness" note, remove comma from "peace, and."
"Grace of Gentleness" note, point I, apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 97, same lesson, same note, point III, apply RC to "Divine
greatness." "Life and Walk" note, point II 2, remove comma from
"life, and." Point III, apply RC to "the Word." "Walking in the
Spirit" note, each of points I and III, apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 98, notes for chapter vi., verse 7, remove comma from "men,
but."
- Page 100, lesson "Mutual Sympathy," point II, add double quotes
around "If ye will . . . law of love." In point III. 2, remove
comma from "theirs, but" add double quotes around "What do others
fail to do" and "What am I . . . expects from me."
- Page 101, same lesson, point IV, remove comma from "you, and."
- Page 103, same lesson, "Bear One Another's Burdens" note, in point
4, remove comma from "turned, and"; apply RC to "dim Gospel."
- Page 104, same lesson, "Bearing One Another" note, add comma to
"so in."
- Page 106, same lesson, "Every Man" note, point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Lesson "Moral Sowing," point I, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Point II, apply RC to "Divine law."
- Page 107, same lesson, point III, remove comma from
"disappointment, and." "Pastors and People" note, point VI, apply
RC to "the Gospel" (twice).
- Page 108, same lesson, same note, same point, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (two additional times). "Ministerial Maintenance" note,
point 3, remove comma from "preach, and" and apply RC to "the
Word."
- Page 109, same lesson, "Double Harvest" note, point II 1, apply RC
to "the Gospel." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine appointment" and
add comma to "end they." Change second point "II" to point "III."
- Page 110, "Sowing and Reaping" note, point II 3, apply RC to
"Divine approval."
- Page 111, same note, point III 3, apply RC to "Divine plaudit."
- Page 112, same lesson, "Reap if we faint not" note, point I 3 (2),
apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 113, same lesson, "Doing Good" note, point II, apply RC to
"Divine stanbard." Point IV, remove comma from "calling, and."
- Page 115, lesson "Apostolic Exposure," "Christianity and
Persecution" note, point III, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 116, lesson "Glorying," point II, add comma to "Thus I."
Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel." The original third sentence
is "The faith of the cross claims to have produced not a new style
of ritual, a new system of government, but new men." The
Transcriber inserted the word "not" after the first comma for
clarity.
- Page 117, same lesson, point IV, add comma to "So as" and add
"1 Pet. i. 4" reference. "Christ Crucified" note, point IV, remove
comma from "punishments, and."
- Page 118, same lesson, "Glorying in the Cross" note, point III 1,
apply RC to "Divine character." Point III 5, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 119, same lesson, "True Religion" note, point II 2, apply RC
to "Divine work." "New Creature" note, add comma to "therefore
the." Lesson "Dignified," point I, the Transcriber removed an
opening double quotes from "Peace is followed by mercy" because
there was neither a closing quotation mark nor an obvious
indication where a quotation ended.
- Page 120, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "His Gospel."
Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine blessing."
"True Israel" note, point III, apply RC to "Divine benedictions."
* * * * * * * *
+THE+
+EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.+
+INTRODUCTION.+
+Readers to whom the epistle was sent.+--In the two most ancient
copies of the Scriptures which we possess--dating from the fourth
century of our era--the words in our A.V. (ch. i. 1), _"at Ephesus,"_
are missing; and Basil the Great, who lived in the fourth century,
says he had seen copies which, "ancient" even at that early date,
spoke of the readers as _"those who are, and the faithful in Christ
Jesus."_ When it is observed, however, that Basil still says in that
passage the apostle is _"writing to the Ephesians,"_ in all honesty
we must admit another interpretation of his words to be possible.
Add to these early witnesses that Ephesus is not named in the text
the further fact that, though St. Paul had lived and laboured between
two and three years in Ephesus, there is absolutely no mention of any
name of those with whom he had been associated, and what on the
assumption of the Ephesian destination of the epistle is stranger
still, no reference to the work, unless we may be allowed to regard
the "sealing with the Holy Spirit of promise" as a reminiscence of
Acts xix. 1-7.
We must not make too much, however, of this absence of personal
greetings. Tychicus can do, _vivâ voce,_ all that needs to be done in
that way. St. Paul had been "received as an angel of God, or even as
Christ Jesus," by Galatians, not one of whom is mentioned in the
letter sent to the Galatians.
Certain expressions in the body of the letter are strange if the
Ephesian Christians were the first readers of it. In ch. i. 15 the
apostle says, "After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus." One
asks, "Did not the faith which 'cometh by hearing' result from Paul's
preaching in Ephesus? Then how can he speak of hearing of it?" It may
be answered, "Does not Paul say to Philemon, 'Thou owest unto me
thine own self' (ver. 19), and yet says (ver. 5) that, _hearing_ of
his love and faith, he thanks God?" Moreover, has any one quite
demonstrated the impossibility of this faith being the continuity of
that which began with the abjuration of magic in a costly offering of
fifty thousand pieces of silver? (Acts xix. 17-20). "Faith" may take
the form of fidelity as easily as of credence.
Again, in ch. iii. 2 Paul, at the word "Gentiles," enters into a
digression about his specific commission as their apostle. Just as to
the Galatian Church he expatiates on the special grace bestowed by
God and recognised by the "pillars" of the Church, so here he
magnifies his office, and his words here no more prove that he had
never seen his readers than the section of Galatians (Gal. ii. 6-9)
proves that he did not know the Galatians. Even supposing they did,
it surely would not be an astonishing thing that in the ever-shifting
population of a seaport many may have joined the Church since St.
Paul was in Ephesus. That this was the place to which St. Paul sent
his messenger with the letter before us cannot be demonstratively
shown; but we feel something like conviction by considering:
(_a_) that the preponderant evidence of the MSS. says "Ephesus";
(_b_) that the versions are unanimous as an echo of the MSS.;
(_c_) that the entire ancient Church has spoken of the epistle as "to
the Ephesians," Marcion's voice being the only exception; (_d_) the
improbability of St. Paul writing _"to the saints which are"_ without
adding the name of some place; (_e_) "Ephesus" more easily meets
internal difficulties than any other place. This, in substance, is
Bishop Ellicott's view. Still, we cannot regard it as impossible that
"Ephesus" may comprise many Churches in the vicinity, and therefore
regard the letter as really encyclical, even though it were proved
that St. Paul wrote "to the saints at Ephesus."
+Analysis of the Epistle.+
i. 1, 2. Salutation. Joy and well-being to those in Christ.
3-14. Hymn of praise to the Father, who worked out in Christ
His pre-temporal designs of beneficence, and gave pledge
of the yet more glorious consummation of His Divine will
in the bestowal of the Holy Ghost.
15-23. Thanksgiving of the apostle over their fidelity, and his
prayer for their complete illumination in the
incorporation of the Gentiles in the mystical body of
Christ, "the Head."
ii. 1-10. The power that delivered Christ from bodily corruption
in the tomb saved His members out of the corruption of
fleshly lusts, thus silencing every human boast and
magnifying the Divine grace.
11-22. Wholesome reminder of their former distance from Christ
as contrasted with present union with Him, and union
with the Jews in Him, being led to the Father with them.
iii. 1-13. Paul's familiar statement of the origin of his
apostolate as specially commissioned--"ambassador
extraordinary" to the Gentiles.
14-19. Prayer that by "power and faith and love" they may grasp
"the mystery," and become brimful of love Divine.
20, 21. Doxology to the doctrinal half of the epistle.
iv. 1-16. Exhortation to a practical observation of this doctrinal
unity by the thought that every member of Christ is
necessary in its full development to the perfection of
the body of which Christ is the Head.
17-24. Casting off the old and putting on the new man.
25--v. 21. Exhortation to conduct in harmony with the new nature.
v. 22--vi. 9. Relative duties of wives and husbands, children and parents,
servants and masters.
vi. 10-18. The Christian panoply.
19, 20. Apostle's request for prayers.
21, 22. _Personalia._
23, 24. A twin doxology, reversing the order of the
salutation--"Peace and grace."
+Genuineness of the epistle.+--Dr. Ellicott sums up the matter
briefly by saying, "There is no just ground on which to dispute the
genuineness." Arguments based on certain expressions in the body of
the letter have been speciously urged against its genuineness by
De Wette and others; and Holzmann has "learnedly maintained that the
epistle is only the expansion of a short letter to the Colossians by
some writer about the close of the first century" (_Godet_).
"We have, on the other hand, subjective arguments, not unmixed with
arrogance, but devoid of sound historical basis; on the other hand,
unusually convincing counter-investigations and the unvarying
testimony of the ancient Church." Adverse arguments have been
answered so satisfactorily and sometimes so crushingly as to leave no
room for doubt. Those who cannot read the epistle without being moved
by the peculiar loftiness, by the grandeur of conception, by the
profound insight, by the eucharistic inspiration they recognise in
it, will require strong evidence to persuade them that it was written
by some other man who wished it to pass as St. Paul's.
+The practical design of the epistle.+--The object is to set forth
the ground, course, aim, and end of the Church of the faithful in
Christ. The Ephesians are a sample of the Church universal. The key
to the epistle may be found in the opening sentence (ver. 3). Fixing
his eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle opens his mind to the
blessings which radiate forth from Him, and from the Father through
Him, upon the whole world. The mind of God towards men unveiled in
Christ, the relation of men towards God exhibited in Christ, the
present spiritual connection of men with Christ, the hopes of which
Christ is the ground and assurance, the laws imposed by the life of
Christ upon human life--these are the blessings for which he gives
thanks. Christ embracing humanity in Himself is the subject of the
epistle. St. Paul tells with strict faithfulness what he has read and
seen in Christ; Christ fills the whole sphere of his mind.
+CHAPTER I.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +To the saints.+--Dismiss the commonly accepted meaning. Not
men who by hard and rigorous methods have reached the heights where
but few abide, but those who, as the elect of God, are separated from
everything unholy and kept for God's peculiar possession (1 Pet.
ii. 9). +And faithful.+--Sometimes the word may mean "believers,"
sometimes "trustworthy." "The use of the adjective for the Christian
brotherhood cannot be assigned rigidly either to the one meaning or
the other. Its very comprehensiveness was in itself a valuable
lesson" (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 2. +Grace . . . and peace.+--The light-hearted Greek salutation
was, "Rejoice"; the more sober Hebrew--our Lord's own--was, "Peace be
to you." Here both unite.
Ver. 3. +Blessed be the God and Father.+--The Hebrew form for
"hallowing the Name" was, "The Holy One, blessed be He." The Prayer
Book version of Psalm c. gives, "Speak good of His name." +Who
blessed us.+--When old Isaac pronounces the blessing uttered on Jacob
unwittingly to be irreversible, he depends on God for the carrying
out of his dying blessing: the Divine blessing _makes_ whilst
_pronouncing_ blest. +In the heavenly places.+--Lit. "in the
heavenlies"--so, as A.V. margin says, either places or _things._
Perhaps the _local_ signification is best; "relating to heaven and
meant to draw us thither" (_Blomfield_).
Ver. 4. +Even as He chose us in Him.+--Whatever be the manifestation
of the Divine goodness, it is _"in Christ"_ that it is made. "This
sentence traces back the state of grace and Christian piety to the
eternal and independent electing love of God" (_Cremer_). There is
always the connotation of some not chosen. +Before the foundation of
the world.+--St. Paul, like Esaias, "is very bold." His Master had
only said "from," not "before," the foundation (Matt. xxv. 34),
reserving the "before" for the dim eternity in which He was the
sharer, with the eternal Spirit, of the Father's love (John
xvii. 24). +Without blemish+ (R.V.), or, in one word, "immaculate." A
sacrificial term generally; used by St. Peter (1 Pet. i. 19) to
describe that "Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world."
This word serves to guard "holy," just before it; a separated (holy)
people must also be a spotless people.
Ver. 5. +Having predestinated us.+--By pointing as the R.V. margin
does, we get Love Divine as the basis on which our foreordination
rests. "There is no respect of persons with God," and so _arrière
pensée_ in the invitation, "All that labour and are heavy laden."
+Unto adoption as sons.+--The end, as regards man. Perhaps St. John's
word goes more deeply into the heart of the mystery, "That we should
be called the _children_ of God"--"_born_ of God." +Through Jesus
Christ.+--Mediator of this and every implied blessing. +According to
the good pleasure of His will.+--The word for "good pleasure"
characterises the will as one whose intent is something good; the
unhampered working of the will lies in the expression too. The
measure of human privilege in the adoption is _according to_ the
Divine Graciousness.
Ver. 6. +To the praise of the glory of His grace.+--The ultimate end,
"that God may be all in all." +Wherein He hath made us accepted in
the Beloved.+--The change in the R.V., considerable as it seems,
turns on the rendering of one word, the meaning in the New Testament
being "to bestow favour." Compare Luke i. 28 and the A.V. marginal
alternative "much-graced." Chrysostom's beautiful interpretation must
not be lightly rejected, "to make love-worthy"--just as if one were
to make a sick or famished man into a beautiful youth, so has God
made our soul beautiful and love-worthy for the angels and all saints
and for Himself.
Ver. 7. +In whom we have redemption.+--Release in consideration of a
ransom paid--"deliverance effected through the death of Christ from
the retributive wrath of a holy God and the merited penalty of sin"
(_Grimm_). +Through His blood.+--St. Paul quite agrees with the
author of Hebrews (Heb. ix. 22) that apart from the pouring out of
blood, the putting away of sin cannot be brought about. +The
forgiveness of our trespasses.+--Another way of stating in what the
redemption consists. Notice the "forgiveness" as compared with the
"passing over" (Rom. iii. 25, R.V.). The one is the remission of
punishment; the other the omission to punish sin that has been
observed, "leaving it open in the future either entirely to _remit_
or else adequately to punish them as may seem good to Him" (_Trench_).
Ver. 8. +In all wisdom and prudence.+--"Wisdom embraces the
collective activity of the mind as directed to Divine aims to be
achieved by moral means. Prudence is the insight of practical reason
regulating the dispositions" (_Meyer_).
Ver. 9. +The mystery of His will.+--"Mystery" is here to be taken not
so much as a thing which baffles the intellect as the slow utterance
of a long-kept secret, which "the fulness of time" brings to birth.
Ver. 10. +The fulness of times.+--The word for "times" denotes "time
as brings forth its several births." It is the "flood" in the "tide
of affairs." +To sum up all things.+--"To bring together again for
Himself all things and all beings (hitherto disunited by sin) into
one combined state of fellowship in Christ, the universal bond"
(_Grimm_). "It is the mystery of God's will to gather all together
for Himself in Christ, to bring all to a unity, to put an end to the
world's discord wrought by sin, and to re-establish the original
state of mutual dependence in fellowship with God" (_Cremer_). +The
things which are in heaven and which are on earth.+
"The blood that did for us atone
Conferred on them some gift unknown."
Ver. 11. +In whom also we have obtained an inheritance.+--R.V. _"were
made a heritage."_ "The Lord's portion is His people, Jacob is the
lot of His inheritance," sang dying Moses (Deut. xxxii. 9). The
verbal paradox between A.V. and R.V. is reconciled in fact. "All are
yours, and ye are Christ's" (1 Cor. iii. 22, 23). "Before the
_Parousia_ an ideal possession, therefore a real one" (_Meyer_).
+After the counsel of His own will.+--"The 'counsel' preceding the
resolve, the 'will' urging on to action" (_Cremer_).
Ver. 12. +That we should be to the praise.+--R.V. _"to the end that
we should be."_ "_Causa finalis_ of the predestination to the
Messianic lot" (_Meyer_). "We" in antithesis to "you" in ver. 13--We
Jewish--you Gentile Christians.
Ver. 13. +In whom ye also, etc.+--The word "trusted," supplied by
A.V., is dropped by R.V. It seems best to regard the words after "ye
also" as one of the frequent breaks in the flow of the apostle's
language, the second "ye" taking up the first. "In whom ye were
sealed." "The order of conversion was: hearing, faith, baptism,
reception of the Spirit" (_Meyer_). +Ye were sealed.+--"This sealing
is the indubitable guarantee of the future Messianic salvation
received in one's own consciousness" (_Meyer_).
Ver. 14. +Who is the earnest.+--The guarantee. The word represented
by "earnest" was derived from the Phœnician merchants, and meant
money which in purchases is given as a pledge that the full amount
will be subsequently paid (_Grimm_). The word is found in the Hebrew
of Gen. xxxviii. 17, 18, and means "pledge." F. W. Robertson makes a
distinction between "pledge" and "earnest"--the grapes of Eshcol were
an "earnest" of Canaan. He who receives the Holy Spirit partakes the
powers of the age to come (Heb. vi. 4, 5). +Until the
redemption.+--The final consummation of the redemption effected by
the atonement of Christ. The "until" is faulty, the "earnest" being
"something towards" the redemption. +Of the purchased
possession.+--R.V. "of God's own possession." "The whole body of
Christians, the true people of God acquired by God as His property by
means of the redeeming work of Christ" (_Meyer_).
Vers. 15, 16.--St. Paul is always ready to give a prompt
acknowledgment of all that is best in his readers and to pray for
something better. +Cease not to give thanks.+--My thanksgiving knows
no end.
Ver. 17. +That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.+--The connection or
unity of the Father and the Son is the basis of the plea for those
who are in the Son. Christ said, "I ascend unto My Father and your
Father, to My God and your God" (John xx. 17). +The Father of
glory.+--Compare the phrases, "the Father of mercies" (2 Cor. i. 3),
"the Father of lights" (Jas. i. 17), "our Lord Jesus Christ, the
glory" (Jas. ii. 1). +The spirit of wisdom and revelation.+--The
wisdom which is from above is the heritage of all the redeemed in
Christ (1 John iv. 20); but this day-spring, which gladdens the eyes
of the heart, grows to mid-day splendour by successive apocalypses.
+In the knowledge.+--The word means a complete knowledge. It is a
word characteristic of the four epistles of the first Roman captivity.
Vers. 18, 19. +The eyes of your understanding being enlightened . . .
to us-ward who believe.+--Three pictures for heaven-illumined eyes:
1. +The hope of His calling.+--Meyer says "the hope" is not here (nor
anywhere) the _res sperata,_ "the object on which hope fastens, but
the great and glorious hope which God gives"--a statement too
sweeping for other scholars, though _here_ they agree that it is the
_faculty_ of hope "which encourages and animates." 2. +The riches of
the glory of His inheritance in the saints.+--"What a copious and
grand accumulation, mirroring, as it were, the weightiness of the
thing itself!" (_Meyer_). "Riches of the glory" must not be watered
down into "glorious riches." 3. +The exceeding greatness of His power
to us-ward.+--The amazing and wholly unexpected working of the same
Hand that wrought our first deliverance: the Power that smites the
oppressor with dismay opens the path through the sea (see Isa.
xl. 10, 11). +According to the working of His mighty power.+--This
may be regarded as a specimen of the Divine power, the norm or
standard by which we may gain an idea of the "exceeding greatness" of
it--that from the tomb of His humiliation Christ was raised by that
power to an unrivalled dignity in God's throne. The R.V. gives
_"working of the strength of His might"_: _"working"_--"the active
exertion of power" (_Meyer_); _"strength"_--might _expressing itself_
in overcoming resistance, ruling, etc.; _"might"--strength in itself_
as inward power.
Ver. 20. +Set Him at His own right hand.+--_"Dexter Dei ubique est."_
We cannot dogmatise about the relations to space which a glorified
body holds. The transcendent glory of God in that body links God to
man, the humanity in the glory gives man his claim in God. "The true
commentary on the phrase is Mark xvi. 19, 'He was received up into
heaven, and sat on the right hand of God'" (_Meyer_).
Ver. 21. +Far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion.+--R.V., "Rule, and authority, and power, and dominion." "To
be understood of the _good_ angels, since the apostle is not speaking
of the victory of Christ over opposing powers, but of His exaltation
above the existing powers of heaven" (_Meyer_). "Powers and
dominions, deities of heaven," as Milton calls them, ranged here,
perhaps, in a descending order. +And every name that is named.+--"God
hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every
name." "Let any name be uttered, whatever it is, Christ is above it,
is more exalted than that which the name affirms" (_Meyer_). +Not
only in this world.+--"This age." "No other name under heaven given
among men." +But also in that which is to come.+--There Zechariah's
word will have its fullest application. "The Lord shall be King over
all the earth; _there shall be one Lord, and His name one._"
Ver. 22. +And hath put all things under His feet.+--Compare 1 Cor.
xv. 27.
"Strong Son of God, immortal Love, . . .
Thou madest Death; and lo Thy foot
Is on the skull which Thou hast made."--_In Memoriam._
Ver. 23. +The fulness of Him that filleth all in all.+--"The Church,
viz., is _the Christ-filled, i.e._ that which is filled by Him in so
far as Christ penetrates the whole body and produces Christian life"
(_Meyer_). "The brimmed receptacle of Him who filleth all things with
all things" (_Farrar_). "Among the Gnostics the supersensible world
is called the Pleroma, the fulness _or filled,_ in opposition to 'the
empty,' the world of the senses" (_Meyer_).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1, 2.
_Apostolic Salutation._
+I. He declares the Divine source of his authority.+--"Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God" (ver. 1). The faithful
ambassador scans his commission with the utmost care and is
solicitous to clearly understand the will of his Sovereign. If he
examines his own fitness for the office, it is only to be humbled
under a sense of unworthiness, and to express surprise that he should
be chosen to such a dignity and be entrusted with such powers. His
supreme ambition is to sink his own personal predilections in the
earnest discharge of his duty. Paul does not dilate on his own mental
capabilities or spiritual endowments. He accepts his appointment to
the apostleship as coming directly from the hand of God and
recognises the Divine will as the source of righteousness and of all
power to do good. This lofty conception of his call gave him
unfaltering confidence in the truth he had to declare, inspired him
with an ever-glowing zeal, rendered him immovable in the midst of
defection and opposition, and willing to obliterate himself, so that
the Gospel committed to him might be triumphant. The true minister,
in the onerous task of dealing with human doubt and sin, feels the
need of all the strength and prestige conferred by the conscious
possession of Divine authority. He seeks not to advance his own
interests or impose his own theories, but to interpret the mind of
God to man and persuade to submission and obedience. The power that
makes for righteousness has its root in the Divine will.
+II. He designates the sacred character of those he salutes.+--"To
the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus"
(ver. 1). The Ephesian saints were made so by their faith in Christ
Jesus. They were not saints because Paul called them so. Sanctity is
not the result of human volition, nor can it be created by a college
of cardinals. "Many saints have been canonised who ought to have been
cannonaded." Sanctity is the gift of God and is bestowed on those who
believe in Christ Jesus and maintain their allegiance by continued
faith in Him. They are holy so long as they are faithful. The saints
of God! "Think," says Farrar, "of the long line of heroes of faith in
the olden times: of the patriarchs--Enoch the blameless, Noah the
faithful, Abraham the friend of God; of the sweet and meditative
Isaac, the afflicted and wrestling Jacob; of Moses, the meekest of
men; of brave judges, glorious prophets, patriotic warriors, toiling
apostles; of the many martyrs who would rather die than lie; of the
hermits who fled from the guilt and turmoil of life into the solitude
of the wilderness; of the missionaries--St. Paul, Columban, Benedict,
Boniface, Francis Xavier, Schwartz, Eliot, Henry Martyn, Coleridge,
Patteson; of the reformers who cleared the world of lies, like
Savonarola, Huss, Luther, Zwingli, Wesley, Whitefield; of wise
rulers, like Alfred, Louis, Washington, and Garfield; of the writers
of holy books, like Thomas-à-Kempis, Baxter, Bunyan, Samuel
Rutherford, Jeremy Taylor; of the slayers of monstrous abuses, like
Howard and Wilberforce; of good bishops, like Hugo of Avalon,
Fénélon, and Berkeley; of good pastors, like Oberlin, Fletcher of
Madeley, Adolphe Monod, and Felix Neff; of all true poets, whether
sweet and holy, like George Herbert, Cowper, Keble, and Longfellow,
or grand and mighty, like Dante and Milton. These are but few of the
many who have reflected the glory of their Master Christ, and who
walk with Him in white robes, for they are worthy."
+III. He supplicates the bestowal of the highest blessings.+--"Grace
be to you, and peace" (ver. 3). Grace and peace have a Divine source.
_Grace_ is the rich outflow of God's goodness, made available for man
through the redeeming work of Christ. There is sometimes the thought
that grace implies God's passing by sin. But no, quite the contrary;
grace supposes sin to be so horribly bad a thing that God cannot
tolerate it. Were it in the power of man, after being unrighteous and
evil, to patch up his ways and mend himself so as to stand before
God, there would then be no need of grace. The very fact of the
Lord's being gracious shows sin to be so evil a thing that man, being
a sinner, is utterly ruined and hopeless, and nothing but free grace
can meet his case. This grace God is continually supplying. Grace,
like manna, will rot if kept overnight. "Wind up thy soul," says
George Herbert, "as thou dost thy watch at night." Leave no arrears
from day to day. Give us this day's food; forgive us this day's sins.
_Peace_ is first peace with God, with whom the soul was at enmity;
then peace of conscience, troubled on account of repeated sins, and
peace with all men. All our best wishes for the welfare of others are
included in the all-comprehensive blessings of grace and peace.
+Lessons.+--1. _The will of God is the highest authority for
Christian service._ 2. _The saintly character is the outgrowth of a
practical faith._ 3. _Grace and peace describe the rich heritage of
the believer._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1, 2. _Paul's Introduction to the Epistle._--The design of this
epistle is more fully to instruct the Ephesians in the nature of that
Gospel they had received, to guard them against certain errors to
which they were exposed from the influence and example of unbelieving
Jews and Gentiles, and to inculcate upon them the importance of a
conversation becoming their faith and profession. It contains the
substance of the Gospel.
+I. Paul here calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ.+--The word
"apostle" signifies a messenger sent on some particular business.
Jesus Christ is called an Apostle because He was sent of God to
instruct and redeem mankind. Paul and others are called apostles
because they were sent of Christ to teach the doctrines they had
received from Him. To confirm this commission, as well as to give
their ministry success, Christ, according to His promise, wrought
with them and established their words with signs following.
1. _Paul was an apostle by the will of God._--He received not his
call or commission from man; nor was he, as Matthias was, chosen to
his apostleship by men; but he was called by Jesus Christ, who in
person appeared to him for this end that He might send him among the
Gentiles, and by God the Father, who revealed His Son in him, and
chose him that he should know His will and be a witness of the truth
unto all men.
2. _He was called of God by revelation._--It was not a secret
revelation known only to himself, like the revelation on which
enthusiasts and impostors ground their pretensions, but a revelation
made in the most open and public manner, attended with a voice from
heaven and a light which outshone the sun at noonday, and exhibited
in the midst of a number of people to whom he could appeal as
witnesses of the extraordinary scene. The great business of Paul and
the other apostles was to diffuse the knowledge of the Gospel and
plant Churches in various parts of the world.
+II. Paul directs this epistle to the saints and faithful.+--The
phrases denote they had been called out of the world and separated
from others that they might be a peculiar people unto God. The
religion we profess contains the highest motives to purity of heart
and life. If, content with a verbal profession of and external
compliance with this religion, we regard iniquity in our hearts, we
are guilty of the vilest prevarication, and our religion, instead of
saving us, will but plunge us the deeper into infamy and misery. That
which is the visible ought to be the real character of Christians.
+III. The apostle expresses his fervent desire that these Ephesians
may receive the glorious blessings offered in the
Gospel.+--1. _Grace._ Pardon is grace, for it is the remission of a
deserved punishment. Eternal life is grace, for it is a happiness of
which we are utterly unworthy. The influences of the Divine Spirit
are grace, for they are first granted without any good disposition on
our part to invite them, they are continued even after repeated
oppositions, they prepare us for that world of glory for which we
never should qualify ourselves.
2. _Peace._--By this we understand that peace of mind which arises
from a persuasion of our interest in the favour of God. Our peace
with God is immediately connected with our faith in Christ. Our peace
of mind is connected with our knowledge of the sincerity of our
faith. "If our heart condemn us not, we have confidence toward God."
The way to enjoy peace is to increase in all holy dispositions and to
abound in every good work. If the apostle wished grace and peace to
Christians, surely they should feel some solicitude to enjoy
them.--_J. Lathrop, D.D._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-14.
_Praise for the Work of the Trinity in the Gospel of Grace._
These verses are an outburst of descriptive eloquence that even the
ample resources of the Greek language seem too meagre to adequately
express. The grandeur and variety of ideas, and the necessary
vagueness of the phrases by which those ideas are conveyed in this
paragraph, create a difficulty in putting the subject into a
practical homiletic form. It may help us if we regard the passage as
an outpouring of praise for the work of the Trinity in the Gospel of
grace, the part of each person in the Trinity being distinctly
recognised as contributing to the unity of the whole.
+I. The Gospel of grace originated in the love of the
Father.+--1. _He hath chosen us to holiness._ "Blessed be the God and
Father . . . who hath chosen us . . . that we should be holy and
without blame before Him in love" (vers. 3, 4). The love of God the
Father gave Christ to the world, and in Him the human race is dowered
with "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places." The blessings from
heaven link us to heaven, and will by-and-by bring us to heaven,
where those blessings will be enjoyed in unrestricted fulness. Before
time began, in the free play of His infinite love, God the Father,
foreseeing the sin and misery that would come to pass, resolved to
save man, and to save him in His own way and for His own purpose. Man
was to be saved in Christ, and by believingly receiving Christ; and
his salvation was not to free him from moral obligation, but to plant
in him principles of holiness by which he could live a blameless life
before God. He chose for Himself that we might love Him and find our
satisfaction in the perpetual discovery of His great love to us. The
true progression of the Christian life is a growth of the
ever-widening knowledge of the love of God. Love is the essence and
the crown of holiness.
2. _He hath ordained us to sonship._--"Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Christ Jesus Himself" (ver. 5). The
sonship is not by natural right of inheritance, but by adoption. It
is an act of Divine grace, undeserved and unexpected. It is said
that, after the battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon adopted the children
of the soldiers who had fallen. They were supported and educated by
the State, and, as belonging to the family of the emperor, were
allowed to attach the name of Napoleon to their own. This was not the
adoption of love, but as a recognition of service rendered by their
fathers. None can adopt into the family of God but God Himself, and
it is an act on His part of pure, unmerited love. He raises us to the
highest dignity, and endows us with unspeakable privileges, when He
makes us His children; and our lives should be in harmony with so
distinguished a relationship.
3. _He hath accepted us in Christ._--"Wherein He hath made us
accepted in the Beloved" (ver. 6). Christ, the beloved One, is the
special object of the Father's love, and all who are united to Christ
by faith become sharers in the love with which the Divine Father
regards His Son. It is only in and through Christ that we are
admitted into the Divine family. God loves us in Christ, and the more
so because we love Christ. We are accepted to a life of holiness and
a service of love. Christ is the pattern of our sonship and the means
of our adoption. The love of God to the race finds an outlet through
the person and gracious intervention of His Son.
+II. The Gospel of grace was wrought out by the sufferings of the
Son.+--1. _In Him we have forgiveness of sins._ "In whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (ver. 7). How
little do we realise the greatness and blessedness of the pardon of
sin! It may seem difficult to explain how the forgiveness of sins is
connected with the sufferings and death of Christ; but there is no
fact in the New Testament writings more clearly revealed or more
emphatically repeated than this. "The death of Christ was an act of
submission on behalf of mankind to the justice of the penalties of
violating the eternal law of righteousness--an act in which our own
submission not only received a transcendent expression, but was
really and vitally included; it was an act which secured the
destruction of sin in all who, through faith, are restored to union
with Christ; it was an act in which there was a revelation of the
righteousness of God which must otherwise have been revealed in the
infliction of the penalty of sin on the human race. Instead of
inflicting suffering God has elected to endure it, that those who
repent of sin may receive forgiveness, and may inherit eternal glory.
It was greater to endure suffering than to inflict it" (_Dale_). The
forgiveness is free, full, and complete.
2. _In Him we have the revelation of the mystery of the Divine
will._--"Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and
prudence; having made known to us the mystery of His will" (vers. 8,
9). The will of God is to advance the ultimate glorious destiny of
the whole creation. This sublime purpose was for ages an unrevealed
mystery, unknown to the prophets, psalmists, and saints of earlier
times. In the depths of the Divine counsels this purpose was to be
carried out by Christ, and it is revealed only through and in Him.
The believer in Christ discovers in Him, not only his own
blessedness, but also the ultimate glory of all who are savingly
united to the great Redeemer. The abounding grace of God bestows
wisdom to apprehend a larger knowledge of the ways and will of God,
and prudence to practically apply that knowledge in the conduct of
life.
3. _In Him we enjoy the unity and grandeur of the heavenly
inheritance._--"That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He
might gather together in one all things in Christ, . . . in whom also
we have obtained an inheritance, . . . that we should be to the
praise of His glory" (vers. 10-12). The fulness of times must refer
to the Gospel age and the glorious ages to follow, in which the
accomplishment of the Divine purpose will become more apparent. That
purpose is to heal up the estrangement of man from God, and to
restore moral harmony to the universe, which has been disordered by
the introduction of sin. The great agent in the unifying and
harmonising of all things is Christ, who is the centre and
circumference of all. The angels who never sinned, and the saints who
are made such by redeeming mercy, will share together the inheritance
of bliss provided by the suffering and triumphant Christ. "One final
glory will consist, not in the restoration of the solitary soul to
solitary communion with God, but in the fellowship of all the blessed
with the blessedness of the universe as well as with the blessedness
of God."
+III. The Gospel of grace is confirmed and realised by the operation
of the Holy Spirit.+--1. _By Him we hear and understand the Word of
truth._ "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation" (ver. 13). The Gospel is
emphatically the Word of truth; it is reliable history, not
romance--a revelation of truths essential to salvation. It is the
function of the Holy Spirit to illuminate the mind by the
instrumentality of the truth, to apply the Word to the conscience,
and to regenerate the heart. He takes of the things of Christ and
shows them unto us, and the vision leads on to a spiritual
transformation.
2. _By Him we are sealed as an earnest of possessing the full
inheritance of blessing._--"Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance" (vers. 13, 14). The
work of the Spirit broke down all class distinctions. The Jewish
Christians discovered that the exclusive privileges of their race had
passed away. All believers in Christ Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile,
received the assurance of the Spirit that all the prerogatives and
blessings of God's eternal kingdom were theirs. The seal of the
Spirit is the Divine attestation to the believing soul of its
admission into the favour of God, and the guarantee of ultimately
entering into the full possession and enjoyment of the heavenly
inheritance.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel of grace is the harmonious work of the
blessed Trinity._ 2. _The grace of the Gospel is realized by faith._
3. _Praise for the gift of the Gospel should be continually offered
to the Triune God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 3-6. _The Doctrine of Predestination._--Neither Calvinism nor
Arminianism has solved the problem presented in this chapter. Like
difficulties meet us in God's providential dealings--ay, in the
workings of His natural laws; for, as a brilliant author has said,
"Nature is a terrible Calvinist."--_Lange._
_Election._--It is above logic and philosophy and even technical
theology, even as on many, and these, the most important subjects,
the heart is a better teacher than the head. In these matters I am so
fearful that I dare not speak further--yea, almost none otherwise
than the text does, as it were, lead me by the hand.--_Ridley._
_Mystery of election._--Those who are willing are always the elect;
those who will not are not elected. Many men are wrapped up in the
doctrines of election and predestination; but that is the height of
impertinence. They are truths belonging to God alone; and if you are
perplexed by them, it is only because you trouble yourself about
things which do not concern you. You only need to know that God
sustains you with all His might in the winning of your salvation if
you will only rightly use His help. Whoever doubts this is like a
crew of a boat working with all their might against the tide and yet
going back hour after hour; then they notice that the tide turns,
while at the same time the wind springs up and fills their sails. The
coxswain cries, "Pull away, boys! wind and tide favour you!" But they
answer, "What can we do with the oars? don't the wind and tide take
away our free agency?"--_H. W. Beecher._
Ver. 3. _Spiritual Blessings._
+I. They are accommodated to our spiritual wants and desires, they
come down from heaven, prepare us for heaven, and will be completed
in our admission to heaven.+--The influences of the Spirit are
heavenly gifts, the renovation of the heart by a Divine operation is
wisdom from above, the renewed Christian is born from above and
becomes a spiritual man, the state of immortality Christ has
purchased for believers is an inheritance reserved for them in
heaven, in the resurrection they will be clothed with a house from
heaven, with spiritual and heavenly bodies, and they will sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
+II. The blessings granted to the Ephesians are tendered to us.+--He
offers us the honours and felicities of adoption and the remission of
all our sins through the atonement of His Son. He has proposed for
our acceptance an inheritance incorruptible in the heavens. We have
happier advantages to become acquainted with the doctrines and
precepts of the Gospel than the primitive Christians could enjoy. If
they were bound to give thanks for their privileges, how criminal
must be ingratitude under ours! We must one day answer before God for
all the spiritual blessings He has sent us.--_Lathrop._
Vers. 4-6. _The Nature, Source, and Purposes of Spiritual Blessings._
+I. God chose and predestinated these Ephesian Christians before the
foundation of the world.+--We must not so conceive of God's election
and the influence of His grace as to set aside our free agency and
final accountableness; nor must we so explain away God's sovereignty
and grace as to exalt man to a state of independence. Now, so far as
the grace of God in the salvation of sinners is absolute and
unconditional, election or predestination is so, and no farther. If
we consider election as it respects the final bestowment of
salvation, it is plainly conditional. To imagine that God chooses
some to eternal life without regard to their faith and holiness is to
suppose that some are saved without these qualifications or saved
contrary to His purpose. God hath chosen us to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
+II. Consider the spiritual qualifications to which the Ephesians
were chosen.+--"To be holy and without blame before Him in love"
(ver. 4). Holiness consists in the conformity of the soul to the
Divine nature and will and is opposed to all moral evil. Love is a
most essential part of the character of the saint. Charity out of a
pure heart is the end of the commandment. Without charity all our
pretensions to Gospel holiness are vain.
+III. Consider the adoption to which believers are predestinated+
(ver. 5).--Our sonship is not our native right, but the effect of
God's gracious adoption. 1. _It implies a state of freedom in
opposition to bondage._ Believers are free as being delivered from
the bondage of sin, and as having near access to God and intimate
communion with Him. Children are usually admitted to that familiar
intercourse which is denied to servants. 2. _Adoption brings us under
the peculiar care of God's providence._ 3. _Includes a title to a
glorious resurrection from the dead and to an eternal inheritance in
the heavens._ If believers are the children of God, then their temper
must be a childlike temper, a temper corresponding to their relation,
condition, and character.
+IV. That all spiritual blessings are derived to us through Christ+
(vers. 5, 6).
+V. The reason of God's choosing believers in Christ and
predestinating them to adoption is the good pleasure of His will+
(ver. 5).--If we admit we are sinful, fallen creatures, unworthy of
God's favour and insufficient for our own redemption, then our
salvation must ultimately be resolved into God's good pleasure. There
is no other source from which it can be derived. If death is our
desert, our deliverance must be by grace.
+VI. The great purpose for which God has chosen and called us is the
praise of the glory of His grace+ (ver. 6).--God has made this
display of His grace that unworthy creatures might apply to Him for
salvation. We are to praise the glory of God's grace by a cheerful
compliance with the precepts and thankful acceptance of the blessings
of the Gospel, by a holy life, and by encouraging others to accept
that grace. Believers will, in a more perfect manner, show forth the
praise of God's glorious grace in the future world.--_Lathrop._
Vers. 5, 6. _The Glory of Divine Grace_--
+I. Is the sublime outcome of the Divine will.+--"According to His
will" (ver. 5).
+II. Is a signal display of joyous benevolence.+--"According to the
good pleasure of His will" (ver. 5).
+III. Demands profound and grateful recognition.+--"To the praise of
the glory of His grace" (ver. 6).
Ver. 5. _The Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ._--Explain the
nature of the privilege.
+I. Its greatness.+--1. From the Being by whom it is conferred.
2. From the price at which it was procured. 3. From the inheritance
which it conveys. 4. From the manner in which it is bestowed. The new
birth.
+II. Its benefits.+--1. The spirit of adoption. 2. Divine care and
protection. 3. Divine pity and compassion. 4. Overruling all trials
for spiritual good.
+III. The evidences of its possession.+--1. The image of God. 2. The
love of God. 3. The love of the brethren.
+IV. Its appropriate duties.+--The children of God ought--1. To walk
worthy of their high vocation. 2. To be subject to their Father's
will both in doing and in suffering. 3. To be mindful of what they
owe to their spiritual kindred. 4. To long for their heavenly
home.--_G. Brooks._
Ver. 6. _The Adopting Love of God._
+I. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Beloved of the Father.+--From
eternity during the preparatory dispensation in the days of His
flesh; now; for ever. An ineffable love.
+II. The Father's love of believers is on account of the Lord Jesus
Christ.+--He accepts them for the sake of Christ as united to Christ.
Acceptance distinct from pardon.
+III. The Father's acceptance of believers is an act of sovereign
grace.+--Irrespective of their merit. Neither the necessity of the
atonement nor the obligation of faith is inconsistent with acceptance
by grace.
+IV. The Father's acceptance of believers for the sake of Christ
promotes His own glory.+--His glory is the end of all things. Implore
all to seek acceptance with God through Christ.--_G. Brooks._
Vers. 7, 8. _Redemption through Christ._
+I. The subjects of this redemption.+--Redemption, though offered
without distinction to all who hear the Gospel, is actually bestowed
only on those who repent of their sins and believe on the Saviour.
+II. The nature of this redemption.+--There is a twofold
redemption--the redemption of the soul from the guilt of sin by
pardon, and the redemption of the body from the power of the grave by
the resurrection. The former of these is intended. But these two
privileges are connected. The remission of sin, which is a release
from our obligation to punishment, is accompanied with a title to
eternal life.
+III. The way and manner in which believers become partakers of this
privilege.+--Through the blood of Christ. The death of Christ is the
ground of our hope. Jesus Christ, through whose blood we obtain
forgiveness, is the Beloved. This character of Christ shows the
excellence of His sacrifice and displays the grace of God in giving
Him for us.
+IV. Observe the foundation from which our redemption flows.+--"The
riches of His grace." Every blessing bestowed on sinners is by grace;
but the blessing of forgiveness is according to the riches, the
exceeding, the unsearchable riches of grace.
+V. In this dispensation of mercy God has abounded to us in all
wisdom and prudence.+--The most glorious display of God's wisdom is
in the work of our redemption. Here the perfections of God appear in
the brightest lustre and most beautiful harmony. In this dispensation
there is a door of hope opened to the most unworthy, believers have
the greatest possible security, and it holds forth the most awful
terrors against sin and the most powerful motives to
obedience.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 7. _Pardon an Act of Sovereign Grace._--This free and gracious
pleasure of God or purpose of His will to act towards sinners
according to His own abundant goodness is another thing that
influences forgiveness. Pardon flows immediately from a sovereign act
of free grace. This free purpose of God's will and grace for the
pardoning of sinners is that which is principally intended when we
say, "There is forgiveness with Him"; that is, He is pleased to
forgive, and so to do is agreeable to His nature. Now the mystery of
this grace is deep; it is eternal, and therefore incomprehensible.
Few there are whose hearts are raised to a contemplation of it. Men
rest and content themselves in a general notion of mercy which will
not be advantageous to their souls. Freed they would be from
punishment; but what it is to be forgiven they inquire not. So what
they know of it they come easily by, but will find in the issue it
will stand them in little stead. But these fountains of God's actings
are revealed that they may be the fountains of our comforts.--_John
Owen._
Ver. 8. _The Harmony of Christianity in its Personal Influence._
+I. The wisdom and prudence of the Gospel are manifested by showing
with equal distinctness the Divine justice and mercy.+--Justice does
not arrest the hand of mercy; mercy does not restrain the hand of
justice. They speak with a united voice, they command with a united
authority, they shine with a united glory. Neither excels. The one
does not overbear the other. Their common splendour is like the
neutral tint, the effulgent colourlessness of the undecomposed ray.
+II. By exhibiting the incarnate Son as alike the object of love and
adoration.+
+III. By insisting most uniformly on Divine grace and human
responsibility.+
+IV. By the proposal of the freest terms of acceptance and the
enforcement of the most universal practice of obedience.+
+V. By inspiring the most elevated joy in connection with the deepest
self-abhorrence.+
+VI. By displaying the different conduct pursued by the Deity towards
sin and the sinner.+
+VII. By combining the genuine humility of the Gospel with our
dignity as creatures and our conscientiousness as saints.+
+VIII. By causing all supernatural influence to operate through our
rational powers and by intelligent means.+
+IX. By resting our evidence of safety and spiritual welfare upon
personal virtues.+
+X. By supplying the absence of enslaving fear with salutary caution.+
+XI. The actual existence of our depraved nature and the work of
sanctification in us pressing forward to its maturity tend to that
regulated temperament of mind which we urge.+
+XII. Certain views of personal conduct are so coupled in the Gospel
with the noblest views of grace that any improper warping of our
minds is counteracted.+
+XIII. While the distinctive blessings and honours of the Christian
might tend to elate him, he is affected by the most opposite motives.+
+XIV. God abounds in this wisdom and prudence towards us by most
strongly abstracting us from the things of earth and yet giving us
the deepest interest in its relations and engagements.+--All the
truths of revelation are only parts of one system, but their effects
upon the believing mind are common and interchangeable. There is no
extraneous, no irreconcilable, no confusing element in Christianity.
It is of One; it is one. And if we be Christians, our experience will
be the counterpart of it. As it works out from apparent shocks and
collisions its perfect unity, so shall our experience be wrought in
the same way. In obeying from our hearts its form, whatever of its
influence may seem to interfere with each other, they will all be
found to establish our heart; as the opposing currents often swell
the tide and more proudly waft the noble bark it carries, as the
counterbalancing forces of the firmament bear the star onward in its
unquivering poise and undeviating revolution.--_R. W. Hamilton._
Vers. 9-12. _The Mystery of the Gospel._
+I. The sovereign grace of God in making known to us the mystery of
His will.+--1. _The Gospel is called the mystery of God's will, the
mystery which from the beginning was hid in God, and the unsearchable
riches of Christ._ Not that these phrases represent the Gospel as
obscure and unintelligible, but that the Gospel scheme was
undiscoverable by the efforts and researches of human reason and
could be made known to men only by the light of Divine revelation.
There are many things in the Gospel which are and will remain
incomprehensible to human reason; but though we cannot fully
comprehend them, we may sufficiently understand them.
2. _God has made known to us His will "according to the good pleasure
which He purposed in Himself."_--Though the reason of His
administration is not made known to us, yet all His purposes are
directed by consummate wisdom. He is Sovereign in the distribution of
His favours; His goodness to us is no wrong to the heathen.
+II. The purpose of God in making known to us the mystery of His
will+ (ver. 10).--1. _The Gospel is called "the dispensation of the
fulness of times."_ It was introduced at the time exactly ordained in
the purpose, and expressly predicted in the Word of God, and in this
sense may be called "the dispensation of the fulness of times."
2. _One end of this dispensation was that God "might gather together
in one all things in Christ"_ (ver. 10).--To form one body in Christ,
to collect one Church, one great kingdom under Him.
3. _The Gospel is intended to unite in Christ all things both which
are in heaven and which are in earth._--The Church of Christ consists
of the whole family in heaven and earth. Here is a powerful argument
for Christian love and for Christian candour.
+III. In Him we have obtained an inheritance that we should be to the
praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ.+--The believing Jews
were the first who trusted in Christ. They, with the believing
Gentiles, were made heirs of God, not only to the privileges of His
Church on earth, but to an inheritance also in the heavens. As they
had first obtained an inheritance and first trusted in Christ, so
they should be first to the praise of God's glory.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 10. _Christ and Creation._--If the Divine purpose of salvation
was regulative for the creation of the world, then must salvation as
well as creation be grounded on the original Mediator. But that all
creation should be thus grounded in Him includes a twofold idea--that
not only were all things created by Him, but also for Him, who is to
bring to completion both the saving purpose of God as also the whole
development of the world which tends towards the realisation of the
purpose of God. And because the world has not yet reached this goal,
then all things have progressively their existence in Him; and it
cannot fail, because the goal of the world established in Him must be
realised. But how this goal of the world is conceived of, this verse
shows, when it is mentioned as the final goal of the institution of
God's grace that all things may be gathered in Christ as in a centre.
He has been appointed to be this central point of the universe, as
the universe was created in Him; but here it is pointed out that He
must again become so, because a dislocation in the original
constitution of the world has taken place by sin, whose removal again
the dispensation of grace must have in view. The goal of the world is
no longer regarded as the perfected kingdom of God, in which the
absolute, universal Lordship of God is realised, in contrast to the
earthly, mediatorial Lordship of Christ, which the latter gives back
to the Father, and that the exaltation of Christ is extended over
everything which has a name both in this world and in the future. One
cannot think of the goal of the world without Him in whom even
creation has its root.--_Weiss._
Vers. 11, 12. _Christ the Inheritance of the Saints._--1. Christ the
Mediator is that person in whom believers have this heavenly
inheritance, as they have all their other spiritual blessings leading
to heaven in Him. Every believer hath already obtained this glorious
inheritance, though not in complete personal possession. 2. As God is
an absolute worker, sovereign Lord of all His actions, His will being
His only rule, so His will is always joined with and founded upon the
light of counsel and wisdom, and therefore He can will nothing but
what is equitable and just. 3. It is no small privilege for any to be
trusters in Christ before others. It is a matter of their
commendation; it glorifies God in so far as their example and
experience may prove an encouraging motive to others. It carries
several advantages; the sooner a man closes with Christ, the work
will be done more easily, he is the sooner freed from sin, the sooner
capacitated to do more service to God, and his concernments are the
sooner out of hazard.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 13. _The Gospel of your Salvation._
+I. The import of the salvation proclaimed in the Gospel.+--It is
deliverance from all the evils that have been brought on us by the
Fall. 1. From ignorance, not of science, but of God. 2. From guilt,
or the penalty which the law inflicts. 3. From the power of sin, of
which we are slaves. 4. From the sorrows and calamities of life,
which it does not remove, but alleviate and transform. 5. From the
power and fear of death. 6. From everlasting perdition.
+II. The persons to whom this view of the Gospel is specially
applicable.+--1. To the unconverted. It teaches them what they are.
2. To the awakened. It teaches them what they need. 3. To believers.
It awakens their gratitude, it reproves their lukewarmness, it
stimulates their charity.
+III. The reflections to which this view of the Gospel gives
rise.+--How precious in our estimation should be--1. the Gospel,
2. the Saviour, 3. the Saviour's work, 4. the Saviour's ordinances,
5. the Saviour's servants and people, 6. the Saviour's second
coming.--_G. Brooks._
_The Truth and Divinity of the Christian Religion._
+I. It is reasonable to suppose that God should at some time or
season fully and clearly reveal unto men the truth concerning Himself
and concerning them as He and they stand related to each other,
concerning His nature and will, and concerning our state and
duty.+--Argued from 1. His goodness, 2. His wisdom, 3. His justice,
4. His Divine majesty.
+II. That no other revelation of that kind and importance has been
made, which can with good probability pretend to have thus proceeded
from God, so as by Him to have been designed for a general,
perpetual, complete instruction and obligation of
mankind.+--1. _Paganism_ did not proceed from Divine revelation, but
from human invention or diabolical suggestion. All the pagan
religions vanished, together with the countenance of secular
authority and power sustaining them. 2. _Mohammedanism_ an imposture.
3. _Judaism_ was defective. (1) This revelation was not general--not
directed, nor intended to instruct and oblige mankind. (2) As this
revelation was particular, so was it also partial--as God did not by
it speak His mind to all, so did He not therein speak out all His
mind. (3) It was not designed for perpetual obligation and use.
+Conclusion.+--No other religion, except Christianity, which has been
or is in being, can reasonably pretend to have proceeded from God as
a universal, complete, and final declaration of His mind and will to
mankind.--_Barrow._
Vers. 13, 14. _The Assurance of the Christian Inheritance._--By the
first act of faith the whole tendencies of man's life are reversed.
Until then the present has been his world and the earth his place of
rest; then, by the inspiration of the cross, a spiritual world draws
upon his view, that everlasting region becomes his home, and life
assumes the character of a pilgrimage. We need to have the deep
assurance of the immortal kingdom in order to live an earnest life in
a world like this.
+I. The nature of the assurance.+--The voices of promises in the
Christian's soul--the longings, aspirations, hopes, rising from the
Spirit of God within us--are more than promises; they are earnests,
_i.e._ most certain assurances of the inheritance to come. This
inheritance of spiritual life consists of three great elements--love,
power, blessedness.
+II. The necessity of the assurance.+--The inheritance is given, but
not reached. Between the gift and its attainment there lies a long
path of conflict in which the old struggle between the flesh and the
Spirit reveals itself in three forms: 1. Sense against the soul;
2. The present against the future; 3. Steadfast work against the
roving propensities of the heart.--_E. L. Hull._
_The Holy Spirit and the Earnest of the Inheritance._
+I. The character of the inheritance.+--The teaching of the passage
is that heaven is likest the selectest moments of devotion that a
Christian has on earth. Heaven is the perfecting of the life of the
Spirit begun here, and the loftiest attainments of that life here are
but the beginnings and infantile movements of immature beings.
+II. The grounds of certainty that we shall ultimately possess the
fulness of the inheritance.+--The true ground of certainty lies in
this, that you have the Spirit in your heart, operating His own
likeness and moulding you, sealing you, after His own stamp and
image. 1. The very fact of such a relation between man and God is
itself the great assurance of immortality and everlasting life.
2. The characteristics that are produced by this Holy Spirit's
indwelling, both in the perfectness and imperfection, are the great
guarantee of the inheritance being ours. 3. The Holy Spirit in a
man's heart makes him desire and believe in the
inheritance.--_A. Maclaren._
_The Faith of the Early Christians._
+I. The object of their faith.+--The Word of truth and the Gospel of
salvation. It is the Word of truth. It contains all that truth which
concerns our present duty and our future glory. It comes attended
with demonstrations of its own Divinity. It is the Gospel of our
salvation. It discovers to us our ruined, helpless condition, the
mercy of God to give us salvation, the way in which it is procured
for us, the terms on which we may become interested in it, the
evidences by which our title to it must be ascertained, and the glory
and happiness it comprehends.
+II. The forwardness and yet the reasonableness of their
faith.+--They trusted in Christ after they heard the Word. They acted
as honest and rational men: they did not trust before they heard it,
nor refused to trust after they heard it. They did not take the
Gospel on the credit of other men without examination; nor did they
reject it when they had an opportunity to examine it for themselves.
Their faith stood not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
+III. The happy consequence of their faith.+--They were "sealed with
the Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance." They
became partakers of such a Divine influence as sanctified them to a
meetness for heaven, and thus evidenced their title to it.
1. _The sealing of the Spirit._--Sealing literally signifies the
impression of the image or likeness of one thing upon another. A seal
impressed on wax leaves there its own image. Instruction is said to
be sealed when it is so impressed on the heart as to have an abiding
influence. So, the sealing of believers is their receiving on their
hearts the Divine image and character by the sanctifying power of the
Holy Spirit. The Word of truth is here considered as the seal, the
believing heart as the subject, the Holy Spirit as the agent or
sealer, and the effect produced as a Divine likeness. By a like
metaphor Christians are represented as cast in the mould of the
Gospel. The same idea is conveyed by the metaphor of writing the Word
on the heart.
2. _The earnest of the Spirit._--The Spirit, having sealed believers
or sanctified them after God's image, becomes an earnest of their
inheritance. The firstfruits were pledges of the ensuing harvest;
earnest-money in a contract is a pledge of the fulfilment of it. So,
the graces and comforts of religion are to Christians the
anticipations and foretastes of the happiness which awaits them in
heaven. (1) The virtues of the Christian temper, which are the fruits
of the Spirit, are to believers an earnest of their inheritance
because they are in part a fulfilment of the promise which conveys
the inheritance. (2) They are an earnest as they are preparatives for
it. (3) The sealing and sanctifying influence of the Spirit is
especially called an earnest of the inheritance because it is a part
of the inheritance given beforehand. It is the earnest till the
redemption of the purchased possession. When we actually possess the
inheritance the earnest will be no longer needed.
+Lessons.+--1. _All the operations of the Spirit on the minds of men
are of a holy nature and tendency._ 2. _We are strongly encouraged to
apply to God for the needful influences of His grace._ 3. _We can
have no conclusive evidence of a title to heaven without the
experience of a holy temper._ 4. _Christians are under indispensable
obligations to universal holiness.--Lathrop._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-18.
_Prayer for Higher Spiritual Knowledge_--
+I. Thankfully acknowledges the grace already possessed+ (vers. 15,
16).--The possession of some grace prompts the prayer for more. The
apostle recognises the faith of the Ephesians in the person and work
of Christ and the love they displayed towards the saints. Knowing the
source of that grace and that the supply was unlimited, he thanks God
and is encouraged to pray for its increase. How slow we are to see
the good in others and to thank God for any good found in ourselves!
Ingratitude dulls our sensibilities and chills the breath of prayer.
If we were more thankful, we should be more prayerful. The way to
excite gratitude is to interest ourselves in the highest welfare of
others.
+II. Invokes the impartation of additional spiritual insight+ (vers.
17, 18).--The apostle prays, not for temporal good or for prosperity
in outward things, or even for the cessation of trouble or
persecution, but for an accession of mental and spiritual blessings.
He prays for the opening of the eye of the mind that the vision of
spiritual realities may be more clear and reliable, and that the soul
may be possessed with a fuller knowledge of Christ. The highest
wisdom is gained by a more accurate conception of Him "in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Sin enters the heart
through the avenue of the senses and passions, grace through a
spiritually enlightened understanding. Pride, prejudice, and error
are expelled from the mind not so much by the repression of evil
tendencies as by the entrance and maintenance of superior moral
truths. The revelation of the Spirit in the Word will not suffice
unless the light of the same Spirit shines through every faculty and
power of the inquiring soul. "Man's knowledge is not perfect within
the domain of creation, still less can he know the things of the
invisible world. Only by living in a sphere does he gather knowledge
of what is found there: knowledge comes from experience of
occurrences. Without a disposition of the heart the sense of the
understanding is not enlarged and sharpened. Sensible, mental,
spiritual knowledge refers to life spheres in which he who knows must
move. Only the believing, loving, longing one knows and grows in
knowledge unto knowledge." We need, therefore, continually to pray
for the Spirit of wisdom--a keener spiritual insight.
+III. Unveils the grandeur of the Divine inheritance in
believers.+--"That ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and
what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (ver.
18). The increase of spiritual knowledge is an ever-widening
revelation of the value and splendour of Divine blessings already
possessed and in prospect of possession. Faith enjoys the inheritance
now, and hope anticipates an ampler revelation and richer experience
of its unspeakable blessedness. The phrase "the riches of the glory
of His inheritance" indicates how utterly inadequate human language
is to describe its boundless spiritual wealth. It is an inheritance
implying union to Him who only hath immortality and is eternal. Rust
cannot corrupt it, nor decay consume, nor death destroy. We have not
only an inheritance in Christ, but He has also an inheritance in us.
He finds more in us than we find ourselves, and we should never know
it was there but for the revelation of Himself within us.
+Lessons.+--1. _Prayer and thanksgiving go together._ 2. _The soul
needs a daily revelation of truth._ 3. _The highest spiritual truths
are made known to the soul that prays._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15-18. _Clearer Discernment in Divine Things desired._
+I. The things for which the apostle commends the Ephesians.+--Their
faith in Jesus and love to the saints (ver. 15). 1. Faith is such a
sensible, realising belief of the Gospel in its general truth and in
its particular doctrines and precepts as gives it a practical
influence on the heart and life; it looks up to God through Christ;
it is made perfect by works. 2. Faith is accompanied with love.
Viewing and applying the examples and doctrines of the Gospel, it
purifies the soul unto unfeigned love of the brethren. The Gospel
requires us to love all men, sinners as well as saints, enemies as
well as friends. If we love God for His moral perfections, we shall
love the saints as far as they appear to have these Divine qualities
wrought into their temper. Our love is not to be confined to a party,
to those who live in the same city and worship in the same sanctuary
but embraces all.
+II. Paul expresses his great thankfulness to God for the success of
the Gospel.+--"I cease not to give thanks" (ver. 16). He rejoiced in
the honour which redounded to the crucified Jesus. He rejoiced to
think how many were rescued from the power of Satan, and in the
consequences which might ensue to others. If the prevalence of
religion is matter of thankfulness, we should spare no pains to give
it success.
+III. He prays for the future success of the Gospel+ (ver. 16).--The
best Christians have need to make continual improvement. Paul was no
less constant in his prayers than in his labours for the spiritual
interest of mankind. He knew that the success of all his labours
depended on God's blessing; he therefore added to them his fervent
prayers. When ministers and people strive together in their prayers,
there is reason to hope for God's blessing on both.
+IV. He prayed for spiritual enlightenment+ (vers. 17, 18).--That
they may seek wisdom from God to understand the revelation He has
given, and such an illumination of mind as to discern the nature and
excellence of the things contained in this revelation. Christians
must not content themselves with their present knowledge but aspire
to all riches of the full assurance of understanding.
+V. He prayed for power to appreciate Christian privileges+ (ver.
18).--To know the hope of the Divine calling, the possibility and
assurance of attaining the heavenly kingdom. To know what a rich and
glorious inheritance God has prepared for and promised to the saints.
Though we cannot comprehend its dimensions nor compute its value, yet
when we consider the grace of the Being who conveys it, the riches of
the price which bought it, and the Divine preparation by which the
heirs are formed to enjoy it, we must conceive it to be unspeakably
glorious.--_Lathrop._
_The Apprehension of Spiritual Blessings._
+I. Further spiritual blessings are to be apprehended by the saints,
therefore their condition is a relative one.+--The Ephesians had
already received spiritual blessings (vers. 11-15). How much more is
here. The possessed bears some proportion to what is to be received.
Without this relative view the estimate is vague and erroneous. The
further gifts consist specially in the clearer sight and more certain
and enlarged experience of what they already saw and possessed.
"Him," "His calling," "His inheritance," "His mighty power"--these
were to be theirs in a degree of exceeding greatness and glory.
+II. Unless saints apprehend blessings now attainable, they live
below their privilege.+--"If thou knewest the gift of God, thou
wouldst have asked of Him" (1 John iv. 10). Without some knowledge
there is neither faith nor desire. With these unveilings the heart is
deeply moved with the sense of obligation to possess, it is attracted
and filled with desire and animation. Otherwise, with an ignorant
satisfaction, the condition must remain relatively lean and
impoverished.
+III. The spiritual apprehension of these blessings is the gift of
God.+--This is needed because of their Divine nature. As we cannot
properly see what the sun has called into life and beauty without his
light, so these blessings are truly seen only in the light of the Sun
of Righteousness. Through the Redeemer the Spirit is given. He gives
the Spirit to enlighten both the object and the eye, to "testify," to
"show," to "glorify," to reveal, "that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God." Thus, these blessings are seen, not
distantly and dimly, but in their nearness and unveiled glory, whilst
He creates in the heart corresponding sympathy, desire, and
assurance. Nothing can compensate for this gift--no mere
intelligence, no reflection upon past experience, no mere help from
others.
+IV. This gift is bestowed in answer to prayer.+--This particular
bestowment comes under the promise of the Spirit to believing prayer.
This is a gift. Gifts are asked for, not made ours in any other way.
This gift is awaiting and challenging prayer, importunate prayer.
That an ever-deepening desire for these spiritual gifts may be ours,
let us often ask--What truths are given to me, which, if the eyes of
my understanding were enlightened, would not exert the most positive
influence over me, lifting me into the clearer light of God's
relations, thus empowering me to live above the standard of natural
strength, and so to fulfil His present designs? Think of the
alternative.--_J. Holmes._
Vers. 15, 16. _True Religion self-revealing_--
+I. In its moral results.+--"Faith and love" (ver. 15).
+II. Is evident to others.+--"I heard of your faith" (ver. 15).
+III. Is the occasion of constant thanksgiving.+--"Cease not to give
thanks for you" (ver. 16).
+IV. Calls forth a spirit of prayer.+--"Making mention of you in my
prayers" (ver. 16).
Vers. 17, 18. _Spiritual Enlightenment._--1. The wisdom which
Christians are to seek is not that carnal wisdom which is enmity to
God, nor natural wisdom or knowledge of the hidden mysteries of
nature, nor the wisdom of Divine mysteries, which is only a gift and
floweth from a common influence of the Spirit, but that whereof the
Spirit of God by His special operation and influence is author and
worker, and is more than a gift, even the grace of wisdom, which is
not acquired by our own industry, but cometh from above. 2. It is not
sufficient for attaining this grace of wisdom that the truths be
plainly revealed by the Spirit in Scripture. There must be the
removal of natural darkness from our understandings, that we may be
enabled to take up that which is revealed, as in beholding colours by
the outward sense there must be not only an outward light to make the
object conspicuous, but also the faculty of seeing in the eye. A
blind man cannot see at noonday, nor the sharpest-sighted at
midnight. 3. Though those excellent things which are not yet
possessed, but only hoped for, are known in part, yet so excellent
are they in themselves, and remote from our knowledge, and so much
are we taken up with trifles and childish toys, that even believers
who have their thoughts most exercised about them are in a great part
ignorant of them. 4. As the things hoped for and really to be enjoyed
in the other life are of the nature of an inheritance not purchased
by us but freely bestowed upon us, so they are properly Christ's
inheritance, who has proper right to it as the natural Son of God and
by virtue of His own purchase; but the right we have is communicated
to us through Him, in whom we have received the adoption of children
and are made heirs and co-heirs with Christ. 5. It is a glorious
inheritance, there being nothing there but what is glorious. The
sight shall be glorious, for we shall see God as we are seen, the
place glorious, the company glorious, our souls and bodies shall be
glorious, and our exercise glorious, giving glory to God for ever and
ever.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-23.
_The Church Complete in Christ._
+I. The Church is the creation of Divine power+ (ver. 19).--The
Church does not consist in massive architecture or ornate
decorations, nor in ecclesiastical organisations and councils. It is
not the offspring of the most elaborately constructed creed. It is
not confined within the limits of the most expansive ecclesiastical
epithet. It is a Divine, spiritual creation. It consists of souls
redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus, clinging to Him for pardon,
peace, and righteousness, and created in Him, by "the working of the
mighty power" of the Divine Spirit, for good works, and therefore
continually striving to disseminate the good they have themselves
received. The apostolic idea of the Church was coloured by the
leading characteristic of the man. To St. Peter it was the Church as
influenced by law--the confessing Church; to St. Paul it was the
Church influenced by the freedom of faith--the witnessing Church; to
St. John it was the Church as filled with the ideality of
faith--working and keeping joyful holiday, the adorned Bride (Rev.
xix. 7, 8). The Church is a constant revelation of "the exceeding
greatness of His power" who first originated it and sustains its
ever-widening growth.
+II. The Divine power that creates the Church installs Christ as the
supreme authority.+--1. _This power raised Christ from the deepest
humiliation to the highest dignity_ (vers. 20, 21). It raised Him
from the cross to the throne, from the domain of the dead to the life
and everlasting glory of the heavenly world. "God ascended with
jubilation, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet. Certainly, if
when He brought His only begotten Son into the world He said, 'Let
all the angels worship Him' (Heb. i. 6); much more, now that He
ascends on high and hath led captivity captive, hath He given Him a
name above all names, that at the name of Jesus all knees should bow.
And if the holy angels did so carol at His birth in the very entrance
into that estate of humiliation and infirmity, with what triumph they
receive Him now returning from the perfect achievement of man's
redemption! And if, when His type had vanquished Goliath and carried
the head into Jerusalem, the damsels came forth to meet him with
dances and timbrels, how shall we think those angelic spirits triumph
in meeting the great Conqueror of hell and death! How did they sing,
'Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in'!" (Ps. xxiv. 7-10).
2. _This power invests Christ with supreme rule and authority_ (ver.
22). On the night when Christ was born what a difference was there in
all outward marks of distinction between the child of the Hebrew
mother as He lay in His lowly cradle, and the Augustus Cæsar, whose
edict brought Mary to Bethlehem, as he reposed in his imperial
palace. And throughout the lifetime of the two there was but little
to lessen that distinction. The name of the one was known and
honoured over the whole civilised globe, the name of the Other scarce
heard of beyond the narrow bounds of Judea. How stands it now? The
throne of the Cæsars, the throne of mere human authority and power,
has perished. But the empire of Jesus, the empire of pure, undying,
self-sacrificing love, will never perish; its sway over the
consciences and hearts of men, as the world grows older, becomes ever
wider and stronger (_Hanna_). The rule of Christ will last till all
enemies are subdued, and obedience to Him becomes a reverential and
joyous experience.
Transcriber's Note: Please search the Internet for videos
that explore the properties of elemental mercury
("quicksilver") rather than performing the experiments
yourself.
+III. The Church is complete as it is endowed with the Divine fulness
of Christ+ (ver. 23).--The Church to-day seems broken into fragments,
torn by divisions and strife; but by-and-by it will blend in a
glorious unity. Take a mass of quicksilver, let it fall on the floor,
and it will split into a vast number of distinct globules; gather
them up, and put them together again, and they will coalesce into one
body as before. Thus, God's people below are sometimes divided into
various parties, though they are all in fact members of one and the
same mystic body. But when taken up from the world and put together
in heaven they will constitute one glorious, undivided Church for
ever and ever. The completeness of the Church is not the aggregation
of all the virtues of the saints blended in beauteous and harmonious
unity, but the glory of the Divine fulness that pervades every part.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Church as a Divine creation is a revelation of
Christ._ 2. _The Church is composed of those who are created anew in
Christ Jesus._ 3. _Christ is everything to His Church._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 19-23. _The Dignity and Dominion of Christ._
+I. The first step in Christ's exaltation was the resurrection from
the dead.+--This miracle is an incontestable evidence of the truth of
the Christian religion, and an evidence of the great doctrine of the
resurrection of the body and a future life, and of the efficacy of
Christ's blood to expiate the guilt of our sins. If we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, we must believe that the same mighty power
which wrought in Him can also work in us to raise us from the dead.
+II. The next step is His ascension to heaven and session at God's
right hand+ (ver. 20). The right hand is the place of honour and
respect and denotes superior dignity. Christ sitting at God's right
hand signifies He has ceased from His labours and sufferings and
entered into a state of repose and joy, and imports authority and
power. He is exalted not only as Ruler, but also as Intercessor.
+III. The exaltation of Christ is supreme.+--His kingdom extends to
all creatures in heaven, earth, and under the earth. The government
of the natural world is in His hands, as well as the government of
the Church. He has dominion over devils. His last and most glorious
act is the judgment of the world.
+IV. The end for which Christ exercises His high and extensive
dominion+ (vers. 22, 23).--All His government is managed in reference
to the good of the Church. See how criminal and dangerous it is to
oppose the interest of the Church. If the Church is Christ's body,
let us honour it, study to preserve unity in it, labour for its
edification and comfort. Let us honour and reverence our Head, and
never presumptuously lift up ourselves against the Church.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 19. _The Power of God in Conversion._--1. The power God
exercises in converting and carrying on the work of grace to glory is
not only great, but exceeds all power that might impede that work, so
that there is no power in the devil, the world, sin, or death which
this power does not overcome nor any impotency in believers which
this greatness of power will not help and strengthen. There is no
more pregnant proof of God's omnipotent power than in converting
sinners from sin to holiness. 2. This mighty power of God extends to
all times. It works in the first conversion of believers, preserves
them in a state of grace, actuating their graces that they may grow,
and continues till their graces are perfected. 3. The experimental
knowledge of God's way of working is to be carefully sought after, to
make us thankful for His gracious working in us, in order that our
knowledge of God may be increased and our faith and hope in Him
strengthened.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 20. _The Future Life._
+I. Our virtuous friends at death go to Jesus Christ.+--Here is one
great fact in regard to futurity. The good on leaving us here meet
their Saviour, and this view alone assures us of their unutterable
happiness. The joys of centuries will be crowded into that meeting.
This is not fiction. It is truth founded on the essential laws of the
mind. Their intercourse with Jesus Christ will be of the most
affectionate and ennobling character. They are brought to a new
comprehension of His mind and to a new reception of His Spirit. They
will become joint workers--active, efficient ministers--in
accomplishing His great work of spreading virtue and happiness. They
retain the deepest interest in this world. They love human nature as
never before, and human friends are prized as above all price.
+II. Our virtuous friends go not to Jesus only, but to the great and
blessed society which is gathered round Him.+--The redeemed from all
regions of earth. They meet peculiar congratulations from friends who
had gone before them to that better world, and especially from all
who had in any way given aids to their virtue. If we have ever known
the enjoyments of friendship, of entire confidence, of co-operation
in honourable and successful labours with those we love, we can
comprehend something of the felicity of a world where souls, refined
from selfishness, open as the day, thirsting for new truth and
virtue, endowed with new power of enjoying the beauty and grandeur of
the universe, allied in the noblest works of benevolence, and
continually discovering new mysteries of the Creator's power and
goodness, communicate themselves to one another with the freedom of
perfect love. They enter on a state of action, life, and effort.
Still more, they go to God. They see Him with a new light in all His
works. They see Him face to face, by immediate communion. These new
relations of the ascended spirit to the universal Father, how near,
how tender, how strong, how exalting! Heaven is a glorious reality.
Its attraction should be felt perpetually. They who are safely
gathered there say to us, "Come and join us in our everlasting
blessedness!"--_Channing._
Vers. 21, 22. _The Supremacy of Jesus_--
+I. Acquired by His resurrection power.+
+II. Places Him above the highest created intelligences and
potentates.+
+III. Is expressed in a name that surpasses in dignity and greatness
that which has ever been or can be celebrated in earth or
heaven.+
+IV. Gives Him absolute control over all worlds.+--"And hath put all
things under His feet" (ver. 22).
Vers. 22, 23. _Christ the Head of the Church._
+I. The Church depends on Him for life, guidance, activity, and
development.+--"Which is His body" (ver. 23).
+II. He governs all things in the interest of His Church.+--"And
gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church" (ver.
22).
+III. The Church is a revelation of the greatness and glory of
Christ.+--"The fulness of Him that filleth all in all" (ver.
23).
Ver. 22. _The Headship of Christ._
+I. The extent of His headship.+--1. Over all worlds. 2. Over the
whole human race. 3. Over the Church.
+II. The subserviency of its administration to the interests of His
Church.+--1. For the edification of His Church. 2. For its
defence. 3. For its increase.
+III. Its grounds.+--1. His merit. 2. His qualifications. Whom do ye
serve?--_G. Brooks._
_The Headship of Christ._--The verse consists of two statements:--
+I. That Christ is Head over all things.+--The Father hath given
Christ to be Head over all things. 1. Originally involved in a
covenant or agreement between the Father and the Son. 2. Now a matter
of history. 3. The path of Christ to the mediatorial throne capable
of being traced. 4. He there laid deep the foundations. 5. The whole
universe is under His sway--heaven, earth, hell, all worlds, all
elements. 6. He is qualified for such dominion--Divine attributes,
angelic spirits, believers, the devil and wicked men, the Holy Spirit.
+II. That Christ is Head over all things, to the Church.+--Christ
sits upon the throne in the same character in which He trod the earth
and hung upon the cross. 1. It is as Mediator. 2. The same ends which
He contemplated. It was for the Church He clothed Himself in human
form. 3. He gives a peculiar character to the entire Divine
government. He Christianises it. 4. He employs all His attributes,
resources, creatures.
+Lessons.+--1. _Redemption is a wide and extended plan, not so easily
accomplished, not so limited._ 2. _All creatures and dominions should
do Christ homage._ 3. _The Church is secure from real danger._
4. _Believers may well glory in Christ as their Head.--Stewart._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER II.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +And you did He quicken.+--The italics in A.V. and R.V. show
a broken construction of St. Paul's meaning, the verb being supplied
from ver. 5, where the broken thread is taken up again. +Dead in
trespasses and sins.+--"Dead through," etc. (R.V.). "What did they
die of?" it might be asked; and the apostle answers, "Of trespasses
and sins" (so _Alford_). "The word for trespasses is one of a
mournfully numerous group of words" (_Trench_). It has sometimes the
milder meaning of "faults," "mitigating circumstances" being
considered. It makes special reference "to the subjective passivity
and suffering of him who misses or falls short of the enjoined
command" (_Cremer_). Meyer denies any "_real_ distinction between the
words for 'trespasses' and 'sins.' They denote the same thing as a
'fall' and a 'missing.'"
Ver. 2. "Shadows," says Meyer, "before the light which arises in ver.
4." +Wherein in time past ye walked.+--It is a sombre picture--men
walking about "to find themselves dishonourable graves" in the
"valley of the shadow of death," knowing not whither they go because
the darkness--the gloom of spiritual death--"hath blinded their eyes"
(1 John ii. 11). +According to the course of this world.+--Well
translated by our modern "zeit-geist," or "spirit of the age." +The
prince of the power of the air.+--However contemptuous St. Paul may
be of the creations of the Gnostic fancy, he never dreams of saying
there is nothing existent unless it can be seen and felt. The dark
realm and its ruler are not myths to the apostle.
Ver. 3. +Among whom also we all had our conversation.+--St. Paul does
not glorify himself at the expense of his readers' past life. True
his had not been a life swayed by animal delights (Acts xxvi. 5), but
it had been marked by implacable enmity to the Son of God. +And were
by nature children of wrath.+--"For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, . . .
whether it be Jewish or Gentile."
Ver. 4. +But God, who is rich in mercy.+--"Unto all that call upon
Him" (Rom. x. 12). "He hath shut all up into disobedience, that He
might have mercy upon all" (Rom. xi. 32), +For His great love
wherewith He loved us.+--"A combination only used when the notion of
the verb is to be extended" (_Winer_).
Ver. 5. +Even when we were dead in sins.+--The phrase which closes
ver. 3, difficult as it is, must receive an interpretation in harmony
with this statement. It is the very marrow of the Gospel that, "while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly." That the wrath of
God is real we know, but "God is love." +By grace ye are
saved.+--"Grace" is as truly characteristic of St. Paul's writing as
his autograph signature; it, too, is the token ("sign-manual") in
every epistle (2 Thess. iii. 17, 18).
Ver. 6. +In heavenly places.+--As in ch. i. 3.
Ver. 7. +The exceeding riches of His grace.+--The wealth of mercy
mentioned in ver. 4 more fully stated. Grace is condescension to an
inferior or kindness to the undeserving. +In kindness toward
us.+--"Kindness" here represents in the original "a beautiful word,
as it is the expression of a beautiful grace" (_Trench_). It is that
"fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. v. 22) called "gentleness" in the A.V.,
but which would be better named "benignity."
Ver. 8. +For by grace are ye saved, through faith.+--"'By grace'
expresses the motive, 'through faith' the subjective means"
(_Winer_). The emphasis is on "by grace."
Ver. 9. +Not of works, lest any man should boast.+--The more
beautiful the works achieved the more natural it is for a man to feel
his works to be meritorious. One can understand that a man jealous
for the honour of God, like Calvin, should speak of the excellencies
of those out of Christ as "splendid vices," even though we prefer
another explanation of them.
Ver. 10. +For we are His workmanship.+--We get our word "poem" from
that which we here translate workmanship, lit., "something made."
Every Christian belongs to those of whom God says, "This people have
I formed for Myself, that they should show forth My praise" (Isa.
xliii. 21). The archetype of all our goodness lies in the Divine
thought, as the slow uprising of a stately cathedral is the
embodiment of the conception of the architect's brain.
Ver. 11. +Wherefore remember, that ye, etc.+--All that follows in the
verse serves to define the "ye," the verb following in ver. 12 after
the repeated "ye"--"ye were without Christ." "Called
Uncircumcision . . . called the Circumcision." As much rancour lies
in these words as generally is carried by terms of arrogance on the
part of those only nominally religious, and the scornful epithets
flung in return. They can be matched by our modern use of "The world"
and "Other-worldliness."
Ver. 12. +Without Christ.+--Not so much "not in possession of Christ"
as "outside Christ," or, as in R.V., "separate from Christ." The true
commentary is John xv. 4, 5. The branch "severed from" the trunk by
knife or storm bears no fruit thenceforth; disciples "apart from
Christ can do nothing." +Being aliens from the commonwealth.+--What
memories might start at this word! Did St. Paul think of the
separation from the Jewish synagogue in Ephesus or of the fanatical
outburst created in Jerusalem when "the Jews from Asia" saw Trophimus
the Ephesian in company with the apostle? To such Jews the Gentiles
were nothing but _massa perditionis._ Like vers. 2, 3, this is a
reminder of the dark past, the misery of which did not consist in a
Jewish taunt so much as in a life of heathenish vices. +Having no
hope, and without God in the world.+--To be godless--not sure that
there is any God--this is to take the "master-light of all our
seeing" from us; to live regardless of Him, or wishing there were no
God--"that way madness lies." To be "God-forsaken" with a house full
of idols--that is the irony of idolatrous heathenism.
Ver. 13. +Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh.+--The Gentile
may sing his hymn in Jewish words: "Doubtless Thou art our Father,
though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not:
Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; from everlasting is Thy
name." _"Lo-ammi"_ ("not My people") is no longer their name (Hos.
ii. 23; Rom. ix. 24, 25).
Ver. 14. +For He is our peace, who hath made both one.+--"Not the
Peacemaker merely, for indeed at His own great cost He procured
peace, and is Himself the bond of union of both" (Jew and Gentile).
+The middle wall of partition.+--M. Ganneau, the discoverer of the
Moabite Stone, found built into the wall of a ruined Moslem convent a
stone, believed to be from the Temple, with this inscription: "No
stranger-born (non-Jew) may enter within the circuit of the barrier
and enclosure that is around the sacred court; and whoever shall be
caught [intruding] there, upon himself be the blame of the death that
will consequently follow." Josephus describes this fence and its
warning inscription (_Wars of the Jews,_ Bk. V., ch. v., § 2). It is
rather the spirit of exclusiveness which Christ threw down. The stone
wall Titus threw down and made all a common field, afterwards.
Ver. 15. +Having abolished in His flesh the enmity.+--The enmity of
Jew and Gentile; the abolition of their enmity to God is mentioned
later. "First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer
thy gift," for reconciliation to God. +The law of commandments
contained in ordinances.+--The slave whose duty it was to take the
child to his teacher might say, "Don't do that." St. Paul does not
regard the function of the law as more than that (Gal. iii. 23-25).
+One new man.+--Trench, in an admirable section, distinguishes
between the new in time (_recens_) and the new in quality (_novum_).
The word here means new in quality, "as set over against that which
has seen service, the outworn." "It is not an amalgam of Jew and
Gentile" (_Meyer_).
Ver. 16. +That He might reconcile both unto God.+--The word
"reconcile" implies "a _restitution_ to a state from which they had
fallen, or which was potentially theirs, or for which they were
destined" (_Lightfoot,_ Col. i. 20). +The cross having slain the
enmity.+--Gentile authority and Jewish malevolence met in the
sentence to that painful death; and both Gentile and Jew,
acknowledging the Son of God, shall cease their strife, and love as
brethren.
Ver. 17. +Came and preached peace.+--By means of His messengers, as
St. Paul tells the Galatians that Christ was "evidently set forth
crucified amongst them." +To you afar off, and to them that were
nigh.+--Isaiah's phrase (Isa. lvii. 19). The Christ uplifted "out of
the earth" draws _all men_ to Him.
Ver. 18. +For through Him we both have access.+--St. Paul's way of
proclaiming His Master's saying, "I am the door; by Me if _any man_
enter in he shall be saved"; including the other equally precious, "I
am the way: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." "Access" here
means "introduction."
Ver. 19. +So then.+--Inference of vers. 14-18. +Strangers and
foreigners.+--By the latter word is meant those who temporarily abide
in a place, but are without the privileges of it. There is a verb "to
parish" in certain parts of England which shows how a word can
entirely reverse its original meaning. It not only means "to adjoin,"
but "to belong to." +Fellow-citizens with the saints.+--Enjoying all
civic liberties, and able to say, "This is my own, my native land,"
when he finds "Mount Zion and the city of the living God" (cf. Heb.
xi. 13, 14). +And of the household of God.+--The association grows
more intimate. The words might possibly mean "domestics of God" (Rev.
xxii. 3, 4); but when we think of the "Father's house" we must
interpret "of the family circle of God."
Ver. 20. +Being built upon the foundation.+--From the future of a
household St. Paul passes easily to the structure, based on "the
Church's One Foundation." +The chief corner-stone.+--"The historic
Christ, to whom all Christian belief and life have reference, as
necessarily conditions through Himself the existence and endurance of
each Christian commonwealth, as the existence and steadiness of a
building are dependent on the indispensable cornerstone, which
upholds the whole structure" (_Meyer_). The difference between our
passage and 1 Cor. iii. 11 is one of figure only.
Ver. 21. +All the building.+--R.V. "each several building."
+Fitly-framed-together.+--One word in the original, found again only
in ch. iv. 16 in this form.
Ver. 22. +For a habitation.+--The word so translated is found again
only in Rev. xviii. 2, a sharp contrast to this verse.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-3.
_The Children of Wrath_--
+I. Are spiritually dead.+--"Who were dead in trespasses and sins"
(ver. 1). The only life of which they are conscious, and in which all
their activities are displayed, is a life of sin. They have no
conception of a higher life. They are capable of a higher life and
know it not. The spiritual, the higher form of life, is entombed and
buried under a mass of sin. It is inert, dead, in process of
corruption. Dante refers to such as, "These wretched ones who never
were alive; I ne'er forsooth could have believed it true, that death
had slain such myriads of mankind." Sin first benumbs, then
paralyses, and finally slays our spiritual sensibilities. The soul
dead to God shall not be insensible to the reality of the Divine
wrath.
+II. Are under the spell of an unseen evil power+ (ver. 2).--"The
children of disobedience" are those who are withholding their
allegiance from the Lord Jesus Christ, all those who are unconverted;
not mere gross sinners and open profligates, but such persons as are
strangers to the spiritual life, although they may have many
excellencies of nature and disposition. The apostle plainly asserts
that before he was brought to the knowledge of Christ he was under
the influence of the "prince of the power of the air." This is a
startling statement. It is more startling still if we consider what
sort of man Paul was before his conversion--how excellent, how
earnest, how devoted to the external duties of a religious life. But
startling as it is, it is the apostle who makes it of himself; and
the inference is unavoidable, that all that mass of persons who are
out of Christ and who are not partakers of His resurrection life, who
have given their hearts to the world and not to the Saviour, are just
the captives of Satan, and, without knowing it, are doing his lusts
and accomplishing his will. The disease is not less deadly because it
eats out the life without inflicting pain. The pestilence is not the
less awful because it comes without giving notice of its presence,
borne on the balmy breezes of the bright, cloudless, summer eve. The
vampire does not do its work the less effectually because it fans its
victim with its perfumed wings into an unconscious slumber whilst it
drains away his life-blood and leaves him a corpse. And Satan is not
the less real or the less destructive because he works his fatal work
upon our souls without our even being conscious of his approach.
+III. Are prompted to sin by the instincts of a depraved nature+
(ver. 3).--There is the twofold province of a man's being, by the
lower of which he is allied to the brute creation, and by the higher
to the angels, both being under the dominion of sin. There is the
corrupt body of flesh, and in a higher sense there is the fleshly
mind. Every unregenerate person lives more or less in one or the
other of these provinces--either in the sphere of fleshly lusts or in
the sphere of the fleshly mind. Either he lives simply an animal
life, and is in consequence a fleshly man, whose life consists only
in fulfilling the desires of his lower nature; or he lives in the
higher province of the mind, but it is nevertheless the mind in
darkness, in uncertainty, in doubt--mind and heart alike alienated
from God through the unbelief which is in them. It would not do to
argue from this that our passions are our sins. Sin is not in
appetite but lies in the insubordination of appetite. There is need
of a curbing and governing will, and our discipline consists in
subjugating the lower to the higher. A due balance between the two
regions must be preserved, and it is when passion becomes master and
the lower invades the province of the higher, when the subordinate
becomes insubordinate, that appetite and passion become sin. The
flesh is the great rival of the Spirit, for it asserts that dominion
over a man which the Holy Spirit alone ought to occupy, and these two
are constantly opposed to each other. The depravity within, working
in the thoughts of the mind and the passions of the flesh, prompts to
a course of disobedience and sin.
+IV. Are exposed to condemnation.+--"And were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others." "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men." The apostle
shows that even the Jews, who boasted of their birth from Abraham,
were by natural birth equally children of wrath, as the Gentiles whom
the Jews despised on account of their birth from idolaters. The
phrase "children of wrath" is a Hebraism, meaning we are objects of
God's wrath from childhood, in our natural state, as being born in
sin, which God hates. Wrath abides on all who disobey the Gospel in
faith and practice.
+Lessons.+--1. _Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death._
2. _Your adversary the devil walketh about seeking whom he may
devour._ 3. _Because there is wrath, beware!_
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 1. _A State of Sin a State of Death._
+I. There are some respects in which the death of the soul does not
resemble the death of the body.+--1. It does not involve the
extinction of faculties and affections. The dead body moves not, nor
feels, nor acts. The dead soul still thinks and feels and wills.
2. It does not exempt from responsibility. The dead soul is commanded
to repent and believe and obey. 3. It is not incapable of restoration
on earth. The spiritually dead may become spiritually alive here.
+II. There are some respects in which the death of the soul does
resemble the death of the body.+--1. In its cause. Sin. 2. In its
extent. All men without exception. 3. In its consequences. The dead
are utterly insensible, they fulfil none of the functions or duties
of the living, they can be reanimated only by Divine power. Address:
(1) Those who are spiritually dead. (2) Those who have reason to
believe that they are spiritually alive.--_G. Brooks._
Vers. 1-3. _The State of Men without the Gospel._
+I. The moral state of wicked men resembles a state of natural death+
(ver. 1).--From the metaphor used in the text we are not to conclude
that all sinners are alike, for though all are in a sense dead some
are under a greater death than others. The metaphor is usually
applied to sinners of the most vicious character. When we speak of
human nature as totally depraved we mean only a total destitution of
real holiness, not the highest possible degree of vitiosity. In order
to denominate one a sinner it is not necessary that he should be as
bad as possible. Though natural death does not, yet spiritual death
does, admit of degrees. Evil men wax worse and worse, add sin to sin,
and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath.
1. _Sinners may be said to be dead in respect of their
stupidity._--We read of some who are past feeling, whose conscience
is seared, who have eyes which see not, ears which hear not, and a
heart which is waxed gross. Their hearts are like a mortified limb
which feels no pain under the scarifying knife.
2. _They are represented as wanting spiritual senses._--They savour
the things of the world, not the things which are of God. They indeed
love the effects of God's goodness to them, but they delight not in
His character as a holy, just, and faithful Being. They may feel a
natural pleasure in certain mechanical emotions of the passions
excited by objects presented to the sight, or by sounds which strike
the ear, as the artificial tears from the image of the Virgin Mary
will melt down an assembly of Catholics, or as a concert of musical
instruments will rapture the hearers; but they relish not the Word
and ordinances of God, considered as means of holiness and as
designed to convince them of their sins and bring them to repentance.
If the Word dispensed comes home to their conscience, they are
offended. They lose the music of the pleasant song and talk against
it by the walls and in the doors of their houses.
3. _They resemble the dead in the want of vital warmth._--If they
have any fervour in religion, it is about the forms and externals of
it, or about some favourite sentiments which they find adapted to
soothe their consciences, not about those things in which the power
of religion consists. As death deforms the body, so sin destroys the
beauty of the soul. It darkens the reason, perverts the judgment, and
disorders the affections. To be carnally-minded is death.
4. _They may be denominated dead as they are worthy of and exposed to
punishment._--This is called death because it is the separation of
the soul from God and heaven, from happiness and hope, from all good
and unto all evil. This is a death which awaits the impenitent.
+II. There is in ungodly men a general disposition to follow the way
of the world.+--"According to the course of this world" (ver. 2).
They, like dead carcases, swam down the stream of common custom, and
were carried away with the general current of vice and corruption.
1. _Most men have a general idea that religion is of some
importance._--Few can wholly suppress it, or reason themselves out of
it. But what religion is and wherein it consists they seldom inquire,
and never examine with any degree of attention. Such opinions as
flatter their ungodly lusts, or pacify their guilty consciences, they
warmly embrace. That scheme of doctrine which will make converts
without exacting reformation, and give assurance without putting them
to much trouble, they highly approve. The path which will lead men to
heaven with little self-denial they readily pursue.
2. _There are many who blindly follow the examples of the
world._--Whether such a practice is right or wrong they take little
pains to examine. It is enough that they see many who adopt it. They
would rather incur the censure of their own minds and the displeasure
of their God than stand distinguished by a singularity in virtue.
+III. They are under the influence of evil spirits.+--"According to
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the
children of disobedience" (ver. 2). The number of evil spirits is
very great, but there is one distinguished from the rest, and called
the devil, Satan, the prince of the power of the air. The manner in
which he works in the minds of men is by gaining access to their
passions and lusts, which he inflames by suggesting evil thoughts or
by painting images on the fancy. It was by the avarice of Judas and
Ananias that he entered into them and filled their hearts.
+IV. The wickedness of men consists not merely in their evil works,
but in the corrupt dispositions which prompt them to those
works.+--"The lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh
and of the mind" (ver. 3). The lusts of the flesh are the vices of
sensuality, as intemperance, uncleanness, debauchery, and excess of
riot. The desires of the fleshly mind are the lusts which arise from
the corruption of the mind in its connection with flesh, as pride,
malice, envy, wrath, hatred, ambition, and covetousness. Though no
man indulges every vice, yet every unregenerate man obeys the carnal
mind.
+V. The indulgence of carnal lusts and passions brings on men the
wrath of God.+--"The children of wrath" (ver. 3). A mind sunk in
carnality is incapable of rational felicity; it is miserable in
itself and from its own corruption and perverseness. If man subjects
his nature to the lusts and passions, the order of nature is
inverted, the law of creation violated, and the Creator dishonoured
and offended.
+Lessons.+--1. _If you have not abandoned yourselves to the grossest
forms of vice, it is because you have been placed under superior
light and enjoyed a happier education than the heathen._ 2. _Though
you may not have indulged all the lusts and vices which others have
done, yet if you are children of disobedience you can no more be
saved without renovation of heart and repentance of sin than they
can.--Lathrop._
Ver. 3. _The State of Nature._
I. If by human nature you mean nature as seen in this man or that,
then +unquestionably nature is evil+--individual nature, personal
nature, is contrary to God's will. But if by human nature you mean
nature as God made it, as it has been once in one man of our species
and only one, and as by God's grace it shall be again; if you mean
nature as it is according to the idea of the Creator as shown in
Jesus Christ, as it is in the eyes of God imputed not as it is but as
it shall be,--then that nature is a noble thing, a thing Divine; for
the life of the Redeemer Himself, what was it but the one true
exhibition of our human nature?
+II. Paul says that by nature we fulfil the desires of the flesh and
of the mind.+--I pray you to observe that it is the second and not in
the first sense that he here speaks of nature. The desires of the
flesh mean the appetites; those of the mind mean the passions: to
fulfil the desires of the flesh is to live the life of the swine; to
fulfil those of the mind is to live the life of the devil. But this
is the partiality, not the entireness, of human nature. Where is the
conscience, where the Spirit with which we have communion with God?
To live to the flesh and to the mind is not to live to the nature
that God gave us. We can no more call that living to our nature than
we can say that a watch going by the mere force of the main-spring
without a regulator is fulfilling the nature of a watch. To fulfil
the desires of the flesh and of the mind is no more to fulfil the
nature which God has given us than the soil fulfils its nature when
it brings forth thorns and briars. St. Paul, in the epistle to the
Romans, draws a distinction between himself and his false nature: "It
is not I, but sin that dwelleth in me." Sin is the dominion of a
false nature; it is a usurped dominion.
III. The next thing that Paul tells us is +that by nature we are
children of wrath.+--In the state of nature we are in the way to bear
the wrath of God. Yet God is not wrath; He is infinite love. The
eternal severity of His nature does not feel our passions, He remains
for ever calm; yet such is our nature that we must think of Him as
wrath as well as love: to us love itself becomes wrath when we are in
a state of sin. God must hate sin and be forever sin's enemy. If we
sin He must be against us: in sinning we identify ourselves with
evil, therefore we must endure the consuming fire. So long as there
is evil, so long will there be penalty. Sin, live according to the
lusts of the flesh, and you will become the children of God's wrath;
live after the Spirit, the higher nature that is in you, and then the
law hath hold on you no longer.--_F. W. Robertson._
_The Worst of Evils._
+I. By nature all are the children of wrath.+--1. Because we want
that original righteousness in which we were created, and which is
required to the purity and perfection of our nature. 2. Because all
the parts and powers of our soul and body are depraved with original
corruption. Our understandings are so bad that they understand not
their own badness, our wills which are the queens of our souls become
the vassals of sin, our memories like jet good only to draw straws
and treasure up trifles of no moment, our consciences through errors
in our understandings sometimes accusing us when we are innocent,
sometimes acquitting us when we are guilty, our affections all
disaffected and out of order. 3. Some may expect that as the master
of the feast said to him that wanted the wedding garment, "Friend,
how camest thou in hither?" so I should demand of original sin, "Foe,
and worst of foes, how camest thou in hither, and by what invisible
leaks didst thou soak into our souls?" But I desire, if it be
possible, to present you this day a rose without prickles, to declare
plain and positive doctrine without thorny disputes or curious
speculations, lest, as Abraham's ram was caught in the thicket, so I
embroil you and myself in difficult controversies. Let us not busy
our brains so much to know how original sin came into us, as labour
in our heart to know how it should be got out of us. But the worst
is, most men are sick of the _rickets_ in the soul, their heads swell
to a vast proportion, puffed up with the emptiness of airy
speculations, whilst their legs and lower parts do waste and consume,
their practical parts decay, none more lazy to serve God in their
lives and conversations.
Transcriber's Note: Baptism is not a sacrament that confers
salvation. It is an ordinance that serves as a public
statement that salvation has already taken place. Parents
are to raise their children in the "nurture and admonition
of the Lord" (Eph. vi. 4).
+II. Ye parents to children,+ see how, though against your wills, ye
have propagated this wrath-deserving on your children unto your
children; you _are bound,_ both in honour and honesty, civility and
Christianity, _to pluck them out of this pit._ 1. This you may do by
embracing the speediest opportunity to fasten the sacrament of
baptism upon them. 2. Let them not want good prayers, which if
steeped in tears will grow the better, good precepts, good
precedents, and show thy child in thyself what he should follow, in
others what he should shun and avoid. 3. In the low countries, where
their houses lie buried in the ground, the laying of the foundation
is counted as much as the rest of the foundation; so half our badness
lies secret and unseen, consisting in original corruption, whereof
too few take notice. Witches, they say, say the Lord's Prayer
backward; but concupiscence, this witch in our soul, says all the
commandments backward, and makes us cross in our practice what God
commands in His precepts. Thus every day we sin, and sorrow after our
sin, and sin after our sorrow. The wind of God's Spirit bloweth us
one way, and the tide of our corruption hurrieth us another. These
things he that seeth not in himself is sottish, blind; he that seeth
and confesseth not is damnably proud; he that confesseth and
bewaileth not is desperately profane; he that bewaileth and fighteth
not against it is unprofitably pensive; but he that in some weak
manner doeth all these is a saint in reversion here, and shall be one
in possession hereafter.--_T. Fuller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 4-9.
_Salvation an Act of Divine Grace._
+I. Springing from the benevolence of God+ (vers. 4, 7).--A good old
saint once said, "There is nothing that affects me more profoundly,
or more quickly melts my heart, than to reflect on the goodness of
God. It is so vast, so deep, so amazing, so unlike and beyond the
most perfect human disposition, that my soul is overwhelmed." The
apostle seems to have been similarly affected as he contemplated the
Divine beneficence, as the phrases he here employs indicate. He calls
it "the great love wherewith He loved us." God is "rich in mercy"--in
irrepressible, unmerited compassion (ver. 4). Language is too poor to
express all he sees and feels, and he takes refuge in the ambiguous
yet suggestive expression, "The exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us through Jesus Christ" (ver. 7)--hinting at the
sublime benignity of the Divine nature longing to express itself
through the noblest medium possible. By his rebellion and deliberate
sin man had forfeited all claim to the Divine favour, and his
restoration to that favour, impossible of attainment by any efforts
of his own, was an act of sheer Divine goodness. Its spontaneity
breaks in as a sweet surprise upon the sinning race. The most vicious
and abandoned are included in its gracious provisions, and all men
are taught that their salvation, if accomplished at all, must be as
an act of free and undeserved grace.
+II. Salvation has its life and fellowship in Christ+ (vers. 5,
6).--God has given us as unquestioned a resurrection from the death
of sin as the body of Christ had from the grave, and the same Divine
power achieved both the one and the other. The spiritual life of both
Jew and Gentile has its origin in Christ, and the axe is thus laid to
the very root of spiritual pride and all glorying in ourselves. We
are raised by His resurrection power to sit in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus. This we do already by our spiritual fellowship with
Him, and by anticipation we share the blessedness which we shall more
fully enjoy by our union with Him in the heavenly world. The
spiritual resurrection of the soul must precede and will be the
inviolable guarantee of the future glorious resurrection of the body.
As the great Head of the Church is already in the heavenlies, so
ultimately all the members that make up the body shall be gathered
there. We are already seated there _in_ Him as our Head, which is the
ground of our hope; and we shall be hereafter seated there _by_ Him,
as the conferring cause, when hope shall be swallowed up in fruition.
Our life and fellowship in Christ are susceptible of indefinite
expansion and enjoyment in the progressive evolutions of the future.
+III. Faith, the instrument of salvation, is the gift of Divine
grace+ (ver. 8).--The question whether faith or salvation is the gift
of God is decided by the majority of critics in favour of the former.
This agrees with the obvious argument of the apostle, that salvation
is so absolutely an act of Divine grace that the power to realise it
individually is also a free gift. Grace, without any respect to human
worthiness, confers the glorious gift. Faith, with an empty hand and
without any pretence to personal desert, receives the heavenly
blessing. Without the grace or power to believe, no man ever did or
can believe; but with that power the act of faith is a man's own. God
never believes for any man, no more than He repents for him. The
penitent, through this grace enabling him, believes for himself; nor
does he believe necessarily or impulsively when he has that power.
The power to believe may be present long before it is exercised, else
why the solemn warnings which we meet everywhere in the Word of God
and threatenings against those who do not believe? This is the true
state of the case: God gives the power, man uses the power thus
given, and brings glory to God. Without the power no man can believe;
with it any man may.
+IV. Salvation, being unmeritorious, excludes all human
boasting.+--"Not of works, lest any man should boast" (ver. 9).
Neither salvation nor the faith that brings it is the result of human
ingenuity and effort. The grand moral results brought about by saving
faith are so extraordinary, and so high above the plane of the
loftiest and most gigantic human endeavours, that if man could
produce them by his own unaided powers he would have cause indeed for
the most extravagant boasting, and he would be in danger of
generating a pride which in its uncontrollable excess would work for
his irretrievable ruin. The least shadow of a ground for pride is
however excluded. God protects both Himself and man by the freeness
and simplicity of the offer of salvation. It is the complaint of
intellectual pride that the reception of the Gospel is impossible
because it demands a humiliation and self-emptying that degrade and
shackle intellectual freedom. Such an objection is a libel on the
Gospel. It humbles in order to exalt; it binds its claims upon us to
lift us to a higher freedom. So completely is salvation a Divine act,
that the man who refuses to accept it on God's terms must perish.
There is no other way.
+V. The glory of Divine grace in salvation will be increasingly
demonstrated in the future.+--"That in the ages to come He might show
the exceeding riches of his grace" (ver. 7). The most valuable
function of history is not that which deals with the rise and fall of
empires, the brutal ravages of war, the biographies of kings,
statesmen, and philosophers, but that which treats upon the social
and moral condition of the people and the influence of religion in
the development of individual and national character. The true
history of the world is the history of God's dealings with it. The
ages of the past have been a revelation of God; the ages to come will
be an enlargement of that revelation, and its most conspicuous
feature will be an ever-new development of the riches of Divine grace
in the redemption of the human race. In all successive ages of the
world we are authorised to declare that sinners shall be saved only
as they repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
+Lessons.+--_Salvation_--1. _Is a revelation of what God does for
man._ 2. _Is absolutely necessary for each._ 3. _Should be earnestly
sought by all._
_GERM NOTES OF THE VERSES._
Vers. 4-7. _The Great Change effected in Man by the Gospel._
+I. The happy change which the Gospel made in the Ephesians.+--A
change not peculiar to them, but common to all sincere believers.
1. _God hath quickened us._--Made us alive with Christ. (1) True
Christians are alive; they have spiritual senses and appetites.
(2) Spiritual motions. (3) Spiritual pleasures. (4) Spiritual powers.
The spiritual life comes through Christ and is conformed to Him.
2. _God hath raised us up together with Christ_ (ver. 6).--His
resurrection is a proof and pattern of that of believers.
3. _God hath made us to sit together in heavenly places in
Christ._--His entrance into heaven is a proof of the final salvation
of believers. He sits there for them, to take care of their
interests, and in due time will bring them to sit where He is.
+II. Contemplate the mercy of God in this great change.+--"God, who
is rich in mercy" (ver. 4). The mercies of God are rich in extent, in
number, in respect of constancy, in variety, in value. "The great
love wherewith He loved us." He first loved us. His love shines
brighter when we consider what a being He is. He is infinitely above
us. He is self-sufficient. The Gospel gives us the most exalted
conceptions of God's character.
+III. The general purpose of God's particular mercy to the Ephesians+
(ver. 7).--God's mercy in reclaiming one transgressor may operate to
the salvation of thousands in ages to come. The Gospel dispensation
was intended to serve some useful purposes among other intelligences.
Not only God's gracious dispensation to fallen men, but also His
righteous severity toward irreclaimable offenders, is designed for
extensive beneficial influence.--_Lathrop._
Vers. 4, 5. _The State of Grace._
1. _Salvation originates in the love of God._
2. _That it consists in emancipation from evil._--"Quickened us
together with Christ;" that is, gave life. The love and mercy of God
were shown in this--not that He saved from penalty, but from sin.
What we want is life, more life, spiritual life, to know in all
things the truth of God, and to speak it, to feel in all things the
will of God and do it.
3. _The next word to explain is grace._--It stands opposed to nature
and to law. Whenever nature means the dominion of our lower
appetites, then nature stands opposed to grace. Grace stands opposed
to law. All that law can do is to manifest sin, just as the dam
thrown across the river shows its strength; law can arrest sometimes
the commission of sin, but never the inward principle. Therefore, God
has provided another remedy, "Sin shall not have dominion over you,"
because ye are under grace.
4. _Paul states salvation here as a fact._--"By grace ye are saved."
There are two systems. The one begins with nature, the other with
grace: the one treats all Christians as if they were the children of
the devil, and tells them that they may perhaps become the children
of God; the other declares that the incarnation of Christ is a fact,
a universal fact, proclaiming that all the world are called to be the
children of the Most High. Let us believe in grace instead of
beginning with nature.--_F. W. Robertson._
Vers. 4-6. _The Believer exalted together with Jesus Christ._
+I. The believer is assured he is raised up with Christ by the proofs
which assure him of the exaltation of Christ.+--These proofs,
irresistible as they are, do not produce impressions so lively as
they ought. 1. From the abuse of a distinction between mathematical
evidence and moral evidence. 2. Because the mind is under the
influence of a prejudice, unworthy of a real philosopher, that moral
evidence changes its nature according to the nature of the things to
which it is applied. 3. Because the necessary discrimination has not
been employed in the selection of those proofs on which some have
pretended to establish it. 4. Because we are too deeply affected by
our inability to resolve certain questions which the enemies of
religion are accustomed to put on some circumstances relative to that
event. 5. Because we suffer ourselves to be intimidated more than we
ought by the comparison instituted between them and certain popular
rumours which have no better support than the caprice of the persons
who propagate them. 6. Because they are not sufficiently known.
+II. The means supplied to satisfy the believer that he is fulfilling
the conditions under which he may promise himself that he shall
become a partaker of Christ's exaltation.+--Though this knowledge be
difficult, it is by no means impossible of attainment. He employs two
methods principally to arrive at it: 1. He studies his own heart;
2. He shrinks not from the inspection of the eyes of others.
+III. The believer is raised up with Christ by the foretastes which
he enjoys on earth of his participation in the exaltation of
Christ.+--This experience is realised by the believer. 1. When
shutting the door of his closet and excluding the world from his
heart, he is admitted to communion and fellowship with Deity in
retirement and silence. 2. When Providence calls him to undergo some
severe trial. 3. When he has been enabled to make some noble and
generous sacrifice. 4. When celebrating the sacred mysteries of
redeeming love. 5. Finally, in the hour of conflict with the king of
terrors.--_Saurin._
Ver. 5. _Justification by Faith._
I. We hold +that we are justified by faith,+ that is, by believing,
and that unless we are justified we cannot be saved. Of all men
whoever believed this, those who gave us the Church catechism
believed it most strongly. Believing really what they taught, they
believed that children were justified. For if a child is not
justified in being a member of Christ, a child of God, and an
inheritor of the kingdom of heaven, what is he justified in being?
They knew that the children could only keep in this just, right, and
proper state by trusting in God and looking up to Him daily in faith
and love and obedience.
II. +These old reformers were practical men and took the practical
way.+--They knew the old proverb, "A man need not be a builder to
live in a house." At least they acted on it; and instead of trying to
make the children understand what faith was made up of, they tried to
make them live in faith itself. Instead of puzzling and fretting the
children's minds with any of the controversies then going on between
Papists and Protestants, or afterwards between Calvinists and
Arminians, they taught the children simply about God, who He was, and
what He had done for them and all mankind, that so they might learn
to love Him, look up to Him in faith, and trust utterly to Him, and
so remain justified and right, saved and safe for ever. By doing
which they showed that they knew more about faith and about God than
if they had written books on books of doctrinal arguments.
III. +The Church catechism, where it is really and honestly taught,
gives the children an honest, frank, sober, English temper of mind
which no other training I have seen gives.+--I warn you frankly that
if you expect to make the average of English children good children
on any other ground than the Church catechism takes, you will fail.
If it be not enough for your children to know all the articles of the
Apostles' Creed, and on the strength thereof to trust God utterly and
so be justified and saved, then they must go elsewhere, for I have
nothing more to offer them, and trust in God that I never shall
have.--_C. Kingsley._
Ver. 8. _Salvation by Faith._
+I. What faith it is through which we are saved.+--1. It is not
barely the faith of a heathen. 2. Nor is it the faith of a devil,
though this goes much further than that of a heathen. 3. It is not
barely that the apostles had while Christ was yet upon earth. 4. In
general it is faith in Christ: Christ and God through Christ are the
proper objects of it. 5. It is not only an assent to the whole Gospel
of Christ, but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ, a trust
in the merits of His life, death, and resurrection, a recumbency upon
Him as our atonement and our life, as given for us and living in us,
and in consequence hereof, a closing with Him and cleaving to Him as
our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, or, in one
word, our salvation.
+II. What is the salvation which is through faith?+--1. It is a
present salvation. 2. A salvation from sin. 3. From the guilt of all
past sin. 4. From fear. 5. From the power of sin. 6. A salvation
often expressed in the word "justification," which taken in the
largest sense implies a deliverance from guilt and punishment by the
atonement of Christ actually applied to the soul of the sinner now
believing on Him, and a deliverance from the power of sin, through
Christ formed in his heart.
+III. The importance of the doctrine.+--Never was the maintaining
this doctrine more seasonable than it is at this day. Nothing but
this can effectually prevent the increase of the Romish delusion
among us. It is endless to attack one by one all the errors of that
Church. But salvation by faith strikes at the root, and all fall at
once where this is established.--_Wesley._
Vers. 8, 9. _Our Salvation is of Grace._
+I. Consider how we are saved through faith.+--1. Without faith we
cannot be saved. 2. All who have faith will be saved.
+II. What place and influence works have in our salvation.+--1. In
what sense our salvation is not of works. (1) We are not saved by
works considered as a fulfilment of the original law of nature.
(2) We are not saved by virtue of any works done before faith in
Christ, for none of these are properly good. 2. There is a sense in
which good works are of absolute necessity to salvation. (1) They are
necessary as being radically included in that faith by which we are
saved. (2) A temper disposing us to good works is a necessary
qualification for heaven. (3) Works are necessary as evidences of our
faith in Christ and of our title to heaven. (4) Good works
essentially belong to religion. (5) Works are necessary to adorn our
professions and honour our religion before men. (6) By them we are to
be judged in the great day of the Lord.
+III. The necessity of works does not diminish the grace of God in
our salvation nor afford us any pretence for boasting.+--1. Humility
essentially belongs to the Christian temper. 2. The mighty
preparation God has made for our recovery teaches that the human race
is of great importance in the scale of rational beings and in the
scheme of God's universal government. 3. It infinitely concerns us to
comply with the proposals of the Gospel. 4. Let no man flatter
himself that he is in a state of salvation as long as he lives in the
neglect of good works. 5. Let us be careful that we mistake not the
nature of good works.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 8. _True Justifying Faith is not of Ourselves._--It is through
grace that we believe in the grace of God. God's grace and love, the
source; faith, the instrument; both His gift. The origin of our
coming to Christ is of God. Justifying faith, not human assent, but a
powerful, vivifying thing which immediately works a change in the man
and makes him a new creature and leads him to an entirely new and
altered mode of life and conduct. Hence justifying faith is a Divine
work.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 10.
_The Christian Life a Divine Creation._
+I. The true Christian a specimen of the Divine handiwork.+--"We are
His workmanship." So far is man from being the author of his own
salvation, or from procuring salvation for the sake of any works of
his own, that not only was his first creation as a man the work of
God, but his new spiritual creation is wholly the result of Divine
power. Man, in the marvellous mechanism of his body, and in his
unique mental and spiritual endowments, is the noblest work of God.
He is the lord and high priest of nature and has such dominion over
it as to be able to combine and utilise its forces. But the creation
of the new spiritual man in Christ Jesus is a far grander work, and a
more perfect and exalted specimen of the Divine handiwork. It is a
nearer approach to a more perfect image of the Divine character and
perfections. As the best work of the most gifted genius is a
reflection of his loftiest powers, so the new spiritual creation is a
fuller revelation of the infinite resources of the Divine Worker.
+II. The Christian life is eminently practical.+--"Created in Christ
Jesus for good works" (R.V.). The apostle never calls the works of
the law good works. We are not saved by, but created unto, good
works. Works do not justify, but the justified man works, and thus
demonstrates the reality of his new creation. "I should have thought
mowers very idle people," said John Newton, "but they work while they
whet the scythe. Now devotedness to God, whether it mows or whets the
scythe, still goes on with the work. A Christian should never plead
spirituality for being a sloven; if he be but a shoe-cleaner, he
should be the best in the parish."
+III. The opportunities and motives for Christian usefulness are
Divinely provided.+--"Which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them." Every man has his daily work of body or mind appointed
him. There is not a moment without a duty. Each one has a vineyard;
let him see that he till it, and not say, "No man hath hired us."
"The situation," says Carlyle, "that has not its duty, its ideal, was
never yet occupied by man. Yes, here in this poor, miserable,
hampered, despicable Actual wherein thou even now standest, here or
nowhere is thy ideal. Work it out therefrom, and working, believe,
live, and be free." There is no romance in a minister's proposing and
hoping to forward a great moral revolution on the earth, for the
religion he is appointed to preach was intended and is adapted to
work deeply and widely and to change the face of society.
Christianity was not ushered into the world with such a stupendous
preparation, it was not foreshown through so many ages by enraptured
prophets, it was not proclaimed so joyfully through the songs of
angels, it was not preached by such holy lips and sealed by such
precious blood, to be only a pageant, a form, a sound, a show. Oh no!
It has come from heaven, with heaven's life and power--come to make
all things new, to make the wilderness glad, and the desert blossom
as the rose, to break the stony heart, to set free the guilt-burdened
and earth-bound spirit, and to present it faultless before God's
glory with exceeding joy.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christianity is not a creed, but a life._ 2. _The
Christian life has a manifest Divine origin._ 3. _The Christian life
must be practically developed in harmony with the Divine mind._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 10. _Interruptions in our Work, and the Way to deal with
Them._--In proportion to the seriousness with which a Christian does
his work will be his sensitiveness to interruptions, and this
sensitiveness is apt to disturb his peace. The remedy is a closer
study of the mind that was in Christ, as that mind transpires in His
recorded conduct. The point in the life of our Lord is the apparent
want of what may be called method or plan. His good works were not in
pursuance of some scheme laid down by Himself, but such as entered
into God's scheme for Him, such as the Father had prepared for Him to
walk in.
+I. Notice His discourses both in their occasions and their
contexture.+--1. His discourses often take their rise from some
object which is thrown across His path in nature, from some
occurrence which takes place under His eyes, or from some question
which is put to Him. 2. The contexture of His discourses are not
systematic in the usual sense of the word. There is the intellectual
method, and the method of a full mind and loving heart. The only plan
observable in our Lord's discourses is that of a loving heart pouring
itself out as occasion serves for the edification of mankind.
+II. Study the life of Christ.+--The absence of mere human plan, or
rather strict faithfulness to the plan of God as hourly developed by
the movements of His providence, characterises the life of our Lord
even more than His discourses. Illustrated from Matthew ix. God has a
plan of life for each one of us, and occasions of doing or receiving
good are mapped out for each in His eternal counsels. Little
incidents, as well as great crises of life, are under the control of
God's providence. Events have a voice for us if we will listen to it.
Let us view our interruptions as part of God's plan for us. We may
receive good, even when we cannot do good. It is self-will which weds
us to our own plans and makes us resent interference with them. In
the providence of God there seems to be entanglements, perplexities,
interruptions, confusions, contradictions, without end; but you may
be sure there is one ruling thought, one master-design, to which all
these are subordinate. Be not clamorous for another or more dignified
character than that which is allotted to you. Be it your sole aim to
conspire with the Author, and to subserve His grand and wise
conception. Thus shall you find peace in submitting yourself to the
wisdom which is of God.--_E. M. Goulburn._
_The New Spiritual Creation._--God has kindled in us a new spiritual
life by baptism and the influence of the Holy Spirit connected
therewith. He has laid the foundation of recreating us into His
image. He has made us other men in a far more essential sense than it
was once said to Saul--"Thou shalt be turned into another man." What
is the principal fruit and end of this new creation? A living hope.
Its object is not only our future resurrection, but the whole
plenitude of the salvation still to be revealed by Jesus Christ, even
until the new heavens and the new earth shall appear. Birth implies
life; so is it with the hope of believers, which is the very opposite
of the vain, lost, and powerless hope of the worldly-minded. It is
powerful, and quickens the heart by comforting, strengthening, and
encouraging it, by making it joyous and cheerful in God. Its
quickening influence enters even into our physical life. Hope is not
only the fulfilment of the new life created in regeneration, but also
the innermost kernel of the same.--_Weiss._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11, 12.
_The Forlorn State of the Gentile World._
+I. Outcast.+--"Gentiles, . . . called Uncircumcision by that which
is called the Circumcision" (ver. 11). The circumcised Jew regarded
himself as a special favourite of Heaven, and superior to all other
men. He hardly felt himself a member of the human family. He was
accustomed to speak of himself as chosen of God, and as holy and
clean; whilst the Gentiles were treated as sinners, dogs, polluted,
unclean, outcast, and God-abandoned. Between Jew and Gentile there
was constant hatred and antagonism, as there is now between the
Church and the world. On the one hand, the old religion, with its
time-honoured teachings, its ancient traditions, the Church of the
Fathers, the guardian of revelation, the depositary of the faith, the
staunchness that tends to degenerate into bigotry--here is the Jew.
On the other hand, the intellectual searchings, the political
aspirations and mechanical contrivings--science, art, literature,
commerce, sociology, the liberty which threatens to luxuriate into
licence--here is the Gentile. Ever and again the old feud breaks out.
Ever and again there is a crack and a rent. The gulf widens, and
disruption is threatened. The majority is outside the circle of the
Church.
+II. Christless.+--"That at that time ye were without Christ." The
promises of a coming Deliverer were made to the Jews, and they were
slow to see that any other people had any right to the blessings of
the Messiah, or that it was their duty to instruct the world
concerning Him. They drew a hard line between the sons of Abraham and
the dogs of Greeks. They erected a middle wall of partition,
thrusting out the Gentile into the outer court. Christ has broken
down the barrier. On the area thus cleared He has erected a larger,
loftier, holier temple, a universal brotherhood which acknowledges no
preferences and knows no distinctions. In Christ Jesus now there is
neither Jew nor Greek, but Christ is all and in all--a vivid contrast
to the Christlessness of a former age.
+III. Hopeless.+--"Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope" (ver. 12).
Where there is no promise there is no hope. Cut off from any
knowledge of the promises revealed to the Jews, the Gentiles were
sinking into despair.
+IV. Godless.+--"Without God in the world." With numberless deities
the Gentiles had no God. They had everything else, but this one thing
they lacked--knowledge of God their Father; and without this all
their magnificent gifts could not satisfy, could not save, them.
Culture and civilisation, arts and commerce, institutions and laws,
no nation can afford to undervalue these; but not only do all these
things soon fade, but the people themselves fall into corruption and
decay, if the Breath of Life is wanting. As with nations, so is it
with individuals. Man cannot with impunity ignore or deny the Father
of earth and heaven.
+Lessons.+--1. _Man left to himself inevitably degenerates._ 2. _When
man abandons God his case is desperate._ 3. _The rescue of man from
utter ruin is an act of Divine mercy._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 11, 12. _The Condition of the Ephesians before their Conversion
descriptive of the State of Sinners under the Gospel._
+I. They were in time past Gentiles in the flesh.+--He admonishes
them not to forget the dismal state of heathenism out of which they
had been called, and often to reflect upon it, that they might ever
maintain a sense of their unworthiness and awaken thankful and
admiring apprehensions of that grace which had wrought in them so
glorious a change.
+II. Reminds them of the contempt with which they had been treated by
the Jews.+--The Jews, instead of improving the distinction of their
circumcision to gratitude and obedience, perverted it to pride,
self-confidence, and contempt of mankind. They not only excluded
other nations from the benefit of religious communion, but even
denied them the common offices of humanity. One of their greatest
objections to the Gospel was that it offered salvation to the
Gentiles.
+III. They were without Christ.+--To the Jews were chiefly confined
the discoveries which God made of a Saviour to come. From them in
their captivities and dispersions the Gentiles obtained the knowledge
they had of this glorious Person. This knowledge was imperfect, mixed
with error and uncertainty, and at best extended only to a few. The
Gentiles, contemplating the Messiah as a temporal prince, regarded
His appearing as a calamity rather than a blessing.
+IV. They were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.+--To the forms
of worship instituted in the Mosaic law none was admitted but Jews
and such as were proselyted to the Jewish religion. All uncircumcised
heathens were excluded as aliens.
+V. They were strangers from the covenants of promise.+--The
discovery of the covenants of promise until the Saviour came was
almost wholly confined to the Jews. How unhappy was the condition of
the Gentile world in the dark, benighted ages which preceded the
Gospel!
+VI. They had no clear hope of a future existence.+--Many of them
scarcely believed or thought of a life beyond this. They had no
apprehension, hardly the idea of a restoration of the body. Those who
believed in a future state had but obscure and some of them very
absurd conceptions of it. Still more ignorant were they of the
qualifications necessary for happiness after death.
+VII. They were atheists in a world in which God was manifest.+--The
heathens generally had some apprehension of a Deity; but they were
without a knowledge of the one true God and without a just idea of
His character. There are more atheists in the world than profess
themselves such. Many who profess to know God in works deny
Him.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 12. _Hopeless and Godless._--The soul that has no God has no
hope. The character of the God we love and worship will determine the
character of our hope. 1. The heathen religion was the _seeking_
religion. Their search arose out of a deeply felt want. They felt the
need of something they did not possess; and the finest intellects the
world has ever known bravely and anxiously devoted all their colossal
powers to the task of fathoming the mysteries of life. The hope of
discovery buoyed them up and urged them onwards; but their united
endeavours brought them only to the borderland of the unseen and the
unknown, where they caught but glimmerings of a truth that ever
receded into the great beyond. "The world by wisdom knew not God,"
and therefore had no hope. 2. The Hebrew religion was the _hoping_
religion. Favoured with a revelation of the only true God, their hope
expanded with every advancing step of the progressive revelation.
Their hope was based on _faith,_ as all true hope must be--faith in
the promises of God. They had the promise of a _Deliverer_ whose
wisdom should excel that of Moses and Solomon, and whose power should
surpass that of Joshua and of his heroic successors in the most
brilliant period of their military career; and, through the centuries
of prosperity and decline, of scattering and captivity, and amid
unparalleled sufferings which would have extinguished any other
nation, hope fastened and fed upon the promises till the true Messiah
came, whom St. Paul justly described as "the Hope of Israel, the Hope
of the promise made of God unto our fathers." 3. The _Christian_
religion is the _complement_ and _perfection_ of all previously
existing systems; it is the grand realisation of what the heathen
sought, and the Hebrew hoped for. It is in Jesus we have the
clearest, fullest, and most authoritative revelation of God, and it
is in Him, and in Him alone, that the loftiest hope of man finds its
restful and all-sufficient realisation. The apostle Paul refers to
Jesus specifically as our Hope--"Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is our
Hope" (1 Tim. i. 1). 4. In the light of this great and indubitable
truth the words of our text may be clearly and unmistakably
interpreted, and they assume a terrible significance. _To be without
Christ is to be without God and without hope._ (1) Hope is not simply
_expectation._ We expect many things we do not hope for. In the
natural course of things we expect difficulties, we expect opposition
and misrepresentation--"black wounding calumny the whitest virtue
strikes"--we expect infirmities and disabilities of age; but we are
none of us so fond of trouble for trouble's sake as to hope for any
of these things. (2) Hope is not simply _desire._ Our desires are as
thick and plentiful as apple blossoms, few of which ever ripen into
the fruit they promise. We desire uninterrupted health, we desire
wealth--the most dangerous and disappointing of all human wishes--we
desire pleasure, success in life, and the realisation of the most
ambitious dreams; but we have no reasonable ground for hoping that
all our desires will ever be attained. (3) Hope is the _expectation
of the desirable,_ and it must have a foundation on which the
expectation rests and an object to which the desire can rise. The
foundation of hope is Christ, and the object of hope is to live with
Him in eternal glory. To be without hope and without God does not
mean that hope and God do not exist. The world is full of both; they
are among you, they surround you, the very air vibrates with the
ever-active presence of these grand realities; but they are as though
they did not exist for you unless you know and feel they do exist
within you. (4) Hope _presupposes faith_; they cannot exist apart.
Faith discovers "the only foundation which is laid, which is Christ
Jesus," fastens the soul to and settles it on this foundation, and
faith and hope rouse all the activities of the soul to build on this
foundation a superstructure which shall grow in solidity, in
symmetry, and in beauty, until it becomes a perfect marvel of moral
architecture, richly ornamented with the most delicate tracery and
shimmering and flashing with the resplendent glory of God. (5) _Hope
is the balloon of the soul,_ soaring majestically into the heavens,
scanning scenes of beauty and grandeur never beheld by our
earth-bound senses, and faithfully reporting to the soul the state of
affairs in the skies; but it is a _captive balloon,_ and the
connecting cords are firmly held in the hand of faith. The loftiest
flights and the swing of what might seem the most eccentric gyrations
of hope are held in check by the friendly, the sympathetic, but
unswerving grasp of faith. "My dear Hope," Faith says, "it is very
nice for you to be up there, basking in the cloudless sunshine and
drinking in the melody of the ascending lark as it ripples up the
heights; and I like you to be there. I could never get there myself;
and you tell me of things I should never otherwise know, and they do
me good. But, remember, I cannot let you go. We are linked together
in the sacred bonds of a holy wedlock. We are necessary to each other
and cannot do without each other. If you were to break away from me,
you would vanish like vapour into space, and I should be left forlorn
and powerless." And Hope replies: "I know it, my dear Faith. Divorce
would be fatal to us both, and our union is too sweet and precious
ever to dream of separation. I live in these upper regions purely for
your sake. You know I have cheered you up many a time and will do so
again. My joy is to brighten your life of toil and conflict down
there. When the soul has done with you it will have done with me, and
when my work is finished I shall be content to die." Thus, faith and
hope are essentially united, and both are wedded together by the
soul's living union with Christ. (6) A false hope is really _no
hope._ It rests on no solid foundation; it is not justified by sound
reason. It is but the blue light of a frantic conjecture generated
amid the restless tumults of a soul in the last stages of despair. At
the best a false hope is but a beautiful dream spun from the gossamer
threads of a busy and excited fancy, a dream _of what we wish might
be,_ and, like all other dreams having no substantial basis, it
dissolves into space under the first touch of reality. A false hope
lures its victims on to destruction, as the flickering lights of the
marsh gases seduce the belated traveller into the dismal swamps from
which there is no release.
_A State of Sin a State of Ungodliness._--1. Men do not recognise the
existence of God. 2. They do not acknowledge His moral government.
3. They do not seek His favour as their chief good. 4. They do not
delight in His communion. 5. They do not anticipate their final
reckoning with Him. 6. They do not accept His own disclosures
concerning the attributes of His nature and the principles of His
administration.--_G. Brooks._
_Man without God._--He is like a ship tossed about on a stormy sea
without chart or compass. The ship drifts as the waves carry it. The
night is dark. The pilot knows not which way to steer. He may be
close to rocks and quicksands. Perhaps a flash of lightning falls on
a rock, or he hears the waves breaking over it. But how shall he
escape, or how prepare to meet the danger? Shall he trust in
providence? What providence has he to trust in? Poor man! He is
without God. Shall he throw out an anchor? But he has no anchor. He
wants the best and only safe anchor, hope--the anchor of the soul.
Such is the state of man when he is far off, without a God to trust
in, without hope to comfort and support him. But give the man a true
and lively faith in Christ, tell him of a merciful and loving Father
who careth for us and would have us cast all our care upon Him, show
him that hope which is firm to the end, and straightway you make a
happy man of him. You give him a course to steer, a chart and compass
to guide him, an anchor which will enable him to withstand the
buffeting of every storm. You insure him against shipwreck, and you
assure him of a blessed haven where at length he will arrive and be
at rest.--_A. W. Hare._
_Practical Atheism._--If it had been without friends, without
shelter, without food, that would have made a gloomy sound; but
without God! That there should be men who can survey the creation
with a scientific enlargement of intelligence and then say there is
no God is one of the most hideous phenomena in the world.
+I. The text is applicable to those who have no solemn recognition of
God's all-disposing government and providence+--who have no thought
of the course of things but just as going on, going on some way or
other, just as it can be; to whom it appears abandoned to a strife
and competition of various mortal powers, or surrendered to something
they call general laws, and these blended with chance.
+II. Is a description of all those who are forming or pursuing their
scheme of life and happiness independent of Him.+--They do not
consult His counsel or will as to what that scheme should be in its
ends or means. His favour, His blessing are not absolutely
indispensable. We can be happy leaving Him out of the account.
+III. Is a description of those who have but a slight sense of
universal accountableness to God as the supreme authority+--who have
not a conscience constantly looking and listening to Him and
testifying for Him. This insensibility of accountableness exists
almost entire--a stupefaction of conscience--in very many minds. In
others there is a disturbed yet inefficacious feeling. To be thus
with God is in the most emphatical sense to be without Him--without
Him as a friend, approver, and patron. Each thought of Him tells the
soul who it is that it is without, and who it is that in a very
fearful sense it never can be without.
+IV. The description belongs to that state of mind in which there is
no communion with Him+ maintained or even sought with cordial
aspiration. How lamentable to be thus without God! Consider it in one
single view only, that of the _loneliness_ of a human soul in this
destitution.
+V. A description of the state of mind in which there is no habitual
anticipation of the great event of going at length into the presence
of God;+ in which there is an absence of the thought of being with
Him in another world, of being with Him in judgment, and whether to
be with Him for ever.
+VI. A description of those who, professing to retain God in their
thoughts, frame the religion in which they are to acknowledge Him
according to their own speculation and fancy.+--Will the Almighty
acknowledge your feigned God for Himself, and admit your religion as
equivalent to that which He has declared and defined? If He should
not, you are without God in the world. Let us implore Him not to
permit our spirits to be detached from Him, abandoned, exposed, and
lost; not to let them be trying to feed their immortal fires on
transitory sustenance, but to attract them, exalt them, and hold them
in His communion for ever.--_John Foster._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13-18.
_Christ the Great Peacemaker._
+I. His mission on earth was one of peace.+--"And came and preached
peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh" (ver.
17). His advent was heralded by the angelic song, "Peace on earth,
and goodwill toward men." The world is racked with moral discord; He
is constantly striving to introduce the music of a heavenly harmony.
It is distracted with war; He is propagating principles that will
by-and-by make war impossible. The work of the peacemaker is
Christ-like. Shenkyn, one of whose anomalies was that with all his
burning passions he was a notorious peacemaker, and had means of
pouring oil upon troubled waters, once upon a time was deputed to try
his well-known skill upon a Church whose strife of tongues had become
quite notorious. He reluctantly complied and attended a meeting which
soon proved to his satisfaction that the people were possessed by a
demon that could not easily be expelled. The peacemaker got up, staff
in hand, paced the little chapel, and with his spirit deeply moved,
cried out, "Lord, is this Thy spouse?" Faster and faster he walked,
thumping his huge stick on the floor, and still crying out, "Lord, is
this Thy spouse? Slay her!" Then there came, as it were from another,
a response, "No, I will not." "Sell her, then!" "No, I will not."
"Deny her, then!" Still the answer came, "I will not." Then he lifted
up his voice, saying, "I have bought her with My precious blood; how
can I give her up? How can I forsake her?" The strife had now ceased,
and the people looked on with amazement, crying out for pardon.
+II. He made peace between man and man.+--"For He is our peace, who
hath made both one; . . . to make in Himself of twain one new man, so
making peace" (vers. 14, 15). The hostility of Jew and Gentile was
conquered; the new spiritual nature created in both formed a bond of
brotherhood and harmony. The Jew no longer despised the Gentile; the
Gentile no longer hated and persecuted the Jew. Where the Christian
spirit predominates personal quarrels are speedily adjusted.
+III. He made peace between man and God.+--"That He might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross" (ver. 16). The enmity of man
against God is disarmed and conquered by the voluntary suffering of
Jesus in man's stead, and by Him thus opening up the way of
reconciliation of man with God. God can now be just, and the
justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. The violated law is now
atoned for, and the violator may obtain forgiveness and regain the
forfeited favour of the offended God. There is peace only through
forgiveness.
+IV. His death removed the great barrier to peace.+--This paragraph
is very rich and suggestive in the phrases used to explain this
blessed result: "Ye are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (ver. 13).
"By the cross, having slain the enmity thereby" (ver. 16). "Hath
broken down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in His
flesh the enmity" (vers. 14, 15). It is not the calm, silent,
featureless, helpless, forceless, _peace of death,_ but a living,
active, aggressive, ever-conquering peace. The death was the result
of agonising struggle and intense suffering, and the peace purchased
is a powerfully operating influence in the believing soul.
"A peace is of the nature of a conquest;
For then both parties nobly are subdued,
And neither party loser."--_Shakespeare._
+V. True peace is realised only in Christ.+--"But now in Christ Jesus
ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"
(ver. 13). "For He is our peace" (ver. 14). "For through Him we both
have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (ver. 18). "Christ takes
us by the hand, and leads us to the Father." Men seek peace in the
excitements of worldly pleasures, or in the pursuit of ambitious
aims, but in vain. They only stimulate the malady they seek to cure.
Christ is the restful centre of the universe, and the sin-tossed soul
gains peace only as it converges towards Him. The efforts of men to
find rest independent of Christ only reveal their need of Him, and it
is a mercy when this revelation and consciousness of need does not
come too late.
+Lessons.+--1. _Sin is the instigator of quarrels and strife._
2. _Only as sin is conquered does peace become possible._ 3. _Christ
introduces peace by abolishing sin._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 13-18. _Nearness to God._
+I. They were brought into the Church of God and admitted to equal
privileges with His ancient people the Jews.+
+II. They were brought near to God as they were admitted to enjoy
the Gospel, which is a dispensation of grace and peace.+
+III. They were brought near to God by the renovation of their souls
after His image.+
+IV. This nearness to God implies a state of peace with Him.+
+V. Another circumstance of the nearness is access to God in
prayer.+
+VI. Another is the presence of His Holy Spirit.+--Let us be afraid
of everything that tends to draw us away from God, and love
everything which brings us nearer to Him. Let us seek Him with
our whole heart, persevere daily communion with Him, choose
His favour as our happiness, His service as our employment,
His Word as our guide, His ordinances as our refreshment, His
house as the gate of heaven, and heaven as our eternal
home.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 13. _Our State by Nature and by Grace._
+I. Our state by nature.+--The distance from God here spoken of is
not a local distance, neither is it that which separates us from Him
as an infinite Being. 1. It is legal. Banished by a righteous
sentence and by a sense of guilt and unworthiness. 2. It is moral.
Estrangement. Absence of sympathy. Want of harmony. 3. In both these
respects it is ever-widening. 4. It is miserable and dangerous.
+II. Our state by grace.+--1. The legal barriers are removed by the
blood of Christ shed on the cross. 2. The moral alienation is removed
by the blood of Christ as applied to the believer by the Holy Spirit.
3. The nearness to God thus effected is a valuable privilege. It
includes reconciliation, friendship, communion. Sinner, apply now to
be made nigh. Believer, remember thy obligations.--_G. Brooks._
Vers. 14, 15. _Death a Peacemaker._--The struggle between the
Northern and Southern States of America closed for ever at the
funeral of General Grant. The armies of rebellion surrendered twenty
years before; but the solemn and memorable pageant at the tomb of the
great Union soldier, where the leading generals of the living Union
and of the dead Confederacy stood shoulder to shoulder and mingled
their tears in a common grief--this historical event marked the
absolute conclusion of sectional animosity in America.
Ver. 16. _The Power of the Gospel to dissolve the Enmity of the Human
Heart against God._--1. The goodness of God destroys the enmity of
the human mind. When every other argument fails, this, if perceived
by the eye of faith, finds its powerful and persuasive way through
every barrier of resistance. Try to approach the heart of man by the
instruments of terror and of authority, and it will disdainfully
repel you. There is not one of you skilled in the management of human
nature who does not perceive that, though this may be a way of
working on the other principles of our constitution--of working on
the fears of man, or on his sense of interest--this is not the way of
gaining by a single hair-breadth on the attachments of his heart.
Such a way may force, or it may terrify, but it never, never can
endear; and after all the threatening array of such an influence as
this is brought to bear upon man, there is not one particle of
service it can extort from him but what is all rendered in the spirit
of a painful and reluctant bondage. Now this is not the service which
prepares for heaven. This is not the service which assimilates men to
angels. This is not the obedience of those glorified spirits, whose
every affection harmonises with their every performance, and the very
essence of whose piety consists of delight in God and the love they
bear to Him. To bring up man to such an obedience as this, his heart
behoved to be approached in a particular way; and no such way is to
be found but within the limits of the Christian revelation. There
alone you see God, without injury to His other attributes, plying the
heart of man with the irresistible argument of kindness. There alone
do you see the great Lord of heaven and of earth, setting Himself
forth to the most worthless and the most wandering of His
children--putting forth His hand to the work of healing the breach
which sin had made between them--telling them that His Word could not
be mocked, and his justice could not be defied and trampled on, and
that it was not possible for His perfections to receive the slightest
taint in the eyes of the creation He had thrown around them; but that
all this was provided for, and not a single creature within the
compass of the universe He has formed could now say that forgiveness
to man was degrading to the authority of God, and that by the very
act of atonement, which poured a glory over all the high attributes
of His character, His mercy might now burst forth without limit and
without control upon a guilty world, and the broad flag of invitation
be unfurled in the sight of all its families. 2. Let the sinner,
then, look to God through the medium of such a revelation, and the
sight which meets him there may well tame the obstinacy of that heart
which had wrapped itself up in impenetrable hardness against the
force of every other consideration. Now that the storm of the
Almighty's wrath has been discharged upon Him who bore the burden of
the world's atonement, He has turned His throne of glory into a
throne of grace and cleared away from the pavilion of His residence
all the darkness which encompassed it. The God who dwelleth there is
God in Christ; and the voice He sends from it to this dark and
rebellious province of His mighty empire is a voice of the most
beseeching tenderness. Goodwill to men is the announcement with which
His messengers come fraught to a guilty world; and, since the moment
in which it burst upon mortal ears from the peaceful canopy of
heaven, may the ministers of salvation take it up, and go round with
it among all the tribes and individuals of the species. Such is the
real aspect of God towards you. He cannot bear that His alienated
children should be finally and everlastingly away from Him. He feels
for you all the longing of a parent bereaved of his offspring. To woo
you back again unto Himself He scatters among you the largest and the
most liberal assurances, and with a tone of imploring tenderness does
He say to one and all of you, "Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die?"
(Ezek. xxxiii. 11). He has no pleasure in your death. He does not
wish to glorify Himself by the destruction of any one of you. "Look
to Me, all ye ends of the earth, and be saved" (Isa. xlv. 22), is the
wide and generous announcement by which He would recall, from the
outermost limits of His sinful creation, the most worthless and
polluted of those who have wandered away from Him. 3. Now give us a
man who perceives, with the eye of his mind, the reality of all this,
and you give us a man in possession of the principle of faith. Give
us a man in possession of this faith; and his heart, shielded as it
were against the terrors of a menacing Deity, is softened and
subdued, and resigns its every affection at the moving spectacle of a
beseeching Deity; and thus it is, that faith manifests the attribute
which the Bible assigns to it, of working by love. Give us a man in
possession of this love; and, animated as he is with the living
principle of that obedience, where the willing and delighted consent
of the inner man goes along with the performance of the outer man,
his love manifests the attribute which the Bible assigns to it when
it says, "This is the love of God, that ye keep His commandments."
And thus it is, amid the fruitfulness of every other expedient, when
power threatened to crush the heart which it could not soften--when
authority lifted its voice, and laid on man an enactment of love
which it could not carry--when terror shot its arrows, and they
dropped ineffectual from that citadel of the human affections, which
stood proof against the impression of every one of them--when wrath
mustered up its appalling severities, and filled that bosom with
despair which it could not fill with the warmth of a confiding
attachment--then the kindness of an inviting God was brought to bear
on the heart of man, and got an opening through all its mysterious
avenues. Goodness did what the nakedness of power could not do. It
found its way through all intricacies of the human constitution, and
there, depositing the right principle of repentance, did it establish
the alone effectual security for the right purposes and the right
fruits of repentance.--_Dr. T. Chalmers._
Ver. 18. _The Privilege of Access to the Father._--In the Temple
service of the Jews all did not enjoy equal privileges. The court of
the Gentiles was outside that of the Jews and separated from it by "a
marble screen or enclosure three cubits in height, beautifully
ornamented with carving, but bearing inscriptions, in Greek and Roman
characters, forbidding any Gentile to pass within its boundary." Such
restricted access to God the new dispensation was designed to
abolish. The middle wall of partition is now broken down, and through
Christ we, both Jews and Gentiles--all mankind--have equal access by
one Spirit unto the Father. Observe:--
+I. The privilege of access unto the Father.+--That God is the proper
object of worship is implied in our text, and more explicitly
declared in other portions of the sacred writings. According to the
nature of the blessings desired, prayer may be addressed to any of
the three Persons in the Godhead; but the Bible teaches that prayer
generally is to be presented to the Father through Christ and by the
Holy Spirit. And so appropriate are the offices of the Persons in the
Trinity that we cannot speak otherwise. We cannot say that through
the Spirit and by the Father we have access to Christ, or through the
Father and by Christ we have access to the Spirit. We must observe
the apostle's order--through Christ and by the Spirit we have access
to the Father. Access unto the Father implies:--
1. _His sympathy with us._--God is our Creator and Sovereign, but His
authority is not harsh or arbitrary. He does not even deal with us
according to the stern dictates of untempered justice. On the
contrary, in love and sympathy He has for our benefit made His throne
accessible. He will listen to our penitential confessions, our vows
of obedience, our statements of want. He has sympathy with us.
2. _His ability to help us._--That access is permitted to us, taken
in connection with God's perfections, prove this. He raises no hope
to disappoint, does not encourage that He may repel, but permits
access that He may help and bless.
3. _His permission to speak freely._--There is nothing contracted in
God's method of blessing. We are introduced to His presence not to
stand dumb before Him, nor to speak under the influence of slavish
fear. We have such liberty as those enjoy who are introduced to the
presence of a prince by a distinguished favourite, or such freedom as
children have in addressing a father. We are brought into the
presence of our King by His Own Son; to our heavenly Father by
Christ, our elder Brother. The results of this access to ourselves:
1. It teaches dependence; 2. Excites gratitude; 3. Produces comfort;
4. Promotes growth in grace.
+II. The medium of access.+--Under the law the high priest was the
mediator through whom the people drew near to God. He went into the
"holiest of all, once every year, not without blood, which he offered
for himself, and for the errors of the people" (Heb. ix. 7). Under
the new covenant "boldness to enter into the holiest" is "by the
blood of Jesus" (Heb. x. 19). But as the mediation of the Jewish high
priest, though "done away in Christ," was typical, it may serve to
teach us how we are to come to God. He sprinkled the blood of the
sin-offering on the mercy-seat and burnt incense within the veil
(Lev. xvi.), thus symbolising the sacrifice and intercession of
Christ.
1. _We, then, have access to God through Christ as a
sacrifice._--"Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb.
ix. 22). But, "that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,"
we could never, as suppliants, have found acceptance with God.
2. _Through Christ as an intercessor._--"But this man," etc. (Heb.
x. 12). A disciple in temptation cries for deliverance from evil, and
Christ prays, "Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom
Thou hast given Me" (John xvii. 11). A dying saint asks for "an
entrance into the heavenly kingdom," and Christ pleads, "Father, I
will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am"
(John xvii. 24). None need deem himself too unworthy to call on God
who comes to Him through Christ's sacrifice and intercession.
+III. The assistance afforded by the Holy Spirit.+--As we have access
unto the Father through Christ pleading _for_ us, so we have access
unto the Father by the Spirit pleading _in_ us.
1. _The Spirit kindles holy desire._--It is the work of the Spirit to
draw off the hearts of men from the world and raise them to God in
prayer. As in playing on a musical instrument no string sounds
untouched, so without this influence of the Spirit man would never
look heavenward, or his heart fill with desire toward God.
2. _Prompts to immediate application._--Blessings are often desired
but feebly. The Spirit rebukes this hesitancy, and urges on to
immediate application.
3. _Aids in that application._--"Without the Spirit we know not what
we should pray for" (Rom. viii. 26). Our thoughts wander, our
affections chill, the fervour of our importunity flags, unless the
Spirit "helpeth our infirmities."
+Reflections.+--1. _Those who do not enjoy this privilege are highly
culpable._ 2. _Those who do enjoy this privilege are indeed
happy.--The Lay Preacher._
_Access to God, revealing the Trinity in Unity._
+I. The end of human salvation is access to the Father.+--That is the
first truth of our religion--that the source of all is meant to be
the end of all, that as we all come forth from a Divine Creator, so
it is into Divinity that we are to return and to find our final rest
and satisfaction, not in ourselves, not in one another, but in the
omnipotence, the omniscience, the perfectness, and the love of God.
Now we are very apt to take it for granted that, however we may
differ in our definitions and our belief of the deity of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, we are all at once, there can be and there is no
hesitation, about the deity of the Father. God is Divine. God is God.
And no doubt we do all assent in words to such a belief; but when we
think what we mean by that word "God"; when we remember what we mean
by "Father," namely, the first source and the final satisfaction of a
dependent nature; and then when we look around and see such
multitudes of people living as if there were no higher source for
their being than accident and no higher satisfaction for their being
than selfishness, do we not feel that there is need of a continual
and most earnest preaching by Word and act, from every pulpit of
influence to which we can mount, of the Divinity of the Father. The
Divinity of the Father needs assertion first of all. Let men once
feel it, and then nature and their own hearts will come in with their
sweet and solemn confirmations of it. But nature and the human heart
do not teach it of themselves. The truest teaching of it must come
from souls that are always going in and out before the Divine
Fatherhood themselves. By the sight of such souls, others must come
to seek the satisfaction that comes only from a Divine end of
life--must come to crave access to the Father. So we believe, and so
we tempt other men to believe, in God the Father.
II. And now pass to +the Divinity of the method.+--"Through Jesus
Christ." Man is separated from God. That fact, testified to by broken
associations, by alienated affections, by conflicting wills, stands
written in the whole history of our race. And equally clear is it to
him who reads the Gospels, and enters into sympathy with their
wonderful Person, that in Him, in Jesus of Nazareth, appeared the
Mediator by whom was to be the Atonement. His was the life and nature
which, standing between the Godhood and the manhood, was to bridge
the gulf and make the firm, bright road over which blessing and
prayer might pass and repass with confident, golden feet for ever.
And then the question is--and when we ask it thus it becomes so much
more than a dry problem of theology; it is a question for live,
anxious men to ask with faces full of eagerness--Out of which nature
came that Mediator? Out of which side of the chasm sprang the bridge
leaping forth toward the other? Evidently on both sides that bridge
is bedded deep and clings with a tenacity which shows how it belongs
there. He is both human and Divine. But from which side did the
bridge spring? It is the most precious part of our belief that it was
with God that the activity began. It is the very soul of the Gospel,
as I read it, that the Father's heart, sitting above us in His
holiness, yearned for us as we lay down here in our sin. And when
there was no man to make an intercession, He sent His Son to tell us
of His love, to live with us, to die for us, to lay His life like a
strong bridge out from the Divine side of existence, over which we
might walk fearfully but safely, but into the Divinity where we
belonged. Through Him we have access to the Father. As the end was
Divine, so the method is Divine. As it is to God that we come, so it
is God who brings us there. I can think nothing else without
dishonouring the tireless, quenchless love of God.
+III. The power of the act of man's salvation is the Holy
Spirit.+--"Through Christ Jesus we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father." What do we mean by the Holy Spirit being the power
of salvation? I think we are often deluded and misled by carrying out
too far some of the figurative forms in which the Bible and the
religious experience of men express the saving of the soul. For
instance, salvation is described as the lifting of the soul out of a
pit and putting it upon a pinnacle, or on a safe high platform of
grace. The figure is strong and clear. Nothing can overstate the
utter dependence of the soul on God for its deliverance; but if we
let the figure leave in our minds an impression of the human soul as
a dead, passive thing, to be lifted from one place to the other like
a torpid log that makes no effort of its own either for co-operation
or resistance, then the figure has misled us. The soul is a live
thing. Everything that is done with it must be done and through its
own essential life, If a soul is saved, it must be by the salvation,
the sanctification, of its essential life; if a soul is lost, it must
be by perdition of its life, by the degradation of its affections and
desires and hopes. Let there be nothing merely mechanical in the
conception of the way God treats these souls of ours. He works upon
them in the vitality of thought, passion, and will that He put into
them. And so, when a soul comes to the Father through the Saviour,
its whole essential vitality moves in the act. When this experience
is reached, then see what Godhood the soul has come to recognise in
the world. First, there is the creative Deity from which it sprang,
and to which it is struggling to return--"the Divine End, God the
Father." Then there is the incarnate Deity, which makes that return
possible by the exhibition of God's love--the Divine Power of
salvation, God the Holy Spirit. To the Father, through the Son, by
the Spirit. This appears to be the truth of the Deity as it relates
to us. I say again, "as it relates to us." What it may be in itself;
how Father, Son, and Spirit meet in the perfect Godhood; what
infinite truth more there may, there must, be in that Godhood, no man
can dare to guess. But, to us, God is the end, the method, and the
power of salvation; so He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is in
the perfect harmony of these sacred personalities that the precious
unity of the Deity consists. I look at the theologies, and so often
it seems as if the harmony of the Father, Son, and Spirit has been
lost, both by those that own and those that disown the Trinity. One
theology makes the Father hard and cruel, longing as it were for
man's punishment, extorting from the Son the last drops of life-blood
which man's sin had incurred as penalty. Another theology makes the
Son merely one of the multitude of sinning men, with somewhat bolder
aspirations laying hold on a forgiveness which God might give but
which no mortal might assume. Still another theology can find no God
in the human heart at all; merely a fermentation of human nature is
this desire after goodness, this reaching out towards Divinity. The
end is not worthy of the method. I do not want to come to such a
Father as some of the theologians have painted. Or the method is not
worthy of the end. No man could come to the perfect God through such
a Jesus as some men have described. Or the power is too weak for
both; and all that Christ has done lies useless, and all the Father's
welcome waits in vain for the soul that has in it no Holy Ghost. But
let each be real and each be worthy of the others, and salvation is
complete. But each cannot be worthy of the others unless each is
perfect. But each cannot be perfect unless each is Divine; that is,
our faith is in the Trinity--three Persons and one God.--_Philips
Brooks._
_The Christian Law of Prayer_--
+I. To the Father.+--1. How honourable! Right of entry to an earthly
sovereign. 2. How delightful! Our pleasures may be graduated
according to the part of our nature in which they have their rise.
The pleasures of devotion are the highest taste for devotion. 3. How
profitable! God is able to bestow all temporal and spiritual
blessings. 4. How solemn! The intercourse of our spirit with the
Father of our spirits. Heart to heart.
+II. Through the Son.+--1. Through His atonement. Legal barriers to
our access must be removed. Have been removed by the death of Christ
as a satisfaction to Divine Justice. He has demolished the wall, He
has constructed a bridge across the chasm, He has laid down His own
body as the medium of approach. 2. Through His intercession. It
perpetuates His sacrifice. The Jewish high priest entering the holy
of holies on the Great Day of Atonement. Amyntas, mother of
Coriolanus; Philippa after the siege of Calais.
+III. By the Spirit.+--1. He teaches us what are our wants. For the
most part we are likely to be aware of our temporal wants. In
spiritual things the greater our need the less our sense of need.
2. He makes us willing to ask the supply of our wants. Aversion to
beg. Aversion to lay bare the symptoms of humiliating disease. 3. He
gives us power to spread our wants before God. One person employed to
write a letter or a petition for another. 4. He inspires us with
confidence to plead with importunity and faith. Confidence in the
Father, in the Son, in the power of prayer.--_G. Brooks._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-22.
_The Church the Temple of God._
+I. Enjoying special privileges.+--1. _A saintly citizenship._ "No
more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints"
(ver. 19). The apostle has spoken of the separation and enmity
existing between Jew and Gentile. The Jew, trained to believe in the
one invisible and only true God, who could not be imagined by any
material form, learned to look with hatred and contempt on the
outcast, lawless Gentile, with his idol deities in every valley and
on every hill; and the intellectual Gentile looked with philosophic
pride on the stern land of the Hebrew and in philosophic scorn on his
strange, exclusive loneliness. They were not only at enmity with each
other, but both were at enmity with God. Now the writer is showing
that by the provisions of the Gospel both Greek and Jew are united as
citizens of one Divine kingdom. They enjoy the same privileges and
are in actual fellowship with prophets and apostles and all holy
souls in all ages and are sanctified subjects of a kingdom that can
never be moved.
2. _A family life._--"And of the household of God" (ver. 19). The
Church is a family having one Father in God, one Brother in Christ,
one life in the Spirit, and one home in Heaven. As in earthly
families, there are diversities of character, tastes, gifts,
tendencies, and manifestations, but all the members of the heavenly
household are bound together by the one common bond of love to God
and to each other.
+II. Resting on a sure foundation+ (ver. 20).--The materials
composing the foundation of the Church are _living_ stones--teachers
and confessors of the truth, "apostles and prophets"; but Christ, as
the one foundation, is the "chief corner-stone." The foundation of
the Church is not so much in the witnesses of the truth as in the
truth itself, and in propagating which truth the first teachers and
confessors sacrificed their all. The truth which produced and
sustained the martyrs is itself immovable. The apostles and
prophets--teachers in the apostolic times--laid the first course in
the foundation of the Church and were careful to recognise and build
only one foundation, united and held together by the one
corner-stone--Christ Jesus. They fixed the pattern and standard of
Christian doctrine and practice. The Christian Church is sure because
the foundation is deep and broad and can never be removed and
replaced by any human structure.
+III. Ever rising to a higher perfection+ (ver. 21).--The image is
that of an extensive pile of buildings, such as the ancient temples
commonly were, in process of construction at different points over a
wide area. The builders work in concert upon a common plan. The
several parts of the work are adjusted to each other, and the various
operations in process are so harmonised that the entire construction
preserves the unity of the architect's design. Such an edifice was
the apostolic Church--one but of many parts--in the diverse gifts and
multiplied activities animated by one Spirit and directed towards one
Divine purpose (_Findlay_). Since the Day of Pentecost, when three
thousand living stones were laid on the foundation, the Church has
been growing in symmetry, beauty, and vastness, and it is constantly
advancing towards perfection. The building, though apparently
disjoined and working in separate parts, is growing into a final
unity.
+IV. Made by the Spirit His glorious dwelling-place+ (ver. 22).--The
Holy Spirit is the supreme Builder as He is the supreme Witness to
Jesus Christ (John xv. 26, 27). The words "in the Spirit" denote not
the mode of God's habitation--that is self-evident--but the agency
engaged in building this new house of God. With one chief
corner-stone to rest upon, and one Spirit to inspire and control
them, the apostles and prophets laid their foundation, and the Church
was builded together for a habitation of God. Hence its unity. But
for this sovereign influence the primitive founders of Christianity,
the later Church leaders, would have fallen into fatal discord
(_Findlay_). The Church is a spiritual organisation, pervaded and
made vital and progressive by the presence and operation of the
Spirit of God. An organ is composed of several instruments--the
choir, the swell, the pedal, the great; and many stops--the diapason,
the flute, the trumpet; and yet it is one. And the Church of God is
one. One Spirit--one breath of wind turned on by one living
Hand--makes all the organ vocal.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Church is the depositary of great religious
privileges._ 2. _God dwells in the Church by dwelling in the heart of
every member of it._ 3. _The Church provides every facility for
worship and service._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 19-22. _The Church of God a Spiritual Building._
+I. The apostle represents the Church of God under the figure of a
city and a household.+--1. _A Church must resemble a family or city
in respect of order and government;_ for without these a religious
society can no more subsist than a civil community or a household.
2. _In a city or household all the members have a mutual relation and
partake in the common privileges;_ and though they are placed in
different stations and conditions, they must all contribute to the
general happiness. 3. _In a city and also in a family there is a
common interest._ 4. _In a well-ordered city or household there will
be peace and unity;_ so there ought to be in a Christian Church.
+II. The manner in which the Church is founded.+--The mediation of
Christ is the foundation of our faith and hope. The apostles and
prophets are a foundation only as they describe and exhibit to use
the doctrines and works, the atonement and intercession, of the
Redeemer. In Him all the doctrines of the apostles and prophets meet
and unite, as the stones in the foundation are fixed and bound
together by the corner-stone.
+III. The Church must be united with and framed into the
foundation.+--Thus it may stand secure. Christ is the chief
corner-stone in which all the building is framed. That only is true
faith in Christ which regards Him as the foundation of our present
hope and final acceptance.
+IV. As the Church must rest on the foundation, so the several parts
of it must be framed and inserted into each other.+--As it is faith
which fixes the saints on Christ the foundation, so it is love which
binds them together among themselves. If we would preserve the
beauty, strength, and dignity of the spiritual house, we must be
watchful to repair breaches as soon as they appear, and to remove
those materials which are become too corrupt to be repaired, lest
they communicate their own corruption to sounder parts.
+V. The Church is to grow into a holy temple for God through the
Spirit.+--We must not content ourselves with having built on the true
foundation, but must bring the structure to a more finished and
beautiful condition. The Church may grow and make increase both by
the progress of its present members in knowledge and holiness and by
the addition of new members who become fellow-workers in the
spiritual building. God dwells in His Church, not only by His Word
and ordinances, but also by the influence of His Spirit which He
affords to assist His people in the duties of His worship and to open
their hearts for the reception of His Word.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 19. _Christian Prayer a Witness of Christian Citizenship._
+I. The foundation of the citizenship of the Christian.+--In access
to the Father--in the power of approaching Him in full, free,
trustful prayer.
1. _Christian prayer is the approach of the individual soul to God as
its Father._--Until a man utterly believers in Christ he can never
pray aright. There are veils around the unbelieving spirit which
hinder this free, confiding approach. The touch of God startles
memories, rouses ghosts of the past in the soul's secret chambers;
they flutter fearfully in the strange Divine light, and the man
shudders and dare not pray. A man bathed in the life of God in prayer
feels he is no more a stranger and a foreigner, but has entered into
God's kingdom, for God is his Father.
2. _That prayer of the individual soul must lead to the united
worship of God's Church._--We cannot always pray alone. The men who
stand most aloof from social worship are not the men who manifest the
highest spiritual life. Our highest prayers are our most universal. I
do not say we don't feel their individuality, we do--but in and
through their universality.
+II. The nature of Christian citizenship.+--1. _Prayer a witness to
our fellowship with the Church of all time._ Realising the Fatherhood
of God in the holy converse of prayer, we are nearer men. Our
selfishness, our narrow, isolating peculiarities begin to fade. In
our highest prayers we realise common wants.
2. _Prayer a witness to our fellowship with the Church of
eternity._--All emotions of eternity catch the tone of prayer.
Sometimes in the evening, when the sounds of the world are still, and
the sense of eternity breaks in upon us, is not that feeling a
prayer? We know that we are right, that in worship we have taken no
earthly posture, but an attitude from higher regions.
+Lessons.+--1. _Live as members of the kingdom._ 2. _Expect the signs
of citizenship--the crown of thorns, the cross._ 3. _Live in hope of
the final ingathering.--E. L. Hull._
_The Communion of Saints._
+I. Society becomes possible only through religion.+--Men might be
gregarious without it, but not social. Instinct which unites them in
detail prevents their wider combination. Intellect affords light to
show the elements of union, but no heat to give them crystalline
form. Self-will is prevailingly a repulsive power, and often
disintegrates the most solid of human masses. Some sense of a Divine
Presence, some consciousness of a higher law, some pressure of a
solemn necessity, will be found to have preceded the organization of
every human community, and to have gone out and perished before its
death.
+II. Worship exhibits its uniting principle under the simplest form,
in the sympathies it diffuses among the members of the same religious
assembly.+--There is, however, no necessary fellowship, as of saints,
in the mere assembling of ourselves together; but only in the true
and simple spirit of worship. Where a pure devotion really exists,
the fellowship it produces spreads far beyond the separate circle of
each Christian assembly. Surely it is a glorious thing to call up,
while we worship, the wide image of Christendom this day. Could we be
lifted up above this sphere and look down as it rolls beneath this
day's sun, and catch its murmurs as they rise, should we not behold
land after land turned into a Christian shrine? In how many tongues,
by what various voices, with what measureless intensity of love, is
the name of Christ breathed forth to-day!
+III. But our worship here brings us into yet nobler
connections.+--It unites us by a chain of closest sympathy with past
generations. In our helps to faith and devotion we avail ourselves of
the thought and piety of many extinct ages. Do not we, the living,
take up in adoration and prayer the thoughts of the dead and find
them Divinely true? What an impressive testimony is this to the
sameness of our nature through every age and the immortal
perseverance of its holier affections!
+IV. And soon we too shall drop the note of earthly aspiration and
join that upper anthem of Diviner love.+--The communion of saints
brings us to their conflict first, their blessings afterwards. Those
who will not with much patience strive with the evil can have no dear
fellowship with the good; we must weep their tears ere we can win
their peace.--_Martineau._
_Characteristics of Believers._
+I. Believers are here described as having been strangers and
foreigners.+--1. There are relative expressions, meaning that natural
men are strangers to the household of God and foreigners as respects
the city of Zion. 2. Consider the natural man with reference to the
city of Zion, and the truth of this representation will appear.
(1) He is a stranger and foreigner--(_a_) By a sentence of exile
(Gen. iii.). (_b_) By birth (Gen. v. 3; John iii. 6). (2) He is
proved to be a stranger and foreigner--(_a_) By features (Gal.
v. 19-21). (_b_) By manners (1 Pet. iv. 3). (_c_) By language. As
such he is under another ruler (Eph. ii. 2), he is at war (Gal.
iv. 29). 3. Though "strangers and foreigners" in relation to Zion,
yet men are naturalised in another country. 4. This does not imply
living beyond the pale of the visible Church. The Parable of the
Tares. An alien to the saints and a stranger to God may be in the
visible Church. 5. That there are "strangers and foreigners" in the
Church seems a calamity. (1) They are thereby deceived. (2) They
injure Christians. (3) They betray Christ.
+II. Believers are described as being fellow-citizens with the
saints.+--1. They are citizens. (1) Their sentence of exile is
cancelled (ver. 13). (2) They are naturalised by birth (John iii. 5).
(3) They are reconciled to God and believers. (4) They are under
Zion's government. 2. They are "fellow-citizens with the saints."
(1) They have intercourse--holy. (2) They are united by mutual love.
(3) They have reciprocal duties. (4) They have common rights and
privileges. (5) They have common honour and reputation. (6) They have
common prosperity and adversity. (7) They have common enemies.
(8) They have common defence and safety. (9) They have a common
history. 3. As a congregation we are professedly a section of this
peculiar and spiritual community. (1) Do we seek each other's
welfare? (2) Is our intercourse the communion of saints? (3) Are we
careful of each other's reputation? 4. Are we as a congregation
isolating ourselves from each other? Are we "fellow-citizens with the
saints"? 5. The city is above.
+III. Believers are here described as belonging to the household of
God.+--1. Believers as citizens are God's subjects. 2. As belonging
to God's household they are His children. 3. As in God's
household--(1) They are like Him. (2) They are near to Him. (3) They
see His face. (4) They enjoy His fellowship. (5) They are provided
for by Him. (6) They are under His protection. (7) They serve Him.
(8) They worship Him--His house is a temple. 4. These are very
tangible privileges and belong to this present life. 5. Many may
suppose that they are "fellow-citizens with the saints" whose
experience does not prove that they are "of the household of God."
6. For this "household" God has "a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens."--_Stewart._
Vers. 20, 21. _The Church a Divine Edifice._--1. Though God Himself
be the principal Author and Builder of this spiritual edifice, yet He
employs His called ministers and servants as instruments, among whom
He made special use of the prophets and apostles for laying the
foundation in so far as they first did reveal and preach Jesus
Christ, and commit to writings such truths concerning Him as are
necessary for salvation, while other ministers are employed in
preaching Christ to build up the elect on the foundation laid by
them. 2. There is a sweet harmony and full agreement between the
doctrines and writings of the prophets and apostles in holding forth
Christ for a foundation and rock of salvation, the latter having
taught and written nothing but what was prefigured in types and
foretold in prophecies by the former. 3. As growth in grace is a
privilege which appertains to all parts of this spiritual building
who are yet on earth, so this growth of theirs flows from their union
and communion with Christ; and the more their union is improved by
daily extracting renewed influence from Him, they cannot choose but
thrive the better in spiritual growth.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 22. _The Church the Habitation of God._--1. Jesus Christ differs
from the foundation of other buildings in this, that every particular
believer is not only laid upon Him and supported by Him as in
material buildings, but they are also indented in Him, and hid, as it
were, in the clefts of the rock by saving faith. 2. As all believers,
however far soever removed by distance, are yet more strictly tied
and joined together, so by taking band with Christ the foundation,
they are fastened one to another as the stones of a building. 3. So
inseparable is the union among the persons of the Trinity that the
presence and indwelling of One is sufficient to prove the indwelling
of all; for believers are a habitation to God the Father and Son,
because the Spirit dwells in and sanctifies them.--_Ibid._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +The prisoner of Jesus Christ+ may be regarded as "the
prisoner whom the Lord has bound" (so Winer and Meyer), or as "a
prisoner belonging to Christ," or again as "the prisoner for Christ's
sake." The indignity of an ambassador being "thrown into irons" is
lost in the feeling of being, even though bound, the representative
of such a Lord.
Ver. 2. +If ye have heard.+--We have the same form of expression at
ch. iv. 21--"assuming that is, that ye heard" (cf. Col. i. 23). +Of
the grace.+--The favour which God conferred on me in appointing me
your apostle. The Divine "Taskmaster" (to use Milton's expression)
confers honour upon us when He sets us to work. "He is not served by
men's hands as though He needed anything" (Acts xvii. 25).
Ver. 3. +How that by revelation.+--The familiar disavowal of any
other source than the will of God (cf. Gal. i. 12).
Ver. 4. +Ye may understand my knowledge.+--You may, as the public
reader proceeds to read my letter, discern my insights of the mystery.
Ver. 5. +Which in other ages.+--R.V. "other generations." Might
possibly refer to those dim ages of the past national history when
the Gentiles were thought of only as left to "unconvenanted mercies."
We must note the word for "other"--it means a "different kind." +Was
not made known . . . as it is now revealed.+--If any distinction is
to be observed, we may say the "revelation" is one of the ways of
"making known" (see ver. 3) the intuitional. +Unto His holy apostles
and prophets.+--"If all saints were holy _à fortiori_ the apostles"
(_Bishop Alexander_).
Ver. 6. +Fellow-heirs . . . the same body . . . partakers.+--"The
A.V. loses a point of similarity in the three Gentile privileges by
not expressing the force of the Greek compounds by the same English
word. Lit. 'heirs together,' 'incorporated together,' 'sharers
together,' not heirs after, but together with, the Jews; not attached
to the Hebrew body, but incorporated into it together with the
element that previously constituted it; not receivers of the promise
after others had been satisfied, but partakers of it together with
them" (_Bishop Alexander_). "Co-heirs, and concorporate, and
comparticipant. The strange English words may perhaps correspond to
the strange Greek words which St. Paul invented to express this newly
revealed mystery in the strongest form, as though no words could be
too strong to express his conception of the reunion in Christ of
those who apart from Him are separate and divided" (_Farrar_).
Ver. 7. +Whereof I was made a minister.+--A deacon, a runner of
errands. A lowly word, which reminds us of his own
self-estimate--"not worthy to be called an apostle"--and prepares us
for the strange expression in ver. 8.
Ver. 8. +Less than the least of all saints.+--"As though he said
'leaster than all Christians'" (_Bishop Alexander_). "The greatest
sinner, the greatest saint, are equidistant from the goal where the
mind rests in satisfaction with itself. With the growth in goodness
grows the sense of sin. One law fulfilled shows a thousand neglected"
(_Mozley, quoted by Farrar_). +The unsearchable riches.+--"The
untrackable wealth" (_Farrar_), inexplicable by creaturely
intelligences, unspeakable therefore by human tongues.
Ver. 9. +And to make all men see.+--He says to the Galatians (Gal.
iii. 1), "Christ was placarded before you"--so here he wants men to
see for themselves.
Ver. 10. +To the intent that now . . . might be known by the Church
the manifold wisdom of God.+--The Church as it expands from a "little
flock" to a "multitude which no man can number" is to declare the
multiform wisdom of God, ever fertile in new modes of operation.
"Manifold" represents a word used to describe a floral wreath as
consisting of "variegated" flowers.
Ver. 12. +In whom we have boldness.+--Originally meaning as regards
speech. In Christ the reconciled child of God has the right of
speaking to God without reserve. The same word is translated
"confidence" in 1 John v. 14, A.V.: "It is the free, joyful mood of
those reconciled to God" (_Meyer_). +And access.+--As in ch. ii. 13.
+With confidence.+--Hardly as equal to assurance--certainly never
self-assurance, but in quiet leaning on the arm of Christ.
Ver. 13. +I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations.+--Compare
2 Cor. iv. 1-16, where the same word is used. As an agonised
sufferer, heroically suppressing every sign of pain, begs those who
wait on him not to give way to grief; as Socrates, having quaffed the
poison, rallies his friends, who have broken out into uncontrollable
weeping, with the words, "What are you doing my friends? What! such
fine men as you are! Oh, where is virtue?"; so (with a possible
reminiscence of Acts xx. 36-38) St. Paul begs his readers not to lose
heart.
Ver. 15. +The whole family.+--R.V. "every family." The word for
"family" is only found in the New Testament in St. Luke ii. 4 and
Acts iii. 25; in one translated "lineage," in the other "kindreds" in
A.V.; consistently as "family" by R.V. Chrysostom, and others who
followed him, have surely a special claim to be heard. They translate
it "races." Bishop Alexander contends for the A.V. translation, _"the
whole."_ He says, "A special force and signification in the
expression make this translation necessary" (cf. ch. ii. 19).
Ver. 16. +The riches of His glory.+--"The whole glorious perfection
of God." +To be strengthened with might.+--There may be a verbal
connection with the "fainting" of ver. 13, but the thought goes far
out beyond that. +In the inner man.+--We are reminded again of the
text quoted above (2 Cor. iv. 16). A mode of expression derived from
the Platonic school, not necessarily presupposing any acquaintance
with that system of philosophy.
Ver. 17. +That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.+--The
condition of this, declared by Christ Himself, is that a man should
keep the word of Christ. +Being rooted and grounded.+--A double
metaphor--of a tree that has struck its roots deep into the crevices
of the rock, and of a building with a foundation of bed-rock. "Every
one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God" (1 John iv. 7). Love
conditions knowledge of things Divine (see ver. 18).
Ver. 18. +May be able.+--Perfectly able. +With all saints.+--The
highest and most precious knowledge Paul can desire only as a common
possession of all Christians. +What is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height.+--"The deeply affected mind with its
poetico-imaginative intuition looks upon the _metaphysical_ magnitude
as a _physical, mathematical_ one. Every special attempt at
interpretation is unpsychological, and only gives scope to that
caprice which profanes by dissecting the outpouring of enthusiasm"
(_Meyer_).
Ver. 19. +And to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge.+--"An _adequate_ knowledge of the love of Christ
transcends human capacity, but the _relative_ knowledge of the same
opens up in a higher degree the more the heart is filled with the
Spirit of Christ, and thereby is strengthened in loving. This
knowledge is not _discursive,_ but based in the consciousness of
experience" (_Meyer_).
Ver. 20. +Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly
abundantly.+--After his prayer proper is ended the full heart of the
apostle swells out into a solemn doxology. The frequent and bold
compound expressions of St. Paul (_Farrar_ says twenty of the New
Testament twenty-eight with ὑπέρ are St. Paul's) spring from the
endeavours adequately to express his energetic thought. +According to
the pour that worketh in us.+--"The measure of a man" or "of an
angel" is insufficient here. Things are not achieved by creaturely
mensuration where God works (cf. ch. i. 19-23).
Ver. 21. +To Him be the glory.+--"The honour due to His name." +By
Christ Jesus.+--He that "climbeth up some other way" with his
offering courts his own destruction. +Throughout all ages, world
without end.+--R.V. "Unto all generations, for ever and ever." A good
specimen of the "exceeding abundantly above all that we . . .
understand" as regarded under the aspect of time. It carries our
thoughts along the vista of the future, till time melts into eternity.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-6.
_An Enlarged Gospel_--
+I. Declaring the admission of the Gentiles on the same footing as
the Jews to its highest privileges+ (ver. 6).--It came as a surprise
to the world of the apostle's day that the Gospel he preached offered
its blessings on equal terms to Jew and Gentile. The Jew, accustomed
to be the sole repository of Divine revelation, was staggered at the
discovery that heaven extended its favours to the outcast, heathenish
Gentile; and the Gentile, proudly trusting to his own intellectual
activity in the search after truth, greeted with wonder the ampler
and loftier revelations of the new evangel. It seemed too good to be
true. A new era was dawning, and men were dazzled and bewildered with
the splendour of the vision. It is now authoritatively declared that,
on the simple conditions of penitence and faith, the Gentile world is
incorporated into the body of Christ. So far from being excluded from
the Divine favour, the believing Gentiles are reckoned as
"fellow-heirs, and of the same body and partakers of the promise in
Christ by the gospel"; and the marvel is increased by the discovery
that this astounding privilege is no new thought in the Divine mind,
but was an essential part of the purpose concerning the race that had
been developing in the slow march of the ages. The Hebrew Scriptures
with their records of extraordinary theophanies, the saintly
characters of Old Testament times, the Messianic revelations and the
wealth of spiritual blessing which the isolated Jew had selfishly
appropriated to himself, are the heaven-given privileges of universal
man.
+II. Was wrapped in mystery for ages.+--"Which in other ages was not
made known unto the sons of men" (ver. 5). The mystery all centres in
Christ. The revelation of Messiah as the hope and salvation of the
race was dimly and slowly unveiled in progressive stages. "It is the
glory of God to conceal a thing." Some of His grandest movements are
veiled in mystery till the right moment comes, when the obscurity
vanishes and the vastness and beauty of the completed work elicit our
admiration and praise. We are familiar with this process in the
natural world and in the progress of human history. The fruits of the
earth do not reach maturity at a bound. Slowly and in secret the bud
is rounded, then comes the delicately tinted blossom, and afterwards
the tempting, mellow fruit. The same may be said of the growth of
human character. It reaches the higher grades of mental and moral
excellence by slow and silent stages, and advances in the ratio of
the fidelity and energy with which the man carries out the great plan
of his life-career. So the revelation of the Gospel mystery has been
gradual and progressive. The purpose itself is incapable of
progress--it has been fixed from eternity; but it has been made known
to the world in portions suited to each succeeding period of its
history. The law shadowed forth that purpose with more fulness than
any previous dispensation, and the prophets went beyond the law,
occupying a middle place between it and the Gospel, while the Gospel
in its fuller revelation has gone as far beyond the prophets as they
went beyond the law. Thus we see that God "who appears deliberate in
all His operations" has unfolded His great purpose to save the race
by slow and successive stages. The mystery of yesterday is the sunlit
epiphany of to-day.
+III. Was specially revealed by the Spirit.+--"How that by revelation
He made known unto me the mystery" (ver. 3). "As it is now revealed
unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (ver. 5).
Notwithstanding the gradual disclosure of the mystery of the Gospel,
its full significance could not have been caught without supernatural
help. Mere flux of time adds nothing to our knowledge; nor can the
most active intelligence decipher the spiritual meaning of truth. The
Spirit of God, operating on the alert and awakened mind of the
apostle, revealed to him the glory and power of Christ--the hidden
mystery of ages--and opened to him the far-reaching provisions of the
enlarged Gospel of which Christ is the inexhaustible theme. There is
still much mystery in the Gospel that remains to be fathomed--the
problem of the atonement, the origin of sin, the future destiny and
eternal state of human souls, and the revelation of Christ and His
Church to present-day social and economic questions in their bearing
on human development and the future prosperity of the kingdom of God
on earth. We are in daily need of the light and teaching of the Holy
Spirit.
+IV. Was entrusted to man as a stewardship of Divine grace.+--"The
dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward" (ver.
2). The mystery of the Gospel was revealed to Paul that he might
dispense its benefits to others. Former generations had received
light from heaven; but not sufficiently appreciating it, or wishing
to keep it within too narrow a sphere, it grew dim and went out.
Where it fell on prepared hearts it was used for the illumination and
blessing of others. Paul was Divinely prepared for the revelation; he
received it in trust for others; he saw the boundless provisions of
the Gospel, and became a powerful advocate for its universal claims.
Every minister is a steward of the mysteries of the kingdom of God,
and it is his joy to minister to others whatever of insight into
truth and grace of experience the Divine Spirit may entrust to him.
The Gospel is an ever-enlarging Gospel to the soul lit up and
informed by the revealing Spirit.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel is an advance on all previous
revelations._ 2. _It is the grandest revelation of saving truth._
3. _It can be known and enjoyed only by the Spirit._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1-21. _Riches of Christ._--Many make Christianity something
local, temporary, and thus degrade it. Christ is inexhaustible for
mind and heart; we find all in Him. Let us never make of this rich
Christ a poor one. What Christ has instituted must be something
transcendent, and not so common that every intellect can discover
it.--_Heubner._
Vers. 1-6. _The Calling of the Gentiles._
+I. Paul calls himself a prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles.+--The
liberality of his sentiments towards them and the boldness with which
he asserted their title to equal privileges with Jews were the
principal reasons why the latter persecuted him with such violence,
and caused him to be sent a prisoner to Rome. The spring of this
bitter enmity in the Jews was their spiritual pride and worldly
affection. Liberality of sentiment essentially belongs to true
religion. Bigotry, hatred, and envy among Christians debase their
character and scandalise their profession. We should entertain
exalted thoughts of the Divine Goodness. Such thoughts enlarge the
mind and liberalise the feelings.
+II. The Gospel is called a dispensation of the grace of God.+--It is
a discovery of that method which the wisdom of God has chosen for
dispensing His grace and mercy toward fallen men. It is called the
Gospel of God as it originated in His pleasure; and the Gospel of
Christ as He is the immediate author of it, and His doctrines and
works, His life and death, His resurrection and ascension, and the
blessings procured by Him are the subjects on which it principally
treats. The grace which the Gospel offers is pardon and glory. Under
such a dispensation how inexcusable are the impenitent, and how
amazing will be the punishment of those who finally perish in their
guilt!
+III. This dispensation was committed to the apostle for the benefit
of mankind.+--It was a trust committed to him by the will of God, not
a power arrogated by his own presumption. He did not rely on a
secret, internal call as what alone would warrant him to commence as
a preacher. He carefully conformed to the order which Christ has
instituted in His Church. He instructed Timothy and Titus to do
likewise. Ministers are not to found their warrant to preach on any
immediate revelation. If they should pretend to this, it would be no
warrant for them to assume it, unless they can by miracles prove to
the world the reality of the pretended revelation.
+IV. The knowledge of the Gospel was communicated to Paul by
revelation.+--God did not, at the expense of inspiration, teach the
apostles those things which they knew or might know by other means.
But where actual knowledge and the means of obtaining it were
wanting, there inspiration supplied the defect. It is not necessary
for us to know the nature of this inspiration, or the manner in which
the apostles were assured of its divinity. If we believe there is an
infinite and all-perfect Spirit, who pervades universal nature, we
must believe He can reveal His will to men by such an immediate
influence as shall carry its own evidence and leave no possible doubt
of its reality. If we deny the possibility of a certain inspiration
from God, we deny that power to Him which we ourselves possess, for
we can speak to men in such a manner that they shall certainly know
we speak to them and perfectly understand our meaning.--_Lathrop._
Vers. 4, 6. _The Knowledge of Christ intended for All._--It is
significant that the inscription on the cross was written in Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin. 1. _Hebrew,_ the language of religion, of the
revelation concerning the one true God. 2. _Greek,_ the language of
literature, of arts and culture, the best medium in which to transmit
the literature of the New Testament, as Hebrew was for that of the
Old. It might be designated as the _human_ language. 3. _Latin,_ the
language of the conquerors and masters of the world--also of the
Roman Empire, as that kingdom of worldly aggrandisement and power,
falsehood and wrong, in opposition to the kingdom of God destined to
uproot and replace it. The Roman soldiers stationed throughout Europe
became useful factors in the spread of the Gospel. Note also the
synoptic gospels of 1. _Matthew_--Hebrew in thought and diction,
written to convince Jews. 2. _Mark_--Latin in thought, and written
for the Roman mind. 3. _Luke_--Greek in thought and style, written
for Gentiles.
Vers. 4, 5. _God known in Christ._--After the death of Pascal there
was found in the lining of his coat a parchment which he never parted
from, in order to keep in his memory a certain epoch in his life. It
contained these words: "Certainty--joy--the God of Jesus Christ, not
of the philosophers and savants. O that I may never be separated from
Him!" The explanation of this is, that on one memorable night, during
a holy watching, he had met, not merely the Machinist of the
universe, the God who is but the substance or the law of the world,
but the God who wills and creates the happiness of His children.
Vers. 5, 6. _The Comprehensiveness of the Gospel._--1. God's purpose
to call the Gentiles was not altogether unknown to the ancient
Church; but it was not so clearly revealed under the Old Testament as
under the New. 2. Though God might easily communicate the knowledge
of Himself unto all immediately and without the help of second means,
yet He hath chosen so to communicate His mind to some few only who
have, at His appointment, set down in sacred writ what they
immediately received, by which means the knowledge of God may, in an
ordinary way, be conveyed to others. 3. It is a great and glorious
privilege to be a part of that mystical body of which Christ is Head,
because of the strict union such have with Christ and with all
believers in Christ, and because of their interest in all the
privileges of that body and in the gifts and graces of every member
of it.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-9.
_An Exalted Ministerial Commission_--
+I. To distribute the unbounded wealth of the Gospel.+--"Unto
me . . . is this grace given, that I should preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ" (ver. 8). In calling the Gospel "the unsearchable
riches of Christ" the apostle signifies that Christ, the whole truth
about Him and centred in Him, is the theme of his preaching, and that
in Christ he finds a mine of inexhaustible wealth, a treasure of
truth which cannot be told. He speaks as one who has
searched--searched so long, so far, as to have produced on his mind
the impression of unsearchableness. His whole style of writing in
this chapter is that of a man overwhelmed with a sense of the
infinite grace of God revealed in Christ. The expression
"unsearchable riches," while conveying the impression of infinitude
as the words "breadth," "length," "height," "depth," suggests a
different idea--that of a mine of precious metal, rather than that of
a vast continent of great length and breadth with high mountains and
deep valleys spread over its surface. Paul speaks as a man digging in
a recently discovered gold-field, who finds particles of the precious
metal in such abundance that he cannot refrain from exclaiming ever
and anon, "What an inexhaustible supply of gold is here!" He speaks
further as one who feels it his special business to let all the world
know of this gold-field, and invite all to come and get a share of
its wealth (_A. B. Bruce_).
+II. To reveal to men the secret mind of God.+--1. _The Gospel was
for long hidden alone in God._ "Which from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God" (ver. 9). It was a mystery hid _in_ God, not
_from_ God. The idea of the universality of the Gospel, though veiled
for ages by the limitations of the Divine dealings with the Jewish
people, was never absent from the mind of God. Down through the
rolling years one eternal purpose runs, and now and then the most
gifted of the Hebrew seers caught a glimpse of its ever-widening
range. This great secret of the ages was revealed to Paul in such
clearness and fulness that he regarded it as the one purpose of his
life--his heaven-sent commission--to make it known to his fellow-men,
of whatever nationality.
2. _The purpose of the creation of all things by Christ was also a
part of the Divine mystery._--"Who created all things by Jesus
Christ" (ver. 9). The statement of this fact--thrown in by way of
parenthesis--links the whole created things with the development of
the Divine purpose, and asserts the absolute sovereignty of Jesus
over all worlds. In some way yet to be more fully explained as the
Divine purpose ripens all created beings are to be advantaged by the
sublime redemptive work unfolded in the Gospel. "For He hath created
all things, and by Him all things consist."
3. _The mystery was revealed to one for the benefit of all._--"And to
make all men see what is the fellowship [the stewardship] of the
mystery" (ver. 9). It was well for us and the race that the
revelation and commission were committed to one who by training and
gifts was so well qualified to explain and propagate the grand Divine
idea. The barriers of Jewish prejudice in Paul were swept away by the
vastness and universality of the message. He saw it included his
Hebrew brethren--and to them the Gospel was first preached--but he
saw also it included all in its comprehensive sweep. Paul was not
alone among the apostles in comprehending the breadth of the Gospel;
but he was foremost and most resolute and unbending in battling for
the right of the Gentiles to be admitted to all its blessed
privileges. He thought out the Gospel for himself, and he became the
fearless and astute champion of the sinning race. What is accepted as
a commonplace to-day was not won without argument, suffering, and
struggle.
+III. Bestowed as an act of Divine grace.+--1. _As an act of Divine
grace it was confirmed by the conscious possession of Divine power._
"Given unto me by the effectual working of His power" (ver. 7). Paul
himself experienced the transforming power of the Gospel. He was
deeply convinced of its truth, he believed and embraced its
provisions, he accepted Christ as the living core of the Gospel, and
he was thrilled with the Divine power that wrought in him a great
moral change. He spoke not only with the force and authority of
clearly apprehended truth, but with the unfaltering certitude of
personal experience. He was henceforth the willing agent of the
Divine power working within him.
2. _As an act of Divine grace his commission overwhelmed him with a
sense of personal unworthiness._--"Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given" (ver. 8). The immense
favour humbles him to the dust. That Saul, the Pharisee and the
persecutor, the most unworthy and unlikely of men, should be the
chosen vessel to bear Christ's riches to the Gentile world, how shall
he sufficiently give thanks for this! how express his wonder at the
unfathomable wisdom and goodness that the choice displays in the mind
of God! But we can see that this choice was precisely the fittest. A
Hebrew of the Hebrews, steeped in Jewish traditions and glorying in
his sacred ancestry, none knew better than the apostle Paul how rich
were the treasures stored in the house of Abraham that he had to make
over to the Gentiles. A true son of that house, he was the fittest to
lead in the aliens, to show them its precious things, and make them
at home within its walls (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--1. _The minster of the Gospel has a solemn
responsibility._ 2. _Should be faithful and earnest in his work._
3. _Should guard against temptations to pride._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 7. _A God-made Minister._--1. It is not sufficient warrant for
any to meddle with the ministerial office that he hath competent
gifts, except he have also ministerial power and authority conveyed
to him, either immediately by God, as it was in the calling of the
apostles, or mediately according to that order which God has
established in His Church, as in the calling of ordinary ministers.
2. As it is required to make a man a minister that he be endued with
competent abilities and gifts for that employment, so it is no less
requisite that God concur with him. God giveth not to all one and the
same gift, or in the same measure, but to some a greater, to others a
less, as He hath more or less to do with them. 3. So great and many
are the difficulties of ministers before they attain to freedom and
boldness in exercising their ministerial gift that no less is
required than the power of God, working effectually with a kind of
pith and energy. A minister will be always ready to acknowledge his
gifts as from God and His powerful working in him, and not to his own
dignity, diligence, or parts.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 8, 9. _The Apostle's View of his Ministry._
+I. Consider what a humble opinion the apostle had of himself.+--"Who
am less than the least of all saints." In his abilities and gifts he
was not a whit behind the chiefest apostles, and in sufferings he was
more frequent and in labours more abundant than they all. But in
respect to worthiness he esteemed them his superiors; for they had
not, like him, persecuted the Church, and they were in Christ and
became apostles before him. Good Christians in honour prefer one
another. True religion will produce self-abasing thoughts. The true
convert forgets not his former character. He reflects often on his
past guilty life, that he may be more humble in himself, more
thankful, more watchful, more diligent.
+II. The apostle expresses his admiring apprehensions of God's grace
in calling him to the ministry.+--To the same grace which had called
him he ascribes all his furniture for the ministry and all his
success. However contemptible some render themselves in the Gospel
ministry, the office itself is honourable.
+III. The apostle's elevated sentiments concerning the Gospel.+--He
calls it "the unsearchable riches of Christ." The blessings of the
Gospel, being purchased by the blood of Christ, are called His
riches. They are called riches on account of their excellency,
fulness, and variety. They are undiscoverable by human reason, and
made known only by revelation. They were but imperfectly made known
in the prophetic revelation. They are of inestimable value.
+IV. Consider the grand and enlarged conceptions the apostle
entertained of the design and importance of his ministry+ (ver.
9).--It was to open to mankind that mighty scheme which the wisdom of
God had formed, and which His goodness had for ages been carrying
into execution, for the redemption of our fallen race. His ministry
was designed for the benefit, not of men only, but of angels too
(ver. 10).--_Lathrop._
Ver. 8. _Christian Humility illustrated in the Character of Paul._
+I. The apostle remembered his past sins.+--Wherever there is a
quickened conscience, it will prompt the possessor to think of his
past sins, and this even when he has reason to believe that they have
been forgiven. The apostle continued to remember the natural and
deeply seated pride and self-righteousness which he had so long
cherished. Allusion is made in every one of his public apologies and
in a number of his epistles to the circumstance of his once having
been an enemy of the cross of Christ and a persecutor. It is for the
benefit of the believer to remember his past sinfulness. The
recollection of his infirmities may enable him to guard against their
recurrence. Our sins, even when past and forgiven, are apt to leave a
prejudicial influence behind. Our sins are like wounds, which even
when cured and closed are apt to leave a scar behind. It is most meet
and becoming, and in every respect for his own profit and the
advantage of the Church and world, that the sinner, and more
particularly the man whose former life has been known, should walk
humbly before God and his fellow-men all the days of his life. Nor
let it be forgotten that the remembrance of past sin is one of the
motives impelling the Christian to be "zealously affected in every
good thing." The remembrance of the injury he had done to the Church
stimulated him to make greater endeavours to benefit it. The
persecution which he had inflicted on others made him more steadfast
in bearing the sufferings to which he was now exposed. According to
the account handed down from the early Church, the apostle had to
suffer a violent death in the reign of Nero, when Christians were
covered with pitch and burned as torches, or clothed with the skins
of wild beasts and dogs let loose upon them. We can conceive that as
he saw the terrible preparations for putting him to death, his memory
would go back thirty years, and he would remember how he himself had
stood by and consented to the death of the holy martyr Stephen, and
he would feel himself thereby the more strengthened to endure what
the Lord was now pleased to lay upon him.
+II. The apostle mourned over the sin yet cleaving to him.+--He had
not only a recollection of past sin, he had a sense of present sin.
This sense of indwelling sin is one of the elements that conduce to
the onward progress of the believer. Why is it that so many
professing Christians, ay, and too many true Christians, are not
advancing in the spiritual life; are the same this week as they were
the previous week; the same this year as they were the last year; and
to all appearance, and unless God arouse them, will be the same the
next week or next year as they are this? It is because they are
contented with themselves and with their condition, they have reached
a state of self-complacency, they have "settled upon their lees," and
they do not wish to be disturbed by so much as an allusion to their
sin. Very different was the temper of the apostle. Conscious of the
sin that still adhered to him, he longed to have it completely
exterminated, and sought the heavenly aid which might enable him to
reach that after which he was always striving--"unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
+III. The apostle acknowledged God to be the Author of all the gifts
and graces possessed by him.+--Paul on more than one occasion found
it necessary to speak of his gifts. And when he follows this train of
reflection, he arrests himself to explain that his faults are his
own, and to ascribe the glory of his gifts to God. There may be
circumstances requiring us to speak of our attainments in the
spiritual life; but there can be no excuse for our thinking of them
or alluding to them in a spirit of complacency. Of all pride,
spiritual pride is the most hateful, and the most lamentably
inconsistent. How often does it happen that, when persons are
suddenly elevated to places of honour, they see nothing but their own
merits, their own talent, their own skill or good management?
Elevation of rank thus leads in too many cases to an increase of
pride and vanity. This is painfully illustrated in the history of
Saul, the son of Kish. Setting out in search of his father's asses,
he received before he returned a kingdom for the discharge of the
offices of which he had many qualifications. But his rise seems to
have fostered the morbid vanity of his mind; and when this was not
fed by constant incense, when the Israelites cried: "Saul hath slain
his thousands, and David his tens of thousands," it led to envy and
revenge, which goaded him on to deeds of utter infatuation. How
different with Saul of Tarsus! At every step of his elevation in the
Church he saw the finger of God, and was the more impressed with his
own unworthiness.
+IV. The apostle took a high standard of excellence: he took as his
model the law of God and the character of Jesus.+--All actual
excellence, whether earthly or spiritual, has been attained by the
mind keeping before it and dwelling upon the ideas of the great, the
good, the beautiful, the grand, the perfect. The tradesman and
mechanic reach the highest eminence by never allowing themselves to
rest till they can produce the most finished specimens of their
particular craft. The painter and sculptor travel to distant lands
that they may see and as it were fill their eye and mind with the
sight of the most beautiful models of their arts. Poets have had
their yet undiscovered genius awakened into life as they contemplated
some of the grandest of nature's scenes; or as they listened to the
strains of other poets the spirit of inspiration has descended upon
them, as the spirit of inspiration descended on Elisha while the
minstrel played before him. The soldier's spirit has been aroused
even more by the stirring sound of the war-trumpet than by the record
of the courage and heroism of other warriors. The fervour of one
patriot has been created as he listened to the burning words of
another patriot; and many a martyr's zeal has been kindled at the
funeral pile of other martyrs. In this way fathers have handed down
their virtues to their children, and those who could leave their
offspring no other have in their example left them the very richest
legacy; and the deeds of those who perform great achievements have
lived far longer than those who do them, and have gone down from one
generation to another. Now the believer has such a model set before
him in the character of Jesus, which as it were embodies the law and
exhibits in it the most attractive and encouraging light. We may copy
others in some things; we should copy Christ in all.--_Dr. J. McCosh._
Ver. 8. _Paul's Humility._
+I. In what it consisted.+--1. In the unreserved submission of his
reason to the authority of revelation. He was a great thinker, and he
was a great scholar. 2. In the unwavering reliance of his heart on
Christ for the salvation of his soul. Self-righteous by constitution
and education. 3. In ascribing to God alone the glory of all that he
was and of all that he did. He could not but be conscious how far he
stood above the ordinary in point of Christian excellence and
supernatural gifts and ministerial usefulness. He never took any part
of the praise to himself: "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was
in me." 4. In cherishing a sense of his unworthiness and guilt:
"Sinners, of whom I am chief." 5. In forming a lowly estimate of his
own comparative standing: "Less than the least of all saints."
+II. How it was cultivated.+--1. By frequent meditation on the
holiness of God. 2. By looking away from self to Christ. 3. By
gratitude to God and to Christ for an interest in the blessings of
redemption. 4. By a due appreciation of the importance of humility.
It is ornamental, but it is also useful. It lies at the very root of
all the graces of the Christian character.--_G. Brooks._
_Humility a Growth._--The progress which St. Paul made in humility
has often been given by comparing three expressions in his epistles
with the supposed dates when they were written: "Not meet to be
called an apostle" (1 Cor. xv. 9: A.D. 59); "Less than the least of
all saints" (Eph. iii. 8: A.D. 64); "Sinners, of whom I am chief"
(1 Tim. i. 15: A.D. 65).
