Col. i. 9 — 13. We do not cease to pray for you that
ye might be filled tvith the knowledge of his ivill in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and, increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened tvith all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with, joy fulness ; giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inhe- ritance of the saints in light : who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.
UNIVERSAL benevolence will begin to shew itself wherever Christianity gains a just ascendency. This is particularly observable in the prayers which the Apostle offered for others ; the fervour and ful- ness of which clearly proved, that they proceeded from a heart fraught with love, and deeply impressed with the excellency of those blessings which are pro- vided for us in the Gospel. He confined not his attention to the welfare of a few with whom he might happen to sojourn ; but extended it to the whole Church, as well to those whom he had never seen, as to those amongst whom he had ministered. He needed only to be informed that a work of grace was begun in any persons, and he instantly felt an union of heart with them, and took a lively interest in all that concerned them. This remark is strongly exem- plified in the prayer before us. He had heard of the blessed state of the Colossian Church ; and, from the instant he had received the glad tidings, he remem- bered that people in all his stated prayers : and, in the passage before us, he tells them what he prayed for on their behalf. He desired that they might advance
I. In the knowledge of God's will —
[The " knowledge of God's revealed will " is the founda- tion of all acceptable obedience : and every Christian must of necessity be in some degree endued with it. But he will not be satisfied with a scanty measure of it : he wishes to be " filled with it," so that it may engage all the faculties of his mind. Not that he can rest in a speculative view of Divine truth, however clear or comprehensive it may be : the knowledge which he covets, is a practical and experimental knowledge ; a knowledge that diffuses "a spiritual savour" over his soul, and enables him to conduct himself, " with all wisdom," as well in his secret conflicts with sin, as in the public exercises of his duty to God and man.
Such then was the Apostle's first request for the converts at Colosse : he desired, that, as they already had some knowledge of God's will, so they might be " filled " with it, enjoying at