Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ephesians 6:1

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Ch. Eph 6:1-4. The Christian Home: Children and Parents

1. Children ] Cp. Col 3:20.

obey ] The Gr. word differs from that rendered “submit yourselves” (Eph 6:22). It is the same as that below, Eph 6:5, rendered “be obedient.” The child, and the bondservant, are to render an obedience (so the words seem to indicate) different in kind from that of the wife, which is so largely tempered by equality in other respects.

“Disobedience to parents” (Rom 1:30; 2Ti 3:2) appears in Scripture as a symptom of a state of the gravest evil. The example of the Lord stands in sacred contrast to it, for all ages of the Church (Luk 2:51). It is in the school of the well-ordered Christian home that the true idea of the Christian’s position, divinely filial in its freedom, yet (1Co 9:21) “ law-abiding unto Christ,” should be first illustrated as well as taught.

parents ] Mothers as well as fathers (see next verse). Scripture uniformly upholds the authority of the mother. Cp. Pro 1:8; Pro 6:20.

in the Lord ] I.e., let your obedience be in Him; rendered as by those whose action gets its reason and secret from union with Him. No doubt the Apostle assumes here a family in which the parents are Christians; but he certainly would not limit the precept to such a case, as it would be limited if “your parents in the Lord ” was the verbal connexion.

In the case of Christian parentage, the children, as such, would certainly be reckoned as within the covenant, and, in this sense, “in the Lord.” Cp. 1Co 7:14 (“now are the children holy ”). It would be for their own consciences before God, none the less, to ask whether they were also “in Christ” in that inner and ultimate sense which is, spiritually, “new creation” (2Co 5:17).

There is some evidence, but quite inadequate, for the omission of the words “in the Lord.”

right ] Just; not merely beautiful, or better, but according to the Law of God, both in Nature and in Revelation.

The Apostle does not deal here with the limits of filial obedience in cases where the Divine Will crosses the parental will. He has the great rule and principle wholly in view.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Children – tekna This word usually signifies those who are young; but it is used here, evidently, to denote those who were under the care and government of their parents, or those who were not of age.

Obey your parents – This is the first great duty which God has enjoined on children. It is, to do what their parents command them to do. The God of nature indicates that this is duty; for he has impressed it on the minds of all in every age; and the Author of revelation confirms it. It is particularly important:

(1) Because the good order of a family, and hence of the community, depends on it; no community or family being prosperous where there is not due subordination in the household.

(2) Because the welfare of the child depends on it; it being of the highest importance that a child should be early taught obedience to law, as no one can be prosperous or happy who is not thus obedient.

(3) Because the child is not competent as yet; to reason on what is right, or qualified to direct himself; and, while that is the case, he must be subject to the will of some other person.

(4) Because the parent, by his age and experience, is to be presumed to be qualified to direct and guide a child. The love which God has implanted in the heart of a parent for a child secures, in general, the administration of this domestic government in such a way as not to injure the child. A father will not, unless under strong passion or the excitement of intoxication, abuse his authority. He loves the child too much. He desires his welfare; and the placing of the child under the authority of the parent is about the same thing in regard to the welfare of the child, as it would be to endow the child at once with all the wisdom and experience of the parent himself.

(5) It is important, because the family government is designed to be an imitation of the government of God. The government of God is what a perfect family government would be; and to accustom a child to be obedient to a parent, is designed to be one method of leading him to be obedient to God. No child that is disobedient to a parent will be obedient to God; and that child that is most obedient to a father and mother will be most likely to become a Christian, and an heir of heaven. And it may be observed, in general, that no disobedient child is virtuous, prosperous, or happy. Everyone foresees the ruin of such a child; and most of the cases of crime that lead to the penitentiary, or the gallows, commence by disobedience to parents.

In the Lord – That is, as far as their commandments agree with those of God, and no further. No parent can have a right to require a child to steal, or lie, or cheat, or assist him in committing murder, or in doing any other wrong thing. No parent has a right to forbid a child to pray, to read the Bible, to worship God, or to make a profession of religion. The duties and rights of children in such cases are similar to those of wives (see the notes on Eph 5:22); and in all cases, God is to be obeyed rather than man. When a parent, however, is opposed to a child; when he expresses an unwillingness that a child should attend a particular church, or make a profession of religion, such opposition should in all cases be a sufficient reason for the child to pause and re-examine the subject. he should pray much, and think much, and inquire much, before, in any case, he acts contrary to the will of a father or mother; and, when he does do it, he should state to them, with great gentleness and kindness, that he believes he ought to love and serve God.

For this is right – It is right:

(1)Because it is so appointed by God as a duty;

(2)Because children owe a debt of gratitude to their parents for what they have done for them;

(3)Because it will be for the good of the children themselves, and for the welfare of society.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Eph 6:1-4

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Parents and children

I. Duties of children to parents.

1. Children owe to their parents an inward affection and regard. Their obedience should flow from love, gratitude, and esteem.

2. Children are to honour their parents by external tokens of respect.

3. Children are to obey the just commands of their parents.

4. Children are not only to obey the express commands of parents while under their authority, but to receive with decent and humble regard, the instructions, counsels, and reproofs which they may see fit to communicate afterward.

5. Children are to remember, and, if there is occasion, also to remunerate, the favours they have received from their parents.

II. Duties of parents to children.

1. Parents are to instruct their children in the doctrines and duties of religion.

2. Parents must not content themselves with giving their children good instructions; but endeavour, by arguments, exhortations, and reproofs, to form their lives according to their instructions.

3. Parents must regulate the diversions of their children.

4. Parents should maintain the worship of God in their houses.

5. Let parents set their children a good example in everything. (J. Lathrop, D. D.)

Christian children

I. The precept.

1. Observe the persons to whom the commandment is addressed children.

2. Observe what is commanded as the especial duty of children in reference to parents–obey, and honour.

3. The limitation of the precept–in the Lord. The parents stronghold is here, when he says, I must have you obedient, because I am responsible to God for your being so. And the childs strong encouragement is in the same thought: In obeying my parents, I am doing that which is pleasing to God, and I do it because the Lord so bids me.

II. The sanction.

1. To obey parents is right.

(1) Their age, experience, knowledge, entitle them to the obedience of their children.

(2) Love should prompt children to render obedience to their parents.

2. There is a promise annexed to obedience. God undertakes that His blessing shall be given. (James Cohen, M. A.)

Our fathers and mothers

Now this short text is a message to us about our duty to them.

I. Notice whom you are to obey and honour. Your parents–your father and mother.

II. What it is to honour and obey them.

1. We must respect and reverence them. We should regard them as those to whose love and government God Himself has committed us. I have read of two sons who saved their aged parents at the sacrifice of all they possessed and at the risk of their own lives. The city was on fire, and they were in the middle of it; they had gold in the cellar and plate in the cupboard; but one took his father on his back, and the other his mother, and away they ran through the scorching streets and falling houses, till they got outside the walls! Those lads loved their parents with perfect love. How different to the wretched heathen who leave their old fathers and mothers to perish! Mr. Moffat, an African missionary, found a poor woman under a tree; she was a mere skeleton, and the bloodthirsty wolves were bowling around her! She said her children had got tired of her because she was sick; they had been gone some days, and she must sit there till she died.

2. To honour and obey our parents means that we are to do whatever will make them happy, even though they do not enjoin it upon us.

3. To honour and obey them means that we are to do whatever they tell us. Their commands are to be laws with us. A soldier is ordered to do this and that by his officer–it may be to carry a letter through the enemys country, it may be to take the place of a comrade who has just been shot down at a gun, but he knows that he may not hesitate for a moment; if he refused, his character as a soldier would be gone, and he would be drummed out of the army. But what claim has an officer on a soldier, compared with the claim of a parent on a child?

III. How far we are to honour and obey our parents (see Col 3:20). We are to obey our parents in everything so far as their commands agree with those of God, and no further; if they required us to steal, or lie, or cheat, or do anything wrong, we should not be called to obey them. But, dear children, it is not probable that your beloved parents will ever require you to do anything of this kind; and in all other cases you are bound to obey them. I press that all, because many boys and girls will pick and choose amongst duties as they would amongst apples; they will do what is easy and pleasant to them. Now, it seems to me that difficult things are just the test of obedience. Some things are no test at all. Suppose a father were to say to his son, Run and buy yourself a dozen raspberry tarts; not one boy in a hundred but would run to the shop as fast as his legs could carry him; but for all that, he might be a disobedient boy at heart. Now, let us try him again; Leave off your play, and take this note to the doctors for me. Look at him now! He pretends not to hear, or he puts it on his younger brother, or he flies into a passion, or he says right out, Father, I cant. But if, instead of this, he at once cried, Father, Ill be ready in a minute, and pulled on his jacket, and went skipping down the street with a smiling face, I should mark him in my pocket book for a thoroughly obedient lad.

IV. Why you are to honour and obey them.

1. Because God has told us to do it. And God is so wise and good that whatever he bids us do should be done unhesitatingly; His command and our obedience to it should follow one another as quickly as the clap of thunder follows the flash of lightning.

2. Because we owe, under God, our existence to them.

3. Because they are our superiors. If, directly we were born, we were as strong and as wise as they are; then it would be different–we would manage for ourselves: but just look how it is. We come into the world the most helpless of creatures–far more helpless than a lamb, for it can stand by itself–far more helpless than a chicken, for it can pick up its own food. There we are, unable to do one single thing for ourselves; we know nothing at all; we have not a particle of experience! When a boy gets into a boat for the first time, all is strange to him. What should we think of him if he declared that he was going to start for New Zealand, just as he was? We should cry out, You are mad! But if he embarked in a large ship under a tried and skilful captain, then there would be no danger. Now, our parents are tried and skilful captains; they have sailed on the rough ocean of life in many directions; they understand all about its winds, and tides, and currents; they have sounded here, and anchored there; they have marked rocks in one place and shoals in other, and whirlpools in another. They have travelled the dangerous road of life for years; they have learnt the right turnings and the best inns; they know the spots where robbers lurk and wild beasts prowl; they know which fruits may be eaten, and which are poisonous; they know who are safe companions, and who will lead astray: In other words, having read so much, and heard so much, and seen so much, and suffered so much, they are able to guide us; they can tell us how to avoid what is harmful, and how to secure what is valuable; they can train us up in the way in which we should go.

4. Because they are our nearest and dearest friends.

5. Because it will be good for us. It is the first commandment with promise; and the promise is, Thy days shall be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. No doubt this referred more particularly to Jewish children, because, as we have seen, those of them who were disobedient were stoned to death, and thus their days were short in the land; whilst those of them who were obedient lived on. But many Christians think that this promise is still fulfilled to dutiful sons and daughters. And, as a fact, they do live longer. For disobedient children soon fall into wicked ways and among wicked associates, and rain their health, and come to an untimely end. The ungodly shall not live out half their days. So it was with the sons of Eli; so it was with Absalom; so it has been with many youths whom I have known. On the other hand, how different it is with the obedient child; he has his parents praise, which is an ever-flowing fountain of joy! He has their most fervent prayers! The smell of their son is to them as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Often as they embrace him, their bowels yearn over him, as they say, God be gracious unto thee, my son! or, God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. A blameless childhood blossoms into a graceful manhood! (J. Bolton, B. A.)

Filial obedience

Children ought to render to their parents–

1. The obedience of love.

2. The obedience of reverence. It is honour thy father and thy mother. There may be much love, much fondness, and much real obedience, yet I have sometimes seen a most lamentable deficiency in this veneration for parents. If I look into the Word of God, there I see the principle exhibited. I see Joseph, in the forty-sixth of Genesis, meeting with his old father–Joseph who was next on the throne to Pharaoh, a great man in Egypt, with thousands at his beck: yet I find, in the twenty-ninth verse, Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goschen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. And if I turn to another passage, it is still more striking: in the case of Bathsheba and Solomon. It is in the second chapter of the First Book of Kings, and the nineteenth verse. Bathsheba therefore went unto King Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the kings mother; and she sat on his right hand.

3. The obedience of gratitude.

4. The obedience of submission. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)

Fatal result of disobedience

Many years ago, a minister lived in a cottage near some very high, rocky hills, which rose abruptly from the vale below. He had two sons, who were not as obedient as boys ought to be. They fancied themselves wiser than their father, and often treated his commands with contempt. Now this good minister knew that the cliffs were not very safe for the boys to venture on. They were too perpendicular, and had too few places for the feet, to be climbed or descended by anyone without great risk of life or limbs. He pointed out this danger to his sons, and repeatedly said to them, Be sure you never venture down the face of the cliffs. You can see that this was good advice, and the boys ought to have given due heed to it. But I am sorry to be forced to tell you these boys were wilful, and disobeyed. They said yes to their father when he gave them this command, and then went out and broke it. Many birds built their nests in the holes among the rocks, and these bad boys would venture down in search of their eggs. They did this so frequently without meeting with any mishap, that they grew bold in their disobedience, and often laughed at their father for being so particular and old-fogyish. One day, however, these boys did not go home to dinner. Their parents wondered where they were, but made no search until tea time. Then the non-appearance of the boys troubled them. They sent, round the village to inquire for them, but they had not been seen since noon, when they were dismissed from school. The minister and his wife were now very much alarmed. They sent messengers in every direction. Their good fathers heart trembled with fear lest they had tumbled over the cliffs. He went down a gorge which led to the vale below, and there, to his dismay, he found them cold, mangled, and dead! Their disobedience had proved their destruction,

The root of heaven, or hell, struck in the nursery

All vice and crime may be traced to the nursery. The foundations of reverence are either earnestly laid, or perilously sapped, in the very first years. In the first act of disobedience the child commits himself to a downward course. The assertion of self-will in a disobedient act, is evidence enough that the powers of darkness have prevailed to lay the foundation of hell in the young soul. The parents who tolerate, or mildly pass over the disobedience of their children, tolerate what constitutes the beginning of all evil, and the root of eternal evil. The children who are permitted to make light of the authority of their father and mother, will in all probability grow up to make light of the authority of God. In dishonouring their parents, they have already dishonoured God. They have disgraced themselves, impaired their own moral sense, given their consent to evil spirits as their allies, and entered on the way which leads them to destruction. Children should be made to obey long before they can understand why they should obey. Their hearts should beat, their muscles grow, and their nerves vibrate and play, under the necessity of obedience. From the beginning, their freedom should be freedom in obedience. As soon as they can understand it, they should be taught that reverence for their parents, manifested by unhesitating obedience, is Gods command. And children who obey their parents because God commands it, are in the straight way wherein they shall not stumble. It shall be well with them, both for time and eternity. They are in the Way that they should go–the Way that leadeth unto life eternal, and when they are old they will not depart from it. They have begun to do right. The foundation of God is in them, and it shall stand forever, and they shall be built up forever. Children, obey your parents, in the Lord, for this is right. It is right, not because it is commanded; but it is commanded because it is right, and it is right because it is essentially good, safe, and prosperous. In the law and ordinance of each childs creation, God has made a provision for the reverence of fathers and mothers. Parents are taken into the secrecy of His creative council, that no child may receive his existence immediately from Himself, but from Him, through them. Irreverent and disobedient children, therefore, do violence to the very spring and ground of their own nature; they rupture the covenant which God has made with obedient children; they cut themselves off from all part in His promises; they dissolve their connection with all blessed spirits and angels, and give pledges to Satan. (J. Pulsford.)

A daughters obedience

A missionary was passing along the streets of London, and he saw a little girl lying asleep on the steps in the night, the rain beating in her face, and he awakened her and said, My little girl, what do you here? Oh! she replied, my father drove me out, and I am waiting until he is asleep, and then I am going in. Then she told the story of her fathers drunkenness. That night after her father was asleep, she went back and laid down in the house. In the morning she was up early, preparing the meal, and her father turned over, waking up from his scene of drunkenness and debauch, and he saw his little child preparing breakfast, and he said to her, Mary, why do you stay with me? Oh! she said, father, it is because I love you. Well, he said, why do you love me when everybody despises me? and why do you stay with me? Well, she said, father, you remember when mother was dying, she said to me: Mary, never forsake your father; the rum fiend will some day go out, and he will be very good and kind to you, and my dying charge is, dont forsake your father; and I never will, father, I never will. Mother said I must not, and I never will.

An excellent proof

While driving along the street one day last winter in my sleigh, a little boy, six or seven years old, asked me the usual question, Please, may I ride? I answered him, Yes, if you are a good boy. He climbed into the sleigh; and when I again asked, Are you a good boy? he looked up pleasantly and said, Yes, sir. Can you prove it? Yes, sir. By whom? Why, by my mother, said he, promptly. I thought to myself, here is a lesson for boys and girls. When a child feels and knows that mother not only loves, but has confidence in him or her, and can prove obedience, truthfulness, and honesty, by mother, they are pretty safe. That boy will be a joy to his mother while she lives.

Obedience and character

A tradesman once advertised in the morning papers for a boy to work in his store, run errands, and make himself generally useful. The next morning the store was thronged with boys of all ages and sizes trying to get the place. The storekeeper only wanted one boy, and as he was at a loss to know how to get the right one out of so large a crowd, he thought he must find out some plan to lessen the number of boys and to be sure of getting a good one. So he sent them all away till he could think over the matter a little. The next day the papers contained this advertisement: Wanted–a boy who obeys his mother. And out of the crowd who were there the day before, how many do you suppose came to get that place? Only two. Whichever of these two the storekeeper chose we may be very certain would prove a good boy. Jesus was pleasing His Father in heaven all the time that He was obeying His mother on earth. And so it is always. The boys who learn to obey at home are the boys who will be most wanted for places in business, and who will be most useful and successful in them. (Dr. Newton.)

How to bring up children

The late Dr. Henry Ware, when once asked by a parent to draw up some set of rules for government of children, replied by an anecdote: Dr. Hitchcock, he said, was settled in Sandwich; and, when he made his first exchange with the Plymouth minister, he must needs pass through the Plymouth Woods, a nine miles wilderness, where travellers almost always got lost, and frequently came out at the point they started from. Dr. Hitchcock, on entering this much dreaded labyrinth, met an old woman, and asked her to give him some directions for getting through the wood so as to fetch up at Plymouth, rather than Sandwich. Certainly, she said, I will tell you all about it with the greatest pleasure. You will just keep right on till you get some ways into the woods, and you will come to a place where several roads branch off. Then you must Stop and consider, and take the one that seems to you most likely to bring you out right. He did so, and came out right. Dr. Ware added, I have always followed the worthy and sensible old ladys advice in bringing up my children. I do not think anybody can do better: at any rate, I cannot. Good common sense, doubtless, is often better than all set rules; but the thing is to have it.

Early impressions abide

Some years ago, a native Greenlander came to the United States. It was too hot for him there; so he made up his mind to return home, and took passage on a ship that was going that way; but he died before he got back, and, as he was dying, he turned to those who were around him, and said, Go on deck and see if you can see ice. What a strange thing! some would say. It was not a strange thing at all. When that man was a baby the first thing he saw, after his mother, was ice. His house was made of ice. The window was a slab of ice. He was cradled in ice. The water that he drank was melted ice. If he ever sat at a table, it was a table of ice. The scenery about his home was ice. The mountains were of ice. The fields were filled with ice. And when he became a man he had a sledge and twelve dogs that ran him fifty miles a day over ice. And many a day he stooped over a hole in the ice twenty-four hours to put his spear in the head of any seal that might come there. He had always been accustomed to see ice, and he knew that if his companions on the ship could see ice it would be evidence that he was near home. The thought of ice was the very last thought in his mind, as it was the very first impression made there. The earliest impressions are the deepest. Those things which are instilled into the hearts of children endure forever and forever.

The childrens life in Christ

I sometimes meet with men and women who tell me that they cannot remember the time when they began to love and trust and obey Christ, just as they cannot remember the time when they began to love and trust and obey their parents. If we had a more vivid and a more devout faith in the truth that every Christian family is according to Gods idea and purpose a part of the kingdom of heaven, this happy experience would be more common. The law of Christ is the rule of human conduct in childhood as well as in manhood; and as in Christs kingdom grace precedes law, the grace of Christ is near to a child in its very earliest years to enable it to keep the law, and the childs earliest moral life may be a life in Christ. Christs relationship to men cannot be a relationship of authority merely. His authority is the authority of One who has assumed our nature and died for our sins. He is our Prince that He may be our Saviour. These truths are assumed in the precept that children are to obey their parents in the Lord. Every child, apart from its choice and before it is capable of choice, is environed by the laws of Christ. It is equally true that every child, apart from its choice and before it is capable of choice, is environed by. Christs protection and grace in this life, and is the heir of eternal blessings in the life to come. Christ died and rose again for the race. Children may obey their parents in the Lord, before they are able to understand any Christian doctrine; they may discharge every childish duty, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, before they have so much as heard whether the Spirit of God has been given; they may live in the light of God before they know that the true light always comes from heaven. And as men and women, who are consciously relying on God to enable them to do His will, appropriate Gods grace and make it more fully their own by keeping His commandments, so the almost unconscious virtues of devout children make the life of Christ more completely theirs. Like Christ Himself, who in His childhood was subject to Joseph and Mary, as they advance in stature they advance in wisdom and in favour with God and men. This is the ideal Christian life. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

Conflicting duties

The difficulties of obedience are usually greatest in the troubled years between childhood and manhood; and not unfrequently these difficulties are increased rather than diminished when during these years the religious life begins to be active. To a boy or girl of fifteen the discovery of God sometimes seems to dissolve all human relationships. The earthly order vanishes in the glory of the infinite and the Divine. There is also a sudden realization of the sacredness and dignity of the personal life, and whatever authority comes between the individual soul and God is felt to be a usurpation. At this stage in the development of the higher life the first commandment is also the only commandment that has any real authority. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, seems to exhaust all human duty, and life has no place for any inferior obligations. I have a very deep sympathy with those young people who are trying, and trying very unsuccessfully, to adjust what seem to them the conflicting claims of the seen and the unseen, of earth and heaven. They have to remember that we live in two worlds, that both belong to God; and that we do not escape from the inferior order when the glory of eternal and Divine things is revealed to us. We still have to plough, and to sow, and to reap; to build houses; to work in iron, and brass, and silver and gold. The old world with its day and night, its sunshine and its clouds, its rain and snow, its heat and cold, is still our home. In things seen and temporal we have to do the will of the invisible and eternal God, and to be disciplined for our final perfection and glory. As God determined the laws of the physical universe, so He determined the limitations of human life, and the conditions upon which human duty is to be discharged. The family, the State, and the Church are Divine institutions: and the obligations which they create are rooted in the will of God. The family and the State belong to the natural order, but they are not less Divine in their origin than the Church, nor are their claims upon us less sacred. In the family the parents by Divine appointment exercise authority, and children are under Divine obligations to obedience. The ends for which the family exists are defeated if authority is not exercised on the one side, if obedience is not conceded on the other; just as the ends for which the State exists are defeated if rulers do not assert and enforce the law, if subjects habitually violate it. Children are to obey their parents, for this is right; right, according to the natural constitution and order of human affairs; right, according to the laws of natural morality; right, according to the natural conscience and apart from supernatural revelation. But in the discharge of this natural duty the supernatural life is to be revealed. Children are to obey their parents in the Lord, in the Spirit and in the strength of Christ. Obedience to parents is part of the service which Christ claims from us; it is a large province of the Christian life. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

The extent of parental authority

It is not enough that children obey their parents in those things which would have obligation apart from parental authority. To be truthful, honest, kindly, temperate, courageous, industrious, are duties whether a parent enforces them or not. They may be sanctioned and sustained by parental authority, but to discharge duties of this kind may be no proof of filial obedience; a child may discharge them without any regard to the authority of his parents. It is when the parent requires obedience in things which are neither right nor wrong in themselves, or which appear to the child neither right nor wrong in themselves, that the authority of the parents is unambiguously recognized. A parent may require obedience in things of this kind for the good of the child himself, for the sake of his health, for the sake of his intellectual vigour and growth, for the sake of his moral safety, or for the sake of his future success in life. Before the parents authority is exerted the child is free; but afterwards, whether the child sees the wisdom of the requirement or not, he is bound to obey. Or parental authority may be exerted for the sake of the family generally. Regulations intended to secure the order of the household, to prevent confusion, to lessen trouble, and to lessen expense, are often felt by young people to be extremely irksome. The regulations appear to be unreasonable, and to have no other object than to place vexatious restraints on personal liberty. Sometimes, no doubt, they are really unwise and unnecessary. But children are not the most competent judges; and in any case it is the parents, not the children, that are responsible for making the rules. The parents may be unwise in imposing them; but the children are more than unwise if they are restive under them and wilfully break them. To submit to restraints which are seen to be expedient and reasonable is a poor test of obedience; the real proof of filial virtue is given when there is loyal submission to restraints which appear unnecessary. There is less difficulty when a child is required to render personal service to a parent. The obligation is so obvious, that unless the child is intensely selfish the claim will be met with cheerfulness as well as with submission. Affection, gratitude, and a certain pride in being able to contribute to a parents ease or comfort, will make obedience a delight. To be of use satisfies one of the strongest cravings of a generous and noble nature, and that satisfaction is all the more complete if the act of service involves real labour and a real sacrifice of personal enjoyment. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

Family discipline and State security

The duty of obedience to parents, which is a natural duty, a duty arising out of the natural constitution of human life, was enforced in Jewish times by a Divine commandment. And this commandment had a place of special dignity in Jewish legislation; it was the first commandment with promise. Paul was not thinking of the Ten Commandments as if they stood apart from the rest of the laws which God gave to the Jewish people, or else he would have said that this was the only commandment that was strengthened by the assurance of a special reward to obedience. He meant that of all the Jewish laws this was the first that had a promise attached to it. The promise was a national promise. It was not an assurance that every child that obeyed his parents would escape sickness and poverty, would be prosperous, and would live to a good old age; it was a declaration that the prosperity, the stability, and the permanence of the nation depended upon the reverence of children for their parents. The discipline of the family was intimately related to the order, the security, and the greatness of the State. Bad children would make bad citizens. If there was a want of reverence for parental authority, there would be a want of reverence for public authority. If there was disorder in the home, there would be disorder in the nation; and national disorder would lead to the destruction of national life. But if children honoured their parents the elect nation would be prosperous, and would retain possession of the country which it had received from the hands of God. The greatness of the promise attached to this commandment, the fact that it was the first commandment that had any promise attached to it, revealed the Divine estimate of the obligations of filial duty. And although Jewish institutions have passed away, the revelation of Gods judgment concerning the importance of this duty remains. And the promise with which it was sanctioned is the revelation of a universal law. The family is the germ cell of the nation. If children honour their parents, men and women will be trained to those habits of order and obedience which are the true security of the public peace, and are among the most necessary elements of commercial and military supremacy; they will be disciplined to self-control, and will have strength to resist many of the vices which are the cause of national corruption and ruin. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

Honour is more than obedience

The commandment which Paul quotes requires children to honour their parents; honour includes obedience and something more. We may obey because we are afraid of the penalties of disobedience; and in that case the obedience though exact will be reluctant, without cheerfulness and without grace. We may obey under terror, or we may obey from motives of self-interest. We may think that the man to whom we are compelled to submit is in no sense our superior, that he is at best our equal, and that it is mere accident that gives him authority over us. But children are required to remember that their parents are their superiors, not their equals; that they have to honour parental dignity as well as to obey parental commands, that honour is to blend with obedience and to make it free and beautiful. The child that honours his parents will yield a real deference to their judgment and wishes when there is no definite and authoritative command; will respect even their prejudices; will chivalrously conceal their infirmities and faults; will keenly resent any disparagement of their claims to consideration; will resent still more keenly any assault on their character. In a family where this precept is obeyed, parents will be treated with uniform courtesy. There is a tradition that whenever Jonathan Edwards came into a room where his children were sitting, they rose as they would have risen at the entrance of a visitor. Forms of respect of this kind are alien from modern manners; but the spirit of which they were the expression still survives in well-bred families, I mean in families which inherit and preserve good traditions, whatever social rank they may belong to. Nor is it to parents alone that children should show this spirit of consideration and respect; brothers and sisters should show it to each other; and both among the rich and the poor it may be taken as a sure sign of vulgarity, inherited or acquired, if courtesy is reserved for strangers, and has no place in the life of the family. Children are to honour their parents, and if they honour their parents they are likely to be courteous to each other. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

Duty of parents to children

Paul had a sensitive sympathy with the wrongs which children sometimes suffer, and a strong sense of their claims to consideration. Children are to obey and to honour even unreasonable, capricious, and unjust parents; but it is the duty of parents not to be unreasonable, capricious, or unjust. Parents are sometimes wanting in courtesy to children as well as children to parents, speak to them roughly, violently, insultingly–and so inflict painful wounds on their self-respect. Parents sometimes recur with cruel iteration to the faults and follies of their children, faults and follies of which the children are already ashamed, and which it would be not only kind but just to forget. Parents are sometimes guilty of a brutal want of consideration; they allude in jest to personal defects to which the children are keenly sensitive, remind them mockingly of failures by which they have been deeply humiliated, speak cynically of pursuits in which their children have a passionate or romantic interest, and contemptuously and scornfully of companions and friends that their children enthusiastically admire and love. Parents are sometimes tyrannical, wilfully thwarting their childrens plans, needlessly interfering with their pleasures, and imposing on them unreasonable and fruitless sacrifices. Parents who desire to be loved and honoured and cheerfully obeyed should lay to heart the apostles warning: Provoke not your children to wrath. Then follows the positive precept, But nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord. This covers the whole province of Christian education.

1. The precept implies a real and serious faith on the part of the parents that their children belong to Christ, and are under Christs care. The children are Christs subjects, and have to be trained to loyal obedience to His authority. Their earliest impressions of God should assure them that God loves them with an infinite and eternal love, and that He has blessed them with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

2. The education of which the apostle is thinking is practical rather than speculative; it has to do with life and character, rather than with knowledge. The order of a childs life is determined by its parents, and is to be determined under Christs authority, so that the child may be trained to all Christian virtues. In the earlier years of childhood this training will be, in a sense, mechanical. The child will not know why certain acts and habits are required of it, or why other acts and habits are forbidden. There will be no appeal to the childs conscience or reason; the parents conscience and the parents reason will assume the responsibility of guiding the childs conduct.

3. If it is the duty of a child to obey, it is the duty of parents to rule. There can be no obedience where there is no authority; and if a child is not disciplined to obedience it suffers a moral loss which can hardly ever be completely remedied in later years. The religious as well as the moral life is injured by the relaxation of parental rule. Obedience to the personal authority of parents disciplines us to obey the personal authority of God.

4. Children should be trained to the surrender of their own pleasure and comfort to the pleasure and comfort of others. Parents who have sacrificed themselves without reserve to their childrens gratification are sometimes bitterly disappointed that their children grow up selfish. They wonder and feel aggrieved that their devotion receives no response, that their children are not so eager to serve them as they have been to serve their children. On the other hand, parents who with equal affection have made themselves, not their children, the centre of the family life, seem to have been more fortunate. Not selfishly, harshly, or tyrannically, but firmly and consistently, they have required their children to take a secondary position. The comfort of the children and their pleasures were amply provided for, but the children were not led to think that everything in the house must give way to them, that all the sacrifices were to be made by their parents, none by themselves. They were trained to serve, and not merely to receive service. This seems to be the truer discipline of the Christian spirit and character.

5. In relation to the higher elements of the Christian life, to those elements which are distinctively Christian and spiritual, more depends upon the real character of the parents than upon anything besides. In relation to these the power of personal influence is supreme. If the parents really obey the will of Christ as their supreme law, if they accept His judgments about human affairs and about the ends of human life, if they live under the control of the invisible and eternal world, the children will know it, and are likely to yield to the influence of it. But if the parents, though animated by religious faith, are not completely Christian, if some of their most conspicuous habits of thought and conduct are not penetrated by the force of Christs spirit and teaching, the children are in great danger; they are as likely to yield to what is base and worldly in the life of their parents as to what is Divine. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

Parents and children

Family life has its origin with God. A more sacred position than that of father or mother it is impossible to occupy. And this because the highest revelation of God presents Him to us as a Parent. He is the Father of men. In every family, therefore, where love abounds and holy authority rules, there is a reflection of God. Then, further, according to a law of our Maker, children are a gift.

I. Try to estimate the worth of children. They are budding men and women.

II. Try to understand their individual characters. Careful study is needed for this. A family is a little world: each member of it has a personality of his or her own.

III. Try to appreciate the power of your influence. This can hardly be exaggerated, especially in the formative years of childhood. They are always learning from us, and being influenced by us. We can do nothing and say nothing but what leaves some kind of impression upon their young characters. We are their books, and they study US with keenest eyes, and reproduce us with a ludicrous accuracy.

IV. Try to recognize the limits of your authority.

1. It is bounded by the will of God.

2. It is limited by time. (Wm. Braden.)

Religious education

I. The nature of this duty.

1. Parents are required to impart to their children the instruction or wisdom of the Lord Jesus.

2. Parents must subject their children to the discipline of the Lord Jesus.

II. The importance of this duty. This may be proved from–

1. The state of prospects of the children themselves.

2. The circumstances and prospects of the Church of Christ. The hope of the Church in the future depends always upon the rising generation.

3. The state and necessities of the world at large.

III. The consistent, Christ-like temper in which these duties must be performed. (John Hannah, D. D.)

Christian parents

I. Caution.

1. Avoid harshness and severity of demeanour.

2. Do not overstrain the necessity of obedience.

3. Avoid the habit of constantly finding fault.

II. Counsel.

1. Exalt the Word of God. That must be the basis, foundation, rule and guide of everything. The great standard of right and wrong.

2. Exalt Christ.

3. Exalt the Spirit of God.

4. Maintain a godly jealousy of the world. (James Cohen, M. A.)

The nurture and admonition of the Lord

1. The first thing to consider is the basis of the culture–the Lord. To make a child understand fully what that means is the Alpha and Omega of Christian education. To train children of old in the nurture and admonition of the Lord was to teach them to comprehend the meaning and bearing of the great spiritual truths which the gospel brought into the world.

2. The next question concerns the method of the culture, which is described in the significant term, the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Some have supposed that in the double term there is a reference to the dual parentage, and that it describes the blending of the manly and womanly influence in the rule and culture of the home. But the original hardly looks that way. Our Revised Version has it, nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord. So that the word nurture in the Authorised Version in the original bears the sterner meaning; and refers to the discipline which comes through correction; while admonition suggests counsel, advice, reproof, exhortation, and all the intellectual and moral influences whereby a young soul may be trained for its work. It is wonderful how the fatherly and motherly influences blend in Christ; the tenderest nurture, the firmest correction, the sternest chastisement, in which no child can ever miss the love. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

Religious teaching of the young

The terms translated, nurture and admonition, were very familiar words to the Greeks. They were proud of their system of education, and, viewed from a moral point, they had reason to be so; their plans were admirably constituted for the development of the body, the culture of intellect, and the refining of the aristocratic taste in society. But between man and God there was the greatest deficiency: the vital deficiency was that which is supplied here by the apostle when he used these words, and said, In the nurture and admonition of the Lord; for it is Christianity alone which touches the mainspring of our nature, which brings all its parts into harmony with themselves, and restores, as a whole, man to the friendship and communion of God.

I. Look at some of the encouragement which we learn in the endeavour to bring them up to the Lord.

1. I would find encouragement in the general belief in a Present God. This may be said to be the starting point of a religious education.

2. We have in children comparative tenderness of conscience.

3. There is in children a comparatively prompt appreciation of the love of Christ. To a child it is not so difficult to believe in that complete self-abandonment for the good of others which was manifested in the Cross of Jesus Christ. He can more thoroughly understand in that early part of his life even than he can at a later period, when the shadows of the world are cast upon that Cross–can appreciate the love which prompted the giving Himself for us, and can return it far more than at any later period of his existence.

II. The means to be used for this purpose.

1. Instruction. It is knowledge, not ignorance, that is the mother of our devotion. We must seek, therefore, to illumine the understanding–to present to it those great objects of faith upon which the soul reposes.

2. Example. The instruction of the family is neither better nor worse than the conduct of its members: if the lessons are high and the conduct low, the effect will be low; if the lessons are imperfect, but the conduct excellent, the effect will be excellent.

3. These means must be applied and sustained in power by prayer. (C. M. Birrell.)

Parents and children

A parent is bound to his child by a tie which cannot be severed. He may delegate some of that work in which he is sure, intentionally or undesignedly, himself to bear so large a part, to tutors and governors, but he does not by that divest himself of his responsibility. This relationship is unalterable. It is not even affected by the conduct of the child. The bond is indestructible, and the duty as lasting as the bond.

I. The nature and extent of parental influence. It is evident that there is no relation in which a man exerts so much power for good or evil. There is no other from whom the child receives so many of the ideas, impressions, and habits, which are most abiding, as from his parents. The opinions which a man holds, the party with which he identifies himself, the friendships he cultivates, and the particular line of conduct he observes, all impress themselves on the mind of his child; and his views of them are affected partly by the feelings he has to his father, and partly by the opinions which they have had upon his fathers character and life. Very early is the observing power of the child awakened, and from the time that it is roused to consciousness every day adds something to its ever-increasing store. Words and looks, as well as actions, have their effect; and thus, unconsciously to themselves, the parents are constantly educating their children–educating them when they have no thought at all of the serious work which they are doing; when they are going on the way of life in their own accustomed course without recollecting that there are eager young eyes watching every movement, and listening young ears drinking in every word that is spoken, and impressible young hearts which are being trained to good or to evil by that which is thus passing before them.

II. The spirit and manner in which this responsibility should be discharged.

1. To make the unconscious influence which a man exerts a blessing, the one thing which is necessary is high-toned Christian principle. The power which goes forth from a man will be according to the spirit that is in him.

2. In the direct work of training, the first essential is that you should clearly set before your own mind the object which you have in view.

(1) Of course education by a Christian man must be religious, and distinctively Christian. And not only must this instruction be given, but wisely given–so that the religious lesson shall not be regarded as a mere task.

3. The exercise of authority is another of the means by which a parent may fulfil his duty. The one power on earth which is of Divine right in his. It is essential to the right government of the family and the proper discipline of the child. It meets him at the beginning of life with the idea, so necessary for all to realize, that in this world no human will is meant to be absolute and supreme, and that the first lesson–which everyone is to learn–is the difficult but necessary one of obedience.

3. No Christian parent will need to be reminded that he must pray for and with his children. (J. G. Begets, B. A.)

Jesus Christ the pattern, means, and end of parental training

In the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The Lord brings up His disciples; He takes them at their new birth, and educates them; He instructs and teaches them, but He does more than this, He brings them up; He forms and developes a godly character; He conforms them, by discipline and training, to the Divine image; He leads His disciples into true manhood of soul and of life. There is a nurture and admonition which the Lord adopts, and which may, with immense advantage, be imitated by every parent. The Lord exhorts, warns, and restrains. There is nurture, and there is admonition, in the bringing up of Christs disciples by their Lord. He is not like Eli, who was chargeable with great neglect, because he did not restrain his sons when they made themselves vile. The Lord Jesus Christ does restrain His disciples. When they sin He corrects them, yet He does not always chide, neither does He keep His anger for ever. He leaves some faults to wear themselves out, and other faults to die under indirect influences; but He takes care that every fault comes under some destructive influence. The Lord teaches and trains partly by His own example. Hence, when He is spoken of under the similitude of a Shepherd, it is said of Him, that He goes before His disciples, leading them, by showing them the path in which they should walk–showing them, not by His lips merely, but showing them by His own steps. Further, the Lord unites with Himself, by trust and love, those whom He brings up. His influence over them is not through the understanding and the reason merely–not simply through the intellectual faculties–but by the heart. What a melancholy sight it is in families, to see children growing up like roots in dry ground. They have hold of nothing in the home, and nothing in the home has hold upon them; there is nothing there that is congenial, just because there is nothing genial–for the genial to early life will always be congenial. Brethren, speaking of the nurture and admonition of the Lord mentioned in the text, we may really call it the nurture and admonition which the Lord adopts. We do not say that Paul had this thought when he wrote; we think he had another thought, which we shall presently try to give you: but still the thought that we now suggest is inseparably associated with that which we shall presently suggest–and therefore the remarks we have been making appear to us to be quite to the point. And if you would bring up your children aright, just see how the Lord brings you up, and imitate your heavenly Educator. But, speaking textually, the nurture and admonition of the Lord is that which the Lord directs–it is that which has the Lord for its subject, and the Lord for its object. Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, means–Let your instruction and your training have the Lords teaching, the Lords warnings, the Lords doctrines, for their means, and the Lord Himself for their end. Let the Lord be the end of education; and let the Lords resources be the means of education. And will you also observe that both parents are charged–for the word fathers is used here, not in the specific sense, but in the generic sense: so that we may read the passage, Ye parents, train up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The day was, when the mother had nothing, or very little, to do directly with instruction and education. But so soon as the position of the wife and the mother was improved and righted, so soon as she stood in her proper place by the side of the husband and father, then the father began to give her an undue share of the responsibility in bringing up the children. And what do we see now? We see the mother in many cases doing the whole work, and the father most grievously and sinfully neglecting it. This is not right. In the first place there is something due to the mother, and to the wife; why should she take a greater burden than she is able to bear? In the next place there is something due to the children. Look, further, at the common danger to parents that is here recognized–the abuse of power. The power of a parent is very great; and there is very little to check it; even the State does little here, unless the abuse of power be extraordinary. The power of a parent is, as we scarcely need remind you, almost unbounded. Do you see that the text recognizes the danger of this power being abused? Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. Power, more than anything else, tempts to cruelty; it is an exceedingly dangerous thing to possess–and no man in his senses will ever covet it; he will rather ask God to give him very little of it, than desire to possess it. Those who have right views of power will never be ambitious for it: but they will rather, like some of the old prophets (like Jeremiah, for instance), tremble to take it even when God puts it into their hands. We often see power make the most tender natures cruel, and the most gentle natures fierce. How often have women been rendered cruel by an increase of authority, and an increase of influence! There is danger to parents of caprice, and harshness; of giving commands, and precepts, and prohibitions, for the sake of maintaining their position, and of upholding their authority. And that is the point of the words, Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up. The child is to be nourished; it is not to be driven–it is to be cherished; it is not to be forced. The incitement and the impulsion which are likely to distress and dishearten the child, are distinctly forbidden in the text. The force of the contrast must be manifest to you in a moment. The bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, is placed in contrast with provoking them to wrath. The childs faults are to be corrected; but still, correction is to be so administered as not to sink the child into despondency, or drive him to despair–as not to wean the heart of the child either from father or from mother. And the education required is to be marked, as you will have seen throughout the course of these remarks, by the following features. The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is to be its end. Children are to brought up for the Lord; for subjects in His kingdom; that is to be the ultimate end. Christs teaching is to be the means of education. The precepts and the prohibitions that are to regulate the general conduct are to be taken from Christs lips, and are to be delivered to the child in Christs name. Christs resources are to be the support of education. The parent is not supposed to be able himself to do this work; but there are put at his disposal the unsearchable riches of Christ; and if he cannot nourish his children with that which he has, he may nourish them by the wealth of his Master and Lord. The education required is to have Christs example for its standard–the parent is to: bring up as Christ brings up His followers. And it is to have Christs temper for its spirit–the educator must be meek and lowly in heart. (S. Martin, D. D.)

The fathers charge

I. The duties which parents owe to their children.

1. Children are weak and helpless, and totally incapable of caring for themselves; and hence arises the first duty which parents owe them–that of feeding and clothing them.

2. Children are ignorant, and without understanding; hence they should not only be fed, but taught. Children should be taught–

(1) Early.

(2) Familiarly.

(3) Affectionately.

(4) Extensively.

3. Children are unruly, and therefore must; be governed.

4. Children are prone to evil, and therefore must be restrained.

II. The obligations which parents are under to practise those duties.

1. They should do it for their own sake. For the credit of their own characters.

2. They should do it for their childrens sake.

3. They should do it for societys sake.

4. They should do it for Gods sake.

Conclusion:

1. Learn how careful the apostles were to instruct their converts, not only in the matters of faith, but rules of conduct descending even to the most particular duties of domestic life.

2. The practicability of a religious education.

3. How awful is the responsibility of parents. (Theological Sketchbook.)

The duty of Christian parents

I. The tie that binds the parent to his child. It is one of the most affecting of all ties. But see the deep responsibility connected with it–to say nothing of the closeness, the tenderness, and the unchangeableness of the tie–my bone, and my flesh, and my blood.

II. But observe the exhortation that is here given. At first sight it seems a sort of strange exhortation to parents, not to provoke their children to wrath. Yet there is infinite love and infinite wisdom in it; because of the very love that parents have for their children. Observe, they are not exhorted to love their children; that is not the exhortation given to them. It is supposed that they love their children; and yet, though they love their children, they may provoke them to wrath. Because there may be, and often is, an exhibition of love that does provoke them to wrath. Oh! beloved, a system of perpetual, endless, unrequired, austere restriction does it; a perpetual restriction, in which there is a practical forgetfulness of the parents duty to make his children happy. Beware of a system of perpetually finding fault. This results from the other; if there be a system of perpetual restriction in all things. But now let us come to that which is the precept before us. But, says he, instead of doing so, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Bring them up–the same word occurs in the twenty-ninth verse of the former chapter; it is the same as nourish. It implies all tenderness, all feeling with, all feeling for, all care, all gentleness, and all love. Bring them up: just as you nourish your own flesh, caring for its life, for its welfare, and its true well-being–so bring them up. Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Here are two points for our consideration. Here is, first of all, the bringing them up, instructing them in Divine truth; and then there is educating them in Divine things. First of all, to instruct them in Divine truth. And this, too, not in a dictatorial way, as a schoolmaster teaches his lessons; but as a father should teach his children. A good minister is one who is nourished up in the words of faith, and of good doctrine. Nourished up, by little and little, just as he is able to bear it. Besides this, beloved, there is in education–and there can hardly be, I should think, a greater mistake than to suppose that instruction in the truth, and education, mean the same things–there is in education the bringing up of a child in those principles in which he has been instructed out of Gods Word. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)

Early religious instruction

When a lady once told Archbishop Sharpe that she would not communicate religious instruction to her children until they had attained the years of discretion, the shrewd prelate replied, Madam, if you do not teach them, the devil will! (J. Whitecross.)

Training children

Be very vigilant over thy child in the April of his understanding, lest the frost of May nip his blossoms, While he is a tender twig, straighten him; whilst he is a new vessel, season him; such as thou makest him, such commonly shalt thou find him. Let his first lesson be obedience, and his second shall be what thou wilt. Give him education in good letters, to the utmost of thy ability and his capacity. Season his youth with the love of his Creator, and make the fear of his God the beginning of his knowledge. If he have an active spirit, rather rectify than curb it; but reckon idleness among his chiefest faults. As his judgment ripens, observe his inclination, and tender him a calling that shall not cross it. Forced marriages and callings seldom prosper. Show him both the mow and the plough; and prepare him as well for the danger of the skirmish, as possess him with the honour of the prize. (F. Quarles.)

Correction of children

By directing a childs attention to a fault, and thus giving it a local habitation and a name, you may often fix it in him more firmly; when, by drawing his thoughts and affections to other things, and seeking to foster an opposite grace, you would be much more likely to subdue it. In like manner a jealous disposition is often strengthened when notice is taken of it, while the endeavour to cherish a spirit of love would do much toward casting it out. (Hare.)

The time for religious education

Seize the opportunity while it lasts, before the child is inured to evil, and the sinful habit is formed. Act like the skilful physician, who tells you to apply for medical aid while the disease is in its incipient state, and not to delay until the malady has seized upon the vital organs, and is out of the reach of medicine. Now is the time to apply the moral medicine (for there is balm in Gilead, end there is a Physician there), and let it be so applied as that it work freely in these young hearts, for their healing and salvation. (Dr. R. Newton.)

Youth is the best season for communicating knowledge

If, for instance, you wish your son to learn a business, you send him to acquire it in the period of his youth; if languages are to be mastered, you admit the advantage of beginning them while young; and so it is with trades and professions. Now, men know this, and act accordingly in matters relating to this life. And shall men of this world be wiser in their generation than the children of light? Surely Christianity is a science, whose interest and importance are immeasurably above every other. Christianity is the Divine science of human salvation. O! then, begin to teach your children this Divine science while they are yet young. (Dr. R. Newton.)

Right habits must be inculcated in youth

If man be trained in early life to right habits–habits of religion, habits of virtue, truth, righteousness, and piety–it is to be expected that these habits, being truly formed, will grow with his growth, and strengthen with his strength. We have seen this principle repeatedly illustrated. For example, you have perhaps inserted characters in the tender bark of the young tree; and if you return to the tree in the next season, you then find that these characters have become wider and deeper than they were when you placed them there. So it is with the character of truth imprinted in the young and tender mind. It has been remarked that a vessel generally retains the savour of the liquid with which it was first seasoned so long as any part of the vessel remains. How true does this observation apply to the mental constitution of youth! And how important, then, that it should have the seasoning of the right kind–the seasoning of true piety, love to God, and love to man! A distinguished metaphysician had observed that of all the men passing through life, nine out of ten are what they are, virtuous or vicious, religious or irreligious, according to their education during the period of childhood and youth. (Dr. R. Newton.)

Religious training should begin early

If you should certainly know that in five years hence your boy, who is now a little child, would fall into a deep river all alone, you would not wait till the event should happen ere you prepared to meet it. You would begin now the process which would be safety then. Your child cannot swim, and you are not qualified to teach him; but forthwith you would acquire the art yourself, that you might communicate it to him, and that he might be prepared to meet the emergency. Now, beyond all peradventure, your child, if he survive, will in a few years be plunged into a sea of wickedness, through which he must swim for his life. Nothing but right moral principles, obtained from the Bible, and indurated by early training into a confirmed habit, will give him the necessary buoyancy. Hence, as you would preserve your child from sinking through the sea of sin into final perdition, you are hound to qualify yourself for training him up in the way he should go. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Training not to wait for years of discretion

Thalwell thought it very unfair to influence a childs mind by inculcating any opinions before it had come to years of discretion to choose for itself. I showed him my garden, and told him that it was a botanical garden. How so? said he; it is covered with weeds. Oh, I replied, that is only because it has not yet come to its age of discretion and choice. The weeds, you see, have taken the liberty to grow, and thought it unfair in me to prejudice the soil towards roses and strawberries. (S. T. Coleridge.)

Early devotion to God

It is of the last importance to season the passions of a child with devotion, which seldom dies in a mind that has received an early tincture of it. Though it may seem extinguished for a while by the cares of the world, the heats of youth, or the allurements of vice, it generally breaks out and discovers itself again as soon as discretion, consideration, age, or misfortunes have brought the man to himself. The fire may be covered and overlaid, hut cannot be entirely quenched and smothered. (Addison.)

Obedience to parents

I. An urgent command. Do your duty to your father and mother. This may be taken to include those who occupy the place of a parent–a grandfather or grandmother, or uncle or aunt, or friend or guardian. I shall try to bring out the spirit of this command in a few short remarks.

1. Honour your parents. Our words to our parents should be respectful: we should honour them in our speaking. I am amazed and grieved to hear how some children speak to their fathers and mothers–to hear the pert, disrespectful, impudent answers they sometimes give them. Our looks and gestures should be respectful. Do you see that little fellow, who has been found fault with, or has not got what he wanted? What a face he puts on–what ill-nature shows itself in these pouting lips–what revenge and defiance there is in that fiery eye–what a scowl on his young face! But he does not say anything; perhaps he does not dare. I wish you would remember that your eye and lips may sin, as well as your tongue and hand. Our actions–our general conduct and behaviour towards them, should be respectful We may do things, that are right in themselves, in a very disrespectful way–ungraciously, offensively. Where there is some infirmity–where, for instance, a parent is deaf, or lame, or sick, or ill-behaved, this is very apt to be. We do what is asked or wished, but we do it with a very bad grace. The same may be said of the way in which we receive and treat their instructions, it may be carelessly, heartlessly. Then there is such a thing as being ashamed of our parents–when they are poor, when they are not so well educated as we are. It was not so with Joseph, one of the first princes of Egypt, when he presented his old shepherd-father to the king, and was as proud of him as if he had been a king too.

2. Obey your parents. It is not enough to pay them respect, in a general way: they must be obeyed. To say No to a parent, is to run directly in the face of Gods law. And we may not choose what commands we shall obey, and what we shall not. And so I shall pass on to say something about the kind of obedience that should be rendered.

(1) Our obedience should be without questioning. Some children have a very bad trick of asking a reason for everything.

(2) Our obedience should be prompt. The thing asked should be done at once. Much depends on this. A parent should never require to repeat his command. To wait for a second bidding is just next to refusing. We might often learn important lessons from the lower animals, and not least from dogs, which, when well trained, are remarkable for their obedience. Let me tell you a story which brings out strikingly the advantage of prompt obedience. There was a dog that was growing old and deaf, belonging to one of the officials at a railway station. One day the dog was coming leisurely along between the two lines of rail, when the express train appeared, and screeching out its shrill whistle, came dashing on, as you have seen the express do. The poor dog could hear no sound, the train was close behind, there was no way of giving him warning in time to get off the line, and there seemed nothing for it but that the poor brute should be killed on the spot. His master, however, by a well-known sign with his finger, ordered the dog to lie down; in a moment he lay flat on the ground; and in less time than I have taken to tell the story, the train had passed over him, and left him unharmed. His prompt obedience saved his life.

(3) Our obedience should be cheerful. It should be not of constraint, but willingly. Compulsory obedience is not right obedience. We should not obey sulkily, making it plain that we only do the thing because we must.

3. Love your parents. It is not enough to pay them outward respect–to make a point of obeying them: you must love them. They love you, and nothing will satisfy them but your love in return. A poor woman once came to me, almost broken-hearted, and told me this story. She had been calling on her daughter, a young servant girl, in a good situation. When the daughter opened the door and saw who was there, she threw a shilling to her, as if she had been a beggar, said she was afraid lest her mistress should come, and shut the door in her mothers face, leaving her staggering under the rebuff. I think I see that mother yet, as she said to me, What was my daughters money to me, when I had lost her love?

4. Be kind to your parents. If you really love them, you will be kind to them. Anticipate their wishes, and give them a pleasant surprise. I might mention many beautiful instances of kindness to parents. I have heard of an American Indian chief who was taken prisoner with his son, and, with heavy chains on his limbs, was cast into prison. The chief whose prisoner he is, has no child, and wishes to adopt the boy as his son. He brings out rich ornaments for the wrists and ankles, such as the Indians delight to wear, and tells him to choose whatever he likes. One by one the boy takes them up and looks at them; but his thoughts go back to his father in his dungeon, and for him he gives up all. As you give me my choice, his reply is, I had rather wear such as my father wears–a chain! See that youth, respectable and well educated, who has been unable to get money otherwise, and now offers to enlist as a soldier, provided he gets a good bounty. What does the lad mean? His old father is in prison for debt: the son would do anything to get him released; he gets the bounty asked, and though it may cost him many a year of hardship and danger, he hurries to the well-known cell, takes his father in his arms, and tells him he is free! Or look into this humble home. On a bed lies a sick man, so helpless that his wife can do little else than wait upon him. She cannot go out to wash or work. People wonder how they live, for they get no parish aid. Do you see that little girl of twelve? How nimbly her fingers are going! Every morning she is up at four; it is nothing but stitch, stitch, stitch with her, all the day. She is the little bread winner for the household.

5. Value your parents. Well you may. You will never find the like of them again. You will not have them long. Prize them while you have them. And here let me put in a word for aged parents. When a father or a mother grows old, the duty to support and show kindness to and bear with them, becomes increasingly binding.

II. A precious promise–That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. I can but touch on this.

1. God says, Obedience will be pleasing to Him. It is implied in the promise, that God will approve it.

2. God says, It will be a blessing to yourself. It shall be well with thee: thou shalt live long, etc. (J. H. Wilson.)

Counsels for education

I. The first thing to which we invite your attention, is, the best method of communicating religious knowledge.

1. Now, among the first rules we would give for the communication of religious knowledge to children, we would say, avoid bringing before them all points of abstract doctrine. Do not suppose it needful that you should bring under their notice any system of divinity, as a system. Be careful to impress upon their minds those moral facts, which lead to the doctrines, rather than to state the doctrines and then prove them by the facts.

2. There is another direction, which I think very important, with regard to the instruction of the young; and that is, that in all our statements of truth, and in all our illustrations of doctrine, we should be careful that every illustration we employ be as circumscribed, as confined, as narrow in its range, as possible.

3. There is one general direction more that we would give with regard to the inculcation of religious knowledge; and that is, that we should do all we can to encourage habits of inquiry, of reflection, and of moral thoughtfulness.

II. We now proceed to the second part of our subject, where the observations, it is obvious, will apply to those of a more advanced age, as well as to children. We mean, the offering rules for persuading them to a religious practice.

1. The first rule we would give, is this: that you make the service of God appear delightful service.

2. Another direction is, that you acquire the habit of turning passing events to a spiritual account.

3. Another direction is, that you endeavour to find out their first and strongest tendency to evil.

4. Another direction we would give, is, that you administer reproof on Bible principles, and in a Bible spirit.

5. One more direction is, that ye encourage the small beginnings of the good work. Two practical directions for yourselves, in conclusion, will finish our subject. First, let your exhortations be strengthened by example; secondly, let your example be sanctified by your prayers. (D. Moore, M. A.)

Parental claims

I. First, allow me to direct your attention to the nature of parental claims.

1. In the first place, then, parental claims require implicit; obedience so long as the child is dependent on the parent.

2. Secondly, parental claims require affectionate and reverential deference in every period of life.

3. In the third place, parental claims extend to support in times of weakness, sickness, and old age.

II. In the second place, then, let us consider the authority by which these claims are enforced.

1. First, they are enforced by the decisions of the moral law. You know that one of the most prominent and oft-repeated of the ancient commandments delivered by Moses to the Jewish nation, was this, Honour thy father and thy mother.

2. Secondly, this duty is enforced by the principles and precepts of the New Testament dispensation. Thus, when the Saviour came, the record concerning Him was that He went down and was subject to His parents.

3. In the third place, iris enforced by the nature and claims of human society. Society is but an aggregate of individuals, and men are just what they are at home.

4. In the fourth place, it is enforced by the important connection which this duty has with the formation of individual character. Any individual who has been remarkable as an excellent son, will become a good father, a good husband, a good friend, a good member of society, in whatever place he may be found.

5. In the last place, it is enforced by the strongest commands of gratitude.

III. Allow me, then, in the third place, to notice some of those restrictions by which these claims are limited.

1. First, then, they are modified by the claims of religion. The gospel in every respect is supreme. Our allegiance to the Deity is higher and of more importance than our allegiance to any and all the forms of domestic and social life.

2. In the second place, it is restricted by the laws of society of which the individual may be a member, and by the principles of unchanging morals, every individual feels that society at large is of much more importance, and therefore has a greater claim, than the domestic circle. Consequently, if a law in itself right or necessary for social existence shall enjoin anything, parental authority shall not countervail it.

3. In the third place, their claims are marked and modified by the usages and constitutions of society. All our domestic arrangements partake, to a greater or less extent, of the nature of law. In many countries you know children are, or have been, regarded as the property of their parents. So long as the parent survives, it is impossible for them to hold property of any kind, or to command the services, excepting subordinate and secondary, of any agent. It has been impossible that they should devote themselves to this or that enterprise, except at the suggestion and determination of the parents will. In fact they are slaves–complete slaves; body, soul, and spirit regarded as the goods and chattels of the parent. We feel that this runs counter to the everlasting law; that it is not right that slavery in any form should exist; and consequently we should not feel ourselves bound essentially on such a principle as that, merely on its own account, if there were no other supervening law to enforce duty under those circumstances upon us. In the East, for example, and among the Jews, till a young man attained thirty years of age, this parental control was most complete; it extended to such physical chastisement as the parent should demand, while it was regarded as the highest crime to resist or oppose that chastisement, however condign, afflictive, or humiliating it might be. Under such circumstances as these, we feel our feelings would revolt.

4. In the last place, these claims are modified by individual character and conduct. I do not mean to say that improper conduct on the part of the parent essentially vitiates, much less destroys, the claims which the parent has for obedience and reverence. But I do mean to say that there is a law of nature which acting invariably will, if it does not destroy, greatly modify those claims, in the responses with which they shall be met. If the conscience is not controlled, if the understanding is not convinced, the very moment such is the case the claims of the individual are to a great extent modified. Now, it is just so in the domestic circle. If your example shall be contrary to righteousness and truth, two things will follow: first, your authority will be vitiated, because all true obedience, such as is connected with affection and reverence, must be secured, in greater or less measure, by the action of moral influence; but a corrupt father cannot exercise such influence, and consequently full and true obedience cannot by him be secured. The external form may remain, but the inward life and power must be wanting. A second thing will ensue; example speaks louder than words: there will be two authorities, two commandments. Further: if your commands shall be unduly severe–if they shall be, moreover, manifestly intended to secure exclusively your own interest–if they shall savour of selfishness in every utterance and in every demand, you may secure obedience, perhaps, but you cannot secure love. (J. Aldis.)

Religious instruction for children

Would mathematical science thrive if Euclid and the Principia were to cease from the studies of our youth: Would the public watchfulness of the people over their rulers thrive if they were to refrain from perusing the daily intelligence, and conversing of public affairs? Will religion thrive if the Word of God be not studied and its topics conferred on? If at that season when our youth of first family and ambition are preparing their minds for guiding affairs, by courses of early discipline in public schools, and those of second rank are entered to the various professions of life, if then no pains be taken to draw their attention to the sacred writings, and impress principles of piety and virtue upon their minds, how can it be expected that religion should even have a chance? One cannot always be learning; youth is for learning, manhood for acting, and old age for enjoying the fruits of both. I ask, Why, when the future lawyer is studying Blackstone or Lyttleton; the future physician, Hippocrates and Sydenham; the future economist, Smith and Malthus; the future statesman, Locke and Sydney; each that he may prepare for filling a reputable station in the present world–Why is the future immortal not at the same time studying the two Testaments of God, in order to prepare for the world to come, in which every one of us hath a more valuable stake? If immortality be nothing but the conjuration of priests to cheat the world, then let it pass, and our books go to the wind like the sibyls leaves; but if immortality be neither the dream of fond enthusiasts, nor the trick of artful priests, but the revelation of the righteous God; then let us have the literature and the science, and the practice for the long after-stage of our being, as well as for the present time, which is but its porch. These pleadings are to men who believe immortality; therefore justify your belief, and show your gratitude by taking thought and pains about the great concerns of that immortality which you believe. (Irving.)

Children should look to Jesus

Godly children are Gods workmanship, created by Jesus Christ, and if we would be the means of leading children into true godliness, we must bid them to look to our Saviour Jesus. I say to Him, not at Him. Some who have to do with the religious instruction of children, require them to look at Christ instead of to Him. There is a vast difference between these things. The child looks at the queen, when he goes to see her proceed in state to open the Parliament; but he looks to his mother, when he relies on her for the supply of his daily wants. We look at the statue, say of Jenner, or of Abernethy; but we look to our medical attendant for advice and healing. We look at Pitt or Fox, as they now stand before us in marble or stone; but we look to the Prime Minister of the day for the conduct of our national affairs. We Christians know for ourselves, that it is not by looking at Jesus, as at a great sight, but we are saved; but by looking to Him, as to a loving, personal Redeemer; therefore, in speaking to children of the Son of God, it is important to speak of Him, not as of a Being to be looked at, but looked unto. (Samuel Martin, D. D.)

Treatment of children

There is in all things, and in all souls, an element which should rather be allayed than stirred up. It is well that the force is there, for the feeding and enlivening of all the powers. Latent and under command, it is invaluable; but when it assumes authority, and mounts into self-manifestation, it is harmful and destructive. Parents, therefore, must carefully abstain from provoking the evil element which is in their children. Show them by their own example how the wrathful power can be made subservient to their energy and cheerfulness, and at the same time kept under perfect control. When, instead of possessing your soul in patience, you lose yourselves in a ferment of excitement, you suffer a serious loss of dignity in the eyes of your children. The force of your authority is gone. How can children honour from the heart that which is destitute of honour? How can they reverence you, if you lose your majesty? God calls you to the high and blessed office of representing Him and heaven to your children. There is in your children not only the wrathful element from you, but also a spirit of great sweetness from their Heavenly Father. The Jesus-Spirit is Gods seed, and it is sown in all the race. No child of Adam is wholly the seed of the serpent: the seed of the woman is in every man that cometh into the world. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. The Jesus-Spirit is the essential Spirit of humanity, without which salvation were an impossibility. Parents and teachers, address yourselves to this Divine ground in your children. (J. Pulsford.)

A lesson to parents

Oh, mamma; dont take my pretty broom to sweep the stairs, please dont! This came in shrill tones from Bessie, as she danced into the front hall and came suddenly in front of her mother, who considered that she had found an excellent tool in the shape of her daughters new broom. It was a present to Bessie from the old broom maker round the corner, and because he had taken great pains in its manufacture it was an unusually good one and pleasant for anybody to use. As might be supposed, its chief merit to a six-year-old child was its gaily painted handle. She had always kept it among her treasures, and was horrified now to find it in use, like any common broom. The work Mrs. Allen had laid out for that day was enough for three days. There was a cake to be made, and everything to be put in perfect order for company to tea. Perfect order, in the mind of this fastidious woman, meant a great amount of labour. With no help but an inexperienced girl, not a moment was to be lost. So she worked in nervous haste, taking no notice of Bessies protest, except to say: Be quiet, child; you will be heard in the street. I want my broom, please, mamma, persisted Bessie. What a selfish little girl! For shame! her mother said, sharply, sweeping vigorously at the same time. Oh, dont use it so hard, my dear little broom, pleaded Bessie–tears rolling down her cheeks. Youll spoil it, mamma; you truly will. If I spoil it Ill get you another. Get out of my way now, quick! Another broom wont do, sobbed Bessie, growing more excited at this suggestion. I want to keep this one always, cause old Mr. Strong made it for me, and he likes me. It shant be used, I shall put it away;–and, springing up the stairs, she clasped her arms about her treasure. The mothers patience was by this time quite exhausted. She angrily wrenched the broom from Bessies hands, then seized and half carried her up the stairs, and thrust her into the room in no gentle manner, bidding her to stay until she called her. Bessie was not a difficult child to manage, nor was her mother a hard woman. It needed but a little loving tact on her part, and the little girl would have been happy in lending her broom. But, poor mother, she had allowed herself to become nervous and tired and heated through much serving, and so she forgot that she was outraging an innate sense of justice which the Lord Himself had placed in the childs heart–forgot, too, that it had been written, Provoke not your children to wrath. Her worries and cares and the entertaining of friends so absorbed Mrs. Allen that she gave her little daughter but slight attention during the rest of the day. It was not until evening that she discovered Bessie to be in a burning fever, and complaining of a sore throat. She remembered then with a pang that the usually amiable child had been irritable all day, which should have led her to suspect something wrong. All through the night they watched the little one while she tossed and moaned, murmuring words in delirium that pierced the mothers heart like a knife, for it was all about a little broom, pitiful pleadings–Please, mamma, please dont; then drawing her white brow into frowns, would scream out, Its mine, I say; you must not take my broom! The best medical skill and the tenderest nursing could not avail. For two days they fought with the terrible disease, and then they gathered about the darling to give her the last kiss. They thought she would never speak again, but the blue eyes suddenly opened; they looked lovingly into her mothers, and Bessie said: Mamma, good-bye! You may take my little broom: you may keep if forever–forgive Bessie cause she was naughty; and then the sweet mouth was put up for a kiss. The next instant the mothers kiss fell on still lips. Do you wonder that for many years afterwards the most torturing, heart breaking sight to her in all the world was a little broom? Oh, dear mothers, it is well to be fine housekeepers and to entertain ones friends handsomely; but as we go bustling about, let us not load ourselves with such a weight of harassing cares that we have no time to be just, and tender, and patient with even the little whims and fancies of our darlings. When we come to lay them down to their last sleep, our sorrow will be keen enough without the stabs which memory with cruel faithfulness will inflict. Not a harsh word or unjust action will be forgotten then. (Christian Globe.)

Repression and fault finding

Life for some children is one perpetual dont. Our sympathies were recently enlisted for Freddie, a little fellow of five, who had been kept within doors during a long storm. His mother, a gentle woman, sat quietly sewing, as she chatted with a friend. Dont do that, Freddie, she said, as the childs whip handle beat a light tattoo on the carpet. The whip dropped. A block castle rose–and fell with a crash. Dont make a noise, Freddie. The boy turned to the window, the restless fingers making vague pictures on the damp pane. Dont mark the window, Freddie, interposed his mother; and Dont go into the hall, she added, as he opened the door to escape. The donts continued at brief intervals. At length the small man, seating himself with a pathetically resigned air, remained perfectly still for about a minute. Then, with a long drawn sigh, he asked, Mamma, is there anything that I can do? Sometimes dont seems a mere mechanical utterance, unheeded by the child, and unenforced by the parent. Dont do that, my dear; and the little girl, tossing over the fine engravings on a friends table, pauses an instant. The mother goes on talking with her friend, the child resumes her occupation, and no notice is taken of it, except, after awhile, the prohibition is carelessly repeated, only to be ignored. A forgetful mother makes a forgetful child. Authority is weakened by reiterated commands. (Christian Age.)

The claims of children

Dr. Leonard Bacon once preached a sermon on what he called the obverse side of the Fifth Commandment–the duty of parents to be worthy of honour. The child is born into the world with this right. His pure eyes look to his elders for example. His soul waits for impulse and inspiration from them. Woe unto that parent who, by unworthy character, causes one of these little ones to stumble; it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea. (Christian Union)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER VI.

Children should obey their parents, that they may live long

and be happy, 1-3.

Parents should be tender towards their children, 4.

Servants should show all obedience and fidelity to their

masters, 5-8.

And masters should treat their servants with humanity, 9.

All should be strong in the Lord, and be armed with his armour,

because of their wily, powerful, and numerous foes, 10-13.

The different parts of the Christian armour enumerated, 14-17.

The necessity of all kinds of prayer and watchfulness, 18-20.

Tychicus is commissioned to inform the Ephesians of the

apostle’s affairs, 21, 22.

The apostolic benediction and farewell, 23, 24.

NOTES ON CHAP VI.

Verse 1. Children, obey your parents] This is a duty with which God will never dispense; he commands it, and one might think that gratitude, from a sense of the highest obligations, would most strongly enforce the command.

In the Lord] This clause is wanting in several reputable MSS., and in same versions. In the Lord may mean, on account of the commandment of the Lord; or, as far as the parents commands are according to the will and word of God. For surely no child is called to obey any parent if he give unreasonable or unscriptural commands.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Obey your parents; with inward reverence and promptness, as well as in the outward act.

In the Lord; either, because the Lord commands it; or, in all things agreeable to his will: see Eph 5:21; Act 5:29.

For this is right, or just, every way so, by the law of nature, of nations, and of God.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. obeystronger than theexpression as to wives, “submitting,” or “beingsubject” (Eph 5:21).Obedience is more unreasoning and implicit; submissionis the willing subjection of an inferior in point of order toone who has a right to command.

in the LordBothparents and children being Christians “in the Lord,”expresses the element in which the obedience is to take place,and the motive to obedience. In Col3:20, it is, “Children, obey your parents in all things.“This clause, “in the Lord,” would suggest the duelimitation of the obedience required (Ac5:29; compare on the other hand, the abuse, Mr7:11-13).

rightEven by naturallaw we should render obedience to them from whom we have derivedlife.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Children, obey your parents in the Lord,…. The persons whose duty this is, “children”, are such of every sex, male and female, and of every age, and of every state and condition; and though the true, legitimate, and immediate offspring of men may be chiefly respected, yet not exclusive of spurious children, and adopted ones, and of children-in-law; and the persons to whom obedience from them is due, are not only real and immediate parents, both father and mother, but such who are in the room of parents, as step-fathers, step-mothers, guardians, nurses, c. and all who are in the ascending line, as grandfathers, grandmothers, c. to these, children should be subject and obedient in all things lawful, just, and good in everything that is not sinful and unlawful, by the word of God and in things indifferent, as much as in them lies, and even in things which are difficult to perform: and this obedience should be hearty and sincere, and not merely verbal, and in show and appearance, nor mercenary; and should be joined with gratitude and thankfulness for past favours: and it should be “in the Lord”; which may be considered either as a limitation of the obedience, that it should be in things that are agreeable to the mind and will of the Lord; or as an argument to it, because it is the command of the Lord, and is wellpleasing in his sight, and makes for his glory, and therefore should be done for his sake:

for this is right; it appears to be right by the light of nature, by which the very Heathens have taught it; and it is equitable from reason that so it should be; and it is just by the law of God, which commands nothing but what is holy, just, and good.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Duties of Children to Parents; Duties of Servants to Masters.

A. D. 61.

      1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.   2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)   3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.   4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.   5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;   6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;   7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:   8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.   9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

      Here we have further directions concerning relative duties, in which the apostle is very particular.

      I. The duty of children to their parents. Come, you children, hearken to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The great duty of children is to obey their parents (v. 1), parents being the instruments of their being, God and nature having given them an authority to command, in subserviency to God; and, if children will be obedient to their pious parents, they will be in a fair way to be pious as they are. That obedience which God demands from their children, in their behalf, includes an inward reverence, as well as the outward expressions and acts. Obey in the Lord. Some take this as a limitation, and understand it thus: “as far as is consistent with your duty to God.” We must not disobey our heavenly Father in obedience to earthly parents; for our obligation to God is prior and superior to all others. I take it rather as a reason: “Children, obey your parents; for the Lord has commanded it: obey them therefore for the Lord’s sake, and with an eye to him.” Or it may be a particular specification of the general duty: “Obey your parents, especially in those things which relate to the Lord. Your parents teach you good manners, and therein you must obey them. They teach you what is for your health, and in this you must obey them: but the chief things in which you are to do it are the things pertaining to the Lord.” Religious parents charge their children to keep the ways of the Lord, Gen. xviii. 19. They command them to be found in the way of their duty towards God, and to take heed of those sins most incident to their age; in these things especially they must see that they be obedient. There is a general reason given: For this is right, there is a natural equity in it, God has enjoined it, and it highly becomes Christians. It is the order of nature that parents command and children obey. Though this may seem a hard saying, yet it is duty, and it must be done by such as would please God and approve themselves to him. For the proof of this the apostle quotes the law of the fifth commandment, which Christ was so far from designing to abrogate and repeal that he came to confirm it, as appears by his vindicating it, Matt. xv. 4, c. Honour thy father and mother (&lti>v. 2), which honour implies reverence, obedience, and relief and maintenance, if these be needed. The apostle adds, which is the first commandment with promise. Some little difficulty arises from this, which we should not overlook, because some who plead for the lawfulness of images bring this as a proof that we are not bound by the second commandment. But there is no manner of force in the argument. The second commandment has not a particular promise; but only a general declaration or assertion, which relates to the whole law of God’s keeping mercy for thousands. And then by this is not meant the first commandment of the decalogue that has a promise, for there is no other after it that has, and therefore it would be improper to say it is the first; but the meaning may be this: “This is a prime or chief commandment, and it has a promise; it is the first commandment in the second table, and it has a promise.” The promise is, That it may be well with thee, c., &lti>v. 3. Observe, Whereas the promise in the commandment has reference to the land of Canaan, the apostle hereby shows that this and other promises which we have in the Old Testament relating to the land of Canaan are to be understood more generally. That you may not think that the Jews only, to whom God gave the land of Canaan, were bound by the fifth commandment, he here gives it a further sense, That it may be well with thee, c. Outward prosperity and long life are blessings promised to those who keep this commandment. This is the way to have it well with us, and obedient children are often rewarded with outward prosperity. Not indeed that it is always so there are instances of such children who meet with much affliction in this life: but ordinarily obedience is thus rewarded, and, where it is not, it is made up with something better. Observe, 1. The gospel has its temporal promises, as well as spiritual ones. 2. Although the authority of God be sufficient to engage us in our duty, yet we are allowed to have respect to the promised reward: and, 3. Though it contains some temporal advantage, even this may be considered as a motive and encouragement to our obedience.

      II. The duty of parents: And you fathers, v. 4. Or, you parents, 1. “Do not provoke your children to wrath. Though God has given you power, you must not abuse that power, remembering that your children are, in a particular manner, pieces of yourselves, and therefore ought to be governed with great tenderness and love. Be not impatient with them, use no unreasonable severities and lay no rigid injunctions upon them. When you caution them, when you counsel them, when you reprove them, do it in such a manner as not to provoke them to wrath. In all such cases deal prudently and wisely with them, endeavouring to convince their judgments and to work upon their reason.” 2. “Bring them up well, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, in the discipline of proper and of compassionate correction, and in the knowledge of that duty which God requires of them and by which they may become better acquainted with him. Give them a good education.” It is the great duty of parents to be careful in the education of their children: “Not only bring them up, as the brutes do, taking care to provide for them; but bring them up in nurture and admonition, in such a manner as is suitable to their reasonable natures. Nay, not only bring them up as men, in nurture and admonition, but as Christians, in the admonition of the Lord. Let them have a religious education. Instruct them to fear sinning; and inform them of, and excite them to, the whole of their duty towards God.”