_The Unsearchable Riches of Christ._--The riches of Christ's Divinity
are unsearchable, the riches of His condescension are unsearchable,
the riches of His tenderness are unsearchable, the riches of His
redeeming love are unsearchable, the riches of his intersession are
unsearchable, the riches of his faithfulness are unsearchable, and
the riches of his supporting grace are unsearchable. These riches
will never be expressed, even to all eternity. No! not by the noble
army of martyrs, nor the glorious company of the apostles, nor the
goodly fellowship of the prophets, nor the general assembly and
Church of the first-born, nor the innumerable company of angels, nor
the spirits of just men made perfect, nor by all the ransomed throng
of heaven. It will form their most ecstatic employment in heaven.
Join, all ye happy throng--join, holy Abel and Enoch, upright Job,
perfect Noah, souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, grand souls of
Moses, Samuel, and Elijah, pardoned David and Manasseh, soul of
Isaiah the prophet. Join, all ye whose souls are under the altar cry,
"How long, O Lord, wilt Thou not avenge our blood upon the earth?"
Join, holy Stephen and Polycarp, holy Latimer, Ridley, Hooper,
Rowland Taylor, and Anne Askew. Join, brave Wicklif, gallant Luther,
stern John Knox, sweet John Bunyan, and praying George Fox. Join,
pious Doddridge and tuneful Watts, noble George Whitefield, holy
Fletcher, exhaustless John Wesley, dauntless Rowland Hill, and grand
though lowly Robert Hall. Ye sweetest trebles of the eternal choir,
ye million million babes who died without actual sin, join all your
notes of praise! Pull out every stop of the grand organ of heaven,
from the deep swell diapason to the lofty flute and cornet! Gabriel,
strike the loftiest note of thy harp of gold. And let all the host of
heaven, angels and men, begin the grand anthem, "Worthy is the Lamb."
And let the eternal +Amen+ peal and roll and reverberate through all
the arches of heaven! But never through all eternity shall the
gathered host be able fully to express _the unsearchable riches of
Christ.--Thomas Cooper._
Ver. 9. _The Fellowship of the Mystery._
I. It is +a mystery+ it should be so long hid; a mystery, because
when it was plainly revealed it was not understood by those to whom
it was manifested; a mystery, for God was pleased to raise up a
special apostle to explain and reveal, to make an epiphany of this
great truth--the will of God that all men should be saved, that His
Gospel should be universally known, should be open to all for
acceptance.
II. +Our share and fellowship in the work of the Gospel is to make
all men see their interest in it,+ to make them understand its true
catholicity, to make all men see that it is from the first the will
of God that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs. By the Church is to
be made known the manifold wisdom of God. Every member of the Church
is to have his or her part in doing this work. We are all to take
part in it by our lives, our conversation, our example, our good
works and words. By availing ourselves of opportunities we are to
help to make known this manifold wisdom of God.
III. Think for a moment +what is the state of those men who do not
know what is their fellowship with this mystery.+--I am not speaking
of the entirely ignorant. Even religious people do not half
understand or appreciate the deep meaning of such words as these.
Christianity means expansion, comprehension; it embraces all, and all
men must see in it what is the fellowship of the mystery that we have
received and that has been made known to us. We must be a light that
cannot be hid.--_Bishop Claughton._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-13.
_The Manifold Wisdom of God_--
+I. Seen in the development of a long-cherished plan.+--1. _This plan
was carried out by Christ._ "According to the eternal purpose which
He purposed in Christ" (ver. 11). The plan is here called the
"eternal purpose," and that purpose was the redemption of man, and
the personage selected for its accomplishment was the Lord Jesus
Christ. This was the unchanging theme of "the Gospel of which the
apostle was made a minister," this the Divinely freighted argosy of
"the unsearchable riches of Christ," the veiled and sacred repository
of all heavenly mysteries. The plan is significantly called the
"manifold wisdom of God"--as manifold as mysterious, for there is
variety in the mystery and mystery in every part of the variety. The
wisdom is seen, not so much in one act as in the masterly combination
of a multitude of acts, all marshalled and disposed with consummate
skill to the attainment of one grand end; just as the light that
fills and irradiates the valley, penetrating every nook and crevice
and clothing every object with beauty, is produced, not by a solitary
ray, but by manifold rays poured from the central sun, and all
uniting in one harmonious illumination. The crowning wisdom of the
plan was in God appointing His only Son as the agent in carrying it
out. He, the sinless One, must suffer for sin; the Innocent die for
the guilty, and by dying conquer sin. Only thus could the righteous
claims of the violated law be fully satisfied, the offence of the
sinning one condoned, the authority of the Divine government
maintained, and the character of the Holy One vindicated to the whole
universe.
2. _That the plan has been accomplished is evident from the attitude
assumed towards man and towards God by believers_ (ver. 13).--As
regards the attitude of the believer towards man, he has now
"boldness" in declaring the whole truth, and towards God he has
"access with confidence by the faith of Him"--he has confidential
fellowship with God. Both these experiences are the result of the
redeeming plan, and would have been impossible without it.
+II. Seen in the indifference to suffering its revelations
inspire.+--"I desire that ye faint not [do not lose heart] at my
tribulations for you, which is your glory" (ver. 13). Paul had no
anxiety for himself. He almost playfully alludes to his imprisoned
state: "The prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles" (ver. 1). His
soul was too full of heavenly visions and of the practical bearing of
the Gospel on the destiny of the race to be harassed about his
personal suffering. When he thought about it at all it was to rejoice
in the honour of being allowed to suffer for such a cause, and in the
opportunities afforded of spreading the Gospel in quarters that might
otherwise have been closed to him. But the Church feared for their
champion's life, and was troubled about his prolonged sufferings and
imprisonment. The apostle assures his friends there was more reason
for joyous boasting than for pity and dread. The sufferings and
misfortunes of the Church have been overruled in promoting her
enlargement. The flames of the martyrs have illumined the truth, and
the captivity of its professors has prepared the throne of its
universal empire. Personal religion has grown stronger by opposition
and suffering, and the Church has multiplied by the very means which
were intended to destroy her.
+III. Seen in making the Church of the redeemed the means of
instructing the heavenly intelligences+ (ver. 10).--These lofty
beings, with their vast knowledge and gigantic powers, learn
something from the Divine treatment of sinful, rebellious men. They
gain new light, fresher and more expansive views, regarding the
character and perfections of God; and perhaps the chief point on
which their angelic knowledge will be increased is in the glorious
revelations the Gospel unfolds of the infinite love of God. The
Church on earth, with all its contradictions and imperfections,
presents a magnificent picture of self-denial, devotion, and praise;
but this is only a faint representation of the splendour of the
Church above in its more completed state. The Church above is a
society organised; the church below is a society organising. The
heavenly intelligences are watching both processes, and their
wondering adoration is being continually excited as they observe the
building up and ever-advancing completion of the redeemed community.
If there is one thing more than another that amazes "the
principalities and powers"--amazes them more than the manifold wisdom
of God unfolded to them by the Church--it must surely be the apathy
and indifference of men on earth to their redemptive blessings!--that
so much has been done to make man wise, and he remains willingly and
contentedly ignorant; that God has been so prodigal of His wealth,
and man is so slow to appreciate and seize the proffered enrichment;
that God offers the abundant bread of eternal life, and man prefers
to starve in lean and comfortless poverty, and grumbles against
heaven that he is so poor; that salvation is pressed on his
acceptance, and man persists in perishing; that "heaven lies about
him in his infancy," and the celestial gate opens before him in every
subsequent stage of life, and yet man resists the alluring glory, and
stumbles at last into the bottomless chasm of eternal darkness.
+Lessons.+--1. _The wisdom of God is continually presenting new
illustrations of its manifoldness._ 2. _The most signal display of
Divine wisdom is seen in the redemption of the race._ 3. _The future
history of the Church will reveal new features in the manifold wisdom
of God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 10. _The Manifold Wisdom of God_--
+I. Seen in the gradual unfolding of His great purpose to save the
human race.+--1. This process suited the revelation to men's nature
and condition as finite and sinful beings. Had the revelation been
more rapid and brilliant it could not have been so readily
appreciated, nor could men have dared to hope they had any share in
it. It was adapted to the infantile state of the Church and the world
when the mind is most powerfully affected by sensible objects.
2. This method was a training for appreciating the fuller discoveries
of the Divine will. It has been an education and discipline, has
provoked inquiry, and encouraged full submission to the will of God
and faith in His wisdom and power.
+II. Seen in the means He employed to carry out His saving
purpose.+--1. By the gift of His Son. 2. As a subsidiary means, by
the institution of preaching, and by selecting men, and not angels,
as instruments in spreading the knowledge of Gospel redemption.
+III. Seen in using the Church of the redeemed as an object-lesson in
teaching the heavenly intelligences.+--The Church teaches the angels:
1. By its composition. 2. By its marvellous history. 3. By its
glorious completion.
+Learn.+--1. _The dignity and glory of the Church._ 2. _Let it be
your all-important concern to become a member of this spiritual
community._
Vers. 11-13. _Access to God._
+I. We have access.+--The word signifies an approach to some object.
Here it intends a near approach to God in worship, or such a state of
peace with God as allows a freedom of intercourse. It is a familiar
expression suited to convey the idea of great condescension on God's
part and high privilege on ours.
+II. We have boldness of access.+ The word signifies a freedom of
speaking in opposition to that restraint which we feel when in the
presence of one we dread and in whose goodness we can place no
confidence. It expresses the fulness of that liberty which under the
Gospel all Christians enjoy of drawing near to God, and that freedom
of spirit with which we should come to God. The disposition of our
hearts should correspond with the liberal and gracious dispensation
under which we are placed. We should come to God with a spirit of
love, in opposition to servile fear. This boldness imports frequency
in our approaches to God. Slaves, under fear, stand at a distance.
Children, invited by the goodness of a father, come often into his
presence.
+III. We have access with confidence.+ This confidence is elsewhere
called a better hope and the full assurance of faith. It is opposed
to doubting and distrust. Confidence in prayer is a full reliance on
God; but this may be accompanied with a humble diffidence of
ourselves.
+IV. All our hope of success in prayer must rest upon the mediation
of Christ+ (ver. 12).--In His name we are to come before God; and in
the virtue of His atonement and intercession we may hope for
acceptance.
+V. Access to God a refuge in trouble+ (ver. 13).--Fearing lest his
sufferings in the cause of the Gospel should dishearten his converts,
the apostle sets before them a view of their security under the
protection of Divine grace. Dangers were before them; but what had
they to fear who had boldness of access to God? It was one of the
glories of their religion that he who preached it was not ashamed to
suffer for it.
+Lessons.+--1. _In the apostle Paul we have a noble example of
benevolence._ 2. _New converts should be assisted and encouraged._
3. _Our best support under trouble is boldness of access to God._
4. _Let the grace and condescension of God encourage us to come often
into His presence.--Lathrop._
Ver. 12. _Access to God in Prayer._--Prayer is to be exercised with
the greatest caution and exactness, being the most solemn intercourse
earth can have with heaven. The distance between God and us, so great
by nature and yet greater by sin, makes it fearful to address Him;
but Christ has smoothed a way, and we are commanded to come with a
good heart, not only in respect of innocence, but also of confidence.
+I. There is a certain boldness and confidence very well becoming our
humblest addresses to God.+--It is the very language of prayer to
treat God as our Father. The nature of this confidence is not so
easily set forth by positive description as by the opposition it
bears to its extremes. It is opposed: 1. To desperation and horror of
conscience. 2. To doubtings and groundless scrupulosities. 3. To
rashness and precipitation. 4. To impudence.
+II. The foundation of this confidence is laid in the mediation of
Christ.+
+III. The reason why Christ's mediation ought to minister such
confidence to us.+--His incomparable fitness for the performance of
that work. Considering Him: 1. In respect to God, with whom He has to
mediate. God sustains a double capacity of Father and Judge. Christ
appears not only as an Advocate, but as a Surety, paying down the
utmost justice can exact. 2. In reference to men for whom He
mediates. He is a friend, brother, surety, lord or master. 3. In
respect to Himself. (1) He is perfectly acquainted with all our wants
and necessities. (2) He is heartily sensible of and concerned about
them. (3) He is best able to express and set them before the Father.
+IV. Whether there is any other ground that may rationally embolden
us in our addresses to Him.+--If there is, it must be either:
1. Something within us as the merit of our good actions. But this
cannot be--(1) because none can merit but by doing something
absolutely by his own power for the advantage of him from whom he
merits; (2) because to merit is to do something over and above what
is due. 2. Something without us. This must be the help and
intercession either of angels or saints. Angels cannot mediate for
us--(1) because it is impossible for them to know and perfectly
discern the thoughts; (2) because no angel can know at once all the
prayers that are even uttered in words throughout the world. These
arguments are still more forcible against the intercession of saints.
The invocation of saints supposed to arise: 1. From the solemn
meetings used by the primitive Christians at the saints' sepulchres,
and there celebrating the memory of their martyrdom. 2. From those
seeds of the Platonic philosophy that so much leavened many of the
primitive Christians. 3. From the people being bred in idolatry. But
the primitive fathers held no such thing; and the Council of Trent,
that pretended to determine the case, put the world off with an
ambiguity. Christ is the only true way.--_R. South._
Ver. 13. _Courage under Suffering._--1. Affliction and tribulation
for the Gospel is a trial not only to those under it, but to others
who look on, and are in no less hazard to be thereby brangled (made
to disagree) in their confidence, blunted in their zeal, and rendered
remiss in their forwardness, than the person himself who suffers.
2. A faithful minister suffering for truth will not be so solicitous
for his own outward estate as for the Church and people of God, lest
they be turned aside, or made to faint by reason of his sufferings.
This may guard from discouragement when we consider the excellent
worth of truth, and how those who suffer for it have not cast
themselves without necessity upon their sufferings, but were
necessitated to meet them in the way of their calling. 3. So
honourable is it to suffer for Christ and truth that not only the
persons who suffer are honoured, but also all such as have interest
in them, who should not faint, but rather glory in them and take
encouragement from them.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14-21.
_A Sublime and Comprehensive Prayer_--
+I. For spiritual strengthening+ (ver. 16).--The first necessity of
the new convert is strength. The change from the former life is so
new and strange. The spiritual faculties are but recently called into
exercise; and though they are thrilled with the vigour of youth, they
possess the inherent weakness and are exposed to the temptations of
youth. Their newly acquired strength is at once their glory and their
danger--their glory in giving them the capacity and impulse for the
highest kind of work; their danger because they are tempted to rely
upon their own conscious power rather than upon the grace of God
within them, which is the source of their best strength. If that
strength is once undermined or eaten away, it can never be replaced.
The strength of youth, physical or spiritual, belongs only in the
period of youth; if lost in youth, it can never be regained in
maturer life. Whatever strength we may gain in after-years will never
be what it might have been if ye had never lost the strength of our
first love. The apostle here prays that his converts may be
invigorated with a manful courage, the moral strength to meet dangers
and to battle with difficulties without quailing.
Transcriber's Note: The Transcriber is unsure what the
author means by "faith . . . must be constantly exercised
to keep Him there" in this next paragraph. Please remember
Christ's words in Hebrews xiii. 5: "I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee."
1. _This spiritual strengthening is achieved by the indwelling Christ
welcomed and retained in the heart by faith._--"That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith" (ver. 17). The source of this strength is
not in us; we cannot evoke it by any voluntary effort of our own. It
is a Divine power working in us (ver. 20). It is the Christ within us
making Himself felt in our otherwise enfeebled powers. We are
invested with the strength of Christ by our faith in Christ; and
increase of strength comes with increase of faith. The faith that
receives Christ into the heart must be constantly exercised to keep
Him there, and to derive inspiration and help from Him in attaining
spiritual growth and in doing useful work.
2. _This spiritual strengthening is cherished by an accession of
Christian love._--"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love" (ver.
17). The double metaphor gives emphasis to the idea--"rooted," a
tree; "grounded" a building. When Christ is planted and settled in
our hearts, love is shed abroad there, and becomes the genial soil in
which our graces grow, and the basis of all our thought and action.
Love is strength, the most reliable, sustaining, and victorious kind
of strength.
+II. For a clearer comprehension of the immeasurable love of Christ+
(vers. 18, 19).--Here the prayer rises in sublimity and
comprehensiveness. The apostle prays that we may know the
unknowable--"know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." There
is nothing so fascinating as the love of Christ, ever leading us on
by fresh revelations, and ever leaving the impression that there are
unfathomable depths and inaccessible heights yet to be discovered.
"Oh that Christ would," exclaimed the saintly Rutherford, "arrest and
comprise my love and my heart for all. I am a bankrupt who have no
more free goods in the world for Christ, save that it is both the
whole heritage I have, and all my moveables besides. Lord, give the
thirsty man a drink. Oh to be over ears in the well! Oh to be
swimming over head and ears in Christ's love! I would not have
Christ's love entering in me, but I would enter into it, and be
swallowed up of that love. But I see not myself here, for I fear I
make more of His love than of Himself, whereas He Himself is far
beyond and much better than His love. Oh, if I had my sinful arms
filled with that lovely one Christ! Blessed be my rich Lord Jesus,
who sendeth not away beggars from His house with an empty dish. He
filleth the vessel of such as will come and seek. We might beg
ourselves rich, if we were wise, if we would but hold out our
withered hands to Christ, and learn to seek, ask, and knock." The
highest conceptions of the love of Christ are realised by the soul
that prays.
+III. For the attainment of the most complete endowment of the Divine
fulness.+--"That you might be filled with all the fulness of God"
(ver. 19). The prayer asks that man may gain the sum-total of God's
gifts, be filled in every capacity of his nature with the whole
plenitude (the πλήρωμα) of God. To reach this glorious result, we
need, indeed, special spiritual strengthening. New wine bursts old
bottles; and a large and sudden inflow of Divine grace would be
disastrous to the soul unprepared to receive it. What is wanted is
strength--strength of the highest and purest kind. Muscular
strength--a magnificent healthy physique--is a great gift; but it is
one of our lowest endowments, and its abuse sinks us to a worse than
brutish sensuality. Intellectual strength is a still higher gift, and
if rightly used will lift us into a loftier world of wonders, of
beauty, of purity and joy; but if abused will drag us down to the
base level of the vapouring, scoffing sceptic, whose attempts to
glorify error are instigated by a savage but utterly powerless hatred
of truth. Spiritual strength is the highest gift of all. It is the
motive-power that gives movement and direction to thought and action.
Without it man is the plaything and victim of unrestrained passions.
A short time ago I inspected one of the finest ocean-going
steamships, a marvellous combination of strength and elegance.
Everything seemed as perfect as engineering science could make it.
But there was something wanting; it was a fatal defect. The giant
shaft and powerful screw, the triple expansion cylinders, the cranks,
pistons, and wheels were all there, but the noble vessel was useless,
heaving helplessly on the rolling tide. The fires were out, and the
active driving-power was lacking. What steam is to that great
floating mass of complicated mechanism, giving it life, movement,
direction, purpose--that spiritual strength is to our mental and
physical organism. To receive the fulness of indwelling Deity the
soul must be strengthened with spiritual strength. We cannot pray too
earnestly for this.
+IV. Uttered with a reverential recognition of the great Giver of all
blessing.+--1. _Beginning with the submissive awe of a humble
suppliant._ "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father," etc.
(vers. 14, 15). The apostle is overwhelmed with the contemplation of
the rich blessings stored up for man in Christ Jesus, and prostrates
himself with lowly homage in the conscious presence of the great
Donor of all spiritual good. Nothing humbles us more than a sight of
the blessings possible of attainment by the greatest sinner.
2. _Ending with an outburst of triumphant praise_ (vers. 20,
21).--Praise soars higher than prayer. Man's desires will never
overtake God's bounty. When the apostle desires that God's praise may
resound in the Church "throughout all ages," he no longer supposes
that the mystery of God may be finished speedily as men count years.
The history of mankind stretches before his gaze into its dim
futurity. The successive generations gather themselves into that
consummate age of the kingdom of God, the grand cycle in which all
the ages are contained. With its completion time itself is no more.
Its swelling current, laden with the tribute of all the worlds and
all their histories, reaches the eternal ocean. The end comes; God is
all in all. At this furthest horizon of thought, Christ and His own
are seen together rendering to God unceasing glory (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--1. _Prayer is the cry of conscious need._ 2. _Increases
in importunity as it is strengthened by faith._ 3. _Finds its
sublimest themes in the culture of the spiritual life._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 14, 15. _The Christian Church a Family._
+I. The definition here given of the Christian Church.+--1. _A
society founded upon natural affinities--"a family."_ A family is
built on affinities which are natural, not artificial; it is not a
combination, but a society. In ancient times an association of
interest combined men in one guild or corporation for protecting the
common persons in that corporation from oppression. In modern times
identity of political creed or opinion has bound men together in one
league in order to establish those political principles which
appeared to them of importance. Similarity of taste has united men
together in what is called an association, or a society, in order by
this means to attain more completely the ends of that science to
which they had devoted themselves. But, as these have been raised
artificially, so their end is, inevitably, dissolution. Society
passes on, and guilds and corporations die; principles are
established, and leagues become dissolved; tastes change, and then
the association or society breaks up and comes to nothing. It is upon
another principle altogether that that which we call a family, or
true society, is formed. It is not built upon similarity of taste nor
identity of opinion, but upon affinities of nature. You do not choose
who shall be your brother; you cannot exclude your mother or your
sister; it does not depend upon choice or arbitrary opinion at all,
but is founded upon the eternal nature of things. And precisely in
the same way is the Christian Church formed--upon natural affinity,
and not upon artificial combination.
2. _The Church of Christ is a whole made up of manifold
diversities._--We are told here it is "the whole family," taking into
it the great and good of ages past now in heaven, and also the
struggling, the humble, and the weak now existing upon earth. Here,
again, the analogy holds good between the Church and the family.
Never more than in the family is the true entirety of our nature
seen. Observe how all the diversities of human condition and
character manifest themselves in the family. First of all, there are
the two opposite pales of masculine and feminine, which contain
within them the entire of our humanity; which together, not
separately, make up the whole of man. Then there are the diversities
in the degrees and kinds of affection. For, when we speak of family
affection, we must remember that it is made up of many diversities.
There is nothing more different than the love which the sister bears
towards the brother, compared with that which the brother bears
towards the sister. The affection which a man bears towards his
father is quite distinct from that which he feels towards his mother;
it is something quite different towards his sister; totally diverse,
again, towards his brother. And then there are diversities of
character. First, the mature wisdom and stern integrity of the
father, then the exuberant tenderness of the mother. And then one is
brave and enthusiastic, another thoughtful, and another tender. One
is remarkable for being full of rich humour; another is sad,
mournful, even melancholy. Again, besides these, there are
diversities of condition in life. First, there is the heir,
sustaining the name and honour of the family; then perchance the
soldier, in whose career all the anxiety and solicitude of the family
is centred; then the man of business, to whom they look up, trusting
his advice, expecting his counsel; lastly, perhaps, there is the
invalid, from the very cradle trembling between life and death,
drawing out all the sympathies and anxieties of each member of the
family, and so uniting them all more closely, from their having one
common point of sympathy and solicitude. Now, you will observe that
these are not accidental, but absolutely essential to the idea of a
family; for so far as any one of them is lost, so far the family is
incomplete. And precisely in the same way all these diversities of
character and condition are necessary to constitute and complete the
idea of a Christian Church.
3. _The Church of Christ is a society which is for ever shifting its
locality and altering its forms._--It is the whole Church, "the whole
family in heaven and earth." So, then, those who were on earth and
now in heaven are members of the same family still. Those who had
their home here, now have it there. The Church of Christ is a society
ever altering and changing its external forms. "The whole
family"--the Church of the patriarchs and of ages before them; and
yet the same family. Remember, I pray you, the diversities of form
through which, in so many ages and generations, this Church has
passed. Consider the difference there was between the patriarchal
Church of the time of Abraham and Isaac and its condition under
David; or the difference between the Church so existing and its state
in the days of the apostles and the marvellous difference between
that and the same Church four of five centuries later; or, once
again, the difference between that, externally one, and the Church as
it exists in the present day, broken into so many fragments. Yet,
diversified as these states may be, they are not more so than the
various stages of a family.
+II. Consider the name by which this Church is named.+--"Our Lord
Jesus Christ," the apostle says, of whom "the whole family in heaven
and earth is named."
1. _First, the recognition of a common Father._--That is the sacred
truth proclaimed by the Epiphany. God revealed in Christ--not the
Father of the Jew only, but also of the Gentile. The Father of a
whole family. Not the partial Father, loving one alone--the
elder--but the younger son besides, the outcast prodigal who had
spent his living with harlots and sinners, but the child still, and
the child of a Father's love.
2. _The recognition of a common humanity._--He from whom the Church
is named took upon Him not the nature merely of the noble, of kings,
or of the intellectual philosopher, but of the beggar, the slave, the
outcast, the infidel, the sinner, and the nature of every one
struggling in various ways.
3. _The Church of Christ proceeds out of and rests upon the belief
in a common Sacrifice.--F. W. Robertson._
_The Family in Heaven and Earth._--With the boldness of a true and
inspired nature the apostle Paul speaks with incidental ease of one
family distributed between heaven and earth. There is, it seems,
domesticity that cannot be absorbed by the interval between two
spheres of being--a love that cannot be lost amidst the immensity,
but finds the surest track across the void--a home affinity that
penetrates the skies, and enters as the morning or evening guest. And
it is Jesus of Nazareth who has effected this; has entered under the
same household name, and formed into the same class, the dwellers
above and those beneath. Spirits there, and spirits here, are
gathered by Him into one group; and where before was saddest exile,
He has made a blest fraternity.
I. +Members of the same home cannot dwell together, without either
the memory or the expectation or some mutual and mortal
farewell.+--All we who dwell in this visible scene can think of
kindred souls that have vanished from us into the invisible. These,
in the first place, does Jesus keep dwelling near our hearts; making
still one family of those in heaven and those on earth. This He would
do, if by no other means, by the prospect He has opened, of actual
restoration. And since the grave can bury no affection now, but only
the mortal and familiar shape of their object, death has changed its
whole aspect and relation to us; and we may regard it, not with
passionate hate, but with quiet reverence. It is a Divine message
from above, not an invasion from the abyss beneath; not the fiendish
hand of darkness thrust up to clutch our gladness enviously away, but
a rainbow gleam that descends through Jesus, without which we should
not know the various beauties that are woven into the pure light of
life. Once let the Christian promise be taken to the heart, and as we
walk through the solemn forest of our existence, every leaf of love
that falls, while it proclaims the winter near, lets in another patch
of God's sunshine to paint the glade beneath our feet and give a
glory to the grass. Tell me that I shall stand face to face with the
sainted dead; and, whenever it may be, shall I not desire to be
ready, and to meet them with clear eye and spirit unabashed? Such and
so much encouragement would Christianity give to the faithful
conversation of all true affections, if it only assured us of some
distant and undefinable restoration. But it appears to me to assure
us of much more than this; to discountenance the idea of any, even
the most temporary, extinction of life in the grave; and to sanction
our faith in the absolute immortality of the mind. Rightly
understood, it teaches not only that the departed will live, but that
they do live, and indeed have never died, but simply vanished and
passed away.
II. But it is not merely the members of the same literal home that
Christ unites in one, whether in earth or heaven. +He makes the good
of every age into a glorious family of the children of God;+ and
inspires them with a fellow-feeling, whatever the department of
service which they fill. Keeping us ever in the mental presence of
the Divinest wisdom and in veneration of a perfect goodness, it
accustoms us to the aspect of every grace that can adorn and
consecrate our nature; trains our perceptions instantly to recognise
its influence or to feel its want. It looks with an eye of full and
clear affection over the wide circle of human excellence. Such hope
tends to give us a prompt and large congeniality with them; to
cherish the healthful affections which are domestic in every place
and obsolete in no time; to prepare us for entering any new scene,
and joining any new society where goodness, truth, and beauty
dwell.--_Martineau._
_The Christian Brotherhood of Man._--The brotherhood of man has been
the dream of old philosophers, and its attainment the endeavour of
modern reformers. Man can only reach his highest life when he forms
part of a society bound together by common sympathies and common
aims, for by a great law of our nature it is true that he who lives
utterly apart from his fellows must lose all true nobleness in
selfish degradation. There is no real progress for the individual but
through social sympathy. There is no strong and enduring aspiration
but in the fellowship of aspiring souls. That conviction which men
have so strongly felt and so vainly endeavoured to realise is
perpetually asserted in the Book of God.
+I. The brotherhood of man in Christ.+--1. _The Christian brotherhood
is a unity of spirit under a diversity of form._ Thus with the Church
of the first century. At first it was one band of brotherhood; but as
it grew and individual thought expanded and experience deepened there
arose infinite diversities. The more men think and the more they
grow, the more will they differ.
2. _There are spiritual ties in action which in Christ bind man to
man._--Paul's words imply a threefold unity. 1. The fellowship of
devotion to a common Father. 2. The fellowship with Christ our common
Brother. 3. That fellowship is unbroken by the change of worlds.
+II. Results of realising this fact of brotherhood.+--1. _Earnestness
of life._ 2. _Power and grandeur of hope._--Some complain that their
ideas of heaven are vague and ineffective. Only realise the
brotherhood of man, and then the hope of the future will become a
power in life.--_E. L. Hull._
_The One Family._--1. Believers on earth and saints and angels in
heaven spring from the same common parent. 2. Are governed by the
same general laws. 3. Share in the same pleasures and enjoyments.
4. Have the same general temper, the same distinguishing complexion.
5. Have one common interest. 6. Look to, rely upon, and are guided by
the same Head. 7. Are all objects of God's love. 8. At the last day
will meet in God's presence, be openly acknowledged as His children,
and admitted to dwell in His house for ever.
+Lessons.+--1. _If we estimate the dignity of men from the families
with which they are connected, how honourable is the believer!_
2. _We see our obligations to mutual condescension, peaceableness,
and love._ 3. _Let those who are not of this family be solicitous to
obtain a place in it.--Lathrop._
Vers. 16-19. _Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians._
+I. For spiritual strength.+--It was not bodily strength, civil
power, or worldly distinction; it was the grace of fortitude and
patience.
+II. For an indwelling Christ.+--As we become united to Christ by
faith, so by faith He dwells in our hearts.
+III. For establishment in love.+--True love is rooted in the heart.
It is a spiritual affection towards Christ. Its fruits are love to
men, imitation of Christ's example, obedience to His commands, zeal
for His honour, and diligence in His service.
+IV. For increase of knowledge in the love of Christ.+--The love of
Christ passeth all known examples of love. This love passeth our
comprehension in respect of its breadth or extent, its length, its
depth, as the benefits it has procured exceed all human estimate.
Though the love of Christ passeth knowledge, there is a sense in
which it is known to the saints. They have an experimental knowledge,
an influential knowledge, an assimilating knowledge of the love of
Christ.
+V. For the fulness of God.+--That they may have such a supply of
Divine influence as would cause them to abound in knowledge, faith,
love, and all virtues and good works.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 19. _The Love of Christ._
+I. The love of Christ passeth knowledge.+--1. _He Himself furnishes
an illustrative instance_ when Paul says, "For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die"--a merely just and righteous man would be
admired; but he would not so take hold of the heart of another to
produce a willingness to die for him;--"yet peradventure," in some
rare case, "for a good man," a man of benevolence, adorned with the
softer virtues and abounding in the distribution of his favours--for
such a one "some might even dare to die"; some one, overcoming even
the love of life in the fulness of his gratitude, might venture to
give his own life to preserve that of such a one. But we were neither
just nor good; we were sinners, and "God commendeth His love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Passes it
not, then, all knowledge, all reasonable conception and probability,
that this fallen nature should be so sympathised with that these
flagrant rebellions should excite, not an inexorable anger, but pity
and love? And such love that our Saviour--looking not so much on man
as offending, but as His creature, and as His creature still capable
of restoration--should melt in compassion and die to effect his
redemption; this is indeed love "that passeth knowledge."
2. _The manner in which this love is manifested carries the principle
beyond all conception and expression._--It was love to the death. It
was death for sinners, death in their stead; death, that the penal
claims of law, and that law the unchangeable, unrelaxable law of God,
might be fully satisfied. The redemption price was fixed by a
spotless justice, and the love of Christ to the sinner was to be
tested by the vastness of the claims to be made upon Him. But the
wages of sin is death; and His love shrank not from the full and
awful satisfaction required. It was death in our stead. Then it must
be attended with anxious forebodings. Of what mysteries have I
suggested the recollection to you? Can you comprehend them? That
feeling with which He spoke of the baptism of blood? That last
mysterious agony? That complaint of being forsaken of God? You feel
you cannot. They transcend all your thought; and the love which made
Him stoop to them is therefore love "which passeth knowledge."
3. The love of Christ passeth knowledge if we consider it _as
illustrated by that care for us which signalises His administration._
4. The subject is further _illustrated by the nature of the blessings
which result to men from the love of Christ._--We usually estimate
the strength of love by the blessings it conveys or, at any rate,
would convey. And if the benefits be beyond all estimate, neither can
we measure the love.
5. _The love of Christ passeth knowledge because it is the love of an
infinite nature._ Love rises with the other qualities and perfections
of the being in whom it is found. Among animals the social
attachments are slight, and the instinctive affection dies away when
its purposes are answered. In man love arises with his intellect. In
him it is often only limited by his nature, and when rightly directed
shall be eternal. Many that love on earth shall doubtless love for
ever. Were Christ merely a man His love could not pass knowledge.
What man has felt man can conceive. Love can be measured by the
nature which exercises it. But this love passeth all knowledge but
that of the Divine nature, because itself is Divine. Christ is God,
and he who would fully know His love must be able to span immensity
and to grasp the Infinite Himself.
+II. But while it is true that the love of Christ passeth all
knowledge, it is equally true that it is to be known by us.+--To know
the love of Christ is: 1. _To recognise it in its various forms and
expressions in our constant meditations._ And where shall we turn and
not be met by this, to us, most important subject? How delightful an
occupation, to track all the streams of mercy up to their source. We
are surrounded by the proof of the love of Christ. Let us see to it
that the blinding veil be not on our heart, that our eyes be not
holden that we should not know Him. We are called to know the love of
Christ. Let us accustom ourselves to reflect upon it, to see it in
its various forms and results; and then shall our meditation of Him
be sweet. 2. To know the love of Christ is _to perceive it in its
adaptation to our own personal condition._ 3. To know the love of
Christ is _to experience it in its practical results._ He offers you
pardon, and the offer is a proof and manifestation of His love; but
properly to know it pardon itself must be accepted and embraced. This
is to know his love. Seek it, and you must find it. Rest without it,
and you are but "as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." 4. To know
the love of Christ we must _put forth those efforts through which
that love is appointed to express itself in our daily experience._
+Lessons.+--1. _The rejection of love, especially of redeeming love,
involves the deepest guilt._ 2. _Remember that the grace is common to
you all.--R. Watson._
_The Unknown and Known Love of Christ._
+I. There are some respects in which the love of Christ passeth our
knowledge.+--1. In its objects; so unworthy and degraded. 2. In its
sufferings; love to the death. 3. In its care. 4. In its blessings.
5. In its degree. It is the love of an infinite nature.
+II. There are some respects in which the love of Christ may be
known.+--1. Our views of it may be clearer and more consistent.
2. Our views of it may be more confidential and appropriating. 3. Our
views of it may be more impressive and more influential.--_G. Brooks._
_The Transcendent Love of Christ._
+I. This representation must be confirmed.+--1. This love is Divine.
2. Consider the objects it embraced. 3. The means by which it
manifested itself. 4. The blessings it secured.
+II. The perception the Christian may acquire of this love,
notwithstanding its Divine infinitude.+--1. It is the great
interpreting principle which he applies to all the tremendous facts
of redemption. 2. The sacred element and incentive of all piety--the
theme of contemplation, the ground of confidence, the motive of
obedience. 3. The impulse and model of all benevolence and zeal.
+III. Conclusions from a review of the subject.+--1. It is only
natural to expect a transcendent character in Christianity. 2. No
better test exists of what is genuine Christianity than the level of
the views which it exhibits concerning the person and work of Christ
and the tone of the affections which it encourages towards Him.
3. There is much of implicit as well as declarative evidence in
support of the Saviour's supreme Divinity. 4. How necessary is it
that we should live habitually under the influence of this
transcendent love.--_R. W. Hamilton._
Vers. 20, 21. _A Devout Doxology._
+I. The acknowledgment the apostle makes of God's
all-sufficiency.+--1. God often does for men those favours which they
never thought of asking for themselves. 2. God answers prayers in
ways we think not of. 3. The mercies God is pleased to grant often
produce consequences far beyond what we asked or thought. 4. The
worth of the blessings we ask and God bestows infinitely exceeds all
our thought.
+II. The ascription of glory the apostle makes to this all-sufficient
God.+--1. God is glorified by the increase of his Church. 2. God is
glorified in the Church when a devout regard is paid to the
ordinances He has instituted. 3. By the observance of good order in
the Church, and by the decent attendance of the members on their
respective duties. 4. That God may be glorified there must be peace
and unity in the Church.--_Lathrop._
_God's Infinite Liberality._
+I. The object of this doxology.+--The God of all grace. Whatever we
think we ask. No limit to our asking but our thinking. God gives
beyond our thinking. Here, take all this! Ah, poor thing, that
transcends thine asking and even thy thinking, but take it. If it
transcend all communicated power of mind, I say, "I thank Thee, my
God, for it. I know it is exceeding good, but I cannot understand it.
Keep it among Thy treasures. My blessedness rests not in my
intellect, but in Thy favour. Remember Thou hast given it me. It may
come I shall be able to understand it better and appreciate it more."
I shall never have asked too much, I shall never have thought too
much, till I have asked beyond God's ability, till I have thought
beyond God's ability. That ability is not a bare abstraction of the
omnipotence of God, but it is the omnipotence of God as working in
the Church and in the people of God. He is not omnipotent in heaven,
and impotent in thee, or partially powerful in thee.
+II. The doxology itself+ (ver. 21).--All should glorify God, but all
will not. In the Church alone will God get glory. It is as the name
of Christ is glorified in us that we are glorified in Him. It is when
the glory that God reflects on the creature is by the creature
ascribed as due only to God when He is glorified as the Author of it,
transcendently and infinitely glorious, it is then that the glory
rests. When it is appropriated it is lost, but it is possessed when
it is tossed back and fro between God and the creature. When the
creature gives it to God, God of His rich grace sends it back in
greater measure; but the humble creature, emulous of God's glory,
sends it all back again to Him, and as it reciprocates so it
increases. God gives not to end by enriching us--that is an immediate
end; but the ultimate end is that He may be glorified. Be ashamed to
get little--get all things. Get out of your poverty, not by fancying
you are rich, but by coming and getting. The more you get always give
glory, and come and ask and receive.--_Dr. John Duncan._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER IV.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Walk worthy of the vocation.+--They had been called to life
in the Spirit, and they must also "walk in the Spirit."
Ver. 2. +With all lowliness.+--The Christian--"born from above"--is
to exhibit a trait of character with the "high-born" Greek despised,
and which Heine in modern times called "a hound's virtue." "The pride
that apes humility" steals in under Chrysostom's description of this
"lowliness." He says, "It is a making of ourselves small when we are
great." +And meekness.+--"A grace in advance of 'lowliness,' not as
more precious than it, but as presupposing it, and as being unable to
exist without it" (_Trench_). +With longsuffering.+--The exact
opposite of our "short-tempered"--_e.g._ "Is the Spirit of the Lord
straitened?" means "Has the Lord become irritable?" (Mic. ii. 7). The
word suggests to men by nature irascible that "slowness to wrath"
recommended by St. James. +Forbearing one another in love.+--The
brother who is tempted to anger is not to look down from the height
of a lofty pride on those who try his patience, but in compassionate
love, remembering his own frailty, must "suffer long and be kind."
Ver. 3. +Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Sprit in the bond of
peace.+--It is no easy-going indifference that is inculcated; they
will have to "exert themselves," "give diligence" (R.V.), before that
peace obtains which is the harmonious and frictionless working of
each part of the machine.
Vers. 4-6. +One body . . . and in you all.+--"Seven elements of unity
St. Paul enumerates. . . . They form a chain stretching from the
Church on earth to the throne and being of the universal Father in
heaven" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 7. +But unto every one of us is given grace.+--The distributing
Spirit (1 Cor. xii. 11) leaves no humblest member of the body of
Christ without His endowment.
Ver. 8. +Wherefore He saith.+--What follows is a quotation of Ps.
lxviii. 18 "with free alteration" (_Meyer_), adapting the return of
the hero-king to his own city to that most magnificent of all
triumphs--over Hades and Death--achieved by Him "who was dead and is
alive for evermore." "Being by the right hand of God exalted He hath
poured forth this" abundance, as a conqueror scatters his largesse.
Vers. 9, 10. +Now that He ascended . . . that He might fill all
things.+--The exaltation, in His case, presupposed the humiliation.
From the throne of the universe--"the glory which He had with the
Father"--to the profoundest depths where any poor lost piece of
humanity that is redeemable can be found, and thence again to the
throne He relinquished. +The same also.+--Exalted, to be confidingly
and adoringly loved; humbled, to be worshipped no less as "the Son of
man who is in heaven."
Ver. 11. +And He gave some to be, etc.+--"Christ gave the persons,
and the community gave to them the service" (_Meyer_).
+Apostles . . . prophets . . . evangelists.+--We cannot accept the
order as significant of rank. It would grace an angel to be the
"evangelist" of such a salvation. As apostles they went forth "sent"
by their Master to men in their need; as prophets they "spoke out"
what He had taught them; as evangelists they were the messengers of
_good_ tidings. They were apostles that they might be evangelists
(Matt x. 5-7), "going about heralding" the kingdom and gathering men
into it. +Pastors and teachers.+--Shepherds and instructors of those
gathered together by men of another order. These are the true
"bishops," whatever "other name" they bear (1 Pet. v. 1-4).
Ver. 12. +For the perfecting of the saints.+--"Saints," whilst a
title of the highest honour, is often expressive of the ideal rather
than the real life of those who bear it; the "perfecting" is the
rendering into actual life of what is implied in the term of honour.
+For the work of the ministry.+--R.V. "_into_ the work." If the end
of all Christ's gifts so far as "the saints" are concerned is their
perfect equipment, so far as His messengers are concerned they go
forth unto service first, honour afterwards. +For the edifying of the
body of Christ.+--Practically the same as the foregoing, but with an
ultimate reference to Christ. The double figure of a building and of
a body is familiar to our own speech, as when we speak of "building
up a strong frame."
Ver. 13. +Till we all come.+--Suggestive of standing opposite to
something towards which we have been toiling. Can one think without a
tremor of joy, of the moment when he will find himself in perfect
correspondence with the Divine Archetype? +In the unity of the
faith.+--The world has seen many attempts to bring about uniformity
of creed, after the manner of Procrustes, by stretching or chopping.
"The unity of the faith" is a very different thing, and much to be
desired. +The knowledge of the Son of God.+--Lit. the complete
knowledge. +Unto a full-grown man.+--As above intimated, a child does
not become a man by means of the rack. The significance of the word
"man" here is as great as when we bid some one who has lost his
self-respect to "be a man."
Ver. 14. +That we henceforth be no more children.+--In what respects
his readers are not to be children the apostle makes plain, viz. in
helplessness and credulity. +Tossed to and fro.+--With no more power
of resistance than a cork on the waves. +By the sleight of men and
cunning craftiness.+--As some poor simpleton, who thinks himself
capable, falls a victim to card-sharpers, so unstable souls fall
victims to those who say with Falstaff, "If the young dace be a bite
for the old pike, I see no reason in the law of nature but I may snap
at him."
Ver. 15. +But speaking the truth in love.+--If it be possible to make
the medicine palatable without destroying its efficacy--to capsule
the bitter pill--its chances are so much the greater of doing good.
The A.V. margin gives "being sincere," and the R.V. "dealing truly,"
the different renderings indicating the difficulty of finding an
English equivalent.
Ver. 16. +Fitly joined together and compacted.+--R.V. "fitly framed
and knit together." Bengel suggests that the first expression means
the _fitting_ together, and the second the _fastening_ together.
Meyer, denying this, says the distinction is that the former
corresponds to the _figure,_ the latter to the _thing_ represented.
The grammar, like the physiology, of this verse is difficult. Are we
to read, "The whole body . . . maketh increase of the body"?
Apparently we must, for the body "_builds itself_ up in love."
Ver. 17. +That ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk.+--In
this and the two following verses we have again the lurid picture of
ch. ii. 2, 3: "in the vanity of their mind."
"The creature is their sole delight,
Their happiness the things of earth."
Ver. 18. +Having the understanding darkened.+--Remembering our Lord's
saying about the single eye and the fully illuminated body we might
say, "If the understanding--by which all light should come--be
darkened 'how great is that darkness'!" +Because of the
blindness.+--R.V. "hardness." The word describes the hard skin formed
by constant rubbing, as the horny hand of a blacksmith.
Ver. 19. +Who being past feeling.+--Having lost the "ache" which
should always attend a violation of law. An ancient commentator uses
the now familiar word "anæsthetes" to explain the phrase. +Having
given themselves over.+--"Given" represents a word which often
connotes an act of treason--and "themselves" is emphatic--"the most
tremendous sacrifice ever laid on the altar of sin" (_Beet_). +To
lasciviousness.+--"St. Paul stamps upon it the burning word ἀσέλγεια
like a brand on the harlot's brow" (_Findlay_). +To work all
uncleanness with greediness.+--R.V. margin, "to make a trade of all
uncleanness with covetousness." Their "sins not accidental, but a
trade"; and a trade at which they work with a "desire of having more."
Ver. 20. +No not so.+--As differently as possible. The same mode of
speech which led St. Paul to say to the Galatians, "Shall I praise
you? . . . I praise you not."--_i.e._ "I blame you highly."
Ver. 21. +If so be that ye have heard Him.+--The emphasis is on
"Him"--"assuming, that is, that it is He, and no other."
Ver. 22. +That ye put off concerning the former conversation.+--It is
no "philosophy of clothes" inculcated here. It is a deliverance from
"the body of death," like stripping oneself of his very integument.
+Conversation.+--R.V. "manner of life." +Which is corrupt.+--R.V.
much more strikingly--"waxeth corrupt." St. Paul's figure elsewhere
is appropriate--"like a gangrene eating into the flesh."
Vers. 23, 24. The stripping off being complete, and the innermost
core of the man being renewed, the investiture may begin. The "habit"
laid aside is never to be resumed, and the new robes, "ever white,"
are not to be soiled. +Righteousness and true holiness.+--R.V.
"Righteousness and holiness of truth." See the "dealing truly" of
ver. 15, R.V. margin.
Ver. 25. +Putting away lying.+--Findlay holds to it that "_the lie,
the falsehood,_ is objective and concrete; not _lying,_ or
_falsehood_ as a subjective act, habit, or quality." +Members one of
another.+--Let there be "no schism in the body."
Ver. 26. +Let not the sun go down on your wrath.+--The word for
"wrath" is not the usual one. It almost seems as if the compound form
had reference to the matter "alongside which" wrath was evoked. If
"curfew" could ring out the fires of wrath at sundown, we might
welcome the knell. Meyer quotes the Pythagorean custom of making up a
quarrel by the parties "shaking hands" before sunset.
Ver. 28. +Let him that stole steal no more.+--Though we have not here
the word for "brigand," we may think that the thieving had not always
been without violence. +That he may have to give.+--Not the profits
of wickedness, but "the good" results of his own labour, and may give
it to the needy "with cheerfulness" (Rom. xii. 8), with a "hilarity"
beyond that of "those who divide the spoil" (Isa. ix. 3).
Ver. 29. +Let no corrupt communication.+--R.V. "speech." Putrid
speech can never come forth from any but a bad person, "for out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." +But that which is
good to the use of edifying.+--The word in season "fitly spoken" has
an æsthetic charm (Prov. xxv. 11), but it was more necessary to teach
these loquacious Asiatics the utilitarian end of having a human
tongue. "It is the mere talk, whether frivolous or pompous--spoken
from the pulpit or the easy-chair--the incontinence of tongue, the
flux of senseless, graceless, unprofitable utterance that St. Paul
desires to arrest" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 30. +Grieve not.+--"Do not make Him sorrow." A strong figure
like that which says that God was sorry that He had made man (Gen.
vi. 6). +Whereby ye are sealed.+--Cf. ch. i. 13. "In whom ye were
sealed" (R.V.)
Ver. 31. +Let all bitterness.+--_i.e._ "of speech." "Sarcasm I now
see to be, in general, the language of the devil," said one liberally
endowed with it. The satirist Hipponax--a native of Ephesus--was
called "the bitter." Such a man as "speaks poniards," and whose
"every word stabs," may be brilliant and a formidable opponent; he
will never be loved. +Wrath and anger.+--The former is the _fuming_
anger, "the intoxication of the soul," as St. Basil calls it; the
latter is the state after the paroxysm is over, cherishing hatred and
planning revenge. +Clamour and railing.+--"Clamour" is the loud
outcry so familiar in an Eastern concourse of excited people (Acts
xxiii. 9), like that hubbub in Ephesus when for two hours the
populace yelled, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" (Acts xix. 28).
"Railing," blasphemy--speech that is calculated to do injury.
+Malice.+--"Badness." "This last term is separated from the others as
generic and inclusive" (_Beet_).
Ver. 32. +Be ye kind.+--The word is found in Christ's invitation to
the weary--"My yoke is easy." It is characteristic of the Father that
"He is _kind_ to the unthankful." The man who drinks wine that is new
and harsh says, "The old is _good_" (mellow). +Tenderhearted.+--Soon
touched by the weakness of others. +Forgiving . . . as God . . .
forgave you.+--The motive and measure of our forgiveness of injuries
is the Divine forgiveness shown to "all that debt" of our wrong-doing
(Matt. xviii. 32).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-3.
_The Dignity of the Christian Life_--
+I. Imposes the obligation to act in harmony with its lofty
aims.+--"Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (ver.
1). There is the practical, stimulative influence of a high ideal.
The Spirit within us has not only changed our nature and cleansed our
spiritual vision, but He has lifted our horizon, formed within us
distinct outlines of the Christian ideal after which we are to
labour, and furnished us with the moral forces with which we are to
attain the beauty and unity of a perfect spiritual character. We who
are created in God's image and restored in Christ and made partakers
of the Divine nature in Him, are bound by condition of our creation
and redemption to endeavour to be like Him here that we may have the
fruition of His glorious Godhead hereafter. The true Christian cannot
stoop to any meanness either in thought or action. He is dignified
without being proud.
+II. Involves the practice of self-suppression.+--1. _In a just
estimate of ourselves._ "With all lowliness and meekness." In
endeavouring to balance the value and use of our powers and
faculties, and in measuring the degree and volume of our influence,
we must observe humility--not a cringing cowardly spirit which would
deter us from the right for fear of doing wrong, but an elevated
sense of right with courage to perform it, and with humility to
acknowledge and confess when we are in the wrong. It does not mean
the craven surrender of our honest convictions and carefully formed
judgment. We may efface ourselves, but not the truth within us. An
Italian bishop being asked the secret of his habitual humility and
patience replied, "It consists in nothing more than in making good
use of my eyes. In whatever state I am, I first of all look up to
heaven and remember that my principal business here is to get there.
I then look back down to earth and call to mind the space I shall
shortly occupy in it. I then look abroad into the world and observe
what multitudes there are who in all respects have more cause to be
unhappy than myself. Thus I learn where true happiness is placed,
where all our cares must end, and how very little reason I have to
repine or complain."
2. _In a loving forbearance towards each other._--"With
longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (ver. 2). The meek man
may be severe with himself, and his constant habit of
self-suppression may render him somewhat impatient with the
unreasonable outbreaks of temper in others. Meekness must be balanced
and moderated with patience, and both virtues exercised in the
all-pervading element of love. Love softens every harshness, tones
down asperity, and welds together the Christian character in a firm
but not too rigid a unity. "Bind thyself to thy brother," said
Chrysostom. "Those who are bound together in love bear all burdens
lightly. Bind thyself to him and him to thee. Both are in thy power;
for whomsoever I will, I may easily make my friend."
+III. Demands an earnest striving after a peaceful spiritual
unity.+--"Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace" (ver. 3). Peace--"a silken cord binding into one the members
of the Church; the encompassing element of the unity of the Spirit"
(_Beet_). The apostle repeatedly and solemnly inculcates unity and
peace on all the Churches, warns them against contentions and
divisions, and kindles into righteous indignation against all those
insidious and false teachers who, under the pretence of advocating a
higher piety really disturb and rend the Church of Christ. On what an
enormous scale are preparations made for war! We should not be less
diligent and elaborate in taking every precaution in promoting and
maintaining peace.
+Lessons.+--1. _True humility is always dignified._ 2. _Personal
happiness is not the highest aim of the Christian life._ 3. _The
noblest virtues of the Christian character are not attained without
earnest endeavour._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1-3. _True Church Life._--1. The word "walk" is a very
extensive signification. It includes all our inward and outward
motions, all our thoughts, words, and actions. It takes in, not only
everything we do, but everything we either speak or think. 2. We are
called to walk, first, "with all lowliness," to have the mind in us
which was also in Christ Jesus; not to think of ourselves more highly
than we ought to think; to be little, and poor, and mean, and vile in
our own eyes; to know ourselves as also we are known by Him to whom
all hearts are opened; to be deeply sensible of our own unworthiness.
Who can be duly sensible how much remains in him of his natural
enmity to God, or how far he is still alienated from God by the
ignorance that is in him? 3. Yea, suppose God has now thoroughly
cleaned our heart, and scattered the last remains of sin; yet how can
we be sensible enough of our own helplessness, our utter inability to
all good, unless we are every hour, yea, every moment, endued with
power from on high? 4. When our inmost soul is thoroughly tinctured
therewith, it remains that we "be clothed with humility." The word
used by St. Peter seems to imply that we be covered with it as with a
surtout; that we be all humility, both within and without; tincturing
all we think, speak, and do. Let all our actions spring from this
fountain; let all our words breathe this spirit; that all men may
know we have been with Jesus, and have learned of Him to be lowly in
heart. 5. And being taught of Him who teacheth as never man taught,
to be meek as well as lowly in heart. This implies not only a power
over anger, but over all violent, turbulent passions. It implies the
having all our passions in due proportion; none of them either too
strong or too weak, but all duly balanced with each other, all
subordinate to reason, and reason directed by the Spirit of God.
6. Walk with all "longsuffering." This is nearly related to meekness,
but implies something more. It carries on the victory already gained
over all your turbulent passions, notwithstanding all the powers of
darkness, all the assaults of evil men or evil spirits. It is
patiently triumphant over all opposition, and unmoved though all the
waves and storms thereof go over you. 7. The "forbearing one another
in love" seems to mean, not only the not resenting anything, and the
not avenging yourselves; not only the not injuring, hurting, or
grieving each other, either by word or deed, but also the bearing one
another's burdens, yea, and lessening them by every means in our
power. It implies the sympathising with them in their sorrows,
afflictions, and infirmities; the bearing them up when, without our
help, they would be liable to sink under their burdens. 8. Lastly,
the true members of the Church of Christ "endeavour," with all
possible diligence, with all care and pains, with unwearied patience,
to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," to preserve
inviolate the same spirit of lowliness and meekness, of
longsuffering, mutual forbearance, and love; and all these cemented
and knit together by that sacred tie--the peace of God filling the
heart. Thus only can we be and continue living members of that Church
which is the body of Christ. 9. Does it not clearly appear from this
whole account why, in the ancient creed commonly called the
Apostles', we term it the universal or catholic Church, "the holy
catholic Church"? The Church is called holy, because it is holy,
because every member thereof is holy, though in different degrees, as
He that called them is holy. How clear this is! If the Church, as to
the very essence of it, is a body of believers, no man that is not a
Christian believer can be a member of it. If this whole body be
animated by one Spirit, and endued with one faith, and one hope of
their calling, then he who has not that Spirit and faith and hope is
no member of this body. It follows, that not only no common swearer,
no Sabbath-breaker, no drunkard, no whoremonger, no thief, no liar,
none that lives in any outward sin, but none that is under the power
of anger or pride, no lover of the world--in a word, none that is
dead to God--can be a member of His Church.--_Wesley._
_Brotherly Love in Action._
+I. Walk in lowliness.+--Humble thoughts of ourselves, of our own
knowledge, goodness, and importance are necessary to Christian peace
and union. We shall not despise our brethren for their want of the
internal gifts or external advantages we enjoy. We shall not lean to
our own understanding; but, conscious of our liability to err, we
shall be attentive to instruction and reproof, open to conviction,
ready to retrace our errors and confess our faults.
+II. Walk in meekness+--in a prudent restraint and government of the
passions. We shall not be easily provoked, our resentments will not
be sudden, without cause or without bounds. If a variance happens, we
shall stand ready to be reconciled. We shall be cautious not to give,
and slow to take offence. In matters of religion our zeal will be
tempered with charity.
+III. To our meekness we must add longsuffering and
forbearance.+--These terms express the patient and exalted exercise
of meekness rather than virtues distinct from it. We are not only to
be meek, but longsuffering in our meekness; not only to restrain
anger under ordinary offences, but to suppress malice and forbear
revenge under the most provoking injuries.
+IV. We must endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.+--Not unity of opinion--this is not possible, nor reasonable
to be expected, in the present state of mankind; but unity of spirit,
of heart and affection, disposing us to preserve the bond of peace
and maintain all the duties of Christian fellowship, whatever
differences of sentiment take place. To the same purpose are the
apostle's exhortations to all the Churches, and especially to those
in which diversity of opinion concerning ceremonial usages threatened
their external peace.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 3. _Peace the Bond of Unity._
+I. There is a union of the visible Church and the members thereof
among themselves, and this is twofold:+ the one necessary to the
being of a Church and being of a Church member, so that a Church
cannot be a Church nor a man a member without it, the tie of which is
God's covenant with the visible Church, and the Church's laying hold
of it; the other necessary to the well-being of the Church, which is
entertained by unity in judgment, in heart and affection, by
concurrences in purposes and actings.
+II. Neither fair pretences for peace and union in the Church, nor
seconded but contradicted by practice, nor yet careless endeavours
easily broken by difficulties, will God accept as the duty required
for preserving or restoring unity.+--There is no less called for than
the utmost of our serious endeavours for that end, so that we not
only eschew what may give cause of rending, but also be not easily
provoked when it is given by others, and when a rent is made spare no
pains for having it removed, and weary not under small appearances of
success.
+III. Whatever differences may fall out among the members of the
Church they are not to break the bond of peaceable walking+ one with
another by factious sidings, but ought to study unanimous and joint
practice in those things wherein there is agreement; and where this
peaceable deportment is, it tends to preserve what remains of
spiritual unity and to regain what is already lost.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 4-6.
_The Sevenfold Unity of the Church reflected in the Trinity of Divine
Persons._
+I. One Spirit+ (ver. 4), the animating Principle of the +one body+
(ver. 4)--the Church; the Source of its life and ever-watchful
Guardian of the Church's unity; the Inspirer of the +one hope,+ "Even
as ye are called in one hope of your calling" (ver. 4). Where the
Spirit of Christ dwells as a vitalising, formative principle, He
finds or makes for Himself a body. Let no man say, "I have the spirit
of religion, I can dispense with forms, I need no fellowship with
men, I prefer to walk with God." God will not walk with men who do
not care to walk with His people. The oneness of communion amongst
the people of Christ is governed by a unity of aim. The old pagan
world fell to pieces because it was without hope; the golden age was
in the past. No society can endure that lives upon its memories, or
that contents itself with cherishing its privileges. Nothing holds
men together like work and hope. Christianity holds out a splendid
crown of life. It promises our complete restoration to the image of
God, the redemption of the body with the spirit from death, and our
entrance upon an eternal fellowship with Christ in heaven. The
Christian hope supplies to men more truly and constantly than Nature
in her most exalted forms--
"The anchor of their purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of their heart, and soul
Of all their moral being."
The hope of our calling is a hope for mankind, nay, for the entire
universe. We labour for the regeneration of humanity. We look for the
actual ingathering into one in Christ of all things in all worlds, as
they are already gathered in God's eternal plan. If it were merely a
personal salvation that we had to seek, Christian communion might
appear to be an optional thing and the Church no more than a society
for mutual spiritual benefit. But seen in this larger light, Church
membership is of the essence of our calling (_Findlay_).
+II. One Lord+ (ver. 5), or Master, whom we are called to serve. A
consentaneous and harmonious obedience to His mandates blends His
servants into one compact unity. +One faith+ (ver. 5), one body of
inviolable truth, one code of Divine commands, one Gospel of promise,
presenting one object of faith. +One baptism+ (ver. 5), one gateway
of entrance into the company of believers forming the one Church, one
initiatory rite common to all. Christians may differ as to the mode
of baptism and the age at which it should be administered, but all
agree it is an institution of Christ, a sign of spiritual renewal,
and a pledge of the righteousness that comes by faith. Wherever the
sacraments are duly observed, there the supremacy of Christ's rule is
recognised, and this rule is the basis on which future unity must be
built.
+III. One God,+ the supreme and final unity, who is "the Father of
all," who is above all, and through all, and in you all (ver. 6).
_Above all_--He reigns supreme over all His people (Rom. ix. 5).
_Through all_--informing, inspiring, stimulating, and using them as
instruments to work out His purpose (Rom. xi. 36). _In all_--dwelling
in and filling their hearts and the ever-widening circle of their
experience. "The absolute sovereignty of the Divine Mind over the
universe," said Channing, "is the only foundation of hope for the
triumph of the human mind over matter, over physical influences, over
imperfection and death." With what a grand simplicity the Christian
conception of the one God and Father rose above the vulgar pantheon,
the swarm of motley deities--some gay and wanton, some dark and
cruel, some of supposed beneficence, all infected with human passion
and baseness--which filled the imagination of the Græco-Asiatic
pagans. What rest there was for the mind, what peace and freedom for
the spirit, in turning from such deities to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ! This was the very God whom the logic of Greek
thought and the practical instincts of Roman law and empire blindly
sought. Through ages He had revealed Himself to the people of Israel,
who were now dispersed amongst the nations to bear His light. At last
He declared His full name and purpose to the world through Jesus
Christ. So the gods many and lords many have had their day. By His
manifestation the idols are utterly abolished. The proclamation of
one God and Father signifies the gathering of men into one family of
God. The one religion supplies the basis for one life in all the
world. God is _over all,_ gathering all worlds and beings under the
shadow of His beneficent dominion. He is _through all_ and _in all_;
an omnipresence of love, righteousness, and wisdom, actuating the
powers of nature and of grace, inhabiting the Church and the heart of
men (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--1. _In the moral as in the material world there is
diversity in unity and unity in diversity._ 2. _All phases of good
find their consummation in an imperishable unity._ 3. _To disturb the
balance of unity is a great evil._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 4-6. _The Unity of the Church._
+I. There is one body.+--The Church is a body of which Christ is the
Head, and believers are the members. Though Christians are formed
into distinct societies, they constitute but one body. They are
united to the Head by faith and to their fellow-members by love.
+II. There is one Spirit.+--As all members of the natural body are
animated by one soul, so all the members of Christ's body are
sanctified, strengthened, and led by the same Spirit. Since there is
one Spirit which dwells in all Christians, all contention,
bitterness, and envy, all animosity, division, and separation in the
Church are offences against the Holy Spirit.
+III. There is one hope of our calling.+--We are all called by the
same Word, our hope is grounded on the same promises, the object of
our hope is the same immortal life.
+IV. There is one Lord.+--Christ is Lord of all by the same right. He
has bought us with a high price, redeemed us by His own blood. There
is no respect of persons with him. We are called to the same service,
are under the same laws, and must appear at the same judgment.
+V. There is one faith.+--The same Gospel is the rule of our faith,
and this all Christians profess to receive. The faith of all true
Christians is essentially the same. The object of it is the Word of
God, the nature of it is receiving the love of the truth, the effect
of it is to purify the heart.
+VI. There is one baptism.+--We are all baptised in the name of
Christ, and He is not divided. May differ as to the age at which
persons become the subjects of baptism and the manner of
administration, but regarding the design of it we are one. Baptism
intended not to divide, but unite the whole Christian world.
+VII. There is one God and Father.+--The Father of the whole
creation, but in a more eminent sense the Father of Christians. He is
above all. He reigns supreme. He is through all. His essence pervades
our frame, His eyes search and try our souls, His influence preserves
our spirits. He is in all. In all true Christians by His Spirit. They
are the temple of God, and His Spirit dwelleth in them.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 4. _The Oneness of the Church._--1. All the members of the
Church being one body is a strong argument enforcing the duty of
keeping peace and unity; it being no less absurd for Christians to
bite and devour one another than if the members of the selfsame
natural body should tear and destroy one another. 2. As those in
nature are in a hopeless state, having no right to heaven and
happiness, so the Gospel doth open to the person called a large door
of well-grounded hope, that, whatever be his misery here, he shall be
perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God for ever hereafter.
3. The joint aiming of the saints at one mark should make them of one
mind and heart, seeing there is that in glory which will suffice all.
Their seeking of one thing need be no occasion of strife and
emulation, but rather of unity, for why should they strive together
who not only are brethren but also heirs together of the grace of
life and shall one day reign together in glory?--_Fergusson._
_One Body and One Spirit._
+I. The unity or oneness of the Church as set forth by the unity or
oneness of the body.+--One life animates the whole. The parts
mutually subserve one another, while the head thinks and the heart
beats for all. There is a certain harmony existing between all the
members; they constitute a symmetry among themselves, so that one
could not be taken away without destroying the perfection of all the
others, more or less marring the grace and beauty of the whole frame.
So the Church is one--one mystical body--having one author, God; one
Head, which is Christ; and one informing Spirit, the Holy Ghost; one
country towards which all its members are travelling, heaven; one
code of instructions to guide them thither, the Word of God; one and
the same band of enemies seeking to bar their passage, the world, the
flesh, and the devil. Despite all miserable divisions, wherever there
is a man with true love to God and man, any true affiance on Christ,
any true obedience to the Spirit and His leadings, _there_ exists a
member of this mystical body.
+II. As in the human body there is unity, so there is also variety,
diversity, multiplicity.+--This is true of the Church of Christ. Its
different members have different functions and offices, and in
performing these the Church makes equable and harmonious growth.
+Lessons.+--1. _As members of the same body, let us not separate from
brethren in Christ._ 2. _If we are members one of another, many are
the debts as such we owe the one to the other._ (1) We owe one
another _truth._ (2) _Love_ one to another. (3) _Honour_ one to
another.--_R. C. Trench._
Ver. 5. _One Lord._
+I. Christ is our Lord according to every notion and acceptation of
the word "Lord."+--He is our Prince and Governor, we are His subjects
and vassals; He is our Master, and we are His servants; He is our
Owner, or the Possessor and Proprietary of us; He is our Preceptor or
Teacher; that is, the Lord of our understanding, which is subject to
the belief of His dictates; and the Lord of our practice, which is to
be directed by His precepts. He is therefore also our Captain and
Leader, whose orders we must observe, whose conduct we should follow,
whose pattern we are to regard and imitate in all things.
+II. Christ is also our Lord according to every capacity or respect
of nature or office that we can consider appertaining to
Him.+--1. He is our Lord as by nature the Son of God, partaking of
the Divine essence and perfection. 2. He is our Lord as man, by the
voluntary appointment and free donation of God His Father; in regard
to the excellency of His Person, and to the merit of His
performances. 3. He also, considered as God and man united in one
Person, is plainly our Lord. 4. If we are to consider Him as Jesus,
our Saviour, that notion doth involve acts of dominion, and thence
resulteth a title thereto. Nothing more becomes a Lord than to
protect and save; none better deserves the right and the name of a
Lord than a Saviour. 5. Likewise, if He be considered as the Christ,
that especially implieth Him anointed and consecrated to sovereign
dominion, as King of the Church.
+III. Survey the several grounds upon which dominion may be built,+
and we shall see that upon all accounts He is our Lord.--1. An
uncontrollable power and ability to govern is one certain ground of
dominion. 2. To make, to preserve, to provide and dispense
maintenance, are also clear grounds of dominion. 3. He hath acquired
us by free donation from God His Father. 4. He hath acquired us by
just right of conquest, having subdued those enemies unto whom
(partly by their fraud and violence, partly from our own will and
consent) we did live enslaved and addicted. 5. He hath also further
acquired us to Himself by purchase, having by a great price bought
us, ransomed us out of sad captivity, and redeemed us from grievous
punishment due to us. 6. He likewise acquired a lordship over us by
desert, and as a reward from God, suitable to His performance of
obedience and patience, highly satisfactory and acceptable to God.
7. He hath acquired a good right and title to dominion over us as our
continual most munificent benefactor. 8. Our Saviour Jesus is not
only our Lord by nature and by acquisition in so many ways (by
various performances, deserts, and obligations put on us), but He is
also so by our own deeds, by most free and voluntary, most formal and
solemn, and therefore most obligatory acts of ours. (1) If we are
truly persuaded that Christ is our Lord and Master, we must then see
ourselves obliged humbly to submit unto and carefully to observe His
will, to attend unto and to obey His law, with all readiness and
diligence. (2) If Christ be our Lord, then are we not our own lords
or our own men; we are not at liberty, or at our own disposal, as to
our own persons or our actions. (3) If Christ be our Lord (absolutely
and entirely such), then can we have no other lords whatever in
opposition to Him, or in competition with Him, or otherwise any way
than in subordination and subserviency to Him. (4) If Christ be our
Lord, we are thereby disobliged, yea, we are indeed prohibited, from
pleasing or humouring men, so as to obey any command, to comply with
any desire, or to follow any custom of theirs, which is repugnant to
the will or precept of Christ. (5) Finally, for our satisfaction and
encouragement, we may consider that the service of Christ is rather
indeed a great freedom than a service.--_Barrow._
Ver. 6. _God the Father._
+I. God is the universal Father.+--1. God is the Father of all
things, or of us as creatures, as the efficient Cause and Creator of
them all. 2. The Father of intellectual beings. He is styled the
Father of spirits; the angels, in way of excellency, are called the
sons of God. 3. The Father in a more especial manner to mankind.
4. The Father of all good men, with a relation being built upon
higher grounds; for as good they have another original from Him,
virtue springs in their hearts from a heavenly seed, that emendation
and perfection of nature is produced by His grace enlightening and
quickening them; they are images of Him, resembling Him in judgment
and disposition of mind, in will and purpose, in action and
behaviour, which resemblances argue them to be sons of God and
constitute them such.
+II. The uses of this truth.+--1. It may teach us what reverence,
honour, and observance are due from us to God, in equity and justice,
according to ingenuity and gratitude. 2. This consideration may
instruct and admonish us what we should be and how we should behave
ourselves, for if we be God's children it becometh us, and we are
obliged in our disposition and demeanour to resemble, to imitate Him.
It is natural and proper for children to resemble their parents in
their complexion and countenance, to imitate them in their actions
and carriage. 3. This consideration may raise us to a just regard,
esteem, and valuation of ourselves; may inspire noble thoughts and
breed generous inclinations in us; may withdraw us from mean, base,
and unworthy designs or practices; may excite and encourage us to
handsome, brave, worthy resolutions and undertakings suitable to the
dignity of our nature, the nobleness of our descent, the eminence of
so high a relation, of so near an alliance to God. 4. This
consideration is a motive to humility, apt to depress vain conceit
and confidence in ourselves. If we are God's children, so as to have
received our beings, all our powers and abilities, all our goods and
wealth, both internal and external, both natural and spiritual, from
His free disposal, so as be continually preserved and maintained by
His providence to depend for all our subsistence upon His care and
bounty, what reason can we have to assume or ascribe anything to
ourselves? 5. This consideration shows us the reason we have to
submit entirely to the providence of God with contentedness and
acquiescence in every condition. 6. Obligeth us to be patient and
cheerful in the sorest afflictions, as deeming them to come from a
paternal hand, inflicted with great affection and compassion,
designed for and tending to our good. 7. Shows the reason we have to
obey those precepts which enjoin us to rely on God's providence.
8. Serves to breed and cherish our faith, to raise our hope, to
quicken our devotion. For whom shall we confide in if not in such a
Father? From whom can we expect good if not from Him? To whom can we
have recourse so freely and cheerfully on any occasion if not to Him?
9. Considering this point will direct and prompt us how to behave
ourselves towards all God's creatures according to their respective
natures and capacities. If God be the Father of all things, they are
all thence in some sort our brethren, and so may claim from us a
fraternal affection and demeanour answerable thereto.--_Barrow._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-12.
_The Gifts of Christ to His Church_--
+I. That each member of the Church possesses some gift from
Christ.+--"Unto every one of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ" (ver. 7). All are not alike talented,
but each one has some gift of grace. Every gift is not from earth,
but from heaven; not from man, but from Christ. Look not down, then,
as swine to the acorns they find lying there, and never once up to
the tree they come from. Look up; the very frame of our body bears
that way. It is nature's check to the body. "Graces are what a man
_is_; but enumerate his gifts and you will know what he _has._ He
_is_ loving, he _has_ eloquence, or medical skill, or legal
knowledge, or the gift of acquiring languages, or that of healing.
You have only to cut out his tongue, or to impair his memory, and the
gift is gone. But you must destroy his very being, change him into
another man, obliterate his identity, before he ceases to be a loving
man. Therefore you may contemplate the gift separate from the man;
you may admire it and despise him. But you cannot contemplate the
grace separate from the man" (_F. W. Robertson_).
"If facts allure thee, think how BACON shined,
The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind."--_Pope._
The humblest member of the Church of Christ is not without his gift.
The grace of the Gospel elevates and sanctifies all his powers and
opportunities, and turns them into noblest uses.
+II. That the gifts of Christ to His Church are distributed with the
lavish generosity of a conqueror returning from the field of victory+
(vers. 8-10).--We have read of the profuse gifts of victorious
warriors:--of Gonsalvo, the great Spanish captain, whose unselfish
prodigality was proverbial. "Never stint your hand," he was
accustomed to say: "there is no way of enjoying one's property like
giving it away";--of Alexander the Great, who on one occasion gave a
blank draft to one of his generals with liberty to fill in any amount
he chose. When the treasurer, surprised at the enormous sum inserted,
asked his imperial master if there was not some mistake, he answered:
"No; pay it, pay it; the man honours me by assuming the inexhaustible
resources of my empire";--of Belisarius, whose victories were always
followed by liberal and extravagant largesses. "By the union of
liberality and justice," writes Gibbon, "he acquired the love of his
soldiers, without alienating the affections of the people. The sick
and wounded were relieved with medicines and money, and still more
efficaciously by the healing visits and smiles of their commander.
The loss of a weapon or a horse was instantly repaired, and each deed
of valour was rewarded by the rich and honourable gifts of a bracelet
or a collar, which were rendered more precious by the judgment of
Belisarius. He was endeared to the husbandmen by the peace and plenty
which they enjoyed under the shadow of his standard. Instead of being
injured, the country was enriched by the march of the Roman armies;
and such was the rigid discipline of their camp that not an apple was
gathered from the tree, not a path could be traced in the fields of
corn. Victory by sea and land attended his armies. He subdued Africa,
Italy, and the adjacent islands, led away captives the successors of
Genseric and Theodoric, filled Constantinople with the spoils of
their palaces, and in the space of six years recovered half the
provinces of the Western empire";--and of Aurelian, whose triumphant
entry into Rome after his victories in the East was the longest, most
brilliant, and imposing of any recorded in the annals of the empire,
and was signalised by rich donations to the army and the people; the
Capitol and every other temple glittered with the offerings of his
ostentatious piety, and the temple of the sun alone received above
fifteen thousand pounds of gold. But who can measure the munificence
of the ascended Saviour, the Divine Conqueror, who, as the fruit of
His unparalleled victory, has scattered His gifts among men, to
enrich them for ever? He gives not grudgingly and sparingly, but
after the measure of His own great nature. He gives not for display
but for blessing, and His smallest gift out-values the most lavish
donation of the richest earthly benefactor.
+III. That the gifts of Christ qualify man for special work in His
Church+ (ver. 11).--The "apostles, prophets, evangelists" linked
Church to Church and served the entire body; the "pastors and
teachers" had charge of local and congregational affairs. The
apostles, with the prophets, were the founders of the Church. Their
distinctive functions ceased when the foundation was laid and the
deposit of revealed truth was complete. The evangelistic and pastoral
callings remain; and out of them have sprung all the variety of
Christian ministries since exercised. Evangelists, with apostles or
missionaries, bring new souls to Christ and carry His message into
new lands. Pastors and teachers follow in their train, tending the
ingathered sheep, and labouring to make each flock that they
shepherd, and every single man, perfect in Christ Jesus.
+IV. That the gifts of Christ furnish the full moral equipment of the
members of His Church+ (ver. 12).--Christ's gifts of great and good
men in every age have been bestowed for a thoroughly practical
purpose--"the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, the
edifying of the body of Christ." No one man has all the gifts
requisite for the full development of the Church; but it is the
privilege and honour of each worker to use his special gift for the
general good. The combination of gifts, faithfully and diligently
employed, effects the desired end. The Church must be built up, and
this can be done only by the harmonious use of the gifts of Christ,
not by mere human expedients. "We may have eloquent preaching,
crowded churches, magnificent music, and all the superficial
appearance of a great religious movement, whilst the vaunted revival
is only a poor galvanised thing, a corpse twitching with a strange
mimicry of life, but possessed of none of its vital energy and
power." Gifts are dangerous without the grace and wisdom to use them.
Many a brilliant genius has gone down into oblivion by the reckless
abuse of his gifts. Christ endows His people with gifts that they may
use them for the increase and upbuilding of His Church, and they must
be exercised in harmony with the rules and purposes of the Divine
Architect. "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that
build it."
+Lessons.+--1. _Christ's estimate of His Church is seen in the
spiritual riches He has lavished upon it._ 2. _The gifts of each
member of the Church are for the benefit of all._ 3. _The gifts of
Christ to His Church are the offerings of a boundless love._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 7. _The Gospel according to Mark._--The writers of the four
Gospels completed their work not for the sake of making a literary
reputation for themselves, or of adding to the literary masterpieces
of the world, but for the spiritual benefit of the Christian Church.
Christ our Lord sitting in the heavens, seeing exactly what was
wanted in the apostolic Churches, and in the Church of all time,
seeing what was wanted in the evangelists themselves if they were to
supply the Church's wants, measured out His gifts to the evangelists.
Accordingly, to each evangelist He gave that special gift which was
needed in order to do his particular work. What was the grace that
was given to St. Mark? It has been said that St. Mark's Gospel has no
special character, that it is the least original of the four, that it
is insipid, that it might have been dispensed with without loss to
the harmony of the evangelical narrative. Even St. Augustine has
spoken of it as an epitome of St. Matthew; and his deservedly great
authority has obtained a currency of this opinion in the Western
Church. But in point of fact, although St. Mark has more in common
with St. Matthew than with any other evangelist, he is far from being
a mere epitomist of the first Gospel. He narrates at least three
independent incidents which St. Matthew does not notice. He has
characteristics which are altogether his own.
+I. St. Mark is remarkable for his great attention to subordinate
details.+--He supplies many particulars which evangelists who write
more at length altogether omit. From him, for instance, we learn the
name of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, and of Bartimæus, the
blind man healed by our Lord. From him we learn how Simon of Cyrene
was related to well-known Christians of the next
generation--Alexander and Rufus. He it is who tells us that the woman
of Canaan whose petition our Lord so indulgently received was a
Syrophenician, and that our Lord was popularly spoken of as the
carpenter. He is careful to point out more minutely than do others
the scenes in which our Lord took part on four occasions. He
describes particularly our Lord's look. He notes the express
affections of our Lord's human soul, His love for the rich young man,
His anger with the Pharisee, His pity for the leper, His groaning in
spirit on two separate occasions. And here we have something more
than a literary peculiarity--than a style of writing which
corresponds to those pre-Raphaelite artists who render every leaf and
every blade of grass with scrupulous accuracy. I say that we are here
face to face with a moral and spiritual excellence which forms part
of the special grace given to St. Mark. Close attention to details in
any workman means a recognition of the sacredness of fact. Where
details are lost sight of, or blurred over, in the attempt to produce
a large, general, indistinct effect, there is always a risk of
indifference to the realities of truth. The very least fact is
sacred, whatever be its relative importance to other facts. But in a
life like that of our Lord, everything is necessarily glowing with
interest, however trivial it might appear to be in any other
connection. This care for details is thus the expression of a great
grace--reverence for truth, reverence for every fragment of truth
that touched the human life of the Son of God.
+II. St. Mark is remarkable for the absence of a clearly discernible
purpose in his Gospel,+ over and above that of furnishing a narrative
of our Lord's conflict with sin and evil during His life as man upon
the earth. The three other evangelists have each of them a manifest
purpose in writing of this kind. St. Matthew wishes to show to the
Jews that our Lord is the Messiah of the Jewish prophecy. St. Luke
would teach the Gentile Churches that He is the Redeemer whose saving
power may be claimed through faith by the whole race of men. St. John
is, throughout, bent upon showing that He speaks and acts while in
the flesh as the eternal Word or Son of God, who has been made flesh
and was dwelling among us. And it has been said that St. Mark's
narrative is an expansion of those words of Peter--that Jesus of
Nazareth "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil, for God was with Him." Probably this is true; but then
these words describe not a purpose beyond the narrative, but the
substance of the narrative itself. St. Mark simply records a sacred
life as he had learned it from the lips of Peter, not for any purpose
beyond the narrative itself; but whatever it might prove beyond
itself, it was to a believing Christian unspeakably precious.
+III. A few words in conclusion.+--"Unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." As no two
human souls exactly resemble each other, so no two souls are endowed
in an exactly similar way. And for the difference of endowment let us
be sure there is always a reason in the Divine Mind, for each soul in
every generation has its appointed work to do, without itself as
within itself; and it is endowed with exactly the grace, whether of
mind or heart, which will best enable it to do that particular work.
Some may think that they have received little or nothing--some gift
so small as to be scarcely appreciable. The probability is that they
have not yet considered what God has done for them. They have spent
their time in thinking of what He has withheld, instead of thinking
of what He has given; of what they might have been, instead of what
they are. Certainly the grace which our Lord gave to St. Paul when he
wrote his great epistle to the Romans was immensely greater than that
which He gave to Tertius, the poor amanuensis, who took it down from
the apostle's dictation, and who inserts a greeting from himself just
at the end of the document. And yet Tertius, too, had his part in the
work--a humble but a very real part, according to the measure of the
gift of Christ. He did not say, "Because I am not the eye I am not of
the body." He made the most of the grace which was certainly his. And
others may think, rightly or wrongly, that unto them very great
graces have been given according to the gift of Christ, that they are
the hands or the eyes of the holy body, the men who do its work, or
the men who discern the truths which support its life. Well, if it be
so, this is a reason, not for confident satisfaction, but for
anxiety. Such gifts as these are edge tools; they may easily prove
the ruin of their possessors. For all such gifts an account must one
day most assuredly be rendered; and if self has appropriated that
which belongs to God or to His Church, it cannot but entail misery on
the possessor. If a man has wealth, or ability, or station; much more
if he has cultivated intelligence and generous impulses; most of all
if his heart has been fixed by the love of God, and the unseen is to
him a serious reality, and he has hopes and motives which really
transcend the frontiers of the world of sense, then, assuredly, his
safety lies in remembering that he is a trustee who will one day have
to present his account at the great audit, when the eminence of his
gifts will be the exact measure of his responsibility. Eighteen
centuries have passed since St. Mark went to reign somewhere beneath
his Master's throne whose life he had described; but he has left us
the result of his choicest gift--he has left us his Gospel. What has
it--what have the four Gospels--hitherto done for each of us? It is
recorded that John Butler, an excellent Church of England layman of
the last generation, stated on his death-bed that on looking back on
his life the one thing he most regretted was that he had not given
more time to the careful study of the life of our Lord in the four
evangelists. Probably he has not been alone in that regret; and if
the truth were told, many of us would have to confess that we spend
much more thought and time upon the daily papers, which describe the
follies and errors of the world, than on the records of that Life
which was given for the world's redemption. The festival of an
evangelist ought to suggest a practical resolution that, so far as we
are concerned, the grace which he received, according to the measure
of the gift of Christ, shall not, please God, be lost. Ten minutes a
day seriously spent on our knees, with the Gospel in our hands, will
do more to quicken faith, love, reverence, spiritual and moral
insight and power, than we can easily think.--_H. P. Liddon._
Vers. 9, 10. _The contrasted Humiliation and Exaltation of Christ._
+I. The circumstances of the Saviour's depression from His original
state.+--We say that a person stoops, that he bends, that he sinks.
Moral correspondencies to these actions are understood. They are
condescensions. Immanuel is the name of our Saviour when born into
our world and dwelling in it--God with us. A local residence is thus
described. And we are informed of the degree which marks His coming
down from heaven, of the manner in which He came into the world--He
descended into the lower parts of the earth. What lowliness is this!
Similar terms are employed in other portions of the inspired volume;
by collating them with those of the text we shall most satisfactorily
determine its sense.
1. _The incarnation of Christ may be thus expressed._--To what did He
not submit? By what was He not buffeted? What insult did not
disfigure His brow? What shade did not cloud His countenance? What
deep waters did not go over His soul? His was humanity in its
severest pressures and humblest forms.
2. _This form of language may denote the death of Christ._--It is the
ordinary phrase of the Old Testament; "They shall go into the lower
parts of the earth: Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness,
in the deeps." Does it not seem strange that His soul should be
commended hence who had often bound death to His bidding and summoned
from the grave its prey? He is brought low to the dust of death. The
erect figure is prostrated. The instinctive life is arrested. That
mysterious frame--related to the infinite and the Divine temple of
all greatness, shrine of all sanctity--that "Holy Thing" sleeps in
death.
3. _This style may be intended to intimate that burial to which He
yielded._--"Lest I become like them that go down into the pit." "So
must the Son of man be in the heart of the earth." He has made His
grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death! He is put away
into darkness. He is held of death in its gloomy chambers. He is as a
victim and a prey. It is a prison-keep.
4. _The separation of the Redeemer's body and spirit may be described
in these words._--We mark in this departure of His soul the simple
requirement of death. It could not be retained. It descended into the
lower parts of the earth. This is the reverse of resurrection and
heavenward flight. It was humiliation. These are the gradations of
His descent. These are the "lower parts of the earth" to which He
declined. This is His coming forth from the Father! This is His
coming down from heaven! This is His coming into the world! His
measureless surrender of claims! His inconceivable renunciation of
honours! Stooping to inferior and still inferior levels of ignominy!
Plunging to deeper and still deeper abysses of shame!
+II. The glory of His subsequent exaltation.+--1. _It is in itself an
absolute expression of love._
2. _It justifies an expectation of surpassing benefits._
3. _The act regulates and secures its own efficiency._
4. _This act is to be regarded as of incomparable worth and
excellence._--The mission of Christ contemplated the highest
principles which can direct the Divine conduct. He came to vindicate
that character which to conceive aright is the happiness of all
creatures--to uphold and avenge that law which cannot be infringed
without an utter loss of good and overthrow of order--to atone for
sin whose slight and impunity would have been the allowance of
infinite mischiefs and evils--to bring in an everlasting
righteousness adequate to the justification of the most guilty, and
of the most multiplied objects who needed it--leaving it for ever
proved that no rule nor sanction of God's moral government can be
violated without a necessary and meet resentment! His ascension was a
radiant triumph. Scarcely is it more descried than His resurrection.
We catch but a few notes of the resounding acclaim, we mark but a few
fleeces of the glory-cloud, we recognise but a few attendants of the
angel-train. With that laconic force which characterises holy writ,
it is simply recorded, "Who is gone into heaven."
+III. The reciprocal influence of these respective facts.+--"The
same" was He who bowed Himself to these indignities and who seized
these rewards. And this identity is of the greatest value. Not only
do we hail Him in His reinstatement in original dignities, but in the
augmentation of His glories. Deity was never so beheld before. There
is a combination and a form of the Divine perfections entirely new.
We repine that He is not here. We forget that it is expedient that He
should go away. Heaven alone provides scope for His undertakings and
channel for His influences. There must He abide until the restitution
of all things. But nothing of His sympathy or His grace do we
forego.--_R. W. Hamilton._
Vers. 9, 10. _The Ascension and its Results._
+I. With respect to the new heavens and the new earth, what may we
not infer from the ascension of Christ in full integrity of His
nature above all heavens with respect to the conversion and
transformation and ennobling of this material?+--The nature and
history of His person revealed the relations clearly between heaven
and earth, between God and man, between the material and the
spiritual. We cannot for a moment look upon the transformation and
exaltation of Christ's nature as an isolated fact dissociated from
the restitution and exaltation of all things spoken of in His Word.
The nature with which He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven
was the same nature in which He was crucified, though glorified and
swallowed up of life. Must we not say, then, that the body which
ascended in relation to the body which was crucified and laid in the
grave may illustrate the relation of the present heavens and the new
earth? And, in accordance with this idea, are there not every way
most wonderful changes and transformations of which the ascension of
Christ's body seems to be the fulfilment and crown and also the
firstfruits? The flower from its imprisoned bud, the insect from its
grovelling form, light out of darkness, electricity from ponderable
elements, the strange affinities of matter striving to break forth
from their captivity, the unerring instincts of animal life held, as
it were, in bondage--all seem to point with prophetic finger to a
future deliverance and ennobled state and condition whilst meekly
waiting, but with earnest expectation, with the whole creation for
the deliverance and glorious liberty of the sons of God. The Gospel
therefore contains a Gospel for nature as well as for man--the
prediction of the day when the strife of elements shall cease, when
the powers of darkness shall be swallowed up of life, when the lion
shall lie down with the lamb, when the tares shall no longer grow
with the wheat, when creation, now so weary, shall lift up her head
and rejoice in the redemption for which she now groans and travails.
+II. If we cannot dissociate the history of Jesus from the history of
the earth, much less can it be dissociated from the history of
mankind.+--He is humanity, root and crown. Humanity exists nowhere
else but in Him. No aggregate of men make humanity, nor can
personality be ascribed to humanity except in Him. Individual men may
have a personality, but humanity is only an idea except it exists in
Him who is its root and crown; and it is in this sense that He is
spoken of, and that He speaks of Himself as, the Son of man. In His
ascension, therefore, which carries as a necessary presupposition all
the facts of His history, mankind is delivered from its curse and
from bondage. Identity of nature and reciprocity of choice now
constitute the most intimate union and most blessed fellowship of
which we are conscious, and it is the fair offshoot, the true type of
that which is to be the highest, to which He is exalted above all
heavens, from which height He has promised to gather together our
common humanity. In such and for such a relation He is exalted to the
throne of universal dominion as the Bridegroom of mankind, to be the
Head over all things to His Church, which is His body, the fulness of
Him which filleth all in all.
+III. What may we not learn from the fact of Christ's ascension+--not
merely with respect to the new heavens and the new earth, not merely
with respect to mankind and its history, but with respect to the
government and providence of earth? If all nature is gathered up and
represented in human nature, and if all human nature is gathered up
and represented in the Son of man, and if the Son of man resteth and
sitteth upon the throne of universal dominion, then, my brethren, the
conclusion is as direct as it is clear, that all things must be
working together in the interests of His kingdom and of His Church,
that all things have but one purpose and one end to which the whole
creation moves. We may say with Herbert:
"For us the winds do blow,
The earth does rest, heavens, move, and fountains flow;
Nothing we see but means our good--
'Tis our delight or has our treasure.
The whole is either cupboard of our food
Or cabinet of pleasure."
These lines contain as deep a philosophy as they do good poetry. "All
things unto our flesh are kind in their descent and being." As they
descend to us they bless our lower nature, but as we follow them in
their ascent they bless our minds. And in history are there not
changes similar to and commensurate with those which we have seen in
nature, and all subordinated to one end? Mighty nations and kingdoms
have arisen and passed away, and passed away, we might add, in the
greatness of their might. What strange development, as it has well
been asked, is it that the power of the world should rise to a great
height of glory, and, not able to sustain it, pass away? Because they
knew not God--because they were prejudicial to the interests of man.
The present state and prospects of the world are but the results of
all its past history, of the action and reaction, the strife and
ceaseless conflict, which have been going on from the first--the
strife and ceaseless conflict between the spirit of man's revolt in
all the forms of will-worship and idolatrous power, and the returning
spirit of allegiance towards God and His kingdom of life and love. On
the one hand, therefore, we have a series of rapid and mighty
developments of the very power which destroyed them when at the very
height of their glory; on the other hand, we have the continuous and
silent growth and expansion of the same ideas--all-conquering ideas
and all-conquering beliefs personally embodied from the first in men
confessing their allegiance to God.--_Dr. Pulsford._
Ver. 10. _The Humiliation and Exaltation of Christ._
+I. Christ's humiliation.+--Implied in the words, "He that
descended." These words bear the same sense with those of Ps.
cxxxix. 15, and may be properly taken for Christ's incarnation and
conception in the womb of the Virgin.--1. Because other expositions
may be shown to be unnatural, forced, or impertinent, and there is no
other besides this assignable. 2. Since Paul here uses David's words
it is most probable he used them in David's sense. 3. The words
descending and ascending are so put together in the text that they
seem to intend a summary of Christ's whole transaction in man's
redemption, begun in His conception and consummated in His ascension.
+II. Christ's glorious advancement and exaltation.+--"He ascended far
above all heavens" to the most eminent place in dignity and glory in
the highest heaven.
+III. The qualification and state of Christ's person in reference to
both conditions.+--He was the same, showing the unity of the two
natures in the same person.
+IV. The end of Christ's ascension.+--"That He might fill all
things." _All things_ may refer--1. To the Scripture prophecies and
predictions. 2. To the Church as He might fill that with His gifts
and graces. 3. To all things in the world. This latter interpretation
preferred. He may be said to fill all things--1. By the omnipresence
of His nature and universal diffusion of His Godhead. 2. By the
universal rule and government of all things committed to Him as
Mediator upon His ascension.--_South._
Vers. 11, 12. _The Work of the Ministry._
+I. It is evident that public teachers in the Church are to be a
distinct order of men.+--Christ has given some pastors and teachers.
None has a right publicly to teach in the Church but those who are
called, sent, authorised to the work in the Gospel way. All
Christians are to exhort, reprove, and comfort one another as there
is occasion; but public teaching in the Church belongs peculiarly to
some--to those who are given to be pastors and teachers.
+II. Public teachers are here called Christ's gifts.+--"He _gave_
some pastors and teachers." The first apostles were commissioned
immediately by Christ. They who were thus commissioned of Heaven to
preach the Gospel were authorised to ordain others. Christ gave
pastors and teachers, not only to preach His Gospel, but to train up
and prepare holy men for the same work.
+III. Ministers are to be men endued with gifts suitable to the work
to which they are called.+--As in the early days of the Gospel public
teachers were called to extraordinary services, so they were endued
with extraordinary gifts; but these gifts were only for a season. As
the business of a minister is to teach men the things which Christ
has commanded in the Scriptures, so it is necessary he himself should
be fully instructed in them. In the early days, as there were
evangelists who went forth to preach the Gospel where Christ had not
been named, so there were pastors and teachers who had the immediate
care of Churches already established.
+IV. The great object of the ministry is the building up of the
Church of Christ.+--The ministry is intended for the improvement of
saints, as well as for the conversion of sinners. The apostle
mentions also the unity of the knowledge of Christ. We must not rest
in attainments already made, but continually aspire to the character
of a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ.--_Lathrop._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13-16.
_True Christian Manhood_--
+I. Attained by the unity of an intelligent faith in
Christ.+--1. _This faith must be based on knowledge._ "Till we all
come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God" (ver. 13). A faith, so called, not based on knowledge is
fanaticism. True faith is the result of conviction--a profound
consciousness of the truth. Many reach this stage. They have heard
the evidence, examined it, and are clearly persuaded of its truth;
but they never get beyond that. They are like the neap tide that
comes rolling in as if it would sweep everything before it; but when
it arrives at a certain point, it stops, and with all the ocean at
its back it never passes the mark where it is accustomed to pause. It
is well to get to the neap-tide mark of conviction; but there is no
salvation till the soul is carried by the full spring tide of
conviction into a voluntary and complete surrender to Christ. It is
weak, it is cowardly, when convinced of the right, not to do it
promptly and heartily. Faith acquires its full-rounded unity when it
is exercised, not on any abstract truth, but on a Person who is the
living embodiment of all truth. The final object of faith is "the Son
of God," and any truth is valuable only as it helps us to Him. Christ
has Himself revealed the truth essential to be believed in order to
salvation: He is Himself that truth.
2. _Perfect manhood is a complete Christ-likeness._--"Unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (ver.
13). Man is so great that he is perpetually striving after a loftier
ideal; nothing that has limits can satisfy him. "It is because there
is an infinite in him which with all his cunning he cannot quite bury
under the finite. Will the whole finance ministers and upholsterers
and confectioners of modern Europe undertake in joint-stock company
to make one shoeblack happy? They cannot accomplish it above an hour
or two; for the shoeblack also has a soul quite other than his
stomach, and would require, if you consider it for his permanent
satisfaction and saturation, simply this allotment, no more and no
less--God's infinite universe altogether to himself, therein to enjoy
infinitely and fill every wish as fast as it arose. Try him with half
a universe of an omnipotence, he sets to quarrelling with the
proprietor of the other half and declares himself the most maltreated
of men" (_Carlyle_). True manhood does not consist in the development
of a fine physique, or a brilliant mentality, or in the pursuit of
heroic ambitions. It lies in the nobleness of the soul at peace with
God, seeking in all things to please Him, and to possess and exhibit
the mind of Christ. The pagan hero is the warrior, the ruler, the
poet, the philosopher; the Christian hero is the Christ-like man. The
supreme type of manhood is Christ-likeness. The ideal is conceived by
faith, and the actual is attained only by the exercise of the same
grace.
+II. Superior to the childish vacillation induced by deceptive
teaching+ (ver. 14).--The false teachers played with truth, as men
play with dice, with the reckless indifference of gamblers, and they
and their victims were swayed to and fro, with ruin for the ultimate
goal. Like a rudderless ship they were tossed about at the caprice of
every current, with the inevitable result of wreckage among the rocks
and quicksands. Professing a zeal for truth, they deceived themselves
and others by ever changing their point of view, and craftily
avoiding the practical bearing of truth in the aims to change the
heart and reform the life. The moment the application of truth
pressing upon the conscience made them uncomfortable, they tacked
about and sailed off under another issue. As the restless seaweed,
waving to and fro in the ever-changing tide, can never grow to the
dignity of a tree, so those who were swayed by every changing phase
of error can never grow up to the strength and stability of true
Christian manhood. We can sympathise with the doubts and perplexities
of an earnest seeker after truth; but our sympathy changes into
impatience when we discover that the seeker is more in search of
novelty than truth, of variety rather than certainty. To be for ever
in doubt is to be in the fickle stage of mental and moral infancy. It
is the worst phase of childishness.
+III. It is a continual growth in the truth and love of Christ+
(vers. 15, 16).--It is the high distinction of man that he is
susceptible of almost unlimited growth in mental and moral
attainments. One of the greatest distances between animalism and man
is seen in the unbridged gulf of _progress._ The animal remains where
he was, but man has been progressing in every department of life from
the very first. There is between them all the breadth of history. The
animal builds its nest as it ever did, the bee by the same marvellous
instinct constructs its geometrical cells now as at the first; but
man is a genius--he creates. His first rude efforts in shaping his
dwellings have gone on progressing and improving until we have the
architectural development of to-day. In every kind of art it is the
same--rude flint knives, lance heads, needles, were his first weapons
and implements; to them succeeded bronze, and then iron--each marking
stages in that history of progress up to the beautiful cutlery,
stores, and arsenals of the present day. The animal roars or chatters
to-day as it has done all along. It has made no progress towards
intelligent speech--a Rubicon the animal will never cross. But man,
who began with one speech, and a very limited vocabulary of words,
has developed speech into the great languages of ancient and modern
literature. A wider gulf than this is hardly conceivable. But the
moral growth of man is more remarkable. The era of the Gospel is a
revelation of the power of love. With the ancients a mere sentiment,
Christianity teaches that love is the essence of religion; and that
nature is the manliest and noblest that advances in the knowledge of
Divine truth and in the self-sacrificing love of Christ. The whole
fabric of the Christian character is built up in the ever-increasing
exercise of Christ-like love.
+Lessons.+--_Christian manhood is_--1. _Acquired by an intelligent
faith in Christ._ 2. _Developed by an imitation of Christ._
3. _Maintained and strengthened by constant fidelity to Christ._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 13-16. _The Growth of the Church._
+I. The goal of the Church's life+ (ver. 13).--The mark at which the
Church is to arrive is set forth in a two-fold way--_in its
collective and its individual aspects._ We must all unitedly attain
the oneness of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God; and we
must attain, each of us, a perfect manhood, the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ. All our defects are, at the bottom,
deficiencies of faith. We fail to apprehend and appropriate the
fulness of God in Christ. The goal of the regenerate life is never
absolutely won; it is hid with Christ in God. But there is to be a
constant approximation to it, both in the individual believer and in
the body of Christ's people. And a time is coming when that goal will
be practically attained, so far as earthly conditions allow. The
Church after long strife will be reunited, after long trial will be
perfected. Then this world will have had its use, and will give place
to the new heavens and earth.
+II. The malady which arrests its development+ (ver. 14).--The
childishness of so many Christian believers exposed them to the
seductions of error, and ready to be driven this way and that by the
evil influences active in the world of thought around them. So long
as the Church contains a number of unstable souls, so long she will
remain subject to strife and corruption. At every crisis in human
thought there emerges some prevailing method of truth, or of error,
the resultant of current tendencies, which unites the suffrages of a
large body of thinkers, and claims to embody the spirit of the age.
Such a method of error our own age has produced as the outcome of the
anti-Christian speculation of modern times, in the doctrines current
under the names of Positivism, Secularism, or Agnosticism. Modern
Agnosticism removes God farther from us, beyond the reach of thought,
and leaves us with material nature as the one positive and accessible
reality, as the basis of life and law. Faith and knowledge of the Son
of God it banishes as dreams of our childhood. This materialistic
philosophy gathers to a head the unbelief of the century. It is the
living antagonist of Divine revelation.
+III. The means and conditions of its growth+ (vers. 15, 16).--To the
craft of false teachers St. Paul would have his Churches oppose the
weapons only of truth and love. Sincere believers, heartily devoted
to Christ, will not fall into fatal error. A healthy life
instinctively repels disease. Next to the moral condition lies the
spiritual condition of advancement--the full recognition of the
supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. He is the perfect ideal for
each, the common source of life and progress for all. He is the Head
of the Church and the heart of the world. Another practical condition
of Church growth is organization--"all the body fitly framed and knit
together." A building or a machine is fitted together by the
adjustment of its parts. A body needs, besides this mechanical
construction, a pervasive life, a sympathetic force, knitting it
together. And so it is in love that this body of the Church builds up
itself. The perfect Christian and the perfect Church are taking shape
at once. Each of them requires the other for its due realisation. The
primary condition of Church health and progress is that there shall
be an unobstructed flow of the life of grace from point to point
through the tissues and substance of the entire frame.--_Findlay._
Vers. 13-15. _Christian Manhood._
+I. Christian manhood is a growth.+--1. A growth having its inception
in the simple fact of becoming a Christian. This is a decided advance
upon the most moral and cultivated state otherwise attainable. It
involves the quickening into a new life which is to grow. 2. A growth
marking a continual advancement till we all come in the unity--the
respect in which one grows--the union, conjunction of faith and of
knowledge. 3. A growth resulting from culture under Divinely
appointed agencies. The most splendid growth, other things being
equal, is the result of the highest culture. The highest culture is
possible only through the most rigid conformity to the laws of
development and the appliance of the best agencies. 4. A growth the
standard of whose completeness is the fulness of Christ. The
stature--the adultness, the full-grown manhood of Christ--is the
standard of growth, whose attainment is the Christian's noblest zeal.
+II. The elements of Christian manhood.+--1. _Largeness_--in the
Christian's views of truth, of man's need, of Christ's work, of
schemes and plans for its greater furtherance.
2. _Dignity._--That deep, inwrought sense of the true worth and
greatness of his nature, as a renewed man, and of his position as a
child of God and joint-heir with Christ. Christian ethics are the
best ethics; highest, purest, noblest, safest. He lives by these
naturally who has a well-developed Christian manhood.
3. _Courageousness and strength._--Courage makes a man put forth his
best strength, while strength enables courage to achieve its best
deeds.
+III. The outworking of Christian manhood.+--It gives:--
1. _Steadfastness._--No more children. No more carried about--borne
round and round as in the swiftly whirling eddy of the sea--by every
wind of doctrine.
2. _Sincerity._--"Speaking the truth in love" refers both to the
sincerity of life and our relation to the truth.
3. _A further growth._--As the full-grown tree, leaves and blossoms
and bears; as fruit, after it is full-grown, mellows, matures,
sweetens; ripening as wheat for the garner.--_J. M. Frost._
Vers. 14-16. _Christian Maturity._
+I. The negative part of this description.+--1. _Christians must not
remain children._--In humility, meekness, and teachableness, let them
be children; but in understanding, constancy, and fortitude they
should be men. Children have but little knowledge and a weak
judgment. They believe hastily and act implicitly. They are governed
by passion more than reason, by feeling more than judgment.
2. _The apostle cautions that we be not tossed to and fro like a ship
rolling on the waves._--The man without principle, knowledge, and
judgment is at the mercy of every rude gust. He is driven in any
direction, as the wind happens to blow. He makes no port, but is
every moment in danger of shipwreck.
3. _We must not be carried about with every wind of doctrine._--False
doctrines, like winds, are blustering and unsteady. They blow from no
certain point, but in all directions, and frequently shift their
course. The light and chaffy Christian, the hypocritical and
unprincipled professor, is easily carried about by divers and strange
doctrines. He shifts his course and changes his direction, as the
wind of popular opinion happens to drive.
4. _We are in danger from the cunning craftiness of men._--True
ministers use plainness of speech, and by manifestation of the truth
commend themselves to the consciences of men. Corrupt teachers use
sleight and craft, that they may ensnare the simple, decoy the
unsuspecting, and thus make proselytes to their party. They pretend
to superior sanctity. They are watchful to take advantage of an
unhappy circumstance in a Church. They unsettle men's minds from the
established order of the Gospel, and prejudice them against the
regular maintenance of the ministry, representing all order in
Churches as tyranny and all stated provision for the ministry as
oppression. They promise men liberty, but are themselves the servants
of corruption.
+II. The positive part.+--1. _The mature Christian must speak the
truth in love._ Be sincere in love. We should acquire a good
doctrinal knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. We should be well
established in the truth. We should see that our hearts are conformed
to the truth. We must walk in the truth.
2. _We must grow up in all things into Christ._--A partial religion
is not that which the Gospel teaches. We must have respect to the
whole character of Christ, to the whole compass of duty, to every
known doctrine and precept of Scripture. All the graces of the Gospel
unite in forming the Christian's temper. They all operate in harmony.
His religion is one continued, uniform, consistent work.
+III. How Christian maturity is attained.+--From the growth of the
human body the apostle borrows a similitude to illustrate the
spiritual growth of the Christian Church. It is as absurd to expect
growth in knowledge and holiness without the means instituted for the
edifying of the body of Christ as it would be to expect the growth of
a natural body without supplies of food.
+Lessons.+--1. _There is no Christian growth where love is wanting._
2. _Christians are bound to seek the peace in order to the
edification of the Church.--Lathrop._
Ver. 14. _The Case of Deceivers and Deceived considered._
+I. Consider the case of deceivers or seducers such as by their
sleight and cunning craftiness lie in wait to deceive.+--The
particular motives by which men may be led to beguile others are
reducible to three--pride, avarice, and voluptuousness: love of
honour, or profit, or pleasure. 1. There is often a great deal of
pride and vanity in starting old notions and broaching new doctrines.
It is pretending to be wiser than the rest of the world, and is
thought to be an argument of uncommon sagacity. Upon this footing
some are perpetually in quest of new discoveries. Nothing pleases
them, if they have not the honour of inventing it or of receiving it
in their times. When once a man has thus far given loose to his
vanity and thinks himself significant enough to be head of a sect,
then he begins first to whisper out his choice discoveries to a few
admirers and confidants, who will be sure to flatter him in it; and
next to tell aloud to all the world how great a secret he had found
out, with the inestimable value of it. And now at length comes in the
use of sleight and cunning craftiness and all imaginable artifices;
first to find out proper agents to commend and cry up the conceit,
next to spread it in the most artful manner among the simple and
least suspecting, and after that to form interests and make parties;
and so, if possible, to have a public sanction set to it or a
majority at least contending for it. Love of fame and glory is a very
strong passion, and operates marvellously in persons of a warm
complexion. 2. Observe how avarice or love of profit may sometimes do
the same thing. There is a gain to be made in some junctures by
perverting the truth and deceiving the populace. Men who are not
worthy to teach in the Church, or who have been set aside for their
insufficiency or immorality, may bring up new doctrines and draw
disciples after them, for the sake of protection and maintenance or
for filthy lucre. With such the vending of false doctrines is a trade
and preaching a merchandise. Thus has avarice been the mother of
heresies and has brought many deceivers into the Church of Christ;
but they have contrived generally to give some plausible turn and
colour to their inventions through their "sleight" and "cunning
craftiness," in order to deceive the hearts of the simple and to
beguile unwary and unstable souls. 3. One motive
more--voluptuousness, or love of pleasure. As religious restraints
set not easy upon flesh and blood, but bear hard upon corrupt nature,
so men of corrupt minds will be ever labouring to invent and publish
smooth and softening doctrines, such as may either qualify the
strictness of the Gospel rule or sap the belief of a future
reckoning. Many ancient heretics had such views as these in the first
broaching of their heresies. Their design was to take off the awe and
dread of a future judgment, and thereby to open a door to all
licentiousness of life and dissoluteness of manners.
+II. Consider the case of the deceived who suffer themselves to be
"tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine."+--They are supposed
to be ignorantly, and in a manner blindly, led on by others,
otherwise they would be rather confederates and confidants in
managing the deceit, and so would be more deceivers than deceived.
1. Now as to those who are so ignorantly imposed upon. They are more
or less to blame, according as their ignorance is more or less
blamable; and that, again, will be more or less blamable, according
as it is more or less affected or wilful. There are, I think, three
cases which will take in all sorts of men who suffer themselves to be
deceived in things of this kind. The first is of those who have no
opportunity, no moral possibility of informing themselves better; the
second is of those who might inform themselves better, but do not;
the third of those who might also be better informed, but will not.
If they be "like children tossed to and fro with every wind of
doctrine," yet if they are really children in understanding and are
overborne by others in such a way as is morally irresistible
considering their circumstances, then it seems to be their misfortune
to be so imposed upon rather than their fault, and so is not
imputable. 2. A second case is of those who may inform themselves
better but neglect to do it. I suppose it to be merely neglect in
them, not design. Perhaps they have little or no leisure for
inquiries; they are taken up with worldly cares and business. They
have a very great esteem and value for the man who so misleads them,
and they know no better, but swallow everything he says without
considering; or they are not aware of any ill consequences of the
doctrine, see or suspect no harm in it. They are much to blame in
this affair, because God has given them the faculty of reason, which
ought not to be thus left to lie dormant and useless. Men who can be
sharp enough in secular affairs to prevent being imposed upon may and
ought to have some guard upon themselves with respect also to their
spiritual concernments. 3. There is yet a third sort of men, worse
than the former, who suffer themselves to be deceived and might know
better, but will not; that is to say, their ignorance is affected and
wilful, they "love darkness rather than light because their deeds are
evil." These are such as readily run in with "every wind of doctrine"
which hits their taste and chimes in with their favourite
inclinations. They admit the doctrine because they like it, and they
easily believe it true because they would have it so. It is with this
kind of men that deceivers prevail most and make their harvest.
+III. Some advices proper to prevent our falling in with
either.+--The best preservative in this case is an honest and good
heart, well disposed towards truth and godliness, having no by-ends
to serve, no favourite lust or passion to indulge. If any man is but
willing to know and to do God's commandments, he will easily discern
in most cases whether a doctrine be of God or whether it be of men.
The evidences of the true religion and of its main doctrines are so
bright and strong when carefully attended to, that common sense and
reason are sufficient to lead us, when there is no bias to mislead
us. For several years last past rude and bold attacks have been made
against the important doctrines of Christianity and against all
revealed religion, and this is what they are still carrying on with
exquisite subtlety and craftiness many ways and with a great deal of
fruitless pains and labour. For I may have leave to suppose that no
man can in this case be deceived who has not first a desire to be so,
and is not the dupe and bubble to his own lust and vices.--_Dr.
Waterland._
Ver. 15. _Speaking the Truth in Love._--1. A different thing from the
irritating candour of the professed friend. 2. Implies an
experimental knowledge of the truth and its spiritual mission. 3. Is
the most effectual way of winning a hearing and gaining adherents.
4. A method conspicuously exemplified in the teaching of Christ.
_Growth into Christ in Love and Truth._
+I. The standard of Christian excellence--Christ's headship.+--1. The
prominent notion suggested is His rank in the universe. He rules as
God in creation. But evidently the apostle does not mean this in the
text. We are to grow into Him as Head. Growth into Christ's Godhead
is impossible. God-like we may, God we cannot even by truth and love,
become. 2. He is the Head as being the Source of spiritual life. This
is implied in metaphor. The highest life-powers--sensation, feeling,
thought--come from the brain. To one who has read the history of
those times, there is an emphatic truth in Christ's being the life of
the world. The world was like a raft becalmed in the tropics--some of
its freight dead and baking in the sun, some sucking as if for
moisture from dried casks, and some sadly, faintly looking for a
sail. Christ's coming to the world was as life to the dead, imparting
new impulse to human heart and human nature. It was like rain and
wind coming to that bark--once more it cuts the sea, guided by a
living hand. So also with each man who drinks Christ's Spirit. He
becomes a living character. Not sustained on dogmas or taken-up
opinions, but alive with Christ. 3. He is Head as chief of the human
race. Never had the world seen, never again will it see, such a
character. Humanity found in Him a genial soil, and realised God's
idea of what man was meant to be. He is chief. Nothing comes near Him.
+II. Progress towards the standard of Christian excellence.+--"We
grow up into Him in all things."
1. _Growth in likeness to Him._--The human soul was formed for
growth, and that growth is infinite. The acorn grows into the oak,
the child into the philosopher. And at death the soul is not
declining; it is as vigorous as ever. Hence nothing but an infinite
standard will measure the growth of the soul of man.
2. _Growth in comprehension of Him._--Christ is not comprehensible at
first. Words cannot express the awe with which a man contemplates
that character when it is understood. This is the true heroic, this
the only God-like, this the real Divine. From all types of human
excellence I have made my choice for life and death--Christ.
+III. The approved means of growth the mode of progress.+--"Speaking
the truth in love." Truth and love--and these joined. To "grow into
Christ" we must have both traits of character. Would you be like
Christ? Cultivate love of beauty and tenderness. His soul was alive
to beauty. He noted the rising and setting sun, the waving corn, the
lily of the field. His was love which insult could not ruffle nor
ribaldry embitter, and which only grew sweeter and sweeter. Would you
be like Christ? Be true! He never swerved. He was a martyr to truth.
Would He soften down truth for the young man whom He loved, or make
it palatable? No; not for friendship, not for love, not for all the
lovely things this world has to show. "One thing thou lackest: sell
all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me" (Mark x. 17-22; Luke
xviii. 17-23). That was "speaking the truth in love." There is no
good to be got out from Christ, except by being made like him. There
is no pardon, no blessing, separate from inward improvement. Sanctity
of character alone blesses. Each man is his own hell and his own
heaven. God Himself cannot bless you unless He gives you His own
character.--_F. W. Robertson._
Ver. 16. _The Law of Mutual Dependence._
I. This text admonishes us of +the manifold instruments and agencies
on whose concurrence and harmonious action the prosperity and the
perfection of the Christian Church depend.+--It likens the Church to
that most complicated, admirable machine, the human body, which only
produces its proper results, the preservation and comfort of human
life, by the healthful tone and right performance of its various
powers and functions. We live, and are at ease, in virtue of the
sound condition and regular operation of all the multitude of parts
and organs which compose our corporeal frame. Should the heart refuse
to circulate the blood, and to diffuse through all the various
channels of inter-communication with the members of the body its
life-sustaining pulses, death ensues in a moment.
II. +The same law of mutual dependence reigns in improved civilised
society.+--In man, social as well as individual, the body politic and
social must prosper, or its members suffer. The individual too cannot
suffer without inflicting, by so much, an injury on the community.
The ruler and the subject, the capitalist and the operative, the
merchant, the farmer, the scholar and the artisan, the manufacturer
and the sailor, perform functions alike indispensable to the great
result aimed at or desired by all communities. They are mutually
dependent, are indissolubly united in interest by ties not always
visible, but yet real and essential to the well-being of all parties.
III. I hasten to +apply my subject to the Church,+ where the text
finds illustration yet more pertinent and affecting. The Church is a
community, organised, with special ends to be accomplished, and
endowed with special capabilities and adaptations, yet having many
points of resemblance to human society in general. All the members
and all the officers of the Church are appointed and honoured of God
to be co-workers with Himself, co-agents with the Holy Ghost, in the
edification of the body of Christ. The pastor, not less in the study,
when he gathers things new and old from holy books and common, than
in the pulpit or in breaking the bread of the sacrament at the altar,
or in the sick-chamber--all the subordinate lay ministries devoted to
godly counsel, to faithful admonition, or to the management and
conversation of the material interests of the Church--the pious
mother nurturing up her children in God's love--the sufferer on a bed
of languishing, giving forth blessed examples of patience and
resignation and faith--the teacher of the Sabbath school--they who,
in the Spirit, lift up our joyous songs of praise in the
sanctuary--all who pray in the closet or in the congregation, are,
and should be deemed, essential parts of that good, great system
through whose wondrous, harmonious working God is pleased to renew
and sanctify souls and train them up to be heirs of glory. Who, in
this great co-partnership for honouring Christ, has any ground of
complaint?--the foot, that it is not the head? the eye, that it is
too feeble to do the functions of the brawny arm? the ears, that they
cannot do the office of locomotion? Every part is indispensable. None
can say which is most important in God's plan; and achievements,
ascribed hastily to the eloquence of the preacher, often stand
credited in the record kept above to the prayer of faith.--_Dr. Olin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 17-24.
_A Thorough Moral Transformation_--
+I. Contrasted with a former life of sin.+--1. _A state of
self-induced mental darkness._ "Having the understanding
darkened, . . . because of the blindness of their heart" (ver. 18).
Infidelity is more a moral than a mental obliquity. The mind is
darkened because the heart is bad. Men do not see the truth because
they do not want to see it. The light that would lead to
righteousness and to God is persistently shut out.
2. _A state of moral insensibility that abandoned the soul to the
reckless commission of all kinds of sin._--"Who being past feeling
have given themselves over . . . to work all uncleanness with
greediness" (ver. 19). Sin is made difficult to the beginner. The
barriers set up by a tender conscience, the warnings of nature, the
teachings of providence, the light of revelation, the living examples
of the good, have all to be broken down. Early transgressions are
arrested by the remorse they occasion; but gradually the safeguards
are neglected and despised, until the habit is acquired of sinning
for the love of sin. A spirit of recklessness ensues, the reins are
relaxed and then thrown upon the neck of the passions, and the soul
is abandoned to the indulgence of all kinds of iniquity.
"We are not worst at once. The course of evil
Is of such slight source an infant's hand
Might close its breach with clay;
But let the stream get deeper, and we strive in vain
To stem the headlong torrent."
3. _A state that rendered all mental activities worthless._--"Walk
not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind" (ver. 17).
The art of right thinking was lost. For the man that will not think,
think clearly and justly, the calamities and the raptures of life,
the blessing and the curse, have no meaning. They evoke neither
gratitude nor fear. The beauties of nature, as they sparkle in the
stars, or shine in the flowers, or gleam in the coloured radiance of
the firmament, are unheeded. The voice of God that speaks in the
events of daily life has no lesson for him. The senses, which are
intended as the avenues of light and teaching to the soul, are dulled
by inaction, clogged by supine indifference, and polluted and damaged
by inveterate sin. When the reason is poisoned at its source, all its
deductions are aimless and worthless.
+II. Effected by the personal knowledge of the truth in
Christ.+--"But ye have not so learned Christ, . . . as the truth is
in Jesus" (vers. 20, 21). The Gospel has introduced to the world the
principles of a great moral change. It announces Christ as the light
of the world--a light that shines through all the realms of human
life. The diseased reason is restored to health, the intellectual
faculties have now a theme worthy of their noblest exercise, and are
made stronger and more reliable by being employed on such a theme,
and the moral nature is lifted into a purer region of thought and
experience. The world is to be transformed by the moral
transformation of the individual, and that transformation is effected
only by the truth and a personal faith in Christ.
+III. Involves the renunciation of the corrupting elements of the
former life.+--"That ye put off . . . the old man, which is corrupt"
(ver. 22). The inward change is evidenced by the outward life. The
old man dies, being conquered by the new. Corruption and decay marked
every feature of the old Gentile life. It was gangrened with vice. It
was a life of fleshly pleasure, and could end in only one way--in
disappointment and misery. The new moral order inaugurated by the
Gospel of Christ effected a revolution in human affairs, and the
corrupting elements of the old order must be weeded out and put away.
An excellent man in London kept an institution near the Seven Dials
at his own expense. He spent his nights in bringing the homeless boys
from the streets into it. When they came in he photographed them, and
then they were washed, clothed, and educated. When he sent one out,
having taught him a trade, he photographed him again. The change was
marvellous, and was a constant reminder of what had been done for
him. The change effected in us by the grace of God not only contrasts
with our former life, but should teach us to hate and put away its
corrupting sins.
+IV. Evidenced in investing the soul with the new life Divinely
created and constantly receiving progressive renewal by the Spirit+
(vers. 23, 24).--It is a continual rejuvenation the apostle
describes; the verb is present in tense, and the newness implied is
that of recency and youth, newness in point of age. But the new man
to be put on is of a new kind and order. It is put on when the
Christian way of life is adopted, when we enter personally into the
new humanity founded in Christ. Thus two distinct conceptions of the
life of faith are placed before our minds. It consists, on the one
hand, of a quickening constantly renewed in the springs of our
individual thought and will; and it is at the same time the
assumption of another nature, the investiture of the soul with the
Divine character and form of its being. The inward reception of
Christ's Spirit is attended by the outward assumption of His
character as our calling amongst men. The man of the coming times
will not be atheistic or agnostic; he will be devout; not practising
the world's ethics with the Christian's creed; he will be upright and
generous, manly and God-like (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--1. _Religion is a complete renewal of the soul._ 2. _The
soul is renewed by the instrumentality of the truth._ 3. _The renewal
of the soul is the renewal of the outward life._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 17-19. _The Gentile Life--a Warning._
+I. The Gentiles walked in the vanity of their minds.+--The false
deities the Gentiles worshipped are called vanities. The prevalence
of idolatry is a melancholy proof of the depravity of human nature.
Atheism and idolatry proceed not from the want of sufficient evidence
that there is one eternal, all-perfect Being, but from that
corruption of heart which blinds the understanding and perverts the
judgment.
+II. The heathens were darkened in their understanding.+--Not in
respect of natural things, for in useful arts and liberal sciences
many of them greatly excelled; but in respect of moral truth and
obligation. Their darkness was owing, not solely to the want of
revelation, but to the want of an honest and good heart. Religion
consists not merely in a knowledge of and assent to Divine truths,
but in such conformity of heart to their nature and design, and in
such a view of their reality and importance as will bring the whole
man under their government.
+III. They were alienated from the life of God.+--They walked
according to the course of the world, not according to the will of
God. Their alienation was through ignorance. Particular wrong actions
may be excused on the ground of unavoidable ignorance. This ignorance
had its foundation in the obstinacy and perverseness of the mind.
Such a kind of ignorance, being in itself criminal, will not excuse
the sins which follow from it.
+IV. They were become past feeling.+--This is elsewhere expressed by
a conscience seared with a hot iron. By a course of iniquity the
sinner acquires strong habits of vice. As vicious habits gain
strength, fear, shame, and remorse abate. Repeated violations of
conscience blunt its sensibility and break its power.
+V. They gave themselves over to lasciviousness.+--If we break over
the restraints the Gospel lays upon is, and mock the terrors it holds
up to our view, we not only discover a great vitiosity of mind, but
run to greater lengths in the practice of iniquity. As water, when it
has broken through its mounds, rushes on with more impetuous force
than the natural stream, so the corruptions of the human heart, when
they have borne down the restraints of religion, press forward with
more violent rapidity, and make more awful devastation in the soul
than where these restraints had never been known.
+Reflections.+--1. _How extremely dangerous it is to continue in sin
under the Gospel._ 2. _You have need to guard against the beginnings
of sin._ 3. _Christians must be watchful lest they be led away by the
influence of corrupt example._ 4. _Religion lies much in the temper
of the mind.--Lathrop._
Vers. 17, 18. _The Life of God._
+I. There is but one righteousness, the life of God; there is but one
sin, and that is being alienated from the life of God.+--One man may
commit different sorts of sins from another--one may lie, another may
steal; one may be proud, another may be covetous; but all these
different sins come from the same root of sin, they are all flowers
off the same plant. And St. Paul tells us what that one root of sin,
what that same devil's plant, is, which produces all sin in Christian
brethren. It is that we are every one of us worse than we ought to
be, worse than we know how to be, and, strangest of all, worse that
we wish or like to be. Just as far as we are like the heathen of old,
we shall be worse than we know how to be. For we are all ready enough
to turn heathens again, at any moment. They were alienated from the
life of God--that is, they became strangers to God's life; they
forgot what God's life and character was like; or if they even did
awake a moment, and recollect dimly what God was like, they hated
that thought. They hated to think that God was what He was, and shut
their eyes and stopped their ears as fast as possible. And what
happened to them in the meantime? What was the fruit of their
wilfully forgetting what God's life was? St. Paul tells us that they
fell into the most horrible sins--sins too dreadful and shameful to
be spoken of; and that their common life, even when they did not run
into such fearful evils, was profligate, fierce, and miserable. And
yet St. Paul tells us all the while they knew the judgment of God,
that those who do such things are worthy of death.
+II. These men saw that man ought to be like God; they saw that God
was righteous and good; and they saw, therefore, that unrighteousness
and sin must end in ruin and everlasting misery.+--So much God had
taught them, but not much more; but to St. Paul He had taught more.
Those wise and righteous heathen could show their sinful neighbours
that sin was death, and that God was righteous; but they could not
tell them how to rise out of the death of sin into God's life of
righteousness. They could preach the terrors of the law, but they did
not know the good news of the Gospel, and therefore they did not
succeed; they did not convert their neighbours to God. Then came St.
Paul and preached to the very same people, and he did convert them to
God; for he had good news for them, of things which prophets and
kings had desired to see, and had not seen themselves, and to hear,
and had not heard them. And so God, and the life of God, was
manifested in the flesh and reasonable soul of a man; and from that
time there is no doubt what the life of God is, for the life of God
is the life of Christ. There is no doubt now what God is like, for
God is like Jesus Christ.
+III. Now what is the everlasting life of God, which the Lord Jesus
Christ lived perfectly,+ and which He can and will make every one of
us live, in proportion as we give up our hearts and wills to Him, and
ask Him to take charge of us and shape us and teach us? And God is
perfect love, because He is perfect righteousness; for His love and
His justice are not two different things, two different parts of God,
as some say, who fancy that God's justice had to be satisfied in one
way and His love in another, and talk of God as if His justice fought
against His love, and desired the death of a sinner, and then His
love fought against His justice, and desired to save a sinner. The
old heathen did not like such a life, therefore they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge. They knew that man ought to be like
God; and St. Paul says they ought to have known what God was
like--that He was love; for St. Paul told them He left not Himself
without witness, in that He sent rain and fruitful seasons, filling
their hearts with food and gladness. That was, in St. Paul's eyes,
God's plainest witness of Himself--the sign that God was love, making
His sun shine on the just and on the unjust, and good to the
unthankful and the evil--in one word, perfect, because He is perfect
love. But they preferred to be selfish, covetous, envious,
revengeful, delighting to indulge themselves in filthy pleasures, to
oppress and defraud each other.
+IV. God is love.+--As I told you just now, the heathen of old might
have known that, if they chose to open their eyes and see. But they
would not see. They were dark, cruel, and unloving, and therefore
they fancied that God was dark, cruel, and unloving also. They did
not love love, and therefore they did not love God, for God is love.
And therefore they did not love each other, but lived in hatred and
suspicion and selfishness and darkness. They were but heathen. But if
even they ought to have known that God was love, how much more we?
For we know of a deed of God's love, such as those poor heathen never
dreamed of. And then, if we have God abiding with us, and filling us
with His eternal life, what more do we need for life, or death, or
eternity, or eternities of eternities? For we shall live in and with
and by God, who can never die or change, an everlasting life of
love.--_C. Kingsley._
Ver. 19. _Past Feeling._--1. Though original sin has seized upon the
whole soul, yet the Lord has kept so much knowledge of Himself and of
right and wrong in the understanding of men as they may know when
they sin, and so much of conscience as to accuse or excuse according
to the nature of the fact, whereupon follows grief or joy in their
affections. Wicked men may arrive at such a height of sin as to have
no sense of sin, no grief, nor check, nor challenge from conscience
from it. 2. A watchful conscience doing its duty is the strongest
restraint from sin; and where that is not, all other restraints will
serve for little purpose. For a man to be given over to
lasciviousness without check or challenge argues a great height of
impiety. 3. As upon senseless stupidity of conscience there follows
an unsatiableness in sinning especially in the sin of uncleanness, so
when a man comes to this, he is then arrived at the greatest height
of sin unto which the heathens, destitute of the knowledge of God,
ever attained.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 20-24. _Putting off the Old Nature and putting on the New._
+I. The change here spoken of is radically seated in the
mind.+--These terms do not import the creation of new powers and
faculties, but the introduction of new tempers and qualities. The
renovation enlightens the eyes of the understanding, and gives new
apprehensions of Divine things. It purifies the affections and
directs them to their proper objects. There are new purposes and
resolutions.
+II. He who is renewed puts off the old man.+--The new spirit is
opposite to sin and strives against it. The Christian mortifies the
affections and lusts of the flesh because he has found them
deceitful. He in deliberate and hearty purpose renounces all sin. He
abstains from the appearance of evil.
+III. He puts on the new man.+--As the former signifies a corrupt
temper and conversation, so the latter must intend a holy and
virtuous disposition and character. The new man is renewed in
righteousness and true holiness. He not only ceases to do evil, but
learns to do well.
+IV. The pattern according to which the new man is formed is the
image of God.+--The likeness must be understood with limitations. The
image of God in us bears no resemblance to the perfections in the
Divine nature, such as immensity, immutability, and independence.
There are some essential properties of the new man to which there is
nothing analogous in the Deity. Reverence, obedience, trust, and
resignation are excellencies in rational creatures; but cannot be
ascribed to the Creator. In those moral perfections in which the new
man is made like God there is only a faint resemblance, not an
equality. The new man resembles God in mercy and goodness, in
holiness, in truth.
+V. This great change is effected by the Gospel.+--It was the
consequence of their having learned Christ. The first production and
improvement of this change is the work of Divine grace, and the
Spirit of God works on the soul by means of the Word. To this change
the use of means and the grace of God are both necessary.
+VI. The change is great.+--Let none imagine he is a subject of this
change merely because he entertains some new sentiments, feels
transient emotions, or has renounced some of his former guilty
practices. The real nature and essence of conversion is the same in
all.--_Lathrop._
_Religious Affections are attended with a Change of Nature._
+I. What is conversion?+--1. A change of nature. 2. A permanent
change. 3. A universal change. 4. A union of God's spirit with the
faculties of the soul. 5. Christ by His grace savingly lives in the
soul.
+II. Its connection with sanctification.+--1. All the affections and
discoveries subsequent to the first conversion are transforming.
2. This transformation of nature is continuous until the end of life,
when it is brought to perfection in glory.
+III. Reflections.+--1. Allowance must be made for the natural
temper. 2. Affections which have no abiding effect are not spiritual
and gracious. 3. In some way it will be evident, even to others, that
the true disciple has been with Jesus.--_Lewis O. Thompson._
Ver. 23. _The Christian Spirit, a New Spirit._
+I. There are some changes in men which come not up to the renewed
spirit, and yet are too often rested in.+--1. The assuming of a new
name and profession is a very different thing from a saving change in
the temper of the mind. We may be of any profession, and yet be
unrenewed. People value themselves upon wearing the Christian name,
instead of that of Pagan, or Jew, or Mahometan; or upon being styled
Papists or Protestants; or upon their attaching themselves to one or
another noted party, into which these are subdivided, and upon such a
new appellation they are too ready to imagine that they are new men:
whereas we may go the round of all professions, and still have the
old nature remaining in full force. 2. A bare restraint upon the
corrupt spirit and temper will not come up to this renovation, though
the one may sometimes be mistaken for the other. The light of nature
may possess conscience against many evils, or a sober education lay
such a bridle upon the corrupt inclination as will keep it in for a
season, the fear of punishment or of shame and reproach may suppress
the outward criminal act, while the heart is full of ravening and
wickedness. Therefore, though it is a plain sign of an unrenewed mind
if a man live in any course of gross sin, yet it is not safe to
conclude merely from restraints that a man is truly renewed. 3. A
partial change in the temper itself will not amount to such a
renovation as makes a true Christian. Indeed, in one sense the change
is but partial in any in this life; there will be remains of disorder
in all the powers of the soul, so as to exclude a pretence to
absolute perfection. It is not enough to have the mind filled with
sound knowledge and useful notions, nor barely to give a dead assent
to the doctrines of the Gospel, unless we believe with the heart, and
the will and affections be brought under the power of those truths;
and even here there may be some alteration, and yet a man not be
renewed. Nor is it sufficient that we should find ourselves disposed
to some parts of goodness, while our hearts are utterly averse to
others which are equally plain. And therefore, though we should be of
a courteous, peaceable, and kind temper towards men; though we should
be inclined to practise justice, liberality, truth, and honesty in
our transactions with them, and to temperance and chastity in our
personal conduct; though these are excellent branches of the
Christian spirit; yet if there be not a right temper towards God
also, if the fear and love of God are not the ruling principles of
the soul, there is an essential defect in the Christian spirit.
+II. A particular view of this renovation in some principal acts of
the mind.+--1. The mind comes to have different apprehensions of
things, such as it had not before. The new creation begins with
light, as the old is represented to do. Light bearing in, and the
mind being fixed in attention, man discerns the great corruption of
his heart, and the badness of the principles and ends which governed
him in the appearances of goodness, upon which he valued himself
before. And so the excellency and suitableness of Christ, in all His
offices, and the necessity of real, inward holiness, appear in quite
another manner to his soul than hitherto. 2. The practical judgment
is altered. This light, shining with clearness and strength into the
mind, unsettles and changes the whole practical judgment by which a
man suffered himself to be governed before in the matters of his
soul. He judges those truths of religion to be real which once had no
more force with him than doubtful conclusions, and accordingly he
cannot satisfy himself any longer barely not to disbelieve them, but
gives a firm and lively assent to them. 3. A new turn is given to the
reasoning faculty, and a new use made of it. When the Word of God is
mighty it casts down imaginations; so we render the original word
(2 Cor. x. 5). It properly signifies "reasonings." Not that the
faculty itself is altered, or that when men begin to be religious
they lay aside reasoning; then in truth they act with the highest
reason; they reason most justly and most worthy of their natures. But
now the wrong bias, which was upon the reasoning faculty from old
prejudices and headstrong inclinations, is in a good measure taken
off; so that instead of its being pressed at all adventures into the
service of sin, it is employed a better way, and concludes with more
truth and impartiality. 4. There is an alteration in man's governing
aim, or chief end. This is like the centre, to which all inferior
aims and particular pursuits tend. The original end of a reasonable
creature must be to enjoy the favour of God as his supreme happiness,
to be acceptable and pleasing to Him. By the disposition of depraved
nature we are gone off from this centre, and have changed our bias,
from God to created good, to the pleasing of the flesh, to the
gratification of our own humour, or to the obtaining of some present
satisfaction, according to the prevailing dictate of fancy or
appetite. This makes the greatest turn that can be in the spirit of
the mind; all must be out of course till this be set right. Now it is
the most essential part of the new nature to bring a sinner in this
respect to himself, that is, to bring him back to God. All the light
he receives, all the rectification of his judgment, is in order to
this; and when this is well settled, everything else, which was out
of course before, will return to its right channel. 5. There is
hereupon a new determination to such a course of acting as will most
effectually secure this end. As long as this world is the chief good
which a man has in view, he contrives the best ways he can think of
to promote his particular ends in it. But when the favour of God
comes to have the principal share in his esteem, he carefully
examines and heartily consents to the prescribed terms of making that
sure. Now he is desirous to be found in Christ upon any terms. 6. The
exercise of the affections becomes very different. A change will
appear in this respect, through the different turns of his condition
as well as in the prevailing tenor of his practice. While a man is a
stranger to God and blind to the interests of his soul, he is little
concerned how matters lie between God and him. But a sinner come to
himself is most tenderly concerned at anything that renders his
interests in God doubtful or brings his covenant-relation into
question; and nothing sets the springs of godly sorrow flowing so
much as the consciousness of guilt, or of any unworthy behaviour to
God.
+Lessons.+--1. _Let us seriously examine our own minds, whether we
can discern such an alteration made in our spirit._ 2. _If we must
answer in the negative, or have just ground to fear it, yet let us
not despair of a change still, but apply ourselves speedily in the
appointed way to seek after it._ 3. _Let the best retain a sense of
the imperfection of the new nature in them, and of their obligation
still to cultivate it, till it arrive at perfection.--Dr. Evans._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 25-32.
_Christian Principles applied to Common Life._
Let us put these principles into the form of concrete precepts.
+I. Be truthful.+--"Putting away lying, speak every man truth, . . .
for we are members one of another" (ver. 25). Society is so clearly
welded together and interdependent that the evil effects of a
falsehood not only damage others but rebound ultimately towards the
man who uttered it. A lie is a breach of promise; for whosoever
seriously addresses his discourse to another tacitly promises to
speak the truth, because he knows the truth is expected. Truth never
was indebted to a lie. "In the records of all human affairs," writes
Froude, "it cannot be too often insisted on that two kinds of truths
run for ever side by side, or rather crossing in and out with each
other form the warp and woof of the coloured web we call history: the
one the literal and eternal truths corresponding to the eternal and
as yet undiscovered laws of fact; the other the truths of feeling and
thought, which embody themselves either in distorted pictures of
outward things or in some entirely new creation--sometimes moulding
and shaping history; sometimes taking the form of heroic biography,
tradition, or popular legend."
+II. Avoid sinful anger.+--"Be ye angry, and sin not: . . . neither
give place to the devil" (vers. 26, 27). Anger is not forbidden. A
nature ardent for truth and justice burns with indignation against
cruelty and wrong. But it is a dangerous passion even for the best of
men, and is apt to exceed the limits of prudence and affection. To
nurse our wrath and brood over our imagined wrongs is to give place
to the devil, who is ever near to blow up the dying embers of our
anger. Plutarch tells us it was an ancient rule of the Pythagoreans
that, if at any time they happened to be provoked by anger to abusive
language, before the sun set they would take each other's hands, and
embracing make up their quarrel. The Christian must not be behind the
pagan in placability and forgiveness.
+III. Be honest.+--"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let
him labour" (ver. 28). Laziness is a fruitful source of dishonesty,
and is itself dishonest. There are sensitive natures to whom it is
very difficult to be dishonest. In Abraham Lincoln's youthful days he
was a storekeeper's clerk. Once, after he had sold a woman a little
bill of goods and received the money, he found on looking over the
account again that she had given him six and a quarter cents too
much. The money burned in his hands until he had locked the shop and
started on a walk of several miles in the night to make restitution
before he slept. On another occasion, after weighing and delivering a
pound of tea, he found a small weight upon the scales. He immediately
weighed out the quantity of tea which he had innocently defrauded the
customer, and went in search for her, his sensitive conscience not
permitting any delay. The thief is not reformed and made an
industrious worker by simply showing him the advantages of honesty.
The apostle appeals to a higher motive--sympathy for the needy--"That
he may have to give to him that needeth." Let the spirit of love and
brotherhood be aroused, and the indolent become diligent, the
pilferer honest.
+IV. Be circumspect in speech.+--"Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth" (ver. 29). The possession of a human
tongue is an immense responsibility. Infinite good or mischief lies
in its power. The apostle does not simply forbid injurious words; he
puts an embargo on all that is not positively useful. Not that he
requires all Christian speech to be grave and serious. It is the mere
talk, whether frivolous or pompous--spoken from the pulpit or the
easy-chair--the incontinence of tongue, the flux of senseless,
graceless, unprofitable utterance, that he desires to arrest
(_Findlay_).
+V. Grieve not the Holy Spirit+ (ver. 30).--Perhaps in nothing do we
grieve the Spirit more than by foolish and unprofitable speech, or by
listening willingly and without protest to idle gossip and
uncharitable backbiting. His sealing of our hearts becomes fainter,
and our spiritual life declines, as we become indiscreet and vain in
speech.
+VI. Guard against a malicious disposition.+--"Let all bitterness,
wrath, anger, clamour, and evil speaking be put away, with all
malice" (ver. 31). _Malice_ is badness of disposition, the aptness to
envy and hatred, which apart from any special occasion is always
ready to break out in bitterness and wrath. _Bitterness_ is malice
sharpened to a point and directed against the exasperating object.
_Wrath_ and _anger_ are synonymous, the former being the passionate
outburst of resentment in rage, the latter the settled indignation of
the aggrieved soul. _Clamour_ and _railing_ give audible expression
to these and their kindred tempers. Clamour is a loud self-assertion
of the angry man who will make every one hear his grievance; while
the railer carries the war of the tongue into his enemy's camp and
vents his displeasure in abuse and insult. Never to return evil for
evil and railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing--this is one
of the lessons most difficult to flesh and blood (_Findlay_).
+VII. Cherish a forgiving spirit.+--"Be ye kind, . . . forgiving one
another, even as God hath forgiven you" (ver. 32). It is man-like to
resent an injury; it is Christ-like to forgive it. It is a triumph of
Divine grace when the man who has suffered the injury is the most
eager to effect a reconciliation. Dean Hook relates he was once asked
to see a gentleman who had ill-treated him. Found him very thin and
ill. Told me that he was conscious that his feelings and conduct had
not been towards me what they ought to have been for years. I told
him that whenever there was a quarrel there were sure to be faults on
both sides, and that there must be no question as to the more or
less, but the forgiveness must be mutual. I kissed his hand, and we
wept and prayed together. O God, have mercy on him and me for Jesu's
sake! I have had a taste of heaven where part of our joy will surely
consist in our reconciliations.
+Lessons.+--1. _Religion governs the whole man._ 2. _True religion is
intensely practical._ 3. _Religion gives a nameless charm to the
commonest duties._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 25. _Truth between Man and Man._
+I. The duty of veracity here recommended.+--1. Truth is to be
observed in common conversation. People have more special need, in
some respects, to be admonished of their obligations inviolably to
maintain truth here; for many are more ready to allow themselves to
transgress in what they account trivial instances than upon solemn
occasions; and yet by such beginnings way is made for the disregard
of truth, in the most considerable matters, in process of time.
2. Truth should be maintained in bearing testimony. A conscientious
regard to truth will engage us to be very careful that we spread
nothing to the lessening or reproach of our neighbour of which we
have not good assurance; that we publish not a defamation upon
hearsay, nor take up, without sufficient grounds, "a report against
our neighbour." If we are called to give public testimony between man
and man, a sincere respect to truth will engage us to a careful
recollection, before we give our testimony, as to what we can say
upon the matter. It will dispose to lay aside affection on one hand
and prejudice on the other, and impartially to relate the true state
of things as far as we can bear witness to them, nakedly to represent
facts as they have come within our notice. 3. Truth must be exercised
in our promises and engagements, and veracity requires two things in
relation to them: (1) That we really intend to perform them when they
are made; (2) That we are careful of performance after they are made.
+II. The reason the apostle gives for the inviolable maintenance of
truth: because we are members one of another.+--1. This argument is
applicable to mankind in general. We are members one of another, as
we partake of the same human nature, and in that respect are upon a
level. We are members of society in common, entitled to the same
rights, claims, and expectations one from another as men, and are
mutually helpful and subservient as the members of the body are to
each other; and the principal link that holds us together is mutual
confidence, founded upon the hope of common fidelity. Now, lying
makes void and useless the great instrument of society, the faculty
of speech or writing. The power of speech was given us by our
Creator, and the art of writing, since found out, on purpose that we
might be able so to convey our sense to others, that they may discern
it, where we pretend to express it, just as if they were so far privy
to what passed in our minds. And unless truth be inviolably observed
in everything, the bonds of human society cannot fail to be weakened.
2. This argument may be particularly applicable to Christians. We are
members one of another in a more distinguishing sense, as we belong
to the body of Christ. And this lays additional engagements upon all
the visible members of that body to put away lying and to speak the
truth one to the other,--in conformity to the common Father, to whom
we belong, who is eminently styled "a God of truth"; in conformity to
our head the Lord Jesus, there should be a strict observation of
truth among Christians; in conformity to the Spirit that animates us,
who is eminently described by this attribute, "the Spirit of truth."
+Inferences.+--1. This is one remarkable evidence how much
Christianity is calculated for the benefit of mankind and the good of
society at present, as well as for our everlasting welfare, in that
it so strictly enjoins and enforces the exacted regard of truth.
2. We see thence upon how good reason the Christian religion strictly
forbids common swearing. 3. All that name the name of Christ are
concerned to see that they comply with the exhortation. 4. Christians
should do all they can to promote truth among others, both for the
honour of God, and the spiritual and eternal good of their
neighbours, and the general interest of society.--_Jeremiah Seed._
_The Sin of Falsehood._
+I. There are cases in which one may speak that which is not true and
yet not be chargeable with lying, for he may have no intention to
deceive.+
+II. The grossest kind of lying, or speaking a known falsehood under
the awful solemnity of an oath.+--Men violate truth when they affix
to words an arbitrary meaning or make in their own minds certain
secret reservations with a design to disguise facts and deceive the
hearers. When we express doubtful matters in terms and with an air of
assurance, we may materially injure as well as grossly deceive our
neighbour. Men are guilty of malicious falsehood when they repeat
with romantic additions and fictitious embellishments the stories
they have heard of a neighbour that they may excite against him
severer ridicule or cast on his character a darker stain. Men may
utter a falsehood by the tone of their voice, while their words are
literally true.
+III. We are bound to speak truth in our common and familiar
conversation.+--We must speak truth in our commerce with one another.
In giving public testimony we must be careful to say nothing but
truth, and conceal no part of the truth. We must adhere to truth when
we speak of men's actions or characters. We must observe truth in our
promises.
+IV. A regard to truth is a necessary part of the Christian
character.+--Deceitfulness is contrary, not only to the express
commands of the Gospel, but to the dictates of natural conscience.
+V. The argument the apostle urges for the maintenance of
truth.+--"We are members one of another." As men we are members one
of another. As Christians we are children of the same God, the God of
truth; we are disciples of the same Lord, the faithful and true
Witness. If we walk in guile and deceit, if we practise vile arts of
dishonesty, we contradict our human and our Christian character. We
see the danger of profane language, as it leads to the grossest kind
of falsehood, even to perjury in public testimony. We see how
dangerous it is to practise those diversions which are attended with
temptations to fraud.--_Lathrop._
_College Life._ "For we are members one of another."
+I. It is for us who govern and teach to remember how great is our
responsibility in those respects.+--We are not merely instructors but
educators of youth. The question of what books we use or what
vehicles of teaching we employ sinks into insignificance compared
with the question what end it is we design in our teaching. Are we
prepared to abdicate our higher functions of educators and to sink
down to the lower one of teachers? Must we not, if we are are true to
our calling, strive to instil into you that manliness which springs
from the fear of God, that truthfulness which is seen in the frank
look and unshrinking eye, that obedience which is rendered in no
spirit of servility as unto the Lord and not as unto men, that
self-mastery which is the foundation of all wisdom and all power? If
the soul is of more value than the body, if the life to come is of
more importance than the life that now is, if the knowledge of God
and His Christ is infinitely more precious than all the knowledge of
this world and all the distinction to which it leads--then there can
be no question that education is infinitely before instruction, that
principles are higher than knowledge, that knowledge is only of value
in proportion as it is pervaded and sanctified by the Spirit of
Christ. But precept without example is powerless. A man whose life is
pure and high may not open his lips, yet his very silence shall be
eloquent for God. Day by day a virtue is going out of him; day by day
he is giving strength to one who is wrestling with doubt or
temptation; day by day he is a beacon to those who are tossed on the
waves of irresolution and uncertainty. The teacher, if he is to
produce a powerful moral effect, if he is to mould character, if he
is to leave an impress upon the minds and hearts of those whom he
teaches, must be what he teaches, must live what he inculcates.
+II. And now I would place before you your duties.+--1. Keep
distinctly before you the end and aim of your coming here--the
ministry of Christ's Church. 2. You are members of a community. You
are all united to one another. You have all common pursuits, common
ends, common interests. You may all help greatly to make or to mar
the lives and characters of those with whom you are in such constant
and daily intercourse. Let this consideration have its full weight
with you. Be but true to yourselves, and to the God who has called
you to the knowledge of Himself and His Son Jesus Christ, and by you
this college shall grow and prosper. If principles and aims such as
those I have endeavoured to indicate prevail in a college, there will
be a real and substantial harmony between those who govern and those
who are governed. Let us strive one and all, teachers and taught, to
make this our college a college of which none can be
ashamed.--_J. J. Stewart Perowne (preached on the forty-sixth
anniversary of St. David's College, Lampeter)._
Vers. 26, 27. _Sinful Anger._
+I. These words are not an injunction to be angry, but a caution not
to sin when we are angry.+--As there is in our nature a principle of
resentment against injury, so there is in us a virtuous temper, a
holy displeasure against moral evil.
+II. Anger is sinful when it rises without cause.+--Rash anger is
sinful. Anger is sinful when it breaks out into indecent, reviling,
and reproachful language; when it promotes to designs or acts of
revenge; when it settles into malice.
+III. Neither give place to the devil.+--See that you subdue your
lusts and rule your spirits. Arm yourselves with the sword of the
Spirit, which is the Word of God. Take time to consider whether any
motive suggested in favour of sin is so powerful as the arguments the
Scriptures offer against it. Our greatest danger is from
ourselves.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 26. _Anger and Meekness._
+I. In what cases our anger may be innocently indulged.+--1. On the
approach of any injurious aggressor threatening our destruction, or
using any act of violence that may endanger our safety. 2. How far
soever the harsh gratings of anger may seem to be removed from the
soft motions of benevolence, yet these sometimes, as oil does to
steel, give an edge to our resentment; where it will be found not
only innocent and excusable, but even commendable and generous. As in
the natural system of the world there are some repelling qualities,
which yet must conspire to aid the grand power of attraction; so even
those passions which, considered in a simple view, have but an
unfriendly and unsociable aspect, are yet, in their general
comprehension, aiding and assisting to preserve inviolable the bonds
of the great community. 3. Our anger is apt to kindle at the
apprehension of a slight or an affront, a contempt or reproach thrown
upon us; on which occasions, if the apprehension be well grounded,
our resentment, to a certain degree, must be allowed to be excusable,
and so not sinful. Our tameness in these instances would be construed
into stupidity, and be treated as such by the pert and petulant.
4. We may not only be angry without sinning in the instances alleged,
as we sometimes may sin in not being angry. God, who designed human
society, designed the good of it; and that good to be promoted by
every individual to the utmost of his power. Hereby there is tacitly
committed to every man a kind of trust and guardianship of virtue
whose rights he is obliged to support and maintain in proportion to
his abilities; not only by example, by advice and exhortation, but
even by reproof and resentment, suitable to the circumstances of the
offender and the offence.
+II. When our anger becomes intemperate and unlawful.+--1. When it
breaks out into outrageous actions; for then, like a boisterous wind,
it quite puts out that light which should guide our feet in the way
of peace; it dethrones our reason, and suspends its exercise. An
extravagance of this kind is the more dangerous, and therefore the
more sinful, because, though the impulse of passion should meet with
no opposition to inflame it--which, however, is generally the
case--yet, when it has worked the blood into so violent a ferment, it
is apt of itself to redouble its force. And no one can tell what
fury, wound up to the highest pitch, may produce. 2. Anger becomes
unlawful when it vents itself in unseemly and reviling language. It
were to be wished that those who have such a peculiar delicacy of
feeling when they are affronted would abstain from all appearance of
an affrontive and disrespectful behaviour to others; that they who
are so quick to receive would be as slow to give an affront. On the
contrary it often happens that they only feel for themselves; they
are not the least sensible of the indignities offered to others. How
frequently do those who are highly enraged pass a general and
undistinguishing censure upon a man's character? 3. We are not always
to judge of the sinfulness of anger from the open and undignified
appearance of it, either in our words or actions; it may be concealed
and treasured up in our thoughts, and yet retain as much malignity as
when it immediately breaks out and discovers itself in contumelious
language or acts of violence. For by brooding in the mind it becomes
the parent of a very untoward issue, malice, and hatred. Malice is a
cool and deliberate resentment; but sometimes more keen and
malevolent than that which is rash and precipitate. It is like a
massive stone, slowly raised, but threatening the greater danger to
him on whom it shall fall. Anger is yet sinful when encouraged in our
thoughts to the degree of hatred.
+III. Consider its opposite virtue, meekness.+--Meekness, is, as
Aristotle long ago defined it, a due mean between tameness and
stupidity on the one hand, and rage and fury on the other. It is not
absolute freedom from passion, but such a command over it as to
prevent our being transported beyond the bounds of humanity and good
sense. It is this virtue which, if it does not give a man such a
glaring and shining figure as some other good qualities, yet
constitutes the most lovely, beautiful, and agreeable character, and
gains unenvied praise. 1. A meek man will have sense enough to know
when he is injured, and spirit enough to resent it; but then he will
consider whether he can do more good by openly resenting the offence
and punishing the offender than by overlooking it and passing it by.
2. A man of meek temper will distinguish between a man's general
standing sentiments when he is perfectly calm and undisturbed and his
occasional sentiments when his spirits are ruffled and overheated.
3. A meek man will never be angry with a person for telling him what
he imagines to be a fault in him, provided it be done in a private
manner, and the advice be conveyed in the most palatable vehicle.
4. A man of a meek spirit is glad to be reconciled to the person who
has offended or injured him, and therefore is ready to hearken to all
overtures of accommodation. A meek man will show such an inclination
and readiness to forgive the offences of others as if he had
perpetual need of the same indulgence, but will so carefully avoid
giving the least offence as if it might be thought he would forgive
nobody.
+Lessons.+--1. Let us endeavour to acquire a greatness of mind: by
this I do not mean arrogance, for that bespeaks a little mind--a mind
that can reflect on nothing within itself that looks great except
arrogance; but a true greatness of mind arises from a true judgment
of things, and a noble ascendency of the soul inclining us to act
above what is barely our duty. It is rising to the sublime in virtue.
This will create a reverence for ourselves, and will set us as far
above the mean gratification of giving any real occasion of passion
to others, as of being susceptible of it when an occasion may be
given to us. 2. One of the ancients said that he had gained one
advantage from philosophy: that it had brought him to wonder at
nothing. But it looks as if we, the generality of us, were strangers
in the world; we are ever expressing our surprise and wonder at
everything; and thus surprise prepares the way for passion. We wonder
that we should meet with such a behaviour, such a treatment, such an
affront; whereas the greatest wonder is that we should wonder at it.
3. Nothing can have so prevalent a power to still all the undue
agitations of passion so apt to arise from the various connections we
have with the prejudices and passions of others, nothing so fit to
induce a smooth and easy flow of temper, as a frequent application to
the throne of grace, to beseech Him, who is the God of Peace, that
His peace may rule in our heats, that it may be the fixed and
predominant principle there.--_Jeremiah Seed._
Ver. 28. _A Warning against Theft._
+I. Here is a general prohibition of theft.+--This supposes distinct
rights and separate properties. Stealing is taking and carrying away
another's goods in a secret manner and without his consent. The
prohibition relates to every unfair, indirect, dishonest way by which
one may transfer to himself the property of another.
+II. This prohibition of theft is a virtual injunction of
labour.+--If a man may not live at the expense of others, he must
live at his own; and if he has not the means of subsistence, he must
labour to acquire them. No man has a right to live on charity so long
as he can live by labour. The obligation to labour is not confined to
the poor; it extends to all according to their several capacities.
+III. Every man must choose for himself an honest calling, and must
work that which is good.+--A work in which a man makes gain by the
expense and enriches himself by the loss of others is theft
embellished and refined. Gaming, when it is used as an art to get
money, is criminal, because it is unprofitable, and what one gains by
it another must lose.
+IV. In all our labours we should have regard to the good of
others.+--The man who is poor should aim to mend his circumstances
and to provide not only for his immediate support but for his future
necessities. The condition which subjects us to labour does not
exempt us from obligations to beneficence. We must confine ourselves
within our own proper sphere, for here we can do more good than
elsewhere. In all our works, secular or spiritual, charity must
direct us. Love is an essential principle in religion, and as
essential in one man as another.--_Lathrop._
_St. Paul's Exaltation of Labour._
+I. St. Paul often recurs to the plain and quiet work of humble
life.+--He enforces not only the duty of it, but how high the duty
ranks; and if it is well done, how it raises those who do it. Having
worked with his own hands, he appreciated the sterling test of honest
attention to work. He knew what temptations there were to relax and
to give in to the sense of tediousness day by day and hour by hour.
St. Paul, who honours the industry of a slave, will not allow it to
be dishonoured by the slave himself thinking himself superior to it,
and discourages all high flights which set him at enmity with his
work and draw him away from the sterling Christian yoke of humble
labour to which he has been called in God's providence.
II. At the same time the apostle +does not honour all industry;+ far
from it. He always reprobates the covetous, money-getting spirit. He
admires industry, but it must be industry which is consecrated by the
motive; and the motive which he requires for it is that of duty--when
a man fulfils in the fear of God the task which is allotted to him.
Men form their religious standard by two distinct tests: one the law
of conscience and obedience to God, the other what is striking to
man. St. Paul's standard is seen in his sympathy with the work of the
ruler of a household, with the work of a father or mother of a
family, the work of hospitality and attention to strangers, the work
of common trades and callings, the work even of the slave in doing
his assigned daily tasks.
III. We see the spirit of this great apostle--how +it embraced the
whole appointed lot of man,+ from his highest to his most humble
field of employment. He rejected nothing as mean or low that came by
God's appointment; all was good, all was excellent, all was
appropriate that He had commanded. The heathen valued all labour by
which men became eloquent or became able soldiers or statesmen; but
they had not the slightest respect for the ordinary work of mankind.
They thought this world made for the rich. How different is St.
Paul's view! No work allotted to man is servile work in his eyes,
because he has an insight into what faithful labour is--what strength
of conscience it requires, what resistance to temptations and snares
it demands. The Word of God consecrates the ordinary work of man--it
converts it into every one's trial, and as his special trial his
special access to a reward also.--_J. B. Mozley._
Ver. 29. _The Government of the Tongue._
I. The apostle +cautions us against all loose and licentious
language.+
+II. Enticing language is forbidden.+
+III. Corrupt communication includes all kinds of vain discourse;+
all such language as offends Christian sobriety, seriousness,
and gravity, savours of profaneness and impiety, or borders on
obscenity and lewdness.
+IV. Instruction is useful to edifying.+
+V. Reproof conducted with prudence is useful to edifying.+
+VI. Exhortation is good for the use of edifying.+
+VII. Christians may edify one another by communicating things they
have experienced in the course of the religious life.+
+VIII. Conversing on religious subjects in general is good for the
use of edifying.+--_Lathrop._
Ver. 30. _The Benefit conferred by the Spirit on Believers._
+I. That believers are sealed by the Spirit implies that they are
recognised and set apart and in a peculiar sense the Divine
property.+--1. A seal is often a distinguishing mark or token by
which a claim to property may be shown and established (Rev. iii. 2,
3). 2. That believers are thus sealed proves that they are His in a
peculiar manner. 3. The sense in which they are His is clearly
brought out (1 Cor. iii. 23). They are Christ's by gift, by purchase,
by conquest, by surrender. Christ is God's, and His people in Him.
4. They who are sealed are thus a peculiar people, separated to God's
worship, service, and glory. 5. Have you recognised practically that
you are God's?
+II. That believers are sealed implies that attempts will be made to
alienate them from God's possession.+--1. A mark or token is affixed
to that which is in danger of being taken away. 2. We are distinctly
taught that believers are exposed to efforts to separate them from
God (John x. 7-10, 27-29). 3. The activity of the wicked one seems in
a great measure directed to this point. 4. The doctrine of the
perseverance of the saints does not lead him to indolence. 5. Your
safety is not merely to get into the place of safety, but to continue
there.
+III. That believers are sealed implies that they have received the
impress of the Divine image.+--1. The sealing is the work of the
Spirit, whose office it is to regenerate and sanctify. 2. The seal is
that which distinguishes the believer from the unbeliever, and the
true distinguishing mark is regeneration. 3. We therefore conclude
that the seal has engraven on it the image of God, which it leaves.
4. The confidence of no one should outrun his sanctification. 5. Can
you discern the outline of the image? There are counterfeits.
+IV. That believers are sealed implies that, though associated and
mixed up with others, they are not confounded with them.+--1. A
distinguishing mark is necessary when things which are again to be
separated and classified are mingled with each other. 2. The seal
leads to recognition. Hence the believer is known by himself,
fellow-believers, the world, the devil, angels, Christ, the Father.
3. This recognition takes place in time, at the judgment, in eternity.
+V. That believers are sealed implies that God will visit the earth
with distinguishing judgments.+--In proof and illustration (Exek.
ix.; Rev. vii., ix.). The Passover. The destruction of Jerusalem.
Now. The judgment day. Are you prepared for such a season?
+VI. That believers are sealed implies that they are in a state of
reservation.+--A seal is a pledge, a signature. An engagement
presently fulfilled needs no pledge.--_Stewart._
_The Office of the Holy Spirit and the Danger of grieving Him._
+I. His office is to seal us unto the day of redemption.+--That day
in which the people of God will be put into complete possession of
the blessings purchased for them by Christ. To seal us to this day is
to prepare us and to set us apart from it, to fix such a mark on us
as in that day shall distinguish us from others and make it fully
appear to whom we belong. When a man sets his seal to a paper, he
thereby declares his approbation of it and acknowledges it to be his
own deed. Those who bear the seal of the Spirit will be approved by
Christ and acknowledged for His own in the day of resurrection. A
seal stamps its own image on the wax. The Spirit stamps on the soul
the image of Himself. This seal is said to be the earnest of our
inheritance. An earnest is a pledge of something to be bestowed and
enjoyed hereafter--a part of it is already bestowed to assure us that
in due time we shall receive the whole.
+II. He is not to be grieved.+--1. Beware of doing anything which
your conscience, enlightened by the Word of God, forbids you to do.
2. Beware of running into temptation. 3. Beware of indulging fleshly
lusts. 4. Beware of practising deceit and falsehood. 5. Beware of
profaning the Lord's Day. 6. Beware of cherishing evil and malignant
tempers.--_E. Cooper._
_On Grieving the Holy Spirit._
+I. Our duty is to render to the Holy Spirit cheerful and universal
obedience.+
+II. The Spirit is the great Sanctifier.+
+III. We must co-operate diligently in the production of the fruits of
the Spirit.+
+IV. Our danger is in quenching the Spirit.+--Our light grows dim,
and we gradually adopt evil habits. We neither see nor heed
spiritual dangers. Religious sensibilities are blunted. How far
any of us have gone in resisting the Spirit God alone knows.
Many who resist great light and strong impressions seem never
to feel again.--_Olin._
_Grieving the Spirit._
+I. Indifference and carelessness in religion+ is opposition to the
grace of God.
+II. Spiritual pride+ grieves the Divine Spirit.
III. The Spirit is grieved +when we neglect the means appointed for
obtaining His influence.+
+IV. Opposition+ to the strivings of the Spirit is another way in
which He is often grieved.
V. There are +particular sins+ which are opposite to the work of
the Spirit. Impurity, intemperance, dissipation, and all the
vices of sensuality. The indulgence of malignant passions
grieves the Spirit. Contentions among Christians are opposite
to the Spirit. Men grieve the Spirit when they ascribe to Him
those motions and actions which are contrary to His nature. If
they blindly follow every impulse of a heated imagination,
every suggestion of the common deceiver, every motion of their
own vanity and pride, they profane and blaspheme His sacred
name.--_Lathrop._
_Grieve not the Spirit._--But wherewith can we so grieve Him? Alas!
that one must rather ask, "Wherein may he not?" I fear that one of
the things which will most amaze us when we open our eyes upon
eternity will be the multitude of our own rudenesses to Divine grace,
that is, to God the Holy Ghost whose motions grace is. Oh, let not
that His seal upon you, the gift of His Spirit, mark you as a
deserter! O Holy Creator Spirit, come down once more into our souls
in Thine own thrilling fire of life and light and heat, kindling our
senses with Thy light, our hearts with Thy love! wash away our
stains, bedew our dryness, heal our wounds, bend our stubbornness,
guide our wanderings, that Thou, being the inmate of our hearts, the
instructor of our reason, the strength of our will, we may see by Thy
light whom as yet we see not and know Him who passeth knowledge, and
through God may love God now as wayfarers, and, in the day of perfect
redemption, in the beatific vision of our God!--_E. B. Pusey._
_The Sealing of the Spirit._--1. The seal is used in conveying and
assuring to any person a title to his estate, in delivering which a
part is put into the hands of the new proprietor. We are sealed as an
assurance of our title to our inheritance until the redemption of the
purchased possession. 2. In sealing any person, the contra-part of
the seal is impressed on that which is sealed. We are thus sealed by
the Spirit, stamped with the image of God. 3. Sealing is used for
preservation. It is by this we are to be preserved until that day. By
grieving the Spirit we break this seal.--_E. Hare._
Vers. 31, 32. _Vices to be renounced and Virtues to be cherished._
+I. Put away all bitterness.+--All such passions, behaviour, and
language as are disgusting and offensive to others, wound their
tender feelings, and embitter their spirits. No temper is more
inconsistent with the felicity of social life than peevishness.
+II. Put away wrath and anger.+--The former signifies heat of temper,
the latter this heat wrought into a flame. Though anger, as a sense
and feeling of the wrongs done us, is innocent and natural, all the
irregular and excessive operations of it are sinful and dangerous.
+III. Put away all malice.+--This is a degree of passion beyond
simple anger. It is a fixed, settled hatred, accompanied with a
disposition to revenge. It is anger resting in the bosom and studying
to do mischief. Malice is a temper which every one condemns in
others, but few discern in themselves.
+IV. Put away all clamour and evil speaking.+--Clamour is noisy,
complaining, and contentious language in opposition to that which is
soft, gentle, and courteous. Never believe, much less propagate, an
ill report of your neighbour without good evidence of its truth.
Never speak ill of a man when your speaking may probably do much
hurt, but cannot possibly do any good.
+V. Christians are to be kind one to another.+--Such kindness as
renders us useful. Kindness wishes well to all men, prays for their
happiness, and studies to promote their interest. It will reprove
vice and lend its aid to promote knowledge and virtue.
+VI. Christians should be tenderhearted.+--They should not be guided
by a blind, instinctive pity; but by habitual goodness of heart,
cultivated with reason, improved by religion, and operating with
discretion. While they commiserate all who appear to be in
affliction, they should regard among them the difference of
characters and circumstances.
+VII. We are to forgive one another.+--Forgiveness does not oblige us
tamely to submit to every insult and silently bear every injury. To
those who have injured us we should maintain goodwill and exercise
forbearance. God's forgiveness of our sins is urged as a motive to
mutual forgiveness. "Even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you." He who forgives not an offending brother will not be forgiven
of his heavenly Father.--_Lathrop._
_Malice incompatible with the Christian Character._
I. +That we may be convinced of the hatefulness of a malignant temper
look to the source whence it proceeds.+--From the bitterness of the
fountain we may judge of the character of the water which it sends
forth. From the corruptness of the tree we may estimate the character
of the fruit. The author of malice is the devil.
II. Let us after the same manner +proceed to appreciate the
loveliness of the opposite quality,+ the quality of mercy and
lovingkindness, by a reference to its Author. Malice is gratified by
murder. In God we live and move and have our being. Malice is
envious. God giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Malice is false
and calumnious. God sent His Son into the world to give light to them
that sit in darkness. Malice is resentful and vindictive, impatient
of offence, and intemperate in requiring satisfaction. God is love.
III. Let us turn for a +further motive to the character and conduct
of the Son of God.+--He has given us an example of the most profound
humility, a temper in which malice has no portion, and which cannot
exist independently of lovingkindness and tenderness of heart.
IV. +To the example of our blessed Redeemer let us add His
commandments; and there arises another forcible motive to put away
all malice and to be kind one to another.+--"A new commandment I give
unto you, that ye love one another."
V. +If we would avoid a malicious and cultivate a charitable temper,
we must renounce the devil and all his works.+--We must triumph over
those passions which he plants and propagates in the heart of
man.--_R. Mant._
Ver. 32. _Errors respecting Forgiveness of Sin._
+I. That forgiveness of sin is unnecessary.+--Every sin is punished
on the spot. This natural punishment is felt as long as the sin is
indulged, and it ceases as soon as the sin is abandoned. This error
may be exposed by a reference to the philosophy of human nature, to
experience, and to Scripture.
+II. That forgiveness of sin is impossible.+--The consequences of
every sin stretch out into infinity, and they cannot be annihilated
without a supernatural interposition; but it would derogate from the
supremacy of law to allow that a miracle is possible. The possibility
of miracle is contrary neither to intuition nor to experience. A
supernatural Being is the Author of a supernatural system: creation,
incarnation, the Bible, spiritual influence.
+III. That forgiveness of sin might be dispensed without an
atonement.+--"If a man suffer insult or injury from his fellow-man,
he ought to forgive him freely; why should not God?" Because He is
God, and not man. He is the moral Governor of the universe, and must
consult for the majesty of His law and the interests of His
responsible creatures. Forgiveness without atonement would not
satisfy the conscience of the awakened sinner.
+IV. That forgiveness of sin will not be bestowed till the day of
judgment.+--Pardon through Christ is immediate. It is enjoyed as soon
as we believe.
+V. That forgiveness of sin as freely offered in the Gospel is
inimical to morality.+--"Pay a workman before he begins his work, and
he will be indolent; pay him when he has finished his work, and he
will be diligent." Not if he were an honest man, and no one is
forgiven who is not sanctified. A sense of unpardoned guilt is the
greatest hindrance to obedience. A sense of redeeming love the most
powerful incentive.--_G. Brooks._
_Christian Forgiveness._
I. +The reality of forgiveness, or the grace of a forgiving spirit in
us, lies not so much in our ability to let go or to be persuaded to
let go the remembrance of our injuries, as in what we are able to
do,+ what volunteer sacrifices to make, what painstaking to undergo,
that we may get our adversary softened to want or gently accept our
forgiveness.
II. In all that you distinguish of a nobler and Diviner life, in
Christ's bearing of His enemies and their sins, He is simply showing
+what belongs in righteousness to every moral nature from the
uncreated Lord down to the humblest created intelligence.+
Forgiveness, this same Christly forgiveness, belongs to all--to you,
to me, to every lowest mortal that bears God's image.
III. +Christ wants you to be with Him in His own forgiveness.+ He
wants such a feeling struggling in your bosom that you cannot bear to
have an adversary, cannot rest from your prayers and sacrifices and
the lifelong suit of your concern, till you have gained him away from
his wrong and brought him into peace. This in fact _is_ salvation: to
be with Christ in all the travail of His forgiveness. As Christ was
simply fulfilling the right in His blessed ways of forgiveness, so we
may conceive that He is simply fulfilling the eternal love. For what
is right coincides with love, and love with what is right.
IV. When a true Christian goes after his adversary in such a temper
as he ought--tender, assiduous, proving himself in his love by the
most faithful sacrifices--+he is not like to stay by his enmity
long.+ As the heat of a warm day will make even a wilful man take off
his overcoat, so the silent melting of forgiveness at the heart will
compel it, even before it is aware, to let the grudges go. A really
good man may have enemies all his life long, even as Christ had, and
the real blame may be chargeable not against him, but against them.
V. +Have then Christian brethren under Christ's own Gospel nothing
better left than to take themselves out of sight of each other just
to get rid of forgiveness,+ going to carry the rankling with them,
live in the bitterness, die in the grudges of their untamable
passion? What is our Gospel but a reconciling power even for sin
itself, and what is it good for, if it cannot reconcile? No, there is
a better way. Christ laid it on them by His own dear passion when He
gave Himself for them, by His bloody sweat, His pierced hands, and
open side, to go about the matter of forgiving one another even as He
went about forgiving them.--_Bushnell._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER V.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Followers of God.+--R.V. _imitators._ St. Paul gathers up
all duties into one expression, "imitation of God," and urges them on
his readers by a reminder of their high birth laying them under
obligation, and rendering their copying easier.
Ver. 2. +Walk in love.+--"Love must fulfil all righteousness; it must
suffer law to mark out its path of obedience, or it remans an
effusive, ineffectual sentiment, helpless to bless and save."
Ver. 3. +Let it not be once named.+--After the things themselves are
dead let their names never be heard.
Ver. 4. +Nor jesting.+--"Chastened insolence," as Aristotle's
description of it has been happily rendered. "Graceless grace" [of
style], as Chrysostom called it. It is the oozing out of the
essential badness of a man for whom polish and a versatile nature
have done all they can.
Vers. 5, 6. +Because of these things cometh the wrath of God,
etc.+--Look down beneath the pleasing manners to the nature. If such
terms as are used in ver. 5 describe the man, he is simply one of
Disobedience's children, and all his versatility will not avert the
descending wrath of God.
Ver. 7. +Be not ye therefore partakers with them.+--Do not wish to
share the frivolity and impiety of their life, as you would shun the
wrath that inevitably awaits it. How could they so partake and
continue to be what ch. iii. 6 calls them?
Ver. 8. +Ye were . . . ye are . . . be.+--The lesson must be learnt,
and therefore reiteration is necessary.
Ver. 9. +For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and
righteousness and truth.+--Neither here nor at Gal. v. 22 does St.
Paul intend a complete list of the fruits of the Spirit. St. John's
tree of life bore "_twelve_ manner of fruits" (Rev. xxii. 2). All
Christian morality lies in the good, the right, and the true.
Ver 10. +Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.+--Each is to be an
assayer--rejecting all base alloys. Nothing must be accepted because
it looks like an angel of light--"the spirits" must be put to the
proof (1 John iv. 1).
Ver. 11. +Rather reprove them.+--It may be with a voice as firm as
the Baptist's; it may be by gentle and yet unflinching "showing up"
of certain proceedings (cf. St. John iii. 20). "This chastening
reproof is an _oral_ one," says Meyer.
Ver. 12. +It is a shame even to speak of.+--Though the only sign of
their shame having touched them is that they seek the cover of
secrecy, and our own cheeks burn _as we speak_ of what _they do,_ we
must convict.
Ver. 13. +Made manifest by the light.+--Whatever the light falls upon
is no longer of the darkness, but belongs to the light. Shame is one
of the influences by which the light conquers a soul from darkness.
Ver. 14. +Wherefore He saith.+--What follows is "a free paraphrase
from the Old Testament formed by weaving together Messianic
passages--belonging to such a hymn as might be sung at baptisms in
the Pauline Churches" (_Findlay_). The thought is that of the change
from darkness to light--a change produced by the opening of the eyes
to the light shining in the face of Jesus Christ.
Ver. 15. +See then that ye walk circumspectly.+--R.V. "Look then
carefully how ye walk." The way of life must be one of exactitude;
and that it may be so the steps must not be haphazard, but carefully
taken.
Ver. 16. +Redeeming the time.+--R.V. margin, "buying up the
opportunity." Seizing the crucial moment as eagerly as men bid for a
desirable article at an auction sale. +Because the days are evil.+--A
man in Paul's circumstances and with his consuming earnestness of
spirit may be forgiven if he does not see everything rose-coloured.
Ver. 18. +Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.+--The word for
"excess" is found again in Tit. i. 6 as "riot," and in 1 Pet. iv. 4.
In all three texts the warning against intoxication is near the word.
In Luke xv. 13 we have the adverbial form--"riotously."
Ver. 19. +Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.+--When the spirit is
elevated so that ordinary prose conversation is inadequate to express
the feelings let it find vent in sacred music. St. James's advice to
the "merry" heart is, "Sing psalms" (James v. 13). The "psalm" is
properly a song with accompaniment of a stringed instrument; "a
'hymn' must always be more or less of a _Magnificat,_ a direct
address of praise and glory to God." "Spiritual songs" were "such as
were composed by spiritual men and moved in the sphere of spiritual
things" (_Trench_). No spiritual excitement, however highly wrought,
can be injurious that flows between the banks of thanksgiving and
mutual submission in the fear of God.
Ver. 20. +Giving thanks always for all things.+--If one who speaks as
a philosopher merely can praise the "sweet uses of adversity" and
discern the "soul of goodness in things evil," how much more should
one believing Rom. viii. 28!
Ver. 21. +Submitting yourselves one to another.+--In another Church
the endeavour to take precedence of each other had produced what a
stranger might have taken for a madhouse (1 Cor. xiv. 23). St. Paul's
word for "submitting" means "ranging yourselves beneath," and finds
its illustration in the Lord's words, "Go and sit down in the lowest
place" (Luke xiv. 10).
Ver. 22. +Submit yourselves.+--Same word as in previous verse;
neither here nor there does it involve any loss of self-respect. The
wife's tribute to her husband's worth is submission--the grace of
childhood to _both parents_ equally is obedience.
Ver. 23. +Christ is the head of the Church.+--Defending her at His
own peril ("If ye seek Me, let these go their way," John xviii. 8);
serving her in utmost forgetfulness of self ("I am amongst you as he
that serveth," Luke xxii. 27); "Giving Himself up for her," (ver. 25).
Ver. 25. +Husbands, love your wives.+--This will prevent the
submission of the wife from ever becoming degrading--as submission to
a tyrant must be.
Ver. 26. +That He might sanctify and cleanse.+--There is no "and"
between "sanctify" and "cleanse" in what St. Paul wrote. "Sanctify
it, having cleansed it" (R.V.). "I sanctify Myself, that they also
may be sanctified" (John xvii. 19).
Ver. 27. +Spot or wrinkle.+--"Spot," a visible blemish, used in the
plural, figuratively, in 2 Pet. ii. 13, of men who disfigure
Christian assemblies. "Wrinkle"--"a wrinkled bride" is an
incongruity, just as the mourning which produces wrinkles is out of
place in the bridechamber (Matt. ix. 15).
Ver. 28. +As their own bodies.+--Not "as _they love_ their own
bodies" merely, but "as _being_ their own." See ver. 31, "one flesh."
Ver. 31. +For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall be joined unto his wife.+--We must regard these words, not as a
continuation of Adam's in Gen. ii. 23, but as the words of the
narrator, who regards what our first father said as a mystical hint
of the origin of marriage.
Ver. 32. +This is a great mystery.+--The meaning of which is known
only to the initiated. Something having a significance beyond what
appears on the surface. +But I speak.+--The "I" is emphatic: "_I_
give _my_ interpretation." _My_ chief interest in this mystery is as
it relates to Christ and to the Church.
Ver. 33. +Nevertheless.+--"I pursue the matter no further"; and
though this mystical turn is given to the words, still in actual life
let the husband love (ver. 25) and the wife show reverence (ver. 22).
Let all the married among you apply the mystery to their own case, so
that the husband may love the wife and the wife fear the husband.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 1, 2.
_The Life of Love_--
+I. Is an imitating of the Divine life.+--"Be followers of God: . . .
walk in love" (vers. 1, 2). Though God is infinitely beyond us, and
lifted above all heights, we are to aspire towards Him. When we
contemplate His glorious perfections we are more deeply conscious of
our limitations and sins, bend before Him in lowly awe, and seem to
despair of ever being able to approach to anything within ourselves,
that can be like Him. Nevertheless God is the pattern of all
excellence, and we can attain excellence ourselves only by imitating
Him. The ideal character is ever above and beyond the seeker, growing
more beautiful, but seeming as distant as ever. The life of God is
the life of love--love is the essence of His nature and the crowning
glory of all His perfections. The chief way in which He is imitable
by us is in that direction: to love God is to be like Him. Our life,
in all its impulses, outgoings, and accomplishments, must be suffused
and penetrated with love. As the soul opens to the inflow of God's
love and is filled with it, it becomes like God. Loving God is
allowing God to love us. The love of God is the most transcendent
revelation of the Gospel. In Paris, a little girl, seven years old,
was observed to read the New Testament continually. Being asked what
pleasure she found in doing so, she said, "It makes me wise, and
teaches how to love God." She had been reading the history of Martha
and Mary. "What is the one thing needful?" asked her friend. "It is
the love of God," she earnestly replied.
+II. Is befitting the relation in which the believer is Divinely
regarded.+--"Followers of God, as dear children" (ver. 1). God is our
Father, and He loves us. That is enough; but how much is implied in
that, who can tell? To realise the Divine Fatherhood is to become
acquainted with the love of God. When we discover we are dear to Him
our hearts melt, our rebellion is conquered, we seek His forgiveness,
we revel in His favour, we exult in His service. When we discover He
has always loved us we are overwhelmed. A mother, whose daughter had
behaved badly and at length ran away from home, thought of a singular
plan to find the wanderer and bring her back. She had her own
portrait fixed on a large handbill and posted on the walls of the
town where she supposed her daughter was concealed. The portrait,
without name, had these words painted underneath: "I love thee
always." Crowds stopped before the strange handbill, trying to guess
its meaning. Days elapsed, when a young girl at last passed by, and
lifted her eyes to the singular placard. She understood: this was a
message for her. Her mother loved her--pardoned her. Those words
transformed her. Never had she felt her sin and ingratitude so
deeply. She was unworthy of such love. She set out for home, and
crossing the threshold was soon in her mother's arms. "My child!"
cried the mother, as she pressed her repentant daughter to her heart,
"I have never ceased to love thee!"
+III. Is a love of Christ-like sacrifice.+--"As Christ also hath
loved us, and hath given Himself for us" (ver. 2). The offering of
Christ as a sacrifice for the sins of men was acceptable to God, and
came up before Him as a sweet-smelling savour, because it was the
offering and sacrifice of love. The life of love is the life of
obedience; it is eager to serve, and it shrinks not from suffering.
Nothing can be love to God which does not shape itself into
obedience. We remember the anecdote of the Roman commander who
forbade an engagement with the enemy, and the first transgressor
against whose prohibition was his own son. He accepted the challenge
of the leader of the other host, met, slew, spoiled him, and then
with triumphant feeling carried the spoils to his father's tent. But
the Roman father refused to recognise the instinct which prompted
this as deserving of the name of love. Disobedience contradicted it
and deserved death. Weak sentiment--what was it worth? It was the
dictate of ambition and self-will overriding obedience and
discipline; it was not love. A self-sacrificing life is prompted,
sustained, and ennobled by love. The trials which love cheerfully
undergoes in its ministry of love to others and in obedience to the
will of God are often transformed into blessings. There is a legend
that Nimrod took Abraham and cast him into a furnace of fire because
he would not worship idols; but God changed the coals into a bed of
roses. So it will ever be. The obedience that leads to the furnace of
fire will find in the end that it is a bed of roses. The life of
loving sacrifice will issue in eternal blessedness.
+Lessons.+--_The life of love is_--1. _The highest life._ 2. _The
happiest life._ 3. _The life most fruitful in usefulness to others._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1, 2. _St. Paul's Doctrine of Christian Ethics._
+I. The fundamental truth of the Fatherhood of God.+--Man's life has
its law, for it has its source in the nature of the Eternal. Behind
our race instincts and the laws imposed on us in the long struggle
for existence, behind those imperatives of practical reason involved
in the structure of our intelligence, is the presence and active will
of Almighty God our heavenly Father. Institutional morals bear
witness to the God of creation, experimental morals to the God of
providence and history. The Divine Fatherhood is the keystone of the
arch in which they meet. The command to be imitators of God makes
_personality_ the sovereign element in life. If consciousness is a
finite and passing phenomenon, if God be but a name for the sum of
the impersonal laws that regulate the universe, for the "stream of
tendency" in the worlds, _Father_ and _love_ are meaningless terms
applied to the Supreme, and religion dissolves into an impalpable
mist. Love, thought, will in us raise our being above the realm of
the impersonal; and these faculties point us upward to Him from whom
they came, the Father of the spirits of all flesh. It is not the loss
of strength for human service nor the dying out of joy which unbelief
entails that is its chief calamity. The sun in the soul's heaven is
put out. The personal relationship to the Supreme which gave dignity
and worth to our individual being, which imparted sacredness and
enduring power to all other ties, is destroyed. The heart is
orphaned, the temple of the Spirit desolate. The mainspring of life
is broken.
+II. The solidarity of mankind in Christ+ furnishes the apostle with
a powerful lever for raising the ethical standard of his readers. The
thought that we are "members one of another" forbids deceit. Self is
so merged in the community that in dealing censure or forgiveness to
an offending brother the Christian man feels as though he were
dealing with himself--as though it were the hand that forgave the
foot for tripping, or the ear that pardoned some blunder of the eye.
The Christ loved and gave; for love that does not give, that prompts
to no effort and puts itself to no sacrifice, is but a luxury of the
heart--useless and even selfish. The Church is the centre of
humanity. The love born and nourished in the household of faith goes
out into the world with a universal mission. The solidarity of moral
interests that is realised there embraces all the kindreds of the
earth. The incarnation of Christ knits all flesh into one redeemed
family. The continents and races of mankind are members one of
another, with Jesus Christ for Head.
+III. Another ruling idea lying at the basis of Christian ethics is
St. Paul's conception of man's future destiny.+--There is disclosed a
world beyond the world, a life growing out of life, an eternal and
invisible kingdom of whose possession the Spirit that lives in
Christian men is the earnest and firstfruits. Human reason had
guessed and hope had dreamed of the soul's immortality. Christianity
gives this hope certainty, and adds to it the assurance of the
resurrection of the body. Man's entire nature is thus redeemed. Our
bodily dress is one with the spirit that it unfolds. We shall lay it
aside only to resume it--transfigured, but with a form and impress
continuous with its present being.
+IV. The atonement of the cross stamps its own character and spirit
on the entire ethics of Christianity.+--The Fatherhood of God, the
unity and solidarity of mankind, the issues of eternal life or death
awaiting us in the unseen world--all the great factors and
fundamentals of revealed religion gather about the cross of Christ;
they lend to it their august significance, and gain from it new
import and impressiveness. The fact that Christ "gave Himself for us
an offering and a sacrifice to God" throws an awful light upon the
nature of human transgression. All that inspired men had taught, that
good men had believed and felt, and penitent men confessed in regard
to the evil of human sin, is more than verified by the sacrifice
which the Holy One of God has undergone in order to put it away. What
tears of contrition, what cleansing fires of hate against our own
sins, what scorn of their baseness, what stern resolves against them,
are awakened by the sight of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! The
sacrifice of Christ demands from us devotion to Christ Himself. Our
first duty as Christians is to love Christ, to serve and follow
Christ. There is no conflict between the claims of Christ and those
of philanthropy, between the needs of His worship and the needs of
the destitute and suffering in our streets. Every new subject won to
the kingdom of Christ is another helper won for His poor. Every act
of love rendered to Him deepens the channel of sympathy by which
relief and blessing come to sorrowful humanity.--_Findlay._
_Christ's Sacrifice of Himself explained, and Man's Duty to offer
Spiritual Sacrifice inferred and recommended._
+I. Our Lord's unexampled sacrifice.+--1. _The Priest._ As a prophet
or an apostle properly is an ambassador from God to treat with men,
so a priest is an agent or solicitor in behalf of men to treat with
God.
2. _The sacrifice._--Our Lord was both offering and sacrifice. Every
sacrifice is an offering to God, but every offering to God is not a
sacrifice. Perfect innocence and consummate virtue, both in doing and
suffering, were not only the flower and perfection but the very form
and essence of our Lord's sacrifice. These were the sacrifice of
sweet odour, acceptable to Him who alone could judge perfectly of the
infinite worth and merit of it.
3. _The altar._--From the third century to this time the cross
whereon our Lord suffered has been called the altar. There is another
altar, a spiritual altar--the eternal Spirit, the Divine nature of
our Lord. The sacrifice of our Lord is an undoubted Scripture truth;
but as to a proper altar for that sacrifice, it is a more disputable
point, about which wise and good men may be allowed to judge as they
see cause.
4. _The Divine Lawgiver._--To whom the sacrifice was made, and by
whom it was graciously accepted. God the Father is Lawgiver-in-chief,
and to Him our Lord paid the price of our redemption. Thus the glory
of God and the felicity of men are both served in this dispensation.
+II. Our own sacrifice of ourselves.+--As Christ give Himself for us,
so we ought to give up ourselves to God in all holy obedience, and
particularly in the offices of love towards our brethren, as these
are the most acceptable sacrifices we can offer to God. We cannot do
greater honour to our Lord's sacrifice than by thus copying it in the
best manner we are able--a sacrifice of love to God and love to our
neighbours.--_Waterland._
_The Imitation of God._--No argument is so frequently urged as the
example of Christ to persuade us to mutual love, because none is so
well adapted to influence the mind of a Christian. God's approbation
of Christian charity is expressed in the same terms as His acceptance
of the sacrifice of Christ; for charity to our fellow-Christians,
flowing from a sense of Christ's dying love, is a virtue of
distinguished excellence. As the death of Christ is called "a
sacrifice for a sweet-smelling savour," so Christian charity is
called "an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable,
well-pleasing to God." Let it be our care to follow Christ in His
goodness and love, and to learn of Him humility, condescension,
mercy, and forgiveness. Religion is an imitation of the moral
character of God, brought down to human view and familiarised to
human apprehension in the life of Christ. The sacrifice of Christ is
of great use, not only as an atonement for guilt, but also as an
example of love.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 1, _The Duty and Object of a Christian's Imitation._
+I. The duty enjoined.+--1. Remove the hindrances to imitation.
(1) Spiritual pride and self-conceit. (2) This self-conceit works in
us a prejudiced opinion, and makes us undervalue and detract from the
worth of our brother. (3) Spiritual drowsiness. 2. Observe the rules
of imitation. (1) We must not take our pattern upon trust; no, not
St. Paul himself. He brings it in indeed as a duty--"Be ye followers
of me"; but he adds this direction, "as I am of Christ" (1 Cor.
xi. 1). "For in imitation, besides the persons, there is also to be
considered," saith Quintilian, "what it is we must imitate in the
persons. We must no further follow them than they follow the rules of
art." "Some there were," said Seneca, "who imitated nothing but that
which was bad in the best." It is so in our Christian profession: we
must view, and try, and understand what we are to imitate. We must
not make use of all eyes, but of those only which look upon the Lord.
(2) That we strive to imitate the best. Saith Pliny: "It is great
folly not to propose always the best pattern"; and saith Seneca,
"Choose a Cato," a prime, eminent man, by whose authority thy secret
thoughts may be more holy, the very memory of whom may compose thy
manners; whom not only to see, but to think of, will be a help to the
reformation of thy life. Dost thou live with any in whom the good
gifts and graces of God are shining and resplendent, who are strict
and exact, and so retain the precepts of God in memory that they
forget them not in their works? Give men the instructive examples of
these good men: let them always be before my eyes; let them be a
second rule by which I may correct my life and manners; let me not
lose this help, which God hath granted me, of imitation.
+II. The object of imitation.+--We must make God the rule of goodness
in all our actions: we must be just, to observe the law; valiant, to
keep down our passions; temperate, to conform our wills to the rule
of reason; and wise, to our salvation. But there is no virtue which
makes us more resemble God than this which the apostle here exhorts
the Ephesians to; and that is mercy. For although all virtues are in
the highest degree, nay, above all degrees, most perfect in Him; yet,
in respect of His creatures, none is so resplendent as mercy. Mercy
is the queen and empress of God's virtues; it is the bond and knot
which unites heaven and earth, that by which we hold all our
titles--our title to be men, out title to the name of Christian, our
title to the profession of Christianity, our title to earth, our
title to heaven. 1. As God forgiveth us, so we must forgive our
enemies. 2. As we must forgive, so God's mercy must be the motive: we
must do it "out of a desire to imitate God." 3. We must conform our
imitation to the Pattern. He with one act of mercy wipes out all
scores; so must we. When He forgives our sins, He is said to cast
them behind Him, never to think of them, so to forget them as if they
never had been; so must we. He doth it too without respect of
persons; and so we ought to do. We must forgive all, for ever; and so
far must we be from respect of persons that we must acknowledge no
title but that of Christian.--_Farindon._
_Likeness to God._
+I. Likeness to God belongs to man's higher or spiritual nature.+--It
has its foundation in the original and essential capacities of the
mind. In proportion as these are unfolded by right and vigorous
exertion, it is extended and brightened. In proportion as these lie
dormant it is obscured. Likeness to God is the supreme gift. He can
communicate nothing so precious, glorious, blessed as Himself. To
hold intellectual and moral affinity with the supreme Being, to
partake His Spirit, to be His children by derivations of kindred
excellence, to bear a growing conformity to the perfection which we
adore--this is a felicity which obscures and annihilates all other
good. It is only in proportion to this likeness that we can enjoy
either God or the universe. To understand a great and good being we
must have the seeds of the same excellence.
+II. That man has a kindred nature with God,+ and may bear most
important and ennobling relations to Him, seems to me to be
established by a striking proof. Whence do we derive our knowledge of
the attributes and perfections which constitute the supreme Being? I
answer, We derive them from our own souls. The Divine attributes are
first developed in ourselves, and thence transferred to our Creator.
The idea of God, sublime and awful as it is, is the idea of our own
spiritual nature, purified and enlarged to infinity. It is the
resemblance of a parent to a child, the likeness of a kindred nature.
+III. God is made known to us as a Father.+--And what is it to be a
father? It is to communicate one's own nature, to give life to
kindred beings; and the highest function of a father is to educate
the mind of the child, and to impart to it what is noblest and
happiest in his own mind. God is our Father, not merely because He
created us, or because He gives us enjoyment: for He created the
flower and the insect, yet we call Him not their Father. This bond is
a spiritual one. This name belongs to God, because He frames spirits
like Himself, and delights to give them what is most glorious and
blessed in His own nature. Accordingly Christianity is said with
special propriety to reveal God as the Father, because it reveals Him
as sending His Son to cleanse the mind from every stain, and to
replenish it for ever with the spirit and moral attributes of its
Author.
+IV. The promise of the Holy Spirit+ is among the most precious aids
of influence which God imparts. It is a Divine assistance adapted to
our moral freedom, an aid which silently mingles and conspires with
all other helps and means of goodness, and by which we are
strengthened to understand and apply the resources derived from our
munificent Creator. This aid we cannot prize too much, or pray for
too earnestly.--_Channing._
Ver. 2. "And walk in love." _The Nature, Properties, and Acts of
Charity._
+I. The nature of charity.+--1. Loving our neighbour implies we value
and esteem him. 2. Implies a sincere and earnest desire for his
welfare and good of all kinds in due proportion. 3. A complacence or
delightful satisfaction in the good of our neighbour. 4. Condolence
and commiseration in the evils befalling him.
+II. Properties of charity.+--1. Love appropriates its object in
apprehension and affection, embracing it, possessing and enjoying it
as its own. 2. It desires reciprocal affection. 3. Disposes to please
our neighbour, not only by inoffensive but by an obliging demeanour.
4. Makes a man deny himself--despising all selfish regards--for the
benefit of his neighbour. 5. To be condescending and willing to
perform the meanest offices needful or useful to his friend.
+III. Acts of charity.+--1. To forbear anger on provocation. 2. To
remit offences, suppressing revenge. 3. To maintain concord and
peace. 4. To be candid in opinion and mild in censure. 5. Abstain
from doing anything which may occasion our neighbour to commit sin,
or disaffect him towards religion, or discourage him in the practice
of duty.--_Barrow._
_The Sacrifice of Christ._
+I. A Divine person was absolutely necessary.+--1. _He who atones
must be in possession of infinite worth._ Nothing less than the glory
of infinity and eternity can atone for transgression. The individual
must also be possessed of humanity for this obvious reason: that man
hath transgressed, and man must atone. In the person of the Messiah
we behold everything God could possibly desire. A Divine person,
comprising Deity and humanity in Himself, atones for sin.
2. _It was absolutely necessary that the individual who atoned should
be wholly at his own disposal._--Now, no finite being is at his own
disposal; no finite being can say, "I will do as I please;" but
Messiah speaks of Himself in language that finite being could not
adopt without insulting God. The doctrine of the Trinity is opposed;
but when we peruse Scripture we shall find the absolute necessity of
a plurality of persons. A Divine person to present a sacrifice; and
if so, a Divine person to receive that sacrifice.
+II. Christ's love in giving Himself.+--And here we behold the love
of God in all its glory. Christ hath saved us, and given Himself for
us. Here we behold the love of Christ; the love of a Divine person
embracing God, embracing the law of God, and embracing the sinner in
all his shame. Two of the attributes of this love never unfolded
their glories before. The intenseness and the holiness of it were
never before manifested. Behold God as well as man, a Divine person
suffering for us. Here for once, and once only, behold the
sovereignty of God in all its glory, in all its lowliness, connected
with the justice of God in all its terrors. Messiah is punished, that
the transgressor may live for ever.
+III. God's pleasure in the sacrifice of His Son.+--1. _God is
infinitely delighted with His Son,_ as He is one in essence with Him.
The pious Baptist gives his disciples a volume of Divinity in a few
words. He traces everything to its source. "The Father loveth the
Son." Surely, then, we must anticipate God's pleasure in everything
the Saviour does. 2. _The resurrection and ascension of Christ_ prove
God's acceptance of the sacrifice. 3. _The success of the Gospel
another proof._
+Lessons.+--1. _See the evil and danger of unbelief._ 2. _All
spiritual good comes from God; all spiritual evil flows from the
creature._ 3. _Learn the work of faith--to accept Christ.--Howels._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-14.
