PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians
William Garden Blaikie [1820-1899] · 272,936 words · 299 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 1
THE PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED DY THE VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN OF GLOUCESTER; AND BY THE REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A. WITH INTRODUCTIONS DY TIIE VERY REV. F. W. FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S., DEAN OF CANTERBURY. RIGHT REV. H. COTTERILL, D.D., F.R.S.E. VERY REV. PRINCIPAL J. TULLOCH, D.D. REV. CANON G. RAW…
1,153 wordsSECTION 2The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 2
persona,l intercourse with the Ephc~ians, ancl to send salubtious to some of them, especially the eldc11s he bad met at Miletus; and we should not ba,ve expected the Epistle to be written so prepondcrating1y to Gentiles. But, in point of fact, in many of his Epi3tles the apostle sends no personal greetings; to do so wa…
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is addressed apparently to one set of people, whose spiritual history had been marked by the so.me features. To get over tae difficulty arising from the absence of all personal references, and other difficulties, some have thought that Ephesus was not included among the places to which the letter was addressed; but fr…
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The sovereignty of Divine grace was shown in the wide difference between the conduct of the believers and that of_ the men who feared that the gospel was going to dry np the sources of their wealth, and raised the tumult that led to the expulsion of the apostle. Those who were led by a Divine hand surrendered everythin…
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completeness. The office-bearers of the Church, whether temporary, like the apostles and prophets, or permanent, like pastors, teachers, and evange- lists, are gifts of Christ for this end. As such they are to be received and prized, and all members of the Chnreh are to aim at growth in the direction of perfection. Co…
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call<·d God his Go,l nnd his Fnthcr(John xx. mystery. Before even the world was founded, 1 i') in '"irlne of the stale of subjection to m:uikind presented themselves to God ae him in which, I\S the Son of man, he had lost.;_ the wo_rk of redemption wo.s planned voluntarily pl!M'ed himself. In this Mpect nnd its deta…
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aelection out from among others is prominent, grace quoad man, is. to me.~e him perreotly in 'll'paoplua, the speoinl phase of thought is holy; quoad God, 1s to give to the uni- tho.t of the time, "'Pd, before--before the foun- verse a right conception of his grace, and dation of the worl<l. Both denote the exercise…
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me1ely in exietenC'e, it ie ou?B, we being in advent; the olrro.,oµ.la., or eoonomy, of the him by faith; not a privilege of the future gospel being that during whioh, in its suc- merely, but of the present &e well. Even oessi'l'e periods, all God's sohemea are to the forgiveness of our llins. •Ac/mnv denot.ee ripen…
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ditrerentlyoonstHuted thewfll of an infinitely baptism. The Impression of It Ill partly holy Being is from that of frail and fallen within believers and partly without. creatures. The fallen creature's will is often Within, it is the felt result of the working whimsico.l, the result of some freak or fancy; of the Holy …
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w h"l!e finRl glnry ie llO often presented to prevalenoa1i1Uitm, of n bright,.Joyous state olll' thoughts in this Epistle. To the praise of mind;. and..-tending to incroase ond per- of his glory. For the third tim& in tbill pctui1te the, same. Constantly to recognil!:e paragraph, these or simile.r words Rre intro- G…
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merely lumen siccum, but lu~li madiilum achievements, in order to elevate onr con- (t.o borrow terms of Lord Do.con), not merely ceptions of what it is capahle of effecting intellcotunl clenmeee, but more.I suscep- in m. In the prophets we find a similar tibility e.nd warmth-a movement of the enconragement for God's pe…
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forth nth an nnapproaohed effulgence. All has he has for the Ohuroh : " My beloved ia this is said to exalt our sense of the Divine mine, and I am his." The fulneaa of him power that so raised up and exalted the that filleth all in all. The grammatical God-Man, Christ Jesus-the same power structure of the words woul…
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III. The Church is a society of "saints,n and "faithful," or believing, "in Christ Jesus." If we want these attributes, we may be of Israel, bnt we are not Israel. IV. Divine blessings are invoked and bronght near to the Church, viz. (1) grace (soe ExposiUon); (2) peace; both of these having their only source for sinn…
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say~ the blood figured lltonement, th'e water ablution. The side of Chrlgt, he mS,-S,i waa the fountain of our sacl"&ments. , , ·• ry. ~veness of si~a lis a fund'!'m~nta.l element of this redemption. The irospel of Chmt 1s II gospel of forgiveness. Sin 1s blott.ed out freely thron"h Christ's merit. We need nothing …
