of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God,
Parallel Translations
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of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God,
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wherof I am made a minister acordynge to the ordinaunce of god which ordinaunce was geven me vnto you warde to fulfill the worde of god
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Whereof I am a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which is giuen mee vnto you ward, to fulfill the word of God,
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Colossians 1:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ephesians 3:2 if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you,
- Colossians 1:23 if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
- Galatians 2:7-8 but to the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the uncircumcised, even as Peter with the Good News for the circumcised— for he who worked through Peter in the apostleship with the circumcised also worked through me with the Gentiles—
- 2 Timothy 4:2-5 preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables. But you be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.
- Romans 15:15-19 But I write the more boldly to you in part, as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God, that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God. For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ;
- 1 Thessalonians 3:2 and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the Good News of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith,
- 1 Timothy 4:6 If you instruct the brothers of these things, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which you have followed.
- 1 Corinthians 9:17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 25. Of which I am made a minister. Mark…
25. Of which I am made a minister. Mark under what character he suffers for the Church — as being a minister, not to give the price of redemption, (as Augustine dexterously and piously expresses himself,) but to proclaim it. He calls himself, however, in this instance, a minister of the Church on a different ground from that on which he called himself elsewhere, (1 Corinthians 4:1,) a minister of God, and a little ago, (Colossians 1:23,) a minister of the gospel. For the Apostles serve God and Christ for the advancement of the glory of both: they serve the Church, and administer the gospel itself, with a view to promote salvation. There is, therefore, a different reason for the ministry in these expressions, but the one cannot subsist without the other. He says, however, towards you, that they may know that his office has a connection also with them.
To fulfill the word. He states the end of his ministry — that the word of God may be effectual, as it is, when it is obediently received. For this is the excellence of the gospel, that it is the
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power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. (Romans 1:16.)
God, therefore, gives efficacy and influence to his word through means of the Apostles. For although preaching itself, whatever may be its issue, is the fulfilling of the word, yet it is the fruit that shews at length that the seed has not been sown in vain.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He bringeth another proof of his Apostleship, to wit,…
He bringeth another proof of his Apostleship, to wit, that God is the author of it, by whom also he was appointed peculiarly Apostle of the Gentiles, to the end that by this means, that same might be fulfilled by him, which the Prophets foretold of the calling of the Gentiles.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to…
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Ver. 25. According to the dispensation] What a horrid blasphemy therefore is that of the Jesuits, who stick not to tell the people in their pulpits that St Paul was not secure in his preaching, but by conference with St Peter, nor that he dared publish his Epistles till St Peter had allowed them! (Spec. Europ.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Whereof I am made a minister; see under what…
Whereof I am made a minister; see under what title he suffers for the church, because a minister, ( in the more general acceptation of the word), as Col 1:23, not (as one of the ancients saith) to give the price of redemption, but to preach. He looked not on his apostleship as a domination, but ministration, 2Co 5:18; and though in regard of his call he was an extraordinary apostle, yet he, (remembering his Master’s injunction, Mat 20:26), no more than Peter did affect dominion or a lordship over Christ’s heritage 2Co 1:24; 1Pe 5:1-3, according to his singular and eminent call to be a minister and a witness, Act 26:16. As he doth elsewhere make mention of the minister of God, 2Co 6:4; 1Th 3:2; of the New Testament, gospel, word, reconciliation, Act 6:4; 2Co 3:6; 5:18,19; Eph 3:7; of Jesus Christ and of the Lord, Rom 15:8; 1Co 4:1; Eph 6:20; 1Ti 4:6; so he doth here, by reason of the union between the Head and the body, own himself to be constituted a minister of the church, which some, of a lower rank, like not now to be called.
According to the dispensation of God; and that by Divine vouchsafement and commandment, being called from persecution of the church to this ministry, Act 9:15,16; 1Co 4:1; 2Co 5:19; Eph 1:1. Yea, and also for them at Colosse, who, being of the Gentiles, were in his commission, according to the gift of the grace of God given to him, Eph 3:7.
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Which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; fully to preach the word of God amongst them, as well as to the Romans and others, Rom 15:19, and so to fulfil the prophecy, Zec 2:11, for the calling of the Gentiles by the promulgation of the gospel amongst them, Act 22:21; Rom 1:5; 11:13; 1Ti 2:7; and so fulfilling God’s word, by fully expounding the whole doctrine of salvation amongst them, and promoting of it to the end of his life.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Our apostle in these words, seems to assign a…
Our apostle in these words, seems to assign a reason why he underwent the sufferings mentioned in the former verse so cheerfully, as even to rejoice in them; namely, because he was a minister of the church, by the special dispensation of God, to preach the mysteries of the gospel to the Gentile world.
