eyes and ears they saw and heard all that
it comprehended for time and eternity, for earth and heaven.

But you want to know how I find all this out. Turn with me to the
first chapter of Paul's letter to them, and I will show you. Now
notice that right in the beginning he addresses them as "SAINTS and
FAITHFUL BRETHREN in Christ." By "saints" he means that they are
_holy_; and by "faithful brethren" he means to tell how they got to be
so. This, I think, is saying a good deal for them; but he goes on: "We
give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you; having heard of your FAITH in Christ Jesus; and of the
LOVE which ye have toward ALL the saints, because of the HOPE which is
laid up for you in the heavens."

You now see that these Colossian brethren had the three essentials
that distinguish a Christian from a pagan, a saint from a sinner, and
an angel of light from a demon of darkness. These three are _faith_,
_hope_ and _love_; but of these Paul says that "love is the greatest."
This they had in large measure, because it extended "toward ALL the
saints." It is natural for every Christian to love SOME of the saints
when he is free "to pick and choose;" but to love ALL is quite another
thing.

If you will thoughtfully read this first chapter through, you will see
the high place these Colossian brethren held in Paul's confidence, not
only as to faith and love, but also as to the enlightenment of their
understandings with heavenly wisdom. He sets forth our Lord Jesus
Christ as the triune God--Creator, Redeemer and Savior--in loftier
terms than are to be found anywhere else in his epistles. Had there
been any doubt in his mind as to their ability to understand these
revelations, and thus profit by them, they would have been withheld.
He would have fed them with milk, as he did his Corinthian and Hebrew
brethren, and not with strong food.

My text says: "As ye therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk ye in him." They had received him in _faith_, and _hope_, and
_love_. So were they instructed to walk in him. "Ye have been buried
with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through
faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead." "Inasmuch
then, as ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that
are above where Christ is seated on the right hand of God." "Set your
affections on the things above, not on the things that are upon the
earth. For