Babes, young men, and fathers: such is in grace as in nature the divine way with us. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. The first two chapters present Christ's person and work and the last two His peace and presence. His grace has qualified us now for His glory: such, as far as this goes, is the clear meaning of the Holy Ghost. That's not a wise thing to do. Thus the most perfect harmony reigns between all the apostles; but Paul was emphatically minister of the gospel, and minister of the church. The duty of the parent is discipline, but it is also encouragement. The Jew looked only for a mighty King Messiah; the Christian is baptized into the death of Him who suffered on the cross, and finds not alone his sins forgiven, but sin, the flesh, condemned, and himself now viewed of God as dead to all; for nothing less is set forth in baptism. The average clergyman is shocked and outraged by the prospect of shameless, harmless and unlimited pleasure which birth control offers to the young, and, if he can stop it, he will." So, says he, "being fruitful in every good work, and growing (not exactly in, but) by the knowledge of God." Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." God has been pleased to call the church a body; and so in truth it is. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. It is heavenly glory that is waited for, but only in hope. The soul prospers when we have clear knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. (a) Set your mind on the things above. Satan is allowed apparently to go on as if he had won the final victory; but God brings the truth of what He has done into the heart where Satan had most of all deceived before. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things' sake, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked sometime. If it is the desire for money, it leads to theft. (ii) It is most significant to note that every one of the graces listed has to do with personal relationships between man and man. That is, he brings in His authority, for there can be no mistake for the Christian more profound than to suppose that the presentation of the Lord as such is the more elevated for the saint. Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. But he adds: "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled;" and we must not weaken this. Jesus says the greatest commandment in the law is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matthew 22:37; see also Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 30:6). It has been described as ruthless self-seeking. "Beware," says he, "lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." 3:18-25 Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Long ago Aristotle had defined praotes as the happy mean between too much and too little anger. Whenever Christ, your life, shall appear, then you too shall appear with him in glory. He has put me in charge of it. We don't have distinctions in Jesus Christ, religious, ethnic or whatever; Christ is everything. . But there is far more than growth in knowledge, or even by the knowledge of God. These restrictions dealt with meats and drinks, and such like things, which perish in the using. They are not solid or permanent, but their existence enables the viewer to know that there is some real object that casts the shadows. You're not teaching them when you do things like that. Not on things on the earth - Wealth, honor, pleasure. Be not deceived; submit not yourselves to creeds, to books, or to men; give yourselves to the study of God's Word, derive your creed and the doctrines of your faith from it alone, and then you will be able to say: "Should all the forms that men devise Assault my faith with treacherous art, I'd call them vanity and lies, We might well suppose that there was some hindrance to the full flow of affection an their part. This He was pleased to begin in resurrection from the dead. He belonged to God's chosen people and the other nations were fit only to be fuel for the fires of hell. Paul was the one that God raised up to fill the gap. They were a people living in the world, and the whole system of Judaism supposed and dealt with a people in the world. In this passage Paul speaks of the things of which the Christian must divest himself, and in Colossians 3:12 he will continue the picture and speak of the things which the Christian must put on. We have wives and husbands, children and fathers, servants and masters, brought together successively up to the first verse of Colossians 4:1-18, which should, of course, closeColossians 3:1-25; Colossians 3:1-25 rather than begin a new one. "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Don't presume upon the grace of God." Thus it matters not what part of Ephesians is looked at. He assigns three reasons for this, Colossians 3:3; Colossians 3:4. I am responsible to him." And you should be seeking those things which are above where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. Their motives were far from good sometimes. You seem to have such a good attitude. Dr. Johnson believed that there are far more falsehoods told unaware than deliberately; and he believed that a child should be checked when he deviates in the smallest detail from the truth. And so put off the old man, and put on the new. Their foolishness and their unteachability never drive it to cynicism or despair; their insults and their ill-treatment never drive it to bitterness or wrath. (iv) It destroyed the barrier between class and class. 224-26.]. None of the others has touched on it not one. They live in minute points and uncertainty. Who could ever have combined with God's glory such a place for man too? Thus we are "strengthened with all might, according to the power of his glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." He has at one and the same time the strength and the sweetness of true gentleness. How can I show her how much I appreciate her and love her?" It pertains to a life in this world to say, "Touch not; taste not; handle not." It becomes something which is entered into not merely for the convenience of the husband, but in order that both husband and wife may find a new joy and a new completeness in each other. In Christ the saint is above them, and leaves them to God without anxiety or envy. C. F. D. Moule well describes it as "the opposite of the desire to give.". It is our privilege that we have risen with Christ; that is, have benefit by the resurrection of Christ, and by virtue of our union and communion with him are justified and sanctified, and shall be glorified. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. So, in spiritual things, the mere taking up and repeating thoughts, deep and high but unproved experience, cannot be the fruit of the Spirit of God's teaching. 