Learn hence, That such as are eminent in the church, and, as ministers of the gospel, do lay out themselves more abundantly in the church’s service, they must expect to meet with a measure, and a full measure of sufferings beyond others. There are no such enemies to the devil’s kingdom, as the zealous and faithful ministers of Jesus Christ; therefore he will be sure to revenge the ruins of his own kingdom.
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Observe farther, What it was that St. Paul was appointed by God to preach to the Gentiles, namely, that great mystery of their vocation and calling; this he calls here a mystery, a rich mystery, a glorious mystery, a mystery bid from ages but now made manifest.
Learn hence, That the doctrine of salvation by Jesus Christ, as a Redeemer, was long hid from the knowledge of the Gentiles; and that at last they were brought to the knowledge of Christ, and the participation of gospel privileges was a great mystery awfully to be admired, and a glorious mercy with all thankfulness to be acknowledged, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles-which is Christ, in you, the hope of glory, which gospel, preached amongst you, and received and entertained by you, is an earnest and ground of your hope of glory.
Note here, 1. That Christ is in, and among believers; he is among them by the preaching of the gospel, he is in them by the inhabitation of his holy Spirit.
Note, 2. That all true believers, whilst here on earth, have an hope of glory.
Note, 3. That Christ’s indwelling presence in the souls of believers by his holy Spirit, is an earnest of that glory, and an evident demonstration of their hope of it: Believers have in them a glorious hope, they have before them a glory hoped for; Christ is the ground of both, by him we obtain the end of our hope, even the salvation of our souls.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Whereof I am made a minister,.... Not of Christ,…
Whereof I am made a minister,.... Not of Christ, or of the Gospel as before, though both were true; but of the churches for whose sake he endured afflictions; and which carries in it a reason of his suffering for them: he was not a saviour of the body, nor a redeemer of the church, nor Lord of it; but a minister, a servant of it, that ministered to it in holy things, in the word and ordinances; not a deacon, as the word, sometimes signifies, nor an ordinary minister, or a pastor of a particular church; but a minister of the church in general, being an apostle sent to preach the Gospel everywhere: he was made a minister of it, not by men, or anything he received from men; nor by himself, not by usurpation, he did not thrust himself into this office, or take it upon him of himself; but was put into it by Christ, who counted him faithful, he appeared to him, and made him a minister, qualified him for this office, called him to it, and sent him to perform it: and which he executed
according to the dispensation of God: or divine economy, which denotes such an authority and administration as is used in a family. The church is God's family, it is called the house and household of God, and the household of faith, part of which is in heaven and part on earth; God is the householder or master of the family; Christ is the Son over his own house; ministers are stewards in it, and their work is to give to everyone their portion of meat in due season; their authority from God to do so, and the exercise of it, are the economy or dispensation of the Gospel committed to them: this is of God and not man, for none but God can give them a power to dispense it, and which is purely of his grace, called therefore the dispensation of the grace of God, Eph 3:2; and here said to be given,
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which is given to me for you; not according to any merits of his, who was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an injurious person to Christ and his Gospel; but according to the pure grace of God, and that not for himself, but for the good of others, for the Gentiles especially, and so for the Colossians:
to fulfil the word of God; either the promises and prophecies contained in the word of God, respecting the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles, and their conversion by it; which had in a great measure their accomplishment through the ministry of the apostle: or to fill all places with the word of God and Gospel of Christ, as the apostle did from Jerusalem, and round about to Illyricum, diffusing the savour of the knowledge of Christ in every place; and sinners being converted, churches were planted and daily filled with such as should be saved; or to preach fully and faithfully the Gospel, keeping back nothing that was profitable, but declaring the whole counsel of God, continuing faithful to it to the end, as he did: to fill up or fulfil words is an Hebraism, and signifies to confirm them, or act according to them; see Kg1 1:14 and the Septuagint there.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain According to the dispensation of God which is given…
According to the dispensation of God which is given me - Or, the stewardship with which I am intrusted.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 25. Whereof I am made a minister] Having…
Verse 25. Whereof I am made a minister] Having received especial commission from God to preach salvation to the Gentiles.
