+I. We are serving the Lord.+--This will dignify the most
insignificant duty.
+II. We should seek to be actuated by the highest possible
motive.+--Out of the heart, or influenced by the affections. The
highest motive will cover the lowest.
+III. The Lord Himself will give us the highest reward.+--With Him is
no respect of persons.--_Homiletic Monthly._
+CHAPTER IV.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 2. +Watch in the same.+--"Being wakeful." Here again the apostle
changes his language from that used in enjoining the same precepts in
Ephesians. Remaining sleepless (Eph. vi. 18) is the same thing as
being wakeful.
Ver. 3. +A door of utterance.+--R.V. "a door for the word." The Word
of God cannot be bound, though its messenger may; but St. Paul can
scarcely think its being glorified comes so quickly as it would if he
had liberty to preach it. "An open door" with "many adversaries" is
more to St. Paul's mind than the _custodia libera._ See Eph. vi. 19,
20.
Ver. 5. +Walk in wisdom.+--Eph. v. 15. Walk circumspectly. R.V.
"carefully." It would appear from this as if the adverb in Eph. v. 15
should go with "walk" rather than with "look," as in R.V. +Towards
them that are without.+--Who do not participate in the benefits of
the new kingdom. +Redeeming the time.+--As in Eph. v. 16. Seizing for
yourselves, like bargains in the market, each opportunity (see R.V.
margin).
Ver. 6. +Let your speech be alway with grace.+--There is no excuse
for a Christian's conversation becoming rude and churlish. It may be
necessary to speak plainly and boldly at times--the way of doing even
that graciously ought to characterise Christians. +Seasoned with
salt.+--The pungent flavour of wit and facetiousness was called salt
by the Greeks, often with a spice of indecency. "Salt" in the New
Testament is the opposite of corruption.
Ver. 11. +A comfort to me.+--The word for "comfort" is only found in
this place in the New Testament. It is a medical term, and points to
relief given in suffering--then, by way of ministering to a mind
diseased or in trouble, is used of the speech which soothes and calms.
Ver. 12. +Always labouring fervently for you.+--R.V. "always
striving." Lit. "agonising." Like the mighty wrestler who held the
Angel till daybreak, Epaphras intercedes for His Colossian brethren.
+Complete in all the will of God.+--R.V. "fully assured." "From the
tenor of the letter it appears that the Colossians needed a deeper
Christian insight and more intelligent and well-grounded convictions
respecting the truth 'as in Jesus'" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 13. +Zeal . . . for them that are in Laodicea.+--Here then is
one who differs from the Laodicean spirit of St. John's time.
Ver. 17. +And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry.+--He is
again closely connected with Colossæ in the epistle to Philemon. A
monition perhaps needed by Archippus. +In the Lord.+--The element in
which every work of the Christian, and especially the Christian
minister, is to be done.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 2-4.
_The Efficacy of Prayer._
Prayer is a supreme necessity of the soul. It is the cry of conscious
want, an outlet for the pent-up feelings, and a mighty engine of
power in all spiritual enterprises. It is the holiest exercise of the
believer, his solace in trouble, his support in weakness, the solver
of his doubts and perplexities, his safety in peril, his unfailing
resource in adversity, his balance in prosperity, his weapon in every
conflict. It is the key which opens the door of the heavenly
treasury, and places at his disposal the boundless wealth of the
Divine beneficence. The efficacy of prayer does not terminate in the
individual petitioner but extends to others on whose behalf
supplication is made. God hears the cry of the believing suppliant,
and in some way, not always explicable to us, but in harmony with His
Divine perfections and the fitness of things, answers and blesses.
The apostle knew the value and power of prayer when earnestly and
humbly exercised, and, after giving directions concerning the
discharge of certain specific relative duties, he returns, in
concluding this epistle, to some general admonitions in which this
important duty holds a foremost place. Prayer, says Thomas Aquinas,
should have three qualities: it should be assiduous, watchful, and
grateful. The perseverance with which prayer uninterruptedly draws
itself through all events, internal and external, like a thread, or
encircles them like a chain, is its vital power; the watchfulness,
the lively circumspection, the gratitude, are the quiet tone or firm
basis of the same.
+I. That prayer to be efficacious must be earnest and
unceasing.+--"Continue in prayer" (ver. 2). The heart must be in the
duty and all the best powers of the man put forth. That in which we
have no interest will stir no feeling, will challenge no effort. To
repeat a verbal formulary is not prayer. Alas! how many thousand
prayers go no farther than the sound they make and are as useless!
Genuine prayer involves thought, diligent inquiry, passionate
entreaty, unwearied perseverance. The highest blessings of the
Christian life, the brightest visions of God, the deepest insight
into truth, the most enravishing ecstasies of the soul, are obtained
only by fervent and persistent wrestling. Prayer must be offered with
close-cleaving constancy, as the word "continue" implies, and with
daily frequency. Let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt of
the evening.
+II. That prayer to be efficacious must be joined with
vigilance.+--"And watch in the same" (ver. 2). Long, prosy,
spiritless prayers lull the soul into a dangerous slumber; and
without incessant watchfulness all prayers are apt to become long,
prosy, and spiritless. It is not necessary we should rob ourselves of
needful sleep in order to spend so many hours in formal devotion. The
vigilance refers to the spirit and manner in which all prayer is to
be offered. There may be times when, under the pressures of some
great solicitude, the soul is drawn out in prayer so as to preclude
sleep; but at these times the quality of watchfulness is often in
most vigorous operation. Watch, as a sentinel suspecting the approach
of an enemy; as a physician attending to all the symptoms of a
disease; as the keeper of a prison watching an insidious and
treacherous criminal. We have need to watch against the temptations
arising from worldly associations, from the sinfulness of our own
hearts, and from the vile insinuations of the enemy, all which mar
the efficacy of our prayers. Chrysostom says, "The devil knoweth how
great a good prayer is." No wonder he should seek to distract the
mind of the earnest suppliant. "Prayer," said Bernard, "is a virtue
that prevaileth against all temptations;" but this is so only when a
sleepless vigilance is exercised.
