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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Colossians 4:1

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Masters, give unto [your] servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

Ch. Col 4:1. The subject concluded

1. Masters ] Cp. Eph 6:9.

give unto ] Provide for. The Greek verb suggests deliberate care.

that which is equal ] In the Greek, equality, equity. The word in the classics often means “equality” in the political sense, as against arbitrary privilege; and the Gospel, by publishing for ever the spiritual equality of all men before God, secures all that is vital in that matter. But the meaning “ impartiality,” “ equity,” is more in place here; the master is not commanded to surrender his status, but to respect the interests of the slave as faithfully as his own, and to banish caprice and favouritism. This, consistently carried out, was a long and sure step towards the end of slavery; for nothing could be a more direct contradiction to the root-idea of ancient slavery. See pp. 156, etc. below. “Your slaves should find you fathers rather than masters” (Jerome).

knowing heaven ] Nearly verbatim as Eph 6:9. The Lord’s sovereignty is the true guarantee of human liberty.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Masters, give unto your servants … – See the notes at Eph 6:9.

That which is just and equal – What they ought to have; what is fairly their due. The apostle here, probably, refers to bondmen or slaves, and the propriety of this rule is apparent. Such persons were subject to their masters control; their time and services were at their disposal, and they could not enforce their just and equal claims by an appeal to the laws. They were, therefore, dependent on the equity and kindness of their masters. There can be no doubt that not a few who were converted to the Christian faith were held to involuntary servitude (see 1 Cor. 7); and it is as clear that the apostles did not design to make a violent disruption of these bonds, or to lead the slaves to rise and murder their masters; see the notes at 1Ti 6:1-4. But it is equally clear that they meant to represent slavery as a hard and undesirable condition; that they intended to instruct the slaves to embrace the earliest opportunity to be free which was presented 1Co 7:21; and that they meant to suggest such considerations, and to lay down such principles as would lead masters to emancipate their slaves, and thus ultimately to abolish it. Among these principles are such as these:

(1) That all men were of one and the same blood; Act 17:26.

(2) That they were all redeemed by the same Saviour, and were brethren; 1Ti 6:2; Phm 1:16. If redeemed; if they were brethren; if they were heirs of glory, they were not chattels, or things; and how could a Christian conscientiously hold or regard them as property?

(3) That they were to render them that which was just and equal. What would follow from this if fairly applied? What would be just and equal to a man in those circumstances? Would it not be.

(a) to compensate him fairly for his labor; to furnish him an adequate remuneration for what he had earned? But this would strike a blow at the root of slavery – for one of the elementary principles of it is, that there must be unrequited labor; that is, the slave must earn as much more than he receives as will do his part in maintaining the master in idleness, for it is of the very essence of the system that he is to be maintained in indolence by the slaves which he owns – or just so far as he owns a slave. If he were disposed to earn his own living, he would not need the labor of slaves. No one ever yet became the permanent owner of a slave from benevolence to him, or because he desired to pay him fully for his work, or because he meant himself to work in order to maintain his slave in indolence.

(b) If a man should in fact render to his slaves that which is just and equal, would he not restore them to freedom? Have they not been deprived of their liberty by injustice, and would not justice restore it? What has the slave done to forfeit his liberty? If he should make him equal in rights to himself, or to what he is by nature, would he not emancipate him? Has he not been reduced to his present condition by withholding that which is equal? Has he equal rights, and equal privileges with other men? Has he not been cut off from them by denying him the equality to which he is entitled in the arrangements of Gods government? Can he be held at all without violating all the just notions of equality? Though, therefore, it may be true that this passage only enjoins the rendering of that which was just and equal in their condition as slaves, yet it contains a principle which would lay the axe at the root of slavery, and would lead a conscientious Christian to the feeling that his slaves ought to be free. These principles actually effected the freedom of slaves in the Roman empire in a few centuries after Christianity was introduced, and they are destined to effect it yet all over the world.

Knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven – Notes, Eph 6:9.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Col 4:1

Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal.

I. The duty of masters. They are not required to abdicate their mastership, but to exercise it as a service for Christ.

1. Justice has reference to servants as workers. They are to receive fair remuneration. The price of labour is generally regulated by supply and demand. This is a maxim of political economy. Wages cannot be fixed by fancy and philanthropy. If I can get work done for 6s. a day, why should I give 7s.? Still, there is great scope for the exercise of religion. Servants may be ignorant of the market price of labour, and it is unrighteous to take advantage of it. It might be difficult on the grounds of political economy to say that the squire or farmer should give more than 10s. or 12s. a week when he can get abundance of labour at that price, but it is not difficult to see how this would not satisfy a Christian master. It is surely wrong to show more care for the horses which draw the plough than for the man who holds it. The man who has found out the lowest price at which some starving needlewoman will do slop work, the mistress who makes a workhouse girl her drudge for a mere pittance, may do what they think is just; but hardly if a Christian.

2. Equal involves equality as well as equity, and has in it the element of reciprocity.

(1) If by the energy and skill of his operatives an employer is greatly benefitted, should all the profits be his? Is it right after a series of successful years, when a reaction sets in, to close a factory and send the hands adrift? Some employers have kept on, and been rewarded with attachment and devotion.

(2) Servants should be treated as having like feelings and sensibilities with their masters. They ought not to be, as in many cases they are, treated as destitute of feeling.

(3) Nor must it be forgotten that they have characters to be cultivated, and much depends on your example and treatment. It is not to be expected that they will give their best efforts for those who are reckless in their habits and indifferent to just claims. Like master, like man.

(4) Servants have souls to be saved. A clergyman waited on the principals of a large city house and asked for facilities to attend to the spiritual good of the employees. He was promptly told that the firm had nothing to do with their souls. Happily Christian employers are now waking up to their responsibility (Joh 13:13-15).

II. The motive by which this is enforced–Knowing, etc. The servant is required to serve his master as if he were serving Christ, and the master is to use his authority as if he too were serving Christ. Many masters hold the responsibility of servants, and yet ignore their own. Nothing is more displeasing to God than this (Job 31:13-15). The issues of the great day depend on our conduct towards each other. What we have done to the poorest Christ will regard as having been done to Himself. (J. Spence, D. D.)

Master and man

Observe–

1. The first step towards righteousness between master and man, mistress and maid, is to respect the relation.

2. Every human being has a right to himself, consistent with the rights of others. When he sells himself, hands or brains, for honourable ends, he is to be respected. The cook makes as respectable sale of her arts in the kitchen as the owner of the real estate in renting a house. Here is safety. The poorest creature you employ never contracted to sell self-respect.

3. The strong, moreover, should bear the infirmities of the weak.

4. You may be conscience to your servants. What are the servants, for the most part? Grown-up children. They ape you; talk large, as you do at times; try to dress like you. You are your servants example–the keeper of his conscience. You pray every morning for your wife, your children, your property, clear down to the fence at the rear of the lot behind the stable, but never for Jack in the stable.

5. There should be a reciprocity of interest felt between a Christian master and his man. Nothing in social life has been more admirable than the magnificent loyalty of old servants. Read of it in the armour-bearers of Hebrew kings, the squires of days of chivalry. After faithful years he, the old servant, tried and true, did the honours of the castle, and set the turret pennant for great festivals. He spread the plates, and made the feast ready in oaken halls; he conducted fair and brave to their chambers. On errands of knightly valour, he accompanied his lord; he carried the helmet, the shield, the gauntlets, the armour all, and bore the banner of the house; he gave the battle-cry, and when, borne down, his liege would fall, the old servant bore him from the field; and so he won the right to wear golden spurs–no longer a servant, but a knight of the line. In comparison with this shining loyalty of a barbarous age, how pitiful the frequent bickerings and mutual hurt of Christian times. An old family servant, after ten years, comes to look upon your home as her home–all she has in this world. She has clung to you in five movings, and knew just where everything belonged. She knows your ways, moods, likes and dislikes. She has had her flare-ups, and you forgave and said nothing; in return, she has seen flare-ups above her floor, and said nothing. Shes been sick, and you waited for her recovery–how she thanked you; and that winter you were all sick she paid you back with interest. She prefers you to the savings bank. She has known Master Charley from birth, and has nigh spoiled him; and that other one down in Greenwood she remembers, and surprises you by saying, This is the 15th of May, the day he died. God bless you, good creature. She has wept in the doorway at three of your funerals; she has laughed in the doorway at two household marriages; and how she boasts of her cake. You leave everything in her hands and go on long journeys; you return and find all safe, and exclaim, God bless her; she shall stay with us until she goes on that long, long journey. All this is possible. But it is only possible to those who carry Christs rule everywhere, even the rule of this text. Brethren, let us treat all artizans, serving tradesmen, labourers, and workers as we wish Christ to treat us, till the time when He shall call us no longer servants, but friends. (Emory J. Haynes.)

Masters deal unequally many ways

1. When they require inconvenient things; for though the servant must obey, yet the master sins in requiring unequal things.

2. When they impose more work than they have strength to do.

3. When they turn them away when they are sick; for it is equal that as thou hast had their labour when they were well, so thou shouldest keep them when they are sick.

4. When they restrain them of liberty for their souls. If thou have the work of their bodies, it is equal that thou take care for their souls; and if they serve thee six days, it is very equal thou shouldest proclaim liberty to them to do Gods work on the Sabbath day.

5. When they restrain and withhold their meat and wages.

6. When they send them out of their service empty, after many years bondage, and not provide that they may have some means to live afterwards.

7. When they hear every word that men say of their servants (Ecc 7:23).

8. When they bring up their servants delicately (Pro 27:23).

9. When they leave the whole care of their earthly business to their servants, and fail to know the state of them for themselves (Pro 27:23). (N. Byfield.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER IV.

The duty of masters to their servants, 1.

Continuance in prayer recommended, to which watchfulness and

thanksgiving should be joined, 2.

And to pray particularly for the success of the Gospel, 3, 4.

Directions concerning walking wisely, redeeming of time, and

godly conversation, 5, 6.

He refers them to Tychius and Onesimus, whom he sends to them

for particulars relative to his present circumstances, 7-9.

Mentions the salutations of several then at Rome, of whom he

gives some interesting particulars, 10-14.

Sends his own salutations to the brethren in Laodicea, and to

Nymphas and the Church at his house, 15.

Directs this epistle to be read in the Church of the Laodiceans,

and that to them to be read at Colosse, 16.

Directions to Archippus relative to his ministry, 17.

Concludes with salutations to the people at Colosse, to whom he

sends his apostolical benediction, 18.

NOTES ON CHAP. IV.

Verse 1. Masters, give unto your servants] This verse should have been added to the preceding, to which it properly belongs; and this chapter should have begun with Col 4:2.

That which is just and equal] As they are bondmen or slaves of whom the apostle speaks, we may at once see with what propriety this exhortation is given. The condition of slaves among the Greeks and Romans was wretched in the extreme; they could appeal to no law; and they could neither expect justice nor equity. The apostle, therefore, informs the proprietors of these slaves that they should act towards them both according to justice and equity; for God, their Master, required this of them, and would at last call them to account for their conduct in this respect. Justice and equity required that they should have proper food, proper raiment, due rest, and no more than moderate work. This is a lesson that all masters throughout the universe should carefully learn. Do not treat your servants as if God had made them of an inferior blood to yours.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

That this verse doth refer to the foregoing chapter, and that it was unadvisedly divided from it, is generally agreed.

Masters: having put servants upon their duty, he doth here engage all those who have a just right over servants to mind their own duty toward those under their command.

Give unto your servants that which is just; though your extract or estate hath advanced you above them in human society, yet yoa have the same nature and infirmities that they have, and (as in the foregoing verse) must appear with them before the same Judge and rewarder at the same tribunal. And the apostle doth elsewhere, Eph 6:9, require of masters in their superior relation, what he doth of servants in their inferior one, to do the same things, i.e. not the particular offices of their servants, but, according to general rules of right reason, that which, by the law of God, nature, and nations, is common to and incumbent on all relatives, Rom 13:7,8; Ga 5:13; Eph 6:9. As he doth here require masters to do their servants right, give to them that which is their due for soul and body, Gen 18:19; Exo 12:44; with respect to work, that it be neither too much nor too little, Pro 12:10; 29:21; to food, that it be convenient for nourishment, not luxury, Pro 27:27; 31:15; Luk 12:42; 15:17; wages, Exo 2:21; Jam 5:4; and recompence, Deu 15:13.

And equal; ye are likewise to give them that which is equal, or equitable, as well as just, which implies you should not be cruel to them, or discourage them; as you expect they should serve you with good will, so you should govern them wisely, and be good and gentle to them, Psa 101:2; 1Pe 2:18, who are faithful, allowing them seasonable rest and refreshment, Deu 15:14, not despising their prudent answers, Job 31:13,14, but showing them favour in sickness as well as in health, 2Ki 5:5,6; Pr 14:35; Mat 8:6.

Knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven; and that upon this weighty reason, intimated before, that he above, whom you serve, will treat you as you do them; this you may be assured of, Eph 6:8,9. If you expect favour at his hands, when he comes to distribute rewards and punishments, show it now to your inferiors, who will then appear as your fellow servants, when you must give an account of your stewardship, Mat 24:49-51, with Luk 16:2.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. giveGreek “render”:literally, “afford.”

equalthat is, as theslaves owe their duties to you, so you equally owe to themyour duties as masters. Compare “ye masters do the samethings” (see on Eph 6:9).ALFORD translates,”fairness,” “equity,” which gives a large andliberal interpretation of justice in common matters (Phm16).

knowing (Col3:24).

ye alsoas well asthey.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Masters, give unto your servants,…. This verse properly belongs to the preceding chapter, with which it should have been concluded. It is indeed strange, that those who made the division of chapters and verses should separate this from the former chapter, to which it so manifestly belongs, and begin a new one with it, when it has no connection with what follows; for the apostle having observed the duty of servants to their masters, proceeds to direct masters to the discharge of their duty to their servants, by giving them

that which is just and equal: proper food and raiment, which is sufficient and fitting for them; the wages due unto them by law or contract; using them with gentleness and humanity, taking care of them when under affliction, and in sickness; encouraging the diligent and laborious by an addition to their salaries; correcting the disobedient within just bounds, not with too much rigour and severity; and carrying it with an even hand to all, not preferring or indulging one before another, without any reason:

knowing that ye also have a master in heaven:

[See comments on Eph 6:9].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Relative Duties.

A. D. 62.

1 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

The apostle proceeds with the duty of masters to their servants, which might have been joined to the foregoing chapter, and is a part of that discourse. Here observe, 1. Justice is required of them: Give unto your servants that which is just and equal (v. 1), not only strict justice, but equity and kindness. Be faithful to your promises to them, and perform your agreements; not defrauding them of their dues, nor keeping back by fraud the hire of the labourers, Jam. v. 4. Require no more of them than they are able to perform; and do not lay unreasonable burdens upon them, and beyond their strength. Provide for them what is fit, supply proper food and physic, and allow them such liberties as may fit them the better for cheerful service and make it the easier to them, and this though they be employed in the meanest and lowest offices, and of another country and a different religion from yourselves. 2. A good reason for this regard: “Knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. You who are masters of others have a Master yourself, and are servants of another Lord. You are not lords of yourselves, and are accountable to one above you. Deal with your servants as you expect God should deal with you, and as those who believe they must give an account. You are both servants of the same Lord in the different relations in which you stand, and are equally accountable to him at last. Knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him,” Eph. vi. 9.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

That which is just and equal ( ). Paul changes from (like , neuter singular adjective with article for abstract idea) to the abstract substantive , old word, in N.T. only here and 2Co 8:13f. If employers always did this, there would be no labour problem.

A Master in heaven ( ). A wholesome reminder to the effect that he keeps his eye on the conduct of masters of men here towards their employees.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Masters, etc. The best texts attach this verse to the preceding chapter. Render [] . The Greek implies on your part.

Equal [ ] . Lit., the equality. Not equality of condition, but the brotherly equality growing out of the Christian relation in which there is neither bond nor free. See on Phl 1:16.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

CHRISTIAN DRESS CODE V. 1-6

1) “Masters, give unto your servants” (hoi kurioi tois doulois parechesthe) “ye Masters, supply to your slaves,” Christian servants not only owe obedience and subjection to their masters in the flesh but Masters also owe fair treatment; justice, equity and kindness to their servants, Mic 6:8; Luk 6:31.

2) “That which is just and equal” (to dikaion kai ten hisoteta) “The thing that is just and on basis of equality.” The master should treat his servant as a brother in Christ, with respectful integrity, as he would like his servant to deal with him, Pro 20:7; Php_4:8.

3) “Knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven” (eidotes hoti kai humeis echete kurion en ourano) “perceiving that ye also have a Master in heaven,” one to whom you must give account for every word and deed, Eph 6:9; Lev 25:42-43; Deu 15:11-18. Services contracted by an individual for himself or a member of his family was of Divine sanction under both the Jewish law and New Testament direction.

Limited bondage, slavery, or servitude, is still practiced though not as binding as it one time was, throughout the United States and in most parts of the world. For instance, (1) twenty-four hour contractual services of husbands and wives to businesses and corporations, (2) Fixed contractual sale of talent, time, and bodily availability to parties in the sports world, and (3) Armed Services, commitments and political commitments constitute varying forms of voluntary and/or compulsory servitude, a principal generally Bible approved.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. Masters, what is just. He mentions first, what is just, by which term he expresses that kindness, as to which he has given injunction in the Epistle to the Ephesians. (Eph 6:8.) But as masters, looking down as it were from aloft, despise the condition of servants, so that they think that they are bound by no law, Paul brings them under control, (462) because both are equally under subjection to the authority of God. Hence that equity of which he makes mention.

And mutual equity. Some understand it otherwise, but I have no doubt that Paul here employed ἰσότητα to mean analogical (463) or distributive right, (464) as in Ephesians, τὰ αὐτὰ, ( the same things.) (465) For masters have not their servants bound to them in such a manner as not to owe something to them in their turn, as analogical right to be in force among all ranks. (466)

(462) “ Et rabbaisse leur presomption;” — “And beats down their presumption.”

(463) Our author, has here in view a definition of Aristotle, quoted by him when commenting on 2Co 8:13. See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 2, p. 294. — Ed.

(464) “ C’est a dire, qui est reglé et compassé selon la circonstance, qualité, ou vocation des personnes;” — “That is to say, which is regulated and proportioned according to the circumstances, station, or calling of individuals.”

(465) “ Comme aux Ephesiens il a vsé de ce mot, Le mesme, ou Le semblable, en ceste signification, comme il a este là touché;” — “As in the Ephesians he has made use of this word, the same, or the like, in this sense, as he has there noticed.”

(466) “ Comme il y a vn droict mutuel, reglé selon la consideration de l’office et vocation d’vn chacun, lequel droict doit auoir lieu entre tous estats;” — “As there is a mutual right, regulated according to a consideration of the office and calling of each individual, which right ought to have a place among all ranks.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

Col. 3:23. Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily.Eph. 6:7, 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).

Col. 3:25. 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.Col. 3:22-25Ch. Col. 4:1

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 (Col. 3:22). There is nothing degrading in service. It is the employment of angels. They serve Him day and night. It is ennobled by the example of Christ, who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. To obey in all things is not always pleasant or easy; but the Christian servant will strive to accomplish the task. He consults the masters will, not his own; he does the masters way, not his own; he considers the masters 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 (Col. 3:22). 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-servantsdiligent 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 Godthe 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 as to the Lord, and not unto men (Col. 3:23). 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 servicewill 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 (Col. 3:23). 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, He hath done what he could. 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 (Col. 3:24). Under the sinister judgment passed by Satan on the devotion of Job there lurks an encouraging truthman 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 happinessof incorruptible and unfading gloryof heavenof God. 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 (Col. 3:25). 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 (Col. 3:1). 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 the 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 (Col. 3:1). 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. 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.

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

Col. 3:23. Do all for God.

I. The Christians 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.

Col. 3:23-25. 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.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Col. 4:1. Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

Translation and Paraphrase

Col. 4:1. (You) masters, render to the slaves that which is just and fair, because you know that you also have a master in heaven. (As you treat your slaves, the heavenly Master will treat you.)

Notes

Paul commanded the masters (Gr. kurios, lord) to give to their slaves just and equal treatment. They must treat their slaves as they themselves desired Christ, the master in heaven, to treat them.

If masters gave their slaves just and equal treatment, they would pay the slaves the same wages that they paid other hired workers for the same services. They would allow the slaves the same freedom of movement that they themselves enjoyed.

The practical result of this would be the end of slavery in every household where it was done. Indeed in thousands of Christian homes over the Roman empire slaves became fully or nearly free men. Many slaves desired to stay and work for their masters, but their service became a blessing for both slave and master.

Perhaps the most prominent example of slave-master relationships is the case of Onesimus and Philemon. Philemon was urged to receive back his runaway slave, Onesimus, as a brother in the Lord. (Phm. 1:15-17).

Old Testament law forbade masters to rule over slaves rigorously. (Lev. 25:43; Lev. 25:53). New Testament law is an advance even over the benign commandments of God in the Old Testament.

Christ is truly Master of masters, Lord of lords, and King of kings. (Rev. 19:16; 1Ti. 6:15).

Study and Review

74.

What were slave-masters to give (or render) to their slaves? (Col. 4:1)

75.

Give specific suggestions as to how masters might give this to their slaves.

76.

Why was it essential that masters give slaves what was just? (Col. 4:1)

77.

Who is the Master of masters?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

IV.

(1) Just and equal.The word equal, or, rather, the substantive so translated, has the sense either of equity or equality. The former is far commoner (especially in connection with justice), and probably all that is intended here. At the same time, the idea running through the passage is of a common fellow-service to Christ of all alike, and in Col. 3:11 we are reminded that in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free. Perhaps, therefore, St. Paul desired that his readers should remember that in some points all are literally equal before God.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

[6.

Special Exhortation as to the relations of life.

(1)

THE DUTY OF WIVES AND HUSBANDS (Col. 3:18-19).

(2)

THE DUTY OF CHILDREN AND PARENTS (Col. 3:20-21).

(3)

THE DUTY OF SLAVES AND MASTERS (Col. 3:22 to Col. 4:1).]

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 4

THE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CHRISTIAN ( Col 3:18-25 ; Col 4:1 )

4:1 Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not treat them harshly.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, do not irritate your children, that they may not lose heart.

Slaves, obey in all things those who are your human masters, not only when you are watched, like those whose only desire is to please men, but in sincerity of heart, reverencing the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it heartily, as if you were doing it for the Lord and not for men; and never forget that you will receive from the Lord your just recompense, even your share in the inheritance. Show yourselves the slaves of the Lord Christ. He who does wrong will be paid back for the wrong that he has done, and there is no respect of persons.

Masters, on your part provide for your slaves treatment which is just and equitable, and remember that you too have a master in heaven.

Here the ethical part of the letter becomes more and more practical. Paul turns to the working out of Christianity in the everyday relationships of life and living. Before we begin to study the passage in some detail, we must note two great general principles which lie behind it and determine all its demands.

(i) The Christian ethic is an ethic of reciprocal obligation. It is never an ethic on which all the duties are on one side. As Paul saw it, husbands have as great an obligation as wives; parents have just as binding a duty as children; masters have their responsibilities as much as slaves.

This was an entirely new thing. Let us take the cases one by one and look at them in the light of this new principle.

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. She had no legal rights whatever. For instance, under Jewish law, a husband could divorce his wife for any cause, while a wife had no rights whatever in the initiation of divorce; and the only grounds on which a divorce might be awarded her were if her husband developed leprosy, became an apostate or ravished a virgin. In Greek society a respectable woman lived a life of entire seclusion. She never appeared on the streets alone, not even to go marketing. She lived in the women’s apartments and did not join her menfolk even for meals. From her there was demanded complete servitude and chastity; but her husband could go out as much as he chose and could enter into as many relationships outside marriage as he liked without incurring any stigma. Under both Jewish and Greek laws and custom all the privileges belonged to the husband and all the duties to the wife.

In the ancient world children were very much under the domination of their parents. The supreme example was the Roman Patria Potestas, the law of the father’s power. Under it a parent could do anything he liked with his child. He could sell him into slavery; he could make him work like a labourer on his farm; he had even the right to condemn his child to death and to carry out the execution. All the privileges and rights belonged to the parent and all the duties to the child.

Most of all this was the case in slavery. The slave was a thing in the eyes of the law. There was no such thing as a code of working conditions. When the slave was past his work, he could be thrown out to die. He had not even the right to marry, and if he cohabited and there was a child, the child belonged to the master, just as the lambs of the flock belonged to the shepherd. Once again all the rights belonged to the master and all the duties to the slave.

The Christian ethic is one of mutual obligation, in which the rights and the obligations rest with every man. It is an ethic of mutual responsibility; and, therefore, it becomes an ethic where the thought of privilege and rights falls into the background and where the thought of duty and obligation becomes paramount. The whole direction of the Christian ethic is not to ask: “What do others owe to me?” but, “What do I owe to others?”

(ii) The really new thing about the Christian ethic of personal relationships is that all relationships are in the Lord. The whole of the Christian life is lived in Christ. In any home the tone of personal relationships must be dictated by the awareness that Jesus Christ is an unseen but ever-present guest. In any parent-child relationship the dominating thought must be the Fatherhood of God; and we must try to treat our children as God treats his sons and daughters. The thing which settles any master and servant relationship is that both are servants of the one Master, Jesus Christ. The new thing about personal relationships in Christianity is that Jesus Christ is introduced into them all.

THE MUTUAL OBLIGATION ( Col 3:18-25 ; Col 4:1 continued)

Let us look briefly at each of these three spheres of human relationships.

(i) The wife is to be submissive to her husband; but the husband is to love his wife and to treat her with all kindness. The practical effect of the marriage laws and customs of ancient times was that the husband became an unquestioned dictator and the wife little more than a servant to bring up his children and to minister to his needs. The fundamental effect of this Christian teaching is that marriage becomes a partnership. It becomes something which is entered into not merely for the convenience of the husband, but in order that both husband and wife may find a new joy and a new completeness in each other. Any marriage in which everything is done for the convenience of one of the partners and where the other exists simply to gratify the needs and desires of the first, is not a Christian marriage.

(ii) The Christian ethic lays down the duty of the child to respect the parental relationship. But there is always a problem in the relationship of parent and child. If the parent is too easy-going, the child will grow up indisciplined and unfit to face life. But there is a contrary danger. The more conscientious a parent is, the more he is likely always to be correcting and rebuking the child. Simply because he wishes the child to do well, he is always on his top.

We remember, for instance, the tragic question of Mary Lamb, whose mind was ultimately unhinged: “Why is it that I never seem to be able to do anything to please my mother?” We remember the poignant statement of John Newton: “I know that my father loved me–but he did not seem to wish me to see it.” There is a certain kind of constant criticism which is the product of misguided love.

The danger of all this is that the child may become discouraged. Bengel speaks of “the plague of youth, a broken spirit (Fractus animus pestis iuventutis).” It is one of the tragic facts of religious history that Luther’s father was so stern to him that Luther all his days found it difficult to pray: “Our Father.” The word father in his mind stood for nothing but severity. The duty of the parent is discipline, but it is also encouragement. Luther himself said, “Spare the rod and spoil the child. It is true. But beside the rod keep an apple to give him when he does well.”

Sir Arnold Lunn, in Memory to Memory, quotes an incident about Field-Marshal Montgomery from a book by M. E. Clifton James. Montgomery was famous as a disciplinarian–but there was another side to him. Clifton James was his official “double” and was studying him during a rehearsal for D-Day. “Within a few yards of where I was standing, a very young soldier, still looking sea-sick from his voyage, came struggling along gamely trying to keep up with his comrades in front. I could imagine that, feeling as he did, his rifle and equipment must have been like a ton weight. His heavy boots dragged in the sand, but I could see that he was fighting hard to conceal his distress. Just when he got level with us he tripped up and fell flat on his face. Half sobbing, he heaved himself up and began to march off dazedly in the wrong direction. Monty went straight up to him and with a quick, friendly smile turned him round. ‘This way, sonny. You’re doing well–very well. But don’t lose touch with the chap in front of you.’ When the youngster realized who it was that had given him friendly help, his expression of dumb adoration was a study.” It was just because Montgomery combined discipline and encouragement that a private in the Eighth Army felt himself as good as a colonel in any other army.

The better a parent is the more he must avoid the danger of discouraging his child, for he must give discipline and encouragement in equal parts.

THE CHRISTIAN WORKMAN AND THE CHRISTIAN MASTER ( Col 3:18-25 ; Col 4:1 continued)

(iii) Paul then turns to the greatest problem of all–the relationship between slave and master. It will be noted that this section is far longer than the other two; and its length may well be due to long talks which Paul had with the runaway slave, Onesimus, whom later he was to send back to his master Philemon.

Paul says things which must have amazed both sides.

He insists that the slave must be a conscientious workman. He is in effect saying that his Christianity must make him a better and more efficient slave. Christianity never in this world offers escape from hard work; it makes a man able to work still harder. Nor does it offer a man escape from difficult situations; it enables him to meet these situations better.

The slave must not be content with eye-service; he must not work only when the overseer’s eye is upon him. He must not be the kind of servant, who, as C. F. D. Moule puts it, does not dust behind the ornaments or sweep below the wardrobe. He must remember that he will receive his inheritance. Here was an amazing thing. Under Roman law a slave could not possess any property whatsoever and here he is being promised nothing less than the inheritance of God. He must remember that the time will come when the balance is adjusted and evil-doing will find its punishment and faithful diligence its reward.

The master must treat the slave not like a thing, but like a person, with justice and with the equity which goes beyond justice.

How is it to be done? The answer is important, for in it there is the whole Christian doctrine of work.

The workman must do everything as if he was doing it for Christ. We do not work for pay or for ambition or to satisfy an earthly master; we work so that we can take every task and offer it to Christ. All work is done for God so that his world may go on and his men and women have the things they need for life and living.

The master must remember that he too has a Master–Christ in heaven. He is answerable to God, just as his workmen are answerable to him. No master can say, “This is my business and I will do what I like with it.” He must say, “This is God’s business. He has put me in charge of it. I am responsible to him.” The Christian doctrine of work is that master and man alike are working for God, and that, therefore, the real rewards of work are not assessable in earthly coin, but will some day be given–or withheld–by God.

THE CHRISTIAN’S PRAYER ( Col 4:2-4 )

4:2-4 Persevere in prayer. Be vigilant in your prayer, and let thanksgiving always be a part of it. And at the same time pray for us, that God may open for us a door for the word, that we may speak the secret of Christ now revealed to his own people, that secret for which I am in bonds, that I may make it manifest to all, as I ought to speak.

Paul would never write a letter without urging the duty and the privilege of prayer on his friends.

He tells them to persevere in prayer. Even for the best of us, there come times when prayer seems to be unavailing and to penetrate no farther than the walls of the room in which we pray. At such a time the remedy is not to stop but to go on praying; for in the man who prays spiritual dryness cannot last.

He tells them to be vigilant in prayer. Literally the Greek means to be wakeful. The phrase could well mean that Paul is telling them not to go to sleep when they pray. Maybe he was thinking of the time on the Mount of Transfiguration when the disciples fell asleep and only when they were awake again saw the glory ( Luk 9:32). Or maybe he was thinking of that time in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed and his disciples slept ( Mat 26:40). It is true that at the end of a hard day sleep often comes upon us when we try to pray. And even oftener there is in our prayers a kind of tiredness. At such a time we should not try to be long: God will understand the single sentence uttered in the manner of a child too tired to stay awake.

Paul asks their prayers for himself. We must note carefully exactly what it is for which Paul asks. He asks their prayer not so much for himself as for his work. There were many things for which Paul might have asked them to pray–release from prison, a successful outcome to his coming trial, a little rest and peace at the last. But he asks them to pray only that there may be given to him strength and opportunity to do the work which God had sent him into the world to do. When we pray for ourselves and for others, we should not ask release from any task, but rather strength to complete the task which has been given us to do. Prayer should always be for power and seldom for release; for not release but conquest must be the keynote of the Christian life.

THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLD ( Col 4:5-6 )

4:5-6 Behave yourselves wisely to those who are outside the Church. Buy up every possible opportunity. Let your speech always be with gracious charm, seasoned with the salt of wit, so that you will know the right answer to give in every case.

Here are three brief instructions for the life of the Christian in the world.

(i) The Christian must behave himself with wisdom and with tact towards those who are outside the Church. He must of necessity be a missionary; but he must know when and when not to speak to others about his religion and theirs. He must never give the impression of superiority and of censorious criticism. Few people have ever been argued into Christianity. The Christian, therefore, must remember that it is not so much by his words as by his life that he will attract people to, or repel them from, Christianity. On the Christian there is laid the great responsibility of showing men Christ in his daily life.

(ii) The Christian must be a man on the outlook for opportunity. He must buy up every opportunity possible to work for Christ and to serve men. Daily life and work are continually offering men opportunities to witness for Christ and to influence people for him–but there are so many who avoid the opportunities instead of embracing them. The Church is constantly offering its members the opportunity to teach, to sing, to visit, to work for the good of the Christian congregation–and there are so many who deliberately refuse these opportunities instead of accepting them. The Christian should always be on the outlook for the opportunity to serve Christ and his fellow-men.

(iii) The Christian must have charm and wit in his speech so that he may know how to give the right answer in every case. Here is an interesting injunction. It is all too true that Christianity in the minds of many is connected with a kind of sanctimonious dullness and an outlook in which laughter is almost a heresy. As C. F. D. Moule says, this is “a warning not to confuse loyal godliness with graceless insipidity.” The Christian must commend his message with the charm and the wit which were in Jesus himself. There is too much of the Christianity which stodgily depresses a man and too little of the Christianity which scintillates with life.

FAITHFUL COMPANIONS ( Col 4:7-11 )

4:7-11 Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant and my fellow-slave in Christ, will inform you all about how things are going with me. I send him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about what is happening to me and that he may encourage your hearts. Along with him I send Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of yourselves. They will inform you about all that has been happening here. Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, greets you, and Mark, Barnabas’ cousin. (I have given you instructions about him; if he comes to you, give him a welcome.) Jesus, who is called Justus, sends you greetings. These were all converts from the Jewish faith. These alone are my fellow-workers in the work of the Kingdom, men who have been a comfort to me.

The list of names at the end of this chapter is a list of heroes of the faith. We must remember the circumstances. Paul was in prison awaiting trial and it is always dangerous to be a prisoner’s friend, for it is so easy to become involved in the same fate as the prisoner himself It took courage to visit Paul in his imprisonment and to show that one was on the same side. Let us collect what we know of these men.

There was Tychicus. He came from the Roman province of Asia and was most likely the representative of his Church to carry its offering to the poor Christians of Jerusalem ( Act 20:4). To him also was entrusted the duty of bearing to its various destinations the letter we know as the letter to the Ephesians ( Eph 6:21). There is one rather interesting thing here. Paul writes that Tychicus will tell them all about how things are going with him. This shows how much was left to word of mouth and never set down in Paul’s letters at all. In the nature of things the letters could not be very tong and they dealt with the problems of faith and conduct which were threatening the Churches. The personal details were left to the bearer of the letter to tell. Tychicus, then, we can describe as the personal envoy of Paul.

There was Onesimus. Paul’s way of mentioning him is full of lovely courtesy. Onesimus was the runaway slave who had somehow reached Rome and Paul was sending him back to his master Philemon. But he does not call him a runaway slave; he calls him a faithful and beloved brother. When Paul had anything to say about a man, he always said the best that he could.

There was Aristarchus. He was a Macedonian from Thessalonica ( Act 20:4). We get only fleeting glimpses of Aristarchus but from these glimpses one thing emerges–he was clearly a good man to have about in a tight corner. He was there when the people of Ephesus rioted in the Temple of Diana and was so much in the forefront that he was captured by the mob ( Act 19:29). He was there when Paul set sail a prisoner for Rome ( Act 27:2). It may well be that he had actually enrolled himself as Paul’s slave in order that he might be allowed to make the last journey with him. And now he is here in Rome, Paul’s fellow-prisoner. Clearly Aristarchus was a man who was always on the spot when things were at their grimmest. Whenever Paul was in bad trouble Aristarchus was there. The glimpses we have are enough to indicate a really good companion.

There was Mark. Of all the characters in the Early Church he had had the most surprising career. He was so close a friend that Peter could call him his son ( 1Pe 5:13); and we know that when he wrote his gospel, it was the preaching material of Peter that he was setting down. On the first missionary journey Paul and Barnabas had taken Mark with them to be their secretary ( Act 13:5); but in the middle of the journey, when things got difficult, Mark quit and went home ( Act 13:13). It was long before Paul could forgive that. When they were about to set out on the second missionary journey, Barnabas once more wished to take Mark with them. But Paul refused to take the quitter again, and on this issue he and Barnabas parted company and never worked together again ( Act 15:36-40). Tradition says that Mark went as a missionary to Egypt and founded the Church at Alexandria. What happened in the interim we do not know; but we do know that he was with Paul in his last imprisonment who had once again come to look on him as a most useful man to have around ( Phm 1:24; 2Ti 4:11). Mark was the man who redeemed himself Here in this brief reference there is an echo of the old, unhappy story. Paul instructs the Church at Colosse to receive Mark and to give him a welcome if he should come. Why does he do that? Doubtless because his Churches looked with suspicion on the man whom Paul had once dismissed as useless for the service of Christ. And now Paul, with his habitual courtesy and thoughtfulness, is making sure that Mark’s past will not stand in his way by giving him full approval as one of his trusted friends. The end of Mark’s career is a tribute at one and the same time to Mark and to Paul.

Of Jesus, who was called Justus, we know nothing but his name.

These were Paul’s helps and comforters. We know that it was but a cool welcome that the Jews in Rome gave him ( Act 28:17-29); but there were men with him in Rome whose loyalty must have warmed his heart.

MORE NAMES OF HONOUR ( Col 4:12-15 )

4:12-15 Epaphras, one of yourselves, the slave of Jesus Christ, greets you. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand mature and fully assured in the faith, engaged in doing the will of God. I bear him witness that he has toiled greatly for you and for those in Laodicaea and in Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, and so does Demas. Greet the brothers in Laodicaea and Nymphas and the Church in their house.

So this honour-roll of Christian workers goes on.

There was Epaphras. He must have been the minister of the Church at Colosse ( Col 1:7). This passage would seem to mean that he was, in fact, the overseer of the Churches in the group of three towns, Hierapolis, Laodicaea and Colosse. He was a servant of God who prayed and toiled for the people over whom God had set him.

There was Luke the beloved physician, who was with Paul to the end ( 2Ti 4:11). Was he a doctor, who gave up what might have been a lucrative career in order to tend Paul’s thorn in the flesh and to preach Christ?

There was Demas. It is significant that Demas’ name is the only one to which some comment of praise and appreciation is not attached. He is Demas and nothing more. There is a story behind the brief references to Demas in the letters of Paul. In Phm 1:24 he is grouped with the men who are described as Paul’s fellow-labourers. Here in Col 4:14 he is simply Demas. And in the last mention of him (in 2Ti 4:10) he is Demas who has forsaken Paul because he loved this present world. Surely here we have the faint outlines of a study in degeneration, loss of enthusiasm and failure in the faith. Here is one of the men who refused to be remade by Christ.

There was Nymphas (the Revised Standard Version has the feminine, Nympha) and the Church of the brothers at Laodicaea which met in his house. We must remember that there was no such thing as a special Church building until the third century. Up to that time the Christian congregations met in the houses of those who were the leaders of the Church. There was the Church which met in the house of Aquila and Prisca in Rome and Ephesus ( Rom 16:5; 1Co 16:19). There was the Church which met in the house of Philemon ( Phm 1:2). In the early days, Church and home were identical: and it is still true that every Christian home should also be a Church of Jesus Christ.

THE MYSTERY OF THE LAODICAEAN LETTER ( Col 4:16 )

4:16 When this letter has been read among you, see to it that it is also read in the Church of the Laodicaeans, and see to it that you read the letter which is on the way to you from Laodicaea.

Here is one of the mysteries of Paul’s correspondence. The letter to Colosse has to be sent on to Laodicaea. And, says Paul, a letter is on the way from Laodicaea to Colosse. What was this Laodicaean letter? There are four possibilities.

(i) It may have been a special letter to the Church at Laodicaea. If so, it is lost, although, as we shall shortly see, an alleged letter to Laodicaea still exists. It is certain that Paul must have written more letters than we possess. We have only thirteen Pauline letters, covering roughly fifteen years. Many letters of his must have been lost, and it may be that the letter to Laodicaea was such a one.

(ii) It may be the letter we know as Ephesians. It is well-nigh certain that Ephesians was not written to the Church at Ephesus but was an encyclical letter meant to circulate among all the Churches of Asia. It may be that this encyclical had reached Laodicaea and was now on the way to Colosse.

(iii) It may actually be the letter to Philemon. That is a real possibility as we try to show in our study of that letter.

(iv) For many centuries there has been in existence an alleged letter of Paul to the Church at Laodicaea. As we have it, it is in Latin; but the Latin is such that it has every sign of being a literal translation of a Greek original. This letter is actually included in the Codex Fuldensis of the Latin New Testament which belonged to Victor of Capua and which goes back to the sixth century. This alleged Laodicaean letter can be traced even further back. It was mentioned by Jerome in the fifth century, but Jerome himself said that it was a forgery and that most people agreed that it was not authentic. The letter runs as follows:

Paul an apostle, not by men neither through any man, but through

Jesus Christ, to the brothers who are at Laodicaea. Grace be to you

and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank Christ in every one of my prayers that you remain steadfast

in him, and that you persevere in his works, awaiting his promise

on the day of judgment. Let not the empty words of certain men

seduce you, words of men who try to persuade you that you should

turn away from the truth of the gospel which is preached by me…

(There follows a verse where the text is uncertain).

And now my bonds which I suffer in Christ are plain for all to see;

in them I delight and joy. And this will result for me in

everlasting salvation, a result which will be brought about by your

prayers, and by the help of the Holy Spirit, whether by my life or

by my death. For me to live is to be in Christ, and to die is joy.

And may he in his mercy bring this very thing to pass in you, that

you may have the same love, and that you may be of the one mind.

Therefore, my best-beloved, as you have heard in my presence, so

hold to these things and do them in fear of God, and then there

will be to you life for eternity; for it is God who works in you.

And do without wavering whatever you do.

As for what remains, best-beloved, rejoice in Christ; beware of

those who are sordid in their desire for gain. Let all your

prayers be made known before God; and be you inn in the mind of

Christ.

Do the things which are pure, and true, and modest, and just,

and lovely.

Hold fast what you have heard and received into your heart;

and you will have peace.

The saints salute you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Cause that this letter be read to the Colossians, and that the

letter of the Colossians be read to you.

Such is the alleged letter of Paul to the Laodicaeans. It is clearly made up mainly of phrases taken from Philippians with the opening introduction taken from Galatians. There can be little doubt that it was the creation of some pious writer who read in Colossians that there had been a letter to Laodicaea and who proceeded to compose what he thought such a letter should be. Very few people would accept this ancient letter to the Laodicaeans as a genuine letter of Paul.

We cannot explain the mystery of this letter to the Church at Laodicaea. The most commonly accepted explanation is that the reference is to the circular letter which we know as Ephesians; but the suggestion put forward in our study of Philemon is even more romantic and very attractive.

THE CLOSING BLESSING ( Col 4:17-18 )

4:17-18 And say to Archippus, “See that you complete that piece of service which you have received from the Lord to do.” Here is my greeting in the handwriting of myself, Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you.

The letter closes with an urgent spur to Archippus to be true to a special task which has been given to him. It may be that we can never tell what that task was; it may be that our study of Philemon throws light upon it. For the moment we must leave it at that.

To write his letters Paul used a secretary. We know, for instance, that the penman who did the writing of Romans was called Tertius ( Rom 16:22). It was Paul’s custom at the end of a letter to write his signature and his blessing with his own hand–and here he does just that.

“Remember my bonds,” he says. Again and again in this series of letters Paul refers to his bonds ( Eph 3:1; Eph 4:1; Eph 6:20; Phm 1:9). There is no self-pity and no sentimental plea for sympathy. Paul finishes his letter to the Galatians: “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” ( Gal 6:17). Of course, there is pathos. Alford comments movingly: “When we read of his chains we should not forget that they moved over the paper as he wrote (his signature). His hand was chained to the soldier that kept him.” But Paul’s references to his sufferings are not pleas for sympathy; they are his claims to authority, the guarantees of his right to speak. It is as if he said, “This is not a letter from someone who does not know what the service of Christ means or someone who is asking others to do what he is not prepared to do himself. It is a letter from one who has himself suffered and sacrificed for Christ. My only right to speak is that I too have carried the Cross of Christ.”

And so the letter comes to its inevitable end. The end of every one of Paul’s letters is grace. He always ended by commending others to that grace which he himself had found sufficient for all things.

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

1. Masters St. Paul directs Christian masters to render to their slaves what is just and equal doubtless in their condition as slaves. What the latter might justly require was justly due. The equality is best interpreted by the Golden Rule, which requires the same spirit in the master that is here enjoined upon the slave.

A Master in heaven Whose law of love is binding upon both, and who will punish all injustice and unkindness.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Masters (lords), render to your servants what is right and is equality, knowing that you also have a master in Heaven.’

The master is not to show partiality but must treat each servant fairly. The same treatment must be meted out to all, and it must be ‘right’. For that is how the Master in Heaven treats all men, and He will require it of him.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

3). Instructions to Wives, Husbands, Children, Servants and Masters ( Col 3:18 to Col 4:1 ).

Here Paul is following the pattern of some Jewish and pagan writers with respect to domestic behaviour, but he Christianises the instructions and makes them specifically applicable. This is a making sacred of these day to day relationships.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Practical Application: The Preeminence of Christ in Christian Living – Kenneth Hagin and other great Bible teaches tell us that we are created as a three-fold person. [86] We are transformed through a process of renewing our minds, transforming our hearts and then directing our bodies into a godly lifestyle. Thus, Paul follows this order in his teaching to the Colossians so that Christ Jesus might be preeminent in their daily lives. Chapters two through four of Colossians teach us how to apply the doctrinal truths laid out in the first chapter to our personal lives.

[86] Kenneth Hagin, Man on Three Dimensions (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1973, 1985); and Kenneth Hagin, The Human Spirit (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1985).

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. His Preeminence in our Thinking (Mental Transformation) Col 2:1-23

2. His Preeminence in our Affections (Spiritual Transformation) Col 3:1-17

3. His Preeminence in our Conduct (Physical Transformation) Col 3:18 to Col 4:6

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Submission At Home: Domestic Duties Col 3:18 to Col 4:1 places emphasis upon our domestic duties at home as we learn to submit to one another.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Husbands and Wives Col 3:18-19

2. Children and Parents Col 3:20-21

3. Masters and Slaves Col 3:22 to Col 4:1

Also:

Col 3:18 – Wives to husbands (vs. 19 – Husband love wives)

Col 3:20 – Children to parents (vs. 21 – Fathers love children)

Col 3:22-25 – Servants to masters (Col 4:1 – Masters honor servants)

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

His Preeminence in our Conduct (Physical Transformation) In Col 3:18 to Col 4:6 Paul gives them specific charges so that they will be challenged to begin to walk in this new life. This passage is about submitting to one another (5:21), because we have a Master in Heaven (Col 4:1). They are to learn how to allow Christ to rule their homes, in all of their relationships as wives, as husbands, as children, as fathers, as slaves and as masters (Col 3:18 to Col 4:1). Thus, we can see in this passage of Scripture the manifestation of Christ ruling our lives by how we behave in our social relationships. They are also exhorted to learn how to let Christ rule their prayer time and church time (Col 4:2-4), to be careful how they conduct themselves with those outside the church as they learn to bring their words into obedience to Christ (Col 4:5-6). When a man learns to bring his words in submission, he has reached the state of maturity that God has called him to (Jas 3:2).

Jas 3:2, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”

Outline – Note the proposed outline:

1. At Home (Domestic Duties) Col 3:18 to Col 4:1

i. Husbands and Wives Col 3:18-19

ii. Children and Parents Col 3:20-21

iii. Masters and Slaves Col 3:22 to Col 4:1

2. At Church (Religious Duties) Col 4:2-4

3. In the World (Civil Duties) Col 4:5-6

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Submission Between Masters and Slaves – The passage of Col 3:22 to Col 4:1 addresses the relationship of slave and master in regards to submitting to one another in the fear of the Lord. We may apply it today to employee-employer. Paul deals with this social relationship within the context of the theme of Colossians, which is the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the life of a believer. Slave ownership was an important part of the economic structure of the Roman society. Without it, the Empire would not be able to finance its infrastructure. Yet our Christian ethics tell us that it is morally wrong.

Slavery in the African Mission Field – In order to understand the wisdom that the Lord gave Paul in dealing with the issue of slavery, it is helpful to look back upon a similar incident in the missionary efforts of Alexander Mackay and his team as they made their way to the East African country of Uganda to evangelize the natives. Upon arriving on the east coast of Africa, the team initially chased slave caravans and successfully set free a number of slaves. However, they quickly found themselves in ill favor with many native people around them. When an Arab slave-dealer named Songoro ran to find refuge with two team members of Mackay, the local king sent a troop of natives and killed the entire group, the slave-dealer and the two white missionaries. Mackay learned a difficult lesson about engaging himself in the private affairs of the local people, particularly when it involved slave trade. [97] Although Wilberforce had led the British Parliament in condemning slavery in the West a few decades earlier, and the Civil War in the U.S. freed American slaves, it was not Mackay’s role to change this primitive African society by force, but rather by conversion to Christ so that the people would change their society willingly, which is exactly what took place in the decades ahead in East Africa. If fact, Mackay changed his approach by asking the king of Uganda to do away with slavery in his territory, which did not work immediately.

[97] C. T. Wilson, Alexander Mackay: Missionary Hero of Uganda. (London: The Sunday School Union, 1893), p. 29, 31-32

Col 3:22 “but in singleness of heart” – Comments Strong says the Greek word “singleness” ( ) (G572) means “singleness, sincerity, generosity.” It is used in Mat 6:22.

