Vere. 3-5.-Warnings against impurity of all kinds. The sins here described were common among the heathen, and received no adequate check from their moral guides. Indeed, the old pagan world regarded them as things indifferent. They are, for the most part, sins against ourselves, as the sins condemned in the previous verses are sins against our neighbours. They are to be condemned on many grounds. L Tm;y ABE EXPRESS VIOLATIONS OF THE DIVINE LAW. (Exod. xx. 14.) II. THEY ABE DISHONOURING 'rO GoD AND HIS HOLINESS. The corruption that is in the world through lust is inconsistent with the Divine nature (2 Pet. i. 4). III. THEY THWART THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, which is" to purify a people to himself" (Titus ii. 14) ; " to cleanse us from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (2 Cor. vii. 1). Jesus suffered in the :flesh that we should die to the flesh (1 Pet. iv. 1). , IV. THEY GRIEVE THE HOLY SPmIT, whose office is to sanctify us (eh. iv. 29, 30). "That pure and holy dove will not dwell in a cage of unclean and filthy birds.n V. THEY DISHONOUR THE BODY, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. vi. 18). They waste it as well as dishonour it (Prov. v. 11). VI. THEY WAR AGAINST THE SOUL in every sense of the term-against its life, its aspirations, its happiness (1 Pet. ii. 11). They even darken the judgment and the understanding (Hos. iv. 11). No sort of sin so hardens the heart. VII. THEY PROVOKE GoD's ANGER. (Col. iii. 5, 6; Jer. v. 7; eh. v. 6.) "For the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience." They subject transgressors to God's judgment, for" whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" (Heh. xiii. 4). And they keep them out of heaven (1 Cor. vi. 9; ver. 5). These sins of impurity are not even to be named among saints, who are to be pure in thought, pure in heart, pnre in speech, pure in life. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof" (Rom. vi. 12). 'l'o this end we must: 1 Avoid all the occasions that prompt to impurity: (1) idleness (Ezek. xvi. 49); (2) evil company (Prov. vii. 25); and (3) all other sins (Prov. i. 25). 2. Make a covenant with our eyes (Job xxxi. 1). 3. Watch over our thoughts (Mal. ii. 16). 4. Delight iu God's Word (Prov. ii 10, 16). 6. Continue in prayer (Ps. cxix. 37).-T. C. Vers. 3-5.-Warning against covetousness. It is singular to find covetousness, which is often the sin of respectability, linked with sins of gross impurity. In reality it springs from selfishness, like these other sins. It has its origin in the same unholy root. I. CoNSIDER THE NATURE OF COVETOUSNESS. It is the inordinate love of riches, manifesting itself in several ways. 1. In the eager anxiety to attain wealth, witbout respect either to God's glory or our own spiritual good. 2. In a sin/ul acquisition of wealth by extortion or fraud. (1 Kings xxi. 2, 13; Prov. x. 2; xxviii. 8.) 3. In a reluctance to use our wealth/or good ends. (1 Tim. vi. 17, 18.) II. How 18 COVETOUSNESS TO DE REGARDED AS "IDOLATRY" 1 Jt is to make a god of our possessions and to give them the homage of our hearts. All the essential elements of idolatry are included in this worldly disposition. The covetous man transfers to riches the love, desire, joy, trust, and labour which God demands for himself. His sin is all the greater because he knows that his god is no god. The warning of the texL is applicable (1) to all whose thoughts run more upon earth than upon heaven (Luke xii. 22, 25, 29); (2) to all whose comfort depends upon worldly successes (Luke xii. 19); (3) to all who grudge the time that is spent in religious duties (Amos viii. 5). 'l'he sin of covetou~ness is, therefore, to be jealously avoided (1) because it is odious to God- " The covetous whom the Lord abhorreth" (Ps. x. 3) ; (2) because it is destructive to ourselves, in turning our hearts from God (1 John ii. 15), in filling our hearts with trouble and care (1 Tim. vi. 9, 10), and in keeping us out of the kingdom of God (ver. 5). Let us, therefore, estimate the world at its _true value, meditate much on tbo fatherly care of our God (Luke xii. 31, 32 ; Matt. v1. 25, 26), act in faith upon the promises (Heb. xiii. 5), and remember the terrible brand of idolatry which rests upon THE EPISTLE TO 'l'BE EPHESIANS. [ CII, V. 1-33.
c0wt<>usness. It is a solemn thought tho.t the most common of all sins is the most serious in God's sight. Yet there is nothing in th& condemnation of this sin that j)1stifies the theory of other-worldliness, or the neglect- of the duties of common i!fc.-T. C.