The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 232

you, iu1<1 ga,..e himself up for ns, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odour of a s"·e.:t sme:I." C!/;.rist is prese,1ted for imitation in Mi love. We are not to understantl that i"'"e was &n attribute more distinctive of Chriat than of God. For love is the greatest attribute of God. But we are to understand that Christ was especially the manifestation of the lo,·e of God. In Christ's love we see what God's love is. And to imitate Christ in his love is the best way to imitate God. And how does love manifest itself? Selfishness manifests itself in isolation. Love, on the other hand, manifest11 itself in approachableness. And this was the form which Christ's love took. He loved us so much as to come within human conditions-to become one of ourselves. And that (wonderful as it is) was not the extent of his approach to us. For, coming into our nature, he next threw himself into our position, he became our Representative. .And he presented before God for us the offering of a perfect life. He especially, in his death, presented the sacrifice which had full atoning virtue for our sin. And this pre- sentation of himself as an offering and a sacrifice to God (with the love that prompted it) was for an odour of a sweet smell. More grateful than to the sense of smell was the incense that the High Priest took with him into the holy of holies was to the heart of God the incense from his life and sacrifice which Christ took with him into hea,en. It is an incense which continually rises before God with acceptance. The lo¥e which prompted to this and carried it out to completion is here proposed for our imitation. But how need we think of copying such a pattern? All well set down a child to copy a masterpiece of a Raphael or nn Angelo? But let us take these things into consideration. (I) He has made provision for our imitating him. We are to be thankful to God, that, amid many bad examples and imperfect examples of good men, he has gin,n us one perfectly good example.. He has shown us that a life of the bi~ue:-... unselfishness is not impracticable in our humanity. If that had been all, the e.Icct would only have been to fill us with despair. But the apostle does not encourage us to imitate Christ without pointing to liis sacrifice of atonement. His atonement bring been accepted for us, his perfect life has been accepted too, as that•which with assisting grace we may now hopefully strive after. (2) Compared with the example of God, the example ef Christ is more circumstantial. We know that God is love, but in Christ we see, under many conditions, how love operates. '!'here is much detail upon which we can dwell and from which we can obtain help as to the details of our life. (3) It is an exampl,e easily followed from its familiarity. It was a perfect example; but not in the way of being apart from us, but rather in the way of being so close to us as to be easily understood. It was the time- " When truth, embodied in a tale, Did enter in at lowly doors." (4) It Wall an ezampl,e <WX>mpanied with the strongest incentive to imitation. It was not merely that he taught us the reasonableness of a good life, and exemplified it; but he placed us under infinite obligation in dying for us, and then, having obtained this immeD.se ad,a.ntage, be comes forward and asks us to imitate him. (5) We are to imaate him in his wve by walking in lvoe as he did. This does not imply any tl!l.catural straining; but, in the ordinary walk~ of life, yve_ may fin~ s~fficient sph~re for the exercu;e and growth of love. We are specially to imitate Chnst m the m1ss10nary charactf:I" of his lo.e. We are to feel for sinners as in need of salvation. .And we are to sacrifice much in order that those ends for which he died, and on which his heart is set, may be furthered. Let us, then, choose Christ as our Pattern with the w~ole ene1:gy of our wills. And let us follow him, not as perhaps we may have done, with a famt and yielding purpose, but in the full conviction that in following him we shall best imitate God. IL Tm.NGB TO IIE CONDEMNED. 1. The things that are not to be named. "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometb saints." The apostle points here to a fact which is sometimes forgotten, that there is a sphere of that which is rwt to be named. There are, for instance, books written, in which blasphemous things are said against the Saviour. There is this reason for not reading these books or not repeating blasphemous expressiono contained in thew, that they stick to and pollute the imagination. So the apoRtle teaches that saints art to be so cultivated in their sensibilities, to have such a delicacy of feeling, OIi, V, 1-33,] THE EPISTLE 'l'O THE EPHESIA~S. 233