THE K I N G ’ S B U S I NE S S
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the will of God” (cf. 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1 :1). He did not take the office upon himself, it was of God’s choice and appointment. Some have presumed to assume this office (the apostleship) for themselves, but Paul was an apostle “ through the will of God.” Paul sought to do all that he did “ through the will of God” (cf. Rom. 15:32). That is one of the great est secrets of joy and victory in service, taking no position and undertaking no work except “ through the will of God.” Paul associates the name of Timothy with his own as the author of the epistle, or of the opening salutation (cf. 2 Cor. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; Phile. 1). In this epistle thè association of Timothy with him self is carried along further in the thought than in some of the epistles. In the epistle to the Philippians it is dropped after the second verse and then Paul appears alone. In this epistle it is carried along to the twenty-third verse. Timothy is mentioned no less than twenty-four times in the N. T. and he was a young man of very lofty char acter, honored and beloved not only by Paul, the great apostle, but by God himself. Here Paul speaks of him as “ the brother” (in both Authorized and Revised Version it says “ our brother” but the Greek says “ the brother” ). That is really a more honorable title than “ Doctor of Divinity.” Just think of being “ the brother” of Paul. MONDAY, Nov. 4th. Col. 1:2. The epistle is addressed “ to the saints,” i. e., those separated unto God. Every believer in Christ is a saint, the blood of Christ separates him from the world unto God, makes him God’s own peculiar property (cf. Heb. 10:10; 1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Pet. 2:9, R. V.). Those to whom the epistle is addressed are also spoken of as “ faithful brethren.” The Greek adjective translated “ faithful” in its N. T. usage means believing rather than trustworthy. It is the same word that is translated “ which believed” in Acts 10:45, and that is used in Acts 16:1; 2 Cor. 6:15; Col. 1:2; 1 Tim. 4:3; 5:16; 6:2; Tit. 1:6. Of course, one who truly believes in Christ will be also faithful, for the man who is truly full of faith must of necessity be faithful. Paul calls them “ brethren” ns children of the same Father as he, i. e., God (cf. Gal. 3:26). He speaks of them as being “ saints”
was that “ the grace of our Lord Jesus be with your spirits,” i. e., with their immortal part (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10.) SUNDAY, Nov. 3rd. Col. 1:1. We begin today the study of another of Paul’s wonderful letters to the churches. It was written at about the same time as the letter to the Ephesians and sent by the same messenger, Tych- icus (ch. 4:7, cf. Eph. 6:21). It con tains many of the same truths that are contained in the letter to the Ephesians, but those truths looked at from another point of view. Its agreements with and differences from the Epistle to the Ephesians are alike interesting and significant. These agreements and differences are well set forth by Bishop Moule in a scholarly yet popular way in the Introduction to the Epistle to the Colossians in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. The one great distinctive doctrine of this epistle is that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is “ the first born of all creation,” the source and head not only of the church but of the whole created universe, the heavens and earth and all they con tain, including the thrones and domin ions and principalities and powers and the invisible angelic world. Its great theme is the fullness that there is in Christ and our fullness in Him. The reader of these notes should read the book through carefully and thought fully and prayerfully four or five times at one sitting before reading these notes. Paul is the writer of the letter. He speaks of himself as “ an apostle of Jesus Christ.” “ Apostle” means “ one sent,” an envoy. Our word “ mission ary” means the same by its deriviation, but the word “ Apostle” in its N. T. usage is limited to that small company of men who are immediate delegates or ambassadors of Christ, especially commissioned and equipped by Him for the work and able to show the reality of their apostleship by certain signs that marked an apostle off from other men (2 Cor. 12:12). In order to be an apostle one must have seen the Lord Jesus and have actually seen Him after His resurrection (Acts 1:21, 22; 1 Cor. 15:8, 9). Other men were spoken of as “ apostles (or envoys) of the churches” (cf. 2 Cor. 8:23, R. V.), bht these'few selected and especially endowed men who laid the foundation of the church were “ apostles of Jesus Christ” and have no successors. Paul says that he was an apostle of Christ Jesus “ through
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