According to the dispensation] κατα την οικονομιαν. According to the Gospel economy or institution; the scheme or plan of salvation by Christ crucified.
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To fulfil the word of God] The Greek πληρωσαι τον λογον του Θεου may be translated, fully to preach the doctrine of God. See Ro 15:19, and the note there. Were we to take the word in its common meaning, it might signify to accomplish the purpose of God, as predicted by the prophets.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain According to the dispensation of God - The arrangement…
According to the dispensation of God - The arrangement which God has made. That is, he designed that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, and, in accordance with that arrangement, he has called me to be a minister. Notes, Eph 3:2.
To fulfil the word of God - Margin, “fully to preach.” The Greek is, “to fill up the word of God;” the meaning is, “fully to teach and promulgate the gospel;” compare the notes at Rom 15:19.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain According to the dispensation of God; i.e. to the…
According to the dispensation of God; i.e. to the appointment of his divine providence. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain am--Greek, "I was made a minister": resuming Col 1:23,…
am--Greek, "I was made a minister": resuming Col 1:23, "whereof I Paul was made a minister."
dispensation--the stewardship committed to me to dispense in the house of God, the Church, to the whole family of believers, the goods of my Master (Luk 12:42; Co1 4:1-2; Co1 9:17; Eph 3:2).
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which is given--Greek, "which was given."
for you--with a view to you, Gentiles (Col 1:27; Rom 15:16).
to fulfil--to bring it fully to all: the end of his stewardship: "fully preached" (Rom 15:19). "The fulness of Christ (Col 1:19), and of the times (Eph 1:10) required him so to do" [BENGEL].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 25. Minister—Servant, of the gospel, in Col_1:23, here of…
25. Minister—Servant, of the gospel, in Col_1:23, here of the Church.
Dispensation—Stewardship, the office of a servant, for the work of preaching; not a priesthood to offer sacrifice or to administer sacraments. His sphere of labour was, by the terms of his commission, among the Gentiles, and his work was to preach to them the unsearchable riches of Christ. Eph_3:5.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 25. whereof] That is, of the Church; on behalf…
25. whereof] That is, of the Church; on behalf of it, serving its holy interests.
according to] His “ministry” was conditioned and guided by the terms of “the dispensation” just about to be mentioned.
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the dispensation] Better, the stewardship. So Eph_3:2, a close parallel. For the figure see 1Co_4:1-2; 1Co_9:17; 1Pe_4:10. And cp. Mat_13:52.—On Eph_1:10, where the word occurs in a somewhat different phase of meaning, see note in this Series.
It is almost needless to say that the N.T. use of the figure of stewardship has regard to the minister’s duty to provide the household of God with the food of truth, and not to any supposed right or duty to reserve that food.
fulfil the word of God] I.e. in the light of the context, not to “accomplish His promise,” but to “develope, unfold, His message to the full.” Cp. Rom_15:19; “I have fully preached (lit., fulfilled) the Gospel of Christ.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (25) Whereof I am made (or, became) a minister.—Above…
(25) Whereof I am made (or, became) a minister.—Above (in Col_1:23) St. Paul describes himself as a “minister of the gospel,” here as a “minister (or, servant) of the Church.” Elsewhere he is always the “minister of God” and “of Christ”; here of the Church, as the Body of Christ, and so indissolubly united with Christ.
The dispensation of God.—See Eph_3:2-9, and Notes there. The reference is to his peculiar “Apostleship of the Gentiles.”
