I. THE URGENT SPIRIT OF THIS PRAYER. "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make request for you."

1. It is the duty as well as the desire of ministers, not only to teach their flocks, but to pray for them. They must say, like Samuel, "God forbid that I should... cease to pray for you" (2 Samuel 12:23). The prayer of Moses was more influential against Amalek than all the weapons of Israel. "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).

2.. They ought to be unceasing in their supplications. There must be "perseverance in supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18). We must give God no rest; for he often delays the answer to increase our importunity (Luke 18:3, 4; 2 Corinthians 12:8, 9).

3. The reason for constant supplication. "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray... for you." The apostle had heard of their faith and love, and was naturally concerned for their growth in grace, for the free course of the Word among them, and for their freedom from all error. He heard they were good, and he prayed that they might be better.

II. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE APOSTLE'S PRAYER. "That ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding."

1. The Divine will is the supreme subject of knowledge to a believer. It is not mere speculations about God's nature or his counsels, but his will, that we are to study. This is God's will as it is made known to us either in Scripture or experience.

(1) It is his determining will (Ephesians 1:5).

(2) It is his prescribing will, including Law and gospel, and especially the nature of faith and repentance (Acts 22:9; Ephesians 1:9; Romans 12:2.)

(3) It is his will of approval (Galatians 1:4; Matthew 18:14).

(4) It is his providential will (1 Corinthians 1:1; Romans 1:10). We have much to learn concerning God's will in these four respects.

2. The knowledge necessary to understand it is instinct with "spiritual wisdom and understanding." Knowledge is power, but it may work for evil as well as good. It must be regulated by wisdom and understanding.

(1) Wisdom; not that which has "a show of wisdom," and springs from vanity nurtured by the fleshly mind (Colossians 2:18, 23); not fleshly wisdom (2 Corinthians 1:12); much less that which is "earthly, sensual, devilish" (James 3:17); but spiritual wisdom - the knowledge of the true end of life, such as God gives to the simple (Psalm 19:7), enabling them to penetrate the mysteries of Divine truth (1 Corinthians 2:6) and to understand their duty to God and man in all the relations of life. It is "from above" (James 3:17); it presupposes the existence of faith and love; it is a subject of Christian prayer.

(2) Understanding is the faculty of spiritual insight which takes in the bearings of things. It fits us for the service of God on earth and for the glory of God in heaven. As it is spiritual, it is touched with meekness and humility.

3. The measures of this knowledge. "That ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will." There is no limit assigned to it.

(1) We cannot rest with mere rudiments; we must be "filled with all knowledge" (Romans 15:14).

(2) There will always be something wanting in this life. "We know in part" (1 Corinthians 13:11).

(3) Nothing but the knowledge of the will of God will ever satisfy the deep hunger of man's heart.

4. Motives to this fuller knowledge.

(1) It is the glory of the saints to have it (Jeremiah 9:24).

(2) It is their special privilege to have it (Mark 4:11.)

(3) To want it is a sin and a sorrow (Hosea 4:6).

(4) It is the most excellent of all knowledge; for it is eternal life itself (John 17:3).

5. Design of this knowledge. "To walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing by the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to the power of his glory, unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness." The design is twofold as it bears respectively upon action and upon suffering.

(1) The knowledge of God's will is to influence conduct. Its true end is practical obedience. We are "to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing."

(a) Walking worthy of the Lord. This is not

(α

) with a worthiness of merit, far we are all of us unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10);

(β

) but with a worthiness of meekness such as is becoming when we consider the dignity of our calling, the glory of the kingdom of God, the supplies of grace which the gospel affords, and the blessed hopes laid up for us in heaven.

(γ

) It is a worthiness "unto all pleasing." We must "so serve God that we may please him" (Hebrews 12:28; 1 Corinthians 7:31).

(i.) He that seeks not to please him in all things seeks not to please him in anything.

(ii.) If we please him he will make our very" enemies at peace with us" (Proverbs 16:7).

(iii.) "Men pleasing" is inconsistent with God pleasing (Colossians 3:22).

(iv.) It would be sinful and ungrateful to displease him.

(v.) Pleasing God is the work of heaven (Psalm 103:20, 21).

