{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30389/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30389","id":"gutenberg_30389","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30389","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Epistles of Paul -- Prayers","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"THE SHORT COURSE SERIES\n\nTHE PRAYERS OF ST. PAUL\n\n\n\n\nGENERAL PREFACE\n\n\nThe title of the present series is a sufficient indication of its purpose.\nFew preachers, or congregations, will face the long courses of expository\nlectures which characterised the preaching of the past, but there is a\ngrowing conviction on the part of some that an occasional short course, of\nsix or eight connected studies on one definite theme, is a necessity of\ntheir mental and ministerial life. It is at this point the projected\nseries would strike in. It would suggest to those who are mapping out a\nscheme of work for the future a variety of subjects which might possibly\nbe utilised in this way.\n\nThe appeal, however, will not be restricted to ministers or preachers. The\nvarious volumes will meet the needs of laymen and Sabbath-school teachers\nwho are interested in a scholarly but also practical exposition of Bible\nhistory and doctrine. In the hands of office-bearers and mission-workers\nthe \"Short Course Series\" may easily become one of the most convenient and\nvaluable of Bible helps.\n\nIt need scarcely be added that while an effort has been made to secure, as\nfar as possible, a general uniformity in the scope and character of the\nseries, the final responsibility for the special interpretations and\nopinions introduced into the separate volumes, rests entirely with the\nindividual contributors.\n\nA detailed list of the authors and their subjects will be found at the\nclose of each volume.\n\n\n\n\n  _Volumes Already Published_\n\n  A Cry for Justice: A Study in Amos.\n    By Prof. JOHN E. MCFADYEN, D.D.\n\n  The Beatitudes.\n    By Rev. ROBERT H. FISHER, D.D.\n\n  The Lenten Psalms.\n    By the EDITOR.\n\n  The Psalm of Psalms.\n    By Prof. JAMES STALKER, D.D.\n\n  The Song and the Soil.\n    By Prof. W. G. JORDAN, D.D.\n\n  The Higher Powers of the Soul.\n    By Rev. GEORGE M'HARDY, D.D.\n\n  Jehovah-Jesus.\n    By Rev. THOMAS WHITELAW, D.D.\n\n  The Sevenfold _I Am_\n    By Rev. THOMAS MARJORIBANKS, B.D.\n\n  The Man Among the Myrtles.\n    By the EDITOR.\n\n  The Story of Joseph.\n    By Rev. ADAM C. WELCH, B.D., Th.D.\n\n  The Divine Drama of Job.\n    By Rev. CHARLES F. AKED, D.D.\n\n  A Mirror of the Soul: Studies in the Psalter.\n    By Rev. CANON VAUGHAN, M.A.\n\n  In the Upper Room.\n    By Rev. D. J. BURRILL, D.D., LL.D.\n\n  The Son of Man.\n    By ANDREW C. ZENOS, D.D., LL.D.\n\n  The Joy of Finding.\n    By Rev. ALFRED E. GARVIE.\n\n  The Prayers of St. Paul.\n    By Rev. W. H. GRIFFITH THOMAS, D.D.\n\n  PRICE 60 CENTS NET PER VOLUME\n\n\n\n\n  _The Short Course Series_\n\n  EDITED BY\n  REV. JOHN ADAMS, B.D.\n\n  THE\n  PRAYERS OF ST. PAUL\n\n  BY THE\n\n  REV. W. H. GRIFFITH THOMAS, D.D.\n  PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT LITERATURE AND EXEGESIS\n  WYCLIFFE COLLEGE, TORONTO\n\n  NEW YORK\n  CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS\n  1914\n\n\n\n  TO\n  W. G. J.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                  PAGE\n\n     I. GRACE AND HOLINESS                                         1\n        1 Thessalonians iii. 11-13\n\n    II. CONSECRATION AND PRESERVATION                             15\n        1 Thessalonians v. 23, 24\n\n   III. APPROBATION AND BLESSING                                  27\n        2 Thessalonians i. 11, 12\n\n    IV. LOVE AND PEACE                                            39\n        2 Thessalonians iii. 5, R.V.; 2 Thessalonians iii. 16\n\n     V. KNOWLEDGE AND OBEDIENCE                                   55\n        Colossians i. 9-12\n\n    VI. CONFLICT AND COMFORT                                      73\n        Colossians ii. 1, 2\n\n   VII. WISDOM AND REVELATION                                     89\n        Ephesians i. 15-19\n\n  VIII. STRENGTH AND INDWELLING                                  109\n        Ephesians iii. 14-19\n\n    IX. LOVE AND DISCERNMENT                                     125\n        Philippians i. 9-11\n\n  APPENDIX                                                       139\n\n  INDEX                                                          143\n\n\n\n\nOne of the most valuable elements in the Epistles of St. Paul is their\nrevelation of the writer's spiritual life. While they are necessarily\ndoctrinal and theological, dealing with the fundamental realities of the\nChristian religion, they are also intensely personal, and express very\nmuch of the Apostle's own experience. They depict in a marked degree the\nsources and characteristics of the spiritual life. This is especially seen\nwhen the various prayers, thanksgivings, doxologies, and personal\ntestimonies are considered.\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\nGRACE AND HOLINESS.\n\n\n\nI.\n\nGRACE AND HOLINESS.\n\n    \"Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our\n    way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one\n    toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the\n    end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God,\n    even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His\n    saints.\"--1 THESS. iii. 11-13.\n\n\nThere are few more precious subjects for meditation and imitation than the\nprayers and intercessions of the great Apostle. He was a man of action\nbecause he was first and foremost a man of prayer. To him both aspects of\nthe well-known motto were true: \"To pray is to labour,\" and \"To labour is\nto pray.\"\n\nThere is no argument for or justification of prayer; nor even an\nexplanation. It is assumed to be the natural and inevitable expression of\nspiritual life. Most of the Apostle's prayers of which we have a record\nare concerned with other people rather than with himself, and they thus\nreveal to us indirectly but very really what St. Paul felt to be the\npredominant needs of the spiritual life.\n\nIn this series of studies we propose to look at some of these prayers, and\nto consider their direct bearing upon our own lives. Taking the Epistles\nin what is generally regarded to be their chronological order, we\nnaturally commence with the prayer found in 1 Thess. iii. 11-13. In this\npassage we have what is not often found, a prayer for himself associated\nwith prayer for others.\n\n\n1. HIS PRAYER FOR HIMSELF (ver. 11).\n\nLet us notice _Who it is to Whom he prays_--\"God Himself and our Father,\nand our Lord Jesus Christ.\" The association of Christ with God as One to\nWhom prayer is addressed is of course very familiar to us, but it ought\nnever to be forgotten that when the Apostle penned these words the\nassociation was both striking and significant. For consider: these words\nwere written within twenty-five years of our Lord's earthly life and\nascension, and yet here is this quiet but clear association of Him with\nthe Father, thus testifying in a very remarkable and convincing way to His\nGodhead as the Hearer of prayer. And this fact is still more noticeable in\nthe original, for St. Paul in this verse breaks one of the familiar rules\nof grammar, whether of Greek or English. It is well known that whenever\nthere are two nouns to a verb the verb must be in the plural; and yet here\nthe Greek word \"direct\" is in the singular, notwithstanding the fact that\nthere are two subjects, the Father and Christ. The same feature is to be\nfound in 2 Thess. ii. 17. It is evident from this what St. Paul thought of\nour Lord Jesus Christ, and it is in such simple, indirect testimonies that\nwe find the strongest and most convincing proofs that the early Church\nbelieved in the Deity of our Lord.\n\nLet us consider _what it is for which he prays_--\"Direct our way.\" He asks\nfor guidance. There had been certain difficulties in the way of his\nreturn to Thessalonica. He had been hindered, and now asks that God would\nopen the way for him to go back to his beloved friends. Nothing was\noutside the Apostle's relationship to God, and nothing was too small about\nwhich to pray to God. As it has been well said: \"Nothing is so small that\nwe do not honour God by asking His guidance of it, or insult Him by taking\nit out of His hands.\" The need of guidance is a very real one in every\nChristian life, and the certainty of guidance is just as real. \"The steps\nof a good man are ordered by the Lord\" (Ps. xxxvii. 23); and this is as\ntrue now as ever. \"I will guide thee with Mine eye\" (Ps. xxxii. 8) is a\npromise for all time, and we may confidently seek guidance in prayer\nwhenever it is needed. The answer to our prayer will come in a threefold\nway. God guides us by His Spirit, reigning supreme within our hearts. He\nalso guides us by the counsels and principles of His Word. These two agree\nin one, for the Holy Spirit never guides contrary to the Word. And then,\nin the third place, He guides us by His Providence, so that when the\nWord, the Spirit, and Providence in daily circumstances agree we may be\nsure that the guidance has been given.\n\n\n2. HIS PRAYER FOR OTHERS (vers. 12, 13).\n\nConsider the _immediate request_ he makes--\"The Lord make you to increase\nand abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.\" He asks for\n_love_ on their behalf, that God would grant them this greatest of all\ngifts--\"the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever\nliveth is counted dead before Him.\" Love in the New Testament is no mere\nsentiment, for it involves self-sacrifice. It is not limited to emotion;\nit expresses itself in energy. It does not evaporate in feeling; it\nexpresses itself in fact. \"Love is of God,\" for \"God is love\"; and the\nApostle in praying this prayer asks for the supreme gift of their lives.\n\nThe measure of the gift is noticeable--\"Increase and abound in love.\" The\n\"increase\" has to do with their inner life, their hearts being more and\nmore enlarged in capacity to possess this love; the \"abounding\" has to do\nwith their outward life, and points to the overflow of that love towards\nothers.\n\nConsider, too, the _objects_ of this love--\"Toward one another, and toward\nall men.\" There was, first of all, the special love to be shown toward\nChristians, according to the \"new commandment\" (John xiii. 34). In the New\nTestament the emphasis is laid again and again upon brother-love, or love\nof the brethren, and the brotherhood. This was something entirely new in\nthe world's history--a new tie or bond, the union of hearts in Christ\nJesus. To see how these Christians loved one another was a proof of this\nnew affection based upon the new commandment. But, further, their love was\nto extend beyond their fellow-Christians--even to \"all men,\" just as we\nhave in St. Peter's Epistle, in that long chain of graces, first, love of\nthe brethren, and then, love towards all (2 Pet. i. 7).\n\nAnd yet it may perhaps be asked, How is it possible for us to love\neverybody? What about those who are not lovely and lovable--how can we\nlove these? It may help us to remember that there is a clear distinction\nbetween _loving_ and _liking_. While it is impossible to _like_ everybody,\nit is assuredly possible to love everybody. A mother loves her wayward\nson, but she cannot like him, for there is practically nothing \"alike\"\nbetween them. In the same way we may love with the love of compassion if\nwe cannot love with the love of complacency, and thus fulfil our Lord's\ncommand and realise the answer to the Apostle's prayers. This, we may be\nperfectly certain, is the supreme thing, and our Christianity will count\nfor nothing in the eyes of men if it is not permeated and energised\nthrough and through with active, whole-hearted, Christ-like love.\n\nConsider the _ultimate purpose_ he expresses--\"To the end He may stablish\nyour hearts unblameable in holiness.\" The love for which he prays is to be\nexpressed in holiness. The meaning of holiness throughout the Old and New\nTestaments is \"separateness.\" The idea is that of a life separated unto\nGod, dedicated, consecrated to His service. Wherever the words \"holiness,\"\n\"sanctification,\" and their associated and cognate expressions are found,\nthe root idea is always that of separation rather than of purification. It\ninvolves the whole-hearted and entire dedication of the life to God. The\ncognate word \"saint\" does not strictly mean \"one who is pure,\" but \"one\nwho belongs to God.\"\n\nThe sphere of this holiness is to be in \"your hearts.\" It is always to be\nnoticed that in Scripture the \"heart\" includes the intellect, the\nemotions, and the will. In a word, it is the centre of our moral and\nspiritual being; and when this is understood we can see at once the point\nand importance of the heart being holy, for it is only another way of\nsaying that our entire being is to be separated from all else in order to\nbe possessed by, and consecrated to, God.\n\nThe standard of holiness is also brought before us in this\nprayer--\"Stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness.\" The Apostle prays\nthat they may be steadfast, not weak and vacillating. The great need was\nfor solidity and steadfastness, as it is in the present day, for it is\nonly when the heart is established by grace and in holiness that it can in\nany true sense serve God. This emphasis on a fixed or stablished heart is\nbrought before us several times in Holy Scripture (cf. Ps. lvii. 7, cviii.\n1, cxii. 7; Heb. xiii. 9).\n\nAnd steadfast hearts will be \"unblameable\" hearts, hearts that are not\nblameworthy. A clear distinction is to be drawn between unblameable hearts\nand unblemished hearts. A little child may perform a task which in the\nresult is full of blemishes, though the child, having done his best, is\nentirely without blame. In like manner, though the believer is not free\nfrom blemish, it is nevertheless possible for him to live free from blame.\nThis is the meaning of the Apostle, and the reason of his prayer.\n\nIn all this we can see the close connection between love and holiness.\nWhen our hearts are filled to overflowing with the love of God to us, and\nof our love to Him, the inevitable result is holiness, a heart separated\nunto God, \"strengthened with all might,\" and \"ready unto every good work.\"\n\nConsider the _great incentive_ he urges--\"Before God, even our Father, at\nthe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.\" The Apostle puts\nbefore his readers the great future to which they were to look, and he\nurges upon them this love and this holiness in the light of the coming of\nour Lord Jesus Christ, and all that it will mean to the people of God. St.\nPaul draws a wonderful picture of that day in a very few words. He speaks\nfirst of all of God's presence there: \"Before God, even our Father.\" Then\nhe reminds us of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And last of all he\ntells us that \"the saints\" will be there also. Thus, surrounded by our\nfellow-Christians, and in the presence of our God and Saviour, we shall\nsee as we are seen, and know as we are known, with hearts \"unblameable in\nholiness.\"\n\nThis, then, is what the Apostle prays for his beloved friends in\nThessalonica--abounding love and perfect holiness. This is Christianity\nand the normal Christian life. How simple it all is, summed up in the\nwords Love and Holiness. And yet how searching it is! The simplest things\nare often the most difficult, and while it is possible for the believer to\ndo great things and to shine in great crises, it is not always so easy to\ngo on loving day by day, and to continue growing in grace and holiness,\nuntil the heart becomes so stablished in grace that our Christianity\nbecomes the permanent character of our life. Yet this is God's purpose for\neach one of us. And the fact that the Apostle prayed for this is a clear\nproof that an answer was expected, and that the purpose can be realised.