CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Colossians 1:28. Whom we preach.—What a glorious comprehensiveness there is in preaching Him in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead! Here is nothing narrow. Warning every man.—R.V. “admonishing.” It is a direction of the reflective faculty—a reproof administered with intent to amend the conduct. It corresponds to “Repent ye!” And teaching every man.—The positive side of which the warning is the negative. It is not enough to tell a man he is wrong—the right must be indicated; so the heralds of the gospel followed up “Repent ye” with “Believe the gospel.” Note the repeated “every man.” Exclusiveness which shuts the door in the face of any “weak brother for whom Christ died” is utterly strange to the teaching of St. Paul. That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.—St. Paul, and every true successor, labours for this end; and, as Colossians 1:22 shows, in so doing all are “workers together with God.” We have the idea of presentation elsewhere in St. Paul, as where he speaks of presenting his converts as a chaste virgin to Christ. The risk of offering a tainted animal for sacrifice is as nothing in comparison of offering a hypocrite as a trophy of the gospel.
Colossians 1:29. I also labour.—The word implies strenuous effort. “The racer who takes care to slack his speed whenever he is in danger of breaking into a perspiration will not win the prize” (Maclaren). Striving.—Lit. “agonising,” as in Luke 13:24. Like a stripped gymnast, every encumbrance cast off. The same word in 1 Timothy 6:12. “Fight the good fight.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Colossians 1:28-29
The Secret of Effective Preaching.
Much has been written concerning the inefficiency of the modern pulpit; and it has been argued that the press is now the great and successful rival of the preacher, and must ere long render his office nugatory. This prediction might possibly be fulfilled if the preaching of the gospel was simply a human institution and depended only on man for its permanency. But when we remember that preaching is a divine ordinance, and is adapted to reach and stir the heart as no other agency can, the preacher’s function can never cease while human nature remains what it is, or while God honours His own institution with His blessing. Only as the pulpit is faithful to its grand theme and lofty mission will it be effective. The deepest want of the age is Christ; and that preaching will be irresistibly potent that most adequately represents Him. These verses reveal to us the secret of effective preaching.
I. In order to effectiveness in preaching Christ must be the changeless theme.—“Whom we preach” (Colossians 1:28).
1. Preach Christ as to the special characteristic and unrivalled excellencies of His person.—The greatest men who ever lived, however brilliant and capacious their genius or stupendous their labours, never made so profound and widespread an impression upon humanity as Christ has done and is now doing. Their influence operated for only a limited period; His pervades all time—past, present, and future; theirs was confined to a narrow locality, His is diffused through the universe. The person of Christ is unique in this—that it combines two natures, the divine and the human. It was necessary He should be both God and man in order to fully accomplish the work He voluntarily undertook. As God, He met and satisfied all the requirements of Deity; and as man—putting Himself in our place—He realised and reached the extremities of our need, and thus fairly laying hold of us, gathering up and grasping the roots of our corrupt nature, He raised from sin to holiness, from earth to heaven. He is Emmanuel—God with us.
2. Preach Christ in His mediatorial character.—As the Prophet who testified of the truth of God; as the Priest who, by His one offering of Himself on the cross, has atoned for sin and made reconciliation possible; and as the King who has vanquished all our spiritual enemies and demands our absolute allegiance to His rule.
3. Preach Christ as the Saviour of every man, and as the only Saviour.—The threefold repetition of the phrase “every man” has a special significance, and emphasises the universality of the gospel. This great truth, a truth which the apostle sacrificed his life in establishing, had been endangered by the doctrine of a ceremonial exclusiveness taught by the Judaizers in several places, and was now endangered by the doctrine of an intellectual exclusiveness taught by the Gnosticizers at Colossæ. Christ must be proclaimed as the Saviour of men of every class, community, and country. He is the only Saviour, for “there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” The preaching of Christ is no narrow theme, but stands essentially related to all the noblest truths of the universe.
II. In order to effectiveness variety of method must be adopted.—The declaration of the truth must be:—
1. Authoritative.—“Whom we preach” (Colossians 1:28). The New Testament idea of preaching involves three elements—the announcement of joyful tidings; the proclamation of truth as by a herald, urgently and authoritatively; and the conviction and persuasion of men to belief by means of arguments. The preacher is the ambassador of God, and the message must be delivered as coming from Him, in His name, and by His authority.