(b) A twofold aspect of worthy walking.

(α

) Christian fruitfulness. "Bearing fruit in every good work."

(i.) The necessity of it.

(a) It is for God's glory (John 15:18).

(b) As a proof of our faith (James 2:18, 26).

(c) The edification of others (Matthew 5:16; Titus 3:8).

(d) The increase of our final reward (2 John 1:8)

(ii.) The means of it.

(a) We must abide in the true Vine, Jesus Christ (John 15:4; Philippians 1.).

(b) We must dwell beside the rivers of water (Psalm 1:3).

(iii.) The extent of it - "in every good work." We must be harmoniously developed in our obedience as in our inward experience (Philippians 4:8).

(β

) Increase in moral stature - "increasing by the knowledge of God." We grow in grace just as we grow in knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). There is a mutual interaction between knowledge and grace. We are to add to our faith virtue, and to our virtue knowledge (2 Peter 1:5), just as we are to grow in all spiritual graces by knowledge. Knowledge promotes the sanctification of our callings and our food (1 Timothy 4:3), enables us to discern things that differ (Philippians 1:10), and keeps down corrupt affections (Isaiah 11:7, 9).

(2) The knowledge of God's will tends to strengthen patience in suffering.

(a) The need of abounding strength - "strengthened with all might."

(α

) The afflictions of life tend to weaken us.

(β

) Our adversaries are many.

(γ

) Our faith is fitful.

(δ

) We are often unsettled and tossed about by the wind of contrary doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).

(ε

) We are, perhaps, "babes in Christ," and unskilful in the word of righteousness (Hebrews 5:12, 13).

(b) The source of our strengths "according to the power of his glory;" his glory being the manifestation of his love to man (Ephesians 3:16). We "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us" (Philippians 4:13). He "giveth strength to his people" and "strength is of the Lord." (Psalm 62:11). "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31). "Glorious power will be victorious power." It is God's revelation of himself to us that gives us our greatest strength. It is his glory that sets his power to work, as it is by promise pledged to his people. Therefore:

(α

) Let us pray for knowledge and faith to discern God's promise and power (Ephesians 1:8).

(β

) Let us hold fast the truth of the gospel, eschewing "winds of doctrine." Let us "follow the truth in love."

(c) The fruit of our strength - "unto patience and long suffering with joyfulness."

(α

) Patience or endurance.

(i.) It is the grace which does not easily succumb under suffering, and is one of the most blessed fruits of the tree of life. It is the result of the bracing effect of affliction (James 5:11), and is opposed to despondency or cowardice.

(ii.) Our patience will grow
(a) through the word of patience, for the comforts of the Scriptures beget both patience and hope (Romans 15:4).
(b) We must cultivate a humble and constant trust in the Lord (Psalm 37:3).
(c) We must continue instant in prayer (Romans 12:12).

(β

) Long suffering is a temper of gentleness and self restraint, closely connected with patience.

(i.) It is the Lord's command that we should suffer long (Matthew 5:21, 22)

(ii.) There are injuries that befall us in Divine providence (2 Samuel 16:10).

(iii.) A revengeful spirit is a hindrance to prayer (1 Timothy 2:8) and to the due power of the Word (James 1:21), and it lets the devil into the heart (Ephesians 4:21). Therefore, let us practise this grace of long suffering.

(γ

) Joyfulness. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." It is possible to be "sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10).

(i.) Our patience and long-suffering must be balanced with joy so as to sustain their true temper.

(ii.) It is possible to be joyful in tribulations (James 1:2).

(iii.) It is commanded by Christ (Matthew 5:12) and enforced by his own example on the cross (Hebrews 12:2).

(iv.) Its ground is our fellowship with Christ in his sufferings (1 Peter 4:13), and the expectation of a heavenly inheritance (Hebrews 10:14).

(v.) It is one of the fruits of God's Spirit (Galatians 5:22). - T. C.

I. THE STRENGTH.

1. The reference is not to intellectual strength, although no doubt as a highly intellectual man, the apostle would highly prize this in his brethren. It is important as a shield to protect from imposition, for guidance in times of sifting or wild speculation, and its possession widens the distance between man and the lower creation, and assimilates to Him whose understanding is infinite.