\n\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nCONSECRATION AND PRESERVATION.\n\n\n\nII.\n\nCONSECRATION AND PRESERVATION.\n\n    \"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your\n    whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming\n    of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also\n    will do it.\"--1 THESS. v. 23, 24.\n\n\nAs we consider these prayers of the Apostle, we become increasingly aware\nof what he felt to be the most important elements in the Christian life.\nThe prayers all have reference to Christian living, and whether we think\nof the character of the life portrayed, or the standard held up in them,\nwe can readily see their intense practical value for daily living. We may\nbe pretty sure that those things for which he prayed on behalf of his\nconverts were the things he regarded as most essential in Christian\ncharacter and conduct.\n\nThe prayer that now calls for consideration is that found in 1 Thess. v.\n23, 24.\n\n\n1. THE PETITION.\n\nHe prays for their _sanctification_--\"Sanctify you wholly.\" As already\nnoted, the root idea of sanctification, and of its cognate expressions,\n\"holiness,\" \"holy,\" and the like, is _separation_. We see this very\nclearly in connection with buildings or things which are said to be \"holy\"\nor \"sanctified.\" It is obvious that no thought of purification is\napplicable to buildings and inanimate objects. We must, therefore,\nunderstand sanctification in this case as equivalent to consecration. This\nis also the root-meaning of the word \"sanctify\" in relation to persons,\nand it may be questioned whether the word, as used in the original, ever\nreally includes in it the idea of purification; the latter thought has\nanother set of words altogether. The Apostle therefore prays that they may\nbe consecrated, set apart from all else, for the possession and service\nof God. This meaning may be aptly illustrated from our Lord's words about\nHimself: \"For their sakes I _consecrate_ Myself, that they also may be\n_consecrated_ through the truth\" (John xvii. 19).\n\nThe _extent_ of this consecration is very noteworthy--\"Sanctify you\nwholly.\" The word rendered \"wholly\" is used in connection with the Old\nTestament sacrifices in the Septuagint, and implies the entire and\ncomplete separation of the offering for the purpose intended. The\nChristian life must be wholly, entirely, and unreservedly consecrated to\nGod, no part being reserved or held back, but everything handed over and\nregarded as permanently and completely belonging to Him.\n\nHe prays for their _preservation_--\"Preserved blameless.\" The consecration\nis to be maintained in continual preservation, in and for God. The\nconsecration as an act is to be deepened into an attitude, so that, day by\nday, and hour by hour, the separated life may be maintained, and preserved\nin readiness for every call that God may make.\n\nThe _extent_ of this preservation is also observable--\"Your whole spirit\nand soul and body.\" The spirit is that inmost part of our life which is\nrelated to God. The soul is the inner life regarded in itself, as the seat\nand sphere of intellect, heart, and will. The body is the outward vehicle\nand expression of the soul and spirit through which we are enabled to\nserve God. The order of these three should be observed. It is not, as we\noften say, and sing in certain hymns, \"body, soul, and spirit,\" but the\nvery reverse--\"spirit, soul, and body.\" The Apostle starts from within and\nworks outward, thereby reminding us that if the spirit or deepest part of\nour nature is wholly surrendered to God, this fact will express itself in\nevery part of our nature, and we shall be consecrated wholly. What a\nsearching requirement this is, and what a solemnity and responsibility it\ngives to life! Whether in relation to God, or in relation to man, whether\nfor worship or work, character or conduct, prayer or practice, we are to\nbe wholly consecrated, and continually kept for the Master's use--\n\n  \"That all my powers with all their might,\n  In Thy sole glory may unite.\"\n\n\n2. THE PRE-REQUISITE.\n\n\"The God of Peace Himself.\" The Divine title associated with this prayer\nas its definite presupposition and pre-requisite is very significant, as,\nindeed, is every title of God. There is always some special point of\ndirect connection between the way in which God is addressed and the prayer\nthat follows. In the present instance the prayer for consecration and\npreservation is addressed to \"The God of Peace Himself.\"\n\nThe Apostle lays special stress upon the fact that it is God \"Himself\" Who\nconsecrates and keeps us. As with salvation, so with consecration--it is\nand must be Divine. The work is entirely beyond any mere human power, and\nwhile there is a truth in our frequent reference to consecration as\nsomething that we ourselves have to effect, it is far more scriptural,\nand, therefore, much more helpful, to endeavour to limit the idea of\nconsecration to the Divine side, and to think of it as an act of God, to\nwhich the corresponding human act and attitude is that of _dedication_. It\nis God Himself Who separates us, marks us off as His own, and designates\nus for His use and service. It is God Himself, and no one else, for we are\nhere brought into personal and blessed association with the Divine power\nand grace.\n\nFurther, God is described as \"The God of Peace,\" and we naturally ask what\nit means, and why peace is thus associated with consecration and\npreservation. This title, \"The God of Peace,\" is found very frequently in\nthe writings of St. Paul, and it deserves careful consideration in each\npassage. There is a twofold peace in Scripture, sometimes described as\n\"peace with God\" (Rom. v. 1), at others as \"the peace of God\" (Phil. iv.\n7); and they both have their source in the \"God of Peace\" (Phil. iv. 9).\nPeace is the result of reconciliation with God. Our Lord made peace by the\nBlood of His Cross (Col. i. 20), and the acceptance of His atoning\nsacrifice through faith brings peace to the soul. This consciousness of\nreconciliation in turn causes a blessed sense of restfulness and peace to\nspring up in the heart, and thus we have the peace of God within us.\n\nThe connection between peace and holiness is close and essential. It is\nimpossible for anyone to understand consecration until they have\nexperienced reconciliation. Holiness must be based on righteousness, and\nrighteousness is only possible to those who have accepted the Lord Jesus\nas God's righteousness through faith. So long as there is any enmity in\nthe heart, or even any uncertainty as to our acceptance in Christ Jesus,\nholiness is an impossibility. May not the forgetfulness of this fact be\nthe cause of surprise and disappointment at Christian Conventions from\ntime to time? May it not be that many go to such gatherings longing to be\nmade holy who have not settled this question of their standing before God\nand their peace as the result of acceptance of Christ's atonement? To\nunderstand and experience what holiness means before enjoying peace with\nGod is like trying to take a second step before attempting the first. Only\nthrough peace can holiness come, and only as we have blessed personal\nexperience of God as the God of peace can a prayer like this be answered.\n\n\n3. THE PROSPECT.\n\n\"Unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.\" Once again the Apostle prays\nwith special reference to that glorious day to which he was always looking\nand pointing his readers. As he looks forward to that day he uses again a\nfavourite word, \"blameless,\" and suggests to us the great and wonderful\npossibility of being so consecrated and preserved that we may lead a\nblameless life day by day until the coming of our Lord. Holiness is thus\nassociated once again with the great future. The Apostle finds in the\ncoming of the Lord one of the most potent reasons why Christians should be\nconsecrated and preserved. This close and intimate connection between\nholiness, and what we term the Second Advent, needs much stronger\nemphasis in daily living and in church teaching than it often has in the\npresent day. There is, in its way, nothing more powerful as a reason for\nholiness than the thought of the certainty and imminence of the Lord's\ncoming.\n\n\n4. THE PROMISE.\n\n\"Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it.\" Lest we should be\ntempted to think that so wonderful a prayer could not be fulfilled in\ndaily experience, the Apostle adds this blessed assurance that God, Who\nputs this ideal before us, will enable us to realise it. The promise is\nundoubted--\"Who also will do it.\" What He has promised He is also able to\nperform. If only our hearts are right with Him, and are willing to say,\n\"Yea, let Him take all,\" God will, indeed, consecrate and preserve us\nblameless unto the end. The guarantee of this lies in His Divine\nfaithfulness. \"Faithful is He that calleth you.\" We are touching the\nbed-rock of Divine revelation when we contemplate the faithfulness of God.\nThis phrase is often found in the New Testament: \"God is faithful.\" \"The\nLord is faithful.\" \"Faithful is He.\" \"This is a faithful saying.\" If our\nhearts will only rest upon this we shall find in it, not only the most\nexquisite joy and assured peace, but also the ground of our perfect\nconfidence that He will accomplish His purposes in us, and glorify Himself\nin our lives.\n\nIt is well and necessary from time to time to look at holiness from the\nhuman point of view, and to see our duty and responsibility; but it is\nequally essential and important that we should also dwell upon holiness,\nas in the passage before us, from the Divine standpoint, and keep well in\nview the glorious realities of God's faithfulness, God's power, God's\ngrace. To be occupied unduly with self in the matter of holiness is to\nbecome self-centred, morbid, fearful, and weak; to be occupied with God is\nto be restful, quiet, strong, confident, and ever growing in grace.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nAPPROBATION AND BLESSING.\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nAPPROBATION AND BLESSING.\n\n    \"Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you\n    worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His\n    goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord\n    Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the\n    grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.\"--2 THESS. i. ii, 12.\n\n\nTwo words sum up the Christian life--Grace and Glory; and both are\nassociated with the two Comings of the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace\nparticularly with the first Coming, and Glory especially with the second.\nThis twofold aspect of Christianity comes before us in the prayer of the\nApostle which we now have to consider.\n\n\n1. THE REASON OF THE PRAYER.\n\nThis thought is brought before us very clearly in the Revised Version:\n\"_To which end we also pray_.\" In the Authorised Version it is:\n\"_Wherefore also we pray_.\" Following the original, the R.V. refers\ndefinitely to what has preceded. The whole context is a reason for the\nprayer which now follows.\n\nThe _Triumphant Future_ is part of the reason of his prayer. \"When He\nshall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be marvelled at in all\nthem that believe in that day.\" The Apostle looks forward to \"the crowning\nday\" that is coming, and bases upon this glorious hope the prayer that\nfollows.\n\nThe _Testing Present_ is another part of the reason for this prayer. The\nChurch of Thessalonica was suffering persecutions and afflictions, and was\npassing through the fire of testing (vers. 4-7); and it was this\nfact--their then-existing severe experiences--that prompted the Apostle to\npray for them, as well as to express the hope concerning their deliverance\nfrom the furnace of affliction.\n\nThus present and future are blended in his thought, and form the ground or\nreason of his intercession.\n\n\n2. THE NATURE OF THE PRAYER.\n\nTwo elements sum up this beautiful prayer.\n\nHe asks for the _Divine Approval_ on their life: \"That God may count you\nworthy of your calling.\" God's \"calling\" is His summons into His kingdom.\nThe kingdom may be regarded both as present and future. In the Gospels it\nwould seem as though the \"calling\" were limited to His invitation or\nappeal, while in the Epistles it appears to include the believer's\nresponse to the call. For this reason it is sometimes spoken of as God's\n\"calling,\" and at others, as in this case, as \"your calling.\" The thought\nof a Divine calling responded to by the believer is prominent in the\nteaching of St. Paul, and should be carefully studied. Even in these\nEpistles to the Thessalonians, the idea is frequently found (1 Thess. ii.\n12, iv. 7, v. 24; 2 Thess. ii. 14).\n\n\"Count you worthy\" is a notable phrase repeated from verse 5: \"Counted\nworthy of the kingdom of God.\" Seven times this verb is used by St. Paul.\nAs we ponder it we catch something of the wondrous glory of our life as\ncontemplated by the King of Kings. Surely, it may be said, the believer\ncan never be \"worthy\"; and this is true if he is considered in himself.\nBut just as it is with justification, which means \"accounted just,\" so\nwith sanctification--by the unspeakable grace of God we are actually\n\"counted worthy.\" Hooker's well-known words about justification may be\nquoted in this connection as illustrating the thought of worthiness in\nsanctification. \"God doth justify the believing man, yet not for the\nworthiness of his belief, but for His worthiness Who is believed.\" So we\nmay say, God doth count the believing man worthy, yet not for any personal\nworthiness, but for the worthiness which is wrought by grace. We must,\nhowever, not fail to notice that the believer is responsible for his use\nof grace, and that the very thought of God counting us worthy has included\nin it the thought of scrutiny with a view to decision.\n\nHe seeks the _Divine Blessing_ on their life: \"And fulfil every desire of\ngoodness and every work of faith with power.\" This, which is the rendering\nof the R.V., seems, on the whole, the more intelligible and appropriate.\nIt means, \"all that goodness can desire, and all that faith can effect.\"\nIt blends together the two ideas of _aspiration_ and _activity_--the\naspiration of goodness and the activity of trust--and it prays that God\nwould fulfil _with power_, or powerfully, every aspiration that comes from\ngoodness, and every activity that springs from faith. Just as in the\nfamiliar words of the Collect for Easter Day, God first puts into \"our\nminds good desires,\" and then by His \"continual help\" we are enabled to\n\"bring the same to good effect.\" By \"His holy inspiration we think those\nthings that are good, and by His merciful guiding we perform the same.\"\n\n\n3. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE PRAYER.\n\nNotice the twofold consequence here stated.\n\nHe expects that _God will be glorified in us_. Glory in the New Testament,\nand, indeed, in the whole Bible, is the outshining of splendour, and the\nApostle seeks in answer to prayer that Christ may reveal in our lives the\nglory of His grace. This includes both our present and future lives.\nChrist is to be manifested by and glorified in us here, and He will be\nmanifested by and glorified in us hereafter (ver. 10). What an unspeakable\nprivilege and what a profound responsibility lie in this simple fact that\nChrist is to shine forth from our lives, and that men around us are to see\nsomething of Christ as they associate with us. One of the most beautiful\ntestimonies ever given to a Christian was that of a poor dying outcast\ngirl to a lady who had befriended her: \"I have not found it hard to think\nabout God since I knew you.