+I. Is exercised where there is mutual forbearance.+
+II. Is the noblest method of ending quarrels.+
+III. Is a Christ-like disposition.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.
_Love the Perfection of the Christian Character._
Love is the commonest and most potent affection of the human heart.
It has been the inexhaustible theme of writers in all ages, in poetry
and prose. It has been invested with the bewitching drapery of
romance and exhibited as the instrumental cause of the darkest crimes
and of the brightest virtues. The world never tires of learning of
its adventures, trials, and victories. While it is ever commonplace,
it is ever fresh. It is the perennial force in human life--the first
to inspire, the longest to endure, the last to perish. But Christian
love--love to Jesus Christ, and to all others for His sake--is not a
native-born affection. It does not spring spontaneously from the
human heart. It is a gift from God. It is the richest fruit of the
new spiritual nature implanted in the believer. It is first to be
acquired and then diligently cultivated. The apostle has just
described the distinctive garments with which the believer is to be
adorned--with a heart of tender compassion, with humility, with a
gentle, patient, and forgiving spirit. But in addition to all this,
and in order to complete the Christian character, he is to be clothed
in a robe which is to cover every other garment and bind it to its
place--a robe whose purity and brightness shall shed a lustre over
all the rest.
+I. That love is the prime element in every other grace of the
Christian character.+--It is the soul of every virtue and the
guarantee of a genuine sincerity. Without love all other graces,
according to an old writer, are but _glittering sins._ There is a
great power of affectionateness in the human heart, but no man
possesses naturally the spiritual love of God and love of the race.
It is a fruit of the Holy Ghost and comes though that faith which
works by love. It is possible to assume all the essentials of the
Christian character, enumerated in ver. 12, and previously commented
on; but without love they would be meaningless, cold, and dead. Mercy
would degenerate into weak sentimentality; kindness into foolish
extravagance; humility into a mock self-depreciation--which is but
another form of the proudest egotism; and longsuffering into a dull,
dogged stupidity. Love is the grand element in which all other graces
move and from which they derive their vitality and value. It is the
grace which alone redeems all other from the curse of selfishness,
and is, itself, the most unselfish.
+II. That love occupies the most exalted place in the Christian
character.+--"Above all these things." Not simply in addition to, but
_over and above_ all these, put on charity, as the outer garment that
covers and binds together all the rest. Other graces are local and
limited in their use; love is all-expansive and universal. A
philosopher, in a vein of pungent satire, has dilated on the
philosophy of clothes; and experience testifies how mightily the
world is influenced and instructed by outward appearances. As the
dress frequently indicates the rank and importance of the wearer, so
the garment of love, worn without ostentation or pride, is the badge
by which the Christian is known in the world (John xiii. 35). Love is
the presiding queen over all Christian graces, inspiring and
harmonising their exercises, and developing them into a living and
beauteous unity of character. The apostle fixes the exalted rank of
love in 1 Cor. xiii. 13.
+III. That love is the pledge of permanency in the Christian
character.+--"Which is the bond of perfectness." As a girdle, or
cincture, bound together with firmness and symmetry the loose flowing
robes generally worn by the ancients, so love is the power that
unites and holds together all those graces and virtues which together
make up perfection. Love is the preservative force in the Christian
character. Without it knowledge would lose its enterprise, mercy and
kindness become languid, humility faint, and longsuffering
indifferent. Love binds all excellencies together in a bond which
time cannot injure, the enemy unloose, or death destroy. No church,
or community of individuals, can exist long without the sustaining
power of love. It is not a similarity in taste, intellectual
pursuits, in knowledge, or in creed, that can permanently unite human
hearts, but the all-potent sympathy of Christian love. Charity never
faileth.
+IV. That the perfection of the Christian character is seen in the
practical manifestation of love.+--"Put on charity."
1. _Love is indispensable._--It is possible to possess many beautiful
traits of character--much that is humane and amiable--without being a
complete Christian: to be very near perfection, and yet lack one
thing. Without love all other graces are inconsistent, heartless,
wayward, selfish. They are but as sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal. Charity is indispensable to give life, force, meaning, truth,
permanence to the whole. It supplies the imperfections and defects of
other graces and virtues.
2. _Love is susceptible of individual cultivation._--It may be "put
on." We may have more if we strive after it and faithfully use what
is already possessed. It is a pressing, practical duty which all
Christians are bound to attend to. And yet there is no grace which is
more constantly suppressed. What a power the Church would become, and
how marvellously would the character of the world be changed if love
had a freer scope and was universally exercised. The pretentious
coverings of sectarianism and bigotry would vanish, and the whole
Church of the redeemed be girt with the ample robe of a seamless
unity. To win the love of others we must put it on ourselves.
+Lessons.+--1. _The mere profession of Christianity is empty and
valueless._ 2. _Every grace of the Christian character must be
diligently exercised._ 3. _Above and through all other graces love
must operate._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 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 have 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 (Phil. iv. 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" (Ps. li. 10). 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"
(Eph. iv. 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._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.