Mat 6:22, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single , thy whole body shall be full of light.”

Col 3:22 Comments – Slavery – Slavery was a big part of the fabric of Roman society. There were an estimated sixty million slaves serving their masters in the Roman Empire, which had an estimated population of one hundred and twenty million people. Thus, half of the population was bound in slavery. The cruel Roman government enforced this bondage because the success of its economy was dependent upon the sweat of slave labour. Thus, Paul had to be careful not to appear as if he was calling for a revolution of emancipation of slavery. He would have quickly been thrown in prison. Yet, his Jewish background found him against it. His understand of the Gospel led him to the understanding that slavery was not God’s will for mankind. Thus, every time Paul addresses this issue, he does it with carefulness by drawing attention to the spiritual laws of freedom in Christ and servanthood to one another.

1Co 7:21, “Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.”

Eph 6:5-9, “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.”

1Ti 6:1-2, “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.”

1Pe 2:18, “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.”

Col 3:23 Word Study on “heartily” The Greek phrase (heartily) literally means, “from the soul.” BDAG says it means, “from the heart, or gladly.”

Col 3:23 Comments – Someone who begins a task and is out to please man generally will not last long, but will cease when the praises cease. However, one who does something to please God regardless of man’s thought, will often get the job done. Whatever you do, do it from this point of view, “I’m not doing this to please so-and-so, but I’m doing this task for Jesus, to please God.”

Col 3:23-24 Comments Serving as Unto the Lord – In May 1993, I was working with DMJ Management. I had just been promoted from a maintenance man at Brown Trail Apartments up to the position of construction manager. At this time, the annual voting took place throughout the company for various awards. These awards were to be handed out at the annual banquet in June. I was voted as the employee of the year. However, since I had just been promoted to a position of a supervisor a few weeks earlier, I was now disqualified for these awards. One day I received a call from the manager of this company. He explained to me that I had received the award, but that it would have to be given to the runner-up. I responded by saying it was fine with me, since I was doing my job as a service to the Lord. I then quoting these two verses to my boss, as the Lord quickened them to me.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

On the other hand, therefore, the masters should also heed the warning,

v. 1. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

The treatment which any master accords to those under his authority, and especially to slaves, should be determined by justice and equity, not by caprice. Masters should regard their slaves, OR their side, as far as they are concerned, as human beings with themselves, like themselves. On the social, historical side there may be a wide difference in their stations, but by creation all men are equal before God, and that fact must never be forgotten. The almighty and just Lord in heaven will call every master to account for the treatment accorded those entrusted to his authority.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Col 4:1

(See Col 3:1-25.)

Col 4:2-6

SECTION IX. PRAYER AND SOCIAL CONVERSE. There are added some brief exhortations of a more general tenor, the contents of which are summed up in the heading given to this section.

Col 4:2

Continue steadfast in prayer, being watchful (or, wakeful) therein, with thanksgiving. “Steadfast continuance” in prayer is specially illustrated in our Lord’s sayings on the subject in St. Luke (comp. Act 1:14, where the same peculiar verb is used). In Php 4:6; 1Th 5:17, 1Th 5:18; 1Ti 2:1-15 :l, again “thanksgiving” is associated with “prayer.” Wakefulness in prayer is enjoined by Christ in Mat 26:41 and Mar 14:38 : compare the synonymous , to be sleepless, used in Eph 6:1,Eph 6:2; Mar 13:33; Luk 21:36; Heb 13:17. “To be awake” is to be alive in the fullest sense, to have all the powers of perception and action in readiness. The activity of the soul in prayer is to be both energetic and incessant. “With [literally in, , not , as in Eph 6:18] thanksgiving gives the pervading element or influence, in or under which the prayers of the Colossians were to be offered (comp. Col 1:12; Col 2:7; Col 3:15, Col 3:17).

Col 4:3

Praying at the same time also for us (Eph 6:19; Rom 15:30-32; 1Th 5:25; 2Th 3:1, 2Th 3:2; Heb 13:18). In Ephesians and Romans the apostle implores prayer for himself alone, and dwells on his personal circumstances. Here and in the Thessalonian letters he unites his fellow labourers with him in the request. That God may open to us a door for the word (1Co 16:9; 2Co 2:12; 1Th 1:9; 1Th 2:1). “The word” is the Word of God which the apostle preaches (Col 1:5, Col 1:25; 1Th 1:6; Gal 6:6; 2Ti 4:2; Act 16:6); and “a debt” is wanted, in his present difficulties, through which that Word may freely pass, such as he speaks of in 1Co 16:9; 2Co 2:12 (comp. Act 14:27; Rev 3:8). It is fanciful to give “door” here the sense of “mouth.” The “opening of my mouth,” in Eph 6:19, expresses the subjective freedom (corresponding to “as I ought to speak,” Eph 6:4); “the door for the word,” the objective liberty desired by St. Paul in his imprisonment. To speak the mystery of Christ, because of which also I am bound (Col 1:23-29; Eph 6:19; Eph 3:1-13; Eph 4:1; Php 1:12-14; Phm 1:9; 2Ti 2:8-10; Act 20:22-24). Were his prison door once opened, the apostle would be able freely to preach the gospel to the Gentilesfor this “the mystery of Christ” chiefly signifies (Col 1:25-29; Eph 3:1-8; 1Ti 2:3-7.) (On “mystery,” see note, Col 1:26.) It is this very mission which makes him long for freedom, that keeps him a prisoner (Col 1:23; Eph 3:13). He is in the strange position of an “ambassador in chains”. This “I am bound” (singular) shows that the “for us” of the former clause designedly includes others with himself.

Col 4:4

That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak (Eph 6:20; 2Co 2:17; 2Co 4:1-6; 2Co 5:11, 20-6:10; Rom 12:6; 2Ti 2:24-26; 2Ti 3:10; Act 20:18-21, Act 20:27, Act 20:33-35). This clause qualifies the last; the “open door” is to be asked for the apostle, that he may make effective use of it. The mystery has been made manifest by God in the mission of Christ (Col 1:27; Col 2:15, note; 2Co 5:19, etc.); but that manifestation has to be made known to the Gentile world (Eph 3:9; 2Co 2:14; Rom 10:14). To this end he had received a special manifestation of “the mystery of Christ” (2Co 4:6; 2Co 5:19; Gal 1:15, Gal 1:16; Act 9:15, Act 9:16; Act 22:14, Act 22:15, Act 22:21; Act 26:16-18). How the apostle conceives that he “ought to speak” appears from the parallel passages (see especially 2Co 5:1-21.; 6.; and Act 20:1-38.).

Col 4:5

Walk in wisdom towards those without (Eph 5:15-17; 1Th 4:12; 1Th 5:15; 1Co 10:32; 2Co 4:2; Tit 2:8; 1Pe 2:12, 1Pe 2:15; 1Pe 3:16; Mat 10:16). (On “wisdom,” see Col 1:9, note; Col 1:28; Col 2:3; Col 3:16; this was a chief need of the Colossian Church.) “Those without,” as opposed to Christians”those within the pale;” a Jewish mode of expression (Lightfoot): comp. 1Th 4:12; 1Co 5:12, 1Co 5:13; 1Ti 3:7. From a different point of view, they are designated” the rest” in Eph 2:3; 1Th 4:13; 1Th 5:6. This injunction appears in a different form and position in Ephesians. Standing at the close of the writer’s exhortations, and followed up by the direction of the next verse, it is more pointed and emphatic here. Buying up each (literally, the) opportunity (Eph 5:16; 1Co 7:29; Gal 6:10; Joh 11:9, Joh 11:10; Luk 13:32; Ecc 3:1-8). In Eph 5:16 the reason is added, “because the days are evil.” In Dan 2:8 (LXX) the verb has precisely this sense and connection, and the idiom occurs in classical writers. The verb is middle in voice: “buying up for yourselves,” “for your own advantage.” In Gal 3:13 the compound verb is somewhat differently used. The opportunity is the fit time for each step of a well-conducted walk, the precise juncture of circumstances which must be seized at once or it is gone. This wary promptitude is always needful in dealing with men of the world, both to avoid harm from them and in seeking to do them good. The latter thought, it may be, connects this verse and the next.

Col 4:6

(Let) your speech (literally, word) (be) always with grace, seasoned with salt (Eph 4:29, Eph 4:31; Eph 5:3, Eph 5:4; Tit 2:8; Mat 12:34-37; Luk 4:22; Psa 45:2). “Word” () has its common acceptation, as in Col 3:17; Col 2:23; Tit 2:8; 2Ti 2:17; Jas 3:2. “With grace” ( ) gives the pervading element of Christian speech; as “in wisdom,” of Christian behaviour (Jas 3:5). “Grace,” here without the article, is not, as in Col 3:16, where the article should probably be read, “the (Divine) grace,” but a property of speech itself, “gracefulness” the kindly, winning pleasantness which makes the talk of a good and thoughtful man attractive: comp. Psa 45:2 (Psa 44:3, LXX); Ecc 10:12 (LXX); Sir. 21:16. “Salt” is the “wholesome point and pertinency” (Ellicott) seasoning conversation, while grace sweetens it. The clause which follows indicates that “salt” denotes here, as commonly in Greek (instance the phrase, “Attic salt”), an intellectual rather than a moral quality of speech. In Eph 4:29 the connection is different, and the application more general. That you may know how you ought to answer each one (Eph 4:4; 1Pe 3:15; Php 1:27, Php 1:28; 2Th 2:17). The Colossians were to pray for the apostle that he might “speak the mystery of Christ… as he ought to speak;” and he bids them seek for themselves the same gift of , liberty of speech and readiness to “every good word.” For their faith was assailed by persuasive sophistry (Col 2:4, Col 2:8, Col 2:23) and by brew-beating dogmatism (Col 2:16, Col 2:18, Col 2:20, Col 2:21). They were, like St. Paul, “set for the defence of the gospel,” placed in the van of the conflict against heresy. They needed, therefore, “to have all their wits about them,” so as to be able, as occasion required, to make answer to each of their opponents and questioners, that they might “contend” wisely as well as “earnestly for the faith.” 1Pe 3:15 is a commentary on this verse: the parallelism is the closer because that Epistle was addressed to Churches in Asia Minor, where the debates out of which Gnosticism arose were beginning to be rife; and because, likewise, “the hope that was in them” was a chief object of the attack made on the Colossian believers (Col 1:5, Col 1:23, Col 1:27; Col 2:18; Col 3:15).

With this exhortation the Christian teaching of the Epistle is concluded. In its third and practical part (Col 3:1-4:6) the apostle has built up, on the foundation of the doctrine laid down in the first chapter, and in place of the attractive but false and pernicious system denounced in the second, a lofty and complete ideal of the Christian life. He has led us from the contemplation of its “life of life” in the innermost mystery of union with Christ and of its glorious destiny in him (Col 3:1-4), through the soul’s interior death-struggle with its old corruptions (1Pe 3:5-11) and its investment with the graces of its new life (1Pe 3:12-15), to the expression and outward acting of that life in the mutual edification of the Church (1Pe 3:16, 1Pe 3:17), in the obedience and devotion of the family circle (1Pe 3:18), in constant prayerfulness and sympathy with the ministers and suffering witnesses of Christ (1Pe 3:2-4), and, lastly, in such converse with men of the world, and in the midst of the distracting debate by which faith is assailed, as shall fittingly commend the Christian cause.

Col 4:7-18

SECTION X. PERSONAL MESSAGES AND GREETINGS. St. Paul concludes his letter, first, by introducing to the Colossians its bearer, Tychicus, along with whom he commends to them their own Onesimus, returning to his master (verses 7-9); then, according to his custom, he conveys greetings from his various friends and helpers present with him at the time, in particular from Mark, who was likely to visit them, and from Epaphras their own devoted minister (verses 10-14); thirdly, he sends greeting to the neighbouring and important Church of Laodicea, specially mentioning Nympha, with directions to exchange letters with the Laodiceans, and with a pointed warning to Archippus, probably a Colossian, having some charge over that Church (verses 15-17). Finally, he appends, with his own hand, his apostolic greeting and benediction (verse 18). The personal references of this section, though slight and cursory, are of peculiar value, bearing themselves the strongest marks of genuineness, and decisively attesting the Pauline authorship of the Epistle. At the same time, we gather from them several independent facts throwing light on St. Paul’s position during his imprisonment, and on his relations to other leading personages of the Church.

Col 4:7

All that relates to me (literally, the things concerning me) Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant (bondman), will make known to you (Eph 6:21, Eph 6:22; Tit 3:12; 2 Timothy 6:12; 2Ti 1:8; 1Th 3:2; Php 2:25). Tychicus appears first in Act 20:4, where he is called an “Asian” (of the Roman province of Asia, of which Ephesus was capital), along with Trophimus, who, in Act 21:29, is styled “the Ephesian.” He accompanied the apostle on his voyage to Jerusalem (A.D. 58), with a number of others representing different Churches, and deputed, as Lightfoot thinks, in conformity with the directions of 1Co 16:3, 1Co 16:4, to convey the contributions raised for “the poor saints at Jerusalem.” Trophimus was with St. Paul in Jerusalem (Act 21:29), and so, probably, his colleague (the words, “as far as Asia,” in Act 20:4, are of very doubtful authority), he is now with the apostle in his imprisonment at Rome, about to be sent home with these two letters (comp. Eph 6:21, Eph 6:22), and in charge of Onesimus, on whose account the apostle sends a private letter to Philemon. In the interval between the first (present) and second imprisonment (2 Timothy), the apostle revisited the Asiatic Churches (so we infer from 1Ti 1:3), and Tychicus rejoined him; for we find St. Paul proposing to send him to Titus in Crete (Tit 3:12), and finally sending him from Rome once more to Ephesus (2 Timothy 6:12). These facts sustain the high terms in which he is here spoken of. “In the Lord” belongs both to “minister” and “fellow servant.” This language is almost identical with that used of Epaphras in Col 1:7 (see notes). Tychicus is “minister” (), not to Paul himself (Act 19:22; Act 13:5, ), nor in the official sense of Php 1:1, but “of Christ,” “of the gospel,” or “the Church” (1Th 3:2), as St. Paul himself (Col 1:23, Col 1:25). He is “a beloved brother” to his fellow.believers, “a faithful minister” of the Lord Christ, and “a fellow servant” with the apostle (Col 1:7; Col 4:10; Php 2:25).

Col 4:8

Whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know how it is with us (literally, the things about us), and that he may comfort your hearts (Eph 6:22). The Received Text reads, by a slight confusion of similar Greek letters, that he may know the things about you (see Lightfoot’s ‘Notes on some Various Readings’). This is the only clause exactly identical in Colossians and Ephesians. There would be great anxiety on St. Paul’s account amongst the Gentile Christians everywhere, and especially in the Asiatic Churches, after the ominous words of his address to the Ephesian elders (Act 20:22-25 : comp. Act 20:37, Act 20:38). The Colossians had sent through Epaphras messages of love to him (Col 1:8). To know that he was of good courage, and even in hope of a speedy release (Phm 1:22), would “comfort their hearts.”

Col 4:9

With Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is (one) of you (Col 4:7; Phm 1:10, Phm 1:16; Col 1:2; 1Pe 5:12). “In Christ there is no slave” (Col 3:11). Onesimus, like Epaphras and Tychicus, is a brother, to be trusted and loved (comp. Phm 1:10-17). This language strongly supports the appeal of Col 4:1, and would further the purpose of the apostle’s intercession to Onesimus’ master. And Onesimus even shares with the honoured Tychicus in the privilege of being the apostle’s messenger! All things that are happening here they will make known to you (Col 4:7; Eph 6:21). There is, therefore, no need for any detailed account of the writer’s circumstances. The solicitude which he assumes that these stranger Colossians (Col 1:8; Col 2:1) feel on his behalf shows how commanding his ascendancy over the Gentile Churches had become.

Col 4:10

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, saluteth you (Phm 1:2, Phm 1:23; Php 2:25; Rom 16:7). Aristarchus, as a Thessalonian, accompanied the apostle to Jerusalem, along with Tychicus the Asian (Act 20:4), and was his companion at least during the first part of his voyage to Rome (Act 27:2). In Phm 1:23, Phm 1:24 his name follows that of Mark as a “fellow worker” (comp. verse 11) and of Epaphras “my fellow prisoner” (comp. Rom 16:7). “Fellow prisoner” (, captive, prisoner of war) differs from the “prisoner” (, one in bonds) of Eph 3:1; Eph 4:1; Phm 1:9; 2Ti 1:8. The supposition that these men were permitted as friends to share St. Paul’s captivity in turn, is conjectural (see Meyer). Possibly the incident recorded in Act 19:29 was attended by some temporary joint imprisonment of St. Paul and Aristarchus. As “a soldier of Christ Jesus,” the apostle was himself now “a prisoner of war” (2Ti 2:3, 2Ti 2:4; 2Co 10:3-6); and therefore those who shared his sufferings were his “fellow prisoners,” as they were his” fellow soldiers” (Phm 1:2; Php 1:30) and his “fellow servants” (Col 1:7; Col 4:7). And Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you received commandmentsif he should come to you, welcome him (Phm 1:24; 2Ti 4:11; 1Pe 5:13). It is pleasant to find John Mark, who deserted the apostle in his first missionary journey (Act 13:13), and on whose account he separated from Barnabas (Act 15:37-40) ten years before, now taken again into his confidence and friendship. And indeed it is evident that there was no permanent estrangement between the two great Gentile missionaries; for Mark is called “cousin of Barnabas” by way of recommendation. Mary, the mother of John Mark, was a person of some consideration in the Church at Jerusalem (Act 12:12), and through her he may have been related to Barnabas, who, though a Cypriot Jew, had property near Jerusalem (Act 4:36, Act 4:37), and was also highly honoured by the mother Church (Act 9:27; Act 11:22-24; Act 15:25, Act 15:26). Mark is, moreover, a link between the Apostles Paul and Peter. It is to the house of his mother that the latter betakes himself on his escape from Herod’s prison (Act 12:12). In 1Pe 5:13 he appears, along with Silvanus (Silos), St. Paul’s old comrade, in St. Peter’s company, who calls him “my son.” St. Peter was then at Babylon, where Mark may have arrived at the end of the journey eastwards which St. Paul here contemplates his undertaking. The striking correspondence of language and thought between St. Peter’s First Epistle (addressed, moreover, to Churches of Asia Minor) and those of St. Paul to the Ephesians and Colossians (and, in an equal degree, that to the Romans) suggests the existence of some special connection at this time between the two writers, such as may well have been afforded by Mark, if, leaving Rome soon after the despatch of these letters, he travelled in their track by way of Asia Minor to join St. Peter at Babylon. At the time of St. Paul’s second imprisonment, about four years later, Mark is again in Asia Minor in the neighbourhood of Timothy, and the apostle desires his services at Rome (2Ti 4:11). When or how the Colossians had received already directions concerning Mark, we have no means of knowing. His journey appears to have been postponed. The apostle must before this have communicated with the Colossians. The visit of Epaphras to Rome may have been due to some communication from him. “If he should come to you, give him a welcome,” is the request the apostle now makes.

Col 4:11

And Jesus, called Justusthe only name of this list wanting in Philemon. Nor is this person mentioned elsewhere. “Jesus” (“Joshua,” Act 7:45; Heb 4:8) was a common Jewish name. “Justus” (“just,” “righteous”) was frequently adopted by individual Jews, or conferred on them, as a Gentile (Latin) surname (comp. Act 1:23; Act 18:7); it implied devotion to the Law, and was the equivalent of the Hebrew Zadok (see Lightfoot). Its Greek equivalent, , is the standing epithet of James, the brother of the Lord, and the head of the Church at Jerusalem; and is emphatically applied to Christ himself (Act 3:14; Act 7:52; Act 22:14; 1Pe 3:18; 1Jn 2:1). Who are of the circumcision,these only (my) fellow workers unto the kingdom of God, (men) who have been a comfort to me (Phm 1:1, Phm 1:24; 1Th 3:2; Rom 16:3, Rom 16:9, Rom 16:21; 2Co 8:23; Php 2:25; Php 4:3). Aristarchus, therefore, was a Jew, as well as Mark and Jesus Justus. “These only,” etc., must be read as in close apposition to the previous clause. This statement accords with the apostle’s complaint in Php 1:15-17; Php 2:19-24; but the still stronger language of the latter passages seems to point to a later time when he was yet more solitary, having lost Tychicus and Mark, and perhaps Aristarchus also, and when he had a more definite prospect of release. The title “fellow worker” he frequently confers on his associates (see references). In Phm 1:24 it is applied, to Luke and Demas also. “The kingdom of God” was, in Col 1:13, “the kingdom of his Son;” as in Eph 5:5 it is “the kingdom of Christ and God.” On his arrival at Rome, St. Paul is described as “testifying, and preaching the kingdom of God“ (Act 28:23, Act 28:31 : comp. Act 8:12; Act 14:22; Act 19:8; 1Th 2:12; 2Th 1:5). On the force of (“men who,” “such as”), see Col 2:23; and for (“proved,” “became in point of fact”), comp. Col 3:15. comfort, a word found only here in the Greek Testament, is a medical term (compare “paregoric”), implying “soothing relief.”

Col 4:12

Epaphras, who is (one) of you, saluteth you, a servant (bondman) of Christ Jesus (Rom 1:1; Php 1:1; Tit 1:1; Gal 1:10; 2Corinthians Gal 4:5; 1Co 7:22; 1Th 1:9; 2Ti 2:24; Act 4:29; Jas 1:1; 2Pe 1:1; Jud 1:1; Rev 1:1; Rev 22:3, Rev 22:6). “Of you,” like Onesimus (Col 4:9). He was a native of Colossae, as well as evangelist and minister of the Church there (Col 1:7, Col 1:8). “Bondman of Christ Jesus” is the title the apostle so often claims for himself (see references), only here put by him on any one else. Is there an implied reference to Onesimus (Col 4:9), who was “a bondman after the flesh,” but “the Lord’s freedman” (Phm 1:16), while Epaphras, “the freeman,” is “Christ’s bondman”? We are reminded again of Col 2:6 (see note). Always striving on your behalf in his prayers, that ye may stand fast, (being) perfect and fully assured in all the will of God (Col 1:9, Col 1:23, Col 1:29; Col 2:1, Col 2:2, Col 2:5; Rom 15:30; Eph 6:11-14; Php 1:27; Php 4:1; 1Co 16:13; 1Th 3:8; 2Th 2:15). Epaphras “strives” (“wrestles”) for his spiritual charge, like the apostle himself (Col 1:29, see note on ; Col 2:1; Rom 15:30; Luk 22:44). in Col 2:2 denotes the patient persistence, this word the intense energy, of prevailing prayer. For “stand” (where Lightfoot, Westcott and Hort, and other critical editors read the stronger for ), comp. Col 1:23; Col 2:7; it is four times repeated in the stirring appeal of Eph 6:11-14. For Churches threatened by the attacks of heresy it was above all things needful “that they should stand fast.” On “perfect,” see Col 1:28; also Col 3:14; the word bears a primary reference to “knowledge,” and implies a fully instructed and enlightened condition (Php 3:15; 1Co 14:20; Heb 5:14; Heb 6:1), attended with corresponding spiritual advancement (Eph 4:13). “Fully assured” (, Revised Text) carries us back to Col 2:2 (see notes; on this verb, compare Lightfoot’s exhaustive note). It bears the same sense in Rom 4:21 and Rom 14:5; a slightly different one in Luk 1:1. 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.” “All (the) will” is strictly distributive (every will); (Col 1:9) differs from our will in having a concrete rather than abstract sense, denoting an act or expression of will.

Col 4:13

For I hear witness to him that he hath much labour ( for , Revised Text) for you (Col 1:29; Col 2:1; Php 2:19-23; 1Th 5:12, 1Th 5:13; 1Ti 5:17; 1Co 16:15, 1Co 16:16). occurs in the New Testament besides only in Rev 16:10, Rev 16:11 and Rev 21:4, where it means “pain;” in classical Greek it implies “painful, distressful exertion” (comp. , Col 1:29). It indicates the deep anxiety of Epaphras for this beloved and endangered Church. There is nothing here to point to “outward toil” (Lightfoot), any more than in Col 2:1. The apostle loves to commend his fellow labourers (Col 1:7; Php 2:20-22, Php 2:25, Php 2:26; 2Co 8:16-23). And for those in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis (Col 2:15-17; Col 2:1). The Church in Hierapolis is added to that of Laodicea, singled out in Col 2:1 as a special object of the apostle’s concern (on these cities, see Introduction, 1). Whether Epaphras were the official head of these Churches or not, he could not but be deeply concerned in their welfare. Col 2:17 indicates the existence of a personal link between the Churches of Colossus and of Laodicea.

Col 4:14

Luke the physician, the beloved, saluteth you (Phm 1:24; 2Ti 4:11). This reference to Luke’s profession is extremely interesting. We gather from the use of the first person plural in Act 16:10-17, and again from Act 20:5 to the end of the narrative, that he joined St. Paul on his first voyage to Europe and was left behind at Philippi; and rejoined him six years after on the journey to Jerusalem which completed his third missionary circuit, continuing with him during his voyage to Rome and his imprisonment. This faithful friend attended him in his second captivity, and solaced his last hours; “Only Luke is with me” (2Ti 4:11). His being called “the physician” suggests that he ministered to the apostle in this capacity, especially as “his first appearance in St. Paul’s company synchronizes with an attack of St. Paul’s constitutional malady”. St Luke’s writings testify both to his medical knowledge and to his Pauline sympathies. His companionship probably gave a special colouring to the phraseology and cast of thought of St. Paul’s later Epistles. “The beloved” is a distinct appellation, due partly to Luke’s services to the apostle, but chiefly, one would suppose, to the amiable and gentle disposition of the writer of the third Gospel. It is not unlikely that he is “the brother” referred to in 2Co 8:18, 2Co 8:19. Lucas is a contraction for Lucanus; so that he was not the “Lucius” of Act 13:1, nor, certainly, the “Lucius my kinsman” of Rom 16:21, who was a Jew. He was probably, like many physicians of that period, a freedman; and, since freedmen took the name of the house to which they had belonged, may have been, as Plumptre conjectures, connected with the family of the Roman philosopher Seneca and the poet Lucan. And Demas (Phm 1:24; 2Ti 4:10), who alone receives no word of commendationa fact significant in view of the melancholy sentence pronounced upon him in 2Ti 4:10. His name is probably short for Demetrius.

Col 4:15

Salute the brethren that are in Laodicea (Col 4:13; Col 2:1; Rev 1:11; Rev 3:14-22). Perhaps the brethren in Hierapolis (Col 4:13) were not formed into a distinct Church as yet (comp. Col 2:1). The Church in Laodicea early became a flourishing and wealthy community (Rev 3:17). And Nympha (or, Nymphas), and the Church (literally, assembly) at her (or, their) house. may be either masculine or feminine accusative. The reading “her” () is adopted by Westcott and Hort without alternative, and seems on the whole the most probable. The Revised Text follows Tischendorf, Tregelles, Meyer, Alford, Lightfoot, who read “their” (). “His” () is evidently a later correction. Lightfoot says, indeed, that “a Doric form of the Greek name (sc. for ) seems in the highest degree improbable;” but he allows, on the other hand, that as a contracted masculine form (for ) “is very rare.” This person was apparently a leading member of the Laodicean Church, at whose house Church meetings were held (comp. Act 12:12; Phm 1:2; Rom 16:5; 1Co 16:19). “The Church at her house” can scarcely have been an assembly distinct “from the brethren that are in Laodicea.” Both expressions may relate to the same body of persons, referred first individually, then collectively as a meeting gathered at this place. Others suppose a more private gathering to be meant, as e.g. of Colossians living at Laodicea (Meyer). Many older interpreters identified this Church with the household of Nymphas. If “their” be the true reading, the expression must include Nympha and her family. Nympha (or Nymphas), like Philemon and his family, St. Paul had doubtless met in Ephesus.

Col 4:16

And when this letter has been read among you, see to it (literally, cause) that it be read also in the Church of (the) Laodiceans (1Th 5:27). For these two Churches were closely allied in origin and condition, as well as by situation and acquaintanceship (Col 2:1-5; Col 4:13). The leaven of the Colossian error was doubtless beginning to work in Laodicea also. The words addressed to Laodicea in the Apocalypse (Rev 3:14-22) bear reference apparently to the language of this Epistle (Col 1:15-18); see Lightfoot, pp. 41, etc. The phrase, “Church of Laodiceans,” corresponds to that used in the salutation of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, but is not found elsewhere in St. Paul. And that ye also read the letter from Laodicea. What was this letter? Clearly a letter from St. Paul which would be received at Laodicea, and which the Colossians were to obtain from there. The connection of this sentence with the foregoing, and the absence of any other definition of the words, “the letter (from Laodicea),” make this evident. Nothing further can be affirmed with certainty. But several considerations point to the probability that this missing Epistle is none other than our (so-called) Epistle to the Ephesians. For:

(1) Both letters were sent at the same time, and by the same messenger (Eph 6:21; Col 4:7).

(2) The relation between the two is more intimate than exists between any other of St. Paul’s writings; they are twins, the birth of the same crisis in the condition of the Church and in the apostle’s own mind. Each serves as a commentary on the other. And there are several important topics, lightly touched upon in this letter, on which the writer dilates at length in the other, Col 2:12 b and Eph 1:19-23; Col 3:12 (“God’s elect”) and Eph 1:3-14; Col 3:18, Col 3:19 and Eph 5:22-33). On the other hand, the main arguments of the Colossian letter are, as it seems, assumed and presupposed in the Ephesian (comp. Eph 1:10, Eph 1:20 b-23, Eph 2:20 b, Eph 3:8-11, Eph 3:19 b, Eph 4:13 b with Col 1:15-20, Col 2:9, Col 2:10; Eph 4:14 with Col 2:4, Col 2:8, Col 2:16-23).

(3) The words in Eph 1:1 are of doubtful authenticity; and there is much in the internal character of that Epistle to favour the hypothesis, proposed by Archbishop Usher, that it was a circular letter, destined for a number of Churches in Asia Minor, of which Ephesus may have been the first and Laodicea the last (compare the order of Rev 2:3.). In that case a copy of the Ephesian Epistle would be left at Laodicea by Tychicus on his way to Colossae. (See Introduction, 6; compare that to Ephesians.)

(4) Marcion, in the middle of tile second century, entitled the Epistle to the Ephesians, “To the Laodiceans.” It does not appear that his heretical views could have been furthered by this change. Probably his statement contains a fragment of ancient tradition, identifying the Epistle in question with that referred to by St. Paul in this passage.

(5) The expression, “the letter from Laodicea,“ would scarcely be used of a letter addressed simply to the Laodiceans and belonging properly to them; but would be quite appropriate to a more general Epistle transmitted from one place to another. There is extant in Latin a spurious epistle ‘Ad Laodicenses,’ which is traced back to the fourth century, and was widely accepted in the Middle Ages; but it is “a mere cento of Pauline phrases, strung together without any definite connection or any clear object” (Lightfoot). Meyer, on the other hand, in his ‘Introduction to Ephesians,’ pronounces strongly against “the circular hypothesis.”

Col 4:17

And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou receivedst in (the) Lord, that thou fulfil it (Act 20:28; 1Ti 1:18, 1Ti 1:19; 1Ti 4:6, 1Ti 4:11-16; 1Ti 6:13, 1Ti 6:14, 1Ti 6:20,1Ti 6:21; 2Ti 2:15; 2Ti 4:5). From the connection of this verse with the two preceding, it seems likely that “the ministry” of Archippus related to the Laodicean Church. Hence he is not addressed directly. If he was, as we gather from Phm 1:1, Phm 1:2, the son of Philemon, whose house formed a centre for the Colossian Church (Phm 1:2), the warning would be suitably conveyed through this channel. In the letter to Philemon, the apostle calls him his” fellow soldier” (comp. Col 4:10; Php 1:29, Php 1:30). Both from this fact, and from the emphasis of the words before us, it would appear that his office was an important one, probably that of chief pastor. This warning addressed so early to the minister of the Laodicean Church is premonitory of the lapsed condition in which it is afterwards found (Rev 3:14-22); see Lightfoot, pp. 42, 43. (For “ministry” (), comp. Col 1:7, Col 1:23; 1Co 4:1, etc. For “received,” comp. note, Col 2:6.) “In the Lord; “for every office in the Church is grounded in him as Head and Lord (Col 1:18; Col 2:6; Col 3:17, Col 3:24; Col 4:7; Eph 1:22; Eph 4:5; 1Co 8:6; 1Co 12:5, etc.), and must be administered according to his direction and as subject to his judgment (see 1Co 3:5; 1Co 4:1-5; 2Co 10:17, 2Co 10:18; 2Co 13:10; Gal 1:1; 1Ti 1:12; 2Ti 4:1, 2Ti 4:2). “Fulfil” (comp. Col 1:26; 2Ti 4:5; Act 12:25). This admonition resembles those addressed to Timothy in the Pastoral Epistles.

Col 4:18

The salutation with mine own handof Paul (2Th 3:17, 2Th 3:18; 1Co 16:21-24; Gal 6:11-18). So the apostle appends his authenticating signature to the letter, written, as usual, by his amanuensis, himself inscribing these last words (see parallel passages). The Epistle to Philemon he appears to have penned himself throughout (Phm 1:19). Remember my bonds (Col 1:24; Phm 1:9, Phm 1:13; Eph 3:1-21 :l, 13; 4.l; Eph 6:20; 2Ti 2:9). This pathetic postscript is thoroughly characteristic (comp. Gal 6:17). Grace be with you; literally, the grace (comp. Col 3:16). The apostle’s final benediction in all his Epistles; here in its briefest form, as in 1 and 2 Timothy. In the Ephesian benediction “grace” is also used absolutely. 2Co 13:14 gives the formula in its full liturgical amplitude.

HOMILETICS

Col 4:2-6

Sect. 9.Prayer and social converse.

I. PRAYER. (Col 4:2-4.)

1. Prayer must be habitual and persistent. “Continue steadfast in prayerkeeping awake therein” (Col 4:2); “Ask … seek knock” (Mat 7:7). It is not an occasional exercise of the soul, called forth by special emergencies, but the necessity of its daily life. For that life is a fellowship with God in Christ (Col 3:1-3; 1Jn 1:3; Joh 14:23), maintained on his part by the continual communication of his Spirit (Luk 11:13; Eph 1:13; Eph 2:22; Rom 8:14-17, Rom 8:23, Rom 8:26, Rom 8:27; 1Co 12:4-11; 2Co 13:14), and on ours by the constant responsive utterances of praise and prayer.

(1) Wherever two persons are associated in a mutual life, there must be converseinterchange of thought and feeling and service; so (reverently be it said) it must needs be where the soul is “alive unto God.” God and the soul, the all-wise, almighty Father and the human child, all want and ignorance, having speech with each otherthat is the life of religion. “The soul is a stupendous want, having its supplies in God” (comp. Php 4:19). Prayer is the expression and the index of the soul’s vital appetite. The necessity of prayer, therefore, must be daily and regular in its recurrence. It will have its “set times” and stated seasons, its chronic demands for satisfaction. “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and thou shalt hear my voice” (Psa 55:17; Dan 6:10; Act 10:30); “Seven times a day do I praise thee” (Psa 119:164). It will have its appointed place of privacy. “Enter into thy closet and shut thy door, and pray to thy Father which is in secret”.

(2) Prayer being a social as much as a private necessity, concerned with the common as truly as with the individual wants and interests of men, the prayerful Christian will observe, as far as possible, all public occasions for its exercise, whether found in the family, the social circle, the community, the church (the “house of prayer”), or in the events of national life (Isa 56:7; Act 3:1; Act 6:6; Act 12:12; Act 16:13; Act 20:36; Act 21:5; Act 22:17; 1Ti 2:8; Joh 17:1).

(3) But prayer, while it fills, should overflow these limits, and may not be confined within the framework of mechanical habit and fixed order. It should find its way into all the interstices of life, seizing upon its vacant moments and leisure thoughts. Under pressing need, and in the hurry and tumult of business, the soul may send up a short, swift cry for help, as a winged arrow that finds its way to the heart of God. This is ejaculatory prayer. And in the quiet ongoing of ordinary work the mind may the more easily maintain its secret converse with him in whom it “lives and moves and is,” making the common incidents of life and the familiar sights and sounds of nature reminders of his presence, and the experience of every hour occasion for some brief act of adoration, or confession, or supplication, or intercession. This is to “pray without ceasing” (1Th 5:17); “to let our requests be made known unto God in all things“ (Php 4:6). The soul’s hidden life in God is maintained by this activity, even as the life blood of the body is vivified and cleansed from moment to moment by the ceaseless play of the breathing lungs.

2. Prayer must be attended with thanksgiving. The one must be habitual and constant as the other. They are two elements of the same state, two parts of the same act (Eph 5:29; 1Th 5:17, 1Th 5:18). (See homiletics, sect. 1, III. 2 (3).) How unseemly it is to come to God with urgent petitions for new blessings, when we have made no due acknowledgment of those already bestowed! We dare not act thus towards any earthly benefactor. And this thoughtless ingratitude deprives us of those strong arguments and cheering encouragements which are afforded by the remembrance of past mercies. “The Lord hath been mindful of us;” then surely “he will bless us (Psa 115:12), he “began a good work in you,” and you may be “confident,” therefore, that it is his will to “perfect it” (Php 1:6). God requires and expects that by “offering praise” we should “glorify him” (Psa 50:23), “abundantly uttering the memory of his great goodness” (Psa 145:7). To this end every Christian is ordained a “priest unto God,” that he may “offer up a sacrifice of praise continually, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name” (1Pe 2:9; Heb 13:15). And to do this is in itself “pleasant and comely” (Psa 147:1); “Yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.”

3. And intercession must be joined to supplication and thanksgiving. (1Ti 2:1.) “Withal praying for us also,” says the apostle. And in so saying he embodies the appeal which our Christian brethren everywhere make to us, especially the ministers of Christ “set for the defence of the gospel” (Php 1:17); and yet more especially our fathers and teachers in Christ, through whom we have received the word of our salvation, and on whose fidelity and efficiency our spiritual life so largely depends. The interests of our own Church in its special circumstances as known to us; the larger necessities of associated Churches, of the Church in our own land, in its colonies and dependencies abroad, in other Christian nations; the necessities of missionary Churches amongst the heathen, and of the sheep of Christ that are “scattered abroad” unshepherded; the great cause of the kingdom of Christ in the earth, connected as it is with everything that concerns the progress and welfare of mankind; the claims of “kings, and all that are in authority;” of those in “sorrow, trouble, need, sickness, or any other adversity;” the wants of “all sorts and conditions of men,” and especially of our kinsfolk, friends, and neighbours;all these demand our intercession and seem to say unitedly, “Withal praying for us also!” In particular, and on behalf of the gospel, the apostle desires the Colossians to pray

(1) that he may have “an open door to speak the mystery of Christ” (verse 3). The world will not willingly open its door to Christ. It will leave him to “stand at the door and knock” (Rev 3:20). It has “no room for him” (Luk 2:7) when he comes to be its guest. Much has yet to be done to “prepare the way of the Lord.” But “the prayer of faith” can “remove mountains,” and open doors that are fast shut. Obstructions and prejudices are to be broken down; hindrances political and material, intellectual and sentimental, to the progress of Christian truth, are to be overcome. “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luk 3:4-6). And this is to be effected, in great measure, by the prayers of “God’s elect” (Luk 18:7), even as the walls of Jericho fell at the shout of Israel (Jos 6:1-20).

(2) But the open door is of little use unless the Church is prepared to enter it. Never, perhaps, were there in the world so many “open doors set before” the Church as there are now, with so few comparatively who are able and willing to enter them. Favouring circumstancesliberty to preach and teach, a waiting people, a willing audience,all is vain without some one to “speak the word,” and to speak it fitly. “How shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14). And how shall they hear unto salvation if the preacher speaks feebly, or coldly, or confusedly, without “the demonstration of the Spirit and of power”?

(3) The apostle had laboured long and with extraordinary success, “more abundantly than they all” (1Co 15:10); and yet felt his need of the constant renewal of the Divine anointing. Again and again he acknowledges his dependence on the prayers of the Church (Rom 15:30-32; 2Th 3:1, 2Th 3:2, etc.). Nay, even Christ himself sustained his human strength of soul by the constant refreshment of prayer, and sought, in the crisis of his anguish, the watchful sympathy of his disciples (Luk 5:16; Joh 11:41; Mat 26:38). How much more is this needful for us! That ministry alone can be spiritually pure and strong which is drawn from secret fountains of prayer, and which commands the sympathetic intercession of all prayerful hearers.

II. THE CHRISTIAN‘S BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS MEN OF THE WORLD. (verses 5, 6.)

1. “Walk in wisdom,“ says the apostle, “towards those without” (verse 5). Nowhere is Christian wisdom more needed, and nowhere is it seen to greater advantage, than in dealing with worldly men. “Be ye therefore wise as serpents,“ says the Saviour, in sending his disciples on their mission to the world (Mat 10:16). It is not necessary that “the sons of this world should be wiser for their own generation than the sons of light” (Luk 16:8). This wisdom, while resting on a knowledge of God and of Christian truth (Col 1:9; Col 2:2, Col 2:3), and furnished out of his Word (Col 3:16; Mat 13:52), requires a practical knowledge of men and things. It “cometh down from above,” being “asked of God” (Jas 1:5, Jas 1:17; Jas 3:13-18), and is “pure, peaceable, and gentle;” but it has to be practised in a human world and in the service of men as they are; and therefore it must be discerning, well-informed, and practical. The Christian should not be inferior to any man in his own walk of life in the knowledge of his business and of the duties of his secular position. Indeed, his earnestness and diligence, his calmness of temper, and fairness of judgment, and soundness of conscience, and finer sympathies, will usually give him an advantage amongst his fellows: “Godliness is profitable unto all things” (1Ti 4:8). How often earnest attempts to do good miscarry for want of judgment, and the Christian cause is damaged in the eyes of the world by those most anxious to promote it through their unwisdom and narrow mindedness! “I am become all things to all men,” said St. Paul, “that I might by all means save some” (1Co 9:20-22). And his bearing towards men of so many different ranks and classes in the strangely mixed society in which he moved, shows that this was no vain boast.

(1) The first condition of success in seeking to influence others for their highest good, next to an earnest desire to do so, is that one should understated them. And this is impossible without pains and study and a large-hearted Christian sympathy. So with the missionary amongst the heathen; so with the minister at home; so with the private Christian seeking to win to Christ his worldly friends or business associates; if he is to persuade men (2Co 5:11), he must understand the truth in its persuasive power, and he must understand men and how they are to be persuaded.

(2) Bat the Christian must be wise for himself as well as for others. His wisdom must be circumspect. It is his first business to “keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:27); to take care that, being “in the world,” he be not “of the world” (Joh 17:14-18). He should have “good testimony from them that are without,” especially if he hold any office in the Church (1Ti 3:7)such a repute as will “adorn his Saviour’s doctrine;” and yet he must rejoice if “men say all manner of evil against him falsely for Christ’s sake” (Mat 5:11). The wisest and most careful behaviour cannot always avoid suspicion, where malice and slander are busy.

2. To wisdom must be added promptness and alert activity. There must be a quick eye for each opportunity as it arises, and an instant, vigorous effort to take advantage of it. The right occasion makes the right action. A thing well done or well said at one time may be malapropos if timed a little sooner or later.

(1) We must cherish a keen sense of the value and the shortness of time itselfof our own personal lifetime, the single opportunity granted us for doing God’s work on earth, the seed time for an eternal harvest, “the day” with its “twelve hours” when the day’s work must be done, or left undone for ever (Joh 9:4; Psa 39:4; Psa 90:12; 1Co 7:29; Heb 3:7, Heb 3:13).

(2) At the same time, we must have a proper understanding of the work assigned us, a sense of our individual calling in life, a recognition of the particular “will of God” respecting ourselves as from time to time it may be indicated. We must acquaint ourselves with the conditions of our time and of our work, so that each may be fitted to the other, and that we may not waste our strength by misdirection or “fight as one that beateth the air,” but may be able to “serve the counsel of God for our own generation“ (Act 13:36).

(3) And, finally, we must be animated by a vigorous, earnest spiritunhasting, unrestingneither dulled by sloth nor fretted by impatience. So, “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1Pe 4:10), we shall turn every moment and every opportunity and every endowment of our nature to the best account, and shall be able “at his coming” to render back to our heavenly Master “his own with usury” (Mat 25:27). And this is “redeeming the time” (verse 5).

3. Where a wise, and wisely energetic, Christian man has the gift of apt and winning speech (verse 6), his Christian usefulness is largely multiplied. Indeed, the ordinary talk of an ordinary Christian, who cannot shine in the brilliant gifts of eloquence or wit, will at least be free from everything foolish and inept, from everything gross and ill-mannered. Though he be but a plain and unlettered man, his conversation will manifest a thoughtful, observant mind, and a pure and chastened disposition. Living a life of prayerful communion with God and with eternal things, “meditating in his Law day and night” (Psa 1:2), he will be “taught of God;” and when he speaks, “the opening of his lips will be right words.” It is astonishing how much shrewdness and kindly good sense and helpfulness, how much of the highest and homeliest moral wisdom, drawn from the everyday experience of life and the lessons of nature, is found sometimes in men who know scarcely any book but their English Bible, and have had little culture but that which is given by prayer (Jas 1:5). A simple Christian man of this kind will often know better than the practised scholar “how to answer” concerning his hope, and will baffle the questionings of a clever scepticism. And when fine culture has been employed upon good abilities under the teaching of the Spirit of truth, and large knowledge has been gathered from books and men, the outcome in the man’s conversation ought to be something rich and valuable in a high degree.

(1) Attractive speech is one of God’s “greater gifts” (1Co 12:31), to be humbly sought and diligently improved and wisely and seriously used. There is none more commonly and lamentably abused. How much that is said in Christian circles would be left unsaid if only that which is “good unto edifying” (Eph 4:29) were allowed to pass the lips!

(2) But this rule by no means forbids kindly humour and the play of wit. The “salt” that “seasons” conversation (verse 6) contains these wholesome ingredients. A dull, uniform gravity is not the most edifying style of discourse. But the purpose and the effect of a Christian man’s speech should always be serious, however light and graceful the form which on proper occasions it may assume. The conversation of the social circle is one of the greatest “opportunities” to be “redeemed” for Christ; and is afforded to us all. And especially when we meet those who are not Christians, the prejudiced, the sceptical, the wavering, much may depend on our being “ready” with “the meekness of wisdom” to “give an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in us” (1Pe 3:15). The private conversation of the Church in its daily intercourse with the world should be a powerful ally to the public ministry of the Word (verses 4, 6).

Col 4:7-18

Sect. 10. Personal messages and greetings.

The last section of this letter is of a more purely epistolary character, and is not, therefore, so directly available as the foregoing sections for public instruction, belonging to its framework or setting as a piece of Christian teaching. Nevertheless, these closing verses have their own peculiar interest and valuegreat value for historical and critical purposes, connecting the Epistle as they do by the most authentic notes of circumstantial association with the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles, and bracing it firmly into the whole coherent structure of the history of the apostolic Church. Moreover, in the brief but pointed and striking notices here given us, aided by what we know from other sources of the persons mentioned, we may find not a little of indirect and incidental profit “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for discipline in righteousness” (2Ti 3:16).

I. ST. PAUL‘S ASSOCIATES.

1. Tychicus, the faithful messenger. (Verses 7, 8: comp. Eph 6:21; Act 20:4; Tit 3:12; 2Ti 4:12.) His association with the apostle in his last journey to Jerusalem, attended with so many affecting circumstances and terminating in his long imprisonment, seems to have led to a devoted attachment on the part of Tychicus to St. Paul. After returning home, as we may suppose, from Jerusalem, he had journeyed again to Rome, very possibly at the request of the Ephesian Church, to assist and comfort the imprisoned apostle and to bring back news of him. And he returns with these three priceless letters in his charge (Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon), with Onesimus whom he is to accompany as far as Colossae, and as the bearer of reassuring tidings from St. Paul. Again, some years later, when the apostle’s friends were fewer and devotion to his cause still more hazardous, we find Tychicus employed on similar commissions.

(1) The apostle has found him to be, what every Christian should be to his fellow Christians, “a brother beloved;” what every officer of the Church, whether in higher or lower capacity, must strive to be”a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord,” faithful to the Lord and faithful in all brotherly love and “good fidelity” to his fellow servants. So Tychicus is a blessing both to the apostle and to the distant Asiatic Churches.

(2) While the Christian depends for strength and consolation in the first place on the fellowship of Christ in the Spirit (2Co 1:3-7; 2Th 2:16, 2Th 2:17; Joh 16:33), yet how precious and helpful is such communion as this with Christian friends at a distance (1Th 3:6-10; Php 4:10; 2Co 7:6), with faithful sufferers in Christ’s cause, with those who bring tidings and words of cheer from brethren far off in other lands!

(3) They are, indeed, “brethren beloved” who, like Tychicus, pass from land to land, from Church to sister Church, in honourable ambassage, as “the messengers of the Churches and the glory of Christ” (2Co 8:23).

2. Onesimus, the converted slave. (Verse 9.) His position and character will be more fully discussed under the Epistle to Philemon.

(1) He is commended to the Christian circle at Colossae on account of his character“a faithful and beloved brother.” The apostle had learned to love and trust him, as “the child of his bonds,” as “his very heart,” for his goodness and proved fidelity and helpful service to himself (Phm 1:10-13). Greatly had he wished to retain him, but it was the servant’s duty to return to his master. The qualities the apostle marks in him deserve equal respect from us in whatever grade of life they appear. The master who fails to recognize in his loyal and humble Christian servant “a brother beloved in the Lord,” is wanting in the simplicity and elevation of the Christian character, and has yet to learn that “in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free” (Col 3:11; Gal 3:28). It was, however, for Philemon and his Colossian friends a severe test of Christian conviction and of their confidence in St. Paul to be required to take back this runaway slave as “a faithful and beloved brother.”

