He it is finally who gives vigour for all the holy conflicts we have to wage with the adversary. To a Jew a man of any other nation was unclean; when he became a Christian, every man of every nation became a brother. The epistle to the Ephesians develops the body in its rich and varied privileges; the epistle to the Colossians brings before us the Head, and not only this, but the glories of Him who holds that relation to the church. Thus no room was left for striving to die. As such not born merely, but risen again from the dead He is the beginning. Somehow or another, freethinkers and superstitious men coalesce in reality. There is patience (makrothumia, G3115) . There can never have been a time in history when so much filthy language is used as today. There is no slovenliness here; no careless assumption that, because you are members of Christ's body, all else must be right, and may be left; for he who knew best the faithful love of Christ is none the less urgent individually with "every man." III. I know he is, because I don't know if he loves me or not." For this is the sign not so much of what would expiate as cleanse. That may be putting bread on the table, but your life really is bound up in Jesus Christ. Occasions of sin must be avoided: the lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world; and covetousness, which is idolatry; love of present good, and of outward enjoyments. It is somewhat startling at first sight to realize such a fact, but if it be a fact as I unqualifiedly assert is it not of great moment to understand it? But, even in making your living, if you will do things heartily as unto the Lord, it will open up many opportunities for you to witness. And the glory of His person enabled Him in grace and obedience to go down into depths never before fathomed; and out of the whole scene, not of a rejecting guilty world only, but of the realm of death (and such a death!) . As Paul saw it, to the Christian Christ is the most important thing in life; more, he is life. There was no provision for the aged. The sense of the phrase can be captured with "direct your mind to minding things above.". If the parents are not Christians and are demanding the child do something that would be a violation, if he's conscience before God, then we must obey God rather than man. The old advice still stands which says that before we repeat anything about anyone we should ask three questions: "Is it true? This makes it so much the more striking, the epistle to the Colossians being the complement of an epistle so full of the Spirit, that there should be in the former so marked an absence of Him, that He is only referred to once, and only as characterizing the love of the saints. e Grace to you and peace from God our Father.. Thanksgiving and Prayer. Again we could translate "If" as "Since" (first class condition). You're called to serve Him. Seek marks the practical striving; set your mind, the inward impulse and disposition. And in us, poor feeble souls, why should not this peace rule in our hearts, to the which also we are called in one body? This was an entirely new thing. Set your affection on things above . The Scythian was notorious as the lowest of the barbarians; more barbarian than the barbarians, the Greeks called him; little short of being a wild beast, Josephus calls him. "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the head." He does not say "against you," because, in truth, the Colossian saints had never been under the law and its ordinances; they had been Gentiles. multitudes have so failed, nor is anything more common at this present moment, even as it was always so. Leave me alone." Can anything be sweeter than this genuine simplicity of affection and mutual interest? Here is a thought which was very dear to the heart of Paul. It, therefore, represents more fully than any other of Paul's epistles his doctrine of the person and preeminence of Christ. Most of all this was the case in slavery. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." For none of these reasons, though He was all this, and more. The word we have translated foul talk is aischrologia ( G148) ; it could well mean obscene language. That my life be so completely bound up and centered in Christ that He is my life. To quote C. F. D. Moule, "idolatry is an attempt to use God for man's purposes, rather than to give oneself to God's service." Such is God's word, and are we, or are we not, entitled to say so now? Yes, but Christ is "all" as truly as He is "in all." Neither His headship of all creation as the Heir of all things, nor His creatorial rights, would in themselves give a sufficient title to be the Head of the body. "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven." "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Because I live you shall live also,John 14:19. But he adds: "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled;" and we must not weaken this. As believing in Him, this is our place. Here was an amazing thing. It is of this Christ is the objective centre and Head. 3:14-17 On top of all these things, clothe yourselves with love which is the perfect bond; and let the peace of God be the decider of all things within your hearts, for it is to that peace you were called, so that you might be united in one body. It was the experience of the early Christians that the very act of baptism wrapped a man round with Christ. Our head is there, our home is there, our treasure is there, and we hope to be there for ever. While He lived, this work was wholly unaccomplished. Not a prophet, not even the smallest shred of any prophecy, reveals such a truth. He is the first-born from among the dead, as well as the Head and firstborn Heir of all subsisting creation. Then Paul uses a vivid picture. Had you