CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Colossians 3:15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts.—R.V. margin, “arbitrate.” We met the verb for “rule” in Colossians 2:18, but with a prefix “against.” “Let the peace of God be umpire,” says the apostle, in every case of uncertainty and hesitation. He who slept on Galilee’s stormy waters had but to say, “Peace! Be still!” and there was a great calm. He said, “My peace I leave with you”; and reckless of consequences the men who received it amazed the authorities by the boldness of their question, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye” (Acts 4:19).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Colossians 3:15
The Rule of Divine Peace.
War in any form is unfriendly to the growth of piety. The soul is tossed on the waves of disquietude, and courage—the principal virtue called into exercise—is apt to acquire an unnatural and unhealthy development at the expense of all other graces. The whole structure of the Christian character is dislocated and thrown off its balance. Peace restores the soul to its true equipoise, fixes every power in its just relation to each other and to the whole, and encourages the harmonious cultivation of that love which is the bond of perfectness. Lord Bacon has said: “It is heaven upon earth to have a man’s mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.” In this verse we are taught that the one supreme umpire in the heart, by which all differences are to be settled, is the peace of God—the destined end of the Christian calling, in which is realised the unity belonging to members of one body; and that this blessing is to be sought in a spirit of thankfulness. Observe:—
I. That peace is a divine blessing.—“The peace of God.” Some of the oldest manuscripts here read, “The peace of Christ”—a reading adopted by the ablest biblical critics. The verbal difference, however, is of no moment. The truth is the same: it is equally the peace of God and the peace of Christ—a divine tranquillity filling the soul with a calm that no mere worldly power can give or take away, and that the ocean-surges of trouble can never diminish or disturb. Christ hath made peace through the blood of His cross, and left it as a sacred legacy to all His disciples through all time. In its essence it is the peace that Christ Himself enjoys—a sublime calmness similar to that which pervades the divine bosom. It is not like the long, painful, oppressive stillness that is the precursor of a storm, but a profound, pervasive, heavenly quiet that soothes while it invigorates the soul. It proceeds from God through Christ, and is maintained and nourished in the heart as a positive, gracious reality and priceless blessing.
II. That peace is a ruling power.—“Let the peace of God rule.” The word “rule” is borrowed from the practice of the Greeks at their great national games, and described the duty of the arbiter or umpire presiding, who held the prize in his hand while the contest proceeded in the stadium, and conferred it on the victor at the close. Thereby he exercised over the athletes a peculiar kind of rule. Impelled by a sight of the prize, they gave their whole being to the contest. So, in contending in the race of life, the peace of God, as containing all desirable blessings, is to exercise supreme authority and regulate all the concerns of the soul.
1. As a ruling power peace pervades and stimulates every other grace.—It lifts the soul to God, and enables it to take hold of His strength. It prepares for every holy duty, and stimulates to every spiritual enterprise. The more the soul is permeated with divine peace, the more desire and aptitude will there be for higher attainments in piety.
2. As a ruling power peace is a powerful defence.—It resists successfully the attacks of evil from whatever source they come. The shafts of infidelity cannot pierce the invulnerable defence of a conscious peace with God: right feeling is superior to the subtlest logic. Peace erects a formidable bulwark against temptation, and is the surest safeguard against every form of sin.
3. As a ruling power it concentrates and controls all the energies of the soul.—It calms the intellect, soothes the heart, tranquillises the conscience, and centralises all the powers of manhood, that they may go forth and do valiant battle for the truth. As by an unerring instinct it decides upon what is right, and shuns the wrong. The questions as to whether it is right to engage in certain amusements, to visit certain places, or to join this or that company, will soon be settled when the peace of God rules in the heart. It is a regulating power in moral difficulties, and a potent help in all moral enterprises. The peace of God keeps the heart and mind through Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:7).
