CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Colossians 1:9. Do not cease to pray for you, and to desire.—R.V. “pray and make request.” The general notion comes first, then the particulars; so in Mark 11:24. In the Lord’s Prayer there are several “petitions” or “requests.” Knowledge.—Here represents the advanced knowledge of the initiated. “Spiritual understanding” is the use in the realm of things spiritual of the faculty which, as employed in physical research, makes the difference between the man of scientific method and the empiric. Compare the union of “wisdom” and “spiritual understanding” with our Lord’s words, “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent.
Colossians 1:10. Walk worthy.—“The end of all knowledge, the apostle would say, is conduct” (Lightfoot). The previous verse taken with this gives the “theory and practice” of religion. Unto all pleasing.—With the end ever before you of being approved by God. For the same combination, see 1 Thessalonians 4:1. Being fruitful … and increasing.—Like the gospel itself see Colossians 1:6).
Colossians 1:11. Strengthened with all might according to His glorious power.—Lit. “with all power made powerful,” etc. The two words representing “might” and “power” have become familiar in “dynamite” and the termination of “auto-crat”; the one indicates stored-up energy, the other victorious or ruling force. Patience and longsuffering.—The first word indicates the attitude of an unfainting mind when things go wrong; the second the quiet endurance under irritation from others, the being “not soon angry.”
Colossians 1:12. Made us meet.—Duly qualified us, gave us competence. Just as a man needs to be a qualified practitioner of medicine or the law, so these Colossians are recognised as fit and proper persons for participation in the kingdom of light.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Colossians 1:9-11
A Comprehensive Apostolic Prayer.
I. It was a prayer expressive of deep spiritual interest.—
1. It was suggested by the report of their active Christian virtues. “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray” (Colossians 1:9). They had believed in Christ, they had shown a genuine love to the brethren, they hoped for the glory of the future, they brought forth the fruits of the Spirit. All this excites the grateful heart of the apostle to pray that they may enjoy yet higher spiritual blessings, may increase in knowledge and wisdom, and rise to the highest standard of moral perfection. We best show our love to others by praying for them. Prayer is always needed, since the most excellent Christian graces are imperfect, liable to decay, and may be abused.
2. It was constant and fervent.—“Do not cease to pray for you and to desire” (Colossians 1:9). The apostle had unbounded faith in the efficacy of prayer. Many in these days limit the advantage of prayer to its reflex influence on the individual who prays—expanding the thoughts, spiritualising the mind, and sanctifying the heart; and maintain that it is powerless to affect God, whose purposes must advance by the irresistible operation of unchanging law, irrespective of human supplication. Above this partial philosophy of the modern scientist we have the authority and practice of an inspired apostle. If God did not hear and answer prayer—answer it, not in violation of, but in harmony with, the highest law—then the frequent intercessions of the apostle are reduced to a solemn mockery, are unjustifiable and inexplicable. The apostle prayed with the utmost assiduity—night and day, as opportunity permitted—and with the utmost ardency, desiring that the blessings sought might be liberally and at once bestowed. As Augustine puts it, our desires being prayers, these are continual when our desires are continual.
II. It was a prayer for amplest knowledge.—
1. The main subject of the knowledge desired. “The knowledge of His will” (Colossians 1:9). Man thirsts for knowledge. He is eager to become acquainted with himself and the wonders around him. In his unwearied search after knowledge he has conquered colossal difficulties; has penetrated the starry spaces with the telescope; revealed the smallest visual atom with the microscope; and, with the deep-sea dredge, has made us familiar with the long-hidden treasures of the ocean. But the highest knowledge is the knowledge of God—not simply of His nature, majesty, perfections, works, but the knowledge of His will. So far as we are concerned, that will comprehends all that God wishes us to be, believe, and do. We must know His will in order to salvation, and as the supreme rule and guide of every action. Man may be ignorant of many things; but he cannot be ignorant of God’s will and be saved. The knowledge of that will is the first great urgent duty of life.
2. The measure in which the knowledge may be possessed.—“Filled with knowledge.” The word “knowledge” is full and emphatic, indicating a living, comprehensive, complete knowledge of the divine will. They already possessed some knowledge of that will; and the apostle prays that it may be deeper, clearer, and increasingly potent within them, that they may be filled. The soul is not only to possess this knowledge, but it is to possess the soul—informing, animating, and impelling it onwards to higher attainments in the things of God. Knowledge is a power for good only as it acquaints with the divine will, and as it pervades and actuates the whole spiritual being. We may seek great things from God. He gives largely, according to His infinite bounty. There is no limit to our increase in divine knowledge but our own capacity, diligence, and faith.
