Eph. iv. 1 — 3. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation whereivith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
THE end of all true religion is practice : and the perfection of practice is a habit of mind suited to the relations which we bear to God and man, and to the circumstances in which from time to time we are placed. It is not by external acts only that we are to serve God : the passive virtues of meekness, and patience, and long-suffering, and forbearance, are quite as pleasing in his sight, as the most active vir- tues in which we can be engaged. Hence St. Paul, in entering on the practical part of this epistle, entreats the Ephesian converts to pay particular attention to these graces, and to consider them as the clearest evidences of their sincerity, and the brightest ornaments of their profession. He was at this time a prisoner at Rome : but no personal con- siderations occupied his mind. He had no request to make for himself ; no wish for any exertions on their part to liberate him from his confinement : he was willing to suffer for his Lord's sake ; and sought only to make his sufferings a plea, whereby to enforce the more powerfully on their minds the great subject which he had at heart, their progressive advance- ment in real piety.
With a similar view we would now draw your attention to,
I. His general exhortation —
First, let us get a distinct idea of what the Chris- tian's "vocation" is —
[It is a vocation from death to life, from sin to holiness, from hell to heaven.
Every Christian was once dead in trespasses and sinsa But he has heard the voice of the Son of God speak- ing to him in the Gospel b and, through the quicken- ing influence of the Holy Spirit, he " has passed from death unto life0;" so that, though once he was dead, he is now alive again; and though once lost, he is foundd
From the time that he is so quickened, he rises to newness of life e. Just as his Lord and Saviour " died unto sin once, but, in that he liveth, liveth unto God," so the Christian is
a Eph. ii. 1. Tit. iii. 3. b John v. 24, 25. 1 Thess. i. 5.
c 1 John iii. 14. d Luke xv. 24. e Rom. vi. 4, 5.