23 if indeed ye abide in the faith founded and firm, and not moved away from the hope of the glad tidings, which ye have heard, which have been proclaimed in the whole creation which [is] under heaven, of which *I* Paul became minister.
For we are become companions of the Christ if indeed we hold the beginning of the assurance firm to the end;
on account of the hope which [is] laid up for you in the heavens; of which ye heard before in the word of the truth of the glad tidings, which are come to you, as [they are] in all the world, [and] are bearing fruit and growing, even as also among you, from the day ye heard [them] and knew indeed the grace of God, in truth:
But the just shall live by faith; and, if he draw back, my soul does not take pleasure in him.
but Christ, as Son over his house, whose house are *we*, if indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end.
Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, pious men, from every nation of those under heaven.
that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love,
establishing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to abide in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.
but let us not lose heart in doing good; for in due time, if we do not faint, we shall reap.
Fear nothing [of] what thou art about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give to thee the crown of life.
of which *I* became minister, according to the dispensation of God which [is] given me towards you to complete the word of God,
When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and practiseth what is wrong, and dieth for it; in his wrong that he hath done shall he die.
But those upon the rock, those who when they hear receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a time, and in time of trial fall away. But that that fell where the thorns were, these are they who having heard go away and are choked under cares and riches and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that in the good ground, these are they who in an honest and good heart, having heard the word keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
As he spoke these things many believed on him. Jesus therefore said to the Jews who believed him, If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
Unless any one abide in me he is cast out as the branch, and is dried up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
who has also made us competent, [as] ministers of [the] new covenant; not of letter, but of spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit quickens.
rooted and built up in him, and assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
See what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called [the] children of God. For this reason the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we children of God, and what we shall be has not yet been manifested; we know that if it is manifested we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every one that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as *he* is pure.
But our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us, and given [us] eternal consolation and good hope by grace,
and *yourselves*, the unction which ye have received from him abides in you, and ye have not need that any one should teach you; but as the same unction teaches you as to all things, and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in him.
For [while] speaking great highflown words of vanity, they allure with [the] lusts of [the] flesh, by dissoluteness, those who have just fled those who walk in error, promising them liberty, while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a man is subdued, by him is he also brought into slavery. For if after having escaped the pollutions of the world through [the] knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, again entangled, they are subdued by these, their last state is worse than the first. For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known [it] to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But that [word] of the true proverb has happened to them: [The] dog [has] turned back to his own vomit; and, [The] washed sow to [her] rolling in mud.
Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through [the] resurrection of Jesus Christ from among [the] dead,
Having therefore a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession.
that, having been justified by *his* grace, we should become heirs according to [the] hope of eternal life.
to which *I* have been appointed a herald and apostle, (I speak [the] truth, I do not lie,) a teacher of [the] nations in faith and truth.
[And] I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me power, that he has counted me faithful, appointing to ministry him
and hope does not make ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by [the] Holy Spirit which has been given to us:
to them who, in patient continuance of good works, seek for glory and honour and incorruptibility, life eternal.
But I make no account of [my] life [as] dear to myself, so that I finish my course, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the glad tidings of the grace of God.
who, having arrived and seeing the grace of God, rejoiced, and exhorted all with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord;
to receive the lot of this service and apostleship, from which Judas transgressing fell to go to his own place.
for he was numbered amongst us, and had received a part in this service.
Whoever therefore hears these my words and does them, I will liken him to a prudent man, who built his house upon the rock; and the rain came down, and the streams came, and the winds blew and fell upon that house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.
and them that turn back from after Jehovah, and that do not seek Jehovah, nor inquire for him.
and we shall know, -- we shall follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is assured as the morning dawn; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain which watereth the earth. What shall I do unto thee, Ephraim? What shall I do unto thee, Judah? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away.
pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Jehovah.
Those that are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God: They are still vigorous in old age, they are full of sap and green;
and lest thou lift up thine eyes to the heavens, and see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, the whole host of heaven, and be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, which Jehovah thy God hath assigned unto all peoples under the whole heaven.
This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples under the whole heaven; who will hear report of thee, and will tremble, and quake because of thee.
I am afraid of you, lest indeed I have laboured in vain as to you.
that no one might be moved by these afflictions. (For yourselves know that we are set for this;
from whom the whole body, fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply, according to [the] working in [its] measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love.
of which I am become minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me, according to the working of his power. To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given, to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ,
in whom all [the] building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the Lord;
being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, [and] what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
For we, by [the] Spirit, on the principle of faith, await the hope of righteousness.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as being beside myself) *I* above measure [so]; in labours exceedingly abundant, in stripes to excess, in prisons exceedingly abundant, in deaths oft.
and all things [are] of the God who has reconciled us to himself by [Jesus] Christ, and given to us the ministry of that reconciliation: how that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their offences; and putting in us the word of that reconciliation. We are ambassadors therefore for Christ, God as [it were] beseeching by us, we entreat for Christ, Be reconciled to God.
Therefore, having this ministry, as we have had mercy shewn us, we faint not.
Let a man so account of us as servants of Christ, and stewards of [the] mysteries of God. Here, further, it is sought in stewards, that a man be found faithful. But for me it is the very smallest matter that I be examined of you or of man's day. Nor do I even examine myself.
Who then is Apollos, and who Paul? Ministering servants, through whom ye have believed, and as the Lord has given to each.
to which *I* have been appointed a herald and apostle and teacher of [the] nations. For which cause also I suffer these things; but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep for that day the deposit I have entrusted to him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Colossians 1
Commentary on Colossians 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 1
We have here,
Col 1:1-2
Col 1:3-8
Here he proceeds to the body of the epistle, and begins with thanksgiving to God for what he had heard concerning them, though he had no personal acquaintance with them, and knew their state and character only by the reports of others.
Col 1:9-11
The apostle proceeds in these verses to pray for them. He heard that they were good, and he prayed that they might be better. He was constant in this prayer: We do not cease to pray for you. It may be he could hear of them but seldom, but he constantly prayed for them.-And desire that you may be filled with the knowledge, etc. Observe what it is that he begs of God for them,
Col 1:12-29
Here is a summary of the doctrine of the gospel concerning the great work of our redemption by Christ. It comes in here not as the matter of a sermon, but as the matter of a thanksgiving; for our salvation by Christ furnishes us with abundant matter of thanksgiving in every view of it: Giving thanks unto the Father, v. 12. He does not discourse of the work of redemption in the natural order of it; for then he would speak of the purchase of it first, and afterwards of the application of it. But here he inverts the order, because, in our sense and feeling of it, the application goes before the purchase. We first find the benefits of redemption in our hearts, and then are led by those streams to the original and fountain-head. The order and connection of the apostle's discourse may be considered in the following manner:-