_The Poetry of the Christian Life._
In the life of the individual and of nations the era of poetry comes
first and is followed by the era of criticism. The impulse of a
youthful and enthusiastic passion and the boundless play of a
prolific imagination produce certain artistic results; and then comes
the cool, reflective critic, with microscopic eye and mathematical
rules, to measure and appraise the loved production. How soon the
glowing efflorescence withers, and the expanding magnitude dwindles
to the smallest practical limits. Genuine poetry is superior to all
criticism, outlives the most violent opposition, and is imperishable
as humanity. Poetry is the language of the soul in its highest and
holiest mood, when it is fired with a Divinely kindled rapture, when
it strives to grasp the invisible and pants to express the grandest
truths of the universe. The Christian life has its poetry. It is of
the loftiest order, its theme the noblest, and its melody haunts the
soul for ever with strains of ravishing harmony. In this verse we
learn that _the poetry of the Christian life draws its inspiration
from the Divine Word and ministers to the culture and enjoyment of
the Church._ Observe:--
+I. That the poetry of the Christian life draws its deepest
inspiration from the Divine Word.+--"Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly."
1. _That the Divine Word is fitly called the Word of Christ._--It
contains the record of His personal teaching--the revelation of new
and startling truths, and the resetting of old truths in such a light
as to connect the old and new dispensations, and blend them in an
unbroken homogeneousness. It unfolds the mystery of that redemption
He died to accomplish, and which forms so prominent a part of the
teaching of this epistle. It is inspired by the Spirit of Christ, and
gleams in every part with brilliant manifestations of His supernal
glory. Christ is the all-pervading theme of the Scriptures--the key
of the arch--the cornerstone of the foundation--the sun, illuminating
with light and salvation the whole Gospel system to its remotest
circumference.
2. _The Divine Word to create a true poetic fervour must wholly
occupy the soul._--"Dwell in you richly." The Word of Christ is to be
embraced as a whole, and due prominence given to every part of His
character and work. Not to exalt His humanity to the denial of His
Divinity; not to be so enamoured with the moral beauty of His life as
to overlook the significance and power of His death. The Word is to
dwell in us so completely as to possess and enrich every faculty and
power of our nature. Not simply to give it a place in the region of
intellectual opinion or in judging of moral questions, but to let it
have a mighty sway over the affections of the heart--let it enter,
saturate, purify, and govern the whole mental, moral, and spiritual
being. It is to occupy the soul as a constant and permanent
inspiration; to _dwell_--not as a stranger to stand without, or to be
saluted at a distance, but to enter, to abide, and be treated as a
loved and intimate guest. Let the Word of Christ be clearly
apprehended, diligently pondered, and firmly grasped, and it will
fill the soul with heavenly visions and inflame it with the holiest
poetic ardour.
+II. That the poetry of the Christian life has made valuable literary
contributions to the psalmody of the Church.+--"In psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs." It is not easy to make arbitrary distinctions
between these poetic effusions. The _psalm_ was a sacred poem on
whatever subject, and similar to the productions in the book of
Psalms in the Old Testament; the _hymn_ specially celebrated the
praises of the Almighty; and the _spiritual song,_ or ode, was more
mixed in its matter and more artificial in its arrangement and
referred to personal effusions of a more general character. The gift
of poesy was among the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit in the
early Church (1 Cor. xiv. 26). The first form of literature in all
countries is for the most part in song. A certain writer has said,
that if he were allowed to make the songs of a nation, he cared not
who made the laws. And in the Christian Church, from the earliest
period, sacred psalmody has been a mighty power for edification and
comfort. The hymnology of the church is becoming increasingly rich in
its poetic treasures.
+III. That the poetry of the Christian life ministers to the mutual
culture and happiness of the Church.+--1. _It is intellectual in its
character._ "In all wisdom teaching one another." A more correct
punctuation connects the clause "in all wisdom" with the words that
follow, not, as in our version, with the words that precede. To teach
in all wisdom demands the highest intellectual exercise, especially
when poetry is the medium of instruction and the Word of Christ the
theme. Without wisdom, poetry would sink into a maudlin sensuousness,
a mere verbal jingling, and intolerable monotony. Wisdom is necessary
to compare and balance the different parts of Scripture truth, to
apply the Word on proper occasions to its proper ends and in harmony
with its spirit, and to adopt the best means for attaining the
highest results in mutual instruction. The profoundest feelings of
our nature can only be expressed in poetry. The orator, as he reaches
the loftiest strains of eloquence, becomes poetical.
2. _It is moral in its tendency._--"And admonishing one another."
