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: Colossians 4:5. J. N. Norton, The King's Ferry Boat,p. no.