II. That there are none so established, but they need
to be put upon their guard —
[The persons warned by St. Paul, were not the low, the ignorant, the obscure, but the most distinguished persons in the Ephesian Church : they were the elders, who superin- tended and governed the Church, and had doubtless been appointed to their high office because of their superior attain- ments in piety and virtue. Who then are they that can claim an exemption from pastoral admonitions ? Shall the rich ? they perhaps, of all people in the world, most need to be put upon their guard, because their dangers are increased far beyond those of any other class c. Are those whose proficiency in knowledge or grace has raised them to eminence in the Church, exempt from danger ? Look on David, or Solomon, or Peter, or Hymeneus and Philetus, or Demas, and then say whether any qualifications or attainments can place us beyond the reach of temptation ; or whether there be a man in the universe to whom the exhortation in the text may not with great propriety be addressed ? Be it known to you, that even St. Paul himself found it necessary to " keep under his body, and bring it into subjection, lest he should at last become a cast-away :" and therefore " what I say unto one I say unto all, Watch."]
It is of importance too to remember,
III. That the often er we are warned, the more our responsibility is increased —
[The guilt contracted by the inhabitants of Bethsaida and Chorazin, far exceeded that of the idolatrous Tyrians or Sidonians, because they had disregarded the warnings given them by our blessed Lord : and the people of Capernaum, who had been exalted to heaven in their privileges, were cast down to hell for their abuse of them, and were doomed to a more awful condemnation than even Sodom or Gomorrhad. Our Lord told the Jews, that "if he had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin (comparatively) : but that, after the warnings he had given them, they had no cloak for their sin." Precisely to the same effect is St. Paul's admoni- tion in the text: he reminds the Ephesians how long and earnestly he had warned them ; and from thence insinuates, that, if they be unwatchful, their guilt will be proportion ably increased. And is not this rule of judging universally ad- mitted and approved ? Is it not in this way that we estimate the criminality of our fellow-creatures ? Do we not always consider, that, the more earnestly the necessity of obedience
c Mark x. 25. d Matt. xi. 21—24.