There is implied a deep concern for each other's moral condition and
safety. The poetry of the early Christians was moral in its exercise
and tendency. No one can feel an interest in another's morality who
is himself immoral. An eminent critic has said: "The element in which
poetry dwells is truth, and when imagination divorces itself from
that relation, it declines into the neighbourhood of empty fiction or
the dreams of lunacy." The poetry of the Christian life is based on
eternal truth, and it is to be judiciously used as an instrument of
admonition as well as of instruction. There is need for warning and
brotherly counsel to restore the wanderer, to raise him if he has
fallen, to reprove him if he is wrong, to protect and admonish him if
he is in danger (Ps. cxli. 5).
3. _It is joyous in its effects._--"Singing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord." Music and poetry are sometimes prostituted to the
basest purposes, ministering to the lowest passions, and inciting to
the vilest actions. But the poetry of the Christian life refines the
soul, raises it towards God, and fills it with the music of
unspeakable delight. The proper sphere of music is the heavenly and
the spiritual.
"Beyond the visible world she soars to seek,
For what delights the sense is false and weak;
Ideal form, the universal mould."
As the sea-shell conveys to the ear the faint music of the distant
waves, so the poetry of the Christian life indicates in some degree
the rapturous music that awaits on the heavenly shore. Coleridge
said: "Poetry has been to me its own exceeding great reward. It has
soothed my affliction, it has endeared solitude, and it has given me
the habit of wishing to discover the good and beautiful in all that
surrounds me." And Keats said: "Let me have music dying and I seek no
more delight."
+Lessons.+--1. _The highest poetry is found in the Divine Word._
2. _To administer instruction and admonition through the medium of
song is at once modest and significant._ 3. _The Christian life
should be one sweet harmonious poem._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
_The Word of Christ: its Characteristics as the Saviour's Book and the
Sinner's Book._
+I. It is simple.+
+II. Significant.+
+III. Saving.+
+IV. Sanctifying.+
+V. Supporting.+
+VI. Suited to all.+
+Lessons.+--1. _Let its truths and realities inhabit your
convictions._ 2. _Let its tone be infused into your temper._ 3. _Let
the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.--James Hamilton, D.D._
_The Indwelling Word of Christ._
+I. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you.+--1. _Implies a sense of the
preciousness of Christ Himself._ 2. _The preciousness of Christ's
words, as well as of Christ Himself, is essential to its dwelling in
you._ 3. _The felt preciousness of real present and living
intercourse between Christ and you will cause the Word, as His Word,
to abide in you._
+II. Dwell in you richly.+--1. _It may refer to quantity._ 2. _It may
have respect to quality._ 3. _The rich indwelling of the Word of
Christ in you may be held to correspond to the riches of Him whose
Word it is._ 4. _It is to dwell in you not only as rich receivers but
as rich dispensers also._
+Lessons.+--1. _Make sure of the first condition of Christ's Word in
you--the preciousness of Christ Himself._ 2. _Make full proof of all
suitable helps for the indwelling of the Word of Christ in
you.--R. S. Candlish._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.
_Suggestive Summary of the Law of Christian Duty._
Labour, which was originally imposed on man as a curse, may minister
very largely to the increase of human happiness. The effort necessary
to contend with and subdue the hostile forces of nature, and wrest
from the earth the food essential to existence, strengthens and
elevates the best powers of man. All men are prompted to labour by
some distinct principle or ruling passion: the savage by the cravings
of physical hunger, the patriot by the love of his country, the
philosopher by an inextinguishable thirst for knowledge and delight
in intellectual exercises. The ruling principle of action in the
believer is that of supreme devotion to the Lord; he is to do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. This exhortation embraces
everything previously mentioned in the epistle, and every possible
duty of the Christian life.
+I. The guiding law of Christian duty.+--"Do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus." The name of Christ suggests the predominating principle
by which the whole course of life is to be regulated, the watchword
in every enterprise, the battle-cry in every conflict, the rallying
centre in every disaster. In warfare, armies have been animated with
the enthusiasm of action by simply mentioning the name of a
Wellington, a Napoleon, a Garibaldi, a Von Moltke. But oh! how
glorious and all potent is the name +Lord Jesus!+ It suggests the
sublime dignity and redemptive achievements of Christ, and that He is
the great exemplar after which all who believe in Him are to be
morally fashioned.
1. _In Christ is the purest motive to duty._--Motive originates and
governs action, and makes it good or bad. The believer does
everything for Christ's sake, out of love for Him and respect to His
authority. The tendency in all men is to live in themselves, to act
in their own name and strength, and to carry out their own selfish
purposes. Selfishness is one of the mightiest and most general
motives to action. It is only in Christ we find the holiest and
purest motive; in Him love takes the place of selfishness. The love
of Christ constraineth us (2 Cor. v. 14, 15).
2. _In Christ is the noblest pattern of duty._--Not only do we see in
His character the most perfect representation of moral excellence,
but his whole career is an instructive example of devotion to duty.
He fulfilled the will of His Father: He was obedient unto death. He
has taught us how to live and how to die. One of the grandest
pictures of moral heroism is seen in the maintenance of an
intelligent and faithful obedience in the midst of danger and
threatened death.