\"\n\nHe also expects that _we shall be glorified in Christ_. This is, in a way,\nmore wonderful still. There is to be a reciprocal glory; and, actually,\nmarvellous though it seems, we are to have our share of glory in Christ.\nThis, again, has its application to the present, as well as to the future,\nfor every life that is loyal to Christ is glorified in union and\ncommunion with Him. And in the great future it will be seen and known on\nevery hand who have been faithful to their Lord and Master. \"Then shall\nthe righteous shine forth as stars in the kingdom of their Father.\"\n\n\n4. THE GUARANTEE OF THE PRAYER.\n\nThe Apostle scarcely ever prayed without reminding himself and his readers\nof the secret whereby prayer is answered. Accordingly he closes this\nprayer with a reminder that the guarantee of its fulfilment is the grace\nof God--\"According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n\nGod is the _Source_ of all grace. How lovingly the Apostle speaks of \"our\nGod\" and \"our Lord Jesus\" in this verse! Elsewhere in his Epistles we also\nfind this appropriating phrase, \"Our God\" (1 Thess. ii. 2, iii. 9; 1 Cor.\nvi. 11). As in the still more personal phrase, \"My God,\" which we find\nabout seven times in his writings, St. Paul expresses his consciousness of\npersonal possession and the blessed reality of fellowship with God. \"This\nGod is _our_ God,\" as the Psalmist says.\n\nChrist is the _Channel_ of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ being associated\nwith God in this connection is a reminder that it is \"the grace of our\nLord Jesus Christ\" as much as the grace of our God. He mediates grace to\nus, and through faith in Christ we are linked to God as the \"God of all\ngrace.\"\n\nWhat a cheer and inspiration it is to have the assurance and guarantee\nthat even a prayer like this, with its high standard and far-reaching\npossibilities, can and will be answered. Christianity provides not only an\nappeal, but a dynamic. He Who bids, enables; He Who calls, provides. The\nGospel of Jesus Christ is at once a precept, a promise, a provision, and a\npower. The religions of the world often tell us to \"Be good,\" but it is\nleft for Christianity to proclaim that \"He died _to make us good_.\" As a\nresult, the Christian can say with Augustine: \"Give what Thou commandest\nand then command what Thou wilt.\" That is: \"Only give me the spiritual\npower, and then I can do anything that Thou requirest of me.\" As the\nPsalmist cried: \"I will run in the path of Thy commandments, when Thou\nhast set my heart at liberty.\"\n\nThus the Christian life is at once a life of Grace and a life of Glory.\n\"First Grace, then Glory.\" \"No Grace, no Glory.\" \"More Grace, more Glory.\"\n\"If Grace, then Glory.\"\n\n  \"Grace, 'tis a charming sound,\n  Harmonious to the ear;\n  Heaven with the echo shall resound,\n  And all the earth shall hear.\"\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nLOVE AND PEACE.\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nLOVE AND PEACE.\n\n    \"The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the\n    patience of Christ.\"--2 THESS. iii. 5, R.V.\n\n    \"The Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means.\"--2\n    THESS. iii. 16.\n\n\nIt is striking to note the number of prayers in these two short Epistles\nto Thessalonica. They are probably the earliest of the Apostle's writings,\nand the frequency of his prayers is a significant testimony to his thought\nfor his converts and their needs.\n\nHardly less striking is the variety of the prayers, of which we have\nalready had several proofs. There are still two prayers to be considered\nin the second Epistle, very terse petitions, yet full of suggestiveness\nand importance. It will be convenient to consider these two together, not\nonly because of their brevity, but also because of the spiritual\nconnection between them.\n\n\n1. THE GOAL.\n\nThe context of the prayer is noteworthy. The Apostle had been asking for\ntheir prayers, more particularly for deliverance from evil men. Then comes\nthe strong assurance that God in His faithfulness would keep them from\nevil, together with the expression of his own personal confidence\nconcerning them that they would be faithful to his counsels and commands.\nAnd then follows the prayer of our text in which he asks that their hearts\nmay be directed to that Divine goal which is, and ever must be, the true\nhome of the soul.\n\n\"_Your hearts._\" Once again does the Apostle lay stress on this central\nreality of their spiritual and moral being. The heart is the citadel of\nthe life, and the usage of the term in the Word of God must ever be kept\nclearly before us. It includes, as we have already seen, intellectual,\nemotional, and volitional elements. There is no such contrast in the New\nTestament between \"the head\" and \"the heart\" as we are now often\naccustomed to make, for intellect, feelings, and will are all comprised in\nthe Biblical meaning. If, therefore, the heart is right, all else will be\nright. It was for this reason that Solomon gave the counsel to keep the\nheart \"above all keeping,\" since \"out of it are the issues of life.\"\n\n\"_Into the love of God._\" The phrase seems to suggest the direction of the\nheart towards a goal--\"_Into_ the love.\" This must mean first and foremost\nthe love of God to us, for this is the true goal and home of the soul.\nHome is at once a protection, a fellowship, and a joy. \"There's no place\nlike home;\" and there is no place like the love of God as a home for the\nsoul. In that love we find constant protection, for all the refuge and\nsafety of a true home are experienced there. In that love we find the\nfullest, truest fellowship, for \"truly our fellowship is with the Father,\nand with His Son Jesus Christ\"; and we know also \"the fellowship of the\nHoly Ghost.\" Not least of all, in this home of the soul, is perfect and\npermanent satisfaction. Just as when the door closes upon us and we know\nthat we are within the privacy, comfort, cheer, and fellowship of home, we\nfind blessed restfulness and satisfaction, so when the soul enters the\nhome of God's love it soon realises the fulness of satisfaction, for it is\n\"satisfied with favour, full with the blessing of the Lord.\" Love that is\ndeep, unfathomable, constant, pure, unchanging, Divine, is our everlasting\nhome. It is recorded that Spurgeon once saw a weathercock with the words\non it, \"God is love.\" On remarking to the owner that it was very\ninappropriate, since God's love did not change like a weathercock, he\nreceived the reply that the real meaning was, \"God is love whichever way\nthe wind blows.\" This is the experience of the believer. Whatever comes,\nwherever he is, he knows that \"God is love.\"\n\nIt is possible, perhaps probable, that this phrase, \"the love of God,\" may\nalso include our love to God. At any rate, in several passages it is\nalmost impossible to make a rigid distinction between the two ideas (cf.\nRom. v. 5). The one is the source of the other, and \"we love Him because\nHe first loved us.\" Love from God begets love to God, and when once the\nsoul has entered into God's love as its goal and home, love at once begins\nto be the spring, the strength, the sustenance, and the satisfaction of\nits life.\n\n\"_Into the patience of Christ._\" The Authorised Version has somewhat\nmisread this verse by translating it \"into the patient waiting for\nChrist,\" which would need another expression in the Greek. It really\nrefers to active, persistent, steady endurance rather than to patient\nwaiting. It refers to present patience, not to a future prospect. The\npatience of Christ must mean the active endurance which is like His, the\nendurance of which He is the pattern. How marvellously He \"endured the\ncontradiction of sinners against Himself\"! How striking is the statement\nthat \"He set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem\"! Whether in\nsuffering or in service, our Lord \"endured as seeing Him who is\ninvisible\"; and having endured to the end, He became our Saviour.\n\nBut \"the patience of Christ\" is also the endurance which comes from Him.\nHe is not only our pattern, but also our power, since He enables us to\nendure with a like endurance to His own. As the Apostle says elsewhere: \"I\nhave power for all things in Him who is empowering me.\" To have a pattern\nwithout the power to realise it, to have our Lord's example without His\nefficacy and energy, would be of little practical use except to discourage\nand to mock us; but He who sets the standard supplies the strength, and\nour hearts are thus enabled to enter into and abide in the endurance of\nChrist.\n\nThe need of patient endurance is obvious. Those early Christians of\nThessalonica were soon put to the test. A few days and their new-born\nexperiences were severely proved. Persecution, ostracism, suffering, and,\nit may be, death put a real strain upon their Christian profession; yet\nthey endured, and the Apostle's prayer was answered; for we know with\nwhat joy he received tidings of their endurance and continuance (ch. i.\n4). The same endurance is needed to-day, though the circumstances are very\ndifferent. Sin is still powerful, and trials, suffering, sorrow and death\nare found on every hand. Many things would tempt us from our allegiance\nand continuance. Like the Psalmist, we see the wicked prospering, and we\nare ready to burst out with the faithless cry: \"I have cleansed my heart\nin vain, and washed my hands in innocency.\" Or we have been toiling in the\nvineyard for long without seeing any fruit, and like the prophet, we are\ntempted to cry: \"I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for\nnought.\" Then we hear the voice of the Apostle reminding us of \"the love\nof God\" and \"the patience of Christ.\"\n\nThe secret of patience is love. If only we live in the love of God we\nshall thereby find the grace of patience. The union of love and patience\nwas exemplified in our Lord's earthly life. He kept His Father's\ncommandments and abode in His love, and if only we will continue in His\nlove we shall thereby be enabled to keep His commandments, and endure as\nHe endured.\n\n\n2. THE GUIDE.\n\n\"_The Lord direct your hearts._\" We need direction. Sin has blinded us,\nand kept us from knowing the way home into the love of God, and into the\nendurance of Christ. Still more, sin has biassed our hearts, and kept us\nfrom going along the way. Thus we need nothing short of a Divine\ndirection. If the Lord does not make straight our way home we never shall\narrive there.\n\nHow does our Lord direct our hearts? First, by constant and\never-increasing experience of His love. \"God is love,\" and as it is of the\nessence of love to communicate itself, God is ever revealing to our hearts\nand bestowing upon them His own Divine love. Along the straight pathway He\nguides the soul into deeper and fuller experience of His unchanging,\nunerring, and unending love.\n\nHe also guides by bestowing upon us an ever-fuller experience of the power\nof Christ. Patient endurance is not learned all at once, and the Lord\nleads us as we are able to bear His disclosures and His discipline. Every\nlesson of testing brings with it a fresh experience of grace, and every\ncall to endure carries with it the assurance of sufficient strength and\npower.\n\nThe means used for our direction, as we have already seen, are three in\nnumber, but the truth is so important that it needs renewed emphasis. The\nLord directs us _by His Word_. Its examples, its counsels, its promises,\nits warnings, it anticipations, its incentives all come with force and\nblessing upon the heart, impelling it to go the right way home. He also\ndirects us _by His Holy Spirit_ dwelling within us. The Divine Spirit\npossesses and purifies our thoughts, cleanses and clarifies our motives,\nfreshens and fertilises our soul, sanctifies and sensitises our\nconscience, guides and guards our will; and thus \"every virtue we possess,\nand every victory won, and every thought of holiness\" are the work of the\nHoly Spirit of God in guiding and directing our hearts into the love of\nGod and into the patience of Christ.\n\nThe Lord also guides _by His Providence_. He uses the circumstances of our\ndaily life to indicate His will. The discipline, the thousand and one\nlittle events and episodes, the ordinary experience of daily duty, the\nshadows and the sunshine, are all part of His providential guidance as He\nleads us along the pathway home into the love of God. All things are\ncontinually working together for good to them that love God.\n\nNow we pass to consider the second and complementary prayer.\n\n\n3. THE GIFT.\n\nIn this concluding prayer of the Epistle the Apostle sums up by speaking\nof that which is in some respects the greatest gift of God in Christ, the\ngift of perfect and perpetual peace.\n\nOur first need is _peace of conscience_. The burden of sin weighs heavily\nupon the awakened soul, and the condemnation of the law consciously weighs\nupon it. As we look back over the past, and realise what it has been, we\nlong for rest in the removal of condemnation and the bestowal of\nforgiveness. Our hearts cry out for peace with God.\n\nOur second need is _peace of heart_. The soul set free from the burden of\ncondemnation and guilt soon finds the need of a new strength, new\ninterests, new hopes. The past has been obliterated by mercy, but the\npresent looms large with difficulty. Temptations to fear and\ndiscouragement arise, and the soul longs for peace. Peace with God by\nreconciliation must therefore be followed by the peace of God through\nrestfulness of heart day by day.\n\nOur third need is _peace of fellowship_. The true Christian life is never\nsolitary, but is lived in association with others. Our relationship to\nChrist necessarily carries with it a relationship to those who are in\nChrist with us, and as a consequence the peace which is ours in Christ is\nexpressed in peace and fellowship with our fellow-believers. The context\nof this prayer shows that the Apostle had this aspect of peace in mind,\nand no true peace can be enjoyed with God that is not shared with our\nfellow-Christians. Our Lord has broken down the wall of partition between\nus; He has made us all one in Himself, for He is our peace.\n\n\n4. THE GIVER.\n\nThe source of this threefold peace is \"_The Lord of peace Himself_.\" By\nHis death He brings us peace of conscience, by His Resurrection life peace\nof heart, by His Holy Spirit peace of fellowship. \"Peace I leave with you\"\nis the legacy of His Death. \"My peace I give unto you\" is the gift of His\nSpirit. On the Resurrection evening He came with this twofold peace.\nFirst, He said, \"Peace be unto you,\" and \"showed them His hands and His\nside,\" thus assuring them of peace of conscience through His Death. Then\nHe said unto them _again_, \"Peace be unto you,\" and bestowed upon them His\nHoly Spirit, thus guaranteeing to them peace of heart. His own peace,\nwhich had been so marked a feature of His own life and ministry, was now\nto be theirs. He, the possessor of peace, was now to be the provider of\npeace to them.\n\nThe title, \"The Lord of peace,\" in this passage is very noteworthy. It is\nonly found here, though the title \"God of peace\" occurs several times.\nWhat are we to understand by it? Surely it is a hint to us that only in\nHis Lordship, acknowledged and experienced by us, can we find peace. In\nvery significant words we read in the prophet of \"His government and\npeace.\" First government and then peace, since peace is only possible as a\nresult of government. In like manner we read in the psalm of\n\"righteousness and peace,\" for it is only as He is \"the Lord our\nrighteousness\" that He becomes the Lord our peace. When the government is\nupon His shoulder, and He is the Lord of our life, the inevitable and\nblessed result is \"peace, perfect peace.