_The Children of Darkness and of Light._
+I. The children of darkness are known by their deeds+ (vers.
3-5).--A loathsome and unsightly list! Sin marks its victims. Deeds
done in darkness do not escape detection and exposure. The revolting
sins of the heathen reveal the depth of wickedness to which man may
sink when he abandons God and is abandoned of God. Every single sin,
voluntarily indulged, weakens the power of self-control, and there is
no deed of darkness a reckless sinner may not commit. Sensuality is a
devil-fish--a vampire of the sea--preying upon and devouring the best
powers of mind and body.
1. _Their deeds exclude them from the inheritance of the good._--They
have no "inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (ver. 5).
The children of darkness can have no company and no place with the
children of light; the two cannot co-exist or blend together. The
sinner excludes himself, and unfits himself for fellowship with the
good. Their purity is a constant reproof of his vileness; he shrinks
from their society, and hates them because they are so good. We may
well be on our guard against sins that shut us out of the kingdom of
grace on earth, and out of heaven hereafter.
2. _Their deeds expose them to the Divine wrath._--"Because of these
things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience"
(ver. 6). The wrath of God is already upon them (Rom. i. 18), and
shall remain so long as they are disobedient. Deeds such as theirs
carry their own punishment; but there is also the righteous vengeance
of God to reckon with. For sin God can have nothing but wrath; but
yet that is mercifully restrained to afford every opportunity for
repentance. The Roman magistrates, when they gave sentence upon any
one to be scourged, had a bundle of rods tied hard with many knots
laid before them. The reason was this: whilst the beadle was untying
the knots, which he was to do by order and not in any other or sudden
way, the magistrates might see the deportment and carriage of the
delinquent, whether he was sorry for his fault and showed any hope of
amendment, that then they might recall his sentence or mitigate his
punishment; otherwise he was corrected so much the more severely.
Thus God in the punishment of sinners. How patient is He! How loth to
strike! How slow to anger!
+II. The children of light are Divinely illumined.+--1. _They were
once in darkness._ "Ye were sometimes darkness" (ver. 8). Their
present condition as children of the light should remind them by
contrast of their former state, and should excite their gratitude to
God for the change He had wrought in them. They were not to be
deceived by specious arguments (ver. 6) that they could return to
their old sins and yet retain their new inheritance. To go back to
the old life is to go back to darkness.
2. _Their possession of Divine light is evident._--"But now are ye
light in the Lord. . . . For the fruit of the Spirit [_the fruit of
light_] is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (vers. 8, 9).
True virtue is of the light and cannot be hid. Genuine religion
manifests itself in goodness of heart, in righteousness of life, and
in truthfulness of character and speech--in a holy reality that is
both experienced and expressed. On Herder's grave at Weimar there was
placed by royal authority a cast-iron tablet with the words, "Light,
Love, Life." The life illumined by the Spirit is its own bright
witness.
3. _Their conduct aims at discovering what is acceptable to
God._--"Walk as children of the light, . . . proving what is
acceptable unto the Lord" (vers. 8, 10). Their outward life must be
in harmony with the new nature they have received. They were adopted
as children of the light, and they must think, speak, and act in the
light and with the light they had received. The light will show what
it is that God approves; and striving in all things to please Him our
light will increase. We may sometimes be mistaken, but we shall get
light from our mistakes, as well as from our success, as to the will
of God. Life is a trial, and our conduct will be the test as to how
we are using the light God has given us. The light we shed will be a
help and guide to others. There is a kind of diamond which, if
exposed for some minutes to the light of the sun and then taken into
a dark room, will emit light for some time. The marvellous property
of retaining light and thereby becoming the source of light on a
small scale shows how analogous to light its very nature must be.
Those who touched the Saviour became sources of virtue to others. As
Moses' face shown when he came from the mount, so converse with
spiritual things makes Christians the light which shines in the dark
places of the earth. "Let your light so shine before men" (Matt.
v. 16).
+III. The children of light cannot participate in deeds of
darkness.+--1. _They are to shun them._ "Be not partakers with
them . . . Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness"
(vers. 7, 11). We may not actually commit certain sins; but if we
tolerate or encourage them, we are partakers with the transgressors.
The safest place is that which is farthest from evil. It is a
perilous experiment to try how near we can approach and how far daily
with sin without committing ourselves. The easiest way to resist
temptation is to run away. It is beneath the dignity of the children
of light to patronise or trifle with sin.
2. _They were not even to speak of them._--"It is a shame even to
speak of those things" (ver. 12). There are some subjects about which
silence is not only the highest prudence but a sacred duty. The
foolish talking and jesting of ver. 4 belonged to the period when
they were the children of darkness. Sparkling humour refreshes; the
ribald jest pollutes. The best way to forget sayings that suggest
evil is never to speak of them.
3. _They are to expose them by bringing the light of truth to bear
upon them._--"But rather reprove them. . . . All things that are
reproved are made manifest by the light," etc. (vers. 11, 13, 14).
Silent absence or abstinence is not enough. Where sin is open to
rebuke it should at all hazards be rebuked. On the other hand, St.
Paul does not warrant Christians in prying into the hidden sins of
the world around them and playing the moral detective. Publicity is
not a remedy for all evils, but a great aggravation of some, and the
surest means of disseminating them. It is a shame--a disgrace to our
common nature, and a grievous peril to the young and innocent--to
fill the public prints with the nauseous details of crime, and to
taint the air with its putridities. The fruit of the light convicts
the unfruitful works of darkness. The light of the Gospel disclosed
and then dispelled the darkness of the former time. So will it be
with the night of sin that is spread over the world. The light which
shines upon sin-laden and sorrowful hearts shines on them to change
them into its own nature. The manifested is light; in other words, if
men can be made to see the true nature of their sin, they will
forsake it. If the light can but penetrate their conscience, it will
save them. "Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest." With this
song on her lips the Church went forth, clad in the armour of light,
strong in the joy of salvation; and darkness and the works of
darkness fled before her (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--_The Children of darkness and of light differ_--1. _In
their conduct._ 2. _In their spirit and aims._ 3. _In the way in
which they are Divinely regarded._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 3-6. _Christian Sobriety inculcated._
+I. The vices condemned.+--1. _Impurity._ Fornication is sometimes
used in Scripture to comprehend the grosser forms of uncleanness, as
incest, adultery, and prostitution; but in common speech it is
appropriated to intimacy between unmarried persons. If acts of
uncleanness are criminal, so are impure thoughts and desires. The
Gospel forbids filthy communication, which indicates a vicious
disposition and corrupts others. Christians must abstain from
everything that tends to suggest wanton ideas, to excite impure
desire, and to strengthen the power of temptation.
2. _Covetousness._--An immoderate desire of riches.
3. _Foolish talking and jesting._--The Gospel is not so rigid and
austere as to debar us from innocent pleasures and harmless
amusements. Jesting is not foolish when used to expose the absurdity
of error and the folly of vice. The apostle condemns lewd and obscene
jesting, profane jesting, and reviling and defamatory jesting.
Evil-speaking never wounds so deeply nor infuses in the wound such
fatal poison as when it is sharpened by wit and urged home by
ridicule.
+II. The arguments subjoined.+--1. Impurity, covetousness, and
foolish talking are unbecoming in saints. 2. Foolish talking and
jesting are not convenient, as the heathen imagined them to be, but
are criminal in their nature and fatal in their tendency. 3. The
indulgence of these sins is inconsistent with a title to heaven.
4. These sins not only exclude from heaven, but bring upon the
sinners the wrath of God.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 4. _Against Foolish Talking and jesting._
+I. In what foolish talking and jesting may be
allowed.+--1. Facetiousness is not unreasonable which ministers
harmless delight to conversation. 2. When it exposes things base and
evil. 3. When it is a defence against unjust reproach. 4. When it may
be used so as not to defile the mind of the speaker or do wrong to
the hearer.
+II. In what should it be condemned.+--1. All profane jesting or
speaking loosely about holy things. 2. Abusive and scurrilous jesting
which tends to damage our neighbour. 3. It is very culpable to be
facetious in obscene and smutty matters. 4. To affect to value this
way of speaking in comparison to the serious and plain way of
speaking. 5. All vainglorious ostentation. 6. When it impairs the
habitual seriousness that becomes the Christian.--_Barrow._
Ver. 6. _The Dissipation of Large Cities._
+I. The origin of a life of dissipation.+--Young men on their
entrance into the business of the world have not been enough
fortified against its seducing influences by their previous education
at home. Ye parents who, in placing your children on some road to
gainful employment, have placed them without a sigh in the midst of
depravity, so near and so surrounding that without a miracle they
must perish, you have done an act of idolatry to the god of this
world, you have commanded your household after you to worship him as
the great divinity of their lives, and you have caused your children
to make their approaches to his presence, and in so doing to pass
through the fire of such temptations as have destroyed them.
+II. The progress of a life of dissipation.+--The vast majority of
our young, on their way to manhood, are initiated into all the
practices and describe the full career of dissipation. Those who have
imbibed from their fathers the spirit of this world's morality are
not sensibly arrested in this career, either by the opposition of
their friends or by the voice of their own conscience. Those who have
imbibed an opposite spirit, and have brought it into competition with
an evil world, and have at length yielded with many a sigh and many a
struggle, are troubled with the upbraidings of conscience. The
youthful votary of pleasure determines to be more guarded: but the
entanglements of companionship have got hold of him, the inveteracy
of habit tyrannises over all his purposes, the stated opportunity
again comes round, and the loud laugh of his partners chases all his
despondency away. The infatuation gathers upon him every month, a
hardening process goes on, the deceitfulness of sin grows apace, and
he at length becomes one of the sturdiest and most unrelenting of her
votaries. He in his turn strengthens the conspiracy that is formed
against the morals of a new generation, and all the ingenuous
delicacies of other days are obliterated. He contracts a temperament
of knowing, hackneyed, unfeeling depravity, and thus the mischief is
transmitted from one year to another, and keeps up the guilty history
of every place of crowded population.
+III. The effects of a life of dissipation.+--We speak not at present
of the coming death and of the coming judgment, but of the change
which takes place on many a votary of licentiousness when he becomes
what the world calls a reformed man. He bids adieu to the pursuits
and profligacies of youth, not because he has repented them, but
because he has outlived them. It is a common and easy transition to
pass from one kind of disobedience to another; but it is not so easy
to give up that rebelliousness of heart which lies at the root of all
disobedience. The man has withdrawn from the scenes of dissipation,
and has betaken himself to another way; but it is his own way. He may
bid adieu to profligacy in his own person, but he lifts up the light
of his countenance on the profligacy of others. He gives it the whole
weight and authority of his connivance. Oh for an arm of strength to
demolish the firm and far-spread compact of iniquity, and for the
power of some such piercing and prophetic voice as might convince our
reformed men of the baleful influence they cast behind them on the
morals of the succeeding generation! What is the likeliest way of
setting up a barrier against this desolating torrent of corruption?
The mischief will never be combatted effectually by any expedient
separate from the growth and the transmission of personal
Christianity throughout the land.--_T. Chalmers._
Vers. 7-12. _Fellowship in Wickedness and its Condemnation._
+I. Illustrate this fellowship in wickedness.+--1. Not to oppose, in
many cases, is to embolden transgressors, and to be partakers with
them. 2. We have more direct fellowship with the wicked when we
encourage them by our example. 3. They who incite and provoke others
to evil works have fellowship with them. 4. They who explicitly
consent to and actually join with sinners in their evil works have
fellowship with them. 5. To comfort and uphold sinners in their
wickedness is to have fellowship with them. 6. There are some who
rejoice in iniquity when they have lent no hand to accomplish it.
+II. Apply the arguments the apostle urges against it.+--1. One
argument is taken from the superior light which Christians enjoy.
2. Another is taken from the grace of the Holy Spirit, of which
believers are the subjects. 3. The works of darkness are unfruitful.
4. This is a shameful fellowship. 5. If we have fellowship with
sinners in their works, we must share with them in their
punishment.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 8. _Light in Darkness._--I was in a darkened room that I might
observe the effect produced by the use of what is called luminous
paint. A neat card on which the words "Trust in the Lord" were
printed rested upon the bookcase and shone out clearly in the
darkness. The effect startled me. How remarkable that if from any
cause the light of sun or day failed to rest upon the card its
luminousness gradually declined, but returned when the sun's action
infused fresh light! Truly we also, if hidden from the face of our
Lord, cease to shine. "Are ye light in the Lord? walk as children of
light."--_H. Varley._
Ver. 9. _Fruit of the Spirit._--As oftentimes when walking in a wood
near sunset, though the sun himself be hid by the height and
bushiness of the trees around, yet we know that he is still above the
horizon from seeing his beams in the open glades before us
illuminating a thousand leaves, the several brightnesses of which are
so many evidences of his presence. Thus it is with the Holy Spirit:
He works in secret, but His work is manifest in the lives of all true
Christians. Lamps so heavenly must have been lit from on
high.--_J. C. Hare._
Ver. 10. _The Rule of Christian Conduct._--1. We cannot conform
ourselves to what is acceptable to the Lord and walk as children of
light except we make serious search into the rule of duty revealed in
the Word and do our utmost to come up to that rule. We walk not
acceptably when we do things rashly without deliberation, or
doubtingly after deliberation, nor when the thing done is in itself
right, but we do it not from that ground, but to gratify ourselves.
2. It is not sufficient to make this inquiry in order to some few and
weighty actions, but in order to all, whether greater or less,
whether advantage or loss may follow our conforming to the rule.
3. The finding out of what is acceptable to the Lord, especially in
some intricate cases, is not easily attained. There must be an
accurate search, together with an exercising ourselves in those
things we already know to be acceptable, that so we may
experimentally know them to be such, and get our knowledge bettered
in those things of which we are ignorant.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 11, 12. _Works of Darkness._--1. Though we are not in all cases
to abstain from the fellowship of wicked men, but may converse with
them as we are bound by necessity, or by any civil, religious, or
natural bond, yet no tie of that kind can warrant us to partake with
them in their sins. 2. Though the command to reprove the sins of
others is an affirmative precept, and not binding at all times and in
all cases, yet not reproving when occasion offers is a partaking with
them in their sins. 3. There should be such a holy bashfulness in
Christians as to think shame to utter in speech, at least without
detestation, those things godless sinners are not ashamed to
practise. Ministers in their public preachings should be modest and
sparing in deciphering filthy sins, lest they teach others how to
commit the sin they reprove. 4. When men do not seek the veil of
secrecy to cover their sins, but glory in their shame, they are more
corrupt than the grossest of pagans.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 13, 14. _Slumbering Souls and their Awakening._
+I. The character of the persons addressed.+--They are in a state of
sleep. 1. If you allow yourselves in the practice of known
wickedness, your conscience is asleep. 2. If you live in the
customary neglect of self-examination, you are in a state of slumber.
3. If you have never been in any degree affected with a sense of your
guilt and your dependence on the mercy of God in Christ, you are
among those who are asleep. 4. If you have no conflicts with sin and
temptation, you are in a state of slumber. 5. The prevalence of a
sensual and carnal disposition is a sign of spiritual death.
6. Stupidity under the warnings of God's Word and providence
indicates such a state of soul as the Scripture compares to sleep.
7. The soul in which the temper of the Gospel is formed hungers and
thirsts after righteousness, desires spiritual growth, and reaches
after perfection.
+II. The awakening call.+--1. This awakening must suppose and imply a
conviction of your sin and a sense of your danger. 2. This awakening
from sleep and arising from the dead imply a real repentance of sin
and turning to God. 3. They who have awoke from their sleep and risen
from the dead will experience the properties and maintain the
exercises of a holy and spiritual life.
+III. The encouragement to attend to the awakening call.+--"Christ
shall give thee light." 1. This may be understood as a promise of
pardon and eternal life on your repentance. 2. The words import God's
gracious attention to awakened souls when they frame their doings to
turn to Him.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 13. _The Light of God._
+I. Light comes from God.+--God is light, and He wishes to give light
to His children. "Whatsoever doth make manifest is light"--that which
is made manifest is light. There has been a steady progress in the
mind of the Christian race, and this progress has been in the
direction of light. Has it not been so in our notions of God?--a
gradual discovery that when God is manifested, behold, God is light,
and in Him is no darkness at all--a gradual vindication of His
character from those dark and horrid notions of the Deity which were
borrowed from the pagans and the Jewish rabbis--a gradual return to
the perfect good news of a good God which was preached by St. John
and by St. Paul. The day shall come when all shall be light in the
Lord--when all mankind shall know God from the least unto the
greatest, and, lifting up free foreheads to Him who made them and
redeemed them by His Son, shall in spirit and in truth worship the
Father.
+II. In the case of our fellow-men whatsoever is made manifest is
light.+--How easy it was to have dark thoughts about our fellow-men
simply because we did not know them,--easy to condemn the Negro to
perpetual slavery, when we knew nothing of him but his black face; or
to hang by hundreds the ragged street boys, while we disdained to
inquire into the circumstances which had degraded them; or to treat
madmen as wild beasts, instead of taming them by wise and gentle
sympathy. But with a closer knowledge of our fellow-creatures has
come toleration, pity, sympathy. Man, in proportion as he becomes
manifest to man, is seen, in spite of all defects and sins, to be
hallowed with a light from God who made him.
+III. It has been equally so in the case of the physical
world.+--Nature, being made manifest, is light. Science has taught
men to admire where they used to dread, to rule where they used to
obey, to employ for harmless uses what they were once afraid to
touch, and where they once saw only fiends to see the orderly and
beneficent laws of the All-good and Almighty God. Everywhere, as the
work of nature is unfolded to our eyes, we see beauty, order, mutual
use, the offspring of perfect love as well as perfect wisdom. Let us
teach these things to our children. Tell them to go to the light and
see their heavenly Father's works manifested, and know that they are,
as He is, light.--_C. Kingsley._
Ver. 14. _Moral Stupidity._--How many scarcely think of God from day
to day! It cannot therefore be uncharitable to consider the mass of
the people, compared with the wakefulness their infinite interests
require, as sunk in a profound slumber. Unless this slumber is soon
broken they must sleep the sleep of eternal death.
+I. Search for the cause of this stupidity.+--The proximate cause may
be comprehended in these two words--ignorance and unbelief. The
remote cause is opposition to God and truth. Were not the heart
opposed, no man with the Bible in his hand could remain ignorant of
truths which claim to have so important a bearing on his eternal
destiny. Fortified by sevenfold ignorance, men can no more be
awakened to contemplate their condition with alarm than the pagans of
the wilderness. It is perfectly in character for them to slumber. But
there are men who are respectable for their knowledge of Christian
truth who yet are asleep. The cause with them is unbelief--the want
of a realising sense. Their understanding assents to the awful
verities of religion, but they do not realisingly believe them.
+II. Apply some arguments to remove the evil.+--Consider that these
awful truths are as much realities as though you were now overwhelmed
with a sense of their importance. Neither the ignorance nor the
unbelief of man can change eternal truth. God is as holy, as awful in
majesty, He is as much your Creator, Preserver, and Master, He as
much holds your destinies in His hands, as though you were now lying
at His feet beseeching Him not to cast you down to hell. What would
it avail if all the people should disbelieve that the sun will ever
rise again, or that spring-time and harvest will ever return? Can the
soldier annihilate the enemy by marching up to the battery with his
eyes and ears closed? You have the same means with others: why should
you remain ignorant while they are informed? If your knowledge is
competent and it is unbelief that excludes conviction, then call into
action the powers of a rational soul and cast yourselves for help on
God. If you ever mean to awake, awake now. The longer you sleep the
sounder you sleep. The longer you live without religion the less
likely that you will ever possess it. You are sleeping in the
presence of an offended God. In His hands you lie, and if He but turn
them you slide to rise no more.--_E. D. Griffin._
_The Call of the Gospel to Sinners._
+I. The state in which the Gospel finds mankind.+--A state of sleep
and of death.
1. _It is a state of insensibility and unconcern with respect to the
concerns of another world._--Busied about trifles, men overlook the
great concerns of eternity. Having their minds darkened, they see no
world but the present, they live as if they were to live here for
ever. And if at any time this false peace is shaken, they try all
means to prevent it from being destroyed, and to lull themselves
again to rest.
2. _How indisposed and unwilling men are to set about the work of
true religion._--Nothing but this religion of which men are so
ignorant, about which they care so little, against which they have
conceived such a dislike, can in the end deliver them from
everlasting shame, sorrow, and punishment. Here is their extreme
misery and danger. They are unconcerned about an object which of all
others ought to concern them most, and are set against the only
remedy which can be of any real service to them. They are every
moment liable to fall into utter perdition; but they are not aware of
their danger, and reject the only hand which is stretched out to save
them.
+II. The duty the Gospel calls on them to discharge.+--To awake out
of sleep and arise from the dead. 1. _Their duty is to consider their
state and danger._ 2. _To break off their sins by repentance._ 3. _To
seek the knowledge and favour of God._
+III. The encouragement the Gospel affords.+--1. _Christ will give
thee knowledge._ He will enlighten thy darkened mind, He will teach
thee by His good Spirit, and will effectually lead thee into all
saving truth.
2. _Christ will give thee peace._--Whatever peace thou mayest have
arising from not knowing and not feeling that thou art a sinner and
daily exposed to the wrath of God, the peace which Christ offers thee
is a peace which will arise from a consciousness that thy sins are
forgiven, and that, although though art a sinner, thou art yet
reconciled to God.
3. _Christ will give thee holiness._--Holiness is our meetness for
heaven. It is that state and disposition of heart which alone can fit
us for seeing and serving God.--_E. Cooper._
_A Summons to Spiritual Light._
+I. A lamentable moral condition.+--_Sleep_ implies a state of
inactivity and security. Men are busily employed about their worldly
concerns; but a lamentable supineness prevails with respect to
spiritual things. The generality do not apprehend their souls to be
in any danger--death, judgment, heaven, and hell do not seem worthy
their notice. God's threatenings against them are denounced without
effect--they are like Jonah, sleeping in the midst of a storm.
_Death_ includes the ideas of impotence and corruption. An inanimate
body cannot perform any of the functions of life. It has within
itself the seeds and the principles of corruption. The soul also,
till quickened from the dead, is in a state of impotence, it is
incapable of spiritual action or discernment. Yet, notwithstanding
this state appears so desperate, we must address to every one that is
under it the command, "Awake." Your inactivity and security involve
you in the deepest guilt; your corruption of heart and life provokes
the majesty of God. Nor is your impotence any excuse for your
disobedience. They who exert their feeble powers may expect Divine
assistance. To convince us that none shall fail who use the appointed
means God enforces His command with--
+II. A promise.+--Sleep and death are states of intellectual
darkness: hence light is promised to those who obey the Divine
mandate. Light in Scripture imparts knowledge (Isa. viii. 20),
holiness (1 John i. 7), comfort (Ps. xcvii. 11), and glory (Col.
i. 12). And all these blessings shall they receive from Christ, the
fountain of light (Mal. iv. 2; John i. 9).
+Lessons.+--1. _Let each one consider the command addressed to
himself--"Awake thou."_ 2. _Let all our powers be called into
action._ 3. _In exerting ourselves let us expect the promised
aid.--Theological Sketch Book._
_The Gospel Call and Promise._
+I. Many of mankind are in a state of deadly sleep.+--In sleep the
animal spirits retire to their source, the nerves are collapsed or
embraced; and as the nerves are the medium of sensation and motion,
the whole system is in a state of insensibility and inactivity. How
exactly resembling this is your spiritual state.
1. _You are insensible._--Your eyes and ears are closed; and you have
no proper sense of pleasure or of pain.
2. _You are in a state of security._--You have no fear of evil, no
apprehension of danger, and consequently no concern for your safety.
3. _You are in a state of inactivity._--You are not inquiring,
labouring, wrestling. When the body is locked in slumber, thought
roves at random and produces gay dreams of fancied happiness. Thus
many are dreaming their lives away. (1) In this sleep many are as
void of sense and motion as if they were actually dead. (2) In common
sleep a person after due repose spontaneously awakes, renewed in
vigour. But from this sleep, unless God should awake you, you will
never awake till the heavens be no more. (3) It is a sleep unto
death. Like one who has taken a large quantity of opium, unless you
are awakened by some external cause, you will insensibly sink into
the second death, the death which never dies.
+II. God is using means to awaken them.+--While you are asleep,
light, however bright and clear, shines upon you in vain. Till
warning has waked attention, instruction and illumination will be
lost upon you. 1. _God calls you to awake_ from your dreams of
fancied happiness, and reflect upon the vanity of the objects by
which you are deluded. 2. _Struggle to shake off the dull slumber_
which weighs you down. 3. _Consider your misery and danger._
4. _Rouse all that is within you to activity._ God calls you--(1) By
the language of His law. (2) By the severe dispensations of His
providence. (3) By the strivings of His Spirit. (4) By the voice of
the Gospel.
+III. God will give light to all who awake at His call.+--It is the
peculiar property of light to make manifest (ver. 13). Christ will
give you light. 1. He shall make manifest to yourself your character
and your situation. 2. You shall behold the light of life. 3. He
shall reveal to you the God of pardoning love. 4. He shall chase the
darkness of sin from your soul, and you shall walk in the light of
holiness. 5. He shall put an end to your mourning.
+Learn.+--1. _The deceitfulness and destructive character of sin._
2. _How fully God provides for your salvation._ 3. _Hear the voice of
God.--E. Hare._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-18.
_Christian Wisdom_--
+I. Cautiously regulates the outward life.+--"See that ye walk
circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise" (ver. 15). The Christian
needs not only spiritual fervour and enthusiasm, but also
prudence--sanctified common sense. It is possible to do a right thing
in a wrong way, or in such a way as to cause more mischief than
benefit. There is a severity of virtue that repels, and rouses
resentment; and there is a parade of Christian liberty that shocks
the sensitive. The truth lies between two extremes, and Christian
wisdom is seen in maintaining the truth and avoiding extremes. "I
wisdom dwell with prudence." Mr. Edward Everett Hale is generally
credited as the author of the following motto for Christian workers:
"Look up, and not down;
Look out, and not in;
Look forward, and not back;
Lend a hand."
Success in soul-winning is only given to skill, earnestness,
sympathy, perseverance, tact. Men are saved, not in masses, but by
careful study and well-directed effort. It is said that such is the
eccentric flight of the snipe when they rise from the earth that it
completely puzzles the sportsman, and some who are capital shots at
other birds are utterly baffled here. Eccentricity seems to be their
special quality, and this can only be mastered by incessant practice
with the gun. But the eccentricity of souls is beyond this, and he
had need be a very spiritual Nimrod--a mighty hunter before the
Lord--who would capture them for Christ. "He that winneth souls is
wise."
+II. Teaches how to make the best use of present
opportunity.+--1. _Observing the value of time amid the prevalence of
evil._ "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (ver. 16).
Time is a section cut out of the great circle of eternity, and
defines for us the limits in which the work of life must be done. It
is a precious gift bestowed by the beneficent hand of God--a gift
involving grave responsibility; and we must render a strict account
of the use we make of every swing of the pendulum. It is doled out to
us in minute fragments. One single year is made up of 31,536,000
seconds. Every tick of the clock records the ever-lessening
opportunities of life. Time is in perpetual motion. Like a strong,
ever-flowing river, it is bearing away everything into the boundless
ocean of eternity. We never know the value of time till we know the
value of the fragments into which it is broken up. To make the most
of a single hour we must make the most of every minute of which it is
composed. The most dangerous moments of a man's life are those when
time hangs heavily on his hands. He who has nothing to do but kill
time is in danger of being killed himself. It is a miracle of Divine
goodness if he is preserved from serious folly, or something worse;
and such miracles rarely occur. The man who has learnt the value of
time can learn any lesson this world may have to teach him. Time is
the opportunity for the exercise of Christian wisdom, and should be
the more sedulously used "when the days are evil"--when evil is in
power. Oh for wisdom to number our days, to grasp the meaning of
present opportunity! Here come the moments that can never be had
again; some few may yet be filled with imperishable good. Let us
apply our hearts--all our powers--unto wisdom.
2. _Having the good sense to recognise the Divine will._--"Wherefore
be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is"
(ver. 17). We must read and interpret the signs of the times in the
light of God's purpose. A close and deep study of the Divine mind
will reveal to us the significance of the passing opportunity, and
aid us in making the wisest use of it. Our biggest schemes are doomed
to failure if they are not in accordance with the will of God. The
noblest tasks are reserved for those who have the keenest spiritual
insight and are most in harmony with the Divine purpose.
+III. Avoids the folly and waste of intemperance.+--"Be not drunk
with wine, wherein is excess" (ver. 18). The Asian Christians were a
social, light-hearted people, fond of convivial feasts. Wine was
their danger; and even in the celebration of the Lord's Supper they
ran into excess, and degraded the holy ordinance. There were
doubtless converted drunkards among them; and the warning of the text
was specially needed. Intemperance is not only a folly and a waste;
it is a degradation and a sin. It is the excessive indulgence of a
craving that at bottom may be in itself good, if wisely regulated--a
craving for an intenser life. "One finds traces," says Monod, "of the
primitive greatness of our nature even in its most deplorable errors.
Just as impurity proceeds at the bottom from an abuse of the craving
for love, so drunkenness betrays a certain demand for ardour and
enthusiasm which in itself is natural and even noble. Man loves to
feel himself alive; he would fain live twice his life at once; and he
would rather draw excitement from horrible things than have no
excitement at all." When the physicians told Theotimus that except he
abstained from drunkenness and licentiousness he would lose his eyes,
his heart was so wedded to his sins that he answered, "Then farewell,
sweet light."
+IV. Seeks to be under the complete control of the Divine
Spirit.+--"But be filled with the Spirit" (ver. 18). The excitement
of drunkenness must be supplanted by a holier and more elevating
stimulus: the cup that intoxicates exchanged for the new wine of the
Spirit. The general adoption of this principle will be the grandest
triumph of temperance. The cure of drunkenness will not be
accomplished simply by the removal of temptation, unless a relish for
higher things is created and springs of holier pleasure are opened in
the hearts of men. A lower impulse is conquered and expelled by the
introduction of a higher. Anachonis, the philosopher, being asked by
what means a man might best guard against the vice of drunkenness,
answered, "By bearing constantly in his view the loathsome, indecent
behaviour of such as are intoxicated." Upon this principle was
founded the custom of the Lacedæmonians of exposing their drunken
slaves to their children, who by that means conceived an early
aversion to a vice which makes men appear so monstrous and
irrational. There is no excess in drinking copious draughts of the
Spirit. Christian wisdom opens the soul to the ever-flowing tide of
His influence, and strives to be animated and filled with His
all-controlling power.
+Lessons.+--1. _Wisdom is the best use of knowledge._
2. _Christianity opens the purest sources of knowledge._ 3. _"Get
wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding"_ (Prov. iv. 7).
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15-17. _Walking circumspectly._
+I. The duty recommended.+--1. _Walk circumspectly that you may keep
within the line of your duty._ Your course often lies in a medium
between two extremes. If from this course you deviate, you step into
the territory of vice. Be circumspect that you may not mistake your
duty. Be watchful that you may retain a sense of virtue and
rectitude. Be attentive that you may conform to the Spirit of God's
commands.
2. _Walk circumspectly that you may escape the snares in your
way._--Often look forward to descry your dangers. Attend to your
particular situation and condition in life. Often review your past
life, and reflect on former temptations. Be circumspect that you may
detect your enemies when they approach you in disguise. Never neglect
your duty under pretence of shunning a temptation.
3. _Walk circumspectly that you may wisely comport with the aspects
of Providence._
4. _Be circumspect that you may do every duty in its time and
place._--Attend on the daily worship of God in your families and
closets. Be kind and beneficent to the poor. Neglect not the care of
your body. Attend on the instituted ordinances of the Gospel.
5. _Walk circumspectly that your good may not be evil spoken of._
+II. The argument by which the apostle urges the duty.+--"The days
are evil." The argument was not peculiar to those early times, but is
pertinent to all times. 1. _The days are evil because the Christian
finds in himself much disorder and corruption._ 2. _The days are evil
as he is exposed to various afflictions._ 3. _There are many
adversaries._ 4. _Iniquity abounds.--Lathrop._
Ver. 15. _The Wise Conduct of Life._--1. The more light and knowledge
a man receives from God he ought to take the more diligent heed that
in all things he practises according to his light. 2. Those only are
most fit to reprove sin in others who walk most circumspectly and
live so as they cannot be justly blamed themselves. Even the
righteous walking of such is a forcible reproof of sin in others,
though they speak nothing. 3. As those are only truly wise in God's
account who labour to walk most exactly by the rule of God's Word, so
where this sanctified wisdom is it will render itself evident by
making the person endowed with it walk circumspectly. 4. The less
circumspect and exact men be in walking by the rule of God's Word the
greater fools they are in God's esteem.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 16. _Redeeming the Time._--To redeem time is to regain what is
lost and to save what is left.
+I. Enter on your work speedily.+--Do you ask what is your work? It
is time you knew. Consult God's Word; that will tell you.
+II. Attend to your work with diligence.+--A sense of past
slothfulness must excite you to severer industry. Be not only
fervent but steady in your work.
+III. Guard against the things which rob you of your time.+--An
indolent habit is inconsistent with laudable actions. A
versatile humour is active, but wants patience. An excessive
fondness for company and amusement is the cause of much waste
of time.
+IV. Do every work in its season.+--Youth is the most promising
season. The time of health is more favourable than a time of
sickness. There are seasons friendly to particular duties. In
doing works of charity observe opportunities.
+V. Wisely divide your time among your various duties.+--_Lathrop._
_The Redemption of Time._
+I. The subject of the exhortation.+--1. _Time sometime signifies the
whole duration assigned to the present world._
2. _The period of human life._--The time we occupy in the present
state is that which God allots for our personal probation and trial.
All God's dispensations in respect to us refer to this period and
have their limits fixed by it.
3. _Time means season or opportunity._--In this sense the apostle
uses it here. We are to redeem all the opportunity God bestows on us
for getting and doing good, for acquainting ourselves with Him and
being at peace.
+II. The duty enjoined on us.+--"Redeeming the time"--the opportunity.
1. _We redeem time by consideration._
2. _When we turn everything we have to do, in the common concerns of
life, into a religious channel._
3. _By living in a devotional spirit._--(1) This will cast out
everything trifling, much more everything sinful, from our leisure
hours. (2) Its preservation and exercise are perfectly compatible
with the affairs of life.
4. The principal way by which time is to be redeemed is not merely by
making efforts to promote our final blessedness, but _by actually
securing our present salvation._
+III. The motives by which the exhortation is enforced.+--"Because
the days are evil."
1. _The days are evil in a general sense._--This age, as well as the
age of the apostles, is a wicked one.
2. _Because they are days of distress._
3. _The days are evil individually._--In the sense of affliction to a
number of individuals.
4. _It is an evil day that we are ever exposed to enemies and
temptations._
5. _Every day opportunities of improvement are wasted is an evil day._
6. _The time will come when, as to many unhappy spirits, the
opportunity of salvation will be lost for ever.--R. Watson._
_The Redemption of Time._--The more the days are beset by things that
grievously invade them, disturb them, waste them, the more careful
and zealous should we be to save and improve all that we can. To this
end--
+I. It is of the highest importance that time should be a reality in
our perception and estimate;+ that we should verify it as an actual
something, like a substance to which we can attach a positive value,
and see it as wasting or as improved as palpably as the contents of a
granary or as the precious metals. The unfortunate case with us is,
that time is apprehended but like air, or rather like empty space, so
that in wasting it we do not see that we are destroying or misusing a
reality. Time is equivalent to what could be done or gained in it.
+II. Keep established in the mind, and often present to view, certain
important purposes or objects that absolutely must be attained.+--For
example: that there is some considerable discipline and improvement
of the mind, some attainment of Divine knowledge, some measure of the
practice of religious exercises, and there is the one thing needful
in its whole comprehensive magnitude.
+III. That time be regarded in an inseparable connection with
eternity is the grand principle for redeeming it;+ to feel solemnly
that it is really for eternity, and has all the importance of this
sublime and awful relation. It might be a striking and alarming
reflection suggested to a man who has wasted his time--now the time
has gone backward into the irrevocable past, but the effect of it,
from the quality you have given it, is gone forward into eternity,
and since you are going thither, how will you meet and feel the
effect there?
+IV. Nothing short of the redemption of the soul is the true and
effectual redemption of time.+--And this object gives the supreme
rule for the redeeming of time. How melancholy to have made so
admirable a use of time for all purposes but the supreme one!--_John
Foster._
Ver. 17, 18. _Sensual and Spiritual Excitement._--There is the
antithesis between drunkenness and spiritual fulness. The propriety
of this opposition lies in the intensity of feeling produced in both
cases. There is one intensity of feeling produced by stimulating the
senses, another by vivifying the spiritual life within. The one
commences with impulses from without, the other is guarded by forces
from within. Here, then, is the similarity and here the dissimilarity
which constitutes the propriety of the contrast. One is ruin, the
other salvation. One degrades, the other exalts.
+I. The effects are similar.+--On the day of Pentecost, when the
first influences of the Spirit descended on the early Church, the
effects resembled intoxication. It is this very resemblance which
deceives the drunkard; he is led on by his feelings as well as by his
imagination. Another point of resemblance is the necessity of intense
feeling. We have fulness--it may be produced by outward stimulus or
by an inpouring of the Spirit. The proper and natural outlet for this
feeling is the life of the Spirit. What is religion but fuller life?
+II. The dissimilarity or contrast in St. Paul's idea.+--The one
fulness begins from without, the other from within. The one proceeds
from the flesh, and then influences the emotions; the other reverses
this order. Stimulants like wine inflame the senses, and through them
set the imaginations and feelings on fire; and the law of our
spiritual being is, that that which begins with the flesh sensualises
the spirit; whereas that which commences in the region of the spirit
spiritualises the senses, in which it subsequently stirs emotion.
That which begins in the heart ennobles the whole animal being; but
that which begins in the inferior departments of our being is the
most entire degradation and sensualising of the soul. The other point
of difference is one of effect. Fulness of the Spirit calms; fulness
produced by excitement satiates and exhausts. The crime of sense is
avenged by sense which wears with time--the terrific punishment
attached to the habitual indulgence of the senses is that the
incitements to enjoyment increase in proportion as the power of
enjoyment fades. We want the Spirit of the life of Christ, simple,
natural, with power to calm and soothe the feelings which it rouses;
the fulness of the Spirit which can never intoxicate!--_F. W.
Robertson._
_Christian Mirth versus Drunken Mirth._--Carnal men seek the joys of
life in revelry, but Christians must seek them in a higher
inspiration--that of the Holy Ghost, whose fulness is the source of
the blithest and most joyous life.
+I. The mirth begotten of wine is the mother of all kinds of
profligacy.+
+II. The mirth begotten of wine destroys men body and soul.+
+III. The fulness of the Holy Spirit produces a truly blithe and
merry life.+--In this life, with its many causes of
depression, men need exhilaration, and the text points us to
the only place where it is to be found without any
alloy.--_G. A. Bennetts, B.A._
_What is your Heart filled with?_
+I. The heart of man must be full of something.+
+II. Those who are full of wine cannot be filled with the Spirit.+
+III. Those who are filled with the Spirit will not be full of wine.+
+IV. The joy that is kindled by fulness of wine is degrading while
it lasts, and will soon expire.+
+V. The joy that is kindled by the fulness of the Spirit makes us
like the angels, and it will never end.+--_Lay Preacher._
_The Vice of Drunkenness._
+I. The nature and extent of the sin.+--The use of meat and drink is
to support and comfort the body. Whatever is more than these is
excess. The highest degree of intemperance is such an indulgence as
suspends the exercise of the mental and bodily powers. If by the
indulgence of your appetite you unfit your body for the service of
your mind, or your mind for the service of God, you waste your
substance as to defraud your family of a maintenance or your
creditors of their dues, become enslaved to a sensual habit and
fascinated to dissolute company, stupefy your conscience, extinguish
the sentiments of honour and banish the thoughts of futurity, you are
chargeable with criminal excess.
+II. The guilt and danger which attend the vice.+--1. _It is an
ungrateful abuse of God's bounty._ 2. _It divests the man of his
native dignity and sinks him below the brutal herds._ 3. _Is
injurious to the body as well as mind._ 4. _Consumes men's
substance._ 5. _Wastes a man's conscience as well as his substance._
6. _Intemperance generates other vices--impure lustings, angry
passions, profane language, insolent manners, obstinacy of heart, and
contempt of reproof._ 7. _Has most lamentable effects on families._
8. _The Scripture abounds in solemn warnings against this sin._
9. _This sin must be renounced, or the end of it will be
death.--Lathrop._
_Being filled with the Spirit._--1. It supposes a sufficiency and
fulness in the Spirit and His influences every way to fill our souls,
to supply all our spiritual wants, and to help our infirmities. 2. It
imparts an actual participation of His influences and fruits in a
large and plentiful measure. (1) As men come to have every power and
faculty of their souls more subject to the Spirit's authority and
under the influence proper to it. (2) As they grow to experience His
operations in all the several kinds of them. (3) As His agency comes
to be more stated and constant in them. (4) As His grace becomes more
mighty and operative in them, so as actually to produce its proper
and genuine effects. (5) As they taste such a sweetness and delight
in the measure of participation attained that they reach forward with
greater ardour toward perfection. 3. That every one should esteem the
fulness of the Spirit a desirable thing. (1) It puts us into a fit
posture of mind for daily communion with God. (2) Would settle our
minds in the truest pleasure and peace. 4. That we should look upon
it as an attainable good. (1) From the Spirit's own gracious
benignity and His declared inclination to fill our souls. (2) From
the purchase and intercession of Christ. (3) From the nature of the
Spirit's work in consequence of redemption (4) From the Gospel being
described as the ministration of the Spirit. (5) From the
declarations of God concerning the Spirit. (6) From the instances of
His grace already made in others. (7) From the beginnings of His
saving grace in themselves, good men may conclude the greatest
heights attainable by them, if they be not wanting to
themselves.--_John Evans._
_On being filled with the Spirit_--
+I. Implies that the Spirit has been largely given to the Church.+
+II. That as God has given the Spirit largely so He has been
abundantly received.+
+III. Is to be possessed by His graces in all their variety.+
+IV. Is to be wholly guided by His influence and subject to His
control.+
+V. Is to be the instrument of fulfilling His mission on earth.+
+VI. Is to have God as the only portion of the soul.+--1. The Spirit
is God on the earth. 2. To be filled with the Spirit is to be
fully occupied with God.--_Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-21.
_Spiritual Enjoyment_--
+I. Expressed in heartfelt praise to God.+--"Speaking . . . in
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord"
(ver. 19). Men filled with wine seek their enjoyment in singing
bacchanalian odes and songs; but the men of the Spirit find a higher
and more satisfying joy in chanting psalms and hymns of praise to
God. The holiest excitement seeks expression in music and song. In
the praise meetings of the Ephesians we have the beginnings of
Christian psalmody. The psalms of the Old Testament were sung,
accompanied by musical instruments. "Singing and making melody" means
singing and playing, voice and instrument blending in joyous strains
of praise. Then would follow hymns expressing the great ideas of the
Gospel. Regarding the early Christians Pliny wrote: "They are wont on
a fixed day to meet before daylight--to avoid persecution--and to
recite a hymn among themselves by turns to Christ, as being God."
There might not be much artistic taste in the music, either of voice
or instrument; but the sincerity of the heart was the true harmony.
The contrast of the verse is between the heathen and the Christian
practice. Let your songs be not the drinking songs of heathen feasts,
but psalms and hymns; and their accompaniment, not the music of the
lyre, but the melody of the heart. Is any merry, let him sing, not
light and frivolous songs, breathing questionable morality, but
psalms. The glad heart is eager first to acknowledge God.
+II. Largely consists in thanksgiving.+--"Giving thanks always for
all things unto God" (ver. 20). God is the active Source of all
blessings in creation, providence, and grace, and should be
constantly acknowledged in grateful adoration. The thankful heart is
the happiest; and it is the happy who sing. Thanksgiving is the
predominating element in praise; and praise is the essence of true
worship. Prayer is not the essence of worship, though it is an
important help. Prayer becomes worship when it merges into praise.
The reading and exposition of God's Word are not worship. Preaching
accomplishes one of its loftiest functions when it incites to praise.
Music is not worship but it may become a valuable accessory.
Christianity has taken hold of music and consecrated and elevated it
to the highest uses of worship. It has produced the greatest
musicians and the grandest music. All true music is the outward and
melodious expression of our dearest and most sacred thoughts and
feelings. The musical artist touches what is deepest and best in us.
Nature has no false notes. When we praise God aright, worship becomes
an act of the highest intelligence, calling forth and exercising our
noblest powers. We are to sing with the Spirit, and we are to sing
with the understanding also. Worship is acceptable to God as it is
the joyous expression of the soul, brimming over with thankfulness
and reverence. We are then brought under the spiritually transforming
power of the Being we worship; the worshipper becomes like the object
worshipped.
+III. Soberly recognises the relation in which we stand to each other
and to Christ.+--"Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of
God" (ver. 21). _In the fear of Christ_--so read all the old MSS, and
authorities. The believer passes from under the bondage of the law to
be the servant of Christ, which through the instinct of love to Him
is really to be the Lord's freeman, for he is under the law to
Christ. Thus reverential fear of displeasing Him is the motive for
discharging our relative duties as Christians. The Church should be a
pattern and an example of harmony and peace, and this can only be by
the members submitting themselves one to another "in the fear of
Christ." The man with the most distinguished gifts must not be above
submitting himself to the judgment and will of his fellow-members.
Preacher, organist, choir, and congregation must vie with each other
in harmonious rivalry in the service and worship of God.
+Lessons.+--1. _Spiritual enjoyment is not dependent on fictitious
excitement._ 2. _Expresses itself in holiest song._ 3. _Is unselfish._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 19. _Singing in the Worship of God._
+I. The singing of psalms is here enjoined as a sacred branch of
social worship.+--We are to glorify God in our bodies and in our
spirits. To Him we are to consecrate the use of all our powers. And
there is the same reason why the musical as any other faculty should
be employed in His service. Praise is the most excellent part of
Divine worship.
+II. The matter or subject of our singing.+--In psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs. By psalms is intended that collection of sacred
poems which passes under this name and is one of the canonical books
of Scripture. By hymns may be designed other poetical compositions of
Scripture as the songs of Moses, Hannah, Zechariah, Simeon, and
others. By spiritual songs may be meant those pious and devout songs
which in that age were composed by prophets and holy men in the
Church under the immediate influence of the Spirit. The matter we
sing should be accommodated to the occasion of the worship. If in the
days of David it was thought necessary that on extraordinary
occasions a new song should be sung, surely now we may sing some new
songs on the glorious occasion of the Gospel.
+III. We are to sing, making melody.+--The use of music in social
worship is to assist and enliven the devotion of the heart. When
music is performed with melody of sound, exactness of time, and
harmony of voices, it greatly contributes to this end. Singing cannot
be performed to edification and comfort without skill. The singers in
the Jewish Temple were carefully instructed, and this branch of
worship conducted with great order and solemnity.
+IV. In singing we must make melody in our hearts to the
Lord.+--Singing as part of religious worship must be directed to God.
We sing in obedience to His command, with a sense of His presence,
with hearts disposed for His service, with affections corresponding
to the matter of the psalm. The man who can hear holy anthems sung to
the universal Parent, with voices sweetly mingling and harmonising
together, and not feel himself softened into benevolence and love and
moulded into condescension and peace, must have a soul rugged as the
rocks and stubborn as an oak.
+Lessons.+--1. _If singing is an instituted part of Divine worship,
all should take a share in it._ 2. _Every one according to his
ability is bound to promote the psalmody of the Church._ 3. _Psalmody
as a branch of Divine worship should be regarded, not as a theatrical
exhibition, but as a religious solemnity.--Lathrop._
Ver. 20. _The Duty of Thanksgiving._
+I. The duty to which we are exhorted.+--1. Implies a right
apprehension and considerate attention to benefits conferred.
2. Requires a faithful retention of benefits in memory and frequent
reflections on them. 3. A due esteem and valuation of benefits.
4. That benefits be received with a willing mind, a hearty sense, a
vehement affection. 5. Always attended with the esteem, veneration,
and love of the benefactor.
+II. The time allotted to the performance of the duty.+--"Always."
1. Hereby is required a frequent performance thereof. 2. Appointing
and punctually observing convenient times for the purpose. 3. A
vigilant attendance on the duty such as men bestow on their
employments. 4. Implies a ready disposition to give thanks ever
permanent in us. 5. That we embrace every opportunity of actually
expressing our thankfulness.
+III. The matter of this duty.+--"For all things." 1. We are to give
thanks not only for great but the least favours of God. 2. Not only
for new and present benefits, but for all we have formerly or may
hereafter receive. 3. Not only for pleasant occurrences of
providence, but also those which are adverse. 4. Not only for
temporal but for spiritual and eternal blessings.--_Barrow._
_Thanksgiving._
+I. The duty here enjoined is to give thanks.+
+II. Consider the character of that Being to whom our thanks must be
supremely directed.+--"To God, even the Father."
+III. We are required to give thanks always to God.+
+IV. The matters for which we are to give thanks.+--"For all things."
+V. Consider the medium of our access to God in this duty.+--"In the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ."--_Lathrop._
Ver. 21. _Mutual Submission._
+I. A degree of submission is due to superiors.+--Superiors in age,
in knowledge and wisdom, in authority. Honour a virtuous
character wherever you see it.
+II. Mutual submission as it respects equals.+--All men have the same
immutable right to an equitable treatment from all with whom
they have intercourse. Mutual subjection ought to be seen in
families.
+III. There is a submission due to those who on some accounts may be
deemed inferiors.+--Superiors owe respect to those below them.
They should be easy of access, gentle in language, and
condescending in deportment.
+IV. This mutual submission ought to appear in Christian
Churches.+--_Ibid._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 22-33.
_Duties of Wives and Husbands._
+I. The duty of the wife is submission to her husband.+--"Wives
submit yourselves unto your own husbands."
1. _A submission defined by religious obligation._--"As unto the
Lord" (ver. 22). This submission implies no inferiority. Husband and
wife are equal before God, and each is separately responsible to Him.
The husband cannot love and serve God for the wife, nor the wife for
the husband; each stands related to Him as a distinct personality,
with distinct duties and responsibilities for each. God has the first
claim upon them both, and their relation and duties to each other
must be in harmony with that supreme claim. The submission demanded
is not the subjection of an inferior to a superior, but the
voluntary, sympathetic obedience that can be gracefully and
appropriately rendered only by an equal to an equal. "It is here that
Christianity, in contrast with paganism and notably with
Mahometanism, raises the weaker sex to honour. In soul and destiny it
declares the woman to be man, endowed with all rights and powers
inherent in humanity. It is one of the glories of our faith that it
has enfranchised our sisters, and raises them in spiritual calling to
the full level of their brothers and husbands."
2. _A submission recognising the headship of the
husband._--(1) Analogous to the headship of Christ to His Church.
"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head
of the Church" (ver. 23). (2) Unlike that headship inasmuch as Christ
is not only the head but also the Saviour of the Church. "And He is
the Saviour of the body" (ver. 23). As the Saviour His headship is
unrivalled and must be acknowledged by every member alike. The wife
must not think too much of her husband: there is One who is superior
to him, and who must be all in all to them both.
3. _A submission after the pattern of that of the Church to
Christ._--"As the Church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to
their own husbands in everything" (ver. 24; cf. ver. 33). Religion
sanctifies all relationships and makes duty a joy. As the wife obeys
Christ in spiritual things, so she will obey her husband in all
things righteous. Mary, wife of Prince William of Orange and the
heir-apparent to the English throne, was asked what her husband the
prince should be if she became queen. She called in her husband and
promised him he should always bear rule; and asked only that he would
obey the command, "Husbands, love your wives," as she should do that,
"Wives, be obedient to your husbands in all things."
+II. The duty of the husband is to love his wife.+--1. _A love that
seeks to promote the highest spiritual interests of the wife_ (vers.
25-29). It must be a Christ-like, self-sacrificing, all-devoted love.
It is greatly within the power of the husband to help or hinder the
spiritual life of the wife. The man is apt to become so self-absorbed
and forgetful that he needs reminding of his duty to love and cherish
the one who should be dearer to him than any other. Assured of the
reality and unselfishness of her husband's love, there is no
sacrifice she will hesitate to make, nor will she spare any effort to
attain the Christ-likeness of character to which he may wish to lead
her. "One with Christ. This is the ideal Christian state. We have a
faint reflection of this in that which should be flesh. They are to
be as nearly as possible one person. Their thoughts, their interests,
their hopes, their aims are one. Marriage was given that it might be
a representation of the spiritual union between Christ and His
Church. The union of each separate soul with Christ is a fragment of
His union with the whole Church, and must partake of the same
character. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
2. _A love arising from the intimacy and sacredness of the marriage
bond_ (vers. 30-32).--Marriage is a union for life between one man
and one woman; consequently bigamy, polygamy, and voluntary divorce
are all inconsistent with its nature. It must be entered into freely
and cordially by the parties, with the conviction that one is suited
to the other, and to take the positions involved in the natural and
scriptural view of the relation. "Marriage," said Jeremy Taylor, "is
a school and exercise of virtue. Here is the proper sense of piety
and patience, of the duty of parents, and the charity of relatives;
here kindness is spread abroad and love is united and made firm as a
centre. Marriage is the nursery of heaven, hath in it the labours of
love and the delicacies of friendship, the blessing of society and
the union of hands and hearts. Like the useful bee, marriage builds a
house, unites into societies and republics, exercises many virtues,
promotes the interest of mankind, and is that state of good things to
which God has designed the present constitution of the world."
3. _A love strengthened by the observance of mutual duties_ (ver.
33).--Love manifested begets love, and strengthens with exercise. The
loving reverence of the wife follows on the frank and genuine love of
the husband. This was an epitaph in a churchyard inscribed by a
husband after sixty years of married life: "She always made home
happy." The Christian conception of love and marriage began a new era
in the world, and has exalted woman to her true place.
+Lessons.+--1. _Marriage is not to be lightly entered into._ 2. _Is
dignified as a symbol of the union between Christ and His Church._
3. _Binds the contracting parties to fidelity in observing the most
sacred vows._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 22-33. _Wives and Husbands._
+I. There are duties which are common to both the correlates.+--The
husband and wife are in some respects equals. As they are one and
have one common interest they ought to act with an undivided concern
for the happiness of the family. They are alike bound to mutual
fidelity and a chaste conversation. They are under equal obligations
to study each other's peace and comfort.
+II. There are some duties particularly incumbent on the
wife.+--These the apostle expresses by the terms submission,
reverence, obedience, and subjection. Since the Church is subject to
Christ, the woman ought to be subject to her husband, who, by
Christ's authority, is constituted her head. A family should resemble
a Church in union, peace, and subordination. The honour and interest
of religion require that wives, by a cheerful subordination,
co-operate with their husbands in all the important concerns of the
household, and in the nurture, education, and government of the
dependent members.
+III. There are duties particularly incumbent on the husband towards
his wife.+--These the apostle expresses by the word "love," which
here stands opposed to sharpness and severity. One argument for this
love is the example of Christ in His love and devotion to the Church.
Another reason is, the intimacy of the relationship--"Whoso loveth
his wife loveth himself." Where the spirit of religion reigns in
both, the union will be easy and their joint government in the family
have efficacy. The maintenance of family religion depends on nothing
more than the union of the heads. For how can they unite in prayers
and praises who unite in nothing else.--_Lathrop._
Vers. 23-32. _Christ and His Bride._
+I. Christ's love to the Church+ (vers. 25-27). We must value and
joyfully assert our individual part in the redeeming love of the Son
of God; but we must equally admit the sovereign rights of the Church
in the Redeemer's passion. There is in some an absorption in the work
of grace within their own hearts, an individualistic
salvation-seeking that like all selfishness defeats its end, for it
narrows and impoverishes the inner life thus sedulously cherished.
The Church does not exist simply for the benefit of individual souls;
it is an eternal institution, with an affiance to Christ, a calling
and destiny of its own; within that universal sphere our personal
destiny holds its particular place. The Christ is worthy and she must
be made worthy. From eternity He set His love upon her; on the cross
He won her back from her infidelity at the price of His blood.
Through the ages He has been wooing her to Himself, and schooling her
in wise and manifold ways that she may be fit for her heavenly
calling. Through what cleansing fires, through what baptisms, even of
blood, she has still to pass ere the consummation is reached, He only
knows who loved her and gave Himself for her. He will spare to His
Church nothing, either of bounty or of trial, that her perfection
needs.
+II. Christ's authority over the Church+ (vers. 23, 24).--The Church
is no democracy, any more than she is an aristocracy or a sacerdotal
absolutism: she is a _Christocracy._ The people are not rulers in the
house of God; they are the ruled, laity and ministers alike. We
acknowledge this in theory; but our language and spirit would
oftentimes be other than they are, if we were penetrated with the
sense of the continual presence and majesty of the Lord Jesus in our
assemblies. The Church's protection from human tyranny, from schemes
of ambition, from the intrusion of political methods and designs,
lies in her sense of the splendour and reality of Christ's dominion
and of her own eternal life in Him.
+III. The mystery of the Church's origin in Christ+ (vers.
30-32).--God chose us in Christ before the world's foundation. We are
created in the Son of God's love antecedently to our redemption by
Him. Christ recovers through the cross that which pertains inherently
to Him, which belonged to Him by nature, and is as a part of Himself.
The derivation of Eve from the body of Adam, as that is affirmed in
the mysterious words of Genesis, is analogous to the derivation of
the Church from Christ. The latter relationship existed in the ideal,
and as conceived in the purpose of God, prior to the appearance of
the human race. In St. Paul's theory, the origin of the woman in man,
which forms the basis of marriage in Scripture, looked farther back
to the origin of humanity in Christ Himself. In some mystical but
real sense marriage is a _reunion,_ the reincorporation of what had
been sundered. Seeking his other self, the complement of his nature,
the man breaks the ties of birth and founds a new home. So the
inspired author of the passage in Genesis (Gen. ii. 21-24) explains
the origin of marriage, and the instinct which draws the bridegroom
to his bride. But our apostle sees within this declaration a deeper
truth, kept secret from the foundation of the world. When he speaks
of this great mystery, he means thereby not marriage itself, but _the
saying of Adam about it._ This text was a standing problem to the
Jewish interpreters. "But for my part," says the apostle, "I refer it
to Christ and to the Church." St. Paul, who has so often before drawn
the parallel between Adam and Christ, by the light of this analogy
perceives a new and rich meaning in the old dark sentence. It helps
him to see how believers in Christ, forming collectively His body,
are not only grafted into Him, but were derived from Him and formed
in the very mould of His nature. In our union through grace and faith
with Christ crucified we realise again the original design of our
being. Christ has purchased by His blood no new or foreign bride, but
her who was His from eternity--the child who had wandered from the
Father's house, the betrothed who had left her Lord and
spouse.--_Findlay._
Vers. 25-33. _The Christian Law of Marriage_--
+I. Demands self-sacrificing love.+
+II. Recognises the sacredness of the union between the contracting
parties.+
+III. Is ennobled in being a type of the union between Christ and the
Church.+
+IV. Involves mutual fidelity on the part of both husband and wife.+
Vers. 25-27. _Christ's Love for the Church._
+I. Christ's love of His Church.+--It was--1. Ancient. 2. Self-moved.
3. Active. 4. Effective.
+II. Christ's sacrifice of Himself as an exhibition of His
love.+--1. Himself. His life. What a life! 2. As a sacrifice. The
essence of it is vicarious suffering. 3. To all the suffering which
justice demanded.
+III. Christ's more immediate object in what He has
done.+--1. Sanctification. As essential as pardon. 2. By the agency
of the Holy Spirit. Signified by the washing of water. 3. Through the
instrumentality of the Word.
+IV. Christ's ultimate aim.+--1. To present His Church to Himself. A
nuptial figure. 2. Free from all imperfections. 3. Adorned with all
excellencies. (1) Our obligations to Christ. (2) The real value of
holiness. (3) The high destiny of believers.--_G. Brooks._
_The Future Glory of the Church._
+I. The future state of the Church.+--In describing the future
condition of the Church, the apostle has evidently in his mind two
previous states: her original state when lying dead in trespasses and
sins, and her subsequent earthly state when separated from the mass
of the ungodly and partially redeemed. We have the people of Christ
before us in three distinct points of view:--
1. _As wholly defiled._--Speaking of "sanctifying and cleansing" the
Church intimates her complete defilement.
2. _As in some measure cleansed._--Though sanctified and cleansed, we
read of spots still left on the Church.
3. _As altogether pure._--Faultless in God's presence and estimation.
+II. The causes to which this state is to be ascribed.+--1. _The love
of Christ._ 2. _Love revealed in sacrifice_ as another step towards
final purity. 3. _The work of the Holy Spirit_ (ver. 26). 4. _The
Word of God_ (ver. 26). A right understanding of its testimony and a
heartfelt belief in its truth.
+III. The great end for which all these means of holiness are brought
into operation.+--"That He might present it to Himself a glorious
Church" (ver. 27). The likeness of God will be put on her, the image
of God shine in her; that attribute of Divinity--holiness--which is
the perfection of Divinity will be her crown.--_C. Bradley._
_The Divine Ideal of the Church._
+I. We have an array of stupendous facts concerning the
Church.+--1. _The Divine prevision._ Before the eternal Son of God
could give Himself for the Church, He must have had it in His mind.
2. _The Redeemer's actual love for the Church._ 3. _The Redeemer's
amazing self-sacrifice on behalf of the Church._ 4. _That the
Redeemer has a very definite purpose concerning His Church._
+II. The distinguishing marks or signs of the members of the
Church.+--They are personal and experimental. 1. _The casting out of
natural impurities._ Improvement is not enough. Nothing but a
thorough re-creation can effect what is required. 2. _The instrument
of this change is the truth._ 3. _This change, this introduction into
the Church, is a thing complete in itself, becomes historical, and
ought never to need repeating._ 4. _The way is open for the
appearance of the other personal and experimental
sign--sanctification_ (ver. 26). 5. _Christ's idea of the Church
given in these verses is not abstract, impracticable, and untrue to
the possibilities of ordinary human nature._
+III. Here we catch a glimpse of the future and eternal glory of the
Church.+--How stupendous an event it will be when, at the
consummation of all things, the whole Church will be presented to the
Lord Jesus! What can secure Church membership? Neither early
training, nor baptism, nor the holding of an orthodox creed, nor
associating with a religious and devout assembly, nor the filling of
ecclesiastical office, nor even intelligent approach to the table of
the Lord. Such things are means to an end. That end is true
membership in the Church of Christ. And that membership is attained
and secured by Divine renewal of the heart, and by that conformity to
the mind of Christ which is expressive of the new life. The true
unity of the Church of Christ is that spiritual oneness which has its
expression in identity of Christian life.--_W. Hudson._
Ver. 25. _A Noble Self-sacrifice._--Caius Gracchus, who was the idol
of the Roman people, having carried his regard for the lower orders
so far as to draw upon himself the resentment of the nobility, an
open rupture ensued; and the two extremities of Rome resembled two
camps--Opimius the consul on one side, and Gracchus and his friend
Fulvius on the other. A battle ensued in which the consul, meeting
with more vigorous resistance than he expected, proclaimed an amnesty
for all those who should lay down their arms, and at the same time
promised to pay for the heads of Gracchus and Fulvius their weight in
gold. This proclamation had the desired effect. The populace deserted
their leaders. Fulvius was taken and beheaded, and Gracchus, at the
advice of his two friends, Licinius Crassus and Pomponius, determined
to flee the city, and reached the bridge Sublicius, where his
enemies, who pursued him close, would have overtaken and seized him
if his two friends had not opposed their fury; but they saw the
danger he was in and determined to save his life at the expense of
their own. They defended the bridge against all the consular troops
till Gracchus was out of their reach; but at length, being
overpowered by numbers, and covered with wounds, they both expired on
the bridge they had so valiantly defended.--_Biblical Treasury._
Ver. 30. _Members of the Body of Christ._
+I. The doctrine.+--The apostle is speaking of believers only; of
believers as believing; of all believers. His language implies:--
1. _Union._--Real, intimate, indissoluble.
2. _Dependence._--Of the members on the heart. Of the members on the
head.
3. _Sympathy._--Sincere, entire, uninterrupted. Value of human
sympathy. Its rarity. Its necessary imperfection. The superiority of
Christ's.
+II. The duty.+--1. _Love._ A special affection arising out of a
special relation.
2. _Reverence._--There should be no unholy familiarity.
3. _Obedience._--Responsive to His will as a part of
Himself.--_G. Brooks._
Ver. 33. _The Sanctity of Home Life._--The Christian home is the
corner-stone of modern civilisation--the best fruit Christianity has
yielded the earth. The Anglo-Saxon home is the crowning glory of the
race. Contrast it with French home life, or the miserable home life
in Utah! National self-preservation demands a vigorous uprooting of
Mormon polygamy and Western divorce lawlessness. That which is
punished as a crime in the best and purest Christian lands must be
punished as a crime wherever it is found. Garfield kissing his mother
and his wife at his Inauguration was a sweet revelation of holy
family life.--_Homiletic Monthly._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER VI.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Children, obey.+--Until the days of discretion arrive this
is the grace of childhood. If through obedience the child errs, the
responsibility of that is with those who have commanded. It is only a
"surrendered soul" that can sing:
"I would be treated as a child,
And guided where I go."
Ver. 2. +Honour thy father and mother.+--As long as they are so.
Ver. 3. +That it may be well with thee.+--If ever "that it may be"
could mean "and so it shall be," we should strenuously plead for that
meaning here. For it would be a pitiable thing indeed to find a man
showing filial piety as a profitable course.
Ver. 4. +Nurture and admonition.+--The former word is more general
than the latter, including everything that goes to the instruction of
the child. "Admonition" is reproof, either of word or punishment, or
yet again, warning.
Ver. 5. +Servants, be obedient.+--R.V. margin, "bond-servants." There
was One who had "become obedient even unto death," having "taken the
form of a bond-servant" (Phil. ii. 7). +With fear and
trembling.+--"With that zeal which is ever keenly apprehensive of not
doing enough" (_Meyer_). The same phrase is used of the way in which
our personal salvation is to be worked out (Phil. ii. 12).
Ver. 6. +Not with eyeservice.+--A word used only by St. Paul. The
thing it describes is easily recognised to-day.
Ver. 7. +With good will doing service.+--If a philosopher-slave like
Epictetus could rise superior to his condition, surely Christianity
could do as much for the humblest believer.
Ver. 8. +Knowing that whatsoever good . . . bond or free.+
"This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold,
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told"--_George Herbert._
Ver. 9. +Do the same things unto them.+--The utmost application of
the "golden rule." +Forbearing threatening+ "may either mean abating
or giving up."
Ver. 10. +Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.+--In
ch. i. 19 the phrase "power of His might" is reversed. See note there.
Ver. 11. +The whole armour.+--"The panoply." "A complete suit of
armour." +The wiles of the devil.+--A craftily designed plan of
attack.
Ver. 12. +For we wrestle.+--We need not suppose a transference of the
metaphor. It may describe the hand-to-hand fight in which equally
matched opponents refuse to back an inch. +Not against flesh and
blood.+--With "vulnerable crests" (_Macbeth_). When ghostly
combatants appear, unassailable, and with powers of injury against
which we are helpless, we may well say:
"Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves
Shall never tremble."
Ver. 13. +In the evil day.+--Compare ch. v. 16. A day of great peril.
+And having done all, to stand.+--"When the hurly-burly's done" to
find oneself unvanquished.
Ver. 14. +Stand therefore.+--The words ring short and sharp as a
bugle-call. +Loins girt about with truth.+--"To speak of a
well-equipped warrior without a girdle is a _contradictio in
adjecto,_ for it was just the girdle which produced the free bearing
and movement and the necessary attitude of the warrior" (_Meyer_).
"+Truth+ is a subjective conception corresponding with the eternal
realities" (_Beet_). +Breastplate of righteousness.+--"As the actual
warrior has protected the breast when he laced the corslet over his
chest, so with you righteousness . . . renders your breast (heart and
will) inaccessible to the hostile influence of the demons" (_Meyer_).
"He is but naked though locked up in steel
Whose conscience with _injustice_ is corrupted."
Ver. 15. +Feet shod.+--Ensuring agility and a firm foothold.
+Preparation of the gospel of peace.+--"Preparation" might perhaps
give way to "preparedness." St. Paul does not mind a paradox. "What
hast thou to do with peace?" said one soldier to another; but the
herald was a soldier too.
Ver. 16. +Above all, taking the shield.+--Large enough to block the
entrance to a doorway--being about four feet by two and a half. The
lighter missiles were harmless against a roof of these shields
over-lapped. They were of wood, thickly coated with leather. +Quench
the fiery darts.+--"Arrows tipped with inflammable material, and shot
off after having been kindled" (_Meyer_).
Ver. 17. +Take the helmet of salvation.+--For the large shield might
leave the head exposed to the archer's aim. +The sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.+--How effectual in fence and thrust it was
in the hands of the Captain of our salvation, the "world-ruler" had
experienced.
Ver. 18. +Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit.+--Here we have the recognition of a directing Superior. The
true soldier fights under the direction of his ἀρχηγός. The "sounds
of strife" are dying away in this verse.
Ver. 20. +An ambassador in bonds.+--R.V. "in chains." Sustaining the
honour of Christ under personal indignity. +That I may speak
boldly.+--It needed not only the apostle's own, but his readers'
prayers to enable him to speak freely within stroke of the "lion's
paw" (2 Tim. iv. 17).
Ver. 21. +Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister.+--If all
servants were "brethren" first, the troubles of our modern commercial
life would be few.
Ver. 23. +Peace, love and faith.+--A worthy triad, and the greatest
of _these_ is love.
Ver. 24. +Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity.+--Paul's favourite word "grace" comes in as "epilogue"--as
it was "prologue" (ch. i. 2). Sincerity means incorruptly--to love in
a spirit corruption cannot touch.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.
_Duties of Children and Parents._
+I. The duty of children to parents is to obey.+--1. _This obedience
has the Divine sanction._ "In the Lord" (ver. 1). Both the command
and the obedience must be in harmony with the relation in which both
parents and children stand towards God. The parent who has not
himself learnt to respect and obey the law of God is ill prepared for
the grave responsibilities of family government. Natural affection
and the instincts of common sense will guide the parents in the
ordinary affairs of home-life, and the sense of dependence and
respect should induce instinctive obedience in the child. No parent
has any right to enforce an obedience which is not in harmony with
the supreme claims of God. The child who submits to the will of his
parents is taught at the same time to obey the higher law of God. If
he defies parental authority and persists in disobedience, he is sure
to be treated in the same way if he ever has children of his own. To
be able to govern we must first learn to obey.
2. _This obedience is in harmony with natural order and the eternal
principles of justice._--"For this is right" (ver. 1). Obedience is
the law of the universe, and without it everything would rush into
anarchy and chaos. Law is so all-pervasive as to cover every
department and relationship of life, and its breach in any sphere
carries with it its own punishment. Disobedience is not only a wrong
to the person who commits it, but it is an injustice to somebody
else. Obedience to parents in things lawful is no hardship. It is
becoming and commendable because it is right. It is the perversity of
our nature, when it becomes difficult to do right. Disobedience is a
wilful divergence from the straight line of rectitude, and is the
essence of all sin.
3. _This obedience ensures the Divine blessing_ (vers. 2, 3).--It is
our duty to obey irrespective of any advantage to be secured. The
loyal heart looks, not to the reward, but to the duty. It is no merit
to do what it is our duty to do. Yet such is the condescension and
goodness of God that He attaches a special blessing to every act of
unselfish obedience. Filial obedience should not be dilatory and
reluctant, but prompt, cheerful, self-denying, and uniform. Obedience
is the path of safety. A pointsman in Prussia was at the junction of
two lines of railway, lever in hand, for a train that was signalled.
The engine was within a few seconds of reaching the embankment when
the man, turning his head, perceived his little boy playing between
the rails on which the train was running. He stuck to his lever, but
shouted to the child, "Lie down! lie down!" The train passed, and the
father rushed forward to pick up what he feared would be the mangled
body of his child; but what was his joy to find the boy had at once
obeyed his order, had lain down, and the train passed over him
without injuring him. His prompt obedience saved his life. Dutiful
children secure the blessing of God. Filial obedience practised in
the Christian home forms habits of promptitude, self-control, and
self-respect which are important conditions of success and prosperity.
+II. The duty of parents to children is to exercise
discipline.+--1. _Not by enforcing commands that tend to irritate._
"Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath" (ver. 4). Children
are a sacred trust and solemn responsibility; not to be weakly
fondled or foolishly spoilt, but to be wisely, kindly, and strictly
disciplined into obedience and duty. The Chinese have a proverb, when
a son is born into a family a bow and arrow are hung before the gate.
In Eastern books sons are spoken of as arrows of their fathers. "As
arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth"
(Ps. cxxvii. 4). As the bowman straightens and polishes his arrow,
giving it a sharp and solid point, and wings it with feathers, so
parents must train and equip their children that they may go straight
to the point of duty and hit the mark. The arrows that are not
prepared and directed when in the hand may, when they are gone abroad
into the world, and all parental training is too late, prove arrows
in the heart that will rankle with unspeakable pain. The training of
children is also a training of the parent. Many a hint is
unconsciously given as to "training up a _parent_ in the way he
should go." While there should be firm discipline, there should not
be exasperating and tantalising severity. Rousing a child's anger is
not the best way of subduing it. A sullen submission gained, by
provoking and then crushing an angry opposition, is rendered with a
sense of injustice and wrong that will breed future mischief. Monod
says: "Correction and instruction should proceed from the Lord, and
be directed by the Spirit of the Lord in such a way that it is not so
much the father who corrects his children and teaches them, as the
Lord through him." The father who chastises in wrath provokes the
child to wrath and rebellion.
2. _But by judicious religious culture._--"But bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord" (ver. 4). Children are the gifts
of God to be trained for God. They are susceptible of genuine
religious experience, and are often nearer the truth than grown-up
people. Christ recognised the spiritual faculty in children, and gave
them a conspicuous place in His kingdom. When He wished to show the
type of true greatness, He did not point to stars or mountains or
earthly dignities, but "called a little child unto Him and, set him
in the midst" (Matt. xviii. 2-4). Children are capable of useful
religious service, and in many ways may be little missionaries for
Christ. Dr. W. L. Breckenridge once said to his mother: "Mother, I
think you ruled us with too rigid a rod in our boyhood. It would have
been better had you used gentler methods." The old lady straightened
up and said: "Well, William, when you have raised up three as good
preachers as I have then you can talk." The smaller magnets have
proportionately much the greater power, and children have a
remarkable spiritual force with which the Christian parent has to
deal.
+Lessons.+--1. _Personal discipline should be in harmony with the law
of God._ 2. _The rigour of parental discipline should be tempered
with love._ 3. _Respect and obedience to parents will be Divinely
rewarded._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1-4. _The Mutual Duties of Children and Parents._
+I. Children are to obey and honour their parents.+--1. _Children owe
to their parents an inward affection and regard._ Their obedience
should flow from love, gratitude, and esteem. The love parents bear
to their children entitles them to reciprocal affection. 2. _They are
to honour their parents by external tokens of respect._ 3. _They are
to obey the just commands of their parents._ 4. _They are to receive
with decent and humble regard the instructions, counsels, and
reproofs of their parents._ 5. _They should remunerate the favours
received from their parents._ 6. _They are encouraged in their
obedience by the Divine promise._
+II. The duties of parents to children.+--1. _To instruct their
children in the doctrines and duties of religion._ 2. _To endeavour
by arguments, exhortations, and reproofs to form their lives
according to those instructions._ 3. _To regulate the diversions of
their children._ 4. _To maintain the worship of God in their houses._
5. _To let their conversation be exemplary._ 6. _To train up their
children with diligence in some honest business._ 7. _To commend
their children to God and the word of His grace.--Lathrop._
Vers. 1, 2. _Obedience._--The dutiful obedience of children is
declared by God in the fifth commandment to be the foundation of all
social happiness and of every social virtue.
+I. The behaviour of a child to its parents is no such trifle as too
many perverse children and too many foolish parents are prone to
fancy it.+--How often we hear mothers saying, "It is only the poor
child's way; it is a little pettish and fractious at times, but it
means no harm by it. To be sure it does not mind me quite so well as
it ought to do; but children will be children." So the child goes on
uncorrected, and grows up disobedient and undutiful--with habits and
dispositions so evil that God has classed them with the very worst
crimes, with false swearing, theft, adultery, and ever murder. If
undutifulness in children had been a mere trifle, would God have put
it into this black list?
+II. Observe the reasonableness and justice of the duty of children
to obey their parents.+--The child is helpless and entirely dependent
on its parents' care and kindness. So strong and lasting is a
mother's love that, while other animals drive their young away as
soon as they can feed themselves, the love of human parents descends
and prolongs itself even to their offspring's offspring. Think of
their fears, their wishes, their prayers for your souls' welfare.
Your love to them should be dutiful love, showing itself in acts of
gentleness, respect, and kindness, and in the strictest and readiest
obedience. Children are bound to obey, not from constraint, nor from
fear of blows, but readily, willingly, cheerfully. The obedience paid
for fear of stripes is the obedience of a mule, not of a son. What
can a child know save what its parents teach it? Its parents for a
time stand in the place of God to it; as such, it must believe them
and obey them. You may be the better for their experience, you may
profit by their warnings, you may learn from their lessons.
+III. Observe the use and benefit of obedience in forming the
character of the child.+--It is in the school of home, amid the
little hardships, restraints, crosses, and disappointments which
every child must needs meet with, that the great lesson of obedience
is best learnt. There is a root of self-will born in every man, and
out of this root grow two evil and misshapen stems--pride and
disobedience. You may as well expect water to burn and fire to wet,
you may as well expect a barren common that has never been ploughed
and sown to produce a crop of wheat, as that a child, which has gone
on year after year in pride, self-will, and disobedience to its
parents, will readily or easily tear off its habits and its nature,
to walk humbly and obediently before God. We must cultivate obedience
in the child that it may outgrow, overtop, and stifle, or at least
keep under, the evil stem of disobedience. We must cultivate humility
in him, that it may keep under the evil of pride. We must train and
accustom him to habits of steady self-denial, which our Lord has
recommended to us as the best yokes for our headstrong and else
unmanageable self-will. Thus the fifth commandment is a kind of
practical school where the child, in obeying its parents, learns to
obey all to whom it owes obedience.--_A. W. Hare._
Ver. 4. _A Father's Charge._
+I. The duties parents owe to their children.+--1. _Children are weak
and helpless and totally incapable of caring for themselves_--hence
arises the first duty which parents owe them, that of feeding and
clothing them. 2. _Are ignorant and without understanding_--hence
they should not only be fed but taught. 3. _Are unruly, and therefore
must be governed._ 4. _Are prone to evil, and therefore must be
restrained._
+II. The obligations parents are under to practise these
duties.+--1. _They should do it for their own sakes._ 2. _For their
children's sake._ 3. _For society's sake._ 4. _For God's sake._
+Learn.+--1. _The practicability of a religious education._ 2. _How
awful is the responsibility of parents--of fathers
especially.--Sketches._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-9.
_The Duties of Servants and Masters._
+I. The duty of the servant to the master is to obey.+--1. _This
obedience is to be rendered with conscientious solicitude._ "With
fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart; . . . not with
eyeservice, as menpleasers" (vers. 5, 6). There must be a _genuine
care for our work._ "Be obedient, with fear and trembling." The fear
enjoined is no dread of human displeasure, of the master's whip or
tongue. It is the same fear and trembling with which we are bidden to
work out our own salvation (Phil. ii. 12). The inward work of the
soul's salvation and the outward work of the busy hands labouring in
the mine, or at the loom, or in the lowliest domestic duties--all
alike are to be performed under a solemn responsibility to God and in
the presence of Christ, the Lord of nature and of men. No man,
whether he be a minister of state or a stable-groom, will dare to do
heedless work who lives and acts in that august Presence. The sense
of Christ's Lordship ensures _honesty in work._ "Not with eyeservice,
as menpleasers." It is the common fault and temptation of servants in
all degrees to observe the master's eye, and to work busily or
slackly as they are watched or not. Such workmen act as they do
because they look to men and not to God. Their work is without
conscience and self-respect. Let us all adopt St. Paul's maxim; it
will be an immense economy. What armies of overlookers and inspectors
we shall be able to dismiss when every servant works as well behind
his master's back as to his face, when every manufacturer and
shopkeeper puts himself in the purchaser's place and deals as he
would have others deal with him (_Findlay_).
2. _This obedience should be cheerful and hearty as rendered unto a
higher than an earthly master._--"As unto Christ; . . . doing the
will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the
Lord, and not to men" (vers. 5-7). Obedience should be not only
careful and honest, but hearty. The heart is the source of our
greatest power. Nothing can be translated into an act that has not
first been conceived and set in motion by the heart. As the stroke of
the piston sets in motion the most complicated machinery and produces
certain results, so the throb of the heart brings all our activities
into play and gives direction and character to our work. The worth of
our work as a whole will be decided by the heartiness we throw into
every single duty. Workmanship counts for much. I have read of a
chain, weighing two ounces, costing £170, being 163,000 times more
than the value of the original bit of iron from which it was made.
The work of the artist made all the difference; he put into it his
best self, his heart, his genius. So in the works of the divine
Creator. The symmetry, the beauty, the perfect balance and shining
magnificence of the world are the result of the patient work and
hearty enthusiasm with which the great Architect has put together and
finished the most minute parts of the planet.
3. _Genuine obedience is always rewarded._--"Whatsoever good thing
any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord" (ver. 8). Even
in this world conscientious work is not without reward. "In all
labour there is profit. The diligent hand maketh rich." A stationer
settling a large account with a paper-manufacturer said: "I owe all
my success in business to you; but let me ask you how a man of your
caution came to give credit so readily to a beginner of my slender
means?" "Because," said the paper-maker, "at whatever hour in the
mourning I passed to my business, I always observed you at yours with
your coat off." Work gives character, and is the pathway to success
and wealth. But in the world to come, when servant and master stand
before the bar of Christ, reward will be equitably meted out
according to the work of each.
+II. The duty of the master is to act towards his servant on the same
principles as obedience to himself is regulated.+--"And, ye masters,
do the same things unto them" (ver. 9). The master is to put himself
in the place of his servant, and act towards him as he would desire
to be treated if their positions were reversed. It is a practical
application of the great rule, "Whatsoever ye would that men should
do unto you, do ye even so to them"--a rule we are in danger of
interpreting on one side only: our own side.
1. _To avoid irritating severity._--"Forbearing threatening" (ver.
9). The slave in early times was treated as scarcely human, and was
ruled by the fear of punishment. Christianity in the beginning did
not interfere with domestic slavery; but it introduced principles
which, wherever adopted, utterly abolished slavery. The Christian
master cannot act on the policy of cruelty, but treats his servants
with justice and kindness.
2. _To remember that both are servants of a higher and impartial
Master._--"Knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is
there respect of persons with Him" (ver. 9). A party of friends
setting out together upon a journey soon find it to be the best for
all sides that while they are upon the road one of the company should
wait upon the rest, another ride forward to seek out lodging and
entertainment, a third carry the portmanteau, a fourth take charge of
the horses, a fifth bear the purse, conduct, and direct the route;
not forgetting, however, that as they were equal and independent when
they set out, so they are all to return to a level again at their
journey's end. The same regard and respect, the same forbearance,
lenity, and reserve in using their service, the same mildness in
delivering commands, the same study to make their journey comfortable
and pleasant which he whose lot it was to direct the rest would in
common decency think himself bound to observe towards them, ought we
to show to those who, in the casting of the parts of human society,
happen to be placed within our power or to depend upon us (_Paley_).
Master and man must give an account to Him who will judge every act
according to its merit.
+Lessons.+--1. _Masters and servants are amenable to Divine law._
2. _Neither master nor servant gains any advantage by tactics that
violate Divine law._ 3. _Where the Christian spirit predominates
trade disputes will soon be satisfactorily settled._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 5-9. _The Duties of Servants and Masters._
+I. The duties of servants.+--1. _To be obedient to their masters._
This must be understood with the same limitation as all other
commands enjoining relative duties. We are to obey God rather than
men. Servants no further obey their masters according to the will of
God than they make His will the rule and measure of their obedience
to their masters. 2. _Servants owe their masters reverence as well as
obedience._ 3. _There is an honour, as well as fear, due to their
masters._ 4. _Cheerfulness in their obedience is recommended by the
apostle._ 5. _Diligence of faithfulness is another duty which they
owe to their masters._ 6. _They are to be patient and submissive,_
though they meet with usage more severe than they think reasonable,
not breaking their own obligations, or deserting their master's
service for trivial causes, but bearing his smaller indiscretions
without complaint, and in cases of real injury seeking relief in a
prudent manner and by lawful means. 7. _In all their service they
should act with an aim to please God and to obtain His approbation._
+II. The duties of masters to their servants.+--1. _Their government
is to be mild and prudent, not passionate and severe._ 2. _With
respect to apprentices, the contract binds the master not only to
give them comfortable support, but to instruct them in his business
and profession._ 3. _With respect to labourers, justice obliges us to
give them the stipulated wages when they have faithfully performed
the promised service._ 4. _With respect to all servants, equity
requires that we treat them with humanity and kindness,_ and
contribute all proper assistance to render them useful, virtuous, and
happy.--_Lathrop._
Vers. 6-8. _Christian Servitude._--1. To propose to ourselves the
pleasing of men as our great design is inconsistent with the work of
grace in the heart and with that subjection we owe to Christ. The
meanest service is service done to Christ, and will be accepted by
Him as such. 2. So ingrate is man, and so slow to reward those from
whom he receives favour, that a man can never heartily do service to
the most of men, except he look to God, whom to serve in the meanest
employment is a reward in itself. 3. The Lord in dispensing rewards
looks not to the external beauty, splendour, or greatness of the
work, but to the honesty and sincerity of it.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 9. _Masters accountable to God._--1. There is no power among men
so absolute--not that of kings and supreme rulers--but implies an
obligation, through virtue of God's ordinance, on those invested with
it to make conscience of duties towards their inferiors and subjects.
2. As it is usual for powers on earth sinfully to oversee and not to
punish the cruel and unjust dealings of masters towards servants, so
those sins most connived at by men are most severely taken notice of
by God. 3. It is too ordinary for men in place and authority to carry
themselves as if they had none above them to be accountable to, or to
dream that the Lord will not take such strict account of them as of
their underlings and servants.--_Ibid._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-12.
_The Christian Warfare_--
+I. Can be fought only with Divine help.+--"Be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of His might" (ver. 10). The apostle has dwelt like
one enraptured on the sublime constitution and glorious destiny of
the Church; now he deals with the formidable foes with which the
Church will have to contend. He sees the evil forces gathering, and
hears the clash of arms among the approaching enemies. He warns
believers that unaided they will be powerless in the strife and must
suffer defeat. They are secure and will be victorious only as they
make the strength of God their own. The strength of the general, in
other hosts, lies in his troops; he flies, as a great commander once
said, upon their wings; if their feathers be clipped, their power
broken, he is lost. But in the Christian army the strength of every
saint lies in the Lord of hosts. God can overcome His enemies without
their hands; but they cannot even defend themselves without His arm.
Man is impotent without the strength of God. If the ship, launched,
rigged, and with her sails spread, cannot stir till the wind fills
them, much less can the timber in the carpenter's yard hew and frame
itself into a ship. Power to contend with the spiritual foes must
come from God.
+II. Involves a fierce conflict with the powers of evil.+--1. _A
conflict, not with men, but with unseen spiritual enemies._ "We
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities"
(ver. 12). The apostle brings out in bold relief the terrible foes
they are summoned to encounter. (1) _As to their position._ They are
no subalterns, but foes of mighty rank, the nobility and chieftains
of the spirit world. (2) _Their office._ Their domain is this
darkness in which they exercise imperial sway. (3) _Their essence._
They are not encumbered with an animal frame, but are spirits.
(4) _Their character._ They are evil--their appetite for evil only
exceeds their capacity for producing it (_Eadie_). The Church is
engaged in a double conflict--of the flesh and of the spirit. We are
assailed with the temptations of the world of sense, and with
seductions of error that attack us in the world of the mind; and in
both spheres we have to contend with the subtle influences set in
motion by the rulers of the darkness of this world. Our foes invade
"the high places" of our faith and hope, and would rob us of our
heaven.
2. _A conflict with unseen spiritual enemies led by an astute and
subtle commander._--"That ye may be able to withstand against the
wiles of the devil" (ver. 11). The New Testament assumes the
personality of Satan. This belief runs counter to modern thought,
governed as it is by the tendency to depersonalise existence. The
conception of evil spirits given us in the Bible is treated as an
obsolete superstition; and the name of the evil one with multitudes
serves only to point a profane and careless jest. To Jesus Christ,
Satan was no figure of speech, but a thinking and active being, of
whose presence and influence He saw tokens everywhere in this evil
world. Satan's empire is ruled with a settled policy, and his warfare
carried on with a system of strategy which takes advantage of every
opening for attack. The manifold combinations of error, the various
arts of seduction and temptation, and ten thousand forms of the
deceit of unrighteousness constitute "the wiles of the devil." Satan
is no longer the God of this world since Christianity rose to its
ascendant. The manifestations of demonism are, at least in Christian
lands, vastly less conspicuous than in the first age of the Church.
But they are more bold than wise who deny their existence, and who
profess to explain all occult phenomena and phrenetic moral
aberrations by physical causes (_Findlay_).
+III. Is victorious only as the warrior is armed with the Divine
panoply.+--"Put on the whole armour of God" (ver. 11). They who put
on Christ are well clothed; they are armed from head to foot, and are
proof against the darts of the devil. The Christless man is
defenceless; his own understanding and gifts do not sufficiently arm
him. The soldier comes into the field with no arms but what his
general commands: it is not left to every one's fancy to bring what
weapons he pleases; this would breed confusion. So the Christian
soldier must put on the armour God provides, and be completely
clothed with it. To leave one part unguarded will bring disaster. In
one of the famous battles between the English and French, that which
lost France the day was a shower of English arrows which so galled
the horses that they became unmanageable, put the whole army into
disorder, and trod down their own men. So if there be the least
loophole in our armour the wily adversary will quickly discover it
and shoot through his fiery darts which will effect confusion and
defeat.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian life is a conflict between good and
evil._ 2. _God is always on the side of the good._ 3. _The Christian
warrior must fight with weapons Divinely provided._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 10-12. _A Call to Christian Fortitude._
+I. Here is an exhortation to Christian fortitude.+--"Be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of His might." It is not bodily but mental
strength which is here intended. True fortitude or courage is a
temper of mind by which we steadily follow the calls of duty, without
being deterred by danger or diverted by difficulty. It is a virtue
founded in a regard to God and supported by faith in Him. It is cool
and deliberate, not rash and impetuous; it is kind and compassionate,
not cruel and revengeful; it is steady and patient, not fickle and
inconstant; it continues in well-doing, persuaded that its labour is
not in vain.
+II. A warning against the enemies to be opposed.+--The apostle
mentions two sorts of enemies.
1. _The first he calls flesh and blood._--The motions of our animal
nature. The phrase may further intend those sensible objects which
are suited to gratify fleshly desires; or it may intend mankind, who
are partakers of flesh and blood.
2. _The other kind of enemies with whom we are to contend are evil
spirits._--These spirits are enemies to mankind. Their number is
great, and the terms used denote a subordination among them. They are
not divided against themselves, but act in concert under the
direction of one leading spirit, who is called the devil and Satan.
They have great power over such as submit to their dominion. Their
chief influence is over the ignorant and superstitious. They most
successfully carry on their designs in the dark. When the Gospel
began to shine, Satan began to fall. Among those who reject the
Gospel he recovers his full dominion.--_Lathrop._
Vers. 11, 12. _The Christian Warfare._
+I. Consider the danger to which we are exposed.+--As in other cases
so it is in this: our greatest danger lies in not feeling our danger,
and so not being prepared to meet it.
1. _View the enemy we have to contend with._--He is one who bears an
inveterate hatred against us, and seeks nothing less than our
destruction or eternal overthrow. . . . He hates us as God's
creatures, but especially as those who have been rescued from his
power and taken up arms against him; nothing now will satisfy him but
our eternal ruin. . . . It is therefore a struggle of life for life;
if we do not overcome him, he will overcome us. It is in vain to
think of being neuter, or making peace with him.
2. _He is mightier than we are;_ and unless we have help from above,
we are no match for him. . . . We know but little of the power of
wicked spirits, abstractly considered; but viewed as the god of this
world, Satan has all its temptations in alliance with him.
3. _He is an artful enemy_. . . . We are told of the "wiles of the
devil," hiding his designs, and falling upon us when we least expect
it. We are in his net before we are aware, and when Providence seems
to smile upon us (Deut. viii. 11-14). . . . He studies our
propensities, and suits his temptations to them (Eph. iv. 14).
4. _He is invisible_. . . . If he were "flesh and blood," like
ourselves, we might beware; but his influence is like the mighty
pestilence, which walks in darkness. . . . When least suspected,
danger is nigh.
5. _He is near us,_ as it were, within our gates. The safety of a
nation menaced by an enemy often depends on his being kept at a
distance, by walls or seas, or fortresses of defence. But here it is
supposed that the enemy has entered into our borders, and that we
have no other resource left but to struggle as it were for life. . . .
6. _What is still worse, he has a strong party within us._
7. _On the issue of this warfare depend all our hopes._--If we
"stand" not in this, our loss when defeated can never be retrieved.
+II. The armour provided for us.+--1. _In general, this armour is the
grace of the Gospel believed and trusted in._ In common warfare it is
usual for the commanders to persuade their enemies to think highly of
their strength; but in this it is quite the reverse. We must go as
Israel was always taught to do, as having no might of our own, but
deriving all our strength from the Lord.
2. _It is described as a whole or perfect armour._--Sufficient to
defend us in every part. . . . "Truth" is the girdle to strengthen
us; "righteousness" a breastplate; the "gospel" of peace as shoes, by
which we shall be able to trample upon the lion and the adder, the
young lion and the dragon; "faith" is a shield; "salvation," or the
hope of eternal life, a helmet. . . . All this armour is to be drawn
from the truths of the everlasting Gospel.
3. _The use to be made of it is,_ that we may be able to "withstand,"
and to face the enemy. There is no armour for the back; he that
fleeth is wholly defenceless, and must inevitably fall.
+III. The necessity of putting on this armour.+--Armour is of no
avail, unless it is used. The application of the Gospel is that which
proves our security.
+IV. The inducement to put on this armour.+--"That we may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil" (ver. 11). Many neglecting this
armour have been foiled in the day of battle.--_Theological Sketch
Book._
Ver. 11. _The Wiles of the Devil._
+I. Some of those artifices by which the devil entices men to
sin.+--1. _He often presents to man the pleasing advantages of sin,
while its judicial consequences are kept in the background._ Sin is
often presented to man under the form of virtue or religion. The
names of sins are changed in order that their natures may seem
changed. Sin is thus recommended to the more tender conscience. The
vileness and criminality of sin are often extenuated to man by
plausible excuses. They need an apology--youth, old age, strong
temptation, a desire to please, to prevent loss of place, provision
for a family, etc. The inconsistencies of the acknowledged people of
God are often pleaded as an apology for sin. The falls of God's
people have been recorded for good; but the record has been perverted
to evil. A legitimate use of the record is to prevent despair on the
part of God's people who have fallen. But, by Satan, the beacon has
been converted into a decoy.
2. _The sinner is often freed from his difficulties in sinning by
false views of God's character and of the design of Christ's
work._--God is regarded as a Being of mere mercy. Christ is thought
of as saving from sin's consequences, rather than from sin itself.
The individual is often persuaded to expose himself to temptation,
under the impression that he will resist it.
+II. Some of the artifices by which he entices men from the
performance of positive duty.+--1. _Many are restrained from duties
by a consideration of their hardness in themselves_ (Matt. x. 34-39).
2. _Many are persuaded to let duty alone, on account of the
sacrifices which a performance of it involves._ 3. _Argument against
a full devotedness to the service of God may sometimes be drawn
from the fewness and meanness of those who are engaged in it_ (John
vii. 48). 4. _An argument against the necessity of duty is drawn from
the doctrines of grace_ (Rom. vi. 2, 3; Jas. ii. 17). 5. _The worth
and value of all performances are taken away by the trust in them for
righteousness to which Satan prompts the heart.--Stewart._
Ver. 12. _The Invisible Enemies of Man._
+I. Spiritual forces are much greater, much more efficient, much more
formidable than any mere material forces.+--A strong will is a more
formidable thing than the most highly developed muscle. An idea which
appeals to the intelligence and heart of the multitude is likely to
do more work and to wield a greater sway in the end than any number
of batteries and parks of artillery. It is in the encounter, not of
brute force with conscience and with thought, but in the encounter of
ideas with ideas, in the encounter of wills with wills, that the
destiny of the world is ultimately decided. St. Paul knew that the
Church had to contend with the thought and the reason of paganism
much more truly than with its proconsuls and its legions; and as he
wrote to the Ephesians, he did not mean merely human principalities
and powers, since he contrasts the beings of whom he is speaking with
mere flesh and blood.
+II. Behind all that met the eye in daily life the apostle discovered
another world that did not meet the eye.+--He discerned other forms
hovering, guiding, marshalling, arranging, inspiring that which met
the eye. "Do not let us deceive ourselves," he cries, "as if we had
only to encounter so many social or political forces, so many human
minds and wills, so many human errors, human prejudices, human
traditions, human passions; our real enemies are not human, they lie
in ambush behind the manifold activities of man; they are really
supersensuous. Two great departments of moral life among men are
watched over, each one of them beyond the sphere of human life, by
beings of greater power, greater intelligence, greater intensity of
purpose than man in the world of spirits. These spiritual beings,
good and evil, act upon humanity as clearly, as certainly, and as
constantly as man himself acts upon the lower creatures around. It is
not any mere disposition, inseparable from the conditions of human
thought, to personify, to externalise passion, which has peopled the
imagination of Christendom with demons. It is within ourselves that
we meet now, as the first Christians met, the onset of the
principalities and powers. It is in resisting them, in driving from
us in the name of Christ the spirits of untruthfulness, of sloth, of
anger, and of impure desire, that we really contribute our little
share to the issue of the great battle that rages still."
+III. To love truth and righteousness is to hate their
contraries.+--Hatred of evil is distinct from any hatred of those who
do evil, and who are objects of sincere sorrow, and have claims on
Christian charity. The easy tolerance of moral evil is one of the
most alarming features of our day. Only when the struggle with evil
is a matter of personal experience do we hate it, and enter even
remotely into the apostle's stern language about its agents and its
champions.--_H. P. Liddon._
_The Enemies of Believers._
+I. The enemies referred to are here described as
numerous.+--1. _They are here spoken of in the plural number,_ as
they are also in other passages: "The angels which kept not their
first estate." "The devil and his angels." The names here employed
are collective, and imply numbers. We read of a single person being
possessed with many devils. 2. _Hence the whole world has been filled
with their worship and studded with their temples._ 3. _Hence the
strength of the temptations with which each one is tried._ 4. _Hence
the intensity of human wickedness._ 5. _Hence the need of
watchfulness._
+II. The enemies here spoken of are represented as being in a kind
of subordination the one to the other--there are
"principalities."+--1. _There may be remains among them of that
diversity of rank which originally existed._ 2. _It may be a
submission called for by difference of intellectual and innate
power._ 3. _It may be made conducive to the more successful waging of
the war in which they are engaged_--giving unity of aim, of plan, of
co-operation. They leave no point neglected; turn all their strength
to account. All unity is not of God.
+III. The enemies here described are singly and as detached mighty
for evil.+--They are "powers." 1. _Power intellectual._ 2. _Power
physical._ 3. _Power directed._ 4. _Collective power._
+IV. The apostle characterises these adversaries as the rulers of the
darkness of this world.+--1. _Here a limitation of Satan's dominion
is expressed._--"Rulers of the darkness of this world"--of the hiding
and blinding errors which abound--of those deceived and misled.
2. _It is as the prince of darkness that he contends,_ using
falsehood and the wicked as his instruments.
+V. The enemies are spiritual in their nature.+--1. _They are
intelligent and crafty._ 2. _Invisible._ 3. _Active and unwearied._
+VI. They are wicked spirits.+--1. _They are in themselves wicked._
2. _They would make others wicked._ 3. _They employ the most wicked
means._
+Lessons.+--1. _Watch._ 2. _Pray._ 3. _Resist._ 4. _Stand
fast.--Stewart._
_Evil Angels._
+I. The nature and properties of evil angels.+--1. _Their original
properties were the same as those of the holy angels._ 2. _We do not
know either the occasion of their apostasy or what effect it
immediately produced upon them._ 3. _From the time they shook off
their allegiance to God, they shook off all goodness, and contracted
those tempers which are most hateful to Him and most opposite to His
nature._ 4. _In the prosecution of their infernal designs they are
diligent in the highest degree._ 5. _They do not wander at large, but
are all united under one common head._
Transcriber's Note: With respect to point 5 below, the
Transcriber asserts that man is perfectly capable of doing
evil without any help. Please see Jer. xvii. 9 and James
i. 13-15.
+II. The employment of evil angels.+--1. _They are, as far as God
permits, the governors of the world._ 2. _Satan and all his angels
are continually warring against us, and watching over every child of
man._ 3. _By them the foolish hearts of those who know not God are
darkened._ 4. _They hinder every good word and work._ 5. _There is no
evil done, spoke, or thought without the assistance of the devil._
6. _Such is the malice of the wicked one that he will torment whom he
cannot destroy._ In all these instances we say "the devil," as if
there was only one, because these spirits, innumerable as they are,
all act in concert, and because we know not whether one or more are
concerned in this or that work of darkness.--_Wesley._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13-17.
_The Christian Warrior equipped._
+I. He is clothed from head to foot with defensive armour.+--1. _The
girdle of truth._ "Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth" (ver. 14). The military girdle was the belt or cincture
with which the warrior braced himself round the waist, to tighten and
keep every part of his armour in its true place, that there might not
be anything loose and trailing about him to encumber his movements.
Everything about him must be tense and firm, that he may be prepared
to receive the attack of the enemy, however suddenly and powerfully
made, and to act with decision and concentrated energy. So the
Christian warrior must be strengthened and sustained with the girdle
of truth. The truth of the Gospel must be known and conscientiously
embraced, so that we may detect the numerous foes that error is
constantly letting loose upon us, and be able to attack and conquer
them. To cast away our girdle is to incapacitate ourselves for the
combat, and to expose ourselves to wounds and defeat. Conscious
integrity inspires the spiritual warrior with confidence and bravery.
"Let this be my brazen wall, that no man can reproach me with a
crime, and that I am conscious of my own integrity." On the truth we
take our stand, and by the truth we stand. If we keep the truth, the
truth will keep us, and we shall not be "tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine." "The luxury of
agnosticism, the languors of doubt, the vague sympathies and hesitant
eclecticism in which delicate and cultured minds are apt to indulge;
the lofty critical attitude as of some intellectual god sitting above
the strife of creeds, which others find congenial--these are
conditions of mind unfit for the soldier of Christ Jesus. He must
have sure knowledge, definite and decided purposes--a soul girdled
with truth."
2. _The breastplate of righteousness._--"And having on the
breastplate of righteousness" (ver. 14). The military breastplate or
cuirass was the chief piece of defensive armour. It consisted of two
parts or wings; one covered the whole region of the thorax and
protected the vital organs of the body, and the other covered the
back as far down as the front part extended. As the breastplate
guarded the vital functions contained within the region of the
thorax, so righteousness--the life of God in the soul of man--defends
everything on which the spiritual existence and triumph of the
Christian warrior depend. Righteousness--conscious integrity of
character--is an impenetrable mail from which the missiles of the
enemy fall pointless. Rectitude of life is an invulnerable defence
against the most furious attacks of calumny and oppression: it is an
immovable rock that breaks up the dark billows of opposition into
clouds of helpless spray.
3. _The greaves, or feet-guards._--"Your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace" (ver. 15). The military greaves
or brazen boots covered the shin or front of the leg. A kind of
_solen_ was often used which covered the sole and laced about the
instep, preventing the foot from being wounded by thorns or rugged
ways, and giving firmness and security to the foothold. Thus shod,
the warrior would take his stand with safety, or move with alertness
over all sorts of ground. Being "shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace" indicates that the Christian soldier is ever ready
to move with expedition and willingness in publishing the good
tidings of peace. The Israelites were commanded to eat the passover
with their feet shod to show that they were ready for their journey.
Christ commanded His messengers to be shod with sandals, that they
might be ready to go and proclaim the Gospel wherever they were sent.
The Christian warrior is on his way through a strange and hostile
country, and should be every moment not only prepared to proceed, but
be every moment in actual progress, proclaiming peace on his way to
the land of eternal peace. Progress in truth is made by being firmly
established in its principles; every advancing step is taken with
confidence and with the air of one who is assured of the ground on
which he is treading. The Gospel of peace establishes peace between
God and man, and proclaims goodwill and peace to the universe. "The
objection that the apostle is addressing the faithful at large who
are not all of them called to preach the Gospel is mistaken. Every
believer should be prepared to witness for Christ so often as
opportunity affords and needs a readiness thereto. The knowledge of
Christ's peace qualifies him to convey its message. He brings it with
him into the strife of the world. And it is the consciousness that he
possesses himself such peace, and has it to communicate to others,
which enables him to walk firmly and with sure step in the way of
faith" (_Von Hofman_). We preserve the truth by spreading it; and the
best defence against the enemies of the truth is to persuade them to
accept the Gospel of peace. The Christian warrior is not a fighter,
but a peacemaker.
4. _The shield of faith._--"Above all, taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked" (ver. 16). The shield signified is not the small round
buckler or targe of the light-armed man, but the oblong, doorlike
shield, measuring four feet by two and a half, and curved to the
shape of the body, that the Greek hoplite and the Roman legionary
carried. Joined together, these large shields formed a wall, behind
which a body of troops could hide themselves from the rain of the
enemy's missiles. These military shields were made of wood, covered
on the outside with thick leather, which not only deadened the shock
of the missile, but protected the frame of the shield from the
fire-tipped darts used in the artillery of the ancients. So faith is
the shield of the Christian soldier, defending him from the fierce
attacks of the foe, from within and without. By "the fiery darts of
the wicked" the apostle may allude to the darts called _falarica,_
which were headed with lead, in or about which some combustible stuff
was placed that took fire in the passage of the arrow through the
air, and often burnt up the enemies' ships and engines, or stuck in
the shields and set them on fire. The shield of faith cannot be
pierced or destroyed by the fiercest fires of hatred or malice. The
arrows of the wicked, flaming with cruelty, are caught on this
shield, blunted, and extinguished.
5. _The helmet of salvation._--"And take the helmet of salvation"
(ver. 17). The helmet was the armour for the head, was of various
forms, and embossed with a great variety of figures. On the top of
the helmet was the crest or ridge, adorned with several emblematic
figures, either for ornament or to strike terror. The apostle may
refer to a helmet which had an emblematic representation of
hope--that the person who wore it should be safe, should be
prosperous in all his engagements, and escape unhurt from battle. So
the hope of conquering every adversary, and surmounting every
difficulty by the salvation of the Gospel, is a helmet that protects
the head, and is of such impenetrable texture as the blow of the
battle-axe cannot cleave. The hope of continual safety and
protection, built on the promises of the Gospel, protects the
understanding from being confused by the subtle attacks of Satan or
the sophisms of unbelief. Salvation guards the whole man, the head
and heart, and is both helmet and shield.
+II. He is armed with an all-potent offensive weapon.+--"And the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (ver. 17). The
military swords were in various sizes, and in the earliest times were
made of brass. The swords of Homer's heroes were all of this metal.
Great dexterity was acquired in the use of the sword, and an expert
swordsman was an antagonist greatly dreaded. The Word of God is the
offensive weapon wielded by the Christian combatant. It is called the
sword of the Spirit, because it comes from the Holy Spirit, and
receives its fulfilment in the soul through the operations of the
Spirit, who alone can teach its potent use. Facility in quoting the
Word in times of temptation and trial enables the spiritual warrior
to cut in pieces the snares of the adversary. The shield of faith and
the sword of the Spirit are the principal armour of the soul. The
enemies of the cross of Christ fall humiliated and defeated under the
powerful strokes of the Spirit's sword. There are times when the
Christian soldier must not only stand on the defensive, but must lead
the attack with unflinching bravery on the forces of evil. He is safe
only by slaying the enemy.
+III. He is fully prepared to resist and conquer his terrible
opponents.+--"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand" (ver. 13). _Stand_ is the spiritual battle-cry. Being armed,
defend your liberties, maintain your rights, discomfort your
spiritual foes, hold your ground against them, never put off your
armour, but be ever standing ready to repel any new attack. The
defence is necessary, for the evil day is at hand, is already
dawning. The early Church had its evil day of persecution and
defection, and the Church of to-day is threatened by an evil day of
subtlest error. The unwary and supine will go down before the forces
of evil, and only the brave and steadfast will survive.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian armour is invulnerable._ 2. _The
Christian warrior must attack as well as defend._ 3. _The Christian
warrior can conquer only as he uses the armour provided._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 13-17. _The Christian's Armour._--St. Paul lay in prison at
Rome, bound with a chain to the Roman trooper who watched him day and
night. He employed his prison hours in writing. It was very natural
that his language, like his thoughts, should be coloured here and
there by the objects around him; and we find that whilst writing this
circular epistle to the Ephesians his eye had actually been resting
on the soldier to whom he was chained. In the outfit of the Roman
legionary he saw the symbol of the supernatural dress which befits
the Christian. The ornamented girdle or _balteus,_ bound around the
loins, to which the sword was commonly attached, seemed to the
apostle to recall the inward practical acknowledgment of truth, which
is the first necessity in the Christian character. The metal
breastplate suggests the moral rectitude or righteousness which
enables a man to confront the world. The strong military sandals
spoke of the readiness to march in the cause of that Gospel whose sum
and substance was not war, but spiritual even more than social peace.
And then the large oblong, oval, wooden shield, clothed with hides,
covering well-nigh the whole body of the bearer, reminded him of
Christian faith, upon which the temptations of the evil one, like the
ancient arrows, tipped as they often were with inflammable
substances, would light harmlessly and lose their deadly point; and
then the soldier's helmet, pointing upwards to the skies, was a
natural figure of Christian hope directed towards a higher and better
world; and then he sword at his side, by which he won safety and
victory in the day of battle, and which you will observe is the one
aggressive weapon mentioned in this whole catalogue--what was it but
the emblem of that Word of God which wins such victories on the
battle-fields of conscience, because it pierces, even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and is the power
of God to salvation to every one that believeth? Thus girded, thus
clad, thus shod, thus guarded, thus covered, thus armed, the
Christian might well meet his foes. He was indeed more than a match
for them, and might calmly await their onset.--_H. P. Liddon._
_The Whole Armour of God._
+I. Truth.+--"Having your loins girt about with truth." By truth is
intended sincerity in our Christian profession, or a firm belief of
and full consent to the Gospel of Christ. A rational conviction of
its truth, joined with a sense of its importance is our best security
against apostasy in the evil day.
+II. Righteousness.+--"And having on the breastplate of
righteousness." A holy and inoffensive life will prevent many
injuries. It will command the reverence of bad and the compassion of
good men. It will obtain the protection of God's providence and the
supports of His grace. It will preserve peace and serenity of
conscience under the reproaches of a malignant world.
+III. Peace.+--"Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace." This peaceable disposition is a preparation for the trials of
an evil day, and an excellent defence against the asperities of our
Christian path. This will go on before us to smooth the rough
passages of life, or attend us to guard our feet against the sticks
and traps which our enemies cast in our way. Possessed of this
disposition we shall give no offence and provoke no injuries by an
insolent, overbearing behaviour.
+IV. Faith.+--"Above all, taking the shield of faith." Faith is a
grace of universal influence. It is the basis of all Christian
graces. It is the ground-work of all religion in the heart. Faith is
a more effectual defence against the temptations of Satan and the
world than the shields of the mighty against the darts and spears of
their enemies.
+V. Hope.+--"And take the helmet of salvation." The hope of
salvation. God brings salvation. We appropriate it by hope. We must
fight the good fight of faith in hope that the Captain of salvation
will support us in the conflict and lead us to victory.
+VI. Knowledge.+--"The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God." The Divine Word is called the sword of the Spirit because it is
rendered effectual by the Spirit in slaying the fleshly lusts and
repelling the outward temptations which war against the soul.
+Reflections.+--1. _We see of what importance it is that we have the
power of religion in our hearts._ 2. _It concerns us to live much in
the exercise of faith._ 3. _Let us exercise our courage according to
the various exigencies of the Christian life.--Lathrop._
_The Duty of Believers in the Evil Day._
+I. The time to which the exhortation refers--the evil day.+--1. _By
the evil day we are clearly to understand the season of temptation._
When "we wrestle."
2. _The evil day may be understood of life itself._--"Few and evil
have been the days of my pilgrimage." Man is tempted till his death.
3. _The evil day may refer to seasons during which temptation is
peculiarly strong._--With our first parents whilst they listened to
Satan. With Christ in the wilderness--near death (John xiv. 30).
4. _Of such seasons we have many examples in Scripture._--The lives
of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, Lot, Samson, David, Asa, Hezekiah,
Peter, Demas.
5. _Such seasons each believer can mark in his history._--They are
generally turning points. They are attended by every variety of
outward circumstances, prosperity, adversity, society, solitude,
health, sickness.
6. _With the wicked such days are evil._--Days of suffering, of
danger, of backsliding, of apostasy, of dishonour to Christ, and
triumph to the world and to all the enemies of Christ.
7. _This season of temptation is short._--A day. We should not grow
weary.
8. _Though it be short it is important._--The day of battle is
generally most important in its results. So in spiritual warfare. The
temptation in Eden, etc.
+II. The duty which falls to be performed in the evil day.+--1. _To
withstand._ (1) This has reference to Satan as an assailant. (2) It
binds us to resistance, _i.e.,_ to perform the duty from which Satan
dissuades, to refuse the sin which he recommends, to hold fast that
which we have, and to reject that which he offers in exchange (Rev.
iii. 2).
2. _To proceed from the defensive to the offensive._--"Having done
all," or "conquered all." (1) The believer, as "the good soldier of
Christ," is, like his Master, to be an assailant. (2) By attacking,
Satan discovers himself; and the believer, having resisted, may gain
an advantage. When his stronghold in the heart is found out, it may
be pulled down. Is it pride? (2 Cor. x. 4, 5). (3) Satan can be
contended against only by carrying on an offensive warfare--in the
heart, in the world. The Romans could be conquered only in Italy.
3. _That having resisted and conquered, we still stand._--(1) Though
repulsed, Satan is not slain, his resources are not exhausted, "his
wrath" continues. (2) We must therefore "stand" after victory. Our
armour must be kept on. We must be vigilant. We must be in an
attitude for the fight.
+III. The preparation necessary to the performance of the peculiar
duties of the evil day.+--1. _The evil day is a day of war,_ and
hence its duties and the kind of preparation called for.
2. _There are three things to be noticed in the account of the
believer's preparation._--(1) He must be armed--Divine grace. An
unarmed soldier a contradiction; he is useless for duty, exposed to
death. (2) _He must be completely armed._ For defence and for
offence. (3) _His armour must be that "of God."_ Human virtues will
not do. Human energies will not do.--_Stewart._
Ver. 14. _The Girdle of Truth._
+I. Honesty and truthfulness of character.+--Love of truth as being
from God, hatred of lies as being from the devil--this is a primary
condition of being strong in the Lord. Nothing can be more injurious
to the character of the Christian religion than the suspicion that it
shuns examination, that its claims are in antagonism with
demonstrated truth. There is a kind of false liberalism concerning
religious truth. It is easy for a man to fancy his loins are girt
about with truth when the fact is they are girt about with
indifference; and a person so armed may assume an attitude of
impartiality with regard to religious questions because he cares
nothing concerning the issue; and sometimes it seems to be assumed
that a writer possesses a virtue, compensating for all vices, if he
is apparently free from all bias either for or against revealed
truth. The true path is taken by him who, strong in his own faith and
love, fears no honest investigation, and shrinks from adopting in
matters of religion any tone of thought or line of argument which he
cannot justify upon the broadest grounds of calm judgment and sober
reason.
+II. But the words of the apostle refer not only to truthfulness, but
to truth itself, to that which we know to be true.+--It would be
unworthy of an apostle if he should include under the title of truth,
necessary for the protection of a Christian champion, all human
knowledge which is rightly so called. Do not consider that the
progress you make in human knowledge lies beside your path as
Christians. As members of Christ, as His soldiers and servants, take
a nobler view of your work than that. Christ has taken the elements
of this world and sanctified them for Himself; there is nothing
really secular but what is evil, and all that is not evil ought to be
used on the side of truth.
+III. The apostle has in mind that definite form of revealed truth
which in Scripture is described as emphatically the truth.+--The
great doctrine of godliness, the incarnation of the eternal Son, and
all those truths which flow from this one mysterious spring. While
there is no antagonism between Scriptural and human knowledge, there
is a wide difference between the sources from which they are derived
the evidences by which they are established, and the conditions of
their being rightly apprehended. Whereas other knowledge is the slow
accumulation of the experience of ages, and the result of the guesses
and labours of gifted men, and is consequently an ever-growing and
changing body of truth, Christian truth admits of no change and no
growth. It admits of application to new circumstances; it admits too
of growth, between the limits of a mustard seed and a full-grown
tree, in its subjective apprehension by each believing heart; but
objectively it knows neither diminution nor expansion, it is ever one
and indivisible, because it resolves itself ultimately into the one
great mysterious fact, the manifestation of God in human flesh. No
amount of argument would ever turn religious belief into religious
life, if the articles of the creed did not attest their Divinity by
filling up the void of the human heart and by their constraining
influence on human conduct; and, on the other hand, no religion could
maintain its ground and command the assent of thinking men, unless
its historical claims and its objective truth would stand the test of
the severest scrutiny. The truth of Christ rests upon both grounds;
and because this is so we are bound to gird it about our loins as our
only sure support in our conflict with the spiritual wickedness of
this world, our support in the hour of death, our support in the day
of judgment.--_Harvey Goodwin._
_Truth the Girdle of the Christian._
+I. The particular grace which is here mentioned--truth.+--1. _By
this exhortation we might understand that we must in all things act
according to truth or what is truth._ This implies the knowledge of
truth, the yielding up of ourselves to truth, so as to embody it.
2. _By the truth we may understand sincerity._--Being in appearance
what we are in reality, seeming to follow what we do follow,
expressing the real thoughts and feelings of the heart. This
sincerity is displayed towards God, towards our fellow-men, and
towards ourselves.
+II. The uses or purposes of truth in the Christian life: it is a
girdle.+--By comparing truth to a girdle the apostle suggests the
purposes which it serves: 1. _The ancient girdle was meant to give
firmness and strength._ 2. _To fit for activity, by binding up the
loose, flowing garments._ 3. _To the girdle arms were
attached.--Stewart._
Ver. 15. _The Gospel of Peace._
+I. The nature of this peace.+--1. _It is peace with God._--A mutual
reconciliation following a mutual estrangement.
2. _It is a peace with ourselves._--This includes both the silencing
of the accusations of conscience and the restoration of the internal
harmony of our nature.
3. _It is peace with our fellow-men._--Between nations and classes,
and families and individuals.
4. _It is peace with our fellow-Christians._
+II. The relation of the Gospel to this peace.+--1. _In the Gospel it
is proclaimed._ 2. _In the Gospel its grounds are unfolded._ 3. _By
the belief of the Gospel it is conveyed.--G. Brooks._
Ver. 17. _The Bible the Sword of the Spirit._
+I. The Bible is a sword.+--1. _Like a sword, it is of no use till it
is unsheathed._ The Bible must not lie idle in the library or in the
intellect. Must be used.
2. _Like a sword, when it is unsheathed it cuts deeply._--Makes deep
gashes in the heart and conscience.
3. _Like a sword, it is a weapon of defence as well as of
offence._--"It is written."
+II. The Bible is the sword of the Spirit.+--1. _Because He inspired
it._ Those whom we call the sacred writers were its penmen; He alone
was its Author.
2. _Because He interprets it._--Its Author is also its interpreter.
Wherever it is carried He is, and in answer to the prayer of faith He
expounds its true meaning as far as saving truth is concerned.
3. _Because He wields it as the instrument of His victories._--Refer
to some of the remarkable revivals, to individual conversions.
+III. Our duty with regard to the Bible as the sword of the
Spirit.+--1. _Take it and study it._ Sword exercise.
2. _Take it and bind it to your heart._--Delight in it.
3. _Take it and employ it vigorously till your life's end._--"His
sword was in His hand." "There is none like it."--_Ibid._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18-20.
_The Programme of Prayer._
+I. Prayer should be constant and varied in its methods.+--"Praying
always with all prayer and supplication" (ver. 18). The Christian
warrior is armed from head to foot with the girdle, the breastplate,
the greaves, the shield, the helmet, and the sword; no weapon of
defence or offence is wanting; it would seem as if nothing was needed
to complete the equipment. The one essential now is the spirit and
courage to fight, to use the spiritual weapons with dexterity and
effect; and the power to do this is secured by prayer. Prayer should
be constant; the soul should be ever in a praying mood; and
supplication, earnest entreaty, should be used in the special
emergencies that occur in the battle of life. "Praying always with
all prayer": all kinds and methods of prayer should be
employed--prayer in public aided by the sympathy and inspiration of
numbers, in private when alone with God, in the family, in the whirl
of business, in the stress of battle, in the intervals of recreation,
in the heart without a voice and with the voice from the heart. The
earnest and needy soul will find its own way of keeping up a
prayerful intercourse with God. "Some there are," said Wesley, "who
use only mental prayer or ejaculations, and think they are in a state
of grace and use a way of worship far superior to any other; but such
only fancy themselves to be above what is really above them, it
requiring far more grace to be enabled to pour out a fervent and
continued prayer than to offer up mental aspirations."
"Warrior, that from battle won,
Breathest now at set of sun;
Woman, o'er the lowly slain,
Weeping on his burial plain!
Ye that triumph, ye that sigh,
Kindred by one holy tie:
Heaven's first star alike ye see--
Lift the heart and bend the knee."--_Hemans._
+II. Prayer is prompted and sustained by the Divine
Spirit.+--"Praying . . . in the Spirit" (ver. 18). The Spirit is the
author and element of the believer's life in Christ. It is He who
gives the grace and power to pray; He helps our infirmities, and
intercedes for us and in us. Prayer is one of the highest exercises
of the soul, and achieves its loftiest triumphs under the inspiration
and help of the Spirit. He suggests topics for prayer, proper times
and seasons, imparts urgency and perseverance in supplication, and He
alone makes prayer effectual.
+III. Prayer should be accompanied with persevering
vigilance.+--"Watching [keeping awake] thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication" (ver. 18). We must not only watch and
pray, but watch while we pray. Watch against wandering thoughts,
against meaningless and insincere petitions, against the seductive
suggestions of the tempter, and against the tendency to trust in our
prayers or in our earnestness rather than in God, whose help we
supplicate. "With all perseverance" means a sustained, unsleeping,
and unresting vigilance. The word implies stretching out the neck and
looking about in order to discern an enemy at a distance. Without
watchfulness prayer and all the spiritual armour will be unavailing.
The best-appointed army, over-confident in its strength, has suffered
inglorious defeat by neglecting to watch. The wakeful and earnest
suppliant must persist in prayer, undaunted by opposition and
unwearied by delay.
+IV. Prayer should be offered on behalf of the Church in
general.+--"For all saints" (ver. 18). Prayer that in its nature is
generous and comprehensive is apt to become selfish and narrowed down
into despicable limits. The man prays best for himself who prays most
earnestly for others. "Prayer for ourselves must broaden out into a
catholic intercession for all the servants of our Master, for all the
children of the household of faith. By the bands of prayer we are
knit together--a vast multitude of saints throughout the earth,
unknown by face or name to our fellows, but one in the love of Christ
and in our heavenly calling and all engaged in the same perilous
conflict. All the saints were interested in the faith of the Asian
believers; they were called with 'all the saints' to share in the
comprehension of the immense designs of God's kingdom. The dangers
and temptations of the Church are equally far-reaching; they have a
common origin and character in all Christian communities. Let our
prayers at least be catholic. At the throne of grace, let us forget
our sectarian divisions. Having access in one Spirit to the Father,
let us realise in His presence our communion with all His children"
(_Findlay_).
"The saints in prayer appear as one,
In word and deed and mind;
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.
"Nor prayer on earth is made alone--
The Holy Spirit pleads;
And Jesus on the eternal throne
For sinners intercedes."--_J. Montgomery._
+V. Prayer should be definite and special in its petitions.+--1. _For
the preacher of the Gospel in unfavourable circumstances._ "And for
me . . . an ambassador in bonds" (vers. 19, 20). An ambassador, being
the representative of his king, his person was in all civilised
countries held sacred, and it was regarded as the greatest indignity
and breach of faith to imprison or injure him. Contrary to the rights
of nations, this ambassador of the King of heaven was put in chains.
Even Paul, with all his magnificent endowments, felt the need for the
prayers of God's people and craved for them. The fortunes of the
Gospel were bound up with his life, and he was now suffering for his
courageous defence of the truth. It was of immense importance to the
early Church that he should be true and faithful in this crisis, and
he asks for the prayers of God's people that he may be sustained and
the Gospel victorious. Here was a definite and special theme for
prayer. Occasions of great peril evoke the spirit of earnest
supplication. It is an aid to devotion to have some one specially
pray for.
2. _For courage and facility in unfolding the mystery of the Gospel
he feels constrained to declare._--"That utterance may be given unto
me, that I may . . . make known the mystery of the gospel, . . . that
therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak [_as I must needs
speak_]" (vers. 19, 20). The apostolic prisoner was more concerned
about his message than his own fate. He hailed the occasion of His
defence before the civil authorities as an opportunity for unfolding
and enforcing the Gospel, for preaching which he was now in chains.
He feels the gravity of the crisis, and he is nervously anxious to do
justice to his grand theme. Clear as was his insight and firm as was
his grasp of the leading truths of the Gospel, he invokes the prayers
of the Ephesian saints that God may give him liberty and power in
their exposition, and that he may win converts to the truth from the
midst of his enemies. The pulpit will become a greater power if the
people of God pray fervently and unitedly for the ambassadors of
Christ. Prayer is more potent in winning souls than the logic and
eloquence of the preacher.
+Lessons.+--1. _The topics for prayer are abundant and ever present._
2. _Prayer nerves the soul with Divine power._ 3. _Earnest and
believing prayer will prevail._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 18-20. _Praying with all Prayer._
+I. The apostle supposes our obligation to prayer to be so plain that
every rational mind will see it, and so important that every pious
heart will feel it.+--Our obligation to prayer naturally results from
our weakness and dependence and God's all-sufficiency and goodness.
Desires directed to Him are prayers. To clothe our desires in
language is not essential. God hears the desire of the humble. There
is the same reason for daily prayer as for daily labour. Prayer is a
means of enlivening our pious sentiments and exciting us to the
practice of duty and thus preparing us for Divine favours.
+II. Prayer is of several kinds.+--Social and secret, public and
domestic, stated and occasional; and consists of several
parts--confession, supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving. The
apostle points out no part or kind of prayer in distinction from all
others, but exhorts in general to pray with all prayer.
+III. The manner in which our prayers should be offered.+--The spirit
and temper of the heart in our prayers is the main thing necessary to
qualify them for God's acceptance. The first thing necessary in
prayer is faith. Our desires must be good and reasonable. Attention
of mind, collection of thought, and warmth of affection are
qualifications required in prayer. Our prayers must be accompanied
with justice to men. Charity is an essential qualification in prayer.
Our prayers must be joined with a sense of and sorrow for sin, and
submission to the Divine will. We are to continue in prayer, and
watch thereunto with all perseverance.
+IV. The apostle here teaches the duty of intercession for
others.+--If God is good to others as well as to us, there is the
same ground on which to offer our social intercessions as our
personal petitions. We are commanded to pray for all men, and
especially for all saints; this is to pray for the general virtue and
happiness of the human race in this and all succeeding ages.
Christians ought to pray for their minister. There was something
special in Paul's case--he was an ambassador in bonds.
+V. The apostle points out the manner in which he aimed and all
ministers ought to preach the Gospel.+--The apostle desired to make
known the mystery of the Gospel, and to speak boldly. In a minster
boldness is necessary; not that impudent boldness which assumes an
unmerited superiority, but that pious fortitude that dares to utter
the important things of religion without reserve and without fear of
personal inconvenience. He must persevere in the faithful execution
of his office, whatever discouragements may arise from the opposition
of the world, the frowns of the great, the contempt of the proud, the
want of concurrence, or the smallness of his success.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 18. _Praying in the Spirit._
+I. The time.+--"Always." 1. _The frequent practice of prayer._
2. _The constant cultivation of the spirit of prayer._
+II. The manner.+--"With all prayer and supplication." 1. _The prayer
of the closet._ Secret. 2. _The prayer of the family._ Domestic.
3. _The prayer of the social circle._ United. 4. _The prayer of the
sanctuary._ Public.
+III. The manner.+--"With all prayer and supplication." 1. _There are
thanksgivings to be rendered._ 2. _There are confessions to be made._
3. _There are petitions to be offered._ 4. _There are intercessions
to be presented._
+IV. Spirituality.+--"In the Spirit." 1. _With our own heart._ Not
formal or mechanical. 2. _In dependence on the aid of the Holy Ghost._
+V. The continuance.+--"With all perseverance." 1. _In the general
habit._ Prayer never to be given up. 2. _In special objects._ No
fainting in prayer.
+VI. The intercession.+--"And supplication for all saints." 1. _For
the whole Church._ 2. _For any part of the Church that is in danger
of distress._ 3. _For our own section of the Church._ 4. _For our
Christian friends.--G. Brooks._
_The Duty of Prayer._--Prayer is the communion of the soul with God,
and the casting of itself upon Him for help and guidance.
+I. God has implanted prayer as an instinct in the hearts of
men.+--In times of danger the soul instinctively cries out for God or
some unseen power to interpose and save.
+II. God desires that men should pray regularly and
constantly.+--Blessings are promised in answer to prayer which the
soul can obtain in no other way.
+III. God commands men to pray.+--To abound in prayer and to pray
without weariness and fainting.
+IV. God teaches how to pray and what to pray for.+--The Spirit helps
our infirmities.
+V. There is no religious life apart from prayer.+--The Bible saints
were men of prayer. At the very beginning of human history men began
to call upon God. And in the visions of heaven which St. John has
recorded, when the Lamb had taken the book to open its seals, the
twenty-four elders fell down before Him, "having every one of them
harps and golden phials full of odours, which are the prayers of the
saints, and they sang a new song" (Rev. v. 8, 9). Prayer leads to
praise.
+VI. How can we make the duty a privilege and the privilege a
pleasure?+--If Christ was comforted and strengthened by prayer, can
we as Christians live without it? Is not a prayerless Christian in
danger of being no Christian at all?--_Homiletic Monthly._
Vers. 19, 20. _A Picture of Moral Bravery._
+I. An ambassador charged with a message of world-wide significance
and importance.+--"To make known the mystery of the gospel" (ver. 19).
+II. An ambassador, contrary to the law of nations, imprisoned
because of his message.+--"For which I am an ambassador in bonds"
(ver. 20).
+III. An ambassador irresistibly constrained to declare the message
for which he suffers.+--"That therein I may speak boldly as I ought
to speak" (ver. 20).
+IV. An ambassador imploring, not the sanction of civil authorities,
but the prayers of God's people that he may be emboldened to
discharge his high commission.+--"And for me, that utterance may be
given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly" (ver. 19).
Ver. 19. _The Gospel a Mystery._
+I. Because it is known only by Divine revelation.+--Such a secret it
is that the wit of man could never have found out. As none but God
could lay the plot, so none but Himself could make it known.
+II. Because when revealed its truths exceed the grasp of human
understanding.+--They are to the eye of our reason as the sun to the
eye of our body, that dazzles and overpowers. They disdain to be
discussed and tried by human reason that there are three subsistences
in the Godhead and but one Divine essence. We believe, because they
are revealed. God and man united in Christ's person is undeniably
demonstrable from the Gospel, but the cordage of our understanding is
too short to fathom this great deep. "Would'st thou see a reason,"
said Augustine, "for all that God says? Look into thine own
understanding, and thou wilt find a reason why thou seest not a
reason."
+III. The Gospel is a mystery in regard of the kind of knowledge the
saints themselves have of it.+--1. _Their knowledge is but in part,
and imperfect._ The most of what they know is the least of what they
do not know. The Gospel is a rich piece of arras rolled up: this God
has been unfolding ever since the first promise was made to Adam,
opening it every age wider than the other.
2. _It is mysterious and dark._ Gospel truths are not known in their
native beauty and glory, but in shadows. Our apprehension of things
are mainly compared with those under the law, but childish compared
with the knowledge of glorified saints.
Transcriber's Note: In this next paragraph, the word
"faggot" is used in its original literal meaning, a bundle
of sticks used to kindle a fire, or metaphorically,
execution by burning at the stake.
+IV. The Gospel is a mystery in regard to the rare and strange
effects it has upon the godly.+--It enables them to believe strange
mysteries--to believe that which they understand not, and hope for
that which they do not see. It enables them to do as strange things
as they believe--to live by another's spirit, to act from another's
strength, to live by another's will, and aim at another's glory. It
makes them so meek and gentle that a child may lead them to anything
good, yet so stout that fire and faggot shall not fright them into
sin. They are taught that all things are theirs, yet they dare not
take a penny, a pin, from the wicked by force and rapine. They can
pray for life, and at the same time desire to die.--_Gurnall._
Ver. 20. _Boldness a Duty in a Minister._
+I. The nature of the boldness desired.+--1. _To speak all he has in
command from God to deliver._ 2. _To speak with liberty and freedom
of spirit, without fear or bondage to any._ Speaking openly and
plainly.
+II. Boldness to be shown in preaching the Gospel.+--1. _In asserting
the truth of the Gospel._ 2. _In reproving sin and denouncing
judgment against impenitent sinners._
+III. The kind of boldness a minister should cultivate.+--1. _A
convincing boldness._ 2. _A meek boldness._ 3. _A zealous boldness._
+IV. The means of procuring ministerial boldness.+--1. _A holy fear
of God._ 2. _Castle thyself within the power and promise of God for
assistance and protection._ 3. _Keep a clear conscience._
4. _Consider that which thou most fearest is best prevented by
freedom and boldness in thy ministry._ 5. _Consider how bold Christ
was in His ministry._ What greater incentive to valour can the
soldier have than to see his general stand with undaunted courage
where the bullets fly thickest! Such valiant captains do not breed
white-livered soldiers. It is impossible we should be dastardly, if
instructed by Him and actuated by his Spirit.--_Ibid._
Ver. 20. _The Gospel Ambassador._
+I. The dignity of his office.+--Seen: 1. _In the majesty of the
Prince from whom he comes._ 2. _In the greatness of the Person whose
place he supplies._ 3. _In the excellency of the message he brings._
+II. How the duty of his office should be discharged.+--1. _Stain not
the dignity of thy office by any base, unworthy practices._ 2. _Keep
close to thy instructions._ 3. _Think it not enough that thou
deliverest thy message from God, but show a zeal for thy Master whose
cause thou negotiatest._ 4. _Let not any person or thing in the world
bribe or scare thee from a faithful discharge of thy trust._ 5. _Be
kind to and tenderly careful of thy fellow-subjects.--Ibid._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21, 22.
_A Trusted Messenger_--
+I. Commended for his acknowledged Christian character.+--"Tychicus,
a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord" (ver. 21). These
are high and honourable designations, and indicate the genuine esteem
in which he was held by the apostle. He had become endeared to Paul
by the many valuable services he had rendered to him, and by the
marked fidelity of his ministerial work. He appears to have joined
St. Paul's staff, and remained with him from the time he accompanied
him to Jerusalem in the year 59. He was sent to Ephesus to relieve
Timothy when Paul desired the presence of the latter at Rome. He was
well known to the Asian Church, and every way qualified to discharge
the mission with which he was entrusted. He was "the beloved brother"
in his relation to the Church in general, and the "faithful minister
in the Lord" in his special relation to the apostle. It is better to
be loved than to be simply popular. Genuine piety forms character,
and commands the confidence and respect of all lovers of the truth.
+II. Entrusted with personal details of special interest.+--"Whom I
have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our
affairs" (ver. 22). There were probably some details about St. Paul's
imprisonment that could be communicated better in person than by
letter, and certain allusions in the letter that could be more fully
explained in a personal interview. Every item about Paul was of
intense interest to the Asian Churches. Many of the members had been
brought to Christ through his instrumentality. They were alarmed as
to his fate and as to the future of the Gospel. They were anxious to
know if there was any prospect of his release and of his return to
his missionary labours. Tychicus, enjoying the full confidence of the
apostle and the affection of the people, was just the man to give
them the information they so eagerly desired, and would be cordially
welcomed everywhere. The trusted messenger of a great and good man is
regarded for the time being with the reverence and respect cherished
towards the man he represents and of those whose affairs he is
empowered to speak.
+III. Competent to minister encouragement.+--"That he might comfort
your hearts" (ver. 22). Tychicus was not only a newsman and
letter-carrier, but also a minister of Christ. He knew how to present
his message so as to allay the fears of his hearers, to comfort their
hearts, and to encourage their faith in the power and triumph of the
Gospel, notwithstanding the sufferings of its preachers. The Gospel
is full of consolation, and it should be the constant aim of the
minister to make it known and apply it to the circumstances of his
people. A diligent pastor in his visitations comes in contact with
much suffering and sorrow, and has many opportunities of
administering the balm of Gospel comfort. Great tact and sympathy are
necessary, especially in visiting the sick. Referring to this, a
godly and experienced minister said, "Tenderness is essential. Enter
the chamber gently. Tread noiselessly. Get near to the sufferer.
Speak as softly as may be. Remember his nerves; noise is often
torture. Sympathise with his weakness, restlessness, and pain. True
you are not come to minister to his body; but enter into his
sufferings and symptoms. Ask what his doctor has said. Avoid a
professional, official, conventional air. The case may be too grave
for cheerful words; but if otherwise, let your face carry a little
sunshine into the sick-room. Avoid fussiness. Go with a brother's
heart. Be brief--brief in your talk, brief in your readings, brief in
your prayers--your whole visit brief. Take up one point. A sick man's
brain is soon overtasked, his nerves soon jar, his strength soon
fails. Let your good-by be 'God bless you.' Let your last look be one
of tenderness and love. Whatever you are in the pulpit, Barnabas, not
Boanerges, is your pattern by the sick-bed." It is the privilege and
mission of every minister and believer to be a messenger of comfort
and strength to those in trouble. We shall be remembered for our
kindness when many of our sermons are forgotten.
+Lessons.+--1. _The character of the good is self-evident._ 2. _A
good man should be trusted and honoured._ 3. _The value of a good man
is recognised in times of stress and difficulty._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 21, 22. _Apostolical Care for the Church._
+I. Paul was careful to keep up an intercourse and communion with
the Churches of Christ.+--There ought to be fellowship and
correspondence among the Churches. They should all unite their
endeavours for the common edification and comfort. The Church of
Christ is one. We should seek the counsel of sister Churches under
our difficulties, and be ready when requested to afford them our
counsel under theirs.
+II. Paul was solicitous that the Christians among whom he had
preached should know of his condition and doings.+--He was a
prisoner, but suffered not his time to pass in restless impatience or
useless indolence. He received all who came to him and preached to
them the kingdom of God. He instructed his fellow-prisoners. He spent
much of his time in prayer. Several of his epistles were written when
he was in bonds. Paul's example teaches us that we should do good in
every condition.
+III. When Paul sends Tychicus he gives him written testimonials that
he might be received in the character of a minister.+--This
precaution was taken that the Churches might not be imposed upon by
ignorant pretenders or artful deceivers. The Church is a regular,
organised community. We are to receive none as ambassadors of Christ
but those who come to us according to the order He has settled.
Ministers ought to act in concert and unite their labours in building
up the kingdom of Christ. Tychicus co-operated with Paul.
+IV. Fidelity is an essential part of the ministerial
character.+--Paul calls Tychicus "a faithful minister." Such a
minister undertakes his work with pure intentions and abides in it
with constancy, even though he may meet with worldly discouragements.
Tychicus was sent to comfort the Ephesians under their grief for
Paul's imprisonment, and to guard them against any discouraging
apprehensions. Ministers are to strengthen new converts and young
professors to constancy and perseverance in religion by laying before
them the comforting and animating motives of the Gospel.--_Lathrop._
_A Faithful Minister._--1. It concerns Christians to inform
themselves of the life and way of eminent men in the Church, and
chiefly of those who have been sufferers for truth, that they may be
incited to sympathise with them, to follow their example and bless
the Lord on their behalf. 2. It is in a singular manner required of a
minister that he be faithful--diligent in his work, sincere in his
aims and endeavours, neither adding nor paring what God has committed
unto him to speak. 3. We should labour so to inform ourselves of the
case and carriage of others and how it goes with the affairs of
Christ's kingdom elsewhere as to draw spiritual edification thence.
4. To know God's gracious providence towards his suffering servants,
together with their undaunted courage under sufferings and the use
God makes of their sufferings to advance His truth, is sufficient
ground of comfort and encouragement to God's people.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 23, 24.
_A Suggestive Benediction_--
+I. Recognises the Divine source of all blessing.+--"From God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 23). All our blessings are
Divine, and flow from the inexhaustible fountain of the Divine
beneficence. "God the Father," in the eternal counsels of His wisdom
and love, "and the Lord Jesus Christ," who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself as an atonement for human sin--the glorious Trinity
of Persons in the Godhead--contribute from their combined
perfections, the spiritual good that encircles every believing soul.
"The God of Christians," says Pascal, "is not barely the Author of
geometrical truths, or of the order of the elements--this is the
Divinity of the heathen; nor barely the providential Disposer of the
lives and fortunes of men, so as to crown His worshippers with a
happy series of years--this is the portion of the Jews. But the God
of Abraham and of Jacob, the God of Christians, is a God of love and
of consolation; a God who fills the heart and the soul where He
resides; a God who gives them a deep and inward feeling of their own
misery and of His infinite mercy, unites Himself to their spirit,
replenishes it with humility and joy, with affiance and love, and
renders them incapable of any end but Himself." The religious
character of the Lancashire people was illustrated by an incident
that happened towards the close of the cotton famine. The mills in
one village had been stopped for months, and the first waggon-load of
cotton that arrived seemed to them like the olive branch that told of
the abating waters of the deluge. The waggon was met by the women,
who hysterically laughed and cried and hugged the cotton bales as if
they were dear old friends, and then ended by singing that grand old
hymn, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."
+II. Implores specific blessings upon Christian brethren.+--"Peace be
to the brethren, and love with faith" (ver. 23). Where there is no
love there is no peace, and peace and love without faith, are
capricious and worthless. Love is the strength of the forbearance and
self-suppression so essential to the maintenance of peace. As faith
grows and intensifies it opens up new channels in which love can
flow. We are to contend for the faith, not that peace may be
disturbed, but that it may rest on a firmer and more permanent basis.
What greater boon can we desiderate for our brethren than that they
may abound in "peace and love with faith"?
+III. Greets with expansive generosity all genuine lovers of
Christ.+--"Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity. Amen" (ver. 24). The overflow of Divine grace submerges
the barriers of sects and effaces the distinctions of a selfish and
pretentious bigotry. Sincere love to Christ opens the heart to the
richest endowments of grace, and blends all hearts that glow with a
kindred affection. If we love Christ, we love one another, we love
His work, His Word, and are eager to obey Him in all things He
commands. We may not agree in a uniformity of creeds, but we reach a
higher union when our hearts are mingled in the capacious alembic of
a Christ-like love. The benediction of grace to all who love Jesus is
answered and confirmed by an appropriate _Amen._ "Amen" under the law
was answered to the curses, but not to the blessings (Deut.
xxvii. 15-26). Every particular curse must have an "Amen." But in the
next chapter, where the blessings follow, there is no "Amen" affixed
to them (Deut. xxviii. 2-12). But it is otherwise in the Gospel. To
the blessings there is an "Amen," but not to the curses. If any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. xvi. 22)--a fearful curse; but
there is no "Amen" to that. "Grace be with all them that love the
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity": there is an "Amen" to that.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christianity is freighted with blessings for the
race._ 2. _It has special blessings for present need._ 3. _It points
men to God as the true source of all blessing._
_GERM NOTES OF THE VERSES._
Ver. 23. _Elements of Religious Comfort._--The apostle prays that,
with faith, there may be peace and love.
+I. Faith captivates the soul into obedience to the Gospel+ by giving
efficacy to its precepts, examples, and doctrines. Where faith
operates, love will appear, and peace will follow.
+II. Love produces peace.+--1. _Inward peace._ It extinguishes
malice, envy, hatred, wrath, revenge, every unfriendly passion.
2. _Social peace._--Christians will be careful not to give offence,
either by real injuries or unnecessary differences. They will be slow
to take offence.
+III. Love brings religious comfort.+--Love is comfortable in its
immediate feelings and in its pacific influence. It brings comfort to
the soul as it is an evidence of godly sincerity. If we would enjoy
the comfort, we must maintain the comfort of religion.--_Lathrop._
Ver. 24. _The Christian's Truest Test and Excellence._--Other things
may be required to complete the character of the Christian; but
without love to Christ there can be no Christian at all. It is the
Master-spirit which must animate and enliven the whole combination;
and in whomsoever this Spirit prevails we are entitled and enjoined
to welcome that person as a disciple.
+I. Consider the love of Christ as a duty we owe to
Himself.+--1. _Bring to your remembrance His personal excellences._
2. _Consider the great and glorious object of all He did and
endured--the everlasting happiness of human souls._
+II. Consider the love of Christ as a principle which works in
ourselves.+--1. _It does not destroy natural affections, but teaches
us to fix them on proper objects and to give a right direction to
their fullest energies._ 2. _A due sense of the Saviour's love makes
us feel at once that He merits all our best affections in return._
3. _It gives delight in meditating on the precepts and promises of
God's Word._ 4. _It helps in all the duties we owe to our
fellow-creatures._ 5. _It animates the soul in the hour of death and
the prospect of eternity.--J. Brewster._
_Loving Christ in Sincerity._
+I. On what account Christ is entitled to our love.+--1. _He is a
Divine person._ 2. _He was manifest in the flesh._ In the man Christ
Jesus appeared every virtuous quality which can dignify and adorn
human nature. 3. _His mediatorial offices entitle Him to our love._
4. _He is an object of our love because of His kindness to us._
+II. An essential qualification of love to Christ is
sincerity.+--1. _Our love to Christ must be real, not pretended._
2. _Must be universal._ It must respect His whole character.
3. _Sincere love to Christ is supreme._ It gives Him the preference
to all earthly interest and connections. 4. _It is persevering._
5. _It is active._
+III. How sincere love to Christ will discover itself.+--1. _It will
make us careful to please Him._ 2. _Will be accompanied with
humility._ 3. _We shall be fond of imitating Him._ 4. _We shall
promote His interest and oppose His enemies._ 5. _We shall do good to
His needy brethren and friends._
+IV. The benediction connected with this temper.+--It is called
grace. It comprehends all the blessings the Gospel reveals and
promises. 1. _Justification before God._ 2. _The presence of the
Divine Spirit._ 3. _Free access to the throne of grace._ 4. _The gift
of a happy immortality.--Lathrop._
_Love to Christ._--What is it that constitutes Christ's claim to love
and respect? What is it that is to be loved in Christ? Why are we to
hold Him dear? There is but one ground for virtuous affection in the
universe, but one object worthy of cherished and enduring love in
heaven and in earth, and that is--moral goodness. My principle
applies to all beings, to the Creator as well as to His creatures.
The claim of God to the love of His rational offspring rests on the
rectitude and benevolence of His will. It is the moral beauty and
grandeur of His character to which alone we are bound to pay homage.
The only power which can and ought to be loved is a beneficent and
righteous power. The ground of love to Christ is, His spotless
purity, His moral perfection, His unrivalled goodness. It is the
spirit of His religion, which is the Spirit of God, dwelling in Him
without measure. Of consequence, to love Christ is to love the
perfection of virtue, of righteousness, of benevolence; and the great
excellence of this love is, that by cherishing it we imbibe, we
strengthen in our own souls the most illustrious virtue, and through
Jesus become like God. I call you to love Jesus that you may bring
yourselves into contact and communion with perfect virtue, and may
become what you love. I know no sincere, enduring good but the moral
excellence which shines forth in Jesus Christ.--_Channing._
_The Apostolic Benediction._
+I. The subjects of the benediction.+--"All them that love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity."
1. _The object of their love._--"The Lord Jesus Christ."
2. _The character of their love._--They love in sincerity. This
proved by the effects it produces. (1) Love to God's Word. (2) Prompt
obedience to Christ's precepts. (3) Brotherly love. (4) Zeal for
God's house.
+II. The nature of the benediction.+--1. _The prayer embraces the
communication of Divine grace._ 2. _All Christians need the grace of
God._ (1) In all trials peculiar to the age in which they live.
(2) In time of temptation and spiritual darkness. (3) In the
discharge of Christian duties. (4) To sanctify, refine, and make them
meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.
+Lessons.+--1. _Imitate the catholicity of the apostle._
2. _Sectarian bigotry and hostility should cease._ 3. _How perilous
the state of those who love not Christ.--Pulpit Themes._
* * * * * * * *
+Transcriber's Notes.+
- Page 123, Introduction, "Readers" paragraph, change "i. 1" to "ch.
i. 1." "Certain expressions" paragraph, change "i. 15" to "ch.
i. 15."
- Page 124, "Again" paragraph, change "in iii." to "in ch. iii" and
"ii. 6-9" to "Gal. ii. 6-9," for concreteness. Analysis, chapter
i. 3-14, apply RC to "Divine will." Chapter ii. 1-10, apply RC to
"Divine grace." Chapter ii. 14-19, apply RC to "love Divine."
- Page 126, Notes for chapter i., verse 3, apply RC to "Divine
blessing"; remove comma from "heaven, and." Verse 4, apply RC to
"Divine goodness." Verse 5, apply RC to "Love Divine" and "Divine
Graciousness." Verse 7, change "ix. 22" to "Heb. ix. 22" for
concreteness.
- Page 127, verse 8, apply RC to "Divine aims." Verse 11, add "Deut.
xxxiii. 9" reference.
= Page 128, top of page, apply RC to "Divine power." Verse 20, tag
Latin phrase as Latin and set it in Italic. Lesson "Apostolic
Salutation," point I, apply RC to "Divine source"; remove commas
from "care, and" and "God, and"; apply RC to "Divine will," "the
Gospel," "Divine authority," and "Divine will."
- Page 129, same lesson, point II, remove comma from "God, and" and
apply RC to "in Him." Point III, apply RC to "Divine source."
"Paul's Introduction" note, apply RC to "that Gospel" and "the
Gospel."
- Page 130, same note, point I 2, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
III, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "Divine Spirit."
- Page 131, lesson "Praise," introduction, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Point I 1, apply RC to "the Gospel."; change "in Him" to "in him,"
referring to a new convert; remove comma from "Him, and." Point
I 2, apply RC to "Divine grace." Point I 3, apply RC to "Divine
Father" and "Divine family." Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 132, same lesson, point II 2, apply RC to "Divine will" and
"Divine counsels." Point II 3, apply RC to "Gospel age" and
"Divine purpose." Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
III 1, apply RC to "the Word," "the Gospel," and "the Word"
(twice). Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine attestation."
Application ("Lessons"), each points 1, 2, and 3, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 133, same lesson, "Mystery" note, remove comma from
"salvation, if." "Spiritual Blessings" note, point I, apply RC to
"Divine operation." Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 134, same lesson, "Nature, Source" note, point II, apply RC
to "Divine nature"; remove comma from "will, and"; apply RC to
"Gospel holiness." Point VI, apply RC to "the Gospel." "Glory"
note, point I, apply RC to "Divine will."
- Page 135, same lesson, "Redemption" note, point I, apply RC to
"the Gospel." "Harmony" note, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "Divine
justice."
- Page 136, same lesson, same note, point III, apply RC to "Divine
grace." Point VII, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point XII, apply RC
to "the Gospel." "Mystery" note, point I 1, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (thrice); remove comma from "reason, and"; apply RC to
"Divine revelation" and "the Gospel." Point I 2, add comma to "us
yet."
- Page 137, same lesson, same note, point II 1, apply RC to "the
Gospel" and "the Word." Point II 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
"Christ" note, apply RC to "Divine purpose."
- Page 138, same lesson, "Gospel" note, point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point III, apply RC
to "the Gospel"; change subpoint indicators from parenthesised
Arabic numerals to Arabic numerals with periods, for consistency.
"Truth" note, point I, change subpoint indicators from
parenthesised Arabic numerals to Arabic numerals with periods, for
consistency; point I 4, apply RC to "Divine majesty." Point II,
apply RC to "Divine revelation."
- Page 139, same lesson, "Faith" note, point I, apply RC to "the
Word," "the Gospel," "the Word," "own Divinity," and "the Gospel."
Point II, apply RC to "the Word" and "the Gospel." Point III 1,
add comma to "So the"; apply RC to "the Word," "Divine likeness,"
"the Gospel," and "the Word." Point III, apply RC to "Divine
influence." Point III 1, add comma to "So the"; apply RC to
"Divine image," "the Word," "Divine likeness," "the Gospel," and
"the Word." Point III 2, add comma to "So the."
- Page 140, lesson "Prayer," point II, apply RC to "the Word";
remove comma from "suffice, unless." Point III, apply RC to
"Divine inheritance" and "Divine blessings."
- Page 141, same lesson, "Clearer" note, point I 1, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point I 2, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice) and "Divine
qualities"; remove comma from "sanctuary, but." Point II, apply RC
to "the Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point IV,
remove comma from "knowledge, but." Point V, apply RC to "Divine
calling" and "Divine preparation."
- Page 142, same lesson, "Apprehension" note, point II, add "1 John
iv. 10" reference. Point III, apply RC to "Divine nature"; add
comma to "Thus these." "Spiritual enlightenment" note, apply RC to
"Divine mysteries."
- Page 143, lesson "Church Complete," point I, apply RC to "Divine
power," "a Divine," and "Divine Spirit." Point II, apply RC to
"Divine power"; change "instals" to "installs"; add "Heb. i. 6"
and "Ps. xxiv. 7-10" references.
- Page 144, same lesson, point III, see in-line note about
"quicksilver." Apply RC to "Divine fulness"; add comma to "Thus
God"; apply RC to "Divine fulness." Application ("Lessons"), point
I, apply RC to "Divine creation." "Dignity and Dominion" note,
point II, remove comma from "respect, and."
- Page 145, same lesson, "Future life" note, end of point II, add
double quotes around what those already in heaven are said to say
to us.
- Page 146, same lesson, "Headship" note, point I 6, apply RC to
"Divine attributes." Point II 1, apply RC to "Mediator." Point
II 3, apply RC to "Divine government."
- Page 147, notes on chapter ii., verse 5, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Verse 6, change "i. 3" to "ch. i. 3." Verse 10, apply RC to
"Divine thought." Verse 13, tag "Lo-ammi" as Hebrew and set it in
Italic type.
- The break between pages 147 and 148 is in the word "consequently":
con|sequently.
- Page 148, notes on verse 17, change "lvii. 19" to "Isa. lvii. 19"
for concreteness. Verse 21, change "iv. 16" to "ch. iv. 16."
Lesson "Children of Wrath," point I, remove comma from "life,
and"; apply RC to "Divine wrath."
- Page 149, same lesson, point III, remove comma from "appetite,
but." Point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 150, same lesson, "State of Sin" note, point II, apply RC to
"Divine power." "State of Men" note, point I 2, apply RC to "the
Word" (twice); remove comma from "song, and."
- Page 151, same lesson, "State of Nature" note, point I, apply RC
to "thing Divine."
- Page 152, same lesson, same note, point II, apply RC to "the
Spirit." Point III, apply RC to "the Spirit." "Worst" note, point
I 1, add comma to "created and." Point II, see in-line note on
baptism.
- Page 153, lesson "Salvation," point I, apply RC to "Divine
beneficence," "Divine nature," "Divine favour" and "Divine
goodness." Point II, apply RC to "Divine power"; remove comma from
"precede, and."
- Page 154, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine grace"
(twice) and "the Word." Point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice)
and "Divine act." Point V, apply RC to "Divine grace"; change
"ever new" to "ever-new"; apply RC to "Divine grace." "Great
Change" note, point I, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 155, same lesson, same note, point I 1 (4), remove comma from
"Christ, and." Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point III,
apply RC to "the Gospel dispensation." "State" note, point 3, add
comma to "Therefore God."
- Page 157, same lesson, "Salvation by Faith" note, point I 5, apply
RC to "whole Gospel." "Our Salvation" note, point III 3, apply RC
to "the Gospel." "True Justifying Faith" note, remove comma from
"creature, and"; apply RC to "Divine work."
- Page 158, lesson "Christian Life," point I, apply RC to "Divine
handiwork" and "Divine power"; remove comma from "nature, and";
apply RC to "Divine handiwork," "Divine character," and "Divine
worker." Point III, apply RC to "Divinely provided." Application
("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine origin." Point 3, apply
RC to "Divine mind."
- Page 160, lesson "Forlorn State," application ("Lessons"), point
3, apply RC to "Divine mercy." "Condition" note, point II, apply
RC to "the Gospel."
- The break between pages 160 and 161 is in a unit that style
indicates should be kept together "Christ.--|To." The whole unit
was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 161, same lesson, same note, point V, apply RC to "the
Gospel." "Helpless" note, point 3, add comma to "sought and."
- Page 162, same lesson, same note, point 3 (5), remove comma from
"other, and"; add sentence-ending period after "powerless"; add
comma to "Thus faith."
- Page 164, lesson "Peacemaker," point I, remove comma from
"complied, and."
- Page 165, same lesson, poem between points IV and V, change
"there" to "then" and "losers" to "loser" after referring to
collection of Shakespeare. Point V, change "#eads us" to "leads
us." "Nearness" note, point I, remove comma from "God, and." Point
II, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point VI, apply RC to "His Word."
- Page 166, same lesson, "Power" note, point 1, apply RC to "His
Word."
- Page 167, same lesson, same note, point 2, remove comma from
"grace, and"; add "Ezek. xxxiii. 11" and "Isa. xlv. 22"
references. Point 3, add comma to "is that."
- Page 168, same lesson, "Privilege" note, point I 3, apply RC to
"His Own Son." Point II, remove comma from "mercy-seat, and."
- Page 169, same lesson, "Access to God" note, point I, apply RC to
"Divine Creator," "into Divinity," "God is Divine," "by Word,"
"the Divinity" (twice) and "the Divine"; add comma to "souls
others"; apply RC to "a Divine end." Point II, apply RC to "the
Divinity" and "the Gospels"; add comma to "firm bright" and
"confident golden"; apply RC to "and Divine" and "the Gospel."
- Page 170, same lesson, same note, apply RC to "Divine side," "the
Divinity," "was Divine," and "is Divine." Point III, add comma to
"so when"; apply RC to "Divine End" and "Divine Power."
- Page 171, same lesson, top of page, apply RC to "is Divine."
"Christian Law" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine Justice."
Lesson "Church the Temple," point I, apply RC to "the Gospel" and
"Divine kingdom"; remove commas from "privileges, and" and "ages,
and."
- Page 172, same lesson, point II, remove commas from "Church, and"
and "broad, and." Point III, apply RC to "Divine purpose."
- Page 173, same lesson, "Spiritual Building" note, point V, apply
RC to "His Word" (twice). "Christian Prayer" note, point I 1,
apply RC to "Divine light." Point II 2, add comma to "still and."
- Page 174, same lesson, "Communion" note, point I, apply RC to
"Divine Presence." Point III, apply RC to "Divinely true." Point
IV, apply RC to "Diviner love."
- The break between pages 174 and 175 is in a unit that style
indicates should not be broken: "saints.--|1. They." The whole
unit was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 175, same lesson, "Characteristics" note, point III 4, remove
comma from "privileges, and."
- Page 176, notes for chapter iii., verse 2, change "iv. 21" to "ch.
iv. 21"; apply RC to "Divine Taskmaster." Verse 9, change "iii. 1"
to "Gal. iii. 1" for concreteness. Verse 12, change "ii. 13" to
"ch. ii. 13."
- Page 177, notes for chapter iii., verse 15, change "ii. 19" to
"ch. ii. 19." Verse 17, apply RC to "things Divine." Verse 20,
change "i. 19-23" to "ch. i. 19-23." Lesson "Enlarged Gospel,"
point I, apply RC to "the Gospel," "Divine revelation," "Divine
favour," and "Divine mind."
- Page 178, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(thrice). Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel," "enlarged Gospel,"
and "the Gospel." Point IV, apply RC to "Divine grace," "the
Gospel," "Divinely prepared," "the Gospel," and "Divine Spirit."
- Page 179, same lesson, top of page, apply RC to "the Gospel" and
"ever-enlarging Gospel." Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply
RC to "the Gospel." "Calling" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine
Goodness." Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel" (four times). Point
IV, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 180, "Knowledge" note, between lists, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Lesson "Exalted," point I, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(twice).
- Page 181, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice),
and "Divine dealings." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine mystery,"
"Divine purpose" (twice), and "the Gospel." Point II 3, apply RC
to "Divine idea" and "the Gospel" (thrice). Point III, apply RC to
"Divine grace." Point III 1, apply RC to "Divine grace," "Divine
power," "the Gospel" (twice) and "Divine power" (twice). Point
III 2, apply RC to "Divine grace."
- Page 182, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC
to "the Gospel." "Apostle's View" note, point II, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice).
- Page 183, same lesson, "Christian Humility" note, point I, change
"self-righteous ness" to "self-righteousness."
- Page 184, same lesson, same note, top of page, change period after
"management" to a question mark.
- Page 185, same lesson, "Unsearchable Riches" note, apply RC to
"Christ's Divinity." "Fellowship" note, point I, apply RC to "His
Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 186, lesson "Manifold Wisdom," point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel," "Divinely freighted," and "the Divine." Point II, apply
RC to "the Gospel" (twice).
- The break between pages 186 and 187 is in the word "knowledge":
know|ledge.
- Page 187, same lesson, point III, top of page, apply RC to "Divine
treatment" and "the Gospel." Application ("Lessons"), point 2,
apply RC to "Divine wisdom." "Manifold Wisdom" note, point I 2,
apply RC to "Divine will." Point II, apply RC to "Gospel
redemption."
- The break between pages 187 and 188 is in the word "expression":
expres|sion.
- Page 188, same lesson, same note, point II, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point V, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "Divine grace."
Change "He who preached" to "he," referring to Paul. "Access"
note, point II, add sentence-ending period.
- Page 189, same lesson, "Courage" note, point 1, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Lesson "Sublime," point I 1, see in-line note regarding
Christ's abiding presence.
- Page 190, same lesson, point I 1, top of page, apply RC to "Divine
power." Point II, change "thirsty manna drink" to "thirsty man a
drink." Point III, apply RC to "Divine fulness" and "Divine grace."
- Page 192, "Church a Family" note, point II 1, apply RC to "common
Father."
- Page 193, "Family" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine message."
Point II, apply RC to "Divinest wisdom."
- Page 195, "Paul's Prayer" note, point V, apply RC to "Divine
influence." "Love of Christ" note, point I 1, change "as He says"
to "as Paul says." Point I 5, apply RC to "Divine nature" and "is
Divine."
- Page 196, "Transcendent" note, point I 1, apply RC to "is Divine."
Point II, apply RC to "Divine infinitude." Point III 3, apply RC
to "supreme Divinity."
- The break between pages 196 and 197 is in the word "increase":
in|crease.
- Page 198, notes on chapter iv., verse 7, apply RC to "His
endowment." Verse 13, apply RC to "Divine Archetype."
- Page 199, verse 17, change "ii. 2, 3" to "ch. ii. 2, 3." Verse 19,
change right single quote after "covetousness" to right double
quote and "sin's" to "sins." Verse 30, change "i. 13" to "ch.
i. 13." Verse 31, change "_I.e._" to "_i.e._"
- Page 200, verse 32, apply RC to "Divine forgiveness." Lesson
"Dignity," point I, apply RC to "Divine nature."
- Page 203, lesson "Sevenfold Unity," point I, add em-dash before
poem. Point II, apply RC to "Divine commands" and "one Gospel";
change "initiatory right" to "initiatory rite."
- Page 204, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine Mind."
"Unity" note, point III, apply RC to "same Word." Point V, apply
RC to "same Gospel" and "the Word."
- Page 205, "Oneness" note, point 2, apply RC to "the Gospel." "One
Body" note, point I, apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 206, same note, point II 1, apply RC to "Divine essence."
- Page 208, lesson "Gifts of Christ," point I, after poem, apply RC
to "the Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "Divine Conqueror."
- Page 209, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "Divine Architect."
"Mark" note, first paragraph, apply RC to "four Gospels," "Mark's
Gospel," "first Gospel."
- Page 210, same note, point II, apply RC to "his Gospel." Point
III, apply RC to "Divine Mind."
- Page 211, same note, apply RC to "his Gospel"; change "three
gospels" to "four Gospels"; apply RC to "that Life" and "the
Gospel."
- The break between pages 211 and 212 is in the word "summoned":
sum|moned.
- Page 212, "Humiliation and Exaltation" note, point I 2, apply RC
to "Divine temple." Point II 4, apply RC to "Divine conduct."
Point III, apply RC to "Divine perfections."
- Page 213, "Ascension" note, point I, apply RC to "His Word," "the
Gospel," and "a Gospel."
- Page 214, "Work" note, point I, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
II, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 215, same note, same point, apply RC to "His Gospel." Point
III, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice). Lesson "Manhood," point
I 1, apply RC to "a Person." Point I 2, change "in Him" to "him,"
referring to a human.
- Page 216, same lesson, point III, change "ant" to "bee" because
ant nests are not particularly geometrical; capitalise "Rubicon";
apply RC to "the Gospel" and "Divine truth."
- Page 217, "Growth" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine revelation."
- Page 218, "Manhood" note, point I 3, apply RC to "Divinely
appointed." "Maturity" note, point I 4, apply RC to "the Gospel";
change "repre senting" to "representing."
- The break between pages 218 and 219 is in the word "knowledge":
know|ledge.
- Page 219, same note, point II 2, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice).
"Deceivers" note, point I 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 221, "Growth" note, point II, add right double quote at end
of sentence. Point II 2, apply RC to "real Divine." Point III, add
"Mark x. 17-22; Luke xviii. 17-23" references.
- Page 223, lesson "Thorough," point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 224, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "Divinely created"
and "Divine character." Change reference for "Gentile Life" note
from "17, 19" to "17-19." Point II, apply RC to "Divine truths."
Point V, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 225, same note, application ("Reflections"), apply RC to "the
Gospel." "Life" note, point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 226, "Putting Off" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine things."
- Page 227, same note, point IV, apply RC to "Divine nature" and
"the Deity." Point V, apply RC to "the Gospel," "Divine grace,"
and "the Word."
- Page 228, "Christian Spirit" note, point I 3, apply RC to "the
Gospel"; change "alternation" to "alteration." Point II 3, apply
RC to "the Word." Point II 4, apply RC to "to Him."
- Page 230, lesson "Christian Principles," point VII, apply RC to
"Divine grace."
- Page 231, "Truth" note, point I 1, remove Italic formatting from
first sentence for consistency with other subpoints.
- Page 232, "Falsehood" note, point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- The break between pages 232 and 233 is in the word "uncertainty":
uncer|tainty.
- Page 233, "Sinful Anger" note, point III, apply RC to "the Word."
"Anger and Meekness" note, point I 4, at the end of the page,
there is blank space after the word "rights" which the Transcriber
filled with "he is" before "obliged" on the next page, giving
". . . whose rights [he is] obliged . . . ."
- The break between pages 234 and 235 is in the word "bespeaks":
be|speaks.
- Page 236, "Exaltation" note, point III, apply RC to "the Word."
"Benefit Conferred" note, point I, apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 237, same note, point III, apply RC to "the Divine." "Office"
note, point II, apply RC to "the Word." "Grieving" note, point II,
apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 238, "Grieve not" note, put double quotes around the
rhetorical question; apply RC to "Divine grace." "Vices" note,
point IV, change "Never believe, much less propagate an ill
report, of" to "Never believe, much less propagate, an ill report
of."
- Page 239, "Errors" note, point II, apply RC to "the Author."
- Page 240, same note, point V, apply RC to "the Gospel." "Christian
Forgiveness," point II, apply RC to "Diviner life." Point V, apply
RC to "own Gospel" and "our Gospel."
- Page 241, notes on chapter v., verse 7, change "iii. 6" to "ch.
iii. 6." Verse 9, add "Rev. xxii. 1" reference. Verse 19, add
"James v. 13" reference; change the right double quote after
"hymn" to a right single quote.
- Page 242, verse 23, add add "John xviii. 8", Luke xxii. 27, and
"ver. 25" references. Lesson "Life," point I, apply RC to "Divine
life" and "the Gospel." Change "In Paris a little girl seven years
old was observed" to "In Paris, a little girl, seven years old,
was observed."
- Page 243, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divinely regarded"
and "Divine Fatherhood."
- Page 244, "Doctrine" note, point I, apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 245, "Sacrifice" note, point I 3, apply RC to "the Divine."
Point I 4, apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 247, "Likeness" note, point II, apply RC to "the Divine."
Point IV, apply RC to "a Divine." "Sacrifice" note, point I 1,
apply RC to "a Divine" (twice) and "in Himself." Point I 2, add
double quotes around "I will do as I please."
- Page 248, same note, same point, apply RC to "a Divine" (twice).
Point II, apply RC to "a Divine" (twice). Point III 1, apply RC to
"Divinity." Point III 3, apply RC to "the Gospel." Lesson
"Children," point I 2, apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 249, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divinely
illuminated." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine light." Point II 3,
add "Matt. v. 16" reference.
- Page 250, same lesson, point III 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divinely regarded."
"Sobriety" note, point I 1, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point I 3,
apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 252, "Rule" note, apply RC to "the Word."
- Page 253, "Slumbering" note, point I 6, apply RC to "God's Word."
Point I 7, apply RC to "the Gospel." "Light of God" note, point
II, capitalise "the Negro."
- Page 254, "Call" note, point I, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 255, same note, point II, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
III, apply RC to "the Gospel." "Summons" note, point I, apply RC
to "Divine assistance"; add an em-dash to the end of the paragraph
without punctuation. Point II, apply RC to "Divine mandate."
- The break between pages 255 and 256 is in a unit that style
indicates should not be broken: "inactivity.--|You." The whole
unit was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 256, "Gospel Call" note, point II 4 (4), apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 257, lesson "Christian Wisdom," point II 1, apply RC to
"Divine goodness." Point II 2, apply RC to "the Divine" (thrice).
Point IV, apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 258, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 3, add
"Prov. iv. 7" reference. "Walking" note, point I 4, apply RC to
"the Gospel." "Wise Conduct" note, each of points 3 and 4, apply
RC to "God's Word."
- Page 259, "Redeeming" note, point I, apply RC to "God's Word."
- Page 260, "Redemption" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine
knowledge."
- Page 261, "Being Filled" note, point 4 (4), apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 262, lesson "Spiritual Enjoyment," point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "God's Word."
- Page 263, "Singing" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine worship."
Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel." Application ("Lessons"), each
of points 1 and 3, apply RC to "Divine worship."
- Page 266, "Duties" lesson, point II 3, add a colon after "married
life."
- Page 267, "Christ" note, point III, add "Gen. ii. 21-24" reference.
- Page 268, "Christ's Love" note, point III 3, apply RC to "the
Word." "Future Glory" note, point II 4, apply RC to "the Word."
Point III, apply RC to "Divinity" (twice). "Divine Ideal" note,
point I 1, apply RC to "the Divine." Point III, apply RC to
"Divine renewal."
- Page 270, notes on chapter vi., verse 10, change "i. 19" to "ch.
i. 19." Verse 13, change "v. 16" to "ch. v. 16."
- Page 271, notes on verse 24, change "i. 2" to "ch. i. 2." Lesson
"Duties," each of points I 1 and I 3, apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 272, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC
to "Divinely rewarded."
- Page 273, "Mutual Duties" note, point I 6, apply RC to "Divine
promise."
- Page 275, lesson "Duties," point II 1, change "it introduced
principles which, wherever, adopted utterly" to "it introduced
principles which, wherever adopted, utterly." Application
("Lessons"), each of points 1 and 2, apply RC to "Divine law."
- Page 276, lesson "Christian Warfare," point I, apply RC to "Divine
help."
- Page 277, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine panoply."
- Page 278, same lesson, application ("Lessons") point 3, apply RC
to "Divinely provided." "Call" note, point II 2, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (twice). "Warfare" note, point I 3, change "Deut.
viii. 12" to "Deut. viii. 11-14."
- Page 279, same note, point II 1, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
II 2, apply RC to "everlasting Gospel." Point III, apply RC to
"the Gospel."
- Page 281, "Evil Angels" note, see inline note about human
depravity. "Christian Warrior" lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 282, same lesson, point I 3, apply RC to "the Gospel" (four
times).
- Page 283, same lesson, point I 5, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(twice). Point II, apply RC to "the Word" (twice).
- Page 284, "Christian's Armour" note, apply RC to "that Gospel";
change "even more tnan" to "even more than"; apply RC to "that
Word." "Whole Armour" note, point I, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 285, same note, point VI apply RC to "the Divine Word."
- Page 286, "Duty" note, point III 2, apply RC to "Divine grace."
"Girdle of Truth" note, point III, apply RC to "their Divinity."
- Page 287, "Gospel of Peace" note, each of points II, II 1, II 2,
and II 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 288, lesson "Programme of Prayer," point II, apply RC to
"Divine Spirit."
- Page 289, same lesson, point V 1, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(thrice). Point V 2, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice).
Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine power."
- Page 290, "Praying" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine favours."
Point III, apply RC to "Divine will." Point V, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (twice).
- Page 291, "Duty of Prayer" note, point V, add "Rev. v. 8, 9"
reference. "Gospel a Mystery" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine
revelation." Point II, apply RC to "Divine essence" and "the
Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice); add a colon
after "rolled up." Point IV, see inline note defining "faggot";
apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 292, "Boldness" note, in each of points II and II 1, apply RC
to "the Gospel."
- Page 293, lesson "Trusted Messenger," point II, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice) and "Gospel
comfort."
- Page 294, "Apostolical Care" note, point IV, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Lesson "Benediction," point I, apply RC to "the Divine,"
"are Divine," "the Divine," and "Divinity."
- Page 295, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine grace," "His
Word," and "the Gospel." "Elements" note, point I, apply RC to
"the Gospel."
- Page 296, "Truest Test" note, introduction, apply RC to
"Master-spirit" and "Spirit." Point II 3, apply RC to "God's
Word." "Loving Christ" note, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine
person." Point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point IV 2, apply RC
to "the Divine Spirit."
- Page 297, "Apostolic Benediction" note, point I 2 (1), apply RC to
"God's Word." Point II, apply RC to "Divine grace."
+THE+
+EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.+
+INTRODUCTION.+
+Philippi and the Philippians.+--It was a moment fraught with very
far reaching issues when at Alexandria Troas St. Paul seemed to see,
in a night-vision, a man standing on the beach over the head of the
Ægean Sea eagerly calling for help, as a herald might summon a
general to the relief of a hard-pressed garrison.
There may be cold psychological explanations of the vision which
leave little scope for any Divine call to evangelise them of
Macedonia; but the event proved the indication of the will of God in
the visionary call. In the prompt and undoubting obedience of St.
Paul and his co-workers our own continent first received the glad
tidings of great joy. Gliding out of the harbour of Troas, their
little vessel ran before the wind as far as the island of
Samothracia, and next day, rounding the island of Thasos, dropped
anchor at Neapolis, the port of Philippi. But Philippi itself is
still three leagues distant, on the other side of a mountain range,
over which the great highway between the two continents passes.
Following this great road--the Via Egnatia--the colony founded by
Cæsar Augustus, and named Colonia Augusta Julia Philippensis, was the
first city reached. The place had been recognised by Philip of
Macedon as a gateway to be watched and strongly guarded, and when St.
Paul visited it he found it bearing all the marks of a strong
military centre--a sort of ganglion in the great system of which Rome
was the brain. To remember this is to receive light on certain
expressions in the epistle; for even though "not many mighty are
called," they may serve to illustrate a service whose weapons are
"not carnal but spiritual."
If we follow the R.V. in Acts xvi. 13--we suppose there was a place
of prayer--the inference is that the Jews were not numerous in
Philippi, and that it was only by a knowledge of the ancestral custom
which led them to place their oratory by the water-side that St. Paul
discovered the obscure company. Even when discovered there is no
evidence of that virulent Judaism which so greatly embittered the
apostle's life and frustrated his missionary endeavours; and it may
be that its absence explains the cordial relations between the
Philippians and St. Paul.
Bishop Lightfoot notes the heterogeneous character of the first
converts at Philippi. As to race, an Asiatic, a Greek, and a Roman.
As to everyday life, the first is engaged in an important and
lucrative branch of traffic; the second is employed to trade on the
credulity of the ignorant; the third is an under-official of the
government. As to religious training, one represents the speculative
mystic temper of Oriental devotion; the second a low form of an
artistic and imaginative religion; whilst the third represents a type
of worship essentially political in tone.
It is noteworthy and prophetic that women should be so closely
connected with the introduction of the Gospel to Europe; and this may
account for the fact that in Philippi whole families were gathered
into the fold of the Church.
Thus humbly began the work of the evangelisation of a new continent,
amidst brutal bodily assaults and indignities heaped upon its
heralds. Here commenced, some ten years before the date of our
epistle, a friendship, unbroken through those years, with Timothy, a
youth of exemplary ability and piety.
+Place and time of writing the epistle.+--Though Cæsarea has found
favour with some scholars as the _place_ from which the epistle
originated, by far the greater number accept Rome. Indeed, we may
almost say we are shut up to this by ancient and modern opinions.
Even though we may admit that the subscription of the epistle in the
A.V., as in general, is not worthy of any special consideration as
being authoritative, yet it agrees in this case with the preponderant
opinion.
It is the most natural interpretation of the expression in ch.
iv. 32, "they of Cæsar's household," which is decisive of Rome. The
phrase in ch. i. 13, "throughout the whole prætorian guard" (R.V.),
is not absolutely conclusive for Rome, for the word "prætorium" is
used of Herod's palace at Cæsarea, and is "the standing appellation
for the palaces of the chief governors of _provinces_" (Meyer).
Still, as Lightfoot argues, to apply it to Cæsarea in this case does
not suit the context.
As to the _time_ of the writing, there is nothing like the same
consent of opinion. But the difference of opinion is limited to the
confinement of the apostle at Rome (on which see Acts xxviii. 30).
The discussion is as to whether it was early or late in that two
years' captivity that the letter was written.
For the later date the arguments are: 1. That it must have taken some
considerable time before St. Paul's religion could be so widely known
as this letter indicates it was. 2. That Luke and Aristarchus are not
mentioned here, as in Colossians and Philemon, the inference being
that they had left the apostle. 3. That the communications between
Rome and Philippi would necessitate a considerable interval after St.
Paul's arrival in Rome. 4. That the tone of the apostle agrees better
with a prolonged captivity.
Amongst English scholars, Ellicott, Alford, and others favour the
later date. On the other side are Lightfoot and Beet.
+Occasion and contents of the epistle.+--Godet remarks that, as
Philemon shows us the apostle's way of requesting a favour;
Philippians is a specimen of how he returned thanks. The Church which
was the "crown and joy" of the apostle had sent into his captivity a
token of their loving remembrance by the hand of Epaphroditus. The
messenger had been overtaken by alarming illness, and after hearing
that his friends in Philippi were anxious about him, he was
despatched homewards bearing the apostle's expressions of
gratitude--not so much for the money gift as the genuine attachment
which prompted it.
No epistle is so truly a letter, of all we have from St. Paul's pen,
as this to the Philippians. The arrangement is less formal; we miss
the chains of reasoning and quotation from the Old Testament. As
Meyer says: "Not one [of his epistles] is so eminently an epistle of
the feelings, an outburst of the moment, springing from the deepest
inward need of loving fellowship amidst outward abandonment and
tribulation; a model, withal, of the union of tender love and at
times an almost elegiac impress of courageous resignation in the
prospect of death, with high apostolic dignity and unbroken holy joy,
hope, and victory over the world."
A brief synopsis of the letter may be shown thus:--
i. 1-11. Greeting of, thanksgiving, and prayer for the
Philippians.
12-26. Personal affairs of the apostle (so ch. ii. 19-30).
i. 27--ii. 1-11. Exhortation to humility after the supreme Example.
ii. 12-18. _Omitted._
iii. 1-21. Warning against the vain work-righteousness of
Judaism.
iv. 1-9. Exhortations to unity, to Christian joy, and
Christian graces.
10-19. Renewed thanksgiving for the generosity shown.
20-23. Doxology and salutations.
+CHAPTER I.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ.+--There is
no necessity for Paul to mention his apostolate, inasmuch as the
Philippians had never even thought of calling it in question. "Paul
an apostle and Timothy a servant" was a distinction too invidious for
Paul to make. There is a fine aroma of courtesy in what is not said
as well as in what is said here. +Bishops and deacons.+--"It is
incredible that St. Paul should recognise only the bishops and
deacons (if 'presbyters' were a different order from 'bishops'). It
seems therefore to follow of necessity that the 'bishops' were
identical with the 'presbyters'" (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 3. +I thank my God.+--The keynote of the whole epistle. As the
apostle's strains of praise had been heard by the prisoners in the
Philippian gaol, so now from another captivity the Church hears a
song of sweet contentment. "_My_ God." The personal appropriation and
the quiet contentment of the apostle both speak in this emphatic
phrase.
Ver. 4. +Always in every prayer of mine for you all.+--Notice the
comprehensive "always," "every," "all," indicating special attachment
to the Philippians. +With joy.+--The sum of the epistle is, "I
rejoice. . . . Rejoice ye." "He recalls to our minds the runner who
at the supreme moment of Grecian history brought to Athens the news
of Marathon. Worn, panting, exhausted with the effort to be the
herald of deliverance, he sank in death on the threshold of the first
house which he reached with the tidings of victory, and sighed forth
his gallant soul in one great sob, almost in the very same words as
those used by the apostle, 'Rejoice ye; we rejoice'" (_Farrar,_ after
Lightfoot).
Ver. 5. "+Fellowship+ here denotes co-operation in the widest sense,
their participation with the apostle, whether in sympathy or in
suffering, or in active labour, or in any other way. At the same
time, their almsgiving was a signal instance of this co-operation and
seems to have been foremost in the apostle's mind" (_Lightfoot_). +He
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it.+--"The
observation of the ebb and flow of the tide for so many days and
months and ages together, as it has been observed by mankind, gives
us a full assurance that it will ebb and flow again to-morrow"
(_Bishop Butler_). Another sort of assurance comes in here. It is an
offence to every worthy thought of God that He should begin and not
be able to finish (Isa. xxvi. 12).
Ver. 7. +Meet for me to think this.+--"To form this opinion." That
the apostle cherished a warm affection for these Philippians would
have been, if alone, a very flimsy foundation for hopes so
substantial. Was not Judas cherished in a warmer heart than Paul's?
But their sympathy and active co-operation made such an opinion not a
pious hope, but a reasonable likelihood. +Defence and
confirmation.+--The "defence" (ἀπολγία) is the clearing away of
objections--the preparation of the ground; the "confirmation" is the
positive settlement on the ground so prepared. "The two together will
thus comprise all modes of preaching and extending the truth"
(_Lightfoot_). +Partakers of my grace.+--The _grace_ whether of
preaching or of suffering for the Gospel. See ver. 29, where "given"
requires the addition "as a favour." "You are privileged . . . to
suffer."
Ver. 8. +God is my record.+--As in Rom. i. 9. When we feel language
too weak to bear our impassioned feeling, it may be well to remember
the "Yea, yea" of the Master rather than copy this oath. +In the
bowels of Jesus Christ.+--R.V. "in the tender mercies." This is quite
an Eastern form of expression. Among the Malays a term of endearment
is "my liver"; we choose the heart as the seat of the affections. For
the figure, cf. Gal. ii. 20.
Ver. 9. +In knowledge and in all judgment.+--"Perfect knowledge (as
in Eph. i. 17, iv. 13) and universal discernment." "The one deals
with general principles, the other is concerned with practical
applications" (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 10. +That ye may approve things that are excellent.+--St. Paul
would have his dear Philippians to be connoisseurs of whatever is
morally and spiritually excellent. +That ye may be sincere.+--Bearing
a close scrutiny, in the strongest light, or according to another
derivation of the word, perhaps more true if less beautiful, made
pure by sifting. +And without offence.+--Might be either "without
stumbling," as Acts xxiv. 16, or "not causing offence." Lightfoot
prefers the former, Meyer the latter. Beet unites the two.
Ver. 11. +Fruits of righteousness.+--"A harvest of righteousness."
+Which are through Jesus Christ.+--A more precise definition of
"fruits."
Ver. 12. +The things which happened unto me.+--Precisely the same
phrase as in Eph. vi. 21; is translated "my affairs" (so Col.
iv. 17). These circumstances were such as naturally would fill the
friends of the apostle with concern for him personally. As to the
effect on the spread of the Gospel--ever St. Paul's chief
solicitude--they had been apprehensive. +Rather unto the
furtherance.+--Not to the _hindrance,_ as to your fears seemed
likely. It is the same triumphant note which rises, in a later
imprisonment, above personal indignity and suffering. "_I_ may be
bound, but the message I bear is at liberty" (2 Tim. ii. 9).
Ver. 13. +Bonds in Christ are manifest.+--R.V. "bonds became manifest
in Christ." It is not simply as a private prisoner that he is bound;
it is a matter of public note that he is bound for Christ's sake. +In
all the palace.+--R.V. text, "throughout the whole prætorian guard."
R.V. margin, "in the whole prætorium." "The best supported meaning of
'prætorium' is--_the soldiers_ composing the imperial regiments"
(_Lightfoot_). "_The barracks_ of the imperial body-guard to whose
'colonel' Paul was given in charge on his arrival in Rome (Acts
xxviii. 16)" (_Meyer_). "As the soldiers would relieve guard in
constant succession, the prætorians one by one were brought into
communication with 'the prisoner of Jesus Christ'" (_Lightfoot_). +In
all other places.+--The italicised places of the A.V. text must be
dropped; the margin is better. A loose way of saying "to others
besides the military."
Ver. 14. +Confident by my bonds.+--The bonds might have been thought
to be sufficient to intimidate the brethren; but the policy of
stamping out has oftener resulted in spreading the Gospel.
Ver. 15. +Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife.+--Not
some of the brethren emboldened by the apostle's chain, perhaps,
although one sees no reason why the Judaisers would not, with
redoubled energy, spread their views when he whom they so violently
opposed was for the time being silenced, as they imagined. _"Of
envy."_ Lightfoot refers to the saying of the comic poet Philemon
with its play on the word, "Thou teachest me many things ungrudgingly
because of a grudge" (on account of envy). This glaring inconsistency
of preaching a Gospel of goodwill from such a motive as envy, the
worst form of ill-will, must be closely observed here.
Vers. 16, 17.--These verses are transposed in R.V.; the order of the
A.V. is against decisive testimony (_Meyer_).
Ver. 16. +To add affliction to my bonds.+--"To make my chains gall
me," Lightfoot strikingly translates. One can almost imagine St. Paul
starting up, and straining at the wrist of the soldier to whom he was
chained as he hears of the intrigues of a party whose one object it
was to impose an effete ritual on men called to liberty in Christ.
Ver. 17. +For the defence of the gospel.+--Many a man in the
apostle's place would have found himself absorbed by the question how
best to make a good defence of himself.
Ver. 18. +Whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached.+--St.
Paul evidently thinks the imperfect knowledge of Christ preferable to
heathen ignorance of Him. The truth is mighty enough to take care of
itself, without any hand that shakes with nervous apprehension to
steady its ark. St. Paul is beforehand with our method of keeping a
subject before the notice of the public. The policy of "never
mentioning" was what St. Paul regarded as fatal.
Ver. 19. +This shall turn to my salvation.+--"_Salvation_ in the
highest sense. These trials will develop the spiritual life in the
apostle, will be a pathway to the glories of heaven" (_Lightfoot_).
Meyer prefers to render "will be _salutary_ for me," without any more
precise modal definition. +Supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ.+--"The Spirit of Jesus is both the giver and the gift"
(_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 20. +Earnest expectation.+--Same word again in Rom. viii. 19
(not again in New Testament). "It is the waiting expectation that
continues on the strain till the goal is attained" (_Meyer_). The
intensive in the compound word implies abstraction from other things
through intentness on one. +Put to shame.+--As a man might be who
felt his cause not worth pleading, or as one overawed by an august
presence. +With all boldness,+ _i.e._ of speech. A man overpowered by
shame loses the power of speech (see Matt. xxii. 12).
Ver. 21. +For me to live is Christ.+--The word of emphasis is _to
me,_ whatever it may be to others. If this be not the finest specimen
of a surrendered soul, one may seek long for that which excels it.
That life should be intolerable, nay inconceivable, except as the ego
merges into Christ's; this is the sanest and most blessed _unio
mystica_ (Gal. ii. 20). +And to die is gain.+--It is the purely
personal view--"to me"--which the apostle has before him. "The spirit
that denies" says, that when all that a man hath has been bartered
for life, he will think himself gainer. "More life and fuller" is
what St. Paul sees through the sombre corridor. It is not simply the
oblivious repose where "the wicked cease from troubling" that he
yearns for. Nor is it a philosophical Nirvâna.
"For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey
This pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned?"
Ver. 22. +But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour+
(see R.V.).--"The grammar of the passage reflects the conflict of
feeling in the apostle's mind. He is tossed to and fro between the
desire to labour for Christ in life and the desire to be united with
Christ by death. The abrupt and disjointed sentences express this
hesitation" (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 23. +I am in a strait betwixt two.+--I am laid hold of by two
forces drawing in opposite directions. "Desire" draws me away from
earth; your "necessity" would keep me in it. As in the old mythology
everything bowed before Necessity (ἀνάγκη), so here the apostle's
desire is held in check by the needs of his converts. +To
depart.+--As a ship weighs anchor and glides out with set sails, or
as a tent is struck by the Arabs as they noiselessly steal away. +To
be with Christ.+--St. Paul regards the soul, whilst in the body, as a
"settler" in a land of which he is not a native, an "emigrant" from
other shores. But he would rather emigrate from the land of his
sojourn and settle with the Lord (2 Cor. v. 6, 8). "We come from God
who is our home." "As soon as I shall have taken the poison I shall
stay no longer with you, but shall part from hence, and go to enjoy
the felicity of the blessed" (_Socrates_ to Crito). +Which is far
better.+--R.V. "very far." How far from uncertainty is the eager
estimate of the life with Christ! It is one thing to extol the
superiority of the life away from the flesh in a Christian hymn,
whilst health is robust; it is quite a different matter to covet it
with the sword of martyrdom hanging over one's head.
Ver. 25. +I know that I shall abide.+--Not a prophetic inspiration,
but a personal conviction (Acts xx. 25).
Ver. 27. +Your conversation.+--R.V. "manner of life." Margin, "behave
as citizens." Perform your duties as citizens. St. Paul in Philippi,
by the assertion of his Roman citizenship, had brought the prætors to
their knees (Acts xvi. 37, 38), and is addressing men who could fully
appreciate the honour of the _jus Italicum_ conferred by Cæsar
Augustus on their city. He would have them be mindful of their place
in the kingdom which "cometh not with observation." +Whether I come
and see you, or else be absent, I may hear.+--The question arises
whether St. Paul meant to say if he visited them, they themselves
would inform him of the condition of the Church; or whether he meant
he would see for himself if he went, and if not at least he would
hear. As he is actually distant, the idea of hearing is uppermost,
and so we have "I may hear" where we might have expected "I shall
learn."
Ver. 28. +In nothing terrified.+--The phrase is a continuation of the
idea of the amphitheatre in ver. 27 ("striving together"). We must,
it seems, recognise a double metaphor--behaving in the arena, before
antagonists and spectators, like a horse that takes fright and bolts.
The warning against such unworthy conduct might be rendered--
"In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb driven cattle,
Be a hero in the strife."
+Which is to them an evident token of perdition.+--When once they
have discovered that all their artifices have not the least power to
alarm you, will not this be a clear indication that they fight on
behalf of a failing cause? +But to you of salvation, and that of
God.+--The Christian gladiator does not anxiously await the signal of
life or death from the fickle crowd. The great President of the
contest Himself has given him a sure token of deliverance
(_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 29. +It is given in the behalf of Christ.+--God has granted you
the high privilege of suffering for Christ; this is the surest sign
that He looks upon you with favour (_Ibid._). The veterans in
Philippi would understand well enough that a position involving
personal danger might be a mark of favour from the prefect to the
private soldier.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1, 2.
_Christian Greeting_--
+I. Addressed to a fully organised Church.+--"To all the saints in
Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons"
(ver. 1). Christianity, which began with the quiet meetings in the
humble Jewish proseucha, or oratory, by the river-side, had so far
spread in Philippi as to settle down into a stable and permanent
Church organisation. This is the first instance in which bishops and
deacons are mentioned, and specially addressed in the apostolic
salutation. The former are sometimes called elders, presbyters,
rulers, or presidents, and were empowered to take the oversight of
the whole Church, to instruct, exhort, and rule the members; the
latter were chosen to take care of the poor, and to manage the
finances of the Church. The bishops attended to the internal, the
deacons to the external affairs of the Christian community. The title
presbyter implied the rank, the bishop the duties of the office. As
the apostles by their frequent absence were unable to take the
personal oversight of the Churches they founded, they appointed
officers in each Church. As the Churches multiplied, and the
Church-life developed, the organisation became more compact and
complete. It is noticeable in this instance that the apostle
addresses the whole Church more than its presiding ministers. It
should be ever remembered that the minister exists for the Church,
not the Church for the minister. The clergy are not the Church, but,
under God, the servants and religious guides of the people. The
Christian Church is the glory and stability of a nation. When at
Brussels Lord Chesterfield was invited by Voltaire to sup with him
and Madame C----. The conversation happening to turn upon the affairs
of England, "I think, my lord," said Madame C----, "that the
Parliament of England consists of five or six hundred of the
best-informed men of the kingdom." "True, madame, they are generally
supposed to be so." "What, then, can be the reason they tolerate so
great an absurdity as the Christian religion?" "I suppose, madame,"
replied his lordship, "it is because they have not been able to
substitute anything better in its stead; when they can, I do not
doubt but in their wisdom they will readily adopt it."
+II. Valued as emanating from distinguished Christian
pioneers.+--"Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ" (ver.
1). The significance and worth of a salutation depend upon the
character and reputation of those from whom it comes. Paul was
honoured by the Philippians as their father in the Gospel, and as one
who had won a high distinction by his conspicuous abilities and
labours in other spheres; and Timothy was well known to them as a
devoted minister and fellow-helper of the apostle. Words coming from
such a source would be gratefully welcomed and fondly cherished. Paul
does not give prominence to his apostleship, as in the inscriptions
to other epistles. The Philippians had already sufficient proof of
his apostolic authority and power. Paul and his colleagues were
reverenced as "the servants of Jesus Christ." They acknowledged
subjection, not to the man, but to Christ; they lived to advance His
interests and honour, and found their highest joy in His service,
though attended with hard toil, unreasoning persecution, and
unparalleled suffering. The Baptist Missionary Society adopted for
its motto a device found upon an ancient medal representing a bullock
standing between a plough and an altar, with the inscription "Ready
for either, for toil or for sacrifice." The service of Christ is a
life of self-sacrifice; but that is the pathway of duty, of blessing,
of reward, of glory.
+III. Invokes the bestowment of great blessings.+--"Grace be unto
you, and peace" (ver. 2). Grace and peace are Divine gifts,
proceeding from "God the Father," as the original and active Source
of all blessings, and from "the Lord Jesus Christ" who is now exalted
to the right hand of the Divine majesty to bestow those blessings
upon His people. Grace, the unmerited favour of God, is the
exhaustless fountain of all other blessings, and includes the
ever-flowing stream of the Holy Spirit's influences; peace, the
result of grace, is the tranquillity and joy of heart realised on
reconciliation with God. The very form of this salutation implies the
union of Jew, Greek, and Gentile. The Greek salutation was "joy,"
akin to the word for grace. The Roman was "health," the intermediate
term between grace and peace. The Hebrew was "peace," including both
temporal and spiritual prosperity. The great mission of the Gospel is
to spread peace on earth, peace with men, following on peace with
God. The believer enjoys peace even in the midst of trial and
suffering. One of the martyrs, exposed to public derision in an iron
cage, is reported to have said to a bystander, who expressed surprise
at the cheerfulness he manifested, "You can see these bars, but you
cannot hear the music in my conscience."
+Lessons.+--1. _Religion teaches the truest courtesy._ 2. _The
unselfish heart wishes well to all._ 3. _That greeting is the most
genuine that recognises the claims of God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1, 2. _The Apostolic Greeting._--1. Unity and concord amongst
ministers in giving joint testimony to the same truths and weight to
what they preach. Preachers are in a special manner the servants of
Christ as being wholly and perpetually dedicated to His service.
2. As to make a man internally and spiritually holy it is necessary
he be in Christ by faith, so to make him externally holy requires a
visible and external union with Christ in professing truths relating
to Him. 3. The dignity of a minister or of any Church officer does
not exempt him from the necessity of being taught, exhorted,
reproved, and comforted. 4. God's grace is the fountain from which
peace with God, with our own conscience, and all sanctified
prosperity and peace among ourselves do flow. In seeking things from
God we look to Him, not as standing disaffected to us and at a
distance, but as our Father.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 1. _The Commencement of the Gospel at Philippi._
+I. To secure the widest diffusion of the Gospel great centres should
be the first places chosen for the concentration of its forces.+
+II. The Gospel of universal adaptation has a world-wide
mission.+--The first three converts embraced different nationalities,
employments, social grades,--Lydia, the oriental trader, the Grecian
female slave and soothsayer, the Roman keeper of the prison. Christ
has demolished all barriers to the exercise of Divine mercy.