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To fulfil.—The marginal reading and reference to Rom_15:19 give the explanation of the word, “fully to preach the Word of God”—to be a messenger of the perfect revelation, which had now unfolded what was previously a hidden “mystery.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Of which I became a minister (2Co_4:5 2Co_6:3-10 2Co_11:28,…
Of which I became a minister (2Co_4:5 2Co_6:3-10 2Co_11:28, 2Co_11:29; 1Th_2:1-12; Act_20:28; 1Pe_5:1-4) His sufferings are, therefore, matter of duty, as well as of joy. As the Church"s minister, he is bound to toil and to suffer in whatever way her welfare requires. Elsewhere he styles himself "minister of the gospel", (Eph_3:7) "of God," "of Christ," "of a new covenant". (2Co_3:6) (On "minister," see note, ver. 7. According to the stewardship of God, that was given me to you-ward (Eph_3:1-13; 1Co_4:1-4 1Co_9:17; 1Ti_1:4, R.V; 3:15; Luk_12:42 Luk_16:2-4; Heb_3:2-6; 1Pe_4:10) Oijkonomia ("economy") is first "house-management," then "administration" generally the oijkonomov ("house-steward") was a confidential upper servant, frequently a slave, who controlled the general arrangements of a large establishment, and was responsible immediately to the master. Such an office the apostle holds, along with others, (1Co_4:1) in the Church, "the house of God". (Eph_2:19; 1Ti_3:15; 2Ti_2:20: this conception, like that of "the body of Christ comp. note on ver. 18 is fully developed only in the later Epistles) In this office he "administers the gospel", (1Co_9:17, 1Co_9:18) "the grace of God" (Eph_3:2; 1Pe_4:10) and here more especially "the mystery" of vers. 26, 27. (comp. Eph_3:9, R.V) In Eph_1:10 and 3:2, the oijkonomia is referred to God himself, the supreme Dispenser in his own house. This office "was given" him, and specifically as "toward the Gentiles" (for "you" points to the Colossians as Gentiles, vers. 24, 27, notes; (Rom_11:13) when he first became a servant of Christ (Act_9:15 Act_22:21 Act_26:16-18; Gal_1:15, Gal_1:16; 1Ti_1:11-15; Rom_15:15, Rom_15:16) Some interpreters connect "to you-ward" with the word "fulfil," but less suitably. (comp. Eph_3:2; (Rom_15:16) To fulfil the word of God. (Rom_15:16-19 Rom_16:25, Rom_16:26) "To fulfil" (see vers. 9, 24, and "fulness," ver. 19; also (Col_2:9, 10 4:12) is either "to complete," to give full development and extension to the gospel message; (vers. 5, 6 2Th_3:1; 2Co_2:14-17; Rom_15:19; Act_20:20, Act_20:21, Act_20:27) or "to accomplish" the prophetic word (Rom_9:24-26 Rom_15:8-12; Act_15:15-17) as inw, (Act_13:27, and frequently in the Gospels. This verb plhro) however, is not used by St. Paul elsewhere in the latter sense, and the former precisely suits the context (compare parallels from Romans). Other interpretations preach abundantly," "to continue Christ"s preaching" (Eph_2:17; Heb_2:3) "to execute the Divine commission miss the sense of the verb. The word which it is the object of the apostle"s ministry to fulfil, and in regard to which he had a special stewardship, is none other than
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Whereof I am made a minister.
Col_1:25-27
Whereof I am made a minister.
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The pre-eminent honour and sublime theme of the Christian ministry
I. The Christian ministry is a Divine institution.
1. The Christian minister is divinely commissioned. Dispensation involves the idea of stewardship.
2. The true minister is charged with the most complete proclamation of the Divine Word.
II. The Christian ministry deals with a theme of profound significance and ineffable worth.
1. It is designated a mystery. The gospel is still a mystery to the unconverted.
2. It is a mystery unveiled to those who are morally fitted to understand it. To His saints. God chose His own time for making it known. Like all the Divine procedures, the development was gradual, increasing in clearness and completeness as the fulness of time approached. It is an axiom in optics that the eye only sees what it brings with it the power to see: and in spiritual things the soul comprehends the revelation of God only as it is fitted by she Spirit.
3. The revelation of the mystery was an act of the Divine will. To whom God would make known. There was nothing impelling Him to unfold it but His own good pleasure.
4. The revelation of the mystery endowed humanity with a vast inheritance of moral wealth. What is the riches of the glory of this mystery.
(1) This inheritance enriched the most needy. It was exhibited among the Gentiles.
(2) This inheritance includes the hope inspired by the indwelling Christ. Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Lessons--
1. The Christian ministry involves solemn responsibilities.
2. The transcendent theme of the Christian ministry is divinely revealed.
3. Personal experience of the grace of God endows man with the clearest insight into its mystery and the most satisfying possession of its spiritual riches. (G. Barlow.)
Divine ordination to the ministry
If they say, You have gifts for preaching, and you might have been a tolerable preacher if you had been properly ordained, I reply that I was properly ordained. My father ordained me. Ah! I was better ordained than that: my greater Father ordained me. He ordained me twice: first, when He put his hand on my head before I was born, and said, Be a head; and then, after I had carried it round a few years, when He stretched out His hand and touched my heart rather than my head, and said, Be ordained again. First, He makes the head-piece to think; and then He touches the heart, and says, Go preach My gospel. When a man has had that done to him, he is ordained. A pope could not make him any better; a bishop could not make him any better; a whole presbytery could not make him any better. (H. W. Beecher.)