3. _In Christ is the highest end of duty._--All things in the
material universe exist for Him, and in the moral realm He is the
goal towards which all actions tend. Everything should be done with
reference to Christ. We can have no worthier ambition than to seek in
all things His glory. Cf. Mark ix. 41; Matt. xviii. 5; John xiv. 14;
and note how Christ lays it down as a universal principle that
everything is to be done in His name. There is no higher name, for it
"is above every name"; there is no loftier end, for "He is before all
things."
4. _In Christ is the final authority of Christian duty._--Many things
have been done in the name of Christ that never had His sanction and
were contrary to His authority. The most disastrous persecutions and
cruellest tortures have been perpetrated in the name of Christ. These
blasphemous outrages have been committed to strengthen the authority
and hide the bloodthirsty rapacity of a corrupt and domineering
Church. No ecclesiastical hierarchy has a right to compel the blind,
unreasoning submission of a free, intelligent agent. Above all
Jesuitical maxims and Papal decrees is the authority of Christ. His
will is supreme in all spheres, and that will is the guiding law of
duty in the Christian life.
+II. The universal obligation of Christian duty.+--"Whatsoever ye do
in word or deed."
1. _There must be a recognition of Christ in everything._--In all our
employments, conversation, public acts of worship, in social and
private prayer, in secular and domestic concerns, in all matters
relating to the place of our abode, in changing residences, in
connections we form for ourselves and our children. There is a
comprehensiveness in the obligation which is all-embracing. Not that
we are to parade our piety, to obtrude our religious notions upon
everybody we meet, or to be ever unctuously repeating the name of
Christ, irrespective of time or place. The merchant is not to provoke
unseemly discussions on sacred subjects when he ought to be attending
to the business of the counting-house; the clerk should not be
reading his Bible when he ought to be posting his ledger; the
servant-maid should not be praying when she ought to be cleaning her
kitchen; nor ought the mother to be gadding about, or running to
endless revival meetings, while her house is dirty and her husband
and children neglected. It is not so much that everything is to be
done after one special outward form as that every duty is to be done
in a religious spirit. Religion is not a series of formal acts, or a
string of set phrases; but it is a life, pervading all our
activities, and making every part of our career sublime. Recognise
Christ in everything, and a new meaning will be thrown on passing
events; the commonplaces of life will be exalted into dignity, and
the future assume irresistible attractions.
2. _There must be absolute dependence on Christ at all times._--We
cannot say and do everything in the name of Christ unless we fully
surrender ourselves to Him. We are helpless and full of spiritual
infirmities, but the more conscious we are of our complete dependence
on Him the stronger are we in labour and in hope. In our successes,
lest we be puffed up with vanity--in our perplexities, lest we are
discouraged--in our grief, lest we sink despairing into the
abyss--and in our transports of joy, lest we be exalted above
measure--there must ever be a full, voluntary, and conscious reliance
on Jesus. Thus resting on Him and realising His life-giving power, we
can say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me."
3. _There must be supreme devotion to Christ._--All we have we owe to
Him. He gave His all for us, and it is but a righteous return that we
consecrate to Him all that is highest and best in ourselves. We must
love Christ supremely, and then every faculty and power of our being
will render homage and service to Him. We shall be obedient to His
commands, we shall magnify His grace, we shall strive to walk worthy
of His great name, and in all things seek to promote His glory. We
pledge ourselves to Him for ever, and no consideration should tempt
us to relax our devotion. George III. was a man of firm mind, with
whom one had pleasure in acting. He was very slow in forming his
opinion, very diligent in procuring every information on the subject;
but once convinced, he would act with unflinching firmness. His
beautiful speech about the Roman Catholic question shows his
character: "I can give up my crown and retire from power, I can quit
my palace and live in a cottage, I can lay my head on a block and
lose my life, but I can _not_ break my oath."
+III. The unvarying spirit in which Christian duty is to be
done.+--"Giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." They who do all
things in Christ's name will never want matter of thanksgiving to
God. The apostle has frequently referred to this duty of gratitude,
and he evidently regarded it as a very important element of the
Christian character. It was Christianity that first taught the duty
of being thankful even in trial and suffering. We are to thank God
for the privilege of acting so that we may honour Him. A thankful
spirit has a blessedness and a power of blessing which those only
realise who cherish it. All thanksgiving is to be offered to God the
Father by Jesus Christ, as He is our only mediator, and it is through
Him we obtain whatever good the Father bestows upon us. The giving of
thanks to God is one of the highest duties of religious worship; and
if this be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, then all subordinate
duties must be done in the same manner.