      III. The duty of servants. This also is summed up in one word, which is, obedience. He is largest on this article, as knowing there was the greatest need of it. These servants were generally slaves. Civil servitude is not inconsistent with Christian liberty. Those may be the Lord’s freemen who are slaves to men. “Your masters according to the flesh (v. 5), that is, who have the command of your bodies, but not of your souls and consciences: God alone has dominion over these.” Now, with respect to servants, he exhorts, 1. That they obey with fear and trembling. They are to reverence those who are over them, fearing to displease them, and trembling lest they should justly incur their anger and indignation. 2. That they be sincere in their obedience: In singleness of heart; not pretending obedience when they design disobedience, but serving them with faithfulness. 3. They should have an eye to Jesus Christ in all the service that they perform to their masters (v. 5-7), doing service as to the Lord, and not to men; that is, not to men only or principally. When servants, in the discharge of the duty of their places, have an eye to Christ, this puts an honour upon their obedience, and an acceptableness into it. Service done to their earthly masters, with an eye to him, becomes acceptable service to him also. To have an eye to Christ is to remember that he sees them and is ever present with them, and that his authority obliges them to a faithful and conscientious discharge of the duties of their station. 4. They must not serve their masters with eye-service (v. 6)– that is, only when their master’s eye is upon them; but they must be as conscientious in the discharge of their duty, when they are absent and out of the way, because then their Master in heaven beholds them: and therefore they must not act as men-pleasers–as though they had no regard to the pleasing of God, and approving themselves to him, if they can impose upon their masters. Observe, A steady regard to the Lord Jesus Christ will make men faithful and sincere in every station of life. 5. What they do they must do cheerfully: Doing the will of God from the heart, serving their masters as God wills they should, not grudgingly, nor by constraint, but from a principle of love to them and their concerns. This is doing it with good-will (v. 7), which will make their service easy to themselves, pleasing to their masters, and acceptable to the Lord Christ. There should be good-will to their masters, good-will to the families they are in; and especially a readiness to do their duty to God. Observe, Service, performed with conscience, and from a regard to God, though it be to unrighteous masters, will be accounted by Christ as service done to himself. 6. Let faithful servants trust God for their wages, while they do their duty in his fear: Knowing that whatsoever good thing (v. 8), how poor and mean soever it may be, considered in itself,–the same shall he receive of the Lord, that is, by a metonymy, the reward of the same. Though his master on earth should neglect or abuse him, instead of rewarding him, he shall certainly be rewarded by the Lord Christ, whether he be bond or free, whether he be a poor bond-servant or a freeman or master. Christ regards not these differences of men at present; nor will he in the great and final judgment. You think, “A prince, or a magistrate, or a minister, that does his duty here, will be sure to receive his reward in heaven: but what capacity am I, a poor servant, in, of recommending myself to the favour of God.” Why, God will as certainly reward thee for the meanest drudgery that is done from a sense of duty and with an eye to himself. And what can be said more proper either to engage or to encourage servants to their duty?

      IV. The duty of masters: “And you masters, do the same things unto them (v. 9); that is, act after the same manner. Be just to them, as you expect they should be to you: show the like good-will and concern for them, and be careful herein to approve yourselves to God.” Observe, Masters are under as strict obligations to discharge their duty to their servants as servants are to be obedient and dutiful to them. “Forbearing threatening; anientes—moderating threatening, and remitting the evils with which you threaten them. Remember that your servants are made of the same mould with yourselves, and therefore be not tyrannical and imperious over them, knowing that your Master also is in heaven:” some copies read, both your and their Master. “You have a Master to obey who makes this your duty; and you and they are but fellow-servants in respect of Christ. You will be as punishable by him, for the neglect of your duty, or for acting contrary to it, as any others of meaner condition in the world. You are therefore to show favour to others, as ever you expect to find favour with him; and you will never be a match for him, though you may be too hard for your servants.” Neither is there respect of persons with him; a rich, a wealthy, and a dignified master, if he be unjust, imperious, and abusive, is not a jot the nearer being accepted of God for his riches, wealth, and honour. He will call masters and servants to an impartial account for their conduct one to another, and will neither spare the former because they are more advanced nor be severe towards the latter because they are inferior and mean in the world. If both masters and servants would consider their relation and obligation to God and the account they must shortly give to him, they would be more careful of their duty to each other. Thus the apostle concludes his exhortation to relative duties.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Right (). In Col 3:20 it is (well-pleasing).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

In the Lord. The children being with their parents in the Lord, are to be influenced by religious duty as well as by natural affection.

Right [] . Belonging essentially to the very nature of the relation.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

DOMESTIC CONDUCT OF BELIEVERS, WHETHER: (1) Children, (2) Parents, (3) Slaves, of (4) Masters

1) “Children obey your parents” (ta tekna hupakouete tois goneusin humon) “Children obey ye, or give heed to your parents.” As the wife is to be in subjection or submission to the husband in fear and reverence, so the children in the home are to be in obedience to their parents. Disobedience of a child to his father or mother was described as a dark sin in the Old Testament, bringing severe judgment on the stubborn and disobedient, Pro 1:8; Pro 6:20; Pro 23:22; Pro 30:17.

2) “In the Lord” (en kurio) “in (the) Lord.” In the Divine order of family government, for saved and unsaved, obedience of children to parents was to be “in the Lord,” in the sense that it is in the will of the Lord for family order ‘of behavior and government It is the higher will of God that parents be “in Him,” Col 3:20; Luk 2:51.

3) “For this is right” (touto gar estin dikaion) “For this (obedience) or giving heed is a right thing,” to do, or a righteous thing to do, Exo 20:12; Mat 15:4. Disobedience to parents is described as one of the more vicious sins of end times, despised of the Lord among the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, Rom 1:30; 2Ti 3:2.

A DAUGHTER’S DISOBEDIENCE

A missionary was passing along the streets of London, and he ‘taw a little girl lying asleep on the steps in the night, the rain beating in her face, and he awakened her and said, “My little girl, what do you here?” “Oh!” she replied. “My father drove me out and I am waiting until he is asleep, and then I am going in.” Then she told the story of her father’s drunkenness. That night, after her father was asleep, she went back and laid down in the house. In the morning she was up early, preparing the meal, and her father turned over, waking up from his scene of drunkenness and debauch, and he saw his little child preparing breakfast, and he said to her, “Mary, why do you stay with me?” “Oh!” she said, “Father, it is because I love you.” “Well,” he said, “Why do you love me when everybody despises me, and why do you stay with me?” “Well,” she said, “Father, you remember when mother was dying, she said to me: ‘Mary, never forsake your Father; the rum fiend will some day go out, and he will be very good and kind to you, and my dying charge is, don’t forsake your father;’ and I never will, father, I never will. Mother said I must not, and I never will.”

–Copied, Bib. Ill.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. Children, obey. Why does the apostle use the word obey instead of honor, (167) which has a greater extent of meaning? It is because Obedience is the evidence of that honor which children owe to their parents, and is therefore more earnestly enforced. It is likewise more difficult; for the human mind recoils from the idea of subjection, and with difficulty allows itself to be placed under the control of another. Experience shews how rare this virtue is; for do we find one among a thousand that is obedient to his parents? By a figure of speech, a part is here put for the whole, but it is the most important part, and is necessarily accompanied by all the others.

In the Lord. Besides the law of nature, which is acknowledged by all nations, the obedience of children is enforced by the authority of God. Hence it follows, that parents are to be obeyed, so far only as is consistent with piety to God, which comes first in order. If the command of God is the rule by which the submission of children is to be regulated, it would be foolish to suppose that the performance of this duty could lead away from God himself.

For this is right. This is added in order to restrain the fierceness which, we have already said, appears to be natural to almost all men. He proves it to be right, because God has commanded it; for we are not at liberty to dispute, or call in question, the appointment of him whose will is the unerring rule of goodness and righteousness. That honor should be represented as including obedience is not surprising; for mere ceremony is of no value in the sight of God. The precept, honor thy father and mother, comprehends all the duties by which the sincere affection and respect of children to their parents can be expressed.

(167) “ Τιμᾷν properly signifies, ‘to perform one’s duty to any one;’ and here reverence must comprehend the cognate offices of affection, care, and support. The same complexity of sense is observable in the classical phrase τιμᾷν τὸν ἰατρόν [to reverence the physician.] — Bloomfield.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

THE THREEFOLD APPEAL TO THE FAMILY

Eph 5:21 to Eph 6:9

IN taking up this additional lesson from the Ephesian Epistle, one finds no occasion to change from the threefold basis upon which the entire study has proceeded. We here have the threefold appeal to the family.

Since this Epistle is distinctly a Church Epistle, the family herein described is necessarily a Christian family. Quite truly, as Dr. Alexander Maclaren said, In the family, Christianity has most signally displayed its power of dignifying, honoring and sanctifying earthly relations. Indeed that domestic life, as seen in thousands of Christian homes, is truly a Christian creation. The unity, integrity and sanctity of the household was never fully seen or clearly admitted save by those who, being students of Gods Word, caught the Divine conception. Of all the peoples of the earth the Jewish and Christian, alone, have conceived and accomplished the ideal family.

In that relationship as here discussed by the Apostle, he discovers Wives and Husbands, Children and Parents, Slaves and Masters! That is the threefold relationship of a single house. He makes his appeal to each of these in turn.

First of all to

WIVES AND HUSBANDS

Let me here remark that whether one believes in verbal inspiration or not; whether he thinks that the Epistle is Pauls creation or the dictation of the Holy Ghost, he must be impressed with a double order that the Apostle here introduces. And, we are inclined to think that if one study this order carefully he will be compelled to admit that it is also a Divine order. Purposely wives, children and servants are placed in one class; husbands, parents and masters in another. From the first the Apostle demands submission. On the part of the second he counsels a careful and generous administration. In each instance he speaks to the weaker first and to the stronger later; and there is an implication that wives and children and servants are first in need of counsel, while husbands and parents and masters are in no wise infallible in conduct.

If we are to listen to the Scriptures at least three things are definitely determined.

The wifes submission is here clearly commanded!

Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church, and He is the saviour of the body (Eph 5:22-23).

Doubtless some will smile that so old-fashioned a notion should even be brought forward at this time in the twentieth century, and others will declare that this Bible teaching is a touch of the barbarism of the day in which the Apostle lived and wrote. But I beg you to withhold both judgments until you have given consideration to what is involved in this plain teaching of Scripture. Some of us believe that the marvel of Revelation is its accord with reason, and the proof of inspiration is in scientific accuracy; and, strange as it may sound to say it, I am fully persuaded that here reason and revelation speak together and the counsel of an Apostle is approved by the course of history. It is doubtful whether there has ever been a single instance of the reversal of this teaching of revelation that has resulted well. In fifty years of observation we cannot recall one case where the women ruled the home and the man was the vassal of her will and word, and both were content, and the family a model. In fact, we could go further and say that we have never known a woman, no matter how weak her husband was, who took the headship of the house and maintained it as her right, who was herself half satisfied, or at all spiritual. I am inclined to think that the great Alexander Maclaren had it right when he declared, No woman ever had a satisfactory wedded life who does not look up to and reverence her husband. * * For its full satisfaction a womans heart needs to serve where it loves. We know women who are neglected, maltreated and tyrannized over by indifferent, vindictive and brutal men, who are more positively content with life itself and keep a more feminine and affectionate spirit than do their sisters who live in affluence, command every situation, give orders to competent husbands, as they would give them to slaves, and in modern parlance run the ranch. Twenty-five years ago, I became a woman suffragist and as opportunities have risen, I have advocated the vote as a womans right. Today I seriously doubt whether I have had either reason or revelation to back up my opinions upon that subject. A study of this text, and related Scripture, has shaken my convictions, and I have been compelled to ask myself the question if the woman who modestly and with the spirit of reverence for her husband, and in a sweet enslavement for her children, influences the house as she can do only when she occupies such a place and exercises such a spirit, is not already the determining factor in social and political life? She, who holds the heart of her husband and controls the conduct of her sons, governs the state. She does it directly, positively, and gloriously. If she fails to do these two things, she thereby proves her unfitness to rule in the state.

It is said that there are exceptions to all rules, but the Apostle is careful not to pronounce an exception here. It is a real question whether history has created one. I have in mind at this moment two people who have lived as husband and wife half a century. The woman is physically and mentally the stronger member of that union, but in fifty years she has never once made the husband feel that fact. She counsels with him as carefully as though he were a Gladstone in intellect, and reverences him as truly as though he were a prince, and the sweetness of the relationship is at once an inspiration and an ensample. Such women find little difficulty in sanctifying even unbelieving husbands, and after all, that is the greatest work that any wife can accomplish. When eternity breaks, presiding over public assemblies in stunning gowns, making eloquent speeches, playing the part even of a Washington picket in the interests of suffrage, will look mighty small, if the whole of it has resulted in the husbands spiritual demoralization, and in spiritual death to the neglected souls of the children. God has spoken. The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church, and whenever the Church forgets the worship of Christ and assumes to be itself ruler in all spiritual things, ecclesiastical anarchy is the result; and, the disaster to spiritual things is no greater than a reversal of this Divine relation is disastrous to the domestic realm. Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives submit themselves unto their own husbands in every thing.

But Paul did not stop here; he would be a poor preacher if he did. No household would be complete, and no family would be ideal without the proper headship; hence the necessity of counsel to husbands!

Affection is the first law of a husbands life.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it;

That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,

That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church:

For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh (Eph 5:25-31).

We would think it almost strange that Paul does not counsel a wife to love her husband. Here is another proof of the inspiration of our text. Women seldom need to be counselled to love:

Love is of mans life, a thing apart,Tis womans whole existence!

Her temptation, as a rule, is not so much to fail at the point of affection; the fact that she is a woman fairly secures her there! Her whole nature reinforces her affectionate conduct! Her temptation is to quit her realm and lord it over all.

On the other hand, the husband is made to rule. In his very creation God gave to him the governing spirit, and there is danger that our natural talents should expand to the point where the less natural, but equally desirable ones, shall be crowded out. Affection is not so natural to man as it is to woman; but if he is to live in the marriage relation it is even more needful. His very masculinity may tempt him to too many mandates, and his conscious physical power may tempt him to be a conscienceless potentate, if not a tyrant! I have known men, and I now know some, who at the office, in the place of business, are smiling and sweet the whole day long, suave and civil to every patron approaching them, but when they once turn in at home they are critical, caustic and even contemptible. Such men cannot lift their wives in spiritual things, as Christ exalted the Church, and will not, in the last day, present them as trophies of their grace, as He will present His Bride, the Church, whom He hath redeemed by His own Blood.

The longer I live the more I am persuaded that the average husband is making a mistake at the very point where he has supposed himself to be most successful. He can delve sixteen hours a day, and coin a mint of money and construct a beautiful house, and have it swept about by a great and attractive lawn, and multiply his automobiles and increase the number of his servants, and every bit of it will be accepted by the woman who is his mate as her natural right, and then when he has no time left in which to be tender and gentle and gracious and complimentary as in the old days of his poverty and wooing, she is almost certain to conclude that his affection has gone. If I had the counsel of young men, entering upon married life, I should advise that if they want domestic happiness, stay on the basis of comparative poverty; but multiply tender expressions, continue in gracious conduct, and, above all things, forget not the potency of manners and flowers. Paul may have been a bachelor, and some may say he knew nothing on the subject of domesticity; but God was not ignorant, and when by the Holy Ghost, He moved Paul to say these things he was stating the absolute essentials of wedded success!

In these mutual relations there exists a symbol of mystery.

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.

Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband (Eph 5:32-33).

The word mystery is here properly employed; and yet there are some points of parallelism between the relation of husband and wife and Christ and His Church, that are not difficult to trace. According to the first Book in the Old Testament the side of man was opened to make the wife possible; according to the first Book in the New Testament the side of Christ was opened to make the Church possible. According to the Old Testament the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam that that painful process might be accomplished; according to the New Testament the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Christ that the Church might be brought to her birth. According to the Old Testament the woman was a very part of Adam; according to the New Testament the Church is a very part of Christ. According to the Old Testament Adam and Eve became one flesh; according to the New Testament Christ and the Church are also one; He is the Head and she is the body. According to the Old Testament Adam deliberately chose to share the destiny of Eve, brought about by sin. According to the New Testament, Christ deliberately determined to suffer the sentence that had been justly passed upon His-own! According to the Old Testament the promises of redemption made to Adam were shared in by Eve. According to the New Testament, the redemption wrought by Christ is enjoyed to the full by the Church.

Prof. Findlay had a biblical basis for saying, The bond that links husband and wife, lying at the basis of collective human existence, has in turn its ground in the relation of Christ to humanity. He sees a similitude that runs through this entire Scripture and finds in the bath of the bride a type of the washing of the Church by the water of the Word, as well as a symbol of the baptismal rite which typifies a cleansing of the filth of the soul, and suggests a clean commencement in the experience of grace; and, as Christ and His redeemed Church work together for the salvation of the world, so husband and wife are to work together for the salvation of the house. Louis Albert Banks said what we have often noted, Out in the western mountains, every train up the grade is drawn by two locomotives. It requires the combined power of two engines to reach the summit. So the building of a true home is a matter of such tremendous importance, and the difficulties in the way are so many and so complicated, that it requires the combined forces of husband and wife to accomplish it.

But the Apostle passes to

CHILDREN AND PARENTS

There is little occasion for the introduction of a chapter here! It would be far more fitting to have put that break between verses twenty-one and twenty-two of chapter five; or better yet, not to have created it at all. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

The child is to be both obedient and filial. He is to take commands and execute them. But his spirit, while about it, is to be expressed by the phrase Honour thy father and thy mother. There may be one exception in the matter of obedience, and that is when the parents command clashes with the plain will of God. Ye ought to obey God rather than men! There are no exceptions to the demand that father and mother are to be honored. I have heard people say, I cannot honor my father, he is a drunken lout. I cannot honor my mother, she is an ignorant wench! And yet, I have known people who were big enough and sweet enough to honor unworthy parents! And, on the other hand, I have known children who, just because they happened to know more of geometry than father does, or speak a better English than mother is capable of uttering, straightway imagine that they no longer have any occasion of honoring the parents that brought them into being, loved them with an unutterable affection, sacrificed to make their successes possible, denied self for the childrens sake, and stood ready at any moment to die even in the babes behalf.

The times upon which we have come have so many suggestions of the end of this age that one can hardly call into question the worlds approach to an awful catastrophe; and yet with the wars, and rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, defection from the faith, profession of religion without the power of it, no one of these is more marked than the spirit of insubordination which characterizes the twentieth century. Men and women alike are revolting against government; socialism is in the ascendency, and anarchism is too often its animating spirit; and, I suppose that when the truth is known, we will discover that all of this has had its birth in disobedience to parents which is now common, the world over, and which is one of the greatest curses of the hour. It may be possible that parents are to blame in having relaxed parental authority, in having swung from the old extreme of tyrannical government to the misplaced tenderness of the present time. But the fact of insubordination is no longer debatable; too much liberty has resulted in license. Love without law may express Science and Health, but it is not in line with the Scriptures; may represent Mrs. Eddys babblings but not Gods Book, or Gods behaviour. The child lacking in filial reverence, the child reveling in rebellion, is not only a menace to the peace of the house of which he is a member, but a prophecy of menace to society and to the State, and, eventually, the destroyer of his own soul. There was a time when the great and good Dr. Johnson walked into the market place at Litchfield bareheaded, and let the cold rain beat upon him, and when the passers by inquired why he thus behaved, he answered, To punish myself for my disobedience to my dear dead father. But somehow conscience does not work as clearly now and as effectively as it did in our fore-fathers time; not every child who disobeys mother and rebels against father feels remorse for the same and suffers the stings of conscience in consequence. Yet this command to obey and to honor is declared by the Apostle to be right, and as long as the relationship of parent to child exists the law of the Lord cannot change; and the dutiful child will find God forever ready to keep His promise, and the obedient child has never yet missed the Divine blessing, nor will he while God sits upon the circle of the heavens, and rules in human affairs.

Parents are to be both considerate and Christian. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4). An irritable father makes inconsiderate children; and a non-Christian mother dooms the spiritual hopes of the house. When Paul wrote his Letter to the Colossians he talked on this same subject, and he said, Fathers, provoke not your children to angerbursts of temper. It is a needful injunction! Sometimes the parent will produce a burst of temper, and the wrong member of the house is punished for its expression. The child has his rights, and they should be regarded, and among them is, that neither father nor mother demand model conduct from children while failing or refusing to set them a fit example. Authority cannot be eternally retained upon the basis of relationship; but it can be forever kept by a righteous course of conduct. Our friend and former co-laborer, Louis M. Waterman, has just published a little volume of poems called Cheery Chimes in which appears one entitled God and Dad, and it reads after this manner:

God likes my Pa a lot, I know,Hes such a dandy chap!If a feller makes a bit of noise He doesnt care a rap.And after supper, many a time,My Pa he plays with me,At marbles or at mumblypeg,As long as we can see.

Then, just before it gits quite dark,He helps me do my chores;And how we laugh, till folks come out To listen to our roars!God likes my Pa a heap, I knowHes such a jolly lot;Every time I say: Lets have some fun! Hes Johnny on the Spot!

When Sunday comes and Pa he says:Come, Tom, lets go to church,You bet I go, for do you spose Id leave him in the lurch?Not on your life! And when the men That preach to us allowThat God on High is like my Pa,That hits me hard, I vow!

Why, thinkin God is like my Pa Makes lumps come in my throat At things Ive done, till I calls myself A mean and measly shoat!And swear Ill be more like my Pa So Godll love me, too,And I pray to Him, down in my heart:Say, God, just help me through!

And He sure does! Hes most like PaHe always comes to time,And never gives a penny when I need a silver dime!God likes my Pa a lot, I know,And I like God, you bet!When I thinks of emsay, dont you tell Sometimes my eyes gits wet!

West said, The consciousness of my mothers love made me a painter. In the last analysis the child is like to be a reflection of father and mother. It was this very thought that broke the heart of the late Genl Clinton B. Fisk, and brought him to Christ. Mrs. Fisk tells the story, We were blessed in our home with two children, a son and daughter. It was our joy to each take a child and prepare him or her for bed, always, of course, hearing these dear little people say their prayers. One evening the General had our little daughter. She knelt at his knee, and asked God to bless father and mother and brother and then, looking up into her fathers face, said Papa, why dont oo pray? These words, spoken by the child, so dear to him, broke his heart and brought him to Christ, for he said, If I am to lead her I must go before her, and from that night he was a redeemed man.

The adults future is determined by the childs fidelity. Honour thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. History is replete with illustrations of this promise perfectly fulfilled. The world has seldom produced great men except out of good children. Almost without exception its out-standing souls have had the promise of greatness in the delightful conduct of the youth. Spurgeons mother expected great things of Charles, and John Quincy Adams mother great things of John, and Abraham Lincolns stepmother great things of the homely lad. Literature is packed with testimonials from great men to the effect that the very parental expectations became the spur to righteous endeavor.

Robert Eyton, the English author, in a volume entitled The Ten Commandments, in writing in chapter five, which involves the honoring of father and mother, reminds us that here we are face to face with that which changes not, with no temporary safe-guard for preserving reverence, or giving a distinctive character to a portion of time, but we are face to face with an abiding relationship which will remain while the world lasts, a relationship full of power, full of sweetness on both sides. We are here brought into touch with Joseph, the son of Jacob, and David the son of Jesse, and Jesus the Son of Mary, and Augustine the son of Monica, and with countless others; the filial relationship is eternal. To fail in it is to cloud the future; to succeed in it is to have a right to claim the eternal promise of God.

But Paul passes again, and this time to

SLAVES AND MASTERS

Some one might rise up to remind us that here the words of the Apostle are out of date, since slavery is abolished; but such would be a very superficial remark. Servants and masters are as much in evidence now as ever. It is doubtful if there will ever be a change until the Millennium comes and makes all men masters, permitting each to sit under his own vine and fig tree. In fact, if reports be true, the Hun has introduced wholesale and brutal slavery into civilization again. And, in this instance, proceeding by brutal force, he has enslaved his superior. But even in our own so-called Christian America, we have servants and masters, and the text teaches three things:

Servants should ever be obedient to masters. As the wife is to be obedient to the husband and as the children are to be obedient to parents, so servants are to be obedient to masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ (Eph 6:5-6). Let us not savagely dissent from this teaching and therefore fail to give it serious consideration. I have been in the employ of men, and have found it to my personal profit, as well as to their pleasure, to be obedient in everything and to render my service, not with reference to the masters eyes, but with singleness of heart and with splendid enthusiasm. Had I done less I might have been a servant to this day. The law of the Lord then, is more in the servants interest than it is in that of the master. The trouble with a good many people is that they regard too many duties as beneath them. The dignity of labor is not one half so much in the thing done as in the way it is done. A. J. Gordon, in 1877, in a Moody inquiry meeting, asked a splendid looking man if he were a Christian, and he answered Yes. Then go over to that woman and lead her to Christ. He turned pale and said, I couldnt; I shouldnt know what to say! Then Dr. Gordon himself went, but the womans baby was restless and she could not give Dr. Gordon attention. The man, watching, saw the situation, and shortly that big strong fellow went over, gave the baby some sweets, took her in his arms and carried her to the other side of the church and held her for an hour while Dr. Gordon led the woman to Christ. Tending baby, if it be done in such a spirit, is as loyal an engagement for Christ as leading an army against the Germans was for country.

Masters should be graciously considerate of their servants. And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in Heaven (Eph 6:9). It has been said a thousand times, and always truthfully, that a good master makes a good servant, and the rule is that a gracious master receives gracious service. An irritable and oppressive master excites rebellion. Some women can never keep a cook, and they are the ones that lodge the most complaints against the servant classes; but if the truth were known the trouble is not one half so much with the incompetence of the employee as it is with the inconsiderate and complaining spirit of the mistress. With a master, gracious, and a servant, obedient, no sense of injustice is felt on either side. The old colored fellow and family that belonged to my father when the war broke out, could not be driven from the home after the emancipation.

Finally, Before God, men are brothers, not slaves and masters. I read a recent tract on Will Christ come again? which discredited the authority of sacred Scripture, insisted that to believe the New Testament was to believe that the world was flat, and slavery was desirable, etc. True, Paul does not here say a word against slavery; and yet he enunciates in this very verse a truth destined to destroy it from the face of the earth, namely, that in Gods sight there is no such thing as slavery, since there is no respect of persons with Him. New Testament teaching has taken the chains from the ankles of practically every enslaved people in the world. No writer in the New Testament struck it more sledgehammer blows than Paul, possibly Christ excepted. The writer of that tract was as sadly mistaken and unscriptural about the New Testament and slavery as he was upon the second coming. Truly did the great Alexander Maclaren say of the Gospel which Paul preached, It has in it opinions which would pull slavery up by the roots. It was Paul who taught that in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free. He was wise enough to know what many of our moderns miss the way to reform society is to regenerate the individual, the way to produce a civilization that would abolish slavery, bring an end to the saloon, and finally make war upon war itself, is to preach a Gospel of grace and peace. So, as Alexander Maclaren claims, If Christianity did not set itself to fell this up as tree of slavery, it girdled it, stripped the bark off of it, and left it to die and that is the way to treat every sin. When this doctrine is accepted, dominating corporations and union labor organizations will find less occasion for controversy and conflict. When this doctrine is accepted tyrannical potentates will no longer be in danger from oppressed peasants; and autocracy and democracy will be but phrases of past history. The only hope for a Millennium in this poor world rests absolutely with the triumph of the Masters Gospel and with the triumphant presence of the Master Himself!

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

Eph. 6:1. Children, obey.Until the days of discretion arrive this is the grace of childhood. If through obedience the child errs, the responsibility of that is with those who commanded. It is only a surrendered soul that can sing:

I would be treated as a child,

And guided where I go.

Eph. 6:2. Honour thy father and mother.As long as they are so.

Eph. 6:3. That it may be well with thee.If ever that it may be could mean and so it shall be, we should strenuously plead for that meaning here. For it would be a pitiable thing indeed to find a man showing filial piety as a profitable course.

Eph. 6:4. Nurture and admonition.The former word is more general than the latter, including everything that goes to the instruction of the child. Admonition is reproof, either of word or punishment, or yet again, warning.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Eph. 6:1-4

Duties of Children and Parents.

I. The duty of children to parents is to obey.

1. This obedience has the divine sanction. In the Lord (Eph. 6:1). Both the command and the obedience must be in harmony with the relation in which both parents and children stand towards God. The parent who has not himself learnt to respect and obey the law of God is ill prepared for the grave responsibilities of family government. Natural affection and the instincts of common sense will guide the parents in the ordinary affairs of home-life, and the sense of dependence and respect should induce instinctive obedience in the child. No parent has any right to enforce an obedience which is not in harmony with the supreme claims of God. The child who submits to the will of his parents is taught at the same time to obey the higher law of God. If he defies parental authority and persists in disobedience, he is sure to be treated in the same way if he ever has children of his own. To be able to govern we must first learn to obey.

2. This obedience is in harmony with natural order and the eternal principles of justice.For this is right (Eph. 6:1). Obedience is the law of the universe, and without it everything would rush into anarchy and chaos. Law is so all-pervasive as to cover every department and relationship of life, and its breach in any sphere carries with it its own punishment. Disobedience is not only a wrong to the person who commits it, but it is an injustice to somebody else. Obedience to parents in things lawful is no hardship. It is becoming and commendable because it is right. It is the perversity of our nature when it becomes difficult to do right. Disobedience is a wilful divergence from the straight line of rectitude, and is the essence of all sin.

3. This obedience ensures the divine blessing (Eph. 6:2-3).It is our duty to obey irrespective of any advantage to be secured. The loyal heart looks, not to the reward, but to the duty. It is no merit to do what it is our duty to do. Yet such is the condescension and goodness of God that He attaches a special blessing to every act of unselfish obedience. Filial obedience should not be dilatory and reluctant, but prompt, cheerful, self-denying, and uniform. Obedience is the path of safety. A pointsman in Prussia was at the junction of two lines of railway, lever in hand, for a train that was signalled. The engine was within a few seconds of reaching the embankment when the man, turning his head, perceived his little boy playing between the rails on which the train was running. He stuck to his lever, but shouted to the child, Lie down! lie down! The train passed, and the father rushed forward to pick up what he feared would be the mangled body of his child; but what was his joy to find the boy had at once obeyed his order, had lain down, and the train passed over him without injuring him. His prompt obedience saved his life. Dutiful children secure the blessing of God. Filial obedience practised in the Christian home forms habits of promptitude, self-control, and self respect which are important conditions of success and prosperity.

II. The duty of parents to children is to exercise discipline.

1. Not by enforcing commands that tend to irritate. Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath (Eph. 6:4). Children are a sacred trust and solemn responsibility; not to be weakly fondled or foolishly spoilt, but to be wisely, kindly, and strictly disciplined into obedience and duty. The Chinese have a proverb, when a son is born into a family a bow and arrow are hung before the gate. In Eastern books sons are spoken of as arrows of their fathers. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth (Psa. 127:4). As the bowman straightens and polishes his arrow, gives it a sharp and solid point, and wings it with feathers, so parents must train and equip their children that they may go straight to the point of duty and hit the mark. The arrows that are not prepared and directed when in the hand may, when they are gone abroad into the world, and all parental training is too late, prove arrows in the heart that will rankle with unspeakable pain. The training of children is also a training of the parent. Many a hint is unconsciously given as to training up a parent in the way he should go. While there should be firm discipline, there should not be exasperating and tantalising severity. Rousing a childs anger is not the best way of subduing it. A sullen submission gained, by provoking and then crushing an angry opposition, is rendered with a sense of injustice and wrong that will breed future mischief. Monod says: Correction and instruction should proceed from the Lord, and be directed by the Spirit of the Lord in such a way that it is not so much the father who corrects his children and teaches them, as the Lord through him. The father who chastises in wrath provokes the child to wrath and rebellion.

2. But by judicious religious culture.But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Children are the glifts of God to be trained for God. They are susceptible of genuine religious experience, and are often nearer the truth than grown-up people. Christ recognised the spiritual faculty in children, and gave them a conspicuous place in His kingdom. When He wished to show the type of true greatness, He did not point to stars or mountains or earthly dignities, but called a little child unto Him and, set him in the midst (Mat. 18:2-4). Children are capable of useful religious service, and in many ways may be little missionaries for Christ. Dr. W. L. Breckenridge once said to his mother: Mother, I think you ruled us with too rigid a rod in our boyhood. It would have been better had you used gentler methods. The old lady straightened up and said: Well, William, when you have raised up three as good preachers as I have then you can talk. The smaller magnets have proportionately much the greater power, and children have a remarkable spiritual force with which the Christian parent has to deal.

Lessons.

1. Parental discipline should be in harmony with the law of God.

2. The rigour of parental discipline should be tempered with love.

3. Respect and obedience to parents will be divinely rewarded.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

Eph. 6:1-4. The Mutual Duties of Children and Parents.

I. Children are to obey and honour their parents.

1. Children owe to their parents an inward affection and regard. Their obedience should flow from love, gratitude, and esteem. The love parents bear to their children entitles them to reciprocal affection.

2. They are to honour their parents by external tokens of respect.

3. They are to obey the just commands of their parents.

4. They are to receive with decent and humble regard the instructions, counsels, and reproofs of their parents.

5. They should remunerate the favours received from their parents.

6. They are encouraged in their obedience by the divine promise.

II. The duties of parents to children.

1. To instruct their children in the doctrines and duties of religion.

2. To endeavour by arguments, exhortations, and reproofs to form their lives according to those instructions.

3. To regulate the diversions of their children.

4. To maintain the worship of God in their houses.

5. To let their conversation be exemplary.

6. To train up their children with diligence in some honest business.

7. To commend their children to God and the word of His grace.Lathrop.

Eph. 6:1-2. Obedience.The dutiful obedience of children is declared by God in the fifth commandment to be the foundation of all social happiness and of every social virtue.

I. The behaviour of a child to its parents is no such trifle as too many perverse children and too many foolish parents are prone to fancy it.How often we hear mothers saying, It is only the poor childs way; it is a little pettish and fractious at times, but it means no harm by it. To be sure it does not mind me quite so well as it ought to do; but children will be children. So the child goes on uncorrected, and grows up disobedient and undutifulwith habits and dispositions so evil that God has classed them with the very worst crimes, with false swearing, theft, adultery, and even murder. If undutifulness in children had been a mere trifle, would God have put it into this black list?

II. Observe the reasonableness and justice of the duty of children to obey their parents.The child is helpless and entirely dependent on its parents care and kindness. So strong and lasting is a mothers love that, while other animals drive their young away as soon as they can feed themselves, the love of human parents descends and prolongs itself even to their offsprings offspring. Think of their fears, their wishes, their prayers for your souls welfare. Your love to them should be dutiful love, showing itself in acts of gentleness, respect, and kindness, and in the strictest and readiest obedience. Children are bound to obey, not from constraint, nor from fear of blows, but readily, willingly, cheerfully. The obedience paid for fear of stripes is the obedience of a mule, not of a son. What can a child know save what its parents teach it? Its parents for a time stand in the place of God to it; as such, it must believe them and obey them. You may be the better for their experience, you may profit by their warnings, you may learn from their lessons.

III. Observe the use and benefit of obedience in forming the character of the child.It is in the school of home, amid the little hardships, restraints, crosses, and disappointments which every child must needs meet with, that the great lesson of obedience is best learnt. There is a root of self-will born in every man, and out of this root grow two evil and misshapen stemspride and disobedience. You may as well expect water to burn and fire to wet, you may as well expect a barren common that has never been ploughed and sown to produce a crop of wheat, as that a child, which has gone on year after year in pride, self-will, and disobedience to its parents, will readily or easily tear off its habits and its nature, to walk humbly and obediently before God. We must cultivate obedience in the child that it may outgrow, overtop, and stifle, or at least keep under, the evil stem of disobedience. We must cultivate humility in him, that it may keep under the evil of pride. We must train and accustom him to habits of steady self-denial, which our Lord has recommended to us as the best yokes for our headstrong and else unmanageable self-will. Thus the fifth commandment is a kind of practical school where the child, in obeying its parents, learns to obey all to whom it owes obedience.A. W. Hare.

Eph. 6:4. A Fathers Charge.

I. The duties parents owe to their children.

1. Children are weak and helpless and totally incapable of caring for themselveshence arises the first duty which parents owe them, that of feeding and clothing them.

2. Are ignorant and without understandinghence they should not only be fed but taught.

3. Are unruly, and therefore must be governed.

4. Are prone to evil, and therefore must be restrained.

II. The obligations parents are under to practise these duties.

1. They should do it for their own sakes.

2. For their childrens sake.

3. For societys sake.

4. For Gods sake.

Learn.

1. The practicability of a religious education.

2. How awful is the responsibility of parentsof fathers especially.Sketches.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Previewing in Outline Form (Eph. 6:1-9)

C.

Subject yourselves one to another. Eph. 5:21-33; Eph. 6:1-9

3.

Children and fathers. Eph. 6:1-4

a.

Children to obey. Eph. 6:1-3.

(1)

This is right. Eph. 6:1.

(2)

This is commanded by the Law. Eph. 6:2 a.

(3)

This commandment is accompanied with promises. Eph. 6:2 b Eph. 6:3.

(a)

That it may be well with thee.

(b)

That thou mayest live long in the earth.

b.

Fathers. Eph. 6:4.

(1)

Provoke not your children to wrath.

(2)

Nurture them in chastening and admonition.

4.

Slaves and masters. Eph. 6:5-9.

a.

Slaves to be obedient. Eph. 6:5-8.

(1)

With fear and trembling. Eph. 6:5.

(2)

In singleness of heart.

(3)

As unto Christ.

(4)

Not in the way of eyeservice. Eph. 5:6.

(5)

As servants of Christ. Eph. 5:6.

(6)

Doing service with good will Eph. 5:7.

(7)

Knowing that we shall receive from the Lord that which we do. Eph. 5:8.

b.

Masters. Eph. 6:9.

(1) Treat slaves as they are to treat you.
(2) Forbear threatening.

(a)

Christ the Master of everyone is in heaven.

(b)

Christ will have no respect of persons.

D.

Put on the whole armor of God. Eph. 6:10-20 conclusion; Eph. 6:21-24.

A ROMAN CENTURION

The staff (vitis) in his right hand was an emblem of office and was used to enforce discipline.

Text (Eph. 6:1-4)

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise), 3 that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord.

Thought Questions (Eph. 6:1-4)

344.

What does obey in the Lord mean? Does that mean that children are to obey only when the parents command that which is in harmony with the Lords will? Are children capable of judging what is in harmony with the will of the Lord? Or does it mean that they are to obey because they are in the Lord, that is, Christians?

345.

Would you think that the parents referred to in Eph. 6:1 were Christians? Are the children to obey whether or not the parents are Christians?

346.

Often child experts refuse to admit the existence of unchangeable standards of right and wrong. Paul says that obedience to parents is right. What determines whether a thing is right or wrong?

347.

What is the twofold promise attached to honoring father and mother? Is the honor due to parents limited to childhood obedience? Should it include care in old age (1Ti. 5:4)?

348.

What was the original significance of the promise, that thou mayest live long in the earth (or land) (Deu. 5:33; Deu. 6:2; Deu. 11:8-9)? Does the promise still have an application to us? How could a father provoke his child to wrath? What results can follow such provocation? (Compare Col. 3:21.)

349.

What is chastening and what is admonition? Is it possible to give chastening and admonition that is not of the Lord?

Paraphrase

1.

Children, obey even your unbelieving parents, seeing that you are obligated to do this because you are in the Lord. For this is just.

2.

The law commanded you, children, to honor father and mother with obedience, respect, and care. This is the first commandment of the ten commandments with a specific promise.

3.

These are the promises that were attached to the commandment: (1) that it may be well with you; and (2) that you may live long in the land of Canaan.

4.

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to boiling wrath by unreasonable demands, cruel treatment, and constant irritation. Rather, nourish them up to maturity with the instruction, chastisement, and affectionate persuasion which the Lord directs us to employ.

Notes (Eph. 6:1-4)

1.

Some children have been cruelly repressed by their parents, but far more have never been made to obey and respect their parents. The child that is not taught to obey parents has a head start on the road to delinquency, crime, and hell. A Chicago judge made a study of 1000 cases of juvenile delinquency, In 97% of the cases the mother exercises no discipline; the father exercises none in 98% of the cases. (Gerstner).

2.

Children are to obey in the Lord. It is most unlikely that Paul meant that children were to judge whether or not the things their parents commanded were in harmony with the Lords will. Most children would not be capable of deciding such things. The duty of the child is to obey, Of course the Christian child or youth would refuse to sacrifice to an idol, or drink liquor, or do such things, even if told to do them by a parent. However, commands that could be disobeyed because they were obviously sinful would be very rare.

In the Lord simply means because you are in the Lord, or because you are Christians. It has always been the duty of children who served the Lord to obey their parents.

3.

Considering all that a parent does and sacrifices for a child, it is infinitely just (right) that the child should obey.

4.

The second of the ten commandments has a rather general promise to those who obey it. But the fifth commandment, Honor thy father and thy mother, is the first and only one of the ten commandments with a specific promise. This promise was twofold:

(1)

That it may be well with thee. Any child that obeys his parents will be spared many troubles and mistakes, and he will also be spared much chastisement. The Law permitted the stoning of a rebellious child (Deu. 21:18-21). This should impress us with the fact that God considers filial disobedience a terrible thing.

(2)

That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. This originally referred to the privilege of dwelling in the land of Canaan. God warned Israel that if they were disobedient they would be driven out of the land (Deu. 28:36).

This promise also has a fulfillment in the present times. The child who obeys will probably have better health, safer habits, wiser ways, and certainly the blessing of God to lengthen and enrich his life.

5.

Parents who are unreasonably strict with children often drive them from home into young, unwise marriages, or into juvenile gangs. No parents should tease or repress children until they are in a rage. Foolishness is indeed bound up in the heart of a child (Pro. 22:15). The rod of correction is needed, and a child will not long resent just punishment. But unjust continuous abuse (corporeal or verbal) leads to exasperation and discouragement.

6.

Chastening refers to training, education, chastisement. Parents are under divine responsibility to educate their children. Children are not ours just to enjoy and caress, but to train for this life and the life to come. Children grow up and thank their parents for their educational opportunities. Will they grow up and thank their parents for spiritual instruction? Or will they grow up thirsting for the word of the Lord which their parents did not give to them (Amo. 8:11-12)?

7.

Admonition refers to exhortation, urging, warning. We not only need to teach children the truth, but to urge them to live by it. We notice the attitude of entreaty and exhortation in Pro. 5:1; Pro. 6:1.

Fact Questions

298.

What is the duty of children to their parents?

299.

Children are to obey parents, for this is………………

300.

Which is the first of the ten commandments with promise?

301.

What is the twofold promise to those who obey parents?

302.

What are fathers not to do?

303.

In what two matters are parents to nurture their children?

Text (Eph. 6:5-7)

5 Servants, be obedient unto them that according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not in the way of eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 with good will doing service as unto the Lord, and not unto men:

Thought Questions (Eph. 6:5-7)

350.

Does the Bible condone slavery? Does it abolish slavery by executive order?

351.

The servant is to render service unto the master as unto whom?

352.

Does the authority of the master extend over the slaves flesh, or soul, or both?

353.

Is the slave to fear and tremble because of his masters authority, or the Lords authority, or the authority of both?

354.

What is singleness of heart?

355.

What is eyeservice?

356.

Whom do we serve when we serve our masters faithfully?

357.

Is most slave-service rendered with good will?

Paraphrase

5.

Bond-servants (slaves), obey those who are the masters over your bodies and flesh, with fear and trembling, lest you be justly punished for slothfulness and unfaithfulness, both by the master and the Lord. Serve the master with but a single purpose in your heart, that of pleasing him, just as you desire to please Christ.

6.

Render service not just when the master is looking, as one who is concerned only about pleasing men, but, as slaves of Christ who do the will of God from a heart wholly dedicated to Him, render service faithfully.

7.

Thus, unlike most slaves, you will serve your masters with good will, and will cheerfully do the service that they require as if you were doing service unto the Lord, and not unto men only.

Notes (Eph. 6:5-7)

1.

The servants referred to in these verses were bond-servants or slaves. (Compare Col. 3:22-25.)

2.

The gospel of Christ does not automatically cancel slavery, but it does completely change the estimation of the slave in the masters eyes. To the Romans, slaves were generally looked upon only as things. To Christian masters, they became people, and even brothers in the Lord, if the slaves were Christians. Naturally, the Christian masters treated their slaves differently than did the heathen masters. It is unthinkable that anyone would enslave or mistreat a brother.

Then also, Christianity changed the slaves estimation of his master. The service his master required became an opportunity to serve Christ, and to demonstrate the power of Jesus in his soul. He served with the usual fear and trembling lest he displease his master, but even more earnestly lest he displease the Lord who was expecting him to be a good slave.
No doubt, when a slave became a Christian, and began to serve the master more faithfully, more cheerfully, more dependably, and more graciously, the master would wonder why. What an opportunity this would be for the slave to testify to the master concerning what Christ had done for him.

3.

Eyeservice is either (1) service that is done only when the master has his eye on the slave, or (2) service done in such a poor way that it will only bear looking at, but not testing.

Fact Questions

304.

What are the servants that are referred to in Eph. 6:5?

305.

The masters of Christian slaves were masters over what part of them?

306.

Whom was the slave serving when he served his master well?

Text (Eph. 6:8)

8 knowing that whatsoever good thing each one doeth, the same shall he receive again from the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

Thought Questions (Eph. 6:8)

358.

If we have done some good thing, when shall we receive that same good thing again from the Lord?

359.

Give some example, if you can, of how the Lord may give unto us the same good thing we have done for someone else.

360.

How does the fact that we shall receive from the Lord the good things we have done have a beneficial effect both on the slave and his master?

Paraphrase

8.

Knowing this, ye slaves, that whatsoever good work each man does, though he receives no reward from any masters on earth, he shall receive a reward from Christ on the day of judgment for this good work, and the reward will be in the same degree and kind as the good thing that he has done. This recompense shall be made to every man whether he be presently slave or freeman.

Fact Questions

307.

If we do not receive a reward for good works on earth, when and where will we receive our reward?

308.

How will our rewards from the Lord be apportioned?

309.

What difference will it make when the rewards are given whether we are free or bond?

Text (Eph. 6:9)

9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, and forbear threatening; knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no respect of persons with him.

Thought Questions (Eph. 6:9)

361.

What are the same things that the master must do toward the slave, as the slave toward the master? (Compare Eph. 6:5-8.)

362.

Why should masters forbear threatening? Is it true that words cannot hurt anyone?

363.

Who, and where, is the one who is Master of both the slave and his master?

364.

Why would the warning that there is no respect of persons with Christ be especially needed by the slave master?

Paraphrase

9.

And, you masters, exercise the same benevolent, conscientious acts toward your slaves that Christ requires of them to do toward you, not adding to their miseries by the terror of punishment, but leaving off threatenings, knowing that the Lord of both slave and master is in heaven on His throne, and that in the judgment which Christ shall conduct upon His servants, He will respect no mans earthly rank or dignity, but will reward or punish everyone according to his deeds.

Notes (Eph. 6:9)

1.

The phrase, forbear threatening, carries the idea of moderating threats, or relaxing threats, or omitting threats. Threats often produce more terror, and hurt more deeply than stripes and lashings.

Fact Questions

310.

What are the masters to do toward the slaves?

311.

What are the masters to forbear?

312.

Where is the one who is Master of both slave and master?

313.

What attitude does the Master in heaven not have?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(1) In Eph. 6:10-17. St. Paul sums up his practical exhortation in that magnificent description which has ever since laid hold of Christian imagination, both in metaphor and in allegory. He paints the Christian life as a battle against spiritual powers of evil, waged in the strength of the Lord, and in the panoply of God. We trace the germ of this great passage first in St. Pauls earliest Epistle (1Th. 5:8-9), and then in the later Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 13:12). In both these cases the image is of soldiers starting from sleep at day-break to arm for the fray in the morning light. But it is characteristic of the more elaborate and thoughtful style of this Epistle, and of the circumstances under which it was written (in the watchful presence of the full-armed Roman soldiers that kept St. Paul), that the image there briefly touched is here worked out in full beauty of detail.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

VI.

(4 b.) In Eph. 6:1-4. St. Paul passes from the detailed exposition of the true relation of husbands and wives, to deal with the relation of parents and children, far more cursorily and simply, but under the light of the same idea. It is to be thought of as existing in the Lord, i.e., within the unity binding all to Christ, in virtue of which the parental authority and the right freedom of the child are both hallowed.

(1) In the Lord.The phrase itself, though familiar in St. Pauls writings generally, is specially frequent in the Epistles of the Captivity, where it occurs in various connections no less than twenty-one times. (See, for example, Eph. 2:21; Eph. 3:11; Eph. 4:1; Eph. 4:17; Eph. 5:8; Eph. 6:10; Eph. 6:21.) It is, in fact, a brief indication of their great subjectunity with and in Christ. Here to obey in the Lord is to obey under the light and grace of that unity, as already belonging both to parents and children, and transfiguring all natural relations to a diviner glory.

This is right.Right, i.e., by fundamental laws of humanity, recognised in all races and all ages, declared and sanctioned in Gods commandments (Eph. 6:2-3), which are at once both old and new in the Lord.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

[5.

Practical Exhortation continued (Eph. 5:22 to Eph. 6:9).

(4)

THE BEARING OF THE TRUTH OF UNITY ON THE THREE GREAT RELATIONS OF LIFE.

(a)

Between husbands and wivesa relation which is a type of the unity between Christ and His Church (Eph. 5:22-33).

(b) Between parents and childrena relation hallowed as existing in the Lord (Eph. 6:1-4).

(c)

Between masters and servantsa relation softened and deepened by common service to the one Master (Eph. 6:5-9).]

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 6

CHILDREN AND PARENTS ( Eph 6:1-4 )

6:1-4 Children, obey your parents as Christian children should. Honour your father and your mother for this is the first commandment to which a promise is attached that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers. do not move your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and the admonition of the Lord.

If the Christian faith did much for women, it did even more for children. In Roman civilization contemporary with Paul there existed certain features which made life perilous for the child.

(i) There was the Roman pairia potestas, the father’s power. Under the patria potestas a Roman father had absolute power over his family. He could sell them as slaves, he could make them work in his fields even in chains, he could punish as he liked and could even inflict the death penalty. Further, the power of the Roman father extended over the child’s whole life, so long as the father lived. A Roman son never came of age. Even when he was a grown man, even if he were a magistrate of the city, even if the state had crowned him with well-deserved honours. he remained within his father’s absolute power. “The great mistake,” writes Becker, “consisted in the Roman father considering the power which Nature imposes as a duty on the elders. of guiding and protecting a child during infancy, as extending over his freedom, involving his life and death, and continuing over his entire existence.” It is true that the father’s power was seldom carried to its limits, because public opinion would not have allowed it, but the fact remains that in the time of Paul the child was absolutely in his father’s power.

(ii) There was the custom of child exposure. When a child was born, it was placed before its father’s feet, and, if the father stooped and lifted the child, that meant that he acknowledged it and wished it to be kept. If he turned and walked away, it meant that he refused to acknowledge it and the child could quite literally be thrown out.

There is a letter whose date is 1 B.C. from a man called Hilarion to his wife Alis. He has gone to Alexandria and he writes home on domestic affairs:

“Hilarion to Alis his wife heartiest greetings, and to my dear

Berous and Apollonarion. Know that we tire still even now in

Alexandria. Do not worry if when all others return I remain in

Alexandria. I beg and beseech of you to take care of the little

child, and, as soon as we receive wages, I will send them to you.

If– good luck to you!–you have a child, if it is a boy, let it

live; if it is it girl, throw it out. You told Aphrodisias to

tell me: ‘Do not forget me.’ How can I forget you? I beg you

therefore not to worry.”

It is a strange letter, so full of affection and yet so callous towards the child who may be born.

A Roman baby always ran the risk of being repudiated and exposed. In the time of Paul that risk was even greater. We have seen how the marriage bond had collapsed and how men and women changed their partners with bewildering rapidity. Under such circumstances a child was a misfortune. So few children were born that the Roman government actually passed legislation that the amount of any legacy that a childless couple could receive was limited. Unwanted children were commonly left in the Roman forum. There they became the property of anyone who cared to pick them up. They were collected at nights by people who nourished them in order to sell them as slaves or to stock the brothels of Rome.

(iii) Ancient civilization was merciless to the sickly or deformed child. Seneca writes, “We slaughter a fierce ox; we strangle a mad dog; we plunge the knife into sickly cattle lest they taint the herd; children who are born weakly and deformed we drown.” The child who was a weakling or imperfectly formed had little hope of survival.

It was against this situation that Paul wrote his advice to children and parents. If ever we are asked what good Christianity has done to the world, we need but point to the change effected in the status of women and of children.

CHILDREN AND PARENTS Eph 6:1-4 (continued)

Paul lays on children that they should obey the commandment and honour their parents. He says this is the first commandment. He probably means that it was the first commandment which the Christian child was taught to memorize. The honour Paul demands is not the honour of mere lip service. The way to honour parents is to obey them, to respect them, and never to cause them pain.

Paul sees that there is another side to the question. He tells fathers that they must not provoke their children to wrath. Bengel, considering why this command is so definitely addressed to fathers, says that mothers have a kind of divine patience but “fathers are more liable to be carried away by wrath.”

It is a strange thing that Paul repeats this injunction even more fully in Col 3:21. “Fathers,” he says, “do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” Bengel says that the plague of youth is a “broken spirit,” discouraged by continuous criticism and rebuke and too strict discipline. David Smith thinks that Paul wrote out of bitter personal experience. He writes: “There is here a quivering note of personal emotion, and it seems as though the heart of the aged captive had been reverting to the past and recalling the loveless years of his own childhood. Nurtured in the austere atmosphere of traditional orthodoxy, he had experienced scant tenderness and much severity, and had known that ‘plague of youth, a broken spirit.'”

There are three ways in which we can do injustice to our children.

(i) We can forget that things do change and that the customs of one generation are not the customs of another. Elinor Mordaunt tells how once she stopped her little daughter from doing something by saying, “I was never allowed to do that when I was your age.” And the child answered, “But you must remember, mother, that you were then, and I’m now.”

(ii) We can exercise such a control that it is an insult to our upbringing of our children. To keep a child too long in leading-strings is simply to say that we do not trust him which is simply to say that we have no confidence in the way in which we have trained him. It is better to make the mistake of too much trust than of too much control.

(iii) We can forget the duty of encouragement. Luther’s father was very strict, strict to the point of cruelty. Luther used to say: “Spare the rod and spoil the child–that is true; but beside the rod keep an apple to give him when he has done well.” Benjamin West tells how he became a painter. One day his mother went out leaving him in charge of his little sister Sally. In his mother’s absence he discovered some bottles of coloured ink and began to paint Sally’s portrait. In doing so he made a considerable mess of things with ink blots all over. His mother came back. She saw the mess but said nothing. She picked up the piece of paper and saw the drawing. “Why.” she said, “It’s Sally!” and she stooped and kissed him. Ever after Benjamin West used to say: “My mother’s kiss made me a painter.” Encouragement did more than rebuke could ever do. Anna Buchan tells how her grandmother had a favourite phrase even when she was very old: “Never daunton youth.”

As Paul sees it, children must honour their parents and parents must never discourage their children.

MASTERS AND SLAVES ( Eph 6:5-9 )

6:5-9 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as you would Christ himself. Do not work only when you are being watched. Do not work only to satisfy men. But work as the slave of Christ, doing God’s will heartily. Let your service be given with good-will, as to Christ and not to men. Be well assured that each of us, whether he is slave or free, will be rewarded by the Lord for whatever good we have done. And you masters, act in the same way towards your slaves. Have done with threats. For you well know that they and you have a Master in heaven, and with him there is no respect of persons.

When Paul wrote to slaves in the Christian Church he must have been writing to a very large number.

It has been computed that in the Roman Empire there were 60,000,000 slaves. In Paul’s day a kind of terrible idleness had fallen on the citizens of Rome. Rome was the mistress of the world, and therefore it was beneath the dignity of a Roman citizen to work. Practically all work was done by slaves. Even doctors and teachers, even the closest friends of the Emperors, their secretaries who dealt with letters and appeals and finance, were slaves.

Often there were bonds of the deepest loyalty and affection between master and slave. Pliny writes to a friend that he is deeply affected because some of his well-loved slaves have died. He has two consolations, although they are not enough to comfort his grief. “I have always very readily manumitted my slaves (for their death does not seem altogether untimely, if they have lived long enough to receive their freedom); the other, that I have allowed them to make a kind of will, which I observe as rigidly as if it were good in law.” There the kindly master speaks.

But basically the life of the slave was grim and terrible. In law he was not a person but a thing. Aristotle lays it down that there can never be friendship between master and slave, for they have nothing in common; “for a slave is a living tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave.” Varro, writing on agriculture, divides agricultural instruments into three classes –the articulate, the inarticulate and the mute. The articulate comprises the slaves; the inarticulate the cattle; and the mute the vehicles. The slave is no better than a beast who happens to be able to talk. Cato gives advice to a man taking over a farm. He must go over it and throw out everything that is past its work; and old slaves too must be thrown out on the scrap heap to starve. When a slave is ill it is sheer extravagance to issue him with normal rations.

The law was quite clear. Gaius, the Roman lawyer, in the Institutes lays it down: “We may note that it is universally accepted that the master possesses the power of life and death over the slave.” If the slave ran away, at best he was branded on the forehead with the letter F for fugitivus, which means runaway, at worst he was killed. The terror of the slave was that he was absolutely at the caprice of his master. Augustus crucified a slave because he killed a pet quail. Vedius Pollio flung a slave still living to the savage lampreys in his fish pond because he dropped and broke a crystal goblet. Juvenal tells of a Roman matron who ordered a slave to be killed for no other reason than that she lost her temper with him. When her husband protested, she said: “You call a slave a man, do you? He has done no wrong, you say? Be it so; it is my will and my command; let my will be the voucher for the deed.” The slaves who were maids to their mistresses often had their hair torn out and their cheeks torn with their mistresses’ nails. Juvenal tells of the master “who delights in the sound of a cruel flogging thinking it sweeter than any siren’s song,” or “who revels in clanking chains,” or, “who summons a torturer and brands the slave because a couple of towels are lost.” A Roman writer lays it down: “Whatever a master does to a slave, undeservedly, in anger, willingly, unwillingly, in forgetfulness, after careful thought. knowingly, unknowingly, is judgment, justice and law.”

It is against this terrible background that Paul’s advice to slaves has to be read.

MASTERS AND SLAVES Eph 6:5-9 (continued)

Paul’s advice to slaves provides us with the gospel of the Christian workman.

(i) He does not tell them to rebel; he tells them to be Christian where they are. The great message of Christianity to every man is that it is where God has set us that we must live out the Christian life. The circumstances may be all against us, but that only makes the challenge greater. Christianity does not offer us escape from circumstances; it offers us conquest of circumstances.

(ii) He tells the slaves that work must not be done well only when the overseer’s eye is on them, it must be done in the awareness that God’s eye is on them. Every single piece of work the Christian produces must be good enough to show to God. The problem that the world has always faced and that it faces acutely today is basically not economic but religious. We will never make men good workmen by bettering conditions or heightening rewards. It is a Christian duty to see to these things; but in themselves they will never produce good work. Still less will we produce good work by increasing oversight and multiplying punishments. The secret of good workmanship is to do it for God.

Paul has a word for the master of men, too. He must remember that although he is master of men, he is still the servant of God. He too must remember that all he does is done in the sight of God. Above all he must remember that the day comes when he and those over whom he is set will stand before God; and then the ranks of the world will no longer be relevant.

The problem of work would be solved if men and masters alike would take their orders from God.

THE ARMOUR OF GOD ( Eph 6:10-20 )

6:10-20 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his strength. Put on the armour of God. so that you may be able to stand against the devices of the devil. It is not with blood and flesh you have to wrestle, but against powers and against authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against malicious spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Because of this you must take the armour of God that you may be able to stand against them in the evil day, and that you may be able to stand fast, after you have done all things which are your duty. Stand with truth as a belt about your waist. Put on righteousness as a breastplate. Have your feet shod with readiness to preach the gospel of peace. In all things take faith as a shield for with it you will be able to quench the flaming darts of the evil one. Put on the helmet of salvation. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Keep praying in the Spirit at every crisis with every kind of prayer and entreaty to God. To that end be sleepless in your persevering prayer for all God’s consecrated people. Pray for me that I may be allowed to speak with open mouth, and boldly to make known the secret of the gospel, for which I am an envoy in a chain. Pray that I may have freedom to declare it, as I ought to speak.

As Paul takes leave of his people he thinks of the greatness of the struggle which lies before them. Undoubtedly life was much more terrifying for the ancient people than it is for us today. They believed implicitly in evil spirits, who filled the air and were determined to work men harm. The words which Paul uses, powers, authorities, world-rulers, are all names for different classes of these evil spirits. To him the whole universe was a battleground. The Christian had not only to contend with the attacks of men; he had to contend with the attacks of spiritual forces which were fighting against God. We may not take Paul’s actual language literally; but our experience will tell us that there is an active power of evil in the world. Robert Louis Stevenson once said: “You know the Caledonian Railway Station in Edinburgh? One cold, east windy morning, I met Satan there.” We do not know what actually befell Stevenson but we recognize the experience; we have all felt the force of that evil influence which seeks to make us sin.

Paul suddenly sees a picture ready-made. All this time he was chained by the wrist to a Roman soldier. Night and day a soldier was there to ensure that he would not escape. Paul was literally an envoy in a chain. Now he was the kind of man who could get alongside anyone; and beyond doubt he had talked often to the soldiers who were compelled to be so near him. As he writes, the soldier’s armour suggests a picture to him. The Christian too has his armour; and part by part Paul takes the armour of the Roman soldier and translates it into Christian terms.

There is the belt of truth. It was the belt which girt in the soldier’s tunic and from which his sword hung and which gave him freedom of movement. Others may guess and grope; the Christian moves freely and quickly because he knows the truth.

There is the breastplate of righteousness. When a man is clothed in righteousness he is impregnable. Words are no defence against accusations but a good life is. Once a man accused Plato of certain crimes. “Well then,” said Plato, “we must live in such a way as to prove that his accusations are a lie.” The only way to meet the accusations against Christianity is to show how good a Christian can be.

There are the sandals. Sandals were the sign of one equipped and ready to move. The sign of the Christian is that he is eager to be on the way to share the gospel with others who have not heard it.

There is the shield. The word Paul uses is not that for the comparatively small round shield; it is that for the great oblong shield which the heavily armed warrior wore. One of the most dangerous weapons in ancient warfare was the fiery dart. It was a dart tipped with tow dipped in pitch. The pitch-soaked tow was set alight and the dart was thrown. The great oblong shield was made of two sections of wood, glued together. When the shield was presented to the dart, the dart sank into the wood and the flame was put out. Faith can deal with the darts of temptation. With Paul, faith is always complete trust in Christ. When we walk close with Christ, we are safe from temptation.

There is salvation for a helmet. Salvation is not something which looks back only. The salvation which is in Christ gives us forgiveness for the sins of the past and strength to conquer sin in the days to come.

There is the sword; and the sword is the word of God. The word of God is at once our weapon of defence against sin and our weapon of attack against the sins of the world. Cromwell’s Ironsides fought with a sword in one hand and a Bible in the other. We can never win God’s battles without God’s book.

Finally, Paul comes to the greatest weapon of all–and that is prayer. We note three things that he says about prayer. (a) It must be constant. Our tendency is so often to pray only in the great crises of life; but it is from daily prayer that the Christian will find daily strength. (b) It must be intense. Limp prayer never got a man anywhere. Prayer demands the concentration of every faculty upon God. (c) It must be unselfish. The Jews had a saying, “Let a man unite himself with the community in his prayers.” I think that often our prayers are too much for ourselves and too little for others. We must learn to pray as much for others and with others as for ourselves.

Finally, Paul asks for the prayers of his friends for himself. And he asks not for comfort or for peace but that he may yet be allowed to proclaim God’s secret, that his love is for all men. We do well to remember that ever Christian leader and every Christian preacher needs his people to uphold his hands in prayer.

THE FINAL BLESSING ( Eph 6:21-24 )

6:21-24 Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will provide you with all information, that you too may know how things are going with me, how I do. That is the very reason that I sent him to you, that you may know my affairs and that he may encourage your hearts.

Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love the Lord Jesus with a love which defies death.

As we have seen, the letter to the Ephesians was an encyclical letter and the bearer from church to church was Tychicus. Unlike most of his letters, Ephesians gives us no personal information about Paul, except that he was in prison; but Tychicus, as he went from church to church., would tell how Paul was faring and would convey a message of personal encouragement.

Paul finishes with a blessing and in it all the great words come again. The peace which was a man’s highest good, the faith which was complete resting in Christ, the grace which was the lovely free gift of God these things Paul calls down from God upon his friends. Above all he prays for love that they may know the love of God, that they may love men as God loves them, and that they may love Jesus Christ with an undying love.

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

FURTHER READING

Ephesians

T. K. Abbott, Ephesians and Colossians (ICC; G)

J. Armitage Robinson, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians (MmC; G)

E. F. Scott, The Epistles to Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians (MC; E)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

MmC: Macmillan Commentary

NCB; New Century Bible

E: English Text G: Greek Text

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

b. Children and Parents, Eph 6:1-4 .

1. Children Direct address to children as to the other relations; as if even the child should hear the apostolic voice and obey in it the divine command.

In the Lord Qualifying obey, and implying that their obedience was, like every Christian character, embodied in Christ, who is the embodiment of man’s duty and God’s mercy.

This is right There is a natural and fundamental rightness in this obedience. The parents are authors of your being; they furnish you with livelihood and bringing up, they are your representatives to the world, responsible for your good behaviour and well being. It is right, therefore, that for the proper discharge of those responsibilities you should submit your inferior judgments and wills to theirs. But this natural law is sanctioned by the divine law. The apostle quotes, without any words of introduction, the fifth commandment of the decalogue, assuming that all recognise the words.

For the same reason he is free to vary the verbal form.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Instructions Concerning Children and Bondservants (6:1-9).

‘Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’

Children are to obey their parents ‘in the Lord’. Obedience to parents is therefore an obligation to Christ. That is as long as they do not tell them to do something that is clearly against God’s declared will. This is then enforced by reference to the ten commandments.

‘The first commandment with promise.’ Honour your father and mother is the first commandment where reward is promised for obedience. The words following the second commandment are a more general statement. Note that both father and mother are given authority. The reward for this will on the whole tend to a long life. The rebellious will often find their lives cut short as a result of their behaviour. This command is more needed today than at any time in history.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Submission in Parenting Eph 6:1-4 teaches about the role of submission in parenting. Both the children and the parents are commanded to follow their respective roles in order for this relationship to prosper. The promise given in Eph 6:1-4 of a long life to obedient children is placed within the context of the theme of Ephesians, which theme is God’s eternal plan for mankind. Thus, a child can begin preparing himself to fulfil God’s plan for his own life by first learning to obey his parents.

The first understanding and knowledge of God that a child will experience will be seen in the life of his parents. A child’s obedience to his parents is his first steps in hearing and obeying the voice of God. A child’s obedience will be determined by the amount of honour and respect that he holds for his parents. This honour is based upon his fear and reverence for them. Therefore, fear and reverence of his parents must be instilled within a child during his early years if he is to walk in obedience to later forms of authority in his life, and especially obedience to God. If the development of reverence for one’s parents is a child’s first step in developing reverence for God, then it also becomes the first step in God’s eternal plan for each human being. It is obedience to earthly parents that will set them on their journey to learning how to fear God. It is a holy reverence for God that will set them on their journey to fulfilling God’s purpose and plan in their lives. Now it become clear how important it is that we live a long life, for without it a person cannot fulfil its individual divine destiny.

Honor and Respect – Tedd Tripp says that a child’s submission to parents is two-fold: honor and respect. Submission to parents means that a child must be trained to obey even when he does not want to obey. In order to accomplish this, he says that a parent must train the child to honor his parents, and he must behave himself honourable before the child in order to gain respect. [168] Eph 6:1-4 is designed to keep both children and parents in the realm of God’s blessings, while disobedience causing someone to stray away from God’s protective plan for one’s live. Parenting is designed to keep the child within these divine blessings.

[168] Ted Tripp, Shepherding a Child’s Heart, 2 nd ed. (Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, c1995, 2005), 131-132.

Discipline with Love – The role of a father in parenting and training up his children is to be careful and not discourage them from eagerly pursuing this divine calling. A father must break the self-will of a child without breaking his spirit and zeal to follow the Lord’s plan for his life. Unskilled parents often attempt to instil obedience in their children by discipline carried out through rage and anger. This is the single greatest hindrance to a child fulfilling his calling in life. He must not discipline them in anger, but rather by principles. His rod must be tempered with love.

Eph 6:1  Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Eph 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord” Comments A child will treat God no differently than he will treat his own parents. God instituted the family, and placed parents over children as a child’s first experience in submission to divine authority. Thus, Keith Johnson says, “In parenthood God’s divinity is joined to man’s humanness.” [169]

[169] Keith Johnson, “Sermon,” Calvary Cathedral International, Fort Worth, Texas.

Eph 6:1 “for this is right” Comments In other words, this is the right way for a child to start his/her spiritual journey in order to fulfil God’s divine plan for their lives. In addition, this is how a child walks upright before the Lord. Also, Arthur Patzia notes that this is the right because it is a “universal obligation,” a moral law that reaches beyond the Church and governs all of humanity. [170]

[170] Arthur G. Patzia, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, in Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 277-278.

Eph 6:2  Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)

Eph 6:3  That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Eph 6:2-3 Comments In Eph 6:2-3 Paul quotes the fifth of the Ten Commandments found in Exo 20:12 and Deu 5:16. Paul says this is the first commandment with a promise. In fact, it is the only one of the Ten Commandments that gives a promise, so that we have to look further into the Pentateuch to find additional promises.

Exo 20:12, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

Deu 5:16, “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

Eph 6:4  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Eph 6:4 “but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” Comments We see Paul doing this in the book of Hebrews, if we assume that he was the author. In the epistle of Hebrews, he teaches them about the present-day priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ and about our access to the throne of grace. Then he weaves within this teaching a series of warnings, or admonitions, to the saints for them to persevere to the end. In Ephesians Paul also teaches them, and then warns them on a number of occasions in this epistle.

Illustration – While working in the pre-school department at Southcliff Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas while a seminary student in 1981-2, I noticed that Joshua, the child of Rick and Linda Gail Shepherd, the associate pastor over the prayer ministry, was very mature for his young age. This is because he had been nurtured in the Lord.

Eph 6:4 Comments In Eph 6:4 Paul warns fathers not to be out of balance in raising children. It must be a balance of love and discipline. If there is little love and lots of discipline, then children become angry and embittered against their parents, and against God and society. Paul speaks to fathers rather than mothers in this passage of Scripture simply because a father has the leadership position, which by nature exerts more influence within the family than a mother. Good leadership is achieved by having a positive impact on its sphere of influence, and in this case, the family.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Worthy Walk: Man’s Role – Having seen how God has done everything that He can possibly do for us to live a victorious life, Paul then focuses upon the believer’s response to this divine calling. The first three chapters of Ephesians have told us that if God be for us then who can be against us (note similar verses in Rom 8:31; Rom 8:37 , 1Co 15:57, 2Co 2:14).

Rom 8:31, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Rom 8:37, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

1Co 15:57, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2Co 2:14, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”

God the Father planned our journey, while Jesus has given us the legal right to take this journey, and the Holy Spirit empowers us for the journey. In the last three chapters of Ephesians Paul exhorts them on practical application by showing them how to live “saintly,” or how to respond to God’s grace in their lives in light of this position of spiritual authority. God has a plan for each of us that is so unique and so important to the body of Christ, that if we do not fulfill this calling, then the body of Christ will forever suffer the lack of this ministry. The reason the Church has yet to fulfill the Great Commission after two thousand years is because believers have not fulfilled their proper roles in God’s plan of redemption. This section in Ephesians opens with a key verse that summarizes the theme of these three chapters of exhortation, which is to walk worthy of our calling, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,” (Eph 4:1).

Paul takes the first half of his epistle to the Ephesians to teach his readers doctrinal truths. He then takes the second half of this letter to show them how to apply these truths to their daily living. Paul discusses the theme of God the Father’s divine plan of redemption for mankind in the first three chapters. He then takes the last three chapters to teach the Church how to live so that the Church can help fulfill the Father’s will. In the last three chapters of Ephesians, Paul exhorts them on practical application by exhorting them to walk out their high calling in Christ Jesus (Eph 4:1-16), then he shows them how to do it. The word “calling” is used because this is part of God the Father’s foreknowledge in fulfilling His divine plan of redemption. We see this in Rom 8:29-30 where foreknowledge is seen as predestination and calling. Thus, Paul is telling the saints how to respond to the Father’s calling, rather than the Son’s work of righteousness on Calvary, or the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification.

Paul exhorts the believers at Ephesus to live “saintly” by showing them how to respond to God the Father’s divine call in their lives in light of this position of spiritual authority. This section opens with a key verse that summarizes the theme of these last three chapters of exhortation, which is the “worthy walk”:

Eph 4:1, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,”

In Eph 4:1 Paul begins to explain their obligation to God’s high calling upon their lives as His “saints” (Eph 4:1-16). In order to fulfill this calling, they are to strive to walk in the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13). Paul then focuses on the three-fold area of human development, the spirit, the soul and the body, so that they will be able to walk in the fullness of Christ. Paul chooses to begin with the soul of man, for it is made up of the mind, will and emotions. Therefore, it contains the five sense-gates by which a person receives information in order to make a proper decision in life, which is figuratively spoken of as a “walk.” Once a person can be “discipled in Christ” by the renewing his mind (Eph 4:17-32), he will learn how to be led by the Spirit (Eph 5:1-14), which will then allow him to yield his body daily as a servant of Christ (Eph 5:15 to Eph 6:9), and finally, to win the victories of spiritual warfare (Eph 6:10-18). Thus, Paul’s exhortation first places emphasis upon the soul (Eph 4:1-32), then the spirit (Eph 5:1-14) followed by the body (Eph 5:15 to Eph 6:9). Only then will a person be ready to enter into the spiritual warfare discussed in the final passage (Eph 6:10-18). The reason Paul uses the word “walk” to introduce each section of this passage is because he is telling us to take a journey that will lead us into spiritual maturity.

Outline – Note the proposed outline:

A. The High Calling into Spiritual Maturity Eph 4:1-16

B. The Path to Spiritual Maturity Eph 4:17 to Eph 6:9

1. Soul The Renewing of the Mind Eph 4:17-32

a. The Old Man Eph 4:17-19

b. The New Man Eph 4:20-32

2. Spirit Being Led by the Spirit Eph 5:1-20

a. Walk in Love (Our Hearts) Eph 5:1-7

b. Walk in the Light (Our Minds) Eph 5:8-17

c. Be Filled with the Holy Spirit (Our Bodies) Eph 5:18-20

3. Body Submitting our Bodies to God’s Will Eph 5:21 to Eph 6:9

a. Submission in Marriage Eph 5:21-33

b. Submission in Parenting Eph 6:1-4

c. Submission at Work Eph 6:5-9

Illustration – You say, “How can focusing on my marriage or my job lead me into a great work of God. Well, just listen to the teachings of Joyce Meyer. She spent her years in the ministry becoming a better wife while studying the Scriptures and participating in her Church. As a result, God was able to supernaturally open those doors for her. She found herself as the most powerful woman minister on the earth today. In her messages, listen to her frequent testimonies of how she focused on submission and obedience in the little things in life. It all began for her with a relationship to her church and her pastor. This gave her the strength to develop her relationship with her husband and children and her boss. The rest followed naturally.

I have personally hosted her on two occasions and have seen how steady is her character. When I’ve become frustrated, she stood unmoved by her circumstances, which involved a week of jackhammering under her hotel room, a car breakdown in the middle of heavy traffic, but also steady and always thankful.