+III. That prayer to be efficacious must be mingled with
gratitude.+--"With thanksgiving" (ver. 2). The apostle has,
throughout the epistle, repeatedly enforced the duty of thankfulness.
He once more recurs to it in this place; and we cannot fail to note
the vast importance he attached to the exercise of this grace, and
how it ought to interpenetrate every Christian duty. We are ever more
ready to grumble than to give thanks. Such is the deceitfulness of
sin, or the vanity and purblindness of the human heart, that the very
regularity and abundance of the Divine mercies, instead of
increasing, are apt to restrict our gratitude. We take, as a matter
of course, what ought to be received with humblest thankfulness. An
old writer has well said, "Need will make us beggars, but grace only
thanksgivers. Gratitude opens the hand of God to give, and the heart
of the suppliant to receive aright. Thankfulness for past mercies is
an important condition of success in pleading for additional
blessings."
+IV. That prayer is efficacious in promoting an efficient declaration
of the Gospel.+--1. _Prayer should be offered on behalf of Christian
ministers._ "Withal praying also for us" (ver. 3). The Colossians
were exhorted to pray, not only for Paul, his fellow-labourer
Timothy, and their own evangelist Epaphras, but for all teachers of
the Gospel. The preacher is engaged in a work of vast magnitude,
environed with colossal difficulties, and is himself ferociously
assailed by great and peculiar perils. The earnest intercessions of a
devout and holy people are to him a safeguard and a tower of
strength. A once-popular minister gradually lost his influence and
congregation. The blame was laid entirely upon him. Some of his
Church officials went to talk with him on the subject. He replied: "I
am quite sensible to all you say, for I feel it to be true; and the
reason of it is, I have lost my prayer-book." He explained: "Once my
preaching was acceptable, many were edified by it, and numbers were
added to the Church, which was then in a prosperous state. But we
were then a praying people. Prayer was restrained, and the present
condition of things followed. Let us return to the same means, and
the same results may be expected." They acted upon this suggestion,
and in a short time the minister was as popular as he had ever been,
and the Church was again in a flourishing state. The great apostle
felt the necessity of co-operative sympathy and prayer (Rom. xv. 30;
2 Thess. iii. 1).
2. _Prayer should be offered that the most prominent features of the
Gospel may be declared._--"To speak the mystery of Christ, for which
I am also in bonds" (ver. 3). It has before been explained in this
epistle that _the mystery of Christ_ is a grand summary of all the
leading truths of the Gospel: the mystery of the incarnation of
Christ, the mystery of His sufferings and death as a sacrifice for
sin, the mystery of admitting the Gentiles on equal terms with the
Jews to all the privileges and blessings of the new covenant. It was
the apostle's intrepid advocacy of the rights of the despised
Gentile--maugre the fierce bigotry of his own countrymen, the
deep-seated prejudice of the times, and even the slavish indifference
of the Gentiles themselves--which led to his imprisonment: "for which
I am also in bonds." The prayers of the good give the preacher
courage to declare all the counsel of God, whether it be palatable or
not, and to give special prominence to those truths which are of
priceless importance to humanity.
3. _Prayer should be offered, that opportunity may be afforded for
the free declaration of the Gospel._--"That God would open unto us a
door of utterance" (ver. 3). The door had been closed and barred to
the apostle for four years by his imprisonment. He felt a holy
impatience to be free, that he might resume the loved labour of
former years, when "from Jerusalem and round about into Illyricum he
had fully preached the Gospel of Christ." But he waited till the door
was opened by Divine providence; and this he knew was often done in
answer to believing prayer. So there are times, in all ages of the
Church, when the door of opportunity for disseminating the Gospel is
shut by the opposition of the world, by the plottings of Satan, by
the prevalence of a rabid infidelity, or by the removal of eminent
champions for the truth; but, in response to the earnest
intercessions of God's people, a great and effectual door is opened,
and the Church advances to fresh conquests.
4. _Prayer should be offered that the Gospel may be declared with
fearless self-evidencing power._--"That I may make it manifest, as I
ought to speak" (ver. 4). There are some who preach the Gospel in a
cold, lifeless, perfunctory manner, or with unmeaning feebleness and
unmanly timidity. When the preacher sinks down into a condition so
abject as this, he has lost sight of the true meaning of the Gospel,
he becomes the most pitiable object under the sun, and is exposed to
the scathing vengeance of heaven. To preach the Gospel with
clearness, with intrepidity, and with irresistible persuasiveness,
that he "may make it manifest, as he ought to speak," demands the
best energies of the soul, and, above all, the special endowments of
the Holy Ghost. A minister is mightily aided in preaching by the
wrestling intercessions of a holy and sympathetic people.
+Lessons.+--1. _Prayer is an excellent training for efficiency in all
other duties._ 2. _Prayer is a gigantic power in the propagation of
the Gospel._ 3. _The topics for prayer are vast in range and not far
to seek._ 4. _When you can do nothing else you can pray._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._