\"\n\nThe continuity of this peace is very noteworthy--\"Give you peace\n_always_.\" It is a constant peace. It is independent of circumstances, and\ndoes not change with changing experiences, since it is independent of our\nvariableness, and depends entirely upon the Lord of peace and His Divine\ngift. Peace is associated with our permanent relationship to God in\nChrist, and a relationship of this kind is unalterable by any experiences\nor circumstances. The Lord gives peace always.\n\nThe channels of this peace are also significant--\"Peace always _by all\nmeans_.\" \"In every manner,\" by all conceivable channels and methods this\npeace comes. No circumstance or condition of life can be ours which does\nnot give some opportunity for the bestowal, experience, and enjoyment of\npeace. Not only does peace come \"always,\" but \"all ways.\"\n\nLove, Patience, Peace--how beautiful and suggestive the combination and\nassociation! Patience is the fruit of love, and peace is the fruit of\npatience. When the soul is dwelling in the love of God patience and peace\nflow naturally into the life, and are as naturally exemplified in it. And\nso the heart rejoices in the love, reproduces the patience, and reposes in\nthe peace of the Lord of peace, because it is ever at rest in the presence\nand grace of \"the God of love and peace.\"\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\nKNOWLEDGE AND OBEDIENCE.\n\n\n\nV.\n\nKNOWLEDGE AND OBEDIENCE.\n\n    \"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to\n    pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge\n    of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might\n    walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every\n    good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with\n    all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and\n    long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father.\"--COL.\n    i. 9-12.\n\n\nThe Epistles of the (first) captivity of the Apostle (Philippians,\nEphesians, Colossians, Philemon) represent his maturest experiences. As a\nconsequence the prayers found in them are particularly noteworthy,\nrevealing some of the deepest things of the writer's spiritual life. In\nthis respect they are at once tests and models for us; and it is perhaps\nnot too much to say that careful and prolonged prayerful meditation on\nthe prayers found in these Epistles will prove one of the most valuable\nand helpful methods of deepening the spiritual life. The first of these we\nnow consider.\n\n\n1. THE REASON OF THE PRAYER.\n\nColosse was one of the Churches which Paul had neither founded nor visited\n(ch. ii. 1). Christianity was brought there by Epaphras, one of his\ndisciples (ch. i. 7). But the Apostle was as keenly interested in its\nspiritual welfare as if he had been instrumental in founding it. So when\nhe had heard of their faith and love (ch. i. 4), and the fruitfulness of\ntheir life (ch. i. 6), he thanked God on their behalf (ch. i. 3), and\nprayed this prayer. Deep interest in the spiritual life of others was one\nof the prominent marks of the Christian character of St. Paul. His was no\nself-centred life, for he was ever keenly alert to appreciate the marks of\ngrace in others. This is a test, and at the same time a rebuke, for us.\nHow unlike we are to a Christian of the type of Barnabas, of whom we\nread: \"Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad\" (Acts\nxi. 23). This is only possible by having \"a heart at leisure from itself\";\nand when we are thus deeply interested in the marks and manifestations of\nthe Divine working in other people's lives we shall not only praise God on\ntheir behalf, but also, like the Apostle, pray for them; and thus the\nblessing will extend and deepen.\n\n\n2. THE NATURE OF THE PRAYER.\n\nThe main point of his prayer was that they might be \"_filled with the\nknowledge of His will_.\" The will of God known and done is the secret of\nall true living. It was the key-note of our Lord's earthly life. He came\nto do the will of the Father, and in one of the deepest experiences of His\nlife He said: \"Not My will, but Thine be done.\" He told His disciples that\nHis meat was to do the will of Him that sent Him; and He taught them to\npray, \"Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.\" The will of God is\nthe substance of revelation, for what is the Bible from beginning to end\nbut the revelation of God's will for man? Perhaps the most all-embracing\nprayer is: \"Teach me to do Thy will\"; and certainly the ideal life is\nsummed up in the phrase, \"He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.\"\nWell might the Apostle pray for these Christians of Colosse to be filled\nwith the knowledge of God's will.\n\nThe word rendered \"knowledge\" means \"mature knowledge,\" and is one of the\ncharacteristic words of these four Epistles written from Rome. The Apostle\nevidently regarded mature knowledge, or deep spiritual experience, as the\npre-eminent mark of a ripening Christian. In this respect St. John bears\nthe same testimony, in his reference to the three stages of the Christian\nlife represented by \"little children,\" \"young men,\" and \"fathers.\" The\nlittle children _have_; the young men _are_; the fathers _know_ (1 John\nii. 12-14). This spiritual knowledge or experience is the great safeguard\nagainst error, in that it gives power to distinguish between good and\nevil, between truth and falsehood.\n\nThe measure of this knowledge is to be carefully noted--\"_filled with_ the\nknowledge of His will.\" The word also implies a fulness which is realised\ncontinually--not a bare knowledge, but its completeness; not an\nintermittent stream, but a perpetual flow. When the soul experiences this\nit is provided not only with the greatest safeguard against danger, but\nalso with the secret of a strong, growing, powerful Christian life.\n\nThe characteristics of this knowledge should be observed: \"_In all wisdom\nand spiritual understanding_.\" \"Wisdom\" is a general term which implies\nthe capacity and faculty for adapting the best means to bring about the\nbest ends in things spiritual. \"Spiritual understanding\" is the specific\ncoming or putting together of principles by means of which true action is\ntaken. It really means \"putting two and two together,\" comparing ideas and\nprinciples, for the purpose of adopting the best in any given course of\naction. Of the importance and necessity of wisdom and spiritual\nunderstanding scarcely anything need be said. Christian wisdom, Christian\nunderstanding, Christian perception in the thousand and one things of\nlife--this surely is one of our greatest necessities and choicest\nblessings. How many errors would be avoided, how many wanderings checked,\nby means of this spiritual wisdom! Still more, how much joy would be\nexperienced and how much genuine service rendered, if we were always\nsaying and doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.\n\n\"_Filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual\nunderstanding._\" This means for its complete realisation constant touch\nwith that Book which presents the clearly expressed will of God. The will\nof God is in that Word, and when the Word is illuminated by the Spirit of\nGod we come to know His will concerning us. No one will ever have the full\nknowledge of that will, no one can possibly be mature in experience, if\nthe Word of God is not his daily, definite, direct study and meditation.\nIt purifies the perception of the faculties by its cleansing power; it\nilluminates the moral faculties with its enlightening power; it controls\nthe emotional faculties with its protective power; it energises the\nvolitional faculties with its stimulating power; and thus in the constant,\ncontinuous use of the Word of God in personal practice, with meditation\nand prayer, we shall become \"filled with the full knowledge of His will in\nall wisdom and spiritual understanding.\"\n\n\n3. THE PURPOSE OF THE PRAYER.\n\nKnowledge is not an end in itself, but the means to an end; and so the\nApostle states the purpose for which he asks this knowledge of God's will:\n\"_That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all-pleasing ... fruitful ...\nincreasing ... strengthened ... giving thanks_.\"\n\nTheir life is to be influenced by this knowledge--\"_walk worthy of the\nLord_.\" Knowledge is to be translated into practice. \"Walking\" is the\ncharacteristic Bible word descriptive of the character of the Christian\nlife, the full expression of all our powers. As it presupposes life, so it\nmeans energy, movement, progress; and for this, knowledge is essential.\nHow can we walk unless we know why and whither we go? The knowledge of\nGod's will gives point and purpose to the activities of life.\n\n\"_Walk worthy of the Lord._\" What a profound and searching thought is\nhere--\"Worthy of the Lord.\" Surely this is impossible; yet these are the\nplain words of the inspired writer. To walk worthy of the Lord--it is\nalmost incredible, and yet this is one of the possibilities and glories of\ngrace. The Apostle is fond of the word \"worthy.\" We are to walk worthy of\nour vocation (Eph. iv. 1), worthy of the Gospel (Phil. i. 27), worthy of\nthe saints (Rom. xvi. 2), worthy of God (1 Thess. ii. 12). We may be\nperfectly sure that Paul would not put such an ideal before us if it could\nnot be realised. God's commands always imply promises.\n\n\"_Unto all pleasing._\" Bishop Moule beautifully renders this phrase: \"Unto\nevery anticipation of His will\" (Colossian Studies). \"Teach me to do the\nthing that pleaseth Thee\" (P. B. version). What a glorious ideal! We are\nso to walk as to please Him in everything. Not only doing what we are\ntold, but anticipating His commands by living in such close touch with Him\nthat we instinctively know the thing that will please Him. These words\nsound a depth of the spiritual life with which comparatively few are\nfamiliar; and yet here they are, facing us definitely, with their call to\nrealise that which God has placed before us.\n\nThe specific details of this worthy walk are next brought before us in\nfour pregnant phrases:\n\n\"_Being fruitful in every good work._\" Notice every word of this sentence.\nOur life is to be characterised by good works, and in each and every one\nof these we are to be fruitful, manifesting the ripeness, and, if it may\nbe so put, the beauty and lusciousness associated with fruit. Mark, too,\nthat it is \"fruitful _in_ every good work,\" that is, in the process of\ndoing the work, and not merely as the result or outcome of it. The very\nwork itself is intended to be fruitful apart from particular results.\nThere may be very few results of our service for God, but the service\nitself may and should be fruitful.\n\n\"_Increasing in the knowledge of God._\" Notice the difference between the\nknowledge of His will and the knowledge of Himself. \"That I may know\n_Him_\" (Phil. iii. 10); \"They might know _Thee_\" (John xvii. 3); \"Ye have\nknown _Him_\" (1 John ii. 13). The knowledge of His will will lead us to\nthe knowledge of Himself, and beyond this it is impossible to go.\n\n\"_Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all\npatience and longsuffering with joyfulness._\" The Apostle's thought pours\nitself out in rich abundance in these words. It seems as though he could\nnot adequately express the possibilities and characteristics of the\nChristian life about which he prays. They are to be \"strengthened,\" and\nnot only so, but \"with all might.\" The principle or standard of it is\n\"according to His glorious power,\" and the end of it is \"unto all patience\nand longsuffering with joyfulness.\" The man of the world might see in this\nphrase an anticlimax, when it is said that the end of strength is\npatience and longsuffering; and yet Christianity finds its ideal in energy\nexpressed in character, activity manifesting itself in passivity, and\nmight in meekness.\n\nNotice, too, the suggestive addition, \"_with joyfulness_.\" Patience and\nlongsuffering without joy are apt to be cold, chilly, unattractive. There\nis a stern, stoical endurance of suffering which, while it may be admired\nsometimes, tends to repel. But when patience and longsuffering are\npermeated and suffused with joyfulness, the very life of Christ is lived\nover again in His followers. Resignation to the will of God is only very\npartially a Christian virtue; but when we take joyfully the things that\ncome upon us we are indeed manifesting the very life of God Himself.\n\n\"_Giving thanks unto the Father._\" This is the crowning grace for which\nthe Apostle prays--thankfulness. How much it means. The heart full of\ngratitude and gladness, the life full of brightness and buoyancy, the\ncharacter full of vitality and vigour. The joy of the Lord is, indeed,\nthe strength of His people, and when this element of thanksgiving\ncharacterises our life, it gives tone to everything else, and crowns all\nother graces.\n\n\n4. THE CHARACTER OF THE PRAYER.\n\nWe have seen what the Apostle desired for the Christians of Colosse, and\nin so doing we have learnt some of the deepest secrets of Christian\nliving. It remains to notice the characteristics of this prayer, in order\nthat our prayers may be taught and guided and inspired with power.\n\nHis prayer was _urgent_--\"_Since the day we heard_.\" From the moment the\ntidings came by Epaphras of the Christian life in Colosse the Apostle's\nheart went up to God in prayer.\n\nHis prayer was _incessant_--\"_Do not cease to pray_.\" Again and again he\nasked, and kept on asking, so fully was his heart drawn out in prayer for\nthese Christians whom he had never seen.\n\nHis prayer was _intense_--\"_And to desire_.\" This was no mere lip service.\nHis heart had evidently been stirred to its core by the tidings of the\nChristian life at Colosse, and as he heard of their faith, their love,\ntheir hope, their holiness, their service, a deep, intense, longing desire\ncame into his soul to seek for still fuller and deeper blessing on their\nbehalf. What a man he was, and what prayers his were!\n\nHis prayer was _offered in fellowship with others_--\"_Since the day we\nheard_.\" Timothy was associated with the Apostle in these petitions.\nUnited prayer is one of the greatest powers in the Christian Church. \"If\ntwo of you shall agree as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall\nbe done.\" Personal prayer is precious, united prayer is still more\npowerful.\n\nThus in these verses we have one of the fullest, deepest and most precious\nof the Apostle's prayers, and as we consider its union of thought and\nexperience, of profound teaching and equally profound revelation of\nChristian life, we learn two of the most urgent and necessary lessons for\nthe Christian life to-day.\n\nThe first of these shall be given in the words of Bishop Moule: \"Beware of\nuntheological devotion.\" If devotion is to be real it should be\ncharacterised by _thought_. There is no contradiction between mind and\nheart, between theology and devotion. Devotional hours do not mean hours\nwhen thought is absent. Meditation is not abstraction, nor is devotion\ndreaminess. \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy _mind_\" is an\nessential part of the commandment. If genuine thought and equally genuine\ntheology do not characterise our hours of devotion, we lose some of the\nmost precious opportunities of grace and blessing. A piety which is mere\npietism, an evangelicalism which does not continually ponder the profound\ntruths of the New Testament, can never be strong or do any deep service.\nWe must beware of \"untheological devotion.\"\n\nWe must also beware of \"undevotional theology.