The Pulpit Commentary — Colossians — Section 50

of pntionce nnd long-sufl'~ring; they cannot get 11long without bearing a good deal from worldly people-sneers, rnsolence, persecution, and in extreme cases death. Yet the King strengthens his people with might according to his glorious power, so that they nre able "joyfully" to bear and suffer what is sent. It is here that the occupations of the kingdom constitute ll power. The world wonders at the saintR who can be so joyful in their King, in spite of the drawbacks and difficulties to which tl.cy arc exposed. IV. CoNSIDEil AGAIN THE COMPENSATIONS OF THE KINGDOM. (Ver. 12.) What is "the inheritllnce of the saints in light"? Does it mean a heavenly world where light, such as only shines on tropical lands shall bathe emancipated men, and they shall be enabled to lie like lotus-eaters amid the glory, and never further roam? It is to be feared that the current notions of heaven partake of the dreamy "sofa-religion," which to earnest worldly natures is so repulsive. Let us, on the contrary, remember that the doing of our Lord's will is its own reward. Heaven will afford no higher enjoyment than this. Our souls are not rightly balanee<l when they look for something elee or more. "We are saved," says Archer Butler, "that we may for eternity serve God; salvation itself would be misery if unaccompanied by a love for that service." In the pleasing of our King, therefore, all the compensations of the kingdom lie. The outward conditions and circumstances would be changed in vain if we were not animated by this loyal and loving spirit. May such meetness for the inheritance be our present experience, as it was that of the Colossians.-R. M. E. Vere. 15-2O.-The glories of King Jesw. The apostle, having in his prayer pleaded for the Colossians that they may be worthy members of the kingdom of Christ, proceeds to speak of the glories which belong to their King. His purpose, like that of every true preacher, is to make Christ pre-eminent. The central thought of the pa.~sage is that God is invisible, but Christ is the visible Manifestation of the Father's perfections. In him as the perfect "Image" we may "see God." I. JESUS AS TIIE GLORIOUS CREATOR REVEALED THE MIND OF Goo. (Vers. 15, 16.) We are apt to think of Christ's revelation of the Godhead solely in his incarnation. Doubtless it was the climax of the" exegesis" of the invisible God (cf. John L 18, 1!11-yijn.-o). But there were previous revelations, and this is Paul's idea here that crea- tion is a revelation of God through the power of Christ. Now, one thing is certain about the creation, that it addresses itself to mind. If men imagined it was thO'Ughtless, they would not spend two minutes more in its investigation. All science proceeds on the postulate of creation being thinkable, intelligible, an appeal to ruind. li creation, then, embodies thought, we have further to notice that it is thongbt of the same order as human thought. .After all the weary investigation, therefore, which tries to blink the fact of creation being a revelation of God, we are reduced in the last analysi~ exactly to this idea. Of course, we have not succeeded in interpreting the revelation in nature with either accuracy or fulness ; but every year's honest work c:1rries us on towards the fuller understanding of the Divine Thinker who speaks to bis creatures in nil the work of his hands. The fascination of science lies in the fact that a <leeper Thinker than any of the investigators is behind the work, and is calling for interpreters. 'l'he wonderful creation is from end to end, in heaven above and in earth beneath, Christ's exposition of the mind of God. II. HISTORY IS ALSO AN EXPOSITION BY CHRIST OF THE DIVINE MIND. (Ver. 17.) For not only did Christ as Creator give the system a start, but as the Upholder of the system he makes it a continuous revelat-ion. 'l'he philosophy of history lies in the assurance of the great procession of facts being under the constant control and direction of Divinity. Of course, as in the forrncr case of the interpretation of nature, we may be o.nd are very far from n full grasp of the significance of history. Yet undoubtedly a 1·everentinl stu,ly of the course of events brings us daily nearer the understanding of tho whole. It adds to our interest to take with us this assurance-that Jesus Christ is at the back of o.ll being, upholding it, sustaining the system, and reducing it to an ordorly exposition of the Divine thought. A miu the o.pparently chaotic course of events, in consequence of the freedom and frailty of the creature, there is tho renll_v Ol'derly procession of the whole towar<ls that" one Divine event to which tbu whole creation moYos." III. CmnsT's ECCl,ESIASTICAI, IIEADSHIP IS A FURTHER Rl!:VELATION OF GoD. (Ver.  THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. (011. I, 1-20,