Chapter V: AUTOGRAPH CONCLUSION.--1. The Judaisers' motive (ch. vi. 12, 13) (35)

+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._

Ver. 23. _Do all for God._

+I. The Christian's practical life comprises working, acting, and suffering.+

+II. Abide with God in your calling.+--Intention gives a moral character to actions.

+III. Motives to duty.+--1. _Mechanical activity._ 2. _Supernatural motive._ "Do it heartily as to the Lord." 3. _Our good intention should be renewed at intervals._ 4. _Our lesser actions should be brought under the control of Christian principle.--E. M. Goulburn._

_A Hearty Christianity._

+I. The highest end of all work is work done for God and to God.+--1. _Not work done for self._ 2. _Not work done for society._

+II. The highest kind of work of which we are capable is that which engages all the powers of our spiritual nature.+--"Do it heartily." 1. _The character of the work we do will be decided by the state of our heart._ 2. _By the predominating impulse of the heart._ 3. _The character of our work as a whole will be influenced by the heartiness we throw into every single duty._ "Whatsoever ye do."

+Lessons.+--1. _A hearty Christianity is a happy Christianity._ 2. _Is not easily daunted by difficulties._ 3. _Is aggressive._

Vers. 23-25. _Piety in the Household._

+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._

Ver. 2. _True Devotion._

+I. Explain the meaning of the text.+--It is:--

1. _Not to be engaged without intermission in outward and formal acts of devotion._--This is inconsistent with our nature, with commanded duties, with the ends of prayer.

2. _To be frequently engaged in formal acts of devotion._--(1) No exercise more hallowing and soothing to the soul. (2) None more profitable as procuring blessings. (3) One to which those whose example is recorded gave a prominent place--Job, David, Daniel, Paul, Christ. (4) Morning, evening, intervals, social.

3. _To be persevering and importunate in asking particular blessings._--God does not always send sensibly the answer at once. A deeper sense of want may be necessary. A trial of faith, patience, and submissiveness may be expedient. The proper season may not have come. God's sovereignty must be owned. We ought to assure ourselves that we pray according to God's will.

+II. Enforce the exhortation.+--1. _Because you are commanded to do so._ 2. _Because Christ and the Spirit intercede for you._ There is no duty for which there is more ample assistance provided. 3. _Because of the number and greatness of your wants._ It is by faith that we know our wants. Hence the necessity. 4. _Because of the exhaustless provision that God has made for you._ God acts as God in the provision and in the bestowal. 5. _Because of the number of promises not yet fulfilled._ To you individually, to the Church, to Christ. 6. _Because the season for prayer is speedily hastening away.--Stewart._

Vers. 3, 4. _Praying and Preaching._

+I. The sermon is powerful that is well prayed over+ (ver. 4).

+II. A praying preacher uses every available opportunity to proclaim
the truth+ (ver. 3).

+III. The theme of the preacher becomes more definite and effective
by prayer+ (ver. 3).

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5, 6.

_The Wise Conduct of Life._

The Christian lives a dual life: one in spiritual communion with heaven, under the eye of God; the other in daily contact with the outer world, exposed to its observation and criticism. The aspects of the life patent to the world's gaze do not always correspond with the best impulses of the life concealed; the actual falls short of the ideal. The world forms its judgment of the Christian from what it sees of his outer life and makes no allowance for his unseen struggles after moral perfection and his bitter penitence over conscious failures. Nor can we blame the world for this; the outer life of the believer furnishes the only evidence on which the world can form its estimate, and it is incapable of apprehending and taking into account hidden spiritual causes. The living example of the believer presents the only ideas of Christianity that great numbers have any means of possessing; he is a Christ to them, until they are brought to a clearer knowledge of _the_ true and only Christ. With what wisdom and circumspection should the believer walk toward them that are without!

+I. That the conduct of life is to be regulated according to the dictates of the highest wisdom.+--1. _Religion is a life._ "Walk" (ver. 5). A walk implies motion, progression, continual approximation to destination. Our life is a walk; we are perpetually and actively advancing towards our destiny. Religion is not a sentiment, not a round of bewitching ceremonies, not a succession of pleasurable emotions; it is a life. It pervades the whole soul, thrills every nerve, participates in every joy and sorrow, and moulds and inspires the individual character.

2. _Religion is a life shaped and controlled by the highest wisdom._--"Walk in wisdom" (ver. 5). Christian conduct is governed by the Spirit of that wisdom which is from above, and under the influence of the knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation (Jas. iii. 17). It is ruled, not by an erratic sentiment or by the wild impulse of a senseless fanaticism, but by a sound understanding and a wise discretion. Its experience and hopes rest upon a basis of truth transcending in certainty, wisdom, and majesty the most imposing speculations of the human mind.

3. _Religion is a life that should be instructive to the irreligious._--"Toward them that are without" (ver. 5)--without the pale of the Church, the unbelievers. An upright, holy, consistent example is often more eloquent than words, more practically effective than the most elaborate code of moral maxims. The follies and glaring inconsistencies of professing Christians have often inflicted serious damage upon the Church itself and turned religion into ridicule among the thoughtless and irreligious outsiders. The world is to be largely trained into correct views of truth and a just appreciation of the Christian spirit by the humble, saintly lives of those who have experienced the transforming power of the Gospel. Be more anxious to live religiously than to talk religiously.