+Lessons.+--1. _The name of Christ is the greatest power in the
universe._ 2. _All duty gathers its significance and blessedness from
its relation to Christ._ 3. _A thankful spirit is happy in
enterprise, brave in difficulties, and patient in reverses._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._
Ver. 17 (compared with 1 Cor. xi. 24). _The Lord's Supper the Sample
of the Christian Life._
+I. All the objects around us are to be regarded by us as being
symbols and memorials of our Lord.+
+II. Every act of our life is to be done from the same motive as
that holy communion.+
+III. All life, like the communion of the Lord's Supper, may be and
ought to be a showing forth of Christ's death.+
+IV. This communion is in itself one of the mightiest means for
making the whole of life like itself.+--_A. Maclaren._
_Doing all in the Name of Christ._
+I. Doing it as His agent.+
+II. We are not our own, but His.+
+III. Whatever it is right to do is His work.+--_T. G. Crippen._
_Christ in the Practical Life._
+I. Here we find a rule of life.+
+II. Here we find a motive.+
+III. Here we find our life redeemed.+--_Preacher's Magazine._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18, 19.
_Duties of Husbands and Wives._
After the apostle has laid down the law of duty for the government of
all Christians in the general conduct of life, he proceeds to show
the application of the same law to the domestic relationships.
Obedience to the law in the general is an excellent preparation for
observing it in the particular: the best Christian will make the best
husband or wife. The morality of Christianity is one of its brightest
glories and most beneficent influences; it provides for the purity
and happiness of domestic life, and where it rules all is peace,
love, and contentment. Where polygamy prevails, as in heathen and
Mahometan countries, the most lamentable domestic complications
occur, and all is distraction and misery. The family is the source
and pattern of society. If the family is corrupt and disorganised,
society suffers. A holy, well-regulated household is a regenerative
force in society. It is in the home that the social principle finds
its highest development. There the tenderest feelings are roused, the
deepest and most permanent impressions made, the foundation and first
rough outlines of what we may become laid down and indicated, the
first principle of good or evil imbibed, and the mightiest moral
forces brought into play. Much, therefore, depends upon the
understanding that exists between the husband and wife, and the way
in which they discharge their mutual duties, as to what shall be the
character of the household government. The apostle, in enforcing
these relative duties, mentions the three classes which divide the
domestic circle--husbands and wives, parents and children, masters
and servants. He begins with the inferior relation in each
class--wife, child, servant--perhaps because the difficulty of
obedience is greater, because in disputes it is the duty of the
humbler party to submit, and because the discharge of duty by that
party is the surest method of securing it in the other.
+I. The duty of the wife is submission to the husband.+--"Wives,
submit yourselves to your own husbands" (ver. 18).
1. _This implies dependence._--It is the Divine order that "the
husband is the head of the wife." In point of nature, and of their
relation to God, they are both equal; but when brought into the
married relation the husband has the first place, and the wife, as
the weaker vessel, and under a sense of dependence, is called to
submit. When the order is reversed, and the wife takes the lead,
mischief is sure to ensue. Not that woman is to be the slave and
drudge of her husband; but the relationship between the two ought to
be so adjusted by the power of religion that the wife is never rudely
reminded of her state of dependence.
2. _Implies respect._--It is difficult to respect some men, and still
more difficult to love where we cannot respect. But the apostolic
injunction is emphatic: "Let the wife see that she reverence her
husband." Though the husband be a reckless, incapable ne'er-do-well,
the wife is to respect the position of her husband and show him
deference as the head of the family. Alas! how many a noble woman has
had her life embittered by a worthless husband, but who, with a
heroism, truly sublime, and a love truly angelical, has bravely done
her duty and striven to screen the faults of the man who caused her
misery.
3. _Implies obedience in all things lawful._--St. Peter refers to
"the holy women in the old time, being in subjection unto their own
husbands, even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord" (1 Pet.
iii. 5, 6). A true wife is wholly devoted to her husband. She will
care for his person, property, health, character, and reputation, as
for her own. In all things reasonable and lawful she will rejoice to
meet the requests of her husband and follow his counsel.
+II. The submission of the wife to the husband is governed by
religious principle.+--"As it is fit in the Lord" (ver. 18). The
wife is first to submit herself fully to Christ, and, from love to
Him, to submit herself to her own husband, and to look upon her
subjection as service done to Christ. This will be a consolation and
strength to her in many an unkind word from a cruel, apathetic, and
unappreciative husband. It would never do for two wills to be ruling
a family. There would be endless clashing and confusion. It is the
Divine arrangement that the husband is the head of the house, and "it
is fit in the Lord" that the wife should be in subjection. She is not
to forget her responsibility to God in a slavish, unreasoning, and
sinful obedience to her husband. Governed by a pure and lofty
religious principle, she may so fulfil her duty as to win, or at
least disarm, her unreasonable partner. A wise submission may
sometimes work wonders. She stoops to conquer. An old writer has
said: "A wife is ordained for man, like a little Zoar--a city of
refuge to fly to in all his troubles."