3. The practical form in which the knowledge should be exercised.—“In all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:9). The word “spiritual” applies to both wisdom and understanding. The false teachers offered a wisdom which they highly extolled, but it had only a show of wisdom; it was an empty counterfeit, calling itself philosophy; the offspring of vanity, nurtured by the flesh: it was unspiritual. The true gospel is spiritual in its origin, characteristics, and effects. The wisdom and understanding it imparts are the work of the Holy Spirit. Without His presence and operation in the soul both the knowledge of the divine will and advancement in it would be impossible. The two terms are similar in meaning, but there is a distinction. Wisdom refers to the God-given organ by which truth is selected and stored up; understanding to the faculty by which truth is practically and prudently used: the one is comprehensive and accumulative, the other discriminative and practical. True spiritual insight is the work of the Holy Spirit. No amount of mental or moral culture, of human wisdom and sagacity, can supply it. This was the power lacked by the Galatians when they were so soon seduced from the gospel; and to prevent a similar result among the Colossians the apostle prays they may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that they may discern between the false and the true, the carnal and spiritual, the human and the divine.
III. It was a prayer for the loftiest Christian career.—
1. The standard of Christian conduct. “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord” (Colossians 1:10). Life is a journey; death is the common goal and resting-place where all meet. Our conduct is the pathway on which we travel. The walk therefore describes the general course of life, the actions, habits, and deportment of the man in his relations to God and to the race. This walk is to “be worthy of the Lord”—worthy of His holy and dignified character; worthy of His law, of His kingdom, of His glory, of the high destiny He has designed for us. When a certain prince, on being captured, was asked how he should be treated, his prompt reply was, “As a king.” We should ever remember the high vocation wherewith we are called, and the exalted pattern after which our behaviour should be modelled (Ephesians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:12). Our life is to be worthy of the Lord—in its spirit, motive, active outgoing, development, scope, and aim. For this purpose we are filled with the knowledge of His will. The end of knowledge is practice; its value consists in what it enables us to do. He is not an architect who simply theorises about buildings, but he who has the art to erect them. To speak eloquently of war does not constitute a general; he only deserves that distinction who can skilfully manage an army in the field, whether in attacking or defending.
2. The rule by which that standard is maintained.—“Unto all pleasing” (Colossians 1:10). We are to please the Lord in all things; to attempt and sanction nothing that will not be acceptable to Him. We are not to please ourselves—we are not to please others—as the ultimate object of life. If our conduct please others—our parents, our friends, our country—it is well; but though all others are displeased and estranged, we must strive in all things to please God. This is the simplest as well as the highest and grandest rule of life. Attention to this will settle many perplexing questions concerning human duty. The will of God must be studied as our supreme rule, and to it all our thoughts, words, and actions must be conformed. Thus the life on earth becomes a preparation and discipline for heaven, and blends the present with a future of immortal blessedness. It is well with us when we obey the Lord (Jeremiah 42:6).
3. The productiveness of Christian consistency.—“Being fruitful in every good work” (Colossians 1:10). One result of a worthy walk is fertility in Christian activity. In order to fruitfulness there must be life. The believer’s life is hid with Christ in God, and the existence of the hidden life is manifest in the fruits. Fruitfulness also involves culture. Neglect the vine, and instead of the pendent clusters of glossy, luscious fruit there will be barrenness and decay—withered branches fit only for the consuming fire. God disciplines His people for fruitful and abundant service by painful but loving exercises of His providence (John 15:2). It is not enough to bear one kind of fruit; there must be fertility “in every good work.” The Christian is in sympathy with every good enterprise that aims at the physical, social, or moral welfare of man, and will heartily contribute his influence and effort in its promotion.
4. Progress in divine knowledge.—“And increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). The knowledge of God is the real instrument of enlargement, in soul and life, of the believer (Alford). We can reach no stage in Christian experience and practice in which additional knowledge is unnecessary. Activity in goodness sharpens the knowing faculty and adds to the stores of wisdom. On the other hand, increased knowledge reacts and stimulates the worker (John 7:17; Matthew 25:29). Divine knowledge is the great necessity of the soul, and the real means of fruitfulness and growth in goodness. It appeals to, elevates, and expands the whole man.
IV. It was a prayer for supernatural strength.—
1. The appropriateness and fulness of the blessing desired. “Strengthened with all might” (Colossians 1:11). Man is morally weak. Sin has enfeebled and debased the soul; it has tyrannised over humanity for ages. “When we were yet without strength” Christ came and introduced another force which counteracts sin and will ultimately effect its overthrow. All who believe in Christ receive strength to struggle against and conquer sin. This imparted strength is especially necessary in realising the blessings for which the apostle prays—complete knowledge of the divine will; a life worthy of the Lord; spiritual fertility and advancement in heavenly wisdom. “Strengthened with all might.” Our enemies are numerous, violent, and obstinate, and our infirmities are many. We therefore need strength of every kind. As it is necessary to overcome all our enemies, so it is necessary to be endued with all might—might to endure the most furious assault, might to resist the most bewitching solicitation to evil.