+III. The duty and privilege of Christian parents to consecrate their
children and home to Christ+ (Acts xvi. 15, 33, 34, 40).
+IV. Civic distinctions subordinated to Christ will further the
Gospel and adorn the Christian name.+--Paul's Roman citizenship
gained his freedom and silenced his enemies. His chain connects the
history of Rome and Philippi. The Christian's spirit can defy the
inner prison to suppress its praise or prayer (Acts xvi. 25).
Ver. 2. _God our Father._--Christ aimed at raising men from the
bondage of mere servants into the freedom of sons. He taught that God
our Father was henceforth to be--
+I. The sole Model of perfection.+ (Matt. vi. 48).
+II. The sole Rewarder of almsgiving.+ (Matt. vi. 4).
+III The sole Hearer of prayer+ (Matt. vi. 6).
+IV. The sole Observer of fastings+ (Matt. vi. 18).
+V. The sole Provider of daily wants+ (Matt. vi. 26-33).--_Lay
Preacher._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-8.
_Eulogy of Christian Excellence_--
+I. Prompted by pleasant memories of faithful co-operation in
Christian work.+--"I thank my God upon every remembrance of
you, . . . for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until
now, . . . inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and
confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace" (vers.
3, 5, 7). The apostle remembers with joy the way in which the
Philippians first received the Gospel, the effect it produced upon
their lives, the eagerness with which they entered into his plans for
its wider propagation, the liberality, though not themselves a rich
people, they showed to their needy brethren in other Churches, the
affectionate attachment they displayed towards himself, the help they
afforded him when in imprisonment, and the many ways in which they
cheerfully co-operated with him in the defence and establishment of
the truth. They had laboured, suffered, triumphed, and rejoiced
together. The apostle's eulogy of their character was not flattery,
but sober and just commendation of tried and sterling excellencies.
Our happiest memories--memories that become more vivid as life
advances--are of those days in which we laboured most earnestly in
the service of God.
+II. Springs from a loving appreciation and tender Christian
solicitude.+--"Even as it is meet for me to think thus of you all,
because I have you in my heart. . . . For God is my record, how
greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ" (vers. 7,
8). There was something about the Philippians that captivated the
heart of the apostle. He loved them because they loved his Master,
and because they sought to spread the Gospel he preached. Love begets
love, and there is no power in uniting hearts like the love of
Christ. The love of the apostle was manifested in a yearning desire
for their advancement in personal godliness. "All real spiritual
love," says Alford, "is but a portion of Christ's love which yearns
in all who are united to Him." Christian love is not mere
self-indulgence of a personal feeling; its unselfishness is evident
in seeking to advance the highest spiritual interests of the person
loved. It is something more than a refined and noble sentiment. The
finest feeling may be very superficial. Some friends were drinking
tea one evening at the home of Mr. Mackenzie, the author of _The Man
of Feeling,_ and waited for some time for his arrival. At length he
came in heated and excited, and exclaimed: "What a glorious evening I
have had!" They thought he spoke of the weather, which was singularly
beautiful; but he went on to detail the intense enjoyment he had had
in witnessing a cock-fight. Mrs. Mackenzie listened some time in
silence; then, looking up in his face, she remarked in her gentle
voice, "Oh, Harry, Harry, your feeling is all on paper!"
+III. Strengthened by the assurance of increasing Christian
devotion.+--"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ" (ver. 6). Even man, fickle as he is, does not begin work at
random and without purpose; some time or other he hopes to finish it.
But God, who begins the work of the new spiritual creation in the
soul, is constantly striving to finish it, until it shall be
presented perfect at the day of Christ. The apostle had no doubt
about the Divine working, and he rejoiced in the evidence he had that
his converts were increasing in spiritual fervour and devotion.
Faithfulness to God strengthens fidelity in every duty of life. On
board the flag-ship of a celebrated commander a complaint was made by
the captain against a number of the crew for disturbing the ship's
company by frequent noises. The admiral ordered an inquiry to be
made. The accusation was that these men were Methodists, and that
when their watch was below they were in the constant habit of reading
the Bible to each other aloud, of frequently joining in social prayer
and singing of psalms and hymns. After the statement had been proved,
the admiral asked, "What is the general conduct of these men on
deck--orderly or disobedient, cleanly or the contrary?" "Always
orderly, obedient, and cleanly," was the reply. "When the watch is
called, do they linger, or are they ready?" "Always ready at the
first call." "You have seen these men in battle, sir; do they stand
to their guns or shrink?" "They are the most intrepid men in the
ship, my lord, and will die at their post." "Let them alone, then,"
was the decisive answer of this magnanimous commander; "if Methodists
are such men, I wish that all my crew were Methodists."
+IV. Expressed in thanksgiving and joyous prayer.+--"I thank my
God . . . always in every prayer of mine for you all, making request
with joy" (vers. 3, 4). Joy is the characteristic feature in this
epistle, as love is in that to the Ephesians. Love and joy are the
two firstfruits of the Spirit. Joy gives especial animation to
prayers. It marked the apostle's high opinion of them, that there was
almost everything in them to give him joy, and almost nothing to give
him pain (_Fausset_). The labour of prayer is sure, if persisted in,
to merge into the joy of prayer. Prayer is a blessing to others as
well as to ourselves. The father of Sir Philip Sydney enjoined upon
his son, when he went to school, never to neglect thoughtful prayer.
It was golden advice, and doubtless his faithful obedience to the
precept helped to make Philip Sydney the peerless flower of
knighthood, and the stainless man that he was--a man for whom, months
after his death, every gentleman in England wore mourning.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christian excellence is a reflection of the character
of Christ._ 2. _Christian excellence is acquired by praying and
working._ 3. _Genuine Christianity is its own best eulogy._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 3. _Happy Memories._
+I. Those that are prompted by the Spirit of God.+
+II. Those that recall the past joy of harvest.+
+III. Those that still link us in association with distant but
kindred spirits.+
+IV. Those that evoke perennial gratitude to God.+
+V. Those that enrich our own moral worth.+--_Lay Preacher._
Vers. 4, 5. _Fellowship in the Gospel._
+I. Christian ministers have a claim to maintenance from the
people.+
+II. Fellowship is making another a fellow-partaker of what
belongs to us.+
+III. The apostle Paul while claiming his privilege was cautious in
using it.+
+IV. The voluntary system has advantages, but greater
disadvantages.+--_Archbishop Whately._
Ver. 4. "Making request with joy." _Pure Joy_--
+I. Springs from Divine communications.+
+II. Succeeds a previous sorrow.+
+III. Is superior to human surroundings.+
+IV. Is sustained by answered prayer.+--_Lay Preacher._
Ver. 5. _True Gospel Fellowship._
+I. Lives which adorn it.+
+II. Hearts which beat for it.+
+III. Lips which testify for it.+
+IV. Hands which work for it.+
+V. Gifts which extend it.+--_Ibid._
Ver. 6. _Grounds of Confidence in the Believer's Salvation._
+I. That the Philippians persevered in the midst of great
difficulties, opposition, and persecution.+
+II. That their persevering fellowship in the Gospel had been
characterised by great purity and consistency of Christian life.+
+III. That they gave evidences of zeal for the propagation of
religion and of liberality in contributing of their worldly substance
to this end.+
+Lessons.+--1. _This doctrine affords comfort and hope to struggling
Christians._ 2. _The grounds of assurance forbid presumptuous
confidence and stimulate to watchfulness and effort.--Homiletic
Monthly._
_The Perseverance of the Saints._
+I. I shall adduce some of the principal arguments in support of the
doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.+--1. The decree of
election. 2. The merit of Christ's sufferings and death. 3. The
intercession of Christ. 4. The promises of God. 5. The constitution
of the covenant of grace. 6. The statements of Scripture in regard to
the constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all believers.
+II. I shall consider some of the most plausible objections which
have been urged against this doctrine.+--1. That some of the most
eminent saints have fallen into very grievous sins. They did not fall
totally and finally. 2. That many who were long regarded as true
Christians do in point of fact finally apostatise. They never were
true Christians. 3. That there are in Scripture many earnest
exhortations to watchfulness, and many awful warnings against
apostasy. God works by means and motives. 4. That believers being
assured of their ultimate recovery will be encouraged to sin. The
perseverance of the saints is perseverance in holiness. (1) Has a
good work begun in you? (2) If so, remember that while the
perseverance of the saints is promised as a privilege, it is also
enjoined as a duty.--_G. Brooks._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9-11.
_A Prayer for Christian Love_--
+I. That it may be regulated by knowledge and discretion.+--"And this
I pray, that your love may abound . . . in knowledge and in all
judgment" (ver. 9).
1. _So as to test what is best._--"That ye may approve things that
are excellent" (ver. 10)--test things that differ. Two faculties of
the mind are to be brought into exercise--knowledge, the acquisitive
faculty; and judgment, the perceptive faculty. Love is not a wild,
ignorant enthusiasm, but the warm affection of a heart, guided by
extensive and accurate knowledge, and by a clear, spiritual
perception. From a number of good things we select and utilise the
best.
2. _So as to maintain a blameless life._--"That ye may be sincere and
without offence till the day of Christ" (ver. 10). Be so transparent
in heart and life as neither to give or take offence, and when
examined in the light of the day of Christ to be adjudged blameless.
To live a useful and holy life we must both think and feel aright.
Love will ever prompt us to the holiest conduct and to the best work.
"I once asked a distinguished artist," said Boree, "what place he
gave to labour in art. 'Labour is the beginning, the middle, and the
end of art,' was the answer. I turned to another and inquired, 'What
do you consider as the great force in art?' 'Love,' was the reply. In
these two answers I found but one truth."
+II. That it may stimulate the growth of a high Christian
character.+--1. _A high Christian character is the outcome of
righteous principles._ "Being filled with the fruits--the fruit--of
righteousness." All Christian virtues are from the one common root of
the Spirit. It is He who plants them in the heart, fosters their
growth, brings them to perfection, and fills the soul with them as
the trees are laden with ripened fruit. The apostle prays for more
love, because love impels us to act righteously in all things, even
in the minor affairs of life. "Just as the quality of life," says
Maclaren, "may be as perfect in the minutest animalculæ, of which
there may be millions in a cubic inch and generations may die in an
hour--just as perfect in the smallest insect as in behemoth, biggest
born of earth, so righteousness may be as completely embodied, as
perfectly set forth, as fully operative in the tiniest action that I
can do, as in the largest that an immortal spirit can be set to
perform. The circle that is in a gnat's eye is as true as circle as
the one that holds within its sweep all the stars, and the sphere
that a dewdrop makes is as perfect a sphere as that of the world. All
duties are the same which are done from the same motives; all actions
which are not so done are all alike sins."
2. _A High Christian character honours God._--"Which are by Jesus
Christ, unto the glory and praise of God" (ver. 11). The
righteousness which exalts man honours God. It is a practical
manifestation of the grace communicated through Jesus Christ, and
adorns the doctrine which is according to godliness. There are those
who live soberly and righteously in this present world; but what
about their duty to God? God is not in all their thoughts. That there
has been no acceptance into their lives of Christ--without which
acceptance God is a stranger to us and we strangers to God, no
consecration to Christ, no referring to His will, no love to His
person, and no zeal for His glory--of all this they are perfectly
aware. And the thought of their heart is, that the omission is of no
great consequence, and so long as they live soberly and righteously,
it matters little or nothing whether they do or do not live godly.
The power lacking is that for which the apostle prays--the power of
love, whole-hearted love to Christ.
+III. That it may be enjoyed in ever-increasing measure.+--"And this
I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more" (ver. 9). Some
time ago the public mind was filled with uneasiness in expectation of
a high tide which was to visit our shores, and which it was feared
would work great mischief. As the time drew near, the anxiety
increased. At length the tide flowed in, rose to its highest point,
and then retired, bearing with it the fears that had agitated the
public mind. Why this alarm? Because all know the unmanageable,
destructive power of water, when it once bursts its bounds. Love,
unlike water, the more it abounds and overflows the greater the
benefits it bestows. There is no fear that we shall love God too
much; it is our shame and loss that we love Him so little. Love
chafes against all limitations.
+Lessons.+--1. _Love is the essence of Christianity._ 2. _Love should
govern every part of the Christian life._ 3. _Love may be augmented
by earnest prayer._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 9, 10. _The Apostle's Prayer for Abounding Love_--
+I. In its application to the affections.+--"That your love may
abound yet more and more" (ver. 9).
1. _Love to God._--(1) Because of the supreme excellence of His
character. (2) Because of His generous interposition in the work of
human redemption. (3) Because of the benefits He is constantly
bestowing.
2. _Love to one another._--Love promotes brotherly unity--oneness of
feeling, of aim, of effort. Unity promotes strength. To strength in
its combined action victory is given.
3. _Love to the unsaved._--The law of Moses insisted, "Thou shalt
love thy neighbour"; to which the Pharisees made this addition, "Thou
shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy." Christ interprets
the law of love in the command, "I say unto you, Love your enemies."
+II. In its application to the intellect.+--"In knowledge and in all
judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent" (vers. 9,
10). Knowledge, the faculty to acquire information; judgment, the
faculty to discern its value and use; the one leads to the sources of
truth and appropriates its stores, the other selects and uses what is
acquired. These two faculties necessary--1. _In judging revealed
truth._ 2. _In judging Christian experience._ 3. _In selecting what
is best in all truths._
+III. In its application to the conduct.+--"That ye may be sincere
and without offence till the day of Christ" (ver. 10).
1. _An inward state._--Sincerity, transparency of character.
2. _An outward walk._--Inoffensiveness of conduct. Not designedly
giving offence; sacrificing everything but principle rather than
grieve or mislead a weak brother.
3. _Perseverance in an upright life._--"Till the day of Christ." This
is the scorner's day; the good are hated and despised; but the day of
Christ is coming, and will rectify all wrongs. A day of blessing and
honour to the good, of confusion and punishment to the wicked; of
approval to the one, of condemnation to the other.
Ver. 9. "And this I pray." _Definiteness in Prayer_--
+I. Implies a deep consciousness of an intelligently apprehended
need.+
+II. Becoming, when an intelligent being addresses the Divine
Intelligence.+
+III. Essential from the very nature of prayer.+
+IV. Affords a fixed ground from the exercise of faith.+
+V. Emboldens supplication.+
+VI. Inspires hope of a definite response.+--_Lay Preacher._
Ver. 10. "That ye may approve things that are excellent." _Spiritual
Discrimination_--
+I. Demands the exercise of the most intelligent and sensitive
charity.+
+II. Commands a wide field of effort--the bad, the good, the better,
the best--in character, life, doctrine, practice, enjoyment,
attainment.+
+III. Implies the admission and use of a noble liberty of thought,
judgment, and action.+
+IV. Involves a weighty and far-reaching responsibility.+
+V. Is essential to a pure and blameless life.+--_Ibid._
"That ye may be sincere." _The Value of Sincerity in Youth._
There is a false sincerity which is a compound of ignorance and
obstinacy. The heathen may be devout and sincere in his idolatry, but
he is a heathen still. The Mahometan may be devout and sincere in his
worship of the one God, but he rejects the Christ who is the source
and substance of all true religion. The sceptic may be devout and
earnest in his investigation of the facts of the universe; but he
ignores the great moral truths on which he stumbles in the course of
his inquiries, and refuses to accept and be influenced by them. There
is no craze of the wildest fanatic that may not be adopted as an
article of faith, if apparent sincerity is to be the test of its
genuineness. The fact is, a man may be sincere, but grossly mistaken.
A sincere heart is that through which the light of God shines,
unimpeded by duplicity and sin, and is a condition of heart obtained
only by living much in the presence and light of God.
+I. Be sincere in the search after truth.+--Truth must be sought for
its own sake, and is revealed only to the humble and sincere seeker.
It is of supreme importance to you to find the truth. Truth has but
one direction and one goal--it terminates in the radiant presence of
a living personality. When you come into the presence of truth, you
come into the presence of God. Truth has a living embodiment in
Christ Jesus. If you desire a solution of the perplexing riddles of
life, if you would understand the principles on which God governs the
universe, if you wish to dissipate the doubts that becloud and harass
the mind, if you desire rest and peace of conscience, and to obtain
strength and inspiration to live a happy, useful, and noble
life--then seek the truth as it is in Jesus; and if you are really
sincere, you shall not seek in vain.
+II. Be sincere in your social intercourse with one another.+--1. _In
your friendships._ 2. _In your promises._
+III. Be sincere in the service of God.+
+IV. Be sincere in the cultivation of your own personal piety.+
_Christian Rectitude_--
+I. Consists in internal sincerity.+--1. _This involves a
concentratedness of heart upon one object._ 2. _A thoroughness of
life's uniformity to that one object._ 3. _An unostentatious but
manifest integrity._ 4. _The completeness of that manifestation
should be proportionate to the brightness of the testing light._
+II. Consists in external blamelessness.+--1. _Without being found
guilty of offence._ 2. _Without giving offence._ 3. _Without taking
offence._
+III. Consists in a present state of life, with a glorious future
destination.+--"That ye may be without offence till the day of
Christ." 1. _Then life shall be judged._ 2. _Life shall be made
manifest._ 3. _Rectitude of life shall be approved._ 4. _Rectitude of
life shall be rewarded.--Lay Preacher._
Ver. 11. _Fruits of Righteousness._
+I. The nature of righteousness.+--1. _Sometimes the term refers to
the Divine Being, and signifies the purity of His nature and the
perfection of His works._ 2. _Here it signifies personal holiness._
+II. The fruits of righteousness.+--1. _Christian righteousness is
productive of gracious fruits._ These fruits are internal in the
heart, and external in the life.
2. _The fruits of righteousness are abundant and
progressive._--"Being filled with the fruits."
+III. The Author of righteousness.+--"Which are by Jesus Christ."
1. _Righteousness is purchased by Christ as our Redeemer._ 2. _Is
derived from Him as our Saviour._
+IV. The results of righteousness.+--"Unto the glory and praise of
God." 1. _Righteousness is to the glory and praise of God in the
scheme of redemption._ 2. _In the subjects of redemption._
+Lessons.+--1. _This subject should stimulate our desires._
2. _Promote our devotion._ 3. _Inspire us with praise.--Theological
Sketch Book._
_Spiritual Attainment._
+I. Righteousness of heart precedes righteousness of life.+
+II. Righteousness of heart is self-disseminating.+--1. _Its fruit is
living._ 2. _Of harmonious unity._ 3. _Luxuriant._
+III. Righteousness of heart is the only thing that can fill the
capacities of man.+
+IV. Fulness of righteousness is all Divine.+--1. _In its source._
2. _In its medium of communication._ "By Jesus Christ." 3. _In its
end._ "Unto the glory and praise of God." Glory before men: praise
among men.--_Lay Preacher._
_Divine Culture._
+I. The field.+--The loving heart.
+II. The seed.+--Righteousness.
+III. The fruit.+--Abundant.
+IV. The Husbandman.+--Jesus Christ.
+V. The end.+--The glory and praise of God.--_Ibid._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-18.
_The Gospel Irrepressible_--
+I. Notwithstanding the circumscribed opportunities of its
agents.+--1. _Their sufferings for the Gospel call attention to its
claims._ "The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather
into the furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are
manifest in all the palace, and in all other places" (vers. 12, 13).
It might seem to the Philippians that the imprisonment of Paul would
be unfavourable to the Gospel and prevent its spread. He shows there
was no ground for that fear; but that the Gospel was becoming known
in quarters which, but for his imprisonment, it was not likely to
gain access. The palace referred to was the prætorium, or barrack of
the prætorian guards attached to the palace of Nero on the Palatine
Hill in Rome. The regular changes of guards was constantly furnishing
new auditors for the irrepressible preacher, and he did not fail to
zealously improve his opportunities. Thus the Gospel, which the
malice and bigotry of the Jews sought to suppress, found its way into
Cæsar's household, and ultimately captured the Roman empire for
Christ. The persecutions of the Gospel have been the best helpers of
its success.
2. _Their sufferings for the Gospel stimulate the zeal of its
propagators._--"Many of the brethren, . . . waxing confident by my
bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear" (ver. 14).
The fortitude of the apostle in suffering, and his unwearied efforts
to preach the Gospel, increased the courage of his fellow-helpers in
the same good work. The sufferings of the Gospel pioneers contributed
to the spread and triumph of the truth. The blood of Scotland's
proto-martyr, the noble Patrick Hamilton, and the memory of his dying
prayer, "How long, O Lord, shall darkness cover this realm?" fomented
the young Reformation life over a comparatively silent germinating
period of more than twenty years. Knox, and with him Scotland,
kindled at the pile of George Wishart. Andrew Melville caught the
falling mantle of Knox. When Richard Cameron fell at Aird's Moss--as
if in answer to his own prayers as the action began, "Lord, spare the
green and take the ripe!"--all the more strenuously strove Cargill,
till he too, in the following year, sealed the truth with his blood.
And more followed, and yet more, through that last and worst decade
of the pitiless storm known as, by emphasis, the _killing time._
Through those terrible years Peden dragged out a living death, and as
he thought of Cameron, now at rest, often exclaimed, "Oh to be with
Ritchie!" Young Renwick too caught up the torn flag, nobly saying,
"They are but standard-bearers who have fallen; the Master lives."
Thus one after another on blood-stained scaffold, or on blood-soaked
field, fell the precious seed-grain, to rise in harvests manifold,
till just at the darkest hour before the dawn of Renwick's martyrdom
closed the red roll in 1688--the year of the revolution--and the seed
so long sown in tears was reaped in joy.
+II. It is preached from a variety of motives.+--1. _Some preach the
Gospel from the love of controversy._ "Some indeed preach Christ of
envy and strife . . . of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add
affliction to my bonds" (vers. 15, 16). The Judaising teachers,
taking advantage of the absence of the apostle, sought to propagate
their erroneous theories of the Gospel, and to annoy the apostle by
depreciating his authority and his preaching. They aimed not so much
at winning souls for Christ, as at exalting themselves, and gaining
credence to their corrupt opinions. They argued that Jesus of
Nazareth was the King of Israel, hoping thereby to exasperate the
Roman government against Paul, who preached the same truth, though in
a different sense, and to cause increased pain to the apostle by
insisting upon the obligation of obedience to the law in order to
salvation. Yet in opposing the Gospel they stated some of its leading
truths, if only to refute them. Controversy is often a waste of
strength. They are small, insignificant beings who quarrel oftenest.
There's a magnificent breed of cattle in the Vale of Clwyd, the most
beautiful vale in Wales. They have scarcely any horns but abundance
of meat; yet if you ascend the hills on every side, there on the
heights you find a breed which grows scarcely anything but horns, and
from morning to night all you hear is the constant din of clashing
weapons. So there are many Christians who live on the heights, the
cold and barren heights of controversy. Everything they eat grows
into horns, the strength of which they are constantly testing.
2. _Some preach the Gospel from the highest regard for its lofty
message._--"Some also of goodwill . . . of love, knowing that I am
set [appointed of God] for the defence of the gospel" (vers. 15, 17).
An intense love of the Gospel and of the Christ of the Gospel is the
best preparation for preaching it. Preaching to be effectual must be
various as nature. The sun warms at the same moment that it
enlightens; and unless religious truth be addressed at once to the
reason and to the affections, unless it kindles while it guides, it
is a useless splendour, it leaves the heart barren, it produces no
fruits of godliness. Preaching should help us to a higher life. A man
once heard an affecting sermon, and while highly commending it was
asked what he remembered of it. "Truly," he replied, "I remember
nothing at all; but it made me resolve to live better, and by God's
grace I will."
+III. The propagation of the Gospel by any means is matter of fervent
joy.+--"What then? notwithstanding, . . . Christ is preached; and I
therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice" (ver. 18). The false
teachers gloated over Paul's misfortune, and thought to trouble him
by their way of presenting the Gospel. But the proclamation of
Christ, however done, roused attention, and could not but be of
service. The apostle rejoiced in the good result of their bad
intentions. The success of the Gospel in any place and by any means,
when that success is real, is always a cause of rejoicing to the good.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel has a message for all classes._ 2. _Its
faithful proclamation involves difficulty and suffering._ 3. _Its
interests are often promoted from mixed motives._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 12-14. _Christian Boldness._
+I. Distinguish Christian boldness from its counterfeits, and set
forth some of its leading attributes.+--There is a false and hurtful
boldness arising from--1. _Ignorance._ 2. _A bad judgment._
3. _Native rashness._ 4. _The pride of courage which scorns to fear
the face of man._ 5. _Mere natural resolution._ 6. _A wilful
obstinacy._ 7. _A domineering spirit._ The boldness which God
approves must be chiefly drawn from other sources and possess higher
and more ethereal attributes. 1. _It must be bottomed on holy
love_--love to God and love to man. 2. _It must be humble._ 3. _Must
be delicate and regardful of all the rules of decorum._ 4. _Must be
wise, discreet, and prudent._ 5. _Must be faithful._ 6. _Must be
grounded not merely on self-denial and submission to the will of God,
but on humble confidence in Him._
+II. Some motives to rouse us to this holy and elevated frame and to
a corresponding course of conduct.+--1. _This Christian heroism is
absolutely necessary to clear up the evidences of our own piety._
2. _Without rising up to this heroic and active zeal we cannot be
faithful to God and our generation._ 3. _Estimate the importance of
this duty by considering what would be the effect if all professing
Christians were thus intrepid and faithful._ 4. _In many instances
fear is altogether groundless, and is the mere suggestion of
indolence._ 5. _For want of faithful admonition and entreaty many may
have perished.--E. D. Griffin._
Ver. 12. _The Development of Events in a Consecrated Life_--
+I. Is the work of an over-ruling Providence.+
+II. Produces startling results, disappointing alike to the hopes of
the enemy and the fears of friends.+
+III. Whatever may be its starting-point attains its end in the
furtherance of the Gospel.+
+IV. Illustrates how moral principles when tried in suffering become
mightier forces in the world's evangelisation.+
+V. A pledge that fellowship of suffering with Christ shall be
followed by a fellowship of glory.+--_Lay Preacher._
Ver. 13. _Moral Influence._
+I. Paul's moral influence exerted a mighty power under the most
disadvantageous circumstances+--in bonds.
+II. With a very limited opportunity+--one soldier daily.
+III. Upon a class of mind and heart not easily impressed+--the guard
which had charge of him.
+IV. Throughout the city+--notwithstanding the restraints of his own
hired house.
+V. Reaching the further field by first fully cultivating the one
at hand.+--_Ibid._
Ver. 14. _The Ministry of Paul's Bonds._
+I. It was loyal to his Roman citizenship+ (Acts xxvi. 31, 32).
+II. Christ-like, it was silent amid provocation, self-sacrificing,
persuasive.+
+III. It was fruitful in the furtherance of the Gospel.+--1. _By
preaching it under the shadow of Nero's palace._ 2. _By
intensifying the love of it and zeal for it in the hearts of
the brethren._
+IV. It illustrates+ _how Christ can erect a pulpit for Himself in
the very camp of the enemy, and put a voice for His glory even
into chains.--Lay Preacher._
Ver. 15. _A Spurious Ministry._
+I. The elements formative of it.+--1. _An imperfect apprehension of
Christ's mission._ 2. _A total absence of Christ's spirit._
3. _Thought and sympathy narrowed by early prejudice and preconceived
ideas._ 4. _Christ made subservient to the doctrines, ritual, and
history of a system._
+II. The results inseparable from it.+--1. _The cross degraded into a
rallying point for party strife._ 2. _The basest spirit indulged
under the pretence of fulfilling a sacred office._
(1) Envy--displeasure at another's good. (2) Strife--selfish rivalry
which seeks to gain the good belonging to another. 3. _Christ
preached merely to advance a party._ 4. _Zeal for propagating a creed
greater than to save a lost world.--Ibid._
Ver. 16. _The Germ of a Spurious Ministry_--
+I. May exist in those who zealously preach Christ.+
+II. Consists in a moral contradiction between the heart of the
preacher and the theme of his discourse--contentiousness
and Christ.+
+III. Produces impurity of motive in Christian work+--"not sincerely."
+IV. Biases the judgment to expect results which are never
realised+--"supposing."
+V. Inspires aims which are un-Christian+--"to add affliction to my
bonds."
Ver. 17. _The Real and the Counterfeit in the Christian Ministry._
+I. They correspond.+--1. _Both adopt the Christian name._ 2. _Both
utter the same shibboleth._ 3. _Both active in preaching Christ._
+II. They differ.+--1. _In heart._ Contention rules the one; love
reigns in the other.
2. _In spirit._--Envy and strife moves the one; goodwill actuates the
other.
3. _In source of strength._--Love of party animates the one; waxing
confident in the Lord emboldens the other.
4. _In aim._--That of the one is to advance, it may be, a lifeless
Church; that of the other to propel the Gospel of Christ.
5. _In the depth and accuracy of conviction._--The one "supposing to
add affliction to my bonds"; the other "knowing that I am set for the
defence of the gospel."--_Lay Preacher._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-26.
_The Noble Attitude of a Sufferer for the Truth._
+I. The hostility of false brethren tends to the enlargement of the
truth, whatever may be the fate of the sufferer.+--1. _He is assured
of personal blessing from the Spirit through prayer._ "For I know
that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (ver. 19). The apostle already
sees how his troubles and suffering may develop his own spiritual
life and be a pathway to the glories of heaven. By the prayers of
God's people he looks for an abundant supply of the Spirit, by whose
agency his salvation will be perfected. The enemies of the good man
cannot rob him of his interest in Christ, and suffering only adds new
lustre to every Christian grace. The Port Royalist exclaimed, "Let us
labour and suffer; we have all eternity to rest in." Paul, who,
fighting with wild beasts, was a spectacle to angels and men, could
reckon that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."
2. _The greatness of Christ is set forth by the courage given to the
sufferer, though uncertain of what awaits him._--"According to my
earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but . . . Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by
life, or by death" (ver. 20). With the earnest expectation and hope
of future glory, the apostle had no need to be ashamed of his work
for God or of God's work in him; but he regarded his sufferings, not
as a setting forth of his own goodness, but of the glory of Jesus,
who gave him strength and fortitude to endure. It is in tribulation
that the grace of Christ is most conspicuous. The Redeemer was
perfected through suffering; so are His followers.
+II. The alternative of life or death presents a problem the sufferer
is unable to solve.+--"What I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a
strait betwixt two" (vers. 22, 23).
1. _Life has great attractions._--(1) Christ may be further exalted.
"For to me to live is Christ" (ver. 21). Life is an opportunity for
setting forth Christ, and this is done by carefully copying His
example. "As I stood beside one of the wonderful Aubusson
tapestries," says Eugene Stock, "I said to the gentleman in charge,
'How is this done?' He showed me a small loom with a partly finished
web upon it, and said that the weaver stands behind his work, with
his materials by his side, and above him the picture he is to copy,
exactly thread for thread and colour for colour. He cannot vary a
thread or a shade without marring his picture." It is a glorious
thing for us to have a perfect life for example by which to form our
lives. And we cannot vary a hair-breadth from that example without
injuring our lives. (2) More results of Christian work may be
gathered. "But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my
labour" (ver. 22). The best use of life is to employ it in working
for God. Work done for Him will remain when the worker is forgotten.
In ministerial work we may garner the most precious fruits. (3) Help
may be afforded to others. "Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is
more needful for you" (ver. 24). Paul was the pioneer and founder of
Christianity among the Gentiles, and the young Churches looked to him
for leadership and counsel. It seemed every way desirable that for
their sakes his life should be continued. No one felt this more
keenly than himself, though he was assured that if that life was
prematurely terminated the cause of the Gospel was safe in the hands
of God.
2. _Death admits to superior advantages._--"To die is gain" (ver.
21). Even by his death Christ would be glorified, and the apostle
admitted not to shame or loss, as his enemies supposed, but to a
state of blessed reward.
"Sorrow vanquished, labour ended,
Jordan past."
"Why should I fear death?" said Sir Henry Vane, as he awaited his
"execution; I find it rather shrinks from me than I from it."
"Death wounds to heal; I sink, I rise, I reign;
Spring from my fetters, fasten in the skies,
Where blooming Eden withers in my sight,
Death gives us more than we in Eden lost."--_Young._
+III. The undaunted sufferer is confident of continued opportunities
of advancing the joy of believers in the truth.+--"And having this
confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for
your furtherance and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more
abundant" (vers. 25, 26). This assurance was verified by the
apostle's return to Philippi on his release from his first captivity.
"Man is immortal till his work is done." Life is short, and every
moment of its duration should be spent for God and the good of
others. Shall we repine at our trials which are but for a moment? "We
are nearing home day by day," wrote General Gordon. "No dark river,
but divided waters are before us, and then let the world take its
portion. Dust it is, and dust we will leave it. It is a long, weary
journey, but we are well on the way of it. The yearly milestones
quickly slip by, and as our days so will our strength be. The sand is
flowing out of the glass, day and night, night and day; shake it not.
You have a work to do here, to suffer even as Christ suffered."
+Lessons.+--1. _The highest virtues are not gained without
suffering._ 2. _Suffering for the truth strengthens our attachment to
it._ 3. _Suffering for the truth is often a means of spreading it._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 20. _Christ the Christian's Life._
+I. Christ was the recognised Source of the apostle's life.+
+II. Christ was the supreme Object of the apostle's contemplation.+
+III. The glory of Christ was the great end of the apostle's
endeavours.+--_H. Simon._
Ver. 21. _The Christian's Life and Death._
+I. The Christian's life.+--1. _It is a life in Christ._ (1) Begun in
regeneration. (2) Realised by faith. (3) Sustained and increased by
Divine knowledge.
2. _It is a life for Christ._--(1) The example of Christ is its
model. (2) The will of Christ is its laws. (3) The glory of Christ is
its end.
+II. The Christian's death.+--1. _The Christian's death is a gain by
being deprived of something._ (1) Deprived of the sinful body.
(2) Freed from temptation. (3) From his enemies. (4) From suffering.
(5) From death.
2. _The Christian's death is a gain by acquiring
something._--(1) Accelerated liberty to worship God. (2) The ultimate
addition of the glorified body with its exalted form and powers.
(3) The blessed reunion and fellowship with departed friends. (4) The
presence and companionship of Christ for ever.
_Christian Life and Death._
+I. The apostle's language exhibits the proper scope and character of
all truly Christian life.+--The end and substance of the Christian
life is Christ.
+II. What Christian death is and how it ought to be regarded.+--Death
is not simply altered life. It is life elevated and ennobled. It is
gain compared with life in the flesh. Death raises the saint to be
with Christ.
+III. The text puts Christian life and death before us regarded as an
alternative.+--Whether life be more or less desirable, less or more
desired, it should be spent under the strong and penetrating
assurance that to die is gain. Be death ever so desirable, it is our
own fault if the happiness of life does not more than counterbalance
the trial of it.--_J. D. Geden._
"For me to live is Christ." _Enthusiasm for Christ._
+I. Enthusiasm for Christ in the home-life.+
"The highest duties oft are found
Lying upon the lowest ground;
In hidden and unnoticed ways,
In household work on common days,
Whate'er is done for God alone
Thy God acceptable will own."
+II. Enthusiasm for Christ in public life.+
"Trust no future, howe'er pleasant,
Let the dead past bury its dead;
Act, act in the living present,
Heart within and God o'erhead."
+III. Enthusiasm for Christ in Church-life.+
"Come, labour on,
No time for rest till glows the western sky,
While the long shadows o'er our pathway lie,
And a glad sound comes with the setting sun,
Servants, well done!"
--_J. M. Forson._
_The Christian's estimate of living and dying._
+I. The Christian's estimate of living should be a life in
Christ.+--1. _A life of which Christ is the Source._ 2. _A life of
which Christ is the Sustainer._ 3. _A life of which Christ is the
Sphere._
+II. The Christian's estimate of living should be a life for
Christ.+--1. _A life spent in labouring for Him alone._ 2. _A life of
continued suffering for Him._ 3. _A life of daring everything for
Him._
+III. The Christian's estimate of dying should be that it is
gain.+--1. _Because death leads to closer and more uninterrupted
union with Christ._ 2. _Because death lands the true believer in
absolute security._
+Lessons.+--1. _In some sense the utterance of the apostle is true of
every Christian._ 2. _In its full sense it is only true of preeminent
Christians._ 3. _The more it is true of any, the happier and more
useful Christians they are.--Homiletic Quarterly._
_The Believer's Portion in both Worlds._
+I. The believer's life.+--1. _Is originated by Christ._ 2. _Is
sustained by Christ._ 3. _Is spent to the glory of Christ._
+II. The believer's end.+--1. _The gain of sorrows escaped._ 2. _The
gain of joys secured._
+Lessons.+--1. _Improve life._ 2. _Prepare for death.--C. Clayton,
M.A._
Vers. 23, 24. _Willing to wait, but ready to go._
+I. The two desires.+--1. _To depart and be with Christ._ (1) The
exodus from this life by dissolution of the body--"to depart."
(2) Christ's presence the immediate portion of His people, when their
life on earth is done--"to be with Christ."
2. _To abide in the flesh._--It is a natural and lawful desire. The
love of life--it is not necessary, it is not lawful to destroy it.
Let it alone to the last. The way to deal with it is not to tear it
violently out, so as to have, or say that you have, no desire to
remain; but to get, through the grace of the Spirit, such a blessed
hope of Christ's presence as will gradually balance and at last
overbalance the love of life, and make it at the appointed time come
easily and gently away.
+II. A Christian balanced evenly between these two desires.+--"I am
in a strait betwixt two." The desire to be with Christ does not make
life unhappy, because it is balanced by the pleasure of working for
Christ in the world; the desire to work for Christ in the world does
not make the approach of dissolution painful, because it is balanced
by the expectation of being soon, of being ever with the Lord.
+III. Practical Lessons.+--1. _This one text is sufficient to destroy
the whole fabric of Romish prayer to departed saints._ 2. _The chief
use of a Christian in the world is to do good._ 3. _You cannot be
effectively useful to those who are in need on earth unless you hold
by faith and hope to Christ on high._ 4. _Living hope of going to be
with Christ is the only anodyne which has power to neutralise the
pain of parting with those dear to us.--W. Arnot._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 27-30.
_Exhortation to Christian Bravery._
+I. To act as becometh Christian citizens.+--"Only let your
conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ" (ver. 27). Whether
the apostle is able to visit them again or not, he exhorts the
Philippians to attend diligently to present duties, and act in all
things with the dignity and fidelity becoming members of the heavenly
commonwealth. The Christian finding himself living for a time in this
world as in a dark place, where other gods are worshipped, where men
sell themselves for gain, where he is tempted to do as others do, and
is asked to coquette with the world, to mind earthly things, should
at once take his stand and say: "I cannot; I am a citizen of heaven,
my affections are set on things above; I cannot come down to your
level, I have come out from the world and may not touch the unclean
thing; I have formed other tastes, have other pleasures; other rules
regulate my conduct; I cannot live as you live, nor do as you do."
1. _Be united in spiritual steadfastness._--"That ye stand fast in
one spirit" (ver. 27). The Spirit inspires the highest courage, and
helps all who partake of His influence to stand fast in their
integrity. "For God hath given us not the spirit of fear, but of
power and of love and of a sound mind."
2. _Earnestly and unitedly maintain the faith._--"With one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel" (ver. 27). With one
soul, penetrated by the same Spirit, unitedly strive to maintain the
Gospel in its purity, as it was committed unto them. Every true
believer should be a valiant champion for the truth. Men who have no
settled faith are like those birds that frequent the Golden Horn, and
are to be seen from Constantinople, of which it is said they are
always on the wing and never rest. No one ever saw them alight on the
water or on the land; they are for ever poised in mid-air. The
natives call them lost souls, seeking rest and finding none. To lose
our hold of the Gospel is to be doomed to unrest and misery. To
attempt to stand alone is to court defeat. Union is strength.
3. _Remember the interest of your religious teachers in your
endeavours._--"That whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I
may hear of your affairs" (ver. 27). That anxious minister is ever
deeply concerned in the welfare of his people. He rejoices in their
faithfulness and progress; he mourns over their laxity and defeat; he
encourages them in their labours and struggles in the spread of the
truth. Our defection from the Gospel is not only a loss to ourselves,
but a disappointment and sorrow to others.
+II. To act with fearlessness in the midst of oppression.+--"And in
nothing terrified by your adversaries" (ver. 28). Opposition should
nerve to more resolute resistance. The enemies of the good are the
enemies of God, and the good man, with God on his side, need not fear
either their numbers or their ferocity. One of their ancient kings
said, "The Lacedæmonians seldom inquire the number of their enemies,
but the place where they could be found." When a certain captain
rushed in haste to his general and said, "The enemy is coming in such
vast numbers, it will be useless to resist," the general replied,
"Our duty is not to count our enemies, but to conquer them." And
conquer them they did.
1. _This fearlessness a proof of the inevitable punishment of their
opponents._--"Which is to them an evident token of perdition" (ver.
28). In contending hopelessly against you they are only rushing on to
their own destruction. Your bravery in the contest, and their own
consciousness of the weakness of their own cause, will strike terror
into their hearts, so that they will be easily routed.
2. _This fearlessness a proof of the salvation of the
steadfast._--"But to you of salvation, and that of God" (ver. 28).
God who gives courage to the steadfast and helps them in the
conflict, ensures to them the victory. We are not saved because we
are brave for God and truth, but the courageous soul will not fail of
salvation.
+III. To accept suffering for the truth as a privilege and a
discipline.+--1. _It is suffering for Christ._ "For unto you it is
given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also
to suffer for His sake" (ver. 29). Suffering is no evidence of the
Divine displeasure, but is often a signal proof of the Divine regard.
There is no virtue in the mere endurance of suffering, but in the
Christ-like spirit with which it is borne. There lived in a village
near Burnley a girl who was persecuted in her own home because she
was a Christian. She struggled on bravely, seeking strength from God,
and rejoicing that she was a partaker of Christ's sufferings. The
struggle was too much for her; but He willed it so, and at length her
sufferings were ended. When they came to take off the clothes from
her poor dead body, they found a piece of paper sewn inside her
dress, and on it was written, "He opened not His mouth."
2. _It is suffering which the best of men have endured._--"Having the
same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me" (ver.
30). Suffering for the truth links us with Paul and his
contemporaries, and with the noble army of martyrs in all ages.
Christ has taught us how to suffer, and for His sake we can bear pain
and calumny without complaining and without retaliation. Mrs.
Sherwood relates that, pained at seeing Henry Martyn completely
prostrate by his tormentor, Sabat, the apostate, she exclaimed, "Why
subject yourself to all this? Rid yourself of this Sabat at once." He
replied, "Not if his spirit was ten times more acrimonious and
exasperating." Then smiling in his gentle, winning manner, he pointed
upwards and whispered in low and earnest tones, "For Him!"
+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian spirit inspires loftiest heroism._
2. _To strive to be good excites the opposition of the wicked._
3. _One true Christian hero is an encouragement to many._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 27. _Christian Consistency._
+I. The apostle pleaded for a consistent Christian Church.+--1. _The
Christian life must be characterised by truthfulness._ 2. _By love._
3. _By purity._
+II. The apostle pleaded for a united Christian Church.+--1. _This
union was necessary to resist their common adversaries._ 2. _To
develop their Christian graces._ 3. _To establish the true faith._
+III. The apostle pleaded for a zealous Christian Church.+--1. _This
zeal demanded for a noble object._ "The faith of the gospel." 2. _To
be exercised in a commendable manner._ "Striving together."--_J. T.
Woodhouse._
_Evangelical Consistency._
+I. What that conduct is which becomes the Gospel.+--1. _It must be
the genuine result of Gospel dispositions._ 2. _It must be maintained
under the influence of Gospel principles and in the use of Gospel
ordinances._ 3. _It must resemble Gospel patterns._ 4. _It must be
conformable to Gospel precepts._
+II. What obligations are we under to maintain this
conduct.+--1. _God requires us to conduct ourselves according to the
Gospel._ 2. _Consistency requires it._ 3. _Our personal comfort
requires it._ 4. _Our connection with society requires it._ 5. _Our
final salvation requires it._
+Lessons.+--1. _How excellent is the Christian religion._ 2. _How
illiberal and unreasonable is the conduct of those who censure
Christianity on account of the unworthy actions of its inconsistent
professors.--R. Treffry._
_The Effects of the Gospel upon those who receive it._
+I. Illustrate the exhortation of the apostle.+--1. _The Gospel of
Christ is a system which assumes and proceeds upon the invaluable
value of the soul._ 2. _Which assumes and depicts the danger and
guilt of the soul, and provides a plan for its immediate restoration
to the Divine favour._ 3. _Is a system of peculiar and authoritative
truth._ 4. _Is a system of godliness._ 5. _Of morals._ 6. _Of
universal charity._
+II. The sources of the apostle's anxiety.+--1. _He desired the
Philippians thus to act from a regard of the honour of the Gospel and
its Author._ 2. _Out of a regard for the Philippians themselves._
3. _From a regard to the Gentiles._ 4. _From a regard to himself, his
own peace and his own joy.--T. Binney._
Vers. 28, 29. _Conflict and Suffering._--1. Faith in Christ must go
before suffering for Christ, so that to suffer for Him is of greater
importance, and in some respects more honourable, than simply to
believe in Him. 2. Then are sufferings truly Christian and an
evidence of salvation, when as the sufferer is first a believer, so
his sufferings are for Christ's sake--for His truth. 3. Christian
courage under suffering will not be kept up without conflict. 4. In
suffering for truth nothing befalls us but what is common to
men.--_Fergusson._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER II.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Consolation in Christ.+--_Exhortation_ would be better,
inasmuch as consolation anticipates the comfort of the next phrase.
+Comfort of love.+--Encouragement which love gives. +Fellowship of
the Spirit.+--"Participation in the Spirit." _Meyer's_ remark is,
"This is to be explained of the Holy Spirit." _Beet_ intimates a
widening of the idea--"brotherliness prompted by the Holy Spirit."
+Bowels and mercies.+--On the former term see ch. i. 8. The word for
mercies denotes the yearning of the heart, though, it may be, there
is no ability to help.
Ver. 2. +Fulfil ye my joy.+--"Fill up" my cup of joy. See ch. i. 4.
+Likeminded.+--"General harmony, . . . identity of sentiment"
(_Meyer_). On this verse, with its accumulations, Chrysostom
exclaims, "Bless me! how often he says the same thing!"
Ver. 3. +Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.+--The verb
is suppressed in the Greek, a construction more natural and more
forcible than to connect the nothing with the preceding clause.
"Partisanship and pomposity." For the ruin of how many Churches are
this pair responsible! +In lowliness of mind.+--A rare flower,
scattering its fragrance unseen. "It was one great result of the life
of Christ (on which St. Paul dwells here) to raise humility to its
proper level; and, if not fresh coined for this purpose, the word
(for 'lowliness of mind') now first became current through the
influence of Christian ethics" (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 5. +Let this mind be in you.+--The apostle's word reminds us
that he had already counselled his readers to be likeminded amongst
themselves. "Each to each, and all to Christ," this verse seems to
say. What follows--to ver. 11--is the very marrow of the Gospel.
Ver. 6. +Who, being in the form of God.+--R.V. margin, "being
originally." Form here implies not the external accidents, but the
essential attributes. Similar to this, but not so decisive, are the
expressions used elsewhere of the Divinity of the Son (2 Cor. iv. 4;
Col. i. 15; Heb. i. 3). Similar is the term "The Word." +Thought it
not robbery.+--"Did not deem His being on an equality with God a
thing to be seized on--and retained as a prize" (_Ellicott_). "Yet
did not regard it as a prize, a treasure to be clutched and retained
at all hazards" (_Lightfoot_). This interpretation of the two eminent
bishops is accepted by the R.V., the _Speaker's Commentary,_ and is
the common and indeed almost universal interpretation of the Greek
Fathers (_Lightfoot,_ flatly contradicted by _Beet_). _Meyer_
(followed by _Beet_), _Cremer_ and _Hofmann_ contend for the active
meaning--"robbing." +To be equal with God.+--The Jews considered
Christ's peculiar claim of Sonship as a "making Himself equal with
God" (John v. 18).
Ver. 7. +But made Himself of no reputation.+--R.V. "emptied Himself."
The emphasis is upon _Himself._ In contrast to the idea lying in
"robbery"--that of emptying the treasures of some one else--it was
Himself whom He made bare. +And took upon Him the form of a
servant.+--By taking the form of a slave. Note the antitheses in
these verses (6, 7), "being in the form of God," "took the form of a
servant," "equality with God," "emptied Himself." +And was made in
the likeness of men.+--Lit. "becoming in similitude of men." The word
"likeness" (A.V. margin, "habit") differs from "form" and "fashion."
There is, of course, no support for the Docetic teaching that Christ
was only seemingly a man.
Ver. 8. +In fashion.+--The entire outwardly perceptible mode and
form. Men saw in Christ a human form, bearing, language, action, mode
of life, wants and their satisfaction, in general, the state and
relations of a human being so that He was recognised "as a man"
(_Meyer_). "Form" in (vers. 6, 7) is that which is intrinsic and
essential. "Fashion" is that which is outward and accidental. +Became
obedient unto death.+--Does not mean that He humbled Himself so as to
become a cringing slave to the King of Terrors; but that His
obedience to God went to the uttermost limit--as far as death--even
the death of the cross. That is, the death of the accursed, the death
reserved for malefactors. Jewish hatred still speaks of Christ as,
"The man who was hung."
Ver. 9. +Highly exalted.+--A word much stronger than those, _e.g.,_
in the Acts, which describe the raising up of the murdered Lord of
life. We trace the descent step by step to the last rung of the
ladder; by one stupendous act (Rom. i. 4) God graced His Son with
unique honour and dignity (Eph. i. 21).
Ver. 10. +That at the name of Jesus.+--Not at the mention of the name
Jesus, but _in_ the name of Jesus. For illustration of the phrase see
Christ's own words, "in My name" (John xiv. 13, 14, etc.). +Every
knee should bow.+--The outward symbol of an inward submission or
recognition of superiority. By what language could the apostle
express the exaltation above creaturely needs if not by this? If used
of a creature, it would be blasphemous. The jealous God does not
allow bowing down in worship to any but Himself. As Pliny said,
_Quasi Deo._
Ver. 11. +Should confess.+--"Proclaim with thanksgiving"
(_Lightfoot_). It is the word which describes the frank admission [of
wrong, Matt. iii. 6]. +That Jesus Christ is Lord.+--The emphasis is
on "Lord." The specific Christian profession of faith is "Jesus is
Lord"; its opposite "Anathema Jesus" (1 Cor. xii. 3 and Rom. x. 9).
Ver. 12. +Ye have always obeyed.+--Obedience describes the attitude
of the mind of these Philippians in presence of the commanding truths
of the Gospel; "Obedience" or "obedience of faith" is found several
times in the epistle to the Romans; and in 2 Cor. vii. 15 stands in
close connection with "fear and trembling," as here. +Fear and
trembling.+--Such an apprehensive desire to be right with God as is
figured by bodily tremor.
Ver. 13. +For it is God which worketh in you.+--This sentence removes
all merit from the most punctilious diligence, whilst it as
effectually takes away the paralysing fear of failure to which
"workers together with God" need never give place.
Ver. 14. +Do all things without murmurings.+--Without mutterings, as
men who in cowardice dare not speak plainly what they think. We must
consider the warning as against God on account of what He imposed on
them both to do and to suffer. +And disputings.+--The word goes much
deeper than the restricted meaning of "disputings." It seems here to
mean without first entering upon scrupulous considerings as to
whether you are under any obligation thereto, whether it is not too
difficult, whether prudent, and the like (_Meyer_).
Ver. 15. +That ye may be blameless.+--Sons of God they are already;
they are now to become worthy sons. In the word "blameless" we have
the idea of a character in which no grace is defective (Heb. viii. 7
is a good illustration. If the first covenant had been _faultless,_ a
second would have been superfluous). +And harmless.+--Christ's own
counsel. "Be harmless as doves." Lit. the word means unmixed,
unadulterated, and figuratively, artless. Of sophistries and the deep
things of Satan he would rather they were in happy ignorance (Matt.
x. 16; Rom. xvi. 19). +Without rebuke.+--Vulgate, _"immaculatum."_
The word is originally a sacrificial term. It describes the victim in
which the keen inquisitorial eye of the official inspector has found
no fault. So (1 Pet. i. 19) of the Lamb of God, in the whiteness of
spotless innocency.
Ver. 16. +Holding forth the word of life.+--"If we are to look for
any metaphor it would most naturally be that of offering food or
wine" (_Lightfoot_). Why it should be at all events wholly
unconnected with the preceding image in "lights in the world" one
does not quite see. There is nothing objectionable in the thought of
a star holding forth its beam to the mariner, or the benighted
wayfarer, and it has the advantage of continuity of the metaphor in
the verse previous. +That I may rejoice in the day of Christ.+--As
good news of his convert's fidelity was like a new lease of life to
the worn apostle (1 Thess. iii. 8), so his sweetest hope was to be
able to stand before his Lord with his children by his side. +Have
not run . . . laboured.+--Athletic terms familiar to St. Paul's
readers.
Ver. 17. +If I be offered upon the sacrifice.+--R.V. margin, "poured
out as a drink-offering." Whether the reference is the the cup of
wine poured over the heathen sacrifice or the drink-offering of the
Jewish is doubted, and is of little consequence, since in either case
his meaning would be clear enough. +And service.+--Priestly function
(Luke i. 23).
Ver. 20. +No man likeminded.+--A.V. margin, "so dear unto me,"
evidently because the same word is used in Ps. lv. 13. "Likeminded"
with whom? "With me," says Meyer, that is, "having the same tender
feeling towards you as I have." +Who will naturally care.+--Not of
necessity, nor grudgingly.
Ver. 21. +All seek their own.+--Interpret how we will, this is a
bitter sentence. We are apt to be severe on those who have other
engagements when we feel our need of friends.
Ver. 22. +Ye know the proof.+--The character that shows itself under
strain or testing (Acts xvi. 1 and xvii. 14, xix. 22, xx. 3, 4). +As
a son with the father.+--R.V. "as a child serveth." The older man and
the younger had slaved for the Gospel; as for some dear object of
desire a father and his son may be seen at work together.
Ver. 24. +I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come
shortly.+--The apostle, in personal matters, is on the same footing
with the most obscure Christian. When his friends forsake him he must
bear it with what fortitude he can. When darkness surrounds him he
must wait God's time--no prophecy lifts the veil.
Ver. 25. +Epaphroditus.+--Brother, work-mate, comrade-in-arms,
Church-messenger, and serving-man. What a designation! St. Paul
thinks him worthy of all the honour (ver. 29) that the Church can
give, and he himself immortalises him by this unusual estimate of his
personal character and worth.
Ver. 26. +Was full of heaviness.+--The same word is used of our Lord
when in Gethsemane--"He began to be very heavy." Its etymology is an
open question, Grimm, following Buttmann, says it means "the
uncomfortable feeling of one who is not at home." If this, the almost
universally accepted derivation be the correct one, it is a beautiful
idyll we have presented to us. A convalescent, far from home, as his
strength returns feels the pangs of home-sickness strengthen and
eagerly returns to dispel the misgivings of those made anxious by
tidings of his critical illness.
Ver. 27. +Nigh unto death.+--Or as we say colloquially, "next door to
death." +God had mercy on him.+--St. Paul speaks after the manner of
men, as we could not have dared to say anything else if Epaphroditus
had died. The cry of woe so often heard by Christ was "have mercy."
+Sorrow upon sorrow.+--"He does not parade the apathy of the Stoics,
as though he were iron and far removed from human affections"
(_Calvin_).
"When sorrows come they come not single spies,
But in battalions."
Ver. 28. +The more carefully.+--R.V. "diligently." "With increased
eagerness" (_Lightfoot_). How difficult it must have been for St.
Paul to relinquish the company of so worthy a man we do not realise;
but he who gives up is worthy of the friend he gives up, for neither
of them is consulting his own wishes. "Love seeketh not her own."
What a contrast to sordid Hedonism--old or new! +Ye may rejoice, and
that I may be the less sorrowful.+--A variation on the theme of the
letter--the sum of which is, as Bengel says, "I rejoice; rejoice ye."
What an exquisitely chosen form of expression! "A prior sorrow will
still remain unremoved," says Lightfoot; "but if he cannot go so far
as to say he will rejoice, the alleviation of the loss of such a
friend's society is the fact that they have him again."
Ver. 29. +Hold such in honour.+--Learn to know the value of
such--"grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel."
Ver. 30. +For the work of Christ.+--What noble self-oblivion the
apostle manifests! He thinks more of the cause dear to his heart than
of his own comfort or even life. +Not regarding his life.+--R.V.
"hazarding his life." There is the difference of a single letter in
the long word of the R.V. The word of the R.V. means "having gambled
with his life." Just as to-day a visitor to Rome in the autumn must
run the risk of malarial fever, so Epaphroditus, for the work of
Christ, had faced that, and other dangers as great, probably. The
A.V. would mean "as far as his life was concerned he followed an
ill-advised course of action." +To supply your lack of service toward
me.+--Does not mean that they had been remiss in their attention.
They did not lack the will, but the opportunity.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.
_Christian Unity an Occasion of Joy._
+I. Christian unity is a striving after the Spirit of Christ.+--"That
ye be likeminded" (ver. 2).
1. _Manifested in loving consolation to those in distress._--"If
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love"
(ver. 1). If the pagan expressed unity by those who dwelt in one
village and drank of one fountain, how much more real is the union of
those who drink of the same Spirit and practise the lovingkindness of
the one Christ. A striking evidence of the unity of Christianity is
seen in its sympathy everywhere for the poor, the sick, and the
unfortunate. It is Christ-like to comfort and help the distressed.
2. _Manifested in spiritual fellowship._--"If any fellowship of the
Spirit" (ver. 1). Christians are one by their communion together,
flowing from their joint participation in the same Spirit. The union
of hearts is more real and stable than the external union expressed
by creeds and contracts. The Spirit is the unifying power of
Christendom.
3. _Manifested in compassion for the suffering._--"If any bowels and
mercies" (ver. 1). Christianity is a mission to the suffering. Before
the Christian era there were no hospitals and infirmaries, no care
for the afflicted poor. Unselfish benevolence was almost unknown.
Nothing is more remarkable than the spirit of tender compassion that
Christianity has breathed into social and national life.
+II. Christianity is opposed to a spirit of faction and empty
boasting.+--"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory" (ver.
3). The message of the Gospel is one of peace and goodwill to all
men. It is foreign to its spirit to exalt the interests of party or
of self; it seeks to promote a universal and all-pervasive charity.
The Germans have a legend connected with the terrific battle of
Chalons between the Visigoths and the Romans against Attila. The
bloody work of the sword was done, the plain was strewn with heaps of
the slain; but for three nights following--so ran the story--the
spirits of the slain hovered over the scene and continued the strife
in the air. The like has been done again and again in the party
strifes and controversies of the Church. Unity is impossible where
contention and vanity have sway.
+III. Christian unity is strengthened by the maintenance of a humble
spirit.+--1. _In comparing oneself with others._ "In lowliness of
mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (ver. 3). The man
who walks humbly with God, realising his complete dependence on Him,
will not unduly exalt himself, and will highly esteem others, as
knowing that they are equally with himself dependent on God for their
abilities. Instead of fixing your eyes on those points in which you
may excel, fix them on those in which your neighbour excels you: to
do this is true humility. The excellencies of others are better known
than their defects, and our own defects are better known to ourselves
than to others. A sense of personal short-coming will keep us humble.
Humility is a special product of Christianity. The whole Roman
language, with all the improvements of the Augustan age, does not
afford so much as a name for humility; nor was one found in all the
copious language of the Greeks, till it was made by the great apostle.
2. _In considering other people's interests as well as your
own._--"Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on
the things of others" (ver. 4). The truly humble are thoroughly
disinterested. The work of the meek and lowly Jesus is the loftiest
example of disinterestedness. He looked to the things of others
rather than to His own. In unselfishly seeking the good of others we
promote our own. When Augustine was asked, "What is the first thing
in religion?" he answered, "Humility." "What is the second?"
"Humility." "And what is the third?" "Humility." Speaking of pride,
Augustine truly said, "That which first overcame man is the last
thing he overcomes." Humility is a strong bond of Christian unity.
+IV. Christian unity is an occasion of great joy.+--"Fulfil ye my
joy" (ver. 2). The weak spot in the disposition of the Philippians
was a tendency to quarrelsomeness; hence he insists upon unity. They
had given him joy in the other Christian excellencies they possessed;
he asks them to complete his joy in cherishing the grace of unity.
"Behold," exclaimed the rejoicing Psalmist, as he contemplated the
union of the Jewish tribes, "how good and how pleasant a thing it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Ps. cxxxiii. 1). The bundle
of arrows cannot be broken while it remains a bundle. Tacitus, an
ancient Latin historian, says of the Germans, what sceptics and
others find true of Christians, "Whilst fighting separately, all are
conquered together." The strength of the Christian Church lies in its
consolidation.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christian unity is of supreme importance._ 2. _Is
absolutely necessary to represent the Spirit of Christ._ 3. _Is the
cause of much joy to the anxious minister._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1, 2. _Unity and Concord in the Church._--1. As unity and
concord is necessary in itself and at all times, so is it most
necessary in suffering times: the enjoyment of Christ's presence, the
reaping of any spiritual advantage by the communion and love of the
saints, fellowship with God through the operation of the Spirit,
depend upon it. 2. The success of the Gospel will be matter of joy to
a public-spirited Christian, even in the midst of his own crosses and
sufferings. 3. That unity and concord among the Churches may be solid
and lasting, there should be unity of will and affections, of designs
and endeavours, and in opinion and matters of judgment.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 3. _Humility an Antidote to Contention._--1. The lust of
vainglory, whereby a man pursues more after the applause of men than
to be approved of God, is the mother of contention and strife, and
unfriendly to union and peace. 2. The grace of humility does not
consist in an affected strain of words and gestures, but, being
seated in the heart, makes a man think meanly of himself and of
anything that is his. 3. So conscious should we be of our own
infirmities, so modest in the esteem of our own graces and virtues,
so prone to charity, that we ought to esteem any other, for what we
know of him, to be better than ourselves.--_Ibid._
Ver. 4. _Looking on the Things of Others._
+I. One school in which we learn the lesson of unselfishness is the
home circle.+
+II. Another way in which God teaches us the same lesson is through
the experience we gain in the intercourse of daily work.+--We divide
men into the selfish and the unselfish--those who work for self and
think of self, and those whose labours are for other men.
+III. We are taught to consider other men by the perplexities and
confusion which arise when we think only of ourselves.+--The modern
philosophy is true so far when it says that man is nothing in
himself, but only a bundle of relations, the meeting-point of many
influences. Those who fix their attention upon the meeting-point
forget what makes the man. Probably there is no more confused or
miserable man than the self-analyst.--_A. R. MacEwen._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-8.
_The Humiliation of Christ a Pattern of Supreme Unselfishness._
+I. The humiliation of Christ was no violation of His Divine
essence.+--"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God" (ver. 6). Thought it not a prey to be seized upon.
As He was in Himself truly and properly God, it could be no object of
desire or ambition to claim equality with God. Being God He could not
undeify Himself. His Divinity remained with Him through the whole
course of His self-imposed humiliation. It was this that constituted
both the mystery and the greatness of the humiliation.
+II. The humiliation of Christ was a voluntary incarnation in human
form.+--"But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" (ver. 7). He
emptied Himself, not of His Divinity--that was impossible--but of the
outward and self-manifesting glories of the Godhead. He took the form
of a servant by being made in the likeness of man. He remained full
of Divinity, yet He bore Himself as if He were empty. A native
preacher among the Oneidas, addressing his fellow-converts, said:
"What are the views you form of the character of Jesus? You will
answer, perhaps, that He was a man of singular benevolence. You will
tell me that He proved this to be His character by the nature of the
miracles He wrought. He created bread to feed thousands who were
ready to perish. He raised to life the son of a poor woman who was a
widow, and to whom his labours were necessary for her support in old
age. Are these then your only views of the Saviour? I will tell you
they are lame. When Jesus came into the world He threw His blanket
around Him, but the God was within."
+III. The humiliation of Christ reached its climax in a career of
obedience even unto death.+--"He humbled Himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross" (ver. 8). He fulfilled all
the demands of law and of God. He shrank not from death--death in its
most shameful and ignoble form, the death of the cross. He was
numbered with the transgressors--not an honourable death, but like
the degrading execution of criminals. He went to the realm of the
dead and revolutionised it. Hitherto death had reigned supreme, an
unbroken power. The prison-house of the dead was fast locked. None
returned. Now One comes there who has the keys of Hades and of death.
He opens the door and sets the captives free. "Meekness in suffering,
prayer for His murderers, a faithful resignation of His soul into the
hands of His heavenly Father, the sun eclipsed, the heavens darkened,
and earth trembling, the graves open, the rocks rent, the veil of the
Temple torn--who could say less than this, 'Truly, this was the Son
of God'? He suffers patiently; this is through the power of grace;
many good men have done so through His enabling. The frame of nature
suffers with Him; this is proper to the God of Nature, the Son of
God" (_Bishop Hall_).
+IV. The humiliation of Christ is an example of unselfishness to all
His followers.+--"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus" (ver. 5). The apostle does not put forth himself as an
example, but Christ. Christ gave His all for us, and we should give
our all to Him, and our best service for the good of others. No one
can follow Christ until he has first found Christ. Some try to
imitate Christ before they have savingly found Him. To look at Christ
as our Example only, and not as our Redeemer, is not to see Him as He
is. Without faith in Christ as our Redeemer we cannot really follow
His example. Without the grace of Christ there can be no imitation of
Christ. A little girl once presented to a celebrated statesman a
small bouquet of ordinary flowers, the only one she could procure at
the season. He inquired why she gave him the bouquet. "Because I love
you," the child answered. "Do you bring any little gifts to Jesus?"
he asked. "Oh," said the child, "I give myself to Him."
+Lessons.+--1. _The unselfish are always humble._ 2. _The humble are
patient in doing and suffering._ 3. _Humility is the pathway to
exaltation._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 5-8. _The Incarnate Deity._
+I. That Christ did not seek to retain an appearance of Divine
glory and co-equality.+
+II. He divested Himself actually of His appropriate and descriptive
ensigns of Divine nature and government.+
+III. He entered upon a course of responsible subordination.+
+IV. He united Himself to human nature by a perfect incarnation.+
+V. He stooped to the most extreme depression of state.+
+VI. He reduced Himself to the necessity of death.+
+VII. He yielded to death in a peculiar form.+
+Lessons.+--1. _How admirable is the expedient of the Redeemer's
incarnation!_ 2. _What a sublime example does the conduct of the
Saviour afford.--R. W. Hamilton._
Ver. 5. _The Christian Temper the Same Mind which was in Christ._
+I. Some things in which we cannot consider Christ as an
example.+--All those graces in us which suppose our guilt and fallen
state could not be exemplified to us by our Saviour.
+II. Some things related of Christ we must not pretend to
imitate.+--What He did under the character of Messiah was peculiar to
Himself, and not designed to put us on doing likewise.
+III. Why Christians should copy the mind and temper of
Christ.+--1. _It was the design of God to set His Son before us as
the model of the Christian temper._ 2. _He was a pattern admirably
fitted to be proposed to our imitation._ (1) He was an example in our
own nature. (2) His circumstances and conduct in our nature adapted
His example to the most general use. (3) His example was perfect, so
that it has the force of a rule. 3. _The relations in which we stand
to Christ and the concern we have with Him lay us under the strongest
engagements to endeavour a resemblance._ He is our friend, our Lord
and Master, our Head, our Judge, the model of our final happiness.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christianity in its main design is a practical
thing._ 2. _We see the advantages we have by the Gospel beyond any
other dispensation for true goodness._ 3. _How inexcusable must they
be who are not recovered to a God-like temper and conversation by
this most excellent dispensation!_ 4. _With what care and attention
should we study the life of Christ!--J. Evans, D.D._
_Christ our Pattern._
+I. The mind of Christ was a pure mind.+
+II. A self-sacrificing mind.+
+III. A lowly mind.+
+IV. A forbearing mind.+
+V. A constant mind.+
+VI. A prayerful mind.+--_Preacher's Magazine._
Vers. 6, 7. _Christ the Redeemer._--This which the Son of God did and
underwent is the one fact of heaven and earth, with which none in
creation, none in history, none in your own personal being, can for a
moment be compared, but in the presence and in the light of which all
these ought to be contemplated and concluded--that it is the great
object of faith and practice. Of faith--for upon the personal and
hearty reception of it as the foundation of your life before God,
that life itself, and all its prospects, depend; of practice--for
high above all other examples, shining over and blessing while it
surpasses them, is this mighty example of the Son of God. Oh,
brethren, how the selfish man and the selfish woman and the selfish
family ought to depart from such a theme as this, downcast for very
shame, and abased at their unlikeness to the pattern which they
profess to be imitating! Oh that this question might be fixed and
rankle like a dart in their bosoms, even till it will take no answer
but the surrender of the life to Him, and, by the daily grace of His
Spirit, living as He lived!--_Alford._
Ver. 8. _Christ's Crucifixion._--
+I. As an historical fact.+--It is quite certain.
+II. As displaying in its circumstances every variety of human
character.+
+III. As accompanied by striking prodigies.+--The darkened sun, the
quaking earth, the cleft rocks, the rent veil, the opened
graves.
+IV. As furnishing an illustrious example of the passive
virtues.+--Taught us how to suffer and to die.
+V. As being the brightest manifestation of self-denying and
self-devoting love.+
+VI. As constituting the sole meritorious cause of human
salvation.+--Who is the sufferer? The Son of God. Why does He
suffer? As a prophet, as a martyr, as an example? Yes; but
chiefly as a sacrifice for sin.
+VII. As producing the most wonderful moral transformations.+--On
individuals, on communities, and on Christendom.--_G. Brooks._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9-11.
_The Exaltation of Christ_--
+I. Was a Divine act.+--"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him"
(ver. 9). As a recognition of the humiliation and obedience of
Christ, God exalted Him to the throne of mediatorial sovereignty. As
Bengel puts it, "Christ emptied Christ; God exalted Christ as man to
equality with God" (Compare Ps. viii. 5, 6, cx. 1, 7; Matt.
xxviii. 18; Luke xxiv. 26; John v. 27, x. 17; Rom. xiv. 9; Eph.
i. 20-22; Heb. ii. 9).
+II. Was the acquisition of a name of pre-eminent dignity and
significance.+--"And given Him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus" (vers. 9, 10). Jesus is the same as Joshua, or
Jehoshua, only framed to the Greek pronunciation and termination.
Joshua, who brought the hosts of Israel into the rest of Canaan, was
originally called Hoshea, but it was changed into Joshua or Jehoshua,
by an addition of the first syllable in the Divine name Jehovah,
perhaps to intimate that not Joshua of himself, but Jehovah by Him,
would complete the deliverance and rest of Israel. The name Jesus
means Jehovah-Saviour, or Jehovah-Salvation, and Jesus is so called
because He saves His people from their sins. The name cannot be given
to any other being; it belongs solely and absolutely to the one
Jesus. "Here we should probably look," says Lightfoot, "to a common
Hebrew sense of name, not meaning a definite appellation, but
denoting office, rank, dignity. In this case the use of the name of
God in the Old Testament to denote the Divine Presence or the Divine
Majesty, more especially as the object of adoration and praise, will
suggest the true meaning; since the context dwells on the honour and
worship henceforth offered to Him on whom _the_ name has been
conferred. To praise _the name,_ to bless _the name,_ to fear _the
name_ of God, are frequent expressions in the Old Testament." The
name of Jesus marks the pre-eminence of Jesus--it is the "name above
every name." That name wields the mightiest power in the world
to-day. A modern writer of reputation has said: "There is a wave--I
believe it is only a wave--passing over the cultivated thought of
Europe at present, which will make short work of all belief in a God
that does not grip fast to Jesus Christ. As far as I can read the
signs of the times and the tendency of modern thinking, it is
this--either an absolute silence, a heaven stretching above us, blue
and clear and cold, and far away and dumb; or else a Christ that
speaks--He or none. The theism that has shaken itself loose from Him
will be crushed, I am sure, in the encounter with the agnosticism and
materialism of this day." The name of the exalted Jesus is the
salvation of the world in more senses than one.
+III. Entitles Him to universal homage.+--"Every knee shall bow . . .
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord"
(vers. 10, 11). Beings above, below, and on the earth shall
acknowledge the supremacy and deity of Jesus, and unite in a
universal and consentaneous act of praise and worship of His Divine
majesty. On the door of the old mosque in Damascus, once a Christian
church, but now ranked among the holiest of Mahometan sanctuaries,
are inscribed these remarkable words: "Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an
everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all
generations." For more than twelve hundred years the inscription has
remained unimpaired by time and undisturbed by man. What is it
waiting for? Already a Christian Church has been founded in that
ancient city, and the Gospel is preached there every Sabbath. The
world's submission to Jesus is drawing near.
+Lessons.+--_The name of Jesus_--1. _Is unique in its reputation._
2. _In its moral influence among the nations._ 3. _In its saving
power._ 4. _In the homage paid to it._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 9-11. _The Name of Jesus: its Exaltation and Power._
+I. The Saviour's exaltation+ (ver. 9).--He was exalted by His
resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and His
glorious session at the right hand of God, whence He now discharges
the high functions of Prophet, Priest, and King.
+II. The Saviour's name.+--"That at the name of Jesus" (ver. 10).
Jehovah, the Saviour.
1. _The supreme eminence of the name._--"A name which is above every
name."
2. _Pre-eminent because no other being could receive the title._
3. _Pre-eminent because there is no other name that has the
mysterious virtue of saving as this._
+III. The power of the Saviour's name.+--1. _In saving the sinner._
2. _In commanding the homage and worship of all, and in eliciting the
universal acknowledgement of His deity_ (vers. 10, 11).
+We learn a lesson of humility.+--1. _Because Christ humbled Himself
for us._ 2. _We should humble ourselves on account of past sins._
3. _Humility leads to exaltation._
_Christ Worthy of Universal Homage._--1. The Lord Christ, having
abased Himself for our redemption, was exalted by the Father to the
highest pitch of glory. 2. The name which is above every name is said
to be given to Christ, because His Divine majesty, before hid, was
now manifested and the human nature so highly honoured that that
person who is man is true God, and is to be acknowledged as such.
3. However small a part of the world acknowledge Christ to be the
Lord, His glory will grow till all reasonable creatures in heaven,
earth, and hell subject themselves to Him, and the giving of Divine
honour to Him does in no way impair the glory of God the
Father.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12, 13.
_Salvation--God's Work and Man's Care._
+I. Salvation is a personal blessing.+--"Your own salvation" (ver.
12). If Christ died for all, then he died for me and I may be saved.
It matters little if others are being saved unless I am saved myself.
It is impossible to be genuinely interested in the salvation of
others unless we are saved ourselves. Salvation deals with the
individual; it gathers its trophies one by one. "I have read of some
seas," writes Bunyan, "so pure and clear that a man may see the
bottom, though they be forty feet deep. I know this river is a deep
river, but it is not said that we can see no bottom." The comparison
implies that a man with good eyes may see the bottom. So, then, we
shall look down through these crystal streams and see what be at the
bottom of all. The bottom of all is that we might be saved. "These
things I say," saith Christ, "that ye might be saved." What a good,
sound bottom is here! This salvation admits man to a wealth of
blessings impossible to estimate. Salvation should therefore be
sought by every man earnestly, believingly, promptly.
+II. Salvation needs constant personal care.+--"Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling" (ver. 12).
1. _The Christian worker is surrounded with spiritual perils._--The
apostle has referred to these perils in warning the Philippians
against pride, selfishness, faction, and vain boasting (vers. 3, 4).
To secure his salvation the believer must not only work, but work
with circumspection, with vigilance, with fear and trembling. "God
does not give the flower and the fruit of salvation, but the seed,
the sunshine, and the rain. He does not give houses, nor yet beams
and squared stones, but trees, rocks, and limestone, and says, 'Now
build thyself a house.' Regard not God's work within thee as an
anchor to hold thy bark firmly to the shore, but as a sail which
shall carry it to its port. Fear thy depression and
faint-heartedness, but take courage at thy humility before God"
(_Lange_).
2. _Personal care the more necessary when deprived of the oversight
of a loved teacher._--"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence"
(ver. 12). The Philippians had shown a spirit of ready obedience both
to the apostle and to God, and they are urged to increased diligence.
The apostle's "absence did not make the obligation less imperative,
but it demanded more earnestness and vigilance from them in the
discharge of the duty. His voice and person were a guide and
stimulant and excited them to assiduous labour, so that his presence
among them wrought like a charm. And now that he was not with them,
and they were left to themselves, they were so much the more to
double their diligence and work out salvation with fear and
trembling--with distrust of themselves, earnest solicitude in every
duty, humble reliance on Divine aid, with the abiding consciousness
that after all they come far short of meeting obligation" (_Eadie_).
+III. Salvation is a Divine work.+--1. _God is pleased to work in us
to create a right disposition._--"It is God that worketh in you to
will . . . of His good pleasure" (ver. 13). The desire for salvation
and the disposition and the to seek it come from God. As the sun
warms the earth and helps the flower to grow and bloom, so the Spirit
of God warms the heart and calls for the growth and blossom of
Christian graces. God does not take out mental and moral apparati and
put in a new set, like the works of a clock; but He encourages us to
use the powers already within and breathes upon us the vitalising
influence of His Spirit, so that we produce results in harmony with
His will.
2. _God is pleased to work in us to confer the moral ability to
work._--"God worketh in you . . . to do of His good pleasure" (ver.
13). Some men have ability to do great things, but have not the
disposition; others may have the disposition, but not the ability. In
the work of our salvation God gives both the disposition and the
power. Because God works in us we may work; because He works in us we
must work out our own salvation. The means of salvation are within
our reach; it is our part to use them. How does the miner get out of
the pit? There is a string at the bottom; he pulls it; a bell at the
top rings; a rope, worked by a steam-engine, is let down, and in this
way he ascends to the top. A man gets down into the pit of trouble;
he cannot get up himself; he must ring the bell of prayer; God will
hear it and send down the rope that is to lift him out. Man can do
nothing without God, and God will do nothing without the willing
co-operation of man.
+Lessons.+--1. _Salvation is possible for every man._ 2. _Salvation
may be secured by man yielding to the Divine influences working
within him._ 3. _If man is not saved, it is his own fault._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 12, 13. _Divine and Human Co-operation in Man's Salvation._
+I. The salvation to be wrought out.+--Salvation simply means
deliverance. It may be either temporal or spiritual, or both. The
process of salvation is to be continuous.
+II. In the work of our salvation Divine and human co-operation is
necessary.+--Illustrated in the products of nature, in works of art
and skill. 1. _God works in us by the light of His truth._ 2. _By
appealing to us with the influence of powerful motives._ 3. _Works in
us by the influences of His Spirit._
+III. Seek to ascertain to what extent we are indebted for our
personal salvation to God working in us.+--Our salvation from first
to last is from God; that we are saved by grace, yet not so as to
destroy our own effort. He produces in us the will and power. We are
to exercise the will and power by repenting, believing, and living a
life of holiness.
+IV. Why we are to work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling.+--Because of the possibility of our unfaithfulness. May be
too sure of salvation, and too doubtful.--_J. C. Symons._
_The Active Exertion of Man in working out his Salvation harmonises
with the Free Grace of God as being the Sole Author of it._--There
are two facts connected with the deliverance of the Israelites out of
Egypt--their preservation in the wilderness, and their settlement in
the land of Canaan--to which I would solicit your attention.
+I. That all was done for them by God, and is to be ascribed solely,
from first to last, to His almighty power and grace.+--1. The means
by which the establishment of the Israelites in the Promised Land was
effected were evidently beyond the reach of human agency. 2. Even in
those particular cases in which the active exertions of the
Israelites were employed as the means of their deliverance or success
the whole is ascribed to God. (1) He gave them courage to fight
against their enemies; (2) He gave them success by sending terror
into the hearts of their enemies.
+II. That although God thus did everything for them, He did it in
such a way as to bring every power of their minds and bodies into
exercise, and to render their own activity absolutely necessary to
their preservation and success.+--Illustrated in the passage of the
Red Sea, and in the first battle of the Israelites with the
Amalekites (Exod. xvii. 8).
+Lessons.+--1. _As the deliverance of the Israelites and their
establishment in Canaan was wholly of God, so the salvation of every
sinner is to be ascribed solely and entirely to His mercy and power._
2. _As God required the Israelites to be active, watchful, diligent,
ardent, and strenuous in their exertions to overcome difficulties and
to defeat their enemies, so He requires His people to make their
calling and election sure, to work out their salvation with fear and
trembling._--Although God does all for us in the matter of our
salvation, yet He places us in situations where we must exert
ourselves or perish.--_Anonymous._
_The Co-operation of Human and Divine Agency in our Salvation._
+I. This co-operation of Divine and human energies has place in all
the most important facts and pursuits that make up the history of
man.+--1. _It is true of the commencement of our being._ 2. _Our
growth and education are the result of the same joint agency._
3. _This fundamental law reigns over all the works of man._
+II. What does God accomplish and what does He demand of us in the
joint working out of our salvation?+--1 _God works in us by the light
of His truth._ 2. _By the power of motives._ 3. _By the energy of His
Spirit._
+III. What is the intent and object of these Divine
operations?+--1. _They are not designed to transform the character
as, when after conversion, they are media of sanctification._
2. _Human co-operation is the indispensable condition of progress._
3. _Will and do._ These describe the duty of the unconverted
man.--_S. Olin, D.D._
_Man's Work and God's Work._
+I. This salvation is begun when we believe in Christ, but it
requires to be worked out.+
+II. The fact that God works in us renders our working possible.+
+III. The fact that God works in us should make us fear and
tremble.+--_R. Abercrombie, M.A._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14-18.
_The Lustre of a Blameless Life_--
+I. Suppresses all murmuring and doubt as unworthy of the children of
God.+--"Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may
be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke" (vers. 14,
15). As the sons of God, distinguished by so high and holy a calling,
believers should be blameless and pure. Their spiritual integrity
should lift them above the cause of blame. To be pure and blameless
they must not yield to the spirit of dissatisfaction and doubt. "No
matter what may tend to excite this spirit, it must not be indulged,
whether the temptation to it be the Divine command, the nature of the
duty, the self-denial it involves, or the opposition occasionally
encountered. There was neither grudge nor reluctance with Him whose
example is described in the preceding verses, no murmur at the depth
of His condescension, or doubt as to the amount or severity of the
sufferings which for others He so willingly endured" (_Eadie_).
+II. Sheds a guiding light in the midst of a dark world.+--"In the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights
in the world; holding forth the word of life" (vers. 15, 16). The
Philippians were to be a light and guide to their fellow-citizens, a
people made up of Jew and pagan, moved by tortuous and perverse
impulses. Nothing would please them: give them one argument, they cry
for another; tell them of the simplicity of the Gospel, they prefer
you should dwell on its mysteries; speak of its power, they ask you
to expound its charity. The children of God are to society everywhere
what the heavenly luminaries are to the world--they are to diffuse
light, and guide the way to a better life. The star which led the
wise men to Christ, the pillar of fire which led the children of
Israel into Canaan, did not only shine, but went before them.
Believers shine by the light of the Word which they hold forth, and
that light is the guide to others. Virtue should shine in cities, not
in solitudes. The Christian's duty is here among men; and the nearer
he draws to his fellow-men, so that his religion be real and true,
the more good he is likely to do them. On the north coast of Cornwall
and Devon is a lighthouse, which first of all was placed high upon
the cliffs, where the mists and fogs often obscured and hid its
brightness from the passing mariner in hours of the sorest need. So
they took it down and built it afresh on the rock out at sea, amid
the waves of that dangerous coast, there to shine where it was most
necessary.
+III. Supplies a prolific theme of ministerial joy.+--1. _A joy
complete when his work is finally appraised._ "That I may rejoice in
the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in
vain" (ver. 16). The apostle had run with the eagerness of a racer in
the Isthmian games--the prizes he sought, the souls of men; he had
laboured with strenuous and persevering diligence--the wages he
sought, the souls of men; and now looking by anticipation at the
results of his apostolic toil, in the light of the great day of
Christ, his greatest joy will be that his efforts have not been in
vain. His joy then will be, not in the number and wealth of the
Churches he founded, but in the spiritual progress and advancement of
the members. The results of work for Christ are often in this world
obscured and confused; but in the day of Christ all will be clear and
the work seen in all its beauty and dimensions. The joy of success is
often checkered and interrupted in this life; but yonder the joy will
be complete and full. We shall share the joy of the conquering Christ.
2. _A joy not diminished though life is prematurely
sacrificed._--"Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and
service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all" (ver. 17).
The apostle's image is that of an altar, on which the faith of the
Philippians is laid by him as priest, while his own blood is being
poured out as the usual drink-offering or libation. In the near
prospect of martyrdom he has no gloomy anticipations. Death will not
terminate his joy, but accelerate it, as it will admit him to realms
where all is calm and joy and peace. Such is the triumph of the
Christian spirit; it can rejoice in tribulation and in the very
presence of death.
3. _A joy in which his converts may share._--"For the same cause also
do ye joy, and rejoice with me" (ver. 18). So far from being
dispirited by the prospect of his martyrdom, the apostle calls upon
them to share his joy on account of the success of the Gospel. How
often in the changeful experiences of life are joy and sorrow mingled
together. "Joy lives in the midst of the sorrow; the sorrow springs
from the same root as the gladness. The two do not clash against each
other, or reduce the emotion to a neutral indifference, but they
blend into one another, just as in the Arctic regions, deep down
beneath the cold snow with its white desolation and its barren death,
you shall find the budding of the early spring flowers and the fresh
green grass; just as some kinds of fire burn below the water; just as
in the midst of the barren and undrinkable sea there may be welling
up some little fountain of fresh water that comes from a deeper depth
than the great ocean around it and pours its sweet streams along the
surface of the salt waste" (_Maclaren_).
+Lessons.+--1. _A blameless life is the product of the grace of God._
2. _Is a rebuke to the wavering and inconsistent._ 3. _Evokes the
congratulations of the good in both worlds._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15, 16. _Christians Example to the World._--1. Divisions and
strife grieve the Spirit and darken those evidences of sonship which
believers in a calm and peaceful temper of spirit used to see most
clearly. 2. We stop the mouths of enemies when our conversation is
such as may discover to others their failings, and point out that
good way wherein they ought to walk. 3. _Suitable_ practice joined
with profession puts such a majesty and splendour on truth that every
Christian is to profane men as the sun and moon are in the firmament.
4. The glory put on gracious souls at the day of judgment will add to
the glory and joy of faithful ministers.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 16. _The Word of Life: a Living Ministry and a Living Church._
+I. To apprehend the life of the Church we must apprehend the life of
its Head.+
+II. A living ministry.+--1. _Requires confidence in the office and
work itself._ 2. _Distinctness of purpose._ 3. _A quick and profound
sense of the nature and dignity of the soul._ 4. _One that preaches
more than moral decency:_ preaches piety, regeneration, and faith.
5. _Must not be afraid to assert what passes its own reason._
+III. A living Church.+--1. _A safeguard against dogmatism._
2. _Formalism._ 3. _Partisanship._ 4. _Is a body whose life is the
life of Christ in the soul.--F. D. Huntington, D.D._
Vers. 16-18. _The Joy of Ministerial Success_--
+I. Sustained by the assurance of the final approval of his heavenly
Master.+--"That I may rejoice in the day of Christ" (ver. 16).
+II. Cheerfully sacrifices life itself in the successful prosecution
of his work.+--"Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and
service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all" (ver. 17).
+III. Shared by those who profit by his ministry.+--"For the same
cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me" (ver. 18).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-24.
_A Projected Christian Mission_--
+I. Prompted by anxiety to promote the spiritual welfare of the
Church.+--"But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly
unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state"
(ver. 19). We have already gathered, from our study of the epistle
thus far, that the apostle was solicitous about the spiritual state
of the Philippian Church; and this visit of Timothy was preparatory
to his own coming to see them. He turns from the sadder side of his
own likely martyrdom to the more hopeful prospect of once more being
in their midst. The true minister of Christ can never forget his
people, whether present among them or absent; and his principal
anxiety is to know that they are growing in grace and Christian
usefulness. He seeks to keep in touch with them by letters or
personal messengers, and the theme of his communications will be
based on their mutual interest in the cause of Christ. His movements
and wishes concerning them are all based on the will of Christ.
+II. Committed to a trustworthy messenger.+--1. _A messenger in
genuine sympathy with the anxiety of the sender._ "For I have no man
likeminded, who will naturally care for your state" (ver. 20).
Timothy is of such a nature, has a soul so like my own, that when he
comes among you he will manifest a true regard for your best
interests. This choice evangelist was a native of Lycaonia, in the
centre of Asia Minor. Faithfully and lovingly taught by his mother, a
pious Jewess, to long and look for the Messiah promised to the
fathers, he was led, on Paul's first visit to these regions, to
recognise in Jesus of Nazareth the great Deliverer and to accept Him
as his Saviour. On the apostle's second visit, four or five years
afterwards, finding Timothy highly commended by the Christians of the
district, he took him as his companion, to give such aid in
missionary work as a young man could, and to be trained for full
efficiency as a preacher of the cross. From that time onward we find
him in constant connection with the apostle, either as his companion
or as carrying on some special ministerial work which Paul had
entrusted to him. His close fellowship with the apostle gave him
opportunities of becoming familiar with the great reading themes of
the Gospel, and with the high aims and motives with which his teacher
was constantly animated.
2. _A messenger free from a self-seeking spirit._--"For all seek
their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's" (ver. 21). Among
the other members of the Church likely to be entrusted with such a
mission there was no one like Timothy--so devoted, so whole-hearted,
so unselfish. The early Church was not less free from imperfections
than the modern Church; the self-seeking spirit is as permanent as
human nature. When a certain bishop was asked by an acquaintance what
was the best body of Divinity, he did not scruple to answer, "That
which can help a man to keep a coach and six horses."
3. _A messenger whose fidelity has been tested._--"But ye know the
proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me
in the gospel" (ver. 22). Paul does not say that Timothy served
him--though that was true--but served with him in the Gospel, showing
filial affection and willing obedience. The simplicity and
unselfishness, the mellow Christian wisdom, the patience and
gentleness of the apostle, fitted in with a charming meekness,
unselfishness, and affectionateness in his young friend. The apostle
watched with joy the maturing grace of his beloved companion and
fellow-labourer; and Timothy was thankful to God for giving him such
a friend. The courage and fidelity of the young evangelist had been
tried in times of difficulty, and of this the apostle and the
Philippians had had many proofs. The Church was therefore ready to
welcome him with confidence and respect. The minister should be
faithful to the Gospel at all times. Oliver Millard, an earnest and
popular preacher of the reign of Louis XI., attacked the vices of the
court in his sermons, and did not spare the king himself, who, taking
offence, sent the priest word that if he did not change his tone he
would have him thrown into the Seine. "The king," replied Oliver, "is
the master to do what he pleases; but tell him that I shall reach
paradise by water sooner than he will by post-horses." This bold
answer at once amused and intimidated the king, for he let the
preacher continue to preach as he pleased and what he pleased.
+III. To be followed by a hoped-for personal visit.+--"Him therefore
I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with
me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly"
(vers. 23, 24). Until his own fate is determined, the apostle seems
desirous to keep Timothy with him; but as soon as he learned the
issue, he would despatch his trusty messenger to Philippi, and
cherished the hope of coming himself. Whatever the result may be,
martyrdom or liberty, the apostle calmly and firmly trusts in the
Lord.
+Lessons.+--1. _The good are ever devising plans for the benefit of
others._ 2. _An earnest spirit inspires others to holy toil._ 3. _The
best virtues are strengthened by Christian work._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 19-24. _Ministerial Anxiety for the Welfare of the
Church._--1. The crosses and comforts of a Christian, endued with a
truly public spirit, depend not so much upon those things which
concern himself, as those which are of public concern to Jesus Christ
and His Church. 2. A minister imitates the apostles in watching over
their flock when the state of souls is the object of his care, and
when the care arises, not from constraint, but from love to the party
cared for. 3. Our own things and the things of Christ are often in
two contrary balances. 4. The calling of the ministry is a service,
and ministers are servants of Christ, for the Church, and not lords
over their faith.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 21. _The Life of Christ the only True Idea of Self-devotion._--A
refined selfishness is one of the worst antagonists of the Church of
Christ.
+I. It may consist with all the Church requires as a condition to
communion in her fullest privileges.+
+II. But it extinguishes all that ever produced any great work in
Christ's service.+
+III. The secret of that stupendous self-devotion which saints in all
ages have manifested is--they set up the life of Christ before
them.+
+IV. The customs of life and all the current maxims and unwritten
laws of society maintain so tyrannous a hold even over good
minds that high and generous tempers are chilled into
inaction.+--_H. E. Manning._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 25-30.
_A Devoted Christian Minister_--
+I. A valued associate of good men.+--"Epaphroditus, my brother, and
companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and he
that ministered to my wants" (ver. 25). Epaphroditus had been sent by
the Philippian Church with a gift to Paul, and, pending the proposed
visit of himself or Timothy, he employs him as his messenger. The
commendation of Epaphroditus indicates the apostle's high estimate of
the character of the man--a Christian brother, a colleague in toil, a
fellow-soldier in scenes of danger and conflict. The work of the
Christian minister brings him into contact with the noblest spirits
of the times.
+II. Full of sympathy for the anxieties of his people.+--"For he
longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had
heard that he had been sick" (ver. 26). It may be that Epaphroditus
was the more anxious to return to his people lest the rumour of his
sickness should have disastrous consequences on the state of his
Church, that some parties between whom he had mediated should take
advantage of his prostration and fall again into animosity, or it may
be that he might dispel the distress and sorrow of his people on his
own account. This longing to see his people reveals a womanly
tenderness that some men might call weakness. Paul did not so regard
it. He knew the manly robustness of spirit, the decision, energy, and
devotedness that had made Epaphroditus his honoured companion in
labour and fellow-soldier; and to him the element of softness and
sweetness brought out in the languor of the recovery exhibited a new
charm. "The best men often show a union of opposite virtues; for
example, Epaphroditus. The finest delicacy of soul which, if alone,
might seem excessive and effeminate, allies itself to a manly
courage, which sets at naught life itself. The deepest love of the
Church does not exclude a most faithful attachment to its great
apostle, nor anxiety for the present moment forbid sympathy for a
distant community. One may reverence and acknowledge superior men,
and yet give all the glory to God alone; may be anxious for his own
soul, and yet give himself to the welfare of the Church and the
common service of its membership" (_Lange_).
+III. Exposed himself to great risk in the eager discharge of
duty.+--"For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on
him; . . . I sent him therefore . . . that when ye see him again ye
may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful" (vers. 27, 28).
The sickness of Epaphroditus was probably brought on by the risks and
exposures of his journey from Philippi to Rome. It was no easy task
for a Christian, one of a sect everywhere spoken against, hated and
oppressed, having no protection from either Jewish or Roman rule, to
undertake such a mission, carrying aid to a man in prison, who was
bitterly hated by many, and over whose approaching execution they
were gloating with a fiendish satisfaction. But Epaphroditus braved
all the privations and sufferings of the perilous enterprise, and
would not hesitate to acknowledge publicly before the world that the
prisoner he sought to help was his friend. Paul fully understood all
the perils of the adventure and that it had nearly cost a valuable
life; he thus specially acknowledges the mercy of God both to himself
and the Philippians and the mitigation of their mutual sorrow in the
recovery of Epaphroditus. "Life, especially the life of a faithful
servant of Christ, possesses great value. For such a life we ought to
pray; and it is an act of God's grace when it is preserved to the
Church" (_Heubner_). "It is a fine thing," wrote Sailer, "if you can
say a man lived and never lifted a stone against his neighbour; but
it is a finer far if you can say also he took out of the path the
stones that would have caught his neighbour's feet. So did Feneberg,
and this his doing was his life."
+IV. Highly commended for his character and work's sake.+--"Receive
him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in
reputation: because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death,
not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service towards me"
(vers. 29, 30). Words of highest eulogy, coming from such a source,
and uttered under such circumstances. How tender, unreserved and
unselfish are the apostle's commendations of Timothy and
Epaphroditus, and how large and loving the heart from which they
came! Even with these friends, so dear and needful to him, the aged
servant of Christ, worn with labour and suffering, is willing, for
the work of Christ, to part, and to be left alone. And this man was
notorious, a few years before, as Saul the persecutor. What wrought
the change? The glorious Gospel of the blessed God. The faithful,
conscientious, self-denying minister of the Word cannot fail to win
the esteem and love of his people.
+Lessons.+--1. _A Christian minister has many opportunities of
usefulness._ 2. _Should cultivate a generous and sympathetic nature._
3. _Should be faithful in all things._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 25-28. _Anxieties of Ministerial Life._--1. Ministerial
employment is a painful, laborious work, and faithful ministers who
are standard-bearers or sentinels, and march in the front, before the
Lord's people, have a peculiar battle of their own for truth and
piety. 2. The Lord sometimes suffers His servants to fall into
desperate dangers, that His mercy may be the more seen in their
delivery. 3. Courage under sufferings for Christ, and rejoicing in
God, may consist with moderate sorrow and heaviness. 4. The weights
and griefs of the godly do prove an occasion of rejoicing afterwards,
so the grief which the Philippians had because of their pastor's
sickness and apprehended death ended in joy when they saw him in
health again.--_Fergusson._
Vers. 29, 30. _Heroic Devotion to Christ_--
+I. Is wholly absorbed in the work of Christ.+
+II. Risks life in serving the cause of God.+
+III. Should be held in highest esteem.+
+IV. Should be joyfully acknowledged in whomsoever manifested.+
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Finally.+--Lit. "as to the rest." The apostle had intended
to bring his letter to a close, but something of which we have no
information leads him to warn his readers against Judaizers and their
methods. He resumes his farewell at ch. iv. 8, yet lingers there. +To
write the same things.+--Whatever they may have been, they concerned
the security of his readers. His hand had so often written up in bold
letters the _Cave canem_ to warn his unsuspecting children, that we
may be allowed to think that is what he means to do again.
Ver. 2. +Beware of dogs.+--Who would "turn again and rend you." If
the term is a retort on "Gentile dogs," and looks like "railing for
railing," we may explain it by the directness of the metaphor. Dogs
and Judaizers have this in common--that they tear flesh. The savage
delight of having inflicted a wound is shown in Gal. vi. 13. +Beware
of the concision.+--A bitter play on the name by which the Jews
thought themselves distinguished (Eph. ii. 11). St. Paul changes the
prefix, and stigmatises them as "the mutilation party." Lightfoot
gives illustrations of this toying with words, _e.g.,_ in the
complaint of an ambassador that he had been sent, not to Spain, but
to Pain.
Ver. 3. +For we are the circumcision.+--How completely Paul had
sloughed his Rabbinic literalism this verse clearly shows (Rom.
ii. 28, 29). +Which worship God in the Spirit.+--See our Lord's words
to the woman of Samaria, prophetic of the day when worship shall be
set free from its trammels and cerements (John iv. 23, 24).
Ver. 4. +Though I might also have confidence in the flesh.+--They
will never be able to say he "speaks evil of that which he knows
not." "If there is any profit in that direction," he might say, "I
will set my foot as far as who goes farthest." An _argumentum ad
hominem._
Ver. 5. +Circumcised the eighth day.+--Beginning with this he works
his way, though this and the following verses, to the climax of the
straitest sect. The items of this verse have to do with the birth and
education of the apostle.
Ver. 6. +Concerning zeal.+--"An expression of intense irony,
condemning while he seems to exalt his former self" (_Lightfoot_).
+Righteousness which is in the law.+--Legal righteousness. Exact
attention to all its manifold commands and prohibitions.
Ver. 7. +What things were gain.+--The various points in which I had
considered myself fortunate, giving me an advantage over others.
+Those I counted loss for Christ.+--The tense of the verb "counted"
denotes an action the result of which continues. It leaves no place
for after-regrets, like those of the woman who stopped to look back
on Sodom. St. Paul counts his Judaism, with its emoluments, well
lost. "Having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all
that he had and bought it" (Matt. xiii. 46).
Ver. 8. +Yea, doubtless, and I count, etc.+--A more explicit
statement of the abiding satisfaction with the chosen lot. "I still
do count." +All things.+--Whatever they may be--not simply those
named above. +For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus.+--"The eminent quality of a possession attained is the ground
for estimating other possessions according to their relation to that
one" (_Meyer_). +For whom I have suffered the loss of all
things.+--The words "gain" and "loss" are the same in these verses
as in our Lord's memorable saying "What doth it profit a man if he
gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" [R.V., "soul" A.V.] (Mark
viii. 36). +And do count them but dung.+--So R.V. text, "refuse,"
margin. If we accept the meaning "that which is thrown to the dogs,"
we have an apt interpretation, but we need to guard against
attributing to the apostle subtleties of expression born in a
lexicographer's brain.
Ver. 9. +Through the faith of Christ.+--Better without the article as
R.V. Faith is the medium by which righteousness comes. +The
righteousness which is of God.+--Which originates from God as the
fount of all righteousness. +By faith.+--R.V. margin, "upon"; that
is, resting upon faith as its condition; above it was the medium.
Ver. 10. +The power of His resurrection.+--The wide-reaching and
conquering force and efficacy which render death inert (2 Tim. 1. 10)
and draw "the sting of death" (1 Cor. xv.). +And the fellowship of
His sufferings.+--The apostle has no desire to go by any other way to
his glory than that by which his Lord went--_per crucem ad lucem._
+Being made conformable unto His death.+--R.V. "becoming conformed."
The original is one word where we have three, "being made
conformable," taking that lowly guise which will agree with the
bearing of Him who "took the form of a servant." "The agony of
Gethsemane, not less than the agony of Calvary, will be reproduced,
however faintly, in the faithful servant of Christ" (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 11. +If by any means I might attain.+--How little is there here
of the spirit of those who profess themselves "as sure of heaven as
though they were there." Meyer thinks the expression excludes moral
security, but not the _certitudo salutis_ in itself. +Unto the
resurrection of the dead.+--By a very slight change "from the dead"
instead of "of the dead" the R.V. indicates rather too feebly the
only use of the term in the New Testament. "From amongst" would have
been more likely to arrest attention. Whilst Meyer says the compound
word for resurretion in no way differs from the ordinary one,
LIghtfoot thinks the form of expression implies and the context
requires the meaning "the final resurrection of the righteous to a
new and glorified life."
Ver. 12. +Not as though I had already attained.+--The word for
"attained" may possibly refer to the turning-point in St. Paul's
history, and so the phrase would mean, "not as though by my
conversion I did at once attain." This interpretation, which is
Bishop Lightfoot's, is challenged by Dr. Beet. It seems preferable,
on other than grammatical grounds, because the following phrase, if
we refer the former to conversion, is an advance of thought. +Either
were already perfect.+--Describing a present state which is the
consequence of past processes. He has not reached the condition where
nothing else can be added. He is most blessed who, as he mounts ever
higher, sees perfection, like Abraham's mount of sacrifice, "afar
off."
Ver. 13. +Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.+--Some
think a reference to the opinion of others lies in the words; but St.
Paul seems to be denying of himself what others asserted (in various
ways) of themselves. +But this one thing I do.+--Lit. "but one
thing"; the words "I do" in A.V. and R.V. are a supplement. Meyer
thinks it better to supply "think." It does not seem necessary to
supply anything. "One thing" the apostle never loses sight of; all
the threads of life are gathered up into it. +Forgetting the things
that are behind.+--The thought of how much of the course had been
covered, and how it was done, sinks in the consideration of what has
yet to be achieved. +And reaching forth.+--"Like one of those eager
charioteers . . . of the Circus Maximus . . . leaning forward in his
flying car, bending over the shaken rein and the goaded steed"
(_Farrar_). St. Paul usually employs the figure of the foot-race; and
the "not looking back, which showed a right temper in a runner, would
be fatal to the charioteer" (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 14. +I press toward the mark.+--"I hasten towards the goal"
where the adjudicators stand. +For the prize of the high
calling.+--If the "hollow wraith of dying fame" could lead the
athletes to put forth almost superhuman effort, how much more worthy
was "the amaranthine crown of glory" (1 Pet. v. 4).
Ver. 15. +As many as be perfect.+--No longer novices, but having been
initiated fully into the most secret mysteries of the faith--"that
Christian maturity in which one is no longer a babe in Christ." The
reproachful irony which some detect hardly comports with the general
tone of the letter.
Ver. 16. +Let us walk by the same rule.+--That which had been to them
the means of such distinct progress had thus approved itself as the
safe and prudent course to follow.
Ver. 17. +Followers together of me.+--He does not, as some ungracious
pastors do, show the steep road to perfection whilst himself staying
at the wicket-gate. Like the Good Shepherd, he leadeth his sheep.
Ver. 18. +For many walk . . . the enemies of the cross of
Christ.+--Christians in name only, whose loose interpretations of the
perfect law of liberty make it possible to live an animal life. The
cross of Christ, symbol of His self-renunciation, should be the place
of execution for all fleshly desires of His followers; and, instead
of that, these men over whom an apostle laments have made it an
opportunity of sensual gratification. They say, "We cannot help Him;
He does not heed our help; it is of little consequence how we live."
Ver. 19. +Whose end is destruction.+--Beet argues from this that
Universalism cannot be true. It must be admitted that St. Paul is
speaking of sins of the body, and perhaps is thinking of the ruinous
effects of fleshly indulgence. +Whose god is their belly.+--Against
the dominion of appetite all the teachers of mankind are at one. All
agree in repudiating the doctrine of the savage:
"I bow to ne'er a god except myself
And to my Belly, first of deities."--_Seeley._
"The self-indulgence which wounds the tender conscience and turns
liberty into licence is here condemned" (_Lightfoot_). +Whose glory
is in their shame.+--Their natures are so utterly perverted that they
count that which is their degradation as matter for pride. Like the
man whom our Lord describes, such men not only "fear not God, nor
regard man," but can lightly vaunt the fact. +Who mind earthly
things.+--The peculiar form of expression is noteworthy. At these
men, "of the earth, earthy," the apostle stands looking in amazement.
His expression reminds us of St. James: "Let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord; a doubleminded man, unstable
in all his ways" (so the R.V.).
Ver. 20. +For our conversation is in heaven.+--"Our" is emphatic,
contrasting with the "earthly things" just named. "Conversation" is
that to which we most readily turn, as the needle trembles to the
pole. Our hearts are with our treasure, and that is far away from
earthly things. "They that say such things declare plainly that they
seek a city;" it is the soul's _"Heimweh,"_ the yearning for the
homeland. We must not understand the words to mean "Our mode of
speech is like that in heaven," nor "Our habit of life is heavenly."
The word for "conversation" means "the commonwealth," "the greater
assembly and Church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven"
(Heb. xii. 23). +From whence also we look for the Saviour.+--From
that heaven, "whither the Forerunner is for us entered," "He shall
come in like manner." Meanwhile we stand in readiness to receive Him.
The word for "look for" (R.V. "wait for") graphically depicts the
attitude of waiting.
Ver. 21. +Who shall change our vile body.+--R.V. much better, "Who
shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation." We are not to
consider the body as the cause of sin, as something outside the
redemption wrought by Christ, "the Saviour of the body." The
fashioning anew will not lose any essential part of the body. As the
colours in a kaleidoscope change form at each movement, but are yet
always the same, so in the change of the body there will be
"transition but no absolute solution of continuity." The body of our
humiliation is the frail tenement in which the exile spirit sojourns
(2 Cor. v. 1-8); it is the soon-wearied companion of an eager spirit
(Matt. xxvi. 41); it "returns to the dust as it was" (Eccles.
xii. 7). +That it may be fashioned like unto His glorious
body.+--R.V. "that it may be conformed to the body of His glory," as
contrasted with the body of His humiliation (Phil. ii. 8), the body
in which He tabernacled amongst us (John i. 14). +The power whereby
He is able to subdue all things.+--He has power, not only to raise
and glorify the body, but to subdue and renovate all things.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 1-3.
_The False and the True in Religion._
+I. The false in religion evident in the character of its
advocates.+--"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the
concision" (ver 2.). "Dogs" was an epithet expressive of great
contempt, and indicative of impurity and profanity. It was a term
applied to the Judaizers, or, as Chrysostom calls them, "base and
contemptible Jews, greedy of filthy lucre and fond of power, who,
desiring to draw away numbers of believers, preached at the same time
both Christianity and Judaism, corrupting the Gospel." They were
"evil workers" causing much spiritual mischief. They were of "the
concision"--mere cutters or slashers of the flesh. "The same men are
described in each clause as impure and profane, as working spiritual
mischief, and as taken up with a puerile faith in flesh-cutting. In
this first clause you have their character, in the second their
conduct, and in the third their destructive creed. Men who insisted
on circumcision as essential to salvation made the rite
ridiculous--Judaized ere they Christianised. To circumcise a Gentile
was not only to subject him to a rite which God never intended for
him, but it was to invest him with a false character. Circumcision to
him was a forgery, and he carried a lie in his person. Not a Jew, and
yet marked as one, having the token without the lineage, a seal of
descent and not a drop of Abraham's blood in his veins. To hinge
salvation, especially in the case of a Gentile, on circumcision was
such a spurious proselytism, such a total misappreciation of the
Jewish covenant, such a miserable subversion of the liberty of the
Gospel, such a perverse and superstitious reliance on a manual rite,
that its advocates might well be caricatured and branded as the
concision" (_Eadie_). The false in religion stands exposed and
condemned by the character and methods of its propagators.
+II. The true in religion has definite characteristics.+--1. _In the
spirituality of its worship._ "For we are the circumcision, which
worship God in the Spirit" (ver. 3). There is a great difference
between the derisive use of the term "concision" and the use of the
circumcision in this verse. There is a Christian circumcision, which
is a "putting off the body of the sins of the flesh"; and this is not
a manual but a spiritual act. All that the old circumcision typified
the Christian enjoys. "The spiritual offspring of Abraham have nobler
gifts by far than his natural seed--blessing not wrapped up in civil
franchise, or dependent upon time, or restricted to territory." The
Christian has learnt that true religion consists, not in forms and
ceremonies and temporal privileges, but in a right state of heart
towards God, in a loftier worship, and a more intense spiritual life.
2. _In making Christ the basis of confident exultation._--"Finally,
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord . . . rejoice in Christ Jesus"
(vers. 1, 3). Christ, and Christ only, is the Christian's plea, and
the joyous theme of his unending song: Christ, the Divine,
all-glorious Son of God. Theodosius, in the fourth century, at one
time so far favoured the Arians as to let them open their place of
worship and labour to undermine the Divinity of Christ. Soon after
this he made his son Arcadius, a youth of sixteen, an equal partner
with him in his throne; and the noblemen and bishops were invited to
come on an appointed day to congratulate him. Among the number was
Amphilocus, a famous old bishop who had bitterly suffered in the
Arian persecution. He made a very handsome address to the emperor,
and was about to take his leave, when Theodosius exclaimed: "What, do
you take no notice of my son? Do you not know that I have made him
partner with me in the empire?" Upon this the good old bishop went up
to young Arcadius, and, putting his hand upon his head, said, "The
Lord bless thee, my son." The emperor, roused into rage by this
apparent neglect, exclaimed: "What, is this all the respect you pay
to a prince that I have made of equal dignity with myself?" Upon this
the bishop, with the grandeur of an angel and the zeal of an apostle,
looking the emperor full in the face, indignantly said: "Sire, do you
so highly resent my apparent neglect of your son because I do not
give him equal honours with yourself? And what must the eternal God
think of you who have given leave to have His co-equal and co-eternal
Son degraded in His proper Divinity in every part of your empire?"
3. _In distrusting the supposed virtue of outward rites._--"And have
no confidence in the flesh" (ver. 3). No confidence in the supposed
good conferred by externals. Birth and lineage, family, tribe, and
nationality on the one hand, and the moral character determined by
them on the other, Paul reckons together as excellencies and gifts of
the same kind, and holds them in slight esteem compared with what he
has in Christ. The morality of men belongs to the province of the
natural life; it depends on birth, family, position, culture, time,
and circumstances, and gives reason, as does every favour, for humble
thankfulness, but not for proud boasting. Such, as contrasted with
the concision, is the circumcision; the children of believing Abraham
and blessed with him; serving God by His Spirit in a higher and more
elastic worship; glorying in Him who has won such privileges and
blessings for them, and having no trust in any externals or
formalities on which the Judaizer laid such stress as securing
salvation or as bringing it within an available reach (_Lange,
Eadie_).
+III. Against the false in religion it is necessary to faithfully
warn.+--"Beware . . . beware . . . beware!" (ver. 2) Like three peals
of a trumpet giving a certain blast do the three clauses sound, and
the repetition reveals the intense anxiety and earnestness of the
alarmed apostle. It is the duty of the minister to warn his people of
whatever endangers their spiritual life and eternal welfare. News
came to a certain town, once and again, that the enemy was
approaching; but he did not then approach. Hereupon in anger the
inhabitants enacted a law that no man on pain of death should bring
again such rumours as the news of an enemy. Not long after the enemy
came indeed, and besieged, assaulted, and sacked the town, of the
ruins of which nothing remained but this proverbial epitaph--"Here
once stood a town that was destroyed by silence."
+Lessons.+--1. _Genuine religion is self-evident._ 2. _Falseness in
the garb of religion works serious mischief._ 3. _True religion
demands constant watchfulness._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 1. _Safeguards against Error._--1. To rejoice in Christ--to be
constantly and with delight making recourse to Him--is a choice guard
against any error contrary to the truths relating to Him. 2. Often
repeating and inculcating truths that are most for edification ought
neither to be burdensome to a minister nor yet wearied of by the
people. 3. Temptations to error are covered over with such pious
pretences and lively baits that there is need of many guards and
frequent warnings.--_Fergusson._
Ver. 2. _Emphatic Warnings against False Teachers_--
+I. Because of their snarling methods and insatiable
greed.+--"Beware of dogs."
+II. Because of their wicked and destructive policy.+--"Beware
of evil workers."
+III. Because their zeal is wholly misdirected and
injurious.+--"Beware of the concision."
Ver. 3. _Spiritual Circumcision_--
+I. Is an inward and conscious spiritual change.+--"For we are the
circumcision."
+II. While reverently using outward forms of worship is superior to
them.+--"Which worship God in the Spirit."
+III. Finds its joy in living union with Christ.+--"And rejoice in
Christ Jesus."
+IV. Repudiates all ordinances that divert from Christ.+--"And have
no confidence in the flesh."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 4-8.
_External Religionism incomparable with the True Knowledge of Christ._
+I. The highest example of external religionism affords no ground for
confident boasting+ (vers. 4-6).--External religionism had its most
complete embodiment in Paul. He was its most zealous devotee, its
ablest champion. These verses describe the best eulogy that can be
given of the observer of external rites. By birth, lineage, training,
ability, consistency of character, and sincerity of aim, Paul was an
ideal Jew, a model all his countrymen might aspire to copy. If there
was ground for boasting, no one had a greater right than he. He
needed no Christ, no Saviour; he was well able to look after himself.
But one day the discovery came that all this glorying was vain;
instead of gaining salvation he was farther from it than ever, and in
danger of losing everything. Religious progress is often more
apparent than real. When Captain Parry and his party were in search
of the North Pole, after travelling several days with sledges over a
vast field of ice, on taking a careful observation of the pole-star,
the painful discovery was made that, while they were apparently
advancing towards the pole, the ice-field on which they were
travelling was drifting to the south, and bringing them nearer to the
verge, not of the pole, but of destruction.
+II. The supposed gains of external religionism are for Christ's sake
esteemed as loss.+--"But what things were gain to me, those I counted
loss for Christ" (ver. 7). Not losses, compared with the plural of
gains; but all the supposed gains are treated as one great loss, and
this after the most careful scrutiny and calculation. "I counted
loss." The swelling sum of fancied virtues, painfully gathered and
fondly and proudly contemplated, vanishes into nothing at one stroke
of the discriminating pen. All that was prized as valuable, and as
the all of personal possession, is regarded as dross, because of
Christ. They did not help him to win Christ, but to lose Him; the
more he gained in self-righteousness the more he lost of Christ. It
was not only profitless, but productive of positive loss.
+III. The surpassing excellency of the knowledge of Christ renders
external religionism utterly worthless.+--"I count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord; . . . and do count them but dung [refuse], that I may win
Christ" (ver. 8). The gains were: circumcision performed without any
deviation from legal time or method; membership in the house of
Israel, and connection with one of its most honoured tribes; descent
from a long line of pure-blood ancestry; adherence to a sect whose
prominent distinction was the observance of the old statutes; earnest
and uncompromising hostility to a community accused of undermining
the authority of the Mosaic code, and a merit based on blameless
obedience to the law. These once gloried and confided in were counted
as a loss, for the sake of a superior gain in the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ. He was no loser by the loss he had willingly
made, for the object of knowledge was the Divine Saviour. Is it not
super-eminent knowledge to know Him as the Christ; to know Him as
Jesus, not because he wears our nature, but because we feel His human
heart throbbing in unison with ours under trial and sorrow; to know
Him as Lord, not simply because He wears a crown and wields a
sceptre, but because we bow to His loving rule and gather the spoils
of the victory which He has won and secured? The apostle made a just
calculation, for neither ritualism, nor Israelitism, nor Pharasaism,
nor zealotism, nor legalism could bring him those blessing with which
the knowledge of Christ was connected; nay, until they were held as
loss this gain of gains could not be acquired (_Eadie_). As with the
two scales of a balance, writes Rieger, when one rises the other
falls, and what I add to one diminishes the relative weight of the
other; so as one adds to himself he takes away from the pre-eminence
which the knowledge of Christ should have. What he concedes to Christ
makes him willing to abase himself, to resign all confidence in His
own works. Therefore the sharp expressions, "to count as loss, as
dung," become in experience not too severe; for to reject the grace
of Christ, to regard the great plan of God in sending His Son as
fruitless, were indeed far more terrible.
+Lessons.+--1. _The highest kind and supreme end of all knowledge is
the knowledge of Christ._ 2. _True religion is the spiritual
knowledge of Christ._ 3. _Religion without Christ is an empty form._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 4-7. _Formalism tested and found wanting_
+I. The best that formalism can do for man, in religious lineage,
reputation, zeal, and strictest outward observances, has been
experimentally exemplified+ (vers. 5, 6).
+II. The most distinguished champion of formalism has confessed its
utter inadequacy to satisfy the soul+ (ver. 4).
+III. The highest advantages of formalism are worthless compared with
Christ+ (ver. 7).
Ver. 8. _The Excellent Knowledge of Christ_--
+I. Is extensive.+--Apprehends Him in all those notions and respects
wherein the Gospel principally discovers Him.
+II. Appropriating.+--Christ Jesus _my_ Lord.
+III. Effectual.+--Has a powerful efficacy both upon heart and life,
both upon judgment, affection, and practice.
+IV. Fiducial.+--It brings the soul to rest upon Christ and His
righteousness alone for pardon, acceptance, salvation.
+V. Useful.+--He that has it studies to improve Christ, to make use
of Him for those blessed and glorious purposes for which he knows
Christ is given.
+VI. Christ Himself is most excellent.+--1. There is nothing in Him
but what is excellent. 2. All excellencies in the creatures are
eminently to be found in Christ. 3. All these excellencies are in Him
in a more excellent manner; perfectly, without any shadow of
imperfection; infinitely, without any bounds or limits; eternally and
unchangeably, they ebb not, they wane not, they are always there in
the full, they alter not, they decay not. 4. Not only all that are in
the creatures, but innumerable more excellencies than are in all the
creatures together, are in Christ alone.
+VII. Those that have attained the excellent knowledge of Christ will
not think much to lose all things to gain Christ.+--1. All outward
enjoyments and earthly possessions. 2. Personal righteousness as a
means of justification.--_David Clarkson._
_The Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ._
+I. To know Christ in the Divinity of His person is excellent
knowledge.+
+II. To know Christ in the glory of His redemption is excellent
knowledge.+
+III. The comparative worthlessness of all else.+--1. _Wealth._
2. _Worldly honour._ 3. _Human learning._ 4. _Mere morality._
_The Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ._
+I. Is pre-eminent excellence is to be found in its
certainty.+--Proved by--1. _Prophecy._ 2. _Miracles._
3. _Experience._
+II. In its majesty and grandeur.+
+III. It its suitableness and adaptation.+
+IV. In its comprehensiveness.+
+V. The knowledge of Christ is sanctifying.+--_R. Watson._
_Christ the Only Gain._
+I. To count Him gain.+
+II. To covet and seek Him as gain.+
+III. To appropriate Him as gain.+
+IV. To enjoy Him as gain.+--_R. S. Candlish._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9-11.
_Features of the Believer's Life in Christ._
+I. The believer's life has its home and stronghold in Christ.+--"And
be found in Him" (ver. 9). Once lost, now found: found by Christ;
found in Him by others. Once homeless, now safely sheltered. One day
Charles Wesley was sitting by an open window looking over the bright
and beautiful fields in summertime. Presently a little bird, flitting
about in the sunshine, attracted his attention. Just then a hawk came
swooping down towards the little bird. The frightened thing was
darting here and there, trying to find some place of refuge. In the
bright sunny air, in the leafy trees or green fields, there was no
hiding-place from the fierce grasp of the hawk. But seeing the open
window and a man sitting by it, the bird, in its extreme terror, flew
towards it, and with a beating heart and quivering wing found refuge
in Wesley's bosom. He sheltered it from the threatening danger, and
saved it from a cruel death. Wesley was at that time suffering from
severe trials, and was feeling the need of a refuge as much as the
trembling bird that nestled safely in his bosom. So he took up his
pen and wrote the well-known hymn--
"Jesu, Lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly."
To be found in Christ means more than mere shelter, more than
external fellowship. It means a union as close and vital and abiding
as between the members of the body and the head; a union effected by
the Spirit, and being the very Spirit of Christ dwelling in us.
+II. The believing life consists of righteousness, not self-acquired,
but Divinely inspired through faith.+--"Not having mine own
righteousness, but that which is through the faith of Christ" (ver.
9). The apostle now touches upon a theme--justification by
faith--which he has argued out with a clearness and fulness
unequalled by any other New Testament writer. The righteousness which
was his own was out of the law, or originated by the law, and was
acquired by his own effort; but the righteousness which he finds in
Christ is not his own, but God's, and is acquired, not by his merits
or efforts, but by faith in Christ. "This righteousness, Divine in
its origin, awful in its medium, and fraught with such results, was
the essential element of Paul's religion, and the distinctive tenet
of his theology." When a friend happening to say to the Rev. John
Brown, of Haddington, "I suppose you make not your labours for the
good of the Church the ground of your comfort," he, with uncommon
earnestness, replied, "No, no no! it is the finished righteousness of
Christ which is the only foundation of my hope; I have no more
dependence on my labours than on my sins. I rather reckon it a wonder
of mercy that God took any of my labours of my hand. Righteousness
belongeth unto Him, but unto me shame and confusion of face."
+III. The believer's life is the creation of Divine power.+--1. _It
is a life communicated by the exercise of the Divine power that
raised Christ from the dead._ "That I may know Him, and the power of
His resurrection" (ver. 10). The power exerted by Christ's
resurrection is exerted in raising the Divine life in the believing
soul, and raising it to still higher developments of power and
enjoyment. The aspirations of the soul after Christ are aspirations
to know more and more the power of His resurrection.
2. _It is a life that will be consummated by the ultimate
resurrection of the body._--"If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead" (ver. 11). Towards this consummation the
apostle yearns with intense desire. All his hopes, all his soul
longed for, seem gathered up in this: perfect freedom for ever from
sin and sorrow; knowledge of Christ up to the fullest measure of his
capacity of knowledge; perfect experimental acquaintance with the
power of His resurrection, through perfect fellowship of life with
Him; the ineffable and everlasting blessedness of being with Him and
like Him; to rise out of the ashes of the tomb and assume the
glorious body of the resurrection. We can never forget a corridor in
the Vatican Museum, exhibiting on the one side epitaphs and emblems
of departed heathens and their gods, and on the other side mementoes
of departed Christians. Face to face they stand, engaged, as it were,
in conflict, the two armies clinging to their respective standards;
hope against despair--death swallowed up in victory. Opposite to
lions seizing on horses, emblems of destruction, are charming
sculptures of the Good Shepherd bearing home the lost lamb--a sign of
salvation.
+IV. The believer's life is in sympathetic fellowship with the
suffering Christ+--"And to know the fellowship of His sufferings"
(ver. 10). The sufferings of Christ are not ended--they are prolonged
in the sufferings of His people--and of these the apostle desired to
know the fellowship. He longed so to suffer, for such fellowship gave
him assimilation to his Lord, as he drank of His cup and was baptised
with His baptism. It brought him into communion with Christ, purer,
closer, and tenderer than simple service for Him would have achieved.
It gave him such solace as Christ Himself enjoyed. To suffer together
creates a dearer fellow-feeling than to labour together. Christ
indeed cannot be known unless there be this fellowship in His
sufferings (_Eadie_). An intimate friend of Handel's called upon him
just as he was in the middle of setting the words to music, "He was
despised," and found the great composer sobbing with tears, so
greatly had this passage and the rest of the morning's work affected
the master.
+Lessons.+--1. _The soul finds its highest life in Christ._ 2. _Life
in Christ is secured by the co-operation of man's faith with Divine
power._ 3. _To live in Christ is to share the fruits of His
mysterious passion._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 10. _Knowledge of the Power of Christ's Resurrection._
+I. To know Christ includes a clearly defined conception and
familiar acquaintance with the special characteristics and
unrivalled excellencies of His person.+
+II. To know the power of His resurrection.+--1. _As it is a public
and universal vindication of the proper dignity of His person._
2. _As it seals the doom of human sin._ 3. _As it ensures the
destruction of pain and death, and provides for the perpetuation
of the believer in a state of immortal felicity._
_The Power of Christ's Resurrection_--
+I. As a miracle attesting His Divine mission.+
+II. As an evidence of His Divinity.+--Resurrection does not always
prove Divinity, but in these circumstances (Rom. i. 3, 4).
+III. As an indication of the acceptance of His sacrifice.+
+IV. As an incentive to the pursuit of holiness.+--Risen with Christ;
risen in Him, sharing His life.
+V. As an instrument of social amelioration.+--The Gospel has
civilised where it has not Christianised, has repressed and
refined where it has not renewed or regenerated.
+VI. As a pledge and preassurance of the glorious resurrection of
His people.+--_G. Brooks._
_The Fellowship of Christ's Sufferings._
+I. We have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings in the pain
caused by coming in contact with sin.+
+II. In having our motives misinterpreted and our conduct misjudged.+
+III. In the purifying influence of suffering.+
Ver. 11. _The Resurrection of the Dead as an Object to aim at._
+I. The object which Paul contemplated.+--1. _The resurrection as the
proof of final escape from all evil._ 2. _The resurrection as the
occasion of public recognition by the Saviour-Judge._ 3. _The
resurrection as the pledge of eternal happiness in heaven._
+II. His desire for that object.+--_It supplies_--1. _A high
appreciation of its value._ 2. _A deep sense of its difficulty._
3. _A persuasion that it may be attained in various degrees._ 4. _A
submission to all the Divine arrangements in reference to
it.--G. Brooks._
_The Resurrection of the Just._
+I. What is that entire satisfaction and climax for which we are to
long and labour?+
+II. What are the scriptural representations of its accompaniments
and consequences?+--1. _The power of recognising all those whom they
have known in holy fellowship on earth._ 2. _The resemblance of our
nature to Christ._ 3. _High honour is destined for Christians._
+III. What are the determinations by which it is to be won?+--1. _The
relation which the present happy spiritualism of deceased saints
bears to the resurrection._ 2. _The representation of the
intermediate state._ It is a relic and disadvantageous condition of
death, though of death as far as possible mitigated. It shall be
overthrown, not only as a state, but as a separate power, in the
destruction of death.--_R. W. Hamilton._
_The Attainment of the Resurrection._
+I. Paul's aim.+--"The resurrection of the dead." 1. _The risen
Christ is the pledge of a risen life for man._ 2. _The rising of
Christ is a power to elevate life._ 3. _Hence arises the gradual
attainment of the resurrection._
+II. Paul's endeavour.+--"If by any means." The necessity for this
agonising endeavour arises from--1. _The difficulty of accomplishing
it._ 2. _The glory of its attainment.--E. L. Hull._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-16.
_The Highest Type of Christian Experience._
+I. The highest type of Christian experience is Divinely outlined in
Christ.+--"That for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus"
(ver. 12). "The prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus"
(ver. 14). The prize is not definitely described, but God through the
Gospel calls upon the soul to take hold of some great, dimly
portrayed good, some rich spiritual blessing, some fulness and
splendour of character to be secured by a fuller knowledge of Christ.
If we say the prize is heaven or the kingdom of God, what is the
heavenly kingdom but the fulness of Christ? Though not explained in
detail, the prize is sufficiently outlined in Christ, by the
master-hand of the Divine Artist, as to make it an object of intense
longing and strenuous effort to possess. The soul yearns to attain a
moral and spiritual perfection found only in Christ, and which the
unending development of the beauties of His character are constantly
disclosing in ever-growing splendour, and which closer union with Him
alone can seize and appropriate.
+II. The effort to attain the highest type of Christian experience is
stimulated by conscious defect.+--"Not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend" (ver. 12). The more clearly the apostle saw his
privilege in Christ, the more conscious was he of his shortcomings.
There is no progress possible to the man who does not see and mourn
over his defects. "The soul of all improvement is the improvement of
the soul;" and it is only a keen sense of need that stimulates the
soul to continuous and repeated efforts. The ideal is ever ahead of
the actual, revealing its defects and exciting to fresh and more
earnest endeavours.
+III. The highest type of Christian experience is attained only by
strenuous and continuous effort.+--"But this one thing I do, . . . I
press toward the mark" (vers. 13, 14). The racer, fixing his eye upon
the goal, leans forward, and turning his back upon things behind,
presses with all speed towards the prize he covets. If he turns
aside, he misses the mark and loses the garland. The great prizes of
life are gained only by persevering labour. However prodigious may be
the gifts of genius they can only be developed and brought to
perfection by toil and study. Think of Michelangelo working for a
week without taking off his clothes, of Handel hollowing every key of
his harpsichord like a spoon by incessant practice, and of the
sculptor polishing his statue with unwearied repetitions because he
said, "the image in my head is not yet in my hands." The prize of the
Christian race--the crown of eternal life and blessedness--is worthy
of the most laborious and self-denying efforts. When at times the
heart grows weary in the struggle, a glimpse of the diadem of beauty
obtained by faith revives the flagging energies.
+IV. Those who do not see the obligation of striving after the
highest type of Christian experience shall be aided with Divine
light.+--"If in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal
even this unto you" (ver. 15). The difference of view was not some
wilful and wicked conception, or some wretched prejudice adhered to
with inveterate or malignant obstinacy. It was rather some truth not
fully seen in all its bearings, some principle not so perceived as to
be carried out in all its details and consequences, some department
of duty which they might apprehend rather than appreciate, or some
state of mind which they might admire in the apostle, but did not
really covet for themselves. The apostle throws his own teaching into
the shade, and ascribes the coming enlightenment to God (_Eadie_).
The man who is honestly in pursuit of the highest good, though led
away for a time by erroneous views, shall not lack the light he
sincerely seeks. The light which will help him most must be light
from God.
+V. All progress towards the highest Christian experience must be on
the lines of real progress already made.+--"Whereto we have already
attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing"
(ver. 16). Every victory over self and sin is a stepping-stone to
further triumphs. The struggle of to-day will be the victory of
to-morrow. Our most helpful lessons are gathered from our failures.
Our present blessings were obtained through faith and labour; our
next must be gained in the same way. God will give more light to the
man who rightfully uses what he has. "When the morning bursts
suddenly on one awakened out of sleep, it dazzles and pains him; but
to him who, on his journey, has blessed the dawn and walked by its
glimmer, the solar radiance brings with it a gradual and cheering
influence."
+Lessons.+--1. _Christ is the sum and pattern of the highest good._
2. _Progress in religious experience is a growing likeness to
Christ._ 3. _The soul retains its highest enjoyment and power only in
Christ._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 13. _The Happy Day and its Sequel._
+I. St. Paul did not forget the circumstances of his arrest by
Jesus.+
+II. St. Paul's remembrance of his arrest led to a practical inquiry
as to its purpose.+
+III. The purpose of his arrest by Christ Jesus is before and not
behind him, even in his old age.+
+IV. What is the mark to which he presses onward?+--1. _A perfect
likeness to Christ._ 2. _A perfect service._ 3. _The reward
in heaven.--W. Hawkins._
Vers. 13, 14. _Pressing toward the Mark._
+I. The apostle's sense of his own shortcomings.+--1. _It argued a
high estimate of a Christian's duty._ Perfection is his aim, although
not his attainment.
2. _It argued a humble estimate of himself._--Though the most eminent
Christian on earth, he was fully conscious of his own imperfection.
+II. The apostle's method of Christian progress.+--1. _The
concentration of his energies._ Many things he did, and he did them
wholly. But he made them all subservient to his one idea, which thus
unified them all. Decision of character.
2. _Oblivion of the past._--A wonderful past was his, but he forgot
it, except as it might supply a stimulus to his future advances--past
times, past pleasures, past sins, past labours, past attainments. The
past must have dwelt in his memory, but it did not satisfy him.
"Onward" was his motto, and every day he began his race afresh.
3. _Untiring activity._--He had the goal ever in his eye; he often
measured the distance between him and the goal; he stretched every
nerve to reach the goal. (1) Do we resemble Paul in his aim? (2) Do
we resemble Paul in his efforts?--_G. Brooks._
_Aim High_--
+I. In pursuit of moral excellence.+
+II. Intellectual character.+
+III. Active usefulness.+
+Lessons.+--1. _God Himself has commanded it._ 2. _Society expects it
of you._ 3. _The age in which you live demands it.--E. D. Griffin._
Vers. 15, 16. _The Temper to be cultivated by Christians of Different
Denominations toward each other._
+I. Those who adhere to this rule.+--1. _Seek and cultivate their
society._ 2. _Use means to promote the mutual improvement of these
persons and of ourselves._ 3. _Do all we can to render our mutual
reciprocal union more perfect and our usefulness more extensive._
+II. Those who differ from us in matters of great
importance.+--1. _Give consideration to the way in which their_
_religious characters have been formed._ 2. _Pay regard to the
difficulties and misapprehensions which lie in the use of words._
3. _Reflect what would probably have been the effects upon our minds
had we been placed in their circumstances._ 4. _Act towards them with
justice and kindness._
+III. Those who differ from us in matters of smaller
moment.+--1. _Show them sincere and honest respect and kindness._
2. _Cultivate friendly intercourse with them as far as they are
disposed to reciprocate such intercourse._ 3. _Show that we esteem
the essential principle of the Gospel more than controversial
preciseness and ecclesiastical form.--J. P. Smith._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 17-19.
_Good and Bad Examples._
+I. A good example should be attentively studied.+--"Mark them which
walk so as ye have us for an ensample" (ver. 17). We cannot imitate
what we do not see and know. It will help us to be good if we
carefully watch and meditate on the conduct of the truly good. The
best example of uprightness and consistency is worthy of the most
painstaking study. "Wherever they found the life of the apostle
imitated and displayed the Philippians were to mark it and make it
their pattern. Any excellence which they thus discovered they might
by God's grace attain to. It was not some distant spectacle they were
to gaze at and admire, but an embodiment of earnest faith, walking on
the same platform with them., and speaking, acting, praying,
suffering, and weeping among them. What had been possible to others
was surely not impossible to them" (_Eadie_). A Polish prince was
accustomed to carry the picture of his father always in his bosom,
and on particular occasions used to take it out and view it, saying,
"Let me do nothing unbecoming so excellent a father."
+II. A good example should be faithfully imitated.+--"Brethren, be
followers together of me" (ver. 17). Paul had studied profoundly the
character of Christ, and was earnestly striving to follow Him. He
therefore exhorts the Philippians to imitate him as he sought to
imitate Christ; or rather, as Bengel puts it, he invites them to be
"fellow-imitators of Christ." To imitate Christ is not copying Him in
every particular. We cannot follow Him as Saviour, Mediator,
Redeemer. What is meant is, that we are to do our work in the Spirit
of Christ, as He would do it. He who follows Christ never misses the
right way, and is always led on to victory. When in the Mexican war
the troops were wavering, a general rose in his stirrups and dashed
into the enemies' lines, shouting, "Men, follow me!" They, inspired
by his courageous example, dashed on after him and gained the
victory. What men want to rally them for God is an example to lead
them.
+III. A bad example is in antagonism to the highest truth.+--"Many
walk, of whom I have told you, . . . they are the enemies of the
cross of Christ" (ver. 18). Professed friends, dubious in their
attachment and promises, are enemies of Christ, and of the great
movement in human redemption represented by His cross. While
professing to maintain the doctrines of the cross, by their wicked
lives they are depreciating them.
1. _A bad example is set by those who concentrate their chief thought
on the material._--"Who mind earthly things" (ver. 19). The world has
many attractions, but it has also many dangers. To be wholly absorbed
in its pursuits weans the soul from God and holiness and heaven.
Gosse tells us, in his _Romance of Natural History,_ of certain
animals which inhabit the coral reefs. So long as they keep the
passage to the surface clear they are safe; but, this neglected, the
animal finds the coral has grown around it and enclosed it in a
living tomb. And so it is with the life of the soul on earth. The
world is around us everywhere; the danger is when we allow it to grow
between our souls and God.
2. _A bad example is set by those who are supremely controlled by
their sensual appetites._--"Whose God is their belly" (ver. 19). The
desires of the flesh invite to self-indulgence--to gluttony,
revelling, drunkenness; to gaudiness, extravagance, and immodesty of
dress; to impurity of speech and conduct. A sensual man looks as if
lust had drawn her foul fingers over his features and wiped out the
man. The philosopher Antisthenes, who had a contempt for all sensual
enjoyment, used to say, "I would rather be mad than sensual."
3. _A bad example is set by those who gloat in their
degradation._--"Whose glory is in their shame" (ver. 19). Man has
reached the lowest depth of vice when he boasts in what is really his
shame. The last rag of modesty is thrown aside. "These enemies of the
cross were not hypocrites, but open and avowed sensualists, conscious
of no inconsistency, but rather justifying their vices, and thus
perverting the Gospel formally for such detestable conduct."
4. _The end of a bad example is ruin._--"Whose end is destruction"
(ver. 19). Evil is the broad way that leadeth to destruction. Sin
must be inevitably punished; it works its own fate--"sin when it is
finished bringeth forth death." Judge Buller, speaking to a young
gentleman of sixteen, cautioned him against being led astray by the
example or persuasion of others, and said, "If I had listened to the
advice of some of those who called themselves my friends, when I was
young, instead of being a judge of the King's Bench, I should have
died long ago a prisoner in the King's prison."
+IV. Professed members of the Church who set a bad example are the
occasion of constant solicitude and sorrow to the truly good.+--"For
many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even
weeping" (ver. 18). Even when denouncing the worst sins, the apostle
does it, not with harshness and imperious superiority, but with the
greatest tenderness and grief. The anxious minister may well weep
over the folly and delusion of half-hearted adherents, over their
false and distorted conceptions of the Gospel, over the reproach
brought against the truth by their inconsistent and licentious lives,
and over their lamentable end. The conduct of sinners is more a
matter of heart-breaking sorrow than of wrathful indignation.
+Lessons.+--1. _Example is more potent than precept._ 2. _A bad
example should be carefully shunned._ 3. _A good example should be
diligently imitated._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 17. _Imitation of the Good_--
+I. Possible only where there is a sympathetic resemblance to and
admiration of the character sought to be copied.+--"Brethren."
+II. Is easier when joined with those who have similar aims.+--"Be
followers together of me."
+III. Is aided by careful observation and study.+--"Mark them."
+IV. Every good man is an example for others to imitate.+--"So as ye
have us for an ensample."
Vers. 18, 19. _Enemies of the Cross_--
+I. Deny the efficacy and purpose of Christ's sufferings.+
+II. Are incompetent to appreciate the spiritual significance of the
cross.+--"Who mind earthly things."
+III. Are the victims of sensuality.+--"Whose god is their belly."
+IV. Are degraded beyond all bounds of modesty.+--"Whose glory is in
their shame."
+V. Will be inevitably punished.+--"Whose end is destruction."
+VI. Are the cause of much grief to those who must constantly expose
them.+--"Of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even
weeping."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20, 21.
_Christian Citizenship_--
+I. Has its centre of life and privileges in heaven.+--"For our
conversation [citizenship] is in heaven" (ver. 20). To show the
contrast between the earthly things which absorb the thought of the
worldly, and the things of heaven, the apostle proceeds to indicate
that the life of the believer, even on earth, is associated with the
privileges and blessings of the heavenly commonwealth, of which he is
a member. In this world the Christian is but a stranger--living in
temporary exile. His city, his home, is in heaven. Longing to enter
into possession of all the privileges of the heavenly franchise,
earthly things have no attraction for him, and he seeks to act in
harmony with his high destiny.
+II. Is assured of the deliverance of its members from the perils and
hardships of earth.+--"From whence also we look for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 20). The apostle characterises Jesus as
Saviour, or as expected in the character of Saviour, and thus
suggests an awful contrast, in point of destiny, between himself and
those like-minded with him, and the party reprobated by him in the
two preceding verses. Their end is destruction, but ours is
salvation; to the one He descends as Judge, but to us as Saviour. If
there be such visible difference in present character, there is a
more awful contrast in ultimate destiny--the two poles of
humanity--everlasting punishment; eternal life (_Eadie_). The great
Deliverer will emancipate us from the thraldom, suffering, and sorrow
of the present world, and complete in its fulness the salvation which
is now in process.
+III. Has the confident hope of future dignity and
blessedness.+--1. _The body of humiliation shall be transformed into
the likeness of Christ's glorified body._ "Who shall change our vile
body, that it may fashioned like unto His glorious body" (ver. 21).
The body of our humiliation connects us with the soil, out of which
it was formed, and by the products of which it is supported, on which
it walks, and into which it falls at death. It keeps us in constant
physical connection with earth, whatever be the progress of the
spirit towards its high destiny--its commonwealth in heaven. It
limits intellectual power and development, impedes spiritual growth
and enjoyment, and is soon fatigued with the soul's activity. In it
are the seeds of disease and pain, from functional disorder and
organic malady. It is an animal nature which, in spite of a careful
and vigilant government, is prone to rebellious outbreaks. But this
body is reserved to a high destiny: it shall be like Christ's
heavenly body. The brightness of heaven does not oppress Him, neither
shall it dazzle us. Our humanity dies indeed, and is decomposed; but
when He appears, it shall be raised and beautified. These bodies
shall cease to be animal without ceasing to be human bodies, and they
shall become spiritual bodies--etherealised vehicles for the pure
spirit that shall be lodged within them (_Eadie, passim_).
2. _This transformation shall be effected by the Divine power that
controls the universe._--"According to the working whereby He is able
even to subdue all things unto Himself" (ver. 21). While omniscience
is the actual possession or exercise of all knowledge, omnipotence is
universal ability, which may or may not yet have put forth all its
energies, for what is possible to it may not have been effected by
it. But Christ shall put forth His power, as we know from other
sources, and death itself shall be swallowed up in victory--that
which has swallowed up all humanity shall be surrounded by a wider
vortex and be itself engulfed. This body of our humiliation has some
surviving element, or some indissoluble link, which warrants the
notion and shall secure the consciousness of identity, in whatever
that identity may consist (_Eadie_). If man's art and device can
produce so pure and white a fabric as paper from filthy rags, what
shall hinder God by His mighty power to raise the vile body from the
grave and refine and fashion it like unto the glorious body of
Christ? "Not a resurrection," says Neander, "as a restoration merely
of the same earthly body in the same earthly form; but a glorious
transformation, proceeding from the Divine, the all-subduing power of
Christ; so that believers, free from all the defects of the earthly
existence, released from all its barriers, may reflect the full image
of the heavenly Christ in their whole glorified personality, in the
soul pervaded by the Divine life and its now perfectly assimilated
glorified organ."
+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian citizen is but a sojourner on earth._
2. _His conduct on earth is regulated by a heavenly life._ 3. _He
looks for his highest honours and enjoyments in the future._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 20. _Christian Citizenship._
+I. The heavenly citizenship of Christians.+--1. _The city to which
they belong_--heaven. 2. _When are true Christians made citizens of
this heavenly state?_ When they are pardoned. 3. _What are the
privileges connected with this state of relation to the heavenly
city?_ (1) _Freedom._ (2) _Admits to honourable employment and
office._ (3) _Fellowship and communion with the whole body of
Israel._ 4. _A right to the common property_--the inheritance of the
saints in light.
+II. The conduct manifested by true Christians, and corresponding
with their privilege.+--1. _Holiness._ 2. _Boast of the institutions
of the heavenly city._ 3. _Are bold and courageous._ 4. _It will be
seen in our spirit._ 5. _Our affections are in heaven.--R. Watson._
Ver. 21. _The Resurrection of the Human Body._
+I. We must be reminded of our sinful condition.+--1. _Our body is
called a body of humiliation, because it, as well as the spirit, is
the seat of sin._ 2. _If we consider the immense labour necessary to
provide for its wants._ 3. _If we consider it as a clog to our
devotion._ 4. _It must be still further humbled by death._
+II. The transformation of this humbled body.+--1. _There can be no
deformity._ 2. _The excessive care necessary for the support of the
body shall exist no more._ 3. _It shall be an assistant and no longer
a hindrance to the operations of the deathless spirit._
+III. The means by which the transformation will be effected.+--The
power of God answers all objections, removes all difficulties.
+Lessons.+--1. _It becomes us to aspire to as much of the glory of
the future state as can be attained._ 2. _This subject affords
encouragement to us on the loss of our friends._ 3. _Ought to fortify
our minds against the fear of death.--Ibid._
_The Glorious Destiny of the Human Body._--If we are in Christ, He
will gather up what is left, He will transfigure it with the
splendour of a new life, He will change our body of humiliation that
it may be fashioned like unto the body of His glory. Sown in the very
extreme of physical weakness, it will be raised in a strictly
superhuman power; sown a natural body controlled on every side by
physical law, it will be a true body still, but a body that belongs
to the sphere of spirit. Most difficult indeed it is even to the
imagination to understand how this poor body, our companion for so
many years--part of our very selves--is to be first wrenched from us
at death and then restored to us if we will, transfigured by the
majestic glory of the Son of God. Little can we understand this
inaccessibility to disease, the radiant beauty, the superiority to
material obstacles in moving through space, the spirituality, in
short, which awaits without destroying it.
"Heavy and dull this frame of limbs and heart.
Whether slow creeping on cold earth, or borne
On lofty steed
Or loftier prow, we dart
O'er wave or field,
Yet breezes laugh to scorn
Our puny speed,
And birds, and clouds in heaven,
And fish like living shafts that pierce the main,
And stars that shoot through freezing air at even.
Who would not follow, might he break his chain?
And thou shalt break it soon.
The grovelling worm
Shall find his wings, and soar as fast and free
As his transfigured Lord, with lightning form
And snowy vest. Such grace He won for thee
When from the grave He sprang at dawn of morn,
And led, through bondless air, thy conquering road,
Leaving a glorious track where saints new-born
Might fearless follow to their blest abode."--_H. P. Liddon._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER IV.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Brethren beloved and longed for . . . beloved.+--By these
caressing titles, which, however, are not words of flattery but of
sincere love, he works his way into their hearts. The "beloved"
repeated at the close of the verse is like the clinging embrace of
affection. +My joy.+--The most delectable joy of St. John was to hear
that his children walked in truth. So St. Paul says of his Philippian
converts, as he had said of their neighbours of the Thessalonian
Church, that they are his joy. +And crown.+--"The word must be
carefully distinguished from 'diadem.' It means a chaplet or wreath,
and the idea it conveys may be either (1) victory, or (2) merriment,
as the wreath was worn equally by the conqueror and by the
holiday-maker" (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 3. +And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow.+--It is doubtful
whom the apostle addresses. On the whole, however, it seems most
probable that Epaphroditus, the bearer of the epistle, is intended
(so Lightfoot, following Hofmann). Meyer says: "Laying aside
arbitrariness and seeing that the address is surrounded by proper
names, we can only find in the word for 'yokefellow' a proper
name, . . . genuine Syzygus, _i.e._ thou who art in reality and
substantially that which thy name expresses: '_fellow-in-yoke,_
fellow-labourer.'" +Whose names are in the book of life.+--St. Paul
had before said the polity of the Christians was a heavenly one. Here
he says there is a "burgess list" from which no name of a true
citizen is ever by accident omitted--though by any chance he might
have omitted to mention his co-workers in his epistle.
Ver. 4. +Rejoice in the Lord.+--R.V. margin, "Farewell." The word is
neither "farewell" alone, nor "rejoice" alone (_Lightfoot_). That the
A.V. and R.V. texts are justified in so translating seems clear from
the "always" which follows.
Ver. 5. +Let your moderation be known.+--This moderation or
forbearance is the very opposite of the spirit which will "cavil on
the ninth part of a hair" in the way of asserting personal rights.
Ver. 6. +Be careful for nothing.+--R.V. "in nothing be anxious." The
word suggests the idea of a poor distraught mind on which concerns
have fastened themselves, which drag, one in one direction, another
in the opposite. Well says Bengel, "Care and prayer are more opposed
than water and fire." In all things, prayer--in nothing, care. +By
prayer.+--The general idea of an expression of dependence.
+Supplication.+--The specific request--the word hinting too at the
attitude of the petitioner, _e.g._ clasping the feet of the person
from whom the favour is asked. +With thanksgiving.+--The preservative
against any possible defiance which might otherwise find its way into
the tone of the prayer, or on the other hand against a despair which
creeps over those who think God "bears long" and forgets to answer.
Ver. 7. +And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding.+--If we say the peace of God is so profound that the
human mind cannot comprehend it, no doubt that is an admissible
interpretation of these words; but it seems better far to say, the
peace of God excels all that the mere reason of man can do. The νοῦς,
the highest faculty of man as such, intended to be the guide of life,
oftener brings anxiety than a calm heart. +Shall keep your+
+hearts.+--As a watchman keeps a city. Lightfoot says we have a
verbal paradox, for "to keep" is a warrior's duty; God's peace shall
stand sentry, shall keep guard over your hearts. +And minds.+--R.V.
much better, "and thoughts," for it is not the mind which thinks, but
the products of thinking which the word indicates. The sentry
questions all suspicious characters (cf. Prov. iv. 23, and Matt.
xv. 19).
Ver. 8. +Whatsoever things are true.+--The apostle recognises the
ability of the renewed mind to discern truth under any guise. "Ye
have an unction from the Holy One and know all things" (1 John
ii. 20). +Honest.+--A.V. margin, "venerable." R.V. text,
"honourable." R.V. margin, "reverend." This variety shows the
difficulty of finding an exact equivalent for the word of St. Paul,
in which the sense of gravity and dignity, and of these as inviting
reverence, is combined. +Just.+--Answering to that which is normally
right (_Cremer_). +Pure.+--As there is no impurity like fleshly
impurity, defiling body and spirit, so the word "pure" expresses
freedom from these (_Trench_). It denotes chastity in every part of
life (_Calvin_). +Lovely.+--Christian morality as that which is
ethically beautiful is pre-eminently worthy to be loved. _"Nihil est
amabilius virtute,"_ says Cicero. +Of good report.+--R.V. margin,
"gracious." Lightfoot says _"fair-speaking"_ and so "winning,
attractive." Meyer says, "that which, when named, sounds significant
of happiness, _e.g._ brave, honest, honourable." +If there be any
virtue.+--The New Testament is frugal of the word which is in such
constant use in the heathen moralists. If they sought to make man
self-confident, it seeks to shatter that confidence. The noblest
manliness is godliness. +Think on these things.+--They are things to
be reckoned with by every man sooner or later--occupy the thoughts
with them now.
Ver. 9. +Those things . . . do.+--Here speaks the same man, with a
mind conscious of its own rectitude, who could say, "I have lived in
all good conscience before God unto this day." He had not only
"allured" his Philippian converts "to brighter worlds," but had "led
the way." +The God of peace shall be with you.+--Note the phrase in
connection with "the peace of God shall mount guard" (ver. 7).
Ver. 10. +Hath flourished again.+--R.V. "ye have revived your thought
for me." The active generosity of the Philippians towards St. Paul
had never died, any more than a tree does when it sheds its leaves
and stands bare all through the winter. The winter of their
disability was past, and the return of the sun of prosperity made the
kindly remembrance of the apostle sprout into a generous gift to him.
Ver. 11. +Not that I speak, etc.+--"Do not mistake me; I am not moved
thus by the good of my own need." The apostle does not leave it
possible for one to say with the melancholy Jaques, "When a man
thanks me heartily, methinks I have given him a penny and he renders
me the beggarly thanks." +I have learned . . . to be
content.+--"Self-sufficiency," said Socrates, "is nature's wealth."
St. Paul is only self-sufficient so far as Christ dwells in him and
assures him, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (cf. Heb. xiii. 5).
Ver. 12. +I know how to be abased.+--To be "in reduced
circumstances." +I know how to abound.+--To be in affluence. By this
it does not appear that St. Paul meant, "I have chewed the bitter cud
of penury, and tasted the sweets of prosperity." Many a man has had
to do that--everything lies in how it is done. It is as much beneath
the Christian philosopher to make a wry face at the one, as to clap
the hands in childish glee at the other. +I am instructed,
etc.+--Lit. "I have been initiated." The pass-word is in the
apostle's possession--no novice is he. +To be full and to be
hungry.+--As if we said "to pasture and to pine." It is the
psalmist's "green pastures and still waters. . . . The valley of the
shadow of death" (Ps. xxiii.).
Ver. 13. +I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.+--A fresh general statement of the self-sufficiency of ver. 11.
"In the grand brevity how marked is the assurance, and at the same
time humility" (_Meyer_).
Ver. 15. +No Church communicated with me.+--The lofty independence of
the apostle had not unbent to any other Church as to this. There are
men from whom one could never receive a gift without sacrifice of
self-respect. St. Paul was not the man to be patronised.
Ver. 18. +An odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well
pleasing to God.+--The last word transfers their deed to another
sphere entirely. "Ye did it unto _Me,_" says Christ (Matt. xxv. 40).
Ver. 19. +My God shall supply all your need.+--Did I say, "I am
filled"? (ver. 18). I can make you no return, but my God will. He
will fulfil every need of yours. +According to His riches in
glory.+--According to the abundant power and glorious omnipotence
whereby as Lord of heaven and earth He can bestow what He will.
Ver. 22. +The saints . . . of Cæsar's household.+--This expression
does not oblige us to think that any relatives of Cæsar had embraced
Christianity. It comprises all who in any way were connected with the
imperial service.
Ver. 23. +Be with you all.+--The oldest MSS. read, "Be with your
spirit."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 1.
_A Plea for Steadfastness_--
+I. After the pattern of those worthy of imitation.+--"So stand fast
in the Lord." Having pointed out the dignity of Christian citizenship
and the exalted conduct befitting those possessing its privileges,
the apostle exhorts them to steadfastness in imitating those who,
through evil and good report and in the midst of opposition and
suffering, had bravely maintained their loyalty to Christ. "_So_
stand fast"--be sincere and earnest in devotion to God, as they were;
be faithful and unflinching, as they were; triumph over the world,
the flesh, and the devil, as they did. "Behold, we count them worthy
who endure;" and the same distinction of character is attainable by
every follower of Christ, attainable by patient continuance in
well-doing. The ideal of a steadfast character is embodied in the
Lord, who was Himself a supreme example of unfaltering obedience and
love. Follow Him; being united to Him by faith, deriving continual
inspiration and strength from His Spirit, stand fast in Him. Riding
up to a regiment that was hard pressed at Waterloo, the Duke of
Wellington cried to the men, "Stand fast, Ninety-fifth! What will
they say in England?" History records how successfully the appeal was
obeyed. Stand fast, Christians! What will they say in the heavenly
city to which you belong, and for whose interests you are fighting?
William of Orange said he learnt a word while crossing the English
Channel which he would never forget. When in a great storm the
captain was all night crying out to the man at the helm, "Steady!
steady! steady!"
+II. Addressed to those who have given evidence of willingness to be
instructed.+--"My joy and crown." The Philippians who had embraced
the Gospel he preached, and whose lives had been changed by its
power, were the joy and crown of the devoted apostle. The crown was
not the diadem of royalty, but the garland of victory. He has in his
mind the famous athletic games of the Greeks, which in the diligent
training and the strenuous effort to gain the laurel coronet, and the
intensity of joy felt by the victors, were a significant illustration
of the Christian life, whether as regards the spiritual progress of
the believer himself, or his work for the salvation of others. He
believed the Lord would place around his brow an imperishable garland
of honour, of which each soul that had been quickened, comforted, and
strengthened by him would be a spray or leaf. In Nero's prison, aged,
worn with trouble, manacled, uncertain of life, he rejoiced in being
a successful minister of Christ--a conqueror wreathed with amaranth.
The emperor in his palace was in heart weary and wretched; the
prisoner was restful and happy, invested with a glory that should
shine on undimmed, when the glitter of Nero's power and grandeur
should vanish as a dream. The satisfaction enjoyed by those who first
led us to Christ and who have helped us in our spiritual struggles,
is another reason for continued steadfastness and fidelity.
+III. Urged with affectionate solicitude.+--"My brethren deeply
beloved and longed for, . . . my dearly beloved." The terms employed
are the outflow of a jubilant spirit, and are full of tender
endearment and loving appreciation. Love delights to exaggerate; yet
there is no exaggeration here. The Philippians were to the apostle
"brethren beloved--dearly beloved"--children of the same spiritual
Father, members of the one family of God, united together in a happy
Christian brotherhood. He recalls the first introduction of the
Gospel into Philippi, the preaching of the Word, the impression made,
the converts won, the formation of the Church, and its growth and
prosperity, amid labours and suffering. Attachments were then formed
that deepened and strengthened with the years. Christian friendships
call forth the finest feelings of the soul, and form a strong bond of
union in the love of a common Saviour. Christ will have no forced
selection of men, no soldiers by compulsion, no timorous slaves, but
children, brethren, friends.
+Lessons.+--1. _Steadfastness is a test of genuine devotedness._
2. _Instability is a loss of advantages often won at great cost._
3. _They who endure will finally conquer._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 2, 3.
_Glimpses of Life in the Early Church._
+I. The early planting of the Gospel involved arduous and united
toil.+--"Which laboured with me in the gospel" (ver. 3). Prodigious
as were the labours of Paul, he could never have accomplished the
work he did but for the willing co-operation of others. There is
great art in evoking the sympathy and help of those who can help
forward the work of God. Christian work finds scope for all kinds of
talents and agencies. Pioneer work is rough work and tests all our
powers and resources. The difficulties of the work unite its
propagators in heart and hand. There is little good done without
strenuous labour, though the results of our toil are not always
immediately apparent. Dr. Judson laboured diligently for six years in
Burmah before he baptised a convert. At the end of three years he was
asked what evidence he had of ultimate success. He replied, "As much
as there is a God who will fulfil all His promises." A hundred
churches and thousands of converts already answer his faith.
+II. The names of Gospel pioneers are not forgotten.+--"With Clement
also, and with other my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book
of life" (ver. 3). Some of these names are recorded in the pages of
history and handed down to our day; the rest, though unknown on
earth, are registered in the imperishable pages of "the book of
life." Clement, though unknown to fame and unidentified with any
other of the same name mentioned in history, is referred to here as
recognising the apostle's cordial recollection of his valuable work.
But the unknown on earth are not forgotten in heaven. The work we do
for God will live for ever. When Columbus was homeward bound after
his brilliant discovery of a new world he was overtaken by a terrible
storm. In his indescribable agony that not only his life and that of
his crew, but his magnificent discovery must all go down and be lost
in the abyss, and that, too, not far from land, he committed to the
deep hurried entries of that discovery sealed up in bottles, in the
hope that some day they might reach land. We need not be unduly
anxious about either our work or our fame; God will take care of both.
+III. From the earliest times women have rendered valuable help in
the propagation of the Gospel.+--"Euodias, Syntyche, . . . women
which laboured with me in the gospel" (vers. 2, 3). In the Temple
worship the Jewish women were fenced off in a court by themselves.
The woman occupied an inferior religious position in Rabbinical
teaching. It was a shock to public feeling to see a rabbi talking to
a female. Even the disciples were surprised that their Master should
be found conversing with a woman on the brink of the Samaritan well.
Jesus Christ broke down this middle wall of partition as He had
broken down the other. Here, again, He made both one. If in Christ
there is no distinction of Jew and Gentile, neither is there of male
or female. Women were His faithful and constant attendants; women
were the favoured witnesses of His resurrection; women were among the
most helpful fellow-workers of the apostles. There was an organised
ministry of women deaconesses and widows in the Apostolic Church.
"What women those Christians have," exclaimed the heathen
rhetorician, on learning about Anthusa, the mother of Chrysostom.
Anthusa at the early age of twenty lost her husband, and
thenceforward devoted herself wholly to the education of her son,
refusing all offers of further marriage. Her intelligence and piety
moulded the boy's character and shaped the destiny of the man, who in
his subsequent eminence never forgot what he owed to maternal
influence. It is no exaggeration to say that we owe those rich
homilies of Chrysostom, of which interpreters of Scripture still make
great use, to the mind and heart of Anthusa.
+IV. We learn the apostolic method of reconciling two eminent women
in serious disagreement.+--1. _He addresses to each an earnest and
pointed exhortation to unity._ "I beseech Euodias, and beseech
Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord" (ver. 2). He
repeats the entreaty to show that he placed the like obligation on
each of them. He does not exhort the one to be reconciled to the
other, for they might have doubted who should take the initiative,
and they might wonder, from the position of their names and
construction of the sentence, to which of them the apostle attached
the more blame. But he exhorts them both, the one and the other, to
think the same thing--not only to come to a mutual understanding, but
to preserve it. The cause of quarrel might be some unworthy question
about priority or privilege, even in the prosecution of the good
work--vainglory leading to strife. It does not seem to have been any
difference in creed or practice (_Eadie_).
2. _He recognises their devoted and impartial labours._--"Those women
which laboured with me in the gospel" (ver. 3). Their work does not
appear to have been done from personal friendship, as is often the
case; they treated all and helped all alike. They were deeply
interested in the spread of the Gospel and the increase of the
Church, and toiled with such self-sacrificing devotion as to elicit
the special commendation of the apostle.
3. _He entreated that help might be rendered them in the adjustment
of their quarrel._--"And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help
those women" (ver. 3). A third party is appealed to, to interpose his
good offices--an evidence that Paul regarded the harmony of these two
women a matter of no small importance. Mediation between two persons
at variance is delicate and difficult work, but if judiciously done
may help to a reconciliation. Women were the first to receive the
Gospel at Philippi, and from the first used their influence and
opportunities in commending it to their sex. The unseemly
misunderstanding between these two women whose labours had been so
blessed made it the more necessary that something should be done to
heal the breach.
+Lessons.+--1. _Pioneer work has special hardships and temptations._
2. _The best of women may quarrel._ 3. _It is the wise policy of the
Christian statesman to compose and strive to prevent discord and
disunion._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 2. _Feminine Disagreement_--
+I. May occasion much mischief in a Church.+
+II. All the more dangerous where the parties are eminent in gifts
and labours+ (ver. 3).
+III. Reconciled when truly possessing one mind in Christ.+--"Be of
the same mind in the Lord."
+IV. The most earnest entreaty should be employed to rectify.+--"I
beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche."
Ver. 3. _Names in the Book._
+I. Some observations.+--1. _It is a great thing to have a name in
the New Testament._--Think of the roll-call in Rom. xvi. and Heb. xi.
2. _It is a great thing now to have a name in the family Bible,_ for
that generally signifies Christian training and parental prayers.
3. _It is a great thing to have a name upon the pages of a church
register._--How affecting are these old manuals, with their lists of
pious men and women, many of whom have passed into the skies.
4. _It is the greatest thing of all to have a name in the Lamb's Book
of Life._--Beyond all fame (Matt. xi. 11). Beyond all power (Luke
x. 20).
+II. Some questions.+--1. _In how many books is your name written
now?_ 2. _How can a human name be written securely in the Lamb's Book
of Life?_ 3. _To backsliders: are you going to return to your name,
or do you want it to come back to you?_ 4. _To Christian workers: how
many names have you helped to write in the Book of Life?_ 5. _Is
there any cheer in thinking how our names will sound when the books
are opened in the white light of the throne?--Homiletic Monthly._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 4.
_Christian Joy_--
+I. Is in the Lord.+--"Rejoice in the Lord." The joy of the Christian
is not in his own achievements, still less is it in himself or in his
own experiences. A glance at ourselves and the imperfections of our
work for God fills us with shame and sadness. Pure, lasting joy is
found nowhere but "in the Lord." When Möhler, the eminent Roman
Catholic symbolist, asserted that "in the neighbourhood of a man who,
without any restriction, declared himself sure of his salvation, he
should be in a high degree uneasy, and that he could not repel the
thought that there was something diabolical beneath this," he only
afforded a deep glance into the comfortlessness of a heart which
seeks the ultimate ground of its hope in self-righteousness, and in
making assurance of salvation to depend on attainment in holiness
instead of in simple faith in Christ. The friends of Haller
congratulated him on the honour of having received a visit in his
last hours from the emperor Joseph II.; but the dying man simply
answered, "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." The more
we realise Christ, not as a dim abstraction or a mere historic
personage, but as a living and loving personal reality, the more
truly can we rejoice in Him.
+II. Is constant.+--"Always." Christian joy is not a capricious
sentiment, a fitful rapture, but a steady, uniform, and continued
emotion. The direction of the apostle to rejoice always sounds like a
paradox. How can we continually rejoice when we are continually in
the midst of sin, suffering, and sorrow? Still, when we think of the
change Divine grace has wrought in us, when we think of the ample
provisions of the Gospel every moment available to us, when we
contemplate the bright prospects before us which even present
distresses cannot dim, and when we remember the infinite ability of
our Lord to accomplish all He had promised us, our joy may well be
perennial. Airay, the earliest English expositor of this epistle, has
well said: "When Satan, that old dragon, casts out many flouds of
persecutions against us; when wicked men cruelly, disdainfully, and
despitefully speake against us; when lying, slandering, and deceitful
mouthes are opened upon us; when we are mocked and jested at and had
in derision of all them that are about us; when we are afflicted,
tormented, and made the world's wonder; when the sorrowes of death
compasse us and the flouds of wickednesse make us afraid, and the
paines of hell come even unto our soule; what is it that holds up our
heads that we sinke not, how is it that we stand either not shaken,
or, if shaken, yet not cast downe? Is it not by our rejoycing which
we have in Christ Jesus?"
+III. Is recommended by experience.+--"And again I say rejoice." Paul
recommended what he himself enjoyed. If he, in the midst of
disappointment, imprisonment, and suffering, would rejoice and did
rejoice, so may others. It might be that, as he wrote these words, a
temporary depression crept over him, as he thought of himself as a
prisoner in the immediate prospect of a cruel death. It was but a
passing feeling. In a moment Divine grace triumphed, and with
heightened elation and emphasis he repeated, "And again I _will_ say,
rejoice." We have already remarked that joy is the predominating
feature of this epistle, and to the last the apostle maintains the
exalted strain.
+Lessons.+--1. _Great joy is found in working for God._ 2. _Joy is
found not so much in the work as in the Lord._ 3. _It is the
Christian's privilege to rejoice always._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 4. _Rejoicing in the Lord._
+I. The text involves the fact that believers may and should
rejoice.+--1. _The world holds that believers have no enjoyment._
2. _There are believers who all but teach this;_ for--(1) they use
not the language of joy themselves; (2) they discourage it in others.
3. _But that believers may and should rejoice is evident_
for--(1) joy is commanded as a duty; (2) it is mentioned as a fruit
of the Holy Ghost; (3) it is a feature of the Christian, portrayed in
the Scriptures (Acts ii. 46, 47). 4. _The spiritually-minded, if not
warped by some defective system of doctrine, rejoice._ 5. _Joy is
quite consistent with those states of mind which are thought to be
inconsistent with it._ "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." 6. _Joy is
the natural result of peace with God._
+II. The text exhibits the nature of the joy peculiar to the
believer.+--He rejoices "in the Lord." 1. _The world rejoices in the
creature and shuts out God._ 2. _The believer rejoices only in God._
3. _This joy has several elements._ (1) The believer rejoices that
God is--"I am." (2) He rejoices that He is what He is. (3) He
rejoices in the manifestations of His glory, which He has made in His
Word, works, and ways. (4) He rejoices in his own relation to Him in
Christ--"boasting himself in God." (5) He rejoices in the hope of the
glory of God. 4. _Every element of pure and elevated pleasure is
found in His joy._ 5. _It is fellowship with God Himself in His joy._
+III. The text renders it binding upon the believer at all times to
seek this privilege and to cherish this feeling+--"always."--This
command is reasonable, for: 1. _God is always the same._ 2. _The
believer's relation to Him is unalterable._ 3. _The way to God is
always open._ 4. _The mind may always keep before it the views which
cause joy_--by the indwelling Spirit.
+IV. The manner in which the commandment of the text is pressed
teaches us the importance of the duty it inculcates.+--Its importance
is manifest, for: 1. _It is the mainspring of worship and obedience._
2. _It prevents a return to sinful pleasures._ 3. _It renders us
superior to temporal suffering_--fits for enduring for Jesus Christ.
4. _It presents to the world_ (1) True religion. (2) Connected with
enjoyment.
+V. The manner in which the commandment of the text is expressed
implies that there are obstacles in the way of obedience.+--What are
some of the obstacles? 1. _A habit, natural and strong, of drawing
our satisfaction from the creature._ 2. _Not keeping "a conscience
void of offence towards God and man."_ 3. _Not having the heart in a
state to have sympathy with God's character._ 4. _Not proportioning
aright the amount of attention given to self and Christ._ 5. _Not
making sure of our interest in Christ.--Stewart._
_Joy in the Lord_--
+I. Is intellectual.+
+II. Moral.+
+III. Spiritual.+
+Lessons.+--1. _Our power of rejoicing in the Lord is a fair test of
our moral and spiritual condition._ 2. _Is a Christian's main support
under the trials of life._ 3. _Is one of the great motive forces of
the Christian life.--H. P. Liddon._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 5.
_Christian Equity_--
+I. Does not exact all the claims of legal justice.+--"Let your
moderation [forbearance] be known." Human laws, however carefully
devised, may sometimes, if rigidly enforced, act unjustly and
cruelly. We should guide ourselves at all times by the broad
principles of equity in the sight of God. We should not urge our own
rights to the uttermost, but be wiling to waive a part, and thus
rectify the injustice of justice. "The archetype of this grace is
God, who presses not the strictness of His law against us as we
deserve, though having exacted the fullest payment for us from our
Divine Surety" (_Fausset_). It is not gentleness as an innate
feeling, but as the result of self-restraint. It does not insist on
what is its due, it does not stand on etiquette or right, but it
descends and complies. It is opposed to that rigour which never bends
nor deviates, and which, as it gives the last farthing, uniformly
exacts it. It is not facile pliability--a reed in a breeze--but that
generous and indulgent feeling that knows what is its right, but
recedes from it; is conscious of what is merited, but does not
contend for strict proportion. It is that grace which was defective
in one or other, or both, of the women who are charged by the apostle
to be of one mind in the Lord. For, slow to take offence, it is swift
to forgive it. Let a misunderstanding arise, and no false delicacy
will prevent it from taking the first step towards reconciliation or
adjustment of opinion (_Eadie_).
+II. Should be evident in dealing with all classes.+--"Be known unto
all men." We are to practise forbearance, not only towards our
Christian brethren, but towards the world, even towards the enemies
of the Gospel. It is a rebuke to the Christian spirit to be austere,
unbending, and scrupulously exacting. If we are always rejoicing in
the Lord, we cannot cherish hard feelings towards any. The Christian
should be notorious for gentleness and forbearance; all with whom we
come in contact should be made to know it and feel it. We should be
prepared for yielding up what may be our own rights, and to endure
wrong rather than dishonour Christ, or give a false representation of
the heavenly life which He exemplified and recommended, and which is
becoming in all His professed followers. "This gentleness manifests
itself at one time as equanimity and patience under all
circumstances, among all men and in manifold experiences; at another
as integrity in business relations; as justice, forbearance, and
goodness in exercising power; as impartiality and mercy in judging;
as noble yielding, joyful giving, and patent enduring and forgiving"
(_Passavant_).
+III. Should be practised as conscious of the near advent of
Christ.+--"The Lord is at hand." The early Church had a vivid sense
of the immediateness of the second coming of Christ, and were taught
to do and bear everything as in His sight. We lose much in spiritual
power, and in the realisation of eternal things, when we consign that
advent to the remote and indistinct future. After all, the second
coming of Christ, and not our own death, is the goal on which our eye
should be fixed, as the period which will furnish us with the true
and final value of our life-work. In the first ages it would have
been deemed a kind of apostasy not have sighed after the day of the
Lord. The coming of the Lord is a motive to show moderation and
clemency towards all men, even towards our enemies, for the great
Judge is near, who will rectify all inequalities and redress all
wrongs.
+Lessons.+--1. _Equity is superior to legal enactments._ 2. _It is a
sorry spectacle when Christians appeal to the civil courts to settle
their differences._ 3. _The Christian spirit is the highest equity._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6, 7.
_The Cure of Care._
+I. That all anxious care is needless.+--"Be careful for nothing"
(ver. 6). It is not forethought that is here condemned, but anxious,
distracting care. Care is a kill-joy and is the great enemy of
Christian peace. The future is not ours; why be anxious about it? The
past is done with, and regrets about it are unavailing. The future is
provided for, for God, the great Provider, is ahead of every step we
take towards that future. The ancient custom of distracting a
criminal by tying him to the wheels of two chariots which were then
driven in opposite directions well illustrates how cares may be
allowed to distract the mind. We put ourselves on the rack when we
ought to cast our care on God, not in part, nor occasionally, but in
all things and at all times. Care depreciates the value of all our
past blessings and dims our vision of the blessings we now actually
possess. After the great military victories of Marlborough in 1704,
he one day said: "I have for these last ten days been so troubled by
the many disappointments I have had, that I think if it were possible
to vex me so for a fortnight longer, it would make the end of me. In
short, I am weary of my life."
+II. That all anxious care should be taken to God in thankful
prayer.+--"But in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God" (ver. 6). The
best system of heathen philosophy regarded equability of mind,
undisturbed alike by the troubles and allurements of the world, as
the most perfect state of the soul; but it did not provide any
adequate motive for attaining this desirable equipoise. It could only
state the theory and insist on its importance; but refractory human
nature had its own way, in spite of philosophy. The apostle supplies
in these words a nobler and more workable philosophy. He not only
exhorts us to tranquillity of mind but shows us how it may be
attained and kept. In all kinds of anxieties and especially in the
struggles of religious doubt, prayer is the truest philosophy. Our
difficulties vanish when we take them to God.
"By caring and by fretting,
By agony and fear,
There is of God no getting;
But prayer He will hear."
We should cast our care on God because He is our Father. A father's
office is to provide for his family. It is out of place for a child
to be anxiously making provision for emergencies--asking where
to-morrow's food and clothing are to come from, and how the bills are
to be paid. We should rebuke such precocity, and send the child to
school or to play, and leave all such matters to the ordained
caretaker. The birds of the air are taken care of; so shall we be,
even though our faith is small. "Our prayers run along one road, and
God's answers by another, and by-and-by they meet. God answers all
true prayer, either in kind or in kindness" (_Judson_).
+III. That the peace of God in the heart will effectually banish all
care.+--"And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall
keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (ver. 7). The
enemies of peace are: melancholy, to which the apostle opposed joy in
the Lord (ver. 4); want of self-restraint or intemperance of feeling
or conduct, to which he opposes moderation (ver. 5); care and
anxiety, or unthankfulness and unbelief, to which he opposes grateful
and earnest prayer (ver. 6); the final result is peace (ver. 7). The
peace that God gives "passeth all understanding"; it is deep,
precious, immeasurable. God alone fully understands the grandeur of
His own gift. It is an impenetrable shield to the believing soul; it
guards the fortress in peace though the shafts of care are constantly
hurled against it.
+Lessons.+--1. _Our sins breed our cares._ 2. _God is ever willing to
take up the burden of our cares._ 3. _Only as we commit our cares to
God have we peace._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 6, 7. _The Remedy for Worldly Care._
I. A caution or warning.+--"Be careful for nothing."
1. _This does not respect duty._--We must have a care for our Lord's
interests.
2. _But having performed duty, we are not to be careful as to
consequences._--(1) Because unnecessary. Christ cares. (2) Because
useless. It cannot ward off the evil. The evil only in imagination.
The evil often a good. Itself the greatest evil.
3. _Because positively sinful._--(1) It breaks a commandment. (2) It
sets aside promises. (3) It undervalues experience. (4) It distrusts
God's wisdom and goodness. (5) It is rebellion against God's
arrangements. (6) It is an intrusion into God's province.
4. _Because hurtful and injurious._--(1) It often deters from duty.
(2) It destroys the comforts of duty.
+II. Counsel or advice as to the manner in which the evil is to be
avoided.+--"But in everything by prayer and supplication." 1. _The
correction is not a needless and reckless indifference._ 2. _The
emphatic word here is "everything."_ This describes the range of
prayer. This precept is generally neglected. 3. _The performance of
this duty would correct carefulness._ It places everything under
God's government, and leaves it there. It leads to a study of the
Divine will in secular affairs. Our prospects and plans are thus
tested. It gives to every event the character of an answer to
prayer--evil as well as good. Prayer, _i.e._ direct entreaty or
petition. Supplication, _i.e._ deprecation. Thanksgiving for all past
and present.
+III. A promise as to the results of following this counsel or
advice.+--"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds."
1. _The mind and the heart are the seat of care._--The mind
calculates, imagines. The heart feels fear, grief, despair.
2. _The mind and heart are made the seat of peace._--"The peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and
minds through Jesus Christ." The peace which God has flows from
unity, from omnipotence. This is the peace of God, because He gives
it.
3. _This peace comes through Jesus Christ._--He produces the unity.
He encircles with omnipotence.--_Stewart._
Vers. 6, 7. _Anxious Care._
+I. The evil to be avoided.+--1. _Care is excessive when it is
inconsistent with peace and quietness._ 2. _When it induces loss of
temper._ 3. _When it makes us distrustful of Providence._ 4. _When it
hurries us into any improper course of conduct._ (1) Anxiety is
useless. (2) Is positively injurious. (3) Exerts a mischievous
influence on others. (4) Is criminal.
+II. The proper course to be pursued.+--1. _Prayer._
2. _Supplication._ 3. _Thanksgiving._
+III. The happiness to be enjoyed.+--"The peace of God, which passeth
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus
Christ."--_Dr. Robt. Newton._
Ver. 6. _Subjects of Prayer._
+I. For temporal blessings.+--1. _Our health._ Value of health.
Dependence on God. 2. _Our studies._ Not to supersede diligence.
Communicates a right impulse. Secures a right direction. 3. _Our
undertakings._ Agricultural, commercial.
+II. For spiritual blessings.+--1. _For pardon._ Of our daily sins in
thought, word, and deed. Of all our sins. 2. _For holiness in heart
and life._ Regeneration, faith, love, hope, meekness, zeal,
resignation, obedience. 3. _For usefulness and happiness._
+III. For the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.+--1. _On ourselves._
2. _On our relatives and friends._ 3. _On the Church._ 4._On the
world._
+IV. For the spread of the Gospel.+--1. _For the multiplication of
the necessary means._ 2. _For the removal of obstacles._ 3. _For the
success of labourers._ 4. _For the conversion of sinners.--G. Brooks._
_True Prayer._
+I. True prayer is specific as well as earnest.+--Nothing is too
little to be made the subject of prayer. The very act of confidence
is pleasing to God and tranquillising to the supplicant. God is not
only willing to hear the details, but He desires that we should tell
Him.
+II. True prayer consists of confession, supplication, and
thanksgiving.+--We are to confess our sins, ask forgiveness, and do
it with gratitude and thankfulness. God will not answer the requests
of unthankful beggars. Without thanksgiving what we call prayer is
presumption.--_Homiletic Monthly._
Ver. 7. _The Peace of God keeping the Heart._
+I. The nature of this defending principle.+--It has as its basis
forgiving mercy.
+II. Its author.+--"The peace of God." It is called His peace,
because that work of mercy on which it rests is His work, and He
Himself communicates the peace.
+III. Its property.+--"Passeth all understanding." 1. _The
understanding of such as are strangers to it._ 2. _They who enjoy it
the most cannot fully comprehend it._
+IV. Its effects.+--"Shall keep your hearts and minds." 1. _In
temptation it secures the heart by satisfying the heart._ 2. _It
keeps the heart in affliction._ 3. _It keeps the mind by settling the
judgment, and keeping doubts and errors out of the mind._
+V. Its source and the instrumentality by which it works.+--"Through
Christ Jesus."--_C. Bradley._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 8, 9.
_The Science of Christian Ethics_--
+I. Demands the study of every genuine virtue.+--"Whatsoever things
are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, . . . think on
these things" (ver. 8). In regard to what is honourable, just, pure,
lovely, and of good report, there is a true and a false standard, and
for this reason the apostle here places the true at the beginning,
that when the following exhortations are presented, this fact which
our experience so often discloses may at once occur to the Christian,
and he may be led to examine himself and see whether he also is
everywhere seeking for the true (_Schleiermacher_). Genuine virtue
has its root in genuine religion. The modern school of ethics, which
professes to teach morality as something apart from spiritual
Christianity, is a return to the exploded theories of pagan
moralists, an attempt to dress up pre-Christian philosophy in a
nineteenth-century garb. The morality that is lovely and of good
report is Christian morality--the practical, liveable ethics of the
New Testament. The ethical terms used in this verse are closely
united. The true, the becoming, the right, and the pure are elements
of virtue or moral excellence, and when exhibited in practical life
are lovely and worthy of all praise. The charm of the Christian
character is not the cultivation of one virtue that overshadows all
the rest, but the harmonious blending of all the virtues in the unity
of the Christian life. Christian ethics should be earnestly studied,
not as matters of pure speculation, but because of their supreme
importance and utility in the moral conduct of every-day life.
+II. Requires the translation of high moral principles into practical
life.+--"Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and
heard, and seen in me, do" (ver. 9). It is one thing to ponder,
admire, and applaud morality; it is another thing to practise it. The
apostle not only taught Christian ethics, but practised them, and
could point to his own example as worthy of imitation; it was not,
"Do as I say," but "Do as I do." Christian morality is of little
value as a mere creed of ethics; its true power is seen in changing,
elevating, and refining the life. We have all to lament there is such
a wide chasm between theory and practice. Theory may be learned in a
brief period; practice is the work of a lifetime. The theory of music
may be rapidly apprehended, but the mastery of any one instrument,
such as the violin or organ, demands patient and incessant practice.
It means detail-work, plod, perseverance, genius. So is it with every
virtue of Christian ethics. Theory and practice should go together;
the one helps the other; practice more clearly defines theory, and
theory more fully apprehended stimulates practice. It is the practice
of Christian morality that preaches to the world a Gospel that it
cannot fail to understand and that is doing so much to renovate it.
Lord Bolingbroke, an avowed infidel, declared: "No religion ever
appeared in the world whose tendency was so much directed to promote
the peace and happiness of mankind as the Christian religion. The
Gospel of Christ is one continued lesson of the strictest morality,
of justice, benevolence, and universal charity. Supposing
Christianity to be a human invention, it is the most amiable and
successful invention that ever was imposed on mankind for their good."
+III. Links practical morality with the promise of Divine
blessing.+--"And the God of peace shall be with you" (ver. 9). The
upright man--the man who is striving to shape and mould his life on
the ethics of the New Testament--shall not only enjoy peace, the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, but the God of peace
shall be with him and in him. True religion, in healthy activity,
gives, and can alone give, a restfulness of spirit such as the
troubles of life are impotent to disturb. The two vital elements of
true religion are communion with God and the diligent cultivation of
practical holiness--conformity to the will of God in all things. Pray
and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, and the God of peace shall
be with you, preserving you from unrest and harm. The peace of God is
also an active principle, gentle and noiseless in its activity, which
will help the soul to grow in ethical symmetry and beauty.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel is the foundation of the highest ethics._
2. _No system of morality is trustworthy that does not lead to holy
practice._ 3. _God helps the man who is honestly striving to live up
to his light._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 8. _Mercantile Virtues without Christianity._
+I. What a man of mercantile honour has.+--He has an attribute of
character which is in itself pure, lovely, honourable, and of good
report. He has a natural principle of integrity, and under its
impulse he may be carried forward to such fine exhibitions of himself
as are worthy of all admiration. It is very noble when the simple
utterance of his word carries as much security along with it, as if
he had accompanied that utterance by the signatures, the securities,
and the legal obligations which are required of other men. All the
glories of British policy and British valour are far eclipsed by the
moral splendour which British faith has thrown over the name and the
character of our nation. There is no denying the extended prevalence
of a principle of integrity in the commercial world.
+II. What a man of mercantile honour has not.+--He may not have one
duteous feeling of reverence which points upward to God. He may not
have one wish or one anticipation which points forward to eternity.
He may not have any sense of dependence on the Being who sustains
Him, and who gave him his very principle of honour as part of that
interior furniture which He has put into his bosom. He is a man of
integrity, and yet he is a man of ungodliness. This natural virtue,
when disjoined from a sense of God, is of no religious estimation
whatever; nor will it lead to any religious blessing, either in time
or in eternity.--_T. Chalmers._
Ver. 9. _Paul as an Example to Believers._
+I. He was distinguished by his decision of character in all that
relates to religion.+--Constitutionally ardent; zealous as a
Pharisee. From the day of his conversion he never faltered,
notwithstanding his privations, his dangers, his sufferings. Be
decided.
+II. By his care about the culture of the Divine life in his own
soul.+--The student may desire to know the truth rather than to feel
its power. The preacher may be more solicitous about the power of the
truth over others than over himself. He never lost sight of the
interests of his own soul.
+III. By his devotional habits.+--One would rather be the author of
his prayers than of his sermons. The difference between his prayers
as a Pharisee and as a Christian. The subject, the spirit, the style
of his prayers as a Christian. Be careful. Be not soon shaken in mind
or troubled by speculations about the philosophy of prayer.
+IV. By his spirituality and heavenly-mindedness.+--He did not show
any interest in the class of worldly objects that might have been
expected to interest a man of his order of mind. He was absorbed in
"spiritual things." The second coming of Christ had a prominent place
in his thoughts. "That day." Cultivates a habitual superiority to the
things of time and sense. Seek the things that are above.
+V. By his patient submission to the dispensations of Divine
providence.+--Rare amount of suffering. Strong feeling, unmurmuring
submission. Patient, meek, contented. All from Christian principle.
Be resigned.
+VI. By his laborious usefulness.+--Sketch his career. Be
useful.--_G. Brooks._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-14.
_The Joy of a Good Man in Extremity_--
+I. Stimulated by the practical evidence of the growth in his
converts of Christian thoughtfulness.+--"Your care of me hath
flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked
opportunity" (ver. 10). The Philippians were a hospitable people, as
was shown both by Lydia and the gaoler, who insisted on the privilege
of ministering to the wants of the apostles in the beginning of their
ministry at Philippi. The Church in that city had already sent a
liberal contribution to the apostle to help him in the missionary
work; and he now rejoices over another practical evidence of their
generous thoughtfulness in the timely help they had sent him by the
hands of Epaphroditus. Paul and his mission were much in their
thoughts, and they were often devising how they might minister to his
wants and further the work of the Gospel. They were eager to help him
more frequently but lacked opportunity. They valued the Gospel so as
to be willing to pay for it. It is a gratifying and unmistakable
proof of religious growth when we are anxious to contribute of our
means, according to our ability, for the spread of the Gospel.
Liberality in money-giving is a crucial test of genuine godliness.
When the commission of excise wrote Wesley, "We cannot doubt you have
plate for which you have hitherto neglected to make an entry," his
laconic reply was, "I have two silver teaspoons at London, and two at
Bristol; this is all the plate which I have at present, and I shall
not buy any more at present while so many around me want bread." It
is estimated that he gave away more than £30,000.
+II. Maintained by having mastered the secret of Christian
contentment.+--1. _A contentment gained by actual experience of the
ups and downs of life._ "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I
have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I
know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; everywhere and
in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both
to abound and to suffer need" (vers. 11, 12). The checkered and
eventful life of the apostle had taught him many lessons, and not the
least useful and important was the art of contentment. A man with his
varied experience is not easily inconvenienced by fluctuating
fortunes. Contentment is gained, not by the abundance of what we
possess, but by discovering how much we can do without. "That which
we miscall poverty is indeed nature," writes Jeremy Taylor; "and its
proportions are the just measures of a man, and the best instruments
of content. But when we create needs that God or nature never made,
we have erected to ourselves an infinite stock of trouble that can
have no period." Most desires are first aroused by comparison with
others. Sempronius complained of want of clothes and was much
troubled for a new suit, being ashamed to appear in the theatre with
his gown a little threadbare; but when he got it, and gave his old
clothes to Codrus, the poor man was ravished with joy and went and
gave God thanks for his new purchase; and Codrus was made richly fine
and cheerfully warm by that which Sempronius was ashamed to wear; and
yet their natural needs were both alike.
2. _A contentment inspired by Divine strength._--"I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me" (ver. 13). The apostle's
contentment was not self-sufficiency, but self-sufficingness; and
this was acquired, not only by the experiences of life, but the help
of Divine grace. He could conceive no circumstances in which that
grace was not sufficient. His contented mind he regarded as a gift of
God. "I have learnt from Thee, O God," writes Augustine, "to
distinguish between the gift and the fruit. The gift is the thing
itself, which is given by one who supplies what is needed, as money
or raiment; but the fruit is the good and well-ordered will of the
giver. It is a gift to receive a prophet and to give a cup of cold
water; but it is fruit to do those acts in the name of a prophet and
in the name of a disciple. The raven brought a gift to Elias when it
brought him bread and flesh, but the widow fruit, because she fed him
as a man of God."
+III. Gratefully commends the generosity of those who alleviate his
extremity.+--"Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did
communicate with my affliction" (ver. 14). Though the apostle had
learned contentment in every situation, and his mind could
accommodate itself to every change of circumstances; though he had
fresh and inexhaustible sources of consolation within himself, and
had been so disciplined as to acquire the mastery over his external
condition and to achieve anything in Christ; yet he felt thankful for
the sympathy of the Philippian Church, and praised them for it. His
humanity was not absorbed in his apostleship, and his heart, though
self-sufficed, was deeply moved by such tokens of affection. Though
he was contented, he yet felt there was affliction--loss of liberty,
jealous surveillance, inability to fulfil the great end of his
apostolic mission. This sympathy on the part of the Philippians with
the suffering representative of Christ and His cause is the very
trait of character which the Judge selects for eulogy at last (Matt.
xxv. 35) (_Eadie_).
+IV. Had a Divine source.+--"But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly"
(ver. 10). He regarded the gift as coming from the Lord, and his joy
in its reception was from the same source. He rejoiced the more in
this practical evidence of the love and gratitude of his converts.
Every kindness shown to us by others when it is recognised as coming
from God, will augment our joy in Him.
+Lessons.+--1. _God does not forget His servants in distress._ 2. _A
contented spirit is a fruit of Divine grace._ 3. _It is a joy to be
remembered by those we love._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 10. _Practical Christian Benevolence_--
+I. Is quick to see the needs of God's servants and of the cause in
which they faithfully labour.+
+II. Eagerly watches every opportunity for supplying those needs.+
+III. Is a matter of exalted joy to those who fully appreciate both
the supply and the motive that prompted it.+
Vers. 11, 12. _Tendency of Christian Principles to produce True
Contentment._
+I. Christianity takes away the natural causes of
discontent.+--1. _Pride._ 2. _Self-preference._ 3. _Covetousness._
+II. Christianity furnishes powerful motives for the exercise of a
contented mind.+--1. _The disciples of Christ are under the strongest
obligations to walk in the footsteps of their Divine Master._
2. _True Christians are firmly convinced that their lot is chosen for
them by their blessed Lord and Master._ 3. _It is chosen for them in
infinite love and mercy to their souls.--E. Cooper._
Ver. 11. _Contentment._
+I. That a man be content with his own estate without coveting that
which is another's.+
+II. That a man be content with his present estate.+--1. _Because
that only is properly his own._ 2. _All looking beyond that disquiets
the mind._ 3. _The present is ever best._
+III. That a man be content with any estate.+
+IV. The art of contentment.+--1. _Is not learned from nature._
2. _Or outward things._ 3. _But is taught us by God's Spirit._ 4. _By
His promises._ 5. _By the rod of discipline._ 6. _Proficiency in
contentment gained_--(1) By despising unjust gain. (2) By moderating
worldly desires and care. (3) By carefully using and charitably
dispensing what we have. (4) By bearing want and loss with
patience.--_R. Sanderson._
_Christian Contentment._
+I. What it is.+--1. _That our desires of worldly good are low and
moderate._ 2. _That in all our views of bettering our worldly
condition we indulge not immoderate cares._ 3. _That whatever our
present condition be, we cheerfully submit to the providence of God
in it._ 4. _That we are so easy with our own lot as not to envy
others who may be in more prosperous circumstances._ 5. _That we will
not use any unlawful means to better our present condition._ 6. _That
we make the best of our condition whatever it be._
+II. How it may be learned.+--1. _Christianity sets in view the most
solid principles of contentment and the strongest motives to it._
2. _Furnishes us with the brightest patterns of contentment to
enforce its precepts and prevent our despair of attaining it._
+Lessons.+--1. _The present state should be considered as a state of
learning._ 2. _More depends on our spirits than upon our outward
condition in order to contentment._ 3. _Labour to have our minds so
formed that they may be content and tolerably easy in any state of
life._
Ver. 13. _The Source of the Christian's Power._
+I. The extent of a Christian's ability.+--1. _He is able to
discharge every duty._ 2. _He is able to endure every trial._ 3. _He
is able to brave every suffering._ 4. _He is able to overcome every
temptation._
+II. The source of the Christian's ability.+--1. _Christ strengthens
us by His teachings._ 2. _Christ strengthens us by His example._
3. _Christ strengthens us by the moral influence of His death as a
sacrifice for our sin._ 4. _Christ strengthens us by uniting us to
Himself, and bestowing on us, in answer to the prayer of faith, the
influences of the Holy Spirit._ Christ is the fountain of spiritual
strength.--_G. Brooks._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-19.
_A Generous Church_--
+I. Spontaneously contributing to the earliest efforts in the
propagation of the Gospel.+--1. _Its generosity conspicuous by its
solitary example._ "No Church communicated with me as concerning
giving and receiving, but ye only" (ver. 15). In the account between
us, the giving was on your part, the receiving on mine. The
Philippians had followed Paul with their bounty when he left
Macedonia and came to Corinth. We are not to wait for others in a
good work, saying, "I will do when others do it." We must go forward
though alone (_Fausset_). Their liberality followed him on distant
missionary tours, and when no longer in their own province. One
single example of generosity is an inspiration and a hint to others.
Any Church will wither into narrowing dimensions when it confines its
benefactions to itself.
2. _Its generosity was repeated._--"For even in Thessalonica ye sent
once and again unto my necessity" (ver. 16). Even in Thessalonica,
still in their own province and not far from Philippi, they more than
once contributed to his help, and thus rendered him less dependent on
those among whom he was breaking new ground. Help in time of need is
a pleasant memory; and the apostle delights in reminding the
Philippians of their timely and thoughtful generosity. Repeated
kindnesses should increase our gratitude.
+II. The gifts of a generous Church are appreciated as indicating
growth in practical religion.+--"Not because I desire a gift; but I
desire fruit that may abound to your account" (ver. 17). It is not
the gift he covets, but that rich spiritual blessing which the gift
secures to its donors. The apostle wished them to reap the growing
spiritual interest of their generous expenditure. Not for his own
sake but theirs does he desire the gift. He knew that the state of
mind which devised and contributed such a gift was blessed in itself,
that it must attract Divine blessing, for it indicated the depth and
amount of spiritual good which the apostle had done to them, and for
which they thus expressed their gratitude; and it showed their
sympathy with the cause of Christ, when they had sought to enable
their spiritual founder in former days to give his whole time,
without distraction or physical exhaustion, to the work of his
apostleship. This was a spiritual condition which could not but meet
with the Divine approbation and secure the Divine reward (_Eadie_).
+III. The gifts of a generous Church are accepted as a sacrifice well
pleasing to God.+--"Having received of Epaphroditus the things which
were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice
acceptable, well-pleasing to God" (ver. 18). It was a gift in which
God delighted, fragrant as the sweet-smelling incense which burned in
the censer. It was felt that God is supreme Benefactor and that all
possessions are His gracious gift, that these have an end beyond the
mere personal enjoyment of them, that they may and ought to be
employed in God's service, and that the spirit of such employment is
the entire dedication of these to Him. The money, while contributed
to the apostle, was offered to God. They discharged a spiritual
function in doing a secular act--"the altar sanctified the gift"
(_Ibid._). Giving to the cause of Christ is worship, acceptable and
well-pleasing to God. It belongs to the same class of acts as the
presentation of sacrifices under the old economy, which was the
central act of worship. For the proper use of no talent is
self-denial more needed than for that of money.
+IV. The gifts of a generous Church will be recompensed with abundant
spiritual blessing.+--"But my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (ver. 19). The
money we give to God's cause is well invested and will yield a rich
return: spiritual blessing in return for material gifts; this is
beyond the power of arithmetic to compute. This was no rash and
unwarrantable promise on the part of Paul. He knew something of the
riches of the Divine generosity, and was justified in assuring his
kind benefactors of God's perfect supply of every want of body and
soul, bestowed not grudgingly but with royal beneficence.
