This I say, that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech. It is necessary to say this which he has just said concerning the great "mystery of God," because there is danger of deception.

I. THE METHODS OF DECEPTION.

1. One method is to reason men into error, as the word here signifies. Gnosticism was essentially rationalistic in its method, gossamer like in its webs of speculation, and full of intellectual pride. The subtle seducer is often more dangerous than the persecutor.

2. Another is to use persuasiveness of speech in the application of this reasoning. They use "fair speeches and flattering words to deceive the hearts of the simple" (Romans 16:18). The arguments were false and sophistical, but they were made to appear true through arts of rhetoric.

II. HOW TO MEET SUCH ARTS OF DECEPTION.

1. It is the duty of ministers to warn their people against them. How often did the apostle say, "Be not deceived;" "Be not carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:14)! Ministers are thus to "take heed to the flock of God, over which the Holy Ghost hath made them bishops" (Acts 20:28).

2. We must "try the spirits" ourselves (1 John 4:1), and try them, above all things, by the standard of God's Word (Isaiah 8:20).

3. We must retain the knowledge and faith of Jesus Christ as the treasure house of all wisdom and knowledge. The knowledge of his excellency is a preservative against seducing spirits.

4. We must live under the constant power of the Word, which is "able to build us up." (Acts 20:32.)

5. We must walk purely in the fear of God. For "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine" (John 7:17).

III. THE REASON FOR THIS WARNING AGAINST DECEPTION. "For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." He was anxious lest such a solid fruit of orthodoxy should be broken down by the arts of plausible teachers.

1. True love rejoices in the work of grace wherever it is discerned. The apostle heard from Epaphras good tidings of Colossian faithfulness and firmness, and was glad, as Barnabas was glad at Antioch when he saw "the grace of God" (Acts 11:23). The Apostle John likewise says, "I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth" (2 John 1:4). "A holy mind can rejoice in the good things of those he warneth and reproveth."

2. Order and steadfastness are signs of soundness in the faith. These words have military associations which may have been suggested by the presence of the Praetorian soldiers with the apostle (Philippians 1:13).

(1) Order marks the outward relation of Church fellowship. The Colossians did not break rank or "walk disorderly." We are to "walk by rule" (Galatians 6:16); "to guide our feet into the ways of peace" (Luke 1:79); and generally to "order our affairs with discretion" (Psalm 112:5). As God is "a God of order," we are to do all things "discreetly and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40).

(2) Steadfastness of faith marked their state as inwardly considered.

(a) This must always be our principle of resistance to the devil; "Whom resist, steadfast in the faith" (1 Peter 5:9).

(b) It is necessary to our success in prayer, for we are to pray "in faith, without wavering" (James 1:6).

(c) It is the means of our greater victory over, the world (1 John 5:4).

(d) It is, above all, our surest protection against errorists (Jude 1:3).

(e) It causes good men to rejoice. "Now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 2:8). - T. C.

I. A POWER THAT IS COMMON TO MAN AS MAN. "Though I be absent... spirit." Here is a power of going forth from the body — visiting distant scenes and taking an interest in them. This power we are always using. Our minds are ever away somewhere — they move with lightning rapidity across oceans, continents, and even worlds; they span the ages in a moment. We thank God for this power. Brutes have it not; it makes us indepen dent of time and space, and gives to life an eternal freshness and an infinite variety.

II. A SPIRITUAL CONDITION PECULIAR TO SOME MEN.

1. Spiritual order- harmony with ourselves, the universe, God.

2. Stability. Steadfastness to Christ, settled in hope, confidence. What a blessed state! how devoutly to be desired!

III. A SOCIAL DELIGHT EXPERIENCED BY CHRISTLY MEN. "Joying," etc. Though Paul's body was in Rome, his spirit was in Colossae rejoicing in the happiness of the Christians there.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

I. THE CONDITION ANTICIPATED — "Though I be absent in the body."

1. Whatever may be the number and importance of our relations to our fellows, we are unable to be personally in contact with them in every place. Mercifully we are not permitted to be ubiquitous, and are only suffered to be migratory for self-preservation. This restriction promotes the order, improvement, and happiness of society.

