The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 281

Master of his servants as well as his Master. And in the righting that is to take place, for every ad~antage that the master has taken of his servant, for every harsh speech and t~reatemng word he has used toward him, he will suffer everlasting losA. "And there 18 no respect of persons with him" (i.e. with Christ). There is a. real distinc~ion between master and servant, proprietor and tenant. What is adventitious may gather round it, but the essential thing is that Christ bas not ordained equality here, but has placed his authority in some, and has subjected others, and has thus given rise to mutual obligations and trial and the formation of character in connection with these obligationA. But though a real distinction, it is not to be carried beyond what there is really in it. After all, it is only to last through the present earthly economy. It is destined to be obliterated with other time-distinctions. And meantime Christ does not respect a person less because he is a servant, or more because he is a master. He has an equal interest in them as both included within the sweep of his work, as having taken him as their Saviour and Master. He has au equal interest in them in the relationship in which they stand to each other. And if they do their part equally well, one in the position of servant and the other in the position of master, then he will see to it that they will be equally rewarded.-R. F. Vere. 10-20.-Panoply of God. Conclusion of Epistle. "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might." In drawing the Epistle to a close, the apostle falls back on a form of expression he bad used in the first chapter. There be showed that he bad a high admiration of "the strength of his [the Father's] might which he wrought in Christ," and which was proved by Chirst being raised from the state of the dead "far above a.11 rule, and authority, and power, and dominion." Here his admiration is (with little variation) of the strength of his (the Lord's) might. He views that as being at the command of all who are in Christ, and his injunction is that, as it is at their command, it should actually be communicated to them to make them strong, and indeed invulnerable, as the Lord's servants should be. He now puts hi~ exhortation under the special aspect of the panoply for the Christian conflict which is presented at length. "Put on the whole armour of God." L NEED FOR THE PANOPLY OF GoD. "That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." "The wiles of tho devil" points to the fact that our adversary does not work by open methods. He docs not rest his cause on its absolute reasonableness. Rather is be conscious of its indefensibleness in reason, conscious too of bis being conquered by Christ; and hence he has recourse to ways of making men believe that they have reason on their sido, when they are really under the delusion of error, We do not have things put before us in their true character. There a.re illusory views of life which are presented to us. There aro fallacies with which we are plied, in our reading, in our intercourse with men, or from our own hearts, the danger of which is that they chime in with our natural inclinations. What are these but the wiles of the devil? And there lies the need for our being armed as wnrriors, at every point, with the armour of God. II. p ARENTHETIOAL CONFIBMATION OF THE NEED. I. Negatively. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood." Wrestling serves to call up the iden of close personal encounter, but otherwise, in accordance with the context, we a.re to think, not of the mero wrestler, but of armed warrior against armed warrior. ""When Greek meets Greek, then comes tho tug of war." In the contests, from which tho apostolic language is taken, there was a certain equality between the combatants. It was man confronted with his own flesh and blood, and he might hope, in the life-and-death struggle iu which he engaged, to come off victorious. But such equal conditions do not exist in the spiritual warfare in which we engage. We are not confronted with beings like ourselves; it is not our own flesh and blood that we are pitted against. 2. Positively. "But against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of ,vickedness in the heavenly places." To show the need for buing properly armed, the apo:itle gives e. bold description of the foes with which we have to contend. As to their rank, they are powerful chieftains (prin- cipalities and powers). As to their domain, it is "this darkness," which is world-wide. As to their essence, they are not encumbered with clay, but are spirits. As to their number, they are hosts, vast multitudes. .A1l to their character, they are wicked, their  'l'HE EI'ISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [cu. v1. 1-24.