+Lessons.+--1. _Gratitude for blessings received should prompt
generosity._ 2. _Money is never more wisely employed than in
forwarding the cause of God._ 3. _Our gifts to God are handsomely
rewarded._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15, 16. _Christian Generosity_--
+I. Indicates a genuine interest in the work of God and love for
its ministers.+
+II. Is especially valuable in prosecuting pioneer mission work.+
+III. Should not be conspicuous by one solitary example, but be
continuous and commensurate with the pressing needs of the
work of God.+
Vers. 17, 18. _Liberality a Fruit of the Christian Life._
+I. It is not a gift, but the discharge of a just claim.+
+II. Paul did not desire a gift only to benefit himself, because
he wanted nothing.+
+III. Liberality is a fruit of the Christian life by discharging a
debt to which we stood engaged.+
+IV. Liberality is an advantage in the exercise of our patience
before the day of trial come upon us.+
+V. As God will punish the neglect of this duty, so if we perform
it He will count Himself in debt to us.+--_Farindon._
Ver. 19. _Man's Need supplied from God's Riches._
+I. Look at man's necessity.+
+II. God's wealth.+--Its abundance; its excellence.
+III. The supply the apostle anticipates for this necessity out of
this wealth.+
+Learn.+--1. _Contentment with our present lot._ 2. _Confidence for
the future.--C. Bradley._
_Our Need and our Supply._
+I. Examine the scope of the promise.+--There is danger of fanaticism
in the interpretation of truth. God promises to supply our need, but
not to gratify our wishes or whims. Some of us God sees cannot bear
wealth, and so it is not given us; but as our day is so is our
strength.
+II. The supply.+--The supply is not according to our deserts, but
according to the riches of His glory. The resources of the Trinity
are drawn upon. His wealth is unbounded. He is not a cistern, but a
fountain.
+III. The Medium.+--This supply comes through Christ. We can claim it
in no other name. But God ordains means and puts us under conditions.
As in agriculture, so here, we are to work in harmony with God's
established methods if we would secure fruits.--_Homiletic Monthly._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20-23.
_Last Words._
+I. A glowing ascription of praise to the Divine Giver of every
blessing.+--"Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever.
Amen" (ver. 20). To God, even our Father, the kind and liberal
Supplier of every want to every child, be eternal glory ascribed. The
ascription of praise is the language of spiritual instinct which
cannot be repressed. Let the child realise its relation to the Father
who feeds it, clothes it, and keeps it in life, who enlightens and
guides it, pardons and purifies it, strengthens and upholds it, and
all this in Christ Jesus, and it cannot but in its glowing
consciousness cry out, "Now to God and our Father be glory for ever."
The "Amen" is a fitting conclusion. As the lips shut themselves, the
heart surveys again the facts and the grounds of praise, and adds,
"So be it" (_Eadie_).
+II. Christian salutations.+--"Salute every saint in Christ Jesus.
All the saints salute you, chiefly those that are of Cæsar's
household" (vers. 21, 22). Salutations are tokens of personal
interest and living fellowship which should not be lightly esteemed.
The apostolic salutations teach that the Christian religion does not
make men unfriendly and stubborn, but courteous and friendly
(_Lange_). The reference to the saints in Cæsar's household may mean
either kinsfolk of Nero or servants in the palace. It is improbable
that so many near relatives of the emperor should have yielded
themselves to Christ as to be designated by this phrase, and it is
not likely to suppose that a combination of these two classes would
be grouped under the one head. In all likelihood the reference is to
servants holding more or less important positions in the imperial
household--some, no doubt, slaves; and it is a suggestive testimony
to the unwearied diligence and influence of the apostle in using
every opportunity to make known the saving grace of the Gospel. To
explain to any the reason for his imprisonment was an occasion for
preaching Christ. "O Rome, Rome!" exclaims Starke, "how greatly hast
thou changed! Formerly thou hadst true saints even in the household
of a pagan and tyrannical emperor; but now hast thou false saints,
especially in and around the so-called chair of Peter and at the
court of his supposed successor."
+III. Final benediction.+--"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you all. Amen" (ver. 23). The oldest MSS. read, "Be with your
spirit." It is important that the grace of God should be not only
around us, but with us and in us. The benediction is a prayer that
the Divine favour may be conferred upon them, enriching the noblest
elements of their nature with choicest blessings, making them to grow
in spiritual wisdom, beauty, and felicity, that grace may ultimately
merge into glory.
+Lessons.+--1. _Praise should be offered to God in all things._
2. _The Christian spirit is full of kindly courtesy._ 3. _It is a
comprehensive prayer that invokes the blessing of Divine grace._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 20. _Eternal Praise should be offered unto God_--
+I. For mercies enjoyed in the past.+
+II. For mercies which as our Father He holds for us and bestows on
us in the present.+
+III. That the glory of His character may become increasingly
conspicuous in His works of creation, providence, and grace.+
Vers. 21, 22. _Christian Courtesy_--
+I. Elevates and sanctifies the amenities of social life.+
+II. Awakens and strengthens mutual sympathy and help in the
Christian life.+
+III. Should be exercised by Christians of all ranks and conditions.+
Ver. 23. _The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ_--
+I. Is the sum of all we can need for ourselves or desire for others.+
+II. Is a revelation of His own character and of His regard for us.+
+III. May be sought with the utmost confidence and enjoyed in
ever-increasing measure.+
* * * * * * * *
+Transcriber's Notes+
- Page 299, Introduction, second paragraph, apply RC to "Divine
call."
- Page 300, second new paragraph, apply RC to "the Gospel." "Place
and time" section, second paragraph, change "iv. 32" to "ch.
iv. 32" and "i. 13" to "ch. i. 13." Fifth paragraph, add
sentence-ending period after "later date."
- Page 301, in the synopsis, change "ii. 19-30" to "ch. ii. 19-30";
add a row to indicate that no information is presented for chapter
ii. verses 12 through 18.
- Page 302, notes on chapter i., verse 7, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Verse 10, add right double quotes after "not causing offence."
- Page 303, notes on verse 12, apply RC to "the Gospel." Verse 13,
remove right double quotes after "body-guard"; correct "colouel"
to "colonel" and change double quotes to single quotes around it.
Verse 14, apply RC to "the Gospel." Verse 15, apply RC to "a
Gospel." Verse 19, add right double quote after "for me."
- Page 305, lesson "Christian Greeting," point I, change question
mark after "kingdom" to period. Point II, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "Divine gifts," "the Divine
majesty," and "the Gospel."
- Page 306, "Commencement" note, point I, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "Divine mercy." Point IV,
apply RC to "the Gospel." Lesson "Eulogy," point I, apply RC to
"the Gospel."
- Page 307, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
III, apply RC to "the Divine."
- Page 308, "Making Request" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine
communications." "Grounds of Confidence" note, point II, apply RC
to "the Gospel."
- Page 311, lesson "Prayer," "Definiteness" note, point II, apply RC
to "Divine intelligence."
- The break between pages 311 and 312 is in a unit that style
indicates should not be broken "destination.--That." The entire
unit was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 312, "Fruits" note, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine Being."
"Spiritual Attainment" note, point IV, apply RC to "all Divine."
"Divine Culture" note, point IV, apply RC to "the Husbandman."
Lesson "Gospel Irrepressible," point I 1, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(five times). Point I 2, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 313, same point, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice). Point
II 1, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice). Point II 2, apply RC to
"the Gospel" (thrice).
- Page 314, point III, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice).
Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "the Gospel."
"Development" note, point III, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 315, "Ministry of Bonds" note, point III, apply RC to "the
Gospel." "Germ" note, point V, change "afflictions" to
"affliction." "Real" note, point II 4, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 316, lesson "Noble Attitude," point II 1, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 317, "Life and Death" note, point I 1 (3), apply RC to
"Divine knowledge."
- Page 319, lesson "Exhortation," point I 2, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (twice). Point I 3, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point III,
apply RC to "the Divine" (twice).
- Page 320, "Evangelical Consistency," each of points I, I 1, I 2
(twice), I 3, I 4, and II 1, apply RC to "Gospel." "Effects" note,
point I 1, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point I 2, apply RC to "the
Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "its Author."
- Page 321, notes on chapter ii., verse 1, change "i. 8" to "ch.
i. 8." Verse 2, change "i. 4" to "ch. i. 4." Verse 5, apply RC to
"the Gospel." Verse 6, apply RC to "the Divinity."
- Page 322, verse 12, apply RC to "the Gospel." Verse 15, tag
"immaculatum" as Latin and set it in Italic.
- Page 323, verse 22, apply RC to "the Gospel." Verse 29, change
"#alue" to "value."
- Page 324, lesson "Christian Union," point II, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point III 2, add sentence ending period after "(ver. 4)."
Point IV, add "Ps. cxxxiii. 1" reference.
- Page 325, "Unity" note, point 2, apply RC to "the Gospel."
"Looking" note, point III, change "th#" to "the." Lesson
"Humiliation," point I, apply RC to "His Divine" and "Divinity."
- Page 326, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divinity" (twice).
"Incarnate" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine glory." Point II,
apply RC to "Divine nature."
- Page 327, "Christian Temper" note, application ("Lessons"), point
2, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point 3, apply RC to "God-like."
- Page 328, lesson "Exaltation," point I, apply RC to "Divine act";
add left parenthesis before "ver. 9." Point II, apply RC to "the
Divine" (thrice). Point III, apply RC to "Him"; change quote from
"and every tongue confess" to "and that every tongue should
confess" to match KJV; apply RC to "His Divine majesty."
- Page 329, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "the Gospel."
"Worthy" note, point 2, apply RC to "His Divine majesty." Point 3,
apply RC to "Divine honour."
- Page 330, lesson "Salvation," point II 2, apply RC to "Divine
aid." Point III, apply RC to "Divine work." Application
("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine influences."
- Page 331, "Divine and Human" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine."
"Active Exertion" note, point I, capitalise "Promised Land."
"Co-operation" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 332, same note, point III, apply RC to "Divine operations."
Lesson "Lustre," point I, apply RC to "Divine command." Point II,
apply RC to "the Gospel" and "the Word."
- Page 333, same lesson, point III 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 334, lesson "Projected," point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Point II 2, apply RC to "Divinity."
- Page 335, same lesson, point II 3, apply RC to "the Gospel"
(twice).
- Page 337, lesson "Devoted," point IV, apply RC to "glorious
Gospel" and "the Word." "Anxieties" note, insert point "2" at the
beginning of the second sentence.
- Page 338, notes on chapter iii., verse 1, change "iv. 8" to "ch.
iv. 8." Verse 8, insert "[R.V., 'soul' A.V.]."
- Page 339, verse 14, change "gaol" to "goal." Verse 17, apply RC to
"Good Shepherd."
- Page 340, lesson "False and True," point I, apply RC to "the
Gospel" (twice).
- Page 341, same lesson, point II 2, apply RC to "the Divine" and
"the Divinity"; change period after "yourself" to a question mark;
apply RC to "Divinity."
- Page 343, lesson "External," point III, apply RC to "the Divine."
"Excellent" note, point I, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 344, same note, renumber second point "VI" to "VII." First
"Excellency" note, point I, apply RC to "the Divinity." Lesson
"Features," point II, apply RC to "Divinely."
- Page 345, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Divine." Point
III, apply RC to "Divine power"; insert point "1" before first
sentence in Italic; point III 1, apply RC to "Divine power" and
"Divine life." Point III 2, apply RC to "Good Shepherd."
- Page 346, "Power" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine mission."
Point II, apply RC to "Divinity" (twice). Point V, apply RC to
"the Gospel." "Resurrection" note, point II 4, apply RC to "the
Divine."
- Page 347, lesson "Highest," point I, apply RC to "Divinely" "the
Gospel," and "the Divine." Point III, change "Michael Angelo" to
"Michelangelo"; add comma between "he said" and quotation. Point
IV, apply RC to "Divine light."
- Page 348, "Pressing" note, point II 3 (2), change period to
question mark.
- Page 349, "Temper" note, point III 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 350, lesson "Examples," point III 3, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 351, lesson "Citizenship," point I, add sentence-ending
period to last sentence. Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine power."
- Page 352, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "the Divine"
(twice).
- Page 353, notes on chapter iv., verse 3, change double quotes
around "fellow-in-yoke, fellow labourer" to single quotes and
add closing double quotes.
- Page 354, notes on verse 8, identify the Cicero quotation as Latin
and set it in Italic. Verse 11, add em-dash after "etc." Verse 12,
add em-dash after "etc." and "Ps. xxiii." reference. Verse 18, add
"Matt. xxv. 40" reference.
- Page 355, lesson "Plea," point II, apply RC to "the Gospel";
change "strengthened by Him" to "him," speaking of Paul. Point
III, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "the Word."
- Page 356, lesson "Glimpses," point I, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Point II, apply RC to "Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 357, same lesson, point IV 2, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
IV 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 358, lesson "Joy," point II, apply RC to "Divine grace" and
"the Gospel."
- Page 359, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine grace."
"Rejoicing" note, point I 2, add em-dash after "for." Point
II 3 (3), apply RC to "His Word."
- Page 360, lesson "Equity," point I, apply RC to "Divine Surety."
Point II, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "His professed followers."
- Page 361, lesson "Cure," point I, remove commas from "kill-joy,
and" and "blessings, and." Point II, remove commas from "mind,
but" and "anxieties, and."
- Page 362, "Remedy" note, point II 3, apply RC to "Divine will."
- Page 363, "Subjects" note, point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Lesson "Science," point I, change "livable" to "liveable."
- Page 364, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice).
Point III, apply RC to "Divine blessing." Application ("Lessons"),
point 1, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- The break between pages 364 and 365 is in the word "upward":
up|ward.
- Page 365, "Paul" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine life." Point
V, apply RC to "Divine providence." Lesson "Joy," point I, apply
RC to "the Gospel"; remove comma from "frequently, but"; apply RC
to "the Gospel" (twice).
- Page 366, same lesson, point II 2, apply RC to "Divine strength"
and "Divine grace." Point IV, apply RC to "Divine source."
- Page 367, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC
to "Divine grace." "Tendency" note, point II 1, apply RC to
"Divine Master."
- Page 368, lesson "Generous," point I, apply RC to "the Gospel."
Point II, apply RC to "Divine blessing," "Divine approbation," and
"Divine reward."
- Page 369, same lesson, point IV, remove comma from "invested,
and"; apply RC to "Divine generosity." Lesson "Last Words," point
I, apply RC to "Divine Giver."
- Page 370, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "the Gospel." Point
III, apply RC to "Divine favour." Application ("Lessons"), point
3, apply RC to "Divine grace."
+THE+
+EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.+
* * * * * * * *
+INTRODUCTION.+
+Colossæ and its people.+--In Asia Minor, a few days' journey to the
east of Ephesus, is a district which for natural beauty, as described
by many travellers, is hardly to be surpassed. At the foot of Mount
Cadmus--now known as Baba Dagh, or "the Father of Mountains"--near
the stream of the Lycus, a tributary of the Mæander, stood the town
of Colossæ. Within a day's journey stood Hierapolis and Laodicea, the
latter the home of a Church in the later years where a poor,
half-hearted religion was a constant offence to God. Owing to its
political significance, it quite eclipsed Colossæ, as Hierapolis also
did, owing to its natural advantages as a health-resort or
watering-place. Though at one time Colossæ was a flourishing town,
where the vast forces of Xerxes or those of Cyrus could halt, in this
country it was only with difficulty and some uncertainty that its
exact site was discovered. Chronos (so called from the funnel-shaped
holes into which the river drops) is its modern substitute, though
from two to three miles south of the site of Colossæ.
The inhabitants of Colossæ were largely of Phrygian derivation,
highly religious, if dread of the supernatural in every form
constitutes religion, but ready to yield themselves up to the wildest
orgies and the most degradingly sensual types of worship. But there
were also many Jews in the town, as we learn not only from the
indications in this letter, but from other sources. It was not the
only occasion in history when travelled Jews had learnt to blend with
their ancestral religion the philosophical or theosophical opinions
of the neighbourhood where they had settled. The result was an
amalgam very hard to catalogue. The Hellenism of these Phrygian Jews
did as little for them as in later days it did for Heine, the German
Jew. So, because its results were pernicious, the uncompromising
opponent of Pharisaic dead works and herald of one God set himself to
make known to the Colossians the sufficiency of Christian doctrine
without admixture of heathen wisdom (ch. ii. 8, 9) or the
administration of Jewish rites (ch. ii. 11).
+Occasion, aim, time, and place of composition.+--Epaphras, a member
of the Colossian Church, and to whom the whole neighbourhood was
indebted as the bringer of Gospel tidings, had given St. Paul an
account of the state of the Church to which he ministered, with
intimations of the perils threatening it. This it was which led the
apostle to send Tychicus with this letter. The runaway slave Onesimus
accompanied him, sent back to Philemon his master in Colossæ by St.
Paul.
The aim of the apostle in writing the letter was chiefly to warn the
Colossians against the specious errors of certain teachers who had
tried to unite Christianity with Judaism, and these to theosophical
notions. The results of this blend could only be regarded with a
pitiful smile. It was pernicious, and, with all its semblance of
humility, immoral. Its main offence to the apostle was that it
dishonoured his Lord, "who is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation."
Lightfoot thinks this letter, with those to Ephesus and Philemon, was
sent by Tychicus "towards the close of the apostle's captivity in
Rome, about the year 63." Meyer, who contends that it was sent, not
from Rome, but from Cæsarea, thinks 60 or 61 was the date. The
ancient tradition was that the letter emanated from a Roman prison,
and the reasons given against this are too slender to set it aside in
favour of Cæsarea.
+Style of the epistle.+--"The style of the epistle is somewhat
laboured. It lacks the spontaneity, the fire, the passion, the tender
emotion which mark most of St. Paul's letters. The reason for this is
twofold. It is partly because he is addressing strangers, the members
of Churches which he had not directly founded, and to whom his
expressions did not flow forth from the same full spring of intimate
affection. It is still more because he is refuting errors with which
he was not familiar, and which he had not witnessed in their direct
workings. . . . When he was a little more familiar with the theme (in
writing Ephesians) he writes with more fervency and ease. . . . In
the close similarity between these two, and yet in the strongly
marked individuality of each, we have one of the most indisputable
proofs of the genuineness of both. . . . If Colossians has less of
the attractive personal element and the winning pathos of other
letters of St. Paul, it is still living, terse, solid, manly,
vigorous; and brief though it be, it still, as Calvin says, contains
the nucleus of the Gospel" (_Farrar_).
+Outline of the epistle.+
Introduction. i. 1, 2, greeting. 3-8, thanksgiving. 9-14, prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving.
i. 15-23. Main theme of the epistle. Christ's personal supremacy
and the universal efficacy of His mediatorial work.
24-29. The apostle's personal explanation of his motive in
addressing them.
ii. 1-7. His interest in the highest welfare of Christians
unknown to him.
8-15. Warning against a philosophy born of earth, able only
to deal externally with outbursts of sin as contrasted
with the complete putting away of it by Christ's death
and resurrection.
16-23. A protest against the attempt to foist precepts and
prohibitions on those who in Christ have passed beyond
the stage of legalism.
iii. 1-17. The sufficiency, for conduct, of living consistently
with the life hid with Christ in God, which is fatal,
as it grows, to every form and manifestation of the old
and corrupt life.
18-22. Duties of wives (18), husbands (19), children (20),
fathers (21), servants (22).
23-25. Motives, incentives, and deterrents in service.
iv. 1. Duties of masters, and motive of conduct.
2-18. Sundry exhortations, commendations, and greetings. The
latter concludes with the apostle's autograph signature,
a touching reference to his "bonds," and a benediction.
+CHAPTER I.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.+--Here,
as in the Ephesian epistle, St. Paul traces his apostolate to the
will of God. It does not seem as if any reason could be given why in
these two epistles he uses the phrase and omits it in the
Philippians. +Timotheus our brother.+--If Philemon, who was a
Colossian Christian, had met St. Paul at Ephesus, probably he had
seen Timothy, too, and would no doubt say to the Church how the
apostle valued him (Phil. ii. 19).
Ver. 2. +To the saints and faithful brethren.+--We may observe that
such a phrase is characteristic of St. Paul's later epistles; in the
earlier it was "to the Church." It seems better thus to translate
than to give the meaning "to the holy and believing brethren" (see on
Eph. i. 1). +Grace . . . and peace, from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.+--Not "grace" from the Father and "peace" from the Lord
Jesus Christ, as the usual benediction shows--"The grace of our Lord
Jesus." "Whatsoever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son" (John
v. 19).
Ver. 3. +We give thanks to God.+--The apostle here, as usual, gives
credit for all that is worthy in his readers, though the tidings from
Colossæ had been disquieting.
Ver. 4. +Having heard of your faith.+--This last word might possibly
mean "fidelity," the steadiness of an unwavering loyalty. But it is
better to take it as the act of personal trust. +Love to all the
saints.+--This was the distinguishing trait of all Christians--love
one for another (John xiii. 35). How often have we heard the irony,
"How these Christians love one another!" We are not warranted in
withholding love until men are paragons of spiritual perfection--all
in Christ are "saints."
Ver. 5. +For the hope.+--This word completes the triad, though the
order is changed, and hope here is the object--the thing hoped for.
+Laid up for you in heaven.+--It is the same word in Luke xix. 20,
"laid up in a napkin"; in 2 Tim. iv. 8, "henceforth there is laid
up"; and in Heb. ix. 27, "it is appointed unto [laid up for] men once
to die." +The word of the truth of the gospel.+--Not to be
interpreted into "the truly evangelic word." There is an imposing
sound in the phrase meant to agree with the thing denoted.
Ver. 6. +In all the world.+--A hyperbolic expression, by which the
apostle at the world's centre, Rome, seems to say the messengers of
the Gospel, go forth to the utmost bounds of the empire. The faith
you have received is no local cult, nor is it an ephemeral
excitement. +And bringeth forth fruit.+--The R.V. adds to "bearing
fruit," "and increasing." It is not a Gospel that is decadent, on
which a few fruits may be found, but with too evident traces that
soon fruitfulness will be past.
Ver. 7. +As ye learned of Epaphras.+--Short for Epaphroditus, but not
he of Phil. ii. 25. He is one of the Colossians; beyond that and his
prayerful zeal for them we know nothing of the only one whom St. Paul
calls "a fellow-servant."
Ver. 9. +Do not cease to pray for you, and to desire.+--R.V. "pray
and make request." The general notion comes first, then, the
particulars; so in Mark xi. 24. In the Lord's Prayer there are
several "petitions" or "requests." +Knowledge.+--Here represents the
advanced knowledge of the initiated. "Spiritual understanding" is the
use in the realm of things spiritual of the faculty which, as
employed in physical research, makes the difference between the man
of scientific method and the empiric. Compare the union of "wisdom"
and "spiritual understanding" with our Lord's words, "Thou hast hid
these things from the _wise_ and _prudent._"
Ver. 10. +Walk worthy.+--"The end of all knowledge, the apostle would
say, is conduct" (_Lightfoot_). The previous verse taken with this
gives the "theory and practice" of religion. +Unto all
pleasing.+--With the end ever before you of being approved by God.
For the same combination, see 1 Thess. iv. 1. +Being fruitful . . .
and increasing.+--Like the Gospel itself (see ver. 6).
Ver. 11. +Strengthened with all might according to His glorious
power.+--Lit. "with all power made powerful," etc. The two words
representing "might" and "power" have become familiar in "dynamite"
and the termination of "auto-_crat_"; the one indicating stored-up
energy; the other victorious or ruling force. +Patience and
longsuffering.+--the first word indicates the attitude of an
unfainting mind when things go wrong; the second the quiet endurance
under irritation from others, the being "not soon angry."
Ver. 12. +Made us meet.+--Duly qualified us, gave us competence. Just
as a man needs to be a qualified practitioner of medicine or the law,
so these Colossians are recognised as fit and proper persons for
participation in the kingdom of light.
Ver. 13. +Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness.+--The
metaphor commenced in the previous verse is carried on here. The
settlement in the land flowing with milk and honey is preceded by
deliverance with a high hand from the house of bondage--the land of
thick darkness. +And hath translated us.+--The same word by which the
Jewish historian describes the carrying over of the Israelites to
Assyria by Tiglath-Pileser. The apostle regards the deliverance, so
far as the Deliverer is concerned, as a thing accomplished. +His dear
Son.+--The A.V. margin has become the R.V. text, "The Son of His
love." We do not again find this expression; but as there is "no
darkness at all" in God, who "is love," so His Son, into whose
kingdom we come, reveals the love of the Father.
Ver. 14. +In whom we have redemption.+--A release effected in
consideration of a ransom. See on the verse Eph. i. 7. The
forgiveness of our sins--lit. "the dismissal of our sins."
Ver. 15. +Who is the image of the invisible God.+--In 2 Cor. iv. 4
St. Paul had so named Christ. "Beyond the very obvious notion of
_likeness,_ the word for image involves the idea of _representation_
and _manifestation_" (_Lightfoot_). Man is said to be the image of
God (1 Cor. xi. 7), and to have been created in the image of God, as
an image on a coin may represent Cæsar, even though unrecognisable
almost. Christ is "the very image" (Heb. i. 3) of God, able to say,
"He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." +Firstborn of every
creature.+--"Not that He is included as part of the creation, but
that the relation of the whole creation to Him is determined by the
fact that He is the 'firstborn of all creation' (R.V.), so that
without Him creation could not be" (_Cremer_). The main ideas
involved in the word are (1) priority to all creation;
(2) sovereignty over all creation (_Lightfoot_).
Ver. 16. +Thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.+--That
Paul believed in a heavenly hierarchy can scarcely be doubted; but
this letter shows that in Colossæ it had become an elaborate
superstition.
Ver. 18. +And He is the head of the body, the Church.+--As He held
priority of all creation, so also His is the name above every name in
the new creation. +The firstborn from the dead.+--The cardinal point
of the apostle's faith.
Ver. 19. +For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness
dwell.+--The great question on this verse is--seeing that "the
Father" has been added--what is the nominative to the word rendered
"it pleased"? At least three are possible: (1) "the Father," as A.V.,
R.V., and many commentators; (2) "all the fulness," etc.; and
(3) "the Son was pleased." Lightfoot urges that, as (2) would be an
anachronism, and (3) a hopeless confusion of the theology, "the
Father was well pleased" seems to be the best rendering.
Ver. 20. +To reconcile all things unto Himself.+--The word
"reconcile" is meant to indicate the restoration of a lost
friendship; and re-establishment of peaceful relations. It is a good
specimen of the care with which St. Paul's advanced expressions are
selected.
Ver. 21. +You, that were sometime alienated.+--Does not mean, of
course, occasionally alienated, but as the R.V. gives it, "being in
time past alienated"--up to the time of the reconciliation _always_
estranged. +Enemies in your mind by wicked works.+--The most
interesting question here is whether God is reconciled to the sinner
or only the sinner to God. Is "enemies" to mean "hostile" or
"hateful"? Lightfoot says, "It is the mind of man, not the mind of
God, which must undergo a change that a reunion may be effected."
Ver. 22. +In the body of His flesh through death.+--When a teacher
has to be explicit it may seem to those familiar with the subject as
if he were verbose or tautological. So here the body is no phantasm,
but fleshy and mortal. +To present you holy.+--They were professedly
holy "saints" (ver. 2), and the final purpose of their reconciliation
is reproachless saintship (on this word, and "unblameable," see Eph.
i. 4). +Unreproveable in His sight.+--It is a lofty eminence to which
the holy apostle invites us to look in this word. The light in which
we walk--fierce indeed towards sin--reveals no evil, so that the most
captious critic has no objection (Tit. ii. 8).
Ver. 23. +Grounded and settled, and not moved away.+--In that land of
volcanic agency the readers would perceive only too readily the
graphic force of this metaphor. Where stone buildings tumbled over
like a house of cards, the figure of a faith, proof against all
shocks, was effective (see Heb. xii. 28). +Every creature under
heaven.+--The same rhetorical form of expression as in ver. 6,
affirming the universal fitness of the Gospel as well as its wide
dissemination. +Whereof I Paul am made a minister.+--Wonder that
increases and unceasing gratitude are in these words--that the
persecutor should serve the faith he once destroyed.
Ver. 24. +Fill up that which is behind in the afflictions of
Christ.+--R.V., "and fill up on my part that which is lacking." How
we seem to hear through these words the cry of the head of the
Church, "Why persecutest thou Me?" And now the persecutor shares the
pain of Christ and those to whom it is granted as a favour to suffer
for His sake (Phil. i. 29).
Vers. 25-27. See notes on Eph. iii. 7 ff.
Ver. 28. +Whom we preach.+--What a glorious comprehensiveness there
is in preaching Him in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead!
Here is nothing narrow. +Warning every man.+--R.V. "admonishing." It
is a direction of the reflective faculty--a reproof administered with
intent to amend the conduct. It corresponds to "Repent ye!" +And
teaching every man.+--The positive side of which the warning is the
negative. It is not enough to tell a man he is wrong--the right must
be indicated; so the heralds of the Gospel followed up "Repent ye"
with "Believe the Gospel." Note the repeated "every man."
Exclusiveness which shuts the door in the face of any "weak brother
for whom Christ died" is utterly strange to the teaching of St. Paul.
+That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.+--St. Paul,
and every true successor, labours for this end; and, as ver. 22
shows, in so doing all are "workers together with God." We have the
idea of presentation elsewhere in St. Paul, as where he speaks of
presenting his converts as a chaste virgin to Christ. The risk of
offering a tainted animal for sacrifice is as nothing in comparison
of offering a hypocrite as a trophy of the Gospel.
Ver. 29. +I also labour.+--The word implies strenuous effort. "The
racer who takes care to slack his speed whenever he is in danger of
breaking into a perspiration will not win the prize" (_Maclaren_).
+Striving.+--Lit. "agonising," as in Luke xiii. 24. Like a stripped
gymnast, every encumbrance cast off. The same word in 1 Tim. vi. 12.
"Fight the good fight."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.
_Apostolic Salutation._
In this verse we have _a description of the office and character_ of
the persons from whom the salutation emanates.
+I. An exalted and important office.+--"Paul, an apostle of Jesus
Christ." An apostle is one _sent._ Paul was commissioned to declare
the grandest truths--truths destined to illumine and upraise mankind.
His sphere was the world, his audience the generations of every age.
The work of the apostle lives to-day--its vigour is perennial. His
was no empty, unmeaning title. It involved incredible thought,
overburdening care, incessant toil, unparalleled suffering. It was an
office created by the circumstances of the time. That period was the
beginning of a gigantic campaign against the consolidated errors and
sins of ages. An ordinary officer can keep and govern a garrison; but
it requires a gifted general to marshal and direct the militant host
in the daring manœuvres of war. In the Divine government of the world
the occasion calls forth the man.
+II. The authority that designates and qualifies.+--"By the will of
God." The will of God is the great originating and dynamic moral
force of the universe. That will raised Paul to the apostleship, and
invested him with all essential qualifications. The miraculous
incidents of the journey to Damascus (Acts ix.) formed a crisis in
his career. The startling discovery as to the character of the Being
he had madly opposed evoked the utterance of a changed and willing
heart: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" That was the sublime
moment of his _sending._ In undertaking the highest work for God, it
is not enough that we possess learning, gifts, piety, unless with all
there be a consciously Divine commission. There are crises when we
can gain fresh inspiration for the exigencies of the work only by
falling back on the clearest call and appointment of the Divine will.
+III. A familiar Christian relationship.+--"Timotheus, our brother."
Paul was the means of Timothy's conversion; and in another place he
calls him his "own son in the faith." Here he recognises him on the
more equal footing of a brother. Christianity is a brotherhood. Not a
low, debasing communism that drags down all to its own common level,
but a holy confederacy in which men of all ranks, ages, and talents
unite. The equality of Christian brotherhood is based on a moral and
spiritual foundation. The minister whose reputation is won, and
position assured loses nothing by honouring his younger brethren.
+IV. Union of sympathy and desire.+--"Paul . . . _and_ Timothy." The
greatest intimacy existed between the two, notwithstanding the
disparity in rank and abilities. There were qualities in Timothy that
elicited the admiration and love of the great apostle. They were
constant companions in travel; and Timothy was often a source of
comfort to Paul in captivity. They had a common sympathy in the
propagation of the Gospel, and with the changing fortunes of the
newly founded Churches and joined in prayer for their welfare. The
union of Timothy with himself also strengthened the testimony of the
apostle regarding the supernatural character of the truths declared.
+Lessons.+--_Christian salutation_--1. _Takes its value from the
character of the sender._ 2. _Should be pervaded with genuine
sympathy._ 3. _Implies a mutual interest in the success of Christian
work._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.
_Apostolic Estimate of Christian Character._
+I. Suggestive phases of Christian character.+--"Saints and faithful
brethren in Christ which are at Colossæ."
1. _Saints._--This implies union with God and a personal
participation in His righteousness. This is the root of the saintly
life. Faith in Christ is the point and means of junction.
Canonisation cannot make a saint. Must be saintly experience to
produce saintly conduct. A holy reputation excites to action
consistent with itself. Nehemiah refused to hide from threatened
assassination as an act beneath his well-known character for high
integrity and bravery (Neh. vi. 11).
2. _Faithful brethren which are at Colossæ._--Implies union with each
other. They embraced a common faith and held steadfastly together
amid the agitations of false teachers and the defections of the
wavering. Christianity blends the strangest elements. It is a foe to
all national enmities and prejudices. Paul, a Jew, Timothy, a
Grecian, and the Colossians, a mixture of several races, are here
united in a holy and faithful brotherhood. "Here the Gentile met the
Jew whom he had been accustomed to regard as an enemy of the human
race; the Romans met the lying Greek sophist, the Syrian slave, the
gladiator born beside the Danube. In brotherhood they met, the
natural birth and kindred of each forgotten, the baptism alone
remembered in which they had been born again to God and to each
other" (_Ecce Homo_).
3. _The sublime origin of the Christian character._--"_In_ Christ."
Character is the development and crystallisation of a _life._ The
character of the blossom and fruit is decided by the vital energy in
the tree. Christ is the unfathomable fount of all spiritual life; the
ideal pattern and formative force of a perfect character. He is the
centre and bond of all true brotherhood.
+II. The salutation supplicates the bestowment of highest Divine
blessings.+--1. _Grace._ A term of vast significance, inclusive of
all the blessings that can flow from the superabundant and free
favour of God. Grace is the source of all _temporal_ good--life,
health, preservation, success, felicity; and of all _spiritual_
benefactions--pardon, soul-rest, guidance, strength, deliverance,
purity, final triumph. The generosity of God is illimitable.
2. _Peace._--Grace expresses the spirit and fulness in which Divine
manifestations come to us; peace the result they accomplish in us.
_Peace with God._ Sin has thrown human nature into a state of discord
and enmity. The reception of grace must ever precede the enjoyment of
peace. The universal mistake is, in first seeking, through many
avenues, the happiness which peace with God alone can bring, instead
of accepting humbly, penitently, believingly, the grace of God in
Christ. _Peace with each other_--peace in the Church. How great a
blessing is this! One turbulent spirit can ruffle the tranquillity of
thousands.
3. _The source of the blessings desired._--"From God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ." The Father's love and the Son's work are the
sole source and cause of every blessing to humanity, while the Holy
Spirit is the agent of their communication. The Trinity is ever
harmonious in acts of beneficence; the Divine fountain is
inexhaustible.
+Learn.+--1. _The broad, deep charity of the apostolic spirit._
2. _The scope and temper of the prayers we should offer for the race._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-5.
_The Causes of Ministerial Thanksgiving._
It is customary with the apostle to begin his epistles with the
ardent expression of thanksgiving. This showed the devout habit of
his mind, his constant and emphatic recognition of the grand source
of good, and his deep interest in the spiritual condition of those to
whom he wrote.
+I. Thanksgiving an essential element in prayer.+--"We give
thanks, . . . praying always for you" (ver. 3). The participle marks
the thanksgiving as part of the prayer, and the adverb makes it
prominent, indicating that when they _prayed for them they always
gave thanks._ There is no true prayer without thanksgiving. Gratitude
intensifies the soul's sense of dependence on God and prompts the cry
for the needed help; and, on the other hand, earnest prayer naturally
glides into fervent thankfulness. As one sin is interlinked with and
produced by another, so the use of one grace begets another. The more
temporal things are used, the more they wear and waste; but spiritual
things are strengthened and increased with exercise. Every spiritual
grace has in it the seed of an endless reproductiveness. Underlying
every thanksgiving for others is a spirit of tender, disinterested
love. Moved by this passion, the apostle, from the midst of
imprisonment and sorrow, could soar on the wings of gratitude and
prayer to heaven. "Thanksgiving will be the bliss of eternity."
+II. The Being to whom all thanksgiving is due.+--"To God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 3). God is the Father of Jesus
Christ, not only as God, by an eternal generation and communication
of His whole essence unto Him in a method to us mysterious and
ineffable, but also as man by virtue of the personal union of the two
natures in Christ, and in a special sense exceeding every other way
in which He is Father to man or angels. Thus, God and the Father of
our Lord Jesus are one; the particle "and" being exegetic of the same
thing, not copulative of something different. All our blessings have
their source in the bosom of the Divine Father. Christ is the only
revealer of the Father, and the active agent in bestowing the
paternal benefits on humanity. The paternal aspect of the Divine
character as unfolded by Jesus Christ is most fascinating and
assuring; and the loving heart delights to trace its blessings up to
the Parent of all good and to render Him devout and grateful praise.
+III. This thanksgiving was grounded on the reputation of their faith
in the Author of Christianity.+--"Since we heard of your faith in
Christ" (ver. 4).
1. _Christ is the object and foundation of all true faith._--He is so
as the Divinely consecrated Deliverer of the race. The grandeur of
His redeeming work and the dignity and glory of His character are
suggested by the titles here given to Him. Man must believe in
Christ, not as an abstract truth, not as a poetic conception, not as
a dim impersonal force acting in the sphere of ideality, but as a
Divine-human _person_--the anointed Saviour.
2. _True faith is the root principle of the Christian life._--Without
it neither love nor hope could exist. All the graces that strengthen
and beautify the Christian character must grow out of faith.
3. _True faith is ever manifest._--"Since we heard." It is seen in
the changed disposition and conduct of the individual believer. It is
marked by the anxious Christian worker and becomes known to a wide
circle of both friends and foes. Epaphras rejoiced to bear tidings of
the fact; and the soul of the apostle, since he heard, glowed with
grateful praise. Happy the people whose highest reputation is their
faith in Jesus!
+IV. This thanksgiving was grounded on their possession of an
expansive Christian love.+--"And of the love which ye have to all the
saints" (ver. 4). Love to Christ is necessarily involved, for love to
the saints is really a generous, unselfish affection for Christ's
image in them. Love is all-embracing. Peculiarities, defects,
differences of opinion, distance, are no barriers to its penetrating
ardour. It is the unanswerable evidence of moral transformation
(1 John iii. 14). It is the grandest triumph over the natural enmity
of the human heart. It is the indissoluble bond of choicest
fellowship.
"While we walk with God in light,
God our hearts doth still unite;
Dearest fellowship we prove,
Fellowship in Jesu's love."
+V. This thanksgiving was further grounded on their enjoyment of a
well-sustained hope.+--The grace of hope naturally springs out of and
is properly associated with the preceding two. Not one member of the
holy triad can be divorced from the other without irreparable damage;
without, in fact, the loss of that which is the resultant of the
three--viz. active religious life. "Faith rests on the past; love
works in the present; hope looks to the future. They may be regarded
as the efficient, material, and final causes respectively of the
spiritual life" (_Lightfoot_).
1. _The character of this hope._--"The hope which is laid up for you
in heaven" (ver. 5). It is the prospect of future heavenly felicity.
Hope is put for the object hoped for--the hope of possessing a
spiritual inheritance whose wealth never diminishes, whose splendours
never fade; the hope of seeing Christ in all His regal glory; of
being like Him; of dwelling with Him for ever. A prospect like this
lifts the soul above the meannesses, disappointments, and sufferings
of the present limited life.
2. _The security of this hope._--"Laid up." This priceless
inheritance is safely deposited as a precious jewel in God's secret
coffer. There no pilfering hands can touch it, no breath can tarnish,
no rust corrode, no moth corrupt. Earthly treasures vanish, and
sometimes, to God's people, nothing but the treasure of hope remains.
The saint's enduring riches are in the future, locked up in the
heavenly casket. Where the treasure is there the heart should ever be.
3. _The source and foundation of this hope._--"Whereof ye heard
before in the word of the truth of the gospel" (ver. 5). The Gospel
is based on unchangeable truth and is therefore worthy of universal
credence. It alone unfolds the mysteries and glories of the future.
The hope of heaven rests, not on the discoveries of human philosophy,
but on the revelations of the true Gospel. In vain do men seek it
elsewhere. By the preaching of the Gospel this hope is made known to
man. How dismal the outlook where hope is unknown!
+Lessons.+--1. _We should thank God for others more on account of
their spiritual than temporal welfare._ 2. _Learn what are the
essential elements of the Christian character--faith, love, hope._
3. _The proclamation of the Gospel should be welcomed, and its
message pondered._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 3-5. _Good News and its Good Effects._
+I. The good news, what it was.+--That certain at Colossæ had not
only the Gospel, but had known the grace of God in truth, and were
now joined to Christ by faith and to His people by love.
+II. What were the results.+--1. _Abundant thanksgiving to the God of
redemption._ 2. _Constant prayer._ 3. _This epistle._
+III. Application.+--1. _It is well that ministers should be informed
of the success of the Gospel, both for their own encouragement and to
secure their sympathy, prayers, and counsel for the young converts._
2. _Established Christians and especially ministers should assure
young converts of the gratitude, joy, and sympathy they feel and the
prayers they present on their behalf._ 3. _If our hearts are right,
we shall rejoice at the success of the Gospel.--Preacher's Magazine._
Ver. 5. _Hope a Stimulus to Christian Perseverance_--
+I. In gaining the heavenly reward.+
+II. Because the heavenly reward is secure.+--"Laid up for you."
+III. Is based on truth already known.+--"Whereof ye heard before in
the word of the truth of the Gospel."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-8.
_The True Gospel universally the Same._
Wherever the Gospel comes it carries with it the ineffaceable impress
of its Divine origin, and of its universal adaptability to the
condition of humanity. There are certain truths that are self-evident
to the understanding and are not susceptible of proof. They are
axiomatic and must be admitted as such before any satisfactory system
can be constructed upon them. Of this character are the fundamental
truths of the Gospel. Their authority is supreme, and their
evidential force irresistible. But a truth may be universally
self-evident, and not be universally adopted. It is at this point the
guilt of the unbeliever is incurred. The Gospel comes to mankind with
ever-accumulating evidences of its Divine truthfulness; but men
resist it. This is the condemnation. "He that believeth on the Son is
not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already" (John
iii. 18). The false teachers, against whom the apostle warns the
Colossians, sought to spoil the Gospel by the intermixture of ideas
from Jew and Gentile.
+I. The true Gospel is universally the same in its adaptation and
enterprise.+--"Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world"
(ver. 6). The Gospel, though first proclaimed to the Jews, was not
confined to them. It reached, penetrated, and changed the Colossians.
In them all races were represented. Their conversion was typical of
the possibilities of the Gospel for all. The world's greatest
blessings are not indigenous, are not even sought; they are sent from
above. There is not a human being the Gospel cannot benefit; it
adapts itself to the wants of all. The Gospel started from Judea with
a world-wide mission and was eager to fulfil it. Its enterprise was
irresistible. It soon spread throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa--the
regions embracing the Roman empire, which was then virtually the
whole world. Its marvellous propagation proved its universal
adaptability. The celebrated systems of philosophy among the Grecians
lived only in the soil that produced them. Heresies are at best
ethnic; truth is essentially catholic. In less than a quarter of a
century Christianity was diffused through the entire world. The
success of Mahometanism was of a different character and effected by
different means. It depended more on the scimitar than the Koran.
Alexander, Sesostris, and others achieved similar conquests, and as
rapidly, by the force of arms. The victories of the Gospel were won
by moral weapons. It is the greatest privilege of any nation to
possess the Gospel, and its most solemn duty to make it known to the
world.
+II. The true Gospel is universally the same in its
results.+--"Bringeth forth fruit, and _increaseth_" (as the most
valuable MSS. read) "as it doth also in you" (ver. 6). The effects
produced on the Colossians by their reception of the Gospel were a
sample of the results in other parts of the world. The fruit-bearing
denotes its inward and subjective influence on the soul and life; the
increasing refers to its outward and diffusive influence as it makes
progress in the world. The metaphor used by the apostle suggests that
the Gospel, as a tree, not only bears fruit, but grows, sending forth
its roots more firmly and widely, and extending its branches in the
air. Thus, it bears fruit and makes advancement (_Spence_). There are
some plants which exhaust themselves in bearing fruit and then
wither. The Gospel is a plant whose seed is in itself, and its
external growth keeps pace with its reproductive energy. We cannot
monopolise the benefits of the Gospel to ourselves; it is intended
for the world, and wherever it comes it brings forth fruit. It is
intensely practical, and aims at results, corresponding with its
character, purpose, and power.
+III. The true Gospel is universally the same in the manner of its
reception.+--"Since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God
in truth" (ver. 6). Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word
of God. The mode of receiving the Gospel is the same to all. It is
apprehended by the understanding, approved by the judgment, and
embraced by the affections. It is not enough that it falls on the ear
like the strain of a seraphic melody, not enough that it enters the
understanding as a clearly conceived, full-orbed truth, not enough
that it ripples through the sphere of the emotions as an unspeakable
ecstasy, unless, aided by the Divine Spirit, it be cordially embraced
by the heart and conscience as the whole truth--the only truth that
saves and regenerates. It is in the Gospel only that we "hear of the
grace of God"--the good news that He has provided redemption and
restoration for the race. Nature, with all her revelations of beauty,
wisdom, and power, is dumb on this subject. Providence, with its vast
repertory of mingled mystery and bounty, unfolds it not. It is only
by believing the Gospel that, like the Colossians, we can "know the
grace of God in truth."
+IV. The true Gospel is universally the same in the method of its
propagation.+--1. _It is propagated by preaching._ "As ye also
learned" (ver. 7)--more correctly, "Even as ye were instructed" in
the truth mentioned in the preceding verse. It is believed Epaphras
first preached the Gospel at Colossæ, and, under the direction of
Paul, he was probably also evangelist to the neighbouring cities of
Hierapolis and Laodicea. Preaching is the Divinely instituted means
of disseminating the Gospel. It cannot be superseded by any other
agency. Its success has been marvellous.
2. _It is propagated by men thoroughly qualified for the
work._--(1) _The apostle recognised Epaphras as a co-labourer with
himself._ "Our dear fellow-servant" (ver. 7). The preacher must
labour as belonging to Christ, as entirely dependent on Him, and as
deeply attached to Him. He is not a servant _of_ the Church; he is a
servant _for_ the Church, in doctrine, supplication to God, and
varied endeavours among men. With all frankness, affection, and
modesty, the great apostle acknowledges Epaphras as "a dear
fellow-labourer." Envy and jealousy of the gifts and reputation of
others are pernicious and unjustifiable. (2) _The apostle recognised
Epaphras as a faithful minister of Christ._ It was a great honour to
be a fellow-servant with Paul, but greater still to be a minister of
Christ, the Lord of glory, the Head of the Church, the Monarch of men
and angels; commissioned by Him to proclaim the most vital truths and
promote the best interests of the people. Moreover, he is called a
_faithful_ minister; the appellation of minister he had in common
with many others; the praise of faithfulness is confined to few. "The
great secret lies in these three things--Christ, immortal souls,
self-humiliation" (_Bishop Wilson_). (3) _The apostle recognised
Epaphras as a man of deep spiritual insight._ "Who also declared unto
us your love in the Spirit" (ver. 8). Love is the leading
characteristic of the Gospel. It is announced as a message of God's
love to man, and its object is to produce love in every believing
heart. Epaphras apprehended this prominent feature in the message
itself, discerned its origin in the work of the Spirit, and rejoiced
in declaring its exercise towards the apostle, towards God, and
towards all men.
+Lessons.+--1. _The universality of the Gospel a strong evidence of
its Divine authorship._ 2. _Though all the world were to reject the
Gospel it would still be true._ 3. _To whomsoever the Gospel comes
the imperative duty is to believe it._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 6. _The Gospel manifests Itself._
+I. It spreads its good news in all possible places.+--"Which is
come unto you, as it is in all the world."
+II. Produces unmistakable spiritual results.+--"And bringeth forth
fruit, as it doth also in you."
+III. Is a revelation of Divine grace.+--"The grace of God in truth."
+IV. To be an evident blessing it must be heard and thoroughly
believed as the only truth.+--"Since the day ye heard of and
knew."
Vers. 7, 8. _A Successful Preacher_--
+I. Is affectionately recognised as a faithful minister of Christ+
(ver. 7).
+II. Attributes his success to the work of the Spirit+ (ver. 8).
+III. Regards the exercise of love in his hearers as a prominent
feature of success+ (ver. 8).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9-11.
_A Comprehensive Apostolic Prayer._
+I. It was a prayer expressive of deep spiritual interest.+--1. _It
was suggested by the report of their active Christian virtues._ "For
this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray"
(ver. 9). They had believed in Christ, they had shown a genuine love
to the brethren, they hoped for the glory of the future, they brought
forth the fruits of the Spirit. All this excites the grateful heart
of the apostle to pray that they may enjoy yet higher spiritual
blessings, may increase in knowledge and wisdom, and rise to the
highest standard of moral perfection. We best show our love to others
by praying for them. Prayer is always needed, since the most
excellent Christian graces are imperfect, liable to decay, and may be
abused.
2. _It was constant and fervent._--"Do not cease to pray for you and
to desire" (ver. 9). The apostle had unbounded faith in the efficacy
of prayer. Many in these days limit the advantage of prayer to its
reflex influence on the individual who prays--expanding the thoughts,
spiritualising the mind, and sanctifying the heart; and maintain that
it is powerless to affect God, whose purposes must advance by the
irresistible operation of unchanging law, irrespective of human
supplication. Above this partial philosophy of the modern scientist
we have the authority and practice of an inspired apostle. If God did
not hear and answer prayer--answer it, not in violation of, but in
harmony with, the highest law--then the frequent intercessions of the
apostle are reduced to a solemn mockery, are unjustifiable and
inexplicable. The apostle prayed with the utmost assiduity--night and
day, as opportunity permitted--and with the utmost ardency, desiring
that the blessings sought might be liberally and at once bestowed. As
Augustine puts it, our desires being prayers, these are continual
when our desires are continual.
+II. It was a prayer for amplest knowledge.+--1. _The main subject of
the knowledge desired._ "The knowledge of His will" (ver. 9). Man
thirsts for knowledge. He is eager to become acquainted with himself
and the wonders around him. In his unwearied search after knowledge
he has conquered colossal difficulties; has penetrated the starry
spaces with the telescope; revealed the smallest visual atom with the
microscope; and, with the deep-sea dredge, has made us familiar with
the long-hidden treasures of the ocean. But the highest knowledge is
the knowledge of God--not simply of His nature, majesty, perfections,
works, but the knowledge of His _will._ So far as we are concerned,
that will comprehends all that God wishes us to be, believe, and do.
We must know His will in order to salvation, and as the supreme rule
and guide of every action. Man may be ignorant of many things; but he
cannot be ignorant of God's will and be saved. The knowledge of that
will is the first great urgent duty of life.
2. _The measure in which the knowledge may be possessed._--"Filled
with knowledge." The word "knowledge" is full and emphatic,
indicating a living, comprehensive, complete knowledge of the Divine
will. They already possessed some knowledge of that will; and the
apostle prays that it may be deeper, clearer, and increasingly potent
within them, that they may be _filled._ The soul is not only to
possess this knowledge, but it is to possess the soul--informing,
animating, and impelling it onwards to higher attainments in the
things of God. Knowledge is a power for good only as it acquaints
with the Divine will, and as it pervades and actuates the whole
spiritual being. We may seek great things from God. He gives largely,
according to His infinite bounty. There is no limit to our increase
in Divine knowledge but our own capacity, diligence, and faith.
3. _The practical form in which the knowledge should be
exercised._--"In all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (ver. 9).
The word "spiritual" applies to both wisdom and understanding. The
false teachers offered a _wisdom_ which they highly extolled, but it
had only a show of wisdom; it was an empty counterfeit, calling
itself philosophy; the offspring of vanity, nurtured by the flesh; it
was unspiritual. The true Gospel is spiritual in its origin,
characteristics, and effects. The wisdom and understanding it imparts
are the work of the Holy Spirit. Without His presence and operation
in the soul both the knowledge of the Divine will and advancement in
it would be impossible. The two terms are similar in meaning, but
there is a distinction. _Wisdom_ refers to the God-given organ by
which truth is selected and stored up; _understanding_ to the faculty
by which truth is practically and prudently used; the one is
comprehensive and accumulative, the other discriminative and
practical. True spiritual insight is the work of the Holy Spirit. No
amount of mental or moral culture, of human wisdom and sagacity, can
supply it. This was the power lacked by the Galatians when they were
so soon seduced from the Gospel; and to prevent a similar result
among the Colossians the apostle prays they may be filled with the
knowledge of God's will in _all_ spiritual wisdom and understanding,
that they may discern between the false and the true, the carnal and
spiritual, the human and the Divine.
+III. It was a prayer for the loftiest Christian career.+--1. _The
standard of Christian conduct._ "That ye might walk worthy of the
Lord" (ver. 10). Life is a journey; death is the common goal and
resting-place where all meet. Our conduct is the pathway on which we
travel. The _walk_ therefore describes the general course of life,
the actions, habits, and deportment of the man in his relations to
God and to the race. This walk is to "be worthy of the Lord"--worthy
of His holy and dignified character; worthy of His law, of His
kingdom, of His glory, of the high destiny He has designed for us.
When a certain prince, on being captured, was asked how he should be
treated, his prompt reply was, "As a king." We should ever remember
the high vocation wherewith we are called, and the exalted pattern
after which our behaviour should be modelled (Eph. iv. 1; 1 Thess.
ii. 12). Our life is to be worthy of the Lord--in its spirit, motive,
active outgoing, development, scope, and aim. For this purpose, we
are filled with the knowledge of His will. The end of knowledge is
practice; its value consists in what it enables us to do. He is not
an architect who simply theorises about buildings, but he who has the
art to erect them. To speak eloquently of war does not constitute a
general; he only deserves that distinction who can skilfully manage
an army in the field, whether in attacking or defending.
2. _The rule by which that standard is maintained._--"Unto all
pleasing" (ver. 10). We are to please the Lord in all things; to
attempt and sanction nothing that will not be acceptable to Him. We
are not to please ourselves--we are not to please others--as the
ultimate object of life. If our conduct please others--our parents,
our friends, our country--it is well; but though all others are
displeased and estranged, we must strive in all things to please God.
This is the simplest as well as the highest and grandest rule of
life. Attention to this will settle many perplexing questions
concerning human duty. The will of God must be studied as our supreme
rule, and to it all our throughs, words, and actions must be
conformed. Thus, the life on earth becomes a preparation and
discipline for heaven and blends the present with a future of
immortal blessedness. It is well with us when we obey the Lord (Jer.
xlii. 6).
3. _The productiveness of Christian consistency._--"Being fruitful in
every good work" (ver. 10). One result of a worthy walk is fertility
in Christian activity. In order to fruitfulness there must be life.
The believer's life is hid with Christ in God, and the existence of
the hidden life is manifest in the fruits. Fruitfulness also involves
culture. Neglect the vine, and instead of the pendent clusters of
glossy, luscious fruit there will be barrenness and decay--withered
branches fit only for the consuming fire. God disciplines His people
for fruitful and abundant service by painful but loving exercises of
His providence (John xv. 2). It is not enough to bear one kind of
fruit; there must be fertility "in every good work." The Christian is
in sympathy with every good enterprise that aims at the physical,
social, or moral welfare of man, and will heartily contribute his
influence and effort in its promotion.
4. _Progress in Divine knowledge._--"And increasing in the knowledge
of God" (ver. 10). The knowledge of God is the real instrument of
enlargement, in soul and life, of the believer (_Alford_). We can
reach no stage in Christian experience and practice in which
additional knowledge is unnecessary. Activity in goodness sharpens
the knowing faculty and adds to the stores of wisdom. On the other
hand, increased knowledge reacts and stimulates the worker (John
vii. 17; Matt. xxv. 29). _Divine_ knowledge is the great necessity of
the soul, and the real means of fruitfulness and growth in goodness.
It appeals to, elevates, and expands the whole man.
+IV. It was a prayer for supernatural strength.+--1. _The
appropriateness and fulness of the blessing desired._ "Strengthened
with all might" (ver. 11). Man is morally weak. Sin has enfeebled and
debased the soul; it has tyrannised over humanity for ages. "When we
were yet without strength" Christ came and introduced another force
which counteracts sin and will ultimately effect its overthrow. All
who believe in Christ receive strength to struggle against and
conquer sin. This imparted strength is especially necessary in
realising the blessings for which the apostle prays--complete
knowledge of the Divine will; a life worthy of the Lord; spiritual
fertility and advancement in heavenly wisdom. "Strengthened with
_all_ might." Our enemies are numerous, violent, and obstinate, and
our infirmities are many. We therefore need strength of every kind.
As it is necessary to overcome _all_ our enemies, so it is necessary
to be endued with _all_ might--might to endure the most furious
assault, might to resist the most bewitching solicitation to evil.
2. _The supernatural source of the blessing._--"According to His
glorious power" (ver. 11)--or, more correctly, "according to the
power of His glory." Moral power is not native to the Christian; it
has its source in God. He imparts it to the believing heart. The
motive and measure of our strength is in the might of His glory.
Power is an essential attribute of the Divine glory; it is manifested
in the splendid works of creation, in the inscrutable ways of
Providence, and pre-eminently in the marvels of human redemption.
God's revelation of Himself to us, in whatever form, is the one
source of our highest strength. The power of His glory reveals itself
more and more to him who walks worthy of the Lord. Armed with this
supernatural energy, the weakest saint becomes invincible.
3. _The great practical purpose contemplated by the blessing._--"Unto
all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (ver. 11). _Patience_
is the temper which does not easily succumb under trial;
_longsuffering,_ or longmindedness, is the self-restraint which does
not hastily retaliate a wrong. Patience respects the weight of the
affliction, longsuffering its duration. The former is exercised in
relation to God, in the endurance of trial, or in waiting for
promised blessing; the latter in relation to man, in long-continued
forbearance under irritating wrongs. The true strength of the
believer consists, not so much in what he can do, as in what he can
endure (Isa. xxx. 15). The quiet, uncomplaining sufferer is greater
than the most vigorous athlete. The characteristic of both patience
and long-suffering is expressed in the phrase _"with joyfulness."_ To
suffer with joyfulness is the great distinction and triumph of the
Christian spirit. The endurance of the Stoic was often the effect of
pride or insensibility. But the Christian, though keenly sensitive to
pain, is enabled by the Holy Spirit to rejoice in the assurance of
God's presence, in the certain victory of His cause, and in the
prospect of reward both here and hereafter.
+Lessons.+--1. _How sublime are the topics of genuine prayer._
2. _Deep experimental acquaintance with the things of God is
essential to a lofty and useful career._ 3. _Knowledge, wisdom,
spiritual fertility, and strength are the gifts of God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 9-11. _Paul's Prayer for the Colossians_--
+I. For knowledge.+--Fulness of knowledge both extensively and
intensively is the burden of his desire. "In all wisdom"--as a
practical guide, not as mere theory. "And spiritual
understanding"--the spirit of the believer receiving the Spirit of
God to lead him inwardly to understand, realise, and delight in the
Divine will.
+II. For fruitfulness.+---1. _A life worthy of the Christian as it is
well pleasing unto his Lord._ 2. _Good works of every kind._
3. _Substantial growth._
+III. For strength.+--In order to this fruitfulness all might is
required of body, mind, and spirit, but especially that of the Spirit
within. The measure--"according to His glorious power"; so as to
suffer patiently the constant trials of the Christian life and
exercise all longsuffering towards persecutors and enemies of the
truth, and this with _joyfulness._ It is not what we can do, but what
He can do in us, and we through Him.--_Preacher's Magazine._
Ver. 11. _Divine Strength_--
+I. Is spiritual strength, the source and sustenance of all might.+
+II. May be realised in increasing measure.+
+III. Arms the soul with invincible power.+--Power to endure with
patience the trials of life; power to bear with the opposition
and cruelty of others.
+IV. Enables the soul to rejoice in the midst of suffering.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.
_Meetness for Saintly Inheritance._
The epistle has been hitherto occupied with prefatory observations.
In this verse the writer enters upon his principal theme relating to
the person and redemption of Jesus Christ. He offers _thanks to God
the Father as the primal source of that grace which constitutes the
meetness for the saintly heritage._ Observe:--
+I. The opulent inheritance provided for the good.+--1. _It is a
present and prospective possession._ "The inheritance of the saints
in light." _Light_ is symbolic of knowledge, purity, and joy. The
saints even now are called out of darkness into God's kingdom of
marvellous light. "They walk in the light as He is in the light."
They have a measure of knowledge, but it is dimmed by many earthly
obscurities; of purity, but it is surrounded with imperfections; of
joy, but it is moderated by life's sorrows. In the prospective
heavenly inheritance, of which the earthly portion is a preparation
and pledge, knowledge shall be unclouded and complete, purity
unsullied, joy uninterrupted. "The life for eternity is _already_
begun: we are at and from the very hour of our regeneration
introduced into the spiritual world--a world which, though mysterious
and invisible, is as real as the world of sense around us: the
Christian's life of heavenliness is the first stage of heaven itself!
There is a power now within the believer in the germ, of which his
celestial immortality shall be the proper fruit. The dawn of heaven
hath already begun in all who are yet to rejoice in its noontide
glory" (_Archer Butler_).
2. _It is a possession provided for the good._--"The saints." Not for
the unholy, the impenitent, the unbelieving, the worldly. It is an
inheritance where only the pure in heart can dwell. There is a world
of significance in that pithy saying of an old Divine: "Every one
will get to heaven who could live there." Only the saints who have
made the Lord their light and their salvation can bear the splendour
of His presence.
3. _It is a possession freely given._--The legal heir has no need to
work for his inheritance; he enters in possession by right of
succession or testatorial bequest. The saint enters upon his
inheritance of righteousness, not by natural descent or by any
self-constituted right, but on the ground of a free, Divine gift. The
believer has a _title_ to the inheritance; but it is not earned by
his own efforts: it is bestowed by Christ who won the inheritance by
suffering and dying. Thus, all idea of merit is excluded; we can do
nothing to deserve such a heritage of blessing. The word
"inheritance" really means "the parcel of the lot"--an expression
borrowed from the Old Testament (Ps. xvi. 5). The promised Canaan
suggests an analogy between it and the higher hopes and wealthier
possessions of the new dispensation. As each Israelite, through the
grace of God, obtained his allotment, so the Christian obtains his
portion in the kingdom of God. The present and future possession of
the saints infinitely surpasses the earthly inheritance.
+II. The special meetness necessary to a participation in the
inheritance.+--"Hath made us meet to be partakers."
1. _This meetness is absolutely necessary._--Naturally we are unmeet.
A monarch may raise the basest slave to a dukedom, but he cannot give
him fitness to discharge the duties of the exalted position; he may
change his state, but he cannot change his nature. To obtain a moral
fitness for the saintly inheritance our nature must be changed.
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
2. _This meetness consists in the loving conformity of the human will
to the Divine._--The future life of heaven is the object and pattern
of our present heavenly life: "there is the mighty model on which we
are to reconstruct our nature; there dwells that central form of
moral and spiritual beauty of which our life is to be the
transcript." The celestial spirits find their highest glory and
blessedness in the complete submission of their whole nature to God;
in cheerful, willing, loving obedience to His will. The heavenly life
is the test and standard of our life on earth--of every motive, word,
and deed. The Church of Christ is a training school for a more
exalted career. An ancient sage once said, "Boys ought most to learn
what most they shall need when they become men." So, men ought to
learn in this life what they shall need most as glorified beings in
the future. Only as our whole soul is conformed in loving obedience
to the will of God are we "meet to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in light." We are thus brought into sympathy with the good
in all realms and fitted to participate in the most exalted
fellowships of the future!
3. _This meetness is a Divine work._--It is God "the Father who hath
made us meet." He provides the inheritance; He gives the title to it;
He confers the moral fitness by which the soul enters into its
possession and enjoyment. None but God, the fountain of holiness,
goodness, and power, could accomplish this work. "He worketh in us to
will and to do." In the meetening process He hath dealt with us as a
FATHER, instructing our ignorance, correcting and chastising our
faults, and comforting and strengthening us in trouble.
+III. The great duty we owe to the generous donor of the
inheritance.+--"Giving thanks." Gratitude is the easiest and
commonest duty of a dependent creature; yet is the duty most
frequently and grossly neglected. Our hearts should ever glow with an
unquenchable flame of grateful praise to the bountiful Author of all
our blessings.
+Lessons.+--1. _We owe thanks to God as the Provider of the
inheritance._ 2. _We owe thanks to God as the active Agent in
producing the special meetness to participate in the enjoyments of
the inheritance._ 3. _Our thanks to God should be expressed in active
obedience to His will._ 4. _Our thanks to God should be joyful,
fervent, and constant._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 12. _Qualification for Heaven._
+I. The state contemplated.+--It is "an inheritance"; not a purchased
property, but the common heritage of the children of God. "Of the
saints," holy persons. "In light," knowledge, holiness, happiness.
+II. The meetness required.+--Adaptations in the natural world. In
social arrangement. In regard to the heavenly state. A change of
heart is necessary. Without it heaven would not be heaven to us. It
must be sought and obtained in the present world. It is here ascribed
to the Father.
+III. The thanks to be rendered.+--We thank our fellow-men for their
gifts. We thank God for His other gifts. We should thank Him for
meetness for heaven. This thanksgiving prepares us for
heaven.--_G. Brooks._
_Meetness for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light._--Life for
eternity is already begun. The business and the beatitude of heaven
must consist in conformity of the will to the will of God: this is
equally the law of earth.
+I. Faith is the realising power of this meetness.+
+II. Hope is the consoling and fortifying power.+
+III. Love is the uniting power, the consummation, and the perfection
of all.+--_A. Butler._
_The Inheritance of the Saints._
+I. An interesting view of the future world as it is inherited by
believers.+--1. _The saints are in light in respect to the place._
2. _As it respects purity._ 3. _In respect of the permanency of their
felicity._ 4. _As it respects knowledge._
+II. The meetness which is wrought by God in the hearts of all who
are raised to the enjoyment of this inheritance.+--1. _The relative
meetness is expressed by the word "inheritance."_ It is assigned to
heirs. 2. _The personal meetness is indicated by the term "saints."_
+Lessons.+--1. _Give thanks to God for those who are made meet._
2. _Give thanks to God if the work be begun in
yourselves.--R. Watson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13, 14.
_The Great Moral Translation._
These words amplify the truth unfolded in the preceding verse, and
describe the great change that must take place in order to obtain a
meetness for the saintly inheritance--_the translation of the soul
from the powerful dominion of darkness into the glorious kingdom of
the Son of God._
+I. This translation involves our enfranchisement from a state of
dark captivity.+--"Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness"
(ver. 13).
1. _The unrenewed are in a realm of moral darkness._--This was the
condition of the Colossians and of the whole Gentile world before the
times of the Gospel. "Darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness
the people." Darkness denotes _ignorance,_ moral blindness. Man is in
darkness about the great mysteries of being, the mystery of sin and
suffering, the deep significance of life, the distressing question of
human duty, the destiny of the universe, the character and operations
of God, and His relation to the race. It is possible to know much
_about_ religion, to hold religious ideas at second-hand as a group
of poetic conceptions--fancy pictures from the book of Revelation,
like the pictures of the poets from the book of Nature--and yet be
totally in the dark as to the religious experience of those ideas.
May be intellectually light, and spiritually dark. Darkness denotes
_danger_ and _misery._ Like a traveller in a strange country
overtaken by the night, stumbling along in uncertainty and fear,
until one fatal step--and he lies helpless in the rocky abyss, into
the bottom of which he falls.
2. _In this realm of moral darkness the unrenewed are held in
captivity._--They are slaves in the land of darkness, tyrannised over
by an arbitrary and capricious ruler. Slavery distorts and defaces
the illustrious image in which man was originally created, darkens
the understanding, paralyses the intellect, and stunts the growth of
intelligence; it robs him of his self-respect, poisons nature, and
brands him with unutterable infamy. The "power of darkness" is that
tyranny which sin exercises over its captives, filling their minds
with deadly errors or brutish ignorance, their consciences with
terror of indifference, and dragging them onwards under its dismal
yoke into all the horrors of eternal darkness. The tyrant of this
gloomy realm is Satan; and his domination is founded and conducted on
imposture, error, ignorance, and cruelty. He is the arch-deceiver.
3. _From this realm of moral darkness God graciously
liberates._--"Who hath delivered us." For the slaves of sin there is
no help but in God. It is the nature of sin to incapacitate its
victim for making efforts after self-enfranchisement. He is unwilling
to be free. To snap the fetters from a nation of slaves yearning for
liberty is a great and noble act. Our deliverance is mightier than
that. The word "deliver" in the text means to snatch or rescue from
danger, even though the person seized may at first be unwilling to
escape, as Lot from Sodom. God does not force the human will. The
method of deliverance was devised and executed independent of our
will; its personal benefits cannot be enjoyed without our will.
+II. This translation places us in a condition of highest moral
freedom and privilege.+--1. _We are transferred to a kingdom._ "Hath
translated us into the kingdom" (ver. 13). _Power_ detains captives;
a kingdom fosters willing citizens. Tyranny has no law but the
capricious will of a despot; a kingdom implies good government, based
on universally recognised and authoritative law. "The image is
presented of the wholesale transportation of a conquered people, of
which the history of Oriental monarchies furnishes many examples"
(Josephus, _Ant.,_ IX. xi.). They were translated from a bad to a
better ruling power. So, the believer is moved from the realm and
power of darkness and bondage to the kingdom of light and freedom.
The laws of this kingdom are prescribed by Christ, its honours and
privileges granted by Him, and its future history and triumphs will
ever be identified with His own transcendent glory.
2. _We are placed under the rule of a beneficent and glorious
King._--"The kingdom of God's dear Son," more accurately "the Son of
His love." As love is the essence of the Father, so is it also of the
Son. The manifestation of the Son to the world is manifestation by
Him of Divine love (1 John iv. 9). The kingdom into which believers
are translated is founded on love; its entire government is carried
on under the same beneficent principle. The acts of suffering and
death, by which Christ won His kingly dignity and power, were
revelations of love in its most heroic and self-sacrificing forms.
When we believe in Christ, we are translated from the tyranny and
darkness of sin into the kingdom of which the Son of God--the Son
infinitely beloved of the Father--is King. As willing subjects, we
share with Him the Father's love, and are being prepared for more
exalted service and sublimer experiences in the endless kingdom of
the future.
+III. The Divine method by which translation is effected.+--It is
effected by redemption.
1. _The means of redemption._--"Through His blood" (ver. 14). The
image of a captive and enslaved people is still continued. But the
metaphor is changed from the victor who rescues the captive by force
of arms to the philanthropist who releases him by the payment of a
ransom (_Lightfoot_). All men are under the condemnation of a
violated law and sink in the bondage of sin. There is no release but
by paying a ransom; this is involved in the idea of redemption. The
ransom-price paid for the enfranchisement of enslaved humanity was
"not corruptible things, as silver and gold, but the precious blood
of Christ." The _mode_ of redemption is to us a deep mystery; the
reasons influencing the Divine Mind in its adoption we cannot fathom.
But the fact is plainly revealed (1 Pet. iii. 18, ii. 24; Gal.
iii. 13). This was God's method of translating from bondage to
liberty.
2. _The effect of redemption._--"Even the forgiveness of sins" (ver.
14). The ransom-price is paid, and the slave is free. The first
blessing of redemption is pardon. It is this the penitent soul most
urgently needs; it does not exclude all other redemptive blessings
but opens and prepares the soul for their reception. Sin is the great
obstacle between the soul and God; the monster sluice that shuts off
the flow of Divine blessing. Redemption lifts the sluice, and the
stream of Divine goodness pours its tide of benediction into the
enraptured soul. An earthly king may forgive the felon, but he cannot
give him a better disposition. God never forgives without at the same
time giving a new heart. Pardon involves every other blessing--peace,
purity, glory; it is the pledge and foundation for the bestowal of
all we can need in time or in eternity.
3. _The Author of redemption._--"In whom we have redemption" (ver.
14). Christ, the Son of God's love, by the sacrifice of Himself,
accomplished our redemption; and it is only as we are _in_ Him by
faith that we actually partake of the freedom He purchased for us.
His blood is not merely the ransom paid for our deliverance, but He
is Himself the personal, living source of redemption. The deliverance
of humanity is not simply in the work of Christ, through what He did
and suffered, but in Himself--"the strong Son of God," the crucified,
risen, and living Saviour. It is not only a rescue from condemnation
and punishment, but a deliverance from the power and bondage of evil.
The words "in whom we have redemption" teach much and imply more.
They describe a continuous gift enjoyed, a continuous process
realised by all who have been translated into the kingdom of the
Saviour. In them the power of redemption is being carried on, so that
they die unto sin, and live unto God, and experience a growing
meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light (_Spence_).
Christ only could be the Redeemer of men; He combined in one person
the Divine and human natures: He could therefore meet the demands of
God and the necessities of man.
+Lessons.+--1. _Sin is a dark, enslaving power._ 2. _The kingdom of
the Redeemer is one of light and freedom._ 3. _Moral translation by
redemption is a Divine work._ 4. _The forgiveness of sin can be
obtained only by faith in the Son of God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 13. _From Darkness to Light._
+I. Man is naturally in a state of darkness, held captive by sin
and Satan.+
+II. A kingdom of freedom and light is provided by the intervention
of the Son of God.+
+III. The translation from darkness to light is a Divine act.+
Ver. 14. _The Great Blessing of Redemption_--
+I. Is the forgiveness of sins.+
+II. The blessing of forgiveness is through the agency of Christ.+
+III. Redemption is purchased at a great cost and
sacrifice.+--"Through His blood."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_15-17.
_The Relation of Christ to God and to all Created Things._
Having spoken of our redemption, the apostle, in terms of the highest
significance and grandeur, dwells upon the dignity and absolute
supremacy of the Redeemer.
+I. The relation of Christ to God.+--"Who is the image of the
invisible God" (ver. 15). God is an infinite and eternal Spirit,
incomprehensible and invisible. "No man hath seen God at any time;"
yet humanity yearns for some visible embodiment of Deity. Christ
reflects and reveals the Father. "He is the brightness of His glory,
and the express image of His person." It is believed that the idea of
the _Logos_ underlies the whole of this passage, though the term is
not mentioned. The heretical teachers at Colossæ had introduced a
perverted view as to the nature of the _mediation_ between God and
creation, and the apostle aims to rectify it. The word λόγος,
denoting both reason and speech, was a philosophical term adopted by
Alexandrian Judaism to express the manifestation of the unseen
God--the absolute Being--in the creation and government of the world.
It included all modes by which God makes himself known to man. As His
_reason,_ it denoted His purpose or design; as His _speech,_ it
implied His revelation. When Christian teachers adopted this term,
they exalted and fixed its meaning by attaching it to two precise and
definite ideas--that the Word is a Divine person, and that the Word
became incarnate in Jesus Christ (_Lightfoot_). Christ as the eternal
Word is the perfect image, the visible representation, of the unseen
God. In addition to the idea of _similitude,_ which is capable of a
wide and general use, the word "image" involves two others.
1. _Representation._--It implies an archetype of which the image is a
copy. Man is said to be in the image of God; but there is a
difference between the image of God in man and the image of God in
Christ. In Christ it is as Cæsar's image in his son; in man it is as
Cæsar's image on his coin. In the God-man Christ Jesus we have a
visible, living, perfect, and reliable representation of the
invisible God.
2. _Manifestation._--The general idea of the _Logos_ is the
manifestation of the hidden. "No man hath seen God at any time; the
only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath
declared Him" (John i. 18, compared with xiv. 9, 10, vi. 46). The
incarnate Word, in His nature, attributes, and actions, is the true
_epiphany_ of the unseen Deity, setting forth, like distinct rays of
one and the same glorious light, His infinite wisdom, mercy,
righteousness, and power. Our obligations to Christ for His wondrous
revelations are unspeakably great.
+II. The relation of Christ to all created things.+--1. _Christ
existed prior to the creation._ He is "the firstborn of every
creature" (ver. 15). It is not said He was the first formed or first
created of every creature, but the firstborn--the first begotten. It
is plainly intimated that Christ, the Son of God's love, was begotten
before any created thing existed. There is therefore no ground in
this passage for the Arians and Socinians to build up their theory of
the creatureship of Christ. In relation to all created things,
intelligent or unintelligent, terrene or celestial, Christ was the
firstborn. In an ineffably mysterious sense _He_ was begotten; _they_
were created. The two ideas involved in the phrase are: (1) _Priority
to all creation_--the absolute pre-existence of the Son. The term
"first begotten" was frequently used among the Jews as a term of
precedence and dignity. As applied to the Son of God, it implies
priority in rank in relation to all created things. Time is an
accident of the _creature._ Therefore, the origin of the Son of God
precedes all time. (2) _Sovereignty over all creation._ God's
firstborn is the natural Ruler, the acknowledged Head of God's
household. He is "Heir of all things." He is creation's supreme and
absolute Lord. He brought all creatures out of nothing, and by His
own will graduated the degree of being each should possess; and it is
fitting He should have unlimited empire over all. As if to prevent
the possibility of any misconception regarding the relation of Christ
to the universe, and to show that He could not be a part of creation
however exalted in degree, but was essentially distinct from it, the
apostle _sets forth the Son of God as the First Cause, the Active
Agent, and the Grand End of all created things._
2. _Christ is Himself the Creator of all things._--(1) _The
conception of creation originated in Christ._ "For by Him [or _in_
Him] were all things created" (ver. 16). He was the great First
Cause; the being, forms, limitations, energies of all things to be
were bound up in Him. It rested with Himself to create or not to
create. It is thought by some the Platonic idea is here shadowed
forth; that the archetypes, the original patterns of all things, were
in Christ before they were created outwardly. This is simply a
philosophic speculation and is readily suggested by the universal
method of the mind first forming a mental conception within itself of
any object it desires to body-forth to the outward eye. It is in
Christ we trace the great work of creation in its beginning,
progress, and end. (2) _The powers of creation were distributed by
Christ._ "All things that are in heaven, and that are in earth" (ver.
16). He created the heavens also; but those things which are in the
heavens are rather named because the inhabitants are more noble than
their dwellings. "Visible," things that are evident to the outward
senses; and "invisible," things that may be conceived by the
understanding. "With a view to meet some peculiar doctrine of the
false teachers at Colossæ, who seem to have alleged that Christ was
but one of the heavenly powers, St. Paul breaks up the things
_invisible,_ and distributes them by the words 'thrones,'
'dominions,' 'principalities,' or 'powers.' It may be difficult, and
indeed impossible, for us now fully to know what the terms severally
convey in connection with the several hierarchies of official glory.
Yet all these invisible beings, so illustrious as to be seated on
_thrones,_ so great as to be styled _dominions,_ so elevated as to be
considered _principalities,_ so mighty as to merit the designation of
_powers,_ were created by the Son of God; and they all acknowledge
His supremacy and glory. The highest position in creation is
infinitely below Him, and there is neither majesty nor renown that
equals His. All created beings occupying the loftiest thrones
throughout the vastness of immensity and amidst the mystery of life
do homage and service to Christ Jesus as the firstborn, the only
begotten Son of God" (_Spence_). (3) _Christ is Himself the Great End
of creation._ "All things were created _for_ Him" (ver. 16). As all
creation emanated from Him, so does it all converge again towards
Him. "The eternal Word is the goal of the universe, as He was the
starting-point. It must end in unity, as it proceeded from unity; and
the centre of this unity is Christ." The most elaborate and majestic
machinery of the universe and the most highly gifted intelligence
alike exist only to serve the ultimate purpose of creation's Lord.
All created things gather their significance, dignity, and glory by
their connection with Him. Christ must be more than a creature, as
the loftiest creature could not be the end of all created things. It
is a narrow philosophy that teaches that all things were made for
man. The grand end of all our endeavours should ever be the glory of
Christ.
3. _The unchanging eternity of Christ._--"He is before all things"
(ver. 17). Not only is He before Moses and before Abraham, as He
declared to the Jews (John viii.), but He is before all things. The
words refer not so much to His eminence in rank as to duration. The
terms HE IS, in the Greek, are most emphatic, the one declaring His
_personality,_ the other that His _pre-existence is absolute
existence._ Christ existed before any created thing--even before time
itself; therefore, from eternity. Knowing the tendency of men to
entertain inferior notions of the person of Christ, and of the
redemption He has provided, the apostle multiplies conceptions to
represent His Divine worth and excellency. He should be preferred
before all.
4. _The continued existence of creation depends on Christ._--"And by
[rather _in_] Him all things consist" (ver. 17)--_hold together,
cohere._ He is the principle of cohesion in the universe. He
impresses upon creation that unity and solidarity which makes it a
cosmos instead of a chaos. Thus, to take one instance, the action of
gravitation, which keeps in their places things fixed and regulates
the motion of things moving, is an expression of His mind
(_Lightfoot_). The universe found its completion in Him and is
sustained and preserved every moment by the continuous exercise of
His almighty power. All things hang on Christ; in Him they live and
move and have their being. If He withdrew His upholding hand,
everything would run into confusion and ruin. "Thou hidest Thy face,
they are troubled: Thou takest away their breath, they die, and
return to their dust." In Him all things consist. He is the centre of
life, force, motion, and rest; round Him all things revolve. He
imposes their limits, gives to them their law, strikes the keynote of
their harmonies, blends and controls their diverse operations. He is
the All-perfect in the midst of imperfection, the Unchanged in the
midst of change. He is the Author of human redemption; became
incarnate, suffered, died, and rose again, and now reigns with the
Father in glory everlasting. He is worthy of our loftiest adoration,
our humblest submission, our strongest confidence, our most ardent
love.
+Lessons.+--1. _The supremacy of the Creator and Preserver of all
things is absolute and universal_ 2. _Human redemption is grounded on
the divinity of the Son of God._ 3. _Personal trust in the Redeemer
brings the soul into direct personal relation to the Father._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 15. _Christ a Revelation because He is the Equal of the Father_--
+I. In His nature.+--The incarnation.
+II. In His attributes.+
+III. In His will.+--The character of Christ and His moral system.
+IV. In His works.+--His miracles, His death as a sacrifice for sin,
His resurrection. 1. How ungrateful and unbelieving have we been!
2. How zealous and devoted should we be!--_G. Brooks._
Ver. 16. _Christ the Author and the End of Creation._
+I. The Author.+--1. _The extent._ "All things." The universe,
natural and moral.
2. _The variety._--"Visible and invisible." The near and the distant,
the vast and the minute, the material and the spiritual.
3. _The orders._--"Whether they be." Scale of being. Gradations in
all classes.
+II. The end.+--1. _Heaven was created for Him._ As the place of His
special residence and as the home of His people.
2. _Angels were created for Him._--Messengers of His mercy,
executioners of His vengeance.
3. _Hell was created for Him._--The prison of His justice.
4. _The earth was created for Him._--The scene of His incarnation and
atoning death. His mediatorial kingdom.
5. _The human race was created for Him._--Man created, preserved,
redeemed. (1) How exalted should be our ideas of Christ! (2) How
carefully should we learn to view everything in connection with
Christ! 3. What ground for confidence, gratitude, and fear.--_Ibid._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.
_The Relation of Christ to the Moral Creation._
After showing that Christ holds the position of absolute priority and
sovereignty over the whole universe, the apostle now proceeds to
point out His relation to the principal part of that whole--the
Church, as the symbol and embodiment of the new, moral creation. From
this verse we learn that _Christ is the supreme Head, and primal
life-giving Source of the Church, and as such is invested with
universal pre-eminence._
+I. Christ is the supreme Head of the Church--the new moral
creation.+--1. _The Church is the body of Christ._ "The body, the
Church." Much controversy has prevailed as to what constitutes the
Church; and the more worldly the Church became, the more confused the
definition, the more bitter the controversy. The New Testament idea
of the Church is easily comprehended. It is the whole body of the
faithful in Christ Jesus, who are redeemed and regenerated by His
grace--the aggregate multitude of those in heaven and on earth who
love, adore, and serve the Son of God as their Redeemer and Lord. The
word ἐκκλησία constitutes two leading ideas: the ordained _unity,_
and the _calling_ or separating out from the world. Three grand
features ever distinguish the true Church--unbroken unity, essential
purity, and genuine catholicity. (Cf. Eph. i. 22, 23, iv. 15, 16;
1 Cor. xii. 12-27).
2. _Christ is the Head of the Church._--"And He is the Head of the
body, the Church." That the world might not be considered this body,
the word "Church" is added; and the materialistic conception of a
Church organism thus refuted. As the Head of the Church--(1) Christ
inspires it with spiritual life and activity. (2) He impresses and
moulds its character. (3) He prescribes and enforces its laws. (4) He
governs and controls its destinies. (5) He is the centre of its unity.
+II. Christ is the originating, fontal Source of the organic life of
the Church.+--In respect to the state of grace, _He is the
beginning_; in respect to the state of glory, He is _the firstborn
from the dead._ He gives to the Church its entity, form, history, and
glory; except in and through Him, the Church could have no existence.
1. _He is the Author of the moral creation._--"The beginning." Christ
has been before described as the Author of the old material creation.
Here He is announced as the beginning of the new spiritual creation.
The moral creation supplies the basis and constituent elements of the
Church. In the production, progress, and final triumph of the new
creation, He will redress all the wreck and ruin occasioned by the
wrong-doing of the old creation. Of this new moral creation Christ is
the source, the principle, the beginning; the fountain of life,
purity, goodness, and joy to the souls of men.
2. _He is the Author of the moral creation as the Conqueror of
Death._--"The firstborn from the dead." Sin introduced death into the
old creation, and the insatiable monster still revels and riots amid
the corruptions he perpetually generates. The Son of God, in
fulfilment of the Divine plan of redemption, became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. He descended into Hades and
placed Himself among the dead. On the third day He rose again, "the
firstfruits of them that slept." He was "the firstborn from the
dead"; the first who had risen by His own power; the first who had
risen to die no more. By dying He conquered death for Himself and all
His followers. He can therefore give life to all that constitute that
Church of which He is fittingly the Head, assure them of a
resurrection from the dead, of which His own was a pattern and
pledge, and of transcendent and unfading glory with Himself in the
endless future.
+III. The relation of Christ to the Church invests Him with absolute
pre-eminence.+--"That in all things He might have the pre-eminence."
1. _He is pre-eminent in His relation to the Father._--He is "the
image of the invisible God"; the Son of His love, joined by a bond to
us mysterious and ineffable, and related in a sense in which no other
can be. He is the first and the last; the only Divine Son.
2. _He is pre-eminent in the universe of created things._--He existed
_before_ any being was created, and was Himself the omnipotent Author
of all created things. The whole hierarchy of heaven obey and adore
Him. He is alone in His complex nature as our Emmanuel. Mystery of
mysteries; in Him Deity and humanity unite!
3. _He is pre-eminent in His rule over the realm of the dead._--He
entered the gloomy territory of the grave, wrestled with and
vanquished the King of Terrors, rose triumphantly from the dismal
battle-field, and is now Lord both of the dead and of the living. "I
am He that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore;
and have the keys of Hades and of death" (Rev. i. 18).
4. _He is pre-eminent in His relation to the Church._--The Church
from beginning to end is purely His own creation. He sketched its
first rough outline, projected its design, constructed its organism,
informed it with life, dowered it with spiritual riches; and He will
continue to watch over and direct its future until He shall "present
it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any
such thing"!
5. _He is pre-eminent in the estimation and homage of a ransomed
world._--He is the central figure of all history; around Him all
events group themselves, and by Him are stamped with their true
character, significance, and worth. The dream of the ages, the
teaching of figures and symbols, the shadows and forecastings of
coming events, are all dismissed in the effulgent presence of Him to
whom they all point, like so many quivering index-fingers. Christ has
to-day the strongest hold upon the heart of humanity. His perplexed
enemies admire while they reject Him; the ever-increasing multitude
of His friends reverence and adore Him; and the era is rapidly
advancing when to Him a universe of worshippers shall bow the knee
and acknowledge that "in all things He has the pre-eminence."
+Lessons.+--1. _The pre-eminence of Christ entitles Him to universal
obedience._ 2. _The highest blessedness is found in union with the
Church of Christ._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 18. _The Church the Body of Christ._
+I. As the body of Christ the Church is one with Him.+--1. _One in
covenant dealing with God._ 2. _One in respect of the principle of
life._ 3. _One in history._ 4. _How Christ may be served or
persecuted._
+II. As the body of Christ the Church is one in
itself.+--1. _Identity of principle._ 2. _Substantial agreement in
faith._ 3. _A visible association through sympathy._
+III. As the body of Christ the Church has many co-operating and
mutually dependent members.+--1. _The members are as numerous as are
believers or as are offices._ 2. _Their mutual dependence and
co-operation illustrated in the work of spreading the Gospel._
3. _Let each one know his own place and duties._
+IV. As the body of Christ the Church must grow up to completeness
and maturity.+--1. _Each believer is first a babe in Christ and
advances to the measure of the stature of a man in Christ._ 2. _As a
whole the Church is gradually augmented and increased_--from Abel
onwards. 3. _To gather in and perfect the elect is the peculiar work
of time._
+V. As the body of Christ the Church must be restored to perfect
soundness and health.+--1. _Christ receives the Church--dead._
2. _The first step towards perfect soundness is a resurrection._
3. _Hence each believer is quickened with Christ in order to be
healed._ 4. _The bodies of the saints shall likewise be
perfect._--The Physician. 5. _In heaven no one shall say, "I am
sick."_
+VI. As the body of Christ the Church is the object of His
unremitting care.+--1. _To provide for the wants of his body is man's
unceasing care._ 2. _Christ has made ample provision._ 3. _He now
ministers to His Church's wants_--clothing, food, defence, habitation.
+VII. As the body of Christ the Church is the instrument through
which He accomplishes His purposes.+--1. _The body the instrument of
the heart or soul._ 2. _The Church the instrument of Christ._ 3. _The
Church but the instrument.--Stewart._
_Christ the Firstborn from the Dead_--
+I. In the dignity of His person.+
+II. Because He rose by His own power.+
+III. Because He is the only one who rose never to die again.+
+IV Because He has taken precedence of His people who all shall rise
from their graves to glory.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19, 20.
_The Reconciling Work of the Great Mediator._
After showing the grand pre-eminency of Christ in both the natural
and moral creation, and thus declaring the inferior and subordinate
position of those angelic powers whose nature and office the false
teachers in Colossæ unduly extolled, the apostle here proceeds to
point out _the special fitness of the great Mediator for that lofty
relationship._ It is grounded on the fact that in Him all fulness
dwells. Observe--
+I. The unique qualification of the great Mediator.+--1. _In Him all
fulness dwells._ The heretical teachers would reduce Christ to the
level of an angelic mediator, a simple evolution from the Divine
nature, and one of the links that bind the finite to the infinite.
They admitted there was the manifestation of Divine power and glory,
but that this was only occasional, and not inherent. The apostle, in
refuting this, asserts that the plenitude--the grand totality of
Deity--resided in Christ, not as a transient guest, but as a
permanent and abiding presence. "All fulness." Well might the
profound and devout Bengel exclaim, "Who can fathom the depth of this
subject?" In the marvellous person of Jesus there is combined all the
fulness of humanity as well as the fulness of Divinity--all the
beauty, dignity, and excellency that replenish heaven and earth, and
adorn the nature of God and of men. It is a fulness that stands
related to all the interests of the universe and can supply the moral
necessities of all. There is a fulness of wisdom to keep us from
error, fulness of grace to preserve from apostasy, fulness of joy to
keep us from despair, and fulness of power to protect from all evil.
It penetrates and fills the vast universe of intelligent beings and
girds it with a radiant circle of glory and felicity.
2. _It is the good pleasure of the Father that this fulness should
reside in the Son._--"For it pleased the Father" (ver. 19). It was
the will and purpose of God the Father that Christ, as the Mediator,
should, in order to accomplish the great work of reconciliation, be
filled with the plenitude of all Divine and human excellencies; that
He should be the grand, living, unfailing reservoir of blessing to
the whole intelligent universe. The Father is not only in harmony
with the reconciling work of the Son, but the whole merciful
arrangement was from the first suggested, planned, and appointed by
Him. The moving cause and foundation of all saving grace through the
Son is the good pleasure of the Father. It is not His good pleasure
that any other than Christ should be the Mediator of the universe. We
should never seek or acknowledge any other.
+II. The reconciling work of the great Mediator.+--1. _The nature of
the reconciliation._ "To reconcile unto Himself" (ver. 20). The word
"reconcile" imports to restore one to a state of amity and
friendship, to change the relations of two parties separated either
by one-sided or mutual enmity. Sin places man at enmity with God, and
exposes him to the Divine opposition and anger. The cross of Christ,
by removing the cause of estrangement, opens the way of
reconciliation; and the penitent, believing soul is thus restored to
the Divine favour and friendship. But the word "reconcile" does not
always presuppose the existence of open enmity; and, from the general
drift of the verse, the term should be interpreted in the most
liberal sense, yet with the utmost caution and reverence.
2. _The extent of the reconciliation._--"To reconcile all things unto
Himself, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven" (ver.
20). It was on the earth where the enmities first arose; therefore,
it is put first. The humanity of Christ bringing all creatures around
it unites them to God in a bond which never before existed--a bond
which has its origin in the mystery of redemption. Thus all things in
heaven and earth feel the effect of man's renovation. In Christ, the
great Reconciler, meet and merge the discordant elements which sin
had introduced (see _Bengel_ and _Eadie_). The false teachers aimed
at effecting a partial reconciliation between God and man, through
the interposition of angelic mediators. The apostle speaks of an
absolute and complete reconciliation of universal nature to God,
effected through the mediation of the incarnate Word. Their mediators
were ineffective because they were neither human nor Divine. The true
Mediator must be both human and Divine. The whole universe of things
material, as well as spiritual, shall be restored to harmony with
God. How far this restoration of universal nature may be subjective,
as involved in the changed perceptions of man thus brought into
harmony with God, and how far it may have an objective and
independent existence, it were vain to speculate (_Lightfoot_). With
regard to this reconciliation, we may safely say it includes, with
much more that is too high for us to understand, the following
truths: (1) Sinful creatures on earth are reconciled to God in
Christ. For the degenerate and guilty children of men there is a
Reconciler and a way of reconciliation, so that wrath is turned
aside, and friendship restored. (2) Sinful and sinless or unfallen
creatures are reconciled to each other and brought together again in
Christ. Bengel says: "It is certain that the angels, the friends of
God, were the enemies of men when they were in a state of hostility
against God." The discord and disunion introduced into the moral
universe by sin are overcome by the Lord Jesus. (3) Sinless and
unfallen creatures are brought nearer to God in Christ, and, through
His reconciling work and His infinite fulness of grace, are confirmed
for ever in their loyalty and love. In Christ, the Redeemer and
Reconciler, they have views of the Divine nature, character, and
glory they never had before, and which they can nowhere else obtain
(_Spence_). It needed such a Mediator as Jesus, gifted with the
highest Divine and human powers, to restore the tone and harmony of a
discordant universe, and tune every created spirit to the keynote of
sweetest celestial music. The true melody of acceptable praise is
learned only in the ardent, loving adoration of the Son of God.
+III. The means by which the reconciliation is effected.+--"And
having made peace through the blood of His cross" (ver. 20). To make
peace is the same thing as to reconcile; and the death of Christ--the
shedding of His blood on the cross--was the method by which, in the
infinite wisdom of God, the peace-producing reconciliation is
secured. It was the voluntary self-sacrifice of Himself on the cross
that constituted Jesus the grand reconciling Mediator of the
universe. "All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself
by Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. v. 18). Only by suffering could suffering be
assuaged; only by dying could death itself be conquered. The cross is
therefore the symbol of peace, of power, of triumph. There the law
was fulfilled and magnified, the integrity of the Divine perfections
vindicated, justice was satisfied, mercy found its most bounteous
outlet, and love its crowning joy. The cross is the source of every
blessing to the fallen; the centre round which a disordered universe
again revolves in beauteous order and rejoicing harmony; the
loadstone that draws the trembling sinner to the needed and
unutterable repose.
+Lessons.+--1. _The great Mediator has every qualification for His
stupendous work._ 2. _The reconciliation of a disorganised universe
is beyond the power of any subordinate agent._ 3. _Rebellious man can
be restored to peace with God only as he yields himself up to the
great Mediator._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 19. _The Fulness of Christ_--
+I. Endowed with all Divine and human excellencies.+
+II. Necessary to accomplish His reconciling work.+
+III. Was required and approved by God the Father.+
Ver. 20. _Christ the Reconciler_--
+I. Restored the friendship between God and man broken by sin.+
+II. Accomplished His work by the voluntary sacrifice of His life.+
+III. Introduces harmony into a disrupted universe.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21, 22.
_The Personal Blessings of Reconciliation._
Having shown the relation of Christ to God, to the whole creation,
and to the Church, and His connection with all moral beings, the
writer now proceeds to point out the relation of Christ to individual
man in delivering him from the fetters of sin and opening up the way
of reconciliation with an outraged but loving Deity. In this passage
we have a description of _the attitude of sinful man towards God and
the method of his restoration._ We learn that:--
+I. Sin has placed man in antagonism to God.+--1. _Man is estranged
from God._ "And you that were sometime alienated" (ver. 21). Sin
severs the soul from God. The principle of cohesion--the
consciousness of rectitude which God implanted in man in his sinless
state--is weakened, and the sinner, breaking away from the centre of
all goodness, drifts into an ever-widening and ever-darkening
wilderness of alienation and evil. Sin places man at an infinite
distance from God, leads him to shun the Divine presence and
disregard the Divine overtures. A state of alienation is a state of
danger; it is a state of spiritual death; and yet it is painful to
observe how few in this state are conscious of their awful peril.
2. _Man is hostile to God._--"Enemies in your mind" (ver. 21). The
enmity follows from the estrangement, and both have their seat in the
mind--"in the original and inmost _force of the mind_ which draws
after it the other faculties." The mind of man opposes the mind of
God, sets up a rival kingdom, and organises an active rebellion
against the Divine Ruler. "The carnal mind is enmity against God"
(Rom. viii. 7). If the hostility is not always flagrantly open, it is
in the mind; the fountain of all sin is there. To be a stranger to
God is to be an enemy of God: "He that is not with Me is against Me."
The sinner is his own greatest enemy. It is a vain thing to fight
against God; terrible will be the vengeance He will ere long wreak
upon His enemies.
3. _Man's estrangement and hostility are evident in his
actions._--"By wicked works" (ver. 21). Man is stimulated by his
sinful mind to perpetrate the most outrageous acts of rebellion
against God, and to indulge in the most fiendish cruelty towards his
fellow-man. But there are "wicked works" that may not figure in the
criminal columns of the newspapers, nor be detected by the most
vigilant watcher. To cherish envy, hatred, malice, and all
uncharitableness is equally heinous in the sight of God, and an
unmistakable evidence of hostility towards Him. Sin conceived in the
mind will, sooner or later, manifest itself in action.
+II. Man is reconciled to God in Christ.+--1. _The distinguished
blessing._ "Yet now hath He reconciled" (ver. 21). To effect this all
that is necessary is to persuade the sinner to cease his rebellion
and submit to God. In Christ God is reconciled to the sinner; there
is no need to persuade Him. He is love; the sinner is enmity. He is
light; the sinner is darkness. He is nigh unto the sinner, but the
sinner is afar off. The great object is to destroy the sinner's
enmity, that he may have Divine love; bring him from darkness into
Divine light; bring him from his evil works nigh unto God, and
reconciliation is the result (_Biblical Museum_). The amity existing
between the soul and God, and which sin had interrupted, is now
restored. Dear as are the friendships of earth, none can equal
friendship with God.
"The calls a worm His friend,
He calls Himself my God;
And He shall save me to the end
Through Jesu's blood."
The loftiest communion of the soul with God is renewed. In this the
soul finds its strength, consolation, life, rapture. How much does
that man lose whose heart is not reconciled to God?
2. _The gracious medium of the blessing._--"In the body of His flesh
through death" (ver. 22). The apostle here refers in the most
explicit terms to the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ and shows
that the great work of reconciliation was effected in His body, and
through death, for that body was crucified and actually died. The
apostle perhaps aimed at correcting certain pseudo-spiritualistic
notions regarding the person of Christ, busily propagated by the
false teachers; some of whom held that Christ was an angelic
emanation which animated the man Jesus for a time and withdrew from
Him before He suffered. While maintaining the proper deity and glory
of Christ's nature, the apostle plainly indicates that the Divine
method of reconciliation was by the incarnation and sacrificial death
of Christ. He thus exalts the significance and value of the death of
Christ. Reconciliation was not accomplished by the faultless example
of Christ's life or the supernal wisdom of His teaching, but by His
crucifixion and death. The cross, with its unfathomable mystery, is
to them that perish foolishness; but to them that believe it is still
the power and wisdom of God.
+III. The Divine purpose in reconciliation is to promote man's
highest blessedness.+--The magnificence of the believer's future
career will be in marked contrast with the obscurity and imperfection
of the present; but even in this life he is lifted by the reconciling
grace of God to a high standard of moral excellence. The terms here
employed, while referring to the same spiritual state, delineate its
different aspects.
1. _The highest blessedness of man consists in his moral
purity._--"To present you holy" (ver. 22). This shows the condition
of the soul in relation to God; it is freely offered to Him as a
living sacrifice; the inward consciousness is wholly consecrated to
the permanent indwelling of the Holy One; every thought, affection,
and aspiration of the soul is hallowed; the whole man is enriched,
ennobled, and radiant with a holy character.
2. _The highest blessedness of man consists in his personal
blamelessness._--"Unblameable" (ver. 22). This aspect of character
has reference to one's self; it is the development in the outward
life of the purity and consecration of the heart; it is a sacrificial
term and means without blemish. The soul is inspired with a sense of
integrity, and of always acting for the best. When Socrates was
asked, just before his trial, why he did not prepare himself for his
defence, he calmly answered, "I have been doing nothing else all my
life." A noble, blameless life is its own defence.
3. _The highest blessedness of man consists in his freedom from
censure._--"Unreproveable in His sight" (ver. 22). This feature of a
holy character has reference to others. If man thus purified and
blessed can bear the piercing glance of Him whose scrutiny no defect
can escape, his character is unchallengeable. To be accepted and
approved of God places him beyond the accusations of man or demon;
the subtle insinuations of the Great Accuser are powerless to hurt.
"It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?" To be holy,
unblameable, and unreproveable in the sight of God is to enjoy the
highest honour and completest bliss. This is the ultimate result of
reconciliation in Christ.
+Lessons.+--1. _Sin is the great foe of God and man._ 2. _The death
of Christ is the means of reconciling sinful man to God._ 3. _The aim
of reconciliation is to produce an irreproachable character._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 21. _Reconciliation by Christ._
+I. Estrangement.+--1. _The cause_--by wicked works. 2. _The
result_--not merely that God is angry, but we have become enemies to
God.
+II. Reconciliation.+--1. _Christ has reconciled man to God._ 2. _He
hath reconciled man to man._ 3. _He hath reconciled man to Himself._
4. _He hath reconciled man to duty.--Robertson._
Ver. 22. _Holiness the Supreme End of Reconciliation._
+I. Holiness an inward state and an outward result.+--"Holy,
unblameable and unreproveable."
+II. Holiness alone can satisfy God.+--"In His sight."
+III. Holiness is the final completion of the soul.+--"To present you."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.
_The Condition of Man's Final Blessedness._
The ripest fruits can only be produced and gathered by careful and
unremitting culture; so, the enjoyment of the final blessings of
reconciliation is conditioned upon continued allegiance to the Gospel
and the diligent practice of its precepts. We are taught in this
verse that _the ultimate presentation to God of a perfectly holy and
blameless character depends upon the believer's firm and persevering
attachment to the Gospel._ Observe--
+I. Man's final blessedness depends upon his unswerving continuance
in the faith.+--The _faith_ is a comprehensive term; it is inclusive
of all the great saving truths of the Gospel, and of man's many-sided
relation to them. There is implied:
1. _A continuance in the doctrines of the faith._--What a man
believes has a powerful influence in moulding his character. The
truths submitted to our faith shed light upon matters of transcendent
import and worth. The baffled and inquiring mind, straining with
painful eagerness after light, finds its satisfaction and rest amid
the soothing radiance of revealed truth. "In returning and rest shall
ye be saved" (Isa. xxx. 15). Unbelief lures the soul from its restful
confidence, sets it adrift amidst the cross currents of bewilderment
and doubt, and exposes it to moral shipwreck and irrevocable loss.
The soul's eternal safety is ensured, not by an infatuated devotion
to mere _opinions_ about certain dogmas, but by an intelligent, firm,
and constant faith in Divine verities.
2. _A continuance in the profession of the faith._--The believer is a
witness for the truth; and it is an imperative duty to bear testimony
for Christ before the world (Rom. x. 9, 10). This is done when we
unite in fellowship and service with the external Church of Christ on
earth. The Church, as the representative of Christ, witnesses for Him
in the life and conduct of its individual members. There is nothing
binding as to the special form this witness-bearing should take in
each particular case; nor is any man compelled, for the sake of
profession, to wed himself to any particular branch of the Church
catholic. There may be reasons that render it justifiable, and even
necessary, for a man to sever himself from any given religious
community and join another; but on no conceivable ground can he be
liberated from the duty of an open profession of his faith in Christ;
his future acceptability to God hinges on his fidelity in this duty
(Matt. x. 32).
3. _A continuance in the practice of the faith._--Faith supplies the
motive and rule of all right conduct. The test of all preceptive
enactment and profession is in the life. The Christian character is
developed and perfected, not by believing or professing, but by
_doing_ the will of God. The rewards of the future will be
distributed according to our deeds (Rom. ii. 6-10).
4. _Continuance in the faith must be permanent._--"Grounded and
settled." The edifice, to be durable, must be well founded, that it
may settle into a state of firmness and solidity; so faith, in order
to survive the storms and temptations of this world, and participate
in the promised good of the future, must be securely grounded and
settled in the truth. In order to permanency in the faith, the truth
must be--(1) _Apprehended intelligently._ (2) _Embraced cordially._
(3) _Maintained courageously._
+II. Man's final blessedness depends upon his unchanging adherence to
the Gospel hope.+--1. _The Gospel reveals a bright future._ It
inspires the hope of the resurrection of the body, and of the
glorification of it and the soul together in the eternal life of the
future. Faith and hope are inseparably linked together; they mutually
succour and sustain each other; they rise or fall together. Hope is
the unquestioning expectation of the fruition of those things which
we steadily believe. It is compared to an anchor, which, cast within
the veil, fastened and grounded in heaven, holds our vessel firm and
steady amid the agitations and storms of life's tempestuous sea. The
Gospel is the only source of genuine, deathless hope; all hopes
grounded elsewhere wither and perish.
2. _The Gospel to be effectual must come in contact with the
individual mind._--"Which ye have heard." Epaphras had declared to
them the Divine message. It had been brought to them; they had not
sought it. Having heard and received the Gospel, to relinquish its
blessings would be inexcusable and ungrateful. In some way, either by
direct preaching or otherwise, the Gospel must come to man. There is
no power of moral reformation in the human heart itself; the
germinant principle of a better life must come from without; it is
conveyed in the Gospel word.
3. _The Gospel is adapted to universal man._--"Which was preached to
every creature which is under heaven." Already it had spread into
every part of the then known world, and its power was felt in every
province of the Roman empire. The fine prophetic instinct of the
apostle saw the universal tendency of the Gospel, and, in spirit,
anticipated the fulfilment of its generous mission. His motive is to
emphasise the universality of the unchangeable Gospel which is
offered without reserve to all alike, and to appeal to its publicity
and progress as the credential and guarantee of its truth. It is
adapted to all men; it proclaims its message in all lands and is
destined to win the world to Christ. The faith and hope of the
believer are based, not upon the uncertain declarations of false
teachers, but upon that Gospel, which is unchangeable in its
character and universal in its appeal and adaptability to humanity; a
strong reason is thus furnished for personal steadfastness.
4. _The Gospel invested the apostle with an office of high
authority._--"Whereof I Paul am made a minister." Paul participated
in the blessings of the Gospel; he had felt its transforming power,
and from his personal experience of its preciousness could, with the
greater assurance and force, exhort the Colossians to continue in the
faith. But in addition to this the Gospel was committed to the
apostle as a sacred trust and for faithful ministration; and while
dwelling on the broad charity of the Gospel as involving the offer of
grace to the Gentiles, he is impressed with the dignity and
responsibility of his office as he interjects, somewhat abruptly, but
with exquisite modesty, the words, "Whereof I Paul am made a
minister." It has been said of man that he is the priest and
interpreter of nature; that it is his function to observe and test
phenomena and interpret the laws that govern the material world.
Another writer has said that "man is the organ of revelation for the
Godhead." God can find no adequate form of revelation for Himself in
the impersonal forces of nature; only through a being in His own
image can He unfold to the universe His adorable character. But the
highest office to which man can be elevated is to be a ministrant of
Gospel light and grace to his fellow-man.
5. _There is an implied possibility of relinquishing our hold of the
Gospel hope._--"Be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel." The
words do not necessarily imply doubt, but suggest the necessity for
constant circumspection, vigilance, and care. The multiplicity and
fulness of our blessing may prove a snare to us; prosperity tempts us
to relax watchfulness, and we are in danger of becoming a prey to the
wiles of the wicked one. Our retention of the Gospel hope is rendered
immovable by constant waiting upon God in fervent prayer, by a
growing acquaintance with the Word of promise, by continually
anticipating in thought the bliss of the future.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel provides the surest basis for faith and
hope._ 2. _Man's ultimate blessedness depends on his continued
fidelity._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.
_The Joy of Suffering for the Church._
A stolid indifference to suffering and a heroic endurance of the same
were not unknown to the ancient pagans; but it is Christianity alone
that has taught us to rejoice in afflictions; it supplies an ecstasy
of emotion that renders us oblivious for the time being of
encompassing trials. The apostle, as he pondered over the mighty work
of reconciliation, and as he caught a glimpse of the amazing extent
of Divine mercy, could not but rejoice even in his sufferings. In
this verse he _expresses his joy that, in suffering for the Church,
he supplements that which was lacking in the afflictions of Christ._
Observe--
+I. The representative character of the apostle's
sufferings.+--1. _The apostle represented the suffering Saviour._
"The afflictions of Christ." We are not to suppose that the
sufferings of Christ were incomplete in themselves or in their value
as constituting a sufficient atonement. The passion of Christ was the
one full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and
satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. In this sense there
could be no deficiency in Christ's sufferings, for Christ's
sufferings being different in kind from those of His servants, the
two are incommensurable. Neither the apostle nor any other could
represent the expiatory and sacrificial aspect of the Redeemer's
sufferings. But while His personal sufferings are over, His
afflictions in His people still continue. He so thoroughly identifies
Himself with them that their trials, sorrows, persecutions, and
afflictions become His own. The apostle represented the suffering
Saviour in what he endured for Christ and the Church. Thus, he
declared to the Corinthians, "The sufferings of Christ abound in us."
The Church to-day is the representative of the suffering Saviour, and
so completely is He identified with His people that He endures in
them the pangs of hunger and thirst, shares their sickness and
imprisonment, and reckons every act of kindness done to them as done
to Himself (Matt. xxv.).
2. _The sufferings of the apostle supplemented what was lacking in
the afflictions of Christ._--"And fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh." In harmony with the
representative character of the Church, we can understand how the
afflictions of every saint and martyr do supplement the afflictions
of Christ. Every age of the Church has its measure of suffering. The
Church is built up by repeated acts of self-denial in successive
individuals and successive generations. They continue the work which
Christ began. They bear their part, and supplement what is deficient
in the sufferings of Christ (2 Cor. i. 7; Phil. iii. 10). As an
apostle, Paul was a representative man, and his share in filling up
what was wanting in these afflictions was considerable. In his own
flesh he bore unexampled hardship, indignities, and distress. "In
labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prison more
frequent, in deaths oft." The great Head of the Church was made
perfect through suffering; so must the body be in all its relations
and development. Through tribulation, more or less evident and
intense, we must enter the kingdom. Suffering in itself has no virtue
to elevate moral character; it is effective to this end only as it
tends to fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ,
only as it is borne for Christ, and in the Spirit of Christ. The
great Mediator suffered to effect our salvation; and His people, on
their part, fill up the suffering needed for the perfection of their
spiritual life and for the full display of the Divine glory.
+II. The vicarious character of the apostle's sufferings.+--"For His
body's sake, which is the Church." The greater part of the suffering
of the believer in this world is vicarious--is endured on behalf of
others. It is thus we most nearly approach the spirit and example of
Christ. St. Paul, as the pioneer missionary, the wise and edifying
instructor, the diligent and anxious overseer, occupied a prominent
and important position among the Churches, and his sufferings on
their behalf would benefit them in many ways.
1. _The apostle's sufferings for the Church confirmed the faith of
her converts._--Thousands are shy in embracing Christianity, because
they shrink from the suffering it seems to involve; thousands more
retire from the Christian profession for the same reason. An example
like that of Paul's--a man profoundly sincere, intensely earnest,
calm and unmoved by the stoutest opposition, and triumphant amid
acutest sufferings--encourages the timid and strengthens and confirms
the tempted and wavering.
2. _The apostle's sufferings were for the consolation of the
Church._--Writing to the Corinthians, he says: "Whether we be
afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation." Suffering makes
us more capable of sympathising with others. "Great hearts can only
be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of
comfort deeper and makes more room for the water of consolation." The
richest anointing of Divine comfort is bestowed in the moment of
severest suffering, and the consolation of one is the consolation of
many. When Mr. James Bainham, who suffered under the reign of Henry
VIII., was in the midst of the flames which had half consumed his
arms and legs, he said aloud: "Oh, ye Papists, ye look for miracles,
and here now you may see a miracle; for in this fire I feel no more
pain than if I were in a bed of down, but it is to me a bed of roses!"
3. _The apostle's sufferings for the Church tended to promote her
increase._--The more the Egyptians afflicted the Hebrews the more
they multiplied and grew. The devil's way of extinguishing goodness
is God's way of advancing it. The apostle could testify, in the midst
of his sufferings, that "the things which have happened to me have
fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." Suffering
seals the word spoken with a sacred and impressive significance. Many
a convert has been won to the truth by the irresistible example of a
suffering life.
+III. The high-toned spirit of the apostle's sufferings.+--"Who now
rejoice in my suffering for you." Nature shrinks from suffering. It
is altogether above nature to triumph in suffering. It is
Christianity alone that lifts the spirit into the tranquil region of
patient endurance and inspires us with joy in tribulation. It is not
a love of suffering for its own sake--not a mad, morbid craving for
the ghastly honours of a self-sought martyrdom; but there is a
nameless charm about the truths of Christianity that exalts the mind,
thrills the soul, and transmutes sorrow into joy. Paul was imprisoned
at Rome, bound in a chain for the Gospel, when he wrote this epistle;
but as the thoughts suggested by his theme grew in full-orbed
magnificence before his mental vision--as he contemplated the lavish
wealth of God's mercy in the call of the Gentiles who constituted the
greater portion of the world's population--and as he saw all the
glory of being allowed to share, and even to supplement, the
sufferings of Christ, he rose above the consideration of his own
personal trials, and in a sudden outburst of thanksgiving could
exclaim, "_Now_ I rejoice in my sufferings for you." Let us not
repine at our afflictions. Not only is our own soul chastened and
purified; but every pang, every tear, every trial in our lot, is a
contribution to the filling up of that which is still behind in the
afflictions of Christ. It baptises suffering with a new meaning, and
arrays it in a new dignity, when it is viewed as a grand means of
promoting the perfection, the purity, and unfading glory of the whole
Church.
+Lessons.+--1. _It is an unspeakable honour to suffer for the Church
of Christ._ 2. _The personal experience of the grace of Christ
renders suffering for Him a joy._ 3. _The glory of the future will
outweigh all we have suffered for the Church below._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 25-27.
_The Pre-eminent Honour and Sublime Theme of the Christian Ministry._
The highest dignity and most solemn responsibility are conferred on
man when he is entrusted with the ministration of God's Word. It is
the infinite condescension of God that we have this treasure in
earthen vessels. He who, in the exercise of His unchallengeable
wisdom, calls man to this work, can alone inspire and endow him with
the necessary intellectual and moral fitness for the awful charge. In
these verses we learn that the apostle was appointed a minister of
the Church--a steward in God's household--charged to preach without
reserve the whole Gospel of God, to dispense to the Gentiles the
stores which His bountiful grace provided. Note:--
+I. The Christian ministry is a Divine institution.+--1. _The true
minister is Divinely commissioned._ "Whereof I am made a minister,
according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you"
(ver. 25). The word "dispensation" involves the idea of stewardship.
God governs His Church, not as a tyrant, who rules what is not his
own; not as a monarch, who knows not a thousandth part of his
subjects; but as a father, who knows, loves, and provides for his own
children. The apostle was entrusted with a stewardship in God's
household; he was "a steward of the mysteries of God." He received
the office from God. This invested it with the highest dignity; yet
he was the minister of the Church, and it was his joy to serve it,
whatever might be the labour, sacrifice, or suffering entailed. The
Christian ministry is not a lordship, but a stewardship; the minister
is solemnly commissioned of God to maintain, defend, and dispense the
truth that saves and edifies. There are moments when the minister can
derive stimulus and courage for his work only by falling back upon
the irrefutable fact of his Divine call.
2. _The true minster is charged with the most complete proclamation
of the Divine Word._--"To fulfil the word of God" (ver. 25)--_to
preach fully, to give its most complete development to._ The apostle
had declared the Gospel in all its depth and breadth of meaning, its
wealth of blessing, and amplitude of revelation. He had proclaimed it
in every direction, in harmony with his insight into its universal
fitness and sufficiency. _Fulfil_ implies the figure of a measure to
be filled. The true minister is empowered to preach the Word of God
in all the fulness of its internal import, and in accord with the
universality of its outward purpose. Whether palatable or
unpalatable, he must not shun to declare everywhere the whole counsel
of God. The fulness there is in Christ and the urgent needs of
humanity alike demand this.
+II. The Christian ministry deals with a theme of profound
significance and ineffable worth.+--1. _It is designated a mystery._
"Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations"
(ver. 26). Mystery in the Scripture sense does not mean something
actually incomprehensible, but something concealed or unknown until
it please God to reveal it; something beyond the human mind to
discover for itself, and which can only be attained by Divine aid.
The mystery comprehended two leading features--the Divine purpose in
saving man through a suffering and crucified Saviour, and the free
admission of the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews to the
privileges of the covenant. Unlike the heathen mysteries, which were
confined to a narrow circle, the Christian mystery is freely
communicated to all. The mystery was concealed _from the ages,_ which
may be referred to the angels; and _from the generations,_ which may
be referred to men. Though faintly shadowed in types and figures, the
truth would never have been discovered by man. In the revelation of
the mystery the apostle applauded the lavish wealth of the Divine
goodness. The Gospel is still a mystery to the unconverted.
2. _It is a mystery unveiled to those who are morally fitted to
understand it._--"But now is made manifest to His saints" (ver. 26).
God chose His own time for making known the mystery of the Gospel.
Like all the Divine procedures, the development was gradual,
increasing in clearness and completeness as the fulness of time
approached; that time embraced the advent of the incarnate Son of
God, His ascension and enthronement in heaven, and the descent of the
revealing Spirit. It is an axiom in optics that the eye only sees
what it brings with it the power to see; and it is equally true in
spiritual things that the soul comprehends the revelation of God only
as it is prepared and fitted by the good Spirit. The holier the organ
of Divine revelation, the clearer the vision. It was not to the
dignitaries of imperial Rome or the ruling powers of Judea, but to
humble shepherds that the tidings of the Saviour's advent were first
announced; not to the aristocracy of Pharisaic or Sadducean
intellect, but to the plain, unlettered, believing fishermen of
Galilee that the full glory of salvation by Christ was disclosed.
Augustine has said, "Illiterate men rise and seize heaven, while we,
with all our learning, are rolling in the filth of sin."
3. _The revelation of the mystery was an act of the Divine
will._--"To whom God would make known" (ver. 27). There was nothing
impelling Him to unfold this mystery but His own good pleasure. It
was His sovereign will to disclose to the humble and devout, rather
than to the proud and self-sufficient, the wondrous praise and glory
of the Gospel. The most sincere seeker after holiness could not of
himself discover the mystery. But though made known in its richer
spiritual developments only to the good, the good pleasure of God has
put the knowledge of it within the reach of all.
4. _The revelation of the mystery endowed humanity with a vast
inheritance of moral wealth._--"What is the riches of the glory of
this mystery" (ver. 27). The terms employed seem inadequate to convey
the meaning intended. It is impossible fully to explain or illustrate
the sublime truths they indicate. The Gospel is a mystery full of
glory--a glory unique, resplendent, unsurpassable; and this glory is
dowered with riches, abundant, inexhaustible, and Divine. The riches
of the glory appear in the manifestation of the nature and attributes
of God which the mystery supplies, and also in the moral wealth that
has descended upon man. Here is the most lavish provision for the
salvation of sinful and perishing humanity--an inheritance of
imperishable bliss. (1) _This inheritance enriched the most needy._
It was exhibited "among the Gentiles" (ver. 27). The Jews were the
children of promise and possessed every religious privilege; the
Gentiles were the children of mercy, and never dared to dream of
enjoying the blessings of the Gospel. In the revelation of the
mystery to them, the dispensation of grace achieved its greatest
triumphs and displayed its transcendent glory. Here, too, was its
wealth, for it overflowed all barriers of caste or race. Judaism was
"beggarly" in comparison, since its treasures sufficed only for a
few. The glory of the Gospel was never so brilliant as in the moral
transformations it effected among the degraded Gentiles. (2) _This
inheritance includes the hope inspired by the indwelling Christ._
"Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (ver. 27). The mystery of
the Gospel begins and ends in Christ, and Christ is in every believer
the hope of glory. Only in Christ can we hope for the highest glory,
and in Him we infallibly find all the blessedness we can enjoy in
this world or expect in the future. In Him we have here as seed what
we shall have in Him there as harvest. "Even now we sit there in Him
and shall sit with Him in the end."
+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian ministry involves solemn
responsibilities._ 2. _The transcendent theme of the Christian
ministry is Divinely revealed._ 3. _Personal experience of the grace
of God endows man with the clearest insight into its mystery, and the
most satisfying possession of its spiritual riches._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 25-27. _The Glory of the Gospel_--
+I. A mystery once hidden, but now revealed+ (vers. 26, 27).
+II. Enriches all nations with moral blessings.+
+III. Is entrusted to Divinely authorised messengers to make known+
(vers. 25, 27).
Ver. 27. _Christ in you the Hope of Glory._
+I. What it implies of present experience.+--1. _Generally--Christ
among you._ 2. _Personally--Christ in you._
+II. What is presages.+--"The hope of glory."
1. _Personal glory_--in the perfection of being where the servant is
like his Lord.
2. _Relative glory_--sharing the throne with Jesus, and sharing in
His triumph and glory.--_Preacher's Magazine._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 28, 29.
_The Secret of Effective Preaching._
Much has been written concerning the inefficiency of the modern
pulpit; and it has been argued that the press is now the great and
successful rival of the preacher and must ere long render his office
nugatory. This prediction might possibly be fulfilled if the
preaching of the Gospel was simply a human institution and depended
only on man for its permanency. But when we remember that preaching
is a Divine ordinance, and is adapted to reach and stir the heart as
no other agency can, the preacher's function can never cease while
human nature remains what it is, or while God honours His own
institution with His blessing. Only as the pulpit is faithful to its
grand theme and lofty mission will it be effective. The deepest want
of the age is Christ; and that preaching will be irresistibly potent
that most adequately represents Him. These verses reveal to us _the
secret of effective preaching._
+I. In order to effectiveness in preaching Christ must be the
changeless theme.+--"_Whom_ we preach" (ver. 28).
1. _Preach Christ as to the special characteristic and unrivalled
excellencies of His person._--The greatest men who ever lived,
however brilliant and capacious their genius or stupendous their
labours, never made so profound and widespread an impression upon
humanity as Christ has done and is now doing. Their influence
operated for only a limited period; His pervades all time--past,
present, and future; theirs was confined to a narrow locality, His is
diffused through the universe. The person of Christ is unique in
this--that it combines two natures, the Divine and the human. It was
necessary He should be both God and man in order to fully accomplish
the work He voluntarily undertook. As God, He met and satisfied all
the requirements of Deity; and as man--putting Himself in our
place--He realised and reached the extremities of our need, and thus
fairly laying hold of us, gathering up and grasping the roots of our
corrupt nature, He raised from sin to holiness, from earth to heaven.
He is Emmanuel--God with us.
2. _Preach Christ in His mediatorial character._--As the Prophet who
testified of the truth of God; as the Priest, who, by His one
offering of Himself on the cross, has atoned for sin and made
reconciliation possible; and as the King who has vanquished all our
spiritual enemies and demands our absolute allegiance to His rule.
3. _Preach Christ as the Saviour of every man, and as the only
Saviour._--The threefold repetition of the phrase "every man" has a
special significance, and emphasises the _universality_ of the
Gospel. This great truth, a truth which the apostle sacrificed his
life in establishing, had been endangered by the doctrine of a
ceremonial exclusiveness taught by the Judaizers in several places,
and was now endangered by the doctrine of an intellectual
exclusiveness taught by the Gnosticizers at Colossæ. Christ must be
proclaimed as the Saviour of men of every class, community, and
country. He is the only Saviour, for "there is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts iv. 12). The
preaching of Christ is no narrow theme but stands essentially related
to all the noblest truths of the universe.
+II. In order to effectiveness variety of method must be
adopted.+--The declaration of the truth must be:--
1. _Authoritative._--"Whom we preach" (ver. 28). The New Testament
idea of preaching involves three elements--the announcement of joyful
tidings; the proclamation of truth as by a herald, urgently and
authoritatively; and the conviction and persuasion of men to belief
by means of arguments. The preacher is the ambassador of God, and the
message must be delivered as coming from Him, in His name, and by His
authority.
2. _Admonitory._--"Warning every man" (ver. 28). Sin has placed man
in imminent peril, and its tendency is to deaden his sensibilities
and render him oblivious of his danger. Hence, he must be roused to
concern and repentance by faithful remonstrance, by earnest
exhortation, by solemn admonition, by impassioned appeal.
3. _Instructive._--"Teaching every man" (ver. 28). Not only must the
emotions be swayed, but the understanding enlightened. It is not
enough to convince the unbeliever of his error, not enough to bring
home to the lover of sin the vileness and enormity of his
transgressions, but by clear and forcible exposition and persuasion
the fill of the individual offender must be seized, and with firm,
yet loving pressure biassed to seek after the light, truth, and
purity that once were shunned.
4. _With shrewd insight as to its adaptability._--"In all wisdom"
(ver. 28). The ancients spoke of a blind faith in their mysteries
which belonged to the many, and of a higher knowledge that was
confined to the few. The apostle, while declaring that in the Gospel
the fullest wisdom was offered to all alike, without restriction,
exercised discretion as to the method in which he presented it to the
individual. The style of his address at Athens would be different
from that adopted at Jerusalem. This involves a study of character,
and of what goes to make it--habits, customs, opinions, sympathies,
and the general circumstances of life-culture.
+III. In order to effectiveness man must be aided in realising the
highest ideal of the Christian character.+--"That we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (ver. 28). The Gospel is a mirror
in which is glassed the portrait of the character after which each
believer is to model his own. That character is not simply a
development of one's own natural manhood, so much as it is something
added to and thrown around that manhood, lifting it into dignity and
transfiguring it with a glorious beauty. The Gospel reveals the ideal
of the Christian character after which the soul is continually to
aspire. That ideal, in all its loveliness and witchery, is projected
before the soul's inmost vision in the Spirit and life of the man
Christ Jesus. He who approximates nearest to the Christly character
attains the highest moral perfection. It is the sublime mission of
the preacher not to gratify the intellect, charm the imagination, or
expand the mind by propagating the ideas of a transcendental
philosophy; but to strengthen the soul in the great contest with
evil, to supply it with holiest motives, to promote its spiritual
progress, to present it "perfect in Christ Jesus."
+IV. In order to effectiveness there must be self-denying toil and
the vigorous forth-putting of Divinely inspired energy.+--"Whereunto
I also labour, striving according to His working which worketh in me
mightily" (ver. 29). All great ideas have cost the solitary and
individual thinker unspeakable labour, and not a little suffering in
the endeavour to elaborate and make them known and set them in their
due relation before the world. The world is ruled by ideas; but the
revolution they occasion is a slow and painful process. The apostle
was the custodian of a great idea--that the Gospel was intended for
all and must be fully preached to all. The idea is familiar to us;
but it was new to that age and revolutionised the whole realm of
human thought. If the apostle had been content to preach an exclusive
Gospel, he might have saved himself more than half the troubles of
his life. But he saw the magnitude of the issues at stake; he
espoused the God-given truth with all the strength of his great
nature; he confronted the colossal prejudices of the ages; he trained
himself in the discipline of self-denying toil; he suffered as only
the true martyr-soul can suffer; he strove with an agony of
earnestness to make known the whole truth; and, aided by the mighty
working of the Divine power within him, he triumphed signally.
Preaching is always effective when it is the consentaneous outworking
of the Divinely imparted energy within the man. The preacher alone,
however strenuous his efforts, is powerless; but inspired and
strengthened by the Divine Spirit, and acting in harmony with His
promptness and help, he is mighty to prevail.
+Lessons.+--1. _Every sermon should be full of Christ._ 2. _The
preacher should be master of every method that will ensure success._
3. _That sermon will be most effective that is prepared and preached
under the most direct influence of the Divine Spirit._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 28. _Apostolic Preaching._
+I. They preached Christ as the only foundation of a sinner's hope
of salvation.+
+II. As the object of supreme love.+
+III. As the source of our supplies.+
+IV. As the model of our lives.+--_W. Antiff, D.D._
Ver. 29. _The Christian Ministry_--
+I. Involves strenuous labour and patient suffering.+
+II. Is dependent on Divine help.+
+III. Ascribes all its success to God.+
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER II.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +What great conflict.+--R.V. "how greatly I strive." It is a
repetition of the thought of the previous verse expressed in terms of
the arena. +For them at Laodicea.+--About a dozen miles distant from
Colossæ.
Ver. 2. +The mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.+--The
R.V. has greatly simplified this perplexing phrase: "The mystery of
God, even Christ." Of the eleven various readings extant (given by
Lightfoot) that of our A.V. is to all appearance the latest and worst.
Ver. 3. +In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge.+--When we have "laid our reasonings at His feet," He does
not stultify us. Neither pure reason nor practical reason is to "fust
in us unused," if they seek their answers in Him.
Ver. 4. +Should beguile you with enticing words.+--The word for
"beguile" is only again found in the New Testament at Jas. i. 22. It
means to lead into error by sophistical reasoning. Enticing words, or
persuasive speech, plausible but false.
Ver. 5. +The stedfastness of your faith in Christ.+--Some think
"stedfastness" (as well as "order" preceding) may have a military
significance. If so, it would mean the compact firmness of the
phalanx. Others say that meaning is not inherent, but derived from
its context, which here does not suggest it. The word is used in the
LXX. for firmament--a solid vault, as it was thought.
Ver. 7. +Rooted and built up.+--St. Paul passes over rapidly from one
conception to another of quite a different kind. We cannot call it
mixed metaphor. We commonly speak of a new town planted or a house
planted.
Ver. 8. +Beware lest any man spoil you.+--R.V. "maketh spoil of you."
The word for "spoil" means "to lead away as booty," as the Sabeans
swooped down on the oxen and asses of Job and carried them away as
their own property. +Through philosophy and vain deceit.+--We are
reminded of the saying, "It is the privilege of a philosopher to
depreciate philosophy." And then men say, "How well he's read to
reason against reading!" St. Paul speaks here of philosophy "falsely
so called." The love of wisdom can never be a dangerous thing to men
whose Master said, "Be wise as serpents"; only it must be the "wisdom
which cometh from above." St. Paul's _alias_ for what they call
philosophy is "empty fallacy," a hollow pretence; or what George
Herbert might name "nothing between two dishes." +After the tradition
of men.+--Something passed over from one to another, as the deep
secrets of the esoteric religions were whispered into the ears of the
perfect. That a matter has been believed always, everywhere, and by
all is no guarantee of its truth, as Galileo knew.
Ver. 9. +In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily.+--There is no minimising the significance of this statement.
It is either true or it is the wildest raving of blasphemy.
"Dwelleth"--has its settled abode. A change of prefix would give us
the word in Luke xxiv. 18. "Dost thou alone _sojourn_?" etc. Dualism
separates God from matter as far as possible; the Incarnation unites
Him for ever with it. "Great is the mystery." "Godhead." Though twice
before in our A.V. (Acts xvii. 29; Rom. i. 23), the word here differs
from both.
Ver. 10. +And ye are complete in Him.+--These minor powers of whom
you have heard are all subordinate to Him in whom directly you have
all you need. There is no need to go _viâ_ Philip and Andrew, Mary or
Michael, when "we would see Jesus."
Ver. 11. +In whom also ye are circumcised . . . by the circumcision
of Christ.+--What to the Jew was a bodily act, at best symbolical and
of no value otherwise, was to the Colossian disciple a spiritual
renovation, so complete as to render the old symbol of it inadequate.
Ver. 12. +Buried . . . risen.+--Referring to the definite acts when,
as Christian converts, they went beneath the baptismal waters and
emerged to live the faith thus publicly confessed. +Through the faith
of the operation of God.+--An obscure phrase. The R.V. is clear:
"Through faith _in_ the working of God."
Ver. 14. +Blotting out the handwriting.+--"Wiping out the old score,"
as we might say. All that bond which was valid against them Christ
had for ever rendered nugatory whilst they confided in His salvation.
+Against us, which was contrary to us.+--We have here the author of
those hot protests against work-righteousness. The threatening aspect
of the law is expressed in this reiteration. The law not only menaces
wrong-doers; it proceeds against them with punishment. +Nailing it to
His cross.+--The bond is discharged and may be filed. We are reminded
of St. Peter's equally bold expression: "Who His own self bare our
sins in His own body [_to,_ and] on the tree" (1 Pet. ii. 24).
Ver. 15. +Having spoiled principalities.+--R.V. "having put off from
Himself." The authorities are divided between the A.V. and the R.V.
The English reader must not conclude that he has again the word and
idea of ver. 8. The apostle says that Christ had flung off from
Himself the powers of wickedness. As these Colossians needed no
intercessions of good angels, so, on the other hand, they need fear
nothing from the maleficent powers of darkness, now vanquished.
Ver. 16. +Let no man therefore judge you.+--They could not well
prevent an adverse judgment being given on their disregard of what
the ritualists thought to be of supreme moment, but they could refuse
to argue about such trifles.
Ver. 17. +Shadow . . . body.+--The relationship is indicated here of
the old ceremonial worship to the worship of the Spirit. To confound
shadow and substance, or mistake the shadow for the substance, has
ever been the fatal error of ritualism.
Ver. 18. +Let no man beguile you of your reward.+--R.V. "let no man
rob you of your prize." There seems to be implied some such thoughts
as this: Do not allow these heretical teachers to lay down for you
the conditions on which the prize shall be yours; for when they
pronounce in your favour, "the Lord, the righteous Judge," pronounces
against you. +In a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels.+--In
acts of self-imposed abasement in the presence of invisible beings.
St. John tells us of the rebuke administered by the angel before whom
he prostrated himself: "See thou do it not: . . . worship God." But
there are men who would say, "Nay, my Lord," and continue their
forbidden worship. +Intruding into those things which he hath not
seen.+--The change in the R.V. is considerable: "dwelling in the
things which he hath seen." The apostle is apparently speaking
ironically of the boasted manifestations made to the Gnostic teachers.
Ver. 20. +Dead . . . from the rudiments of the world.+--Such as are
given in ver. 21. +Subject to ordinances.+--Why do you consent to
receive these "burdens grievous to be borne?"
Ver. 21. +Touch not; taste not; handle not.+--"These three
prohibitions apply probably (1) to marriage, (2) to the use of
certain foods, (3) to contact with material objects" (_Godet_). The
rigour of the prohibitions is greatest in the last of the three. Note
the change in R.V.: "handle not, nor _taste,_ nor TOUCH."
Ver. 23. +Neglecting of the body.+--A.V. margin, "punishing or not
sparing." R.V. text, "severity to the body." No doubt the apostle
felt that on this subject he would need to tread cautiously, for he
himself had beaten his body into subjection (1 Cor. ix. 27). +Not in
any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.+--The R.V. gives light on
this obscurity: "not of any value against the indulgence of the
flesh." This is the evidence which for ever disqualifies asceticism
in its many forms. We can understand how a Lenten fast or a
hair-shirt may make a man irritable. If they are of any value _in
themselves,_ monastic annals need revision and expurgation, and the
Christian finds himself far outdone by the dervish.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.
_Ministerial Anxiety._
The more clearly we apprehend truth in its many-sided aspects and in
its complex and vital relations, the more grievous and calamitous
does error appear. Error cannot come into collision with truth
without creating confusion of ideas and much mental distraction, and
as a consequence robbing the soul of the peace and solace it enjoyed.
The apostle saw the dangerous tendency of the doctrines advocated by
the false teachers against whom his epistle was directed, and he was
deeply concerned lest the pure and simple Gospel embraced by the new
converts should be contaminated. As one drop of ink pollutes the
whole vessel of water, as one stroke of the hammer diverts the rod
from a straight line and spoils it throughout its whole length, so
one single error obscures and warps the holiest truth.
+I. This anxiety was intense.+--"For I would that ye knew what great
conflict I have" (ver. 1). In the closing words of the preceding
chapter the apostle referred to his stern self-discipline in training
himself for his arduous and self-denying labours as an apostle; and
in this verse he expands the same thought and would have the converts
know the magnitude of the struggle which his anxiety for their
welfare cost him. This conflict refers not only to his external
labours on behalf of the Churches, in journeys, perils, privations,
persecutions, and imprisonments, but more especially to his fervent
wrestling with God in prayer, like Jacob of old; his importunity,
like the widow with the unjust judge; his inward soul struggles in
earnest intercession for their stability in the faith. The danger
must have been serious that produced in such a man so great an agony
of anxiety: great souls are not affected by trifles. People little
know what their pastors pass through: when they think them the most
at leisure, then are they the least so--the fervent conflict of
prayer is going on in secret. A knowledge of the minister's anxiety
is sometimes necessary to create a responsive sympathy, and to teach
the people the care and anxiety they should feel for their own
salvation.
+II. This anxiety was disinterested.+--"For you, and for them at
Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh"
(ver. 1). The solicitude of the apostle was not restricted to the
Colossians, as though they were more liable than others to defection
from the truth but embraced the converts in the neighbouring city of
Laodicea. In this populous and thriving city, celebrated at that time
for its immense commercial wealth and for the high intellectual
attainments of its philosophers, the heretic leaven had begun to
work; and the subsequent history of the Church there showed that it
spread only too surely and disastrously (Rev. iii. 14-18). The
apostle also extended his anxious regard to "as many as had not seen
his face in the flesh." The bulk of our troubles in this life we
endure on behalf of others. The Christian spirit, in its broad,
comprehensive charity, gives us a deep interest in all who have any
connection with Christ. Fervent prayer on behalf of others,
notwithstanding the sneers of some modern scientists, is efficacious,
irrespective of locality or of actual personal intercourse. Prayers
offered in private are often answered in a strange, unlooked-for
manner in public. God has a sovereign right to select the _mode_ in
which He answers the prayers of the faithful. An old Divine has said:
"If we would reap openly in the conversion of souls and their steady
walk, we must plough in secret with prayers and tears." Our anxiety
about the welfare of others is a strong evidence of our possessing
the genuine love of the truth. It was a trenchant aphorism of
Coleridge that, "He who begins by loving Christianity better than
truth, will proceed by loving his own sect or Church better than
Christianity, and end in loving himself better than all."
+III. This anxiety had special reference to the highest spiritual
attainments of believers.+--1. _The apostle was solicitous for the
confirmation of their faith._ "That their hearts might be comforted"
(ver. 2).--_i.e. encouraged, confirmed._ The apostle knew the subtle
power of error in disintegrating the heart's confidence, producing
trouble, dejection, doubt, and perplexity. Hence, he was anxious so
to present the truth as it is in Jesus, as to restore and cheer the
bewildered mind and settle it on the firm basis of an intelligent and
cordial faith. No man can reach the high attainments of the Christian
life whose heart is not at rest in God.
2. _The apostle was solicitous for their union in love._--"Being knit
together in love" (ver. 2). The heart can never enjoy solid comfort
till it is united in the love, as well as in the faith, of the truth.
Error divides as well as distresses; it snaps the bond of love,
splits the Christian Church into parties, rends what ought to be the
seamless robe of Christ. Where there is discord in the understanding
about fundamental truths, there cannot be concord in the will and
affections. The stability of believers depends upon their being knit
together in a mutual love, as the timbers of a building are joined
and compacted by a carpenter--such is the original signification of
the word--each part being fitted in with the rest, and all subserving
the firmness and safety of the whole. "He that dwelleth in love,
dwelleth in God, and God in him."
3. _The apostle was solicitous they should be enriched with the
unspeakable wealth of the Divine mystery._--(1) _The Divine mystery
is explained in the unique person and endowments of Christ._ "The
mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (vers. 2, 3). Christ embraced
in His own person the Divine and human natures. As God, He is equal
with the Father, and possesses in Himself all the essentials of
Deity; but as man He is dowered with moral treasures surpassing the
endowments of the highest angel. The mystery is not so much Christ,
as Christ containing in Himself "all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge." There is in Christ an all-sufficiency for every possible
want of man--copious and inexhaustive riches of eternal and saving
wisdom. These riches are hid in Christ as treasure in a
field--concealed from the gaze of mere passers-by, the careless,
indolent, and proud; but revealed to and enjoyed by the humble,
diligent, and persevering seeker. "He who is not content with Christ,
but goes out of Him to philosophy or tradition, forsakes the
treasures for the miserable beggary of human counterfeits." It is
still a mystery to the world how Christ can be the grand depositary
of all wisdom; and the mystery is dispelled only as the soul becomes
savingly acquainted with Him. (2) _The believer is privileged to gain
the full knowledge of the Divine mystery._--"To the acknowledgment of
the mystery" (ver. 2). The word implies that the knowledge of God and
of Christ is the perfection of knowledge. The ancient sage declared:
"If thou criest after knowledge, then shalt thou understand the fear
of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." And the apostle prayed
for the Ephesians that "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ might give
unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
Him." This knowledge is to be not a simple perception of the truths
continued in the Divine mystery, but a full, firm, and distinct
knowledge as the result of careful sifting, and the actual experience
of their soul-transforming power. We know nothing to purpose until it
is strongly grasped by the heart as well as by the understanding.
(3) _A clear and profound understanding of the Divine mystery is the
true enrichment of the mind._--"Unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding" (ver. 2). The vast store of moral riches here
indicated is opposed to the poverty of the mind, which has only a few
confused, unconnected truths about the Gospel laid up in its
treasury. By _the full assurance of understanding_ is meant an
unclouded perception and firm conviction of the truth revealed in the
Gospel. This is obtained only by diligent study and the inner
illumination of the Spirit; the understanding is cleared up, the
judgment settled, and the individual believer enabled to apprehend
each part of the Gospel in its essential relation to the grand whole,
and thus to grasp with a firm hold the salient features of the Divine
mystery. In this assured knowledge of the greatest truths the mind of
man finds it true enrichment; its abiding rest and felicity. "Wisdom
is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire
are not to be compared unto her" (Prov. viii. 11). Every other kind
of knowledge, however rare and extensive, is in itself poor and
unsatisfying.
+IV. This anxiety prompted the apostle faithfully to warn the
Church.+--"And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with
enticing words" (ver. 4). Error assumes the most seductive forms: it
charms with its eloquence, bewilders with its subtle reasoning,
misleads with its bold, assured statements of half-truths. The soul
is fascinated as by the gaze of a basilisk, and morally poisoned by
its breath. "Men are easily persuaded to believe that which flatters
their own vanity, and dilutes or modifies the Gospel, so as to
accommodate it to their own degenerate tastes." It is needful to
maintain a vigilant outlook and be on our guard against every phase
of false teaching. Some contend that words have little to do with
religion; that true religion is a sentiment in the soul independent
of words. The apostle thought differently when he exhorted to hold
fast "the form of sound words"; and in this verse he distinctly avers
that enticing words may beguile. He solemnly warns the Ephesians, who
were assailed with a similar class of errors: "Let no man deceive you
with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience" (Eph. v. 6). The most effectual
antidote to any heresy is the faithful, simple proclamation of the
doctrine of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. This is the clue that leads us out of all the mazes of
error.
+Lessons.+--1. _The true minister is anxious to promote the highest
good of the people._ 2. _All truth finds its explanation and all
error its refutation in Christ, the Source of eternal wisdom._
3. _False doctrine should be fearlessly and faithfully exposed._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.
_The Hidden Treasures of Wisdom in Christ._
Wisdom does not consist in the possession of varied and extensive
knowledge. The student may be deeply read in ancient and
long-forgotten lore, be versed in the entire circle of the arts,
sciences, and philosophies, be intelligibly familiar with the best
literature of the day, be a walking encyclopædia, a literary fountain
gushing in a perennial stream of information, and yet be far from
being a wise man. Wisdom is the practical application of knowledge,
the attainment of the highest moral results by the use of the best
and simplest means. The cry of the human intellect in all ages has
been, "Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of
understanding?" The greatest souls have toiled painfully in search of
the coveted treasure but failed to discover it. Their mightiest
endeavours have terminated in disappointment and despair. True wisdom
is a Divine revelation. The world by wisdom knew not God; and one of
the profoundest philosophers of any age, and who approached as near
the threshold of the grand discovery as the unaided human mind was
perhaps ever permitted to do, had to confess with a sigh, "If ever
man is destined to know the good and the true, it must be by a
revelation of the Deity." That wisdom which all need, and of which
all are in quest, is found only in Christ. This verse declares that
_Christ is the unfathomable depositary of the highest wisdom._
Observe:--
+I. That Christ is the inexhaustible Source of the truest
wisdom.+--"In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
The false teachers at Colossæ, like certain pretentious philosophers
of modern times, boasted of the vast range of their wisdom and
knowledge. They discussed questions, some of which, strange to say,
are reproduced and advocated to-day--questions on the nature of the
world, the eternity or non-eternity of matter, the chief good of man,
the orders and ranks of the angelic hierarchies and their relation to
the mediatorial work of Christ, the necessity of observing the
ceremonies and austerities of the law, and of the beauty and grandeur
of the theories of Plato and Pythagoras, the ruling philosophers of
the time. But all this is simply "the wisdom of this world and of the
princes of this world, which come to nought." It is only in Christ we
find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge to furnish and enrich
the mind and to guide into the way of salvation. He is "to us who are
saved the power of God and the wisdom of God." If, for the sake of
illustration, we classify the principal sources of human knowledge
into poetry, history, philosophy, and theology, we may assert that
only in Christ does each department find its fullest explication, and
from Him derive its significance and worth.
1. _Christ is the loftiest ideal and purest inspiration of the
poet._--Poetry occupies an important place in contributing to the sum
of human knowledge, and to the culture, development, and happiness of
man. It was the language of the world's infancy, as it is of the
infancy of man; the spontaneous outflow of the soul, on its first
acquaintance with the marvels of the present life, expresses itself
in strains of poetic music. It is true this great gift has been
abused, and often made the instrument of debasing instead of
elevating the mind. Hence Plato, in constructing his ideal republic,
would exclude the poets because of the evil tendency of some of their
productions, though he accords them all honour on account of their
learning and genius. The genuine poet pants after the noblest
expression of the beautiful and the good. Christ is the glorious
ideal and embodiment of the pure and beautiful; the poet drinks in
his most ravishing inspiration from Him and exhausts all the
resources of his genius in attempting to portray the exquisite
lineaments of His matchless character.
2. _Christ is the grandest hero of the historian._--History furnishes
us with the knowledge of man and his doings in all ages--in his
individual, social, and national aspects. It traces the development
of the race from the first solitary man to the peopling of the world
with the varied nationalities which now swarm upon its surface. But
the history of the world and man would be a dark, unsolvable enigma
if the name of Christ could be struck out. The story of redemption
unites Christ with the destiny of man in all ages--past, present, and
future; and "no history of the world, political or moral, can be
either just or accurate that does not find in Christ foretold to
come, or in Christ come and crucified, its centre and its key." The
world was created by Christ; it exists for Him; and, without
interfering with individual freedom, it may be said that He makes its
history: His name and influence are traceable everywhere and are
everywhere potent. The devout historian finds in Him the hero in whom
all excellencies combine, and whose exploits he loves to chronicle.
3. _Christ is prominent among the sublimest themes of the
philosopher._--A philosophy that does not recognise the Divine
plunges its votaries into labyrinthine darkness; its legitimate
office is to conduct to God. Coleridge has well said: "In wonder all
philosophy began; in wonder it ends; and admiration fills up the
interspace. But the first wonder is the offspring of ignorance; the
last is the parent of adoration." In every sphere where philosophy
penetrates it is confronted with ineffaceable evidences of the power
and presence of Christ. Among the splendid phenomena of the natural
creation--the forces that move, and the laws that control its vast
machinery--Christ is acknowledged as the creating and ruling spirit;
and only as the material world is regarded as the theatre of
redemption, and of moral conflict and discipline, does the
philosopher reach its highest meaning: in the realm of mind, the true
dignity, preciousness, and immortal endowments of the soul are
understood only as we apprehend that the life of the great Redeemer
was sacrificed to effect its ransom; and, in the sphere of morals, we
decipher the relation of man to man, and to society at large, learn
the duties and obligations we owe to each other and to God, discover
the standard of right actions, and are aided in explaining and
harmonising the inequalities that exist, when we gain an insight into
the moral relation of Christ to the whole race.
4. _Christ is the all-comprehensive subject of the theologian._--God
is inscrutable to the unchristianised reason. "Canst thou by
searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto
perfection? It is as high as heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than
hell, what canst thou know?" Men have sought God in all ages with
tears, sacrifices, and sufferings indescribable; but in vain. Christ
is the only way to the Father; in Himself He reveals and illustrates
the Godhead. All our saving and renewing knowledge of God, and of our
manifold relations to Him, we owe entirely to Christ. "No man hath
seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, He hath declared Him." In the domain of theology "Christ
is all in all." But for Him the office of the theologian would be an
impossibility.
+II. That the treasures of Divine wisdom are discoverable by the
sincere and earnest seeker.+--They are _hid_; but not so hid as to be
beyond our reach. They are intended for discovery and appropriation.
Their brilliancy sparkles even in their hiding-place. They are like a
mine, whose riches, though faintly indicated on the surface, are
concealed in the depths of the earth. The more diligently the mine is
worked, the more precious and abundant the ore appears. So, in Christ
there are treasures of wisdom unseen by the superficial and careless
observer; but to the humble and believing student new and deeper
veins are perpetually opening up, until, still pursuing his search,
he is dazzled by the splendour and inexhaustible fulness of wealth,
surpassing all finite comprehension, and filling him with admiration
and awe.
+Lessons.+--1. _Man universally covets wisdom._ 2. _The highest
wisdom is treasured up in Christ for man._ 3. _If man finds it not,
it is his own fault._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1-3. _Christian Unity._
+I. We cannot but lament the divisions and scandals of the professed
disciples of Jesus, which have more than anything else prevented
the universal diffusion of the Gospel.+
+II. We should make it manifest, by acknowledging the truth in
whomsoever found, that we are not bigoted sectarians.+
+III. As regards those with whom we are united in fellowship, let us
prove by our humble, modest, and kind disposition that we are
lovers of peace and concord.+
+IV. Christian unity is promoted by mutual efforts to edify one
another in faith and love.+--_W. France._
Ver. 3. _Christ the Treasury of Wisdom and Knowledge._--The
revelation of Christ not merely teaches us a series of truths of
inexpressible importance, and without it wholly unattainable, but it
also, as a great central discovery, harmonises all our beliefs,
sacred and secular, binds them together as its own servants, gives
them a new interest, position, and colouring, and dignifies the
pursuit of them as a labour in the very cause of God Himself, begun
and prosecuted with a view to His glory--for to know the beauty of
the temple is to know the glory of the Architect.--_Archer Butler._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.
_Apostolic Praise of Order and Stability._
It is an impressive spectacle to see a well-armed body of troops
drawn up in compact military order, resisting with calm, unflinching
courage the terrible charge of the enemy. Every point of attack is
strongly guarded, every vacancy occurring in the exposed front line
is instantly supplied, and the broad, deep phalanx remains
impenetrable and invincible. The enforced companionship of the
apostle with the soldiers of the prætorian guard, in his imprisonment
in Rome, where he would be a daily witness of their exercises, might
suggest some such metaphor as this to the mind. And as he foresaw the
confusion and ruin that would be introduced into the Colossian Church
if the fatal errors of the false teachers were triumphant, in this
verse he _expresses his joyous satisfaction in being assured of the
orderly array and firmly set stability which their faith in Christ
presented against the assaults of the foe._ Note:--
+I. The apostle commended the external order of the members of the
Church.+--"Beholding your order." This is mentioned first, because it
first meets the eye, though all external discipline and order must
necessarily spring out of and accompany a genuine faith. There is no
form of ecclesiastical government that can claim an exclusively
Divine sanction. The New Testament lays down broad, general
principles; and the Christian Church has been left to shape itself
according to circumstances and in harmony with the indications of
Divine Providence. True order depends, not upon the form of Church
polity we adopt--whether prelacy, presbytery, or
congregationalism--as upon the consistency, fidelity, and union of
the individual members of the Church. Order that is not based on a
vigorous Church-life, and regulated by it, is empty and powerless; it
is like the ice of the Polar regions, which sometimes assumes forms
of exquisite and wondrous beauty, but is cold, heartless, dead. The
Scriptural directions on this subject are brief but pregnant with
meaning: "Let all things be done decently and in order"; "God is not
the Author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the Churches of the
saints"; "Let all things be done with charity"; "The rest will I set
in order when I come" (1 Cor. xiv. 40, xiv. 33, xvi. 14, xi. 34).
While organisation that is not instinct with a moving, pervasive and
aggressive life is cumbersome, vapid, and useless; on the other hand,
Christian steadfastness is imperilled where order is disregarded.
+II. The apostle commended their stability in the faith.+--"And the
steadfastness of your faith in Christ." These words describe the
internal condition of the Church; and the picture of a firm,
confident reliance on Christ which he beheld delighted the soul of
the anxious apostle. Order is the fence and guard, steadfastness the
end in view, order is the garb and ornament, steadfastness the
substance of the Christian character. Faith girds and strengthens the
soul with its unchanging and invincible verities; the shafts of error
and profanity assail it in vain. When the Roman proconsul, from his
judgment-seat, urged the holy Polycarp to save his life by cursing
the name of Jesus Christ, the venerable martyr calmly answered: "For
eighty-six years I have served Him; He has never yet done me harm.
How can I blaspheme my King, who has saved me?" Man is great and
noble, not by what he possesses, not by what he says, not by what he
gives, not by what he does, but by what he _believes._ The most
magnanimous outward conduct may be, after all, a very imperfect
representation of the soul's deepest faith. What a man believes is
not therefore a matter of comparative indifference, but a question of
supreme importance; he must have a clear, definite creed. True a
creed is but the visible, expressive mould of the inward conception
of the truth believed; but as the tendency of all life is to assume
form and can be understood by us only as it does so, so faith, as a
vital and irresistibly active principle, must inevitably shape itself
into some outward expression. Where there is no creed, there is no
faith; a creedless man believes in nothing, and he is himself that
nothing. He has no more cohesion in him than the separate particles
of sand in the hour-glass. All true faith takes its rise "in Christ,"
and gathers its stability by continuing in Him.
+III. The apostle cherished a deep, personal interest in their
welfare.+--1. _In spirit he was present with them._ "For though I be
absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit." We have no
satisfactory evidence that the apostle had as yet personally visited
Colossæ. Epaphras, the faithful and anxious evangelist, sought him
out in Rome, perhaps for the purpose of laying before him the state
of Colossæ and of the neighbouring Churches on the banks of the
Lycus. The apostle's interest in Colossæ was further excited at this
time by meeting with Onesimus, a runaway slave, belonging to the
household of Philemon, a Colossian. The apostle was the means of
bringing the runaway to repentance and to the enjoyment of the
liberty of the spiritually free. These circumstances deepened St.
Paul's concern in the affairs of the Colossian Christians; he grasped
all the points of the situation, was keenly alive to the gravity of
the dangers with which they were threatened, and, as though he were
personally present in their midst, expressed his sincere sympathy
with them in their trials, and his profound satisfaction on hearing
of their steady adherence to the truth. It is not necessary to be
locally near in order to hold spiritual intercourse; oceans may roll
between individuals whose souls participate in the highest communion.
The soul is where it loves: thither it directs its affections,
wishes, and hopes.
2. _He rejoiced in their fidelity._--"Joying and beholding." As
though an actual spectator of their order and steadfastness, his soul
is filled with joy. The expression of his hearty interest in their
state, and his praise of their fidelity, prepared them to give heed
to his cautions against the seductions of false teachers, and to his
exhortations to perseverance. No disappointment is so poignant as
that arising from the failure of Christian toil, and no joy so
exquisite as the joy of success. The spectacle of a Christian Church
poised in beauteous order and strengthened with the might of an
unfalteringly aggressive faith, is a subject of unspeakable joy to
God, to His angels, and to all true ministers.
+Lessons.+--1. _Attention must be paid to the outward as well as the
inward state of the Church._ 2. _While the Church preserves its order
and stability it is invulnerable._ 3. _It is cause of rejoicing when
the Church faithfully maintains the conquests already won._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6, 7.
_Suggestive Features of the Christian Life._
The Christian life is essentially progressive. The law that governs
its existence involves perpetual, active increase; if it did not
grow, it would cease to live. Unlike the principle of growth in the
natural world, we cannot conceive a point in the religious life where
it necessarily becomes stationary, and then begins to decline, on the
other hand, every provision is made for its unceasing expansion in
the highest moral excellencies.
+I. The Christian life begins in a personal reception of
Christ.+--"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord" (ver.
6). Religion is not a self-development of innate human goodness, as
many in the present day believe and teach. The soul of man is
infected with the virulent poison of sin; no part has escaped the
destructive moral taint. The utmost exercise of the unsanctified
powers of the soul can therefore tend only towards the development of
its own inborn corruption. As the vinegar plant reproduces itself
with great rapidity and impregnates every branch and fibre with its
own essential acid, so the evil reigning in man reproduces itself
with marvellous rapidity and permeates the whole soul with its
debasing poison. Religion is a receiving--the receiving of a gift,
and that a Divine gift. It is the growth and development of the
supernatural in man. "Christ in you the hope of glory."
1. _Christ is received as_ THE CHRIST.--The Colossian heresy aimed at
subverting the true idea of the Christ, the _Anointed One,_
commissioned by the Father to effect the reconciliation of the world
to Himself; it interposed a graduated series of angelic mediators,
and thus thought to discredit the sole and absolute mediatorship of
Christ. To receive the Son of God effectually is to receive Him in
all that He claimed to be, and all that He came to do, as the Divine,
specially anointed Son, who alone and fully manifested the Father,
and who is the only mediator between sinful man and God. It is of
unspeakable importance to catch the true idea of the character and
office of Christ at the beginning of the Christian life.
2. _Christ is received as Jesus the Lord._--Jesus is the name by
which He was known among men, and points out how completely He has
identified Himself with humanity as the Saviour. "It behoved Him to
be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and
faithful High Priest, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people." He is also Lord, the supreme Governor in all spheres, in
nature, providence, and grace. To receive Jesus aright, He must be
trusted as the Saviour, able to save to the uttermost, acknowledged
as the Sovereign and universal Ruler, and homage and obedience
rendered to His rightful authority. Our reception of Christ does not
place us beyond the reach of law but creates in us the capacity for
rendering an intelligent and cheerful obedience to its holy
requirements.
3. _Christ is received by an act of faith._--To receive Christ is to
believe in Him; and faith in Christ is simply the reception of
Christ: the only way of receiving Him into the soul is by faith. The
soul accepts, not only the testimony concerning Christ, whether
furnished by Himself or by His witnesses, but accepts Christ Himself.
The great, final object of faith that saves is Christ, and all
testimony is valuable only as it brings us to Him. The sin-tossed
spirit finds rest and peace only as it reposes, not in an abstract
truth, but in a person--not in love as the law of the moral universe,
but in a person who is Himself love.
+II. The Christian life is governed by the law of Christ.+--"So walk
ye in Him" (ver. 6). The word "walk" expresses the general conduct of
man and the process of progression in the formation of individual
character. The will of Christ, as indicated in His character, words,
spirit, and example, is the ruling principle in the life of the
believer.
1. _To walk in Christ implies a recognition of Him in all
things._--In everything that constitutes our daily life--business,
domestic relations, social engagements, friendships, pleasures,
cares, and trials--we may trace the presence of Christ and recognise
His rule. Everywhere, on road, or rail, or sea--in all seasons of
distress or joy, of poverty or wealth, of disturbance or rest--we may
be conscious of the encompassing and regulating presence of Christ
Jesus the Lord.
2. _To walk in Christ implies a complete consecration to Him._--He
has the supreme claim upon our devotion and service: "We are not our
own; we are bought with a price." Our life consists in serving Him:
"Whether we live, we live unto the Lord." The best of everything we
possess should be cheerfully offered to Him. Carpeaux, the celebrated
French sculptor, was kept in comparative retirement for some time
before his death by a long and painful illness. One Sunday, as he was
being drawn to church, he was accosted by a certain prince, who
exclaimed, "Carpeaux, I have good news for you! You have been
advanced in the Legion of Honour. Here is the _rosette d'officier._"
The emaciated sculptor smiled and replied, "Thank you, my dear
friend. It is the good God who shall first have the noble gift."
Saying which, he approached the altar, put the _rosette_ in his
button-hole, and reverentially knelt down to pray.
3. _To walk in Christ implies a continual approximation to the
highest life in Him._--The Christian can rise no higher than to be
most like Christ. The highest ambition of the apostle was to be
"found in Him." Life in Him is a perpetual progress in personal
purity and ever-deepening felicity. Our interest in the vast future
is intensified by the Christ-inspired hope that we shall be for ever
virtually united to Him, that we shall delight in ever-changing
visions of His matchless glory, that we shall be like Him, and
reflect and illustrate the splendour of His all-perfect character.
Every triumph over sin is a substantial advance towards this glorious
future destiny.
+III. The Christian life is supported and established by faith in
fully declared truth.+--1. _There is the idea of stability._ The
believer is rooted in Christ, as a tree planted in firm, immovable
soil; he is built up in Christ, as an edifice on a sure foundation;
and in both senses, as a tree and as a building, he must be
established in the truth which has been demonstrated to him as Divine
and all-authoritative. It is not enough to preserve the appearance of
an external walk in Christ; but the roots of our faith must be worked
into Him, and the superstructure of holiness rest on Him as the only
foundation laid in Zion. The soul thus firmly established will
survive the heaviest storms of adversity and the most furious
assaults of error.
2. _There is the idea of progress._--Walking implies a continual
advance to a given destination; a tree is planted in order to grow;
the building, after the foundation is laid, rises to completion. The
word "built" is in the present tense and describes a work in actual
process. So the believer, having become attached to the only
foundation that is laid, which is Christ Jesus, is ever rising in
conformity with the foundation and with the outlines of that grand
spiritual edifice of which Christ is the pattern and glory. Faith is
the cement that fastens one part of the building to the other; but
faith as a living, active principle, also admits of increase. With
respect to every individual effort after a higher spiritual life,
according to our faith it is done unto us.
+IV. The Christian life has its most appropriate outflow in
thanksgiving.+--"Abounding therein with thanksgiving" (ver. 7). The
end of all human conduct is thanksgiving. It should be expressed in
every word and appear in every action. Life should be a ceaseless,
ever-abounding outflow of gratitude. We should never forget the
magnitude of the blessings we have received, the wealth of mercies
now offered to us, and the source whence they all issue. A thankful
remembrance of past benefits cheers and strengthens the heart under
difficulties and disposes the bounteous Donor to confer further
benefits. There is nothing in which Christians are more deficient
than in a devout and heartily expressed gratitude. Gratitude expands
our sympathies for the race. What a triumph of disinterested
thankfulness was that of the invalid who, though confined to his
room, "thanked God for the sunshine for others to enjoy"! The spirit
of Christian progress is one of unceasing thanksgiving.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian life is Divinely bestowed._ 2. _The
Christian life is Divinely sustained._ 3. _The reality of the
Christian life is evidenced by effusive and practical gratitude._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 6, 7. _Retrospection the Basis of Progress._
+I. The Christian consciousness in its apprehension of
Christ.+--1. _There are two opposing theories prevalent on the person
of Christ--the rationalistic and the revealed._ The one rules out His
Godhead; the other is the basis of the Christian faith. 2. _Two
systems of theology, widely distinct from each other, are dependent
on these theories._ The one puts man at its centre, and is wholly
human; the other enthrones God, and is essentially Divine. 3. _There
is only one Christ, one faith, one salvation._ 4. _It is within the
one or the other of these two systems that we must posit our
decisions._
+II. The Christian consciousness in its reception of
Christ.+--1. _Faith receives the whole Christ._ 2. _Christ asks and
gets the whole man._ 3. _The life of faith, as embodied in the
moralities of Christian living, is thus provided for and follows this
consecrating act._
+III. The Christian consciousness in its subjection to
Christ.+--1. _The sphere of the lordship of Christ is the human
mind._ 2. _The claim of this lordship is absolute._ 3. _The mind is
free and unconstrained in its surrender to the authority of
Christ.--John Burton._
Ver. 6. _Moral Imitation._
+I. The text assumes that man possesses the faculty of imitation.+
+II. He requires an example to imitate and that example is Christ.+
+III. A model must be seen to be imitated, so Christ has presented
Himself to us for that purpose.+--_W. Frazer._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.
_The Marks of a False Philosophy._
Philosophy plays an important part in the investigation and discovery
of truth. The use of the word arose out of the humility of
Pythagoras, who called himself a lover of wisdom. The noblest
intellects of all ages have been devoted to the pursuit of the same
coveted prize. Philosophy represents the highest effort of the human
intellect in its search after knowledge. It explores and tests
phenomena in the realm of physics and of morals and discovers the
subtle laws by which those phenomena are governed. It elevates man to
his true rank in creation, and teaches that he must be estimated, not
by his physical relation to the outward world, but by the sublime
endowments of his mind, into which it is the special function of
philosophy to inquire. The philosophic mood never reaches its highest
development till it is Christianised. The apostle does not stigmatise
all philosophy as in vain; he knew the value of a true philosophy,
and in his estimation the Christian religion was the embodiment of
the highest philosophy. But he warned the Colossians against a false
philosophy that was deceptive in its pretensions and deadly in its
influence.
+I. A false philosophy is known by its profitless speculations.+--The
absence of both preposition and article in the second clause shows
that "vain deceit" describes and qualifies philosophy. A celebrated
Roman sophist summed up his deliberate judgment on the efforts of the
learned in the painful search after wisdom in these words: "The human
mind wanders in a diseased delirium, and it is therefore not
surprising that there is no possible folly which philosophers, at one
time or another, have propounded as a lesson of wisdom." When the
most highly cultured intellects have been gravely occupied with
tricks of magic, the casting of nativities, the random guesses of
soothsaying, and the pretended marvels of a mystic astrology; when
the best of life has been spent in discussing transcendental
questions as to the eternity of matter, fate, the mortality of the
soul, the worship of angels, and their mature endowments and habits,
and in definitional hair-splitting as to what constitutes the chief
good of man; when the truest and best discoveries of human reason are
used to disparage Divine revelation and discredit the absolute
authority of saving truth--then philosophy falsifies its name,
frustrates its lofty mission, and degenerates into vain, empty,
profitless speculations. The student of the theories and
contradictions of certain philosophic schools may begin with
extravagant expectations, only to end in chagrin and despondency. The
errors which assailed the Colossian Church were a mixture of the
Oriental system of Zoroaster with Judaism, and with the crude,
half-comprehended truths of Christianity. It was a mongrel system of
philosophy, containing the germs of what afterwards developed into an
advanced Gnosticism and became the prolific source of many forms of
heresy. Its abettors became "vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves wise, they became
fools" (Rom. i. 21, 22).
+II. A false philosophy is known by its purely human origin.+--"After
the tradition of men."
1. _The human mind is limited._--The stream can never rise higher
than its source; so the wisdom that comes from man is necessarily
bounded by the range of his mental powers. The human mind cannot
penetrate far into any subject without discovering there is a point
beyond which all is darkness and uncertainty. It is impossible for
the circumscribed and unaided mind of man to construct a philosophy
that shall be universally true and beneficial. Tillotson has said:
"Philosophy has given us several plausible rules for attaining peace
and tranquillity of mind, but they fall very much short in bringing
men to it."
2. _All human knowledge is imperfect._--"If any man think that he
knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." The
_traditions_ of men are the accumulation of mere human theories
transmitted from age to age until they have assumed the pretensions
of a philosophy, imposing a number of uninspired and unauthorised
observances and austerities. The imperfection of human knowledge is
not obliterated but aggravated by its antiquity. A philosophy that
builds solely on man is baseless and full of danger.
+III. A false philosophy is known by its undue exaltation of
elementary principles.+--"After the rudiments of the world." The
source of the false teaching against which the apostle warned was
found in human tradition, and its subject-matter was made up of "the
rudiments of the world"--the most elementary instruction conveyed by
external and material objects, suited only to man's infancy in the
world. The legal rights and ceremonies instituted by Moses are
evidently referred to here; they were the first rough elements of an
introductory religion fit only for children--shadows at best of great
and deeper truths to which they were intended to lead, and yet, by
the tendency of the soul to cling to the outward, gendering to
bondage. "Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under
the elements [rudiments] of the world. But now, after that ye have
known God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements?"
(Gal. iv. 3-10). The apostle shows the Colossians that, in Christ,
they had been exalted into the sphere of the Spirit, and that it
would be a sad retrogression to plunge again into the midst of the
sensuous and ceremonial. A true philosophy, while starting
necessarily with elementary principles, conducts its votaries into a
pathway of increasing knowledge and of spiritual exaltation and
liberty. A false philosophy fetters the mind by exaggerating the
importance of first principles and insisting on their eternal
obligation.
+IV. A false philosophy is known by its Christlessness.+--"And not
after Christ." Christ is neither the author nor the substance of its
teaching; not the author, for its advocates rely on human traditions;
not the substance, for they ignore Christ by the substitution of
external ceremonies and angelic mediators. Such a method of
philosophising may be after the Jewish fanatics, after the
Pythagoreans or Platonists, after Moses and his abrogated legalism;
but is it _not after Christ._ There is no affinity between Christ and
their inventions; the substances cannot amalgamate. As it is
impossible, by any process, to convert a baser metal into gold, so it
is impossible to elevate a vain philosophy into Christianity. All
true saving knowledge must be after--_i.e._ according to--Christ. It
is in Him alone the deepest wants of man's nature can be met and
satisfied. Any philosophy, though championed by the most brilliant
intellects, that tends to lure the soul from Christ, that puts
anything in the place of Him, or depreciates in any way our estimate
of His glorious character, is false and full of peril.
+V. A false philosophy is known by its destructive influence.+--"Lest
any man spoil you." The meaning of the word "spoil" is very full and
significant: it is not simply to despoil--to strip off--but to carry
away as spoil, just as the four kings, after the battle in the vale
of Siddim, plundered the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and bore away
as spoil the people and all their property and victuals (Gen.
xiv. 12-16). The Colossians had been rescued from the bondage of
darkness and transferred to the kingdom of light; they were settled
there as free and happy citizens; and now there was danger lest they
should be tampered with by some crafty marauder, seized and carried
away as booty, and fall into a worse state than their former slavery.
There are worse losses than loss of property, or even of children:
man is never so grievously spoiled as when his soul is debased and
robbed by the errors of wicked seducers. Men who have contemptuously
given up the Bible as a book of fables, lost their peace of mind,
wrecked their moral character, and blasted their prospects for ever,
began their downward career by embracing the apparently harmless
ideas of a false philosophy. "The thief cometh not," saith Jesus,
"but to steal, to kill, and to destroy; I"--the infallible Teacher,
the incorruptible Guardian, the inexhaustible Life-giver--"am come
that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly" (John x. 10).
+VI. Against a false philosophy the Church must be faithfully
warned.+--"Beware."
1. _Because it is seductive in its pretensions._--It seeks to refine
and elevate the plain Gospel by a show of lofty intellectualism; it
dignifies some particular religious rite into an unjustifiable
importance; it elaborates a ritual marvellous for spectacular display
and musical effect; it flatters the pride and ministers to the
corruption of the human heart; and, stealing through the avenue of
the charmed senses, gains an imperious mastery over the whole man.
2. _Because it is baneful in its effect._--It not only misrepresents
and distorts the truth, but injures the faculties of the soul by
which truth is obtained and kept. It darkens the understanding,
pollutes the conscience, and weakens the will. It robs man of his
dearest treasure, and offers in exchange a beggarly system of crude,
unsatisfying speculations. The soul is goaded into a restless search
after rest and cursed with its non-attainment.
+Lessons.+--1. _Human philosophy is essentially defective._ 2. _The
true philosophy is the highest knowledge of Christ._ 3. _All
philosophy that weans the soul from Christ is false and should be
shunned._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9, 10.
_The Divine Fulness of Christ a Pledge of the Believer's Perfection._
Christianity is the true philosophy. Here are its profoundest depths,
its loftiest themes, its most substantial discoveries. The philosophy
that is not after Christ is vain and misleading. It was a false
conception of the Colossian heresy that the Divine energy was
dispersed among several spiritual agencies. The apostle boldly
declares that in Christ dwells the whole πλήρωμα the entire fulness
of the Deity, and that it is in vain to seek for spiritual life in
communion with inferior creatures.
+I. The Divine fulness of Christ.+--1. _In Christ is the fulness of
the Deity._ "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead"
(ver. 9). A small text, but a great subject. These words contain the
sublimest truth in the narrowest compass. Fulness is a term used to
signify all that anything contains. Hence, we read of the fulness of
the earth, the fulness of the sea, and that the Church is Christ's
body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. In Christ inhere
all the perfections, attributes, and qualities that essentially
constitute the Divine nature--power, wisdom, eternity,
self-existence, omnipresence, truth, love, holiness. The deities of
the heathen never pretended to possess more than a few Divine
attributes, some portion of Divinity. But Christ contains in Himself
the totality of Divine powers and excellencies.
2. _The fulness of the Deity in Christ is present and
permanent._--"Dwelleth." The present tense is used. It is not as a
transient gleam or as a brilliant display to serve a temporary
purpose, but as an ever-present and unchanging reality. Mystery of
mysteries! the body that hungered and thirsted, that bled and died,
that rose and ascended on high, is still the temple of illimitable
Deity! The manifestations of God through angels and prophets were
brief and partial. The Shekinah, or visible glory, that hovered over
the ark of the covenant was a symbol only of a present deity and
disappeared as mysteriously as it came. But in Christ, the
transcendent fulness of the Godhead finds its permanent home, never
to depart, never to vanish.
3. _The fulness of the Deity in Christ has a visible
embodiment._--"Bodily." In the person of Christ every moral
perfection of the Godhead was enshrined and brought within the range
of human vision. He presented and proved the fact of the Divine
existence. He embodied and declared the Divine spirituality. He
delineated the Divine disposition, and character in the days of His
flesh. Gleams of the Divine nature occasionally broke forth. "We
beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son of God" (John
i. 14). And now, from that subtle, glorified human form of our
exalted Mediator, the splendour of the Deity rays forth, filling the
universe with light and glory and joy. In Christ the Godhead is
revealed, not as a changing, shadowy phantasm, but as a positive,
substantial reality.
+II. The supreme authority of Christ.+--"Which is the Head of all
principality and power" (ver. 10).
1. _Angels are the principalities and powers of the universe._--They
are called _spirits_ to express their nature, and _angels_ to
designate their office as messengers sent by God. They are called
_sons of God,_ to indicate their lofty relationship; _cherubim,_
because of their composite nature, and because they are placed under
the presence of Jehovah, whose moving throne they appear to draw;
_seraphim,_ because of their burning ardour in executing the commands
of God; _stars of the morning,_ to set forth their brightness; _a
flaming fire,_ because of the fierceness and celerity with which they
carry out the vengeance of Heaven; and they are called
_principalities_ and _powers_ on account of their exalted rank and
superior endowments.
2. _Among the principalities and powers of the universe Christ has
supreme authority._--He is the Head of all angelic hierarchies. He
called them into being. He endows them with vast intelligence. He
designates their rank. He controls their beneficent ministries. He
fills the circle of their bliss. To worship angels, or to seek their
mediation in the affairs of the soul, is not only gross idolatry, but
an insufferable insult to the fulness of the Deity in Christ.
+III. The believer's fulness in Christ.+--"And ye are complete in
Him" (ver. 10).
1. _In Christ is the inspiration of the believer's life._--The soul
finds its true life by believing on the Son of God. "He that hath the
Son hath life" (1 John v. 12). In ourselves we are like empty
vessels; but in Christ we are filled up to the brim. As there is an
original and Divine fulness of the Godhead in Christ, so there is a
derived fulness communicated to us. Every advance in Christian
experience, every aspiration after a more exalted spiritual tone,
every yearning of the soul after clearer light, every struggle for
victory over self and sin, is prompted and accelerated by the
impetuous inflow of the Divine life.
2. _In Christ is the perfect ideal of the believer's
character._--Christ has exalted human nature. He took not on Him the
nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. He has shown what human
nature can become, and what it can do. In Him we have the illustrious
pattern after which our souls are to be fashioned and rounded off
into a full-orbed completeness. "Christ is the mirror that glasses
God's image before us, and the Spirit is the plastic force within
that transfers and photographs that image; and so, beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
3. _In Christ is the interminable bliss of the believer's
future._--The present life is a training for the future. The more it
is in harmony with the will of Christ the happier will it be. Every
attempt, amid the multiform relations of life, to do our duty in a
Christly spirit, is bringing us into closer sympathy with Christ, and
preparing us for a joyous life with Him hereafter. The apostle
expressed the condition of the highest conceivable bliss to the
believer in the words, "And so shall we ever be with the Lord"
(1 Thess. iv. 17).
+Lessons.+--1. _Christ is essentially Divine._ 2. _There is an
ineffable fulness of salvation in Christ._ 3. _All secondary
mediators between God and man are superfluous._ 4. _The soul is
complete in Christ only as it believes in Him._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 9, 10. _A Presentation of Two Great Truths._
+I. That all Christianity centres in Christ.+
+II. That union to Christ makes the soul independent of
others.+--_Dykes._
Ver. 9. _The Fulness of Christ._
+I. Christ is full of the power of God.+
+II. The love of God.+
+III. The grace of God.+
+IV. The faithfulness of God.+
+V. The purpose of God to punish sin.+--_Preacher's Magazine._
Ver. 10. _The Completing of the Soul._
+I. We are made complete in Christ by inspirations.+
+II. We have ideas and ideals in Christ.+
+III. We are set in a various scheme of relations that we may have a
training in virtues equally various and be perfected in them
and by means of them.+--_Bushnell._
_The Believer Complete in Christ._
+I. Complete in Him with respect to the work which He hath already
performed.+--1. _His obedience and atonement were precisely what God
Himself had prescribed._ 2. _That He obeyed and atoned, we have the
perfect evidence of observation and testimony._ He Himself declared,
"I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." "It is
finished." To this the Father and the Spirit have expressly borne
testimony: by signs and wonders; His resurrection; His ascension; the
descent of the Spirit; conversions; the glorification of His people.
3. _Into His righteousness thus perfect the believer is admitted._
+II. Complete in Him with respect to the work which He is now
performing.+--1. _Interceding in heaven._ 2. _Ruling on earth,_ and
thus giving grace and affording protection.
+III. Complete in Him with respect to the work which He is hereafter
to perform.+--1. _As the Resurrection._ 2. _As the Judge._ 3. _As the
Glorifier._ 4. _As the Consummation and Communicator of eternal
blessedness.--Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11, 12.
_Christian Circumcision._
There were two principal errors lying at the root of the heresy that
was doing so much damage at Colossæ. One was the theological error of
substituting inferior and created angelic mediators for the Divine
Head Himself. The other was a practical error, in insisting upon
ritual and ascetic observances as the foundation of moral teaching.
Thus, their theological speculations and ethical code alike were at
fault. Both errors flowed from a common source--the false conception
that evil resides in matter, a fruitful source of many fatal
heresies. Some contended the Colossians could not be complete in
Christ without submitting to the Jewish rite of circumcision; but the
apostle showed that they were the subjects of a superior circumcision.
+I. Christian circumcision is inward and spiritual.+--"Ye are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands" (ver. 11). The
hand-wrought circumcision of the Jews was simply an outward and
visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. This is abundantly
clear in the language of the Old Testament: "No stranger
uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into
My sanctuary." "The Lord Thy God will circumcise thine heart, to love
the Lord thy God with all thine heart and all thy soul" (Ezek.
xliv. 9; Deut. xxx. 6). The argument of the apostle is that the
Colossians had secured all the spiritual results aimed at in the
ancient rite, and that by a better circumcision, even that made
without hands, by the spiritual and almighty power of Christ, so that
it was unnecessary for them or any other Gentiles to submit to the
abrogated Hebraic ordinance. The true circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter (Rom. ii. 28, 29).
+II. Christian circumcision is complete.+--"In putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh" (ver. 11); or, as Bengel translates,
_putting off the body of the sins_--that is to say, _the flesh._
Manual circumcision, according to the law of Moses, was the cutting
away of only a small part of the flesh. But the true spiritual
circumcision consists in putting off, renouncing, and casting away
with disgust the _whole body_ of our corrupt nature--the entire
fleshly principle. The whole bulk of sin is fitly compared to a
_body,_ because of the weight of guilt there is in it (Rom. vii. 24),
and the soul is completely compassed by it, as it is with our natural
body (Gen. vi. 5). When the heart is circumcised, the total mass of
sin is put off, as the porter puts off his burden, the beggar his
rages, the master his false servant, and the serpent its skin. Old
things pass away; all things become new.
+III. Christian circumcision is Divine.+--"By the circumcision of
Christ" (ver. 11). It is wrought, without hands, by the inward,
invisible power of the Divine Spirit of Christ. It supersedes the
external form of the circumcision of the law and fulfils all its
spiritual designs in a far more perfect manner than even the
spiritually-minded Jew could adequately conceive. What can never be
effected by the moral law, by external, ascetic ceremonies, or by
philosophic speculations, is accomplished by the circumcision of
Christ. The whole body of sin is mortified, the soul is quickened and
renewed, and brought into the possession of the highest moral
perfection.
+IV. Christian circumcision is realised by the thorough
identification of the believer with Christ in His death and
resurrection.+--"Buried with Him, wherein also ye are risen with Him"
(ver. 12). Burial implies previous death; and to secure the true
circumcision we must be spiritually identified with Christ in His
death, burial, and resurrection. It is the familiar teaching of the
New Testament that he who believes in Christ is said to die with Him,
to be buried with Him, and to rise with Him (ver. 13; Rom. vi. 11;
Eph. ii. 5). A circumcised heart, a new nature, cannot be obtained by
mere human effort, by stern resolutions, painful processes of
self-mortification, or by the most advanced and rigorous mental
culture. It is secured only by a complete, vital union and
incorporation with Christ, and a sympathetic participation with Him
in all He has done and suffered. With Christ the believer enters the
grave where the vast body of sin dies and is buried; and with Christ
he emerges into a new and heavenlier life that transforms the soul
into a Diviner beauty, and fills it with unutterable rapture and
melodious praise.
+V. Christian circumcision is wrought in the soul by a spiritual
baptism.+--"Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen
with Him" (ver. 12). Baptism by water, like legal circumcision, is an
outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. But it
does not appear that there is any allusion here to the ordinance of
baptism. The leading ideas and figures used in these two verses refer
to spiritual realities: the death, burial, and resurrection, the
circumcision without hands, and the putting off of the body of the
flesh, are all spiritual; and the baptism is evidently of the same
character. It is by the baptism of the Spirit--the quickening and
renewing power of the Holy Ghost--that the soul is so united to and
identified with Christ that the believer may be said to be buried and
to rise with Him. It is possible to die with Christ and to rise with
Him without being baptised with water; but it is impossible to do
either without the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Spiritual baptism is
the grave of the old man and the birth of the new. As he sinks
beneath the baptismal waters, the believer buries there all his
corrupt affections and past sins; ans he emerges thence, he rises
regenerate, quickened to new hopes and a new life.
+VI. Christian circumcision is received by faith.+--"Through the
faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead"
(ver. 12). Faith is not a natural production of the human heart. It
is a Divine gift and is bestowed on man by a Divine operation. Man
_can_ believe because God has given him the power to believe. No
unbeliever can receive the baptism that effects the spiritual
resurrection. The faith specially referred to is to be fixed on the
power of God as exerted and displayed in the resurrection of Christ
from the tomb. The same power is employed in that mysterious
baptismal process by which the soul throws off its mass of moral
vileness and rises into newness of life. Faith opens every gateway of
the soul, so that it gratefully welcomes and exults in the
transforming operations of the Divine energy.
+Lessons.+--1. _All external ordinances are powerless to change the
heart._ 2. _The true circumcision is accomplished by the baptism of
the Holy Ghost._ 3. _To realise the renewing power of God faith is
indispensable._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 11. _The True Circumcision._
+I. Is not an outward rite, but an inward change.+
+II. Is an excision of the body of sin by our union with Christ, who
has conquered sin.+
+III. Is not an external observance, but a spiritual experience and a
holy life.+
Ver. 12. _The True Baptism_--
+I. Is spiritual regeneration.+
+II. Is being buried and raised again with Christ.+
+III. Is secured by an active, realising faith in the power of God.+
+IV. Renders circumcision and all outward rites valueless as means
of salvation.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13, 14.
_The Transition from Death to Life._
In relation to man, the physical order is a descent from life to
death, the spiritual order an ascent from death to life. The soul of
man is held captive in the dark and dismal prison-house of sin, and
the Divine law--at once its judge and gaoler--has declared its
condemnation to death. The great Mediator offers Himself a ransom for
human sin. He is accepted. The sentence of condemnation is cancelled,
and spiritual liberty proclaimed.
+I. That the natural condition of humanity is one of moral and
spiritual death.+--1. _Man is in a condition of spiritual
insensibility._ "You, being dead in your sins" (ver. 13). The dead
know not anything. They are as unconscious as the dust in the midst
of which they slumber. The sweetest sounds or the brightest scenes
appeal in vain to the locked-up senses. This figure strikingly
depicts the moral condition of man. The soul may be keenly alive to
the relations and interests of the outer world, and at the same time
dead to the grandest spiritual realities. He is insensible to the
character and claims of God, to the sublimest truths, to the most
ravishing prospects. With faculties to appreciate all that is lovely
in nature and wonderful in art, he is insensible and unresponsive to
the highest moral beauty.
2. _Man is in a condition of moral corruption._--"And the
uncircumcision of your flesh" (ver. 13). Death unbinds the forces
that brace up the body in life and health and leaves it a prey to the
ever-active power of corruption. The _flesh_ is the carnal
principle--the old corrupt nature; and its uncircumcision indicates
that it has not been cut off, mortified, or conquered. It is the
loathsome, putrid fruit of a nature spiritually dead--the outworkings
of a wicked, unrenewed heart, through all the channels of unchecked
appetites and passions--moral putrescence fattening on itself. No
description of sin can surpass the revolting spectacle of its own
self-registered results.
3. _Man is in a condition of condemnation._--(1) The Divine
ordinances record an indictment against the transgressor. "The
handwriting of ordinances that was against us" (ver. 14). A
_handwriting_ imports what any one writes with his own hand, and is
usually applied to a note of hand, a bond, or obligation, as having
the signature of the debtor or contracting party. The primary
reference in the terms used is to the Jews, who might be said to have
signed the contract when they bound themselves, by a curse, to
observe all the enactments of the law (Deut. xxvii. 14-26).
_Ordinances,_ though referring primarily to the Mosaic ordinances,
includes all forms of positive decrees (ordinances) in which moral or
social principles are embodied or religious duties defined. Man
everywhere is under law, written or unwritten; and he is morally
obligated to obey it. That law has been universally violated, and its
ordinances and sanctions are against us. We are involved in legal
condemnation; we owe to God what we can never pay. (2) The Divine
ordinances are hostile towards the transgressor. "Which was contrary
to us" (ver. 14). We are often painfully reminded of our broken bond,
as the debtor is often distressingly reminded of his undischarged
obligation. Our peace is disturbed, our conscience troubled, our
prospects darkened. The sense of condemnation pursues us in every
part of life and haunts us with visions of terrible vengeance to come.
+II. That the believer is raised into a condition of spiritual
life.+--1. _Spiritual life begins in the consciousness of liberty._
"Having forgiven you all trespasses" (ver. 13). Sin enthrals the soul
in an intolerable bondage and smites it with a deathly blow. There is
no return to life until liberty is bestowed. Forgiveness confers that
liberty. Pardon is the point at which spiritual life begins. The
sense of liberty is the first glad thrill in the soul of a new and
nobler life. The pardon is ample; it is all-comprehensive--having
forgiven you _all_ trespasses. Every legal barrier is removed. All
guilt is cancelled. Every stain is purged away. Every vestige of
corruption disappears. The Divine mercy triumphs in the prompt,
generous, loving, full forgiveness of sins.
2. _Spiritual life implies a freedom from all condemnation._--(1) The
indictment recorded in the Divine ordinances is cancelled and
abolished. "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to His cross" (ver. 14). Every assurance is given to the
trembling believer that his guilt is pardoned, and his condemnation
removed. The handwriting is blotted out--as it were, cross-strokes
are drawn through it; and that all suspicion it may again become
legible, may be allayed, it is added, "and took it out of the way";
it is entirely removed. But lest, haply, it should again be found and
produced, it is declared--it is destroyed, torn, nailed to the cross,
and so made utterly useless ever to witness anything against the
believer. "Now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein
we were held" (Rom. vii. 6). The handwriting against us is removed
and destroyed by the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. There
we behold the cancelled sentence torn and rent by the very nails that
pierced the sacred body of the world's Redeemer. (2) Freedom from
condemnation is effected by the cross. "His cross." Much as the
doctrine of salvation through the vicarious sufferings of Christ may
be misunderstood and despised, it is the only method by which pardon
can be bestowed, condemnation removed, and spiritual life imparted.
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a
curse for us."
+III. That the transition of the soul from death to spiritual life is
a Divine work.+--"You hath He quickened together with Him" (ver. 13).
God only can raise the dead. He who first fashioned us in His own
image, who raised from the dead Jesus, the great Shepherd of the
sheep, rescues man from the gloomy domain of spiritual death, and
inspires him with a new and holier life. It is a life of blessed
union with the Divine. Its activities are spontaneous and Godward in
their tendencies. It has the power of growth and endless development.
Its aspirations are the purest and noblest. It is intensely
individual. It is the movement of the Divine in the sphere of the
human, not defacing or destroying the human, but exalting and
perfecting its worthiest traits.
+Lessons.+--1. _All men are dead in sin._ 2. _Law condemns but cannot
deliver._ 3. _Pardon of sin is the gateway of spiritual life._
4. _Pardon is obtained only by looking to the cross._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 13. _Death and Spiritual Life._
+I. Man by sin is spiritually dead and disabled from exercising
spiritual acts.+
+II. Man is quickened into spiritual life by virtue of the
resurrection of Christ.+
+III. Spiritual life is obtainable only by the pardon of sin.+
Ver. 14. _The Handwriting of Ordinances._
+I. Describes our condemnation.+
+II. Must be cancelled in order to pardon.+
+III. Cancelled by the sufferings on the cross.+
+IV. Is blotted out against us when we accept the Crucified.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.
_The Triumph of the Cross._
The apostle has shown the worthlessness of the Jewish ceremonies and
the galling tyranny of their yoke. He has exposed the emptiness of
the philosophy that was of human fabrication, with its illusive
theories about angel mediators, its vast accretions of conflicting
traditions, and its intolerable impositions. He has declared that
they are all transfixed to the cross--torn, lacerated, illegible,
cancelled--and exhibited there as a spectacle for the perpetual
consolation and assurance of the believer. And now the apostle,
rising with the grandeur of his theme, compares the scene of the
cross to the splendid triumph of a Roman general, in which the
captives taken in battle were led in gorgeous procession through the
city as substantial trophies of the victor.
+I. The triumph of the cross was over the powers of
evil.+--"Principalities and Powers."
1. _The existence of evil is a painful fact._--We meet with it
everywhere and in everything. It mars the beauty of external creation
and loads it with a burden of unutterable woe. It flings its shadow
over the brightest sky, transforms the music of life into a doleful
monotone, and translates the softest zephyrs into sighs. It
impregnates man's moral nature, deflects the purest principles,
shatters the noblest powers, arrests the loftiest aspirations and
drags the soul down to the lowest hell.
2. _Evil is embodied in invisible and potent personalities._--They
are here called _principalities_ because of their excellency, their
deep penetration, vast knowledge, and exalted station. They are
called _powers_ because of their ability, the mighty influence they
can wield, and the terrible havoc they can work. Their dominion
extends over the whole realm of sin. They exist in vast numbers
(2 Pet. iv. 2; Jude 6), but they are inspired and guided by one great
master-spirit--the prince of the power of the air. They are animated
and bound together by one spirit--a spirit of bitter hatred and
savage hostility towards God, and of contemptuous scorn for His
authority. They are eager to obey the slightest behest of their
malignant leader.
"He spake: and to confirm his words outflew
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs,
Of mighty cherubim: the sudden blaze
Far round illumined hell: highly they raged
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms
Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war,
Hurling defiance towards the vault of heaven."
These hosts of evil spirits are the great foes of man with which he
has incessantly to contend (Eph. vi. 12). The struggle would be
hopeless had not Christ defeated them.
+II. The triumph of the cross was achieved after severe
conflict.+--"Having spoiled."
1. _The conflict was continuous._--It was fought from the earliest
period between Satan and man, and the day was lost. The woeful issues
of that conquest are with us to-day. The battle has been raging ever
since. The enmity existing between the serpent and the seed of the
woman is still active. The symbols and foreshadowings of the great
strife appeared on many occasions during the Mosaic period. But when
Christ assumed our humanity and stepped upon the field as the great
Captain of our salvation, the conflict reached its climax.
2. _The conflict was fierce._--Hosts of demons swarmed around the
solitary Warrior, and with incredible fury sought to gain a victory
over the human nature he had assumed. Again and again, they rushed to
the attack; but each fresh assault ended with a new defeat. In the
wilderness He was tempted by Satan; but the arch-tempter was
compelled to retire, baffled and conquered. Through the voice of His
chief disciple the temptation was renewed, and He was urged to
decline His appointed sufferings and death (Matt. xvi. 23). But Satan
was again foiled.
3. _The conflict was deadly._--Then came the final hour--the great
crisis when the power of darkness made itself felt, when the prince
of this world threw his last fatal shaft and asserted his tyranny
(Luke xxii. 53; John xii. 30). The closing act in the conflict began
with the agony of Gethsemane; it ended with the cross of Calvary. The
Son of God expires on the accursed tree. But, lo! strange reversal of
all human conflicts--the moment of apparent defeat is the moment of
victory! By dying Christ has conquered death and wrested from the
enemy his most potent weapon of terror. The principalities and powers
of evil, that clung around the humanity of Christ like a fatal Nessus
tunic, were _spoiled_--torn off and cast aside for ever. Evil
assailed the great Redeemer from without, but never penetrated Him as
it does humanity. In the act of dying the crucified One stripped off
and flung to the ground the great potentates of evil never more to be
in the ascendant.
+III. The triumph of the cross was signal and complete.+--1. _It was
signal._ "He made a show of them openly." The overthrow of the
principalities and powers of evil was boldly declared to the
universe. They were declared to be liars, traitors, deceivers,
usurpers, and murderers! It was not a private but a public victory,
in which the universe was interested, and in which all men may well
rejoice. The victory of mankind is involved in the victory of Christ.
In His cross we too are divested of the poisonous, clinging garments
of temptation, sin, and death--we spoil, strip off, put away from us
the powers of evil, and are liberated from the dominion of the flesh.
2. _It was complete._--"Triumphing over them in it." Christ proved
Himself on the cross the Conqueror of death and hell. Here the
paradox of the Crucifixion is placed in the strongest light--triumph
in helplessness, glory in shame, the vanquished become the conqueror.
The gloom of the convict's gibbet is transformed into the splendour
of the victor's chariot. In the cross we see the greatest triumph of
our Immanuel--the law fulfilled; God's moral government vindicated;
death robbed of its prey; Satan, "the prince of this world" cast out;
principalities and powers dragged in procession as captives; a show
of them boldly made; the imprisoned world set free; and the final
victory over every enemy assured.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christ has conquered the powers of evil._ 2. _To the
believer ultimate victory is certain._ 3. _Keep up a brave heart in
the fiercest conflict._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 16, 17.
_The Ceremonial and the Real in Religion._
After dealing with the speculative theories so busily propagated by
the false teachers at Colossæ, the apostle descends from the height
of his lofty argument, and with incomparable force sweeps away the
whole group of errors which overrated an excessive ritualism and
insisted on a rigorous asceticism. The existence of the ceremonial in
religion is a confession of the imperfection of our nature; and the
more rudimentary the ceremonial, the lower it supposes our condition.