2. Here reference is to power distinctively spiritual. Paul prayed that they might be strengthened in their ethical principles, so that they might be stronger in their faith, hope, and love. This was important for their Christian consistency, usefulness, and prosperity,

II. THE STRENGTHENING. "Strengthened in all strength." As if the apostle conceived them as needing to be immersed in some other one's strength greater than their own: and as he was thinking of Divine strength, he did not scruple to say "all" strength, i.e., strength all-sufficient. Not merely enough for some duties and trials, but such as would enable them to say, "I can do all things" (Philippians 4:13). All kinds of strength belong to God, physical, intellectual, moral "Nothing is too hard for the Lord." "Power belongeth unto God," and not only that which can create and uphold. What power of perception from which nothing is hidden! of memory! looking back into infinity; of prevision! looking forward into eternity. Hence this moral power. What power of goodness, righteousness, compassion, and forgiving fervour — all inherently infinite. No wonder Paul speaks of "the power of His glory," the power that is inherent in His glory and therefore glorious. No wonder that he desires that the Colossians should be steeped in it.

III. THE RESULT OF THE STRENGTHENING.

1. Patience is needed on the part of all in such a world as this. Men everywhere have had trials that have taxed them to the utmost, and will continue to have. But the reference here is to the trials which Christians have in addition as Christians, to which they are exposed for the gospel's sake at home and in society.

2. Long-suffering is akin to patient endurance. It is the opposite of irascibility in relation to persons who deal with us unreasonably or unkindly, whereas patience has to do with things. With trying things our difficulty is to endure; with trying persons to suppress irritability.

3. But these are not enough. Paul wants joyfulness in addition. But he knew that "the happy God" could and would make "all things work together for good," and so enable His people to "rejoice in the Lord alway."

(J. Morison, D. D.)

I. Why does the apostle say, STRENGTHENED WITH "ALL" MIGHT?

1. To intimate that we fight not against one enemy, neither are opposed by weapons on one side only, but by many, and on every side. Unless we overcome these enemies, one and all, we are conquered. There is therefore need of all might against every kind of enemy.

II. The apostle could have said, we are strengthened by God, or by His power; but he adds this epithet, GLORIOUS POWER.

1. That we may place the greater confidence in this Divine power. Because this very word contains in itself an earnest of victory and triumph; for this could not be glorious power, if it might be overcome by an evil spirit and sin (Romans 8.).

2. It is called glorious power on account of the admirable mode of conquering the devil, the world, and the flesh. For the Spirit of God not immediately, by His absolute power, beats off these enemies of our salvation; but by inspiring us with strength, causes even ourselves to trample them under. Moreover, that power must necessarily be very admirable and glorious which makes feeble man, clothed with sinful flesh, to overcome the insults and wiles of devils, the alarms and solicitations of the flesh, the hatred, snares, and injuries of the whole world. Of this glorious power God Himself speaks (2 Corinthians 12:9; Vide 1 Corinthians 1:27).

(Bishop Davenant.)

I. THE PROCESS EXPERIENCED. Strengthened with all might.

1. Man is essentially weak, and his frequent boasting of strength is but a sign of it. Adam was weak, and fell before the first assault; and now that sin, thus triumphing, has entered into our world, degenerate men are weaker still. It was when we were without strength that God laid help on One mighty to save.

2. Yet men rarely think of their weakness, and consider themselves equal to all the demands made upon them. It is only when a man receives new power that he is conscious of his weakness. It is when you try to stem a torrent that you know its force, so when a Christian begins to crucify his flesh he knows its power. But for him there is might to overcome. Yet how much weakness is manifest in professors. You see men conquered by the love of the world, and those who began well slackening their pace, and instead of resisting the allurements around them becoming entangled by them and falling into spiritual apostasy.

3. Mark the fulness of the blessing.(1) With might for all the faculties

of the soul, so that every power of manhood shall be invigorated.(2) For all the wants of life created by its varied circumstances of prosperity and adversity.