2. Admonitory.—“Warning every man.” Sin has placed man in imminent peril, and its tendency is to deaden his sensibilities and render him oblivious of his danger. Hence he must be roused to concern and repentance by faithful remonstrance, by earnest exhortation, by solemn admonition, by impassioned appeal.
3. Instructive.—“Teaching every man” (Colossians 1:28). Not only must the emotions be swayed, but the understanding enlightened. It is not enough to convince the unbeliever of his error, not enough to bring home to the lover of sin the vileness and enormity of his transgressions, but by clear and forcible exposition and persuasion the will of the individual offender must be seized, and with firm, yet loving pressure biassed to seek after the light, truth, and purity that once were shunned.
4. With shrewd insight as to its adaptability.—“In all wisdom” (Colossians 1:28). The ancients spoke of a blind faith in their mysteries which belonged to the many, and of a higher knowledge that was confined to the few. The apostle, while declaring that in the gospel the fullest wisdom was offered to all alike, without restriction, exercised discretion as to the method in which he presented it to the individual. The style of his address at Athens would be different from that adopted at Jerusalem. This involves a study of character, and of what goes to make it—habits, customs, opinions, sympathies, and the general circumstances of life-culture.
III. In order to effectiveness man must be aided in realising the highest ideal of the Christian character.—“That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28). The gospel is a mirror in which is glassed the portrait of the character after which each believer is to model his own. That character is not simply a development of one’s own natural manhood, so much as it is something added to and thrown around that manhood, lifting it into dignity and transfiguring it with a glorious beauty. The gospel reveals the ideal of the Christian character after which the soul is continually to aspire. That ideal, in all its loveliness and witchery, is projected before the soul’s inmost vision in the Spirit and life of the man Christ Jesus. He who approximates nearest to the Christly character attains the highest moral perfection. It is the sublime mission of the preacher not to gratify the intellect, charm the imagination, or expand the mind by propagating the ideas of a transcendental philosophy; but to strengthen the soul in the great contest with evil, to supply it with holiest motives, to promote its spiritual progress, to present it “perfect in Christ Jesus.”
IV. In order to effectiveness there must be self-denying toil and the vigorous forth-putting of divinely inspired energy.—“Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working which worketh in me mightily” (Colossians 1:29). All great ideas have cost the solitary and individual thinker unspeakable labour, and not a little suffering in the endeavour to elaborate and make them known and set them in their due relation before the world. The world is ruled by ideas; but the revolution they occasion is a slow and painful process. The apostle was the custodian of a great idea—that the gospel was intended for all, and must be fully preached to all. The idea is familiar to us; but it was new to that age, and revolutionised the whole realm of human thought. If the apostle had been content to preach an exclusive gospel, he might have saved himself more than half the troubles of his life. But he saw the magnitude of the issues at stake; he espoused the God-given truth with all the strength of his great nature; he confronted the colossal prejudices of the ages; he trained himself in the discipline of self-denying toil; he suffered as only the true martyr-soul can suffer; he strove with an agony of earnestness to make known the whole truth; and, aided by the mighty working of the divine power within him, he triumphed signally. Preaching is always effective when it is the consentaneous outworking of the divinely imparted energy within the man. The preacher alone, however strenuous his efforts, is powerless; but inspired and strengthened by the divine Spirit, and acting in harmony with His promptness and help, he is mighty to prevail.
Lessons.—
1. Every sermon should be full of Christ.
2. The preacher should be master of every method that will ensure success.
3. That sermon will be most effective that is prepared and preached under the most direct influence of the divine Spirit.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Colossians 1:28. Apostolic Preaching.
I. They preached Christ as the only foundation of a sinner’s hope of salvation.
II. As the object of supreme love.
III. As the source of our supplies.
IV. As the model of our lives.—W. Antliff, D.D.
Colossians 1:29. The Christian Ministry—
I. Involves strenuous labour and patient suffering.
II. Is dependent on divine help.
III. Ascribes all its success to God.