The ceremonial foreshadows the real and is intended to help in
attaining it. In the nature of things, therefore, the ceremonial is
but temporary. When it puts man in possession of the real it
vanishes. The shadow is absorbed in the substance. To compel man to
find salvation in the ceremonial, when he already possesses the real,
is a retrogression and an injustice. The liberty of the Gospel places
the believer above the slavery of external ordinances and furnishes
him with a law--the law of a Christianised conscience--as to their
use or neglect.
+I. That the ceremonial in religion can form no just basis for
individual condemnation.+--"Let no man, therefore, judge you in
meat," etc. (ver. 16). The Mosaic law enforced certain injunctions
concerning eating and drinking. It gave minute directions as to the
animals that were to be eaten, making a distinction between the clean
and the unclean. As to drinking, the priests were strictly forbidden
the use of wine on the eve of solemn public duty; and the vow of the
Nazarites required entire abstinence from the fruit of the vine. The
tendency of the Jews was to multiply these distinctions and
prohibitions, and to exalt them into undue importance. The reference
to special days embraces the collective periodical feasts and sacred
seasons of the Levitical ritual--the yearly, monthly, and weekly
celebrations. The term _holy day_ would include the festivals of the
Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles respectively. The _new moon_
alludes to the monthly celebrations mentioned (Num. x. 10,
xxviii. 11). The _Sabbath days_ refer to the weekly solemnities and
services of the seventh day. The Jews assumed that the obligation of
these regulations was permanent, and their observance essential to
the salvation of the Christian believer. The Gospel teaches that the
observance or non-observance of these ceremonial rites is no just
ground for judging each other. We are not justified in condemning any
one for neglecting them, or to think any better of one who reverently
observes them. The essence of religion does not consist in the
outward form, but in the inward spirit--not in the ceremonial, but in
the real. "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of
Christ" (ver. 17).
+II. That the ceremonial in religion is typical of the real.+--"Which
are a shadow of things to come" (ver. 17). Ceremonies have their
place in the culture of mankind, and in their legitimate sphere they
are important. They are adapted to the infant stage in the
development of the race. They sketch out the bold, rough outlines of
truths that are in a half-formed embryotic state. They are shadows
projected across the disc of our mental vision--of grand realities
which are ever advancing into clearer view. They are typical of the
existence and certain manifestation of deeper and unchangeable
truths. They are predictive of things to come. The great yearly
festival of the Passover typified the forgiveness of sins by the
shedding of the precious blood of Christ. The Pentecost, or feast of
the firstfruits, sets forth the sustenance and ample provision God
has made for the soul. The feast of Tabernacles was a significant
reminder of God's providential guidance and fatherly care of human
life. The new moon, or first day of the month, with its usual
service, impressed on the minds of the people the truth that Jehovah,
the Ruler of the seasons, was the God of providence as well as of
creation. The weekly Sabbath, with its grateful rest, was expressly
instituted to commemorate the rest of God after the exercise of His
creative energy. Then the ordinary sacrifices were doubled, and the
shewbread renewed, to indicate that God is the source and sustenance
of our life. And so, the whole Mosaic law was a type and presage of
the Gospel. The spiritually enlightened look through the outward and
visible symbol to the great truth signified. The ceremonial is
valuable only as it conducts to the real.
+III. That the ceremonial in religion is abolished and rendered
nugatory by the real.+--"But the body is of Christ" (ver. 17). When
the substance appears, the shadow is swallowed up. As the shadows are
to the body, so were the types and ceremonies of the law to Christ.
They were figures of evangelical blessings; but the truth, the
reality, and abiding substance of them are found in the person, work,
and salvation of Christ. All the grand truths prefigured by the
ancient Mosaic ritual are embodied in Christ. He gives the fullest
personal representation of Jehovah as the God of nature, providence,
and redemption, at once the Author and the Ruler of the spiritual
life. In Christ, therefore, as the substance and Antitype, all shadow
and symbol disappear. It is a dangerous infatuation to snatch at the
shadow and cling to it when we may embrace and rest in the
sufficiency of the substance. This is to restore the cancelled
handwriting and nullify the splendid triumph of the cross. In Christ
the ceremonial is effete, powerless, dead. He only is the changeless,
eternal, all-satisfying real.
+Lessons.+--1. _Learn to exercise the spirit of Christian forbearance
in external observances._ 2. _Be careful not to rest in the
ceremonial._ 3. _Christ alone can satisfy the deepest craving of the
soul._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 16, 17. _The Shadow and the Substance of the Sabbath._
+I. The transient shadow which has passed away.+--The Sabbath as a
sign between God and the Israelites, marking them off from all other
nations by its observance--as a mere Jewish institution.
+II. The permanent substance which cannot pass.+--"The body is of
Christ"--the Spirit of Christ is the fulfilment of the law. To have
the Spirit of Christ is to have fulfilled the law. Apply this to
Sabbath observance.--_F. W. Robertson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18, 19.
_The Seductive Peril of a False Philosophy._
The apostle had warned the Colossians against the dangerous
consequences of attaching too much importance to the ceremonial in
religion, inasmuch as it was the substitution of the shadow for the
substance. He now reveals the peril of being seduced by the
theological error that insisted on interposition of angel mediators,
which was the preference of an inferior member to the Head. In this
verse the writer distinctly warns the Colossian Christians against
the peril that threatened them and exposes the presumptuous
speculations of a false philosophy.
+I. That the teachings of a false philosophy threaten to rob the
believer of his most coveted reward.+--"Let no man beguile you of
your reward" (ver. 18). The Christian's career is a race; the present
world is the stadium, or racecourse; Christ is the umpire--the
dispenser of rewards; eternal life is the victor's prize. The
Colossians were in a fair way for winning the prize; they had duly
entered the lists; they were contending bravely; but the false
teachers unhappily crossed their path, sought to impede their
progress, and to rob them of their reward. Error is subtle in its
influence and pernicious in its effects. Many erroneous opinions may
possibly be held without invalidating the salvation of the soul; but
any error that in any degree depreciates our estimate of Christ and
interrupts the advance of our Christian life is a robbery. It may be
said that the dangerous speculations of a false philosophy are
confined only to a few--the higher circle of thinkers. That is bad
enough. But what is damaging the higher order of intellects will
by-and-by reach the lower and work its mischief there. There is need
for uninterrupted vigilance.
+II. That a false philosophy advocates the most presumptuous and
perilous speculations.+--1. _It affects a spurious humility._ God is
unknowable to the limited and uncertain powers of man; He is too high
to be accessible, and too much absorbed in loftier matters to concern
Himself about individual man. He can be approached only through
inferior beings, and their assistance should be humbly sought. So it
reasons. But this humility was voluntary, self-induced, and was in
reality another form of high spiritual pride. Humility, when it
becomes self-conscious, ceases to have any value.
2. _It invents a dangerous system of angelolatry._--"Worshipping of
angels" (ver. 18). The Jews were fond of philosophising about the
dignity, offices, and ranks of the angelic powers; and many held the
opinion that they were messengers who presented our prayers to God.
The false teachers made the most of the authority they could derive
from Jewish sources. They would tell how the law was given by the
disposition of angels--that angels conducted the Israelites through
the wilderness, and on various occasions appeared to patriarchs,
prophets, and apostles. They would dwell on the weakness of man and
his distance from God and insist that homage should be paid to these
angelic messengers as necessary mediators. Alas, how fatal has been
the influence through the centuries of this delusive angelolatry! The
apostle here condemns it, and thus sweeps away all ground for the
Christ-dishonouring practices of invocation of saints and the worship
of the Virgin.
3. _It pretends to a knowledge of the mysterious._--"Intruding into
those things which he hath not seen" (ver. 18). Man is everywhere
circled with mystery. It is one of the saddest moments of life when
he first becomes conscious of the limitation of his own powers, and
of his utter inability to fathom the mysteries which seem to invite
his inquiry while they baffle his attempt. Locke somewhere says, a
worm in the drawer of a cabinet, shut up in its tiny enclosure, might
as well pretend to guess at the construction of the vast universe, as
mortal man ventures to speculate about the unseen world, except so
far as revealed for purposes of salvation. But fools will rush in
where angels fear to tread. The boast of possessing a profound
knowledge of the mysterious is one of the marks of a false philosophy.
4. _It is inflated with an excessive pride._--"Vainly puffed up by
its fleshly mind" (ver. 18). The carnal mind, which is enmity against
God, rises to a pitch of reckless daring in its inventions, and
revelling in its own creative genius, is vainly puffed up with a
conceit of novelty and with a fancied superiority over the humbler
disciple. There is no state more dangerous than this or more
difficult to change. It is proof against every ordinary method of
recovery. The proud man lives "half-way down the slope to hell." God
only can break the delusive snare, humble the soul, and revoke its
threatened doom.
+III. That a false philosophy ignores the Divine source of all
spiritual increase.+--1. _Christ is the great Head of the Church._ He
is the centre of its unity, the primal source of its life, authority,
and influence. He founded the Church, and gave it shape, symmetry,
and durableness. He alone is supreme--the Alpha and Omega--the living
and only Head. To ignore Him is to forfeit the substantial for the
shadowy--the rock for the precarious footing of the crumbling shale.
2. _The Church is vitally and essentially united to Christ._--"From
which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered
and knit together" (ver. 19). As the members of the human frame are
joined to the head, and derive life, motion, and sensation from it by
means of arteries, veins, nerves, and other attachments, so the
spiritual members of Christ are knit to Him by invisible joints and
bands, and depend on Him for sustenance, character, and influence.
3. _The vital union of the Church with Christ is the condition of
spiritual increase._--"Increaseth with the increase of God" (ver.
19). Christ is the Divine source of increase, and the Church can grow
only as it receives nourishment from Him. The growth corresponds with
its nature--it is Divine; it increaseth with the increase of God.
There may be a morbid increase, as there may be an unnatural
enlargement of some part of the human body; but it is only the
excessive inflation of a worldly splendour and ecclesiastical
pretension. Like Jonah's gourd, such a growth may disappear as
rapidly as it came. The true increase is that which comes from God,
of which He is the source, and active, sustaining influence, and
which advances in harmony with His will and purpose. Such an increase
can be secured only by vital union with Christ.
+Lessons.+--1. _A false philosophy distorts the grandest truths._
2. _A false philosophy substitutes for truth the most perilous
speculations._ 3. _Against the teachings of a false philosophy be
ever on your guard._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 18. _Philosophic Vagaries_--
+I. Making pretence of superior knowledge.+
+II. Affecting a spurious humility in worship.+
+III. Inflated with pride.+
+IV Dangerous to those sincerely seeking the truth.+
Ver. 19. _How a Church lives and grows._
+I. The source of all the life of the body.+--Christ is the Head,
therefore the source from which all parts of the body partake of a
common life. There are three symbols employed to represent the union
of Christ with His Church--the vine, the body, and the marriage bond.
+II. The various and harmonious action of all the parts.+--1. _From
Jesus comes all nourishment of the Divine life, even when we think
that we instruct or stimulate each other._ 2. _From Jesus comes the
oneness of the body._
+III. The consequent increase of the whole.+--1. _The increase of
life in the Church, both as a community and in its separate elements,
depends on the harmonious activity of all the parts._ 2. _Is
dependent of the activity of all, and sadly hampered when some are
idle._ 3. _Depends on its vitality within and on the concurrent
activity of all its members._ 4. _Depends not only on the action of
all its parts, but on their health and vitality._ 5. _There is an
increase which is not the increase of God._
+IV. The personal hold of Jesus Christ which is the condition of all
life and growth.+--A firm, almost desperate clutch in which Love and
Need, like two hands, clasp Him and will not let Him go. Such
tenacious grip implies the adhesive energy of the whole nature--the
mind laying hold on truth, the heart clinging to love, the will
submitting to authority.--_A. Maclaren._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20-23.
_The Ceremonial in Religion Transitory and Unsatisfying._
The apostle returns again to the question of outward observances. He
saw the extreme danger with which the Colossians were threatened from
that source, and before turning to other matters in his epistle he
lifts up a warning voice as for the last time.
+I. That the ceremonial in religion is simply elementary.+--"The
rudiments of the world" (ver. 20). The ceremonial in religion is the
alphabetical stage, suited only to the world's infancy and to the
crudest condition in human development. It is the childish period
which, with all its toys and pictures and gewgaws, is put away when
spiritual manhood is attained. It is in its nature transitory and
imperfect. It conveys knowledge but in part; and when that which is
perfect is come, then that which is in part is done away.
+II. The ceremonial in religion is unworthy the submission of the
Christian believer.+--1. _The believer is liberated from the slavery
of the ceremonial._ He is "dead with Christ" (ver. 20). As Christ by
His death cancelled the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, and vanquished Satan and all his hosts, so the believer, united
with Christ in His death, shares in the triumph of that death. He is
free; he rises into a new life, not under the tyranny of the old law,
with its demands and penalties, but in allegiance to Christ. He has
passed into another sphere of existence. Worldly ordinances have
ceased to have any value for him, because his worldly life is ended.
They belong to the realm of the transitory and perishable; he has
been translated into the realm of the free and the eternal.
2. _To return to the ceremonial is to forfeit Christian
liberty._--"Why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to
ordinances?" (ver. 20). It is to ignore all progress, to impugn the
reality of the change wrought in the soul by spiritual baptism, to
close one's eyes to the altered state of things into which he has
been introduced, and to submit again to the galling yoke of legal
observances and human traditions which never had Divine sanction and
from which he had been emancipated. It is a denial of his
Christianity to subject himself again to their tyranny--to return
once more to the dominion of the world. It is giving up the substance
for the shadow. It is a deliberate self-degradation to the most
abject and pitiable slavery. It is supposed that many of the ascetic
practices of the false teachers at Colossæ were borrowed from the
Pythagoreans. Their philosophy was all on the side of prohibitions,
abstinences, a forced celibacy, the unlawfulness of animal food, the
possibility of attaining perfection by neglecting the body, under the
delusion that evil resided in matter.
+III. The ceremonial in religion, in its main features, is
universally the same.+--1. _It is the same in its dictatorial
prohibitions._ "Touch not; taste not; handle not" (ver. 21). Such is
the arrogant language of a narrow, bigoted, and imperious
superstition. It is an instruction to observe the gradual and
insidious manner in which it obtains the mastery over the human
conscience. _Touch not:_ it prohibits even a light partaking of some
meat or drink. _Taste not:_ the prohibition is extended, so that it
becomes a crime even to taste, though refusing to eat. _Handle not:_
to come in contact with the forbidden object, even in the handling,
is a dreadful sacrilege. So is it ever with the clamorous demands of
a proud, assumptious ritualism. There is no end to the unauthorised
prohibitions with which it seeks to bind the conscience.
2. _It is the same in its undue exaltation of the external and
transitory._--"Which all are to perish with the using" (ver. 22). The
very eating and drinking of them destroys them. They are consumed in
the using; and in order to nourish us they themselves perish--a plain
proof that all the benefit we receive from them respects only our
physical and mortal life. What folly is it to insist on a scrupulous
avoidance or observance of externals in order to salvation! You claim
an affinity with the eternal, and it is unworthy of your glorious
destiny to be absorbed with the worship of the perishable.
3. _It is the same in its human origin._--"After the commandments and
doctrines of men" (ver. 22). A commandment is a precept; a doctrine
is the principle or truth on which it is based. The one furnishes a
direction, the other the reason on which the direction rests. The
ceremonial in religion is an accumulation of the commandments and
doctrines of men. Depending on human authority, it has no value in
itself; and when it is made obligatory in order to human salvation,
it is an impious insult to Christ and an intolerable servitude to
man. The commandments of men, having no solid doctrines to rest upon,
are transitory and illusory.
+IV. The ceremonial in religion can never satisfy the many-sided
wants of humanity.+--1. _It pretends to a wisdom it does not
possess._ (1) In self-imposed methods of worship. "Which things have,
indeed, a show of wisdom in will-worship" (ver. 23). It insists on
certain distinctions of meats and drinks; on abstinence from this or
that kind of food; on certain ritual observances as necessary in
order to render due homage to God. The enthusiast for the ceremonial
argues that he who only does what God positively demands does only
what is common; but he who goes beyond, and submits to additional
observances, reaches a higher degree of saintliness. This is
will-worship, which has peculiar charms for the corrupt tendencies of
our depraved nature. The works of supererogation it invents are
pleasanter than the holy, humble, adoring worship of God through the
blood of the cross. (2) In the affectation of a spurious humility.
"In humility" (ver. 23). It is a pretence of wisdom to renounce all
worldly splendour and profess to live in poverty and seclusion. But
at the root of this profession the most pernicious pride may lurk. A
self-conscious and dramatically acted humility is the most degrading
and detestable. (3) In an unjustifiable indifference to bodily wants.
"And neglecting of the body" (ver. 23). The body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost, and is to be honoured and cherished, and all its just
wants satisfied, in order that its best powers may be employed in the
service of God. But the abuse of the body in starvation, painful
macerations, and squalid neglect is a folly and a sin.
2. _It is of no value in preventing the indulgence of the
flesh._--"Not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh" (ver.
23). The radical error of the ascetic lies in his belief that evil
resides in matter. Not the body, but the soul, is the source of sin:
the body is depraved because the soul is depraved. Sin exists as a
thought and conception of the heart before it exists as an act of the
flesh. No amount of outward flagellation, or of abstinence from
needful food, will satisfy the natural wants of the body, or destroy
its sinful tendencies. The attempt to be virtuous by afflicting the
body is like battering the outwork while the main citadel remains
untouched. The outward man can never satisfy the complicated needs of
man's nature. First bring the soul into a right relation to God, and,
with the aid of Divine grace, it will control all the outgoings of
the flesh.
+Lessons.+--1. _The ceremonial has its place in religion, and
therefore should not be despised._ 2. _The believer is raised above
the power of the ceremonial in religion, and therefore should not be
subject to it._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 20. _Principles above Rules; or, Wheat is better than
Bread._--Bread may feed us for the moment, but when once eaten it is
gone for ever. Wheat on the contrary will bear seed, increase, and
multiply. Every rule is taken from a principle, as a loaf of bread is
made from wheat. It is right to enforce the principle rather than the
action, because a good principle is sure of producing good actions.
Seeming goodness is not better than religion; precept is not better
than principle.--_A. W. Hare._
Vers. 21-23. _Asceticism_--
+I. Multiplies unnecessary restriction.+
+II. Is a species of self-worship.+
+III. Is unjust to the body.+
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Seek those things that are above.+--Our Lord says that as He
was "from above," so His disbelieving hearers were "from beneath,"
which He interprets as "of this world" (John viii. 23, 24). The
apostle in like manner in the next verse opposes the "things above"
to "things on earth."
Ver. 3. +Your life is hid with Christ in God.+--You are much more
likely to have it kept pure by having it in Christ than by setting
round it a hedge of "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not."
Ver. 5. +Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
earth.+--"Quite so!" the heretic teacher might say; "this is just
what we ourselves advise." "Yes," rejoins the apostle; "but let us
know what it is we are to slaughter." It is no hewing and hacking of
the body, but what is as much more difficult as it is noble--the
excision or eradication of evil thoughts (Matt. xv. 19, 20).
+Inordinate affection, evil concupiscence.+--R.V. "passion, evil
desire." The former of these seems to indicate the corrupt conditions
from which the latter springs. +Covetousness, which is
idolatry.+--"Covetousness," or "having more." There is many a man,
beside the clown in _Twelfth Night,_ who says, "I would not have you
to think my _desire of having_ is the sin of covetousness." The full
drag can afford to sacrifice (Hab. i. 16).
Ver. 8. +Anger, wrath.+--The former is the smouldering fire, the
latter the fierce out-leaping flame. +Malice, blasphemy.+--The former
is the vicious disposition, the latter the manifestation of it in
speech that is meant to inflict injury. +Filthy communication+--One
word in the original; R.V. gives it as "shameful speaking." The word
does not occur again in the New Testament. It means scurrilous or
obscene speech. A glimpse of Eastern life helps us to understand the
frequent injunctions as to restraint of the tongue in the New
Testament. Dr. Norman Macleod says: "In vehemence of gesticulation,
in genuine power of lip and lung to fill the air with a roar of
incomprehensible exclamations, nothing on earth, so long as the body
retains its present arrangement of muscles and nervous vitality, can
surpass the Egyptians and their language." But the same thing is
witnessed of other Eastern tongues.
Ver. 9. +Lie not one to another.+--"Very elementary teaching," we
should be inclined to say. Whether there was any special tendency to
this vice in the Colossian converts we cannot know.
Ver. 12. +Bowels of mercies.+--R.V. "a heart of compassion." A case
of concrete for abstract. The physical effect of pity lies at the
bottom of the phrase.
Ver. 13. +Forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another.+--Literally it would be, "Bearing with one another, and
dealing graciously with yourselves"; for not only the verbs but the
pronouns also change with a delicate shade of meaning. Forbearance,
like a peace-making angel, passes to and fro between the incensed
parties. +Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.+--The pattern of
all graciousness is Christ. See His parable (Matt. xviii. 33).
Ver. 14. +Above all these things put on charity.+--Reminding us of
the exalted place which the queenly virtue holds in St. Paul's triad.
As the outermost dress of an Oriental was perhaps that which was most
serviceable, so whatever else is put on, "above everything" love must
be remembered. +Which is the bond of perfectness.+--"That in which
all the virtues are so bound together that perfection is the result
and not one of them is wanting to that perfection" (_Grimm_).
Ver. 15. +And let the peace of God rule in your hearts.+--R.V.
margin, "arbitrate." We met the verb for "rule" in ch. ii. 18, but
with a prefix "against." "Let the peace of God be umpire," says the
apostle, in every case of uncertainty and hesitation. He who slept on
Galilee's stormy waters had but to say, "Peace! Be still!" and there
was a great calm. He said, "My peace I leave with you"; and reckless
of consequences the men who received it amazed the authorities by the
boldness of their question, "Whether it be right in the sight of God
to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye" (Acts iv. 19).
Ver. 16. +Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.+--The word for
"dwell in" is the same which assures the believer of an indwelling
power which shall quicken the mortal body, and which describes the
Divine act of grace. "I will dwell in them." +In psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs.+--See on Eph. v. 18, 19. The same composition may be
either psalm, hymn, or spiritual song. The first may be a technical
word, as in Luke xxiv. 44. It indicates a song accompanied by a
stringed instrument. A hymn is a song in praise of some one, exalting
the character and attributes. The third term is the most
comprehensive, and to it, with good reason, St. Paul prefixes
"spiritual." Bacchanalian songs were common enough about Colossæ with
their noisy, unhallowed mirth. St. Paul, like St. James, would not
object to his readers being merry if the spiritual joys--
"From out their hearts arise
And speak and sparkle in their eyes
And vibrate on their tongues."
Ver. 18. +As it is fit in the Lord.+--See Eph. v. 22. The feeling of
propriety St. Paul emphasises here and limits it "in the Lord."
Ver. 19. +Be not bitter against them.+--As love in its most degraded
form might alternate with paroxysms of anger, St. Paul uses the
nobler word for Christian love which casts out hatred as well as fear.
Ver. 20. +For this is well-pleasing.+--Eph. vi. 1: "This is right."
What in Ephesians is regarded as an equitable due from child to
parent is here looked at in another light. The best commentary is
Luke ii. 51, 52. The child Jesus was _subject_ to his parents and
increased _in favour with God._
Ver. 21. +Fathers, provoke not your children.+--The word for
"provoke" is not the same as in Eph. vi. 4. There the word is "do not
exasperate." Here it is "do not irritate." The difficulty of
discriminating between them may perhaps show how near the original
words are in meaning. "Irritation is the first consequence of being
too exacting with children, and irritation leads to moroseness"
(_Lightfoot_). +Lest they be discouraged.+--Broken-spirited. It is a
sad sight to see a man for whom the stress of life has been too much,
but to see a child cowed and dejected--the world has no sadder
spectacle.
Ver. 23. +Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily.+--Eph. vi. 7, "With good
will doing service." R.V. gives the distinction which is obliterated
by "do, do" of A.V. "Whatsoever ye do, work heartily" (margin, "from
the soul").
Ver. 25. +He that doeth wrong.+--The participle of the original
points to the habitual practice of wrong-doing. +There is no respect
of persons.+--In the Ephesian letter this consideration is urged upon
the masters as it is here upon the slaves. Both are amenable to the
same authority.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1, 2.
_The Higher Aspirations of the Soul._
You have seen the clouds gather in the sky and settle on the hills.
The thunder mutters, the rain falls, and the scene is one of storm,
confusion, and darkness. Suddenly the whole aspect of the heavens is
changed. A blaze of light springs up among the hills; the storm
ceases; the gloom is swept away; and the outlook is one of
tranquillity, of triumph, and of splendour. Similar to this is the
striking change between the close of the last chapter of this epistle
and the beginning of the present one. The grave warnings against the
sombre errors of a false philosophy, and the supposed meritorious
torturings of the body, which occupy a considerable part of the
second chapter, give place in the opening of the third chapter to a
luminous and inspiring picture of the glorious privileges and lofty
destiny of the believing soul. These verses teach that, being raised
by Christ into newness of life, the soul should aspire to the
attainment of the highest blessings.
+I. The distinguished relation in which the believing soul stands to
Christ.+--"Risen with Christ" (ver. 1).
1. _This relation implies the living union of the soul with
Christ._--The apostle had spoken of the soul as dying with Christ, as
buried with Him, as quickened with Him; and now he advances another
step, and declares that it is also raised with Him. The union between
the believer and Christ was so complete that he participates with
Christ in all He has done. "Therefore we are buried with Him by
baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life" (Rom. vi. 4). As the dead body of the man cast into the
sepulchre of Elisha revived and stood up the moment it touched the
bones of the prophet (2 Kings xiii. 21), so the soul, dead in
trespasses and sins, is quickened by believing contact with Christ,
and rises into a higher and more glorious life.
2. _This relation indicates the nature and tendencies of the
soul._--"Risen with Christ: . . . set your affections on things
above, not on things on the earth" (vers. 1, 2). The change involved
in union with Christ affects man's whole nature. It affects not only
his practical conduct, but also his intellectual conceptions. He is
translated from earth to heaven; and with this translation his point
of view is altered, his standard of judgment wholly changed. His
aspirations spurn the earthly and transitory, and soar towards the
heavenly and eternal. The flies that sport upon the summer stream,
while they plunge their bodies in the water, are careful not to wet
their wings, so that they may fly again into the sunny air. So, while
we are necessarily immersed in "things on the earth," we should take
heed that the wings of our soul are not so clogged as to retard our
flight to heaven.
+II. The sublime objects of the soul's higher aspirations.+--"Things
above." (ver. 2).
1. _Christ is above._--"Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God" (ver. 1). This indicates that Christ is exalted to the highest
dignity. He is above all angelic powers, whatever their position or
rank. The right hand of God also indicates the right hand of power.
Thence Christ wields all the authority and power of universal
government. "Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour." He
reigns on high in order to carry out to a glorious consummation the
work He accomplished on the cross. To Him all hearts turn for love
and blessedness, as the flowers turn to the sun. The rudiments of the
world have no longer any power to satisfy. The soul ascends to
heaven, for where the treasure is there will be the heart also; and
the flow of time is rapidly hurrying us on to the moment when we
shall be--
"Caught up to share
The triumph of our Lord."
2. _The source of the greatest spiritual blessings is above._--When
Christ ascended into the heavens He received gifts for men; and from
His lofty throne He delights to distribute those gifts to the needy
sons of men. Thence we receive pardon, the conscious favour of God,
holiness of character, comfort in every time of distress, and hope to
light the pathway of the future. Of all the blessings laid up for us
above, the highest and the best is that which in itself includes all
others--the gift of the Holy Ghost. All, all we want is there.
3. _The heavenly home is above._--There is the abode of peace and
purity; there temptation has no power, and suffering and sorrow can
never enter; there the Saviour reveals His glories and diffuses the
joy of His radiant presence; there all the members of the Father's
family assemble from every part of the globe, never more to separate.
The soul, burdened with the cares of life, and troubled with
multiplied disappointments, yearns for the rest of the heavenly home.
The things on the earth can never satisfy the wants of the soul; they
are unsuited to it; they are beneath it; and, liberated from their
trammels by the resurrection power of the Christ, it seeks its true
happiness above the stars.
+III. The paramount duty of the soul to aspire to the highest
good.+--Seek, set "your affections on things above" (ver. 1). A
similar expression repeated for the emphasis. You are not only to
_seek_ heaven, but also to _think_ heaven. The understanding must be
engaged in duly estimating the value of heavenly things, the will in
preferring them above all things earthly, the affections in embracing
them as the objects to be most evidently desired and loved; in fact,
all the powers of the soul must be constantly exercised in the
search. The soul, raised from the death of sin, is ever responding to
the attractive influence of its risen Lord. "Being thus already
risen, every motion of grace is the struggle of the soul for the
final consummation--the bird is caged, but the wings are free to
flutter within their prison." The soul is now willing, cheerfully and
faithfully, to follow the call of duty, whatever it may entail.
"Oft where she leads, thy blood must mark thy footsteps;
Oft where she leads, thy head must bear the storm,
And thy shrunk form endure heat, cold, and hunger;
But she will guide thee up to noble heights,
Which he who gains seems native of the sky;
While earthly things lie stretched beneath his feet,
Diminished, shrunk, and valueless."
+Lessons.+--1. _The soul is endowed with vast powers and capable of
the highest destiny._ 2. _It is sad to witness thousands whose souls
rise no higher than the things on the earth._ 3. _The soul can
realise its highest aspirations only as it is risen with Christ._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 1. _Seeking the Things Above._
+I. Contemplate the sublime object+--the state of future blessedness
of believers. 1. _The perfection of character they exhibit._ 2. _The
exercises in which they shall be engaged._ 3. _The happiness in which
they participate._ 4. _The friendships they share._
+II. The conduct enjoined upon us.+--"Seek those things." 1. _Implies
belief in their existence._ 2. _That attention is directed much
towards them._ 3. _Set our attachment upon them._ 4. _Use diligent
and persevering exertions to obtain them._
+III. Motives to this conduct.+--1. _A regard to consistency._
2. _The reasonableness of the duty._ 3. _Present advantages._
4. _Because they are the scene in which are displayed Christ's
personal presence and glory._
_Risen with Christ._
+I. Christianity begins where everything else ends: it begins with
death.+
+II. After dying to sin we are to begin to live in good earnest.+
+III. The Christian toils, labours, and tasks his mind for the glory
of God and the good of others.+
+IV. The true Christian seeks the things which are
above.+--1. _Holiness._ 2. _Love._ 3. _Peace._
4. _Truth.--A. W. Hare._
_The New Life._
+I. There is a great difference between the new life and the
old.+--1. _In our feelings._ 2. _Principles._ 3. _Aims._
4. _Methods._ 5. _Conduct._ 6. _Thoughts._ 7. _Company._
8. _Influence._
+II. This difference should lead us to think much of heaven and to
seek after heavenly things.+--1. _To know all we can about heaven._
2. _To prepare all we can for heaven._ 3. _To take all we can with us
to heaven.--Preacher's Magazine._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3, 4.
_The Present Condition and Future Glory of Life in Christ._
The Christian life has a twofold aspect. Outwardly it is shorn of all
splendours, and to the eye of the world appears a life of weakness,
ignominy, and suffering; but inwardly it is radiant with Divine light
and pervaded with a heavenly peace. The believer is often as a
monarch in the disguise of a beggar. The world knows nothing of the
new life of which he has become possessed, and the new life must know
nothing of the world. Its aspirations are directed towards higher
things. The relish for earthly things is gone.
+I. That the present condition of the believer's life in Christ
involves a new relation to outward things.+--"For ye are dead" (ver.
3). There was a time when he not only lived in the world, but _to_
the world and _for_ the world. He was wholly captivated and absorbed
in the pursuits and enjoyments of the carnal mind. But now, while
still in the world, he is dead to its charms and to its ordinances.
All the mainsprings of activity are changed. He is risen with Christ
and shares the power of His resurrection life. Man lives where He
loves, and, having experienced so complete a change, his affections
are now fixed on things above, and his life is bound up in the love
and service of Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of God. He is
dead because he is crucified with Christ, and hath put off the old
man--the old fleshly nature--with his deeds. This death involves a
renunciation of all the ceremonial observances against which the
apostle so faithfully warned in the preceding chapter--the Mosaic
ritual, the vain philosophy, the angelolatry, the pride of the
fleshly mind, the traditions and commandments of men, and all the
pernicious doctrines of the false teachers. He is dead to the past
and realising the beating of a new life within him, he enters upon a
brighter and loftier career.
+II. That the present condition of the believer's life in Christ is
one of concealment from the outward world.+--1. _It is hid._ "Your
life is hid" (ver. 3). All life is hid. Its origin is a profound
mystery. The botanist fails to discover it as he picks his plant into
microscopic atoms. The scalpel of the anatomist has not pierced its
dark domain and laid bare its hiding-place. Its presence is known
only by its effects. So is it with the new life of the soul. It is
hid from the world. It has a glory and a power of its own; but the
world is incapable of appreciating either. It is not a life of vulgar
display and noisy demonstration. It is gentle, quiet, and retiring,
sometimes obscured by a tempest of persecution and suffering. It is
sometimes partially hidden to the believer himself when assailed by
temptations and oppressed by the weight of heavy chastisements. Yet
that hidden life is the power that shall shake and transform the
world.
2. _It is hid with Christ._--"Your life is hid with Christ" (ver. 3).
Christ Himself was hidden when on earth. To the undiscerning, He was
a root out of a dry ground, possessing neither form nor comeliness.
Even now Christ is hidden to the worldly mind; and the believer's
life is hidden with Him, as a river, concealed for a time in a hidden
channel, flows on beneath and out of sight. This hiding of the
believer's life with Christ indicates (1) _Dependence._ It is not hid
with the believer himself. He derives it from Christ, as the great
fontal source of all life; and on Him he depends for its constant
supply and nourishment. The springs of this life abide when every
other channel of supply is dry and its fount exhausted. We must wait
on Christ for daily supplies of living water. It indicates
(2) _Security._ Our life is safer in Christ's keeping than it could
be in our own. Man was once entrusted with the gift of a glorious
life, and he lost it. But in the hands of Christ our life is out of
all danger. It is secure amid the conflicts of time, the subtle
temptations of the world, and the wild rage of demons.
3. _It is hid in the depths of the Godhead._--"Your life is hid with
Christ in God" (ver. 3). A grand but unfathomable truth! It is not
_lost_ in the abyss of Deity, as the mystic or pantheist would teach;
but it is so hid as to retain its own conscious individuality, while
sharing in the boundless life of God. It is a gift from God, bestowed
through Christ the great Mediator, created by the power and energy of
the Holy Ghost; so that the nature, manner, and destiny of the gift
are hidden in God through the mediation of His Son. "God hath given
unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." The exercise of
faith brings the soul into living union with the glorious Trinity.
+III. That the believer's life in Christ will, in the future, be
manifested in ineffable glory.+--1. _There will be a signal
manifestation of Christ in the future._ "When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear" (ver. 4). Christ is now invisible to His people
and to the world. He withdrew from the scene of His suffering
ministry, entered the serene heights of heaven, and there,
all-potent, is carrying on His high purposes of grace and salvation.
But by-and-by--not at the bidding of the impatient prophets, who dare
to fix the Lord a time, and, in their too realistic interpretation of
His Word, consider His second coming as the grand and only specific
for the world's evils--in His own good time, to the joy of His people
and the dismay of His foes, He will come in overwhelming glory.
2. _The believer will share in the ineffable glory of that
manifestation._--"Then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (ver.
4). (1) This implies _public recognition._ The believer, obscure and
despised on earth, is acknowledged before the universe as related to
Christ by the dearest ties and as deriving his life from Him. All the
ends of secrecy are answered. The hidden is revealed. The baffled,
persecuted, unappreciated, afflicted people of God are for ever
vindicated. (2) This also implies a _personal participation_ in the
splendour of Christ's triumph and in the bliss of His character.
"With Him in glory." Glory is a comprehensive term, and not easily
defined. But whether we regard it as expressive of external and
visible splendour, or as describing a condition of unutterable and
endless felicity, in either sense, or both, the believer shares it
with his exultant Lord. Rapture of raptures! to see Jesus, to be with
Him, and to live in the sunshine of His smile for ever!
+Lessons.+--1. _The believer's life in Christ is a hidden, but a real
life._ 2. _Bear patiently the trials of the present life._ 3. _The
glory of the believer's future life will more than recompense him for
the troubles of the present._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 3. _Death and Life with Christ._
+I. Ye are dead.+--1. _In your original state of unconcern and
unbelief ye are dead._ 2. _By the Holy Ghost you are made to
recognise this death as real and to acquiesce in it as just._ 3. _You
continue to be thus dead with Christ._
+II. Your life is hid with Christ.+--1. _As partakers of His right to
live._ 2. _In respect of the new spirit of your life._ 3. _Your life
being with Christ must be where He is._ In God as its source, its
centre, its pattern. 4. _This life with Christ is hid._ For security;
in its intimacy; as separated from the world; is not to be always
hidden (ver. 4).--_R. S. Candlish._
Ver. 4. _Christ our Life._
+I. The vital principle recognised.+--"Christ who is our life."
1. _The life is spiritual in its nature._ 2. _Eternal in its
duration._
+II. The splendid spectacle predicted.+--"Christ shall appear."
1. _The manner._--In the glory of His Father, with His angels.
2. _The purpose._--To judge the quick and the dead.
+III. The glorious hope awakened.+--"Then shall ye appear with Him in
glory." 1. _The great hope of the Christian life is that one day we
shall be with Christ._ 2. _That we shall participate in Christ's
glory._ 3. _These words are full of comfort to those drawing near to
death.--J. T. Woodhouse._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-9.
_Mortification of the Sinful Principle in Man._
Practice follows doctrine. The genuineness of a precept is tested by
its adaptability to the practical working out of life's problem. The
apostle has laid down his doctrine clearly and emphatically, and now
he proceeds to enforce the use of the best methods for securing the
highest degree of personal holiness. These methods are in perfect
harmony with the exalted experience into which the believer is
introduced when he is risen with Christ and participates in that
glorious life which is hid with Christ in God.
+I. That the sinful principle in man has an active outward
development.+--1. _It is mundane in its tendencies._ "Your members
which are upon the earth" (ver. 5). It is earthly, sensual, depraved.
It teaches the soul to grovel when it ought to soar. It is in
sympathy with the whole mass of earthly things--riches, honour,
pleasure, fame--which stand opposed to the higher aspirations of the
soul, whose affection is fixed on things above.
2. _It is manifested in acts of gross sensuality._--"Fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence" (ver. 5). A
revolting catalogue, a loathsome index to the festering mass of
corruption within! A rake's progress has been portrayed by the genius
of a Hogarth; but where is the pencil that can delineate the dark
progress of evil? For there is an order observed in its abhorrent
development. The mischief begins in evil concupiscence; yielding to
the first unholy impulse, it goes on to lustful and inordinate
affection; proceeds to uncleanness--pollutions which follow on the
two preceding vices; and ends in fornication, both in its ordinary
meaning and in that of adultery. Possibly the apostle had reference
to the rites of Bacchus and Cybele, which were wont to be celebrated
with many peculiar impurities in Phrygia, of which Colossæ, Laodicea,
and Hierapolis were cities, and which so deeply depraved the morals
of the people. The outgoings of evil are not less rampant and
shocking in modern times. Evil is the same in principle everywhere.
3. _It is recognised by a debasing idolatry._--"And covetousness,
which is idolatry" (ver. 5). Covetousness is a sin that comes the
earliest into the human heart and is the last and most difficult to
be driven out. It is an insatiable lust after material
possessions--the greed of getting more for the sake of more, till
often the brain is turned and the heart withered. The apostle brands
it with the significant term "idolatry." With the covetous man his
idol is his gold, which, in his eyes, answereth all things; his soul
is the shrine where the idol is set up; and the worship which he owes
to God is transferred to mammon. Avarice is the seed of the most
hateful and outrageous vices. The exhortation to mortify the flesh is
pressed home by reminding them of the certainty of the Divine wrath
which would overtake the contumacious and disobedient.
+II. That the active outgoings of the sinful principle in man call
for the infliction of Divine vengeance.+--The wrath of God is not a
malignant, unreasoning passion, like that with which we are familiar
among men. Nor is it a strong figure of speech, into which the
maudlin philosophers of the day would fain resolve it. It is an awful
reality. It is not merely a thing of the past, to the terrible havoc
of which history bears faithful and suggestive testimony. It is the
wrath to come and will be "revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." It is not inconsistent with
infinite love, but is an impressive form in which the Divine
righteousness expresses itself against all disobedient and impenitent
workers of iniquity.
+III. That the indulgence of the sinful principle in man is
inconsistent with the new life he has in Christ.+--There was a time
when the sins here enumerated formed the atmosphere in which the
Colossians lived, moved, and breathed; they represented the condition
of their life and the character of their practice; they lived and
walked in sin. But that time was past. A great change had taken
place. They were surrounded by a purer atmosphere; they lived in
another world; they aspired to a nobler destiny. To return to the
vices and idolatries of their former life was utterly inconsistent
with their exalted character; it was unworthy of the high and holy
vocation wherewith they were called. It is salutary to be reminded
now and then of our former life of sin. It magnifies the grace of God
in the great change He has wrought. It warns against the danger of
being drawn into old habits and associations. It stimulates the
heavenward tendencies of the new life.
+IV. That the sinful principle in man is the source of the most
malignant passions.+--The former classification embraced sins which
related more especially to self; this includes sins which have a
bearing upon others.
1. _There are sins of the heart and temper._--"Anger, wrath, malice"
(ver. 8). There is an anger which is a righteous indignation against
wrong, and which is so far justifiable and sinless. It is the anger
without cause or beyond cause, and which degenerates into a bitter
feeling of revenge, that is here condemned. Wrath is the fierce
ebullition of anger, expressed with ungovernable passion; and is at
all times unseemly and unlawful. Malice is anger long cherished,
until it becomes a settled habit of mind. It involves hatred, secret
envy, desire of revenge and retaliation, and universal ill-will
towards others. It is altogether a diabolical passion. If anger
exceeds its bounds, it becomes wrath; if wrath lies brooding in the
bosom, it degenerates into malice.
2. _There are sins of the tongue._--"Blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth. Lie not one to another" (vers. 8, 9). Blasphemy in
a lower sense includes all calumny, evil-speaking, railing,
slandering, scoffing, ridiculing--all vile insinuations, whether
against God or man. Filthy communication refers to all foul-mouthed
abuse, indelicate illusions, details of vicious scenes, and whatever
hurts the feelings and shocks the sense of propriety rather than
injures the character. Lying is also here condemned. Wherever this
vice prevails society is rotten to the core. The almost total want of
truthfulness is one of the saddest features of the moral condition of
heathendom. Lying basely violates the gift of speech, saps the
foundation of human intercourse, and overturns the first principles
of morals. That which is spoken in ignorance, though untrue, is not a
lie; but to equivocate, to speak so as to lead another to a false
conclusion, is to lie as really as if the speaker deliberately stated
what he knew was a falsehood. All these sins are directly opposed to
that ingenuous sincerity which is the leading characteristic of the
new life in Christ.
+V. That the sinful principle in man, and all its outgoings, must be
wholly renounced and resolutely mortified.+--"But now ye also put off
all these" (ver. 8). "Mortify, therefore, your members" (ver. 5).
There is much force in the word "therefore." Since ye are dead with
Christ and are risen with Him, since ye possess a glorious life hid
with Christ in God, _therefore_ mortify--put to death the members of
your earthly and corrupt nature, and encourage the expansion of that
pure, beauteous, and exalted life which ye have received through the
faith of the operation of God. Not that we are to kill or mutilate
the members of the body that have been the instruments of sin, but to
crucify the interior vices of the mind and will. It is wholly a moral
process; the incipient inclination to sin must be restrained,
deadened, crushed. In order to this there must be the total
renunciation of all sin. "But now ye also put off all these." The
verb is imperative and the exhortation emphatic. There must be not
only an abstinence from open vice--heathen morality insists on as
much as this--but there must be the putting away of every secret evil
passion--removing it out of sight as we would remove a dead body to
burial. As the prince casts off the coarse garment in which he has
been disguised and stands forth in an apparel befitting his rank and
dignity, so the believer is to divest himself of the unsightly and
filthy garment of the old man and allow the new man to appear adorned
with heavenly magnificence and bright with the inextinguishable
lustre of a Divine spiritual life.
+Lessons.+--1. _The sinful principle in man is a great power._
2. _The new spiritual life in the believer is in ceaseless antagonism
with the old._ 3. _The constant duty of the believer is to subdue and
destroy the sinful principle._ 4. _In fulfilling this duty all the
powers of good are on his side._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 5. _Covetousness, which is Idolatry._
+I. In its essence.+--It is putting the creature in the place of the
Creator, and giving it the worship due to God alone.
+II. In its practice.+--Body and soul are consecrated to the service
of mammon.
+III. In its punishment.+--Idolatry is a sin peculiarly obnoxious to
God--is not merely the breach of His law, but treason against His
government. God deprives the covetous of his idol at last, and sends
him treasureless into the unseen world, wrecked and ruined, to endure
the wrath to come.--_Preacher's Magazine._
Ver. 6. _The Wrath of God._--
+I. A reality to be dreaded.+
+II. Is roused by the workings of iniquity.+
+III. Will overtake the disobedient.+
Vers. 7-9. _The New Life_--
+I. Must break thoroughly away from the old life of sin.+
+II. Is evident in temper and speech.+
+III. Is the interpretation of all that is pure and true.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9-11.
_The New Spiritual Nature._
In the primitive Church it was customary for the new converts, after
putting aside their heathenish vestments, to array themselves in
white garments, that they might indicate, in the most public manner,
the great change which had taken place. It was perhaps in allusion to
this custom that the apostle bases his exhortation. A courtier would
not dare to insult his sovereign by appearing before him in squalid
and tattered garments but would be specially studious to attire
himself in a dress every way suited to his rank and character. So,
the believer would not dishonour God and disgrace the religion he has
embraced by exhibiting the vices and passions that characterised his
former unrenewed state but is the more solicitous to magnify the
grace of God in a life of outward consistency and purity. In the
former verses the writer has insisted on sanctification in its
negative aspect--the mortification of sin, the putting off the old
man. In these words, he deals with sanctification on its positive
side, and shows that it is the putting on the new spiritual nature,
in which the believer is ever advancing to a higher knowledge.
Observe:--
+I. That the possession of the new spiritual nature implies a
complete change of the whole man.+--"Seeing that ye have put off the
old man, with his deeds, and have put on the new man" (vers. 9, 10).
The believer has a twofold moral personality. There is in him the old
man--the sinful principle; and there is in him also the new--the
God-like, spiritual nature. Whatever we bring with us from the womb
of our mother is the old man; whatever we receive by the grace of the
Holy Spirit is the new. In the great spiritual transformation
experienced by every believer there is a twofold and coincident
operation--the putting off of the old and the putting on of the new;
there is an act of renunciation and unclothing and an act of
reception and investment. This change is complete; it pervades the
whole man, ruling every power, fashioning the character, and
inspiring the entire life. This change is Divine in its origin and
outworking. Man has no power of himself to effect the renewal of his
nature. It is "not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God." It is the triumph of Divine grace, and to God only all
praise is due.
+II. That the new spiritual nature is ever advancing to a higher
knowledge.+--"Which is renewed in knowledge" (ver. 10), which is ever
being renewed unto perfect knowledge (_Lightfoot_). The present tense
is used, and it is indicated that the new spiritual nature does not
reach perfection at once but is in a state of growth and development.
The realisation of the new life in man is bounded by the amount and
character of the knowledge he possesses, and by the clearness and
tenacity with which that knowledge is apprehended and maintained. The
experience may be below the actual knowledge possessed but cannot be
beyond it. Whatever degree of holiness the soul attains, it is still
susceptible of advancement. The process of renewal is continually
going on, as the statue grows, under the chisel of the sculptor, into
a more perfect form of beauty. The knowledge referred to is the true
knowledge of Christ as opposed to the false knowledge of the
heretical teachers. The process of renewal increases the capacity of
the believing soul to appreciate the knowledge of Divine and heavenly
realities, and the increase in the knowledge of the highest things
reacts advantageously on the renewed nature. The higher we ascend in
the knowledge of God, the more like Him do we become.
+III. That the new spiritual nature is refashioned after the most
perfect model.+--"After the image of Him that created him" (ver. 10).
Man was originally created in the image of God, that image consisting
in a moral resemblance--"in righteousness and true holiness." Christ
is Himself "the image of the invisible God," and conformity to Him is
the pattern of our renewal, the all-perfect standard towards which we
are continually to approximate. The moral image which we lost in the
fall of the first Adam is more than regained in the second Adam.
Redemption places man on a higher platform than he would have
occupied if he had remained the moral condition in which he was
originally created. It brings him nearer to God, gives him a broader
and more sympathetic insight into the Divine character and purposes,
and makes him more like God. In the spiritual region into which the
believer in Christ is transferred all minor distinctions vanish. Not
only do they not exist, they cannot exist. It is a region to which
they are utterly unsuited and cannot therefore be recognised.
+IV. That the new spiritual nature is superior to all earthly
distinctions.+--1. _It is superior to all national distinctions._
"Where there is neither Greek nor Jew" (ver. 11). To the Jew the
whole world was divided into two classes: Jews and Gentiles--the
privileged and unprivileged portions of mankind; religious
prerogative being taken as the line of demarcation. But such a narrow
distinction is antagonistic to the broad and generous spirit of the
Gospel. Let a man be but renewed in Christ Jesus, and it inquires not
as to what country he belongs.
2. _It is superior to all ritualistic distinctions._--"Circumcision
nor uncircumcision" (ver. 11). It matters not whether a man is born
in a Christian country and brought up in the midst of the greatest
ecclesiastical privileges, or whether he is cradled in the darkest
paganism; in either case a change of heart is absolutely necessary.
No branch of the universal Church can claim the exclusive right of
admitting souls into heaven; and it is intolerable impertinence to
insist upon the necessity of ceremonial observances in order to
salvation--as was the case with the false teachers of Colossæ, and as
is the case with the pretentious ritualism of the day. "In Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but
a new creature."
3. _It is superior to all political distinctions._--"Barbarian,
Scythian" (ver. 11). Like the Jews, the Greeks divided mankind into
two classes--Greeks and barbarians--civilisation and culture being
now the criterion of distinction. The Scythian was the lowest type of
barbarian. Christianity acknowledges no such distinction. Whether
gathered from the most refined or most barbarous nation, all are one
in Christ Jesus. The Gospel has broken down the narrow and arbitrary
classification of the race, maintained the right of all nations of
the world to be classed as one genus, and replaced the _barbarian_ by
the more humane and unifying title of _brother._ Max Müller writes:
"_Humanity_ is a word which you look for in vain in Plato or
Aristotle; the idea of mankind as one family, as the children of one
God, is an idea of Christian growth; and the science of mankind, and
of the languages of mankind, is a science which, without
Christianity, would never have sprung into life."
4. _It is superior to all social distinctions._--"Bond nor free"
(ver. 11). The diversities of condition which divide men in the
present world are unknown in the sphere of this spiritual renewal.
The grace which changed the heart of Philemon the master also renewed
the soul of Onesimus, his slave; and often the bondman is the first
to enter into the liberty of the children of God. Here the rich and
poor, the nobility and peasantry, meet together, and form one common
brotherhood.
+V. That the new spiritual nature recognises Christ as
everything.+--"But Christ is all, and in all" (ver. 11). All belongs
to Him; He originated and sustains all, and He is in all. He is
everything to the believer--the Source and Centre of his life, the
Ideal after which he continually aspires, the Possession by which he
will be enriched for ever. The believer is a living, speaking, active
expression of the Christ within him. Christ, without the exclusion of
any nation or sect, unites all; and so, through His indwelling in
all, is Himself all.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christ is the Author, Pattern, and End of the new
spiritual nature._ 2. _To put on the new spiritual nature it is
essential to believe in Christ._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 9-11. _Religion a Change of Life._
+I. Evident by putting off the old nature and its sins+ (ver. 9).
+II. By putting on a new nature renewed after the Divine likeness+
(ver. 10).
+III. Superior to all conventional distinctions+ (ver. 11).
+IV. In which Christ is everything+ (ver. 11).
Ver. 11. _Christ All and in All._
+I. Christ is all and in all in the realm of creation.+--The vast
fabric of created things sprang into being at His word. Out of
nothing He created all that is. The distance between being and
no-being is so great that nothing short of infinite power can cause
that to be which never before existed. The heavens are "the firmament
of His power." He made the stars, kindled their brilliant fires,
fixed their rank, regulated their motions, and appointed their
mission. He formed the earth, robed it in vestments of ever-changing
beauty, and endowed it with unfailing productiveness. He fashioned
man after the model of His own illustrious image, freighted him with
faculties of wondrous compass, indicated the possibilities of his
career, and the character of his destiny. Christ is the grand centre
of the magnificent systems by which He is encircled, and which He has
grouped around Himself by the exercise of His creative hand. On Him
their continued existence every moment hangs.
+II. Christ is all and in all in the sphere of providence.+--He
sustains and governs all. Close as population follows on the heels of
production, food never fails for man and beast. Study the sublime
epic on the Divine preservation furnished by Psalm civ. and consider
how the history of human experience in all ages confirms the truth.
Christ controls all the forces of nature. The sweep of the heavenly
bodies, the surge and re-surge of the tide, the eccentric course and
velocity of the wind, the departure and return of the light, the roll
of the dreaded thunder, the recurrent phases of the seasons, all are
obedient to His nod. He is predominant among the spiritual agencies
of the universe. He restricts the power of the great enemy of man. He
restrains the power of evil. He governs the complicated passions of
human hearts and makes even the wrath of men to praise Him. He
guards, guides, and delivers His Church. The greatness of His
providential power is seen in His accomplishing the mightiest results
by insignificant instrumentalities. He is conducting all things to a
glorious consummation.
+III. Christ is all and in all in the work of redemption.+--He
suffered to the death on behalf of the sinning race. He was a
voluntary victim. He was unique in His person--comprising in Himself
the Divine and human natures. As man, He met all the necessities of
sinful and condemned humanity; as God, He answered all the
requirements of the Divine righteousness. While the greatest modern
philosophers are puzzling their minds with an endless variety of
methods for recovering man from his lapsed condition, we behold the
problem solved in the life, sufferings, and death of Christ. That was
a method of redemption that would never have occurred to a finite
mind; and it is now beyond the range of the greatest human intellect
to fathom. Christ, and Christ alone, could redeem. In that sphere He
is all in all, or He is nothing. His work of redemption is an
entrancing expression of the tenderest, deepest, most mysterious love.
+IV. Christ is all and in all in the kingdom of glory.+--He is the
Head of all principalities and powers in the heavenly places. They
depend on Him for life and purity, they obey His slightest word, they
adore His infinite majesty, they delight in His hallowed fellowship.
Christ is also Head over all things to the Church, which is His body;
the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. He is the central
attraction and source of bliss in the realm of glory. The redeemed
cast their crowns before Him and chant His praise in ceaseless
anthems. If Christ were absent, heaven would lose its greatest charm.
"I love to think of heaven; its cloudless light,
Its tearless joys, its recognitions and its fellowships
Of love and joy unending; but when my mind anticipates
The sight of God incarnate, wearing on His hands,
And feet, and side, marks of the wounds
Which He, for me, on Calvary endured,
All heaven beside is swallowed up in this;
And He who was my hope of heaven below,
Becomes the glory of my heaven above."
+V. Christ is all and in all to the believing soul.+--He appears as
the great Emancipator; He delivers from the power of darkness, and
translates the benighted but groping soul into the kingdom of light.
He gives rest to the weary and heavy laden. He comforts the mourner.
He defends and succours the tempted. He is the refuge in every time
of distress. All the wants of the soul are anticipated and abundantly
supplied. He will conduct safely through all the changeful scenes of
this life; and finally invest the soul with the imperishable
splendours of an endless future. Christ is the great necessity and
the all-satisfying portion of the soul.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christ is supreme in all spheres._ 2. _Christ is the
great need of the human soul._ 3. _Faith in Christ brings the soul
into a personal participation in the Divine fulness._
_Christ is All and in All._
+I. The essential glories of Christ.--He possesses all things.+
+II. Christ has purchased all blessings for us.+--All temporal and
all spiritual blessings.
+III. All blessings are treasured up in Christ for the eternal use of
His Church.+
+IV. He will keep His family in the possession of all good for
ever.+--_W. Howels._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12, 13.
_Essentials of the Christian Character._
In the cultivation of a rare and valuable plant care must be taken to
rid it of everything that would retard its growth, and to supply it
with whatever aids it in reaching the highest possibility of
shapeliness and beauty. Not only must it be severely pruned and
divested of every noxious weed and destructive parasite, but it must
be diligently tended, and liberally provided with air, light, and
moisture. So is it in the training of the Christian character. It is
not enough that the old man--the sinful principle--is suppressed,
mortified, deadened; all the graces of the new man--the new spiritual
nature--must be assumed and sedulously cultivated. Religion is not a
dry, sapless, dead negation, but a grand positive reality--an active,
ever-growing life, pushing its way through every channel of man's
nature, and fashioning his character after the loftiest pattern of
moral loveliness and purity. The change the Colossians had
experienced furnished the most forcible reason why they should
advance in spiritual development. Having risen with Christ, and
having put off the old man, with his deeds, there is an unmistakable
emphasis in the exhortation--_Put on, therefore,_ the characteristics
of the new man.
+I. That the Christian character is distinguished by a special
designation.+--"The elect of God, holy and beloved" (ver. 12).
1. _Distinguished as the object of the Divine choice._--"The elect of
God"--chosen by Him, as an act of undeserved, unmerited mercy, to the
knowledge of Himself and His glorious salvation; called out of
darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. This
election is a condition of exalted privilege to which all rise who
accept the message of God's mercy through Jesus Christ.
2. _Distinguished by personal purity._--"Holy." Here is the evidence
and practical result of the Divine election. "Chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without
blame before Him in love" (Eph. i. 4). The people of God are called
to be holy--consecrated to His service; set apart from a common and
wholly devoted to a sacred purpose. Holiness is the habitual
condition, aim, delight, and employment of the Christian's life.
3. _Distinguished by the Divine affection._--"Beloved." The believer
is the object of God's special love, of the favour which He beareth
unto His people. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God." The
epithets here used have each the force of a motive. Since the
believer is _elect, holy, beloved,_ let him act in harmony with his
exalted character and calling. Lavater has said, "The more honesty a
man has, the less he affects the air of a saint."
+II. That the Christian character is distinguished by a heartfelt
sympathy.+--1. _This sympathy arises from a spirit of tender mercy._
"Bowels of mercies" (ver. 12)--a phrase which expresses the effect on
the body of strong emotions of pity. It was said of Joseph that "his
bowels did yearn over his brethren, and he sought where to weep." The
miseries of our fellow-creatures, especially of those who are in a
worse condition than ourselves, call for our compassion and help; and
a genuine pity is not only visible in the countenance and uttered by
the lips, but felt in the inmost heart, and prompts to generous
actions.
2. _This sympathy arises from a spirit of kindness._--"Kindness"
refers to the temper we should show towards those we meet in the
daily intercourse of life who are on an equality with ourselves. The
Christian should be amiable, courteous, kind in speech and action,
eager to relieve others according to his means--the farthest remove
from a crabbed, sullen, churlish disposition. A hard, cold, selfish,
unfeeling heart is a characteristic of fallen, unrenewed man; _bowels
of mercies_ and _kindness_ of the renewed one.
+III. That the Christian character is distinguished by a genuine
humility.+--"Humbleness of mind" (ver. 12). These words describe the
estimate that is to be formed of self. The believer is taught not to
overrate nor unduly to depreciate himself. He is governed by the
apostolic rule, "Let each esteem other better than themselves." The
more exalted his views of God, and the more he remembers his own
unworthiness, weakness, ignorance, and sin, the more softly and lowly
does he seek to walk. As in the garden that branch hangs down the
lowest which is most heavily laden with fruit, so in the Church the
ripest saints are those who walk humbly with God. The humble man is
the most susceptible to compassion and genuine in its practical
manifestation. The proud man is too full of himself to feel for
others; he is always dissatisfied, always embroiling in quarrels the
family, the Church, the social circle where he resides. The humblest
man is the bravest man. He endures with composure the contempt and
arrogance of others.
+IV. That the Christian character is distinguished by a gentle and
patient spirit.+--"Meekness, longsuffering" (ver. 12).
1. _The Christian spirit is gentle._--"Meekness." This grace
indicates what should be our conduct towards others in their
treatment of us. Meekness is evidenced in modesty of countenance,
gentleness of manner, softness of voice, and mildness of language; it
is opposed to rudeness or harshness. We see it exemplified in the way
in which Gideon pacified the irascible men of Ephraim (Judg.
viii. 2). It is slow to take, and scorns to give, offence.
2. _The Christian spirit is patient._--"Longsuffering," which is
meekness continued, though subjected to the fiercest provocations. It
is opposed to resentment, revenge, wrath. Meekness exercises itself
in matters of chagrin, impertinence, folly; longsuffering in those of
violent outrage, affront, injury. Meekness may be required by the
mere _manner_ of others towards us; longsuffering is often necessary
by their _conduct._ There is a difference between enduring long and
longsuffering. The genuine grace is accompanied, not only with
patience, but with joyous activity and watchfulness. It is not like
the senseless rock which endures the full force of the storm unmoved
and unresponsive, but like the nimble vessel that, while it bends to
the tempest, is at the same time diligently speeding on its mission.
+V. That the Christian character is distinguished by a practical
manifestation of a spirit of mutual forbearance and
forgiveness.+--1. _Mutual forbearance and forgiveness are to be
exercised universally._ "Forbearing one another and forgiving one
another, if any man have a quarrel against any" (ver. 13). The word
"quarrel" is better rendered _complaint._ It takes two to make a
quarrel, and of these the Christian should never be one. Whatever
occasion of offence may arise, whatever cause of complaint, in any
man, under any circumstances, and however just the complaint may
appear, forbearance is to be exercised; and even if the forbearance
is abused and injury be added, we must forgive. It is never on one
side only that the fault exists. It is one another, each in his turn,
that gives and receives forbearance. If this were more frequently
observed, how many unseemly discords and mischievous separations
would be prevented!
2. _The exercise of forgiveness is enforced by the highest
example._--"Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye" (ver. 13).
These words come as an impressive climax, enforcing the duty of
forgiveness by the strongest motive. The more difficult the duty, the
more powerful should be the arguments urging its performance. The
example of Christ is supreme in its authority. What are the injuries
committed by others against us compared with the number and enormity
of our sins against God? Yet Christ forgave us all, freely, fully,
unreservedly, and for ever. The heart that is not moved to
forgiveness by such an example is hopelessly incorrigible.
+Lessons.+--1. _The unity of Christian character is made up of many
separate essential graces._ 2. _The condition of things in this world
affords ample scope for the exercise of every Christian grace._
3. _To forgive is at once the most difficult and most Christ-like._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 12. _Christian Humility._
+I. The nature of this holy temper.+--1. _A humble apprehension of
our own knowledge._ The imperfection of our faculties, our
fallibility of judgment, when we compare our knowledge with the
attainments of others, and a persuasion of the small value of the
most exalted knowledge without practical influence. 2. _Of our own
goodness._ 3. _Of our independence and wants._ 4. _Of our own rank
and station._
+II. The obligations to cultivate a humble temper.+--1. _It is
mentioned in Scripture with peculiar marks of distinction and
honour._ The most distinguished promises are made to it. It is a
necessary introduction to other graces and duties. 2. _It is a grace
which adorns every other virtue and recommends religion to every
beholder._ 3. _Is recommended to us by the example of the Author and
Finisher of our faith._ 4. _Is a grace that will go with us to
heaven._
+Lessons.+--1. _Those destitute of this grace have the rudiments of
Christianity to learn._ 2. _We should look principally to the temper
of our spirits to judge of our humility._ 3. _By it we judge of the
improving or declining state of our souls.--J. Evans, D.D._
Ver. 13. _Christian Forgiveness_--
+I. Is exercised where there is mutual forbearance.+
+II. Is the noblest method of ending quarrels.+
+III. Is a Christ-like disposition.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.
_Love the Perfection of the Christian Character._
Love is the commonest and most potent affection of the human heart.
It has been the inexhaustible theme of writers in all ages, in poetry
and prose. It has been invested with the bewitching drapery of
romance and exhibited as the instrumental cause of the darkest crimes
and of the brightest virtues. The world never tires of learning of
its adventures, trials, and victories. While it is ever commonplace,
it is ever fresh. It is the perennial force in human life--the first
to inspire, the longest to endure, the last to perish. But Christian
love--love to Jesus Christ, and to all others for His sake--is not a
native-born affection. It does not spring spontaneously from the
human heart. It is a gift from God. It is the richest fruit of the
new spiritual nature implanted in the believer. It is first to be
acquired and then diligently cultivated. The apostle has just
described the distinctive garments with which the believer is to be
adorned--with a heart of tender compassion, with humility, with a
gentle, patient, and forgiving spirit. But in addition to all this,
and in order to complete the Christian character, he is to be clothed
in a robe which is to cover every other garment and bind it to its
place--a robe whose purity and brightness shall shed a lustre over
all the rest.
+I. That love is the prime element in every other grace of the
Christian character.+--It is the soul of every virtue and the
guarantee of a genuine sincerity. Without love all other graces,
according to an old writer, are but _glittering sins._ There is a
great power of affectionateness in the human heart, but no man
possesses naturally the spiritual love of God and love of the race.
It is a fruit of the Holy Ghost and comes though that faith which
works by love. It is possible to assume all the essentials of the
Christian character, enumerated in ver. 12, and previously commented
on; but without love they would be meaningless, cold, and dead. Mercy
would degenerate into weak sentimentality; kindness into foolish
extravagance; humility into a mock self-depreciation--which is but
another form of the proudest egotism; and longsuffering into a dull,
dogged stupidity. Love is the grand element in which all other graces
move and from which they derive their vitality and value. It is the
grace which alone redeems all other from the curse of selfishness,
and is, itself, the most unselfish.
+II. That love occupies the most exalted place in the Christian
character.+--"Above all these things." Not simply in addition to, but
_over and above_ all these, put on charity, as the outer garment that
covers and binds together all the rest. Other graces are local and
limited in their use; love is all-expansive and universal. A
philosopher, in a vein of pungent satire, has dilated on the
philosophy of clothes; and experience testifies how mightily the
world is influenced and instructed by outward appearances. As the
dress frequently indicates the rank and importance of the wearer, so
the garment of love, worn without ostentation or pride, is the badge
by which the Christian is known in the world (John xiii. 35). Love is
the presiding queen over all Christian graces, inspiring and
harmonising their exercises, and developing them into a living and
beauteous unity of character. The apostle fixes the exalted rank of
love in 1 Cor. xiii. 13.
+III. That love is the pledge of permanency in the Christian
character.+--"Which is the bond of perfectness." As a girdle, or
cincture, bound together with firmness and symmetry the loose flowing
robes generally worn by the ancients, so love is the power that
unites and holds together all those graces and virtues which together
make up perfection. Love is the preservative force in the Christian
character. Without it knowledge would lose its enterprise, mercy and
kindness become languid, humility faint, and longsuffering
indifferent. Love binds all excellencies together in a bond which
time cannot injure, the enemy unloose, or death destroy. No church,
or community of individuals, can exist long without the sustaining
power of love. It is not a similarity in taste, intellectual
pursuits, in knowledge, or in creed, that can permanently unite human
hearts, but the all-potent sympathy of Christian love. Charity never
faileth.
+IV. That the perfection of the Christian character is seen in the
practical manifestation of love.+--"Put on charity."
1. _Love is indispensable._--It is possible to possess many beautiful
traits of character--much that is humane and amiable--without being a
complete Christian: to be very near perfection, and yet lack one
thing. Without love all other graces are inconsistent, heartless,
wayward, selfish. They are but as sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal. Charity is indispensable to give life, force, meaning, truth,
permanence to the whole. It supplies the imperfections and defects of
other graces and virtues.
2. _Love is susceptible of individual cultivation._--It may be "put
on." We may have more if we strive after it and faithfully use what
is already possessed. It is a pressing, practical duty which all
Christians are bound to attend to. And yet there is no grace which is
more constantly suppressed. What a power the Church would become, and
how marvellously would the character of the world be changed if love
had a freer scope and was universally exercised. The pretentious
coverings of sectarianism and bigotry would vanish, and the whole
Church of the redeemed be girt with the ample robe of a seamless
unity. To win the love of others we must put it on ourselves.
+Lessons.+--1. _The mere profession of Christianity is empty and
valueless._ 2. _Every grace of the Christian character must be
diligently exercised._ 3. _Above and through all other graces love
must operate._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.
_The Rule of Divine Peace._
War in any form is unfriendly to the growth of piety. The soul is
tossed on the waves of disquietude, and courage--the principal virtue
called into exercise--is apt to acquire an unnatural and unhealthy
development at the expense of all other graces. The whole structure
of the Christian character is dislocated and thrown off its balance.
Peace restores the soul to its true equipoise, fixes every power in
its just relation to each other and to the whole, and encourages the
harmonious cultivation of that love which is the bond of perfectness.
Lord Bacon has said: "It is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind
move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of
truth." In this verse we are taught that _the one supreme umpire in
the heart, by which all differences are to be settled, is the peace
of God--the destined end of the Christian calling, in which is
realised the unity belonging to members of one body; and that this
blessing is to be sought in a spirit of thankfulness._ Observe:--
+I. That peace is a Divine blessing.+--"The peace of God." Some of
the oldest manuscripts have read, "The peace of _Christ_"--a reading
adopted by the ablest biblical critics. The verbal difference,
however, is of no moment. The truth is the same: it is equally the
peace of God and the peace of Christ--a Divine tranquillity filling
the soul with a calm that no mere worldly power can give or take
away, and that the ocean-surges of trouble can never diminish or
disturb. Christ hath made peace through the blood of His cross and
left it as a sacred legacy to all His disciples through all time. In
its essence it is the peace that Christ Himself enjoys--a sublime
calmness similar to that which pervades the Divine bosom. It is not
like the long, painful, oppressive stillness that is the precursor of
a storm, but a profound, pervasive, heavenly quiet that soothes while
it invigorates the soul. It proceeds from God through Christ and is
maintained and nourished in the heart as a positive, gracious reality
and priceless blessing.
+II. That peace is a ruling power.+--"Let the peace of God rule." The
word "rule" is borrowed from the practice of the Greeks at their
great national games and described the duty of the arbiter or umpire
presiding, who held the prize in his hand while the contest proceeded
in the stadium and conferred it on the victor at the close. Thereby
he exercised over the athletes a peculiar kind of rule. Impelled by a
sight of the prize, they gave their whole being to the contest. So,
in contending in the race of life, the peace of God, as containing
all desirable blessings, is to exercise supreme authority and
regulate all the concerns of the soul.
1. _As a ruling power peace pervades and stimulates every other
grace._--It lifts the soul to God, and enables it to take hold of His
strength. It prepares for every holy duty and stimulates to every
spiritual enterprise. The more the soul is permeated with Divine
peace, the more desire and aptitude will there be for higher
attainments in piety.
2. _As a ruling power peace is a powerful defence._--It resists
successfully the attacks of evil from whatever source they come. The
shafts of infidelity cannot pierce the invulnerable defence of a
conscious peace with God; right feeling is superior to the subtlest
logic. Peace erects a formidable bulwark against temptation and is
the surest safeguard against every form of sin.
3. _As a ruling power it concentrates and controls all the energies
of the soul._--It calms the intellect, soothes the heart,
tranquillises the conscience, and centralises all the powers of
manhood, that they may go forth and do valiant battle for the truth.
As by an unerring instinct it decides upon what is right and shuns
the wrong. The questions as to whether it is right to engage in
certain amusements, to visit certain places, or to join this or that
company, will soon be settled when the peace of God rules in the
heart. It is a regulating power in moral difficulties, and a potent
help in all moral enterprises. The peace of God keeps the heart and
mind through Jesus Christ (Phil. iv. 7).
+III. That peace is a ruling power in man.+--"In your hearts." The
heart is the region where the ruling power is exercised and takes
effect. It embraces the will and affections as distinguished from the
intellect. It is the choosing faculty as distinguished from the
knowing faculty. When the heart is drawn in one direction the whole
man follows. There the moral disease begins, and there the remedy
must be applied. By sin the heart has become deceitful above all
things; in the regeneration the heart is made new. The rush of an
evil heart's affections will not always yield to reason. When God, by
His Word and Spirit, comes to save, He saves by arresting and
renewing the heart. The psalmist recognised this when he cried,
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within
me" (Ps. li. 10). No man is conquered until his heart is conquered.
It is in this region the peace of God has powerful sway, and where it
aids in achieving the most brilliant moral conquests.
+IV. That peace is essential to the unity of the Church.+--1. _The
Church is called to the enjoyment of peace._ "To the which also ye
are called." The burden of the Gospel message is _peace._ Its mission
is to extinguish wars and enmities, and to pacify heaven and earth.
The Church is called to peace by the commands of Christ, by the
teachings of His example when on earth, by the reiterated precepts of
God's Word, and by the necessities of the grand enterprise in which
she is engaged.
2. _The enjoyment of peace is essential in preserving and promoting
the unity of the Church._--"In one body." As ye were called as
members of one body so let there be one Spirit animating that body.
Among the stellar systems, in social communities and states, as well
as in the Christian Church, a common agreement is essential to unity.
Divine peace preserves harmony, nourishes spiritual strength, and
promotes union by drawing the souls, in which it is the ruling power,
more closely to God and to each other. There is to be the constant
endeavour "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"
(Eph. iv. 3).
+V. That peace is to be cultivated in the spirit of
thankfulness.+--"And be ye thankful." These words are not to be
restricted in their application. Not only do they imply that the
Colossians were to act towards each other in a thankful and amiable
temper, but they teach in what spirit the peace of God should be
universally sought and exercised. The duty of thankfulness was the
constant theme of the apostle: there are upwards of thirty references
to it in his epistles. Here we are exhorted to consider it in special
connection with the enjoyment of peace. Only he who has been swung in
the dark whirl of unrest and doubt, who has witnessed the horrible
riot of disunion and discord, can appreciate the blessing of peace
and the gratitude it inspires. Cicero declared that gratitude was the
mother of all other virtues. Certain it is that no man sins without
ingratitude. Thanksgiving has always been the principal element in
all religion, whether instituted by Divine command, prompted by
natural reason, or propagated by general tradition. The pagan
religion consists in the praise of their gods and acknowledgments of
their benefits; the Jewish, to a great extent, in eucharistic
oblations and solemn commemorations of providential favours; and the
ancient Christians were distinguished by singing hymns to Christ, and
by mutual sacraments obliging themselves to abstain from all
villainy. Thanksgiving is a joyous exercise--the pleasantest of
duties. Prayer reminds us of our wants and imperfections; confession
enforces a painful remembrance of our sins; but gratitude includes
nothing but the memory of exceeding goodness. It is a duty most
acceptable to God and most profitable to man.
+Lessons.+--1. _True peace is found only in Christ._ 2. _Peace is a
mighty engine of spiritual power._ 3. _Gratitude should combine with
every blessing._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
_Unity and Peace._
+I. The unity of the Church of Christ.+--1. _Distinguish the unity
of comprehensiveness from the unity of mere singularity._ 2. _It
subsists between things not similar or alike, but dissimilar or
unlike._ 3. _It is made up of dissimilar members, without which
dissimilarity there could be no unity._ 4. _It consists in submission
to one single influence or spirit._ The Spirit of its God.
+II. The individual peace resulting from this unity.+--1. _It is
God's peace._ 2. _A living peace._ 3. _The peace which comes from an
inward power._ 4. _The peace of reception.--Robertson._
_The Peace of God ruling in the Heart._
+I. The region.+--"In your hearts." When the heart is drawn in one
direction, the whole man follows. When God by His Word and Spirit
comes to save, He saves by arresting the heart and making it new.
+II. The reign.+--"Rule." Freedom from rule is not competent to man;
the only choice he has is a choice of masters.
+III. The Ruler.+--"The peace of God." 1. _It is God and no idol that
should rule in a human heart._ 2. _It is not the wrath but the peace
of God that rules in a human heart._ It is the act of letting me go
free that binds my whole soul for ever.--_W. Arnot._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.
_The Poetry of the Christian Life._
In the life of the individual and of nations the era of poetry comes
first and is followed by the era of criticism. The impulse of a
youthful and enthusiastic passion and the boundless play of a
prolific imagination produce certain artistic results; and then comes
the cool, reflective critic, with microscopic eye and mathematical
rules, to measure and appraise the loved production. How soon the
glowing efflorescence withers, and the expanding magnitude dwindles
to the smallest practical limits. Genuine poetry is superior to all
criticism, outlives the most violent opposition, and is imperishable
as humanity. Poetry is the language of the soul in its highest and
holiest mood, when it is fired with a Divinely kindled rapture, when
it strives to grasp the invisible and pants to express the grandest
truths of the universe. The Christian life has its poetry. It is of
the loftiest order, its theme the noblest, and its melody haunts the
soul for ever with strains of ravishing harmony. In this verse we
learn that _the poetry of the Christian life draws its inspiration
from the Divine Word and ministers to the culture and enjoyment of
the Church._ Observe:--
+I. That the poetry of the Christian life draws its deepest
inspiration from the Divine Word.+--"Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly."
1. _That the Divine Word is fitly called the Word of Christ._--It
contains the record of His personal teaching--the revelation of new
and startling truths, and the resetting of old truths in such a light
as to connect the old and new dispensations, and blend them in an
unbroken homogeneousness. It unfolds the mystery of that redemption
He died to accomplish, and which forms so prominent a part of the
teaching of this epistle. It is inspired by the Spirit of Christ, and
gleams in every part with brilliant manifestations of His supernal
glory. Christ is the all-pervading theme of the Scriptures--the key
of the arch--the cornerstone of the foundation--the sun, illuminating
with light and salvation the whole Gospel system to its remotest
circumference.
2. _The Divine Word to create a true poetic fervour must wholly
occupy the soul._--"Dwell in you richly." The Word of Christ is to be
embraced as a whole, and due prominence given to every part of His
character and work. Not to exalt His humanity to the denial of His
Divinity; not to be so enamoured with the moral beauty of His life as
to overlook the significance and power of His death. The Word is to
dwell in us so completely as to possess and enrich every faculty and
power of our nature. Not simply to give it a place in the region of
intellectual opinion or in judging of moral questions, but to let it
have a mighty sway over the affections of the heart--let it enter,
saturate, purify, and govern the whole mental, moral, and spiritual
being. It is to occupy the soul as a constant and permanent
inspiration; to _dwell_--not as a stranger to stand without, or to be
saluted at a distance, but to enter, to abide, and be treated as a
loved and intimate guest. Let the Word of Christ be clearly
apprehended, diligently pondered, and firmly grasped, and it will
fill the soul with heavenly visions and inflame it with the holiest
poetic ardour.
+II. That the poetry of the Christian life has made valuable literary
contributions to the psalmody of the Church.+--"In psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs." It is not easy to make arbitrary distinctions
between these poetic effusions. The _psalm_ was a sacred poem on
whatever subject, and similar to the productions in the book of
Psalms in the Old Testament; the _hymn_ specially celebrated the
praises of the Almighty; and the _spiritual song,_ or ode, was more
mixed in its matter and more artificial in its arrangement and
referred to personal effusions of a more general character. The gift
of poesy was among the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit in the
early Church (1 Cor. xiv. 26). The first form of literature in all
countries is for the most part in song. A certain writer has said,
that if he were allowed to make the songs of a nation, he cared not
who made the laws. And in the Christian Church, from the earliest
period, sacred psalmody has been a mighty power for edification and
comfort. The hymnology of the church is becoming increasingly rich in
its poetic treasures.
+III. That the poetry of the Christian life ministers to the mutual
culture and happiness of the Church.+--1. _It is intellectual in its
character._ "In all wisdom teaching one another." A more correct
punctuation connects the clause "in all wisdom" with the words that
follow, not, as in our version, with the words that precede. To teach
in all wisdom demands the highest intellectual exercise, especially
when poetry is the medium of instruction and the Word of Christ the
theme. Without wisdom, poetry would sink into a maudlin sensuousness,
a mere verbal jingling, and intolerable monotony. Wisdom is necessary
to compare and balance the different parts of Scripture truth, to
apply the Word on proper occasions to its proper ends and in harmony
with its spirit, and to adopt the best means for attaining the
highest results in mutual instruction. The profoundest feelings of
our nature can only be expressed in poetry. The orator, as he reaches
the loftiest strains of eloquence, becomes poetical.
2. _It is moral in its tendency._--"And admonishing one another."
There is implied a deep concern for each other's moral condition and
safety. The poetry of the early Christians was moral in its exercise
and tendency. No one can feel an interest in another's morality who
is himself immoral. An eminent critic has said: "The element in which
poetry dwells is truth, and when imagination divorces itself from
that relation, it declines into the neighbourhood of empty fiction or
the dreams of lunacy." The poetry of the Christian life is based on
eternal truth, and it is to be judiciously used as an instrument of
admonition as well as of instruction. There is need for warning and
brotherly counsel to restore the wanderer, to raise him if he has
fallen, to reprove him if he is wrong, to protect and admonish him if
he is in danger (Ps. cxli. 5).
3. _It is joyous in its effects._--"Singing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord." Music and poetry are sometimes prostituted to the
basest purposes, ministering to the lowest passions, and inciting to
the vilest actions. But the poetry of the Christian life refines the
soul, raises it towards God, and fills it with the music of
unspeakable delight. The proper sphere of music is the heavenly and
the spiritual.
"Beyond the visible world she soars to seek,
For what delights the sense is false and weak;
Ideal form, the universal mould."
As the sea-shell conveys to the ear the faint music of the distant
waves, so the poetry of the Christian life indicates in some degree
the rapturous music that awaits on the heavenly shore. Coleridge
said: "Poetry has been to me its own exceeding great reward. It has
soothed my affliction, it has endeared solitude, and it has given me
the habit of wishing to discover the good and beautiful in all that
surrounds me." And Keats said: "Let me have music dying and I seek no
more delight."
+Lessons.+--1. _The highest poetry is found in the Divine Word._
2. _To administer instruction and admonition through the medium of
song is at once modest and significant._ 3. _The Christian life
should be one sweet harmonious poem._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
_The Word of Christ: its Characteristics as the Saviour's Book and the
Sinner's Book._
+I. It is simple.+
+II. Significant.+
+III. Saving.+
+IV. Sanctifying.+
+V. Supporting.+
+VI. Suited to all.+
+Lessons.+--1. _Let its truths and realities inhabit your
convictions._ 2. _Let its tone be infused into your temper._ 3. _Let
the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.--James Hamilton, D.D._
_The Indwelling Word of Christ._
+I. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you.+--1. _Implies a sense of the
preciousness of Christ Himself._ 2. _The preciousness of Christ's
words, as well as of Christ Himself, is essential to its dwelling in
you._ 3. _The felt preciousness of real present and living
intercourse between Christ and you will cause the Word, as His Word,
to abide in you._
+II. Dwell in you richly.+--1. _It may refer to quantity._ 2. _It may
have respect to quality._ 3. _The rich indwelling of the Word of
Christ in you may be held to correspond to the riches of Him whose
Word it is._ 4. _It is to dwell in you not only as rich receivers but
as rich dispensers also._
+Lessons.+--1. _Make sure of the first condition of Christ's Word in
you--the preciousness of Christ Himself._ 2. _Make full proof of all
suitable helps for the indwelling of the Word of Christ in
you.--R. S. Candlish._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.
_Suggestive Summary of the Law of Christian Duty._
Labour, which was originally imposed on man as a curse, may minister
very largely to the increase of human happiness. The effort necessary
to contend with and subdue the hostile forces of nature, and wrest
from the earth the food essential to existence, strengthens and
elevates the best powers of man. All men are prompted to labour by
some distinct principle or ruling passion: the savage by the cravings
of physical hunger, the patriot by the love of his country, the
philosopher by an inextinguishable thirst for knowledge and delight
in intellectual exercises. The ruling principle of action in the
believer is that of supreme devotion to the Lord; he is to do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. This exhortation embraces
everything previously mentioned in the epistle, and every possible
duty of the Christian life.
+I. The guiding law of Christian duty.+--"Do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus." The name of Christ suggests the predominating principle
by which the whole course of life is to be regulated, the watchword
in every enterprise, the battle-cry in every conflict, the rallying
centre in every disaster. In warfare, armies have been animated with
the enthusiasm of action by simply mentioning the name of a
Wellington, a Napoleon, a Garibaldi, a Von Moltke. But oh! how
glorious and all potent is the name +Lord Jesus!+ It suggests the
sublime dignity and redemptive achievements of Christ, and that He is
the great exemplar after which all who believe in Him are to be
morally fashioned.
1. _In Christ is the purest motive to duty._--Motive originates and
governs action, and makes it good or bad. The believer does
everything for Christ's sake, out of love for Him and respect to His
authority. The tendency in all men is to live in themselves, to act
in their own name and strength, and to carry out their own selfish
purposes. Selfishness is one of the mightiest and most general
motives to action. It is only in Christ we find the holiest and
purest motive; in Him love takes the place of selfishness. The love
of Christ constraineth us (2 Cor. v. 14, 15).
2. _In Christ is the noblest pattern of duty._--Not only do we see in
His character the most perfect representation of moral excellence,
but his whole career is an instructive example of devotion to duty.
He fulfilled the will of His Father: He was obedient unto death. He
has taught us how to live and how to die. One of the grandest
pictures of moral heroism is seen in the maintenance of an
intelligent and faithful obedience in the midst of danger and
threatened death.
3. _In Christ is the highest end of duty._--All things in the
material universe exist for Him, and in the moral realm He is the
goal towards which all actions tend. Everything should be done with
reference to Christ. We can have no worthier ambition than to seek in
all things His glory. Cf. Mark ix. 41; Matt. xviii. 5; John xiv. 14;
and note how Christ lays it down as a universal principle that
everything is to be done in His name. There is no higher name, for it
"is above every name"; there is no loftier end, for "He is before all
things."
4. _In Christ is the final authority of Christian duty._--Many things
have been done in the name of Christ that never had His sanction and
were contrary to His authority. The most disastrous persecutions and
cruellest tortures have been perpetrated in the name of Christ. These
blasphemous outrages have been committed to strengthen the authority
and hide the bloodthirsty rapacity of a corrupt and domineering
Church. No ecclesiastical hierarchy has a right to compel the blind,
unreasoning submission of a free, intelligent agent. Above all
Jesuitical maxims and Papal decrees is the authority of Christ. His
will is supreme in all spheres, and that will is the guiding law of
duty in the Christian life.
+II. The universal obligation of Christian duty.+--"Whatsoever ye do
in word or deed."
1. _There must be a recognition of Christ in everything._--In all our
employments, conversation, public acts of worship, in social and
private prayer, in secular and domestic concerns, in all matters
relating to the place of our abode, in changing residences, in
connections we form for ourselves and our children. There is a
comprehensiveness in the obligation which is all-embracing. Not that
we are to parade our piety, to obtrude our religious notions upon
everybody we meet, or to be ever unctuously repeating the name of
Christ, irrespective of time or place. The merchant is not to provoke
unseemly discussions on sacred subjects when he ought to be attending
to the business of the counting-house; the clerk should not be
reading his Bible when he ought to be posting his ledger; the
servant-maid should not be praying when she ought to be cleaning her
kitchen; nor ought the mother to be gadding about, or running to
endless revival meetings, while her house is dirty and her husband
and children neglected. It is not so much that everything is to be
done after one special outward form as that every duty is to be done
in a religious spirit. Religion is not a series of formal acts, or a
string of set phrases; but it is a life, pervading all our
activities, and making every part of our career sublime. Recognise
Christ in everything, and a new meaning will be thrown on passing
events; the commonplaces of life will be exalted into dignity, and
the future assume irresistible attractions.
2. _There must be absolute dependence on Christ at all times._--We
cannot say and do everything in the name of Christ unless we fully
surrender ourselves to Him. We are helpless and full of spiritual
infirmities, but the more conscious we are of our complete dependence
on Him the stronger are we in labour and in hope. In our successes,
lest we be puffed up with vanity--in our perplexities, lest we are
discouraged--in our grief, lest we sink despairing into the
abyss--and in our transports of joy, lest we be exalted above
measure--there must ever be a full, voluntary, and conscious reliance
on Jesus. Thus resting on Him and realising His life-giving power, we
can say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me."
3. _There must be supreme devotion to Christ._--All we have we owe to
Him. He gave His all for us, and it is but a righteous return that we
consecrate to Him all that is highest and best in ourselves. We must
love Christ supremely, and then every faculty and power of our being
will render homage and service to Him. We shall be obedient to His
commands, we shall magnify His grace, we shall strive to walk worthy
of His great name, and in all things seek to promote His glory. We
pledge ourselves to Him for ever, and no consideration should tempt
us to relax our devotion. George III. was a man of firm mind, with
whom one had pleasure in acting. He was very slow in forming his
opinion, very diligent in procuring every information on the subject;
but once convinced, he would act with unflinching firmness. His
beautiful speech about the Roman Catholic question shows his
character: "I can give up my crown and retire from power, I can quit
my palace and live in a cottage, I can lay my head on a block and
lose my life, but I can _not_ break my oath."
+III. The unvarying spirit in which Christian duty is to be
done.+--"Giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." They who do all
things in Christ's name will never want matter of thanksgiving to
God. The apostle has frequently referred to this duty of gratitude,
and he evidently regarded it as a very important element of the
Christian character. It was Christianity that first taught the duty
of being thankful even in trial and suffering. We are to thank God
for the privilege of acting so that we may honour Him. A thankful
spirit has a blessedness and a power of blessing which those only
realise who cherish it. All thanksgiving is to be offered to God the
Father by Jesus Christ, as He is our only mediator, and it is through
Him we obtain whatever good the Father bestows upon us. The giving of
thanks to God is one of the highest duties of religious worship; and
if this be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, then all subordinate
duties must be done in the same manner.
+Lessons.+--1. _The name of Christ is the greatest power in the
universe._ 2. _All duty gathers its significance and blessedness from
its relation to Christ._ 3. _A thankful spirit is happy in
enterprise, brave in difficulties, and patient in reverses._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 17 (compared with 1 Cor. xi. 24). _The Lord's Supper the Sample
of the Christian Life._
+I. All the objects around us are to be regarded by us as being
symbols and memorials of our Lord.+
+II. Every act of our life is to be done from the same motive as
that holy communion.+
+III. All life, like the communion of the Lord's Supper, may be and
ought to be a showing forth of Christ's death.+
+IV. This communion is in itself one of the mightiest means for
making the whole of life like itself.+--_A. Maclaren._
_Doing all in the Name of Christ._
+I. Doing it as His agent.+
+II. We are not our own, but His.+
+III. Whatever it is right to do is His work.+--_T. G. Crippen._
_Christ in the Practical Life._
+I. Here we find a rule of life.+
+II. Here we find a motive.+
+III. Here we find our life redeemed.+--_Preacher's Magazine._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18, 19.
_Duties of Husbands and Wives._
After the apostle has laid down the law of duty for the government of
all Christians in the general conduct of life, he proceeds to show
the application of the same law to the domestic relationships.
Obedience to the law in the general is an excellent preparation for
observing it in the particular: the best Christian will make the best
husband or wife. The morality of Christianity is one of its brightest
glories and most beneficent influences; it provides for the purity
and happiness of domestic life, and where it rules all is peace,
love, and contentment. Where polygamy prevails, as in heathen and
Mahometan countries, the most lamentable domestic complications
occur, and all is distraction and misery. The family is the source
and pattern of society. If the family is corrupt and disorganised,
society suffers. A holy, well-regulated household is a regenerative
force in society. It is in the home that the social principle finds
its highest development. There the tenderest feelings are roused, the
deepest and most permanent impressions made, the foundation and first
rough outlines of what we may become laid down and indicated, the
first principle of good or evil imbibed, and the mightiest moral
forces brought into play. Much, therefore, depends upon the
understanding that exists between the husband and wife, and the way
in which they discharge their mutual duties, as to what shall be the
character of the household government. The apostle, in enforcing
these relative duties, mentions the three classes which divide the
domestic circle--husbands and wives, parents and children, masters
and servants. He begins with the inferior relation in each
class--wife, child, servant--perhaps because the difficulty of
obedience is greater, because in disputes it is the duty of the
humbler party to submit, and because the discharge of duty by that
party is the surest method of securing it in the other.
+I. The duty of the wife is submission to the husband.+--"Wives,
submit yourselves to your own husbands" (ver. 18).
1. _This implies dependence._--It is the Divine order that "the
husband is the head of the wife." In point of nature, and of their
relation to God, they are both equal; but when brought into the
married relation the husband has the first place, and the wife, as
the weaker vessel, and under a sense of dependence, is called to
submit. When the order is reversed, and the wife takes the lead,
mischief is sure to ensue. Not that woman is to be the slave and
drudge of her husband; but the relationship between the two ought to
be so adjusted by the power of religion that the wife is never rudely
reminded of her state of dependence.
2. _Implies respect._--It is difficult to respect some men, and still
more difficult to love where we cannot respect. But the apostolic
injunction is emphatic: "Let the wife see that she reverence her
husband." Though the husband be a reckless, incapable ne'er-do-well,
the wife is to respect the position of her husband and show him
deference as the head of the family. Alas! how many a noble woman has
had her life embittered by a worthless husband, but who, with a
heroism, truly sublime, and a love truly angelical, has bravely done
her duty and striven to screen the faults of the man who caused her
misery.
3. _Implies obedience in all things lawful._--St. Peter refers to
"the holy women in the old time, being in subjection unto their own
husbands, even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord" (1 Pet.
iii. 5, 6). A true wife is wholly devoted to her husband. She will
care for his person, property, health, character, and reputation, as
for her own. In all things reasonable and lawful she will rejoice to
meet the requests of her husband and follow his counsel.
+II. The submission of the wife to the husband is governed by
religious principle.+--"As it is fit in the Lord" (ver. 18). The
wife is first to submit herself fully to Christ, and, from love to
Him, to submit herself to her own husband, and to look upon her
subjection as service done to Christ. This will be a consolation and
strength to her in many an unkind word from a cruel, apathetic, and
unappreciative husband. It would never do for two wills to be ruling
a family. There would be endless clashing and confusion. It is the
Divine arrangement that the husband is the head of the house, and "it
is fit in the Lord" that the wife should be in subjection. She is not
to forget her responsibility to God in a slavish, unreasoning, and
sinful obedience to her husband. Governed by a pure and lofty
religious principle, she may so fulfil her duty as to win, or at
least disarm, her unreasonable partner. A wise submission may
sometimes work wonders. She stoops to conquer. An old writer has
said: "A wife is ordained for man, like a little Zoar--a city of
refuge to fly to in all his troubles."
+III. The duty of the husband is to show affection towards the
wife.+--1. _This affection is to be genuinely manifested._ "Husbands,
love your wives" (ver. 19). Obligation is not all on one side. The
husband is not less bound to discharge his duty to his wife than the
wife to him. Love is the sum of the husband's duty, and that which
will regulate every other. Where love rules, the family circle
becomes a tranquil and cherished haven of rest, peace, harmony, and
joy. Nor is it enough that this affection should be recognised as a
matter of course--let it be manifested. That woman is a strange,
heartless shrew who is unaffected by the gentle evidences of a
devoted and manly love. The true wife needs, craves for and knows how
to appreciate a genuine and evident affection. Let the husband show
the same tender and considerate regard to his wife as life advances
and cares multiply as when he stood by her side at the altar, a
lovely and confiding bride.
2. _This affection is to be free from harshness._--"And be not bitter
against them" (ver. 19). It is evidently implied that the love of a
Christian heart may be marred by a sour and morose temper. It is
ungenerous and cruel to vent upon his wife and family the anger which
the man had not the courage to display before those who roused it
when mixing among them in the world. Bitterness may be manifested as
much by a cold, repulsive silence as by the most stinging words of
sharp and angry reproof, or by the irritating actions of a wilful and
tantalising conduct. It is a species of savage and fiendish brutality
for a husband to study how he can inflict the keenest torture on a
loving and submissive nature. It sometimes requires the most
assiduous art of the tenderest affection to repair the damage done by
a single word. Amid the perplexities and trials of married life many
occasions will arise in which mutual patience and forbearance will
need to be exercised. Let love reign supreme and banish the first
symptoms of a harsh and churlish disposition.
+Lessons.+--1. _Be careful whom you marry._ 2. _Beware of the first
quarrel._ 3. _Bear with Christian resignation the life-consequences
of an unfortunate choice._ 4. _Connubial bliss is attained only by
the faithful exercise of mutual duties._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20, 21.
_Duties of Parents and Children._
It is God who hath set the solitary in families. The domestic
constitution is the formal type of all governments. If discipline is
neglected in the home, it is rarely that the loss is made up when the
untaught becomes a citizen of the world. Coleridge has well said: "If
you bring up your children in a which puts them out of sympathy with
the religious feelings of the nation in which they life, the chances
are that they will ultimately turn out ruffians or fanatics, and one
as likely as the other." "A wise son maketh a glad father; but a
foolish son is the heaviness of his mother" (Prov. x. 1). Lord Bacon
observes that fathers have most comfort of the good proof of their
sons, but the mothers have most discomfort of their ill proof. It is
therefore of vital importance that the reciprocal duties of parents
and children should be faithfully and diligently observed. These
verses indicate _the character of filial duty and of parental
authority._ Observe:--
+I. That the duty of the child to the parent is to obey.+--1. _This
obedience is universal._ "Children, obey your parents in all things"
(ver. 20). The Old Testament law commands, "Honour thy father and thy
mother"; and the most signal way in which a child can honour his
parents is to obey them. Parents have learnt wisdom by experience;
they know the dangers that threaten their children, and are in a
position to offer wise and judicious counsel. Filial obedience should
be prompt, cheerful, self-denying, uniform; not dilatory and
reluctant. It is universal in its obligation, and is binding, not
only in those commands that are pleasant to obey, but in those that
are troublesome, and that seem unreasonable and perverse, so long as
they do not involve a violation of Divine law. It is a painful
spectacle to see a child defy parental authority, and even exult in
his rebellion and in the distress it causes his father and mother.
But filial disobedience rarely reaches such a pitch of cruel
retaliation without there having been some defect in the early
training. The child who renders due reverence to his parents is sure
to meet with the rich rewards of heaven in the enjoyment of temporal
and spiritual blessing.
2. _This obedience is qualified and limited by the Divine
approval._--"For this is well-pleasing unto God" (ver. 20). It is
only when the commands of the parent are in harmony with the will of
God that the child is bound to obey, and a powerful motive to
practise obedience is derived from the fact that it "is well-pleasing
unto the Lord." The parent has no authority to enforce obedience
beyond what has been given to him of God; and the exercise of that
authority must ever be in subjection to the higher authority of the
Divine law. Obedience to parents in what is right is obedience to the
Lord. It is the way of safety and of happiness. A little boy, about
seven years old, was on a visit to a lady who was very fond of him.
One day, at breakfast, there was some hot bread on the table, and it
was handed to him; but he would not take it. "Do you not like hot
bread?" asked the lady. "Yes," said the boy; "I like it very much."
"Then, my dear, why do you not take some?" "Because," he said, "my
father does not wish me to eat hot bread." "But your father is a
great way off," said the lady, "and will not know whether you eat it
or not. You may take it for once; there will be no harm in that."
"No, ma'am; I will not disobey my father and my mother. I must do
what they have told me to do, although they are a great way off. I
would not touch it if I was sure nobody would see. I myself should
know it, and that would be enough to make me unhappy." A reckless
disobedience of parental authority will not go unpunished. The
example of Christ's subjection to his earthly parents exalts filial
duty into a sublime and holy exercise.
+II. That the duty of the parent to the child is to rule.+--1. _The
parent is not to rule in a spirit of exasperating severity._
"Fathers, provoke not your children to anger" (ver. 21). The
obedience of the child will be very much influenced by the character
of the parental government. Counsel, remonstrance, and even
chastisement will be necessary in the successful training of
children. But discipline is to be administered so wisely, lovingly,
and firmly as not to irritate to rebellion, but to subdue and bend
into obedience. An excessive severity is as baneful as an excessive
indulgence.
"The voices of parents is the voice of God,
For to their children they are heaven's lieutenants;
Made fathers, not for common uses merely,
But to steer
The wanton freight of youth through storms and dangers,
Which, with full sails, they bear upon and straighten
The mortal line of life they bend so often.
For these are we made fathers, and for these
May challenge duty on our children's part.
Obedience is the sacrifice of angels,
Whose form you carry."--_Shakespeare._
2. _To rule in a spirit of exasperating severity tends only to
dishearten._--"Lest they be discouraged" (ver. 21). If the child sees
that all his endeavours to please are in vain, and that he is
repulsed with sternness and cruel severity, he loses heart, and
becomes sullen or morose, or is stung into a state of desperate
revenge. To be perpetually fault-finding, and to gratify your angry
passions in brutal, savage chastisement, will crush the spirit of any
youth, and perhaps transform him into a monster more terrible than
yourself. Children are to be led, not driven; to be treated as
reasonable beings, not forced like brute animals; to be encouraged by
commendation where it is merited, and the defects of their obedience
kindly interpreted. A certain writer has significantly said: "What if
God should place in your hand a diamond, and tell you to inscribe on
it a sentence which should be read at the last day, and shown there
as an index of your own thoughts and feelings? What care, what
caution, would you exercise in the selection! Now this is what God
has done. He has placed before you the immortal minds of your
children, more imperishable than the diamond, on which you are about
to inscribe every day and every hour, by your instruction, by your
spirit, or by your example, something that will remain and be
exhibited for or against you at the judgment day."
+Lessons.+--1. _To rule wisely we must first learn to obey._
2. _Disobedience is the essence of all sin._ 3. _That government is
the most effective that tempers justice with mercy._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 22-25--_Ch._ iv. 1.
_Duties of Masters and Servants._
The jealous conflict between capital and labour threatens the good
understanding that was wont to exist between employer and employed
with a serious rupture. Such a rupture would benefit neither side and
would inflict incalculable disaster on both. There are economic laws,
which regulate the employment of capital and labour, which no number
of combinations and unions among masters and servants can ever set
aside. Though a temporary advantage may, in extraordinary times, be
snatched by either party, the law of supply and demand inevitably
tends to balance and equalise all interests. It would be well,
therefore, for masters and servants to ponder the teaching of the New
Testament regarding their reciprocal duties. It was Christianity that
rescued the servant from a condition of abject civil slavery and
placed him in his just relation to his fellow-subjects in the
commonwealth. The farther men drift away from the Christian spirit in
seeking to adjust the questions between capital and labour, the more
difficult and complicated they become. It is only as these questions
are settled on a Christian basis, in harmony with the laws of a sound
political economy, that party jealousies will subside, and the best
understanding between masters and servants be established. Observe:--
+I. That the duty of the servant is to obey his master in all things
relating to his state of servitude.+--"Servants, obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh" (ver. 22). There is nothing
degrading in service. It is the employment of angels. "They serve Him
day and night" (Rev. vii. 15). It is ennobled by the example of
Christ, who "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Mark
x. 45). To obey in all things is not always pleasant or easy; but the
Christian servant will strive to accomplish the task. He consults the
master's will, not his own; he does the master's way, not his own; he
considers the master's time, not his own. His obedience is
universally binding in everything relating to his state of servitude
but is restricted to that. His employer is his master only according
to the flesh, has control over his bodily powers, and over the time
in which he has engaged to labour; but he has not power over the
spirit. The master cannot demand obedience in any matter forbidden of
God.
+II. That the duty of the servant is to be done in a spirit of
sincerity.+--1. _It is to be free from duplicity._ "Not with
eye-service as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart" (ver. 22).
The servants of whom the apostle writes were slaves and treated
merely as chattels. There are supposed to have been sixty millions of
slaves in the Roman empire. From the treatment they usually received,
they were greatly tempted to be merely eye-servants--diligent when
their master was present, but indolent and reckless in his absence.
Christianity has elevated man from slavery and provided him with the
highest motives to moral action. It teaches that service is to be
rendered, not with a hypocritical deference and sham industriousness,
but with a single, undivided heart, doing the best at all times for
the master.
2. _It is to be done in the fear of God._--"Fearing God" (ver.
22)--the one Lord and Master, as contrasted with the master according
to the flesh. The Christian servant has a conscience to satisfy and a
heavenly Master to please. The fear of the Lord is the holiest
motive-power in all acceptable service. He who serves his earthly
master as he seeks to serve God will take care that the Divine and
human interests do not come into collision with each other.
+III. That the duty of the servant is to be discharged from the
loftiest religious principle.+--1. _In every duty God is to be
recognised._ "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord,
and not unto men" (ver. 23). The Christian servant must look higher
than his earthly master; that is a service that may be rendered
mechanically, and by men who make no pretence to be Christian. The
true servant will give Christ the chief place in his service--will so
act that his obedience shall honour Christ and be acceptable to Him.
His best efforts may fail to satisfy the exactions of an unreasonable
master, and the faithful servant will find his consolation and
recompense in the fact that he aims to secure the Divine approval.
This will give a moral dignity to the most menial employment, and
exalt the common drudgery of toil into a means of religious
refreshment and invigoration.
2. _In every duty the best powers should be exercised._--"Do it
heartily" (ver. 23). If the heart be engaged, it will put into
operation the best powers of the whole man. No work is well done when
the heart is not in it. Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing
well; and surely no power can move the springs of action so
completely as the ever-present thought that, whatever we do, we "do
it as to the Lord, and not unto men." Our best efforts fall
immeasurably below the lofty ideal of Christian service; but it is no
small commendation when the Divine Master can declare respecting the
anxious and delighted worker, "She hath done what she could" (Mark
xiv. 8). Acting on such a principle, the capacity for the highest
kind of work is cultivated, the sphere of usefulness widened, and the
most coveted honours and enjoyments of the faithful servant secured.
+IV. That faithful service will meet with a glorious
reward.+--"Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of
the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ" (ver. 24). Under the
sinister judgment passed by Satan on the devotion of Job there lurks
an encouraging truth--man does not serve God for nought. Though there
is nothing meritorious in the best actions of the busiest life, yet
it has pleased God, in the exuberance of His condescending bounty, to
provide abundant recompense for all work done as unto Him. The reward
of the inheritance is in generous disproportion to the service
rendered; the service is marred and limited by the numberless
imperfections of the human; the reward is amply freighted with the
overflowing munificence and glittering splendours of the Divine. It
is the inheritance of imperishable happiness--of incorruptible and
unfading glory--of heaven--of God (1 Pet. i. 4). What an
encouragement to work!
+V. That every act of injustice will meet with impartial
retribution.+--"But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong
which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons" (ver. 25).
Some regard the wrong-doer referred to in this verse as the servant
who defrauds the master of his service; others, as the master who
defrauds the servant of his just recompense. But the words announce a
general principle which is equally applicable to both. The
philosophers of Greece taught, and the laws of Rome assumed, that the
slave was a chattel, and that as a chattel he had no rights. The New
Testament places the relation of master and servant in a wholly new
light and shows that between both there is a reciprocity of duties
and of penalties. The injustice done in the world, whether by master
or by servant, shall be impartially redressed, and the injured one
vindicated at the day of final retribution.
+VI. That the duty of the master is to deal righteously towards his
servants.+--1. _He is to act towards his servants according to the
principles of justice and equity._ "Masters, give unto your servants
that which is just and equal" (ver. 1). If the masters here addressed
were exhorted to deal fairly and justly with those who were their
slaves, not less fully is the modern master bound to act justly and
equitably towards those who serve him. The position of master is one
of great power and authority; it is, at the same time, one of solemn
responsibility. Capital has not only its cares and privileges, it has
also its duties, and these cannot be abused with impunity. The
communistic doctrine of equality has no countenance here. If all were
socially and financially equal to-day, the inequality would be
restored to-morrow. The duty of the master is to give to his servants
that which is righteous and reciprocally fair. Treat them as human
beings, with human rights, and as rational and religious beings, who,
like yourselves, have an endless future to prepare for. Give them
fair remuneration for work done. Be generous in prosperous times, and
considerate when adversity comes. While acting commercially according
to the laws of political economy, which no sane business man can
disregard, yield in all justness and fairness to the impulse of the
higher law of Christian charity and kindness. Interest yourselves in
the physical, moral, and religious welfare of your work-people. Good
masters make good servants.
2. _He is to remember that he is responsible to a higher Master._
"Knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven" (ver. 1). The master
is not less bound than the servant to do his duty as unto the Lord.
They are both servants of the one great Lord and Master of all. "One
is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren" (Matt.
xxiii. 8). Do not impose impossible tasks upon your servants. Avoid
an overbearing tyranny, and "forbear threatening." Exercise your
authority with humanity and gentleness. Use your wealth, reputation,
and influence in promoting the best interest of your work-people, and
in serving the Lord Christ. Remember that whatever you do to the
poorest servant of your heavenly Master is reckoned and recompensed
as done to Himself (Matt. xxv. 40).
+Lessons.+--1. _Social distinctions afford opportunities for personal
discipline._ 2. _Every rank in life has its special perils._ 3. _The
law of duty is binding in all ranks._ 4. _The dust of both masters
and servants will soon mingle in a common grave._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 23. _Do all for God._
+I. The Christian's practical life comprises working, acting, and
suffering.+
+II. Abide with God in your calling.+--Intention gives a moral
character to actions.
+III. Motives to duty.+--1. _Mechanical activity._ 2. _Supernatural
motive._ "Do it heartily as to the Lord." 3. _Our good intention
should be renewed at intervals._ 4. _Our lesser actions should be
brought under the control of Christian principle.--E. M. Goulburn._
_A Hearty Christianity._
+I. The highest end of all work is work done for God and to
God.+--1. _Not work done for self._ 2. _Not work done for society._
+II. The highest kind of work of which we are capable is that which
engages all the powers of our spiritual nature.+--"Do it heartily."
1. _The character of the work we do will be decided by the state of
our heart._ 2. _By the predominating impulse of the heart._ 3. _The
character of our work as a whole will be influenced by the heartiness
we throw into every single duty._ "Whatsoever ye do."
+Lessons.+--1. _A hearty Christianity is a happy Christianity._
2. _Is not easily daunted by difficulties._ 3. _Is aggressive._
Vers. 23-25. _Piety in the Household._
+I. We are serving the Lord.+--This will dignify the most
insignificant duty.
+II. We should seek to be actuated by the highest possible
motive.+--Out of the heart, or influenced by the affections. The
highest motive will cover the lowest.
+III. The Lord Himself will give us the highest reward.+--With Him is
no respect of persons.--_Homiletic Monthly._
+CHAPTER IV.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 2. +Watch in the same.+--"Being wakeful." Here again the apostle
changes his language from that used in enjoining the same precepts in
Ephesians. Remaining sleepless (Eph. vi. 18) is the same thing as
being wakeful.
Ver. 3. +A door of utterance.+--R.V. "a door for the word." The Word
of God cannot be bound, though its messenger may; but St. Paul can
scarcely think its being glorified comes so quickly as it would if he
had liberty to preach it. "An open door" with "many adversaries" is
more to St. Paul's mind than the _custodia libera._ See Eph. vi. 19,
20.
Ver. 5. +Walk in wisdom.+--Eph. v. 15. Walk circumspectly. R.V.
"carefully." It would appear from this as if the adverb in Eph. v. 15
should go with "walk" rather than with "look," as in R.V. +Towards
them that are without.+--Who do not participate in the benefits of
the new kingdom. +Redeeming the time.+--As in Eph. v. 16. Seizing for
yourselves, like bargains in the market, each opportunity (see R.V.
margin).
Ver. 6. +Let your speech be alway with grace.+--There is no excuse
for a Christian's conversation becoming rude and churlish. It may be
necessary to speak plainly and boldly at times--the way of doing even
that graciously ought to characterise Christians. +Seasoned with
salt.+--The pungent flavour of wit and facetiousness was called salt
by the Greeks, often with a spice of indecency. "Salt" in the New
Testament is the opposite of corruption.
Ver. 11. +A comfort to me.+--The word for "comfort" is only found in
this place in the New Testament. It is a medical term, and points to
relief given in suffering--then, by way of ministering to a mind
diseased or in trouble, is used of the speech which soothes and calms.
Ver. 12. +Always labouring fervently for you.+--R.V. "always
striving." Lit. "agonising." Like the mighty wrestler who held the
Angel till daybreak, Epaphras intercedes for His Colossian brethren.
+Complete in all the will of God.+--R.V. "fully assured." "From the
tenor of the letter it appears that the Colossians needed a deeper
Christian insight and more intelligent and well-grounded convictions
respecting the truth 'as in Jesus'" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 13. +Zeal . . . for them that are in Laodicea.+--Here then is
one who differs from the Laodicean spirit of St. John's time.
Ver. 17. +And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry.+--He is
again closely connected with Colossæ in the epistle to Philemon. A
monition perhaps needed by Archippus. +In the Lord.+--The element in
which every work of the Christian, and especially the Christian
minister, is to be done.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 2-4.
_The Efficacy of Prayer._
Prayer is a supreme necessity of the soul. It is the cry of conscious
want, an outlet for the pent-up feelings, and a mighty engine of
power in all spiritual enterprises. It is the holiest exercise of the
believer, his solace in trouble, his support in weakness, the solver
of his doubts and perplexities, his safety in peril, his unfailing
resource in adversity, his balance in prosperity, his weapon in every
conflict. It is the key which opens the door of the heavenly
treasury, and places at his disposal the boundless wealth of the
Divine beneficence. The efficacy of prayer does not terminate in the
individual petitioner but extends to others on whose behalf
supplication is made. God hears the cry of the believing suppliant,
and in some way, not always explicable to us, but in harmony with His
Divine perfections and the fitness of things, answers and blesses.
The apostle knew the value and power of prayer when earnestly and
humbly exercised, and, after giving directions concerning the
discharge of certain specific relative duties, he returns, in
concluding this epistle, to some general admonitions in which this
important duty holds a foremost place. Prayer, says Thomas Aquinas,
should have three qualities: it should be assiduous, watchful, and
grateful. The perseverance with which prayer uninterruptedly draws
itself through all events, internal and external, like a thread, or
encircles them like a chain, is its vital power; the watchfulness,
the lively circumspection, the gratitude, are the quiet tone or firm
basis of the same.
+I. That prayer to be efficacious must be earnest and
unceasing.+--"Continue in prayer" (ver. 2). The heart must be in the
duty and all the best powers of the man put forth. That in which we
have no interest will stir no feeling, will challenge no effort. To
repeat a verbal formulary is not prayer. Alas! how many thousand
prayers go no farther than the sound they make and are as useless!
Genuine prayer involves thought, diligent inquiry, passionate
entreaty, unwearied perseverance. The highest blessings of the
Christian life, the brightest visions of God, the deepest insight
into truth, the most enravishing ecstasies of the soul, are obtained
only by fervent and persistent wrestling. Prayer must be offered with
close-cleaving constancy, as the word "continue" implies, and with
daily frequency. Let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt of
the evening.
+II. That prayer to be efficacious must be joined with
vigilance.+--"And watch in the same" (ver. 2). Long, prosy,
spiritless prayers lull the soul into a dangerous slumber; and
without incessant watchfulness all prayers are apt to become long,
prosy, and spiritless. It is not necessary we should rob ourselves of
needful sleep in order to spend so many hours in formal devotion. The
vigilance refers to the spirit and manner in which all prayer is to
be offered. There may be times when, under the pressures of some
great solicitude, the soul is drawn out in prayer so as to preclude
sleep; but at these times the quality of watchfulness is often in
most vigorous operation. Watch, as a sentinel suspecting the approach
of an enemy; as a physician attending to all the symptoms of a
disease; as the keeper of a prison watching an insidious and
treacherous criminal. We have need to watch against the temptations
arising from worldly associations, from the sinfulness of our own
hearts, and from the vile insinuations of the enemy, all which mar
the efficacy of our prayers. Chrysostom says, "The devil knoweth how
great a good prayer is." No wonder he should seek to distract the
mind of the earnest suppliant. "Prayer," said Bernard, "is a virtue
that prevaileth against all temptations;" but this is so only when a
sleepless vigilance is exercised.
+III. That prayer to be efficacious must be mingled with
gratitude.+--"With thanksgiving" (ver. 2). The apostle has,
throughout the epistle, repeatedly enforced the duty of thankfulness.
He once more recurs to it in this place; and we cannot fail to note
the vast importance he attached to the exercise of this grace, and
how it ought to interpenetrate every Christian duty. We are ever more
ready to grumble than to give thanks. Such is the deceitfulness of
sin, or the vanity and purblindness of the human heart, that the very
regularity and abundance of the Divine mercies, instead of
increasing, are apt to restrict our gratitude. We take, as a matter
of course, what ought to be received with humblest thankfulness. An
old writer has well said, "Need will make us beggars, but grace only
thanksgivers. Gratitude opens the hand of God to give, and the heart
of the suppliant to receive aright. Thankfulness for past mercies is
an important condition of success in pleading for additional
blessings."
+IV. That prayer is efficacious in promoting an efficient declaration
of the Gospel.+--1. _Prayer should be offered on behalf of Christian
ministers._ "Withal praying also for us" (ver. 3). The Colossians
were exhorted to pray, not only for Paul, his fellow-labourer
Timothy, and their own evangelist Epaphras, but for all teachers of
the Gospel. The preacher is engaged in a work of vast magnitude,
environed with colossal difficulties, and is himself ferociously
assailed by great and peculiar perils. The earnest intercessions of a
devout and holy people are to him a safeguard and a tower of
strength. A once-popular minister gradually lost his influence and
congregation. The blame was laid entirely upon him. Some of his
Church officials went to talk with him on the subject. He replied: "I
am quite sensible to all you say, for I feel it to be true; and the
reason of it is, I have lost my prayer-book." He explained: "Once my
preaching was acceptable, many were edified by it, and numbers were
added to the Church, which was then in a prosperous state. But we
were then a praying people. Prayer was restrained, and the present
condition of things followed. Let us return to the same means, and
the same results may be expected." They acted upon this suggestion,
and in a short time the minister was as popular as he had ever been,
and the Church was again in a flourishing state. The great apostle
felt the necessity of co-operative sympathy and prayer (Rom. xv. 30;
2 Thess. iii. 1).
2. _Prayer should be offered that the most prominent features of the
Gospel may be declared._--"To speak the mystery of Christ, for which
I am also in bonds" (ver. 3). It has before been explained in this
epistle that _the mystery of Christ_ is a grand summary of all the
leading truths of the Gospel: the mystery of the incarnation of
Christ, the mystery of His sufferings and death as a sacrifice for
sin, the mystery of admitting the Gentiles on equal terms with the
Jews to all the privileges and blessings of the new covenant. It was
the apostle's intrepid advocacy of the rights of the despised
Gentile--maugre the fierce bigotry of his own countrymen, the
deep-seated prejudice of the times, and even the slavish indifference
of the Gentiles themselves--which led to his imprisonment: "for which
I am also in bonds." The prayers of the good give the preacher
courage to declare all the counsel of God, whether it be palatable or
not, and to give special prominence to those truths which are of
priceless importance to humanity.
3. _Prayer should be offered, that opportunity may be afforded for
the free declaration of the Gospel._--"That God would open unto us a
door of utterance" (ver. 3). The door had been closed and barred to
the apostle for four years by his imprisonment. He felt a holy
impatience to be free, that he might resume the loved labour of
former years, when "from Jerusalem and round about into Illyricum he
had fully preached the Gospel of Christ." But he waited till the door
was opened by Divine providence; and this he knew was often done in
answer to believing prayer. So there are times, in all ages of the
Church, when the door of opportunity for disseminating the Gospel is
shut by the opposition of the world, by the plottings of Satan, by
the prevalence of a rabid infidelity, or by the removal of eminent
champions for the truth; but, in response to the earnest
intercessions of God's people, a great and effectual door is opened,
and the Church advances to fresh conquests.
4. _Prayer should be offered that the Gospel may be declared with
fearless self-evidencing power._--"That I may make it manifest, as I
ought to speak" (ver. 4). There are some who preach the Gospel in a
cold, lifeless, perfunctory manner, or with unmeaning feebleness and
unmanly timidity. When the preacher sinks down into a condition so
abject as this, he has lost sight of the true meaning of the Gospel,
he becomes the most pitiable object under the sun, and is exposed to
the scathing vengeance of heaven. To preach the Gospel with
clearness, with intrepidity, and with irresistible persuasiveness,
that he "may make it manifest, as he ought to speak," demands the
best energies of the soul, and, above all, the special endowments of
the Holy Ghost. A minister is mightily aided in preaching by the
wrestling intercessions of a holy and sympathetic people.
+Lessons.+--1. _Prayer is an excellent training for efficiency in all
other duties._ 2. _Prayer is a gigantic power in the propagation of
the Gospel._ 3. _The topics for prayer are vast in range and not far
to seek._ 4. _When you can do nothing else you can pray._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 2. _True Devotion._
+I. Explain the meaning of the text.+--It is:--
1. _Not to be engaged without intermission in outward and formal acts
of devotion._--This is inconsistent with our nature, with commanded
duties, with the ends of prayer.
2. _To be frequently engaged in formal acts of devotion._--(1) No
exercise more hallowing and soothing to the soul. (2) None more
profitable as procuring blessings. (3) One to which those whose
example is recorded gave a prominent place--Job, David, Daniel, Paul,
Christ. (4) Morning, evening, intervals, social.
3. _To be persevering and importunate in asking particular
blessings._--God does not always send sensibly the answer at once. A
deeper sense of want may be necessary. A trial of faith, patience,
and submissiveness may be expedient. The proper season may not have
come. God's sovereignty must be owned. We ought to assure ourselves
that we pray according to God's will.
+II. Enforce the exhortation.+--1. _Because you are commanded to do
so._ 2. _Because Christ and the Spirit intercede for you._ There is
no duty for which there is more ample assistance provided.
3. _Because of the number and greatness of your wants._ It is by
faith that we know our wants. Hence the necessity. 4. _Because of the
exhaustless provision that God has made for you._ God acts as God in
the provision and in the bestowal. 5. _Because of the number of
promises not yet fulfilled._ To you individually, to the Church, to
Christ. 6. _Because the season for prayer is speedily hastening
away.--Stewart._
Vers. 3, 4. _Praying and Preaching._
+I. The sermon is powerful that is well prayed over+ (ver. 4).
+II. A praying preacher uses every available opportunity to proclaim
the truth+ (ver. 3).
+III. The theme of the preacher becomes more definite and effective
by prayer+ (ver. 3).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5, 6.
_The Wise Conduct of Life._
The Christian lives a dual life: one in spiritual communion with
heaven, under the eye of God; the other in daily contact with the
outer world, exposed to its observation and criticism. The aspects of
the life patent to the world's gaze do not always correspond with the
best impulses of the life concealed; the actual falls short of the
ideal. The world forms its judgment of the Christian from what it
sees of his outer life and makes no allowance for his unseen
struggles after moral perfection and his bitter penitence over
conscious failures. Nor can we blame the world for this; the outer
life of the believer furnishes the only evidence on which the world
can form its estimate, and it is incapable of apprehending and taking
into account hidden spiritual causes. The living example of the
believer presents the only ideas of Christianity that great numbers
have any means of possessing; he is a Christ to them, until they are
brought to a clearer knowledge of _the_ true and only Christ. With
what wisdom and circumspection should the believer walk toward them
that are without!
+I. That the conduct of life is to be regulated according to the
dictates of the highest wisdom.+--1. _Religion is a life._ "Walk"
(ver. 5). A walk implies motion, progression, continual approximation
to destination. Our life is a walk; we are perpetually and actively
advancing towards our destiny. Religion is not a sentiment, not a
round of bewitching ceremonies, not a succession of pleasurable
emotions; it is a life. It pervades the whole soul, thrills every
nerve, participates in every joy and sorrow, and moulds and inspires
the individual character.
2. _Religion is a life shaped and controlled by the highest
wisdom._--"Walk in wisdom" (ver. 5). Christian conduct is governed by
the Spirit of that wisdom which is from above, and under the
influence of the knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation (Jas.
iii. 17). It is ruled, not by an erratic sentiment or by the wild
impulse of a senseless fanaticism, but by a sound understanding and a
wise discretion. Its experience and hopes rest upon a basis of truth
transcending in certainty, wisdom, and majesty the most imposing
speculations of the human mind.
3. _Religion is a life that should be instructive to the
irreligious._--"Toward them that are without" (ver. 5)--without the
pale of the Church, the unbelievers. An upright, holy, consistent
example is often more eloquent than words, more practically effective
than the most elaborate code of moral maxims. The follies and glaring
inconsistencies of professing Christians have often inflicted serious
damage upon the Church itself and turned religion into ridicule among
the thoughtless and irreligious outsiders. The world is to be largely
trained into correct views of truth and a just appreciation of the
Christian spirit by the humble, saintly lives of those who have
experienced the transforming power of the Gospel. Be more anxious to
live religiously than to talk religiously.
4. _Religion is a life that impels the soul to seize every
opportunity for good doing._--"Redeeming the time" (ver. 5)--buying
up the opportunity for yourselves. Opportunity is the flower of time,
which blooms but for a moment and is gone forever. Evil is prevalent;
it effects the great majority, it advances with ever accelerating
momentum; every opportunity for checking its career and destroying
its power should be snatched with eagerness and used with promptitude
and discretion. The wisdom that regulates the religious life will be
the safest guide as to the way in which the passing moment may be
turned to the best advantage. The children of Issachar were commended
as men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought
to do (1 Chron. xii. 32). Ill-timed and inconsiderate zeal will do
more harm than good.
+II. That the conduct of life is to be regulated by judicious
speech.+--1. _Christian speech should be gracious._ "Let your speech
be alway with grace" (ver. 6). The mouth ought to be a treasury of
benediction, out of which no corrupt communication should issue, but
that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto the hearers. Truth is the soul of grace; and infinite pains
should be taken that every utterance of the tongue should at least be
true. Idle gossip, slander, falsehood, should never fall from lips
circumcised by the grace of God. Beware of the promiscuous use of the
hackneyed phrases of pious cant. It is not so much a set religious
phraseology that is wanted, as that all our speech should be baptised
with the chrism of a religious spirit.
2. _Christian speech should be piquant._--"Seasoned with salt" (ver.
6). Salt is the emblem of what is quickening and preservative; and
the conversation seasoned with it will be pure, agreeable,
pointed--free from all taint and corrupting influence. The ancient
teachers of rhetoric used to speak of "Attic salt," with which they
advised their pupils to flavour their speeches, that they might
sparkle with jests and witticisms. But it is not this kind of
condiment that the apostle recommends. Wit is a dangerous gift to
most men; but where it is joined with a well-balanced understanding,
and sanctified by the grace of God, it may become a powerful weapon
in the advocacy of truth and minister to the good of many. Speech, to
be beneficial, must be thoughtful, choice, sharp, clear, forceful.
3. _Christian speech should be practical._--"That ye may know how ye
ought to answer every man" (ver. 6). It requires much practical
wisdom to be able to speak well and wisely about religion to both
objectors and inquirers, and only the man accustomed to carefully
weigh his words and guard his utterances can become an adept in this
work. Every Christian may cultivate the wisdom which governs the
tongue and is bound to do so (1 Pet. iii. 15). Silence is sometimes
the most conclusive answer. It is the triumph of wisdom to know when
to speak and when to hold our peace.
+Lessons.+--1. _The power of a blameless life._ 2. _The value of a
well-chosen word._ 3. _The supreme control claimed by religion over
actions and speech._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 5. _The Worth of Time._
+I. Time ought to be improved because its value is
inexpressible.+--1. _The worth of time may be argued from a survey of
the great and momentous business to which it must be
appropriated_--to get ready for eternity. 2. _From the astonishing
price at which it has been purchased for us._ 3. _From the careful
manner in which it is allotted to mankind._
+II. Because of the brevity of its duration.+
+III. Because, short as our time is, much of it has already elapsed.+
+IV. Because what remains to us is uncertain.+
+V. Because nothing can ever compensate the loss of time.+
+VI. God has made eternity to depend on the issues and results of
time.+--_Dr. Robt. Newton._
Ver. 6. _Christian Conversation._--The apostle recommends a seasoning
+I. Of piety.+
+II. Of chastity.+
+III. Of charity.+
+IV. Of severity.+
+V. Of solidity.+
+Lessons.+--1. _Extravagant raillery poisons conversation._ 2. _A
spirit of disputing is a vice of conversation._ 3. _Indiscreet
questions are a pest of conversation.--Saurin._
_Christ's Truth in Relation to our Daily Conversation._
+I. The large space which words occupy in human life.+--1. _On
account of their number._ 2. _On account of their
consequences._
+II. The importance of special self-examination in reference to our
words.+
+III. Earnest listening to the Divine voices the cure for vain speech
and the source of gracious speech.+
+IV. Our words are not to be all about religion but pervaded by the
spirit of religion.+
+V. Our conversation being thus seasoned, we shall know how we
ought to answer every man.+--_R. Abercrombie._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-11.
_Side-lights on Church-life in the Early Times._
A straw will indicate the direction of current; a bit of glass will
reveal a star; a kick of the foot may discover a treasure that will
enrich successive generations; a word, a look, an involuntary
movement will disclose the leading tendency of an individual
character; so on the crowded stage of life it is not always the
gigantic and public scenes that are most suggestive and instructive,
but rather the trivial, undesigned incidents which are unnoticed by
an ordinary observer. A reflective mind will pick up material for
thought from the most unexpected and unpromising quarters. The
apostle has finished the grand argument of the epistle and shown the
importance of certain duties which grow out of the reception of the
truths enforced. In approaching the conclusion, he appears to be
chiefly occupied with a mass of personal and miscellaneous matters.
The few remaining verses contain little else but a series of names,
with the briefest qualifying phrases attached. But here and there
light is thrown on truths which, though familiar, are all the more
strongly impressed on our minds because of their evident antiquity.
In these verses there are _side-lights thrown on Church-life in the
early times with reference to Christian sympathy, commendations,
courtesy, and co-operation._ We learn:--
+I. The value of Christian sympathy.+--1. _As fostering mutual
interest in tidings concerning the work of God._ "All my state shall
Tychicus declare unto you, . . . whom I have sent unto you for the
same purpose; . . . shall make known unto you all things which are
done here" (vers. 7-9). The apostle, though in prison and separated
by a long distance from the Colossians, does not abate anything of
his interest in their welfare. He had received tidings of their
condition as a Church; of their steadfastness, successes, and perils;
and he was sure that intelligence from him would be eagerly welcomed
by them. He therefore despatched Tychicus and Onesimus, who could
furnish more details concerning the apostle, the exemplary spirit in
which he bore his sufferings, his profound anxiety on behalf of the
Churches and the progress of the Gospel in Rome, than were contained
in the epistle they carried. A heart, touched with a genuine
Christian sympathy, rejoices in the extension of the work of God, in
whatever part of the world, and by whatever Christian agency. The
mutual interchange of intelligence tends to excite the interest,
promote the union, and stimulate the enterprise of the Churches.
2. _As a source of encouragement and strength in the Christian
life._--"That he might know your estate and comfort your heart" (ver.
8). Instead of "that he might know your estate," another reading of
the original, adopted by Lightfoot and other eminent critics, has
"that ye might know our affairs." "But," as Bishop Wordsworth
remarks, "the very purpose for which Paul sent Tychicus to the
Colossians was not, it would seem, in order that they might know how
St. Paul was faring, but that he might know whether they were
standing steadfast in the faith against the attempts of the false
teachers." Whichever reading is adopted, the practical lesson is the
same; both express the reality, strength, and beauty of a mutual
sympathy. The presence of Tychicus and Onesimus, the character of the
tidings they brought, and the fervour of their exhortations, would
encourage and reassure the Colossians amid the perplexities and
doubts occasioned by the false teachers. Mutual expression of
sympathy and inter-community of intelligence will do much to comfort
and edify the Churches.
+II. The appropriateness of Christian commendation+ (ver. 7).--The
apostle speaks highly of his two messengers--not in terms of
extravagant flattery, but in a way calculated to ensure their
favourable reception by the Colossians and a respectful attention to
their message. Tychicus was a native of proconsular Asia, perhaps of
Ephesus. He was well known as an authorised delegate of St. Paul and
is mentioned in other places as being with the apostle (Acts xx. 42;
2 Tim. iv. 12; Tit. iii. 12). He is spoken of in this verse as "a
beloved brother, a faithful minister, a fellow-servant in the Lord."
The great apostle, far from taking advantage of his exalted calling
and inspiration, humbled himself before the least of his brethren,
spoke in the highest terms of their faithful labours, and associated
them with his own. Onesimus, a Colossian, is commended as "a faithful
and beloved brother." It was the more needful he should be thus
commended, because if he was known to the Colossians at all it would
be as a worthless, runaway slave. Some time before, Onesimus had
forsaken his master Philemon, and fled to Rome--the common sink of
all nations--probably as a convenient hiding-place where he might
escape detection among its crowds and make a livelihood as best he
could. In the metropolis--perhaps accidentally, perhaps through the
intervention of Epaphras--he fell in with the apostle, his master's
old friend. St. Paul becomes interested in his case, instructs him in
the Gospel, and is the instrument of his conversion; and now he is
commended to the Colossians, no more as a good-for-nothing slave, but
as a brother; no more dishonest and faithless, but trustworthy; no
more an object of contempt, but love. The apostle sent him back to
his master Philemon, and it is generally thought, having been set at
liberty by his owner, he became a faithful and laborious minister of
Christ. Such is the transforming power of Divine grace in changing
and renewing the heart, in obliterating all former distinctions and
degradations, and in elevating a poor slave to the dignity of "a
faithful and beloved brother" of the greatest of apostles. Christian
commendations are valuable according to the character of the persons
from whom they issue, and as they are borne out in the subsequent
conduct of the persons commended. Every care should be taken that the
testimonial of recommendation is strictly true. It is putting a man
in a false position and doing him an injury to exaggerate his
qualifications by excessive glory.
+III. Suggestive examples of Christian courtesy.+--"Aristarchus my
fellow-prisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas,
(touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive
him;) and Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision"
(vers. 10, 11). Aristarchus was a Jew, though a native of
Thessalonica. He was with Paul during the riot at Ephesus and was
hurried with Gaius into the theatre by Demetrius and his craftsmen.
He accompanied the apostle from Greece to Jerusalem with the
collection for the saints. When Paul was imprisoned in Judea, he
abode with him; and when he went into Italy, he also went and
remained with him there during his confinement, till at length he
became, it may be, obnoxious to the magistrates, and was cast into
prison; or perhaps he became a voluntary prisoner, that he might
share the apostle's captivity. What a glimpse have we here of heroic
devotion, and of the irresistible charm there must have been in the
apostle in attaching men to himself! Marcus was the John Mark
frequently referred to in the Acts of the Apostles. He had been the
occasion of a contention between Paul and Barnabas, which led to
their separating from each other and following different scenes of
labour. Mark had, from cowardice or some other motive, "departed from
them from Pamphylia, and went not with them out to the work"; and
when Barnabas, probably influenced by his affection as near kinsman,
wished to take him with them, Paul resolutely refused thus to
distinguish a young and unstable disciple. But from the reference
here it appears that Mark had repented of his timid and selfish
behaviour and returned to a better spirit. Perhaps the displeasure of
the apostle weighed upon his mind, and, with Barnabas' prayers and
example, had brought him to a right view of his misconduct. He was
now restored to the apostle's confidence, and it appears Paul had
already given directions to the Colossians concerning Mark to welcome
him heartily if he paid them a visit--"touching whom ye received
commandments: if he come to you, receive him." The third Hebrew
convert who united in sending salutations was Jesus, which was also
called Justus--a common name or surname of Jews and proselytes,
denoting obedience and devotion to the law. Nothing definite is known
of this person; but the apostle held him in such esteem as to join
his salutation with the rest. These three friends and companions of
Paul were Jews--they were _of the circumcision_; and yet they send
their salutations to a Church composed chiefly of Gentiles. The
Christian spirit triumphed over their deep-rooted prejudices, and
their greeting would be all the more valued as an expression of their
personal esteem, their brotherly affection, and their oneness in
Christ. That courtesy is the most refined, graceful, gentle, and
acceptable that springs from the Christian spirit.
+IV. The solace of Christian co-operation.+--"These only are my
fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort
unto me" (ver. 11). The tendency of the Jewish convert was to lean to
the Mosaic ritual and insist on its necessity in realising the
efficacy of the Gospel. Thus, they favoured the false philosophy of
the Jewish Platonists, and fell into the errors against which the
apostle so faithfully warns in this epistle. The action of the
Judaizing teachers and their sympathisers was often a grief and
hindrance to him. Of all the Jewish converts in Rome only three were
a comfort to him. They thoroughly embraced and advocated the free and
unconditional admission of the Gentiles into the Church of Christ and
were devoted and zealous fellow-workers with him in extending the
kingdom of God. It is an evidence of the unpopularity among the Jews
of the Gospel as intended equally for the Gentiles, and of the
formidable prejudices and difficulties with which the apostle had to
contend in that early time, that there were only three Hebrew
converts who were a comfort to him. And yet how consoling is the
sympathy and co-operation of the faithful few! Sometimes the noblest
men are deserted by timid and time-serving professors and left to
toil on alone in peril and sadness. History records the triumphs of
those who have successfully braved the solitary struggle in some
great crisis; but it is silent about the vanquished who, with broken
hearts and shattered intellects, have sunk into unchronicled oblivion.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christian experience is the same in all ages._
2. _True courtesy costs little and accomplishes much._ 3. _Genuine
sympathy is best shown by an active and self-denying co-operation._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12, 13.
_The Model Pastor._
Nothing is known of Epaphras beyond the few but significant notices
which connect him with Colossæ, of which city he was a native. Acting
under the direction of St. Paul, probably when the apostle was
residing for three years at Ephesus, Epaphras was the honoured agent
in introducing the Gospel into Colossæ and the neighbouring cities of
Laodicea and Hierapolis; and it is evident he regarded himself as
responsible for the spiritual well-being of all these places. The
dangerous condition of the Colossian and neighbouring Churches at
this time filled the mind of Epaphras with a holy jealousy and alarm.
A strange form of heresy had appeared among them--a mixture of Jewish
formalism with the speculations of an Oriental philosophy--and was
rapidly spreading. The distress of the faithful evangelist was
extreme. He journeyed to Rome in order to lay this state of things
before the apostle, and to seek his counsel and assistance. The
apostle bears testimony to his profound anxiety for the spiritual
condition of the newly founded Churches on the banks of the Lycus. He
had much toil for them and was ever fervently wrestling in prayer on
their behalf, that they might stand fast and not lose the simplicity
of their earlier faith but might advance to a more perfect knowledge
of the Divine will. In the verses now under consideration we have
Epaphras brought before us as _the model pastor._
+I. The model pastor is distinguished by a suggestive
designation.+--"A servant of Christ" (ver. 12). This title, which the
apostle uses several times for himself, is not elsewhere conferred on
any other individual, except once on Timothy (Phil. i. 1), and
probably points to exceptional services in the cause of the Gospel on
the part of Epaphras (_Lightfoot_). A true pastor is not the servant
of the Church to echo its decisions and do its bidding; but he is the
servant _for_ the Church to influence its deliberations and
decisions, to mould its character and direct its enterprises. He is
_a servant of Christ,_ receiving his commission from Him, ever
anxious to ascertain His will, and ready to carry out that will at
whatever sacrifice. Such a service involves no loss of self-respect
or manliness, no degradation, but is free, honourable, and rich in
blessing.
+II. The model pastor is incessant in zealous labour.+--"For I bear
him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in
Laodicea and them in Hierapolis" (ver. 13). The zeal of Epaphras
urged him to extend his Christian labours beyond the limits of
Colossæ: he visited the adjoining cities, which were much larger in
population and wealthier in commerce. Laodicea, rising from
obscurity, had become, two or three generations before the apostle
wrote, a populous and thriving city, and was then the metropolis of
the cities on the banks of the Lycus. Hierapolis was an important and
growing city, and, in addition to its trade in dyed wools, had a
reputation as a fashionable watering-place, where the seekers of
pleasure and of health resorted to partake of its waters which
possessed valuable medicinal qualities. The rare virtues of the city
have been celebrated in song:
"Hail, fairest soil in all broad Asia's realm;
Hail, golden city, nymph divine, bedeck'd
With flowing rills, thy jewels."
Into the midst of these populations the fervent Epaphras introduced
the Gospel and spared no pains in his endeavour to establish and
confirm the believers. It was on their behalf he undertook the
journey to Rome to confer with St. Paul as to their state; and the
apostle testifies to the unceasing exercise of his great and holy
zeal for his distant but ever-remembered flock. When the heart is
interested and moved, labour is a delight; and it is the way in which
the heart is affected towards any work that gives to it significance
and worth. Canon Liddon writes: "Are we not very imperfectly alive to
the moral meaning of work and the moral fruits of work as work?" The
true pastor, with a heart overflowing with zeal for the glory of God
and the good of men, cheerfully undertakes labour from which the
ordinary worker would timidly shrink.
+III. The model pastor is intensely exercised in prayer for the
people of God.+--"Always labouring fervently [wrestling, agonising]
for you in prayers" (ver. 12). The faithful minister has not only to
teach his flock--a task which involves vigilant observation,
extensive reading, and anxious study--but he has also to plead
earnestly at the throne of grace on their behalf. In times of
spiritual dearth, disappointment, embarrassment, and distress, prayer
is the all-efficacious resource. There are circumstances in which the
minister can do nothing but pray. Difficulties that defied all other
means have vanished before the irresistible power of persistent and
believing intercession. Prayer attains what the most conclusive
reasoning, the most eloquent appeal, the most diligent personal
attention, sometimes fail to accomplish. It sets in silent but
stupendous operation the mightiest spiritual agencies of the
universe. It opens the fountain of Divine grace, and its streams flow
in full-tide velocity through the hitherto arid wilderness of human
hearts, and life, freshness, fertility, and beauty spring up in its
reviving course. It is God only whose help is omnipotent, and on this
help faithful prayer lays hold and uses it in effecting its wonderous
transformations.
+IV. The model pastor is constantly solicitous that the people of God
should be firmly established in the highest good.+--"That ye may
stand perfect and complete in all the will of God" (ver.
12)--perfectly instructed and fully convinced in everything willed
_by God._ The great aim of all ministerial anxiety is not only to
instruct his people in the full and accurate knowledge of the Divine
will, but to produce such a persuasion of the supreme majesty and
authority of that will to induce steadfast continuance in practical
obedience. The will of God and the highest good of man are always in
harmony. Whatever threatens to disturb the stability of the believer,
or to retard his development towards the highest moral excellence,
whether it arises from his personal unwatchfulness and indifference
or from the subtle attacks of error, is always a subject of keen
solicitude to the faithful pastor. He knows that if his converts fall
away they are lost and the truth itself is disgraced. To be
established in an unswerving obedience it is necessary to be _filled_
with the knowledge of God's will. This blessedness is the grand scope
and crowning glory of the Christian life.
+Lessons.+--1. _The office of pastor is fraught with endless
anxieties, great responsibilities, and rare opportunities._ 2. _The
true pastor finds his purest inspirations, his most potent spiritual
weapon, and his grandest successes in prayer._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14-17.
_Christian Greetings and Counsels._
It is sometimes asked, with an indiscriminate flippancy, "What's in a
name?" There are some names which have no title to a lasting
remembrance, and with reference to these the flippancy may be
justified. But there are names whose reputation is imperishable, and
which are written on the world's history in indelible characters. The
name of Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, will be venerated by
the coming ages when the titles of the greatest sages and warriors
shall have faded away in the darkness of oblivion; and, just as there
are lesser lights in the firmament that share in the glory of the
great luminary to which they are essentially related, so there are
names of lesser note grouped around that of the great apostle that
are immortalised by their association with him. Besides, names as
they are quoted and used by St. Paul in this and other epistles often
furnish evidence of the authenticity of Scripture and undesigned
coincidences of the truth of the sacred history. In these verses
there are some names preserved to us which were lifted into
prominence by the connection of the persons they represented with the
apostle, and by their own eminent piety and usefulness. They furnish
another illustration of the truth of the sacred saying, "The memory
of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot" (Prov.
x. 7). We have here a series of kindly Christian greetings and
important Christian counsels. Observe:--
+I. The value of a Christian greeting is estimated by the moral
character of those from whom it emanates.+--"Luke, the beloved
physician, and Demas, greet you" (ver. 14). Two persons are here
mentioned whose individual histories present a suggestive contrast;
and it is observable, by the way in which their names are mentioned,
that the two men stood very differently in the apostle's estimation.
1. _Luke is the beloved physician_--the very dear and attached friend
of Paul. He was his constant companion in travel and stood faithfully
by him in his greatest trials. He joined the apostle at Troas (Acts
xvi. 10), accompanied him into Judea, remained with him during two
years of his imprisonment at Jerusalem and Cæsarea, and was no doubt
present at his trial before Festus and Felix; he went with him into
Italy when Paul was sent there as a prisoner, and during his second
and final imprisonment in Rome; while others deserted him, Luke
continued his staunch and faithful friend. In the last epistle
probably the apostle ever wrote is the simple but pathetic reference,
"Only Luke is with me." We can understand, therefore, the
affectionate tenderness with which Luke is designated the beloved
physician. As St. Paul was not a robust man but was troubled with a
"thorn in the flesh," the presence of a medical friend must have been
of immense service to him in his laborious missionary journeys and
during his long imprisonment. The physicians of ancient times had a
very questionable reputation for religiousness; but in these modern
days there is an increasing number of medical men who are no less
eminent for piety than for their professional skill, and many and
important are the opportunities of such for doing good both to body
and soul. The greetings of a man of superlative moral excellence is
gratefully welcomed and respectfully treasured.
2. _And Demas!_--How suggestive is the laconic allusion! There is no
explanation, no qualifying word of any special regard. Perhaps the
apostle was already beginning to suspect him, to mark the increasing
worldliness of his spirit, and his growing indifference to Divine
things. About three years after this greeting was despatched to the
Colossians, we meet with the melancholy record: "Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world" (2 Tim. iv. 10). Alas! how
seductive and how fatal are the allurements of the world! The highest
and holiest are not invulnerable to its charms. The most promising
career of usefulness and honour has often been blighted by its
influence. Bitter indeed would be the disappointment of the apostle's
heart to witness one, whom he had acknowledged and trusted as a
fellow-worker in the Gospel, fall a victim to worldly avarice, and,
like Achan, covet the golden wedge and Babylonish garment of secular
things. There is a specially solemn significance in the warning of
the beloved disciple: "Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world" (1 John ii. 15).
+II. Christian greeting recognises the universal brotherhood of the
Church.+--1. _We learn the early Christian churches were composed of
brethren._ "Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea" (ver. 15).
This recognition of a common brotherhood was a great advance upon the
eclecticism and sharp, prejudiced distinctions of the times. In the
circle of the Christian Church the Jew surrendered his Judaism, and
the Gentile his paganism, and became one in Christ; the slave and the
freeman enjoyed the same spiritual liberty, and the barbarian was no
longer dreaded as a monster, but hailed as a brother. The test of
brotherhood and union is an individual faith in the common Saviour,
the sharing of one common life in the Holy Spirit, and the assurance
of possessing one common Father in God. It is only as we encourage
the brotherly spirit that we can ensure union and permanency in the
Churches. About thirty years after this salutation was sent to the
Laodiceans, the Church in that city had degenerated into a state of
lukewarmness and sterility (Rev. iii. 15, 16). There is need for
united watchfulness and fidelity in order to continue, "steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Cor. xv. 58).
2. _We learn further that a separate assembly of brethren constituted
a Church._--"And Nymphas, and the Church which is in his house" (ver.
15). This was not the principal Church in Laodicea, nor was it simply
a meeting together of the family, but an assembly of worshippers.
Nymphas was probably a man of position and influence in the city and
being also a man of piety, he afforded every opportunity for the
gathering together of the brethren for Christian worship and
communion. There is little said in the New Testament about Church
polity, and there is no ecclesiastical organisation, whether
Episcopal, Presbyterian, or Congregational, that can claim exclusive
Divine authority and sanction. Whether meeting in large numbers in
the stately cathedral, the modern tabernacle, or a few in the private
dwelling-house, a company of believers assembled for worship and
mutual edification constitutes a Church. Thus the true brotherhood of
Christianity is maintained, irrespective of locality, of
ecclesiastical structure, or of sacerdotal claims and pretensions.
+III. The reading of the Holy Scriptures in the Church an important
subject of apostolic counsel.+--"And when this epistle is read among
you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans, and
that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea" (ver. 16). The
epistle from Laodicea refers to a letter that St. Paul had sent to
that city, and which was to be forwarded to Colossæ for perusal. Some
think this was a letter specifically addressed to the Laodiceans, and
which is now lost; but the best commentators now believe that the
epistle to the Ephesians is meant, which was, in fact, a circular
letter addressed to the principal Churches in proconsular Asia.
Tychicus was obliged to pass through Laodicea on his way to Colossæ
and would leave a copy of the Ephesian epistle there before the
Colossian letter was delivered. Here we learn that one important
means of edification was the reading of the inspired letters of the
apostle in the assemblies of the brethren. The public reading of the
Scriptures has been an invaluable method of instruction to the Church
in all ages and places, and it is a provision with which the Church
will never be able to dispense. The Church which dares to prohibit
the general perusal of the Scriptures, or reads only small portions,
and those mumbled in a language not understood by the people, has
thrown off all regard for apostolic counsel and inflicts an
unutterable injury upon humanity. Shut up the Bible, and the Churches
will instantly be invaded by the most enfeebling superstitions, the
civilisation of the nations will be put centuries behind, and the
widespread ignorance and moral and social degradation of the dark
ages will reappear.
+IV. An example of apostolic counsel concerning fidelity in the
Christian ministry.+--"And say to Archippus, Take heed to the
ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it"
(ver. 17). It is probable that Archippus was a youthful pastor
recently appointed to the Church at Laodicea. Already signs of a
slackened zeal began to appear, which afterwards culminated in the
state of lukewarmness for which this Church was denounced (Rev.
iii. 19). The condition of preacher and people reacts upon each
other; the Church takes its colour from and communicates its colour
to its spiritual pastor. Hence the apostle, well knowing the perils
surrounding the inexperienced Archippus, sends to him this timely
warning to take heed of his ministry. He is reminded of:--
1. _The direct authority of the ministry._--"The ministry which thou
hast received in the Lord." The commission to preach the Gospel can
come from no other than the Lord and can be properly received only by
one who is himself spiritually in the Lord; there must be not only
_gifts,_ but also _grace._ The minister must be in direct and
constant communication with the Lord, depend on Him for help in doing
his duty, remember he is accountable to Him, and strive to seek His
glory in preference to all personal considerations. In times of
difficulty and trial it will sustain the courage of the minister to
feel that his commission is Divine in its source and authority.
2. _The implied dangers of the ministry._--"Take heed." The special
dangers that threatened the Colossian Church at that time have been
distinctly pointed out in the epistle. The ministry is ever
encompassed with perils, arising from the seductive forms of error,
the flatteries and frowns of the world, the subtle workings of
self-approbation, and the deceitfulness of sin. There is need for the
exercise of a sleepless vigilance, a tireless zeal, and a faultless
circumspection.
3. _The imperative personal demands of the ministry._--"That thou
fulfil it." The whole truth must be made known, and that with the
utmost clearness, faithfulness, kindness, and completeness. Every
energy must be consecrated to the sacred work, and the aid of all the
powers of heaven earnestly implored. No pains must be spared in
prayer, study, and self-sacrifice to reach the highest efficiency and
make "full proof" of the ministry. Failure here is lamentable and
irremediable.
+Lessons.+--1. _Salutations are valuable when imbued with the
Christian spirit._ 2. _The true appreciation of the Holy Scriptures
is shown in their constant and studious perusal._ 3. _The Christian
ministry should be sustained by practical sympathy and intelligent
co-operation._
_GERM NOTES OF THE VERSES._
Ver. 14. "Luke, the beloved physician." _Religion and the Medical
Profession._
+I. The deference shown to medical science.+
+II. Benevolence of the medical profession.+
+III. Religious drawbacks in assaults from materialism.--Mind is one
thing, matter is another.+
+IV. Religious responsibilities.--Vast power for good. Co-operation
with the minister.+
+V. The Great Physician.--Doctor and patient need Him
alike.+--_Homiletic Monthly._
Ver. 16. _The Public Reading of the Holy Scriptures an Important
Means of Church Edification._
+I. It is in harmony with the usage of the ancient Church.+
+II. It is enforced by precept and example in the Scriptures
themselves.+
+III. It familiarises the mind with the grandest truths.+
+IV. It is a mighty agency in advocating and moulding national
character.+
+V. It keeps alive the enthusiasm of the Church for aggressive
enterprise.+
+VI. It demands the most laborious study and practice to render
it effective.+
Ver. 17. _The Christian Ministry a Solemn and Responsible Trust._
+I. It is Divine in its bestowal.+--"Received in the Lord."
+II. It is personal in its responsibility.+--"Which thou hast
received."
+III. It involves the communication of good to others.+--"Ministry."
+IV. It has a special aspect of importance to the individual
minister.+--"The ministry."
"That thou fulfil it." _The Christian Ministry demands Unswerving
Fidelity in accomplishing its Lofty Mission._
+I. Divine truth must be clearly apprehended and profoundly
realised.+
+II. The whole truth must be declared.+
+III. The declaration of the truth must be full and courageous.+
"Take heed." _The Christian Ministry is surrounded by Peculiar
Perils._--A shrewd and ever-wakeful vigilance is needed--
+I. Against the stealthy encroachments of error.+
+II. Against the pernicious influences of the world.+
+III. Against the subtle temptations to unfaithfulness.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.
_Words of Farewell._
Last words have in them a nameless touch of pathos. They linger in
the memory as a loved familiar presence, they soothe life's sorrows,
and exert upon the soul a strange and irresistible fascination. As
the years rush by, how rich in meaning do the words that have fallen
from dying lips become, as when Cæsar said sadly, "And thou,
Brutus!"; or when John Quincy Adams said, "This is the last of
earth"; or Mirabeau's frantic cry for music, after a life of discord;
or George Washington's calm statement, "It is well"; or Wesley's
triumphant utterance, "The best of all is, God is with us." And these
closing words of the high-souled apostle written from his Roman
prison, in prospect of threatened death, carry with them a
significance and tenderness which will be felt wherever this epistle
is read. In these words we have a _personally inscribed salutation, a
touching reminder, and a brief benediction._
+I. A personally inscribed salutation.+--"The salutation by the hand
of me Paul." The rest of the epistle was dictated by the apostle to
an amanuensis, who, in this case, was probably Timothy. Paul adds his
own personal salutation, not only as an expression of his anxious
love, but also as a mark of the authenticity of the document, and of
his unqualified approval of its contents. It would surely be a scene
worthy of the pencil of genius to portray the noble prisoner, whose
right hand was linked to the left of his military gaoler, tracing
with tremulous fingers the final words to those for whose sake he was
in bonds! How would the hand-writing of such a man be prized and
venerated, and with what holy eagerness would his words be read and
pondered!
+II. A touching reminder.+--"Remember my bonds." The apostle was in
prison, not for any offence against the laws of God or man, but for
the sake of the Gospel he loved to preach, and which had wrought so
marvellous a change in the lives of those to whom he wrote. His bonds
bore irrefragable testimony to the truth he was called to proclaim,
and to his unalterable determination to insist upon the rights and
privileges of the Gentiles, on whose behalf he suffered. He wished to
be remembered in prayer, that he might be sustained in his
imprisonment, and that he might be speedily delivered from it, so
that he might preach the glorious news of spiritual liberty to the
benighted and fettered sons of men. "Remember my bonds." These words
seem to indicate that the illustrious prisoner was more concerned to
exhibit a spirit and deportment betting the Gospel than to be
released from his incarceration. The Church of Christ in all ages has
had abundant reason to remember with gratitude and praise the bonds
of the great apostle, not only for the stimulating example of holy
patience and dignified submission displayed under trying
circumstances, but for the unspeakably precious literary treasures
they enabled him to bequeath to the world. Bishop Wordsworth has well
said: "The fact that this epistle was written by Paul in this state
of durance and restraint, and yet designed to minister comfort to
others, and that it has never ceased to cheer the Church of Christ,
is certainly one which is worthy of everlasting remembrance." In the
prayer for "all prisoners and captives" special reference should be
made to those who are now suffering for the truth. The offence of the
cross has not yet ceased. We must practically remember the imprisoned
when we supply their wants and assuage their sufferings.
+III. A brief benediction.+--"Grace be with you. Amen." The epistle
begins and ends with blessing; and between these two extremes lies a
magnificent body of truth which has dispensed blessings to thousands
and is destined to bless thousands more. The benediction is short,
but it is instinct with fervent life and laden with the unutterable
wealth of Divine beneficence. Grace is inclusive of all the good God
can bestow or man receive. Grace is what all need, what none can
merit, and what God alone can give. To possess the grace of God is to
be rich indeed; without it "'Tis misery all, and woe." Grace kindles
the lamp of hope amidst the darkest experiences of life, supplies the
clue which unravels the most tangled mysteries, presses the nectar of
consolation into the bitterest cup, implants in the soul its holiest
motives and opens up its noblest career, strengthens the dying saint
when he traverses the lonely borderland of the unknown, and tunes and
perpetuates the celestial harmonies of the everlasting song.
+Lessons.+--1. _Praise God for a well-authenticated Bible._
2. _Praise God for the teachings of a suffering life._ 3. _Praise God
for His boundless grace._
* * * * * * * *
+Transcriber's Notes+
- Page 371, Introduction, second paragraph, change "ii. 8, 9" to
"ch. ii. 8, 9" and "ii. 11" to "ch. ii. 11."
- Page 372, Introduction, first "Occasion" paragraph, apply RC to
"Gospel." "Style" paragraph, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 374, notes on chapter i., verse 6, apply RC to "Gospel"
(twice). Verse 9, add right double quote after "prudent." Verse
10, apply RC to "the Gospel"; add left parenthesis before "see
ver. 6."
- Page 375, verse 22, change "unblamable" to "unblameable" and
"unreprovable" to "unreproveable." Verse 23, apply RC to "the
Gospel."
- Page 376, verse 28, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice). Lesson
"Salutation," point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point II, apply RC to
"Divine" (twice).
- Page 377, same lesson, point III, add comma to "won and." Point
IV, apply RC to "the Gospel"; remove comma from "Churches, and."
Lesson "Estimate," point I 2, remove comma from "faith, and."
Point II, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 378, same lesson, point II 3, apply RC to "Divine." Lesson
"Causes," point I, remove comma from "God, and." Point II, add
comma to "Thus God"; apply RC to "Divine" (twice); remove comma
from "good, and." Point III 1, apply RC to "Divinely" and
"Divine-human."
- Page 379, same lesson, point III 3, remove comma from "worker,
and." Point V 3, apply RC to "the Gospel"; remove comma from
"truth, and"; apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice). Application
("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 380, "Good News" note, each of points I, III 1, and III 3,
apply RC to "the Gospel." "Hope" note, point III, apply RC to "the
Gospel." Lesson "True Gospel," introduction, apply RC to "the
Gospel" and "Divine"; remove commas from "understanding, and" and
"axiomatic, and"; apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice), "Divine" and
"the Gospel." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel" (five times); remove
comma from "mission, and."
- Page 381, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice).
Point II, apply RC to "Gospel" (thrice); add comma to "Thus it";
apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point III, apply RC to "Gospel,"
"Word," "Gospel," "Divine Spirit," and "Gospel" (twice). Point IV,
apply RC to "Gospel." Point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel,"
"Divinely," and "Gospel."
- Page 382, same lesson, point IV 2 (3), apply RC to "the Gospel."
Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and
"Divine." Each of points 2 and 3, apply RC to "Gospel." "Gospel"
note, point III, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 383, lesson "Comprehensive," point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"
(thrice). Point II 3, apply RC to "Gospel," "Divine," "Gospel,"
and "Divine."
- The break between pages 383 and 384 is in a unit that style
indicates should not be broken "Lord|--worthy." The whole unit
was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 384, same lesson, point III 1, add comma to "purpose we."
Point III 2, add comma to "Thus the"; remove comma from "heaven,
and." Point III 4, apply RC to "Divine." Point IV 1, apply RC to
"Divine."
- Page 385, same lesson, point IV 2, apply RC to "Divine" and
"Providence." Point IV 3, apply RC to "His cause." "Paul's Prayer"
note, point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point III, remove comma from
"life, and."
- Page 386, lesson "Meetness," point I 2, capitalise "Divine,"
referring to a churchman. Point I 3, apply RC to "Divine"; add
comma to "Thus all."
- Page 387, same lesson, point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add comma
to "So men"; remove comma from "realms, and." Point II 3, apply RC
to "Divine."
- Page 388, "Inheritance" note, point II 1, add double quotes around
"inheritance." Point II 2, add double quotes around "saints."
Lesson "Translation," point I 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 389, same lesson, point II 1, add comma to "So the." Point
II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add comma to "subjects we." Point III,
apply RC to "Divine." Point III 1, remove comma from "law, and";
apply RC to "Divine." Point III 2, remove comma from "blessings,
but"; apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
- Page 390, same lesson, point III 3, apply RC to "Divine."
Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divine." "Darkness"
note, point III, apply RC to "Divine." "Great Blessing" note
title, change "Re demption" to "Redemption." Lesson "Relation"
title, change "Greated" to "Created." Point I, apply RC to
"Divine."
- Page 391, same lesson, point II 1 (1), add comma to "Therefore
the." Point II 1 (2), apply RC to "First Cause," "Active Agent,"
and "Grand End." Point II 2 (1), apply RC to "First Cause"; remove
comma from "speculation, and."
- Page 392, same lesson, point II 2 (2), change double quotes around
"thrones," "dominions," "principalities," and "powers" to single
quotes within the Spence quotation. Point II 2 (3), apply RC to
"Great End." Point II 3, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 4, remove
comma from "Him, and."
- Page 394, lesson "Relation," point II 2, apply RC to "Divine";
remove comma from "Hades, and." Point III 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 395, "Church the Body" note, point III 2, apply RC to
"Gospel." Point IV 1, remove comma from "Christ, and."
- Page 396, lesson "Reconciling," point I 1, apply RC to "Divine"
(twice) and "Divinity"; remove commas from "universe, and" and
"beings, and." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply
RC to "Divine" (twice). Point II 2, add comma to "therefore it."
- Page 397, same note, same point, apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
Point II 2 (1), add comma to "aside and." Point II 2 (2), remove
comma from "other, and." Point II 2 (3), apply RC to "Divine"
(twice). Point III, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 398, "Fulness" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine." Lesson
"Blessings," introduction, remove comma from "sin, and"; change
"His restoration" to "his," referring to a sinful man. Point I 1,
apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 399, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
Point II 2, remove comma from "Christ, and"; apply RC to "Divine."
Point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point III 2, change "unblamable"
to "unblameable"; remove comma from "term, and." Point III 3,
change "unreprovable" to "unreproveable" and "unblamable" to
"unblameable."
- Page 400, same lesson, same point, change "unreprovable" to
"unreproveable." "Reconciliation" note, point II 3, apply RC to
"Himself." "Holiness" note, point I, change "unblamable" to
"unblameable" and "unreprovable" to "unreproveable." Lesson
"Condition," introduction, add comma to "so the"; apply RC to
"Gospel" (twice). Point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point I 1, apply
RC to "Divine."
- Page 401, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 1,
apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point II 2, apply RC to "Gospel,"
"Divine," and "Gospel" (thrice). Point II 3, apply RC to "Gospel"
(thrice); remove comma from "lands, and"; apply RC to "Gospel."
Point II 4, apply RC to "Gospel" (four times).
- Page 402, same lesson, same point, remove comma from "phenomena,
and"; apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 5, apply RC to "Gospel"
(thrice) and "Word." Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to
"Gospel." Lesson "Joy," introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point
I 1, add comma to "Thus he."
- Page 403, same lesson, point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point
II 2, remove comma from "deeper, and"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 404, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson
"Honor," introduction, apply RC to "Word" and "Gospel." Point I,
apply RC to "Divine." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divinely"; change
the comma after "own" to a semi-colon, for consistency in
punctuating the series; apply RC to "Divine." Point I 2, apply RC
to "Divine" and "Gospel."
- Page 405, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Word." Point II 1,
apply RC to "Divine" (thrice) and "Gospel." Point II 2, apply RC
to "Gospel" and "Divine" (twice). Point II 3, apply RC to "Divine"
and "Gospel." Point II 4, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine."
- Page 406, same lesson, point II 4 (1), apply RC to "Gospel"
(twice). Point II 4 (2), apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from
"Him, and." Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to
"Divinely." "Glory" note, point III, apply RC to "Divinely."
"Christ in you" note, correct point I to put the period after the
number. Lesson "Preaching," introduction, remove comma from
"preacher, and"; apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine."
- Page 407, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 3,
apply RC to "Gospel"; add "Acts iv. 12" reference; remove comma
from "theme, but." Point II 2, add "(ver. 28)" for consistency;
add comma to "Hence he." Point II 4, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 408, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice).
Point IV, apply RC to "Divinely" and "Gospel"; remove commas from
"all, and" and "age, and"; apply RC to "Gospel," "Divine,"
"Divinely," and "Divine." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply
RC to "Divine." "Ministry" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 410, lesson "Anxiety," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
Point I, remove comma from "thought, and."
- Page 411, same lesson, point II, remove comma from "truth, but";
capitalise "Divine" as referring to a churchman. Point III 1, add
comma to "Hence he." Point III 3, apply RC to "Divine." Point
III 3 (1), apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 412, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Divine." Point
III 3 (2), apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point III 3 (3), apply RC
to "Divine," "Gospel" (thrice), and "Divine"; add "Prov. viii. 11"
reference. Point IV, apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from
"outlook, and."
- Page 413, same lesson, same point, add "Eph. v. 6" reference.
Lesson "Hidden Treasures," introduction, remove comma from
"treasure, but"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 414, same lesson, point I 1, remove comma from "Him, and."
Point I 2, remove comma from "everywhere, and." Point I 3, apply
RC to "Divine."
- Page 415, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine"; change
"ar#" to "are"; add comma to "So in." "Unity" note, point I, apply
RC to "Gospel."
- Page 416, lesson "Apostolic Praise," point I, apply RC to "Divine"
(twice); remove comma from "brief, but"; add "1 Cor. xiv. 40,
xiv. 33, xvi. 14, xi. 34" references. Point II, apply RC to
"served Him"; change exclamation point to question mark; remove
comma from "form, and."
- Page 417, point III 2, remove comma from "order, and." Lesson
"Suggestive," point I, remove comma from "rapidity, and" (twice);
apply RC to "Divine." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 418, same lesson, point I 2, remove comma from "law, but."
Point III, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 419, same lesson, point III 2, remove comma from "tense,
and." Point IV, remove commas from "word, and" and "difficulties,
and." Application ("Lessons"), each of points 1 and 2, apply RC to
"Divinely." "Retrospection" note, point I 2, apply RC to "Divine."
"Imitation" note, point II, remove comma for "imitate, and."
- Page 420, lesson "Marks," introduction, remove comma from "morals,
and." Point I, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from
"Gnosticism, and"; add "Rom i. 21, 22" reference.
- Page 422, same lesson, point V, add "John x. 10" reference. Point
VI 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Point VI 2, remove comma from "rest,
and." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, remove comma from "false,
and." Lesson "Divine Fulness," introduction, apply RC to "Divine."
Point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 1, add comma to "Hence we";
apply RC to "Divine" (twice), "Divinity," and "Divine." Point I 2,
remove comma from "deity, and."
- Page 423, same lesson, point I 3, remove comma from "enshrined,
and"; apply RC to "Divine" (four times); add "John i. 14"
reference. Point III 1, add "1 John v. 12" reference; apply RC to
"Divine" (twice). Point III 2, apply RC to "the Spirit." Point
III 3, add "1 Thess. iv. 17" reference.
- Page 424, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC
to "Divine." Lesson "Circumcision," introduction, apply RC to
"Divine"; add comma to "Thus their."
- Page 425, same lesson, point I, add "Ezek. xliv. 9; Duet. xxx. 6"
references. Point III, apply RC to "Divine" (twice), remove comma
from "law, and." Point IV, remove comma from "dies, and"; apply RC
to "Diviner."
- Page 426, same lesson, point VI, apply RC to "Divine"; remove
comma from "gift, and"; apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Lesson
"Transition," introduction, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 427, same lesson, point I 2, remove comma from "health, and."
Each of points I 3 (1) and I 3 (2), apply RC to "Divine." Point
I 3 (2), remove comma from "life, and." Point II 1, remove comma
from "bondage, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to
"Divine"; add comma to "pardoned and."
- Page 428, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine" (thrice).
Lesson "Triumph," point I 1, remove comma from "creation, and."
Point II 2, add comma to "again they." Point II 3, remove comma
from "death, and."
- Page 430, lesson "Ceremonial," introduction, remove comma from
"real, and"; apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from "ordinances,
and"; capitalise "Christianised." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 431, same lesson, point II, add comma to "so the"; apply RC
to "Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "Antitype"; remove comma from
"it, when."
- Page 432, lesson "Seductive," introduction, remove comma from
"them, and." Point II 2, remove comma from "God, and." Point II 3,
change "mortal man venture" to "mortal man ventures."
- Page 433, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point
III 3, apply RC to "Divine" (twice). "How a Church lives" note,
point II 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 434, lesson "Ceremonial," point II 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 436, same lesson, point IV 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 437, notes on chapter iii., verse 15, change "ii. 18" to "ch.
ii. 18." Verse 16, apply RC to "Divine"; add an em-dash at the end
of the paragraph. Verse 18, remove comma from "here, and." Verse
23, add double quotes around "Whatsoever ye do, work heartily" and
"from the soul."
- The page break between pages 439 and 440 is in a unit that style
indicates should not be broken: "conduct.--1. |A." The entire unit
was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 438, lesson "Aspirations," point II 1, change "ver. 2" to
"ver. 1."
- Page 439, same lesson, point II 2, add an em-dash at the end of
the paragraph.
- Page 440, lesson "Present Condition," introduction, apply RC to
"Divine light." Point I, remove comma from "past, and."
- Page 441, same lesson, point II 2, add comma to "undiscerning He."
Point III, apply RC to "His Word."
- Page 443, lesson "Mortification," point I 3, remove comma from
"heart, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II, apply RC to
"Divine"; remove comma from "come, and"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 444, same lesson, point V, remove commas from "disguised,
and" and "man, and"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 445, lesson "New Nature," introduction, remove comma from
"garments, but"; add comma to "So the"; remove comma from "state,
but"; add comma to "words he." Point I, apply RC to "Divine"
(twice). Point II, remove commas from "once, but" and "possessed,
but"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 446, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine"; remove
comma from "unsuited, and." Point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
Point IV 2, remove comma from "country, and." Point IV 3, apply RC
to "Gospel." Point V, apply RC to "Source," "Centre," "Ideal," and
"Possession"; change "He" to "he," referring to the believer.
- Page 447, "Religion" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine."
"Christ" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine," remove commas from
"civ., and" and "hearts, and." Point III, apply RC to "Divine"
(twice).
- Page 448, same note, point IV, remove comma from "Him, and."
Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 449, lesson "Essentials," point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" and
"Son." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 3, apply RC to
"Divine."
- Page 451, lesson "Love," introduction, remove commas from
"romance, and" and "garment, and." Point I, remove comma from
"Ghost, and."
- Page 452, same lesson, point IV 2, remove comma from "changed,
if." Lesson "Rule," point I, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 453, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Divine"; remove
comma from "cross, and"; apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from
"Christ, and." Point II, remove commas from "games, and" and
"stadium, and." Point II 1, remove comma from "duty, and"; apply
RC to "Divine." Point II 2, remove comma from "temptation, and."
Point II 3, remove comma from "right, and"; apply RC to "His
Word"; add "Ps. li. 10" reference.
- Page 454, same lesson, point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and "God's
Word." Point IV 2, remove comma from "body, so"; apply RC to
"Spirit." Point V, change "sin#" to "sins" and "#ll" to "all";
apply RC to "Divine." "Peace" note, point I, apply RC to "His
Word."
- Page 455, lesson "Poetry," introduction, remove comma from "first,
and"; apply RC to "Divinely" and "Divine Word." Point I, apply RC
to "Divine Word." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine Word," "Word,"
and "Gospel." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine Word," "Word,"
"Divinity," and "Word" (twice).
- Page 456, same lesson, point II, remove comma from "arrangement,
and." Point III 1, apply RC to "Word" (twice). After the poem,
remove comma from "dying, and." Application ("Lessons"), point 1,
apply RC to "Divine Word."
- Page 457, first note, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC
to "Word." Second note, add "I." before first bold point and apply
RC to "Word." Point I 3, apply RC to "Word" (twice). Point II 3,
apply RC to "Word" (twice). Application ("Lessons"), each of point
1 and 2, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 460, lesson "Duties of Husbands," point I 1, apply RC to
"Divine."
- Page 461, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine." Point
III 2, remove comma from "supreme, and."
- Page 462, lesson "Duties of Parents," point I 1, apply RC to
"Divine." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
- Page 463, point II 2, replace left single quote before "Lest" with
a left double quote. Lesson "Duties of Masters," introduction,
remove comma from "slavery, and."
- Page 464, same lesson, point I, add "Rev. vii. 15" and "Mark
x. 45" references; remove comma from "servitude, but." Point II 1,
remove commas from "slaves, and" and "slavery, and." Point II 2,
add "ver. 22" reference; apply RC to "Divine." Point III 1, add
"heartily" into the verse 23 quotation; apply RC to "Divine."
Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine"; change "He hath done what he
could" to "She hath done what she could" to match KJV and add
"Mark xiv. 8" reference.
- Page 465, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "Divine"; add "1 Pet.
i. 4" reference. Point V, remove comma from "light, and." Point
VI 2, add "Matt. xxiii. 8" and "Matt. xxv. 40" references.
- Page 466, critical notes for chapter iv., verse 3, apply RC to
"Word."
- Page 467, lesson "Efficacy," introduction, apply RC to "Divine";
remove comma from "petitioner, but"; apply RC to "Divine." Point
I, remove comma from "make, and."
- Page 468, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine"; add double
quotes around the saying of an old writer (assumed to finish the
paragraph). Point IV, apply RC to "Gospel." Point IV 1, apply RC
to "Gospel"; change "once popular minister" to "once-popular
minister." Point IV 2, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice).
- The break between pages 468 and 469 is in the word "declaration":
declara|tion.
- Page 469, same lesson, point IV 3, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice),
"Divine," and "Gospel." Point IV 4, apply RC to "Gospel" (four
times). Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 470, lesson "Wise," introduction, remove comma from "life,
and." Point I 1, add "ver. 5" reference. Point I 2, apply RC to
"Spirit." Point I 3, remove comma from "itself, and"; apply RC to
"Gospel."
- Page 471, same lesson, point I 4, remove comma from "eagerness,
and." Point II 3, remove comma from "tongue, and." First note, add
sentence-ending period to point IV.
- Page 472, "Truth" note, point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point IV,
remove comma from "religion, but." Lesson "Side-lights,"
introduction, remove comma from "epistle, and." Point I, apply RC
to "Gospel."
- Page 473, same lesson, point II, remove commas from "Paul, and"
and "crowds, and"; apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine." Point III,
remove comma from "Ephesus, and."
- Page 474, same lesson, point IV, remove comma from "ritual, and";
apply RC to "Gospel"; add comma to "thus they"; remove comma from
"Christ, and"; apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from
"professors, and."
- Page 475, lesson "Model Pastor," introduction, apply RC to
"Gospel"; remove commas from "them, and" and "faith, but"; apply
RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, after
poem, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 476, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point IV,
apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 477, lesson "Greetings," introduction, add "Prov. x. 7"
reference. Point I 1, remove commas from "travel, and" and "man,
but." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel."
- Page 478, same lesson, point II 1, add "1 Cor. xv. 58" reference.
Point II 2, remove comma from "city, and"; add comma to "piety
he"; apply RC to "Divine." Point III, remove comma from "Colossæ,
and."
- Page 479, point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from
"Lord, and"; apply RC to "Divine." "Luke" note, point V, apply RC
to "Great Physician." "Ministry" note, point I, apply RC to
"Divine."
- Page 480, lesson "Farewell," point I, change "mo" to "me." Point
II, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice).
- Page 481, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine."
+THE FIRST EPISTLE+
+TO THE THESSALONIANS.+
* * * * * * * *
+INTRODUCTION.+
+Thessalonica and its Church.+--Most of the Churches of the New
Testament belonged to cities which, if they have not dropped out of
existence altogether, are scarcely recognisable to-day. Thessalonica
exists as a place of considerable commercial importance, with a
population of 70,000, under the shortened form of "Saloniki." It is
situated at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, so called from the ancient
name of the town which rises like an amphitheatre above its blue
waters. _Therma_ is the name by which the town comes into history,
the _warm_ mineral springs of the neighbourhood originating the
appropriate designation. Cassander, son-in-law of Philip of Macedon,
gave to the city the name of his wife, "Thessalonica." Its position
brought commerce both by sea and land, for, in addition to its
natural harbour, the Via Egnatia, like a great artery, drove its
stream of traffic through the town. Trade brought riches, and riches
luxurious living and licentiousness. But if sin abounded, so did the
grace which sent the heralds of deliverance from sin in the persons
of St. Paul and Silas, fresh from their terrible beating and the
dungeon of Philippi, and Timothy, the ever-valued friend of St. Paul.
Jews were in Thessalonica in greater force than in Philippi; and St.
Paul, perhaps not with any great hope of success amongst the
adherents of the religion in which he had been trained, but according
to his constant rule, went first to the synagogue, hoping that, as
elsewhere, devout souls not content with the materialism and atheism
of their day might be amongst those who were drawn towards the faith
of Israel. So at least it proved, and their acceptance of the message
of the Gospel was the signal for the outbreak of Jewish hatred which
set on the _canaille_ of the city with a cry of revolution and high
treason. Amidst such birth-throes the second Church in Europe came
into being. St. Paul's continuance in the city might only have
provoked murder, so, leaving the infant Church to one who would
"naturally care for" it, he made his way to Berœa.
+Occasion and design of the epistle.+--With eager impatience the
apostle would wait for the messenger with tidings of the Macedonian
Churches. The writer of the Proverbs likened "good news from a far
country" to "cold waters to a thirsty soul"; so St. Paul says to
these Thessalonians: "Now when Timothy came from you unto us, and
brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, . . . we were
comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:
for _now we live,_ if ye stand fast in the Lord" (1 Thess. iii. 6-8).
Timothy had brought word of their fidelity; but he had also to inform
the apostle of the persecutions they had to endure, and also of the
troubled minds of some of the Christian brotherhood over the
condition of their dead, and their relationship to the Lord whom they
daily expected.
So St. Paul sends them word by this first letter of his earnest
longing to see them again, and of how he had often purposed to do so,
but had been thwarted. Perhaps there are references in the epistle to
the aspersions on the character of Paul; and in other ways the
epistle is meant to do what Paul, now that his missionary field had
become so extended, could not do in person.
+Contents of the epistle.+
i. 1. Salutation.
2-10. Thanksgiving for reception and diffusion of the Gospel.
ii. 1-12. Appeal to their knowledge of what Paul's ministry had
been.
13-16. Thanksgiving for fidelity under the strain of Jewish
hostility.
17--iii. 13. Baffled purposes resulting in the despatch of Timothy,
and the outburst of joy for the good news with which he
returned.
iv. 1-12. Warning against lustful injustice, and exhortation to a
further development of brotherly love.
13--v. 11. The Second Advent in its relation to those who already
slept.
12-24. Ethics of Church-life and personal life.
25-28. Conclusion.
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER I.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Paul, and Sylvanus, and Timotheus.+--As to Paul, it may be
noted that he does not mention his office. It was largely owing to
the aspersions of others that he came, later, to magnify his office.
Sylvanus is the "fellow-helper" and fellow-sufferer of the apostle,
better known to New Testament readers by the shortened form of his
name--Silas. That he was a Jew appears from Acts xv., but, like Paul,
able to claim the privilege of Roman citizenship (Acts xvi.).
Timotheus is the valuable and dear companion of St. Paul. Twelve or
fourteen years later he is said to be still young (1 Tim. iv. 12).
He, too, is only partly a Jew (Acts xvi. 3). +Grace be unto you, and
peace.+--The men who are by birth and training divided between Jew
and Gentile, salute both. It is not less true of the Gospel than the
law that it speaks the language of the children of men. All that
grace could mean to the Greek, or peace to the Hebrew, met in Him
whose title was written above the cross in Hebrew and Greek and Latin.
Ver. 3. +Work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of
hope.+--The famous three sister-graces familiar to us from St. Paul's
other letters. As Bengel says, they are _Summa Christianismi._ St.
James, one thinks, would have liked the expression, "work of faith"
(Jas. ii. 14-26). But if faith works, love cannot be outdone (1 Cor.
xiii. 13), and toils with strenuous endeavour; whilst hope--a faculty
flighty enough with some--here patiently endures, "pressing on and
_bearing up._"
Ver. 4. +Your election.+--God is said to pick out, not for any
inherent qualities, certain persons for purposes of His own. The same
idea is in the word "saints," as those whom God has separated from a
godless world and made them dear to Himself.
Ver. 5. +Our gospel.+--The good news which we proclaimed; so when St.
Paul in Rom. ii. 16 calls it "_my_ gospel." +In word . . . in
power.+--The antithesis is sometimes between the word or declaration
and the reality; here perhaps we have an advance on that. Not only
was it a word the contents of which were really truth, but
efficacious too. +In much assurance.+--R.V. margin, "in much
fulness." "The _power_ is in the Gospel preached, the _fulfilment_ in
the hearers, and the _Holy Spirit_ above and within them inspires
both" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 6. +Followers of us and of the Lord.+--R.V. "imitators." St.
Paul begs his Corinthian readers to imitate him, _even as_ he
imitates Christ. The same thought is implied here: We are walking
after Christ; walk after us, and you will follow Him. +With joy of
the Holy Ghost.+--Not only was the word preached "in the Holy Ghost"
(ver. 5), but it was eagerly welcomed by hearts made ready by the
Holy Ghost--as St. Paul said to the Corinthians, "So we preach, so ye
believed."
Ver. 7. +So that ye were ensamples.+--R.V. follows the singular. The
original word is that from which we get our "type." The image left on
a coin by stamping is a type. Children are said to be types of their
parents. So these Thessalonians were clearly stamped as children of
God.
Ver. 8. +For from you sounded out the word of the Lord.+--The Word
did not originate amongst the Thessalonians. They had but taken up
the sound and sent it ringing on to others in the regions farther
removed. They had echoed out the Word, says St. Paul. +In every
place.+--Or as we may say, "Everybody is talking about the matter."
Ver. 9. +What manner of entering in.+--In Acts xvii. we have an
account of how the Jews instigated men ever ready for a brawl to
bring a charge of high treason--the most likely way of giving the
quietus to the disturbers of ancient traditions, Paul and Silas. +To
serve the living and true God.+--The Thessalonians had not been
delivered from the bondage of fear that they might lead lives
irresponsible. "Get a new master," then "be a new man."
Ver. 10. +And to wait for His Son.+--The compound word for wait is
only found here in the New Testament. The idea may be compared with
our Lord's figure of the bondservants waiting with lights and ready
for service on their lord's return (Luke xii. 35-40). +Jesus, which
delivered us from the wrath to come.+--R.V. "delivereth." The wrath
to come "revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men" (Rom. i. 18) is the penalty threatened
against sin persisted in.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.
_Phases of Apostolic Greeting._
There is an interest about this epistle as the first in the
magnificent series of inspired writings which bear the name of Paul.
This was "the beginning of his strength, the excellency of dignity
and power." The labours of the apostle and his co-helpers in the
enterprising and populous city of Thessalonica, notwithstanding the
angriest opposition, were crowned with success. The stern prejudice
of the Jew was assailed and conquered, the subtle philosophising of
the Grecian tracked and exposed. The truth was eagerly embraced; and
as sunbeams streaming through mist render it transparent, so did the
light of the Gospel bring out in clearness and beauty the character
of the Thessalonian citizens, which had been hitherto shrouded in the
dark shadows of superstition.
+I. This greeting is harmonious in its outflow.+--Paul, though the
only apostle of the three, did not in this instance assume the title
or display any superiority either of office or power. Silvanus and
Timotheus had been owned of God, equally with himself, in planting
the Thessalonian Church, and were held in high esteem among the
converts. Each man had his distinctive individuality, varied talents,
and special mode of working; but there was an emphatic unity of
purpose in bringing about results. They rejoiced together in
witnessing the inception, confirmation, and prosperity of the Church,
and when absent united in sending a fervent, harmonious greeting.
This harmony of feeling is traceable throughout both epistles in the
prevalent use of the first-person plural. The association of Silvanus
and Timotheus with the apostle in this greeting also indicated their
perfect accord with him in the Divine character of the doctrines he
declared. As men dowered with the miraculous faculty of spiritual
discernment, they could testify that everything contained in the
epistle was dictated by the Spirit of God and worthy of universal
evidence. Not that the personal peculiarities of any man give
additional value to the doctrine. Truth is vaster than the
individual, whatever gifts he possesses or lacks. The water of life
is as sweet and refreshing whether sipped from the rudest earthen
vessel or from the goblet of richly embossed gold. What a suggestive
lesson of confidence and unity was taught the Thessalonians by the
harmonious example of their teachers!
+II. This greeting recognises the Church's sublime origin.+--It is
addressed "unto the Church which is in God the Father and in the Lord
Jesus Christ."
1. _The Church is Divinely founded._--The preposition "in" denotes
the most intimate union with God, and is of similar significance as
in the comprehensive prayer of Jesus: "As Thou, Father, art in Me,
and I in Thee, that they also may be one _in_ Us" (John xvii. 21).
The Church rests, not on any sacerdotal authority or human
organisation, though many have laboured thus to narrow its limits and
define its character; it depends for its origin, life, and perpetuity
on union with the Deity. It is based on the Divine love, fostered by
the Divine Spirit, shielded by Omnipotence, and illumined and adorned
by the Divine glory. It exists for purely spiritual purposes, is the
depositary of he revealed Word, the channel of Divine communication
to man, the sanctuary of salvation.
2. _The Church is Divinely sustained._--Founded in God, it is every
moment sustained by Him. Thus the Church survives the mightiest
opposition, the fret and wear of perpetual change. It is not wedded
to any locality under heaven. Places once famous for the simplicity
and power of their Church-life have become notoriously vile or sunk
into utter obscurity. Bethel, once bearing the hallowed name House of
God, under the idolatrous rule of Jeroboam became corrupted into
Bethhaven, House of Iniquity. Jerusalem, the praise of the whole
earth, was once the chosen habitation of Jehovah; now it is a heap of
ruins, its temple and worship destroyed, and its people scattered,
without king, prophet, or leader. The light that shown so full and
clear from the seven celebrated Asiatic Churches grew dim and went
out, and that region is now wrapped in the darkness of idolatry. And
Thessalonica, renowned as a pattern of Christian purity and zeal, now
languishes under its modern name of Saloniki, a victim of Turkish
despotism, and professing a spurious religion the first founders of
the Church there, could they revisit the spot, would certainly
repudiate. But the true Church lives, grows, and triumphs.
+III. This greeting supplicates the bestowal of the highest
blessings.+--1. _Grace._ The source of all temporal good--life,
health, sustenance, prosperity, enjoyment; and of all spiritual
benefits--pardon for the guilty, rest for the troubled spirit,
guidance for the doubting and perplexed, strength for the feeble,
deliverance for the tempted, purity for the polluted, victory and
felicity for the faithful. The generosity of God knows no stint. A
certain monarch once threw open his parks and gardens to the public
during the summer months. The royal gardener finding it troublesome,
complained to his Majesty that the visitors plucked the flowers.
"What," said the king-hearted king, "are my people fond of flowers?
Then plant some more!" So, our heavenly King with lavish hand
scatters on our daily path the flowers of blessing, and as fast as we
can gather them, in spite of the grudging, churlish world, more are
supplied.
2. _Peace._--A blessing inclusive of all the happiness resulting from
a participation in the Divine favour. _Peace with God,_ with whom sin
has placed us in antagonism, and to whom we are reconciled in Christ
Jesus, who hath "abolished in His flesh the enmity, so making peace"
(Eph. ii. 15). _Peace of conscience,_ a personal blessing conferred
on him who believes in Jesus. _Peace one with another_--peace in the
Church. In the concluding counsels of this epistle the writer
impressively insists, "Be at peace among yourselves." The value of
this blessing to any Christian community cannot be exaggerated. A
single false semitone converts the most exquisite music into discord.
3. _The source of all the blessings desired._--"From God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ." The Jew in his most generous greeting
could only say, "God be gracious unto you, and remember His
covenant"; but the Christian "honours the Son even as he honours the
Father." The Father's love and the Son's work are the sole source and
cause of every Christian blessing.
+Lessons.+--1. _Learn the freeness and fulness of the Gospel._ It
contains and offers all the blessings that can enrich and ennoble
man. It needs but the willing heart to make them his own. He may
gather wisdom from the Eastern proverb, and in a higher sense than
first intended, "Hold all the skirts of thy mantle extended when
heaven is raining gold."
2. _Learn the spirit we should cultivate towards others._--A spirit
of genuine Christian benevolence and sympathy. We can supplicate for
others no higher good than grace and peace.
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
_Apostolic Introduction to the Epistle._
+I. The persons sending are mentioned.+--"Paul, Silvanus, and
Timotheus." 1. _Paul is not here called an apostle, because his
apostleship was granted._ 2. _Silvanus and Timotheus had assisted in
planting and watering this Church._
+II. The persons addressed are introduced and described.+--1. _The
epistle was addressed to believers._ 2. _The Church is presented in
an interesting point of view_ (John xvii. 20). The Father and the
Mediator are one in redemption; into this union the Church is
received. 1. _The blessings desired are grace and peace._ Sovereign
mercy and favour and reconciliation. 2. _These are mentioned in their
proper order of time, of cause and effect._ 3. _These are traced to
their proper source._ The Father--the Godhead; the Son--all
fulness.--_Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 2-4.
_Ministerial Thanksgiving._
Gratitude for the healthy, flourishing state of the Thessalonian
Church is a marked feature in both epistles and is frequently
expressed. The apostle left the young converts in a critical
condition, and when he heard from Timothy a favourable account of
their steadfastness and growth in grace, like a true minister of
Christ he gave God thanks.
+I. Ministerial thanksgiving is expansive in its character.+--"We
give thanks always for you all" (ver. 2). It is our duty, and
acceptable to God, to be grateful for personal benefits; but it
displays a broader, nobler generosity when we express thanksgiving on
behalf of others. It is Christ-like: _He_ thanked God the Father for
revealing the things of His kingdom unto babes. The apostle thanked
God:--
1. _Because of their work of faith._--"Remembering without ceasing
your work of faith" (ver. 3). _Faith is itself a work._ It is the eye
and hand of the soul, by which the sinner sees, and lays hold on
Christ for salvation. Man meets with opposition in its exercise; he
has to fight against the faith-stifling power of sin in himself and
in the world. _Faith is also the cause of work._ It is the propelling
and sustaining motive in all Christian toil. "Faith without works is
dead" (James ii. 26).
2. _Because of their labour of love._--The strength of love is tested
by its labour; we show our love to Christ by what we do for Him. Love
intensifies every faculty, moves to benevolent exertion, and makes
even drudgery an enjoyment. Love leads us to attempt work from which
we would once have shrunk in dismay.
3. _Because of their patient hope._--Their hope of salvation in
Christ was severely tried by affliction, persecutions, and numberless
temptations, but was not quenched. It is hard to hope on in the midst
of discouragement. It was so with Joseph is prison, with David in the
mountains of Judah, with the Jews in Chaldea. But the grace of
_patience_ gives constancy and perseverance to our hope. The apostle
rejoiced in the marked _sincerity_ of their faith, love, and hope,
which he acknowledged to be "in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight
of God and our Father." These virtues are derived alone from Christ,
and their exercise God witnesses and approves. Things are in reality
what they are in God's sight. His estimate is infallible.
4. _Because assured of their election._--"Knowing, brethren beloved
of God, your election" (ver. 4). St. Paul here means only to show how
he, from the way in which the Spirit operated in him at a certain
place, drew a conclusion as to the disposition of the persons there.
Where it manifested itself powerfully, argued he, there must be
elect; where the contrary was the case, he concluded the contrary
(_Olshausen_). Election is the judgment of Divine grace, exempting in
Christ from the common destruction of men those who accept their
calling by faith. Every one who is called is elected from the first
moment of his faith, and so long as he continues in his calling and
faith he continues to be elected; if at any time he loses calling and
faith he ceases to be elected (_Bengel_). Observe the _constancy_ of
this thanksgiving spirit--"We give thanks _always_ for you all." As
they remembered without ceasing the genuine evidences of their
conversion, so did they assiduously thank God. There is always
something to thank God for if we will but see it.
+II. Ministerial thanksgiving evokes a spirit of practical
devotion.+--"Making mention of you in our prayers" (ver. 2). The
interest in his converts of the successful worker is keenly aroused;
he is anxious the work should be permanent, and resorts to prayer as
the effectual means. Prayer for others benefits the suppliant. When
the Church prayed, not only was Peter liberated from prison, but the
faith of the members was emboldened. Gratitude is ever a powerful
incentive to prayer. It penetrates the soul with a conscious
dependence on God and prompts the cry for necessary help. There is no
true prayer without thanksgiving.
+III. Ministerial thanksgiving is rendered to the great Giver of all
good.+--"We give thanks to God" (ver. 2). God is the Author of true
success. In vain we labour where His blessing is withheld. Paul was
not equally successful in other places as in Thessalonica. In
Damascus, where he first bore testimony for Christ, the governor
under King Aretas planned his capture, and he but narrowly escaped.
At Lystra the apostle was violently stoned and dragged out of the
town as one dead. But at Thessalonica, notwithstanding opposition,
the Gospel laid firm hold of the hearts of men, and believers were
multiplied. The highest kind of success in spiritual work must ever
come from above. Like Paul, we should be careful constantly to
acknowledge and thank God as the active source of all prosperity.
+Lessons.+--1. _There is much in the work of the minister to test his
patience and faith._ 2. _The true minister gratefully traces all
success directly to God._ 3. _A thankful spirit prompts the minister
to increased Christian enterprise._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 2. _Thanksgiving and Prayer._
+I. The apostle had the burden of all the Churches and their
individual members.+
+II. The effect of the remembrance on himself.+--1. _He gives
thanks._ They were the seals of his ministry, the recipients of the
grace of God, the earnest of a more abundant harvest.
2. _He prays._--They had not fully attained. They were in danger.
None trusts less to human means than the most richly
qualified.--_Stewart._
Ver. 3. _Grace and Good Works._
+I. All inward graces ought to bloom into active
goodness.+--1. _Faith is to work._ 2. _Love is to labour._ 3. _Hope
is to endure._
+II. All active goodness must be rooted in some inward
grace.+--1. _The root of work is faith._ 2. _The spring of labour is
in love._ 3. _We need to refresh ourselves by a perpetual onward
glance, a confident anticipation of the coming triumph.--Local
Preacher's Treasury._
Ver. 4. _Election of God._
+I. There is an eternal election.+
+II. Which comes out in the election made in time.+
+III. Let us rejoice in it, for apart from it none would be
saved.+--_Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.
_The Gospel in Word and in Power._
You have passed through a bleak, barren moorland, where the soil
seemed sown with stones and disfigured with stumps of trees, the only
signs of vegetable life were scattered patches of heather and
flowerless lichen. After a while, you have again traversed the same
region, and observed fields of grain ripening for the harvest, and
budding saplings giving promise of the future forest. Whence the
transformation? The cultivator has been at work. Not less apparent
was the change effected in Thessalonica by the diligent toil and
faithful preaching of the apostles. We have here two prominent
features in the successful declaration of the Gospel.
+I. The Gospel in word.+--"Our gospel came unto you in word." In the
history of the introduction of the Gospel into Thessalonica (Acts
xvii.) we learn the leading themes of apostolic preaching.
"Paul . . . reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and
alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from
the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ"
(vers. 2, 3). It is worthy of note that the inspired apostle grounded
his discourse on the Holy Scriptures. Even _he_ did not feel himself
free from their sacred bonds. The apostle's preaching embraced three
leading topics:--
1. _He demonstrates that the preached Messiah was to be a suffering
Messiah._--The mind of the Jewish people was so dazed with the
splendid prophecies of the regal magnificence and dominion of Jesus,
that they overlooked the painful steps by which alone He was to climb
to this imperial greatness: the steps of suffering that bore
melancholy evidence of the load of anguish under which the world's
Redeemer staggered--steps crimsoned with the blood of the sacred
Victim. Out of their Scriptures he proved that the only Messiah
referred to there was to be a "Man of sorrows" (Isa. liii. 3).
2. _He demonstrates that the Messiah who was thus to suffer and die
was to rise again._--This declared the Divine dignity of His person,
and was the pledge of the future success and eternal stability of His
redeeming work.
3. _He insisted that the Jesus who thus suffered, died, and rose
again was none other than the identical Messiah promised in their
Scriptures._--The grand topic of apostolic preaching must be the
staple theme of the pulpit to-day--JESUS CHRIST: Christ suffering,
Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ regnant and triumphant. When
John Huss was in prison at Constance for the Gospel's sake, he dreamt
that his chapel at Prague was broken into and all the pictures of
Christ on the walls destroyed. But immediately he beheld several
painters in the chapel, who drew a greater number of pictures, and
more exquisitely beautiful than those that had perished. While gazing
on these with rapture, the sanctuary suddenly filled with his beloved
congregation, and the painters, addressing them, said, "Now, let the
bishops and priests come and destroy _these_ pictures!" The people
shouted for joy. Huss heartily joined them, and amid the acclamation
awoke. So modern unbelievers may try to expunge the pictures of
Christ familiar to the mind for generations, and to some extent they
may succeed. But the Divine Artist, with graving-tool of Gospel Word,
will trace on the tablet of the soul an image more beautiful and
enduring than that which has been destroyed; and by-and-by a universe
of worshippers shall rejoice with thundering acclaim, while
recognising in each other the reproduction of the image of Him whose
visage was once marred more than any man's, but whose face now gleams
with celestial beauty and is radiant with the lustre of many crowns.
