Christ, the Hope of glory.
I. CHRISTIANITY BRINGS A HOPE OF GLORY.
1. It brings a hove. All men who live at all live in the future. The past is irretrievable. The present is but a passing moment. Life reaches out to what lies before it. For this we need to be buoyed up by some hope—
"Ever by a mighty hope
Pressing on and bearing up."
The man without a hope is as good as dead. Who will care to walk on over the weary path of his pilgrimage if no light cheers him in the distance, if only deepening gloom besets his uncertain footsteps? It is the glory of the gospel that it speaks of a hope of glory.
2. The object of the Christian hope is glory. It is more than bare escape from ruin; more than mere gladness. There is something ennobling and elevating in the best sense of the word "glory." It not only includes the greatest blessings; it calls us off from low, selfish, epicurean conceptions of future happiness, and points to a pure and lofty aim for our aspirations.
II. THIS CHRISTIAN HOPE IS FOR ALL. The emphasis of the phrase lies on the word "you." "Christ in you," etc.
1. All nations are included. The narrower Jew kept the glory of redemption to himself, though he would allow some of its minor blessings, overflowing from his own full cup, to spread among the Gentries. Christ brings the richest blessings to all peoples without distinction.
2. All characters are included. St. Paul has just been describing the early conditions of the Colossians. They had been alienated and enemies to God in their mind (verse 21). Yet these men have the hope of glory. Thus there is a wonderful revelation of the love of God in the thought—even to you, Colossians, once great enemies to God, Christ is the Hope of glory. And so always the worst sinners, when redeemed by Christ, may anticipate, not only pardon, but the highest glory.
III. CHRIST IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHRISTIAN HOPE OF GLORY.
1. It is first of all based on the atonement of Christ. By his shame comes our glory. He first reconciles us to God and then leads us on to glorification.
2. The hope of glory for Christians is dependent on the glory of Christ. He wins glory through his triumph over sin and death. But he does not keep the glory to himself; he freely shares it with his people. Then the Christian glory is just a share of this glory of Christ's. It is no selfish thing, much less is it an earthly, corrupt thing like much that degrades the name of glory among men.
3. Christ himself is the Centre of this glory. Christ is the Hope of glory, not merely the teachings of Christ, the work of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ. In him is glory—the glory of the Only begotten from the Father (John 1:14). He is the glory of his Church.
IV. WE ENJOY THE HOPE OF GLORY BY RECEIVING CHRIST SPIRITUALLY, Christ in you is the hope of glory. So long as we are separated from Christ we dwell in darkness and no ray of his glory is ours. No external relations with Christ will make the hope ours. We must enter into personal relations with Christ; we must receive him into our hearts. When he dwells in our hearts by faith he brings to us his own life, and with this the glory that belongs to it.—W.F.A.
The mission of Christian preaching.
In describing his own practice St. Paul describes the model mission of the Christian preacher. Nothing less than this great ideal should satisfy a Christian minister. But nothing outside it should be assumed by or expected of him. The apostle is but a preacher and teacher, not a priestly authority.
I. THE SUBJECT OF CHRISTIAN PREACHING IS CHRIST. It does not consist in vague speculations on religion. It is clear, positive, definite, and concrete. The preacher is to uphold Christ. He is to tell the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ; to draw the portrait of Christ (Galatians 3:1); to proclaim the grace of Christ; to set forth the claims of Christ; and to show the relation of Christ to everything in life.
1. There is a unity in this preaching. It all centres in Christ.
2. There is a breadth in it. Christ has grace and authority in regard to all aspects of life.
3. There is power in it. The charm and spell of the gospel dwell in Christ himself. In proportion as he is lifted up does he draw all men to himself, and in proportion as the preacher wanders into side issues does he lose the secret of his influence.
II. THE FIELD OF CHRISTIAN PREACHING IS ALL MANKIND. Three times does the apostle express the universality of this truth as against the Jew who would limit the best treasures to his nation, and the Gnostic who would keep the higher truths for the more instructed. "Admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom."
1. Christ is for all: for
2. In Christ all wisdom is for all men. There is no reserve, at least of the highest wisdom, since the Christ who is preached to all men freely is the Word and the Wisdom of God.
III. THE METHOD OF CHRISTIAN PREACHING IS PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION.
1. Proclaiming Christ. The first requisite is information on the main points of the gospel. The Christian preacher is a herald and a witness (Acts 2:32; Acts 3:15).
2. Admonishing. Men must be charged with the guilt of their sins, as well as encouraged by the offers of the gospel. An earnest, faithful dealing with individuals according to their personal condition is a necessary though painful part of a minister's work.
3. Teaching. Thorough instruction must follow the general proclaiming of the gospel. Growth in grace depends largely on growth in knowledge, Neglect of this laborious, unexciting part of the preacher's mission, careful teaching, is sure to be avenged by ultimate weakness, if not by disastrous lapses into practical errors.
IV. THE END OF CHRISTIAN PREACHING IS TO PRESENT MEN PERFECT IN CHRIST. We are not to be satisfied with such abstract teaching as simply informs the minds of people. The great work is most practical. It is to mould lives, to develop characters, to perfect souls.
1. It is to bring men into living union with Christ. We preach Christ in order that men may live Christ. The great result is the effecting of a vital union with Christ.
2. It is also to lead men on to perfection in Christ. The preacher will be expected, at the return of his Master, to present, as the fruit of his life's work, not a crowd of raw converts, but a body of ripe Christians. The work is not finished in conversion. It only begins with that. Line upon line, and precept upon precept, often with sad iteration as old lessons unlearnt need to be repeated, characterizes the necessary task of the Christian preacher. And it is not done till perfection is reached.
V. SUCCESS IN THIS MISSION DEPENDS UPON WORKING HARD IN THE POWER OF CHRIST.
1. It requires hard work. St. Paul "labours," "striving." The words in the Greek suggest the athlete who trains himself into great vigour for some severe enterprise. Men are not to be won for Christ and perfected in Christ by indolent, self-indulgent preachers. No work is harder than that of the Christian preacher when it is faithfully discharged.
2. Success is also only attainable through the power of Christ. He works mightily in the preacher as well as in the hearer. With this secret of strength the feeblest preacher may succeed where a Demosthenes would fail.—W.F.A.
Colossians Intro
Colossians
Colossians 2
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