St. Paul a proof of his gospel
This is not merely an appeal to their affection for him, though that is perfectly legitimate. Holy words may be holier because dear lips have taught them to us, and even the truth of God may allowably have a firmer hold upon our hearts because of our love for some who have ministered it to us. It is a poor commentary on a preachers work if, after long service to a congregation, his words do not come with power given to them by old affection and confidence. The humblest teacher who has done his masters errand will have some to whom he can appeal, as Paul did, and urge them to keep hold of the message he has preached. But there is more than that in the apostles mind. He was accustomed to quote the fact that he, the persecutor, had been made the messenger of Christ, as a living proof of the infinite mercy and power of that ascended Lord, whom His eyes saw on the road to Damascus. So here he puts stress on the fact that he became a minister as being an evidence of Christianity. The history of his conversion is one of the strongest proofs of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. You know, he seems to say, what turned me from being a persecutor into an apostle. It was because I saw the living Christ, and heard the words of His mouth, and, I beseech you, listen to no words which make His dominion less sovereign, and His sole and sufficient work on the Cross less mighty. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 25. According to the dispensation. God made him a…
25. According to the dispensation. God made him a minister of the church. That ministry was a “stewardship” (dispensation) committed to him. He refers to the great responsibility of the apostolic office. He as a “steward of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:2). To fulfil the word of God. Not only to do what the word required, but to preach the word everywhere.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Col_1:25-27. See notes on Eph_3:7 ff.
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Col_1:25-27. See notes on Eph_3:7 ff.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Col_1:25-27
The Pre-eminent Honour and Sublime Theme of the Christian Ministry.
The highest dignity and most solemn responsibility are conferred on man when he is entrusted with the ministration of God’s word. It is the infinite condescension of God that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. He who, in the exercise of His unchallengeable wisdom, calls man to this work, can alone inspire and endow him with the necessary intellectual and moral fitness for the awful charge. In these verses we learn that the apostle was appointed a minister of the Church—a steward in God’s household—charged to preach without reserve the whole gospel of God, to dispense to the Gentiles the stores which His bountiful grace provided. Note:—
I. The Christian ministry is a divine institution.—
1. The true minister is divinely commissioned. “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you” (Col_1:25). The word “dispensation” involves the idea of stewardship. God governs His Church, not as a tyrant, who rules what is not his own, not as a monarch, who knows not a thousandth part of his subjects; but as a father, who knows, loves, and provides for his own children. The apostle was entrusted with a stewardship in God’s household; he was “a steward of the mysteries of God.” He received the office from God. This invested it with the highest dignity; yet he was the minister of the Church, and it was his joy to serve it, whatever might be the labour, sacrifice, or suffering entailed. The Christian ministry is not a lordship, but a stewardship; the minister is solemnly commissioned of God to maintain, defend, and dispense the truth that saves and edifies. There are moments when the minister can derive stimulus and courage for his work only by falling back upon the irrefutable fact of his divine call.
2. The true minister is charged with the most complete proclamation of the divine word.—“To fulfil the word of God” (Col_1:25)—to preach fully, to give its most complete development to. The apostle had declared the gospel in all its depth and breadth of meaning, its wealth of blessing, and amplitude of revelation. He had proclaimed it in every direction, in harmony with his insight into its universal fitness and sufficiency. Fulfil implies the figure of a measure to be filled. The true minister is empowered to preach the word of God in all the fulness of its internal import, and in accord with the universality of its outward purpose. Whether palatable or unpalatable, he must not shun to declare everywhere the whole counsel of God. The fulness there is in Christ and the urgent needs of humanity alike demand this.
II. The Christian ministry deals with a theme of profound significance and ineffable worth.—
1. It is designated a mystery. “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations” (Col_1:26). Mystery in the Scripture sense does not mean something actually incomprehensible, but something concealed or unknown until it please God to reveal it; something beyond the human mind to discover for itself, and which can only be attained by divine aid. The mystery comprehended two leading features—the divine purpose in saving man through a suffering and crucified Saviour, and the free admission of the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews to the privileges of the covenant. Unlike the heathen mysteries, which were confined to a narrow circle, the Christian mystery is freely communicated to all. The mystery was concealed from the ages, which may be referred to the angels; and from the generations, which may be referred to men. Though faintly shadowed in types and figures, the truth would never have been discovered by man. In the revelation of the mystery the apostle applauded the lavish wealth of the divine goodness. The gospel is still a mystery to the unconverted.
