+I. Describes our condemnation.+
+II. Must be cancelled in order to pardon.+
+III. Cancelled by the sufferings on the cross.+
+IV. Is blotted out against us when we accept the Crucified.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.
_The Triumph of the Cross._
The apostle has shown the worthlessness of the Jewish ceremonies and
the galling tyranny of their yoke. He has exposed the emptiness of
the philosophy that was of human fabrication, with its illusive
theories about angel mediators, its vast accretions of conflicting
traditions, and its intolerable impositions. He has declared that
they are all transfixed to the cross--torn, lacerated, illegible,
cancelled--and exhibited there as a spectacle for the perpetual
consolation and assurance of the believer. And now the apostle,
rising with the grandeur of his theme, compares the scene of the
cross to the splendid triumph of a Roman general, in which the
captives taken in battle were led in gorgeous procession through the
city as substantial trophies of the victor.
+I. The triumph of the cross was over the powers of
evil.+--"Principalities and Powers."
1. _The existence of evil is a painful fact._--We meet with it
everywhere and in everything. It mars the beauty of external creation
and loads it with a burden of unutterable woe. It flings its shadow
over the brightest sky, transforms the music of life into a doleful
monotone, and translates the softest zephyrs into sighs. It
impregnates man's moral nature, deflects the purest principles,
shatters the noblest powers, arrests the loftiest aspirations and
drags the soul down to the lowest hell.
2. _Evil is embodied in invisible and potent personalities._--They
are here called _principalities_ because of their excellency, their
deep penetration, vast knowledge, and exalted station. They are
called _powers_ because of their ability, the mighty influence they
can wield, and the terrible havoc they can work. Their dominion
extends over the whole realm of sin. They exist in vast numbers
(2 Pet. iv. 2; Jude 6), but they are inspired and guided by one great
master-spirit--the prince of the power of the air. They are animated
and bound together by one spirit--a spirit of bitter hatred and
savage hostility towards God, and of contemptuous scorn for His
authority. They are eager to obey the slightest behest of their
malignant leader.
"He spake: and to confirm his words outflew
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs,
Of mighty cherubim: the sudden blaze
Far round illumined hell: highly they raged
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms
Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war,
Hurling defiance towards the vault of heaven."
These hosts of evil spirits are the great foes of man with which he
has incessantly to contend (Eph. vi. 12). The struggle would be
hopeless had not Christ defeated them.
+II. The triumph of the cross was achieved after severe
conflict.+--"Having spoiled."
1. _The conflict was continuous._--It was fought from the earliest
period between Satan and man, and the day was lost. The woeful issues
of that conquest are with us to-day. The battle has been raging ever
since. The enmity existing between the serpent and the seed of the
woman is still active. The symbols and foreshadowings of the great
strife appeared on many occasions during the Mosaic period. But when
Christ assumed our humanity and stepped upon the field as the great
Captain of our salvation, the conflict reached its climax.
2. _The conflict was fierce._--Hosts of demons swarmed around the
solitary Warrior, and with incredible fury sought to gain a victory
over the human nature he had assumed. Again and again, they rushed to
the attack; but each fresh assault ended with a new defeat. In the
wilderness He was tempted by Satan; but the arch-tempter was
compelled to retire, baffled and conquered. Through the voice of His
chief disciple the temptation was renewed, and He was urged to
decline His appointed sufferings and death (Matt. xvi. 23). But Satan
was again foiled.
3. _The conflict was deadly._--Then came the final hour--the great
crisis when the power of darkness made itself felt, when the prince
of this world threw his last fatal shaft and asserted his tyranny
(Luke xxii. 53; John xii. 30). The closing act in the conflict began
with the agony of Gethsemane; it ended with the cross of Calvary. The
Son of God expires on the accursed tree. But, lo! strange reversal of
all human conflicts--the moment of apparent defeat is the moment of
victory! By dying Christ has conquered death and wrested from the
enemy his most potent weapon of terror. The principalities and powers
of evil, that clung around the humanity of Christ like a fatal Nessus
tunic, were _spoiled_--torn off and cast aside for ever. Evil
assailed the great Redeemer from without, but never penetrated Him as
it does humanity. In the act of dying the crucified One stripped off
and flung to the ground the great potentates of evil never more to be
in the ascendant.
+III. The triumph of the cross was signal and complete.+--1. _It was
signal._ "He made a show of them openly." The overthrow of the
principalities and powers of evil was boldly declared to the
universe. They were declared to be liars, traitors, deceivers,
usurpers, and murderers! It was not a private but a public victory,
in which the universe was interested, and in which all men may well
rejoice. The victory of mankind is involved in the victory of Christ.
In His cross we too are divested of the poisonous, clinging garments
of temptation, sin, and death--we spoil, strip off, put away from us
the powers of evil, and are liberated from the dominion of the flesh.
2. _It was complete._--"Triumphing over them in it." Christ proved
Himself on the cross the Conqueror of death and hell. Here the
paradox of the Crucifixion is placed in the strongest light--triumph
in helplessness, glory in shame, the vanquished become the conqueror.
The gloom of the convict's gibbet is transformed into the splendour
of the victor's chariot. In the cross we see the greatest triumph of
our Immanuel--the law fulfilled; God's moral government vindicated;
death robbed of its prey; Satan, "the prince of this world" cast out;
principalities and powers dragged in procession as captives; a show
of them boldly made; the imprisoned world set free; and the final
victory over every enemy assured.