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 1. 2;...:..Phe salutation. .The apostle introduces his Epistle by a duplicate order of ideas: e. double blessing-" grace· and peace;" a double 11ource of blessing-" God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;" e. double designation of the Christian people- "saints and faithful in Chris…
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~nd of interest among the believers or every 'place, for his deep yearning afte1 appreciation, and the heartfelt joy of finding his services recognie;ed by the Churohea he l!errnd, as well as by the facility with which he held a hundred interests in his hand, and engaged the sympathy of all sorts of men in the cause of…
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not originate Divine love, which is an eternal perfection of the Divine nature, seeking an object on which to exhaust its riches. But the cross was the mode in which, for reasons known to himself and partially discernible to us, it was expedient and neces- sary that his love should be expressed. But then the same God w…
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l!O that William m. could say to Bishop Burnett, r• Dld,I not believe absolute predeiiti, nati~, I oo_uld _not ~lieve a providence; for it would be most absul_'d to.suppose a Bemg of infinite w18dom t.o act without a plan,Jor which plan predestination -is only another name.'~ Predestination is but God's plan of action …
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Bon, made of e. woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Gal. iv. 4, 5). It is evident from these passages that WI! :do not receive the adoption merely in virtue of Christ's incarnation. Some IQodern divines. qold that the adoption springs, not fr…
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~ins, which is, however'. the p~,ma.ry element in it; nor the mere adoption, though that 1s the coni:equenoe of it-for we a.re redeemed that we may receive the adoption of sons" (Gal. iv. 4'), but the completed sanctification of our souls and the consumm&ted redemption of our bodiea. The price of redemption is the bloo…
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II. FoBGIVENEBB IB TO BE DIBTINGUIBHED PBOM ATONEMENT. Forgiveness is the act of God as Judge; atonement iB the Rct of Christ a.s Surety. The atonement is the foundation or ground of forgiveness. It is from the nea!ect of this distinction that some divines declare the impropriety of our praying for th~ forgiveness o…
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Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and .of the same body, and partakers of• his promise in Christ by the gospel JI (eh. iii. 4-6). It was no mystory to pre-Christian ages that the Gentiles would be afterwards included in the Christian Church-for the prophetio Scriptures are full of the subject; but it was never known til…
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pleasures; they may try to extract from it all the wisdom the worlJ can give; but there is still e. void which nothing can fill till be comes whose right it is to possess and subdue and save the soul for himself.-'£. C. Vi,r. 10.-Tl,e s111mming up in one of all, things in Ohrist. This was the mystery of God hid for a…
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showing forth, with a lustre before unknown, of the majesty and glory of God. "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one" (John xvii, 23).-T. O. Vers. 11, 12.-The believer's inheritance. This is for the children, who are not only partakers of the knowledge of redemption, but heirs of God, and joi…
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Ver. 12.-Hope in Ol1rist. "Who first hoped in Christ." Hope, as one of the great springs of human action, is to be distinguished from simple foresight or simple expectation; for the one may be a foresight of evil, the other an expectation of coming misfortune. Hope, on the contrary, is the expectation of future good. W…
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1""er. 13.-Faith in Christ. "In whom having believed." Faith is a God-given reliance on an all-sufficient Mediator. L IT IS llORE T1liN A MEBB BELIEF OF THE TRUTH: it is an act of the will ; it is trfilt in e. Person. It has been strongly urged in our day that faith is simply the belief in God's testimony that Chri…
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ns," for our so.notification; "Christ with us," for comfort and confidence. These are not three separate blessings, any one of which we may have without the others, but three parts of the Christian's privilege, bound up together in the same bundle of life, and given-upon our:believing. • There is a mysticism which spea…
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suggest the fear of the Spirit's withdrawal, but rather the ingratitude of believers who could grieve Oae who had done so much for them.-T. O. Ver. 14.-17,.e believer's earnest of his Divine inheritance. TheSpiritistheeamest- the sample as well as pledge of future blessedness. It is now we see the purpose of the seal…
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Ver. 17.-Prayer for the Holy Spirit. The Ephesian saints had already received the Spirit, for they had been eeafed by him; but the apostle wishes the Spirit to become a spirit of wisdom and revelation, for further enlargement in a spiritual sense can only be realized in the direction of new knowledge. Some persons say …
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of God "·(Ltrl.e viii.' 10). It ought, .therefore, to ,be ·the prayer of every Ohristian, •• Open thC!lll •mine eyes, that I may see wondrous .things out of thy Law I·" e.nd we are encouraged in our supplication by the knowledge that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the …