(2) He is commended to them by his Colossian origin. “Who is one of you.” It is a natural and kindly feeling that prompts this reference. Ties of neighbourhood and early association, as well as those of kindred, are providentially formed, and belong to the divinely constituted framework of human life (Act 17:26). This claim of Onesimus is not destroyed by his being a slave, at the very bottom of the social scale; nor was it forfeited by his misconduct. Now that he repents and returns, he is to be received by his Christian fellow townsmen as one of themselves.

3. Aristarchus, the devoted comrade. (Phm 1:10.) He was a representative of the Macedonian Churches (Act 20:4), who were dearest to the apostle of his children in the faith (1Th 2:19; Php 1:5), in writing to whom he laid aside his official title and was simply Paul, whom alone he allowed to minister to his personal needs (Php 4:10-18; 2Co 11:8-10). And he, along with Luke, shared the hardships of the apostle’s perilous winter voyage to Rome (Act 27:2). Indeed, he had been with him before he set out from Ephesus, and was seized by the Ephesian mob at the time of the riot there, being evidently a person of some note and distinction. We know nothing more of his services to the cause of Christ, beyond this record of his assiduous and self-sacrificing attendance on St. Paul. How much the apostle, with his physical infirmities and his sensitive nature, owed to such friendship, and how much the Church owes on his account, we cannot tell. Those who may not have great gifts for public usefulness may serve Christ most effectually oftentimes by serving his servants, by their private friendship and aid cheering the hearts and strengthening the hands of those on whom fall the heavier responsibilities of the Church’s care and strife, and who but for such timely help might haply sink beneath their burdens. Little as we know of this man, with what a bright distinction his name is marked, and what a place of honour will be his in the book of life, whom the apostle designates, “Aristarchus, my fellow captive, who has been a comfort to me”!

4. Mark, the recovered friend. (Verse 10.) He, like Onesimus to his master, had been “aforetime unprofitable” to St. Paul (Act 13:13; Act 15:36-41); and his unprofitableness had caused a serious breach between the two great Gentile missionaries. But now, and again at a later time, he is marked out as “useful for ministry” (2Ti 4:11). St. Paul’s firmness and fidelity in refusing, at whatever cost, to take with him an untrustworthy man, had, we may presume, helped to rouse in Mark a better spirit.

(1) At any rate, the position in which he now appears and the honour which belong to his name in the Church of Christ, shows that one false step or unworthy act in a Christian life need not be absolutely fatal (Gal 6:1). The immediate result of any lapse must be evil; and it may be followed throughout life by painful consequences. Yet Mark, like Peter, rashly generous and apt to overestimate his strength at first, when chastened and corrected by experience, becomes the trusted and honoured friend of the two chief apostles, as well as of his only less illustrious kinsman Barnabas. And to him it was given to write the priceless second Gospel, which, in its freshness and simplicity of tone, and in its vivacity and dramatic energy of style, indicates those qualities in John Mark which, in spite of his early failure, made him so much valued and beloved.

(2) And St. Paul‘s treatment of Mark throws an interesting light on his own character. With all his uncompromising sternness and the intensity of his passionate nature, there was no bitterness or suspiciousness, no cherishing of personal resentment in his heart. Some men will never trust again a friend or servant who once, under any circumstances, has failed them. But the apostle shows a more Christian and a wiser disposition. As he bids others, so he acts himself, “forbearing and forgiving if he have blame against any” (Col 3:13): compare the crucial instance of 2Co 2:5-11. As “the Lord forgave” Peter who denied him, so the apostle forgives Mark who had deserted him. And by the way in which he commends him to the regard of this distant Church, he shows how entirely Mark has his approval and confidence. We note also how once more he takes the opportunity of a kindly reference to Barnabas.

5. Jesus Justus, a Catholic-minded Jew. (Verse 11.) He is known to us here only; but as one of the three who alone “of the circumcision” were the apostle’s “fellow workers unto the kingdom of God,” and “a comfort unto him.” Aristarchus and Mark were old friends and associates of St. Paul, attached to him by many ties. Jesus Justus, we are inclined to think, was a Christian Jew of Rome, and in that case was, it appears, the only member of that communitya tolerably large one, as we should gather from the Epistle to the Romanswho heartily supported the apostle in this hour of his need and danger. Many of the Jewish brethren at Rome openly opposed him (Php 1:16); others regarded him with a cold and suspicious indifference. At a later period he has sorrowfully to say of his friends at Rome, “All forsook me” (2Ti 4:16). But, whether Jesus Justus belonged to Rome or not, the fact that he was found at this time by St. Paul’s tide says a great deal for his courage, as well as for his largeness of heart and enlightened views. The three pillar apostles at Jerusalem rather acquiesced in St. Paul’s principles and the policy he had pursued than actively supported them (Gal 5:1-26.); and their professed followers in the Jewish Churches denounced them and set up a counter agitation. If for no other reason, then, it was fitting that the name of this Jesus should be honourably recorded. To the apostle who had been in so many “perils from his own countrymen” and “from false brethren” (2Co 11:26), every “fellow labourer of the circumcision” was an especial “comfort.” His cognomen Justus attests his reputation amongst his compatriots for legal strictness and uprightness; and this high character would make his attachment to St. Paul the more valuable.

6. Epaphras, the earnest minister. (Verses 12, 13.) With the name of Epaphras we are familiar already (see homiletics, sect. 1, II. 2). Though absent from his people, he is none the less concerned for their welfare. When he can do nothing less, he can pray for them all the more. We note:

(1) The intensity of his ministerial solicitude; “always striving [wrestling] for you in his prayers” (verse 12); “he hath much [painful] labour for you” (verse 13). The critical state in which he had left his charge at Colossae, the insidious and ominous character of the errors introduced amongst them and with which he had found it so difficult to cope, were constantly weighing upon his mind, and kept him unceasingly active in earnest wrestlings of prayer for his people’s souls.

(2) The extent of his care. “For you, and for them in Laodicea, and for them in Hierapolis.” The neighbouring cities with their little Christian flocks, exposed, or likely to be exposed, to the same perils that threatened Colossus, share his solicitude. And the responsibility of the Christian minister cannot at any time be strictly confined to his own immediate charge. Each member shares in the joys and griefs, the dangers and trials, which belong to the whole body of Christ. And Churches bordering on his own and connected with his people by ties of acquaintanceship and frequent intercourse must especially attract his pastoral sympathies and intercession.

(3) The aim of his ministry. “That ye may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God” (verse 13). This is the end of Christ’s redemption and of his whole administration of the Church (Col 1:22). This was the end of the apostle’s labours (Col 1:28, Col 1:29). Every true Christian minister will set the same mark before him, namely, the individual and collective perfection of his people in all that goes to make up a complete Christian manhood (Eph 4:13). And, partly as resulting from, partly as contributing to, their moral perfection, he must seek that their Christian convictions may be deepened and confirmed, may be more intelligently as well as more heartily and practically, and so in every way more surely, held (Eph 4:13-16). (See homiletics, sects. 1, III. 1; 3, I.; and 4, I. 2).

7. Luke, the beloved physician. (Verse 14.) Of all the apostle’s friends, none was dearer to him or more serviceable than St. Luke. He was with him to the very last (2Ti 4:11). His writings, while they keep the writer’s personality modestly out of sight, betray in him a man of a careful and diligent habit of mind, of considerable breadth of culture, and of a tender and sympathetic heart. The Acts of the Apostles show him to have been a warm and admiring, yet impartial, friend of St. Paul And his Gospel is penetrated with that Pauline universalism which both he and his master first found in Christ. The apostle probably owed not a little to Luke’s medical care. And we are all indebted to this quiet and skilful physician, who understood so well St. Paul’s peculiar temperament and the value of his life to the Church, and whose intelligence and special training made his companionship so pleasant and so useful to the apostle. The medical profession is that which stands nearest to the ministry of Christ in the honours of self sacrifice and devotion to humanity. There is no vocation that demands a higher combination of intellectual and moral powers, or that puts a greater strain upon a man’s best qualities. It may bring, and often does bring, the physician into a sympathy with the mind and with the mission of Christ closer and more real in some respects than any other work can do. Its best services are beyond all material and earthly reward. Exercised by a wise and faithful Christian man, it becomes a ministry of unspeakable blessing to soul as well as body, reaching, as did Christ’s miracles of healing, the soul oftentimes through the body. Medical men Christ, “the good Physician,” claims above other men for his followers and fellow workers.

8. Demas, the backslider. (Verse 14; 2Ti 4:9, 2Ti 4:10.) This man must have been valued greatly by the apostle, to be mentioned in such company. In his second imprisonment he urgently requires Timothy’s presence, “because Demas had forsaken him.” He appears to have depended hitherto upon Demas, and to have prized his aid. Demas had chosen his lot with the persecuted apostle, and for some time served him steadily and well; and then at the last, when the need was greatest, he deserted him, not through fear of danger, it appears, but for the sake of worldly gain”having loved this present world.” Whether he was ever restored to Christian fidelity or not, we cannot tell. His case is so much worse than Mark’s, in that the latter gave way to fear under sudden impulse, and in the unexpected hardships and dangers of his first probation; while Demas seems to have forsaken the apostle deliberately and heartlessly, and when he was no mere novice in the service of Christ. He is an example of those in whom the good seed takes root and grows through the frosts of spring to a fair summer promise, and then “the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mar 4:19).

II. THE MESSAGE TO LAODICEA. (Verses 15-17.) This passage assumes a peculiar interest in connection with the after history of the Laodicean Church, and the terrible rebuke addressed to it by Christ in Rev 3:14-22. It is the only instance in which the apostle salutes one Church in writing to another. If the letter received from him by the Laodiceans was our (so called) Epistle to the Ephesians, inasmuch as there is no particular greeting to any Church appended to it, we can understand why he should add this kindly salutation here. The Churches of the Lycus valley were so closely linked together that the state of one was to a large extent the state of all. We are not surprised, therefore, that the contagion of the Colossian evil spread to Laodicea. In that wealthy and luxurious city it bore disastrous fruit, in the corruption that Christ himself through St. John afterwards denounced in his Apocalyptic message.

(1) The Colossians and Laodiceans are bidden to exchange Epistles (verse 16), as they share the apostle’s greetings and alike excited his anxiety (Col 2:1). Their similar condition and common dangers called for the same warnings and instructions, and the two Epistles largely explain and supplement each other. And indeed, wherever local circumstances permit, as in the freedom and ease of communication amongst ourselves it is so largely possible, Christian intercourse should be promoted, concerted measures should be taken, the forces of the Church should be combined in resistance to the spread of error and the contagion of vice. “Union is strength.”

(2) Nympha (or Nymphas) is greeted by name (verse 15), according to the apostle’s custom, who loves to single out for honour those who serve the Church by the readiness by which they place their house and means at her service (1Co 16:15, 1Co 16:16; Rom 16:3-5, Rom 16:23).

(3) The most significant sentence of this passage is the warning addressed to Archippus (verse 17), whom we suppose to have held an office of trust in the Church at Laodicea. He is the son of St. Paul’s honoured friend Philemon, and had been on some former occasion (probably at Ephesus) so closely associated with the apostle in circumstances of labour and danger that, in writing to his father, he calls him “my fellow soldier.” And yet symptoms of negligence have appeared in his conduct of affairs at Laodicea, that call forth the gentle yet serious admonition, “Take heed to the ministry that thou receivedst in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.” How grave his responsibility if this warning failed to take effect, and if the all but apostate state of the Laodicean Church some years afterwards was in any degree due to the unfaithfulness of its first pastor!

III. THE APOSTLE‘S FAREWELL. (Phm 1:18.) These brief, affecting words proceed from the author’s own hand, the large and difficult characters themselves a reminder of his afflictions in the gospel.

1. He bids the Colossians remember his bonds (comp. Phm 1:10, Phm 1:13; Php 1:7,Php 1:17; Eph 3:1, Eph 3:13; Eph 6:20; 2Ti 2:9,2Ti 2:10; see homiletics, sect. 3, I. 4)so sore a trial to him, so great an advantage and glory to them, calling for their tender and prayerful sympathy, and for their most regardful heed to all that he had written.

2. He wishes them gracegrace first and last (comp. Col 1:2, and homiletics); the grace they had received already (Col 1:6, Col 1:12, Col 1:21, Col 1:27; Col 2:6; Col 3:12, Col 3:13; Eph 1:3) being the pledge and the earnest of all the fulness of that “superabounding grace” which reigns “through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:20, Rom 5:21; 2Co 9:8; Eph 1:3; Joh 1:16).

HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY

Col 4:1

The duties of masters.

“Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.”

I. THE DUTY OF MASTERS. It is here enforced only on its positive side.

1. Justice. Masters must give their servants what is according to contract, or according to what is just in itself, as to work, wages, food, correction, and example.

2. Equality. Masters sometimes treat servants unequally in demanding inconvenient service, an unreasonable amount of work, in withholding wages. They ought to treat them so that they may serve them cheerfully and efficiently.

II. THE REASON TO ENFORCE THIS DUTY. “Knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” God’s majesty and man’s authority stand together. The Lord in heaven is the Master of masters, and will avenge the wrongs they may inflict on their servants.T. C.

Col 4:2

Exhortation to constant prayer.

The apostle then gives some special concluding exhortations: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.”

I. THE DUTY OF PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER.

1. This does not imply that we are to devote all our time to prayer; for it would be inconsistent

(1) with other duties;

(2) with man’s mental and moral nature;

(3) with the design of prayer itself.

2. It implies that we are to be often engaged in prayer.

(1) There is nothing more sanctifying and refreshing and strengthening to the soul.

(2) Continuance in prayer brings larger blessings from on high.

(3) The Scripture contains many examples of continuance in prayer (David, Daniel, Paul, our Lord himself).

(4) The delay in the answers to prayer ought to lead us to persevere therein, because

(a) it may lead to a deeper sense of want;

(b) our faith and patience need to be tiled;

(c) the time for the answers may not have come.

II. THE DUTY OF WATCHFULNESS IS PRAYER.

1. We must be watchful as to the spirit of prayer, not indolent and remiss.

2. We must watch for arguments in prayer.

3. We must watch or suitable praying seasons.

4. We must watch against watchlessness.

5. We must watch for the answers to prayer.

6. Remember Christ’s example as he watched in prayer. (Mat 14:23, Mat 14:25.)

III. THE DUTY OF JOINING THANKSGIVING WITH OUR SUPPLICATIONS AND OUR WATCHING,

1. We must always in prayer give thanks for mercies received. (Php 4:6; 1Th 5:16, 1Th 5:17.)

2. We must thank him in praises.

3. God answers according to our gratitude for mercies received.T.C.

Col 4:3, Col 4:4

Prayer for the apostle and his companions.

“Withal praying for us also, that God may open unto us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in bonds; that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”

I. EVEN THE GREATEST IN THE CHURCH NEEDS THE PRAYERS OF THE LEAST.

1. It is the duty of the people to pray for their ministers.

2. It makes prayer profitable to interest ourselves in the welfare of others by intercessions for them at a throne of grace.

3. The progress of the gospel depends much upon the prayers of the saints. (2Th 3:1.)

II. THE SUBJECT OF THE PRAYER. It was that the apostle and Timothy and Epaphras might have abundant opportunity of preaching the gospel, as well as liberty, power, and success. The prayer implies:

1. That God can open a way for the gospel among the hearts of men. It was the Lord who opened Lydia‘s heart (Act 16:14), and “opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Act 14:27).

2. That God could liberate the apostle from prison as a condition of carrying on his apostolic work.

3. That the apostle‘s imprisonment was caused by his devotion to the “mystery of Christ,“ which was the admission of the Gentiles to salvation on equal terms with the Jews, or, in other words, “Christ in them the Hope of glory” (Col 1:27). He would not have been in prison if he had been preaching a gospel with Judaic restrictions. His bonds were due to the strength of Jewish prejudices. But “the truth of the gospel” was so dear to him that he was content to suffer for it, and even to forego the opportunities of enlarged usefulness out of prison.

4. That he might be able to use his opportunities with boldness and success. People ought to pray that their ministers may be able to preach the Word with power (1Th 5:5); with urgency (2Ti 4:2, 2Ti 4:3, 2Ti 4:5); with patience, constancy, and fear (1Co 4:9; 2Co 6:4; 2Co 4:8); with faithfulness (1Co 4:2); with zeal (2Co 5:11; I Thessalonians 2Co 2:12),approving themselves in the sight of God to their hearers’ consciences (2Co 2:17).T.C.

Col 4:5

The behaviour of Christians in the world.

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” Consider

I. THE PERSONS WHO ARE TO BE INFLUENCED BY OUR WALK, “Them that are without.” Christians are those who are within (1Co 5:12). Unbelievers arc “without”outside the Church, without God, without Christ, without hope in the world. They are those whom “God judgeth” (1Co 5:13). Believers ought to have regard to such persons, not only in their prayers, but in the wisdom of their personal walk.

II. THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE BELIEVER‘S WALK BEFORE THE WORLD. “Walk in wisdom,.., redeeming the time.”

1. It is a wise walk. “Be ye wise as serpents” (Mat 10:16). Zeal is not enough. Love is not enough. Walk circumspectly, so as to give no offence or put occasions of reproach in the way of sinners. This is done by believers

(1) walking in the light of God’s Word (Psa 119:1);

(2) walking in all faithfulness of their calling (1Th 4:11, 1Th 4:12; 1Ti 6:1);

(3) walking in love to one another, without murmurings or disputings (Php 2:15, Php 2:19);

(4) walking in meekness toward all men (Tit 3:1, Tit 3:2; Jas 3:13);

(5) walking in all patience and constancy under rebuke or injury (1Pe 3:13-16).

2. Such a walk is influential toward unbelievers.

(1) A believer ought to be more careful of his walk before them than before believers.

(2) Such a walk has a winning effect upon the world, which thus sees the reality of true religion. Believers are to be” living epistles of Christ, known and read of all men” (2Co 3:3).

(3) A foolish walk will cause the enemy to blaspheme.

3. Believers ought to seek constant opportunities of obeying this command. “Redeeming the time.” External opportunities are to be sought for, and never to be neglected. Ministers must preach while the door is open; people must pray at every opportunity (Eph 6:18; Luk 21:36). They must walk in the light before the night comes. The times may not always be favourable.T.C.

Col 4:6

The importance of seasonable speech.

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how to answer each one.” The conversation of believers is to have reference to “those without” as well as their personal behaviour.

I. THE NATURE OF SEASONABLE SPEECH.

1. It is to be “always with grace.“

(1) It is to spring out of some grace of God in the heart, such as knowledge, joy, love, fear; to be seasoned with the recollection of God’s grace to us in Christ (Psa 40:11); and to minister grace to the hearers (Eph 4:29).

2. It is to consist of gracious words.

(1) Not words of railing, or blasphemy, or corruption;

(2) but words that are

(a) seasonable (Pro 15:23),

(b) wholesome (Eph 4:29),

(c) kindly (Pro 31:26),

(d) hopeful

3. The conversation of believers is to be uniformly with grace. The precept is always in force. Much depends upon the continuity of a gracious habit of talk. It is to be exercised in all places, at all times, yet with due regard to what is seasonable or timely.

4. It is to be seasoned with salt. It is not to be insipid and without point, so as to be incapable of edifying man’s spirit. It must have penetrative force, either for the purpose of directing the inquirer or answering the scoffer. “The tongue of the wise is as choice silver;” “The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips” (Pro 10:20; Pro 16:23). Our Lord said,” Every one must be salted with fire, every sacrifice must be salted with salt” (Mar 9:49). The person is salted first; the salt is found in his words and deeds afterwards.

II. THE END OF SEASONABLE SPEECH. “That ye may know how to answer each one.” This implies:

1. That the truth will be spoken against.

(1) It is the heritage of “the sect everywhere spoken against” (Act 28:22).

(2) It is hard for carnally minded men to understand it, and therefore they gainsay it.

(3) There are men who “hold down the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18).

2. That believers are to learn how to give a right answer to objectors. We are to “give a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear” (1Pe 3:15). It must be done

(1) prayerfully; for “the answer of the tongue,” as well as “the preparation of the heart,” “is from the Lord” (Pro 16:1).

(2) With faith in God’s promise and hope (Psa 119:42; Mat 10:19).

(3) With a good conscience (1Pe 3:16). Thus objectors will be put to shame who “falsely accuse our good conversation in Christ.”

(4) With a due consideration for the circumstances of each objector, whether he be sincere or insincere, ignorant or malicious. We are “to answer each one” according to the necessities of each case (Pro 25:11; Pro 26:4, Pro 26:6).T.C.

Col 4:7-9

The bearers of the Epistle to the Colossians.

Though the apostle had but few friends at this time in Rome to comfort him in his “bonds,” he spares two of them to comfort the Colossians.

I. THE PERSONS WHO CARRY THE EPISTLE TO COLOSSAE. Tychicus and Onesimus.

1. Tychicus.

(1) His history. He was a native of Asia Minor (Act 20:4), and probably of Ephesus (2Ti 4:12). He accompanied the apostle at the close of his third missionary journey (Act 20:4). He was now again with the apostle at Rome, near the end of the first Roman captivity; and he appears again with him at the very end of the apostle’s life, when the apostle is sending him to Crete and to Ephesus (Tit 3:12; 2Ti 4:12). The name Tychicus appears on Roman inscriptions as well as on inscriptions in Asia Minor.

(2) His character and work. He receives three titles of distinction and praise.

(a) A beloved brother, in relation to the whole Christian Church;

(b) a faithful minister, in relation to his evangelistic services to the apostle (Act 20:4);

(c) a fellow servant in the Lord, a cooperator with the apostle in Christian labours.

2. Onesimus. This was doubtless the runaway slave of Philemon, whose conversion is recorded in the Epistle to that Colossian brother.

(1) He was a native of Colossae”who is one of you.”

(2) His changed character”the faithful and beloved brother.”

(a) He was lately unfaithful, now he is faithful; he was lately an object of contempt and dislike, he is now an object of love.

(b) The repentance of a sinner is a fact to be gratefully recorded. His former sins ought to be no disparagement to his present standing and repute. “Where God forgives, men should not impute.”

(c) The apostle is not ashamed of a poor slave, and commends him to the love of the Church.

II. THE DESIGN OF THE SENDING OF TYCHICUS AND ONESIMUS TO COLOSSAE. “Whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know our estate, and that he may comfort your hearts.” There are two objects.

1. To make known the affairs of the apostle and of the Roman Church. It was not necessary, therefore, that he should give them any information about himself or the cause of Christ in Rome. The Colossians would hear all by word of mouth.

2. To comfort the hearts of the Colossians. They would comfort them

(1) by their very presence;

(2) by bringing the Epistles from Rome;

(3) by their news concerning the apostle;

(4) by their practical exhortations, enforcing the doctrine of the Epistle and the duty of perseverance in faith and grace to the end.T.C.

Col 4:10, Col 4:11

Greetings from three loyal friends of the apostle.

The Epistle ends with salutations, first from three Jews, and then from three Gentiles.

I. THE THREE JEWISH FRIENDS OF THE APOSTLE.

1. Aristarchus. “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner saluteth you.” He was a native of Thessalonica (Act 20:4), who accompanied the apostle in his third missionary journey. He was seized along with the apostle at Ephesus (Act 19:29), and accompanied him in his voyage to Rome (Act 27:2). He now shared the apostle’s imprisonment at Rome. Adversity does not lessen his affection for the apostle.

2. Marcus. “And Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (touching whom ye received commandments; if he come unto you, receive him).” This was the author of the second Gospel, who was associated with the apostle in his earlier missionary labours, and afterwards forsook him at Pamphylia, under circumstances that led to a rupture between Paul and Barnabas (Act 15:39). He is now affectionately commended to the Colossiansfor he had evidently recovered the confidence and love of the apostleas “one useful to him for the ministry” (2Ti 4:11). Mark was now resident in Rome. It is not possible to know what were the commands which the apostle had sent to the Colossians concerning him; probably they were to bespeak a hospitable reception for him, as the Pauline Churches may have suspected his fidelity.

3. Jesus. “And Jesus, which is called Justus.” He is only mentioned in this place. He is not probably the same as Justus of Corinth (Act 18:7). He was attached to the apostle. It is curious that a disciple who bore the name of our Lord should have also borne his title of “the just one.”

II. THE APOSTLE‘S HIGH COMMENDATION OF THE THREE FRIENDS, “These only are my fellow workers unto the kingdom of God, men that have been a comfort unto me.”

1. They were Jews. “Who are of the circumcision.”

2. They were exceptions to the rule of anti-Pauline animosity on the part of Christian Jews. The exception is limited, probably, to those Jews in Rome, who preached Christ “through strife and envy,” hoping thus to “add affliction to his bonds” (Php 2:20). But these three comforted him by hearty cooperation and their kindly sympathies. The best and greatest men need the comfort of the very humblest, who in their turn rebuke the conduct of those who grieve God’s servants and are thorns in their sides.T.C.

Col 4:12-14

Greetings from three Gentile friends of the apostle.

I. EPAPHRAS.

1. His relation to the Colossians. “Who is one of you.” A native of their city, like Onesimus.

2. His office. “A servant of Jesus Christ”a title often applied to the apostle by himself, and once applied to Timothy (Php 1:1)to indicate his considerable services in the cause of Christ’s gospel. He was the founder of the Church at Colossae.

3. His love to them. “Always wrestling for you in prayers that ye may stand fast, perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” His love was manifest in his constant and anxious prayers for his flock. Consider:

(1) The manner of his prayers. “Always wrestling for you in prayers.”

(a) He was in an agony of prayer for them

() because of the greatness of the dangers that encompassed them;

() because of the fear of his prayers being lost;

() because of the tenderness of his love for them. He was truly “fervent in spirit.”

(b) He was always wrestling in prayer for them,

() We must be constant in prayer (1Th 5:16).

() It maintains fervency of spirit.

() It has the greater prospect of a favourable answer.

(2) The matter of his prayers. “That ye may stand fast, perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” It is a prayer for the stability of the Colossians, in view of the possible dangers of apostasy. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he felt” (1Co 10:12). “God is able to establish us” (1Co 15:1). This stability is manifest in two things.

(a) Maturity. “Perfect.” Epaphras prays that the flock may stand fast in a complete and universal obedience. This they cannot do without labouring for much knowledge (1Co 14:20), exercising themselves in the Word of righteousness (Heb 5:14), allowing patience to have her perfect work (Jas 3:1; Jas 1:5).

(b) Firm persuasion. “Fully assured in all the will of God.” There was to be no vacillation or falling away, but a sure conviction of the truth of God’s will. The Judaeo-Gnostics made a pretension to a perfection of wisdom, and found its sphere in the secrets of heavenly existence. Believers find it in the sphere of God’s will.

4. His zealous labours for the welfare of all the Churches in the Lycus valley. “For I bear him witness, that he hath much labour for you, and for them in Laodicea, and for them in Hierapolis.” He was probably the founder of all three Churches, which were within a short distance of each other. The apostle commends him to the Colossians that he may increase their respect and love for him on his return from Rome.

II. LUKE. “The beloved physician.” This was the evangelist, who had travelled with the apostle on his last journey to Jerusalem (Act 21:1), and then from Jerusalem to Rome two years later (Act 27:2), and now again was in his company. He was apparently the apostle’s only companion at the end of his second imprisonment (2Ti 4:11): “Only Luke is with me.” He was doubly beloved, both as physician and evangelist, for the weak health of the apostle, both in prison and out of it, needed his professional care.

III. DEMAS.

1. He was probably a Thessalonian. (2Ti 4:10.) Twice again his name occurs in company with that of Luke (Phm 1:24; 2Ti 4:10).

2. There is here a bare mention of his name, without a word of commendation. Perhaps the apostle had an insight into his real character. His name occurs significantly last of all among the six who greet the Colossians.

3. He deserts the apostle in the near prospect of his end. “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2Ti 4:10). Yet, at present, he keeps his standing among the companions of the apostle and receives a due recognition.T.C.

Col 4:15-17

Salutations and parting counsels to friends.

“Salute the brethren that are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the Church that is in their house.”

I. THE SALUTATION

1. To the brethren of Laodicea, who are called also “the Church in Laodicea.“ The apostle had a deep interest in them, because they were exposed to the same spiritual dangers as the Colossians. They dwelt in a rich, commercial city, and seem to have degenerated spiritually many yearn afterwards (Rev 3:14-16),

2. To Nymphas and the Church in their house. This was an eminent Christian of Laodicea, probably a rich man, and certainly full of zeal for the cause of God, for his house was the meeting place of a Church. He was evidently a centre of religious life in this important locality.

II. HIS COUNSEL TO THE COLOSSIANS. “And when this Epistle hath been read among you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans; and that ye also read that from Laodicea.”

1. The nearness of these Churches to each other, as well as their exposure to the risks of the same heretical teaching, explains this counsel. The letter from Laodicea was probably the Epistle to the Ephesians, which was of an encyclical character, and was now carried by Tychicus to the Churches of Proconsular Asia.

2. It is the privilege as well as the duty of private Christians to read the Scriptures. (Joh 5:39.)

3. This is a plain proof that the Scriptures are to be read publicly in the Church. (Act 13:15.)

III. HIS INDIVIDUAL COUNSEL TO ARCHIPPUS. “And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.”

1. The position of Archippus. He was a member of the household of Philemon, and probably his son (Phm 1:2). He held some office in the Church, for he is called “a fellow soldier” of the apostle. If he was a minister at Laodicea, as some suppose, the counsel addressed to him throws a significant light upon the condemnation of the Laodiceans many years afterwards for their lukewarmness. If, however, he was a minister at Colossal, as is more natural, the apostle’s counsel recognizes the right of the Colossian Christians to exercise discipline or reproof in the case of their teachers.

2. The admonition to Archippus. He was to fulfil his ministry.

(1) It was a ministry received by him.

(a) He was not self appointed.

(b) He received it, not only from the Lord, but in the Lord, whose grace prepared him for it and kept him in it. Therefore his responsibility was all the more serious.

(2) It was a ministry to be fulfilled. He was “to make full proof of his ministry” like Timothy (2Ti 4:5). He was to “stir up the gift of God” (2Ti 2:6). He was to hold on till the end, shaking off lethargy and listlessness, showing the people the whole counsel of God, refuting all sorts of sins and errors, and being “instant in season, out of season” (2Ti 4:2) in all labours for Christ.

(3) There was need for the apostle‘s warning counsel. “Take heed.” This individual warning would not have been sent in an Epistle designed for the whole Church if there had not been some failure of effort or duty on the part of Archippus. There is always need for ministers to “take heed to their ministry,” considering

(a) the dignity of their office;

(b) the value of immortal souls;

(c) the risks to which the flock are exposed from errors, sin, and worldliness;

(d) the account that is to be given to God.T.C.

Col 4:18

Autograph salutation.

“The salutation of me, Paul, with mine own hand. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you.”

I. THE AUTOGRAPH WAS TO ATTEST THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE EPISTLE.

II. THE REFERENCE TO HIS IMPRISONMENT WAS TO BESPEAK, NOT ONLY THEIR SYMPATHY, BUT THEIR INCREASED INTEREST IN THE GOSPEL. “He who is suffering for Christ has a right to speak on behalf of Christ.”

III. HIS PARTING WORD IS, “GRACE BE WITH YOU.” He has exalted God’s grace. He prays that the Colossians should not lose the grace they had received, that it should abide with them for ever, as the spring of power, holiness, and fidelity to truth.T.C.

HOMILIES BY R.M.E

Col 4:2-6

The life of prayer and sympathy.

Having shown how Christianity elevates the household, Paul next encourages the Colossians to prayerful and sympathetic lives. They shall find themselves in contact with others in the walks of public service, and they are to go forth to meet others prayerfully, sympathetically, graciously. Public life can only be properly, utilized when based upon constant prayerfulness.

I. CONSIDER WHAT CONSTANT PRAYER IS. (Verse 2.) It is lingering at the source of inspiration that our souls may be fitted for their public work. It is the attitude of felt dependence upon Godthe confession that without his grace we can do nothing. It is the abnegation of self confidence and the prostration of the soul before the Lord. It is the secret of public power. Hence Paul exhorts the Colossians to be always prayerful, and to be grateful as they prayed. If they have the sense of obligation implied by thanksgiving and a sense of need expressed by prayer, they shall be fitted for public work. Prayerless and thankless souls only miss and mar the opportunities of usefulness afforded them.

II. THEY MUST PRAY FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS THEMSELVES, ESPECIALLY FOR THE IMPRISONED PREACHER. (Verses 3, 4.) Intercession will be a large part of enlightened prayer. It is so in the Lord’s Prayer. For prayer makes us unselfish. We only seek the supply of personal need that we may be public benefactors. Hence we recognize at once the privilege and duty of intercession. All men need our prayers. Kings and those in authority, as well as those in more private stations, need our intercession. But among all the subjects of our intercession, none deserve better from their fellows than the preachers of the gospel. They are the most important and influential persons in the world. And their utterance is of more moment than that of statesmen or of kings. Hence, when Paul asks an interest in the intercessions of the Colossians, it is that he may be enabled to speak the mystery of Christ with increasing boldness, and may have a door of utterance opened widely to him. The most important message for mankind is the gospel. The intercessions of saints should largely be that preachers may be delivered from all limitations in the utterance of their message, and may issue from every “imprisonment” into the large liberty and impassioned utterance of the gospel.

III. THEY ARE TO EMBRACE THEIR OPPORTUNITY OF USEFULNESS WISELY. (Verse 5.) Prayer and intercession will greatly help in this respect. It is when we enter upon our opportunity with the sense of the overshadowing presence; it is when we believe that God is with us and with all our fellow workers, for whom we have interceded, that we can hopefully embrace the opportunity. How many chances, to use the world’s term, have we lost just through deficiency in prayer I We have been like the disciples in the valley, helpless before the lunatic child because prayerless before the opportunity came; whereas, had we been transfigured with our Master on the mount, we should have had no difficulty in improving our opportunity and being most helpful unto others.

IV. ABOVE ALL THINGS THEY ARE TO CULTIVATE A GRACIOUS CONVERSATION. (Verse 6.) The filthiness of the conversation in heathen lands is beyond conception. The ear is more rudely assailed than even the eye. Hence the necessity of rousing converts to a gracious conversation. When the oaths and impurity and maledictions, not to speak of the idle words of heathenism, are given up, and in their stead considerate, kindly, gracious words always spoken, then the world wonders at the change and is impressed and improved by it. In other words, the Colossians are to speak out of hearts steeped in prayer and filled with the Spirit. If we would take up and practise this idea, that we ought to speak and live as inspired men, the world would soon surrender to the claim of Christianity. Alas! the saints are often anything but inspired in their conversation, and it is no wonder that the world is not much moved by them. Until we realize our responsibility in this matter more, the kingdom of God cannot be much hastened.R.M.E.

Col 4:7-18

The apostle’s entourage.

At the time when this Epistle was written Paul had a considerable band about him. Though a prisoner in Borne, he has gathered round him a troop of friends. The time has not come when he has to say, “Only Luke is with me” (2Ti 4:10). It is interesting to notice these he has at this time around him.

I. THE LETTER CARRIERS. (Verses 7-9.) These are Tychicus and Onesimus. They carry each a letterTychicus this letter to the Church, Onesimus the letter for Philemon. The freeman and the slave are to journey together as brothers in the Lord, carrying tidings of the imprisoned preacher and the love tokens in his Epistles. What beautiful harmony has Paul summoned forth! Christianity recognizes not the distinctions of the world, but bond and free realize their unity in Christ.

II. THE JEWS. (Phm 1:10, Phm 1:11.) He has with him as “fellow prisoner” Aristarchus, the faithful companion who had risked himself in the theatre at Ephesus, and. who seems to have voluntarily shared the imprisonment with the apostle. Mark also, the cousin of Barnabas, is with him, not very reliable or certain in his movements, but with whom Paul has long ago made up his quarrel and can dwell in peace. Jesus also, another Jew, a loyal citizen as his additional name Justus implies, is with Paul, and they are such genuine converts from Judaism as to be most comforting “fellow workers unto the kingdom of God.” The large-hearted Jewish apostle has attracted to his side magnanimous, large-souled Jews also to cooperate in the missionary enterprise.

III. THE GENTILES. (Verses 12-15.) We have three Gentiles as a set-off to the three Jewish companions. These are Epaphras, who has come from Colossae to aid. the work, and who seems to have been a specially prayerful man, making his native district the burden of his constant intercessions. Next there is “Luke, the beloved physician,” the medical attendant and fast friend for many years of the great apostle. It was he who lingered with him during his second imprisonment, when all the rest had forsaken him, and who saw his end. His writings, the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, constitute him the “Josephus of the Christian Church,” and form the natural and indispensable introduction to the Pauline Epistles. And, lastly, we have Demas, whose loyalty had not been tested at this time fully, but whose sad history is written by Paul later on in the brief words, “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2Ti 4:10). It would thus appear that just as Jesus had a Judas in his band of disciples, so Paul had a Demas in those attracted to his side. The best of men cannot exclude the insincere from the work in which they need. “fellow workers.” And it is best, for the hostile at heart are admirable witnesses of the private life of the Christian leaders, Neither Judas nor Demas ever bore bad witness about their masters!

IV. THE PUBLIC USE TO BE MADE OF THIS EPISTLE. (Verses 15, 16.) It was to be handed about to neighbouring Churches, and other letters sought in exchange. Paul was writing, not for Colossae alone, but for all Churches to which his Epistle would crone. It was therefore a public Epistle. The letter Onesimus had in his pocket was private. It was intended for Philemon alone, and yet, blessed be God, it too has become public property. But the other Pauline Epistles were meant by their author to be public documents. We may well rejoice that such precious literary remains have come down to us.

V. THE SPECIAL SALUTATION TO ARCHIPPUS, THE MINISTER IN CHARGE. (Phm 1:17.) This must have been a solemn and yet a salutary word. The ministry had been received “from the Lord,” as some put it. Archippus looked past apostle and all terrestrial officials to Jesus as his Master, and it was a ministry in the Lord he had received. But at the same time he will receive cordially such an exhortation, and his responsibilities shall in consequence be more carefully discharged. It is in increased ministerial conscientiousness that the progress of a Church is to be realized. And thus it is with pathetic warning the interesting Epistle ends. As the apostle puts his bold signature to the document and asks to have his bonds remembered, this Epistle of the captivity goes forth complete to the world wide mission intended by the Spirit.R.M.E.

HOMILIES BY R. FINDLAYSON

Col 4:2-6

Prayer and prudence.

I. PRAYER.

1. General.

(1) Steadfastness in prayer, “Continue steadfastly in prayer.” There is the same direction in Rom 12:12, “Continuing steadfastly in prayer.” We shall not be able to carry out the direction unless we pray from principle. And that implies, not only that we have a deep conviction of the obligation of prayer, but also that we have a distinct conception of the form which the obligation is to take, as to our times of prayer and our subjects of prayer. Having an intelligent conviction of the duty, we are to hold to it steadfastly, in the face of all temptations to interrupt it. It is said of the disciples after the Ascension, that they continued steadfastly in prayer. They had a special subject of prayer, and they held to it uninterruptedly for ten days, until it was answered in the descent of the Holy Ghost.

(2) Wakefulness in prayer. “Watching therein.” This is brought in as an element without which steadfastness would be of no use. Prayer is a duty in which our whole being is to be awake. There is to be the absence of all sleepiness whatsoever. Especially are we to be wakeful, spiritually. We are to be wakeful to the truth and promises of God. We are to be wakeful to our own wants. We are to be wakeful to the wants of others. And not only are we to be wakened up in the directions noted, but wakened up so that our powers have full play. We have in Jacob one whose wakefulness was kept up to the highest point through the hours of night till he obtained the blessing. “With thanksgiving.” Thus again is the subordinate feature in the Epistle introduced. The thought is, that we are to be wakeful toward God for benefits obtained. Wakefulness toward God for past benefits is the best state of preparation for the reception of future benefits.

2. Particular. “Withal praying for us also.” They were not only to pray for themselves, for others, about other affairs, but specially for Paul and his coadjutors, and as he here directs.

(1) Immediate object. “That God may open unto us a door for the Word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.” Next to having the Word is having a door opened for the Word, i.e. an unhindered opportunity for its going forth. By the Word was meant more particularly the mystery of Christ, i.e. the gospel with reference to the Gentiles. The mystery was to go forth in it being spoken. In regard to that he was hindered at present. For not only was he called to speak the mystery of Christ, but also (so much had he entered into it) to be in bonds for it. And others were detained with him. And he prayed, and wished them to pray, for his liberation from captivity, that he and the others might go forth with the mystery.

(2) Ulterior object. “That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” The situation of the apostle here has been described as tragic. He was possessed with a burning desire that the Gentiles might have the gospel. He had exalted ideas of the requirements of his apostolate. He was conscious, too, of the apostolic energy stirring within him. There was a certain outlet for that energy. For he was allowed to speak the Word to all that came unto him. And he was enabled to write this Epistle and other Epistles, which have laid the Church under lasting obligation. But he wanted to make the mystery manifest on a far wider scale. He wanted to have freedom in moving from place to place, in combating error on the spot, in forming Churches. And it was in this his restrained position that he asked to be assisted by their prayers.

II. DUTY TO THEM THAT ARE WITHOUT. How is a Christian society to advance its ends with them that are outside? That is a question which has not lost its importance.

1. Walk. “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” It is said in Ephesians, “Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” It is the same precept here, with special application to them that are outside.

(1) Wisdom. One end for which a Christian society exists is self preservation. It was very important for them to act so that they did not unnecessarily bring persecution upon themselves. Another and higher end for which a Christian society exists is extension. For this end zeal is necessary, but at the same time it must be zeal tempered with discretion. Christian wives would naturally be deeply interested in the conversion of their heathen husbands, but how did the Apostle Peter enjoin them to act? “In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, even if any obey not the Word, they may without the Word be gained by the behaviour of their wives; beholding your chaste conversation coupled with fear.” The position of the members of a Christian society is similar. We have to win over them that are outside. Where the Word by itself fails (men obeying not the Word), we may do this without the Word, viz. by our Christian behaviour, by quietly and steadily showing what our religion is, especially in the production in us of those elements which those outside can more readily appreciatepurity, honour, charitableness, unselfishness, gentleness. There is action of a more direct kind toward them that are outside, for which wisdom is needed. The apostles supply a remarkable instance of failure in this respect. Not sure of their action, they referred it to Christ. “Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy Name, and he followed not us, and we forbade him, because he followeth not us.” This man was certainly at an outside, but, as on the way to higher things, Christ said, “Forbid him not: for there is no man, that shall do a miracle in my Name, that shall lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us.” This saying of our Lord throws great light on what should be the manner of our procedure toward them that are without. We are to accept of the slightest acknowledgment of Christianity. We are to turn back no one whose face seems turned in the right direction, though he does not yet join himself to us or work by our methods. This, and not the mistaken ” We forbid you,” is the way to encourage men toward our position.

(2) Urgency. For the end of self preservation, the moment was to be well thought of by the Colossians. For the unwise use of one moment they might have to suffer for years. So for the end of winning over them that are outside, the moment is to be well thought of by us. We are not to contract debt in connection with it. We are to make it our own for our end. We are to leave nothing undone to persuade, to entice, them that are without to come within the pale of the Christian Church. We are ever to be acting as on a motion of urgency, viz. the salvation of our fellow travellers to eternity, during their brief time of probation.

2. Speech. There are given three qualities of good speech, with primary reference to them that are outside.

(1) Pleasingness. “Let your speech be always with grace.” There is a pleasing and an unpleasing way of saying a thing. We are to study to have always a pleasing mode of speech. It is said of Jesus that they wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth. The reference was not merely to the contents of the words, but also to the winning form in which they were put.

(2) Healthfulness. “Seasoned with salt.” The language proceeds upon the conception of speech as an article of food, or as having nutriment in it to be communicated. The idea of pleasingness is carried forward in the flavouring. It is to he flavoured, so as not to be insipid. But the salt, with which the flavouring is to be effected, adds the idea of healthfulness. By salt in speech, we may understand seriousness of aim. Even in our moments of rest and of social enjoyment we are to have a feeling of the solemnity of life. We are to occupy our conversation with things according to their relative importance. We are to show a preference for the useful. We are not to use speech to communicate poison, but to communicate right sentiments. We are to show that we attach supreme importance to the gospel of Christ. Thus is healthfulness to be combined with pleasingness.

(3) Aptness. “That ye may know how ye ought to answer each one.” The idea of pleasingness is still carried forward, and is further to be combined with aptness. In those days questions were often put to the Christians about their religion. They were expected to be able to give an account of the articles of their faith, of the facts of Christianity, of its institutions, of benefits derived, of losses entailed. These questions were not always put by sincere inquirers. They were often put from curiosity or with evil intention. In no case were they to show resentment. They were always, with all pleasingness, to give the answer which the question demanded, in the hope that it might commend itself to the inquirer. In these days questions are not so often put to Christians. It would be well if they were oftener put, and if we could put the right answer in pleasing form.R.F.

Col 4:7-18

The personal.

I. AFFAIRS OF THE APOSTLE. He gives his reason for not entering on these in his letter. The paragraph is similar in construction to Eph 6:21, Eph 6:22. The difference is confined to two points.

1. The designation of Tychicus as fellow servant. “All my affairs shall Tychicus make known unto you, the beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord: whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know our estate, and that he may comfort your hearts.” He characterizes what Tychicus was in the Lord, i.e. within the sphere where Christ appoints and animates. Within that sphere he had the qualities which made him beloved as a brother (an important point in a mission). He had also the qualities which, as they made him fit to be entrusted with the gospel, also made him fit to be entrusted with a mission from the apostle. He was, besides, a fellow servant on an equality with the apostle in being at the call of the Master in services to Churches, and they were to receive him at Colossae in the Lord’s name. His mission extended beyond the mere bearing of the letter (which is not mentioned), to conveying intelligence regarding the circumstances, spirit, work, prospects of the apostle and others with him, as would be fitted to cheer their hearts.

2. The association of Onesimus with Tychicus. “Together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things that are done here.” Onesimus is mentioned as affectionately as Tychicus. The only difference is the absence of any official designation. His being called “brother” illustrates the principle laid down by the apostle in this Epistle, that there is not bondman nor freeman. The renewal after the image of God had commenced, and was going on, in this slave. And therefore he acknowledges him as a brother. Prominence is given to his being a faithful brother. He had formerly been unfaithful, in the service rendered to his master Philemon, and in running away from that service, lie had been so effectually transformed that already (and much time cannot have elapsed) Paul can vouch for his trustworthiness. His being called “beloved brother” shows that he had exhibited singular qualities of heart, which is very touchingly brought out in the Epistle to Philemon. The interesting circumstance is mentioned, that Onesimus was one of them, a native of Colossae, one whose name was to be added to their roll of membership, and who would be no mere nominal addition, but an addition to their working strength. Paul trusted him in much, after having trusted him in littles, when he associated him with Tychicus, not only in bearing the letter, but in declaring to the Church at Colossae all things which were done at Rome.

II. SALUTATIONS FOR THE COLOSSIANS.

1. From three Jewish Christians.

(1) Aristarchus. “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner saluteth you.” That he was an active helper of the apostle, may be gathered from his being classed in the Epistle to Philemon among his fellow workers. The beautiful thing regarding him is, that he is so near to the apostle in seasons of danger. For his connection with him, he was subjected to the violence of the multitude in Ephesus. Then a plot of the Jews brings him into connection with the apostle. Then he appears as a companion of the apostle on his journey as a prisoner to Rome. And here he is styled “fellow prisoner.” He was not ashamed of the apostle’s chains. He was not afraid to endanger his own life for his sake. From the fact of his being styled “fellow worker” and Epaphras “fellow prisoner” in the Epistle to Philemon, which was transmitted along with the Epistle to Colossae, it has not unreasonably been concluded that Paul’s friends voluntarily shared his imprisonment by turns.

(2) Mark. “And Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (touching whom ye received commandments; if he come unto you, receive him).” It was an honourable circumstance, which Paul with good feeling notes, that Mark was connected with Barnabas. He seems to have been included within the apostolic circle. He began his Christian career by divesting himself (in no monastic spirit) of the embarrassment of riches. “He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith.” He had the advance of Paul in Christian service, and generously introduced him to the Church at Jerusalem, and afterward, when the work could not be overtaken at Antioch, knowing the fitness of Paul, he went forth to Tarsus to seek for him, and when he had found him, brought him on to Antioch. For a long time they laboured conjointly, and for a time we read of Barnabas and Paul as though the older in service exercised an influence over the younger, not yet fully conscious of his powers. But their plans diverged with regard to the kinsman of Barnabas who is mentioned here; and so sharp was the contention between these good men that they parted asunder, one from the other. It may be assumed that Mark was blameworthy in not going with them to the work. He was apparently swayed at the time by some reason of personal convenience. Whether Paul or Barnabas was right in regard to his again being associated with them in service, is a different question. It appears from this notice that Mark had won his way back into the apostle’s confidence. Already commandments touching him had been sent on, and now there is bespoken for him a favourable reception, should it fall in with his plans to pay a visit to Colossae.

(3) Jesus Justus. “And Jesus, which is called Justus.” He lived a life upon which light shall one day be cast. All that we know of him is from the notice here. He commended himself to the apostle, as interested in the health of the Colossian community. And he comes in for his share of commendation in the language which follows. The three commended. “Who are of the circumcision: these only are my fellow workers unto the kingdom of God, men that have been a comfort unto me.” There would be unbelieving Jews at Rome who would not be sorry for his chains. But there were others (apparently) who had advanced from Judaism to Christianity. It might have been expected, on common Christian grounds, that these would have shown sympathy with him. It is against them (by implication) that he makes complaint. He does not deny altogether that they were helpers, but they were not his fellow helpers; they were not his fellow helpers toward the kingdom of God in the wide sense in which he understood it. They stood aloof from him because of his estimate of the Law. All the more honour, then, to the three in Rome who, free from prejudice, had stood by him, and been a comfort to him when he needed it.

