I. This anxiety was intense.—“For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have” (ver. 1). In the closing words of the preceding chapter the apostle referred to his stern self-discipline in training himself for his arduous and self-denying labours as an apostle; and in this verse he expands the same thought and would have the converts know the magnitude of the struggle which his anxiety for their welfare cost him. This conflict refers not only to his external labours on behalf of the Churches, in journeys, perils, privations, persecutions, and imprisonments, but more especially to his fervent wrestling with God in prayer, like Jacob of old; his importunity, like the widow with the unjust judge; his inward soul struggles in earnest intercession for their stability in the faith. The danger must have been serious that produced in such a man so great an agony of anxiety: great souls are not affected by trifles. People little know what their pastors pass through: when they think them the most at leisure, then are they the least so—the fervent conflict of prayer is going on in secret. A knowledge of the minister’s anxiety is sometimes necessary to create a responsive sympathy, and to teach the people the care and anxiety they should feel for their own salvation.
II. This anxiety was disinterested.—“For you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh” (ver. 1). The solicitude of the apostle was not restricted to the Colossians, as though they were more liable than others to defection from the truth but embraced the converts in the neighbouring city of Laodicea. In this populous and thriving city, celebrated at that time for its immense commercial wealth and for the high intellectual attainments of its philosophers, the heretic leaven had begun to work; and the subsequent history of the Church there showed that it spread only too surely and disastrously (Rev. iii. 14–18). The apostle also extended his anxious regard to “as many as had not seen his face in the flesh.” The bulk of our troubles in this life we endure on behalf of others. The Christian spirit, in its broad, comprehensive charity, gives us a deep interest in all who have any connection with Christ. Fervent prayer on behalf of others, notwithstanding the sneers of some modern scientists, is efficacious, irrespective of locality or of actual personal intercourse. Prayers offered in private are often answered in a strange, unlooked-for manner in public. God has a sovereign right to select the mode in which He answers the prayers of the faithful. An old Divine has said: “If we would reap openly in the conversion of souls and their steady walk, we must plough in secret with prayers and tears.” Our anxiety about the welfare of others is a strong evidence of our possessing the genuine love of the truth. It was a trenchant aphorism of Coleridge that, “He who begins by loving Christianity better than truth, will proceed by loving his own sect or Church better than Christianity, and end in loving himself better than all.”
III. This anxiety had special reference to the highest spiritual attainments of believers.—1. The apostle was solicitous for the confirmation of their faith. “That their hearts might be comforted” (ver. 2).—i.e. encouraged, confirmed. The apostle knew the subtle power of error in disintegrating the heart’s confidence, producing trouble, dejection, doubt, and perplexity. Hence, he was anxious so to present the truth as it is in Jesus, as to restore and cheer the bewildered mind and settle it on the firm basis of an intelligent and cordial faith. No man can reach the high attainments of the Christian life whose heart is not at rest in God.
2. The apostle was solicitous for their union in love.—“Being knit together in love” (ver. 2). The heart can never enjoy solid comfort till it is united in the love, as well as in the faith, of the truth. Error divides as well as distresses; it snaps the bond of love, splits the Christian Church into parties, rends what ought to be the seamless robe of Christ. Where there is discord in the understanding about fundamental truths, there cannot be concord in the will and affections. The stability of believers depends upon their being knit together in a mutual love, as the timbers of a building are joined and compacted by a carpenter—such is the original signification of the word—each part being fitted in with the rest, and all subserving the firmness and safety of the whole. “He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
3. The apostle was solicitous they should be enriched with the unspeakable wealth of the Divine mystery.—(1) The Divine mystery is explained in the unique person and endowments of Christ. “The mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (vers. 2, 3). Christ embraced in His own person the Divine and human natures. As God, He is equal with the Father, and possesses in Himself all the essentials of Deity; but as man He is dowered with moral treasures surpassing the endowments of the highest angel. The mystery is not so much Christ, as Christ containing in Himself “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” There is in Christ an all-sufficiency for every possible want of man—copious and inexhaustive riches of eternal and saving wisdom. These riches are hid in Christ as treasure in a field—concealed from the gaze of mere passers-by, the careless, indolent, and proud; but revealed to and enjoyed by the humble, diligent, and persevering seeker. “He who is not content with Christ, but goes out of Him to philosophy or tradition, forsakes the treasures for the miserable beggary of human counterfeits.” It is still a mystery to the world how Christ can be the grand depositary of all wisdom; and the mystery is dispelled only as the soul becomes savingly acquainted with Him. (2) The believer is privileged to gain the full knowledge of the Divine mystery.