The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 102

the mo_ral blood that _ci~ulates through all his activities. What is Lhe gov.erning spirit of Christ? Sclf-sacnfic1ng love. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," eto. It is by that self-sacrificing spirit of his in teaching, working, praying, and dying, that he does the work of the world's reconciliation. Love alone can kill enmity. Christ's mornl blood is the atoning power. 2. IC is the work of abolishment. Christ's mission is d~~tructive as well as constructive. He pulls down as well as builds up_ He came to destroy the works of the devil. (1) He abolishes dividing/orms. He breaks down the" middle wall of partition." When he died upon the cross, not only was the.veil in the gre.'lt temple of life, which divided men from God, rent asunder, but the wall that di,ided m&11 from mnn W3.S broken down. "The whole law of commandments contained in ordinances" wos nbolished. "Illotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was ~<"Sinst us, which wn.s contrary to ui,,, and took it out of the wa.y, nailing it tc, the cross" (C,,I. 1i. H). He ga'l'e man oue system of worship. " God is a Spirit, :rnd they that "wship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (2) He abolishes die di'l'idin~ spirit. "The enmity." 'l'he abolishment of the mere separating forms would still lea'l'e souls asunder if enmity existed. He slays the enmity. 3. Jt is t/i~ ~oork of prwd.i11g. "Preachin~ peace." "And came and preached peace to you.." Christ preached peace himself both before and after his death. His personal ministry W3S emphatically a mini,try of peace in spirit aud in doctrine-in example and in aim. He preached by his servants. This was the grand subject of the apostolic ministry. This is the grand subject of all ministers. The gospel is a gospel of peace ; Christ was the Prince of peace. , III. Tm: BLESSEDNESS OF ITS ACHIEVEMENT. What is thii grand result of his reconciling agency? 1. Union of man to man. "To make in himself of twain one new man." Giving all men, however diverse in temperament, circumstances, and education, one moral soul. This is the true union, the union of heart, making men on~ne in sympathy, one in purpose, one in Christ. 2. Union of man to God. "And that he might reconcile both unto God." In truth, man can only become truly united to his brother man, by fin.t becoming united to God. He must love the great Father supremely before he will love his race with the affection of a genuine brother- hood. True philanthropy grows out of piety. Men thus united to God, the passage sugg<"Sts, are united together: (1) As citizens of the same spiritual state. '!'hey are "fcliow-eitizens with the saints." The common "citizcuship" of all is in heaven. All a,-e e.l.ike ]oval to the same authority, obedient to the so.me laws, inheritors of the same rifbts. (~) As members of the same spiritual family. 'l'hey are of the "household of Goci" They are tm.ited not by mntual interests or covenant anangements, but by the clinging instincts of family affection. They are of the family of God. (3) As parts of the same spiritual temple. " And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets," etc. In some respects the parts of 11, building are more united eveu, than the members of a family. In a well-constructed edifice _one part is so dependent on another, that to disturb a. portion would be to injure ~,o whole. All whom Christ reconciles are parts of a grand temple. (a) Beautifully united, "framed together." (!i) Gradually ad\ancing: "groweth," the growth of a living organism, not the mere growth of a. building. (c) Religiously consecrated: "a holy temple." What a glorious temple is this I 'l'he temple of Diana these Ephesia1:1s originnlly consid~r~d a the glory of the world, but it would appear to them contemptible by tho grand spmtua temple that Paul here pictures to their imagination.-D. T. Vera. 1-7.-From death to life. 1. The process. This is a hutory of spiritual life. It reverses the order of natural history. Iust.ead of" funeral marches to the grove," we have a resurrection gladness, as the soul grows upward from death to life eternal. L 'IRE PBf.>CE:Sll BEGINS WITH DEATH. 'l'he death here rderred to is not a. future penalty, b-Jt the past condition of many men and the present state of all other.,; 1. Toore ii; a ,piritual deal,!, in th,:i midst of natural life. The body is flushed with the gk,w 0f L~;tc,; the intellect u keen in worldly affainl; but the spirit is dead. The bu_"Y life: uf thf: J,,wf:r nature may hide the BCene of dea~h, Lut it cannot destroy it, ar:d tu right-L',ill<loo obsP.,rTers this noi11y energy is pamful and revolting like the 1,,•,(;lry of a 1rnr:c. Spiritual death bears all the hideous lJJarks of real death: (1) a. ~:.,,,; c,f ,j_,i!itual strerigth; (:L) a fosi; of fac1:ltie:1 of Hpiritual di_sccmment-Divin11 CII. IL 1-22.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 99