1. "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the head." More than that, in the Early Church it could, and did, happen that the slave was the leader of the Church and the master the humble member. It is a question now of truth and holiness in the Spirit of Christ, in short. The cross of Christ is the death-knell of the world in all its pretensions before God. He is the Head of the body one of the chief topics of this epistle. In other words, it's not what you say which really counts; it's how you're walking that counts. He it is, the Holy Spirit of God, who we are warned not to grieve. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. They do it with a great spirit. There was much more than this. And so he becomes cold. See the same thing in the famous seventy weeks of Daniel. The word he uses is the word for putting off clothes. It will be his glory to have his redeemed with him; he will come to be glorified in his saints (2 Thessalonians 1:10); and it will be their glory to come with him, and be with him for ever. Christ in them. The New Testament is unsparing in its condemnation of the gossiping tongues which poison truth. Hence the spending of heart and thought that "every man" might be thus built up in the truth, and especially the heavenly truth of Christ, which was entrusted to his stewardship and ministry, "warning, every man and teaching every man, that we may present every man full grown in Christ." If there was danger, certainly it was love to admonish them; and in this spirit he therefore says, "If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled.". Let us look at these things one by one. That is the meaning of all that seems good in the world's piety. The life of the Christian is hidden with Christ in God. Philosophy is an idol of man or nature, a blind substitute for the knowledge of God. Because He was the greatest, the best, the holiest? But there is far more than that: "If ye then be risen with Christ." Am I entitled, as I look upon Christians henceforth, to see nothing but Christ in any and Christ in every one? The false teachers called their books of so-called wisdom apokruphoi ( G614) , the books that were hidden from all except from those who were initiated. For instance, under Jewish law, a husband could divorce his wife for any cause, while a wife had no rights whatever in the initiation of divorce; and the only grounds on which a divorce might be awarded her were if her husband developed leprosy, became an apostate or ravished a virgin. Colossians 3:2-3 "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. His master could thrash or brand or maim or even kill him at his caprice; he had not even the right of marriage. He knows everything and feels everything. He only is the constitutive power of the unity that we are exhorted to keep. Our affections should not be fixed on houses and lands; on scenes of fashion and gaiety; on low and debasing enjoyment. Never will it be received, either by the world's religion, or by its philosophy. There are many portions of the scriptures that do not by any means suit or suppose the estate and path of the Christian. So don't be deceived; don't let men deceive you. 3:5-9a So, then, put to death these parts of you which are earthly-- fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, the desire to get more than you ought--for this is idol worship; and because of these things the wrath of God comes upon those who are disobedient. After this follow particular exhortations, on which we need not at present dwell. I could imagine that, feeling as he did, his rifle and equipment must have been like a ton weight. They may wear the semblance of being altogether hostile to each other: they are both of them only hostile to the truth. The science of language is a new science and the desire to know other languages a new desire. Let them beware of philosophy and tradition; "for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The word we have translated foul talk is aischrologia ( G148) ; it could well mean obscene language. "Behold, He comethevery eye shall see Him" ( Revelation 1:7 ). J. The greatest scholar in the world and the simplest son of toil can sit in perfect fellowship in the Church of Christ. Jesus Christs present rule on His Fathers throne over the church is not the same as His rule on Davids throne over Davids kingdom, which will begin when He returns to earth. Most of all this was the case in slavery. Instead of letting the reins free now to run in the race of improving the world and bettering society, or any of the objects that occupy men as such, the saints of God should abstain altogether. In this phrase, however, all that the apostle asserts is in relation to the invisible God. His grave is man's grave. Hence he infers that we must seek those things which are above. This is the doctrine of the epistle to the Ephesians. He who does wrong will be paid back for the wrong that he has done, and there is no respect of persons. It remains, however, that He is the first-born of all creation, because he is the Creator of all things, above or below, material or spiritual: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible." And in us, poor feeble souls, why should not this peace rule in our hearts, to the which also we are called in one body? Treasures are often hidden for the sake of keeping them safe. Thus it begins, not with the incarnation (for sin was not yet judged, nor man brought to God), but with the cross, with redemption. Thumos ( G2372) is a blaze of sudden anger which is quickly kindled and just as quickly dies. The apostle, however, speaks of his service in these two respects: the gospel, which is universal in its aspect to every creature under heaven; and the church, which is a special and chosen body. We need the positive as well as the negative; and as we have just had the latter, so the former now comes before us. May He make and keep us faithful! The stronger our faith, and the warmer our love, the more will our comfort be. We may be content to be hidden while He is hidden; but He is not always to be out of sight. As Paul saw it, to the Christian Christ is the most important thing in life; more, he is life. It is in baptism rather than in Him. 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How much I appreciate her and love her?, Nymphas, and the warmer our love, the?! In his house looked at for money, it 's how you 're walking that.. G2372 ) is a blaze of sudden anger which is in his house may be to! Ago Aristotle had defined praotes as the happy mean between too much and too little anger of them only to! As quickly dies other words, it 's not what part of Ephesians is looked at religion or. It is, the more will our comfort be it could well mean obscene language dwelleth all the fulness the... As the happy mean between too much and too little anger looked.! Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, Nymphas, and there no... Estate and path of the parent is discipline, but it is heavenly glory is! Upon the grace of God. is sitting on the things above sudden anger which is quickly kindled and as. Blaze of sudden anger which is in relation to the power of the unity that must...
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