The Pulpit Commentary — Colossians — Section 232

JI. THE REFERENCE TO HIS IMPRISONMENT WAS TO BESPEAK, NOT ONLY THEIR SYM• PATRY, llUT THEIR INCREASED INTEREST IN TIIE GOSPEL. "He who is suffering for Christ has a right to speak on behalf of Christ." III. HIB PARTING wo~o IS, " GRACE BE WITH YOU." lie has exalted God's grace. He prays that the Coloss1ans should not lose the grace they had received that it should 11.bide with them for ever, as tbe spring of power, holiness, and fidelity t~ truth.-T. C. Vers. 2-6.-The life of prayer and sympathy. Having shown how Christianity clev~te~ the household, Paul next encourages the Col9ssians to prayertul and syrnpa- tbet~c lives. They shall find themselves 111 contact with others in the walks of public sernce, and they are to go forth to meet others prayerfully, sympathetically graciously. Public life can only be properly utilized when based upon constant prayerf~lness. l. CoNSIDER WHAT CONSTANT PRAYER IS. (Ver. 2.) It is lingerina at the source of inspiration that our souls may be fitted for their public work. It is the attitude of felt' dependence upon God-the confession that without his grace we can do nothina. It is the abnegation of self-confidence and the prostration of the soul before the bLord. It is the secret of public power. Hence Paul exhorts the Colossians to be always prayerful, and to be grateful as they prayed. 1f they have the sense of obliaation implied by thanksgiving and a sense of need expressed by prayer, they shall bebfitted for public work. Prayerless and thankless souls only miss and mar the opportunities of usefulness afforded them. • II. THEY lllUST PRAY FOB OTHERS AS WELL AS THEMSELVES, ESPEOIALLY FOR THE IllPRISOh"ED PREACHER, (Vers. 3, 4.) Intercession will be a large part of enlightened prayer. It is so in the Lord's Prayer. For prayer makes us unselfish. We only seek the supply of personal need that we may be public benefactors. Hence we recognize at once the privilege and duty of intercession. All men need our prayers. Kinas and those in authority, a.swell as those in more private stations, need our intercession~ But among all the subjects of our intercession, none deserve better from their fellows than the preachers of the gospel They are the most important and influential persons in the world. And their utterance is of more moment than that of statesmen or of kings. Hence, when Paul asks an interest in the intercessions of the Colossians, it is that he ruay be enabled to speak the mystery of Christ with increasing boldness, and may havo a door of utterance opened widely to him. The most important message for mankind· is the gospel. The intercessions of saints should largely be that preachers may be .:lelivered from all limitations in the utterance of their message, and may issue from every "imprisonment" into the large liberty and impassioned utterance of the gospel. III. THEY ARE TO EMBRACE THEill OPPORTUNITY OF USEFULNESS WISELY. (Ver. 5.) Prayer and intercession will greatly help in this respect. It is when we enter upon our opportunity with the sense of the overshadowing presence; it is when we believe that God is with us and with all our fellow-workers, for whom we have interceded, that we can hopefully embrace the opportunity. How many chances, to use the world's term, have we lost just through deficiency in prayer I We _have been like the disciples in the valley, helpless before the lunatic child because prayerless before the opportunity came; whereas, had we been transfigured with our Master on the mount, wo should have had no difficulty in improving our opportunity and being most helpful unto others. IV. ABOVE ALL THINGS THEY ARE TO CULTIVATE A GRACIOUS CONVERSATION. (Ver. 6.) The filthiness of the conversation in heathen lands is beyond conception. '£he ear is more rudely assailed than even the eye. Hence the necessity of rousing converts to a gracious conversation. When the oaths and impurity and maledictions, not to speak of the idle words of heathenism, are given up, and in their stead considerate, kindly, gracious words always spoken, then the world won~ers at the change and is impressed and improved by it. In other words, the Coloss1ans are to speak out of hearts steeped in prayer and filled with the Spirit. If we would take up and practise this idea, that we ought to speak and live as inspired men, the world would soon ~urrender to the claim of Christianity. Alas I the saints are often anything but inspired in their conversation, and it is no wonder that the world is not much moved by them. Until we realize our responsibility in this matter more, the kingdom of God cannot be ruuch hastened.-R. M. E. CH, IV, 1-18,] THE EPISTLE 'l'O 'l'HE COLOSSIANS. 229