Clifton James was his official "double" and was studying him during a rehearsal for D-Day. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord ( Colossians 3:20 ). So he says, "If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?" As also, looked at individually, the Christian is a son of God, so there should be a growth up to Christ in all things. The ancient writers defined chrestotes ( G5544) as the virtue of the man whose neighbours good is as dear to him as his own. Bibliotheca Sacra 151:602 (April-June 1994):215-27; Charles C. Ryrie, The Basis of the Premillennial Faith, pp. The supreme example was the Roman Patria Potestas, the law of the father's power. If a divine person was pleased to appear here below, and to bring in unimagined goodness and power, dealing with every need and every one with whom He came in contact, and who sought or even accepted His gracious action, it might have been supposed that man could not resist such unhesitating love and unmeasured power. He has at one and the same time the strength and the sweetness of true gentleness. 209.]. In this case, the knowledge and wisdom are kept in Christ, but made available to those who believe in Him. he was minister of both. Can anything be sweeter than this genuine simplicity of affection and mutual interest? The incarnation, blessed and precious as it is, never reconciled man to God. Let the word of Christ" (it was God's word, but still called the word of Christ here) "dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Knowledge and faith make a soul rich. It was not wonderful that he said in Colossians 1:1-29, "If ye continue in the faith rooted and grounded, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel." Nothing more lovely (whether spiritually, or even in its place naturally) than that each should be just what God has made him, only thenceforth diligently seeking increase of inward power by the operation of God's grace. It is all well for a Jew, because he has got his abstinences and his restrictions. The New Testament never hesitates to demand with a certain violence the complete elimination of everything which is against God. Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 177. The average clergyman is shocked and outraged by the prospect of shameless, harmless and unlimited pleasure which birth control offers to the young, and, if he can stop it, he will." He it is, the Holy Spirit of God, who we are warned not to grieve. Trench calls this a lovely word for a lovely quality. How like the description is to Christ Himself! Paul moves on to give his list of the great graces with which the Colossians must clothe themselves. They were endeavouring to strike an alliance between Christ and the world. No master can say, "This is my business and I will do what I like with it." Then you have a happy relationship. Josephus uses it as a description of Isaac, the man who dug wells and gave them to others because he would not fight about them ( Genesis 26:17-25). Two rules: one for the wife, one for the husband. So, not only am I to just put off the works of the flesh, the old life, I am to put on Jesus Christ, living after Him. It was at the cross of Christ And so it was that, when all seemed to fail, all was won. Ah! thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1992); John A. McLean, "Did Jesus Correct the Disciples View of the Kingdom?" You have seen the clouds gather in the sky and settle on the hills. When the slave was past his work, he could be thrown out to die. The soul prospers when we have clear knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. The apostle, however, speaks of his service in these two respects: the gospel, which is universal in its aspect to every creature under heaven; and the church, which is a special and chosen body. And how is this to be accomplished? "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things' sake, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked sometime. It lies at the bottom when we think of the wants of the saints of God here below. As Paul saw it, to the Christian Christ is the most important thing in life; more, he is life. Matthew Henry :: Commentary on Colossians 3 Chapter 3 I. Verse Colossians 3:2. In material science it is not so, in schools of doctrine it is not so: there is something altogether circumscribed, in known limits, and definite enough to satisfy the mind of man. This is the kind of peak of devotion which we can only dimly understand and only haltingly and imperfectly express. It is false and ruinous, whether it leaves Him out or brings Him in whether it denies the true God, or makes everything a sham god. Continue to teach and to admonish each other with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. None of the others has touched on it not one. Of course the Ephesian saints were so; but here it is expressed. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. The two commands differ in that the first emphasizes the more practical pursuits of life whereas the second stresses the whole bent of the life. 3. It is, therefore, a sin with a very wide range. Both must be directed at things above. He belonged to God's chosen people and the other nations were fit only to be fuel for the fires of hell. You had such a good attitude. If, as men have fabled, spiritual beings sprang forth ready armed, as well as in fulness of wisdom and vigour, it would not be Christianity. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." Does it not prove both by being jealous of the glory of Christ? And when Christ who is our life shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory. All the saints belong to us, as we belong to all of them. No one, no thing, can add to Christ's power, lustre, or value in any one respect. Half sobbing, he heaved himself up and began to march off dazedly in the wrong direction. His grace has qualified us now for His glory: such, as far as this goes, is the clear meaning of the Holy Ghost. NIV Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Your Hidden Life Now; perhaps this could be the subtitle of the letter to the Colossians. The two words are orge ( G3709) and thumos ( G2372) , and the difference between them is this. 1, p. 257. The Higher Aspirations of the Soul. Show yourselves the slaves of the Lord Christ. But there will be this difference--from now on the Christian will view everything against the background of eternity and no longer live as if this world was all that mattered. David gave this proof of his loving the house of God, that he diligently sought after it, and prepared for it, Psalms 27:4. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." He earnestly presses to mutual love and compassion, ver 12-17. He has put me in charge of it. The tendency of any body of people is sooner or later to fly apart; love is the one bond which will hold them together in unbreakable fellowship. There is not a chapter in it where the Holy Ghost has not a most important and essential place. Goodness by itself can be stern; but chrestotes ( G5544) is the goodness which is kind, that type of goodness which Jesus used to the sinning woman who anointed his feet ( Luke 7:37-50). Jesus says the greatest commandment in the law is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matthew 22:37; see also Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 30:6). Accordingly the path of Christian duty is grounded on these wondrous truths. This change was effected by Christianity." ", All the blessedness that Christ has procured is for those that believe; but this of course supposes that they hold Him fast. Think what he wants to do is stupid. We have here a description of soul-prosperity. Many who really love the Lord are in this quite misguided as to the duty of the Christian here below. To quote C. F. D. Moule, "idolatry is an attempt to use God for man's purposes, rather than to give oneself to God's service." Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. The very life that I have in Christ is a witness that my sins are forgiven. The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Jesus; but man would have none of it, and proved it above all in the cross. There was much that was blessed at Colosse; and the apostle loves to give full credit for it. It is one of the tragic facts of religious history that Luther's father was so stern to him that Luther all his days found it difficult to pray: "Our Father." There was no provision for the aged. Through Christ they have life directly in God. It was just because Montgomery combined discipline and encouragement that a private in the Eighth Army felt himself as good as a colonel in any other army. Thus they have a closer connection than any others in the New Testament. "In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." It is not to be found in tradition, still less in philosophy. Finally, Paul gives the great principle for living that everything we do or say should be done and said in the name of Jesus. He is the Head of the body one of the chief topics of this epistle. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Can we speak it, remembering that he will hear?" There is no proof of the sort. Christ on earth was a blessed pattern of forgiveness and forbearance. Again, on each Lord's day, when we are gathered together to Christ's name, what is before us according to God's word and will? "Oh, my little sweet heart. Do we feel and know that we can add nothing to Him? His master could thrash or brand or maim or even kill him at his caprice; he had not even the right of marriage. e. not on things on the earth; not mind earth and earthly things, temporal enjoyments, riches, and honours; and though food and raiment, and the necessaries of life, are to be sought after, and cared and provided for, yet not with anxiety and perplexity of mind, in an over thoughtful and distressing manner; nor should the heart be set on those outward things, or happiness placed in the possession of them. It is a spiritual kingdom for those who are living and walking after the Spirit, regardless of what you may say or affirm to be so. The Christian ethic insists on chastity, regarding the physical relationship between the sexes as something so precious that indiscriminate use of it in the end spoils it. And sometimes, we are guilty of pushing our children with unreasonable demands, and what it does cause is discouragement on their part. Now comes the positive character to be borne) "Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved." But the apostle was singular in this; for even those who did know that Christ was the Son of the living God, in the highest and eternal sense, seemed but little to have preached it, at any rate in their earlier testimony. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. The New Testament is unsparing in its condemnation of the gossiping tongues which poison truth. Meanwhile, instead of the Jews enjoying glory along with Christ in their midst, rejected by the Jews, Christ is in the Gentiles; and they who receive His name are waiting for heavenly glory with Christ. After this follow particular exhortations, on which we need not at present dwell. It is our privilege that we have risen with Christ; that is, have benefit by the resurrection of Christ, and by virtue of our union and communion with him are justified and sanctified, and shall be glorified. It is another aspect of the mystery, but as true in its place as what we find in Ephesians; not so high, but in itself precious, and not less differing from the expectation raised by the Old Testament. Don't do that. He is the truth; He is the expression of what God is. Christian speech must be kind and pure and honest to all men and in all places. The Christian doctrine of work is that master and man alike are working for God, and that, therefore, the real rewards of work are not assessable in earthly coin, but will some day be given--or withheld--by God. We may put this in more modern language, as C. F. D. Moule expresses it. They were created by Him, and for Him, equally with the Father. He is in effect saying that his Christianity must make him a better and more efficient slave. Mortify [or put to death] therefore your members which are upon the earth [that is the members of your body, those body desires put them to death]; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience ( Colossians 3:5-6 ): Now, as Paul is writing to the Ephesians, he tells them much the same things, that for these things the wrath of God is coming upon the earth. III. Just when he got level with us he tripped up and fell flat on his face. He insists that the slave must be a conscientious workman. Nowadays to mortify the flesh means rather to practise ascetic discipline and self-denial. T. K. Abbott points out how this passage shows in summary fashion the barriers which Christianity destroyed. The Christian will have all the desires of the new man gratified. Its true character will be fully shown on the day when Christs glory is revealed (3-4). Under it a parent could do anything he liked with his child. For don't be deceived, if you are living after the flesh, you are not an heir of the kingdom of God. Do not lie to one another. Thumos ( G2372) is a blaze of sudden anger which is quickly kindled and just as quickly dies. The one and same Christ it is who has settled everything. Upon all such things the wrath of God must fall. Here the ethical part of the letter becomes more and more practical. He who does wrong will be paid back for the wrong that he has done, and there is no respect of persons. The Rheims version translates it benignity. He is all, and He is in all. We must walk the more closely with God in all the instances of evangelical obedience. This, I am sure, should not be weakened, brethren. Fornication and uncleanness must go. Not that there may not be danger even then; save that as long as the eye is on Christ there is none, because what is inconsistent with His name is refused. Secondly, Christ, meanwhile, is in or among the Gentiles here below. II. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. The language does not in the smallest degree insinuate that there is any uncertainty for a believer. It lies in the fact that now the thoughts of the Christian must be set on the things which are above. "Are you sure? It matters little how well taught the saint may be, nor how he may know the moral beauty and the unfailing wisdom of the word, if positive fruit be not increased: if the spirit and power of worship abound not, there is something altogether short, or wrong. The more conscientious a parent is, the more he is likely always to be correcting and rebuking the child. To the Ephesians, the Holy Ghost is treated as a divine person acting for the glory of Christ, but this in the saints and in the church. Neither James nor Peter, neither John nor Jude, treat of justification before God by faith in Jesus. Hence it runs: "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven." Have you not proved it? Must we not first and foremost be subject to the truth? Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Then come allusions to his various fellow-prisoners and fellow-servants, particularly noting Epaphras, who laboured fervently in prayer for them. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he has done: and there is no respect of persons ( Colossians 3:25 ). At the second coming of Christ there will be a general meeting of all the saints; and those whose life is now hid with Christ shall then appear with Christ in that glory which he himself enjoys, John 17:24. Nor is continuance in prayer all; but vigilant watch in the same, which does not let slip the just occasion for supplication; and as all things were to be done with thanksgiving, so prayer also, which would assuredly not forget the need of those in the forefront of the spiritual warfare and toil of love. 4:18 ). When a man becomes a Christian, there ought to be a complete change in his personality. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. The Jew looked only for a mighty King Messiah; the Christian is baptized into the death of Him who suffered on the cross, and finds not alone his sins forgiven, but sin, the flesh, condemned, and himself now viewed of God as dead to all; for nothing less is set forth in baptism. He must remember that he will receive his inheritance. Impossible that He could be aught but the first-born. from now on the Christian will see everything in the light and against the background of eternity. You're His servant. They are not solid or permanent, but their existence enables the viewer to know that there is some real object that casts the shadows. Falsehood, too, is judged as it never was before, "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." He it is who strengthens the inner man to enjoy through Christ all the fulness of God. On no such ground, nor on all together, was He the firstborn. A man sets up an idol and worships it because he desires to get something from it. There is still another thought here. For the Christian the burst of temper and the long-lasting anger are alike forbidden. Lit., be minded, think. and none the less because they name the name of the Lord. It is in baptism rather than in Him. THE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CHRISTIAN ( Colossians 3:18-25 ; Colossians 4:1 ). The very fact that I have accepted Jesus Christ, the whole concept is that I have renounced the life of the flesh. Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. Yet it remains true, that "the hope is laid up for you," as he says, "in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is dome unto you, as it is in all the world: and bringeth forth fruit and groweth, as also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth." The first 2 chapters present Christ as our Lord, Chapter 3 presents Christ as our Life and Chapter 4 presents Christ as our Love. Set your affection - Margin, or mind. Greek think of - phroneite. Their desire, we may be sure, was as well meant as any mistake can be. The ceremonies of the law have no further use (16-17).Neither should Christians listen to those who want to show their superior knowledge by mixing their own philosophies with the gospel. Therefore he might well press, "If ye continue. Proud, fallen nature is satisfied even by these efforts to put down the body; whereas God would have the body to have a certain honour in its own place, and that of the Christian is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Practices taught in the law may be compared to shadows. How blessed! Mortify them, kill them, suppress them, as weeds or vermin which spread and destroy all about them. 3:9b-13 Strip off the old self with all its activities. Seek those things that are above. Yet above all the saints are to put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness; "and let the peace of Christ rule," for so it reads, not the peace of God, but the peace of Christ. Oh, but how important that we are able to say, "Christ who is my life." There are at least two vivid pictures here. It pleased the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Christ, and Christ alone, has truly represented God to man, as He alone was perfect man before God. Worldly lusts are to be denied, the deeds of the body are to be mortified, carnal desires are not to be gratified and indulged, provision is not to be made for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts; and particularly the vain philosophy of Jews and Gentiles, the traditions of the elders, the ceremonies of the law, which lay in earthly things, in worldly observances, the difference of meats and drinks, keeping of days, months, and years, new moons, feasts, and sabbath days; the rudiments of the world, the commandments and doctrines which were of the earth, and lay in not touching, tasting, and handling certain things that are on earth, and which perish with the using, as opposed to the doctrines of the Gospel, and ordinances of Christ, which are from above, and come from heaven, and have a spiritual and heavenly use: and which is the sense chiefly intended, though it is best to understand the words in their largest compass. There was passion and evil desire. This is the doctrine of the epistle to the Ephesians. Let His peace rule. "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing here into heaven, this same Jesus is going to come again" ( Acts 1:11 ). (i) Paul begins by addressing the Colossians as chosen of God, dedicated and beloved. Some of old were not Jews nor Gentiles, but baptized men and women. Thus the striving of the apostle was by no means only in the way of evangelizing. Whatever insinuates it denies that He has adequately provided for His church here below: this He has surely done in every form in His word. Most of all this was the case in slavery. Our true life lies in the other world: You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God,Colossians 3:3; Colossians 3:3. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. But for all that a gap was left on which, when filled up, types might more or less bear, wholly different from the history, and not more answering to the prophecy. 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