2. From three Gentile Christians.

(1) Epaphras. “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, saluteth you.” This Epaphras, who (probably after he had come under the influence of Paul at the Asiatic centre, Ephesus) founded the Colossian Church, was himself a Colossian. He was formerly styled “fellow servant;” here, without relation to others, he is styled “a servant of Christ Jesus.” It would be absurd to translate it “bond servant,” though it holds that Christ is absolute Disposer of his servants. Epaphras was a servant in an official sense, at the call of Christ for special service in the Churches. As their minister, he is naturally the first of the Gentile three who sent their salutations to the Colossian Church. The character in which he appears here is float of a minister absent for a time from his flock.

(a) His prayerfulness. “Always striving for you in his prayers, that ye may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” A minister is sometimes necessitated, by the state of his health, to be absent from the sphere of his work proper. In these circumstances his great resort is prayer. Paul had difficulty in telling how greatly he strove for as many as had not seen his face in the flesh. Here he tells how Epaphras was always striving for the Colossians in his prayers. How much they must have been in his thoughts, that they came so much into his prayers, and, when they did come, occasioned so much wrestling! It was a comprehensive object for which he wrestled. It was that they might stand perfect and fully assured in every separate will of God. If we think of a single division of time or single set of circumstances, the prime necessity is to know the will of God regarding it. If we think of our relation to that will, it implies three things. We must not only know, but must stand without wavering in the will of God. Then we must stand, not in part, but in the whole of the will of God, relative to time and circumstances. Lastly, we must not only stand in the whole of the will, but have the full assurance that we are standing. This last is the climax of our relation to it. Beyond all knowledge and rightness of disposition, it is to be desired, for our own comfort, that, before and in the doing of the Divine will, we have an unwavering persuasion that it is really the Divine will, and no ignis fatuus of our own imagination, that we are following. This, indeed, is contained in promise: “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

(b) His labour. “For I bear him witness, that he hath much labour for you, and for them in Laodicea, and for them in Hierapolis.” There is a very beautiful association with the name Mizpah: “The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.” The Lord’s servant, Paul, was witness between Epaphras and the Colossians, and he vouches for their minister’s labour in his absence. It is a word which approaches in meaning to “anguish.” It comprehended much more than his prayers. He was often engaged, by himself and in consultation with Paul, on the Colossian problem. He was often seen (when not sharing the apostle’s confinement) about the city after business affecting the Colossian Church. Nor was his burdensome labour confined to the one Church. It extended to the Church of Laodicea, and to the Church of Hierapolis. These were Churches in the neighbourhood. The three towns were situated in the valley of the Lycus. Colossae was the least important of the three, but it was there, probably, that by means of Epaphras the gospel had been first received, and from which, by his means also, the gospel had been extended to Laodicea and to Hierapolis. If we understand his having had an equal interest in the formation of the three Churches, it was only natural that his anxious labour extended to the three.

(2) Luke. “Luke, the beloved physician.” What is the ideal of a physician? He is, in the first place, one who enters thoroughly into the duties of his profession. He is one who keeps abreast of medical knowledge, and may be able at some sacrifice to make contributions to it. He is one who has skill in the practice of his profession, and does not grudge labour, fatigue, even exposure to danger, in seeking to remove disease and alleviate pain. Such a physician has in his hands the means of powerfully attaching men to him, by services rendered to them. He is also one who has Christian sympathies, who enters into the spirit and follows the example of him who, while ministering to men’s bodies, ministered also to men’s souls. He is one who embraces the opportunities which his profession presents of speaking words of warning and of comfort. He, who thus attaches men to him by a double bond, may well be called the beloved physician. The third Gospel, and the Acts of the Apostles, bear evidence to the general culture of Luke. It has been made out that the first of these bears evidence of special medical knowledge. It may be inferred that Luke rendered to Paul valuable professional assistance. He may have been, under God, the means of saving his life. From his being called, in the Epistle to Philemon, a “fellow helper,” it may be inferred that his help to the Christian cause was not confined to his professional services nor to his literary services, but that he directly took part in the proclamation of the gospel.

(3) Demas. “And Demas salute you.” From the honourable mention of him here, and from his being numbered among the fellow helpers in the Epistle to Philemon, it is evident that at this time he stood in the confidence of the apostle. When we remember his subsequent desertion of the apostle (“Demas forsook me, having loved this present world”), it is remarkable how he is mentioned here without any epithet such as “beloved” or “faithful.”

III. SALUTATIONS FORT THE LAODICEANS TO BE COMMUNICATED BY THE COLOSSIANS. “Salute the brethren that are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the Church that is in their house.” It is not to be wondered at that there should be a Church gathering connected with a private house. Where there was a place of general gathering for a Church at that time, it would be very unimportant. We can understand that, as a rule, there would be little gatherings from evening to evening, in private houses, of Christians in the immediate neighbourhood. These at times would grow into large gatherings. The apostle had never been at Laodicea, but he may have seen Nymphas. He had at least heard of him, and he had pleasant associations with him and the little gathering in his house. And, among the brethren in Laodicea, he singles them out for his salutations. The medium of the apostle’s salutations to the Laodicean Church was to be the Colossian Church. They were as a Church to say, “We in Paul’s name salute you.” It was an act fitted to promote good fellowship between the two Churches.

IV. READING. “And when this Epistle hath been read among you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye also read the Epistle from Laodicea.” This letter was to be read at a general gathering of the Church in Colossae. There was another letter, which had been addressed at a previous period to the Church at Laodicea (salutations only are sent at this time). It was not the will of the Head of the Church that the letter should be preserved. The apocryphal letter to the Laodiceans is only a cento made out of Paul’s writings. There would be what was peculiar in each of these letters, but, being addressed to neighbouring Churches, there would be much that was adapted to them both. And so he instructs that both should be read in both places.

V. INSTRUCTIONS FOR ARCHIPPUS BY THE CHURCH. And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.” We are not told what the ministry was, but the probability is that he ministered in the gospel in the absence of Epaphras. It cannot with certainty be inferred that he had shown remissness in his duties. It is an injunction which may be laid on a minister in any circumstances. It is specially to be laid on a minister, in view of a more critical condition of the Church to which he ministers. There are advantages and incitements, but there are also difficulties and temptations connected with a sacred position. The interests involved are very great, and it is fitting that we should seek to fulfil that service which we have received in the Lord, with a deep feeling of our responsibility to the Lord. In the fact of the injunction being laid on Archippus by the Church, there is an implied rebuke of the hierarchical spirit.

VI. CONCLUSION. “The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you.” The apostle has, from necessity of his position, employed an amanuensis. When the amanuensis has done his work, Paul takes the pen in hand, and adds, “The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand.” And feeling the difficulty of using the pen in consequence of his bonds, he adds, very naturally and very affectingly, “Remember my bonds.” This bore evidence to the depth of his interest in them and in the truth. He had not the paths of dalliance trod. He had gone the length of bonds. It is principally to be regarded as a powerful enforcement, of all that he has said, including his request that they should pray for his liberation. There is added the briefest form of benediction: “Grace be with you.” Never, however pressed for space or inconvenienced, can he leave out the thought of the Divine bestowal on us in our unworthiness.R. F.

HOMILIES BY U.R. THOMAS

Col 4:2-4

An exhortation to prayer.

Paul had been, as we have seen, describing noble and difficult duties of husbands, children, etc. He evidently felt they were so noble that they ought to be attained, and yet so difficult that he must at once suggest one way to their attainment. He has shown the goal, now he shows the path. That path is prayer. Husbands, wives, all who would become what I have described, “continue in prayer.” In his exhortation to prayer we may notice

I. SOME ELEMENTS IN ALL TRUE PRAYER. And of these elements there is in the very front:

1. Constancy. “Continue steadfastly,” as the Revised Version has it. Not fitfully, occasionally, irregularly, but with steady constancy, pray.

(1) There, ought to be constancy because of the need there is. The need is perpetual, for the duties to be discharged to which prayer alone can help, and the dangers to be avoided from which prayer alone can deliver, are ever with us.

(2) There can be constancy, because the opportunity is always granted. There are avenues of religious help a man may close against his brother, but not this. Excommunicated, exiled, tortured, imprisoned, he can still pray. Wherever God is and a human soul is, there prayer can be. So Daniel, Jonah, Stephen, found.

2. Wakefulness. “Watching.” Not as a sleeper, but as a sentry, must the man be who prays. Understanding, emotion, will, must be awake, as he who guards the city is awake to hear the first footfall of a foe, to catch the first shadow of a danger. Not in dreamy lethargy can men pray. “No arrow of prayer can reach the sky that does not fly from a heart strongly bent as some elastic bow?

3. Gratitude. “With thanksgiving.” Thus the conception of prayer is widened, beyond that of mere petition, to that of intercourse. Prayer becomes a Eucharist. Indeed, thanksgiving is the crown and goal of prayer. Elsewhere the apostle similarly exhorts, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God.”

II. A SPECIAL SUBJECT FOR INTERCESSION. Paul thus bespeaks prayer for himself and his fellow workers both, to link himself in humbleness of heart to the Colossians. It is as though he said, “I need prayer as well as you.” And doubtless he also asks their prayers because he is conscious of necessity for such help as prayer can bring. For himself and his fellow workers he asks:

1. Prayer that they may have opportunity for work. “That God may open unto us a door.” To the mystery of the gospel there is the great obstacle of minds closed by prejudice, hearts closed by antipathy. The preacher, like his Lord, has to stand at the door and knock.

2. Prayer that shall be sympathetic with their sorrows. For he reminds them that he is “in bonds.” In every one of the Epistles of his captivity the apostle mentions this coupling chain which he felt to be thwarting, galling, humiliating. And their prayers must seek either that the chain be broken or the prisoner strengthened to endure.

3. Prayer that they may have fitness for their work. The one pressing want of their condition was “boldness.” Sometimes the main want is wisdom, sometimes patience, sometimes gentleness. Here, because of all that was around him and before him, he felt the supreme want was courage. And indeed, when is this not wanted by those who have to proclaim such a message as the gospel, to such souls as proud, selfish, self-willed men, for such a Master as the Christ who travails till victory is won?U.R.T.

Col 4:5, Col 4:6

The Christian and the world.

We have here some suggestions as to

1. THE CHRISTIAN‘S RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORLD. It is implied:

1. That he is to be distinct from the world. To him all “men of the world” are, in character, aims, pursuits, to be as “them that are without.” There is to be a contrast between him and them as between those who are “within” and those who are “without” the assembly of the righteous, the Church of the loving and the pure. But it is taught:

2. That he is to have intercourse with the world. This is in contradiction to the Colossian heresy of asceticism, and in contradiction, too, to the pietism that some sects affect in England today. “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without.” This is the very opposite of walking away from them, in separation, into seclusion. Indeed, on this point we notice that seclusion from the world is:

(1) Impossible. Even those who shun the social and political life of the world are drawn into its commerce very willingly, and in their best moods into its philanthropy also.

(2) Undesirable. It leads either to bigotry, as of the Pharisees, or to fragile life, as of hot house plants.

(3) Unlike Jesus Christ. The streets, the cities, the houses of men, and of sinful men, their feasts, and their funerals, were frequented by the Holiest, who has left us an example that we should follow in his steps.

3. What is to mark the intercourse of the Christian with the world. Two directions are given:

(1) “Walk in wisdom.” This is more than knowledge, more than discretion. It is a right use of knowledge, of the knowledge of God and of man. In that element of godly thoughtfulness a Christian man is to move.

(2) “Redeeming the time.” In the time you spend with men, buy up the time and make the best use of it for themselves and for you. No squandering of anything so precious as their time and yours is to be permitted in your intercourse with men. Thus it is taught the Christian must have to do with the world.

II. THE CHRISTIAN‘S CONVERSATION WITH THE WORLD. It is to be distinguished by “grace,” pleasantness of the highest sort”salt,” pungency of the truest kind. In a sentence, we may say the influence of his conversation is to be good.

1. Because it is to be persuasive. The higher form of “grace,” Divine acceptableness, may be implied here. The other form of it, human convincingness, is certainly indicated. For this it must be appropriate,

(1) as to topic,

(2) as to time,

(3) as to manner.

2. Because it is to be distinctive. Not talk of tasteless insipidity, making no impression, but conversation as clear and definite in purifying influence as Christ meant the disciples themselves were to be when he said, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” “Certain it is,” says Jeremy Taylor, “that as nothing better can do it, so there is nothing greater for which God made our tongues, next to reciting his praises, than to minister comfort to weary souls. And what greater pleasure can we have than that we should bring joy to our brother, who with his weary eye looks to heaven and round about, and cannot find so much rest as to lay his eyelids together? Then thy tongue should be tuned with heavenly accents, and make the weary soul to listen for light and ease. This is glory to thy voice, and employment fit for the brightest angel. I have seen the sun kiss the frozen earth, which was bound up with the images of death and the cold breath of the north, and then the waters break from their enclosures, and melt with joy, and run in useful channels. So is the heart of a sorrowful man under the discourses of a wise comforter. He breaks from the despairs of the grave; he blesses God, and he feels his life returning. God is pleased with no music below so much as in the thanksgiving songs of rejoicing, comforted persons.”U.R.T.

Col 4:7-18

Christian greeting.

As we read this last paragraph of our Epistle, we are struck:

1. With the humanity of our holy religion. There is a natural tone about the ending of every one of Paul’s letters; there is the naming of men, the greeting of friends, the talk about personal affairs. If the Bible were concerned only with systems, institutions, theories, doctrines, arguments, it would never be, as it surely is, the great heart book of the world. Its charm is its humanness. And it is so of Christianity because its Founder and its Theme, its Alpha and its Omega, is the Son of man.

2. With the mutual fellowship of the early Churches. Between the Christians at Rome and at Colossae, though the waters of the Mediterranean rolled between them, there was, as these greetings indicate, intimate and intelligent personal fellowship. Passing from these introductory considerations of the great principles to be found here, let us notice three things about Christian greetings.

I. TRUE CHRISTIAN GREETING RECKONS VERY LITTLE OF SOCIAL POSITION. Who would know, from the form of the greeting, how vastly different were the social positions of Epaphras the Colossian citizen, Luke the cultured Jewish physician, and Onesimus the runaway slave? It has been well said, “Men are not united to the Church of Christ by reason of similarity of calling, of knowledge, or of position; not as rich or poor, learned or ignorant, but as possessors of a common human nature, of common feelings, sorrows, joys, and hopes. Once within its pale, his riches drop from the rich man, and his poverty from the poor, and each beholds a brother soul.”

II. TRUE CHRISTIAN GREETING RECOGNIZES FULLY THE INDIVIDUALISM OF MEN. There is here no dealing with the mere mass, the group; no speaking of all with the same tones of unctuous endearment as is common in some Churches today. No; each has a separate niche in the esteem and affection of the apostle. In the light of this greeting we see the Church is not a huge piece of mechanism, but a family of dissimilar though related souls.

III. TRUE CHRISTIAN GREETING HONOURS GREATLY CHRISTIAN SERVICE. The only letter of introduction to a Church Paul ever wrote is to commend not some wealthy or famous man, but a converted runaway slave. His epithets of praise are not those that describe rank or riches, or even culture, but usefulness. That he honours, and that the Church of Christ ought above all else to honour: come the day when it will. Amen.U.R.T.

HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT

Col 4:2-4

Conditions of success in prayer.

St. Paul draws the attention of the Colossians to two things.

I. GENERAL CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN PRAYER.

1. Perseverance. “Continue steadfastly in prayer.” It is part of our spiritual education, teaching us dependence, trust, and patience. No “stock” of blessings given, but daily grace, bread, etc. Blessings may be withheld for a time because, in our present spiritual state, we cannot receive the full supply we shall be capable of after the discipline of persevering prayer. The gift will be in proportion to our faith. Hence the many exhortations to perseverance by parables (Luk 11:5-9; Luk 18:1-8), precepts (Rom 12:12; Eph 6:18; 1Th 5:17, etc.), and recorded examples (Gen 32:24; Exo 32:9-13; Mat 15:21-28; Act 1:14; Act 2:1-4. Paul’s prayers (Php 1:4; 2Ti 1:3, etc.; Col 4:12). Story of James the Just (Eusebius, bk. Jas 2:23). If time forbids long continuance, there may be energy in brevity and steadfastness in persistent renewal of prayers (Psa 55:17; Psa 119:164, etc.).

2. Watchfulness. Be watchful during prayer, for the constant enjoyment of the inestimable privilege tends to routine, and our spiritual foes are ever ready to distract our minds and spoil our prayers. Chrysostom saith, “The devil knoweth how great a good prayer is.” The messenger prayer is too often despatched without any definite message. “Ye know not what ye ask;” “Ye have not because ye ask not.” Contrast our Lord’s prayers and St. Paul’s with the vague, sleepy supplications we know too much about, if we thus watch in prayer we may watch after it, expecting the blessings which are on their way to us (cf. Dan 9:23; Dan 10:12).

3. Thanksgiving. (Php 4:6.) Our thanksgiving will include that Divine system of mediation and intercession by which we sinners have access to God; all the past answers to prayer we have received through Christ (Psa 63:7; Psa 116:1, Psa 116:2), and all the promises he has given. In this spirit we shall also be able to thank him for what he has deferred (Illustrations: Job and “the end of the Lord,” Jas 5:11) and what he denies. For if we pray with submission for temporal blessings, we lay upon God the responsibility of choosing for us. Plato (‘Alcibiades,’ bk. 2) praises one of the ancient poets for prescribing this form of prayer: “Grant to us thy blessings whether we pray for them or withhold our prayers, and repel from us all evils even though we pray for them.” With fuller knowledge we may offer the same prayer for temporal blessings “with thanksgiving” (Psa 84:11; Mat 6:32), while in regard to spiritual blessings there need be no such conditional uncertainty (Mat 7:9-11; Joh 14:13, Joh 14:14).

II. SPECIAL SUBJECTS FOR PRAYER. (Verses 3, 4.) The requests are very personal, for Paul, Timothy, Epaphras, etc. The apostle’s condition imposed limitations which he desired might be removed “for the gospel’s sake.” These prayers were answered (Phm 1:22). By prayer doors were opened in the first century (Rom 15:19, etc.), and still are (China, Africa, Madagascar, etc.). This spread of the gospel may still be used as an argument for the divinity of the gospel, as it was by Clement of Alexandria: “The Grecian philosophy, if any magistrate forbade it, immediately died away; but our doctrine, even from the first preaching of it, kings, generals, and magistrates prohibited it; nevertheless, it does not droop like human doctrine, but flourishes the more.” Similar prayers for pastors and missionaries are still needed, and may be enforced by various motives; e.g.:

1. Our necessity; for the work is too great for us apart from the help given through prayer.

2. Our trials. Illustrate from Paul’s ordinary sources of anxiety (2Co 11:1-3, 2Co 11:28, 2Co 11:29; Gal 4:19, etc.).

3. Our dangers. For we are the mark of many of the fiery darts of the wicked one, and if we fall it is “as when a standard bearer fainteth.”

4. Our responsibilities. (Heb 13:17.) We have to speak “the mystery of Christ,” and desire “to make it manifest as we ought to speak.” How much this implies (Eph 6:19, Eph 6:20)! We aim at the sublimest results (Col 1:28, Col 1:29).

5. Our equitable claims. A plea especially appropriate to pastors, called by a Church to their post of duty and of trust. To restrain prayer is the most lamentable meanness, for it impoverishes the pastor’s or missionary’s soul (2Th 3:1, 2Th 3:2, etc.).E.S.P.

Col 4:5, Col 4:6

The Christians conduct and conversation in the world.

In these closing exhortations we are taught

I. THE PRINCIPLES WHICH SHOULD GUIDE US IN OUR INTERCOURSE WITH THE WORLD. (Col 4:5.) In no Pharisaic spirit we have to speak of “them that are without” (needlessly, guiltily outside the family of God), but are in close contact with us “within;” who are not called to judge them or to “have no company” with them, but to live in such a way as to bless and save them (1Co 5:9-13; 1Co 9:19-22). The wisdom demanded includes:

1. Consistency, as its most essential element. Life for others is a law running through God’s universe, and finding its highest illustration in the life and cross of Christ and of Christians “in him” (Joh 12:24, Joh 12:25; Rom 14:7). To benefit others spiritually, the chief qualification is not gifts, but character. The lives of Christians are the world’s Bible (2Co 3:2, 2Co 3:3). See that the text is not corrupted or illegible. Live so that the more you are known the more you will be esteemed (let not “distance lend enchantment to the view”), so that the anxious or the dying would naturally send to you for guidance, and your judgment or reproof would carry with it the weight of a holy character. Beware of the “dead flies” which mar this wisdom (Ecc 10:1; Eph 5:15-17; Php 2:14, Php 2:15; 1Pe 2:11, 1Pe 2:12). But while the whole of our “walk” must be consistent, the wisdom which is to mark it includes more than this (Mat 10:16; Rom 16:19). Some may remember what were their chief hindrances caused by the characters of Christians while they were still “without;” let them guard against these.

2. Christian cheerfulness. So as to refute the libels of Satan and his satellites (Job 21:14, Job 21:15; Ma Job 3:14, Job 3:15), and prove the sincerity of our avowed belief (Psa 34:8; Psa 84:11, Psa 84:12).

3. Christian charitableness. Be very strict in judging yourselves, but do not set up your own consciences as an infallible test for others (cf. 1Co 11:31 with Mat 7:2). Seek to purify and enlighten the heart, rather than to denounce acts that may not seem wrong to the half enlightened doer (Mat 12:33). Illustrate from Elisha’s treatment of Naaman (2Ki 5:15-19).

4. Well-regulated zeal. Zeal is implied in “redeeming the time,” letting no opportunity slip you of seeking to do good in these evil days (Eph 5:16), even though at times it might appear to some to be “out of season” (2Ti 4:2; Gal 6:10). But wisdom is needed here, or our efforts may be like random shots in a battle, injuring friends more than foes (e.g. Ma 9:38; Luk 9:54). Silence may at times be more “golden” than speech. Mat 7:6 must be combined with Mar 16:15.

II. THE SPECIAL WISDOM NEEDED FOR PROFITABLE CONVERSATION. (Mar 16:6; Pro 18:21.) By “always with grace” is not meant always religious, but always consistent with “this grace wherein we stand,” and calculated to win the favour and promote the highest good of those who hear us (Eph 4:29). Therefore we must seek that it be “seasoned with salt,” which preserves from corruption and gives relish to our food. Both senses are probably included. Vital religion being distasteful to the natural heart, care is needed that in our conversation we neither degrade the religion we profess nor increase aversion to it by the insipidity of our talk (cf. Job 6:6; Job 26:3). Let our rule be Elihu’s (Job 33:3; cf. Psa 37:30, Psa 37:31; Pro 15:4). One object of this care is “that ye may know,” etc. We must be prepared to be questioned and cross questioned on our holy faith. Pro 20:4, Pro 20:5 may both need to be observed (as by our Lord, Mat 21:27; Mat 22:21, Mat 22:29). When questioned as to “the hope that is in us” (1Pe 3:15) a weak answer may confirm doubts. Take as models the various answers and vindications of his faith given by St. Paul before the pagans of Athens, the Jews of Jerusalem and of Rome, Felix and Agrippa. But if our tongues are to speak aright, our hearts must be kept full of the fire of the love of God tempered by “the wisdom that is from above” (Mat 12:34; Jas 3:17).E.S.P.

Col 4:7-18

Personal salutations and pastoral cares.

The personal references in Paul’s Epistles are valuable in several ways. “Proper names, although they be recited alone in the Scriptures, are not to be despised” (2Ti 3:16). “For like as if any one should find dry herbs, having neither fragrance nor colour that was pleasing, arranged in the surgery of a doctor, however mean may be their appearance, will yet guess that some virtue or remedy is concealed in them; so in the pharmacopoeia of the Scriptures, if anything occurs that at first sight may seem to be despised by us, yet may we determine of a certainty that there is some spiritual utility to be found in it; because Christ, the Physician of souls, we may suppose, would place nothing insignificant or useless in his pharmacopoeia” (Origen). These personal references are useful:

1. As supplying “undesigned coincidences” (Paley’s ‘Horae Paulinae,’ Colossians 6., 8., and 14.; and Birks’ ‘Horae Apostolicae,’ Colossians 6.).

2. As correcting errors; e.g. the alleged episcopacy of St. Peter at Rome from A.D. 42-68 is rendered incredible by the silence of St. Paul in all his Epistles from Rome (Col 4:10, Col 4:11).

3. As helping us to form a vivid idea of the apostle’s circumstances at different periods, and their bearing on his life’s work and teaching. From these twelve verses we gather such facts as these, each of which may suggest some useful lessons. He was a prisoner, adding his autograph message “in a chain” (Eph 6:20); enjoying for the present considerable indulgence (Act 28:30, Act 28:31), and hoping for a speedy release (Phm 1:22). He enjoyed the company of friends both old and new. Here is Tychicus, probably from Ephesus, a tried companion in toil and peril (Act 20:4; Eph 6:21); and Onesimus (a trophy of Divine grace, a jewel rescued as from the common sewer of the corrupt metropolis; teaching us to despair of no one). These two are being sent to tighten the bonds between the Churches in Asia and the apostle at Rome (Col 4:7-10; Eph 6:22). Others remain to aid and cheer him. Aristarchus of Thessalonica, one of the firstfruits of Europe, now a voluntary prisoner (Act 19:29; Act 20:4; Act 27:2). Mark, now enjoying the fullest confidence of St. Paul (2Ti 4:11): an encouraging illustration of how ‘patient continuance in well doing’ may cast early errors into oblivion and win back confidence once withdrawn; and a caution even to an apostle against too stern a judgment on a young brother. Jesus Justus, the only other Hebrew Christian mentioned, otherwise unknown, yet worthy of honour in all ages, because “a comfort” to the apostle: an encouragement to workers little known in the annals of the Church (Mat 10:40-42). Epaphras, probably the founder of the Colossian Church, who had often preached to them and. now prayed much for them. Luke, the first medical missionary, a minister to the soul as well as to the body of the sorely tried apostle. Last comes Demas, mentioned without any commendation; still a fellow labourer (Phm 1:24), but in whom St. Paul may have already detected signs of that worldly mindedness which led him afterwards to withdraw from duty and danger, if not altogether to make shipwreck of faith (2Ti 4:10)a caution against backsliding in heart (Pro 14:14; 1Jn 2:15). The salutations to brethren at Colossae further remind us of the social life and limited conditions of the primitive Christians (“Nymphas, and the Church that is in their house”), of the value of an earnest ministry to the Church (verse 17), and of the duty of cherishing fraternal sympathy with other Churches (verses 15, 16). This reference to the Epistle to Laodicea suggests to us that, though a letter may be lost and a Church may languish or die (Re Luk 3:14-22), the Word of the Lord in the letter and to the Church endureth for ever. Many of these references group themselves around the names of those who were pastors or evangelists, and suggest final thoughts respecting a minister’s responsibilities, anxieties, and encouragements.

1. Responsibilities. (Verse 17.) The ministry was “in the Lord.” In union with and in subordination to him he was to exercise it; and only by the utmost vigilance and energy could he fulfil it. To every minister such a charge is given as 2Ti 4:1, 2Ti 4:2, 2Ti 4:5, and such promises as 1Ti 4:16. Responsibility inspires zeal (2Co 4:1, 2Co 4:2; 2Co 5:9; 2Co 6:3-10), and fosters that spirit of dependence which ensures the blessing (1Co 3:7).

2. Anxieties. (1Ti 4:12, 1Ti 4:13.) A faithful minister can aim at nothing less. He cannot adapt the standard of the gospel to the maxims of the day. He has to educate the mind and the conscience, that his flock may be “perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” He must teach and warn, applying general principles to practical details, being himself an example to the flock (1Ti 4:12) in labours and in prayers, so that those who know him best may bear such witness to him as Paul does to Epaphras.

3. Encouragements from three sources: sympathy, such as Paul enjoyed from friends at Rome and at Colossae; cooperation from “fellow workers unto the kingdom of God;” affection, such as love to the one Lord and labours for him promote in men of different temperaments, so that we find Paul speaking of many of his colleagues, not only as honoured fellow-soldiers, but beloved friends (1Ti 4:7, 1Ti 4:9, 1Ti 4:14; Rom 16:12). For all such the apostle breathes the concluding prayer in one comprehensive term, “Grace be with you.”E.S.P.

HOMILIES BY W.F. ADNENEY

Col 4:2

Steadfastness in prayer.

I. IT IS GREATLY NEEDED. The seven deacons were chosen partly in order that the apostles might not be hindered by temporal affairs from continuing steadfastly in prayer (Act 6:4). St. Paul exhorts the Roman Christians to this same steadfastness (Rom 12:12). It is requisite on many accounts.

1. There are never wanting subjects that claim our prayers.

2. When we are least inclined to pray we are in most need of prayer.

3. Only constant prayer can be profoundly spiritual. It is the ever-flowing stream that wears the deep water course. The bird that soars high must be much on the wing.

4. Steadfastness in prayer is rewarded by Divine responses; e.g. Abraham’s intercession for Sodom, the parable of the importunate widow, etc.

II. IT IS A SIGN OF SPIRITUAL HEALTH. After the ascension of their Lord the early Christians continued steadfastly in prayer (Act 1:14); so did the converts of the day of Pentecost (Act 2:42).

1. It shows a spiritual tone of mind. We may pray in special need without this, and we may pray at set seasons of devotion without it. But to live in an atmosphere of prayer, to pray because it is natural to us to talk with God, because we love communion with him, because prayer is our vital breath, and so to pray without ceasing from inward devotion rather than from external prompting,all this is a sign of true spirituality.

2. It shows spiritual vigour. Such prayer is no mere listless droning of empty phrases, no sudden burst of temporary ejaculations. It implies a strong, deep energy of devotion.

III. IT IS DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN. It is easy to cry out to God in great extremities. Prayerless men pray under such circumstances. It is easy, too, to pray when we are in a mood of devotion. The difficulty is to continue steadfastly in prayer. The hindrances are numerous.

1. Lack of interesting subjects of prayer. There may be nothing that touches us as a great want or strongly appeals to our sympathies at some seasons like the dire needs and touching claims that inspire our petitions at other times.

2. External distractions. The pressure of business, the din of the world’s affairs, uncongenial society, even too absorbing Church work, especially in this age of rich activity and meagre contemplation, check prayer.

3. Internal hindrances. We are not always in the mood for prayer. Sometimes —

“Hosannas languish on our lips.
And our devotion dies.”

This may result from physical weariness. The spirit may be willing though the flesh is weak. We should then turn aside and rest awhile from the tiring work of the world. But it may result from sin. Sin is the greatest hindrance to prayer.

IV. IT MAY BE MAINTAINED BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

1. It is not to be revived in weakness by greater assiduity in formal devotion. It is a fatal mistake to confound long prayers with steadfast prayers, and to suppose that spending more time in saying prayers will strengthen our enfeebled spirit of prayer. It will have the opposite effect. Nothing hinders true prayer so much as continuing the form of devotion without the power.

2. The secret is to seek the reviving Spirit of God. If prayer is growing faint, there may still be energy for uttering the petition, “My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy Word” (Psa 119:25). All true prayer is an inspiration. The deepest prayer comes from the striving of God’s Spirit within us. “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26).W.F.A.

Col 4:5(first clause)

The wisdom of the Church in its relations to the world.
I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS WISDOM. The Church needs wisdom. Christians must be wise as serpents as well as harmless as doves. We are to blame for lack of wisdom as well as for lack of other graces, for this is a gift of God (Jas 1:5).

1. This wisdom is practical. It concerns itself with behaviour rather than with speculation.

2. It must be pure. There must not be the slightest unfaithfulness to Christ, tampering with truth, or casuistic deviation from the highest principles.

II. THE OCCASIONS FOR THIS WISDOM. It was most necessary in the apostolic age, when the Christians existed only as small communities scattered about among adverse populations. But it is always more or less called for.

1. For lawful self protection. If persecuted in one city the servant of Christ was to flee to another, lie was not to court opposition. Martyrdom is only a glory when it comes in the path of duty, and never when men go out of that path to seek it. Then it degenerates into little better than suicide.

2. To conquer opponents. The Church has a mission to the world, and she will fail in this mission if she cannot win her enemies over to her own side. For Christ’s sake, and for the good of men who need his gospel, this wisdom must be observed in conciliating foes that they may themselves be brought into the Church.

III. THE MANNER OF EXERCISING THIS WISDOM.

1. In understanding those who are without. We often provoke opposition because we do not study the weaknesses and prejudices of others. On the other hand, Christians have shown a needless scorn for the good in others. True charity will take note of all that is admirable, and think of whatsoever things are worthy in the world outside the Church.

2. In an attractive exhibition of the blessings of Christianity. Souls are not saved by rating and scolding men. The world must be drawn, not driven, to Christ. A morose Church will only repel an unsympathetic world. Wisdom towards them that are without will forbid the scandal of quarrelling among Christians.W.F.A.

Col 4:6

Salt.

Our speech is to be “seasoned with salt.” The context shows that this advice is given especially in regard to the conversation of Christian people with men of the world. It is part of the “wisdom towards them that are without.” Instead of offensive fault finding, haughty self assertion, or morose indifference, our speech is to be courteous”with grace;” and pleasant”seasoned” Salt stands for wit in Greek references to it as seasoning speech. But with St. Paul it seems rather to mean a pleasant, kindly, interesting characteristic of speech.

I. SPEECH SHOULD BE COURTEOUS. “Be courteous” is advice that comes to us from the sturdy fisherman (1Pe 3:8). If we cannot agree with another there is no reason why we should treat him unkindly. If we must even oppose him, still we can do it with consideration and gentleness of manner. In general intercourse it is well that an affability of behaviour should characterize the Christian. How courteous Christ was with all classes! St. Paul is a model of the true Christian gentleman. The essence of courtesy is sympathy for others in small things. It is hollow if we manifest hostility or selfishness in large things. The courtesy of a Chesterfield has a flavour of hypocrisy about it because it is based on selfishness. Still, if we are sympathetic in serious matters we may be much misunderstood, and we may really give much pain by a needless brusqueness of manner.

II. SPEECH SHOULD BE INTERESTING. Salt is seasoning. It gives pungency. Something similar should be found in our conversation. Dulness is an offence. It is an infliction of intolerable weariness on the listener. On the part of the speaker it shows either want of interest in his subject (in which case he should let it alone), or want of interest in his hearer (which is a direct result of lack of sympathy). Moreover, the Christian is called to be frequently bearing testimony for his Master. He weakens that testimony by giving it in an uninteresting manner, lie should study his words. But, better than that, he should have his theme so much at heart as to speak with the eloquence of enthusiasm.

III. SPEECH SHOULD BE PURE. Salt is antiseptic. The Christian should not only avoid unwholesome topics and styles of speech; he should bring into conversation a positive, purifying influence. This does not mean that he should be always quoting texts and set religious phrases, or always dragging in religious subjects out of place and season. He degrades them, provokes his hearers, and stultifies himself by so doing. But he should seek to elevate the tone of conversation, to guide it from unworthy subjects and to infuse into it a pure tone. There are Christ-like men whose very presence in a room seems to rebuke evil talk and to breathe a higher atmosphere into the conversation. How purifying was the conversation of Christ!W.F.A.

Col 4:16

A friendly exchange.

I. SCRIPTURE IS INTENDED FOR GENERAL READING. The two Epistles are to be read in the Churches. They are not to be reserved for the bishops, the more initiated or the more advanced Christians. All members of the two Churches, young and old, slaves and freemen, illiterate and cultured, imperfect and spiritual minded, are to hear the two Epistles. Now, these Epistles contain about the most advanced doctrine of all writings of the Bible. They approach nearest to what is analogous to the inner Gnostic doctrines of all Scripture teaching. If, therefore, any portions of Revelation should be reserved for the few, it would be these. If these are for public perusal, surely the simpler Gospels and psalms must be also public property. The Bible is a book for the people. It is free to all. No man has a right to bar access to the tree of life on the plea that the ignorant do not know how to help themselves from it and must have its knits doled out by official guardians. The greatest philosopher may find unfathomable depths in Scripture; but a little child may also read clear truths therein. If it be said that the ignorant will misunderstand, the reply isThey will gain more truth on the whole, in spite of misunderstanding, by free access to the Bible than when only led to it by others. God can take care of his own truth; the Bible was written for the people, and the people have a right to their own. No guardians of Scripture who are to measure it out to others at their discretion were ever appointed by Christ or by his apostles.

II. THE SCRIPTURE THAT IS USEFUL TO ONE CHURCH WILL BE USEFUL TO ANOTHER. The two letters were written with special regard to the peculiar circumstances of the two Churches. Yet they were to be exchanged, Much more, then, should Christians who have not had any private Epistle of their own benefit by the public Scriptures. Special wants are not primary wants. The great need of revelation is common to all. The fundamental truths of the gospel are needed by and offered to all. The highest glories of revelation are for all.

III. OUR READING OF SCRIPTURE SHOULD NOT BE CONFINED TO ISOLATED FRAGMENTS. A Church which had been honoured by receiving an apostolic Epistle written expressly for itself would be tempted to depreciate other apostolic writings, or at least to consider that for its own use its own Epistle was of paramount if not of exclusive importance. It would be in danger of making its one Epistle its own New Testament, to the disregard of all the rest. But the advice of St. Paul shows that such an action would be a mistake.

1. Our reading of Scripture should be wide and varied. We must beware of confining our attention to favourite portions. By doing so we get one-sided views of truth, and probably, even if unconsciously, select what seems to support our own notions to the neglect of what would modify them. We may most need to read those Scriptures in which we feel least interest.

2. Scripture balances and interprets Scripture. The doctrine of the Christ which is the leading theme of the Epistle to the Colossians is closely related to the doctrine of the Church which is the central subject of the so-called Epistle to the Ephesians (that, probably, referred to by St. Paul as the Epistle to the Laodiceans).

IV. THERE SHOULD BE INTERCOMMUNION BETWEEN CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS. There is too much corporate selfishness in the Church. We should be the better for more ecclesiastical altruism, or rather communism.

1. This is most to be looked for between neighbours. Laodicea was near to Colossae.

2. And it should be cultivated between the prominent and the obscure. Laodicea was an important city, Colossae a small town. Yet the Churches in the two places were to show brotherly sympathy on equal terms and to be mutually helpful to one another. While the strong should help the weak, the weak should beware of selfishness and do their best to serve the strong.W.F.A.

Col 4:18

“Remember my bonds.”

St. Paul’s occasional references to his bonds are never thrust forward in the spirit of the histrionic martyr and never expressed in a murmuring tone, but they evince the irksome restraints under which he laboured, and they give a certain pathos to his entreaties. To be always chained to a soldier, possibly one of rude and coarse manners, must have been peculiarly distressing to a man of sensitive, refined disposition like St. Paul. Feeling the burden of his bonds, the apostle prays his readers to remember them.

I. REMEMBER THEM IN SYMPATHY. It is something to know that friends are feeling with us, when they can do nothing directly to remove the cause of trouble. The lowliest may help the greatest by his sympathy. An apostle seeks the sympathy of obscure Christians. Christ looked for the support of his disciples’ sympathy in the hour of his greatest agony, and had the last drop of his bitter cup in the failing of that sympathy (Mat 26:40).

II. REMEMBER THEM IN PRAYER. When we cannot work for our brother’s release from trouble, we may pray. With all the power of Rome at his back, Nero cannot prevent the feeble Christians from having recourse to the mighty weapon of prayer. Let us beware of a selfish narrowness of sympathy in prayer. There are always many calls for prayers of intercession. Very touching is the ancient prayer that has come down to us from the dark ages of persecution, and is presented in the so-called ‘Divine Liturgy of St. James:’ “Remember, O Lord, Christians sailing, travelling, sojourning in strange lauds; our fathers and brethren, who are in bonds, prison, captivity, and exile; who are m mines, and under torture, and m bitter slavery.

III. REMEMBER THEM IN GRATITUDE. St. Paul was suffering for the gospel. The real cause of his imprisonment was the persecution of the Jews, who were more bitter to his liberal version of Christianity than to the more Judaistic Christianity of the other apostles. Thus he described himself, “I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles” (Eph 3:1). Therefore his bonds merit our grateful memory; and the sufferings of the champions of Christian liberty merit similar reverent and grateful recollections. It is well that these memories should be handed down from father to son, that the stories of the heroes of Christendom through whose toils and sufferings we now enjoy so many privileges should be taught to our children.

IV. REMEMBER THEM IN REVERENCE FOR ST. PAUL‘S AUTHORITY. His bonds lend weight to his words. They prove his sincerity. They are a reason for listening to his entreaties. By his sufferings he entreats us to walk worthily of our Christian calling. So the greater sufferings of a greater Friend give force to his persuasion when he bids us follow him.W.F.A.

1 THESSALONIANS

INTRODUCTION.
1. THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE EPISTLE.

THERE is no doubt that the author of this First Epistle to the Thessalonians is the Apostle Paul. This is one of those scriptural writings the genuineness of which has been almost universally acknowledged. It has been called in question only by theologians of the most extreme school of criticism, and has even been admitted by some belonging to that school. The external evidence in its favor is strong. It is indirectly alluded to by the apostolic Fathers; it is directly referred to by such early Fathers as Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian; it is contained in the Muratorian Canon, and in the early Syriac and Latin versions belonging to the second century; and its genuineness has never been challenged until recent times. To quote only one of these Fathers; Irenaeus thus writes: “And on account of this the apostle, explaining himself, has set forth the perfect man of salvation, saying thus in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians: ‘And may the God of peace sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved without complaint until the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ” (‘Adv. Haeres.,’ 5.6, 1). Nor is the internal evidence less strong than the external. The character of Paul is distinctly impressed upon this Epistle; his intense love for his converts, his anxiety about their spiritual welfare, his joy when he receives a favorable account of their faith and charity, his zeal for the cause of the Lord for which he is ready to sacrifice everything, his noble independence of spirit,all these characteristics of the apostle are seen in this Epistle. So also the style and mode of expression are Paul’s. We have the same employment of emphatic terms, the same rich use of synonyms, the same accumulation of ideas, the same digressions suggested by a word, the same preference for participial constructions as are elsewhere found in Paul’s other Epistles. In short, as Professor Jowett observes, “It has been objected against the genuineness of this Epistle that it contains only a single statement of doctrine. But liveliness, personality, similar traits of disposition, are more difficult to invent than statements of doctrine. A later age might have supplied these, but it could hardly have caught the very likeness and portrait of the apostle…. Such intricate similarities of language, such lively traits of character, it is not within the power of any forger to invent, and, least of all, a forger of the second century.” Nor is there anything in the contents of the Epistle at variance with the opinion that it was written by Paul. It has, indeed, been asserted that it is devoid of individuality and doctrinal statements. Its perusal will show that it is at once lively and specially adapted to the wants of the Thessalonians. And that it is devoid of doctrinal statements is an assertion which may also well he disputed; but even admitting that there is a partial truth in the remark, yet this is easily accounted for by the circumstances under which the Epistle was written.

The coincidences between the Epistle and the incidents in the life of Paul, as recorded in the Acts, is another striking proof of its authenticity. In the Acts we read of the persecution to which Paul and Silas were subjected at Philippi, when, in violation of their rights as Roman citizens, they were publicly scourged and cast into prison. In the Epistle, written in the name of Paul and Silas, there is reference to this shameful treatment: “Even after we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention” (1Th 2:2). In the Acts we are informed that Paul and Silas encountered a similar persecution at Thessalonica. “The Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people” (Act 17:5). In the Epistle Paul appeals to the knowledge of the Thessalonians concerning this treatment: “For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know” (1Th 3:4). In the Acts we are informed that Paul parted from his companions, Silas and Timothy, at Beraea, and was rejoined by them at Corinth: “And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia (to Corinth), Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ” (Act 18:5). And the Epistle, written, as we shall afterwards see, from Corinth, is in the joint names of Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus. Not only are there these coincidences, but also additional statements in the Epistle supplementing the history, thus proving that the one record could not have been copied from the other. Thus in the Acts we are informed that Silas and Timothy did not join Paul until after his arrival at Corinth (Act 18:5); whereas in the Epistle there is a statement which has led many to affirm that Timothy joined Paul at Athens, and was sent by him from that city to Thessalonica: “Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; and sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow-laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith” (1Th 3:1, 1Th 3:2). In the Acts we are informed that Paul preached in the synagogue for three sabbaths, reasoning with the Jews (Act 17:2); whereas there are references in the Epistle which have induced some to think that his residence in Thessalonica was more protracted. In the Acts we are only informed that Paul preached in the synagogue to the Jews and devout Greeks, that is, the religious proselytes; whereas it is evident from the whole character of the Epistle that the Church was composed of Gentile converts. These differences are not contradictions, and may easily be adjusted; but they are apparent enough to demonstrate the independence both of the history and the Epistle.

2. THE CHURCH OF THESSALONICA.

Thessalonica was a large seaport of Macedonia, situated in the form of an amphitheatre on the slope of a hill at the north-east end of the Thermaic Gulf, now called the Gulf of Salonica. It had in antiquity various names. Thus it was called Emathia and Italia. In ancient history it appears under the name Therma, so called from the hot springs in the neighborhood. Under this name it is mentioned in the account of the invasion of Xerxes, and in the history of the Peloponnesian War. We are informed that Cassander, the son of Antipater, King of Macedonia, rebuilt Therma, and called it Thessalonica, after the name of his wife, the half-sister of Alexander the Great (Strabo, 7. Frag. 24). According to another account, less trustworthy, it was so called by Philip, the father of Alexander, to commemorate his victory over the Thessalonians. In the Middle Ages it appears under the contracted form Salneck; and is now known under the name Salonica. Under the Romans Thessalonica became a city of great importance. During the temporary division of Macedonia into four districts, it was the capital of the second district; and afterwards, when the Roman province of Macedonia was formed, it became the metropolis of the country, and the residence of the Roman governor. In the civil wars it sided with Augustus and Antony, and was rewarded by receiving the privileges of a free city. Strabo, who lived shortly before the Christian era, observes that “it has at present the largest population of any town in the district” (Strabo 7.7, 4). In the time of Paul, then, Thessalonica was a populous and flourishing town; it was chiefly inhabited by Greeks, with a mixture of Romans. The Jews also were attracted to it in great numbers for the sake of commerce, and here was the synagogue of the district (Act 17:1). It has always been a city of great importance. It long continued to be a bulwark against the assaults of the northern barbarians, and afterwards of the Saracens. When the Greek empire became enfeebled, Thessalonica was attached to the Venetian Republic, and remained so until the year 1430, when it was captured by the Turks, in whose possession it continues to this day. It is considered as the second city of European Turkey, having a population of about seventy thousand, of whom at least thirty thousand are Jews. Thessalonica has many remains of antiquity, one of which deserves special mention, a triumphal arch, erected to commemorate the victory of Philippi, and which must have been standing when Paul visited that city.

We have an account of the origin of the Church of Thessalonica in the Acts of the Apostles. In his second great missionary journey, Paul and his fellow-laborers, Silas and Timothy, had arrived at Alexandria Tress, when he was directed by a vision to cross over the AEgean Sea and repair to Europe. In obedience to this Divine direction, we are informed that loosing from Tress, they came with a straight course to the island of Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis, and from that they journeyed inland to Philippi (Act 16:11, Act 16:12). Here they remained for some time, preaching the gospel with great success, until they were driven from it by a severe persecution. From Philippi Paul and his companions proceeded, by way of Amphipolis and Apollonia, to Thessalonica. Here was the chief synagogue of the district, and into it Paul, according to his custom, entered and preached the gospel. He proved to the Jews from their Scriptures that the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead; and he showed them that Jesus did thus suffer and rise again, and was consequently the Messiah (Act 17:3). It would also appear that at Thessalonica he dwelt much on the kingdom and second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ; he laid great stress on the resurrection of Christ, and on his exaltation to the throne of eternal majesty. Hence the accusation brought against him that he proclaimed another King, one Jesus (Act 17:7); and, in his Epistle, he observes, “Ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that you would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory” (1Th 2:11, 1Th 2:12). For three sabbaths Paul continued his efforts in the Jewish synagogue with considerable success; some of the Jews believed, but his converts were especially numerous among the devout Greeks (Act 17:1-4). At length the unbelieving Jews, moved with envy, raised a tumult against Paul and his companions; they stirred up the rabble, and assaulted the house of Jason, with whom the Christian preachers lodged; and when they failed to capture them, they dragged Jason and certain of the converts before the magistrates of the city, accusing them of disturbing the public peace and of harboring traitors to the emperor. In consequence of this, to avoid further disturbance, Paul and Silas left the city by night, and repaired to the neighboring town of Bercea (Act 17:10).

In the Acts of the Apostles a residence in Thessalonica of only three weeks is mentioned (Act 17:2). There are, however, statements in the Epistle which would lead us to infer that his residence was for a somewhat longer period. A flourishing Church was formed in Thessalonica; the gospel spread from it as a center throughout Macedonia; its fame was everywhere diffused; and for this success a longer space of time than three weeks would appear requisite. Besides, at Thessalonica Paul supported himself by manual labor. “Ye remember,” he writes, “our labor and travail: for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God” (1Th 2:9). And it was his custom to do so only when his residence in any city was prolonged. And we are informed in the Epistle to the Philippians that his converts in Philippi “sent to Thessalonica once and again to his necessities;” and that this was on the occasion of this visit to Thessalonica is evident, for the apostle tells us that it was “in the beginning of the gospel” (Php 4:15, Php 4:16). Now, the distance between these two cities was a hundred miles; and therefore more than three weeks appear to be necessary for the transmission of this twofold supply for his wants. Still, however, his residence could not have been long, and his departure from the city was compulsory. Probably Paul preached for three successive sabbaths in the synagogue, but, finding the Jews obstinate and the synagogue closed against him, he turned, as his manner was, to the Gentiles; and it was his success among the Gentiles that stirred up the wrath of the Jews, and excited that disturbance which was the occasion of his leaving Thessalonica.