\" This is the opposite\nerror, and constitutes an equally great danger. A hard, dry, intellectual\nstudy of theology will yield no spiritual fruit. Accuracy in knowledge of\nGreek, careful balancing of aspects of truth, large knowledge of the\ndoctrinal verities of the New Testament, are all essential and valuable;\nbut unless they are permeated by a spirit of devotion they will fail at\nthe crucial point. _Pectus facit theologum_--it is the heart that makes\nthe theologian; and a theology which does not spring from spiritual\nexperience is doomed to decay, to deadness, and therefore to disaster.\n\nWhen, therefore, our devotions are theological, and our theology is\ndevotional, we begin to realise the true being, blessing, and power of the\nChristian life, and we go from strength to strength, from grace to grace,\nand from glory unto glory.\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\nCONFLICT AND COMFORT.\n\n\n\nVI.\n\nCONFLICT AND COMFORT.\n\n    \"For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for\n    them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the\n    flesh; that their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in\n    love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to\n    the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of\n    Christ.\"--COL. ii. 1, 2.\n\n\nAlthough he was in prison the Apostle was constantly at work for his\nMaster, and not least of all at the work of prayer. If ever the words\n_orare est laborare_, \"to pray is to labour,\" were true, they were true of\nSt. Paul, for to him to pray was to work with all his might, as we shall\nsee from a study of another of the prayers offered in his Roman prison.\n\n\n1. WHAT PRAYER MEANS.\n\nPrayer is described as a _conflict_. We have a similar expression used of\nthe prayers of Epaphras, in the words \"labouring fervently\" (Col. iv.\n12). The same word \"conflict\" is associated with faith, \"the good fight of\nfaith\" (1 Tim. vi. 12), and with the \"good fight\" of the Apostle's entire\nlife (2 Tim. iv. 7). Prayer regarded as a conflict includes the two ideas\nof toil and strife.\n\nThe toil of prayer shows us the work involved in it. Sometimes we hear the\nexpression, \"If you can do nothing else, you can pray,\" as though prayer\nwere the easiest of all things. As a simple fact, it is the hardest. No\nman knows what prayer means unless he knows what it is to \"labour\" in\nprayer. The strife involved in prayer implies opposition--the opposing\nforce of one who wishes above all things to check and thwart our prayers.\nWe discern something of this opposition in the well-known words, \"We\nwrestle\" (Eph. vi. 12); and the words of the hymn are as true as they are\nfamiliar--\n\n  \"And Satan trembles when he sees\n  The weakest saint upon his knees.\"\n\nThe Apostle knew by spiritual experience that to pray was to rouse up\nagainst himself a mighty opposition, and it was this force that made his\nprayer such a \"great conflict.\" No believer should be surprised at his\nprayers \"being hindered\" (1 Pet. iii. 7). It is evidently one of Satan's\nmain objects to get the Christian to restrain prayer. The Christian man or\nthe Christian Church that continues instant in prayer may rest assured of\nmalignant opposition from the hosts of spiritual wickedness in high\nplaces. On the other hand, we may be sure that Satan scarcely troubles\nhimself about the believer or congregation whose private, family, and\npublic praying is neglected or thought little of. Prayer is, therefore, a\n\"great conflict.\" It is not solicitude only, but a struggle; not merely\nanxiety, but activity. As Bishop Moule says: \"Prayer is never meant to be\n_indolently_ easy, however simple and reliant it may be. It is meant to be\nan infinitely important transaction between man and God. And therefore\nvery often, when subjects and circumstances call for it, it has to be\nviewed as a work involving labour, persistency, conflict, if it would be\nprayer indeed\" (_Colossian Studies_, p. 124). The Bishop goes on to quote\na familiar incident which illustrates this great truth: \"A visitor knocked\nbetimes one morning at the door of a good man, a saint of the noblest\nPuritan type--and that was a fine type indeed. He called as a friend to\nconsult a friend, sure of his welcome. But he was kept waiting long. At\nlast a servant came to explain the delay: 'My master has been at prayer,\nand this morning he has been long in getting access.'\"\n\nThe practical question for us is whether this is our idea of prayer, or\nwhether we are merely playing at prayer, and not regarding it with true\nseriousness. If we know what it is to have \"great conflict\" in prayer,\nhappy are we. If we do not, we may well ask God to search our hearts and\nchange our minds about prayer.\n\nPrayer is characterised by _unselfishness_. The conflict of the Apostle\nwas not self-centred. It was on behalf of others: \"Great conflict I have\nfor you, and for them at Laodicea.\" This is the essence of\nprayer--intercession on behalf of others. If our seasons of prayer are\nlargely taken up with prayers for our own needs, however genuine, we are\nfailing at a crucial point; but if our time is mainly taken up with\nprayers for others, we shall soon find that our own blessings begin to\nabound. \"There is that scattereth and yet increaseth.\"\n\nPrayer also implies _sympathy_. The Apostle was praying for people whom he\nhad never seen, and probably never would see. This is not easy--indeed, is\nvery difficult--but it is a real test of spirituality. \"Out of sight, out\nof mind.\" We are tempted to limit our prayers to friends whom we know,\ncauses in which we are interested, subjects spiritually near and akin to\nus. Not so the Apostle, whose heart went out to the whole Church of God in\nevery place where he knew through friends that little bodies of Christians\nwere to be found. His sympathy was at once quick, wide, and deep, and it\nis one of the supreme tests of true spirituality to have a sympathy\npossessed of all these three characteristics. Our sympathy may be quick\nand yet narrow, or wide but not deep, or even deep and not wide; but to be\nat once quick, wide, and deep in sympathy is to be a true follower of\nChrist.\n\nAs we ponder these things--conflict, unselfishness, sympathy--do not our\nhearts condemn us? Instead of conflict, how easy-going have been our\nprayers! Instead of unselfish, how self-centred, instead of sympathetic,\nhow contracted! Thus the Apostle searches and tests us as we dwell on his\nwonderful life of prayer.\n\n\n2. WHAT PRAYER BRINGS.\n\nWhat were the objects for which the Apostle prayed so earnestly on behalf\nof these unknown Christians? What were the precise gifts that he sought\nfor them from God? This is no unnecessary question, for the same gifts\nwill surely be suitable to us.\n\nHe asked for spiritual _strength_: \"That their hearts might be comforted.\"\nSt. Paul always went to the very centre and core of things, and so we find\nhim constantly praying with reference to the \"hearts\" of these Colossian\nChristians. Since, as we have seen, the \"heart\" in Scripture is the centre\nof our moral and spiritual being, if the heart is right, all will be\nright, for \"out of it are the issues of life.\" He prays that their\n\"hearts\" might be comforted--that is, in the full sense of the word,\nencouraged, exhorted, strengthened. \"Comfort\" includes the three elements\nof strength, courage, and consolation. We must be strong, brave, and\ncheery. This is the full meaning of the term \"Comforter\" as applied to the\nHoly Spirit. He is the One Who gives strength, courage, and consolation.\nThis, too, is the true meaning of the familiar phrase of the English\nPrayer Book, \"Comfortable words\"--words that minister strength, fortitude,\nand cheer. The fact that this thought of \"hearts comforted\" was often in\nthe mind and on the lips of the Apostle shows the importance he attached\nto it (2 Thess. ii. 17; Eph. vi. 22). With hearts made strong, courageous,\nand cheerful, Christians can face anything; while with hearts that remain\nweak, fearful, and sad the Christian life is a prey to all the\ntemptations of the Evil One. It is exactly similar with a Church or a\ncongregation of Christians, for one of the supreme needs in any community\nis comforted hearts--the centres of life made strong, courageous, and\nhappy. Then it is that Churches live, grow, extend, and witness for Christ\nin the demonstration of the Holy Spirit the \"Comforter.\"\n\nHe asked for spiritual _unity_: \"Being knit together in love,\" or, quite\nliterally, \"having been compacted in love.\" He prayed that these\nChristians might be kept together, knit together, joined together in a\nspirit of love. Solitary Christians are always weak Christians, for \"union\nis strength.\" If Christians are not knit together, the cause of Christ\nmust necessarily suffer, for through the severances caused by division the\nenemy will keep thrusting his darts. That is why the Apostle elsewhere\nurges them \"earnestly to strive to keep the unity of the Spirit\" (Eph. iv.\n3). One of the greatest powers that Satan wields to-day is due to the\ndisunion among the people of God. It is true of the Christian home,\ncongregation, and denomination. The wedge of discord is one of the enemy's\nmost powerful weapons. On the other hand, where the brethren dwell\ntogether in unity, the Lord commands His blessing. In almost every Epistle\nthe Apostle emphasises unity, and we can readily understand the reason.\n\nThis unity is only possible \"in love.\" It is the love of God _to_ us that\nunites us to Him, and it will be the love of God _in_ us that unites us to\nour brethren. There is no power like love to bind Christians together. We\nmay not see eye to eye on all aspects of truth; we may not all use the\nsame methods of worship and service, but if we love one another God dwells\nin us and among us, and adds His own seal of blessing to the work done for\nHim. Let every Christian be fully assured that in so far as he is\nstriving, praying, and labouring for the union of God's people in love, he\nwill be doing one of the most powerful and blessed pieces of work for his\nMaster, and one of the greatest possible pieces of disservice to the\nkingdom of Satan. Contrariwise, the Christian man or Christian Church that\nstands out for separateness and exclusiveness is one of the best allies of\nSatan, and one of the most effective workers for the kingdom of darkness.\n\nHe asked for spiritual _certitude_: \"Unto all riches of the full assurance\nof understanding.\" Wealth is a favourite metaphor of St. Paul, and is used\nto denote the fulness and abundance of the Christian life as conceived by\nhim. Mark how he piles phrase upon phrase--\"understanding,\" \"fulness of\nunderstanding,\" and then \"wealth of fulness of understanding.\" To the\nApostle, the mind was one of the essential powers and principles of the\nChristian life. So far from thinking according to a modern fashion that\nthe less one uses the mind the better Christian one is, St. Paul,\nfollowing his Master, ever emphasised the duty and glory of loving God\n\"with all the mind.\" This wealth of the fulness of \"understanding\" means\nan abundance of conviction, both intellectual and moral, that Christianity\nis what it claims to be, and that the Christian life is the perfect\nsatisfaction of all the different parts of man's nature. He prays that\nthey may \"rise to the whole wealth of the full exercise of their\nintelligence\" (Moule). Just as we find elsewhere \"the fulness of faith\"\n(Heb. x. 22), \"the fulness of hope\" (Heb. vi. 11), and \"much fulness\" (1\nThess. i. 5), so here the Apostle desires them to enjoy to the full the\nintelligent grasping of assurance of Christian truth which was theirs in\nChrist.\n\nIn the same spirit Luke writes to Theophilus: \"That thou mightest know the\ncertainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.\" A firm\nconviction of the understanding is one of the greatest needs, as it is\nalso one of the greatest blessings, of the Christian life. If a Christian\ncannot say, \"I know,\" \"I am persuaded,\" he is lacking in one of the prime\nessentials of a vigorous experience. Let us ponder, then, this remarkable\nphrase, \"the whole wealth of the fulness of intelligence,\" and see in it\none of the absolute necessities of daily experience.\n\nBut how does it come? It is the result of the foregoing \"comfort\" and\n\"love.\" Hearts made strong mean minds fully assured. Hearts full of love\nmean intellects full of knowledge and conviction. Let no one say that love\nis blind: on the contrary, it is love that sees and knows. It was the\nApostle of love who was the first with spiritual insight to say, \"It is\nthe Lord,\" on that memorable early morning on the Lake of Galilee. It is\nthe Christian with a heart strong and full of love who will have the\n\"wealth of the fulness of intelligence.\" The same is true of a Church, for\nwhen it is strong and united in love, there will come such an influx of\nconviction and certitude that the world will be impressed by the\ndemonstration of the truth of the Christian Gospel.\n\nHe asked for spiritual _knowledge_: \"To the full knowledge of the mystery\nof God and the Father, even Christ\" (not as A.V.). Here, again, we have a\nfavourite word of these Epistles, \"full knowledge,\" that is, ripe, mature\nexperience; and it means the experience of all that is summed up in the\none word \"Christ.\" In view of the dangerous errors, then rife and\nincreasing, of a special knowledge confined only to a few, to an\nintellectual aristocracy, the Apostle lays stress upon the possibility of\nevery Christian becoming acquainted in personal experience with all the\nknowledge of God that is stored up in Christ. He declares Christ as the\nImage of God (ch. i. 15), as the Head of the Church (ch. i. 18), as the\nOne in Whom all fulness dwells (ch. i. 19), as the Redeemer from sin (ch.\ni. 20), as the Hope of glory (ch. i. 27), as the One in Whom are hid all\nthe treasures of wisdom and knowledge (ch. ii. 3). There is no mistiness\nhere, no vagueness, no hesitation, no limitation, but a full, free, open\nopportunity for all believers to become acquainted with Christ in His\nDivine fulness. This is the crowning-point of the Apostle's prayer, for in\nthe full knowledge of Christ everything else is included. This knowledge,\nat once intellectual, moral, and spiritual, is the safeguard from all\nerror, the secret of all progress, and the guarantee of all blessing.\n\nLet this prayer, then, be our constant and careful study. We shall find\nin it much to rebuke the shallowness, the selfishness, the dulness, and\nthe sluggishness of our prayers; and we shall also find in it a model of\ninstruction, and the inspiration of all true petition and intercession.\nThe Christian who learns from the prayers of the Apostle will learn some\nof the deepest secrets of the Christian life.\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\nWISDOM AND REVELATION.\n\n\n\nVII.\n\nWISDOM AND REVELATION.\n\n    \"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and\n    love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making\n    mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,\n    the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and\n    revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding\n    being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling,\n    and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and\n    what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe,\n    according to the working of His mighty power.\"--EPH. i. 15-19.\n\n\nIf prayer for others is a barometer of our own spiritual life, we can\nrealise what St. Paul felt was necessary for himself by his prayers for\nothers. In Ephesians there are two petitions, and nothing fuller and\ndeeper is found in any of the Apostle's writings. This Epistle represents\nthe high-water mark of Christian privilege and possibility.\n\n\n1. THE FOUNDATION.