2. The supernatural source of the blessing.—“According to His glorious power” (Colossians 1:11)—or, more correctly, “according to the power of His glory.” Moral power is not native to the Christian; it has its source in God. He imparts it to the believing heart. The motive and measure of our strength is in the might of His glory. Power is an essential attribute of the divine glory; it is manifested in the splendid works of creation, in the inscrutable ways of providence, and preeminently in the marvels of human redemption. God’s revelation of Himself to us, in whatever form, is the one source of our highest strength. The power of His glory reveals itself more and more to him who walks worthy of the Lord. Armed with this supernatural energy, the weakest saint becomes invincible.
3. The great practical purpose contemplated by the blessing.—“Unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Colossians 1:11). Patience is the temper which does not easily succumb under trial; longsuffering, or longmindedness, is the self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong. Patience respects the weight of the affliction, longsuffering its duration. The former is exercised in relation to God, in the endurance of trial, or in waiting for promised blessing; the latter in relation to man, in long-continued forbearance under irritating wrongs. The true strength of the believer consists, not so much in what he can do, as in what he can endure (Isaiah 30:15). The quiet, uncomplaining sufferer is greater than the most vigorous athlete. The characteristic of both patience and longsuffering is expressed in the phrase “with joyfulness.” To suffer with joyfulness is the great distinction and triumph of the Christian spirit. The endurance of the Stoic was often the effect of pride or insensibility. But the Christian, though keenly sensitive to pain, is enabled by the Holy Spirit to rejoice in the assurance of God’s presence, in the certain victory of his cause, and in the prospect of reward both here and hereafter.
Lessons.—
1. How sublime are the topics of genuine prayer.
2. Deep experimental acquaintance with the things of God is essential to a lofty and useful career.
3. Knowledge, wisdom, spiritual fertility, and strength are the gifts of God.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Colossians 1:9-11. Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians—
I. For knowledge.—Fulness of knowledge both extensively and intensively is the burden of his desire. “In all wisdom”—as a practical guide, not as mere theory. “And spiritual understanding”—the spirit of the believer receiving the Spirit of God to lead him inwardly to understand, realise, and delight in the divine will.
II. For fruitfulness.—
1. A life worthy of the Christian as it is well pleasing unto his Lord.
2. Good works of every kind.
3. Substantial growth.
III. For strength.—In order to this fruitfulness all might is required of body, mind, and spirit, but especially that of the Spirit within. The measure—“according to His glorious power”; so as to suffer patiently the constant trials of the Christian life, and exercise all longsuffering towards persecutors and enemies of the truth, and this with joyfulness. It is not what we can do, but what He can do in us, and we through Him.—Preacher’s Magazine.
Colossians 1:11. Divine Strength—
I. Is spiritual strength, the source and sustenance of all might.
II. May be realised in increasing measure.
III. Arms the soul with invincible power.—Power to endure with patience the trials of life; power to bear with the opposition and cruelty of others.
IV. Enables the soul to rejoice in the midst of suffering.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Colossians 1:12
Meetness for the Saintly Inheritance.
The epistle has been hitherto occupied with prefatory observations. In this verse the writer enters upon his principal theme relating to the person and redemption of Jesus Christ. He offers thanks to God the Father as the primal source of that grace which constitutes the meetness for the saintly heritage. Observe:—
I. The opulent inheritance provided for the good.—
1. It is a present and prospective possession. “The inheritance of the saints in light.” Light is symbolic of knowledge, purity, and joy. The saints even now are called out of darkness into God’s kingdom of marvellous light. “They walk in the light as He is in the light.” They have a measure of knowledge, but it is dimmed by many earthly obscurities; of purity, but it is surrounded with imperfections; of joy, but it is moderated by life’s sorrows. In the prospective heavenly inheritance, of which the earthly portion is a preparation and pledge, knowledge shall be unclouded and complete, purity unsullied, joy uninterrupted. “The life for eternity is already begun: we are at and from the very hour of our regeneration introduced into the spiritual world—a world which, though mysterious and invisible, is as real as the world of sense around us: the Christian’s life of heavenliness is the first stage of heaven itself! There is a power now within the believer in the germ, of which his celestial immortality shall be the proper fruit. The dawn of heaven hath already begun in all who are yet to rejoice in its noontide glory” (Archer Butler).
2. It is a possession provided for the good.—“The saints.” Not for the unholy, the impenitent, the unbelieving, the worldly. It is an inheritance where only the pure in heart can dwell. There is a world of significance in that pithy saying of an old divine: “Every one will get to heaven who could live there.” Only the saints who have made the Lord their light and their salvation can bear the splendour of His presence.