The result of Paul’s ministry during the three sabbaths he preached in the synagogue is thus given by the author of the Acts: “And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few” (Act 17:4). From this it appears that his success was small among the Jews, but great among the devout Greeks, that is, those Greeks who had previously detached themselves from idolatry and were seeking after God, and were thus in a manner prepared for the reception of Christianity. Afterwards it is probable that Paul preached to the Gentiles, and made numerous converts among them. Although the Jews were numerous in Thessalonica, yet it is evident from the two Epistles that the Church there was chiefly composed of Gentile converts. They are described as those who turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1Th 1:9)a description applicable to converted Gentiles, but not to converted Jews and Jewish proselytes; and in neither Epistle is there a direct quotation from the Old Testament, the only probable allusion being to the prophecies of Daniel in the description of the man of sin contained in the Second Epistle (2Th 2:4).

3 THE OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE.

Paul, driven from Thessalonica, had repaired to Beraea, but from this also he had been compelled to depart by the machinations of the Jews of Thessalonica (Act 17:13, Act 17:14). He had learned that the persecution which had arisen during his presence was continued in his absence (1Th 2:14). And hence he was filled with anxiety about his Thessalonian converts. He knew that by reason of the shortness of his residence they were only partially instructed in Christianity, and he naturally feared that they might fall from the faith. Twice he had planned to visit them; but circumstances had prevented him (1Th 2:18). Accordingly, no longer able to master his anxiety, he sent his fellow-laborer Timothy, either from Beraea or Athens, to ascertain their state (1Th 3:1, 1Th 3:2). Paul, meanwhile, had repaired from Beraea to Athens, and thence to Corinth; and there Timothy joined him, and the information which he brought was the occasion of this Epistle. That information was upon the whole consolatory and satisfactory. Timothy brought good tidings of the faith and charity of the Thessalonians, of their affectionate regard for the apostle, and of their earnest desire to see him. The Thessalonians, in spite of the persecution which they endured, continued steadfast to the faith; they were examples to all that believed in Thessalonica and Achaia (1Th 1:7; 1Th 3:6, 1Th 3:7). But, however favorable this report of Timothy, there were still many defects to supply, many errors to correct, and many evil practices to reform. The religious knowledge of the Thessalonians was defective; their religion had partially degenerated into fanaticism; and especially they were filled with excitement under the persuasion of the immediate coming of Christ. Some of them had neglected their worldly duties and had sunk into an indolent inactivity (1Th 4:11, 1Th 4:12). It would appear that some of the converts had died, and their friends were distressed on their account, lest they should forfeit the blessings to be bestowed at the advent of Christ (1Th 4:13). Nor had the Thessalonians entirely detached themselves from the vices of their former heathen state. The apostle had to warn them against sensuality, that vice so prevalent among the Gentiles; and he had to rebuke the covetousness of some as well as the indolence of others (1Th 4:1-7).

With regard to its contents, the Epistle is divided into two parts: the first, comprehending the first three chapters, may be termed historical; the second, including the two last chapters, is practical. The apostle, after saluting the Thessalonians, renders thanks to God for the entrance of the gospel among them, for the mighty efficacy with which it was accompanied, and for the steadfastness of their faith (1Th 1:1-10.). He alludes to his demeanor when in Thessalonica; how, notwithstanding his shameful treatment at Philippi, he had preached the gospel among them amid much contention; how he had sought neither their money nor their applause, but, actuated by the purest motives, had labored incessantly for their spiritual welfare, and was ready to sacrifice himself for them (1Th 2:1-20.). He mentions the extreme anxiety he had on their account, the mission of Timothy to them, and the great satisfaction he experienced at the information which Timothy brought of the steadfastness of their faith and the abundance of their charity (1Th 3:1-13.). He then exhorts them to continue in holiness, carefully to avoid the lusts of the Gentiles who knew not God, and, instead of being led away by excitement as if the advent of Christ was at hand, to be diligent in the, performance of their earthly duties. He comforts them concerning the fate of their departed friends, and exhorts them to be watchful and prepared for the coming of the Lord (1Th 4:1-18.). Then follow a series of detached exhortations to cultivate the virtues of Christianity, and the Epistle concludes with the apostolic benediction (1Th 5:1-28.).

4. THE DATE OF THE EPISTLE.

When Paul and Silas left Thessalonica, they came to Beraea; Timothy probably remained behind, but he also soon joined them. Paul left them both at Beraea, and proceeded alone to Athens. Timothy was probably sent from Beraea back to Thessalonica to confirm the Church there, though some suppose that this mission took place from Athens. At Athens Paul intended to remain until his companions joined him; he sent a message to Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed (Act 17:14, Act 17:15). It would, however, appear that he left Athens without them; unforeseen circumstances had prevented them complying with his request, and they did not rejoin him until his arrival at Corinth. Now, as the Epistle is written in the joint names of Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus, it is evident that it was not composed until all three met together at Corinth. Some time also must have elapsed between the planting of Christianity in Thessalonica and the writing of this Epistle. Paul had twice attempted to visit them; Timothy had been sent by the apostle and had returned from his mission; and the faith of the Thessalonians had been spread abroad throughout Macedonia and Achaia (1Th 1:7, 1Th 1:8). The interval, however, could not have been long. Timothy returned at the commencement of Paul’s residence at Corinth; and the apostle’s anxiety for the Thessalonians would induce him to write the Epistle immediately on his receiving the information. He speaks of his absence from them as having as yet lasted only a short time. “We, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire” (1Th 2:17). We may, therefore, safely fix the time of the composition of the Epistle toward the close of the year 52 or the beginning of the year 53, and during the early part of Paul’s residence at Corinth, about six months after the planting of Christianity in Thessalonica.

Accordingly the place of writing was Corinth. In our New Testament, at the end of the Epistle, there is appended the note: “The First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Athens.” Though such a note is found in the most ancient manuscripts, it is evidently a mistake. The Epistle could not have been written from Athens, for Silas and Timothy were not both there with the apostle; and it was not written until the return of Timothy from Thessalonica, which occurred at Corinth; nor is there any ground for the supposition that Paul and his companions, during his residence at Corinth, made a short excursion to Athens. The mistake appears to have arisen from a careless inference drawn from the words, “We thought it good to be left at Athens alone” (1Th 3:1); whereas the reference there is evidently to a past event, and indirectly implies that the apostle was not at Athens when he wrote these words. These subscriptions at the end of the Epistles have no authority; and although in general correct, yet occasionally, as in the present instance, they are erroneous.

5. THE PECULIARITIES OF THE EPISTLE.

The special peculiarity of this Epistle is that it is undoubtedly the first of Paul’s extant Epistles. Whether it is the first Epistle that Paul ever wrote is an entirely different question; but it is the first that has come down to us. This is a point on which almost all commentators are agreed. In all probability it is the earliest of the books of the New Testament, with the possible exception of the Epistle of James.
It is erroneous to affirm that this First Epistle to the Thessalonians is devoid of doctrinal statements. The supreme dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spiritual kingdom which he has established in this world, the deliverance from the wrath to come effected by him, the necessity of holiness for salvation, the reign of Christ in heaven, the resurrection of the just, the second advent of Christ, the blessedness of a future state to the righteous and the wrath which awaits the wicked, are all clearly deduced from this Epistle. The great plan of redemption through the sufferings of Christ was clear to the apostle from the beginning. We can hardly even affirm that there was a development in the views of the apostlea progress made in spiritual knowledge and insight into the ways of God. No doubt different doctrines are insisted on in the different Epistles; but this arose from the circumstances of the Churches to whom the apostle wrote. Thus in this Epistle to the Thessalonians there is no mention of the great Pauline doctrine of justification, because in that Church there was no controversy with the Judaistic Christians, and therefore no necessity of defending the doctrine of justification against erroneous notions; whereas the errors of the Galatian Church caused the apostle to dwell specially on that doctrine. So also at a still later period the incipient Gnostic errors were the occasion which induced the apostle to insist more fully on the nature of Christ’s Person in the Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians than in his earlier Epistles. Bishop Lightfoot, in his able article on the “Epistles to the Thessalonians,” in Smith’s ‘Biblical Dictionary,’ notices three points of difference between these and Paul’s later Epistles. First, in the general style of these earlier letters there is greater simplicity and less exuberance of language. Secondly, the antagonism is different. Here the opposition comes from the unconverted Jews; afterwards Paul’s opponents are Judaizing Christians. Thirdly, the doctrinal teaching of the apostle does not bear quite the same aspect as in the later Epistles. Many of the distinctive doctrines of Christianity which are inseparably connected with Paul’s name were not evolved and distinctly enunciated until the needs of the Church drew them out into prominence at a later date. So far, then, it may be true that this First Epistle to the Thessalonians is not so doctrinal as the Epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians. The circumstances of the Church determined the contents of the Epistle. The doctrine most insisted on and explained is the second advent, because erroneous views prevailed concerning it among the Thessalonians, giving rise to many disorders.
Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, lays bare his heart; he speaks of his gentleness among them, even as a nursing mother cherisheth her children, and of his readiness to impart unto them, not the gospel of God only, but his own soul by reason of the affection which he bore to them. The Epistle which it most closely resembles is that to the Philippians. The Macedonian Churches were peculiarly attached to the apostle, and he to them; he writes to them in the fullness of his affection; and exhorts them, not so much with the authority of a spiritual teacher, as with the love and tenderness of parental affection, even as a father doth his children.

6. LITERATURE.

List of works consulted in the following Exposition:

Alexander, Bishop of Derry, “Epistles to Thessalonians,” in ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ 1881
Alford, H., ‘The Greek Testament,’ vol. 3., 3rd. edit., 1866

Auberlen, C. A., ‘1 Thessalonians 1; 2,’ in Lange’s ‘Bibelwerk,’ 1869

Bleek, J. F., ‘Introduction to the New Testament,’ translation 1870; ‘Lectures on the Apocalypse,’ translation 1875
Calvin, J., ‘Commentary on the Thessalonians,’ translation 1851
Conybeare and Howson, ‘Life and Epistles of St. Paul,’ 2nd edit., 1862
Davidson, S., ‘Introduction to the New Testament,’ 1st edit., 3 vols., 1851; ‘Introduction to the Study of the New Testament,’ 2 vols., 1868
De Wette, W. M. L., ‘Exegetisches Handbuch: Thessalonicher,’ 1864
Diedrich, J., ‘Die Briefe St. Pauli,’ Leipzig, 1858
Doddridge, P., ‘Family Expositor;’
Dusterdieck, F., ‘Offenbarung Johannis: ‘ dritte Aufiage, 1877
Eadie, John, ‘Commentary on Thesalonians,’ 1877
Ellicott, Bishop, ‘St. Paul’s Epistles to the Thessalonians,’ 3rd edit., 1866
Elliott, E. B., ‘Horae Apocalyptical,’ 5th edit., 1862
Farrar, F. W., ‘Articles in the Expositor,‘ vols. 1. and 2., 2nd series

Gloag, P. J., ‘Pauline Epistles,’ 1874
Hofmann, J. C. K., ‘Die heilige Schrift N.T.: Th. 1., Thessalonicher,’ 1869; ‘Schriftbeweis,’ 1854
Hurd, Bishop, ‘On the Prophecies,’ vol. 2., 4th edit., 1776
Jowett, B., ‘St. Paul’s Epistles to the Thessalonians,’ etc., 1st edit., 1855; 2nd edit., 1859
Kirchhofer, J., ‘Quellensammlung,’ 1842
Koch, A., ‘Commentar fiber d. 1 Thessalonicher,’ 1855
Lardner, N., ‘Credibility of the Gospel History,’ 1815
Lee, W., “Revelations,” in ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ 1881
Lightfoot. Bishop, article “Thessalonians,“ in Smith’s ‘Dictionary;’

Lillie, J., ‘Lectures on the Epistles to the Thessalonians,’ 1863
Lunemman, G., “Briefe and. Thessalonians,” in Meyer’s ‘Kommentar,’ dritte Aufiage, 1867; Translation of the same, 1880
Macknight, J., ‘Translation of the Epistles;’
Meyrick, F., article on “Antichrist,” in Smith’s ‘Dictionary;’
Newton, Bishop, ‘Dissertations on the Prophecies;’
Olshausen, H., ‘On the Thessalonians,’ translation 1851
Paley, W., ‘Horae Paulinae;’
Paterson, A., ‘Commentary on 1 Thessalonians,’ 1857
Renan, E., ‘L’Antichrist,’ 3rd edit., 1873
Reuss, E., ‘Geschichte d. heiligen Schriften,’ vierte Aufiage, 1864
Riggenbach, C. J., “Commentary on Thessalonians,” in Lange’s ‘Bibelwerk,’ 1869
Vaughan, C. J., ‘First Epistle to the Thessalonians,’ 1864
Whitby, D., ‘Commentary on the New Testament;’
Wieseler, Karl, ‘Chronologie d. Apost. Zeitalters,’ 1848
Wordsworth, Bishop, ‘Greek Testament,’ 6th edit., 1851.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Col 4:1 . ] not: equity , for the word signifies aequalitas , not aequitas, i.e . (in opposition to Steiger, Huther, de Wette, Ewald, Bleek, and most expositors), but: equality (2Co 8:13 f.; very often in Plato, Polyb. ii. 38. 8, vi. 8. 4; Lucian, Herm . 22, Zeux . 5, also the passages from Philo in Wetstein, and the LXX. Job 36:29 ; Zec 4:7 ), so that ye, namely, regard and treat the slaves as your equals . What is herein required, therefore, is not a quality of the master , and in particular not the freedom from moral unevenness , [168] which is equivalent to (Hofmann), but a quality of the relation , which is to be conceded; it is not at all, however, the equalization of the outward relation, which would be a de facto abolition of slavery, but rather the equality, which, amidst a continued subsistence of all the outward diversity, is brought about in the Christian by kindly treatment. While ( what is right ) expresses that which, according to the Christian consciousness of right, belongs as matter of right to the slave, requires the concession of the parity ( galit ) implied in the Christian . Paul has in view (in opposition to Hofmann) merely Christian slaves (whom he has exhorted in Col 3:22 f.); otherwise, in fact, the conception of would be not at all appropriate. It is just by the Christian status of both parties that he desires to see their inequality in other respects ethically counterbalanced . A commentary on is supplied by Phm 1:16 . At variance with the context, Erasmus, Melanchthon, Vatablus, Cornelius a Lapide, Bhmer, and others understand the equality of impartial treatment , according to which the master does not prefer one slave to another . This would not in fact yield any definite moral character of the treatment in itself, nor would it suit all the cases where there is only one slave. As to the middle (Tit 2:7 ; Act 19:24 ), observe that it is based simply on the conception of the self-activity of the subject; Khner, II 1, p. 97.

] consciousness, that serves as a motive, as in Col 3:24 .

. . . ] Theophylact says correctly: , , and that in heaven , namely Christ .

[168] This conception, coincident with , does not pertain to at all; and just as little to in Soph. Phil. 685, where is nothing else than par inter pares, namely, to his friends a friend, to his foes a foe. Comp. Schneidewin in loc. At many other passages denotes the equality of right, that which is impartial, and is hence often combined with ( righteous in the narrower sense). But is always (even in Polyb. ii. 38. 8) equality; see e.g. Plato, Rep. 658 C, where it is said of the democracy: , that is, it distributes uniformly to equal and unequal a certain equality. In such passages the conception of galit comes into view with special clearness. Hofmann has explained our passage as if and or ( levelness ), were identical conceptions.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

Col 3:18 to Col 4:1 . [164] Instructions for the different portions of the household . Why Paul should have given to the churches such a table of household rules only in this Epistle and in that to the Ephesians (comp. also 1 Tim. and Tit.), must be left wholly undecided (Chrysostom exhausts himself in conjectures). They are not polemical; but possibly, in the presence of a theosophico-ascetic atmosphere, the practical rules of healthy domestic life seemed to him the more seasonable. They do not contain traces of a later development of church-life (Holtzmann). The circumstance that the precepts for the several forms of domestic society uniformly (Col 3:18 ; Col 3:20 ; Col 3:22 ff.) begin with the subordinate party, as also at Eph 5:21 ff., is to be regarded as having occurred without any set purpose; the idea of obedience was primarily present to the writer’s mind. If Paul’s aim had been to counteract the abuse of Christian freedom and equality , or in other words, perverse desires for emancipation, he would not have considered so weighty a purpose sufficiently met by the mere mode of arrangement, but would have entered upon the matter itself (in opposition to Huther and de Wette); and this we should have to assume that he would have done also in the event of his having had in view an attitude of resistance on the part of those bound to obedience as the thing most to be feared (in opposition to Hofmann). Just as much might such an attitude be a thing to be feared from the stronger party. Respecting the nominatives in the address, see especially Stallbaum, ad Plat. Symp . p. 172 A.

] not the perfect (with present signification), as Huther thinks and Bleek does not disapprove, but the imperfect , which has its logical reference in the to be connected with it: as was fitting in the Lord, i.e . as was becoming in the relation of the (Phm 1:8 ), as was appropriate to the Christian state, but had not yet been in this way realized. The imperfect (comp. Act 22:22 ) denotes, therefore, as also in and , the incomplete condition, which extends even into the present. See Khner, II. 1, p. 176 f.; Bernhardy, p. 373. Similarly, Winer, p. 254 [E. T. 338]. Comp. also Buttmann, p. 187 [E. T. 216]. We are not to think of an omission of ; see Khner, l.c . The connection of with (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Estius, Rosenmller, Hofmann, and others) in which case Hofmann imparts into the abstract idea: as was already in itself fitting is opposed by the position of the words themselves, as well as by the parallel in Col 3:20 : .

[164] This domestic code is held by Holtzmann to be an insertion of the interpolator from Eph 5:21 to Eph 6:9 . He groundlessly questions the genuineness of the expressions , , , , , , and even appeals to the use of , , and the formula as direct evidence against its Pauline origin. Might not, however, the word have been sufficiently familiar to Paul from the LXX. (Psa 53:5 ) and otherwise (Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 621), and have been used by him in the two parallel epistles? Is not a term in general use since Thucydides? Is not “to serve the Lord Christ” a Pauline idea, and even (comp. Rom 16:18 ) literal expression? The danger of a petitio principii only too easily steals upon even the cautious and sober critic in such points of detail. He finds what he seeks.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

c) To servants and masters

(Col 3:22 to Col 4:1.)

22Servants,35 obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service [eye services],36 as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God [the Lord].37 23And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily [whatever ye do, do it from the heart],38 as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive 25the reward of the inheritance: [.] for ye serve [Serve ye]39 the Lord Christ. But [For]40 he that doeth wrong shall receive41 for the wrong which he hath done42: and there is no respect of persons.

Col 4:1Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Col 3:22. Servants.This point is treated in the most detailed manner, as though this were the state of the Church in the main: as Eph 6:5-8; also Tit 2:9-10; 1Pe 2:18-25 (comp. Col 1:18-21). Comp. also 1Co 1:20, and 1Pe 1:1, according to which Peter wrote to the Church at Colosse also. The view of Schenkel, : it is possible, as Meter supposes, that this (i. e., the minuteness) was occasioned by the flight and conversion of the slave Onesimus, a native of and fugitive from Colosse, is groundless. [Braunes opinion that includes all servants, bond or free, seems correct (see Eph 6:5), but the free servants were the exception then. Nothing is Said for or against slavery in this passage, whatever may be implied.R.]

Obey in all things your masters according to the flesh.See Eph 6:5. In all things ( ), as in Col 3:20, is new. [Wordsworth remarks on this phrase in Col 3:20 and here: An example of a precept proceeding on the charitable supposition that the other party will do its duty; for if Parents and Masters order any thing contrary to Gods law, then Children and Servants must obey God rather than men (Act 5:29).R.] Contrasted with masters according to the flesh is One according to the spirit, in heaven (comp. Col 3:24; Col 4:1).

Not with eye services, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord,Not with eye services marks by the use of the plural, the individual manifestations of eye service; found only here and in Eph 4:6 (singular). [Here the concrete acts, there the abstract spirit (Alford).R.] It is contrasted with but in singleness of heart, which is wanting in the dishonesty of eyeservice as men-pleasers is contrasted with fearing the Lord. [The Lord, , , ; the turn of the thought in the correct reading is lost both in the E. V. and the rendering above. Meyer : The obedience of the Christian slave becomes man-pleasing towards his master, and eye-service in appearance, if it be not subordinated to the fear of Christ, the higher Master, and accordingly conditioned by this.R.] The same words as in Eph 6:5-6, but more sharply conceived. [Eadie, referring this to slaves exclusively, remarks : The Apostle does not speak vaguely, but hits upon those vices which slavery is so apt to engenderindolence, eye-service and reluctance in labor.R.]

Col 3:23. Whatever ye do.Whatever ye do in servitude (Bengel). The verse relates to individual and little things. See Eph 6:8.Do it from the heart, as to the Lord and not unto men. standing first for emphasis, and demanding glad, willing action, refers back to in singleness of heart; as to the Lord, demanding constant mindfulness of the present heavenly Master, to fearing the Lord; while the absolute negative not () unto men refers to men-pleasers.[Meyer: As to the Lord, the point of view of the doing; this should be regarded as taking place for Christ, as service rendered to Him. And the relation to the human master ( dative of the category) should not, in this method of regarding it, be taken into the account at all,on the principle of not serving two masters,hence is not relatively, but absolutely negative.R.]

Col 3:24. Knowing.[Seeing ye know, da Ihr wisset.R.]The motive for such conduct (Eph 6:8).That of the Lord ye shall receive the reward [or recompense] of the inheritance.That sets forth the tenor of this Christian consciousness. Of () the Lord denotes that the Lord is the Possessor, Source and Origin, while (Eph 6:8) indicates the immediate communication through the Lord (Winers Gram. p. 343). Ye shall receive points to the future, its signification referring to a reception of that which is lacking. The recompense ( only here; Rom 11:9 : ) with the article denotes a recompense in prospect, while the preposition () indicates that it is one compensating for the present, privations by means of an inheritance, which is wanting to and yet wanted by the slave here; for of the inheritance () is an epexegetical genitive (Winers Gram. p. 494), as Jam 1:12; Act 2:10. This inheritance is the full salvation, heritage of heaven, although in this world you do not have an inheritance, yet you have part of the inheritance passing from the Master to the free (Bengel).

Serve ye the Lord [Master] Christ.The Apostles comprehensive conclusion. Christ, who recompenses those serving Himself (Bengel). It is incorrect to join of the inheritance with the Lord (serve the Master of the inheritance), and also wrong to take the verb as indicative [as is done in the E. V., to which the incorrect reading has probably led.R.]; neither find any reason or necessity in the context.

Col 3:25. In view of the importance of this matter, another reason is added : For he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done.The meaning of this general proposition (locus communis) clearly is that every one reaps what he sows (Winers Gram. p. 576); sowing wrong, he reaps wrong, as he reaps good when he sows good (Gal 6:8). This confirms the exhortation to serve Christ, for slaves and domestic servants alike; from it they should deduce the conclusion, to gladly obey. It is contrary to the meaning, not to apply it to the slaves (Meyer, who renders to limiting it to the masters. Schenkel). Paul admonishes the slaves here, while he encourages them Eph 6:8. [The reference is doubtful. Ellicott, Alford follow Meyer, and refer to the master. The proposition is undoubtedly general, and has an application to both master and slave. The context seems to indicate the latter as the reference intended by the Apostle.R.]Receive refers to the judgment of the Lord, in which the inheritance is concerned, and wrong which he hath done ( ) marks the connection of the Wrong on earth, and condemnation, destruction in eternity, where sin has transferred itself in its results and consequences.

And there is no respect of persons.This means in this connection, that the low and insignificant as well as the high and distinguished are equal before God. The former often boast themselves of their poverty, as if on account of this they must he finally blessed and receive reward; the insignificant often think, that they are to be spared on account of their insignificance (Bengel). This is not far-fetched (aus der Luft fegriffen, Meyer), but taken from the context. Eph 6:9 refers to masters. [The idea is indeed common among men, that God respects not the person of a rich man, but that of a poor man.R.]

Col 4:1. Masters, .See Eph 6:9.Give unto your servants that which is just and equal. is what belongs to the slave of rightnot historical, human right, but according to the regulations given within the domain of creation, and the rights thus set forth; hence what belongs to them as Gods creatures, as human beings. And something truer and higher; that which is equal, denotes the equality ordained within the domain of Redemption, according to which the redeemed are brethren (Phm 1:16); this parity they should show in their treatment of the slaves. It is incorrect to regard it as merely equity (Steiger, Bleek) [Alford, fairnessR.], or impartial treatment (Erasmus and others). [Ellicott says of the view of Meyer as given above: This is ingenious and plausible, but not satisfactory, from its association with . There is this objection to it, that it limits the duty to Christian masters in their dealings with Christian slaves. See Eadie in loco. Notice the dynamic form of the middle : supply on your side, as far as you are concerned.R.]

The motive is added: knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven, who is over you, and your Almighty, Omniscient, Just and Eternal Master. See on Eph 6:9.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

Compare Eph 4:5-9.

[These precepts in force where there are no slaves. Through Gods merciful Providence, the application of these precepts to a state of slavery has become unnecessary among us. But the relations of master and servant, employer and employee still exist, and there is as much need for the application of the Apostles words to those who occupy these relative positions, as to servants and masters in the relation existing at Colosse. When we consider how much is said of the conflict between labor and capital, how large a part of the comfort and happiness of women in the household depends on the right conduct of these relations, we may be glad that Paul writes not merely for a state of slavery, but for all masters and servants, and at the same time regret that social science has so often attempted to settle troublesome questions of this kind, without the aid of Christianity. A large class are becoming not only unchristian but antichristian, because Christianity, which abolished slavery, has not yet been thoroughly applied to the relations of labor and capital.Too many fancy that God is no respecter of the person of a capitalist, but takes the working mans part, whether justice be on his side or not.R.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Starke:God in His wisdom has so classed men, that some are subjects and servants, while others command and should rule. This is not contrary to the equality of Christians, or to Christian brotherhood; they are still one in Christ. Therefore servants should not have so great a dislike to service, but serve with alacrity and with the heartier obedience, particularly as they are not slaves, but free.

Rieger:Him who fears God and honors God by keeping His commands, God honors in turn by giving him a suitable respect in the government of his own house. Men-pleasing and eye-service at first succeeds very well, but in the long run it becomes intolerable.

Passavant:A Christian may well tremble as he looks at his servant and asks himself: Why am I his master? Why is he my servant? The answer is: That I may take him just as he is, so bear and forbear with him as to sweeten his servile condition with all lenity and consideration, as to sanctify his calling to him, helping him out of his natural or habitual sins.

Heubner:The character and doings of the Christian are soulful ( ). The doings of others are cold and dead.Unrighteous servants will be punished too; God does not let Himself be led by weak sympathy into indulgence.

[Schleiermacher:All improvements in the social relations of men must proceed, not from a disturbance of order and a violent throwing off of obedience, but from the greater power of love.Burkitt:Wink at some trivial miscarriages of servants. He must keep no servant that will have a servant with no faults.R.]

[Eadie:

Col 3:22. Refractoriness on the part of the slave would at once have embittered his life, and brought discredit on the new religion which he possessed; but active and cheerful discharge of all duty would both benefit himself, promote his comfort and recommend Christianity.Duplicity is the vice which the slave uses as his shield.

Col 4:1. Let the great Masters treatment of you be your model of your treatment of them.(Abridged) Three positions of the Apostle fatal to slavery: 1) He denies that slaves are an inferior caste (Homer, Aristotle); 2) certain duties to slaves spring from natural right; 3) in the Christian Church there is neither bond nor free. Master and slave were alike the free servants of a common Lord in heaven.R.]

Footnotes:

[35]Col 3:22.[Modern English commentators render , slaves or bondmen. As Braune makes it include (here and Eph 1:1,) all servants, bond or free, the E. V. is sufficiently explicit.R.]

[36]Col 3:22.The reading, , is well attested by . C. K. L. It is lectio dijficilior, while the singular is probably taken from Eph 6:6. [Tischendorf, Alford, Ellicott and others adopt the plural mainly on critical grounds; the singular is attested by A. B. D. F., adopted by Lachmann, Meyer, Eadie, Wordsworth.On the different shade of meaning see Exeg. Notes.R.]

[37]Col 3:22.. A. B. C. and others have ; is weakly supported.

[38]Col 3:23.. A. B. C. and others read ; the other reading, , , is not sufficiently supported. [, from the heart, Rhem.R.]

[39]Col 3:24.[Rec. inserts on insufficient authority. The verb is imperative; Meyer, Eadie, Alford, Ellicott, Vulgate, etc.R.]

[40]Col 3:25.. A. B. C. and others read . Others read [followed by E. V. This and the reading above rejected (Col 3:24) stand or fall together, on exegetical as well as critical grounds.R.]

[41]Col 3:25.. A. C. and others [Alford; Wordsworth; read ; B. and others [Tischendorf, Lachmann, Meyer, Ellicott], .

[42]Col 4:1. is established by . A. B. C. and others, instead of . [Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, Wordsworth, adopt the singular; the plural apparently taken from Eph 6:9.R.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 2189
THE RELATIVE DUTIES EXPLAINED

Col 3:18 to Col 4:1. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

IT is often a matter of complaint with some, that many who have been ordained to preach the Gospel leave the great and mysterious doctrines of the Gospel on the back ground, and bring forward little else than dry morality. But, whatever ground there may be for that complaint, it may be well to inquire, Whether there be not too much reason to complain of another class, who pay such exclusive attention to the doctrines, as almost entirely to overlook the duties, of the Gospel? Amongst some it would be almost thought superfluous, and even wrong, to devote an entire discourse to the subject of moral duties; since, according to their views, the discharge of them may well be left to the simple operation of faith, without any distinct statement of them from the teachers of Christianity. But so thought not the Apostle Paul On the contrary, in those two epistles (to the Ephesians, and Colossians) in which he enters most deeply into the mysteries of Christianity, he enlarges most fully on the relative duties. We are persuaded that a similar plan ought to be adopted by every minister of Christ. We should have no exclusive preference for doctrines or duties, but should put each in their place, and bring them both forward in their proper season. Convinced of this, we enter with great pleasure on the consideration of our relative duties; that is, of the duties,

Of husbands and wives

It is worthy of observation, that, not in this place only, but in all other places where the Apostles speak of the relative duties, they mention those of the inferior first. The reason of this seems to be, that the duties of the inferior arise solely from the command of God, and are totally independent of the conduct of the superior; so that no neglect of duty on the one part can justify any neglect of it on the other. Agreeably therefore to the Apostolic plan, we shall notice the duty,

Of wives

[To you are assigned obedience and subjection; partly, because you were created after man, and for the sake of man; and partly because you were first in the transgression, and were the means of bringing ruin upon man and upon all his posterity [Note: 1Ti 2:11-14. with Gen 3:16.]. The extent to which obedience to your husband is required of you is indeed exceeding great: it reaches to every thing that is not contrary to the will of God: it is, if I may so speak, co-extensive with the obedience which the Church owes to the Lord Jesus Christ; and your obedience is due to your husband, as to the Lord himself. I am aware that this expression is very strong; but I conceive it is not at all stronger than the declarations of St. Paul. True, in the text it is only said, Submit yourselves, as it is fit in the Lord: but in the Epistle to the Ephesians he draws the very parallel that I have drawn, and shews that your duty to your husband corresponds exactly with the Churchs duty to the Lord Jesus Christ: Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as unto the Lord: for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church: and he is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing [Note: Eph 5:22-24.]. (Of course, this will be understood of obedience only, and not of dependence; for that were absurd and impious in the extreme.) In the whole of this obedience, she must feel that it is due to him by Gods special appointment: that he is her head, and her lord, whom she is bound, not only to obey, but to obey with reverence [Note: Eph 5:33.], even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord [Note: 1Pe 3:1; 1Pe 3:5-6.].

This may be thought to sound harsh by those who are not accustomed to consider what the Scripture speaks on this subject: but it will not be thought so, if we contemplate what God has required,]

Of husbands

[Your duty, is to love your wives, and never on any occasion to entertain an unkind feeling towards them. A proud, haughty, imperious carriage towards them is most offensive to God, who will regard every harsh, bitter, or contemptuous expression towards them as an abuse of your authority and a violation of his commands. Though he has constituted you lords, he has not authorized you to be tyrants; but requires you to be precisely such lords over your wives, as Christ is over his Church. You are to govern, it is true; but you are to govern only for the good of the wife: you are to seek only, and at all times, her best interests, and to promote to the utmost of your power her real happiness. You must not require any thing unreasonable at her hands, nor ever fail to recompense with testimonies of your love the efforts which she makes to please you. Nor must you merely endeavour to render her happy, but you must be ready to make great sacrifices for this end. What the Lord Jesus Christ has done for his Church, is set forth as the proper model and pattern of your duty towards your wife: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it. O! what an example is here! Methinks, no wife would complain of the obedience that is required of her, if the authority of her husband were exercised in such a way as this: on the contrary, obedience on her part would be her chief delight. Know then, ye husbands, that this is the duty assigned to you: if your wives are to be obedient, as the Church is to Christ, ye also on your part are to be loving, even as Christ is to the Church. Your wives should be to you as your own flesh. Now no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord does the Church [Note: Eph 5:28-29; Eph 5:33.]: and precisely in the same way should you exercise all imaginable tenderness towards your wives, and be as careful of paining them as you would be of suffering any thing to wound the apple of your eye.]

Next to the duties of husbands and wives will naturally follow those,

II.

Of parents and children

Here again we are called, in the first place, to notice those of the inferior:

Of children

[Obedience is your duty also: nor is there any limit to the exercise of this duty, except where you are required to violate a command of God. Reason indeed is sufficient to teach you this: for your own ignorance and inexperience must of necessity direct you to look up to your parents for instruction and guidance. But revelation teaches you to regard the authority of your parents as Gods authority, and to consider obedience to them as obedience to him. In fulfilling the commands of parents, there should be no reluctance: on the contrary, to please, and serve, and honour his parents should be the desire and delight of every child. He should have no wish to shake off their yoke; no desire to act independently of them. Nor let this be thought hard: for God has annexed a special promise to the fulfilment of this duty: the command relating to it is said to be the first commandment with promise [Note: Eph 6:1-3.]; and it is generally to be observed, that the blessing of God does rest in a more especial manner, throughout the whole of their lives, on those who have honoured and obeyed their earthly parents. This may be accounted for on natural principles; for the dispositions which are exercised in filial obedience argue a degree of sell-government, which will go far to render a man both amiable and prosperous in every situation and condition of life. But besides this, the blessing of God will assuredly rest on such characters; and He, as the universal Parent, will recompense into their bosom their compliance with this command.]

Of parents

[Both in the text, and in the parallel passage in the Epistle to the Ephesians, there is a restraint laid on parents with regard to the exercise of their authority: it is not to be attended with harshness or severity, lest they provoke their children to anger, and discourage them from attempting to fulfil their duty, under the idea, that, whatever efforts they may use to please their parents, it will he a hopeless task. Parents have much to answer for, when they produce such an effect as this on their childrens minds. If on the one hand it be said, that there is much folly in the heart of a child, and that the rod of correction must drive it out, it must be remembered, on the other hand, that the mind of a child may soon be cast down, and that we may by harsh restrictions and undue severity augment that very rebellion which we endeavour to subdue. There can be no doubt but that many parents harden their childrens hearts against their authority in the first instance, and ultimately against the authority of God himself, purely by the tyranny which they exercise, and by the continual irritations which they occasion [Note: That is an humiliating view which the Apostle gives of parents, but, alas! how true in too many instances! Heb 12:10.]: and in the last day they will be found, in too many instances, the prime movers, and the real causes of their childrens eternal ruin. Fathers, be upon your guard respecting this; and instead of thus driving your children to despondency, endeavour to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord [Note: Eph 6:4.]. See in what way God dealeth with his children, how he bears with their infirmities, and consults their best interests [Note: Psa 103:8-13.]: so should you do [Note: 1Th 2:11.], and, like Abraham of old, be solicitous only for their eternal welfare [Note: Gen 18:19.].]

There is yet one other relation specified in the text, namely, that,

III.

Of masters and servants

It has pleased God that there should be different ranks and orders of society, and that to each should be assigned appropriate duties. We notice those,

Of servants

[Your rank in society is ordered of the Lord: nor, when you hear in what light you are viewed by him, will you see any reason to repine at it. By virtue of your office you are required to obey those who are your masters according to the flesh: and to obey them cheerfully too, and without reserve. Nor in the discharge of this duty are you to act in the absence of your master any otherwise than you would in his immediate presence: you are to render obedience in singleness of heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart [Note: Eph 6:5-6.]. What an elevated view does this give of your situation and employments! You appear to be servants of men: and so indeed you are: but you are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ: and it is your privilege to consider yourselves as living in his service, as much as if he were to come down to sojourn again on earth, and to admit you into the number of his domestics. Whatever your particular office be, you are privileged, so to speak, as altogether to forget your servitude to man, and to consider yourselves as performing the office of angels in the service of your God and Saviour. It is your privilege also to expect your wages from him. What you receive from man, is for your body only: but you shall have wages for your soul also, even the reward of an eternal inheritance [Note: See the text.]. This is represented as the state even of slaves, and of those who were called to serve Jewish or Heathen masters: how much more then is it the happy state of you who live in Christian families, and especially where God in Christ Jesus is loved and feared! Yes, whether ye be bond or free, your Master, your work, your wages are the same [Note: Eph 6:8.]. Act then agreeably to this exalted view of your station. Even though you should have froward and unkind masters, still act the same: and, if your work is thereby rendered the more difficult, your reward shall be proportionably advanced [Note: 1Pe 2:18-20.].]

Of masters

[As your servants are to put you in the place of Christ, so are you to be as in the place of Christ to them: and exactly such a muster as he, if in your place, would be, such are ye to be to those who are under your command. Would he never be unreasonable in his expectations or commands? So neither are ye to be. Would he be kind and indulgent? So must ye be. Would he delight to make his servants happy; and would he consult in all things their eternal welfare? So are you to act, doing in your station the same thing tn them, as they in theirs are required to do to you [Note: Eph 6:9.]. Especially must you forbear all threatening words or looks; remembering that you also have a Master in heaven, with whom there is no respect of persons, and who, as their avenger, will call you to an account for all acts of unkindness or oppression towards the meanest of mankind. In a word, see how your God directs and governs you; and let him be your model for your government of those whom he has graciously committed to your care.]

We may see here,
1.

The extent and excellence of true religion

[Religion enters into every situation and relation of life. It finds the whole world disordered like a body, every joint of which from head to foot is dislocated: but by its operation on the hearts of men it sets every joint in its place, and diffuses through the whole a divine unction, whereby every joint is set at liberty, and performs with ease its proper functions. Those in a higher and more honourable station despise not those which are lower and less honourable; neither are they envied by them: but each occupies with content and satisfaction the place assigned it by its Maker, and finds its own happiness in contributing, according to its ability, to the good of the whole. If it be said, that these effects are not visible in the world, even amongst those who profess religion; I answer, that this only shews how little there is of true religion in the world. The first ages of the Church display in all its beauty the native tendency of Christianity: and, if the same effects are nut alike visible now, it is not owing to any want of efficiency in religion itself, but to the low state of religion in the world. In proportion as vital godliness prevails, it does, and ever must, manifest its practical influence upon the heart and life.]

The importance of studying the character of Christ

[Christ ought to be well known to us in his work and offices as the Saviour of the world. But we must not confine our attention to his mediatorial work: we must also contemplate him as an example which we are to follow in every part of our conduct both towards God and man. Behold him as a son and a servant; what an entire devotion was there in him to his Fathers will! It was his meat and drink to do it. View him also as the Husband and Lord of his Church; what inconceivable love and kindness does he exercise towards her at all times, notwithstanding her innumerable defects! Let us then study his character; and whether we move in the higher or inferior relation, let it be the one aim of our lives to walk in his steps, and to follow his example.]

The way in which to judge of our spiritual attainments

[Religion is a practical thing, and is intended, as we have shewn, to make us fill to advantage every relation in life. Now I grant that there are many who discharge in a most commendable manner their relative duties, whilst yet they have no regard for God in their hearts. Consequently, I cannot exactly say, that the fulfilment of relative duties will stamp you as religious characters: but this I must say, that the not discharging of these aright will prove to demonstration, either that your religion is altogether vain, or that it is at a very low ebb indeed. But supposing that there be no manifest neglect of these duties, I would ask, How much is there of God in them? Is the authority which you either obey or exercise, regarded as Gods? Is his will considered as the rule of all that you do, and his glory as the end? Here is the point to be inquired into: it is this which makes your actions pleasing and acceptable to him: and I may add, that it is this which will make obedience easy and delightful to yourselves. Habituate yourselves then to realize the thought, that it is Christ whom you serve, or in whose place you stand whilst others are serving you. So shall your whole deportment become exquisitely pure, and holy, and refined; and you will adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

The Apostle prosecutes the same Subject of Exhortation, in the opening of this Chapter. He enjoins a Continuance in Prayer, with Watchfulness, and Thanksgiving. He concludes the Epistle with Salutations.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

(1) Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. (2) Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; (3) Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: (4) That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. (5) Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. (6) Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

I do not think it needful to dwell upon what is here said; the subjects contained in these verses, and the manner in which the Apostle hath recommended the things contained in them, being so very plain, and self-evident. Just only would I observe, with what earnestness Paul, though so great an Apostle, desired to be remembered in their prayers. It hath been an anxious desire of the Church in all ages, in the several members of Christ’s mystical body, to be mentioned by one another at the Court, when seeing the King in his beauty. And God’s faithful ministers have been very earnest, in this particular, with their people. Some that I have read of, have gone so far as to say, that they have known, when their people have been fervent in prayer for them in their labors of love, by the blessings which have followed in their ministry. Surely such a thought, if duly considered, would, in the Lord’s hand, make a Church, sound in the faith, be very desirous to go often to court, and ask the Lord to bless his servants!

How sweet, and edifying, would be the conversation of the Lord’s people, if always framed upon the Apostle’s plan. The name of Jesus, and the sweet savor of his love, if continually made the subject of discourse, would have similar effect, to give a relish to the conversation of God’s people, as salt hath, to make our ordinary food savory. Christ is indeed the salt of the Covenant. Lev 2:13 ; Mar 9:50 . But alas! how little is it made the general matter of discourse! See Mal 3:16-18 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Claim of the Outsider

Col 4:5

I. Note the distinction here assumed, ‘them that are without,’ which necessarily implies them that are within. This distinction is assumed throughout the New Testament. (1) The reality of this division. We serve one master: on the best of authority we affirm this. We obey one law; the higher law of the mind, or the lower of the flesh. We develop one character. Our character is the outcome of one dominant idea, one reigning purpose, one master-passion. We are within or without. (2) The determination of this distinction. Who are the within, who the without? In the New Testament this momentous question is decided by our relation to Christ. To be within is to be in Him. (3) The infinite significance of this distinction. The glory of Christianity must be seen from within. We do not know the glory of a garden by a glimpse through the hedge, the glory of a cathedral by walking about it, and looking up at its dark windows, or the glory of a country by sailing round its shores; the garden, shrine, or country must be judged from within, and from within must we judge the Lord Jesus and all that pertains to His faith and service. It is from the standpoint of personal trust, sympathy, and experience that we realise the reality and preciousness of all that is comprehended by the Church of God.

II. The duty of the within to the without. Christians must act judiciously toward all men. To this end (1) We must maintain high character. ‘Walk in wisdom.’ That is, when you possess the essential elements of the Christian character be on your guard against technical defects which hide or diminish the full effect of that character. Oh! let us take care of character. So long as the Church stands out in the beauty of holiness, in acts of love, in ministries of blessing, it attracts, grows, triumphs; but all is over on the day that there are finer characters out of it than there are in it. (2) We must cherish a gracious spirit. (a) The without may be alienated by rigidness. (b) We alienate by roughness. (c) We repel by hardness. (d) We alienate by gloominess. As Robert Louis Stevenson protests to a correspondent: ‘I do not call that by the name of religion which fills a man with bile’. Yet how many of us are habitually austere and sad! Let us be filled with Christ’s spirit and emulate His example.

W. L. Watkinson, Themes for Hours of Media tion, p. 96.

References. IV. 5. H. Woodcock, Sermon Outlines (1st Series), p. 261. Expositor (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 421. IV. 7-9. Ibid. vol. iii. p. 235. I. 9. R. W. Riley, A Year’s Sermons, vol. iii. p. 305. IV. 10. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 229; ibid. (5th Series), vol. vi. p. 81; ibid. vol. x. p. 319. IV. 2. T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iii. p. 226. IV. 13. Expositor (5th Series), vol. ix. p. 437; ibid. (6th Series), vol. ix. p. 22.

St. Luke the Evangelist (for St. Luke’s Day)

Col 4:14

St. Luke is said to have been born at Antioch; the probability, therefore, is that he was, as Jerome says, a Syrian, and thus a Gentile. If so, then he was a proselyte to the Jewish religion. According to his Gospel and the Acts, he was well acquainted with Jewish rites, customs, opinions, and prejudices. The date of his conversion to Christianity is unknown; but of his conversion, as a blessed reality, there is not the shadow of a doubt Epiphanius and others have supposed him to have been one of the Seventy commissioned by our Lord. It has been said that ultimately he suffered martyrdom when eighty-four years of age.

I. He is described in the text as ‘the beloved physician,’ and the tradition that he was a skilful painter is due probably to a confusion of names, for there was an early Greek painter of the same name. As a physician he was of essential service to St. Paul, not only in his own personal needs, but in his missionary enterprises, as the healing art was then, as it is now, of great advantage to the furtherance of the Gospel among the heathen. Through attending to the body the modern medical missionary may reach the soul, and by saving the one may, under the Divine blessing, save the other.

II. St. Paul and he were great friends, as the text clearly shows. The appellation of ‘the beloved physician’ signifies that St. Luke, apart from his professional services, possessed certain amiable and holy characteristics which had won St Paul’s admiration and affection. He loved his physician; and his physician reciprocated his love. ‘Only Luke is with me,’ he says. There is a tone of deep sadness in this avowal, but it magnifies the friendship of both of them.

III. St. Luke was evidently a well-educated man. His learning is proved by his Gospel to have been great; for it stands out from the others in its evidences of a higher education, its peculiar beauty and pathos, its didactic style and graphic descriptiveness. Universality is its predominant feature. The author presents Jesus not only as the Messiah of Israel and the Incarnate Son of God, but as the Divine Son of Man; and he principally records those sayings and deeds of our Lord by which the Divine mercy was shown to the Gentile world. The Acts of the Apostles, which St. Luke also wrote, is a supplementary composition. It begins where the Gospel ends, so that united, the two form one history anent the life of Christ on earth, and the establishment of His Church in the world. In no part of the Bible have we such models of preaching, such tender, eloquent, and powerful appeals to the understanding and the heart.

Luke, the Beloved Physician (for St. Luke’s Day)

Col 4:14

I. It is as the author of the Gospel that the Church is most interested in St. Luke. That book is one of the four golden columns on which rests the Christian history. It is one of the four golden trumpets which have sent forth the summons of Christ to the sons of men. It has, moreover, its own peculiar character. It was not so Jewish as the others; there is a peculiar human breadth and richness in it It gives the fullest account of our Lord’s Nativity, and relates the parable of the ‘Prodigal Son’. But it is not only as the writer of the Gospel that we know St. Luke. He was also the author of ‘The Acts of the Apostles,’ and was the fellow-labourer of St. Paul, who is the central figure of the larger portion of the book. St. Paul, in his Epistles, thrice mentions him, and twice he styles him ‘the beloved physician’. That is almost all. By early tradition, and from some incidental indications, we gather that Lucanus was a Gentile and a citizen of Antioch, that he was a physician by profession, that he travelled with St Paul, and that before he died he wrote, at St. Paul’s suggestion, the Gospel which bears his name. And yet there is something more. It seems clear that St. Luke’s character as a physician remained an influential fact, even after he became a missionary. His style, the events of our Lord’s life which he selects for his narration, bear marks of the physician’s habits of thought and speech. St. Paul’s allusion to him as ‘the beloved physician,’ and the fact that Luke appears to have joined Paul on several occasions when that Apostle’s strength broke down under one of those recurrent attacks of prostration, all seem to imply that he continued to practise the art of healing, and that it was as a physician also that he travelled with St Paul from place to place. In St Luke, then, we see, what since his time has been the natural and normal type of Christian life, the inspiration by a new spiritual power of an earthly vocation, so that it continued to be exercised, and, moreover, fulfilled its true ideal. This suggests certain thoughts with reference to

II. The general relation of the Christian life to men’s occupations and professions.

The disposition to find the simplicity of motive under the variety of action is familiar enough now, and it is right in its aim. The world of human action, like the world of Nature, is a scene of endless superficial variety which, by and by, we learn to gather into unity under some common force, under the power of some central inspiration. To the shallow observer each profession and calling is a life by itself; it will have its own thoughts, standards, principles, and passions; nothing in common with others. But that is only the superficial aspect Very soon he who lives begins to discover some deeper forces working underneath, and giving a real unity to all this seemingly incoherent life. How will it be, then, if you can reach one point which is the genuine centre of the whole mass one supreme force, of which they are all only modifications and manifestations, issuing from the very heart of all and this one central fountain of force, the soul’s love for God as its Father; so that everything which a man had a right to do at all upon earth might be ideally done as an expression of this central force the love of man for God? Consider what effects the warm fire of the love of God must have upon the life, in certain arts and professions, of which the world must necessarily be full. It must

(1) Purify all the professions. It melts away the dross and leaves the gold. It makes the man purely the thing he means to be, without any admixture of baseness or corruption.

(2) It makes the professions to be no longer means of separation but of sympathy and union between men. If you and I feel always beating through our diverse callings and methods of activity the common purpose of the love of God, then the harder we work in different ways the more our lives are one.

(3) It will sanctify the secular work of your life. No thoughtful man has failed to feel that the division of labour represented by the many and various occupations of life has its dangers corruption, narrowness, loss of human sympathy, and such like. Where is the safeguard against these things? Not by deserting your profession, but by deepening it; by seeking a new life under it; by praying for, and never resting until you find regeneration, the new life lived by the faith of the Son of God. So only can your life of trade, or art, or profession be redeemed; so only can it become for you and for the world a blessed thing.