Remember John the apostle, who wrote five books in the New Testament. What was his first assignment after Jesus’ resurrection: to take care of His mother (Joh 19:26-27). An early tradition says John spent the first fifteen years of his ministry taking care of Mary. [117] In the book of Acts, we only see him following Peter. While the other apostles were preaching and teaching, he was primarily taking care of an elderly lady. In the end, he wrote more of the New Testament than any of the original twelve apostles and thus left more impact on the world than any of them.

[117] One Catholic tradition tells us that John the apostle remained in Jerusalem and cared for the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ until her death about fifteen years after the Crucifixion of Jesus. Adam Clarke says, “John was banished by the Roman emperor, Domitian, to the isle of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea: but his successor Nerva having recalled all the exiles banished by Domitian, John returned to Ephesus, where he died, aged upward of one hundred years. The holy Virgin is said to have lived with him till her death, which took place about fifteen years after the crucifixion.” See Adam Clarke, The Preacher’s Manual: Including Clavis Biblica, and A Letter to a Methodist Preacher (New York: G. Lane and P. P. Sandford, 1842), 37.

Joh 19:26-27, “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”

Application – So, you want to fulfill God’s for your life? First submit yourselves under the authority of God’s leadership first. Then allow your mind to become renewed and learn how to be led by the Spirit of God so that you will be able to walk in humble submission in all of your relationships, whether it is as a wife or a husband, whether as a parent or a child, whether a boss or an employee. In the midst of submission, you will learn obedience and this will qualify you for God’s service.

This journey through Ephesians teaches us that we must stay in submission and faithfulness to our church first before God will lead us further along His plan for our lives. This journey will take us to great heights.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Path to Spiritual Maturity – In order to fulfill this high calling, believers are to strive to walk in the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13). In order to do this, Paul focuses on the three-fold area of human development: the spirit, the soul, and the body. Paul chooses to begin with the soul of man, for it is made up of the mind, will and emotions. Therefore, it contains the five sense-gates by which a person receives information in order to make a proper decision in life, which is figuratively spoken of as a “walk”; and it is in this realm that a person decides by his own will to grow into spiritual maturity. Once a person can be “discipled in Christ” by the renewing his mind (Eph 4:17-32), he will learn how to be led by the Spirit (Eph 5:1-20), which will then allow him to yield his body daily as a servant of Christ (Eph 5:21 to Eph 6:9), and finally, to win the victories of spiritual warfare (Eph 6:10-18). Thus, Paul’s exhortation first places emphasis upon the soul (Eph 4:1-32), then the spirit (Eph 5:1-20) followed by the body (Eph 5:21 to Eph 6:9). Only then will a person be ready to enter into the spiritual warfare discussed in the final passage (Eph 6:10-18). The reason Paul uses the word “walk” to introduce each section of this passage is because he is telling us to take a journey that will lead us into spiritual maturity.

The large amount of emphasis that these chapters place upon renewing the mind, being led by the Spirit, and submission is due to the fact that when we are under the authority and leadership of the Holy Spirit, we find God’s divine protection, as did Job (see Job 1:10). However, when we become proud and rebellious, we step outside of God’s protective hedge, and are no longer about to stand against the devil.

Job 1:10, “Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.”

James describes this humble walk as “meekness of wisdom.”

Jas 3:13, “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Soul The Renewing of the Mind Eph 4:17-32

2. Spirit Being Led by the Spirit Eph 5:1-20

3. Body Submitting our Bodies to God’s Will Eph 5:21 to Eph 6:9

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Submission in Personal Relationships to Others – After a saint has learned to walk in love with a renewed his mind and learned how to stay filled with the Holy Spirit, he is then able to walk carefully, or wisely, by submitting himself to one another in every type of social relationship. This is accomplished by walking circumspectly in the fear of the Lord as His servants because submission to God and others contradicts the will of the flesh. It is this walk of submission that allows the anointing of the Holy Spirit to become strong in our inner man.

The role of submission will become a dominant theme in Eph 5:21 to Eph 6:9 as Paul tells us to walk in submission in our family and working relationships, which means in every relationship we may have in society. Paul conveniently gives us a clear definition of the word submission in Eph 4:2-3 by using the words lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing in love, unity, and peace. There is no better definition of the phrase “submitting yourselves to one another” (Eph 5:21) on proper human relationships than is found in these two gentle verses that open Paul’s discourse on our high calling in Christ Jesus. Thus, Paul has come full circle expounding upon our high calling, which can only be fulfilled by joining the body of Christ, renewing our mind, staying filled with the Holy Spirit, and submitting to one another in the fear of the Lord so that we can engage in spiritual warfare.

Eph 4:2-3, “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

It is man’s carnal, human nature to take control in relationships, to dominate over others. Paul is teaching us submission, which is in direct contradiction against the flesh. The only way that a believer can do this is to stay filled with the Spirit as discussed in the preceding passage of Eph 5:18-20. Note:

Gal 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

This passage of Scripture teaches us submission in the three major areas of social relationships; marriage, parenthood, and work.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Submission to All Eph 5:21

2. Submission in Marriage Eph 5:22-33

3. Submission in Parenting Eph 6:1-4

4. Submission at Work Eph 6:5-9

Eph 5:21 Submission to All – Eph 5:21 serves as an introductory verse to Eph 5:22 to Eph 6:9 regarding the issue of submission. The principle laid forth in this verse undergirds every relationship in society that follows: marriage, parenting, servanthood, and leadership. Submission expresses the moral fiber that holds the Church as well as society together.

Submission and Servanthood in all of Creation – Everything that God created was designed to give itself in divine service in order to fulfill its destiny and purpose. The sun gives its light in order to sustain life on earth. The land was created as a habitat for creeping creature and the beasts of the earth. The waters were created as a habitat for fish. The sky was created to serve as a habitat for birds. Thus, the sun, moon, stars, earth, seas and sky were created to serve and support life on earth as well as to serve as signs and wonders. The plant kingdom was created to serve the animals and man. The animal kingdom was created to serve man. In fact, every plant species and animal species was created to serve mankind in a unique way. Finally, man was created to serve God.

Eph 5:21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Eph 5:21 Comments A General Principle is Laid Down for the Passage that Follows Eph 5:21 is generally understood by scholars to grammatically fit within the previous passage of Scripture as a final expression of being filled with the Holy Spirit while serving as a transitional statement or link that moves the flow of thought into a new topic, that of submitting to one another according the mandate of Christian virtues in social bonds. Thus, this verse presents a general principle of submission that is explained in the passage of Scripture that follows. Anytime two people are involved in a relationship, two human wills are involved. This means that there are times when compromise and submission are required in order to maintain this relationship. Eph 5:21 is not saying that each person is to be submissive to every other individual Christian in the body of Christ. For example, masters are not to be submitted to their servants, parents to children, or husbands to wives. Rather, this opening verse lays down a foundational truth to be expounded upon in Eph 5:22 to Eph 6:9, serving as in introduction and summary of the following passage in Eph 5:22 to Eph 6:9. In fact, Paul writes the Corinthians on this issue, saying, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” (1Co 11:3). Thus, there is an order of priority in all of Creation, even in the institutions of marriage and the workplace.

1. Wives to husbands (Eph 5:22-33)

2. Children to parents (Eph 6:6-9)

3. Servants to masters (Eph 6:5-9)

Coupled with each command of submission is a command for the head (the husband, the parent, and the master) to love the one in submission and to treat that person with kindness and consideration.

1. Husbands love wives (Eph 5:25-33).

2. Parents love children (verse Eph 6:4)

3. Masters love servants (verse Eph 6:9)

This same type of command is found in 1Pe 5:3 in the relationship of church leaders and their flocks. While the flock is to be submitted to their leaders, these church leaders are to be kind to their flock, which the Lord has set them over.

1Pe 5:3, “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”

We find another example of this principle in the life of King Rehoboam, who was told that if he would be a servant to his people, then they would serve him (1Ki 12:7).

1Ki 12:7, “And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.”

When we examine Eph 5:21 within the context of this epistle, we see how Paul has an order to what he is teaching. The evidence that we have renewed our minds (Eph 4:17-20) and are filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:1-20) is seen when we are submitted to one another, walking in an attitude of humility. If we are to have healthy relationships with other people, it requires us to submit ourselves to them at some point in that relationship. I have known people with a stubborn and rebellious heart who find it impossible to have true, long-term relationships with others. At the end of their life, they still have no true friends, having always run from these relationships when submission was required. Yes, they started many friendships; but, they had to draw the line when it came time to submit to others in order to build that relationship strong. This attitude of self-centered pride ruins marriages, jobs, and every area of one’s life. The only way to truly live a life of submission is with the fear of the Lord dominating one’s heart, something that a person cannot have unless he is a part of a local fellowship, renewing his mind with God’s Word, and purifying his heart to stay filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus, Paul adds the phrase “in the fear of the Lord” to this divine truth of submitting to one another. Arthur Patzia notes how this phrase echoes throughout this passage as Paul charges the wives to submit to their own husbands as unto the Lord (Eph 5:22), as the husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the Church (Eph 5:25), as children are to obey their parents in the Lord (Eph 6:1), as parents are to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4), as slaves are to obey their masters as to the Lord (Eph 6:7), and as masters are to be forbearing with their slaves knowing that Christ is their Master in heaven. [150]

[150] Arthur G. Patzia, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, in Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 277.

Illustration – The Lord spoke to Joyce Meyer and said, “Submission is not an act we put on, but rather an attitude of the heart.” [151] Kenneth Hagin says that submission means to give in to one another. [152] Submission is the opposite of insisting upon your own way of doing things. Submission is an attitude of humility.

[151] Joyce Meyer, Enjoying Everyday Life (Fenton, Missouri: Joyce Meyer Ministries), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program.

[152] Kenneth Hagin, The Woman Question (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1983, 1984), 12.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Duties of Children, of Parents, of Servants.

A word to children and parents:

v. 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.

v. 2. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise,

v. 3. that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

v. 4. And ye father s, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The relation between husband and wife naturally suggests that between parents and children. St. Paul addresses himself to the children first: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. The apostle does not make it a matter of choice or of disposition, but of duty: it is the right thing, it is in accordance with the Law of God, with His order from the beginning, that children yield obedience to their parents. It is also not a matter following upon a mutual agreement, but it is a state into which the children are born; by the fact of their birth God places them into subjection to their parents. The duty of obedience on the part of children is one from which God Himself does not dispense, except in cases where His will is higher, Act 5:29. Neither can the state dispense from this duty, nor, in fact, the parents themselves, for they are God’s representatives and will commit a grievous sin if they do not maintain the honor of their position. Christian children will therefore be obedient to their parents, not merely on the basis of natural right, but in the Lord, to give evidence of their relation to God in this manner. In support of his position Paul quotes the Fourth Commandment: Honor thy father and mother, Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16. The honor due to parents includes two points: that the children recognize and acknowledge their parents as their superiors, as the representatives of God, and that they, by this token, gladly submit themselves to the will of the parents. The apostle adds, further to stress the importance of the commandment: Which is the first commandment with promise, That well it may be to thee and thou mayest be long-living on the earth. Because the Fourth Commandment is a precept of the first degree, because it belongs to the principal and most important commandments, and because a special promise is attached to it, therefore it demands unequivocal consideration and unhesitating obedience. Note that the apostle omits that part of the promise which was intended specifically for the Jewish people, thus making the commandment read for all nations. If children desire to have the good will of God resting upon them, which shows itself in granting welfare and long life according to His gracious will, then they should live a life of obedience to their parents. Note: This promise is the promise of the heavenly Father and is fulfilled even in cases where good fortune and length of life are not given according to the standard of this world. Mark also that the commandment is emphatically addressed to every individual child, with the word “honor” occupying the position of greatest stress.

The precept to the parents is brief, but comprehensive: And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord. Although the parental duty is set forth in terms of the father’s obligation, yet the mother’s rule and responsibility, being included in that of the husband, is just as strongly enjoined. Parents will, first of all, avoid all things which are apt to embitter, irritate, and exasperate their children, injustice, unreasonable severity, a senseless goading and teasing, and the like, all of which is likely to make the children indisposed to render the honor and obedience which is their duty. To some extent, at least, the blame will be on the side of the parents in that case; even Christian parents offend more often on the side of the Law than on that of the Gospel. Parents should nurture their children, take care of their entire physical, mental, moral, and religious training; their discipline in such education, their admonition by reproof, remonstrance, and blame should be that of Christ, such training as proceeds from Him and is prescribed by Him. The Lord’s entire manner of educating is one calculated to win people for Himself, so that they willingly follow His leadership, and His example should always stand before the eyes of all parents as an ideal after which they may strive. A whole volume of sound pedagogy is contained in this one verse.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Eph 6:1

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. The first duty of children is obedience, and “in the Lord,” i.e. in Christ, this duty is confirmed. The qualifies, not “parents,” but “obey,” and indicates that the element or life which even children lead in fellowship with Christ makes such obedience more easy and more graceful. The duty itself rests on the first principles of morality”for this is right.” It is an obligation that rests on the very nature of things, and cannot change with the spirit of the age; it is in no degree modified by what is called the spirit of independence in children.

Eph 6:2

Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise). The exhortation, based on natural morality (Eph 6:1), is here confirmed from the Decalogue. “Honor” is higher than obedience (Eph 6:1); it is the regard due to those who, by Divine appointment, are above us, and to whom our most respectful consideration is due. Father and mother, though not quite on a footing of equality in their relation to each other (Eph 5:22), are equal as objects of honor and obedience to their children. It is assumed here that they are Christians; where one was a Christian and not the ether, the duty would be modified. But in these succinct verses the apostle lays down general rules, and does not complicate his exhortations with exceptions. The latter part of the verse contains a special reason for the precept; it is the first commandment with a promise attached. But obviously the apostle meant more than this; for as in ver. I he had affirmed the duty to be one of natural religion, so here he means to add that it is also part of the revealed will of Godit is one of the commandments; but still further, it is the first commandment with a promise. It may, perhaps, be said that this is appealing, not to the higher, but to the lower part of our natureto our selfishness, not our goodness; but it is not an appeal to one part of our nature to the exclusion of the rest; it is an appeal to our whole nature, for it is a part of our nature to expect that in the end virtue will be rewarded and vice punished. In the case of children it is difficult to look far forward; the rewards and the punishments, to be influential, must be within the ken of vision, as it were; therefore it is quite suitable that, in writing to them, the apostle should lay emphasis on a promise which had its special fulfillment in the life that now is.

Eph 6:3

That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. A free rendering (after the manner of the apostle) of the reason annexed to the fifth commandment, “that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” While the Decalogue was an expression of the will of God on matters of moral and indefeasible obligation, it had a local Hebrew element here and there. In the present ease the apostle drops what is specially Hebrew, adapting the promise in spirit to a wider area. The special promise of long life in the land of Canaan is translated into a general promise of prosperity and longevity. As before, we must not suppose that the apostle excludes exceptions. The promise is not for each individual; many good and obedient children do not live long. But the general tendency of obedience to parents is towards the results specified. Where obedience to parents is found, there is usually found along with it temperance, self-control, industry, regular ways of life, and other habits that tend towards prosperity and longevity. In Christian families there is commonly affection, unity, prayer, mutual helpfulness, reliance on God, trust in Christ, and all that makes life sweet and wholesome. The spirit of the promise is realized in such ways, and it may be likewise in special mercies vouchsafed to each family.

Eph 6:4

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. “Fathers” is inclusive of mothers, to whom the practical administration of the household and training of the children so much belong. The first counsel on the subject is negative, and probably has respect to a common pagan habit, against which Christians needed to be put on their guard. Irritation of children was common, through loss of temper and violence in reproving them, through capricious and unsteady treatment and unreasonable commands; but more especially (what is still so common) by the parents being violently angry when the children, inconsiderately, perhaps, disturbed or annoyed them, rather than when they deliberately did wrong. All this the apostle deprecates. But bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. The words and are not easily defined in this connection; the former is thought to denote the discipline of training, with its appropriate rewards and punishments; the latter, instruction. Both are to be “of the Lord,” such as he inspires and approves. Instilling sound principles of life, training to good habits, cautioning and protecting against moral dangers, encouraging prayer, Bible-reading, church-going, sabbath-keeping; taking pains to let them have good associates, and especially dealing with them prayerfully and earnestly, in order that they may accept Christ as their Savior and follow him,are among the matters included in this counsel.

Eph 6:5

Bond-servants, obey your masters according to the flesh. There were many slaves in the early Church, but, however unjust their position, the apostle could not but counsel them to obedience, this course being the best for ultimately working out their emancipation. The words of Christ were peculiarly welcome to them “that labor and are heavy laden;” and, as we find from Celsus and others, the early Church was much ridiculed for the large number of uneducated persons in its pale. With fear and trembling. Comp. 1Co 2:3; Php 2:12, from which it will be seen that this expression does not denote slavish dread, but great moral anxiety lest one should fail in duty. It was probably a proverbial expression. In the singleness of your heart, as to Christ. Not with a got-up semblance of obedience, but with inward sincerity, knowing that it is your duty; and even if it be irksome, doing it pleasantly, as though Christ required it, and you were doing it to him.

Eph 6:6

Not in the spirit of eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the bond-servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Exegetical of the last exhortation, with a negative and a positive clause, according to the apostle’s frequent practice (comp. Eph 2:8, Eph 2:19; Eph 3:5; Eph 4:14, Eph 4:15, Eph 4:25, Eph 4:28, Eph 4:29; Eph 5:18, Eph 5:27, Eph 5:29; Eph 6:4). Eye-service and men-pleasing have reference only to what will pass muster in the world; Christians must go deeper, as bound to Christ’s service by the great claim of redemption (1Co 6:20), and remembering that “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1Sa 16:7). The will of God is our great standard, and our daily prayer is, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” In heaven it is done “from the heart.”

Eph 6:7

With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men. Some join the last words of the preceding verse to this clause, “from the heart with good will,” etc., on the ground that it is not needed for Eph 6:6, for if you do the will of God at all, you must do it from the heart. But one may do the will of God in a sense outwardly and formally, therefore the clause is not superfluous in Eph 6:6, whereas, if one does service with good will, one surely does it from the heart, so that the clause would be more superfluous here. Jesus is the Overlord of every earthly lord, and his follower has but to substitute him by faith for his earthly master to enable him to do service with good will.

Eph 6:8

Knowing that whatsover good thing each man shall have done, the same shall he receive from the Lord, whether he be bond or free. The hope of reward is brought in to supplement the more disinterested motive, such addition being specially useful in the case of slaves (as of children, Eph 6:2, Eph 6:3). For the slave the hope of reward is futureit is at the Lord’s coming that he will have his reward.

Eph 6:9

And, ye masters, do the same things to them, forbearing threatening. Act correspondingly toward your slaves, as if the eye of Christ were on you, which indeed it is; if you are ever tempted to grind them down, or defraud, or scold unreasonably and make their life bitter, remember that there is a Master above you, into whose ears their cry will come. If they are to do service to you as to the Lord, you are to require service of them as if you were the Lord. Therefore forbear threatening; influence them by love more than by fear. Knowing that both their and your Master is in heaven; and there is no respect of persons with him. Both of you stand in the same relation to the great Lord, who is in heaven and over all (comp. Eph 1:20, Eph 1:21). Your being higher in earthly station than they will not procure for you any indulgence or consideration. You will be judged simply and solely according to your deeds. Your responsibility to the Judge and your obligations to the Savior alike bind you to just and merciful treatment. If such principles were applicable to the relations of enforced labor, they are certainly not less so to the relations of labor when free.

Eph 6:10-20

THE CHRISTIAN WARFARE.

Eph 6:10

Finally. The apostle has now reached his last passage, and by this word quickens the attention of his readers and prepares them for a counsel eminently weighty in itself, and gathering up the pith and marrow, as it were, of what goes before. “My brethren,” A.V., is rejected by R.V, and most modern commentators, for lack of external evidence. We note, however, that, whereas in the preceding verses he had distributed the Ephesians into groups, giving an appropriate counsel to each, he now brings them again together, and has a concluding counsel for them all. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Compare with Eph 3:16, where the heavenly provision for obtaining strength is specified, and with Eph 4:30, where we are cautioned against a course that will fritter away that provision. The ever-recurring formula, “in the Lord,” indicates the relation to Christ in which alone the strength can be experienced. The might is Christ’s, but by faith it becomes our strength. As the steam-engine genders the dynamic force, which belts and wheels communicate to the inert machinery of the factory, so Christ is the source of that spiritual strength which through faith is communicated to all his people. To be strong is our duty; to be weak is our sin. Strong trust, strong courage, strong endurance, strong hope. strong love, may all be had from him, if only our fellowship with him be maintained in uninterrupted vigor.

Eph 6:11

Put on the entire amour of God. Chained to a soldier, the apostle’s mind would go forth naturally to the subject of amour and warfare. Put on amour, for life is a battle-field; not a scene of soft enjoyment and ease, but of hard conflict, with foes within and without; put on the amour of God, provided by him for your protection and for aggression too, for it is good, well-adapted for your use,God has thought of you, and has sent his amour for you; put on the whole amour of God, for each part of you needs to be protected, and you need suitable weapons for assailing all your foes. That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Our chief enemy does not engage us in open warfare, but deals in wiles and stratagems, which need to be watched against and prepared for with peculiar care.

Eph 6:12

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Our conflict is not with men, here denoted by “flesh and blood,” which is usually a symbol of weakness, therefore denoting that our opponents are not weak mortals, but powers of a far more formidable order. But against the principalities, against the powers. The same words as in Eph 1:21; therefore the definite article is prefixed, as denoting what we are already familiar with: for though all of these, evil as well as good, have been put under Christ the Head, they have not been put under the members, but the evil among them are warring against these members with all the greater ferocity that they cannot assail the Head. Against the world-rulers of this [state of] darkness (comp. Eph 2:2). “World-rulers” denotes the extent of the dominion of these invisible foesthe term is applied only to the rulers of the most widely extended tracts; there is no part of the globe to which their influence does not extend, and where their dark rule does not show itself (comp. Luk 4:6). “This darkness” expressively denotes the element and the results of their rule. Observe contrast with Christ’s servants, who are children of light, equivalent to order, knowledge, purity, joy, peace, etc.; while the element of the devil and his servants is darkness, equivalent to confusion, ignorance, crime, terror, strife, and all misery. Against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. The natural meaning, though questioned by some, is, either that these hosts of wickedness have their residence in heavenly places, or, that these places are the scene of our conflict with them. The latter seems more agreeable to the context, for “in heavenly places” does not denote a geographical locality here any more than in Eph 1:3 and Eph 2:6. When it is said that “we have been seated with Christ in heavenly places,” the allusion is to the spiritual experience of his people; in spirit they are at the gate of heaven, where their hearts are full of heavenly thoughts and feelings; the statement now before us is that, even in such places, amid their most fervent experiences or their most sublime services, they are subject to the attacks of the spirits of wickedness.

Eph 6:13

Wherefore take up the entire amour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. Some have tried to affix a specific time to the “evil day” of the apostle, as if it were one or other of the days specified in the Apocalypse; but more probably it is a general phrase, like “the day of adversity,” or “the day of battle,” indicating a day that comes often. In fact, any day when the evil one comes upon us in force is the evil day, and our ignorance of the time when such assault may be made is what makes it so necessary for us to be watchful. And having done all, to stand. “Having done fully,” or “completed,” is the literal import of , having reference, not only to the preparation for the battle, but to the fighting too. The command to be “strong in the Lord” is fitly associated with our “having done all,” because leaning on almighty strength implies the effort to put forth strength by our own instrumentality; when God’s strength comes to us it constrains us “to do all” that can be done by us or through us (comp. Psa 144:1; Php 2:12, Php 2:13). We are not called to do merely as well as our neighbors; nor even to do well on the whole, but to do allto leave nothing undone that can contribute to the success of the battle; then we shall be able to stand, or stand firm.

Eph 6:14

Stand therefore, having girt about your loins with truth. The “stand” in Eph 6:13 denotes the end of the conflict; this “stand” is at the beginning. Obviously there must be a firm stand at the beginning if there is to be at the end. In order to this, we must fasten the girdle round our loinsviz, truth, here used in a comprehensive sense, denoting honesty; sincerity of profession in opposition to all sham, levity, hypocrisy; and likewise the element of “truth in Jesus” (Eph 5:21), the substance of the gospel revelation. We are to gird ourselves in truth, , establishing ourselves in that element, wrapping it round us; , literally, “girded in truth.” And having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Comp. Eph 5:24, for at least one element of the righteousnessrighteousness wrought in us by the Holy Ghost after the image of Christ. But a more comprehensive use of the term is not excludedthe whole righteousness that we derive from Christrighteousness imputed and righteousness infused.

Eph 6:15

And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The metaphor becomes somewhat difficult to follow; the feet have to be shod or armed as with military sandals, and the sandal is the , or preparedness of, or caused by, the gospel of peace. The idea seems to be that the mind is to be steadied, kept from fear and flutter, by means of the good news of peacethe good news that we are at peace with God; and “if God be for us, who can be against us?” The Roman sandal was furnished with nails that gripped the ground firmly, even when it was sloping or slippery; so the good news of peace keeps us upright and firm.

Eph 6:16

Withal taking up the shield of faith. The was a large oblong shield covering a great part of the body, not the , smaller and more round. Faith, in its widest sense, constitutes this shieldfaith in God as our Father, in Christ as our Redeemer, in the Spirit as our Sanctifier and Strengthenerfaith in all the promises, and especially such promises as we find in Revelations 2. and 3. “to him that overcometh” (comp. promise to Ephesus, Rev 2:7) Wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. “Fiery darts” were weapons tipped with inflammable materials, firebrands, curiously constructed, adapted to set on fire. Metaphorically, considerations darted into the mind inflaming lust, pride, revenge, or ether evil feelings, emanations from the great tempter, the evil one. That such considerations sometimes start up suddenly in the mind, against the deliberate desire, sometimes even in the middle of holy exercises, is the painful experience of every Christian, and must make him thankful for the shield on which they are quenched. An act of faith on Christ, placing the soul consciously in his presence, recalling his atoning love and grace, and the promises of the Spirit, will extinguish these fiery temptations.

Eph 6:17

And take the helmet of salvation. This is the head-covering (comp. Psa 140:7). In 1Th 5:8 we read, “putting on for an helmet the hope of salvation.” The glorious truth that we are saved (comp. Eph 2:5, Eph 2:8) appropriated, rested on, rejoiced in, will protect even so vital a part as the head, will keep us from intellectual surrender and rationalistic doubt. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The sword supplied by the Spirit, the Word being inspired by him, and employed by the Spirit; for he enlightens us to know it, applies it to us, and teaches us to use it both defensively and offensively. Our Lord in his conflict with Satan, and also with the scribes and Pharisees, has taught us how this weapon is to be used, and with what wonderful effect. Paul, too, reasoning from the Scriptures and proving from them “that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is the Christ,” or (going back to the Old Testament) the author of the hundred and nineteenth psalm, showing us how the soul is to be fed, quickened, strengthened and comforted out of God’s Law, indicates the manifold use of the sword, and shows how earnestly we should study and practice this sword exercise, for our own good and the good of others.

Eph 6:18

With all prayer and supplication praying. The metaphor of armor is now dropped, but not the idea of the conflict, for what is now insisted on is of the most vital importance for successful warfare. Though prayer is virtually comprehended in most of the previous exhortations, it is now specifically enjoined, and in a great variety of ways; “all prayer and supplication,” equivalent to every form of it, e.g. ejaculatory, secret, spoken, domestic, social, congregational. At all seasons. No period of life should be without ityouth, middle life, old age, all demand it; no condition of lifeadversity, prosperity, sunshine, desolation, under sore temptation, under important duty, under heavy trial, under all the changing circumstances of life, personal, social, Christian. See the hymn

“Go, when the morning shineth;

Go, when the noon is bright;

Go, when the day declineth;

Go, in the hush of night.”

In the Spirit; for true prayer is spiritual, and it is not true prayer unless by the Holy Spirit the heart is filled with heavenward longings and aspirations, changing our prayer from cold form to heartfelt realities. The ordinary habit of the soul should be prayerful, realizing the presence of God and looking for his grace and guidance. And watching thereunto; that is, “towards” spirituality, against formality, as also against forgetfulness and neglect of prayer. Perhaps also the idea of watching for the answer is involved, as you wait for an answer when you have dispatched a letter. In all perseverance; this being very specially needed to make prayer triumphant, as in the case of the Syro-phoenician mother, or in that of Monica, mother of Augustine, and many more. And prayer for all saints; this being one of the great objects for which saints are gathered into the “one body” the Church, that they may be upheld and carried on, in warfare and in work, by mutual prayer, kept from slips and infirmities, and from deadly sins, and enabled one and all to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called.”

Eph 6:19

And for me. Mark the un-priestly idea; so far from Paul having a store of grace for all the Galatians, he needed their prayers that, out of the one living store, the needful grace might be given to him. That utterance may be given to me, in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. With all his practice in preaching, he felt that every instance of right utterance was a gift“may be given to me;” especially when great matters were involved”in the opening of my mouth.” To open the mouth denotes an authoritative act of teaching (comp. Mat 5:2); on such occasions he especially desired boldness, not stormy vehemence, but earnestness, fearlessness in making known the destination of the gospel, once secret, now designed for all (comp. Eph 2:1-22.). Boldness was needed because the message was so hateful to some and so contemptible to others.

Eph 6:20

For which I am an ambassador in chains. Thereby not only physically helpless, but in danger of being subdued into tameness, the ordinary effect of captivity, and thus reduced to a spirit not befitting the bearer of a great message from the King of kings. That in iti.e., in the matter of it, of the gospelI may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Eph 6:21, Eph 6:22

MISSION OF TYCHICUS.

Eph 6:21

But that ye also may know my affairs, how I do. Having referred to his captivity, he thought it natural for the Ephesians to desire more information about him, how he did or fared in his captivity. Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord. Nothing more is known of him than that (with Trophimus) he was a man of Asia (Act 20:4), who accompanied Paul when traveling from Macedonia to Asia, and was sent by him to various Churches (Col 4:7; 2Ti 4:12; Tit 3:12). The two qualities by which he is noted, lovableness and fidelity, have not only served to embalm his name, but show that he had much of Paul’s own character. Shall make known to you all things.

Eph 6:22

Whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know our state, and that he may comfort your hearts. This serves to explain the absence of personal remembrances, allusions, and messages in the Epistle. Tychicus, who had his full confidence, would tell them all by word of mouth. The concluding words show that it was not to gratify any mere personal feeling that Paul directed Tychicus to make this communication; but knowing how much they felt for him, he believed it would be a comfort to hear how he fared. To pagans the idea of captivity was always dolorous and dreadful; it was well for them to learn how Christians could glory in tribulations (Rom 5:3). Tychicus, the beloved brother, was evidently well fitted to apply to the Ephesians this comforting view of his state.

Eph 6:23, Eph 6:24

CLOSING BENEDICTION.

Eph 6:23

Peace be to the brethren. There is a double invocation of blessingto the brethren, and to all that love the Lord. “The brethren” must mean the members of the Church addressed, with special reference to the amalgamation in one body of Jews and Gentiles, or to the one family (Eph 3:15) in which they were brethren, Peace is the echo of Eph 1:2, and denotes the apostle’s desire for the continuance among them of the peace with God to which they had been admitted, as well as the prevalence of peace in every sense of the word. And love with faith. “Love” in the widest sense (Eph 3:17, Eph 3:19)the love of Christ to them, their love to Christ, and their love to one another; and love is coupled with faith, because faith is the companion of love, they are in the closest relation to each other. Faith in Christ receives him as he is offered, in all his love and goodness; it sees his loving face, and is changed into the same image. From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (comp. Eph 1:2).

Eph 6:24

Grace he with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility. As grace was the first word, so it is the last (comp. Eph 1:2), not as denoting anything essentially different from the blessings invoked in the preceding verse, but for variety, and in order that the favorite word may be, both here and before, in the place of prominence. The expression is peculiarlove the Lord Jesus Christ . The word denotes, especially in Paul’s usage, what is unfading and- permanent. The love that marks genuine Christians is not a passing gleam, like the morning cloud and the early dew, but an abiding emotion. Nowhere can we have a more vivid idea of this incorruptible love than in the closing verses of Rom 8:1-39., “I am persuaded that neither death nor life,” etc.

HOMILETICS

Eph 6:1-4

Duties of children and parents.

It must have been an interesting day in the Church of Ephesus when it was known that a pastoral letter would be read in the public assembly from the beloved and venerable apostle whose labors had been attended with such a blessing. Whether the meeting was held in early morning or late in the evening, every effort would be made by every Christian to be present, and even as they were walking towards the place of meeting, a certain briskness of manner and eagerness of expression would show that something beyond the common was in expectation. Those who had to pass the great temple of Diana would cast no lingering look behind, nor think of the contrast between that magnificent shrine of idolatry and the very humble building where the true God was worshipped, by whom all things were made. Even the children would not linger to peep at the gorgeous glory of the temple, for their parents would have told them that at their meeting a letter was going to be read from the great apostle, now unable to come to them because wicked men had imprisoned him, but still remembering them all, as his letter would show. Remembering the interest which, like his Master, the apostle had taken in the young, it would be an interesting question whether the letter to be read would not contain some passage for them, and, if it did, what would be its tenor? Perhaps the most attentive of them would be beginning to feel weary as five-sixths of the letter was read, but no word yet for them. But at last the message comes; and when it comes it appears that it is not only about them, but addressed to them; the apostle looks them full in the face, and says, “Children.” And when the children’s morsel is brought out, it is perhaps not quite what they expected. It is not a sugared morsel, nor is it particularly affectionate in its terms. It is not a nice little story or a poetical allegory, carrying them to the realms of dreamland; it is just a simple, practical requirements” Children, obey your parents in the Lord.” Possibly even the older hearers were rather surprised, and certainly there are many now who would have expected a more spiritual counsel. They would have expected him to say something to the children about Jesus, or about prayer, or about trying to teach the heathen around them; hut he speaks on none of these things. He probably counted that, if the children were right with their parents, other things would follow; if they obeyed their parents, and their parents brought them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, God’s blessing would rest on their efforts and all would be well. But if the apostle did not speak to children in the modern fashion, it is all the more important to notice and ponder the message which he actually gives them.

I. DUTY OF CHILDREN.

1. To obey.

2. To honor their parents. The reasons are

(1) it is right;

(2) it is a commandment;

(3) it is the first of the commandments with a promise;

(4) that promise gives expectation of long life and prosperity.

In one of the best books of the early Church, written by one of its greatest men’The Confessions’ of St. Augustinethere is a chapter in which he humbly confesses his disobedience as a boy, in neglecting his lessons, and going to see games and sights in opposition to the wishes of his parents. Long after, when he came to be a Christian, the thought haunted and distressed him until, confessing it, and laying it on Jesus, he obtained the mercy and forgiveness of God. Long life among the Jews was a token of the Divine favor, and it seems to have been an emblem of the life to come. We need not count in all cases on a literal fulfillment of the Jewish promise; but we may rest assured that a spirit of honor to our parents tends to make our earthly lot better and brighter, and will have some recognition likewise in the life that is to come.

II. DUTY OF PARENTS.

1. Negatively. Not to provoke or irritate their children. But:

2. Positively, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the Old Testament, Samuel, and in the New Testament, Timothy, are samples of children so brought up. The Lord’s command is, “Bring up this child for me, and I will pay thee thy wages.” What infinitely precious results depend on the execution of these two precepts! Every well-trained Christian household is a nursery of all that tends to bless the world; while disorderly and unchristian families are hotbeds of vice and evil. The prayer of the hundred and forty-fourth psalm is never out of date: “That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; our daughters as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace…. Happy is that people that is in such a case; yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord.”

Eph 6:5-9

Duties of servants and masters.

I. DUTY OF SERVANTS. Recognized as constituent members of the Church, and, however little esteemed by man, as greatly regarded by God. In Christ all are brethren, for all are brothers of Christ, therefore of one another.

1. The duty of servants is obedience. Qualities of the obedience.

(1) With fear and trembling (see Exposition);

(2) in singleness of heart;

(3) as unto Christ and not to men;

(4) not with eye-service, but as servants of Christ;

(5) doing the will of God from the heart;

(6) with good will.

2. The reward of good service. Whatsoever good you do, you shall receive of the Lord; he will repay you. We are apt to be jealous of this doctrine. It seems to undermine free grace. But no; salvation is wholly of grace; but one feature of grace is that, when you receive it and act on it, it begets, as it were, another gift of grace. If by grace the servant obey in the Lord, a further act of grace will follow; the obedience rendered will be rewarded and blessed. Better this surely than any amount of earthly reward! “God is not unrighteous to forget” the faithful work of those who remember him above all other.

II. DUTY OF MASTERS.

(1) Do the same things to them, observe their rights and do as you would be done by;

(2) forbear threatening. Reasons for this.

(a) You have a Master also, One in heaven, who oversees all you do;

(b) there is no respect of persons with him. One of the great problems of the day is how to impregnate the relations of master and servant with the Christian spirit, and carry into effect the aim of such passages as this. We do not refer particularly to domestic service, for a servant, by entering a house, becomes in a sense a member of the family, and is thereby bound to fall in with the family order. The difficulty lies mainly with the case of large bodies of men working under a single employer. The problem is too intricate to be discussed here. But both masters and men need to beware of offending Christ by a bitter and unreasonable spirit. Occasions for glorifying God by the manifestation of a noble Christian spirit may become occasions for letting out the selfishness of the carnal heart. Yet, complicated though the question is, it is probable that the true solution would be reached by all Christian men if the spirit of this text were carried out, if both masters and men tried to do all as to the Lord and not to men, and to esteem his approval the very highest reward to which they could look.

Eph 6:10-20

The Christian warfare.

Even in common parlance we speak of “the battle of life.” Even for ordinary purposes we have to fight against indolence, evil lusts, dishonest tendencies, and many other things in ourselves; and against opposition, ill treatment, temptation on the part of others, and the depressing effects of trial and disappointment. All hard work -is a fight; we have to fight against the sense of monotony, against the feeling of weariness, against the longing for ease; and when we are sick, or feeble, or depressed, it is often hard to hold on the straight path of hard duty and turn away from the allurements of pleasure. The ring of the hammer, the blow of the shuttle, the housewife’s active step from dawn to dewy eve, often tell of battles and victories in quiet spheres, that without the eclat have much more real glory than ordinary wars. But much more is the Christian life a battle. The chief enemies here are unseen. It is impossible to pursue an aimless, careless life and be a Christian. “If any man will come after me,” said Christ, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Not only to be a Christian, but such a Christian as this Epistle delineates; to walk worthy of the vocation with which we are called; to be ever reaching forth toward the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; to be growing up into Christ toward that condition in which we shall be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; to be advancing thus in spite of hosts of spiritual foes, working- unseen, sapping and mining, our Christian life, trying to entangle and enslave us in every way;this can be no easy task; it is a veritable battle, demanding constant vigilance and incessant care. It may seem strange that we should be exposed to such enemies. Is not our blessed Lord exalted far above all principality and power and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come? Has he not spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly? Is he not Head overall things to his Church? Why, then, does he not crush all her foes? Doubtless because he has purposes of discipline to carry out in connection with these enemies, because, while he is willing to fight in and through his people, he does not see it right to crush his foes without their instrumentality; in this way habits of vigilance and prayer and activity must be kept up by them; but all the greater will be their joy when at last the victory is gained, and they get the reward of “him that overcometh.” In the Middle Ages, certain coarse means were employed to arrest attention to the formidable foes that beset the Christian soldier. Frescoes were painted on the walls of churches and other ecclesiastical buildings, representing souls which were sometimes seen coming out of dying bodies, while angels on the one side, and devils on the other, were striving to get them. The devils were grotesque, hideous, revolting monsters, more absurd than terrible. It was the way of that age to embody truths which in our material age are apt to be thought as ridiculous as the demons of the Italian frescoes. But there are spirits of evil hovering about us, trying to obscure and pervert the truth, to blind us to the fruits of sin, to dazzle our eyes with the glory of earth, to entangle us in subtle temptations, to fill our minds with doubts and fears and evil forebodings, luring us to the edge of the precipice, and ready, if they should get their way, to burst into their bitter scornful laugh, as they behold us, through their wiles, weltering in the gulf of despair. Let us observe:

1. The true Source of strength: “In the Lord” (Eph 6:10).

2. The true amour to seek. “The whole amour of God” (Eph 6:11).

3. The true enemies to be overcome. (Eph 6:11,Eph 6:12.) “The wiles of the devil,” and other unseen spiritual foes.

4. The true employment and attitude of the Christian warrior: “Withstand… and stand” (Eph 6:13).

5. The various pieces of the amour, and their use. (Eph 6:14-18.) “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?” An army consists of men who not only have amour, but have been trained to use it. An unarmed army can only be food for the enemy’s artillery, material for a dreadful massacre. Let professing Christians see that they are armed, and that they are making a good use of their amour. Nature cries out for an easy lithe, for a truce with the world, the devil, and the flesh. In this sense our motto must be war, not peace; for in this sense Christ came, not to send peace on earth, but a sword.

Eph 6:18-20

“Praying always.”

Here is a part of the Christian’s amour which had nothing corresponding to it in the panoply of the Roman soldier. Prayer comes in without any figure. We are taught that, even when every spiritual weapon is prepared and directed against the spiritual foe, all is in vain without a direct appeal to God. When Jacob, looking for an attack by Esau, had completed his arrangements of his family and flocks, the most important part of his preparations remainedanother warfare had to be carried on, he must wrestle with the angel for his blessing. So in the Christian conflict, even when the loins are girt with truth, the heart protected by the breastplate of righteousness, the feet shod with peace, the head crowned with the helmet of salvation, the person protected by the shield of faith, and when the hands are grasping and wielding the sword of the Spirit, there is another duty which is quite indispensableprayer: “Praying always with all prayer,” etc. This is in accordance with the whole tenor of the Bible: Enoch, walking with God; Abraham, interceding for Sodom; Moses, pleading on the mountain; Elijah, praying for rain; David, Hezekiah, Daniel, Simeon, Anna, our blessed Lord in Gethsemane,all show us that fighting men ought always to pray and not to faint. The soul is thus strengthened and encouraged; it reaches the promises and rests on them; it feels that God is with it; “They that wait on the Lord renew their strength; they mount up with wings as eagles; they run, and are not weary; they walk, and are not faint? The prayer required is marked by six features.

1. Manifold. With all prayer and supplication; all kindssecret, ejaculatory, domestic, social, public.

2. Incessant. At all seasons:

(1) at all times or periods of life, youth, manhood, age;

(2) in connection with every employment, recreation, trial, mercy, undertaking, both great and small;

(3) as a constant habit of the spirit, thinking on God, depending on him, working for him.

3. Spiritual. “In the Spirit“in dependence on his aid and inspiring power, in opposition to the mere form or rhyming of “pater nosters.”

4. Watchful. (See Exposition.)

5. Persevering (see Exposition).

6. Comprehensive. “For all saints,” and especially for God’s servants in the gospel, the men who are bearing the burden and heat of the battle. Men may ridicule prayer; they may scoff at a praying man, a praying family, a praying nation; but the spectacle is really sublime. When Pere Hyacinthe, lecturing on the public immorality of his country, made the aisles of Notre Dame ring with his eloquence, he did not find cause to scoff at prayer. He said that it moved him to find England and the United States not ashamed to pray in the time of calamity, and to give thanks in the hour of deliverance. God, after all, is the Ruler among the nations, and his rule of good will stand true. “Them that honor me I will honor, but they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”

Eph 6:21, Eph 6:22

Tychicus.

Many honorable men in the Bible have short biographies, but they are very expressive, Nothing else is known of Tychicus except that he was a man of Asia. But we see here that:

1. He devoted himself to the service of Christ (Eph 6:21).

2. He was faithful in that service.

3. He was the fellow-laborer of other devoted men.

4. By his loving spirit he secured their love.

5. He was sympathetic, friendly, tender-hearted, suitable to be employed on a mission of comfort (Eph 6:22).

6. His memory continues embalmed and fragrant for these two qualitiesfidelity to his master, and kindly sympathy for his brother men. His short biography is full of instruction for the servants of Christ. He was unselfish, unworldly, unambitious; it were a blessing for the Church if the rank-and-file of its undistinguished ministers and other workers were like him. After all, few inscriptions on a tombstone would be more to be desired by the minister of Christ than this: “He served his Master and he loved his brethren.”

Eph 6:23, Eph 6:24

The benediction.

The last drops of the Epistle are of the dew of heaven.

I. THE BENEDICTION FOR THE BRETHREN.

1. Its substance.

(1) Peace.

(2) Love.

(3) Faith.

2. Its source. “God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

II. THE BENEDICTION FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH. Grace, sum and substance of the Epistle”the Epistle of grace.” With that he began, with that he ends. But the word is much richer after the exposition of the Epistle. It has been connected with two eternities, past and future. And with the infinity of the three-one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the soul of the reader has been exercised and expanded to its utmost stretch, in trying to comprehend it; but it is incomprehensible. And now, with all this added fullness of meaning, it falls on the head of all that love the Lord Jesus in incorruptibility. This treasure, multiplied, deepened, lengthened, heightened to infinity, I invoke on you, says the apostle, in the Name of God. Blessed privilege of the minister who can do so. Deep responsibility of the people to whom it is done. Great importance of the closing benediction in public service; tendency to think of it as a mere closing form. It contains the very essence of all blessing. Let it be received reverently, pondered seriously, accepted joyously.

HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY

Eph 6:1-3

The duties of children to parents.

There is a beautiful and appropriate simplicity in the counsel here addressed to children. Their duties are founded in nature. They derive their being from their parents; they are fed by them; they are trained by them for the duties of life.

I. THEIR DUTY IS SUMMED UP IN THE ONE WORD “OBEDIENCE.” But it includes four important elements.

1. Love. This is an instinctive feeling, but it is not the less a commanded duty, for it is the spring of all hearty obedience. It makes obedience easy. Yet we are not to love our parents more than the Lord; we are rather to love them in the Lord.

2. Honor. This is only another form of obedience: “Honor thy father and thy mother.” Children are never to set light by their parents (Deu 27:17); “A son honoureth his father” (Ma Eph 1:6); “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man” (Le 19:32). God has, indeed, given his own honor to parents. We may not always be called to obey them, but we are always to honor them. “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old” (Pro 23:22). This honor is allied to reverence: “We have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence” (Heb 12:9).

3. Gratitude. It is our duty to requite our parents (1Ti 5:4), and our Lord implies that we are to do them good (Mat 15:4). We ought to remember their love, their care, their concern for us. Joseph provided for his father Jacob in old age, and the women said to Naomi of Boaz, “He shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age.”

4. Subjection. “Children, obey your parents in all things;” that is, in all things falling within the sphere of a parent’s authority. If parents command their children to steal, or lie, or commit idolatry, they are not to be obeyed. They are to be obeyed “in the Lord.” There are several reasons to make obedience natural.

(1) Parents know more than their children; therefore “a wise son heareth his father’s instruction” (Pro 13:1). The child must take much of his knowledge for granted on the mere authority of his father.

(2) The habit of obedience is good as a discipline. It is even good for the health of a child, as a desultory and dawdling obedience breaks its temper and injures its health.

(3) Children are not able to guide themselves; for “folly is bound up in the heart of a child” (Pro 22:15).

(4) Society is benefited by the due subordination of family life.

II. THE REASON OF OBEDIENCE ASSIGNED IN THIS PASSAGE IS SIMPLY “FOR THIS IS RIGHT.” It is right

(1) according to the light of nature;

(2) according to the Law of God. “It is well-pleasing unto the Lord (Col 3:20).

It is embodied in the Decalogue, and holds the first place among the duties of the second table, and “is the first commandment with promise”the promise of a long life. This implies

(1) that the fifth commandment is still binding on the Christians of this dispensation;

(2) that long life is to be desired;

(3) that disobedience to parents tends to shorten life. There may be undutiful children who live to old age, and dutiful children who die young, but the promise abides in its general purpose. It is like the saying, “The hand of the diligent maketh rich,” yet diligent persons have felt the bitterness of poverty. Children are therefore justified in having regard firstly to the command of God, and then to the recompense of the reward.T.C.

Eph 6:4

Duties of parents.

They are here summarily expressed, first in a negative and then in a positive form.

I. THERE MUST BE INSTRUCTION. “Train up a child in the way he should go.” Parents must not suffer them to grow up without instruction, as Rousseau suggested, because not to teach religion is to teach impiety and infidelity; not to teach truth is to teach error.

1. In what principles?

(1) In the principles of the Divine Word, which are able to make the youngest “wise unto salvation” (2Ti 3:15). “Desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby” (1Pe 2:2). This is counsel for babes.

(2) Teach them they are sinners.

(3) Lead them to Christ as the Savior, and pray that the Lord may place his hands of power and blessing upon the little ones, as he did when on earth.

(4) Train them in habits of piety, church-going, and religious action.

2. In what manner?

(1) Early, like Timothy;

(2) gradually (Deu 6:6-9);

(3) patiently (Deu 6:20-23);

(4) lovingly;

(5) by exampleyour own example, and Scripture examples;

(6) prayerfully.

II. THERE MUST BE DISCIPLINE.

1. Children soon manifest a corrupt and selfish nature, for folly is bound up in their hearts; therefore they need correction (Heb 12:9).

2. Parents must isolate them by their personal authority from evil or evil companions or temptations to evil.

3. Parents must use discipline with due discretion; they must not “provoke their children to wrath, lest they be discouraged”

(1) by unreasonable commands;

(2) by undue severity;

(3) by exhibitions of anger.

III. ENCOURAGEMENTS OR MOTIVES TO THE FAITHFUL DISCHARGE OF PARENTAL DUTY.

1. The promise: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Pro 22:3).

2. We shall have the interests of eternity secured early in life.

3. We shall thus restrain them from many follies and sinful habits which would otherwise be the burden and curse of their after life.

4. We shall be promoting our own happiness and comfort in old age.

5. We shall be shaping the destinies of future generations.T.C.

Eph 6:5-8

Duties of servants.

It is interesting to reflect that the New Testament devotes more space to the instruction of servants than to the instruction of either parents or children, husbands or wives. The servants, or rather slaves, were a large and interesting class in the cities of Asia Minor, often greatly more numerous than freemen, and very many of them had embraced the gospel with great heartiness. There were obvious reasons for a studious minuteness in the counsels given to such a class.

I. THEIR DUTY IS SUMMED UP IN THE SINGLE WORD “OBEDIENCE.” Christianity does not rudely strike at existing relations in life, but seeks to improve and sanctify them. In its appeals to slaves as well as to masters, it sowed the seed-corn, small as a grain of mustard seed, which grew into a harvest of emancipation in the ages which were to see the full power of the gospel. Obedience was therefore the duty of slaves, or servants, “in all things” (Col 3:22), that is, in all things included within the sphere of a master’s rightful authority, not contrary to the Law of God, or the gospel of Christ, or the dictates of conscience. It is set forth first in a negative, then in a positive form.

1. Negatively. “Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers.” This word is coined by the apostle for the occasion. Eye-service is either work done only to please the eye, but which cannot bear to be tested, or it may be good work done only when the master’s eye is upon the worker. This was a vice peculiar to slavery. But it enters into all forms of service. Dishonest work is to be avoided quite as much as dishonest words. An acted lie is as dishonorable as a spoken one. There must be no mere perfunctory discharge of human duties.

2. Positively.

(1) “With fear and trembling.” Not from regard to the lash of the master, but with an anxious and tremulous desire to do our duty thoroughly. Obedience is to be yielded “with all fear” (1Pe 2:18), that is, with the fear of incurring the just rebukes of their masters, and “as fearing God” (Col 3:22).

(2) “In singleness of heart, as unto Christ.” In simplicity and sincerity of spirit, without dissimulation or hypocrisy. There is a great temptation to duplicity in those subjected to another’s will, especially if the service is irksome or unreasonable. Let there be a single desire to do your duty.

(3) “With good-will doing service,” not grudgingly, or murmuringly, or by constraint, but with cheerfulness and alacrity, “seeking to please them well in all things,” that they may obtain their good will (Tit 2:9).

II. THE MOTIVES TO SUCH OBEDIENCE.

1. The command of God here addressed to all servants.

2. The Lord’s mastership, for they are “the servants of Christ,” and are “doing service as to the Lord, and not to men.” Here is the constraining force of the Lord’s love. How this motive sweetens, sanctifies, ennobles work! The work is done, not for wages, not by constraint, but “unto the Lord,” and therefore becomes part of our worship. It is thus that the Lord has married the work of earth to the worship of heaven.

3. The rewards of this service: “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive,.., whether he be bond or free.” Whatever disappointment may mix itself with the service of men, the Lord will have a rich reward in store for the faithful worker. He is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love, for “of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance” (Col 3:24).

4. The honor of the gospel. His Name and his doctrine will be blasphemed by a contrary spirit (1Ti 6:1; Tit 2:10).

5. The example of Christ himself. He “took upon him the form of a servant;” for “he came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” He always did the things which pleased God, and has set us an example that we should follow in his steps.T.C.

Eph 6:9

The duties of masters.

They needed to be instructed as well as their servants; for they had irresponsible power in their hands, and might be led to use it severely or cruelly.

I. THEIR DUTIES WERE RECIPROCAL. They were “to do the same things unto them”not the same duties as servants were bound to do, but after the same manner, in obedience to God’s command, with the same singleness of heart, and with the same heartiness and good will. They were to give their servants what “was just and equal.” They were to treat them with justice and equity, with a full recognition of their rights. The apostle, however, demands something more than just treatment; masters are to forbear the threatening which was a too familiar feature of slavery. They are not to rule them with rigor or harshness, or even with displays of temper, but with gentleness, moderation, and kindness.

II. THE ARGUMENT TO ENFORCE THE DUTIES OF MASTERS, “Your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him?” He is the, Judge of master and servant alike, and will not respect either of them on account of their station in life, but will reward them justly according to their works. Both masters and servants, therefore, ought to have an eye to the presence of their great Master in heaven, ought to seek his glory, and pray for his assistance and acceptance.T.C.

Eph 6:10

The secret of spiritual strength.

This strength is needed under all the burdens, in all the conflicts and temptations of life, beneath its sorrows and its caresstrength of heart, strength of purpose, strength of will.

I. “BE STRONG.” This is a strange command, just as strange as it would be for a physician to say to a weak man, “Be strong.” It is like the command, “Rejoice in the Lord;” but it seems more difficult by any volition of our own to add to our strength than to add to our joy. Yet, as we can do much to regulate our emotions by determining what set of thoughts shall engage us, we can equally provide for an increase in our strength by a direct recourse to the secret and source of it. Our obedience to this command stands on the same footing as our obedience to God’s other commandments; and if we continue to be weak, it is more than our misfortune, it is our fault. But there is nothing strange when we consider the secret of the origin of this strength. We are conscious of a sense of feebleness, of heartlessness, of hopelessness, which of itself goes far to disqualify us for duty, and gives us up an easy prey to the adversary of souls. It is to meet this want that God reveals himself to us as the great Giver of strength.

II. “BE STRONG IN THE LORD, AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT.” The strength poured into us is strength in Christ, sprinting out of a realizing apprehension of the continued presence, love, and help of the Redeemer. “My strength shall be made perfect in weakness.” A fly is able to walk upon the ceiling of a room. The cause is to be found in the vacuum in its webbed foot caused by its very weight, and it is thus enabled to hold on by the smooth surface of the ceiling. So our safety lies likewise in our emptiness. The soldier fights with greater confidence when he is led by a general who has been always successful. Wellington calculated the presence of Bonaparte at the head of an army as equal to a hundred thousand additional bayonets. Thus we understand the invincibility of the French army under his leadership. Thus the Christian fights with greater resolution because Christ is the Captain of his salvation.

III. THE COMMAND IMPLIES A CONTINUOUS DEPENDENCE UPON THE LORD. The strength is not given at once and in full measure, but according to the desire, the capacity, the faith, the need, the duty, the trial. Our lowest powers, those of the body, we get by growth, and they grow by exercise. Such is the law of our physical childhood, and no other is the law of our spiritual being. The sense of weakness obliges us to repair every day afresh to him for fresh supplies. “He giveth power to the faint; to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”T.C.

Eph 6:11, Eph 6:12

The Divine panoply: its necessity and design.

Christians have a spiritual warfare on earth (2Ti 4:7). They have to fight for God (1Sa 25:28), for truth (Jud Eph 1:3), and for themselves (Rev 3:11).

I. THE DIVINE ARMOR. It is so called because God provides each individual part of it. It is amour for offence as well as defense”forged on no earthly anvil and tempered by no human skill.” The amour of Romecelibacy, poverty, obedience, asceticismis for flight, not for conflict. This Divine armor we are not required to provide, but merely to put on, and its efficacy depends entirely upon the power of him who made it.

II. ITS PURPOSE. “That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” The grand enemy of the Church is the devil, a superhuman tempter older than man. This language implies

(1) the personal existence of Satan;

(2) his possession of immense resources of cunning and craft;

(3) his power to inject evil into the minds of the saints;

(4) his great end to destroy the souls of men and the whole moral order of the world;

(5) the possibility of resisting his wiles in the strength of the Divine armor,

III. ITS NECESSITY. This Divine equipment is indispensable in view of the serried ranks of evil which are leagued against us under the leadership of Satan. Our conflict is not with feeble man. It is with fallen spirits. The language of the apostle implies

(1) that these spirits have a hierarchy of their own of different orders;

(2) that their malignant activity is exercised in the world of men under a reign of darkness;

(3) that their moral character is wickedness;

(4) and that, as Satan is the prince of the power of the air, they seem to have their abode or the scene of their activity in the atmosphere that surrounds our earth.

We need, therefore, to be strong and valiant in this warfare,

(1) because we are fighting for our life;

(2) because, though our enemies be strong, our Captain is stronger still;

(3) because nothing but cowardice can lose the victory (Jas 4:7);

(4) because, if we conquer, we shall ride triumphantly into heaven (2Ti 4:7, 2Ti 4:8).T.C.

Eph 6:14-17

The Divine panoply in its separate parts.

The spiritual equipment of the Christian is here described in detailthe belt, the breastplate, the sandals, the shield, the helmet, and the sword.

I. TRUTH IS THE BELT, AS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE BREASTPLATE. “Having your loins girt about with truth.” As the belt or girdle kept the armor in its proper place, giving strength and buoyancy of action, so truth acts in relation to righteousness, faith, and peace. If truth were wanting, there could be none of these things, and nothing Christ-like or noble. The truth here does not mean truth of doctrine, as the Word of God is again referred to, nor even sincerity in the sense of truthfulness, but the truth subjectively apprehended, that is, the knowledge and belief of the truth. It is the conscious grasp of the truth which gives a Christian boundless confidence in his conflict with evil. Error, as a principle of life, dissolves strength and unnerves for the great fight with sin. Truth is our proper girdle, because we fight for a God of truth (Tit 1:2), and against Satan the father of lies (Joh 8:44). Without it we are spiritless, heartless, and weak.

II. THE BREASTPLATE. “Having on the breastplate of righteousness.” The Roman soldier wore it to protect his heart, the center of physical life. The breastplate of the Christian is here called “the righteousness,” evidently in allusion to Isa 59:17, where Jehovah puts on “righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head.” It can hardly mean moral rectitude, which, after all, would be but a poor guard against the reproaches of conscience or the assaults of Satan. This righteousness is that which the Apostle Paul desired for himself”the righteousness of God by faith” (Php 3:8, Php 3:9). It is emphatically “the righteousness,” so perfect that it satisfied every demand of Law, and is perfectly proof against all assaults from within or from without. Let us not show the bare breast of our righteousness to the tempter, but rather the righteousness of God himself, imputed to us and received by faith. This breastplate was purchased by Christ at a dear rate; none are his soldiers who have not put it on; without it, God himself will fight against you; if you have it, you are sure of ultimate triumph (Rom 8:31, Rom 8:32)

III. SANDALS. “Having your feet shod with the preparedness of the gospel of peace.” The legs of the Roman soldier were covered with greaves, and below these were the sandals, or caligae. Swiftness of foot was of great consequence in military movements. Christians are to show a readiness, a celerity, an alacrity of movement, in doing God’s will. This preparedness is the effect of the gospel of peace, which inspires us with severity and courage, and liberates us from those doubts which generate weakness. The unready warrior is liable to sudden and secret attacks. The Christian ought ever to be prepared to advance against the enemy, to obey his great Captain, to fight, to suffer, and to die in the cause of God and truth.

IV. THE SHIELD. “Above all, taking the shield of faith.” The shield covered the whole body, as well as the armor itself. Faith is a shield in the spiritual warfare. It is that faith of which Christ is the Object, at once “the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen;” that confidence which defends the understanding from error, the heart from weakness or despair, the will from revolt against Divine command. It is, in a word, “the victory that overcometh the world” (1Jn 5:4, 1Jn 5:5). Its special service is “to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Satan showers his burning arrows upon the soul of the Christian, either in the shape of blasphemous suggestions, or unholy thoughts, or dark despair; but faith makes the soul impenetrable to such destructive missiles, because it falls back upon the Divine Word, and apprehends the mercy of God, the merits of Christ, and the help of the Spirit.

V. THE HELMET. “And take the helmet of salvation.” The helmet protects the head, the most exposed part of the body, enables the soldier to hold it up without the fear of injury, and to look calmly round upon the enemy’s movements. Salvation, and not the mere hope of it (1Th 5:8), is the helmet that covers the head, is our true defense against the devil. It will make you active in all duties, courageous in all conflicts, cheerful in all conditions, and constant to the end of life.

VI. THE SWORD. “And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” The other parts of the armor were defensive; this is both offensive and defensive.

1. The Word of God is a sword, because it pierces like a sword into the heart (Heb 4:12), because it pierces through all disguises of error, because it lays bare the “wiles” of the devil. It was wielded by Christ himself in his great temptation. It is still the saint’s only weapon of offence. Whether the temptation is to atheism, to impiety, to despair, to unbelief, to covetousness, to pride, to hatred, or to worldliness, the legend, “It is written,” stands clearly revealed on the handle of this sword.

2. It is the sword of the Spirit, because he is its Author, its Interpreter, and he who makes it effectual to the defeat of all enemies.T.C.

Eph 6:18

The duty of prayer.

We are not to regard prayer as a seventh weapon, but rather as exhibiting the spirit in which the Divine armor is to be assumed and the warfare carried on. It is easy to see the intimate relation existing, between prayer and each individual part of the Christian’s armor.

1. It is to be prayer of all kindspublic and private, oral and mental, formal and ejaculatory.

2. It is to be spiritual prayer: “In the Spirit;” for” He makes intercession for the saints with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26). We must “pray in the Holy Ghost” (Jud Eph 1:20).

3. It is to be persevering prayer: “At all times; at every suitable season. We must cultivate an habitual frame of prayer.

4. It is to be watchful prayer: “Watching thereunto.” We must watch against watchlessness, watch for occasions of prayer, watch for answers to prayer.

5. It is to be intercessory prayer: “For all saints.” It is most comprehensive in its character. It is based on the communion of saints. We have every heavenly motive for continuing in prayer. We have no ground to expect blessing without it (Eze 36:37). It is a means of getting all blessings, temporal, and spiritual (Mat 7:7; Mat 21:22; Jas 1:5). It is in itself the most heavenly duty we can perform (Php 3:20).T.C.

Eph 6:19, Eph 6:20

Prayer for an ambassador in bonds.

The apostle feels his need of the prayers of the saints, because he has a true appreciation of the difficulty and importance of his work.

I. THE BLESSING HE ASKS FOR. It is no temporal blessing, not even release from imprisonment that he might more widely preach the gospel. It is simply that “utterance might be given to him” to preach the mystery of the gospel with boldness. This implies:

(1) that courage was needed for the declaration of a gospel which was an offence to the world;

(2) that even an apostle was dependent upon God for simple utterance.

II. A DOUBLE ARGUMENT TO BESPEAK AN AFFECTIONATE INTEREST IN THEIR PRAYERS.

“For which I am an ambassador in bonds.”

1. He was an ambassador. The apostle never forgets the dignity of his office. He knows he is the representative of a great King, though he is immured in Roman prisons. Ministers are Christ’s ambassadors. “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2Co 5:20).

2. He was an ambassador in bonds. The ambassadors of earthly sovereigns come with pomp and splendor. Their persons are sacred and inviolable; to touch them is to declare war. But this ambassador of Christ is in prison and afflicted. Brave ambassador in bonds! He is worthy of the prayers of the saints.T.C.

Eph 6:21, Eph 6:22

The errand of Tychicus to Ephesus.

The apostle showed his affectionate concern for the Church at Ephesus, not only by writing them an Epistle, but in dispatching a minister to inform them concerning his condition and labors as a prisoner, and to comfort their hearts under their various trials. It was a great mark of love and confidence to send a messenger so far, for Ephesus was many hundred miles distant from Rome.

I. THE MESSENGER WAS TYCHICUS. We know little of him except what is told in several passages of Scripture. “Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus” (2Ti 4:12), probably in reference to this very mission. He was an Asiatic, who remained faithful to the apostle amidst many desertions (Act 20:4); “a faithful minister in the Lord;” as well as “a beloved brother” of the apostleone thoroughly acquainted with all his affairs, and quite in harmony with all his aims. How powerfully the apostle influenced all the Churches by his chosen messengers! They reflected his feelings, they intensified the impression made by his direct labors, they perpetuated the cordial relationship which bound him to all the Churches.

II. THE DESIGN OF HIS JOURNEY. It was twofold.

1. To acquaint the Ephesians with his circumstances as a prisoner at Rome. There were many things in that imprisonment that the Ephesians would be anxious to know, besides the state of his health and spirits. They would like to know what facilities he still enjoyed for pro-securing his labors, even as a prisoner; how the gospel was spreading in the great capital of the world; how the Judaic party was affecting his legitimate influence as an apostle; and what were the prospects of his release from imprisonment.

2. To comfort the Ephesians, not merely by minute oral information respecting these matters, but by the higher lessons of the gospel. As a faithful minister in the Lord, Tychicus was capable of doing great service in explaining and enforcing the lessons of affliction. It is the business of ministers to comfort the hearts of believers, who, whether at Ephesus or elsewhere, may suffer from persecution, from Satan’s temptations, from spiritual deadness. It is a poor state of the Church when she is without such comforters.T.C.

Eph 6:23, Eph 6:24

Double apostolic blessing.

The apostle ends the Epistle by a blessing addressed first to the brethren at Ephesus, and secondly to all true lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. BLESSING TO THE BROTHERHOOD.

1. Peace. This is not mere concord”the peace to which they were called in one body,”but everything that is implied in the favor of God, repose of spirit under the sprinklings of the blood of Christ, a continuous flow of spiritual blessings.

2. Love with faith. That is, a love joined to faith, not love and faith as two distinct blessings. Their faith was an actually existing fact; the apostle desired that love should be there, as at once the characteristic and the discoverer of faith.

3. The full blessing is ascribed to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. All the graces spring from Father and Son in the power of the Holy Spirit; for God the Father is at once the God of peace and the God of love, and Jesus is our very Peace, in whom is fullness of grace and love.

II. BLESSING TO ALL TRUE LOVERS OF CHRIST. The Epistle ends, as it begins, with grace and peace. The apostle implores God’s favor upon all who love Christ in sincerity.

1. Christ is worthy of our love. He ought to be the supreme Object of our love, because of the loveliness of his character, because of his boundless love to his people, because of his work as our Mediator.

2. The love of Christ is a test of our religion. He who loves him has found grace in God’s sight, and will stand high in the Divine favor. If we love him not, we are anathema; for we love not God, we love not man, we love not ourselves. If we love him, we have a grace of the Spirit, and we shall value his gospel, his Word, his cause, his people, and we shall delight in his presence.

3. The love must be sincere, free from those elements of decay or change that would work its destruction. It must be without hypocrisy, not in word only, but in deed and in truth.

4. The apostle wishes grace to all such lovers of Christ, so that they might have fresh discoveries of his love, a fuller enjoyment of his person, and a larger supply of all spiritual gifts. Amen.T.C.

HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR

Eph 6:1-4

Christian nurture.

Having shown how Christ sanctifies the marriage union and gives to husbands the ideal of devotion, the apostle proceeds in the present section to show the relation which should exist between children and parents. He directs children to the fifth commandment and to the promise it contains, and he calls upon fathers to afford their children Christian nurture in place of provocation. The section suggests

I. PARENTAL QUALIFICATIONS. And here we fall back upon the previous section. It is when husbands and wives are related as Christ is to the Church, when self-sacrificing love is met by reverential obedience, that the parents are qualified to train up the children. It is surely significant also that upon the father the burden of the nurture is laid. For he is in danger of provoking the children by severity, and so is not naturally so sympathetic as the mother. Besides, if the Christian father keep Christ before him as his great Ideal, then the Divine fatherhood regulates his conscience and he nurtures the little ones accordingly.

II. THE NURTURE ITSELF. The children are not to be provoked, but” nurtured in the chastening and admonition of the Lord” (Revised Version). The former of these words () might mean, as Harless suggests, “education in general” (allgemeine Begriff); but it is better to restrict it to the discipline, made up of order and of act, under which the children grow, while the latter word () will indicate education by word. “The same spirit,” says Monod, in loco, “which in our day relaxes filial obedience, softens paternal power; the abuse of independence among inferiors and the forgetfulness of authority among superiors, march hand-in-hand. Parents who have known how to guard themselves against an excessive rigor, whether as a matter of principle or of temperament, fall usually into the contrary excess; chastisement is banished from their household, and as for corporal punishment in particular, it is held most frequently for a mark of a hard heart or of a base-born spirit. Let us oppose to these prejudices Pro 13:24; Pro 22:15; Pro 23:13, Pro 23:14; Pro 29:17. By the rod we do not mean corporal punishment alone; we simply say that one ought not to exclude it (cf. Pro 23:1-35. 14), and that there are some cases where nothing else will do. As for the rest, behold the principle which should direct Christian parents in such a caseto employ discipline of the sweetest possible character, but discipline sufficient to repress the sin.” Let this careful discipline be supplemented by a careful instruction and the children shall be faithfully “nurtured” for the Lord.

III. THE EVOKED OBEDIENCE.

(Pro 29:1-3.) Children are to obey their parents; they are to honor their father and mother. There is to be reverence in the obedience. This will be secured if the parents are qualified by being God-like. It should, however, be rendered even when the parents are far from perfect. The loyalty of the children must not be determined by the character of the parents; as the natural governors, the parents are entitled to obedience even though they do not morally deserve it. The obedience has no exception. Nor does any majority make the obligation to cease. Our obedience as God’s “dear children” should be the model of our filial obedience. Let us be loyal to our parents, just as we feel bound to be loyal to our Father in heaven!

IV. THE ATTENDANT BLESSING.

(Pro 29:3.) All God’s commandments carry blessings in their bosoms. In the keeping of them there is great reward (Psa 19:11). But the fifth commandment has this temporal blessing associated with it of longevity. Obedient children, by a Divine law, live longer than disobedient ones. Dr. Crosby goes so far as to assert that this law of longevity has only “one apparent exceptionwhere the soul itself prefers to leave this world for a better, and where, therefore, the letter of the promise yields to its spirit, and God, instead of continuing the saint upon earth, takes him to his desired home in heaven. Where this exception does not occur, we must believe that every one who dies before old age has disregarded this command.” Now, Christianity, in promoting nurture and evoking obedience, is so far securing the longevity of its children. We can see that the unity of Christian families must, ceteris paribus, foster health and longevity. In this way Bushnell’s assurance may come true of “the out-populating power of the Christian stock.”R.M.E.

Eph 6:5-9

The Christian treatment of slavery.

The treatment of slavery by Christianity is one of the most interesting of themes. Because Christianity did not preach a servile war, that is, did not propose emancipation by force, it was imagined that it was a conniver in the selfish plot against the liberties of man. But Christianity confines itself to spiritual means. It is by a spirit that it regenerates mankind. Force and mechanical appliances may subserve its purposes, judgment may have to take place in consequence of men’s selfishness and sin, but the instrumentalities of Christianity are not carnal, but spiritual, and so mighty through God to the pulling down of the diabolic strongholds. It can be shown that the Mosaic legislation, as well as the Divine judgments in Old Testament times, were hostile to slavery. But we are now concerned with Paul’s policy about slaves. Suppose, then, that he had advocated revolt and immediate emancipation. The slaves would have been separated from their masters, and a chasm created between them which would not have been filled for generations. Christianity would have been the disintegrater instead of the unifier of mankind, and the evils of separation would have been excessive. Was it not better to infuse a new spirit into service and masterhood? Was it not better to carry both into a Divine light, and so secure the master and slaves dwelling together in unity? Christianity consequently told master and slave how they were each related to the one Master in heaven, and so made them one. The actual emancipation has been the outcome of the Christian spirit.

I. BOND AND FREE WERE TOLD ABOUT A COMMON MASTER IN HEAVEN.

(Eph 6:7-9.) The slave was thus asked to look past his earthly master to his heavenly. He might be possessed by a master on earth, but a Master in heaven told him he was not his own, but bought with a price, and so bound to serve him with his body which was God’s. This lifted life at once to a new plane and infused into service a religious spirit. The Christian slave became the conscious property of Jesus. But at the same time, he felt that this slavery to God was “perfect freedom,” that to be God’s “slave” was to be at the same time his “freeman.” He was thus spiritually emancipated. Again, the master was given to understand that he had a Master in heaven, and was the slave of God. Hence his spiritual life gave to him the ideal of what authority is when its spirit is love. Lovingly dealt with by God above, he had a model of masterhood evermore set before him, and his own relation to his slaves was of necessity modified thereby.

II. THEY WERE ASSURED THAT HE WAS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS.

(Eph 6:9.) Here a blow was struck at the caste prejudices of the time. Here persons were lifted into the light of eternal justice and seen in their native equality. Now, if God took no account of personal distinctions so as to draw any line between bond and free, if the distinctions dwelt on by men were of no account with him, the truth tended to annihilate the distinctions. Here was a great Leveler before whom high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, were absolutely undistinguishable. It is this primary truth of all men having equal rights before the Supreme which has led in time to all men having equal rights before enlightened law, as for example in Britain, and which has secured the emancipation of men from meaning, less distinctions. The method taken by Christianity has thus been to bring unmeant distinctions into the light of God’s countenance, and when men realize that he disregards them, they are sure to see eye to eye with him in the end. It is by reason, not by force, that the emancipation is accomplished.

III. THEY WERE ASKED TO SERVE EACH OTHER FOR THE HIGHER MASTER‘S SAKE. Mutual service for God’s sake was the ideal set before masters and slaves by the gospel. For God himself became incarnate,” not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” He came to show that “it is better to give than to receive.” He came to consecrate service, to glorify devotion to another’s welfare. When masters and slaves learn this, their relations will contract a cordiality, and be mutually helpful in a degree impossible otherwise. The gospel has thus quenched Tyranmes by the dazzling light of Gods unsuspected justice. There was wisdom in the arrangement. Another policy would have disorganized society and brought evils greater than existed. Onesimus goes back to Philemon to be a son in his house rather than a slave, and to help his master in his progress home to the common Master in heaven. Patiently waiting in his spiritual freedom and doing his part, he can assure himself that the political emancipation will be realized in due season.R.M.E.

Eph 6:10-24

The Christian panoply.

After having treated Christian morals so carefully and shown how Christianity elevates the individual, the family, and the slave, Paul proceeds, in the close of this remarkable Epistle, to speak of the enemies and the arms of a Christian. Life is seen to be a battle, The enemies are manifold. It is not flesh and blood against which we fight. We leave the carnal warfare to the world. We contend against “the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Revised Version). These foes are of a spiritual character – false principles and their advocates, whether men in flesh and blood or demons in their invisible might. So that the Christian finds himself confronted by a most serious host, perhaps not in very strict order of battle, yet mobbed together into perplexing power. How is one to withstand the assault of so many? There is but one way, by becoming “strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might” (Revised Version). And, blessed be his Name, he has furnished us with a complete panoply. We must put on the whole armor, that we may withstand all the devil’s wiles. Let us translate the figures into their simplicities.

I. THE CHRISTIAN IS TO BE COMPACTED BY TRUTH.

(Eph 6:14.) In Oriental as well Occidental warfare, the girdle or belt is all-important. It binds the soldier into a unity and makes him feel compact and firm. Now, truth, by which is meant God‘s truth in the man, not the man’s veracity, is what gives compactness to our whole being. When Jesus is realized as the embodied “truth” (, the same word as here, Joh 14:6), when he is felt to be dwelling within us, then we become a unity and strength which we could not otherwise be. Our straggled powers are united in the fear of God (Psa 86:11).

II. THE CHRISTIAN IS PROTECTED BY ENTERTAINING A SPIRIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

(Eph 6:14.) Here again it is the Divine “justice” coming into us and permeating our being. Now, there is no such protection for us in our contact with others as this spirit of fairness, the desire to do what is right as between man and man. If we are able to let righteousness reign in all our relations, the hostility of men and devils will but little avail. It is to be “God-like” in all our attitudes, and nothing then can harm us.