2. But is not it a hindrance to the discharge of our relationships to be absent from them? No, or it would not be made the rule for us by an all-wise God. Observe how it is made the law of Providence in regard to our nearest relations: "A man shall leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife." In how many business necessitates absence in the flesh.

3. God would teach us by this law —(1) The temporary nature of existing relations in the flesh, so that we are warned not to regard such as our highest ties. Father and mother, husband and wife, are sweet bonds; but the fact that so many circumstances cause absence, and that death will soon close such relations, ought to lead us to seek other and more enduring relations in the spirit. "Who is my mother," said Jesus. "He that doeth the will of God," etc.(2) The duty of improving our relationships while yet present. Did we realize the law of absence would not a greater spirit of kindness, forbearance, and service be excited?(3) Not to look to the arm of flesh, but to God. The tendency to make much of the human instrument because he is present is natural to man. Christ declared His absence in the flesh to be expedient for His disciples. Who can doubt that one design of Christ in the changes of spheres appointed to His ministers, e.g., is to elevate His Church's faith and to excite them to rely on His Spirit.(4) The cultivation of Christian love in its highest exercise. The love exercised when present has to be purified from inferior motives by absence. Absence from his country purifies the fires of a patriot's love. So instead of loving the Colossians less, Paul loved them the more.

II. THE COMMUNION MAINTAINED. Happily we are so constituted that the law which compels our fleshly separations is abundantly compensated by the liberty of the spirit. Paul was with the Colossians in spirit, praying for them wherever he might be, and meeting them around a common mercy seat.

(G. B. Birch.)

The apostle commended —

I. THE EXTERNAL ORDER OF THE CHURCH — "Beholding your order." This is mentioned first because it first meets the eye, though all external discipline must spring from faith.

II. THE APOSTLE CHERISHED A DEEP, PERSONAL INTEREST IN THEIR WELFARE.

1. In spirit He was present with them.

2. While the Church pre serves its order and stability it is invulnerable.

3. It is cause of rejoicing when the Church faithfully maintains the conquests already won.

(G. Barlow.)

The apostle looked forth from Rome with that spiritual second sight to which distance is as nothing. He surveyed churches remote in space, the Colossian among the rest. In praising its condition, he uses an image derived from the order and solidity of the soldiers of the Praetorian guard, whom he saw so constantly during his captivity (Philippians 1:13; Ephesians 6:11; Philippians 4:7). "Order" properly consists in the due disposition of parts in reference to the whole; steadfastness" lit. "what is made firm;" hence sometimes the solidified body, the solid strength of an army (1 Maccabees 9:14 1 Maccabees 10:50). The first is the orderly organization, without which strength evaporates; the second solid strength, without which order is a hollow parade. The Church's proper organic form and solid definite conviction of the unalterable elements of the Christian creed are closely connected in the apostle's mind as they have been in the history of the Church. The Colossian Church presents itself to him as an army — as to the Church's form, in serried order; as to the Church's creed, solid at the core.

(Bp. Alexander.)

I. OUTWARDLY, AN ORDERLY DISCIPLINED ARMY.

1. Paul was no martinet, anxious about the pedantry of the parade ground, but he knew the need of organization and drill — a place for every man and every man in his place. Order does not merely mean obedience to authority. There may be equal order under widely different forms of polity. The legionaries were drawn up in close ranks, the light armed skirmishers more loosely. In the one case the phalanx was more, and the individual less; in the other, more play was given to the single man; but the difference between them was not that of order and disorder, but that of two systems, each organized but on different principles, and for different purposes.

2. Some Churches give more weight to the principle of authority; others to that of individuality; but the former has no right to reproach the other as necessarily defective in order. Some Churches are all drill; the Churches of looser organization are in danger of making too little of organization. But both need that all their members should be more penetrated with the sense of unity, and should fill each his place in the work of the body. The proportion of idlers in all Churches is a scandal and a weakness. However officered a Church may be, no joy would fill an apostle's heart in beholding it, if the mass of its members had no share in its activities. Every society of professed Christians should be like a man-of-war's crew, each of whom knows the exact inch where he has to stand when the whistle sounds, and the precise thing he has to do in gun drill.

II. INWARDLY, A STEDFAST FAITH.

1. Perfection of discipline is not enough. That may stiffen into routine if there be not something deeper. We want life even more than order. The soldiers who set David on the throne were "men that could keep rank, they were not of a double heart" — discipline and whole-hearted enthusiasm. Both are needed. If there be not courage and devotion, there is nothing worth disciplining. The Church that has the most complete order and not also steadfastness of faith will be like the German armies, all pipe-clay and drill, which ran like hares before the ragged levies which the French revolution flung across the border.

2. If the rendering "steadfastness" be adopted, the phrase will mean "firmness which characterizes your faith." But some propose "foundation," that which is made steadfast, in which case the meaning will either be "the firm foundation (for your lives) which consists of your faith," or, "the firm foundation which your faith has." Paul rejoices, seeing that their faith towards Christ has a basis unshaken by assaults.

3. Such a rock foundation and consequent steadfastness must faith have, if it is to be worthy of the name, and to manifest its true power. A tremulous faith may be a true faith, but the very idea of faith implies solid assurance and fixed confidence. It should not be like a card castle that the light breath of a scornful laugh will throw down, but "a tower of strength that stands foursquare to all the winds that blow." We should seek to make it so, nor let the fluctuations of our hearts cause it to fluctuate. And that we may do so we must keep up a true and close communion with Jesus Christ.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

I. THE ORDER OF A GOSPEL CHURCH. It was the constant custom of the apostles to organize their converts into Churches (Acts 15:36, 41). The order may be considered in relation to the whole Church as a body (1 Corinthians 14:40; Titus 1:5), and to its members in their personal behaviour (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 11). Both of these will be taken in ii we consider the order of a Church of Christ.

1. With respect to its constitution.(1) New Testament Churches consist of such Christians as meet together in a given place for religious worship and discipline. The word Church signifies(a) the catholic invisible Church which consists of all the elect united to Christ their head (Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 5:25):(b) the universal visible Church or kingdom of Christ;(c) a Christian family all of which are professed believers joining together in the worship of God (Colossians 4:15; Romans 16:3, 5, 10, 15).(d) But the most common sense is that of particular Churches founded for the celebration of sacred ordinances. Hence we read of the Church at Corinth, at Rome, etc.(2) These Churches consist of professing believers who, in the judgment of charity, are real saints (Colossians 1:2; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2, etc.)(3) These professing believers are formed into a Church state, by mutual agreement, for walking together in all the ordinances of Christ according to the will of God (Matthew 18:15-20; 2 Corinthians 8:5; Acts 2:41, 42, 46; 2 Corinthians 9:13).

2. With respect to its officers. It cannot be completed without these who ate necessary for the regular adminstration.These are —

1. Bishops or Elders (Philippians 1:1; Acts 20:28), whose office is to feed the flock (Acts 20:17; Jeremiah 3:15), to rule well and labour in word and doctrine (1 Timothy 5:17).

2. Deacons, who have care of the secular affairs of the Church (Acts 6.)

3. With respect to its worship. A particular Church is the seat of all ordinances, and when it is furnished with proper officers it is in due order for the celebration of them. Churches ought to join in the ordinances of general communion, whether they have a pastor or not (Acts 12:5; Matthew 18:19-20). But preaching, blessing in the name of the Lord, and the administration of the sacraments are a proper province of the pastor, with the agreement of the Church as to time and place. As ministers are not to be lords over God's heritage (1 Peter 5:3; 2 Corinthians 1:24), so neither they nor the people are to call any man master (Matthew 23. 8-10).

4. As to its discipline (Matthew 18:17; 2 Corinthians 2:6-8). As any society has the right of including and excluding members, so has the Church. And as for government, Acts 15. shows that even when apostles were presiding the Church had a right of being consulted.

5. With respect to the purity of its manners, and the behaviour of its members towards one another and their pastor. They are saints and should be holy; they are brethren and should be kind and helpful; they are under their pastors (Hebrews 13:17) and should encourage, strengthen, and submit to them.