This is the lesson taught us by the lives and comradeship of St Paul and St Luke. We see the figures of Paul and Luke walking together as ministers of Christ theology and medicine labouring in harmony for the redemption of man, for the saving of body, soul, and spirit and the picture is very sacred and impressive Thus may these two professions, and every other ‘calling’ in life, in fellowship with religion, working together as if they were one, grow to be more and more a worthy channel through which the helpfulness of God may flow forth to the neediness of man.

The late Bishop Phillips Brooks, The Light of the World.

References. IV. 14. W. G. Horder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. p. 245. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 270. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for Saints’ Days, p. 190. IV. 16. Expositor (6th Series), vol. v. p. 95. IV. 17. I. E. Page, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 308. J. Bunting, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 368. IV. 18. Expositor (5th Series), vol. x. p. 199.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS ON COLOSSIANS

Col 3:18-4:18 .

In this chapter we take up the practical application of this letter. From Col 3:18-4:1 the exhortations relate to the family or home and are based on reciprocal relations. From relation arises obligation. These relations are husband and wife, parent and child, master and servant. The first two relations are natural, the third artificial.

God himself created the relation between husband and wife. He made them one in the beginning, himself performing the marriage ceremony. Adam was first made. Eve was derived from his body and soul. Hence the name, “woman,” meaning derived from man. This marriage relation is the basis of the home, the family. It was intended to be indissoluble. The New Testament permits only one ground for divorce. The sanctity of the bond cannot be maintained without regard to the reciprocal duties. There can be but one head to a family. The husband is that head. This involves subjection on the part of the wife. She must honor and obey, but it is not a slavish obedience. Her realm is the home. She lives in her husband and children. The husband must love his wife and be not bitter toward her. This thought is elaborated and illustrated in the accompanying letter to the Ephesians. As Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, so must husbands love their wives. Where this great love is extended by the husband it is easy for the wife to honor and obey, and the children born of the marriage will be a heritage of the Lord.

Children, too, are in subjection. They must honor and obey; that is the first commandment with a promise. This honor and obedience must be in letter, spirit, and form. A look or a gesture may disobey. Dr. Adam Clarke, the great Methodist commentator, says that his mother was a Scotch Presbyterian, famous for teaching and enforcing family discipline that on one occasion when commanded by her to do an unpleasant service, he obeyed, but looked disobedient. His mother caught the meaning of disrespect in his eye, and, shaking her finger in his face, quoted the proverb: “The eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out and the young eagles shall eat it.” Her solemn denunciation impressed him much. Her words rang in his ears. Walking out alone in the woods, he was startled by the cry of a raven overhead, “Caw! Caw! Caw!” His mother’s words burned in his mind like fire, and, placing his hands over his face, he ran back home, crying out: “Oh, my eyes, my eyes, let not the ravens pick out my eyes!” But the law binds not the child alone. The parent must not provoke the child. Many a child has become discouraged in honoring and obeying parents by their provocations.

These exhortations on the sanctity of family ties were very pertinent to the matter in hand. The false philosophy prevalent at Colosse discountenanced marriage and the raising of children, as tending to sin. Their selfish delusion was that the escape from sin was to be found in abstinence from marriage and retreat from social claims to the solitude of a cave. While a few free lovers have denounced what they call the bondage of marriage, and while the trend of modern society is to multiply causes for divorce, yet, on the whole, the common sense of mankind honors both the sacred institution of marriage and the mutual laws governing marriage and children. They respect the New Testament declaration that “He that provideth not for his own hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.”

But some over pious people have taken great offense at the gospel because it does not peremptorily inculcate the abolition of slavery, and incite to servile insurrection. They greatly mistake the purpose of the gospel. It did not undertake to be a political and revolutionary force. It came to serve religious ends. It would have perished in the beginning if it had pronounced on forms of political government or the legality of social conditions. Whenever its legislation touched a social or political evil, it was to ameliorate its harshness, but it relied mainly on the leavening power of its great principles. Slavery abounded everywhere. It taught the slave God’s care for him and led him into spiritual freedom. It taught him to be honest, industrious, conscientious, as living unto his Lord. It revealed to him that God, unlike man, is no respecter of persons, and held out for his patient hope the heritage of the world to come. It laid a restraining hand upon the Christian master, curbing his passions, enjoying justice and mercy in the treatment of the slave, and called upon him to remember, first, that he was Christ’s bondman, and, second, that in Christ there were no distinctions between the bond and the free. Thus indirectly, by the leavening power of its principles, it is reforming all evils of government and society, and will ultimately purge the earth of all wickedness of whatever kind.

The exhortations pass from these social relations to inculcate the habit of thankful prayer, suggesting as a special object of petition his own case. But he solicits on his behalf no selfish gain, only “that God may open to him a door for the word” and that when it is open he may unveil the mystery of the gospel “as he ought to speak.” These two objects of prayer, repeated in the letter to the Ephesians, are very suggestive. He conceives of prayer as able to influence the workings of Providence, and to influence the Spirit’s power on his own heart. In view of them, let us take heed that we fall into no infidel attitude concerning prayer, nor raise in our minds the doubt, “What profits shall we have if we Pray unto him?” They also suggest that if an inspired apostle deeply felt the need and longed for the power of the prayers of his brethren, how foolish in us to discount so valuable a service.

From devotions we pass to outward walk and speech. “Walk in wisdom before them that are without.” How little are Christians sensible of the fact that they all, as well as the apostles, are “a spectacle to the angels,” to demons, and to men. What a text for preachers! “Them that are without.” Note the frequency of the phrase and its several contexts, for example, Mar 4:11 ; 1Co 5:13 ; 1Ti 3:7 . Indeed it is a qualification of the preacher that “he have a good report of them that are without.” Apart from the exact form of the phrase are many passages embodying the thought in other words. Moreover, as words count as much as conduct with “them that are without,” “let your speech be always with grace seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer each one.” The outside world bristles with interrogation points toward Christians and Christianity. How often we injure the cause by injudicious answers. How closely Peter follows Paul’s lead in this exhortation: “Ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear” (1Pe 3:15 ).

Concerning these exhortations on family duties, devotions, outward walk and speech, observe, first, how close the connection between Colossians and Ephesians, and, second, how uniform the teaching by all the New Testament writers and speakers on all these grave matters. Compare, for example, on husbands and wives, Paul’s teaching in these prison letters (Col 3:18-19 ; Eph 5:22-23 ) with Peter’s (1Pe 3:7 ) writing later to the same people in part. The letter refers them to its bearers, Tychicus and Onesimus, for detailed information of his state and work.

In the salutation he distinguished between his Jewish and Gentile companions in labor. Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus are Jewish Christians, while Luke, Demas, and Epaphras are Gentiles. It is gratifying to note that he takes pleasure in the association and cooperation of Mark. Evidently in some way his mind toward Mark is changed since his refusal to let him be a companion on his second missionary tour (Act 15:37-40 ). We have no evidence of the ground of the reconciliation, and so cannot say whether Paul revised his original judgment, or Mark evinced repentance for his former abandonment.

In the first letter from Peter, written a few years later from Babylon to these same Colossians, he reports that both Silas and Mark, with others, are with him. In the separation Barnabas took Mark and Paul took Silas. Peter has fallen heir to both of the companions on that divided second missionary tour. We learn in these salutations that Luke was a physician, which many terms of his writings indicate, and that Epaphras was an evangelist who probably planted the three churches of the Lycus valley Colosse, Hierapolis, and Laodicea.

In his second imprisonment at Rome we find Paul complaining that the Demas he here commends had forsaken him, having loved this present world (2Ti 4:10 ). And what a difference in his own salutation when 2 Timothy is written! Only Luke is with him. He urges Timothy to come and bring Mark. Tychicus had been sent to Ephesus.

In his directions we find a household church in Hierapolis as well as in Colosse. We find more than one of these churches in Rome. Doubtless these churches in private homes came about from the fact that they had no public meetinghouse for all the churches in a city, and services were held in the home of some leading brother or sister who could afford the most room.

The number of these churches in one city is a disproof of the now current theory that in apostolic times all Christians of a metropolis were in one church organization, presided over by a leading bishop, with subordinate bishops supplying the various sub-congregations, assembling in different parts of the city.

As bearing upon this point Rev. W. T. Whitley, in delivering the “Gay Lectures” before the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on the topic, “The Story of Missions in Five Continents,” special topic, “Expansion in America and Australia,” has this to say, as reported in The Review and Expositor, January, Colossians 1908:

Look next at church organization. To these shores were transplanted from Britain three patterns, monarchical, aristocratic, democratic. Already a Methodist Episcopal has been produced an ingenious crossing of two of these. Always in Tasmania the Baptist leaders examined their Bibles to see if Baptist traditions were absolutely in harmony with New Testament principle; whether a few baptized believers who build a house for prayer and praise, paying a few men and women to conduct it, with one pastor at the head, form a “church” on divine right, on a necessary pattern. They decide not, and all the Baptists in the island form really one community, with the ministers the ministers of the whole body. Church extension and matters of general interest are decided by the whole, and selfish isolation is discouraged. The same question occurs to a minister in this town, and he asked whether New Testament precedent did not point to a single church of Louisville, like the church of Ephesus or Corinth. American conservatism frowned down the heretic, and he sought refuge at Rome. But the same question has again been raised in Britain, the president of the Baptist Union stating as his New Year’s message that our usual plan is at best of human origin, and not ordered in scripture, while many of its developments are absolutely anti-scriptural. For the next few years English Baptists are likely to inquire diligently whether the congregational system blindly adopted by Robert Browne is the last word in organization, or whether the New Testament does not show us all the baptized believers in a town forming one church, with a plurality of elders both to teach and to administer business, and probably many houses for worship. Indeed, in one great town this system is just being tried, and the question has been ventilated by papers at our last session of the Baptist Union.

As further illustration of the dangerous trend, I cite a letter from The Argus . The title of the letter is: “The Baptist Outlook in Great Britain,” by J. H. Shakespeare. Under the head of “Ministerial Recognition” the writer gives as news:

The regular door into the Baptist ministry is through one of our recognized theological colleges. Hitherto as soon as a student left college and became the pastor of a church, his name was placed on the list of “accredited ministers” in The Baptist Handbook. This recognition, as it was called, carried with it the right to share in the Annuity Fund, and other privileges of membership with the Baptist Union. The pastors who entered the ministry without first passing through one of the recognized colleges were required to pass two examinations before being placed upon the accredited list of the Baptist Union. At our last spring assembly, however, a new scheme of ministerial recognition was all but unanimously adopted, and our pastors are henceforth to be divided into two sections, probationers and recognized ministers. Collegiates who receive satisfactory certificates from their college principals will be at once placed upon the probationers’ list, and noncollegiates will have the same privilege on passing one examination. All ministers on the probationers’ list, whether collegiate or noncollegiate, will be required to pass a Baptist Union examination, and to submit satisfactory proof as to their pastoral efficiency before their names can be transferred to the accredited list, and they then become recognized ministers. It is hoped that these new regulations will, to some extent, guard the portals to the ministry, and make it more possible to infer that if a man is a Baptist minister he shall not only be spiritually qualified, but also be an educated person.

These two extracts indicate a most dangerous trend. The first surrenders the old-time definition of a church, not only advocating the metropolitan idea but the provincial idea of a church. The second goes to a greater extreme. An association of purely human origin assumes to “guard the portals of the ministry” to divide them into classes of probationers and accredited into collegiates and noncollegiates, usurps the church prerogative of subjecting to its examination, and seeks to limit the ministry to “educated persons.”

The stupendous folly of the whole business, its suicidal unscripturalness, becomes apparent by applying the rule to New Testament apostles, evangelists, and pastors, and to past Baptist history. God forbid that we should follow the English Baptists!

The direction about exchange of letters between Colosse and Laodicea (Col 4:16 ) throws light on two points: (1) That m all probability the letter from Laodicea was the letter which we call Ephesians. (2) We learn how New Testament manuscripts were passed around before there was a collection of them into one book or library. And how some lists, after collections were formed, and even some earlier versions, did not have all the New Testament books. We note also in the directions that Archippus, son of Philemon, was a minister, and one, too that need to be stirred up somewhat in the line of duty. The reader will note the usual attestation of Paul’s letters by his autograph signature, a habit adopted since he wrote his first letter, caused by report of forged letters in his name.

QUESTIONS

1. Where does the practical part of this letter commence, and what reciprocal relations expressed in Col 3:18-4:1 ?

2. What is the character of these relations, and what arises from them?

3. Who is the author of the relation between husband and wife, what the history and nature of this relation?

4. How may the sanctity of the marriage relation be maintained, and what does this involve?

5. Where do we find the subject of the marriage relation elaborated and illustrated, and what the essential points in the discussion there?

6. What injunction here for children, and what, in detail, the striking illustration given?

7. What is the special application of the exhortations on the sanctity of family ties to the Colossians?

8. What are the gospel’s attitude toward the institution of slavery, and what special precepts here touching this subject?

9. What are the lessons here on prayer?

10. What are the lessons on outward walk and speech?

11. How does this teaching harmonize with other New Testament teaching on the same subject, and what the proof?

12. Who were the bearers of this letter, and what trust did Paul commit to them besides this letter?

13. What distinction does Paul here make in his salutation, what gratifying bit of information here relative to Mark, and what the probable ground of this reconciliation?

14. What information touching these brethren from Peter, and what information about Luke and Epaphras found in this closing salutation?

15. What is here said of Demas, what is said of him in a later letter, and what the lesson?

16. What are some modern ideas of the church, and what the bearing of the household churches referred to here and in Romans on such ideas?

17. What is Rev. W. T. Whitley’s position on this and kindred questions J. H. Shakespeare’s idea of the ministry?

18. What is the fault with each of these positions, respectively?

19. What light here on important matters from Col 4:16-18 ?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

Ver. 1. That which is just and equal ] See they must both to the well choosing and the well using of their servants.

Ye also have a master ] Ecc 5:8 ; “There be higher than they;” and wherein they deal proudly, God is above them, Exo 18:11 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 .] Meyer contends for the strict meaning of ‘ equality ’ for , and that it never has the signification of ‘ fairness .’ But (see examples in Wetst.) the common conjunction of . would naturally lead to assigning to the same transferred meaning which ‘quus’ has in Latin, and to the same which ‘quitas’ has. I would render then, equity, fairness : understanding by that, an extension of to matters not admitting of the application of strict rules a large and liberal interpretation of justice in ordinary matters. In every place cited by Meyer where the word is used ethically and not materially, this rendering is better than his. In Polyb. ii. 38. 8, the case is different: it there imports absolute political equality. Erasm., Corn.-a-lap., al., understand impartiality . not preferring one above another: but this does not seem to be in question here. Calv. says: ‘Non dubito quin Paulus hic posuerit pro jure analogo aut distributivo: quemadmodum ad Ephesios . Neque enim sic habent domini obnoxios sibi servos, quin vicissim aliquid ipsis debeant: quemadmodum jus analogum valere debet inter omnes ordines.’ Thdrt.: , , . Chrys.: ; , . , . Cf. Phm 1:16 .

] ‘ supply on your side :’ see Krger, Grieehische Sprachlehre, 52. 8, who gives several examples of the dynamic middle in this very verb. Ellic. well insists on and explains its force, as referring rather to the powers put forth by the subject, whereas the active simply and objectively states the action.

] See ch. Col 3:24 .

] as well as they: as you are masters to them, so the Lord to you.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Col 3:1 to Col 4:6 .] SECOND PART OF THE EPISTLE. Direct exhortations to the duties of the Christian life founded on their union with their risen Saviour .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

18 4:1 .] SPECIAL EXHORTATIONS TO RELATIVE SOCIAL DUTIES: Col 3:18-19 , to the married : Col 3:20-21 , to children and parents : Col 3:22 to Col 4:1 , to slaves and masters . Seeing that such exhortations occur in Ephesians also in terms so very similar, we are not justified, with Chrys., al., in assuming that there was any thing in the peculiar circumstances of the Colossian church, which required more than common exhortation of this kind. It has been said, that it is only in Epistles addressed to the Asiatic churches, that such exhortations are found: but in this remark the entirely general character of the Epistle to the Ephesians is forgotten. Besides, the exhortations of the Epistle to Titus cannot be so completely severed from these as to be set down in another category, as Eadie has endeavoured to do. See throughout the section, for such matters as are not remarked on, the notes to Eph 5:22 to Eph 6:9 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Col 4:1 . . The literal meaning is “equality,” and Meyer takes it so here (so Ol., Haupt), explaining not of equality conferred by emancipation, but of the treatment of the slave by his master as a brother in Christ. It may, in spite of Oltramare’s denial, mean “equity,” and the combination with . suggests this meaning here. The master should regulate his treatment of his slave not by caprice, but by equity. : “supply on your part,” a dynamic middle.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Col 3:18 to Col 4:1 . ENFORCEMENT OF THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF WIVES AND HUSBANDS, CHILDREN AND PARENTS, SLAVES AND MASTERS, WITH FREQUENT REFERENCE TO THESE DUTIES AS INVOLVED IN THEIR DUTY TO CHRIST. In this section the reference to the subject precedes that to the ruling parties, and the duty of obedience is emphasised to prevent false inferences from the doctrine that natural distinctions are done away in Christ. Holtzmann, Oltramare and Weiss think these precepts are added in protest against the false teachers’ asceticism. The fact that we have similar, and fuller, injunctions in Ephesians tells against this. Eph 5:22 sq. and 1Pe 3:6 may be compared.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Colossians Chapter 4

It is evident that the first verse of chapter 4 belongs to the special exhortations which occupy the close of chapter 3. Consequently, chapter 4 ought, if the division were accurate according to subjects, to begin at the second verse.

The exhortations to wives and husbands are correlative, also to children and fathers, and to servants and masters, making three pairs of such appeals. There is the difference to be noted that husbands and wives existed from the very first; not so the relation of master and servant. It is clear also, that though children were contemplated from the beginning, in point of fact they did not exist in Paradise. God took care there should be no race, no parent and child, before the fall.

It was when Christ had glorified God perfectly, that Christ became the head of a family. The contrast in this respect is very interesting and beautiful. What confusion, if some had been born in a state of innocence, and others in sin! God ordered things that there should be no family till man was fallen. To increase and multiply, however, was the intention and word of God even then. The relation of masters and slaves (as they are here supposed to be) was solely a result of the entrance of sin into the world. We do not hear of bondmen before the flood, though Noah predicts it of Canaan soon after. I presume that the mighty hunter, Nimrod, was the first that essayed his craft or violence in this direction.

If this be so, there is a remarkable gradation in these relationships; husbands and wives in Paradise, children born after the fall but before the flood, servants not heard of till after that. I do not mean at all that Scripture does not recognize this latter relationship – far from it – only it is well to see that it was one which followed not only the fall, but even the great judgment of God executed on the earth. Thus it is a condition of things very far from being according to God, that men should have their fellows as their property or slaves. And yet even so, “masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal.” v. 1. In our countries it is a relationship voluntarily entered into on both sides, and there are corresponding privileges and duties; but here, though it was a case of slaves, the call to masters is to be impartial in their ways with them. And this refers not only to equity as a matter between the master and a slave, but between the slaves generally. There might be much confusion and injury in a household by disturbing the equilibrium between the slaves. The wisdom of God thus provides for everything, even for what respects the despised bondmen. It is here said, “just” – not grace.

You can never demand or claim grace. In writing the epistle to Philemon, the Apostle brings motives of grace to bear upon the case; he does not dictate what Philemon was to do, but reminds him of his heavenly relationship, and leaves it to Philemon’s grace. Though the runaway slave was justly liable to be put to death, Roman and indeed any other masters having the right to punish them thus, yet would he have Philemon now receive him again no more as a slave, but as a brother.

Here, however, it is a question of what was “just and equal.” For the expression, “just,” shows a sense of right; grace in this case would not have been suited, as it would have left the door open more or less. Justice maintains obligations. In Ephesians it is said, “forbearing threatening.” It was wrong even to threaten a slave with violent measures. The Colossians, being in a lower condition, are plainly dealt with, and told to be just and equal; it is the recognition of certain responsibilities in which the masters stood to their slaves. Do not you, masters, imagine all duty is on one side; you have yours toward your slaves. This, often forgotten, seems implied in the word “just”; and “equal” forbids the indulgence of favouritism.

The rationalistic philosophy is mainly founded on the endeavour to blot out the word “duty.” I have known persons even in the Church disposed to deny anything in this shape as obligatory on the Christian. But it is a fatal error. Grace no doubt alone gives the power, but moral obligations ever remain binding.

The broad-church class talk of holiness, they do not like righteousness. That bias of mind ever tended to explain it away from Scripture. So Grotius used to say that the righteousness of God means His mercy – an idea as dreadful in its way as the common error that the righteousness of God means the law fulfilled. Such entirely deny the standing of the believer; for the law was not made for the righteous, but for the ungodly. Thus theologians are infected by a double error, either that of confounding the righteousness of God with the righteousness of the law, and making this to be both the standing and the rule of the Christian, or that of denying all righteousness in any shape by making it to be merely divine mercy. Both are quite wrong, and one error leads on to another; as truth hangs together, so does error. “Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” “This is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.”

“Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.” v. 2. The habit, the persevering habit of prayer, is of immense moment. And as Luk 18 , so this chapter presses it strongly, though the Apostle does not look for such far extending and thorough spirit of supplication as in Eph 6 . Their state did not admit either of like depths of desire or of such large affections for all saints in the bowels of Christ. Legalism, ordinance, philosophy, savour of the creature, not of God rightly known; they are not Christ and are far short of comprehending all that are His. Nevertheless, he does count, here as there, on a mind on the alert to turn occasions of difficulty or blessing, joy or sorrow, anything, everything, into matter for spreading before God; and this in a spirit not of murmuring anxiety, but of grateful acknowledgment of His goodness, and confidence in Him. How blessed that even the groaning of the Spirit in the believer supposes deliverance, and not mere selfish sense of evil! Not of course that the deliverance is complete or evil yet put down by power from on high and actually cleared out of the scene. But we know the victory won in Christ’s death and resurrection, and having the earnest of the Spirit, feel the contrariety of present things to that glory of which He gives us the sense in Christ now exalted, the hope for all saints at His coming.

The consciousness of the favour already shown and secured to us in Christ makes us thankful while we ask of God all good things suitable to it now, worthy of it in result by-and-by when evil disappears by His power. Yet it is remarkable to see how the Apostle values and asks for the prayers of saints – “praying at the same time also for us that God may open to us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ, on account of which also I am bound.” v. 3. The value of united prayer is great; but God makes much of individual waiting on Him and very especially as in the interests of His Church and the gospel – of Christ in short – here below. How little the Apostle was discouraged even at this late day! He writes to the Colossians, from his bondage because of his testimony to that very mystery of Christ which he still desired to be the object of their supplication on his behalf with God, “that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak” (v. 4).

Next, he reverts to their own need of walking wisely, considering those outside, and seizing the fit opportunity, though I doubt not the service of prayer such as we have seen, would have issued in their own blessing as truly as in good to others. “Walk in wisdom with those without, buying up the time. Let your speech be always in grace, seasoned with salt, to know how ye ought to answer each one.” vv. 5, 6. Grace gives us the rich glow of divine favour to the undeserving, the display of what God is in Christ to those who belong to this guilty ruined world; salt presents the guard of holiness, the preservative energy of God’s rights in the midst of corruption. It is not said, “always with salt,” seasoned with grace, but “always with grace, seasoned with salt.” Grace should ever be the groundwork and the spring of all we say. No matter how much we may differ, righteousness must be maintained inviolate.

It is this combination of divine love in the midst of an evil world, with uncompromising maintenance of what is due to God’s holy and righteous will, that teaches the Christian not merely what but how to answer each one as he ought.

Next come personal messages (vv. 7-18). Observe the remarkable care of the Apostle to sustain and commend true-hearted labourers, knowing well the tone of detraction natural to men who can see the failings of those whose service left themselves far behind. “Tychicus, my beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow-bondman in the Lord, all my affairs shall make known to you, whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that he may know your matters and may comfort your hearts; with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is [one] of you: they shall make known to you all things here.” vv. 7-9. This exuberance of affectionate commendation is greatly to be weighed. The lack of it tends to loosen and dislocate the bonds of charity among the saints. Remark further, that love counts on the interest of others in our affairs quite as much as it feels a real concern in hearing of theirs. Among men such a feeling is either unknown, or where it exists is but vanity; but then love, divine love, is not there. And love must exist and be known in order to understand its workings and effects. Truly it is called in this epistle the bond of perfectness.

“Aristarchus, my fellow-captive, saluteth you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received orders (if he come to you, receive him), and Jesus that is called Justus, who are of the circumcision: these [are the] only fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God which have been a comfort to me.” vv. 10, 11. There is a singular change in comparing the notices here with those in Philemon. Aristarchus is here a sharer of the Apostle’s captivity, as there Epaphras is; while there Aristarchus is a fellow-labourer of the Apostle with others, as Epaphras is here spoken of – at least as a bondman of Christ. They may have shared the Apostle’s imprisonment successively, as some one has suggested. It is certain that Aristarchus was his companion not only in Asia, but during his voyage to Italy. This would tend to show, I think, that this epistle to the Colossians was written at least a little before that to Philemon, though both may be supposed to have been written at the same general date and to have been forwarded by the same hands from the Apostle, a prisoner at Rome.

How beautiful too is the grace which enjoined distinctly the reception of Mark! Remembrance of the past would else have forbidden a cordial welcome to himself, and so must have hindered his ministry among the saints. Thus, if here we learn the secret of Barnabas’s leaning (for he was his kinsman), when the breach occurred with the Apostle in earlier days, we learn that real love is as generous as faithful, acts at all cost for the Lord, and where requisite, spite of paining nature, but rejoices to praise aloud and heartily where the grace of God has intervened to the removal of the impediment. Of Jesus called Justus we know no more than that. Like Mark. he was of the circumcision; and, like him too, consoled the Apostle as a fellow-servant – a rare thing among those who had been used to the law and its prejudices. The Justus of Act 18:7 was a Gentile proselyte. Barsabas, the candidate for the apostolate, who was a Jew of course, was so surnamed, but not called Jesus like the one in question.

“Epaphras saluteth you, who is [one] of you, a bondman of Christ Jesus, always striving for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all [the] will of God. For I bear him witness that he hath much toil for you, and those in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.” vv. 12, 13. It would be a joy for the saints at Colosse to know that Epaphras, himself a Colossian as well as Onesimus, did not stand higher in the love and value of the Apostle (Col 1:7 ) than in earnest remembrance of themselves in his prayers for their blessing before God. Remark too that the doctrine of the epistle (that we are filled full according to all the fullness that is in Christ), far from excluding, is the basis of desire and intercession for the saints, that they may be practically perfect and fully assured in everything about which God has a will. There was no such narrowness as shut him up to a single assembly, though there was the affectionate recollection of need where saints and circumstances were specially known to him.

“Luke, the beloved physician, saluteth you, and Demas.” v. 14. The occupation of Luke was not blotted out because he was a saint and a servant of Christ, and even an inspired writer. Demas, I should gather, was even now distrusted by the Apostle, who mentions his name with an ominous silence and without an endearing word – a thing unusual with the Apostle. Even to Philemon, about the same time, he is “my fellow-labourer.” In 2 Timothy he had forsaken the Apostle, having loved the present age. The steps of declension were rapid; no testimony tells of his recovery. But a more extensive falling off was at hand (2Ti 1:15 ); for, the ice once broken, many were ready to slip through. As for the Apostle, he had fought the fight, he had finished his course, he had kept the faith. The men who were little known for building up were active for leading astray; as one of this world’s sages has said, The hand that could not build a hut can destroy a palace. Nevertheless God’s firm foundation stands.

“Salute the brethren in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly in his house. And when the epistle has been read among you, cause that it be read also in the assembly of Laodicea, and that ye also read that from Laodicea.” vv. 15, 16. Whether this letter be that commonly known as the epistle to the Ephesians (and having a circular character), or that to Philemon (who may probably have resided in or near Laodicea), or whether it refers to a letter no longer extant (possibly a letter from Laodicea to Paul, literally), have been questions much contested among learned men. Two remarks may be made which seem clear and certain. 1) The epistle from Laodicea would be indeed a strange way of describing an epistle written to the church there. It would be natural enough, if it meant a letter which was then there and intended for the Colossian saints also, to whomsoever it may have been addressed. 2) There is nothing to forbid the view that more letters were written than we possess, God preserving only those which were designed for the permanent guidance of the saints. But that the one alluded to here is a lost letter, addressed to Laodicea, is wholly unproved. It is also obvious that the Colossian epistle was directed to be passed on to Laodicea. The letter the Laodiceans were to forward to Colosse may have been addressed to them, but the description necessitates no such conclusion.

What links of love and mutual profit among the assemblies!

“And say to Archippus, See to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it.” v. 17. The brethren cannot forego their responsibility and exercise of godly discipline; but ministry is received from and in the Lord. The assembly never appoints to service in the word, but Christ, the Head, though apostles or their delegates (never the Church) acted for Him when it was a question of local charge.

Finally comes “the token in every epistle” – at least in his regular province as Apostle of the uncircumcision: “The salutation by the hand of me, Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you.” v. 18.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

Masters. See Col 3:22.

unto = to.

servants. See Col 8:22.

just. App-191.

knowing. App-132.

in. App-104.

heaven. See Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1.] Meyer contends for the strict meaning of equality for , and that it never has the signification of fairness. But (see examples in Wetst.) the common conjunction of . would naturally lead to assigning to the same transferred meaning which quus has in Latin, and to the same which quitas has. I would render then, equity,-fairness: understanding by that, an extension of to matters not admitting of the application of strict rules-a large and liberal interpretation of justice in ordinary matters. In every place cited by Meyer where the word is used ethically and not materially, this rendering is better than his. In Polyb. ii. 38. 8, the case is different: it there imports absolute political equality. Erasm., Corn.-a-lap., al., understand impartiality. not preferring one above another: but this does not seem to be in question here. Calv. says: Non dubito quin Paulus hic posuerit pro jure analogo aut distributivo: quemadmodum ad Ephesios . Neque enim sic habent domini obnoxios sibi servos, quin vicissim aliquid ipsis debeant: quemadmodum jus analogum valere debet inter omnes ordines. Thdrt.: , , . Chrys.: ; , . , . Cf. Phm 1:16.

] supply on your side: see Krger, Grieehische Sprachlehre, 52. 8, who gives several examples of the dynamic middle in this very verb. Ellic. well insists on and explains its force, as referring rather to the powers put forth by the subject, whereas the active simply and objectively states the action.

] See ch. Col 3:24.

] as well as they: as you are masters to them, so the Lord to you.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Chapter 4

Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal [pay them a decent salary]; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving ( Col 4:1-2 );

As we said, prayer has many parts and an important part of prayer is praise and worship, thanksgiving. A minor part of prayer is request, petitions. But then Paul says, “Pray for us.” And, of course, in each of the churches he requested prayer, and I think that every minister feels his need of prayer. Pray for us. And Paul desired that they would pray.

Withal praying for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds ( Col 4:3 ):

Here I’m in prison because of my preaching, but pray that God will give me an open door here, even to declare the glorious truth of Christ.

That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom [The exhortations: continue in prayer, watch the same with thanksgiving, pray for us] toward them that are without [That is towards those in the world, walk in wisdom toward them], redeeming the time ( Col 4:4-5 ).

Don’t waste time; we don’t have that much time. Take advantage of every opportunity that God gives you. Redeem the time.

Let your speech be always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man ( Col 4:6 ).

Peter said, “Be ready to give unto every man a reason for the hope that you have within you. That you might be able to answer men” ( 1Pe 3:15 ). And so your speech always with grace. God help us, to bring this tongue under control. Now,

All of my state [or how I am doing] shall Tychicus declare unto you [will tell you], who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord ( Col 4:7 ):

Tychicus delivered this epistle to the church. Paul was in Rome in prison. He wrote the epistle to the Ephesians and this epistle to the Colossians at the same time, and Tychicus carried this epistle. He also wrote at the same time an epistle to the Laodiceans. And they were to trade them back and forth. They were to read the epistle, this epistle, in the church and then read the one that he also sent to the Laodiceans. And so Tychicus was the one that brought these epistles from Paul to the churches there in Asia Minor. Interesting things that he says of him: he’s a beloved brother, he’s a faithful minister, and he is a fellow servant in the Lord. What neat things. He’s a beloved brother; he’s a faithful minister. He’s a fellow servant in the things of the Lord.

Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate [he might tell you how I’m doing, and that he might find out how you’re doing], and comfort your hearts; With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother ( Col 4:8-9 ),

Now, this probably is Onesimus for which the book of Philemon was written: the runaway slave who ran away from Philemon, who met Paul in Rome and received Jesus Christ, who Paul was sending back to Philemon with a personal letter, from Paul to Philemon, begging Philemon’s forgiveness and begging Philemon to set Onesimus free from his slavery.

With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here [the Lord is doing here]. Aristarchus my fellow prisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas ( Col 4:9-10 ),

Barnabas, of course, was the first companion with Paul on the first missionary journey. He was the one who went to Tarsus and found Paul after Paul’s conversion. And going back to Tarsus for several years, Barnabas came and found him when there was a need in the church of Antioch for someone who really understood the Greek culture to come and minister to the Gentiles, and got Paul involved in the ministry, went with Paul in the first missionary journey. And Mark went with them on the first journey but got frightened and came home, and so when Barnabas wanted to take his nephew (it was his sister’s son), wanted to take him on the second journey, Paul said, “No way.” And the contention between Paul and Barnabas came so great that Barnabas took Mark and went. And Paul took Silas and went another direction. So now, this same Mark that Paul didn’t want to go on the second missionary journey is with Paul there in Rome and he is greeting with Paul the church. And Paul, is saying, “If he comes to you, receive him.”

And Jesus, which is called Justus ( Col 4:11 ),

Jesus was a common name in those days. That’s why He was usually called, Jesus of Nazareth to distinguish Him from all the other little boys that were named Jesus. It is the Hebrew name for Joshua or Yeshua, and so, the Hebrew is Yeshua; the Greek is Jesus. And so, here’s another one in the Bible called Jesus, which is called Justus.

who are of the circumcision [or they are Jews]. These only are my fellow workers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. Epaphras, who is one of you ( Col 4:11-12 ),

He had been the one who was ministering there at the church of Colosse who had came and told Paul of the church and its condition.

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth [is greeting you], always laboring fervently for you in prayers ( Col 4:12 ),

I love this. Epaphras was there in Rome with Paul, but he was always praying for those in Colosse. Laboring for you in prayer, or laboring fervently, the Bible says, “The effectual, fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much” ( Jas 5:16 ). And here’s Epaphras, their minister, though he’s away from them fervently praying for them. What is he praying:

that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God ( Col 4:12 ).

John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth” ( 3Jn 1:4 ). It’s a very discouraging thing if you go away from a church and you hear the whole thing’s gone to pieces. Fractured. But to go away and years later to hear, “Oh, they’re walking in truth; they’re going on with the Lord.” No greater joy. And here’s Epaphras praying that they might really walk perfect and complete in the will of God.

For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and [for] them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis. [These three cities that were close in proximity to each other.] Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you ( Col 4:13-14 ).

Luke, who, of course, was Paul’s companion in much of Paul’s journeys, the beloved physician, the one who wrote the gospel and the book of Acts. Demas… Now later, Paul is to speak of Demas in his epistle to Timothy, “Tragically Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present world more than the things of God.” But here, he joins in the greeting to the church.

Salute [greet] the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans [in other words, after you’ve read it, send it over to Laodicea]; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hath received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it ( Col 4:15-17 ).

So, you’re Archippus tonight. I want to say to you, take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, and fulfill it. That’s something that all of us should be concerned with. What is it that God has called me to do, I must be fulfilling it. As Jesus said, “I must do that will of Him who sent me.” So take heed to the ministry that God’s called you to fulfill. See that you fulfill it.

The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen ( Col 4:18 ).

And so, we come to the end of the Colossian epistle. And next week we take the first two chapters of Thessalonians. And we move on through, and it won’t be long until we will have completed the Bible once more and will go back to Genesis. I don’t think I’ll ever make it again, but we’ll go as far as the Lord allows us. I’m slowing down; you noticed that? The first time we went through it eighteen years ago, we went through the whole Bible in two years. You know, young and full of steam, all but…just slowing down.

Shall we pray. Father, we give thanks for the word of instruction, the word of truth. May it indeed become a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path and may we walk in the light of your truth, Lord. Redeeming the time, in these evil days. Taking advantage, Lord, of every opportunity of serving You and of knowing You better. Lord, we thank You for Your word, and for the opportunity of gathering to study the word. And may the Spirit of God enrich our hearts in Your truth. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

God bless. Give you a beautiful week, keep you in the love of Jesus Christ, and cause you to abound in all things in Him. In Jesus’ name. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Col 4:1. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal;

I sometimes think that the good men who chopped the Bible up into chaptersfor it is not in chapters in the original,must have hoped that we should not read this message to the masters, as he had put it in another chapter. But I never like to read about the servants without also reading about the masters. There is six for one, and half-a-dozen for the other; and, as is usual, in the Scriptures, there are balanced duties. If there is an exhortation to the children, there is generally one to the parents close by; and if there is a word to wives, there is one for husbands, too. So let us read that verse, Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal;

Col 4:1-4. Knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

This exposition consisted of readings from Colossians 3 and Col 4:1-4.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Col 4:1. , justice and equity) Comp. , [ye masters do] the same things [unto them], Eph 6:9, note.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Col 4:1

Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.-He reminds them that the Master had said: All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets. (Mat 7:12). If masters treated their servants with severity, so would God deal with them. The condition of slaves among the Greeks and Romans was indeed wretched in the extreme. They could expect neither justice nor equity. They could not appeal to the civil courts. The Holy Spirit gave them, through Paul, a law of justice and equity to govern Christian masters.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The true purpose of life for the saints and faithful in Christ is to the maintenance of a twofold relationship- toward God, and toward those who are without. The first is covered by prayer as it includes adoration, confession, and petition. This life must be sedulously cultivated. A necessary element in such a life is watchfulness. Yet such watchfulness is not to be characterized by anxiety, for it is to be “with thanksgiving.” Cheerfulness is to mingle with cautiousness. Toward “them that are without” the saint is to walk in wisdom. This again is closely linked with the prayer life. Moreover, the speech of the saint is to be characterized by grace and salt, that is by courteousness, and yet by the qualities which prevent corruption.

The letter closes with references that were local and personal. The references to Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus, are characterized by Paul’s recognition of their excellences. The one picture that stands out is that of Epaphras. Evidently when the letter was written he was with Paul, and there was striving in prayer for that Church of which really he was a member. In this description of Epaphras we have an insight into his character. He was praying for them that they might “stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” What greater prayer is it possible for any to offer for loved ones than this, and what greater service can anyone render than thus to strive in prayer on behalf of the loved ones? The final words have in them a touch of pathos. Taking the stylus from the one to whom he had been dictating, he wrote words which indicate at once his sense of limitation and his desire for sympathy, “Remember my bonds.”

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

4:1 . Justice and fairness. differs from nearly as our fair from just, denoting what cannot be brought under positive rules, but is in accordance with the judgment of a fair mind. Compare Philo, De Creat. Princ. ii. p. 401, . Meyer and others suppose the meaning to be that slaves are to be treated as equals, not as regards the outward relation, but as regards the Christian brotherhood (see Phm 1:16). It would be a very obscure way of expressing this thought to say . : nor does it agree well with the following clause, , not as in Eph., . Perhaps, indeed, we may regard in Eph. ( , ) as illustrating here. The same moral principles were to govern both. , , , Theodoret. Erasmus, Corn. a Lapide understand the word of impartiality, not treating one slave differently from others; but this would be consistent with harsh treatment of all.

. Supply on your side.

2-6. Exhortation to constant prayer and thanksgiving, to which is added the apostles request that they would pray for himself in his work. Practical advice as to, wisdom in action and speech.

2. = Rom 12:12; cf. 1Th 5:17. We have the same verb similarly used in Act 1:14, Act 2:46, Act 6:4.

. Being watchful in it, i.e. not careless in the act. , , (wandering), Chrys.

With thanksgiving (as an accompaniment; cf. 2:7). , , , Theophylact.

3. .Praying at the same time also for us, including, namely, Timothy, named with St. Paul as sending the Epistle, but also, no doubt, including all who helped him in his work (vv. 10-14).

. The prayer is not for the personal benefit of the apostle and his companions, but for the promotion of their work.

. A door of admission for the word of the gospel, i.e. the removal of any hindrance which might be in the way. The same figure is employed 1Co 16:9; 2Co 2:12.

Corn. a Lapide, Beza, Bengel, and others interpret as the door of our speech, i.e. our mouth,-an interpretation suggested by Eph 6:19, , but certainly not consistent with , which must mean the word.

, infinitive of the end or object, so as to speak , …, 1:26, 2:2; see Eph 1:9.

. For it was his preaching the free admission of the Gentiles that led to his imprisonment.

This is the only place in which St. Paul uses in the literal sense; but he uses , Php 1:7, Php 1:13, and elsewhere, as well as The transition to the singular was inevitable when he passed from what was common to himself with others to what was peculiar to himself.

4. ,… Generally taken as dependent on the previous clause, that God may open a door in order that,etc. Beza, De Wette, al., however, make it dependent on , which, on account of the change from plural to singular, is improbable. Bengel joins it with , vinctus sum ut patefaciam; paradoxon. In this he follows Chrysostom, , : but this is quite untenable. V. Soden, who also makes the clause dependent on , proposes a different interpretation. He observes that is never used of St. Pauls preaching, nor does the notion of account for its use here. It must therefore have a special significance, and this is to be found in its immediate reference to . St. Paul, as a prisoner awaiting trial, had to explain what his preaching was. How this turned out, he relates in Php 1:12 ff. The sense then, according to v. Soden, is: in order that I may make it manifest, how I am bound to speak, the emphasis being on , not . He desires to make clear to his judges, not only what he preaches, but that he cannot do otherwise; compare 1Co 9:16; Act 4:20.

is the reading of ACDKL nearly all MSS., d e f Vulg., Goth., Clem., Chrys., etc. But B G, g have , apparently a correction to suit , but destroying the point of the sentence.

5. = practical Christian wisdom; cf. Mat 10:16.

. With respect to, or in relation to, i.e. your behaviour towards them.

. Those outside the Church; compare 1Co 5:12, 1Co 5:13; 1Th 4:12. The expression is borrowed from the Jews, who so designated the heathen. On the precept Chrys. says, , , .

. See Eph 5:16, where is added a reason for the injunction, viz. .

6. . Still referring to behaviour, .On = pleasingness, see above, 3:16. is frequent in classical writers.

. Seasoned with salt; cf. Mar 9:49, Mar 9:50; pleasant but not insipid, nor yet coarse. Compare Plut. p. Mor. 514 F, : and again, p. 669 A, . is a later form.

, infinitive of object, as in ver. 3, , to each one, according, namely, to the character, purpose, spirit, etc., of the inquirer. Compare the apostles description of his own behaviour, 1Co 9:22, . His discourses and answers at Athens, and before Felix, Festus, and the Jews at Rome, supply the best illustrations.

7-18. Personal commendations and salutations.

7. = Php 1:12, my matters; cf. Act 25:14. Not a noun absolute, but the object of .

On Tychicus, see Eph 6:21, and compare Lightfoots very full note here.

= Eph. l.c.

. is probably to be taken with both substantives, as both require some specifically Christian definition, which does not; and, moreover, in Eph. l.c. we have . is perhaps added in order to place Tychicus on a level with Epaphras, who is so designated 1:7, and who was in high repute at Colossae. probably covers both substantives.

8. , … = Eph 6:22.

As to the reading, the Rec. Text has , with c C Dbc K L and most MSS., f Vulg., Goth., Syr. (both), Boh., Chrys. (expressly), Jerome (on Philemon), Ambrosiaster, al.

, A B D* G P a few cursives, d e g Arm., Eth., Theodore Mops., Theodoret, Jerome (on Eph 6:21), Euthalius (cod. Tisch. ).

* has with . o at first corrected to to suit but afterwards deleted this correction and substituted for . The context, with the emphatic , so obviously requires , that, considering the weight of authority, we cannot regard this as an alteration made in conformity with Eph 6:22. Besides, it is very unlikely that the writer himself should, to the Ephesians, say, , … , and to the Colossians of the same messenger, , .. On the hypothesis that Eph. is not by the author of Col., it is equally improbable that the former should be written instead of the latter. The error may have arisen from accidentally dropping out before , or, as Lightfoot suggests, when had once been written in error for (as in *), would be read , as in 111 and John Dam. op. ii. p. 214, and then the superfluous would be dropped. These authorities, however, seem too late to be used to explain so early a corruption.

Alford defends the Rec. Text, in which he is followed by Klpper; but most critics and commentators adopt the other reading.

9. . Observe the delicacy with which Onesimus is given, as far as possible, the same predicates as Tychicus and Epaphras, he and Tychicus being, moreover, associated as subject of . He was not or , but as a faithful and beloved brother he is not placed below them. Compare Rom 16:6, Rom 16:12.

, who is of you, i.e. belongs to Colossae; hitherto, indeed, only a slave, but now a brother beloved, Phm 1:16. It deserves notice how St. Paul assumes that Onesimus will be welcomed as such by his former master and by the Church. Calvins very natural remark, Vix est credibile hunc esse servum illum Philemonis, quia furis et fugitivi nomen dedecori subjectum fuisset, serves to put in strong relief this confidence of the apostle in the Colossians.

. This is not a formal restatement of , but includes more than that phrase, and , namely, all that concerned the Church at Rome. This would naturally include an account of the conversion of Onesimus, who would be to them a living illustration of the success of St. Pauls preaching in Rome. Note the change from to , in order more expressly to commend Onesimus to their confidence.

G d e f g Vulg. Jerome, Ambrosiaster add after , , a gloss which looks as if it originated in the Latin, which could not literally render .

10. . Of Aristarchus we know that he was a Macedonian of Thessalonica, Act 19:20, Act 19:20:4; a member of the deputation to Jerusalem (ib.), and a companion of St. Paul in the first part, at least, of his journey to Rome, Act 27:2. Lightfoot (Philippians, p. 35) thought it probable that he parted from St. Paul at Myra, having accompanied him at first only because he was on his way home to Macedonia. If the centurion in whose charge St. Paul was had not accidentally fallen in at Myra with a ship sailing to Italy, their route would have taken them through Philippi. If this view is correct, Aristarchus must have rejoined St. Paul at Rome at a later date. In any case, the notices in Acts show that he would be well known in proconsular Asia.

. properly means a captive taken in war, and hence it has been supposed that it may here have reference to spiritual captivity; cf. Rom 7:23; 2Co 10:5; Eph 4:8. But none of these passages justify such an interpretation. In Rom. the verb is used of captivity to sin; in Eph. it is in a quotation from a Psalm; while in Cor. it is the thoughts that are brought into captivity so as to be obedient to Christ. There is no analogy to support the supposed use of absolutely in the sense supposed. It would be particularly unlikely to be so used in a letter actually written from prison.

On the other hand, St. Paul speaks of the service of Christ in terms of military service; cf. 2Ti 2:3, and , Php 2:25; Phm 1:2. It is in accordance with this that he should use the term here (and of Epaphras in Phm 1:23). It has been conjectured that St. Pauls helpers may have voluntarily shared his imprisonment in turn; for Epaphras, who is here a , is in Philemon a ., and Aristarchus here . is there a .

, cousin, so defined by Pollux, iii. 28, , , , .The use of it for nephew is very late.

The relationship explains why Barnabas was more ready than Paul to condone Marks defection, Act 15:37-39. At the same time, the passage throws light in turn on the rather remarkable form of commendation here, if he comes unto you, receive him. The Pauline Churches, which were aware of the estrangement, might not be very ready to give a very hearty welcome to Mark. Comp. 2Ti 4:11. is a regular term for hospitable reception. See, for example, Mat 10:14; Joh 4:45; often also in classical writers.

, … These injunctions probably had reference to the friendly reception of Mark, so that their purport is repeated in the following words.

11. . Not mentioned elsewhere.

The surname Justus is applied to two other persons in the N.T., namely, Joseph Barsabbas, Act 1:23, and a proselyte at Corinth, Act 18:7. It was a frequent surname amongstom Jews.

. These words are best connected with the following, , … The sense then is, of those of the circumcision, these alone are, etc. Otherwise, would not be true (see vv. 12-14), and . would have no significance. This construction, in which the more general notion stands first as in a nominative absolute, and the particular notion follows with the verb, is used by classical writers.

On this comp. Php 2:20, .

is the predicate, so that the apostle does not apply the term to the opponents.

as usual specifies, not the individuals, but the character, men that proved. See on Luk 2:4. The aorist seems to refer to some definite recent occasion.

, comfort, only here in N.T., frequent in Plutarch. There is no ground for Bengels distinction, that refers to domestic, and to forensic trouble. So far as the latter word has a technical sense, it is medical (cf. paregoric); but it is commonly used of consolation in general.

12. , see 1:7.

. Who is one of you.

. A title frequently used by St. Paul of himself, once of Timothy in conjunction with himself, Php 1:1, but not elsewhere of any other.

, … Compare 1:29.

. That ye may stand fast, perfect and fully assured. , as in Eph 6:11, Eph 6:13, al., conveys the idea of standing firm; hence . are secondary predicates, the first expressing the objective moment, the second the subjective; they were not only to be , 1:28, but to have full assurance; cf. 2:2. in N.T. means either to fulfil, as in 2Ti 4:5, 2Ti 4:17, or, to persuade fully, as in Rom 4:21, ; 14:5, . It is read in Rom 15:13, in B F G, where the sense is fill; but the better attested reading is .The Rec. Text here has . See on Luk 1:1.

. In all the will of God is not quite correct, yet we cannot say every will of God. Lightfoot renders in everything willed by God. The words are best connected with . ., not with , as the order of the words shows. probably has reference to the variety of circumstances in which the Christian may find himself, with perhaps a hint at the contrast with the definite external precepts of the false teachers.

is the reading of c A C D G K L P and most MSS., Chrys., Theodoret.