+III. The duty of the husband is to show affection towards the
wife.+--1. _This affection is to be genuinely manifested._ "Husbands,
love your wives" (ver. 19). Obligation is not all on one side. The
husband is not less bound to discharge his duty to his wife than the
wife to him. Love is the sum of the husband's duty, and that which
will regulate every other. Where love rules, the family circle
becomes a tranquil and cherished haven of rest, peace, harmony, and
joy. Nor is it enough that this affection should be recognised as a
matter of course--let it be manifested. That woman is a strange,
heartless shrew who is unaffected by the gentle evidences of a
devoted and manly love. The true wife needs, craves for and knows how
to appreciate a genuine and evident affection. Let the husband show
the same tender and considerate regard to his wife as life advances
and cares multiply as when he stood by her side at the altar, a
lovely and confiding bride.
2. _This affection is to be free from harshness._--"And be not bitter
against them" (ver. 19). It is evidently implied that the love of a
Christian heart may be marred by a sour and morose temper. It is
ungenerous and cruel to vent upon his wife and family the anger which
the man had not the courage to display before those who roused it
when mixing among them in the world. Bitterness may be manifested as
much by a cold, repulsive silence as by the most stinging words of
sharp and angry reproof, or by the irritating actions of a wilful and
tantalising conduct. It is a species of savage and fiendish brutality
for a husband to study how he can inflict the keenest torture on a
loving and submissive nature. It sometimes requires the most
assiduous art of the tenderest affection to repair the damage done by
a single word. Amid the perplexities and trials of married life many
occasions will arise in which mutual patience and forbearance will
need to be exercised. Let love reign supreme and banish the first
symptoms of a harsh and churlish disposition.
+Lessons.+--1. _Be careful whom you marry._ 2. _Beware of the first
quarrel._ 3. _Bear with Christian resignation the life-consequences
of an unfortunate choice._ 4. _Connubial bliss is attained only by
the faithful exercise of mutual duties._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20, 21.
_Duties of Parents and Children._
It is God who hath set the solitary in families. The domestic
constitution is the formal type of all governments. If discipline is
neglected in the home, it is rarely that the loss is made up when the
untaught becomes a citizen of the world. Coleridge has well said: "If
you bring up your children in a which puts them out of sympathy with
the religious feelings of the nation in which they life, the chances
are that they will ultimately turn out ruffians or fanatics, and one
as likely as the other." "A wise son maketh a glad father; but a
foolish son is the heaviness of his mother" (Prov. x. 1). Lord Bacon
observes that fathers have most comfort of the good proof of their
sons, but the mothers have most discomfort of their ill proof. It is
therefore of vital importance that the reciprocal duties of parents
and children should be faithfully and diligently observed. These
verses indicate _the character of filial duty and of parental
authority._ Observe:--
+I. That the duty of the child to the parent is to obey.+--1. _This
obedience is universal._ "Children, obey your parents in all things"
(ver. 20). The Old Testament law commands, "Honour thy father and thy
mother"; and the most signal way in which a child can honour his
parents is to obey them. Parents have learnt wisdom by experience;
they know the dangers that threaten their children, and are in a
position to offer wise and judicious counsel. Filial obedience should
be prompt, cheerful, self-denying, uniform; not dilatory and
reluctant. It is universal in its obligation, and is binding, not
only in those commands that are pleasant to obey, but in those that
are troublesome, and that seem unreasonable and perverse, so long as
they do not involve a violation of Divine law. It is a painful
spectacle to see a child defy parental authority, and even exult in
his rebellion and in the distress it causes his father and mother.
But filial disobedience rarely reaches such a pitch of cruel
retaliation without there having been some defect in the early
training. The child who renders due reverence to his parents is sure
to meet with the rich rewards of heaven in the enjoyment of temporal
and spiritual blessing.
2. _This obedience is qualified and limited by the Divine
approval._--"For this is well-pleasing unto God" (ver. 20). It is
only when the commands of the parent are in harmony with the will of
God that the child is bound to obey, and a powerful motive to
practise obedience is derived from the fact that it "is well-pleasing
unto the Lord." The parent has no authority to enforce obedience
beyond what has been given to him of God; and the exercise of that
authority must ever be in subjection to the higher authority of the
Divine law. Obedience to parents in what is right is obedience to the
Lord. It is the way of safety and of happiness. A little boy, about
seven years old, was on a visit to a lady who was very fond of him.
One day, at breakfast, there was some hot bread on the table, and it
was handed to him; but he would not take it. "Do you not like hot
bread?" asked the lady. "Yes," said the boy; "I like it very much."
"Then, my dear, why do you not take some?" "Because," he said, "my
father does not wish me to eat hot bread." "But your father is a
great way off," said the lady, "and will not know whether you eat it
or not. You may take it for once; there will be no harm in that."
"No, ma'am; I will not disobey my father and my mother. I must do
what they have told me to do, although they are a great way off. I
would not touch it if I was sure nobody would see. I myself should
know it, and that would be enough to make me unhappy." A reckless
disobedience of parental authority will not go unpunished. The
example of Christ's subjection to his earthly parents exalts filial
duty into a sublime and holy exercise.