3. It is a possession freely given.—The legal heir has no need to work for his inheritance; he enters in possession by right of succession or testatorial bequest. The saint enters upon his inheritance of righteousness, not by natural descent or by any self-constituted right, but on the ground of a free, divine gift. The believer has a title to the inheritance; but it is not earned by his own efforts: it is bestowed by Christ who won the inheritance by suffering and dying. Thus all idea of merit is excluded; we can do nothing to deserve such a heritage of blessing. The word “inheritance” really means “the parcel of the lot”—an expression borrowed from the Old Testament (Psalms 16:5). The promised Canaan suggests an analogy between it and the higher hopes and wealthier possessions of the new dispensation. As each Israelite, through the grace of God, obtained his allotment, so the Christian obtains his portion in the kingdom of God. The present and future possession of the saints infinitely surpasses the earthly inheritance.
II. The special meetness necessary to a participation in the inheritance.—“Hath made us meet to be partakers.”
1. This meetness is absolutely necessary.—Naturally we are unmeet. A monarch may raise the basest slave to a dukedom, but he cannot give him fitness to discharge the duties of the exalted position; he may change his state, but he cannot change his nature. To obtain a moral fitness for the saintly inheritance our nature must be changed. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
2. This meetness consists in the loving conformity of the human will to the divine.—The future life of heaven is the object and pattern of our present heavenly life: “there is the mighty model on which we are to reconstruct our nature; there dwells that central form of moral and spiritual beauty of which our life is to be the transcript.” The celestial spirits find their highest glory and blessedness in the complete submission of their whole nature to God; in cheerful, willing, loving obedience to His will. The heavenly life is the test and standard of our life on earth—of every motive, word, and deed. The Church of Christ is a training-school for a more exalted career. An ancient sage once said, “Boys ought most to learn what most they shall need when they become men.” So men ought to learn in this life what they shall need most as glorified beings in the future. Only as our whole soul is conformed in loving obedience to the will of God are we “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” We are thus brought into sympathy with the good in all realms, and fitted to participate in the most exalted fellowships of the future!
3. This meetness is a divine work.—It is God “the Father who hath made us meet.” He provides the inheritance; He gives the title to it; He confers the moral fitness by which the soul enters into its possession and enjoyment. None but God, the fountain of holiness, goodness, and power, could accomplish this work. “He worketh in us to will and to do.” In the meetening process He hath dealt with us as a FATHER, instructing our ignorance, correcting and chastising our faults, and comforting and strengthening us in trouble.
III. The great duty we owe to the generous donor of the inheritance.—“Giving thanks.” Gratitude is the easiest and commonest duty of a dependent creature; yet is the duty most frequently and grossly neglected. Our hearts should ever glow with an unquenchable flame of grateful praise to the bountiful Author of all our blessings.
Lessons.—
1. We owe thanks to God as the Provider of the inheritance.
2. We owe thanks to God as the active Agent in producing the special meetness to participate in the enjoyments of the inheritance.
3. Our thanks to God should be expressed in active obedience to His uill.
4. Our thanks to God should be joyful, fervent, and constant.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE
Colossians 1:12. Qualification for Heaven.
I. The state contemplated.—It is “an inheritance”; not a purchased property, but the common heritage of the children of God. “Of the saints,” holy persons. “In light,” knowledge, holiness, happiness.
II. The meetness required.—Adaptations in the natural world. In social arrangement. In regard to the heavenly state. A change of heart is necessary. Without it heaven would not be heaven to us. It must be sought and obtained in the present world. It is here ascribed to the Father.
III. The thanks to be rendered.—We thank our fellow-men for their gifts. We thank God for His other gifts. We should thank Him for meetness for heaven. This thanksgiving prepares us for heaven.—G. Brooks.
Meetness for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light.—Life for eternity is already begun. The business and the beatitude of heaven must consist in conformity of the will to the will of God: this is equally the law of earth.
I. Faith is the realising power of this meetness.
II. Hope is the consoling and fortifying power.
III. Love is the uniting power, the consummation, and the perfection of all.—A. Butler.
The Inheritance of the Saints.
I. An interesting view of the future world as it is inherited by believers.—
1. The saints are in light in respect to the place.
2. As it respects purity.
3. In respect of the permanency of their felicity.
4. As it respects knowledge.
II. The meetness which is wrought by God in the hearts of all who are raised to the enjoyment of this inheritance.—
1. The relative meetness is expressed by the word inheritance. It is assigned to heirs.
2. The personal meetness is indicated by the term saints.
Lessons.—
1. Give thanks to God for those who are made meet.
2. Give thanks to God if the work be begun in yourselves.—R. Watson.