to do with the law? Does not this still abide true? It remains, however, that He is the first-born of all creation, because he is the Creator of all things, above or below, material or spiritual: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible." If He is, the fulness, you are made full in Him, "which is the head of all principality and power." When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory ( Colossians 3:4 ). CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.". Christianity is community. Boy, if he'd told me that, I would've just really said, 'Hey you take this job, man and stuff it.' Both must be directed at things above. Treasures are often hidden for the sake of keeping them safe. If the latter, it had got to Laodicea, whence the Colossians were to procure it in their turn. Little did the Colossians conceive that their endeavour to add to the truth of the gospel was in reality to detract from His glory. And now He is risen from the dead, the beginning of a new order of existence altogether; and as He is the Head, so the church is His body founded, indeed, on Christ, but on Him dead and risen. This is habitually His way. It is necessary to mortify sins, because if we do not kill them, they will kill us. It is not a mere duty that has to be done; but the heart is in presence of the objective fact that He died for us, His body. When men's eyes are turned away from Christ, the doctrine of the Spirit might add to the danger and delusion, as it has wrought in all ages to puff up men not established in Christ. One of the great effects of Christianity is that it destroys the barriers. It is exactly the same line of thought as that of Jesus when he demanded that a man should cut off a hand or a foot, or tear out an eye when it was leading him into sin ( Matthew 5:29-30). I take the liberty of rendering the verse correctly, as is well known to most of my brethren now present. All things were created by Him, no doubt; but they were created for Him also not by Him for the Father. Men's Ministry Home Women's Ministry Home Children's Ministry Home Pastor's Ministry Home. The King James Version translates the first part of this section: "Mortify your members which are upon earth." If we live a life of Christian purity and devotion now, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we shall also appear with him in glory,Colossians 3:4; Colossians 3:4. Resources . A man sets up an idol and worships it because he desires to get something from it. The wife is to submit to the husband. Ought I not to share my Master's shame and dishonour here? He who is our best friend and our head is advanced to the highest dignity and honour in heaven, and has gone before to secure to us the heavenly happiness; and therefore we should seek and secure what he has purchased at so vast an expense, and is taking so much care about. There is here a picture from the life of the early Christian. Every Christian is crucified unto the world, and the world is crucified unto him,Galatians 6:14. The uncultured and the cultured came together in the Christian Church. Their desire, we may be sure, was as well meant as any mistake can be. He is the upholder of all creation, so that the very universe of God subsists in virtue of Him. Brethren, the Christ that God has made known to us is the Christ that man scorned, cast out and crucified. It is not Christ Himself, as inEphesians 3:1-21; Ephesians 3:1-21, the wondrous issue even now in us by the power of the Spirit; but, at least, in His word is found (what the Colossians needed) an active and most pure spring of instruction and counsel, and mutuality of help by it. Falsehood, too, is judged as it never was before, "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." The universe goes on as before, the lower creation at least subject to vanity; but God (and it is like Him) hastens to use His victory, though not yet as far as outward things are concerned. Whenever Christ, your life, shall appear, then you too shall appear with him in glory. If you look at the saints individually, He is the seal and the earnest. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." He insists that the slave must be a conscientious workman. Such prohibitory commands had their day; but the time of reformation is come. Now, as we had mentioned when we were going though Ephesians, God gave very simple rules for marriage. And if we'll follow these rules we can have a very happy marriage and a happy relationship. Ought I not to wait to enter the same glory with the Christ of God? He it is who has now revealed the mystery that was kept hid through ages and generations. A man seeks to shine in the world now; it is a heedless if not heartless forgetfulness, that here He knew nothing but rejection. Under Jewish law a woman was a thing, the possession of her husband, just as much as his house or his flocks or his material goods. In the next place, we have the apostle's prayer: "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and growing by the knowledge of God." In the ancient world sexual relationships before marriage and outside marriage were the normal and accepted practice. The Higher Aspirations of the Soul. Now, again, my life is the reflection of what I am and what I believe. In Colossians 3:8 Paul says that there are certain things of which the Colossians must strip themselves. Indeed we may say that Paul presents the gospel as the display of divine righteousness beyond all, while he alone develops in his epistles the mystery of Christ and the church. Lesson 1: In Christ, In Flagstaff (Colossians 1:1-2) Lesson 2: Authentic Christianity (Colossians 1:3-8) Lesson 3: What Spiritual Growth Looks Like (Colossians 1:9-12) Lesson 4: Forgiven by God! And as if this were not enough, we are farther told