Colossians £:10-18. What a noble group had gathered round the Apostle in his enforced residence in Rome! That hired room of his must have been filled time after time with most interesting groups; and each friend was dear to the lion-heart, and intent on some act of loving devotion. Aristarchus had been with him in the Ephesian riot; Mark was endeavoring to make good his former lapse of courage; Epaphras, who had come from Colosso, was remarkable for his soul-agony and prayer-labor on his friends’ behalf; Luke, the beloved physician, always on the alert to minister to the malaria or other malady that afflicted him; and Demos, of whom perhaps he had begun to have suspicions, 2 Tim. 4:10. Archippus is believed to have been a son of Philemon, and chief presbyter of Laodicea. Does the injunction, v. 16, imply that already the church there had begun to grow cold, Rey. 3:15? The closing words were probably written in autograph. The clumsy handwriting was accounted for by the weight of the fetters on the poor wrists, yet his heart was full of love and joy.

What does the Epistle teach about Christ’s preeminence ? What about the life of Christ’s followers?

By whom had the church at Colosso been established?

When was this Epistle written? What other Epistles were written about the same time?

What serious situation in the Colossian church did the Apostle seek to remedy?

(Each question applies to the paragraph of corresponding

What report had Paul received concerning the church at Colosso? To whom was he indebted for this? In what ways is the pre-eminence of Christ manifested?

How could Paul rejoice in his sufferings?

Against what dangers does he warn the Colossians?

How does the work of Christ free us from the reproach of human judgment?

What qualities are incompatible with the Christian life?

What is the character of the new man in Christ Jesus?

How does Christ determine all our social and family relations?

What does Paul earnestly desire of the Colossians?

From whom and to whom are Christian greetings expressed in the closing section?

lee Thei Need of Purity, .ice na 4:8. 2. The Need of Love for the Breth-

Thessalonica stood on the seaboard, and was the center of a large trade,’ which it shared with Corinth and Ephesus. It is the Saloniki of today, to which the interest of the world has recently been directed. It contained a large colony of Jews and a synagogue. The Apostle visited it, as recorded in Acts 17:2-9. Probably he dispatched this Epistle from Corinth; compare 1 Thess. 1:1 and 3:1 with Acts 18:15. It is the earliest of the Epistles and more elementary than the later ones. An interesting study would be to trace the development of the Apostle’s thought to the fuller and deeper teachings of the Epistles to the churches at Rome and Ephesus.