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, J. OoR TITLE To IT. It is'' a purchased possession" (ver. 14), the price being the blood of Christ. 'l'he death of the Testator was necessary that "they which are called might n·ceive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Heh. ix. 15). II. IT. Is A RICH INHERITANCE, God is rich in mercy, rich in grace, rich in love, …
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expressive of the wonderful eff'eot.s of this power. He places it side by side with the power manifested in the resnrrection and glorification of the Redeemer.-T. a. Vers. 19, 20.-The power of the Resurrection. "According to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.…
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nscension, Yet he was in reality King as well as Priest before his incarnation. If he eiivcr.l men from the beginning, he was King from the beginning. 'fhe dominion of the Media.tor wo.s conferred upon him in consequence of his obedience unto death, and was yet enjoyed and exercised by him long before his death ; just …
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the elements a.-e mado subject to him .....all kings and nations, all. angels in heaven, all fallen angels, all the advances and discoveries of science, are made tributary to the welfare of the Church. Therefore no weapon formed against her shall prosper. Chris• tian people ought to derive comfort and aspiratiou fro…
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that the body is subordinate to the head, though the subordin~tion 1s m its nature different in the threo cases mentioned. Christianity is not only Christ, but it is subjec- tion to him as Saviour, Lord, and Guide. III. THE CHUBOB AS THE BODY OF CHRIST. The Church thus rer1arded refers not to any one body of ChrisUans…
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Paul= the af10$t.le of Jesus, the ma.n sent fort.h by the risen and reigning Lord to e.angelize the ht•athen. Such I\ consciousness of Christ's consecration gave him great rower. Il. HB HKBE SALUTES LIVING SAINTS. (Ver. 1.) Monod has pertinently remarked that, while others seek their saints among the dead, Paul seeks …
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love they lavish with varying success upon their prodigals, but faintly images the wondrous love the.t ~ells out of the hee.r~ of God. Yet the image, though but faint, is real, and we may climb by the firm footmg of analogy up from human experience to some comprehension of the Divine love and plan. Just as earthly fath…
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.a.~-i> .a.ocr;;PTED 1x Cm,IST THE BELO~. (Ven:. 5, 6.) We have seen that the infinite Patber is t-he :3,..,utt'e of all blessing. But that Father has one only Son, the only begott('n, in his Di,ine family. The eternal Father had an eternal Son, and they held fell,,'ITT.hip from all eternity through the eternal Spirit.…
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to be. Our holiest moments, when the indwelling Spirit moves within us, are our heavenliest. 'fhon conformity to God's will is the great delight, and whatever ho sends is welcomed. Of circumstances we are then so far independent as to realize that, with God as our Portion, we he.ve all things, though we may have little…
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<'mpirc; to b11.ve all creak>d things and beings as his subjects; to be supreme Adminie- tr11tc,r under the infinite Father ;-this must have been a mighty and a joyful experience for the risen Christ. III. THE F ATIIER SHOWED HIS MIGHTY POWER IN PlJTI'ING ALL THINGS UNDER CHRIST'S FEET. (Ver. 22.) The administratio…
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ment and his 1upport. He had no personal merit entitling him to the position of apostle. At the same time, that position was not a self-chosen one. It was the will of God that Christ (such is the idea) should station him, now here and now there, among the Churches. And whether he was anxiously engaged in the composi…
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IT. FoR WHAT THE CHlIBCH DLE.."SES Gun? "Who hath blessed us with every spiritual ~lcssing." W~ are n_ot to think merely ?f blessiuiz thflt hns beon nctually enjoyed. It Js rather ble..,;smg without respect to time, It is all that God hl\S in store for• the Church, and that is really inexhaustible blessing. "In our …
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tion. Hie own Son bnd to be parted with that we might be adopted as sons. It was under no sudden impulse of obedience that Abraham lifted the knife against Isaac. He bad time to think of what he was doing, a three days' journey to take to the place which God was to show him, and he was animated throughout by a calm,…
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(4) It points to a more valuable life given; It was the life of Ono who, in becoming man, could not part with his essential divinity. It was therefore, a life of infinite value. And, when he shed his blood, it was far more ihan if the whole world of sinners_ had shed t~eir blood. (5) ~t was life ~rried to the highest s…
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what God gives thus, one in one kind, and another in another, he has in himself in an unbroken completeness. And, therefore, he must always abound in all wisdom and prudence. The whole scheme of redemption is a manifestation of wisdom; but there is specially a look forward here to the time and manner of its duclosure w…