that He is before all things, and by ( ) Him all things consist. The Christian is marked by a goodness which is a kindly thing. He looks not at some advanced souls at Colosse, but at all the saints there. Who and what is the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption? Another reason is this, that the presence of the Spirit of God, both in the individual and in the church, is a most essential part of christian privileges, while, for the reasons already alleged, it was not for the well-being of their souls that it should be unfolded here. But this is not at all the divine way of dealing with the Christian. His master could thrash or brand or maim or even kill him at his caprice; he had not even the right of marriage. "Wherefore," says he, "if ye be dead with Christ "which is one grand part of his subject "if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living [or alive] in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?" The mighty work of Christ has entirely delivered from it. And they keep teasing the child, pulling it away until the child just looses control and screams, and then, isn't that funny and then hands them the candy. Blasphemia is insulting and slanderous speaking in general; when that insulting speech is directed against God, it becomes blasphemy. He has at one and the same time the strength and the sweetness of true gentleness. Literally what he says is, "Let the peace of God be the umpire in your heart." To the Ephesians, the Holy Ghost is treated as a divine person acting for the glory of Christ, but this in the saints and in the church. They may seem to be far as the poles asunder; but in point of fact, there is nothing that more shows an energetic spirit of evil at work in the world than the way in which he marshals and combines these two armies, that outwardly look enemies to each other. But the apostle was singular in this; for even those who did know that Christ was the Son of the living God, in the highest and eternal sense, seemed but little to have preached it, at any rate in their earlier testimony. Or to come at it another way, the man whose life is dominated by the desire to get things has set up things in the place of God--and that precisely is idolatry. Upon the wings of affection the heart soars upwards, and is carried forth towards spiritual and divine objects. And we, the presumption here, is that the parents are Christians and are seeking the spiritual welfare of the child. This is the spirit which never loses its patience with its fellow-men. (iv) It destroyed the barrier between class and class. She never appeared on the streets alone, not even to go marketing. I am very far from insinuating that Peter, James, John, Jude, and all the rest, did not preach justification by faith. It makes a man grow continually in grace and knowledge until he reaches that which he was meant to be--manhood in the image of God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the children of disobedience" ( Ephesians 5:5 , Ephesians 5:6 ). It is not merely bringing the heavenly into them, so to speak; and decidedly not of joining the two things together. * [3:1-4] By retaining the message of the gospel that the risen, living Christ is the source of their salvation, the Colossians will be free from false religious evaluations of the things of the world (Col 3:1-2). So he says, "If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?" If it is the desire for power, it leads to sadistic tyranny. "I don't need you; I don't need anybody. Since we are raised from the death of sin, and resurrected to a new life, our contemplation should be on the heavenly world. It was not wonderful that he said in Colossians 1:1-29, "If ye continue in the faith rooted and grounded, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel." These restrictions dealt with meats and drinks, and such like things, which perish in the using. His was by no means a love inactive or limited. Such is the only sure root of all blessing, and in this above all is real faith and spirituality shown. "This creep! Two present imperatives identify the Christians responsibilities: "seek" (Colossians 3:1) and "set your affection on" (Colossians 3:2). Yet even this did not reconcile man to God, but the very reverse rather; it proved that man was irreconcilable as far as he was concerned. from now on the Christian will see everything in the light and against the background of eternity. And it doesn't mean that Paul is giving these people a license to live after the flesh. Christ is a believer's life. Pleonexia ( G4124) is basically the desire to have more. Thus the believer can look round full of joy upon his brethren; he can count up souls from every tribe, tongue, and station. That the word of Christ might dwell in our hearts richly. As the waters close over him, it is as if he was buried in death; as he emerges from the waters, it is like being resurrected to a new life. Pleonexia is one of the ugliest of sins but while it is quite clear what it means, it is by no means so easy to find a single word to translate it. Their foolishness and their unteachability never drive it to cynicism or despair; their insults and their ill-treatment never drive it to bitterness or wrath. It inherited that from the Jews, for Philo tells us that often they would spend the whole night in hymns and songs. There is no such thing here as our sitting in heavenly places. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. We need the positive as well as the negative; and as we have just had the latter, so the former now comes before us. (ii) The really new thing about the Christian ethic of personal relationships is that all relationships are in the Lord. There could be no fellowship in the ancient world between a slave and a free man.