+I. Is affectionately recognised as a faithful minister of Christ+
(ver. 7).
+II. Attributes his success to the work of the Spirit+ (ver. 8).
+III. Regards the exercise of love in his hearers as a prominent
feature of success+ (ver. 8).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 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"
(ver. 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" (ver. 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" (ver. 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" (ver. 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" (ver. 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 (Eph. iv. 1; 1 Thess.
ii. 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" (ver. 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 throughs, 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 (Jer.
xlii. 6).
3. _The productiveness of Christian consistency._--"Being fruitful in
every good work" (ver. 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 xv. 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" (ver. 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
vii. 17; Matt. xxv. 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" (ver. 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" (ver. 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 pre-eminently 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" (ver. 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 (Isa. xxx. 15). The quiet, uncomplaining sufferer is greater
than the most vigorous athlete. The characteristic of both patience
and long-suffering 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._