+II. The Gospel in power.+--"Not in word only, but also in power."
1. _In the exercise of miraculous power._--The apostles were
specially invested with this power, and used it in substantiating the
great facts of the Gospel.
2. _In the Holy Ghost._--Not only in His miraculous manifestations
necessary in that age, but in the ordinary exercise of His power, as
continued down to the present day--enlightening, convincing, renewing.
3. _With much assurance._--Literally, with full assurance, and much
of it. Πληροφοία--full conviction--is from a word that means to _fill
up,_ and is used to denote the hurrying ship on her career, with all
her sails spread and filled with the wind. So the soul, filled with
the full conviction of truth, is urged to a course of conduct in
harmony with that conviction.
4. _An assurance enforced by high integrity of character._--"As ye
know what manner of men we were among you, for your sake." Their
earnest labours and upright lives showed they were men moved by
profound conviction--a blending of evidence that is not less potent
in these days.
+Lessons.+--1. _To receive the Gospel in word only is
disastrous._--In a certain mountainous region under the tropics the
stillness of night is sometimes broken by a loud, sharp report, like
the crack of a rifle. What causes this strange, alarming sound? It is
the splitting of rocks charged with the intense heat of the tropical
sun. Day by day the sun throws down its red-hot rays of fire, and bit
by bit the rock, as it cools, is riven and crumbles into ruin. So is
it with the mere hearer of the Word. The Gospel pours upon him its
light and heat, and his heart, hardened with long and repeated
resistance, becomes damaged by that which is intended to better it.
2. _The Gospel must be received in power._--What is wanted is strong,
deep faith-compelling conviction--conviction of the awful truth and
saving power of the Gospel. To be a mighty force, man must have
clear, solid, all-powerful convictions.
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 5. _The Manner in which the Gospel comes to the Believing Soul._
+I. The first is negative.+--"The Gospel came not in word only." This
description embraces various classes of persons. 1. _Such as hear the
Gospel habitually without understanding it._ 2. _Such as partially
understand the Gospel without feeling its sanctifying influence._
3. _Such as are affected by it only for a limited time._
+II. In contradistinction to such, the Gospel came to the believing
Thessalonians in power.+--1. _Power over the understanding._
2. _Power over the conscience._ 3. _Power over the heart._ 4. _Power
over the life._
+III. In the Holy Ghost.+--Explains the former. 1. _The message was
that of the Spirit._ 2. _The apostles were filled with the Spirit._
3. _Signs and miraculous proofs were furnished by the Spirit._ 4. _An
entrance for the Word was procured by the Spirit._
+IV. In much assurance.+--1. _Fulness of apprehension._ 2. _Fulness
of belief_--the result. 3. _Fulness of consequent hope.--Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-8.
_The Practical Result of a True Reception of the Gospel._
Christianity transforms man, fills the mind with pure and lofty
thoughts, turns the current of his feelings into the right channel,
makes the soul luminous with ever-brightening hopes, and transfigures
his sin-stricken nature into a semblance of the dignity, beauty, and
perfection of the Divine. Observe its influence on the mixed
population of Thessalonica.
+I. The true reception of the Gospel.+--"Having received the word in
much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost" (ver. 6). The Word may
fall on the ear like a sweet strain of music, and charm the soul with
temporary rapture, may enter the understanding as a clearly
apprehended truth, may captivate the affections, and travel through
the whole sphere of emotion on a thrill of ecstasy; but unless it be
embraced by the heart and conscience, with the aid of the Holy
Spirit, it is powerless in spiritual reformation. Two opposite, but
often strangely blended, emotions--sorrow and joy--were exercised in
the reception of the Gospel by the Thessalonians.
1. _They received the Word in sorrow._--"In much affliction." Amid
the tumult and persecution of the citizens (Acts xvii. 5-9).
Principally, sorrow on account of sin, and because of their prolonged
rejection of Christ and obstinate disobedience.
2. _They received the Word with joy._--"With joy of the Holy Ghost."
They realised the joy of _conscious forgiveness and acceptance with
God._ The sinless angels, placed beyond the necessity of pardon, are
incapable of experiencing this joy. It belongs exclusively to the
believing penitent. _The joy of suffering for the truth._ Cyprian,
who suffered for the Gospel, used to say, "It is not the pain but the
cause that makes the martyr." That cause is the cause of truth.
Suffering is limited, life itself is limited, but truth is eternal.
To suffer for that truth is a privilege and a joy. _The joy of
triumph,_ over error, sin, Satan, persecution. This joy is the
special product of the Holy Ghost. These twin feelings--sorrow and
joy--are typical of the ever-alternating experience of the believer
throughout his earthly career.
+II. The practical result of the true reception of the
Gospel.+--1. _They became imitators of the highest patterns of
excellence._ "Ye became followers of us and of the Lord" (ver. 6).
The example of Christ is the absolute, all-perfect standard of moral
excellence. But this does not supersede the use of inferior models.
The planets have their season to guide and instruct us, as well as
the sun, and we can better bear the moderated light of their borrowed
splendour. The bravery of the common soldier, as well as the capacity
and heroism of the most gifted officer, may stimulate a regiment to
deeds of valour. So the apostles, in their patient endurance of
suffering, their enterprising zeal and blameless integrity of life,
became examples for their converts to imitate, while they pointed to
the great infallible Pattern after which the noblest life must ever
be moulded.
2. _They became examples to others._--"So that ye were ensamples to
all that believe" (ver. 7). _In the reality and power of their
faith._ They eagerly embraced the Word preached, believing it to be
not the word of men but of God. This gave a profound reality to their
conceptions of the Gospel and a strong impulse to their active
religious life. _In their zealous propagation of the truth._ "For
from you sounded out the word of the Lord" (ver. 8). Wherever they
travelled they proclaimed the Gospel. They imparted that which had
enriched themselves, and which, in giving, left them still the
richer. _The influence of their example was extensive in its range._
"Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith
to Godward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything"
(ver. 8). Macedonia and Achaia were two Roman provinces that
comprised the territory known as ancient Greece. Thessalonica. the
metropolis of Macedonia, was the chief station on the great Roman
road--the Via Egnatia--which connected Rome with the whole region
north of the Ægean Sea and was an important centre both for commerce
and the spread of intelligence. Wherever the trade of the merchant
city extended, there the fame of the newly founded Church penetrated.
Great was the renown of their own Alexander, the Macedonian monarch,
and brilliant his victories; but the reputation of the Thessalonian
Christians was of a higher order, and their achievements more
enduring.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel that brings sorrow to the heart brings
also joy._ 2. _A genuine reception of the truth changes the man and
creates unquenchable aspirations after the highest good._ 3. _A
living example is more potent than the most elaborate code of
precepts._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 6, 7. _The Evidences and Effects of Revival._
+I. Receivers.+--With faith, with joy, not without trial.
+II. Followers.+--Apostolic piety. Christ-like spirit. Multiplication
of Christ-like men.
+III. Ensamples.+--Centres of Christian influence.
+IV. Dispensers.+--Induced to diffuse the Gospel by their gratitude
for the special grace which had brought it to them with saving power,
by their supreme attachment to its vital truths and their experience
of the suitableness of these truths to their wants as sinners, by
their commiseration for those who were yet in a state of nature, by
their love to the Lord Jesus, by the express command of God, by the
hope of reward.--_G. Brooks._
Ver. 8. _The Power of Example_--
+I. In a faithful declaration of the Gospel.+
+II. In its far-reaching influence on others.+
+III. Speaks for itself, rendering explanation unnecessary.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9, 10.
_Conversion and its Evidence._
A good work cannot be hid. Sooner or later it will manifest itself
and become the general topic of a wide region. The successful worker
meets with the fruit of his labours at times and places unexpected.
Wherever the apostles went, the reputation of the newly founded
Church had preceded them, and the varied features of the great change
that had passed over the Thessalonians were eagerly discussed. We
have here a description of conversion and its evidence.
+I. The conversion of the Thessalonians.+--"For they themselves show
of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned
to God from idols" (ver. 9). You have watched a vessel lying at
anchor in a tidal river with her bowsprit pointing seaward. After a
brief interval you have observed the force of the incoming tide swing
the vessel completely round, so that her head points in an exactly
opposite direction. Not less apparent was the change among the
Thessalonians when the flood-tide of Gospel blessing entered the
city. Conversion is a turning about--a change from sin to holiness,
from unbelief to faith, from darkness to light, from Satan to God.
1. _They turned from idols._--For generations the majority of the
members of this Church, with their forefathers, had been idolaters,
"walking as other Gentiles walked in the vanity of their mind," etc.
(Eph. iv. 17, 18, ii. 12). _Any creature, real or imaginary, invested
with Divine properties is an idol._ An angel, a saint, wealth, an
idea, or any object to which we ascribe the omnipotence that belongs
to God, becomes to us an idol--a false deity. _An idol is also the
true God falsely conceived._ The Pantheist, mistaking the effect for
the cause, regards the vast fabric of created things as God, and
Nature, with her grand, silent motions, is the object of his
idolatry. The sensualist, reluctant to believe in punishment for sin,
exalts the boundlessness of Divine mercy, and ignores the other
perfections, without which there could be no true God. Idolatry is a
sin against which the most faithful warnings have been uttered in all
ages, and on account of which the most terrible judgments have been
inflicted, yet it is the worship to which man is most prone.
2. _They turned to God._--The _one_ God whom Paul preached as "the
God that made the world and all things therein"; the living God,
having life in Himself, and "giving to all life and breath and all
things"; the _true_ God, having in Himself the truth and substance of
essential Deity, in extreme contrast with an "idol, which is nothing
in the world." With shame and confusion of face as they thought of
the past, with penitential sorrow, with confidence and hope, they
turned to God from idols.
+II. The evidence of their conversion.+--Seen: 1. _In the object of
their service._ They "serve the living and true God," serve Him in
faithful obedience to every command, serve Him in the face of
opposition and persecution--with every faculty of soul, body, and
estate--in life, in suffering, in death. _This is a free, loving
service._ The idolater is enslaved by his own passions and the iron
bands of custom. His worship is mechanical, without heart and without
intelligence. The service acceptable to God is the full, spontaneous,
pure outflow of a loving and believing heart. _It is an ennobling
service._ Man becomes like what he worships; and as the object of his
worship is often the creation of his own depraved mind, he is debased
to the level of his own gross, polluted ideas. Idolatry is the
corrupt human heart feeding upon and propagating its own ever-growing
corruptions. The service of God lifts man to the loftiest moral
pinnacle and transfigures him with the resplendent qualities of the
Being he adores and serves. _It is a rewardable service._ It brings
rest to the world-troubled spirit, fills with abiding happiness in
the present life, and provides endless felicity in the
future--results idolatry can never produce.
2. _Seen in the subject of their hope._--"And to wait for His Son"
(ver. 10). (1) Their hope was fixed on _Christ as a Saviour._ "Even
Jesus, who delivereth us from the coming wrath." Terrible will be the
revelation of that wrath to the impenitent and unbelieving. As soon
as one wave of vengeance breaks another will follow, and behind that
another and another interminably, so that it will ever be _the wrath
to come!_ From this Jesus delivers even now. (2) Their hope was fixed
on _Christ as risen._ "Whom He raised from the dead." They waited for
and trusted in no dead Saviour, but One who, by His resurrection from
the dead, was powerfully declared to be indeed the Son of God.
(3) Their hope was fixed on _Christ as coming again._ "To wait for
His Son from heaven." There is a confusing variety of opinions as to
the _character_ of Christ's second advent; as to the _certainty_ of
it nothing is more plainly revealed. The exact period of the second
coming is veiled in obscurity and uncertainty; but it is an evidence
of conversion to be ever waiting for and preparing for that coming as
if there were a perpetual possibility of an immediate manifestation.
The uncertainty of the time has its use in fostering a spirit of
earnest and reverential inquiry, of watchfulness, of hope, of
fidelity.
+Lessons.+--1. _Conversion is a radical change._ 2. _Conversion is a
change conscious to the individual and evident to others._ 3. _The
Gospel is the Divinely appointed agency in conversion._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 9, 10. _The Change effected by the Gospel_--
+I. In religious belief.+
+II. In corresponding conduct.+
+III. In the hope cherished.+--1. _Of the second coming of Christ._
2. _Proved by His resurrection from the dead._ 3. _The object
of His second coming to deliver from wrath._ 4. _The spirit of
earnest but patient waiting induced._
Ver. 10. _The Christian waiting for his Deliverer_--
+I. Implies a firm belief in Christ's second coming.+
+II. Habitually endeavouring to be prepared for His second coming.+
+III. Earnestly desiring it.+
+IV. Patiently waiting for it.+--_Bradley._
_The Wrath to come._
+I. It is Divine wrath.+
+II. Unmingled wrath.+--Judgment without mercy; justice without the
least mixture of goodness.
+III. Provoked wrath.+
+IV. Accumulated wrath.+--A wrath we have inflamed and increased by
every act of sin we have committed.
+V. Future wrath.+--The wrath to come; lasting as the holiness of
the Being who inflicts and the guilt of the sinners who endure
it.
+VI. Deliverance from wrath.+--1. _Undeserved._ 2. _Complete._
3. _Eternal.--Ibid._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER II.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Our entrance in . . . was not in vain.+--The word for "vain"
here is the same as that in the first half of "ceno-taph." The
entrance into Thessalonica, we might say colloquially, "had something
in it."
Ver. 2. +Suffered before.+--Previously, that is, to our entrance to
Thessalonica. +And were shamefully entreated.+--The acute sense of
suffering in mind shows how far St. Paul was from Stoicism. It is
this same exquisite sensibility which makes possible the beautiful
courtesy with which, in his letters, we are so familiar. +With much
contention.+--All the watchfulness required by one in the arena and
all the danger incident to a false movement characterised St. Paul's
work.
Ver. 3. +For our exhortation.+--The word reminds us of Christ's word,
"I will send you another Advocate"--"Paraclete." Our advocacy of the
Gospel of Christ was not born of error. +Was not of deceit, nor
uncleanness, nor guile.+--Perhaps we might paraphrase thus: We were
not ourselves mistaken as to the subject-matter of our preaching, we
used no "dirty tricks" in the way of its publication, we baited no
hooks for unwilling souls.
Ver. 4. +As we were allowed of God.+--The original word means "to
approve after testing"--or, as God knows without testing, as it is
applied to Him it simply means--"we were approved of God." +To be put
in trust.+--R.V. "to be intrusted." "'To be put in trust with the
Gospel' is the highest conceivable responsibility; the sense of it is
enough to exclude every base motive and deceitful practice"
(_Findlay_). +Not as pleasing men.+--The vice condemned in slaves is
equally reprehensible if it should appear in the minister of the
Gospel. +But God, which trieth the hearts.+--"Alloweth" and "trieth"
are different forms of the same verb. Like an assayer whose methods
are perfect, God makes manifest what is in man's heart.
Ver. 5. +For neither at any time used we flattering words.+--"His
friends well knew that he was not one to--
"'Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee
Where thrift may follow fawning'" (_Ibid._).
+Nor a cloke of covetousness.+--The same thing perhaps as a mode of
flattering speech. Fulsome flattering is either the mark of a mind
hopelessly abject or the craft of a designing mind. Much fair speech
and the flattering of the lips still lead fools by the nose (Prov.
vii. 21) to where "covetousness" dwells.
Ver. 6. +Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of
others.+--"The motive of ambition--'that last infirmity of noble
minds'--rises above the selfishness just disclaimed; but it is just
as warmly repudiated, for it is equally inconsistent with the
single-mindedness of men devoted to the glory of God. Our Lord finds
in superiority to human praise the mark of a sincere faith (John
v. 44)" (_Ibid._). +When we might have been burdensome.+--A.V.
margin, "used authority." R.V. margin, "claimed honour"--literally in
weight--an ambiguous phrase whose sense is interpreted by ver. 9
(_Ibid._).
Ver. 7. +But we were gentle.+--R.V. margin says, "Most ancient
authorities read babes." Origen and Augustine interpret this to mean,
"Like a nurse amongst her children, talking in baby language to the
babes" (_Ibid._). +As a nurse cherisheth her children.+--The A.V. has
omitted a necessary word of the original which R.V. supplies--"her
_own_ children." The word for "cherisheth" is used in Deut. xxii. 5
(LXX.) of the mother-bird brooding over her nestlings (a figure made
memorable by our Lord's mournful words over Jerusalem). The word
occurs again only in Eph. v. 29.
Ver. 8. + Being affectionately desirous.+--The one Greek word
corresponding to these three "implies the fondness of a mother's
love--yearning over you" (_Ibid._). +We were willing.+--R.V.
"well-pleased." Like Him of whom it is said, "He gives liberally,"
without stint. +Our own souls.+--"Our very selves," for the saving of
which, says our Master, a man may well let the world slip. The
apostle keeps up the maternal figure.
Ver. 9. +Labour and travail.+--The same words occur together at
2 Cor. xi. 27. The former is used some twenty times, the latter only
three in the New Testament. One marks the fatigue of the work, "the
lassitude or weariness which follows on this straining of all his
powers to the utmost" (_Trench_). The other gives prominence to the
hardship or difficulty of the task. +That we might not burden any of
you+ (see ver. 6).--Any support that could have been given would have
been a trifle indeed (1 Cor. ix. 11) as compared with the
self-sacrifice of the apostolic toilers.
Ver. 10. +Ye are witnesses, and God also.+--A solemn reiteration (see
ver. 5). +Holily and justly and unblameably.+--"The holy man has
regard to the sanctities, the righteous man to the duties of life;
but duty is sacred and piety is duty. They cover the whole field of
conduct regarded in turn from the religious and moral standpoint,
while unblameably affixes the seal of approval both by God and man"
(_Findlay_).
Ver. 11. +Exhorted and comforted.+--As the former points to the
stimulation in the apostolic addresses, so the latter to the soothing
element. The noun related to the latter verb is found in Phil. ii. 1,
and is translated by R.V. _"consolation."_ +As a father with his own
children.+--The maternal tenderness is united with the discipline of
a true father.
Ver. 12. +Walk worthy of God.+--St. Paul's _"Noblesse oblige."_
Ver. 13. +The word of God which ye heard of us.+--R.V. "The word of
the message, even the word of God." The preposition "_from_ us" is
"properly used in relation to objects which come from the
_neighbourhood_ of a person--out of his _sphere_" (_Winer_); but the
Word originates, not with Paul, but in God. +Which effectually
worketh also.+--There is no original word corresponding to
"effectually" here; but the word "worketh" of itself, unemphasised,
is too weak. We might almost say "becomes energetic."
Ver. 14. +Became followers.+--R.V. "imitators." The usual meaning of
imitators hardly seems to obtain in full strength here. We cannot
think the Thessalonians consciously copied the Judean Christians, to
do which they would have had the superfluous task of raising up
opposition. The words seem to mean no more than, "Ye came to
resemble." +Of your own countrymen.+--Lit, "fellow-tribesmen." One is
reminded of Shylock's words--
"Sufferance is the badge of all our _tribe._"
Ver. 15. +Who both killed.+--The New Testament form of the verb is
always compound--as we should say, "killed off." A tragic contrast to
what might have been expected is set forth in our Lord's parable. "It
may be they will _reverence_ My Son. . . . They cast Him out and
_killed Him off_" (Luke xx. 13-15). +Have persecuted us.+--A.V.
margin, "chased us out." R.V. text, "drave." How deeply humbling was
the thought to St. Paul, that he had at one time taken part in this
hounding! The A.V. margin gives us a most vivid picture. +They please
not God.+--This expression is thought by some to be a _meiosis,_ a
softening down of the hard reality by the negative form of the
language. Is not the best comment found in John xvi. 2, "Whosoever
killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God"? The
sophistry that makes "killing no murder" and sanctions an _auto da
fé_ is something quite other than pleasing to God. +Are contrary to
all men.+--"The sense of God's displeasure often shows itself in
sourness and ill temper towards one's fellows. Unbelief and cynicism
go together. The rancour of the Jews against other nations at this
time was notorious. . . . The quarrel between Judaism and the world,
alas, still continues, as the _Judenhasse_ of Germany and Russia
testifies" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 16. +Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles.+--The very spirit
of the dog in the manger! They would not even have left the
"uncovenanted mercies" to the Gentiles. +To fill up their sins
alway.+--The phrase signifies ripeness for judgment, and is used in
Gen. xv. 16 of the Amorites in Abraham's time--an ominous parallel
(_Ibid._). +For the wrath.+--R.V., "_but_ the wrath." As though he
said, "But the end comes at last; they have always been sowing this
harvest, now it has to be reaped" (_Ibid._).
Ver. 17. +Being taken from you.+--R.V. "bereaved of you." St. Paul,
absent from Thessalonica, feels like a parent who has lost a child,
and regards them as children who feel the loss of a parent (See John
xiv. 18).
Ver. 18. +But Satan hindered us.+--Lit. "beat us in." The figure is a
military one and indicates the obstruction of an enemy's progress by
breaking up the road (destroying bridges, etc.).
Ver. 19. +Crown of rejoicing.+--R.V. "glorying." The victor's wreath.
St. Paul regards his steadfast converts as the proof of his
successful efforts.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1, 2.
_Essential Elements of Success in Preaching. I. Boldness._
Outsiders testified of the success of the Gospel, and the apostles
could confidently appeal to the converts in confirmation of the
report. "For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you that
it was not in vain" (ver. 1). In the first twelve verses of this
chapter Paul is describing the special features of their ministry,
the manner and spirit of their preaching; and what he denies is, not
so much that their labours had been vain, fruitless, and without
result, as he denies that those labours were in themselves vain,
frivolous, empty of all human earnestness, and of Divine truth and
force. We trace in their ministerial endeavours four essential
elements that are ever found in all successful preaching--boldness,
sincerity, gentleness, moral consistency. Consider, first, their
_boldness._
+I. This boldness manifested in the earnest declaration of the
truth.+--"We were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God
with much contention" (ver. 2). Bold in their conception of the
Divine origin and vast scope of the Gospel, and its wondrous
adaptation to the wants of universal man, they were not less bold in
its faithful proclamation. Their deep conviction of the supreme
spirit in Paul on other occasions, when his fearless words roused the
ire of Festus, shook the conscience of the thoughtless Felix, or
swayed the heart of Agrippa towards a wise decision. We see it in
Elijah as he rebuked the sins of the wicked Ahab with withering
invectives or threw the baffled priests of Baal into maddening
hysteria--himself the while unmoved and confident. We see it
conspicuously in _Him,_ who came in the spirit and power of Elias,
whose burning words assailed every form of wrong, and who did not
scruple to denounce the deluded leaders of a corrupt Church in the
most scathing terms--"Ye serpents! ye generation of vipers! How can
ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. xxiii. 33). _"With much
contention"_--amid much conflict and danger. This kind of preaching
provoked opposition and involved them in great inward struggles. The
faithful messenger of God fears not the mote violent assault from
without; but the thought of the fatal issues to those who obstinately
reject and fight against the Gospel fills him with agonising concern.
+II. This boldness no suffering could daunt.+--"Even after that we
had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at
Philippi" (ver. 2). They had come fresh from a city where they had
been cruelly outraged. Though Roman citizens, they had been publicly
scourged and, to add to their degradation, were thrust into the inner
prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks--treatment reserved
for the vilest felons. But so far from being dismayed, their
sufferings only deepened their love for the Gospel and inflamed the
passion to make it known. A German professor has lately made
experiments with chalcedony and other quartzose minerals, and he has
demonstrated that when such stones are ground on large and rapidly
revolving wheels they exhibit a brilliant phosphorescent glow
throughout their entire mass. So is it with the resolute worker. The
more he is ground under the strong wheel of suffering and
persecution, the more intensely will his entire character glow with
the radiance of an unquenchable bravery.
+III. This boldness was Divinely inspired.+--"We were bold _in_ our
God" (ver. 2). It was not the froth of a senseless presumption, not
the wild, aimless effort of a reckless bravado; but the calm, grand
heroism of a profound faith in the Divine. They fell back completely
upon God and drew their deepest inspiration and mightiest strength
from Him. The prophet Jeremiah, in a moment of despondency, decided
to "speak no more in the name of the Lord"; but when he could say,
"The Lord is with me as a mighty, terrible One," his courage
returned, and he obeyed implicitly the Divine mandate, "Thou shalt go
to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou
shalt speak" (Jer. xx. 9-11; Jer. i. 7). Similarly commissioned, Paul
once exclaimed, "I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me" (Phil. iv. 13). Endowed with the like spirit,
Luther uttered his noble protest at the Diet of Worms--"Here I stand:
I cannot do otherwise: God help me!"
+Lessons.+--1. _Boldness is absolutely indispensable in attacking,
not simply in the mass, but in detail, the crying evils of the age._
2. _Boldness is acquired only by studious and prayerful familiarity
with God's message and with God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1, 2. _The Preaching of the Gospel not in Vain._
+I. It is not in vain as respects the end and object of the Gospel
itself.+--1. _Conversion._ 2. _Sanctification or edification._
3. _Condemnation._
+II. It was not in vain as respected the objects of the
apostle.+--1. _His commission was to preach the Gospel._ He did it.
2. _To gather in souls._ He did so. 3. _His reward was the
approbation of Christ and seals to his ministry._ He had both.
+III. It was not in vain as respected the Thessalonians.+--They were
turned from idolatry; their hearts glowed with new feelings; their
characters shone with new graces.--_Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-6.
_Essential Elements of Success in Preaching. II. Sincerity._
The devout Richard Baxter once said: "The ministerial work must be
managed purely for God and the salvation of the people, and not for
any private ends of our own. This is our sincerity in it. A wrong end
makes all the work bad from us, however good in itself." In order to
success, it is necessary not only to display a fearless courage, but
also a spirit of unmistakable ingenuousness and sincerity. As the
mountain tarn reflects the clear, chaste light of the stars as they
kindle in the heavens, so the preacher reflects in his outward
conduct the pure and lofty motives by which he is animated and
sustained. We observe, in connection with the preaching of the Gospel
at Thessalonica, sincerity in motive, in speech, in aim.
+I. Sincerity in motive.+--"For our exhortation was not of deceit,
nor of uncleanness, nor in guile" (ver. 3). The apostle disclaims the
harbouring of evil intentions in relation to God, himself, and others.
1. _In relation to God._--"Not of deceit"--not in error. Having
received the truth from God and about God, he transmits it in all its
integrity, without error or imposture.
2. _In relation to himself._--"Nor of uncleanness." Pure in his own
affection and purpose, he preached a Gospel that was pure in itself,
in its tendency, and in its experienced results.
3. _In relation to others._--"Not in guile." He sought not to
propagate the Gospel by any fraudulent wiles or false
representations. He descended not to hypocrisy to catch men.
"Hypocrites," says St. Bernard, "desire to seem not to be good; not
to seem, but to be evil: they care not to follow or practise virtue,
but to colour vice by putting upon it the painted complexion of
virtue." The life of the man whose motives are thus sincere will be
transparent as the light. A certain king of Castile, who had been
only too familiar with the duplicity of mankind, once somewhat
arrogantly said, "When God made man He left one capital defect: He
ought to have set a window in his breast." The sincere man opens a
window in his own breast by the whole tenor of His words and actions,
so that his innermost thoughts are apparent.
+II. Sincerity in speech.+--1. _The preacher speaks under a solemn
sense of responsibility._ "But as we were allowed of God to be put in
trust with the gospel, even so we speak" (ver. 4). To their charge,
as men tested and approved of God, was committed the precious
treasure of the Gospel; and keenly conscious of the unutterable
riches with which they were entrusted, they were deeply solicitous to
distribute the same in all faithfulness and sincerity. Every gift we
receive from Heaven has its corresponding responsibility.
2. _The preacher seeks chiefly the Divine approval._--"Not as
pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts" (ver. 4). There is
much in the Gospel distasteful to the natural man--its humiliating
exposure of our depravity and helplessness, its holiness, its
mysteries, the unbending severity of its law, and the absolute
character of its claims. The temptation is sometimes great to temper
and modify the truth to carnal prejudice, and sacrifice faithfulness
to popularity. But the apostles risked everything so that they
secured the Divine approval. "As of sincerity, as of God, in the
sight of God speak we in Christ" (2 Cor. ii. 17).
3. _The preacher must practise neither adulation nor
deception._--"For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye
know, nor a cloke of covetousness, God is witness" (ver. 5).
"Flattery," says Plutarch, "has been the ruin of many states." But
alas! who can tell the souls it has for ever undone? Truth is too
sedate and solid to indulge in meaningless flattery. It is only the
vain and self-conceited who can be deceived by adulation.
+III. Sincerity in aim.+--"Nor of men sought we glory, neither of
you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome as the
apostles of Christ" (ver. 6). The sincere aim of the apostles was
seen:--
1. _In the generous suppression of the authority with which they were
invested._--"When we might have been burdensome as the apostles of
Christ." Whether we understand this authority as exercised in
foregoing for the time being their legitimate claim of maintenance by
the Church, or as restraining the exhibition of the dignity and power
of their apostleship--which latter view is generally admitted to be
the true exegesis--it was equally honourable to the pure and
disinterested character of their highest aim.
2. _In the absence of all selfish ambition._--"Nor of men sought we
glory." They could conscientiously aver, "We seek not yours, but
you." "I love a serious preacher," says Fénélon, "who speaks for my
sake and not for his own; who seeks my salvation and not his own
glory." It is said of one of the ancient fathers that he wept at the
applause frequently given to his discourses. "Would to God," said he,
"they had rather gone away silent and thoughtful!" It is a sorry and
painfully disappointing end to preach for mere ephemeral human
praise. Such a man may sink into the grave with the touching lament
of Grotius, "Alas! I have lost my life in doing nothing with great
labour!"--though in his case it was an unduly despondent estimate of
his life-work. When Christ is to be exalted, the preacher must be
willing to be unnoticed.
+Lessons.+--1. _Sincerity in proclaiming the truth can be acquired
only by personal experience of its power._ 2. _Sincerity is deepened
by a conscious Divine commission._ 3. _Sincerity is unmistakably
evidenced in word and deed._ 4. _Sincerity is satisfied only in
aiming at the highest results in preaching._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 3-6. _Apostolic Preaching characterised by Transparent Truth._
+I. The doctrine was opposed to every form of impurity+ (ver.
3).--1. _It was itself pure._ 2. _It received no tinge of impurity
from the apostle's mind._ 3. _Its results were pure._
+II. The preaching was free from insincerity and selfishness+ (ver.
4).--1. _They avoided flattery._ Love of favour (ver. 5). 2. _They
avoided covetousness._ Aggrandisement (ver. 5). 3. _They avoided
vainglory._ Love of applause (ver. 6). Three rocks on which thousands
have been shipwrecked.--_Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7, 8.
_Essential Elements of Success in Preaching. III. Gentleness._
There is a power in gentleness to subdue the wildest, mightiest
opposition, and to triumph over the most gigantic difficulties. The
gentle rays of the sun melt the ponderous iceberg more speedily than
the rolling billows of an angry ocean; the silent action of the
atmosphere wastes the rock which remains immovable under the strokes
of the heaviest weapon; a look from Moses vanquished the
calf-idolatry of the Israelites which the fluent eloquence of Aaron
had been powerless to resist; a calm, quiet word from Jesus paralysed
with fear the band of soldiers who came to arrest Him in Gethsemane.
True gentleness is never weak. It is the tough, indestructible
material out of which is formed the hero and the martyr. This quality
was conspicuous in the preachers at Thessalonica.
+I. It was the gentleness of patient endurance.+--1. _It enabled them
to bear the insult and outrage of their enemies._ Their preaching
roused violent opposition. They retaliated by praying for their
persecutors. Against physical force they fought with moral weapons;
and this attitude and policy had a powerful influence on their
enraged adversaries. The modern preacher can adopt no better method.
The offence of the cross has not yet ceased. It stirs up all the
enmity of the carnal mind. "And the servant of the Lord must not
strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves" (2 Tim. ii. 24,
25). The power of a man is seen, not so much in what he can do, as in
what he can endure. It is only the Christian spirit that unites the
utmost gentleness with the utmost strength.
2. _It enabled them to bear with the weakness and imperfections of
their converts._--"As a nurse cherisheth her children" (ver. 7).--as
a nursing mother cherisheth her own children. They watched over them
with the tenderest assiduity, instructed them with the most
disinterested solicitude, accommodated and assimilated themselves to
their infant standpoint with all the devotion of a fond, painstaking
parent. In order to successful teaching, in spiritual as in secular
subjects, we must study the child-nature--take into account the
influence of environment, early prejudices, differing capacities and
temperaments, and the direction of characteristic tendencies. See
this illustrated in the Divine treatment of the Israelites under
Moses and the great Jewish leaders, and in the training of the twelve
by the great Teacher.
+II. It was the gentleness of self-sacrificing love.+--"So being
affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto
you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye
were dear unto us" (ver. 8).
1. _This gentleness arose from a genuine love of human
souls._--"Because ye were dear unto us." Love is the great
master-power of the preacher. After this he strives and toils with
ever-increasing earnestness as the years speed on; and it is the
grace that comes latest and slowest into the soul. No amount of
scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition, of brilliant
and stirring eloquence, can atone for the absence of a deep,
impassioned, sympathetic love of human souls. The fables of the
ancients tell us of Amphion, who, with the music of his lyre, drew
after him the huge stones with which to build the walls of Thebes,
and of Orpheus, who, by his skill on the harp, could stay the course
of rivers and tame the wildest animals. These are but exaggerated
examples of the wondrous charm of the soul-compelling music of love.
"I have always been afraid," said a devoted young minister, now no
more, "of driving my people away from the Saviour. I would rather err
on the side of drawing them." The seraphic John Fletcher once said,
"Love, continual, universal ardent love, is the soul of all the
labour of a minister."
2. _The intensity of their love awoke a spirit of voluntary
self-sacrifice._--"So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were
willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but
also our own souls." To accomplish the salvation of their hearers
they were willing to surrender life itself. This was the temper of
the Divine Preacher who "came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give His life" (Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45). A similar
spirit imbued the apostle when he assured the weeping elders of
Ephesus in that pathetic interview on the lonely shore--"Neither
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course
with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus"
(Acts xx. 24). The love of science nerves the adventurous voyager to
brave the appalling dangers of the arctic ice, amid which so many
have found a crystal tomb; but a nobler love inspires the breast of
the humble worker, who cheerfully sacrifices all the world holds dear
to rescue men from woe.
+Lessons.+--1. _That gentleness is a power not only in patient
endurance, but also in enterprising action._ 2. _That gentleness is
indispensable to effectiveness, either in warning or reproof. It
succeeds where a rigid austerity fails._ 3. _That gentleness is
fostered and regulated by a deep, self-sacrificing love._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 7, 8. _Dealing with New Converts._
+I. Divine principles have to unfold themselves in unfavourable
circumstances.+--1. _Moral influence from without._ 2. _Jewish
misrepresentation._ 3. _Persecution._
+II. Must be treated with gentleness.+--1. _In the adaptation of
teaching to suit their state._ 2. _In the manner and spirit of the
instruction given._
+III. Must be treated with affectionate self-sacrificingness+ (ver.
8).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9-12.
_Essential Elements of Success in Preaching. IV. Moral Consistency._
The writer, in dwelling on the manner and spirit of preaching, has
shown the necessity of boldness, sincerity, and gentleness as
powerful instrumentalities in achieving success. In these verses he
insists on the moral consistency of the individual life and conduct.
As the time indicated on the dial answers to the perfect mechanism of
the watch, so the personal example of the preacher must answer to the
words he utters. The most accomplished elocution, the most
impassioned and captivating utterance will be fruitless unless backed
with the strength of a complete, well-rounded, all-beautiful
spiritual character. Paul and his co-helpers could fearlessly appeal
to their hearers, and in all humility to God, in attestation of the
moral consistency of their private and public action.
+I. Their moral consistency seem in the unselfish principle that
governed them in their work.+--"For ye remember, brethren, our
labours and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would
not be chargeable to any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of
God" (ver. 9). The apostle invariably asserted the obligation of
ministerial maintenance by the Church. In another place he
emphatically affirms that, not merely naked equity and the spirit of
the Mosaic law, but also a positive ordinance of Christ requires that
just as "they which ministered about holy things lived of the things
of the temple, and they which waited at the altar were partakers with
the altar, even so they which preach the gospel shall live of the
gospel" (1 Cor. ix. 13, 14). In the special circumstances and early
stage of the work at Thessalonica, the apostle waived this righteous
claim. It might be on account of the poverty of the majority of the
converts, or more probably on account of the charge of covetousness
their enemies had diligently circulated. To crush all suspicion of
interested motives and self-seeking, those noble missionaries refused
"to be chargeable unto any one of them," depending for their support
upon the occasional remittances of the liberal Philippians, and on
their own manual labour. Thus did they evidence their supreme desire
to be, not mercenary gain, but the proclamation of the Gospel of
God--an example which has its counterpart in the brave, devoted,
self-denying labours of many a modern missionary.
+II. Their moral consistency seen in the maintenance of a blameless
deportment.+--"Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly
and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe" (ver.
10). A Roman prince of the celebrated house of Colonna, whose virtues
had sustained him alike in prosperous and adverse times, was once
driven into exile, and when reduced to extremity was asked, "Where is
now your fortress?" He laid his hand upon his heart, and answered,
"Here!" A conscious sense of integrity threw a strength and majesty
around him in the midst of poverty and suffering. It was an inward
consciousness of purity that prompted these Christian workers to
appeal to those who were best acquainted with their walk and
conversation. They behaved holily toward God, justly toward men, and
unblameably in all things. "Among them that believe." Believers could
best understand the secret of their whole life, its aims and motives,
its tendencies and issues, and on them it would have an irresistible
impression. It is often the fate of the public teacher, while
blameless, to be unmercifully blamed by those who are outside the
circle of his work. The world retains all its historic enmity to the
truth and is as venomous as ever in its expression.
"No might, nor greatness in mortality
Can censure 'scape: back-wounding calumny
The whitest virtue strikes."
+III. Their moral consistency seen in their persistent endeavours to
stimulate their converts to the highest attainments.+--1. _This is
evident in the lofty standard set up._ "That ye walk worthy of God"
(ver. 12). How sublime and dignified the Christian character may
become--to walk worthily of God!--in harmony with His nature, His
law, with our profession of attachment to Him. To the production of
this grand result all their efforts were bent. "As a father doth his
children," so they "exhorted" with all earnestness, "comforted" with
all loving sympathy, and "charged" with all fidelity and authority.
The preacher must be master of every art necessary to success.
2. _This is evident in the sublime motive that should animate us in
reaching the standard._--The Divine, heavenly calling. "Who hath
called you unto His kingdom and glory" (ver. 12)--His own glorious
kingdom. We are invited to enter this kingdom on earth and
participate in its blessings; but the full splendours of that kingdom
are reserved for the heavenly world. How brief and insignificant will
the sufferings and sorrows of the present appear, contrasted with the
ineffable bliss of the future state! "Do you want anything?" eagerly
asked the loved ones who surrounded the dying couch of Melancthon.
"Nothing but heaven," was the gentle response, and he went smiling on
his way.
+Lessons.+--1. _In order to success in preaching moral consistency of
life must accompany and sustain the faithful declaration of the
truth._ 2. _That the greatest success is achieved when the highest
experience of the Christian life is constantly enforced by both
precept and example._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 9-12. _The High Moral Feeling that should influence the
Preacher._--Illustrated by Paul's work and conduct.
+I. In preaching the Gospel.+
+II. In labouring for his own support.+
+III. In his behaviour.+--1. _Towards God._ "Holily." 2. _Towards
others._ "Justly." 3. _Unblameable._ Prudent and inoffensive. He
could appeal to man and God.--_Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.
_The Correct Estimate of Gospel Truth._
We have before stated that the population of Thessalonica consisted
of two diverse classes, Greek and Jew--the one representing the
philosophy of paganism, the other being the custodian of the sacred
truths of Revelation. Among the Hebrews Moses was recognised as the
central human figure and head of their legal system, and his words
were profoundly venerated; and the Gentiles were not less devout and
ardent in their admiration of Plato and his far-seeing wisdom. The
influence of these two systems was all-potent with the Thessalonians;
it supplied thought, moulded character and life, and filled up the
widest circle of their hopes. The Gospel impinged upon these ancient
and revered institutions, and they reeled beneath the shock. The
bigoted followers of Moses and Plato were compelled to admit the
higher authority of the apostolic message. They formed a correct
estimate of Gospel truth when they "received it, not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth, the word of God."
+I. The Gospel is superior to all human wisdom.+--It is "not the word
of men." 1. _Human wisdom is limited in its range._ The greatest mind
is restricted in its knowledge, and imperfect in using what it knows.
A celebrated Roman scholar once exclaimed with petulance and disgust:
"The human mind wanders in a diseased delirium, and it is therefore
not surprising that there is no possible folly which philosophers, at
one time or another, have not propounded as a lesson of wisdom."
2. _Human wisdom is changeable._--Aristotle, the great father of
natural philosophy, summed up his impressions on this subject with
his usual hard, unyielding logic when ye said: "There is no
difference between what men call knowledge and mere opinion;
therefore, as all opinion is uncertain, there can be no certainty in
human knowledge."
3. _Human wisdom is unsatisfying._--It is with a sigh of bitter
disappointment that one of the most profound thinkers of antiquity
concluded his long and deep inquiry into human affairs, and summed up
the result with these sad, melancholy words: "Nothing can be known;
nothing therefore can be learned; nothing can be certain; the senses
are limited and delusive; intellect is weak; life is short!"
+II. The Gospel is essentially Divine.+--1. _It is authoritative._
There is an old proverb, "When the lion roars, the beasts of the
forest tremble." So when the Gospel speaks, unbelievers may well be
filled with fear. Milton thus describes Adam in his innocency
advancing to meet his celestial Visitor: He--
"walks forth without more train
Accompanied than with His own complete
Perfections: in Himself was all His state."
In like manner God's Word comes to us clothed with the majesty and
authority of its own innate power. It bends the ear to attention, the
mind to faith, the heart to reverence, the will and conscience to
obedience.
2. _It is immutable._--It is "the word of the Lord that liveth and
abideth for ever" (1 Peter i. 23). (1) Its promises are sure; (2) its
threatenings will certainly be executed.
3. _It is complete._--There is nothing to add, nothing to subtract.
It contains the fullest revelation of God, of man, of eternal
issues--such as can never be found elsewhere.
4. _It is worthy of universal credence._--"If we receive the witness
of men, the witness of God is greater." It is to the everlasting
commendation of the Thessalonians, and of millions since their day,
that when they heard the Word of God they "received it, not at the
word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God."
This next paragraph includes the word "niggardly," which is
a fine word, meaning "stingy," "grasping," or
"parsimonious;" but to someone who is not familiar with the
word or not paying complete attention, it can sound like a
racial slur. When teaching this material, please strongly
consider substituting a synonym.
+III. The Gospel is efficacious in transforming character.+--"Which
effectually worketh also in you that believe." As the planet
receiving the light of the sun is transformed into an imitation sun,
so the believing soul receiving the light of the Word is changed into
the image of that Word. Whatever the Divine Word prescribes, _that_
it works in us. Does it prescribe repentance?--it works repentance;
faith?--it works faith; obedience?--it works obedience;
knowledge?--it enlightens to know. Its transforming power, is
continually demonstrated. It makes the niggardly generous, the
profane holy, the drunkard sober, the profligate chaste. Faith is the
vital force that connects the soul with this converting power.
+IV. The correct estimate of Gospel truth is matter of ceaseless
thanksgiving to the preacher.+--"For this cause also thank we God
without ceasing." No disappointment is keener to the anxious preacher
than that of unproductive labour. Some of the choicest ministers of
God have to mourn over comparative failure. Think of the anguish of
the sympathetic Jeremiah when the Word of the Lord which he declared
was turned into daily reproach and derision; and to Ezekiel, when he
wept over rebellious Israel! But the joy of success is irrepressible,
and the full heart pours out its thanks to God. "They joy before Thee
according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide
the spoil" (Isa. ix. 3).
+Lessons.+--1. _The word of man, while it may charm the
understanding, is powerless to change the heart._ 2. _The correct
estimate of Gospel truth is to regard it as the Word of God._ 3. _The
Word of God is efficacious to the individual only as it is received
believingly._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
_The Efficacy of the Word of God and the Way of receiving it._
+I. The description given of the Word.+--1. _The Word not of men, but
of God._ 2. _Known by its effects._ (1) Producing conviction of sin.
(2) Binding up the broken heart.
+II. In what manner it should be received.+--1. _With attention and
reverence._ 2. _With humility and teachableness._ 3. _As the
instrument for conversion and edification.--E. Cooper._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.
_Suffering: the Test of Conversion._
It often happens that suffering reveals new features of individual
character and awakens powers that were before dormant. It takes a
great deal to thoroughly rouse some people. We are told that Agrippa
had a dormouse that slumbered so profoundly that it would never wake
till cast into a cauldron of boiling lead. So, there are some natures
which put forth all their powers only when in suffering and
extremity. The piety of God's people has been most severely tested in
the midst of persecution and affliction. The faith of thousands has
failed in the hour of trial, while those who have borne the strain
have gained an accession of moral nerve and bravery. The
Thessalonians imitated the Churches in Judea in boldly facing the
storm of malignant opposition, and standing under it with calm,
unconquerable firmness.
+I. The suffering of the Thessalonians had a common origin.+--"For ye
also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they
have of the Jews." Just as the Jews who embraced Christianity met
with the maddest violence from their own unbelieving countrymen, so
the Gentiles found their fiercest foes among their fellow-countrymen,
who blindly clung to the worship of the gods. It is the unkindest cut
of all that comes from the sword of our own people--people with whom
we have lived in amity and concord, but from whom conscience compels
us to differ. Who can fathom the deep anguish of the Psalmist
sounding in that sharp, bitter cry of startled surprise, "For it was
not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it; but it
was thou, a man, mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance"! (Ps.
lv. 12, 13). It was a horrible discovery of nature engaged in a
terrible suicidal war with itself! Nature grown monstrously unnatural
and savagely retaliating on its own; natural love turned into
unnatural enmity! What a revelation, too, is this of the desperate
nature of all persecution! Its insensate malice rudely sunders all
bonds of fatherland, friendship, and kindred. The close affinity
between Cain and Abel does not arrest the murderer's hand; the tender
ties between Saul and David, woven with much reciprocal kindness and
affection, avail not to curb the mad cruelty of the infuriate king.
Ah! how deep and changeless is the truth, "All that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. iii. 12). The
suffering that tests is still from the same source, "A man's foes are
they of his own household" (Matt. x. 36).
+II. The suffering of the Thessalonians was borne with exemplary
Christian fortitude.+--"For ye, brethren, became followers of the
Churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus." The same
thought is expressed in the first chapter, where the apostle says,
"Ye became followers of us and of the Lord." For at the head of the
long line is Jesus, the Captain of salvation; and all whom He leads
to glory walk in His steps, imitate His example, and so become
followers one of another. It is not, however, suffering in itself
that purifies and exalts Christian character, so much as the spirit
in which it is borne. The hardest point of obedience is to obey in
suffering. It was enough to cool the fiery ambition of the aspiring
disciples when Jesus said, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I
shall drink of?" (Matt. xx. 22). And yet the following of Christ in
suffering is the true test of discipleship. "He that taketh not his
cross and followeth me is not worthy of Me" (Matt. x. 38). It is a
grand proof of the supernatural efficacy of Gospel truth that it
inspires so intense a love of it as to make us willing to endure the
most exquisite suffering for its sake. The love of truth becomes
supreme. John Huss, lamenting the rupture of an old and valued
friendship, said: "Paletz is my friend; truth is my friend; and both
being my friends, it is my sacred duty to give the first honour to
truth." The soul, penetrated with this sublime devotion to truth,
will pass unscathed the fiery test of suffering. On the destruction
by fire of the London Alexandra Palace a few years ago, it was found
that, while many specimens of old English porcelain exhibited there
were reduced to a black, shapeless mass, the true porcelain of
Bristol, though broken into fragments, still retained its whiteness,
and even its most delicate shades of colour, uninjured by the fire.
So the truly good, though wounded and maimed, shall survive the
fiercest trial, and retain intact all that specially distinguishes
and beautifies the Christian character.
+Lessons.+--1. _Our love of the Gospel is tested by what we suffer
for it._ 2. _The similarity of experience in all times and places is
a strong evidence of the truth of the Christian religion._
3. _Suffering does not destroy, but builds up and perfects._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15, 16.
_The Fury of the Old Religion against the New._
It is the natural order of things that the old must give place to the
new. The inexorable operation of the law of progress is seen in a
thousand different forms. In the world of vegetation, the old life is
continually yielding supremacy to the new. The leaves, buds, and
blossoms of the tree, as they force their way to the light, fling
their shadows on the grave where their predecessors lie decayed and
buried--life blooming amid the ghastly emblems of death. And, in the
world of religious thought and opinion, while Divine truth remains in
its essence unchangeably the same, old forms and old definitions are
ever giving place to the new. The transition from the old to a new
order of things in the progress of religion is not always
accomplished without opposition. Age is naturally and increasingly
tenacious; and the old religion looks on the new with suspicion, with
jealousy, with fear, with anger. The Jews had resisted the attempts
of their own Divinely commissioned prophets to rouse the nation to a
purer faith and more vigorous religious life; but their fury reached
its climax in their blind, unreasonable, and fiendish opposition to
Christianity. The text describes the fury of the old religion against
the new.
+I. The fury of the Jews is seen in their inhuman treatment of the
great leaders of religious thought.+--"Who both killed the Lord Jesus
and their own prophets, and have persecuted us" (ver. 15).
1. _They plotted against the life of the world's Redeemer;_ and in
spite of insufficient evidence to convict, and the endeavours of the
Roman procurator to release, they clamoured for the immediate
crucifixion of their innocent Victim, exclaiming in the wild
intoxication of malignant passion, "His blood be on us and on our
children" (Matt. xxvii. 25)--a self-invoked imprecation that fell on
them with terrible and desolating vengeance.
2. _The sin of murder already darkly stained their race._--The best
and noblest of their prophets were unoffending victims: Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Amos, Zechariah, met with violent deaths. The charge of the
proto-martyr Stephen was unanswerable (Acts vii. 52).
3. _The apostles were subjected to similar treatment._--"And have
persecuted us"--have chased and driven us out. They drove them out of
Thessalonica, afterwards out of Berœa, and were at that moment
engaged in instigating an insurrection to drive the apostle out of
Corinth. The spirit of persecution is unchanged. Wherever the attempt
is made to raise the Church from the grave of spiritual death and
reanimate her creed and ritual with intenser reality and life, it is
met with a jealous, angry opposition. What a wretched, short-sighted
policy does persecution reveal! It is the idolised weapon of the
tyrant and the coward, the sport of the brutal, the sanguinary
carnival of demons!
+II. The fury of the Jews was displeasing to God.+--"They please not
God" (ver. 15). They fondly imagined they were the favourites of
heaven, and that all others were excluded from the Divine
complacency. They had the words of the law carefully committed to
memory and could quote them with the utmost facility to serve their
own purpose. They would support their proud assumption of superiority
and exclusiveness by quoting Deut. xiv. 2, wilfully shutting their
eyes to the vital difference between the holy intention of Jehovah
and their miserably defective realisation of that intention. In their
opposition to Christianity they thought they were doing God service;
yet all the time they were displeasing to Him. How fatally blinding
is sin, goading the soul to the commission of the most horrible
crimes under the sacred guise of virtue!
+III. The fury of the Jews was hostile to man.+--1. _Their hostility
was directed against the world of mankind._ "Are contrary to all men"
(ver. 15). The Jews of that period delighted in hatching all kinds of
"sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion." They were adversaries of
all, the despisers of all. Tacitus, the Roman historian, brands them
as "the enemies of all men:" and Apion, the Egyptian, according to
the admission of Josephus, calls them "atheists and misanthropes--in
fact, the most witless and dullest of barbarians."
2. _Their hostility was embittered by a despicable religious
jealousy._--"Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might
be saved" (ver. 16). Here the fury of the old religion against the
new reached its climax. It is the perfection of bigotry and cruelty
to deny to our fellow-men the only means of salvation. Into what
monsters of barbarity will persecution turn men! Pharaoh persisted to
such a degree of unreasonableness as to chastise the Hebrews for not
accomplishing impossibilities! Julian, the apostate from
Christianity, carried his vengeful spirit to his deathbed, and died
cursing the Nazarene!
+IV. The fury of the Jews hurried them into irretrievable
ruin.+--1. _Their wickedness was wilfully persistent._ "To fill up
their sins alway" (ver. 16)--at all times, now as much as ever. So
much so, the time is now come when the cup of their iniquity is
filled to the brim, and nothing can prevent the consequent
punishment. The desire to sin grows with its commission. "Sinners,"
says St. Gregory, "would live for ever that they might sin for
ever"--a powerful argument for the endlessness of future punishment.
The desire to sin is endless.
2. _Their punishment was inevitable and complete._--"For the wrath is
come upon them to the uttermost" (ver. 16)--is even now upon them.
The process has begun; their fury to destroy others will accelerate
their own destruction. Punishment fell upon the wicked, unbelieving,
and resisting Jews, and utter destruction upon their national status
and religious supremacy (_vide_ Josephus, _Wars,_ Books v., vi.).
+Lessons.+--1. _There is a fearful possibility of sinking into a
lifeless formality, and blind, infatuate opposition to the good._
2. _The rage of man against the truth defeats its own ends, and
recoils in vengeance on himself._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15, 16. _The Persecuting Jews_--
+I. Often misled by professed zeal for truth.+
+II. Tortured and murdered the noblest men of their own race.+
+III. Opposed the Gospel with violent and unreasoning severity.+
+IV. Have themselves been persecuted by all the nations among whom
they sojourned.+
+V. Furnish an unanswerable argument for the truth of Christianity.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 17-20.
_The Power of Satan, Great but Restricted._
St. Paul had a profound, unhesitating belief in the reality and
personal activity of Satan. An examination of the apostle's own
writings and discourses places this beyond doubt. We need refer to
but a few passages. Satan is "the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph.
ii. 2); "the god of this world, blinding the minds of them which
believe not" (2 Cor. iv. 4). To convert to the Christian religion is
to bring men "from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts xxvi. 18). To
relapse is "to turn aside after Satan" (1 Tim. v. 15). To commit sin
is to "give place to the devil" (Eph. iv. 27). If Paul suffered from
some grievous bodily ailment that checked him in his evangelical
labours, it was "the angel of Satan to buffet him" (2 Cor. xii. 17);
and when he was prevented from paying a visit to the struggling
Church at Thessalonica, it was "Satan that hindered him." Observe:--
+I. The power of Satan forcing an unwilling separation.+--"But we,
brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in
heart" (ver. 17).
1. _The separation was painful, but temporary._--"Being taken from
you"--literally, being _orphaned of you._ This grief was like that of
a father bereft of his children, or children of their parents. Their
emotions were expressed by Jacob--"If I am bereaved of my children, I
am bereaved" (Gen. xliii. 14). They hoped speedily to return; and,
after the lapse of five years, their hopes were realised. Satan acted
by means of wicked men (Acts xvii. 5-8, 13).
2. _The separation did not lessen their spiritual attachment._--"In
presence, not in heart." Satan may deprive of the opportunity of
social intercourse, but not of reciprocal Christian love. Augustine,
referring to different kinds of friendship, shows the pre-eminence of
the spiritual, where the link is grace and the Spirit of God:
"Natural affection want of presence diminisheth; mundane friendship,
where profit makes the union, want of profit unlooseth; but spiritual
amity nothing dissolves, no, not that which dissolves all others,
lack of society."
+II. The power of Satan hindering an earnestly desired
visit.+--1. _Opposition intensified their desire to see their
converts._ "Endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with
great desire" (ver. 17). As lime is influenced by water, as a stream
grows more furious by the obstacles set against it, so genuine
affection is increased in fervour by that which opposes it.
2. _The opposition succeeded in baffling repeated attempts to carry
out that desire._--"Wherefore, we would have come unto you, even I
Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us" (ver. 18). The apostle
halted at Berœa on his way to Athens, and probably attempted then to
return to Thessalonica, but was thwarted in his design. Though no
express reference is made in the history to the agency of Satan, Paul
had unmistakable evidence of its operation in many ways. _Satan
hindered us_--perhaps by imprisonment, tempests at sea, or by keeping
him so fully occupied with incessant conflicts and ever-new
tribulations of his own, as to leave him no leisure for carrying out
his plan. The verb signifies to cut a trench in the way of a pursuing
enemy, so as to hinder his progress.
+III. The power of Satan unable to rob the Christian worker of the
joy and reward of success.+--Great as is the power of Satan, it is
not omnipotent. The Christian warrior can successfully withstand it
(Eph. vi. 11-13); and he is assured that God will bruise Satan under
his feet (Rom. xvi. 20).
1. _Success in soul-saving is productive of unutterable joy._--"For
what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye?"
(ver. 19). The merchant rejoices over his gains, the warrior over his
victories, the artist over the achievements of genius; but there is
no joy so sweet, so exquisite, so abiding, as the successful winner
of souls.
2. _The joy of success in soul-saving will be among the highest
rewards of the future._--"In the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at
His coming? For ye are our glory and joy" (vers. 19, 20). The return
of Christ to heaven, after the judgment, is here compared to the
solemnity of a triumph, in which the apostle is to appear crowned in
token of victory over the false religions of the world, attended by
his converts; and because they are the cause of his being thus
crowned, they are, by a beautiful figure of speech, called his crown
of rejoicing. Special honour is promised to the successful worker
(Dan. xii. 3). (1) Joy enhanced by the recognitions in the future
life. "Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at
His coming?" If Paul knows his converts in the heavenly world, shall
we not know our loved ones who have gone before? (2) By the presence
and approbation of the Lord Jesus for whom we have laboured. "In Thy
presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for
evermore" (Ps. xvi. 11).
+Lessons.+--1. _The power of Satan works through many agencies;
therefore, we have need of watchfulness._ 2. _The power of Satan is
limited; therefore, we need not be discouraged._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 18. _Satanic Hindrances_--
+I. Are veiled by subtle and specious pretexts.+
+II. Work mischief in individuals and in Churches.+
+III. May succeed in diverting for a time the best intentions of the
good.+
+IV. Should be diligently and prayerfully watched.+
+V. Are frustrated by a superior power.+
Vers. 19, 20. _The Joy of a Minister in his Converts_--
+I. As they are living witnesses of the power of the Gospel.+
+II. As they are the crowning reward of his labours.+
+III. As he shares the joy of Christ in their salvation and final
glory.+
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +When we could no longer forbear.+--This latter word occurs
in 1 Cor. xiii. 7 to describe the endurance of love.
Ver. 2. +Fellow-labourer+ is omitted from the R.V. text, which reads,
"our brother and God's minister in the gospel of Christ." +To
establish you.+--To fix firmly; as Christ said to Peter, "_Stablish_
thy brethren" (Luke xxii. 32).
Ver. 3. +That no man should be moved.+--The word seems to imply
"moved to softness," as Professor Jowett intimates. It is used
especially of the motion of a dog's tail as it fawns on its master.
So the word passes over to the mental sphere (compare on St. James'
figure, James i. 6). "That no man should amidst his calamities be
allured by the flattering hope of a more pleasant life to abandon his
duty" (_Tittmann_).
Ver. 4. +We should suffer tribulation.+--In the verse previous the
noun from the same root as the one here translated "suffer
tribulation" is given as "afflictions." "The actual persecution of
the Roman government was slight, but what may be termed social
persecution and the illegal violence employed towards the first
disciples unceasing" (_Jowett_).
Ver. 5. +When I could no longer forbear . . . sent to know.+--The
whole verse shows the tension of the apostle's mind.
Ver. 6. +And brought us good tidings.+--R.V. "glad tidings." "The one
word for 'brought-glad-tidings' everywhere else in the New Testament
signifies _the_ glad tidings. . . . Hence the peculiar force of the
word here. . . . It was a gospel sent to _him_ in return for his
gospel brought to them" (_Findlay_). +Ye have good remembrance of
us.+--Kindly remembrance. The tempter had not been able to turn to
gall the sweet thoughts of grateful appreciation of the apostle's
work.
Ver. 8. +For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.+--The man who
later could say, "For to me to live is Christ" (Phil. i. 21),
prepares us for that saying by this. Life to him is desirable only as
others benefit by it.
Ver. 9. +For what thanks can we render to God again.+--In the R.V.
"again" is joined with "render," representing the one word of St.
Paul. The same verb is found twice in Luke xiv. 14 as "recompense."
The apostle feels what a poor requital any thanksgiving must be for
the mercy of the good news from Thessalonica (see 2 Thess. i. 6).
Ver. 11. +Direct our way unto you.+--Acts xvi. 6, 7 should be read.
Satan might hinder (ch. ii. 18); if God "makes straight" the way,
progress will be easy.
Ver. 12. +The Lord make you abound in love.+--The Lord may here be
the Holy Spirit, as the three persons of the Trinity will be appealed
to (cf. ver. 13, as in 2 Thess. iii. 5). So the Holy Ghost is called
the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 17). Love is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.
v. 22), and His office is to establish in holiness (ver. 13; 1 Pet.
i. 2) (_Faussett_).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1, 2.
_A Difficult and Important Mission._
Paul had been compelled to leave Thessalonica in consequence of the
malignant opposition of the Jews. They thirsted for his life, and it
would still be dangerous for him to visit the city. But Timothy might
venture where it would be perilous for the apostle to appear. While
the wrath of the Jews raged against the Gospel as a whole, it
culminated in its fury around the head of Paul, the ringleader and
champion of the movement. Fearing that his absence might be
misconstrued, and anxious to strengthen the faith of the infant
Church in the midst of trial, the apostle determines to send a
trusted messenger. It is a significant testimony to the sound
judgment and prudence of Timothy, that he is selected for this
difficult and important mission.
+I. This mission was the suggestion of an uncontrollable
anxiety.+--"Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear" (ver. 1).
This anxiety sprang from the intensity of the apostle's love. It is a
striking feature of genuine, Christian love that, while it bears with
uncomplaining patience any amount of external suffering, it is
restless with a holy impatience of delay in doing good to those it
embraces. The devoted mother can endure anything but restraint in her
desire to promote the best welfare of her child. David was
indifferent to the exposure and dangers of his wilderness-life; but
his soul panted after God with all the raging thirst of the hart in
autumn for the cooling water-brook.
+II. This mission involved great personal inconvenience.+--"We
thought it good to be left at Athens alone" (ver. 1). The
unselfishness of true love ever prefers another's good to its own.
Timothy had travelled so constantly with Paul and had been so great a
comfort to him in his captivities and trials, that his absence was a
keenly felt loss. Specially was his sympathy and co-operation needed
when the great Gentile missionary entered the region--
"Where on the Ægean shore a city stood,
Built nobly, pure the air and light the soil,
Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts
And eloquence."--_Milton._
_"At Athens alone."_ What a sublime historical picture is portrayed
in these words! Christianity embodied in a single, lonely man,
standing in the midst of the populous metropolis of pagan culture and
idolatry! Yet the power sustained in that solitary man broke up and
scattered the huge fabric of heathenism. "Solitude is one of the
highest enjoyments of which our nature is susceptible. Solitude is
also, when too long continued, capable of being made the most severe,
indescribable, unendurable, source of anguish" (_Deloraine_).
+III. This mission was entrusted to a thoroughly qualified
messenger.+--The high character of Timothy and the relations existing
between the two preachers are brought out in the epithets applied to
him. "Timothy _our brother_" (ver. 2). In other places Paul calls him
his "own son in the faith," his "dearly beloved son" (1 Tim. i. 2;
2 Tim. i. 2); but in speaking of him to the Churches he recognises
him on the equal footing of a _brother._ He was also a _minister of
God,_ solemnly set apart to this service by the voice of prophecy,
and by the consecrating hands of the presbytery, and of Paul himself.
And finally, he was Paul's _fellow-labourer in the Gospel of Christ,_
not only as all God's ministers are fellow-labourers, working the
work of the same Lord, but also on the ground of that special
intimacy of personal intercourse and co-operation, to which he was
from the first admitted by the apostle (_Lillie_). Thus, Timothy was
thoroughly qualified--(1) _to carry out the apostle's wish concerning
the Thessalonians, and_ (2) _to sympathise with the Church's peculiar
difficulties and trials._ He was more than a mere courier. He was
faithful to Paul's instructions, and valuable to the Church in
himself.
+IV. This mission was charged with a work of high importance and
necessity.+--"To establish you, and to comfort you, concerning your
faith" (ver. 2).
1. _To establish_--to comfort, or set fast their faith by a fresh,
authoritative manifestation of the Gospel truth and its Divine
evidences; and this would be done by private conversation and public
ministration.
2. _To comfort._--The word means also, and especially here, to
_exhort,_ though doubtless comfort would be mingled with the
exhortation. The Thessalonians were exposed to the storm of
persecution that was everywhere raging against the Gospel and its
adherents, and they were exhorted to steadfastness, "that no man
should be moved by these afflictions" (ch. iii. 3). Paul and Barnabas
had a similar mission to the Churches in Lesser Asia (Acts xiv. 22).
There are none so strong in faith but need confirmation, none so
courageous but need comfort.
+Lessons.+--1. _The establishment of believers is ever a subject of
anxiety to the true minister._ 2. _The desire to promote the highest
welfare of the Church should ever be paramount._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 1. "At Athens alone" (cf. Acts xvii. 16, 17). _The Solitude of a
Great City_--
+I. Affords a painful opportunity to reflect on its moral
condition.+--"He saw the city wholly given to idolatry."
+II. Awakens profound concern in a great soul.+--"His spirit was
stirred in him."
+III. Rouses to immediate action in promoting the welfare of the
citizens.+--"Therefore disputed he in the synagogue and in the
market daily."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-5.
_The Perils of Suffering._
A storm among the Highlands of Scotland often effects great and rapid
changes. The huge mountain that slumbers harmlessly in the sunshine,
with such calm and sullen majesty, is transformed by the tempest into
a monster of fury. Its sides are suddenly sheeted with waterfalls,
and the ferocious torrents work devastation among the glens and
straths that lie in their impetuous course. The trees and shrubs that
are but slightly rooted are swept away, and only the firmly grounded
survive. So it is, when the storm of persecution breaks upon the
Gospel and its adherents. The new converts, the roots of whose faith
have not penetrated so deeply into the soil of truth, are in danger
of being disturbed and carried away. Their peril is matter of anxiety
to the Christian worker. Hence the apostle sends Timothy, and writes
this epistle to the Thessalonians, to confirm and establish them in
the faith. He shows:--
+I. That suffering is the inevitable lot of God's people.+--1. _That
suffering is a Divine ordinance._ "For ye yourselves know that we are
appointed thereunto" (ver. 3). A strange way, one would think, of
reconciling people to affliction, by telling them that they have
nothing else to expect. It is a grand proof of the triumph of the
Gospel over the rebellious human heart that it prescribes such
conditions and reconciles men to the acceptance of them; and it does
so both by the grace which it imparts for the present and by the
glorious hope it holds out for the future. It is laid down as a law
of Christian progress "that we must, through much tribulation, enter
into the kingdom of God" (Acts xiv. 22). The very purity of the
Church, imperfect as it is, coming into contact with the sin and
misery prevalent in the world, produces suffering. "Because ye are
not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you" (John xv. 19). It is enough for us to know that
our trials do not happen without the knowledge and consent and
purpose and control of God, and that their extent and duration are
regulated by His infinite, fatherly wisdom and love. The Divine
appointment of suffering is designed for our highest discipline and
culture--withdrawing our affections from the temporal and centring
them on eternal realities; exposing our hypocrisies and cleansing the
moral corruptions that have entered into our lives, like filth on
standing waters, and strengthening us to do the right, undismayed by
the bitterest afflictions. The greatest suffering often brings us
into the neighbourhood of the greatest blessing. "Gold is cleaner
after it has been put into the fire: be thou gold, and the fiery
persecution shall not hurt thee."
2. _That suffering was the subject of frequent apostolic
warning._--"For verily, when we were with you, we told you before
that we should suffer tribulation" (ver. 4). It is intimated here
that it was not so much one single statement on some particular
occasion as it was the constant and habitual tenor of the apostle's
teaching that suffering was to be expected. Paul himself was an
illustrious example of heroic fortitude in suffering for Christ's
sake. "The Holy Ghost," said he, "witnesseth in every city, saying
that bonds and afflictions abide me" (Acts xx. 23). It is both wise
and kind to forewarn God's people of coming afflictions, that they be
not overtaken unexpectedly and unprepared. The predictions of the
apostle were verified: _"Even as it came to pass, and ye know."_
Their first acquaintance with the Gospel was in the midst of
persecution and trial. The violent opposition continued, but the
warnings and exhortations of the apostle were not in vain (2 Thess.
i. 4).
3. _That the suffering of God's people is a cause of ministerial
anxiety._--"For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to
know your faith" (ver. 5). It has been pithily said, "Calamity is
man's true touchstone." The strongest have then become a prey to the
malice and subtlety of Satan. The faithful minister, knowing the
perils of suffering and the awful consequences of apostasy, is
anxiously concerned about the faith of his converts. "There are three
modes of bearing the ills of life--by indifference, which is the most
common; by philosophy, which is the most ostentatious; and by
religion, which is the most effectual" (_Colton_).
+II. That suffering exposes God's people to the disturbing forces of
Satanic temptations.+--"Lest by some means the tempter have tempted
you" (ver. 5).
1. _A suggestive designation of Satan._--"The tempter." What
unspeakable vileness, ruin, misery, and terror are suggested by that
name! All human woe may be traced directly up to him. The greatest
champions of Christendom, such as Paul and Luther, had the most vivid
sense of the personality, nearness, and unceasing counter-working of
this great adversary of God and man. There is need of sleepless
vigilance and prayer.
2. _The versatility of Satanic temptations._--"Lest by some means."
He may descend suddenly, clothed with terror and burning with wrath,
to surprise and terrify into sin. More frequently he appears in the
seductive and more dangerous garb of an angel of light, the deceptive
phantom of what he once was. Infinite are his methods; his aim is
one--to suggest doubts and impious references as to God's
providential dealings of severity, and to produce apostasy from the
faith.
+III. That the temptations of a suffering state imperil the work of
God's servants.+--"And our labour be in vain" (ver. 5). _In vain_ as
regards the great end of their salvation; they would lapse into their
former heathenish state, and by apostasy lose their heavenly reward;
and _in vain_ as regards the joy which the apostle anticipated from
their ultimate salvation. It is true no work done for God is
absolutely in vain; the worker shall receive his just reward; but it
may be in vain with regard to the object to which his best efforts
have been directed. It is bitterly disappointing to see the work that
has cost so much, utterly frustrated by a momentary temptation of the
wicked one. How different might have been the moral history of
thousands if they had not yielded to the first fiery trial!
"Of all the sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these--_it might have been._"
+IV. That God's people may triumph over the greatest
suffering.+--"That no man should be moved [drawn away by flattery or
shaken] by these afflictions" (ver. 3). While piety is tried, it is
also strengthened by suffering. The watchful and faithful soul may
use his troubles as aids to a richer experience and a firmer
consolidation of Christian character. "Thus God schooleth and
nurtureth His people, that so, through many tribulations, they may
enter into their rest. Frankincense, when it is put into the fire,
giveth the greater perfume; spice, if it be pounded, smelleth the
sweeter; the earth, when it is torn up by the plough, becometh more
fruitful; the seed in the ground, after frost and snow and winter
storms, springeth up the ranker; the nigher the vine is pruned to the
stock, the greater grape it yieldeth; the grape, when it is most
pressed and beaten, maketh the sweetest wine; fine gold is the better
when it is cast into the fire; rough stones, with hewing, are squared
and made fit for the building; cloth is rent and cut that it may make
a garment; linen that is thrown into the tub, washed, and beaten, is
the fairer" (_Jewell_).
+Lessons.+--1. _To live a godly life involves suffering._ 2. _A
period of suffering is ever attended with powerful temptations._
3. _The grace of God is sufficient to sustain and deliver His people
amid the perils of acutest suffering._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 3-5. _The Necessity and the Perils of Affliction._
+I. That afflictions are disturbing and distressing to the children
of God.+
+II. That afflictions are appointed by God for His people's good.+
+III. That Christians are forewarned to expect affliction.+
+IV. That Satan uses affliction as a means of temptation.+
+V. That the faithful minister must labour and watch in order to
secure the steadfastness of believers under his
care.+--Herbert, the saintly poet of the seventeenth century,
exhorts the preacher to make the consolations of the Gospel
his main theme:
_"Oh, let him speak of comfort, 'tis
Most wanted in this vale of tears."_
--_P. Mearns._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.
_News that gladdens._
With what anxiety the father entrusts his son with a commission to
visit an estate in a distant land, and to investigate its affairs,
which are threatened for the time being with impending dangers. He is
in suspense until he receives intelligence of the safe arrival of his
loved messenger, and that there is no reason for apprehension
concerning the estate itself. But when that son returns in person and
assures him that everything is prosperous and hopeful, the father's
satisfaction is complete. "As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is
good news from a far country" (Prov. xv. 25). Such, in a higher
sense, was the experience of Paul when he despatched Timothy to
inquire into the condition of the suffering Thessalonian Church, and
when he brought back the cheering report as to the fidelity and
affection of its persecuted members.
+I. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of faith
maintained.+--"Timothy came from you to us, and brought us good
tidings of your faith."
1. _Their faith in the great truths of the Gospel was
maintained._--The revelation of Divine truth is the basis of faith.
This truth as it affected their salvation had been clearly,
earnestly, and successfully declared to them by the apostle and his
companions. They comprehended its meaning, felt its force, embraced
it in their understanding and heart, and were transformed by its
agency. Amid the shock of persecution, and the insidious whisperings
of false teachers, they held fast to "the form of sound words" they
had joyfully received.
2. _Their faith as a principle of active spiritual life was
maintained._--True faith is not simply a belief, but a life; not
merely an assent of the mind to a grand truth or a group of
correlated truths, but the impartation to the soul of a spiritual
force which starts it on a new career. It forms a new era in the
experience and history of the soul. It unites us to the living God,
and expands to our view, however dimly, the vast outline of the life
of God as the pattern of our own. Their faith, as the realisation of
a life springing from God and leading to God, was in sound and
vigorous operation.
+II. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of love
manifested.+--"Brought us good tidings of your charity." Love is the
legitimate fruit of a genuine faith, both in its inward experience
and outward manifestation. Faith and love are indissolubly combined.
"And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of
His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment"
(1 John iii. 23). The first exercise of love is towards God; and
then, in ever widening and intensified outflow, towards all whom God
loves. Such love is _impartial_ and _universal_--manifested towards
all in whom we discern the image of God, whatever their country,
colour, rank, sect, or condition. Where faith and love reign there is
a living, healthy, and prosperous Church.
+III. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of continued
personal regard.+--1. _The apostle was fondly remembered._ "And that
ye have good remembrance of us always." There are some scenes of
nature, which, beheld but for a moment, never fade from the memory;
there are some faces we can never forget; and there are some
individuals, the influence of whose character remains with us as a
charm and inspiration through life. The Thessalonians had good reason
to remember Paul. He was the first to proclaim to them the good news
of salvation; and how great was their privilege to hear the Gospel
from the lips of such a preacher! He counselled them in their
difficulties and sympathised with them in their sufferings. The
minister who first led us to the cross will ever have the
pre-eminence in our affection and the choicest spot in our memory. A
high appreciation of the Christian minister is one of the evidences
of possessing genuine faith and love.
2. _They were as solicitous as the apostle for a renewal of Christian
fellowship._--"Desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you."
There is no bond at once so tender and so strong as that existing
between the preacher and his converts. He must needs love the souls
he has been instrumental in saving and who are his glory and his joy.
The intercourse between such is of the purest and highest kind. Never
was there a more loving heart than that of the apostle Paul. The
Thessalonians warmly reciprocated that love and longed to renew the
fellowship by which they had so richly profited.
+Lessons.+--1. _That Church has the best reputation where faith is
maintained, and love manifested._ 2. _The Christian minister is
cheered by the affection and stability of his converts._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-10.
_Steadfastness of Believers a Source of True Ministerial Satisfaction._
The scholar finds his happiness in intellectual exercises and
accumulating stores of knowledge; the politician in the excitement of
debate and the triumph of great principles; the scientist in testing
and harmonising the laws of nature; the merchant in his gains; and
the minister of God's Word in the increase of converts to the truth,
and in their consistency, fidelity, and perseverance in the practice
of godliness. The truly Christian heart rejoices in the success of
the Gospel in any part of the world, but more particularly in the
locality where personal labour has been expended. The effect upon
Paul of the good tidings from Timothy, concerning the steadfastness
of the believers in Thessalonica, is described in these verses.
Observe:--
+I. Their steadfastness was a source of genuine comfort.+--1. _The
apostle was comforted in the midst of intense personal suffering._
"Therefore, brethren, we were comforted in all our affliction and
distress" (ver. 7). Paul was in Corinth when he received Timothy's
report. In that city the customary opposition of the Jews rose to an
unwonted pitch of malignity, and even blasphemy, so much so that the
apostle resolved to abandon them to their fate--"He shook his
raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am
clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles" (Acts xviii. 6).
So great was his anguish on behalf of his own countrymen, and so
manifold his cares, privations, and perils, that the Lord thought it
needful to encourage him with a vision, saying, "Be not afraid: I am
with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee" (_Ibid._, 9,
10). The bitterness of his afflictions at this time was sweetened by
hearing of the constancy of his Thessalonian converts. It revived,
refreshed, and strengthened him. The faithlessness and disobedience
of the people are a grief to the true minister now; but at last the
horror will be theirs.
2. _The apostle was comforted concerning their faith._--"We were
comforted over you, by your faith" (ver. 7). Timothy had been
commissioned to inquire into the state of their faith, and his report
was eminently satisfactory. He spoke not only of their faith as the
primary root of the Christian life, the basis of all stability and
fruitfulness, but of its active outgoings in love to God and in
affectionate remembrance of the apostle. The Church is in danger and
a cause of deep anxiety when the faith wavers.
+II. Their steadfastness intensified the pleasure of living.+--"For
now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord" (ver. 8). The apostle was
perhaps more than usually despondent when Timothy arrived. The good
news thrilled his soul with new life. _For now,_ whatever else
befall--_now,_ in the face of Jewish fury and Gentile scorn--_now,_
amid infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses,
and deaths oft--_now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord._ The
relation of the minister to his people is so close and vital that
they have in their power to make his life happy or supremely
miserable. There is a method of destroying life without its becoming
utterly extinct. Ezekiel speaks of the false prophets whose lies made
the hearts of the righteous sad; and we read of Elijah, under the
juniper tree, sighing for death because of the idolatry and
wickedness of Judah. To lessen the cheerful flow of life, and depress
the spirits of the man of God, is a species of murder; to starve him
into submission by studied neglect and privation is diabolical. The
ministerial life and energy of even an apostle depended on the
sympathy, faith, and steadfastness of the brethren (3 John 3, 4).
+III. Their steadfastness was productive of grateful joy.+--1. _This
joy was copious and sincere._--"For the joy wherewith we joy before
our God" (ver. 9). The transitions of the emotions are rapid. From
the midst of the apostle's grief a fountain of joy breaks forth. This
joy filled his soul even in the secret presence of God. It was a
pure, sincere, undissembled, overflowing joy, such as God could
approve.
2. _This joy arose from a disinterested love._--"For your sakes"
(ver. 9). True love gives us an interest in the safety and happiness
of others. He who possesses this never lacks joy; it flows not on his
own behalf, it does on behalf of others. Bernard has said: "Of all
the motions and affections of the soul, love is the only one we may
reciprocate with God; to re-love Him is our happiness; woe if we
answer Him not in some measure of re-loving affection."
3. _This joy was expressed in fervent thanksgiving._--"What thanks
can we render to God again for you?" (ver. 9). His gratitude was so
great that he knew not how to give it adequate expression. The
grateful heart prizes blessings that may seem to others of small
value. He rendered thanks to God, the Author and Preserver of their
faith. The heartiest thanksgiving seems cold and utterly insufficient
when compared with the mercies of God.
+IV. Their steadfastness excited an earnest longing for the
opportunity of imparting additional good.+--1. _The apostle
assiduously prayed for the opportunity of a personal interview._
"Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face" (ver.
10). The longer the absence, the more eagerly he desired to see them.
The good tidings of their constancy increased the desire. A love like
his could be satisfied only with personal spiritual intercourse. It
was not enough simply to write. Voice and manner have a pre-eminent
charm in the interchange of mind with mind. Reading, praying, and all
other endeavours will be unavailing if we despise prophesying--the
oral declaration of the truth.
2. _The apostle sought this interview to supply what was deficient in
their faith._--"And might perfect that which was lacking in your
faith" (ver. 10). None so perfect in faith as not to be susceptible
of improvement. Faith is based on knowledge; and as knowledge,
especially in the things of God, is capable of indefinite extension,
so faith may be continually increased--broadening and deepening its
foundation and consolidating its structure. The less distinctly the
great subjects of faith are understood, the more defective is faith;
the more explicit, the more perfect. They most vaunt of faith who
have least experience in its practice. "Empty vessels sound the
loudest." We have all need to cry, _"Lord, increase our faith."_
+Lessons.+--1. _The true minister cannot be indifferent to the
spiritual state of his people._ 2. _The fidelity and perseverance of
believers is an inspiration and unspeakable joy to the anxious
worker._ 3. _Faith and practice powerfully react upon each other._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 7-10. _Glad Tidings of Christian Steadfastness_--
+I. Produce comfort of mind+ (ver. 7).
+II. Make life more enjoyable+ (ver. 8).
+III. Are the occasion of thankful joy before the Lord+ (ver. 9).
+IV. Excite to assiduous and earnest prayer+ (ver. 10).
Vers. 9, 10. _Religious Joy_--
+I. Is occasioned by the religious progress of others.+
+II. Is mingled with ingenuous gratitude.+
+III. Is enjoyed as in the presence of God.+
+IV. Is accompanied with fervent prayer.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-13.
_A Comprehensive Apostolic Prayer._
The prayers of the apostle Paul are among his sublimest utterances.
The frequency with which they occur in his writings indicates the
habitual devoutness of his mind. In both the epistles to the
Thessalonians nearly every chapter is distinguished and sealed by a
fervent outbreathing of his soul to God. In these verses he
expresses, in the most comprehensive and suggestive terms, his
dearest wishes for the welfare of the Church.
+I. This prayer recognises the essential oneness of the Father and
the Son.+--1. _Christ is invoked equally with the Father._ "Now God
Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 11). The
word "Himself" stands foremost in the sentence and refers to both
persons, as if the writer said, "May our God and Father, and our Lord
Jesus Christ, _Himself_ direct our way unto you." It should be also
noted that the verb "direct," belonging to both persons, is in the
singular number. This fact was urged as an important point by
Athanasius in the great Arian controversy in the fourth century. As
the Son partakes equally with the Father in the honour of invocation,
so also in excellency of nature. Divine properties are also ascribed
to the Son in overruling by His providence the affairs of men. "What
things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise"
(John v. 19).
2. _It is the privilege of the believer to realise a personal
interest in the Father and in the Son._--By an act of appropriating
faith we can say, God _our_ Father and _our_ Lord Jesus Christ.
Similar phrases occur no less than twenty-six times in these two
epistles. Blessed confidence! What a wealth of tenderness, of
comfort, of satisfying assurance, and of joyous triumph is involved
in the earnest, trustful cry of the soul--_My_ God! _my_ Saviour!
+II. This is a prayer for providential guidance in securing a much
desired interview.+--"Direct our way unto you" (ver. 11). Hitherto
the way to Thessalonica had been insuperably blocked up. The brethren
there were as eager to welcome Paul as he was to be present with
them; but Satan had hindered by interposing many obstacles.
Nevertheless, let God give the signal and all impediments from men or
devils would vanish. The road would at once become straight and
plain. God should be recognised in the simplest affairs of life. "It
is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. x. 23); and
only those journeys are prosperous wherein God is pilot. There are
crises in life when everything depends on being guided in the right
way--_e.g._ in selecting a school or college, entering on the
religious life, commencing business, contemplating marriage, or in
change of residence. In these and all other matters acknowledge God,
and He shall direct thy paths (Prov. iii. 6). Our prayer for guidance
must ever be in submission to the Divine will. The apostle's prayer
was not answered immediately; five years elapsed before he again
visited Macedonia. That path is safest and best in which God's finger
points. Let His call be our loadstar; His hand the cloud, to move or
pause as He directs.
+III. This is a prayer for the bestowal of an increased measure of
the highest Christian affection.+--1. _Christian love is progressive
and mutual._ "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love
one toward another" (ver. 12). The apostle had before commended their
labour of love, and Timothy had brought good tidings of their
continued love. Now he prays they may increase and excel more and
more. Love is the indispensable badge of the genuine Christian. He
cannot have too much of it--the more the better. It grows with all
other graces and causes them to grow. There is no limit to its
expansion but our finiteness. But love must be mutual in its
exercise--"one toward another." "For this is the message," says St.
John, "that ye heard from the beginning, that ye should love one
another" (1 John iii. 11); and, "Seeing ye have purified your souls
in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another;" urges St. Peter, "with a
pure heart fervently" (1 Pet. i. 22).
2. _Christian love is unselfish._--"And toward all men" (ver. 12).
The old Levitical law declared, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any
grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself" (Lev. xix. 18). And the New Testament
reiterates the truth, that charity out of a pure heart, and of a good
conscience, and of faith unfeigned is the fulfilling of the royal law
(1 Tim. i. 5).
3. _Here we have Christian love practically exemplified._--"Even as
we do towards you" (ver. 12). Paul and his co-labourers had given
unmistakable evidence of their sincere love for the Thessalonian
converts in their self-denying labours, uncomplaining sufferings, and
unceasing anxiety on their behalf (ch. ii. 8, 9, 13; ch. iii. 3-5).
Love is the soul of self-sacrifice, prompts to labour, braves all
suffering, and persists in doing good to others, even to those who
least appreciate and most violently oppose the best endeavours.
Ministers should exemplify in their own lives what they prescribe to
others.
+IV. This is a prayer for confirmation in a state of unblameable
personal purity.+--1. _There is no stability in Christian graces
apart from love._ "To the end he may establish your hearts" (ver.
13). If it were possible to possess every other grace but love, it
would be like a varied summer landscape, very beautiful but
transient, having in it no element of permanency. Above all other
graces we are exhorted to "put on charity which is the bond of
perfectness" (Col. iii. 14)--a girdle which adorns and binds together
all the rest. Love is the fulfilling of the law, the infallible test
and evidence of stability.
2. _Unblameable holiness is the legitimate and necessary outcome of
love._--"To the end He may stablish your hearts in holiness" (ver.
13). The apostle prays for an increase of love _in order to_ the
attainment of a higher personal purity. All defects in obedience
issue from a defect in love. Our love of God makes us solicitous to
know and obey Him and fearful to offend Him. Our love of man makes us
careful to preserve his honour, life, and possessions, and in no way
to impair his happiness. The whole of the law is love. There is no
duty to God or man but love inclines unto, and no sin from which it
does not restrain. To be unblameable in holiness, store the soul with
love. When love fails, obedience and all holy duties fail.
3. _Holiness screens the soul from Divine censure at the second
advent of Christ._--"Unblameable in holiness before God, even our
Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints"
(ver. 13). Christ will come in glorious pomp attended by His holy
ones--saints and angels. He who remains steadfast in holiness shall
be held blameless then. Our outer _life_ may be censured by men; but
if God, even our Father, who stablishes our _hearts_ in holiness,
absolves and approves, it will be enough. That holiness alone is
genuine which will bear the searching scrutiny of Omniscience.
+Lessons.+--1. _Recognise God in every event of life._ 2. _To attain
the highest degree of personal purity pray for an increase of love._
3. _Act in all things so as to secure the Divine approval._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 12, 13. _A Prayer for Growth in Personal Piety_--
+I. Acknowledges and invokes the Divine source of all spiritual
good.+--"The Lord make you."
+II. Growth in piety is growth in Christian love.+--"Increase and
abound in love."
+III. Growth in piety is the establishment of the soul in unblameable
holiness.+--"To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable
in holiness."
+IV. Growth in piety is essential to gain the approval of God at the
second advent of Christ.+--"Before God, at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."
Ver. 13. _The Coming of Christ_--
+I. Will be an imposing spectacle.+
+II. Should be ardently longed for.+
+III. Demands on our part diligent moral preparedness.+
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER IV.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +And to please God, so ye would abound more and more.+--R.V.
inserts "even as ye do walk after God."
Ver. 2. +What commandments.+--R.V. "charge"; margin, "charges." "The
Greek word signifies an announcement, then a command or advice
publicly delivered" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 3. +Your sanctification, etc.+--"The reception of Christianity
never delivers, as with the stroke of a magician, from the wickedness
and lusts of the heathen world which have become habitual; rather a
long and constant fight is necessary for vanquishing them"
(_Huther_). The sanctification here is first negative--abstinence.
Ver. 4. +How to possess his vessel.+--R.V. "to possess himself of his
own vessel." With the long list of names in view of those who
interpret "vessel" as meaning "body," it is almost daring to hint at
another meaning. The list, however, is strong of those who regard the
expression as a figurative designation for a wife, and 1 Pet. iii. 7
decides us.
Ver. 5. +Not in the lust of concupiscence.+--R.V. "not in the passion
of lust." "The word 'passion' signifies not so much a violent feeling
as an overpowering feeling, one to which a man so yields himself that
he is borne along by evil as if he were its passive instrument; he
has lost the dignity of self-rule, and is the slave of his lower
appetites" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 6. +That no man go beyond and defraud.+--R.V. "transgress, and
wrong." "More exactly, that none overreach and take advantage of his
brother in the matter. 'The matter' of the last two verses. . . . The
apostle sets the wrong in the strongest light; it is to cheat one's
brother, and that in what touches most nearly the sanctities of life"
(_Ibid._). +The Lord is the avenger.+--The heathen deities, so far as
they were anything, were oftener patterns than avengers of such
things, and they who made them were only too like them.
Ver. 8. +He therefore that despiseth.+--Margin and R.V. "rejecteth."
He who pushes aside sanctification in his preference for uncleanness
will have to reckon with God Himself.
Ver. 9. +Ye have no need that one write to you.+--St. Paul admits the
brotherly love amongst them. It was adroit on his part, therefore, to
make uncleanness an offence against brotherly love. +Taught of
God.+--Is an expression only found here in the New Testament. We are
reminded of Isa. xxviii. 26. The mother-wit of the farmer who had no
"school of agriculture" is traced by the prophet to God; he is
God-taught to distinguish his methods. So these Thessalonians took to
brotherly love naturally, as we say.
Ver. 10. +We beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and
more.+--Brotherly love is a good thing, of which St. Paul evidently
thought too much could not be had.
Ver. 11. +Study to be quiet.+--R.V. margin, "Go: be ambitious." "An
example of St. Paul's characteristic irony; the contrast between
ambition and quiet, giving a sharper point to his exhortation, as
though he said, 'Make it your ambition to have no ambition!'"
(_Ibid._). +To do your own business.+--To be occupied with your own
affairs.
Ver. 12. +That ye may walk honestly.+--The adverb here is used to
match the verb--to walk with a dignified and gentlemanly bearing. St.
Paul's ideas of gentlemanliness--"working with the hands"--would not
suit the youth of gentlemanly habits who wants to be adopted where he
will have nothing to do. +And may have need of nothing.+--What a
nobly independent soul! What a splendid text these verses would make
for some plain words to Christians who indulge in sharp practices, or
waste until they have to throw themselves on any one who will support
them!
Ver. 13. +Them which are asleep.+--The R.V. reading changes the
perfect participle ("them who have fallen asleep and continue to
sleep") unto the present, "them that fall asleep," as they drop off
one after another. See on the expression our Lord's beautiful words,
Luke viii. 52; John xi. 11 f.
Ver. 15. +We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord.+--"We must recognise that Paul here includes himself, along
with the Thessalonians, among those who will be alive at the advent
of Christ. Certainly this can only have been a hope, only a
subjective expectation on the part of the apostle" (_Huther_). +Shall
not prevent.+--The meaning of "prevent" is "to go before." But the
connotation came to have more prominence than the meaning, so it come
to signify to stop (by standing in the way). R.V. gives, "shall not
precede." It is the same word as in ch. ii. 16 (in another tense).
The apostle says, "We shall not arrive before them."
Ver. 16. +With a shout.+--Like the ring of command heard over the
noise of battle. "We must not look for literal exactness where things
are depicted beyond the means of sense" (_Findlay_). +With the trump
of God.+--The trumpet here, like that in 1 Cor. xv. 52, is the
military trumpet.
Ver. 17. +Shall be caught up.+--The idea conveyed by the word is that
of sudden or violent seizure, as when the fiery messengers carried
off the prophet Elijah, or as when St. Paul was "caught up" to the
third heaven.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-3.
_Earnest Exhortations to a Higher Sanctity._
Purity is the perfection of the Christian character. It is the
brightest jewel in the cluster of saintly excellencies, and that
which gives a lustre to the whole. It is not so much the addition of
a separate and distinct grace as it is the beauteous and harmonious
development of all the graces in the most perfect form. As Flavel has
said: "What the heart is to the body, that the soul is to the man;
and what health is to the heart, holiness is to the soul." Purity is
the sound, healthy condition of the soul and its vigorous growth
towards God. In the concluding prayer of the preceding chapter the
apostle indicates that God will, through His spirit, fill the
Thessalonians with love--the great distinctive feature of a genuine
and higher sanctity. He now urges upon them the necessity of earnest
and persistent endeavours after its attainment. Human agency is not
annihilated but stimulated by the Divine. Observe:--
+I. That a higher sanctity consists in living under a sense of the
Divine approval.+--1. _Religion is a life._ "How ye ought to walk"
(ver. 1). A walk implies motion, progression, continual approach to a
definite goal. Religion is not an ornament to wear, a luxury to
enjoy, a ceremony to observe, but a _life._ It penetrates every part
of our nature, throbs in every pulse, shares every joy and sorrow,
and fashions every lineament of character. We make sad mistakes; but
there is goodness hived, like wild honey, in strange nooks and
corners of the world.
2. _Religion is a life modelled after the worthiest examples._--"As
ye have received of us how ye ought to walk" (ver. 1). The
Thessalonians not only received the wisest counsels from their
teachers, but they witnessed their holy and consistent lives; and
their attention was constantly directed to the all-perfect
example--Christ Jesus. It is the tendency of all life to shape itself
after the character of its strongest inward force. The love of God is
the mightiest power in the life of the believer; and the outer
manifestation of that life is moulded according to the sublime
pattern of the inner Divine ideal.
3. _Religion is a life which finds its chief joy in the Divine
approval._--"And to please God" (ver. 1). It is possible, then, so to
live as to please God. What a powerful incentive to a holy life is
the thought, the Lord taketh pleasure in His people! We can rise no
higher in moral excellence than to be acceptable to God. To enjoy the
sense of His approval fills the cup of happiness to the brim. In
vain, the world frowns or demons rage, if God smiles. The learned and
pious Donne, when taking solemn farewell of his friends on his
deathbed, said: "I count all that part of my life lost which I spent
not in communion with God or in doing good."
4. _Religion is a life capable of vast expansion._--"So, ye would
abound more and more" (ver. 1). _Life_ in its healthiest and
intensest form is _happiness._ As we advance in the religious life
our happiness increases. "All the while," says Fuller, "thou livest
ill, thou hast the trouble, distraction, and inconveniences of life,
but not the sweets and true use of it." God has made every provision
for our increase in holiness; we are exhorted to it, and most really
promote our highest good and the Divine glory in attaining it. There
is no limit in our elevation to a higher sanctity but our faith.
+II. That the necessity of a higher sanctity is enforced by Divine
authority.+--"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification"
(ver. 3).
1. _A higher sanctity involves a conformity to the Divine
nature._--God is holy, and the loftiest aim of the believer is to be
like Him. There is to be not only an abstinence from all that is
impure, but a positive experience of its opposite--purity. By faith
we participate in the Divine nature and possess qualities analogous
to those which constitute the Divine perfections--mercy, truth,
justice, holiness. The grand purpose of redemption is to bring man
into holiest fellowship with God.
2. _A higher sanctity is in harmony with the Divine will._--"For this
is the will of God, even your sanctification." Not only the attitude
and tendency of the soul, but all its active outgoings must be holy.
Such is the will of God. What He proscribes must be carefully
avoided; what He prescribes must be cheerfully and faithfully done in
the manner He prescribes it. His will is here emphatically expressed;
it is supported by abundant promises of help; and it is declared that
without holiness no man shall see the Lord. The will of God is at
once the highest reason, the strongest motive, and the final
authority.
3. _The Divine will regarding a higher sanctity is enforced by duly
authorised messengers and well-understood precepts._--"For ye know
what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus" (ver. 2). The Divine
will is expressed in definite commandments. The apostle did not
assume authority in any dictatorial spirit. He delivered unto others,
and powerfully enforced what he had received "by the Lord Jesus"
(Rom. xiv. 14). He taught them to observe all things whatsoever the
Lord had commanded--_all_ those things, only those, and no others.
These precepts were well known, "For ye know what commandments we
gave you." Obedience should ever be in proportion to knowledge.
Knowledge and practice are mutually helpful to each other. Knowledge,
the mother of practice; practice, the nurse of knowledge. To know and
not to do is to incur the heaviest condemnation. A certain Stoic,
speaking of God, said: "What God wills, I will; what God wills not, I
will not; if He will that I live, I will live; if it be His pleasure
that I die, I will die." Ah! how should the will of Christians stoop
and lie down at the foot of God's will! "Not my will, but Thine be
done" (Luke xxii. 42).
+III. That the possession of a higher sanctity is repeatedly urged by
earnest exhortations.+--"Furthermore then, we beseech you, brethren,
and exhort you" (ver. 1). Doctrine without exhortation makes men all
brain, no heart; exhortation without doctrine makes the heart full,
leaves the brain empty. Both together make a man. The apostle
laboured in both, and it is difficult to say in which of the two he
displayed most earnestness. In addition to all he had urged before,
he _beseeches_ and _exhorts_ the Thessalonians to press onward to
higher attainments; in which we have a fine example of the
combination of a tender, brotherly entreaty, with the solemn
authority of a Divinely commissioned ambassador. Some people, says a
certain writer, are as thorns; handle them roughly and they pierce
you; others as nettles--rough handling is best for your safety. A
minister's task is an endless one. Has he planted
knowledge?--practice must be urged. Is the practice
satisfactory?--perseverance must be pressed. Do they continue in
well-doing?--they must be stimulated to further progress. The end of
one task is the beginning of another.
+Lessons.+--_The believer is called to the attainment of a higher
sanctity._--1. _By the voice of God._ 2. _By the voice of His
faithful ministers._ 3. _And by the aspirations of the life Divinely
planted within him._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 3. _Uncleanness Inconsistent with a Profession of the Gospel._
+I. Our sanctification is the will of God because He is the avenger
of all such as do things contrary to that purity which He
enjoins.+
+II. Because God has called us, not to uncleanness, but to holiness.+
+III. Because God has given unto us His Holy Spirit.+--The Spirit is
called the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Holiness, not only
because He is essentially and perfectly holy in Himself, but
because He is the Author of holiness in believers. These
considerations are motives to stir up and animate our wills to
obey and co-operate with the will of God.--_R. Mant._
_Why was the Spirit sent? or, We must needs be Holy._
+I. The coming of the Holy Ghost is to make us new creatures by
giving us the strength to become so.+
+II. Since sanctification is declared to be the special work of the
Holy Ghost, this clearly proves the difficulty of that work.+
+III. The work of sanctification is something more than merely
driving out the evil one.+
+IV. Love and devotion to God are necessary to holiness.+
+V. Strength--the strength of the Holy Spirit--is necessary to
defend holiness.+--_A. W. Hare._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-7.
_Distinctive Features of a True Sanctification._
It is comparatively easy for some minds to grasp the broad outlines
of a grand undertaking, but they fail in working out the details. It
is a fatal defect and involves the ruin of the whole scheme. The
peculiar genius of minds like these is to deal with things in the
mass; but they have not the ability or the patience to master a
numerous and complicated series of minute particulars. They are more
theoretical than practical; they are strong in the concrete, but
feeble in the abstract faculty. So it is possible to form a bold
conception of some great, leading Christian virtue, to expatiate on
its exquisite beauty, to exalt in grandiose terms its supernatural
dignity, and to enforce with magisterial importance its superlative
necessity, but all the while to be lamentably deficient in practical
attention to the thousand and one little details which, in every-day
life, constitute the essence of the virtue. Sanctification is an
aspect of the Christian life, facile and seductive in theory, but
difficult and commonplace in practice. It is the essence and
perfection of the Christian life, and is attained, not by some
magical feat of the mental powers, but by patient plodding, stern
conflicts, and hard-won moral victories. It is the sublime but little
understood science of living aright, in the sight of God and man.
Secretary Walsingham, in writing to Lord Burleigh, said: "We have
lived long enough to our country, to our fortunes, and to our
sovereign; it is high time that we began to live for ourselves and
for our God." In the above verses are portrayed the distinctive
feature of a true sanctification. Observe:--
+I. A true sanctification consists in the maintenance of a personal
chastity.+--1. _This involves an abstinence from gross sensual
indulgence._ "That you should abstain from fornication" (ver. 3). A
word that designates, not only the actual transgression known by that
name, but all the sinful lusts of the flesh. This vice is a prolific
source of many other vices. It is like the fabled Hydra, or
many-headed snake, of which it is said that when one head was cut off
another grew in its place. Fornication is the root of extravagance,
drunkenness, disease, poverty, profanity, murder, and irreparable
infamy. It is a sin the most bewitching, the most prevalent, the most
fatal in its tendencies, and against which the most terrible
vengeance of Heaven has been declared. It brought the flood on the
world of the ungodly, fire and brimstone upon Sodom, pestilence upon
the Israelites, and destruction upon the nations of antiquity. Prior
to Christianity, it was hardly regarded as a vice. The apostolic
teaching revealed its enormity, denounced it with righteous
indignation, and supplied the spiritual weapon by which it is to be
slain.
2. _Involves a rigid maintenance of bodily purity._--"That every one
of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and
honour" (ver. 4). The vessel of the body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost, and whatever would defile or disgrace that sacred shrine must
be carefully avoided. The apostle seems to imply there is a kind of
art in chastity which all should practise. "That every one of you
should know"--should have skill--the power of self-control.
Christianity is the science of sciences, the art of living well, and
no small skill is necessary in regulating the exercise of the
Christian virtues. To _possess_--to rule the body in purity, keep a
diligent guard upon the senses (Job xxxi. 1; Prov. xxiii. 33; Gen.
xxxix. 6, 7), avoid the company of the sensual; be temperate; be
industrious; continue instant in prayer.
3. _Involves a masterly restraint upon the passionate outgoings of
evil desire._--"Not in the lust of concupiscence; _not in the passion
of lust;_ even as the Gentiles which know not God" (ver. 5).
Ignorance is the origin of unchastity; and the apostle shows to what
extent of wickedness man may go who knows not God. An old writer
says, "Ignorance is a master, a mother-sin; pull it, thou pullest all
sin." Concupiscence is the rudimentary stage of evil desire;
unchecked, it spreads through the soul, inflames the passions, and
rises into an ungovernable tempest of lust. Evil must be restrained
in its earliest manifestation, banished from the region of thought.
The longer it is harboured, the more powerful it becomes.
"We are not worst at once--the course of evil
Begins so slowly and from such slight source,
An infant's hand might stem its breach with clay;
But let the stream get deeper, and philosophy shall strive in
vain
To turn the headlong current."
+II. A true sanctification consists in the universal exercise of
strict justice.+--1. _That no violation of justice is allowable._
"That no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any matter" (ver.
6). The prohibition extends not only to acts of unchastity, but to
all the transactions of life. The value of a commodity is governed by
its use, its relation to the immediate wants of man. In nature that
which has life and sense is more excellent than an inanimate
creature; in this view an insect is superior to a diamond. But with
regard to use, a loaf of bread is of more value than a thousand
insects. Justice requires there should be a fair proportion between a
thing and its price. To exact a price which is beyond the worth of
the commodity sold, or to give a sum which is below its due value, is
to overreach on the part of either the seller or the buyer. The
commercial world of the present day might ponder with advantage the
lessons to be learnt from the practice of an ancient Christian
simplicity. The man who begins a course of dishonesty by defrauding a
stranger will soon reach the point of cheating his dearest brother
and chuckle at his unjust success.
2. _That every violation of justice will be certainly
punished._--"Because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we
also have forewarned you and testified" (ver. 6). The rogue will not
always triumph; and his ill-gotten gains may be the instruments of
his curse. An all-seeing Eye watches all his sinuous trickeries, and
an unseen Hand rests on all his covetous accumulations, and by-and-by
the blow of vengeance will be swift and terrible. The successful
robber is apt to lull himself into a false security; he has escaped
disaster so often and so long that he begins to fancy his villainy
may be continued with impunity. But their "judgment lingereth not,
and their damnation slumbereth not," for "the Lord is the avenger of
all such" (see Prov. xxii. 22, 23, xxiii. 10; 2 Pet. ii. 3). Not that
we are to act honestly from the fear of punishment; but while
striving to act rightly from love to God and a lofty sense of duty,
it is also salutary to remember that vengeance belongeth unto the
Lord, and He will recompense. Where human justice fails, the Divine
vengeance will supply the deficiency, that injustice may not escape
unpunished.
+III. That a true sanctification recognises the supreme authority of
the Divine call.+--"For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but
unto holiness" (ver. 7). A holy life gives no licence to sin.
Everything is in favour of holiness--the Caller is holy (1 Pet.
i. 15), the instrument holy (John xvii. 17), and the Spirit, the
immediate worker, is the fountain of all holiness. Religion is a holy
calling, because it leads to holiness; and though it finds us not
holy, yet it makes us so. They answer not their calling who commit
any manner of sin. Unmercifulness, cruelty, fornication, and
uncleanness are not of God. In every temptation to evil remember the
Divine calling.
+Lessons.+--_A true sanctification_--1. _Provides for the chastity of
the whole man._ 2. _Governs all the transactions of daily life._
3. _Responds to the highest call of God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 6. _Reason for Conscientiousness._--A man was once asked why he
was so very particular to give good measure--over good--and he
replied: "God has given me but one journey through this world, and
when I am gone I cannot return to correct mistakes."
_Respect for Conscientiousness._--Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, once remarked
respecting one of his pupils who was in the habit of attending to all
his duties conscientiously and faithfully, "I could stand hat in hand
to that boy."
Ver. 7. _Christian Holiness._
+I. The nature of holiness.+--Conformity to the nature and will of
God. Not to be confounded with virtue.
+II. The origin of holiness.+--It is immediately connected with
regeneration. No holiness in man previous to this.
+III. The progress of holiness.+--The seed, the tree. The dawn, the
day. The child, the man.
+IV. The objects of holiness.+--In reference to God, to the moral
law, to duty, to sin.
+V. The influence of holiness.+--"There is an energy of moral suasion
in a good man's life passing the highest efforts of the orator's
genius. The seen but silent beauty of holiness speaks more eloquently
of God and duty than the tongues of men and angels."--_G. Brooks._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.
_A Word to the Despiser._
+I. The Christian minister is spiritually commissioned to exhort men
to holiness.+--"Who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit." The
apostles were endowed for their special ministry by the extraordinary
gifts of the Holy Ghost; they were infallibly guided into all truth;
they wrought miracles; and their word was with power. Though
miraculous gifts are no longer bestowed, Christian ministers are
nevertheless called and qualified by the Divine Spirit; they are
empowered to proclaim the will of God and to urge men to
reconciliation and purity (2 Cor. v. 20). The Rev. F. W. Robertson
was once hesitating in the pulpit of a brother-clergyman which of two
sermons he should preach. Something whispered to him, "Robertson, you
are a craven; you dare not speak here what you believe." He selected
a sermon that seemed almost personal in its faithfulness and power.
But it was _the_ message given to him for that hour.
+II. That the most faithful exhortations of the Christian minister
may be despised.+--This is done when men reject the Word spoken,
refuse to listen to it, neglect to meditate upon it, and decline to
enter upon the course of holy living which it counsels. This conduct
shows:--
1. _The voluntary power of man._--He can resist the truth or accept
it. He is responsible for the exercise of all his moral powers, and
therefore incurs guilt by any abuse of those powers.
2. _The blinding folly of sin._--It darkens the understanding,
perverts the will, petrifies the affections, and banishes the good
that elevates and saves. Sin is also a force--a stealthy,
remorseless, destructive force; wherever it breathes, it blasts and
withers; wherever it plants its sharpened talons, it lacerates and
destroys; and the disorder, the moral anarchy, the writhing agony of
a groaning world bear witness to the terrible ravages of man's great
enemy. To wilfully reject the overtures of righteousness is to
relinquish the inheritance of eternal life, and to doom the soul to
the endless miseries of spiritual death.
+III. That to despise the faithful exhortations of the Christian
minister is to despise God.+--"He therefore that despiseth, despiseth
not man, but God." The contempt of the true minister does not
terminate in his person alone but reaches the majesty of that Being
by whom he is commissioned. To disregard the message of an ambassador
is to despise the monarch he represents. The Saviour declared, "He
that despiseth you, despiseth Me" (Luke x. 16). As the edicts
proclaimed by the public herald are not his own, but the edicts of
the prince who gives them authority and force, so the commands
published by the Divinely commissioned minister are not his own but
belong to Him whose will is the law of the universe. It belongs to
God to reveal the law, freighted with His sanction and authority; it
belongs to man to declare it. The exhortation, whether uttered by a
Moses, who was commended for the beauty of his personal appearance,
or by a Simeon Niger, who was remarkable for his physical deformity,
is equally the Word of God, to which the most reverential obedience
is due. To despise the meanest of God's ministers is an insult to the
majesty of Heaven and will incur His terrible displeasure. In
Retzsch's illustrations of Goethe's _Faust_ there is one plate where
angels are represented as dropping roses upon the demons who are
contending for the soul of Faust. Every rose falls like molten metal,
burning and blistering where it touches. So is it that truth acts
upon the soul that has wilfully abandoned its teachings. It bewilders
when it ought to guide.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Divine commands concern man's highest good._
2. _Take heed how ye hear._ 3. _To despise the Divine message is to
be self-consigned to endless woe._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9, 10.
_Brotherly Love the Proof of a True Sanctification._
Love is the bond of perfectness, the golden cincture that binds
together and beautifies all the other graces of the Christian
character. Christianity has rescued man from barbarism and slavery.
It was the first to advocate and insist upon the common brotherhood
of humanity, and, by inspiring in the heart the love of Christ, has
made it possible for men to love each other as brethren. This was the
most striking feature of the Christian spirit in the early times, and
to which even the enemies of the Church bore testimony. In the second
century the scoffing Lucian declared: "It is incredible to see the
ardour with which the people of that religion help each other in
their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator has put it
into their heads that they are all brethren." The mutual exercise of
love towards the brethren is an indisputable evidence of spiritual
regeneration (1 John iii. 14); and in this chapter the apostle
evidently alludes to it as the proof of a true sanctification.
Observe:--
+I. That brotherly love is Divinely taught.+--"For ye yourselves are
taught of God to love one another" (ver. 9).
1. _It is commanded by Christ._--"These things I command you, that ye
love one another" (John xv. 17). This is a lesson the world never
taught and cannot teach. The natural heart is essentially selfish and
cruel, and delights in fierce aggression on the rights of others, and
in angry retaliation for fancied wrongs. Brotherly love is a fruit of
Christianity and is a powerful influence in harmonising the warring
interests of humanity. If love prevail, other graces will not be
absent.
2. _It has the example of Christ._--He frequently reminds His
disciples of what should be the scope and character of their love
towards each other--"_As I have loved you,_ that ye also love one
another." The same glorious example was also the constant burden of
the apostle's teaching, "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us"
(John xiii. 34, xv. 12; Eph. v. 2). Brotherly love should be pure,
humble, self-denying, fervent, unchangeable.
3. _It is its own commendation._--"But as touching brotherly love, ye
need not that I write unto you." Love is modest and ingenuous in its
exercise, making itself felt without obtrusiveness, and almost hiding
itself underneath the multitude of benefits it creates. We should not
hesitate to commend whatever good we see in others. The great
Searcher of hearts does not pass over any good thing in a Church,
though otherwise clouded with infirmities, without a laudatory notice
(Rev. ii. 2, 3). A word of prudent commendation will often stimulate
the soul in its endeavours after holiness.
4. _It is a grace Divinely wrought._--"Ye yourselves are taught of
God." The heart is powerfully inclined to the exercise of this grace
by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit, not independent of but in
conjunction with the outward ministry of the Word. The invariable
method of Divine teaching is explained in Jer. xxxi. 33; Acts
xvi. 14. Those are easily taught whom God doth teach.
+II. That brotherly love must be practically manifested.+--"And
indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia"
(ver. 10). Love is not limited by locality or distance; it is
displayed, not only towards those we know and with whom we have
Christian communion, but towards those whose faces we have not seen.
The foreign missionary enterprise is a magnificent monument of modern
Christian charity. Love should be practically manifested in
supplying, as far as means and opportunity will allow, each other's
need, in bearing one another's burdens, in forgiving one another,
and, if necessary, in kindly reproving one another. During the
retreat of Alfred the Great, at Athelney, in Somersetshire, after the
defeat of his forces by the Danes, a beggar came to his little castle
there and requested alms. When his queen informed him they had only
one small loaf remaining, which was insufficient for themselves and
the friends who had gone abroad in quest of food with little hope of
success, the king replied: "Give the poor Christian one half of the
loaf. He who could feed five thousand men with five loaves and two
small fishes, can certainly make that half of the loaf suffice for
more than our necessities." Accordingly, the poor man was relieved,
and this noble act of charity was soon recompensed by a providential
store of fresh provisions with which the foraging party returned.
+III. That brotherly love is susceptible of continuous
enlargement.+--"But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more
and more" (ver. 10) Notwithstanding the commendation of the apostle,
he exhorts the Thessalonians to seek greater perfection in this
grace. What is the sun without light? What is fire without heat? So
what is life without love? The rich seek to increase their store, the
wicked add to their iniquities; the saint should not be less diligent
in increasing unto every good word and work. "A child that stayeth at
one stature and never groweth bigger is a monster. The ground that
prospereth not and is not fruitful is cursed. The tree that is barren
and improveth not is cut down. So must all increase in the way of
godliness and go forward therein. Unless we go forward, we slip back"
(_Jewell_). The growth of charity is _extensive,_ as it adds to the
number of the objects loved, and _intensive_ as to its inward fervour
and tenacity. The more we apprehend the love of God to ourselves, the
more our hearts will enlarge in love to Him and all saints. True
brotherly love crushes all self-love and is more anxious to hide than
pry into the infirmities of others. Seldom is a charitable man
curious, or a curious man charitable.
+Lessons.+--1. _That brotherly love is the practical manifestation of
the love of God in man._ 2. _That brotherly love should be constantly
cultivated._ 3. _That brotherly love is a crowning feature of the
higher Christian life._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 9, 10. _Brotherly Love_--
+I. An evidence of practical holiness.+
+II. An affection Divinely taught.+
+III. Should be constantly manifested.+
+IV. Grows by diligent cultivation.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11, 12.
_A Pacific Spirit another Proof of a True Sanctification._
To pass from the subject of brotherly love to the necessity of
maintaining a quiet and peaceable disposition was for the apostle a
natural and suggestive transition. Love and peace are twin
virtues--"Two lovely berries moulded on one stem." Brotherly love can
have no place in the heart from which peace has fled and where war
and discord reign. The quiet spirit is not a weak, meaningless,
cowardly condition of mind, but contains in it all the elements of
patient endurance, unconquerable bravery, and inviolable moral power.
It is not the quietness of the shallow lagoon, on whose surface the
heaviest storm can raise but a few powerless ripples; it is rather
the profound calm of the ocean, which, when roused by the tempest, is
overwhelmed in its impetuous onset. Christ is likened to the
lamb--gentle, harmless, pacific; but when His fury is once let loose
upon the ungodly, the distracted victims will shriek for the rocks
and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him that
sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. A pacific
spirit is another practical evidence of possessing the genuine
sanctification so earnestly commended by the apostle. Observe:--
+I. That a pacific spirit is to be studiously cultivated.+--"And that
ye study to be quiet" (ver. 11). The word "study" signifies to seek
after an object with a holy and active ambition, as though it were
the highest honour to possess it. How different this is from the
restless spirit of the world! There is nothing some people dread so
much as being quiet. They delight in a row; and if one does not
happen as frequently as they wish, they make one for themselves. The
political agitator, the avaricious money-getter, the fiery advocate
of war, all seek to attain their selfish ends in the midst of tumult
and confusion. Nor is the sacred circle of the Christian Church,
which should ever be the abode of peace and harmony, free from the
violence of the irrepressible disturber. There are some people who
never will be still; you cannot hold them still. They are full of
endless suggestions for other people to carry out. Their tongue is a
perpetual clatter. They fly from one department of work to another
and create distraction in each. They are always on the go. No sooner
have they related to one, with such evident satisfaction, the details
of the latest uproar they were in, than they are off to brew another.
They try one's temper; they harry one's nerves; they break one's
peace most cruelly. To such people it would be the severest task to
obey the apostolic injunction, "That ye study to be quiet," and yet
no one in the world has more need to do so than they. A pacific
spirit cannot be secured without much self-denying effort; but it is
a jewel worth all the trouble and all the sacrifice (Prov. xx. 3;
Col. iii. 12-15).
+II. That a pacific spirit is attained by a persevering industry in
personal duties.+--1. _That personal duties have the first claim upon
our efforts._ "Do your own business" (ver. 11). Attend first to your
personal concerns--whatever comes within the compass of your general
or particular calling. The man who is inattentive to his own special
duties cannot with any reason dictate as to the duties of others. To
do one's own business is the best safeguard against idleness and
meddling curiosity. Solomon declared, "Every fool will be meddling"
(Prov. xx. 3). An officious interference with the business of others
creates discords. All strifes--domestic, social, ecclesiastical, and
political--may be traced to meddlesomeness. The meddling man is a
fool, because he gratifies his own idle curiosity at the expense of
his own well-being and the happiness of others. See that the business
you do is your own business, and that you let that of your
neighbour's alone. "Be not eavesdroppers, hearkening what is said or
done in your neighbour's house. Wide ears and long tongues dwell
together. They that love to hear all that may be told them do also
love to blab out all they hear" (_Jewell_).
2. _That personal duties demand genuine hard work._--"And to work
with your own hands" (ver. 11). The claims and enjoyments of religion
do not release us from the necessity of toiling for our daily bread
and providing things honest in the sight of all men. True religion
rather consists in doing all the work of life with consistency,
diligence, and perseverance. Manual labour is not the only form of
genuine industry. The industry of some of our public men is something
amazing. There is no greater foe to piety than idleness. It is the
beginning of many other evils and has been the origin of many a
career that has ended with the prison and the gallows. An idle man is
always something worse. His brain is the shop for the devil, where he
forges the most debasing fancies and plots the most pernicious
schemes. Many take more pains to go to hell than almost the holiest
to go to heaven. Hièrome used to say that a man who labours
disheartens even the devil himself.
3. _That industry in personal duties is enforced by apostolic
precept._--"As we commanded you" (ver. 11). The apostle frequently
took occasion to enforce upon his converts the importance of
diligence in one's daily business and set them an example in his own
conduct (2 Thess. iii. 7, 8). Honest labour is not beneath the
dignity of any, and he who works the hardest has the greater
influence in enforcing industry upon others.
+III. That a pacific spirit, combined with diligence, recommends
Christianity to those outside the Church.+--"That ye may walk
honestly towards them that are without" (ver. 12). Industry is no
small part of honesty. A lazy man can never be an honest one, though
his chastity and fidelity were as renowned as Joseph's, if that were
possible to a mere idler. A restless, trifling busybody does
unspeakable damage to religion. Many, who are Christians by
profession, are often more heathenish in practice, and the blindest
among the aliens are swift to detect and pronounce judgment on their
dishonesty. The unbelieving world, on the other hand, is impressed
and attracted by the peaceful and diligent behaviour of the faithful.
Human nature is powerfully influenced by appearances.
+IV. That a pacific spirit, combined with diligence, ensures an
honoured independence.+--"And that ye may have lack of nothing" (ver.
12). It is more blessed to be able to give than to receive. What a
mercy it is neither to know the power and misery of those temptations
which arise from pinching poverty, nor yet to be necessitated to
depend upon the cold-hearted, merciless charity of others. The
patient, quiet persevering plodder in the way of Christian duty may
not always be rewarded with affluence; but he is encouraged to
expect, at least, a modest competency. And the very spirit he has
striven to cultivate has enriched him with an inheritance, which few
possibly attain--_contentment with his lot._ He whose is the silver
and the gold will care for His loved and faithful servants (Ps.
xxxvii. 25).
+Lessons.+--1. _Quarrelsomeness and indolence cannot co-exist with a
high degree of sanctity._ 2. _To secure the blessings of peace is
worthy of the most industrious study._ 3. _The mightiest aggressions
of the Gospel upon the world are made quietly._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 11. _Study to be Quiet._
+I. Make it our meditation day and night and fill our minds with it.+
+II. Put our meditation into practice.+
+III. We must unlearn many things before we can be taught
this.+--1. _Cast out self-love._ 2. _Covetousness._ 3. _Pull back our
ambition._ 4. _Bind our malice._ 5. _Empty ourselves of all
suspicion, surmising, and discontent._
+IV. Mind our own business.+--1. _Because it is becoming._ 2. _Brings
advantage._ 3. _It is necessary._ 4. _We are commanded to do
so.--Farindon._
_Mind your own Business._
+I. The Bible contains little encouragement for the idler.+
+II. The text enjoins diligence not only in business, but in one's
own business.+
+III. The counsel of the apostle is supported by the best wisdom of
the world.+--"It becomes a man," said Herodotus, "to give heed
to those things only which concern himself."
+IV. The apostle takes it for granted that ours is a worthy
business.+
+V. Only by diligence in the care of your own souls will you be
able to do really effective work for Christ.+--_A. F. Forrest._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13, 14.
_Sorrow for the Dead._
The Thessalonians who cherished a vivid expectation of the near
approach of the second advent of Christ appear to have fallen into a
misconception as to the relation of their deceased friends to that
glorious event. While believing that the pious dead would ultimately
be raised again, they feared they would not be permitted to share in
the joy of welcoming Him back to His inheritance of the redeemed
earth and in the triumphant inauguration of His reign. "It was just
as if, on the very eve of the day of the expected return of some long
absent father, a cruel fate should single out one fond expectant
child and hurry him to a far distant and inhospitable shore." But all
their fears and perplexities were dissipated by the sublime
disclosures contained in this epistle.
+I. That sorrow is a merciful relief to a soul bereaved.+--Sorrow is
nowhere forbidden. It may be an infirmity, but it is at the same time
a solace. The soul oppressed and stricken by the weight of a great
calamity finds relief in tears.
"O ye tears! O ye tears! till I felt you on my cheek,
I was selfish in my sorrow. I was stubborn, I was weak;
Ye have given me strength to conquer, and I stand erect and
free,
And know that I am human, by the light of sympathy."
The religion of the Bible does not destroy human passions. We do not
part with our nature when we receive the grace of God. The mind that
is capable of a _real sorrow_ is capable of good. A griefless nature
can never be a joyous one.
+II. That sorrow for the dead is aggravated by ignorance of their
future destiny.+--"I would not have you to be ignorant concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have
no hope" (ver. 13). The radius of hope is contracted or expanded in
proportion to the character and extent of intelligence possessed.
Ignorant "sorrow is a kind of rust to the soul, which every new idea
contributes in its passage to scour away. It is the putrefaction of
stagnant life and is remedied by exercise and motion." The heathen,
who have no satisfactory knowledge of the future life, give way to an
excessive and hopeless grief. Du Chaillu describes a scene of wailing
for the dead among the Africans. "The mother of poor Tonda," he
writes, "led me to the house where the body was laid. The narrow
space of the room was crowded; about two hundred women were sitting
and standing around, singing mourning songs to doleful and monotonous
airs. As I stood looking, filled with solemn thoughts, the mother of
Tonda approached. She threw herself at the foot of her dead son and
begged him to speak to her once more. And then when the corpse did
not answer she uttered a shriek, so long, so piercing, such a wail of
love and grief that tears came into my eyes. Poor African mother! She
was literally as one sorrowing without hope, for these people count
on nothing beyond the present life." It was the dictum of an old
Greek poet--a man once dead there is no revival; and those words
indicated the dismal condition of unenlightened nature in all lands
and in all ages. What an urgent argument is here for increased
missionary efforts among the heathen!
+III. That sorrow for the dead in Christ is soothed and moderated by
the revelation of certain great truths concerning their present and
future blessedness.+--1. _That death is a sleep._ "Them also which
sleep in Jesus" (ver. 14). The only part of man to which the figure
of the text applies is the body. As to the soul, the day of death is
the day of our birth into a progressive and eternal life. It is
called a departure, a being with Christ--absent from the body,
present with the Lord. _Sleep is expressive of rest._ When the toil
of life's long day is ended, the great and good Father draws the dark
curtain of night and hushes His weary children to rest. "They enter
into rest." _Sleep is expressive of refreshment._ The body is laid in
the grave, feeble, emaciated, worn-out. Then a wonderful process goes
on, perceptible only to the eye of God, by which the body acquires
new strength and beauty, and becomes a fit instrument and suitable
residence for the glorified soul. _Sleep implies the expectation of
awaking._ We commit the bodies of the departed to the earth in sure
and certain hope of a glorious resurrection. They wait for "the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body" (Rom. viii. 23).
2. _That the dead in Christ will be roused from their holy slumber
and share in the glory of His second advent._--"Will God bring with
Him" (ver. 14). The resurrection of the dead is a Divine work. "I
will redeem them from the power of the grave" (Hos. xiii. 14). Christ
will own His people in their persons, their services, and their
sufferings. They shall receive His entire approval, be welcomed by
Him into His everlasting kingdom, and crowned by Him with glory and
the affluence of incorruptible bliss.
3. _That the resurrection of Christ from the dead is a pledge of the
restoration and future blessedness of all who sleep in Him._--"For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him" (ver. 14). Christ Himself is
the resurrection, not only as revealed in His Word and exemplified in
His own person, but as specially appointed by the Father to effect it
by His own power (John v. 25, vi. 39). The Word of God sheds a light
across the darkness of the grave and opens a vista radiant with hope
and immortal happiness. "Let me penetrate into Thy heart, O God,"
said an afflicted saint, "and read the love that is there. Let me
penetrate into Thy mind, and read the wisdom that is there; then
shall I be satisfied--the storm shall be turned into calm." A vital
knowledge of Christ silences every murmur and prepares for every
emergency.
+Lessons.+--1. _An ignorant sorrow is a hopeless one._ 2. _To rise
with Jesus we must live and die to Him._ 3. _Divine revelations
regarding the future life greatly moderate the grief of the present._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 13, 14. _The Sleep of the Faithful Departed._
+I. The dead are said to be asleep because we know they shall wake
up again.+
+II. Because they whom men call dead do really live unto God.+
+III. Because they are taking their rest.+
+IV. Death is changed to sleep, so that it becomes a pledge of rest
and a prophecy of the resurrection.+
+Lessons.+--1. _We ought to mourn rather for the living than for the
dead._ 2. _In very truth it is life rather than death that we ought
to fear.--H. E. Manning._
Ver. 14. _The Resurrection of the Body._
+I. The heart seeks it.+
+II. The Bible declares it.+
+III. The redemption of Christ secures it.+--_A. F. Forrest._
The author discusses this event as the second coming of
Christ. The Transcriber finds the second coming described
in Rev. xix. 11-21. This passage describes "the rapture of
the church" which precedes the seven years of Tribulation
described in Revelation chapters iv.--xviii. The second
coming is a time of judgment; the rapture gathers the
church prior to Daniel's Seventieth Week, a time of great
trial for the people and nation of Israel. The rapture is
as a thief in the night; at the second coming, every eye
shall see Him.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-18.
_The Second Advent of Christ._
Among the words of consolation in the valedictory discourse of Christ
to His disciples was the promise, after His departure, He would come
again and receive them unto Himself. Time has sped noiselessly along;
events of vast magnitude have rapidly succeeded each other, and left
their lessons for the ages to ponder; nations have passed through the
throes of suffering and revolution; generation after generation has
gone down to the grave; for nearly nineteen hundred years the Church
has been strained with profound, intense, and anxious expectancy: but
still the promise remains unfulfilled. Will He come? Are the hopes of
the Church doomed to be for ever unsatisfied? Must the bodies of the
pious dead be for ever shut down in the sepulchres of land and sea?
Will the wrongs of the universe never be redressed? If questions like
these flit for a moment across the mind, it is not that the Church
has lost confidence in the promise. Faith in the second advent of
Christ is more widely spread and more firmly held to-day than ever.
Long waiting has sharpened the longing, brightened the hope, and
clarified the vision. In these words, the apostle assures the
Thessalonians of the second coming of Christ, furnishes some
important particulars of the event, and points out the bearing of the
glorious doctrine in consoling the sorrow of the bereaved.
+I. That the second advent of Christ is the subject of Divine
revelation.+--"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord"
(ver. 15). In a subject of such vast moment the apostle was anxious
to show that he had the highest and most incontrovertible authority
for the statements he uttered. He had a special revelation from
heaven and spoke under the direct and immediate inspiration of the
Divine Spirit. The second advent of Christ is emphatically taught in
the Holy Scriptures (cf. Matt. xxiv. 3, xxv. 31; Mark viii. 3; John
xiv. 3; Acts i. 2, iii. 19, 20; Rom. viii. 17; 1 Cor. i. 8; 2 Tim.
iv. 1; Tit. ii. 13; 1 Pet. i. 5; 2 Pet. iii. 12; Jude 14).
+II. That the second advent of Christ will be distinguished by signal
tokens of terrible majesty.+--1. _There will be the triumphant shout
of the Divine Redeemer._ "For the Lord Himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout" (ver. 16). Just before Jesus expired on the
cross He cried with a loud voice, and though there was the ring of
victory in that cry, it sounded more like a conscious relief from
unutterable suffering. But the shout of Jesus on his second coming
will be like the loud, clear, joyous battle-shout of a great
Conqueror. That shout will break the silence of the ages, will
startle the universe into attention, will raise the dead, and summon
all people into the presence of the victorious Messiah. Formerly He
did "not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the
street" (Isa. xlii. 2). But now is the revelation of His power. "Our
God shall come, and shall not keep silence" (Ps. l. 3, 4).
2. _There will be the voice of the archangel_ (ver. 16).--The angelic
hosts are arranged in an hierarchy of various ranks and orders. The
archangel is the chief of the heavenly multitude. In response to the
majestic shout of the descending Lord, the archangel lifts up his
voice, like the loud cry of the herald announcing the glorious
advent, and the sound is caught up and prolonged by the vast hosts of
celestial attendants.
3. _There will be the trumpet-blast._--"With the trump of God," with
trumpet sounded by the command of God--such a trumpet, perhaps, as is
used in the service of God in heaven. Besides the shout of Jesus and
the voice of the archangel, the sound of the trumpet will also be
heard in the host. It is called in 1 Cor. xv. 52 "the last trumpet";
and in Matt. xxiv. 31 we read, "He shall send His angels with great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect." Among
the Hebrews, Greeks, and ancient Latins it was the custom to summon
the people with the trumpet. In this way God is said to gather His
people together (Isa. xxvii. 13; Jer. iv. 5, vi. 1). The whole
passage is designed to show that the second advent of King Messiah
will be attended by the most imposing evidences of pomp and regal
splendour.
+III. That the second advent of Christ will be followed by important
consequences to the people of God, living and dead.+--1. _The pious
dead shall be raised._ "When we which are alive, and remain unto the
coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. And the
dead in Christ shall rise first" (vers. 15, 16). The living at that
day--who, it would seem, would be spared the necessity of dying and
seeing corruption--shall, nevertheless, have no advantage over the
dead. Before any change takes place in the living to fit them for the
new condition of things, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and be
clothed with immortality and incorruptible splendour. Whatever
disadvantages may be the lot of some of God's people over others,
they are ever recompensed by some special privilege or prerogative.
The best state for us is that in which God places us. And yet every
man thinks another's condition happier than his own. Rare indeed is
the man who thinks his own state and condition in every respect best
for him.
2. _The living and the raised shall unite in a simultaneous greeting
of their descending Lord._--"Then we which are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air" (ver. 17). The living, after passing through the wondrous change
from mortal to immortal, shall not anticipate for a single moment the
newly raised bodies of the pious dead, but together with them, in one
reunited, loving, inseparable company, shall be caught away in
chariots of clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and greet Him in the
descent. He comes to fulfil His promise (John xiv. 3).
3. _All believers in Christ shall be assured of eternal felicity with
Him._--"And so shall we ever be with the Lord" (ver. 17). For ever
with the Lord in familiar companionship--in rapturous communion, in
impending glory, in ever-enchanting revelations. With Him, not
occasionally, or for an age, or a millennium, but uninterruptedly for
ever, without the possibility of separation. How great the contrast
with the brightest experiences of this changeful life! There are
three things which eminently distinguish the heavenly life of the
soul--perfection, perpetuity, immutability.
+IV. That the contemplation of the second advent of Christ is
calculated to minister consolation to the sorrowing.+--"Therefore
comfort one another with these words" (ver. 18). A community in
suffering creates a community in sympathy. "If a thorn be in the
foot, the back bows, the eye is busy to pry into the hurt, the hands
do their best to pluck out the cause of anguish; even so we are
members one of another. To him that is afflicted, pity should be
showed from his friend" (Job vi. 14). The best consolation is that
which is drawn from the revelations of God's Word. There are no
comforts like Scripture comforts. The bereaved were sorrowing for
their loved ones who had been smitten down by death and were full of
anxiety and uncertainty about the future. Shall they meet again, or
are they parted for ever? The teaching of inspiration on the second
coming of Christ assures them that their departed relatives shall be
rescued from the power of death, that they shall meet again, meet in
glory, meet to part no more, to be for ever with each other and with
the Lord.
+Lessons.+--1. _The Church is justified in looking for the second
advent of Christ._ 2. _The second advent of Christ will bring an
everlasting recompense for the suffering and sorrow of the present
life._ 3. _The record that reveals the second advent of Christ should
be fondly prized and constantly pondered._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15-18. _The Second Coming of Christ and Sorrow for the Dead._
+I. The final period of the world the apostles left undetermined.+
+II. Though ignorant of the final period of the world, they were
confident it should not come till the prophecies respecting the
destiny of the Church were accomplished.+
+III. The Church, being ignorant of the day in which Christ should
come to judge the world, should be always ready for that event.+
+IV. Sorrow for the dead is compatible with the hope of a
Christian.+--1. _When it proceeds from sympathy._ 2. _From the
dictates of nature._ 3. _From repentance.--Saurin._
Ver. 18. _The Day of comforting One Another._
+I. We must observe a rule and method in this duty.+
+II. This method is taught not in the school of nature, but of
Christ.+--1. _In general, we must comfort one another with the Word
of God._ 2. _We must comfort one another with the Scripture teaching
on the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the
dead.--Farindon._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER V.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Times and seasons.+--The one is the even, continuous flow of
the river, the other is the cataract. Seasons we may represent as
epochs. Our Lord in the same words refused to gratify the curiosity
of His followers (Acts i. 7).
Ver. 2. +For yourselves know perfectly.+--The adverb here is the same
as in Eph. v. 15 (A.V. "circumspectly," R.V. "carefully"). It is used
five times only in the New Testament. The translations are
interesting--Matt. ii. 8: A.V. "diligently," R.V. "carefully." Luke
i. 3: R.V. "accurately." Acts xviii. 25 (like Matt. ii. 8). Perhaps
the Thessalonians had asked for precise information. "The apostle
replies, with a touch of gentle irony, 'You already know precisely
that nothing precise on the subject can be known'--that the great day
will steal upon the world like a thief in the night." (_Findlay_).
Ver. 3. +For when they shall say.+--R.V. "when they are saying." No
matter at what hour they say, "Peace and security," like the voice of
the watchman crying, "All's well." +Then sudden destruction.+--The
word for "sudden" is only found again at Luke xxi. 34 in the New
Testament. It is really unforeseen. +As travail.+--In the simile
there is the suggestion that the day cannot be far off though not
exactly known.
Ver. 5. +Children of light.+--Quite an Oriental expression. The kings
of Egypt called themselves "children of the sun." So these of a
better sun.
Ver. 6. +Let us watch and be sober.+--Ever on the alert as men who
live in hourly expectation of their Lord's arrival. It is precisely
they who maintain the preparedness of spirit who are calm when the
midnight cry rings out, "The bridegroom cometh."
Ver. 7. +They that be drunken are drunken in the night.+--The
explanation is given in our Lord's words--"because their deeds are
evil": as though darkness could veil the loss of self-respect.
Ver. 9. +For God hath not appointed us to wrath.+--The inevitable
sequence of a life of sensual gratification. The very severest forms
of expression for wrath fell from the gentlest lips concerning the
servant who falls to gluttony and drunkenness because his lord does
not appear at the expected hour (Luke xii. 45, 46).
Ver. 12. +Them which labour among you and are over you in the
Lord.+--"A clear testimony, from this earlier New Testament writing,
to the existence in the Church at the beginning of a ministerial
order--a clergy as distinguished from the laity--charged with
specific duties and authority. But there is nothing in grammar nor in
the nature of the duties specified which would warrant us in
distributing these functions amongst distinct orders of Church
office" (_Ibid._).
Ver. 13. +And to esteem them very highly in love.+--R.V. "exceeding
highly"--the same Greek adverb as in ch. iii. 10, the strongest
intensive possible to the language. So deep and warm should be the
affection uniting pastors and their flocks. Their appreciation is not
to be a cold esteem (_Ibid._).
Ver. 14. +Warn them that are unruly.+--R.V. "admonish the
disorderly." Every Church knows these characters--men who will break
through all restraint. +Comfort the feeble-minded.+--R.V. "encourage
the faint-hearted." In ch. ii. 11 we have met the verb before. The
feeble-minded would have been scarcely worth the pity of the
philosophers with whom alone the great-souled man was supreme. The
comfort in that teaching, for the hour when the strong shall be as
tow, was very scanty and inadequate. +Support the weak.+--So be like
the Lord who "upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that
be bowed down" (Ps. cxlv. 14). +Be patient toward all men.+--R.V.
"longsuffering." It is the very opposite of what we mean by being
"short-tempered."
Ver. 15. +Evil for evil.+--A _quid pro quo,_ similar in kind and in
quantity perhaps, but retaliation delights in interest.
Ver. 19. +Quench not the Spirit.+--When there has been excess, and a
good has come into disrepute, it is natural to seek to stifle down
further manifestations of it. The energy of the Holy Spirit, like
Pentecostal flame, is regarded as being capable of extinction.
Ver. 20. +Despise not prophesyings.+--Do not set down as of no value,
prophesyings. The word for "despise" is used of those who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous and set at nought others (Luke
xviii. 9), and the contemptuous bearing of him who eats flesh with
which an idol's name has been associated, and laughs at the
shuddering scruples of the brother who thinks it a dreadful thing to
do, and sets him at nought (Rom. xiv. 3-10). The prophesyings at
Corinth were such as might easily be contemned (1 Cor. xiv. 23).
Ver. 21. +Prove all things.+--Make trial of all. A sentence fatal to
the suppression of inquiry and to credulous faith. It forbids me to
accept what is given out as prophecy even, unless it has a
self-evidencing power. +Hold fast that which is good.+--The good here
is that which is ethically beautiful. In ver. 15 another word points
the contrast to the evil return of injury.
Ver. 22. +Abstain from all appearance of evil.+--Perhaps the best
idea of the word rendered "abstain" would be gained by "hold off," in
antithesis to the "hold fast" of ver. 21.
Ver. 23. +Sanctify you wholly.+ "Rather--unto completeness. The
apostle prays that they may be sanctified to the fullest extent"
(_Ibid._). +Your whole spirit . . . be preserved blameless.+--R.V.
"be preserved entire, without blame." "From the degree of holiness
desired we pass to its range, from its intension (as the logicians
would say) to its extension" (_Ibid._).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-11.
_The Attitude of the Church towards the Second Coming of Christ._
A book written by one who knew of the _first_ advent of the Redeemer
closes, anticipating, desiring, beseeching the _second,_--"Even so,
come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. xxii. 20). The revelation concerning that
second coming is distinct and emphatic; but the exact period, when
the event will happen, is wrapped in uncertainty. As when we ascend a
winding river some well-known landmark appears to alter its position,
seeming now distant, now near--so, at different points on the
circuitous stream of life, the familiar subject of the second Advent
reveals itself as a near or remote event. "It is plain," says Archer
Butler, "that that period which is distant in one scheme of things
may be near in another, where events are on a vaster scale and move
in a mightier orbit. That which is a whole life to the ephemera is
but a day to the man; that which is in the brief succession of
authentic human history is counted as remote, is but a single page in
the volume of heavenly records. The coming of Christ may be distant
as measured on the scale of human life, but it may be 'near,' and 'at
hand,' and 'at the door,' when the interval of the two advents is
compared, not merely with the four thousand years which were but its
preparation, but with the line of infinite ages which it is itself
preparing." The uncertainty of the time of the second Advent and its
stupendous issues define the attitude of the Church.
+I. It is an attitude of expectancy.+--1. _The time of the second
coming is uncertain._ "But of the time and the seasons, brethren, ye
have no need that I write unto you" (ver. 1). A gentle hint that all
questions on that subject were unnecessary, as there was nothing more
to be revealed. The untameable curiosity and reckless daring of man
tempt him to pry into secrets with which he has nothing to do and to
dogmatise on subjects of which he knows the least. Many have been
fanatical enough to fix the day of the Lord's coming. For a time,
there has been a local excitement; the day has come and gone; the
world has moved on as before, and the prophetic enthusiasts have
exposed themselves to scorn and ridicule. "Of that day and hour
knoweth no man" (Mark xiii. 32). This uncertainty is a perpetual
stimulant to the people of God to exercise the ennobling virtues of
hope, of watchfulness, of fidelity, of humility, of earnest inquiry,
and of reverential awe.
2. _The second coming will be sudden._--"For yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child" (vers. 2, 3).
The thief not only gives no notice of his approach but takes every
possible care to conceal his designs. The discovery of the mischief
he has wrought takes place when it is too late. The prudent will take
every precaution to avoid surprise and to baffle the subtlety and
sharpness of the marauder. That which is sinful and unlawful in
itself affords a resemblance to express an important truth and to
admonish to duty. There is nothing more certain than that the Lord
_will_ come; nothing more uncertain _when_ He will come; and both the
one and the other should keep His people in an attitude of prayerful
expectation and moral preparedness. Faith breeds fear; the more
earnestly we believe, the more we tremble at the Divine threatenings.
Unbelief lulls the soul into false security. What a dreadful
awakening will that be, when the thunder of God's wrath shall
suddenly burst from the hitherto tranquil heavens!
3. _The second coming will be terrible to the wicked._--"And they
shall not escape" (ver. 3). Wicked men are never more secure than
when destruction is nearest, never nearer destruction than when they
are most secure. The swearer may be seized while the oath is burning
on his tongue, the drunkard engulfed in judgment while the cup is
trembling between his lips. The other day a certain suspension bridge
was crowded with pleasure seekers; the slender erection, yielding
under the unwonted strain, broke in two, and in a moment precipitated
numbers into the river rolling below and into a watery grave. Not
less fragile is the confidence on which the unbelieving rest; and
more terrible still will be the catastrophe that will suddenly
overtake them. The destruction of the wicked--of all their joy, of
all they most prized in this life--will be sudden, painful,
inevitable. Now there is peace, for mercy reigns; but when the great
day comes there will be nothing but indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil (Rom.
ii. 8, 9).
+II. It is an attitude of vigilance.+--1. _This vigilance is enforced
on the ground of a moral transformation._ "But ye, brethren, are not
in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all
the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the
night, nor of darkness" (vers. 4, 5). Believers in Christ are
delivered from the power of darkness, of spiritual ignorance, of
godless profanity, of dark and dangerous security, and translated
into the kingdom of light, of truth, of purity, and felicity. They
are children of the day when the light shines the brightest, when
privileges are more abundant, when opportunities multiply, and
responsibility is correspondingly increased. The light of past ages
was but the dawn of the effulgent day which now shines upon the world
from the Gospel sun. Every inquiring and believing soul passes from
the dawn to the daylight of experimental truth.
2. _This vigilance must be constant._--"Therefore let us not sleep,
as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep
sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the
night" (vers. 6, 7). Let us not, like the drunkards steeped in
sottish slumber, be immersed in the deep sleep of sin and unconcern,
neglecting duty, and never thinking of a judgment; but let us watch,
and in order to do so effectually, be sober. We are day-people, not
night-people; therefore, our work ought to be day-work, not
night-work; our conduct such as will bear the eye of day and has no
need to hide itself under the veil of night. A strict sobriety is
essential to a sleepless vigilance.
+III. It is an attitude of militant courage.+--"But let us who are of
the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and
for an helmet the hope of salvation" (ver. 8). The Christian has to
fight the enemy, as well as watch against him. He is a soldier, and a
soldier on sentry. The Christian life is not one of soft, luxurious
ease; it is a hard, fierce conflict. The graces of faith, love, and
hope constitute the most complete armour of the soul. The breastplate
and helmet protect the two most vital parts--the head and the heart.
With head and heart right, the whole man is right. Let us keep the
head from error and the heart from sinful lust, and we are safe. The
best guards against error in religion and viciousness in life
are--faith, hope, and charity; these are the virtues that inspire the
most enterprising bravery. Drunkards and sluggards never make good
soldiers.
+IV. It is an attitude of confidence as to the future blessedness of
the Church.+--1. _This blessedness is Divinely provided._ "For God
hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ, who died for us" (vers. 9, 10). The whole scheme of
salvation was Divinely conceived and Divinely carried out in all its
essential details. And, without discussing other methods by which the
salvation of the race could be effected, it is sufficient for us to
know that the infallible wisdom of God provided that the death of His
Son was the most effectual method. Our sins had exposed us to the
wrath of God, who had declared death to be the penalty of sin. This
death Christ underwent on our behalf, in our stead, and so saved us
from it. In every extremity, at every new challenge of the enemy, on
each successive field of effort and peril, this is the password and
battle-cry of God's people--_Christ died for us._
2. _This blessedness consists in a constant fellowship with
Christ._--"That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together
with Him" (ver. 10). The happiest moments on earth are those spent in
the company of the good, reciprocating the noblest ideas and
emotions. Christ, by dying for us, has begotten us into a life of
ineffable and endless felicity; and "the hope of salvation" enables
us to look forward to the period when, released from the sorrows and
uncertainties of this changeful life, we shall enjoy the bliss of
uninterrupted communion with Jesus.
"The soul to be where Jesus is
Must be for ever blest."
3. _The confidence of inheriting this blessedness encourages mutual
edification._--"Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one
another, even as also ye do" (ver. 11). "All Christians
indiscriminately are to use these doctrines for mutual exhortation
and mutual edification. And so the spirit of the verse will be this:
Comfort one another as to this matter, and then, free from the
distracting and paralysing influence of vain misgivings, go on
edifying one another in all the relations, and by all the means and
appliances of your Church fellowship; even as also ye do. Ye do it
now, in the midst of your own secret, personal sorrows and depressing
fears. But you will be able to do it more effectively, with the
clearer views I have now given you of what awaits us all--those
sleeping in Jesus, and us who are alive and remain unto the coming of
the Lord" (_Lillie_).
+Lessons.+--1. _The great event of the future will be the second
coming of Christ._ 2. _That event should be looked for in a spirit of
sobriety and vigilance._ 3. _That event will bring unspeakable
felicity to the good and dismay and misery to the wicked._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 2. _The Day of the Lord_--
+I. A day which will be in some unique and pre-eminent sense His
day.+
+II. It is the day of judgment.+
+III. The coming of His day is suggestive of fear.+--"As a thief in
the night."
+IV. It will come suddenly.+
+V. Cannot be prevented by any efforts of our own.+
+VI. We may prepare for the day of judgment by judging ourselves in
self-examination.+--_H. P. Liddon._
Ver. 6. _The Pilgrims on the Enchanted Ground._
+I. Hopeful keeps awake by goodly counsel and discourse.+
+II. Ignorance comes up again.+--1. _Ignorance explains the ground of
his hope._ 2. _Christian explains what good thoughts are._
3. _Ignorance speaks reproachfully about things he knows not._ 4. _He
again falls behind._
+III. Christian and Hopeful renew their
conversation.+--1. _Reflections over the conduct of Ignorance._
2. _Why ignorant people stifle conviction._ 3. _Reasons why some
backslide._
+IV. Some lessons from this stage.+--1. _In times of danger it is
wise to recall former experiences._ 2. _Human philosophy may seem
very wise, but the Bible is an unfailing touchstone.--Homiletic
Monthly._
_Moral Sleep._
+I. The season devoted to sleep is one of darkness.+--He is in
darkness as to God, himself, and the Gospel.
+II. Sleep is often sought for and obtained by the use of
opiates.+--These are: 1. _The falsehoods of Satan._ 2. _The pleasures
of sense._ 3. _The fellowship of the world._
+III. During sleep the mind is usually occupied with dreams.+--The
life of the ungodly is one continued dream.
+IV. He who is asleep is in a great measure insensible to
pain.+--1. _The sting of sin is in man's nature._ 2. _Through this
sleep he feels it not.--Stewart._
Vers. 9, 10. _Salvation is of God._
+I. The choice of God.+--1. _It was early._ 2. _It was free._
3. _Efficacious._ 4. _Appropriating._
+II. The work of Christ.+--He died as our Substitute. 1. _This fact
explains His death._ 2. _Vindicates the justice of God in His death._
3. _Displays the love of Christ._
+III. The privilege and duty of Christians.+--1. _Life in Christ._
2. _Life with Christ._ 3. _In Him and with Him here and
hereafter.--G. Brooks._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12, 13.
_The Treatment due to the Ministerial Office._
An excessive modesty prevents many ministers from calling attention
to the sacred office they hold, and to the respect in which it should
ever be regarded by those over whom they have the oversight. Such a
modesty is inexcusable. To say nothing of the contempt with which the
world looks upon the ministerial office, there are thousands within
the Church who are utterly ignorant of its duties and awful
responsibilities, and who have but vague, distorted notions of their
duty towards the men who first led them to Christ, and who have been
instructing them in the truths for years. Let not the minister
hesitate, even at the risk of being thought egotistical, to speak on
this subject, and enforce the New Testament teaching. The apostle was
not withheld by any false sense of modesty from pointing out, with
all emphasis and authority, the obligations of the Church towards
those who minister in the Word and doctrine. Observe:--
+I. The distinctive duties belonging to the ministerial
office.+--1. _To labour._ "Them which labour among you" (ver. 12),
even unto weariness, as the verb signifies. The work of the faithful
minister is no sinecure; it taxes all the powers of the brain and
muscle. It is a work demanding prolonged and earnest study, intense
feeling, and ceaseless toil.
2. _To rule._--"And are over you in the Lord" (ver. 12). The minister
is not simply a sort of popular delegate or hired agent, bound to
receive the instructions, execute the wishes, and flatter the humours
of his constituents. He is, indeed, the servant, in the proper sense
of that word, but not the slave and tool of the Church. The right to
speak and act in the name of Christ carries with it an aspect of
pre-eminence and authority, and the same is implied in the very names
that designate the ministerial office--as pastors, or shepherds,
teachers, bishops, or overseers. On the other hand, the
impressiveness of sacerdotal assumption is checked and limited by the
words, "In the Lord." The minister is to rule only in the Lord,
recognising the joint union of himself and his Church with the Lord,
and the principles and polity by which the Church of Christ is to be
governed.
3. _To admonish._--"And admonish you" (ver. 12). These words also
qualify the nature of the rulership. It must not be a despotic
lording it over God's heritage, issuing commands with absolute and
arbitrary authority, and enforcing those commands, if not instantly
obeyed, with terrifying anathemas. No; he is to rule by the force of
moral suasion--by instruction, admonition, advice, warning. The verb
means to put in mind. To gain obedience to the right, precept must be
repeatedly enforced in all the varied forms of reproof, rebuke and
exhortation.
+II. The treatment due to the ministerial office.+--1. _An
intelligent acknowledgment of its character._ Think of its Divine
appointment, its solemn responsibilities, its important work, its
exhausting anxieties, its special perils. Whatever the ministers seem
to you, they are the eyes of the Church and the mouth of God.
Acknowledge them; sympathise with and help them; give credit to their
message; they watch and pray; they study and take pains for your sake.
2. _A superlative, loving regard._--"Esteem them very highly in love"
(ver. 13). The adverb is particularly forcible, signifying
super-exceedingly, more than exceedingly. There is a hint here to
thousands in the Church at the present day, which it is hoped they
will have the grace to act upon. The profound reverence and esteem to
be shown to the ministerial office is to be regulated, not by fear,
but by love. The hard-working, devoted, and faithful minister is
worthy of all honour and affection.
3. _The true ground of this considerate treatment._--"For their
work's sake" (ver. 13). Love them for your own sake; you have life
and comfort by them. Honour them for their office' sake; they are
your fathers; they have begotten you in Christ; they are the stewards
of God's house, and the dispensers of His mysteries. Honour and love
them for God's sake; He has sent them and put His Word in their
mouth. To love a minister is not much, except his work be that which
draws out affection. He who can say, "I love a minister because he
teacheth me to know God, because he informs me of duty, and reproves
my declensions and backslidings"--he is the man who has satisfaction
in his love.
+III. An important exhortation.+--"And be at peace among yourselves"
(ver. 13). Not simply be at peace with your pastor, but among
yourselves. You are all the children of God. God is a God of peace.
Discord, contention, and unquietness are fit only for the children of
the devil. Live in godly unity as becometh the children of peace.
This is a duty frequently enjoined (Heb. xii. 14; Jas. iii.; Ps.
cxli.). Let there be peace especially between the minister and his
flock--no rivalry between ministers, no disputings and contentions
among the people. There can be no prosperity where peace is absent.
+Lessons.+--1. _The minister is accountable to God for his fidelity._
2. _The people can never profit under the minister they have not
learned to respect._ 3. _Peace is an essential condition of success
in Christian work._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 12, 13. _A Public Ministry_--
+I. Is ordained by God.+--"Over you in the Lord."
+II. Has clearly defined duties.+--1. _To labour._ 2. _To govern._
3. _To admonish._
+III. Should be highly esteemed.+--"Esteem them very highly in love
for their work's sake."
Ver. 13. "And be at peace among yourselves." _Church Concord_--
+I. Possible only where there is mutual peace.+
+II. It is the duty of every member of the Church to promote
harmony.+
+III. Peace with God is the condition of peace with each other.+
+IV. Discord in a Church mars the usefulness of the best ministry.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14, 15.
_A Group of Christian Precepts._
The supernatural character of Christianity is not less apparent in
the purity and loftiness of the morality it inculcates, than in the
superiority of the truths it reveals. It is intensely practical in
its teaching and aim. It is not like a glow of light that irradiates
the external character for a time; it is an inward radiance that
cannot help making itself visible in the outer life. It is not a
sentiment; it is a principle. The moral precepts of Christianity can
be appreciated and obeyed only by the soul that has become thoroughly
possessed by the Christian spirit. Each precept in these verses may
be fittingly used as the homiletical heading of a distinct paragraph.
+I. Warn them that are unruly.+--The unruly are those who, like
disorderly soldiers, break their ranks, and become idle, dissolute,
and worthless in their lives. This disorderliness was a besetting sin
of the primitive Churches, not excepting the Thessalonian. Many of
them, entertaining false ideas about the nearness of Christ's second
coming, became indifferent to the ordinary work of life, and sank
into listlessness and apathy, and even worse. Says the proverb, "An
idle brain is the devil's workshop," and when a man is not diligently
employed in some healthy and vigorous occupation, he is apt,
notwithstanding his Christian profession, to become an instrument of
evil and a disturber of the Church, the peace of which he is pledged
to maintain. It is difficult to pin some people down to a bit of fair
and honest work. They are full of schemes and suggestions for other
people to carry out; they lay down the line of conduct with the
utmost precision, but never themselves illustrate the easiness or
difficulty of on keeping the line; they make laws and regulations
which they never dream of observing themselves and are for ever
finding fault that other people do not observe them. These are the
restless gipsies of the Church, the pests of every Christian
community into which they intrude, the mischief-makers and busybodies
in other people's matters. Warn such. Admonish gently at first,
putting them in mind of their duty. It is the fault of many to limit
admonitions to gross and grievous sins; but in these cases, warning
often comes too late. If admonition in the earlier stage is not
effectual, then proceed to sharper and more faithful reproof. If that
is unavailing, hesitate not to take more summary measures--separate
yourselves from their society.
+II. Comfort the feeble-minded.+--More correctly--encourage the
faint-hearted. The reference is not to the intellectually weak, but
to such as faint in the day of adversity, or are ready to fall away
before the prospect of persecution and suffering (ch. ii. 14), or who
are disheartened and desponding in consequence of the loss of friends
(ch. iv. 13). It may also include those who are perplexed with
constant doubt and apprehension as to their spiritual condition, and
who through fear are all their lifetime subject to bondage. There are
some people so weighed down with a sense of modesty as to
incapacitate them from using the abilities they certainly possess,
though underneath all this modesty there may be the pride of thinking
themselves better able to judge of themselves and their abilities
than anybody else. Others, again, are so oppressed with the
inveteracy of sin, that they despair of gaining the victory over it,
and give up all endeavours. These need encouraging with the promises
of God, and with the lessons and examples furnished by experience.
Heart-courage is what the faint-hearted require.
+III. Support the weak.+--A man may be weak in judgment or weak in
practice. There may be lack of information as to certain great truths
necessary to be believed and stoutly maintained, or lack of capacity
in clearly understanding and grasping those truths. Such was the
condition of many in the apostle's day, who, not apprehending the
complete abrogation of the Mosaic law, and thinking they were still
conscientiously bound to observe ordinances, were weak in faith. Some
linger for years in the misty borderland between doubt and certainty,
with all its enfeebling and poisonous malaria--ever learning, but
never coming to a knowledge of the truth. Defective faith implies
defective practice. Support such with the moral influence of our
sympathy, our prayers, our counsel, our example. While not
countenancing their sins, we may bear or prop them up by judiciously
commending in them that which is good, by not too severely condemning
them in the practice of things indifferent (1 Cor. ix. 20), and by
striving to rectify their errors with all gentleness and fidelity.
+IV. Be patient toward all men.+--Not only toward the weak, the
faint-hearted, and the disorderly, but towards all men--the most
wayward and perverse, the bitterest enemies and persecutors. Consider
the patience of God towards ourselves, while for years we refused His
calls and despised His admonitions; and let us strive to imitate His
longsuffering and kindness. Lack of present success is no warrant to
any to cease from obvious duties and leave things to drift in
hopeless entanglement and ruin. The triumphs of genius in art,
science, and literature are triumphs of patience.
+V. See that none renders evil for evil unto any man.+--Retaliation
betrays a weak, ignoble, and cruel disposition. Pagan morality went
so far as to forbid only the unprovoked injuring of others, and it is
not without noble examples of the exercise of a spirit of
forgiveness,
"Exalted Socrates, divinely brave,
Injured he fell, and dying, he forgave;
Too noble for revenge, which still we find
The weakest frailty of a feeble mind."
The Jews prostituted to purposes of private revenge the laws which
were intended to administer equitable retributions between man and
man. It is Christianity alone that teaches man to bear personal
injuries without retaliation. "Hath any wronged thee?" says Quarles;
"be bravely avenged--slight it, and the work is begun; forgive it,
and it is finished. He is below himself that is not above an injury."
Public wrongs the public law will avenge; and the final recompense
for all wrong, private and public, must be left to the infallible
Judge of all (Rom. xii. 19, 20).
+VI. But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to
all men.+--The noblest retaliation is that of good for evil. In the
worst character there is some element of goodness, that may call out
the desire to do good towards it. Our beneficence should be as large
as an enemy's malice (Matt. v. 44, 45). That which is good is not
always that which is pleasing to the objects of our benevolence, nor
is it always pleasing to ourselves. Goodness should be sought for its
own sake, and sought with increasing earnestness and perseverance, as
the hunter seeks his prey. It is the great aim and business of life.
Goodness is essentially diffusive; it delights in multiplying itself
in others. It is undeterred by provocation; it conquers the most
virulent opposition.
+Lessons.+--1. _The preceptive morality of Christianity is a signal
evidence of its transcendent glory._ 2. _Practice is more potent than
precept._ 3. _The Christian spirit is the root of genuine goodness._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 16-18.
_The Secret of a Happy Life._
Happiness is not found in anything external. It is a certain state of
the soul when it is filled with the peace of God and lit up with the
sunshine of heaven. It is a mockery to talk about cultivating
happiness. It is not a potato to be planted in mould and tilled with
manure. "Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of heaven.
It is a Divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings,
feels dropping upon it from the amaranth bloom and golden fruitage
off paradise." An aged Divine once gave this advice to a newly
married pair: "Don't try to be happy. Happiness is a shy nymph, and
if you chase her, you will never catch her; but just go quietly on
and do your duty, and she will come to you." In these verses we have
revealed to us the secret of a happy life.
+I. The secret of a happy life is found in constant and faithful
discharge of Christian duties.+--1. _It is our duty continually to
rejoice._ "Rejoice evermore" (ver. 16). To rejoice is not only a
privilege, but a duty; the believer is as much obliged to rejoice as
he is to believe. It seems a mockery to direct people to rejoice in
the midst of a world of sin, sorrow, and death, and in a Church which
is sorely tried; and yet such was the condition of things when these
words were penned, and when similar counsel was given to the
Philippians (Phil. iv. 4). Religion is never recommended by sour
looks, sepulchral tones, and suppressing every external manifestation
of gladness. No wonder the Christian is able to rejoice continually,
when we remember the inexhaustible sources of joy he possesses in his
relations to Christ, to God, and to the Holy Ghost, in the promises
of the Divine Word, and in a long, beneficent, and holy life. By
becoming religious, a man does not lose his joys, but exchanges
them--transitory, fading, earthly joys--for joy unspeakable,
glorious, and that fadeth not away.
2 _It is our duty to pray always._--"Pray without ceasing" (ver. 17).
As we are every moment in need, so should we every moment seek help
in prayer. The Lord requires not only frequency in prayer, but also
unwearied importunity. We must guard against the error of the
Euchites, who flourished in the fourth century, and who regarded all
other exercises of religion than inward prayer as unnecessary and
vain. Live in the spirit of prayer. Let the whole work of life be as
prayer offered to God. He who prays the most lives the best. Prayer
surrounds the soul with a golden atmosphere, through which is sifted
the sunbeams of heavenly joy.
3. _It is our duty to be ever grateful._--"In everything give thanks"
(ver. 18). Prayer should ever be accompanied with thanksgiving. What
we may pray for, for that we must give thanks; and whatever is unfit
matter for prayer is unfit for thanksgiving. The Christian can meet
with nothing in the way of duty that is not a cause for thankfulness,
whatever suffering may be entailed. When we think of the ceaseless
stream of God's mercies, we shall have ample reasons for
unintermitted thanksgiving.
+II. The secret of a happy life is in harmony with the Divine
will.+--"For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you"
(ver. 18). It is the will of God that His people should be rejoicing,
praying, and grateful; and this will is revealed by Christ, as
declared in His Gospel, as received in His Church, and as observed by
those in communion with Him. What a revelation is this, not of an
arbitrary demand of the impossible state of the affections towards
God, but a beautiful and consolatory discovery of the largeness of
His love and of the blessed ends for which He has redeemed us in
Christ. The will of God supplies constant material for gratitude and
praise.
+Lessons.+--_Learn the three indubitable marks of a genuine
Christian:_ 1. _To rejoice in the mercy of God._ 2. _To be fervent in
prayer._ 3. _To give thanks to God in all things._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 16. _Rejoice Evermore._
+I. In the exercise of faith.+--1. _In the truths of God._ 2. _In
the promises of God._
+II. In the practice of Christian hope.+
+III. In performing the duty of charity.+--_Barrow._
Ver. 17. _On Self-recollectedness and Ejaculatory Prayer._
+I. Mental prayer consists in gathering up the mind from its
wanderings and placing it consciously in the presence of God.+
+II. In breathing out the mind towards God.+
+III. Materials for ejaculatory prayer.+--1. _Found in daily portions
of Scripture._ 2. _Stated prayer cannot be dispensed with even where
ejaculatory prayer is practised._ 3. _Ejaculatory prayer helpful in
striving after a life of sanctity.--E. M. Goulburn._
Ver. 18. _The Perpetual Thanksgiving of a Christian Life._
+I. Its difficulty.+--1. _From our fancied knowledge of life._
2. _From our unbelieving distrust of God._
+II. Its motive.+--God's will is so revealed in Christ, that,
believing in it, we can give thanks in all things. 1. _Life the
perpetual providences of a Father._ 2. _That perpetual providence is
a discipline of human character._ 3. _The discipline of life is
explained by eternity alone._
+III. Its attainment.+--It is the gradual result of a life of earnest
fellowship with God.--_E. L. Hull._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-22.
_Varied Aspects of Spiritual Influence._
In the natural world the greater law of distribution is manifested in
the infinite variety that appears in the midst of an unchanging and
inflexible uniformity. And in the Church of God what varied gifts,
graces, and attainments are found in its members. No two are
precisely alike. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit;
and the multiplicity and variety of endowments are intended to be
exercised for one grand and definite purpose (Eph. iv. 12, 13). By
grouping together the precepts contained in these verses, we have
suggested to us the varied aspects of spiritual influence. Observe:--
+I. The fervency of spiritual influence.+--1. _The influence of the
Spirit is represented under the emblem of fire._ "Quench not the
Spirit" (ver. 19). Fire purifies the gold of its dross, enlightens by
its splendour the eyes of the beholder, and raises the temperature of
the Christian life. The person inspired is borne along, as it were,
with spiritual ardour (Acts xviii. 25; Rom. xii. 11). Timothy is
directed to rekindle or keep up the fire (2 Tim. i. 6). Christian
baptism is baptism "with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (Matt.
iv. 11). The descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was in tongues of
fire (Acts ii. 3). The Spirit, as fire, bestows both the light of
knowledge and the fervour of love.
2. _The influence of the Spirit may be quenched by denying the
personality and Godhead of the Spirit,_ by depreciating the necessity
of and restraining the fervour of His presence in Christian work; by
ignoring special reference to Him in prayer; by stifling the voice of
conscience; by neglect of religious ordinances; by conformity to the
world; by unsanctified use of past afflictions. The gifts of the
Spirit, with all His holy operations, must be fervently and
diligently cherished within us.
+II. The instructiveness of spiritual influence.+--"Despise not
prophesyings" (ver. 20). The word "prophesying" in the New Testament
signifies not only the prediction of future events, but the
instructions of men inspired by the Holy Ghost, teaching Christian
doctrines, revealing or explaining mysteries, exhorting to duties,
consoling the sorrowing and afflicted. It is what we understand by
preaching. It is not so much the prediction of events that are
future, as it is the proclamation of duty that is instant. However
exalted the believer may be in spiritual experience, however rich in
faith and charity, it is still his duty to attend to preaching.
"Despise not prophesying." Like many a negative in the Bible, it
means a very decided positive in the opposite direction. Despise it
not by exalting reason over revelation. Despise it not by identifying
true religion with the weakness, oddities, and eccentric notions of
good but ignorant men. Despise it not by denying its beneficent
teachings, spurning its wise counsels, and neglecting its faithful
warnings. Where there is no prophecy the people perish. He that
despiseth it shall be despised of the Lord; he shall be cast into
darkness, because he would not delight in the light (Acts xiii. 41;
Prov. i. 24-31).
+III. The possible abuse of spiritual influence.+--"Prove all things;
hold fast that which is good" (ver. 21). Error is never so dangerous
as when it is the alloy of truth. Pure error is seen through at once
and rejected; but error mixed with truth makes use of the truth as a
pioneer for it, and gets introduction where otherwise it would have
none. Poison is all the more dangerous when mixed up with food--error
is never so likely to do mischief as when it comes to us under the
pretensions and patronage of that which is true. Hence the importance
of testing every pretender to spiritual illumination--as the
goldsmith tests the gold and discovers the amount of alloy in it.
"Beloved," says St. John, "believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are
gone out into the world" (1 John iv. 1). There are certain
fundamental truths that are beyond all necessity of testing, and
which transcend the powers of human reason to fully comprehend. The
direction is addressed to the Church, to those who possess the Spirit
by whose help the test is applied. The utterances of the Spirit may
be tested in their relation to the glory of Jesus, and by the
influence of the truths uttered upon the moral and spiritual life of
the teacher and his followers. Having proved the truth, hold fast
that which is good, as with both hands and against all who would
forcibly wrest it from you. When you have tried and found out the
truth, be constant and settled in it. A wavering-minded man is
unstable in all his ways:--
"Seize upon truth wherever 'tis found,
Among her friends, among her foes,
On Christian or on heathen ground,
The flower's divine where'er it grows--
Refuse the prickles and assume the rose."
+IV. The sensitiveness of spiritual influence.+--"Abstain from all
appearance of evil" (ver. 22). Nothing will sooner quench the fire of
the Spirit in the believer than sin. Therefore is he exhorted to
abstain, to hold aloof from every species of evil not only from that
which is really and in itself evil, but also from that which has the
shape or semblance of evil. Not what we are, but what we appear,
determines the world's judgment of us. Our usefulness in the world is
very much dependent on appearances. Our abhorrence of evil, both in
doctrine and practice, must be so decided as to avoid the very show
of it in either. He makes conscience of no sin that makes no
conscience of all; and he is in danger of the greatest who allows
himself in the least. "By shunning evil things," says Bernard, "we
provide for conscience; by avoiding ill, shows we safeguard our
fame." The believer has need of a sound judgment, a sensitive
conscience, and an ever-wakeful vigilance. To sanction evil in any
form is to dim the lustre and stifle the operation of spiritual
influence. "Know nought but truth, feel nought but love, will nought
but bliss, do nought but righteousness. All things are known in
heaven ere aimed at on earth."
+Lessons.+--1. _The mightiest influence in the universe is
spiritual._ 2. _Increase of spiritual influence is dependent on
uprightness of life._ 3. _The best spiritual gifts should be eagerly
sought._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 19. _Quench not the Spirit._
+I. The mode of the Spirit's operation is likened unto that of
fire.+--1. _Fire of unrest._ When the Spirit convinces of sin.
2. _Fire of purification._ When the Spirit burns up evil within.
3. _Fire of consecration._ When the Spirit dwells within as a mighty
impelling force.
+II. It is in our power to quench the Holy Fire.+
+III. The ways in which men quench the Spirit.+--1. _By continuing in
known sin._ 2. _By indulging in a light, frivolous spirit._ 3. _By
refusing to believe in anything they cannot see or touch._ 4. _By
allowing worldly affairs to absorb the affections._ 5. _By neglecting
religions duties._ 6. _By not exercising the gifts already
bestowed.--Local Preacher's Treasury._
Ver. 20. _Despise not Prophesyings_--
+I. Because they are the sayings of God.+
+II. They are the grand appointed means of our salvation.+
+III. Because we greatly need them.+
+IV. We grieve the Spirit of God thereby.+
+V. It is the sure way of contracting a habit of despising Divine
things in general.+
+VI. It lays stumbling-blocks in the way of others.+
+VII. Those who despise destroy themselves.+--_E. Hare._
_Abuse of Public Worship._
+I. The offence.+--1. _Habitual neglect of public worship._
2. _Attendance on public worship in an improper state of mind._
3. _Failure to improve public worship for the purposes for which it
is intended._
+II. Its sin and danger.+--1. _It involves contempt of the authority
of God._ 2. _It involves contempt of an institution with which God
has specially identified Himself._ 3. _It involved contempt of one of
the appointed means of grace._ 4. _It involves contempt of our own
soul.--G. Brooks._
Ver. 21. _Rationalism._
+I. Prove all things.+--1. _Our own sentiments._ 2. _The sentiments
of others._
+II. Hold fast that which is good.+--1. _Against the assaults of
proud reason._ 2. _Against the assaults of mad passions._ 3. _Against
the assaults of a menacing world.--Ibid._
>_Prove all things._
+I. The course of conduct commanded.+--"Prove." 1. _By an appeal to
the Word of God as supreme._ 2. _Sincerely._ 3. _Thoroughly._
4 _Prayerfully._
+II. The extent to which the course of conduct is to be
carried.+--"All things." 1. _Things taken for granted to be right._
2. _Things wrong._ 3. _Things doubtful._
+III. Some hindrances to the adoption of this course.+--1. _Dislike
to the trouble it may cause_ 2. _Fear of the demands which the result
may make._
+IV. Blessings likely to result from this course.+--1. _Activity of
mind in matters of religion._ 2. _A specific acquaintance with the
Word of God._ 3. _Legitimate independence of thought._ 4. _Increasing
strength of Christian character._ 5. _Increase of Christian
sagacity._ 6. _The adorning of the Christian doctrine in the eyes of
men.--J. Holmes._
_Hold Fast that which is Good._
+I. Be well assured of the value and goodness of the possession.+
+II. Cherish a deep sense of responsibility because you have been
led to prove and to be convinced of the good.+
+III. Be assured that powerful influences will be exerted that you
may lose your hold.+
+IV. Do not allow your convictions of its goodness to be unsettled.+
+V. Do not take hold of anything which you cannot hold at the same
time that you firmly grasp this.+
+VI. Do not let a little of it go.+
+VII. Hold it more firmly.+
+VIII. Regard how others have been affected by the way they have
held.+
+IX. Depend entirely on the grace of God to enable you to do
this.+--_Ibid._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 23, 24.
_A Prayer for Sanctification._
Sanctification is the supreme end of the Christian life, and
everything should be made to contribute to the grand result. It is
the crown and ornament of all other graces, the perfecting of every
moral virtue. The fact that man is capable of so lofty a degree of
personal holiness indicates that it is the supreme end for which he
ought to live. He misses the glory that is within his reach if he
does not attain to it. Sanctification in its radical meaning is
simply separation--a separation from what is evil to what is good. It
then implies to make holy that which is unholy. It begins in a moral
transformation, the regeneration of the heart, and advances to
perfection. Observe:--
+I. That sanctification is a complete work.+--"Sanctify you wholly;
and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved
blameless" (ver. 23).
1. _It affects the intellectual nature of man._--"Your spirit." It is
this that distinguishes truth from falsehood and apprehends the
mysteries of religion. If the intellect is sanctified, there is less
danger of falling into error and heresy. Enlightened by the Holy
Ghost, it enables man to prove all things and to test and judge every
aspect of truth.
2. _It affects the spiritual nature of man._--"Your soul"--the seat
of the affections and will, the passions and appetites. The having
the heart in a right or wrong condition makes the difference between
the moral and the immoral character. When the heart is sanctified the
passions and appetites are kept within due bounds, and the believer
is preserved pure from the sinful lusts of the flesh. The same
distinction between spirit and soul is made in Heb. iv. 12; and in
Tit. i. 15 a distinction is made between the intellectual and moral
in the terms _mind_ and _conscience._
3. _It affects the physical nature of man._--"Your body." The body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. iv. 19) and must be kept pure
and blameless--must be kept in temperance, soberness, and chastity;
to pollute it with fleshly lusts is to pollute and destroy it (1 Cor.
iii. 17). The body, immortalised and glorified, will be the companion
of the glorified soul throughout eternity; and the Thessalonians had
already been assured that the body was to rise from the grave (ch.
iv. 16). The whole complex nature of man is to be purified. Mere
outward decency of conduct is not enough; the inner man, the
intellectual, moral, and spiritual faculties must be kept in a state
of purity and holiness. He hath sanctity in no part who is not
sanctified in every part.
4. _It is a necessary fitness to meet Christ at His coming._--"Be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver.
23). It is the power of God only that can keep man holy, though the
utmost circumspection and vigilance are to be exercised on his part.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt.
v. 8)--see Him now as the inner eye of the soul is clarified, and see
Him at His coming in power and great glory.
+II. That sanctification is a Divine work.+--1. _The believer is
called to sanctification by the God of unswerving fidelity._
"Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it" (ver. 24). God
is faithful to all His promises of help. Every promise is backed by
the whole force of His omnipotence--"who also will do it." There is
nothing greater in the universe than the will of God; it actuates His
power and ensures His faithfulness. Entire sanctification is
therefore no impossible attainment. God calls, not to mock and
disappoint, but to bless.
2. _The believer is called to sanctification by the God of
peace._--"The very God of peace sanctify you" (ver. 23). Peace and
sanctification are inseparable; without holiness there can be no
peace. God is the author and giver of peace, and delights in peace.
Mr. Howels, of Long Acre chapel, used to say that if he saw two dogs
at peace with each other, he saw there "the very God of peace"; that
one atom of peace left in a world of war with God is a truce of the
lingering mercy and favouring goodness of God. Peace is a reflection
of the Divine presence on earth. The Thessalonians had been enjoined
to cultivate mutual peace and harmony (ver. 13), and personal
holiness had been earnestly recommended (ch. iv. 3). They are now
taught where peace and holiness are to be found. Both are gifts of
God. We have need of peace--peace of conscience, peace from the rage
and fury of the world, peace and love among those who are of the
household of God.
+III. That sanctification is obtained by prayer.+--The loftiest duty
is possible with grace; the least is all but impossible without it.
All grace must be sought of God in prayer. The virtue and power of
all exhortation and teaching depend on the Divine blessing. What God
encourages us to seek in prayer is possible of attainment in actual
experience. Prayer is the expression of wants we feel. It is the
power by which we reach he highest spiritual excellence.
+Lessons.+--1. _Cherish the highest ideal of the Christian
character._ 2. _Pray for Divine help in its attainment._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 23. _The Sanctification of the Complete Man._
+I. Its meaning.+--1. _There is a great trinity of powers--body,
soul, and spirit--linking man with three different worlds._ The
physical, the intellectual, the spiritual. 2. _These three ranges of
powers become gateways of temptation from three different worlds, and
unless they are all consecrated we are never free from danger._
+II. Its attainment.+--1. _We cannot consecrate ourselves._ 2. _God
preserves the entire sanctification by imparting peace._
+III. The motive for endeavouring to attain it.+--"Until the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1. _A day of manifestation when the
shadows and unrealities of time will fade in the full morning of
eternity._ 2. _A day of everlasting gatherings.--E. L. Hull._
_The Trinity._
+I. The first power or consciousness in which God is made known to
us is as the Father, the Author of our being.+
+II. The second way through which the personality and consciousness
of God has been revealed to us is as the Son.+
+III. A closer and a more enduring relation in which God stands to us
is the relation of the Spirit.+--It is the graces of the Spirit
which harmonise the man and make him one; and that is the end,
aim, and object of all the Gospel.--_F. W. Robertson._
Ver. 24. _The Faith of Man and the Faithfulness of God._
+I. The highest object of man's existence is to hold communion with
his God.+
+II. Rightly to believe in Christ is to know and feel this
communion.+
+III. The unalterable faithfulness of God is a fidelity to His own
gracious engagement.+
+IV. The prominent character of God is unshaken stability.+
+V. God is faithful to his warnings as He is to His
promises.+--_A. Butler._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 25-28.
_Closing Words._
+I. An important request.+--"Brethren, pray for us" (ver. 25). The
most gifted saints have need of the prayers of God's people. The
great apostle, much as he prayed for himself, did not himself feel
independent of the intercessions of others. His large experience of
the power of prayer made him only the more anxious to strengthen his
personal interest at the throne of grace. The least gifted saint in
other respects may be mighty in prayer. Believers are so bound
together as to be dependent on one another, and all on the great Head
of the Church. The richest inheritance of the anxious minister are
the prayers of his people. A praying Church will never have to
complain of an insipid and fruitless ministry.
+II. A Christian salutation.+--"Greet all the brethren with an holy
kiss" (ver. 26). The "kiss of charity" in those days was a token of
friendship and goodwill, something equivalent to the shaking of hands
in modern times. In the Syrian Church, before communion, each takes
his neighbour's right hand, and gives the salutation, "Peace!" The
greeting was "a holy kiss"--pure and chaste, such as one Christian
may give to another, and not sin. Christianity is the soul of
courtesy. "Forms may change; but the same spirit of brotherly love
and cordial recognition of one another, under whatever diversities of
temporal circumstances, should ever characterise those who know the
love of a common Saviour, and have entered into the communion of
saints" (_Lillie_). Let the love of the heart toward all the brethren
be practically manifested in becoming acts of courtesy and goodwill.
+III. A solemn direction.+--"I charge you by the Lord that this
epistle be read unto all the holy brethren" (ver. 27). The first
epistle to the Thessalonians is, in point of time, the earliest of
all the canonical books of the New Testament; and here is a solemn
injunction that it be publicly read to all the people. The Romish
Church, if she does not deny, very unwillingly allows the reading of
Scripture by the laity. "What Rome forbids under an anathema," says
Bengel, "St. Paul enjoins with an adjuration." None should be
debarred from reading or hearing the Word of God. "Women and children
are not to be excluded" (Deut. xxxi. 12; Josh. viii. 34, 35). Lois
and Eunice knew the Bible and taught it to the child Timothy. The
Berœans had free access to the sacred volume, and searched it at
their pleasure. The public reading of the Holy Scriptures is an
important means of edifying the Church; it is enforced by apostolic
authority; it familiarises the mind with the greatest truths; it
keeps alive the enthusiasm of the Church for aggressive purposes.
+IV. A gracious benediction.+--"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you. Amen" (ver. 28). The epistle closes, as it began, with
blessing. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the fountain of all
the good that has flowed in upon and enriched the human race. The
three great features of that grace--pardon, peace, holiness--are
clearly elucidated in this epistle. The fountain is inexhaustible.
Its streams of blessing are ever available for needy, perishing man.
+Lessons.+--1. _Prayer is an ever-present duty._ 2. _Christianity
hallows all the true courtesies of life._ 3. _The Word of God should
be constantly read and studied._ 4. _The best blessings issue from
the inexhaustible grace of our Lord Jesus Christ._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 25. _Pray for Us._
+I. We greatly need your prayers.+--Our state, like yours, is a state
of probation. We have uncommon wants. We have a strict account to
give.
+II. We request your prayers.+--1. _You can pray._ 2. _God will hear
you._
+III. We may reasonably expect that you will pray for us.+--1. _We
pray for you._ 2. _We are labouring for your advantage._
+IV. We are warranted to expect it from your own
professions.+--1. _You profess a high degree, not only of respect,
but of love to your preachers._ 2. _Some of you can scarcely give us
any other proof of it._
+V. It will be to your advantage to pray for us.+--1. _It will
prepare your minds for hearing us._ 2. _This will make us useful to
you._
+VI. Your prayers will make us more useful to others.+
Ver. 27. _The Public Reading of the Scriptures._
+I. To debar the Lord's people from acquainting themselves with
Scripture is a great sin.+--Scripture should be translated into the
native tongue of every nation where Christ has a Church, that people
may read it, hear it, and be acquainted with it. They ought
diligently to improve all helps to acquaint them with the mind of God
revealed in Scripture and look upon their doing so as a duty of
greatest importance and weight.
+II. Ministers and Church guides should see that the people of their
charge be acquainted with Scripture.+--Should invite them to read it
in secret and in their families, and use their influence that
children of both sexes be trained up at schools to read the Lord's
words distinctly in their own native language.
+III. Scripture should be publicly read to God's people assembled
together for His worship.+--Even though not immediately expounded and
applied, the reading of God's Word allows it to speak for itself and
impress its own Divine authority.--_Fergusson._
* * * * * * * *
+Transcriber's Notes+
- Page 483, Introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 484, Contents, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 485, notes on chapter i., verse 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
Verse 5, apply RC to "Gospel." Verse 8, apply RC to "Word"
(twice). Verse 10, change "Lord's return" to "lord's," referring
to the traveler spoken of in the parable.
- Page 486, lesson "Phases," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
Point I, change "first person plural" to "first-person plural";
apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Divinely"; add
"John xvii. 21" reference; apply RC to "Divine" (thrice), "Word,"
and "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divinely."
- Page 487, same lesson, point III 1, change "finding i#" to
"finding it"; add comma to "So our." Point III 2, apply RC to
"Divine"; add "Eph. ii. 15" reference. Application ("Lessons"),
point 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 488, lesson "Thanksgiving," introduction, remove comma from
"epistles, and." Point I 1, add comma to "sees and"; add "James
ii. 26" reference. Point I 4, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 489, same lesson, point II, remove comma from "God, and."
Point III, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 490, lesson "Gospel," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
Point I, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point I 1, apply RC to
"Victim" and add "Isa. liii. 3" reference. Point I 2, apply RC to
"Divine." Point I 3, apply RC to "Gospel's," "Divine," and "Gospel
Word." Each of points II and II 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 491, application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel,"
"Word," and "Gospel." Point 2, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Germ
note, each of points I, I 1, I 2, and II, apply RC to "Gospel."
Point III 4, apply RC to "Word." Lesson "Practical Result,"
introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel,"
"Word," and "Gospel." Point I 1, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 492, same lesson, point I 2, apply RC to "Word" and "Gospel."
Point II, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 2, apply RC to "Word" and
"Gospel" (twice); remove comma from "Sea, and." Application
("Lessons"), point I, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 493, "Evidences" note, point IV, apply RC to "Gospel."
"Power" note, point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Conversion,"
point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine"
(twice). Point I 2, apply RC to "Deity."
- Page 494, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC
to "Gospel" and "Divinely." "Wrath to come" note, point I, apply
RC to "Divine."
- Page 495, notes on chapter ii., verse 3, apply RC to "Gospel."
Verse 4, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Verse 5, add em-dash before
poem; add left double quotes to poem.
- Page 496, notes on chapter ii., verse 10, change "unblamably" to
"unblameably." Verse 13, apply RC to "Word." Verse 15, in the Luke
quotation, move the right double quote from after "Son" to after
"off." Verse 18, remove comma from "one, and." Lesson "Essential
Elements I," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 497, same lesson, introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point
I, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel"; remove comma from
"invectives, or"; add "Matt. xxiii. 33" reference; apply RC to
"Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "Gospel." Point III, apply RC to
"Divinely" and "Divine"; remove comma from "God, and"; apply RC to
"Divine"; add "Jer. xx. 9-11; Jer. i. 7" and "Phil. iv. 13"
references.
- Page 498, germ note, each of points I and II 1, apply RC to
"Gospel." Point II 3, change "His" to "his," referring to Paul.
Lesson "Essential Elements II," in each of introduction and points
I 2, I 3, II 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 2, apply RC to
"Divine" and "Gospel."
- Page 499, same lesson, point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add
"2 Cor. ii. 17" reference. Point II 3, change "cloak" to "cloke"
to match A.V. text. Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to
"Divine."
- Page 500, lesson "Essential Elements III," point I 1, add "2 Tim.
ii. 24, 25" reference. Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point
II 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 501, same lesson, point II 2, add "Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45"
and "Acts xx. 24" references. Lesson "Essential Elements IV,"
point I, add "1 Cor. ix. 13, 14" reference.
- Page 502, same lesson, point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II,
change "unblamably" to "unblameably"; remove comma from "truth,
and"; add left double quote before poem. Point III 2, apply RC to
"Divine"; remove comma from "earth, and." Germ note, point I,
apply RC to "Gospel." Point III 3, change "unblamable" to
"unblameable."
- Page 503, lesson "Correct Estimate," introduction, apply RC to
"Gospel" (twice). Point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, apply
RC to "Gospel" and "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and
"Visitor." Before poem, add em-dash. After poem, apply RC to
"Word." Point II 2, add "1 Peter i. 23" reference. Point II 4,
apply RC to "Word." Add warning about the word "niggardly." Point
III, apply RC to "Gospel."
- The break between pages 503 and 504 is in the word "effectually":
effec|tually.
- Page 504, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Word" (twice) and
"Divine Word." Point IV, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Word"; add
"Isa. ix. 3" reference. Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC
to "Gospel" and "Word." Point 3, apply RC to "Word." Germ note,
each of points I and I 1, apply RC to "Word." Lesson "Suffering,"
introduction, remove comma from "character, and"; add comma to "So
there."
- Page 505, same lesson, point I, add "Ps. lv. 12, 13," "2 Tim.
iii. 12," and "Matt. x. 36" references. Point II, add "Matt.
xx. 22" and "Matt. x. 38" references; apply RC to "Gospel."
Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson
"Fury," introduction, add comma to "vegetation the."
- Page 506, same lesson, introduction, apply RC to "Divine" and
"Divinely." Point I 1, add "Matt. xxvii. 25" reference. Point II,
apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "memory, and."
- Page 507, germ note, point III, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson
"Power," point I 1, add "Gen. xliii. 14" reference.
- Page 508, same lesson, point III 2, add "Ps. xvi. 11" reference.
Application ("Lessons"), each of points 1 and 2, add comma to
"therefore we."
- Page 509, "Joy" note, point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Notes on
chapter iii., verse 2, add "Luke xxii. 32" reference. Verse 3, add
"James i. 6" reference. Verse 8, add "Phil. i. 21" reference.
Verse 11, change "ii. 18" to "ch. ii. 18."
- Page 510, lesson "Mission," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
Point II, remove comma from "Paul, and"; add em-dash before poem.
Point III, add "1 Tim. i. 2; 2 Tim. i. 2" references; add comma to
"finally he"; apply RC to "Gospel"; add comma to "Thus Timothy."
- Page 511, same lesson, point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and
"Divine." Point IV 2, apply RC to "Gospel"; add "ch. iii. 3"
reference. Lesson "Perils," introduction, add comma to "is when";
apply RC to "Gospel." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" and
"Gospel"; add "Acts xiv. 22" and "John xv. 19" references.
- Page 512, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 2,
apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 513, germ note, point V, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "News,"
introduction, add "Prov. xv. 25" reference.
- Page 514, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and
"Divine." Point III 1, apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from
"difficulties, and." Point III 2, remove comma from "love, and."
Application ("Lessons"), point 1, add comma to "maintained and."
- Page 515, lesson "Steadfastness," introduction, apply RC to "Word"
and "Gospel." Point II, change "3 John v. 4" to "3 John 3, 4."
- Page 516, same lesson, point III 2, add "ver. 9" reference for
consistency. Point III 3, apply RC to "Author" and "Preserver."
- Page 517, lesson "Prayer," point I 1, add "John v. 19" reference.
Point II, add "Jer. x. 23" and "Prov. iii. 6" references; apply RC
to "Divine." Point III 1, remove comma from "graces, and."
- Page 518, same lesson, point III 1, add "1 John iii. 11" and
"1 Pet. i. 22" references. Point III 2, add "ver. 12" reference
for consistency, add "Lev. xix. 18" and "1 Tim. i. 5" references.
Point III 3, add "ver. 12" reference for consistency; change
"ii. 8, 9, 13; iii. 3-5" to "ch. ii. 8, 9, 13; ch. iii. 3-5."
Point IV, change "unblamable" to "unblameable." Point IV 1, add
"Col. iii. 14" reference. Point IV 2, change "unblamable" to
"unblameable" (twice). Point IV 3, apply RC to "Divine."
Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divine." Germ note,
point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point III, change "unblamable" to
"unblameable."
- Page 519, notes for chapter iv., verse 5, add single quotes around
the word "passion."
- Page 520, notes for chapter iv., verse 15, change "ii. 16" to "ch.
ii. 16." Lesson "Exhortations," introduction, remove comma from
"annihilated, but"; apply RC to "Divine." Each of points I, I 2,
and I 3, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 3, change "It is, possible,
then" to "It is possible, then"; add comma to "vain the."
- Page 521, same lesson, points I 4 and II, apply RC to "Divine."
Point II 1, apply RC to "Divine" (twice), remove comma from
"nature, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to
"Divine"; change scripture quotation from "For this the will" to
"For this is the will"; apply RC to "He." Point II 3, apply RC to
"Divine" (twice); add "Rom. xiv. 14" and "Luke xxii. 42"
references. Point III, apply RC to "Divinely."
- Page 522, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC
to "Divinely." Lesson "Features," introduction, remove comma from
"defect, and."
- Page 523, same lesson, point I 1, add comma to "Christianity it."
- Page 524, same lesson, point II 2, change "Prov. xxii. 10" to
"Prov. xxiii. 10"; add "2 Pet. ii. 3" reference; apply RC to
"Divine." Point III, apply RC to "Divine," "Caller," and "Divine."
- Page 525, lesson "Word," point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point II,
apply RC to "Word." Point III, remove comma from "alone, but";
apply RC to "Divinely"; remove comma from "own, but"; apply RC to
"Word"; remove comma from "Heaven, and." Application ("Lessons"),
each points 1 and 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 526, lesson "Brotherly Love," point I, apply RC to
"Divinely." Point I 1, remove commas from "taught, and" and
"Christianity, and." Point I 4, apply RC to "Divinely," "Word,"
and "Divine."
- Page 527, same lesson, point II, add comma to "Accordingly the."
Point III, scripture quote, remove comma from "beseech, you";
text, remove comma from "self-love, and." Germ note, point II,
apply RC to "Divinely."
- Page 528, lesson "Pacific Spirit," point I, remove comma from
"another, and." Point II 1, add "Prov. xx. 3" reference; change
"your neighbours" to "your neighbour's." Point II 2, remove comma
from "evils, and."
- Page 529, same lesson, point II 3, remove comma from "business,
and." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 530, lesson "Sorrow," introduction, remove comma from "child,
and." Point II, remove commas from "life, and" and "son, and."
- Page 531, same lesson, point III 1, add "Rom. viii. 23" reference.
Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add "Hos. xiii. 14" reference.
Point III 3, apply RC to "Word" (twice); remove comma from "grave,
and." In-line note about eschatology before "Second Advent" lesson.
- Page 532, lesson "Second Advent," introduction, add comma to
"words the." Point I, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from
"heaven, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to
"Divine."
- Page 533, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "Word"; remove comma
from "death, and."
- Page 534, germ note, point II, add comma to "general we." Point
II 1, apply RC to "Word." Notes on chapter v., verse 2, in the
Findlay quote, change left double quote before "You already know"
to a left single quote and add a right single quote after "known."
Verse 13, change "iii. 10" to "ch. iii. 10." Verse 14, change
"ii. 11" to "ch. ii. 11."
- Page 535, lesson "Attitude," introduction, change "The book that
records the _first_ advent" to "A book written by one who knew of
[it]" because neither John's Gospel nor his Revelation discuss it;
add "Rev. xxii. 20" reference. Point I 1, change "untamable" to
"untameable"; add comma to "time there."
- Page 536, same lesson, point I 2, remove comma from "approach,
but"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
Point II 2, add comma to "therefore our"; remove comma from "day,
and."
- Page 537, same lesson, point IV 1, apply RC to "Divinely" (thrice).
- Page 538, "Moral Sleep" note, point I, apply RC to "Gospel."
Lesson "Treatment," introduction, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 539, point II 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 3, apply RC
to "Word."
- Page 540, lesson "Precepts," point I, remove comma from
"themselves, and"; add comma to "cases warning." Point II, change
"ii. 14" to "ch. ii. 14" and "iv. 13" to "ch. iv. 13."
- Page 541, same lesson, point IV, remove comma from "duties, and."
- Page 542, lesson "Happy Life," introduction, remove comma from
"mould, and"; apply RC to "Divine"; capitalise "Divine" referring
to a churchman. Point I, change "iv. 4" to "Phil. iv. 4" for
concreteness; apply RC to "Divine Word."
- Page 543, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine" and
"Gospel." "Self-recollectedness" note, point I, remove comma from
"wanderings, and." Lesson "Influence," introduction, add comma to
"verses we."
- Page 544, same lesson, point III, add "1 John iv. 1" reference.
Poem, set the second line flush left with the rest of the poem.
- Page 545, "Despise" note, point IV, apply RC to "Divine." "Prove"
note, point I 1, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 546, same note, point IV 2, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 547, lesson "Prayer," point I 3, change "iv. 16" to "ch.
iv. 16." Point I 4, add "Matt. v. 8" reference. Point II, apply RC
to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; change "iv. 3" to
"ch. iv. 3." Point III, apply RC to "Divine." Application
("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 548, "Trinity" note, point I, apply RC to "Author." Point
III, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Closing Words," point III,
apply RC to "Word"; remove comma from "Bible, and."
- Page 549, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC
to "Word." "Public Reading" note, point I, remove comma from
"Scripture, and." Point III, apply RC to "Word" and "Divine."
+THE SECOND EPISTLE+
+TO THE THESSALONIANS.+
* * * * * * * *
+INTRODUCTION.+
+Occasion and design.+--Probably little more time elapsed between the
two epistles than was necessary for the messenger of Paul to return
to him. This appears likely from the fact that Silvanus and Timothy
were still with Paul, at Corinth, as when the first letter was sent.
The condition of the Church at Thessalonica had meanwhile grown more
trying, the flame of persecution burnt more fiercely, and the
conviction that this presaged the immediate appearance of the Lord
from heaven grew stronger. "Religious effervescence had come to a
sort of paroxysm; an ever-increasing number of Christians gave up all
their worldly concerns and duties for the sake of living a life of
contemplation, inquisitive idleness, and begging. In order,
therefore, to abate the intensity of this carnal rather than
spiritual flame the apostle is obliged to make use of all the means
at his disposal, and the two principals of these are instruction and
discipline" (_Godet_).
