The Pulpit Commentary — Colossians — Section 194

rcqnir~d singleness of service, or the eye always on Christ in the work done. (3) Quality. "\Vhatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord,and not unto men." If tbe slarn looked away to the Lord beyond his master, then, whatsoever he did, whether it ,ms work great or small, oppressive or not oppressive, he could do it not only with a. sense of freedom, but co~d~ally. C~rist regarding his work and entering thoroughly into 1t, he could do 1t from his 10most bemg. And so when a. Christian servant falls in with a ba~ master,_he is not at liberty,_as ui:ught here, to do his work grudgingly. He has lh1s reason 10 :my case for heart10ess 10 the work, that he is rendering it to One who is worthy. (4) Encouragement. "Knowing that from tho Lord ye shali receive the rcc0rr:pcnse of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ." This was a new .order of things, a new field of thought, for the slave. A serv:mt rightly considers himself entitled to payment for his labour. The slave was entitled too; but he was not accus- tomed to look for payment. Certainly he never thought of being recompensed with an inheritance. In the eye of the law he could not hold an inheritance. He was only property himself. And yet here, as a freeman in Christ Jesus, it is promised that he "·ould have an inheritance. This was nothing less than the inheritance promised down the ages to tha people of God-the inheritance without any subtraction from it-. This he would receive at the hands of the Rewarder of his servants. He was defrauded all his days of the just reward of his labour; but the Lord would see to bis beina recom- pensed, and in better kind. The Lord whom he served was no tyrant, but th~ Christ who had died for bondman as well as for freeman. And so the Christian servant can make sure of being recompensed. It should be a. pleasure to serve the Lord Christ now. It should be a pleasure to serve him even without thought of reward. But the Lord Christ is of liberal mind, and will see to all hearty work being rewarded. And if the heartiness has been overlooked on earth, the reward will only be the greater in heaven. (5) Warning. " For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he bath done : and there is no respect of persons." If a. servant gives eye-service to his master, or in any form wrongs him, it is not to be supposed that the Lord Christ will overlook the wrong. There will be a receiving again for the wrong that he hath done, It will be so much taken from the final reward. Christ is partial neither to servant nor to master, and, in the final righting that is to take place between the two, it will be seen that bis face is set only against wrong-doing. 2. Masters. "Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." The master has the stronger position; but that is only that he may use his position for the sake of the weaker. He is to render to his servant that which is just, that which does not depend on his pleasure, but is grounded on the eternal order of thiogs. .And beyond the just he is to render to him that which is equal. In Ephesians it is said that he is to do the same thiQgs. The meaning seems to be that, as the servant is required to give him hearty work, so he is required; on his part, to give considerate treatment. Such equality is becoming in a Christian master. For he also has a Master in heaven. The servant is to give hearty work out of regard to that Master. Out of regard to the same Master he is to give considerate treatment. 'J'hat Master is considerate toward him; he is to be considerate toward him who has been JJbced by Christ under him as a servant.-R. F. Vers. 1-4.-The Christian's higher life. Our text gives us a magnificent picture of the higher life of man, indicating the means of its beginning, the signs of its progress, and the hope of its perpetuity. I. Tm~ EXPERIENCES OF THE BEGINNING OF THE HIGHER LIFE. These initial expe- riences are spoken of under the three allied figures of death, the hiding as of burial, and resurrection. There is an experience: 1. .As of death. "Ye have died." The soul as it becomes Christian passes through a death with Christ-(1) a death to sin, (2) a death to the bondage of outwardness. Dead, yet alive !-the ryaradox that finds its counterpart in the gardener's insertion of_ t~e vi~e shoot, that va~ ~ut off an~ so d~nd to its old stock under the bark of the living vine. 2. .As ri/ hiding away m burial. "llid." That 'may mean (1) what is concealed now will °Jo revealed by-and-by; or (2) it may denote a lifo of much blessed solitude, and ·,o of sacred seclusion; or (3) it may IJ1ean a life of fellowship with the hidden Chr:st; or ( 4) it may tell of a life whos1: i,urposes and inspirntiuus arc bid iu Go<l. ~. As of resurrection, "Risen.'' OH, m, 1-25.] TtlE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 101