2. It is a mystery unveiled to those who are morally fitted to understand it.—“But now is made manifest to His saints” (Col_1:26). God chose His own time for making known the mystery of the gospel. Like all the divine procedures, the development was gradual, increasing in clearness and completeness as the fulness of time approached; that time embraced the advent of the incarnate Son of God, His ascension and enthronement in heaven, and the descent of the revealing Spirit. It is an axiom in optics that the eye only sees what it brings with it the power to see; and it is equally true in spiritual things that the soul comprehends the revelation of God only as it is prepared and fitted by the good Spirit. The holier the organ of divine revelation, the clearer the vision. It was not to the dignitaries of imperial Rome or the ruling powers of Judea, but to humble shepherds that the tidings of the Saviour’s advent were first announced; not to the aristocracy of Pharisaic or Sadducean intellect, but to the plain, unlettered, believing fishermen of Galilee that the full glory of salvation by Christ was disclosed. Augustine has said, “Illiterate men rise and seize heaven, while we, with all our learning, are rolling in the filth of sin.”
3. The revelation of the mystery was an act of the divine will.—“To whom God would make known” (Col_1:27). There was nothing impelling Him to unfold this mystery but His own good pleasure. It was His sovereign will to disclose to the humble and devout, rather than to the proud and self-sufficient, the wondrous grace and glory of the gospel. The most sincere seeker after holiness could not of himself discover the mystery. But though made known in its richer spiritual developments only to the good, the good pleasure of God has put the knowledge of it within the reach of all.
4. The revelation of the mystery endowed humanity with a vast inheritance of moral wealth.—“What is the riches of the glory of this mystery” (Col_1:27). The terms employed seem inadequate to convey the meaning intended. It is impossible fully to explain or illustrate the sublime truths they indicate. The gospel is a mystery full of glory—a glory unique, resplendent, unsurpassable; and this glory is dowered with riches, abundant, inexhaustible, and divine. The riches of the glory appear in the manifestation of the nature and attributes of God which the mystery supplies, and also in the moral wealth that has descended upon man. Here is the most lavish provision for the salvation of sinful and perishing humanity—an inheritance of imperishable bliss.
(1) This inheritance enriched the most needy. It was exhibited “among the Gentiles” (Col_1:27). The Jews were the children of promise and possessed every religious privilege; the Gentiles were the children of mercy, and had never dared to dream of enjoying the blessings of the gospel. In the revelation of the mystery to them, the dispensation of grace achieved its greatest triumphs and displayed its transcendent glory. Here, too, was its wealth, for it overflowed all barriers of caste or race. Judaism was “beggarly” in comparison, since its treasures sufficed only for a few. The glory of the gospel was never so brilliant as in the moral transformations it effected among the degraded Gentiles.
(2) This inheritance includes the hope inspired by the indwelling Christ. “Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col_1:27). The mystery of the gospel begins and ends in Christ, and Christ is in every believer the hope of glory. Only in Christ can we hope for the highest glory, and in Him we infallibly find all the blessedness we can enjoy in this world or expect in the future. In Him we have here as seed what we shall have in Him there as harvest. “Even now we sit there in Him, and shall sit with Him in the end.”
Lessons.—
1. The Christian ministry involves solemn responsibilities.
2. The transcendent theme of the Christian ministry is divinely revealed.
3. Personal experience of the grace of God endows man with the clearest insight into its mystery, and the most satisfying possession of its spiritual riches.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Col_1:25-27. The Glory of the Gospel—
I. A mystery once hidden, but now revealed (Col_1:26-27).
II. Enriches all nations with moral blessings.
III. Is entrusted to divinely authorised messengers to make known (Col_1:25; Col_1:27).
Col_1:27. Christ in you the Hope of Glory.
I. What it implies of present experience.—
1. Generally—Christ among you.
2. Personally—Christ in you.
II. What it presages.—“The hope of glory.”
1. Personal glory—in the perfection of being where the servant is like his Lord.
2. Relative glory—sharing the throne with Jesus, and sharing in His triumph and glory.—Preacher’s Magazine.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.