III. THE CHRISTIAN WILL MAKE PROGRESS ONLY THROUGH ENTERTAINING AN EVANGELISTIC SPIRIT.

(Eph 6:15.) Here we have the public spirit coming to secure progress. The Christian has ceased to be self-centered. He cannot live the selfish life. He must be a missionary. The gospel of peace is to be sent round the world. In doing so he must have some share. He makes progress by giving the evangelistic centrifugal force free play. We are never so safe as when the safety of others has become our great concern.

IV. THE CHRISTIAN QUENCHES ALL ASSAULTS OF SATAN BY THE POWER OF FAITH.

(Eph 6:16.) Now, Satan’s fiery darts belong to the region of sense. He appeals to passion. He assaults us through the appetites. But faith vanquishes him, and nothing else can do so. What are we to understand by “faith”? Not assent to propositions; not a mere realizing, faculty, assuring us of things unseen; but a trust extended to the personal and Divine Savior who rules over all things. This loyalty to an unseen Sovereign enables us to see through the wiles of the arch enemy, enables us to see how narrow are Satan’s limits, and how wide the order and interests of our Savior’s kingdom. We are thus transported to the wider relations of the spiritual world, and the temptations through sense and passion fall extinguished at our feet. As we live by faith in him who rules the universe and dwells within us, Satan finds himself defeated.

V. THE CHRISTIAN‘S HEAD IS COVERED BY THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION.

(Eph 6:17.) It has been supposed that a victorious spirit will make men careless in the battle-field. But is it so? If soldiers believe themselves destined to be victorious, they will strain every nerve to make themselves so. The flush of victory in their heart gives power in the contest. Now, it is when we have got assurance of victory through our indwelling, Lord that we can do valiant things for him. Suppose that a soldier goes to battle with head exposed, and no helmet protecting it, his anxiety about self will destroy his fighting power. But give him his piekelhaube, and he passes into the fight free from self-care and with the one idea of doing his very best to win the battle. So is it with the assurance to which faith is meant to lead us.

VI. THE CHRISTIAN WIELDS, AS HIS ONLY OFFENSIVE WEAPON, THE WORD OF GOD.

(Eph 6:17.) This is the sword with which he is to lay around him. The Bible is a wonderful weapon. It cuts men and devils to the heart. It enters into the very joints and marrow. There is no such discerner of the thoughts and intents of men’s hearts. Now, when we consider that force is only the preliminary to reasonindividuals or nations fight first and then make up peace upon some pretence of principlewe see that what Christianity does is to keep strictly to the sphere of reason, and to refuse all seduction into the field of brute force. The doctrine of non-resistance is the highest of all tributes to the reasonableness of Christianity. The Christian, then, who masters most thoroughly the Word of God will be the most powerful among his fellows. For after all, this inspired Word is ahead of all human wisdom. It is the crown and anticipation of human genius. If we have mastered it in the spirit, we are ahead of our time and shall understand what we can best do for our generation.

VII. THE CHRISTIAN IS ALWAYS PRAYERFUL, AND ESPECIALLY FOR HIS FELLOWS.

(Eph 6:18-24.) The fight in which a Christian is engaged is not for his own hand. It is a fight for a common cause, and in the struggle we are never alone. It is a fight for the most part upon our knees. But as we wrestle, it is not for personal blessings only or chiefly, but for blessings to be conferred on others too. Our own garden is best kept when we can think of other gardens too. Hence Paul claims an interest in the Ephesians’ prayers, believing that they will fight their battle best if they remember him. And thus as the Epistle closes we see how Christianity emancipates us from self, and makes us pray with a large public spirit and with our eye on the common weal.R.M.E.

HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON

Eph 6:1-4

The duties of children and parents.

I. DUTY OF CHILDREN. “Children, obey your parents.”

1. Sphere in which the obedience is to take place. “In the Lord.” It was said in Eph 5:21, as determining the character of the whole subjection that there is between human beings, that it is to be “in the fear of Christ.” That is to be interpreted as meaning that, in each ease, Christ is to be regarded as the authority (behind the visible) before which those who are subjected are to bow. The husband, we have seen, represents Christ (so far as it goes) to the wife. And so the parents represent Christ to the children. And then only can the children obey in the Lord when they regard their parents as placed over them in the Lord. In baptism parents acknowledge that their children belong to the Lord as standing over them. And, in accordance with this, children are to look to their parents as standing in the place of Christ to them, and to obey them as though they were obeying Christ.

2. Natural ground of the duty. “For this is right.” There is a relationship founded deep in nature between parents and those to whom they have given being. This is associated with an affection which is one of the most beautiful things in our nature. The strength of the parental affection qualifies the parents for being placed in authority over their children. And the filial affection leads the children to look to their parents as the natural source of authority ever them.

3. Scriptural confirmation. “Honor thy father and mother.” This is the fifth commandment, and is wider in its range than obedience to parents. Contents of fifth commandment.

(1) Children are to honor their parents by treating them with proper respect. Children are to respect their parents on the ground of their superior age. We are commanded to rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man. So children should show reverence to their parents because of their years. And those years are associated with superior attainments. A big ship leaving for another land needs to be cautiously piloted out of the dock and past the other ships in the harbor or river, away beyond the bar, and, it may be, through the channel, until it is out to the open sea. Men of special knowledge need to be employed for this, that the ship may not get on to the sandbanks or on to the rocks. So children in their inexperience, their ignorance of the shoals and rocks and seamanship, need to be piloted by the superior wisdom of their parents until they are out to the open sea of life. And it is right that they should think of themselves with humility, and treat with respect those who are appointed their guides. There are certain natural signs by which this may be showna readiness to give place to them, to give them the best seat, to be silent when they speak, a tone of deference (while at the same time of confidence), and a certain courtesy in address which is not inconsistent with familiarity. When Solomon on his throne saw his mother approaching (inferior though she was to him in one relationship), he rose to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and caused a seat to be set for her on his right hand. It would be well for children (who are sometimes inclined to be rude to their parents) to take an example from the wise king. “Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother.” “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it;” that is, something terrible shall overtake him who dares to make light of his parents.

(2) Children are to honor their parents by showing gratitude to them. How much are children laid under obligation to their parents! There was a time when they were entirely helpless, could neither walk nor speak, and, but for the care of parents, they would have perished. And parental cares for them do not soon cease. How they need to be watched, to be kept out of harm’s way! And when they are sick, how they need to be attended to day and night! The mother needs to labor on all day in the house (sometimes when she is not strong) to keep things right for them. And the father needs to go out and work that he may provide shelter, and clothing, and food, and schooling for them. The children are not in a position to know all the sacrifices their parents make for them, and the amount of thought that is bestowed on them, and the prayers that are put up for them. But they are receiving daily marks of their kindness, and they should receive these, not as though they were entitled to them, but with feelings of gratitude ever fresh. They will never have on earth better friends, greater benefactors, than Christ has given them in their parents. And let them value the gift.

(3) Children are to honor their parents by being obedient to them. This is the point on which stress is laid (as though it summed up the command) by the apostle. There is nothing by which children can better requite all the trouble that their parents have had on their account than by their obedience. This is the most beautiful flower that there can be in their character as children. It is true of them (as of those who have not come out of the childish state) that they are creatures of impulse, and inclined to, seize upon present gratification, without thinking whether it is for their good or not. Parents, as preferring their future happiness to present gratification, must lay commands on them, and the commands should be felt to be easy as coming from those who are at the same time heaping kindness on them. Children should be prompt to obey. They should not wait until they are threatened. They should not yield with a grudge. They should not think of opposing their untutored wills and crude wishes to the disciplined wills and ripe judgments of their parents. Let them honor their parents by giving them all obedience.

(4) Children are to honor their parents by being helpful to them. There are little services which, from an early age, children can render to their parents. They should be pleased even to leave their play to run an errand for them. They should not grudge doing things about the house to relieve an overworked mother. Sometimes sick parents have been thrown on their children, and then it has been seen what little hands can do. Some Parents have a very hard struggle, and children may relieve them of much care and save them not a little expense by taking care of what takes money to replace. There are some children who only think now much they can get out of their parents (do not think whether their parents can afford it, or have to want to give them). Children who wish to honor their parents will be unwilling that they should want for them, and will think how much they can save to their parents of labor and expense.

(5) Children are to honor their parents by placing confidence in them. Parents and children are friends, and there is nothing on Which friendship more hinges than confidence. Parents are intended to know all that their children do, and it is wrong for children to conceal anything from them. If they wish to undertake anything, let them ask their parents’ consent. Let nothing be done on which they would not wish their parents’ eyes to rest. If they have done wrong, let them frankly come forward and confess their faults, and ask forgiveness. But let there be no concealment, no artifice, no untruthfulness. Children who practice deceit on their parents are likely to form character according to one of the most detestable types. All will come to regard them with distrust.

(6) Children are to honor their parents by attending to their instructions. Children are to take full advantage of the provision made by their parents for their education; but their duty does not end there. They are to lend a ready ear to their parents when they talk to them, especially about serious subjects. They should love to hear the story of Christ and his love. They should not turn away their ear when their parents tell them what dispositions they are to cultivate, what temptations they are to shun, what company they are to keep, what books they are to read; when they tell them to be respectful, truthful, honest, kind, and above all dutiful to their Father in heaven. “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.” Promise annexed to the fifth commandment. “Which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” It is no longer the land of Canaan that is mentioned, as it was when the promise was first given. The whole earth (not merely the heavenly Canaan) is to be regarded as the land of promise nosy for God’s people. The promise is not to be understood as absolutely guaranteeing long life to dutiful children. For there are some who die in childhood and who have not been less exemplary than those who get the blessing of a longer life. “The good die first,” it is said, and there is truth in the saying. Some who have been early taken away have exhibited a singular sweetness and a ripeness beyond their years. Still, it is true that long life is promised to children who honor their father and mother. And we can see how God (in his ordinary providence) works towards this end. Those who are dutiful to their parents are likely to grow up good members of society. They are not likely to bring their life to an untimely end in disgraceful quarrels or by crime. They are not likely to shorten their days by intemperance or by idleness. They are likely, too, to grow up good members of the Church, and may have their lives prolonged to them because of their usefulness. When Peter’s life was in danger, prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him. And his life was spared because of its felt valuableness. So if we interest people in us, by services rendered to them, their good wishes and prayers may go to our days being lengthened out for us.

II. DUTY OF PARENTS. Fathers are addressed; mothers might have been addressed as well. But one class only being mentioned it is those who represent the others.

1. Negatively. “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.” Parents have not a right to act as they please toward their children. They are responsible to him who has placed them over their children, and are bound to act in his spirit. Parents provoke their children to wrath when they give them a sense of wrong.

(1) By over-commandment. Parents have a right to exact of their children; but there are limits to what is to be exacted of them. To heap command upon command, prohibition upon prohibition, is not to accomplish the end aimed at. When the requirement is more than can reasonably be rendered, it becomes vexatious. The children lose the sense of their ability to obey, and under compulsion are provoked to wrath.

(2) By unreasonable blame. It is true of children that they need a great amount of encouragement. And where it is deserved it ought to be freely bestowed. To bestow it where it is not deserved is to encourage unreality. Faults (at least the more serious, where they are numerous)are to be dealt with. But extreme care must be taken never to impute blame undeservedly or tentatively to children. There should be no hint of blame unless there is sure ground to go upon. For if children are stung with a sense of injustice, then, provoked to wrath, they are apt to think that they may as well do the things with which they are credited.

(3) By passionateness. Children can understand a burst of indignation for some serious offence, and are the better for it. But they are also quick to understand. When their parents lose command of themselves and punish beyond what the offence deserves. This is carefully to be avoided, for passionateness provokes passionateness; the passionate father makes a passionate son.

2. Positively. “But nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord.” Such nurture is to be understood as a tender plant needs. If it is to be brought to any perfection, then it needs to be suited as to soil, as to exposure, as to temperature, as to nourishment, as to protection from insects, as to its particular habits. So parents have tender plants given them in their children to rear up, sometimes exceptionally tender, but tender in any circumstances. They have to keep them from the storms and blasts that would wither them. They have their physical development carefully to watch over. Their intellectual development, too, needs great care, that they may not grow up stunted. And especially has care to be bestowed on the nurture of their spiritual powers.

(1) This nurture is to have a distinctively Christian character. The appliances mentioned are described as being “of the Lord.” That is, they are such appliances as those acting for Christ should use. They are to be used toward Christian ends. They are to be used toward the children being trained up as Christians. Parents are to train up their children as those committed to their care by Christ. They are to train them up for Christ. They are to indoctrinate them with Christian truth. They are to seek to attach them, not merely to themselves, but through themselves to Christ. They are to seek that their whole being may be subject to and center round Christ.

(2) The Christian appliances.

(a) Chastening. It is difficult (apparently impossible) to get words in the English language to represent the two words that are in the Greek original. They are in a general way to be distinguished as discipline by power and discipline by reason. This distinction is effected in the words which are used in the Revised translation (“chastening and admonition”), but by an undue limitation of the meaning. The first word is more than discipline by punishment; the punishment is accidental, or what is only occasionally to be resorted to in discipline. It is rather all that drilling which a parent gives his children in virtue of the executive (magisterial) power which is placed in him. He has certain rules by which he goes in training his children, and he has got the power to enforce them. The first lesson he has to teach them is that he is their master. And so they are, at first, purely in his strong grasp. In vain is all their resistance. As soon as they can lisp words they must use them in prayer. They are passive in his hand, and he can make them utter what he pleases, he makes them observe simplicity, restraint, good manners in eating, that they may not learn to make too much of the pleasures of the table. He makes them say “grace before meat,” that they may learn betimes from whom all table-comforts come. He makes them attend to their lessons, that they may know that they have got to work and not to be idlers. He makes them be select as to their companionships, that they may not get out into evil associations. He appoints certain hours for the house, that they may learn order and punctuality. He does not ask them if they will go to church, but he makes them go to church with him. That is the kind of drilling that is meant here, and when it is necessary it must be backed up by chastening, or judicious punishment for good.

(b) Admonition. This is also a word of too narrow a meaning. The Greek word means generally an appeal to reason. This commences at a later stage, viz. when intellect begins to open. It is not necessary that a parent should always explain to a child the reasons of his procedure. But it is important that, as a rule, children should have explained to them the evil of the course they are asked to avoid, and the advantages of the course they are asked to follow. And if they evince a tendency to any evil course, it is right that they should be remonstrated with or reproved. The importance of an appeal to reason is that it has in view the emancipation of the children from parental authority. The time has to come when they have to go from under their parents, and be thrown upon their own responsibilities and resources. And it is all-important that, when they go out to the world and meet its temptations, they should be fortified with good habits and reasons which they have in their minds for a course of sobriety, of industry, and of godliness. Parents, then, should feel their responsibility with regard to the proper up-bringing of their children. This responsibility is great in view of the evil that is so natural to them, and in view of the evil example with which they are surrounded. They should see to it that they are first of all Christians themselves, leading a Christian life before their children. They are especially to see that they are Christians in the methods which they use with their children.R.F.

Eph 6:5-9

The duties of servants and masters.

I. DUTY OF SERVANTS. “Servants, be obedient unto them that according to the flesh are your masters.” The Revisers have shown good judgment in retaining “servants” here, and putting “bond-servants” in the margin. For though” bond” (the same word) is in the eighth verse distinguished from “free,” yet the thought requires a modification of the meaning. It would be pedantic to translate in the sixth verse “bond-servants of Christ” (or elsewhere, “Paul a slave of Christ”), for slavery is the idea we exclude from the service of Christ. And this wider use of the word is favored by the word not being used for” masters” which conveys the idea of despotic authority. Further, the principles laid down have no exclusive reference to slaves. They are such as would have had force if this perverted form of service had never existed. It is right, then, to use a word which covers all forms of service. It is true that (owing to the carrying out of the apostolic principles, and generally the influence of Christianity) times have very much changed. There is almost nowhere now bondage on the one side and absolutism on the other. The relations between masters and servants are of a freer nature, and depend on reasonableness on both sides. This being the case, it is to be desired, not that self-interest or class-interest should rule these relations, but the principles here laid down by the apostle.

1. The grounding of the duty. “With fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.”

(1) The master is representative of Christ. Four times are servants reminded of this. The apostolic exhortation is saturated with it. A very unworthy representative the despot of the household or slave-holder (in the very conception of the thing, apart from personal qualities) was. But the apostle does not stigmatize him as a usurper, a pretender, and call upon the slaves to rise and cast off his despotism. Strange to say (having him principally in his mind), he regards him as legitimately filling the place of Christ. That is to say, underneath all that slave-holding (whatever it was) there was still a representation, a true representation, of the authority of Christ, before which the slave was to bow. And that was going to the root of the matter. It was more decisive and penetrative than if he had asked them to be reconciled to the evil of their position on the ground that Christ had suffered greater evil when in the world. He refused to regard the relation as disannulled by the accident of despotism; in the master according to the flesh (whoever he might be) he saw a real representation of the authority of Christ, and he called upon them to render obedience unto him as unto Christ. All cannot be masters. For disciplinary purposes, some are servants and some are masters, and some both servants and masters. In the early and Middle Ages there were men who were carried away with a frenzy of obedience. Those words, “I am among you as one that serveth,” seemed to put a bad mark on the master state, and to mark out the servant state as not only the safer, but the grander, more Christlike state of the two. And so they put themselves under superiors, begged in Christ’s name to be ruled, and thought they approached Christ when they performed the most menial duties. It must be understood that the state which with Christ carries the blessing is that (whether of master or servant) which is not self-sought, but in which Christ sees fit to place us.

(2) The appropriate disposition toward the master as the representative of Christ. “With fear and trembling.” The slave was to fear and tremble before his master, not because that despotic master of his was able to put him in chains or to take away his life, but because he represented an authority above backed by boundless power, which was able to deal with him, and would righteously deal with him, for neglected duty. That being the ground, the duty remains unmodified. The workman is to fear and tremble before his master, the domestic is to fear and tremble before her mistress, not because the master or mistress is better born, or has more wealth, or has a title (for in that there is little to cause fear and trembling), but because he or she represents an authority in heaven that in no case is to be trifled with. “In singleness of your heart.” That is to say, the servant must give the reality, and not the semblance of service. And the only ground on which this can be thoroughly secured is by regarding his service as done unto Christ.

2. Fault to be avoided. “Not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers.” The word translated “eye-service” seems to have been of the apostle’s own coining, and is strikingly descriptive. The eye-servant is one who takes the rule of his action from the eye of his master. His object or motive (as expressed in the word “men-pleasers”) is to get credit for whatever he does. Such a person may work with a will when he thinks of the master’s eye being upon him, and expects that it will be put to his credit. Even in such a case the principle is wrong. It would lead him to “scamp” his work when he thought that his master’s eye was not on him, and that he would not be made to suffer for it. Could it be secured (which it cannot be) that the master’s eye was always on the servant, and that the servant always got credit for what he did, yet work done on such a principle, from a Christian point of view is radically wrong.

3. Positive excellence to be sought.

(1) In relation to work. “But as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” The servants of Christ must apply the principles of Christ to their work. According to the teaching of the apostle, a servant’s thought is not to be thishow little work he can get off with; nor this, in the first place (though it is an important consideration)what is the will of his master; but thiswhat is the will of God, i.e. what does God expect of him in amount, in excellency, to be rendered to his master. Having found out this, he is to do his work, not in the spirit of drudgery, but with a true, it may be an ardent, love for it, as it is here put“from the heart.” To do the will of God in this way may sometimes require not a little Christian courage. In these days there are trade-unions, combinations among the workmen, with the view of protecting their rights. Though unobjectionable in principle, yet (like other combinations) they may sometimes be dominated by selfishness, and act tyrannically. And a Christian workman may be in the position of choosing between the will of God and incurring the opprobrium of his fellow-workmen. If he is worthy of his master’s Master, he will not, to please his fellow-workmen, give stinted, heartless work, but he will brave the consequences of doing his duty, saying, “I must obey God rather than man.”

(2) In relation to his master. “With good will doing service, as unto the Lord, and not unto men.” A servant may not be able altogether to approve of the treatment he receives. What is exacted of him (and what he cheerfully renders, as being the will of God) may be unjust. Nevertheless, as a Christian, he is to keep up good feeling toward his master. He is always to respect him because of his position. More than that, he is to have “good will” toward him, that good will which (as the angelic doxology shows,) is so much of the essence of the gospel. And he is not merely to have good will toward him as a man, but good will also toward him in the particular relationship in which he is placed to him as his master. And he is to have this good will toward him, not on worldly grounds, nor on purely rational grounds, nor on purely theistic grounds, but specially on Christian grounds. “As unto the Lord,” and not unto a master by himself or out of relation to the Lord. That is to say, he is to bear good will toward his master as being (by no figure of speech, but in very fact) the Lord’s representative, and thus, it may be said, for the Lord’s sake, and further, that the Lord’s ends in the relationship (so far as he is concerned) may be served.

4. Encouragement to duty. “Knowing that whatsoever good thing each one doeth, the same shall he receive again from the Lord, whether he be bond or free.” The slave, or bondman, here referred to (and very common then) was considered to be entitled to nothing. His earthly receivings were very meager, unless in lashes when he came under the displeasure of his master. The apostle, then, is to be understood as holding out to him this encouragement, that, if he did his work in a Christian manner, then he would be a receiver, equally with the free manhe would be a receiver, if not on earth, yet in heaven; he would receive from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He who saved his soul as well as that of the free man, and put both on the same platform of privilege, would see to it that no smallest piece of work done to an earthly master for his sake (overlooked here) would go unrewarded in heaven. And the same thing is to be said of the free servant; for he also is particularized. It is true that if he is guilty of eye-service, if he “scamps” his work, that will be put against him in heaven, and there will be a day of reckoning for his evil thing, for his bad work; his life-work has lost in quality, in measure by it, and his reward will most unmistakably be curtailedit will be so much the less for that idling of his master’s time, that soulless work, that grudge in his heart to his master (for upon such things as these shall judgment be passed, by such things shall destiny be affected). But if, on the other hand, a servant, even in the humblest position, grasps his opportunity, and seeks to be regulated in his work by the will of God, and cherishes good will to his master, then, in encouragement (as before in principle), he is made independent of such a variable element as a good or a bad master, his getting his rights or his not getting his rights; he can feel that he has to do with a Master with whom there is no inequality, and who will see to it that whatsoever good thing he doeth, what he does unobserved or what he does under the menaces of his fellow-workmen, shall be rewarded.

II. DUTY OF MASTERS.

1. Positive statement of duty. “And, ye masters, do the same things unto them.” Though they stand differently in the relationship (servant to master and master to servant), they are to do the same things, the regulative principles being the same.

(1) In relation to work. As the Christian servant is to be regulated by “the will of God“ in the work rendered, so the Christian master is to be regulated by the will of God in the work required. There is that which (in the Divine balances) is fair between them. It cannot be got at by selfishness on the one side and selfishness on the other, which is often made a trial of strength. If harmony is to be attained, it can only be by both, with Christian disinterestedness, agreeing to bring themselves (in what is required and what is rendered)to the Divine standard.

(2) In relation to servant. As there is to be “good will“ toward the master, so there is to be good will toward the servant. The master may not find the servant what he would like him to be. He may have to reprove him for eye-service or for careless service under his eye. But he is always to have good will toward him, as placed under him by Christ. He is to show his good will by seeking to make him comfortable in his position. Especially is he to use his influence with him on behalf of his higher well-being. In the name of Christ, then, let good will be met by good will. Education alone is ineffectual. It has sometimes been found that, with the spread of education, there has been an embittering of the relations between masters and servants. It is wrong, however (as not a few do), to blame education for this. It may be said that, if these relations cannot stand educative influences, then they are not what they should be. And the conclusion to be drawn is, not that we are to dispense with education, but that those relations can only be thoroughly maintained by reasonableness and genuine good feeling on both sides. And Christians are not to give up the problem in despair, but ought to be prepared to demonstrate to the world that it is possible, on Christian principles, for masters and servants to work together in harmony.

2. Fault to be avoided. “And forbear threatening.” “The too familiar threatening” is the idea conveyed in the Greek. It was the ready resource of persons possessed of irresponsible power. Slaves were made to work under fear of the lash. And, though masters have not so much in their power now, yet the power that they have (there is generally an advantage in their circumstances compared with their servants) they are not to abuse. It is those who are deficient in the right management of their servants, in reasonable dealing, especially in that good will which is so necessary to management, that take to the clumsy, coarse method of threatening. Power must sometimes be put into execution against servants’; but to hold threats over their heads, to treat them with clamor, with insult, or with something worse, is not worthy of the Christian master.

3. Word of warning. “Knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven.” Christ is represented as the Master of the slave. There was a wrong involved (apart from any harsh treatment he might receive) in the very fact of his being a slave. He is represented as the Master of the slave-holder, too, i.e. of the man who was so unenlightened as to hold slaves. As the Master of them both, he would see to things in the end being righted between them. The Christian master still is to be influenced to do what is just and proper by his servants by the consideration that Christ is the Master of his servants as well as his Master. And in the righting that, is to take place, for every advantage that the master has taken of his servant, for every harsh speech and threatening word he has used toward him, he will suffer everlasting loss. “And there is no respect of persons with him” (i.e. with Christ). There is a real distinction between master and servant, proprietor and tenant. What is adventitious may gather round it, but the essential thing is that Christ has 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 obligations. 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 Savior and Master. He has an 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.

Eph 6:10-20

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 had used in the first chapter. There he showed that he had a high admiration of the strength of his [the Father’s] might which he wrought in Christ,” and which was proved by Christ being raised from the state of the dead “far above all 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 his exhortation under the special aspect of the panoply for the Christian conflict which is presented at length. “Put on the whole armor of God.”

I. NEED FOR THE PANOPLY OF GOD. “That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” “The wiles of the devil” points to the fact that our adversary does not work by open methods. He does not rest his cause on its absolute reasonableness. Rather is he conscious of its indefensibleness in reason, conscious too of his being conquered by Christ; and hence he has recourse to ways of making men believe that they have reason on their side, when they are really under the delusion of error. We do not have things put before us in their true character. There are illusory views of life which are presented to us. There are 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 warriors, at every point, with the armor of God.

II. PARENTHETICAL CONFIRMATION OF THE NEED.

1. Negatively. “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood.” Wrestling serves to call up the idea of close personal encounter, but otherwise, in accordance with the context, we are to think, not of the mere wrestler, but of armed warrior against armed warrior. “When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war.” In the contests, from which the 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 in 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 wickedness in the heavenly places.” To show the need for being properly armed, the apostle gives a bold description of the foes with which we have to contend. As to their rank, they are powerful chieftains (principalities 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. As to their character, they are wicked, their inveterate disposition is to seek to work our ruin. As to their haunt, as it was before hinted at (rather than dogmatically taught) as the air, so here it is the heavenly or super-terrestrial places. The general effect of the description is that, men ourselves, we are unequally matched in having to fight against superhuman powers.

III. FURTHER RECOMMENDATION OF THE PANOPLY. “Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.” The evil day is not to be viewed as a special season of temptation. It may be more or less so, but it is always the day of temptation with us. We are assaulted even when we are engaged with holy things. We are assaulted by those formidable enemies of ours who are ever busy. We must, therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that we may be able to withstand the assaults made on us, and, having done all things pertaining to the conflict, to stand (and not to be left prostrate on the field).

IV. THE PARTS OF THE PANOPLY.

1. The girdle. “Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth.” In preparing for the conflict the first thing the warrior had to do was to gird up his loose flowing robe, that his energies might not be scattered, but collected into a unity. The girdle which binds the energies of the Christian combatant is truth. About the end of the eleventh century, great multitudes, known as Crusaders, girded themselves to go and deliver the holy sepulcher from the possession of the Saracens. It was not the girdle of truth which bound them; for God never meant them to spend their energies in that form. And it was not an object which kept them from flagrant irregularities in the pursuit of it. The object which the Christian combatant is to have before him is not to have mere romance, but truth, binding truth, in it. That truth may be said to be connected with Christ’s tomb, but not in a mere realistic way. It is imperatively demanded, now that Christ has conquered on the cross, and that conquest has been attested by an empty tomb, that in his Name souls everywhere should be delivered. And the Christian combatant does not gird himself to get possession of some sacred place or of some sacred relic, but to help men who are in the present guilt and thraldom of sin toward their deliverance.

2. The breastplate. “And having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” The idea in righteousness is that of a right relation to the Law of God. Righteousness worn as a plate over the heart is to be understood rather as the mind conscious of right. The Christian combatant is to be jealous over himself with a godly jealousy. He is to have nothing to do with insincerity, but is to study reality. He is not to have selfish motives, but is to be thoroughly disinterested. He is not to have feelings of grudging malice, but is to be just and compassionate. He is to be especially fired with a desire to glorify God. The man who is conscious of this may be said to have righteousness as a breastplate.

3. The sandals. “And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace’ The Christian combatant, having girded himself in the cause of truth, and being conscious of no unworthy feeling, is next to put on the gospel sandals. It is that by which he is enabled to carry the good message. For that also belongs to the work of the battle-field. He puts on his shoes for the holy war. But in that war he is not always closing with his adversary. There are times when he has to follow up an advantage. Nay, his great business may be said to be to get his message delivered, to cry aloud so that Satan’s captives may hear. The message which he has to deliver is a message of peace. He fights, not for fighting’s sake, but that the times of peace may be ushered in. And as he thinks of his message, and enters into the spirit of it, his sandals become promptitude, alacrity (according to the idea here); he becomes swift-footed and speeds on with his message.

4. The shield. “Withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.” As the Christian warrior runs swift-footed with his message of peace, there are fiery darts thrown at him. When any one is eminent in the Christian conflict, Satan is likely to raise up against him traducers. Those who do not believe in disinterestedness are sure to make out that he is serving himself. Those who do not believe in earnestness in religion are sure to circulate evil reports of him. It is worse when, in the very intensity of his spiritual feeling, he is laid open to temptations from his lusts. Or it may be that his very success lays him open to the temptation of spiritual pride. So it was when he who had been victorious in many a spiritual conflict was tempted (it is said that Satan provoked him) to number the people. And the dart thrown at him took effect, and was fiery enough in its consequences. What the Christian combatant is to do, when he is thus assailed, is not certainly to under-estimate the force that is brought against him, but it is also by faith rightly to estimate the force that is placed at his service. What can he do against the principalities and powers and the fiery darts they send out for his destruction? If he look to himself, he can do nothing. But he looks away to the power which placed Christ above all the principalities and powers, and he places it as a shield between him and the fiery darts, and in it their fire is quenched, their force is lost.

5. The helmet. “And take the helmet of salvation.” The helmet is not, as in 1Th 5:8, the hope of salvation, but salvation itself, i.e. salvation enjoyed. The Christian has an important piece of defensive armor in the assurance of salvation. The Lord rebuked Satan, and encouraged Joshua the high priest (Zec 3:2), by pointing to him as one of his saved ones. When one can think of grace going out toward him in the changing of his position to all eternity, he can feel triumphant; he has salvation as a helmet on his head.

6. The sword. “And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” The Bible is the sword of the Spirit. Furnished it is by the Spirit; for it was under the inspiration of the Spirit that the Word was written. And, as the Spirit inspired men to write it, so it is only he who can enable men to make a right use of it. To this we may apply the words of the hymn

“God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.”

In the temptation of our Lord, what Satan did was to misrepresent the character of the Father, to put a gloss upon Scripture. And what our Lord, in meeting the temptation, did was to confront him with the pure truth, and the truth opposed to his deceptions. And he was so skilful in the use of this sword that he could fix upon the particular Scripture that suited the occasion. And the Christian combatant, too, must not only see the truth, but the truth for the occasion, the truth that slays his doubts, that exposes the fallacies with which Satan would compass his destruction. And he must be able to do this in connection with some sure, incisive word of Scripture. That is the offensive weapon, the weapon which carries the war against the adversary. This Christian combatant who has been described is what every Christian is bound to be. The Church militant is to have, in every one of its members, a combatant. And the apostle lays stress upon every one taking the whole armor (and not merely some of its parts). No one, for instance, is a worthy combatant who feels no responsibility in the carrying of the gospel message. If we would have the strength our Captain would see in us, we must use all the pieces of the Christian armor.

V. THAT WHICH ACCOMPANIES THE USE OF THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR.

1. Prayer. “With all prayer and supplication, praying at all seasons in the Spirit.” We are not to think of “all prayer” as a separate weapon. We are rather to think of it as that which conditions the right use of the whole armor. Without prayer we cannot gird ourselves for the conflict, but are cumbered as with loose robes. Without prayer we cannot have that purification of motives, that rectification of life, which the conflict demands. Without prayer we cannot have swift-footedness in carrying the gospel. Without prayer we shall not have faith to ward off the enemy’s darts. Without prayer we shall not be able to lift our head in the assurance of our salvation. Without prayer we shall be unskillful in the use of the Word. Constant use and prayer, thenthat will keep the helmet from being dulled, the sword from being rusty. But:

(1) Prayer must not be mere repetition. “And in praying,” says our Lord, “use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do.” If we are bent on having our request from God, it will come up again and again, and under new aspects. Prayer is using arguments with God, and, as our mind works on our need, we shall ever be discovering new grounds on which to press our request. So, while we are to have prayer for ourselves and prayer for others (supplication), it is to be all prayer and supplication, i.e. to say, it is to have that variety which comes from an abundance of life, from active thought and feeling, and not that sameness which comes from lifelessness.

(2) Prayer must not be irregular. The apostle teaches that it is to be connected with all seasons (to vitalize them, to redeem them from unprofitableness). It is true that we are not always in a mood for praying; but let us keep the appointed season. Prayer is one of the means by which we are to get into the fight mood. And if we keep to our plan from a sense of duty (though our feelings are cold), and when the time comes round fall on our knees before God, then may we expect liberation from our unspiritual moods.

(3) Prayer must not be from self. “Praying in the Spirit,” it is said here, and there is the same association in Jud 1:20. Prayer is dependence, and we have the influences of the Spirit on which to depend in prayer. We can only pray aright, under the impulse of the Spirit, when the Spirit indeed makes intercession for us. And, therefore, we should look to the Spirit to put the right desires within us and to give us right words.

2. With petitions for ourselves we are to blend petitions for others. “And watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication.” The apostle is here carrying forward his thought into a special channel. While we are to take heed to be persevering in praying for ourselves, we are to be especially persevering in praying for others. And the ground of that may be that our prayers are apt to be characterized by selfishness. We may go on praying for ourselves; but we too soon give over praying for others. We unwarrantably (and to our own detriment) contract the circle of prayer.

(1) Circle of supplication. “For all the saints.” That is not the outmost circle; for it is said in 1Ti 2:1, “for all men.” But the apostle is here presenting the matter under a special aspect. It is this that the combatant is to remember his fellow-combatants. Every combatant has his peculiar difficulties, his weak points. But, if he feels the struggle to be hard for himself, that should put him in sympathy with all others, to whom (in their own way) it is hard too. And he should manifest that sympathy by beseeching God to make their armor bright, to hold them up, to give them to win the day, wherever they are appointed to fight.

(2) Special member of that circle. “And on my behalf.”

(a) Special prayer he wishes them to offer for him. “That utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.” That is to say, boldness of utterance, whenever he was called upon to open his mouth in preaching the gospel. This was the great accomplishment of the apostle, that he could preach the gospel. And he here discovers the secret of it. He put it clearly before his own mind, and got others interested in his object, so that they helped him by their prayers.

(b) Special reason for the prayer. “For which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Reason of his office. He girded himself to save souls, He kept strict watch over his heart. He was swift-footed in proclaiming the message of peace. And as he sped from place to place, the fiery darts were thrown at him. Satan stirred up the Jews against him; men said that he was mad. But he interposed the shield of faith; he held up his head in the assurance of pardon. And he used the sword of the Spirit against many a heresy which threatened the peace and prosperity of the Church. It was of great consequence that there should be preserved to such an ambassador the courage of his office. Reason of his position, He was at the time in chains, He was in a condition, therefore, when his courage would be specially assailed. John the Baptist, in the gloom of his dungeon, gave way to doubts of Christ’s mission. The apostle’s liberty was not so much restricted. That the liberty he had might be well used by him, that he might speak boldly as he ought to speak, he would have them make that the subject of their prayers for him.R.F.

Eph 6:21-24

Affairs of the apostle.

1. Why he does not enter on them. “But that ye also may know my affairs, how I do, Tychicus… shall make known to you all things.” He knew that they would be anxious to have some account of his affairs. He would have given them a written account but for the fact that Tychicus, the bearer of his letter to them, would be able to give them (and others too, it is implied) a more detailed account by word of mouth. We have already remarked on the absence of the personal in this catholic Epistle. The one exception is the introduction of the name of Tychicus, and it is introduced to account for the absence of details about himself. In the Epistle to the Colossians, along with the same reference to Tychicus, there are numerous salutations. It favors the hypothesis of this being a circular letter (intended for a circle of which Ephesus was the center), that none are conjoined with the apostle in sending salutations, and none are singled out as special objects for salutation (as in the one Church of Colossae).

2. Qualifications of Tychicus. “The beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord.” In Act 20:4 he is classed as an Asiatic. If he did not, then, belong to the same city (Trophimus associated with him was an Ephesian), he belonged to the same province, as those to whom he conveyed the letter. Of more importance than his country was his Christian character, for which the apostle vouches. He limits his consideration to the Christian sphere (where Christ appoints and animates), and, within that sphere, Tychicus was both a beloved brother and faithful minister. He had those qualities of heart which attached men to him, an important element in a mission, he had also those qualities of conscience which, as they made him fit to be entrusted with the gospel, also made him fit for the special service required of him.

3. Definite statement of the object of his mission. “Whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know our state, and that he may comfort your hearts.” A servant of the Church, he was, in the first instance; but he was sent by Paul on this special errand. He was not only to communicate information to them regarding Paul, but also regarding Paul’s companions in Rome. Through what he communicated, he would comfort their hearts. For the precise bearing of this we are left to conjecture. He might be able to tell them that the health of Paul and of such a fellow-prisoner as Aristarchus was not suffering from their confinement. He might be able to report that not only Paul, but all of them, were remaining steadfast in the faith of Christ. He might be able to announce some increased liberty in the preaching of the gospel. He might especially be able (with communicated apostolic fervor) to report the preaching of Paul, and himself to present the gospel as the means of comfort.

DOUBLE BENEDICTION.
1. First benediction. “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The source from which blessing is invoked is (as at the beginning of the Epistle) God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There is given both the First Cause and the Second Cause. It belongs to God the Father (to whom can it more belong than to him?) to bless his children. Christ is the Second Cause, by whom God made the worlds, by whom also he redeemed and blesses his people. He is, therefore, also invoked as the Source of blessing.

(1) First blessing. “Peace be to the brethren.” We are to understand “peace” here, as at the beginning of the Epistle, in the sense of freedom from unrest, as being under the loving care of God. It may mean freedom from persecution, if that is lovingly arranged by God. It may also mean freedom from internal dissensions, if God sees fit to grant that. There is a limitation in the scope of the blessing compared with the language of the following benediction. We are not to understand it as peace to the whole Church of Christ, but rather peace to the brethren to whom, in turn, the Epistle was to be sent round.

(2) Second blessing. “And love with faith.” The apostle (as he has done throughout) presupposes faith, but not as a fixed quantity. Rather does he invoke it in its higher degrees, and, at the same time, invoke love as its concomitant. Let love not lag behind, but let it keep pace with faith. If we turn believingly to God as our Father and Christ as our Savior, we should also turn affectionately to the brethren. Let there be love (in all its beauty) to manifest the reality and activity of our faith.

2. Second benediction. “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in uncorruptness.” The blessing. “Grace.” This is to be understood as in other places. Let there be the outflowing of the Divine compassion. Let there be every fitting manifestation of the Divine favor. The scope of the blessing. As to its form, it is catholic. It excludes selfishness and denominational jealousies, and takes in the whole circle which Christ acknowledges. As to matter, there are two things pointed to.

(1) The grand characteristic of the Christian is love to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian is one who (appealed to by the Savior) can say with Peter, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” Such an affection as God has put into the nature of the child, of the parent, such (in its personal character, in its tenderness, in its strength) is to be our affection to Christ. Such a virtuous affection (as distinguished from natural affection) as we have toward the brethren, such, purified and heightened, is to be our affection toward the Master. The ground of virtuous affection is moral goodness, and especially one form of it, viz. holy benevolence. We love a man who, besides being conscientious, is filled with universal good will. So we love Christ because (with all dutifulness) he is the perfection of all unselfishness and benevolence toward men. In estimating his character (as an object for our love) we must take into account his rank in the universe, viz. that he was the Son of God. If a king and one of his subjects were both voluntarily to go into slavery for the purpose of redeeming their country, the sacrifice would be regarded as greater on the part of the king than on the part of his subject. There may be the same patriotism; but there is something to be put down to the rank. So all that Christ was and did is enhanced in proportion to the height from which he descended. It was not simply love to man in a human position, but love that made infinite descent to burn in the human soul of Christ. We must also take into account the public capacity in which he acted. He was not rendering such help as we personally may render to one another. But he was the Christ, the appointed Representative of all mankind. He had all our interests on his hands. His character comes out in the whole of his life. He evinced a universal benevolence: “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” He was called the Friend of sinners. He loved men apart from their outward surroundings and natural capacities; he loved them as sinners in need of salvation. Especially does his character come out at the last. He went (in suffering the desert of sin) under that which is called the hiding of the Father’s countenance. And it was not only dauntless trust in God, but unquenchable love to men, that maintained him there. He went down to the lowest depths for us (in experience the most terrible), that he might carry us with him to the heights.

(2) An indispensable element is pointed to in our love to Christ. “In uncorruptness.” There is a spurious love to Christ, which is founded on his sufferings without reference to their spiritual meaning. “I wept when the waters went over his soul.” Such love, as it is not well founded, so also is it transient. The closing climactic thought in this great catholic Epistle is that our love to Christ is to have an immortality, an incorruptibility. As there was a deathless principle in his love to us, so there is to be a deathless principle in our love to him. It will have of this, according as it is founded on the real excellence of Christ. The purer and clearer our conception of his transcendent benevolence and beneficence, the more will our love have of undying and ever-unfolding beauty.R.F.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS

Eph 6:1-4

Children and their parents.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” In the preceding paragraph the apostle had treated of the relative duties of husbands and wives; here he directs attention to the relative duties of parents and children.

I. THE DUTY OF CHILDREN. The words lead us to consider the nature and reason of the obligation which children owe to their parents.

1. The nature. The duty is:

(1) “Obedience.” “Children, obey your parents.” This duty has its limitation. When, for example, the command is impracticable, it is not binding. When the parent makes demands surpassing the child’s capacity, he is a tyrant, and the child is free from the obligation. Or when the command is morally wrong, when it clashes with the rights of conscience and the claims of God, obedience to it is no duty, but would be a sin. The duty is obedience rendered in a Christian spirit. “In the Lord.” Any conduct towards parents, mankind in general, or to the great God, that is not inspired with love to Christ, has no virtue in it. All acts to be acceptable to God must be done in the name and spirit of his blessed Son.

(2) “Honor.” “Honor thy father and mother.” That is, reverence them. This implies, of court, that they are honor-worthy. It is, alas! often the duty of children to abhor and despise the character of their parents, because of its falsehood, intemperance, profligacy, and crime. Paul supposes parents to be what their relation to their children and God demandspure, generous, and noble. Such parents are to be honored. Not to honor them is to dishonor God.

2. The reason. What is the reason for this obedience and reverence?

(1) Because it is right. “For this is right.” Nature teaches the rectitude of it. There is implanted in every child’s mind the feeling that he is bound to obey and reverence his parents. This feeling of obligation in some form or other is universal. The Bible teaches the rectitude of it. It was engraven by the finger of God on the tables of stone; it was inculcated in the teaching and exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ.

(2) Because it is expedient. “That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” A happy and a long life depends upon it. Children who are regardless of their filial duties will be regardless of all others, and rendered liable to fall into those habits of depravity which will render their life a misery, and cut short their days on the earth.

II. THE DUTY OF PARENTS. The duty of parents is here set forth in two forms, negatively and positively.

1. Negatively. “Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.” The temper of a child is of transcendent moment; it is that which determines his character and destiny. To act upon that temper in its opening years so as to fret and sour it is to do an incalculable mischief. Against this evil it is the duty of parents strenuously to guard. Petty interferences, trivial prohibitions, incessant chidings, and an irritable spirit, are the things in parental conduct which “provoke children to wrath.”

2. Positively. “But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Train their faculties, bring out their latent powers, teach them to think with accuracy, to love with purity, to act with adroitness and promptitude. Do this by admonishing them “in the Lord.” Let the lessons of instruction and warning be drawn from the existence, the life, the character, and the teachings of the Lord. The child’s faculties cannot be developed apart from God. Secular education is a contradiction in terms; it is as great a solecism as a sunless vegetation. Let parents look well to the minds of their children. The farmer who neglects the culture of his fields will soon have his acres overrun with thorns and briars and noxious weeds; and the parent who neglects the culture of his child will soon discover evils far more hideous and disastrous. The following from the quaint pen of smart old Fuller will be read with interest and profit on the subject:”The good parent. He showeth them, in his own practice, what to follow and imitate; and, in others, what to shun and avoid. For though ‘ the words of the wise be as nails fastened by the masters of the assemblies’ (Ecc 12:11), yet, sure their examples are the hammer to drive them in, to take the deeper hold. A father that whipped his son for swearing, and swore himself whilst he whipped him, did more harm by his example than good by his correction. He doth not welcome and embrace the first essays of sin in his children. Weeds are counted herbs in the beginning of spring: nettles are put in pottage, and salads are made of elder buds. Thus fond fathers like the oaths and wanton talk of their little children, and please themselves to hear them displease God. But our wise parent both instructs his children in piety and with correction blasts the first buds of profaneness in them. He that will not use the rod on his child, his child shall be used as a rod on him. He allows his children maintenance according to their quality. Otherwise it will make them base, acquaint them with bad company and shocking tricks; and it makes them surfeit the sooner when they come to their estates. It is observed of camels, that having traveled long without water through sandy deserts, implentur, cum bibendi est occasio, et in praeteritum et infuturum (‘when they find an opportunity they fill themselves both for the past and the future’); and so these thirsty heirs soak it when they come to their means, who, whilst their fathers were living might not touch the top of their money, and think they shall never feel the bottom of it when they are dead. In choosing a profession, he is directed by his child’s disposition, whose inclination is the strongest indenture to bind him to a trade. But when they set Abel to till the ground, and send Cain to keep sheep; Jacob to hunt, and Esau to live in tents; drive some to school, and others from it; they commit a violence on nature, and it will thrive accordingly. Yet he burnouts not his child when he makes an unworthy choice beneath himself, or rather for ease than use, pleasure than profit. If his son proves wild, he doth not cast him off so far but he marks the place where he lights. With the mother of Moses, he doth not suffer his son so to sink or swim but he leaves one to stand afar off to watch what will become of him (Exo 2:4). He is careful, while quenched his luxury, not withal to put out his life; the rather, because their souls who have broken and run out in their youth have proved the more healthful for it afterwards. He moves him to marriage rather by argument drawn from his good than his own authority. It is a style too princely for a parent herein to ‘will and command;’ but, sure, he may will and desire. Affections, like the conscience, are rather to be led than drawn; and it is to be feared, they that marry where they do not love, will love where they do not marry. He doth not give away his loaf to his children and then come to them for a piece of bread. He holds the reins (though loosely) in his own hands; and keeps, to reward duty and punish undutifulness. Yet, on good occasion, for his children’s advancement, he will depart from part of his means. Base is their nature who will not have their branches lopped till their body be felled; and will let go none of their goods, as if it presaged their speedy death; whereas it doth not follow that he that puts off his cloak must presently go to bed. On his death-bed he bequeaths his blessing to all his children. Nor rejoiceth he so much to leave them great portions as honestly obtained. Only money well and lawfully gotten is good and lawful money. And if he leaves his children young, he principally nominates God to be their guardian; and, next to him, is careful to appoint provident overseers. The good child. He reverenceth the person of his parent, the old, poor, and froward. As his parent bore with him when a child, he bears with his parent if twice a child; nor doth his dignity above him cancel his duty unto him. When Sir Thomas More was Lord Chancellor of England, and Sir John his father one of the judges of the King’s Bench, he would in Westminster fall beg his blessing of him on his knees. He observes his lawful commands, and practiseth his precepts with all obedience. I cannot, therefore, excuse St. Barbara from undutifulness, and occasioning her own death. The matter this: her father, being a pagan, commanded his workmen, building his house, to make two windows in a room. Barbara, knowing her father’s pleasure; in his absence enjoined them to make three, that, seeing them, she might the better contemplate the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Methinks two windows might as well have raised her meditations, and the light arising from both would as properly have minded her of the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. Her father, enraged at his return, thus came to the knowledge of her religion, and accused her to the magistrate, which cost her her life. Having practiced, then, himself, he entails his parents’ precepts on his posterity. Therefore such instructions are by Solomon (Pro 1:9) compared to frontlets and chains (not to a suit of clothes, which serves but one, and quickly wears out, or out of fashion), which have in them a real lasting worth, and are bequeathed as legacies to another age. The same counsels observed, are chains to grace, which, neglected, prove halters to strangle undutiful children. He is a stork to his parent, and feeds him in his old age. Not only if his father hath been a pelican, but though he hath been an ostrich unto him, and neglected him in his youth. He confines him not a long way off to a short pension, forfeited if he comes in his presence, but shows piety at home, and learns as St. Paul saith (1Ti 5:4) to requite his parent. And yet the debt (I mean only the principal, not counting the interest) cannot fully be paid. And therefore he compounds with his father, to accept in good worth his utmost endeavor. Such a child God commonly rewards with long life in this world. If he chance to die young, yet he lives long that lives well; and time misspent is not lived, but lost. Besides, God is better than his promise, if he takes him a long lease, and gives him a freehold of better value. As for disobedient children: if preserved from the gallows, they are reserved for the rack, to be tortured by their own posterity. One complained that never father had so undutiful a son as he had. ‘Yes,’ said his son, with less grace than truth, ‘my grandfather had.’ I conclude this subject with the example of a pagan’s, which will shame most Christians. Pomponius Atticus, making the funeral oration at the death of his mother, did protest that, living with her three score and seven years, he was never reconciled to her, se nuncquam matre in gratiam rediisse, because there never happened betwixt them the least jar which needed reconciliation.”D.T.

Eph 6:5-9

Servants and their masters.

“Servants,” etc. There are two thoughts underlying these verses.

1. The existence of social distinction, s amongst men. There are masters and servants, rulers and subjects. These distinctions are no accidental phases of society, they grow out of the constitution of things. Diversity in the temperaments, tastes, capacities, and circumstances of men give rise to masters and servants.

2. The one spirit which is to govern men of all distinctions. The rich and the poor, the sovereign and his subject, the master and the servant, are under an obligation to be animated by the same moral spirit, and controlled by the same moral consideration. “All in all things should do the will of God from the heart.”

I. THE DUTY OF SERVANTS. The duty of servants, of course, is obedience. “Be obedient to them that are your masters.” But the obedience is here characterized.

1. It is obedience in bodily matters. “According to the flesh.” Their service is limited to secular concerns, things that have reference to the material and temporal interests of their masters. They were to give their muscles, and their limbs, and their contriving faculties, but not their souls. “Consciences and souls were made to be the Lord’s alone.”

2. It is obedience honestly rendered. “With fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart””not with eye-service.” These expressions mean that there should be no duplicity, no double-dealing, but downright honesty in everything. A servant is bound to be honest towards his employer. He has no right to be lazy or wasteful. He has contracted to give, on certain stipulated conditions, his energies and time to promote the secular interests of his master.

3. It is obedience inspired with the religious spirit. They are to regard themselves in everything as the servants of Christ, and are bound to do the “will of God from the heart.” In everything the authority of Christ must be held as supreme. Whatsoever is done in word or deed should be done all to the glory of God.

4. It is obedience which, if truly rendered, will be rewarded of God. “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord. whether he be bond or free.” The faithful servant may feel that the wages he receives from his earthly master are unjustly inadequate. Yet the great Master will award to him at last an ample compensation. Whatsoever good thing he has done, however trivial, shall meet its reward at last. The good thing must be rewarded. Goodness carries evermore its own reward.

II. THE DUTY OF MASTERS. The way in which masters should exercise their authority is here indicated.

1. They are to exercise it religiously. “Ye masters, do the same things unto them.” “The same things,” as we have said, do not mean the same work, but the same spiritual attributes. Servants are to be honest and respect the will of God in all; the masters are here bound to do “the same things.” Both are to be under the domination of the same moral spirit.

2. They are to exercise it magnanimously. “Forbearing threatening.” Though the servant may by accident, or, what is worse, by intent, by omission, or by commission, try severely the temper of his master, his master should forbear threatening. He should show his right to be a master by governing his own soul. The man who takes fire at every offence, whose eyes flash with rage, and lips mutter threats, is too little a creature to be a master. He has no license from Heaven to rule either children, servants, or citizens, who is not magnanimous in soul.

3. They are to exercise it responsibly. “Knowing that your Master also is in heaven.” They are amenable to God for the way in which they use their authority. The master has the same Lord as the servant, and they must stand at last together at the great tribunal. To that Master all social distinctions vanish in the presence of moral character. “Neither is there respect of persons with him.”D.T.

Eph 6:10-20

Soul-militancy.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,” etc. The subject of these words is soul-militancy, and they bring under our notice the soul‘s foes, the soul‘s strength, the soul‘s weapons, and the soul‘s religiousness.

I. THE SOUL‘S FOES. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood.” The passage teaches the following things in relation to the antagonists of souls:

1. They are spiritual personalities. They are spiritual, not “flesh and blood.” They exist apart from matterapart from all animal incarnations. They are personalities. We cannot accept the interpretation of those who regard Paul as speaking here only of evil principles. If language means anything, personal agents are here indicated. A priori reasoning renders the existence of such beings probable; human experience and the Bible place their existence beyond all reasonable doubt.

2. They are wicked personalities. “Spiritual wickedness,” or, as the margin has it, “wicked spirits.” They are out of sympathy with God; they are in bitter and practical hostility to all that is Divine, benevolent, and happy.

3. They are diverse personalities. They differ in their make and their rank; they are not all of the same nature and measure of faculty, nor of the same rank in the universe. There are “principalities,” “rulers” and “powers” amongst them. Some, as compared to others, may be as wasps to vultures, as mosquitoes to dragons.

4. They are organized principalities. They are under one head, here called the “devil.” “That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” There is one gigantic intellect that manages and marshals the whole: he who seduced our first parents, he with whom Christ battled in the wildernessthe Satan of God, the Apollyon of man. These heats of evil spirits are not left to themselves; they are welded together by one master intellect, “Devil with devil damned firm concord hold.” They are managed by force and fraud, all of them. The passage suggests that under his control they act:

(1) Craftily. Hence the expression, the “wiles of the devil.” All his movements are cunningly methodized, for such is the meaning of the word “wiles.” These evil spirits attack us in ambush; they steal upon us slyly and stealthily.

(2) In darkness. “The rulers of the darkness of this world.” Where do they reign? Where ignorance spreads her gloom: in the cold region of atheism where the mental energies are benumbed, and in the tropic realm of superstition where the soul is stirred into an agony of fear and scared with the horrid forms of its own creations. Amidst the gloomy recesses of ignorance they rear their throne; through the districts of intellectual darkness they prowl about in search of their prey. They reign where depravity beclouds the heart, where passion is stronger than principle, the senses than the soul, the love of the world than the love of God; whether that be amidst the districts of heathenism or civilized life, in the marts of business, the temples of devotion, or the flowery scenes of gaiety and pleasure. They enshrine themselves amidst the benighted chambers of an impure imagination, they haunt the atmosphere of pollution, impregnate it with their spirit, causing it to stimulate the unrighteous zeal of the selfish, to fire the passions of the carnal, and to swell the vanity of the ambitious and the proud. They reign where sorrow and suffering darken all. They delight in misery. The wretchedness of the indigent, the sighs of the distressed, the groans of the oppressed, and the agonies of the dying gratify their malignant natures.

II. THE SOUL‘S STRENGTH. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” The soul requires tremendous strength to grapple successfully with these mighty spirits of evil. What is the strength required? It is nothing less than Divine. It is to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. But what kind of Divine strength is required, for strength of all kind is from the Lord? Is it muscular? No. Samson, with his Herculean physical force, fell beneath these spirits; an evil genius touched him, and the giant fell as a child. Is it mental? No. Men of the greatest intellect and of the loftiest genius have not been able to stand for a moment before these spirits. It is not by this “might or this power” that souls can stand before these infernal hosts. It is moral strength.

1. The strength of faith in the Absolute. Faith in that which changes not, which is true to man as man, which is independent of times and circumstancesfaith in the Everlasting. With this faith men participate in the omnipotence of God, work wonders, and dare the universe. Men, through this faith, have “subdued kingdoms,” etc.

2. The strength of love for the supremely good. Love, when it is fastened even upon the frail and the imperfect, gives strength to the soulstrength to nerve a mother for the most trying services, strength to brace a patriot for the thunders of the battle. But when centered upon the eternally Good, its strength is increased a thousandfold; it gives the soul a power that “never faileth,” a power that “endureth all things.”

3. An invincible attachment to the right. To “be strong in the Lord” is to be strong in sympathy with the right. It is to prefer the right with hell to the wrong with heaven. It is this moral strength alone that will enable us to “stand against the wiles of the devil,” and to battle successfully with the host of wickedness. This strength makes a man more than a conqueror, enables him to glory in tribulation and shout triumphantly in the agonies of death.

III. THE SOUL‘S WEAPONS. The panoply is here described. It consists of two partsthe defensive and the offensive implements.

1. The defensive implements. What is the defensive? “Truth.” This is the girdle which belts the loins with strength, and binds all the other parts of the panoply together so as to protect all the vital parts. “Righteousness.” This is the” breastplate.” The man who lacks integrity can offer no successful defense to the foe; the dishonest man is vulnerable at every point. “The gospel of peace.” This, like the boot of the old Roman conqueror, makes the soldier firm in his step and terrible in the echo of his tread. “Faith.” This is the “shield,” protecting the whole body. Faith, not in creeds, but in Christ, is the true shield of moral soldiership. “Salvation”that is, the hope of salvation. This is the “helmet.” As the helmet guarded the head of the Roman soldier, the hope of salvation protects the soul. Let despair come, and the head of the soul is wounded and the whole system endangered.

2. The offensive. What is the offensive? “The sword of the Spirit.” The true soul has not only to stand its ground, to maintain its position, to keep its territory, but to advance, to extend its boundaries, to prosecute an invasion; it is to conquer all other souls to Christ, and the weapon is the “Word of God.” This is the sword by which the Christian soldier has to cut his way from soul to soul through the whole world: “For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,” etc. (Heb 4:12). God’s Word is the truth that slays error, the love that slays selfishness, the right that slays the wrong, the happiness that slays the misery of the world.

IV. THE SOUL‘S RELIGIOUSNESS. Religiousness, viz. a conscious dependence on God, lies at the foundation of all true soul-militancy. A man can do nothing rightly or successfully in spiritual soldiership who is not religious in the very spirit of his being. Religiousness is the only soil in which man’s spiritual faculties can grow into heroic vigor. In materialism they wither; in mere intellectualism they are only skeletonic at best; in religiousness they are like the tree planted by the rivers of watertheir roots are in the Everlasting, they drink into them the very life of God. Religiousness, in one word, is the source that supplies the muscle and the instinct that gives the skill in true moral warfare. It teaches our “hands to war and our fingers to fight.” This religiousness is here described by the apostle in these words, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints,” etc. These words are so true to the original and so obvious in their significance that they call for no minute examination. They show us how this religiousness in the soul of the true spiritual soldier is to express itself; and it is to do so:

1. In prayer. “Praying always with all prayer,” or, as Ellicott has rendered it, “with all prayer and supplication praying always in the Spirit.” The words teach us:

(1) That the prayer is to be comprehensive. “With all prayer and supplication.” All kinds of prayer, expressed and ejaculatory, private and social. Prayer is not so much a service as a spirit, not so much an act as a sentiment. Hence we are commanded to “pray without ceasing.” Consciousness of dependence on God, which is the very essence of prayer, should run as a living current through the whole of our life. Our whole life should be an unbroken litany.

(2) That the prayer is to be Divine. “In the Spirit.” That is, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, who is to make intercessions for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. There is no true prayer that is not dictated by this Spirit. Man’s great care should be to lay his soul open to the Divine. If a man would have his body crave healthily for food, he must drink in as much as possible the fresh air of God; and if he would have his soul crave for spiritual food, he must breathe into his spiritual nature the breath of the Divine.

(3) That the prayer is to be watchful. “And watching thereunto.” The soul has its moral moods. It has seasons favorable for culture, weathers for launching out on the deep. Its duty is to watch for these moodswatch the motions of the Divine Spirit upon the heart. Watch, as Elijah did on Carmel, for promising signs in the heavens.

(4) That the prayer should be persevering. “With all perseverance.” We are to be instant in prayer. Our Savior taught the duty of importunate prayer in the parable of the “unjust judge.” Importunity is needed, not to influence the Eternal to mercy, but to prepare our hearts rightly to receive his gifts.

2. In prayer for the good in general. “For all saints.” The apostle would not have them merely to pray for themselves. He who prays exclusively for himself never prays at all. His prayers are but the breath of selfishness. Paul required them to pray for “all saints”saints of every intellectual grade, of every social position, of every ecclesiastical sect, of every theological school, of every kingdom and every tribe. Why for all saints? Because all saints are members of the grand army battling against the common foeagainst the “principalities of evil,” etc. The more force, courage, skill, each member of an army possesses, the better for the cause, the more likely the victory in whose advantages all participate. The battle of Christianity is a common battlea battle against error, wrong, and depravity everywhere. All saints are engaged in it and they should be prayed for.

3. In prayer for gospel ministers in particular. “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me.” Why does Paul wish them to pray for him? Is it that he might be liberated from prison? No. He was now, he tells us, an “ambassador in bonds.” The clanking chains of the prison hung heavily on him, and one would not have wondered if his first request had been to the Ephesians to pray for his bodily deliverance. But this he does not. He is too absorbed in the cause of Christ and universal happiness for this. What he prayed for was that he might be enabled properly and successfully to preach the gospel. “That I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,” that is, the gospel that was once a mystery. The preaching of the gospel was God’s grand instrument for restoring the world to intelligence, dignity, and happiness, and because of that, he desired to do it in the most effective way. There are several remarkable things in these words.

(1) Paul was an ambassador from heavenGod’s messenger sent to proclaim restoration to lost humanity. The grandest commission this.

(2) God’s ambassador from heaven in bonds. Wonderful that the great King, whose word could have shivered Rome into atoms, should have allowed his ambassador to have been in chains. But so it is; and we shall have an explanation ere long.

(3) God’s ambassador from heaven in bonds, losing all idea of his own personal sufferings, in the desire to help his race. Though a prisoner at Rome, he was permitted to preach (Act 28:30, Act 28:31). And as a prisoner he wanted to discharge that high mission in the most effective way. For that he prays. A true gospel minister has a right to ask the prayers of Christians for him particularly. Like a general in the army, he has the most responsible position, the most arduous task. Failure in him may turn the tide of battle in favor of the foe. Prayer, then, is a necessary qualification of spiritual soldiership. The victory cannot be won without it.

“Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;

Prayer makes the Christian’s armor bright;

And Satan trembles when he sees

The weakest saint upon his knees.”

Even the great Commander of all the legions of the good recognized the mighty power of prayer during his struggles on this earth. “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” As if he had said, “With one breath of prayer I could bring the mighty battalions of eternity to my aid.”D.T.

Eph 6:21-24

Types of transcendent virtues.

“But that ye also may know,” etc. In these verses we have three types of transcendent virtuesa type of elevated friendship, a type of spiritual benevolence, and a type of Christian catholicity.

I. A TYPE OF ELEVATED FRIENDSHIP. Paul here does two things which show the purity and the worth of his friendship.

1. Introduces a noble man to his friends. Some are very anxious to keep their friends to themselves, and, if possible, to monopolize their thoughts and their hearts; and some, if they introduce a friend at all, only those of an inferior type. Paul introduces Tychicus, “a beloved brother and faithful minister.” You cannot confer a greater benefit on your friends than to commend to their confidence a noble man; the gift of such a man to them is more valuable than lordly estates or mighty kingdoms.

2. He introduces a noble man to their friendship entirely for their own advantage. There are those who introduce men to their friends for the sake of getting something for them; but not so in this case. Paul does not ask them to do anything for Tychicus; nor does he ask them to send back through Tychicus any favor to him. He sends Tychicus in order to serve them in two ways.

(1) To satisfy their anxieties as friends. They would naturally be anxious to know something concerning the “affairs“ of the man who lived and labored in their city for three years, and around whose neck their fathers fell in tears when he bade them adieu. They would like to know how this their father in Christ fared now a prisoner in Rome. To satisfy the natural craving of their hearts, he now sends Tychicus; he would tell them all. I should like to have seen Tychicus deliver this letter, and to have heard the thousand eager questions.

(2) To promote their happiness as Christians. “And that he might comfort your hearts” Paul knew well the trials to which the Church at Ephesus was exposed, both from Jews and pagans. He knew they wanted comfort. The letter he sent abounded with comforting thoughts, and he knew that a loving brother like Tychicus would skillfully and efficaciously apply the healing balm. Here is

II. A TYPE OF SPIRITUAL BENEVOLENCE. Paul’s heart goes out in well-wishing. And what did he wish for his brethren at Ephesus? No secondary favors, but the highest blessings from God the Father and his blessed Son.

1. Divine peace. “Peace be to the brethren.” Mark where the peace comes from”From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” There is a peace that does not come from that sourcea peace that comes from the devil, a moral stagnation of soul, something like the stillness of that murky atmosphere that nurses and forebodes the thunder, the lightning, and the hurricane which spread devastation over sea and land. The peace of God is:

(1) Peace of an approving conscience.

(2) Peace of conscious security.

(3) Peace of accordant affections.

(4) Peace of harmonious activities.

2. A conjunction of love and faith. “Love with faith.” There is a love and also a faith that are not of Heaven. Divine love and faith are always united in a good man. Divine faith “works by love,” works by love as the laborer works by the sun. These are the blessings spiritual benevolence desires for men, and they are in truth the germs of all good. Give me these, and I want no more. Out of them my Paradise will bloom; they are the nebulae which will one day encircle me with the brightest of heavens. Give the race these, and soon all crimes, sufferings, discords, miseries, will cease.

III. A TYPE OF CHRISTIAN CATHOLICITY. “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus”love him purely, love him in reality, love him as he ought to be loved. Wherever they are, in whatever land, of whatever tribe or kingdom, happiness to them. The language of modern sects isGrace be to all them that are Baptists, Methodists, Independents, Episcopalians, etc. The language of the true Christian catholicity is”Grace be to all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ,” of all creeds or no creed, Churches or no Church.

CONCLUSION. Here end our reflections on this wonderful Epistle. Our walk through this section of the great garden of truth, whose aromas have refreshed, whose beauty has charmed, and whose objects have challenged our thoughts and excited our devout admiration, is now ended. Should others follow our footsteps with keener eyes and finer senses, more apt to discover the beautiful and the good, they will be able to discover for themselves, and reveal to others, much more than we have done. When we began our walk we were afraid that we should meet some of those grim Calvinian dogmas which certain theologians assured us were there, but we never met their shadow. There are no theological weeds and thistles here. All is free and fresh as nature, as fitted to the human soul as light to the eye and breath to the lungs.D.T.

HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY

Eph 6:1-4

Children and parents.

Christianity purifies and elevates family life. It is supremely natural, orderly, and reasonable in the treatment of domestic affairs. We meet with frequent allusions to families and households in the New Testament. The order and health of the home are clearly recognized as of primary importance. This is seen in the treatment of parental relations.

I. THE DUTIES OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS.

1. The duties.

(1) Obedience. A condition of subjection is necessary and right for childhood. Children must be taught to reverence an authority above them and to yield their will to a higher will. Thus the first principle of what, in after life, must be the fundamental relation to God, is instilled. Children should obey, for the very sake of obedience, orders for which at present they see no reason, and from which they can foresee no good results. But there is a limit to obedience. “Obey your parents in the Lord.” When parents command what is plainly contrary to the will of Christ, disobedience becomes a duty.

(2) Honor. It is not enough to obey in act. Love and reverence should be found in the heart of children. It is most injurious for children to lose reverence for their parents. They are themselves degraded when this is the case.

2. The grounds on which these duties to parents are enforced.

(1) It is right. This comes first. It is an appeal to conscience. No obedience or honor can be of worth when only low, selfish motives prompt the performance of filial duty.

(2) It is profitable. In the long run the principle that underlies the ancient promise of the fifth commandment is abundantly exemplified. Family life is the root of social order. When this is corrupt that will be upset. Good domestic habits are the safeguards of the best kind of conservatism. The most frightful revolutions are those that begin at the family hearth.

II. THE DUTIES OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. The family relation is reciprocal, and so are the duties of parents and children. It is most unreasonable to expect the children to discharge their share of domestic duty if parents, who have so much larger knowledge and experience and whose example is the most powerful instructor of their children, fail in theirs. To stern Roman fathers the Christian view of parental duty was novel Even now it is too little regarded.

1. The negative duty. “Provoke not your children to wrath.” While strictly enforcing necessary commands, parents should be most careful not to lay on the shoulders of their children unnecessary burdens. Obedience is hard enough under the best of circumstances. Especially is it desirable not to provoke childish irritation by hasty, harsh manners when a wiser, kinder method might be more efficacious in securing obedience and respect.

2. The positive duty. “Nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord.” The parent is the spiritual guardian of his children. He cannot delegate to another the responsibility that God will some day call him to account for. In caring for their children’s health, happiness, and worldly prospects, etc., parents are often least anxious about the most essential point, the spiritual welfare of their family. Let it be remembered that the first requisite in training children for Christ is that the parents should be themselves his disciples.W.F.A.

Eph 6:5-9

Servants and masters.

The early preachers of the gospel were wise in not provoking futile and fatal attempts at a social revolution by denouncing slavery. Nevertheless, they laid the foundation of that revolution and secured its peaceable and bloodless accomplishment. Slavery could not permanently survive the establishment of the principle of Christian brotherhood. Meanwhile under the then existing circumstances Christianity taught certain necessary duties of slaves and masters, the essential ideas of which apply to so much of the present state of society as is at all analogous to that of the first century.

I. THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS.

1. The duties.

(1) Obedience. The position of service, whether forced as in slavery or freely accepted as among us, implies obedience. Indeed, where the condition of service is voluntarily entered upon for the sake of adequate payment the duty is so much the stronger. The disobedient servant commits a double sin; he is unfaithful to his engagement, and he is robbing his master of unearned wages.

(2) Singleness of heart. Half-hearted service is semi-disobedience.

(3) No eye-service. How common is this degrading and dishonest habit in all walks of life, from that of the maid who is idle when her mistress is away, to that of the statesman who works for what will win the applause of the multitude to the neglect of the real welfare of the nation, or the preacher who preaches popular sermons to catch the ear of the congregation and hides unpopular truths that men much need to hear!

(4) Serving the Lord. We are all to serve Christ in our daily work. This consecrates the most menial task.

2. The reward. Gross injustice characterized the old-world treatment of slaves, and tempted to disloyal service. This injustice will not be seen at the great reckoning. The slave will be as fairly judged as his master. The lowliest work will win as high a reward as the most pretentious if the motive is equally good. Here is an inducement to faithfulness in little things.

II. THE DUTIES OF MASTERS. It was hard to teach a slave-holder his duty. Yet it is fair to observe that in many households the rigor of servitude was much softened, and kinder and more humane relations maintained than those that sometimes characterize our modern commercial connection of workman and employer, relations out of which all humanity seems to have vanished. It is interesting to see that in the New Testament a hired servant is considered to be worse off than a household slave (e.g. Luk 15:17).

1. The duties.

(1) Fairness. “Do the same things unto them.” The duties are reciprocal. Masters have no right to expect more devotion to their interests from their servants than they show to their servants’ interests.

(2) Kindness. “Forbear threatening.” It is cowardly to use the power of the purse, as old masters used the whip, to gain an unfair advantage over a servant. In the end sympathy and genial friendliness will secure the best service.

2. The motives.

(1) Servants and masters have one common Master. Both are alike servants of Christ; both must give account to him of their stewardship.

(2) Christ will judge without respect of persons. The advantages of social superiority are but temporary. They will be of no use at Christ’s judgment.W.F.A.

Eph 6:10

Divine strength.

As the Epistle draws to a close, St. Paul gives emphasis to the requisition of Divine strength by singling it out for a final word of exhortation. The doctrinal principles of the earlier chapters lead up to the practical duties of the later, and these several duties to the need of Divine strength wherewith to discharge them in face of the assaults of evil.

I. CHRISTIANS ARE EXHORTED TO BE STRONG. Spiritual strength is decision of character and force of will. Religion centers in our will and character. Unless there is strength, fixity, determination, and energy, then all our elaborate thinking and all our beautiful sentiments are worthless.

1. Clear belief in the gospel is not sufficient. We may believe intellectually, but if we are too weak to act according to our belief that counts for nothing.

2. Feelings of love to Christ are vain if they do not inspire us to faithful service and sacrifice.

3. Passive reliance on Christ will not avail us unless we have also the active faith that puts forth spiritual strength in obedience to his will. We are not only to flee to the refuge in Christ. We are to go forth to battle in the open field. And then we are not only to be endued with Divine armor, but first to be made strong ourselves. First comes the exhortation to be strong, and only second that to arm in the Divine panoply. It is only the strong man who can wear this armor.

4. It is our duty to be strong. Weakness is not merely a calamity to be bewailed. It is a sin to be repented of. It leads to our falling into temptation and our failing in duty.

II. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH IS A DIVINE INSPIRATION. We cannot be strong by merely willing to be so. A wish will not convert the feeble body of the invalid into the robust frame of a healthy man, nor will a wish give to the weak soul fixity of character and energy of will. The body must gain strength through nourishing diet, bracing air, exercise, etc. So spiritual strength arises from feeding upon Christ in faith and prayer.

1. There is might in Christ. He is the Lion of the house of Judah.

2. Christ puts forth that might. The strength is the might in exercise. The oak is strong, but passive, and therefore it can do nothing for us. The horse, though less strong, puts forth his power in action, and so works for us. Christ’s great might is not a mere latent force. It flows out in energy.

3. This strength is ours by our union with Christ. “Be strong in the Lord.” We must, therefore, be in Christ in order that we may have this strength, and the more close our union to Christ becomes the more vigorously shall we be supplied with his strength.W.F.A.

Eph 6:12

The foe. The Christian life is a warfare. In order to wage this successfully we must understand the nature of the foes we have to contend with, because the weapons and armor will have to be selected according to the character of the attack that is made upon us.

I. THE NATURE OF THE FOE.

1. Negatively considered.

(1) Not material. Imagination has given the tempter a material form, e.g. in the legends of St. Anthony, because it is so much easier to grapple with the most fearful enemy that can be seen and touched than with an invisible, intangible foe. But our foe is not of flesh and blood. The subjugation of the physical world is easy compared with the task of conquering this invisible enemy.

(2) Not human. It is hard enough to think of the obstructive and tempting influence of bad men. But we have something worse to resist. We are attacked by an unearthly army. The black tide of hellish sin surges against the shores of our human world and bespatters us with its withering spray.

2. Positively considered.

(1) Spiritual. The fact that the word “immaterial” has come to mean “unimportant,” is a striking proof of our earthly-mindedness. The spiritual world is the most real world. These spiritual foes are the most truly existing enemies we can ever meet. Our experience of them is in spiritual attacks, i.e. in temptations.

(2) Dominant. They are “world-rulers,” they are in “heavenly” (or high) places. When St. Paul wrote this Epistle evil was uppermost in the world. Is it not also supreme in many regions now? We have to oust the forces that hold the field and to storm the citadel.

II. THE CHARACTER OF THE WARFARE, Mediaeval armor is useless before rifle-bullets. Old castle walls are no protection against modern artillery. Nor will modern cannon drive back noxious gases. Sennacherib’s hosts were powerless before that invisible angel of God, the pestilence. So the foe in the Christian warfare determines the character of the armor and weapons and the tactics to be pursued.

1. Negatively.

(1) Physical force will not serve us. Samson’s strength is of no avail against temptation. Money, material resources, scientific skill, are useless. This is the age of steam, steel, and electricity. But such things give us no help in subduing greed, lust, and self-will.