+II. That the duty of the parent to the child is to rule.+--1. _The
parent is not to rule in a spirit of exasperating severity._
"Fathers, provoke not your children to anger" (ver. 21). The
obedience of the child will be very much influenced by the character
of the parental government. Counsel, remonstrance, and even
chastisement will be necessary in the successful training of
children. But discipline is to be administered so wisely, lovingly,
and firmly as not to irritate to rebellion, but to subdue and bend
into obedience. An excessive severity is as baneful as an excessive
indulgence.
"The voices of parents is the voice of God,
For to their children they are heaven's lieutenants;
Made fathers, not for common uses merely,
But to steer
The wanton freight of youth through storms and dangers,
Which, with full sails, they bear upon and straighten
The mortal line of life they bend so often.
For these are we made fathers, and for these
May challenge duty on our children's part.
Obedience is the sacrifice of angels,
Whose form you carry."--_Shakespeare._
2. _To rule in a spirit of exasperating severity tends only to
dishearten._--"Lest they be discouraged" (ver. 21). If the child sees
that all his endeavours to please are in vain, and that he is
repulsed with sternness and cruel severity, he loses heart, and
becomes sullen or morose, or is stung into a state of desperate
revenge. To be perpetually fault-finding, and to gratify your angry
passions in brutal, savage chastisement, will crush the spirit of any
youth, and perhaps transform him into a monster more terrible than
yourself. Children are to be led, not driven; to be treated as
reasonable beings, not forced like brute animals; to be encouraged by
commendation where it is merited, and the defects of their obedience
kindly interpreted. A certain writer has significantly said: "What if
God should place in your hand a diamond, and tell you to inscribe on
it a sentence which should be read at the last day, and shown there
as an index of your own thoughts and feelings? What care, what
caution, would you exercise in the selection! Now this is what God
has done. He has placed before you the immortal minds of your
children, more imperishable than the diamond, on which you are about
to inscribe every day and every hour, by your instruction, by your
spirit, or by your example, something that will remain and be
exhibited for or against you at the judgment day."
+Lessons.+--1. _To rule wisely we must first learn to obey._
2. _Disobedience is the essence of all sin._ 3. _That government is
the most effective that tempers justice with mercy._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 22-25--_Ch._ iv. 1.
_Duties of Masters and Servants._
The jealous conflict between capital and labour threatens the good
understanding that was wont to exist between employer and employed
with a serious rupture. Such a rupture would benefit neither side and
would inflict incalculable disaster on both. There are economic laws,
which regulate the employment of capital and labour, which no number
of combinations and unions among masters and servants can ever set
aside. Though a temporary advantage may, in extraordinary times, be
snatched by either party, the law of supply and demand inevitably
tends to balance and equalise all interests. It would be well,
therefore, for masters and servants to ponder the teaching of the New
Testament regarding their reciprocal duties. It was Christianity that
rescued the servant from a condition of abject civil slavery and
placed him in his just relation to his fellow-subjects in the
commonwealth. The farther men drift away from the Christian spirit in
seeking to adjust the questions between capital and labour, the more
difficult and complicated they become. It is only as these questions
are settled on a Christian basis, in harmony with the laws of a sound
political economy, that party jealousies will subside, and the best
understanding between masters and servants be established. Observe:--
+I. That the duty of the servant is to obey his master in all things
relating to his state of servitude.+--"Servants, obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh" (ver. 22). There is nothing
degrading in service. It is the employment of angels. "They serve Him
day and night" (Rev. vii. 15). It is ennobled by the example of
Christ, who "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Mark
x. 45). To obey in all things is not always pleasant or easy; but the
Christian servant will strive to accomplish the task. He consults the
master's will, not his own; he does the master's way, not his own; he
considers the master's time, not his own. His obedience is
universally binding in everything relating to his state of servitude
but is restricted to that. His employer is his master only according
to the flesh, has control over his bodily powers, and over the time
in which he has engaged to labour; but he has not power over the
spirit. The master cannot demand obedience in any matter forbidden of
God.
+II. That the duty of the servant is to be done in a spirit of
sincerity.+--1. _It is to be free from duplicity._ "Not with
eye-service as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart" (ver. 22).
The servants of whom the apostle writes were slaves and treated
merely as chattels. There are supposed to have been sixty millions of
slaves in the Roman empire. From the treatment they usually received,
they were greatly tempted to be merely eye-servants--diligent when
their master was present, but indolent and reckless in his absence.
Christianity has elevated man from slavery and provided him with the
highest motives to moral action. It teaches that service is to be
rendered, not with a hypocritical deference and sham industriousness,
but with a single, undivided heart, doing the best at all times for
the master.
2. _It is to be done in the fear of God._--"Fearing God" (ver.
22)--the one Lord and Master, as contrasted with the master according
to the flesh. The Christian servant has a conscience to satisfy and a
heavenly Master to please. The fear of the Lord is the holiest
motive-power in all acceptable service. He who serves his earthly
master as he seeks to serve God will take care that the Divine and
human interests do not come into collision with each other.