II. THE DIVINE PRINCIPLE MANIFESTED — "according to the power of His glory" (Ephesians 3:16).

1. Spiritual power, then, is not indigenous to the soul; it is from God, who alone knows its capacities and needs. If the word or smile of an earthly: parent can strengthen the soul of his child, much more God. We can only influence from without, God from within.

2. The principle of this Divine action is "according," etc. Often are God's power and glory conjoined (Psalm 63:2; Revelation 19:1). Power is an essential attribute of the Divine glory.(1) The glory of God is powerful in creation. "The heavens declare," etc. Power is everywhere apparent. Even the thoughtless, who have no eye to trace His wisdom and no heart to acknowledge His goodness, are constrained to see "His eternal power and Godhead."(2) In providence (Psalm 62:11; Job 9:19; Daniel 4:35). What power in ordering times and seasons, governing a tumultuous world, restraining powers of darkness and preserving a feeble Church.(3) In redemption. Christ, who is "the brightness of His glory," is "the power of God." The exceeding greatness of His power working by His spirit accomplishes the new creation and strengthens the souls of His children.

3. The expression suggests the measure of the might imparted — not according to human power or angelic might, but according to a Divine measure. As the power of the Divine glory is manifested in nature, providence, or redemption, so will it be in the souls,'experiences, and triumphs of His people.

4. It is also the model of our might. We may be strengthened with a might corresponding to the power of God's glory, so that we shall be strong in accordance with our finite nature as God is strong according to His infinite nature.

III. THE GREAT MORAL PURPOSE OF THIS STRENGTHENING — not so much to do as to suffer, which requires the greatest strength.

1. Patience has its sphere in relation to God.(1) In the endurance of trial. Our discipline is often protracted, and we are apt to sink. How much we need the promised strength.(2) In anticipation of coming good. The deliverance is long protracted. We become impatient, and ask, "Where is the promise of His coming?" and impatience often leads to sin, and is always a sign of weakness. To possess our souls in patience and bide God's time requires His strength. Long-suffering has its sphere in relation to man, and means long-mindedness as opposed to shortness of temper in the midst of irritation. It requires the strength of God to imitate His forbearance who "endured such contradiction of sinners."

3. The spirit of this patience or joyfulness produced by a consciousness of power to strengthen, deliver, reward.

(J. Spence, D. D.)

Patience is the superintendent of all the affairs of God, and without it it is not possible to execute His commands or to wait for His promises. It defeats all its enemies without toil. Its repose is more efficacious than the movements and deeds of others. It renders those things salutary to us which, of their own nature, are most pernicious. It changes poisons into remedies, and defeats into victories. It rejoices the angels, it confounds devils, it overcomes the world. It subdues the greatest courage, and converts the most obstinate hearts. It is the strength and the triumph of the Church, according to the saying of the ancient oracle, "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."

( Tertullian.)

"Long suffering" will be found to express patience in respect of persons, and "patience" the same in respect to things. The man is long-suffering, who, having to do with injurious persons does not suffer himself easily to be provoked by them, or to blaze up into anger. The man is patient who, under a great siege of trials, bears up and does not lose heart or courage (Romans 5:3; 2 Corinthians 1:6). We should speak, there fore, of the long-suffering of David (2 Samuel 16:10-13), the patience of Job (James 5:11). Thus, while both graces are ascribed to the saints, only long-suffering is an attribute of God. Men may tempt and provoke Him, and He may and does display an infinite long-suffering in regard of them (Exodus 34:6; Romans 2:4; 1 Peter 3:20); there may be a resistance to God in men, because He respects the wills with which He has created them, even when those wills are fighting against Him. But there can be no resistance to God, nor burden upon Him, the Almighty, from things; therefore patience cannot find place in Him, nor is it ever rightly ascribed to Him; for when God is called "the God of patience" (Romans 15:5) this does not mean God whose attribute patience is, but God who gives patience to His people. (See also 1 Peter 5:10; Hebrews 13:20; Romans 15:13).

(Archbishop Trench.)The two words occur in the same context in 2 Corinthians 6:4, 6; 2 Timothy 3:10; James 5:10-11. The difference of meaning is best seen in their opposites. While patience is the temper which does not easily succumb under suffering, long-suffering is the self-restraint that does not hastily retaliate a wrong. The one is opposed to cowardice or despondency, the other to wrath or revenge (Proverbs 15:18; Proverbs 16:32).