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the counsel of bis ~ill; ~o ~hjl end ~hat we ~h?uld be unto the praise of his.glory,, wo 'Who had before hoped m Christ.' Jewish Christians are described as those who had before hopw, in Christ. They dro. not vaguely hope, but they so grasped the promise of the Mcssillh thllt even from Abraham's day they glac.ly loo…
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!II. THE EARLIER BOBN AND THE LATER DORN HAVE CERTAIN THINGS IX CO~IMO:<1. "In whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, "hich is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the IJraise of his glory." 1. A common seal. (1) What the seal is-the Holy …
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• I saw thee eye the gen'ral Drlrth With boundless love." We can only do this w~en ~ tur°; to God in t~anksgivings for all men (1 Tim. ii. 1), The &~le had ~uliar delight. m th~ Eph~1ans; an~ !'8 their fuitb was genuine, and mi.s e'"8r reoe1nng new manifestations, his thanksgiving for them was unceasing. 2. Ir~furth…
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produces in our hearts. This is the hope of the inheritance which bas already be, n referred to in the fourteenth yerse. Having, then, connected the Divine purpose wi ·h the inheritance, he now prays that they may have some worthy wnceptwn of it, as th \t to which they were called. There is an accumulation of language …
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above earth, was raised to the right band of God. This denotes an intimacy with God in power such as is beyond any mere creature. And yet it was mysteriously in our creaturely nature that be was raised to the right hand of God. 'l'here he was seen afterwards, and recognized, by the prisoner of Patmos; and there he s…
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Head invested with power sufficient to bring it about? 2. The Church wtanda in an intimate relationship to 0/vrist. "Which is his body.'' As we stand in relation to our body, so Christ stands in relation to his Church. The body of man is a mar~ellous piece of workmanship. "Fearfully and wonderfully made" is language o.…
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I. THE HIGHEST OFFICE IN THE WORLD. "An apostle of Jesus Christ." 1. He was a muse11gcr of tlie gre,atest Person. How great was his Master I Messengers of inferior personages are often but little esteemed, whilst those of illustrious ones are held in high ~onour. He w~o represents a kin:g receiv~ some~hing of kingly…
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department or Divine operation; from the most microscopic objects to the massive systems of immensity. Before we go on to notice the reasons suggested in the passage why man should adore the Eternal for his redemptive predestination, it may be well, in order to remove much of erroneous sentiment and terrible feeling…
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"Our citizenship is in heaven," etc. 3. Di.vine sonship, "The adoption of.children." All men are the offspring of God, but none are his true children but those who have the troeftl,ial spirit. To possess this involves man's highest blessedness. This is the work of Christ. "As many as received him to them gave he pow…
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purqbased possession, unto the praise of bis glory." This passage, treated bomiletically, presents redemptive predestination to us in some of its subjective and objective aspects. We use those words with no liking, for they savour of a school of thought with which we have but little sympathy, But the terms, experimenta…
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Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the know- ledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened ; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the snint.s, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to u…
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in the knowledge of him." He wished for them clearer and broader views of the Eternal. 2. In Christian privilege. "The eyes of your understandin" beinaO enli"htened, 0 that ye may know what is the _hope of h!s calling,'.' The general idea is that you may know the transcendent and rnexhaustible blessmgs that God has p…
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of heaven is in our midst, and we are lifted up to heaven. when we have our treneute there, for there our heart is. But it is only the upward <raze that will discern true Christian blessings. Kirke White writes of "this low-th~u"hted world· of darkU:ng woe." The woe is so" darkling" just because the world is so"'" l…
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"according to tho good pleasure of his will." Like the potter with his clay, God bas a right to choose his own idea of humanity, 2. In God's great love. God's will i~ always holy a.nd a.lwa.ye gra.cious. If, therefore, anything depends solely on his will, it. is sure to be done in the best possible wa.y, and in the …
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that we have t.o deal with organic conditions-with living forces and their resultant9. He discerns a purpose in the seeming confusion of foroes. In spite of many indications of failure, he discovers a sure progress. .And the end of this progress he declares to be union and harmony. Yet be is not merely philosophizin…
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Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.