(2) Human influence is vain. Arguments, threats, and promises; influences of authority and of sympathy; appeals to the reason, the feelings, and the conscience; these methods that affect our fellow-men do not touch the awful foes we have to contend against.

2. Positively.

(1) Spiritual armor and weapons are needed, i.e. truth, righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, prayer (Eph 6:14-18).

(2) These must be obtained from God. They constitute “the whole armor of God. ‘ There m nothing m the armory of human resources, physical or intellectual, that is adequate for meeting the dread spiritual foes of our warfare. The Christian warrior must be a man of Divine strength girded about by Divine graces.W.F.A.

Eph 6:13-17

The whole armor of God.

I. CHRISTIANS NEED TO BE ARMED. Aldershot cannot dispense with Woolwich. The army must be equipped before it can take the field. The knight must don his coat of mail and draw his sword if he is to make any use of his martial skill and prowess. So the Church must be prepared for the great conflict with unbelief, worldliness, and immorality. The individual Christian must be armed to meet temptation and to win a triumph. Many a sanguine young Christian soldier has fallen shamefully through rushing rashly into the fray without due preparation.

II. THE REQUISITE ARMOR MUST BE DIVINE. “Armor of God.”

1. Provided by God. We cannot forge our own armor. Our own resolutions, like home-made weapons, will be sure to betray some weakness and clumsiness. The Christian armor consists of God-given graces. The pilgrim had his armor given him at the house “Beautiful.”

2. God-like. A steel breastplate is no protection against a poison-cup. The character of our defenses must be spiritual and holy, like the character of God, in order that we may be able to withstand great spiritual foes.

III. IT IS NECESSARY TO SECURE A COMPLETE SUIT OF ARMOR. “The whole armor.” We are assailable in every part of our nature. It is useless to be only half-armed, for the subtle tempter is sure to aim his dart at the most vulnerable spot. We are all inclined to make much of favorite graces and to fortify ourselves against certain selected sins. Where we think ourselves most secure we are likely to be most open to attack. It will not be sufficient to be sound on all points but one. Achilles was said to be vulnerable only on the heel. But that was enough. His one weak place was fatal to him. God knows both the variety of foes we have to face and the different susceptibilities of our own constitution, and has provided complete armor accordingly.

IV. THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR IS VARIOUS IS KIND.

1. Defensive.

(1) We have first to be braced and girded by a firm grasp of the eternal verities of the faith. Looseness of conviction is a fatal source of weakness. Truth being the girdle we are not to embrace it, but it is to encircle us, i.e. we not to be satisfied with holding the truth, we must let the truth hold us.

(2) Our heart must be protected by righteousness. An evil conscience, with sin unrepented, unforgiven, and unamended, is fatal to future firmness.

(3) We must be active in spreading the gospel of peace.

(4) Where we have not sufficient resisting power in our own persons let us trust the defending grace of God. Then if the breastplate of righteousness is thin, the shield of faith held before it may still protect us.

(5) Salvation in part secured, in whole promised, will help us to hold our head erect in calm confidence.

2. Offensive. We have not only to stand the shock of the enemy’s blows; we have to return them. The necessary weapons are supplied from the Divine armory.

(1) The Word of God. This is the sword of the Spirit, because God’s Spirit inspired it and now gives it edge and penetrating power. Christ used this sword in his temptation. We resist evil by dwelling on Divine truths.

(2) Prayer. In the garden Christ prayed and Peter slept; in the house of Caiaphas Christ was faithful and Peter fell.W.F.A.

Eph 6:18-20

True prayer.

The arming and fighting referred to in the previous verses are to be accompanied with praying. Prayer is as necessary as action. The part of Moses on the mount was at least as important as that of Joshua on the plain. Consider the character and object of true prayer.

1. THE CHARACTER OF TRUE PRAYER.

1. Earnestness. What a ring of vehement intensity sounds through the apostle’s words! Here is a man who believes in prayer and is greatly anxious to secure it. It would be wonderful if some prayers were answered. When the prayer does not affect the heart of the suppliant how can it touch the heart of God? A half-hearted prayer can bring no blessing from heaven because it is too feeble even to reach heaven.

2. Spirituality. We must pray in the Spirit. Our own thoughts must be spiritual and we must seek the inspiration of God’s Spirit to give light and life to our praying (Rom 8:26).

3. Independence of hindering circumstances. “At all seasons.” Prayer is always in season. But we are not always inclined to pray. Yet when we least desire to pray prayer is most necessary.

4. Watching, in order that our prayers may be apposite’ to the occasion, that we may discern the Divine response, and that we may be roused to renewed earnestness in face of the dangers and needs of the times.

5. Earnest prayer will be persevering prayer. It need be so, for God sometimes delays his reply to test our faith.

II. THE OBJECTS OF TRUE PRAYER.

1. On behalf of all saints. We should pray for all mankind, but especially for those who are of the household of the faith. Christian brotherhood should be seen in prayer. Mutual prayer is the greatest bond of union in the Church.

2. For any in trouble. St. Paul, the “ambassador in chains,” seeks the prayers of his friends. He in Rome can find comfort from the prayers of Christians in Asia. It would be well if, instead of condemning our brother when he falls before temptation, we would pray for him while he is in it.

3. For the spread of the gospel. St. Paul is not so anxious that prayer should be offered for the alleviation of his harsh imprisonment and for safe deliverance from the hands of his foes, as for grace to be faithful and bold in his declaration of the mystery of the gospel a noble, self-forgetful request. If the Church at home believed more in the efficacy of prayer and practiced it more earnestly, the missionary abroad would be more successful in his work.W.F.A.

Eph 6:24

The notes of a true Christian.

This benediction differs from the benedictions with which all other Epistles of St. Paul close in one respect, viz, while on every other occasion the second person is used, here the blessing is described in the third person. Elsewhere we read, “Grace be to you,” etc. Here and here only we read, “Grace be with all them,” etc. This variation is in keeping with the catholic character of tire whole Epistle, which is much concerned with the unity of the Church. It is a rebuke to the narrowness of Christians who care only for the prosperity of their own community, and even labor to win adherents from other Christian denominations or regard the prosperity of neighboring congregations with the jealousy of a tradesman for a rival shop-keeper. How miserably low, narrow, worldly and unchrist-like is the competitive Christianity of our day! St. Paul prays for a blessing on all true Christians. In doing so he describes the essential character of such men: they “love our Lord Jesus Christ in uncorruptness.” The question has been so much abused and misunderstood that it is quite as important to point out what is not requisite as what is requisite.

I. WHAT THINGS ARE NOT REQUISITE IN MEN IN ORDER THAT THEY MAY BE REGARDED AS TRUE CHRISTIANS.

1. External badges of unity. We need not speak the same shibboleth, practice the same external habits, etc. The test is internal.

2. Agreement in theological opinion. Men may love the Lord Jesus Christ while they differ profoundly on many points of doctrine.

3. Uniformity of ritual. Love may express itself in various voices, from the shouting hallelujahs of a crowd of street revivalists to the elaborate anthem of a cathedral choir. If the love is there we have all that is essential.

4. Unity of Church order. Equal love for Christ may be found in Churches that observe the greatest variety of discipline. The proud bigotry of orthodoxy will have to be greatly humbled when many a despised sectary proves his right to a higher place in the marriage feast because he has possessed a warmer love for his Lord.

II. WHAT IS REQUISITE IN ALL PEOPLE WHO ARE TO BE REGARDED AS TRUE CHRISTIANS. To “leave our Lord Jesus Christ in uncorruptness.”

1. The first essential is personal attachment to Christ. Our assent to a creed, diligent performance of devotional exercises, and connection with a Church fellowship count just for nothing if we are not in living relation to Christ. What think ye of Jesus? How does your soul’s affection regard him? These are the primary questions.

2. This attachment is to be one of love. A cold devotion of conscientious but heartless duty will not suffice. Happily, Christ does inspire love in his disciples by his wonderful loveableness, his love to them, his great sacrifice of himself.

3. This love must be uncorrupted. A corrupted love is one that is lowered by selfish thoughts. If we only love for what we are to receive our love is, of course, worthless. If, therefore, we only turn to Christ in selfish anxiety to be delivered from trouble to secure certain benefits, if this be the secret of our apparent warmth of devotion, the thing is a mockery. They love in uncorruptness who love purely, unreservedly, simply. The idea also implies a permanence of devotion. It is not a mere passing emotion, stirred, perhaps by a sentimental hymn, but a deep, strong affection that outlasts time and persists through all our varying moods, and shows itself in action, and, when occasion requires, in sacrifice.W.F.A.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Eph 6:1 . ] characterizes the obedience as Christian , the activity of which moves in Christ , with whom the Christian withal stands in communion of life. The reference to God (“praeter naturae legem Dei quoque auctoritate sancitum docent,” Calvin; comp. Wolf) is already refuted by the very , Eph 4:21 , placed at the head of all these precepts, as also by the standing formula itself (comp. Col 3:20 ).

] right , i.e. , Theodoret. Comp. Col 4:1 ; Phi 1:7 ; Php 4:8 ; 2Th 1:6 ; Luk 12:57 .

In favour of infant baptism , i.e. in favour of the view that the children of Christians were as early as that time baptized, nothing at all follows from the exhortation of the apostle to the children (in opposition to Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 2, p. 192). The children of Christians were, through their fellowship of life with their Christian parents, even without baptism (see on 1Co 7:14 ; Act 16:15 ), and had to render to their parents obedience .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

b. Children and parents

Eph 6:1-4

1,2Children, obey your parents in the Lord:1 for this is right. Honor thy father and [thy]2 mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4And, ye fathers, provoke [or fret] not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture [discipline] and admonition of the Lord.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The precept for children; Eph 6:1-3. Eph 6:1. Children, .The next step from the married state is the family. The wedded pair become parents through Gods gift, which may also be denied. The address to children in a letter to the Church presupposes, that the Apostle regards them as belonging to the Church, present at public worship, understanding the word read to and applicable to them; indeed they must be regarded as baptized, since Eph 6:1 : in the Lord, Eph 6:4 : in the admonition of the Lord, obliges us to do so (Stier, Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, II., 2, p. 192.)3 See Doctr. Note 1.

Obey your parents in the Lord [ ].The verb coming first has the emphasis: this one precept comprises the main part of filial duty in itself. The word is stronger than (Bengel: id plus etiam dicit quam subordinamini; obedire est imperitioris: subordinari cujusvis inferioris). To the more mature and experienced persons, who are Gods representatives and the childs supporters, and guides in fidelity, love and wisdom, obedience is to be rendered, not because they are Christians, or good and rich, or masters over the child, but because they are the parents (your parents), with the duty of bringing up (Eph 6:4) as they have brought forth. As Christians the children, however, must obey in the Lord, in Christ (Eph 6:10; Eph 6:21; Eph 2:21; Eph 4:1; Eph 4:17; Eph 5:8; Winer, p. 364); analogous to in the fear of Christ (Eph 5:21), as to the Lord (Eph 5:22). Thus the kind of obedience, not immediately and chiefly the kind of parents, is more closely defined, as specifically Christian in ground, measure and limit. It is incorrect to take it as= (Theodoret), or to refer it to God (Calvin), in Deo, or to connect it with parents, or to take it as merely a designation of the mode of obedience (Harless).4

For this is right [ .Quickly, briefly Paul presses the proof () forward. This refers to the whole: the obedience of children to their parents in Christ. In and there is a reminder of the (Eph 5:32), which lies in the and (Stier). Hence , right, refers to the relations both as given in nature and ordained by Divine law. Bengel: etiam natura; Meyer: according to nature and law. This Luther wishes to express with his it is proper. It should not be referred to the Divine law alone (Theodoret, Meyer, Schenkel), to which prominence is given in the next verse. [The natural obligation seems to be brought out here, the enforcement through the Divine law is added in the next, verse (so Eadie, Alford, Ellicott, Hodge, following Bengel, Estius and Theophylact).R.]

Eph 6:2. Honour thy father and thy mother.This is the commandment, Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16; Mat 15:4. In there is more included than obedience. Obedientia testimonium est ejus honoris, quem debent parentibus. Sub voce honoris complectitur officia, quibus serio tuam erga parentes observantiam et pietatem sestantur filius (Calvin). In Matthew 15. Jesus deduces from the honor the nourishment, and provision and care. Sir 3:8. Luther: serve, love and esteem. With emphasis the commandment places on an equality over against the children thy father and thy mother; in Lev 19:3 the latter even comes first.

Which is, , introduces a reason, as in Eph 3:13; it is not=, qu, but ut pole qu.5The first commandment with promise. evidently refers to the Mosaic law, the Decalogue, of which what has just been said is one commandment, hence without the article; on the thought that it is a command of God an emphasis rests,6 which is strengthened by the added phrase: : at first; it is not the first. According to the context it is as respects the time in which it applies to human beings, a first one: children must first honor Gods representatives, in order to learn how and to be able to keep those which precede and follow (Stier). And it is indeed placed on the promise, conceived in promise, because thus the obedience to parents becomes joyful, and upon this obedience salvation actually rests both internally and externally (1Ti 3:1-2). Bengel: Honor parentibus per obedientiam prsertim prstitus initio tatis omnium prceptorum obedientiam continet. It is not necessary therefore to say that it is in the series of commandments the first with a promise (Harless and others) [see below], as if there were not a promise annexed to the first or second [the Catholic and Lutheran first, our second] (Exodus 20 Eph 6:9-10), or as though it were the first with a promise in the second table (Ambrose and others). It belongs to the first table, and such a distinction is not a comment of modern theologians, a distinction not founded in the sacred Scriptures (Erasmus), since it is definitely stated in Deu 5:22, and the tenor of the commandments are distinguished accordingly. (Mat 22:37-40; Lev 19:18; Lev 19:34; Deu 6:5; Deu 10:12.) Least of all does mean the most important, a chief commandment (Koppe [Hodge] and others). But while it is incorrect to take =annexa, addita promissione, it is quite as much so to understand it as=in point of promise (Winer, p. 366; and others).

[The view of Stier, advocated by Braune, is not altogether satisfactory, that of Koppe and Hodge is still less so. Nor is any importance to be attached to the absence of the article with . The simplest view, one that usually suggests itself to the children, is that of Harless and Meyer, accepted by Eadie, Alford and Meyer: first in order; in point of, involving a promise, the preposition showing that in which the priority consists. The second commandment has attached simply a broad declaration of the great principles of the Divine government, not a specific promise. As regards the difficulty that no commandment follows in the Decalogue with a promise, we may either accept the explanation of Harless that first refers only to what precedes in this case, or that of Meyer, which finds the rest of the series in other Mosaic commands (so Ellicott).R.]

Eph 6:3. That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.This is the purport of the promise. Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16; LXX.: , . The Apostle only alters: , omitting the last relative clause, which as a commandment of God designates, not merely Canaan, but every country appointed by Him as a home, Palestine in the case of the Jews. According to the quotation must be retained in the second half with the future, although the conjunctive occurs in the first half. Winer (p. 271) explains the construction with the future as a lapse into a direct discourse, despite similar examples. Meyer finds indicated in the conjunctive the mere actualization, in the future the certain entrance and continuance, hence a logical climax.7 Undoubtedly is to be taken as telic, and on account of the phrase, thy father and thy mother, to be applied to individuals, not toti eorum genti (Bengel, who prudently says beforehand: non tantum singulis; Harless and others). The well being is put in the front rank, the long life in the second. Even among the most decayed people it will go well with him who honors his parents in obedience, and his life will be long, at least quoad sufficientiam for eternal salvation (Stier). Godliness has indeed a promise for this life also (1Ti 4:8), but certainly for that which is to come. To limit the promise to the spiritual possessions of the heavenly Canaan (Jerome, Olshausen) is incorrect, Tenerior tas pro captu suo allicitur promissione long, vit (Bengel). The attracting promise is chiefly to be taken in the sense and spirit of children, who hope for a long life; the history of nations and families confirm the truth of the promise. Hodie que bene vivunt pii in omne terra, atque Israel olim in illa (Bengel).

[We must reject both the generalizing and spiritualizing interpretations of the promise, and accept an individual reference of present validity. On this most recent commentators agree. And the promise is fulfilled in the usual course of providence with obedient children. The only question is: Did the Apostle by omitting the latter part of the commandment, which had a special reference to Canaan, himself apply the promise to obedient children in all lands, or did the original commandment imply this (the given land being the home in every case), so that the Apostle omits the last clause as unessential for his present purpose and really implied, ? The former is the view of Eadie, Alford, Ellicott, and Hodge, the latter of Braune and others. Either is preferable to Meyers notion that the Apostle omitted the clause because his readers were familiar with the passage, and understood it in the general sense, though its original reference was only to Palestine.R.]

The precept for fathers; Eph 6:4. And ye fathers.Quickly and closely he connects this with .8 He addresses the fathers, because he regards the mothers as submitting to their own husbands (Eph 5:22; Eph 5:24; Eph 5:33), who are their responsible representatives. Facilius parentes et heri abutuntur potestate sua, quam mariti (Bengel); that lies in the freer position of the former. We are not to refer this to grown up children (Olshausen), since bring them up follows; nor is there any oriental depreciation of the mother (Rueckert), since Eph 6:2 commands: honor thy mother, and Gen 24:67; Gen 37:10; 1Ki 2:19; Jdg 5:7; 2Sa 20:19 teach us otherwise.9

The prohibition: Provoke [or fret] not your children to wrath, .It is parallel to the , Rom 10:19; it is explained by Col 3:21 (.: , others: ). It is the hasty, rough, moody treatment of children, so that, without childish confidence, without joyful obedience, they are repelled and enticed to opposition, defiance and bitterness. Righteous, wholesome parental anger is not excluded, but painful, arbitrary, grumbling treatment, as well as rough, unjust treatment, without sparing the childish nature. [Alford: The Apostle seems to allude to provoking by vexatious commands and unreasonable blame, and uncertain temper, in ordinary intercourse.R.]

The command: But bring them up, (Eph 5:29).This points to children who still require care. But it should not be the mere growing up of the proletarians, but spiritual also. Hence:

In the discipline and admonition of the Lord, . Thus the element is denoted in which the bringing up should be consummated.10 The former consists in work, the latter in word; the former is discipline (Luther), not merely punishment, also strict ordering of the household, accustoming to self-denial, serviceableness, confession of faults without shuffling. Heb 12:6-7. The latter (Luther: admonition) comprises earnest warning (1Co 10:11) and kind exhortation (Tit 3:10; Rom 15:14; Col 3:16; Col 1:28; 1Co 4:14; 1Th 5:14; 2Th 3:15), which evidently predominates over serious rebukes. It is important that the former comes first, and this last. Harum altera occurrit ruditati, altera oblivioni et levitati; utraque et sermonem et reliquiam disciplinam includit (Bengel). [Comp. Trench, Syn. XXXII, whose views correspond in the main with those suggested here, and are adopted by Eadie, Alford and Ellicott.R.] Hence the first is not general, the training of children in general, the latter special, the reproof for the purpose of improvement (Harless, Meyer), nor are they indistinguishable synonyms (Koppe). The genitive belongs to both words: the Lord does it through the father as His representative; it is therefore a genitive subjecti. [So Harless, De Wette, Meyer, Eadie, Hodge, Alford, Ellicott and others: the discipline and admonition prescribed by the Lord and to be regulated by His Spirit.R.] It is not then: to the Lord (Luther), nor=well-pleasing to the Lord (Flatt), or=de Christo (Michaelis), nor are we to accept that the Apostle himself scarcely knew how to explain it (Rueckert).

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The presupposition for the conduct of children to parents and parents to children is the relation of both to Christ. The children should do their duty in the Lord (Eph 6:1), the parents in the discipline and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4), and that too from infancy (bring them up). Baptism, infant baptism, is thus presupposed as the basis for the children as well as for the treatment of children. And all the more so, that there is expressed for the children no termination or cessation of their conduct toward their parents and for the parents no beginning of the influence on the children, nor is any hint given of the baptismal act to be effected or experienced, which could scarcely be wanted after Eph 4:5 (one baptism), since the fellowship of the Lord is indicated in the case of children as well as parents. Hofmann (Schriftbeweis, II., 2, p. 193) properly recalls Act 16:15. For before mention was made of the household of the jailer, and without any impression of what had occurred having been made upon his household, it was said to him: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. We should therefore with Augustine (De Gen. X., 23, Serm. X) and Origen (ad Rom. vi.) regard infant baptism as an ordinance instituted by the Apostles. It was practised in the days of Tertullian, but no mention is made of its having been introduced. Accordingly our passage refers the nurture of children to the basis of baptism and the family: family education and baptismal education are enjoined. [The relation to Christ rests not on the baptismal act, but on the relation to the believing parents, hence children are to be baptized as members of Christs Church (Ref. Church, form of baptism), are thus publicly acknowledged and sealed as Christian children, whose personal piety is to be looked for in faith just, as it is prayed for in faith. Despite all abuse of this Christian truth, it is the truth, and holding it fast we may hope for a piety which rests on an educational, not a spasmodic, basis.In regard to the apostolic origin of the ordinance, the negative proof is overwhelming. Besides the allusion here and in Acts 16, it is inconceivable that the Jews, who attacked Paul on every actual point of difference, could have omitted opposition here, had he failed to perpetuate in some distinct form the Old Testament doctrine of covenant blessings on the household.But as negative proof it leaves room for honest adherence to that marked individualistic form of Christianity, which is necessary, it would seem, for many minds of that cast.R.]

2. The Apostle requires obedience on the part of the children to their parents as Gods representatives. This is a manifestation of that honor which God requires. It is established, regulated and limited through Christ, and is the foundation of earthly happiness. While denotes obedience as a reverent hearing, listening to the parents will, not merely in order to know it, but rather to be directed by it, so the German word: gehorchen [derived from horchen=our English hearken], related to hrig, gehrig, zugehrig [all meaning: belonging to, but strengthened in the longer forms], refers to the internal relation of dependence which finds its answering expression in gehorsam [obedience]. Both refer to the relation of piety [i.e., filial piety, since piety toward God and parents are recognized as identical in the Latin word pius], and include as the innermost motive love, which devotes itself with recognition of the parental dignity, even when parental worthiness is wanting. Over against the will of the parents the will of the child is illegal; but this statement is valid only so far as the parents exercise their will as the representatives of God, and their will is not opposed to Gods will. In this there is a hint that the Fifth Commandment belongs to the first table (Braune, Die heil. 10 Geb. pp. 8588). This requirement, to agree to the will of parents, does not cease in the course of years, though it receives limitations from the avocation and position of the children, as in the case of our Lord (Joh 2:4)

3. The blessing of the Fifth Commandment points to this fact, that in Gods world and Gods government His law, which is in accordance with the whole as well as with each individual part, is and must be of validity, and because it is valid for life, is given in correspondence with the ordinances of His Creation and Providence. The blessing is not an arbitrarily placed reward, but a result of obedience, actual and true obedience. One cannot creep into the blessing through constrained or feigned obedience. Obedience, this deeply rooted act of a will, growing morally, is not an affair of selfish calculation, still less can an immoral or demoralizing observance of a natural law be spoken of. Nor is the blessing promised for the life of the earthly family and people to be so lightly esteemed, that it must be transferred to the inheritance of the heavenly Canaan. Welfare and long life will be constantly regarded and used by the Christian as a gift of the gracious God; if something is lacking, he will never murmur nor doubt, as if God did not keep His promise, since our obedience of His commandment is never so perfect that it can be brought into an account with Him; it is rather the case that He has always vouchsafed and still vouchsafes to us more than we deserve.

4. Christian education must be consummated in the family, and if the family, in which children are born, is broken up by death, or destroyed by social, individual or sinful relations, and made incapable of fulfilling the task of education, each child should still be transferred to a family, or every institution which undertakes the task must be formed as a family.Christian nurture must begin with the earliest childhood, with the beginning of the childs life (). On this account comes first, and follows. Matters pertaining to the ordering of the household, to habitudes, to treatment without speaking, even to punishment, come first. Comp Heb 12:6; Pro 3:11-12; Pro 22:15; Pro 23:13.But it must add to this and pass over into admonition by word, both alike of Christ, not in self-will, but under the Lord to whom we are responsible. Hence this education must be Christian.11Further it connects itself with baptism; hence it is Churchly. Comp. Von Zeschwitz, System der Christlich Kirchlichen Katechetik, II. 1, 2. [More Christian than Churchly however. Hence in those lands where the Church as such must needs control education, there is little gain for the Church or for Christ. Were the family instruction what it ought to be, there is no fear of children becoming irreligious from attending common schools (i.e., schools of the State, not of the Church).The question of Sunday Schools ought to be far oftener studied in the light of this section.R.]The mother is not excluded, but only subordinated to the father (Eph 6:2; Eph 6:4). The mothers influence on the formation of character is quiet and deep, reaching both to the tenderest germs and the profoundest depths of the heart. 2Ti 1:5.Finally the individuality of the child must be well considered, and one not be treated as another. Such a difficult task can be performed only in the strength of the Lord, by whom we are ourselves educated.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Comp. Doctr. Notes and Braune, Die heiligen 10 Gebote, pp. 84106.True obedience is so difficult, that it becomes possible only to the Christian child in the strength of the developed baptismal grace; not the natural, only the spiritual man is capable of proper obedience and becomes more and more so. On the other hand Christian training is so difficult, that only Christian parents can grant it, and this too without having learned the art, often without being conscious of it.By the childs cradle you still humbly look up to God; you cannot boast that you have given the child life; must indeed confess that you have imparted sin to them.Eve preferred her first-born Cain (==weapon) to Abel (=shadow, nothingness).Be sparing of words in your discipline; let your children obey without asking why and punish rather before than after five years of age, else they will punish you.

Starke: God joins certain promises to His commandments, that we may be the more willing to live in accordance with them. If obedient children have a promise, disobedient ones have a threatening.The training of children is an art not easily learned. Parents, you must study this, that you may learn it, and implore this grace from God; but especially must you be watchful over all your own conduct, that you give no bad example to your children; and above all implant the true fear of God in their hearts.If parents bring up their children to the glory of God and the advantage of the world, that is more and better than to leave them great earthly treasures.

Rieger: The phrase: in the Lord, leads us to perceive that they must be chiefly guided and impelled therein by Gods commandment, the walk of the Lord Jesus on the earth; the hope of future recompense from the Lord; but also that it sometimes requires courage to be obedient in all things, and for the Lords sake to rise above even the parents who stand in the way.It is often asked how shall we encourage and incite children to their duty? and it is generally thought that the love of honor and the excitement of this feeling are the best means. But he who in accordance with Gods word meets their sense of truth with this thought: for this is right, proceeds far more securely. There is often in children a far purer feeling than we suppose, we frequently corrupt it by presenting so many frivolous motives.With the power of self-will love, would never suffice for constant obedience, did it not derive support from reverence.All promises of God must however be treated believingly, i.e., humbly, for they allow nothing to be extorted from them. Provoking to wrath takes place not only through unmerciful beating, but also through other unskilful treatment, even though it often has the appearance of right.God has Himself given us the best pattern of bringing up. At first without the sharp condemnation of sin designed in the law He led men by His eye and kept them walking before Him. After the stricter imputation of sin through the law, He guided them through His grace in Christ.

Heubner: The forbearance, the mildness, the fairness towards children, which Paul enjoins, consists in this, that one neither unmercifully punishes them on account of faults and infirmities, nor teases them with their education and conversion, but leads them with love and earnestness, removing hindrances, and for the rest commending them to the care of the Lord, who loves children. The child has not yet a very lively sense of sin, hence you must not overdo this matter of conversion.Thus much is certain: religious culture should begin early; the childs heart can be early won and be influenced by love to Jesus. This is the spirit of Christian nurture, which proceeds without constraint and cannot play much with dogmatics.

Passavant: How difficult for a childs heart is child-like obedience! for all are sinners, and in all sin there is self-desire, self-will, opposition.Ill-bred children rarely become good subjects to the king, good citizens for the State, good brethren, good friends, or good parents to their children.

Stier: The obedience of children is due according to natural and revealed right.The first school of obedience for man is his relation as child.The mothers love must compensate when the fathers character inclines to severity; the fathers earnestness and strictness must step in where the mothers natural tenderness is insufficient.

Schleiermacher: The nature of filial obedience: 1. From what it should arise: neither hold out rewards, nor threaten punishments; nor gratify froward asking for reasons; solely out of filial respect. 2. On what grounds it is recommended: citing the old promise.

Anacker: To what education must be directed, that it may bear fruit for time and eternity. 1. That the youth learn proper obedience; 2. That they are led through love to obedience; 3. That mildness and strictness be rooted in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Hofmann: The personal work of the parents: anger their greatest hindrance; their surest means: nurture your children into the Lord.The nurture of the Lord: The fundamental traits and principles of Divine training, presented in the history of salvation from the beginning of our race on and in the conversion of individuals through the training of the Holy Ghost; some applications thence to our training: doing acts of love, blessing (Meyer), preserving from ungodly influences, promising, punishing.Admonition of the Lord: reminder that Christ should be glorified in the children and that they should become happy men, skilful warriors of God.

Zimmermann: From what you seek in your children, measure what you owe to them! 1. You desire obedience from them, show yourselves full of love to them. 2. You desire that they honor you, apply to them the right nurture. 3. You desire that they protect and adorn your old age, so help them to inherit the promise: that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth.

[Hodge: Children should obey their parents. This obedience should be in the Lord, determined and regulated by a regard to Christ. The ground of the obligation is: 1. It is in itself right; it is enforced by an express command in the Decalogue, to which a special promise is annexed, Eph 6:1-3.

Eph 6:4. A parent had better sow tares in a field from which he expects to derive food for himself and family, than by his own ill-conduct nurture evil in the heart of a child.R.]

[Eadie: Eph 6:1. The love which Jesus showed to children, when He took them in His arms and blessed them, should induce them, in a spirit of filial faith and fondness to obey their parents, and to regard with special sacredness every parental injunction. And that obedience, if prompted, regulated, and bounded by a sense of religious obligation, will be cheerful, and not sullen; prompt, and not dilatory; uniform, and not occasional; universal, and not capricious in its choice of parental precepts.Filial obedience, under Gods blessing, prolongs life, for it implies the possession of principles of restraint, sobriety, and industry, which secure a lengthened existence.

Eph 6:4. Such training leads to early piety, and such is ever welcome to Christ and His Church. For the sun shining on a shrub, in its green youth, is a more gladsome spectacle than the evening beam falling dimly on the ivy and ruins of an old and solitary tower.R.]

[While Eph 6:4 does not mean (see Exeg. Notes) instruction and admonition concerning Christ, it is still true that a father, who, by proper discipline tempered with love, ever keeps the heart of his children in intimate and trustful allegiance, by his very demeanor teaches lessons concerning Christ and God, that are rarely learned so easily in other ways. Many a son is kept from utter ruin by remembering a mothers love and piety, but happy is he who has had such a father as Paul here sketches in bold outline, for amid every doubt that assails head and heart alike, the reality of that father is an evidence, in kind though not in degree, of what God is to us, which no speculations can overbear.R.]

Footnotes:

[1] Eph 6:1.[Lachmann, Rueckert, and Mill omit on the authority of B. D.1 F., some fathers. It is bracketted by Alford; but Harless, Meyer, Ellicott accept it on the strong support of . A. D. 2 3 K. L., nearly all cursives and versions, express statement of Chrysostom; especially since, as Meyer urges, we would have found in case of an insertion from Eph 5:22, and if from Col 3:20, it would have been placed after . Braunes note here speaks of the absence of the phrase in Col 3:20, a manifest error.R.]

[2]Eph 6:2.[The E. V. omits thy, without reason and unfortunately, for the article occurs in the Greek, and the same emphasis rests on thy mother as on thy father.R.]

[3][To this Meyer objects, but in its stead lays down a principle which approaches the strict Reformed view: The children of Christians through their vital fellowship with their Christian parents were even without baptism (see 1Co 7:14; Act 16:15) and should render to their parents obedience .R.]

[4][Hodge seems to follow Harless but Eadie, Ellicott, Alford rightly take as indicating the sphere or element of the action. Alford adds, in reference to the common view that the Apostle gives a hint as to commands not according to the will of God: I should rather believe, that he regards both parents and children as , and the commands, as well as the obedience, as having that sphere and element. How children were to regard commands not answering to this description, would be understood from the nature of the case. Certainly, if the reference be, as is thought by most, to baptized children, then this presupposes the parents ruling in the Lord. On the limits of obedience, Ellicott refers to Taylor, Duct. Dub. III. 5, Rule 1 and 4 ff.R.]

[5][This is the view of Meyer and formerly of Ellicott, but the latter now accepts the explanatory force of the pronoun, since, as Alford intimates, the other view throws the motive to obedience too much on the fact of the promise accompanying it, whereas the obedience rests on the fact implied in , and the promise comes in to show its special acceptableness to God.R.]

[6][Alfords remark in loco must be taken with caution. He says the reference is to the Decalogue, which naturally stands at the head of all Gods other commandments; and which, though not formally binding on us as Christians, is quoted, in matters of eternal obligation (not of positive enactment), as an eminent example of Gods holy will.R.]

[7][On this Ellicott remarks: The future undoubtedly often does express the more lasting and certain result (comp. Rev 22:14, where the single act is expressed by the aorist subj., the lasting act by the future); still as the present formula occurs in substance in Deu 22:7 (Alexand.), and might have thence become a known form of expression, it seems better not to press the future further than as representing the temporal evolution of the .R.]

[8][Ellicott suggests that the particle marks that obligation was not all on one side, but that the superior also had duties which he owed to the inferior.R.]

[9][Eadie limits this precept to fathers, urging that mothers are apt to spoil the child by indulgence, while fathers are apt to chastise in a passion. But the other view is preferable.R.]

[10][Dr. Hodge, whose comments on this verse are very clear and instructive, falls into his usual error, in taking the preposition as instrumental: developing all their powers by the instruction and admonition of the Lord. The thought is rather that the child shall grow up, be trained in an element, sphere, atmosphere, etc.R.]

[11][Hodge: As Christianity is the only true religion, and God in Christ the only true God, the only profitable education is the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That is, the whole process of instruction and discipline must be that which He prescribes and which He administers, so that His authority should be brought into constant and immediate contact with the mind, heart and conscience of the child. It will not do for the parent to present himself as the ultimate end, the source of knowledge and possessor of authority to determine truth and duty. This would be to give his child a mere human development. Nor will it do for him to urge and communicate everything on the abstract ground of reason; for that would be to merge his child in nature. It is only by making God, God in Christ, the teacher and ruler, on whose authority everything is to be believed, and in obedience to whose will everything is to be done, that the ends of education can possibly be attained. But it must still be maintained, that the place where this close contact with Christ as Ruler and Teacher and Saviour is to be brought about is not the school, whether parochial school or Sunday School, but as a rule the household, since the command is addressed to fathers, who, standing in loco Dei in the family, should not too readily abdicate from their responsible position.R.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

In this Chapter the Epistle is closed: and a blessed Close is made: Paul bids the Church to entrench themselves, in the holy Armory of God. And he seals up all, with an Apostolic Benediction.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

(1) Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. (2) Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) (3) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. (4) And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (5) Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; (6) Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; (7) With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: (8) Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. (9) And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

The Apostle, according to his usual method in the close of his Epistles, makes a distinct, and separate address, to the several members of the Church, on relative duties; and as an affectionate Apostle, and Father, speaks personally to every class. I need not offer a single observation on either, by way of comment: the whole is abundantly plain. What he saith to children, in relation to the first commandment with promise, it is scarcely necessary to say, is in allusion to the first of the second table of the law; and therefore as such, it stands, as is here said, with a promise, and which is the first. As if the Lord would begin, with the earliest dawnings of life, to intimate the graciousness of his promises, running from first to last, through all the departments of the time-state of the Church.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Canon of Conduct

Eph 6:1

I. The Standard of Christianity. ‘Right’ is a law of conduct not based on accident or convenience; it arises out of the depths of eternity, and is comprehended in the depths of our nature. Duty is sublime, founded on eternal relationships; conscience is the index of the Divine and supernatural; right differs essentially from might; justice and convenience are terms wide asunder by the breadth of the heavens; righteousness is the law of the unchanging universe, the will of Him in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. If, then, the rule of right is the declared will of God, where must we look for that declaration? (1) Partially it is expressed in Nature (2) The revelation of the Divine will is further disclosed in the law of Sinai. (3) The rule of conduct finds complete expression in Jesus Christ. The application of the rule of right to individual acts and special situations requires the utmost carefulness. ‘ This is right.’ Miss Martineau has a story of Carlyle setting forth on horseback to seek a fresh house, with a map of the world in his pocket; after this fashion, by reference to universal ideas we consider ourselves competent to resolve our personal, local, current difficulties. Much, however, comes between the general sense of righteousness and any specific act of moral judgment. We must take infinite pains to acquaint ourselves with facts, and to know how the rule of right applies. ‘Human progress means, before all things, the education of conscience.’ Here, then, is the criterion of conduct ‘For this is right.’ With a sincere mind, seconded by diligence, determine what is the noblest act or course of conduct in any given circumstances, then adopt it at any cost or hazard.

II. The Standards of the World. Here we get into the plural. By what tests, then, do men of the world decide their course of action? (1) For this is customary. Great is the power of tradition. Great is the power of opinion. Great is the power of fashion. (2) For this is popular. (3) For this is profitable. Georges Sand bears this testimony: ‘I have witnessed revolutions and closely seen the actors in them: I have fathomed the bottom of their souls I should rather say of their bags’. (4) For this is pleasant. Diderot gave this quaint instruction to artists. ‘Be the disciple of the rainbow, do not be its slave.’ But is not the epigram of Diderot also an instruction for life? Be the disciple of the pleasant, do not be its slave. (5) For this is clever.

If you desire to live in peace and pure felicity, make the text your star. It sounds hard and harsh, it does not seem to contain a grain of poetry or note of music, yet it yields the secret of blessedness, the poetry of life, the flowers of the soul, the music of heaven.

W. L. Watkinson, Inspiration in Common Life, p. 92.

References. VI. 1. Expositor (5th Series), vol. i. p. 238. VI. 1-4. F. J. A. Hort, Village Sermons in Outline, p. 118. VI. 1-9. E. J. Kennedy, Old Theology Restated, p. 155. VI. 4. M. G. Glazebrook, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. p. 28. T. Barker, Plain Sermons, p. 191. VI. 5-8. J. Fleming, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. p. 69. VI. 5-9. C. S. Horne, Relationships of Life, p. 85. F. J. A. Hort, Village Sermons in Outline, p. 140. VI. 6. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 218. VI. 7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv. No. 1484. VI. 8. Expositor (5th Series), vol. vii. p. 20.

The Quiet Mind

Eph 6:10

Quietness is really an expression of strength. Look into almost all the language of the Scriptures and you find people with secure minds because they were secure in quiet. There is nothing dull about that quietness conducive to sleep. It is not like a stone with moss all over it. It is the grandest feature of the human and spiritual life. It is a sort of quietness, only it takes a lot of learning with many people. It is easy to be busy, and get hot thoughts, and have differences, but the grand word ‘quietness’ is the best sense of power. It is a mind worth having. It is the grandest mind.

I. Why is it many of us cannot have a quiet mind? We say there are so many things to keep us restless. It may be a house to manage, or a difficult bit of work, or the difficulty of getting work things are so hard. My friends, a quiet mind is not built on things. There is no secure mind on a foundation of circumstances. You may drive the circumstances under and try to build it on them, but it will not rest there. It is a world of continuity; a world in which things will keep shifting, in which people keep moving one another along. You cannot fix yourselves in a comfortable income and a snug berth, and say: ‘I have a quiet mind because I am safe for ever’. You can’t do it. There is no such security to be had. Often people who come to the Church of God ask us to put things right. If you have Christian hearts we shall do our best They are down on their luck, or something disastrous is coming. Not by any amount of skill, of readjustment or warmheartedness, to help your wisdom, can we give to any one of our fellowmen a foundation on which a quiet, strong mind can rest. You can see people shaking with both hands in the park, saying: ‘If only we could alter all these things, we should make people happy’. It is a libel on human nature to say happiness can be built on a construction of things. It cannot. There is no rock on which the fabric of man’s happiness can rest secure. It is the sand fabric of this world’s good things. No life can rest on it.

II. What is a secure mind? How do we get it? I am sure many of you have it. It would be music in your ears to be reminded once again what it really is. You may take from the sixth of Ephesians a very good illustration of the secure mind. What is the picture presented to us? There you see an old, not a very old, but he looks an old, man in a narrow Roman lodging. His face is worn with the pain men put upon him, and with the anguish of much physical trouble which has come to him in long travellings among the bandits of Asia Minor, and the storms of the sea, and the scourgings often repeated. There he stands, or sits, in his room. With him is a Roman soldier, to whom he is chained by the wrists. Here in this prison, this lofty spirit, with a life of so severe pain, is writing a letter of cheer, and some of the words of his letter I read as my text. What are his words? ‘My brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might; put on the whole armour of God,’ and so on. Why did he say that? What was there to make him feel in that courageous mood? Look at the things about him. The thing most obvious was a Roman soldier. If you have read anything about those people, you would know they were a very unpoetical, unsympathetic people indeed. They were cold-blooded; their business was to take the world by force of arms, crush out all finer feeling. That was the person who suggested to him this. Instead of being depressed by that cold, forbidding presence, that spoke of captivity and the death not very far off, he takes that soldier to pieces, he literally takes him to pieces. Crushed by the thought of his unsympathetic presence? No. He can take every bit of that man’s armour and treat it as an illustration of something. ‘Look at his armour,’ he says. ‘There is his helmet, look at his sword, his sandals, his breastplate.’ Why, every bit of it, instead of being something to crush the mind into coldness, only gives him something to remind him of glorious service for the living Christ. He had the soldier and the Lord Jesus Christ with him as well. So he was strong, not in his circumstances. He had not the good luck to be resting on some social structure. He had not happiness on an economic basis; but he had happiness resting on the living Christ, who was with him in the Roman prison. Presently, when he stood before the Caesar, the Lord stood by.

III. The busiest of us can find a little time to lift up our hearts unto the Lord. Those saints were not the people to manage things wonderfully, they were not workers of miracles, or different from you and me. Yet they were saints. Why were they saints? If you were to make this a perfect world you would not make any more saints. Saints cannot be made perfect by things. They are the people who stand up as soldiers I don’t believe in any other saints but the soldier-saints. There is no sainthood without fighting a good fight. It cannot be had. They are not fighting in Nebuchadnezzar’s strength, or Goliath’s, or David’s, but in the power and might of the Lord. Let us remember that. We have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away. This world will take our bodies into its earth some day, but we cannot be held by this world. God has made us. He is our Father, and to Him our spirits shall go at the last, I hope, having been made strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Having fought a good fight and finished our course, we shall hear those words: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast stood up as a soldier!’

A. W. Gough, Christian World Pulpit, vol. LXXVI. p. 359.

The Power of the Will

Eph 6:10

I. Let us ask ourselves, why is it that we so often wish to do right and cannot? why is it that we are so frail, feeble, languid, wayward, dim-sighted, fluctuating, perverse? why is it that we cannot ‘do the things that we would?’ why is it that, day after day, we remain irresolute, that we serve God so poorly, that we govern ourselves so weakly and so variably, that we cannot command our thoughts, that we are so slothful, so cowardly, so discontented, so sensual, so ignorant? Why is it that we, who trust that we are not by wilful sin thrown out of grace (for of such I am all along speaking) why is it that we, who are ruled by no evil masters and bent upon no earthly ends, who are not covetous, or profligate livers, or worldly-minded, or ambitious, or envious, or proud, or unforgiving, or desirous of name why is it that we, in the very kingdom of grace, surrounded by angels, and preceded by saints, nevertheless can do so little, and instead of mounting with wings like eagles, grovel in the dust, and do but sin, and confess sin, alternately? Is it that the power of God is not within us? Is it literally that we are not able to perform God’s commandments? God forbid! We are able. We have that given us which makes us able. We are not in a state of nature. We have had the gift of grace implanted in us. We have a power within us to do what we are commanded to do. What is it we lack? The power? No; the will. What we lack is the real, simple, earnest, sincere inclination and aim to use what God has given us, and what we have in us.

A man, for instance, cannot attend to his prayers; his mind wanders; other thoughts intrude; time after time passes, and it is the same. Shall we say, this arises from want of power? Of course it may be so; but before he says so, let him consider whether he has ever roused himself, shaken himself, awakened himself, got himself to will, if I may so say, attention. We know the feeling in unpleasant dreams, when we say to ourselves, ‘This is a dream,’ and yet cannot exert ourselves to will to be free from it; and how at length by an effort we will to move, and the spell at once is broken; we wake. So it is with sloth and indolence; the Evil One lies heavy on us, but he has no power over us except in our unwillingness to get rid of him. He cannot battle with us; he flies; he can do no more, as soon as we propose to fight with him.

There is a famous instance of a holy man of old time, who, before his conversion, felt indeed the excellence of purity, but could not get himself to say more in prayer than ‘Give me chastity, but not yet. I will not be inconsiderate enough to make light of the power of temptation of any kind, nor will I presume to say that Almighty God will certainly shield a man from temptation for his wishing it; but whenever men complain, as they often do, of the arduous-ness of a high virtue, at least it were well that they should first ask themselves the question, whether they desire to have it.

II. I would have every one carefully consider whether he has ever found God fail him in trial, when his own heart had not failed him; and whether he has not found strength greater and greater given him according to his day; whether he has not gained clear proof on trial that he has a Divine power lodged within him, and a certain conviction withal that he has not made the extreme trial of it, or reached its limits. Grace ever outstrips prayer. Abraham ceased interceding ere God stayed from granting. Joash smote upon the ground but thrice, when he might have gained five victories or six. All have the gift, many do not use it at all, none expend it. One wraps it in a napkin, another gains five pounds, another ten. It will bear thirty-fold, or sixty, or a hundred. We know not what we are, or might be. As the seed has a tree within it, so men have within them angels.

Hence the great stress laid in Scripture on growing in grace. Seeds are intended to grow into trees. We are regenerated in order that we may be renewed daily after the image of Him who has regenerated us. In the text and verses following, we have our calling set forth, in order to ‘stir up our pure minds, by way of remembrance,’ to the pursuit of it. ‘Be strong in the Lord,’ says the Apostle, ‘and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God,’ with your loins girt about with truth, the breastplate of righteousness, your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit One grace and then another is to be perfected in us. Each day is to bring forth its own treasure, till we stand, like blessed spirits, able and waiting to do the will of God.

J. H. Newman.

References. VI. 10. T. Parr, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. p. 74. F. B. Cowl, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 570. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 106. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 175. C. Parsons Reichel, Sermons, p. 170. Expositor (6th Series), vol. vi. p. 119. VI. 10-14. E. J. Kennedy, Old Theology Restated, p. 169.

The Armour of God

Eph 6:11

In his immortal allegory Bunyan represents Christian as arrived in his pilgrimage at the stately palace Beautiful; and, after rest and refreshment, conversation and devotion, some grave and comely damsels led him into the armoury where they showed him all manner of furniture which the Lord had prepared, sufficient indeed to equip as many pilgrims as there are stars in the firmament. They then harnassed him from head to foot with what was of proof, as he would surely meet with many antagonists on his way to Mount Zion. St Paul desired the Christians at Ephesus to be as perfectly mailed as Christian in the palace Beautiful. So he leads them into the Temple of Divine Truth, and shows them the armour God has prepared for them; but he leaves them to furnish themselves; nevertheless, he repeatedly enjoins them to do so without delay, as their need was great Our need is as great and imperative.

I. The Armour to be Worn. There are six pieces; but not one for the back, because we must alway face the foe, and never flee from him. But we must not mistake the figure employed. This armour is for the soul, and not for the body; and it is to defend us from our great spiritual adversary, who, with his legions, would decoy us to slay us. Moreover, it is Divine: it has been thoroughly tested, and never once battered through, but has shielded myriads of souls, till they exchanged the shout of battle for the paean of victory. There is, first, the girdle. The girdle is very strong; it not only binds together what is loose, but, fastened tightly round the loins, it so braces the warrior that he can throw his whole force against his enemy. Even thus the truth of God must girdle our souls, binding well together our wandering thoughts and affections, and so uniting all our inner powers that we can dash against Satan with a might he cannot withstand. There is also the breastplate. This, in armour, is the metal vest which envelops the lungs and other vital parts, reaching from the neck to the thighs. This part is indispensably requisite. So is the Divine breastplate, which is Christ’s righteousness upon us, and Christ’s righteousness within us. Then there are the sandals. These save the extremities, and are lashed to them with sound thongs. Without them the warrior could neither plant himself firmly, nor fly on a commission received. Thus finely is the Christian pictured as acting alway under the peaceful motives of the Gospel. Furthermore, there is the shield. The ancient champion would ever have his shield, whether made of skin, or steel, or more precious metal; it was a miniature rampart, behind which he cleverly sheltered himself. Our shield is our faith; and, when skilfully used, it quenches the fiery darts of the wicked one, turns to flight the armies of the aliens, and defies the combined powers of death and the grave. Next, there is the helmet. This protects and adorns the head. So does the hope of salvation cover and beautify the Christian champion. Heavy blows may fall upon it, yet he lifts up his head in the day of battle, and cherishes in his heart the hope that will never render him cowardly nor ashamed. And, lastly, there is the sword. The sword is offensive and aggressive. If a Damascus blade, it will not snap, but pierce between the joints of the finest and strongest harness. How like to this is the Word of God! It is verily a keen two-edged weapon. What slaughter it makes of the ignorances and reasonings of the natural mind, and the passion and lusts which war against the soul! Jesus wielded it triumphantly when contending with Satan in the wilderness; and the feeblest saint, with this instrument in his hands, can do exploits.

II. The Reason for Wearing this Armour. We have to ‘stand against the wiles of the devil’. And who is he that we must be fully equipped to meet him? He is a spirit; hence invisible, and thus the more able to damage us. He once ranked with the princes of heaven; but he fell from his first estate through pride and daring, and dragged down with him a host of celestials. And ever since then long ages ago he has been pursuing the same dreadful course on earth. Now, how shall we stand against his wiles? Not clad in our own armour, or that of others, as was David in that of Saul, but in God’s armour, and in the whole of God’s armour. And even then we must not face him in our own strength, for that would be to war with him to our own hurt, as in the instance of Eve; but we must meet him as the stripling shepherd met the giant of Gath ‘in the name of the Lord’.

Defence and Defiance

Eph 6:11

The motto of our volunteers is ‘Defence, not Defiance,’ but in the war with evil we must adopt the title ‘Defence and Defiance’. ‘The whole armour of God,’ or what is called elsewhere ‘the armour of light,’ is the sanctification of our whole nature through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the only panoply invulnerable by evil.

I. Defence against the sins which beset us is implied in our text. The faithful disciple of Christ is secure in fidelity to the truth, in the power of purity, in the peace which garrisons his heart, in the love of God and goodness, in his pervasive righteousness, in his fellowship with heaven, in his faith and hope laying hold of eternal life. The grosser temptations fail to deprave one who is clothed in the shining mail of holiness. The more subtle forms of sin are equally innocuous to the pure in heart. There is no gross tangibility in the temptations to which many good people are subject; the enemy attacks with unseen array and smokeless powder.

II. The Defiance of Evil. It is not enough to defend ourselves from the assaults of evil; we must challenge and fight it at every step, even when it does not decisively challenge us. To ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ is not sound policy in the moral life. Our attitude must be aggressive, whether evil is palpable or obscure. We must deal with evil in an uncompromising spirit, allowing no truce, granting no quarter. It is an axiom with the military that a purely defensive war must end in defeat; and certainly we often fail in spiritual warfare because we do not press the battle to the gate, and thoroughly subjugate the enemy when God gives us his neck. We must deal with evil in the spirit of abounding courage and confidence. We must also struggle against evil in the full assurance of final victory. ‘When Immanuel,’ says John Bunyan, ‘had driven Diabolus and all his forces out of the city of Mansoul, Diabolus preferred a petition to Immanuel, that he might have only a small part of the city. When this was rejected, he begged to have only a little room within the walls; but Immanuel answered: ‘He should have no place in it at all, no, not to rest the sole of his foot’. To this end and in this confidence we must pursue the struggle.

W. L. Watkinson, The Ashes of Roses, p. 93.

Reference. VI. 11. W. F. Shaw, Sermon Sketches for the Christian Year, p. 44.

Eph 6:12

I love the brave! But it is not enough to be a swordsman, one must also know against whom to use the sword.

Nietzsche.

The Christian Warfare

Eph 6:12

As life goes on there comes to most of us a clearer view of its meaning and of its intense importance. The words, ‘This is not your rest,’ gain fresh meaning as the years go by. And another truth, also, is borne in upon us namely, that we are surrounded by strange, hidden forces, harassed by unseen foes, that the more deliberately we try to live with a high aim in view the more surely are we battered and assaulted; the more we realise that even now we are fellow-citizens with the saints of the household of God the more we find war and strife to be our portion. The life you and I have to live belongs only in part to this visible sphere. ‘The things that are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’ And as it is with the spiritual blessing, so it is with the spiritual forces of evil that are against us.

In the account of our Lord’s temptation we are allowed to see a glimpse of what the battles with those unseen hosts meant to Him, and to learn by His example the methods by which to meet them. And we need to learn them, for if it is true that the battle has to be fought, if our foes are as vigilant as they ever were in the olden days, we must look to our weapons. The important thing is that we should each of us for himself make the warfare a reality; and I would suggest just two practical points.

I. First, we must be given to prayer. The conflict, as we have seen, must be waged in the heavenly places, in the world of unseen reality, and so our weapons, if they are to be effective, must penetrate to that hidden sphere, We must push past the visible to the invisible world; we must get through the things of sense to the deeper realities which lie behind; and we shall do this in no other way but by prayer. We should set ourselves quite deliberately and very patiently to find out more fully than before what prayer means, and what it involves. Prayer has been very well and simply defined as the lifting up of the mind and heart to God. Words, you see, are not of the essence of prayer, though of course prayer usually will find its way out on to the lips, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

II. But prayer in its essence is the contact of the human soul with the living God. We lift up our hearts unto the Lord. Prayer takes us through into the heavenly places; we penetrate to the throne of grace. Now if this is true, we see why prayer needs so great an effort. It is the exercise of the very best and highest powers that God has given to us. It is the putting forth, or it ought to be the putting forth, of the whole inner force of the man. Prayer which makes little or no demands on our energies is not prayer at all in any real sense of the word. It is only playing at prayer. And never was there a day when the effort was more needed than it is now. The world is so full of a number of things the rush and the whirl of life, the eager haste, the keen competition, the absorbing and numberless interests, the fret and anxiety, the wear and tear of an unquiet, busy age. All those things make prayer very difficult. We must learn where we ourselves are to gain the needed strength for our conflict. We shall never learn it in the midst of the full rush of life if we have not first gone quietly into the desert with our Lord.

III. And there is one more duty which none of us must dare to neglect if we are to wrestle with any effect against the powers of evil. If it is necessary to lift up our hearts to God, it is necessary also to keep under our bodies. ‘The flesh lusteth against the spirit.’ To give full licence to the body, even in what is lawful, is fatal to true living. We are not, most of us, I suppose, called to an ascetic life. We are called to live as busy, active men and women in the world. But we cannot ignore facts, and there is no more certain fact than this that owing to the strange enfeeblement of our wills, which is due to sin. we have not any of us that complete control over our bodies that we ought to have.

God forbid that we should ever make the mistake of imagining that our bodies are in themselves evil. The essence of sin lies not in the body, but in the weak, disordered will which fails to control it. It is because this is so that the need of fasting in some shape or form has never passed away, and never will so long as man is what he is. Yet fasting, like other spiritual exercises, may be an utter unreality. It may be practised as if it were an end in itself, a thing to be used for its own sake. So used, it will minister to nothing but folly, and pride, and self-will. Used as God means it to be, in a humble spirit, as a means to higher things, it will bring the blessing that always comes to those who obey. By prayer, then, which is prayer indeed, and by self-discipline, we shall be enabled in the power of Christ our Lord effectively to carry on the conflict in the heavenly places that conflict to which we, as Christians, are committed.

References. VI. 12. Phillips Brooks, The Mystery of Iniquity, p. 71. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. vi. p. 289. Phillips Brooks, The Law of Growth, p. 61. Expositor (4th Series), vol. i. p. 138; ibid. (6th Series), vol. vi. p. 212. VI. 12, 13. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of St. Paul, p. 230.

The Trinity of Temptation

Eph 6:13

In dealing with temptation we must remember that a man may be tempted either of God or he may be tempted of Satan. In Heb 11:17 we we told that God did ‘tempt’ or ‘try’ Abraham. God tries us that we may rise; Satan tries us that we may fall.

I. There are three trinities in the world. The trinity in unity above us, the Father, Son, and Spirit one God; the trinity within us, spirit, soul, and body one man; and the trinity beneath us, the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world, the flesh, and the devil are present in every temptation that comes to man. (1) What is the world? In 1Jn 2:26 we are told what is in the world: ‘The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life’. These were the lines along which Christ’s three temptations came. These the Apostle shows are in the world, but he does not give a definition of the world. The world really is the appearance or semblance of things, a mirage! (2) As for the flesh, there is no better definition than that given in Rom 7:18 , where the Apostle says: ‘In me, that is, in my flesh’.

‘Flesh’ is ‘me-ism,’ egotism. What is the centre letter of the word ‘sin’? ‘I’; and the centre of egotism is ‘I’. (3) The devil. The nearer you live to Christ, the more certain you are there is a personal devil. Of course, I do not think that the devil has the attributes of God. If you say that the devil tempts everybody you make him omnipresent and omniscient, which are attributes of God alone. Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the hosts of spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12 , Revised Version). Why should Satan tempt man to fall? The whole gist of the fall is that Satan should rule, should take from the brow of man the crown that the Creator put there.

II. The temptation of our Lord. When Satan had made man his subject, God’s plan seemed thwarted; but God, in the person of His Son, became man and encountered Satan, not in the exercise of His Deity, but ‘He emptied Himself.

III. The succour for tempted souls. We must remember that on the cross Jesus Christ became the representative man, and met the world, the flesh, and the devil in the hour of His weakness. If He could overcome them then, what can He not do now He is strong in resurrection glory? If we are linked to Christ by faith, we shall keep our standing, in spite of temptations, and Christ will bring Satan under our feet.

F. B. Meyer, The Soul’s Ascent, p. 123.

The Armour of God

Eph 6:13

Preparation that is the first note of Advent preparation for a struggle which must last while life lasts. No thinking man would deny that the be-all and end-all of our early years is preparation for the life that we are to live when we go out into the world. And Christianity advances its claim: What preparation have you made, and what preparation are you now making, for the moral and spiritual struggles of after-life?

Let us then speak of what St Paul considers to be the preparation of the Christian warrior. Twice he speaks of the whole armour: ‘Put on the whole armour of God’; ‘Take up the whole armour’. In the Greek it is one word, the ‘panoply’ of God. This ‘panoply,’ or complete equipment, consists of six parts the girdle, the breastplate, the sandals, the shield, the helmet, and the sword. Of these, one only is an offensive weapon; the rest are for the protection of the soldier. But all of them are God’s gifts to those who are to fight His battle; all belong to the supernatural order, and they are parts of a whole. I am not speaking to those who, to the best of their natural powers, are fighting on the side of right; I am speaking, as St. Paul is, to those who have been admitted to the supernatural life by the Sacrament of Baptism, and received their armour in Confirmation the ‘Sacrament of warriors’. St. Paul speaks of

I. The Girdle of Truth About the Loins. Now, we read constantly in the Bible of girding up the loins, and it is always in preparation for some active work. It was the gathering of the long flowing robe close round the body, so as to leave the limbs at liberty. The custom of the Hebrews was to wear the girdle, the sword-belt, round the waist, as our soldiers wear it now. And the Christian’s girdle is to be Truth not mere conscientiousness, but Truth. Your loins are to be girt about with Truth. Without that, the 6oldier will be impeded by his flowing robe. And the Truth is the Truth revealed by God, the deposit of the faith committed to the Church, which is the pillar and ground of the Truth. Did you ever see a Christian soldier fight at odds without his girdle? I know few sadder sights. He is fighting against the powers of sin and unbelief; but all his movements are impeded. He is fighting without his girdle. He is a Christian still, a soldier still, but he has given up or lost his rule of faith the Truth of God. Lax-ness of religious belief is as inconsistent with real freedom as a loose ungirdled robe is inconsistent with a soldiers active life.

II. The Breastplate. Elsewhere St. Paul calls it the breastplate of faith and love; here he follows Isaiah and speaks of it as the breastplate of righteousness. And righteousness means simply a good life lived in the strength of God. That which belongs to the Christian is the power to do in God’s strength that which man by nature longs, yet fails, to do. There have been men who have thought lightly of the holy life, and put a transient emotion in place of the hold on Truth, and lost their hold on that in which a hold on Truth results a holy life. Yet, where sin is present in the life, where the breastplate of righteousness is pierced, though the girdle of Truth be on our loins and the shield of Faith before us, our armour is incomplete. The darts will pierce where they have pierced before. The soul that carries a secret sin will never stand before the assaults of Satan,

III. The Sandals: ‘Have your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace’. That is, I think, the readiness to proclaim to others, the good news of God. A religion which shows no missionary enthusiasm is a dead or dying religion; a personal faith, which begins at home and stays there, is not a belief in the Gospel of Christ. The sandals of readiness to work for God are part of the equipment of the soldier of Christ.

IV. The Shield of Faith. Faith is the correlative of Truth. It is the Divine virtue which corresponds to that which God has told us about Himself. Strictly, all faith has God and the revelation of God for its object. How many forget to hold the shield of Faith over the body armour, to let it meet the first brunt of the enemy’s attack! Many an arrow might have been rendered harmless had it been met by the shield of Faith yes, even by a battered shield, like his who cried, ‘Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.

V. The Helmet of Salvation; or, as it is called elsewhere, the Hope of Salvation. Hope is not that sanguine disposition which is but little removed from ignorance: it is a grace of God, and yet it becomes more and more a rational power. Faith and hope were the two presuppositions of the early Christian efforts. Six hundred against the world, and the Church went forth conquering and to conquer, because it believed and hoped. If for a moment we lose hope, or if that hope is a mere emotional thing which fails us when all seems dark, then we feel our want of power; the enemy finds us out, and it is a forlorn hope. We are fighting without our helmet; and he who has lost his helmet is ready to throw away his shield, for to lose hope is to lose faith too.

VI. The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. All else is for defence; this is for attack. The Christian cannot win the battle simply by avoiding wounds; he must drive the enemy from the field. The phrase is not necessarily to be restricted to the Holy Bible; and yet, when I look back to that great battle fought and won in the wilderness, I see how the Tempter again and again recoiled from the sword of the Spirit, and shrank away before the invincible answer, ‘It is written’.

Aubrey Moore.

Melanchthon’s Last Public Message

Eph 6:13

In his last public lecture, delivered in the early morning of Good Friday, 1560, Melanchthon used these words, referring to the need for a new obedience in the believer, ‘Necessaria est et nostra Panoplia,’ with an evident allusion to Eph 6:13 , ‘Take unto you the whole armour of God’. The Latin narrative adds that these were the last words he uttered in public, as the lecture he desired to give on Easter Sunday morning was omitted on account of his increasing weakness. These words, ‘Necessaria est et nostra Panoplia,’ were therefore the last public message of the Praeceptor Germanise to his generation. During his illness Melanchthon quoted two verses from Psalm CXX. which to us seem to express the chief sorrow of his life: ‘My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace but when I speak they are for war.’ Yet the man of peace left behind him a soldier’s instruction:

Take to arm you for the fight

The panoply of God.

The old German version translates his words: ‘ Es ist auch unser vleis und Ritterschaft von nten ‘ [‘We need also diligence and knightly courage’], and the narrative suggests that these qualities had been conspicuously displayed in Melanchthon’s own career.

[See the text of the original in Dr. N. Mller’s revised and annotated edition (1910), pp. 11 and 62.]

Eph 6:13

A noble thought is the soul’s defensive armour; encased in it a man may suffer bombardment from life’s pollution and take no stain. ‘The whole armour of God’ if in the urgency of battle you forget its details, take it just as the ‘pearly shell’ of a noble thought.

James McKechnie, Meredith’s Allegory, The Shaving of Shagpat, p. 124.

Eph 6:13

Dr. Eugene Stock tells us that as far back as 1833 William Jowett concluded the instructions to John Tucker on his departure for Madras with some words found in the letter of Ignatius to Polycarp on the latter’s position in Smyrna, ‘Stand steady as an anvil when it is struck’. Tucker in after years often recalled them, saying, ‘Be an anvil and not a hammer’.

References. VI. 13. R. C. Trench, Sermons New and Old, p. 71. J. Hunter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. p. 42. G. W. Brameld, Practical Sermons (2nd Series), p. 47. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, p. 337.

The Whole Armour of God

Eph 6:13-18

No man could have invented this expression. It brings with it some sign and token of its Divine origin. The most of things that are in the Scriptures are things that never would have occurred to the mind of man. Hence I stand by the old argument that the Bible is a book which no man could have written if he would, or would have written if he could. The uniqueness is part of the argument. ‘The whole armour of God.’ Is there any mere poetry in the word whole? Is it employed or introduced in order to perfect a rhetorical climax? or is there great weight of meaning in the word whole? Is it the emphatic word in the exhortation? or are all the words on one high level? the monotony not of weakness or weariness, but of completeness. We must revert to our own spiritual experience if we would receive a sufficing answer to these inquiries. Could we do without the word whole? What does the word whole stand for in this connection? It stands for completeness; there must not be one piece of the panoply overlooked, nor must the places and arrangements of the armour be for a moment changed or otherwise related. The provision of the Divine grace is complete; we are armed from the head to the foot, there is no unprovided place or spot in all this Divine clothing with spiritual steel.

I. Many persons are armed in places. If nine points out of ten are attended to, these people suppose that they are very well provided for, but they are not. You have shut up all your castle, every window, every door, except the postern gate, the little gate behind, the small door that a small burglar may pass through. All that is wanted is not an army of burglars, but one little child-burglar that can creep through an unguarded pane of glass. Enough! the castle is in the hands of the thief. How noticeable it is that people are very fond of pet graces and favourite virtues, and how they dangle these before the eyes of these poor creatures who are not similarly created or provided for at those special points. Do not let us who are not tempted in some directions hold ourselves up as stupendous models of behaviour in some other direction. A man may not be drunk, but his soul may be steeped in covetousness, which is worse than drunkenness. A man may not be led away by his passions, but he may be greedy, selfish, self-considering, proud, and pride is worse than any sin that stalks about the city in the night-time. We condemn sin at wrong points, or we exaggerate some sins and practise others. Hence the beauty, the force, the necessity, of the expression or commandment, ‘Put on the whole armour’. Every inch of it, be equally strong at every point; ay, and it will take thee all thy time to panoply thyself in the steel of God.

II. It is wonderful in reading over this panoply to discover how much of it is meant for defensive purposes. It is not all meant for aggression. Christianity is both aggressive and defensive. It is astonishing, I repeat, how much of the Christian armour is for purposes defensive. The helmet does not fight, it protects; the shield does not aggress, it secures, defends, protects the very heart of the warrior. We need a great deal of defensive armour. The devil is wily. If there is one little heel-spot missed in the Christian Achilles that little vulnerable heel will be found out, and some great assault will be made upon it; mayhap the injection of some deadly poison; and injections are not accompanied with noise or with an uproar that is supposed to betoken heroism and angry strife; injection may be silent. The morphia is inserted with hardly any sense of pain, the digitalis makes no noise when it gets into the life and helps the poor labouring breath. So there are many noiseless temptations, there are many assaults that are not suspected; and therefore this saying is true. What I say unto one I say unto all. Watch; resist the devil, and he will flee from you. But to be called to all this arming and watching and fighting and agonising expectancy, is this the way to life eternal? Yes, and other way there is none.

III. It is very noticeable that a great deal of this combat is what may be called hand-to-hand strife. It is not a discharge of ball and other missile over a space of miles; it is wrestling. Two men do not wrestle when they are standing five miles apart, nor a mile apart, nor a yard apart. It is when they are grappling, one with the other, seeking for the tightest place, watching every movement of the antagonist, anticipating and discounting it; the uplifting that there may be the downcasting. Sometimes the Christian warfare is just as hand-to-hand and arm-to-arm as this. Jacob wrestled; we speak and sing of wrestling Jacob. The record says, ‘Now there wrestled with him,’ and the wrestlers were so near to one another that the one touched the thigh of the other, and it shrank, and the muscle shrunken abides there till this day to tell what angel tussles there have been in the dark nights of spiritual experience.

IV. Is this armour all to be turned against the enemy? No; it is to be turned, so to say, but to say it with tenderest reverence, sometimes against God. How so? The proof is here: Having equipped yourselves, then follows the command or exhortation, ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints’. Does the Lord make an armoury that can be employed against Himself? Yes, in a certain sense, but that sense must be very carefully and even tenderly distinguished and discriminated. The action is this: ‘The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force’. And God, having armed the men, says, Now come and take My kingdom. God is willing to be overthrown. The angel was willing that Jacob should throw him as it were in some great struggle. No man can ever take the celestial fort; it must be surrendered by God in answer to prayer.

Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. III. p. 22.

Eph 6:14

Let us keep a brave heart and clear armour. What beautiful armour for a Christian lady that ‘armour of light,’ ‘having on the breastplate of righteousness’. I was talking of that at our prayer meeting an hour since. It was suggested by going into my study late last night. The windows were open shutters not to; but as I looked out into the moonlight I saw there was a fine defence of snow round the house; for no robber would venture to come and leave his footmarks there. Think of the angel of snow defending our homes, i.e. pure, white, new-fallen snow, for if the snow is trampled on and turned into slush, it is no longer of use that way. It is only in its purity that it is a guard and a defence.

Dr. Robertson of Irvine, to Mrs. Maxwell.

References. VI. 14. E. J. Kennedy, Old Theology Restated, p. 180. T. S. Herrick, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. xvii. p. 168. Brooke Herford, Courage and Cheer, p. 68. Expositor (6th Series’), vol. xi. p. 362. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, p. 343; ibid. p. 350.

The Readiness of the Gospel of Peace

Eph 6:15

The great Apostle was much given to the use of illustrations. Like his Divine Master, he clearly saw the analogy between things external and things internal and spiritual, and employed the one for the purpose of making the other more easily intelligible.

I. We must be ready for service. The believer is not saved by his works: but he is saved that he may work, and the genuineness of his new life is to be manifested by service. Now the possession of peace with God, much more the assurance of the possession of the peace of God within us, will give us readiness for the performance of the service which is required of us by the will of God, and defined for us by the necessities of our own generation. For where there is peace there is whole-souledness: there is nothing to disturb the attention, divide the heart, or divert the mind; and so he who possesses it can give himself wholly to that to which he gives himself at all. The possession of this peace will keep him also from being fastidious about the place in which he serves.

II. But in the second place the Christian must be always ready for sacrifice, and the possession of the peace of God will give him that readiness. He is not to go out of his way seeking for a cross, for that would be to make himself a ‘martyr by mistake’; but if, while moving on his appointed path of duty, he is confronted with a cross, then he is to take up that and humbly and bravely bear the suffering and sacrifice which it imposes, for Christ’s sake. Then, as he never can tell when precisely he will be met by such a cross, he must hold himself always in readiness for it.

III. The Christian should be always ready for sorrow, and the gospel of peace will give him that readiness. The believer does not escape sorrow in the world, and he ought to be ready for its coming. But where shall he get that readiness? Not from philosophy: that may make a Stoic of him, and lead him to submit, somewhat haughtily, to the inevitable, but it will give him neither the resignation nor the consolation of the Christian. Pride will not give it to him, for that will only wrap him in the mantle of seclusion, and make him discontented and irritable with God and all around him. But the Gospel of peace will give it to him, for that assures him that everything that comes to him is under the supervision and control of God.

IV. The Christian should be ready for death, and the gospel of peace will give him that readiness. That which we most of all need in the prospect of our leaving the world is readiness to go. Nay, that readiness, rightly understood, is all we need. And in what does that readiness consist? Not in any special occupation at the moment, but in the habitual character of the soul; not in the performance of any rite, such as the observance of the supper, or the reception of extreme unction; no, but in the faith which rests on Jesus Christ, and in the possession of that peace which He bestows.

References. VI. 15. E. J. Kennedy, Old Theology Restated, p. 192. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, p. 353. VI. 16. Ibid. p. 361. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 416. E. J. Kennedy, Old Theology Restated, p. 204. VI. 17. H. Allen, Penny Pulpit, No. 1577, Phi 1:21 . E. J. Kennedy, Old Theology Restated, pp. 216, 229. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2201. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, p. 367.

Intercession

Eph 6:18

Intercession is the characteristic of Christian worship, the privilege of the heavenly adoption, the exercise of the perfect and spiritual mind.

I. First, let us turn to the express injunctions of Scripture. For instance, the text itself: ‘Praying in every season with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and abstaining from sleep for the purpose, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.’ Observe the earnestness of the intercession here inculcated; ‘in every season,’ ‘with all supplication,’ and ‘to the loss of sleep’. Again, in the Epistle to the Colossians; ‘Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving, withal praying for us also’. Again, ‘Brethren, pray for us’. And again in detail; ‘I exhort that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and all that are in authority. I will therefore that men pray in every place.’ On the other hand, go through the Epistles, and reckon up how many exhortations occur therein to pray merely for self. You will find there are few, or rather none at all. Even those which seem at first sight to be such, will be found really to have in view the good of the Church.

II. Such is the lesson taught us by the words and deeds of the Apostles and their brethren. Nor could it be otherwise, if Christianity be a social religion, as it is pre-eminently. If Christians are to live together, they will pray together; and united prayer is necessarily of an intercessory character, as being offered for each other and for the whole, and for self as one of the whole. In proportion, then, as unity is an especial Gospel-duty, so does Gospel-prayer partake of a social character; and intercession becomes a token of the existence of a Church Catholic.

III. Intercession is the especial observance of the Christian, because he alone is in a condition to offer it. It is the function of the justified and obedient, of the sons of God, ‘who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit;’ not of the carnal and unregenerate. This is plain even to natural reason. The blind man, who was cured, said of Christ, ‘We know that God heareth not sinners; but, if any man be a worshipper of God and doeth His will, him He heareth’. Saul the persecutor obviously could not intercede like St. Paul the Apostle. Our first prayers ever must be for ourselves. Our own salvation is our personal concern; till we labour to secure it, till we try to live religiously, and pray to be enabled to do so, nay, and have made progress, it is but hyprocrisy, or at best it is overbold, to busy ourselves with others. I do not mean that prayer for self always comes first in order of time, and intercession second. Blessed be God, we were all made His children before we had actually sinned; we began life in purity and innocence. Intercession is never more appropriate than when sin had been utterly abolished, and the heart was most affectionate and least selfish. Nor would I deny, that a care for the souls of other men may be the first symptom of a man’s beginning to think about his own; or that persons, who are conscious to themselves of much guilt, often pray for those whom they revere and love, when under the influence of fear, or in agony, or other strong emotion, and, perhaps, at other times. Still it is true, that there is something incongruous and inconsistent in a man’s presuming to intercede, who is an habitual and deliberate sinner. Also it is true, that most men do, more or less, fall away from God, sully their baptismal robe, need the grace of repentance, and have to be awakened to the necessity of prayer for self, as the first step in observing prayer of any kind.

The privilege of intercession is a trust committed to all Christians who have a clear conscience and are in full communion with the Church. We leave secret things to God what each man’s real advancement is in holy things, and what his real power in the unseen world. Two things alone concern us, to exercise our gift and make ourselves more and more worthy of it.