(Bishop Lightfoot.)

"I have been ready to doubt," said Dr. Payson, "whether pain be really an evil; for though more pain was crowded into last week than any other week of my life, yet it was one of the happiest weeks of my life, and now I am ready to say, 'Come what will, come sickness, pain, agony, poverty, loss of friends; only let God come with them, and they shall be welcome.'" Later, on his death-bed, he said, "Every bone is almost dislocated with pain; yet while my body is thus tortured, my soul is perfectly happy and peaceful, more happy than I can possibly express to you. I seem to swim in a flood of glory which God pours down on me."

I heard of a city missionary who was going along one of the streets and saw a little girl sleeping on the steps of a door, and he awoke her, and said, "Why are you sleeping here in this drizzling rain?" And she said, "My father has turned me out of doors. He's a drunkard, and I'm waiting till he falls asleep, and then I'm going into the house." The next morning the drunken father awakened from his dream of iniquity, and he saw his little girl preparing his breakfast, and he said, "Milly, why do you stay with me?" "Oh," she said, "father, I love you; and my mother, when she died, said I must never leave you. She said the rum fiend would sometimes go out of you, and then you would be very kind to me; and so she said I was never to leave you, and, father, I never will."

Colossians, Epaphras, Paul, Thessalonians, Timotheus, TimothyColossae, PhilippiAttaining, Cheerfully, Endurance, Enduring, Full, Glorious, Glory, Joy, Joyfully, Joyfulness, Joyously, Kind, Longsuffering, Long-suffering, Measure, Mighty, Patience, Perseverance, Power, Prepared, Steadfastness, Strength, Strengthened, Troubles, Undergo1. After salutation Paul thanks God for the Colossians' faith;
7. confirms the doctrine of Epaphras;
9. prays further for their increase in grace;
14. describes the supremacy of Christ;
21. encourages them to receive Jesus Christ, and commends his own ministry.

Colossians 1:11

     1105   God, power of
     2060   Christ, patience of
     5457   power, human
     5765   attitudes, to people

Colossians 1:9-12

     7027   church, purpose

Colossians 1:9-13

     8611   prayer, for others

Colossians 1:10-11

     8318   patience
     8418   endurance

Colossians 1:10-12

     8416   encouragement, promises
     8442   good works
     8459   perseverance

February 11. "Strengthened with all Might unto all Patience" (Col. I. 11).
"Strengthened with all might unto all patience" (Col. i. 11). The apostle prays for the Colossians, that they may be "strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." It is one thing to endure and show the strain on every muscle of your face, and seem to say with every wrinkle, "Why does not somebody sympathize with me?" It is another to endure the cross, "despising the shame" for the joy set before us. There are some trees in the …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

February 18. "Christ in You" (Col. I. 27).
"Christ in you" (Col. i. 27). How great the difference between the old and the new way of deliverance! One touch of Christ is worth a lifetime of struggling. A sufferer in one of our hospitals was in danger of losing his sight from a small piece of broken needle that had entered his eye. Operation after operation had only irritated it, and driven the foreign substance farther still into the delicate nerves of the sensitive organ. At length a skilful young physician thought of a new expedient. He …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Twenty Fourth Sunday after Trinity Prayer and Spiritual Knowledge.
Text: Colossians 1, 3-14. 3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have toward all the saints, 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

'All Power'
'Strengthened with all power, according to the might of His glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy.'--COL. i. 11 (R.V.). There is a wonderful rush and fervour in the prayers of Paul. No parts of his letters are so lofty, so impassioned, so full of his soul, as when he rises from speaking of God to men to speaking to God for men. We have him here setting forth his loving desires for the Colossian Christians in a prayer of remarkable fulness and sweep. Broadly taken, it is for their perfecting …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Thankful for Inheritance
'Giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.'--COL. i. 12 (R.V.) It is interesting to notice how much the thought of inheritance seems to have been filling the Apostle's mind during his writing of Ephesians and Colossians. Its recurrence is one of the points of contact between them. For example, in Ephesians, we read, 'In whom also were made a heritage' (i. 11); 'An earnest of our inheritance' (i. 14); 'His inheritance in the saints' …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Saints, Believers, Brethren
' . . . The saints and faithful brethren in Christ.'--COL. i. 2. 'The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch,' says the Acts of the Apostles. It was a name given by outsiders, and like most of the instances where a sect, or school, or party is labelled with the name of its founder, it was given in scorn. It hit and yet missed its mark. The early believers were Christians, that is, Christ's men, but they were not merely a group of followers of a man, like many other groups of whom the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christian Endeavour
'I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.'--COL. i. 29. I have chosen this text principally because it brings together the two subjects which are naturally before us to-day. All 'Western Christendom,' as it is called, is to-day commemorating the Pentecostal gift. My text speaks about that power that 'worketh in us mightily.' True, the Apostle is speaking in reference to the fiery energy and persistent toil which characterised him in proclaiming Christ, that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gospel-Hope
'The hope of the Gospel.'--COL. i. 5. 'God never sends mouths but He sends meat to feed them,' says the old proverb. And yet it seems as if that were scarcely true in regard to that strange faculty called Hope. It may well be a question whether on the whole it has given us more pleasure than pain. How seldom it has been a true prophet! How perpetually its pictures have been too highly coloured! It has cast illusions over the future, colouring the far-off hills with glorious purple which, reached, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Next Performance is Mainly Directed against Faith in the Church...
The next performance is mainly directed against faith in the Church, as a society of Divine origin. "The Rev. Henry Bristow Wilson, B.D., Vicar of Great Staughton, Hunts," claims that a National Church shall be regarded as a purely secular Institution,--the spontaneous development of the State. "If all priests and ministers of religion could at one moment be swept from the face of the Earth, they would soon be reproduced [76] ." The Church is concerned with Ethics, not with Divinity. It should therefore …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

All Fulness in Christ
The text is a great deep, we cannot explore it, but we will voyage over its surface joyously, the Holy Spirit giving us a favorable wind. Here are plenteous provisions far exceeding, those of Solomon, though at the sight of that royal profusion, Sheba's queen felt that there was no more spirit in her, and declared that the half had not been told to her. It may give some sort of order to our thoughts if they fall under four heads. What is here spoken of--"all fullness." Where is it placed--"in him," …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Thankful Service.
(Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity.) COL. i. 12. "Giving thanks." In one of our northern coal-pits there was a little boy employed in a lonely and dangerous part of the mine. One day a visitor to the coal-pit asked the boy about his work, and the child answered, "Yes, it is very lonely here, but I pick up the little bits of candle thrown away by the colliers, and join them together, and when I get a light I sing." My brothers, every day of our lives we are picking up blessings which the loving …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

Twenty-Third Day for the Holy Spirit in Your Own Work
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Holy Spirit in your own Work "I labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily."--COL. i. 29. You have your own special work; make it a work of intercession. Paul laboured, striving according to the working of God in him. Remember, God is not only the Creator, but the Great Workman, who worketh all in all. You can only do your work in His strength, by Him working in you through the Spirit. Intercede much for those among whom you work, till God gives …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Knowledge and Obedience.
"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father."--COL. i. 9-12. The Epistles …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

The Inheritance.
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.--Ep. to the Colossians i. 12. To have a share in any earthly inheritance, is to diminish the share of the other inheritors. In the inheritance of the saints, that which each has, goes to increase the possession of the rest. Hear what Dante puts in the mouth of his guide, as they pass through Purgatory:-- Perche s'appuntano i vostri desiri Dove per compagnia parte si scema, Invidia muove …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Disciple, -- Master, if Thou Wouldst Make a Special Manifestation of Thyself to The...
The Disciple,--Master, if Thou wouldst make a special manifestation of Thyself to the world, men would no longer doubt the existence of God and Thy own divinity, but all would believe and enter on the path of righteousness. The Master,--1. My son, the inner state of every man I know well, and to each heart in accordance with its needs I make Myself known; and for bringing men into the way of righteousness there is no better means than the manifestation of Myself. For man I became man that he might …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