+Lessons.+--1. _Christ has conquered the powers of evil._ 2. _To the
believer ultimate victory is certain._ 3. _Keep up a brave heart in
the fiercest conflict._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 16, 17.
_The Ceremonial and the Real in Religion._
After dealing with the speculative theories so busily propagated by
the false teachers at Colossæ, the apostle descends from the height
of his lofty argument, and with incomparable force sweeps away the
whole group of errors which overrated an excessive ritualism and
insisted on a rigorous asceticism. The existence of the ceremonial in
religion is a confession of the imperfection of our nature; and the
more rudimentary the ceremonial, the lower it supposes our condition.
The ceremonial foreshadows the real and is intended to help in
attaining it. In the nature of things, therefore, the ceremonial is
but temporary. When it puts man in possession of the real it
vanishes. The shadow is absorbed in the substance. To compel man to
find salvation in the ceremonial, when he already possesses the real,
is a retrogression and an injustice. The liberty of the Gospel places
the believer above the slavery of external ordinances and furnishes
him with a law--the law of a Christianised conscience--as to their
use or neglect.
+I. That the ceremonial in religion can form no just basis for
individual condemnation.+--"Let no man, therefore, judge you in
meat," etc. (ver. 16). The Mosaic law enforced certain injunctions
concerning eating and drinking. It gave minute directions as to the
animals that were to be eaten, making a distinction between the clean
and the unclean. As to drinking, the priests were strictly forbidden
the use of wine on the eve of solemn public duty; and the vow of the
Nazarites required entire abstinence from the fruit of the vine. The
tendency of the Jews was to multiply these distinctions and
prohibitions, and to exalt them into undue importance. The reference
to special days embraces the collective periodical feasts and sacred
seasons of the Levitical ritual--the yearly, monthly, and weekly
celebrations. The term _holy day_ would include the festivals of the
Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles respectively. The _new moon_
alludes to the monthly celebrations mentioned (Num. x. 10,
xxviii. 11). The _Sabbath days_ refer to the weekly solemnities and
services of the seventh day. The Jews assumed that the obligation of
these regulations was permanent, and their observance essential to
the salvation of the Christian believer. The Gospel teaches that the
observance or non-observance of these ceremonial rites is no just
ground for judging each other. We are not justified in condemning any
one for neglecting them, or to think any better of one who reverently
observes them. The essence of religion does not consist in the
outward form, but in the inward spirit--not in the ceremonial, but in
the real. "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of
Christ" (ver. 17).
+II. That the ceremonial in religion is typical of the real.+--"Which
are a shadow of things to come" (ver. 17). Ceremonies have their
place in the culture of mankind, and in their legitimate sphere they
are important. They are adapted to the infant stage in the
development of the race. They sketch out the bold, rough outlines of
truths that are in a half-formed embryotic state. They are shadows
projected across the disc of our mental vision--of grand realities
which are ever advancing into clearer view. They are typical of the
existence and certain manifestation of deeper and unchangeable
truths. They are predictive of things to come. The great yearly
festival of the Passover typified the forgiveness of sins by the
shedding of the precious blood of Christ. The Pentecost, or feast of
the firstfruits, sets forth the sustenance and ample provision God
has made for the soul. The feast of Tabernacles was a significant
reminder of God's providential guidance and fatherly care of human
life. The new moon, or first day of the month, with its usual
service, impressed on the minds of the people the truth that Jehovah,
the Ruler of the seasons, was the God of providence as well as of
creation. The weekly Sabbath, with its grateful rest, was expressly
instituted to commemorate the rest of God after the exercise of His
creative energy. Then the ordinary sacrifices were doubled, and the
shewbread renewed, to indicate that God is the source and sustenance
of our life. And so, the whole Mosaic law was a type and presage of
the Gospel. The spiritually enlightened look through the outward and
visible symbol to the great truth signified. The ceremonial is
valuable only as it conducts to the real.
+III. That the ceremonial in religion is abolished and rendered
nugatory by the real.+--"But the body is of Christ" (ver. 17). When
the substance appears, the shadow is swallowed up. As the shadows are
to the body, so were the types and ceremonies of the law to Christ.
They were figures of evangelical blessings; but the truth, the
reality, and abiding substance of them are found in the person, work,
and salvation of Christ. All the grand truths prefigured by the
ancient Mosaic ritual are embodied in Christ. He gives the fullest
personal representation of Jehovah as the God of nature, providence,
and redemption, at once the Author and the Ruler of the spiritual
life. In Christ, therefore, as the substance and Antitype, all shadow
and symbol disappear. It is a dangerous infatuation to snatch at the
shadow and cling to it when we may embrace and rest in the
sufficiency of the substance. This is to restore the cancelled
handwriting and nullify the splendid triumph of the cross. In Christ
the ceremonial is effete, powerless, dead. He only is the changeless,
eternal, all-satisfying real.
+Lessons.+--1. _Learn to exercise the spirit of Christian forbearance
in external observances._ 2. _Be careful not to rest in the
ceremonial._ 3. _Christ alone can satisfy the deepest craving of the
soul._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._