J. H. Newman.

References. VI. 18. S. G. Maclennan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. p. 170. Brooke Herford, Courage and Cheer, p. 1. J. Chambers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. p. 158. H. Melville, Penny Pulpit, No. 1622, p. 25. VI. 18-24. E. J. Kennedy, Old Theology Restated, p. 242. VI. 19. Archbishop Magee, Christ the Light of all Scripture, p. 129. VI. 19, 20. Expositor (6th Series), vol. xi. p. 207. VI. 23. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, p. 881. VI. 23 and 24. J. H. Holford, Memorial Sermons, p. 114. VI. 24. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, p. 391.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

The Gospel for Christmas

Eph 6:24

[A Christmas Sermon]

At Christmas time we are expected to be full of charity and goodwill. That is the very spirit of the season. It was in this strain that the angels sang when they were heard by the shepherds of Bethlehem. But even goodwill requires to be defined. Many people think it is all included in a hot family dinner on Christmas Day, concluded with the proverb How true it is that one half of the world does not know how the other half lives. The quotation of this proverb is supposed in some way to have subscribed to the relief and comfort of the poor. Other persons seem to imagine that goodwill is limited to persons of their own way of thinking. We cannot help thinking kindly of those who agree with us on the deepest subjects. When men differ from us we naturally denounce them as incapable, shortsighted, and pitiable creatures; but when the same people agree with us, we see in them at least the dawning of genius and the budding of sound statesmanship. That is a little peculiarity of men. It comes out very strongly in some newspapers. When I differ from them I am cordially disliked, and represented by many invidious and vivid epithets; when I agree with them I instantaneously become “an eminent Congregational minister.” I want to extend the area within which our goodwill is to operate, so as to include some from whom we are intellectually, and even theologically, separated. For example, how we as Gentiles hate Jews. Why should Jews be hated by Gentiles, and especially hated by Christians? Have they not a right to their own convictions? Are they not the most historical people in the world? Is not salvation of the Jews? We shall never convert them by abusing them. Let us show them how grand a thing is Christianity. We may do more by charity than by controversy. If we outdo them in moral nobleness, they will begin to respect us. If we outdo them in spite and resentment, they will begin to think that our creed has not done much for our purification and ennoblement.

Then again, how we suspect people who do not belong to our chapel, whatever that chapel may be. We will not be responsible for their future. Baptists may possibly go to heaven if heaven is a very very large place but as Congregationalists we will not guarantee it. Congregationalists may escape perdition, but the risk is very great in the estimation of the Antinomians, who consider themselves that nothing can possibly happen to hinder them from the occupation of the choicest places in the celestial world. Quakers are very objectionable to some other communions. Quakers are not themselves the largest-minded persons in the world; this may arise not so much from want of disposition as from want of information. They have lived an insular life. They have never been upon the Continent of the larger public opinion. I want to change all this miserable feeling. We should take the very best view of men, and do so simply because we are followers of Christ. Christianity, properly understood, is the most enlarging and the most ennobling religion known to mankind. Our Master, blessed be his name, came not to destroy men’s lives but to save them. He was the guest of publicans and sinners. Friendless women loved him. Little children nestled in his bosom. Repentant sinners caught his sunlight on their tears. I believe in all honest men. I lay great stress on the word “honest.” Even Christianity may be professed dishonestly. Some men are better than their creed. That is a fact which is often overlooked in the criticism and estimation of our fellow-men. We look at the creed and think that the men who profess it must be exactly as it is. That is unjust in both ways; it may be unjust as making some men too little, and it may be equally unjust in making other men too great. Perhaps you would not allow an infidel to enter your house. You have a horror of infidels. Perhaps you are right. You may be wrong. We must first of all know what you mean by infidel. Infidelity may be an intellectual term; or it may be a moral term; and before we can say anything about it we must know which it is. Limitation is sometimes definition. It is quite certain that there are some professing Christians whom I would not trust with an open cheque. Their creed is very grand; and so capable of expansion is what they call their mind, that they could take in ten more creeds of any size that human imagination chooses to prescribe; but, because they are corrupt in heart, I would not trust them out of my sight, and whilst they are in my sight I would inflict upon them the most vigilant suspicion and distrust. In your treatment of honest men be just, and you will be noble.

How cordially Churchmen and Dissenters love one another! On Christmas Day it is even permitted to a man to be slightly, but not maliciously, ironical. Why should not Churchmen and Dissenters love one another? A Dissenter may be as good as a Churchman, and a Churchman may be quite as good as a Dissenter. They should know one another better. I am perfectly persuaded that, if men knew one another better, they would in many cases have a larger mutual charity and appreciation. Men should look for each other’s best points. I do not see why Roman Catholics should be hated by Protestants, or vice versa, I do see that men may be fatally opposed from an intellectual point of view, and yet not necessarily seek to assassinate one another. Certain terms have come to have bad reputations. No term has so bad a reputation in the estimation of a Protestant as the term Roman Catholic; yet it is perfectly possible, even for a Protestant, not to know what a Roman Catholic is. He may be blinded to justice by what is known as the odium theologicum . Terms are not to be defined always by the dictionary. In fact, a dictionary may be most misleading in its definition. Some terms can only be interpreted by atmosphere, but mutual association, by insight into masonic relations and ultimate purposes; in a word, we must often trust to experience, rather than to etymology, in defining theological designations and boundaries.

Your Christianity amounts to nothing, if it does not enable you to see the best of every man. I say emphatically, the best. There is a best in every one of us, if only it could be found. It is possible to stand up for the truth in a spirit of error. We may do right wrongly. Be perfectly assured of this in all our propagandism, that we cannot abuse men into the kingdom of heaven. People are not to be arrested as if by constabulary strength, and thrust into heaven as criminals are thrust into a prison. Only Wisdom can save souls. The Authorised Version reads, “He that winneth souls is wise,” but the Revised Version teaches us to believe that it is Wisdom that saves souls; that is to say, wherever there is Wisdom there is a saving force in the world. Only meekness can really inherit the earth. Pomposity and boastfulness may seem to have it, and may go so far as to hold the legal title-deeds of it; but true and everlasting ownership can only be realised by the meek in heart.

The great law of charity should operate all round. We all need it. A Christianity that will not allow you to take into your love all who serve the Saviour is not of heaven, and is not of good men. Let it name its own awful origin. Are we then to love all men alike? The inquiry is absurd. We must prefer some to others. Love is discriminating. You prefer gold to silver; yet you do not throw away the inferior metal. You prefer your own home to next door, yet you do not burn down your neighbour’s house. I know how extremely difficult how well-nigh impossible it is for an Englishman to think well of any other nation. My inquiry on this happy Christmas Day is, Why should there not be a larger knowledge and a truer appreciation of one another all through and through the social distinctions and classifications by which society is ramified? Perhaps we shall see some improvement in this direction amongst political critics and reviewers. The amplitude of the political vocabulary is simply astounding. No man innocent of political relations and responsibilities could imagine that the English language is so rich in terms of abuse and ridicule. It would really seem as if a man differing from me in political opinion were too bad to go even to perdition. It certainly does seem sometimes as if we applied this doctrine to religious differences. As I have already said, we have only to suggest that such and such a man differs from us in some of our theological conceptions in order to enable us, and indeed to compel us, instantly to class that man as an unbeliever, an infidel, an atheist, and a dog with whom it would be a degradation to hold companionship.

Christianity came into the world to unite the human family. This is the burden of the music of Christ’s heart. He always goes out after that which is lost until he finds it. He will not have any man stand outside who is really anxious to come in. His marching orders to his Church are, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” When all authority on earth and in heaven was committed to him, he said, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations.” Other religions keep at home. They do not care for missioning the world. There have been two or three apparent exceptions to this home-keeping, but the exceptions have been apparent rather than positive. Christianity cannot keep at home; Christianity is the travelling religion. It is the greatest explorer; it is the most adventurous navigator. It longs to learn all languages, and to baptise them in the name of the living Christ. We are perfectly aware that men have gone out with divisive theologies and mean ecclesiastical contentions; but they have never been able to justify such separations and conflicts in the name or in the spirit of the Cross. Judge your Christianity by your magnanimity. If your minds are growing less and less, then you simply know nothing about Christ or his religion. If your sympathies are daily contracting, then you are inflicting deadly injury on the Cross of the Saviour. If you cannot give at least the crumbs to the dogs, you are unjust when you profess to be followers of him whose birth we are celebrating. Magnanimity does not mean latitudinarianism. Magnanimity does not mean laxness, vagueness, carelessness about spiritual thought, or moral distinction. But magnanimity does mean that we should hope the most and the best about all men who show any evidence of being reverent and sincere in religious inquiry. We must not condemn men for merely intellectual error. The head may be wrong where the heart is right. It is by the heart that God will judge the world. Not what we intellectually think, but what we morally love and reverence and pursue, will determine the destiny of men. Make sure of your faith by your charity. By your charity I do not mean merely almsgiving. Sometimes the giving away of money may be the easiest part of a man’s dower. By charity I mean love, sympathy, comprehensiveness of noble feeling towards all races, classes, peoples, and languages. Christianity sees even in the savage a son of God. Christianity finds the soul of good in things evil. Under no other compulsion could the Son of God have laid aside his glory and accepted the incarnation, which this day we recall with feelings of adoring thankfulness. The more you are impelled to do good, the more are you in Christ. If you cannot rest until you have saved another man, you may be perfectly sure that you are under the inspiration of the Cross. If you can rest perfectly well without caring what becomes of other souls, then know for a certainty that you have not yet seen or felt the meaning of the power of the Cross of Christ.

In the spirit of the Cross would I solemnise and celebrate Christmas Day. Let there be no family quarrels after this morning. It is useless to boast of your Christian aspiration and Christian feeling, if you are not prepared to associate on terms of affection and confidence with all persons within your own house who are willing to reciprocate such feelings. Is it possible that a husband and wife may be living in enmity? Let this be the moment of the cessation of hostilities, and let each emulate the other in a spirit of forgiveness. Is it possible that any son has run away from his father’s house and is afraid to return? Let him this day resolve that he will knock at the door of the old house, confess his sin, and ask to be taken once more into the bosom and the love of the family. Are there differences amongst partners in business, amongst old companions and comrades? Are there differences as between the old and the young? Let each consider how he can most earnestly fulfil the law of Christ; let him indeed try to invent opportunities of reconciliation. Let it be his solemn business before God to find the door by which he can re-enter into loving intercourse with those with whom he has held lifelong association. If we really want to be reconciled there can be no difficulty about the matter. Yet all this must be done, not as an expediency and calculation, not with a view to ultimate results in the form of rewards; all this must be done because we have seen Christ, and known him, and felt the power of his own love in our hearts. If we will act in this way, this Christmas will be the brightest day in a life that must of necessity have known much change, felt the coldness of much shadow, and seen the uncertainty of the richest treasures which belong only to time. In this spirit I venture to address you, to counsel you. Let us pray for one another. With the dying year let us bury all our differences. I do not say, Let us obliterate moral distinctions. We cannot inter dishonesty in the grave of the year. We cannot bury unfaithfulness as if it had never been shown. Where there has been moral dishonour there must be the profoundest moral repentance; and fruits meet for repentance must be brought forth, otherwise the guilt can never be buried and forgotten.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XIV

THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION

Eph 4:17-5:21 ; Eph 6:1-9

This section extends from Eph 4:17-6:9 , except we leave out the illustration in Eph 5:21-33 , Christ and the Bride. That will follow in the next chapter.

Attention has already been called to the remarkable parallels between Colossians and Ephesians. They are nowhere more striking than in the exhortations to newness of life in the world and in the family. In both we find the sharp distinction between the philosophy of a corrupt life and the philosophy of a pure life.

Effects are traced in each case to an adequate cause. The unrenewed nature causes the first. The renewed nature, which is a new creation, causes the second. Nowhere else in the Scriptures, except perhaps in Rom 1 and Rom 7 , is there more clearly shown the power and depravity of original sin, the inheritance of sin nature, and the necessity of regeneration in order to a life of holiness. That is the capital thought in this section.

The two sources of such divergent life are here called the “old man,” and the “new man.” In the first the fruit is bad because the tree is bad. In the second the fruit is good because the tree has first been made good. The whole exhortation powerfully expounds the words of our Lord to Nicodemus: “Except a man be born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God,” therefore, “Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must be born again.” If any man has any doubt about the necessity of regeneration, let him read this section. It is the most powerful argument on the necessity of regeneration anywhere in the Bible.

Henry Ward Beecher, the great Congregationalist preacher, who had several heretical tendencies, was once subjected to an examination on orthodoxy before a council of his people. I have the paper which he submitted at that time. One of the points on which he was examined was the subject of regeneration. He said, “I unswervingly hold to the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit in order to be a Christian.” That looks all right. But when one of the examiners asked, “Do you hold that regeneration is necessary for any other reason than the actual transgressions of men?” What a searching question that! His reply was a dodge: “I believe that a man needs to be regenerated because he is an animal.” He would not admit original sin. He would not admit inherited depravity. He said that the Adam man was an animal and must be regenerated before he can become a spiritual man in Christ. That was new to me. Beecher was one of the most remarkable thinkers the world has ever known. Nobody else would have thought of replying just that way. If I had been there I would have asked Mr. Beecher some questions on the letter to the Ephesians.

The reader will notice that every gradation in process of corruption is set forth with philosophical power in this section. In analyzing it we see that he starts with spiritual ignorance. That produces vanity of mind, darkness of understanding, and alienation from the life of God. Then evil practice hardens the heart until we lose sensitiveness to right and wrong, become past feeling, so that the whole life is surrendered to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

How much we are reminded here of the terrible process set forth in Rom 1:21-32 ! There also the whole process is given: “Because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their imaginations, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Because they did not like to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them up to reprobate minds, to the working out of all evil passion. Read the whole of that awful indictment against the Gentile world.

A great missionary in the early days here in Texas preached for me in Waco on this theme: “Are the heathen lost without the gospel?” His answer was, “Yes, lost.” He took the first chapter of Romans and showed how what is there said fits just as well to conditions in heathen lands today as then; that human nature is always the same, and that through the fall of Adam an evil nature was inherited. That evil nature develops into acts. The wicked man waxes worse and worse and finally becomes crystallized, past feeling, without God, and without hope in the world. That was once the condition of these Ephesians. Many of them were Greeks, who prided themselves upon the greatest intellectual development in the world. Highest in art, science, sculpture, painting, eloquence, philosophy, they thought themselves the cream of the earth, but notwithstanding this culture their moral corruption was extreme. But new in Christ, renewed in mind, they are exhorted to put off the old man with his lusts, his anger, falsehood, idleness, theft, evil speaking, bitterness, clamor, railing, malice, fornication, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking and jesting, and drunkenness. These are overt acts. As soon as we are renewed in Christ we are obliged and empowered to put on the new man with his truth, industry, generosity, thankfulness, spirituality, mercy, love, praise, and prayer.

We see in the letter to the Galatians the fruits of the two trees contrasted. Gal 5:22 : “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.” Gal 5:19 : “The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.” When I was a young preacher I preached a sermon on the two trees the tree of the flesh and the tree of the Spirit and stated that some people spend half a lifetime trying to find out whether or not they are converted. I held up these two trees, saying, “Under which tree do you stand? There is a practical way of knowing that you are a child of God. Here are the things that are the fruits of the flesh, and here are the things that are the fruits of the Spirit. You know the fruit of your life; judge from that. If a man sows to the flesh, he reaps corruption; if he sows to the Spirit, he reaps life everlasting.” Our Lord said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” The carnal nature and spiritual nature are opposites and antagonists. He had already shown the source of the different fruits: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” They are just as wide apart as possible. There is, however, one difficulty in reaching a correct judgment from the fruit, to wit: Even the renewed man, until sanctification is complete, finds a war in himself, as we learn from Rom 7 . Sometimes the soul is on top and sometimes the fleshly lusts. In such cases there are yet two ways of ascertainment:

1. What is the trend of the life, good or evil, and is there progress toward the good?

2. Which trend does the person deliberately encourage and make provision for?

“You may not be able to keep a bird from lighting on your head, but you can keep him from building a nest in your hair.” “You may not be able to keep the devil from knocking at your door, but you are able to refrain from asking him to spend the night.”

In this careful elaboration of both good and evil fruits there are several expressions calling for special notice: “Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath: neither give place to the devil.” The first part of this statement shows that there is no sin per se in indignation against a wrong. Christ became terribly indignant at many evils which he saw in his day. We cannot stand by and see a great, burly boy browbeat and evil treat a weak little fellow without being indignant, that is, if we are any good ourselves. If a man sees a snake creeping up just about to strike a child, love in that case reaches out after a stick and hits quickly, and hits to hurt. In this way a man may be angry and sin not.

We come now to a nice point of discrimination: In our indignation at what is wrong there is a great hazard of committing a sin, so our text puts in three cautions. One is, “do not let the sun go down on your wrath,” that is, “do not cherish it until it breaks out in the wrong direction get rid of it before night.” When a man carries anger in his heart and broods over it for a week, or a year, or waits, as Absalom did, two years before striking, it grows into malice. There are two things the sun ought never to go down on, viz.: Never let the sun go down on your anger cool off before night and never let it go down on unpaid wages due a day laborer. Many are entirely dependent on each day’s pay. So let us pay our washerwomen and not forget that there are some obligations that a gentleman cannot defer. The next danger in anger is this: We are apt, if we are very hot about a matter, to take vengeance into our own hands. I will cite a passage which explains: “Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God; for it is written, vengeance belongeth to me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

I knew a man once to make a wrong application of that. While he was conducting family prayer his boy kept doing something that angered him, and he overcame evil with good by throwing the family Bible at him and knocking him down, which was not promotive of reverence for that service.

No matter how angry we get, we should never forget that vengeance is a divine prerogative. Nobody is qualified to take vengeance except God. He never forgets, and he takes everything into account. Our text says, “Neither give place to the devil.” When a Christian gets angry there stands the devil, whispering, “Hit him!” “Kill him!” “Take vengeance in your own hands!”

I saw a man once walk the floor for hours, and finally I said to him, “What is the matter?” “I am trying,” said he, “to get rid of a desire to get on the train, go to a certain place and cowhide a man until his skin hangs in strings. It is not right for me to do that, but I am continually reaching out my hand and trying to take hold of the thunderbolt of the Almighty and hurl it.”

The question has been asked, “What bearing has Eph 4:19 , ‘being past feeling’ on the unpardonable sin?” It is the tendency of turning away from light to have less light; turning away from the feeling to have less feeling. A young man in a protracted meeting may be wonderfully impressed. He is convinced that the Bible is true, that Christ is a Saviour and that he is a sinner. He is stirred up over the matter, and feels impelled to go and fall upon his knees and say, “God have mercy on my soul,” but says, “Not right now at a more convenient season some other time.” The next time he will not feel that impression as strong as the first time. The third time he feels it still less, and after a while he is past feeling cannot be awakened. The sun shines on wax and melts it. The sun shines on soft clay and hardens it. So light followed gets brighter; light neglected dims into darkness. Being past feeling may well, in some cases, indicate the unpardonable sin, but not in all cases. Some feel, by anticipation, the pangs of hell. Remorse can be active when there is no repentance.

The next particular passage is Eph 4:28 : “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give him that hath need.” The point that I want to impress is this: Many people in the church think, because they have no real estate, no bank account, and are not rich, that they ought not to help. They say, “I have nothing.” Here is the answer: “Go to work, get something, and help. You have strength.” One of the sweetest offerings ever laid upon the altar of God is the offering of the poor which is the result of the labor of their hands.

One day when I was taking up a great collection, people calling out in hundreds all over the house, an old woman, who had to be helped up, came on her crutches to the table and put on the table a pair of socks which she had knit. I felt the tears running down my face, and I almost listened to hear a voice from heaven say, “Behold, she hath done more than they all!” She felt that she had a right to help, even if she was poor, and that God did not require her to give beyond her ability. She could labor with her hands and make a contribution.

Next consider specially Eph 5:4 : “Nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not befitting.” This is the “fly in the apothecary’s ointment” in the case of many preachers. Many a good meeting has been ruined by the talk in the preacher’s tent. Let a young man who has been deeply concerned about his salvation hear that foolish talking and jesting in the hour of the preacher’s relaxation, and it hurts him; he is led to question the sincerity of the previous exhortation.

That is why, in my young manhood, I made a covenant with Dr. Riddle, moderator of our association, that we would never tell an obscene anecdote and never let anybody tell us one. He and I made that covenant when camping out on the prairie between Waco and Groesbeck. Afterward many people joined us in that covenant. It had a marked effect. I would like to see every preacher solemnly enter into an agreement with God to set a watch before his lips, to avoid foolish jesting and foolish, obscene stories.

I was in a stage traveling from Canyon to Plainview, one other Christian besides myself on the stage, and two worldly sinners. One of them started to tell a very vulgar anecdote. I said, “Stop! I imagine that is going to be tough. Let me get out and walk; I do not want to hear it. I am willing to help you while away the time by telling anecdotes, if they be good ones without any twang in them.” He said, “If you will let me tell this one, I will not tell any more.” “But I do not want to hear that one; I know it is bad, and I do not want to hear it.” “Why?” he asked. “Sir,” I said, “I made a covenant with a man who is now in heaven that I would never allow any one to tell me a smutty anecdote.” “Well,” he said, “Dr. Carroll, I respect your wishes in the matter.” I said to him, “Now you feel better; you have a better taste in your mouth.”

The next passage Isa 5:5 : “Nor a covetous man, who is an idolater.” Just look at that language! We claim that idolatry has passed away. But there stands that text: “A covetous man is an idolater.” He worships an idol, and that idol is money.

No devotee ever bowed before Moloch, or any other hideous idol in China or India, who was more of an idolater than a covetous man is.

When I was a boy a book of poetry was largely read called Pollok’s Course of Time . I am sorry people stopped reading it. It describes a miser in hell with the devil pouring melted gold down his throat.

The miser is the meanest, ghastliest, grizzliest of all gross men!

Milton does the same thing in Paradise Lost when he comes to describe Mammon. He makes other demons somewhat respectable, but when he comes to Mammon, there is nothing in him to admire.

We now notice Eph 5:7 . Here arises the question, “What are you going to do with this evil tide all around you?” (1) “Be ye not partakers with them.” We cannot help what they do, but we should not be partakers. (2) We should have no fellowship with their unfruitful works. (3) We should reprove them. I do not say that we ought to go out on the streets and denounce them. Our lives will reprove them if we show by the way we live that we do not touch those things. We cannot walk down the street without condemning them.

Again, Eph 5:14 : “Wherefore he sayeth, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.” That is a great text. Who can locate that text in the Bible? On that passage one of the greatest sermons I ever read is by Dr. Addison Alexander, a Presbyterian. I give the divisions of his sermon:

1. Sin is a state of darkness “Christ shall give thee light.”

2. A state of sleep “Awake, thou that sleepest.”

3. A state of death “Arise from the dead.”

Let us look at Eph 5:18 : “Be not drunken with the wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit.” There are two kinds of intoxication, one of wine and one of the Holy. Spirit. I have seen people under the intoxication of the Spirit. I remember one lady one of the sweetest ladies I ever knew. I was not a Christian, but it did me good to watch her in a meeting. When the power of the Spirit would begin to fill her heart, she would begin to show her intoxication. Her face would become luminous, her lips would quiver and she would commence to sing: “Oh, Love Divine, how sweet thou art.” It was like the rustling of the wings of an angel.

A preacher oftentimes needs a stimulant. The trouble is that some of them take the wrong kind. One thing I know: Nobody respects a preacher who, before he enters the pulpit, takes a little toddy or opium to enable him to take hold of things lively while in the pulpit. One of the most brilliant preachers in the South made a shipwreck of himself that way. I was called on to preach for him in his church, and when he got up to make his introductory remarks he was braced up right sharply with whiskey, and said some very foolish things. He could get a church anywhere at first, but at last he could get a church nowhere. Whenever we want to be stimulated, we should go off and pray. As we are infilled with the Spirit, we become enthusiastic; a divine afflatus rests upon us, enabling us to think thoughts that breathe, to speak words that burn and to sing songs that have more convincing power than the sermon. That is spiritual intoxication.

It is often a practical question: “What shall we do with exuberant feelings?” How may we find a safe vent for our enthusiasms, ecstasies, exultations? Edward Eggleston tells of a crowd of intoxicated boys raising this very question. One of them said, “Let’s do something lu-dick-er-ous.” When asked what he would call a “ludickerous” thing he replied, “Let’s go and rock the Dutchman’s house.” There was one inoffensive German in the neighborhood, and their rocking his house led to some costly and disastrous results. But Eph 5:19 suggests a better and safer vent: “Speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.” I have known churches intoxicated with the Spirit to do that very thing, the members going from house to house holding glorious song services that did much to deepen and widen the religious awakening.

From the general discussion of “the old” and “the new man” expressed in life’s work, he turns to the application in life’s relation, viz.: husband and wife, parent and child, master and servant, pointing out clearly as he does in other letters the reciprocal obligations, but as these relations have been discussed in the letter to the Colossians, we pass them here.

QUESTIONS

1. What philosophy of a good or evil life does this section give?

2. What is the bearing of the philosophy on the necessity of regeneration in order to a good life?

3. Cite the case of Henry Ward Beecher’s examination by a council of his people.

4. Are the heathen lost without the gospel?

5. What is our Lord’s standard for our judgment of men’s professions?

6. What is the difficulty in applying this test, and how obviated?

7. Expound: “Be ye angry and sin not.”

8. What is the first hazard in being angry, and how guarded?

9. What is the second, and how obviated?

10. What is the third, and how obviated?

11. What is the bearing of “past feeling” on the unpardonable sin?

12. Show how the poor should help in Christ’s work.

13. What danger attends the preacher’s hours of relaxation, and what examples cited?

14. Prove that we have idolaters among us.

15. What two poets describe the miser?

16. Where do you find the quotation: “Awake, thou that sleepest, etc.,” who preached a great sermon on the text, and what his outline?

17. What two intoxications are contrasted?

18. What prescription in this section for finding a safe vent to religious exuberance, and what Edward Eggleston’s account of a different vent for worldly exuberance?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Ver. 1. Children, obey your parents ] As Isaac did Abraham in submitting to be sacrificed; as Christ became obedient even to the death of the cross.

For this is right ] Good and acceptable before God and men, 1Ti 5:4 . See Trapp on “ Mat 15:4 “

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 4 .] See on ch. Eph 5:22 . Duties of children and parents . Children, obey your parents [ in the Lord (i.e. Christ: the sphere in which the action is to take place, as usual: belonging to . . , not to . , as if it were ., nor can this be combined, as a second reference, with the other, as by Orig. in Cramer’s Catena, understanding ‘your fathers in the faith, .’

I should venture however to question whether the Apostle’s view was to hint at such commands of parents as might not be according to the will of God, as is very generally supposed (‘quia poterant parentes aliquid imperare perversum, adjunxit in Domino.’ Jer.): for cf. Col 3:20 , . I should rather believe, that he regards both parents and children as , and the commands, as well as the obedience, as having that sphere and element. How children were to regard commands not answering to this description , would be understood from the nature of the case: but it seems to violate the simplicity of this passage, to introduce into it a by-thought of this kind)]: for this is right (Thdrt., Harl., De W., Mey., al., regard as explained by the next verse, and meaning . But it seems rather an appeal to the first principles of natural duty, as Est., ‘ut a quibus vitam acceperimus, iis obedientiam reddamus.’ So Beng. Stier, as usual, combines both senses just, according to the law both of nature and of God. Surely it is better to regard the next verse as an additional particular, not the mere expansion of this).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Eph 4:1 to Eph 6:20 .] SECOND (hortatory) PORTION OF THE EPISTLE: and herein [A] ( Eph 4:1-16 ) ground of the Christian’s duties as a member of the Church , viz. the unity of the mystical Body of Christ ( Eph 4:1-6 ) in the manifoldness of grace given to each (7 13), that we may come to perfection in Him (14 16).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

22 6:9 .] The Church, in her relation to Christ, comprehending and hallowing those earthly relations on which all social unity (and hers also) is founded, the Apostle proceeds to treat of the three greatest of those : that of husband and wife ( Eph 5:22-33 ), that of parent and child (ch. Eph 6:1-4 ), that of master and servant ( Eph 6:5-9 ). See this expanded by Stier, in his very long note, ii. 316 329.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Eph 6:1-4 . Other relative duties those of parents and children. With this the concise paragraph in Col 3:20-21 is specially to be compared.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Eph 6:1 . , [ ]: children obey your parents in the Lord . The duty of the wife has been described by the terms subjection or submission ( ) and fear ( ). The duty of the child is now described in terms of obedience ( , = readiness to hearken to one) and honour ( , Eph 6:2 ). In these words the whole distinctive duty of the child is summed up, in the Old Testament as well as in the New. The “eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it” (Pro 30:17 ). Disobedience to parents is named among the dark sins of the heathen of reprobate mind (Rom 1:30 ), and the evils of the “grievous times” in “the last days” (2Ti 3:2 ). The , = in Christ , is best connected with the , not with the . It defines the quality of the obedience by defining the sphere within which it is to move a Christian obedience fulfilled in communion with Christ. This phrase , however, is of disputable authority. It is inserted by the TR, supported by [722] [723] [724] 2, 3 [725] [726] [727] , Vulg., Syr., etc.; but is omitted by [728] [729] * [730] [731] , Cyr., Cypr., etc. It is deleted by Lachm., bracketed by TrWH, and retained by RV. : for this is right . = right, not in the sense of befitting ( ) merely, but ( cf. Col 4:1 ; Phi 1:7 ; Phi 4:8 ; 2Th 1:6 ) in that of righteous , what is required by law the law that is at once founded on the natural relation of and and proclaimed in the Divine Commandment (Eph 6:2 ).

[722] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[723] Codex Alexandrinus (sc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[724] Codex Claromontanus (sc. vi.), a Grco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[725] Codex Mosquensis (sc. ix.), edited by Matthi in 1782.

[726] Codex Angelicus (sc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[727] Codex Porphyrianus (sc. ix.), at St. Petersburg, collated by Tischendorf. Its text is deficient for chap. Eph 2:13-16 .

[728] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[729] Codex Claromontanus (sc. vi.), a Grco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[730] Codex Augiensis (sc. ix.), a Grco-Latin MS., at Trinity College, Cambridge, edited by Scrivener in 1859. Its Greek text is almost identical with that of G, and it is therefore not cited save where it differs from that MS. Its Latin version, f, presents the Vulgate text with some modifications.

[731] Codex Boernerianus (sc. ix.), a Grco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthi in 1791. Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis ( ) of the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Ephesians Chapter 6

Let us briefly look at the relations of children and fathers, as well as of servants and masters. Here, obedience is the grand point pressed on the inferior in each case. As all saints are called to submit themselves one to another in the fear of Christ, and wives especially to their own husbands, subject to them in every thing, so children are to obey their parents in the Lord. (Ver. 1.) It is not that the Holy Ghost has not a suited and a serious word for their fathers; but, in general, how easy is the flow of a christian household where the young obey – above all, where they “obey in the Lord.” Natural affection is sweet, and the lack of it is a sign of the perilous last days; but it is not enough; nor is conscience, all-important as it is in its place, an adequate guard, nor can it be a spring of power; but the Lord is. And how blessed, where duty is clothed with and absorbed in Him! This, and nothing less than this, is pressed by the Holy Ghost.

It was so with the Lord Himself when He was here, and knew what it was to be in the place of a child. “And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.” Nor are we left to a vague, general statement; we are shown a living picture of His ways. “And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Thus, He, even as a child of twelve, had the consciousness of His own proper relationship. The. humanity He had taken, as born of a woman, in no way weakened the sense He had of His Father’s love and business, but rather gave a new occasion in which He had to make it good. At the same time, we see what is so beautiful – how His eye, absolutely single, saw that which became Him on the earthly side, in striking contrast with Joseph and even His mother, who “understood not the saying which he spake unto them.” Hence we read immediately after that, “He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.” Such was Jesus, the Lord of all, during much the larger part of His earthly career.

The same principle is true of the christian child; save that Christ’s relationship to the Father was essential, ours to Him and to His Father is, of course, the pure gift of grace. But still we, too, are children, conferred on us as the title surely is in and through our Lord Jesus. “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God . . . . . Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” And this, by the working of the Holy Ghost, is the secret of happy obedience in the earthly relationship. Conscious of what we are to the Lord, we can obey in Him. “In the Lord” is both the encouragement, the safeguard, and the limit. The parents might be Jew or heathen, or they might bear unworthily the name of Christ; but christian children (while thoroughly owning their relation to their parents, whatever they might be) have the sweet privilege of obeying “in the Lord.” How it simplifies questions otherwise perplexing! How it determines also where and how far one ought to go! For if they are to obey “in the Lord,” such a call cannot rightly be made a reason or excuse for sin.

In the Epistle to the Colossians, where the saints were in danger from a misuse of legal ordinances, the ground urged why children should obey their parents in all things, is “For this is well-pleasing unto the Lord.” Here the faithful were free from that snare, and the Holy Ghost could freely use a principle embodied in the law, and hence adds “for this is right ,” or just. Nay, He can follow it up with a quotation, slightly changed from the decalogue, drawing attention parenthetically to its special place therein. “Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest be long-lived on the earth.” (Ver. 2, 3.) If such was God’s estimate of filial piety under law, was it less now that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ unfolds His nature and calls us to the relationship of sons unto Himself? If respect to that word of old found its approval and recompense in the righteous government of God, if He then watched over and prospered such as honoured their parents, did the revelation of Himself in grace relax the obligation for His children, or make the love that prompts and sustains such honour less precious in His own eyes now? No intelligent Christian would contend that it is other than a precept from the law, but so applied as to insinuate, if I mistake not, a kind of fortiori conclusion to the New Testament believer. Certainly, to be well and live long on the earth is not the form in which the proper portion of a saint, since the cross of Christ) is usually set before him.

To the fathers is the admonition (more needed by such than the mothers, perhaps, though in principle no doubt intended for both), “Provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ver. 4.) What knowledge of the heart of both old and young! What tender consideration, after the pressure of obedience, lest a too stringent and capricious use of the parental authority might exasperate! The bringing them up, or nourishing, is, on the other hand, to be with the Lord’s discipline and admonition. As the Christian knows His ways, as they are in exercise toward himself and others, so is he to train up his children for Him – an all-important principle for the parent’s own heart and conscience. Do we desire the Lord alone for them, or the world too?

Next (ver. 5-8), the christian slaves are exhorted to obey their masters according to the flesh (such they were, whether converted or not), to obey them with fear and trembling, in singleness of their heart, as to Christ; not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each doeth, this he shall receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Is it not worthy of all note the extent and depth of the liberty that is in Christ? There is nothing violent or revolutionary; and yet the change is complete, absolute, final in its principle and character, though one has to grow in the appreciation and manifestation of it. And this growth is important morally, being part and parcel of Christianity practically viewed, where the very first blessing which God’s grace bestows upon us in Christ appears not save to faith, has to be realized all through in the power of the Spirit through self-judgment, and is only ours in actual possession and display when that which is perfect is come in resurrection-glory. Still, how blessed, that if in one sense we have nothing, in another and just as real a sense we possess all things. On this truth faith has to lay hold and act; and among the rest, what a boon to the christian bondman! What a mighty motive for him, who, already consciously free in Christ in a liberty entirely superior to circumstances, has for that very reason such a scope for triumphing over his fetters and serving Christ in obeying the worst of masters if it were the Lord’s will so to try him! Doubtless, the master too has his duties; but if he fail, what then? Is the slave absolved from his responsibility? How can this ever be a difficulty, if he obeys in simplicity as unto Christ? Does He fail? What a deliverance from every shade of dishonesty! – “not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ [how honourable the title which one shares with an apostle!], doing the will of God from the soul;” for such is the true word here. More than this: not only is there the call with goodwill to do service as to the Lord and not to men, but they are reminded that the day was coming when each, whether bond or free, should receive of the Lord for whatever good he might do. Ample wages then, be assured; for He, at least, is not unrighteous.

Then, in turn (ver. 9), the masters are called to impartial equity, doing as they would be done by, and abstaining from the threats so natural toward a poor slave. They were to know that the Lord both of masters and slaves was in the heavens, and that no respect of persons is with Him: – both of them weighty considerations for a master, and, with delicate propriety, laid before him rather than the slave.

We now enter on the final exhortations of the epistle, no longer occupied with the several relationships of the saints in their earthly circumstances, and hence looking at distinct classes, but addressed to all. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” It is the opening of the solemn subject of proper christian conflict, viewed, naturally in Ephesians, as carried on at the height of our heavenly privileges in Christ. In 1 Peter the scene lies, so to speak, in the wilderness, where, most appropriately, sobriety and vigilance are enjoined on the pilgrims and strangers who pass onward to the incorruptible inheritance; because their adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour. Here the enemy is regarded as on high, where the saints are blessed with every spiritual blessing, where their Head is exalted, where they are seated in Him, where the principalities and powers are learning by them the manifold wisdom of God; there, too, is the real struggle with the prince of the power of the air and his hosts.

But if, on the one hand, there is no keeping back from the believers the formidable conflict to which they are inevitably committed, there is, on the other hand, no weakening of their hands. On the contrary, the trumpet, which here summons to the battle, gives the most certain sounds of good courage, without presumption, in the saints, and of the amplest provision for their victory in the Lord, who has called them to warfare at His charges. What was His name by faith in His name to him that was lame from his mother’s womb, whom they laid for daily alms at the gate of the temple? Is it less for our need? Far be the thought. All that is needed is the faith which is by Him; and faith comes by a report and this by God’s word; and what more inspiriting to us than such words as these, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might?”

Nevertheless, the mighty contest with the powers of darkness admits of no negligence on our part. We cannot afford to be unguarded anywhere. We have to stand, not so much against the strength of the devil (Christ did this) as against his wiles. In truth, he is to us a vanquished foe in the cross; and we are entitled always to treat him as such. Therefore, says James, (Jas 4:7 ), “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” It is his artifices that are chiefly and always to be dreaded; and to resist these we need to put on the panoply of God, as it is added here: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.”

Well might we tremble if we stood in any resources of ours against such an array. But it is not so. The battle is the Lord’s and our exposure but draws out His mighty hand and unfailing wisdom. Still we have to fight. It will not do to plead our weakness or His strength in order to shirk our responsibility. We must not merely look at, or point to, the panoply of God as our possession, so to speak, but must put it on at His bidding.

Another thing must be borne in mind. It is no question here of our wants before God. For He has no conflict with us; but having delivered our souls, He calls us to wrestle for the mastery with the unseen armies of His enemy. As naked in our lost estate once, we needed to be clothed; and His grace did clothe us with the best robe, with Christ. This is our clothing as before God: nothing less, nothing else, would suit His presence as His guests. But here it is a question of fighting the enemy, after we are clad with Christ; and we needed armour of divine tempering to stand aright and securely. On the details of this armour we shall enter by and by; it is only on the general truth that I would insist now.

How remarkably we are here reminded of Joshua in verse 10, and Israel’s foes in verse 12! To Joshua the word was, “Arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses . . . . . There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous.” (Jos 1 . Compare also verses 9, 18.) Again, it is clear that if the Canaanites were but enemies of flesh and blood, they are types of the still deadlier foes we have to fight – foes whose effort it is to hinder the Christian from taking possession, in present enjoyment, of his heavenly inheritance.

It is not here, note it well, the Red Sea crossed, and then the desert, where we have to learn what God is and to be proved ourselves. The wilderness is the great scene of temptation; though, no doubt, there are occasional battles, as with Amalek and with Midian, still it is the place where we have to go or stay at God’s bidding, in need of daily, heaven-sent supplies, where there is nothing else to sustain, ever marching onward with the heavenly land before us. But the wrestling here, as in the Book of Joshua, supposes the passage of the Jordan and entrance into Canaan, where the day of conflict begins, rather than that of temptation in the wilderness.

Is the evangelical school right in making Jordan to be the act of death at the end of our career when the saint departs to be with Christ? Clearly not; for in this case what would answer to the wars in Canaan? No! excellent as Bunyan was, in this he was mistaken, following the mistakes of others before him and perpetuating them far and wide to this day. Indeed, this is one of the tests of where the soul is and how far it is emancipated from traditional theology, which limits its disciples to a minimum of truth. Elsewhere, as for instance in their use of the Passover and Red Sea, there is defectiveness; here there is absolutely nothing, or error. And this I say, singling out the author of “Pilgrim’s Progress” as a noble and most advanced specimen of popular views. The best of their day in the religious world are but his commentators – some of them literally so. Can there be a better proof how completely the gist of this epistle is ignored? The truth is that in the Red Sea we have Christ dead and risen for us; in Jordan, we have our death and resurrection with Him: the one ushering us into the world as the dreary waste of our pilgrimage, the other putting us in view of our heavenly blessing, which we have then to appropriate by victory over Satan. The distinction is as clear as it is important, though both are true of the Christian now. When the glorious day comes for the inheritance to be ours, not by the force of faith which thus in practice defeats the enemy and makes good the land God has given us, we shall not have to wrestle with these principalities and powers in heavenly places: the conflict will be closed for us and for ever. The expulsion of the dragon, “that old serpent,” is not our work, but that of Michael and his angels. With overcoming him we have to do, but not with his forcible ejection from heaven. All the time the Church is here below, our conflict goes on with these spiritual wickednesses in heavenly places; when the actual casting out by God’s providential power takes place, we shall not be here, but above.

After the Passover and the Red Sea there was no return of Israel to the slavery of Pharaoh; their taskmasters were overthrown and gone; “there remained not so much as one of them.” “The Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptian, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.” But circumcision did not characterize the redeemed in the wilderness. No sooner were the children on the Canaanitish side of Jordan than they rolled away the reproach of Egypt at Gilgal. The knife of circumcision was applied to deal with Israel before they draw the sword on the doomed inhabitants of Canaan. They were in Canaan and had nothing more to do to get there: their work was to make the land their own.

Has this no instruction for us? Have we consciously laid hold of our union with Christ on high? Do we know our place is there in Him, and that we have there to stand? Is nature, root and branch, a judged thing in us? Do we render a heavenly testimony – not only righteous and holy, but heavenly? Are we then and thus advancing on the enemy and making good our title by present victory to enjoy the boundless blessings above which we have in Christ? Or are we still, as far as realization goes, ransomed, but in the wilderness, with Jordan uncrossed and the old corn of the land for us untouched food? Are we merely guarding against the flesh breaking out here or there, against worldly temptations overtaking us in this or that? If so, need we wonder that verse 12 sounds mysterious, and that we question what is meant by the wrestling with the enemies in heavenly places? It was probably the total misapprehension, or non-apprehension, of the truth here revealed, which led our English translators into the unwarrantable change of heavenly into “high” places in this passage only. It behoves ourselves, however, to consider whether our own souls have proved and are proving the panoply of God in this conflict, where, above all, it is plain that “the flesh profiteth nothing.”

In these verses, after a prefatory resumption, we come to the particulars of the Christian’s armour. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,” etc. (Ver. 13-17.)

The first thing to be noticed is that the Holy Spirit calls on us to take up the panoply of God. Neither strength nor wisdom of man avail in this conflict. As we have to do with the hosts of Satan on the one hand, we need on the other “the whole armour of God.” Our natural character and habits may not signify, where the Spirit of God is at work to save our souls in His grace; but they are of vast moment in presence of a foe who knows how to take advantage of every unguarded opening. Even to those at Corinth, carnal as they were, and only fit to bear the food of babes (not the solid meat which is set before the Ephesian saints), he had shown that, walking in flesh, we do not war according to flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but divinely mighty to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Not flesh, but the Spirit of God has power against Satan.

Here, too, the character of the time in which the conflict goes on is designated as “the evil-day.” Evil indeed is the entire period since Christ was crucified and the enemy acquired the title of “the prince of this world.” Hence, in chapter 5, we are expected to walk with carefulness, not as fools but as wise, seizing every good and suited opportunity, because “the days are evil.” But here we have something more precise, “that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day.” For there are occasions when the power of evil is allowed to press more closely and the danger is great for the careless soul. It is emphatically then ” the evil day;” and it is well when the Christian has anticipated it; for the point at such a time is not to take up the panoply, but, having already taken it, “to withstand .” “The evil day” should find us already and fully armed, if we are to make effectual resistance. Nor is this enough. For how often the victory of faith is too great for the faith that won it, and a saint who has long and afresh vanquished the enemy, may tire of the struggle and turn aside into a seemingly easier path, to prove his own folly, and his exceeding danger, even if in the end delivered by the pure mercy of God! To resist, then, does not suffice, but “having done all,” having thoroughly accomplished all things requisite, “to stand.” The fight – the fights – may have been keen, the victory complete through the Lord’s goodness and might; but the war is not over. Our place is still to stand our ground.

“Stand, therefore, having girt your loins about with truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness, and shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” I have changed the English Version slightly, so as to adhere more closely to the true sense, which supposes not only a settled position, but the soul in activity according to the summons of the Holy Ghost. Much mischief has arisen from regarding this passage as if it treated of standing, whereas, in truth, it is essentially different. It is practical arming and conflict, founded on the most blessed standing anywhere revealed in the New Testament, and suitably closing the epistle which reveals it.

To know the truth and be set free by the truth is one thing; to have girt about our loins with truth is another. It is the intimate dealing of truth with the soul, so that there is no laxity of heart or indulged will, but, on the contrary, the affections and judgment braced up to Christ and the things of Christ. Thus the saint cleaves to the Lord with full purpose of heart; and, self being searched and judged by the truth, there is vigour imparted through the revelation of His mind and grace, which are now more than ever enjoyed. It is the power of truth in keeping the soul, delivered in God’s rich mercy, and too thankful to be under an authority so comprehensive and penetrating and absolute, as to leave nothing, let it be ever so inward, outside the range of God’s will and the saint’s obedience. To bear and delight in this, however, assumes that the heart is established in grace; it can then welcome the truth in all its energetic claim and control.

Next follows “the breastplate of righteousness” put on. This is quite distinct from the righteousness of God, which we are made in Christ. The latter we need before God; the former we want for successful wrestling with our adversary the devil. As the Spirit, in the girding round our loins with truth, shows the first piece of armour to be the thorough application of the word to us in self-judgment, and, withal, in moral energy, so the next demanded is that we put on practical righteousness as our breastplate. Nothing exposes a saint in conflict more readily than a bad conscience in his ways. I do not mean a conscience unpurged, but where evil, after the knowledge of redemption, has been allowed and communion is broken.

Connected with this is the having “the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” This, again, is evidently a matter of practical power and enjoyment, the effect of maintaining a good conscience, as the latter can only be where all is held and guarded by the truth. Then the soul goes on in peace. “The fruit of righteousness,” as another apostle says, “is sown in peace of them that make peace.” Where there is laxity, the conscience gets bad; and the result is trouble, and making trouble; where truth governs, the conscience is kept bright, and, happy ourselves, we shed happiness around us.

Verse 16 introduces another and quite as necessary a part of the divine armour, but, doubtless, justly put subsequent to what we have seen. “Above [or, beside] all, having taken up the shield of faith with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” This means that confidence in God Himself which the soul is entitled and encouraged to cherish: I say, in Himself, because, though inseparable from the godly and righteous state the previous portions of the panoply intimate, it is a confidence springing only from what God is known to be in His own nature and character. All the envenomed efforts of the wicked one are futile where God is thus known in the power of the Holy Ghost ungrieved within us; all his darts not only fail to produce despair and distrust, but they are extinguished by the shield of faith.

But there is more (ver. 17): “and receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” The shield of faith is more general confidence; the helmet of salvation is rather the bold and joyful consciousness of the full deliverance God has wrought for us in Christ. This crowns the various parts of the armour already noticed, and is therefore followed, not by further means of defence (for it is complete), but by the instrument of offensive energy against the adversary, the sword of the Spirit, even God’s word. How wisely it is thus placed in the last place of all, will be apparent to the instructed mind! Indeed, if there be not this order known practically, the word is made a mere toy of, or perhaps a scourge for self, rather than to have the character of the sword of the Spirit; it is misused and powerless. Handled in the Spirit, what deliverance it works! What disabling of adversaries and what a detector of Satan! It is for conflict.

We have had the details of the panoply of God, active energy following that which pertains to the state, practical security and the confidence of the soul. But there is a hidden spring of power without which nothing avails – the expression of weakness, strange to say, but of weakness in dependence on God. Hence the word is, “praying always with all prayer” – praying at every season. There is nothing the enemy more dreads, nothing that flesh more seeks to hinder, or to make amiss if there be the form. But so much the more need we to bear in mind the call to habitual and complete dependence.

Besides, there is the exercise of spiritual desires, and not dependence only; as it is said by our Lord elsewhere, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (Joh 14:15 ) In a word, there is encouragement and exhortation to every kind of prayer and at every opportunity, while there is also that character of petition which is sustained in the power of the Holy Ghost, “supplication in the Spirit,” which all prayer of the saints is not.

Another weighty word is the call to “watch unto this very thing;” for this supposes the activity of love which is quick to discern in the fear of the Lord and in the bowels of Christ that which might tarnish His glory on the one hand, and on the other whatever would contribute to the exaltation of His name in His saints and testimony. What a deliverance this is, not only from self-will, but from anxiety and from self-importance! And what a field for gracious affections to turn everything of good or ill into occasions of intercourse with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to turn all – otherwise transient, or food for gossip – into channels of everlasting blessing! How wise and good is every word of our God! May the thing itself, as well as His word about it, be precious in our eyes! Where this is so, there will be watching in the habit of prayer, “with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” For where God’s presence is thus realized, there is no straitness in the affections, but love goes out energetically to Him and in communion with Him concerning all the saints. It is the service of love before Him who is love. But as having at heart the interests of Christ, there is the special remembrance of such as gather with Christ. So here the apostle speaks of their supplication on behalf of himself; and, as it appears, with a link of greater energy than that which spread desires about the saints before the Lord – “and for me” (not merely , but , as indicating particularity among the general objects of the action), “that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, on behalf of which I am ambassador in chains; that therein I may be bold as I ought to speak.”

It is blessed to find such a practical evidence of the apostle’s own sense of the value of intercession, the intercession of saints, for his ministry. His consciousness of its dignity rather increased than diminished his wish to be thus remembered.

But again, he reckoned on their love, not only in thus praying on his behalf, but also in their desiring to know matters concerning him, how he fared; and, therefore tells them that “Tychicus, the beloved brother, and faithful servant in the Lord’ shall make known to you all things: whom I sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.” What a contrast with the spirit of men is the mighty, gracious working of divine love in the heart, which counts on the tender concern of the saints in him who served and loved them in the Lord! Man, as such, would either be indifferent and hard, or would fear the imputation of vanity, as if his matters could be objects of interest to others. But Christ changes all for the hearts of those that have received Him.

“Peace to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace with all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption.”

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT Eph 6:1-3

1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

Eph 6:1 “children” It is uncertain what age is referred to here. In Jewish life a boy became a man, responsible to the Law and marriageable, at the age of 13 (i.e., bar mitzvah); a girl became a woman at the age of 12 (i.e., bath mitzvah). In Roman culture a boy became a man at age 14, in Greek culture, at age 18.

“obey” This is a present active imperative which is a compound Greek term from “to hear” and “under.” The Colossians parallel adds “in all things.” This obedience must be for a set period of time (childhood). Even this command must be balanced with Mat 10:34-39. Ultimate authority is not parental, but divine.

“in the Lord” This phrase is omitted in the ancient Greek uncial manuscripts B, D4, F and G, but it is present in P46, , A, and D1 as well as the Vulgate, Peshitta, Coptic and Armenian translations. Its inclusion makes definite that the context is the Christian home. This context implies both a Christian child and Christian parents.

“for this is right” The Bible clearly expresses the God-given relationship between parents and children (cf. Col 3:20; Pro 6:20; Pro 23:27). Strong families make strong societies.

Eph 6:2 “honor” This is a present active imperative. It is a quote from the Ten Commandments (cf. Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16). “Honor” was a commercial term which meant “to give due weight to.” It reflected the OT concept of that which is “heavy” is valuable. Parents are to be respected and valued by Christian children. There are no perfect parents (as there are no perfect children).

“father and mother” This shows that both parents deserve honor and respect.

“(which is the first commandment with a promise)” This quote in Eph 6:3 is used in Deuteronomy in several different contexts (cf. Deu 4:40; Deu 5:16; Deu 5:33; Deu 30:17-18). It is not an individual promise of longevity but a cultural promise of societal stability. Notice that Paul, by quoting the Ten Commandments, shows that the Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy) was still in effect as far as revelatory guidance for the Christian (cf. Eph 4:25-26; Rom 10:4; Rom 13:9-10; Gal 2:15-21) but not for salvation (cf. Galatians 3).

Eph 6:3 “on earth” Paul adapted the OT quote from “In the land that the Lord your God has given you” (cf. Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16) and turned it into a general principle. The NT authors often took OT promises to Israel and adapted them into universal truths.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Children. App-108. Compare Col 3:20.

Lord. App-98.

right. App-191.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1-4.] See on ch. Eph 5:22. Duties of children and parents. Children, obey your parents [in the Lord (i.e. Christ: the sphere in which the action is to take place, as usual: belonging to . ., not to ., as if it were ., nor can this be combined, as a second reference, with the other, as by Orig. in Cramers Catena, understanding your fathers in the faith, .

I should venture however to question whether the Apostles view was to hint at such commands of parents as might not be according to the will of God, as is very generally supposed (quia poterant parentes aliquid imperare perversum, adjunxit in Domino. Jer.): for cf. Col 3:20, . I should rather believe, that he regards both parents and children as , and the commands, as well as the obedience, as having that sphere and element. How children were to regard commands not answering to this description, would be understood from the nature of the case: but it seems to violate the simplicity of this passage, to introduce into it a by-thought of this kind)]: for this is right (Thdrt., Harl., De W., Mey., al., regard as explained by the next verse, and meaning . But it seems rather an appeal to the first principles of natural duty, as Est., ut a quibus vitam acceperimus, iis obedientiam reddamus. So Beng. Stier, as usual, combines both senses-just, according to the law both of nature and of God. Surely it is better to regard the next verse as an additional particular, not the mere expansion of this).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Chapter 6

Now parent-child relationships,

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right ( Eph 6:1 ).

That “in the Lord” I think is important. If your parents are not godly and if your parents are demanding you to do things or requiring you to do things that are improper from a spiritual base, then I do not believe that obedience is required. But obey your parents in the Lord.

There is the higher conscience to God, where we must obey God rather than man. If what is being required of me would violate my conscience towards God, then that has to be the guiding standard of my life. Even in wives submitting to their husbands, again, there is the guiding standard of your conscience towards God. If your husband is requiring something that would affect your conscience before God, then I do not believe that you have to submit. Your husband isn’t really loving you as Christ loved the church or he wouldn’t require you to do that. So in all of these issues there is that higher authority of God in our lives and our conscience towards Him.

So children obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.

Honor thy father and thy mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) ( Eph 6:2 )

Now, a lot of commandments. This is the first commandment that had a promise attached to it. “Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the earth.”

That it might be well with you and your days long upon the earth. Now, you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath ( Eph 6:3-4 ):

I think one of the cruelest things that I have observed fathers doing sometimes is teasing their children to the point of distraction, getting a kick of the frenzied little child. Holding out a piece of candy or a cookie, and then as they are reaching out, pull it back. Then hold it out and pulling it back, and creating frustration until the child can’t handle itself. Provoke not your children to wrath, that is a cruel thing to do. It is cruel to derive humor or whatever from this kind of teasing of a child. It isn’t right. It is mentally abusing the child, but some people get sort of a kick out of seeing a little child just scream in a frenzy by frustration, can’t do anything about it. Provoke not your children to wrath.

I think that we can provoke our children to wrath by demanding unreasonable achievements from them. “After all, it is my child. They have got to be a genius. They are so smart; they are talking before anybody else. They are walking. My child just has to be super smart and special,” and so we sometimes are trying to push them beyond their capacities. Thus, that creates frustration. We need to be careful that we don’t push them to the point of frustration.

Provoke not your children to wrath,

but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord ( Eph 6:4 ).

Teach them about God, teach them the things of God and the ways of God.

Servants, [employees] be obedient to your bosses according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, and singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart ( Eph 6:5-6 );

We are told in the scriptures that whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all to the glory of Christ, or do what you do as unto Christ. No matter what kind of a job I am doing, I am a witness for Jesus Christ, and therefore, I want to do it good for His sake, so that people will think well of Christianity because the job that I am doing is super special. I am giving an extra effort. I am not complaining. I am going an extra mile. I am doing more than what is required of me. That my life might be a good witness for Jesus Christ.

We have many young people that have gone from Calvary Chapel on these kibbutz programs over in Israel, and they have left a good witness because of the way that they work without complaining, their good attitudes. Why? Because they go over and they are working as unto the Lord. They have taken the right attitude with them. Doing their work as unto the Lord, and it leaves a powerful witness as these in the kibbutz observe their work. Some of the first groups that went over, those in the kibbutzim were determined to really break them. They gave them the dirtiest jobs around the kibbutz. Just pressed them all kinds of stuff, and yet, these kids would do it smiling and rejoicing and with good attitudes. And what they did was break down the kibbutznicks. They said, “Wow, can’t believe the way these people respond and react.” Why? Because I am doing it as unto the Lord.

There are a lot of times when we are required to do things that are galling to us. Sometimes the boss may ask you to do something that you say, “Hey, come on. I am above that.” Sweep the floor. “Are you kidding?” I used to work for Alpha Beta markets. In my work for them I was called on to do just about everything. I was going around to the various stores, substituting for managers and all kinds of work. Anything that would come up they would call me to hotshot for them. Sometimes I would go into the store and it would be filthy and so the janitor wouldn’t be there. I would go ahead and clean the restrooms and sweep the floors. I thought, “If they want to pay me what they are paying me, I don’t care what I do. I will sweep the floors or whatever.” I developed a reputation of a guy that will just go for it. Because I was doing it as unto the Lord and I figured they are paying for my time, and so I will do what they ask of me when I am here, without complaining or murmuring. That is exactly what we are told to do here. Do what you do as unto the Lord, not to please men but to please the Lord, as a good witness for Him.

With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be a slave or a free man ( Eph 6:7-8 ).

I am ultimately looking to the Lord for my rewards for my life and for my work.

And so, you masters [if you are in the position of an employer], do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him ( Eph 6:9 ).

In the early church when slavery was such a popular thing, it was quite interesting because many of those in the early church were slaves. Many of those in the early church were masters who had many slaves. The interesting thing was, is that here is a fellow that all week long is taking orders from his master and he goes to church and he is the elder in the church and his master is just one of the people in the church, and the whole order was reversed when they got to church. With God there is no respect of persons, we are all one before Him.

Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore ( Eph 6:10-14 ),

So we now come to the final section of the book, the warfare of the believer. The first three chapters Paul dealt with the wealth of the believer. The next two and a half chapters Paul dealt with the walk of the believer. Now he deals with the warfare. Or, in the first three chapters he dealt with the position, seated with Christ. In the next two and a half chapters he dealt again with the walk, and now he deals with standing.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Know that you don’t have the strength in yourself; it is the Lord who gives me strength. Apart from Him I can do nothing, but I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. So Paul sees the Roman soldier dressing himself for war, and we as Christians are in a warfare. It is a spiritual warfare, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, and powers, which are spirit entities; they are captains and lieutenants of the demon ranks. They are called principalities, powers, authorities, dominions, and they have various rankings of evil spirits. That is where the real warfare lies, in the realm of the spirit, fighting these spiritual battles. And thus, the weapons of our warfare are spiritual weapons. It is a spiritual battle. It cannot be fought with physical weapons. We must arm ourselves with spiritual weapons. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against these principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in the high places. So you have to take the whole armor of God that you might be able to stand in that evil day and having done all, just stand.

Therefore, as we arm ourself, the first bit of armament that we put on is the

truth ( Eph 6:14 ),

Because the enemy is always coming with his lies. Jesus said that the devil is the father of all lies. And he tries to lie to you about God, about the nature of God, about the character of God, about the attitude of God towards you. He tries to lie to you about God’s attitude towards sin. “Oh, it really doesn’t matter. You can get by with it. God will judge you. God will forgive,” and so forth, and he presses the point of causing you to use the grace of God as a cloak for lasciviousness, deceiving yourself. The truth-it’s important that I be armed with the truth.

Secondly,

the breastplate of righteousness ( Eph 6:14 );

That commitment in my heart to do that which is right before God. I have got to have that as just a commitment of my life. I want to do the right thing. Not to observe the situation and then determine which way I will balance. But just have that determination that I am going to live a right kind of life. Righteousness.

Righteousness actually constitutes the right actions towards those around me. And unrighteousness is not doing the right thing toward my neighbor. Godliness is doing the right thing towards God. The right relationship with God. Ungodliness is the wrong relationship with God. There is ungodliness, my relationship with God, and unrighteousness, my relationship with man.

Now he is talking here about righteousness. I have got to have that just as a basic foundation, the breastplate of righteousness. I am going to do as best as God enables me the right thing. I want to live right.

Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace ( Eph 6:15 );

It is God’s desire that we live in peace with each other, and with Him. We live in a world that is filled with strife. We talked about marriage relationships, but how many homes are so filled with strife. The atmosphere is continually tense as we are failing to obey the scriptures in submitting one to another in love. But we are trying to dominate over each other; we are trying to rule over each other, and there is no love involved. We get to arguing over the most ridiculous things and we won’t give in. We won’t yield the point, we will press our point, get the last word in, leave a sour taste. And yet, as the scripture says, “That yielding will pacify great offenses.”

How many times in a tense situation where there is just the drawn sword and the clash taking place can the whole issue be diffused by just one person saying, “I think you are right. It is stupid to go on arguing like that. You are probably right.” It just diffuses the whole thing. Suddenly the strife is gone. Why do we find that so hard to do? To admit to being wrong, or to admit to the other person possibly being right. Even when we know they are wrong. Help us, Lord.

Above all, taking the shield of faith ( Eph 6:16 ),

That faith and confidence in God is what is being talked about here.

wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked ( Eph 6:16 ).

Satan is constantly attacking us. My faith in God, God’s ability, God’s power, God’s working in me. I can stand against these attacks of the enemy.

Take the helmet of salvation ( Eph 6:17 ),

Thank God I have been saved through Jesus Christ from that tyranny of a life mastered by the flesh. I have been saved in order that I might walk in fellowship with God through the Spirit.

And finally,

the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God ( Eph 6:17 ):

Not finally, but next, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

God’s Word is a tremendous defense against sin. John said, “I write unto you young men, because you are strong, because you have overcome the wicked one, because His Word abides in you.” The power of God’s Word within my heart against sin, it is the greatest defense that I can have in this spiritual battle that I am in. God’s Word hidden in my heart.

And then finally,

Praying ( Eph 6:18 )

What a powerful spiritual weapon prayer is. In this spiritual warfare, prayer is often the deciding factor in the spiritual battle.

Praying with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints; and for pray for me, [Paul says,] that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel ( Eph 6:18-19 ),

Interesting that so often in the early church their prayer was for boldness and proclaiming the truth of God. The reason for that being the heavy persecution against those who were proclaiming the gospel. Imprisonment often, oftentimes killed. There are some estimates that range as many as six million people were put to death for their faith in Christ in the first 270 years of the church’s existence. Some six million people martyred. That is why, no doubt, they needed boldness, because my witness may cost me my life. You can be intimidated by that kind of pressure into silence. In the early church after one of the first persecutions, when the disciples were beaten and told not to speak any more in the name of Jesus Christ, warned severely not to preach anymore, they came to their own company having been beaten, and they shared with them the experience that they had before the magistrates, and they said, “Let’s pray that God might give us boldness to continue to speak the truth.” So they prayed and the place was shaken and the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they went forth boldly proclaiming the truth. Paul is praying, asking for prayers that God will give me boldness in utterance, opening my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.

For which [he said] I am an ambassador in bonds ( Eph 6:20 );

For which I have been placed in prison.

and that I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak ( Eph 6:20 ).

That I will not be intimidated by this imprisonment, by the persecution, by the beatings, but that I will continue to speak boldly for Jesus Christ as I ought to speak.

I think so many times of our attitudes when someone has given us a dirty look or someone has put us down because we testified of Jesus. “Oh, are you one of those Jesus freaks?” We keep quiet. We have been intimidated by someone’s remark. Imagine what they went through in the early days. Here is Paul in prison because he has been proclaiming the gospel, and he is saying, “Please pray that God will give me boldness to speak as I ought to speak. That I won’t be intimidated by the fact that I’ve been thrown in prison, that my life has been threatened, that Nero is going to take my head.” What we need is the grit of those early apostles.

But that you may also know my affairs, and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make known to you all of these personal things about me; whom I have sent to you for the same purpose, that he might let you know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ ( Eph 6:21-23 ).

Peace and love, these glorious gifts of God. And then finally,

Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen ( Eph 6:24 ).

Next week we go into the Philippian epistle. It is called the prison epistle, because Paul wrote it from prison. Now, if you had a friend thrown into prison with an indeterminate sentence, what kind of a letter would you expect to get from him? It is interesting that the epistle of the Philippians is the most joyful epistle in the New Testament, in which he is continually urging them to rejoice in the Lord. Paul’s epistle to the Philippians next week. You’ll find it very rich, very blessed, very full.

Now may the Word of God abide in your hearts richly through faith, that you might comprehend the length, the breadth, the depth, the height of God’s love for you. And that you might live in fellowship with God as light in a dark place, so may your life give forth of the beauty and the radiance of Jesus Christ that it might bring hope unto others. May God use you as His instrument this week. In Jesus’ name. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Eph 6:1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Fitting by nature, and pleasing in the sight of God.

Eph 6:2-4. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise: That it may be, well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of tire Lord.

For the duties are like birds with two wings, or like a pair of scales, balance for each side. There is the childs duty, but there is the parents duty too.

Eph 6:5-9. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the saint shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, Mind that. We may hear a good deal about the dairies of servants. Let us hear something about are duties of masters and mistresses. Ye masters, do the same things unto them.

Eph 6:9. Forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

Very beautifully balanced is the whole system of gospel morals. There is no undue advantage given by the fact of our being rendered equal in Christ, so that the servant is to be less obedient to the master, or the child to the parent; neither is there any undue power given to those who are in authority; but the grace of God teaches all to do unto all as we would that they should do unto us.

Eph 6:10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,

You cannot do right if you are not strong. Unless you have the backbone of principle unless you have spiritual muscle and sinew by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in you, you cannot continue to do that which is right. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.

Eph 6:10-11. And in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God,

First, be strong, and then put on armor. It is no use putting armor on a weak man, or else it will be what James said it was a capital invention, He said, because he who wore it would come to no harm, and certainly do no harm, for he could not stir in it. Now you must be strong first, but then not trust in your strength, but put on the armor which is here described. And yet it would be useless to have the armor unless you are first strong. Put on the whole armor of God.

Eph 6:11; Eph 6:13. That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

To keep your ground, not to give way in any respect, and blessed is that man whose name is Stand-fast, and whose practice is to hold fast having done all to stand.

Eph 6:14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,

Nothing will so tighten up your garments and keep them right as a girdle of sincerity and truthfulness. If we are not true, whatever else we are, we are but loosely arrayed. We shall come to mischief. Having your loins girt about with truth.

Eph 6:14. And having on the breastplate of righteousness;

A grand protection when God has given you to be holy, and when the principle which covers your heart and shields your members is righteousness.

Eph 6:15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Peace in year own heart, peace with God, peace with man. Peacefulness and peace. No shoes like these. A man that has a merry heart makes many a mile fly beneath him, but a heavy heart is a slow traveler. Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

This exposition consisted of readings from Ephesians 4. and Eph 6:1-15.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Eph 6:1. , obey) This expresses even more than be subject, be subordinate (ch. Eph 5:21, ), [comp. Eph 6:5.] To obey is the part of one who is less experienced; to be subject or subordinate, of an inferior.-, right) even by nature.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Eph 6:1

Eph 6:1

Children, obey your parents-After speaking of the relations of husband and wife, next comes that of parents and children. The child is begotten, conceived, and brought into existence by the parents. It is a part of themselves, each imparting of their own life and being to the child. They take care of it, sustain it, and the child looks to the parent as the parent looks to God. In gratitude to the parent and as a means of training, it is to trust and obey God as it grows older. God has always required the child to obey the parent; under the Mosaic law, he said: If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Deu 21:18-21). This was a son in his minority, but when the parents grow old and infirm in body and mind, and the child has reached the strength and wisdom of manhood, honor then demands support and help, but always with deference, kindness, and respect.

in the Lord:-This limits the submission. That is, whatever can be done in obedience to the parents without violating the law of God, that do; but beyond this no child dare go without deep condemnation upon itself. The fearful doom of those who fail to obey God in order to please parents or propitiate the world is given in the following: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him. … If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Fathers who sent me. (Joh 14:21-24). When one does the will of parents rather than obey the commandments of God, or when he fails to do the commandments of God to please any earthly being, he shows that he loves that being more than he loves God. Whenever one fails to bear whatever cross stands in his way, he fails to obey God in order to save his life even, he cannot be a disciple of the Lord. (Luk 14:26-27; Luk 17:33).

for this is right.-The same obligation and restriction in obeying parents, not only for gratitude and love of the parent, but because God requires it. In obeying the parent the child obeys God. This is the added obligation. But the child old enough to be accountable to God is under higher obligation to obey God than it is to obey the parent. It must disobey the parent in order to obey God when their requirements conflict. The first duty is to God.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The teaching now turned to the next relationship of importance in the Christian household-the relationship of parents and children. Children are to yield obedience, and thus be set free from all care and anxiety. When the period of childhood passes, obligation does not cease. They are still to honor father and mother.

The responsibility of parents is referred to only with regard to the father. Thus the apostle emphasized that the chief responsibility for training a child should rest with the father. In the exercise of parental authority there must always be the principle of reasonableness, that the obedience of the child may be constrained by love.

The next relationship in the Christian household is that between servants and masters. Service is to be rendered, ever remembering that the final standard must come from the Lord Himself, and is to be rendered as to Him. Masters also are to rule always from the standpoint of loyalty to Christ. The master’s relation to his servant will depend on his relation to his own Master in heaven.

The apostle now turned to the subject of conflict. Life on earth after the pattern of the heavens is bound to bring the soul into conflict with all the forces that are opposed to God. He recognized that behind all the opposition of man is the more terrific opposition of spiritual powers. If, however, there is the revelation of a terrible conflict, there is no room for cowardly fear. Perfect provision is made for the saint. Concerning this armor the apostle has two injunctions. First, ‘Tut on the whole amour of God”; second, “Take up the whole armour of God,” indicating equipment and actual conflict. Then the saint is “to stand,” and “to withstand,” and, ‘laving done all, to stand.” The letter ends with personal matters, every one of which is interesting and suggestive, and, finally, the benediction.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

6:1-9. Special injunctions to children and fathers, slaves and masters. Slaves are called on to regard their service as a service done to Christ; masters are reminded that they, too, are subject to the same Master, who has no respect of persons

1. , . is omitted by B D* G, but added in, A Dbc K L P, Vulg., Syr., etc. Origen expressly, who mentions the ambiguity of the construction, i.e. that it may be either or . If the words had been added from Col 3:20 they would probably have come after . Assuming that the words are genuine, as seems probable, the latter is the right construction. In the Lord, not as defining the limits of the obedience, ( ), Chrys., but rather showing the spirit in which the obedience is to be yielded. It is assumed that the parents exercise their authority as Christian parents should, and we cannot suppose that the apostle meant to suggest to the children the possibility of the contrary.

, i.e. , Theoph. Compare Col 3:20. From the children being addressed as members of the Church, Hofmann infers that they must have been baptized, since without baptism no one could be a member of the Church (Schriften, ii. 2, p. 192). Meyers reply, that the children of Christian parents were by virtue of their fellowship with their parents (1Co 7:14), loses much of its point in the case of children who were past infancy when their parents became Christians. But no conclusion as to infant baptism can be deduced.

2. . , for such is, Alf. To translate seeing it is would be to throw the motive to obedience too much on the fact of the promise.

. has caused difficulty to expositors. The second commandment has something which resembles a promise attached. Origen, who mentions this difficulty, replies, first, that all the commandments of the Decalogue were , being given first after the coming out of Egypt; or, if this be not admitted, that the promise in the second commandment was a general one, not specially attached to the observance of that precept. The latter reply has been adopted by most modern commentators. Others have supposed first to mean first in the second table; but the Jews assigned five commandments to each table, as we learn from Philo and Josephus. See also Lev 19:3 and Rom 13:9. The position of the precept in the former passage and its omission in the latter agree with this arrangement. In either case this would be the only commandment with promise. Meyer and Ellicott suppose, therefore, that it is not the Decalogue alone that is referred to. Braune and Stier understand as first in point of time, namely, the first which has to be learned. Compare Bengel (not adopting this view): honor parentibus per obedientiam praesertim praestitus initio aetatis omnium praeceptorum obedientiam continet.

. Ellicott, Meyer, and others take this to mean in regard of, or, in point of, promise. The first command we meet with which involves a promise (Ell.). Meyer compares Diod. Sic. xiii. 37, . But to make this parallel we should understand the words here: foremost in promise, i.e. having the greatest promise attached, or, at least, having the advantage in point of promise, which is not their interpretation. Chrysostom says: , . But it is precisely that Ell. and Mey. make it first, only not of all the commandments. It is better, then, to take (with Alford) as = characterised by, accompanied with, so that we might translate with a promise. But to what purpose is it to state that this is the first command in order accompanied with a promise, especially when it would be equally true, and much to the purpose, to say that it is the only command with a promise? On the whole, therefore, remembering that it is children who are addressed, the interpretation of Stier and Braune seems preferable. Westcott and Hort give a place in their margin to a different punctuation, viz. placing the comma after , and connecting with .

3. , … The text in the Sept. proceeds: . The latter words are probably omitted purposely as unsuitable to those addressed. The future is to be regarded as dependent on ,-a construction which is found elsewhere in St. Paul, as 1Co 9:18, .: Gal 2:4, . In Rev 22:14 we have future and conjunctive, just as in classical writers future and conjunctive are used after . It is possible that is used here because there was no aor. conj. of the verb. In the passage referred to in Rev. the future is .

4. . marks that the obligation was not all on the side of the children. So , ver. 9. , patres potissimum alloquitur, nam hos facilius aufert iracundia, Bengel. , Col 3:21, , Do not irritate.

. occurs only in one other place in St. Paul, viz. 2Ti 3:16, . The verb also, although used of chastening in 1Co 11:32; 2Co 6:9, is employed in a wider sense in 2Ti 2:25; Tit 2:12. There is no sufficient reason, then, for supposing that the two substantives here are distinguished, as Grotius thinks: hic significare videtur institutionem per poenas: autem est ea institutio quae fit verbis, followed by Ellicott and Alford. Rather, is, as in classical writers, the more general, more specific, of instruction and admonition. is a later form for . is not concerning the Lord, as Theodoret, etc.,-a meaning which the genitive after such a word as . can hardly have, but the subjective genitive; the Lord is regarded as the guiding principle of the education.

5. , . This is the order in A B P, etc. Rec. has .

Bengel thinks that . is added, because after the mention of the true it was not fitting to use without qualification. In Col 3:22 a sentence intervenes, but still the reason holds good, for was their also . is the word used for the master of slaves in the Pastorals and 1 Peter.

. These words are similarly associated in 1Co 2:3; 2Co 7:15; Php 2:12, expressing only anxious solicitude about the performance of duty, so that there is no allusion to the hardness of the service. In Col 3:22 it is .

. The word is used several times by St. Paul (by him only in the N.T.), and always indicates singleness and honesty of purpose, sometimes showing itself in liberality. (See Fritzsches note on Rom 12:8, vol. iii. p. 62.) Here the meaning is the obvious one, there was to be no double-heartedness in their obedience, no feeling of reluctance, but genuine heartiness and goodwill. , , , Oecum.

, as , 5:22, so that your service to your master is regarded as a service to Christ.

6. . Not in the way of . The word is not found elsewhere except in Col 3:22, and may have been coined by St. Paul. The adjective is found in the Apost. Constit., but with reference to this passage (i. p. 299 A, ed. Cotel.). The meaning is obvious.

. This word is not found in classical writers; it occurs in the Sept., Psa_52(53):6; not as a rendering of our Hebrew text. It is also found in Psalt. Sol. iv. 8, 10. This is the opposite of as well as of the following words.

. before rests on insufficient authority, Dc K L, etc., against D* G L P, etc. Not subordinate to the following clause, as if it were as servants who are doing, etc., for the words are clearly in contrast to the preceding, and . has much more force if taken as a separate character.

6, 7. . may be connected either with what precedes or with what follows. The latter connexion (adopted by Syr., Chrys., Jerome, Lachm., Alf., WH.) seems preferable, for does not require such a qualification, nor is there any tautology in taking . with the following, for these words express the source in the feeling of the servant towards his work; his feeling towards his master (Harless). Compare Raphels apt quotation from Xen.: , , [ ] . (Oecon. xii. 5). Treg. puts a comma after , WH. after .

before rests on preponderant evidence, A B D* G P, Vulg., Syr. It is omitted by Dc K L. Internal evidence is in its favour, since . . would be tautologous with .

8. , .

There is great uncertainty as to the reading.

(or ) , A D G P 17 37, Vulg., Arm.

, B, Petr. Alex.

, L* 46 115.

, L** and most cursives. This is the Rec. Text.

(probably to be read ) , *, corrected by c by the insertion of before .

There are minor variations.

The best supported reading is that first mentioned, which is adopted by Treg. and Tisch. 8; but Meyer and Ellicott think the Rec. better explains the others. WH. adopt the reading of B.

