General Conference Bulletin, vol. 1

STUDY OF THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS — NO. 1

J. H. DURLAND

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3

IN taking up the study of the first chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians we will for the sake of convenience divide it into five parts. The first two verses are the Salutation; verses 3 to 8 we will name the Hope of the Gospel, the third division, verses 9 to 15, may be called Divine Strength; in verses 16 to 20 Christ is spoken of as the Creator and Redeemer, and so we will call that division Creation and Redemption, and the rest of the chapter, The Work of the Ministry. We have divided the chapter in this way and given names to the different parts simply in order to have terms in which to speak of the different parts of the chapter. GCB February 6, 1895, page 19.3

In the first two verses we learn who the writer is, and to whom the epistle is addressed. Then follows his salutation, “Grace be unto you, and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” If we compare the other epistles of Paul, we shall find that they almost without exception have a salutation after this form, and in nearly every one he first speaks of grace. They generally close too in much the same way. GCB February 6, 1895, page 19.4

Grace is unmerited favor, and it is offered to everybody. We read in Psalm 84:11: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Paul exhorts us (Hebrews 4:16) to come boldly to the throne of grace. A throne of grace is a throne where grace is dispensed, and we are to come boldly, that is, feeling perfectly free to do so. So in the very beginning of our study, we want to fix it in our minds that there is grace for every one, and, as we have read in the 84th psalm, with it God will give us every good thing. GCB February 6, 1895, page 19.5

In Hebrews 10:29 mention is made of doing despite to the “Spirit of grace.” God has told us that he is more willing to give his Spirit to those that ask him than earthly parents are to give good gifts to their children. Keeping this in mind, let us turn to John 14:16. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” Verse 23: “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” Why, then, in our meetings do we pray for the Lord to come and be with us, when if we are where we ought to be, he is with us before we come to meeting. But we all do many things which we do not believe. We do them because somebody else does. But let us not get into the habit of praying to the Lord as if he had gone off a long way, and we had to bring him back by our entreaties. The heart of every Christian is the sanctuary of Christ, and he ought to be officiating there this morning. We read in one place in the “Spirit of Prophecy”: “If we will open the door to Jesus, he will come in and abide with us; our strength will always be re-enforced by his actual representative, the Holy Spirit.” GCB February 6, 1895, page 19.6

Let us now consider the 20th verse of the 14th chapter of John. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance.” Note the order of the words. The Holy Spirit must first teach us these things, and then it can bring them to our remembrance. If we have never been taught a certain thing, it cannot be brought to our remembrance. The Spirit teaches us through the Word, for that is his vocabulary. GCB February 6, 1895, page 19.7

In studying this epistle, we want to learn what it says; then it will be easy enough to learn what it means, for we can read it directly from the Scripture itself. Some people in reading the Bible like to pick out one text here and another there, in order to prove a certain thing. Often there is only one part of a text that they want, and they wish the other part were not there, because it rather weakens their argument. At present we need not keep the thought of proving things in our mind, but let us begin feeding on the word of God, and then God will prove his own word. GCB February 6, 1895, page 19.8

Peter says, “Grow in grace.” How many of us can put ourselves into grace? Well, how are you going to get in there? Thank God, we are in grace already this morning. The grace of God is to all, both good and bad. A great many times we have been in darkness and doubt because we wanted to get into the favor of God. Let us thank God this morning that we are every one of us in his favor. GCB February 6, 1895, page 19.9

But it is not only grace, but grace and “peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” What is peace? The best definition is the word itself. In Philippians 4:7 we read of the “peace of God which passeth all understanding.” As we are told in his word, God knows the end from the beginning. He does not need to trouble himself or worry over how things will come out. Some of us may say that if we had that knowledge, we too might enjoy peace; but do we not have it? Has not God told us that all things work together for our good? Yes, and every soul here this morning can have that same peace by just resting on the word of God. GCB February 6, 1895, page 20.1

This epistle is addressed to the saints at Colosse, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Who raised up the church at Colosse? Probably Epaphras, about the same time that Paul was laboring at Ephesus. This epistle, as well as those to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Hebrews, were, according to the best authorities, all written about the same time, namely, 62 A. D. Paul was in prison when he wrote them. Probably he was better situated to do work of this kind there than when at liberty, engaged in active missionary work. so it is not the worst thing for a Seventh-day Adventist to be in prison. I sometimes think that if we would look upon imprisonment more as a blessing, and when some of our brethren are put in prison, think less of that, but keep praying for the enlightenment of souls, the truth would go much faster. GCB February 6, 1895, page 20.2

There are other points which it mig Terms, 5nd the Revised Versions. Second, I shall expect you to study the first chapter carefully, and to become as well acquainted with the exact language of the first two division as your time will permit. Try to practice thinking in the language of the Scripture. GCB February 6, 1895, page 20.3