, * B 23 71 al., Euthal. (cod. Tisch.). Comp. Mat 2:9, Mat 27:11, in both which passages B C 1 33 have for the Rec. . The passive is adopted by the critical editors in all three places.

, A B C D* G al., Syr-Harcl. marg., Euthal. (cod. Tisch.).

, Dc K L P most MSS., Syr-Harcl., text. and Pesh., Arm., Chrys., Theodoret. As, however, is sometimes used with the meaning fill, the versions cannot be quoted with certainty for the latter reading, which probably slipped in as the more familiar and simpler word.

13. . The apostle confirms by his testimony what he has just said of Epaphras.

. That he has much labour. is not found elsewhere in N.T. except in the Apocalypse. It is, however, a common word for struggle in battle, and hence corresponds with the , of the apostle himself, 2:1, and with the Of ver. 12. The two words occur in juxtaposition in Plato, Phaedr. 247 B, .

A B C P, 80, Euthal. (cod. Tisch.), Old Lat., Vulg., Goth, Boh., Arm.

, Rec., with K L most MSS., Syr. (both), Chrys., Theodoret., Dbe al. have ; D* G, .

Five cursives have , and two (6, 672) .

No doubt the rarity of in the N.T. is responsible for the variety of reading. It is found in the Apocalypse only.

. Laodicea and Hierapolis stood on opposite sides of the valley at a distance of about six miles from one another, and twice as far from Colossae. From the conjunction of the three names here i. appears probable that Epaphras stood in the same relation, as evangelist, to the three, and also that they were threatened by the same dangers; as, indeed, their near neighbourhood and consequent frequent intercourse would suggest. Compare 2:2.

14. . Luke the physician, the beloved. Beyond question the evangelist, named also 2Ti 4:11 as well as Phm 1:24. It is interesting to find two of the evangelists in St. Pauls company here. The reason of his calling being specified may be that he was attending on St. Paul in his professional capacity. It has been observed that his first appearance in company with St. Paul, Act 16:10, nearly synchronises with an attack of the apostles constitutional malady (Gal 4:13, Gal 4:14), so that he may have joined him partly in a professional capacity (Lightfoot). From the manner in which he is separated from the group in ver. 10 it is clear that he was a Gentile. This is fatal, not only to the tradition that he was one of the Seventy (which, indeed, is hardly consistent with the preface to his Gospel), but also to the conjecture that he was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. See on Luk 1:2, Luk 10:1-16, Luk 24:13-32.

. Probably a contraction for Demetrius. It is remarkable that he is named without any epithet of commendation, which is the more striking as coming after . In Phm 1:24 he is named with Mark, Aristarchus, and Luke as a of St. Paul. But in 2Ti 4:10 he is mentioned as having deserted St. Paul, . Perhaps the curt mention here foreshadows that desertion.

15. , , (or ) . Nymphas (if this reading is correct) is probably a short form of Nymphodorus; cf. Artemas for Artemidorus, Zenas for Zenodorus (Tit 3:12, Tit 3:13), Olympas for Olympiodorus (Rom 16:15), and perhaps Lucas for Lucanus.

, …, i.e. the Church that assembled in their house. The same expression occurs, Rom 16:5 and 1Co 16:19, of the home of Prisca and Aquila at Rome and at Ephesus respectively; also Phm 1:2. Compare Act 12:12. Separate buildings for the purpose of Christian worship seem not to be traced earlier than the third century. Bingham, Antiq. viii. 1. 13, shows that special rooms were so set apart, but gives no instances of separate buildings. Probst (Kirchliche Disciplin, p. 181 f.) is referred to by Lightfoot as affording similar negative evidence. It is curious that Chrysostom understands the expression to refer only to the household of Nymphas. , .

is difficult. Afford, Lightfoot, al., understand it as referring to . Alford compares Xen. Mem. i. 2. 62, , which is clearly not parallel, for is one of a class, and all those belonging to that class. Lightfoot compares Xen. Anab. iii. 3. 7, () , …, and iv. 5. 33, , . These also are not parallel, since here, as in other languages, the force is called by the name of its commander. Hence Meyer says that the plural cannot without violence be referred to anything but the brethren in Laodicea and Nymphas. He thinks, then, that by these brethren is meant a Church distinct from that of Laodicea, but in filial relation to it, and meeting in the same house. Lightfoot also suggests (as an alternative to his first-mentioned view) that the brethren in Laodicea may refer to a family of Colossians settled in Laodicea.

The reading varies between , , and .

For the plural, A C P 5 9 17 23 34 39 47 73, Boh. (wrongly quoted by Tinch. al. for , see Lightfoot), Arab. (Leipz.), Euthalius (cod. Tisch.).

For are D G K L 37 (cod. Leic,) nearly all cursives, Goth., Chrys., Theodoret (expressly), Ambrosiaster.

For , B 672.

The Latin versions have the singular ejus, and so both Syriac. In the latter the gender would be indicated only by a point. The Pesh. is pointed inconsistently, making Nympha feminine (Numph) and the suffix (corresponding to or ) masculine. The Harclean, again, has the suffix feminine in the text, masculine in the margin. How the translator intended the proper name to be taken is uncertain; it may be either masc. or fem. Lightfoot thinks probably the latter. The Greek name is accented as feminine () in Bc and Euthalius (cod. Tisch.).

as a feminine name would be Doric, and the occurrence of such a form here is highly improbable. , then, is probably a correction suggested by this misunderstanding of . But it seems more probable that the scribe who made the correction had before him than . , again, might readily have been suggested to the mind of a copyist by his recollection of Rom 16:5 and 1Co 16:19 assisted by the occurrence of just before.

is adopted by Lachmann, Tregelles (margin), WH., v. Soden, Weiss. being accentuated accordingly.

, by Tischendorf, Alford, Meyer, Tregelles (text).

, by De Wette (who designates false and unmeaning), Ellicott.

16. . Obviously the present Epistle, as Rom 16:22, : 1Th 5:27, : 2Th 3:14, , these latter verses being of the nature of a postscript.

. Cf. Joh 11:37. , in the sense take care, is sometimes followed by , as in Herod. i. 8, : ib. 209, . So with , Xen. Cyrop. vi. 3. 18.

. See the similar direction 1Th 5:27, . . The present Ep. was to be read in the assembly of the Church, and a copy sent to Laodicea and similarly read there. Compare the address 2Co 1:1, which implies the sending of copies to neighbouring Churches.

. Chrysostom says that some understood this of a letter written from Laodicea to St. Paul. The SyriacPesh. also renders written from L.; and so Theodore Mops., Theodoret, and many others, including Beza, a Lapide, Estius, and some recent commentators. But why should St. Paul direct the Colossians to get from Laodicea the letter written to him, of which he could not assume even that the Laodiceans had retained a copy? and how would the letter of the Laodiceans edify the Colossians? Moreover, obviously implies that the Laodiceans were the receivers of the letter. Theophylact supposes the first Epistle to Timothy to be meant, which, according to the subscription, was written from Laodicea. This subscription, indeed, probably owes its origin to the theory, which was earlier than Theophylact, and appears in the margin of the Philoxenian Syriac. Other Epistles of St. Paul have been similarly said in some of the Versions to be written from Laodicea (see Lightfoot). It is fatal to all such hypotheses that St. Paul had not been at Laodicea before this time (2:1), and, even had he been there, had now been some time in prison, and therefore could not have written any letter recently from Laodicea.

These hypotheses are obviously founded on the error that . must mean the letter written from L. But this is not so. When the article with a preposition expresses a substantival notion, it is often proleptic, a construction which is called the attraction of prepositions (Jelf, 647), Thucyd, ii. 34, : iii. 22, : vi. 32, . Most of the instances, indeed, cited by Jelf, l.c., and others are with verbs implying motion, as in Luk 11:13, Luk 16:26.

Assuming, then, as certain that the Epistle was one written by St. Paul to Laodicea, we have three alternatives to choose from. First, there is extant an Epistle actually bearing the title To the Laodiceans. It is extant only in Latin, but must have been originally written in Greek. Of it Jerome says (Vir. Ill. 5): legunt quidam et ad Laodicenses, sed ab omnibus exploditur. It is, indeed, abundantly condemned by internal evidence. It is a mere cento of Pauline phrases put together with no definite connexion or purpose, and absolutely destitute of any local allusion, except in the last line, which is obviously borrowed from the verse before us, viz.: et facite legi Colosensibus et Colosensium vobis. As Erasmus truly and strikingly expresses it: nihil habet Pauli praeter voculas aliquot ex caeteris ejus epistolis mendicatas. Non est cujusvis hominis Paulinum pectus effingere. Tonat, fulgurat, meras flammas loquitur Paul s. At haec, praeterquam quod brevissima est (about as long as this ch. 4.), quam friget, quam jacet! Nullum argumentum efficacius persuaserit eam non esse Pauli quam ipsa epistola. It is found, however, in many copies of the Latin Bible from the sixth to the fifteenth century, and, as Lightfoot observes, for more than nine centuries it hovered about the doors of the sacred canon, without either finding admission or being peremptorily excluded, until at the revival of learning it was finally condemned on all sides. The Latin text of the Epistle will be found on p. 308. A full account of its history with a collation of the principal MSS., also a translation into Greek, will be found in Lightfoot.

Secondly, it may be a lost Epistle. We have no reason to question the possibility of St. Paul having written letters which have not come down to us (compare, perhaps, 1Co 5:9); but in the present case we may observe, first, that the Epistle referred to was one to which some importance was attached by St. Paul himself, so that he himself directs that it be read publicly in two distinct Churches (for the passage justifies us in assuming that it was publicly read in Laodicea as well as Colossae); and, secondly, that in consequence of this direction not only must it have been copied, but great publicity was, in fact, assured to it. The Epistle to Philemon, which was in itself unimportant, and private, was not allowed by the Colossians to be lost, how much less an important public letter? Again, we know of three Epistles sent at this time to Asia Minor, namely, those to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, and to Philemon. It is best not to assume a fourth unless we are compelled to do so, which it will be seen we are not. In any case it could hardly have been an Epistle addressed to the Laodiceans, since if it had been we should not have salutations to the Laodiceans in this Epistle, not to say that it would be called rather than .

The third alternative is that the Epistle is one of those that we possess under another title. As early as the fourth century the claim was put forward on the part of the Epistle to the Hebrews by Philastrius, apparently from conjecture only, and one or two modern writers have adopted the same hypothesis. But in spite of some partial coincidences, it is really impossible to suppose these two Epistles to have been written at the same time by the same author to the same neighbourhood.

The Epistle to Philemon has also been suggested, and Wieseler (Chronol. des Apost. Zeitalter, p. 450 ff.) speaks of this identification as scarcely open to doubt; but that Epistle is entirely private, and the delicacy of its appeal would be destroyed if St. Paul directed it to be read in public.

There remains the Epistle to the Ephesians, which we know to have been written about the same time as the Epistle to the Colossians, and conveyed by the same messenger, and which, on quite distinct grounds, is, with high probability, regarded as a circular letter (see Introduction).

. See that ye also read. It would be rather awkward to make this depend directly on . It may be taken independently, as in Gal 2:10, : 2Co 8:7, (Joh 9:3; 2Th 3:9; 1Jn 2:19 are not quite parallel).

is frequently used by classical writers in a similar manner. Here, however, as has just preceded followed by , it is perhaps more natural to understand before this , see that, taken out of by a sort of zeugma.

17. . Archippus, called by St. Paul his (Phm 1:2), was probably a son of Philemon, and a leading presbyter at Colossae (to suppose him to be a regular bishop would be an anachronism), or perhaps an evangelist (Eph 4:11). Lightfoot thinks it more probable that he resided at Laodicea (of which place the Apostolic Constitutions make him bishop), and accounts thus for St. Paul not addressing him directly. Contrast the direct address, Php 4:3. But there the request addressed to the true yokefellow is a special one; here it is general, and the form adopted gives it an official character which is natural and suitable; in fact, a direct address would have the appearance of harshness and discourtesy to the Colossians, and this the more the greater the authority he possessed. Would not this be the impression inevitably produced, if after animadverting on the heretical teaching in Colossae, the apostle had added, and thou, see that thou fulfil thy office?

, look to; compare 1Co 1:26, : 10:18, . In Php 3:2, , …, the idea is of being on ones watch (against).

. Clearly some office more important than the diaconate, properly so called, is intended here. So 2Ti 4:5, : compare Act 12:25, (of a special mission to Jerusalem).

. The qualification probably belongs both to the person and to the reception of the office; as living in the Lord, he received it, and he received it as committed to him in the service of the Lord.

. For the construction, compare 2Jn 1:8 and for the sense, 2Ti 4:5 quoted above.

The admonition reminds us, indeed, of the admonitions to Timothy and Titus. If Archippus was a young man, and recently appointed to his office, it would be a natural reminder of its greatness and its difficulty; and there is no need to suppose that a covert censure on his previous laxity is implied.

18. = 1Co 16:21; 2Th 3:17. In the latter passage St. Paul states that this was his usual custom.

. An appeal, touching in its brevity, and one which could not proceed from an imitator. He does not ask specially for their prayers, their sympathy, that they should spare him further anxiety, or the like; but all these are included in the request that they were ever to keep before them the fact that one who so deeply cared for them, and loved them, and to whom their perils of the doctrine occasioned such anxiety, was a prisoner in chains, Afford; who adds, when we read of his chains we should not forget that they moved over the paper as he wrote. His hand was chained to the soldier that kept him. This circumstance perhaps explains the singular abruptness of the request.

. This short form of benediction is used also in 1Ti 6:21 and 2Ti 4:22. used thus absolutely occurs only in the later Epistles. In the earlier it is defined by the addition of [] [].

is added in c D K L P and most MSS., d e f Vulg., Goth., Syr. (both), Boh., etc.

Omitted in * A B C F G 17 672, g al.

For the subscription, A B C D G L P al. have (or , Bcor D F G L P, etc.), to which A Bo add ( ), and so Syr. (both); but Boh. has scripta Athenis.

Some later authorities, K L and many cursives, add . For other varieties and additions, see Tischnendorf.

Here follows the text of the spurious Epistle from a MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.

—-

AD LAODICENSES

Paulus Apostolus non ab hominibus neque per hominem; sed per Jhesum Christum fratribus qui sunt Laodicie. Gratia vobis et pax a Deo patre nostro et Domino Jhesu Christo.

Gratias ago Deo meo per omnem orationem meam quod permanentes estis in eo et perseverantes in operibus eius, promissum expectantes in die iudicii. Neque destituant vos quorundam vaniloquia insinuantium, ut vos avertant a veritate evangelii quod a me praedicatur etsi faciet Deus ut qui sunt ex me ad perfectum veritatis evangelii et servientes et facientes benignitatem operum salutis vite eterne. Et nunc palam sunt vobis vincla mea quae patior in Christo quibus laetor et gaudeo et hoc mihi est ad salutem perpetuam quod ipsum factum orationibus vestris et administrante Spiritu Sancto, sive per vitam sive per mortem, est enim michi vivere vita in Christo et mori gaudium et in id ipsum vobis faciet misericordiam. suam ut eandem dilectionem habeatis et sitis unanimes. Ergo dilectissimi ut audistis praesentia mei, ita retinete et facite in timore Dei et erit vobis vita eterna, est enim Deus qui operatur in vobis et facite sine retractu quecumque facitis et quod est [reliquum] dilectissimi gaudete in Christo et praecavete sordidos in lucro. Omnes sint petitiones vestre palam apud Deum et estote firmi in sensu Christi et quae integra sunt et vera et pudica et iusta et amabilia facite, et quae audistis et accepistis in corde retinete et erat [sic] vobis pax. Salutant vos sancti. Gratia Domini nostri Jhesu cum spiritu vestro. Et facite legi epistolam colosencium vobis.

Boh Bohairic. Cited by Tisch. as Coptic, by Tregelles as Memphitic, by WH. as me.

Arm Armenian.

Eth Ethiopic.

Tisch. Tischendorf.

Syr-Harcl. The Harclean Syriac.

WH Westcott and Hort.

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

Home and Business Relations

Col 3:18-25; Col 4:1

From these high flights into the eternal and divine, Paul turns to the daily duties of the home, and demands that in the simplest domestic concerns the disciple should ever keep in mind the high claims of Christ. No act of life can be left outside the sacred enclosure of His everlasting love. As the moon affects the tides around the world, even in the smallest indentations of the coast, so must the power of Christs resurrection make itself felt in the behavior of the servant and the child.

It is especially beautiful to notice the Apostles constant reference to the bond-slaves who formed so important an element in the early Church. There they learned that in Christ all souls were free, and that in Him also master and slave were brethren. Stealing out at night from the arduous labors of his lot, many a poor slave would return with new conceptions of his daily tasks, to be applied to the service rendered to his Lord. No angel in heavens high temple has more definite service to the King than any honest and industrious servant may daily render to Jesus. Here is the dignity of labor indeed! And, masters, remember your Master.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

It is unfortunate that the chapter break comes just where it does. It would seem far more suitable to close chapter 3 with the next verse, and let chapter 4 begin with verse 2, for it is evident that verse 1 concludes this particular section. It is a message to those in authority: Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. In every instance it is to the new man He speaks. Ungodly masters could not be expected to take heed to such an admonition as this, but it is addressed to one who, while master in his relationship to his servants, is himself but a servant to his own Master in heaven. He may well give heed to what is here so impressively urged upon him. He is to treat his servants as he would have the Lord treat him. He is to be characterized by fairness, giving to those beneath him that which is just and equal, knowing that all the time his heavenly Master is looking on. When he comes to give account of his service, his relations to those who on earth served under him will all be carefully gone into, when everything will be brought to light.

What marvelous principles are these which we have seen so simply stated. Only one who knows something of the conditions prevailing in the Roman Empire at the time this letter was written can realize how revolutionary they were. In those days, wives, children, and slaves had practically no standing before the law, except as husbands, fathers, or masters might desire to recognize them. But this glorious truth of the new man, this blessed unfolding of the new creation, tinged with glory every earthly relationship in which the Christian was found. It is like the blue border upon the hem of the pious Israelites garment. Even on the lower edge where that long flowing robe came most nearly in contact with the earth, this ribbon of blue was seen. Blue, as we well know, is the heavenly color. The Israelite was to look upon it and remember that he had owned the Lord to be his God, He who had said, Be ye holy; for I am holy. As he looked upon the ribbon of blue he was to remember his responsibility to honor and to glorify the God of heaven in his life on the earth. We as Christians are to manifest the heavenly character in every lawful relationship which God has established during the present order of things for the blessing of mankind.

There is a story told of one of the Dauphins of France who had an English tutor. This teacher found his princely pupil very difficult to handle. Proud and haughty, and impatient of restraint, the young man submitted unwillingly to schoolroom restrictions and his foreign instructor was often at his wits end how to deal with him. One morning as his pupil came to him, the tutor placed upon the lapel of his jacket a purple rosette, saying to him, This is the royal color. As you wear it I want you to remember that you are the Crown Prince of France, and that it is incumbent upon you ever to behave in a princely way. If you are willful or disobedient I shall, of course, not attempt to punish you, as that is not in my province. But I shall simply point to the purple, and you will understand what I mean, that I do not feel your behavior is worthy of a princely lad. The appeal to the purple! How striking the suggestion. May we not say that to us there is a similar appeal, but, to use the Old Testament picture, it is the appeal to the blue! Wives, husbands, children, fathers, masters, and servants, are all alike called upon to manifest the holiness of heaven, to display the heavenly character, even in earthly relationships.

It is in just such things as these that the power of the new life is wonderfully manifested. Holding the Head is not merely maintaining ecclesiastical truth, but it is shown forth in a holy, godly life-in subjection of heart and mind to Christ, and never more fully than in the way we live in the family, and in connection with business and social responsibilities.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Col 4:5

Without and Within.

This is, of course, an expression for the non-Christian world; the outsiders who are beyond the pale of the Church. There was a very broad line of distinction between it and the surrounding world in the early Christian days, and the handful of Christians in a heathen country felt a great gulf between them and the society in which they lived. That distinction varies in form, and varies somewhat in apparent magnitude according as Christianity has been rooted in a country for a longer or a shorter time; but it remains, and is as real today as ever it was, and there is neither wisdom nor kindness in ignoring the distinction.

I. Who are they that are without? And what is it that they are outside of? The phrase was apparently borrowed from Judaism, where it meant “outside the Jewish congregation,” and its primary application, as used here, is no doubt to those who are outside the Christian Church. But we must remember that connection with any organised body of believing men is not being “within,” and that isolation from all these is not necessarily being “without.” External relationships and rites cannot determine spiritual conditions. The kingdom of Christ is not a visible external community. The kingdom of Christ, or of God, or of heaven, is found wherever human wills obey the law of Christ, which is the will of God, the decrees of heaven. “Those that are without” are those whose wills are not bent in loving obedience to the Lord of their spirits.

II. Notice next the force of the phrase as implying the woeful condition of those without. It is full of pathos. It is the language of a man whose heart yearns as, in the midst of his own security, he thinks of the houseless wanderers in the dark of the storm. He thinks pityingly of what they lose, and of that to which they are exposed.

III. Lastly, why is anybody without? It is no fault but their own. It is not God’s. He can appeal with clean hands, and ask us to judge what more could He have done for His vineyard that He has not done for it. (1) Many remain outside because they do not really believe in the danger. (2) There are some, too, who stop outside because they do not much care for the entertainment that they will get within. It does not strike them as being very desirable. They have no appetite for it. We preachers seek to draw hearts to Jesus by many motives, and among others by setting forth the blessings which He bestows. But if a man does not care about pardon, does not fear judgment, does not want to be good, has no taste for righteousness, is not attracted by the pure and calm pleasures which Christ offers, the invitation falls flat on his ear. (3) Some of us, again, would like well enough to be inside if that would keep us from dangers which we believe to be real, but we do not like the doorway; we do not like to fall on our knees and say, “I am a sinful man, O Lord.” There was room in the boat for the last man who stood on the deck, but he could not make up his mind to leave a bag of gold. There was no room for that. Therefore he would not leap, and went down with the ship.

A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, April 30th, 1885.

Reference: Col 4:5.-J. N. Norton, The King’s Ferry Boat, p. no.

Col 4:14

(with 2Ti 4:9-11)

I. St. Luke was a physician. After a while he becomes a Christian physician. He becomes a physician to the souls as well as to the bodies of his fellow-men. And years after he had laboured for his Lord and Master by preaching the Gospel, and by his ministrations to the churches, St. Paul, whose great infirmities he doubtless had from time to time relieved, speaks of him as the beloved physician. It seems to me that in a Christian community, no one can be a physician in the fullest sense of the word, no one can have it in his power to minister to his ailing brothers and sisters with the utmost efficacy, unless he is a Christian. We require, in a physician, one who is able to deal both with the outward mechanism of our bodies, and to play upon the invisible chords of the spirit, which, as they vibrate harmoniously or discordantly, determine whether order or disorder shall prevail in the sphere of our spiritual nature. We require, indeed, that our physicians shall be large-hearted, sympathetic, Christian men.

II. But our affection and love go out to St. Luke, not only because he was the beloved physician and the beloved friend of the Apostle Paul, but also because he was an Evangelist. We have his writings enshrined in our Church’s sacred Book. The only Gospel hymns which the Church possesses are those which St. Luke has preserved for us. The hymn of the Baptist’s father, the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Song of Simeon-these are treasures which St. Luke has stored up for us in his holy Gospel.

III. The title “beloved physician” is St. Luke’s for evermore. It is his title still. He is not severed from us. Heaven is no distant land, but lies all about the Lord’s faithful ones. He who was once so true and faithful a servant of the Divine Physician of souls is a true and faithful servant now. He would not desire an idle and useless existence. He is glad to be one of those sent forth as ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation.

H. N. Grimley, Tremadoc Sermons, p. 55.

References: Col 4:11.-E. W. Benson, Three Sermons, p. 1. Col 4:14.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 216; Homiletic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 9; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ix., p. 148; F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. ii., p. 270; J. Sherman, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 472. Col 4:17.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 144; F. E. Paget, Sermons for Special Occasions, p. 141; R. W. Dale, Discourses on Special Occasions, p. 324.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

give: Lev 19:13, Lev 25:39-43, Deu 15:12-15, Deu 24:14, Deu 24:15, Neh 5:5-13, Job 24:11, Job 24:12, Job 31:13-15, Isa 58:3, Isa 58:5-9, Jer 34:9-17, Mal 3:5, Jam 2:13, Jam 5:4

ye: Ecc 5:8, Mat 23:8, Mat 23:9, Mat 24:48-51, Luk 16:1-13, Luk 19:15, Eph 6:8, Eph 6:9-20, Rev 17:14, Rev 19:16

Reciprocal: Exo 21:26 – General Lev 25:43 – rule Deu 15:13 – General Mat 8:6 – my Mat 20:4 – and whatsoever Mar 13:34 – and to Luk 7:2 – who Rom 6:4 – even Rom 12:11 – serving Col 3:25 – and Col 4:12 – that 1Ti 6:2 – believing

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

RULES FOR MASTERS

Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

Col 4:1

St. Paul does not seem to go much into detail here, for he sums up in two words the masters duty, but what a wealth of meaning, what a mine of suggestive thought, do those two words contain. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, he says, and then follows the same reminder for master as for servant, ye also have a Master in heaven.

With very few exceptions, wherever one goes one hears the same complaint about servants. They are idle, or shiftless, or untrustworthy, or ill-tempered, or selfish. Mistresses of households speak especially as though their servants were almost the chief trouble of their lives. Now I am not going to meet all this with a direct denial. Our servants are very much what we make them. Have you ever tried Gods way with your servants? Have you ever thought of giving to your servants that which is just and equal?

Let us face this matter out.

I. God bids you be just to your servants.I suppose that means that you should do by them what you would have them do by you. God bids you give to them that which is equal. By that he surely means this: Give them fair play. These are the words of God the Holy Ghost, and so define an essential part of the duties of practical Christianity. Women of refinement and much kindly feeling, not at all destitute of sympathy for others, sometimes speak of their servants as though they were creatures of an inferior race. The family take their pleasure frequently, but they never share it with the servants. The family meals are luxurious, the servants table is meagre. They must work on until midnight, and then be the first to rise, and if, exhausted by fatigue, they are late, they are scolded sharply. If the mistress of the house or one of the children is a little out of sorts, every one is alarmed, and the doctor is sent for at once; but who cares for the poor servants headache or prostration? And then when, worn out by overwork, illness really fastens upon her, a cab is fetched, and she is sent to her home or to the hospital, and if she dies, who cares? O my brothers and sisters, she is our sister too. Is this giving unto her that which is just and equal? To say nothing of the sin and shame of it all, for which God will surely judge you, how can you expect your servants to treat you other than you treat them?

II. We may have good servants still if we will do as God bids us do, and be Christ-like masters and mistresses.In all ranks of society there are the worthless and the undeserving, but these are few, after all. God says to you, O woman, use your servant well. Dont give her the worst bedroom in the house with the paper hanging in damp strips from the walls. Give her wholesome food and sufficient rest, and fresh air now and then, not under cover of the night, but in the light of day. See that pleasant books are not beyond her reach. Make your children pay her, in due degree, the respect they pay to others. When she ails give her the simple remedies you use in the family. If she falls ill and your house is large enough, dont turn her from your door, but nurse her at home. Be a mother to her. Pray for her. Try to help her in the path of life. Stay home from Holy Communion sometimes that she may kneel at the altar of God, and receive the strength and grace you so deeply prize. Make her one of yourselves. Share your life with her. O man, care for your labourer. See that he has a cottage fit to live in and a fair wage. Encourage him and his with kindly words, sympathise with them if sickness comes to them. Treat him as your fellow. Men and women, give unto your servants that which is just and equal. Only fulfil the will of God and your special difficulties about servants will vanish.

III. How many blessings have come to us through keeping Gods rule which otherwise we should have missed, just as Naamans leprosy would never have left him had not his wife been a gentle, loving mistress to the little Hebrew maid; just as no blessing would have come to the Centurion had he not loved his poor suffering servant. Has not God heaped blessings upon us by the hands of these same servants by whom we have striven to do His willkindnesses and thoughtfulness in health, and such goodness when we have been ill, as they have watched by us through the long hours and borne with us in our fretfulness and soothed us with gentle words? If some of you have never known servants like these, go home and begin to try Gods plan, and it will not be long before you, too, shall be blessed in your deed. You may not always succeed, for there are still the unthankful and the evil amongst servants as there are amongst those they serve, but you will not fail in the long run if, asking Gods blessing, you persevere.

Rev. S. Pascoe.

Illustration

There are as many true and faithful servants in the world as ever there were, but they are the servants of kind and sympathising employers. Dean Ramsay has told us of one such who lived in one family all her life, and who, when, at a great age, she lay at the point of death, sent for her master, who was a few years her junior, and told him she had one last request to make which she begged him not to deny her: When I am carried to the kirkyard, she said, let them put my body so that when you are buried there I may lie at your feet. Who would not love to have a servant like that?

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Chapter 4

THE apostle now passes to more general admonitions. But he places prayer in front, and he delights to contemplate it as the ladder which connects earth with heaven, by which the soul rises to highest communion, and spiritual blessings, like descending angels, come down to our world.

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

IN THE THIRD case, that of the masters, the prominent thought is not that of love but of righteousness. Every Christian master should be continually asking himself in regard to his servants, What is just? What is fair? And further he is to remember that he himself is a servant with his Master in the heavens-a Master who has laid it down that, With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Here, then, are six items of instruction which if obeyed would go far towards producing a heaven upon earth. Family discord and industrial discord would be a thing of the past! But the point here is that we, believers, should anticipate the blessedness of the millennial day, and carry out Gods will in our several relationships, while waiting for the day when Gods will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Verses Col 4:2-6 of chapter 4 bring us back to exhortations of a more general sort; first as regards prayer, then as regards the relations of the believer with the unconverted.

We are to pray, and not only so but to persevere in it, and to watch Gods dealings that we may not miss His answers to our requests, nor fail to render thanks to Him for grace received. Moreover our prayers are not to be mainly of a personal or even selfish nature. Paul urged the Colossians to intercession on his behalf, that he might make manifest that mystery of Christ to which he had alluded in the epistle. He wanted them to be intercessors on behalf of the work of God, and thus taking a share in the conflict connected with it.

We are very, very weak today in this matter of prayer. Modern life is organized on the principle of rush, and prayer gets crowded out all too often. Again, what about persevering? When we deeply desire a thing we do persevere, but how often are we creatures of very shallow desires! Our sympathies are called forth on some point and we join in a prayer-but that is the end of it! We soon forget and there is no perseverance.

In verse Col 4:5 the unconverted are spoken of as them that are without. There are those within the Christian circle and those without it, and it is very important that we should be right in our relations with those without. We are set in a place of testimony in regard to them. First our general behaviour towards them is to be marked by wisdom. That being so we are sure to have opportunities for witnessing which we are to redeem by seizing them as they present themselves.

It is one thing, however, to seize an opportunity, and another to use it to best advantage. Words not fitly spoken are often more to be deplored than no word being spoken at all. Our words are to be always with grace. Never are we to descend to the censorious, or the bitter, or the cutting remark. But then on the other hand our words, while full of grace, are not to aim at merely pleasing men. They are to be seasoned with that which salt represents-the pungent quality of truth. Grace and truth were found in our Lord and they should mark those who are His, even characterizing their words.

The standard here set is a very lofty one. We come far short of attaining to it. Yet let us not lower the standard in our minds. Let us maintain it at its full height as seen in Christ, and let us press on toward it.

With verse Col 4:7 the closing messages and salutations begin. They present many points of interest. Tychicus, of whom the Apostle writes so warmly, was evidently to be the bearer of this letter to the Colossians. Onesimus, who is called a faithful and beloved brother, was the run-away slave with whom the epistle to Philemon is concerned. What but the grace of God can turn a defaulting and absconding slave into a faithful and beloved brother in Christ? So Tychicus carried the letter to the Colossians and Onesimus the letter to Philemon when they travelled to Colosse together. Philemon does not appear in our chapter, as is natural, seeing there was the special letter for him. But Archippus appears in both letters.

At the time of writing Paul had with him Aristarchus, Mark and Justus. He was able to speak of each of them in high terms as workers for the Kingdom and as a comfort to himself. It is most encouraging to find Mark mentioned in this way since the glimpses we have of him in the Acts are so unpromising. It shows how one who was a failure at the beginning of his service was yet thoroughly recovered to complete usefulness. So much so that he eventually became the writer of the second Gospel which specially portrays the Lord as the perfect Servant. An illustration, this, of how the power of God can ultimately make us strongest in that very thing wherein at first we were weakest.

Epaphras also was with Paul but he was one of you, that is, a Colossian, and so not of the circumcision. Separated as he was from his own people he yet had a great zeal for them and he was fervently labouring on their behalf. This labour was accomplished in prayer.

Prayer, you see, is labour: or rather, it may be labour. Epaphras carried it to such a point that it was truly labour for him, and continued labour too, since Paul bears witness that it was always his practice. The word translated labouring really means striving or combatting. Epaphras though absent from his friends was engaged in a real prayer combat on their behalf, the object of which was that they might stand in the will of God, perfect and complete.

It is a great thing to have a full knowledge of the will of God; that the Apostle desired for the Colossians in Col 1:9. It is a greater thing to stand perfect and complete in that will. Standing in it implies that we are subject to it and characterized by it, according to that which is said in Col 1:10. It is evident that the desires and prayers of Epaphras, for the saints of Colosse and neighbourhood, ran exactly parallel with the prayers of Paul for them.

Laodicea was in the neighbourhood. It is mentioned in Col 2:1, as well as three times in our chapter. The very name has a sad sound about it in view of what the Lord has to say to this church in Rev 3:14-22. In spite of the prayers and conflict on their behalf of a Paul and an Epaphras, in spite of the circulation of Apostolic epistles in their midst, it fell to the lowest depths. The epistle from Laodicea, was no doubt an epistle which just at that time was being circulated from assembly to assembly.

This epistle to the Colossians and the Laodiceans sets forth exactly that truth which, had it been heeded by the Laodiceans, would have preserved them. It sets forth the glory of Christ, the Head of His church. It exhorts them to hold the Head. Alas! they heeded it not; and the epistle to them sent from Patmos reveals them as supremely self-satisfied, and Christ, their Head, entirely outside their door.

We are, as regards the flesh, no better than they. So let us take to heart the warning with which they furnish us.

Let us also accept the word of admonition given to Archippus as applicable to ourselves. Has the Lord given a service to you? Then take good heed to perform it, however insignificant it may appear to be. Non-fulfilment of the service means laziness, which at once opens the door to decline and spiritual disaster. Nothing can preserve us but that grace, which is the closing word of the epistle.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Col 4:1. Masters who become disciples were under the authority of Christ as well as were their servants, hence were given instructions as to the proper treatment to be accorded them. Just and equal means they should furnish their servants with such wages as their labor deserved and their needs required. Remembering that they have a Master in heaven should prevent them from being unduly severe with their own servants, and cause them not to withhold from them their just dues.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Col 4:1. Masters. See Eph 6:9.

Give (supply on your part) unto your servants that which is just and equal; lit, the equality. The latter word may suggest the thought of equality as brethren in Christ, since Christian motives are advanced throughout. But associated with just, the reference seems to be to equity, to fair, impartial treatment. The other explanation would limit the application to Christian slaves. In any case the justice and equity are those of Gods law, not the narrower conceptions of human jurisprudence. Oppression is most severe, when it is legal.

A master in heaven; evidently Christ, the Lord. The recognition of Christ as Master is the fundamental principle in Christian social science.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Our apostle concluded the foregoing chapter with an exhortation to servants, to discharge their duty with all fidelity to their masters, remembering, that whatever wrong is done by them, shall, sooner or later, be revenged by God; he begins this chapter with advice to masters, to give unto their servants that which is just and equal; that which is just, or that which is according to compact and agreement, either explicitly or implicitly made; as work, wages, food, cloathing, and all fitting accommodations; also that which is faithfully, to serve their masters cheerfully, not exercising a magisterial, much less a tyrannical power over them; and the argument to enforce it is strong, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven; remembering they have one above them, from whom they must expect the like.

Learn hence, That justice is to be observed towards poor servants, and that there are several offices of humanity and charity which are due unto them by the command of God:

Such are these, 1. That we look upon them not barely as servants, but as brethren, partakers of the same common nature, and capable of the same grace with ourselves, consequently not to treat them as vile persons.

2. That we wink at some of their miscarriages which are not apparently sinful, and do not punish every transgression committed by them: He must keep no servant that will have a servant with no faults.

3. That we do not rule with rigour, without giving some reason for what commands seem hard and difficult, and that we permit them to plead their cause, and to defend their right, provided they do it with humility, no contradicting, or refusing to execute the command of their master.

4. That to well-deserving servants we give something above their wages, allowing them all fitting encouragement whilst they are with us; and when they go away, not suffering them to go empty from us. Thus doing, masters will give unto their servants that which is just and equal: But how ordinary is it for them that are a little above others, to forget there is one above them?

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Instructions for Servants and Masters

Paul has been criticized by some for not openly condemning slavery. However, the instructions he gave to slave and master must have hastened that terrible system’s end. If a servant wanted to please the Lord, he would obey his master and do his work so as to be acceptable in God’s sight. Pleasing God can only be accomplished by doing things right through and through and not merely on the surface. Such service would quickly attract the master’s attention and might cause him to ask what was different about the slave.

Because Christians wear the name of Christ, they should give their very best in service. Everything believers do should first be done to please the Lord. Men might fail to give a proper reward for things one does but God will always reward appropriately. In Paul’s day, slaves could not receive an inheritance. In Christ, one is not a slave but a son and is thus eligible for an inheritance in heaven ( Gal 4:7 ). God’s children serve Christ Jesus and He will not have them go unrewarded.

Whether slave or master, the one who violates Christ’s law will be rewarded with punishment. God is impartial and will reward each according to his deeds ( Gal 6:7-8 ). Masters of slaves needed to remember that they had a Master in heaven. That Master will judge them in the same manner they have judged their slaves ( Col 3:22-25 ; Col 4:1 ; Mat 7:1-2 ; Eph 6:8-9 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Col 4:1. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just Namely, competent food, Pro 31:15; wages, Jas 5:4; and suitable work, neither too much, Pro 12:10, nor too little, Pro 29:21; and equal Or equitable, distinguishing the most faithful among them by particular rewards. See on Eph 6:9.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Colossians Chapter 4

It will be observed how the apostle consequently introduces Christ into them, and especially in regard to those who are subject in them, wives and children; in order to sanctify, by so exalted a motive, the obediencesuited to their position. He does this still more where the tie is not of nature but one which has its origin in a sinful world-and from sin itself-that between slaves and their masters. Grace does not set itself to change the state of the world and of society, but to lead souls to heaven by renewing them after the image of God. I doubt not that it has very much altered for the better the social condition of man; because, through bringing the conscience immediately before the only true God whom it has revealed in His own perfections, and establishing by its authority that of the natural relationships in the human family, grace has had its effect upon that conscience even where the heart was not converted, and has furnished it with a rule in that which regards morality. But Christianity, as to its own doctrine, treats the world as alienated from God, and lying in evil-man as the child of wrath, and lost.

Christ, the Son of God (who if He had been received could have put all things right, and who will hereafter by His kingdom establish righteousness and peace), was rejected by the world, and the friendship of the world is enmity against God. The state of man is treated in the gospel in a deeper way than in regard to his social condition. It is viewed with reference to the souls connection with God, and consequently with that which is eternal. God imparts a new life unto us, in order that we may enjoy those new relationships with Himself which redemption has gained for us. Now as Christ, while living, was the expression of the love and the omnipotent goodness of God in the midst of a fallen creation, so, being now rejected by the world (which thus condemned itself), Christ, who dwells by His grace in the heart of one who has received life, becomes to that heart a source of happiness in communion with the love of God, which lifts it up and sets it above circumstances, be they what they may. The slave, in possessing Christ, is free in heart; he is the freed man of God Himself. The master knows that he himself has a Master, and the relationship in which he finds himself takes the form of the grace and love that reigns in the heart of him who in it exercises his authority.

But, as I have said, to the poor slave Christ is especially presented as a resource. He may serve his master, whether a good or bad one, with faithfulness, meekness, and devotedness; because in so doing he serves the Lord Himself, and is conscious that he does so. He will have his reward there where nothing is forgotten that is done to glorify Christ, and where masters and slaves are all before Him who has no respect of persons.

Two principles act in the heart of the Christian slave: his conscience in all his conduct is before God; the fear of God governs him, and not his masters eye. And he is conscious of his relationship to Christ, of the presence of Christ, which sustains and lifts him above everything. It is a secret which nothing can take from him, and which has power over everything because it is within and on high-Christ in him, the hope of glory. Yes, how admirably does the know ledge of Christ exalt everything that it pervades; and with what consoling power does it descend into all that is desolate and cast down, all that groans, all that is humbled in this world of sin!

Three times in these two verses, while holding their conscience in the presence of God the apostle brings in the Lord, the Lord Christ, to fill the hearts of these poor slaves, and make them feel who it was to whom they rendered service. Such is Christianity.

The apostle ends his epistle with some important general exhortations.

He desires that the saints should continue through prayer in communion with God, and in the sense of their dependence on Him, conscious of His nearness to them, and of His readiness to hear them. For that which speaks to the heart for our walk is not enough; the soul must know its own relations with God exercising itself in those relations; and it must receive directly from Him that which assures it of His love. There must be perseverance in this. We are in conflict with evil, which has a hold upon our own hearts if we are without the strength of God. We must therefore commune with God. We must watch therein with settled purpose of heart, not merely as an occasional thing: any one can cry out when he is in need. But the heart separated from the world and all that is of it occupies itself with God, with all that regards the glory of His name, according to the measure in which we are concerned in it. The conflict is carried on with a tender and freed spirit, having only His glory as the object, both in the assembly and in the individual walk. But thus one understands that God works and that He does not forsake us, and thanksgiving is always mingled with the prayers we address to Him.

Paul felt his dependence on this blessing, and he asked for a share also in their prayers, that God might open his mouth, and that he might proclaim the gospel as he ought to do.

Now we are in a hostile world, in which hostility is easily awakened where it does not already exist openly, and in which offence is quickly taken at things wherein perhaps we neither saw nor intended evil. We must take away the occasion even from those that seek it, and walk in wisdom with respect to them that are without.

How clearly the within and the without are here distinguished! Those within, whom God acknowledges, His family, His assembly-they are His own. Those without, they are the world, those who are not joined to the Lord. The distinction is plainly marked, but love is active towards them that are without, and, being itself in the enjoyment of communion with God, it is careful to do nothing that might prevent others from enjoying it.

But there was something more: they were to redeem the time. The natural man, taken up with his own affairs, and disinclined to serious things, gave Christian love little opportunity to set grace and truth before him and make him care for his own soul, thus serving the Lord and using time in His name. The heart of man cannot always escape the influence of surrounding circumstances, which bear witness to his heart and conscience that he is under the dominion of sin, and already eating its bitter fruits here below- circumstances which bring to his conscience the remembrance of a too-much forgotten God, which speak with the mighty voice of sorrow to a broken heart, glad at least to have a resource in God when his hand is pierced by the broken reed on which he leaned. God Himself acts upon man by these circumstances, and by every circumstance of life. One who is walking with the Lord knows how to avail himself of them. Satan may indeed deceive a man, but he cannot prevent God at all times from speaking to the heart. It is a happy thing so to walk with God that He can use us as His voice, when He would thus speak to poor sinners. Our speech ought always to be the expression of the separation from evil, this power of the presence of God which keeps us inwardly apart from it, so as to make that power felt by others; and that, in all the questionings which arise in the heart of man, wandering out of the way in confusion and darkness, and even leading others astray thereby, we may know how to give an answer which comes from the light and conveys light.

Tychicus was to carry the testimony of the interest which the apostle took in the welfare of the Colossians, and of his confidence in their interest in him, Paul bears witness to the love of others, and to their concern also in the progress of the gospel and the prosperity of the faithful.

Marcus, who had formerly drawn back from the toils of the work, receives a testimony here on the apostles part and a still better one later (2Ti 4:11), forhe had made himself useful to the apostles himself. Such is grace, The secret of the interest Barnabas took in him comes out here: he was nearly related to him, This dear servant of God was from Cyprus too. He went there and took Mark with him, The flesh and Judaism find their way everywhere. The poser of the Spirit of God is requisite to raise us above, and set us beyond, their influence.

Demas receives no especial testimony. The apostle conveys his greetings, but is silent as to himself. Only in the Epistle to Philemon is he named as a fellow-laborer of the apostle. Afterwards he forsook Paul. He was a brother: the apostles admits his claim but says nothing; had had nothing to say. And Demas, for Pauls style is terribly cold.

We may observe that the Epistle to the Ephesians was written at the same time, and sent by this same Tychicus. The one from Laodecia is, I doubt not, one that they were to receive from that assembly, written by Paul, and by which the saints at Colosse were to profit; possibly the Epistle to the Ephesians, which he may have had communicated to the Laodiceans. Be this as it may, all that is said is that it was one of which the assembly at Laodicea were in possession and by no means that it was directly addressed to them; rather the contrary. It is very possible that a letter, or a hundred letters, may have been written by Paul to others, which it was not in the purposes of God to preserve for the universal assembly: but here there is no proof that a letter had been written to the Laodecians. Tychicus was the bearer of two; he may have been the bearer of three, one of which differed only in some details of application which might serve to confirm the Colossians without being in the main another Divine communication for other days; but, I repeat, it does not appear to be so from that which is said here. It might be said, a letter from Laodicea, because it was there instead of a letter to Laodicea; but it is not the usual mode of expression. We have seen that the letter to the Ephesians is another communication of the Spirit of God. It has been preserved for us. We do not know whether that from Laodicea was the same communicated by them to the Christians of that city; or another, which they were to send to the Colossians (an assembly in their vicinity), and which-adding nothing to the divine relations-has not been preserved for us.

It appears that Christians were not very numerous at Laodicea. The apostle salutes the brethren there. There were some who assembled in the house of one Nymphas; they were not in a case to have a letter addressed to them in particular: still the apostle does not forget them. But that which he says here is an almost certain proof that the apostle had not addressed any epistle to them. He would not have sent greetings through the Colossians to the brethren in Laodicea, if at the same time he had written a special epistle to the latter. The case is plain enough: there were brethren at Laodicea, but not in great numbers and not in that distinct position which gave rise to an epistle. But this little assembly in the house of Nymphas was not to be forgotten; it should profit by the epistles addressed to other assemblies more considerable than itself, and whose condition required an epistle, or gave occasion to write one, which epistles were transmitted to Laodicea, according to the apostles order.

With regard to the Epistle to the Colossians, it is not a supposition. The apostle commands them expressly to have it read in the assembly at Laodicea. The latter had also received another epistle from some other assembly, and the Colossians were to profit by it in the same manner. The two assemblies, which were near each other, were mutually to enjoy the spiritual favors that were granted them.

The apostle does not forget individuals even. Archippus receives a solemn exhortation to take heed to the ministry which the Lord had committed to him, and to fulfill his service. The apostle had not seen these assemblies. (Col 2:1)

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

ARGUMENT 17

TREATMENT OF THE WORLD

1,2. Persevere in prayer, watching in the same with thanksgiving. Constancy in the spirit of prayer is an infallible fortification against all surprises and sudden assaults of the enemy.

3,4. We do not pray enough. We should pray for the Lords true people, pressing his war against Satan in all the earth, incessantly and importunately.

5. Walk about in wisdom toward outsiders, buying in the opportunity.

6. Let your word be always in grace, seasoned with salt, to know how it behooveth us to answer each one. The salt in the ocean is the savor of the physical world. It the oceanic waters were fresh, they would stagnate, generate malaria in so vast quantities as to inundate the continents with pestilential atmosphere, so fraught with malarial poison as to kill every human being and every air-breathing animal on the face of the whole earth, and literally depopulate the globe, speedily bringing an end to the world, whitening all lands with the bones of dead animals, and turning the world into a graveyard. O how powerful the metaphor, Ye are the salt of the earth! From these statements of Paul and Jesus we see the wholesale putrefaction of the spiritual world. Since the saints are the spiritual salt and the hope of earths dying millions, we should do our best to salt as many souls as possible, buying in the opportunity; i.e., seizing every fleeting moment to scatter the salt to the ends of the earth, not wasting it in the mud, but bringing it in contact with never dying souls.

7-9. This letter, along with that to the Ephesians and Philemon, was carried by Tychicus and Onesimus, who enjoyed the honor of visiting those Churches, bearing the news from Paul, and comforting their hearts.

10. Aristarchus, Pauls Asiatic comrade, sticks to him during his Roman imprisonment, a faithful helper in his gospel work. Here Paul also commends to them Mark, a nephew of Barnabas, exhorting them to receive him all right when he comes to them. This is a confirmation that Pauls controversy with Barnabas over Mark, when they started out on their second great evangelistic tour among the Gentiles, the latter desiring to take his nephew with them, and the former dissenting, because he had not persevered with them to the end of the first tour, but gotten tired and returned to Jerusalem, was purely for the glory of God, and in perfect harmony with the sanctified experience. As here, we see Paul is all right toward Mark, and highly recommending him to the Churches.

11. Jesus called Justus. Jesus being the Greek for Joshua, a familiar patriarchal name among the Jews, was in common use till the days of our Savior, when it was discontinued in view of its sanctity.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Col 4:1. Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal. Paul doubles the precept here, reminding them that one is their master, who is Lord of heaven and earth. He well knew that some were severe in the treatment of their slaves and dependents, contrary to the mild and benignant spirit of the gospel.

Col 4:2-4. Continue in prayer. Paul prayed on the sea-shore with the elders of Ephesus. Secret and family prayer are duties constantly devolving on christians, and social prayer when opportunity offers. He solicits their prayers in particular, that utterance might be given him, the eloquence of the Holy Spirit, that he might make manifest the gospel, and speak for God as he ought to speak. Let the preacher be aware that unless, like Moses, he go from speaking with the Lord to deliver his message to the people, he cannot speak as he ought. Devotion warms the heart, and inspires the tongue with unutterable sweetness and confidence of address. Then it is that a good man has a fountain of eloquence in his own breast, and feels within himself the sentiments he would communicate to others.

Col 4:5. Redeeming the time. This exhortation has before occurred in other places, and cannot be too oft repeated, time being the most important talent committed to our trust, every minute of which is more valuable than grains of gold. A great work is to be performed, and but little time is allotted for us; soon we must either be saved or lost to all eternity. Much of our time has already been wasted, and requires to be redeemed by encreased diligence and care. All the time we have lived without God in the world, in a state of impenitence and unbelief, is lost and worse than lost; we have done no good, but much evil, of which an account must be rendered to the eternal Judge. And since we have known the Lord, all the time in which we have not lived to his glory has been lost. How much wiser, happier, and more useful might we have been, had we been more diligent in the means of grace, more watchful and more prayerful, instead of having indulged in carnal ease, in idle amusements, and in fruitless cares. Let us henceforth endeavour to regain the ground we have lost, by a renewed devotedness of ourselves to the Lord, by more vigorous exertions in his service, and a life wholly consecrated to his glory.

Col 4:6. Let your speech be always seasoned with salt. The covenant of God is twice called a covenant of salt. I can suggest no better comment here than what I have found during the fifty years of my public labours, in venerable men and women whose minds were stored with wisdom, and whose hearts were replenished with grace. They speak of good things with ease and engaging accents, their hearts being at home in them. Their manner, their aspect, their voice charm the ear, because they know and enjoy religion. They preserve the simplicity of Christ, and in their turns of thought and improvement of incidents, they follow nature and common sense.

Col 4:7-9. All my state shall Tychicus declare to you. He was now a venerable man, and one of the seventy disciples, as those of Asia say; but frequently he was a companion and fellow-labourer of Paul. He was the bearer of three of Pauls epistles, one to Ephesus, this to Colosse, and the second epistle to Timothy. He is named in Act 20:4, and four times by St. Paul. Of Onesimus, see the epistle to Phm 1:10.

Col 4:10. Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner. We have an account of Aristarchus in Act 27:2; Act 20:4. He had been sent a prisoner with Paul to Rome, and was still bound with a chain. Marcus or Mark is often named in sacred history. Act 12:12; Act 12:25; Act 15:37. Honourable mention is made of him in 2Ti 4:11, and the apostle joins his name in greeting the saints.

Col 4:11. Jesus or Justus, a jew by birth; and being, like Mark, a fellow- workman with Paul, it would seem that he is named here as the Justus already known to the churches. Act 1:23; Act 18:7.

Col 4:15. Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea. See the introduction to this epistle.

Col 4:16. Read the epistle from Laodicea. The Latin has, Et eam, qu Laodicensium est, vos legatis. This is quite erroneous. Why should the Laodiceans write to Paul, except privately for advice? Few readings have excited more conjectures and variations of opinion, than this text. Though the Greek reads, , that from or of the Laodiceans, yet nothing hinders our belief that the epistle was first sent from Paul to them, and then from them to Colosse. The epistle itself is brief, and seems rather a supplement to the epistle to the Colossians than a full canonical work. This idea is suggested by its internal characters; it contains many expressions nearly the same as in other epistles, and slightly so from this to Colosse. Jerome rejected it from the canon, and Du Pin has followed his opinion.

Be that as it may, it is extant in the works of our Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, anno 1109, and in the first German bibles. Philaster, an eminent father of the fourth age, a pillar against Arianism, has also defended it. St. Thomas has done the same; and Sixtus of Sienna has put it in his learned works, from the copy in the Sorbonne of Paris. Nicholas Gorranus has given it in his commentaries of St. Pauls epistles; and I feel disposed to follow the example, and give below the best version I am able, not having the aid of professors in a seat of letters.

Col 4:17. Say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord. Phm 1:2. Archippus was perhaps a brother of noble descent. If some of his family had not held military rank, they would scarcely have given their son a name equivalent to master of the horse. This distinguished individual had received his ministry of the Lord, and the kings work must be well done. Archippus was now a senior minister, and a minister divinely called; yet a word of admonition was seasonable. Our young men are the hope of the church, and ultimately the glory of Christ; but cautions are requisite to watch, to give themselves to their work, to labour and not to faint. They should be modest and diffident, and desire their friends to remind them of their faults, as Ostervald observes, in his treatise on the ministry.

Col 4:18. The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Let my sufferings give eloquence to my words. Amen.

REFLECTIONS.

On a calm review of what is said in this and the preseding epistles on relative duties, we cannot but perceive how much the apostles mind was impressed with their importance, and how much the Holy Ghost required them to be discharged with fidelity. This fidelity brings peace to the mind, concord to the family, and confidence to society. It is the glory and boast of the church, and a grand cause of her prosperity; for men become united in the bonds of faith and love, that they may taste on earth the pleasures and earnests of celestial society. Virtues of this kind must become permanent habits; and they often meet with great rewards on earth. To filial piety, long life is promised, and he who sows to the poor the seeds of charity, shall reap a harvest of joy; for God will repay.

Epaphras, a holy minister, is eulogized here as being eminent for religious services. While he was at Rome, and far from Colosse, says Mr. Orton, he was not only praying for them, but as the word signifies, wrestling with God in his prayers on their account; an important evidence of his christian affection for them. And how well were his petitions chosen! That they might not only be sincerely good, as they already were, but perfect and complete in all the will of God; that there might be in their hearts and actions a more entire conformity to it. May that be our character and happiness, to have respect to all Gods commandments, and to carry our regards to them as far as we possibly can.

Laudable and perfectly consistent with the strictest modesty, was the concern which the apostle expresses that the epistles might be diffused as far as possible, and that christians in different societies might receive the benefit of them. And indeed they turn so much upon matters of universal importance, that they are admirably calculated for the edification of those who may live in the most distant countries and ages. Surely there cannot be a more sacrilegious attempt upon christian liberty and piety than to take them away from the common people, to whom Paul expressly ordered they should be publicly read: nor can there be greater madness than to pretend to guard men from error and heresy, by concealing from them writings which the Holy Spirit himself suggested, to lead them to truth and holiness.

We know not what there might be so particular in the character or circumstances of Archippus as to require the solemn admonition with which the epistle closes. But whatever the occasion of it were, it certainly suggests a most useful and important thought to all the ministers of the gospel. It is of the Lord Jesus Christ that they receive their ministry, to him they are quickly to render a strict account. May they all therefore take heed to it! May they be sensible of the importance of the trust, and have grace to be faithful in it; that they may give up their account with the joy of that steward, who having approved his fidelity on earth, shall receive his reward in heaven.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Col 3:18 to Col 4:1. Certain Duties Interpreted in Relation to Christ. Cf. Eph 5:22-33*.Col. omits the simile of Christ and the Church. A reason is given why fathers should not harass their children (Col 3:21). Slaves who labour worthily shall have an inheritance in heaven (Col 3:24).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

There is no reason for a chapter division at this point, for the responsibility of masters is closely linked with that of servants, which we have seen would include the relationship between employers and employees or teachers and students. A believing master is called upon to be totally impartial in caring for the needs of his servants, giving to his servants what is just and fair (v.1). What is just is what is right as before God. What is fair is what does not favor one above another. This is important in business as well as in a teacher-student relationship. If the servant is to act in a manner pleasing to God, the master is to do no less, for he himself is only a servant to the Lord: his Master is in Heaven. Every believing employer, foreman, supervisor or teacher must remember this.

Verses 2 to 4 show how to maintain a proper relationship with God, which is the basis of every other relationship. Consistent, earnest prayer is a vital matter, expressing dependence on the living God, and drawing down His help and blessing in practical circumstances. Being vigilant in prayer is attentiveness and exercise in contrast to the ease with which our prayers become simply a pleasant habit, good as that habit is.

Paul enlists the prayers of the Colossians for himself and his fellow-laborers, especially that God will open the door for him to declare the full truth of the mystery of Christ. This mystery of Christ involves both Christ and His body, the Church, which is no longer a mystery now that God has revealed it through the apostle Paul. In Eph 3:4-6 Paul speaks of “The mystery of Christ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.” Because of Paul’s faithfulness in proclaiming this marvelous truth, he was in chains, a prisoner (v.3). For, sad to say, people in the flesh, whether Jews or Gentiles, oppose this wonderful message of the grace of God. But far from being intimidated, Paul recognized his imprisonment as another field for his service, dependent only on God’s opening the door for it. In fact, he had the conviction that he ought to speak the truth of God wherever an opportunity presented itself (v.4), yet he felt himself in real need of prayer.

Verses 5 and 6 now refer to our relationship with unbelievers. Wisdom for this is a very real necessity. Spiritual wisdom is far higher than fleshly diplomacy, however, and is beautifully seen in the way in which the Lord Jesus handled every incident that involved him with unbelievers. For instance, in the case of the young ruler who asked Him what he should do to inherit eternal life, the Lord Jesus asked him what he had read in Scripture. The young man answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luk 10:27). This led to the man’s hearing the parable of the Good Samaritan, and he would never forget that encounter. But many other cases in the Lord’s history are recorded for our meditation, and as we consider Him we shall learn what true wisdom is.

Our conduct toward others is to be wise, and we should be wise in taking advantage of occasions that may arise to “redeem the time,” that is, make use of every opportunity to present Christ in some way. In doing so, our words should be “with grace seasoned with salt” (v.6). Salt crystallizes at right angles, and speaks of righteousness. Grace is to be predominant in our speaking, but always seasoned with righteousness. The Lord Jesus graciously spoke to the woman at the well, but he also told her that she had had five husbands and the man she now had was not her husband (Joh 4:13-18). This was seasoning His words with salt, so that both the woman’s heart and her conscience were reached. How good if we have wisdom to deal with souls in such a way! — knowing thus how to answer each individual according to his need. True balance in this is a delicate matter that requires wisdom from God. But we ought always to be ready with an answer for every inquirer. To do so will require both a knowledge of the Word of God and practice in gracious, honorable speech.

PARTING GREETINGS

(vs.7-15)

From verse 7 the direct references to ten saints and three other local assemblies show that the truth of Colossians is to be applied to both individuals and assemblies. The epistle was not only for Colosse.

Counting on their interest in all his circumstances, Paul sends Tychicus to them with this information. Paul’s commendation of this beloved brother is lovely. Evidently the spiritual character of Tychicus was such as to draw the love of saints, and also his ministry expressed faithfulness to God. Besides this, his evident unity with other servants of the Lord earned him the character of “fellow servant in the Lord.” Let every servant of the Lord of whatever capacity or degree seek to follow such well-balanced character. And Tychicus was also to learn the state of the Colossians (which Paul surely desired to know), and to encourage them all.

Onesimus, the slave of Philemon, was accompanying Tychicus. Paul was at this time sending Onesimus back to his master, probably sending his epistle to Philemon at the same time. Onesimus had only become “one of” the Colossian brethren when he had been converted through Paul in the Roman prison; and Paul commends him as a faithful and beloved brother. Compare also Phm 1:10-16.

Not much is said about Aristarchus, but this and two other occasions find him sharing the apostle’s sufferings. Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark, is seen here in a better light than in Act 13:13; Act 15:37-39. Whether in prison or not, John Mark was at least close enough to Paul to send greetings, and later Mark’s full recovery is indicated beautifully in 2Ti 4:11.

It is not certain whether “Jesus who is called Justus” is the same person mentioned in Act 18:7, but he and others before mentioned were the only Jewish helpers with Paul in the work, an encouragement to the tried apostle. Others later spoken of apparently are Gentiles.

Epaphras (referred to in Chapter 1:7) was also present with Paul, away from his home in Colosse, yet always in fervent prayer for saints there. This is true labor, with desire for his brethren’s maturity and completeness in all the will of God. The apostle bears witness to the great concern of Epaphras for the welfare of the assemblies at Colosse, Laodicea and Hierapolis. Likely Epaphras had personally labored in these places, which would account for his special concern for them.

Luke is called “the beloved physician” (v.14), earning this title through a character of kind concern for the needs of others, which prompted a loving response. Demas is mentioned only by name. If there had been something positively good to say about him, it seems Paul would have said it, but later, in 2Ti 4:10 Paul writes, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” Does this not tell us that, if we have no positive testimony for Christ, our testimony will soon become negative?

Paul sends greetings to the brethren in Laodicea, to Nymphas and the local assembly which met in his house. This seem to infer two distinct gatherings, the latter possibly also in the vicinity of Laodicea, but distance requiring their meeting separately.

CLOSING WORDS

(vs.16-18)

After the reading of this epistle by the Colosse assembly, they are charged to see that it is read in the assembly at Laodicea: its message was important for both. If it had been taken to heart in Laodicea, it might have prevented the lukewarm, self-complacent state that later developed so seriously as to call for the Lord’s solemn rebuke of Rev 3:14-17.

Achippus, though gifted with a ministry from the Lord, was evidently inclined to neglect its exercise, and he is to be told personally to fulfill it. Does it not seem today that too many gifts lie dormant through disuse?

Paul closes his epistle with a tender appeal to remember his bonds. Let us too remember that his bonds were just as truly for us as for the Colossians. For them he wishes grace, the favor of God practically enjoyed.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 1

This direction, and that contained in Ephesians 6:9, prescribe very distinctly the duty of masters to slaves. The one forbids that they should employ any violence, even that of words, in exacting service; and the other enjoins the making of an equitable return to them for their labors. The Christian master, therefore, who will not coerce his servants, nor even threaten coercion, who pays them what is justly their due, and treats them kindly, remembering that he has himself a Master in heaven, fulfils the duties of this relation as enjoined upon him in the word of God.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

SECTION 13. DIRECTIONS TO SPECIFIC CLASSES OF PERSONS. CH. 3:18-4:1.

Wives, be in subjection to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter towards them.

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well-pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children, that they be not discouraged.

Servants, obey in all things your lords according to flesh, not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever ye do, work from the heart as for the Lord and not for men; knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance. The Lord Christ, ye serve. For he that acts unjustly will receive the injustice he has done: and there is no respect of persons. Masters, the just thing and equality render to your servants, knowing that ye have a Master in heaven.

After putting before his readers in 12 virtues appropriate to, and binding upon, all Christians alike, Paul remembers that many of his readers bear one to another special relations, involving special and mutual obligations. Of these mutual relations of certain classes of his readers, he now speaks: viz. of wives and husbands in Col 3:18-19; of children and fathers, in Col 3:20-21; of servants and masters, in Col 3:22 to Col 4:1. In each pair of relations, the subordinate member is put first as being under a more conspicuous obligation.

Col 3:18-19. Literally, Women, be in subjection to the men: for the Greek language has no distinctive terms corresponding to our words wife, husband. But the reference to married persons is unmistakable.

Be-in-subjection: not worse in quality but lower in position. Same word in Luk 2:51; 1Co 15:28, the divine pattern of subordination; and in Tit 2:5; Tit 2:9; 1Co 14:34; Rom 13:1; Rom 13:5, etc. It suggests arrangement and order.

Fitting in the Lord: such subordination being an appropriate acceptance on their part of the position given by Christ to women. A fuller account of this suitability is given in Eph 5:22-24.

Literally, as above, Men, love the women.

Bitter: contrasted in Jas 3:11 with sweet. Cognate word in Rev 8:11; Rev 10:9-10. Similar words in all languages denote acute unpleasantness of word, demeanour, or thought. The stronger party, having nothing to fear from the weaker, is frequently in danger of acting or speaking harshly. To refrain from such harshness, even towards those we love, is sometimes, amid the irritations of life, no easy task. But it is binding upon the Christian.

Col 3:20-21. Obey: literally, listen from below, i.e. listen to, and obey, their commands. The wife must place herself in a lower position as compared with her husband: children must pay attention to their parents bidding.

In all things; cannot include sinful commands: for even a parents command cannot excuse sin, although it may mitigate the blame attaching to the child. Sometimes, but very seldom, a command evidently unwise is not binding on a child. But such cases are abnormal and do not come within the horizon of Pauls thought. The universality here asserted embraces the entire activity of the child in all ordinary cases. A sinful command lays no obligation upon wife, child, or servant. This exception reveals the imperfection of all verbal precepts. They must be interpreted, not always according to the letter, but in the light of the inborn moral sense. This is specially true of positive commands.

Well-pleasing: without any limitation as to the person pleased. (So Tit 2:9.) Obedience is beautiful in itself and therefore pleasant to God and man.

In the Lord: as in Col 3:18. The childs obedience to his parents must have Christ for its encompassing and permeating element. See further under Eph 6:1.

Then follows the corresponding obligation to the fathers. These only are mentioned, as being the chief depositaries of parental authority.

Provoke: conduct calculated to arouse either action or emotion. In the former and in a good sense, in 2Co 9:2 : here in the latter and in a bad sense. Paul forbids irritating commands or action. Close parallel with the injunction in Col 3:19. It notes in each case a frequent fault of the stronger party.

That they be not discouraged: motive for the foregoing. Irritating commands cause little ones to lose heart: and than this nothing is more fatal to their moral development.

Such are the duties involved in the tender relations of life. Wives must take a lower place, and children must listen to their parents commands. And in each case this must be in the Lord, i.e. as part of their service of Christ. Such conduct befits the wifes actual position, and is beautiful in the child. It is, to both wives and children, the real place of honour. But they to whom this submission is due are themselves bound by corresponding obligations. They must pay the debt of love; and must refrain from making their superior strength a means of gratifying a vexatious spirit, and thus causing pain.

Col 3:22. From relations implying social equality, Paul now passes to a most important social relation implying inferiority; a relation already treated casually but forcibly in 1Co 7:21 f.

Servants, or slaves: see under Rom 1:1.

Obey: a duty binding alike on children and slaves.

In all things: same words and compass and limitation as in Col 3:20.

Lords: ordinary Greek term for masters. Cp. Gal 4:1; 1Pe 3:6. It is the exact correlative to servants. The one works at the bidding and for the profit of the other. See under Rom 1:1. This common use of the word lord gives definiteness to it when applied to Christ. He is the Master whose word we obey and whose work we are doing. See especially Col 4:1.

Lords according to flesh: their domain being determined and limited by the outward bodily life. Same phrase in Rom 9:3; Rom 9:5; 1Co 10:18. This limitation suggests that there is another department of the slaves life not controlled by an earthly master.

Not with etc.: description, negative and positive, of the kind of service to be rendered.

Eye-service: found only here and Eph 6:6. It is work done only to please the masters eye. All such servants look upon themselves as men-pleasers. To please men, is their aim: and therefore naturally their work is only such as falls within the range of human observation. Such merely external service is utterly unworthy of the Christian. For it brings him down to the level of those whose well-being depends on the smile of their fellows. A close parallel from the pen of Paul in Gal 1:10.

Singleness of heart: exact opposite of eye-service, which is a hollow deception and does not come from the heart.

Fearing the Lord: i.e. Christ, the One Master. Where true reverence of the Master is, there is singleness of heart: for His eye searches the heart. Where the all-seeing Master is forgotten, we seek as our highest good the favour of men: and our service sinks down to the external forms which alone lie open to the eye of man. Thus fear of the Supreme Lord saves even the slave from degrading bondage to man.

Col 3:23. Another exhortation, without connecting particle, expounding and supporting the exhortation of Col 3:22.

Whatever ye do, or be doing: emphatic assertion of a universal obligation.

From the heart: literally from the soul, i.e. the seat of life. Same phrase in Eph 6:6; Mar 12:30; Deu 6:5. That which we work with our hands must not be mechanical but must flow from the animating principle within.

As for the Lord: the workers view of his own work, in contrast to a lower view of the same, as men-pleasers. Our work must be done to please the One Master, and not men, each of whom is but one among many. [The negative , where we might expect , embeds in an exhortation a virtual assertion. The work ye do is not for men.]

Col 3:24. Knowing that etc.: a favourite phrase of Paul, e.g. Rom 5:3; 1Co 15:58. It introduces a reason for the foregoing, based on known reality.

From the Lord ye shall receive: counterpart to for the Lord.

The inheritance: eternal life, looked upon as awaiting the slave in virtue of his filial relation to God. So Rom 8:17. And inasmuch as the blessings of eternal life are in proportion (2Co 5:10) to the faithfulness of his service of Christ, they are spoken of as the recompense of the inheritance. This will come from the one Master. Knowing this, and doing all our work for Him, we do it from the heart.

Ye-serve or serve-ye the Lord Christ: either an emphatic reassertion of an objective truth underlying Col 3:22-24, or an exhortation to make this truth subjectively the principle of our own life. The former exposition tells the slave his privilege: the latter bids him claim it; cp. 1Co 7:23. As Col 3:24 a is a statement of known fact, perhaps the former exposition is better: but the practical difference is slight.

Col 3:25. He that acts-unjustly; seems to refer specially to unjust masters, although it would include slaves. The same word in Phm 1:18 refers to a slaves dishonesty. But that Paul refers here to the masters injustice, is made likely by the fact that this assertion of just recompense is given to support the foregoing assertion that Christian slaves are servants of Christ: for he that etc. That they are such, is more easily understood if they remember that even their master, at whose caprice they sometimes seem to be, will himself receive exact retribution for whatever injustice he has done. A very close coincidence of thought and phrase in 2Co 5:10. This chief reference to the master is also supported by the word respect-of persons: same word in same connection in Rom 2:11. For the master has very much more of the outward aspect which might seem to claim exemption from just retribution than has the slave. Moreover, a reference to masters is a convenient stepping stone to Col 4:1, where we learn that even slaves have claims upon their masters justice.

Col 4:1. The corresponding duties of masters, already suggested in Col 3:25.

The just-thing; recognises rights between master and slave. Similarly, in Mat 18:23-34 we have commercial transactions between a master and his slaves. The specific application to the slave of the essential principles of justice, Paul leaves to the masters own sense of right.

The equality: a word frequent in Greek for even-handed justice, almost in the sense of our word equity. And this is probably its meaning here. Not only the just thing, viz. that which law demands, but also equity, that even-handed dealing which can never be absolutely prescribed by law. It has been suggested that Paul here bids masters treat their slaves as equally with themselves members of the family of God: so Phm 1:16. But this would need a more definite indication than we have here, whereas the exposition adopted above is suggested naturally; by the foregoing word just. We may therefore accept it as the. more likely.

Knowing that etc.: cp. Col 3:24. The action of the master, as of the slave, must rest upon the same basis of intelligent apprehension of objective reality. As in Col 3:22, so here, we have a contrast between the many lords and the One Lord. This must influence both slaves and masters.

The longer space given to slaves than to masters is easily accounted for by their greater number in the Church. The fuller treatment of the case of slaves as compared with that of the relations mentioned in Col 3:18-21 is explained by the greater difficulty of the subject. Possibly it was suggested to Paul by the conversion and return of Onesimus, a runaway slave. But, apart from this, the immense importance of the bearing of Christianity upon the position and duty of slaves justifies abundantly this careful treatment of the subject.

It is easy to apply to the relation of employers and hired servants, domestic and commercial, Pauls teaching about a relation which has now happily in this country passed away. For morality rests, not upon exact prescription, but upon broad principles. The worth of specific prescriptions is in the principles they involve. This gives to moral teaching a practical application far wider than the actual words used. Modern masters and workpeople who think only of the money each can make from the other sin against both spirit and letter of the teaching of this section.

Paul has now dealt specifically with the more conspicuous and important social relations, and has shown how the Gospel bears upon each. Those in subordinate relations must accept their position as a part of their relation to Christ; as must those who occupy superior positions. Even slaves must remember that their hard lot is in a real sense sacred. In that lot they are serving, not men, but Christ. Moreover, their service is not vain. As recompense, they will receive in the kingdom of God the inheritance which belongs to His sons. Paul bids them live up to this glorious position, to look upon themselves as servants of Christ, and to render to Him with joyful hearts such service as His piercing eye will approve. On the other hand, masters must remember that they owe to their slaves not merely what the law demands but even-handed fairness.

Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament

4:1 “Masters, give unto [your] servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.”

Wow, the implications of that verse. The implications are that we are to treat our slaves/employees as Christ treats us.

Let’s think about that one for a moment or two. How does Christ treat us?

WITH LOVE

WITH RESPECT

WITH KINDNESS

WITH GRACE

WITH

How many of us would like to work for an employer like that? Most I would imagine.

If you are an employer, be sure to keep this in mind for your future reference – both future in this life and future in the next.

Now, if you are an employee don’t expect this sort of treatment as you most likely won’t get it unless you work for a believer that has read and understood this passage.

It seems to me that all of the people addressed in this passage are called to obey. The wife is to submit to her husband, the children are to obey their parents, the servants are to obey their masters, the masters are to obey their master in heaven – AND ALL THESE ARE TO DO IT AS UNTO THE LORD!

Unless you are an adult single person, whose parents have died and who is independently wealthy with no children there is something here for you. We should do all as unto the Lord.

Obey. Such a small word – it is a four-letter word to many in our society today, but it is a word that relates heavily to our relationship to God.

Adam and Eve didn’t function all that well with the word did they? Man has a serious problem in being obedient to God – the Bible is quite effective in documenting this problem.

It seems that walking with God is the only way that we can assure ourselves of obedience to all those we relate to. It is not so that we can look good to others, but so that we are good for the Lord.

We might just remind ourselves that there are consequences to disobedience and rewards for obedience in this life as well.

COST REWARD

Disobedient Israelites Two were allowed into the land

died in the wilderness

Lot/daughters made it out of Sodom Lot’s wife became salt

Cain was rejected Able was accepted

Flood generation was lost Noah and family were saved

It might be appropriate to remind ourselves that the one we are to pattern our lives after is the perfect example of obeying. Christ was obedient even unto the cross.

Our lives should always revolve around pleasing the Lord and all our labors should be in His name, not our own efforts and desires. If we do all as unto the Lord then our service to Him will be proper.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

Masters should remember that they have a Master too. This view should transform how they regard and treat their slaves. Interestingly throughout history wherever Christians have constituted a significant segment of the population and have followed Paul’s directions here, the slave system has died. The principles in these verses (Col 3:22 to Col 4:1) are, of course, applicable to employer-employee relationships as well. [Note: Ellis, p. 1344.]

William Webb offered an extensive discussion of how to apply these instructions. [Note: William J. Webb, Slaves, Women & Homosexuals.] I do not agree with his "redemptive-movement hermeneutic," or what I would call a "trajectory hermeneutic," because I believe it is subjective, though I believe he offers some helpful suggestions. [Note: See Wayne Grudem, "Should We Move Beyond the New Testament to a Better Ethic?" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 47:2 (June 2004):299-346, for a longer analysis of Webb’s book with similar criticisms as mine.]

The fact that the word "Lord" occurs frequently (seven times) in Col 3:18 to Col 4:1 highlights the importance of applying the lordship of Christ in all our interpersonal relationships.

"It should be remembered that, while all Christians are on the same level in the Lord, there are still spheres in which subordination must be recognized. In fact, there are four spheres in which believers live: (a) in Christ; (b) in the household; (c) in the church; (d) in the state. In Christ there is no difference between Jew and Greek, bond and free, or male and female (Gal 3:28). In the household, while there is intrinsic spiritual equality, there are distinctions. The husband is the head of the wife (Eph 5:23), and children are to obey both (Eph 6:1; cf. Col 3:20), the Lord being the supreme illustration (Luk 2:51). The slave, too, is to be subject to his master (Tit 2:9; 1Pe 2:18). In the church all are subject to the oversight of the elders (1Th 5:12; Heb 13:7), and to the Lord (Eph 5:24). In the state even the believers, although God’s children and heavenly citizens, are subject to the secular authorities and earthly statutes (Rom 13:1; Tit 3:1; 1Pe 2:13)." [Note: Johnson, 482:109-10. See E. Glenn Hinson, "The Christian Household in Colossians 3:18-4:1," Review and Expositor 70:4 (Fall 1973):495-506.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

8-25

Chapter 3

THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY

Col 3:18-25; Col 4:1 (R.V.)

This chapter deals with the Christian family, as made up of husband and wife, children, and servants. In the family, Christianity has most signally displayed its power of refining, ennobling, and sanctifying earthly relationships. Indeed, one may say that domestic life, as seen in thousands of Christian homes, is purely a Christian creation, and would have been a new revelation to the heathenism of Colossae, as it is today in many a mission field.

We do not know what may have led Paul to dwell with special emphasis on the domestic duties, in this letter, and in the contemporaneous Epistle to the Ephesians. He does so, and the parallel section there should be carefully compared throughout with this paragraph. The former is considerably more expanded, and may have been written after the verses before us; but, however that may be, the verbal coincidences and variations in the two sections are very interesting as illustrations of the way in which a mind fully charged with a theme will freely repeat itself, and use the same words in different combinations and with infinite shades of modification. The precepts given are extremely simple and obvious. Domestic happiness and family Christianity are made up of very homely elements. One duty is prescribed for the one member of each of the three family groups, and varying forms of another for the other. The wife, the child, the servant are bid to obey; the husband to love, the father to show his love in gentle considerateness; the master to yield his servants their dues. Like some perfume distilled from common flowers that grow on every bank, the domestic piety which makes home a house of God, and a gate of heaven, is prepared from these two simples-obedience and love. These are all. We have here then the ideal Christian household in the three ordinary relationships which make up the family; wife and husband, children and father, servant and master.

I. The Reciprocal Duties of wife and husband-subjection and love.

The duty of the wife is “subjection,” and it is enforced on the ground that it is “fitting in the Lord”-that is “it is,” or perhaps “it became” at the time of conversion, “the conduct corresponding to or befitting the condition of being in the Lord.” In more modern language-the Christian ideal of the wifes duty has for its very centre-subjection.

Some of us will smile at that; some of us will think it an old-fashioned notion, a survival of a more barbarous theory of marriage than this century recognises. But, before we decide upon the correctness of the apostolic precept, let us make quite sure of its meaning. Now, if we turn to the corresponding passage in Ephesians, we find that marriage, is regarded from a high and sacred point of view, as being an earthly shadow and faint adumbration of the union between Christ and the Church.

To Paul, all human and earthly relationships were moulded after the patterns of things in the heavens, and the whole fleeting visible life of man was a parable of the “things which are” in the spiritual realm. Most chiefly, the holy and mysterious union of man and woman in marriage is fashioned in the likeness of the only union which is closer and more mysterious than itself, namely that between Christ and His Church.

Such then as are the nature and the spring of the Churchs “subjection” to Christ, such will be the nature and the spring of the wifes “subjection” to the husband. That is to say, it is a subjection of which love is the very soul and animating principle. In a true marriage, as in the loving obedience of a believing soul to Christ, the wife submits not because she has found a master, but because her heart has found its rest. Everything harsh or degrading melts away from the requirement when thus looked at. It is a joy to serve where the heart is engaged, and that is eminently true of the feminine nature. For its full satisfaction, a womans heart needs to look up where it loves. She has certainly the fullest wedded life who can “reverence” her husband. For its full satisfaction, a womans heart needs to serve where it loves. That is the same as saying that a womans love is, in the general, nobler, purer, more unselfish than a mans, and therein, quite as much as in physical constitution, is laid the foundation of that Divine ideal of marriage, which places the wifes delight and dignity in sweet loving subjection.

Of course the subjection has its limitations. “We must obey God rather than man” bounds the field of all human authority and control. Then there are cases in which, on the principle of “the tools to the hands that can use them,” the rule falls naturally to the wife as the stronger character. Popular sarcasm, however, shows that such instances are felt to be contrary to the true ideal, and such a wife lacks something of repose for her heart.

No doubt, too, since Paul wrote, and very largely by Christian influences, women have been educated and elevated, so as to make mere subjection impossible now, if ever it were so. Womans quick instinct as to persons, her finer wisdom, her purer discernment as to moral questions, make it in a thousand cases the wisest thing a man can do to listen to the “subtle flow of silver-paced counsel” which his wife gives him. All such considerations are fully consistent with this apostolic teaching, and it remains true that the wife who does not reverence and lovingly obey is to be pitied if she cannot, and to be condemned if she will not.

And what of the husbands duty? He is to love, and because he loves, not to be harsh or bitter, in word, look, or act. The parallel in Ephesians adds the solemn, elevating thought, that a mans love to the woman, whom he has made his own, is to be like Christs to the Church. Patient and generous, utterly self-forgetting and self-sacrificing, demanding nothing, grudging nothing, giving all, not shrinking from the extreme of suffering and pain and death itself-that he may bless and help-such was the Lords love to His bride, such is to be a Christian husbands love to his wife. That solemn example, which lifts the whole emotion high above mere passion or selfish affection, carries a great lesson too as to the connection between mans love and womans “subjection.” The former is to evoke the latter, just as in the heavenly pattern, Christs love melts and moves human wills to glad obedience, which is liberty. We do not say that a wife is utterly absolved from obedience where a husband fails in self-forgetting love, though certainly it does not lie in his mouth to accuse, whose fault is graver than, and the origin of, hers. But, without going so far as that, we may recognise the true order to be that the husbands love, self-sacrificing and all-bestowing, is meant to evoke the wifes love, delighting in service, and proud to crown him her king.

Where there is such love, there will be no question of mere command and obedience, no tenacious adherence to rights, or jealous defence of independence. Law will be transformed into choice. To obey will be joy; to serve, the natural expression of the heart. Love uttering a wish speaks music to love listening; and love obeying the wish is free and a queen. Such sacred beauty may light up wedded life, if it catches a gleam from the fountain of all light, and shines by reflection from the love that binds Christ to His Church as the links of the golden beams bind the sun to the planet. Husbands and wives are to see to it that this supreme consecration purifies and raises their love. Young men and maidens are to remember that the nobleness and heart repose of their whole life may be made or marred by marriage, and to take heed where they fix their affections. If there be not unity in the deepest thing of all, love to Christ, the sacredness and completeness will fade away from any love. But if a man and woman love and marry “in the Lord,” He will be “in the midst,” walking between them, a third who will make them one, and that threefold cord will not be quickly broken.

II. The Reciprocal Duties of children and parents-obedience and gentle, loving authority. The injunction to children is laconic, decisive, universal. “Obey your parents in all things.” Of course, there is one limitation to that. If Gods command looks one way and a parents the opposite, disobedience is duty-but such extreme case is probably the only one which Christian ethics admit as an exception to the rule. The Spartan brevity of the command is enforced by one consideration, “for this is well pleasing in the Lord,” as the Revised Version rightly reads, instead of “to the Lord,” as in the Authorised, thus making an exact parallel to the former “fitting in the Lord.” Not only to Christ, but to all who can appreciate the beauty of goodness, is filial obedience beautiful. The parallel in Ephesians substitutes “for this is right,” appealing to the natural conscience. Right and fair in itself, it is accordant with the law stamped on the very relationship, and it is witnessed as such by the instinctive approbation which it evokes.

No doubt, the moral sentiment of Pauls age stretched parental authority to an extreme, and we need not hesitate to admit that the Christian idea of a fathers power and a childs obedience has been much softened by Christianity; but the softening has come from the greater prominence given to love, rather than from the limitation given to obedience.

Our present domestic life seems to me to stand sorely in need of Pauls injunction. One cannot but see that there is great laxity in this matter in many Christian households, in reaction perhaps from the too great severity of past times. Many causes lead to this unwholesome relaxation of parental authority. In our great cities, especially among the commercial classes, children are generally better educated than their fathers and mothers, they know less of early struggles, and one often sees a sense of inferiority making a parent hesitate to command, as well as a misplaced tenderness making him hesitate to forbid. A very misplaced and cruel tenderness it is to say “would you like?” when he ought to say “I wish.” It is unkind to lay on young shoulders “the weight of too much liberty,” and to introduce young hearts too soon to the sad responsibility of choosing between good and evil. It were better and more loving by far to put off that day, and to let the children feel that in the safe nest of home, their feeble and ignorant goodness is sheltered behind a strong barrier of command, and their lives simplified by having the one duty of obedience. By many parents the advice is needed-consult your children less, command them more.

And as for children, here is the one thing which God would have them do: “Obey your parents in all things.” As fathers used to say when I was a boy-“not only obedience, but prompt obedience.” It is right. That should be enough. But children may also remember that it is “pleasing”-fair and good to see, making them agreeable in the eyes of all whose approbation is worth having, and pleasing to themselves, saving them from many a bitter thought in after days, when the grave has closed over father and mother. One remembers the story of how Dr. Johnson, when a man, stood in the market place at Lichfield, bareheaded, with the rain pouring on him, in remorseful remembrance of boyish disobedience to his dead father. There is nothing bitterer than the too late tears for wrongs done to those who are gone beyond the reach of our penitence. “Children, obey your parents in all things,” that you may be spared the sting of conscience for childish faults, which may be set tingling and smarting again even in old age.

The law for parents is addressed to “fathers,” partly because a mothers tenderness has less need of the warning “provoke not your children,” than a fathers more rigorous rule usually has, and partly because the father is regarded as the head of the household. The advice is full of practical sagacity, How do parents provoke their children? By unreasonable commands, by perpetual restrictions, by capricious jerks at the bridle, alternating with as capricious dropping of the reins altogether, by not governing their own tempers, by shrill or stern tones where quiet, soft ones would do, by frequent checks and rebukes, and sparing praise. And what is sure to follow such mistreatment by father or mother? First, as the parallel passage in Ephesians has it, “wrath”- bursts of temper, for which probably the child is punished and the parent is guilty-and then spiritless listlessness and apathy. “I cannot please him whatever I do,” leads to a rankling sense of injustice, and then to recklessness-“it is useless to try any more.” And when a child or a man loses heart, there will be no more obedience. Pauls theory of the training of children is closely connected with his central doctrine, that love is the life of service, and faith the parent of righteousness. To him hope and gladness and confident love underlie all obedience. When a child loves and trusts, he will obey. When he fears and has to think of his father as capricious, exacting, or stern, he will do like the man in the parable, who was afraid because he thought of his master as austere, reaping where he did not sow, and therefore went and hid his talent. Childrens obedience must be fed on love and praise. Fear paralyses activity, and kills service, whether it cowers in the heart of a boy to his father, or of a man to his Father in heaven. So parents are to let the sunshine of their smile ripen their childrens love to fruit of obedience, and remember that frost in spring scatters the blossoms on the grass. Many a parent, especially many a father, drives his child into evil by keeping him at a distance. He should make his boy a companion and playmate, teach him to think of his father as his confidant, try to keep his child nearer to himself than to anybody beside, and then his authority will be absolute, his opinions an oracle, and his lightest wish a law. Is not the kingdom of Jesus Christ based on His becoming a brother and one of ourselves, and is it not wielded in gentleness and enforced by love? Is it not the most absolute of rules? And should not the parental authority be like it-having a reed for a sceptre, lowliness and gentleness being stronger to rule and to sway than the “rods of iron” or of gold which earthly monarchs wield?

There is added to this precept, in Ephesians, an injunction on the positive side of parental duty: “Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” I fear that is a duty fallen woefully into disuse in many Christian households. Many parents think it wise to send their children away from home for their education, and so hand over their moral and religious training to teachers. That may be right, but it makes the fulfilment of this precept all but impossible. Others, who have their children beside them, are too busy all the week. and too fond of “rest” on Sunday. Many send their children to a Sunday school chiefly that they themselves may have a quiet house and a sound sleep in the afternoon. Every Christian minister, if he keeps his eyes open, must see that there is no religious instruction worth calling by the name in a very large number of professedly Christian households; and he is bound to press very earnestly on his hearers the question, whether the Christian fathers and mothers among them do their duty in this matter. Many of them, I fear, have never opened their lips to their children on religious subjects. Is it not a grief and a shame that men and women with some religion in them, and loving their little ones dearly, should be tongue tied before them on the most important of all things? What can come of it but what does come of it so often that it saddens one to see how frequently it occurs-that the children drift away from a faith which their parents did not care enough about to teach it to them? A silent father makes prodigal sons, and many a grey head has been brought down with sorrow to the grave, and many a mothers heart broken, because he and she neglected their plain duty, which can be handed over to no schools or masters-the duty of religious instruction. “These words which I command thee, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house.”

III. The Reciprocal Duties of servants and masters-obedience and justice.

The first thing to observe here is that these “servants” are slaves, not persons who have voluntarily given their work for wages. The relation of Christianity to slavery is too wide a subject to be touched here. It must be enough to point out that Paul recognises that “sum of all villainies,” gives instructions to both parties in it, never says one word in condemnation of it. More remarkable still; the messenger who carried this letter to Colossae carried in the same bag the Epistle to Philemon, and was accompanied by the fugitive slave Onesimus, on whose neck Paul bound again the chain, so to speak, with his own hands. And yet the gospel which Paul preached has in it principles which cut up slavery by the roots; as we read in this very letter, “In Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free.” Why then did not Christ and His apostles make war against slavery? For the same reason for which they did not make war against any political or social institutions. “First make the tree good and his fruit good.” The only way to reform institutions is to elevate and quicken the general conscience, and then the evil will be outgrown, left behind, or thrown aside. Mould men and the men will mould institutions. So Christianity did not set itself to fell this upas tree, which would have been a long and dangerous task; but girdled it, as we may say, stripped the bark off it, and left it to die-and it has died in all Christian lands now.

But the principles laid down here are quite as applicable to our form of domestic and other service as to the slaves and masters of Colossae.

Note then the extent of the servants obedience-“in all things.” Here, of course, as in former cases, is there presupposed the limit of supreme obedience to Gods commands; that being safe, all else is to give way to the duty of submission. It is a stern command, that seems all on the side of the masters. It might strike a chill into many a slave, who had been drawn to the gospel by the hope of finding some little lightening of the yoke that pressed so heavily on his poor galled neck, and of hearing some voice speaking in tenderer tones than those of harsh command. Still more emphatically, and, as it might seem, still more harshly, the Apostle goes on to insist on the inward completeness of the obedience-“not with eye service (a word of Pauls own coining) as men pleasers.” We have a proverb about the worth of the masters eye, which bears witness that the same fault still clings to hired service. One has only to look at the next set of bricklayers one sees on a scaffold, or of haymakers one comes across in a field, to see it. The vice was venial in slaves; it is inexcusable, because it darkens into theft, in paid servants-and it spreads far and wide. All scamped work, all productions of mans hand or brain which are got up to look better than they are, all fussy parade of diligence when under inspection and slackness afterwards-and all their like which infect and infest every trade and profession, are transfixed by the sharp point of this precept.

“But in singleness of heart,” that is, with undivided motive, which is the antithesis and the cure for “eye service”-and “fearing God,” which is opposed to “pleasing men.” Then follows the positive injunction, covering the whole ground of action and lifting the constrained obedience to the earthly master up into the sacred and serene loftiness of religious duty, “whatsoever ye do, work heartily,” or from the soul. The word for work is stronger than that for do, and implies effort and toil. They are to put all their power into their work, and not be afraid of hard toil. And they are not only to bend their backs, but their wills, and to labour “from the soul,” that is, cheerfully and with interest-a hard lesson for a slave and asking more than could be expected from human nature, as many of them would, no doubt, think. Paul goes on to transfigure the squalor and misery of the slaves lot by a sudden beam of light-“as to the Lord”-your true “Master,” for it is the same word as in the previous verse-“and not unto men.” Do not think of your tasks as only enjoined by harsh, capricious, selfish men, but lift your thoughts to Christ, who is your Lord, and glorify all these sordid duties by seeing His will in them. He only who works as “to the Lord” will work “heartily.” The thought of Christs command, and of my poor toil as done for His sake, will change constraint into cheerfulness, and make unwelcome tasks pleasant, and monotonous ones fresh, and trivial ones great. It will evoke new powers and renewed consecration. In that atmosphere, the dim flame of servile obedience will burn more brightly, as a lamp plunged into a jar of pure oxygen.

The stimulus of a great hope for the ill-used, unpaid slave is added. Whatever their earthly masters might fail to give them, the true Master whom they really served would accept no work for which He did not return more than sufficient wages. “From the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance.” Blows and scanty food and poor lodging may be all that they get from their owners for all their sweat and toil, but if they are Christs slaves, they will be treated no more as slaves, but as sons, and receive a sons portion, the exact recompense which consists of the “inheritance.” The juxtaposition of the two ideas of the slave and the inheritance evidently hints at the unspoken thought, that they are heirs because they are sons-a thought which might well lift up bowed backs and brighten dull faces. The hope of that reward came like an angel into the smoky huts and hopeless lives of these poor slaves. It shone athwart all the gloom and squalor, and taught patience beneath “the oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely.” Through long, weary generations it has lived in the hearts of men driven to God by mans tyranny, and forced to clutch at heavens brightness to keep them from being made mad by earths blackness. It may irradiate our poor lives, especially when we fail, as we all do sometimes, to get recognition of our work, or fruit from it. If we labour for mans appreciation or gratitude, we shall certainly be disappointed; but if for Christ, we have abundant wages beforehand, and we shall have an over-abundant requital, the munificence of which will make us more ashamed of our unworthy service than anything else could do. Christ remains in no mans debt. “Who hath first given, and it shall be recompensed to him again?”

The last word to the slave is a warning against neglect of duty. There is to be a double recompense-to the slave of Christ the portion of a son; to the wrongdoer retribution “for the wrong that he has done.” Then, though slavery was itself a wrong, though the master who held a man in bondage was himself inflicting the greatest of all wrongs, yet Paul will have the slave think that he still has duties to his master. That is part of Pauls general position as to slavery. He will not wage war against it, but for the present accept it. Whether he saw the full bearing of the gospel on that and other infamous institutions may be questioned. He has given us the principles which will destroy them, but he is no revolutionist, and so his present counsel is to remember the masters rights, even though they be founded on wrong, and he has no hesitation in condemning and predicting retribution for evil things done by a slave to his master. A superiors injustice does not warrant an inferiors breach of moral law, though it may excuse it. Two blacks do not make a white. Herein lies the condemnation of all the crimes which enslaved nations and classes have done, of many a deed which has been honoured and sung, of the sanguinary cruelties of servile revolts, as well as of the questionable means to which labour often resorts in modern industrial warfare. The homely, plain principle, that a man does not receive the right to break Gods laws because he is ill-treated, would clear away much fog from some peoples notions of how to advance the cause of the oppressed.

But, on the other hand, this warning may look towards the masters also; and probably the same double reference is also to be discerned in the closing words to the slaves, “and there is no respect of persons.” The servants were naturally tempted to think that God was on their side, as indeed He was, but also to think that the great coming day of judgment was mostly meant to be terrible to tyrants and oppressors, and so to look forward to it with a fierce unChristian joy, as well as with a false confidence built only on their present misery. They would be apt to think that God did “respect persons,” in the opposite fashion from that of a partial judge-namely, that He would incline the scale in favour of the ill-used, the poor, the down trodden; that they would have an easy test and a light sentence, while His frowns and His severity would be kept for the powerful and the rich who had ground the faces of the poor and kept back the hire of the labourer. It was therefore a needful reminder for them, and for us all, that that judgment has nothing to do with earthly conditions, but only with conduct and character; that sorrow and calamity here do not open heavens gates hereafter, and that the slave and master are tried by the same law.

The series of precepts closes with a brief but most pregnant word to masters. They are bid to give to their slaves “that which is just and equal,” that is to say, “equitable.” A startling criterion for a masters duty to the slave who was denied to have any rights at all. They were chattels, not persons. A master might, in regard to them, do what he liked with his own; he might crucify or torture, or commit any crime against manhood either in body or soul, and no voice would question or forbid. How astonished Roman lawgivers would have been if they could have heard Paul talking about justice and equity as applied to a slave! What a strange new dialect it must have sounded to the slave owners in the Colossian Church! They would not see how far the principle, thus quietly introduced, was to carry succeeding ages; they could not dream, of the great tree that was to spring from this tiny seed precept; but no doubt the instinct which seldom fails an unjustly privileged class, would make them blindly dislike the exhortation, and feel as if they were getting out of their depth when they were bid to consider what was “right” and “equitable” in their dealings with their slaves.

The Apostle does not define what is “right and equal.” That will come. The main thing is to drive home the conviction that there are duties owing to slaves, inferiors, employees. We are far enough from a satisfactory discharge of these yet; but, at any rate, everybody now admits the principle- and we have mainly to thank Christianity for that. Slowly the general conscience is coming to recognise that simple truth more and more clearly, and its application is becoming more decisive with each generation. There is much to be done before society is organised on that principle, but the time is coming-and till it is come, there will be no peace. All masters and employers of labour, in their mills and warehouses, are bid to base their relations to “hands” and servants on the one firm foundation of “justice.” Paul does not say, Give your servants what is kind and patronising. He wants a great deal more than that. Charity likes to come in and supply the wants which would never have been felt had there been equity. An ounce of justice is sometimes worth a ton of charity.

This duty of the masters is enforced by the same thought which was to stimulate the servants to their tasks: “ye also have a Master in heaven.” That is not only Stimulus, but it is pattern. I said that Paul did not specify what was just and right, and that his precept might therefore be objected to as vague. Does the introduction of this thought of the masters Master in heaven take away any of the vagueness? If Christ is our Master, then we are to look to Him to see what a master ought to be, and to try to be masters like that. That is precise enough, is it not? That grips tight enough, does it not? Give your servants what you expect and need to get from Christ. If we try to live that commandment for twenty-four hours, it will probably not be its vagueness of which we complain. “Ye have a Master in heaven” is the great principle on which all Christian duty reposes. Christs command is my law, His will is supreme, His authority absolute, His example all-sufficient. My soul, my life, my all are His. My will is not my own. My possessions are not my own. My being is not my own. All duty is elevated into obedience to Him, and obedience to Him, utter and absolute, is dignity and freedom. We are Christs slaves, for He has bought us for Himself, by giving Himself for us. Let that great sacrifice win our hearts love and our perfect submission. “O Lord, truly I am Thy servant, Thou hast loosed my bonds.” Then all earthly relationships will be fulfilled by us; and we shall move among men, breathing blessing and raying out brightness, when in all we remember that we have a Master in heaven, and do all our work from the soul as to Him and not to men.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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