The design of the epistle is heard in the phrase, "that ye be not
quickly shaken from your mind nor yet be troubled . . . as that the
day of the Lord is immediately impending" (ch. ii. 2).
+Style and character of the epistle.+--In style these two epistles to
Thessalonica are alike. We need not expect the style in which St.
Paul writes to the Churches which had become faithless--then his
language defies style--nor of that to those whose edification in the
doctrines of the Christian faith is his aim. There is much in common
between these letters and that to the other Macedonian Church. "They
are neither passionate, nor argumentative; but practical,
consolatory, prompted by affection, by memory and hope. Hence they
represent, as it has been aptly said, 'St. Paul's normal style,' the
way in which he would commonly write and talk to his friends"
(_Findlay_).
In their character, "they are (1) the letters of a missionary,
(2) singularly affectionate letters, (3) especially cheering and
consolatory letters, and (4) eschatological letters, _i.e._ they set
forth the last things in Christian doctrine" (_Ibid._).
+Outline of the Epistle.+
i. 1, 2. Greeting.
3-12 & ii. 13-17. The thanksgiving, with exhortations and prayers.
ii. 1-12. The doctrinal section: the Man of Sin.
iii. 1-16. The practical section, with messages, concluded with
prayer.
17, 18. Autographic conclusion and benediction. (_Farrar_)
+CHAPTER I.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 3. +We are bound to thank God.+--We owe a debt of gratitude to
God. It is not so much what is seemly that comes into prominence
here, as what is due. +Even as it is meet.+--The word for "meet"
directs attention to the value of the increase of the faith of the
Thessalonians. As though the apostle said, "It is something worth
giving thanks for." +Your faith groweth exceedingly.+--The word for
"groweth exceedingly" does not occur again in the New Testament. It
means "to increase beyond measure." The faith of the Thessalonians
was like "a fruitful bough by a fountain whose branches run over the
wall," though "the archers have solely grieved it, and shot at it and
persecuted it" (Gen. xlix. 22, 23). +The charity of every one of you
toward each other aboundeth.+--This is high praise indeed--a plethora
of love. Like a brimming fountain kept always full, so the love of
these early Christians overflowed, Cf. on 1 Thess. iv. 9.
Ver. 4. +We ourselves glory in you.+--St. Paul had to rebuke the
Corinthians for the factious spirit which set off the excellencies of
one teacher against those of another. Here he plays off one Church
against another, as a schoolmaster might seek to stir up his pupils
by mentioning the names of those who have taken scholarships. But St.
Paul well knew that this needed care (see Col. iii. 21; R.V. or
Greek).
Ver. 5. +Which is a manifest token.+--"An _indication._" The
steadfast and resolute continuance in the profession and adornment of
the Christian faith, in face of opposition, might suggest to
persecutors, as to Gamaliel, the possibility of the Divine origin of
the faith, to oppose which was to fight against God (Acts v. 39).
Ver. 6. +Seeing it is a righteous thing.+--"There is no
unrighteousness in Him" (John vii. 18). However stern the
retribution, none who suffers will ever be able to impugn the
justice. +To recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.+--The
R.V. comes nearer to the original, "affliction to them that afflict
you." This _lex talionis_ is a sword that is dangerous to any hand
but His who said, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay" (Rom. xii. 19).
Ver 7. +And to you who are troubled rest with us.+--The idea
suggested by the words is that of poor, hunted fugitives with nerves
tensely strung and with a wild look of fear in the eyes. As the
guardians of the infant Jesus were assured of safety by the death of
him who sought the child's life, so the strain of fear shall be
relaxed in the case of the persecuted Thessalonians.
Ver. 8. +In flaming fire.+--Lit. "in a fire of flame." "Fire is a
symbol of Divine anger and majesty in Scripture; and flame is fire in
motion, leaping and blazing out" (_Findlay_). +Taking vengeance on
them that know not God.+--St. Paul does not consider ignorance as a
valid excuse where knowledge might be had, any more than a man would
be looked on as innocent who should plead that, being a foreigner, he
did not know that the law of any country which he visits forbids
murder. "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil" (John iii. 19).
Ver. 9. +Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction.+--R.V.
"who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction." It has been
repeatedly shown that only arbitrariness can limit the meaning of
this terrible phrase. Our comfort must be that He with whom "it is a
righteous thing to recompense affliction" (ver. 6) will always be
self-consistent. +From the presence of the Lord.+ The fulness of joy
is there, and they who, like Cain, go out from it carry the ache of
an irreparable loss with them. The Hebraism in the phrase is brought
out by the R.V. "from the face of the Lord."
Ver. 10. +To be glorified in His saints.+--Two meanings at least suit
this phrase: (1) It may be the apostle thought of the great
ascription of praise rising from the vast assembly of saints, or
(2) it may be he is thinking of the saints as the trophies of the
Redeemer's love and power--the work that speaks the Master's praise.
+And to be admired.+--R.V. "marvelled at." The same work describes
the fawning sycophancy of men of the Balaam spirit, or it might
describe the open-eyed and speechless wonder of an African chief in a
State function.
Ver. 11. +And fulfil all the good pleasure.+--R.V. "every desire of
goodness." "As much as to say, May God mightily accomplish in you all
that goodness would desire and that faith can effect" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 12. +That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in
you.+--A little mirror may not increase the sum-total of sunlight,
but it may cause some otherwise unobservant eye to note its
brightness. So, Christ's infinite and eternal glory cannot be
augmented but only shared by Christians (John xvii. 22).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1, 2.
_Phases of Apostolic Greeting._
Under this heading we have already treated homiletically the
apostle's formula of salutation, which is the same here as the
beginning of the first epistle.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3, 4.
_Congratulatory Features of a Prosperous Church._
We have here a suggestive example of the apostolic method of dealing
with a Church in which the incipient elements of error were beginning
to operate. He applauds first what is really good, and then
faithfully, almost fiercely, warns of the threatening evil. He who
would effectually rebuke must first learn how to tenderly sympathise.
These verses indicated what are the congratulatory features of a
prosperous Church.
+I. There is a vital and progressive faith.+--"Your faith groweth
exceedingly" (ver. 3). Faith feeds on truth; and all truth leads to
and unites with God, its source. A living faith can only be sustained
by a living truth; and where there is life there will be growth. We
are ruled by our beliefs; if they are wrong, our track is wrong, our
life a mistake, our energies wasted. The faith of the Thessalonians
was so real, so vivid, so vitalising, so deeply rooted in the
quickening soil of Gospel truth, that it flourished with tropical
luxuriance. The doom of a Church is sealed when its faith is dead and
its creed inert. It is like a fossil in the grasp of a fossil--a
museum of dry, bony, musty remains.
+II. There is a reciprocal and expansive charity.+--"And the charity
of every one of you all towards each other aboundeth" (ver. 3). Love
is the fruit of the Christian spirit, and the proof of its
genuineness. It should be manifested to every believer in Christ. The
love of a common Saviour and the sharing in a common suffering tend
to intensify mutual esteem and affection. The prayer of the apostle
on behalf of the Thessalonians was fulfilled (1 Thess. iii. 12)--an
encouragement to pray on behalf of others. Where charity abounds,
there is mutual forbearance with one another's faults and frailties,
the absence of suspicion and jealousy, no tendency to pass harsh and
rapid judgments on the conduct of others, a disposition to think the
best of each other, to share each other's trials, and bear each
other's burdens.
+III. There is a patient fidelity under suffering.+--"Your patience
and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure"
(ver. 4). These trials began with the first planting of the Gospel in
Thessalonica and seemed to have continued without cessation. The Jews
were the principal agents and instigators stirring up the populace
against the Christians and rousing the suspicions of the magistrates
who were specially jealous of religious innovations (Acts xvii. 5-8).
Their faith made them patient and uncomplaining under the pressure of
affliction; they believed the Gospel was still the power of God unto
salvation, though their profession of it brought on them sorrow and
suffering. The former warnings and teachings of the apostle were not
in vain; their faith triumphed over persecution. Suffering is the
opportunity for patience and the test of faith. Troubles come not
alone, but are like chain-shot, or like the billows of the sea,
linked one to another, each succeeding blow being more destructive
than the other. Patience without faith is simply dull, stupid,
stoical endurance. It is faith that renders the soul invincible and
triumphant.
+IV. There is ample ground for apostolic gratitude and
commendation.+--"We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
as it is meet; . . . so that we ourselves glory in you in the
Churches of God" (vers. 3, 4). Even the enemies of the Church are
sometimes constrained to admire and applaud the spirit of harmony,
the affection and enterprise which characterise its members. It is
also encouraging to have the approbation and good word of the
ministers of God, especially of those who have been instrumental in
converting men to the truth; but no Church could command the respect
of the good if it did not first secure the smile and blessing of God.
The apostle thanks God as the great Giver of all the grace which he
rejoices to see has done so much for the Thessalonians. God had
wrought this work of faith and love and patience in their hearts, and
He would make it prosper and increase. He had put this fire in them
and would make it burn; He had laid this leaven in the dough or meal
of their hearts, and He would make it heave and work till the whole
was leavened. The apostle felt it at once his duty and joy to thank
God on their behalf and to boast of their attainments to others. "We
are bound to thank God always for you, as it is meet; . . . we
ourselves glory in you in the Churches of God." It is a noble
Christ-like spirit to sympathise with the sufferings and rejoice in
the prosperities of the Church. A cheery word, a simple, hearty
prayer, an act of sympathy and kindness, will do much to animate and
encourage the struggling people of God. One lively Church is the
means of rousing the zeal and emulation of others.
+Lessons.+--1. _Vigorous Church-life is the result of an intelligent
and active faith in the truth._ 2. _Suffering is no sign of the
Divine displeasure, but often a means of spiritual prosperity._
3. _Those who rejoice in the success of the Church are most likely to
share in the blessings of that success._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 3. _Growth in Grace._
+I. Evidences of growth.+--1. _Taking increasing pleasure in God's
Word._ 2. _A growing attachment to the doctrines of Christ._
3. _Increasing acquaintance with the mind of God._ 4. _In love one to
another for the truth's sake._
+II. Importance of growth.+--1. _Brings glory to God._ 2. _Influences
the ministry of the Word._ 3. _Not to grow, our religion declines and
becomes doubtful.--Sketches._
Ver. 4. _Christian Fidelity_--
+I. Is severely tested by tribulations.+
+II. Is a stimulating example to others.+
+III. Is a theme of grateful boasting.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-7.
_The Recompense of Suffering for the Truth._
It is not an uncommon spectacle to see vice prosperous and
triumphant, while virtue is ignored and oppressed. To a superficial
observer it would seem that all the great prizes of the
world--wealth, power, social status, gaiety, display, pleasure--were
thrown indiscriminately and with lavish abundance into the lap of the
wicked, and that the God-fearing few are left in obscurity to
struggle with hardships, penury, and affliction. Nor is it always an
easy matter to reconcile the sufferings of the good with the goodness
and justice of God. But all things come round to the patient man. We
must look to the future for the faithful redress of present
grievances. In this chapter the apostle ministers consolation to the
suffering Thessalonians by assuring them of a coming day in which
they would be abundantly recompensed for all they had to endure, and
in which the righteousness of God would be publicly vindicated.
Observe:--
+I. That the maintenance of the truth often entails considerable
suffering.+--"The kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer" (ver. 5).
They who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. The
world is violently opposed to the Church, and that opposition is full
of malignant hatred and cruelty. Socrates once said something like
this--that if goodness were to become incarnate in one man, so that
man would be perfectly good, the world would put him to death. What
Socrates said was realised in Christ. "If they have persecuted Me,"
said Christ to his followers, "they will also persecute you" (John
xv. 20). It is not the least among the trials of the good that they
are obliged to come in contact with evil in so many forms, and that
they are so savagely assailed and oppressed with it. Athanasius
regarded the suffering of persecution to be a special note of a
Christian man, observing: "It is the part of Christians to be
persecuted; but to persecute the Christians is the very office of
Pilate and Caiaphas."
+II. That suffering for the truth has a morally educating
influence.+--"That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God"
(ver. 5). The believer has no worthiness in himself, nor can he
acquire any by the merit of his own works. This worthiness is but
another word for meetness--that meetness of state and character, as
sinners justified and sanctified, without which no man shall enter
the kingdom. Only to such has the kingdom been promised. And the
sufferings they endure on behalf of the kingdom, so far from
impairing their title, serve rather to confirm and illustrate it.
Every Christian grace is tested, developed, and trained by suffering.
"The least reproach augments our glory. Every tear is not only noted
and kept in the bottle but made as varnish to add to our brightness
and glorious splendour. No drop of our blood but wins us a river of
glory; effusion of it the whole ocean of beatitude." When Ignatius,
Bishop of Antioch, was cast to the lions, he exclaimed: "I am God's
wheat, and must be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts that I may
be found His pure bread."
+III. That suffering for the truth will be Divinely
recompensed.+--"Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment
of God" (ver. 5)--_i.e._ their sufferings and the constancy with
which they endured them proved God's justice. A strange assertion!
The people of God have often been staggered by the fact that the
wicked persecute and prosper, and the poor saints are plagued and
oppressed (Ps. lxxiii. 1-14; Jer. xii. 1-4). But from this very fact
the apostle derives consolation. It is a proof to him of a future
state in which all this apparent inconsistency will be set right, in
which the saint and the persecutor will each receive his own proper
recompense.
1. _Suffering will be Divinely recompensed in the deliverance of the
sufferer._--"And to you who are troubled rest with us" (ver. 7). The
word "rest" really means _the slackening of strings that had been
pulled tight._ To the persecuted and afflicted Thessalonians, the
happiness of heaven is held out under the image of rest and relief
after suffering. It is, as it were, the relaxing of tension after
having been stretched on the rack. The keenest suffering for the
truth is limited in its duration; and the righteousness of God is
pledged to sustain and deliver His afflicted ones. The sweet rest of
heaven will be all the more enjoyable because shared with those who
have passed through a similar conflict.
2. _Suffering will be Divinely recompensed in the punishment of the
persecutor._--"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you" (ver. 6). The punishment of the
persecutor is as just as the relief of the oppressed; and God has
both the intention and the power of accomplishing what He thinks
just. The law of retaliation will be rigidly enforced. The very
measure the persecutors have dealt they are to receive back again;
and the retaliation will be all the more terrible because of its
unanswerable justice. Truth must triumph over all its enemies. Its
watchword is "no surrender." The apostate Julian spent his strength
in trying to destroy the true Church; but when he fell on the
battle-field, as the blood was gushing from his breast and his eyes
were closing in death, he hissed between his setting teeth,
"Galilean, Thou hast conquered!" And the Galilean must and will
conquer, and all His enemies shall receive their just measure of
punishment.
+Lessons.+--1. _The sufferings of the good afford an opportunity for
the display of Divine justice._ 2. _Suffering is no evidence of
Divine displeasure._ 3. _The glory of the future will infinitely
outweigh the sufferings of the present life._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 6, 7. _Rest in Heaven for the Troubled._
+I. Our Lord's coming is called a revealing of Him.+--Here He is
revealed in the outer world and in the Gospel. There he will be
revealed in glory, without disguise or veil.
+II. Look at the troublers and their portion.+--"It is a righteous
thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you."
Sorrow of the acutest kind without comfort or alleviation.
+III. Look at the portion of the troubled.+--"Rest." A heaven of
quietness and repose, and yet of ceaseless and tireless activity in
praising God.
+IV. The righteousness of the Divine conduct.+--"It is a righteous
thing with God." The Lord's second coming is not on an errand of
mercy; His main business is to dispense justice.--_C. Bradley._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-10.
_The Day of Judgment._
The apostle sought to comfort the persecuted and suffering Church at
Thessalonica by assuring them of a coming day of recompense, in which
the Divine righteousness would be satisfactorily cleared, His enemies
punished, and His people rewarded. He now proceeds to depict the
startling scenes of that promised day--"that day for which all other
days were made"--and to indicate the twofold aspect of severity and
mercy which will characterise the awards of the great Judge. In
dealing with a subject of such overwhelming import, and which affords
such scope for the play of the most powerful imagination, special
care should be taken to keep within the limits of the revealed Word.
These verses suggest:--
+I. That the day of judgment will be ushered in with awful
splendour.+--1. _The person of the Judge will be clothed with
dazzling brightness._ "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
in flaming fire" (vers. 7, 8). The career of Christ on earth was one
of obscurity, humiliation, and suffering, relieved now and then with
outbursts of Divine glory; but when He comes the second time, He will
appear in all the unveiled charms of His peerless majesty, clad with
heavenly splendour and brilliant as a fiery flame. The revelation of
Jehovah is often referred to in the Old Testament under the emblem of
fire (Exod. xiii. 21; Num. ix. 15; Deut. iv. 24; Isa. x. 16, 17,
etc.). The glimpse caught by the seer of Patmos of the ineffable
beauty and glory of the God-man bowed him with astonishment and awe
(Rev. i. 13-17). And who shall stand before the flashing splendours
of the great and holy Judge! Heaven is too narrow for the full
display of the Divine majesty; it glances on every globe; it
irradiates the universe.
2. _The Judge will be attended by an angelic retinue._--"With His
mighty angels" (ver. 7). The pomp and state of the earthly judge, the
gaily decked chariot, the sounding trumpets, the accompanying
officers of justice, are but a feeble representation of the pomp and
state of the heavenly Judge, "who maketh the clouds His chariot, who
walketh upon the wings of the wind" (Ps. civ. 3), and whose gorgeous
train is composed of hosts of mighty angels, who attend to execute
His will, to punish the wicked, and to assist at the final
consummation (Matt. xiii. 41, 42). These angels of might are
ministers of His power, and by their agency He will make His power
felt. We have an illustration of the colossal mightiness of these
angelic messengers in the apparent ease with which one angel in a few
hours laid thousands of the Assyrians low (2 Kings xix. 35).
+II. That the day of judgment will be a time of punishment to the
disobedient.+--1. _The objects of punishment._ "Them that know not
God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 8).
Not that ample opportunity has not been given to all to acquire a
knowledge of God. To punish for not knowing what we cannot know would
be an injustice and a cruelty. God has given to all the double light
of His works and Word. He has also given the eyes of sense and
reason, and the help of His Holy Spirit to guide all to the knowledge
of Himself and of "the glorious gospel of the blessed God" (1 Tim.
i. 11). It is not the involuntary ignorance of the uninstructed that
is meant, but the wilful ignorance of the determined adversary, who
not only rejected the Gospel himself, but barbarously persecuted
those who received and obeyed it. Knowledge of God is of little value
if it does not lead to obedience. Confused, indistinct, inoperative
knowledge is no knowledge. To know and not to obey the Gospel
involves a heavier condemnation.
2. _The character of the punishment._--"Who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the
glory of His power" (ver. 9). Awful words! Who can fully explain what
they really involve? If destruction means annihilation, how can it be
everlasting? Besides, the notion of the absolute extinction of
anything God has made--the reduction to nothingness of either a
reasonable soul or a material atom--has as little support from the
teachings of revelation as of science. Again, it is urged that
"everlasting" does not always in Scripture mean what lasts for ever,
but sometimes what lasts only for a long period. But the utmost this
argument could prove would be that the present possibly may be, not
that it is, one of these peculiar cases. Were it the only fact in the
case, there would still be the terrible uncertainty. "But then
remember," says Dr. Lillie, "that if it had really been intended to
teach the eternity of future punishment, no stronger words, phrases,
and images could have been found for the purpose than those actually
employed." Whatever the punishment may be in itself, is it not
punishment enough to be for ever excluded "from the presence of the
Lord," driven, a moral wreck, "from the glory of His power"? Let the
words of this ninth verse be seriously weighed in private meditation,
and some sense of their awful signification cannot fail to be
realised.
+III. That the day of judgment will be a revelation of the glory and
blessedness of the faithful.+--1. _The glory of Christ is bound up
and reflected in His Church._ "When He shall come to be glorified in
His saints and to be admired in all them that believe in that day"
(ver. 10). The Church is the creation of Christ; for her He lived,
suffered, died, and triumphed, and into her He poured the glory of
His matchless character. "The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given
them" (John xvii. 22). His Church, like a mirror, shall reflect to
the gaze of an admiring universe the unutterable glory of the great
Redeemer. "The beauty of the Lord our God shall be upon her, and His
glory shall be seen upon her" (Ps. xc. 17). How great a change is
this from the sins, the struggles, the failures, the disappointments,
and sufferings of earth!
2. _A life of faith leads to a life of glory._--"Because our
testimony among you was believed" (ver. 10). Faith rests on testimony
and is vitally affected by the character of the testimony. Saving
faith relies on the infallible testimony of the Word of God
concerning Christ. The faith exercised in the midst of
discouragements and persecution is often tenacious and vigorous. The
Gospel is backed by evidence sufficient to convince every sane and
reasonable mind. All may believe it who will; none will be excluded
from glory but those who _will not_ believe. In ancient Athens were
two temples--a temple of Virtue and a temple of Honour--and none
could enter the temple of Honour but by passing through the temple of
Virtue. So, none can enter the temple of Glory who does not first
pass through the temple of Faith.
+Lessons.+--1. _The day of judgment, though future, is inevitable._
2. _The proceedings of that day will be in harmony with the holiest
principles of Divine justice._ 3. _That day should be solemnly
contemplated in its approach, in its attendant circumstances, and in
its final decisions._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 7, 8. _The Divine Judge_--
+I. Has appointed a day of retribution.+
+II. Will be revealed on that day in terrible majesty.+
+III. Will take vengeance on the disobedient.+
Vers. 9. 10. _Divine Retribution_--
+I. Will be in strict harmony with the principles of universal
righteousness.+
+II. Means terrible punishment to the wicked.+
+III. Will bring unspeakable felicity to the good.+
+IV. Will be recognised as faultlessly just.+
+V. Will enhance the Divine glory.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11, 12.
_A Prayer for Completeness of Moral Character._
To meet Christ at His coming, and to dwell with Him in the bliss of
the future, demands a moral preparedness. To promote this should be
the constant, unwearied solicitude of both pastor and people. The
possession of any measure of Divine grace supplies the strongest
motives for seeking the highest possible degree of moral excellence.
In this passage observe:--
+I. That completeness of moral character is really the attainment of
the Divine ideal.+--"That our God would count you worthy of this
calling" (ver. 11). The tyro in religion pictures to himself a more
or less definite outline of what he may become and what he may do.
The charm of novelty, the enthusiasm of first love, the
indefiniteness of the untried and the unknown, throw a romantic
glamour over the Christian career, and the mind is elated with the
prospect of entering upon grand enterprises and winning signal
victories. But mature thought and experience and a more familiar
acquaintance with the Divine mind lead us to modify many of our
earlier views, and to readjust the main features of our own ideal of
the Christian character, so as to be more in harmony with the Divine
ideal. God calls us to purity of heart and life, and makes us worthy,
and gives us power to attain it. We have no worthiness in ourselves
or in our works. The fitness for heavenly glory is acquired by
following out the God-given inspiration to "live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present world" (Tit. ii. 12).
+II. That completeness of moral character consists in the delighting
in goodness.+--"And fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness"
(ver. 11) Some are influenced to be good because they are afraid of
the penalties attached to a life of sin. Others because of the
substantial rewards and benefits found in a life of probity and
uprightness. But the highest type is to love goodness for its own
sake, and to delight in it as goodness; to be wholly possessed with a
life-absorbing passion to find and to diffuse goodness everywhere.
This approaches nearest to the Divine ideal. "He hath pleasure in
uprightness, and hath no pleasure in wickedness" (1 Chron. xxix. 17;
Ps. v. 4). There is no pleasure like that we find in true goodness.
Severus, emperor of Rome, confessed on his deathbed, "I have been
everything, and now find that everything is nothing." Then, directing
that the urn should be brought to him, he said, "Little urn, thou
shalt contain one for whom the world was too little."
+III. That completeness of moral character is attained by the
exercise of a Divinely inspired faith.+--"And the work of faith with
power" (ver. 11). We have no innate righteousness. It is God-given.
It is received, maintained, and extended in the soul by faith in the
merits of the all-righteous Saviour. "While faith itself is the gift
of God, it is no less an exercise of the mind and heart of man. And
because, like everything else about man, it partakes of his great
weakness, it needs ever, as it walks in the light of the Divine Word,
to stay itself on the Divine hand." Faith is the mighty instrument by
which the Divine life is propagated in the soul, and by which the
loftiest blessings are secured.
+IV. That completeness of moral character promotes the Divine
glory.+--"That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in
you, and ye in Him" (ver. 12). It will be seen at the last that
Christ has been more abundantly glorified by a humble, holy life than
by wealthy benefactions or by gigantic enterprises. The name now so
much despised, and for which those who now bear it suffer so much,
shall be magnified and exalted "above every name" (Phil. ii. 9). The
followers of Christ shall share in the glory of their Lord. Their
excellencies redound to His glory; and His glory is reflected on them
in such a way that there is a mutual glorification. "What a glory it
will be to them before all creatures that He who sits upon the throne
once shared their sorrows and died for them! What a glory that He
still wears their nature and is not ashamed to call them brethren!
What a glory to be for ever clothed with His righteousness! What a
glory to reign with Him and be glorified together!" (_Lillie_).
+V. That completeness of moral character is rendered possible by the
provisions of Divine grace.+--"According to the grace of our God and
the Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 12). The source or all human goodness,
in all its varying degrees, is in the Divine favour. It is worthy of
note that Christ is here recognised as on an equality with the
Father, and as being with Him the fontal source of grace. The glory
which it is possible for sanctified humanity to reach is "according
to grace." The grace is "exceeding abundant" (1 Tim. i. 14); so is
the glory. There is a fathomless mine of moral wealth provided for
every earnest seeker after God.
+VI. That completeness of moral character should be the subject of
constant prayer.+--"Wherefore also we pray always for you" (ver. 11).
The Thessalonians where favoured in having the prayers of the
apostles. It is a beautiful example of the unselfishness of the
Christian spirit when we are so concerned for others as to pray for
them. We value that about which we pray the most. We have need of
prayer to help us to attend faithfully to the little things which
make up the daily duties of the Christian life. Attention to trifles
is the way to completeness of moral character. The great Italian
sculptor, Michelangelo, was once visited by an acquaintance, who
remarked, on entering his studio, "Why, you have done nothing to that
figure since I was here last?" "Yes," was the reply, "I have softened
this expression, touched off that projection, and made other
improvements." "Oh!" said the visitor, "these are mere trifles."
"True," answered the sculptor, "but remember that trifles make
perfection, and perfection is no trifle."
+Lessons.+--1. _It is important to have a lofty ideal of Christian
perfection constantly in view._ 2. _While humbled by failures we are
not to be disheartened._ 3. _Earnest, persevering prayer wins great
moral victories._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 11, 12. _Genuine Religion illustrated._
+I. Religion in its nature.+--It is a worthiness into which we are
called and with which we are invested.
+II. Religion in its source.+--The goodness of God. 1. _All present
religious views and feelings are the effect of Divine grace._ 2. _Man
has no rightful claim to Divine grace._ 3. _Religion has its true
source in the good pleasure of God._
+III. Religion in its principle.+--Faith. "The work of faith with
power." The producing and sustaining principle of religion.
+IV. Religion in its end.+--1. _The glory of the Redeemer._ "That the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you." 2. _The glory
of the redeemed._ "And ye in Him."
+V. Religion in its measure or rule of dispensation.+--"According to
the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."--_Zeta._
Ver. 12. _Christ glorified in His People._--The bust of Luther was
shut out from the Walhalla, or German Westminster Abbey. The people
were indignant, but said, "Why need we a bust when he lives in our
hearts?" And thus the Christian ever feels when he beholds many
around him multiplying pictures and statues of Christ, and he can
say, "I need them not, for He is ever with me; He lives perpetually
in my heart."
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER II.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Beseech . . . by the coming of our Lord.+--The English
reader who consults the similar phrase "to beseech by" in Rom. xii. 1
will be wholly astray. St. Paul begs his readers not to be thrown
into consternation or kept in a flutter of excitement over that
matter of the _Parousia,_ or "coming."
Ver. 2. +Not soon shaken.+--Like a house built on sand when the storm
breaks to fury, or like the _mobile vulgus_ in Thessalonica who were
only too willing to follow the lead of Jewish agitators (Acts
xvii. 13). +In mind.+--R.V. "from your mind." "Out of your wits"
expresses the apostle's meaning exactly. They are to behave like men
in whom reason is supreme--not like men in a panic. +Or be
troubled.+--The same word was used in reporting our Lord's counsels
on the same subject. "Be not troubled: . . . the end is not yet"
(Matt. xxiv. 6). +By epistle as from us.+--Either by
misinterpretation of something St. Paul had written, or by a forged
letter purporting to have come from him.
Ver. 3. +Let no man deceive.+--R.V. "beguile or cheat you." +A
falling away.+--Lit. "_the_ apostasy," a desertion from the army of
God; a recantation of faith in Christ. Our Master foretold that when
"iniquity shall abound the love of many shall be blown cool" (Matt.
xxiv. 12). +That man of sin.+--Another reading is "lawlessness." The
man in whom sin gathers itself up into a head--the last product of
sin. +The son of perdition+--_par excellence,_ sharing the title with
him whom Christ so named (John xvii. 12). Abaddon (Rev. ix. 11) may
claim him as his own ultimately.
Ver. 4. +Who opposeth and exalteth himself.+--The participle rendered
"who opposeth" is used twice by St. Luke in the plural as
"adversaries." So in the singular (1 Tim. v. 14). The compound word
for "exalteth himself" occurs (2 Cor. xii. 7), and is given as
"exalted-above-measure." +Above all that is called God.+--The shudder
of horror in these words reminds us how a monotheistic Jew must
regard the impious act. We can understand that a Roman emperor would
regard the God of Jew or Christian as a tutelary deity; but the acme
of profanity is reached in this act of Antichrist. +Or that is
worshipped.+--R.V. margin, "Gr. an object of worship." "The very name
_Sebastos,_ the Greek rendering of the imperial title _Augustus,_ to
which _Dieus_ was added at death (signifying 'the one to be
worshipped'), was an offence to the religious mind. . . . Later,
Cæsar or Christ was the martyr's alternative" (_Findlay_). +Showing
Himself that He is God.+--Or, as we would say, "representing Himself
to be God." Compare Herod's acceptance of the worship (Acts xii. 22).
Ver. 6. +What withholdeth.+--R.V. "that which restraineth." "A hint
was sufficient, _verbum sapientibus:_ more than a hint would have
been dangerous" (_Ibid._).
Ver. 7. +He who now letteth.+--R.V. "there is one that restraineth."
The old word for "obstruct" is found in Isa. xliii. 13: "I will work,
and who shall let (_i.e._ hinder) it?" "Where then are we to
look . . . for the check and bridle of lawlessness? Where but to law
itself? The fabric of civil law and the authority of the magistrate
formed a bulwark and breakwater against the excesses both of
autocratic tyranny and of popular violence" (_Ibid._).
Ver. 8. +And then shall that Wicked be revealed.+--R.V. "and then
shall be revealed the lawless one." Outward restraint being
withdrawn, there is no inward principle to keep him back: he is
"lawless." +And shall destroy.+--R.V. "bring to nought." It is the
same word as that which describes the effect of the revelation of the
Gospel on "death" in 2 Tim. i. 10--to render absolutely powerless.
+With the brightness of His coming.+--R.V. "by the manifestation of
His coming." Lit. "by the epiphany of His presence."
Ver. 9. +Even Him, whose coming, etc.+--These words look back to the
beginning of ver. 8. "The two comings--the _parousia_ of the Lord
Jesus and that of the Man of Lawlessness--are set in contrast. The
second forms the dark background to the glory of the first"
(_Ibid._). +Power and signs and lying wonders.+--Simulating the
supernatural evidences of the Gospel as the magicians of Egypt those
of Moses.
Ver. 10. +Deceivableness of unrighteousness.+--R.V. "deceit." The
deceit which is characteristic of unrighteousness, or marks its
methods. +They received not the love of the truth.+--The _sine qua
non_ for an answer to Pilate's question (John xviii. 38) is this love
of the truth.
Ver. 11. +God shall send them strong delusion.+--R.V. "God sendeth
them a working of error." "It is a just, but mournful result, that
rejecters of Christ's miracles become believers in Satan's, and that
atheism should be avenged by superstition. So it has been and will
be" (_Ibid._). One is reminded of the old saying that "the gods first
drive mad those whom they mean to destroy."
Ver. 12. +Believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.+--Here again we have the mental rejection of truth
consequent on a liking for that which truth condemns. If "the heart
makes the theologian," the want of it makes the infidel.
Ver. 13. +We are bound to give thanks.+--The same form of expression
as in ch. i. 3, save that here "we" is expressed separately and
emphatically.
Ver. 15. +Stand fast.+--Ready for any shock which may come
unexpectedly through the insidious methods of Antichrist. +Hold the
traditions.+--As of the apostle said, keep a _strong_ hand on them.
Tradition is that which is handed over from one to another. Compare
1 Cor. xi. 23. "I received of the Lord . . . I delivered unto
you . . . He was betrayed." Here the words "delivered" and "betrayed"
represent a doing, of which the word for "tradition" is the act
completed. Paul handed over that which his Lord charged him to
transmit; Judas handed over Christ to the Jews.
Ver. 16. +Everlasting consolation and good hope.+--Consolation, or
comfort, is ministered by the Paraclete (John xiv. 16; Acts ix. 31),
who abides for ever with those who are Christ's.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-12.
_Antichrist Portrayed._
Various interpretations of this remarkable paragraph have been
attempted. Some modern German critics would divest it of any
prophetic significance and treat it as a representation of the
writer's own personal feelings and forebodings. Others would restrict
its application to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and to
persons, principles, and events that preceded that catastrophe. The
commonly received Protestant interpretation is to identify the Man of
Sin and his doings with the Papacy; and there are certainly many
points of that interpretation that accord very remarkably with the
prophecy. But there are serious objections to all these views. We
believe the revelation of the Antichrist here depicted is yet future,
though the elements of his power are now in preparation. From the
whole passage we gather the following suggestions:--
+I. That Antichrist will be embodied in some living personality.+--He
is called "that man of sin, the son of perdition": "that
Wicked"--_the lawless one_ (vers. 3-8). The fathers of the early
Church, for at least three centuries after the apostolic age, while
differing on some minor details, seemed unanimous in understanding by
the Man of Sin, not a system of deceit and wickedness, or a
succession of individuals at the head of such a system, but some one
man, the living personal Antichrist, the incarnation of Satanic craft
and energy, who should put forth his power to weaken and destroy the
Church.
1. _He will arrogantly assume Divine prerogatives._--"Who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God" (ver. 4). In these words we note Antichrist's
intrusion into the special dwelling-place of God, his usurping
session there, and his blasphemous and ostentatious assumption of
Divinity. The wildest excesses of pride and audacity cannot exceed
this.
2. _His advent will be accompanied with remarkable displays of
Satanic power._--"Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders" (ver. 9). Antichrist as the
masterpiece of Satan will be endowed with extraordinary qualities.
The devil will tax his prodigious abilities to the utmost in making
this great adversary of the Church as potent for mischief as
possible. We know how readily the man of science can impose upon the
ignorant with his experiments. And how easy it is for Satan, with his
vast knowledge and resources, to delude thousands with his
simulations of the miraculous! The advent of Antichrist is to be a
fiendish caricature and audacious mockery of the glorious coming of
the Son of God!
+II. That Antichrist will work deplorable mischief in human
souls.+--1. _He seeks by secret methods to promote apostasy from the
Church of God._ "A falling away first" (ver. 3). "The mystery of
iniquity doth already work" (ver. 7). Here we detect the germs and
preparation of the antichristian curse that is to work such havoc.
The primitive Church of apostolic times was not such a model of
perfection as we sometimes imagine. The leaven of iniquity, of
_lawlessness,_ the essence of all sin, was already working. Observe
the sorrowing references of the apostles to the many evils of the
different Churches: Tit. i. 11; 1 Tim. vi. 5; 2 Cor. xi. 26; Philem.
9; 2 Tim. i. 15; 1 John ii. 18-20; 2 John 7; 3 John 9. _Passim._ The
most disastrous apostasies have been the result of long, secret
endeavours.
2. _He begets a dislike to saving truth._--"With all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the
love of the truth that they might be save" (ver. 10). The truth was
revealed, its saving benefits were offered; they had but to accept
the truth and they were safe. But they rejected the truth; they loved
it not. Their treatment of the Gospel rendered them more easy victims
to the deceptions of Antichrist; fascinated by his unrighteous
glamour, they recede from the truth and cherish a bitter hostility
towards it.
3. _His victims are abandoned to self-delusion and
condemnation._--"And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie; that they all might be
damned"--might be _judged_ according to their individual character
and works--"who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness" (vers. 11, 12). See here the fearful consequences of
a hatred to and rejection of the truth! The soul takes delight in
sinning--has "pleasure in unrighteousness." It is, then, not only
abandoned to its iniquity, but its delusions are intensified so as to
embrace the most palpable falsehoods as truth. It shall then be
judged on its own merits, so that God shall be justified in His
speaking and clear in His judging. Terrible indeed is the fate of the
victims who fall under the spell of Antichrist.
+III. That the coming of Antichrist is for a time restrained.+--"And
now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his
time. . . . Only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out
of the way" (vers. 6, 7). There is an external power with an
individual at its head which holds back the power of Antichrist until
the proper season comes. What that power is is not revealed; but God
can use any power for this purpose, until the Divinely appointed time
shall come for the revelation and overthrow of Antichrist.
+IV. That Antichrist shall be summarily destroyed.+--"Whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit of His mouth"--as insects wither on the
mere approach of fire--"and shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming" (ver. 8)--with the _appearing_ of His coming, as it were the
first gleaming dawn of His advent. For a time Antichrist shall reign
in pomp and splendour and delude many to their ruin; but at the
coming of the true Lord of the Church the great impostor shall be
dethroned and utterly abolished. "It is enough," says Chrysostom,
"that He be present, and all these things perish. He will stay the
deception simply by appearing."
+V. That the followers of Christ need not be afraid of losing any
benefits to be conferred by His second coming.+--"Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or
be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from
us, as that the day of Christ is at hand" (vers. 1, 2)--_on hand, has
already come._ When Paul wrote the first epistle, the Thessalonians
"were sorrowing by the graves of their departed friends, and the
grief of nature was enhanced by the apprehension that their beloved
ones might suffer loss at the coming of the Lord. But now, should
they hear that He had come and had not called for them, a yet deeper,
more agitating motion must seize them, lest they themselves had
forfeited their share in the glory of the kingdom." These words would
allay their fears. Christ has yet to come, and before that coming
Antichrist is to arise and reign. Wait patiently, labour diligently,
and be not harassed with too great an eagerness to know future
events. All the blessings of Christ's second coming shall be shared
by you and by all who are to be gathered together unto Him.
+Lessons.+--1. _There are trying times ahead._ 2. _The only safety
for the soul is to hold fast the truth._ 3. _At the darkest moment of
the Church's trial the glory of God will appear._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 1-6. _A Warning against Imposition._
+I. The danger.+--1. _Their faith was imperilled._ 2. _Daily duties
were interfered with._
+II. Signs of the coming end.+--1. _By a great apostasy._ 2. _The
appearance of Antichrist as the man of sin and son of perdition._
3. _The proud pretensions of Antichrist._ (1) Opposing Christ.
(2) Substituting error for truth. (3) Overweening self-exaltation.
+III. Hindrances to the spread of truth+ (ver. 6)--1. _The civil
powers of that day._ 2. _The machinations of Satan at all times._
3. _The unfaithfulness of God's people._
Vers. 1-3. _A False Alarm_--
+I. May arise from a misconception+ +of an important
truth.+--"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our
gathering together unto Him" (ver. 1).
+II. Is aggravated by unwarrantable deceptions.+--"Let no man deceive
you by any means" (ver. 3). "Neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by
letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is come" (ver. 2).
+III. Is the cause of much real suffering.+--"Shaken in
mind--troubled" (ver. 2)--like a ship escaped from its moorings,
tossed in a rolling sea.
+IV. Is allayed by the affectionate entreaty of competent
teachers.+--"We beseech you, brethren" (ver. 1).
Ver. 5. _Memory_--
+I. Is freighted with treasures of precious truth.+--"I told you
these things."
+II. Associates the presence and character of the teacher with the
truth taught.+--"When I was yet with you."
+III. Is often vividly reminded of the value of its
possession.+--"Remember ye not."
Vers. 7-10. _The Mystery of Iniquity_--
+I. Is the deepest and most subtle form of error.+
+II. Is propagated with great cunning and persistency.+
+III. Is embodied in a powerful and wicked personality+ (vers. 7, 8).
+IV. Is Satanic in its origin and manifestation+ (vers. 9, 10).
Vers. 10-12. _The Destructive Subtlety of Sin._
+I. It has manifold methods of deception.+--"With all deceivableness
of unrighteousness" (ver. 10).
+II. It incites the soul to a hatred of saving truth.+--"That
received not the love of the truth that they might be saved" (ver.
10).
+III. It abandons its victims to judicial self-deception.+--"God
shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie" (ver.
11).
+IV. It leads to inevitable condemnation.+--"That they all might be
damned" (ver. 12).
+V. It encourages sin for the love of sin.+--"Who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (ver. 12).
Vers. 11, 12. _Strong Delusions._
+I. Believing a lie as truth.+
+II. Sent as a judgment for not believing the truth.+
+III. Are brought on by those who have pleasure in sin.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13, 14.
_Salvation a Divine Act._
When the air is thick with antichristian theories, sincere inquirers
after truth are perplexed, the grasp of the hesitating is loosened,
and the fidelity of the strongest severely tested. Only those who
fully yield themselves up to the teaching and guidance of the Divine
spirit are safe. A clever inventor has recently constructed a
fireproof dress, which enables him to walk about unharmed in the
midst of the fiercest fire. Experimental godliness is a fireproof
dress, and the soul clothed with this is safely guarded from the
fiery darts of the wicked and will pass unscathed through the
fiercest fires of temptation. We never know what it is to be really
saved till we personally experience the sanctifying power of the
truth. These verses teach that salvation is a Divine act.
+I. Salvation is an act of the Divine will.+--1. _The Divine will is
actuated by Divine love._ "Brethren _beloved_ of the Lord, God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation" (ver. 13). When we
examine the sources of salvation, we find them not in ourselves, but
in some power outside of ourselves. We are saved, not because we are
good, or better than others, or more favourably circumstanced, but
because God has chosen us. And if we ask still further how it is that
God should lavish the grace of His salvation on sinful man, we are
reduced, in the final analysis, to this answer: Such is the Divine
will--a will swayed in all its mighty potentialities by infinite love.
"Love, strong as death; nay, stronger--
Love mightier than the grave;
Broad as the earth, and longer
Than ocean's widest wave.
This is the love that sought us,
This is the love that bought us,
This is the love that brought us,
To gladdest day from saddest night,
From deepest shame to glory bright,
From depths of death to life's fair height,
From darkness to the joy of light."--_Bonar._
2. _The Divine will provides the means of salvation._--"Whereunto He
called you by our gospel" (ver. 14). The Gospel is God's method of
salvation, and it is through this Gospel He "will have all men to be
saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. iii. 4).
If the Gospel were but a human expedient, it would fail; but, as it
was originated and devised in the Divine mind, so it is backed and
made forceful by the operation of the Divine will.
+II. Salvation as a Divine act is in harmony with individual
freedom.+--1. _Salvation implies personal holiness._ "Through
sanctification of the Spirit" (ver. 13). The Spirit sanctifies the
individual soul, and the soul, in the exercise of its voluntary
power, co-operated with the Spirit. The soul feels the need of being
sanctified, is willing to be sanctified, earnestly desires to be
sanctified, and gives free, unrestricted scope to the Spirit in His
sanctifying work.
2. _Salvation implies personal faith._--"And belief of the truth"
(ver. 13). This clause brings out distinctly that the sanctification
of the Spirit is not wrought on a passive and unresponsive agent.
Faith is the gift of God, but it is an act of man. It is a
self-giving; the surrender of his own freedom to secure the larger
freedom that salvation confers on the soul that trusts. Without God's
gift there would be no faith, and without man's exercise of that gift
there is no salvation. It is not faith that saves, but the Christ
received by faith. Erskine puts it thus: "As it is not the laying on
the plaster that heals the sore, but the plaster itself that is laid
on, so it is not the faith, or receiving of Christ, but Christ
received by faith that saves us. It is not our looking to the brazen
serpent mystical, but the mystical brazen serpent looked unto by
faith--Christ received by faith--that saves us."
+III. Salvation as a Divine act aims at securing for the soul the
highest blessedness.+--"To the obtaining of the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ" (ver. 14). The saved soul aspires after glory, but it
is glory of the loftiest type. It is not the changeful glory of
worldly magnificence. It is not the glory of Paul, or of the greatest
human genius. It is "the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." When the
soul catches a glimpse of the splendour of this Divine blessedness,
it can be satisfied with no lower aims. "Paint and canvas," said
Guthrie, "cannot give the hues of a rainbow or of the beams of the
sun. No more can words describe the Saviour's glory. Nay, what is the
most glowing and ecstatic view that the highest faith of a soul,
hovering on the borders of another world, ever obtained of Christ,
compared with the reality? It is like the sun changed by a frosty
fogbank into a dull, red copper ball--shorn of the splendour that no
mortal eyes can look upon." As it is Christ's glory that we seek, so
it is Christ's glory we shall share.
+IV. Salvation as a Divine act affords matter for unceasing
gratitude.+--"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you"
(ver. 13). The mercy of God in our salvation is ever providing
fruitful themes for gratitude on earth: the glory of Christ as
revealed in heaven will be the song of everlasting thankfulness and
praise. Every added trophy of saving power augments the gratitude and
joy of the faithful.
+Lessons.+--1. _The rejection of the truth is the rejection of
salvation._ 2. _Salvation brings the highest good to man and the
greatest glory to God._ 3. _Salvation will be the exhaustless theme
of the heavenly song._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 13. _The Holy Ghost the Sanctifier._
+I. Connect the Divine purpose and agency that the nature and effect
of the latter may be more apparent.+--To collect a people out of the
wreck of human life has been God's purpose from the first. To
sanctify them is to separate them to God in fact and in effect. The
Holy Ghost is given by Christ to sever the once dead in sins from the
dead around them.
+II. The scope of this agency.+--God's work is perfect. It has its
stages; but the Holy Ghost conducts it from first to last.
Sanctification is progressive. The end of sanctification is salvation.
+III. The ordinary means through which the Holy Ghost
operates.+--Through belief of the truth, the Gospel. The Spirit
sanctifies through the truth.--_H. T. Lumsden._
Ver. 14. _The Glory of Sainthood_--
+I. Is the object of the Gospel to promote.+--"Whereunto He hath
called you by our gospel."
+II. Is a conscious personal possession.+--"To the obtaining of the
glory."
+III. Is a sharing of the glory of Christ.+--"Of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ."
_What Saints should be._--In the cathedral of St. Mark, Venice, a
marvellous building lustrous with an Oriental splendour beyond
description, there are pillars said to have been brought from
Solomon's temple; these are of alabaster, a substance firm and
endurable as granite, and yet transparent, so that the light glows
through them. Behold an emblem of what all true pillars of the Church
should be--firm in their faith and transparent in their character;
men of simple mould, ignorant of tortuous and deceptive ways, and yet
men of strong will, not readily to be led aside or bent from their
uprightness.--_Spurgeon._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.
_Christian Steadfastness._
In all ages the people of God have been assailed with the weapons of
a subtle and plausible philosophy which has sought to supplant the
simple truth of the Gospel with human opinions. The evil heart of man
chafes under the righteous restrictions of the truth, and in its
angry and delirious opposition has sought to rid itself of God and of
all the laws that bind it to a life of obedience and holiness. And
when it fancies it has succeeded in demolishing the truths it hated
and against which it rebelled, it is aghast at the desolation it has
wrought and recoils in alarm from the dark, horrible gulf to the
brink of which it has forced itself. Stricken with bewilderment and
despair, man strives to construct a religion for himself, and he
seeks to substitute his own wild ravings for the truths of Divine
revelation. It is the attempt of a bold, impious infidelity to put
error in the place of truth, philosophy in the place of religion,
human opinion in the place of God. The exhortation of this verse is
always timely.
+I. Christian steadfastness is an important and ever-present
duty.+--1. _It is_ _necessary to growth and maturity in personal
piety._ Trees must grow or die. So it is with piety; it must grow or
perish. No plant or tree can thrive that is being perpetually plucked
up and transplanted; nor can the soul prosper unless it is
steadfastly rooted in the soil of truth. Darwin describes a marine
plant--the _Macrocystis pyrifera_--that rises two hundred feet from
the depths of the Western Ocean and floats for many fathoms on the
surface, uninjured among the waves and breakers, which no masses of
rock, however hard, can long withstand. It maintains its strength by
clinging tenaciously to the rocks far down below the surface of the
sea. So personal piety grows and flourishes by maintaining a firm
hold of the Rock of Ages.
2. _It is necessary in bearing witness for Christ._--The value of a
lighthouse or a landmark to the mariner is, that he can rely on
always finding it in the same place. And the value of a Christian
testimony is that it is not erratic and changeful, but stable and
reliable: it hesitates not to witness for Christ in any place. Fifty
years ago at a dinner-party in the west end of London, the
conversation was dishonouring to Christ. One guest was silent, and
presently asked that the bell might be rung. On the appearance of the
servant he ordered his carriage, and with polished courtesy
apologised to his host for his enforced departure, saying, _for I am
still a Christian._ This gentleman was the late Sir Robert Peel.
3. _It is a stimulating example to the weak and faltering._--There
are timid, feeble followers of Christ who, until they become well
grounded, lean on others; and if their exemplars vacillate and
change, so do they. Few have the courage to break away from a
pernicious example. When travelling on the Continent, Dr. Duff made
the acquaintance of Cardinal Wiseman, and for some time travelled
with him; but when at Antwerp he saw the cardinal prostrate himself
before the Virgin, he courteously but firmly bade him "good-bye."
+II. Christian steadfastness is shown in an unflinching maintenance
of apostolic doctrine.+--"Hold the traditions which ye have been
taught, whether by word, or our epistle." These traditions were the
doctrines preached by the apostles. For some years after the
ascension of Christ, there was no written Gospel or epistle. The
truth was taught orally by those who were living witnesses of the
facts on which the doctrines--or traditions--were based.
1. _Apostolic doctrine must be clearly apprehended._--It must
therefore be diligently studied, and the truth sifted from the mass
of errors with which false teachers surround it. What is not
intelligently comprehended cannot be firmly held.
2. _Apostolic doctrine must be earnestly embraced._--Not simply
discussed, not simply admired and praised, but prayerfully and
cordially accepted--taken in as spiritual food, and systematically
fed upon to give strength and stamina to the soul.
3. _Apostolic doctrine must be firmly held and stoutly defended
against all errors._--"Hold the traditions." Believe them when
tempted to disbelieve; defend them when assailed by the enemy. A
brave Athenian, who wrought deeds of valour in the battle of
Marathon, seized with his right hand a stranded galley filled with
Persians. When his right hand was cut off, he seized the boat with
his left, and when that was smitten, he held on with his teeth till
he died. The grasp of truth by a Christian believer should not be
less tenacious than the dogged heroism of a heathen warrior.
+III. Christian steadfastness is emphatically enforced.+--"Therefore,
brethren, stand fast." Though misunderstood and misrepresented,
though savagely opposed by the enemies of the truth, stand fast. As
the wings of the bird are strengthened by the resistance of the
atmosphere in which it floats, so your graces will be strengthened by
the opposition with which you resolutely contend. In order that your
own personal piety may be matured, that your witnessing for Christ
may be unmistakable, and that your example may be a stimulating
encouragement to others, "stand fast, and hold the traditions which
ye have been taught."
+Lessons.+--1. _The unstable are the prey of every passing
temptation._ 2. _The Word of God is the unfailing source of moral
strength._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 16, 17.
_Prayer an Expression of Ministerial Anxiety._
The apostle had warned the Thessalonians of the errors that were
becoming rife among them. Indeed, the existence of these errors, and
the grave injury they threatened to the faith of the new converts,
prompted him to write these epistles--the first in a series of
magnificent apostolic polemics. The apostle knew that if the
simplicity of the Gospel was vitiated at the beginning of its
world-wide mission, unspeakable disaster would ensue, as the
checkered history of the Church in the early centuries unhappily
proved. Hence his anxiety, not only to clearly state, but with all
his resources of logic and persuasion, resolutely to defend the
cardinal principles of the Gospel. He not only argues but prays.
These verses teach that _prayer is the expression of ministerial
anxiety._
+I. It recognises the need of spiritual consolation.+--"Now our
Lord . . . comfort your hearts" (vers. 16, 17). You have sorrowed
over the loss of friends and harassed yourselves as to their
condition in another world. I have pointed out to you that your fears
were groundless (1 Thess. iv. 13-18). Now, I commend you God as the
Source and Giver of all consolation and pray that He may specially
comfort you. "It is God's presence," says Burroughs, "that
constitutes the saint's morning. As the stars may impart some light,
and yet the brightness of all combined cannot form the light of day,
but when the sun appears there is day forthwith, so God may make some
comfort arise to a soul from secondary and inferior means; but it is
He Himself alone who, by the shining of His face and the smiles of
His countenance, causes morning." A comfort that is made up of our
fancies is like a spider's web that is weaved out of its bowels and
is gone and swept away with the turn of a besom.
+II. It recognises the perils that beset the path of
obedience.+--"And establish you in every good word and work" (ver.
17)--or, according to the Revised Version, "every good _work and
word._" Work is better than speech, deeds more eloquent than words,
though both are necessary. The best safeguard against temptation is
to be employed. "The busy man is tempted by one devil, the idle man
by a thousand." The force of gunpowder is not known till some spark
falls on it; so the most placid natures do not reveal the evil that
is in them till they are assailed by some fierce and sudden
temptation. Excellence in anything can only be reached by hard work;
so stability in grace is attained only by being diligently engaged in
God's service. Steadfastness is not dull quiescence: it is
self-absorbing activity. If you would be strong, you must work.
+III. It recognises the Divine source of all spiritual
help.+--1. _That this help is the outcome of Divine love._ "Our Lord
Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father, which hath loved us"
(ver. 16). God helps because He loves. His love evokes the best and
noblest in us, as the master-musician brings out melodies from an
instrument that inferior players have failed to produce.
"Love is a passion
Which kindles honour into noblest acts."
"O let Thy love constrain us
To give our hearts to Thee;
Let nothing henceforth pain us
But that which paineth Thee.
"Our joy, our one endeavour,
Through suffering, conflict, shame,
To serve Thee, gracious Saviour,
And magnify Thy name."
2. _That this help meets every possible exigency of the Christian
life._--"And hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope
through grace" (ver. 16). The consolation refers to everything in the
present, the good hope to everything in the future. The consolation
is constant, _everlasting,_ as flowing from inexhaustible sources,
and is ever available in all the changes and needs of life; and the
hope turns our fears into confidence and our sorrows into joy. When
the frail barques of the Portuguese went sailing south, they found
the sea so stormy at the southern point of Africa that they named it
the Cape of Storms; but after it had been well rounded by bolder
navigators, they named it the Cape of Good Hope. So, by the Divine
help afforded us, many a rough cape of storms has been transformed
into a cape of good hope. All spiritual help is given "through
grace"--the free, unmerited favour of God--and is therefore a fitting
subject of prayer.
+Lessons.+--1. _Every minister should be emphatically a man of
prayer._ 2. _Prayer for others has a reflex benefit on the
suppliant._ 3. _An anxious spirit finds relief and comfort in prayer._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 16, 17. _St. Paul's Prayer for the Thessalonians._
+I. The objects the apostle addressed.+--1. _God, even our Father._
2. _Our Lord Jesus Christ._
+II. The gifts the apostle acknowledged.+--1. _The manifestation of
Divine love._ 2. _The communication of saving grace._ 3. _The
bestowment of Christian hope._
+III. The blessings the apostle requested.+--1. _Increasing felicity
in the Lord._ 2. _Persevering stability in the truth.--Eta._
Ver. 16. _A Good Hope through Grace._
+I. The grace of hope.+--1. _Refers to the resurrection of the body._
2. _To eternal life to be enjoyed by both soul and body._
3. _Pre-requisites of this hope._--Conviction of sin. An experimental
acquaintance with the Gospel.
+II. The excellency of this hope.+--"A good hope." 1. _In opposition
to the hopes of worldly men._ 2. _It is a lively hope._ 3. _The
object of it is an infinite and eternal good._ 4. _It has a good
foundation._ 5. _It produces good effects._
+III. The source of this hope.+--"Through grace." 1. _Man is the
subject of infinite demerit._ 2. _Christ alone possesses infinite
merit._ 3. _The Scripture warns against all self-dependence.--Helps
for the Pulpit._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Have free course and be glorified.+--Probably St. Paul took
this image from the Old Testament. In Ps. cxlvii. 15 the word of the
Lord is said to "run very swiftly."
Ver. 2. +Unreasonable and wicked men.+--The word for "unreasonable"
only occurs twice besides in the New Testament: once, the malefactor
on the cross says, "This man has done nothing amiss," or out of
place; and again the barbarians "beheld nothing amiss" come to Paul
when the viper had fashioned on his hand. The thief is a good
commentator here. Men who by their vagaries hold even their friends
in painful suspense, and especially such as are indifferent to
morality, seem to be meant.
Ver. 3. +And keep you from evil.+--"Keep" here is a military word
reminding of the psalmist's name for God--"Shield." The Revisers add
"one" after "evil," as in the Lord's Prayer.
Ver. 5. +Direct your hearts.+--The same word for "direct" again
occurs only in 1 Thess. iii. 11 and Luke i. 79. A similar phrase in
the LXX. of 1 Chron. xxix. 18 (R.V. "prepare"). +Into the patient
waiting for Christ.+--A.V. margin and R.V. text, "into the patience
of Christ." "The Thessalonians were eagerly awaiting His return: let
them wait for it in His patient spirit" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 6. +Walketh disorderly.+--Falling out of the ranks and desertion
of the post of duty are grave faults, which if the _esprit de corps_
does not prevent it must be punished by treating the defaulter as one
who has discredited his comrades in arms.
Ver. 7. +We behaved not ourselves disorderly among you.+--"We never
lived an undisciplined life among you." Men will bear the sharp
rebukes of a martinet, even when they observe that he is as much
under discipline as he would have the youngest recruit, as the lives
of men like Havelock and Gordon testify.
Ver. 10. +If any would not work, neither should he eat.+--"A stern,
but necessary and merciful rule, the neglect of which makes charity
demoralising" (_Ibid._). It is parasitism which is condemned.
Ver. 11. +Working not at all, but are busybodies.+--"Not working, but
working round people," as we might represent St. Paul's play on the
words. "Their only business is to be busybodies."
Ver. 13. +Be not weary in well-doing.+--Such bad behaviour under
cover of the Christian name is abhorrent to St. Paul. "The loveliness
of perfect deeds" must be worthily sustained. Well-doing here points
to that which is admirable in conduct rather than that which is
beneficent.
Ver. 14. +Have no company with him.+--The difference between this
treatment of a delinquent and excommunication may be more in idea
than fact. He would feel himself tabooed in either case. But this
agrees better with the notion of Christians as being separated.
_"Come out from among them."_ Cf. Tit. ii. 10. +That he may be
ashamed.+--Not, of course, that he may become a laughing-stock, but
that, feeling abashed, he may quickly put himself right with the
community.
Ver. 15. +Yet count him not as an enemy.+--When Christ says the
impenitent brother is to be regarded as a Gentile, He gives no
sanction to the way in which the Jew too often regarded the Gentile.
+Admonish him as a brother.+--Who, though in error, has not
sacrificed his claim to gentle treatment and consideration.
Ver. 16. +Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always.+--The
Church at Thessalonica had been passing through stormy waters. The
apostle prays that God may give them to--
"Feel His halcyon rest within
Calming the storms of dread and sin."
Ver. 17. +The salutation . . . the token.+--As though he said, "This
that I am about to write is my sign-manual."
Ver. 18. +The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
all.+--Whatever St. Paul's handwriting may have been, it could not
well be more characteristic than this word "grace," as certainly he
could not have chosen a more beautiful word to engrave on his seal.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1, 2.
_Prayer for Ministers._
Prayer should not be all on one side. It is a mutual obligation and
privilege. The Thessalonians are reminded how often they were the
subject of anxious prayer, and they are now asked to remember their
own ministers at the throne of grace. Mutual prayer intensifies
mutual sympathy and affection and deepens the interest of both
parties in promoting the success of the Gospel. Note:--
+I. That prayer for ministers is apostolically enjoined.+--"Brethren,
pray for us" (ver. 1). True prayer is spontaneous. It does not wait
to be formally authorised. A loving heart loves to pray.
Nevertheless, there are laggards in this duty, and they may be
prompted to the exercise by employing all the weight of apostolic
authority and example. If apostles felt the need of prayer, how much
more should we! Ministers are but men; but by the use of the word
"brethren" the writer indicates that ministers and people have common
privileges, common wants, and common dangers. The ministerial office
has also its special responsibilities and perils, and nothing helps
more vitally the efficient discharge of its duties than the constant
prayers of an appreciative and devoted people.
+II. That prayer for ministers should have special reference to the
success of the Gospel.+--1. _The Gospel is Divine._ "The word of the
Lord" (ver. 1). The Gospel is a message to man, but it is more than a
human message. It is the voice of God speaking to man through man. If
it had been simply of human origin, it would have been forgotten and
superseded by the changing theories ever teeming from the fertile
brain of man. Every human institution is liable to be supplanted by
another. There is nothing permanent in philosophy, government, or
morals that is not based on eternal truth. The Gospel is abiding,
because it rests on unchanging truth. It is the "word of the Lord."
2. _The spread of the Gospel is beset with difficulties._--"That the
word of the Lord may have free course" (ver. 1). The pioneers of the
Gospel in Thessalonica had to contend with the malignant hatred of
the unbelieving Jews, with the seductive theories of the Grecian
philosophy, and with the jealous opposition of the Roman power. All
hindrances to the Gospel have a common root in the depravity of the
human heart--hence the difficulties occasioned by the inconsistencies
of half-hearted professors, the paralysing influence of scepticism,
and the violence of external persecution. The chief difficulty is
spiritual, and the weapon to contend against it must be
spiritual--the weapon of _all-prayer._ Savonarola once said, "If
there be no enemy, no fight; if no fight, no victory; if no victory,
no crown." We are to pray that the Gospel "may have free course"--may
run, not simply creep, or loiter haltingly on the way, but speed
along as a swift-footed messenger. "Take courage from thy cause: thou
fightest for thy God, and against His enemy. Is thy enemy too potent?
fear not. Art thou besieged? faint not. Art thou routed? fly not.
Call aid, and thou shalt be strengthened; petition, and thou shalt be
relieved; pray, and thou shalt be recruited."
3. _The glory of the Gospel is to change men's hearts and ennoble
men's lives._--"And be glorified, even as it is with you" (ver. 1).
You Thessalonians, notwithstanding your imperfect views and defective
conduct, are samples of what the Gospel can do in changing the heart
and giving a lofty purpose to the life. Pray that its triumph may be
more complete in you, and that its uplifting influence may be
realised by others. "That which Plato was unable to effect," says
Pascal, "even in the case of a few select and learned persons, a
secret power, by the help only of a few words, is now wrought upon
thousands of uneducated men."
+III. That prayer for ministers should be offered that their lives
may be preserved from the violence of cruel and unbelieving
enemies.+--"And that ye may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked
men: for all men have not faith" (ver. 2). _Not all have faith,_ even
among those who profess to have it, and it is certainly true of all
those who scout and reject the Gospel. The unbelieving are perverse
and wicked, and it is from this class that the minister is met by the
most unreasonable and malicious opposition. Perhaps the most
dangerous foes with which a minister has to contend are those who
make some profession of religion, but in heart and practice deny it.
"Men will write for religion, fight for it, die for it--anything but
live for it." The minister, girded with the prayers of his people, is
screened from the plots and attacks of the wicked.
+Lessons.+--1. _The success of the Gospel is a signal demonstration
of its Divine authorship._ 2. _Ministers of the Gospel have need of
sympathy and help in their work._ 3. _The grandest spiritual results
are brought about by prayer._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 1. _The Ministerial Request._
+I. The request presented.+--1. _That the power of religion may be
eminently experienced in our own souls._ 2. _That we may be preserved
from the official dangers to which we are exposed._ 3. _That we may
be able ministers of the New Testament._ 4. _That prudence and
fidelity may distinguish our labours._
+II. The grounds on which it rests.+--1. _It rests on the mutual
connection which subsists between ministers and people._ 2. _On the
law of love._ 3. _On its advantage to yourselves._ 4. _On the
prevalency of fervent prayer._ 5. _On its connection with the
salvation of souls.--Sketches._
Ver. 2. _Unbelief_--
+I. Abandons the guide of reason.+
+II. Leads to a vicious life and causes trouble to others.+
+III. We should pray to be delivered from its evil results.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3, 4.
_The Faithfulness of God._
From the want of faith in man, referred to in the preceding verse,
the writer, as if to show the contrast, naturally glides into the
subject of the Divine faithfulness. Unbelief may abound, but God can
be relied on; man may be fickle and unreasonable, but the fidelity of
God is inviolate.
+I. The faithfulness of God is a fact established by abundant
testimonies.+--"But the Lord _is_ faithful" (ver. 3). He is faithful
to His own nature. He cannot deny Himself. He is faithful to His
purpose, to His Word, to every promise, and every threatening too.
The whole history of God's dealings with the Jewish people is a
suggestive and impressive commentary on His inflexible faithfulness.
The fact that the Church of God exists to-day, notwithstanding
defection within and persecution without, is an unanswerable
testimony to His fidelity. "You may be faint and weary, but my God
cannot. I may fluctuate and alter as to my frames and feelings; but
my Redeemer is unchangeably the same. I might utterly fail and come
to nothing, if left to myself. But I cannot be so left to myself. He
is rich to relieve and succour me in all my wants. He is faithful to
perform and perfect all His promises" (_Ambrose Serle_).
+II. The faithfulness of God is practically manifested in
establishing His people in all good and in keeping them safe from all
evil.+--"Who shall stablish you and keep you from evil" (ver. 3). The
people of God do not perpetuate themselves. He perpetuates. His
faithful guardianship gives persistency to His people, so that in
every age and in the darkest times there has been a bright succession
of living witnesses of His unchanging character. He preserves them,
not because of any inherent grace or self-deserving, but because He
is faithful. "Janet," said a Scottish minister to a Christian woman
of great faith, whom he was visiting, "suppose, after all, God were
to let you drop into hell!" "Even as He will," was her reply; "but if
He does, He will lose mair than I'll do." A single flaw in the Divine
fidelity would shatter the faith of the universe.
+III. The faithfulness of God inspires confidence in the fidelity of
the obedient.+--"And we have confidence in the Lord touching you that
ye both do, and will do the things which we command you" (ver. 4).
Because God is faithful, we know that you can be kept faithful, if
you are willing and seeking to be so kept. Moreover, you will
assuredly be kept faithful, while you observe in the future, as you
have done in the past, "the things which we command you," and in
commanding which we have the Divine authority. Consider these things,
let them sink into your hearts; then act accordingly. Let obedience
follow conviction, and we have no fear about the result. Von Moltke,
the great German strategist and general, chose for his motto, _"Erst
wagen, dann wagen,"_--_"First weigh, then venture"_; and it was to
this he owed his great victories and successes. Slow, cautious,
careful in planning, but bold, daring, even seemingly reckless in
execution, the moment his resolve was made. Vows thus ripen into
deeds, decision must go on to performance. The final perseverance of
the saint depends on the Divine perseverance; his faithfulness on the
Divine faithfulness. If we had no living Saviour to pilot our ship,
no promise on which to rely, we might have cause to fear. The Divine
faithfulness is unquestionable; our faithfulness is maintained only
by obedience.
+Lessons.+--1. _The faithfulness of God is the guarantee of the
believer's safety._ 2. _The faithfulness of God should encourage the
exercise of implicit faith in Him._ 3. _The faithfulness of God
demands undeviating obedience to His laws._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 3. _The Divine Faithfulness_--
+I. An incontrovertible fact.+
+II. A guarantee of personal establishment in the truth.+
+III. An invulnerable protection from evil and all its works.+
Ver. 4. _Christian Obedience_--
+I. Is a voluntary and constant activity.+
+II. Is based on well-understood and authoritative precepts.+
+III. Is the pathway of blessing.+
+IV. Inspires confidence in others.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.
_Divine Love and Patience._
Again, the apostle is on his knees. How beautifully the habitual
devoutness of the apostle's spirit comes out in the side-lights
thrown from passages in his writings like this verse! He lives and
breathes in the electric atmosphere of prayer. All the time he is
reasoning, expounding, warning, and persuading he is also praying.
Prayer is a powerful aid to the preacher. It keeps his soul in
sympathy with the realm of spiritual realities, gives him clearer
insight into truth, and intensifies his experience of the Divine. We
learn from this verse:--
+I. That Divine love and patience are conspicuous elements in man's
redemption.+--"The love of God and the patient waiting for
Christ"--_the patience of Christ_ (R.V.). The love of God devised and
the patience of Christ carried out the great plan of human salvation.
The Gospel is a grand revelation of the Divine love and patience in
Christ Jesus; and the history of the Gospel in its world-wide
progress is a many-sided illustration of these two conspicuous
virtues in the Divine character and operations. After the last French
war, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris was imprisoned. His cell
had a window shaped like a cross, and with a pencil he wrote upon the
arms of the cross that they denoted the height, length, breadth, and
depth of God's love. That man knew something of the love of God. The
patience of Christ in suffering for mankind was sustained and
sublimated by the love of God, and was an object-lesson to the world,
teaching, in a way that appealed to the most callous, the power and
universality of that love.
+II. That Divine love and patience are the distinguished privilege of
human experience.+--"Direct your hearts into the love of God and
patience of Christ." The love we are to enjoy is no mere human
passion, fickle and evanescent; the patience, no mere grim stoical
endurance. We are admitted into the sacred adoption of the Divine
mysteries; we share in their spiritual ecstasy and unruffled calm,
the very love and patience of God! The Divine in us becomes more
growingly evident to ourselves and to others. Love gives
staying-power to and teaches us how to suffer without murmuring, to
endure without retaliating. "Sire," said Beza in his reply to the
king of Navarre, "it belongs to God's Church rather to suffer blows
than to strike them; but let it be your pleasure to remember that the
Church is an anvil which has worn out many a hammer." With time and
patience the mulberry leaf becomes satin.
+III. That Divine love and patience are more fully enjoyed by the
soul that prays.+--"And the Lord direct your hearts." The prayerful
apostle had realised the blessedness of a personal participation in
the love and patience of God. But for the love of God he would never
have ventured upon his evangelistic mission, and but for the patience
of Christ he would not have continued in it. Now he prays that the
hearts of the Thessalonians may enjoy the same grace or be set in the
direct way of attaining it. It is of vital consequence that the
current of the heart's outgoings should be set in the right
direction. This brief petition shows what we ought to ask for
ourselves. The best way to secure a larger degree of love and
patience is to ardently pray for them.
"What grace, O Lord, and beauty shone
Around Thy steps below!
What patient love was seen in all
Thy life and death of woe!
"Oh! give us hearts to love like Thee--
Like Thee, O Lord, to grieve
Far more for others' sins, than all
The wrongs that we receive."
+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian life is a sublime participation in the
nature of God._ 2. _Love and patience reveal the God-like character._
3. _Prayer is at its best when engaged with the loftiest themes._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 5. _Waiting for the Second Advent._
+I. The love of God a preparation for the Redeemer's
coming.+--1. _The love of God is the love of goodness._ 2. _The love
of God is the love of man expanded and purified._ The love of man
expanded into the love of Him, of whom all that we have seen of
gentle and lovely, of true and tender, of honourable and bright in
human character, are but the shadows and the broken, imperfect lights.
+II. Patient waiting another preparation for the Redeemer's
coming.+--1. _The Christian attitude of soul is an attitude of
expectation._--Every gift of noble origin is breathed upon by hope's
perfect breath.
2. _It is patient waiting._--Every one who has ardently longed for
any spiritual blessing knows the temptation to impatience in
expecting it.--_F. W. Robertson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS ON THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6, 7.
_Christian Consistency._
The apostle commended with a warm-hearted eulogy whatever was good in
the Thessalonians, but he was not less faithful in administering
rebuke when it was needed. A number of the converts, not sufficiently
pondering the words of the writer, were carried away with the
delusion that the second advent of Christ would take place
immediately, and they abandoned all interest in the practical duties
of life--an error that has been often repeated since, with similar
results. Fearing the mischief would spread, and seeing that all
pervious warnings were disregarded, the apostle in these verses
treats the mistaken enthusiasts with unsparing condemnation. Disorder
must be crushed, and consistency preserved.
+I. Christian consistency is in harmony with the highest
teaching.+--"After the tradition which he [or they] received of us"
(ver. 6). The rules of Christian consistency were clearly laid down
in the traditions or doctrines taught by the apostles and were
enforced with all the weight and sanction of Divine authority. To
violate these rules is to "walk disorderly"--to break the ranks, to
fall out of line. The value of the individual soldier is the degree
in which he keeps in order and acts in perfect harmony and precision
with the rest of the regiment. A breach of military rule creates
disaster. Let the believer keep the Divine law, and the law will keep
him.
"The heavens themselves, the planets and this centre,
Observe degree, priority, and place,
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
Office and custom, in all line of order."--_Shakespeare._
+II. Christian consistency is enforced by apostolic example.+--"For
yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not
ourselves disorderly among you" (ver. 7). The apostles illustrated
what they taught, by a rigid observance of the rules they imposed on
others. Precept was enforced by practice. While the preachers
laboured among the Thessalonians, the influence of their upright
examples kept the Church in order. Much depends upon the conduct of a
leader in Church or State. It is said of a certain military commander
on taking charge of an army that had been somewhat lax in discipline:
"The presence of a master-mind was quickly visible in the changed
condition of the camp. Perfect order now reigned. He was a rigid
disciplinarian, and yet as gentle and kind as a woman. He was the
easiest man in our army to get along with pleasantly, so long as one
did his duty, but as inexorable as fate in exacting its performance.
He was as courteous to the humblest private who sought an interview
for any purpose as to the highest officer under his command."
+III. Christian consistency is to be maintained by separation from
the lawless.+--"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that
walketh disorderly" (ver. 6). If all efforts to recover the
recalcitrant fail, then the Church has the highest authority for
separating completely from the society and fellowship of such.
Continued communion with them would not only seem to condone their
offence, but destroy discipline, and put an end to all moral
consistency. Such a separation from the unruly would be more marked
in the early Church, when there was only one Christian community, and
when the brethren were noted for their affectionate attachment to
each other.
+Lessons.+--_Christian consistency_--1. _Is defined by the highest
law._ 2. _Avoids association with evil._ 3. _Is a reproof and pattern
to the unbelieving._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 6, 7. _The Disorderly in Church Life_--
+I. Violate the rules that give compactness and strength to all
Church organisation.+
+II. Ignore the highest examples of moral consistency.+
+III. Should be faithfully warned and counselled.+
+IV. If incorrigible, should be excluded from the privileges of
Christian fellowship.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 8, 9.
_Self-denying Labour._
Pioneer work involves hard toil and much patience and self-denial.
The character and surroundings of the people whose highest good is
sought must be studied. The apostle took his measure of the
Thessalonian converts, and, perhaps foreseeing the extravagances to
which they would yield, he and his co-labourers determined to set
them an example of unselfish industry, even to the extent of
surrendering their just rights.
+I. Here we see self-denying labour carried on amidst weariness and
suffering.+--"Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but
wrought with labour and travail night and day" (ver. 8). Work is a
pleasurable exercise to the strong and healthy, but it becomes a
hardship when carried to excess. The devoted missionaries worked when
they were weary--worked when they should have been resting. After a
hard day's toil in teaching and visiting, they laboured far on into
the night, so as to maintain themselves independent of help from
their converts. Much as we hear of the dignity of labour, the toiler,
whether by hand or brain, in the weariness and pain that overtake
him, feels that some portion of the original curse still clings to
his handiwork. The best work is often accomplished in the midst of
acute suffering. The unique histories of England were written by
J. R. Green while the shadow of death was consciously hovering over
his desk; and the exquisite Christian lyrics of H. F. Lyte were
penned while he felt that every moment his heart was throbbing
"funeral marches to the grave."
+II. Here we see self-denying labour declining the maintenance that
might be legitimately claimed.+--"That we might not be chargeable to
any of you: not because we have not power" (vers. 8, 9)--right,
authority. While the apostle forbears to urge their just right to
ministerial support by the people, he gives them clearly to
understand it is their right. Their self-denial in this instance was
for a special purpose, and was only intended to be temporary, and not
to establish a universal rule. In other places, St. Paul insists upon
the duty of the Church to maintain its ministers (1 Cor. ix. 4-14;
Gal. vi. 6). All honour to the self-denying zeal and suffering toil
of the unaided Christian worker; but what shall we say of the
parsimony and injustice of the people who allow such a state of
things to continue?
+III. Here we see self-denying labour set forth as an example and
reproof to those who are most benefited by it.+--"To make ourselves
an ensample unto you to follow us" (ver. 9). Here the purpose of
their disinterested conduct is plainly stated--to set an example of
industry to the idlers. St. Paul acted in a similar manner towards
the Corinthians, but with a different design. In the latter case he
wished to manifest a better spirit than that of the false teachers
who were greedy of filthy lucre (2 Cor. xi. 8-13). The earnest
evangelist is ever anxious to clear his work from the taint of
self-seeking. Let the heart of man be changed and sanctified, and it
will inspire and regulate the practical exercise of every Christian
virtue. How little does the world appreciate its greatest
benefactors! And yet no unselfish act is without its recompense. The
actor is not unblessed. To exchange, as Christ did, the temple for
Nazareth, the Father's house for the carpenter's shop, the joy of
preaching for irksome toil, is a great advance in spiritual obedience
and nobility of character.
+Lessons.+--1. _The essence of the Christian spirit is
unselfishness._ 2. _The earnest Christian pioneer labours
ungrudgingly for the good of others._ 3. _The self-denial of the
preacher does not exonerate the people from the duty of his
legitimate maintenance._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 8. _Industry the Secret of Success._--When Sir Isaac Newton was
asked by what means he had been able to make that successful progress
in the sciences which struck mankind with wonder, he modestly
replied, that it was not so much owing to any superior strength of
genius as to a habit of patient thinking, laborious attention, and
close application.
Ver. 9. _Ministerial Maintenance._
+I. It is a claim based on scriptural and apostolic authority.+
+II. The temporary waiving of the right is a noble example of
self-denial and unselfish devotion.+
+III. No personal waiving of the right releases the Church from its
obligation.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-12.
_Christianity and Work._
Christianity is the Gospel of work. Its clarion-call thrills along
the nerves of human life and summons the world to labour. It gives to
work meaning, purpose, dignity, and exalts drudgery into a
blessedness. While full of sympathy for the feeble and maimed, it has
no pity for the indolent. Its Founder and first apostles were giants
in labour, and their example animates the world to-day with a spirit
of noblest activity. It is not the drone, but the worker, who blesses
the world. "Be no longer a chaos," writes Carlyle, "but a world, or
even a worldkin. Produce! produce! were it but the pitifullest,
infinitesimal fraction of a product, produce it in God's name! 'Tis
the utmost thou hast in thee; out with it, then. Up, up! whatever thy
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."
+I. Christianity recognises the duty of every man to work for his own
support.+--"For even when we were with you, this we commanded, that
if any would not work, neither should he eat" (ver. 10). The
necessity of food involves the necessity of work. As every one must
eat, so every one must work. The wife of a certain chieftain, who had
fallen upon idle habits, one day lifted the dish-cover at dinner and
revealed a pair of spurs, a sign that he must ride and hunt for his
next meal. It is said that in the Californian bee-pastures, on the
sun-days of summer, one may readily infer the time of day from the
comparative energy of bee-movements alone; drowsy and moderate in the
cool of the morning, increasing in energy with the ascending sun, and
at high noon thrilling and quivering in wild ecstasy, then gradually
declining again to the stillness of night. Is not this a picture of
our life? Work is necessary for sustenance, for health, for moral
development; and rest is all the sweeter after genuine toil.
+II. Christianity is intolerant of an ignoble indolence.+--"For we
hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not
at all, but are busybodies" (ver. 11). The disorderly are the idle
tattlers, who make a pretence of work by busying themselves with all
kinds of things but their own duty. They are triflers, wasting their
own time and other people's; and they do serious mischief. In certain
foreign parts, where insects abound in such swarms as to be a pest to
the people and destructive enemies to young growing plants, an
electric apparatus has been constructed to destroy the brood
wholesale. The appliance consists of a strong electric light
attracting the moths and insects, a suction-fan drawing them into a
shaft as they approach the light, and a small mill in the shaft where
the victims are ground up and mixed with flour, thus converting them
into poultry-food. Cannot some genius contrive a means of putting an
end--short of grinding them into chicken-food: let us be merciful,
even to our enemies!--to those social pests who go buzzing about our
homes and Churches, worrying with their idle gossip and stinging with
their spiteful venom the innocent and inoffensive? If these
busybodies would devote, in doing their duty, the energy they waste,
they would be able to produce quite a respectable amount of honest
work. But they find it easier to sponge on the generosity and
simplicity of others. They are parasites; and all parasites are the
paupers of nature. Parasitism is a crime--a breach of the law of
evolution.
+III. Christianity enforces the necessity of a steady and independent
industry.+--"We command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with
quietness they work, and eat their own bread" (ver. 12). The apostle,
having the authority of Christ for what he counsels, _commands_; and
as a man addressing his fellow-men, he _exhorts_ and persuades. The
law of Christianity is both stern and gentle: unbending in principle,
and flexible only in manifold persuasions to translate the principle
into actual living practice. It rouses man from yielding to a sinful
listlessness and helps him to develop a robust Christian manhood.
When an Indian candidate for the ministry was asked the question,
"What is original sin?" he frankly replied, "He did not know what
other people's might be, but he rather thought that his was
laziness." Idleness is the prolific source of many evils: work is at
once a remedy and a safeguard. A clergyman once said, "A Christian
should never plead spirituality for being a sloven; if he be but a
shoe-cleaner, he should be the best in the parish." We are honouring
Christianity most when we are doing our best to observe the precepts,
"Working with quietness and eating our own bread." An American
preacher once said, "You sit here and sing yourselves away to
everlasting bliss; but I tell you that you are wanted a great deal
more out in Illinois than you are in heaven."
+Lessons.+--1. _Christianity encourages and honours honest toil._
2. _Fearlessly denounces unprincipled idlers._ 3. _Is an inspiration
to the highest kind of work._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 10. _Industry the True Charity._--When the palace and church
buildings of Caprarola were completed, Borromeo, the great patron of
idle almsgiving, came to see it, and complained that so much money
had not been given to the poor instead. "I have let them have it all
little by little," said Alexandro Farnese; "but I have made them earn
it by the sweat of their brow."
Ver. 11. _Idleness and Death._--Ælian mentions a witticism of
Alcibiades when some one was vaunting to him about the contempt the
Lacedæmonians had for death. "It is no wonder," said he, "since it
relieves them from the heavy burden of an idle and stupid life."
Ver. 12. _The Way to Value Quietness._--"How dull and quiet
everything is. There isn't a leaf stirring," said a young sparrow
perched on the bough of a willow tree. "How delicious a puff of wind
would be!" "We shall have one before long," croaked an old raven;
"more than you want, I fancy." Before many hours a tempest swept over
the country, and in the morning the fields were strewn with its
ravages. "What a comfort the storm is over," said the sparrow, as he
trimmed his wet fathers. "Ah!" croaked the raven, "you've altered
your mind since last night. Take my word for it, there's nothing like
a storm to teach you to value a calm."--_G. Eliot._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.
_A Call to do the Best Work._
The apostle has shown the necessity and duty of work--that honest
industry is a law of Christianity. Now he inculcates unwearied
diligence in accomplishing the best work, designated by the
comprehensive and suggestive phrase "well-doing." Whatever is worth
doing at all is worth doing well. No man has done his best till he
has done all he can. A man's highest work is the outcome of his best
endeavours. Observe:--
+I. Doing the best work is well-doing.+--"Be not weary in
well-doing." We may define to ourselves this duty of well-doing by
seeking answers to two questions:--
1. _How can I get the most good?_--The ancient philosophers discussed
the question of the supreme good with amazing subtlety of logic; but
they started their investigations with the erroneous assumption that
the supreme good must be a human product. The question is not how to
get good, but the most good--the highest, the best. We get the most
good by bringing the soul into complete submission to the highest law
of its being--voluntary and full surrender to the will of God. Call
it getting saved, getting converted; call it what you like, so long
as you get the thing itself--the love of God in the soul through
faith in the Lord Jesus.
2. _How can I do the most good?_--These two questions are closely
linked together, and are mutually interpretative of each other--the
one being the qualification and motive for the other. It may be
asserted we get the most good by doing the most good. The rose cannot
diffuse the fragrance it does not possess, however much like a rose
it may look. The question here, again, is not how I can do good, but
the most, the highest, and best. We do the most good by beginning
with the duty that lies nearest to us and doing it at once. The
earnest worker never lacks opportunity: there is the home, the
Church, the perishing multitude, ever within easy reach. "He that
winneth souls is wise" (Prov. xi. 30). The highest plaudit of heaven
is, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matt. xxv. 21).
+II. The best work is not done without encountering
difficulties.+--"Be not weary." The exhortation implies there are
difficulties. These arise:--
1. _From vague and imperfect views of duty._--We have no sympathy
with the rhapsody of the mystic who said, "Man is never so holy and
exalted as when he does not know where he is going." We must know
clearly what we would be at, what is within the compass of our power
and opportunity, where our efforts must necessarily end, and room
left for the play of other influences. We must be practical and
methodical. Clearness is power. Confusion of ideas creates
difficulties.
2. _From unrealised ideals._--We have formed lofty conceptions of
what is to be done, and what we must do. We have elaborated extensive
organisations, and worked them with unflagging zeal. But the result
has been disappointing. Because we have not accomplished all we
wished, we are discouraged; our success has not been commensurate
with our ambition, and we are tempted to slacken our endeavours. "Be
not weary." We are not the best judges of what constitutes success.
If it does not come in the form we expected, we must not hastily
conclude our work is vain.
3. _From the loss of spiritual power._--We have neglected prayer and
the cultivation of personal piety. We have been so absorbed in the
external details of our work as to overlook the duty of keeping up
spiritual communion with the Highest. We begin to frame excuses--a
sure sign of moral decadence. "We have no talents." Then we should
seek them. We have more talents than we suspect, and resolute working
will develop them. "Our adversaries are numerous and fierce." If we
keep at our work, they will not trouble us long.
+III. The best work demands incessant diligence.+--"But ye, brethren,
be not weary in well-doing." The best state of preparedness for the
coming of the Lord is to be busily employed in the duty of the hour.
Every moment has its duty. Opportunity has hair in front; behind she
is bald. If you seize her by the forelock, you may hold her; but if
suffered to escape, not Jupiter himself can catch her again. Arnauld,
the Port Royalist, when hunted from place to place, wished his friend
Nicolle to assist him in a new work, when the latter observed, "We
are old; is it not time to rest?" "Rest!" returned Arnauld. "Have we
not all eternity to rest in?" A man's work does not ennoble him, but
he ennobles it.
+Lessons.+--_The text is a spiritual motto to be adopted_--1. _By
ministers and Sabbath-school teachers._ 2. _By parents seeking the
spiritual good of their children._ 3. _By all discouraged Christian
workers._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
_Weary in Well-doing._
+I. The text by implication brings before us a state of mind to which
believers are liable.+--"Weary in well-doing." 1. _From a lamentable
want of fitness for spiritual duties and employments._ 2. _From the
opposition of the world._ 3. _From the hostile agency of spiritual
wickedness._ 4. _From the dimness of our conceptions of the things
which should especially influence us._ 5. _From failing to lay hold
on the Divine strength._
+II. The text an exhortation suited to those in the state referred
to.+--"Be not weary." 1. _Because you are engaged in well-doing._
2. _Because the time is short._ 3. _Because your associates are
glorious._ 4. _Because the issue is certain._ 5. _Because sufficient
strength is provided.--Stewart._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14, 15.
_Treatment of the Refractory._
After all the warnings of the apostle against erroneous views and his
exhortations to Christian diligence, he foresees there may be some
refractory members of the Church who still persist in their
extravagances, reject all counsel, and defy all rule and order. In
these verses he gives explicit directions how to deal with such. The
inveterately lazy are often something worse than lazy and are not
easily reclaimed. When disobedience settles into a habit, stringent
measures are necessary to arouse the victim to a sense of duty; and
the efforts of restoration must be both resolute and kind.
+I. It should be made evident that his conduct is an obstinate
defiance of authority.+--"And if any man obey not our word by this
epistle, note that man" (ver. 14). Not only note that his disorderly
behaviour is a scandal to Christianity and an example to be avoided,
but let it be brought home to him, by direct and faithful dealing,
that it is a grave breach of the highest law. We can make nothing of
a Fool till he is first convinced of his folly. The first step in the
process of reformation is conviction of the need of reformation. It
is said of Thoreau, the author, that "he was by nature of the
opposition; there was a constitutional 'No' in him that could not be
tortured into 'Yes.'" There are many like him, even in the Christian
Church. It may seem a difficult, almost an impossible task, to
convince the refractory of his error; but it is the first thing to be
done, and persevered in. When the hearers of Austin resented his
reproofs, he used to say, "Change your conduct, and I will change my
conversation."
+II. With the view of bringing him to repentance he is to be excluded
from Christian fellowship.+--"And have no company with him, that he
may be ashamed" (ver. 14). The refractory practically excludes
himself from every circle that loves order, harmony, and peace; for
who can bear the rasping chatter of an irresponsible gossip who is
constantly raking up and turning over everybody's faults but his own?
But the Church must take action unitedly in dealing with the
contumacious. He must be deliberately and pointedly shunned, and,
when compelled to be in his company, the members must show, by the
reserve of their bearing towards him, how deeply he is grieving the
hearts of the brethren and sinning against God. In the days when
there was only one Church, and exclusion from it was regarded as the
greatest calamity and disgrace, the fear of utter excommunication
could not fail to have some effect upon those thus threatened with
it. Few people can bear the test of being left severely alone. It
gives them the opportunity for reflection, remorse, and reform.
+III. Efforts should be made in the spirit of Christian brotherhood
to effect his recovery.+--"Yet count him not as an enemy, but
admonish him as a brother" (ver. 15). Though shunned and threatened
with exclusion from Church fellowship, he is not to be passed by with
contemptuous silence. He is not a heretic or a blasphemer, nor is he
guilty of any monstrous crime. He is sinning against the good order
of society and the peace of the Church. He is still a brother,
troublesome and unreasonable though he be; and while there is the
least hope of his restoration, he should be faithfully admonished. He
is not to be accused and slandered to outsiders; this will only
aggravate his riotousness and make him more defiant. He must be seen
privately and spoken to faithfully, but with the utmost tenderness.
The Christian spirit teaches us to be discreet in all things, and
especially in administering reproof. Virtue ceases to be virtuous
when it lacks discretion, the queen of ethics. "To be plain," writes
Felltham, "argues honesty; but to be pleasing argues discretion.
Sores are not to be anguished with rustic pressure, but gently
stroked with a ladied hand. Physicians fire not their eyes at
patients, but minister to their diseases. Let reproof be so as the
offender may see affection, without arrogancy."
+Lessons.+--1. _It is an important part of Church discipline to
control the unruly._ 2. _It is in the power of one discontented
person to work much mischief._ 3. _Church discipline must be
administered with fidelity and Christian tenderness._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 14, 15. _The Disobedient_--
+I. Should be specially noted.+
+II. Should not be admitted to intimate friendship without
repentance.+
+III. Should be kindly but faithfully admonished.+
Ver. 14. _Obedience should be prompt._--When a large passenger
steamer was sinking, the question whether scores of her passengers
and crew would be saved or drowned was settled within fifteen
minutes. And millions have decided the momentous question of their
eternal salvation or perdition in even less time than that. It seems
to have been short work with Simon Peter when Jesus bade him quit the
nets and follow Him. Peter obeyed at once. Prompt obedience honours
God. It puts the soul immediately within the Almighty's hold; and
when Jesus has His omnipotent grasp of love upon me, none shall be
able to pluck me out of His hands (John x. 28). Prompt obedience
saves.--_Cuyler._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 16-18.
_Apostolic Courtesy._
The epistle is coming to a close, and the Christian courtesy of the
apostle comes out in the spirit in which he expresses his farewell.
If he has spoken out plainly and even severely, it has not been in
vindictiveness and anger. All that he has said and written is in the
interests of peace. His sharpest reproofs and most faithful
admonitions have been suffused with an undercurrent of
loving-kindness; and his concluding words drop with the gentleness of
refreshing dew.
+I. Apostolic courtesy supplicates the blessing of the Divine peace
and presence.+--"Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always
by all means. The Lord be with you all" (ver. 16). Prayer was the
life-breath of the apostle, as we have frequently pointed out in the
study of these epistles. Considering the dissensions that disturbed
the harmony of the Thessalonian Church, this epistle appropriately
closes with a prayer for peace. First, and most important of all,
peace with God and the individual conscience; then mutual peace and
concord one with another--peace, such as keeps the mind in an even
and heavenly frame, as a sentinel that guards a door, lest foes
should get in and make havoc where God hath commanded peace. Where
God's presence is manifested, there is peace; hence the apostle adds,
"The Lord be with you all." Peace is a Divine gift, and a Divine
experience in man; it is the peace of "the Lord of peace" that we
share.
+II. Apostolic courtesy is expressed in an emphatic Christian
salutation.+--"The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is
the token in every epistle: so I write" (ver. 17). This epistle was
written by an amanuensis, probably Silas or Timothy, at the dictation
of Paul; and the apostle wrote his own signature, adding the
salutation and benediction. This act not only stamped the genuineness
of the epistle but indicated in a most unmistakable manner the
anxiety of the apostle to thoroughly identify himself with all that
was expressed in the epistle, and to assure the Thessalonians of his
personal interest in and love towards them. Christianity is the soul
of courtesy. Bolingbroke once said, "Supposing Christianity to be a
mere human invention, it is the most amiable and successful invention
that ever was imposed on mankind." When the courtiers of Henry IV. of
France expressed their surprise that he returned the salutation of a
poor man, who bowed down before him at the entrance of a village, the
king replied, "Would you have your king exceeded in politeness by one
of the lowest of his subjects?" As he is the best Christian who is
most humble, so is he that truest gentleman that is most courteous.
+III. Apostolic courtesy is indicated in the solemn invocation of the
abiding grace of God.+--"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. Amen" (ver. 18). A farewell full of pathos, full of
solemnity, full of peace, full of admiration and love for the
people--all good wishes condensed into a single phrase. Even an
apostle can desire for the Church, or any of its members, no richer
benediction than that comprehended in "the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
+Lessons.+--1. _Peace is a prime essential in Church prosperity._
2. _The Christian spirit is the essence of true courtesy._ 3. _We can
invoke no higher blessing on others than to be kept in the enjoyment
of Divine grace._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 16. _The Omnipresent God_--
+I. In history.+--Shaping the course and destiny of nations.
+II. In providence.+--1. _Guarding._ 2. _Guiding His people._
+III. In grace.+--1. _Manifesting His goodness in Christ._ 2. _Giving
inclination and power to do His will._ 3. _Demanding and bestowing
personal holiness._ 4. _Ensuring constant peace._
_Peace in Danger._--During the great earthquake in London, when
thousands were running about and crying in terror, when buildings
were falling and the ground rocking like the ocean in a storm, Wesley
gathered a few of his followers in one of their little chapels, and
calmly read to them the forty-sixth Psalm, "God is our refuge and
strength."
Vers. 17, 18. _Christian Courtesy_--
+I. Takes pains to make itself evident.+--"So I write."
+II. Is a hearty expression of personal regard.+--"The salutation of
Paul with mine own hand."
+III. Invokes the blessing of Divine grace on all+ (ver. 18).
* * * * * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
- Page 551, Occasion, first paragraph, change "two principal" to
"two principals." Second paragraph, add "ch. ii. 2" reference.
Style, second paragraph, add left double quote before "they are."
- Page 552, Outline, in the second row of the table, change an
em-dash to an ampersand because the material described by the
second row is interrupted by the material described by the third
row. Final row, add period after "benediction."
- Page 553, notes on chapter i., verse 5, apply RC to "Divine"; add
"Acts v. 39" reference. Verse 6, add "John vii. 18" and "Rom.
xii. 19" references. Verse 8, apply RC to "Divine." Verse 9, add
"ver. 6" reference.
- Page 554, notes on chapter i., verse 12, add comma to "So Christ."
Lesson "Features," point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, add
comma to "abounds there." Point III, apply RC to "Gospel"; remove
commas from "Thessalonica, and" and "Christians, and"; apply RC to
"Gospel."
- Page 555, same lesson, point IV, remove comma from "them, and."
Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine." Germ note,
each of points 1 1 and II 2, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 556, lesson "Recompense," point I, add "John xv. 20"
reference. Point II, remove comma from "bottle, but." Point III,
apply RC to "Divinely." Point III 1, apply RC to "Divinely"; add
comma to "Thessalonians the." Point III 2, apply RC to "Divinely."
- The break between pages 556 and 557 is in a unit that style
indicates should not be broken: "persecutor.--|Seeing." The whole
unit was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 557, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), each of points 1
and 2, apply RC to "Divine." Germ note, point I, apply RC to
"Gospel." Point IV, apply RC to "Divine." Lesson "Judgment,"
introduction, apply RC to "Divine" and "Word." Point I 1, apply RC
to "Divine."
- Page 558, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 2,
add "Ps. civ. 3" reference. Point II, apply RC to "Word"; add
"1 Tim. i. 11" reference; apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point
III 1, add "John xvii. 22" reference.
- Page 559, same lesson, point III 1, add "Ps. xc. 17" reference.
Point III 2, remove comma from "testimony, and"; apply RC to
"Word" and "Gospel"; add comma to "So none." Application
("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine." "Divine Retribution"
note, point V, apply RC to "Divine." Lesson "Prayer,"
introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Divine"
(thrice).
- Page 560, same lesson, point I, add "Tit. ii. 12" reference. Point
II, apply RC to "Divine." Point III, apply RC to "Divinely,"
"Divine Word," and "Divine" (twice). Point IV, apply RC to
"Divine"; add "Phil. ii. 9" reference; remove comma from "nature,
and." Point V, apply RC to "Divine" (twice); add "1 Tim. i. 14"
reference. Point VI, change "Michael Angelo" to "Michelangelo."
- Page 561, "Genuine Religion" note, each of points II 1 and II 2,
apply RC to "Divine." "Christ Glorified" note, apply RC to "He
lives." Notes on chapter ii., verse 1, tag the word "Parousia" as
Greek, such that it sets in Italic, rather than Roman, type.
- Page 562, notes on chapter ii., verse 3, change "#xcellence" to
"excellence." Verse 8, apply RC to "Gospel." Verse 9, apply RC to
"Gospel." Verse 10, add "John xviii. 38" reference. Verse 13,
change "i. 3" to "ch. i. 3." Lesson "Antichrist," introduction,
remove comma from "significance, and."
- Page 563, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" and
"Divinity." Point II 1, remove right double quotes after "Church
of God"; change "apostle" to "apostles"; change the period after
"Churches" to a colon introducing a list of references. Point
II 2, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 564, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divinely."
- Page 565, lesson "Salvation," introduction, apply RC to "Divine";
remove comma from "wicked, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point I,
apply RC to "Divine." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
- Page 566, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 2,
apply RC to "Divine," "Gospel" (thrice), and "Divine" (twice).
Point II, apply RC to "Divine." Point III, apply RC to "Divine"
(twice). Point IV, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 567, "Holy Ghost" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point
III, apply RC to "Gospel." "Sainthood" note, point I, apply RC to
"Gospel." Lesson "Steadfastness," introduction, apply RC to
"Gospel" and "Divine."
- Page 568, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 569, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC
to "Word." Lesson "Prayer," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel"
(twice); remove comma from "argues, but." Point I, remove the
commas from "friends, and," "consolation, and," and "bowels, and."
Each of points III and III 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 570, same lesson, point III 2, apply RC to "Divine." "Prayer"
note, point II 1, apply RC to "Divine." "Good Hope" note, point
I 3, apply RC to "Gospel." Point III 3, change "self dependence"
to "self-dependence."
- Page 571, notes on chapter iii., verse 6, change "_esprit de corps_
do not" to "_esprit de corps_ does not." Verse 16, add em-dash before
poem.
- Page 572, lesson "Prayer," introduction, remove comma from
"affection, and"; apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, apply RC to
"Gospel." Point II 1, apply RC to "Gospel," "Divine," and "Gospel"
(twice). Point II 2, apply RC to "Gospel" (four times). Point
II 3, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice).
- Page 573, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Gospel."
Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and
"Divine." Point 2, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Faithfulness,"
introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 574, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine." Point III,
apply RC to "Divine"; tag Von Moltke's motto as German so it sets
in Italic, rather than Roman, type; apply RC to "Divine" (thrice).
Lesson "Divine Love," introduction, add comma to "Again the";
apply RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Divine," "Gospel,"
"Divine," "Gospel," and "Divine"; add comma to "war the."
- Page 575, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine" (thrice).
Point III, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "grace, or."
- Page 576, lesson "Consistency," introduction, add comma to
"crushed and." Point I, remove comma from "apostles, and"; apply
RC to "Divine" (twice).
- Page 578, lesson "Work," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 579, "Industry" note, change "#er. 10" to "Ver. 10" and
"Caprarolo" to "Caprarola."
- Page 580, lesson "Call," point I 2, remove comma from "us, and";
add "Prov. xi. 30" and "Matt. xxv. 21" references.
- Page 581, same lesson, point II 3, apply RC to "Highest." Germ
note, point I 5, apply RC to "Divine." Lesson "Treatment,"
introduction, remove comma from "lazy, and."
- Page 582, same lesson, point III, change "to oe anguished" to "to
be anguished."
- Page 583, "Obedience" note, add "John x. 28" reference. Lesson
"Courtesy," point I, apply RC to "Divine" (thrice). Point II,
apply RC to "epistle, but."
- Page 584, same lesson, Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC
to "Divine." "Peace" note, change "forty-sixth psalm" to "Psalm."
"Christian Courtesy" note, point III, apply RC to "Divine."
+INDEX.+
[H. = Homily; N. = Note; I. = Illustration]
Abraham, all nations blessed in, N. Gal.
Abraham's faith, imitators of, H. Gal.
Abrahamic gospel, H. Gal.
Abuse of Christian Liberty, H. Gal.
Abuse of public worship, H. 1 Thess.
Access to Father, privilege of, H. Eph.
Access to God, H. Eph.
Access to God revealing Trinity in unity, H. Eph.
Active faith, righteousness attained by, N. Gal.
Adopting love of God, H. Eph.
Adoption, H. Gal.
Adoption and its claims, I. Gal.
Adoption of children by Jesus Christ, H. Eph.
Adoption of sons, Christ's mission for, in fullness of time, H. Gal.
Advent, second, of Christ, H. 1 Thess.
Affection and meekness, power of, N. Gal.
Affections, religious, are attended with change of nature, H. Eph.
Affliction, necessity and perils of, H. 1 Thess.
Aim high, H. Phil.
Alarm, false, H. 2 Thess.
All and in all, Christ, H. Col.
All are one in Christ, H. Gal.
All concluded under sin, N. Gal.
All, knowledge of Christ intended for, N. Eph.
All nations blessed in Abraham, N. Gal.
Alone, bearing our burdens, H. Gal.
Ambassador, Gospel, H. Eph.
Angels, evil, H. Eph.
Anger and meekness, H. Eph.
Anger sinful, H. Eph.
Antichrist portrayed, H. 2 Thess.
Antidote to contention, humility an, N. Phil.
Anxiety, ministerial, N. Gal.
Anxiety, ministerial, H. Col.
Anxiety, prayer and expression of, H. 2 Thess.
Anxieties of ministerial life, H. Phil.
Anxious care, H. Phil. 362
Apathy one of our trials, N. Gal.
Apostle, erring, H. Gal.
Apostle, religious life of, H. Gal.
Apostle's view of his ministry, H. Eph.
Apostleship, Divine call to, H. Gal.
Apostleship, practical proof of, H. Gal.
Apostolic assurance of supernatural character of Gospel, N. Gal.
Apostolic benediction, H. Eph.
Apostolic courtesy, H. 2 Thess.
Apostolic credentials, H. Gal.
Apostolic estimate of Christian character, H. Col.
Apostolic exposure of false teachers, H. Gal.
Apostolic greeting, H. Phil.
Apostolic greeting, phases of, H. 1 Thess.
Apostolic greeting, phases of, H. 2 Thess.
Apostolic introduction to Epistle, H. 1 Thess.
Apostolic praise of order and stability, H. Col.
Apostolic prayer, comprehensive, H. Col.
Apostolic prayer, comprehensive, H. 1 Thess.
Apostolic preaching, H. Col.
Apostolic preaching characterised by transparent truth, H. 1 Thess.
Apostolic preaching, perversion of, H. Gal.
Apostolic salutation, H. Eph.
Apostolic salutation, H. Col.
Apostolical care for Church, H. Eph.
Apprehension of spiritual blessings, H. Eph.
Armour, Christian's, N. Eph.
Ascension and its results, H. Eph.
Asceticism, H. Col.
Aspirations of soul, higher, H. Col.
Association, H. Gal.
Assurance of Christian inheritance, H. Eph.
Atheism, practical, H. Eph.
Attainment of resurrection, H. Phil.
Attainment, spiritual, H. Phil.
Attitude of Church towards second coming of Christ, H. 1 Thess.
Attractiveness of worth, I. Gal.
Author and End of creation, Christ, H. Col.
Authority, best, to be obeyed, I. Gal.
Authority, ministerial, Divine blessing highest sanction of, N. Gal.
Authority of messenger of God, H. Gal.
Awakening, slumbering souls and their, H. Eph.
Bad and good examples, H. Phil.
Bad companions, I. Gal.
Bad manners, reform of, H. Gal.
Baptism, H. Gal.
Baptism, teaching of, H. Gal
Baptism, true, H. Col.
Bear one another's burdens, H. Gal.
Bear one another's burdens, N. Gal.
Believer complete in Christ, H. Col.
Believer crucified with Christ, and Christ living in believer, H. Gal.
Believer exalted together with Jesus Christ, H. Eph.
Believer's life in Christ, features of, H. Phil.
Believer's perfection, Divine fulness of Christ's pledge of, H. Col.
Believer's portion in both worlds, H. Phil.
Believer's salvation, grounds of confidence in, H. Phil.
Believers, benefit conferred by Spirit on, H. Eph.
Believers, characteristics of, H. Eph.
Believers, children of promise, H. Gal.
Believers, duty of, in evil day, H. Eph.
Believers, enemies of, H. Eph.
Believers, Paul as example to, H. Phil.
Believers, steadfastness of, a source of true ministerial
satisfaction, H. 1 Thess.
Believing soul, manner in which Gospel comes to, H. 1 Thess.
Benediction, apostolic, H. Eph.
Benediction, concluding, H. Gal.
Benediction, suggestive, H. Eph.
Beneficence, opportunity of, H. Gal.
Benefit conferred by Spirit on believers, H. Eph.
Benevolence, practical Christian, H. Phil.
Best authority to be obeyed, I. Gal.
Best work, call to do, H. 2 Thess.
Bible sword of Spirit, H. Eph.
Biblical account of sin, N. Gal.
Blameless life, lustre of, H. Phil.
Blessedness, man's final condition of, H. Col.
Blessing, Divine, highest sanction of ministerial authority, N. Gal.
Blessing of redemption, great, H. Col.
Blessings of reconciliation, personal, H. Col.
Blessings, spiritual, H. Eph.
Boasting, empty, H. Gal.
Body, human, resurrection of, H. Phil.
Body of Christ, Church the, H. Col.
Body of Christ, members of, H. Eph.
Body, one, and one spirit, H. Eph.
Body, resurrection of, H. 1 Thess.
Boldness a duty in a minister, H. Eph.
Boldness, Christian, H. Phil.
Bond of unity, peace the, H. Eph.
Bonds, Paul's, ministry of, H. Phil.
Bondage and liberty, H. Gal.
Bondage, freedom from, N. Gal.
Bondage, spiritual, ignorance of God a, N. Gal.
Bondwoman and her son, cast out, N. Gal.
Book, names in, H. Phil.
Bravery, Christian, exhortation to, H. Phil.
Bravery, moral, picture of, H. Eph.
Bread, wheat is better than, H. Col.
Brethren, false, and their treatment, H. Gal.
Bride, Christ and His, H. Eph.
Brotherhood, Christian, H. Gal.
Brotherhood of man, Christian, H. Eph.
Brotherly love in action, H. Eph.
Brotherly love, a proof of true sanctification, H. 1 Thess.
Brotherly reproof, N. Gal.
Burden, every man has his own, H. Gal.
Burden or a glory, cross, H. Gal.
Burdens, bear one another's, H. Gal.
Burdens, bear one another's, N. Gal.
Burdens, our twofold, N. Gal.
Burden-bearing, H. Gal.
Burden-bearing, mutual sympathy in, H. Gal.
Business, mind your own, H. 1 Thess.
Call, Divine, to apostleship, H. Gal.
Call, Gospel and, to preach it, H. Gal.
Call of Gospel to sinners, H. Eph.
Call to Christian fortitude, H. Eph.
Call to do best work, H. 2 Thess.
Calling of Gentiles, H. Eph.
Care, anxious, H. Phil.
Care, cure of, H. Phil.
Causes of ministerial thanksgiving, H. Col.
Censure, Church, N. Gal.
Ceremonial and zeal in religion, H. Col.
Ceremonial in religion transitory and unsatisfying, H. Col.
Change effected by Gospel, H. 1 Thess.
Change great, effected in man by Gospel, H. Eph.
Change of life, religion, H. Col.
Change of nature, religious affections are attended with, H. Eph.
Character and privileges of children of God, H. Gal.
Character Christian, essentials of, H. Col.
Character, love perfection of, N. Gal.
Characteristics of believers, H. Eph.
Charge, a father's, H. Eph.
Charity, industry the true, I. 2 Thess.
Charity, nature, properties, and acts of, H. Eph.
Children, adoption of, by Jesus Christ, H. Eph.
Children and parents, duties of, H. Eph.
Children and parents, duties of, H. Col.
Children of darkness and of light, H. Eph.
Children of God, H. Gal.
Children of God, character and privileges of, H. Gal.
Children of promise, believers, H. Gal.
Children of wrath, H. Eph.
Christ a revelation because equal to Father, H. Col.
Christ all, and in all, H. Col.
Christ, all are one in, H Gal.
Christ and creation, N. Eph.
Christ and His bride, H. Eph.
Christ, Author and End of creation, H. Col.
Christ, believer complete in, H. Col.
Christ, believer's life in, features of, H. Phil.
Christ, Church complete in, H. Eph.
Christ, the body of, H. Col.
Christ, coming of, H. 1 Thess.
Christ, contrasted humiliation and exaltation of, H. Eph.
Christ, crucified, H. Gal.
Christ, death and life with, H. Col.
Christ, dignity and dominion of, H. Eph.
Christ, Divine fulness of, pledge of believer's perfection, H. Col.
Christ, enthusiasm for, H. Phil.
Christ, exaltation of, H. Phil.
Christ, excellent knowledge of, H. Phil.
Christ, Firstborn from dead, H. Col.
Christ, fulness of, H. Col.
Christ, gift of, H. Gal.
Christ, gifts of, to His church, H. Eph.
Christ, glorified in His people, N. 2 Thess.
Christ, glorying in cross of, H. Gal.
Christ, God known in, N. Eph.
Christ, great Peacemaker, H. Eph.
Christ, growth into, in love and truth, H. Eph.
Christ, Head of Church, H. Eph.
Christ, heroic devotion to, H. Phil.
Christ, hidden treasures of wisdom in, H. Col.
Christ, humiliation of, a pattern of supreme unselfishness, H. Phil.
Christ, in practical life, H. Col.
Christ in you the hope of glory, H. Col.
Christ, indwelling Word of, H. Col.
Christ, knowledge of, intended for all, N. Eph.
Christ, Law preparing for, H. Gal.
Christ, life in, present condition and future glory of, H. Col.
Christ, life of, only true idea of self-devotion, H. Phil.
Christ living in believer, and believer crucified with Christ, H. Gal.
Christ, love of, H. Eph.
Christ, loving, in sincerity, H. Eph.
Christ, members of body of, H. Eph.
Christ, name of, doing all in, H. Col.
Christ, obedient to Law, H. Gal.
Christ, odium of cross of, H. Gal.
Christ, our Life, H. Col.
Christ, our Pattern, H. Phil.
Christ, our Sacrifice, H. Gal.
Christ, poor representative of, I. Gal.
Christ, redemption through, H. Eph.
Christ, relation of, to God and all created things, H. Col.
Christ, relation to moral creation, H. Col.
Christ, riches of, N. Eph.
Christ, risen with, H. Col.
Christ, sacrifice of, H. Eph.
Christ, second advent of, H. 1 Thess.
Christ, coming of, attitude of Church towards, H. 1 Thess.
Christ, servant of, H. Gal.
Christ, the Christian's life, H. Phil.
Christ, the Inheritance of saints, N. Eph.
Christ, the only gain, H. Phil.
Christ the Reconciler, H. Col.
Christ the Redeemer, H. Phil.
Christ, true knowledge of, external religionism incomparable
with, H. Phil.
Christ, unsearchable riches of, N. Eph.
Christ, worthy of universal homage, H. Phil.
Christ's crucifixion, H. Phil.
Christ's love for the Church, H. Eph.
Christ's mission for adoption of sons in fulness of time, H. Gal.
Christ's resurrection, power of, H. Phil.
Christ's sacrifice of Himself explained, and man's duty to offer
spiritual sacrifice inferred and recommended, H. Eph.
Christ's sufferings, fellowship of, H. Phil.
Christ's truth in relation to our daily conversation, H. Col.
Christian benevolence, practical, H. Phil.
Christian boldness, H. Phil.
Christian bravery, exhortation to. H. Phil.
Christian brotherhood, H. Gal.
Christian brotherhood of men, H. Eph.
Christian character, apostolic estimate of, H. Col.
Christian character, essentials of, H. Col.
Christian character, love perfection of, H. Col.
Christian character, malice incompatible with, H. Eph.
Christian Church a family, H. Eph.
Christian circumcision, H. Col.
Christian citizenship, H. Phil.
Christian conduct, rule of, N. Eph.
Christian consistency, H. Gal.
Christian consistency, H. Phil.
Christian consistency, H. 2 Thess.
Christian contentment, H. Phil.
Christian conversation, H. Col.
Christian courtesy, H. Phil.
Christian courtesy, H. 2 Thess.
Christian, dead to law, H. Gal.
Christian duty, suggestive summary of law of, H. Col.
Christian duty to poor, N. Gal.
Christian equity, H. Phil.
Christian ethics, Paul's doctrine of, H. Eph.
Christian ethics, science of, H. Phil.
Christian excellence, eulogy of, H. Phil.
Christian experience, highest type of, H. Phil.
Christian fidelity, H. 2 Thess.
Christian forgiveness, H. Eph.
Christian forgiveness. H. Col.
Christian fortitude, call to, H. Eph.
Christian generosity, H. Gal.
Christian generosity, H. Phil.
Christian greeting, H. Phil.
Christian greetings and counsels, H. Col.
Christian holiness, H. 1 Thess.
Christian humility, H. Col.
Christian humility, illustrated in character of Paul, H. Eph.
Christian inheritance, assurance of. H. Eph.
Christian joy, H. Phil.
Christian law of marriage, H. Eph.
Christian law of prayer, H. Eph.
Christian liberty, H. Gal.
Christian liberty, love the highest law of, H. Gal.
Christian life a Divine creation, H. Eph.
Christian life a race, H. Gal.
Christian life, dignity of, H. Eph.
Christian life, liberality a fruit of, H. Phil.
Christian life, Lord's Supper sample of, H. Col.
Christian life, perpetual thanksgiving of, H. 1 Thess.
Christian life, poetry of, H. Col.
Christian life, suggestive features of, H. Col.
Christian love, prayer for, H. Phil.
Christian manhood, true, H. Eph.
Christian maturity, H. Eph.
Christian minister, devoted, H. Phil.
Christian ministry, H. Col.
Christian ministry, efficacy of, H. Gal.
Christian ministry, pre-eminent honour and sublime theme of, H. Col.
Christian ministry, real and counterfeit in, H. Phil.
Christian ministry, solemn and responsible trust, H. Col.
Christian mirth _versus_ drunken mirth, H. Eph.
Christian mission, projected, H. Phil.
Christian obedience, H. 2 Thess.
Christian perseverance, hope a stimulus to, H. Col.
Christian prayer, witness of Christian citizenship, H. Eph.
Christian precepts, group of, H. 1 Thess.
Christian principles applied to common life, H. Eph.
Christian principles, tendency of, to produce contentment, H. Phil.
Christian rectitude, H. Phil.
Christian reformation, H. Gal.
Christian religion, truth and dignity of, H. Eph.
Christian salutation, N. Gal.
Christian servitude, N. Eph.
Christian sobriety inculcated, H. Eph.
Christian spirit a new spirit, H. Eph.
Christian steadfastness, H. 2 Thess.
Christian steadfastness, glad tidings of, H. 1 Thess.
Christian sympathy, practical, H. Gal.
Christian temper, the same mind which was in Christ, H. Phil.
Christian, true glory of, H. Gal.
Christian truth, the girdle of, H. Eph.
Christian unity, H. Col.
Christian unity, an occasion of joy, H. Phil.
Christian waiting for his Deliverer, H. 1 Thess.
Christian warfare, H. Eph.
Christian warrior equipped, H. Eph.
Christian wisdom, H. Eph.
Christian work, disappointed hopes in, H. Gal.
Christian zeal, H. Gal.
Christian's armour, N. Eph.
Christian's estimate of living and dying, H. Phil.
Christian's imitation, duty and object of, H. Eph.
Christian's life, Christ the, H. Phil.
Christian's power, source of, H. Phil.
Christian's truest test and excellence, H. Eph.
Christians, doubtful, H. Gal.
Christians, examples to world, H. Phil.
Christians of different denominations, temper to be cultivated by,
toward each other, H. Phil.
Christianity and persecution, H. Gal.
Christianity and poverty, H. Gal.
Christianity and work, H. 2 Thess.
Christianity, harmony of, in its personal influence, H. Eph.
Christianity, hearty, H. Col.
Christianity, inviolability of, H. Gal.
Christianity, mercantile virtues without, H. Phil.
Christianity, nullified by legalism, H. Gal.
Christianity, superior to external rites, H. Gal.
Christly character, H. Gal.
Christmas of soul, N. Gal.
Church a Divine edifice, H. Eph.
Church a witness, N. Gal.
Church, apostolical care for, H. Eph.
Church, attitude of, towards second coming of Christ, H. 1 Thess.
Church, censure, N. Gal.
Church, Christ Head of, H. Eph.
Church, Christ's love for the, H. Eph.
Church, Christian, a family, H. Eph.
Church, complete in Christ, H. Eph.
Church concord, H. 1 Thess.
Church, Divine ideal of the, H. Eph.
Church edification, public reading of Holy Scriptures important
means of, H. Col.
Church, future glory of the, H. Eph.
Church, generous, H. Phil.
Church, gifts of Christ to His, H. Eph.
Church, growth of, H. Eph.
Church, how a, lives and grows, H. Col.
Church, joy of suffering for, H. Col.
Church, prosperous, congratulatory features of, H. 2 Thess.
Church quarrels, N. Gal.
Church, sevenfold unity of, reflected in Trinity of Divine persons, H. Eph.
Church, the body of Christ, H. Col.
Church, the habitation of God, N. Eph.
Church, the temple of God, N. Eph.
Church, troubles of, judgment on, H. Gal.
Church, unity and concord in, H. Phil.
Church, unity and concord of, H. Eph.
Church, universal, Jerusalem type of, H. Gal.
Church, welfare of, ministerial anxiety for, N. Phil.
Church-life, disorderly in, H. 2 Thess.
Church-life, side-lights on, in early times, H. Col.
Church-life, true, N. Eph.
Circumcision, Christian, H. Col.
Circumcision, spiritual, H. Phil.
Circumcision, true, H. Col.
Citizenship, Christian, H. Phil.
Citizenship, Christian prayer witness of Christian, H. Eph.
City, great, solitude of, H. 1 Thess.
Cities, large, dissipation of, H. Eph.
Claims, imperative, of Divine commission, H. Gal.
Clearer discernment in Divine things desired, H. Eph.
Closing words, H. 1 Thess.
College life, H. Eph.
Colossians, Epistle to--Colossæ and its people, N. Col.
Colossians, Epistle to--outline of Epistle, N. Col.
Colossians, Epistle to--style of Epistle, N. Col.
Colossians, Paul's prayer for, H. Col.
Comfort, religious, elements of, H. Eph.
Comforting one another, duty of, H. 1 Thess.
Coming of Christ, H. 1 Thess.
Commencement of Gospel at Philippi, H. Phil.
Commission, Divine, imperative claims of, H. Gal.
Commission, exalted, ministerial, H. Eph.
Common life, Christian principles applied to, H. Eph.
Communion of saints, H. Eph.
Companions, bad, I. Gal.
Complete man, sanctification of, H. 1 Thess.
Completeness of moral character, prayer for, H. 2 Thess.
Completing of soul, H. Col.
Comprehensive and sublime prayer, H. Eph.
Comprehensive apostolic prayer, H. Col.
Comprehensive apostolic prayer, H. 1 Thess.
Comprehensiveness of Gospel, N. Eph.
Concluding benediction, H. Gal.
Concord and unity in Church, H. Phil.
Concord, Church, H. 1 Thess.
Condition of man's final blessedness, H. Col.
Conduct, Christian, rule of, N. Eph.
Conduct of life, wise, H. Eph.
Confidence in believer's salvation, grounds of, H. Phil.
Confirmatory proofs of Divine call, H. Gal.
Conflict and suffering, H. Phil.
Conflict between Law and faith, H. Gal.
Congratulatory features of prosperous Church, H. 2 Thess.
Conscientiousness, reason for, I. 1 Thess.
Conscientiousness, respect for, I. 1 Thess.
Consecrated life, development of events in, H. Phil.
Consistency, Christian, H. Gal.
Consistency, Christian, H. Phil.
Consistency, Christian, H. 2 Thess.
Constant joy, I. Gal.
Contention, humility an antidote to, N. Phil.
Contentment, Christian, H. Phil.
Contentment, true, tendency of Christian principles to produce, H. Phil.
Conversation, Christian, H. Col.
Conversation, daily, Christ's truth in relation to our, H. Col.
Conversion and its evidences, H. 1 Thess.
Conversion and vocation of Paul, H. Gal.
Conversion, condition of Ephesians before, H. Eph.
Conversion, power of God in, N. Eph.
Conversion, test of suffering, H. 1 Thess.
Converts, joy of minister in his, H. 1 Thess.
Converts, new, dealing with, H. 1 Thess.
Co-operation of Divine and human in man's salvation, H. Phil.
Correct estimate of gospel truth, H. 1 Thess.
Counsels and greetings, Christian, H. Col.
Counterfeit and real in Christian ministry, H. Phil.
Counterfeits, godly zeal and its, H. Gal.
Courage under suffering, N. Eph.
Courtesy, apostolic, H. 2 Thess.
Courtesy, Christian, H. Phil.
Covenant of promise, Divine, H. Gal.
Covenants, Divine and human, H. Gal.
Covetousness which is idolatry, H. Col.
Cowardly retreat, I. Gal.
Created things, all, relation of Christ to God and, H. Col.
Creation, Christ and, N. Eph.
Creation, Divine, Christian life a, H. Eph.
Creation, new spiritual, N. Eph.
Creature, new, N. Gal.
Credentials, apostolic, H. Gal.
Cross a burden or a glory, H. Gal.
Cross, enemies of, H. Phil.
Cross, of Christ, glorying in, H. Gal.
Cross, odium of, H. Gal.
Cross, triumph of, H. Col.
Crucifixion, Christ's, H. Phil.
Crucifying flesh, H. Gal.
Culture, Divine, H. Phil.
Cure of care, H. Phil
Cure of vice and vain-glory, H. Gal.
Curse and sentence of Law, N. Gal.
Daily conversation, Christ's truth in relation to our, H. Col.
Danger of grieving Him, office of Holy Spirit and, H. Eph.
Danger, peace in, I. 2 Thess.
Darkness, children of, and of light, H. Eph.
Darkness, light in, N. Eph.
Darkness to light, from, H. Col.
Darkness, works of, N. Eph.
Day, happy, and its sequel, H. Phil.
Day of judgment, H. 2 Thess.
Day of Lord, H. 1 Thess.
Dead, Christ Firstborn from, H. Col.
Dead, resurrection of, an object to aim at, H. Phil.
Dead, sorrow for, H. 1. Thess.
Dead, to Law by Law, H. Gal.
Dealing with new converts, H. 1 Thess.
Death a peacemaker, N. Eph.
Death and life with Christ, H. Col.
Death and spiritual life, H. Col.
Death, Christian's life and, H. Phil.
Death, idleness and, I. 2 Thess.
Death, state of sin a state of, H. Eph.
Death to life, transition from, H. Col.
Deceived, be not, H. Gal.
Deceived sowers to flesh, H. Gal.
Deceivers and deceived, case of, considered, H. Eph.
Deceptive glamour of error, H. Gal.
Defence, fearless, of fundamental truth, H. Gal.
Defender of faith, astute, H. Gal.
Definiteness in prayer, H. Phil.
Deity, incarnate, H. Phil.
Deliverer, Christian waiting for his, H. 1 Thess.
Delusions, strong, H. 2 Thess.
Denominations, temper to be cultivated by Christians of different
towards each other, H. Phil.
Departed, faithful, sleep of. H. 1 Thess.
Dependence, mutual, law of, H. Eph.
Despise not prophesyings, H. 1 Thess.
Despiser, word to, H. 1 Thess.
Destiny, glorious, of human body, N. Phil.
Destructive subtlety of sin, H. 2 Thess.
Development of events in consecrated life, H. Phil.
Devil, wiles of, H. Eph.
Devoted Christian minister, H. Phil.
Devotion, true, H. Col.
Devout doxology, H. Eph.
Difference between Law and Gospel, H. Gal.
Difference, sowing to flesh and to Spirit, H. Gal.
Difficult and important mission, H. 1 Thess.
Dignified and touching farewell, H. Gal.
Dignity and dominion of Christ. H. Eph.
Dignity of Christian life, H. Eph.
Dignity of sonship with God, H. Gal.
Dilemma of turn-coats, H. Gal.
Disagreement, feminine, H. Phil.
Disappointed hopes in Christian work, H. Gal.
Discernment, clearer, in Divine things desired, H. Eph.
Discrimination, spiritual, H. Phil.
Disintegrating force of error, N. Gal.
Disobedience, folly of, H. Gal.
Disobedient, H. 2 Thess.
Disorderly in Church-life, H. 2 Thess.
Dissipation of large cities, H. Eph.
Distinctive features of true sanctification, H. 1 Thess.
Disturber of faith, H. Gal.
Divine act, salvation a, H. 2 Thess.
Divine and human covenants, H. Gal.
Divine and human, co-operation of, in man's salvation, H. Phil.
Divine blessing highest sanction of ministerial authority, N. Gal.
Divine call, confirmatory proofs of, H. Gal.
Divine call to apostleship, H. Gal.
Divine commission, imperative claims of, H. Gal.
Divine covenant of promise, H. Gal.
Divine creation, Christian life a, H. Eph.
Divine culture, H. Phil.
Divine edifice, Church a, H. Eph.
Divine faithfulness, H. 2 Thess.
Divine fulness of Christ pledge of believer's perfection, H. Col.
Divine grace, frustrating, N. Gal.
Divine grace, glory of, H. Eph.
Divine grace, salvation an act of, H. Eph.
Divine ideal of the Church, H. Eph.
Divine Judge, H. 2 Thess.
Divine life, positiveness of, H. Gal.
Divine love and patience, H. 2 Thess.
Divine peace, rule of, H. Col.
Divine, Trinity of, sevenfold unity of Church reflected in, H. Eph.
Divine promise, Law not contrary to, H. Gal.
Divine retribution, H. 2 Thess.
Divine strength, H. Col.
Divine things, clearer discernment in, desired, H. Eph.
Divinity and truth of Christian religion, H. Eph.
Doctrine of Christian ethics, Paul's, H. Eph.
Doctrine of predestination, N. Eph.
Doing all for God, H. Col.
Doing all in name of Christ, H. Col.
Doing good, on, H. Gal.
Dominion and dignity of Christ, H. Eph.
Double harvest, H. Gal.
Doubtful Christians, H. Gal.
Doxology, devout, H. Eph.
Drunken mirth _versus_ Christian mirth, H. Eph.
Drunkenness, vice of, H. Eph.
Duty and object of Christian imitation, H. Eph.
Duty, Christian, suggestive summary of law of, H. Col.
Duty of believers in evil day, H. Eph.
Duty of comforting one another, H. 1 Thess.
Duty of thanksgiving, H. Eph.
Duties of children and parents, H. Eph.
Duties of children and parents, H. Col.
Duties of servants and masters, H. Eph.
Duties of servants and masters, H. Col.
Duties of wives and husbands, H. Eph.
Duties of wives and husbands, H. Col.
Dying and living, Christian's estimate of, H. Phil.
Early Christians, faith of, H. Eph.
Early Church, glimpses of life in, H. Phil.
Early times, side-lights on Church-life in, H. Col.
Earnest of inheritance, Holy Spirit an, H. Eph.
Earth, heaven and, family in, H. Eph.
Edification, Church, public reading of Holy Scriptures important
means of, H. Col.
Edifice, Divine, Church a, H. Eph.
Effective preaching, secret of, H. Col.
Effects, evidences and, of revival, H. 1 Thess.
Effects of Gospel upon those who receive it, H. Phil.
Effectual mediator, I. Gal.
Efficacy of Christian ministry, H. Gal.
Efficacy of prayer, H. Col.
Efficacy of Word of God, and way of receiving it, H. 1 Thess.
Ejaculatory prayer, and self-recollectedness, H. 1. Thess.
Election, mystery of, N. Eph.
Election of God, H. 1 Thess.
Elements, essential, of success in preaching, H. 1 Thess.
Elements of religious comfort, H. Eph.
Empty boasting, H. Gal.
Enchanted ground, pilgrims on, H. 1 Thess.
End of creation, Christ Author and, H. Col.
Enemies of believers, H. Eph.
Enemies of cross, H. Phil.
Enemies of man, invisible, H. Eph.
Enjoyment, spiritual, H. Eph.
Enlarged Gospel, H. Eph.
Enlightenment, spiritual, N. Eph.
Enmity of heart, power of Gospel to dissolve, N. Eph.
Enthusiasm for Christ, H. Phil.
Ephesians before conversion, conditions of, H. Eph.
Ephesians, Epistle to--analysis of Epistle, N. Eph.
Ephesians, Epistle to--genuineness of Epistle, N. Eph.
Ephesians, Epistle to--practical design of Epistle, N. Eph.
Ephesians, Epistle to--to whom sent, N. Eph.
Ephesians, Paul's prayer for, H. Eph.
Equal to Father, Christ a revelation because, H. Col.
Equity, Christian, H. Phil.
Erring apostle, H. Gal.
Erring, restoration of, H. Gal.
Error, deceptive glamour of, H. Gal.
Error, disintegrating force of, N. Gal.
Error, safeguards against, H. Phil.
Errors respecting forgiveness of sin, H. Eph.
Essential elements of success in preaching, H. 1 Thess.
Essentials of Christian character, H. Col.
Estimate of Gospel truth, correct, H. 1 Thess.
Eternal praise should be offered unto God, H. Phil.
Ethics, Christian, Paul's doctrine of, H. Eph.
Ethics, science of, H. Phil.
Eulogy of Christian excellence, H. Phil.
Evangelical consistency, H. Phil.
Every man has his own burden, H. Gal.
Evidence, truth its own, H. Gal.
Evidences and effects of revival, H. 1 Thess.
Evidences of conversion, H. 1 Thess.
Evidences of sonship, H. Gal.
Evil angels, H. Eph.
Evil day, duty of believers in, H. Eph.
Evils, worst of, H. Eph.
Exaltation, contrasted humiliation and, of Christ, H. Eph.
Exaltation of Christ, H. Phil.
Exaltation of labour, Paul's, H. Eph.
Exalted ministerial commission, H. Eph.
Example, power of, N. Gal.
Example, power of, H. 1 Thess.
Examples, good and bad, H. Phil.
Excellence, Christian, eulogy of, H. Phil.
Excellence, Christian's truest test and, H. Eph.
Excellency of knowledge of Christ, H. Phil.
Excellent knowledge of Christ, H. Phil.
Excitement, sensual and spiritual, H. Eph.
Exhortations, earnest, to higher sanctity, H. 1 Thess.
Experience, Christian, highest type of, H. Phil.
Exposure, apostolic, of false teachers, H. Gal.
External religionism incomparable with true knowledge of
Christ, H. Phil.
External rites, Christianity superior to, H. Gal.
Extremity, joy of good man in, H. Phil.
Faith, active, righteousness attained by, N. Gal.
Faith and Law, conflict between, H. Gal.
Faith, astute defender of, H. Gal.
Faith, disturber of, H. Gal.
Faith, justification by, H. Eph.
Faith, justification, not by works, N. Gal.
Faith, justification, not by works, H. Gal.
Faith, justification, not by works, I. Gal.
Faith, life of, H. Gal.
Faith of early Christians, H. Eph.
Faith of man and faithfulness of God, H. 1 Thess.
Faith, reasonableness of, H. Gal.
Faith, righteousness through, H. Gal.
Faith, salvation by, H. Eph.
Faith, working by love, religion is, H. Gal.
Faithful departed, sleep of, H. 1 Thess.
Faithful minister, N. Eph.
Faithful reproof, N. Gal.
Faithfulness of God, H. 2 Thess.
Faithfulness of God and faith of man, H. 1 Thess.
False alarm, H. 2 Thess.
False and true in religion, H. Phil.
False and true zeal, H. Gal.
False brethren and their treatment, H. Gal.
False methods of salvation, H. Gal.
False philosophy, marks of, H. Col.
False philosophy, seductive peril of, H. Col.
False teachers, apostolic exposure of, H. Gal.
False teachers, emphatic warnings against, H. Phil.
False teaching, perils of, H. Gal.
Falsehood, sin of, H. Eph.
Family, Christian Church a, H. Eph.
Family, in heaven and earth, H. Eph.
Family, one, H. Eph.
Farewell, dignified and touching, H. Gal.
Farewell, words of, H. Col.
Fate of unbelievers, H. Gal.
Father, access to, privilege of, H. Eph.
Father, Christ a revelation because equal to, H. Col.
Father, God our, H. Phil.
Father, God the, H. Eph.
Father's charge, a, H. Eph.
Fearless defence of fundamental truth, H. Gal.
Features, congratulatory, of prosperous Church, H. 2 Thess.
Features, distinctive, of true sanctification, H. 1 Thess.
Features of believer's life in Christ, H. Phil.
Features of Christian life, suggestive, H. Col.
Feeling, past, N. Eph.
Fellowship in Gospel, H. Phil.
Fellowship in wickedness, and its condemnation, H. Eph.
Fellowship of Christ's sufferings, H. Phil.
Fellowship of mystery, H. Eph.
Feminine disagreement, H. Phil.
Fidelity, Christian, H. 2 Thess.
Fidelity, in ministry, H. Gal.
Fidelity to truth, N. Gal.
Fidelity unswerving, in accomplishing its lofty mission, Christian
ministry demands, H. Col.
Final blessedness, condition of man's, H. Col.
Firstborn from dead, Christ, H. Col.
Flesh and spirit, H. Gal.
Flesh, crucifying, H. Gal.
Flesh, deceived sowers to, H. Gal.
Flesh, works of, H. Gal.
Folly of disobedience, H. Gal.
Foolish talking and jesting, against, H. Eph.
Force of error, disintegrating, N. Gal.
Forgiveness, Christian, H. Eph.
Forgiveness, Christian, H. Col.
Forgiveness of sin, errors respecting, H. Eph.
Forlorn state of Gentile world, H. Eph.
Formalism tested and found wanting, H. Phil.
Fortitude, Christian, call to, H. Eph.
Free grace, working out salvation harmonises with, H. Phil.
Freedom from bondage, N. Gal.
Fruit of Christian life, liberality, H. Phil.
Fruit of Spirit, H. Gal.
Fruits of righteousness, H. Phil.
Frustrating Divine grace, N. Gal.
Fulness of Christ, H. Col.
Fulness Divine, pledge of believer's perfection, H. Col.
Fulness of time, H. Gal.
Fundamental truth, fearless defence of, H. Gal.
Fury of old religion against new, H. 1 Thess.
Future glory of the Church, H. Eph.
Future present condition and, of life in Christ, H. Col.
Future life, H. Eph.
Gain, Christ the only, H. Phil.
Galatians, Epistle to--authorship of Epistle, N. Gal.
Galatians, Epistle to--character of Galatians, N. Gal.
Galatians, Epistle to--purpose and analysis, N. Gal.
Galatians, Epistle to--time of writing, N. Gal.
Generosity, Christian, H. Gal.
Generosity, Christian, H. Phil.
Generous Church, H. Phil.
Gentile life--a warning, H. Eph.
Gentile world, forlorn state of, H. Eph.
Gentiles, calling of, H. Eph.
Gentleness, grace of, H. Gal.
Genuine religion illustrated, H. 2 Thess.
Germ of spurious ministry, H. Phil.
Gift of Christ, H. Gal.
Gifts of Christ to His church, H. Eph.
Girdle of truth, H. Eph.
Glad tidings of Christian steadfastness, H. 1 Thess.
Glamour of error, deceptive, H. Gal.
Glimpses of life in early Church, H. Phil.
Glorious destiny of human body, N. Phil.
Glory, future, of the Church, H. Eph.
Glory, hope of, Christ in you the, H. Col.
Glory of Divine grace, H. Eph.
Glory of Gospel, H. Col.
Glory of sainthood, H. 2 Thess.
Glory or a burden, cross, H. Gal.
Glorying in cross of Christ, H. Gal.
God, access to, H. Eph.
God, revealing Trinity in unity, H. Eph.
God, children of, H. Gal.
God, Church the habitation of, N. Eph.
God, doing all for, H. Col.
God, election of, H. 1 Thess.
God, eternal praise should be offered unto, H. Phil.
God, faithfulness of, H. 2 Thess.
God, faithfulness and faith of man, H. 1 Thess.
God, glorified in good men, N. Gal.
God, glorified in His servant, H. Gal.
God, ignorance of, a spiritual bondage, N. Gal.
God, imitation of, N. Eph.
God, known in Christ, N. Eph.
God, life of, H. Eph.
God, light of, H. Eph.
God, likeness to, H. Eph.
God, man without, N. Eph.
God, manifold wisdom of, H. Eph.
God, masters accountable to, N. Eph.
God, nearness to, H. Eph.
God, omnipresent, H. 2 Thess.
God, our Father, H. Phil.
God, peace of, keeping heart, H. Phil.
God, relation of Christ to, and all created things, H. Col.
God, salvation is of, H. 1 Thess.
God, singing in worship of, H. Eph.
God, sonship with, dignity of, H. Gal.
God, temple of, Church the, H. Eph.
God, the Father, H. Eph.
God, true Israel of, H. Gal.
God, unity of, and His purpose regarding men, H. Gal.
God, whole armour of, H. Eph.
God, wrath of, H. Col.
God's infinite liberality, H. Eph.
God's offspring, N. Gal.
God's riches, man's need supplied from, H. Phil.
God's sabbatic law antedated Mosaic Law, N. Gal.
God's work and man's care--salvation, H. Phil.
Godless and hopeless, H. Eph.
Godly zeal and its counterfeits, H. Gal.
God-made minister, N. Eph.
Good and bad examples, H. Phil.
Good, hold fast that which is, H. 1 Thess.
Good hope through grace, H. 2 Thess.
Good, imitation of, H. Phil.
Good man, joy of, in extremity, H. Phil.
Good men, God glorified in, N. Gal.
Good news and its good effects, H. Col.
Good, on doing, H. Gal.
Good works, grace and, H. 1 Thess.
Gospel, a Divine revelation, H. Gal.
Gospel, a mystery, H. Eph.
Gospel, Abrahamic, H. Gal.
Gospel, according to Mark, H. Eph.
Gospel, ambassador, H. Eph.
Gospel and call to preach it, H. Gal.
Gospel and Law, difference between, H. Gal.
Gospel and Law, history of Sarah and Hagar allegorical of, H. Gal.
Gospel at Philippi, commencement of, H. Phil.
Gospel, call of, to sinners, H. Eph.
Gospel, change effected by, H. 1 Thess.
Gospel, comes to believing soul, manner in which, H. 1 Thess.
Gospel, comprehensiveness of, N. Eph.
Gospel, effects of, upon those who receive it, H. Phil.
Gospel, enlarged, H. Eph.
Gospel, fellowship in, H. Phil.
Gospel, glory of, H. Col.
Gospel, great change effected in man by, H. Eph.
Gospel, in word and in power, H. 1 Thess.
Gospel, inviolable unity of, H. Gal.
Gospel, irrepressible, H. Phil.
Gospel, manifests itself, H. Col.
Gospel, mystery of, H. Eph.
Gospel of grace, praise for work of Trinity in, H. Eph.
Gospel of peace, H. Eph.
Gospel of your salvation, H. Eph.
Gospel, one, H. Gal.
Gospel, power of, N. Gal.
Gospel, power to dissolve enmity of heart, N. Eph.
Gospel, practical result of true reception of, H. 1 Thess.
Gospel, preaching of, not in vain, H. 1 Thess.
Gospel, profession of, uncleanness inconsistent with, H. 1 Thess.
Gospel, remonstrance with revolters against, H. Gal.
Gospel, state of men without, H. Eph.
Gospel, superhuman origin of, H. Gal.
Gospel, superhuman origin of, N. Gal.
Gospel, true, to be preached and believed, H. Gal.
Gospel, true, universally the same, H. Col.
Gospel, truth, correct estimate of, H. 1 Thess.
Gospel, use of Law under, H. Gal.
Government of tongue, H. Eph.
Grace and good works, H. 1 Thess.
Grace and peace, H. Gal.
Grace, Divine, glory of, H. Eph.
Grace, Divine, salvation an act of, H. Eph.
Grace, frustrating Divine, N. Gal.
Grace, good hope through, H. 2 Thess.
Grace, Gospel of, praise for work of Trinity in, H. Eph.
Grace, growth in, H. 2 Thess.
Grace of gentleness, H. Gal.
Grace of God, justification by works makes void the, H. Gal.
Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, H. Phil.
Grace, promise of, N. Gal.
Grace, salvation is of, H. Eph.
Grace sovereign, pardon an act of, N. Eph.
Grace, state by nature and by, H. Eph.
Grace, state of, H. Eph.
Great blessing of redemption, H. Col.
Great city, solitude of, H. 1 Thess.
Great Mediator, reconciling work of, H. Col.
Great moral translation, H. Col.
Great prison, N. Gal.
Great truths, two, presentation of, H. Col.
Greeting, Christian, H. Phil.
Greetings and counsels, Christian, H. Col.
Grieving the Holy Spirit, H. Eph.
Ground, enchanted, pilgrims on, H. 1 Thess.
Group of Christian precepts, H. 1 Thess.
Growth, humility a, N. Eph.
Growth in grace, H. 2 Thess.
Growth in personal piety, prayer for, H. 1 Thess.
Growth into Christ in love and truth, H. Eph.
Growth of Church, H. Eph.
Guidance of Spirit, H. Gal.
Habitation of God, Church the, N. Eph.
Hagar and Sarah, history of, allegorical of Law and Gospel, H. Gal.
Handwriting of ordinances, H. Col.
Happy day and its sequel, H. Phil.
Happy life, secret of, H. 1 Thess.
Happy memories, H. Phil.
Harmony of Christianity in its personal influence, H. Eph.
Harvest, double, H. Gal.
Harvest, spiritual, principle of, H. Gal.
Head of Church, Christ, H. Eph.
Headship of Christ, H. Eph.
Heart, enmity of, power of Gospel to dissolve, N. Eph.
Heart, peace of God keeping, H. Phil.
Heart, what is your, filled with? H. Eph.
Hearty Christianity, H. Col.
Heaven and earth, family in, H. Eph.
Heaven, qualification for, H. Col.
Heaven, rest in, for troubled, H. 2 Thess.
Heirs according to promise, H. Gal.
Heroic devotion to Christ, H. Phil.
Hidden treasures of wisdom in Christ, H. Col.
High moral feeling that should influence preacher, H. 1 Thess.
Higher aspirations of soul, H. Col.
Higher sanctity, earnest exhortations to, H. 1 Thess.
Higher spiritual knowledge, prayer for, H. Eph.
Highest type of Christian experience, H. Phil.
Hindrances, Satanic, H. 1 Thess.
History of Hagar and Sarah allegorical of Law and Gospel, H. Gal.
Hold fast that which is good, H. 1 Thess.
Holiness, Christian, H. 1 Thess.
Holiness, supreme end of reconciliation, H. Col.
Holy Ghost the Sanctifier, H. 2 Thess.
Holy Scriptures, public reading of, important means of church
edification, H. Col.
Holy Scriptures, public reading of, important means of church
edification, H. 1 Thess.
Holy Spirit and earnest of inheritance, H. Eph.
Holy Spirit, grieving the, H. Eph.
Holy Spirit, office of, and danger of grieving Him, H. Eph.
Homage, Christ worthy of universal, H. Phil.
Home-life, sanctity of, N. Eph.
Honour, pre-eminent, and sublime theme of Christian ministry, H. Col.
Hope a stimulus to Christian perseverance, H. Col.
Hope, good, through grace, H. 2 Thess.
Hope of glory, Christ in you the, H. Col.
Hopes, disappointed, in Christian work, H. Gal.
Hopeless and godless, H. Eph.
Household, piety in, H. Col.
Human and Divine, co-operation of, in man's salvation, H. Phil.
Human and Divine covenants, H. Gal.
Human body, resurrection of, H. Phil.
Humiliation and exaltation of Christ, contrasted, H. Eph.
Humiliation of Christ a pattern of supreme unselfishness, H. Phil.
Humility a growth, N. Eph.
Humility an antidote to contention, H. Phil.
Humility Christian, H. Col.
Humility Christian, illustrated in character of Paul, H. Eph.
Humility, Paul's, H. Eph.
Husbands and wives, duties of, H. Eph.
Husbands and wives, duties of, H. Col.
Hypocrisy, profession without, N. Gal.
Ideal, Divine, of the Church, H. Eph.
Idleness and death, I. 2 Thess.
Idolatry, covetousness which is, H. Col.
Ignorance of God a spiritual bondage, N. Gal.
Imitation, Christian's duty and object of, H. Eph.
Imitation, moral, H. Col.
Imitation of God, N. Eph.
Imitation of good, H. Phil.
Imitators of Abraham's faith, H. Gal.
Imperative claims of Divine commission, H. Gal.
Important and difficult mission, H. 1 Thess.
Imposition, warning against, H. 2 Thess.
Incarnate Deity, H. Phil.
Individual character, sowing and reaping in their bearing on
formation of, H. Gal.
Industry secret of success, H. 2 Thess.
Industry the true charity, I. 2 Thess.
Indwelling Word of Christ, H. Col.
Inexorability of Law, H. Gal.
Inferiority of Law, H. Gal.
Infinite liberality, God's, H. Eph.
Influence, moral, H. Phil.
Influence, spiritual, varied aspects of, H. 1 Thess.
Inheritance, Christian, assurance of, H. Eph.
Inheritance of saints, Christ, N. Eph.
Inheritance, saintly, meetness for, H. Col.
Iniquity, mystery of, H. 2 Thess.
Interruptions in our work, and the way to deal with them, H. Eph.
Inviolability of Christianity, H. Gal.
Inviolable unity of Gospel, H. Gal.
Invisible enemies of man, H. Eph.
Irrepressible, Gospel, H. Phil.
Israel of God, true, H. Gal.
Jerusalem above, H. Gal.
Jerusalem, type of universal church, H. Gal.
Jesting and talking, against foolish, H. Eph.
Jesus Christ, adoption of children by, H. Eph.
Jesus Christ, believer exalted together with, H. Eph.
Jesus, name of, H. Phil.
Jesus, suffering for, H. Gal.
Jesus, supremacy of, H. Eph.
Jesus, unselfishness of, H. Gal.
Jews, persecuting, H. 1 Thess.
Joy, Christian, H. Phil.
Joy, Christian, unity an occasion of, H. Phil.
Joy, constant, I. Gal.
Joy of good man in extremity, H. Phil.
Joy of minister in his converts, H. 1 Thess.
Joy of ministerial success, H. Phil.
Joy of suffering for Church, H. Col.
Joy, pure, H. Phil.
Joy, religious, H. 1 Thess.
Judge, Divine, H. 2 Thess.
Judgment, day of, H. 2 Thess.
Judgment, on troubles of Church, H. Gal.
Just, resurrection of, H. Phil.
Justification by faith, H. Eph.
Justification, not of works, N. Gal.
Justification, not of works, H. Gal.
Justification, not of works, I. Gal.
Justifying faith, true, is not of ourselves, N. Eph.
Knowledge and wisdom, Christ the treasury of, N. Col.
Knowledge of Christ, excellent, H. Phil.
Knowledge of Christ, intended for all, N. Eph.
Knowledge, true, of Christ, external religionism incomparable
with, H. Phil.
Known and unknown love of Christ, H. Eph.
Labour, Paul's exaltation of, H. Eph.
Labour, self-denying, H. 2 Thess.
Large cities, dissipation of, H. Eph.
Last words, H. Phil.
Latitudinarianism, N. Gal.
Law and faith, conflict between, H. Gal.
Law and Gospel, difference between, H. Gal.
Law and Gospel, history of Hagar and Sarah allegorical of, H. Gal.
Law and promise, N. Gal.
Law, Christ obedient to, H. Gal.
Law, Christian dead to, H. Gal.
Law, curse and sentence of, N. Gal.
Law, fulfilled in love to others, H. Gal.
Law, inexorability of, H. Gal.
Law, inferiority of, H. Gal.
Law is for transgressors, H. Gal.
Law, lesson from the, H. Gal.
Law not contrary to Divine promise, H. Gal.
Law of Christian liberty, love the highest, H. Gal.
Law of marriage, Christian, H. Eph.
Law of mutual dependence, H. Eph.
Law of retribution, H. Gal.
Law, our schoolmaster, H. Gal.
Law, preparing for Christ, H. Gal.
Law, under, H. Gal.
Law, use of, H. Gal.
Leading of Spirit, N. Gal.
Legal bondage and spiritual freedom contrasted, H. Gal.
Legal prescriptions, no trust in, N. Gal.
Legalism a relapse, H. Gal.
Legalism, Christianity nullified by, H. Gal.
Lesson from the Law, H. Gal.
Liberality a fruit of Christian life, H. Phil.
Liberality, God's infinite, H. Eph.
Liberty, bondage and, H. Gal.
Liberty, Christian, H. Gal.
Liberty, Christian, abuse of, H. Gal.
Liberty, Christian, love the highest law of, H. Gal.
Liberty, Christian, right use of, H. Gal.
Life and death, Christian's, H. Phil.
Life and walk in Spirit, H. Gal.
Life, change of, religion, H. Col.
Life, Christ our, H. Col.
Life, Christian, a Divine creation, H. Eph.
Life, Christian, a race, H. Gal.
Life, Christian, dignity of, H. Eph.
Life, Christian, Lord's Supper example of, H. Col.
Life, common, Christian principles applied to, H. Eph.
Life, death and, with Christ, H. Col.
Life, death to, transition from, H. Col.
Life, future, H. Eph.
Life in Christ, present condition and future glory of, H. Col.
Life in early Church, glimpses of, H. Phil.
Life, misspent, review of, N. Gal.
Life, new, H. Col.
Life of Christ, only true idea of self-devotion, H. Phil.
Life of faith, H. Gal.
Life of God, H. Eph.
Life of love, H. Eph.
Life, wise conduct of, H. Eph.
Life, wise conduct of, H. Col.
Life, word of, living ministry and living Church, H. Phil.
Light, children of darkness and of, H. Eph.
Light, from darkness to, H. Col.
Light, in darkness, N. Eph.
Light, meetness for inheritance of saints in, H. Col.
Light, of God, H. Eph.
Light, spiritual, summons to, H. Eph.
Likeness to God, H. Eph.
Living and dying, Christian's estimate of, H. Phil.
Living ministry and living Church: Word of life, H. Phil.
Looking on things of others, H. Phil.
Lord, day of, H. 1 Thess.
Lord Jesus, marks of, H. Gal.
Lord, one, H. Eph.
Lord, rejoicing in, H. Phil.
Lord's Supper example of Christian life, H. Col.
Love an attendant of regeneration, H. Gal.
Love and patience, Divine, H. 2 Thess.
Love and truth, growth into Christ in, H. Eph.
Love, brotherly, H. 1 Thess.
Love in action, H. Eph.
Love, Christ's for the Church, H. Eph.
Love, Christian prayer for, H. Phil.
Love, faith working by, religion is, H. Gal.
Love for preacher, H. Gal.
Love, life of, H. Eph.
Love of Christ, H. Eph.
Love of God, adopting, H. Eph.
Love of Son of God to men, H. Gal.
Love, perfection of character, N. Gal.
Love, perfection of Christian character, H. Col.
Love, powers of, H. Gal.
Love, service of, H. Gal.
Love, the highest law of Christian liberty, H. Gal.
Love to others, Law fulfilled in, H. Gal.
Loving Christ in sincerity, H. Eph.
Lustre of blameless life, H. Phil.
Maintenance, ministerial, N. Gal.
Maintenance, ministerial, H. 2 Thess.
Malice incompatible with Christian character, H. Eph.
Man and man, truth between, H. Eph.
Man, Christian brotherhood of, H. Eph.
Man, faith of, and faithfulness of God, H. 1 Thess.
Man, great change effected in, by Gospel, H. Eph.
Man, invisible enemies of, H. Eph.
Man, justified by faith alone, I. Gal.
Man, mortification of sinful principle in, H. Col.
Man, unity of God and His purpose regarding, H. Gal.
Man, without God, N. Eph.
Man's care and God's work--salvation, H. Phil.
Man's duty to offer spiritual sacrifice inferred and recommended,
Christ's sacrifice of Himself explained, and, H. Eph.
Man's final blessedness, condition of, H. Col.
Man's need supplied from God's riches, H. Phil.
Manhood, true Christian, H. Eph.
Manifold wisdom of God, H. Eph.
Manners, bad, reform of, H. Gal.
Mark, Gospel according to, H. Eph.
Mark, pressing toward, H. Phil.
Marks of false philosophy, H. Col.
Marks of Lord Jesus, H. Gal.
Marked men, H. Gal.
Marriage, Christian law of, H. Eph.
Masters, accountable to God, N. Eph.
Masters, and servants, duties of, N. and H. Eph.
Masters, and servants, duties of, H. Col.
Maturity, Christian, H. Eph.
Mediator, effectual, I. Gal.
Mediator, Great, reconciling work of, H. Col.
Medical profession, religion and the, H. Col.
Meek, who are the? I. Gal.
Meekness and affection, power of, N. Gal.
Meekness and anger, H. Eph.
Meetness for saintly inheritance, H. Col.
Members of body of Christ, H. Eph.
Memory, H. 2 Thess.
Memories, happy, H. Phil.
Men, love of Son of God to, H. Gal.
Men, marked, H. Gal.
Men, state of, without Gospel, H. Eph.
Mercantile virtues without Christianity, H. Phil.
Messenger, Divinely commissioned, self-evidencing proof of, H. Gal.
Messenger of God, authority of, H. Gal.
Messenger, trusted, H. Eph.
Mind which was in Christ, Christian temper the same, H. Phil.
Mind your own business, H. 1 Thess.
Minister, boldness a duty in a, H. Eph.
Minister, devoted Christian, H. Phil.
Minister, faithful, N. Eph.
Minister, God-made, N. Eph.
Minister, joy of, in his converts, H. 1 Thess.
Minister, true qualification of, H. Gal.
Ministers, prayer for, H. 2 Thess.
Ministerial anxiety, N. Gal.
Ministerial anxiety, H. Col.
Ministerial anxiety, for welfare of Church, N. Phil.
Ministerial anxiety, prayer an expression of, H. 2 Thess.
Ministerial authority, Divine blessing highest sanction of, N. Gal.
Ministerial commission, exalted, H. Eph.
Ministerial life, anxieties of, H. Phil.
Ministerial maintenance, N. Gal.
Ministerial maintenance, H. 2 Thess.
Ministerial office, treatment due to, H. 1 Thess.
Ministerial request, H. 2 Thess.
Ministerial satisfaction, steadfastness of believers a source
of true, H. 1 Thess.
Ministerial success, joy of, H. Phil.
Ministerial thanksgiving, H. 1 Thess.
Ministerial thanksgiving, causes of, H. Col.
Ministry, apostle's view of his, H. Eph.
Ministry, Christian, H. Col.
Ministry, Christian, efficacy of, H. Gal.
Ministry, Christian, pre-eminent honour and sublime theme of, H. Col.
Ministry, Christian, real and counterfeit in, H. Phil.
Ministry, Christian, solemn and responsible trust, H. Col.
Ministry, fidelity in, H. Gal.
Ministry, of Paul's bonds, H. Phil.
Ministry, public, H. 1 Thess.
Ministry, spurious, H. Phil. 315
Ministry, work of, H. Eph.
Miracles, confirmatory of truth, N. Gal.
Mirth, Christian _versus_ drunken, H. Eph.
Mission, Christ's for adoption of sons in fulness of time, H. Gal.
Mission, difficult and important, H. 1 Thess.
Mission, projected Christian, H. Phil.
Mission, special, recognition of, H. Gal.
Misspent life, review of, N. Gal.
Mistaken zeal, H. Gal.
Model pastor, H. Col.
Moral bravery, picture of, H. Eph.
Moral character, prayer for completeness of, H. 2 Thess.
Moral creation, relation of Christ to, H. Col.
Moral feeling, high, that should influence preacher, H. 1 Thess.
Moral imitation, H. Col.
Moral influence, H. Phil.
Moral sleep, H. 1 Thess.
Moral sowing and reaping, H. Gal.
Moral stupidity, H. Eph.
Moral transformation, thorough, H. Eph.
Moral translation, great, H. Col.
Mortification of sinful principle in man, H. Col.
Mosaic Law, God's sabbatic law antedated, N. Gal.
Mutual dependence, law of, H. Eph.
Mutual duties of children and parents, H. Eph.
Mutual submission, H. Eph.
Mutual sympathy in burden-bearing, H. Gal.
Mystery, fellowship of, H. Eph.
Mystery, Gospel a, H. Eph.
Mystery, of election, N. Eph.
Mystery of Gospel, H. Eph.
Mystery of iniquity, H. 2 Thess.
Name of Christ, doing all in, H. Col.
Name of Jesus, H. Phil.
Names in book, H. Phil.
Nations, all, blessed in Abraham, N. Gal.
Nature and by grace, state by, H. Eph.
Nature, change of, religious affections are attended with, H. Eph.
Nature, new, necessity of, N. Gal.
Nature, new, spiritual, H. Col.
Nature, putting off old, and putting on new, H. Eph.
Nature, source, and purpose of spiritual blessings, H. Eph.
Nature, state of, H. Eph.
Nearness to God, H. Eph.
Necessity and perils of affliction, H. 1 Thess.
Necessity of new nature, N. Gal.
Need, man's supplied from God's riches, H. Phil.
Need, our, and our supply, H. Phil.
Neighbour's rights, regard for, I. Gal.
New birth begins our true life, I. Gal.
New converts, dealing with, H. 1 Thess.
New creature, N. Gal.
New fury of old religion against, H. 1 Thess.
New life, H. Col.
New nature, necessity of, N. Gal.
New nature, putting off old and putting on, H. Eph.
New spirit, Christian spirit a, H. Eph.
New spiritual creation, N. Eph.
New spiritual nature, H. Col.
News, good, and its good effects, H. Col.
News that gladdens, H. 1 Thess.
Noble attitude of sufferer for truth, H. Phil.
Noble self-sacrifice, I. Eph.
Non-age of pre-Christian world, H. Gal.
Obedience, H. Eph.
Obedience, Christian, H. 2 Thess.
Obedience should be prompt, N. 2 Thess.
Object and duty of Christian's imitation, H. Eph.
Odium of cross of Christ, H. Gal.
Office of Holy Spirit and danger of grieving Him, H. Eph.
Offspring, God's, N. Gal.
Old nature, putting off, and putting on new, H. Eph.
Old religion, fury of, against new, H. 1 Thess.
Omnipresent God, H. 2 Thess.
One body and one Spirit, N. Eph.
One family, H. Eph.
One Gospel, H. Gal.
One in Christ, all are, H. Gal.
One Lord, H. Eph.
One Spirit, one body and, H. Eph.
Oneness of Church, H. Eph.
Opportunity of beneficence, H. Gal.
Order and stability, apostolic praise of, H. Col.
Ordinances, handwriting of, H. Col.
Origin of Gospel, superhuman, H. Gal.
Others, looking on things of, H. Phil.
Others, sins of, H. Gal. 101
Pacific spirit proof of true sanctification, H. 1 Thess.
Pardon an act of sovereign grace, N. Eph.
Parents and children, duties of, H. Eph.
Parents and children, duties of, H. Col.
Past feeling, N. Eph.
Pastor, model, H. Col.
Pastors and people, H. Gal.
Patience and love, Divine, H. 2 Thess.
Pattern, Christ our, H. Phil.
Paul an example to believers, H. Phil.
Paul, Christian humility illustrated in character of, H. Eph.
Paul, conversion and vocation of, H. Gal.
Paul's bonds, ministry of, H. Phil.
Paul's doctrine of Christian ethics, H. Eph.
Paul's exaltation of labour, H. Eph.
Paul's humility, H. Eph.
Paul's introduction to Ephesian Epistle, H. Eph.
Paul's prayer for Colossians, H. Col.
Paul's prayer for Ephesians, H. Eph.
Paul's prayer for Thessalonians, H. 2 Thess.
Peace, Divine, rule of, H. Col.
Peace, Gospel of, H. Eph.
Peace, grace and, H. Gal.
Peace in danger, I. 2 Thess.
Peace of God keeping heart, H. Phil.
Peace the bond of unity, H. Eph.
Peace, unity and, H. Col.
Peacemaker, Christ great, H. Eph.
Peacemaker, death a, N. Eph.
People, pastors and, H. Gal.
Perfection, believer's Divine fulness of Christ pledge of, H. Col.
Perfection is attained, how, N. Gal.
Perfection of character, love, N. Gal.
Perfection of Christian character, love, H. Col.
Perils and necessity of affliction, H. 1 Thess.
Perils of false teaching, H. Gal.
Perils of suffering, H. 1 Thess.
Perils, peculiar, Christian ministry is surrounded by, H. Col.
Perpetual thanksgiving of Christian life, H. 1 Thess.
Perplexity, preacher's, H. Gal.
Persecuting Jews, H. 1 Thess.
Persecution, Christianity and, H. Gal.
Persecution, on, H. Gal.
Perseverance, Christian, hope stimulus to, H. Col.
Perseverance of saints, H. Phil.
Personal blessings of reconciliation, H. Col.
Personal influence, harmony of Christianity in its, H. Eph.
Personal piety, prayer for growth in, H. 1 Thess.
Perversion of apostolic preaching, H. Gal.
Perversion of truth, H. Gal.
Phases of apostolic greeting, H. 1 Thess.
Phases of apostolic greeting, H. 2 Thess.
Philippi, commencement of gospel at, H. Phil.
Philippians, Epistle to--Philippi and the Philippians, N. Phil.
Philippians, Epistle to--place and time of writing Epistle, N. Phil.
Philippians, Epistle to--occasion and contents of Epistle, N. Phil.
Philosophic vagaries, H. Col.
Philosophy, false, marks of, H. Col.
Picture of moral bravery, H. Eph.
Piety in household, H. Col.
Piety, personal, prayer for growth in, H. 1 Thess.
Pilgrims on enchanted ground, H. 1 Thess.
Plea for steadfastness, H. Phil.
Pleadings of anxious teacher with his pupils in peril, H. Gal.
Poetry of Christian life, H. Col.
Poor, Christian duty to, N. Gal.
Poor, remember the, H. Gal.
Poor, representative of Christ, I. Gal.
Positiveness of Divine life, H. Gal.
Poverty and Christianity, H. Gal.
Power, Christian's, source of, H. Phil.
Power, Gospel in word and in, H. 1 Thess.
Power, of Christ's resurrection, H. Phil.
Power, of example, N. Gal.
Power, of example, H. 1 Thess.
Power of God in conversion, N. Eph.
Power of Gospel, N. Gal.
Power of Gospel to dissolve enmity of heart, N. Eph.
Power of meekness and affection, N. Gal.
Power of Satan great but restricted, H. 1 Thess.
Power of truth, H. Gal.
Powers of love, H. Gal.
Practical atheism, H. Eph.
Practical Christian benevolence, H. Phil.
Practical Christian sympathy, H. Gal.
Practical life, Christ in, H. Col.
Practical proofs of apostleship, H. Gal.
Practical result of true reception of Gospel, H. 1 Thess.
Praise, eternal, should be offered unto God, H. Phil.
Praise for work of Trinity in Gospel of grace, H. Eph.
Pray for us, H. 1 Thess.
Prayer, access to God in, H. Eph.
Prayer, an expression of ministerial anxiety, H. 2 Thess.
Prayer and thanksgiving, H. 1 Thess.
Prayer, Christian law of, H. Eph.
Prayer, Christian, witness of Christian citizenship, H. Eph.
Prayer, comprehensive apostolic, H. Gal.
Prayer, comprehensive apostolic, H. 1 Thess.
Prayer, definiteness in, H. Phil.
Prayer, duty of, H. Eph.
Prayer, efficacy of, H. Col.
Prayer, for Christian love, H. Phil.
Prayer, for completeness of moral character, H. 2 Thess.
Prayer, for higher spiritual knowledge, H. Eph.
Prayer, for ministers, H. 2 Thess.
Prayer, for sanctification, H. 1 Thess.
Prayer, Paul's, for Colossians, H. Col.
Prayer, Paul's, for Ephesians, H. Eph.
Prayer, Paul's, for Thessalonians, H. 2 Thess.
Prayer, programme of, H. Eph.
Prayer, subjects of, H. Phil.
Prayer, sublime and comprehensive, H. Eph.
Prayer, true, H. Phil.
Praying and preaching, H. Col.
Praying in Spirit, H. Eph.
Praying with all prayer, H. Eph.
Preacher, high moral feeling that should influence, H. 1 Thess.
Preacher, love for, H. Gal.
Preacher, successful, H. Col.
Preacher's perplexity, H. Gal.
Preaching and praying, H. Col.
Preaching, apostolic, H. Col.
Preaching, apostolic, characterised by transparent truth, H. 1 Thess.
Preaching, apostolic, perversion of, H. Gal.
Preaching, effective, secret of, H. Col.
Preaching, essential elements of success in, H. 1 Thess.
Preaching of Gospel not in vain, H. 1 Thess.
Precepts, Christian, group of, H. 1 Thess.
Pre-Christian world, non-age of, H. Gal.
Predestination, doctrine of, N. Eph.
Prescriptions, legal, no trust in, N. Gal.
Present condition and future glory of life in Christ, H. Col.
Presentation of two great truths, N. Col.
Pressing towards mark, H. Phil.
Principle of spiritual harvest, H. Gal.
Principles above rules, N. Col.
Principles, Christian, applied to common life, H. Eph.
Prison, great, N. Gal.
Privilege of access to Father, H. Eph.
Privileges and character of children of God, H. Gal.
Profession of Gospel, uncleanness inconsistent with, H. 1 Thess.
Profession without hypocrisy, N. Gal.
Programme of prayer, H. Eph.
Progress of revelation, H. Gal.
Progress, retrospection the basis of, H. Col.
Projected Christian mission, H. Phil.
Promise and Law, N. Gal.
Promise, believers children of, H. Gal.
Promise, Divine, covenant of, H. Gal.
Promise, Divine, law not contrary to, H. Gal.
Promise, Gospel call and, H. Eph.
Promise, heirs according to, H. Gal.
Promise of grace, N. Gal.
Proof, confirmatory, of Divine call, H. Gal.
Proof, practical, of apostleship, H. Gal.
Prophesyings, despise not, H. 1 Thess.
Prosperous Church, congratulatory features of, H. 2 Thess.
Prove all things, H. 1 Thess.
Public ministry, H. 1 Thess.
Public reading of Holy Scriptures important means of Church
edification, H. Col.
Public reading of Holy Scriptures important means of Church
edification, H. 1 Thess.
Public worship, abuse of, H. 1 Thess.
Pupils in peril, pleadings of anxious teacher with his, H. Gal.
Pure joy, H. Phil.
Qualification for heaven, H. Col.
Qualification of true minister, H. Gal.
Quarrels, Church, N. Gal.
Quench not Spirit, H. 1 Thess.
Questions, searching, H. Gal.
Quiet, study to be, H. 1 Thess.
Quietness, way to value, I. 2 Thess.
Race, Christian life a, H. Gal.
Rationalism, H. 1 Thess.
Reading, public, of Holy Scriptures important means of Church
edification, H. Col.
Reading, public, of Holy Scriptures important means of Church
edification, H. 1 Thess.
Ready to go, but willing to wait, H. Phil.
Real and ceremonial in religion, H. Col.
Real and counterfeit in Christian ministry, H. Phil.
Reap if we faint not, H. Gal.
Reaping, moral sowing and, H. Gal.
Reaping, sowing and, in their bearing on formation of individual
character, H. Gal.
Reason for conscientiousness, I. 1 Thess.
Reasonableness of faith, H. Gal.
Reception of Gospel, true, practical result of, H. 1 Thess.
Recognition of special mission, H. Gal.
Recompense of suffering for truth, H. 2 Thess.
Reconciler, Christ the, H. Col.
Reconciliation, holiness supreme end of, H. Col.
Reconciliation, personal blessings of, H. Col.
Reconciling work of great Mediator, H. Col.
Rectitude, Christian, H. Phil.
Redeemer, Christ the, H. Phil.
Redeeming the time, H. Eph.
Redemption and its issues, H. Gal.
Redemption, great blessing of, H. Col.
Redemption of time, H. Eph.
Redemption through Christ, H. Eph.
Reform of bad manners, H. Gal.
Reformation, Christian, H. Gal.
Refractory, treatment of, H. 2 Thess.
Regard for neighbour's rights, I. Gal.
Regeneration, love an attendant of, H. Gal.
Rejoice evermore, H. 1 Thess.
Rejoicing in Lord, H. Phil.
Relapse, legalism a, H. Gal.
Relation of Christ to God and all created things, H. Col.
Relation to moral creation, H. Col.
Religion a change of life, H. Col.
Religion and the medical profession, H. Col.
Religion, ceremonial and real in, H. Col.
Religion, ceremonial in, transitory and unsatisfying, H. Col.
Religion, Christian, truth and divinity of, H. Eph.
Religion, false and true in, H. Phil.
Religion, genuine, illustrated, H. 2 Thess.
Religion, is faith working by love, H. Gal.
Religion, true, scriptural view of, H. Gal.
Religion, true and self-revealing, H. Eph.
Religionism, external, incomparable with true knowledge of
Christ, H. Phil.
Religious affections are attended with change of nature, H. Eph.
Religious comfort, elements of, H. Eph.
Religious joy, H. 1 Thess.
Religious life of apostle, H. Gal.
Remedy for worldly care, H. Phil.
Remember the poor, H. Gal.
Remonstrance with revolters against Gospel, H. Gal.
Reproof, brotherly, N. Gal.
Reproof, faithful, N. Gal.
Reproof, right mode of giving and receiving, H. Gal.
Request, ministerial, H. 2 Thess.
Respect for conscientiousness, I. 1 Thess.
Rest in heaven for trouble, H. 2 Thess.
Restoration of erring, H. Gal.
Result, practical, of true reception of Gospel, H. 1 Thess.
Resurrection, attainment of, H. Phil.
Resurrection, Christ's, power of, H. Phil.
Resurrection, of body, H. 1 Thess.
Resurrection of dead an object to aim at, H. Phil.
Resurrection of human body, H. Phil.
Retirement preparation for work, H. Gal.
Retreat, cowardly, I. Gal.
Retribution, Divine, H. 2 Thess.
Retribution, law of, H. Gal.
Retrospection the basis of progress, H. Col.
Revelation, Christ a, because equal to Father, H. Col.
Revelation, progress of, H. Gal.
Revelation, supernatural, N. Gal.
Review of misspent life, N. Gal.
Revival, evidences and effects of, H. 1 Thess.
Revolters against Gospel, remonstrance with, H. Gal.
Riches, God's, man's need supplied from, H. Phil.
Riches of Christ, N. Eph.
Riches, unsearchable, of Christ, N. Eph.
Right mode of giving and receiving reproof, H. Gal.
Right use of Christian liberty, H. Gal.
Rights, regard for neighbour's, I. Gal.
Righteousness attained by active faith, N. Gal.
Righteousness, fruits of, H. Phil.
Righteousness, through faith, H. Gal.
Risen with Christ, H. Col.
Rites, external, Christianity superior to, H. Gal.
Ritualist, zealous, H. Gal.
Rule of Christian conduct, N. Eph.
Rule of Divine peace, H. Col.
Rules, principles above, N. Col.
Sabbath, shadow and substance of, H. Col.
Sabbatic law, God's antedated Mosaic Law, N. Gal.
Sacrifice, Christ our, H. Gal.
Sacrifice, Christ's, of Himself explained, and man's duty to offer
spiritual sacrifice inferred and recommended, H. Eph.
Sacrifice of Christ, H. Eph.
Safeguards against error, H. Phil.
Saints, Christ the inheritance of, H. Eph.
Saints, communion of, H. Eph.
Saints, perseverance of, H. Phil.
Saints, what, should be, N. 2 Thess.
Sainthood, glory of, H. 2 Thess.
Saintly inheritance, meetness for, H. Col.
Salutation, apostolic, H. Eph.
Salutation, apostolic, H. Col.
Salutation, Christian, N. Gal.
Salvation, a Divine act, H. 2 Thess.
Salvation, an act of Divine grace, H. Eph.
Salvation, believer's, grounds of confidence in, H. Phil.
Salvation by faith, H. Eph.
Salvation, false methods of, H. Gal.
Salvation, God's work and man's care, H. Phil.
Salvation, Gospel of your, H. Eph.
Salvation is of God, H. 1 Thess.
Salvation is of grace, H. Eph.
Salvation, man's, co-operation of Divine and human in, H. Phil.
Same, true Gospel universally the, H. Col.
Sanctification of complete man, H. 1 Thess.
Sanctification, prayer for, H. 1 Thess.
Sanctification, true, brotherly love proof of, H. 1 Thess.
Sanctification, true, distinctive features of, H. 1 Thess.
Sanctification, true, pacific spirit, another proof of, H. 1 Thess.
Sanctifier, Holy Ghost the, H. 2 Thess.
Sanction of ministerial authority, Divine blessing highest, N. Gal.
Sanctity, higher, earnest exhortation to, H. 1 Thess.
Sanctity of home-life, N. Eph.
Sarah and Hagar, history of, allegorical of Gospel and Law, H. Gal.
Satan, power of, great but restricted, H. 1 Thess.
Satanic hindrances, H. 1 Thess.
Schoolmaster, Law our, H. Gal.
Science of Christian ethics, H. Phil.
Scriptural view of true religion, H. Gal.
Sealing of Spirit, N. Eph.
Searching questions, H. Gal.
Second advent of Christ, H. 1 Thess.
Second advent of Christ, waiting for, H. 2 Thess.
Second coming of Christ, attitude of Church towards, H. 1 Thess.
Second coming of Christ, and sorrow for dead, H. 1 Thess.
Secret of effective preaching, H. Col.
Secret of happy life, H. 1 Thess.
Secret of success, industry, H. 2 Thess.
Seductive peril of false philosophy, H. Col.
Seeking things above, H. Col.
Self abolished and replaced, I. Gal.
Self-conscious truth, H. Gal.
Self-denying labour, H. 2 Thess.
Self-devotion, life of Christ only true idea of, H. Phil.
Self-evidencing proof of Divinely commissioned messenger, H. Gal.
Self-sacrifice, noble, I. Eph.
Self-recollectedness and ejaculatory prayer, H. 1 Thess.
Sensual and spiritual excitement, H. Eph.
Sentence of Law, curse and, N. Gal.
Servant, God glorified in His, H. Gal.
Servant of Christ, H. Gal.
Servants and masters, duties of, H. Eph.
Servants and masters, duties of, H. Col.
Service of love, H. Gal.
Servitude, Christian, H. Eph.
Sevenfold unity of Church reflected in trinity of Divine Persons, H. Eph.
Shadow and substance of sabbath, H. Col.
Side-lights on Church-life in early times, H. Col.
Sin, all included under, N. Gal.
Sin, Biblical account of, N. Gal.
Sin, destructive subtlety of, H. 2 Thess.
Sin, forgiveness of, errors respecting, H. Eph.
Sin of falsehood, H. Eph.
Sin, state of, a state of death, H. Eph.
Sin, state of ungodliness, H. Eph.
Sins of others, H. Gal.
Sincerity in youth, value of, H. Phil.
Sincerity, loving Christ in, H. Eph.
Sinful anger, H. Eph.
Sinful principle in man, mortification of, H. Col.
Singing in worship of God, H. Eph.
Sinners, call of Gospel to, H. Eph.
Sleep, moral, H. 1 Thess.
Sleep of faithful departed, H. 1 Thess.
Slumbering souls and their awakening, H. Eph.
Sobriety, Christian, inculcated, H. Eph.
Solitude of great city, H. 1 Thess.
Son of God, love of, to men, H. Gal.
Sonship, evidences of, H. Gal.
Sonship with God, dignity of, H. Gal.
Sorrow for dead, H. 1 Thess.
Soul, believing, manner in which Gospel comes to, H. 1 Thess.
Soul, Christmas of, N. Gal.
Soul, completing of, H. Col.
Soul, higher aspirations of, H. Col.
Souls, slumbering, and their awakening, H. Eph.
Source of Christian's power, H. Phil.
Sovereign grace, pardon an act of, N. Eph.
Sowers to flesh, deceived, H. Gal.
Sowing and reaping in their bearing on formation of individual
character, H. Gal.
Sowing and reaping, moral, H. Gal.
Sowing to flesh and to spirit, difference between, H. Gal.
Sowing to Spirit, H. Gal.
Special mission, recognition of, H. Gal.
Spirit, being filled with, H. Eph.
Spirit, benefit conferred by, on believers, H. Eph.
Spirit, Bible sword of, H. Eph.
Spirit, Christian, a new spirit, H. Eph.
Spirit, flesh and, H. Gal.
Spirit, fruit of, H. Gal.
Spirit, leading of, N. Gal.
Spirit, one body and one, H. Eph.
Spirit, praying in, H. Eph.
Spirit, quench not, H. 1 Thess.
Spirit, sealing of, N. Eph.
Spirit, sowing to, H. Gal.
Spirit, walking in, H. Gal.
Spiritual and sensual excitement, H. Eph.
Spiritual attainment, H. Phil.
Spiritual blessings, H. Eph.
Spiritual blessings, apprehension of, H. Eph.
Spiritual bondage, ignorance of God a, N. Gal.
Spiritual building, Church of God a, H. Eph.
Spiritual circumcision, H. Phil.
Spiritual creation, new, H. Eph.
Spiritual discrimination, H. Phil.
Spiritual enjoyment, H. Eph.
Spiritual enlightenment, N. Eph.
Spiritual freedom and legal bondage contrasted, H. Gal.
Spiritual harvest, principle of, H. Gal.
Spiritual influence, varied aspects of, H. 1 Thess.
Spiritual knowledge, higher, prayer for, H. Eph.
Spiritual life, death and, H. Col.
Spiritual light, summons to, H. Eph.
Spiritual nature, new, H. Col.
Spiritual sacrifice, man's duty to offer, inferred and recommended,
and Christ's sacrifice of Himself explained, H. Eph.
Spurious ministry, H. Phil.
Spy, a, I. Gal.
Stability and order, apostolic praise of, H. Col.
State by nature and by grace, H. Eph.
State of grace, H. Eph.
State of men without Gospel, H. Eph.
State of nature, H. Eph.
State of sin a state of death, H. Eph.
State of sin a state of ungodliness, H. Eph.
Steadfastness, Christian, H. 2 Thess.
Steadfastness, glad tidings of, H. 1 Thess.
Steadfastness of believers a source of true ministerial
satisfaction, H. 1 Thess.
Steadfastness, plea for, H. Phil.
Stimulus to Christian perseverance, hope a, H. Col.
Strength, Divine, H. Col.
Strife of flesh and spirit, H. Gal.
Strong delusions, H. 2 Thess.
Study to be quiet, H. 1 Thess.
Stupidity, moral, H. Eph.
Sublime and comprehensive prayer, H. Eph.
Submission, mutual, H. Eph.
Substance and shadow of sabbath, H. Col.
Subtlety of sin, destructive, H. 2 Thess.
Success in preaching, essential elements of, H. 1 Thess.
Success, ministerial, joy of, H. Phil.
Success, secret of, industry, H. 2 Thess.
Successful preacher, H. Col.
Suffering and conflict, H. Phil.
Suffering, courage under, N. Eph.
Suffering for Church, joy of, H. Col.
Suffering for Jesus, H. Gal.
Suffering for truth, N. Gal.
Suffering for truth, recompense of, H. 2 Thess.
Suffering, perils of, H. 1 Thess.
Suffering test of conversion, H. 1 Thess.
Suffering, uses of, N. Gal.
Sufferings, Christ's, fellowship of, H. Phil.
Suggestive benediction, H. Eph.
Suggestive features of Christian life, H. Col.
Summary of law of Christian duty, suggestive, H. Col.
Summons to spiritual light, H. Eph.
Superhuman origin of Gospel, H. Gal.
Superhuman origin of Gospel, N. Gal.
Supernatural revelation, N. Gal.
Supper, Lord's, sample of Christian life, H. Col.
Supply, our need and our, H. Phil.
Supremacy of Jesus, H. Eph.
Sword of Spirit, Bible, H. Eph.
Sympathy, mutual, in burden-bearing, H. Gal.
Sympathy, practical Christian, H. Gal.
Talking and jesting, against foolish, H. Eph.
Teacher, anxious, pleadings of, with his pupils in peril, H. Gal.
Teachers, false, apostolic exposure of, H. Gal.
Teaching, false, perils of, H. Gal.
Teachings of baptism, H. Gal.
Temper, Christian, the same mind which was in Christ, H. Phil.
Temper to be cultivated in Christians of different denominations
toward each other, H. Phil.
Temple of God, Church the, H. Eph.
Test and excellence, Christian's truest, H. Eph.
Test of conversion--suffering, H. 1 Thess.
Thanksgiving and prayer, H. 1 Thess.
Thanksgiving, duty of, H. Eph.
Thanksgiving, ministerial, H. 1 Thess.
Thanksgiving, ministerial, causes of, H. Col.
Thanksgiving, perpetual, of Christian life, H. 1 Thess.
Theft, warning against, H. Eph.
Thessalonians, First Epistle to--contents of the epistle, N. 1 Thess.
Thessalonians, First Epistle to--occasion and design of
Epistle, N. 1 Thess.
Thessalonians, First Epistle to--Thessalonica and its
Church, N. 1 Thess.
Thessalonians, Second Epistle to--occasion and design of
Epistle, N. 2 Thess.
Thessalonians, Second Epistle to--outline of Epistle, N. 2 Thess.
Thessalonians, Second Epistle to--style and character of
Epistle, N. 2 Thess.
Thessalonians, Paul's prayer for, H. 2 Thess.
Thorough moral transformation, H. Eph.
Tidings, glad, of Christian steadfastness, H. 1 Thess.
Time, fulness of, H. Gal.
Time, redeeming the, H. Eph.
Time, worth of, H. Col.
Tongue, government of, H. Eph.
Touching and dignified farewell, H. Gal.
Transcendent love of Christ, H. Eph.
Transformation, thorough moral, H. Eph.
Transgressors, Law is for, H. Gal.
Transition from death to life, H. Col.
Transitory and unsatisfying, ceremonial in religion, H. Col.
Translation, great moral, H. Col.
Treasures of wisdom in Christ, hidden, H. Col.
Treasury of wisdom and knowledge, Christ the, N. Col.
Treatment due to ministerial office, H. 1 Thess.
Treatment, false brethren and their, H. Gal.
Treatment of refractory, H. 2 Thess.
Trials, apathy one of our, N. Gal.
Trinity in unity, access to God revealing, H. Eph.
Trinity of Divine persons, sevenfold unity of Church reflected in, H. Eph.
Trinity, praise for work of, in Gospel of Grace, H. Eph.
Trinity, the, H. 1 Thess.
Triumph of cross, H. Col.
Troubled, rest in heaven for, H. 2 Thess.
Troubles of Church, judgment on, H. Gal.
True and false in religion, H. Phil.
True and false zeal, H. Gal.
True baptism, H. Col.
True charity, industry the, I. 2 Thess.
True Christian manhood, H. Eph.
True Christian zeal, H. Gal.
True Church-life, N. Eph.
True circumcision, H. Col.
True contentment, tendency of Christian principles to produce, H. Phil.
True devotion, H. Col.
True glory of Christian, H. Gal.
True Gospel to be preached and believed, H. Gal.
True Gospel universally the same, H. Col.
True Israel of God, H. Gal.
True life, new birth begins our, I. Gal.
True minister, qualification of, H. Gal.
True prayer, H. Phil.
True religion self-revealing, H. Eph.
True religion, scriptural view of, H. Gal.
True use of Law, H. Gal.
Trust, Christian ministry solemn and responsible, H. Col.
Trust, no, in legal prescriptions, N. Gal.
Trusted messenger, H. Eph.
Truth and Divinity of Christian religion, H. Eph.
Truth and love, growth into Christ in, H. Eph.
Truth between man and man, H. Eph.
Truth, Christ's, in relation to our daily conversation, H. Col.
Truth, fidelity to, N. Gal.
Truth, fundamental, fearless defence of, H. Gal.
Truth, girdle of, H. Eph.
Truth, its own evidence, H. Gal.
Truth, miracles confirmatory of, N. Gal.
Truth, not to be yielded, N. Gal.
Truth, perversion of, H. Gal.
Truth, power of, H. Gal.
Truth, self-conscious, H. Gal.
Truth, sufferer for, noble attitude of, H. Phil.
Truth, suffering for, N. Gal.
Truth, suffering for, recompense of, H. 2 Thess.
Truth, transparent, apostolic preaching characterised by, H. 1 Thess.
Truths to live on, N. Gal.
Truths, two great, presentation of, H. Col.
Turncoats, dilemma of, H. Gal.
Twofold burdens, our, N. Gal.
Unbelief, H. 2 Thess.
Unbelievers, fate of, H. Gal.
Uncleanness inconsistent with profession of Gospel, H. 1 Thess.
Under Law, H. Gal.
Ungodliness, state of sin a state of, H. Eph.
Unity and concord in Church, H. Phil.
Unity and peace, H. Col.
Unity, Christian, H. Col.
Unity, Christian, an occasion of joy, H. Phil.
Unity, of Church, H. Eph.
Unity, of God and His purpose regarding man, H. Gal.
Unity of Gospel, inviolable, H. Gal.
Unity, peace the bond of, H. Eph.
Unity, sevenfold, of Church reflected in Trinity of Divine Persons, H. Eph.
Unity, Trinity in, access to God revealing, H. Eph.
Universal Church, Jerusalem type of, H. Gal.
Universal homage, Christ worthy of, H. Phil.
Unknown and known love of Christ, H. Eph.
Unsatisfying and transitory, ceremonial in religion, H. Col.
Unsearchable riches of Christ, N. Eph.
Unselfishness of Jesus, H. Gal.
Unselfishness, supreme, humiliation of Christ a pattern of, H. Phil.
Unswerving fidelity in accomplishing its lofty mission, Christian
ministry demands, H. Col.
Us, pray for, H. 1 Thess.
Use, right, of Christian liberty, H. Gal.
Vagaries, philosophic, H. Col.
Vain-gloriousness, H. Gal.
Vain-glory, vice of, and its cure, H. Gal.
Value of sincerity in youth, H. Phil.
Varied aspects of spiritual influence, H. 1 Thess.
Vice of drunkenness, H. Eph.
Vice of vain-glory and its cure, H. Gal.
Vices to be renounced and virtues to be cherished, H. Eph.
Virtues, mercantile, without Christianity, H. Phil.
Virtues to be cherished and vices to be renounced, H. Eph.
Vocation, conversion and, of Paul, H. Gal.
Waiting for second advent, H. 2 Thess.
Walk in Spirit, life and, H. Gal.
Walking circumspectly, H. Eph.
Walking in Spirit, H. Gal.
Warfare, Christian, H. Eph.
Warning, a--Gentile life, H. Eph.
Warning against imposition, H. 2 Thess.
Warning against theft, H. Eph.
Warnings, emphatic, against false teachers, H. Phil.
Warrior, Christian, equipped, H. Eph.
Weariness in well-doing, against, H. Gal.
Weary in well-doing, H. 2 Thess.
Welfare of Church, ministerial anxiety for, N. Phil.
Well-doing, H. Gal.
Well-doing, against weariness in, H. Gal.
Well-doing, weary in, H. 2 Thess.
What is your heart filled with? H. Eph.
Wheat is better than bread, H. Col.
Whole armour of God, H. Eph.
Wickedness, fellowship in, and its condemnation, H. Eph.
Wiles of devil, H. Eph.
Willing to wait, but ready to go, H. Phil.
Wisdom, Christian, H. Eph.
Wisdom, hidden treasures of, in Christ, H. Col.
Wisdom of God, manifold, H. Eph.
Wise conduct of life, H. Eph.
Wise conduct of life, H. Col.
Witness, Church a, N. Gal.
Wives and husbands, duties of, H. Eph.
Wives and husbands, duties of, H. Col.
Word and in power, Gospel in, H. 1 Thess.
Word, closing, H. 1 Thess.
Word of Christ, indwelling, H. Col.
Word of God, efficacy of, and way of receiving it, H. 1 Thess.
Word of life: living ministry and living Church, H. Phil.
Word to despiser, H. 1 Thess.
Words, last, H. Phil.
Words of farewell, H. Col.
Work and Christianity, H. 2 Thess.
Work, best, call to do, H. 2 Thess.
Work, Christian, disappointed hopes in, H. Gal.
Work, interruptions in our, and way to deal with them, H. Eph.
Work, man's and God's, H. Phil.
Work of ministry, H. Eph.
Work, retirement preparation for, H. Gal.
Works, justification by faith not by, N. Gal.
Works, justification by faith not by, H. Gal.
Works of darkness, N. Eph.
Works of flesh, H. Gal.
Working out salvation harmonises with free grace, H. Phil.
World, Christians examples to, H. Phil.
World, pre-Christian, non-age of, H. Gal.
Worlds, both, believer's portion in, H. Phil.
Worldly care, remedy for, H. Phil.
Worship of God, singing in, H. Eph.
Worship, public, abuse of, H. 1 Thess.
Worst of evils, H. Eph.
Worth, attractiveness of, I. Gal.
Worth of time, H. Col.
Wrath, children of, H. Eph.
Wrath of God, H. Col.
Wrath to come, H. 1 Thess.
Youth, value of sincerity in, H. Phil.
Zeal, H. Gal.
Zeal, Christian, H. Gal.
Zeal, mistaken, H. Gal.
Zeal, true and false, H. Gal.
Zealous ritualist, H. Gal.
HOMILIES FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS.
_Church Seasons:_
Advent, Eph. v. 13, 14; 1 Thess. iii. 13 _b_; iv. 15-18; v. 1-11;
2 Thess. iii. 5.
Christmas, Gal. iv. 4.
Lent, Col. ii. 21-23; iii. 5-9.
Good Friday, Gal. i. 4; vi. 14, 15; Phil. ii. 8; Col. ii. 15.
St. Mark's day, Eph. iv. 7.
Ascension Day, Eph. iv. 9, 10; Phil. iii. 10; Col. iii. 1, 2.
Whit Sunday, Gal. v. 22-26; 25; Eph. i. 13; iv. 30;
2 Thess. ii. 13.
Trinity Sunday, Eph. ii. 18; iv. 4-6.
_Holy Communion:_ Eph. ii. 19; iii. 15; Col. iii. 17.
_Missions to Heathen:_ Eph. ii. 3; 11, 12; iii. 1-6.
Bible Society, Eph. vi. 17.
_Evangelistic Services:_ Eph. i. 7, 8; ii. 1-3; 4-9; Col. i. 13, 14;
ii. 13, 14.
_Special:_
Ordination, Gal. i. 10; 15-19; 16; vi. 6; Eph. iii. 7-9; iv. 11, 12;
vi. 20; Col. i. 25-27; 28-29; iv. 12, 13; 1 Thess. ii. 1-12.
Workers, Gal. i. 6; Eph. iv. 11, 12; Phil. iv. 2, 3;
2 Thess. iii. 13.
Baptism, Gal. iii. 26-29; Col. ii. 12.
Confirmation, Eph. ii. 20-24.
Harvest, Gal. vi. 7, 8; 9.
Temperance, Eph. v. 18.
Friendly Society, Gal. vi. 2.
Death, 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14.
Parents, Eph. vi. 4; Col. iii. 20, 21; 23-25.
Young, Eph. vi. 1-4; Phil i. 10 _b_.
Worship, Eph. v. 19-21; 19.
Almsgiving, Gal. ii. 10; vi. 2; 10; Phil. iv. 15, 16.
* * * * * * * *
+Transcriber's Notes+
- Page 585, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Ambassador, Gospel," and
"Apostolic assurance of supernatural character of Gospel."
- Page 586, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Believing soul, manner in which
Gospel comes to," "Call, Gospel and, to preach it," "Call of
Gospel to sinners," "Change effected by Gospel," and "Change
great, effected in man by Gospel."
- Page 588, for "Church, generous," change page number from 36 to
368. For "Church, growth of," change page number from 21 to 217.
- Page 589, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Commencement of Gospel at
Philippi."
- Page 590, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Difference between Law and
Gospel." For "Disappointed hopes in Christian work," change page
number from 1 to 10. Change "Disturber #f faith" to "Disturber of
faith." Change "Divine call, apostleship" to "Divine call, to
apostleship." Change "Divine fullness of Christ's pledge #f
believer's perfection" to "of." Change "Earnest of inheritance,
Holy Spirit and" to "an." Apply RC to "Gospel" in "Effects of
Gospel upon those who receive it."
- Page 591, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Enlarged Gospel," "Enmity of
heart, power of Gospel to dissolve," and "Estimate of Gospel
truth, correct." For "Excellency of knowledge of Christ," add page
number 343.
- Page 592, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Fellowship in Gospel" and
"Glory of Gospel."
- Page 593, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Grace, Gospel of, praise for
work of Trinity in," "Hagar and Sarah, history of, allegorical of
Law and Gospel," and "Heart, enmity of, power of Gospel to
dissolve."
- Page 594, apply RC to "Gospel" in "History of Hagar and Sarah
allegorical of Law and Gospel," "Inviolable unity of Gospel," and
"Irrepressible, Gospel." For "Known and unknown love of Christ,"
add page number 196.
- Page 595, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Law and Gospel, differences
between," "Law and Gospel, history of Hagar and Sarah allegorical
of," and "Man, great change effected in, by Gospel."
- Page 596, apply RC to "Great" in "Mediator, Great, reconciling
work of." Apply RC to "Gospel" in "Men, state of, without Gospel."
Apply RC to "Divinely" in "Messenger, Divinely commissioned,
self-evidencing proof of." Apply RC to "Gospel" in "Mystery,
Gospel a" and "Mystery of Gospel."
- Page 597, apply RC to "Gospel" in "One Gospel," "Origin of Gospel,
superhuman," and "Peace, Gospel of."
- Page 598, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Power, Gospel in word and in,"
"Power of Gospel," "Power of Gospel to dissolve enmity of heart,"
"Practical result of true reception of Gospel," "Praise for work
of Trinity in Gospel of grace," "Preaching of Gospel not in vain,"
"Profession of Gospel, uncleanness inconsistent with," and
"Promise, Gospel call and."
- Page 599, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Reception of Gospel, true,
practical result of," "Remonstrance with revolters against
Gospel," "Result, practical, of true reception of Gospel," and
"Revolters against Gospel, remonstrance with."
- Page 600, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Salvation, Gospel of your,"
"Same, true Gospel universally the," "Sarah and Hager, history of,
allegorical of Gospel and Law." Apply RC to "Divinely" in
"Self-evidencing proof of Divinely commissioned messenger." Apply
RC to "Gospel" in "Sinners, call of Gospel to" and "Soul,
believing, manner in which Gospel comes to."
- Page 601, apply RC to "Gospel" in "State of men without Gospel"
and "Superhuman origin of Gospel" (twice).
- Page 602, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Trinity, praise for work of, in
Gospel of Grace," "True Gospel to be preached and believed," and
"True Gospel universally the same." Apply RC to "Divinity" in
"Truth and Divinity of Christian religion." Apply RC to "Gospel"
in "Uncleanness inconsistent with profession of Gospel," and
"Unity of Gospel, inviolable."
- Page 603, apply RC to "Gospel" in "Word and in power, Gospel in."
The "Homilies for Special Occasions" section was reformatted to
put each of the topics on a separate line rather than running them
together.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the Books of the Bible: Volume 29 (of 32)
- The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and I-II Thessalonians" ***
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