\n\nWe see from verse 15 that his prayer is closely and definitely based on\nwhat precedes, and this introduces us to a feature not hitherto found. Up\nto now the prayers at the opening have been recorded almost immediately\nafter the personal greetings. But here a long paragraph intervenes, and\nthe prayer is not recorded until after fourteen verses full of spiritual\nteaching have been given. This section deserves special attention because\nit is the basis of the prayer. Let us review it briefly in order to obtain\nthe true perspective of the petition.\n\nThe key-thought is in verse 3, where the Apostle praises God for having\nactually blessed them \"with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in\nChrist.\" Then comes a wonderful statement of the way in which these\nblessings had become their own. (_a_) They had been eternally purposed in\nGod the Father (vers. 3-6_a_); (_b_) they had been historically mediated\nthrough God the Son (vers. 6_b_-12); (_c_) they had been spiritually\napplied by God the Spirit (vers. 12-14). And in connection with each\nPerson of the Sacred Trinity practically the same phrase occurs in this\nparagraph, showing that all the blessings were given in order that they\nmight be used for the Divine glory: \"To the praise of the glory of His\ngrace\" (ver. 6); \"To the praise of His glory\" (ver. 12); \"To the praise of\nHis glory\" (ver. 14).\n\nNow it is upon this wealth of provision that the Apostle bases his prayer:\n\"On this account.\" God had so wonderfully blessed them in Christ by His\nSpirit, and this fulness of blessing was so clearly intended to be used to\nthe praise and glory of God that he could pray, as he does here, assured\nthat the answer would come. God's revelation of Himself is invariably and\ninevitably the foundation of our prayers. Because of what He has done and\nis doing we can be sure of grace. Because His power has provided \"all\nthings that pertain to life and godliness\" we can be certain of power for\ndaily living.\n\n\n2. THE APPEAL.\n\nThe names and titles of God are particularly noteworthy and are always\nfull of spiritual significance, shedding light on the passages in which\nthey occur. St. Paul prays to \"the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.\" This\ntitle as it stands is unique, though already he has referred to \"the God\nand Father of our Lord Jesus Christ\" (ver. 3), and will refer again to\n\"the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ\" in connection with prayer (ch. iii.\n14). \"The God of our Lord Jesus Christ\" seems to suggest the highest point\nand peak of power and grace. God, as the God of Christ, is the primary\nsource of all blessing.\n\nHe is also \"the Father of Glory.\" This, too, is a phrase not found\nelsewhere. He is the Father to Whom all glory belongs as its Divine\nsource. In Acts vii. 2 He is \"the God of glory,\" and in 1 Cor. ii. 8\nChrist is \"the Lord of glory.\" In Rom. vi. 4 Christ is said to have been\nraised from the dead \"by the glory of the Father.\" Glory is a\ncharacteristic quality of God. It is the manifestation of His splendour\nand the outshining of His excellence. All radiance, all brightness, all\nmagnificence come from Him and are intended to be returned to Him in\npraise. The glory of God in Romans is threefold: it is God's proof for\nman's past life (ch. iii. 23); it is God's prospect for man's future life\n(ch. v. 2); it is God's principle for man's present life (ch. xv. 7). And\nthe association of glory with prayer seems to suggest that the praise of\nHis glory which is to characterise our life can only come from God Himself\nas the Father of glory. If our lives are to be lived \"to His praise,\" His\nmust be the power. If our lives are to manifest His glory, His must be the\ngrace. \"Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.\"\n\n\n3. THE REQUEST.\n\nNow we come to this profound prayer which teaches the inmost secrets of\nthe spiritual life.\n\n(1) A Divine Gift. \"May give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation.\" He\nhas spoken of the wealth of blessing stored up in Christ (ver. 3), and of\nGod's grace abounding to us in all wisdom and prudence (ver. 8). Now he\nasks for wisdom and illumination to perceive all this for themselves as a\npersonal experience. The word \"spirit\" seems to refer to their human\nfaculty, though of course as indwelt and possessed by the Divine Spirit.\nBut the absence of the definite article from the word \"spirit\" seems to\nsuggest a gift rather than a Person. The Holy Spirit of God enters into\nour spirit, and the result is wisdom and revelation. These two words refer\nto general illumination and specific enlightenment. He desires his readers\nto enter fully into the meaning of these great realities to which he has\ngiven such full expression (vers. 1-14).\n\n(2) But this Divine gift is only possible by means of a simple yet\nimportant condition. It is \"in the full knowledge of Him.\" The word\nrendered \"knowledge\" is characteristic of these prison epistles, and\nalways means \"full knowledge,\" the mature experience of the spiritual man.\nIt is invariably connected with God; it refers to the deep, growing,\nripening consciousness which comes from personal fellowship with Him.\nPhilosophy can only say \"Know thyself,\" but Scripture says, \"Know God.\"\nThis is how wisdom and revelation become ours, and Christian history and\nexperience testify abundantly to the simple yet remarkable fact of\nspiritual insight and moral understanding which are due solely to\nfellowship with God. Nothing is more striking than the fact of a deep,\nspiritual apprehension and appreciation which are independent of\nintellectual conception and verbal expression. Believers can have a true\nspiritual consciousness of God without the possession of great capacity or\nattainments. Many whose natural education and intellectual opportunities\nhave been slight have had this spiritual perception in an uncommon degree,\nand it always marks the spiritually ripe Christian. It is not the one\nwhose intellectual knowledge is critical, scholarly, and profound, but he\nwhose spiritual insight is suffused with grace, love, and fellowship. This\ndoes not mean that natural knowledge or culture is to be despised or\navoided as evil, but that the two kinds of knowledge should be carefully\ndistinguished. The Christian Church has at least for the last three\nhundred years set great store by knowledge and science, but deeper than\nall this is the spiritual instinct, insight, knowledge, and illumination\nwhich constitute the supreme requirement of the true Christian life. We\ncan see this spiritual perception in its various stages in several\npassages of the New Testament. We have seen how St. John divides believers\ninto three classes (1 John ii. 12-14). But while in his repetition the\nApostle can vary the description of the \"children\" and the \"young men,\"\nwhen he has to speak the second time of the \"fathers\" he has nothing new\nto say, for they cannot be otherwise or more fully described than as those\nwho \"know Him Who is from the beginning.\"\n\n(3) The immediate consequence of this fellowship is that the eyes of the\nheart become permanently enlightened (Greek). Keeping in view the\nScripture truth of the \"heart\" as including the elements of Mind,\nEmotion, and Will, the result of fellowship with God is that every feature\nof the inner life becomes purified and enlightened. The mind is\nilluminated to perceive truth, the emotions are purified to love the good,\nand the will is equipped to obey the right. It is not that new objects\nmeet the gaze so much as that a new and deeper perception is given to\nenable the heart to see and understand what had hitherto been dark and\ndifficult. This illuminated heart is one of the choicest blessings of the\nspiritual life and one of the greatest safeguards against spiritual error.\n\"Ye have an unction ... and ye know\" (1 John ii. 20). \"The Son of God hath\ncome, and hath given us an understanding\" (1 John v. 20). Many of the\nproblems affecting the spiritual life are solved only in this way.\nCriticism, scholarship, intellectual power may be brought to bear upon\nthem, but they will not yield to this treatment. The illuminated heart of\nthe babe in Christ is often enabled to understand secrets which are hid\nfrom the wise and prudent.\n\n(4) The outcome is a permanent spiritual experience. \"That ye may know,\"\n_i.e._ possess an immediate, instinctive, direct knowledge (eidenai).\nThree great realities are thereupon mentioned as the objects and\nsubstance of our spiritual knowledge.\n\n(_a_) The first is \"What is the hope of His calling.\" \"His calling\" is the\nappeal and offer of the Gospel with all its Divine meaning and purpose,\nand \"the hope of His calling\" is that which is intended by and included in\nthe offer of God. This \"hope\" is either that _to_ which God calls us, or\n_by_ which He calls; either objective or subjective; either the substance\nor the feeling. Hope when regarded as objective, as the substance of our\nexperience, is full of promise, on which the believer fixes his faith.\nHope when regarded as subjective, as the possession of the soul, is full\nof inspiration, as it encourages and confirms belief that \"He is faithful\nthat promised.\" Hope as an objective reality is fixed on Christ, and since\nGod has a purpose in calling us, we can exercise hope. Hope as a\nsubjective realisation is based on the fact of experience. God calls us\nby the Gospel, and therefore hope becomes possible. Hope is the top-stone\nof life and follows faith and love (cf. ver. 15). Faith draws the curtain\naside; hope gazes into the future; while love rejoices in the present\npossession of Christ. Faith accepts; hope expects. Faith appropriates;\nhope anticipates. Faith is concerned with the person who promises; hope\nwith the thing that the person promises. Faith is concerned with the past\nand present; hope with the future alone. Hope is invariably fixed on the\nfuture and is never to be regarded as merely a matter of natural\ntemperament. It is specifically connected with the Lord's Coming, and we\nare thus reminded that the calling of God covers past, present, and\nfuture. It starts from regeneration and culminates in the resurrection of\nthe body at the Coming of Christ.\n\n(_b_) The second is \"The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the\nsaints.\" This may mean the wealth which God possesses _for_ them or _in_\nthem; our wealth in Him or His in us. If we take it in the former sense\nit will mean that God is the inheritance and we are the heirs; that the\nsaints now possess imperfectly, and anticipate in its fulness, the\ninheritance of grace, the spiritual Canaan which they are to enjoy here\nand hereafter. If, however, we take it, as is more likely, in the latter\nsense, it will mean that we are the inheritance and God is the Possessor\nand Heir. We must never forget that the Biblical ideas associated with\n\"heir\" and \"inheritance\" always refer to possession, and not, as in\nordinary phraseology, to succession. In the Bible the heir does not merely\nexpect, but already enjoys in part that which he will possess in full\nhereafter. Adopting, then, the second of these interpretations, the saints\nbelong to God and are precious in His sight. They are His _peculium_, or\nspecial treasure, like Israel of old (Deut. iv. 20). They have been formed\nfor Him and are to show forth His praise (Isa. xliii. 21). He sets store\nby them, as is suggested by the significant words, \"Hast thou considered\nMy servant Job?\" There are several indications in Scripture that God\nvalues and trusts His people; \"I know him, that he will command his\nchildren and his household after him\" (Gen. xviii. 19). \"The Lord taketh\npleasure in His people\" (Ps. cxlix. 4). \"The steps of a good man are\nordered by the Lord: and He (that is, God) delighteth in his way\" (Ps.\nxxxvii. 23). And the \"wealth\" is a further proof of the value placed on\nbelievers by God. Five times in Ephesians the Apostle uses this metaphor\nof \"riches,\" showing his thought of those who have been \"bought with a\nprice\" (1 Cor. v. 20). Believers are God's riches, wealth, treasure; they\nbelong to Him in view of that day on which He will enter in full upon His\ninheritance when He comes to be glorified and admired in them that believe\n(2 Thess. i. 10). And we are to see this, to know it, to realise the\nspiritual possibilities of each believer and all God's people together as\nGod's own inheritance.\n\n(_c_) The third is \"the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who\nbelieve.\" In this marvellous association of almost inexpressible thoughts\nthe dominant note is \"power\" (d\u00fanamis), and the Apostle prays that the\nEphesian Christians may know what this means. Power is a characteristic\nword of St. Paul as expressive of Christianity. The Gospel is \"the power\nof God unto salvation\" (Rom. i. 16). By the Resurrection Christ was\ndesignated \"the Son of God with power\" (Rom. i. 4). He is \"the power of\nGod\" (1 Cor. i. 18). Man needs power, not merely a philosophy or an ethic,\nbut a dynamic, and it is the peculiar privilege of His Gospel to bring\nthis to us. But let us try to analyse this power. There are no less than\nfour comparisons stated or illustrations given. (1) It is exactly the same\npower that God wrought in Christ at the Resurrection. Nothing less than\nthis is the standard of the Divine working. We are to possess and\nexperience the spiritual and moral dynamic exercised by God on Christ when\nHe raised Him from the dead. This is described as \"the exceeding greatness\nof His power.\" The same adjective is used of grace (ch. ii. 7), and of\nlove (ch. iii. 19), and it is intended to express the superabundance of\nthat power which was put forth in the Resurrection and is now exercised\non our behalf. Then the four words used for power are particularly\nnoteworthy: \"power,\" \"energy,\" \"strength,\" \"might.\" Each conveys an aspect\nof this great spiritual force. \"Might\" is power in _possession_;\n\"strength\" is power as the result of _grasping_, or of coming into contact\nwith the source of that power; and \"energy\" is a power in _expression_.\n(2) Not only so, but the power exercised by God in the Ascension is also\nintended to be bestowed on and experienced by us. When we are told that\nChrist was set at God's right hand far above all powers, we can understand\nsomething of the Divine might exercised. (3) Still more, it is the same\npower by means of which God put all things under the feet of Christ. This,\ntoo, is the Divine force and energy for believers. (4) Not least of all,\nit was Divine power that gave Christ to be \"the Head over all things to\nthe Church,\" and it is exactly this power that is exercised on our behalf.\nWhen we contemplate all this as intended by God for us, we can see\nsomething of the vigorous and victorious life He can and will enable us\nto live.\n\nAs we review this wonderful prayer it is impossible to avoid noticing that\nthe first petition refers mainly to the past (\"His calling\"); the second\nmainly to the future (\"His inheritance\"); and the third mainly to the\npresent (\"His power\"), though of course each petition has its bearing on\nthe other two points of time. Every part of our life is thus adequately\nsupplied and intended to be abundantly satisfied. Nor may we omit to\nobserve that all through the prayer the emphasis is on God: _His_ calling;\n_His_ inheritance; _His_ power. Everything is regarded from the Divine\nstandpoint, because we are not our own but His. The contemplation of this\nglory of the Divine love and grace overwhelms the soul with \"wonder, love,\nand praise.\"\n\nIn the presence of such a prayer, dealing with such profound realities,\nthree thoughts naturally arise in our minds. (_a_) How little we know, and\nhow much we might and should know. (_b_) How little we are, and how much\nwe might and should be. (_c_) How little we do, and how much we might and\nshould do. And yet if we will but remind ourselves of the simple secret of\ntrue living, as here described, we might become and accomplish infinitely\nmore than we have ever experienced up to the present. \"To us-ward who\nbelieve.