—“To the acknowledgment of the mystery” (ver. 2). The word implies that the knowledge of God and of Christ is the perfection of knowledge. The ancient sage declared: “If thou criest after knowledge, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” And the apostle prayed for the Ephesians that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ might give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” This knowledge is to be not a simple perception of the truths continued in the Divine mystery, but a full, firm, and distinct knowledge as the result of careful sifting, and the actual experience of their soul-transforming power. We know nothing to purpose until it is strongly grasped by the heart as well as by the understanding. (3) A clear and profound understanding of the Divine mystery is the true enrichment of the mind.—“Unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding” (ver. 2). The vast store of moral riches here indicated is opposed to the poverty of the mind, which has only a few confused, unconnected truths about the Gospel laid up in its treasury. By the full assurance of understanding is meant an unclouded perception and firm conviction of the truth revealed in the Gospel. This is obtained only by diligent study and the inner illumination of the Spirit; the understanding is cleared up, the judgment settled, and the individual believer enabled to apprehend each part of the Gospel in its essential relation to the grand whole, and thus to grasp with a firm hold the salient features of the Divine mystery. In this assured knowledge of the greatest truths the mind of man finds it true enrichment; its abiding rest and felicity. “Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her” (Prov. viii. 11). Every other kind of knowledge, however rare and extensive, is in itself poor and unsatisfying.
IV. This anxiety prompted the apostle faithfully to warn the Church.—“And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words” (ver. 4). Error assumes the most seductive forms: it charms with its eloquence, bewilders with its subtle reasoning, misleads with its bold, assured statements of half-truths. The soul is fascinated as by the gaze of a basilisk, and morally poisoned by its breath. “Men are easily persuaded to believe that which flatters their own vanity, and dilutes or modifies the Gospel, so as to accommodate it to their own degenerate tastes.” It is needful to maintain a vigilant outlook and be on our guard against every phase of false teaching. Some contend that words have little to do with religion; that true religion is a sentiment in the soul independent of words. The apostle thought differently when he exhorted to hold fast “the form of sound words”; and in this verse he distinctly avers that enticing words may beguile. He solemnly warns the Ephesians, who were assailed with a similar class of errors: “Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Eph. v. 6). The most effectual antidote to any heresy is the faithful, simple proclamation of the doctrine of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This is the clue that leads us out of all the mazes of error.
Lessons.—1. The true minister is anxious to promote the highest good of the people. 2. All truth finds its explanation and all error its refutation in Christ, the Source of eternal wisdom. 3. False doctrine should be fearlessly and faithfully exposed.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 3.
The Hidden Treasures of Wisdom in Christ.
Wisdom does not consist in the possession of varied and extensive knowledge. The student may be deeply read in ancient and long-forgotten lore, be versed in the entire circle of the arts, sciences, and philosophies, be intelligibly familiar with the best literature of the day, be a walking encyclopædia, a literary fountain gushing in a perennial stream of information, and yet be far from being a wise man. Wisdom is the practical application of knowledge, the attainment of the highest moral results by the use of the best and simplest means. The cry of the human intellect in all ages has been, “Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” The greatest souls have toiled painfully in search of the coveted treasure but failed to discover it. Their mightiest endeavours have terminated in disappointment and despair. True wisdom is a Divine revelation. The world by wisdom knew not God; and one of the profoundest philosophers of any age, and who approached as near the threshold of the grand discovery as the unaided human mind was perhaps ever permitted to do, had to confess with a sigh, “If ever man is destined to know the good and the true, it must be by a revelation of the Deity.” That wisdom which all need, and of which all are in quest, is found only in Christ. This verse declares that Christ is the unfathomable depositary of the highest wisdom. Observe:—