+III. That the duty of the servant is to be discharged from the
loftiest religious principle.+--1. _In every duty God is to be
recognised._ "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord,
and not unto men" (ver. 23). The Christian servant must look higher
than his earthly master; that is a service that may be rendered
mechanically, and by men who make no pretence to be Christian. The
true servant will give Christ the chief place in his service--will so
act that his obedience shall honour Christ and be acceptable to Him.
His best efforts may fail to satisfy the exactions of an unreasonable
master, and the faithful servant will find his consolation and
recompense in the fact that he aims to secure the Divine approval.
This will give a moral dignity to the most menial employment, and
exalt the common drudgery of toil into a means of religious
refreshment and invigoration.
2. _In every duty the best powers should be exercised._--"Do it
heartily" (ver. 23). If the heart be engaged, it will put into
operation the best powers of the whole man. No work is well done when
the heart is not in it. Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing
well; and surely no power can move the springs of action so
completely as the ever-present thought that, whatever we do, we "do
it as to the Lord, and not unto men." Our best efforts fall
immeasurably below the lofty ideal of Christian service; but it is no
small commendation when the Divine Master can declare respecting the
anxious and delighted worker, "She hath done what she could" (Mark
xiv. 8). Acting on such a principle, the capacity for the highest
kind of work is cultivated, the sphere of usefulness widened, and the
most coveted honours and enjoyments of the faithful servant secured.
+IV. That faithful service will meet with a glorious
reward.+--"Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of
the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ" (ver. 24). Under the
sinister judgment passed by Satan on the devotion of Job there lurks
an encouraging truth--man does not serve God for nought. Though there
is nothing meritorious in the best actions of the busiest life, yet
it has pleased God, in the exuberance of His condescending bounty, to
provide abundant recompense for all work done as unto Him. The reward
of the inheritance is in generous disproportion to the service
rendered; the service is marred and limited by the numberless
imperfections of the human; the reward is amply freighted with the
overflowing munificence and glittering splendours of the Divine. It
is the inheritance of imperishable happiness--of incorruptible and
unfading glory--of heaven--of God (1 Pet. i. 4). What an
encouragement to work!
+V. That every act of injustice will meet with impartial
retribution.+--"But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong
which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons" (ver. 25).
Some regard the wrong-doer referred to in this verse as the servant
who defrauds the master of his service; others, as the master who
defrauds the servant of his just recompense. But the words announce a
general principle which is equally applicable to both. The
philosophers of Greece taught, and the laws of Rome assumed, that the
slave was a chattel, and that as a chattel he had no rights. The New
Testament places the relation of master and servant in a wholly new
light and shows that between both there is a reciprocity of duties
and of penalties. The injustice done in the world, whether by master
or by servant, shall be impartially redressed, and the injured one
vindicated at the day of final retribution.
+VI. That the duty of the master is to deal righteously towards his
servants.+--1. _He is to act towards his servants according to the
principles of justice and equity._ "Masters, give unto your servants
that which is just and equal" (ver. 1). If the masters here addressed
were exhorted to deal fairly and justly with those who were their
slaves, not less fully is the modern master bound to act justly and
equitably towards those who serve him. The position of master is one
of great power and authority; it is, at the same time, one of solemn
responsibility. Capital has not only its cares and privileges, it has
also its duties, and these cannot be abused with impunity. The
communistic doctrine of equality has no countenance here. If all were
socially and financially equal to-day, the inequality would be
restored to-morrow. The duty of the master is to give to his servants
that which is righteous and reciprocally fair. Treat them as human
beings, with human rights, and as rational and religious beings, who,
like yourselves, have an endless future to prepare for. Give them
fair remuneration for work done. Be generous in prosperous times, and
considerate when adversity comes. While acting commercially according
to the laws of political economy, which no sane business man can
disregard, yield in all justness and fairness to the impulse of the
higher law of Christian charity and kindness. Interest yourselves in
the physical, moral, and religious welfare of your work-people. Good
masters make good servants.
2. _He is to remember that he is responsible to a higher Master._
"Knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven" (ver. 1). The master
is not less bound than the servant to do his duty as unto the Lord.
They are both servants of the one great Lord and Master of all. "One
is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren" (Matt.
xxiii. 8). Do not impose impossible tasks upon your servants. Avoid
an overbearing tyranny, and "forbear threatening." Exercise your
authority with humanity and gentleness. Use your wealth, reputation,
and influence in promoting the best interest of your work-people, and
in serving the Lord Christ. Remember that whatever you do to the
poorest servant of your heavenly Master is reckoned and recompensed
as done to Himself (Matt. xxv. 40).
+Lessons.+--1. _Social distinctions afford opportunities for personal
discipline._ 2. _Every rank in life has its special perils._ 3. _The
law of duty is binding in all ranks._ 4. _The dust of both masters
and servants will soon mingle in a common grave._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._