Victory Found
AT THE close of this little volume it seems fitting to recount again a wonderful personal experience, narrated in The Sunday School Times of December 7, 1918. I do not remember the time when I did not have in some degree a love for the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. When not quite twelve years of age, at a revival meeting, I publicly accepted and confessed Christ as my Lord and Master. From that time there grew up in my heart a deep yearning to know Christ in a more real way, for he seemed so unreal, …
Rosalind Goforth—How I Know God Answers Prayer

section 3
But we will go back from this glimpse of God's ultimate purpose for us, to watch the process by which it is reached, so far as we can trace it in the ripening of the little annuals. The figure will not give us all the steps by which God gets His way in the intricacies of a human soul: we shall see no hint in it of the cleansing and filling that is needed in sinful man before he can follow the path of the plant. It shows us some of the Divine principles of the new life rather than a set sequence of …
I. Lilias Trotter—Parables of the Christ-life

Christ and Man in the Atonement
OUR conception of the relations subsisting between God and man, of the manner in which these relations are affected by sin, and particularly of the Scripture doctrine of the connection between sin and death, must determine, to a great extent, our attitude to the Atonement. The Atonement, as the New Testament presents it, assumes the connection of sin and death. Apart from some sense and recognition of such connection, the mediation of forgiveness through the death of Christ can only appear an arbitrary, …
James Denney—The Death of Christ

The Mystical Union with Immanuel.
"Christ in you the hope of glory." --Col. i. 27. The union of believers with Christ their Head is not effected by instilling a divine-human life-tincture into the soul. There is no divine-human life. There is a most holy Person, who unites in Himself the divine and the human life; but both natures continue unmixed, unblended, each retaining its own properties. And since there is no divine-human life in Jesus, He can not instil it into us. We do heartily acknowledge that there is a certain conformity …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

A Preliminary Discourse to Catechising
'If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled.' - Col 1:23. Intending next Lord's day to enter upon the work of catechising, it will not be amiss to give you a preliminary discourse, to show you how needful it is for Christians to be well instructed in the grounds of religion. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled.' I. It is the duty of Christians to be settled in the doctrine of faith. II. The best way for Christians to be settled is to be well grounded. I. It is the duty of Christians …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Fourthly; all the [Credenda, Or] Doctrines, which the True, Simple, and Uncorrupted Christian Religion Teaches,
(that is, not only those plain doctrines which it requires to be believed as fundamental and of necessity to eternal salvation, but even all the doctrines which it teaches as matters of truth,) are, though indeed many of them not discoverable by bare reason unassisted with revelation; yet, when discovered by revelation, apparently most agreeable to sound unprejudiced reason, have every one of them a natural tendency, and a direct and powerful influence to reform men's minds, and correct their manners, …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

The Best Things Work for Good to the Godly
WE shall consider, first, what things work for good to the godly; and here we shall show that both the best things and the worst things work for their good. We begin with the best things. 1. God's attributes work for good to the godly. (1). God's power works for good. It is a glorious power (Col. i. 11), and it is engaged for the good of the elect. God's power works for good, in supporting us in trouble. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. xxxiii. 27). What upheld Daniel in the lion's den? …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Of Love to God
I proceed to the second general branch of the text. The persons interested in this privilege. They are lovers of God. "All things work together for good, to them that love God." Despisers and haters of God have no lot or part in this privilege. It is children's bread, it belongs only to them that love God. Because love is the very heart and spirit of religion, I shall the more fully treat upon this; and for the further discussion of it, let us notice these five things concerning love to God. 1. The …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

The Rise of the Assyrian Empire
PHOENICIA AND THE NORTHERN NATIONS AFTER THE DEATH OP RAMSES III.--THE FIRST ASSYRIAN EMPIRE: TIGLATH-PILESUR I.--THE ARAMAEANS AND THE KHATI. The continuance of Egyptian influence over Syrian civilization after the death of Ramses III.--Egyptian myths in Phoenicia: Osiris and Isis at Byblos--Horus, Thot, and the origin of the Egyptian alphabet--The tombs at Arvad and the Kabr-Hiram; Egyptian designs in Phoenician glass and goldsmiths'work--Commerce with Egypt, the withdrawal of Phoenician colonies …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6

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