II. THE STEADFASTNESS OF THEIR FAITH IN CHRIST,

1. Christ is the object of their faith.

2. Faith is the doctrine (Galatians 1:23; Philippians 1:27; Jude 1:3) and the grace of faith. Both are probably meant here (see vers. 7, 8, and ver. 6).

3. Steadfastness signifies —(1) The substantial solidity of their faith in opposition to flashy notions and corrupt mixtures (1 Corinthians 2:5, and vers. 4, 7, 8.).(2) Its strength in opposition to weakness (Romans 4:18, 21).(3) Its constancy m opposition to wavering (Hebrews 6:19; Ephesians 4:14, 15; Colossians 1:23; Hebrews 10:39).(4) A holy resolution or courage, in opposition to shyness or cowardice in their profession of it (Colossians 1:4; Romans 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 10:23).

III. THE JOY THAT ATTENDS THE BEHOLDING OF THESE.

1. On the part of pastor, people, and other Churches.

2. Because thereby Christ is honoured, the Church edified, religion recommended, the faith confirmed, and other believers encouraged.

(J. Guyse, D. D.)

Faith is the standard-bearer in every spiritual conflict; and if the standard-bearer fall, then it is an evil day. If faith fails, everything fails: courage fails, patience fails, hope fails, love fails, joy fails. Faith is the root-grace; and if this be not in order, then the leafage of the soul, which shows itself in the form of other graces, will soon begin to wither.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

Colossians, PaulColossae, LaodiceaAbsent, Although, Beholding, Body, Christ, Delight, Delighted, Discipline, Faith, Firm, Firmness, Flesh, Front, Indeed, Joy, Joying, Nevertheless, Order, Orderly, Present, Presented, Regard, Rejoicing, Seeing, Solid, Spirit, Stability, Steadfastness, Stedfastness, Though, Unchanging, Witness, Yet1. Paul still exhorts them to be constant in Christ;
8. to beware of philosophy, and vain traditions;
18. worshipping of angels;
20. and legal ceremonies, which are ended in Christ.

Colossians 2:5

     5063   spirit, nature of
     5830   delight
     8289   joy, of church

Colossians 2:5-7

     5953   stability
     8026   faith, growth in

Notes on the Fourth Century
Page 238. Med. 1. In the wording of this meditation, and of several other passages in the Fourth Century, it seems as though Traherne is speaking not of himself, but of, a friend and teacher of his. He did this, no doubt, in order that he might not lay himself open to the charge of over-egotism. Yet that he is throughout relating his own experiences is proved by the fact that this Meditation, as first written, contains passages which the author afterwards marked for omission. In its original form …
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

July 18. "Ye are Complete in Him" (Col. Ii. 10).
"Ye are complete in Him" (Col. ii. 10). In Him we are now complete. The perfect pattern of the life of holy service for which He has redeemed and called us, is now in Him in heaven, even as the architect's model is planned and prepared and completed in his office. But now it must be wrought into us and transferred to our earthly life, and this is the Holy Spirit's work. He takes the gifts and graces of Christ and brings them into our life, as we need and receive them day by day, just as the sections …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

January 15. "As Ye have Received Christ Jesus So Walk in Him" (Col. Ii. 6).
"As ye have received Christ Jesus so walk in Him" (Col. ii. 6). It is much easier to keep the fire burning than to rekindle it after it has gone out. Let us abide in Him. Let us not have to remove the cinders and ashes from our hearthstones every day and kindle a new flame; but let us keep it burning and never let it expire. Among the ancient Greeks the sacred fire was never allowed to go out; so, in a higher sense, let us keep the heavenly flame aglow upon the altar of the heart. It takes very much …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

June 2. "As Ye have Therefore Received Christ Jesus the Lord So Walk Ye in Him" (Col. Ii. 6).
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in Him" (Col. ii. 6). Here is the very core of spiritual life. It is not a subjective state so much as a life in the heart. Christ for us is the ground of our salvation and the source of our justification; Christ in us of our sanctification. When this becomes real, "Ye are dead"; your own condition, states and resources are no longer counted upon any more than a dead man's, but "your life is hid with Christ in God." It is not even always …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Christian Progress
'As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and builded up in Him.'--COL. ii. 6, 7 (R.V.). It is characteristic of Paul that he should here use three figures incongruous with each other to express the same idea, the figures of walking, being rooted, and built up. They, however, have in common that they all suggest an initial act by which we are brought into connection with Christ, and a subsequent process flowing from and following on it. Receiving Christ, being rooted …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Fear which Terminates in the Second Death.
"The fearful--shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." The terms on which only we can be Christ's disciples are laid before us in the Scriptures, and we are counselled to consider them before we engage to be his. Though Christ was born to be a king, his kingdom is not of this world. He doth not persuade men with the prospect of great things here; but on the contrary warns his followers, that "in this world they shall have tribulation;" …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Christ Triumphant
I shall this morning, by God's help, address you upon the two portions of the text. First, I shall endeavour to describe Christ as spoiling his enemies on the cross; and having done that I shall lead your imagination and your faith further on to see the Saviour in triumphal procession upon his cross, leading his enemies captive, and making a shew of them openly before the eyes of the astonished universe. I.First, our faith is invited this morning to behold CHRIST MAKING A SPOIL OF PRINCIPALITIES …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

A Warning to Believers
"Let no man beguile you of your reward."--Colossians 2:18. THERE is an allusion here to the prize which was offered to the runners in the Olympic games, and at the outset it is well for us to remark how very frequently the Apostle Paul conducts us by his metaphors to the racecourse. Over and over again he is telling us so to run that we may obtain, bidding us to strive, and at other times to agonize, and speaking of wrestling and contending. Ought not this to make us feel what an intense thing the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

Conflict and Comfort.
"For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ."--COL. ii. 1, 2. Although he was in prison the Apostle was constantly at work for his Master, and not least of all at the work of prayer. If ever the words …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

Bands of Love; Or, Union to Christ. "I Drew them with Cords of a Man, with Bands of Love: and I was to them as they that Take Off the Yoke on their Jaws, and I Laid Meat unto Them. " --Hosea xi. 4.
BANDS OF LOVE; OR, UNION TO CHRIST. SYSTEMATIC theologians have usually regarded union to Christ under three aspects, natural, mystical and federal, and it may be that these three terms are comprehensive enough to embrace the whole subject, but as our aim is simplicity, let us be pardoned if we appear diffuse when we follow a less concise method. 1. The saints were from the beginning joined to Christ by bands of everlasting love. Before He took on Him their nature, or brought them into a conscious …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

The Disciple, -- Master, Some People Say that the Comfort and Joy that Believers Experience...
The Disciple,--Master, some people say that the comfort and joy that believers experience are simply the outcome of their own thoughts and ideas. Is this true? The Master,--1. That comfort and abiding peace which believers have within themselves is due to My presence in their hearts, and to the life-giving influence of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As for those who say that this spiritual joy is the result only of the thoughts of the heart, they are like a foolish man who was blind from his birth, …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Faithful Steward
"GOD IS LOVE." Perfectly blessed in Himself, he desired that other intelligences should participate in his own holy felicity. This was his primary motive in creating moral beings. They were made in his own image--framed to resemble him in their intellectual and moral capacities, and to imitate him in the spirit of their deportment. Whatever good they enjoyed, like him, they were to desire that others might enjoy it with them; and thus all were to be bound together by mutual sympathy,--linked …
Sereno D. Clark—The Faithful Steward

The Subordination of the Spirit to the Father and to the Son.
From the fact that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, it does not follow that the Holy Spirit is in every sense equal to the Father. While the Scriptures teach that in Jesus Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead in a bodily form (Col. ii. 9) and that He was so truly and fully Divine that He could say, "I and the Father are one" (John x. 30) and "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (John xiv. 9), they also teach with equal clearness that Jesus Christ was not equal to the Father in …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

The Person Sanctified.
"The putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh."--Col. ii. 11. Sanctification embraces the whole man, body and soul, with all the parts, members, and functions that belong to each respectively. It embraces his person and, all of his person. This is why sanctification progresses from the hour of regeneration all through life, and can be completed only in and through death. St. Paul prays for the church of Thessalonica: "The God of peace sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit and soul …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Assyrian Revival and the Struggle for Syria
Assur-nazir-pal (885-860) and Shalmaneser III. (860-825)--The kingdom of Urartu and its conquering princes: Menuas and Argistis. Assyria was the first to reappear on the scene of action. Less hampered by an ancient past than Egypt and Chaldaea, she was the sooner able to recover her strength after any disastrous crisis, and to assume again the offensive along the whole of her frontier line. Image Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief at Koyunjik of the time of Sennacherib. The initial cut, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 7

St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nazianzum; Council of Constantinople,
PART I (AD 373-381) Although St. Athanasius was now dead, God did not fail to raise up champions for the true faith. Three of the most famous of these were natives of Cappadocia--namely, Basil, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, and his friend Gregory of Nazianzum. But although Gregory of Nyssa was a very good and learned man, and did great service to the truth by his writings, there was nothing remarkable in the story of his life; so I shall only tell you about the other two. Basil and Gregory of Nazianzum …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

His Eyes are Like a Dove's by the Rivers of Waters, Washed with Milk, and Sitting Beside Overflowing Streams.
She goes on holding up to admiration the perfection of her Bridegroom; His abundance and His wonderful qualities are the joy of the Spouse, in the midst of her misery. His eyes, says she, are so pure, so chaste and so simple, His knowledge so purified from everything material, that they are like dove's; not like doves of any common beauty, but doves washed in the milk of divine grace, which, having been given to Him without measure, has filled Him with all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

Christians must not Forsake the Church of God, and Go Away and Invoke Angels And...
Christians must not forsake the Church of God, and go away and invoke angels and gather assemblies, which things are forbidden. If, therefore, any one shall be found engaged in this covert idolatry, let him be anathema; for he has forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and has gone over to idolatry. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XXXV. Whoso calls assemblies in opposition to those of the Church and names angels, is near to idolatry and let him be anathema. Van Espen. Whatever the worship …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

The Poison and the Antidote
'And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compare the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7. Therefore …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

More Particularly, in what Respect Christ is Called the Truth.
But for further explaining of this matter, we would see more particularly, in what respects it is, that he is called the truth; and this will make way to our use-making of him. So, First, He is the Truth, in opposition to the shadows and types of him, under the law. Hence, as "the law," the whole Levitical and typical dispensation, "came by Moses, so grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," John i. 17. They were all shadows of him, and he is the substance and body of them all, Col. ii. 17; and this …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Faith
'The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.' Gal 2:20. The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us. Christ is the glory, and faith in Christ the comfort, of the gospel. What are the kinds of faith? Fourfold: (1.) An historical or dogmatic faith, which is believing the truths revealed in the Word, because of divine authority. (2.) There is a temporary faith, which lasts for a time, and then vanishes. Yet has he no root in himself, …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

In the Work of the Redemption of Man, not Only the Mercy, but Also the Justice, of God is Displayed.
In the work of the Redemption of man, not only the mercy, but also the justice, of God is displayed. 15. Man therefore was lawfully delivered up, but mercifully set free. Yet mercy was shown in such a way that a kind of justice was not lacking even in his liberation, since, as was most fitting for man's recovery, it was part of the mercy of the liberator to employ justice rather than power against man's enemy. For what could man, the slave of sin, fast bound by the devil, do of himself to recover …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

He Made the Pillars Thereof of Silver, the Couch of Gold, the Ascent Thereto of Purple; and the Midst Thereof He Strewed with Love for the Daughters of Jerusalem.
The pillars of the holy Humanity of Jesus Christ are of silver; His soul with its powers and His body with its senses being of a finished purity well set forth by the most refined and brilliant silver. His couch, which is the Divinity itself, in which Christ subsists in the person of the Word, is clearly expressed by the couch of this mysterious chariot being made all of gold, which is often put in the Scriptures for God. The ascent thereto is adorned with purple, whereby it is signified, that although …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

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