III. That peace is a ruling power in man.—“In your hearts.” The heart is the region where the ruling power is exercised and takes effect. It embraces the will and affections as distinguished from the intellect. It is the choosing faculty as distinguished from the knowing faculty. When the heart is drawn in one direction the whole man follows. There the moral disease begins, and there the remedy must be applied. By sin the heart has become deceitful above all things; in the regeneration the heart is made new. The rush of an evil heart’s affections will not always yield to reason. When God, by His word and Spirit, comes to save, He saves by arresting and renewing the heart. The psalmist recognised this when he cried, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” No man is conquered until his heart is conquered. It is in this region the peace of God has powerful sway, and where it aids in achieving the most brilliant moral conquests.
IV. That peace is essential to the unity of the Church.—
1. The Church is called to the enjoyment of peace. “To the which also ye are called.” The burden of the gospel message is peace. Its mission is to extinguish wars and enmities, and to pacify heaven and earth. The Church is called to peace by the commands of Christ, by the teachings of His example when on earth, by the reiterated precepts of God’s word, and by the necessities of the grand enterprise in which she is engaged.
2. The enjoyment of peace is essential in preserving and promoting the unity of the Church.—“In one body.” As ye were called as members of one body, so let there be one spirit animating that body. Among the stellar systems, in social communities and states, as well as in the Christian Church, a common agreement is essential to unity. Divine peace preserves harmony, nourishes spiritual strength, and promotes union by drawing the souls, in which it is the ruling power, more closely to God and to each other. There is to be the constant endeavour “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
V. That peace is to be cultivated in the spirit of thankfulness.—“And be ye thankful.” These words are not to be restricted in their application. Not only do they imply that the Colossians were to act towards each other in a thankful and amiable temper, but they teach in what spirit the peace of God should be universally sought and exercised. The duty of thankfulness was the constant theme of the apostle: there are upwards of thirty references to it in his epistles. Here we are exhorted to consider it in special connection with the enjoyment of peace. Only he who has been swung in the dark whirl of unrest and doubt, who has witnessed the horrible riot of disunion and discord, can appreciate the blessing of peace and the gratitude it inspires. Cicero declared that gratitude was the mother of all other virtues. Certain it is that no man sins without ingratitude. Thanksgiving has always been the principal element in all religion, whether instituted by divine command, prompted by natural reason, or propagated by general tradition. The pagan religion consists in the praise of their gods and acknowledgments of their benefits; the Jewish, to a great extent, in eucharistic oblations and solemn commemorations of providential favours; and the ancient Christians were distinguished by singing hymns to Christ, and by mutual sacraments obliging themselves to abstain from all villainy. Thanksgiving is a joyous exercise—the pleasantest of duties. Prayer reminds us of our wants and imperfections; confession enforces a painful remembrance of our sins; but gratitude includes nothing but the memory of exceeding goodness. It is a duty most acceptable to God and most profitable to man.
Lessons.—
1. True peace is found only in Christ.
2. Peace is a mighty engine of spiritual power.
3. Gratitude should combine with every blessing.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE
Unity and Peace.
I. The unity of the Church of Christ.—
1. Distinguish the unity of comprehensiveness from the unity of mere singularity.
2. It subsists between things not similar or alike, but dissimilar or unlike.
3. It is made up of dissimilar members, without which dissimilarity there could be no unity.
4. It consists in submission to one single influence or spirit. The Spirit of its God.
II. The individual peace resulting from this unity.—
1. It is God’s peace.
2. A living peace.
3. The peace which comes from an inward power.
4. The peace of reception.—Robertson.
The Peace of God ruling in the Heart.
I. The region.—“In your hearts.” When the heart is drawn in one direction, the whole man follows. When God by His word and Spirit comes to save, He saves by arresting the heart and making it new.
II. The reign.—“Rule.” Freedom from rule is not competent to man; the only choice he has is a choice of masters.
III. The Ruler.—“The peace of God.”
1. It is God and no idol that should rule in a human heart.
2. It is not the wrath but the peace of God that rules in a human heart. It is the act of letting me go free that binds my whole soul for ever.—W. Arnot.