In the reading of Rec. the relative is to be understood as separated from by tmesis. Cf. Plato, Legg. ix. 864 E, .

, A B D* G, is better attested than the Rec. . also of Rec. before is rejected on the authority of all the chief uncials.

is to receive back, as, for example, a deposit, hence here it implies an adequate return. Compare 2Co 5:10, , and Col 3:25.

This lesson to slaves is equally a lesson for all kinds of service, as the following for all masters.

9. . See on , ver. 4.

. I.e. act in a similar manner, in the same spirit. De Wette refers it to . The Greek comm. pressed as if it meant .

. Giving up your threatening. The article indicates the well known and familiar threatening, quemadmodum vulgus dominorum solet, Erasmus.

, … Wetstein cites a remarkable parallel from Seneca, Thyest. 607, Vos, quibus rector maris atque terrae Jus dedit magnum necis atque vitae, Ponite inflatos tumidosque vultus. Quicquid a vobis minor extimescit, Major hoc vobis dominus minatur! Omne sub regno graviore regnum est.

is supported by preponderant authority, * () A B D*, Vulg. Boh. Arm., Petr. Alex. etc. Dc G have : K and most cursives, . Meyer thinks the mention of slaves () here appeared unsuitable, partly in itself and partly in comparison with Col 4:1. Whether this be a correct account of the causes of the variation, it cannot be doubted that the reading attested by the best MSS. here is the more forcible, expressing, not merely the fact that ye also have a Master, but that both you and they are subjects of the same Master.

, like , and the verb , is found only in N.T. and ecclesiastical writers. The expression has a different meaning in the N.T. from that which it had in the O.T. In the latter it only meant to show favour, in the former it is to show partiality, especially on account of external advantages.

10-12. Exhortation to prepare for the spiritual combat by arming themselves with the panoply of God, remembering that they have to do with no mere mortal foes, but with spiritual powers

10. . So * A B 17.

. c D G K L P, Chrys., etc.

Meyer points out that B 17 have instead of ., a variation which Meyer thinks may have arisen from a confusion of the N of with the N of ., thus pointing to the reading . Properly, means henceforth, for the future, Gal 6:17, in which sense may also be used; but the latter alone is used in the sense for the rest, Php 3:1, Php 3:4:8, 2Th 3:1. As the latter is the meaning here, we should expect .

is added in Rec. before ., with c K L P, most cursives, Syr. (both) Boh., but om. by * B D 17, Arm., Aeth,. A G, Vulg., Theodoret have without . It has probably come in by assimilation to other passages in which occurs (see above). St. Paul does not address his readers thus in this Epistle.

. Be strengthened. Cf. Rom 4:20. Not middle but passive, as elsewhere in N.T. (Act 9:22; Rom 4:20; 2Ti 2:1; Heb 11:34). The active occurs Php 4:23; 1Ti 1:12; 2Ti 4:17. The simple verb , which B 17 have here, is used in Col 1:2, and according to * A D* in Heb 11:34. occurs once in the Sept. Psa_51 (52): 7 rather in a bad sense. There is no reason why a verb which occurs once in the Sept. and several times in the N.T. should be said to be peculiar to the Alexandrian Greek.

. Not a hendiadys. Compare i. 19.

11. . Put on the panoply of God. occurs also in Luk 11:22. The emphasis is clearly on . not on . Observe the repetition in ver. 13, of God, i.e. provided by God, , Theodoret. There is no contrast with other armour, nor is to be taken as merely = armatura. The completeness of the armament is the point insisted on. St. Paul was, no doubt, thinking of the Roman soldiery, as his readers also would, although the Jewish armour was essentially the same. Polybius enumerates as belonging to the Roman , shield, sword, greaves, spear, breastplate, helmet. St. Paul omits the spears, and adds girdle and shoes, which, though not armour, were an essential part of the soldiers dress.

. To the end that ye may be able. , to hold your ground against, an expression suited to the military figure.

. Cf. 4:14. The plural expresses the concrete workings of the . We can hardly press it as specially appropriate to the military metaphor and = stratagems.

12. .

, with A Dc K L P and most MSS. and vss.

, B D* G, Goth., Aeth., adopted by Lach., and admitted to the margin by Treg. and WH. The second person would very readily occur to a scribe, the whole context being in the second person.

. Our wrestling. The word is suitable to ., but not to the struggle in which the is required. The word is indeed found in a more general sense (see Ellicott), but only in poetry, as wrestling also might be used in our own tongue. But as the word is here used to describe what the struggle is not, it is most natural to supply a more general word, such as or , in the following clause, according to an idiom frequent in Greek writers.

, in this order here only. Jerome understands this of our own passions; but that would be without . Moreover, the contrast is clearly not between foes within and foes without, but between human and superhuman powers.

, . See on 1:21.

. World-rulers. The word occurs in the Orphica (viii. 11, xi. 11), and is used by the Schol. on Aristoph. Nub. 397, . It frequently occurs in Rabbinical writers (transliterated), sometimes of kings whose rule was world-wide, as tres reges , dominatores ab extremitate mundi ad extremitatem ejus, Nebucadnesar, Evilmerodach, Belsazar (Shir Rab. iii. 4, ap. Wetst.); also of the four kings whom Abraham pursued (Bereshith Rabba, fol. 57. 1). These are so called to add glory to Abrahams victory. Also the angel of death is so called, and by the Gnostics the Devil (Iren. i. I). In the Test. XII Patr., Test. Sol. the demons say: , . It appears, therefore, that it differs from rulers in implying that their rule extends over the . Schoettgen supposes that St. Paul means the Rabbis and Doctors of the Jews, and he cites a passage from the Talmud where it is argued that the Rabbis are to be called kings; he also compares Act 4:26. But the context appears to be decisive against such a view. The contest is clearly a spiritual one. Compare the designation of Satan as , 2Co 4:4; , Joh 14:30.

.

So, without , * A B D* G 17 672, Vulg. Boh. Syr-Pesh and Harcl (text), etc.

After , is added by ca Dc K L P most MSS. The words were not likely to be omitted because they seemed superfluous or difficult to explain; and an omission from homoeoteleuton is not to be supposed in the face of so many documents. They might, on the contrary, have been added as a gloss, the phrase being rare.

. Against the spirit forces of wickedness, which belong to or are characterised by . RV. has hosts of wickedness. So Alford, Ellicott, Meyer, comparing , the cavalry, Rev 9:16; , Herod. vii. 103; , Polyaen. v. 14. 141. But these are not really parallel; , primarily meaning appertaining to , hence equestrian, was naturally used for brevity to designate the cavalry of an army, as the infantry, just like our horse and foot. Thus Polyb. xv. 3. 5, , in the matter of cavalry; ib. xviii. 5. 5, : ib. iii. 114. 5, . In Rev 9:16 we have . But never had such a signification, nor would its etymology lead us to expect that it could be so used; for it does not mean what relates to , but to . It would be almost as reasonable to conclude from the use of the English horse and foot, that spirit could be used for a host of spirits, as to draw a like conclusion about from the use of , etc. Moreover, does not mean hosts or armies of horses or of horsemen; and, if we were to follow the analogy of its meaning, we should interpret . . as = the constituent of . , too, does not mean bands of robbers, but of pirate ships, which are themselves called , Polyaenus, v. 14. 141; and , in Herod. vii. 103, means that part of the population which consists of . This word, like , used in such a connexion as it has there, at once conveys this meaning. But to give here the meaning spiritual armies, or hosts, is to depart wholly from the ordinary use of the word.

Giving up, therefore, this rendering as untenable, we may translate the spiritual forces, or elements of wickedness.

is connected by Chrysostom with . Thus: . , : , i.e. our contest is for the heavenly blessings, and so Theodoret, Oecum. al. But in the illustration cited it is the connexion with that makes this sense possible; the idea is rests in, or depends on, which does not suit .

The view generally adopted by modern expositors is that . means the seat of the evil spirits or spiritual hosts referred to, corresponding to the of 2:2. As Alford expresses it, that habitation which in 2:2, when speaking of mere matters of fact, was said to be in the , is, now that the difficulty and importance of the Christian conflict is being set forth, represented as .-over us and too strong for us without the panoply of God. He compares , Mat 6:26. This comment seems to amount to this, that these spiritual hosts dwell in the air; but to impress us the more with the difficulty of the combat, the air is called heaven. There is, however, no proof that meant the atmosphere, and this is not the meaning of the word elsewhere, e.g. 1:3, 20, 2:6.

The view of Eadie, al., is that . means the celestial spots occupied by the Church, and in them this combat is to be maintained, These evil spirits have invaded the Church, are attempting to pollute, divide, and overthrow it. Barry, while adopting the former view of ., yet adds that the meaning points to the power of evil as directly spiritual, not acting through physical and human agency, but attacking the spirit in that higher aspect in which it contemplates heavenly things and ascends to the communion with God.

In the Book of the Secrets of Enoch, which is pre-Christian, and perhaps as early as b.c. 30, we have a scheme of the seven heavens which, in some of its prominent features, agrees with that conceived by St. Paul. Paradise is situated in the third heaven as in 2Co 12:2, 2Co 12:3, whereas, according to later Judaism, it be longed to the fourth heaven. In the next place the presence of evil in some part of the heavens is recognised. Thus, in Eph 6:12, we meet with the peculiar statement, Against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavens (Morfill and Charles, p. xl). Charles points out other parallels between the Epistle and the Book of the Secrets of Enoch; e.g. Eph 3:10, Eph 3:4:10, 25 (pp. xxii, xli); and the possibility that the present passage has been influenced by these speculations must be admitted.

13-18. Detailed description of the spiritual armour

13. . The evil day, the day of the power of evil, when the conflict is most severe, any day of which it may be said, this is your hour, and the power of darkness, Barry. Meyer understands it as referring to the great outbreak of Satanic power expected to occur before the second coming. ; Oecum. and Theoph. take this to mean having overcome all, AV. marg.; but although the verb has this sense occasionally in classical writers, or rather to despatch, to finish, conficere, it never has it in St. Paul, who uses it twenty times. This would not be decisive if this meaning were more suitable here. But the conflict is perpetual in this world, it is ever being renewed. On the other hand, we cannot without tautology understand this clause as merely expressing preparation for the combat. , too, means to accomplish a difficult work: notat rem arduam, Fritzsche, and could hardly be used of mere arming for the fight. It appears, then, to mean having done all that duty requires, viz. from time to time. The Vulgate (not Jerome) has omnibus perfecti, or, in some MSS., in omnibus perfecti, following, as some think, the reading . A has , doubtless a mistake for , not meant for . opposed to , hold your ground.

14. . This cannot be taken in the same sense as the preceding, otherwise we should have the end there aimed at, here assumed as already attained when the arming begins.

In the following details of the figure, each part of the equipment has its appropriate interpretation, which, however, must not be pressed too minutely. In the case of the breastplate and the helmet, St. Paul follows Isa 59:17, , , but the remainder of Isaiahs description was unsuitable, viz. . The figure of Isaiah is more fully carried out in Wisd. 5:18, 20, , . , . In Isa 11:5, and are both girdles.

. The aorists are properly used, since the arming was complete before the . The present would mean that they were to be arming themselves when they took up their position, which would be rather a mark of unpreparedness. The girdle was a necessary part of the equipment of a soldier to make rapid movement possible; and, indeed, was commonly used to support the sword, though not in Homeric times. But there is no reference to that use here, the sword being not referred to until ver. 17. , , instrumental, with; truth, not the objective truth of the gospel, which is the sword, ver. 17, but truth in its widest sense as an element of character. Compare ch. 5:9.

, genitive of apposition. ., as in ch. 5:9, Christian uprightness of character, which like a breastplate defends the heart from the assaults of evil. Eadie (with Harless, al.) understands it of the righteousness of faith, i.e. Christs justifying righteousness, remarking that the article has a special prominence. But the article is used in accordance with the ordinary rule, having the article. The faith by which this justification is attained is mentioned in ver. 16. That no Christian possesses entire rectitude is not an objection, the breastplate is not faultlessness, which would, in fact, be inconsistent with the figure, but the actual rightness of character wrought by Christ.

15. , no doubt referring to the caligae of the Roman soldier.

. The more classical form is , but Hippocr. has . The word occurs in the Sept. in the sense of preparedness (Ps. 9:41, Psa 10:17), but more frequently as representing the Hebrew , which they rendered according to their view of its etymology, not its meaning. It is quite erroneous to interpret it here by this use, or rather misuse, of it, as some expositors have done, taking it, for example, to mean vel constantiam in tuenda religione Christi, vel religionem adeo ipsam certam illam quidem et fundamento cui insistere possis, similem, Koppe. This is also against the figure. Shoes are not the firm foundation on which one stands, but we may compare with them the readiness of mind with which one advances to the conflict, and which is wrought by the gospel . It is not preparation to preach the gospel that is meant, for the apostle is addressing all Christians; and, moreover, this interpretation does not agree with the figure.

, peace with God and amongst men, see ch. 2:17; an oxymoron. , Chrys.

16. . So B P 17, al., Cat. text, Vulg., Boh., Syr-Harcl., Aeth.

, A D G K L most cursives, Syr-Pesh, Arm., etc.

There is a similar variety in Luk 16:26, where B L Boh. read , but A D X al. . This alone is sufficient to set aside Ellicotts suggestion that here was a correction for the ambiguous . Meyer thinks it was substituted as the more common.

If is read it is not to be rendered above all, AV. Beza, nor over all, but in addition to all; cf. Luk 3:20, .

. is used in Homer of a great stone placed against a door to keep it shut. In later writers, Plutarch, Polybius, etc., it means a large oblong shield, scutum, according to Polyb. 4 ft. by 2 , differing from the , which was small and round. But in Wisdom, quoted above, is the or clypeus. St. Pauls purpose, however, is different, and he is describing a heavy armed warrior well furnished for defence.

, genitive of apposition. Only where faith is weak does the enemy gain access. In 1Th 5:8 faith and love are the breastplate.

. The future is properly used, not because the combat does not begin until the day of the great future conflict with evil, but because the whole duration of the fight is contemplated. At all times ye shall be able, etc.

. The figure alludes to the darts or arrows tipped with tow dipped in pitch and set on fire, mentioned, for example, in Herod. viii. 52. Some of the older interpreters (Hammond, al.) understood the word to mean poisoned, the word fiery being used with reference to the sensation produced; but this is contrary to the grammatical meaning of the word. Fiery darts is a suitable figure for fierce temptations; beyond this there is no need to go.

is appropriate, since the shields alluded to were of wood covered with leather, in which when the arrow fixed itself the fire would go out. So Thucydides tells us of hides being used for this very purpose (ii. 75).

is omitted by B D* G, and bracketed b Treg. and WH.; omitted by Lachm. If omitted, the interpretation would be fire tipped as they are. The authority for omission is small; but the insertion would be more easily accounted for than the accidental omission.

17. . This verse is separated from ver. 16 by a full stop in RV. as well as by Lachm., Tisch., not Treg., WH. But though the construction is changed, as in 1:22, this is only a result of the rapidity of thought for which a strict adherence to the participial construction might be a hindrance. The same vividness of conception leads the writer to put . first.

is not used elsewhere by St. Paul; here it is taken with the preceding word from the Sept. Theodoret understands it as masculine, referring to Christ; and so Bengel, salutaris, i.e. Christi; but this is refuted by the parallel, 1Th 5:8, where the . is the hope of salvation. Soden thinks that in that passage the apostle purposely corrects the of the Sept.

. This cannot well be a genitive of apposition, since the following clause explains the sword as . Olshausen, indeed, and Soden, take the relative as referring to . They understand the writer as speaking of the Holy Spirit in relation to man, as finding expression in the word of God. But there is no parallel for thus calling the Spirit . It is much more natural to interpret . as which is given by the Spirit; nor is there any difficulty in taking this genitive differently from the others, since this alone is a genitive of a personal name. Chrysostom suggests the alternative: , (or , , …).

. Compare Heb 4:12, .

. Accipite, oblatum a Domino, Bengel.

A Dc K L, etc., read , perhaps only by itacism. The verb is omitted by D* G, al.

18. , … These words are best taken with the principal imperative , not simply with the previous clause, for and would not agree with the momentary act , which is itself subordinate to . With all prayer, i.e. prayer of every form.

and differ in this respect, that the former is used only of prayer, whether supplication or not, to God, while means request, and may be addressed to either God or man. Here, then, we may say that . expresses that the prayer is addressed to God, and ., that it involves a request. Compare Php 4:6, , and see on Luk 1:13.

corresponds with the of 1Th 5:17.

. In the Spirit (cf. Jud 1:21) not = , for which interpretation St. Pauls usage supplies no justification, besides which it was not necessary to say that the prayer was to be from the heart. Chrysostom supposes . to be in contrast to , which is also open to the objection that he who has put on the specified armour must be assumed not to pray .

. Thereunto, i.e. to the . .

Rec. has after , with Dc J K, etc.; but alone, A B (D* G, ). The frequent occurrence of in St. Paul accounts for the insertion.

. Compare Col 4:2, , , keeping watch, or being watchful; cf. Mar 13:33, : ib. 35, : Luk 21:36, , …

is not found elsewhere, but the verb is frequent both in classical writers and N.T. always with the sense of continued waiting on, attention to, adherence, etc. Cf Act 2:42, : ib. 46, : 8:13, : Mar 3:9, : Rom 12:12, : ib. 13:6, . It is clear, then, that Alford is not justified in rendering it importunity in order to avoid a hendiadys. Practically, there is a hendiadys.

, . , introducing a special case, see ch. 5:18. Harless and Eadie distinguish here from , regarding the latter as more vague. They could not know much about all saints, and they were to pray about them. Eadie admits, however, that such a distinction cannot be uniformly Carried out. Meyer, to prove the prepositions synonymous, quotes Dem. Phil. ii. p. 74, , : but this passage rather indicates the contrary; not about a question of justice, but in defence of. So also the similar one, , i.e. not about a matter of glory, but in defence of, etc. might have been used, but the idea would not be quite the same. Here, too, expresses with more precision on behalf of; but the reason of the difference is probably not to be found in the difference between and , but in the fact that the special object of the latter prayer is stated: and on behalf of me, that, etc. See Dale, Lect. xxiv. p. 437.

19, 20. The apostles request for their prayers for himself, that he may have freedom to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which he is an ambassador.

. , in the sense of utterance, as 2Co 11:2, . The words . are by some connected with the following. Thus Grotius: ut ab hac custodia militari liber per omnem urbem perferre possem sermonem, etc., but never refers to external freedom, and its meaning here is further determined by , ver. 20. To take as merely epexegetical of . . would be very flat.

Taken with the preceding, the words may mean the opening of the mouth by God, as in Psa 51:17. Or they may mean, when I open my mouth. The latter is the interpretation adopted by Alford, Ellicott, Eadie, Meyer. But so understood, the words are superfluous, not to say trivial.

On the other hand, with the former interpretation they give a fulness of expression to the idea in , which is in harmony with the gravity of the thought; they complete from the subjective side what is expressed on the objective side in . This is the view of Harless, Olsh., Soden. The absence of the article is also in its favour. Compare Col 4:3, although there it is . Opening the mouth is an expression used only where some grave utterance is in question.

. To make known with openness of speech ; cf. Php 1:20. The margin of RV. connects with the preceding words, as the AV. had done. This involves a tautology with .

of Rec. rests on very slight evidence.

. See ch. 1:9.

20. . refers to ., for this is the object of , and is in substance connected with Compare Col 4:3, . . The simplest view is probably the best: I am an ambassador in chains; but Grotius understands the words to mean: nunc quoque non desino legationem; but this would require some emphasis on , as, for example, . : and there is no reference here, as in Php 1:12 ff., to the good effects of his imprisonment. The oxymoron is noted by Bengel and Wetstein: alias legati, jure gentium sancti et inviolabiles, in vinculis haberi non poterant. So, indeed, Theoph., . is in distinct opposition to .

Paley and others have drawn attention to the use of here as referring to the custodia militaris in which St. Paul was kept at Rome, Act 28:16, Act 28:20; cf. 2Ti 1:16. It is true the singular might possibly be used in a general sense, although the instances cited from Polyb. of (xxi. 3. 3, iv. 76. 5) are not parallel, since the article there is generic. Still it can hardly be denied that the term has a special suitability to the circumstances of this imprisonment, or rather custody. Of course, as the general term might also be used, and therefore the fact that it is used, Col 4:18, is no objection.

. Co-ordinate with the preceding . Soden, however, takes the clause as depending on the ., the meaning according to him being that St. Paul might have been set at liberty on condition that he did not preach the gospel, but remained in custody in hope that the result of the trial would be that he would be at liberty to preach. This, he adds, corresponds to , and escapes the tautology involved in the other interpretations.

21-24. Personal commendation of Tychicus, who carries the letter, and final benediction

21. . is probably simply ye as well as others. Meyer and others suppose a reference to the Epistle to the Colossians, ye as well as the Colossians; cf. Col 4:7. But this seems forced, for this significance of could hardly occur to the readers. But it may mean, although there are no personal relations between us. Alford understands: as I have been going at length into the matters concerning you, so if you also, on your part, wish, etc.

= Col 4:7.

, nearer definition of , how I do, not what I am doing, which they knew was the one thing that always engaged his thoughts.

. Tychicus is mentioned, Act 20:4, as accompanying St. Paul from Macedonia to Asia. His services as are alluded to 2Ti 4:12; Tit 3:12. It was only that he was Pauls . In Col 4:7 is added.

22. ( = Col_4.), i.e. for the very purpose now to be mentioned: , … = Col 4:8 (where, however, there is a difference of reading).

23. , … A truly apostolic benediction as to substance, but differing in form from St. Pauls final benedictions. First, it is in the third person, not the second, instead of , . instead of . The whole form, too, is markedly general. This agrees well with the view that the Epistle was addressed to a circle of Churches. Secondly, the benediction is in two parts, not, as elsewhere, one; and, thirdly, , which elsewhere comes first, here concludes, and , elsewhere last, is here first. These points all speak for the genuineness of the Epistle, and against the hypothesis of imitation.

. is presupposed, therefore it is not . Love is the characteristic of a true faith.

For A has , suggested probably by recollection of 1Ti 1:1; 2Ti 1:1.

24. .

elsewhere means the incorruptibility of future immortality; see, for example, Rom 2:7; 2Ti 1:10. The adjective has a corresponding meaning. God is , Rom 1:23; 1Ti 1:17; the dead are raised , 1Co 15:52; the Christians crown is . So 1Pe 3:4, the ornament of women is to be . The word, then, does not point merely to time but to character, and that suits very well here as an attribute of love. It is more than sincerity (, Tit 2:7); it is imperishableness, incorruptibility. It is a spiritual, eternal love, and thus only is the word worthy to stand as the crown and climax of this glorious Epistle, Alford. Some connect the word with . Soden defends the connexion on the following grounds: first, that if connected with , . must express a character of the , in which case . would be an unsuitable form of expression for and, secondly, that almost always contains a point of contrast with the transitory nature which belongs to the creature in this world; it belongs to the sphere of heavenly existence, serving to designate eternal life as the highest blessing of salvation; and this is the gift of , which culminates in the bestowal of it. Bengel, who connects . with , remarks, however, well: Congruit cum tota summa epistolae: et inde redundat etiam in amorem fidelium erga Jesum Christum. The writer, in fact, returns to the fundamental thought of 1:3-14.

There is no analogy for the connexion with , adopted by some expositors.

is added in c D K L P most MSS., Amiat.**, Syr. (both), Boh., not in * A B G 17, Arm., Amiat.*

Alf Alford.

Ell Ellicott.

WH Westcott and Hort.

Treg. Tregelles.

Arm Armenian.

Tisch. Tischendorf.

Boh Bohairic. Cited by Tisch. as Coptic, by Tregelles as Memphitic, by WH. as me.

Syr-Pesh The Peshitto Syriac.

Harcl The Harclean Syriac.

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

Children and Parents; Servants and Masters

Eph 6:1-12

Where our religion is true, it will affect every relationship in life. The love of Christ must find its manifestation in nursery and in kitchen, in workshop and in municipal chamber. But notice that its duties are reciprocal. We must give on our side, just as we expect others to give on theirs.

The first duty of children is obedience. They must be taught to obey because it is right, and their conscience bears witness to the rightness. Never plead with a child to do what is right, nor bribe it by a reward. Take your stand on that primeval sense of right and wrong, which is the foundation of morals and will be the stay of the childs whole after-life, when once its supremacy is established. But parents should help their children by removing irritation or passion from their own speech. Slaves formed a large proportion of the early Church. Their obedience must be explicit, and they were taught to believe that Christ took their faithful service to their earthly owner as service to Himself. But masters must ever deal with their servants as liable to be called to account by the great Master of all. The center of all authority is Christ, and He will demand an account of our treatment of every servant He has sent into our homes.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

The Christian Household (Eph 6:1-9)

In these nine verses we have the conclusion of that section of the Epistle which begins with verse 22 of the previous chapter (Eph 5:22). We have considered the instruction given to Christian wives and husbands in chapter 5 and now we come to consider other members of the family, or the same persons in other relationships.

The apostle spoke first to children. Of course, he spoke directly to Christian children for they alone may be expected to obey the Word of God. This is one way in which children may glorify God and bring honor to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in their early formative years. As they mature they launch out into the world to make a place for themselves and take part in public service for Christ. Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. The apostle considered the matter of obedience correct and proper- this is right. You profess to be a Christian, young man or woman, well then, here is the first admonition your Lord and Savior gives you, Obey your parents. Why? Because it is the right thing to do. In the Epistle to the Colossians, where you have the same admonition, it is based on another ground. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord (Col 3:20). Do you say sometimes, as some Christian children do, I would like to do some big thing for Christ. I would like to have my life really count for Him? Well, obedience, the recognition of parental authority and loving submission is well-pleasing to Him. In Luk 2:51 we read that Jesus went down with them, [that is, Mary and Joseph] and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. Here you see our blessed Lord Jesus, the eternal Son of God, become the example for all Christian children. What a wonderful thing! If you are a boy or girl in the home and have trusted the Lord Jesus, you can say, My Lord was once a child like me. He once had the same position in His home that I do and He filled it well. He was obedient and submissive to His parents in all things. The wonder of it is that He, the Creator of the universe, took that place of subjection, giving us an example that we should follow His steps. Later on as you grow up and go into life you will have Him as your example in other areas of your life, but now He is your example in the home. Christian children ought to take this to heart.

It is a most inconsistent thing for a child to profess to be a Christian, to have his name on the roll of some church, to be in fellowship with an assembly of saints, even taking part in the Lords supper, and yet be characterized by willfulness and disobedience in the home. There is nothing more distressing, and in some senses more disgusting, than to see a child who claims to be a Christian outside the home but behaves and acts as anything but one in his home. Disobedience to parents is one thing about which Gods Word speaks most sternly. In Romans chapter 1, where the apostle is describing the sins that prevail in the heathen world, you will find disobedience linked with the worst kinds of sin. In verses Rom 1:29-30, we read:

Filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.

Notice that disobedience to parents is linked with the vilest immoralities, even with the crime of homicide. The reason for this is that if children are not taught to obey when they are young, they will not obey God, and will not obey the powers that are ordained of God when they go out into the world. That judge in Gary, Indiana was right who, when executing sentence on some young culprits, said, I wish it were possible to put the parents of these children in the penitentiary for allowing them to grow up like this. As Christian parents we are responsible to see that our children are obedient. And as Christian children we are responsible to obey our parents.

When we turn to Second Timothy chapter 3 we read the apostles description of the apostasy in the last days. Again he spoke of disobedience to parents as one of the obvious evils of the times: This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy (2Ti 3:1). In Romans chapter 1 we have the sins that characterized the heathen world when Christianity began; in 2 Timothy chapter 3 we have the sins that will characterize Christendom at the very end immediately before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in each case disobedience to parents is listed.

In Eph 6:3 the apostle reminded us that the fifth commandment of the law, which commands obedience to parents, is marked out in a special way. In the law we read, Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee (Exo 20:12). As you read the ten commandments you notice that four of them have no special promise attached, and then you come to the fifth and you find that God added a special promise. It shows the importance that He attaches to obedience to parents.

How important, then, that Christian children should take this to heart. Do not be content with lip service; do not be content with attending Sunday school and church and youth group meetings, and think that these things constitute Christianity. First learn to show godliness at home. It is in the home circle that your life is under closest inspection, and it is there you are called on to give evidence of your second birth by obedience to your parents.

Then in verse Eph 6:4 the apostle speaks to fathers. He did not address himself here particularly to mothers. He said, Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. Fathers are more inclined to become impatient and unduly harsh and unkind with their children. Yet let me quickly point out Heb 11:23 : By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents. The word parents there is exactly the same Greek word that is translated fathers in Eph 6:4. Fathers and mothers are in this sense addressed together, and so the admonition is given to all parents with perhaps particular emphasis being placed on the fathers. As Christian parents, have in mind your childrens well-being, and do not be needlessly demanding of them. Do not lay on them burdens that are too hard for them to bear. Remember that just as children have the Lord Jesus as their example, you have God Himself as yours.

We read, Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him (Psa 103:13). Let your attitude toward your children be in accordance with His attitude toward you, and of Him it is written, He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men (Lam 3:33). How we need to take this admonition seriously. Paul continued, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Parents are to set an example of what a Christian should really be, ministering the Word of God to their children, praying with them, and walking before them consistently, in the fear of the Lord.

I remember the bitterness with which a young woman came to me and said, I am in the greatest spiritual distress, and the saddest thing about it is that I cannot consult my own father who is a minister of the gospel. But I never remember him praying with his family, and I never knew him to read the Word of God to us. He kept all of his religion for the pulpit, and we never saw any of his godliness in our home. It is in the home we are called first to exhibit godliness, to give prayer and the Word of God their proper place. Let the grace of Christ be seen in your life, and though everything else should go, your children will have the memory of godly parenting and pious upbringing. What an anchor that has been to many a young person launching out in life.

In verse Eph 6:5, the apostle turned to consider another relationship. He spoke to servants, whether they be in the home or employees outside of the home. The word doulos, translated here servants, means slaves-those who are purchased. But you notice in verse 8 he is thinking not merely of the purchased slaves, Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And therefore the instruction which in times past was given to slaves now applies to all employees. Slaves were bought by a master, or born into the house and raised by the master. But today we enter into an employer-employee agreement. We sell our labor, and in that way accept a certain relationship which makes us just as responsible to obey the command given in Ephesians. There would never be trouble between management and labor if the Word of God were valued more highly in all our hearts and lives. However, it is not expected that unsaved men will heed this admonition, but Paul was addressing Christian employees. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. The fear we are to have is the fear of not giving proper service to our employer, and so of grieving the Holy Spirit of God.

This gives great dignity to labor! Whether a man is working in a factory, or an office, whether he is a miner in the bowels of the earth, or a farmer working on the surface of the earth, each may say to himself, I serve the Lord Christ. When Carey applied for foreign missionary service, somebody said to him, What is your business? They intended it as a slur, for he was not a minister. He said, My business is serving the Lord, and I make shoes to pay expenses. And so every one engaged in any occupation should be able to say, My business is serving the Lord, and my occupation pays my expenses.

Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers. I looked up the word eyeservice and found it to be very interesting. It comes from exactly the same word as that translated servants in verse Eph 6:5, and that is, properly speaking, a slave. Eye-service then would be eye-slavery. Did you ever know anyone who was an eye-slave? The man who pretends to be working until somebody says, The boss is coming! The young woman who wastes her employers time until somebody says, Look out, the manager is coming through the office. Then she immediately gets busy and the typewriter rattles as it has not done for hours. That is eye-slavery. Do not let there be anything like that with the Christians. No matter what my employment is, I am to do it as unto God from my heart. My job is the place in which He has put me and I am there to labor for Him. This lifts me far above all concern about the failure of an employer to properly recognize my worth. When I know I am working for the Lord and He knows everything, it saves me from all such worries. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men (1Co 7:23).

I may have an employer who does not seem to appreciate me at all, who only wants to get all he can out of me and pay as little as possible. But I have sold my labor to him, and therefore I go on and labor earnestly. I say to myself, Never mind, there is One who does appreciate, and He knows that I am doing this work well and doing it for His glory. Some day I will receive my reward from Him. Oh, yes, yes, you say, that is all very well. Religion is the opiate of the people. People of Communistic tendencies say, Christians tell the poor to resign themselves to their situation. They tell them that no matter how hard their life is here, it will be all right when they get to Heaven, in order to keep them contented here. Not at all, that is not what the apostle is saying. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Gal 6:7). It is true in this life as well as in the world to come that the one who honestly serves the Lord Jesus Christ is rewarded for it. Many a man can bear testimony to that! One has labored apparently unappreciated for years until suddenly under the hand of God circumstances change so that he is recognized and honored and respected for all his efforts. The Lord often sees to this even in this life; and there is a great deal more coming in the life ahead.

Next Paul turned to the masters, Christian masters, again we have to say. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him (Eph 6:9). You masters expect your employees to honor you and recognize their responsibility to rightly serve you. Very well then masters, it is your responsibility to properly consider the welfare of your employees. You have been trusted with wealth or have been put in a position where you administer the wealth of others-see that you do not look upon your employees as mere hands. Do not treat them cruelly, driving them in order to get the most out of them, and giving them the least. Remember that as they are responsible to serve the Lord Christ, so are you, and you are to do it to His glory.

Forbearing threatening. Nothing of an unkind, cruel, or discourteous character is to be seen in the Christian master. Remember that your Master also is in heaven, and therefore you have to give an account for all your dealings with your employees. If you cut down their wages when it is not necessary, if you seek to force them to work under unhealthful and unsanitary conditions, God is looking on and jotting everything down in His book of records. He sees that you behave in an unchristian way toward those dependent largely on you. Christianity equalizes everything. Here is the true socialism, not a leveling of all distinctions, but men and women of every class submissive to Christ. That puts everything right. Your wealth will not accomplish anything if you do not handle it correctly; your authority will amount to nothing if you do not use it for His glory. Neither is there respect of persons with him. God judges each one according to his own works.

What helpful instructions we have here! How important that every Christian, whatever his relationship, should act according to this truth. In the beginning of this Epistle we have the highest kind of spiritual revelation. There it is that we learn that we have been raised up together and seated together in heavenly places in Christ. Very well, said the apostle, if you are a heavenly man, a heavenly woman, a member of the body of Christ, now behave on earth as Christ would if He occupied your position in life, whatever your business may be. Let the Spirit of Christ be manifested in you. This will commend Christianity to a lost world.

We have had too much talking of high truth coupled with low living. We have had too much delight in glorious eternal truths and yet that truth never affecting the feet. Order my steps in thy word, prayed the psalmist. May God grant that whether as husband or wife, child or parent, employee or employer, we may each one who names the name of Christ show His grace in every relationship of life. May our homes be places where husband and wife together are seeking to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, each giving honor to the other and seeking to fulfill his or her place in the family, and where the children are growing up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. May masters and servants alike recognize their responsibility to the great Master in Heaven who was once a Servant here on earth.

In reading the first 9 verses of Ephesians chapter 6 (Eph 6:1-9) we find ourselves in an atmosphere of peace and blessing not known by the unconverted. When Paul wrote this letter, there were very few Christian homes in the world. But thank God, as a result of the proclamation of the truth during nineteen centuries, all over this and other lands may be found homes that follow the pattern set down here in Ephesians.

If today you are unsaved and you have sometimes stumbled over the inconsistency of Christians, let me say that the Word of God takes it for granted that Christians need constant admonition. But you are invited to come just as you are to Christ, trust Him as your Savior, receive the divine life by faith, and then live as a Christian should, and show the rest of us what a real Christian ought to be. Do not be foolish enough to stumble over anyone elses inconsistency and refuse Gods offer of salvation. Remember, there is power to make you what you ought to be-a Christian not in word only but in deed and in truth.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Eph 6:1-4

Children and Parents.

I. St. Paul assumes that the life of children may be a life in Christ. Children are to obey their parents in the Lord, and parents are to nurture their children in the chastening and admonition of the Lord. Every child, apart from its own choice and before it is capable of choice, is environed by the laws of Christ. It is equally true that every child, apart from its choice and before it is capable of choice, is environed by Christ’s protection and grace in this life, and is the heir of eternal blessings in the life to come. Christ died and rose again for the race. Children may obey their parents in the Lord before they are able to understand any Christian doctrine; they may discharge every childish duty, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, before they have so much as heard whether the Spirit of God has been given; they may live in the light of God before they know that the true light always comes from heaven.

II. Paul had a sensitive sympathy with the wrongs which children sometimes suffer and a strong sense of their claims to consideration. Children are to obey and honour even unreasonable, capricious, and unjust parents; but it is the duty of parents not to be unreasonable, capricious, or unjust. The precept, “Nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord,” implies a real and serious faith on the part of the parents that their children belong to Christ and are under Christ’s care. Christian education is not a mission to those who are in revolt against Christ. The children are Christ’s subjects, and have to be trained to loyal obedience to His authority. The education of which the Apostle is thinking is practical rather than speculative; it has reference to life and character rather than to knowledge. By “the chastening of the Lord” the Apostle means that Christian discipline and order of the family which will form the children to the habits of a Christian life. “Chastening” is not chastisement, though chastisement may sometimes be a necessary part of it. The order of a child’s life is determined by its parents, and is to be determined under Christ’s authority, so that the child may be trained to all Christian virtues. The primary condition of a successful Christian education is that the parents should care more for the loyalty of their children to Christ than for anything besides, and the second is that parents should expect their children to be loyal to Christ.

R. W. Dale, Lectures on the Ephesians, p. 378.

References: Eph 6:1-4.-H. W. Beecher, Plymouth Pulpit Sermons, 5th series, p. 167. Eph 6:2.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 213; J. H. Wilson, The Gospel and its Fruits, p. 205.

Eph 6:4

I. The Lord brings up His disciples from the beginning of life.

II. The Lord nourishes and cherishes His disciples; He is not a mere Teacher: He is a Trainer. He helps us to learn, and when our courage sinks He revives it.

III. The Lord exhorts, warns, and restrains. There is nurture and there is admonition in the bringing up of Christ’s disciples by their Lord.

IV. The Lord unites with Himself by trust and love those whom He brings up.

V. The Lord’s work of bringing up is without intermission; He is always about it.

VI. Let your instruction and your training have the Lord’s teaching, the Lord’s warnings, the Lord’s doctrines, for their means, and the Lord Himself for their end.

S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Sermons, 1st series, p. 175.

The Christian Training of Children.

Consider:-

I. What is included in, and what is meant by, all our dealings with the young who are growing up among us tending to their discipline: all that we teach them or enjoin on them, or give or deny them. Discipline is by no means synonymous with punishment, though in common conversation we are accustomed often to use it so, but something entirely different. The heart can be disposed to God only by love, which drives out fear, and with fear all the power of punishment. But discipline which aims by steady exercise to control and regulate every emotion and to subdue all the lower instincts of nature under the rule of the higher imparts a salutary knowledge of the power of will, and gives an earnest of liberty and internal order. The larger the place which is given to discipline in our method, the more must punishment lose its effect; because the young mind is already practised, it refuses to have its decisions influenced by considerations either of pleasure or the reverse. It is difficult to keep a clear conscience in this important business. How shall we keep it void of offence? Certainly in no other way than this: we must neither set before ourselves any worldly aim in the training and education of our children, nor teach them to think of anything merely worldly and external as the object to be gained by it; but rather, putting out of view all other results, we must try to have them made distinctly conscious of what powers and capacities they possess which may by-and-by be used in carrying on the work of God on earth, and to have those powers brought under the control of their will by their learning both to overcome indolence and dissipation and to guard against being passionately engrossed in any single object. And this is just what the Apostle means. For instruction and training of all kinds so directed will only serve as discipline to the young, and only by such discipline will they acquire a real possession in the shape of a thorough fitness for every work of God that in the course of their life they may find occasion to do.

II. But however excellent a thing it is to train our children by discipline, what is the highest thing that can be effected by this means? The preparing of the way for the Lord, that He may be able to enter, the adorning of the temple, that He may be able to dwell in it; but towards the actual entering and indwelling of the Lord discipline can contribute nothing. Does not the Lord Himself say that the Spirit moves where He will, and that we cannot so much as know, much less command, where He is to go? Yes, we recognise the truth of that word of Christ in this connection also, and therefore willingly confess our inability. But while acknowledging our helplessness, let us not forget that the same Saviour charged His disciples to go and teach all nations. This then is what we are capable of doing and what we are commanded to do: in our daily intercourse with the young to commend the mighty works of God, that we may stir up in their minds aspirations after a happier condition, and this is what the Apostle calls the admonition of the Lord.

F. Schleiermacher, Selected Sermons, p. 163.

References: Eph 6:4.-J. H. Thorn, Laws of Life after the Mind of Christ, 2nd series, p. 253; J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 65; C. M. Birrell, Ibid., vol. ii., p. 360; W. Braden, Ibid., vol. vi., p. 269; R. F. Horton, Ibid., vol. xxxvi., p. 314. Eph 6:5, Eph 6:6.-J. B. Brown, Ibid., vol. xii., p. 97; Ibid., vol. xvii., p. 406; F. W. Farrar, Ibid., vol. xxxiv., p. 296. Eph 6:5-8.-H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. x., p. 4; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 185. Eph 6:5-9.-E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation, vol. ii., p. 427. Eph 6:6.-S. Gladstone, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 280; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 92. Eph 6:7.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1484; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., pp. 85, 88.

Eph 6:7-8

Labour no Hindrance to Spiritual Progress.

I. Servants may be described as servants of Christ. If the Church is regarded, according to the Scriptural imagery, as a kingdom or household, of which Christ is the Head, we may argue that all the members of which it is composed are the servants of Christ; so that, however different their occupation, they all serve the same Master. You could no more spare the Christian usefulness of the humblest individual, than the manual labour of the tiller of the soil, and would as much unhinge the Church by diffusing infidelity among the lower classes, as a kingdom by diffusing rebellion. The eye of the Master is as much on one servant as on another, and His acquaintance with one as actual as with another; so that when we declare of a man that he serves the Lord Christ we mean a great deal more than when we make the like assertion of the various retainers in an earthly household. We do not merely mean that the duties which the man discharges arc duties by whose performance the cause of Christ is advanced or upheld; we mean that the man is as actually employed by Christ and as actually working for Christ as though he had received directions from His lips and gave unto Him an account of his proceedings.

II. Those whose duties in life are of the meanest description may gain as high a recompense as those who move in the first walks of society. Every lawful employment, inasmuch as it is one department of the service of Christ, has a sacred character; and consequently we may be religiously occupied when occupied with our worldly callings, and it is to close our eyes to an ordinance of God to imagine that in working for the body we cannot also be working for the soul. The distinctions of men in their temporal capacity have no corresponding distinctions in their eternal; but however various the situations which Christians occupy, the reward of the inheritance is promised equally to all.

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2263.

References: Eph 6:7, Eph 6:8.-W. Mercer, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 347. Eph 6:9.-J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 197.

Eph 6:10

Weakness.

I. To the Christian human nature is not a poor, but an infinitely grand, thing; something from which not a little, but everything, may be expected; something which was made in the image of God, was assumed and glorified by God’s own Son, has been the tabernacle of untold heroisms and saintly sufferings, and shall in the end be “renewed in knowledge and majesty after the image of Him who created it.” So grand a thing as this can never find safety in weakness. It is a poor toleration which first disparages the dignity, and then tolerates the shortcoming. No, if weakness leads to wrong-doing, it is wrong to be weak; and, in the language of the Gospel, all wrong-doing is sin against God.

II. Weakness can very often be traced to want of foresight. It is weakness to follow a bad example. Yes; but might not the crisis to which the weakness has proved unequal have been prevented by a little foresight? It is weakness, no doubt; but it is weakness which gives abundant warning of its presence. It might have been foreseen, and it might have been guarded against. And, again, there is that weakness which arises from unwillingness to face anything disagreeable.

III. Prayer, if earnest and persisted in, will most surely disclose to us sources of strength of which we should not otherwise have thought; it will show us those practical means of gaining strength which experience proves to be owned and blessed of God. Two of these I will refer to. (1) The first is the precise opposite of that fatal habit of which I spoke. It is the habit of not shrinking from what is disagreeable, the habit of facing a duty with alacrity and without delay. (2) And the second means is that of acquainting yourselves with the lives of God’s greatest and holiest servants.

H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 106.

References: Eph 6:10.-H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Life of Duty, vol. ii., p. 181; S. James, Church of England Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 121; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 8th series, p. 246. Eph 6:10, Eph 6:11.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 209; Church of England Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 277. Eph 6:10-12.-J. Ellison, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 305. Eph 6:10-13.-H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxviii., p. 212; Church of England Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 277. Eph 6:11.-“Literary Churchman” Sermons, p. 1. Eph 6:11-18.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv.,p. 275. Eph 6:12.-Church of England Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 79; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 90; vol. v., p. 31.

Eph 6:12-13

The Unseen Powers.

I. That which lies on the very surface of St. Paul’s language is this commanding truth: that spiritual forces are much greater than material forces. It takes time and trouble for many of us to be really certain of this truth, because from time to time in the world events appear to contradict, or at least to overcloud, it; and yet in the long run the truth asserts itself, ay infallibly. A strong will is a more formidable thing than the most highly developed muscle. They, it has been said, who aspire to rule in permanence, must base their throne, not upon bayonets, but upon convictions and sympathies, upon understandings, and upon hearts. This is true within the sphere of human nature, and St. Paul knew that the Church had to contend with the thought and the reason of paganism much more truly than with its pro-consuls and its legions.

II. Behind all that met the eye in daily life St. Paul discovered another world that did not meet the eye, but which was, for him at least, equally real. Behind all the social tranquillity, all the order, all the enjoyment, of life, all the widening intercourse between races and classes, all the maintenance of law with a fair amount of municipal and personal liberty, which distinguished undoubtedly the imperial regime considered as a whole, behind all that spoke and acted in this vast and most imposing system, behind all its seeming stability and all its progress, St. Paul discerned other forms hovering, guiding, marshalling, arranging, inspiring, that which met the eye. “Do not let us deceive ourselves,” he cried, “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

III. The contest of which St. Paul is speaking is not only to be waged on the great scene of history. St. Paul is speaking of contests humbler, less public, but certainly not less tragical, the contests which are waged sooner or later, with more or less intensity, with the most divergent results, around, within, each human soul. It is within ourselves that we meet now, as the first Christians met, the onset of the principalities and powers; it is in resisting them that we really contribute our little share to the issue of the great battle that rages still as it raged then, which will rage on, between good and evil until the end comes, and the combatants meet with their rewards.

H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 17.

Eph 6:13

The reason expressed in this word “wherefore” is contained in the passage before the text. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood,” says St. Paul, “but against spiritual wickedness in high places”-high, subtle, evil spiritual beings, ever ready and, but for God’s great mercy and power shielding us, ever able to deceive us and to lead us astray.

I. It is not enough for a man to be satisfied that he has been brought into that relation to God which the Gospel brings, not enough for him to believe that once for all his sins have been washed away in the blood of the Lamb. There comes this question: Let a man have received this doctrine ever so perfectly and sincerely, let him have no doubt whatever as to the reality of the new relation as a redeemed one in which he stands to his God through Christ, is there a man living that sinneth not? Can he still feel himself undoubtedly in that relation to God which the Gospel means with this sense of yet renewed sin upon him?

II. Our life is not to be a continuous vain seeking after repentance, but it is to be perpetually and always a humble, and penitent, and trustful following of God. We are “to grow in grace.” Some men deny the doctrine of growth in grace, and maintain that the change must absolutely be perfect and entire, or it cannot have taken place; but as we improve in holiness we grow in grace and peace: as we struggle honestly, and by degrees more successfully, with our temptations, the faith which enabled us to start on this course, the faith with which we began, increases in our hearts.

III. The Gospel promise does not fail us because our infirmity to a certain extent grows up with our growth even as Christian men. Against all the snares of the devil God has provided a sufficient and sure defence in the promises of His Gospel. We are renewed day by day in the spirit and temper of our mind.

Bishop Claughton, Penny Pulpit, New Series, No. 561.

References: Eph 6:13.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 394; Ibid., vol. x., p. 24; Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 381.

Eph 6:13-14

I. Note the prohibition involved in the precept. It forbids (1) indolent or even weary sleep; (2) cowardly or even politic flight; (3) a treacherous or even a desponding surrender; (4) the declaration of a truce or even an application for it; (5) the giving up of a militant position until the war is fairly over.

II. What do these words demand? (1) They require a distinct and solemn recognition of the fact that the time of our life on earth is a time of war, “an evil day.” (2) They require us to be always possessed by the conviction that we are personally called to this good fight. (3) They demand the honest and manly facing of our foes. (4) They require that, having taken the field, we keep it.

S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Sermons, 3rd series, p. 249.

Reference: Eph 6:13-18.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. vii., p. 215.

Eph 6:14

Christian Truthfulness.

I. It is obvious that the word “truth” as here used does not mean truth in the object, i.e., the truth of the Gospel, the verities of redemption, but truth in the subject, i.e., that which we so commonly call truthfulness, a quality within the man himself. And this truthfulness, or being true, is predicated of him, not in ordinary things only, but, as he is a Christian, in those things which constitute him a Christian warrior. The girdle of the warrior’s panoply would naturally be a girdle fitted for warfare, of the strength, and material, and pattern of the rest of his armour. And when we come to apply this similitude to practice, it is plain that we must think of this truthfulness, not only as regards words, the outward expression of thoughts, but also as regards acts, which are no less important results of a man’s inward state; and indeed as regards those thoughts themselves from which both speech and action spring.

II. What is it to have the loins girt about with truth? (1) It is to have a man’s own convictions in accordance with the revealed truths of the Gospel which he professes. Without this no Christian soldier can be girt for the battle. (2) All double purposes, all by-ends, all courses of action adopted for effect, are emphatically untrue; our object must not be only truth in detail, but truth in the due and real proportion of the whole. It is characteristic of a diseased conscience in this matter ever to be brooding over minute details, striving to be punctiliously, formally true, without inquiring whether the whole impression given is that which the whole facts really do give. And let us remember the great motive for truth which should be ever before us as Christians. We serve Him who is the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning. When our Saviour left us, He bequeathed to us His best gift, the promise of the Father, the Spirit of truth, to dwell in us and possess us, and sanctify us wholly by that word which He Himself spoke of when He said, “Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth.”

H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. v., p. 151.

References: Eph 6:14.-A. C. Price, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 113; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. viii., p. 212; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., pp. 257, 305. Eph 6:14-17.-E. Garbett, The Soul’s Life, p. 223. Eph 6:15.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 368; Ibid., vol. v., p. 27; G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 4; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 230; J. Vaughan, Sermons, 7th series, p. 136; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 350. Eph 6:16.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii., No. 416; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 149; H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 4th series, p. 379. Eph 6:17.-G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 205; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., pp. 365, 377; Outline Sermons to Children, p. 248.

Eph 6:20

I. The ministers of Christ are more or less ambassadors in bonds; that is to say, they have not merely to contend with difficulties, but the difficulties they contend with are not fair ones. They do not get an equal hearing. But whatever difficulties from without beset the ambassador of Christ, he knows full well that the greatest of his difficulties are within: that his own tongue falters when it should speak plainly; that his own standard of holiness varies even in his thoughts, much more in practice; that long habits of self-indulgence paralyse him when he would exhort others to self-denial; that faults of temper mar his work and lose him the confidence of others; that in these and many other ways he loads himself with difficulty, rivets his own chains. These difficulties, he feels, are unfair ones in the way of his Master’s cause. He is an ambassador in bonds.

II. The work, we know, changes as we advance in life. Like ambassadors, we are sent to different courts, recalled from one, despatched to another. But are we not all without exception, from the first years of sense and intelligence, distinctly and without a metaphor, sent out as ambassadors of Christ in the midst of an adverse world? The difficulties are great; the difficulties are such as may even rouse indignation in us. But there is risk in all noble attempts. The difficulty may be just overcome, the bar be only just surmounted; but that is as good for our purpose as though walls fell down before us, or as if we floated proudly into harbour with a hundred fathoms of blue water underneath the keel. Though in bonds, His ambassadors you are. Speak, then, in your Master’s name; remember that the word of God is not bound.

Archbishop Benson, Boy Life, p. 236.

Reference: W. J. Woods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 402.

Ephesians 6

I. The Apostle compares the struggles of a Christian against the enemies of his soul to the warfare of a soldier against the enemies of his country. What are the spiritual truths, the Christian graces, typified by these outward weapons? (1) The Christian’s girdle is truth. To be sincere and earnest in our purpose, to have the heart engaged in the work, and the will turned honestly to the love of Christ, is the great security for consistent perseverance in the warfare against His enemies.

(2) The breastplate is righteousness; it is the inwrought righteousness of our Saviour. (3) The feet are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. By preparation seems here meant a foundation or firm footing. Resting on the strong support of the Gospel, the Christian soldier will be ready to meet and to resist all efforts for his destruction. (4) The Christian’s life is pervaded and defended by faith. The reason why faith is a complete covering and protection to us is that it carries us out of ourselves, and bids us rest our hopes and affections on the Lord Jesus Christ. It teaches us to find in His life an unerring pattern for our conduct, a direct manifestation of God. (5) As the soldier’s head is guarded by his helmet, so is the Christian’s faith to be completed, his wavering mind stablished, and his faint heart encouraged by salvation. (6) The sword of offensive warfare is compared to the word of God, with which our Lord Himself drove away the assaults of the great adversary.

II. “Praying always.” As all human life was a campaign against sin, in which Christ, the Captain of our salvation, led His followers to victory, so the prayers of Christians were the watches of sentries by which the camp of the Lord was guarded and all assaults of the enemy repelled.

G E. L. Cotton, Expository Sermons on the Epistles, vol. ii., p. 332.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

obey: Gen 28:7, Gen 37:13, Lev 19:3, Deu 21:18, 1Sa 17:20, Est 2:20, Pro 1:8, Pro 6:20, Pro 23:22, Pro 30:11, Pro 30:17, Jer 35:14, Luk 2:51, Col 3:20-25

in: Eph 6:5, Eph 6:6, Rom 16:2, 1Co 15:58, Col 3:16, Col 3:17, Col 3:23, Col 3:24, 1Pe 2:13

for: Neh 9:13, Job 33:27, Psa 19:8, Psa 119:75, Psa 119:128, Hos 14:9, Rom 7:12, Rom 12:2, 1Ti 5:4

Reciprocal: Gen 27:8 – General Gen 31:35 – my lord Gen 48:12 – he bowed himself Gen 50:12 – General Exo 20:12 – Honour Num 30:5 – General Deu 5:16 – that thy days Rth 2:23 – General 2Ki 18:3 – right in the sight Est 2:10 – for Mordecai Pro 3:2 – length Jer 35:18 – Because Mat 15:4 – Honour Mat 19:19 – Honour Act 4:19 – Whether Act 26:20 – and do 1Co 9:21 – not Col 3:18 – as Heb 12:9 – we gave

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

(Eph 6:1.) , -Children, obey your parents in the Lord-that is, in Christ. The words are wanting in B, D1, F, G, and are, on that account, excluded by Lachmann, but they are found in A, D3, E, I, K, the major part of mss., and the Greek fathers. They describe the element or sphere of that obedience which children are to render to their parents, and certainly do not qualify -as if the reference were to fathers in the faith, in contrast to fathers after the flesh. Not merely natural instinct, but religious motive should prompt children to obedience, and guard them in it. The love which Jesus showed to children, when He took them in His arms and blessed them, should induce them, in a spirit of filial faith and fondness, to obey their parents, and to regard with special sacredness every parental injunction. And that obedience, if prompted, regulated, and bounded by a sense of religious obligation, will be cheerful, and not sullen; prompt, and not dilatory; uniform, and not occasional; universal, and not capricious in its choice of parental precepts.

-for this is right; the in , and other similar verbal forms being a general characteristic in the spelling of ancient MSS. The reference of the clause is not to , but to the injunction itself. Filial obedience is right, for it is not based on anything accidental or expedient. The meaning is not that obedience is according to the law of God, or Scripture- -as is said by Theodoret and Calvin, and virtually by Harless and Meyer, but that it has its foundation in the very essence of that relation which subsists between parents and children. Nature claims it, while Scripture enjoins it, and the Son of God exemplified it. It is in perfect consistency with all our notions of right and moral obligation- , as Theophylact rightly adds. For the very names and point out the origin and essential reason of that filial duty which the apostle, in Colossians, calls well-pleasing to the Lord.

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

WE PASS FROM the relationship of husband and wife to those of children and fathers, servants and masters, as we open chapter 6. Obedience is to mark the child, and careful nurture and admonition the father. But all is to be as under the Lord, as indicated in verses Eph 6:1; Eph 6:4. This sets everything on a very high level. So also it is with the servant and the master. Their relations are to be regulated as before the Lord, as verses Eph 6:7, Eph 6:8-9 show.

All these exhortations are very important today for strong Satanic influences are sweeping through Christendom, to the denying and disturbing of all that should characterize these relationships. But the very fact that this is so presents to the believer a great opportunity for witness to the truth, by carefully maintaining the relationships in their integrity according to Gods word. The opportunity for witness as servants or masters is very pronounced, inasmuch as that relationship is much in the public eye. The sight of a Christian servant marked by obedience and service with all good will, as rendered unto the Lord, is a very fine one. So also is that of a Christian master marked by an equal good will and care, in the sight of the great Master of both in heaven.

Thus far the epistle has given us a very wonderful unfolding of truth as to Christ and the church, followed by exhortations to life of a very exalted character. Now in verse Eph 6:10 we come to his final word. It concerns the adversaries and the armour that we need, if we are to maintain the truth and live the life that has been set before us. We are not left at our own charges. The power of the Lord is at our disposal and we are to be strong in His might.

The adversaries that are contemplated here are not human but Satanic. They exist in the world of spirits and not in flesh and blood. Satan is their chief, but they are spoken of as principalities and powers, and also as world-rulers of this darkness (R.V.). We know very little about them, and do not need to know. It is enough for us that their evil design is unmasked. They are world-rulers for the whole world system is controlled and dominated by them, little as the human actors on the world stage may suspect it. The effect of their domination is darkness. Here is the explanation of the gross spiritual darkness which fills the earth. How often after the Gospel has been very clearly preached have we heard people express their wonder that unconverted folk have listened to it all without a ray of light entering their hearts. In this scripture, and also in 2Co 4:4, is an explanation which removes all element of wonder from the phenomenon.

The point here however is that these great antagonistic powers exert all their wiles and energy against believers. They cannot rob them of their souls salvation, but they can divert them from an understanding of their heavenly calling, and from a life which is really in keeping with it; and this is what they aim at doing. Now it stands to reason that we cannot meet such powers as these in our own strength. Thank God we need not attempt any such thing for all the armour that we need is freely provided of God. But we have to take it. Otherwise we shall not experience its value.

We are to take unto us the whole armour of God, and also we are to put it on. Then we shall be able to withstand, and to stand. The conflict here is viewed mainly as being defensive. We are set in an exalted and heavenly position by the grace of our God, and there we are to stand in spite of every attempt to dislodge us. In keeping with this the various parts of the armour specified are, with one exception, of a defensive nature. Girdle, breastplate, shoes, shield and helmet are none of them weapons of offence; only the sword is that.

The Apostle is speaking figuratively of course, for we find that each item of the armour is something of a moral and spiritual sort which is to be taken up by us: things which though given to us by God, and hence to be taken by us, are also to be put on in a practical and experimental way. The first item is truth. That is to be as a girdle to our loins. The girding up of the loins expresses a preparing for activity. All our activities are to be circumscribed by truth. The truth is to govern us. The truth is given to us by God, but we are to put it on, so that it may govern us. Gods word is truth; but it is not truth in the Bible which is going to defend us, but rather truth applied in a practical way to all our activities.

The breastplate is righteousness. We are the very righteousness of God in Christ, but it is when we as a consequence walk in practical righteousness that it acts as a breastplate, covering all our vital parts from the blows directed by our powerful foes. How many a Christian warrior has fallen sorely wounded in the fight because there were grievous flaws in matters of practical righteousness. Chinks in the breastplate offer an opening to the arrows of the enemy.

In a normal way we hardly think of shoes as being in the nature of armour, yet inasmuch as it is with our shoes that we continually come into contact with the earth, they take on that character from the Christian standpoint. If our contact with earth is not right we shall be vulnerable indeed. What does the preparation of the gospel of peace, mean? Not that we should be preparing the way of the gospel in an evangelistic sense (though to do that is of course very desirable) but that we ourselves should come under the preparation which the gospel of peace effects. If our feet are shod in this way we shall carry the peace of the Gospel into all our dealings with men of this world, and be protected ourselves in so doing.

Then besides all this there is faith to act as a shield; that faith which means a practical and living confidence in God; that faith which keeps the eye on Him and His Word, and not on the circumstances nor on the foes. With the shield protecting us, outside our other armour, the darts of fiery doubt flung by the wicked are averted and quenched.

The helmet protects the head, which next to the heart is the most vulnerable point in man. Salvation, known, realized, enjoyed and worked out in practice, is that helmet for us. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure, (Php 2:12, Php 2:13) he was really exhorting them to take and wear the helmet of salvation.

Lastly comes, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This may be used both defensively and offensively. The Word of God will parry every thrust which our adversary may make; it will also put him to eight with one well directed blow. It is spoken of as the Spirits sword, for He indited it at the outset, and He it is who gives skill and understanding in its use. Our great Example in the use of this sword is the Lord Himself, as recorded in Mat 4:1-25 and Luk 4:1-44.

Our Lord is also our Example as to the prayer which is enjoined upon us in verse 18. Lukes gospel specially emphasizes this feature of His life. Having assumed Manhood, He took the dependent place which is proper to man, and carried it through in the fullest perfection. Hence prayer characterized His life, and it is to characterize ours. Prayer is always to be our resource, and especially so in connection with the conflict of which we have just been reading. The Word of God is indeed the sword of the Spirit. But just because it is we shall only wield it effectively if we are praying always in the Spirit. Without continued and abiding dependence on God we shall not wear any piece of the armour aright.

Our prayers are to reach that earnestness which is indicated by the word, supplication; they are also to be accompanied by watching. We are to be on the look-out to avoid all that would be inconsistent with our requests on the one hand, and to welcome the answer to our requests on the other. This indicates intensity and reality in our praying, so that our prayers are indeed a force and not a farce.

We are not to be circumscribed in our prayers. We have to begin with ourselves doubtless, but we do not stop there. We enlarge our requests to include all saints. Just as all saints are needed for the apprehension of the truth (Eph 3:18), so the scope of our prayers is not to be less than all saints. The scope of our prayers is enlarged to all men in 1Ti 2:1. Ephesians is however pre-eminently the church epistle and hence all saints is the circumference contemplated here.

Yet we are not to be so occupied with all that we wander off into indefiniteness. So the Apostle adds, and for me. Great servant of God though he was, he desired to be supported by the prayers of others not so great as he. Only he desired prayer, not that he might be released from prison, and his circumstances eased, but that he might be able to fully accomplish his ministry though a captive. He was in bonds, yet as much an ambassador as when he was free (See 2Co 5:20).

When free he thought of himself more as an ambassador of the Gospel, beseeching men to be reconciled. Now in captivity he regards himself as an ambassador of the mystery-that mystery which he has briefly unfolded in the earlier part of the epistle. It is the mystery of the Gospel, inasmuch as the one springs out of the other and is its appropriate sequel. If we do not understand the Gospel we cannot understand the mystery. The mystery, for instance, must be as a closed book to those who imagine that the Gospel is intended to Christianize the earth and thus introduce the millennium.

Pauls closing desires for the brethren though simple are very full. How happy must the brethren be when peace, love and faith, all proceeding from a Divine source, have free course in their midst. Then indeed grace rests upon them. Only there must be purity of heart and motive. The last words of verse Eph 6:24, in sincerity, or, in incorruption are a reminder to us that even in such early days, as those in which Paul was writing, that which was corrupt had found an entrance amongst those who professed to be Christian. To love the Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption is the hallmark of reality, the fruit of the genuine work of God.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

The Christian Home

Eph 6:1-4

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

It was the Apostle Paul who, in the Spirit, said, “Grace * * hath appeared teaching us that * * we should live soberly, righteously and godly.”

Christianity grants no license to licentiousness. The ethics of Christianity go far beyond the ethics which eminate from heathen cults. Our Lord laid great stress on the daily walk of those who serve Him. We have heard some ministers preach on “grace” as though it was an excuse for lawlessness. This is not true. While we can do nothing to become a Christian, we should do everything that becomes one.

Our Scripture text very plainly emphasizes Christ in the home.

(1) A message to children.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.”

(2) A message to fathers.

“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

(3) A message to servants.

“Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh.”

(4) A message to masters.

“And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening.”

(5) A message to wives.

(This message is found in Eph 5:22 of the preceding chapter)-“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.”

(6) A message to husbands.

(This also is found in Eph 5:25 of the preceding chapter.)

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church; and gave Himself for it.”

I. A VIRTUOUS WOMAN (Pro 31:1-31)

1. “Her price is above rubies.” God saw that man needed a helpmeet. He gave him the most priceless of all human gifts-a woman. A virtuous woman is a joy forever.

2. “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.” There is no reason for bickering and strife, nor for jealousies which break hearts and wreck homes, where there is a faithful husband and a virtuous loving wife.

3. “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.”

“She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands;

She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar;

She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household;

She considereth a field, and buyeth it;

She girdeth her loins with strength;

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night;

She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.”

Such a woman certainly will do her husband and her household good, and not evil, all the days of her life. Her husband will be known in the gates.

4. “Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” There can be no regret in coming years, as she reviews her accomplishments.

5. “She openeth her mouth with wisdom: and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” A woman may be recognized as the weaker vessel, but this does not in any sense mean that she is least in wisdom and least in love. She has merely been fashioned of a finer steel than her husband. He was made for the great out-of-doors; he was destined to meet the rough and rugged road of daily warfare. The woman was made to be the companion, the solace, and the counselor of her husband. Her words are words of wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

6. “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.” God’s virtuous woman is not a beautiful picture to be framed and hung upon the wall; she is not an ornament to be placed upon the table, she is the very life and light of her household. She is not ashamed of honest toil; her greatest joy is in her service.

7. “Her children arise up, and call her blessed.” The memories which flood the mind and heart of the sons and of the daughters of a woman such as God’s Word describes, are precious indeed.

II. THE CHRIST-MOTHER AND HER SON (Luk 2:19; Luk 2:52)

1. Luk 2:19 tells of a mother who pondered God’s marvelous and mysterious movements in her heart. Mary knew, of course, every incident connected with the birth of her holy Child. She knew of the visit of Gabriel, and of his marvelous promise. She knew of the joy that filled her soul upon her visit to her cousin, Elizabeth. She knew of the visit of the shepherds, following the message of the angel. All of these things she kept in memory and pondered them in her heart.

We believe that Mary, the mother of Christ, became Mary, the disciple of Christ. She believed in Him with an unwavering trust; she knew that He, her son, was also Son of God, and she revered Him as such, and trusted in His salvation.

2. Luk 2:52 tells of the Divine Son who was subject to His parents, and who increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Jesus Christ, the infant, possessed a human body that grew as any other little body grows; He possessed a mind that became stronger day by day. We may not be able to explain the fact that Christ the babe was God manifest in flesh, and yet that He was, withal, the infant Child who grew in wisdom and in stature.

Isaiah put it this way: “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.”

III. SARAH AND ISAAC (Gen 21:3-8)

Sarah, like Hannah, longed for a son, and when her son was born, Abraham called him Isaac, which being interpreted, means, “laughter.”

In the little child who lay in his mother’s arms, was wrapped up all the promises of a covenant-keeping God. Sarah, by faith, saw in Isaac her son, people as the sands of the seashore, innumerable, and as the stars of the heavens, in multitude.

The mother has a right to be a dreamer, a seer of visions. When she rocks her little one to sleep, she is always planning what he shall be in the days of maturity; and, she has a right to plan.

Our only fear is lest some mother fail in her duty toward her child.

Even now we can hear some mothers sighing with broken hearts:

“Where is my wandering boy tonight,

The boy of my tenderest care,

The boy that was once my joy and light,

The boy of my love and prayer?”

IV. JOCHEBED AND MOSES (Exo 2:1-4)

When Moses was born, there was a command being enforced under the iron rule of Pharaoh that all the male children should be killed. Jochebed was afraid for her son, but, with faith in God, she prepared an ark of bulrushes. She daubed this ark with slime and pitch, and put her baby boy therein. Then she laid her precious burden in the flags of the river’s brink.

We are all familiar with the story of how Pharaoh’s daughter took the child; and, of how Moses’ own mother, Jochebed, was hired to nurse him; and, of how the child grew until, finally, he delivered Israel.

The lesson which we would learn today, is the protection that a mother should afford her son.

We may not have an edict from Pharaoh’s cruel pen, but there are many things which would seek to slay our sons, and our daughters. If ever there was a day when children needed to be hid from Satan’s snares in the ark of prayer, of a godly life, and of the sheltering Spirit, it is today. Bad books, vile pictures, coarse shows, the card table, the dance, and a thousand other pitfalls have been set to entrap the child.

May God give us many arks of bulrushes.

V. THE SHUNAMMITE AND HER SON (2Ki 4:25-37)

When Elisha stopped at the home of the Shunammite, he promised she should have a son. When the child grew up, he was the joy of his mother’s heart. It came to pass, however, on a certain day, that the boy was stricken in the field, as he went out to his father, among the reapers. He was brought to his mother, and she held him on her knees until noon, and then he died.

When the lad was dead, the mother rushed away to the man of God. Elisha seeing her coming, sent his servant to meet her, and he saluted the Shunammite saying, “Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child?” And she answered, “It is well.”

The mother pressed her way on until she came to the Prophet; then she said, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.” And Elisha arose and followed her. We all know how Elisha, in answer to the mother’s quest, bought her lad back from the dead and presented him to her.

The purpose of our study is to see the tender, compassionate, and patient mother’s love. First, she prayed for her child; secondly, she cared for the child; and when he was taken sick, she held him upon her knees until he died; and finally, she sought the Lord until He restored him back again.

VI. ELIZABETH AND JOHN BAPTIST (Luk 1:5-7)

John the Baptist was greater than any man born of woman. As we discover somewhat the causes for his greatness, we go back to his parentage. We read of Zacharias, his father, and of Elizabeth, his mother: “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”

John the Baptist was great, undoubtedly, because he was brought up with greatest care. The angel had given special instructions as to his food and drink.

A great many people give more attention to raising a fine horse or a fine pig, than they do to raising their children. This is one reason why so many children have gone astray.

AN ILLUSTRATION

R. G. Pearson tells the following:

Let me tell you the story of a believing and praying mother to illustrate this idea of a mother’s faith, and to show how God will honor such faith and bless the children therefor. Several years ago I held a meeting in a town in a southwestern state. The events I am going to relate occurred a short time before I reached there. There was in that town a man and his wife and three little children. After a while the father died and the mother was left a widow. She was poor, living in a little rented house, and sewing for a living. Soon she was taken sick, and after a long illness it became evident that she was going to die. The physician was there and a few Christian men and women had gathered in. She said, “Call the children.” They were brought in, and she took each little one by the hand and said, “Children, I am going to die today. I am poor, I have no home to leave you, no provisions, no money. I have nothing to leave you but God. I die with faith in Him. He is the God of the covenant. I commit you, my little ones, into His hands. He will take care of you when mother is gone.” And so she closed her eyes in death.

Now, the remarkable thing about this is that before that mother was laid in her grave, three of the best men in the town went to the house and each one took one of the little children, and adopted it into his family, and making it his own child; each of these children had as good a home as there was in the town.

Trust the God of the covenant. Mothers, fathers, commit your little ones to Him and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and God will give you your reward here and hereafter.”

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

Eph 6:1. The fundamental commands by which one becomes a Christian are the same for all persons, regardless of their place in society and the nation. But there are various duties assigned to Christians that are adapted to them in the different relations of life. The preceding chapter deals with husbands and wives, while the present one starts with the special duties of children toward their parents. The original word for children means offspring, regardless of age or sex, and whether temporal or spiritual. But the connection here shows it means fleshly children of either sex, but old enough to have become Christians and thus subject to the religious instructions from the apostle. We learn also that a son or daughter may be old enough to obey the Gospel while still under the control of the parents. In the Lord means they are to obey as long as the parents do not require them to do something contrary to the word of the Lord. The proviso is similar to “in the fear of God” in chapter 5:21. For this is right states the highest motive that can prompt anyone in obeying the commands of the Lord.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Eph 6:1. Children. The exhortation to children is placed first; the general precept in chap. Eph 5:21 (submitting yourselves, etc.) calls for this order.

Obey your parents in the Lord. Obey is stronger than submit yourselves; the sphere or element of the obedience is in the Lord. The phrase, which qualifies the verb, is regarded by some as limiting the obedience to Christian commands, but the whole context implies that both parents and children are in Christ The relation to Christ rests on the relation to the believing parents. The baptismal rite does not create, but signifies and seals, the relation to Christ. The children are thus publicly acknowledged as in Christ, and believing parents thus promise to regard and train them as Christian children, whose personal piety is to be looked for in faith, as it is prayed for in faith. The evils from the superstitious view of the rite do not invalidate the true principle here involved, and implied in the Old Testament doctrine of covenant blessings on the households of Gods peoplea doctrine which is not altered by any statement in the New Testament.

For this is right. The natural obligation, which is recognized by all systems of morals, comes first; the enforcement through the revealed law of God is added.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Our apostle, in the foregoing chapter, began to treat of relative duties, and concluded that chapter with the duties of husbands and wives; he begins this with the duty of children and parents to each other.

And here we have observable, that he begins this with the duty of the inferior first, of the child to the parents, as he did before with the duty of the wife, Eph 5:22. He first puts them in mind of their duty who are to obey; that being the most difficult duty, and the persons concerned in it usually more defective, and the work less easy and pleasing to our nature.

Observe, 2. The important duty which children are directed to: the duty of obedience and honour: Children, obey: honour your father and mother. This duty of honour and obedience implies inward reverence, and a lawful estimation of their persons, and honouring of them in heart, speech, and behaviour; it implies also outward observance, a pious regard to their instructions, executing all their commands which are not sinful, depending on their counsels, and following their good examples, owning with thankfulness their parents’ care and concern for them, and covering the failings and infirmities found in them.

Observe, 3. The object of this duty: both parents, not the father alone, or the mother only, but both father and mother jointly. Children, obey your parents; honour thy father and thy mother: as obedience belongeth to all children, of what age, or sex, or condition soever, so are children obliged to obey both parents, the mother as well as the father, yea, she is named first, Lev 19:3; her sex being weaker, she is the more subject to contempt, Pro 23:22, saying, Hearken to thy father which begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

Observe, 4. The noble principle from whence this obedience in children to parents ought to flow, namely, from the fear of God. Obey them in the Lord; that is, in obedience to his command, and in all things agreeable to his will, fearing his displeasure in case of disobedience: let not your obedience be barely natural and prudential, but christian and religious.

Observe, 5. The arguments used by our apostle to excite to the practice of this duty. The first argument is drawn from the equity of it, This is right; that is, the law of God and nature requires it. The great motive, which ought to excite us to the practice of any duty, is not so much the advantageousness, as the righteousness and equity, of the duty, as being commanded by God, and well pleasing in his sight: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. A second argument is, because this is the first commandment of the second table, which has a particular promise annexed to it: This is the first commandment with promise, that is, with an express promise; for every commandment hath both a promise and a threatening implied in it, and annexed to it; but this is the first commandment with a promise expressed, and that is a promise of long life, That thy days may be long; and this promise is always fulfilled, either in kind or equivalency, either by enjoying a long life on earth, or a better life in heaven.

Learn hence, That although our first and chief motive to obedience be the equity and righteousness of what God requires, yet we may, as a secondary encouragement, have respect to the promised reward, and particularly to the temporal advantage of our obedience. Long life is here promised to children, as an encouragement to obedience, which is in itself a very valuable mercy and blessing; and having eyed the command of God in the first place, they may and ought to have respect to the recompense of reward in the next place.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Duties of Children

Literally, Paul says children are to keep on obeying their parents. This is restricted by the expression “in the Lord” which means a child may refuse to obey his parents if they ask him to do something that is wrong in God’s sight. Obedience is not only a good thing, it is right in God’s sight (6:1). Exo 20:5 reads, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” This is the fifth commandment written on tables of stone at Mount Sinai. It is the first, or primary, commandment for children and, if obeyed, carries with it the promise of the next verse (6:2).