\" Faith is the simple yet all-sufficient secret. Trust relies on\nGod and receives from Him. It puts us in contact with the source of\nblessing, and in union with Him we shall find spiritual illumination,\nspiritual insight, spiritual experience, and spiritual power that shall\nall be lived and exercised to His praise and glory.\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\nSTRENGTH AND INDWELLING.\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\nSTRENGTH AND INDWELLING.\n\n    \"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus\n    Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He\n    would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be\n    strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ\n    may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded\n    in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the\n    breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of\n    Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the\n    fulness of God.\"--EPH. iii. 14-19.\n\n    \"In no part of Paul's letters does he rise to a higher level than in\n    his prayers, and none of his prayers are fuller of fervour than this\n    wonderful series of petitions. They open out one into the other like\n    some majestic suite of apartments in a great palace-temple, each\n    leading into a loftier and more spacious hall, each drawing nearer the\n    presence chamber, until at last we stand there\" (MACLAREN).\n\n\nThe second prayer in Ephesians possesses remarkable affinities with the\nfirst; indeed, the two are complementary, and many of the expressions\ncall for close comparison.\n\n\n1. THE STANDPOINT.\n\n\"For this cause\" (ver. 14). To what does this phrase point back? Some\nassociate it with verse 1, \"For this cause,\" thinking that St. Paul,\nhaving been diverted from his main teaching in verses 1-13, here resumes\nit in the form of a prayer. But perhaps it is still better to regard the\nresumption of the main teaching as coming in ch. iv. 1, where the Apostle\nagain speaks of himself as \"the prisoner.\" This would make ch. iii. wholly\nparenthetical, so that instead of the present prayer being based on the\nteaching of ch. ii. the Apostle is led here to speak of his ministry (ch.\niii. 1-13) and its outcome. His ministry is a gift, a trust, a\nstewardship, and its purpose is the proclamation of the Gospel and its\nresults in the accomplishment of God's purposes for Jew and Gentile. On\nthis view the standpoint of the prayer is associated closely with his\nministry and its effects, as seen in the immediately preceding verses. It\nis because of his remarkable ministry, given to him by God, and all the\nspiritual privileges brought to the Gentile Christians thereby that he is\nable to work for them (ver. 13), and also to pray for them (ver. 14).\nThus, while the prayer in ch. i. looks at their life from the standpoint\nof the Divine purposes, this prayer will be occupied with their spiritual\nprivileges in Christ.\n\n\n2. THE ATTITUDE.\n\n\"I bow my knees unto the Father\" (ver. 14). The intense reverence of the\nApostle in this allusion to bowing his knees is particularly noteworthy.\nAs a rule the Jews stood for prayer (Luke xviii. 11-13), and prostration\nseems to have been an exceptional posture. But in connection with\nChristians, kneeling is mentioned (Acts vii. 60, ix. 40, xx. 36). Nothing\ncould more beautifully express the true attitude of the soul before God\nthan this posture of the body. At the same time the use of the word\n\"Father\" indicates the other side of the truth and confidence with which\nwe approach God. He is at once our God and our Father (ch. i. 17), and\nour attitude must be expressive both of our adoration and of our\nassurance. He is great and good, and we approach Him as the Holy One and\nthe Loving One.\n\n\n3. THE ADDRESS.\n\n\"The Father from Whom every family in heaven and earth is named.\" It is\ninteresting that the title \"God\" is not associated with this prayer as in\nch. i., although the thought of Deity is found in the allusion to bowing\nthe knees. And in addition to God as the Father He is described as the One\n\"from Whom every family (Greek, 'fatherhood') in heaven and earth is\nnamed.\" This seems to mean that whatever element of family life exists, it\ncomes from God, that all true spiritual life in heaven or earth has its\norigin in the Father. The scope of the prayer is particularly noteworthy,\nas we contemplate God as the Fount of every fatherhood and the Parent of\nall men everywhere. Such a statement will do more than anything else to\nguard us against narrow or purely selfish desires as we approach God in\nprayer.\n\n\n4. THE APPEAL.\n\n\"That He would grant you\" (ver. 16). As in the former prayer, the Apostle\nis clear that what he is about to ask is essentially a Divine gift. It\ncomes from above, whether he is seeking knowledge (ch. i. 17) or power\n(ch. iii. 16). At every step God must give and the believer must receive.\nIt would be well for us in our Christian experience to emphasise this\nsimple but searching truth. \"Every good and every perfect gift comes from\nabove.\"\n\n\n5. THE STANDARD.\n\n\"According to the riches of His glory\" (ver. 16). Here again we begin to\nrealise something of the fulness of the prayer to be offered. The measure\nof the Apostle's desire is not our own poverty, but God's wealth; we are\nto look away from ourselves to the infinite riches of the Divine glory. In\nthe former prayer he asked that we might know the riches of God's glory.\nBut here there is something more; we are to experience them in our heart\nand life.\n\n\n6. THE PETITIONS.\n\nIn general St. Paul asks for two great spiritual blessings, the inward\nstrength of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling presence of Christ. These\nare inseparable, and we may regard the first as essential to the second,\nand the second as the effect of the first. But the prayer goes into detail\nand each part of the petition calls for careful meditation.\n\n(1) \"Strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man\" (ver.\n16, R.V.). As wisdom was the burden of the former prayer (ch. i. 17), so\nstrength is the main thought here. The order, too, is significant; wisdom\nand power, since power without knowledge would be highly dangerous. This\nstrength comes from the Holy Spirit; He is the Agent of God's enabling\ngrace. And the strength is to extend \"into the inward man.\" The contrast\nseems to be between the inward and the outward, as in 2 Cor. iv. 16; Rom.\nvii. 22. The strength is not of the body, or of the mind, but of the soul.\nThe \"inward\" is not exactly identical with the \"new\" man, but emphasises\nthe inner essential life of the spirit as contrasted with the outer life\nof the body. \"The hidden man of the heart.\"\n\n(2) \"That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith\" (ver. 17, R.V.).\nThis is the outcome of the inward strength of the Spirit, and almost every\nword needs attention. The indwelling of Christ is virtually identical with\nthat of the Spirit (ch. ii. 22), although of course Christ and the Holy\nSpirit are never absolutely identified in Holy Scripture (2 Cor. iii. 17,\n18). It is only in regard to the practical outcome in the believer's\nexperience that the indwelling of Christ and the Spirit amount to the same\nthing. This is to be a permanent indwelling and not a mere passing stay,\njust as believers together are described as a temple for God's permanent\nhabitation (ch. ii. 22, Greek). This permanent indwelling of Christ is to\nbe \"in your hearts.\" Almost every prayer is thus concerned with the\n\"heart,\" the centre of the moral being, and the Apostle prays that Christ\nmay make His home therein. This is no mere influence, but a Personal\nPresence, the Living Christ within, and it is to be \"through faith.\" It is\nfaith that admits Christ to the heart, allowing Him to enter into every\npart of the \"inward man.\" And the same faith that admits Him permits Him\nto remain, reside, and rule. Faith, in a word, is the total response of\nthe soul to the Lordship of Christ.\n\n(3) \"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love\" (ver. 17). Here again the\noriginal expressions imply permanent results, and the two words \"rooted\"\nand \"grounded\" are beautifully complementary. The one refers to a tree,\nthe other to a house, and the expressions point to those hidden processes\nof the soul which are the result of Christ's indwelling and the Holy\nSpirit's working. The power of the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ\ntend to our permanent inward establishment in the element and atmosphere\nof Christian love. This is one of the seven occasions in this short\nEpistle where we find the Pauline phrase, \"in love,\" referring to the\nsphere and atmosphere of our fellowship with God. The love no doubt means\nprimarily and perhaps almost exclusively God's love to us, as that in\nwhich we are to \"live, and move, and have our being.\"\n\n(4) \"May be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth\nand length and height and depth\" (ver. 18, R.V.). Here again the emphasis\nis on strength, and the Apostle prays that we may have full strength to\ngrasp, may be quite able to accomplish this purpose. Spiritual ideas can\nnever be appropriated by intellectual action alone. It is not by brilliant\nintellect but by spiritual insight that we become \"able to comprehend.\"\nAlthough there is now no specific reference to love, it would seem as\nthough the idea of verse 19 is already in view, and, assuming this to be\nthe case, we have four aspects of the Divine love which we are to be\nstrong to grasp. Its \"breadth\" means that there is no barrier to it,\nreminding us of the extent of the Divine counsels; its \"length\" tells us\nof the Divine foreknowledge and His thought of us through the ages; its\n\"height\" points to our Lord in heaven as the goal for the penitent\nbeliever; its \"depth\" declares the possibility of love descending to the\nlost abyss of human misery for the purpose of redemption. And the ability\nto grasp the Divine love in this fourfold way is to be experienced with\n\"all the saints.\" It is impossible to accomplish it alone; no spiritual\nexclusiveness is thinkable in this connection, to say nothing of the lower\nforms of egotism and selfishness. Twice in this brief writing does the\nApostle refer to \"all the saints\" (ch. vi. 18), thereby reminding us of\nthe place and power of each saint in the spiritual economy of God. One\nsaint will be able to comprehend a little, another saint a little more,\nand so on, until at length all the saints together are \"strong to grasp\"\nthe Divine love. The wider our fellowship the fuller and firmer our hold\nof the love of Christ. This is doubtless why public worship is so strongly\nemphasised in the New Testament. \"Where two or three are gathered\ntogether in My Name, there am I.\" The experiences of our\nfellow-worshippers are always intended to be, and usually will be, of help\nto our own fuller realisation of our Lord and Master. The soul is\njustified solitarily and alone, but it is sanctified only in the community\nof believers.\n\n(5) \"And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge\" (ver. 19). If\nwe are correct in interpreting verse 18 of the Divine love, the present\nverse will be the climax of this part of the prayer, and it has been\nhelpfully suggested that we have here the \"fifth dimension\" of the love of\nChrist after the four already mentioned. Not only are they to experience\nbreadth and length and height and depth but also the inwardness; they are\nto know by personal experience the love of Christ as it can only be known\nby those who have fellowship with Him. It is a love that surpasses\nknowledge, just as His power surpasses everything (ch. i. 19). The paradox\nof knowing that which surpasses knowledge will not be misunderstood from\nthe standpoint of spiritual experience, because it is the difference\nbetween apprehending and comprehending. We know, and know deeply,\nincreasingly, blessedly, and yet all the while there are infinite\nstretches of love beyond our highest experiences.\n\n(6) \"That ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God\" (ver. 19, R.V.).\nThis is the climax of the prayer and is the culminating purpose of the\nwork of the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ. Strength, indwelling,\nlove, and knowledge are to issue in fulness, and we are to be \"filled unto\nall the fulness of God.\" In the former prayer this fulness is associated\nwith Christ and with His body the Church (ch. i. 23), but here it is\nspecifically associated with God and ourselves as believers in Christ.\nWhen these two passages are associated with ch. v. 18, which speaks of the\nfulness of the Spirit, we have the word \"fulness\" connected with each\nPerson of the Blessed Trinity. What it means for the soul to be filled to\noverflowing with the presence of God itself is beyond our comprehension;\nit can only be a matter of personal experience as we seek to fulfil the\nproper conditions. Such a prayer for the fulness of God is best expressed\nin Miss Havergal's words--\n\n  \"Lord, we ask it, scarcely knowing\n    What this wondrous gift may be;\n  But fulfil to overflowing,\n    _Thy_ great meaning let us see.\"\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\nLOVE AND DISCERNMENT.\n\n\n\nIX.\n\nLOVE AND DISCERNMENT.\n\n    \"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in\n    knowledge and all judgment: that ye may approve things that are\n    excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of\n    Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by\n    Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.\"--PHIL. i. 9-11.\n\n\nOne of the most beautiful elements in the Pauline Epistles is the intimate\nrelation which evidently existed between the Apostle and his converts.\nThis is especially the case in the Epistle to the Philippians, for in no\nother writing is there such a full revelation of the heart of St. Paul and\nof his love to those with whom he was united in Christ. As, therefore, he\nknew them so intimately, so he prayed for them, the prayer revealing at\nonce their need, and his conviction as to essential things. Prayer is\nalways strong in proportion to our acquaintance with the spiritual life of\nothers, and feeble so far as we are ignorant of their needs.\n\n\n1. THE DEFINITE REQUEST.\n\nLet us mark the opening words: \"this I keep on asking\" (Greek). There was\none thing for which he asked continually, and this seemed to him to sum up\neverything in their life.\n\n(1) He prayed for love; \"your love.\" As they already possessed life, he\nwished it to be expressed in love. The Epistle is full of this subject. No\nwriting is so truly characterised by the love of St. Paul for his\nconverts, or of his converts for St. Paul (see ch. iv. 14-18). Let us\nagain remind ourselves that love in the New Testament is something\ndefinite, tangible, strong, practical, intense. It is more than sentiment,\nthough of course it includes that; it is more than emotion, though\nundoubtedly it includes that; it is more than desire, though obviously it\nincludes that. Love is the outgoing of the entire nature in\nself-sacrificing service. It is the sympathy of the heart and the devotion\nof the life to its object. As such it is the supreme proof of the reality\nof our Christian profession. \"If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments\"\n(John xiv. 15, R.V.). \"Lovest thou Me ... feed My sheep\" (John xxi. 16).\n\"Seeing ye have purified your souls ... love one another from the heart\nunfeignedly\" (1 Pet. i. 22, R.V.). It was with no cynicism, but with a\nwonderful astonishment, that the heathen used to say, \"See how these\nChristians love one another.\" When therefore the Apostle prayed for love\nhe was asking that the Philippian Christians might possess and manifest\nthe very finest, truest, most powerful, and most attractive proof of their\nChristian life.\n\n(2) He prayed for abounding love; \"that your love may abound.\" Not only\nsome, but abundant love; not a little, but much. Love to be real must be\nkept full, intense, overflowing; it calls for continual reinforcement,\nreplenishing, and the abundance of love is the measure and proof of the\npossession of abundant life.\n\n(3) He prayed for increasing love; \"that your love may abound yet more and\nmore.\" Expression is piled upon expression in order to emphasise the\nimportance of love and its progress. Love is intended to grow and not to\nremain stationary. Just as life makes progress, so must its result\nsimilarly develop in love. The motto for the Christian is \"more and more.\"\nThis is why there is so much in the New Testament about growth, for just\nas it is with natural life so it must be with spiritual. Constant\nincrease, development, progress, extension, expansion must mark it at\nevery step.\n\n(4) He prayed for discerning love; \"that your love may abound yet more and\nmore in knowledge and all discernment\" (R.V.). The two words \"knowledge\"\nand \"discernment\" are particularly noteworthy. One expresses the\nprinciple, the other the application. Again we observe this word\n\"knowledge\" as a characteristic expression of the Apostle in these\nprison-epistles. \"Full knowledge\" (Greek) is one of the marks of a\ngrowing Christian life, and is proved by spiritual perception, spiritual\nfeeling, spiritual discernment. There is a world of difference between\nintellectual ability and spiritual insight. Many people are clever, but\nnot spiritual, while many people are often truly spiritual without being\npossessed of much intellectual capacity. Much is said in Scripture about\n_sight_ in regard to things spiritual. \"Except a man be born again, he\ncannot _see_\" (John iii. 3). \"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they\nshall _see_ God\" (Matt. v. 8). There are many people in our congregations\nof average intellect, and perhaps with mental powers decidedly below the\naverage, who are nevertheless full of profound spiritual wisdom because\nlove to Christ has given them keenness of vision and depth of insight.\n\n\n2. THE IMMEDIATE PURPOSE.\n\nThis constant progress and abundance of love was intended for a very\npractical purpose; \"so that ye may approve the things that are excellent\"\n(ver. 10, R.V.). The discernment already mentioned was intended for\nspiritual discrimination. They were to be enabled to distinguish, to\nprove, and thereby to approve. As Lightfoot points out, \"love imparts a\nsensitiveness of touch, a keen edge to the discriminating faculty in\nthings moral and spiritual.\" In things spiritual at least love is not\nblind, but keen-sighted. It is endowed with a spiritual discernment which\nis able to distinguish not only between good and bad, but between good and\nbetter, between better and best, and between best and excellent. The\nwords, \"approve the things that are excellent,\" occur also in Rom. ii. 18,\nand the meaning seems to be first that they were to \"distinguish the\nthings that differ,\" and then as a result they were to \"approve the things\nthat transcend.\" This spiritual discernment is particularly needful\nto-day, as the Christian soul is surrounded by so many views and voices.\nMuch that appears on the surface to be attractive and charming contains\nwithin it the elements of spiritual danger and disaster, and it is only\nby spiritual discernment which comes from abounding and increasing love to\nChrist that the soul is safeguarded against evil and led to approve and\nfollow the things that are superior. It is a vivid picture that the\nprophet gives of the Messiah when he describes Him as endowed by the\nSpirit of God and made of \"quick scent in the fear of the Lord\" (Isa. xi.\n3, Hebrew). It is this \"quick scent\" that by the same Spirit the Lord\nJesus Christ bestows upon those who love Him with all the heart.\n\n\n3. THE PERMANENT RESULT.\n\nEvery Christian grace is intended for practical and permanent effect in\ncharacter. Our lives are not to be intermittent, but continuous in their\nexpression of grace and blessing, and all that the Apostle has been\npraying for and desiring on behalf of his Philippian Christians was\nintended to develop and express in them the solid and permanent realities\nof Christian character.\n\n(1) Sincerity; \"that ye may be sincere\" (ver. 10). This has to do with\nmotives. The word is thought to mean \"tested in the sunlight.\" Our lives\nare to be manifestly true, genuine, sincere, \"transparent.\" \"Motive makes\nthe man,\" and from time to time it is essential that we should allow\nourselves to be tested and judged in the sunlight of our perfect\nfellowship with Christ, just as St. Peter, when asked by his Master, said,\n\"Lord, Thou knowest all things.\" Sincerity is one of the essential\nfeatures of the true Christian life. The believer, if he is to do the will\nof God and commend the Gospel to others, must have no doubtful _arri\u00e8re\npens\u00e9e_ but a life lived moment by moment in the perfect brightness of the\npresence of perfect holiness.\n\n(2) Consistency; \"void of offence\" (ver. 10, R.V.). This has to do with\nconduct. Not only are we to be inwardly true, but outwardly sure. Our\nlives must not hinder others, or put a stumbling-block in their way. Just\nas the Master said, \"Blessed is he whosoever is not put to stumble by Me,\"\nso must it be with every follower of Christ. Our lives are to be\nstepping-stones, not stumbling-blocks.\n\n(3) Character; \"being filled with the fruits of righteousness.\" This has\nto do with our permanent life both within and without, though the emphasis\nis on being rather than on doing. Character is the highest point and peak\nof the Christian life, for just as fruit is the outcome of the life of a\ntree, so character is the fruit of Christian living, and is the best proof\nof its existence. The Apostle's word suggests that we are to be\n\"permanently filled\" (Greek) with the fruits of righteousness, those\nthings that are right, straight, true, correct, upright, without any\ndeflection on either side. The Lord Who is our Righteousness works in us\nthe fruits of righteousness by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.\n\n\n4. THE ULTIMATE OBJECT.\n\nThe Apostle looks forward \"unto the day of Christ\" (ver. 10, R.V.), and\nthen speaks of the Christian life being lived \"unto the glory and praise\nof God\" (ver. 11). Everything is to tend towards the manifestation of the\nsplendour of God in human life whereby others will be led to acknowledge\nand praise Him (Matt. v. 16). And this will reach its culminating point in\nthe \"day of Christ,\" that time when Christian people will stand before\ntheir Master and receive the reward of their life and service rendered to\nHim (ch. i. 6, ii. 16). This was the Apostle's constant thought, and\ntowards this he strained every nerve (ch. iii. 11-21). It expresses the\nhighest ideal of Christian living, for day by day we are to live with this\nwonderful thought of \"the glory and praise of God,\" and day by day we are\nto look forward to the coming of Christ as that day in which our life will\nfind its fullest realisation, its complete satisfaction, and its unending\njoy. And all this reminds us of the essential simplicity of life, for\nthere is nothing complex, or involved, or mysterious, or difficult in a\nlife lived day by day to the praise of God and in the light of the coming\nof our Master.\n\nAs we review this prayer we may feel perfectly sure that the Apostle meant\nit to be answered, and indeed, he himself gives us the hint of how this\nmay come to pass when he tells us that the fruits of righteousness are\n\"through Jesus Christ.\" This is only another way of expressing what he has\nalready shown, his confidence that the possession of the Christian life is\nthe guarantee of its complete realisation and full perfection by the\nindwelling presence and work of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (ch. i. 6).\nLet us therefore take heart of grace as we contemplate this prayer and the\nother prayers of the Apostle. We must not be depressed, or disheartened,\nor discouraged, as we ponder the marvellous details and contemplate the\nstupendous heights of the Christian life as depicted by St. Paul's\nwonderful spiritual insight. On the contrary, we must remind ourselves\nthat he would not have prayed these prayers unless he had been certain\nthat God would answer them, and they will assuredly be answered as we set\nourselves resolutely, humbly, lovingly, trustfully to fulfil the required\nconditions, \"through Jesus Christ our Lord.\"\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\n\nConsiderations of space have prevented the inclusion of all the Prayers of\nSt. Paul, but for the treatment of the prayer in Rom. XV. 13 reference may\nperhaps be permitted to the author's _Royal and Loyal_ (ch. v.) and to his\nDevotional Commentary on _Romans_ (vol. iii. p. 103 ff.). And a fuller\ntreatment of 2 Thess. iii. 16 is given in his _The Power of Peace_.\n\nFor the thorough exegetical foundation of the passages included in these\nprayers of the Apostle special attention should of course be given to the\nvarious modern standard Commentaries. The following have proved of\nparticular value in the preparation of these pages. On Thessalonians:\nMilligan, Frame, Eadie, and Ellicott. On Romans: Sanday and Headlam,\nGodet, and the Notes by Lightfoot. On Ephesians: Armitage Robinson,\nWestcott, and Eadie. On Philippians: Lightfoot and Ellicott. On\nColossians: Lightfoot and Ellicott. Preachers will find it nothing short\nof an education in Greek to ponder the passages under the guidance of\nthese master-minds. The first step in all true expository preaching is the\nconsideration of the words and phrases in order to elicit their full\nexegetical value. Following this, and based upon it, will come the\nspiritual teaching and personal application, and for this purpose the\nfollowing books will be found of great value. On Thessalonians: Denney in\nthe _Expositor's Bible_. On Romans: Bishop Moule in the same series. On\nEphesians: G. G. Findlay in the _Expositor's Bible_, with R. W. Dale's\nwell-known Lectures. On Philippians: Rainy in the _Expositor's Bible_, and\nJowett's _The High Calling_. On Colossians: Maclaren's peerless treatment\nin the _Expositor's Bible_, with Bishop Moule's _Colossian Studies_, and a\nuseful American work, _Oneness with Christ_, by Bishop Nicholson. The\nsubject of this book is definitely treated in _The Prayers of St. Paul_,\nby W. B. Pope, D.D.; _The Pattern Prayer Book_, by E. W. Moore; _Preces\nPaulin\u00e6_, a valuable old book by an anonymous author, which is now only\nobtainable second-hand.\n\nOn the general subject of Prayer, which will naturally be given attention\nin the expository preaching and teaching on this special topic of St.\nPaul's petitions, the following among other books may perhaps be\nmentioned: _Waiting on God_, by Andrew Murray; _The Hidden Life of\nPrayer_, by D. M. M'Intyre; _Prayer_, by M'Conkey; _Praying in the Holy\nGhost_, by G. H. C. Macgregor; _Quiet Talks on Prayer_, by S. D. Gordon;\nand _Prayer: Its Nature and Scope_, by H. C. Trumbull.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n_A._ SCRIPTURE PASSAGES\n\n                        PAGE\n\n  Gen. xviii. 19         103\n\n  Deut. iv. 20           102\n\n  Isa. xi. 3             133\n\n   \" xliii. 21           102\n\n  Ps. xxxii. 8             6\n\n   \" xxxvii. 23       6, 103\n\n   \" lvii. 7              11\n\n   \" cviii. 1             11\n\n   \" cxii. 7              11\n\n   \" cxlix. 4            103\n\n  Matt. v. 8             131\n\n   \" v. 16               136\n\n  Luke xviii. 11-13      113\n\n  John iii. 3            131\n\n   \" xiii. 34              8\n\n   \" xiv. 15             129\n\n   \" xvii. 3              66\n\n   \" xvii. 19             19\n\n   \" xxi. 16             129\n\n  Acts vii. 2             94\n\n   \" vii. 60             113\n\n   \" ix. 40              113\n\n   \" xi. 23               59\n\n   \" xx. 36              113\n\n  Rom. i. 4              104\n\n   \" i. 16               104\n\n   \" iii. 23              95\n\n   \" v. 1                 22\n\n   \" v. 2                 95\n\n   \" vi. 4                94\n\n   \" vii. 22             117\n\n   \" xv. 7                95\n\n  1 Cor. i. 18           104\n\n   \" ii. 8                94\n\n   \" v. 20               103\n\n   \" vi. 11               35\n\n  2 Cor. iii. 17, 18     117\n\n   \"  iv. 16             117\n\n  Eph. i. 1-14        92, 96\n\n   \" i. 15-19             91\n\n   \" iii. 14              94\n\n   \" iii. 14-19          111\n\n   \" iv. 1                64\n\n   \" iv. 3                82\n\n   \" vi. 12               76\n\n   \" vi. 22               81\n\n  Phil. i. 9-11          127\n\n   \" i. 27                64\n\n   \" iii. 10              66\n\n   \" iv. 7-9              22\n\n   \" iv. 14-18           128\n\n  Col. i. 3-6             58\n\n   \" i. 9-12              57\n\n   \" i. 15                87\n\n   \" i. 18-20             87\n\n   \" i. 20                22\n\n   \" i. 27                87\n\n   \" ii. 1, 2             75\n\n   \" ii. 3                87\n\n   \" iv. 12               76\n\n  1 Thess. i. 5           85\n\n   \" ii. 2                35\n\n   \" ii. 12           31, 64\n\n   \" iii. 9               35\n\n   \" iii. 11-13            3\n\n   \" iv. 7                31\n\n   \" v. 23, 24        17, 31\n\n  2 Thess. i. 10         103\n\n   \" i. 11, 12            29\n\n   \" ii. 14               31\n\n   \"  ii. 17              81\n\n   \"  iii. 16             41\n\n  1 Tim. vi. 12           76\n\n  2 Tim. iv. 7            76\n\n  Heb. vi. 11             58\n\n   \" x. 22                85\n\n   \" xiii. 9              11\n\n  1 Pet. i. 22           129\n\n   \"  iii. 7              77\n\n  2 Pet. i. 7              8\n\n  1 John ii. 12-14    60, 98\n\n   \" ii. 20               99\n\n   \" v. 20                99\n\n\n_B._ TOPICS\n\n  Advent, Second, 24, 30, 136.\n\n  Aspiration, 33.\n\n  Assurance, 84 f., 137.\n\n  Brotherly love, 8, 51, 83, 120, 128.\n\n  Called of God, 31, 100.\n\n  Character, 133.\n\n  Christ, Deity of, 5, 87.\n\n  Conscience, peace of, 50.\n\n  Devotion, need of, 70.\n\n  Endurance, 46, 66.\n\n  Faithfulness, Divine, 25.\n\n  Family life, 114.\n\n  Glory of God, 94.\n\n  Grace, 35 f.\n\n  Heart, in Scripture, 42, 81, 99, 117.\n\n  Holiness, 10, 18.\n\n  Joy, Christian, 67.\n\n  Knowledge, spiritual, 60 f., 84, 86, 97 f., 121, 131.\n\n  Leading, Divine, 6, 48.\n\n  Love, God's, to us, 43, 119.\n\n  Love, our, to Him, 44, 129.\n\n  Ministry, the Apostolic, 112.\n\n  Others, concern for, 58.\n\n  Patience of Christ, 45.\n\n  Peace, 22 f., 52 f.\n\n  _Peculium_, God's, 102.\n\n  Persecution, 30.\n\n  Power, Divine, 104.\n\n  Prayer, practical value of, 17, 57, 75.\n\n  Prayer, a thing of labour, 76.\n\n    \"  for others, 79, 127 f.\n\n    \"  sympathetic, 80.\n\n  Preservation, Divine, 19 f., 50.\n\n  Reverence, 113.\n\n  Sincerity, 134.\n\n  Spirit, the Divine, 49, 96, 116.\n\n  Trinity, the, 92.\n\n  Unity, spiritual, 82.\n\n  Walk, the Christian, 64.\n\n  Weathercock, Spurgeon's, 44.\n\n  Word, importance of the, 49.\n\n  Worthy, counted, 32.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPassages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.\n\nThe original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these\nletters have been replaced with transliterations.\n\nPrinter's inconsistencies in hyphenation usage have been retained.","title":"The Prayers of St. Paul","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":21467}