Obeying and honoring one’s parents helps to develop a character well suited for a long life on earth. Such takes self-control, a teachable spirit, self-discipline and recognition of authority, which are necessary ingredients for living on this earth (6:3; Deu 5:16 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Eph 6:1-4. The apostle, having explained the duties of wives and husbands, proceeds to the duties of children and parents, and then to those of servants, or slaves rather, and masters, with which he finishes his account of relative duties. Children, obey your parents Even your unbelieving parents, in every thing consistent with your duty to the Lord. In all things lawful, the will of the parent is a law to the child: for this is right Manifestly just and reasonable. Honour That is, love, reverence, obey, assist in all things; thy father and mother The mother is particularly mentioned, as being more liable to be slighted than the father. Which is the first commandment with promise For the promise implied in the second commandment does not belong to the keeping that command in particular, but the whole law. Whereas the fifth is the first commandment which hath a promise annexed to it in particular. This observation concerning the promise in the law, to those who honoured their parents, was made by the apostle, to show that the honouring of parents is a matter of the greatest importance to the well-being of society, and highly acceptable to God. That it may be well with thee In temporal as well as spiritual things; and thou mayest live long on the earth A promise that is usually fulfilled to eminently dutiful children; and he who lives long and well, has a long seed-time for an eternal harvest. But this promise in the Christian dispensation is to be understood chiefly in a more exalted and spiritual sense. And ye fathers On the other hand, (whom he names rather than mothers, as being more apt to be stern and severe; mothers, however, are also included;) provoke not your children to wrath By any harsh usage, or rigorous treatment of them. Do not needlessly fret or exasperate them; but bring them up With all tenderness and mildness, and yet with steadiness; in the nurture and admonition , in the discipline and instruction; of the Lord As these expressions stand connected with the word Lord, it seems reasonable to explain them of such a course of discipline and instruction as properly belongs to a religious education, which ought to be employed by those that believe in the Lord, in forming their children for him, by laying a restraint on the first appearance of every vicious passion, and nourishing them up in the words of faith and sound doctrine.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ephesians Chapter 6

But it is not only that there is a line of conduct to follow, a model to imitate, a Spirit with whom one may be filled, it is not only relationships between oneself and God, and those in which we stand here below; this is not all that must occupy the Christian. He has enemies to fight. The people of Israel under Joshua in the land of Canaan were indeed in the promised land, but they were in conflict there with enemies who were in it before them, although not according to the rights by which Israel possessed the land through the gift of God. God had set it apart for Israel (see Deu 32:8); Ham had taken possession of it.

Now, with regard to us, it is not with flesh and blood that we have to fight, as was the case With Israel. Our blessings are spiritual in the heavenly places. We are sitting in Christ in the heavenlies. We are a testimony to principalities and powers in the heavenlies; we have to wrestle with spiritual wickednesses in the heavenlies. Israel had passed through the wilderness-had crossed the Jordan; the manna had ceased; they ate the corn of the land. They were settled in the land of Canaan as though it were all their own without striking a blow. They ate the produce of this good land in the plains of Jericho. So it is with regard to the Christian. Although we are in the wilderness, we are also in the heavenly places in Christ. We have crossed the Jordan, we have died and are risen again with Him. We are sitting in the heavenly places in Him, that we may enjoy the things of heaven as the fruit of our own country. But conflict is before us, if we desire to enjoy them practically. The promise is of every blessing, of all the promised land, but wheresoever we shall set our foot on it (Jos 1:1-18). For this we need the Lords strength, and of this the apostle now speaks. Be strong, he says, in the Lord. The enemy is subtle. We have to withstand his stratagems even more than his power. Neither the strength nor even the wisdom of man can do anything here. We must be armed with the panoply, that is, the whole armour, of God.

But observe first, that the Spirit turns our thoughts upon God Himself before speaking of that which has to be overcome. Be strong in the Lord. It is not, first of all, a refuge from the face of the enemy; we are in it for ourselves before we use it against the wiles of the enemy. It is in the intimacy of the counsels and the grace of God that man fortifies himself for the warfare from which he cannot escape, if he would enjoy his Christian privileges. And he must have the whole armour. To be wanting in one piece exposes us to Satan on that side. The armour must be that of God-divine in its nature. Human armour will not ward off the attacks of Satan; confidence in that armour will engage us in the battle only to make us fall in combat with a spirit who is more mighty and more crafty than we are.

These enemies are thus characterised; they are principalities and powers-beings possessing an energy of evil which has its source in a will that has mastery over those who do not know how to resist it; they have also strength to carry it out. Their energy they have from God, the will that uses it comes from themselves; they have forsaken God; the spring of their actions is in their own will. In this respect it is a source of action independent of God, and the energy and the qualities which they have from God are the instruments of that will-a will which has no bridle except from outside itself. They are principalities and powers. There are good ones; but in them the will is only to do that which God wills, and to employ in His service the strength they have received from Him.

These rebellious principalities and powers rule over the darkness of this world. Light is the atmosphere in which God dwells, which He diffuses all around Himself. Wicked spirits deceive and reign in darkness. Now this world, not having the light of God, is entirely in darkness, and demons reign in it; for God is not there-except in supreme power after all, turning everything to His glory, and, in the end, to the good of His children.

But if these principalities rule in the darkness of this world they do not possess merely an outward force; they are in the heavenlies, and are occupied with spiritual wickedness there. They exercise a spiritual influence, as having the place of gods. There is then, first, their intrinsic character, their mode of being, and the state in which they are found; second, their power in the world as governing it; and third, their religious and delusive ascendency, as lodging in the heavens. They have also, as a sphere for the exercise of their power, the lusts of man, and even the terrors of his conscience.

To resist enemies like these we need the armour of God. The manifestations of this power, when God permits it, constitute the evil days. All this present period of Christs absence is, in a certain sense, the evil day. Christ has been rejected by the world, of which, while in it, He was the light, and is hidden in God. This power, which the enemy displayed when he led the world to reject Christ, he still exercises over it: we oppose it by the action and the power of the Holy Ghost, who is here during the Lords absence. But there are moments when this power is allowed to shew itself in a more especial manner, when the enemy uses the world against the saints, darkening the light which shines in it from God, troubling and leading astray the minds of professors and even of believers-days, in a word, in which his power makes itself felt. We have to wrestle with this power, to resist it all, to stand against everything in the confession of Christ, of the light; we have to do all that the confession of His name requires in spite of all and at whatever cost, and to be found standing when the storm and the evil day are past.

Thus we have not only to enjoy God and the counsels of God and their effect in peace; but, since these very counsels introduce us into heavenly places and make us the light of God on earth, we have also to encounter the spiritual wickednesses which are in the heavenly places, and which seek to make us falsify our high position, to mislead us, and to darken the light of Christ in us on the earth. We have to escape the snares of heavenly spiritual wickedness for ourselves, and to maintain the testimony here below incorrupt and pure. [28]

Now by the power of the Holy Ghost, who has been given to us for this purpose, we shall find that the armour of God relates first to that which, by setting the flesh aside, and by maintaining the existence of a good conscience, takes all hold from the enemy; then, to the preservation of complete objective trust in God; and next, to the active energy which stands with confidence in the presence of the enemy, and using the weapons of the Holy Ghost against him. The defensive armour our own state, comes first. The whole ends with the expression of the entire and continual dependence on God in which the Christian warrior stands.

We will examine this armour of God, that we may know it. It is all practical-founded on that which has been accomplished, but in itself practical. For it is not a question here of appearing before the bar of God, but of resisting the enemy, and of maintaining our ground against him.

Before God our righteousness is perfect, it is Christ Himself, and we are the righteousness of God in Him: but we do not need armour there, we are sitting in the heavenly places: all is peace, all is perfect. But here we need armour, real practical armour, and first of all to have the loins girt about with truth. The loins are the place of strength when duly girt, but represent the intimate affections and movements of the heart. If we allow our hearts to wander where they will, instead of abiding in communion with God, Satan has easy hold upon us. This piece of armour is then the application of the truth to the most intimate movements, the first movements of the heart. We gird up the loins. This is done, not when Satan is present; it is a work with God, which is done by applying the truth to our souls in His presence, judging everything in us by this means, and putting a bridle on the heart that it may only move under His eye. This is true liberty and true joy, because the new man enjoys God in uninterrupted communion; but here the Spirit speaks of it with respect to the safeguard which it will be to us against the attacks of the enemy. At the same time it is not merely the repression of evil thoughts-that is its consequence: it is the action of the truth, of the power of God, acting by the revelation of everything as it is-of all that He Himself teaches, bringing the conscience into His presence, keeping it thus in His thoughts; all that God has said in His word, and the unseen realities having their true force and their application to the heart that stirs in us, so that its movements should have their character from Gods own word and not from its own desires, everything going on in the presence of God.[29]

Satan has no hold on a heart thus kept in the truth, as revealed by God; there is nothing in its desires that answers to the suggestions of Satan. Take Jesus as an example. His safeguard was not in judging all that Satan said. In the wilderness at the beginning of His public service, except in the last temptation, it was in the perfect application of the word for Himself, for that which concerned His own conduct, to the circumstances around Him. The truth governed His heart, so that it only moved according to that truth in the circumstance that presented itself Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. No word has come forth-He does nothing. There was no motive for acting. It would have been to act of His own accord, of His own will. That truth kept His heart in connection with God in the circumstance that met Him. When the circumstance arose, His heart was already in intercourse with God, so that it had no other impulse than that which the word of truth suggested. His conduct was purely negative, but it flowed from the light which truth threw upon the circumstance, because His heart was under the absolute government of the truth. The suggestion of Satan would have brought Him out of this position. That was enough. He will have nothing to do with it. He does not yet drive away Satan: it was only a matter of conduct, not of flagrant opposition to the glory of God. In the latter case He drives him away; in the former He acts according to God without concerning Himself with anything farther. Satans device totally failed of its effect. It simply produced nothing. It is absolutely powerless against the truth, because it is not the truth; and the hearth has truth for its rule. Wiles are not the truth: this is quite enough to prevent our being caught by them, that is, if the heart be thus governed.

In the second place there is the breastplate of righteousness-a conscience that has nothing to reproach itself with. The natural man knows how a bad conscience robs him of strength before men. There is only to be added here the way in which Satan uses it to entrap man in his snares. By maintaining the truth we have Satan for our enemy. If we yield ourselves up to error, he will leave us in that respect at peace, except in using our faults and crimes to enslave us more, to bind us hand and foot in that which is false. How would a man who has the truth, who has perhaps even escaped error, if his conduct were bad, bear to have it exposed to the eyes of all? He is silent before the enemy. His own conscience even will make him silent, if he is upright, without thinking of consequences, unless a confession be necessary. Besides this the strength of God and spiritual understanding will fail him: where could he have gained them in a wrong walk? We go forward boldly when we have a good conscience. But it is when we are walking with God, for the love of God, for the love of righteousness itself, that we have this breastplate on, and thus we are fearless when called to go forward and face the enemy. We gain a good conscience before God by the blood of the Lamb. By walking with God we maintain it before men and for communion with God, in order to have strength and spiritual understanding, and to have them increasingly. This is the practical strength of good conduct, of a conscience without rebuke. I exercise myself always to this, said the apostle. What integrity in such a walk, what truthfulness of heart when no eye sees us! We are peremptory with ourselves, with our own hearts, and with regard to our conduct; we can therefore be peaceful in our ways. God also is there. So walk, says the apostle, and the God of peace shall be with you. If the fruits of righteousness are sown in peace, the path of peaceis found in righteousness. If I have a bad conscience, I am vexed with myself, I grow angry with others. When the heart is at peace with God and has nothing to reproach itself with, when the will is held in check, peace reigns in the soul. We walk on the earth, but the heart is above it in intercourse with better things; we walk in a peaceful spirit with others, and nothing troubles our relations with God. He is the God of peace. Peace, the peace of Jesus, fills the heart. The feet are shod with it; we walk in the spirit of peace.

But, together with all this, a piece of defensive armour is needed over all the rest, that we may be able to stand in spite of all the wiles of the enemy-an armour, however, which is practically maintained in its soundness by the use of the preceding ones, so that, if the latter is essential, the others have the first place in practice. This is the shield, faith; that is to say, full and entire trust in God, the consciousness of grace and of His favour maintained in the heart. Here faith is not simply the reception of Gods testimony (although it is founded on that testimony), but the present assurance of the heart with regard to that which God is for us, founded, as we have just said, on the testimony which He has given of Himself-trust in His love and in His faithfulness, as well as in His power. If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. The work of the Spirit in us is to inspire this confidence. When it exists, all the attacks of the enemy, who seeks to make us believe that the goodness of God is not so sure-all his efforts to destroy or to weaken in our hearts this confidence in God and to hide Him from us, prove fruitless. His arrows fall to the ground without reaching us. We stand fast in the consciousness that God is for us: our communion is not interrupted. The fiery darts of the enemy are not the desires of the flesh, but spiritual attacks.

Thus we can hold up our heads: moral courage, the energy which goes forward, is maintained. Not that we have anything to boast of in ourselves, but the salvation and the deliverance of God are fresh in our minds. God has been for us; He is for us: who shall be against us? He was for us when we had no strength; it was salvation, when we could do nothing. This is our confidence-God Himself-not looking at ourselves. We have the helmet of salvation on our heads. The former parts of the armour give us freedom to enjoy the two latter.

Thus furnished with that which protects us in our walk, and in the practical confidence in God, and the knowledge of God that flows from it, we are in a state to use offensive weapons. We have but one against the enemy, but it is one that he cannot resist if we know how to handle it: witness the Lords conflict in the wilderness with Satan. It is the word of God. There Jesus always answered with the word by the power of the Spirit. It sets man in his true position according to God as obedient man in the circumstances around him. Satan can do nothing there: we have but to maintain that position. If Satan openly tempts us to disobedience, there is no wile in that. Not being able to do anything else, Satan acted thus with the Lord, and manifested himself as he is. The Lord drove him away by the word. Satan has no power when he is manifested as Satan. We have to resist the wiles of the devil. Our business is to act according to the word, come what may; the result will shew that the wisdom of God was in it. But observe here, this sword is the sword of the Spirit. It is not the intelligence or the capacity of man, although it is man who uses the word. His sword is highly tempered, but he can neither draw it nor strike with it if the Holy Ghost is not acting in him. The weapons are spiritual; they are used by the power of the Spirit. God must speak, however weak the instrument may be.

The sword is also used actively in the spiritual warfare, in which it judges all that is opposed to us. In this sense it is both defensive and offensive. But, behind all this armour, there is a state, a disposition, a m eans of strength, which quickens and gives all the rest its power: this is a complete dependence on God, united to trust in Him, which expresses itself in prayer. Praying always; this dependence must be constant. When it is real, and I feel that I can do nothing without God, and that He wills my good in all things, it expresses itself. It seeks the strength which it has not: it seeks it from Him in whom it trusts. It is the motion of the Spirit in our hearts in their intercourse with God, so that our battles are fought in the communion of His strength and His favour, and in the consciousness that we can do nothing, and that He is all. At all times; with supplication. This prayer is the expression of the mans need, of the hearts desire, in the strength that the Spirit gives him, as well as in confidence in God. Also since it is the Spirits act, it embraces all saints, not one of whom can be forgotten by Jesus; and the Spirit in us answers the affections of Christ, and reproduces them. We must be watchful and diligent in order to use this weapon; avoiding all that would turn us away from God, availing ourselves of every opportunity, and finding, by the grace of the Spirit, in everything that arises, an occasion (by means of this diligence) for prayer and not for distraction. [30] The apostle asks from his heart for this intercession on their part, in the sense of his own need and of that which he desires to be for Christ.

The mission of Tychicus expressed Pauls assurance of the interest which the love of the Ephesians made them take in having tidings of him, and that which he himself felt in ascertaining their welfare and spiritual state in Christ. It is a touching expression of his confidence in their affection-an affection which his own devoted heart led him to expect in others.

He presents the Ephesians as enjoying the highest privileges in Christ, and as being able to appreciate them. He blames them in nothing. The armour of God-by which to repel the assaults of the enemy, and to grow up in peace unto the Head in all things, the preservative armour of God-was naturally the last thing that he had to set before them. It is to be noticed that he does not speak to them in this epistle of the Lords coming. He supposes believers in the heavenly places in Christ; and not as on earth, going through the world, waiting till He should come to take them to Himself, and restore happiness to the world. That which is waited for in this epistle is the gathering together of all things under Christ, their true Head, according to the counsels of God. The blessings are in the heavens, the testimony is in the heavens, the church is sitting in the heavens, the warfare is in the heavens.

The apostle repeats his desire for them of peace, love, and faith; and concludes his epistle with the usual salutation by his own hand.

This epistle sets forth the position and the privileges of the children, and of the assembly in its union with Christ.

Footnotes for Ephesians Chapter 6

28: Still what we have to overcome are the wiles of the devil. His power over us is broken. He may rouse the world in persecution and be a roaring lion; but as regards personal temptations, if we resist the devil he flees from us; he knows he has met Christ, and Christ has overcome. But his wiles are ever there.

29: Girding the loins is a common figure of scripture for a mind and heart kept in godly order as in Gods presence by the word of God.

30: Prayer is founded on the immense privilege of having common interests with God both as to ourselves and as to all that are His, yea, even as to Christs glory. Wondrous thought! unspeakable grace!

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

ARGUMENT 24

DOMESTIC GOVERNMENT

1. Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Out of the Lord, dare to disobey and suffer the consequences. If your parents assign you to a dancing-school, refuse to go; if you get a thrashing every day, receive it joyfully for Christs sake. It is equally true in the relation of husband and wife, master and slave. You are only to obey in the Lord. When the brutal husband of a holy woman forbade her going to John Wesleys meetings on pain of death, still she went, though he had sworn in his wrath that be would bake her in his oven. Returning from a glorious class-meeting, she saw the smoke going up from the bake-oven. Falling on her knees, she said; Lord, if you need a martyr in England, I put in the first bid. I am ready to go into that oven like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If you do not need the martyr, put your hand on my wicked husband. When she got inside of the house, she saw him rolling over the floor, unable to stand on his feet, exclaiming aloud, Pray for me, O my Polly; I will be in hell before night. Soon he was converted and sanctified, and became an earnest class leader. When you dare to obey God, he will take care of the results.

2,3. Sin dishonors your father and mother, casting over their memories a reflection of reproach for neglect of duty. A correct life observes the laws of nature, lives hygienically, and always conduces to longevity. The wicked shall not live out half their days.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Eph 6:1-3. Children, obey your parents, because they are your parents, who gave you birth, and nourished you with food and fond affection in all your tender years. Their age and experience qualify them to guide and command, and in all their domestic regulations they aim solely at your good. If you disobey them in their wise and just commands, you disobey the Lord, whom your parents represent. Therefore love them, as they love you; and honour them with reverence and filial obedience. God who commands other duties by sovereignty, commands this, the most excellent of duties, with promise, that it may be well with thee, and that long life may crown all thine other mercies.

Eph 6:4. Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, by requiring any thing that is unsuited to their age and circumstances, nor by unseasonable rebukes, or severity of correction. As we whet a knife when it has lost its edge, so you may correct a son when all other means fail; but let the manner and degree be such, that he himself may approve at a future day. Above all, aim to make him a good son; and let your own house be the happiest house he can find. Bring him up in the knowledge and discipline of the Lord, as stated on Pro 22:6. Be parents in the Lord, that you may the more win your childrens hearts to love his name.

Eph 6:5-8. Servants, be obedient to your masters. In all things do their pleasure, and not your own. Let it appear that the profession of the gospel has illuminated your mind, to know your duty towards God and man. Act for your masters with fear and trembling, being in subjection to their authority, but more abundantly as the free and noble-minded servants of Christ. Be careful to become such servants as shall gain your masters entire confidence, that when they are absent their minds may be easy, knowing that their work will be done as if they were present. Let all your services be performed as to the Lord, who in the day of his coming will reward the faithful servant, as well as the wise and prudent master.

Eph 6:10. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Be like Samson, when the Spirit came upon him, and like all the heroes of the Lord. I will go forth, said David, in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. He will strengthen his servants with might in the inner man, and will be with them in the day of trouble.

Eph 6:11. Put on the whole armour, the panoply, of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. You have not only to fight with the lion, who roars and rushes on to battle; but with the lurking leopard, who hides in the bushes, and leaps unawares on his prey. The enemy not only roars on the church in popular fury, but attacks with ingenious malice, as when the council of the jews crucified the Saviour.

Eph 6:12. We wrestle not, like the Roman armies, against flesh and blood, the men of the age, but against principalities and powers Satan and his evil angels. In heaven Christ has principalities and powers under him, and Satan also has subjection in his kingdom, to which the apostle here alludes. But when Satan excites war and mischief in the church, Michael, the great prince, comes to our aid. Dan 10:13; Dan 10:20; Dan 12:1.

Against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Satans power is not real, but assumed; it is the darkness, the spiritual darkness of the age in which men are blinded and captivated by their passions, which concedes this mock sovereignty to the common foe. They call good evil, and evil good.

Against spiritual wickedness in high places. , in heavenly places. Our version follows Beza, in reading sublime or high places, and the fathers in succession, to the arial regions, where the prince of the power of the air is allowed to range, and prompt mankind to every evil deed.

Eph 6:13. Wherefore take to you the whole armour of God, which he has provided for the defence of his saints, that ye may be able to withstand, as the army of the Lord of hosts, that you may manfully resist the enemy, and he will flee from you; for the Lord is your shield, your buckler and defence.

Eph 6:14. Stand therefore, fast in the Lord, having your loins girt about with truth; for it is the promises of victory and salvation which gird up the mind with courage and strength for the war.

Having on the breastplate of righteousness; or as he says to the Thessalonians, having on the breastplate of faith and love. Virtue in all its powers, and piety in all its characters, as Erasmus turns the phrase; for the breastplate resisted the point of the sword, and diverted the point of the spear, as was the case when Hector threw his spear at Achilles. We must put on the Lord Jesus Christ, if we mean to be safe from the arrows of death.

Eph 6:15. Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The eyes of your understanding must be enlightened; you must be ready in the scriptures, fully prepared for disputation, and for the defence of the gospel, the word of reconciliation. You must walk as becomes the gospel of peace. By so doing St. Paul defeated his enemies in the public fight. His manner of early life, he told the kings of Asia, had been that of a pharisee; he had exercised himself to have a conscience void of offence towards God and man. The jews, he said, found him neither with noise nor tumult, nor disputing with any man, but purified and praying in the temple.

Eph 6:16. Above all, over all, taking the shield of faith, which gives us the victory over the world. is rendered by the Romans, clypeus, an oblong shield from the wrist to the elbow, and buckled on the left arm. They call it also scutum, a shield of round or more ovalar figure, to repel arrows, as well as blows. Such, it would seem, was the shield of Achilles, concerning which Homer has given us a very minute description. It was made of five plates of different metals. On one part were the emblems of war in all its horrors; on another, cities with flourishing agriculture and commerce, to show that peace should be the end of war. The shield of faith will cover our head in the crisis of conflict, and crown us with the joy of salvation.

Wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, which the malice of demons may throw against you. Julius Csar, in his wars of Gall, gives us a comment here. When he besieged the Gauls in the city of Tours, Turones, or Csarodunum, where the river Loire makes a tour round the city, except one isthmus, which was fortified, the Romans built mount against mount with facines, or faggots of wood and earth. The Gauls rushing from under cover, threw darts at the facines, with ignited balls of combustibles at the end. Those darts, on being repelled, fell back into the ditch, and were quenched. The Romans succeeded in gaining the walls, and then put all the people, to the amount of about forty thousand, to the sword. In like manner, Satan throws his darts with fiery indignation, hoping to pierce or to arrest our shield. He assails with attacks against the being of a God, against the deity of Christ, and the truth of the scriptures. He tries to set our concupiscence on fire, to enflame our anger, swell our pride, or cause the slower flames of avarice to smother in the heart. The remedy is,

Eph 6:17-18. Take the helmet, the hope, of salvation. The helmet covered the head, having in its superior structure the wide gueles of some wild beast, or the like figure. The valiant ones of Christ must know nothing of discouragement and despair.

And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The word emanating from the living oracle, Out of whose mouth goes a sharp two- edged sword. With this the Lord causes the people to fall under him, pierced in the heart. With this sword he hewed his enemies to pieces in the temple. Woe unto you, scribes, pharisees, hypocrites. We must with wisdom and courage attack the enemy; for if we, like the fallen prophet in Bethel, hold our peace at the wickedness of the age, God will not hold his peace at us. We must do it with all the forms of prayer, and constant exercises of devotion, adoring, confessing, and pleading with heaven.

Eph 6:20. For which I am an ambassador in bonds. His chain did not supersede his commission, but modified it. He prays that he might preach with clearness, with eloquence and power; and on all subjects magnify the ministry with which he was clothed. Let us learn of Paul to pray for the like power and influence from on high.

REFLECTIONS.

After the sublime of christian doctrines, after disclosing the moral code to all orders of men in the church, next follows the christian armour, for upon all the glory there shall be a defence. It is the complete panoply of the christian soldier, whose back alone is undefended, for he must never fly from the enemy. In the list of opponents, men consisting of flesh and blood are scarcely reckoned; they are chiefly of a more formidable description, even principalities and powers in heavenly places, who rule the darkness of this world, idolatry, and all the mysteries of iniquity. We must therefore take the whole armour of God, that we may stand in the evil day, a time when many fall, or wax cold.

The parts of the ancient armour here improved are,

(1) The girdle of truth. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. And wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way, but by taking heed to Gods word? As a girdle strengthens the loins, and compacts the robe, so truth strengthens the mind.

(2) The breastplate of righteousness, as in Rom 3:4. This guards the vitals from the deadly blows of sin.

(3) Armed for war, we must walk in peace with God, with men, and with our own conscience. And the gospel preparation implies that we be prompt and ready for all the will of God.

(4) Our shield, target, or buckler, must be an unshaken confidence in Gods word; a faith that magnifies heaven, and diminishes earth. This will receive and repel the darts of Satan, called fiery because of his malice, and of the burning poison of sin.

(5) Our helmet must be hope. In every fight we must be assured of victory; and this hope is the pledge of victory, from the first conflict, leading to a final triumph. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

(6) Our offensive weapon must be the sword of the Spirit, which is the quick and powerful word of God. Our voice to sinners must be the echo of Jehovahs voice. We must use the sword as Christ did when tempted of the devil, and everywhere confound and affright the hordes of the wicked. We must do the Lords work in the Lords spirit, praying always with all prayer and supplication. By prayer we renew our strength to fight and endure to the end. And in every conflict, let us hear our Captains cry: Him that overcometh will I grant to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and am sat down with my Father on his throne.

The concluding argument, in soliciting prayers for divine assistance, is most of all to be admired. The eloquence of the prophets is perfect in its kind, and full of the Spirit. Of Pauls eloquence we have specimens in his reasonings with the jews; in his manner of talking to the spoiled and party men of Corinth; in the climax of antitheses, 2Co 6:4-11; and in his charge to Timothy. 1Ti 6:11-12. But he yet wanted more of that triumphant eloquence and unction which converts the world to God. Let every minister then, as Erasmus says, endeavour to be taught of God, and have a fountain of truth and wisdom in his own breast.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Eph 5:22 to Eph 6:9. Subordination in the Fear of Christ.The principle is illustrated by the relation (a) of wives to husbands, (b) of children to parents, (c) of slaves to masters. The writer does not attack existing social institutionsslavery, the patria potestas, the dependent position of women. He accepts the relationships as they exist in the world he knows, and seeks to interpret them in the light of the gospel (p. 649). If he enforces upon wives, children, and slaves, the duty of subordination, he insists also upon the corresponding obligations of conjugal love and protection, parental nurture and admonition, kind treatment and forbearance towards slaves. All these relationships are now relationships in the Lord. That of husband and wife in particular is grounded in Christs relation to His Church.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

PARENTS AND CHILDREN

(vs.1-4)

Children are next addressed. The instruction is simple and uncomplicated. They are to obey their parents in the Lord, that is, as subject to the Lord’s authority. False educators today boldly undermine this parental authority, and it is leading to ruin, for it denies what is right before God. The relationship of children is typical of that of believers to God as their Father. If a believer should obey God, then a child should obey his parents. More still is involved in verse 2: the need for due respect is added. This verse is quoted from the ten commandments, not as putting children under law, but as showing the law’s importance as an abiding governmental principle which brings temporal blessings as a result. For children are certainly to be subject to their parents, and this has much to do with their welfare on earth.

Fathers, being in authority, are not to abuse that authority (v.4). It is too easily possible for a father’s impatience with his children to lead to unfair treatment of them, and this is likely to provoke their anger. Let us rather have sober exercise to bring up children “in the discipline and admonition of the Lord” (JND), that is, as disciples under the gentle, firm authority of the Lord, being kindly and consistently reminded of His grace and truth.

BONDSERVANTS AND MASTERS

(vs.5-9)

The Greek word for servants is bondservants or slaves. Yet God did not give them permission to rebel against slavery, but told them to obey their masters (vs.5-6). Certainly the same principle applies to employees in any business. They are to show honest concern to faithfully discharge every duty of their business relationships in sincerity of heart, as to Christ. “Not with eye service as men-pleasers” — working only when being watched, and trying to gain special favor by deceit. The ultimate object of their honest hard work is to please the Lord, not men. For God is watching always and we should always practice obedience from the heart. If Christ is the Object of our service, then it will never become irksome. Even in the bondage of slavery, one could so please the Lord as to be well rewarded at His judgment seat (v.8). Every good thing is remembered by Him, whether one is in bonds or free.

Such instruction from God may sound strange to many Christians who are anxious to correct all the social wrongs that threaten their comfort. But God is wiser than we. People’s efforts to set things right in the world have only resulted in things becoming more and more complicated and people becoming more and more bitter against each other. God will correct these things in His own time. Meanwhile, believers are to receive grace from God to patiently bear injustices, inequities and hard treatment with calm submission and living faith in the Lord.

Masters are told to “do the same things” to servants. Employers may not think of this, but they ought to serve their servants, not as being subject to them, but as concerned about their proper welfare and treating them kindly and fairly Threatening, simply as a tool to instill fear, would be an abuse of authority. Consider the character of Boaz in Rth 2:4. His relationship with his servants was excellent, for he first recognized his Master in heaven. If any master feels himself more worthy of respect than his servants, he is not subject to God’s will. God is perfectly fair, and every Christian — whether employee or employer – likewise ought to be.

THE ARMOR OF GOD

(vs.10-20)

Verse 10 begins the last division of Ephesians and reminds us of the conflict and victory of Israel in the book of Joshua, when on entering the land of Canaan, they fought to obtain the inheritance God had promised them. Our proper possessions in the heavenlies (Eph 1:3) are of such great value that the enemy of souls is determined to keep us from the enjoyment of them, and he employs formidable hosts of evil spirits (demons) in this cruel warfare. God tells us of this awful power of satanic hosts to make us realize the utter poverty of our own resources in meeting the enemy, but at the same time to cast us totally upon the Lord in whom there is no doubt of victory.

“Be strong in the Lord,” that is, be firmly, fully subject to the Lord’s authority, for such subjection is true strength. This subjection makes available to us the power of His might, an inward, vital strength, even in apparent weakness, that is not overcome by evil. This power involves the armor now spoken of — the whole armor of God — with which each believer is to actively clothe himself as the only protection against the cunning deceit of the devil (v.11).

Fleshly weapons or armor in this warfare are useless, for the conflict is against principalities, authorities and rulers, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies (v.11). Principalities refers to dignities, in this case demonic, whom we must never treat with contempt (Jud 1:8-9), but firmly stand against them. Authorities are the authorities of darkness. They have no authority over believers, though that authority which they hold over unbelievers, is cruel tyranny, keeping great numbers of people in subjection, and they use such people to attempt to force their authority on believers. False cults that use the method of brain-washing are adept at pressing people into conformity with their wicked teachings, so that once they are trapped, they become virtual slaves of Satan. We must be on guard therefore to refuse such evil authority. Rulers have to do with administration. Satan has his organization of evil forces that is not to be lightly regarded, and he uses people for his evil purposes, to contest every inch of the way in which a believer seeks to enter into and enjoy his proper possessions in heavenly places. These possessions that Satan seeks to keep us from enjoying are the vital truths of Scripture which cannot be learned except by spiritual means (1Co 2:13), and are held in daily practice only by using the whole armor of God.

“The whole armor of God” is necessary to enable us first of all to withstand (v.13), for Satan will attack strongly even a young believer at his first attempt to truly take in and act upon the Word of God. How important from the very first to withstand such attacks. Yet, in once doing this, we cannot complacently let down our defenses. Indeed, even after fully repulsing the enemy, it is still imperative that we “stand,” that we maintain the practical application of the truth of God in our daily lives, day in and day out, day by day, year by year.

Strength for the legs comes from the loins (KJV) or strong thigh muscles, and these are to be girded with truth (v.14). Truth is not to be held in a loose, careless way, but used to keep our habits and walk properly under control.

The breastplate is a special protection for the heart and lungs, and practical righteousness in daily living provides this (v.14). Too frequently our emotions or feelings can deceive us, so we act because of how we feel at any given time. Thus, we need to protect ourselves from giving in to such feelings when they are not in accord with the Word of God. Stable practical righteousness is the one answer to this need. If we lack this stability we will be vulnerable to the enemy’s attack for lack of a proper breastplate. The breast — our affections – cannot be right unless protected by righteousness in our conduct according to the Word of God.

Our feet must have on battle shoes, for the soles of the feet are sensitive (v.15). Thorns and thistles, sharp stones, hot sand, cold temperatures, can all have adverse effects. We need that which protects us against sensitive feelings that can lead us into wrong paths and associations, Such protection is “the preparation of the gospel of peace.” This preparation does not refer to our preaching the gospel, but to the good news of peace being always a reality in our hearts. This peace is brought to us by the Lord Jesus through His sufferings and death, enabling us to face every objectionable thing without giving way to sensitive feelings. In this, let us watch to always have our shoes on our feet, and not be so easily hurt by the words, actions or inactions of our brothers and sisters in Christ, nor by those of unbelievers.

“The shield of faith” (v.16) is to be used as an over-all protection, ready to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, from whatever direction they come. Faith is able for this, but only because it acts on the truth of the Word of God. Satan’s darts are many and varied such as subtle deceit, insinuation, flattery, intimidation, wrong teaching or emphasis, lack of balance, working on the emotions, enticements to sin, and many more. An active, watchful confidence in the Lord alone will keep us prepared to properly meet and quench these darts. “I believe God” is a wonderful protection for every believer, for such faith depends on the truth of His Word.

“The helmet of salvation” is protection for the mind, for salvation gives the ability to have a true viewpoint for reasoning, although again it involves being led by the Holy Spirit and subjection to the Word of God. Philosophy ignores the need of salvation and flounders in uncertainty. A Christian is to reason, not as does the world but as one now saved from the world’s vanity and pride, and who will be saved totally out of the world. Thus he may triumph over human “arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2Co 10:5). But, as with every article of armor, it still requires heart-exercise to put it on and keep it on.

“The sword of the Spirit” is the one offensive weapon mentioned here (v.17). To use it, we must first have it. It is the Word of God that cuts both ways (Heb 4:12), so to use it rightly on the enemy, we must know how to rightly use it on ourselves. How important then that we spend time in learning God’s Word well, so that on any given occasion we may be prepared with the suitable scripture to meet the enemy in whatever way he attacks.

Closely linked with our using the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is consistent, unceasing prayer and supplication in the Spirit (v.18). Prayer is the very expression of our dependence on the living God, while supplication is earnest entreaty because of seriously felt need. We are not only to pray for personal needs but for all saints, among whom we know that trials, exercises and problems are always present, and the enemy is determined to deceive or intimidate them.

Paul, faithful and devoted as he was, felt himself in no less need than any other believer of the prayers of the saints. Certainly every servant of God may echo verse 19 in desire for courage and faith to speak truly for God. “The mystery of the gospel” was that mystery revealed especially to Paul — the gospel of the grace of God and of the glory of Christ, which eternally saves lost sinners who receive the Lord Jesus and gives them a place of acceptance in Christ in the heavenlies. To believers it is no longer a mystery, but Paul desired to spread the news of this gospel everywhere so that souls would be saved and therefore find the gospel no longer a mystery.

For the sake of this great revelation as to the gospel of salvation and of the truth concerning the Church of God, Paul was an ambassador in bonds. Though imprisoned, he did not forget the dignity of the place God had given him of representing the Lord of glory in a foreign land. He desired to speak boldly, not in fleshly arguments as to the truth, but as he ought to speak, consistently with the dignity he had been given in being entrusted with a magnificent revelation from God.

CLOSING GREETINGS

(vs.21-24)

Tychicus carried this letter from Paul to Ephesus and brought information to the Ephesians as to Paul’s welfare and circumstances, which would much interest them. Paul did not consider it important to write about himself, but he knew their concern and that Tychicus would encourage them..

In this epistle God has through Paul communicated the sublime truths of His marvelous counsels in blessing to His saints. Paul ended the epistle with the assurance of “peace to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (v.23), for he wrote by the clear guidance of the Spirit of God. Then grace is added for all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, lifting them above all present circumstances to enjoy the preciousness of their heavenly inheritance and blessings in Christ Jesus.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

SECTION 13. DIRECTIONS TO CHILDREN AND PARENTS. CH. 6:1-4.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord. For this is just. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest be long-living upon the earth.

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children, but nurture them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.

Eph 6:1. Children, obey your parents: nearly word for word as in Col 3:20.

In the Lord: as in Col 3:20.

Just: in harmony with the eternal principles of right which found embodiment in the Law of God. Same word in same sense in Col 4:1; Php 1:7; Php 4:8, etc.

The phrase in the Lord affords no proof or presumption, especially in the absence of other reliable indications, that infant children were baptized in Pauls day. For doubtless many who might fairly be called children had by their own faith and confession entered the Church. It was therefore suitable that to them directions should be given. Moreover the close and peculiar relation of children to their parents places all children of Christian parents, from the earliest days of opening consciousness, in a peculiar and close relation to the Church of which their parents are members. Paul therefore writes to them. His words prove that he looked upon them as part of the flock for which he had to care. This intimate relation found in the early Church, legitimate and suitable expression in the administration of Baptism to infants. That this formal recognition of the relation of infants to the New Covenant dates from the early morning of the Church, is made certain by the literature of a later day. But we have no sure proof that it was as early as this Epistle. Certainly this passage is easily explained without assuming it.

With his usual careful study of the O.T. Paul notices that in the Decalogue the fifth commandment differs from the rest in being supported by a definite promise. So were several later commands: e.g. Deu 24:19; Deu 25:15. But of the many and various commands given to Moses this is the first commandment which has attached to it a definite promise. At the close of the second commandment there is a virtual and implied promise. But it is only general, and is not specially attached to this one command. The definite promise in the fifth commandment raises it into conspicuous prominence. To this prominence Paul points when enforcing upon children the duty of obedience.

After this digression, which explains the significance of what follows, Paul goes on to quote the exact words of the ancient promise.

That it may be well with thee etc.: almost word for word from Exo 20:12, except that the concluding words which the Lord thy God gives thee are omitted. This promise is very frequent in Deuteronomy, referring indisputably to the gift of the land of Canaan: Deu 4:40; Deu 5:33; Deu 6:2-3; Deu 11:8-12, etc. This reference is quite inapplicable to Pauls Gentile readers at Ephesus. By omitting these words he makes the promise applicable to all persons in all lands. And this is the simplest explanation of the omission. The Greek word rendered earth denotes both a particular country, viz. in Exo 20:12 Canaan, or the whole world consisting of many countries. This latter more general meaning is given to it here by the omission of the defining words which the Lord gives thee. The original promise may refer either to the long life of individuals or to the long continuance of the nation. As quoted by Paul, it can refer only to individuals. But this ancient promise cannot be appealed to as absolute now to all children who honour parents. For the New Covenant promises blessing for this life only indirectly, and under various conditions and limitations. The promise is here quoted chiefly to remind the readers of the special honour given to this command by the promise attached to it. This honour marks the abiding importance of this universal precept.

Eph 6:4. And, ye fathers: to the duty of the weaker, Paul adds as before the obligation of the stronger. So Col 3:21.

Provoke: move to anger by word or act.

Nurture: same word as in Eph 5:29. It denotes here, as the following words prove, not material food, but the care needful for moral and spiritual growth.

Discipline: derived from the word boy, and denotes all that pertains to the training of a boy: a cognate word in Act 7:22; Act 22:3. The same cognate word is found in Luk 23:16; Luk 23:22 in the simpler sense of punishment. This suggests that the idea of punishment was often associated with the word: so does the same or cognate word in 1Co 11:32; 2Co 6:9; 1Ti 1:20; Rev 3:19; Heb 12:5-10. We may understand it here to mean a training which includes punishment when needful.

Admonition: same word in 1Co 10:11; Tit 3:10 : a cognate word in Col 1:28; Col 3:16 and 1Co 4:14 where see note. Perhaps discipline refers rather to the fathers firm hand; admonition to his faithful voice.

Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament

(2) Children and parents

(Vv. 1-3). It has been remarked that the exhortations in the Epistle to the Ephesians all commence with those from whom submission is due. The special exhortations are preceded by the general exhortation to submit yourselves one to another (v. 21).

The exhortations to submission are especially addressed to wives, children and servants, the wives being exhorted before the husbands, the children before the parents, and the servants before the masters. This order would seem to attach great importance to the principle of submission. One has said, The principle of submission and obedience is the healing principle of humanity. Sin is disobedience and came into the world through disobedience. Ever since, the essence of sin has been man doing his own will and refusing to be subject to God. An insubject wife will make a miserable home; an insubject child will be an unhappy child; and a world not subject to God must be an unhappy and miserable world. Not until the world is brought into subjection to God, under the reign of Christ, will its sorrows be healed. Christianity teaches this subjection, and the Christian home should anticipate something of the blessedness of a subject world under the reign of Christ.

The obedience of the child is, however, to be in the Lord. This supposes a home governed by the fear of the Lord, and therefore according to the Lord. The quotation from the Old Testament, which connects the promise of blessing with obedience to parents, shows how greatly God esteemed obedience under law. Though in Christianity the blessing is of an heavenly order, yet in the governmental ways of God the principle remains true that honouring parents will bring blessing.

(V. 4). Parents are not to bring up their children on the principle of law which might lead them to say to the child, If you are not good, God will punish you; nor are they to bring them up on the principles of the world which have no reference to God. If they are trained simply with worldly motives, to fit them for the world, we must not be surprised if they drift into the world. Moreover, parents are to be careful not to irritate and repel their children, and thus destroy their influence for good by losing their affection. Only will their affections be retained, and the children kept from the world, as they are brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They are to be trained as for the Lord, and as the Lord would bring them up.

(3) Servants and masters

(Vv. 5-9). For the Christian servant to render obedience to an earthly master, a heart that is right with Christ will be required. Only as the servant of Christ, seeking from his heart to do the will of God, will he be able to serve his earthly master with good will. What is done of good will to the Lord will have its reward.

Christian masters are to be governed by the same principles as the Christian servants. In all his dealings with his servants the master is to remember that he has a Master in heaven. He is to treat his servants with the same good will that he expects from the servants. Moreover, he is to forbear threatening, not using his position of authority to utter threats.

9

The Conflict

(Eph 6:10-21)

The Epistle to the Ephesians closes with a striking passage which sets forth the Christian conflict. This conflict is not the exercise of soul that we may pass through in seeking to lay hold of the truth. It supposes that we know and appreciate the wonderful truths of the Epistle, and the conflict arises from seeking to retain and maintain these truths in the face of every opposing power.

In the course of the Epistle the apostle unfolds to us our heavenly calling, the inheritance of glory to which we are predestined, the mystery of the church, and the practical life consistent with these great truths. If, however, we are set to enter into our heavenly blessings and to walk in consistency with them, we shall at once find that all the power of Satan is arrayed against us. In his hatred of Christ, the devil will seek to rob us of the truth, or, failing to do this, he will seek to bring dishonour upon the Name of Christ and discredit the truth by bringing about moral breakdown amongst those who hold the truth. The more truth we have the greater the dishonour to Christ if we break down by the allowance of the flesh. We must therefore be prepared to face conflict, and the more truth we have the greater will be the conflict.

In view of this conflict, three things are brought before us: firstly, the source of our strength; secondly, the character of the enemy with whom we wrestle; thirdly, the armour with which we are provided to enable us to withstand the assaults of the enemy.

(1) The power of the Lord

(V. 10). The apostle first directs our thoughts to the power that is for us before he describes the power that is against us. To face this conflict we must ever remember that all our strength is in the Lord. Paul therefore says, Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Our difficulty oftentimes is to realise that we have no strength in ourselves. Naturally we should like to be strong in numbers, strong in gifts, or strong in the power of some forceful leader, but our real and only strength is in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

The prayer of the first chapter brings before us the power of God’s might. Christ has been raised from the dead and set at God’s right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. Now, says the apostle, that is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe. The power that is against us is far greater than our power, but the power that is toward us is a surpassing power – it surpasses all the power that is opposed to us. Moreover, the One that has supreme power is the One that possesses unsearchable riches, and loves us with a love that passeth knowledge (Eph 3:8; Eph 3:19).

In the days of old, Gideon was prepared for the conflict by first being told that the Lord is with thee; then he was exhorted to go in this thy might. Gideon’s family might be the poorest in Manasseh, and he himself the least in his father’s house, but what did Gideon’s poverty or his weakness matter if the Lord, who is rich and mighty, was for him and with him? (Jdg 6:12-15.) So, in a later day, Jonathan and his armour-bearer could face a great host in the might of the Lord, for, said Jonathan, There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few (1Sa 14:6).

So we, in our day, with failure behind us, weakness amongst us, and corruption all around us, need a fresh sense of the glory of the Lord, the power of the Lord, the riches of the Lord, the love of the Lord, and, with the Lord before us, to go forward in the power of His might.

Apart from Christ we have no power. The Lord can say, Without Me ye can do nothing, but, says the apostle, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Php 4:13). It is, then, only as our souls are kept in secret communion with Christ that we shall be able to avail ourselves of the power that is in Him. This being so, all Satan’s power will be directed to putting our souls out of touch with Christ, and seeking to keep us from feeding on Him and walking in communion with Him. It may be that he will seek to draw us out of communion with Christ by the cares and duties of every-day life, or by sickness and weakness of the body. He may seek to use the difficulties of the path, the contentions among the people of God, or the petty insults we have to meet, to depress the spirit and fret the soul. If, however, instead of allowing all these things to come between our souls and the Lord, we make them occasions for drawing near to the Lord, we shall learn what it is to be strong in the Lord, while realising our own weakness; and we shall learn the blessedness of the word, Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee (Psa 55:22).

(2) The power of the enemy

(Vv. 11, 12). Firstly, we are exhorted to remember that it is not against flesh and blood that we wrestle. The devil may indeed use men and women to oppose the Christian and deny the truth, but we have to look beyond the instruments and discern the one that is using them. A woman, in flesh and blood, opposed Paul at Philippi, but Paul discerned the evil spirit that moved the woman, and in the power of the Name of Jesus Christ he entered into conflict with spiritual wickedness, commanding the evil spirit to come out of her (Act 16:16-18).

A true disciple, in flesh and blood, opposed the Lord when Peter said, in view of the Lord’s sufferings, Be it far from Thee, Lord, but the Lord, knowing the power of Satan behind the instrument, could say, Get thee behind me, Satan (Mat 16:22; Mat 16:23).

The conflict, then, is against Satan and his hosts, whatever the instrument used. Principalities and powers are spiritual beings in a position of rule with power to carry out their will. They may be good or evil beings; here they are evil beings, and their wickedness would seem to take a twofold direction. In reference to the world they are the rulers of the darkness of this world; in reference to Christians they are the spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies. The world is in darkness, in ignorance of God, and these spiritual beings rule and direct the darkness of paganism, philosophy, science falsely so-called, and infidelity, as well as the superstitions, corruptions and modernism of Christendom. The Christian is brought into the light, and blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. The opposition to the Christian takes, then, a religious character by spiritual beings who seek to rob him of the truth of his heavenly calling, beguile him into a path that is a denial of the truth, or into conduct that is inconsistent with it.

Further, we are instructed as to the character of the opposition. It is not simply persecution, or a direct denial of the truth; it is the far more subtle and dangerous opposition described as the wiles of the devil. A wile is something that looks fair and innocent, and yet beguiles the soul from the path of obedience. How often, in this day of confusion, the devil seeks to lead those who have the truth into some by-path, which at the beginning deviates so little from the true course that to raise any objection to it might seem fastidious. There is one simple question we can each ask ourselves by which every wile may be detected, If I pursue this course where will it lead me?

When the devil suggested to the Lord that He should turn the stones into bread to meet His needs, it looked a very innocent thing to do. Nevertheless, it was a wile that would have led out of the path of obedience to God, and a denial of the word which said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

To turn the Galatian believers from the truth of the Gospel, the devil used the law as a wile to entrap them in legal self-importance. To turn the Corinthian saints from the truth of the assembly, the devil used the world as a wile to lead them into carnal self-indulgence. To turn the Colossian saints from the truth of the mystery, the devil used the wiles of enticing words, philosophy and superstition to entrap them in religious exaltation. These are still the wiles we have to face.

(3) The armour of God

(V. 13). In this conflict human armour will not avail. We can only withstand the devil in the armour of God. Human resources such as natural ability and natural strength of character will be of no avail in this conflict. Confidence in such armour may lead us to engage with the enemy, but only to suffer defeat. The apostle Peter found this when, with confidence in his own strength, he entered into conflict, only to fail before a maid. God may indeed use human ability and scholarship in His service; here, however, it is not a question of what God uses in His service, but rather of what God has given us to use in conflict with the wiles of the enemy. The enemy we have to meet is not flesh and blood, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2Co 10:4).

Furthermore, in this conflict we require the whole armour of God. If one piece is missing, Satan will be quick enough to detect the lack and attack us in the vulnerable place.

Moreover, the armour has to be put on. It by no means follows that because we are Christians we have put on the armour. The armour is provided for us as Christians, but it remains with us to put it on. It is not enough to look at the armour, or to admire it, or to be able to describe it; we must put on the whole armour of God.

Then we learn that the armour is needed in view of the evil day. In a general sense the whole period of the absence of Christ is for the believer an evil day. There are, however, occasions when the enemy makes special attacks upon the people of God, seeking to rob them of special truths. Such attacks constitute for the people of God an evil day. To meet such we need to have on the whole armour of God. It is too late to be putting on the armour in the midst of the struggle.

We need the armour to withstand and to stand. Having withstood in resisting the enemy’s offensive in any particular attack, we shall still need the armour to stand on the defensive. When we have done all, we still need our armour in order to stand. It is often when we have gained some signal victory that we are in the greatest danger, for it is easier to gain a point of vantage than to hold it. The armour having been put on cannot with safety be put off as long as spiritual wickedness is in heavenly places and we are in the scene of Satan’s wiles.

If we include the prayer as one of the pieces of armour, there are seven distinct pieces of armour.

(V. 14). 1. The Girdle of Truth. We are to stand with our loins girt about with truth. Spiritually this speaks of the thoughts and affections held in order by the truth. By applying the truth to ourselves, and thus judging all the thoughts and movements of the heart by the truth, we should not only be set free from the inward working of the flesh, but we should have our affections formed according to the truth, and thus have the lowly mind with our affections set on things above.

So the first piece of armour strengthens the inner man and regulates our thoughts and affections, rather than our conduct, speech and ways. Oftentimes we make great efforts to preserve a correct outward demeanour towards one another while, at the same time, careless as to our thoughts and affections. If we are to withstand the wiles of the enemy we must commence by being right inwardly. The Preacher warns us as to what we say with our lips, as to what our eyes look upon, and as to the path our feet tread, but first of all he says, Keep thy heart more than anything that is guarded (Pro 4:23-27). James warns us that, if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth (Jam 3:14). Strife amongst brethren commences in the heart, and has its root in bitter envying. When the truth holds the affections, strife, bitter envying and other evils of the flesh will be judged, and when they are judged we shall be able to withstand the wiles of the devil in the evil day.

Alas! too often the evil day finds us unprepared. We have neglected to put on the girdle, and so in the presence of some sudden provocation we act in the flesh, and when reviled we revile again, and instead of patiently suffering we threaten. Let us seek to wear the girdle, and thus walk with the thoughts and affections habitually held in check by the truth.

2. The Breastplate of Righteousness. With the second piece of armour we pass to our practical conduct. Practical righteousness is expressed in the Christian by a walk in consistency with the position and relationships in which he is set. We cannot stand before the enemy with a conscience that accuses us of unjudged evil in our ways and associations. We cannot stand for the truth which in practice we deny. Having put on the breastplate, and thus walking in practical righteousness, we shall be fearless when called to face the enemy in the evil day.

(V. 15). 3. The Feet Shod. Practical righteousness leads to a walk in peace. The Gospel of peace that we have received prepares us to walk in peace amidst the world’s unrest. When the heart is governed by the truth, and our ways are practically in accord with the truth, we shall walk through this world with peace in the soul, and be able to meet the evil day in a spirit of peace and calm. We shall not be indifferent to the turmoil in the world, but we shall not be excited and filled with anxiety as to passing events. Of natural men the Scripture says, The way of peace have they not known (Rom 3:17), but those whose feet are shod with peace are marked by peace even when in conflict.

(V. 16). 4. The Shield of Faith. However necessary it is to have the thoughts and affections held in order by the girdle of truth, and our conduct preserved in righteousness by the breastplate, and to be walking in peace through this world, something else is needed for the conflict. We need above all, or over all, the shield of faith to protect us from the fiery darts of the enemy. Here faith is not the reception of God’s testimony concerning Christ by which we are saved, but the daily faith and trust in God which gives us the assurance that God is for us. In the pressure of the manifold trials that come upon us, whether from circumstances, ill-health, bereavement, or in connection with the many difficulties that constantly arise among the people of God, the enemy may seek to cloud our souls with the horrible suggestion that after all God is indifferent and not for us. On that dark night when the disciples had to face the storm on the lake, and the waves beat into the ship, Jesus was with them, though asleep as one indifferent to their danger. This was a test for faith. Alas! unprotected by the shield of faith, a fiery dart pierced their armour, and the terrible thought arose that, after all, the Lord did not care for them, for they awoke Him and said, Carest Thou not that we perish? (Mar 4:37; Mar 4:38).

A fiery dart is not a sudden desire to gratify some lust which arises from the flesh within; it is rather a diabolical suggestion from without that would raise a doubt as to the goodness of God. Satan hurled a fiery dart at Job when, in his terrible trial, his wife suggested that he should curse God, and die. Job quenched this fiery dart with the shield of faith, for he said, Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:9; Job 2:10). The devil still uses the trying circumstances of life in his endeavour to shake our confidence in God and to drive us from God. Faith uses these very circumstances to draw nearer to God and thus triumphs over the devil. Again, Satan may seek to instill some abominable thought into the mind, some infidel suggestion that burns into the soul and darkens the mind. Such thoughts are not quenched by human reasonings, or by falling back on feelings or experiences, but by simple faith in God and His word.

(V. 17). 5. The Helmet of Salvation. Having on the helmet will enable the believer to hold up his head boldly in the presence of the enemy. Resisting by faith the fiery darts of the devil, we find in our trying circumstances that God is for us, and that He saves us, not only from trials, but, like the disciples in the storm, through trials. We are thus enabled to go forward with courage and energy in the consciousness that, however weak we are in ourselves, God is the God of our salvation, and that Christ is able to save us to the uttermost (Heb 7:25).

6. The Sword of the Spirit. We are definitely told that this piece of armour is the word of God, and yet not only the word, but the word used in the power of the Spirit. This is the one great offensive weapon. Until we have put on the armour that regulates our inmost thoughts, our outward walk, and establishes us in confidence in God, we shall not be in a right condition to wield the sword of the Spirit. When the word of God is used in the power of the Spirit against the enemy it is irresistible. When tempted by the wiles of the devil, the Lord on each occasion resisted the enemy with the word of God used in the power of the Spirit. It is written exposed and defeated the devil. The word of God abiding in us is our strength, for the apostle John can say of the young men, Ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one (1Jn 2:14).

One has said, Our business is to act according to the word, come what may; the result will show that the wisdom of God was in it. The one using the word may be weak, and have little natural intelligence, but he will find that the word of God is quick and powerful, and that through it every wile of the enemy is exposed.

(Vv. 18-20). 7. Prayer. Having described the armour, and exhorted us to put it on, the apostle closes with the exhortation to prayer. The armour, however perfect, is not given to make us independent of God. It can only be rightly used in the spirit of dependence upon the One by whom it has been provided.

The Lord exhorts us always to pray, and not to faint (Luk 18:1); and Paul exhorts that men pray everywhere (1Ti 2:8). Here we are exhorted to pray at all seasons. Prayer is the constant attitude of dependence upon God. Under all circumstances, in all places, and at all times, we are to pray. Prayer, however, may become a mere formal expression of need; it is therefore linked with supplication, which is the earnest cry of the soul conscious of its need. It is, moreover, to be under the guidance of the Spirit, and to be accompanied with the faith that watches for God’s answer. When Peter was in prison, prayer was made without ceasing … unto God for him, but apparently the church failed somewhat in watchfulness, for, when God answered their prayer, it was only with difficulty that they believed that Peter was free. Further, prayer in the Spirit will embrace all saints, and yet come down to the need of a special servant. So the apostle exhorts the Ephesian saints not only to pray for all saints, but also for himself.

Throughout the ages the saints have needed the armour of God, but in these closing days, when the darkness of this world deepens, the wiles of the devil increase, and Christendom is returning to paganism and philosophy, how deeply important it is to put on the whole armour of God to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Let us then stand:

Having our lions girt about with truth, and thus be kept inwardly right in thought and affection.

Having on the breastplate of righteousness, so that we are consistent in all our practice.

Having our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, so that we walk in peace in the midst of a world of discord, strife and confusion.

Taking the shield of faith, so that we walk in daily confidence in God.

Taking the helmet of salvation, and thus realising that God is making all things work together for our good and salvation.

Taking the sword of the Spirit, whereby we can meet ever subtle attack of the enemy.

Lastly, praying always, so that we can use the armour in the spirit of constant dependence upon God.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

Section Eleven: 6:1-12

We have just seen that the wife is to submit to the husband and now we move into other sorts and depths of submission. We see now that the child is to obey their parents as well as honor them. A double hit for the child, but there is certainly a reward for proper actions on the part of the child – long life on earth.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Children obey your parents in the Lord – why? It is the right thing to do – simple enough.

A pastor I once knew years ago took this passage to an extreme which led him into trouble with the law. He misconstrued this verse to mean that if you lead a child to Christ, that child is to obey you and no longer obey their natural parents. He actually took some boys into his home as his own under this premise, alienating them completely from their natural parents.

This is not the meaning of the passage and this man was never corrected by his association for his false doctrine, nor for his intervention into the families that he sent into chaos. He was listed in the association’s yearly compilation of pastors/churches for several years after and to my knowledge they never once cautioned him about his false doctrine.

The phrase “in the Lord” is better related to the child obeying, rather than to the parents. The child is to obey the parent as an outworking of the life committed to Christ. This is part of their lifestyle; it is part of their being to be an obedient child.

This is the proper lifestyle for a Christian child. It is right and it will please God and it will result in a reward of long life on this earth.

I have taken no official survey, but I have talked to many older folks and have asked them if they were obedient children, and every one of them said that they had been.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

6:1 Children, {1} obey your parents {2} in the {a} Lord: {3} for this is right.

(1) He comes to another part of a family, and shows that the duty of the children toward their parents consists in obedience to them.

(2) The first argument: because God has so appointed. And upon this it follows also that children are obligated to obey their parents, that they may not swerve from the true worship of God.

(a) For the Lord is author of all fatherhood, and therefore we must yield such obedience as he will have us.

(3) The second argument: because this obedience is most just.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The duty of children 6:1-3

The next basic human relationship that needs affecting by the filling of the Spirit (Eph 5:15-21) is that of children and parents.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Children express their submission by obeying their parents (plural). "In the Lord" modifies "obey," not "parents." Children should not obey their parents if their parents tell them to disobey the Lord. [Note: Morris, p. 190.] Their primary responsibility is to the Lord, as is also true of wives. Obedience is right in the sense that it is in harmony with God’s will for children (cf. Col 3:20). Children should obey their parents as long as they are children living under their parents’ authority. When a child becomes an adult, he or she no longer has to obey parents but should continue to honor them. [Note: Ibid.]

"So long as they are regarded in their culture as children or minors, they should continue to obey their parents." [Note: Stott, p. 243.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 27

THE CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLD

Eph 6:1-9

THE Christian family is the cradle and the fortress of the Christian faith. Here its virtues shine most brightly; and by this channel its influence spreads through society and the course of generations. Marriage has been placed under the guardianship of God; it is made single, chaste, and enduring, according to the law of creation and the pattern of Christs union with His Church. With parents thus united, family honour is secure; and a basis is laid for reverence and discipline within the house.

I. Thus the apostle turns, in the opening words of chapter 6, from the husband and wife to the children of the household. He addresses them as present in the assembly where his letter is read. St. Paul accounted the children “holy,” if but one parent belonged to the Church. {1Co 7:14} They were baptised, as we presume, with their fathers or mothers, and admitted, under due precautions, to the fellowship of the Church so far as their age allowed. We cannot limit this exhortation to children of adult age. The “discipline and admonition of the Lord,” prescribed in Eph 6:4, belong to children of tender years and under parental control.

Obedience is the law of childhood. It is, in great part, the childs religion, to be practised “in the Lord.” The reverence and love, full of a sweet mystery, which the Christian child feels towards its Saviour and heavenly King, add new sacredness to the claims of father and mother. Jesus Christ, the Head over all things, is the orderer of the life of boys and girls. His love and His might guard the little one in the tendance of its parents. The wonderful love of parents to their offspring, and the awful authority with which they are invested, come from the source of human life in God. The Latin pietas impressed a religious character upon filial duty. This word signifies at once dutifulness towards the gods, and towards parents and kindred. In the strength of its family ties and its deep filial reverence lay the secret of the moral vigour and the unmatched discipline of the Roman commonwealth. The history of ancient Rome affords a splendid illustration of the fifth commandment.

For this is right, says the apostle, appealing to the instincts of natural religion. The childs conscience begins here. Filial obedience is the primary form of duty. The loyalties of afterlife take their colour from the lessons learnt at home, in the time of dawning reason and incipient will. Hard indeed is the evil to remove, where in the plastic years of childhood obedience has been associated with base fear, with distrust or deceit, where it has grown sullen or obsequious in habit. From this root of bitterness there spring rank growths of hatred toward authority, jealousies, treacheries, and stubbornness. Obedience rendered “in the Lord” will be frank and willing, careful and constant, such as that which Jesus rendered to the Father.

St. Paul reminds the children of the law of the Ten Words, taught to them in their earliest lessons from Scripture. He calls the command in question “a first [or chief] commandment”-just as the great rule, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,” is the first commandment; for this is no secondary rule or minor precept, but one on which the continuance of the Church and the welfare of society depend. It is a law fundamental as birth itself, written not on the statute-book alone, but on the tables of the heart.

Moreover, it is a “command in promise”-that takes the form of promise, and holds out to obedience a bright future. The two predicates-“first” and “in promise”-as we take it, are distinct. To merge them into one blunts their meaning. This commandment is primary in its importance, and promissory in its import. The promise is quoted from Exo 20:12, as it stands in the Septuagint, where the Greek Christian children would read it. But the last clause is abbreviated; St. Paul writes “upon the earth” in place of “the good land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” This blessing is the heritage of dutiful children in every land. Those who have watched the history of godly families of their acquaintance, will have seen the promise verified. The obedience of childhood and youth rendered to a wise Christian rule forms in the young nature the habits of self-control and self-respect, of diligence and promptitude and faithfulness and kindliness of heart, which are the best guarantees for happiness and success in life. Through parental nurture “godliness” secures its “promise of the life that now is.”

Children are exhorted to submission: fathers to gentleness. “Do not,” the apostle says, “anger your children”; in the corresponding place in Colossians, “Do not irritate your children, lest they be disheartened.” {Eph 3:21} In these parallel texts two distinct verbs are rendered by the one English word “provoke.” The Colossian passage warns against the chafing effect of parental exactions and fretfulness, that tend to break the childs spirit and spoil its temper. Our text warns the father against angering his child by unfair or oppressive treatment. From this verb comes the noun “wrath” (or “provocation”) used in Eph 4:26, denoting that stirring of anger which gives peculiar occasion to the devil.

Not that the father is forbidden to cross his childs wishes, or to do anything or refuse anything that may excite its anger. Nothing is worse for a child than to find that parents fear its displeasure, and that it will gain its ends by passion. But the father must not be exasperating, must not needlessly thwart the childs inclinations and excite in order to subdue its anger, as some will do even of set purpose, thinking that in this way obedience is learnt. This policy may secure submission; but it is gained at the cost of a rankling sense of injustice.

Household rule should be equally firm and kind, neither provoking nor avoiding the displeasure of its subjects, inflicting no severity for severitys sake, but shrinking from none that fidelity demands. With much parental fondness, there is sometimes in family government a want of seriousness and steady principle, an absence in father or mother of the sense that they are dealing with moral and responsible beings in their little ones, and not with toys, which is reflected in the caprice and self-indulgence of the childrens maturer life. Such parents will give account hereafter of their stewardship with an inconsolable grief.

It is almost superfluous to insist on the apostles exhortation to treat children kindly. For them these are days of Paradise, compared with times not far distant. Never were the wants and the fancies of these small mortals catered for as they are now. In some households the danger lies in the opposite extreme from that of over-strictness. The children are idolised. Not their comfort and welfare only, but their humours and caprices become the law of the house. They are “nourished” indeed, but not “in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.” It is a great unkindness to treat our children so that they shall be strangers to hardship and restriction, so that they shall not know what real obedience means, and have no reverence for age, no habits of deference and self-denial. It is the way to breed monsters of selfishness, pampered creatures who will be useless and miserable in adult life.

“Discipline and admonition” are distinguished as positive and negative terms. The first is the “training up of the child in the way that he should go”; the second checks and holds him back from the ways in which he should not go. The former word (paideia)-denoting primarily treating-as-a-boy- signifies very often “chastisement”; but it has a wider sense, embracing instruction besides. It includes the whole course of training by which the boy is reared into a man. -Admonition is a still more familiar word with St. Paul. It may be reproof bearing upon errors in the past; or it may be warning, that points out dangers lying in the future. Both these services parents owe to their children. Admonition implies faults in the nature of the child, and wisdom in the father to see and correct them.

“Foolishness,” says the Hebrew proverb, “is bound up in the heart of a child.” In the Old Testament discipline there was something over-stern. The “hardness of heart” censured by the Lord Jesus, which allowed of two mothers in the house, put barriers between the father and his offspring that rendered “the rod of correction” more needful than it is under the rule of Christ. But correction, in gentler or severer sort, there must be, so long as children spring from sinful parents. The childs conscience responds to the kindly and searching word of reproof, to the admonition of love. This faithful dealing with his children wins for the father in the end a deep gratitude, and makes his memory a guard in days of temptation and an object of tender reverence. The childs “obedience in the Lord” is its response to “the discipline and admonition of the Lord” exercised by its parents. The discipline which wise Christian fathers give their children, is the Lords discipline applied through them. “Correction and instruction should proceed from the Lord and be directed by the Spirit of the Lord, in such a way that it is not so much the father who corrects his children and teaches them, as the Lord through him” (Monod). Thus the Father of whom every family on earth is named, within each Christian house works all in all. Thus the chief Shepherd, through His under-shepherds, guides and feeds the lambs of His flock. By the gate of His fold fathers and mothers themselves have entered; and the little ones follow with them. In the pastures of His word they nourish them, and rule them with His rod and staff. To their offspring they become an image of the Good Shepherd and the Father in heaven. Their office teaches them more of Gods fatherly ways with themselves. From their childrens humbleness and confidence, from their simple wisdom, their hopes and fears and ignorances, the elders learn deep and affecting lessons concerning their own relations to the heavenly Father. St. Pauls instruction to fathers applies to all who have the charge of children: to schoolmasters of every degree, whose work, secular as it may be called, touches the springs of moral life and character; to teachers in the Sunday school, successors to the work that Christ assigned to Peter, of shepherding His lambs. These instructors supply the Lords nurture to multitudes of children, in whose homes Christian faith and example are wanting. The ideas which children form of Christ and His religion are gathered from what they see and hear in the school. Many a child receives its bias for life from the influence of the teacher before whom it sits on Sunday. The love and meekness of wisdom, or the coldness or carelessness of the one who thus stands between Christ and the infant soul, will make or mar its spiritual future.

II. From the children of the house the apostle proceeds to address the servants-slaves as they were, until the gospel unbound their chains. The juxtaposition of children and slaves is full of significance; it is a tacit prophecy of emancipation. It brings the slave within the household, and gives a new dignity to domestic service.

The Greek philosophers regarded slavery as a fundamental institution, indispensable to the existence of civilised society. That the few might enjoy freedom and culture, the many were doomed to bondage. Aristotle defines the slave as an “animated tool,” and the tool as an “inanimate slave.” Two or three facts will suffice to show how utterly slaves were deprived of human rights in the brilliant times of the classic humanism. In Athens it was the legal rule to admit the evidence of a slave only upon torture, as that of a freeman was received upon oath. Amongst the Romans, if a master had been murdered in his house, the whole of his domestic servants, amounting sometimes to hundreds, were put to death without inquiry. It was a common mark of hospitality to assign to a guest a female slave for the night, like any other convenience. Let it be remembered that the slave population outnumbered the free citizens of the Roman and Greek cities by many times; that they were frequently of the same race, and might be even superior in education to their masters. Indeed, it was a lucrative trade to rear young slaves and train them in literary and other accomplishments, and then to let them out in these capacities for hire. Let any one consider the condition of society which all this involved, and he will have some conception of the degradation in which the masses of mankind were plunged, and of the crushing tyranny that the world laboured under in the boasted days of republican liberty and Hellenic art. No wonder that the new religion was welcome to the slaves of the Pagan cities, and that they flocked into the Church. Welcome to them was the voice that said: “Come unto me, all ye that are burdened and heavy laden”; welcome the proclamation that made them Christs freedmen, “brethren beloved” where they had been “animated tools”. {Phm 1:16} In the light of such teaching, slavery was doomed. Its read option by Christian nations, and the imposition of its yoke upon the negro race, is amongst the great crimes of history, -a crime for which the white man has had to pay rivers of his blood.

The social fabric, as it then existed, was so entirely based upon slavery, that for Christ and the apostles to have proclaimed its abolition would have meant universal anarchy. In writing to Philemon about his converted slave Onesimus, the apostle does not say, “Release him,” though the word seems to be trembling on his lips. In 1Co 7:20-24 he even advises the slave who has the chance of manumission to remain where he is, content to be “the Lords freedman.” To the Christian slave what mattered it who ruled over his perishing body! his spirit was free, death would be his discharge and enfranchisement. No decree is issued to abolish bond-service between man and man; but it was destroyed in its essence by the spirit of Christian brotherhood. It melted away in the spread of the gospel, as snow and winter melt before the face of spring.

“Ye slaves, obey your lords according to the flesh.” The apostle does not disguise the slaves subservience; nor does he speak in the language of pity or of condescension. He appeals as a man to men and equals, on the ground of a common faith and service to Christ. He awakens in these degraded tools of society the sense of spiritual manhood, of conscience and loyalty, of love and faith and hope. As in Col 3:22-25 thru Col 4:1, the apostle designates the earthly master not by his common title (despotes), but by the very word (kyrios) that is the title of the Lord Christ, giving the slave in this way to understand that he has, in common with his master (Eph 6:9), a higher Lord in the spirit. “Ye are slaves to the Lord Christ!” {Col 3:24} St. Paul is accustomed to call himself “a slave of Christ Jesus.” Nay, it is even said, in Php 2:7, that Christ Jesus “took the form of a slave”! How much there was, then, to console the Christian bondman for his lot. In self-abnegation, in the willing forfeiture of personal rights, in his menial and unrequited tasks, in submission to insult and injustice, he found a holy joy. His was a path in which he might closely follow the steps of the great Servant of mankind. His position enabled him to “adorn the Saviours doctrine” above other men. {Tit 2:9-10} Affectionate, gentle, bearing injury with joyful courage, the Christian. slave held up to that hardened and jaded Pagan age the example which it most required. God chose the base things of the world to bring to nought the mighty.

The relations of servant and master will endure, in one shape or other, while the world stands. And the apostles injunctions bear upon servants of every order. We are all, in our various capacities, servants of the community. The moral worth of our service and its blessing to ourselves depend on the conditions that are here laid down.

I. There must be a genuine care for our work.

“Obey,” he says, “with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto the Christ.” The fear enjoined is no dread of human displeasure, of the masters whip or tongue. It is the same “fear and trembling” with which we are bidden to “work out our own salvation”. {Php 2:12} The inward work of the souls salvation and the outward work of the busy hands labouring in the mine or at the loom, or in the lowliest domestic duties, -all alike are to be performed under a solemn responsibility to God and in the presence of Christ, the Lord of nature and of men, who understands every sort of work, and will render to each of His servants a just and exact reward. No man, whether he be minister of state or stable-groom, will dare to do heedless work, who lives and acts in that august Presence, –

“As ever in the great Task-masters eye.”

II. The sense of Christs Lordship ensures honesty in work.

So the apostle continues: “Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers.” Both these are rare compound words, -the former indeed occurring only here and in the companion letter, being coined, probably, by the writer for this use. It is the common fault and temptation of servants in all degrees to observe the masters eye, and to work busily or slackly as they are watched or not. Such workmen act as they do, because they look to men and not to God. Their work is without conscience and self-respect. The visible master says “Well done!” But there is another Master looking on who says “Ill done!” to all pretentious doings and works o eye-service, -who sees not as man sees, but judges with the act the motive and intent.

“Not on the vulgar mass

Called work must sentence pass,

Things done, which took the eye and had the price.”

In His book of accounts there is a stern reckoning in store for deceitful dealers and the makers-up of unsound goods, in whatever handicraft or headcraft they are engaged.

Let us all adopt St. Pauls maxim; it will be an immense economy. What armies of overlookers and inspectors we shall be able to dismiss, when every servant works as well behind his masters back as to his face, when every manufacturer and shopkeeper puts himself in the purchasers place and deals as he would have others deal with him. It was for the Christian slaves of the Greek trading cities to rebuke the Greek spirit of fraud and trickery, by which the common dealings of life in all directions were vitiated.

III. To the carefulness and honesty of the slaves daily labour he must even add heartiness: “as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the soul, with good will doing service, as to the Lord and not to men.”

They must do the will of God in the service of men, as Jesus Christ Himself did it, -and with His meekness and fortitude and unwearied love. Their work will thus be rendered from inner principle, with thought and affection and resolution spent upon it. That alone is the work of a man, whether he preaches or ploughs, which comes from the soul behind the hands and the tongue, into which the workman puts as much of his soul, of himself, as the work is capable of holding.

IV. Add to all this the servants anticipation of the final reward. In each case, “whatsoever one may do that is good, this he will receive from the Lord, whether he be a bondman or a freeman.” The complementary truth is given in the Colossian letter: “He who does wrong, will receive back the wrong that he did.”

The doctrine of equal retribution at the judgment-seat of Christ matches that of equal salvation at the cross of Christ. How trifling and evanescent the differences of earthly rank appear, in view of these sublime realities. There is a “Lord in heaven,” alike for servant and for master, “with whom is no respect of persons” (Eph 6:9). This grand conviction beats down all caste-pride. It teaches justice to the mighty and the proud; it exalts the humble, and assures the down-trodden of redress. No bribery or privilege, no sophistry or legal cunning will avail, no concealment or distortion of the facts will be possible in that Court of final appeal. The servant and the master, the monarch and his meanest subject will stand before the bar of Jesus Christ upon the same footing. And the poor slave, wonderful to think, who was faithful in the “few things” of his drudging earthly lot, will receive the “many things” of a son of God and a joint-heir with Christ!

“And, ye lords, do the same things towards them”-be as good to your slaves as they are required to be towards you. A bold application this of Christs great rule: “What you would that men should do to you, do even so to them.” In many instances this rule suggested liberation, where the slave was prepared for freedom. In any case, the master is to put himself in his dependents place and to act by him as he would desire himself to be treated if their positions were reversed. Slaves were held to be scarcely human. Deceit and sensuality were regarded as their chief characteristics. They must be ruled, the moralists said, by the fear of punishment. This was the only way to keep them in their place. The Christian master adopts a different policy. He “desists from threatening”; he treats his servants with even-handed justice, with fit courtesy and consideration. The recollection is ever present to his mind, that he must give account of his charge over each one of them to his Lord and theirs. So he will make, as far as in him lies, his own domain an image of the kingdom of Christ.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary